I've never done anything like this before but, we need help with a mountain of medical bills we're facing right now. Between two hospital stays in the last year and mounting co-pays for doc visits and tests we're facing about $4500 in new bills on top of $6100 that we already owed.

I'm selling stuff to try and raise the money. I posted a new sales list yesterday if you wouldn't mind taking a look to see if there's anything you might like to buy, sharing it would be great, too. I'm also happy to do work for people, editing, photography clean up, etc.

I've done a Donate button for PayPal in case you don't want to buy anything but would still like to help. These donations will go to my PayPal account, I'll use any funds from this to pay our bills down at the hospital. Any help at all would be amazing! Here it is:

If you don't want to use the donate button, and you have a PayPal account, you can also just send something Friends and Family and they won't take out any fees. My PayPal addy is bstaton @ iglou.com (withouth the spaces)

No matter what, whether it's sharing this post, putting me to work, or donating, thank you. I hate so much to even ask but, I also know we need the help.

*hugs*

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I'm probably completely crazy to attempt this but, I want to write, darn it! I miss it like woah!

01.	ruin	06.	fold	11.	excuse	16.	doubt	21.	order	26.	promise
02.	balance	07.	rain	12.	kiss	17.	land	22.	silence	27.	shelter
03.	risk	08.	smoke	13.	benefit	18.	taste	23.	mark	28.	visit
04.	trust	09.	race	14.	call	19.	notice	24.	need	29.	trick
05.	rescue	10.	comfort	15.	brush	20.	writer's choice	25.	writer's choice	30.	writer's choice

The theme for this collection of prompts is 'A Hunter's Soul'

01.	Risk	06.	Fight	11.	Possession	16.	Wait	21.	Spirit
02.	Rest	07.	Flight	12.	Phantom	17.	Wonder	22.	Speak
03.	Ritual	08.	Fire	13.	Plea	18.	Water	23.	Silence
04.	Rage	09.	Fear	14.	Promise	19.	Wreck	24.	Solace
05.	Relent	10.	Fall	15.	Part	20.	Weapon	25.	Sense

*shakes tiny fist at the Universe*
Somehow, some way, this table will be filled with a combination of fiction and art.

01.	dark	06.	tears	11.	light	16.	earth	21.	air	26.	water
02.	smell	07.	spirit	12.	wind	17.	dust	22.	sweat	27.	fire
03.	touch	08.	taste	13.	dream	18.	sight	23.	sound	28.	speak
04.	listen	09.	hunger	14.	memory	19.	blood	24.	dirt	29.	sun
05.	moon	10.	shadow	15.	stars	20.	thirst	25.	yearn	30.	breath

Hi guys! Sorry that I dropped off the face of the earth, my Lupus, chemo and Iron Infusions, especially the last High concentration dose, did not play well together. They made me really sick and I ended up in the hospital a few days. Thankfully, I'm doing better, at least until my chemo this week on Thursday. Unfortunately, the bills for my hospital stay, and latest Heart Echo, are starting to show up. I got a $500 and $117 bill from Norton last week. I'm going to try and get a payment plan set up for the large bill but I went ahead and paid the $117 bill. That's left us with $50 in the bank to last until Friday so I really need to try and get some stuff sold.

So, here's my new Toys sale list, I've added a bunch of new toys, including my John & Sherlock and my Oliver Queen Green Arrow Funko POP figures. There is a clickable link at the top of the listing with photos of all the pieces. Let me know if you have any questions about any of the toys. Also, if you want more than one toy we can negotiate a discount for the lot. Anything I can make from them will be a huge help.

If you see anything you'd like, let me know. My PayPal addy is bstaton @ iglou.com (without the spaces) for payment. I can also take Venmo, @ Barbara-Staton-2. I'll just have to have your zip code to add shipping to the final cost. Please send any PayPal or Venmo payment via Friends and Family only. Here's the list:

( TOYS FOR SALE:Collapse )

If you wouldn't mind passing the word around about my sale I'd really appreciate it. I hope to post an updated Comics list later this afternoon if possible.

