| Coincidence? |
[Jun. 4th, 2006|12:30 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  hopeful | ] |
Two facts:
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) dougs's rescheduled visa interview at the U.S. embassy in London is due to take place this Tuesday...on 06/06/06.
Today's Washington Post Travel section contained an article on the U.S. embassy in London.
I choose to ignore the former and view the latter as a positive sign. |
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| DougCat? |
[Apr. 27th, 2006|08:07 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  mrrrow | ] |
So, last night I dreamed that dougs had two kittens.
And when I say he "had two kittens," what I mean is that he had *fathered* two kittens. Yeah. (And they weren't even mine.)
It all seemed very normal in the dream. He was a good cat-daddy, and all.
This is the disturbing part, though: He got to stay home and raise the kittens while I went out and earned the paychecks. But I really wanted to stay home with him and the kittens and not have to go to work.
I hope this isn't my subconscious telling me I really want to be a stay-at-home mom, because I don't even want children!
Kittens would be good, though. :) |
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| Happy thoughts needed |
[Apr. 24th, 2006|04:00 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  anxious | ] |
Tomorrow is a super-important day for Douglas and me. It is the big interview at the U.S. embassy in London that will determine whether he and I will ever be able to live together. And he's not feeling very well...
dougs (and I) could really use all the positive thoughts and wishes you can spare. |
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| New "Chemo" Therapy |
[Apr. 7th, 2006|07:10 am] |
So yesterday was a treatment day. I go every two weeks, but I only see a doc every four weeks. Lately it has been Melanie, a former chemo nurse turned physician's assistant, instead of Dr. S himself, which is actually a good thing. She's more forthcoming with information than Dr. S!
Also, yesterday she asked if I'd heard about their new chemo treatment. I said I hadn't, so she left the room and returned with... ( photo under cut -- safe for work )
Now that's good therapy.
In other news, Melanie said my CT scan looked good, everything stable. The only issues were an enlarged spleen, the ascites fluid, and some little kidney stones, all of which they already knew about. |
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| Stuff and things |
[Apr. 1st, 2006|09:50 am] |
Wha'...it's April already? How did that happen?
Little medical update:
* Today is the second anniversary of starting chemotherapy. I've been going in every two weeks (or more) for the last two years. Imagine how many $20 copayments that's been...
* The latest drug (Camptosar, or CPT11) has been giving me alternating "good weeks" and "dreadfully ill/can't eat" weeks. Fortunately, there exist Zofran antinausea pills, which dissolve on the tongue. Of course, they are (say it with me, now)...hideously expensive. But totally worth it.
* No idea if the drug is doing what it's supposed to, though the bloodwork trend is encouraging. No idea how much longer I'll have to take it. They had me get another CT scan recently, so we should have a better idea how it's going later this week.
* Thanks to my boss, I have been able to spend the ill weeks working from home. She says it's cool as long as I'm getting the work done (and no one higher up asks about it!).
Now for a few positive things:
* dougs has finally got his visa interview at the U.S. Embassy in London! No, the paperwork hasn't come in yet, but hopefully it will before April 25th. *fingers crossed* Then there will be 16-18 weeks more of waiting...
* Mom got me a couch! It's a beige, suede-ish two-seater that just fits at the end of the bed (location subject to change). I feel all grown-up now, with a real couch where real people can sit comfortably if I ever get any visitors.
* Happy 14th birthday, ursinehenry. :) |
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| Choonz |
[Mar. 5th, 2006|02:04 pm] |
Today has been productive in that I finally sat down and learned how to turn vinylized music into mp3s. Which means I got to hear some old favorite songs that I hadn't heard in yonks. Mmmm. Lots of records still to convert, but a start has been made.
*plays Mighty Sparrow's "Abu Bakr" repeatedly*
Still true: Catchy Music Makes Me Very Happy.
