All good now, as usual.

 'When in panic when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout'. 

Yep, luckily Amber (congrats to her and Wellman for being together for 10 years), was able to get me the money to cover SDGE and everything cleared just fine this morning. Had just enough money left in the bank to resupply on a few things. Now just have to coast for the next two weeks.

 I did mention to Jon as we were getting ready for bed the other night that we can't have any extraneous expenses anymore. I have essentially $90 getting taken out for one medical and still have to figure out the payments for AMR and the other medical. So I told him as gently as I could that with the extra bills coming out of my account we can't spend much on 'extras'. He felt bad and understood so hoping he remembers my caution when we get paid again. I'll have to tell him again in a week that we can only have a cap of $40 for extraneous food outings. It's a hard thing for us to do because there's so much good food out there and for so long we were able to just up and go get it because we had the budget. At least the first year or two we were together (which seems like forever ago). It takes a lot of energy and time for me to fix food and I can't cook great Mexican food or have the food budget to make a great sub sandwich. It's cheaper to go out and get it, just has to come out of a different budget unfortunately. 

I've got two more doctor/medical appointments this month, one this week over at a new facility in Kearny Mesa for the home sleep test (still trying to see if that has an up front fee or not), the other is the breast MRI ten minutes away in Santee the following week and then that's got me tapped out for gas.  

It's going to be hot again for the next week. We survived for two days without the AC because it was reasonable temps but today it was 89 by noon and we closed up before dipping out to the store quickly. Fixed our midday meal (penne pasta with meat marinara using a jar of Ragu for a base) and are settled in for the day. 

Still worried about Devon not answering back, I know both of them were having health issues so hope everything is okay with them. I'm still a mom, what can I say.

Other than that, so far so good. Side effects of prednisone are negligible compared to last time. Had to look up directions on how many to take when and how long and noted it in my phone for reference. Because... old age and chemo do things to the memory.

So we're buttoned up and it's half way through the day (at least the daylight portion, it's only 3:40 as we got a late start on the day). I didn't sleep well, woke up about four or five times to go pee overnight. Rocky wants to go out but it is currently 95 outside and that is not happening right now. Won't cool down sufficiently until sunset. All I can think of is Olaf from Frozen singing about how great Summer would be. Oh side note, they have made a full on, life size (actual character size not people size) animatronic Olaf that walks and moves and reacts. Apparently it's only in the Paris Disneyland from the videos I saw. Eyes blink and move, one of the arms moves, head moves and body bobs up and down and walks with the short stubby legs. He's adorable and amazing technology!

So my week in a nutshell, up and down all around.  Yippee.

 

Oh the weather's been frightful...and so are my bills

 Two days with the temp over 90 and yesterday it was 96. Ohyoubetcha we had the AC on early in the day and ran it all the way to sunset. Today is a lot more reasonable, only in the mid 80's so we're just running the fans as long as possible until maybe the afternoon when the sun comes blazing in from the west.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bushes think it's spring for sure, the weather says otherwise. Bees are buzzing in the hawthorn bushes and other places as well. Right now it's breezy and temperate and sounds like Jon is going to be napping soon. He just closed the window behind the couch and the front room is dark. 

As for other things, appetite is ramping up with the prednisone kicking in. Lower system is less annoying but still not perfect. The fact that my body is responding to the anti-inflammatory is a good sign and hope it stays that way. Got results from part of the tests the other day, boob is still good and normal and the other part of the test was negative for a particular enzyme or something. Won't know about the other half of the sample test until next week. The calprotectin (the marker for Crohn's) is what Keller is concerned about and waiting for the results on that. 

Anywho, once again  the last two bills are going to be hitting my account at the same time which is bad, very bad, not good. I already started the process for hte SDGE, and then today got a message from Cricket that they will be processing my payment tomorrow. Which is the same amount as the SDGE. If I'm short on either of them I am totally screwed. Going to put messages out once again but only need $60 at the minimum to cover things. 

