I’ve been continuing to taper off of Trileptal and I keep feeling better. I walked during my lunch break three days this week and I’ve gone to the gym three days, too. However, I may be pushing myself a little too hard, at least at this time: I’m so excited to be healthy enough to exercise again that I’m kind of jumping in headfirst. Most of my muscles are sore and I’ve been having trouble sleeping, which has made it hard to be productive at work.
All of this fatigue is just a part of my body getting used to being active again and will pass with time. Plus, I’d rather be tired from too much exercise than because my medication is making me sick.
One thing that hasn’t changed? The severity of my allergies, as I still can’t wear my contacts for more than a few hours at a time. Still, I’d much rather be forced to wear glasses and be able to exercise than have the convenience of contacts again.
Friday, May 19, 2017
Mother's Day 2017
For Mother’s Day this year, I spent a good portion of the day with Leah’s mom, Debbie. The day began with Leah and me attending Debbie’s ward, which also meant that Debbie showed me off like I was a prized Pomeranian at the Westminster Dog Show. Plenty of people were quite friendly, saying “hi” to me and asking a few questions to get to know me; oddly, nobody introduced themselves, so when Debbie asked if I met anyone, all I could say was, “Yes, but no one told me their name.”
After church, we went back to the Grabowski family home for me to make dinner. As our Mother’s Day gift to Debbie, Leah had offered my skills in the kitchen. A couple of weeks earlier, we had discussed different dinner options and Debbie requested garlic shrimp pasta. Leah was my sous-chef and handled cooking the pasta and providing me with ingredients and dishes, while I cooked the shrimp and made the butter sauce. We doubled the recipe, which meant that I encountered some surprises when I tried to fit everything into a skillet that wasn’t big enough, but I was able to figure out a workaround.
When dinner was served, there wasn’t a lot of talk, just a lot of eating. Debbie liked dinner so much that she made herself a lunch box while there were still leftovers. Good thing, too, because everyone went back for a second helping.
I may not have been able to spend time with my own mother for Mother’s Day, but I still honored an important mother in my life.
After church, we went back to the Grabowski family home for me to make dinner. As our Mother’s Day gift to Debbie, Leah had offered my skills in the kitchen. A couple of weeks earlier, we had discussed different dinner options and Debbie requested garlic shrimp pasta. Leah was my sous-chef and handled cooking the pasta and providing me with ingredients and dishes, while I cooked the shrimp and made the butter sauce. We doubled the recipe, which meant that I encountered some surprises when I tried to fit everything into a skillet that wasn’t big enough, but I was able to figure out a workaround.
When dinner was served, there wasn’t a lot of talk, just a lot of eating. Debbie liked dinner so much that she made herself a lunch box while there were still leftovers. Good thing, too, because everyone went back for a second helping.
I may not have been able to spend time with my own mother for Mother’s Day, but I still honored an important mother in my life.
Saturday, May 13, 2017
Healthy Again
I exercised! Not only that, I did it for two days in a row!
Starting on Depakote while I was still taking Trileptal at full strength was rough and left me feeling weak. Plus, the Trileptal had made it hard for me to exercise with any consistency without getting sick. So it was just another normal day when I went to sleep on Thursday night still feeling kind of sick. But imagine my surprise when I woke up on Friday feeling better than I have in months. I went to the gym that evening after work and walked on a treadmill for an hour.
What happened? Thursday was the first day that I started tapering off of Trileptal, so I guess my body responded positively to the change. With my newfound vigor, I went with Leah to the gym this morning and did a full-body workout. I generally avoid those kinds of workouts, seeing better results from focusing on specific muscle groups, but I wanted to make all of my muscles sore so that I can get over that quickly and back to my normal lifting routine next week. (Plus, it was nice to be able to show off for my bride-to-be.)
I know that my neurologist was skeptical that the Trileptal was having any negative effect on me, but I'm glad I convinced her to make the change, especially now.
PS
The QSG is now online and can be viewed here. It's boring, but I'm really proud of it.
