So today is supposed to be a strict day of rest. I have never paid much attention to the meanings of the Jewish holidays, but the Yom Kippur meaning interested me this year, as did the fact that, among the fast and other requirements, one must not wear leather shoes on this day. It is on this day that one's fate for the upcoming year is sealed by God. Over the past several days, beginning with Rosh Hashanah, one should have amended his or her behaviors and sought forgiveness for sins. However, in our part of the world, most of the kids are just glad for a couple of extra hours to sleep in.
I had to get up early anyway to get Brian's lunch packed and send him off to school. What do the Catholics care about this day of atonement, when they have their own? (or is every day a day of atonement for a Christian?) Megan is still asleep, at nearly 10, after being caught out in the thunderstorm last night while I was nowhere near to come and get her. Fortunately she was spared any bolts of lightning and made it to shelter by the time the downpour had ceased. Now she has a lot of homework to finish up before swimming tonight.
She's having trouble in an AP class, not trouble per se, but bad grades on a couple of tests and boatloads of work that overwhelm her life. It isn't that she isn't able to do it, but she has so little time that it literally takes all of it away. This is the most work she has ever had in any class. She has two other AP classes, English and Calculus, and neither is like this. She would never have signed on for AP History, but it comes hand in hand with English in her school. I'm concerned because they no longer weight the honors and AP classes higher than the regular. So she could potentially come through this ridiculously work intensive class with a C, and that would push her below in the rankings, favoring someone in a regular class who did almost no work for an easy A.
Certainly the colleges like to see AP classes on the transcripts, but it is worth it when these courses are literally choking the life out of you? Last year, E had honors history. with very minimal effort, she carried an A through most of the year. at the very end, when she really didn't care, she dropped down, I think to a B+. I am sure Megan is learning more, and she has to, because at the end of the year they are expected to take the AP exam. But when the entire class does poorly on a test, the highest grade being a 70 from what was the smartest girl throughout three years of middle school, one has to stop and think.
So I am going to call and just weigh in with the guidance counselor. We have a paper we're supposed to sign that deals with listing rank on the transcript, it's optional, and I never know how to fill that in. Ideally she would be able to take honors history and AP English, but I don't think that is an option. And she really likes the English teacher and doesn't want to leave her. Hopefully the teacher will turn things around. She told them on Friday that they will 'learn to hate three day weekends,' which I think was an obnoxious comment. Just her luck, last year there was a different teacher, and he was much more easy-going. So we'll see how this goes. The work in that class is taking her five times as long as from all her other put together: AP English, honors physics, AP Calculus and Honors Spanish 5. Go figure.
In other news, Kevin is traveling to meetings in Connecticut today and I am home with the house a mess and the dogs stinking. I should really take a walk for some exercise, but I am trying with that blasted F5 F5 F5 over and over again. I'm really getting fired up about it, and may call over to the district office to see if I can find out anything about why I never see any jobs, when other people are telling me they're getting assignments without even trying. If this is going to be a system based on favoritism and I can't be a favorite, then I might as well try to find something else where I will be appreciated, instead of sitting around waiting for someone to throw me a bone. This is so demeaning. Can't be a NJ housewife forever, you know. Time for atonement.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
still alive, barely
At least that is how it seems. The job I had the last two days was not a good one, really. Thursday was awful, the kids were not listening, they were very young, and neither I nor the poor para seemed to be in control of them half the time. I managed to get through the day and limped out of there, feeling barely competent, and although I drooled at the thought of a giant glass of wine, I had to skip it for fear of being struck with migraine in the middle of a repeat of that day.
I woke up the next morning feeling determined to make it better, so I told the para, don't worry about the kids, don't worry about me, just do whatever it is that you normally do. Because the lesson plans were sketchy, and when you walk into a K class and someone just writes "morning meeting, morning message" and this is supposed to take up 40 minutes, it's kind of hard to understand what this group of creatures of habit is going to expect, and in what order. And if there are 22 of them, I will get 22 different volunteers. I had thought the para would know, but most mornings, she does clerical work and doesn't really pay attention to that part of the day.
So I put my best foot forward and put the koala puppet on my hand and off I went. I actually held their attention throughout the entire morning meeting and morning message, as well as calendar, which was truly amazing. We finished our "writing" activity as well, and got through the morning virtually unscathed. Not so lucky in the afternoon, but what the heck, after that it was the weekend anyway, and a three day weekend at that.
