Another infusion in the books and Bon voyage!

 The weather has been pale blue skies and warm temps with the cooler nights. Warming days are still coming with summer creeping in like the opposite of an evening fog. Same stealth, different temperature.

 Flowers in front of another resident's apartment, Dipladenia variety. The way the sun made the yellow throats glow caught my attention immediately. If I had a shadier front porch I would try and grow something out there.

Anyway, aside from money woes (that are alleviated for now) things are going okay. Back is almost completely healed, I have been able to take the 8 hour Tylenol every 12 hours or so because the pain isn't that bad until then. It's not just back pain though, there's my fingers and general aches of being old and side effects of meds. So I took my last pair of pills at 11 last night and only now around 4pm the next day my hands are getting cranky so time to take something for comfort. Actually everything is feeling like old machinery needing oil. Downside to the Tylenol is it takes forever for it to kick in may not feel any better for at least two or three hours after I take it. Back ache and joint pain are so far the only side effects of the infusion which is manageable.

My friend Margaret had a dozen eggs, some baking cocoa and chocolate chips for me (thanks to a funny video I had sent her) so we arranged a 'picnic lunch' at a park in the neighborhood of the infusion center. She provided sandwiches from a Jimmy John's of all places (had no idea they were in San Diego) and we all (she had her daughter with her and Jon of course was with me) had a nice chat about all manner of things. Only issue was we were in the shade, I had switched to my shorts and a tee shirt because weather said it would be warm and I was FREEZING!  As far as sandwiches go, JJ's is not on my list of places to suggest. It was all right but had to go minimal on fixings because I had no idea what they had. The roll was a bit tough and I guess I'm just used to the softer bread from our favorite three places. I am grateful and thankful for her providing lunch and will ever be so grateful.

So, on to the infusion. The last three times I got there on time and it took them a good twenty minutes to get my IV finally started. This time I figured, get there a bit early so I'm on time still, even called ahead despite them calling me two hours before the appointment. Got my IV (needle? Shunt?) set up but not connected between 1 and 1:15 then.... nurse disappeared muttering something about going to get the Entivio. I had taken my watch off because it would be in the way so had to look at my phone after a while and realized it had been another 15 minutes... we had been in the chair alcove for almost a half hour. So I caught another nurses attention and held up my hand, with unconnected IV and asked when we could get started. Nurse finally came back and got me started, I complained in a good-natured manner that I had hoped they would have it ready to go when I go there since I called ahead. No explanation other than 'the Entivio takes a bit to get ready'... well yeah that's why I was told to call ahead so it was ready when I got sat down. The infusion only takes about a half hour so my assumption is they have the chair reserved for an hour nothing more or less. Still kind of annoying that I sat there trying to do knitting and scrolling on my phone for a good fifteen minutes or more and the shunt in the back of my hand. Oh and she wasn't very good because she said the vein rolled a bit. My veins have not been difficult to hit in all the times I've been having them stuck with needles (except that one time decades ago on the wrist). So only minor bruising in that area which will need to be poked again in about nine days for my CT scan with contrast. Got that finished, both of us had to use the toilet before we left the building and off to home we went.  

Bon Voyage to Talib and Olivia heading off for another trip to Amsterdam by way of Seattle! Hoping they have a relaxing and wonderful cruise and sight seeing on the other side of the world!

We have foodstuffs and bills are being managed, that is all I can ask for these days.  

 

Weather shift and the usual troubles

Weather is wonky of course, it rained the other night, was cloudy, wind came up which meant weather change and now it's going to be in the high 80's and possibly 90 over the weekend. Welcome to Spring.

 

SIGH. I wasn't expecting this to be a cranky complaining post. Thank goodness the rent increase isn't for two months but have to start getting on track with that now.

We're doing okay with food but absolutely no extra money in the bank. Honest I didn't buy that much extra! We had to get gas and that was the biggest expense for sure. Way more than we've had to pay before for the amount we bought. I spent less than $50 on 'extra' food, I guess can't even do that at all now until those extra bills get paid off. 

