October/November catch-up post

So, we took Dad down to NC for his birthday at the end of September. I can’t handle many more of these trips. Between my health issues & my insane parents, they’re just too hard on me. We left shortly after I got off work Friday morning & I drove all the way to Burlington. At that point I had been up 27 hours and needed a break, so I let Mom drive. I forgot that she cannot drive and read road signs at the same time, and made the mistake of falling asleep for 20 minutes. That’s all it took for her to take the wrong damn exit in Raleigh (due to road construction) and turn our 16 hour trip into a 20 hour one. We wound up in Little Washington and having to drive back down to Jacksonville because she wouldn’t pull over and let me resume driving.

Anyway, I spent Saturday sick as a dog and mostly asleep. Sunday we went over to see Uncle John & it was decided we should go to the State Seafood Festival in Morehead City. That’s when we learned that Uncle John flatly refuses to ride in a car with Dad anymore. He says it’s because they’re the last 2 Spencer men and there wouldn’t be anyone left if there was a crash. So I had to ride with him (he also wouldn’t let me drive, and yes, his driving is a bit unnerving) while Mom & Dad followed in their car. We got there and the parking situation was dismal. Anywhere that we could find space was still too far away for Dad & Uncle J to walk, so we cruised the strip and then decided to head back for Jacksonville. Uncle John was concerned that we’d lost Mom, so he drove about 10 m.p.h. and created an even bigger traffic jam than there already was until she caught up.

Oh, and we went out to see the Montford Point Marines memorial. It was really nice- I took quite a few pictures on my phone and will post them as soon as I can figure out how to get them onto this device.

We were supposed to leave Jacksonville mid-morning on Monday so that we’d have time to get to the Philly Deli in Wilmington & have lunch with Sandra. We got a late start due to Aunt Myrtle deciding (at the last minute) to go to dialysis. (She also held up the old folks getting together Saturday for the same reason) We wound up following them over to say our goodbyes and THEN she wanted to chat.

We finally got underway to Wilmington, but were way late. Sandra’s car was DOA & Brandon (her son) didn’t want to pick her up from work and bring her over to join us for lunch, so we called in an order for Mom to pick up and take to her while Dad & I stayed at the restaurant so he could visit with everybody. We went ahead and ordered, because she was only supposed to be gone 20 minutes. Our food arrived, along with Brandon (what a surprise) and no sign of Mom. Dad finally insisted I call and find out where she was. She’d started yakking with Sandra and didn’t realize she’d been gone over an hour. So now we were 3 hours off schedule and still had to stop for Dad’s fish. He was so pitiful- “we don’t have to stop for fish if you don’t want to, and I don’t have money for a lot anyway.” Like I was going to take him down there and not let him get a cooler of fish & country meat. (we got his meat Sunday) I had saved money out for his fish, so he didn’t need to worry about that.

Don’t ask me what time we finally got back to Louisville. Or how many times we had to stop on the way back. My father is the king of telling us he needs to stop AS WE’RE PASSING THE DAMNED REST AREAS. I (VERY RELUCTANTLY) had to give up and let Mom drive again, but not until we were well into Kentucky. There are no exits on I-64 for her to take by mistake, so we did finally get to Louisville without too much hassle.

Let’s see, what else? Saw my doctor and he was appalled to discover that my thyroid hormone levels had dropped even more since my last visit. I asked him how bad it was and he paused for a minute before saying that I should probably be catatonic instead of as functional as I was. So that medication got doubled & I go back to see him in January. It does explain why I’m still having fatigue issues though, so that was helpful.

Oh, the little punk that broke into my house got caught breaking into another house. Unfortunately for him, he was caught by LMPD, and even more unfortunately it was AFTER his 18th birthday and by a pair of officers who had backed West Buechel up on the call to my house. So he got a one-way trip downtown to the big-boy jail. Heh. The little bastard got to spend the weekend in jail because his momma couldn’t come up with his bail. My heart just bleeds for him…

Discovered a new snack (that I really shouldn’t be eating) when we went to Costco the other day. Golden Island Korean Barbeque Pork Jerky. It’s good stuff and surprisingly tender for jerky! Dad even liked the sample, although it was still a bit too hard to chew for him.

I may as well tell you this last bit. Had another adventure in medical drama & Mom driving on Friday. We’d gone out for breakfast after I left work. Something I ate decided to disagree with me and I wound up having a hideous acid reflux attack about 20 minutes after I’d gotten home & gone to bed. I’m already on Rx strength Prilosec twice a day for reflux, but decided to try a dose of Alka Seltzer since Prilosec does nothing for immediate relief. It worked for about 10 minutes and then I started vomiting. And then the chest pain started. (relax- I did NOT have a heart attack) Since I knew what those symptoms could be indicative of, I didn’t want to risk driving myself to the ER. I also didn’t want to call an ambulance as I’m still paying off my thyroid surgery. So I stupidly called Mom & said I needed a ride to the ER. I didn’t go into detail because I didn’t want her or Dad to panic.