Anyway, with all of the above, I am just really tired so I will be brief. Today the Doll needed attention, which we gave her after the kids and I participated in the second annual Chiari Walk sponsored by conquerchiari.org. It was a fun walk, but the weather could have been a little milder. Kevin couldn't come because he had to work the bagel table at the Y to raise funds for the April trip to Florida.
But in other news, the dogs were happy because I took them both evenings of my work to the dog park, to assuage my guilt over having left Wilbur in his little pen for so many hours. On Thursday it was muggy and buggy, but last night was beautiful and someone came with a pom who looked just like Wilbur! So that was funny. Poms aren't like goldens, who all look the same anyway, so it was really cool to see one who matched him so well. Wilbur had a longer nose, though, and is already larger, although the other dog is full grown. Speaking of full grown, Wilbur will have to be neutered soon. I hate that part of pet ownership!
And last night was Brian's first high school dance! He seemed to have a great time, but he really isn't telling us much about it at all. He is very happy with the school so far, but it's about to kick into a higher gear, as he has several tests spread out over a couple of weeks. And someone told us tonight that at the end of the marking period, they pile them on them all at once. I have to impress upon him a billion times the importance of reviewing his notes on a nightly basis, but I don't know if he is doing so. He takes them on the computer, which could be a mindless typing exercise if he is not careful. And now I am exhausted and really must turn in.
I woke up the next morning feeling determined to make it better, so I told the para, don't worry about the kids, don't worry about me, just do whatever it is that you normally do. Because the lesson plans were sketchy, and when you walk into a K class and someone just writes "morning meeting, morning message" and this is supposed to take up 40 minutes, it's kind of hard to understand what this group of creatures of habit is going to expect, and in what order. And if there are 22 of them, I will get 22 different volunteers. I had thought the para would know, but most mornings, she does clerical work and doesn't really pay attention to that part of the day.
So I put my best foot forward and put the koala puppet on my hand and off I went. I actually held their attention throughout the entire morning meeting and morning message, as well as calendar, which was truly amazing. We finished our "writing" activity as well, and got through the morning virtually unscathed. Not so lucky in the afternoon, but what the heck, after that it was the weekend anyway, and a three day weekend at that.
Anyway, with all of the above, I am just really tired so I will be brief. Today the Doll needed attention, which we gave her after the kids and I participated in the second annual Chiari Walk sponsored by conquerchiari.org. It was a fun walk, but the weather could have been a little milder. Kevin couldn't come because he had to work the bagel table at the Y to raise funds for the April trip to Florida.
But in other news, the dogs were happy because I took them both evenings of my work to the dog park, to assuage my guilt over having left Wilbur in his little pen for so many hours. On Thursday it was muggy and buggy, but last night was beautiful and someone came with a pom who looked just like Wilbur! So that was funny. Poms aren't like goldens, who all look the same anyway, so it was really cool to see one who matched him so well. Wilbur had a longer nose, though, and is already larger, although the other dog is full grown. Speaking of full grown, Wilbur will have to be neutered soon. I hate that part of pet ownership!
And last night was Brian's first high school dance! He seemed to have a great time, but he really isn't telling us much about it at all. He is very happy with the school so far, but it's about to kick into a higher gear, as he has several tests spread out over a couple of weeks. And someone told us tonight that at the end of the marking period, they pile them on them all at once. I have to impress upon him a billion times the importance of reviewing his notes on a nightly basis, but I don't know if he is doing so. He takes them on the computer, which could be a mindless typing exercise if he is not careful. And now I am exhausted and really must turn in.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
a refreshing life
So now I have a new pastime. Hitting F5 over and over to refresh the screen on the sub calling website, in the hopes of seeing a viable opportunity before it vanishes back into oblivion at the hand of another prospective sub with faster fingers than I. This morning, as yesterday, I saw only one job, a middle school gym teacher, and yesterday I wasn't able to work anyway, as I had to worry about the Doll. Today I could, but I had to wonder why the job sat for twenty minutes before being filled this time! I also saw yesterday a half day autistic teacher, but again, with the Doll, I couldn't do it.
So she was released yesterday and there is absolutely nothing physically wrong with her that they can find. Every test has come back normal. There is no cancer, her organs are functioning, and her heart is ticking away. The pacemaker is keeping the heart rate steady, and the blood pressure, though a little high, is not something to be causing these symptoms. They switched her off of one BP medication onto another, and then sent her out with a slew of confusing prescription sheets, which I am sure they explained and I am sure she nodded her agreement, but then as we were trying to get home to feed the kids, she broke them all out and pored through them. I got Kevin to go and fill them for her, and told her she'd better call her primary care doc this morning, because that woman hasn't even been consulted throughout all of this. I am somewhat running out of tolerance as I begin to see it isn't a major medical emergency after all.
