Month: January 2020

Adjusting Focus

On By JohnIn healthLeave a comment

…on our last episode.

Then, he asked a question, “Do you have any pain or discomfort, of any kind, even minor or trivial, anywhere?”

“No, nothing… but honestly, I think I slept on my shoulder wrong… but it’s probably nothing at all…”

“What kind of discomfort? Burning? Pressure? Tearing?”

“None of that,” I’d said, “It’s just a common myalgia — a muscle pain from over-use…”

And then, the very moment when I clarified where it was “…in my right shoulder…” he and I both latched onto that one, single, clue.

…☢️📜

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Segue on the Ongoing Migraine Rant

On By JohnIn healthLeave a comment

…on our last episode.

It’s normal to have a fever every now and again. Your body temperature will fluctuate naturally by about a degree — 36C – 38C every single day. A bit higher before bed. A bit lower in the morning. A bit higher after exercise. And so forth. Typically, it’s no issue and often unperceived.

Sometimes, you’ll get a fever while your body fights off some viral or bacterial infections: the “common cold”, flu, strep throat, chickenpox, pneumonia; dehydration; sunburn; some kinds of medications.

We first wait it out to see if it subsides.

If it doesn’t, then we start to look for causes.

I started having a fever. Low-grade. 38C. Wait it out a few days and see how it goes. Maybe it’s a common cold. Maybe it’s flu-season (not in August). Maybe I’m dehydrated (not more than I’ve been for decades, like most of us are). I live in a desert, but I rarely go outside or into direct sun (yes, telecommuter-life), so it’s not sunburn or heat-exhaustion or (worse) heat-stroke.

Still, we’ll simply wait it out for a few days before seeking medical assistance. It rose and stayed at about 39 to 39.5C.

We went through the same initial Q-A to see if we could find a clue. Any clue…

I hadn’t been traveling or out of the country since before the fall. I haven’t been exposed to anything. I live in A/C. I only go out in the early morning or late evening.

Ah, yes, it’s the annoying — dreaded, even — “fever of unknown origin”.

…🕵️‍♀️📜

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Now We Know Which it Is…

On By JohnIn amusing, techLeave a comment

A week or so ago, I shared my annoyance with the inexplicable “Accessory Not Supported” alerts that I’d begun seeing on my iPad Pro 10.5.

I think I’ve finally pinned down what it was.

Of the three things that have ever been connected to it, the only thing that was connected whenever the error appeared was the smart keyboard.

That the keyboard itself occasionally wasn’t transferring keypresses was a good suggestion that it was likely nearing the end of its useful life.

Two and a half years’ of use wasn’t bad for the keyboard. Bought it new July, 2017. No doubt the failing (failure?) point was the flexible hinge. Honestly, you have to bend it every time you want to use it, so it’s not at all surprising — science hasn’t yet devised a material that would be capable, inexpensive, and robust enough to tolerate constant flexing and bending.

So, good news: I haven’t seen the error appear in a few days that I’ve been running it naked. And, in all honesty, the keyboard does make it slightly more useful, but the first creation I’d ever done with it didn’t even use the keyboard at all with the exception of typing the name of the creation — which I could have just as easily typed with the software keyboard.

Jhonen Vasquez may be displeased.

I shouldn’t use this keyboard failure as an excuse to replace the lot with an iPad Pro 11.

Vision

On By JohnIn healthLeave a comment

…on our last episode.

This is where migraine symptoms become annoying.

Visual issues were part of the predictable prodrome.

I’d go through a visual aura phase that would last about half an hour. I’d have to just sit and wait for it to pass. Scintillating scotoma, I think it’s called. In a pattern of something of a fortification spectrum.

The issue would begin at the fovea, then progress across one half of my binocular field of view. Bilateral.

Did I have an abnormality in my optic chiasm? Probably not.

Certainly, I wasn’t having a stroke. I’d have lost much more than that, and with my physical condition and general health, it’s unlikely. I wouldn’t say “athletic”, but I would suppose it’s better than average. Yes, even after The Year Of Hell.

Eh, so the vision — ongoing. Occasional. In time, it became “normal” for me. It also became annoying as hell. I would learn to live with it.

I mean, I’ve been living with low-grade discomfort or low-grade pain for so long that it was effectively a lifetime of normality.

…🤒📜

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