22 February 2004 - 12:02 a.m.

hello from day 9 of the headache.

went to the doctor on thursday and had some blood tests done. they found nothing. the first doctor had suggested that anemia causes headaches and that perhaps, because of my vegetarianism, this might be the case. turns out my iron levels are actually high (the only noticeable thing in the blood report, apparently) and that my B12 levels are stellar. "you must be a very good vegetarian," she said.

went to see a second doctor who said it was probably stress-related or a virus or both (my prognosis, but i'm not a doctor, unfortunately) and that i should rest and relax for a few days. i began to laugh maniacally and told her that i have a newspaper to put out and that, no-i-am-not-kidding, NO ONE else knows how to do my job. i can't take time off to rest. "even if i give you a medical certificate?" she asked, which made me cackle even harder. "i am the boss," i replied. to whom would i present the medical certificate?

so i went into work on thursday for a few hours and downloaded all the stuff off my computer so i could do some editing at home. then i took this prescription painkiller she gave me. nothing happened for about four or five hours, and then gravity seemed to go bye-bye while simon and i ate at the vegie bar. nothing too crazy-like, but a little bit on the loopy side. i told simon that if he thought that was funny, he should see me on codeine. after i had my big car accident and wisdom teeth out in the same week, there was a whole period of two weeks following (on codeine, natch) that i really don't remember.

but i digress. so the medication, which was perhaps loopiness-inducing at full-strength, is tolerable if slow-working at half-strength. headache is a-ok for the first time in ages, and i've gotten a bit of work done. let's just hope i'll be fit enough to drive my car to work tomorrow.

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thanks to the headache, i finished knitting the snake scarf last night. i delivered the goods to the upstairs neighbor this arvo, even taking the liberty to name the thing myself (fred, in case you're wondering). i'm borrowing fred back temporarily for the knitting meetup next week, so i'll try to take a photo and post it here.