Cold season

I am really grateful that Dave got a cold, and that he shared it with me, so that I could get over it before chemo resumes next Friday.

I had to call in sick one day at work, which SUCKS because I need all of my hours to get paid for being off for chemo, and there's a new policy in place regarding people donating hours at work.

I can't be assured anymore that I will GET the hours I need when I use up all that I have.

But oh well.  I had no choice.

If I had not stayed home to get well, I could have gotten a sinus infection, or just gotten sicker, and that may have delayed the start of chemo.

The last thing I want is to have to extend chemo out at the end again.  THAT sucked.  Big time.

Feeling better now, though, and enjoying a nice weekend at home.

We got all of our errands done Friday night before the weather got nasty, and have been able to stay in and take it easy all weekend.

We got a little bit of snow yesterday. Much less than the weather forecasting frenzy had predicted.  It was really windy, though, and just not a nice day.  I am glad we just stayed in.

Then, last night, it got down into the teens outside, and today is sunny but frigid.

Our back yard cat, Callie, is doing okay, though.  I wish someone would step up and adopt her, poor thing.

She's doing SO much better since we got her to the vet, though.  Her injury on her tail is completely cleared up, and her coat is thickening up, she's gaining weight, and is a lot more likely to come out and sit in the open to groom.

Oh, I didn't tell you about Callie?

She is a pretty calico who came into our yard, some how, some way, and took up residence under our shed.

Someone had to tell her to come to us, I think.

When she first appeared, she was emaciated and weak.  Clearly not a cat who was suited to life on the street.

We started feeding her, and gradually building her trust.  She let me pet her, and then Dave, and soon, she was coming out from under the shed just to be with us.

She had a wound on her tail, and was dirty, and sickly, but as we fed her, she grew stronger and visibly happier.

The Saturday after New Year's Day, we took her to our vet to see if she had a microchip, and to have them look at her tail.

She was COMPLETELY docile about being picked up and put into our carrier, and she was such a good girl at the vet.

She did have a chip, but it was not registered, and we have been unable to find her people.  The city pound were the ones who chipped her, and they have no records either.

The vet gave her a flea treatment, and an antibiotic injection, and they cleaned up her wound.

Within a week, the wound was healed, her white fur was white again, and she has become SO much more social.

We have posted her picture, asked for help from animal rescue experts, and spread the word, but no one seems to want her.

We can't afford to get her fully vetted, with my chemo coming up, and we can't take the chance of bringing another adult female cat into the house if she comes out "clean" (free of communicable street cat type diseases).  It would probably be utter mayhem between her and Annabel.

In other news, I set up a fund raiser for myself, since no one took the initiative this year, as our part of my treatments will potentially be much bigger this year as we pay out my deductible and out of pocket.

Plus, instead of having to go every three weeks, I have to go every week.  That means that the bills will hit a lot harder and sooner than last year.

It was awkward to ask, but I am feeling more comfortable with it now.

Still waiting for the financial person at the cancer center to CALL and tell us what to expect.  When I last spoke to someone over there, I was assured that the call would come soon, but, here we are....tomorrow is Monday, treatment is Friday, and we still don't know how much we will have to pay for me to walk in the door.

Be that as it may, though, we won't have to worry about it wiping out the bank account right up front.  Thanks to the generous help of friends, we will be able to keep up with the weekly charges for a little while, at least.

By the time the fund raiser runs out, we might have our tax refund like last year, and if we don't, they'll probably let me carry a balance and make installments.

Also, the dance studio is holding a dance party with a $5 cover charge to help me out, too.  I think that's pretty wonderful.

Can't wait til I can go back to class, but have decided to put it off until after chemo is over for good.  HOPING that day comes in March.

Have a lovely Sunday!