I will be doing the electronic version of passing the basket/hat for help. It can't go to paypal because I need the money in my account directly. If I have to transfer the money immediately I lose a small percentage and have to add on about another $5 just to be sure.  

If it weren't for Jon buying an Elvis cd set we would be okay. If I didn't have that $89 medical payment we would be just fine.  

Oh! I looked at the 'paperwork' for getting payment assistance for the AMR bill and you have to show them one of any multitude of things like a charity letter or bank statement, tax return from last year, any income you are getting... and you HAVE to mail it in. There's no electronic way of sending it to them. If I call during the week they'll likely say the same thing, send us your income verification for the household.  So, they're going to look at what our income is, which is below poverty level for our household size, then wonder why we can't afford a $250 bill. I have approximately $1150 for a hospital bill I'm making payments on as well as the rent being about a third of our income.

So yeah. Will be having a talk with Jon for sure that no 'fun' expenses allowed unless he checks with me first. Budget for food outside of EBT has to be capped at $40 for the month and that can be split between the two of us. I don't think he really understands how much we need to pinch pennies. His mindset is, money comes in, spend it all aside from bills. He's that way about food too, he doesn't eat much in the way of leftovers, cook fresh, eat it all right away. I'm changing his mind about that though with my cooking. Other than a few dishes he still won't eat leftovers like my enchilada. If he can make soup consistency out of it he's fine. He won't eat leftover pizza or chicken pieces (like KFC or other chicken) if he has a choice. He'll eat ramen noodles before certain leftovers.

So anyway....  

Sigh. At least I'm eating potatoes and other food. 

Poop for science, boob squish done

 Late night post today, other things going on obviously. Weather is same as yesterday, reasonable for spring but temps will be climbing by the weekend. ::whimper:: 

 Different angle of the 'Seasons Tree'. 

Rocky now is getting more curious and realizes there is taller grass he likes in the garden so I get to do some garden visit the last few times he's been out. Have to make sure he doesn't chow down on the 'foxtail' wild wheat heads though. I pulled most of those off the other day because I didn't want him eating them or more spreading next year.

Anyway.

Took my first prednisone this morning and was feeling oddly hyper by the time I had my mammo appointment. Had enough to do sample about two hours before we had to leave for the appointment but then realized the lab might have different hours. Checked and sure enough it closed at 5 and my check in was 5:15. Yipes! So as soon as Jon woke from his nap around 4:30 had to tell him we needed to leave asap to drop my sample before the appointment. Got there in plenty of time then went and sat down to wait for my mammo. About fifteen minutes later I realized I needed to check in for that appoitnment! HAH! Then being used to going to the Santee location for my MRI and other things like that, I sat at one end of the building (it's a long relatively narrow building with the pharmacy, radiology and lab at one end, reception desk in the middle then Urgent care on the other end. There are doors on either side of the desk area and the one for the radiology is next to the pharmacy. So that's where we were sitting when I heard my name called allll the way on the other side of reception. Hehehe. I was kind of a little hyper, talking faster than usual so it was either the anxiety about getting there in time or the prednisone kicked in. Possibly combination of both. 

So done and done, might not have results posted until next week and then wait for doctors to get back to me. Might actually get results for the other test sooner but considering I turned it in close to shut down time, then it's only two days until the weekend, but the lab is open on the weekend if I remember. Who knows, I'll find out eventually. By the time Summer rolls around I will be hopping with surgery or recovery, IV treatments every 8 weeks and who knows what else going on. Depends on when everything gets coordinated and scheduled. Hoooboy!

I've got a mild headache right now probably from the prednisone, don't remember having a headache last time but I was on a bunch of other things and system was wonky too. Speaking of that, I was feeling kind of wonky day before yesterday and it felt familiar like just before things started going south. in January. The blood test results came in and sure enough I was at the low end of potassium at 3.5. Fortuitous enough I had just bough a huge bag of Yukon Gold potatoes at Costco and had a microwave baked one that night. Potatoes have more potassium than any of the other veggies even bananas so guess who's going to have potatoes more often?

