Update trio: JOB, endoscope, squirrels!
Here's an update on three different things that I've been meaning to write about, all of which have to do with this week. :)
To Bed, Bath... and Beyond!
First I want to give a big THANK YOU and HUGS to all the thoughtful people who wished me so well in their comments in my previous journal entry. It made me very happy, and it actually helped relax me a bit when I was sitting in my car, waiting to go into Bed, Bath & Beyond for my 5 p.m. job interview (I arrived too early, which is certainly better than too late!) Knowing people were thinking of me also made me feel encouraged. So, thanks again sooo much!! *blush*
The interview went really well. :) The hiring manager, "J" (I won't use her first name, since she doesn't know I'm blogging about her) was very friendly and outgoing and had a great sense of humor. She was not intimidating at ALL! She also seemed to be between 25 and 32, so I think us being contemporaries also helped establish good rapport (versus if she were a senior). She had a mini "script" of questions that she asks everyone during these interviews, plus she asked me a few other things. Then she encouraged me to ask any questions I had, and I asked a few very sensible ones. (I know it looks good if you have a few things to ask). Then she gave me an evaluation/test thingie with 90 to 100 questions -- YIKES! (At least I didn't have to take it in front of her; she went away for that part).
Fortunately, all questions were either multiple-choice or true-false. The overriding theme had to do with a person's honesty, integrity and work ethic. There were a few questions whose tricky wording tripped me up, so for a while after I left there, I obsessed about whether I picked the right or wrong answer. However, I told myself that (A) I couldn't go back and change the answers; and (B) one or two slightly "off" answers probably would NOT disqualify me; no one is perfect! So, I made myself stop obsessing. *chuckle*
Of course, I shook hands with J upon meeting her before the interview, but I also shook hands with her as I was leaving. To me, this is second nature, but I've heard that not everyone remembers to shake hands afterwards. So, I'm glad I did. :) I really liked J, and hopefully the feeling was mutual. Not that we necessarily have to become friends just from working in the same store, but it *IS* nice, from an emotional standpoint, to feel like you've made a friendly connection with someone.
J had a busy schedule of interviewing applicants yesterday (and possibly today), so I know I'm one of many who want to work at BB&B. And the store doesn't exactly seem short-staffed to begin with! So, I'm trying to be optimistic without getting carried away with my idealism. *blush* "Expect the best, but prepare for the worst" would be a good way of looking at it, I guess. Now all I can do is WAIT!!
GERD, endoscopes and me
On Monday morning, I had an endoscopy, because my acid reflux/GERD has been slowly getting worse over the years. I think most folks know what an endoscopy is, although most probably have never seen an endoscope! *chuckle* For more info, click the link above.
Anyhoo, I was kind of hoping the gastroenterologist would find evidence of acid scarring in my esophagus or lower esophageal sphincter muscle so that he might say I'm a candidate for one of the less-invasive corrective surgeries. Then again, I'm very GLAD he didn't find any evidence of Barrett's esophagus, a condition in which constant exposure to stomach acid causes cellular changes in the esophagus that can make you more likely to get esophageal cancer! :[ Fortunately that does NOT apply to me!
However, I'm terrified of the oldest/most popular GERD repair surgery, the Nissen fundoplication (a.k.a. "wrap"), because first of all, it involves cutting you open, and secondly, surgeons often over-correct and leave the patient unable to burp or vomit. EEEEK! Then they have to do another surgery to correct the over-correction. First of all, surgery is risky, and secondly, I'd expect two surgeries on the same location might cause scar tissue adhesions. Also, sometimes the "wraps" loosen over the years, even if they were over-corrected initially, and in those cases, the patient is back at square one anyway.