I believe she is anxious about living alone, and it's crossed into her subconscious mind. She's always been worried about falling, and now that she HAS fallen, it's even more real in her mind. Add to that the fact that they prescribed all sorts of anti-anxiety medications to an already anxious/depressed type of person, and the meds are creating their own little Armageddon in her brain. It seems more and more like this is the problem. One has to hope that she really needed that pacemaker ... presumably the monitors don't lie ... and the symptoms were certainly consistent with a low heart rate.
Anyway, as today will be my last day off this week, I am going to use it to catch up on laundry and straightening, getting some food for the house, and managing my checkbook as much as it can be managed in its pathetic state. Brian starts swimming (really) tonight and tomorrow, and of course, Megan has it as well. She's been coughing a lot more, after having this cold virus, with which Brian is a few days behind in its progression, but he also has it. He's been staying after school every day for one thing or other, the group that does charity work for the school, mock trial team, and today, the Spanish club. It's great that there are things that he can do with this school. He seems very happy there, although we haven't seen too many grades. He keeps getting not the best grades in math for stupid reasons, so he's going to have to be more careful. He has already announced that he wants to make honors math and science next year so he can take AP computers as a junior.
So in other news, it is nice and quiet again with only two dogs. Baxter is just such a messy dog! Aside from crapping twice in the house, he smelled, shed thin little hairs on everything, slobbered and sniveled and drooled and snored all over the place, and wouldn't go outside without being put on a leash. Once outside, he would refuse to step on grass, and he wanted to pee on all my flowers and shrubs. I finally figured out that he wouldn't poop if Wilbur was out with us, which meant I had to take Molly and Wilbur separately because Wilbur was able to escape through the fence when I'd lock them in and take Baxter out to another part of the yard. Yesterday it took me two hours to get all the dog business sorted out. Of course, I may be expected over there to walk him today. Not that he won't survive without a walk. He will be fine.
But I guess she will want to be looked in on, although she had a lot of biddie friends calling and checking on her, that I am sure would be happy to pick up some of the slack. Oh, and she has many appointments coming up, so she may need rides to some of them. I told her I'd go to the one next week, the cardiologist, but I just can't do all of them! I don't even know who these doctors are.
So she was released yesterday and there is absolutely nothing physically wrong with her that they can find. Every test has come back normal. There is no cancer, her organs are functioning, and her heart is ticking away. The pacemaker is keeping the heart rate steady, and the blood pressure, though a little high, is not something to be causing these symptoms. They switched her off of one BP medication onto another, and then sent her out with a slew of confusing prescription sheets, which I am sure they explained and I am sure she nodded her agreement, but then as we were trying to get home to feed the kids, she broke them all out and pored through them. I got Kevin to go and fill them for her, and told her she'd better call her primary care doc this morning, because that woman hasn't even been consulted throughout all of this. I am somewhat running out of tolerance as I begin to see it isn't a major medical emergency after all.
I believe she is anxious about living alone, and it's crossed into her subconscious mind. She's always been worried about falling, and now that she HAS fallen, it's even more real in her mind. Add to that the fact that they prescribed all sorts of anti-anxiety medications to an already anxious/depressed type of person, and the meds are creating their own little Armageddon in her brain. It seems more and more like this is the problem. One has to hope that she really needed that pacemaker ... presumably the monitors don't lie ... and the symptoms were certainly consistent with a low heart rate.
Anyway, as today will be my last day off this week, I am going to use it to catch up on laundry and straightening, getting some food for the house, and managing my checkbook as much as it can be managed in its pathetic state. Brian starts swimming (really) tonight and tomorrow, and of course, Megan has it as well. She's been coughing a lot more, after having this cold virus, with which Brian is a few days behind in its progression, but he also has it. He's been staying after school every day for one thing or other, the group that does charity work for the school, mock trial team, and today, the Spanish club. It's great that there are things that he can do with this school. He seems very happy there, although we haven't seen too many grades. He keeps getting not the best grades in math for stupid reasons, so he's going to have to be more careful. He has already announced that he wants to make honors math and science next year so he can take AP computers as a junior.