Internet- paid 51.16

Amazon (yes I still have that) - paid 7.53

Storage on the 10th 353.00

Geico  on the 11th 58.69 

SDGE unknown until 14th 

Phone on 14th 55.00

 

So right now I don't even have enough to cover storage which is due on the 10th but from what I understand there's a 2 week grace period before they tack on the $20 late fee. So once Geico is paid all that's left is storage, SDGE and phone. Depending on SDGE I will be able to pay that and phone. 

Once again I am panicking and don't know if it will all work out. 

 

The other night I could not get comfortable. My back was hurting, everything felt wrong, got into bed and the sheets were too wrinkled, my knee was hurting, put on my sweat pants and socks and ended up sleeping on top of the covers and still was not that good sleep. I don't know what was going on but the next night it was better. I wish there was a way of just falling asleep for longer than two hours. That's about average, 2 or maybe 3 hours then get up to use the bathroom, get back in bed, hope for falling asleep in a timely fashion, most of the time it takes me another hour to doze off. I know one of the meds I'm on can cause insomnia but that's one I take in the morning for that reason. Can't wait until surgery so they can knock me out for a couple of hours and I can get some decent sleep. 

I am pretty sure we need a new mattress and that's part of the issue. It's an Ikea mattress so it's one sided otherwise we would have been flipping it over. There's a  ridge in the middle of the mattress so when I roll over on my left side I'm having to throw my leg over more to keep me from feeling like I'm rolling onto my back. I sleep on my right side and end up almost on the edge. As a result of this, the bottom sheet doesn't stay tight and one thing I cannot stand is a wrinkled bottom sheet. I don't usually wear pajama bottoms just an oversize t shirt so it's just one of those tactile things that makes me uncomfortable. Jon of course is usually asleep within minutes and snoring of course that is another factor that keeps me from getting to sleep faster. Can't sleep in the front room unless I put Rocky in the bathroom, which I did one time and still didn't sleep well because we have a short love seat and I'm taller than it can accommodate comfortably. Even that has sunken cushions. We were able to buy more Tylenol at Costco using the OTC card and it's the extra arthritis strength 8 hour formula.  Now I'm worried about my liver taking that but it's the only way I can actually function with minimal pain lately. Which is another side effect of one of my meds is body and joint aches.

Gorgeous day outside, can't drive anywhere that would use gas I need for doctor appointments, garden is plugging along. One of the expenses I used was a whopping $11 for fertilizer for the garden. The plants look better for it and ohpe to have some good peppers this year. Tomatoes are fruiting well thankfully, tough plants.

Photo was after I watered well so the peppers looks droopy but they're doing fine. Tomato, two cucumbers and the other tomato on the fence. I suspect by the time the tomatoes are mostly done the cucumbers will be as tall as the one on the right. First time growing cukes on the trellis so here's hoping they hang on and thrive. 

That's it for now, venting done and update accomplished.  Hands are starting to ache again which means 8 hour formula is starting to wear off.

Toodles. 

 

Shopping and recovery

 Groceries are getting acquired, weather is shifting again to cooler cloudy days, still going to be short on money as usual. Still trying to convince Jon (I'm doing what  I can) to save money and not spend every penny.

My lower back is feeling much better. It's not sciatica and from what I can feel I've done this before. I got a call back from the doctor's 'triage nurse' and she asked questions and determined I should have gone to the ER. I told her I can't afford to do that so will be doing self treatment and follow various instructions for lower back relief online. Regular doses of extra strength Tylenol, which we resupplied at Costco today using the OTC card huzzah. It is better, just feeling very stiff and can't bend over still and have to warm up my muscles when I wake up in the morning. Also have to not sit at my desk for long periods so setting an alarm every hour to get up and move around. I couldn't sleep well at all last night despite not being in much pain. I've determined that is a combination of a mattress that needs replacing and Jon's snoring. I actually took an hour long nap yesterday, couldn't keep my eyes open sitting at the desk. 