I'm more interested in radio frequency ablation (known as the Stretta procedure when used for treating GERD. It would take me too many sentences to explain, so please click the link to learn more (and see a simple diagram). I like Stretta because everything is done via your mouth with a special endoscope; there's no cutting into the body! :D
However, it looks like I'm not a candidate for even the Stretta, because my gastroenterologist found nothing bad/scarred/wrong in my esophagus OR in my stomach, for that matter. Well, except for the fact that he saw evidence of a sliding hiatal hernia (where a bit of stomach pokes up thru the diaphragm thru the esophagus "hole"). I'm kind of glad about that, because it means that perhaps not ALL of my GERD trouble is due to having a weak lower esophageal sphincter muscle (the value that keeps stomach contents in the stomach). Part of my GERD could instead be caused by the hernia, during the times it "slides" out of place. Unfortunately, they usually repair this hernia by doing a "wrap", so maybe it's not so good. :(
The main thing that upsets me is that due to the GERD getting worse over the years (for WHATEVER reason), I've graduated from taking generic Zantac (the H2 blocker ranitidine) to generic Prilosec (the proton-pump inhibitor omeprazole). H2 blocker have been proven safe for long-term use, but PPIs have not! In fact, very long term use of them has been connected with cellular changes in the stomach that put a person at a slightly higher risk of stomach cancer. At least this is what my online research has shown -- my gastroenterologist says the risk is getting stomach cancer from PPIs is LESS than the risk of getting esophageal cancer caused by uncontrolled acid reflux. So, caught between a rock and a hard place, eh? :( I don't want to be on meds my whole life, I'm afraid of surgery, and I'm afraid of cancer risks.
HOWEVER, I've heard that acupuncture has worked absolute wonders for folks with GERD/acid reflux. Not in 100% of the cases, of course. No remedy works for everyone. But, I am very impressed with what my research has shown me. The problem is that my HMO, Kaiser, only covers in-house acupucture treatment for relief of chronic pain (i.e. back pain, arthritis, etc.) Well, maybe they've changed their policies, but the last time I checked, they were very adamant about it. Even though it's been proven that conditions like ADHD, asthma and GERD can be greatly helped with acupuncture (I have those conditions), Kaiser won't refer me to the acupuncture clinic. Unless I'm wrong, which I might be. But if I'm right, then I'd have to go to an independent acupuncturist, and the problem THERE is that I have so very little money, it's not even funny. I want to go to a GOOD acupuncturist, and people like that probably don't let you pay on sliding scales. :( This is one of the MANY reasons why I'm desperate for a part-time job, because it's getting harder and harder to make ends meet. And I certainly don't want my HEALTH to suffer! I wish rich philanthropist Percy Ross still had his "Thanks a Million" newspaper column -- I'd probably bite the bullet and write him a letter, asking for money. *blush*
Not to end this rant on a bad note, I wanted to say how odd "conscious sedation" is! I remember every last conversation and detail of the preparations from before the endoscopy, but I swear that once they started the sedative in the IV drip, it seemed like the whole endoscopy took about 12 seconds! LOL And I kjnow that wasn't the case! I also don't remember getting dressed afterwards, but I know I did. I vaguely remember chatting with the gastroenterologist, because the thing about the hiatal hernia sticks out in my mind, but not much else does. I also remember my mom and I took a quick look in the hospital gift shop before we left (you're not allowed to drive home after the sedation, obviously), but I don't really remember much about looking around. I remember it like one remembers fragments from a dream, but it's hard to put them together.
When I got home, I ate a little banana and a Knudson Cottage Double (cottage cheese package w/ separate fruit compartment) and some milk for breakfast. I was very empty and hungry because it was around 10 a.m. and I'd had nothing since around 8:30 p.m. the night before. However, I also felt a little queasy, but I figured that was more from having low blood sugar than from the sedative. And I was right, because as soon as I ate, I felt better. But I also still felt very drained from the sedative; in fact, I almost fell asleep around noon. I felt like my eyes couldn't stay open. However, after an almost-snooze, and after eating lunch a little later, I felt a lot better! :) I only felt a little bit tired for the rest of the day, and by bedtime (ironically enough) I felt normal! The only reminder of the procedure was that my left tonsil was a bit sore; this is because you lay on your left side for the procedure, so I guess the endoscope bumped it. It might also have been sore because they sprayed this really strong, nasty, burning topical anesthetic down my throat before the procedure, and since I was already on my left side, my tonsil probably got the brunt of it.
What's new with my squirrel friends
And now about the squirrels! There's good news and bad news. The bad news is that I don't think I've seen my squirrel friend Goober since June 5, when I wrote about his joyful return in this journal entry. And even though I saw Peanut (my fave squirrel friend) more recently than I saw Goober, I haven't seen her in at least a week and a half! I really miss them, and I'm worried about them too!
Goober has gone for longish stretches without "visiting" me (sowing his wild oats, perhaps? *grin*), but Peanut got to be very regular, visiting me every few days. She's such a sweet little girl, and I really enjoyed getting to know her as an individual (the notch in her right ear, her big eyes, her russet brown insteps, her funny habit of liking to jump up on one of the landscaping rocks (even if it's out-of-the-way) before jumping down and running over to me, and her cutely stubborn habit of wanting to eat a certain amount of peanuts before eating the apple pieces I offered. Heck, I even learned that she prefers Braeburn apples over Pink Lady apples! *giggle* (My preference too).