Now any sane, rational parents would think “hey, the kid that normally has to be dragged kicking and screaming to the doctor just called me for a ride to the ER. We should hurry.” Not my parents. They took their time getting dressed (they’d gone back to bed after breakfast), diddling around, and finally showed up at my house almost an hour later. Good thing I wasn’t bleeding to death. Then Mom wanted to take the surface roads instead of the Interstate because “I’m not comfortable on that exit with this kind of traffic.” I was trying to stay calm in case it WAS a heart attack, but that sent me screaming over the edge.

Anyway, after an hour of being poked & prodded, they determined that it WAS just an acid reflux attack. The chest pain was caused by a hole in my esophagus that allowed acid to leak into my windpipe and down to my lungs. So I was pumped full of antacids & antibiotics (and a GI cocktail- lidocaine & milk of magnesia- that was seriously foul tasting, but blessedly killed the pain after about 5 minutes) and sent home. I’m now on Rx strength Pepcid along with the Prilosec, and a couple of other things that I don’t recall off the top of my head.

So that's my current life. We've spent the evening watching the election results at work & I think life with President Oompa Loompa is going to exceed the limits of my medication. Tried to check the Canadian immigration website & it had crashed. I'm still seriously considering leaving. We'll see what happens.

I seem to have missed April...

If anyone is out there reading this, I apologize for the lack of updates. I can no longer update the blog from work, and the tablet is a pain to post from. Semi-regular posting & Foodie Fridays will return when I have time to go sit at the library.

So, what have I been doing in the 6 or so weeks since my last post?

Well, the thyroid saga is FINALLY over. The last ultrasound showed the tumor had literally tripled in size and Dr. M said it had to come out. The surgery was April 18th. The good news is that he got it all out and it wasn't cancerous enough for me to need radiation treatment. The scary news is that it was pressing into my windpipe & vocal cord. They don't think I would have lived until the next ultrasound as it was growing so rapidly. I would have probably just fallen asleep & not woken up due to lack of air.

Anyway, I had 2 weeks off work, which my bosses acted like I'd done solely to inconvenience them. I pointed out that I could have scheduled it for Derby Week & they still would have had to give it to me per FMLA. The 29th was my first shift back, and it wiped me out. I was told to expect this for the next 6 weeks or so until the doctors get my hormone levels balanced out.

Back to the surgery for a moment. I've posted before about the panic attacks induced by having a mask on my face. I warned the nurses ahead of time, and the anaesthesiologist came in to talk to me. He said they couldn't totally knock me out beforehand, but they gave me a heavy sedative. They also had me bite this tube (it was what they hold your mouth open with to run oxygen tubes in once you're unconscious) and ran the knockout gas through that instead of a mask. Honestly, the last thing I remember is being told to "bite this and breathe deep!" It was great! No blood pressure issues, no blood sugar spikes, nothing!

Yeah, so that's pretty much been it for me. I still hate the people I work for & with. I've decided that life is too short to keep dealing with the stress from that office, so have resumed active job hunting. At this point I don't even care if I have to take pay cuts- it will be worth it to be free of those assholes & away from that toxic building.

More when I can post again...

Not the greatest week- I hate having blood drawn

So, I went to the lab a week ago to have blood drawn for my doctor's appointment. I got a new-to-me tech who I never want to see again. Actually, I *DO* want to see her, preferably across a courtroom when I sue her incompetent ass. This idiot picked up a needle that was a cross between a darning needle and a railroad spike and jabbed it into my arm so hard that I expected to see it come out the other side. Now, I admit to being a wimp when it comes to needles, but this was ridiculous! Then I got a fresh wave of pain when she jerked it back out after collecting the umpteen vials of blood needed for my tests. I've never had one hurt coming out. EVER.

By the end of the night, I had a huge bruise on the inside of my arm and the needle hole was still visible. There were also red streaks extending up toward my wrists. Sunday, the hole was STILL visible, although the bruise and red streaks had faded. I had, however, developed random shooting pains and muscle spasms. And a lump about 3 inches down from the needle hole. Then I found out that she'd done the same thing to my father on Friday, only he didn't have the same side effects. Luckily for her.

