Chemo #4

So, Dragana my chemo companion picks me up today and we go in for my 10:30 chemo appointment. And guess what? I didn't wait for an hour! NO. I waited for TWO. Yes, two blessed hours in the waiting room. Dragana went to get some lunch for us (vegetable tempura and california rolls, yum) and when she came back, I was still there waiting, tho by this time I had stretched out on the couch and covered myself with my afghan.

Here's the thing. Hardly anybody came in after me. One lady came in for a 30 minute Herceptin treatment. But that was it. And the reason I had to wait so long was, every chair in both chemo rooms was full.
This is what the hospitality industry would call "overbooking". Hey! Here's a thought: calculate the length of time it will take each chemo patient to finish their treatment. Then book the next appointments for those times. This is what's called "efficiency". And "common sense". And "not wasting your patients' time."

I feel bleugh. Have the Cytoxan headache. Am going to go lie down, but wanted to post first, because I know some of you check this site every day, and didn't want to disappoint.

Oh, the Irony of It All

My friend Amy in New York (not to be confused with Amy the Generous, or Amy the Redheaded Cutie) would probably say the following is not ironic, but anyway.

I felt good today. In fact, the past two days, I've been cheerful, cracking jokes, I've had energy....in short, pretty much back to normal. This is, of course, because it's been 26 days since my last chemo. DH was vastly encouraged: "Oh yeah," quoth he, "This is what you used to be like."

And my next chemo? Tomorrow. Sigh. (Warning: whining ahead) I don't WANT to go to chemo! I hate feeling bad. Waah. I know it's necessary, but still. Waaaah.

I worked out today! First time in 4, maybe 6 weeks. It felt great. I ran errands till about 3:30, then rested for about 40 minutes, then picked up the girls from day camp and took them to the pool till about 6:30. Then we went home, and I went to book club at 7.

Ah, book club. This is a group of neighborhood women, diverse in age and stage of life, but all intelligent and funny. We met from 7 till 10, talking the whole time. Maybe 20 minutes of that whole time did we actually discuss the book. (Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, if you're interested.) But we had a fabulous time, laughed a lot, ate a lot of great food...

Lazy, Lazy Day

Stayed in my pajamas till about 1:30, when i made a Burger King run. Other than that, have been lying down and reading all day. Again, nothing improving, just this book about this girl who thinks she's an orphan, but really she's this countess, and someone's trying to kill her and then there's this handsome marquess who....well, you get the idea.

amy christopher came over with food. And I'm pretty sure that if you look in the dictionary under the word "generous", it'll have her picture on it. she'd called me yesterday and insisted i tell her what i had a craving for, and it was this:
1. fried chicken
2. baked beans

Because to me, Memorial Day is all about picnic food. I don't really like picnics, as most of them take place, you know, outdoors with all the bugs and the sweat and everything, but I do like the food.

Anyway, Amy shows up with fried chicken and baked beans. And cole slaw, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cookies. And 3 boxes of kleenexes. And 6 books. And a bookmark. And a TSHIRT SHE DESIGNED AND MADE ALL BY HERSELF. And a bottle full of skittles. And pictures of the scrapbooking retreat we went on. AND A PURSE. Wow! I am not worthy...

Heathens

We stayed home from church. I was coughing, the girls were coughing....I just didn't want to risk it. We're just a bunch of heathens, what can I say?

Didn't do too much -- the only time I left the house was to get lunch from KFC. Other than that, I tidied the house, went thru the pantry a little bit, and watched tv. (There was a "Monk" marathon on.) I did a bit of scrapbooking while I watched tv.

One note on tidying the pantry: i have a shelf of the pantry i call "DH's Weird Food Shelf" where I put the roasted seaweed and canned octopus and other stuff he comes home with. That stuff hadn't been touched since he brought it home, so I got it all down and spread it out on the counter: tapioca pearls, beenieweenies, basmati rice, spam, freezedried backpacking food....all of it.
Me: Which of this stuff do you want to keep?
DH: All of it.