Starting on Depakote while I was still taking Trileptal at full strength was rough and left me feeling weak. Plus, the Trileptal had made it hard for me to exercise with any consistency without getting sick. So it was just another normal day when I went to sleep on Thursday night still feeling kind of sick. But imagine my surprise when I woke up on Friday feeling better than I have in months. I went to the gym that evening after work and walked on a treadmill for an hour.
What happened? Thursday was the first day that I started tapering off of Trileptal, so I guess my body responded positively to the change. With my newfound vigor, I went with Leah to the gym this morning and did a full-body workout. I generally avoid those kinds of workouts, seeing better results from focusing on specific muscle groups, but I wanted to make all of my muscles sore so that I can get over that quickly and back to my normal lifting routine next week. (Plus, it was nice to be able to show off for my bride-to-be.)
I know that my neurologist was skeptical that the Trileptal was having any negative effect on me, but I'm glad I convinced her to make the change, especially now.
PS
The QSG is now online and can be viewed here. It's boring, but I'm really proud of it.
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
QSG
At work this year, I was tasked with updating the main catalog used in North America, the Quick Select Guide or QSG. Since I was in the role of project manager for this document, I decided to not just simply update the code numbers and add a few new products, but to overhaul its entire design. I wanted to make the catalog easier to use while also making it look more like the catalogs the corporate office in Denmark makes for Europe. That meant that we had to start from scratch and rebuild it from the ground up. And it was most definitely "we" because my skills in InDesign, the program the catalog was created in, are lacking. So I enlisted the help of a freelancer, Holly, whom my department uses on a regular basis.
I had been emailing Holly and collecting all of the necessary data and files when, in the second week of February, I was provided with the last pieces we needed so that we could begin. I was then told that we needed the new catalog to be printed in March. That may not seem like a big deal, but for a sixty page document, this was basically no time. I worked through the last preparations I had and sent everything off to Holly. For two weeks, we worked at a feverish pace. I regularly stayed about ninety minutes late and often worked through my lunch break. At the end of two weeks, we were done! I almost couldn't believe it, but we finished with enough time so that two segment managers could have a week to review it before the end of the month. My boss, Magda, told me that she noticed my hard work and how much she appreciated my efforts. I sent off the QSG for review, walked out the office door, and started laughing just from the relief of having finished a stressful project.
Or so I thought.
I came back in the following Monday to see emails that the reviewers weren't going to even attempt to get to the QSG for at least a week. Wonderful... I did eventually get the feedback I needed from one of the two segment managers, but the other one was not giving the QSG priority. I suspect that he was annoyed that I was making so many changes to it since he had been the one to originally design it. To be fair, his catalog had worked for several years, but again, being fair, he's not a technical writer and he doesn't have a background in document design. Just because it had worked, doesn't mean we couldn't do it better.
After some meetings, several edits, and lots of cajoling from me, we finally placed our print order last Friday. Only two months after we originally planned.
One thing that I think is cool is that my initials are on the catalog. In Danfoss, whenever a new document is released, it has a literature number, a publication date, and the initials of the main author (mostly so we know who to blame if an error is found). As a technical writer, I've gotten used to being invisible and letting my writing stand for itself, but I still like the fact that I'm getting credit for this document.
Even though the catalog has been approved, there's been a delay in posting it on the Danfoss website. Once it's up, I'll share a link to it. It's not a fun read, but as far as catalogs go, it's a pretty one.
I had been emailing Holly and collecting all of the necessary data and files when, in the second week of February, I was provided with the last pieces we needed so that we could begin. I was then told that we needed the new catalog to be printed in March. That may not seem like a big deal, but for a sixty page document, this was basically no time. I worked through the last preparations I had and sent everything off to Holly. For two weeks, we worked at a feverish pace. I regularly stayed about ninety minutes late and often worked through my lunch break. At the end of two weeks, we were done! I almost couldn't believe it, but we finished with enough time so that two segment managers could have a week to review it before the end of the month. My boss, Magda, told me that she noticed my hard work and how much she appreciated my efforts. I sent off the QSG for review, walked out the office door, and started laughing just from the relief of having finished a stressful project.