My appointment with Dr. B was on Monday. He looked at my arm after I told him what happened, and shook his head. He thinks the lump is an internal bruise. The pain & spasms are because that cow most likely nicked a nerve. He had his office manager call down to the lab to find out who we needed to complain to and was told that the cow's last day was Friday (the day after she abused me & the day she hurt Daddy) and they were very sorry to hear what had happened. That's great, but what about the damage done to my arm?!? Dr B said it should lessen by the end of the week, and to call him on Monday if it hasn't. I'm here to tell you, it hasn't.

Just to add to the fun, I got my flu shot. In the same f'ing arm. So now I have a stiff achy shoulder (I always have the worst reaction) as well as the shooting pains & spasms in my lower arm. Did I mention that this is my left arm and I'm left handed?!? Not fun.

Oh yeah, and my recurring sinus infection is awake with a vengeance. Love the changing of the seasons.

So, there's my WAAAH post for the week. I'm not even going to start on the general stupidity of my workplace. Instead, here are some pretty boys to look at!

Fall Weather Descended With A Vengeance This Weekend

I love it! I'm sitting here on my couch in layered sweats & fuzzy slippers. I've slept better the last 2 nights than I had in months. And Princess Purrsnickety has deigned to come indoors and be cuddly!

Not much else going on. Dad had a chest pain scare that landed him in the hospital Thursday night, but was allowed to go home after blood work showed no sign of a heart attack and a scan showed no blockages. They think k it might have been a weird reaction to his flu shot earlier in the week. He goes to his cardiologist for a follow-up tomorrow, just to be on the safe side.

I haven't made any progress on my two previously posted cross stitch projects, but I have made a start on this:

For the SAL that I signed up to do, this is the frame for Gold Cottage- part 1 of Country Cottage Needlework's Fall Festival series. I'm hoping to finish (or at least get close) all 5 parts by the time the SAL ends in November!

Until later, dear reader (readers? Is anyone out there?!?)

Here We Are Again

So my weekend started out well- I got to sleep in and was thinking about taking a nap when it occurred to me that I hadn't looked at my phone. I usually turn the ringer off on weekends. Lo and behold, 5 frantic text messages from Mom.

Dad is in the hospital AGAIN. He woke her up about 2 hours after I'd left Saturday morning saying that he was having trouble breathing.
One trip to the ER later and a transfer to the main hospital downtown, we were told he was having congestive heart failure.

Mom is still having vision problems, so she has to leave him before it gets dark, and can't get back down to the hospital before sunrise. Dad, of course, is having fits because that means he has to be by himself and doesn't think her vision problems are that bad. Guess who got to the spend the weekend up all night in a chair at his bedside?

It's not like I had anything better to do. I don't have a life anymore. I did get some reading done. Hit a new level on Candy Crush. And slept like a rock once I got to go home and crawl into bed. And it did seem to make Dad feel better to have me sitting there, even if he slept most of the time.

Today we've been told that he seems to have a recurrence of his COPD, some congestive failure (but his heart is functioning fine), and a UTI with possible kidney stones forming. Yay. They're treating him with all kinds of diuretics, BP meds, and other meds. Not sure how long he's going to be in this time, but at least we know he's not in danger at the moment!

Pokes & Prods

Welcome back to the medical soap opera that is my life. Last Monday I had the treat of literally being scoped out from top to bottom by the GI doctor.

Good news: I apparently have a beautiful colon.

Bad news: The acid reflux that I was told was all in my head has severely burned my esophagus and I am now having a Rx strength antacid
added to my medication. If the insurance company approves it. They want Dr. H to submit something in writing telling them why I need it before they'll pay for it. And of course it's too expensive for me to just pay for it outright. I'm trying to make do with OTC meds for now. They don't do a lot, but it's better than nothing.

Worse news: I have to give up my beloved iced coffee. The acid in it isn't helping. Luckily enough, I'm still allowed my teas.


Then on Wednesday, I went back to see Dr. M about my damned thyroid. He looked at the ultrasound pictures and said, "Well, the tumor's only grown a little bit." Yeah, but that little bit now makes it half the size of what's left of the kaza-flatching gland. "Hmmm, this isn't good. It's feeling firm." So what does that mean? Well, it's not likely to shrink, and it's apparently trying to calcify which means it's about to do something really icky. But again, the insurance company wants a biopsy before it gets removed. Dr. M did promise me though that if we don't get that sucker out by the end of March, it'll be coming out in the next 6-12 months. Fine by me. I'm not looking forward to the anesthesia mask- hello, flight or fight instinct!- but I want at least one thing to be finished and done with.

Don't get too excited- I probably won't keep posting this frequently! :-)

So, I got home form work Monday night to discover that my heat had gone out. This was an issue because A: The Landlord had just put a new furnace in a couple of years ago, and B: It was too bloody cold out to not have heat! I wasn't about to pay for an after hours service call, so I piled every blanket in the house on my bed, trained the space heater on the foot, and hoped for the best. It was the best night sleep I've had in FOREVER. Nightshade was so cold that she burrowed in under the blankets with me- I woke up to find her lying along my chest with her head tucked under my chin on the pillow.

