Mood:
happyNow Playing: Day 582-The Final Road To Survival
All good things come to those who wait and patience is a virtue. I am not just a firm believer of that quote but also a lucky percipient.
Maybe it takes a bit longer sometimes than others. Take for example the holiday decorating this weekend and final touches being added on the wheelchair ramp.
I woke up at 11am this morning by the sounds of a happy hammer and saw. I didn't wait one second but instead took my pillows and blankets then made my way to the new chair in the back bedroom. I was still very tired so in no time flat I fell right back asleep. 
With all the weekend hustle and bustle around the house I guess Littleblue and the gang were so tired even hammering didn't wake them up. Oreo made his way back in the room to wake me up at 5pm. Let's just say I caught up on all the sleep I needed! With taking the new medication to fight infection it also makes me very tired. I won't be able to do my next Drano aka Hell-In-A-Jug treatment until Monday. My doctor wants to give my body at least a few days to possibly help the medication start working this way I am not instantly flushing it out with the liquid-toxic poison.
My friend worked his full time job from 11pm till 6:30am this morning then went straight to drill at the Army. By the time he got home and finally was able to sleep it was 3pm. Talking about also being exhausted! He didn't wake up until 8pm as I did my best to be quiet as possible once I got up to let the fur gang outside. 
Littleblue must be having a lazy day too because once I started my second round of holiday decorating she took her stuffed animal friend and went back to sleep.
Once my friend woke up he got a bite to eat then helped me get another tree out from storage. He did admit this was the first year he put up a Christmas tree and decorated it. I tend to think its just a 'Guy thing.' Tonight was his lucky night seeing we decided to get the GP tree and decorations out. This is a pre-lit tree so much easier to put together. The GP tree was an idea from fellow Gastroparesis patients back in 2009. It was a way for everyone to decorate a tree by sending their own unique ornaments raising hope for a Gastroparesis cure. I like to call it, "The GP Tree Of Hope." Either way my friend did an amazing job putting the tree up and helping to decorate! I might not have the Elves this year to help me but thank goodness for another set of helping hands! It was a far less exhausting day setting up holiday decorations although there are still three trees left we decided to finish them up tomorrow. By 11pm once we got situated and I sat down on my couchbed I looked over to see my friend passed out on the recliner sleeping. I guess even he can't keep up with the fast pace of Santa's Elves, hahahahaha! 
celebratory
It must had been the decorations that set the tone for one tired Supervisor. The kittygang enjoyed finding tinsel that fell off a few decorations and played till they all passed out then fell asleep, hahahaha! Fur kids are just like children. They too get excited when the holiday decorations start coming out. 
Its not easy but its life and at least the peppermint oil I place on a piece of toilet paper or paper towel seems to help a bit at night. I place it right next to me on the cart so when you walk into the house my friend says, "It smells like one huge candy cane!" Hahahaha! 
Once I finished up the first day of holiday decorating my friend thought it would be a great time to start working out. He has to work his normal job this evening-third shift so why not? Although every time I attempt to get back into the swing of working out I get sick so I don't expect anything less but if it helps him to get motivated then he can continue on his new work out routine. I chose to just walk on my treadmill as he braved the thirty minute 'AbTwister' machine. It was a bit funny watching him work out with the video. I couldn't help but to chuckle however he did make it through the work out with flying colors! I also made it through the treadmill although I must admit it did make my nausea a bit worse so I took my Zofran and called it an evening. My friend said he felt great after working out and hopes to keep up with the routine. I told him I will do my best to be his new work out partner but I couldn't make any promises with me being sick and having two lumbar fractures. He agreed.
don't ask
Hmmmm....Sure seems like its Wednesday all over again...Set cell phone alarm last night, wake up to Littleblue howling to go outside, feed the fur kids, tidy up a little bit then get ready to head to my doctor's appointment.
Once we walked into the office it was the same routine of signing in, going over my medical insurance, handing them my copay then taking a seat in the waiting area. Since it was already the start of a lucky day I was also the last patient being seen since they were nice enough to work me into their schedule. I only waited a few minutes then was called back into a room. My weight isn't the best it could be but my doctors totally understand when you can't digest food and you are always having to do Drano treatments it will be impossible to gain weight. I do the best I can but looks like Santa might need to bring me a few new pairs of jeans this holiday season because my size 2 are getting to be a bit too big. 