Rocky trying to snooze while Jon tells me about something he read on the computer. Hard to tell but he has one eye open looking like, ' is he talking again? I'm trying to sleep'. Yes that pile of clothes on the chair is mine and Rocky is resting his head on my knee brace. My knee started getting really cranky after my back went out so had that on for about a week.

We stocked up on various canned goods and things at F4L, got yogurt and apples again yay! We didn't get ice cream so we're going out today to get that since we went to Costco again today for meat and cheese. Beef other than hamburger was way out of my budget. Sure there was stew meat but my experience with that trying to make it work for other recipes has not worked. So we got a package of pollo asado, chicken breasts and hamburger, block of cheese and coffee for Jon. Still need more sodas and water a few other things I forgot to get first time around. I indulged in a snack vice of mine, onion dip and ruffle potato chips. Salt, salt and more salt. It's bad and I had two helpings the other day, very bad... ears were hissing, resting heart rate was way too high (that may have also been from being in pain) but I am having smaller portions and drinking lots of water as well. Trying to only have one soda a day and succeeding most of the time. I'm nibbling on apple bits or having yogurt instead of a soda if I want something sweet and having a glass of ice water. Fools my brain for the most part of having something cold and sweet.

Next appointment in the schedule is infusion on the 11th. Here's hoping there's some progress after the next one because right now, it doesn't seem to have done anything at all. Oh and the side effects of my other necessary meds is... diarrhea, body aches, arthritis...everything I have right now. Right. So will be on a semi regular intake of Tylenol as needed. Oh my hand shaking isn't as bad either, still there in a minor small tremble but not as bad as in January.

That's all I can think of for now, anything else will have to wait. 

May the 4th Be With you All!

 

 

Premonitions and pains

 So a post or two ago I had a feeling that the only thing that could happen next would be the rent going up. And it did. Got the notice today that July 1 the rent goes up an other $25 making it $1100 a month. I have applied for whatever help I can get on utilities and medical but don't qualify for much else. 

 Saw my boob doctor yesterday, he's got to communicate with GI doctor about timing surgery with the infusions so it doesn't affect surgery but I don't miss an infusion either. Tentatively there should be a pre-op appointment with him sometime in June. So yeah, things are moving ahead as much as possible with all the various moving parts shuffling around. 

A CT scan that was scheduled for sometime weeks down the road was rescheduled (which I missed) to be the same day as my final appointment with the Radiation treatment doctor on the 20th of this month. Luckily CT is early morning (9:30) and only takes about two hours which gives me enough time to grab some food (can't eat anything 6 hours before) and drive all the way from Kearny Mesa to Grossmont for a 2 pm appointment. 

As for the pains, I somehow tweaked my back/sciatica on Saturday and am in constant pain in my lower back/saddle area. Happens to be in the same spot they took the scraping for lymphoma last year. Coincidental of course but have to let someone know and if I have to get a referral for either a neurologist or chiropractor. Ideally taking an anti-inflammatory would help but .... the only one they can give me is prednison apparently due to my gut issues. That's my guess at least. I've tried a warm rice pack, cold rice pack.... nothing made a difference. It feels like if I can just twist my back to pop something back into place it would feel better.

We got our 'monthly government stipend' today, which is a day earlier than I thought we'd get it. Gas is up .20 from two days ago. I know, I had to get gas before my appointment yesterday and it was 5.49 and is now 5.69.  We got the essentials Jon pays for at Costco, stopped at Greek Chicken and got lunch and came home. 

I'm uncomfortable, Jon's uncomfortable and the note about rent going up did not improve our moods. Lunch was delicious but didn't lift our moods to our typical euphoria with the Greek food. 

