The times, they are a changing....

WOW, how quickly things have changed in the past two weeks.

It's no longer a "virus scare," but a harsh reality.  As of yesterday, my home state of Illinois is on "shelter in place" orders.

Oklahoma is catching up with other states very rapidly.  We had 2 confirmed cases only a week ago (they were both up in Tulsa).  Now, statewide, we are up to 53, and businesses are being asked to close.  The mall and movie theater parking lots are empty, many strip mall stores are closed, and restaurants and bars will be closing soon.

We were at my dance show, in enclosed spaces with lots of people, two weeks ago this weekend.  I am thankful that we are still symptom free, and  that I have not heard of any of my dance friends becoming ill.

The dance studio is closed until further notice, but the director has gotten on line classes going, and we will stay afloat if enough of us pay and log in for those.

All events in the area have been, and continue to be, canceled.

Dave has been able to call and speak to his dad.  He's doing fine.   He may call again today.

Dave's set up to work from home is flawless, and he has completed his first full week on the job at the dining room table.

Our water heater is installed and operational, and our new bed is due for delivery on Tuesday.

After a few mandatory meetings, my employer sent us home this past Tuesday with the understanding that we would be off on Wednesday to find a space in our homes to accommodate working from home.  We were told that we would then be called individually to come back to the office to pick up our stuff.

Well, as with everything else changing and changing again, almost on a minute to minute basis, they changed their minds.

I had to get permission to go back and get my personal items from my desk.  Others had to do the same thing.

Then, our IT department took our work stations apart, and prepared to being them to us.

Our house is closest to the office, so I was the first for drop off, but then my equipment didn't work, and it actually took two days to get my connection working.  The computer I had at work was over 7 years old, possibly more like 10 years.  It was a huge, old tower.

It took all three of the IT staff coming to my house at different times, and a totally new machine, to get me set up, plus a 2 member team from H/R bringing furniture, because my desk is too small for everything.

BUT, at least I am up and running now, as of 4:00 Friday, and will be less likely to go stir crazy.

While I may have been first to have my work station delivered,  I was absolute last to get up and running, HAHA!  We clock out at 4:30, so I got to log on, and work, for about 25 minutes on Friday.

I have ordered a folding table, so that I will have room for my keyboard AND my mouse right next to each other as they should be, but this first week, which I start in the morning, will be rough on my body.  We will find another use for the table after this crisis is over, so my employer doesn't need to pay for it.

My bi-weekly lab draw is tomorrow after work, and then my monthly visit to the clinic is Tuesday.

I have only been isolated at home since Wednesday, and I am doing okay so far.

David really had this in his sites....

I was keeping my headspace clear of all of this, because I needed to.  I let him take charge, and I am very grateful that he did just that.  Otherwise, we would be scraping, and freaking out about not being able to get food or TP.

Now that I am established to work at home, and we are well provisioned for a few weeks (with the exception of fresh foods and dairy), I can offer up some of my headspace for this.

We are allowing daily news updates to keep informed, but the rest of the day we have music on, and we find something to entertain us in the evenings.

I will take my walks on break as usual, just in the home neighborhood, instead of mid-town OKC.  I will continue to do yoga and stretching.

We have that backgammon set we got for our canceled Thanksgiving trip, and we have our dominoes....so when we get bored of watching something on TV, we can play a game.

We are going to make an outing today to the garden center at Lowe's before they make them shut their doors.

I want some bags of soil for my flower bed and herb garden, and maybe a plant or two to try again with the herbs that got drowned last year.

Breakfast time, and then we are going to get over there early, while people are still at church, or online church.

Have a good Sunday!

Keep calm and carry on....

So, what to say?

Dave and I are both very vulnerable to COVID-19.  He has high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, and I am a chemo patient on a drug that has potential lung and cardiac impacts, as well as suppressing the immune system. 

My brother is a smoker, pushing 70, and is diabetic, so he is also highly vulnerable.

My sister and brother in law are the healthiest of us, but his company has started laying people off, so their fears are more of financial ruin.

Dave and I have spent a lot of money getting stocked up on frozen and shelf stable food, and have a stash of paper products that we usually keep on hand anyway, since we get them at Costco.