He did concede to get rid of the opened box of Mexican cookies, but all the rest of it went right back on the weird shelf to be ignored for another six months....

Whoops

I forget I'm bald. I really do. People recognize me now -- people around the neighborhood whom I may not necessarily recognize. I'll go home and tell DH, "Oh, so-and-so said hi, I can't believe she remembered me, cause I only met her once before." And he'll look at me and say, "Honey? You're the bald lady."
Oh. Yeah, I guess I am!

Saturday.

Today was a swim meet day. What this means is DD1 and I got up early and at 6:45 drove down to the neighborhood pool. We parked, and then toted DD1's lawn chair, bag of toys, towel, and cooler of snacks to the area for the 7 and 8 YO girls.
The meet started at 8:30, and I was a timer. There are three timers for each lane of the pool. At the beginning, the head timer guy said that if any team of three timers got the exact same time, he would give them a hot dog. And our team? Got the exact same time SIX TIMES. This is down to the hundredth of a second, so, for example, on one heat, each of us got 35.31 on our stopwatches timing one particular swimmer. Thirty-five seconds, three-tenths and one-one-hundredth of a second. This hardly ever happens once in a meet, much less SIX TIMES. So, DD1 was very happy, as the "hot dog" translated to 3 food tickets. So, she had nachos, a hot dog, and some candy.

The meet got called after the 58th event because of thunder. Not rain, mind you. No, no. It had been raining for quite some time. But hardy swimmers and parents aren't going to let a little rain get in the way. My shift as a timer was over after the 40th event, so I just huddled on the covered bleachers and watched the intrepid swimmers swim, waiting for the 60th event -- DD1's last event -- to be over so I could go home. Alas, she didn't get to swim in the 60th event, which she was none too happy about, as she came in first in her first heat and was looking forward to repeating that record. We waited around for 30 minutes before they called it, and so we came home, took a warm shower and put some sweats on.

Friday

DH took the day off, so we went out for breakfast. And can i just tell u that the lady who was in line just ahead of us had pretty much finished her meal before we got our food? DH said to blame it on him, as he ordered the pulled pork and eggs, and maybe the pulled pork wasn't quite pulled enough yet. Yep, pulled pork and eggs over easy. That's what sounded good to him.

Now, as I was growing up, we had eggs 3 ways: fried hard, scrambled or hard boiled. I still to this day remember as a child staying the night at Anna Collier's house, and seeing her dad eating over easy eggs for breakfast. I was horrified. All that yolk running all over the place? Ew. And then, the sopping up? Double ew.

I understand that when one marries, one has to accept the little quirks and oddities that make up this human being that you have committed to spending the rest of your life with. And eating over easy eggs is one of DH's. He has, unfortunately, corrupted DD1 with his culinary tastes, as she ordered one strip of bacon, one link of sausage, and one egg. Over Easy. And she dips her bacon in that runny yolk and holds it out to me, saying "Here! Try it!"
Ha! Not on your life.

thursday

There's nothing like being all alone at the gate at the airport with yr 5 YO and 6 YO, and have the airline agent change the departure time of your flight from 6:20pm to 8 pm. We had, of course, arrived at 5:20, an hour ahead of time, like we should.

And DD1 and i made the mistake of buying cokes 10 feet before we went thru the take-off-your shoes part. And? Since our cokes, which we had JUST BOUGHT NOT TEN FEET AWAY FROM THE CHECKPOINT, were over 3 oz? In the trash! I felt like saying -- "Did you not just see us buy these?" Cuz, to me, a beverage is not a "liquid". a "liquid" that you will be carrying on the plane. A beverage is a drink you will consume while vainly trying to keep your offspring entertained while waiting for the blessed plane to show up. These arguments held no water with the guy. In the trash they went.
So, we got home right around 11. A long day.

Funny Bit of Dialogue

DD2: I wish we could stay wif Bapa and Gaga forever and ever.
Me: But wouldn't you miss your friends, like Gracie and Sophie?
DD2: Yes, but I would still be happy.


Me: (trying to get her to identify letters) What letter does "mark" start with?
DD2: M! Like in your name!
Me: There's no "M" in my name.
DD2: "Mommy."

