Driving myself crazy
From May 16-24 (8 days), I drove back to my prior home region in PA SIX TIMES. Or, rather, Will drove once in his car (and I went with him) and I drove the other five times in my own car. I should point out that it's ~90 miles/~145km each way. Between that and regular around-town obligations, I put 1000 miles/~1610km on my car in that time period. O_o
May 16 (Thurs): Will's day to work in PA, and also the day they were celebrating all the employees with work milestones (ie 10 years of employment, 15 years, 20, 25, 30, 40...). Will's been there 15 years; I skipped the 10th anniversary, but he asked me to come along to his 15th, so I went with him for the day, happily spending my day at my former library (weeding out nonfiction books older than I was), and then the evening at the college dinner/ceremony. Hit three construction projects on the way home, which was very annoying.
May 17 (Fri): Black belt class. An accident coupled with regular rush hour added 20 mins to my trip. I wasn't late, but I didn't have much time to stretch, either.
May 18 (Sat): Family friend's daughter was having her 13th bday party; she thinks MiniPlu is the best. thing. ever. so she specifically asked for her to come. The mom is my SIL's best friend so Karen was definitely going, but I went, too, driving MiniPlu separately, because my SIL likes to stay late and also had plans to visit other family members in the area.
May 20 (Mon): Doctor's appointment in town. Tree-trimming project along one of the highways closed one of the lanes, creating a massive jam; I was 15 mins late to my appointment. I miraculously managed to get in a short visit with S&S (whom I had probably not seen in about 2 years) before I went home.
May 21 (Tues): TKD. I had planned to go to class on Fri, when I was taking MiniPlu to visit the area, but then they announced the TKD school would be closed Fri-Mon for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, so there went that idea. There was absolutely no way to fit it into my Wed or Thurs schedule, so off I went on Tues night. There was an accident on the way, so I arrived 6 minutes late. (By this point, I was getting REALLY tired of all the rotten luck I'd been having on these trips!)
May 24 (Fri): Normally we just get the Monday off for Memorial Weekend, like most people, but because we had 2 unused snow days, the district decided to give them "back" by giving us Fri and Tues off, too. Personally, I would have preferred to have had 2 days knocked off the end of the year (letting us out the 18th instead of the 20th) but ... oh well. Anyway, MiniPlu has been dying to see her old elementary school and former teachers (the few that remain, anyway) and this was a rare opportunity where we had the day off but they did not. So, back I drove, with her, so we could spend a chunk of time there. We stayed in the library (book fair!) and helped, but she did get to see the teachers she wanted to, so that was nice.
Eight days, six trips. Thank goodness I got a WHOLE WEEK without having to make that trip again (black belt clas is presumably this Fri). Oy.
In contrast, last Saturday (25th), I had a really busy day that perversely involved a LOT of sitting. MiniPlu had spent Fri night at a friend's house, so Sat morning I picked her up and we went to the senior dog rescue where we volunteered from 10a-noon. There's a brief period in which you walk the dogs, but otherwise, you're just sitting and hanging out with the dogs in the "living room." After our shift we went home and connected with Karen, Dad and Two, piling into Karen's car (which has a little more backseat room than mine) for the 30 min trek out to pick up my new glasses (both regular glasses and prescription sunglasses). I had hoped this would be a quick trip, but they were super busy, and the lone guy who normally does glasses ordering and fitting had other people to deal with, so even though they plonked my new glasses in front of me right away, I sat there for a good 20 mins, waiting for someone to adjust them. Karen also had a pair that needed repairing, so she was sitting with me. Eventually I said we should just go, even without the adjustment, because it was after 1p already and the diner closed at 2p. (Normally they close at 3p, but were closing early all weekend because of the holiday.) Thankfully, the guy finally came just then and tweaked my glasses, Karen handed over hers for repair, and we were on our way. We hadn't been to our favorite diner in ages, so that was a nice treat but - again - more sitting. After lunch, we swung by Dad's house (nearby) to pick up his mail/newspaper and then there was the 30 min trip back. We got home a little before 3p; Dad needed a haircut/beard trim, and he likes this one particular stylist at Hair Cuttery even though she's the world's slowest person (because she fusses over, like, every individual strand). Karen was helping Will with a yard project, so I took Dad. Or rather, I took Dad around 3:30p, because when Karen had called they said there was about an hour wait and put Dad on the list. So, I got a 20 min snooze. Anyway, we went in a little bit early just in case (har har) she was ready early because, hey, you never know. But, of course, she still had to finish her current client and then had two small boys in front of Dad, and, true to character, she took forever. I finished hemming MiniPlu's prom dress while I sat, and then was bored because I hadn't brought a book. She finally took Dad around 5p, at which point I dashed a few doors down to the grocery to get the 2 marinade ingredients Will had forgotten for dinner on the grill, drove home to deliver them so he could get started, then went back for Dad. And he wanted to stop by the dollar store after, to get greeting cards for upcoming birthdays.