We have gone out to eat for the last time until this is over, and we won't have to go out to the stores for a long time, so we will recoup that money on the back end by not spending much for the foreseeable future.

Dave's dad's memory care center is on lock down.  The only people allowed in or out is the staff, and they are taking precautions.

Dave's company set up a "work from home" experiment last week, and he is all set, so he told his boss that he would just stay put, rather than going back to the office until being told to go home. 

He will start his first full week of working from home tomorrow.

My company had meetings on Friday to brief us on the current status in Oklahoma.  Since I work for the Emergency Medical Services Authority, we are overseen by the office of the medial director, and we are being protected. 

We were told that the work from home protocols are being put into place, and we will be ready when the time comes.

However, I do not see how my job can be transferred to home, and my job is ABSOLUTELY critical to the revenue cycle.   

What I foresee is that everyone else who can be set up to work at home will be out of the office, so I can still go there, and do my job, but still be in a form of isolation.

If the office is sterilized, which our cleaning service can do, after everyone else goes home, and I am part of a skeleton crew in the building, with no one else in my area, it should be okay.

The billing has to go out, and I can't feasibly do the paper billing from home.  It would require too much paper, printing equipment, envelopes, and a postage meter, and Dave is already taking over the dining room table.

SO.. we will see how things unfold.

If I have to, I will just take all of my vacation time, and someone else will have to go to the office to print and process the billing.

In other news, our new water heater is being installed tomorrow, and yesterday, we purchased a mattress and a platform frame with drawers. 

The frame needs to be delivered and built before we can have the mattress delivered, so that's all being scheduled.

Since Dave will be here full time, that shouldn't be a problem.

That trip out to the mattress store was probably our last time going out for a while.

The new dryer is installed, and my new lap top is great, AND, we will still have a little bit of money left to keep in the bank to pay for our Thanksgiving trip.  Yay!

I am off to make breakfast.  It's a rainy day here, and I didn't sleep well last night, so I will be doing some yoga and reading later. 

Make the best of your Sunday!

Spring has sprung

We had another successful dance showcase last night.  My class did very well, from what I could tell.

I don't think I made any mistakes, but there are so many turns in the choreography, and the stage at this venue is carpeted.  I did okay until the last turn, when my feet stuck.  It was a full 360 turn, and fast...and I didn't make it all the way around.... but I don't think anyone knew but me.

It was fun.  Dave came, so I was glad about that, but he needed to leave pretty early, so I missed most of the performances.

He didn't take any pictures, so hopefully, the pro got a good one or two.  Here's our class picture...

Hopefully, there will be a video this time.  There hasn't been for the past several shows.

Our plans to try to save most of our tax money are falling apart.  

The dryer started making a nasty screeching sound, so we ordered a new one.  It will be the counterpart to the washer we had to buy last year.

Our new water heater (and filters for the line leading to it) is ordered, and the handy man has been here to give us a quote for installing that, AND, while he is here, running a water line to the fridge -- so that we will finally have a working ice maker.  We bought the fridge two tax refunds ago.

Once that project is complete, we will have replaced almost all of our major appliances in the past 2 years.  Fridge two years ago (planned and budgeted for), washer and dish washer last year (not planned or budgeted for), now water heater and dryer (one planned, the other not)....Ouch.

We need a new bathroom sink faucet, too.  This one works, but the cheap finish is peeling off, and it looks like crap.  We've wanted to replace it for a while, but I basically just got tired of it looking so crummy, and we determined to just DO IT!  Dave can do that project himself, but we have to go to Lowe's and buy one.  

Other than the planned expense of the water heater project,  we planned for a new lap top for me.  My old one was seriously outdated, and was starting to act up.  It probably would have cost as much to fix it as it would to buy a replacement.

My new one is super nice, and it was quite reasonable.  We got it at Costco.

We have also gone to the expense of getting some supplies laid in, like frozen foods, cat food, and other essentials, just in case we have to do a Corona virus quarantine for a couple of weeks.  This was also unplanned, but the tax money took care of it.

I'm trying not to think about that situation too much, but Dave is being pro-active.

