Miss Kitty is home too!

I took the train to Narnia this weekend and helped with my mom and dad's 50th anniversary party. The party was great, I got to take home leftovers, and a good time was had by all. This morning my parents took me out to breakfast and then we packed up Miss Kitty. My parents were kind enough to give me a ride home so we are both back home where we belong! Miss Kitty is thouroughly bummed that her boyfriend Adam moved out without saying goodbye.

Oh yeah, the current prognosis

My mantra for the last few months was, "I may be jobless, childless, titless and hairless, but at least I am not homeless." In all the excitement about my potentially being homeless, I forgot to update how things were going.

Prior to my treatment yesterday, I was informed the radiologist wanted to see me. I told the nurse to grab him now because as soon as I was finished, I was out of there like shit from a goose. I was breaking out and running fast. The doctor examined me and seemed surprised that my breast was not more red and sunburned looking. It seems to be a dark shade of pink. He was also surprised that I was not in a bit of pain. I explained that it is sometimes uncomfortable sleeping on my left side, but I blame my hip for that. The only real side effect now is that it itches like crazy, similar to a mild sunburn. The nurse admonished me to apply the cream twice a day.

So far, so good, not complaining.

At home to stay and a big sigh of relief

As much as I would like to move and be in a place where I do not need to rely on a roomie to pay rent, I was actually relieved to come home and find my landlord had both signed the lease extension and given me a copy of the signed agreement. I am looking to show the place this weekend and Adam moves out tomorrow, so we shall see. I am ok for the month of Sept. so at least I am not going anywhere soon.

I have checked myself out of the ECC because I was finding that I was wayyyy too stressed worrying about things at home and not being there to show the apartment. I cannot find a roomie if they never see the place and I don't meet them. This means I commute the last week, but it beats having to have done this for the past 4.5 weeks. Besides, after all the work I put into getting back on track with the whole constitutional thing, the food was killing me.

The funny part of all of this is the cab ride home. I had called the American Cancer Society about a ride home from the VA today as I would have all my stuff with me. I was told he would be at the VA at 3:00. Shortly after 3:00pm, I received a phone call from the cabbie saying he was stopping for gas at Hollywood and Broadway and would be at the house in a few minutes. He was not happy to hear that I was still at the VA, but fortunately, they were able to send another cab and I was out of there shortly thereafter.

23 down, 5 to go.

A really REALLY?!? kind of week.

I was going to title this piece, "A need for sage advice or a moment of your thyme", but I decided to call it what it was.

Last Thursday, my landlord called to inform me that because I had not signed my extension agreement for my apartment, he was proceeding to find another tenant. I explained the entire radiation/nursing home/abscessed tooth situation and he said he was sorry to hear I was having a rough time, but he would consider my lease up as of Sept. 1. I told him I would look for the extension agreement and sign it and put it in the rent box in the building when I got home on Friday. So, reluctantly I signed the extension agreement and placed said agreement in the box. I can't really afford to stay without a roommate but I cannot afford to move either.

I love my apartment and while I moan about paying the rent alone, when you add up the costs to move, it might be easier and cheaper to stay put. Besides, I don't have the cash to pay another security deposit or pay for movers. Right?

Thinking this was all settled, as I had signed the extension, I was a bit unsettled, to say the least, when the building manager called me yesterday to inform me that they will begin showing my apartment immediately (meaning Wed.) for an October 1 occupancy date. I explained about the signed agreement and was informed that the landlord was denying he got it. I know that possession is 9/10th and the lawyer in me knows I will be ok for at least a few months, as they would have to start eviction proceedings to get me out, but it still makes me want to scream, "REALLY?!?" I will not be screaming anything as my jaw still hurts, but I am yelling it on the inside!

Oh yeah, and the Oct. 1 moving date is perfect to coincide with Jean's wedding date of Oct. 2. I will merely shake my head on this one. (singing) Should I stay or should I go?

God is a man with a sick sense of humour.

I have only had 2 people stop by who seem interested in the apartment. One guy likes to cook at home (A LOT apparently) and likes to use large amounts of curry. As Becky can tell you, not a fan of the curry and since the whole BC thing, less of a fan.

The other person only wants the place for possibly 1.5-2 months and apparently is not a fan of running water and soap. Do I take the bird in the hand, ie the smelly short-term guy, or do I try to make it another month hoping a job will come along? I am just sick and tired of being sick and tired and the tooth ache has me moaning and whining...I know, annoying at best and only feeling sorry for myself.

I have decided I am frustrated with having my hands tied 5 days a week at the home. Seriously considering doing the commute. Oh wait, that would cost money...LOL

Peace of mind and a countdown.

I had planned to try and host a dinner at my place for my friends this weekend, but considering I cannot chew anything, that plan is on hold. I will just have to have a done with treatment party in two weeks.

