Three Wise Men, Two Bottled Teas & An Apache in a Teepee

Can I share something that borders on mental?   The weekend after Thanksgiving 2023, my sister Shawn was giving me a ride back to Pittsburgh.  I'd been a guest at her home over the holiday.  Before exiting Waynesburg, she said "Do you want to stop at Giant Eagle and get some of your Lipton tea?"

At the time, I was hooked on Lipton's Peach Tea.  But because it's such a sweet drink, I limited myself to only drinking it over the weekends.  So I said yes, thanks.  We ran in and I picked up a six-pack of the drink.

I put it in my fridge, and during the month of December 2023 enjoyed 4 of the 6 bottles.

Then right before Christmas I developed covid, which by January 2024 became long covid.  I was so frightened, flustered, angry, worried, you name it--I made a weird promise to myself.  I wouldn't enjoy the remainder of that Lipton Peach Tea until I made a full recovery.   And there it still sits on the center shelf, behind the milk and V8 juice, those 2 bottles of Lipton Peach Tea.

It seems like every blogger I know likes to include the current weather in their posts.  As I write this late Sunday night, I awoke this morning to 4 inches of snow outside and temps in the single digits.  I wish I knew how to make this more interesting, but snow is snow.  I hope it comes back in time for Christmas.

On Friday I had a Tele-conference (on my laptop) with Dr. Yeeuogi, a UPMC neurologist who I haven't seen or spoken to since February.  He and his two white-coated colleagues wanted to review my recent CT scans with me and see how I was doing.  I told them I was able to attend a holiday luncheon earlier in the week, but it's been pretty much inflammation, burning & soreness from the neck up daily.

Dr. Yee said he understood I was making a full recovery over the summer.  I said yes I believed so, was still dealing with chronic fatigue but the inflammation had mostly abated.  But a 3 hour dental visit "reawakened" the long covid on Sept 12.  Dr. Yee said "We've seen studies where half or more post-covid patients suffer a complete relapse, weeks or even months after recovery."

He said "Given your medical history of TMJ-TMD do you think the dental visit caused that instead?"  I said I did at first, but then the familiar covid headaches began in my temples and eyes, followed by lots of stinging in the face, and the weird smell of diesel, baked beans & burnt hair throughout the day.  (That’s one of the more common symptoms, a strong combination of unique phantom smells.)

I said I also went on Reddit and looked for "post covid relapses following dental work" and there were dozens of stories from people who suffered the same thing.  Dr. Yee said "Really!"  

He asked if I wanted to try going back on Nortriptyline or Gabapentin, two antidepressants that can sometimes help people with nerve pain.  I said no thanks, I know both can take weeks to do anything and come with awful side effects (gabapentin zombies your brain and wrecks your sex drive, not that I need mine but it's nice to have around) and neither worked for me before anyway.

He went on to tell me some things I didn't really want to hear (people are living with this longer than previously thought, there are still no definitive answers, etc.) and I thanked him for checking up on me.  I wished him and his two colleagues Happy Holidays, then went and laid down.

The "Best if Used By' date on those bottles of tea is 01-09-2024.   We'll see.

PS. I wanted to thank my friends and visitors for hanging in there with me.  I know this has consumed my writing the last 2 years, but I am not good at hiding discomfort or pain.  Really, thank you.   I came so close this summer to making a full recovery, I'm sure I will again.

PPS. I was just closing this up to go to bed, and saw the awful news about Rob Reiner and his wife.  God rest their souls.