Moving along....

 Met the interim oncologist last Tuesday.  

He seems nice. He said that my records didn't come across well, though. Some kind of incompatibility between software programs.

Great.

I don't like the impersonal nature of the new clinic, or the doc's nurse.  

They made my appointment for treatment without consulting me about the day or time, and they made appointments for a full day of tests for tomorrow, again, without asking.

So, I had to take all of Wednesday afternoon off to go to treatment.  I am glad there was no long delay between my last treatment and this one, but I really am supposed to give my employer at least some notice when I need to take off work.

Oh well.   I didn't encounter any push back from my boss.

The treatment went fine, and the nurse that I had was able to access my port on the first try.

The "infusion center" is huge, with a rotating staff of nurses.  You get someone different every time, most likely. Not my favorite, given the weirdness of my port.

The only issue was that the bone medication was not given to me because my dentist has to sign off on it.  No one has ever asked my dentist to do that before, so, of course, that was not on file.  

They wanted me to come back for a THIRD TIME last week to get that i.v., after getting the dental release, and I said no.  

I had to skip that treatment a couple of times this past year, due to supply chain issues, and my doctor wasn't concerned, so that's what I told them.  I also said I had already spent two full afternoons at their clinic this week, and I have a job!  

The nurse I had seemed a bit miffed, but that's just too bad.  I was miffed, too, because we had sat there, waiting, for 2 hours wondering what was going on.

Anyway, I sure hope they got my chemo dosage correct.  (The doc asked ME if I knew what my chemo dose was when I was in his office!!)

When I left treatment, they had set up my next appointment-- again, without asking me about the day or time....but I was able to change the time to something more like what I am used to, so that was good.  Less time off work!  I only get so many paid hours off!

We have this coming week off for staycation, so I didn't have to take ALL DAY OFF tomorrow to go for one scan after another.  It kind of ruins our vacation Monday, but it's no big deal.

I just hope our insurance covers everything they're going to do, since I wasn't due for the CT until December.  I'm also having a bone scan, and my 3 month heart echo.

I will be there from 9 am to 4 pm...UGH!!  I am going to get up at 5 and eat something, because I need to be fasting for 4 hours when I arrive. Yuck.

At least that's what I assume....All the nurse said was "This is NPO for 4 hours."  Assuming that I know what NPO means.  She's very abrupt, and doesn't smile, and didn't really explain anything.  

Yuck.

I am glad I won't have to deal with her for very long.

This weekend has been very wet and chilly.  I haven't gotten all of my Halloween decorations up, and it looks like I am not even going to bother.

We are due for a freeze tonight, and the next two nights, and the weather on Halloween is supposed to be awful.... high of 45 and rainy.  

So sad! 

The weather today is freaking me out a little.  It's reminding me of the ice storm of 2020 very vividly..... the leaves are still all on the trees, and it's raining steadily, and only 2 degrees above freezing at the moment.  

Today is the anniversary of the car wreck we were in during the first few days after the power went out that year.... because we had gone somewhere that had power, in an effort to get warm.  Yeah, PTSD is real.

Other than my day long testing tomorrow, we are going to try to get the kittens and mamma fixed this coming week.  The kittens are old enough now to qualify for the free city program and they're tame enough now that Dave is pretty sure he will just be able to scoop them up and put them in carriers.

That's the plan, at least for now.

Then, on Friday, we are going to a concert.  

Hopefully, after tomorrow, the rest of the week will be somewhat fun and relaxing.

Spinning

 It's been a while since I've had a major flare up of vertigo.

For some reason ( I never really know why it happens, most of the time), it chose this weekend to show up.

I was fine yesterday morning.  Got all of my chores done, then lay down to take a nap.  The fatigue from the Covid shots we got on Friday hit us both pretty hard. 

When I got up from my nap, there it was. Full on vertigo.

UGH.

I pulled up some videos on how to clear it with lymphatic drainage massage, and techniques that I recall from my chiropractor back home, but needed a refresher on.

Did all of that, then lay down for a while on my side to let the bad ear "drain."  That did the trick, but then, this morning, it was back, and I have done all of the things, except lie down, and still have it.

Now that breakfast has been eaten, I will go back to bed, and hope that lying down will help.

We were supposed to go to the house of a friend of a friend yesterday.  We've agreed to pet sit for them while they are away next weekend.  My friend usually does it, but she's not available, so she asked us.

