Feeling good!

The last 3 days have been excellent for me. I've had more energy than normal. I don't know if it's the Curves work out or this new supplement that I'm trying (Mannatech) or the fact that I'm out of certain medications, but I've actually been able to get myself out of bed in the MORNING instead of dragging myself out in the late afternoons. As a result, I'm enjoying this spell of nice weather and I'm looking for activities. I went to the zoo yesterday. I tired quickly - like right at the beginning of my tour, but that's okay. I just shuffled through the animals for the next 2 hours.

I just got off the phone with my very excited grandma. Took me about 2 weeks to return her call. Before this conversation ended I found myself saying that I will call again next week. I hate the phone. People usually have a hard time understanding my voice, so I hide out on the internet. When my cell phone contract is up (in August) - I'm looking for a cheaper plan. Maybe a pay-as-you-go one because I hardly use any minutes as it is.

I made a discovery today that made me totally excited! Back in California, I use to get hot dogs from Safeway that were lower sodium than the norm. Usually a hot dog is easily in the 600s, but these hot dogs are like 250mg or around there. Well, when I moved to Colorado - I couldn't find lower sodium dogs anywhere! I looked at Safeway, Albertsons, Walmart, Target, etc. The best I found was my last trip to Walmart and it's a bag of mini dogs. 4 of them equalling one regular high sodium hot dog. So I got that and I just put two mini in half a hot dog bun and call it a meal. Well, today I was at King Scoopers and I FOUND MY LOW SODIUM HOT DOGS! So I'm excited. I should buy a grill now that the weather is finally getting nicer.

Outdoor plans

I found a great park & recreational center today. There's a lake there and I packed a lunch and ate it by the water. It was nice although I quickly realized that I'm going to need a hat. Tomorrow I plan to check out the Denver Zoo, so I'll probably pick one up there. Admittedly I'm sure it'll be expensive. I'm trying to find outdoor activities to keep me out and busy because otherwise I don't sleep at night (especially now that I can't refill the ambien) and I stay up all night thinking depressing thoughts.

Biopsy Results

I got a call this morning about the biopsy results. The abcess is a micro__________ infection. Good job me! I got part of it this time. Anyway, to quote the nurse "It is very rare but is becoming more common in young women who get pedicures." I laughed hard. Must've startled her. I did get a pedicure - which is still partially on my toes - and I got it last May. Then I thought about it. When did the first lesion rash appear on my wrist? Last May. And yes, it is also now on my toes. So I will be seeing dermatology... once I get insurance.

Question: I was driving through the neighborhoods this afternoon and I noticed that everyone has dead grass from the snow. So how does that get fixed? Does everyone replant their lawn every Spring?

Walking through the Easter candy aisle at Walmart - it reminded me that I have Easter candy from last year hidden at my parents still. I have this habit of hiding my 'naughty' foods in drawers. Out of sight, out of mind. Then every once in a while when I open that drawer - Surprise! I get a treat. Helps me not to eat it all at once. So upstairs in a drawer, I have Easter candy! One bag still unopened I believe. Wonder how long it lasts?

Church

I went to church this evening. The one that the Curves manager told me about. It's a really big church (6 services - 2 via satelite). Anyway, worship was okay, but I didn't care for the guest speaker. They're finishing missionary month apparently and they have a guest speak. He had a really bad accent and tended to say a statement 4-5 times before moving on, so it got boring really fast and I had a hard time concentrating. That and the two girls in front of me were very distracting. Now I can understand a little kid needing to squirm and draw during a sermon, but the older of these two sisters looked to be in junior high. These girls wrote notes the whole time and squirmed like they had big ants in their clothing. They also had drinks with them. Strawberry shakes to be exact. I know because the older one put hers under her chair and then kicked it. It spilled all over the carpet (in the middle of the AWANA circle!). I wrote on a piece of paper 'drink spilled under chair' and handed it to the smaller girl. She, in turn, leaned over and whispered to the bigger girl. One of them bent over, but apparently not finding the spilled drink - they went on with their giggles. At the end of service the bigger girl found her spilled drink and picked it up. The little girl asked her about it and big girl began to bob and giggle (this is during the closing song) as if she was the coolest thing in the world because her drink had spilled. You can bet they didn't clean it up. I left during the closing song. I think I'd like a smaller church.