Got up, called the HVAC company, and the office to let them know I'd probably be late, and then started the waiting game. They told me that because I'm in a rental, I have to get HIM to call and give them permission to work on the heater. This also stuck HIM with the bill, so I was fine with that. It took a little while to track HIM down, since all we had was his home number and he's changed jobs several times over the last few years. I finally remembered what I thought was the most recent one, called them, and got HIM!

Cutting the story short, after numerous phone calls back and forth and a trip on the slow boat to China to pick up the needed part, I finally got heat again at 8:30 Tuesday night. YAY!

Anyway, the day wasn't entirely a waste, even though I'm not thrilled that I had to burn another vacation day for that crap. I started cleaning up the piles that have accumulated in my living room since last year's big clean. Seven grocery bags of junk made it out to the trash can. It's still a mess, but at least I got started.

Today I got up and made myself sit down and make arrangements to get caught up on all the bills that are past due. I already feel better now that I'm not stressing about dealing with them. Then the GI doctor FINALLY called to schedule my scopes and wanted to know if I could be there TOMORROW. Um, no. Since I'd have to spend a day (today) taking laxatives and living in the bathroom, taking today & tomorrow off with no notice after being off for yesterday's drama was NOT an option. But I did schedule it for Monday...lord help me. (don't expect a post on Monday)

I brought a bag of assorted flosses to work with me tonight and got them all wound onto bobbins. I am going to try not to buy much stitch stuff this year (especially since I didn't stitch an inch last year) and start working on projects from my stash. I have Star Trek, Avengers, and Doctor Who things to do for myself and some friends, and I want to work on Christmas ornaments for friends & family. I suspect that I'll still buy some stuff- Ink Circles has several new designs scheduled for release this year that I am not going to be able to resist, and I'm still a floss junkie- but I think I can do it.

So there's the latest. A little drama, but I'm proud of myself for getting things done instead of falling apart!

Is this year over yet?

Yeah, I know it's only the beginning of the year, but I'm ready for it to be over. Why?

1. I'm still waiting for the specialist my doctor referred me to. After my last post RE: medical crap, Dr B. called to tell me that my blood count was abnormally low and I needed a stomach scope as well as the colonoscopy because I appear to be bleeding internally. He's concerned, I'm concerned, apparently the internist doesn't care.

2. I also have to go to the gyno (something I've avoided for years because it's painful & humiliating) because I may have fibroids. (another possibility for my blood loss) Turns out 3 of my four sisters had them, very badly, and had to have hysterectomies. Yay.

3. My mom's favorite cousin passed away New Year's Day and was buried on Mom & Dad's 45th anniversary. We couldn't get to the funeral.

4. Dad & Uncle John have both decided to discontinue their physical therapy. Uncle John can get away with it because he'd been going for 5 months. Dad has gone twice. We're not letting him get away with quitting now. I told him that he has to go at least 2 more sessions.

5. My sister Sandra's husband, who was hospitalized for congestive lung failure the day Daddy had his surgery, is dying. His doctors have told him to go ahead and get his affairs in order and say he can go at any time.

Add the usual work follies to the mess and I'm done.

Happy (?) New Year

I may as well start the year out complaining. 2014 couldn't leave without a few parting shots to remind me that it sucked ass.

1. Mom developed a problem with the eye she had cataract surgery on. The panicky eye doctor sent her for a MRI to make sure she wasn't having a stroke or anything like that. Luckily, she wasn't, so now she's being sent back to Dr B to be tested for a sinus infection or to see if it's some sudden diabetes complication.

2. Dad, who objects to going to PT to build his strength up, keeps trying to do things on his own and falling. Luckily he hasn't hurt himself yet.

3. I ruined the ham we had for Christmas dinner. It was mostly edible, but NOT the delicious feast we were planning on.

4. The thyroid tumor is now exactly half the size of what's left of the thyroid. I get to go see the surgeon again and we get to fight with the insurance company over whether or not we can just remove the damned thing or if I get to have a needle jammed into it again first. Dr B. decided that wasn't enough to deal with, so I also have appointments to have my boobs mashed and a camera shoved up my ass. And I'm still too fat for his taste.

5. My car started doing all kinds of not-so-neat tricks. Two days at the mechanic for them to do the repairs that it turned out were part of the recalls on my vehicle and for them to come up with enough time to find something wrong that I'd have to pay for. Bob needs a $250 part (not including labor, of course) that I just can't do until later this month. The kicker is, of course, that the longer I go before I can afford the part, the more likely it will go from the $250 repair to a $1500 one.

