Wednesday, July 9th - 33: The Body Strikes Back

I've lived a reasonably healthy life up until now, and while I know I should be more vigilant about doctor's visits and things like that, I haven't had many health problems that warrant trips to the hospital. Well, actually, only one since 1987, as detailed here. All of this is pretty amazing when you take into consideration that along with my latent OCD, I also have a pretty good case of hypochondria.

The reason I bring this up is that after my recent trip to the ER and what happened in the early part of the Vegas trip, I am really beginning to think my body is finally putting it's foot down. After we landed in Vegas, I started to have some discomfort in what I will lovingly call the nether regions, and I'm not talking about "my religion" as Blanche would say. As I'm prone to do when it is inconvenient, I tried to ignore it, especially since this was the first day of the trip, and I figured it was just some sort of bodily issue that would work itself out. However, as the day wore on, the pain became more acute. It wasn't really a PAIN, but just more of a dull ache. On a restroom break, I decided to investigate, only to discover swelling and discoloration at the point my thigh meets my pelvis, which sent me into all sorts of hypochondriac convulsions. Was I dying? Was it some sort of weird airport STD? Was I dying? Has someone been slowly poisoning me like Napoleon?*

Thankfully, I had with me the tool that has fueled a new era of hypochondria - the Internet! After Googling a few symptoms, I discovered that I pretty much had a classic case of a hernia, with the only major concern being the fact that is almost 100% requires surgery. FUCK! Two trips to the hospital in one year? Seriously! The more surprising thing for me is that I figured if any organ would try to flee my body, it would most assuredly be my liver. Et tu, intestines?

So, 33: The Body Strikes Back is in full force, and I still have 5 months to go! The good news is that pretty much all of the symptoms have dissipated, and I feel comfortable that this is not an emergency situation, which is a good thing because I absolutely cannot take any more time off this month. I know it is bad to put deadlines before health, but I have too much work crap going on this month to deal with this. I'm just going to take it easy at the gym (re: sleep...a lot), and try not to make it worse.

Why have I become an old person so quickly? oy!


*Yes, I know the poisoning of Napoleon has been debunked, but I like the imagery.