head bumps!

Hello everyone!!

It's been a long time (Way over a year!!!) but I just accidentally came across my own blog and decided I should update again. I mean, goodness knows my hypochondriac tendencies haven' t gone away. Now that I'm an RN and working in a cancer hospital, you have to know that I'm diagnosing myself with cancer on a weekly basis. No worries, I have other diseases with which to fill those days when I don't have cancer.

So what I'm going to talk about today is a legit problem I've been having for like 2 years now and no one can tell me a solid reason for why it keeps happening!

So every once in a while (it happens almost monthly now) I get these infected hair follicles. I have no proof that this is what it is, but it's what I am going with. So I end up getting a knot on my scalp that keeps growing and gets very tender and red. If it gets really bad, it starts draining. And if it keeps getting bad, the lymph node on my neck that corresponds with the side of my head the bump on pops up. It's weird! And sometimes the lymph node itself is painful and keeps me from moving my neck!

So if it gets bad, I end up going to the doctor and then they give me antibiotics. I guess it works, but the lymph node takes forever to go away!

I do have this cream to put on the bumps when they start appearing and it usually does dry them out and keeps them from getting too bad. The only problem is that I always hope the bumps will go away by themselves. Obviously, that never happens.

I went to Wal-Mart today and bought one of those medicated shampoos (I bought head and shoulders citrus breeze) in the hopes that it will get rid of my bumps. Now I don't have a dandruff problem, but I am DEF not against helping get rid of it. But this shampoo was the only one I could find that was designed to help control oily hair, which I'm thinking has something to do with my head bumps.

I'll let you know if it works...

More tomorrow.

I have to work tomorrow, so you know I will come back with something crazy.

Ally

birthday time!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dont even need a doctor for a diagnosis!!

It's nearing on 3:00 in the morning.

It's been a week since I've gone to sleep any earlier than this.

I just lay in bed and can't fall asleep despite being tired.
When I do fall asleep, anything will wake me up.
Then it takes forever to go back to sleep.
I wake up exhausted in the morning.

I have all these thoughts in my head that are stressing me out!

This might be a bit intense, but I'm about to cry I just want to fall asleep so bad!!!!

So what joy do I find in this situation?
I have the satisfaction of being around 95% sure I have some kind of insomnia.

Go check it out: http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/insomnia-symptoms-and-causes

I'm so serious.

From what I can tell, it sounds like I have acute insomnia r/t stress. Which, if you know me, makes total sense.

Causes of acute insomnia can include:

• Significant life stress (job loss or change, death of a loved one, divorce, moving).
• Illness.
• Emotional or physical discomfort.
• Environmental factors like noise, light, or extreme temperatures (hot or cold) that interfere with sleep.
• Some medications (for example those used to treat colds, allergies, depression, high blood pressure, and asthma) may interfere with sleep.
• Interferences in normal sleep schedule (jet lag or switching from a day to night shift, for example).

If you can't see that I fit pretty much all of these things, then you're dumb. Ok, maybe not dumb, but really. Think about it.

Other than the medication point, I pretty much fit all of it!!!
So ironically enough, it makes me happy.

But if yall have any ideas on sleeping, please let me know.
I just want to get in bed and not lay awake there for hours.

Anyways, thanks for reading!!!!!

Love,
Ally

blame public service announcements!

So I've been trying to go to sleep the past hour or so (it's now around 1:20) because Kenneth said that in order for me to not be so tired in the morning I should go to bed. Makes enough sense. But after practically forever of just laying in bed with thoughts filling up my head and just not being able to fall asleep, I got my computer back out and turned on my tv. If I'm going to be awake, I might as well watch Medium. So I can have dream about Joe DuBois, whose real name is Jake Weber. Just FYI.


So I was watching Medium and then this commercial comes on. It's a commercial for Lupus. It offered a website.