6. The cousin my mom was closest to, Aunt Georgia, died yesterday. There's a winter weather front moving into the Iowa area (hoping it blows itself out before it gets here) and with Daddy's shakiness and needs, there is NO WAY we are driving into a snowstorm to go to the funeral.



On the plus side:

1. I still have a job even if I hate it most days.

2. I still have both my parents, even if they drive me crazy.

3. I still have my Shady-cat, who is very cuddly in winter weather.

4. I have a ton of new books to read.

5. I have a ton of new DVD's to watch.



Let's see what this year does to me...

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

So, 5 days before he was supposed to go home, Daddy was re-diagnosed with pneumonia and sent back to ICU. Due to the usual incompetence issues with the staff, we've been spending nights there to INSURE he's being treated properly. 2 of my sisters came up to help out with this.


He's been doing well, so we left him alone for about 4 hours this morning. Angie was at her hotel, I was at home, and Mom left him at about 3:30 a.m. At 7 we all got called and told he was having seizures & "coding" and we should come ASAP.

We got there, damn near kicked in the ICU door, and rushed into Daddy's room only to find him snoozing peacefully and thoroughly startled when we all started crying and hugging him.

Turns out there was a bit of a mistake. The patient in room 548 was the one coding/seizing. Dad is in room 584. Guess which family was mistakenly notified?

The idiot who called us is not having a good day. I raised hell, Angie (the most peaceful, calm, non-violent one of my sisters) raised hell, the correct patient's family raised hell, and the nursing supervisor raised hell after we all got through chewing on her.

Daddy? After the ruckus died down a bit, all he wanted was some breakfast and a nap. And then the doctor told us they might move him out of ICU today. We're still waiting for that to happen.


I dare these morons to send us anything resembling a bill for "services rendered." So far, all they've done is further endanger my father's health, stress the entire family out, and PISS ME OFF...

*HAPPYDANCING*

Met with Dad's doctors and therapists this morning. He has made such amazing progress just in the 4 days he's been in the rehab wing that they're projecting he'll be able to go home on September 9th!

DANCE WITH ME!!! I broke into a combination of Snoopy's dance and Balki's Dance of Joy. The doctor looked at Dad and told him NOT to try to do that. Mom told me to stop before I hurt something. My hip reminded me that I am getting too old for this shit. (Bonus points to anyone who gets the Dance of Joy & Lethal Weapon references)


Happy, happy, happy!!!

Just dropping by to say hi...

Dad is being moved to the rehab wing today! They finally got his lung infection and stomach bug cleared up enough to let him have real food (pureed, ick, but real food) for the last couple of days and as a result, he is now strong enough for the physical therapy. We're hoping this means he'll get to come home sooner than later!

Not much else to report right now.

As The Stomach Churns -or- The Continuing Medical Saga That Is My Life

Well, it was another fun filled weekend. I went to bed feeling rough Friday night, woke up Saturday feeling like I'd been hit with a truck. Not the CFS, this time I had strep throat. I texted Mom to let her know that I wouldn't be going to the hospital to see Dad and dragged myself to the clinic.

Amusingly enough, when I got to the clinic I was seen by the same doctor who treated me for the sinus infection 2 weeks ago. "You just came off of antibiotics! How can you be sick again?!?"

I told him my self-diagnosis, he took one look at my throat, and then he sighed. "Yep, you're going on the penicillin express...no wait, you're the one with the allergy...what the hell did I give you last time?" Flipped through the chart. "Ok, you're going back on this, but at a higher dose."

Then we had to wait for the pharmacy to call, because they did last time to make sure he MEANT to give me that strong an antibiotic. While we were waiting, he asked me what I keep doing ot myself to wind up there. I couldn't resist- I told him that I'd faked everything just for an excuse to come see him again. (He IS pretty cute...and probably about 12 years old) He snickered and said "Well, if I wasn't married and you weren't contagious, we might have had something there."

I love doctors who get my smart ass sense of humor. Dr B would have probably fainted on the spot if I'd said that to him.

So I hit the pharmacy & headed home to bed. The little black snot decided to come in for the day/night as we were having a nasty spell of rain that turned into a thunderstorm. She snuggled up and purred me to sleep and that was pretty much it until 2 pm Sunday.

Before I passed out, Mom had messaged me that Dad now had C.Diff- a really nasty stomach bug- plus he still wasn't able to eat. None of us were having a good time.

Mom & I went out to dinner at Panera Sunday and then I went back home to bed while she went back to the hospital to Daddy-sit.


Everyone is feeling better today. Dad is being allowed ice chips, honey, juice, and broth. They gave him a cup of tomato soup and you'd have thought it was manna from heaven. I was able to stick my head in and yell hello at him before coming to work today.