The peace of mind part is based on the fact that I have JUST ENOUGH in the bank to cover the rent for Sept. Because they are feeding me at the home, my food bills are almost nil. This will allow me to finish treatment and have a short window of opportunity to find a gig before I have to worry about eviction. I am interviewing roomies again this weekend so wish me luck. The landlord called Thursday to find my signed lease agreement and I explained I hadn't been home to see it. I am not too worried about the utilities, because as any single mom will tell you it takes at least 2 months before they shut them off...LOL

The current countdown is 18 done, 10 to go. I will be finished in 2 more weeks!

Oh the fun, oh the pain.

Apparently they never checked me back into the system when I returned on Monday so I wound up eating someone elses' supper. It took them an hour to replace the meal and he needed it much more then I did. I felt terrible.

Tuesday morning I was allowed to sleep in until 7:45, which was curious because the breakfast lady was always knocking at my door to tell me my breakfast was in the dining room. When I went to the dining room I discovered that there had never been a breakfast tray for me as they STILL had not indicated in the system that I was back. So, taking my hard earned bingo bucks, I went to the cafeteria and had a fairly decent veggie omelet and a large cup of real coffee.

Wednesday, I slept until 8:30 at which time I discovered I was in the system but that no one had bothered to come and get me. So, although I had had a tray delivered to the dining room, they had taken it away before I could get to it. Needless to say, I spent the last of my hard earned bingo VA bucks on another breakfast in the cafeteria. And then, the fun really began.

Having gotten myself back into the system and back on the meal plan, I was thrilled to run into the dentist to inform him that although I had an appointment to replace my filling the following week, the pain in my tooth and jaw had increased substantially and I was in a great deal of pain. Could he squeeze me in earlier? I was told to return at 11:00 am and they would take care of it then.

So, at 11:00am Wed. I was sitting in the dental chair. It took them about 20 minutes to find the Novocain and prep me for the drill. After questioning the location and the type of pain, the dentist then decided to x-ray the tooth. Turns out that in addition to needing a filling replaced, the tooth next to it is abscessed. I am now scheduled for a root canal next week.

The fun part is that, while the dentist gave me a dose of antibiotics to get me started, he never entered the order for more in the computer. When I bumped into him in the hall later, he said the nurses should be giving me a follow-up dose shortly. When said dose did not appear with my dinner time meds, the nurses informed me that there was no order in the computer, the dentist was gone, there was no dentist on call, and the on call doctor for the nursing home portion would not write me a new script without talking to the dentist to find out what he had given me and how much.

My second dose of antibiotics was at 11:30 on Thursday. Because I have new prescriptions that I do not have at home (to include the hormone therapy and now the antibiotics), I made sure I had all my meds with me before I left for the weekend. In my bag-o-meds, guess what was missing. Of course, the antibiotics. Having hunted down all my meds, completed radiation for the day, and having seen the doc...I busted out of there the second my sister pulled up!

The good news is that this all happened on their watch so I believe the root canal and possible crown are sans charge.

How could I forget?

The radiologist examined me on Friday and informed me that because it was apparent my left breast was taking on a pinkish hue, I was to rub it with cream every night and not expose it to the sun. I guess that means I can only flash them at night?

The hair issue

The hair is beginning to come back in and I must say I was lulled into a false sense of hope when it started to come back platinum blonde. My mother says it was the hair color I was born with and I was hoping this meant a do over for hair color. Alas, it is now officially coming in grey and white. I am starting to get eyebrows again and they too appear to be grey and white. There are a few hairs growing on my legs yet nothing in the armpits. The fuzz on my head is enough to warrant a washing now and then but it still takes only a swipe of the towel to be dry.

Of course, the first real hairs to come back were the black ones on my chin.

Fly away, fly away, fly away home.

I am home this weekend and with any luck, I will find a new roommate before I go back on Monday. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Things at the home are pretty much the same. This week we played bingo 3 times and I walked away from one game with $8 CASH! I stopped on my way home and bought a small steak and a bag of salad. I am good!

The smell

Oh the things you smell in the home. Some days it is worse then others and most days I don't notice it until I leave for radiation and then walk back in. This too shall pass.

The food

Speaking of passing, the food is killing me. It is hospital food at best and I am sooooo over mushy food. Most days I pick one or two things off the tray and offer the rest up to the guys I eat my meals with. On farmer market days I can cut up a fresh cucumber and tomato for lunch, and twice now I stopped at the cafeteria and picked up a salad from the salad bar, but aside from that, the stuff is pretty inedible. I have found myself compensating for the lack of anything that tastes good by stuffing myself with junk food. That has got to stop. I will look into scheduling my radiation earlier so I can stop by the cafeteria and use my bingo winnings for salad bar every day. I walk a mile to and from radiation, but I find myself getting more tired each day. 13 down, 15 to go.

