Where's Blog-do???

     Sorry, Waldo, but the title was so perfect that I couldn't resist...Welcome to the FIRST blog of 2014.  I can't believe that it has taken this long to be in touch.  Thanks to those of you who reached out wondering if I had met my demise...(and be assured that this is NOT a blog from the great beyond).  This year, barring a very few exceptions,  now ranks in the top 5 crappiest years of my existence on this planet.  It started off on a terrific note...a visit from my sister and her family here to the valley right after Christmas including a cool New Year's Eve "boot drop" to ring in 2014.  Instead of the Times Square lighted ball, we ventured up to Prescott, Az. (cowboy country) and they had a six foot tall lighted cowboy boot that they used...once at 10 pm for the East Coasters and again at midnight for the "natives".  This will probably become a New Year's tradition for me moving on...(and I can't wait to leave this year behind).

     From the time the family went back to Virginia, the year started a downhill spiral that I have yet to recover from.  I now know what an athlete feels like when he is in a season long slump...(or plays for the New York Mets).  In early February, I began to suffer headaches and neck and shoulder pain. Several trips to the chiropractor did nothing to ease the pain, so I whipped out my newly minted health insurance card and went to see my primary care physician.  He referred me to a pressure point therapist and pain management specialist in the same group.  At the same time I lost my appetite, got horrible muscle aches (legs and arms) and bouts of fatigue...several more visits and many blood drawings later got me muscle relaxers, pain meds, and industrial strength Ibuprofen...Now I was referred to a internist and a hematologist on top of the the other three doctors I was already seeing. I lost 20 lbs in a month and they had no diagnosis...my blood work was off the charts and all they could tell me was what it wasn't.  It wasn't lyme disease, valley fever (yes, that's a real disease), cancer, liver failure, kidney failure, ulcer, fracture, muscle tear or a host of others.  I had blood work done every week, MRI and CT scans, colonoscopy and endoscopy (using different scopes, or so they told me) and after three and a half months I started feeling better on over the counter Ibuprofen I bought from the Dollar Store...(the muscle relaxers and pain meds were awful and only made me feel worse).  5 doctors and they couldn't tell me what was wrong.  I ended up getting injections in the top of my spine that completely eliminated the neck and shoulder pain (hooray for small victories) and my test results are completely back to normal.  The official diagnosis was that "something" attacked my system and my immune system eventually fought it off.

     Needless to say, a lot of the procedures and tests and medications were not covered by insurance    (as you all are painfully and financially aware of) and the wear and tear on my finances was not pretty.  I was able to work through most of the illness and I am not homeless nor starving...I believe I now fall into a brand new financial category (made up by yours truly) of  "comfortably poor".  It fits in above extremely poor and very low income... I have a roof over my head and food in the fridge and am able to get back and forth to work and that's about it (for right now).  But don't cry for me Argentina (or whomever)... I am not ready to pass the hat or line up at the soup kitchen.  This is a temporary hiccup on an almost 6 year run of nothing but blessings...it just the universe evening things out a little.  It's life delivering a wake up slap that I not "all that" and I need to be more watchful and careful with pretty much everything.  Truth be told, it reminds me of time 19 years ago when life was beating me down and I made wholesale changes so that I could continue this wild ride called "life" (those of you who know me know what I'm talking about).  Back then I kept everything inside and let it build up in my mind that it was hopeless so that I had a "reason" to drink and drug...(not that I needed one).  This is the reason why I have returned to the Blog Kingdom.  I need to let go of all this crap in my head...(and there is a ton or two) and share my crap with you...Talking about this keeps the problems fresh and allows me to work on them physically instead of worrying about them.  Too often the "poor me's" slip in and sap whatever strength you have to reverse misfortune.

     The best thing I can say about all this...(oh, by the way, my water heater crapped the bed yesterday...lol) is that I will learn from this adversity and take steps to ensure that it doesn't happen too often...(never say never).  My health is good, my job loves me and I love it, and we are almost done with this infernal "monsoon" season...(which is the subject of tomorrow's ramblings, I mean blog).  Love to you all...the Arizona Kid.