At this point, it was nearly 6p and I'd taken all of about 3000 steps all day, most of that involving walking two dogs at Marty's Place that morning. I immediately walked Jade when we got back, just to finally MOVE, because I was about to jump out of my skin from all the inactivity. :P
What else has been going on? Hmm.... Saw Endgame for the second time on Sunday, watched our community Memorial Day parade on Monday (MiniPlu marched with the Leo Club), subbed a few times (middle school gym, elementary librarian, middle school learning support), hemmed MiniPlu's prom dress, took MiniPlu and a friend to tour Sarah Lawrence College near NYC, had both my Mazda and the Subaru at their respective repair shops (ouch $$ - also, retrieving the Subaru involved driving through a torrential storm, and a lot of flooding streets, scary), had a dental checkup (all good!) and a gastro checkin (meh).
As I anticipated, we're pulling the plug on the Entyvio, although there's a small possibility I might still get one more dose if it takes too long to get things arranged for the next med: Stelara (you've probably seen it advertised on TV if you live in the US). Here's the fun part: the doctor is making sure to rule out all sorts of other things that might be causing the problem, to give the meds a better chance of succeeding (ie that they're not being complicated by other factors) which means ... I get another colonoscopy. (I believe this will be my 8th.) Because the last one was done while I was still in remission (sigh), he wants to take a look now that I'm not, do more biopsies just in case, and also check to see if the CMV came back.
That's cytomegalovirus - it's the reason I had to be hospitalized back in 2006. It's one of those viruses most people carry without knowing it because it stays dormant, but it's an opportunitistic virus that blooms when your immune system is down. Which is why I had it (active) in 2006 when I'd been so sick. Back then, I ran a low-grade fever every single evening for months, which I'm NOT doing now, but he still wants to check and make sure that the CMV isn't starting to come to life again, given the immunosuppressant meds I've been on. (And, oh boy, I really hope not because the treatment for that was NOT fun.)
What's annoying is they only do colonoscopies on Mon and Fri, and the two dates available for me were June 3rd (Mon) and the 21st (a Fri) - a huge gap in the middle. Since Will has Fridays off, that made the most sense, but I'm really unhappy about dragging this out, and having to wait forever to get it done. Also, the 21st is the first day of summer vacation - and I'm going to spend it getting a colonoscopy.
And to add to the picnic: I asked about different prep liquids, given how much trouble I've had swallowing two of the more traditional potions. I mean, nobody likes it - ever. But it's SO gross, I'm literally struggling to get it down, to the point of nearly crying over the prospect. He listed a number of different treatments and picked one that didn't sound familiar to me so ... we'll see how it goes. But the tactic for prep is changing now: instead of doing it all in one go or maybe just half an hour apart for several hours, you take one dose around dinnertime (standard), and then another ... at midnight/1am. Which means you don't sleep. Especially as my colonoscopy is 7am, with a 5:30a call (normally it's only 1 hour in advance, not 90 mins but ... ok), and it's nearly 30 mins away, so that's *leaving* the house around 5a. So, yeah, no sleep. On the first day of summer vacation.
I am just SO OVER being sick. I'm so over having accidents at least once a week. I'm so over not being able to substitute for any position I want. I'm so over having to sometimes interrupt whatever I'm doing, for myself, for my kids, to go use the bathroom. And the more drugs that fail, the more afraid I get that I'm going to run out of options and will be facing the same surgery I escaped in 2007. And no, piperki, I'm not leaping joyfully into it just so I can substitute wherever I want. I want my remission back.
On a funnier note: I was grading a library worksheet the other day, where kids had to find an example of a book with a particular Dewey number. For one number, the majority of the books in that section help kids cope with loss. One of the books kids often cite is titled Sunny, the death of a pet. One kid remembered the name wrong and wrote, instead, Sunny: the pet of death. LOL! I kept picturing a Pratchett-type canine grim reaper. *g*
For our current nightly read-aloud, Two recently chose City of Bones, which I don't think I've read since the first go-around. Forgot a LOT of the details of how the saga all started. We're about halfway through at this point. Meanwhile, I'm slowly chipping away at the massive short-story collection Rogues, which hamsterwoman gave me for Christmas. Some really great stories in there so far! I'm also reading a Brother Cadfael mystery, The Virgin in the Ice, which was a Kindle DotD the other day. That story is handy when hauling around a giant tome isn't as convenient.