More news as it happens...

The Surgery Story (may be long & rambling- my brain is not totally functional right now)

So Daddy's heart surgery was on Friday. The planned procedures were: replacing 2 heart valves, doing one bypass, and scarring on a chamber to alleviate his A-fib.

My sisters arrived on Thursday. All four of them. This was a surprise to us, because we were told only one would be able to come after it had been re-scheduled. Only 2 of my BILs were brave enough to come along for this adventure. To be fair, Sandra's husband Eddie was in the hospital with congestive respiratory failure himself, but he insisted she come be with Dad.

We met at the hospital at 5 a.m. Friday. They took Dad back almost immediately, and we were allowed to come back for hugs/kisses/prayers before they took him off to surgery. The nurse took one look at us and asked "Is this ALL of them?" The look on her face when we said no was priceless.

Waiting is the worst. Around 7-8, we went to the cafeteria for breakfast. I'm a nervous eater and apparently so are my sisters. That place made a lot of money on us that morning! I took coffee & a danish back to Mom and we all sat around playing the waiting game. Sandra called the hospital back home to get an update on Eddie and scared us all to death when she burst into tears. It turned out to be a good cry though- they told her that he was off the breathing tubes and doing just fine. In fact he was fussing about wanting something to eat.

Sometime around 11-12, the surgeon came out to talk to us. He said Daddy had made it through the surgery like a champ! They wound up being able to replace the leaky heart valves instead of having to replace them, so the operation was less invasive/involved than they expected. (YAY) He also said that Daddy should be good for at least 10 more years now. (oh boy) It was going to be at least 2 hours before we could go back and see him, so we opted to go get lunch.

On the way to the parking garage, everything just hit me at once. I started bawling, much to the horror of my brothers. JR is normally a smart ass, but he was the first one to hug me and THEN he started picking on me to get me to stop crying. Roy started crying when I did, much to Audrey's disgust. Anyway, we all dried up after a minute or two and headed out.

We went to a Mexican restaurant near their hotel for lunch. They'd stopped in for Margaritas the night before and the host remembered them. (not entirely a surprise, given our family) Apparently he was so taken with the pack of us that he started pulling the staff out of the kitchen to gawk at us. The food was really good, though.

Saturday is kind of a blur. Daddy was still heavily drugged, so we took turns going in to sit with him. He did blink at us and squeeze our hands, so we knew it was really him in there. The ICU would only let us in 2 at a time for 10 minutes per pair. At the end of afternoon visiting hours, Sandra & I went shopping while the others went back to the hotel to pack up and move to a new one. Because the PGA championship was in town, hotel rooms were hard to come by and the 6 of them wound up having to share one room for Saturday night. I won't go into details about the dance off that took place before I left them for the night other than to say that Sandra & Audrey are wild women and should know better than to twerk.

Audrey, Roy, & Sandra had to leave Sunday morning. Daddy was still pretty out of it, but was fussing about his breathing tubes. The rest of us spent the day in and out.

Brenda, Angie, & JR left early Monday morning. Shortly after that, Dad managed to pull out his breathing tubes. Mom & I flew down to the hospital and were told that he'd thrown up while they were examining him to see how much damage he'd done to himself and aspirated some of it into his lungs. They were afraid they'd have to cut him open again to clean out his lungs, but were eventually able to flush everything out. He kept fighting the oxygen and other masks they tried to put on him in place of the breathing tubes, so they had to drug him senseless again and put him in restraints. And put the breathing tube back in. Needless to say, I didn't make it to work yesterday.

Today, after a night under sedation and lots of oxygen forced into him, Dad is MUCH improved. The doctors are optimistic that he'll be off the vents by Thursday, and if so, he can be moved into regular recovery. He waved at me when I stopped in to visit before work, and winked at me when I told him that I'd bought his lottery tickets for the weekend.

Then I made the mistake of coming to work. Psycho is giving me the silent treatment because I had the nerve to put my Dad before this hell hole, and if she rolls her eyes one more time when one of my friends drops in to hug me and ask about Dad, I am going to roll her head across the floor.

Yeah, life is getting back to normal.

Hey, Hey, They're the Monkees

June 6th was a good day. It had the potential to start off being a bad day- I started a migraine on the 3rd that I STILL have, but rapidly became better. My friends Susan & Linda and I had tickets to go see the Monkees Reunion concert at the Riverbend Pavilion in Cincinnati.