I wouldn't be lying by saying after awhile you start to get used to the never ending problems. Lately I have been putting a lid on discussing my medical battle keeping it to under a select few except my friend who lives with me. I don't get into the full story or all the details seeing I feel its now best to keep things on the low. I am not getting any better but I also refuse to give up so I keep fighting each and every day. 
So I chalk up today as just another battle to overcome. Including this evening as I once again have to bring out Mr. Puke pan, UGGGG! Things don't get better with Gastroparesis. Things progress over time. There are no answers. There are no cures. There are though people out in the world who do care and you don't have to go on your GP journey alone. 
d'oh
"THE SAME OLE SONG & DANCE"
All was not a loss.
I went today with an open mind expecting the worst but also hoping for the best. Instead I left today putting my lab coat back on playing my own best doctor minus the six digit salary, hahahaha!
It was a productive day yesterday and one darn CRAZY DAY today! WHEW! Just call it a little bit of everything all rolled up into one. At least with the rain and dreary weather there was less sun seeing it finally gave my head a break! It's been sunny enough the past week. The downside is with all this rain over the next few days it means the wheelchair ramp most likely won't be finished until this weekend. I guess if anything I can be glad for much needed rest and no loud hammers or saws waking me up. Same goes for my friend who had to work mandatory overtime this morning at the county jail and didn't get home from work until 12pm. He was BEAT! since he went to work yesterday at 10pm. 
I got the wonderful privilege of dealing with another medical bill error today that started December last year after getting a CT scan at a facility that told me it was in network. A month later I get a bill saying I owe $1,750. NOT! Once I spoke to the head administrator on the error seeing my insurance company was never even contracted with the facility he clearly stated to me, "This is our error and go ahead, disregard the bill." Now almost a year later I get a statement from a collection agency saying I owe that same facility $345.00! WHAT?!!! I tried my best to remember my new resolutions for this new decade in my life and kept my cool but I have never had anything in collections so this was new to me. I tried contacting that same individual at the imaging facility where obviously they have some sort of miscommunication among themselves but of course they don't contact me. I was instead told by a billing representative that they did me a favor and wrote most of it off and was only charging me the remainder of the balance. MMMM....This was wrote off last year so there wasn't any balance to be remaining but I might as well been talking to a wall because the wall wasn't listening. My family agreed with me that this error on their end continuing for a year now just isn't worth the unnecessary stress so we paid the bill but not without me explaining the full situation with the collection agency. Not only did they listen but also told me, "Please write us a letter on everything you just told me as well a copy of the letter to the facility who wrote this bill off a year ago only in turn to charge it back to you again. We will investigate the matter with the imaging facility and get back to you. If it appears this is a situation that clearly as you stated was wrote off last year and there is a line of miscommunication within the facility we will credit you the money back on the bill." FINALLY SOMEONE LISTENED AND UNDERSTOOD! So lesson learned is this: Make sure you check and double check before getting any test done at any facility as well your insurance company that the facility is contracted with them. Never let anyone tell you it is or that they checked already because things like this can happen and no one terminally ill needs this type of unnecessary and additional stress. AMEN! Also if you are dealing with a mean, nasty and hateful spouse/ex who feels they don't need to help you with any bills and refuse to pay for any to put their name down as the responsible party with your medical professionals or any imaging facility, hospital, etc. ANOTHER LESSON LEARNED.
There is a new show that me and my friend were wanting to watch and it finally aired late last night. The show is called, "MonsterInLaws" and boy was it FUNNY!! Kinda scary too seeing I could relate a bit with both new episodes that aired back to back. My friend sadly said they could relate too! It is a reality show if you want to call it but I say its more like "REAL LIFE." Just shows you once again what I always believed which is blood isn't always thicker than water. Maybe back in the day when family truly stuck together through the good times and the bad. Now in days families barely even communicate or know each other. Strangers now become more like family doing heart felt things reaching out to help one another. HMMMMM....Kinda like the concrete ground work that lead to the making of 'The Gastroparesis Awareness Campaign' over five years ago. A way for patients and their family, friends and loved ones to find support and not be alone nor feel alone. I guess you can say I would had rather been born back in the 1930's or 1940's. Maybe we all could take some of the lessons back then on how to treat family and apply them to our every day lives now. Amen.
sharp
My friend thought it was a good idea to head to the store which is right down the street by my house before the huge storm and cold front comes through this evening. At least with the store being so close to home I can make a quick run to the bathroom if need be but that as well was wishful thinking because the ole Hell-In-A-Jug continued the remainder of the afternoon to do absolutely nothing. Zip. Zilch. It was also a fast run through the store because when the nightmare poison lingers in my body it makes me sick, nauseated and BEYOND MOODY! WATCH OUT! Hahahaha!