Life In Chemoland

The weird thing is about chemoland is it changes your perspective on things. Things you used to take for granted now become really, really important. This is true in a deep, meaningful way, such as spending time talking to your mom, smelling the roses, blablabla. It's also true for rather mundane things, like feeling good, having energy, and um, BMs.
I am not kidding when I say there are days when I feel like coming out of the bathroom and shouting, "I had a BOWEL MOVEMENT!" Because it may have been 4 days since the last one. But, really, really, no one cares. Normal people do not share the deails of that part of their life. And that is why in most part I have have spared you the, um, ins and outs of my digestive troubles.

Quick update on SEs: My post-chemo cold is mostly gone. My fingernails have quit hurting. The hot flashes are still here. I still get tired easily. I'm basically going to bed at the same time as my DDs and my 70 YO parents. I have about 2 hours worth of insomnia every night -- usually I'll wake up with a hot flash and I can't get back to sleep for a while. So I've been reading -- not anything deep, I hasten to add. Currently on deck is a time travel romance called "Out of the Blue" that my sis lent me. .

Sorry I Haven't Posted

I've been busy spending time with the fam and old friends in Wichita. One of whom is my firend Stacey, who is doing well. Her tumor was not cancerous, praise God. She's still in hospital and will have to spend a week of PT and memory training and so on, before she goes home. She'll need to be supervised 24/7 once she goes home, so her DH and her 18 YO DD are going to take shifts.

Today

Turns out the missing bag went to Midland, Texas. Tho not quite as exotic as Omaha, still, my bag has now been someplace i haven't. Still no sign of it. The lady at continental said it was in Houston this morning, and should arrive in Wichita at 4:37pm. We weren't home at 4:37 -- we were at my sister's house in Wellington. So, we live in hope that we will see the bag again.

Graduation was fine. It was outdoors. In Kansas. I had two small children with me, so you can pretty much just fill in the blanks how fun that was. By God's grace, my niece's last name starts with an A, so we were able to leave early and go back to air conditioning, so we could have a cessation of the whining and complaining.

Other than that, pretty much have rested and eaten today. I read a Barbara Cartland in its entirety, which took me back to my junior high years. My cold is still here and my eyes are still watering due to the dearth of eyelashes, so I pretty much always have a kleenex in my hand for one reason or another.

In Kansas

The girls and I flew to Kansas this morning, as my beloved niece Laura is graduating from high school tomorrow. Flight went ok, but DD1 did not like the taking off and landing part. DD2 accidentally spilled her tomato juice all over my carryon bag. Oh well.
I wore a mask the whole time, cuz those airplanes can carry all sorts of germs and nasty things. Of course, I still have my cold, so I kept having to lift the mask up to blow my nose...
We arrived around 11, as did 4 of our 5 bags. So, who knows where the fifth bag went... hopefully some exotic place like Omaha.....
Went to eat lunch at this placed called Cinnamon's Deli, where they serve soup in a bread bowl. I had broccoli cheese soup with a creamcheese/veggie sandwich. Yum.
Then went to my mom's house and took a nap. Travelling is tiring!

Another Post For Ladies Only

Well, it looks like Madame Menopause has come for a visit. Whether she's here for a few months, or she's unpacking her bags for the long haul, I don't know.
I was cranky all last week, so I expected to have to get out the feminine supplies around the 15th. Nope.
I don't know whether this is a good thing or not.

thursday

Dropped off DD2 at school 9her last day) and then swung by Sonic to pick up sodas for her teachers. Went to her classroom and sat and chatted with her teachers till 10:15, then went to Panera and picked up salads for DD1's teachers. Went to DD1's school, and had lunch with her teachers (their lunch is at 10:50). Left there, and went to see Spidey 3 with Deanna. The movie was too long. They tried to do too much, IMHO. Make it tender and touching and funny and action-packed. And they ended up with something long and predictable and draggy. After about the first hour and a half, Deanna and I kept checking our watches to see what time it was.
Picked DD2 up from school and came home and worked on our taxes. Yes, we filed an extension this year, as I was not up to it earlier this year. Worked for about 3 hours on it.
Courtney dropped off food (YAY!), so we ate, and then DD1 went to swim practice.
We all watched TV until 8:30, when I remembered DD1 wanted to give a silk flower to each of her teachers, so we went to Michael's. Swung by Taco Bell on the way home for a snack. (Yes, my appetite is back.)