A Salty Night

I have completed week 2 on Curves. When do I see results? Well, tonight won't help. I went to Walmart afterward hoping to get my prescriptions cheaper there than at Walgreens (since I currently don't have insurance). It was more expensive, so once again I didn't get them. Anyway, going through the aisles proved that it's a bad idea after working out at curves and I picked up several salty items. So tonight will be my end of the week celebration night where I can pig out on whatever I want. On the menu: mini hot dogs (still a little better than a regular sodium wise), pickles, fritos corn chips, and fruit! Gotta have something kinda healthy.

Tomorrow I plan to check out the evening service of a church around here. I am soooo sluggish in the mornings that I thought maybe the evening service might be a better shot for me.

Check out this video!

I repaired(replaced) it myself!

Today was a warm day. So nice. Tomorrow is suppose to be cold again. I made two trips outside today. The first - I had to go get a new showerhead from Walgreens.

Yesterday's shower came to an adrupt end when the water suddenly turned cold and began to spray up at the ceiling. This of course was a shock to me as I had been daydreaming with conditioner in my hair. I turned off the water, which signaled to the cats that I was supposedly ready to be joined for my escort out of the bathroom. Instead of grabbing my robe and stepping out though, I now stood in the bathtub with a confused look on my face as I stared first at the showerhead and then the tiny bathroom sink. Miss Kitty also glanced back and forth between me and the bathroom sink in confusion before turning around and heading back out. I tried the water in the tub again only to find more oddly sprayed cold water and had no choice but to bend over and try my best to rinse my hair in the sink.

I later decided to get a closer look at the showerhead and discovered that it fell into my hand at touch. The plastic had completely snapped. So first thing this morning I headed to Walgreens and bought the only showerhead available. I screwed it in when I returned home and walah! A nice hot shower was produced. The spray on this head is wonderful, so much stronger!

Shelly left me a message earlier saying that she got some info for me on disability. I've been so distracted with the insurance mess that I completely forgot about disability. That could be a life saver for me as I literally am unable to get a job at the moment. However, I don't know how this all works so it still needs investigation.

delays

Insurance rejected the last two medications. One was a refill - so I still have some left, but when it runs out I'm definitely in trouble. It's my potassium - the one that makes me pass out if I don't take it. The other is a new one for cholestorol. I'm supposed to get blood drawn on Wednesday for this, but obviously it will all have to be pushed back. I did also cancel my renal appointment - the one that took over 3 months to schedule. Hopefully the new clinic won't be as difficult once I'm ready again.

Car insurance runs out soon also, so I'm in the process of researching that as well.

It's cold. Snowflakes are beginning to fall. Tomorrow is a holiday which slows everything down. Kinda bad timing.

Jehovah's Witness knocked on my door yesterday. Fortunately for me I looked through the peek hole to see the two men in their suits. This enabled me to mutter an irritated 'Heck No!' before crawling back into bed. They left a pamplet.

The Results

I made it to the doctor and to Curves today, but not to insurance. So tomorrow I must get myself over there.

The doctor took a biopsy of the abcess on my leg. She doesn't think it's a normal abcess due to the various patches of rash, the different lumps, and the extremely high white blood count. She mentioned some name of some kind of thingy, but there's no way I'm going to remember or pronounce it. So I didn't bother try. Apparently though, it's treatable, but if left alone turns into luekymia or whatever. Hence she wanted to see me for a biopsy. My philosophy - do what they say, see the new doctors, don't add it to the worry list unless it becomes serious because if I freak out over every little thing that goes wrong with me - I'll be my mom and you may as well shoot me now.

