PAP SMEARS AND SUCH

TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR TODAY'S LESSON:

ParaGard - Copper IUD that contains no hormones and can be worn for 10 years. Prevents pregnancy, but fertility returns almost immediately after it's removal. Check monthly for strings to make sure it's in place. Must be inserted and removed by a professional.

Mirena - Hormonal IUD that releases a low dose of hormone (not estrogen) and can be worn for up to 5 years. Prevents pregnancy, but fertility returns almost immediately after it's removal. Check monthly for strings to make sure it's in place. Must be inserted and removed by a professional.

NuvaRing - Ring worn in the vagina for 3 weeks, removed for 1. Lather, rinse, repeat (with a new ring). Releases hormones (with estrogen) which are absorbed by the vagina and prevent pregnancy. Fertility returns almost immediately after its removal. You put it in and remove it yourself.

So there's the skinny on that. And now here's my story.

I went to the health department Friday. I've been needing to go pretty bad. Back when I had Shadow was the last time I had a pap smear. Well it came back abnormal and they went in and froze some pre-cancerous cells off my girly parts. I was supposed to go back to have it re-checked to make sure they didn't grow back, but I never did. I just wanted to be left alone. So here it is - 7 years later - and I finally had the balls to go. There were two things that motivated me enough that I finally made the appointment: 1] I want an IUD (which I may or may not be able to get depending on the pap test results) and 2] something was amiss in my girl guts.

Well they seem reluctant to give me an IUD - perhaps having something to do with my lack of getting an annual pap smear. (I would SO go if that's what it took, though). Also they say it hurts and that it costs a lot (because I don't have insurance), and that it's not worth it if you don't keep it in for as long as it's good, and blah blah blah. I completely research things before I make up my mind on them and I feel certain that would be the best thing for me. I think it would be awesome to not have to worry about birth control for 5 or 10 years. But anyway - it's not like it will be immediately if I do get it. I've gotta wait two weeks for my test results and then (if everything's normal and I can have one) they'll have to order it and then schedule an appointment for me to have it put in.

So as a lovely parting gift the doc gave me a 3 month supply of the NuvaRing which promptly made me sick (I think). I've never been on birth control before IN MY LIFE. I've always been against hormonal methods (not for everyone - just as something I didn't want) so my original plan was to get a ParaGard. No one around here seems to want to place those for some reason. I tried once last year to get one and I failed then, too. After some thought, though, I figured I'd give the Mirena (the hormonal IUD) a try. (Those seem easier to get around here - unless you're me). But since I'm going far enough to try hormones - why not try the NuvaRing? Well it does have estrogen, (unlike the Mirena), but it's localized and shit. So I was like, "What the hell? Give it here."

I've had a really jacked-up weekend as far as my eating and sleeping schedule goes. And I had a lot I felt like I needed to do so I was a bit stressed. I've been nauseated and head-achy on and off all weekend (which for me is usually brought on by not eating and sleeping right, and stress), and although those are listed side effects to the NuvaRing (right at first, anyway), I'm hesitant to blame all of that on it. (I put it in on Friday, btw). Even if the ring is what jacked me up for what it's worth I'm feeling fine now and the illness this weekend wasn't anything some Coke and Excedrin couldn't handle.

As long as nothing crazy goes on with me I might just keep it. I can't feel it or anything. Also I've read that if you wear one all the time and don't take a week off that you won't have your period. The doctor I was talking to actually tried to convince me to try it with that argument, but I like my lady times of the month so she had to try a different approach. Well, anyone out there have any recommended forms of BC or stories about it? Questions, comments, concerns???

Life in General / Dogs

I am soooo tired. I've been going non-stop all weekend. But I got a lot accomplished so it was well worth it.

In other news Shadow's birthday is coming up in two weeks. He will be 7. He's growing up on me. I know - I say that every year; but he never stops so it's always true. He's having a bigger party than he ever has... I'm not really good at planning these kinds of events and crap. But it's going to be at Party Central and they do all the decorating and stuff. All I have to bring is the kid and the cake. They even gave me invitations to pass out. This will probably be the easiest party I've ever been responsible for, but hey, I'm paying enough for it. 😳 Seriously.

So my nose hurts. It started feeling over the weekend like I was getting a sore in it and now the outside of it is starting to swell a bit. It sucks. You probably wouldn't notice the swelling if I didn't mention it, but it's really sore so I've been complaining. *shrugs* I have.

First off, Emma's doing well with her crate. I didn't really think I'd be able to keep her in a crate because I'd feel too bad about it, but I don't. She seems to enjoy having a spot in the house to herself. She'll go in when we say "Crate, Emma" and then sit there and wag her tail. She doesn't even yelp to get out unless it's early in the morning and she probably only does it then because she needs to use the bathroom. 

She's a lot easier to deal with lately and I'm not sure if that has something to do with her being in a crate or not. I feel bad for her because the longer I have her the more obvious it is that she was never taught much in the way of doggie manners or anything. So I've been working with her a lot and she's doing well. She'll sit (that's nothing new, though), and she'll now stand up and lay down on command. I'll probably try to start with "Stay" this week, and also, tons more leash training. She's coming along. All in all she's a really good dog and I'm glad I got her. I think she just needed some guidance and discipline.