Bz Bz

Went to a meeting at church. Wore my new hair. It's long, like my real hair, but the top part is just a net, so it's cooler. you have to wear a hat with it, of course, so u don't look like Gallagher.
ran errands, picked up DD2, came home and made cookies. i made slice and bake and then put frosting between them with licorice strands for legs to make a cookie caterpillar. looked much better in the cookbook.
went to dinner with my friend Debbie and her kids for her birthday, as her husband was out of town, and how depressing would it be to celebrate your birthday alone? we ate at a fish restaurant, where DD2 insisted on having a corn dog.
went to dd2's graduation. dropped off the cookies first. cookie caterpillar falling apart by this time. graduation went surprisingly fast. i let DD1 video it, (after much begging on her part), so hopefully she remembered to turn the "record" button on. everyone said they liked the new hair.
came home, supervised the girls' bath, and then we watched American Idol on tape. I was so tired, i fell asleep in the middle. DD2 fell asleep beside me. i woke up around 4:30

oh! dd2 got accepted into the private school we applied to -- Cypress Christian School. The public schools around here have "open-concept" classrooms, which means that at least two classes share one room, with filing cabinets or bookcases to separate them. At Adam, the public school she would have attended, the 1st graders are all in one big room -- like six classes, and the second graders are in the hallway. And DD2 is easily distracted. Her teacher this year told us flat out that open concept would kill her, so we prayed about it, and felt led to apply to Cypress Christian, which I have heard lots of good things about. It's been around for 30 years, and is only 3 miles away from our house. so yay!
still have a sore throat, still fighting my post-chemo cold. our kleenex supply -- between my cold and DH's allergies -- vastly depleted. fingernails still hanging on. chemo brain still there. i went to the bank the other day. had a check i needed to deposit. got to the bank, couldn't find the check. looked in my purse, under my purse, on the floor of the van, behind my seat. finally just made a withdrawal and left, figuring i'd left it at home. did i look in the plastic bin on the passenger seat beside me? no. that would have made SENSE.

OK, Ew

My fingernails have started hurting. I am praying this is not the precursor to them falling off, because, ew. Being bald is ok. Everyone expects to lose their hair when they go thru chemo. But no one is going to stop me in traffic and say, "You look good without fingernails!"

Recap

Sorry I haven't posted much lately -- I've been either a) busy or b) tired. ("Tired" in this instance being understood to mean lying down on my bed.)
Saturday, DD1 and I went to her practice swim meet at 7. Got done at 12:30. I had been up since 4 due to chemo insomnia, so I started off tired. Ran errands for DD2's party, went to party at 3, where my friend Debbie took pictures, cut the cake, and basically filled in for me so I could just sit and look pretty. This is the same Debbie who addressed and mailed the invites, and put together the goody bags. So, props to Debbie! I couldn't have done it without her.
Came home after the party, and watched DD2 open her presents, and then rested.

Sunday, since I'm still battling a cold, we stayed home from church. I got a pearl necklace from DH for Mother's Day, a placemat and muffin mix from DD2, and several works of art and a plant stake she'd made at school from DD1.
Went to Fuddrucker's for lunch, as I fancied a kid's meal from there, and then swung by Michael's for some supplies for DD1's sarcophagus that she's making for school.
DH made supper (YAY!) and we watched the Survivor finale.