I'd like to see our network of local, pagan-friendly pet-friends expand a little, and this is a perfect opportunity.  
This friend of a friend used to be in the dance troupe I joined when I first came to Oklahoma, so I know her, but we aren't in touch or anything .

Maybe I'll make a new friend in this process, since we're already acquainted.

Anyway, my vertigo was so intense yesterday that we had to reschedule the "meet the pets" session to today.... so hopefully, I will be well enough to follow through on that by this afternoon!

In other news, my first appointment at the new oncology clinic is Tuesday afternoon.  I won't get a treatment, but will just be entered into the system, and hopefully find out when my next treatment will be.

I will be seeing a different doctor, since my doctor isn't credentialed yet.

We also found out also that my nurse of 9 years will NOT be part of my care team anymore.  I am sure that Doc is just as upset about this as I am. 

She IS going to work for the same clinic, but they could not fit her in as Doc's nurse.  Apparently, they don't do that there... they have a team of nurses, and a nurse manager, and a nurse educator.

My former nurse has taken the position of the nurse educator.  SO...she will be there, but she won't have access to Doc's patients' charts, or be directly involved in our care anymore.

This is a great move for her career, but it is a sad thing for everyone she has worked with for all these years.

Anyway, today, Dave is going to mow the back yard at long last, and I am going to do a little laundry, and maybe take a look at some embroidery videos.  I will mostly be taking it easy, and drinking lots of water, in hopes that I can go to the office tomorrow.

After all, I can't drive if I have vertigo!

In the news for Kittenea Kittens, I was able to get two of them to play with me, using an interactive toy, yesterday!  

Mama played, too.

Jojo, the most tame of the kittens, was all about it.... no hesitation at all.

Scamper has been very shy, and has not come around the big humans much at all....but I got her to come close, and to play, and even to roll around at my feet (which is how I know she is a girl).  

It was WONDERFUL... but it was also REALLY DIFFICULT to remain almost totally still, and not giggle or express my joy vocally!  Any noise or movement of my feet, etc, caused her to shy away....so I had to be very still for her to feel safe. 

Stripe, also pretty tame, seemed afraid, and did not join in.

I will try again today!!

Have a great week!

Pressure cookin'

 There were some high winds this past week, and the cool of autumn finally arrived!  Looking ahead in the extended forecast, there are no more 90s, and no more 80s!!

This makes me very happy.

We still have a lot of mowing, and yard work, that will need to be done for a few more weeks.  Things don't start to turn color and die off here until November, usually.

The extended summer heat may have an impact on that this year.  We shall see.

Dave is making great progress with taming the surviving kittenea kittens!  He's actually able to pet two of them, and can pick up and cuddle one of them!

We've determined that two of them are girls, but aren't sure about the third one.  That one is still skittish...I call it Scamper, because it always scampers away.

In fact, Scamper is the one I wish we could keep.... grey tabby and white tuxedo, and ADORA BLE!

Hopefully, soon, Dave will be able to handle them all (including Mamma, who is very friendly, and loves to be petted), which will make getting them to the spay/neuter center something we can FINALLY do. 

They are thee months old now, and getting so big!

We have found NO help what so ever from rescue groups or shelters, so it's on us to pay for their surgery...we ABSOLUTELY have to get it done.

They have been living in our yard now for 6 weeks or so, and this bodes well for us being able to capture them and get that done, hopefully soon.

I was supposed to have a "stock making date" with my friend today, but she came up with COVID, so I am making my chicken stock at home, and will be able to get other things accomplished today too.

The pressure cooker is loaded up and going strong!

One thing I'd really like to do today is to start putting up Halloween decorations, and it's also time to drain, clean, and re-fill the hot tub.

Dave is going to mow (theoretically), and do some edging this afternoon. 

The back yard is REALLY tall....he hasn't touched it for weeks, and the last time any of it was mowed, I had given up hope of him doing it, and tried to do it myself. 

Unfortunately, the mower kept choking because the grass was too tall and wet, and then the battery died, and could not be re charged.

We now have a new battery, but the grass is even worse, so we will see if he even tries. 

We got our flu shots on Friday, with no ill effects other than a slightly sore spot where the injections went in, and that, only for a few hours on Friday night.  

We will probably schedule our Covid shots for this coming Friday.