In honor of my expanding mp3 collection, here's your wacky tune of the week*:
Drink! Feck! Arse! Girls! (Father Jack Techno Mix)
* Links expire after seven days or a certain number of downloads, according to YouSendIt.com |
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| Happy VD to all |
[Feb. 14th, 2006|11:20 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  lonely | ] |
My boy is always far away,
But even farther is he today.
He hopped a train to gay Paree,
forgetting somehow to bring along me!
At least there is an excellent chance
it's work he's there for, and not romance.
And then when he returns, in time,
He'll still be my Valentine. <3
I love you, dougs. :) |
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| Once Upon a Mattress |
[Jan. 25th, 2006|03:24 pm] |
I've got a new bed! It was delivered this afternoon, and mom has it all made up with new sheets and all. It's a queen size bed, which turns out to be only very slightly larger than my old double one but a bit higher off the ground.
Thanks to all who left supportive comments or thought supportive thoughts on my last post. I did walk home from work yesterday. Now I just have to keep up the progress...
Oh, and Happy Burns Night to all. Go have some haggis. :) |
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| Boo, am crap |
[Jan. 24th, 2006|08:00 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  am crap | ] |
I utterly failed to walk to work this morning, as planned. It's been a very long time since I did it, thanks to leg ulcers etc., but I need to get the ability back or I'll be in deep kim-chee when mom leaves.
Maybe I'll try to walk home this afternoon... |
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| Fun and games |
[Jan. 19th, 2006|02:51 pm] |
A few facts:
(1) I've been doing so well these past six months or so, not buying things. It does help a lot not having any credit cards at hand. But I have a new credit card now -- albeit one with a tiny limit.
(2) I wouldn't call myself a hardcore gamer, but I do enjoy playing certain types of video games. Most often it's been Nintendo games (though I do have a PlayStation 1 gathering dust under the TV). The gaming urge often goes in cycles with me; I'll go through months of playing every day, then months of not picking up a controller.
(3) The handheld units I currently have are a GameBoy Color and a GameBoy Advance (not the SP). They both work just fine, but the screens are not very bright and my eyesight ain't what it used to be. Plus, there are now Shiny! New! Toys! that Nintendo has put out there specifically to tempt me. :) The prices vary, but are in the $100-140 range.
(4) These new units are somewhat backwards-compatible, meaning they will play GameBoy Advance games, but not the older GameBoy cartridges. But I will still be tempted to buy further games as they come out for the new unit, should I buy one.
Help me run my life, please... ( by taking the poll ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 15th, 2006|10:34 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | books | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  erudite | ] |
Loads of people have stated their intentions to read fifty books or more this year. I don't know if I'll make it to fifty, but it sounded like a fun idea to keep track of the stuff I've been reading. Don't expect it all to be "great literature," either, because as the first two selections make clear, that isn't very likely.
1. Christianity for Dummies, Richard Wagner. [A Christmas present from mom, who was pleased I was showing any hint of curiosity about the religion that obviously hadn't "taken" while I was growing up.] I learned a lot from this book, which only goes to show how little I knew beforehand, so in that way it fulfilled its purpose. The author, however, is an evangelical Christian, and although he states this up front and does make some effort to be evenhanded when discussing other denominations, there's still a detectable slant. Especially towards the end of the book, where he talks about living a Christian life in the modern world and tries to discredit Darwin. Still, it was good to get a basic outline; maybe now dougs will consider me less of a hopeless ignoramus on the subject. :)
2. Whiteout, Ken Follett. [Another present from mom.] What? This guy is a bestselling author, you say? Hmmm, I guess that would be a lot of airport sales, then. It took some effort for me to get into this book because of the hackneyed writing -- or overwriting, really. And it was set in Scotland, so way too much time was spent establishing the whole Scottishness thing. Characters, situations, and settings were all cliches. Still, I had to finish all 468 pages so I knew how it all came out, because I'm easily taken in that way. At least it was a relatively quick read. |
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| Happy New Year, a bit late |
[Jan. 15th, 2006|10:10 am] |
After a spate of unexplained defriendings, and an LJ "nudge" from the lovely and talented sparktastic, I thought it might be time for this LJ to ring in 2006.