The room

The entire building is freezing cold. While I do enjoy a bit of free A/C in the summertime, this is insane. I have to remember to bring a jacket or sweater back with me to wear inside.

I ran away!

...for the day. I took the bus to the Blue Line and then got off at Oak Park and picked up an Igo car for half the day so I could come home and catch up on things like mail. I am also able to get online at home so that I can actually accomplish things and print out my job searches.

This week is bingo heaven. Remember, it is NOT a game it is BINGO! I won about $12 last night playing and there are three more sessions scheduled this week. I may be missing lunch at the home today but I will not miss bingo!

Is that Mr. or Mrs.?

It seems that at the VA I am mistaken for a Mr. or called Mrs. For some reason, all of the nurses on my floor call me Mrs. Blythe. I finally stopped trying to explain I was not married and tend only to snap when they wake me up in the mornings. Oh well.

THE ROOM UPDATE

Apparently the roomie was checked into the main hospital for complications and they think she might be gone another week. I am not complaining and only wish her well as I know she was in a great deal of pain, judging by the time she spent moaning.

The room is apparently the coldest room on the floor and the A/C is cranked to arctic blast. In talking to a former occupant of the room, and based on the fact the tempurature did not change when the nurse adjusted the thermostat, it is what it is and it won't change. I should not complain as it is free and I like it cooler. That said, it makes it reallllllly hard to want to get out of bed at 7am to eat breakfast. My hats have come in handy!

Last night I lost cable in my room and it seems I am the only person without. Even the veggies have cable. First they bitch at me because I am never in my room and then I lose cable. One cannot win for trying.

THERAPY UPDATE

Of the 28 doses I have to do, I have finished with 8 doses. So, another 4 weeks and I will be finished. The boob is only slightly tingling, but I have been warned to hold on for the blistering "sunburn" that is to come. Thank goodness I will be able to go braless when it gets bad.

I AM BACK!

back online....:-)

I found free wi fi at the Loyola Fitness Center. It is a bit of a hike, but it allows me to check my email unfettered by the irrational spam blocking tools in place at the VA. The nurse at the desk was NOT happy with me when I informed them I was walking over to check out the internet, but unless she is planning to adopt me and pay my rent, it is a matter of survival of the fitest and fastest out the door.

THE SMELL

Well, the stench in my bathroom clearly indicates that my roomie is likely missing a bit and apparently we don't get our floors mopped unless we ask them to. The housekeeping guy is NOT happy that I have now asked twice. GET OVER IT, it is your job! Last night she had a colostomy bag leak....nuff said. We were up late as the nurse had to clean things up. Clean being a relative term, of course. I am tired this morning but thrilled to have found the free all access wi fi. Now I can effectively job hunt and keep up with the blog. I am SOOOOOOO looking forward to leaving on Friday and just need to remember to mention it when I get back so I am guarnteed a pass for the weekend.

How could I forget?

The aviary! On the first and second floors they have these floor to ceiling bird aviaries that house about a dozen colorful finches and a pair of doves. There are a number of babies inside as well and the whole thing is a hoot to watch. I can sit there for hours watching the birds.

The fun and games!

My first night there I was grabbed by about 3 guys wanting to know if I was going downstairs to play bingo. It seems that various veteran groups in the area schedule various events/activities for the vets and my very first night we got to play bingo! It was Christmas in July so instead of yelling bingo, one had to shout, "Merry Christmas!" One old fart won about 3 times and kept yelling bingo instead of the phrase that pays. You should have heard the screams of, "You are disqualified, you didn't say the right thing." And then there was the guy who wandered in who was not a resident. The villagers went nuts demanding to see his wristband to prove he was a resident and not some impostor. After attempting to scam his way into this high stakes bingo game, he was finally forced to surrender his card and walk away with his head down. I won $3 of VA bucks to use in the canteen for snacks!

Thursday morning I made the across campus trek to the farmers market on the North side of the compound. It wasn't much of a farmers market, but I was given 2 of the best peaches I have ever eaten.

Thursday afternoon I was again grabbed by my now buddy Jeff wanting to know if I was planning to attend the river boat ride in St. Charles. I told him I had not looked into it as I figured I was too late. He quickly informed me that Mary, who runs most of the activities, was looking for more people to go. I was finally able to locate Mary and was able to sign up. Apparently the VA has a large bus that accommodates wheel chairs that they use for outings and such. We left at 4pm and had a wonderful ride on the Fox River and a fabulous fried chicken dinner that couldn't be beat. We finally arrived home at 9pm and I must say, between making sure my roomie went pee BEFORE we tried to go to sleep and the long day of fresh air and sunshine, I slept like a baby.