Or so I thought.
I came back in the following Monday to see emails that the reviewers weren't going to even attempt to get to the QSG for at least a week. Wonderful... I did eventually get the feedback I needed from one of the two segment managers, but the other one was not giving the QSG priority. I suspect that he was annoyed that I was making so many changes to it since he had been the one to originally design it. To be fair, his catalog had worked for several years, but again, being fair, he's not a technical writer and he doesn't have a background in document design. Just because it had worked, doesn't mean we couldn't do it better.
After some meetings, several edits, and lots of cajoling from me, we finally placed our print order last Friday. Only two months after we originally planned.
One thing that I think is cool is that my initials are on the catalog. In Danfoss, whenever a new document is released, it has a literature number, a publication date, and the initials of the main author (mostly so we know who to blame if an error is found). As a technical writer, I've gotten used to being invisible and letting my writing stand for itself, but I still like the fact that I'm getting credit for this document.
Even though the catalog has been approved, there's been a delay in posting it on the Danfoss website. Once it's up, I'll share a link to it. It's not a fun read, but as far as catalogs go, it's a pretty one.
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Blessed
On Sunday, Leah asked me to give her a blessing to help her get over a cold she’s been fighting for a little over a week. I was happy to oblige. When I sealed the anointing, the words the Spirit gave me to say felt like they were meant as much for me as they were for her.
I said that when the two of us met, it was no accident: we met as soon as we were ready -- and God had been preparing us for each other for quite some time. I also said that our upcoming marriage was divinely appointed and that, while it would not always be easy, we would be happy. I choked up at this glimpse into the future, feeling the Spirit confirm the words as I said them.
When I got to the part about her cold, I basically said, “You’ll get over it when you get over it.” The words were much kinder than that, of course, but I was surprised that I wasn’t prompted to bless her in any way regarding her health. But maybe I shouldn’t have been: we receive the blessing we need, not the one we want.
It was a beautiful experience and it only strengthened my love of this wonderful daughter of God.
I said that when the two of us met, it was no accident: we met as soon as we were ready -- and God had been preparing us for each other for quite some time. I also said that our upcoming marriage was divinely appointed and that, while it would not always be easy, we would be happy. I choked up at this glimpse into the future, feeling the Spirit confirm the words as I said them.
When I got to the part about her cold, I basically said, “You’ll get over it when you get over it.” The words were much kinder than that, of course, but I was surprised that I wasn’t prompted to bless her in any way regarding her health. But maybe I shouldn’t have been: we receive the blessing we need, not the one we want.
It was a beautiful experience and it only strengthened my love of this wonderful daughter of God.
Saturday, May 6, 2017
Nacho Man
For yesterday's celebration of Cinco de Mayo, I made one of the least authentic Mexican foods available: nachos.
It all started when I was still at work and realized what day it was. I texted Leah and said that, in celebration of the holiday, she should let me come by her work that evening and make her and her coworker nachos. At first she declined, but the more she thought about it, the more enticing it sounded. When she got to work, she asked her coworker (who is also the lead of their location) about my proposal. The response she received was "Is that even a question?" With everyone on board, we made plans for nachos!
After work I made a quick stop at the grocery store before going home and eating dinner -- dinner was a mistake since I knew I would be eat nachos later, but at the time I was hungry, so it made sense. I turned on what is quickly becoming my favorite kitchen gadget, my deep fryer, and started slicing tortillas. That's right, dear reader: I made homemade corn chips. I wasn't sure how many to make, so I asked Leah. She said make all of them. I cut 26 corn tortillas into 6 triangles, making a total of 156 chips. Split amongst three people, that proved to be exactly twice as many chips as were needed (not that that stopped me from eating my fair share). With my freshly made chips in tow, I drove the thirty minutes to the group home where Leah works.