I actually haven't seen many squirrels at ALL in the last 2 weeks or so. It seems like once the weather got hot, and stayed that way consistently, I stopped seeing a lot of squirrels. Perhaps to escape the heat, they're out foraging/eating much earlier in the morning, and much later in the evening than I'm accustomed to looking for them, so we keep missing each other like "ships passing in the night". Or perhaps they moved somewhere else in the complex altogether! However, doesn't make sense, since there are plenty of large shade trees in my part of it. Anyone have any ideas? I certainly hope no one's been trapping and/or killing them! :[ :O If I discovered that was going on, you can be sure the shit would hit the fan, and I'm not kidding!!!!
The GOOD news is that even though I haven't seen Peanut or Goober, I've been seeing Twinkie more often lately. In fact, I think she's on the fast track to becoming my next friend. I never saw her much before (Peanut and Goober were the outgoing ones), but now Twinkie seems to be coming into her own. She already knows that I have peanuts and that I'm non-threatening, but she's not comfortable coming close to me yet. However, I know time, patience and gentleness will improve that, just as it did with Pea and Goober! :)
And yes, she still "twinkies" all the time -- the main reason I gave her that name! (For those who don't know, when I had pet rats and they stood up on their hind legs, I called it "twinkying". I guess their bodies reminded me of little Twinkies, for some odd reason. *giggle* Plus it's a diminutive name that sounds cute. So when I noticed one of the squirrels twinkied a lot (and also isn't as large as some of the others), I thought Twinkie was a great name for her. A cute name for a cute habit. I hope she doesn't mind it! ;)
And now, here are five photos I snapped of her yesterday. They're not so great, because she doesn't get as close as the others or sit as still. Not YET anyway! *grin* But, since I've posted all sorts of Peanut and Goober pix, I thought I'd give Twinkie her due. So, enjoy. (She's a petite squirrel, but has a big tail. Interesting!)
Her noise is pointing directly to a peanut half!
Eating -- yum!
Huh?
What's that?
Look at that furry little haunch! (Actually I'm complimented she trusts me enough to turn her back. I thought "prey animals" generally never turn their back on a scene or another animal? I guess I'm not considered a threat!)
To Bed, Bath... and Beyond!
First I want to give a big THANK YOU and HUGS to all the thoughtful people who wished me so well in their comments in my previous journal entry. It made me very happy, and it actually helped relax me a bit when I was sitting in my car, waiting to go into Bed, Bath & Beyond for my 5 p.m. job interview (I arrived too early, which is certainly better than too late!) Knowing people were thinking of me also made me feel encouraged. So, thanks again sooo much!! *blush*
The interview went really well. :) The hiring manager, "J" (I won't use her first name, since she doesn't know I'm blogging about her) was very friendly and outgoing and had a great sense of humor. She was not intimidating at ALL! She also seemed to be between 25 and 32, so I think us being contemporaries also helped establish good rapport (versus if she were a senior). She had a mini "script" of questions that she asks everyone during these interviews, plus she asked me a few other things. Then she encouraged me to ask any questions I had, and I asked a few very sensible ones. (I know it looks good if you have a few things to ask). Then she gave me an evaluation/test thingie with 90 to 100 questions -- YIKES! (At least I didn't have to take it in front of her; she went away for that part).
Fortunately, all questions were either multiple-choice or true-false. The overriding theme had to do with a person's honesty, integrity and work ethic. There were a few questions whose tricky wording tripped me up, so for a while after I left there, I obsessed about whether I picked the right or wrong answer. However, I told myself that (A) I couldn't go back and change the answers; and (B) one or two slightly "off" answers probably would NOT disqualify me; no one is perfect! So, I made myself stop obsessing. *chuckle*
Of course, I shook hands with J upon meeting her before the interview, but I also shook hands with her as I was leaving. To me, this is second nature, but I've heard that not everyone remembers to shake hands afterwards. So, I'm glad I did. :) I really liked J, and hopefully the feeling was mutual. Not that we necessarily have to become friends just from working in the same store, but it *IS* nice, from an emotional standpoint, to feel like you've made a friendly connection with someone.
J had a busy schedule of interviewing applicants yesterday (and possibly today), so I know I'm one of many who want to work at BB&B. And the store doesn't exactly seem short-staffed to begin with! So, I'm trying to be optimistic without getting carried away with my idealism. *blush* "Expect the best, but prepare for the worst" would be a good way of looking at it, I guess. Now all I can do is WAIT!!