And now I must crash. I've really been trying to do better with sleep lately, but I'm still tired. And behind on life. Sigh.
May 16 (Thurs): Will's day to work in PA, and also the day they were celebrating all the employees with work milestones (ie 10 years of employment, 15 years, 20, 25, 30, 40...). Will's been there 15 years; I skipped the 10th anniversary, but he asked me to come along to his 15th, so I went with him for the day, happily spending my day at my former library (weeding out nonfiction books older than I was), and then the evening at the college dinner/ceremony. Hit three construction projects on the way home, which was very annoying.
May 17 (Fri): Black belt class. An accident coupled with regular rush hour added 20 mins to my trip. I wasn't late, but I didn't have much time to stretch, either.
May 18 (Sat): Family friend's daughter was having her 13th bday party; she thinks MiniPlu is the best. thing. ever. so she specifically asked for her to come. The mom is my SIL's best friend so Karen was definitely going, but I went, too, driving MiniPlu separately, because my SIL likes to stay late and also had plans to visit other family members in the area.
May 20 (Mon): Doctor's appointment in town. Tree-trimming project along one of the highways closed one of the lanes, creating a massive jam; I was 15 mins late to my appointment. I miraculously managed to get in a short visit with S&S (whom I had probably not seen in about 2 years) before I went home.
May 21 (Tues): TKD. I had planned to go to class on Fri, when I was taking MiniPlu to visit the area, but then they announced the TKD school would be closed Fri-Mon for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, so there went that idea. There was absolutely no way to fit it into my Wed or Thurs schedule, so off I went on Tues night. There was an accident on the way, so I arrived 6 minutes late. (By this point, I was getting REALLY tired of all the rotten luck I'd been having on these trips!)
May 24 (Fri): Normally we just get the Monday off for Memorial Weekend, like most people, but because we had 2 unused snow days, the district decided to give them "back" by giving us Fri and Tues off, too. Personally, I would have preferred to have had 2 days knocked off the end of the year (letting us out the 18th instead of the 20th) but ... oh well. Anyway, MiniPlu has been dying to see her old elementary school and former teachers (the few that remain, anyway) and this was a rare opportunity where we had the day off but they did not. So, back I drove, with her, so we could spend a chunk of time there. We stayed in the library (book fair!) and helped, but she did get to see the teachers she wanted to, so that was nice.
Eight days, six trips. Thank goodness I got a WHOLE WEEK without having to make that trip again (black belt clas is presumably this Fri). Oy.
In contrast, last Saturday (25th), I had a really busy day that perversely involved a LOT of sitting. MiniPlu had spent Fri night at a friend's house, so Sat morning I picked her up and we went to the senior dog rescue where we volunteered from 10a-noon. There's a brief period in which you walk the dogs, but otherwise, you're just sitting and hanging out with the dogs in the "living room." After our shift we went home and connected with Karen, Dad and Two, piling into Karen's car (which has a little more backseat room than mine) for the 30 min trek out to pick up my new glasses (both regular glasses and prescription sunglasses). I had hoped this would be a quick trip, but they were super busy, and the lone guy who normally does glasses ordering and fitting had other people to deal with, so even though they plonked my new glasses in front of me right away, I sat there for a good 20 mins, waiting for someone to adjust them. Karen also had a pair that needed repairing, so she was sitting with me. Eventually I said we should just go, even without the adjustment, because it was after 1p already and the diner closed at 2p. (Normally they close at 3p, but were closing early all weekend because of the holiday.) Thankfully, the guy finally came just then and tweaked my glasses, Karen handed over hers for repair, and we were on our way. We hadn't been to our favorite diner in ages, so that was a nice treat but - again - more sitting. After lunch, we swung by Dad's house (nearby) to pick up his mail/newspaper and then there was the 30 min trip back. We got home a little before 3p; Dad needed a haircut/beard trim, and he likes this one particular stylist at Hair Cuttery even though she's the world's slowest person (because she fusses over, like, every individual strand). Karen was helping Will with a yard project, so I took Dad. Or rather, I took Dad around 3:30p, because when Karen had called they said there was about an hour wait and put Dad on the list. So, I got a 20 min snooze. Anyway, we went in a little bit early just in case (har har) she was ready early because, hey, you never know. But, of course, she still had to finish her current client and then had two small boys in front of Dad, and, true to character, she took forever. I finished hemming MiniPlu's prom dress while I sat, and then was bored because I hadn't brought a book. She finally took Dad around 5p, at which point I dashed a few doors down to the grocery to get the 2 marinade ingredients Will had forgotten for dinner on the grill, drove home to deliver them so he could get started, then went back for Dad. And he wanted to stop by the dollar store after, to get greeting cards for upcoming birthdays.