Had delicious bbq chicken thigh meat sandwiches on buns with regular bbq sauce and a spicy rub. Made some Gibson's white sauce and coleslaw using that (didn't turn out the way I expected), typical sandwich fixings to go with it (lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, pepperoncini, banana peppers). Then also did a pair of microwave potatoes, had planned on doing 'plank' style (cottage/Texas) fries in the oven but forgot until the chicken was ready to assemble. Still delicious because I had butter, salt, pepper shredded cheese, green onions and sour cream on mine. John just had butter, onions, salt and pepper. So at least a potato a day in some fashion. They aren't russets so some dishes aren't ideal, like fries and hash browns but it's worth a shot. Having shrimp somehow tomorrow for our meal, maybe tacos...with the white sauce, or the green sauce... or both. Yeah!

So that's my day, have a mild headache I just took two tylenol for about a half hour ago, got my evening pills down. Jon choked on a piece of paper he thought was his pill on the table. He didn't have his glasses on. I just don't know about that man sometimes.

 

 

 

So, diagnosis/treatment for Crohn's

 Weather has been amazing, Spring like temps, breezy and clear skies. Seeds are sprouting, I pulled a carrot that may be a bit small but still good. It's a shorter growing variety anywaym and pulled the last two scallions that were big enough and pulled the cilantro stalks, saving some of the larger leaves. 

 Successfully traded another bag of yarn, a handful of fresh scallions and an electric griddle that's not been used much for a 12 pack of coke. I thought it was going to be just handing my friend my items but she brought out the sodas as a trade off. 

On with the medical news. 

Met with Dr. Keller, who is my favorite doctor so far, and he explained a few things after asking how I was. He was dismayed about how frequently I was hitting the bathroom and definitely wanted to get that under control. He couldn't find any other pointers for my condition other than Crohn's Disease. He said that even with the length of time I had used the naproxen and then stopped, my system would have healed better from any damage.. but it's still a pointer (and me knowing I enjoy high fat and spicy foods diet may have been a factor as well). Come to think of it, wondering if gall bladder fail was part of the 'collapse' of the system so to speak. 

After discussing what's been going on and all that he wanted to get a more recent fecal test done for only two things and in order to get the diarrhea under control put in for a lower dose of prednisone at the pharmacy. I told him about my experience with the last dosage I had and he said this is almost half of what that was. So hopefully it won't have as much impact on my moods and appetite. Since that may cause insomnia I will start that tomorrow morning. Crossing fingers on it not having as severe side effects. 

 In the long run, there are two treatments for Crohn's which is an auto immune disease and I'm not going to try and spell them both out. One has an increased risk of cancer, specifically lymphoma which is a flag in my chart for the spot they biopsied on my pelvis so he was steering clear of that one. He mentioned 'Skyrizi' which is being advertised all over and he seemed to dismiss that because it isn't ideal for my situation. So he was going to put the paperwork through for Vedolizumab or 'Entyvio' (he wrote it down for me). As per the Mayo Clinic web site: "This is a type of medicine known as a monoclonal antibody. It works by stopping certain immune cell molecules — integrins — from binding to other cells in the intestinal lining. Vedolizumab is a gut-specific agent." So it is an immunosuppressant and of course has the usual cautions about 'live' vaccines and being cautious in crowds and people with contagious situations.

What the treatment involves is going into an infusion center much like I did for chemo and get hooked up with an IV for about 30-60 minutes at '0, 2, 4 and 8 weeks' according to Keller. After the initial run it will be regular appointments at 8 week intervals with check ups once a year. Side effects are cold and flu-like symptoms, joint pain, headaches, fatigue... yada yada... so joint pain I'm dealing with already, taking tylenol for arthritis anyway and just may have that in jumbo size for the time being. 

