I moved into my condo at 729 W. Manhattan, #3, Santa Fe, New Mexico about 7 months before I began this Time Line in late December, 2002. I was feeling the effects of hydrogen sulfide. But, I didn’t know my condo had been built over part of an old Outdoor Toilet Pit. Nor did I know that my condo had hydrogen sulfide inside. 

When symptoms similar to those I’d had when I’d been B12 deficient returned, I began keeping a time line as a neurologist had told me to do years earlier.

Journaling about the effects of hydrogen sulfide
Journaling about effects of hydrogen sulfide

(If you have two or more bathrooms and don’t use them regularly, the water in the traps can evaporate and let sewer gas, which is primarily hydrogen sulfide, into your home.)

Some of the effects of hydrogen sulfide, as shown by my Time Line, are:

Numb feet and hands
Wheezing
Burning pain
Computer hard drive failures
Hair falling out
Memory Problems
Nose bleeds

12/16/02 Worried about money. Major pain in right leg woke me about 4a.m. Unable to kill pain with aspirin, or go back to sleep. Hands kept falling asleep. Wheezing, loud. Took cough medicine. Finally went back to sleep. Morning, hands falling asleep: hard to use mouse.

numb feet are one of the effects of hydrogen sulfide
numb feet are one of the effects of hydrogen sulfide

12/17/02 Worried about money. Have to make it to Feb. (w/o credit dings) to refinance. Couldn’t sleep: woke every 1½ to 2 hours, having to pee. Wheezing. Headache this morning. Nose bleeds. Feet went numb, felt like I was falling: three times at home, then twice while I was out, where with the snow I almost did fall. Walking for a couple of blocks, I was weaving over the course of a quarter of a block. If I’d concentrated, could I have walked straight. Headache again, worse. Just had B12 shot a week ago. Wonder if one now would help.

12/18/02 Hands asleep, woke me. Kept moving them to make the feeling come back. Took a long time. Wheezing. During day didn’t go anyplace I had to walk. Felt depressed.

12/20/02 Left hand kept being asleep during night. Woke me. Wheezing. Front part of my feet tingling, early afternoon. Later whole left foot and ankle tingled, really uncomfortable. Then, exercising, couldn’t fill lungs very far. Chest felt tight. 4:00 p.m. B12 shot.

12/21/02 Went to sleep:11:30 p.m. Up every 1 1/2 hours to pee. 4:00 a.m. my right thigh ached too much to sleep. Wheezing, but not at loud as other nights. Got up, 5:00 a.m. Later was really tired. Napped. When on net, could not remember things I wanted to tell people. Frustrating. Depressed: don’t have money for stamps: need to write letters. But put up Christmas lights.

12/23/02 Kept waking up having to pee. Check in the mail from Delta, refunding $465. Whew. I can pay bills. Out on errands: Albertson’s, etc. had three episodes of feet numb, felt like falling.

12/24/02 Kept waking, having to pee. Hands and feet not falling asleep nearly as much.

12/25/02 Kept waking: pee. Right thigh hurt while I was standing, preparing turkey. Later, thigh burned, but not as badly as in past.

Wheezing is one of the effects of hydrogen sulfide

12/26/02 Kept waking: pee. Some wheezing. Left hand falling asleep. At 3a.m. could not go back to sleep. I wish I had a way of checking my B12 level. Bottoms of feet feel so pins and needles, they feel spongy when I walk.

12/28/02 Kept waking: pee. Some wheezing. Slept about 6 hrs. Hands falling asleep.

Wheezing and Your Airway

12/29/02 Kept waking: pee. Wheezing. 6 hr. sleep, total. Nose bleed a.m. Left foot all pins/needles, long periods of time. Right thigh hurts. Haven’t taken B12 shot because of tiny red spots on thighs, which are a bit like when thousands of tiny blood vessels would break under my skin. I think it’s from picking at bumps, but I can’t remember.  Memory problem, disconcerting.

12/30/02 Kept waking: pee, felt like I wasn’t going to make it. Worried: if I get a cough/flu, I’ll have to wear pads. Right thigh hurts,
when standing. Have to stand on left leg. Hands falling asleep. B12 shot. Glass of wine w/dinner. Think about Grandpa G. saying it was good for the blood.

12/31/02 Woke every 2 hr: pee, then slept 3 to 6:30 a.m. Felt great about that. Did wine help? But hard getting to bathroom w/o accident. Hands not asleep. Left foot still prickly/spongy. Right thigh not painful. No blood when I blow nose. Glass of wine w/ dinner. (Despite “scary” papers from Patrick Casey, I feel good.) Notice moons coming back on my thumbs.

1/1/03 Frequent waking: pee, urgent. Left fingers asleep. No 3½ hr continuous sleep. Sharp pain, left leg, below knee woke me; left w/stretching; grateful no urgency to pee; got up 45 min later. Blew nose, no blood on tissue. Exercise/Physical Therapy: 14 min.

1/02/03 Frequent waking: pee, urgent. Woke early, couldn’t go back to sleep. Called Croix: could he pay his part of rent early, for $25 off. Yes. He brought money early afternoon. Bank; K-Mart, took La Familia records with highlighting to Dr. Baten’s. Had 2 episodes of feet going numb, feeling I would fall. But not as bad as sometimes, no arm flailing, to keep balance.

Hydrogen Sulfide damages nerves, causing pain

1/3/03 Frequent waking: pee, urgent. Sharp pain, left leg, below knee. Woke me. Called Sally Stabler, U of Colorado, Health Sciences, Denver. Was able to speak with her for half an hour. Very excited thereafter. Went, bought Thank You card.

1/4/03 Awake till early a.m. Then, slept w/frequent waking, etc. Sharp pain, left leg, etc. Got enough rest by sleeping late. Mailed card. Right thigh burns/hurts. Exercise/Physical Therapy: 15 min.

1/5/03 Frequent waking, etc. Right thigh painful: hard to stand, make copies, Office D. Exercise/Physical Therapy: 15 min.