*hugs*

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Guys, I really need some help right now. When I had my chemo on Thursday my numbers weren’t good. My iron saturation was only 13%, my hemoglobin was 10.3, my red blood cell count was 3.63 and my hematocrit was only 31.7. It didn’t surprise me, I’ve felt pretty rotten lately. For the next three weeks I have to go in on Thursdays to have an iron infusion to try and get my numbers back up. The worst part is that they told me there will be a $275.00 co-pay with each infusion. We don’t have it. I’m already having to juggle bills around just to get our regular bills paid.

I’m hoping to get a list of comics posted for sale later today. Any help passing the word along about my books would be greatly appreciated. If you see anything you'd like, let me know. My PayPal addy is bstaton @ iglou.com (without the spaces) for payment. I can also take Venmo, @ Barbara-Staton-2. I'll just have to have your zip code to add shipping to the final cost. Please send any PayPal payment via Friends and Family., otherwise, they’ll count it against me and I’d end up having to pay taxes on it next year because of the new tax law.

I'm sorry to ask, but I could really use the help. I’ve got to try and get some things sold.

*hugs*

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Here’s my updated Jewelry Sales list. As before, there is a clickable link at the head of each section with photos of all the listed pieces. Any questions about size, necklace length, etc, just ask. I've got dimensions on all the jewelry. Also, I have pictures with multiple views of each piece if there's something you'd like to see more of.

I'd really appreciate your checking it out. If you see anything you'd like, let me know. My PayPal addy is bstaton @ iglou.com (without the spaces) for payment. I can also take Venmo, @ Barbara-Staton-2. I'll just have to have your zip code to add shipping to the final cost. I can also take PayPal payment via Friends and Family.

( JEWELRY & MISC SALES LIST:Collapse )

if you could help me pass the word about my sale that would be great. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

*hugs*

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I got the bill straightened out! I got through to someone in billing a bit ago. Whenever I get an infusion there are two claims submitted to insurance, the one for the clinical side of things and the one for my Physician's assistant and my doc. That's the one that was submitted wrong, which, of course, was the one with the $50K in drug cost.

Now I just have to wait and see how much of the $50K I'll end up being responsible for with its being submitted correctly. Anything will be better than the $49K they say I owe right now, though.

I've got the Toys sale list ready to post, I finished editing the pictures for it just now. There is a clickable link at the top of the listing with photos of all the listed pieces. Let me know if you have any questions about any of the toys. Also, if you want more than one toy we can negotiate a discount for the lot. Anything I can make from them will be a huge help.

If you see anything you'd like, let me know. My PayPal addy is bstaton @ iglou.com (without the spaces) for payment. I can also take Venmo, @ Barbara-Staton-2. I'll just have to have your zip code to add shipping to the final cost. Please send any PayPal payment via Friends and Family. Here's the list:

( TOYS FOR SALE:Collapse )

If you wouldn't mind passing the word around about my sale I'd really appreciate it. I hope to post the updated Jewelry list later this afternoon with comics to follow in the next couple of days.

*hugs*

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Guys, please forgive me, I just need to vent a little bit. I got a letter from Norton Hospital yesterday stating that Medicare had refused a claim and that I needed to get in touch with them to straighten it out or I'd be responsible for the full amount of the cost. The way they worded the letter I got the feeling that the hospital had screwed up when they submitted it. Anthem is my primary insurance because Lee still works and Medicare is my secondary. They’ve messed that up before.

My feet have been pretty painful last night so I decided to dig around on Anthem to see if I could find the claim they were talking about. There's a claim listed for $50,000, which I assume are my chemotherapy drugs. It says they'd pay $261 and my responsibility is $49,586.18! If that isn’t a truly frightening number I don’t know what is.

So, on Monday I have to call billing at Norton to get them to resubmit the bill correctly and then hold my breath to see what my actual responsibility for the bill becomes then. I sure don’t need this added stress right now. It’s already been a hard week just from the fatigue and pain from the neuropathy. In between times I’ve been trying my best to go through things to sell. I have to, I’ve got about $800 in utilities I need to pay out this week.