GERD, endoscopes and me
On Monday morning, I had an endoscopy, because my acid reflux/GERD has been slowly getting worse over the years. I think most folks know what an endoscopy is, although most probably have never seen an endoscope! *chuckle* For more info, click the link above.
Anyhoo, I was kind of hoping the gastroenterologist would find evidence of acid scarring in my esophagus or lower esophageal sphincter muscle so that he might say I'm a candidate for one of the less-invasive corrective surgeries. Then again, I'm very GLAD he didn't find any evidence of Barrett's esophagus, a condition in which constant exposure to stomach acid causes cellular changes in the esophagus that can make you more likely to get esophageal cancer! :[ Fortunately that does NOT apply to me!
However, I'm terrified of the oldest/most popular GERD repair surgery, the Nissen fundoplication (a.k.a. "wrap"), because first of all, it involves cutting you open, and secondly, surgeons often over-correct and leave the patient unable to burp or vomit. EEEEK! Then they have to do another surgery to correct the over-correction. First of all, surgery is risky, and secondly, I'd expect two surgeries on the same location might cause scar tissue adhesions. Also, sometimes the "wraps" loosen over the years, even if they were over-corrected initially, and in those cases, the patient is back at square one anyway.
I'm more interested in radio frequency ablation (known as the Stretta procedure when used for treating GERD. It would take me too many sentences to explain, so please click the link to learn more (and see a simple diagram). I like Stretta because everything is done via your mouth with a special endoscope; there's no cutting into the body! :D
However, it looks like I'm not a candidate for even the Stretta, because my gastroenterologist found nothing bad/scarred/wrong in my esophagus OR in my stomach, for that matter. Well, except for the fact that he saw evidence of a sliding hiatal hernia (where a bit of stomach pokes up thru the diaphragm thru the esophagus "hole"). I'm kind of glad about that, because it means that perhaps not ALL of my GERD trouble is due to having a weak lower esophageal sphincter muscle (the value that keeps stomach contents in the stomach). Part of my GERD could instead be caused by the hernia, during the times it "slides" out of place. Unfortunately, they usually repair this hernia by doing a "wrap", so maybe it's not so good. :(
The main thing that upsets me is that due to the GERD getting worse over the years (for WHATEVER reason), I've graduated from taking generic Zantac (the H2 blocker ranitidine) to generic Prilosec (the proton-pump inhibitor omeprazole). H2 blocker have been proven safe for long-term use, but PPIs have not! In fact, very long term use of them has been connected with cellular changes in the stomach that put a person at a slightly higher risk of stomach cancer. At least this is what my online research has shown -- my gastroenterologist says the risk is getting stomach cancer from PPIs is LESS than the risk of getting esophageal cancer caused by uncontrolled acid reflux. So, caught between a rock and a hard place, eh? :( I don't want to be on meds my whole life, I'm afraid of surgery, and I'm afraid of cancer risks.
HOWEVER, I've heard that acupuncture has worked absolute wonders for folks with GERD/acid reflux. Not in 100% of the cases, of course. No remedy works for everyone. But, I am very impressed with what my research has shown me. The problem is that my HMO, Kaiser, only covers in-house acupucture treatment for relief of chronic pain (i.e. back pain, arthritis, etc.) Well, maybe they've changed their policies, but the last time I checked, they were very adamant about it. Even though it's been proven that conditions like ADHD, asthma and GERD can be greatly helped with acupuncture (I have those conditions), Kaiser won't refer me to the acupuncture clinic. Unless I'm wrong, which I might be. But if I'm right, then I'd have to go to an independent acupuncturist, and the problem THERE is that I have so very little money, it's not even funny. I want to go to a GOOD acupuncturist, and people like that probably don't let you pay on sliding scales. :( This is one of the MANY reasons why I'm desperate for a part-time job, because it's getting harder and harder to make ends meet. And I certainly don't want my HEALTH to suffer! I wish rich philanthropist Percy Ross still had his "Thanks a Million" newspaper column -- I'd probably bite the bullet and write him a letter, asking for money. *blush*
Not to end this rant on a bad note, I wanted to say how odd "conscious sedation" is! I remember every last conversation and detail of the preparations from before the endoscopy, but I swear that once they started the sedative in the IV drip, it seemed like the whole endoscopy took about 12 seconds! LOL And I kjnow that wasn't the case! I also don't remember getting dressed afterwards, but I know I did. I vaguely remember chatting with the gastroenterologist, because the thing about the hiatal hernia sticks out in my mind, but not much else does. I also remember my mom and I took a quick look in the hospital gift shop before we left (you're not allowed to drive home after the sedation, obviously), but I don't really remember much about looking around. I remember it like one remembers fragments from a dream, but it's hard to put them together.