1/6/03 Frequent waking, etc. At 5, major wheezing, couldn’t go back to sleep.

1/7/03 Frequent waking, etc. During day, feel depressed. Could be worry re money. Having pd Croix $25 to pay rent early, I’m $25 short for things I need. Checks I was afraid would go through before he pd, hence my need to ask him to pay early, haven’t gone through. Should I have been more trusting, or was it good that I reduced stress for several days, and he got extra money.

Afternoon: Dr. Baten says he will be treating physician witness. Says, in a nice way, I’m not behaving like any attorney he’s ever worked with. (Said this before during City case.) Actually, I feel relieved, remember fed judge at Lamplighter telling me about pro se before him, who won w/ jury. Exercise/Physical Therapy: 15 min

1/8/03 Frequent waking, etc. Getting period, had not thought I would ever see it again. Wonder if my B12 is low again. Write Thank You to Dr. Baten and Dr. Schulhofer. Deliver both. B12 shot, late afternoon. Exercise/Physical Therapy: 15 min.

1/9/03 Frequent waking, etc. More period. Lunch w/Linda @ Manana, her treat. Filed Motion for Clarification: Appeals Ct.; Motion re false Certification, Casey, District Ct. Felt good about accomplishments. Have $25 more than I thought. Whew. Feeling peaceful

1/10/03 Frequent waking, etc. Up at 5:30: could not go back to sleep. Period gone. e-mail from Dusty says computer is on its way. Wow.

I had 5 hard drives fail while they sat on top of the pit

(Computer : Hard Drive Fail: stops working altogether. One from Dusty arrives several days later. No documents from failed hard drive. Get documents mid-March when new hard drive goes in.)

4/15/03 Woke early a.m., could not sleep; walking: Office Depot, Wal*Mart, grocery, feet went numb three times, felt like I was falling, made me anxious; breathing difficult several times. Exercise machine.

4/16/03 Headache upon waking: several aspirin, still have it. Feet when numb, felt as if falling, twice. Made me feel insecure on my feet.

4/17/03 Woke early a.m., could not sleep. Really worried about Judge Hall. Hard work for nothing if he just always decides against me. Also, harder to think when there are so many worries.

4/19/03 Hard to breath, almost all day. Chest tight. No itchy eyes. No wheezing. Still having hard time doing motions for Judge Hall, feel hopeless. Now, it’s night, and I’m still feeling really tight in my chest. With no hay-fever symptoms. My chest almost hurts. (dull hurt)

4/21/03 Woken by pain in my legs – ran out of aspirin (Saturday, and yesterday was Easter.) Tired, only able to sleep six hours.

4/23/03 Pretty much pain: legs, back. Take lots of little (81 gm) aspirin. Notice my chest is less tight.

4/24/03 Not as much pain early a.m. (4a.m.) in leg bones as has been recently, but right thigh has sun burned feeling. I wonder if it has to do with the stress from my credit report problems, and the stress last week of feeling it was hopeless to go on in court, because of Judge Hall appearing to not like me. Bowel problems… too loose, hard to control. Hands falling asleep during day. Chest not as tight. I took a lot of 81 mg aspirin before going to sleep for night.

4/25/03 Pain in legs did not wake me. Wheezing early a.m. But what woke me was hands being so asleep I couldn’t get them to stop tingling, even w/lots of movement. Wal*Mart, in parking lot and store, feet went numb, felt like I was falling. Also, hard to walk straight line. Evening: chest tight, hard to breath.

4/26/03 Phone woke me this morning: quickly got up to answer and couldn’t hold pee. It had only been two hours since the last time I’d peed. Feet tingly.

4/27/03 Woke around 4 a.m. Wheezing so loud I couldn’t go back to sleep. Coffee, per some book, works same as inhaler: breathing is better with coffee. Bowel incontinence: wonder if I should try to be constipated. Hands tingle. Right thigh burns so much, for so long, it aches. Bath before going to bed; 2 melatonin, instead of one, and Valerian. Feet keep me awake, especially left: tingling is turning to burning. Very uncomfortable. Worry about mobility.

4/28/03 Woke every 2.5 hours: pee. Once almost crashed into wall, had to stop to turn toward bathroom. Slept till almost 7. Left foot tingling. This p.m. went to Albertson’s: left foot felt spongy; I felt as if I were falling several times; would have given up trying to buy things I needed, except could use shopping cart for support. Hours later foot still feels uncomfortable.

Hydrogen Sulfide effects - hair loss
Hydrogen Sulfide effects – hair loss

4/29/03 Lots of hair falling out, early a.m. Major headache. Hands asleep. Afternoon: closed on equity line of credit. It will be a relief not to have to worry about $ all the time. Still, today: chest tight, shallow breath, coughing: I think to try to fill lungs. Feet went numb going into Albertson’s, and again on way out. It’s most scary when I don’t have hold of a shopping cart. On the way out, since I only had four light things, I didn’t take the cart. But when I was going up the curb by my car, my foot went numb and I fell back. I caught my balance, but felt scared. May be time for a B12 shot.

4/30/03 Woke too early despite bath, melatonin, valerian last night. Right thigh uncomfortable. Left foot continues to feel sort of the way my hands used to feel when I had walked home from school in Wisconsin and they were so cold that standing next to the radiator to warm them didn’t feel lovely, but hurt as feeling came back. B12 Shot, a.m.

5/2/03 Woke up with image of Full House of Aces and Eights in my mind. Then, Mario couldn’t come because of flat tires; computer didn’t get fixed, though they said it would; the hole wouldn’t stay covered; the sides of the hole fell in, making it even harder to cover any of it; my gold card was 0 balance, when it should have had several dollars available; AOL either over charged me, or didn’t put the right amount on my bill at “Billing”. Right thigh hurt a lot today, sunburned feeling: at Dillard’s where I was looking, I had to sit down for awhile when the pain became too intense to handle. On the good side, I exercised for 10 minutes.