He also ordered a specialized MRI for looking at my small intestine called MRenterography but it doesn't involve any radioactive material but likely will have a contrast which I've had before. He said he was trying to minimalize the number of tests and scans I have to do and I told him heck go for it if it's what he needs. He was going to double check with Dr. Moeller about the infusion and any interactions or problems it might cause. I also told him that I was likely going to have breast surgery scheduled in the next few months and he kind of half grimaced because he didn't want me to miss any treatments or too many of them or it would possibly develop an immunity to it. So since it would be 8 weeks apart I think I may well be good on that if it falls in that time frame.

So many balls in the air to juggle for the doctors! I'm just over here waiting for phone calls or messages and recommendations and such. I guess I'm one of the balls in the air? Oh I asked if there is any limitation on my diet or foods and all he said was 'high fat and spicy' food. Greeeaaat. I told him I just made a big try of 'enchilada lasagna' and quick looked at me and said, 'oh that sounds good!' I told him it was. Going to have to write up that recipe and give it to him somehow. He wanted to schedule another visit for June or July but apparently he's booked all the way out to August. Yeeesh. He must be one of two GI doctors in the system (I'm guessing at that). Oh and with the diet advice I came home starved, fixed a helping of the enchilada and had some chips and salsa. So much for low fat and low spice. He said 'in moderation' and that's my moderation today. 

Other than that, rent, storage, car insurance, internet and the medical payment are done, AMR I have to call or email them about making arrangements. Only things left are SDGE (which I won't know how much it is for another three or four days) and phone and as usual do not have enough to pay both of them. 

So that's it for today.  Better living through chemistry and as good a medical system I can get.

 

 

Second round of groceries and a mistake

 The weather is being warm but nice now, it was in the low 90's for a couple of days and that was kind of miserable but we powered through it without the AC. The nights drop down to the 60's so everything cools off nicely. It's when it doesn't cool down sufficiently that the temp inside almost stays constantly too warm, but it's been nice thankfully.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got to Costco for the meat and other things run, dry cat food and a chocolate cake because we..... are adults. Now, I love Jon until my days are done, but he is a man who has spatial and directional issues. That first photo is how he cut the first piece of the cake. ::insert facepalm::.  I corrected it when I got my piece and cut it conveniently in proper size slices for future eating. I didn't think to get a photo of the after until I put the top on the cake but you can see the difference. This isn't the mistake in the headline.

The mistake is me getting my weeks mixed up due to the online pre-check in for appointments. I wasted a ¼ tank of gas today going to my gastro appointment only to be told by the receptionist it's next week. 

Jon is trying to make light of it, saying it was a pretty day to be out and about, but with our tight budget I can't afford to be wasting gas like that. We cannot go anywhere now other than doctor appointments and maybe to the store.  Especially since gas prices just went sky high.  So yeah, that was not something I wanted to spend time doing, a costly mistake. But anyway.

Last night I prepped everything for doing burrito bar today for the two of us. Can of refried beans I dressed up a bit, added a spoonful of sour cream, garlic and onion powder, chili powder, salt and pepper and a little lime juice and a tablespoon of butter. (bound and determined to get close to restaurant beans one of these days without using lard). Jon declared the beans tasted good. Fried up the hamburger last night with taco seasoning so all I had to do was heat up in the microwave, veggies all cut and a new batch of salsa as well. So that was a tasty midday meal and have chicken breasts in the fridge for doing chicken sandwiches tomorrow. Got the buns and all the veggies that will be prepped tonight, will figure out if I want to do a 'special sauce' as well.