When I got home, I ate a little banana and a Knudson Cottage Double (cottage cheese package w/ separate fruit compartment) and some milk for breakfast. I was very empty and hungry because it was around 10 a.m. and I'd had nothing since around 8:30 p.m. the night before. However, I also felt a little queasy, but I figured that was more from having low blood sugar than from the sedative. And I was right, because as soon as I ate, I felt better. But I also still felt very drained from the sedative; in fact, I almost fell asleep around noon. I felt like my eyes couldn't stay open. However, after an almost-snooze, and after eating lunch a little later, I felt a lot better! :) I only felt a little bit tired for the rest of the day, and by bedtime (ironically enough) I felt normal! The only reminder of the procedure was that my left tonsil was a bit sore; this is because you lay on your left side for the procedure, so I guess the endoscope bumped it. It might also have been sore because they sprayed this really strong, nasty, burning topical anesthetic down my throat before the procedure, and since I was already on my left side, my tonsil probably got the brunt of it.
What's new with my squirrel friends
And now about the squirrels! There's good news and bad news. The bad news is that I don't think I've seen my squirrel friend Goober since June 5, when I wrote about his joyful return in this journal entry. And even though I saw Peanut (my fave squirrel friend) more recently than I saw Goober, I haven't seen her in at least a week and a half! I really miss them, and I'm worried about them too!
Goober has gone for longish stretches without "visiting" me (sowing his wild oats, perhaps? *grin*), but Peanut got to be very regular, visiting me every few days. She's such a sweet little girl, and I really enjoyed getting to know her as an individual (the notch in her right ear, her big eyes, her russet brown insteps, her funny habit of liking to jump up on one of the landscaping rocks (even if it's out-of-the-way) before jumping down and running over to me, and her cutely stubborn habit of wanting to eat a certain amount of peanuts before eating the apple pieces I offered. Heck, I even learned that she prefers Braeburn apples over Pink Lady apples! *giggle* (My preference too).
I actually haven't seen many squirrels at ALL in the last 2 weeks or so. It seems like once the weather got hot, and stayed that way consistently, I stopped seeing a lot of squirrels. Perhaps to escape the heat, they're out foraging/eating much earlier in the morning, and much later in the evening than I'm accustomed to looking for them, so we keep missing each other like "ships passing in the night". Or perhaps they moved somewhere else in the complex altogether! However, doesn't make sense, since there are plenty of large shade trees in my part of it. Anyone have any ideas? I certainly hope no one's been trapping and/or killing them! :[ :O If I discovered that was going on, you can be sure the shit would hit the fan, and I'm not kidding!!!!
The GOOD news is that even though I haven't seen Peanut or Goober, I've been seeing Twinkie more often lately. In fact, I think she's on the fast track to becoming my next friend. I never saw her much before (Peanut and Goober were the outgoing ones), but now Twinkie seems to be coming into her own. She already knows that I have peanuts and that I'm non-threatening, but she's not comfortable coming close to me yet. However, I know time, patience and gentleness will improve that, just as it did with Pea and Goober! :)
And yes, she still "twinkies" all the time -- the main reason I gave her that name! (For those who don't know, when I had pet rats and they stood up on their hind legs, I called it "twinkying". I guess their bodies reminded me of little Twinkies, for some odd reason. *giggle* Plus it's a diminutive name that sounds cute. So when I noticed one of the squirrels twinkied a lot (and also isn't as large as some of the others), I thought Twinkie was a great name for her. A cute name for a cute habit. I hope she doesn't mind it! ;)
And now, here are five photos I snapped of her yesterday. They're not so great, because she doesn't get as close as the others or sit as still. Not YET anyway! *grin* But, since I've posted all sorts of Peanut and Goober pix, I thought I'd give Twinkie her due. So, enjoy. (She's a petite squirrel, but has a big tail. Interesting!)
Her noise is pointing directly to a peanut half!
Eating -- yum!
Huh?
What's that?
Look at that furry little haunch! (Actually I'm complimented she trusts me enough to turn her back. I thought "prey animals" generally never turn their back on a scene or another animal? I guess I'm not considered a threat!)