Ok, what is the damn deal. I had to shlep myself to the ER on Saturday. I broke out into hives right after getting out of the shower and was getting dressed and ready for the day. It was very strange b/c I had broken out into hives last week while at Stefano's, but that outbreak was only on the back of my thigh and I popped a Benadryl and they were gone within minutes. I do get hives maybe once per year so for this to happen again so soon after a recent outbreak, well yes, that was very curious indeed. This outbreak was also bothersome b/c it started on my forehead, of all places. I looked like a Chernobyl victim! I popped a Benadryl and continued getting dressed.
I had a 10:30 am appt. at Discount Tires to get my tires rotated in preparation for the Austin drive that afternoon. When I got there they told me I had a bald tire, and indeed I did! Oops! Unfortunately, thanks to my upcoming tax bill of well into the 4 figures, I was now extremely concerned of how in the world I was going to pay for a new fucking tire. And of course, they recommended I buy 2 tires, like they always do! I said no, please just put 1 tire on there, the other tire is fine and that is a waste of tires. Meanwhile my hives were getting worse, not better. I was itching all over, esp. down on my legs. I was scratching like a motherfucker. I decided to wait outside in the cool air, hoping that would help. My legs were scary looking. I looked at my arms and they were completely covered. I looked down at my chest and it was completely covered. My chin was itching and now I had hives on my ear!!! I tried to sit and calm down but now my whole body was tingling.
I called my mom to ask her advice and she said I should get to Urgent Care and get a shot of adrenaline, since I couldn't have Epinephrine as I'd be needing to drive to Austin later. I told her there were no goddamn urgent care centers in inner loop Houston, as I'd discovered when I had to go to the ER in January so she suggested I call my insurance co. and ask them where an urgent care center was. But of course when I called those assholes I got 2 recordings saying their business hours were Mon-Fri! I called my brother and asked his opinion on what to do and he also said I may want to get to the ER.
Unfortunately I was trapped at Discount Tires, miserable and itching all over. But when they finally got my new tire on and I was able to pay and get out of there, I did decide to go find an ER. I was desperate now. Fortunately there are lots of these nice little stand-alone ER's popping up all over town, which is convenient so you don't have to go to a hospital and wait 4 hours to see someone. I went to a new one that just opened up a few months ago and was seen immediately. But I started crying b/c I was so freaked out and miserable!!! It was embarrassing, but I knew the hives were b/c I am sooooo overworked and stressed out and what with this fucking tax bill I have to pay, having to buy a new $95 tire, my PERIOD (the Process) starting that morning, 5 days early, the headache I'd had since the night before, Leo texting me some new songs he was wanting to do THAT NIGHT at the gig, having to get to Stefano's gig by noon and meet my aunt and uncle there, having to drive to Austin and back in one night, and then having to work a patrol shift on Sunday, YES GODDAMMIT, I was feeling stretched to the breaking point and now I was itching and covered in hives from my forehead to my ankles and I was freaking out!!!
The Dr. sympathized, he said he also stresses himself out to the point of hives. My blood pressure was high--156/96 but that's b/c I was working myself up over all this. He gave me a shot of the corticosteroid Methylprednisolone and made me take a Pepcid too since that has been shown to help w/this kind of internal stress I so obviously had that was manifesting itself into hives. Then he said, "It's obvious you are determined to drive to Austin today" and I said miserably, "I HAVE to! My bandmates already left!" and he sent me home w/a prescip for Benadryl, Pepcid and the steroid Prednisone.
My brother said that I really needed to go home and lie down for an hour before driving to Austin, but I told him I couldn't spare the time. There was just no way. When I got home I had to immediately get ready for the gig, get dressed in a cute outfit, do my makeup/hair, and load up my car w/my amp and bass. However, before heading home I did swing by the dept. store to buy my new luggage set since the coupon Stefano gave me expired that day and I thought that would be a fun activity to calm me down and get my mind of things. And it was, I found a cute 5-piece luggage set in dark teal color (the better to see it at baggage claim) that was just perfect, and with it being 1/2 off already, plus my $50 gift card from the High-spanic Health Coalition and the coupon on top of that, I paid a grand total of $23!!! Oh yeah, that receipt was a big turn on!
Everyone at the ER had asked me of course if I'd eaten anything different or changed laundry detergent. The only new thing I'd eaten was on Fri. night when I got to Stefano's after rehearsal, he'd made seared tuna steak w/green onions and had hummus/veggies. The new thing I ate though was the turnips, I don't think I'd ever had turnips before...? But I knew that wasn't it since the hives didn't come 'til the next morning, over 12 hours later.