I'm learning with meals that have vegetables or meat that needs to be cut to do it the day/night before. Time saver on the day of cooking. Not like I have places to go and things to do most of the time but not having to worry about cutting/slicing tomatoes and taking up counter space with equipment is a relief.                                         

I also scored a new pan from the table (looks kind of like the photo sans lid). Doing a search it is called a 'jumbo chef's pan' or a 'jumbo cooker'. Didn't get a picture of it before Jon tetris'd it into the pan cupboard. Downside is it didn't have a lid and the opposite handle is loose due to the nut and plastic cover having come off. Apparently it was the landlady's because she was out and I was deflecting her puppy with it and she said 'yeah I don't have a use for that anymore'. It is about an inch too big for the large frying pan lid I have unfortunately. The inside bottom has a not hex pattern but texture to it which Jon 'cleaned' and I think he took some of the non-stick coating off or it was blackened from cooking and was already worn off. In any case, looking forward to figuring out what to cook in it. Only problem with a jumbo pan is having teeny tiny storage space.

My system is still wonky, but working with it best I can. I've been a bad girl and having way too many pickles over the last few days. I heard that pickle juice is great for electrolytes and so bought some zesty Vlasic and found Grillo's spicy on sale. Score! Then I realized that the higher salt content is not good for my current issues. But looking at the label it has 200mg of salt (2% of dv) but no potassium..... so the 'lore' behind using it as an electrolyte replacement doesn't hold up. Oh well, still going to eat them just as with all things, in moderation. 

Garden is plugging along, Jon tipped over the seedling 'tray' in the window the other day but nothing was broken, some of the pods were shuffled but it's all good, if seeds come up I'll rearrange them. I had three rows of three different kinds of peppers.. if they got jumbled then I will have a 'surprise pepper' garden now. Oh well. Oh yeah and one squash plant, that will be easy to tell apart.

So that's it for this week so far. Trials and tribulations continue apace.

 

And first round of groceries

 Another hot day today, we're still trying to survive without turning on the AC. It's already after 4 and I put the sunshade in the kitchen window but didn't close the windows there. The sun is just getting below the other roofline and temperature has dropped dramatically, so Jon opened the front door yay for air flow!

 Evening on the grass, last illumination of the 'weather tree'. Supposed to be able to see all the planets lined up. Not with all the buildings around us.

Not many photos to post, been busy with things and stuff. So we have some groceries right now, pantry supplies veggies and fruits, things to make stuff. Resupply on the yogurt and two apples, favorite treat/snack for me right now. We'll hit Costco tomorrow and hopefully get some shrimp, the hamburger (which went down .20 from a month ago yay!) and whatever chicken I feel like getting. We have a little over 100 left in the food money, I went overbudget with the regular groceries. I estimated $180 and it was $209. A few things that I didn't factor in were tossed in the basket but it's all good. I splurged on the bologna but that was in the budget, $7.50 for a 2lb pack of all beef bologna. Totally worth it for tasty sandwiches, which I had when we got home. Will have a fried bologna sandwich in a little while and we also got bacon because it was on sale. Sometime in the next few days will have chicken bacon ranch sandwiches for sure.

I still want Mexican food. Need some enchilada sauce and cheese to make my casserole or even regular enchiladas will have to check Vons for that tomorrow.  

I miss Enchiritos from Taco Bell. Sure, there's copy cat recipes all over but... I'd have to make it.

Planning meals is the logical thing to do but typically people would do that on a weekly basis when you would do weekly shopping. I just did a month's worth of groceries and planning a month of meals is daunting.  We don't always need to have a fresh meal due to having leftovers or lack of energy, or busy day. But having a list of possible meals and planning ahead is the way to go. Do I always do that? Nope.... because I'm chaotic like that.

In other news, Jon finally got some eye drops and it has changed his mood incredibly. He's had watery eyes for years and my doctor told me when it happened to me it's because your eyes are dry. Mine were from using antihistamines and maybe his are too because of his allergies. DUH! So yeah finally getting drops his eyes aren't watering as much, yay for simple fix that we didn't have to pay for (OTC benefit card covered it).

As for me, had another bathroom emergency that didn't end well today. Luckily Jon had just gotten out of the bathroom but I still didn't make it in time. Only soiled my undies and a small spot on my pants thankfully but am now walking around the apartment sans trousers, shoes and socks. Thankfully it is very warm and doesn't bother me at all. 