So in other news, it is nice and quiet again with only two dogs. Baxter is just such a messy dog! Aside from crapping twice in the house, he smelled, shed thin little hairs on everything, slobbered and sniveled and drooled and snored all over the place, and wouldn't go outside without being put on a leash. Once outside, he would refuse to step on grass, and he wanted to pee on all my flowers and shrubs. I finally figured out that he wouldn't poop if Wilbur was out with us, which meant I had to take Molly and Wilbur separately because Wilbur was able to escape through the fence when I'd lock them in and take Baxter out to another part of the yard. Yesterday it took me two hours to get all the dog business sorted out. Of course, I may be expected over there to walk him today. Not that he won't survive without a walk. He will be fine.
But I guess she will want to be looked in on, although she had a lot of biddie friends calling and checking on her, that I am sure would be happy to pick up some of the slack. Oh, and she has many appointments coming up, so she may need rides to some of them. I told her I'd go to the one next week, the cardiologist, but I just can't do all of them! I don't even know who these doctors are.
Monday, September 21, 2009
medical mystery, what else is new
So the Doll is back in the hospital. Yesterday, we all went to church, and when we got back we found the usual litany of messages from her, ending in the one that says, "going to the hospital, hope to see you there." Oh yes, and did I forget to mention it was 70+ degrees and sunny in NJ yesterday? Mmhmm. Well it was.
Apparently the familiar symptoms are back - the extreme nausea that hits out of nowhere, followed by the lightheadedness that preceded her fainting attack last week. So she called the cardiologist and in the end, 911, and was taken back to the emergency room again. When we got there, she was very tired, sound asleep and unable to get out of bed because of the nausea. She even used a bedpan! So they agreed to admit her.
In order to be admitted, she had to see a doctor from a service that works at the hospital, they can admit people when the people's doctors don't have admitting privileges at that hospital. So this nice young doctor (I like to call him House, MD) came and sat with us for quite a while. He was very thorough and asked a lot of good, but scary questions about her history with cancer, and how long she has had these recent headaches she's been complaining about. I took that opportunity to voice my despair at the decision to implant the pacemaker before taking an MRI of the brain of this woman who had metastasized colon cancer 20 years ago and now presents with symptoms of balance issues and nausea. But what do I know, I'm just a cyberchondriac anyway.
But House MD did admit her and he seems pretty well committed to ruling out everything it could possibly be, before focusing on medication interactions. Today she is having an ultrasound of her abdomen, and he has arranged for her to be seen by neurology, who will order some specialized tests that may show more than the CT, which was just a repeat of the one they did last week anyway, so no surprise that that one was negative. She seems to be feeling better, which makes me wonder if anxiety might not play a part, at least subconsciously because she says it comes on without warning, and not when she is anxious. But she is certainly anxious about living alone, I think, and the fact that if she falls down, there might not be anyone around to help. This thought has to always be in the back of her mind. And .. so we wait.
I didn't know if she would be discharged today, so I ran down to get my oil changed and then hurried into the mall to try to replace the dress shirt of Brian's that was stolen from his locker during the freshman run last week. I kept checking messages, and to my horror, there was one from my doctor's office, saying they had my lab results, if I wanted to go over them! Ack! This was my third blood test with them and they have NEVER called unless there was a problem. So I abandoned my search for the shirt, and went out to the parking lot, fought a busy signal for ten minutes, and finally got a nurse on the phone. "Oh," she said, "it's all normal." =:-O Thrilled to hear this, of course, but my heart! I might be joining the Doll in the CCU soon! Apparently they just wondered if I'd like to know my cholesterol level. Incidentally, 168.
And in other news, JOBS appeared on my screen today on the sub system! Amazement! Shock and awe! Of course, I couldn't take them. Unprepared for their appearance, it was already 7:40 and I would have had to shower and travel by 8:30 to the schools. So I didn't take them, but I did keep checking, and I ended up finding a two-day assignment for Thursday and Friday. So I am most excited about that. And on that note, Megan has just walked in the door. It's 2:30 already!
Apparently the familiar symptoms are back - the extreme nausea that hits out of nowhere, followed by the lightheadedness that preceded her fainting attack last week. So she called the cardiologist and in the end, 911, and was taken back to the emergency room again. When we got there, she was very tired, sound asleep and unable to get out of bed because of the nausea. She even used a bedpan! So they agreed to admit her.
