I've been to the doctor once a week for three weeks. It's getting expensive, not to mention not very helpful. My regular doctor is out for a month...and these other doctors seem competent, but it sure isn't helping. Today I was prescribed a new antibiotic. I went in to try to resolve this neck pain...and he seemed to want to continue to treat the respiratory infection I had another antibiotic for three weeks ago. That's fine, but something has to happen because I can't sleep...every time my sinuses drain, I have to swallow, and then I wake up from the pain that shoots around the front of my neck like a really tight collar....

But it will get better eventually, and then I won't have to worry about these doctors.

I think I have become a cynic. Of everything. Today it was big news that science has recognized commonalities in people with "metabolic syndrome." I never heard of this, and when I read the article further, I almost fell off my chair laughing. Metabolic syndrome is characterized by people with a large waistline, high blood pressure and a pre-diabetic stage that used to be called glucose intolerance. Hummmm.....sounds to me to be what people used to call "fat" and (or) "unhealthy." The news today is that people who eat three kinds of food in a meal are likely to develop this sydrome. Without opening the newspaper, can you guess what those are? Right! Red meat, fried food and--yep--diet soda! They did think, for some reason, that high-carb foods like all-wheat pasta would do it, too, but not really! I understood the red meat and fried food, but not really the diet soda--until it was explained that most people who drink diet soda feel they are able to eat more of other food since they aren't getting all the calories of regular, non-diet beverages. I suspect the study was in part sponsored by the dairy indusry since milk didn't seem to be a big factor in the syndrome.

In truth, people know eating these foods (Micky D, I apologize)is going to make you fat and unhealthy. Now they have given the result of this kind of diet a fancy name.....I won't take odds about the possibility of opening the newspaper tomorrow and read about a related concern: sedentary cellutic syndrome.

OK, so life is not supposed to be full of stress. So, what else is there? Humor? My sense of humor is very dry. Or very silly. I wish there was a class I could take that would teach me humor. I love to watch half hour sitcoms, and Lucy is my heroine. I love America's Funniest Videos. I love stupid one liners. But I cannot be funny. I am probably one of the most serious people you'll ever meet. Life is fun, and I want to know how to channel that fun into laughter each and every day!

I did some web surfing today to try to figure out some of these many ailments that confound my body into believing it is in pain. I had to have a couple shots on Friday for a headache, then the pain just continued as part of the carotidynea to the point where I don't even want to swallow air like you do when your throat feels dry and you just have to swallow to get things right again. No matter what search I did, stress seemed to be a factor in it all.

I did find one interesting article on Meniere's disease that at one time it was thought the nausea and vomiting was caused by stress and stomach ailments...never connecting it to a problem with the ear until Meniere started to really examine the situation. Stress always seems to be an issue. Remember ulcers? It was thought that stress was usually the cause--until they discovered h. pylori. I wonder what would happen if the scientists took out the stress factor and looked at these conditions from outside that worn-out box. I think that pain gives me stress--so, of course, I'm under stress when the doctor sees me. That means I need to reduce stress if I'm going to get rid of some of these things.

I appreciate that I am under stress. But I think a lot of the stress would be relieved if the doctors could tell me why the pain is there--and nt by telling me it's stress!

However, I do think I need to lose weight. This idea is stressful. Moreso to my family and friends, I think at times. But, I do need to be realistic and lose weight. That idea doesn't stress me. It concerns me and makes my brain start moving--but it's not so stressful that it causes headaches, or throat aches, or shoulder pain, or stomach pain, or any of the other aches and pains.....well, it may cause some pain when I try to exercise, but otherwise, it's not that stressful. But if I step in a doctor's office, they won't do a thing for me until I lose weight since they think that is the source of my problems...the weight and the stress that goes with the weight. Somehow, they should ease up, talk to me in realistic terms, and forget talking about the stress so much!

This is the way I feel today. Somehow, I think tomorrow I'll probably talk again about how stressful my life is....but, somehow, too, I don't think it's the source of this pain in my neck.

It is not supposed to get above zero this weekend. It is not at all warm, and I sometimes wonder why people actually live in Minnesota. I suppose it's because we have the best of both worlds, -20 in the winter and 100+ in the summer...we can enjoy every season every year. Still, I think we could enjoy winter a lot more if it stayed above zero...I know it has to be below freezing for some things around here to happen and to really get winter, but this is not at all fun!

People everywhere are getting sick. I've had walking pneumonia and some kind of respiratory thing that's going around. Little kids are getting high temps and some kind of flu. It's got to get better soon. I think we are all getting cabin fever and life will be so much better when the sun decides to make its presence felt.