I didn't need to say anything to my friend because they have taken a few glasses for the team on a few occasions. Once we got home we rolled up our sleeves and brought back out the cleaning supplies. By 6pm we finished up the rest of the house which included two bedrooms, the upstairs hallway, upstairs bedroom and second bathroom. 
Let's just say too much of a good thing is too much of a good thing and if my back could just separate and walk away this evening it would had done so because I was on fire with pain! I see my Neurosurgeon in a few days and know I am in for a good scolding. I won't deny being a bad patient but gees cut a gal some slack after years of going through nothing but pure hell. Amen! Once we finished up cleaning I figured it was a good time to take a shower and clean up while my friend cooked his dinner and finished the laundry. I got the PacMan World game on Wii as one of my birthday gifts so while I gave my body a much needed break and read the paper my friend got his Wii game-face on and enjoyed the remainder of the evening.
Nothing quite like starting the first week turning 40 with a jug of ocean tasting saltwater!
Cleaning is a million times easier when you have help and it wasn't so scary like it used to be before I had my friend to assist. The Drano also went down a bit faster but not without a few times gagging and then getting things hung up. Sadly that sensation lasted for four hours and this treatment just didn't work, DANG IT! Typically a normal person would be in the bathroom within the first hour and making over 30 trips by now but not my UFO paralyzed intestines. Oh no! that would be too easy because instead by the time it was 11pm I only made two bathroom trips. I also didn't get any further relief the remainder of the evening so looks like another Hell-In-A-Jug treatment is in my very near future.
After a long drive back home at 2am from a very HAUNTED B&B we were both BEAT! When we walked in the door we were greeted by a very happy fur gang! Littleblue dedicated as she is was waiting for Mommy to come home and sleeping on the same spot she usually does before we go to sleep. Same with Oreo on his couchbed.
This is the last birthday celebration day and my friend decided we need to see if Lady Luck is on our side. What did we plan on doing for this evenings activity? CASINO! WHOAHOA! We were both feeling a bit more rested from yesterdays mansion trip so why not take a short drive back to Indiana and hit Indiana Live casino and horse track? DEAL! We would had taken my friends new car, the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze however since it is deer season I don't feel the need to gamble with driving in a small vehicle and dodging at the same time wildlife on the open road. Looks like the Hummer is finally getting some use and not having to sit in the garage for another weekend.
TALKING ABOUT LIVING LIFE ON THE EDGE THIS WEEKEND!
So it was a great evening at the casino and we even brought back some spending money. I didn't hit anything on the open road and the hour drive back just seemed to fly by with great conversation and plenty of laughter. Once we got home it was midnight. We got my couchbed together for a well needed night of rest and my friend slept on the haunted recliner-so he says it is haunted, heeheeheehee! I decided to get the video out from the mansion or should I say the hour video before we darted the heck out of there! HAHAHAHA! Once we put the video in it was only a matter of time before explanations started to surface on video with the eerie feelings I had in the mansion as well the suite. On more than a few occasions you can actually see dark shadow images walk in front of the camera lens. You can also hear unexplained footsteps followed by dark shadows standing in front of and behind my friend. YIKES! It was quite fascinating and just to make sure we both weren't just seeing things we re-winded the tape more than a few times to freeze the frame then replay only to see the same shadows over and over again. Some of them were not that tall then a few seemed to be almost the same height as an adult. If we didn't believe our gut then we surely do believe it now. 
At 2:30pm we headed down the road. I called my parents to see if they could come over later in the evening to let the dogs outside and make sure the animal gang had plenty of food and water. My friend Kevin was nice enough to call around ten minutes after being on the road to let us know about a wreck that had two interstates shut down so NOT a good way to start a trip so lucky I was able to take a different way around the backed up traffic to Indiana. We thought everything was going fine and we were making good timing until of course we hit highway construction and a traffic mess for honestly no good reason. Why in the world when they are only working on one section of the road must they shut down one lane when there clearly isn't any work being done? GEES! Call it, "my pet peeve" and quite annoying. Since we took my Hummer it was tempting to just make my own lane but since I am now in my 40's I vow to be a bit softer now and not panic or be bitter. Road bitter included! Hahahaha!