I was supposed to drive since the other girls had arranged for our tickets, but my vision was blurring and I wasn't sure I'd be able to. Susan said she didn't mind driving since she has a GPS, and Linda thought it would be easier to take her car since she has a handicapped plate, so we loaded up at 4:50 and off we went. We were supposed to leave at 4:30, but I got lost trying to find Susan's place. *eyeroll*

We got to the site with very little drama, other than cursing at the occasional moron drivers around us. Linda's plate scored us an excellent parking spot. We didn't stop for food on the way up because our tickets included a cook-out onsite. We should have stopped. What they had was your choice of soggy wieners, bratwurst, or mettwurst; served with potato chips, cole slaw, and/or limp looking macaroni salad. I choked down a bratwurst and chips, Susan & Linda were brave enough to try the salads with their dogs. Then we got to the kicker. The food was "free"...the drinks were not. $5.25 for a 20 oz Coke/Sprite and $5 for a 20 oz Dasani water. We forked out money for one drink apiece and spent half the show dying of thirst.

Anyway, once the show started, nothing else mattered. Peter, Mike, & Micky can still rock with the best of them. Much to my delight, Peter's song "Your Auntie Grizelda" was the second song they performed. It's a silly song, but I love it. They did most of the classics, and while they performed there was a giant video monitor behind them showing clips from the show & their movie HEAD, with Davy prominently featured. One of the last songs to be sung was Daydream Believer, with Micky singing lead in Davy's place...until he handed it over to the audience to sing. On the last repeat of the chorus, Peter screamed for us to sing louder so Davy could hear us and half the women in the audience (me included) started bawling while we sang.

We stopped at a Steak & Shake for dinner on the way home and half the place had been at the concert too. There was an adorable little boy in a Monkee Men suit (the superhero characters they used a few times in season 1)who was thrilled by the number of people who complimented him on his costume.

Anyway, I slept most of the ride home after dinner, and pretty much all day Saturday. The damned migraine is still with me, so I'm trying to get an appointment with my doctor to do something about it...

What doesn't kill me makes me stronger...

So right now I should be able to take on freaking Samson, or be Atlas with the weight of the world on my shoulders.

Daddy & Uncle John are both now in the hospital.

I can't take much more of this.

Post-Vacation Odds & Ends

So, I'd planned to spend Wednesday after Chad & Mel left sleeping in. Then I remembered that I had an appointment with Dr B on Thursday and hadn't had my blood drawn for labs yet. I called his office to see if I could reschedule and then next appointment wasn't until July. I knew he'd kill me if I waited that long, so I told the girl to leave me where I was on the schedule and made myself get up and go to the lab. He prefers to have labs done a week ahead of my visits, but I prefer not getting stuck by needles and at least I went.


Then I wanted to go home and go to bed, but I hadn't eaten for 24 hours (always have to do fasting labs), so I stopped at Panera for a snack. Harriet had called me and let me know my monthly pattern was in at the Needle Nest, and since it had been a while since I'd been over there, I decided I might as well go then. Stopped at Starbucks for more me-fuel, and hit the road. Spent way too much money as usual, but had a good time doing it. I may go to the stitch retreat she's organized in September. I wasn't going to at first, since it's the weekend of Dad's birthday, but we're not traveling for it this year, so I may go ahead.

The reason we're not traveling for Dad's birthday this year is because we're going to the Spencer Family reunion/Uncle John's birthday in July instead. Uncle J will be 87 this year and he told Mom that he didn't care if any of the others made it down, he wanted ME there. I don't know if I'll be able to get the Friday off that I need since we're short-handed in the office again, but I'm going to do my best. Worst case- I work and then drive straight down afterward.

But I digress-

Kept my appointment with Dr B on Thursday. He was thrilled with me. I'm down 15 lbs again, my blood pressure was down, my blood sugar was down, I'd actually checked my blood pressure at least once since my last visit and could tell him what it had been (117 over 75), and I promised I was going to the eye doctor on Friday. I really was planning to- Mom had cleared her schedule to drive me if they needed to dilate my eyes. I can drive after dilation, but my vision gets blurry and I'd prefer not to. Anyway, I don't have to see him for 6 months now. We still haven't figured out what to do about the fatigue and he vetoed my request for an antihistamine pump.

After my visit with him, I dropped by the eye doctor clinic since it was right across the street, to see if they could schedule me for Friday. (They're normally a walk-in place) I explained that I needed the specialty diabetic eye exam and the receptionist said "Well, we can take you right now if you'd like. There's nobody waiting at the moment and 2 doctors are free." Might as well do it, right? So I did.

The good news is that the diabetic exam doesn't require dilation. The better news is that my eyes are very healthy, although I am totally blind without glasses. The doctor asked me if I was sure I was diabetic because the state of my optic nerves didn't indicate it at all. (Dr B is going to love that) Then we did the rest of the tests and I was handed the delightful news that I have graduated to bifocals. Yay. I kind of knew it was coming since I find myself looking over my glasses more often than not when I have to read small print.