Oh and I have cat litter from Chewy.com on auto ship and of course they tried to get payment yesterday when I didn't have money in the bank so had to try and clear that up today. It's kind of confusing (much like the SDGE page) on whether the order has gone through or is in proces. Is it going to double charge me for two orders? Looks like it's going to be a double order dangit.  Now cancelling the future order and hope the other order comes in time. We don't need it immediately, but will need it in the next two weeks or so.

It is non-existent to find a 1 bedroom apartment in San Diego for less than $1100. I looked. Any of them that are less than that are 'per person/per bed'. Student arrangements in other words and would still involve more investigation and scrutiny. I know at least one complex is right next to the trolley tracks near the university. By that I mean if you take the screen off the windows you could lob a can of soda and someone could catch it on the platform or in the trolley if the door was open. So no. Moving of any sort still involves over $2000 just for the move. Truck or trailer rental, arrangements with new location, and then there's all my medical appointments. We have to stay in San Diego and within a certain area of my doctors for convenience and continuity.

So we're stuck here with rising costs all around and technically we are cheaper than other places. So here we sit and will try and make do with what we can. Again will try and find storage closer and less expensive but that is another pipe dream.

Side note, in one of the buildings in the neighborhood they are doing something with a vacuum that runs a high pitched whine. Started this morning and only broke for lunch but is back at it again. Not good for my mood either. 

Just a quick update after my stress test.

 I'm exhausted and didn't even walk that long on the treadmill. My test was at 1 ish and it is now a little after 5 and I'm still exhausted. Boy howdy am I out of shape!

So first thing was getting me hooked up to the EKG cables and stuff. Not a big deal, been there many times. They thought I was going to sweat a lot so as a precaution used some tape on a few of them. Then... they wanted to do an echo/sonogram of my heart. Problem: implant is in the way. She tried all the angles, bruising me a time or two, having me roll back and lean forward (laying on my left side with a bp cuff) and breathe in and out.. the whole thing but wasn't able to get a good shot of one angle. So they did a 'contrast' IV not with a bag or anything just a syringe 'microbubble' contrast. Didn't feel a thing other than the IV needle. Barely got a good image that time and then it was treadmill time.

Honestly, I thought it would take longer but it was maybe a minute and a half. Slow start, I was kind of clomping and then it accelerated and inclined and hooboy did that get me winded fast! The cardio nurse was watching the instruments and said I had gotten to the target heart rate but could I go another 30 seconds, I barely  nodded another five seconds and she asked again and the echo nurse said 'no she's done' (something like that and I wasn't offended at all). I then had to hop off the treadmill quickly and back over to the bed in 90 seconds for her to try and do another sonogram but, still difficult and I couldn't hold my breath at all because I was winded. So oh well. Doctor came in and looked at all the readings (not my doctor just the doctor for the office that day) and said that all my numbers were good, heart rate was regular, blood pressure was good, only problem was not being able to see the heart completely to check for signs of a blood clot area. That is the only reason why they were doing the sonogram because of my Afib. They can't take the chance of missing one but the next step was some weird contrast something or other but didn't think that would really be necessary. Other than that, no calcification shows up when they did the CAT scan in January and nothing showed up bad now. 

People don't listen to me. I know they can't take any chances but other than that one hiccup that was totally on me, I have a perfectly healthy heart.  It's getting rather tiring having people treat me like I have a serious condition. I'm more concerned about the colitis than I am about my heart, well the cholesterol too but that's correctable with diet and exercise. 

So I'm pooped! Hopefully going to sleep really well tonight. Barring every hour or two waking to visit the porcelain throne.

 

Change of diet for Joon weather is holding steady

 No more rain, typical San Diego spring/summer now. Good for gardening and walking, nothing too hot or cold, some breezy wind and pale, powder blue skies. 

 Reusing a picture from a week ago, purple trumpet vine on the pergola lawn area. One of my favorite flowers is all.