5/5/03 Chest tight, hard to breath. Called health department re outhouse hole and gases. They said to get VOC tests. (Volatile Organic Compounds.) Michael Curtis is therefore coming on Friday. Need to close up house prior. Nervous about what my breath problem may be, and about getting continuance. Feet constantly going numb while I was out today: at least a half dozen times. Made me want to go home and watch telly, and never leave the house again. Right thigh hurting, but numb to the touch. PM: left foot tingly: uncomfortable.

5/13/03 Really bad sensation of falling episode in Albertson’s: even after I realized it was my foot, in this case my left foot, I still felt as if it was giving out under me, it felt pins and needles and smooshy at the same time. Very distressing feeling. Glad I had a cart to support me.

5/14/03 Foot went tingly numb in Albertson’s, also at home in kitchen, but not as intensely. Left foot feels weird almost all the time, tingly. Sore throat today, think it’s from getting up too early, along with irritation from HS (hydrogen sulfide.) Chest still tight. Read Environmental Report.

5/15/03 Not much wheezing this a.m. (Fan has been on for many days now. And door is open all day when I am home. Lots of wind, feel as if air is being cleaned out, inside.

5/16/03 Some wheezing early a.m. Leg pain woke me up. Took aspirin, went back to sleep, got 7 hr. altogether. Air feels fresher in here, after wind yesterday. Still have fan on all the time.

Hydrogen Sulfide effects – Numbness & memory loss

5/17/03 Numb foot, falling sensation in kitchen.

Memory Problems

5/18/03 Trouble w/memory while talking with neighbor who’s building. Kept getting names mixed up. I made a joke of it and they laughed.

5/23/03 P.M. light off, bumped into bed, had to hold on to it to navigate around it, else, felt like I would fall.

5/24/03 Left foot tingling intensely.

5/26/03 Hands very numb during the night. So uncomfortable it woke me.

5/27/03 Bumped into doorway during the night. Chest really tight, wheezing when I awoke this a.m. Some coughing. This afternoon I bumped into the doorway going outside.

6/6/03 At the condo about 4 hours. Before I was leaving my forehead began to swell and the inside of my mouth felt uncomfortable.

6/7/03 Bridge of nose swollen. Puffy around eyes. Mouth feels really swollen and gums are bleeding along their sides – metallic taste. Feet very swollen. Get some lung and deep health soft gels from Herbs Etc. and aloe vera juice and green tea. Isn’t helping a lot, but I feel as if I tried.

6/8/03 Mouth still irritated. Eyes still puffy. Forehead not quite so swollen. Feet swollen.

6/9/03 Still can’t taste properly because of metal taste. But my gums and inside of my lips and my tongue don’t feel as swollen.

Epsom salts soak

6/14/03 Gums irritated and swollen after going to condo around 2. Christopher Alba was there with Dimitrio, I was surprised because he was supposed to call me after he met with him at 11. Also, they had put up what looked like an expensive barrier. The wood looked like an awfully good grade to use for a barrier. I said I was upset. I took several deep breathes in order to sort of steel myself to tell him I was upset he didn’t call. I think it must have been the deep breaths that caused the irritation. Then later my feet were really swollen again. I got epsom salts and soaked and the swelling went down.

6/15/03 Wheezing early a.m. Mouth feels better than on other recent occasions when it was irritated… the inside of my upper lip still feels swollen, but not as much as on other days after being by the pit.

Hydrogen Sulfide effects: swollen forehead

6/18/03 Changed rooms today at hotel. Window open for fresh air. Mouth began tingling/burning, tongue began to feel as if it were swelling, and forehead felt swollen. Looked out window and there are two pipes sticking out of the ground that look like clean outs except neither is capped. Dean at the front desk went to look at them with me, and at my request later took some black plastic and rubber bands and covered each one.

This evening my Epsom soak didn’t leave me feeling quite as freshened as last night, so I wonder if the pipes are clean outs. Certainly they smelled like the smell at my house, but it wasn’t a rotten egg smell, it was a sickly sweet kind of smell. Need to check that out on the web.

Saw Dr. Baten today. He said there is something medical that is like when my feet feel so peculiar. I asked him if other people were upset by it, or if it was only me, and he said, of course if you feel like you’re going to fall on your face. His voice was emphatic. Not happy about this being something medical. But glad that finally someone isn’t denying it, like Lori and all at Rodeo Family who said they’d never heard of anything like it.

Nose Bleed Drawing

7/3/03 Nose bleed. Major pain in my chest when I want to go to sleep. Take several sm. Aspirin.

7/4/03 Nose bleed. Major pain in chest, but not exactly at sternum. Mouth and feet still swollen.

Epsom salts to get rid of hydrogen sulfide toxins

7/5/03 Nose bleed. B12 Shot. Epsom salts soak, to hopefully get rid of some more hydrogen sulfide toxins. Mouth still swollen, especially upper lip, inside mouth. Feet swollen, too.

7/6/03 So far, no nose bleed…. Also, hands not falling asleep. Epsom salts soak, hoping to get rid of more hydrogen sulfide toxins. Mouth still swollen, and feet…

7/7/03 Again, no nose bleed.

7/16/03 Shower: only cold water. B12 shot.

7/21/03 Fell back against my night stand when I got up to go to the bathroom last night. I scrapped and bruised my left elbow. I almost fell again in the bathroom. Very scared.

7/22/03 Felt scared at night when I had to get up to go to the bathroom. Made sure I held the wall.

7/23/03 Shower: cold water; decided it was character building. B12 Shot.

7/24/03 Another cold shower, felt I needed more character building.

7/25/03 Pretty much wheezing last night, early a.m. Had a horrible dream about soldiers in my house with guns, I was very terrified in the dream, and the men in the dream were in fear for their lives. In my dream we hadn’t done anything wrong, but were targeted for some reason only known to the soldiers. It left me uneasy all day.

7/26/03 Wheezing night/early a.m.

7/27/03 Melatonin to sleep. My sleep was so intermittent due to the wheezing. I couldn’t sleep after about 4 a.m. and got up somewhat after 5 a.m. Having gone to sleep at midnight (I went to bed before 11, but the melatonin didn’t put me straight to sleep) getting up around five doesn’t make for enough sleep. Also, much worry about money and the refusal of the condo association to pay their share of the outhouse pit remedy costs. Very worrying.