We arrived at the mansion around 5:30pm. My back was locked up and my intestines were angry from a 1.5 hour trip that turned into a 3 hour drive from you know where. It was already a testing time for my new birthday resolutions but the old me would had turned around on the expressway already and headed home but the new me said, "NOWAY! If I have to crawl to the mansion I am going!" So after taking around ten minutes to peel my back off the car seat we headed up to the mansion front entrance. It was HUGE! Once you walked inside it felt as if you stepped back into the late 1800's. It was decorated with old antique furniture, restored doors, woodwork, windows and photos of the Schneck family who built the mansion over one hundred and thirty seven years ago. 
Talking about a bit EERIE!
Once we got back to the suite we quickly placed our belongings down and headed out to do some sight seeing and visit the other rooms in the mansion. Another group of people were also doing the same thing as they told us about the old underground tunnels in the basement. We had a story of our own about the attic known as the "Widow's Window." There wasn't anything more bone chilling though than the basement tunnels. Not only did four of us go down there around midnight but one of us had a camera which caught images of orbs then two distinct faces of a little boy and girl smiling with laughter. I don't get too spooked very often but looking at the very clear images surely we weren't alone in the basement. In one section of a tunnel was a box of very old report cards dated back to 1920 along with a very old vase and a few toy balls. I gently kicked one ball into a corner of another tunnel only to come back and find it right back in the same place before kicking it. This wasn't the only proof of spirits playing with us because another person took a small red ball and was followed by orbs on a camera taken five seconds within each frame showing someone or something following him with the ball as if to say, "Let's play!" The upstairs area in the attic which was next to our suite was where the owners wife back in the day would look outside the small circular windows to see if she could see the smoke stakes from her husbands steamboat coming down the river. The presence of someone was very apparent as well footsteps that could not be explained that continued later in the evening in our suite. I was doing good until I got an overwhelming feeling once everyone said goodnight and headed back into their rooms. I didn't want to say anything to anyone but I did tell my friend it felt as if someone or a few others were in the room with us. It felt like a presence of children.
We didn't laugh on the way out nor as I took my time packing things up but I couldn't help but chuckle because there was enough friendly spirit things going on that freaked my friend OUT! It wasn't a bad feeling but fun and playful. I assume it was the same children as the faces we seen in the basement and who knows? They might had followed us up the steps back into the suite since this was after all their parents bedroom. What I do know is we were all not alone in actually witnessing the supernatural and being blessed by feeling the energy of spirits. Those who have passed on but still want to be remembered and never forgotten. I was always a believer but there were many tonight who weren't but are now convinced.
I got a fairly decent night of rest. I now have a daily routine down with my Zofran. Usually it makes me a bit tired but after taking it so often its starting to lose the side affect along with zapping most of the nausea. Last thing I need is to become immune to the only medication I can take so sadly I have to cut back a bit starting tomorrow and maybe just bring more Peppermint drops with me in my purse when I go out anywhere. My family is getting together at a local fondue restaurant this evening which happens to be one of my favorites so sorry Mr. GP if you don't settle down then I guess you are coming along for the birthday festivities. 
This morning at 10:30am my friend said he woke up to the sound of the doorbell and what appeared to be a forest in a huge vase, heeheehee! No silly, instead it was a beautiful arrangement of flowers sent to me for my birthday then thirty minutes later another knock at the door brought a dozen of gourmet cookies-more like 'NONO' cookies but a few bites here and there won't hurt but this time I do need to be careful. Family and friends still try their hardest to remember what I can or can't have but its hard for them seeing most people can eat without ending up in the local ER but with this gal I have to really be careful. With all the nausea and vomiting I don't need any reminders since I now get them on a daily basis. I also got many nice cards and lots of birthday greetings sent via text, email and voice mail messages through out the day.
By 4:30pm me and my friend headed out to meet up with family. So I had to bring Mr. GP but no worries seeing no matter what each day brings you still have to get out there and live life. I refuse to waste more precious time that I already lost over the past eight years so if I want to do something or go somewhere I am going! Crawl there? OK. Wheelchair? Sure. Cane it all the way? Why not because I won't stop living and life doesn't stop evolving.
Thank you to family, friends and loved ones for all your thoughtful gifts, cards and messages. You truly made my day a memorable one! Thank YOU from the bottom of my heart XOXOXOXOX... 