I have 2 out of 4 prescriptions. Still waiting on insurance for the other two. Insurance ends tomorrow so I hope it goes through. I talked to the conversion insurance person today about doing a month at a time for this plan that'll cost me more than my monthly rent. There will be a gap in coverages, but I'm hoping it's not a big gap because I have 3 referrals out to doctors that I need to see and prescriptions that I'll need.

For other news. I stopped by Petsmart today and made a reservation for my 3 babes to stay with them when I'm in California. Anyone care to know the total damage? $280 + $280 + $210 = $770 as the bill. I got two cages - one for Waldo/Miss Kitty and the other for Winslow (since he can be a bit much for the other two).

It's extremely warm weather today. I have the back door open for the cats, but Miss Kitty was really the only one interested in exploring the balcony. The boys just sit in the doorway. Probably because there's a dog walking around on the balcony below us. It's supposed to snow Thursday night - big storm - so they had better take advantage of this weather.

I totally enjoyed Curves today. I couldn't do one machine because of the biopsy, but I got a good workout on the rest.

Time to put the sticky paws on the couch and see if I can prevent some damage. Darn cats.

Preparing

I'm in a bit of trouble. I saw the doctor today - my primary. She's referring me to a new renal clinic since I haven't been able to get in to see the current one. Anyway, it was a major migraine day so I was in a lot of pain. It didn't help that I was fasting for some bloodwork. The combination meant that I couldn't stand for more than a few seconds. They gave me a shot in the butt or the migraine. Worked like a charm for the head pain although I later hobbled very sorely through Walgreens.

It's about 10pm now. A Dr. Walsh from the clinic called me a few minutes ago. She said the lab had just paged her about my results. Crap, I've been through this before. Something about my white blood count being over 18,000 & other stuff. None of my labs are normal. She said she didn't think I needed to head to emergency (where exactly is that?) since nothing's really changed in the past 24 hours but she'd like to see me tomorrow. My guess is that any other lucky patient would be heading down there about now, but I have a history of abnormality. She wants to take a biopsy of the abcess since it hasn't healed and it's been two months. Plus I have the beginnings of other abcesses. I'm thinking the bad blood results have more to do with the fact that I get faint every time I have a coughing fit.

Here's where it gets sticky. My Blue Shield of California insurance ends on Thursday (Happy Valentines!). Cover Colorado won't take me until I've lived here for 6 months. I have plans to go to the office tomorrow and do paperwork, but now that - and Curves- kinda depends on what happens with the doctor. I need to call Blue Anthem of Colorado tomorrow about a 'conversion plan' to cover me until Cover Colorado begins. This conversion plan will cost me more than my rent each month.

At least the cats are set up. They can easily be left alone for a week. It may not be ideal, but should something happen - I don't think I'll be able to get them to Petsmart. They have two automatic litter boxes and a regular upstairs, a huge bag of food sitting open in the kitchen, and a toilet for their drinking use. Waldo has been sneezing a lot the past two days, so I'm hoping this doesn't turn into a cold - especially if I'm not here.

Missing

I just got a reverse 911 call from the Thornton police department asking everyone to check their yards, garages, homes, etc. for an 8 year old boy that went missing this afternoon. I don't know when I became such an emotional sap, but things like that make me tear up like crazy now. I was passed by 6 speeding police cars on my way home from Curves today (which would be about the time that the kid went missing). I was thinking it was some kind of chase that they were on their way to join since some went straight while others turned down my street. I've been planning to watch the news to see if I could get some answers - maybe it was the kid. Maybe they'll flash his picture for me.

Session 1

I went to Curves today for my first workout. I had fun! I go back on Wednesday. I was chatting with the lady during stretches at the end and she asked me about church. I told her that I haven't found one yet and she told me of one called Crossroads that sounds good. So I'm excited. Productive day.