7/30/03 Dalmane to sleep. Wheezing during the night/early a.m.

7/31/03 Melatonin to sleep. Wheezing during the night/early a.m. Going to the bathroom during the night: afraid of falling. B12 shot. Worried about mortgage payments. Sore throat.

8/1/03 Money situation very scary and stressful. Kept waking during the night. Up way too early, go back to sleep, Mario calls about 8:30 and wakes me. He lends me $50. In the afternoon, I stretch at computer and toes touch the wall, feel as if they go right into it… I look to see if for some reason the wall board got wet, but it was just the way my feet feel. Melatonin to sleep.

8/2/03 Wheezing early a.m. — typical unless I take the Dalmane. Work some on Attorney General check thing. Read statutes that apply. It looks as if I am exempt. Take Dalmane pm, need sleep. Need to complete and send out. Also need to check other computer for letter I sent Sherry Weinstein about Dean’s bad checks…

8/3/03 Wake rested. Spend the day playing Tumble Bees on Pogo, with the idea of improving my recall for words a la advice from Mary Cohen, speech therapist who is helping me relearn some things and to compensate to make my life work better. She says I can actually grow new brain cells when I learn a new (old skills lost via my brain damage from the untreated B12 malabsorption illness) skills, and that they will help me function better….

8/4/03 Woke a little after 4 a.m., could not go back to sleep. Lots of wheezing. Got up, made toast and coffee, and played Tumble Bees, hoping that my word recall improves. Went back to sleep around 7 a.m. John Huddy, Alb. Journal North, called about 11 a.m. for number of people to interview to do story. Around 1:30 p.m. they are pumping the porta-potty next door. I wonder if that will reduce the wheezing early tomorrow morning… Not looking forward to cold shower. Wish I had the money to fix hot water heater. Dalmane to sleep.

8/5/03 Slept all night. Not aware of wheezing, maybe small amount this a.m. But slept till after 7. Feel rested.

8/10/03 Very bothersome wheezing for several hours early a.m. Could not sleep soundly. Did not go to Wal*Mart, just could not face having to take things back to get the money to buy a bit of food. I had some rice here, so I cooked it with a bit of garlic salt.

8/11/03 Kept waking up. Some wheezing, not like before, though, not so loud. Very limited food: I had left over brown rice for breakfast, but without any protein it wasn’t very filling. Around 1:30 p.m. they pumped the porta-potty. My mouth swelled, around my gums and the inside of my lips. Also I was coughing and my chest felt tight.

8/12/03 Far less wheezing last night. I slept much better.

8/14/03 Felt like I was falling, going into Albertson’s. Came home and gave myself a B12 shot. Got the medical records from Alice Sisneros.

8/15/03 Wheezing this a.m. Could not sleep because of it. Got up, but was very tired and never really felt good all day. Also, hard to breath during the day.

9/14/03 Bad nose bleed during night, got blood all over my night dress, ran to bathroom for tissue, got blood on rug…

9/15/03 B12 shot

9/16/03 Another nose bleed at night. Not as bad, stopped sooner.

9/17/03 Phone not working in the afternoon. Too depressed to drive anywhere to make calls. Afraid I’d have an accident. It’s really oppressive that the street is being dug up and the sewer worked on at a cost of $5,200 or more, when they haven’t paid one single penny for the outhouse pit.

9/18/03 Very saddened about foreclosure notices. Scared. Distressed. Especially distressed that Hunt, Deal and Two Crow immediately spent $5,200 for their problem, but have not paid one cent toward the outhouse pit. Turns out that plumber guys broke phone cable yesterday.

9/19/03 B12 Shot, hoping it will help me from feeling so depressed about situation here with Hunt, etc., and with extreme pressure regarding money. I should go to Salvation Army for help with electric bill.

9/20/03 Woke up to go to the bathroom. Wheezing badly when I got back to bed. Could not sleep because of wheezing and tight chest, even though I’d taken a Dalmane to sleep only 4 hours earlier. Afraid I’m going to get another nose bleed. Up at 3:54 to see if tightness gets better if I have a cup of coffee and sit up for awhile. Wonder if David Pike did see to it that porta-potty was cleaned yesterday. So tired at 9p.m. that I was almost immobile from fatigue. Did a few things, went to bed about 10:30.

9/21/03 Coughing during the night. Hard to breathe. Woke up when I thought someone was knocking on door. Went back to bed, slept till noon. Wonder why I was so tired. Still coughing, but not as much. 10:30 p.m. I am so tired again. I feel exhausted. Small nose bleed just before I went to sleep. Not the gusher like last week.

9/22/03 Small nosebleed this a.m. Woke exhausted. Had to go and beg for money for my electric today. Lots of places were out of money… I was lucky that St. Vincent De Paul was able to help. Also almost everyone was amazed at how low my bills were, I explained that it’s because I don’t have hot water. I was drained after that. But very grateful. I wish I had money for vitamins. I think I feel better when I have vitamins.

9/24/03 Ball of my left foot is really numb. Also, my toes seem stiffer, whereas they had seemed to be getting more mobility. Bumped into doorway at home this afternoon. Stumbled against wall while cleaning at Vereda. B12 Shot, p.m.

9/25/03 Mouth swelling after I took pictures of hole with Sole’s pipes in it. Took photo of pipe where cement was used as sole coupling… Also, there were no roots in the pipe, so it was not my tree that was making the problem. Small pipe was funneled into larger, then cement was used as seal. No actually, the Cartwright’s guy was wrong. They used the old pipe, that was vacated, the one with the cleanout near the sidewalk, which they had already said wasn’t being used…

10/1/03 Have to organize receipts. Really hard to do. Keep getting confused. Takes me most of the day. I try to use what Mary Cohen taught me, regarding making piles and then trusting they will be right when I converge them. It helped. But it was still hard.

