Music: A Walk to Remember
11:20p
I'm honestly not sure how I'm still upright, still awake (this late at night) after the weekend I had. The work environment itself was not bad at all (no manager + fairly light workload =awesomeness), but personally, it definitely took its toll.
Last Monday, after enduring a week of terrible headaches, I gave up and went to the doctor. I had a sinus infection, and was given meds and told to rest and stay indoors. Things went downhill after that: I couldn't sleep at night because I couldn't breathe, leaving me all the more tired and miserable the next day. I lost my voice after the second day, and by the third day I swore my head would explode if I didn't get out of the house (yes, I defied the doc, sue me). I set out and got things done. I cut my hair (much to John's disappointment), took care of some things around the house, and waited for the meds to kick in so I could go back to work feeling better. Add to the list that I still hadn't heard a word from the dentist on when my trays were due in. I called on Wednesday, and sure enough, they had just come in, and I was asked if I could come in early in the morning to have them put on. Finally, some good news! John was equally excited and said he was happy for me. I went to bed that night, not nervous at all. I read up and did my homework earlier in the day on what I would need to survive the next year or so. The "Invisalign Survival Kit" which came from a mom on Pinterest. Very effective and creative! And VERY helpful at work, as I'd come to find out.
I went in early Thursday morning, and the nurse had everything ready. I got my first set of trays, and practiced putting them in and taking them out. Going to definitely take some getting used to. You take the trays out when you eat, and the only acceptable thing to drink with them in is water, and yes, you do sleep with them in. I'm supposed to wear them a max of 22 hours a day. I talked to the nurse, asking all my questions (these gonna break like I broke my braces? And, yes, it IS possible...only me...), and I'm going to go through 35 trays over the next year. Yikes. So hope it's worth it, this is my one and only hope....if this fails, and they end up moving back, well, I'm going to be quite disappointed.
I barely had time to get used to these strange, new braces before it was time to go back to work. I had the advantage of knowing that not only was my boss NOT going to be there all weekend, but also what my task was. By this point, the infection had still not cleared up any. It just got worse. Friday morning, and for the duration of the weekend, my throat decided that it would be a perfect time to swell up and become sore, and on top of having braces just put in, imagine what my voice sounded like. Holy crap, I spent three days walking around talking like I'd just endured a stroke. Imagine calling up your manager every few minutes because your unloaders were running out of slots to put shit, and having to recite numbers slowly and deliberately. People were asking me if I was okay. I actually considered feigning total laryngitis just so I wouldn't have to talk. Yeah, not a viable option for the job I have to do.
Each of my three work nights left me more tired during the day, because I got no sleep whatsoever. Lord, kill me now, this is not going to work. I barely made it through Saturday. Today was even worse. Upon making it to my assigned dock this morning, my throat was so swollen that talking was very difficult. It felt like my throat was on fire. I couldn't breathe through my nose, and having the trays in made it more difficult to breathe through my mouth. I was completely miserable and in no way wanting to be social or even speak or look at anyone. I was ready to finally admit defeat and go home. People tried to cheer me up or say hi, and I could see my facial expression reflected in theirs. I just wanted to go home and curl up in bed. I took off on the person helping me verify, and hit the break room so I could pop some Asprin and hope for the best. When I got back, I tried to make a better effort to stop scaring people (not just with my voice). I swear to God, he gave someone in that warehouse the power to heal. It's amazing what one little 'hi' can do for your day. My spirits lifted, and I got some energy back. The swelling in my throat finally went down, and after a quick breakfast, I felt more like my old self. I was speaking better, I could breathe for the first time in three days. I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, that maybe I was finally beating this crap. John came and helped me verify off and on and I really enjoy talking to that man. He is very wise. I was feeling more and more upbeat and trying different methods for speaking with braces (running up and down the docks, practicing letters and saying sentences to myself), because eventually I'm not going to sound like I'm the slowest kid in the class anymore! The braces didn't give me an ounce of trouble, and I'm still getting used to them. The day ended uneventfully, but I got out on time, for once.
So now I'm still awake, typing away when I should be trying to get some rest. And the movie I'm watching is very distracting. So off I go to see how much longer I can stay awake....