When I got out of my car, Leah was waiting for me next to the garage, dancing enthusiastically as she sang "Nacho, nacho man!" to the tune of "Macho Man." Once inside, I discovered that while I brought the chips, cheese, and beef (for taco meat), I had forgotten a creamy chipotle sauce that I had made before working on the chips. I was quite annoyed with myself, spending time to make a condiment, only to forget it, but nothing could be done, so I moved on. I browned and seasoned the taco meat and then we assembled our glorious snack.
As we sat down in the living room to enjoy our Mexican-inspired American food, Leah looked at me and said, "You're the best fiance. I can't wait to upgrade you to a husband."
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I spent one of the best Cinco de Mayos I can remember.
It all started when I was still at work and realized what day it was. I texted Leah and said that, in celebration of the holiday, she should let me come by her work that evening and make her and her coworker nachos. At first she declined, but the more she thought about it, the more enticing it sounded. When she got to work, she asked her coworker (who is also the lead of their location) about my proposal. The response she received was "Is that even a question?" With everyone on board, we made plans for nachos!
After work I made a quick stop at the grocery store before going home and eating dinner -- dinner was a mistake since I knew I would be eat nachos later, but at the time I was hungry, so it made sense. I turned on what is quickly becoming my favorite kitchen gadget, my deep fryer, and started slicing tortillas. That's right, dear reader: I made homemade corn chips. I wasn't sure how many to make, so I asked Leah. She said make all of them. I cut 26 corn tortillas into 6 triangles, making a total of 156 chips. Split amongst three people, that proved to be exactly twice as many chips as were needed (not that that stopped me from eating my fair share). With my freshly made chips in tow, I drove the thirty minutes to the group home where Leah works.
When I got out of my car, Leah was waiting for me next to the garage, dancing enthusiastically as she sang "Nacho, nacho man!" to the tune of "Macho Man." Once inside, I discovered that while I brought the chips, cheese, and beef (for taco meat), I had forgotten a creamy chipotle sauce that I had made before working on the chips. I was quite annoyed with myself, spending time to make a condiment, only to forget it, but nothing could be done, so I moved on. I browned and seasoned the taco meat and then we assembled our glorious snack.
Leah was able to contain her excitement long enough to take a picture (unlike me)
As we sat down in the living room to enjoy our Mexican-inspired American food, Leah looked at me and said, "You're the best fiance. I can't wait to upgrade you to a husband."
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I spent one of the best Cinco de Mayos I can remember.
Friday, May 5, 2017
Side Effects
I know that I just wrote about changing the dosage of my medication, but now I'm switching to a completely new medication. Let me explain why.
Remember last summer when I had such bad eczema? That prompted me to change everything in my house to hypoallergenic products: every soap, lotion, shampoo, detergent, and solution was now perfume- and dye-free. With those changes in place, the eczema went away and hasn’t come back.
Around the same time, I started having problems with my contacts. I'd already been using a hypoallergenic cleaning solution for years, but I switched to a preservative-free saline for rinsing, and that seemed to alleviate the problem… at least for a while. Around late January, even with the changes I made, I could only wear my contacts for about four (maybe six) hours before they'd get so itchy that I couldn't stand it anymore. In March, I saw an ophthalmologist who said that my eyes were showing clear signs of experiencing an allergic reaction. I told him all of the changes that I had made and he said that I was taking all of the right steps and gave me some steroidal eye drops to reduce the reaction. I used the drops for a week straight before attempting to wear my contacts again. The next time I wore them, I was able to go the whole day without discomfort, but only for one day. On day two, I was back to being itchy to the point of not being able to keep my eyes open. Since then, I only wear my contacts for short periods.
Even more worrying, since December, I've had something like five sinus infections. I've been on so many rounds of antibiotics that I'm a little worried that I'm going to become resistant. I've also missed four days of work this year. That may not seem like a lot, but I've gotten teased from my coworkers because I never take any time off. Other than for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I just keep to my normal schedule, so taking that many sick days in such a short period was shocking. It was also troubling because I went from being healthy to being unable to exercise on a regular basis, something that I'd come to rely on to keep me sane.
