If Practice makes perfect. . .

Then why is my doctor still "practicing medicine" after 28 years? Don't get me wrong. . .he is a great guy. And not the only one who seems to have a track record of making "educated guesses" when it comes to patient care (I'm looking at you Gregory House). But here is the deal. . .

I've been on anti-dperessants for 6 years. SIX YEARS. And at first. . .all was well. Magical even. Its amazing what a small amount of brain altering chemicals can do for your outlook. But about 3 years ago, I went to the doctor complaining of fatigue. Tests were run. Nothing conclusive was found. "You are probably still depressed" was the Doctor's decision. After all - fatigue is a symptom of depression. So they doubled my dose. And I didn't get better. So I went back after about 6 more months. Tests were run. Nothing conclusive was found. "Try to exercise more and get more rest." And I didn't get better. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

I would go to the doctor, they would run tests, they would find nothing, they would either A - up my dose of anti-depressant or B - give me great advice like "try to avoid caffeine - it might be disrupting your sleep". In which case I would look at them like the crazy person they OBVIOUSLY are because caffeine is the only thing that gets me through the day without collapsing. Then I finally got fed up. And decided to pester my doctor until he figured out what was wrong with me. And in May of this year (after running tests and finding nothing) he finally sent me to a sleep disorders lab. And I racked up over $10K (yes - that is not a typo - $10,000) in sleep tests. AND. . .THE RESULTS ARE IN. . .I don't have a sleep disorder. Not Sleep Apnea (First guess) nor Narcolepsy (second guess). Nor anything else. I sleep like a baby. However. . .what I do have? Is apparently "fatigue caused by the secondary effects of my antidepressant". Translation - one of the side effects of the antidepressant is fatigue. . .and so for three years - THREE YEARS - they have been increasing my dosage - making me more and more and more and more and more tired. Nifty - ain't it.

I wonder how long you have to practice so that it doesn't take three years to make a patient better.

This child belongs to F (Just Kidding Honey)!

Randomly today as the whole family drove through town, Mischief decided to tell us "At night-time, I pick my nose sometimes." Oh REALLY? And where do you put the boogers? "In a secret hiding place where they can't get out."

One day we are going to find a stash of dried crusty boogers that she has been keeping locked away - lest they escape and find their way back into her nose.

Sweet Child of Mine

Drama Queen got to go on her very first Black Friday shopping experience this year. Making it even more momentous? The fact that we were shopping at midnight. She was so excited and had so much fun. Also fun was watching her comparison shop through the crowds of people as she tried to stretch her budget of $10 to buy as much as possible. Final result. . .she left with $10 and came home with $1. . .and a new purse and some make-up.

Oh yeah. . .she's mine alright. Those are two of my favorite things to buy. . .the other being shoes, but she couldn't find any of those for less than $10 :)

Eye of the Beholder

I hate having photos taken of me (I think I've mentioned this before) - and especially right now. My hair is in this weird growing out length that is a cross between a bowl cut and a mullet. I've gained about 10 (ok 15) pounds this year as I've focused on way too much crap besides taking care of myself. And I generally think I look like a bloated frog with a wonky eye. But a friend of mine was encouraging me to get over this. That one day when I'm 80 I'll want pictures to pass around the old folks home to show off what a raging beauty I used to be. And then my photographer friend is always begging me to let him take pics. And then I bought this dress. This dress that I LOVE and I had exactly one occasion to wear it and now it hangs in my closet in broken hearted agony (I'm a little crazy about the dress). So I had some pics taken. And I think for the first time since I saw my wedding photos - I thought - wow, I look beautiful. Tell me what you think. . . .