Why be Normal?

I was at the orthopedist’s the other day after months of dealing with an impossible left knee.  I put away my softball glove for the summer and stopped daily walks through the neighborhood because of the swelling and pain.

Yes, I’m going to whine here, so my “un-fans” it’s time to leave or at best, not leave a comment that I will delete anyway, but I digress.

I get told by one doctor, torn ACL, surgery, immobilizer, crutches, the works.  One handy MRI later and my ACL is beautiful, healthy.  In fact, my whole knee is great looking in the MRI.  So, what is causing me ridiculous pain when I walk?

Early arthritis.  Fine.  Fine.  I can deal with it.  Yes, I’m 36 and WAY too young in my book, but losing a few pounds wouldn’t hurt either and this gives me more incentive.  I ask the doctor for some 600 Ibuprofen to deal with it in the short term and he agrees it will help. 

I fill my called in prescription, only to realize later I’ve been prescribed diclofenac sodium 75 mg.  Ok, so it’s an anti-inflammatory somewhat like ibuprofen, but as a pill skeptic, I always check side effects to see if they are worth the risk.

The COMMON side effects listed on the sheet given to me by the pharmacy are:  (Now, these are listed as common remember)  nausea; indigestion; rapid heart rate; high blood pressure; swelling usually of face or lips; blurred vision; CNS depression; drowsiness; congestive heart failure; nervousness; numbness or tingling in hands and feet; shortness of breath; jerkings of face, trunk or extremities; irregular heartbeat; chest pain; dizziness; intestinal ulcers; ringing in ears; vomitting. 

It further reads:  If symptoms are mild but do not go away or are bothersome, check with your doctor.  If they are severe, call your doctor immediately.

SO, to recap, in order to treat an arthritic, sore knee, I MIGHT experience a little blurred vision or an irregular heartbeat?  Maybe some facial jerking?  Nausea or indigestion, yeah, I could live with, but congestive heart failure? 

Seriously, I know that the majority of people who take arthritis drugs are older and therefore more likely to experience these symptoms anyway, without taking the drug at all, but really, why in the world would a medication with such severe COMMON side effects be prescribed?

Why do we, as a whole, put our faith in prescribers and prescription drugs?  Yes, I am forever grateful to drug companies for coming up with medications that save people from debilitating disease, but do we need medications that might relieve some pain to be so full of side effects?

I might have lost a ten dollar co-pay, but it was worth it.  I threw the damn bottle away, took some over the counter ibuprofen and I am fine.  No need to risk congestive heart failure for me.

I’m not sure if we are allowed to swear, so I’ll just say that if you think you are a Witch, try this quiz to find out.  (Twitter users only.)

 http://www1.roflquiz.com/how-bitchy-are-you/q/255/

If you’re proud of your result, comment here…..

This weekend was a great time to visit Boston, Massachusetts where the Tall Ships were once again anchored along the Boston Shoreline.  The ship above is from Uruguay and the captain allowed visitors to come aboard throughout the day on Saturday.

The Tall Ships are purely amazing.  I’m not a huge fan of sailing and rarely go on the water, but I went with some friends and took my three month old daughter her first trip to Boston.

In all, there were 30 + Tall Ships that were in the area and we took a shoreline cruise that lasted about 1 1/2 hours in order to see all of the ships.  Unfortunately, there were really long lines to visit some of the ships, and we didn’t the time (or the patience) to wait in line to get aboard.

Boston is a great city to visit, especially if you have tickets to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park.  That would have been the perfect end to our day in Boston, but we checked out the tall ships and then headed back home with the little one in tow.  Although she is a good baby, she probably isn’t ready for a night game at Fenway.

I’ve been blogging for about a year or so now and I think I can answer my own question.  My answer is that you can make money blogging online sometimes.  That sometimes your blog topic stinks and no one ever comes to visit and sometimes your blog becomes highly popular, but it is very difficult to figure out what content will be visited and what will sink to the bottom of the blogging cesspool.

I’ve read one blog consistently, The Junk Drawer, where Kathy talks about her life, her flaws, and a bag named Windy that has been stuck in a tree for the past year or more.  Why this is so popular is difficult to understand, but I find myself visiting often just to see what Windy and Kathy are up to.

Another blog I visit often is one that details a family struggle in an effort to save their almost one year old daughter Hannah.  Hannah has a rare genetic disease and Little Miss Hannah is a blog that I follow because I admire her mother and admire her strength and determination. 

I’ve weathered quite a few nasty comments here at Why Be Normal?  When you put yourself out there to the blogging community, some bloggers can be quite harsh.  Many believe they know better than you and offer advice that you didn’t ask for.  Others will find offense at something you had to say and hold a grudge, commenting rudely on almost every post you’ve made for the past year.

To make money as a blogger, you have to find your niche, otherwise you will eventually burn out and have nothing left to say.  When you write junk that you aren’t interested in, no one else will be interested in what you have to say either.  You can make money blogging, but you have to focus your efforts, peruse message boards and learn what is attractive to other readers.  If Windy the plastic bag can be a success, so can you.