Can you guess the name?
couldihavelupus.gov

Naturally I had to go there. Just in case.
http://www.couldihavelupus.gov/symptoms.php?id=15

What I found out is this:
Maybe I could have lupus!!!!!

It said most of the symptoms are very vague so it's hard to pinpoint it to lupus!

But Kenneth was just telling me all about how he thought it was weird that I have been so tired and needing so much sleep lately and so it was almost a sign that I came across this site!! Now I know fatigue could be anything, but really!!! I mean Kenneth and I were just discussing my fatigue!!!

Secondly, I have had anemia for like 10 years now. And anemia is totally one of the symptoms!! 2 out 14!! Wow!!!!

Because of nursing school, I know nothing is more lupus-like than the butterfly rash across the nose bridge. Needless to say, I do not have this. But who knows, maybe I could be one of those rare people who just have random symptoms!!!

Oh and also, before I saw the lupus commercial, I was on the hunt for a noise machine!!! My friend Maggie has one and it's wonderful!! If you know where to get one, let me know! Or if you have one that you don't ever plan on using, I could give it a great home!!

Anyways, thanks for reading!!!

Love,
Ally

good news!!

Hello friends!!!

As you can probably guess, I have some good news!

While I was typing my entry last night, my lip was beginning to swell and I really thought it was going to be huge again today. However, when I woke up, it was all ok!! I was very excited. Only one little part of me was disappointed because I never got a picture of it to show people.

My bottom lip is still just a bit swollen, but nowhere like it was the past few days. The blister that was on my lip turned into dry skin that is now painfully peeling off. I am constantly putting chapstick on. I am finding that carmex work the best because I don't have to press it on like regular chapstick.

Anyways, my medical mystery didn't last long. I never really found out what it was. I just hope it doesn't happen while at school. I am sure I would scare people away with that huge lip!!

On a different note, I am going back to Tuscaloosa tomorrow and I am super excited! I can't believe this was my last spring break! Now I just have wait and hear back from jobs! I am sure this will produce an all new level of anxiety!!!

Also, it's snowing in the Dallas area and it's the first day of spring.

Anyways, that's about it for now!

Once I have more fun and exciting things to let you know about, I will put it on here!

Oh and I forgot to say that while on the trip my mom somehow did something to her foot that caused her lots of pain, but she said she never did anything to it at all. So you know what I told her? That she probably had a blood clot. And I was super serious about it. If that's not a classic reaction by me, I don't know what is.

Thanks for reading!!!

Ally

for realz this time

hi friends!!

Quick update-- I've been skiing all week and I just got back to Garland today. I had no internet in New Mexico (where we went) so I couldn't update when this really weird thing happened.

I am actually having a weird medical problem.

Yes, it's ok to keep reading!

So while skiing, I thought my lips had gotten sunburned and really chapped. They hurt a little bit when I went to bed Wednesday night. But when I woke up Thursday morning, my bottom lip was swollen to twice its size. It didn't hurt or anything, but it was so swollen! I put some chapstick on it and also took a Benadryl. After a little while it went down and I thought everything was ok. So that night everything was ok but when I woke up this morning, it was super swollen again!!! I have no idea what's going on, but I'm thinking it's some kind of allergic reaction, I just can't figure out to what!!

Here's what I've ruled out:
-not the cabin in NM (I'm back in TX and my lip is swelling as I type)
-not my pillow because I slept with it in the car and nothing happened
-not my stuffed animal (same reasons as pillow)
-not a sunburn
-benadryl does not help

If tomorrow when I wake up it has swollen up like it has the previous two mornings, I am taking a picture and posting it.

Oh, also I have this blister like thing on my bottom lip that can be seen during the day when my lip is not swollen. When it is swollen it is all streched out.

So there's finally something that is really wrong with me but I can't diagnose myself!! Help!!!

I'll keep you updated about my lip.
I know it's very important to you guys.

I can't wait to see everyone!!!!

Thanks for reading!
Ally