Because of the problems that I had with my contacts, when I got my annual bonus this year, I looked into getting Lasik surgery and even had consultations at two separate locations. I talked about everything with Leah and we decided that I should wait until after the wedding before we plan something so expensive, though I decided to pray about it just to be sure. I felt like I hadn't explored all of my options and I thought that I should look at the side effects of my epilepsy medication.
So I did.
What are the major side effects? Allergic reactions (including rashes) and flu-like symptoms. I thought that match up too well with what I was going through to simply be a coincidence. I called my neurologist about my discovery and she was not convinced. To be fair, I hadn't told her about all of these problems before because I didn't think it was related to my medication. Plus, the fact that I had been on the new medication for a while before the side effects showed up. So she was understandably reluctant to prescribe a new medication, but I cajoled her into trying what is now my third medication.
(Quick aside: I've been referring to my medications on this blog by their generic names because I like avoiding proprietary eponyms, like calling any kind of lip balm Chapstick or any brand of tissue Kleenex. But whenever I tell doctors or nurses about what medications I'm taking, they ask for me to clarify with the medication brand name. So from now on, I'll refer to my medications by the names everyone recognizes. Levetiracetam, the first medication I took, is Keppra; oxcarbazepine, my last medication, is Trileptal; and divalproex sodium, my new medication, is Depakote.)
Because of how anti-convulsants work, I have to gradually start the Depakote as I gradually stop the Trileptal or risk what the warning labels call "non-stop seizures." For this first week, I'm going back to my old Trileptal routine of one dose in the morning and one in the evening while adding one dose of Depakote in the morning. Next week it'll switch, with two doses of Depakote and one dose of Trileptal in the evening. In two weeks, I'll maintain the two doses of Depakote and reduce my intake of Trileptal to once every other day. After that, I'll stop taking Trileptal completely.
Depakote has its own list of side effects which I'll be on the lookout for. Most prominently is the risk of liver damage, which was also a risk with Trileptal. That means quarterly blood tests to make sure that the medicine that keeps me from seizing doesn't also kill me. The other most common side effects are headaches, nausea, drowsiness, dizziness, vomiting, stomach pain, and (ironically) tremors. There may be other side effects that I'll encounter from the Trileptal and the Depakote interacting, but those will be short lived. So far, I was nauseated for less than ten minutes when I first took the Depakote yesterday, but that was it. I don't want to have the same problem as before where I didn’t connect my ailments to my medication, so any time I have any medical problem, I'm going to check it against the list of side effects.
Managing my epilepsy has not been easy, and I'm still encountering new challenges, but I'm living with it and not letting it get in the way of the rest of my life. Anyone else think I should be on a motivational poster?
Remember last summer when I had such bad eczema? That prompted me to change everything in my house to hypoallergenic products: every soap, lotion, shampoo, detergent, and solution was now perfume- and dye-free. With those changes in place, the eczema went away and hasn’t come back.
Around the same time, I started having problems with my contacts. I'd already been using a hypoallergenic cleaning solution for years, but I switched to a preservative-free saline for rinsing, and that seemed to alleviate the problem… at least for a while. Around late January, even with the changes I made, I could only wear my contacts for about four (maybe six) hours before they'd get so itchy that I couldn't stand it anymore. In March, I saw an ophthalmologist who said that my eyes were showing clear signs of experiencing an allergic reaction. I told him all of the changes that I had made and he said that I was taking all of the right steps and gave me some steroidal eye drops to reduce the reaction. I used the drops for a week straight before attempting to wear my contacts again. The next time I wore them, I was able to go the whole day without discomfort, but only for one day. On day two, I was back to being itchy to the point of not being able to keep my eyes open. Since then, I only wear my contacts for short periods.
