Birthday Getaway

We went away for the weekend for my birthday.

Last year's 55th birthday celebration was so ... messed up ( Dave had just been in the hospital for severe anxiety, going to the cabin in the OK woods anyway, having a rough time there, then, coming home to the devastation of that storm that tore down over a dozen trees, and ripped the power service off of the back of the house, and the weeks of hard work we had to do to clean up and repair from that).... we decided to try again.

(credit cards are both a blessing, AND a curse!!)

Upon the recommendation of a couple of friends, we went to Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  It's just 4 hours away, but it's a different world.

We got a suite in an Ozark mountain inn.  It was a beautiful room, with a gorgeous view.  Full kitchen, so we stopped for groceries, and a big jacuzzi tub overlooking the deck and the lake.

We even got in-room massages!

The peace and quiet we had longed for was not to be, though.  

There was a new inn being built LITERALLY right next door, and they worked on it all day on my birthday.  

There were other couples in the inn, as well, who were disrespectful and noisy.  The man in the suite above us also had a VERY heavy step...stomp stomp stomp... ugh.

So that part of it sucked pretty hard.  We spent a lot of month on that suite, and had expected bliss!

The view was lovely, though, and the weather was perfect.  We went into town for a delicious dinner on my birthday, and then, on the way out of town, we spent some time in town on Sunday morning.

On the way back, we took a detour to visit a Frank Lloyd Wright house that was moved to Bentonville, AR from New Jersey and restored.

Got home around 8:30 last night, and had to unpack, do laundry, and go to bed.  I will have a few pictures to post eventually.

Now, it's time to get ready for work.  Have a good week!

OH dear, it's Sunday, and I forgot to blog!

This past week has been great.

We got so much done around the house, and did many of the things we had hoped to do during the time off from work.

We did not get our guitars out, we did not have spiritual/meditation time, we did not get to ride our bikes (40 mph winds can fucking BITE ME.  The horrible wind is one of the things I hate most about Oklahoma), and we did not get to the art museum.

I really loved just being able to live my life for a week, and wish that tomorrow wasn't Monday.

Having to work 8-5 every day sucks the life out of... life!

Today, we met up with our friends who went to Japan recently, and then Eric came over to tell us about his Germany trip.

The issue of Christmas Eve has never been resolved.

It will need to be resolved if he is ever to join us again on that sacred night.

Anyway, we received some cool souvenirs, and I guess we can live life vicariously through others who get to travel.

The medical bills have still not been resolved (the assistance program card keeps getting declined, even though the assistance program assures us that the funds are there), and now a NEW bill came on Friday for over $700 for my scans.

I am, needless to say, freaking out about all of this.

Dave is going to check the insurance company's Explanation of Benefits regarding the scans.  We were SURE that my out of pocket had been met before that date of service on March 30th, between the $11K injections in Jan. , Feb. and Mar., and the chemo pill (for which I am also in an assistance program, so that I never see a bill for it) for Jan., Feb., and Mar., which also runs over $11K per month.

The new scan bill is coming from the clinic, not from the new overlords, which is also confusing. How can they bill me as two separate entities??

However, the clinic HAS billed me by mistake on more than one occasion, so we are hoping that it the case yet again.  Once Dave looks at the EOB, and maybe calls the insurance, I can call the clinic and ask WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK???

That bill arriving on Friday completely wiped out ALL of the relaxation I had achieved over the week off.

It more than sucked.

And now, here we are, at the end of our staycation, and tomorrow at 5:45am will come FAR too soon.

Okay, there's my blog post for the week. Have a good one!!

Three years

Three years ago today, I was in the hospital having a double mastectomy.

According to statistics, I should have died a year and a half or so after that, but I didn't.

In fact, thanks to my recent good news, I am pretty much a walking, talking miracle, in terms of the usual prognosis that goes with a stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis.

I'll accept that!

This was the first weekend of our "staycation," and we celebrated by, ironically, going out of town. HA!

About 3 hours from here is the town of Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

In Bartlesville, there is a "skyscraper" designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright.  I come from a family of FLW fans, and have wanted to see this building for a long time.

I've been on the Oak Park walking tour a couple of times, and have visited Taliesen in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

Not only did we get to see The Price Tower, but we got to stay over night, and also take a guided tour.

It was SO COOL!!

Mr. Wright said that, for a building to qualify as a sky scraper, it had to be over 12 stories (I think), and it had to be multi-purpose.

The Price Tower was originally retail space, doctor and dentist offices, corporate offices, and apartments.