In order to be admitted, she had to see a doctor from a service that works at the hospital, they can admit people when the people's doctors don't have admitting privileges at that hospital. So this nice young doctor (I like to call him House, MD) came and sat with us for quite a while. He was very thorough and asked a lot of good, but scary questions about her history with cancer, and how long she has had these recent headaches she's been complaining about. I took that opportunity to voice my despair at the decision to implant the pacemaker before taking an MRI of the brain of this woman who had metastasized colon cancer 20 years ago and now presents with symptoms of balance issues and nausea. But what do I know, I'm just a cyberchondriac anyway.
But House MD did admit her and he seems pretty well committed to ruling out everything it could possibly be, before focusing on medication interactions. Today she is having an ultrasound of her abdomen, and he has arranged for her to be seen by neurology, who will order some specialized tests that may show more than the CT, which was just a repeat of the one they did last week anyway, so no surprise that that one was negative. She seems to be feeling better, which makes me wonder if anxiety might not play a part, at least subconsciously because she says it comes on without warning, and not when she is anxious. But she is certainly anxious about living alone, I think, and the fact that if she falls down, there might not be anyone around to help. This thought has to always be in the back of her mind. And .. so we wait.
I didn't know if she would be discharged today, so I ran down to get my oil changed and then hurried into the mall to try to replace the dress shirt of Brian's that was stolen from his locker during the freshman run last week. I kept checking messages, and to my horror, there was one from my doctor's office, saying they had my lab results, if I wanted to go over them! Ack! This was my third blood test with them and they have NEVER called unless there was a problem. So I abandoned my search for the shirt, and went out to the parking lot, fought a busy signal for ten minutes, and finally got a nurse on the phone. "Oh," she said, "it's all normal." =:-O Thrilled to hear this, of course, but my heart! I might be joining the Doll in the CCU soon! Apparently they just wondered if I'd like to know my cholesterol level. Incidentally, 168.
And in other news, JOBS appeared on my screen today on the sub system! Amazement! Shock and awe! Of course, I couldn't take them. Unprepared for their appearance, it was already 7:40 and I would have had to shower and travel by 8:30 to the schools. So I didn't take them, but I did keep checking, and I ended up finding a two-day assignment for Thursday and Friday. So I am most excited about that. And on that note, Megan has just walked in the door. It's 2:30 already!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
improving conditions
So the days following that Wednesday have been a little better. For one thing, no word from the neurologist, and I don't think I have to worry about him calling on the weekend, so for now I can ignore it. I might actually just call next week and get it over with, because since he didn't know that we were even going on that day, he may not be aware that the test was done, so I can't really comfort myself with the old, "he would have called by now." Surely he would if it were something dire, but the likelihood of that with annual MRIs is pretty low. I hope. Knock wood. Fingers crossed.
So the two past days have been spent more or less doing the bidding of the Doll, as she recovers. On Thursday I just went over and walked Baxter, but yesterday I took her to the surgeon for him to have a look at her scary looking incision, but he said that was what it was supposed to look likt, and that the pacemaker was working perfectly. Its battery has a life of eight years left. So we said to him, "see you in eight years," as we left with instructions to follow up with the cardiologist for lightheadedness and headache, possibly caused by medications.
Megan finished her first full week of swimming, coming through with no more than a slight sniffle, which she passed along to Brian. He'll start his swimming next week. Meanwhile, he has made it through another week of high school, having gotten just a couple of grades back and so far, fairly respectable. I like this school because there are real consequences for not doing homework, like you have to carry around the garbage cans in the lunchroom in front of everyone else. This might also happen if you are improperly dressed, such as when Brian forgot to wear a belt (but didn't get caught!)
Otherwise, things are a bit slow as I continue to wait for jobs to be posted on this sub system. I don't know how it will work, but I haven't seen a single one, not even one at which I'd turn up my nose. So are others just online at the right time, or am I not getting them posted on my ID? I can only give it another few weeks, because I really do need to get some inflows to offset at least SOME of the outflows associated with my life.
In other news, Kevin is just home from his doctor's appointment, where he will have learned the news about his most recent thyroid and cholesterol levels. Right now he is trying to get in the door, and Wilbur is yapping at him! He just walked in with his blood test results, claiming that the doctor wants to frame them and put them up on his wall. Hmm.
So the two past days have been spent more or less doing the bidding of the Doll, as she recovers. On Thursday I just went over and walked Baxter, but yesterday I took her to the surgeon for him to have a look at her scary looking incision, but he said that was what it was supposed to look likt, and that the pacemaker was working perfectly. Its battery has a life of eight years left. So we said to him, "see you in eight years," as we left with instructions to follow up with the cardiologist for lightheadedness and headache, possibly caused by medications.