Today, tidied the house so the housekeeper could clean. Ran errands. Came home and rested. Fell asleep at 8:30. Woke up at 1:30. Still awake. (Obviously)

Oh. One of the errands I ran? Was to order the tile we'd picked out for the fireplace. We just need a scant two boxes, so not a big order. I got to the place, the guy looks in his book and says "Oh, that's been discontinued." He calls and checks, and the supplier doesn't have any more. Here's a novel idea: when you find out something's been discontinued -- TAKE THE SAMPLE OFF THE SALES FLOOR instead of waiting for some poor sap to find the tile and fall in love with it, so you can mercilessly dash their dreams to the floor.
It's irritating because I ran into this same syndrome last year when I first started looking for tile for the master bath. EVERY single tile sample I found that DH and I liked had either been discontinued or the company had gone out of business. I finally lost heart and quit looking for a year until a couple of months ago when I couldn't stand to look at the carpet in there anymore.

What Kind of Horrible Person Forgets to Call Her Mother on Mothers' Day?

That would be me.
I remembered about 11pm, far too late to call.
I'm blaming chemo brain. 'Cause I love my mom -- she put up with a lot, trying to get me reared and turned into a decent human being. And she's been a great mom, always there for me and my sis and anyone else she meets who needs some help.
I love you, Mom.

Turning the Corner

The pain in my left side has subsided, praise GOD, as has the burning feeling in my stomach. I feel almost normal.
This was helped by me getting a massage at the Y tonight. When I'm in pain, I hauch my shouders and kind of try to keep it all in, and my back gets all in knots. That massage felt so good, I told the massage therapist I was going to adopt her....
Only thing I did today was go get lunch, pick up DH's dry cleaning, and go to a couple of tile stores to get samples for the fireplace. One tile around our fireplace has been broken for seven years, and since I've been staring at it while I lay on the couch, I've decided it's time to have Steve TTG come and retile it. (Because, of course, we don't have any extra original tiles, and those tiles have been discontinued so we can't just buy one tile to replace the broken one....)

Can I Just Say?

My dad sent me this email warning me that if you put a phone number into Google.com, it will give you the address associated with it, and a map. so, in view of privacy concerns, he was urging me to block our number. which i did.
but, what i also used it for was to enter a couple of numbers that i have in my cell phone address book -- cuz i had NO IDEA who they were for....

Constipation is gone, and you know what that means. So, staying close to the bathroom today. I was supposed to go to a volunteer luncheon today, but nope. Not unless they put a table right outside the bathroom for me....

Please Pray For Stacey

Y'all all probably just got the email, but just in case. My best friend from high school, Stacey Coronado, fell from a pick up truck today onto asphalt. They took her to the ER, and found she'd broken her shoulder. A CAT scan, however, revealed a golfball-sized brain tumor.
Please pray for God's healing of Stacey, and comfort for Mark, her husband, and her kids Bonita, Kyle, and Dallas.

Bleaugh

If you were one of the unfortunate people to talk to me today, you got an earful of complaining. So, sorry about that.
I'm sick of being tired, and tired of being sick. Still have the pain in my side, still weak, get tired out easily.
Good things about today tho -- dropped off DD2 at school, and then went by the Daily Brew at Eldridge and Cypress N Houston to get a hot chocolate. The gal who owns it is very sweet, and i've kept her updated with what's going on with me. it's on the way to DD2's school, so when it was colder i went there a lot. anyway, she gave me a free hot chocolate and sat and commiserated with me! very nice.
then, i think because i'd left her this really depressing phone mail message, my friend Deanna dropped by with French Onion soup from La Madelaine. She asked me if i wanted anything else, and i told her nothing goes with metallic...


my friend danielle just sent me an email about a 19 year old kid who has stage 4 cancer, and who is keeping a positive attitude. helped put everything in perspective. i know this pain and fatigue will pass, and i'm only stage 1...so, i really don't have it all that bad.
i'm grateful for all of you and yr love and concern.

Here's The Thing

Going thru something like changes your whole perspective, where you're just grateful for a day where you feel good.
That would not be today, of course, but i'm looking forward to next week, when i will start feeling better.
Went to the doctor's office today, and everybody, repeat after me, WAITED FOR AN HOUR. Read a magazine cover to cover, rested, and then figured out I could be a whole lot more comfortable elsewhere if i was going to be doing nothing. No one came to check on me, just left me in that room. So I left, as my friend Renee was patiently waiting for me -- she was my designated chauffeur today. And somehow, it's okay to inconvenience someone else if something is being accomplished, but to inconvenience someone else for a whole lot of nothing? I'm not thinking so....