Tent Kitty

Waldo loves the tent. He spent all afternoon sleeping in yet. Last night he got too playful and started pouncing on it. So I zipped the door shut to keep him out. Then I could hear the constant scratching/pawing at the door. I went upstairs again and took the polls out. I think he spent the night sleeping on the flat tent.

Today I went to Curves and signed up. I need something to get me out of the house and this will build me up so that I can apply for a good job without collapsing in exhaustion. They were playing Christian music. I should've asked the lady about churches because it's hard to tell about a church by the website. I want to find a church that isn't huge so that I feel overwhelmed, but that's not so small that I'm the obvious visitor.

Another Birthday!

Happy Birthday to James! My list says that today James should be out celebrating with family & friends :)

I bought a tent. I know that sounds crazy (especially since it's snowy outside), but I'm putting it upstairs in the loft. It's going to be my new hideout assuming that the cats don't destroy it. In the summer I can stick it out on the balcony, get a grill, set up the hammock, heck I'll be set.

I was watching Miss Kitty drink from the toilet yesterday. She's so small that it's quite a procedure. She doesn't stick her front paws inside like the two boys do, so I don't have to worry about water on the rim when she leaves. It's quite a balancing act that she pulls off though.

I went to get my port flushed the other day. It took 3 nurses. The first nurse stuck the needle in 3 times before calling for nurse #2. The second nurse tried once, wiggled it around, and called for nurse #3. The last nurse stuck the needle in, wiggled it around a ton, half pulled it out and pushed it back in several times, and finally managed to connect. The port is apparently smaller than they're use to and it moved around a lot (not a surprise, my veins roll - that's why I have the port in the first place) so they were all missing it in their stabs. Also, they're not use to it being in the arm as apparently it's usually in the chest. So to conclude, my arm is now very sensitive. They're going to dread seeing me next month.

clearing snow

The guy that plows our walkways does it at 1:30am. It only takes about 20-30 minutes, but I can't figure out why he does it at such odd hours. The machine he uses is like a riding lawn mower except that it has a plow on the front. Maybe he's like my dad and he's so excited he can't wait. Last night he was really noisy. Usually I just hear the scrape, but I never see him. Last night I actually saw him. He was speeding that thing back and forth. There were a lot of crashing sounds at one point. He was out of sight, but it sounded as though he was hitting a lot of items. The funny part is that it was still snowing as he cleared the walkway...

The creeps of living alone

I didn't fall asleep until after 5:30am. My sleep schedule has been so screwed up lately. I sleep until afternoon and then stay up into the early hours of the morning. I had just crawled in bed last night when I heard this crinkling noise coming from the other room. All 3 cats were with me, so that made me a little nervous. Winslow was my surprise investigator. Didn't expect that since he's usually the biggest wuss ever. Brilliantly I grabbed a shoe from the closet on my way out to investigate figuring I could throw it at any intruder. Here is where I should probably mention that I have very bad aim. Only after I reached the kitchen did I think that perhaps I should've grabbed the phone also. The best I could figure out was that the noise was a cereal bag in the pantry. How cool would it be if there was a mouse huh? Of course with 3 cats, that scene is highly unlikely. The cereal wouldn't stop moving and I never did figure out what was causing that, but I ended up dumping the bag into the trash trying to solve the mystery. I went back to bed and left the shoe on the counter.

After returning to bed, it wasn't long before I swear I heard knocking on the door. A look through the peep hole showed nothing but shadows and the fact that my porch light still needs to be changed. This is the 3rd time that I've thought I've heard someone knocking at an odd hour of the morning. It spooks the cats every time, but I'm not about to open any doors to see if there is someone actually hiding around the corner.

Lastly, I have given in to peer pressure and joined Facebook. Now I am extremely addicted and I spend hours exploring the different option. Like I really needed an excuse to be on the computer more.