Speaking of good dogs I'm not keeping Scooty in a crate. I know that may sound unfair, but they're completely different dogs with completely different personalities. Scooter's always stayed in one room while we were away (usually the bathroom) and the most he's ever done was mangle the toilet paper and chew the molding on the corner when he was teething. He froze up and just stared out when I put him in a crate the day the floor was ripped up; shortly after that, Nick and I decided that it just wasn't fair. He'd proven himself trustworthy before. So he's not in a crate; he's in my bedroom until the bathroom floor is repaired. (I'm sure the floor in the bathroom sticking up and such would just be too much temptation for him to resist.) But as soon as it's taken care of it's back to the bathroom with him. 

There's carpet in my bedroom which makes the occasional accident a bit more of a pain to clean up. I'm even considering letting him and Emma sleep in the bathroom together so long as they sleep and don't tear up everything. One of my reasons for getting her, after all, was to keep Scoot company. With things as they are right now they only get to hang out in the afternoons. Hopefully, that will all change soon. I looked in the garage and we do have some leftover linoleum that matches the bathroom. We just have to find the time to put it down.

Anyway...

FFUUCCKK!!

Today has fucking sucked. Not just a little - a whole hell of a lot. First of all my bank account is all screwed up and I've been going crazy trying to figure out what the hell happened. I'm still not sure and I've been stressin' over that ALL day. On top of that I've had these back and abdominal pains all day... I've just been really achy and shit. So I'm looking forward to coming home and unwinding, being lazy, etc, etc. But NO. NO!!! This is what I come home to:

THE FUCKING DOGS HAVE STARTED EATING MY HOUSE LIKE IT WAS RAWHIDE!

So I've had it. When Scooter was younger he chewed the corner a little bit... Emma has now ripped most of that off. BIG DIFFERENCE. And I know it had to be her idea to rip up the floor, as well. So guess what?? The little assholes will now spend their days and nights in crates. They will only be allowed out when we can watch them. That may sound harsh, but I just bought this house last year and I can't afford to have it eaten. I tried to be nice enough to give them a room to hang out in when we weren't home and this is what happens. SCREW THAT.

To make my night even worse I got to Wal-Mart to buy crates and get all the way to the register and realize that I can't find my credit card. I JUST had it. So I go out to the parking lot to see if it's perhaps in my car and it's not. I didn't have my cell on me so I called home on Wal-Mart's nasty ass phone to see if Nick has seen my card. Nope. Oh wait, then it's in my jacket pocket that I wasn't even wearing so I have no idea why I put it in there to begin with. ?? So I had to go back home and get it. I am SO STRESSED and SO ANGRY. I almost lost my mind in Wal-Mart. I am a complete and utter emotional mess right now.

THE END

My New Buddy

We went to Critter's for crickets after work today... and just guess what I came home with. (Hint: Something other than crickets - though we got those, too).

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Ok, you suck at guessing. I got a little ratty friend! He's only about 4 weeks old and was brought in by a lady who thought he had cancer or something, though he's just hairless. (A rat she had for snake food had babies and he was the only hairless in the bunch). I was so happy to meet him (we think he's a boy, but I don't really care). Btw... either way, his / her name is Hairy. 😀 Anyhoo, here's some pics.

This pic sums up the last week and 1/2 for us...

Pitiful.

That's about all I can say. We've all been sick, hurt, or under the weather for almost two weeks... as soon as one of us feels better another one starts to feel like crap. Life's not all bad, though... and I'm dedicating the next blog to that. 😉

[edit] Btw... Scooty's not bleeding out the ass or anything... that's just a rope toy. That was the first time he actually laid down to rest since I had to put that thing on his head and I just didn't want to disturb him by going in there to move it. That's also why the picture quality sucks... I didn't use a flash, either.

R.I.P. Tiny Alice

Last night we found Tiny Alice dead. She'd been sick for a while so we were expecting it. It's actually kind of a relief because there wasn't much we could do for her aside from make her comfortable while she was here. Chameleons are pretty fragile creatures by nature... so much so that I don't understand how one could ever survive in the wild. They have a high mortality rate whether in their natural habitat or captivity.

She appeared to have some some sort of respiratory infection which affected her eyes. (Yeah, it didn't make much sense to me either, but read up on it and you'll see). She couldn't catch and eat crickets if her eyes weren't working. Attempts to hand feed her baby food and such failed because we could not get her mouth open. I think that was the worst part... her not eating. She always had such a hearty appetite that I nicknamed her "Hogzilla."

Anyway, she looked so peaceful for the first time last night that I only felt a little sad. I held her for a few moments (which is not something Alice would've ever tolerated) before putting her in the freezer. I suppose I'll call the crematory tomorrow and see if they'll get her and Mr. Sam done for me. (Yeah, I've been saving him because I knew this was coming). Oh, and the picture I chose of her was her at her best... always puffed up over something, LOL. Well, I hope the little lady now rests in peace. She will be missed.

heartbreak

As most of you know I volunteer with the local animal shelter. Today was the first day I really went into the kennels... they needed a few people to take some pictures for their PetFinder web page. Of course I was up for helping.

When I first got there we talked about who would take which pictures and the best way to organize all the pics and get them back to the person who needed them, etc. Then into the kennels I went.

... I've gotta be honest - I cried my way through most of them, snapping pictures between fencing and tears. I felt so bad for all of those dogs... it was cold and their little feet were wet. Some of them were really skinny. The worst one's were the one's who'd "given up," meaning they didn't even bother to come to the front to greet people anymore. They sat in the back looking hopeless and sad.

It was so hard not to reach out to them... I just wanted to love on them all and let them know it would be ok. But I couldn't for fear of losing it on the spot. I hated to keep them at a distance, but I had to. I desperately wish I knew how to tell them that it wasn't hopeless... that that's why they were there. Someone cared, goddamnit.



I care.