As for Jon... he had an appointment with our regular doctor, the blood and pee test was mixed. His glucose levels are trending a bit too high and she asked what he was eating. We have a really good rapport with her so when he told her he has two or three sodas a day she gasped and said 'three!?' I should have gone in with him but felt like he could handle it. So good thing is, no sign of diabetes, his eyes and urine not showing anything. (wonder why I haven't been asked for a pee test?). So after giving him a talk about reducing carbs (bread among other things) she said ice cream was actually healthier than bread or even the 'high fiber' cereals.  So along with the diet guidelines and letting her know that we do not have a budget for really eating healthy to her levels, he got a prescription for metformin. I recognized the name and let him know thee side effects. He's supposed to take it with food so he starts that tomorrow morning with breakfast, one twice a day with food. Next appointment with her is August and that's it. So, did that stop him from having a soda and two ice cream sandwiches after lunch today? Nope. I've been trying to get him to cut back on sweets like that for a while and he ducks his head apologetically and goes right back to doing it. At least he promised to not have more than one soda a day. 

Another interesting thing she said was for pain relief, use only Tylenol. He asked why the generics aren't as good when the ingredients are the same. She said on a scale of 1 - 10 actual Tylenol is a 10 for efficacy and the generics are maybe 4-5. Who knew? Well actually when dealing with any 'brand' you have good generics and some not so good. Thought generics were basically the same for medicines, otherwise why would they substitute them in prescriptions?

As for me, going through a really bad stretch of hemorrhoids. Not going into tmi but at least one day it was up there in pain level with giving birth. Uncomfortable to sit in my desk chair and forgot to look for a donut cushion. Best I can do is use some witch hazel pads right now (thank you Sharp for the OTC benefits card!) and hoping it tames down a bit in the next few days. I also discovered a really bizarre nerve pain connection from my butt to my kneecap, 'nuf said. Oh, I also found out that the treatment I'm getting for the colitis, has a very, very long ramp up to being effective. Tops out at 14 weeks. So doing the math, that's not for another three treatments, around July. Because after my next one in three and a half weeks, the next after that is 8 weeks for the duration. Wish doctor had told me about that aspect of it. I am not looking forward to having this kind of problem for that long. The information I read said 12-14 weeks, but considering it is a 'biologic' rather than 'chemical' I can see why. Working with the difference between organic and non-organic pesticides and fertilizers... SIGH. Will have to wait and see what happens.

 I have my echo stress test tomorrow which I hope I can walk enough for them. Slight incline on a treadmill which I've never used before. This will be fun I'm sure. I called radiology and cancelled my MRI appointment and told the person why which they were kind of shocked no one asked if I had anything metal. I probably answered no metal because they don't include anything like that on the check list. So that's taken care of at least. 

So medically we're doing as best we can, bills are all paid up and just coasting on what we have at this point. Halfway through the month and surviving. Like we do. 

I got out to the garden a few days ago and discovered, the area had been completely cleaned of all extraneous weeds. Everything. Completely denuded. I allowed some of them to grow for the benefit of keeping the area cool and encourage various critters. You can see the difference (Rocky outing photo) in the distance how the green had just taken over that corner. I don't know who complained or figured it needed to go but oh well. It is now a bare, dry and dusty pathway that needs bark or gravel or something. Planted all my peppers in the raised bed, two cucumbers waiting in their pods to get big enough. Pulled up the last potato plant and had only four spuds, two might be big enough to eat. Oh well, although I did discover that Yukon Gold are more horizontal growing and I could probably grow them just fine in the crate I have waiting around. 

Cooking I'm still doing. Made some delicious chicken and bow tie pasta today using Olive Garden Italian dressing to marinade chicken thighs. Baked them in the oven to perfection and then coated the cooked pasta with butter, parmesan, garlic, dried parsley a little salt and pepper and done. Hoping to do some chicken tacos of some sort tomorrow with breasts. Might switch up with some hamburger on Sunday... dang, tomorrow I have my appointment. Not sure about cooking anything, oh well, leftovers/ramen/soup it may be. 