Megan finished her first full week of swimming, coming through with no more than a slight sniffle, which she passed along to Brian. He'll start his swimming next week. Meanwhile, he has made it through another week of high school, having gotten just a couple of grades back and so far, fairly respectable. I like this school because there are real consequences for not doing homework, like you have to carry around the garbage cans in the lunchroom in front of everyone else. This might also happen if you are improperly dressed, such as when Brian forgot to wear a belt (but didn't get caught!)
Otherwise, things are a bit slow as I continue to wait for jobs to be posted on this sub system. I don't know how it will work, but I haven't seen a single one, not even one at which I'd turn up my nose. So are others just online at the right time, or am I not getting them posted on my ID? I can only give it another few weeks, because I really do need to get some inflows to offset at least SOME of the outflows associated with my life.
In other news, Kevin is just home from his doctor's appointment, where he will have learned the news about his most recent thyroid and cholesterol levels. Right now he is trying to get in the door, and Wilbur is yapping at him! He just walked in with his blood test results, claiming that the doctor wants to frame them and put them up on his wall. Hmm.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
my bad day
Yesterday didn't start out too badly, although it was damp and gloomy. I had to get out of bed when Kevin let Wilbur out of his cage, because Wilbur's new thing is not to go out unless I get up and come down with them, so Kevin got mad and just refused to let him out anymore, because his feelings were hurt. It was Megan's picture day, so I drove her to school, and it wasn't raining yet, so Brian was able to walk to school. I fulfilled my obligation to drive the Doll to her hair appointment, but told her I wouldn't be able to pick her up because I had a 2:00 doctor's appointment.
I left the house around 1:20, plenty of time to get to the appointment, but it was raining, and I missed a turn and ended up in a totally different place. I turned on my GPS and found my way back, and arrived at 2:04, only to be told (or actually to overhear them whispering) that my appointment was supposed to be at 1:30. The waiting room was practically empty, but they made a big deal about whether or not I could be seen anyway, gave me paperwork "just in case" and never bothered to tell me if they were going to see me, until they called me in. Very mean and reproachful.
When the nurse called me back, I apologized again for being so late (a mistake actually, not just a lateness, although I guess it is the same to them, and they have a sign that says if you're more than ten minutes late you have to reschedule) and she said, "don't worry about it, you're here now." and ran five steps ahead of me everywhere I had to be. I've been worrying about my blood pressure because it's always been high at that office, the past three years or so, and she put the cuff on and I barely felt it close around my arm when she took it off and said, "good." I asked what it was, and she said, "100 over 60" ?? Then she rushed me to the scale (ack), then into the room.
The doctor was better and more relaxed, but he did tell me that in the morning he would have told me to go home because he had been so busy with orthodox Jews getting ready for the holidays that he wouldn't have been able to fit me in. But then I felt very guilty when I left and the waiting room was once again full of them. Although I can't imagine the no-more-than-ten minutes that he spent with me set him back that much, or his nurse and the two minutes I got of her time before the exam.
Anyway, then I had my blood drawn and, because I don't pay for blood work and was so frazzled by my stupidity, I forgot to stop at the desk and give them my copay (which actually I don't think I technically am supposed to need for 'well care' but they always take it anyway), which I didn't realize till I got home. I called them and they said I would get a bill. I should probably call and get the information from the insurance company first, because it will be changing at the end of the month and they might not be as helpful if I call after that!
So, still feeling really stupid, I see Brian. He tells me, "I think you will really like my English teacher when you meet him at Back to School Night ... TONIGHT!" (It's on my calendar for next Wednesday). It was the first week of swim practice so I decided I'd take Brian there early and he could study for an hour, then we'd pick him up after BTS night. I went out and got a rotisserie chicken for dinner.
I met Kevin at BTS night (really very impressed with the school, it is very expensive but so far it seems to be money well-spent) and we started the circuit of classes. About halfway through, I got a text from Brian, "let's try this again next week." Huh? =:-O The practice for his group, the high school group, doesn't start with the others! It starts NEXT week .. so I left him there for three hours for nothing. Luckily, he bummed a ride home with one of our carpool dads, who was there picking up his daughter from a different practice group. Ouch.
Anyway, was I glad to put that day to bed. Although, just as I was about to do this, Kevin reminded us that today was a scheduled cleaning lady day, and there were things all over that needed to be moved around. So we did the best we could do, and here it is, the next day, and the ladies are done and gone. The dogs and I ran some errands and then stopped by the dog park until the drizzle picked up. Now we're home and I have volunteered to go and walk Baxter. The Doll is feeling pretty well, just a headache. I am thinking it's the new blood pressure medication they gave her.