Same Old, Same Old

Pain in my left side, heartburn, stomach ache. Tired. Don't feel good.

Went to DD1's first grade program tonight -- that was fun, (and mercifuly brief.) Watched part of it in the gym, the dancing part -- and of course i was on the wrong side, so i have all this footage of the back of her dancing. and the battery ran out on the digital camera, so DH didn't get a lot of pics, either. i managed to ask a couple of people to take some pics for me, tho, as she had a Speaking Part. (her teacher said she was loud -- wonder where she gets that from?) :)

Too Much

Dropped off DD2, and some forms at her school.
Went to her prospective kindergarten and dropped off some forms.
Went to the YMCA and registered the DDs for 3 weeks of day camp this summer -- right around the next chemos.
Then, drove 20 minutes to get the registration for DH's car renewed. It was due in April. I figured it'd take 10 minutes. This. Was. A. Mistake.
I got there and I was 35th in line. I didn't want to leave because who knows if the next time it would be any better? Everyone is getting new plates this year, so it took a lot longer. After 35 minutes of standing in line, I started propping myself up on the barrier, and a lady behind me in line asked if I was ok. I told her I was just trying to make it, and she asked an employee to move me up to the front of the line (I was about 15th in line by that time.) So, I got to sit down, and write my little check, and get the new tag and be on my way.
Swung by Fazoli's for some drivethru watery bland spaghetti, and came home. Have been home ever since. All those other errands are going to have to wait.

God Answers Prayers

I went to church today, briefly. left before the sermon was over cuz i knew i had a 30 min trip home, and wasn't sure how much i was up to. sermon was on the reaction of the dad and the older brother to the prodigal son's return.
went to pick up DD2 from sunday school, and she'd told everyone it was my birthday (which it wasn't, but this is DD2 reality), so all the kids sang to me, which was sweet, and gave me a cupcake. i let the DDs eat it, as sugar and metallic don't taste good. i can't even enjoy a Coke these days, dang it.
anyway, rested this afternoon, and then went to an awards program for DD1 -- Girls In Action -- it's kind of like Brownies, only it's church sponsored, and the focus is on missions. Anyway, i prayed on the way there, that we could get in and out in under an hour, cuz i didn't know how long i could sit there.
lo and behold, we get there, and the food hasn't shown up yet, so they did the awards first. the food arrived during the awards, and we were seated in the back, nearest the food, so we were 2nd in the food line. We entered the building at 5, and left at 6:04.
got home and have been resting ever since.

Insurance Companies, Sing That Song, Doodah, Doodah

Called Caremark today, the insurance company that covers our Rx. Asked gal#1 to please change the coverage so that I can get Emend every 3 weeks. she transferred me to Nicole, gal#2, who works in specialty medicines. Nicole couldn't help me, so she transferred me to guy#3, who couldn't help me, who transferred me to guy #4, who, after speaking to his supervisor, finally said, that I would have to call someone at DH's Human Resources Department, who would have to send a form to the onc, onc would have to fill out the form and send it back to HR, who would then send it in to Caremark, in order to get an exception so that I can get the Emend every 3 weeks.
Any guesses how long that little bureaucratic polka is going to take?
My guess is, oh, about 9 weeks -- just how long my chemo's going to last!