10/2/03 Work on receipts; made copies at Office Depot, used Mary Cohen’s suggestions, which helped significantly; take them to Mark Oswald, Alb. Journal North, late afternoon.

10/3/03 Took receipts, totaling almost $12,000, to Accent Property Management. Was supposed to hear from her, but though I called several times, she didn’t call me. Late afternoon, when I called her, she said that she’d tried to reach Dorie but she was out. I called the gallery and someone who said her name was Roberta said Dorie was there, could she give her my name. I was on hold for a pretty long time, then the woman said Dorie was with a customer and could she call me back. I asked that she call Accent Property Management. Used top coat sealer at Vereda and saw that it was dull. I read the blurb on the label and realized I’d used the wrong can first.

I told Mario and he said I’d talked about that on Wednesday. I could not remember that at all. I felt as if I’d just discovered it. Almost fell on saltillo at Vereda when I from wet carpet onto the shinny, newly sealed saltillo. It felt like when my feet go numb and I feel like I’m falling, my reaction was the same, to sort of flail and try to keep my balance. I didn’t fall, but I was scared. Keeping my balance seemed a lot harder than when my feet didn’t ever go numb.

10/4/03 Woke during the night, trouble breathing.

10/5/03 Woke about 4 a.m., trouble breathing. Got up when I couldn’t go back to sleep. After coffee and a few hours I was able to go back to sleep. In the afternoon, that “can’t feel the floor feeling again,” but at home. Bumping into doorways, as usual.

Porta Potty causes all the effects of hydrogen sulfide

10/6/03 Woke around 4 a.m.: hard to breath. Tried to go back to sleep but could not, too much trouble breathing. Got up, had coffee, read email. Around 7 went back to bed, fell asleep. Mario called and woke me at 8. When I didn’t answer he kept calling at ten minute intervals. I finally got up and answered. After that I tried to go back to sleep but could not. Eyes burn. Body feels bad, Just exhausted. Lots of coughing. Took me over an hour to find a copy of the Affidavit he wanted a copy of.

L&L come and pump porta potty. Clearly they have not been doing it on Fridays. Went to talk to driver, trying to keep him here till David Pike from City came, (I’d called him) but my mouth began to swell and I had to go away from truck. Driver said his name was Victor. Pike said he’d come over, but I never heard from him, nor did I see him next door. I wrote with my complaint to City Manager and Pike, and copied to mayor. Feet go numb: can’t feel the ground. Nose bleed. Feel over tired. Hands shaking.

Also, very worried about not being able to cover mortgage check. If I can’t cover it, it will cause a 60 days late on my credit report, which lasts with bad effects for a year. Call lawyers for New Mexican and try to settle, but can’t remember what I meant to say… They do not call back. Call Jack Hardwick, he does not call back. Mouth still swollen at 10 p.m. Teeth feel as if they are loose in my gums. Scary.

10/7/03 Hard to breathe during the night. Get up: coffee, play computer games. Go back to bed at 7, sleep till 9:30. Can’t find the pages Jill Ryan gave me to work on. Have looked and looked. I have no idea what I did with them. Coughing. Mouth only a little swollen. My left foot went numb three times this afternoon. The worst was when I was on the slippery marble going into the PO.

10/10/03 Coughing really hard while seeing Mary. She gives me cough lozenge. P.M.: Notice cracks between bricks in bedroom doorway.

10/11/03 Bricks in bedroom doorway appear to be sinking. Wonder if there’s hydrogen sulfide coming up… Put fan on, blowing from bedroom window toward living room.

10/12/03 Slept better, didn’t wake with wheezing. Did cough while making coffee. Wonder if hydrogen sulfide is accumulating in living room/kitchen.

10/13/03 Cough in bathroom and living room. Throat feels irritated. But gets better when I stay in bedroom with windows open.

10/14 Could not sleep because of how cold it was from having to leave the window open and a fan on to reduce the hydrogen sulfide, if that’s what has been making me wheeze in the early a.m. and especially on weekends and Mondays. Got up this morning shivering and cold to the bone. Very dizzy standing in line to file at state district court. Had to hold on to door to steady myself.

10/17 B12 Shot.

10/20/03 Forehead feels swollen, upper lip feels as if it has Novocain, feel as if I’m trembling, but my hands don’t really seem to be moving when I extend them and look at them, and I’m really dizzy. I was dizzy when I was meeting with Mario this morning. By the time we went to Calle de Molina, and we were on the back porch, I was feeling really dizzy and at one point lost my balance against the wall.

Because of the way my forehead feels, which is like when the hydrogen sulfide poisoning was the worst, I wonder if it’s from the  hydrogen sulfide. Only my feet aren’t swollen, whereas that time with the hydrogen sulfide my feet were major swollen. 8pm still not feeling well. Forehead still feels swollen. Not dizzy as long as I’m sitting, though during the news I felt as if the room were spinning, and I was sitting then. Made me a little nauseous.

10/21/03 Turned on fan to extract from bathroom this morning while I made coffee, and before I went in. Throat felt somewhat irritated in kitchen, but not as bad as previously. Coughed some from irritation, but not horrible coughing.

10/22/03 Went to the bathroom to pee at 3a.m. Coughing. Could not go back to sleep. Felt as if heart was racing, felt scared as if there were a prowler or someone trying to break in, only there was no one outside at all. Got up. Feel very tired, hope to play a few computer games, then go back to sleep. Went back to sleep about 7:30, but only
slept about 45 minutes before I woke coughing so badly that I couldn’t breathe: it felt as if my throat was irritated. Then slept till Mario called at 11:20. Mario brought over water bottle and estimate for final work. When I went outside when he was leaving, I bumped into the gate. In the afternoon I was dizzy, but I didn’t do anything (activities), and it didn’t get as bad as it was on Monday.

10/23/03 It’s 10:23 a.m. and I’m not dizzy, at least not yet. I did turn on the bathroom extraction fan this morning before going in. And I opened the front door almost immediately after I got up, so that there would be more fresh air inside. I have on my fur coat, so it’s not uncomfortable, except that the coat is a bit bulky.