My "intake appointment" with the new oncology center isn't until the 24th.  No idea when they will continue my treatments. Hey, it's only cancer. 

Just have to wait and see.

In other news, the house next door, that seemed to be abandoned, has been being renovated by the same family members who have lived there in the past.  

They've been cooking food outside since this morning, and have a sign in front of the house that says FOOD SALE in Spanish.  It smells SO GOOD!!

I am thinking it's probably illegal, but I'd go get a plate if I had some cash!  They have a cooler on the back patio, and two grills going.  

My guess is that they are about to have someone move in...probably more family members.

That's about it for today... have a good week! 

Stepping back in time

 Yesterday, we went up to the northern part of the state to a place called Wooloroc Ranch and Wildlife Preserve.

They were hosting an annual event that was a "trappers and traders encampment."  I have wanted to go to this for several years, and finally managed to do it!

I had assumed this was to be a living history event, representing the annual Rendezvous that early French settlers on the frontier held to trade furs and goods, and to find wives and husbands, etc.  Native American peoples participated in these peaceful rendezvous as well, for trade, mostly.

I used to coordinate an event like this for my living history group, back in the day, and had wanted to go check this one out, because it looked to be on a much larger scale.

The camp was really big, with canvas tents, cook fires, and things set out to represent living history, but... the disappointing part for me was that NO ONE was actually doing any living history demonstrations.

No leather workers, no flint knappers, no black smiths, no weavers, no cooks.... There were set ups for all of these things in the camps, but NO ONE was doing any of the things.  It was really weird. 

I don't know where all of these people were, because the vast majority of the camps were empty, and the ones where there were people, the people were costumed well, but just sitting there.

We spent a couple of hours wandering, and no one ever did anything, OTHER than one woman with a spinning wheel who was using her wheel to twine yarn.

There was also a small cluster of campers off to one side shooting off period guns.... but that was all.

Be that as it may, it was lovely to wander from camp to camp, and to see how everyone had set things up to be as historically accurate as possible.  Mostly.  

There's one picture of the event on Facebook that shows a really cool camp, but in the camp cooking area, there are plastic wrapped paper napkins, some other brightly colored plastic packaging, a roll of paper towels, and a canister of Quaker Oats, right next to a jar that could have been used to "disguise" the modern, recognizable oat canister that obviously came from a modern grocery store... Sigh....

The merchant/traders tents were fun to go through, and I was able to find things to purchase that I was looking for.  

I needed a leather needle, some sinew, and a shovel for my fire pit.  Also sort of wanted to look for deer skin, and beeswax candles.  I found everything, except the one piece of deer skin that was to my specifications had a big hole in the middle, so I did not buy it.

Now, maybe I will finish the leather pouch project I started two years ago, HAHA!

The other issues we had yesterday had to do with the app on my phone that is for navigating.  It's called WAZE, and we had not changed the settings since we were driving around in New Mexico.

Oops.

SO, that meant that it took us on a VERY circuitous, but scenic, route.  It was a beautiful drive, but it took us FOUR HOURS to get to our destination.

By the time we were about to arrive, we were really hungry, and Dave was irritable, so we decided to go to the cafe at the museum first.

When we got there, however, we found a line of cars and trucks going down the highway outside of the gate.  

Apparently, there was ALSO a HUGE antique car show at the same place!  I had seen NOTHING about the car show on the website or face book page of the venue. 

Yet, thousands of people were going to the car show.  

We finally got in, then had to park about a half mile away from the cafe.  

Then, we had to stand in line for about 45 minutes to order lunch.  We decided on hot dogs, because we figured that was the easiest and fastest thing for them to prepare, but we still had to wait an hour... 

There was no where to sit, until a friendly older (than us) couple invited us to share their table.

This whole process was extremely irritating for Dave, and he had a minor anxiety attack in the crowded cafe.

By the time we finished eating, it was 2:00, and we had left the house at 8:30.

He started to feel better after we ate, and were walking back to the car, past parts of the antique car show, which was REALLY cool.  

I had wished that we could clone ourselves to enjoy both events.....but since it was already so late, and I had wanted to go to the living history event (and not the car show that we didn't even know about), we headed down to the encampment, which was a couple of miles back toward the entrance of the venue.

Where, as you know, we discovered that there WAS NO actual living history taking place, but it was still nice.