Christmas was okay, just me and my mom and our little "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree. We had a proper holiday dinner earlier in December with my stepfather and stepsister, so that was nice.
For New Year's Eve, mom had some champagne and I would've had some sparkling cider if we'd thought to get a bottletop opener beforehand. (We finally got it open a week or so later!) I wasn't even able to stay awake for the big moment because I'm such a party animal. Ah well.
Other than that, I've mostly been working from home. This week I was back at work for three whole days, though, so they'll probably be expecting me to start doing that again on a regular basis. *sigh* It's a lot nicer working at home, I think.
Besides work and its attendant obligations, there have been many, many doctor appointments. Regular chemo sessions every two weeks, of course (the doc doesn't think the new drug is working to his satisfaction, so the regimen may change soon). On top of that, visits to the wound care center for the leg ulcers (which seem to be nearly healed now, thank goodness). And most fun of all, visits to the Infectious Disease Guy because I've been fighting off a bout of cellulitis in my left leg. For two and a half weeks, he had me on IV antibiotics, which meant I had to cope with having a needle in my port and a dangly bit 24/7 (a pain for showering purposes). Plus more home care nurses and so on. I'm off that now and back to oral antibiotics, and hopefully IDG will tell me on Thursday that I'm all better.
Why do they make oral antibiotics in such HUGE pills? Potassium supplements are also huge.
Because of the infection, I haven't been able to use the inflatable moon booties on that left leg, though I've continued doing the right one. There's definitely some disparity now, legwise. |
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| Holiday wishes |
[Dec. 23rd, 2005|07:11 am] |
I know I've been quiet, but I had to delurk briefly to wish all of you a very happy holiday, if you celebrate one around this time of year. If you don't celebrate one, then have a great weekend anyway!
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| Sadness, but with photo memories |
[Dec. 2nd, 2005|03:20 pm] |
Waaa, he's gone. :( It was a very good visit, though. I hope he can come back soon, to stay.
You all know the drill. There is gorgeous bare male skin behind the cut, but no overtly naughty bits. Also there is a pic with me in it. And a shot of raw naked turkey breast! Consider yourselves warned.
( the most recent 'waaa, he's gone' photo set ) |
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| Happy Thanksgiving |
[Nov. 24th, 2005|12:38 pm] |
Things I am less than thankful for:
(1) The skin ulcers all over my legs that won't heal and make it near-impossible to walk.
(2) The unstable state of my insides, which haven't wanted to let me eat more than a slice of dry toast for the last week or so.
(3) dougs has to leave in a week.
(4) Not being able to have a big "family" Thanksgiving like we used to.
(5) Being introduced (by one who will remain nameless) to the "song stylings" of George Formby.
Things I am very thankful for:
(1) Not dead yet.
(2) The lovely Thanksgiving meal dougs is cooking up for us to share.
(3) dougs is here with me. For a while. And he is wonderful.
(4) My family, especially mom, who goes above and beyond the call of duty on countless occasions.
(5) Being reintroduced the the happy tunes from Me and My Girl, including the Lambeth Walk. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 8th, 2005|07:39 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  discontent | ] |
Why is life beating me with sticks?
And when will it stop? |
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| *boggle* |
[Nov. 5th, 2005|02:51 pm] |
I am shocked -- shocked -- at how much it costs to dial England direct.
I'd been using OneSuite, a prepaid phone scheme, to call dougs, and it was working okay. The minutes drained away much faster when calling his mobile than his land line, but okay. The connection wasn't always the best quality...but now I'm never going to complain about that again.
Because I just got my Verizon bill for October, which included two calls I made direct to Douglas. I was tired of the bad OneSuite connections, so I did a stupid thing and dialed direct. Without knowing the rate.
Two 32-minute calls.
Each one? $72.64.
Yeah. My phone bill normally averages about $50 a month. This time it's $216.83. So much for saving money... |
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| Prime Ministerial Cuteness Survey |
[Oct. 30th, 2005|11:31 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | poll | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  curious | ] |
In answer to dougs's recent poll about U.S. presidents, I'd like to determine the correct attitudes toward current and former UK prime ministers.