My employer has also started talking about possible quarantines, and has gathered up every employee's emergency contact info, and who our internet servers are at home to investigate possible work from home options.

Dave already has the capability to work from home, and has told his boss that he may have to do it if anything happens, in order to protect me from potential exposure.

We probably won't travel to Chicagoland this year.  With the virus scare, it's probably going to prove to be safer for me to stay put.  We had hoped to go to a Cubs game and the Art Institute.  OH well.

We do have our cabin trip at Thanksgiving to look forward to.  Between now and then, we will probably take a staycation, or maybe go check out a different state park with cabins during a different time of year.  We will take disinfectant wipes with us, of course.

The weather has made a marked change.  The trees are flowering, the daffodils and vinca are blooming, and there hasn't been an overnight drop below freezing for a week.  The next week's forecast is 70s and 50s for highs and lows.

Unfortunately, the wind has been crazy, which I absolutely hate.  I REALLY wanted to get in the hot tub when we got home last night, but it was not going go happen with 40 mph gusts.

Hopefully, we will get to doing some spring garden projects soon.  I want to put more soil in the flower bed and herb garden, and try the herb garden again this year.

Last year, I put in a great herb garden, and then it rained and rained and rained...everything died except the sage, and much of the soil washed away, due to the plot turning out to be in a low spot where the torrential rain pooled.  

I have one of those stackable pots, too, and I want to try that again with different plants in each level.

Today, I really need a day off, so probably the only thing we will do is go look at faucets. If Dave goes to see Pop, I will stay home again.

The time change messes with me, and I had trouble sleeping on top of that, and then there were cat shenanigans in the early hours like usual.  Ugh.

I have had busy weekends for a month solid, and am looking forward to next weekend being easier...unless, of course, our OTHER planned expense of shopping for a new bed happens.

Our mattress is 9 years old (they say you should replace a standard mattress every 7-8 years, and this one is a standard coil mattress), we are wondering if my hip and shoulder pain might be worse because of the bed, and Dave wants to investigate the option of a bed frame with drawers, so we can move the bed linens to those drawers, and out of the drawer in the hall closet. 

Dave wants to go down to Dallas to look at one at Ikea.  That's the closest store to OKC.  

Oklahoma doesn't have any, but Texas has FIVE, two right in the Dallas area. Crazy.

What appeals to us about the Ikea mattress is a great warranty....and it's under $700.  We shopped locally, and the type of mattress we are interested (hybrid) in is over $2K, unless it's on sale.  Holy shit!!

We may shop around here before making the trip to Dallas, and maybe change our ideal mattress type in order to get something more affordable.  We'll see.  

Last, but not least, my treatment plan is going okay.  The hip and shoulder pains come and go, and I learned some cool new self-care techniques with that two weekend workshop I mentioned previously.

The fatigue is manageable, barely.  It would sure help if I could get better sleep.  

I am glad that walking weather is back, so I can get out and exercise and get fresh air.

I am off to the shower, as it is already 9:30, thanks to the stupid time change.  Have a good Sunday, even though there will be one hour less of it... 

March comes IN like an EMU, and goes out like a TAPIR..

..and they don't even know what it means!! 
HAHAHA!  Here's a giggle for you to welcome March...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znFY7PYomEA

I saw my doc on Tuesday.  After I told him about my various side effects, and the leg pains, he elected to NOT give me the belly implant shot!

I WAS SO FREAKING HAPPY!!  I was dreading that nasty injection so much, and was really worried about what new pains would come...would I be able to dance at all?? Or walk??

Here's to the hope that the hormone blocking pill is enough to back up the chemo pill, and I won't have to get the injection ever again.

Started the chemo pill again on Wednesday, at the full dose.  I had nausea the first two days, but am okay now.

I get VERY fatigued, but that's something I have learned how to power through, after years of treatment.

I've managed to stay well through a nasty flu season.  I've heard that this year's flu shot was useless against the strain of flu that is going around. 

People at work are starting to get sick now.  At first, it was the flu outbreak at the dance studio, but everyone at work was still fine. 

Now, not so much.  Two people were out most of last week, and then the girl who sits right next to me was out Thursday and Friday.