NM Pest Control just drove in. I am thinking I don’t need that when my forehead is already feeling swollen and my tongue is feeling prickly, though not as much as yesterday. Went and talked with pest control guy, told him I couldn’t close my windows because of what appears to be a second outhouse pit; I can’t close my windows to keep the spray out. He said it was pyrethrum, and not harmful.

I said I was familiar with the daisy, and that I have had a reaction to it. I said that my forehead is swollen now, and my gums; that I didn’t want my gums to bleed again. He said he was waiting for Dorie Deal, who should be here in five minutes. It’s about 5 to 11, now. When Dorie arrived I went back and asked her not to spray out side. At first she wasn’t cooperative, but then she agreed. I stood outside her wall and waited to be sure no spraying was done outside. B12 Shot.

10/24/03 Yesterday in the afternoon I was exhausted. This afternoon I feel not so tired. So I think the shot is helping. Also, I didn’t have a nose bleed today.

10/25/03 It’s pretty late at night and I only just ate dinner. I find I am now coughing quite a lot. So I wonder if it is from being in the kitchen where there may be more hydrogen sulfide than in here where I can sit by and open window and the fan is blowing any hydrogen sulfide there might be out of the room and into the living room/kitchen… Actually, I noticed that I started coughing this afternoon when I was on the phone in the living room…

10/26/03 Woke with a headache and feeling like I was trembling. When I made my morning coffee and went to pick it up, I spilled it because my hand was shaking. I think it’s the stress of worrying about money. I’m doing things, so it’s not like I’m just sitting here feeling sorry for myself. But the pressure appears to get to me anyway… Major cold this afternoon, despite wearing old fur coat. Had to turn heat up, as I was desperately cold. Trouble breathing when fireplace smoke comes
windows I have to have open because of possible second outhouse pit. Cough, very irritated throat. Mouth swells.

10/27/03 Fireplace smoke, p.m. is really irritating to my throat. Gums swell, cough. Feel very bad.

10/28/03 City calls (Cathy) and is threatening and scaring me about the water at 2836 Vereda de Pueblo. I fall apart and start thinking of killing myself. So distressed. She keeps saying they only shut the water off because Grows specifically asked them to. Shaking. Feel very desperate. Call Jill Ryan to make apt for next week, think I need
support. Hands shaking when I do blood test for blood type diet: I can’t control circles and mix the blood. Waste of $15.20. B12 shot to see if that helps how depressed I feel. Very depressed and upset. Trouble breathing because of fireplace smoke coming inside through open bedroom windows. Cough a lot.

10/29/03 Almost spill morning coffee because I’m still shaking. Don’t feel as bad as yesterday, afternoon after Cathy/City called, though. Sadly, the water has not been turned back on at Calle de Molina, so there’s not much I can do. If it were on, I think I would go there and see if that improved my mouth and throat… (forehead not as swollen as it was, but upper lip still feels full of Novocain. P.M when fireplace smoke started again, my mouth swelled more than previously, so that the back of my mouth was swollen, and I was worried that if my throat was the next thing to swell, I wouldn’t be able to breathe. My teeth hurt when I bit on anything, and they felt as if they were getting loose when my gums were very swollen. When I went to bed, I was wheezing.

10/30/03 This morning there was blood in the phlegm in my throat… I coughed for awhile. Very worried about tonight, and what the effect is on me of this happening again and again. Made several phone calls. My mouth began to swell (the phone is in line with the fan from my bedroom…) Then, walking to the kitchen, my foot went numb and I grabbed for the kitchen counter. Went to Dr. Fitzpatrick late this afternoon. She wrote me a prescription for a pen to inject myself if the swelling began to close my throat. Also note to water dept. to turn water back on at Calle de Molina. Being out of the house the three hours I had to wait at her office reduced the swelling from this afternoon.

10/31/03 Move to Calle de Molina. Mario helped me. Took only essential things. Phone was connected. Water is supposed to be on by 5:00; on in the afternoon. Furnace not on. Throat doesn’t swell this evening.

11/1/03 My mouth doesn’t feel as swollen; Gums beginning to look pink again.

11/3/03 Decide to use electric stove top to heat, instead of forced air.

11/4/03 Begin writing letters: grandfather Kline’s birthday.

11/5/03 Woke up scared. Hands very numb. Thigh hurts and goes numb when standing.

11/6/03 Woke up scared. Feet fall profoundly asleep, hard to get proper feeling back into them. Smell smoke from a fireplace near here. Mouth swells.

11/7/03 Woke up scared. Mario for lunch: beans and rice with a tad of mozzarella. He leaves $20 for me to get food and gas. I finish letters. Mean to give myself a B12 shot, but it gets dark before I remember and I’m afraid to do it in the dark in my bedroom. Since I usually do it while I’m reclining in bed, I’m also afraid to try doing it while I’m on a chair in the living room… Hands and feet still falling asleep. Thigh hurt a lot while I was standing and talking to Mario before he left.

11/8/03 Woke up scared. My shoes are really loose today: my guess is that my feet were swollen but not as swollen as this summer, so I didn’t recognize it; forehead not swollen at all. Mouth feels good. Also, notice that I haven’t spilt the Brita pitcher in several days: I was spilling it a lot, especially at Manhattan, after I filled it and was trying to put it back on the counter; I kept misjudging and hitting the side of the sink with it. Go to get some groceries, post letters, and exchange cabbage seeds for kale seeds. Mouth swells in car presumably from oil burning when it leaks and touches something hot.

11/9/03 Work outside for several hours. Very hard to get myself to work on court cases. Feel as if it is hopeless because of how Judge Hall seems to feel about me. He’s never decided in my favor. In Johnson case he only gave me half of what I showed was owed and he didn’t have Johnson pay me at all for wrecking my car. He allowed the ex parte letter from Patrick Casey.