Same Song, Second Verse

It will not surprise you to learn that when Melna and I arrived at the onc's office to day for the Neulasta shot, we waited AN HOUR before I got the shot. I think there's a note on my file that says, "Make her wait an hour before doing anything."
After 30 minutes, I went to check and they said, "Oh, we're out of Neulasta. You'll need to come back Monday." Of course, we were at the thirty-minutes-away Red Oak office.
I said, "Can I just have it on Tuesday, after I see the onc for my appointment at the Cypress office?"
They said, "Well, here are your choices: you can drive to the Woodlands office and get it today (another 15 minutes further from my house), or you can wait until Tuesday."
So I said we'd wait. And Melna and I got up to leave. We were out in the parking lot, and the nurse called us back and said, "There's a gal coming from the Woodlands office with some Neulasta. She'll be here in 15 minutes."
So, we sat back down. Of course, 15 minutes turned to 30, but at least we didn't have to drive to the Woodlands and back....
But, please. They KNEW I was coming in today for the Neulasta. They had it on their schedule. So, wouldn't you think there would be someone who would be in charge of ordering and supplies, who would make sure they had the medicine on hand for the people who were coming in that day to get it?

Sigh

Given my history with this onc's ofc, it will not surprise u to learn that my friend Dragana (of the fabulous baklava) and I had to wait 45 MINUTES in the waiting room before being ushered into the chemo room today. Appt was at 1:30. I arrived at 1:45, got shown into the chemo room at 2:30.
DH had been shooing me out of the house so I could get there on time. I was like, "Why, I'll just have to wait when I get there anyway."
So, it was a long afternoon. I didn't even have her slow down the rate of the Cytoxan to guard against a headache, because I just wanted to leave. It was after 5 when we left.
Feel ok right now.

Got the Emend thing worked out. I'd transferred the Rx from Walgreens to CVS, as CVS has a promotion where u get a $30 gift card with each transferred Rx. So, the CVS pharmacist called in the ins co this morning, and they were resolute that they only pay for Emend once a month. So the CVS guy called the Walgreens guy, and had him change the date they filled it. So, I got it for the $40, minust the $30 gift card. Net cost $10. Working the system, baby!

Two Good Things and 1 Bad

I went to a jewelry party today at my friend Cynthia's house. It's this jewelry called China Baroque, where they make jewelry out of china. Really pretty stuff, but they set the price point pretty high -- $55 for earrings, $150 for a bracelet, etc. The only thing I really liked was a pendant, but what with every healthcare provider in Northwest Houston sending me a bill these days, I decided to just buy a little chain. Well, Cynthia -- who is a fabulous person, funny, energetic, just really great to be around -- saw the pendant I wanted and bought it for me, and brought it by this afternoon!

After I left the jewelry party, I was stopped at a stop light. Guy next to me honks his horn. I look over. He gives me a thumbs up. I roll down my window. He rolls down his.
Guy: You look great! Not many people can pull off bald, but you can!
Me: Well, it's not by choice. I'm a chemo patient.
Guy: Well, I'm sorry about that, but you look great!

I may be in my mid 40s and bald, but apparently I still got it....

OK, now for the bad thing.
I fell asleep around 8 pm, woke up at 1am, realized I needed to go to the pharmacy and pick up a couple of prescriptions: Decadron, a steroid, which I needed to take right away, and Emend, an anti-emetic (a pill that keeps u from throwing up), which I'll need to take around noon tomorrow. So I go down to my local 24 hour CVS Pharmacy, and the pharmacist says, "Your insurance won't cover the Emend."
"They covered it last time," I said.
So he called, and the lady at the insurance company said they'll only cover it once a month. which is freaky, because my chemo is once every three weeks. so, the daytime pharmacist is supposed to call first thing in the morning, see if there's anything to do, otherwise it'll be $300 for three pills.

The Fun of Medical Billing

One thing to look forward to when one has any type of medical procedure is the ensuing medical bills.
When I gave birth in 2000 to an 8 lb baby, and in 2001 to a 10 lb baby, the charge each time was $3,500, of which I had to pay about 10%.
When the fine medical staff at North Cypress removed the 2 centimeter cancerous tumor from my breast in February, the charge from the hospital alone was $14,ooo.
Now I'm getting bills from this pathology lab, and that pathology lab, and this doctor and that. I got a bill from two separate pathology labs, both were for service on 2/12/07, both said "Surg Path, Level V 2 Specimen". I figured this was a mistake. Both labs use the same billing service, so I called to inquire. And what did the lady say?
"Oh, one bill is for performing the test, and the other is for interpreting it."
Oh. Silly me.