I wiped her desk down with disinfecting wipes.... as well as all of the printers, copiers, door knobs.... etc.

I am taking every precaution I know of... Making chicken bone broth, and drinking it every day, taking extra vitamins, getting fresh air exercise whenever I possibly can, washing my hands until they're red and chapped, and I am highly conscious about not touching my face unless I go and wash my hands first.

Sleep is the difficult precaution. 

This kitten has made sleeping through a good long night virtually impossible ever since he was released from the guest room at night.

I mentioned this do Dave when we brought Frankie home in December.... "I'm going to need my sleep, and it's not going to happen with a kitten in the house."  This has turned out to be the case.

The shenanigans usually start around 4 am.  Usually, it's fighting on the bed, or at the foot of the bed, with lots of  growling, hissing, literal screaming (Annabel), and parkouring off of the bed. 

By 4 am, Frank has had enough quiet time, and he's hungry and bored, so he picks fights with the big cats.

The automatic kibble feeders go off at 4:30, so that gets the cats' attention for a while...maybe 15 minutes...but then, it starts up again.

The workday alarm goes off at 6, so I have been missing out on approximately 2 hours of sleep every morning (I have been getting up at 6 on the weekends, too, simply because the cats will NOT let me sleep any later...while Dave snores until 9 or later).

This is obviously compounding the fatigue situation.

Last night, I took an ambien so that I could go to sleep easier, and then, at 4:15 this morning, I moved my pillow and body pillow to the futon in the guest room, and shut the door.

The cats don't usually wake Dave up (which is beyond my comprehension), and I am the one who ends up getting up with them...NOT TODAY. 

I was worried that the cats would scratch at the door and yowl to be let in, but that didn't happen!

I told Dave last night that he HAS to take care of this for me. 

Leaving him with the cats was effective...he got up and gave Frank his breakfast, and I slept right through it, all the way til 7:30!

So we have a method that will potentially work-- on non-work days, at least, HAHA!

Maybe if I can get a little extra sleep on the weekends, that will help.

We were supposed to take yesterday as a "down day" for me, so that I could rest after only getting about 3 hours sleep Friday night.... but it didn't happen. 

The only thing I was supposed to have to do was go get a hair trim at 10....but we ended up doing errands until almost 2, then Dave dropped me off at home, and went to see his dad.

While he was gone, I did my chores, made another batch of  bone broth with last week's chicken carcass and some pork bones, and finally laid down for a little while.

Then, last night, we went to our friend's birthday gathering up in Edmond.

I was so tired, we left at 8 and came home.  I took a nice bath, and that ambien....and was in bed by about 9:30

Today, I have the second half of a workshop I signed up for, a couple more small errands to run, and when I get home from that, I will make a pot of chili and sit my butt down!

Next weekend is our dance studio showcase, so I will be performing next Saturday night.  After that, I will get a little break from studio activities.

Happy March, happy St David's Day, and happy spring!

Catching up!

Wow, the previous two weekends were SO busy that I had no time to sit down and write a blog post.

Two weeks ago was the dance retreat.  My dear friends from Chicago came and took the workshops with me, and we performed at the dance party on Saturday night.

They arrived on Thursday evening, and came straight to our house.  We rehearsed for a couple of hours, and then ordered dinner to be delivered.

They Ubered to their hotel, and we went to bed because we had to work Friday.

Friday evening, the workshop started with 2 hours of lecture.

We danced literally ALL DAY Saturday. The teacher, who is Algerian, partnered with me for the whole first half of the day, and it was an honor and privilege to have her compliment my dance.  She said "you're VERY good!  Maybe I hire you!"  *blush*

It was fun, but exhausting.  I was in so much pain on Sunday, probably due to the treatments I am on right now.

Then, Sunday's classes were about sacred dance, and Sufi healing traditions.  It was very powerful.  I experienced a healing and cleansing that I didn't expect.  I have felt released from fear, and much lighter, ever since.

It changed my perspective on several areas!  I once again believe that I will be fine.

SOMEONE anonymously paid for me to attend this weekend, because I could not justify it with medical bills on the way, and I am SO grateful.

