Thursday, January 26, 2017

Day 251

Busy day.

Sad news as soon as I got to work though: a former technician, year or two younger than I am, was found dead of an overdose yesterday. Had worked in my department a couple decades and was a fun witty person...would have been working with us still if he had done his part in keeping Human Resources notified of his medical leave issues relating to getting help/rehab the last time. So very sad. We are all choosing very hard to think it was an accidental overdose and not an on-purpose one but of course I wonder. So sad. His drug of choice had been booze - "the clear liquors" as a friend/co-worker said - but in recent years it had expanded to include opiayes, benzodiazepines and at one point heroin.    The same friend said he downed a whole bottle of vodka in the car in the way to rehab the first time...I was rather impressed "whole bottle" turned out to be a liter.

And of course it hurts extra because the substance abuse makes us kin...I'm getting my own shit together after a long run of half-pint-plus-two-minis with occasional extra on weekends and holidays but it's the same damned Drunk Now voice; the only difference is volume.

After that somber start to the day I had my "why are my bones 20 years older and thinner than the rest of me?" appointment. My theory about parathyroid problem was endorsed so at least I'm not a total nut-job hypochondriac. More lab work and a 24-hour urine calcium first and if that data supports the theory then ultrasound and Sestambi scan...and either surgery or follow-up with an endocrinologist, depending.

Fortunately the work itself was super-light today. Unfortunately part of it was mediating a staff issue.

The other big part of life right now is Middle moving out. The roommate of his best friend at college graduated mid-year so Friend was set to be re-assigned a new room and roommate which he didn't want...so he asked Middle if he could maybe talk his parents into letting him move into the dorm for the rest of the academic year...and in fact he -could- talk us into it. He is hoping it will be the fresh start he's been wanting since he graduated high school because of all the built-in social opportunities. We hope so too. It is still odd though. Saturday will be the final drive down to leave him and take the car back. I shouldn't be all that upset since it is only 30 minutes away and even in the middle of nowhere where we are the bus goes from campus into town and college ID equals free fare...and I'm not really -upset- but it is definitely another milestone.

Once again I find myself pleased and grateful to be dealing with All The Things as a clear-headed sober person. Not only am I more calm about things/events but also it is just so much easier not having all that when-how-much-who's-watching-what-to-do-after churn taking up so much brain space.

2 comments:

  1. I am so sorry. That is a sad reminder of how bad addiction can be. It am sure that your colleague once thought he wasn't that bad...

    Have you been checked for celiac disease? It can cause bone density loss. When I was diagnosed I had a scan, and they will be more regular.

    Just a thought. I hope you are well!

    Anne

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for kind thoughts. The doc actually did run through all the screening questions for celiac disease but none fit.

    ReplyDelete