At this point, it was nearly 6p and I'd taken all of about 3000 steps all day, most of that involving walking two dogs at Marty's Place that morning. I immediately walked Jade when we got back, just to finally MOVE, because I was about to jump out of my skin from all the inactivity. :P
What else has been going on? Hmm.... Saw Endgame for the second time on Sunday, watched our community Memorial Day parade on Monday (MiniPlu marched with the Leo Club), subbed a few times (middle school gym, elementary librarian, middle school learning support), hemmed MiniPlu's prom dress, took MiniPlu and a friend to tour Sarah Lawrence College near NYC, had both my Mazda and the Subaru at their respective repair shops (ouch $$ - also, retrieving the Subaru involved driving through a torrential storm, and a lot of flooding streets, scary), had a dental checkup (all good!) and a gastro checkin (meh).
As I anticipated, we're pulling the plug on the Entyvio, although there's a small possibility I might still get one more dose if it takes too long to get things arranged for the next med: Stelara (you've probably seen it advertised on TV if you live in the US). Here's the fun part: the doctor is making sure to rule out all sorts of other things that might be causing the problem, to give the meds a better chance of succeeding (ie that they're not being complicated by other factors) which means ... I get another colonoscopy. (I believe this will be my 8th.) Because the last one was done while I was still in remission (sigh), he wants to take a look now that I'm not, do more biopsies just in case, and also check to see if the CMV came back.
That's cytomegalovirus - it's the reason I had to be hospitalized back in 2006. It's one of those viruses most people carry without knowing it because it stays dormant, but it's an opportunitistic virus that blooms when your immune system is down. Which is why I had it (active) in 2006 when I'd been so sick. Back then, I ran a low-grade fever every single evening for months, which I'm NOT doing now, but he still wants to check and make sure that the CMV isn't starting to come to life again, given the immunosuppressant meds I've been on. (And, oh boy, I really hope not because the treatment for that was NOT fun.)
What's annoying is they only do colonoscopies on Mon and Fri, and the two dates available for me were June 3rd (Mon) and the 21st (a Fri) - a huge gap in the middle. Since Will has Fridays off, that made the most sense, but I'm really unhappy about dragging this out, and having to wait forever to get it done. Also, the 21st is the first day of summer vacation - and I'm going to spend it getting a colonoscopy.
And to add to the picnic: I asked about different prep liquids, given how much trouble I've had swallowing two of the more traditional potions. I mean, nobody likes it - ever. But it's SO gross, I'm literally struggling to get it down, to the point of nearly crying over the prospect. He listed a number of different treatments and picked one that didn't sound familiar to me so ... we'll see how it goes. But the tactic for prep is changing now: instead of doing it all in one go or maybe just half an hour apart for several hours, you take one dose around dinnertime (standard), and then another ... at midnight/1am. Which means you don't sleep. Especially as my colonoscopy is 7am, with a 5:30a call (normally it's only 1 hour in advance, not 90 mins but ... ok), and it's nearly 30 mins away, so that's *leaving* the house around 5a. So, yeah, no sleep. On the first day of summer vacation.
I am just SO OVER being sick. I'm so over having accidents at least once a week. I'm so over not being able to substitute for any position I want. I'm so over having to sometimes interrupt whatever I'm doing, for myself, for my kids, to go use the bathroom. And the more drugs that fail, the more afraid I get that I'm going to run out of options and will be facing the same surgery I escaped in 2007. And no, piperki, I'm not leaping joyfully into it just so I can substitute wherever I want. I want my remission back.
On a funnier note: I was grading a library worksheet the other day, where kids had to find an example of a book with a particular Dewey number. For one number, the majority of the books in that section help kids cope with loss. One of the books kids often cite is titled Sunny, the death of a pet. One kid remembered the name wrong and wrote, instead, Sunny: the pet of death. LOL! I kept picturing a Pratchett-type canine grim reaper. *g*
For our current nightly read-aloud, Two recently chose City of Bones, which I don't think I've read since the first go-around. Forgot a LOT of the details of how the saga all started. We're about halfway through at this point. Meanwhile, I'm slowly chipping away at the massive short-story collection Rogues, which hamsterwoman gave me for Christmas. Some really great stories in there so far! I'm also reading a Brother Cadfael mystery, The Virgin in the Ice, which was a Kindle DotD the other day. That story is handy when hauling around a giant tome isn't as convenient.
And now I must crash. I've really been trying to do better with sleep lately, but I'm still tired. And behind on life. Sigh.