Then, last weekend, my friend Margaret came down to spend Valentine's weekend with me.

It was also the 6 month anniversary of the sudden death of her husband, Bill, whom I had introduced to her in 1999.

We cruised around town on Saturday, spent time in the hot tub, and ate good food.

Sunday, we went to the art museum and did some more cruising and eating.

Both nights were spent relaxing and talking (and crying) in the hot tub.

It was good that we had this time together to reconnect.  We've been friends since we were in high school. She was an incoming freshman, and I was one of the youth group leaders at our church.

She's 3 years my junior.  Her family was originally from Oklahoma City, and she spent a few years living here at the end of high school when they moved back down here from Wheaton.

After college, she moved back to Illinois, but her parents lived out their lives here in Oklahoma.

When I saw her back home in September, we only had a couple of hours together, and Bill's death was still VERY fresh.

She has made a lot of progress in getting things settled, and getting their house ready to sell.  She plans to move to their house in Michigan, which is paid off, and was always their retirement destination.

She will be able to retire early, and move up there-- hopefully this summer.  There are also things that need to be done to the Michigan house, but she is all set financially, so it won't be a problem.

We took her to the airport Monday after breakfast, and then went to see Pop.

Pop was up, and watching tv when we got there.  We took more batteries for his tv remote (someone keeps stealing them), and got him set up with being able to change channels and turn the tv OFF again.

Then, we got him into his wheel chair and took him to the dining room for his lunch.

THIS weekend has been a LOT quieter!  We finally celebrated Dave's birthday (which was the weekend of the dance retreat).  We met two other friends who have February birthdays and went out for dinner.

We got our taxes done yesterday, and sent off via TurboTax.  There WILL be a refund this year, which pleases us no end.  We had heard rumors that the real estate interest deduction was being taken away by Trump, but it was not.

We don't have any MAJOR repairs for the house this year, so we will buy a new bed, and a new water heater, the wash basin faucet, and maybe some other small things, and save the rest for ... MEDICAL BILLS.

Yay.

Today, I am taking a 2 hour class in bodywork techniques and yoga.  I already know a lot about the technique (myo-fascial release), but this will be a new approach to it for SELF care.

I am hoping it will give me some new tools to work with the pain caused by treatment.

Speaking of treatment, I completed my first round of the chemo pill, and have started taking the hormone blocking pill.

The pain in my legs from the dance retreat never fully went away, and this concerns me.

I have had poor appetite, some nausea and diarrhea, and my finger and toe tips are going numb.  My eyelashes are falling out, and my hair is thinning.

Whee.  At least I know it's all temporary.

Now, during my first break from the chemo, my stomach/intestinal tract is fine, my appetite is good, but the numbness hasn't changed, and my hair is all over the place.

I will get a blood draw tomorrow, and then Tuesday, everything else happens.... port flush, bone builder injection, and that awful hormone blocker injection in my belly.

I will see the doctor, find out my bloodwork results, and give him my list of complaints, and see what he says.

I start round 2 of the pills on Wednesday if he orders it.

In happier news, I am writing a story that was inspired by a silly post on FaceBook.... this is HUGE!  I used to write stories, and had a fiction blog about a dragon.  It's been AGES since I have felt inspired to write.

When it's finished, IF I actually finish it, I will post it here.

Off to the shower.  My dance class is rehearsing after the myo-fascial workshop, so I need to get my day going.

Never fear, gentle readers...

I have had out of town company last weekend and this weekend.. I will post an update soon!

Ground Hog Day update

Dave's dad fell yesterday.

He must be feeling better, because he got out of his bed (they have put a hospital bed in his room) when he was alone.

In the state of Oklahoma, side rails on hospital beds are considered "restraints," and are not allowed.

His hospice nurse (who visits several times a week) checked him out, and he didn't injure himself.

It's my strong opinion that he needs to be in skilled nursing, not memory care with a visiting nurse.

He should not be left alone long enough to get into trouble.

Speaking of hospice nurses, apparently, there are different levels of hospice care.

This is not "end of life" hospice, I guess.  I don't really understand it.  I thought hospice was palliative care to allow for death to come with comfort and ease.