So in other news, I am a nervous wreck every time the phone rings, thinking it will be the neurologist. I didn't really expect to hear from him yesterday, he isn't really likely to call on the very next day, because it would be unlikely they would find anything that needed urgent reporting. So with Brian, I can never be assured that no news is good news. I have to actually have the good news to know that it is good news. So I continue to wait and wrestle with the question, 'should I just call and get it over with?' Especially since Kevin looked and thought it was OK. I hope so! As for Megan, she's been sniffling and sneezing, so we'll see where she goes with that. She started her claritin-D and nasonex last night, but she has a very busy day today, a meeting at school followed by swim practice and then a lesson at church for Sunday school teachers, of which she will be one this year. So I hope she feels better this afternoon. Homework? Don't ask.
I left the house around 1:20, plenty of time to get to the appointment, but it was raining, and I missed a turn and ended up in a totally different place. I turned on my GPS and found my way back, and arrived at 2:04, only to be told (or actually to overhear them whispering) that my appointment was supposed to be at 1:30. The waiting room was practically empty, but they made a big deal about whether or not I could be seen anyway, gave me paperwork "just in case" and never bothered to tell me if they were going to see me, until they called me in. Very mean and reproachful.
When the nurse called me back, I apologized again for being so late (a mistake actually, not just a lateness, although I guess it is the same to them, and they have a sign that says if you're more than ten minutes late you have to reschedule) and she said, "don't worry about it, you're here now." and ran five steps ahead of me everywhere I had to be. I've been worrying about my blood pressure because it's always been high at that office, the past three years or so, and she put the cuff on and I barely felt it close around my arm when she took it off and said, "good." I asked what it was, and she said, "100 over 60" ?? Then she rushed me to the scale (ack), then into the room.
The doctor was better and more relaxed, but he did tell me that in the morning he would have told me to go home because he had been so busy with orthodox Jews getting ready for the holidays that he wouldn't have been able to fit me in. But then I felt very guilty when I left and the waiting room was once again full of them. Although I can't imagine the no-more-than-ten minutes that he spent with me set him back that much, or his nurse and the two minutes I got of her time before the exam.
Anyway, then I had my blood drawn and, because I don't pay for blood work and was so frazzled by my stupidity, I forgot to stop at the desk and give them my copay (which actually I don't think I technically am supposed to need for 'well care' but they always take it anyway), which I didn't realize till I got home. I called them and they said I would get a bill. I should probably call and get the information from the insurance company first, because it will be changing at the end of the month and they might not be as helpful if I call after that!
So, still feeling really stupid, I see Brian. He tells me, "I think you will really like my English teacher when you meet him at Back to School Night ... TONIGHT!" (It's on my calendar for next Wednesday). It was the first week of swim practice so I decided I'd take Brian there early and he could study for an hour, then we'd pick him up after BTS night. I went out and got a rotisserie chicken for dinner.
I met Kevin at BTS night (really very impressed with the school, it is very expensive but so far it seems to be money well-spent) and we started the circuit of classes. About halfway through, I got a text from Brian, "let's try this again next week." Huh? =:-O The practice for his group, the high school group, doesn't start with the others! It starts NEXT week .. so I left him there for three hours for nothing. Luckily, he bummed a ride home with one of our carpool dads, who was there picking up his daughter from a different practice group. Ouch.
Anyway, was I glad to put that day to bed. Although, just as I was about to do this, Kevin reminded us that today was a scheduled cleaning lady day, and there were things all over that needed to be moved around. So we did the best we could do, and here it is, the next day, and the ladies are done and gone. The dogs and I ran some errands and then stopped by the dog park until the drizzle picked up. Now we're home and I have volunteered to go and walk Baxter. The Doll is feeling pretty well, just a headache. I am thinking it's the new blood pressure medication they gave her.