I feel as if all the work I do on these other cases is destined to be meaningless if he just continues to do this. Decide to write to Marcie and ask her to ask Bob what I should do. About 2 or 3 in the afternoon I remember that Judge Hall explained about the reconsider. So it doesn’t seem as hopeless. Except that he does seem to explain things for me, then still decide against me; but, less worried.

Mouth, forehead, feet not swollen. Feel best I’ve felt in a long time. Remember to give myself B12 shot while there’s still light. About 6 hours later I notice my left foot toes have more feeling and I am able to flex them more.

11/10/03 There’s a fly here that has been here for several days. At Manhattan they always died within a day. Did not wake as scared today.

11/12/03 Hands very asleep.

11/13/03 Hands asleep. Feet hurt when they are waking up from being asleep.

11/14/03 Feet hurt waking up from being asleep.

11/15/04 Hands asleep, especially left. B12 shot, but the really skinny needles are hard to use, so I didn’t get quite the full amount; probably about 80% of it. It was the same last time, too.

11/16/03 Didn’t sleep well last night; Up many times to pee. But my feet weren’t feeling weird, and so far today my hands haven’t fallen asleep. I washed my purple velour house dress yesterday and today checked to see how much fallen hair there was on it. The two previous times that I washed it, it was covered in my hair from new hairs to long ones. Today there are less than a dozen strands, though some of them are still the fine, new hairs. Unfortunately I was spilling the Brita pitcher again today.

11/17/03 My feet are falling asleep today, so I’m wondering if this is because of how scared I feel. Cuz I just had the B12 shot on Saturday… I woke up feeling scared this morning.

11/18/03 Bad nose bleed.

11/26/03 Bad nose bleed.

11/27/03 Really sick, throwing up, after eating turkey which had been discolored where gravy from broken gravy bag had been. I think I may have been made sick by having put too much olive oil in, and there being too much turkey fat on the parsnips when I ate them.

11/28/03 Had three small slices of turkey breast for lunch. Got sick again some hours later. Didn’t eat anything else. Feet fall badly asleep, feel like frost bite.

11/29/03 Called Smith’s and I can bring turkey back tomorrow when Doug, regular manager, is there. Left foot is major asleep, hard to wake it. Feels a bit like frost bite. Feet fall badly asleep.

11/30/03 Another nose bleed. I have to give myself a B12 shot today. I just don’t like the little needles because it takes so long to push down the plunger and I begin feeling weird. Plus, they are short and tend to leave black and blue marks… but I can’t take them back… so…

12/1/03 Hands/Feet not falling asleep today.

12/2/03 Hands/Feet not falling asleep today.

12/4/03 Left foot felt like my hands used to feel after walking home from school when I was a child in Wisconsin: when I stood with them over the radiator at the bottom of the stairs, they hurt as they warmed up. It was very uncomfortable: with my foot.

12/5/03 Checked bank balance and it was only $32.00. A check from ages ago had gone through… for $125. I was so upset. But, it was also the case that my vision became blurred. I did affirmations, and wrote to people not to cash cheques I had given them. By the time I went to bed I was having light nose bleeds.

12/6/03 B12 shot.

12/7/03 My left foot is doing that warming up after feeling frozen thing. It is so uncomfortable. It’s warm in here, too, so it can’t be from the temperature.

12/9/03 During bath found black and blue mark on my arm, so apparently I’m still bumping into doorways hard enough to leave a mark. I had thought I was better, though yesterday night when I was carrying Egypt, I realized it was dangerous to go around a corner while holding her, since I could bump into the doorway with enough force to leave a mark on myself, much more so, her.

Nose bleed – not as bad as ones in past… It came after I was at the store and had a very hard time using the coupons I had because I didn’t have any money. Several people were in line behind me, the line grew, as the transaction took forever… It was very embarrassing. Later, at home, I was so exhausted, and when I had the nose bleed, I wondered if it was from having experienced so much stress. B12 Shot.

12/11/03 So far I seem to be doing better than yesterday: no weird feeling in my left foot. Also, I slept for three hours at one point during the night, which is twice as long as I usually am able to sleep at a go, without having to get up and pee… to avoid an accident.

12/19/03 Nosebleed. Left foot asleep with feeling like very cold hands warming over a radiator… almost painful; hard to wake it up.

12/21/03 Left foot profoundly asleep again. Need to give myself a B12 shot today….. B12 Shot

12/22/03 So far not falling asleep feet today and it’s afternoon.

1/3/04 Bad headache. Bad nosebleed

1/4/04 Toothache. Bad nosebleed; check to see how long it’s been since B12 shot… longer than I remembered… B12 shot, and put a reminder in my calendar.

1/5/04 Feeling much better today…

1/7/04 Headache. Teeth hurt. Bone in jaw hurts. B12 shot.

1/11/04 B12 shot.

4/12/04 Got up at 5:30. Sick this morning, very dizzy, threw up. Noise in my ear is bad, but certainly not the worst it’s ever been. Went back to bed around 7, slept till 10:30. Feet aren’t ticklish. I had nose bleeds two different days recently; not as severe as the ones I was having. Neck hurts. Headache. B12 shot. (Maybe this is why I was so cold yesterday. I thought it was that it was cold outside, but now that I feel so sick, I wonder if being cold yesterday is related.) I have chills now.

The area around the base of the toilet that I thought I hadn’t sanded well enough, is actually wet, and where I thought the kitty had peed on the tile, it’s really a yellow salt or something like the white stuff that forms on stucco walls in the shape of the bricks the wall is made from. There’s white stuff on the tiles, too. So maybe I got sick this weekend when I didn’t have fresh air from outside coming in the open door, the way I had during the warmer weather. Also maybe my ear noise is worse today because my B12 is lower (given the less ticklish feet, headache).

This afternoon my neck hurt and I thought it was because of the noise in my ear making me tense. But now (it’s 10 p.m.) all my muscles are hurting, especially in my legs and back and hips and shoulders.

Teflon Danger

So I wonder if my neck hurting was a prelude to this, or if this has to do with the fact I think I let my Farberware frying pan get too hot… because it smelled weird even though it didn’t seem like it should have been too hot. May be the teflon is making me hurt as if I have the flu, and maybe that’s why I had that feeling so often during the months that I also had the shingles. Maybe I should get a new frying pan… without teflon. Other foreclosure papers delivered.