Anyway, I finally packed up my car along w/road trip provisions such as snacks, ice, pain pills for my headache and cramps, Benadryl, and what the hell, filled up my flask w/coco rum. The hives were already mostly gone except for a few welts here and there but they were no longer red. I raced to Stefano's gig and was there shortly after 2. I was hungry and really wanted the crawfish plate that was being sold there. I found my aunt/uncle but I only got to see Stefano's band play like 1 1/2 songs b/c they stopped playing around 2:30. His harmonica player and my uncle both began giving Stefano a hard time for not accompanying me to Austin, esp. when they found out what I'd been through that morning w/the ER visit. But Stefano hadn't offered to come when I 1st told him about the gig, which made me realize he just didn't want to come, and he was also supposed to meet his friend about his CD artwork that night.
I got my HUGE plate of crawfish and potatoes and corn and Diet Coke--$5!!!--and began to chow down, telling Stefano he had to help me eat all that. He said, "I'm coming with you to Austin." I said, "No, you don't have to." He said he wanted to, he just had to load his stuff in his car, drop off his car at home, and he'd be ready to go. I had mixed feelings. I was thinking that he didn't want to go, he was just bullied into doing so by his bandmate and my uncle. And while it would've been nice to have him along to make sure I was ok, I was also looking forward to catching up w/all the stuff on my iPod. In the end I said fine, I'd meet him at his house and we'd go, fully intending to NOT meet him there which is what I did. After he left I finished most of the crawfish, said goodbye to my aunt/uncle, and hit the road but not going the way past mine and Stefano's neighborhood. I called him and said I was going to Austin and he said, "You're coming to get me, right?" and I said no, he was off the hook. He said "Are you SURE?!?!!" I said yes, and he said ok but he was going to call me continuously to make sure I was ok and that if I thought he was being a pest about it, too bad.
I hit the road and it was a beautiful, sunny day for a drive. I had a great time listening to all the good stuff on my iPod, and finally finished listening to the Paul Shaffer book. I stopped midway at one of my fave places on the way to Austin, a place that sells kolaches, cookies, has a gift shop, nice bathrooms, etc. I got 2 sausage/cheese kolaches and these wonderful cookies that have raspberry in the middle. I ate both kolaches and a cookie and felt much better.
I had a little bit of a hard time finding the gig but I called Leo and the host of the party led me on in. I shoulda known we'd be playing outside! I got there 20 min. before we were to start playing at 7pm--perfect. The host and I found out that we have the EXACT same taste in music, as I'd walked into his house Ry Cooder was playing on the stereo! And the host, Mark, also was trying to tell ME about the Rising Sons! My ASS!!! It was fun looking at his CD collection, many of which I had in my car and on my iPod at that very moment!
So we played our "regular set" and everything was fine. The party was in honor of Mark's wife's bday and I met her 20-yr old son, who is also a bass player. They had tons of wonderful food there--fruit, cheese, brie, crackers, chips, salsa, chopped beef, sliced beef, beans, all kinds of desserts... man, oh man! Also vanilla rum, which I never had before! I only drank sporadically all night, mindful of the long drive home alone. At our break I loaded up on food and the 20-yr old kid showed me his band on YouTube. We had a good time talking bass playing, bass players (I showed him Rozzy on YouTube), songwriting, and later that night he sat in w/Leo and George. The kid also Friended me on Facebook later that night too!
We stopped playing at 10pm as Leo'd promised, and I said goodbye to everyone, packed up and hit the road, driving nonstop to Houston and making it home shortly after 1am. I went straight home although Stefano was waiting up for me, but I'd taken 2 Benadryl in Katy (West Houston) so that it'd hit me when I got home and I honestly wanted nothing more than to pass out in my own bed and sleep, sleep, sleep until I couldn't sleep anymore. I slept 'til noon on Sunday and called Stefano immediately upon waking. He was on his way to the final studio day for them to finish mixing and mastering his band's CD. I said I was in no shape to go on patrol, and I absolutely wasn't. So I am not going to get in a patrol shift at all in March--oh fucking well.
Besides, I had a 10-item "To Do List" for yesterday anyway: laundry, tidy up around the house, put away my amp and new luggage, hang up clothes, go get some groceries, pick up my prescrips since I'd left town w/out doing so, run by Blockbuster, etc. etc. etc. I rented Julie and Julia and invited Stefano over to watch it that night, which he did. He showed up with some beautiful sunflowers for me! We ordered Chinese and had a wonderful, cuddly time together all night. Today I'm at Job #1 only, and just feel worn out although I did sleep a lot last night too. Tonight is the monthly sheriff meeting; tomorrow night is rehearsal. I am truly scared I'm going to run myself down and ragged, but we've got our CD release party this Saturday and we MUST be prepared. I am not sure what has got to give. I need the $ from Job #2. Well, maybe next week I'll tell Leo I need a week off.
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