Dave and Eric will be going to see him today.

I will be staying home, pulling out dance costuming, and rehearsing.

Next weekend, there is a dance ethnology intensive here in OKC at the dance studio, and my friends Felicia and Priscilla are coming down for it.

We have been asked to perform in the show on Saturday night.  Another chance to do a reunion performance! Yay!

SO, I have much work  to do.

Fortunately, I performed this same choreography last year as a solo dance for the flash mob after party, so it is relatively fresh, and it is a choreography that I have performed many times with these girls, and as a soloist on earlier occasions.

Thankfully, there is video of the staging for the trio, which we are sticking with since we are in different states, and have very little opportunity to rehearse together.

Today, I will refresh my mind as to who is where during the changes, and, when the girls arrive in OKC next Thursday, we will have dinner together, and then rehearse together!

We will also have time to rehearse on Saturday before the show, but those two times will be our only chances.

I went to my appointment on Tuesday, and all was well for me to start the new treatment program.... well, all BUT the fact that they hadn't gotten my usual monthly bone building injection approved by my insurance yet, AND they didn't have the new injection in stock in the on site pharmacy!

I think someone on staff at the clinic dropped the ball, because that appointment had been on the schedule for a month.

I had steeled myself for the shots, but I DIDN'T GET them, and had to go back the next day!!

What a pain!  Plus, there was the added "bonus day" of building up more anxiety over the unknown factor of the new shot!  Grumble.....

All I knew was that the literature said it was a subcutaneous injection.  The one I have been getting for years is subcutaneous, too.  I get it in my upper arm, and it hurts.  I was worried that this one might hurt worse....

SO, when I got my first of the new injections on Wednesday, I discovered that it is NOTHING LIKE the one I have been getting, and was actually sort of nasty.

I hope I get used to it!

They give me an ice pack to numb my BELLY first.  That flipped me out right off the bat!

Then, the nurse told me to look away, so I took Dave's hand and looked at him.  Or the ceiling....

The skin was numb, but the inside of my belly was not, and the needle going in caused a deep ache, and I could feel it going through layers of my flesh.  It actually felt like the injection was going into my intestines.

I am pretty sure it wasn't, but the experience was very unpleasant none the less, and I felt slightly faint and nauseous for a minute.

Thankfully, the process was also relatively quick.

Then it bled.

Shudder.

She put a big bandage on me, and let me stay in the chair for a while to calm down.

There is still a little scab from the needle poke.  Dave said the needle was big around.  Another shudder.  I am glad that I refused to look at it.  I will continue to do so.

Next time, at least, I will know what to expect, and I will either be MORE anxious, or LESS anxious, because I know what to expect!  HA!

Anyway, I also got my free month of the chemo pill.  Doc has me easing into taking it.

I took one a day for three days.  Yesterday, I upped it to two a day, and after three days of that, I will up it again to the full dose of three pills, taken all at once.

So far, there are no icky side effects, but it's early yet.

Doc is also not having me take the oral hormone blocker to start with.  That will be added after the first month on the chemo.

The new injection is a hormone blocker that works differently, so he is gradually increasing the hormone blocking factors as well, to ease my possible (probable) return to chronic pain.

I also got my first of the bone building injections of the year, so there should be some big medical bills on the way in about 4 to 6 weeks.  Yippee.

It's a beautiful spring-like weekend in OKC.  We have not really had winter yet, and Punxutawny Phil says spring will be early this year.

I hope we don't have a brutal summer.....Ugh.....

My daffodils, iris, and "star of bethlehem" are all coming up.

Theoretically, we are supposed to have cold weather, and possibly a little snow, later this week.

Usually what happens, is my daffodils come up, then they get frozen.  Other people around here have beautiful blooms, but I never do..... maybe one or two flowers.

The iris and star of bethlehem do much better, though.

Anyway...have a lovely Sunday.  I will be making jambalaya, which I have done on Superbowl Sunday since forever, because the Superbowl used to be played in New Orleans every year.

Not that I really care about the game itself, it's just jambalaya day for me!

If I remember, I will go to yoga tonight.  It's really difficult to get used to going to a class on Sunday night, but I am trying!