( poll )
Note that in the first question, you can vote for as many of them as you like. |
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| It's official... |
[Oct. 28th, 2005|07:45 am] |
Yesterday I finally got notice of my bankruptcy discharge in the mail. I hope this means I'll be able to start building up some credit again. Wonder if I should try for a debit card first, or go for a credit card? Either way, I'd better resolve to pay it off every month, or I'll be right back in trouble. |
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| AKICOLJ |
[Oct. 28th, 2005|07:05 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  amused | ] |
It is my contention that no human being has ever before uttered the phrase "a brace of Aberdeen testicles."
Can I get some confirmation of this, so that dougs can be declared Teh Winner? |
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| Aitch Two Oh |
[Oct. 20th, 2005|10:15 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  damp | ] |
(1) Why does it always rain every other Friday, when I have to walk (and Metro) to the doc's office on those very same Fridays? Why did it only *not* rain on alternate Fridays when my mom was here to drive me to the doc's office? What kind of evil plan is this, anyway?
(2) Why does my shower (and kitchen taps too) lose pressure at random intervals, and why does the water change temperature drastically at its own whim? I'm guessing this one has to do with other people in the apartment building using water at the same time, but still. Boo!
(3) I have a tiny pumpkin on my desk now. And the weather's getting colder. It must be autumn. |
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| More drainage |
[Oct. 14th, 2005|07:35 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  drained | ] |
Yesterday -- finally -- I went to the hospital to get drained again. About ten weeks had passed since the last one, when the trend had been every six weeks, so I really had let it go too long. And it was having knock-on effects (all that abdominal swelling made the edema in my legs worse, which led to a nasty raw sore on the back of one leg, making it hard to walk, etc.).
I don't think I wrote about all the hassle we went through to get the appointment set up. We were trying to schedule it for the end of September, when my mom was still here, but the attempt was seemingly unsuccessful. In the end, though, it turned out that an appointment had been set up for the 26th, but I NEVER KNEW ABOUT IT! The doc's office had notified me by email, and I never received it. Same thing happened when I tried to get a prescription filled by email communication -- apparently they can receive my emails but I can no longer get theirs. Arrrggghhh. So everything by phone from now on, I guess.
Anyway, yesterday they tapped me for 11 liters of fluid (a personal best, whoo-hoo), and there was still more in there they could have taken. That was plenty for me, though. The more they take out, the harder it is to stand up and walk afterward. The nurse thoughtfully got me a wheelchair, and dad helped me from the car to the lobby at home, but it was rough getting up to my apartment!
I had to work from home most of this week because of the raw spot on the back of my leg, and I still don't feel up to going in today. I hope things will be much better by Monday.
Oh, and GIP. "But I got pills to cure the death so I take those..." :) |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 10th, 2005|07:52 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  depressed | ] |
I don't know why I haven't been posting much lately. But it's probably better for everyone this way, because I'd only be moaning and whining about everything.
It's past time for another drainage. |
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| Bitch and moan |
[Oct. 1st, 2005|10:55 am] |
Mom went home Thursday, so I'm all alone again. Boo. It was nice having her here, though, and we got a lot accomplished, especially sorting through my junk and getting rid of a lot of it.
Douglas is at his mother's this weekend. Hope he got there safely. I miss him all the time. Waaa.
Last night sucked because each one of my leg muscles decided to take a turn at cramping and forcing me out of bed until it stopped. (Man, that hurts.) And today it's my fingers' turn to get some of that action. Wish I knew how to get this to stop. I've been getting plenty of potassium. I mean, seriously, what the fuck? |
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| Major milestone |
[Sep. 26th, 2005|07:50 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | douglas | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  celebratory | ] |
September 27 is a very special day.*
( For Douglas )
* This post is a bit early for those outside of the UK time zone. |
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listening to loud music
acquisitive
blah
horrified
pained
relieved
loved