So in other news, I am a nervous wreck every time the phone rings, thinking it will be the neurologist. I didn't really expect to hear from him yesterday, he isn't really likely to call on the very next day, because it would be unlikely they would find anything that needed urgent reporting. So with Brian, I can never be assured that no news is good news. I have to actually have the good news to know that it is good news. So I continue to wait and wrestle with the question, 'should I just call and get it over with?' Especially since Kevin looked and thought it was OK. I hope so! As for Megan, she's been sniffling and sneezing, so we'll see where she goes with that. She started her claritin-D and nasonex last night, but she has a very busy day today, a meeting at school followed by swim practice and then a lesson at church for Sunday school teachers, of which she will be one this year. So I hope she feels better this afternoon. Homework? Don't ask.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
two dogs again
It's been an eventful few days. The Doll spent an extra night in the hospital because she was still feeling lightheaded, but I think mostly she is just afraid to go and be home alone. I took Baxter back to her house yesterday and then picked her up and brought her there for their reunion. As of last night, she was still lightheaded but otherwise well. Even though she says she is lightheaded, her color is good, which sort of says to me that she can't be *that* dizzy. I told her I'd walk Baxter today and then drive her to the hair salon, but now it's raining. I hate to call her because I don't know what kind of night she had so I'll wait till 11 or so and see if she calls me first. I had planned to take a good walk this morning, but then the skies opened up, just as I was about to leave, and they're continuing to remain that way.
Last night's MRI was less traumatic for me than usual, maybe because I am just resigned to the fact that this is our life. Maybe because I postponed it long enough that enough other things are on my mind and I didn't have time to worry. We were delayed a little because they took an inpatient ahead of us, so we ended up waiting close to an hour, because we had shown up, as instructed, half an hour early. They are renovating the hospital so we had a hard time finding our way around, or we might have been seen sooner, but I doubt it. They don't usually keep the sick patients waiting.
Brian did have an episode of his swalling trouble when they first put him into the tube, so that further sounds like anxiety. Then they gave him some water and the music came on, and then he did well. Until the very end, when he had to go to the bathroom and they wanted to redo a few of the sections that hadn't come out as clearly as others. Afterwards, Kevin peeked at the monitor and the tech showed him the whole spine, rotated it around, went up and down, and he thought it looked OK. Since he doesn't check the chiari site at the top, we don't know anything about that, but I have enough confidence in his syrinx judging abilities that I am not terribly concerned, but of course I do have that knot in my stomach, because I didn't see it myself, and he didn't check the chiari status.
In other news, Megan has picture day at school today, so her hair is all blown out and straight. She doesn't wear much makeup anyway, but she put on a little today. Luckily the rain didn't start until after all the girls got to school! That would have been disastrous! Also today, I am getting ready to drive the Doll to her hair appointment and then to visit my doctor for my annual checkup. Blood pressure! Oh no! My heart skips a beat just thinking about it. And finally, Brian starts his swimming practices tonight. He's only doing the group that does practice, no meets. They train with each other at the Y so they can be in shape for their high school season. There's a swim team meeting at Brian's school tomorrow, so he'll find out when those practices start, and he'll just go to those and not the Y, when they do.
Last night's MRI was less traumatic for me than usual, maybe because I am just resigned to the fact that this is our life. Maybe because I postponed it long enough that enough other things are on my mind and I didn't have time to worry. We were delayed a little because they took an inpatient ahead of us, so we ended up waiting close to an hour, because we had shown up, as instructed, half an hour early. They are renovating the hospital so we had a hard time finding our way around, or we might have been seen sooner, but I doubt it. They don't usually keep the sick patients waiting.
Brian did have an episode of his swalling trouble when they first put him into the tube, so that further sounds like anxiety. Then they gave him some water and the music came on, and then he did well. Until the very end, when he had to go to the bathroom and they wanted to redo a few of the sections that hadn't come out as clearly as others. Afterwards, Kevin peeked at the monitor and the tech showed him the whole spine, rotated it around, went up and down, and he thought it looked OK. Since he doesn't check the chiari site at the top, we don't know anything about that, but I have enough confidence in his syrinx judging abilities that I am not terribly concerned, but of course I do have that knot in my stomach, because I didn't see it myself, and he didn't check the chiari status.
In other news, Megan has picture day at school today, so her hair is all blown out and straight. She doesn't wear much makeup anyway, but she put on a little today. Luckily the rain didn't start until after all the girls got to school! That would have been disastrous! Also today, I am getting ready to drive the Doll to her hair appointment and then to visit my doctor for my annual checkup. Blood pressure! Oh no! My heart skips a beat just thinking about it. And finally, Brian starts his swimming practices tonight. He's only doing the group that does practice, no meets. They train with each other at the Y so they can be in shape for their high school season. There's a swim team meeting at Brian's school tomorrow, so he'll find out when those practices start, and he'll just go to those and not the Y, when they do.
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