Even more worrying, since December, I've had something like five sinus infections. I've been on so many rounds of antibiotics that I'm a little worried that I'm going to become resistant. I've also missed four days of work this year. That may not seem like a lot, but I've gotten teased from my coworkers because I never take any time off. Other than for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I just keep to my normal schedule, so taking that many sick days in such a short period was shocking. It was also troubling because I went from being healthy to being unable to exercise on a regular basis, something that I'd come to rely on to keep me sane.
Because of the problems that I had with my contacts, when I got my annual bonus this year, I looked into getting Lasik surgery and even had consultations at two separate locations. I talked about everything with Leah and we decided that I should wait until after the wedding before we plan something so expensive, though I decided to pray about it just to be sure. I felt like I hadn't explored all of my options and I thought that I should look at the side effects of my epilepsy medication.
So I did.
What are the major side effects? Allergic reactions (including rashes) and flu-like symptoms. I thought that match up too well with what I was going through to simply be a coincidence. I called my neurologist about my discovery and she was not convinced. To be fair, I hadn't told her about all of these problems before because I didn't think it was related to my medication. Plus, the fact that I had been on the new medication for a while before the side effects showed up. So she was understandably reluctant to prescribe a new medication, but I cajoled her into trying what is now my third medication.
(Quick aside: I've been referring to my medications on this blog by their generic names because I like avoiding proprietary eponyms, like calling any kind of lip balm Chapstick or any brand of tissue Kleenex. But whenever I tell doctors or nurses about what medications I'm taking, they ask for me to clarify with the medication brand name. So from now on, I'll refer to my medications by the names everyone recognizes. Levetiracetam, the first medication I took, is Keppra; oxcarbazepine, my last medication, is Trileptal; and divalproex sodium, my new medication, is Depakote.)
Because of how anti-convulsants work, I have to gradually start the Depakote as I gradually stop the Trileptal or risk what the warning labels call "non-stop seizures." For this first week, I'm going back to my old Trileptal routine of one dose in the morning and one in the evening while adding one dose of Depakote in the morning. Next week it'll switch, with two doses of Depakote and one dose of Trileptal in the evening. In two weeks, I'll maintain the two doses of Depakote and reduce my intake of Trileptal to once every other day. After that, I'll stop taking Trileptal completely.
Depakote has its own list of side effects which I'll be on the lookout for. Most prominently is the risk of liver damage, which was also a risk with Trileptal. That means quarterly blood tests to make sure that the medicine that keeps me from seizing doesn't also kill me. The other most common side effects are headaches, nausea, drowsiness, dizziness, vomiting, stomach pain, and (ironically) tremors. There may be other side effects that I'll encounter from the Trileptal and the Depakote interacting, but those will be short lived. So far, I was nauseated for less than ten minutes when I first took the Depakote yesterday, but that was it. I don't want to have the same problem as before where I didn’t connect my ailments to my medication, so any time I have any medical problem, I'm going to check it against the list of side effects.
Managing my epilepsy has not been easy, and I'm still encountering new challenges, but I'm living with it and not letting it get in the way of the rest of my life. Anyone else think I should be on a motivational poster?
Monday, May 1, 2017
Successful Transition
I've been taking my medication at the increased dosage for about a week now and I've had some trouble adjusting. At first, I was exhausted all the time. Well, it felt that way at least. I was constantly dragged down by the kind of fatigue that made me feel like I had low blood-sugar and needed to take a nap -- while eating would lessen the feeling for maybe an hour, I wasn't able to fall asleep during the day and I often had trouble sleeping through the night. Even stranger, I had what I described as a "floating feeling," wherein the top of my head felt like it was floating above me (not detached from the rest of me, just that the floating sensation didn't extend down to the rest of me). However, all of these weird feelings lessened on Saturday and on Sunday, I felt completely normal.
I'm grateful that my medication is working properly again and I can live my life without having to worry about my epilepsy. Hopefully the current dosage will be a longterm solution and I won't have to keep increasing the dosage every year.
I'm grateful that my medication is working properly again and I can live my life without having to worry about my epilepsy. Hopefully the current dosage will be a longterm solution and I won't have to keep increasing the dosage every year.
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