The quiet of the camp helped Dave to relax, with the occasional sound of someone playing a Native American flute, and it was a gorgeous day, after a cold front came through and dropped temperatures on Friday.  

We saw a herd of bison, and a couple of water buffalo, and some female elk, along the way, through the wildlife part of the ranch.

The drive home did Dave in, though.... it has been a MUCH longer day than anticipated, with unexpected crowds (Dave suffers from agoraphobia), and we were both exhausted when we got home.

I had a frozen pizza on hand, which was baked post haste, and we ate in front of the TV, watching a really bad B movie from the 1980s.

In other news, my final treatment at Genesis Care went just fine, and I got to say goodbye to almost everyone who is going to work elsewhere.

I have my "new patient" appointment for the new place set up, but was told that my next TREATMENT may be weeks away. 

It's only cancer, right?  Whatever. 

Today, it's another gorgeous day.  Dave is going to Costco, and I will finish my usual weekend chores. 

Hoping that some yard work will get done, too, as it's been weeks now since any mowing was done.

Have a good week!

Slower news week

 No burning houses, no craziness or upheaval, this past week.

My family members, who have been in Ireland for the past two weeks, are home safely.

Their trip was marred by illness, unfortunately.  My brother in law's brother got some kind of horrible upper respiratory bug, and had to miss three full days of their last week in Galway.  

Everyone else got it, then, to varying degrees.  Yuck!  How awful -- to plan something for a year, to spend THOUSANDS of dollars to make it happen, and then to get sick while overseas.

Everyone is well now, of course, that the trip is over.

Today is the last day of the Cubs baseball season.  They were effectively eliminated from the playoffs last night, so there will be no post season excitement. 

I am always sad to see their season end, as they are the only sports team I follow.  I do pay attention when the Blackhawks, or the Bears, or the Bulls, are doing well, but I don't understand their sports the way I understand baseball.

In other news, my final treatment at the current clinic is tomorrow.  I still know nothing about where I need to go, or WHEN, to continue treatment.

Hopefully, I will get some kind of information tomorrow.

I chatted with my nurse a bit this past week, trying to see if she is going to be at the new place, and she didn't even know that yet.  It's got to be SO stressful for all of them.

The kittenea kittens continue to just grow up in our back yard. 

No help has been found yet, and, in fact, one organization was SO cruel to me (on Facebook, the only social media platform that I am using to try to get help) about my inquiries that I fear there will BE no help.

The organizer of that group was the friend of a friend, and she literally attacked me on line for asking questions, and seeking help.  

She commented on every post I put up, and "followed me around," so to speak, BOTH as herself, and as her organization, so that it looked like there were two "entities" who knew me to be a terrible person.    

I firmly believe that she was having some kind of a mental break down, and that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  

She used to come to my dance events with my friend, and used to be ... "normal."  We'd see her at gatherings held by our friends, and at public events, and she was always very friendly.

Fortunately, another rescue organizer saw the whole thing for what it was, but I am afraid that the damage was done. 

I took down ALL of my posts in all of the rescue groups, and left all of the groups, unfriended and blocked the attacker, AND blocked her group.  She can't tag me in anything, if she even continued to post widely, like she was doing.

This happened about ten days ago, and I chose not to blog about it last week, but now, I am still feeling angry about it, as it was COMPLETELY unjustified.

The ONE THING I was guilty of was saying in a post that her group had told us that we would have to foster the kittens ourselves, and that we could not do that.  

That our not being able to do that was the reason we are seeking help.  

I also mentioned the restrictions of the other groups we had heard back from, by name, and said what their restrictions were.

It was the truth. 

I posted the truth, in hopes that someone in one of the groups would have alternate suggestions to everything we have already tried.

I am SURE that my friend has heard all about it, and now I am thinking that she will believe the crazy woman instead of me.  

We shall see if she ever mentions it.  We usually see her and her husband a few times a year, and around the holidays.

Anyway, HAPPY OCTOBER, gentle readers.  The weather here has NOT cooled off, unless you consider that 98 is cooler than over 100...but today, in theory, it is only supposed to reach the low 90s.

I am SO TIRED of the incessant heat! We tried to go to Pagan Pride Day yesterday, but I had to leave after about 30 minutes, because I got a head headache.

We are going to run an errand or two today, but otherwise, will be here doing stuff around the house.

I'd like to go through clothing and get a donation bag ready to go out.  We shall see.

Have a good week!