And that's our life this week. I knew a diet change was coming but it's not so heinous. I'm a bit anxious about another rent hike that my second sight is telling me is around the corner for some reason.

 

 

 

 

Bit of a ramble post, second infusion and rain

Bit of a ramble, second infusion and fun weather. 

 Not much rain on the ground unless it passed over our neighborhood while we were at my appointment. It's been cloudy and windy for two days and it's wonderful. Had to actually put the extra blanket on the bed last night and the night before. We drove through a cloudburst on the way to the appointment so at least my car got rinsed off and blown dry at 60 mph and then high speed dry at 70.

The sky is about two shades lighter than the photo, not sure how to get the color to match life but oh well. Big puffy clouds in blue skies is very picturesque for sure. Probably the last 'storm' we'll be having for the spring I bet.

Had my second infusion today, nothing unusual though they did call me about two hours before to ask if I was going to be there and I said of course, and was going to call in an hour. She said that's why I'm calling... cheerily said thank you and she said see you when you get here and we hung up. Well, turns out they still didn't have my meds ready when I got there. Checked in on time, called me and got my vitals and in the chair in about 5 minutes and then had to wait another twenty for them to bring my meds. Different chair, same nurse turns out. I had my knitting on my lap and she started getting my IV set up looked at the knitting, looked at Jon and I recognized her. She laughed and said you've gotten a lot done on the sweater, I had to admit, not really.

I had blood work done when I saw cardiologist on Friday, got the results the next day and two of my doctors sent messages soon after. Everything but cholesterol is great, according to my primary it's 'trending high' (only cholesterol and triglyerides and two others were 'high normal') and was considering changing to a different statin. So other than that my system seems to be totally ignoring the treatment. Everything went back to the way it was after the initial week of my first one and this week it feels worse. I'm concerned that this is not working and won't have a new treatment until I see Keller in July.  A friend mentioned that she had a friend that had this same problem and went through three or four different treatments that didn't work and ended up with a colostomy. I do not want to go down that road. My bloodwork is good, not losing any vital minerals or other things and my total blood is good too despite my bleeding issue. Although the quiet pounding in my ears has returned I just noticed, but even my blood pressure was just fine at the appointment.

I'm glad all my numbers are good, the sleep apnea and heart monitor studies didn't come up with anything of course. I knew they wouldn't but at least they're done. Next is my echo cardiogram stress test on Saturday and Jon has doctor appointment on Thursday. I really miss walking to and around the park when I was picking up the boys. Need to look for a walking park nearer than Santee and if Jon doesn't want to go, that's fine. He can nap while I go for a walk but he'll probably insist on coming with me because he's protective  like that. He'd prefer to go to the mall and walk around and to me that's boring and too noisy if that makes sense. Too many smells, sounds and people. Not really over sensitive about that sort of thing like autistically just annoying. If I'm going to the mall I am going to look in shops or shop and get something to eat, not just walk around... smelling popcorn, then candy, then perfume, then something else, it echoes a lot too. I'm a country girl, I love more open space, the sound of wind in the trees, identifying plants I see, marveling at flowers or birds in the trees. Jon is a city guy, likes gravel and pavement and sounds of the city and buildings around him.

We're doing okay for food still. Not quite halfway through the month and need to go to the store for resupply on milk, bread, eggs and mayo (I decided to make egg salad and macaroni salad). I know some medicare plans have a senior food allotment program but it's primarily for 'special needs/chronic illness' situations like diabetes which counts us out. So we have what we have and do what we can with what we've got. As for the bills, will know what SDGE bill is for this month tomorrow hopefully and then have to pay phone bill within a few days.

Oh, side note, because neither of us has any other income than social security and no assets or other things to report, we don't have to file taxes in CA. Seriously. I looked it up because I wanted to be sure, it's not considered taxable income to the Feds or state. So, no more hassle with taxes as long as we don't get other income or move out of California to somewhere it is taxed (not highly likely in either scenario).

So that's all the news fit to spit on the internet.