I have to contact the Sharp financial office to see about 'payment arrangements' for my over $1000 medical bill. I can't add the extra 250 (not the ambulance bill) to the account because then it jacks up my payments to over 300. I can barely manage the $89 right now. So yeah, extra bills, no money, story of my life. Oh and no tax return to help with it either. Not even sure about whether to file or not, but since we have to report that we indeed had medical coverage, then have to do that.

That's all for today and yesterday. Enjoying my fried bologna sandwich and pickles for dinner.  

 

 

 

 

We gots money, frustration and good news

 So for some reason, the bank isn't emailing me that I got paid 'early' anymore. So I was bummed out this morning when I woke up and got no email. That put a damper on my whole day that was compounded by only having toast and peanut butter for breakfast. 

 ¾ moon  yesterday afternoon, best I could do with my phone camera zoomed in to 4 x. Again, the colors are a LOT deeper than what they actually are.

I woke up, Jon came in and said we got money which alleviated some of my mood but I didn't sleep well which was another factor in my day. We don't get EBT until Sunday which is okay but still made me cranky as we had to go to Costco for gas and paper goods. What really irked me, and am still trying to figure out how to lovingly but firmly tell Jon, is he spent $50 on a an Elvis CD set before I even got out of bed. I had just told him last night that we needed to spend less and save money so we have some at the end of the month. What does he do firs thing we get money? So I am really miffed beyond reason that he did that. We just came through two weeks of scraping and scrimping and asking for a few extra dollars from people to make it to the end of the month. The man has no willpower at all when it comes to his own 'hobbies' and I haven't spent any of my own money on my hobbies in months if not years because I have to pay all the bills out of my money except for the rent that he helps with half. 

Forgive me if I'm a bit frustrated, jealous and a bit angry that he has fewer bills and a bit more money than I do to spend and doesn't see a problem spending that much money on something that does not do anything for both of us. Is that unreasonable or selfish? 

Anyway. We got paper goods, sodas and a bag of chips on his money, forgot to get water but we'll be going out on Sunday or Monday for that. He kept asking if I wanted to get anything else at Costco and again I had to bite my tongue and say 'not today' because I know he would use his money for it and I knew we were going to the sandwich shop for lunch. I don't have the budget for getting anything on my 'regular' money. I don't think it's sunk in with him that I have an auto payment to the hospital for $90 and now an extra payment on top of that for another bill, plus all the regular bills. I think I have to remind him every month or two weeks of how much money I have to spend on keeping a roof over our head, the electricity on and my storage paid in addition to everything else.

We did stop at the sandwich shop we haven't been to in a while and went dutch because it was actually cheaper than Jersey Mike's. My sandwich only cost $11 but his was more because he got a bigger sandwich. We have left overs for dinner later and have milk and cereal now (from his money) so we're okay for a day or two. Oh, taste and food sensory have gotten back on track. I had an entire coke and it didn't taste weird or 'separated'. Only going to have one a day anyway but it was nice to have after the sandwich.  

As for the good news, Amber got accepted into SDSU for the Fall semester! She was so cute though, I was in the shower and left my phone in the bedroom so I came back to my phone message saying MOOOOOMMMMM! MOOOMMMM! MOM! I got accepted in SDSU! She also announced it on Facebook which she isn't on much but it's that big a deal. I told her I had no doubt she'd be accepted. She's getting her degree in International Business and if she goes through with her Korea track she'll do 2 years here and then the last year in Korea.  If the world doesn't totally unravel and blow up by then. I told her that and she sent back a 🫰.  Forgot to ask if she had started the process of getting her passport.

The weather has officially turned to Summer, got up to 96 today while we were out. So it's warming up and 'looking a lot like Summer'.... bleh. Jon's taking a nap as usual for this time of day, Rocky is doing the same on the headboard.... Just in a mood today for various reasons.