Then we got to my favorite part of the eye doctor- picking out new glasses! Of course they didn't have the same frames I already had in stock, which is a shame because I love these. (yes, these- will explain in a minute) I finally found a pair of purple metal frames with sort of squoval (squared oval) lenses that I liked. Then I picked a pair of silvery framed sunglasses- real sunglasses this time, not just regular glasses with dark lenses like my last pair. The total, after my insurance discounts, was $750. GULP. Now I remember why I go so long between eye doctor visits. Luckily I had signed up for the flexible spending card when we did insurance last year, and Dr B had changed me to some less expensive meds, so I was able to pay for them.

However, I'm still in my old glasses at the time of this writing because my new Rx was so jacked up that they had to special order both pairs of lenses and it will take nearly 2 weeks for them to come in. Yeah, I'm special like that.

Friday rolls around and I get a call from my mom that Dad is going to the hospital AGAIN. It seems he'd been suffering tummy troubles all week and didn't mention it until late Thursday night. Dr B had worked him into the Friday schedule, freaked when Dad told him what he'd been experiencing (won't go into detail- you're welcome) and immediately ordered his admittance. Then he said, and I quote, "What it is with your family?!? I finally get one of you functioning correctly and another one breaks!" (No HIPAA violations here- he has permission to share our records with each other)

We spent most of the weekend dancing attendance on the old coot. Mom & I did go get Chinese for dinner on Saturday, and we had another batch of Pigs in the Blanket for Mother's Day dinner. I bought her a copy of Book Lover's Scrabble, so we're looking forward to playing that the next time I'm over.

Sadly, my vacation ended, so it was back to work. Blah. I really need to win the lottery so I can live the life I'd like to become accustomed to...

Time flies...

Suddenly it's the middle of April and I haven't posted anything.

The goals are coming along, albeit very slowly.

My friend Susan & I are going to the Monkees Reunion concert in Cincinnati in June. Then I'm going to see Rick Springfield when he comes here in July.

The weather is still bouncing around like a hackysack at a Phish concert. My sinuses are in full on revolt. I'm going to ask Dr B if they make an antibiotic and/or antihistamine pump, like they do with insulin & morphine, and if I can have one.

That's about it for now. More later...

March Goals, so far

Not a whole lot to report. February ended with a bang as Daddy had to be rushed to the hospital again. Fortunately he was suffering from a fairly easy to correct issue, but the symptoms were enough to scare the bejeezus out of us all. At one point, the poor old coot was vomiting blood, Mom was just vomiting (sympathetically at first, and then the doctor checked her out and found she had the flu), and I was banished to the ER hallway before I started. While I was out there, I started inquiring about group rates & rooms, because it looked like we were ALL going to be admitted at the rate we were going.

Didn't get the trash out for the first March pickup as we had a foot of snow fall over 3 inches of ice and I didn't have the energy to fight with the can & driveway Sunday night. Just as well, since they didn't pick it up on Monday. Didn't get it out for the Thursday pickup either, because I was sick in bed. Seems one of the deteriorating discs in my spine is inflamed/infected, so I'm on painkillers & antibiotics again/still.

I HAVE managed, so far, to do a daily positive post on FaceBook. Much to the amusement of friends who have apparently formed a betting pool on how many days I'll do it. We'll see who has the last laugh.

Laundry Mountain? *whimper*

Cooking? Made a huge batch of enchiladas. Made the mistake of using a new-to-me brand of enchilada sauce. Have spent the last few days eating the innards out of the enchiladas. Am going to try for a lasagna this weekend. Also plan to try a Brussels Sprouts & Bacon Hash. It sounds odd, but the picture looked really good and I'm one of the random weirdos who actually likes sprouts.

So there you have it. More later...

The Insurance People Are Nosy Idiots

So, I've had a problem with eczema/psoraisis for most of my life. Had an appointment with Dr B today and mentioned to him that it has now started appearing around my eyes, which really bothers me. (one of my biggest fears is going blind. If I can't see to read, just kill me) He emailed in a Rx for a lotion that is ok to use on my face.

10 minutes after he sent the Rx in, the pharmacy called. Apparently there is some new thing with insurance companies, and if a cream or lotion is prescribed they want the patient to tell them what it is for. WTF? So I said, perfectly seriously, that I was going to spread it on crackers and serve it for appetizers at dinner tonight. There was a dead silence for about a minute, and then the pharmacist exploded into laughter. "Best answer I've heard yet!"

I mean, seriously. It's a LOTION. What do they think I'm going to do with it?

Sorry about the griping post, but I have to be me, and this was too dumb to keep to myself.