It's very small, and the rooms are rather tight, but it's utterly fascinating, in true Wright style.  One of the features that I adore is the glass corners, only possible with the cantilevering style of construction favored by Wright, allowing exterior wall corners to be non-weight-bearing

I will attach some pictures below for your viewing pleasure.  Remember, click on any image to see a larger view of it.

Released from CHEMO!

Having to wait a week for scan results SUCKED.

I was a nervous wreck by the time appointment time came at 3 on Thursday afternoon.

My blood pressure was up, and I was feeling sick and running a low fever.  I'd been unable to sleep most of the week, and was basically unable to focus.

BUT...the news was good!  Everything was STABLE.

That means what happened during the first 6 months of taking the Ibrance chemo pill did the trick, but I took the chemo for another year after that.

Dave jumped in before I could, and asked if we could stop treatment.

The doc said he could go either way.  He detailed his reasons, and then made a decision.

He said that we should continue with the Xgeva injections (that's the once a month shot that went from $3K to $11K, mentioned previously with great aggravation), and STOP THE IBRANCE!

No.
More.
Chemo.

No more chemo mouth.  No more digestive issues.  No more compromised immune system.  No more thinning hair.  Maybe my eyebrows will finally come back!  Maybe my finger nails will lose that funny look they have, and be normal again.  Maybe the dark hollows around my eyes will diminish.

I am MOST excited about the mouth issues being gone for good.

I have basically had ongoing mouth sores for the whole time (at times, they were constant, even during my week off of the drug every month), as well as that icky sort of "burned tongue" feeling that has an effect on how things taste, and causes general soreness.

The mouth issues have been the most impactful, for sure.

The bills still aren't sorted out (January's is now past due, and we just received February's), but Dave has been working on it.  The program requires detailed EOBs from the insurance.  The ones we typically have access to do not show the codes being processed.

He will get on the phone with the insurance company tomorrow to see about getting those EOBs.  Then, we can fax those to the assistance program, and they will "load" that credit card I told you about.

THEN, we can call SSM (I refer to it as Satan's Sack of Money) Health, the new overlords, and pay the fucking bills.

I explained to my doctor and his nurse what SSM is doing, and how they are getting away with billing so much more for the same treatments.   Doc realized that the modifications that they made to the office ventilation system last year was the prequel to SSM changing the office to a "facility."

In other news, we have been helping take care of our friends' pets while they've been in Japan this past week.

They have a live-in house sitter, but one of the kitties had the potential of needing some medication over the course of the week.  We are experienced with that, and the house sitter is not.

Fortunately, we only had to give her medication once.  She's been doing really well.

Today will be our last visit with her, as her mommy and daddy will be home tomorrow from their wonderful adventure.

We will work through this coming week, and then we are taking a week off to have a "staycation."

We will finally get the yard raked up, and I can start my container garden.  I also plan to do some spiritual work around my progress toward being a cancer SURVIVOR instead of a WARRIOR.

THAT right there is pretty exciting.

Oh, and this coming Tuesday, our new doors and the concrete work are happening!

April is here!

When I tried to pay my bill on Friday with the assistance card, it was declined by SSM Health.

The customer service rep said that I must need to activate the card or something.

No, there is no activation.

I tried to call the place I got the card from, and they were apparently closed for Good Friday, just like my office was.

Thus, the bill is still not paid, and I still don't know if the new overlords will take the assistance money or not.

Why the fuck would they NOT?  Money is money.

However, my nurse (when I got my labs drawn before my scans) said on Friday that lots of patients are complaining about assistance programs not being accepted.

I was so aggravated on Friday that I was just going to call back and pay with a different card, but Dave would not let me.  He's determined that we can make them accept the assistance money.

Anyway, I don't know when my scan results will come.

If no one calls me tomorrow, I will guess that the news was good, and I will get the results when I go for my monthly shot and doc visit on Thursday (when the news has been bad in the past, they have called and had me come in immediately, so I am dreading that possibility).

HOWEVER, given the new overlords, I can't even confidently guess at anything anymore.

Be that as it may, I am hoping that the waking dream I had this morning, in which a "Fairy God Mother" type of thing was happening, comes a little bit true!!  One of my wishes was for NO MORE CANCER CELLS, EVER, and she said "DONE!"

Our new fridge came yesterday, and I am in love.  As much as I hated spending that much of the tax refund, I am going to be very happy with the new appliance.

The front screen door has been ordered (the back storm door is always kept in stock), and the door installations, and little bit of concrete work, have been scheduled for a week from tomorrow.

Dave is finally going to see Eric today for the first time since the Great Christmas Vomit Fest. Interesting that it also just happens to be Easter.

Then, Dave is taking his car to a family friend to get it worked on.  I will be home, cooking several different things and relaxing.

Happy April, and happy Easter to any out there who celebrate it.