4/14/04 Yesterday morning my feet were much more ticklish. But yesterday evening they were not so ticklish any more. The noise in my right ear was not as bad yesterday as it had been. This morning I had a minor nose bleed. My feet aren’t very ticklish, and I have a bit of a headache. So, I think I will have a B12 shot. The noise in my ear is not very bad, it’s about 6:20 a.m. During the day I forgot about how my feet weren’t very ticklish. By news this evening, I found my left foot simply wasn’t ticklish at all, so I immediately went and got a B12 shot and gave it to myself.

I had thought I had a sore on my gum, by the implant that doesn’t have a socket anymore. But when it hurt a lot to put my partial in to eat, I decided to soak my mouth in salt water, so I did that an hour an a half. I think there isn’t really a sore, but that the there’s a large swollen area. I’m worried. But really this is the same problem as I had in December, and I’ve made it this far, so I think, hope, that it will be all right till I can work out the dentist thing through TBI. It hurts even when I don’t have my partial in, but it’s not a real intense pain.

Hydrogen Sulfide effects include tinnitus

4/15/04 When I woke up my gum by that sore spot hurt like a dull ache. But once I got busy I didn’t notice it so much. If I touch that part of my cheek, though, the pain is rather sharper and then I can’t ignore it. My feet were not very ticklish this morning… but at least I didn’t have cramps in my feet and legs during the night last night. It was over the weekend that I was having muscle cramps.

ringing in ears

The ringing is louder than yesterday. I had hoped that after the B12 shot it would have been less intrusive. When I put my partial in to go to UPS with the Farberware I’m returning that area of my mouth hurt so bad that my eyes started tearing.

I had to go to post and to UPS, so I just had to stand the pain, but it was so bad that my neck got stiff and I got a headache and my eyes kept tearing as if I were crying. I just wanted to scream. I didn’t go to the grocery store, since obviously I can’t eat anything that requires chewing.

Luckily the man at UPS helped me fill in the form, since I just could not work out how to do it because of the pain and my inability to figure the lines out when the pain was taking my concentration away. Now it’s after the news and I’ve noticed that my feet are even less ticklish. I took the implant peg out and soaked my mouth with salt water for about an hour. The peg was bloody when I took it out. 6:30 p.m. the noise is much louder now. I’m feeling just totally exhausted and my eyes burn. I think the stress from the pain is using up B12. B12 shot.

4/16/04 My right hip was too painful to sleep on last night. I can press on my face above my swollen gums and it isn’t as painful as yesterday. I do seem to have some sort of sores in my mouth, which may be from the amount of salt I’ve had in my mouth the two days prior to this. 2 small nose bleeds today.

4/17/04 My right hip wasn’t painful last night, but the bone between my right knee and my right ankle was, and it kept me awake. I slept some, intermittently. When I woke up, my right hand was profoundly asleep: uncomfortable. I think I will have a B12 shot later, in the hope that eventually the noise in my ear could go away if I had enough nerve sheathing for my auditory nerve to my right ear.

My gums don’t seem to be swollen or painful at all today when I press on my right cheek above them. And the sores from the salt seem to have gone away. If I weren’t so tired, I’d be pretty happy. I hit my left thumb with a hammer while putting together the bookcase… and it hardly hurt even though it turned black and blue right away. I’m a little concerned that my nerves don’t work properly anymore. B12 shot in the evening.

4/18/04 My feet seem to have considerably more feeling today. It is much easier to flex my toes today. The noise in my ear isn’t as loud. I feel better overall. (In the last 5 months, there hasn’t been a time when I felt better, that the next day I didn’t feel like I had the flu. So, since I’m not cooking with the Teflon anymore, I’m going to hope Teflon was the cause of the flu symptoms, since when I was feeling better I tended to brown onions or garlic for flavor in my food, and I also tended to forget for a moment and it tended to get quite hot.)

Trouble Talking – an effect of hydrogen sulfide

4/19/04 Felt quite good today until I started to get really confused with the foreclosure 3rd party complaint and summonses. Trouble talking to Judy Kelly from Pre-Paid Legal: I couldn’t ask her what I wanted to ask because there were so many things on my mind that they were competing for me to talk about them… and in consequence I
just couldn’t say anything.

Finally I had to tell her what was happening in my mind, and said that if I told her what I didn’t want to tell her (about this process) that then I thought I could ask the real questions. That worked fairly well. I went to the bank to get the complaint notarized, got gas, and went to court and filed. Then I made some copies at Office Depot.

When I got home I realized that the noise in my ear had gotten really loud. I was feeling like crying, too, because it had just been so hard to do this simple task (filing the 3rd party complaint shouldn’t have been that devastating). So I realized that I maybe should have a B12 shot. I did that during the news, which has now finished, and I’m not feeling as devastated though it’s only about an hour ago….

4/20/04 Feel overwhelmed today. Keep appointment with Alan Graham – that’s good. He says he sees improvement in me. Nose bleed. Noise is relatively loud today, but not as bad as sometimes.

4/21/04 Left leg bones so painful during the night I can’t sleep. My left hand is profoundly asleep some of the time, too. When I get up, the noise isn’t as bad as yesterday. Maybe if I have a shot later, my leg bones won’t hurt tonight….

4/22/04 No pain in legs last night. Slept quite well except that telly seemed really loud, so I turned it down. This morning, the noise in my right ear seemed louder… so I don’t know if it’s because the telly was quieter and in comparison it seemed louder, or if it’s louder because today is so stressful: I have to file the Amended Third Party Complain in the Molina foreclosure.

 


 

My Tetanus Journal starts a few months after the last entry above. View Tetanus Journal.

I don’t think I would have gotten tetanus if I could have felt the broken bit of needle in my toe so that I wouldn’t have left it there for so long.

My earlier time line ran for a couple of years, starting on 12/24/98

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