I’m hoping to get some toys listed for sale today. I’m also going to repost an updated jewelry sale, too. After that I'll be posting comics. I’ve got my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to get some stuff sold, which would be a huge help. Wish me luck!

*hugs*

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This is mostly pointed toward my friends that remain active on LJ but it also includes my friends on DW, too. It’s sad to think about but, with world conditions being what they are right now, LJ could disappear and maybe not return. If the worst should happen, I don’t want to lose friends I’ve cherished for so many years. Hence, this post.

I’m Digitalwave on Dreamwidth and on twitter, I’m digitalwavefic on Instagram. I’m also on Facebook under my name. If you’re on Facebook and would like to friend me there, just drop me a dm for a link.

I don’t want to lose you guys, I love and cherish you all way too much for that.

*hugs*

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It took five days, three different sets of plumbers but it's finally fixed! Monday night about 6:30 the last set of plumbers pulled up with a specialized truck, hooked up a hydro jet cleaner and were able to completely clear the line. There was no sign of collapse anywhere in the pipe, everything was fine.

It was so nice to be able to shower again, to be able to cook real meals. Just the little things of life can always seem so precious, especially after the last couple of years.

Thank goodness it’s fixed now and wasn’t a complete rebuild of our sewer system. The moral of the story is, always get a second opinion. But, most importantly, yay, it's fixed! ☺️

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We're still hanging in there, it's really been a mess. Thursday night they said they were sending someone from a local plumbing company, they never showed. Then later that night they said someone from our insurance had called to cancel the work order. Which, of course, they denied doing.

On Friday they sent two people from another company, two kids who looked about twenty. They poked around, glanced in our access pipe and declared our line had collapsed, that we'd have to have our yard drug up by a contractor to replace it. They said our insurance carrier would be calling to schedule it. We waited all day, no callback. I called them myself Friday night and, of course, they acted like they'd heard nothing about it. They got us scheduled with yet another plumber for Saturday.

On Saturday we waited all day until just before five for that plumber, his name was Brian. Thankfully, he was great, he had 28 years experience and was careful in checking the line. He said our line appears to be intact, that when we got over three inches of rain on Thursday we had a huge amount of debris back flow from the main sewer line in the street to clog our line. Unfortunately, he didn't have the equipment it'd need to clear it, a hydro jet cleaner to blast the line clean. He told us he'd notify our insurance and they'd call us back within the next hour or so to get it scheduled. We waited and waited and, of course, no callback

I called them again last night. Once again I had to go through the whole saga to explain what was happening. I also told her I wanted to lodge a complaint because this is such a potential health hazard for us and it's been going on since Thursday afternoon. She got us scheduled with a company that can do hydro jet cleaning but, unfortunately, the earliest they can see us is Monday. We're scheduled for them to get here sometime between 10am and 5pm.

We're lucky in that it must not be completely blocked. The initial water went back down Thursday night. We've got a low flow commode in the basement that we've been using and it hasn't caused the water to rise again so far. No showers, just sink baths, eating off paper and plastic, using as little water as possible to wash plates and utensils we couldn't use disposables for, ordering out as we can afford it.

Staying at a hotel isn't an option. Besides the cost, Isha, our cat, is eighteen years old. I don't think she could tolerate the trauma of being boarded for any length of time. We love her too much to even chance it so we'll make do.

Good thoughts for tomorrow will be much appreciated, I so want this to be over. Especially since I have chemo again next week. I don't need this on top of everything else.

*hugs*

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We could really use your help. Yesterday we had our floor drain in the basement back up which means a blockage in our sewer line. The plumber they said would come last night never called or showed. When we could finally get in touch with them, they lied and said someone had cancelled the work order. It sure wasn't us! The other plumbers got here a bit ago. They tried to move the blockage and couldn’t. They said there is mud in the line which means there's a collapse somewhere. So now we have to wait until another team can come to check it out. No matter what, it's looking bad. Besides whatever the cost of the repair will be, we have a huge ash tree next to our house. If they say we have to have it removed that'll cost several thousand dollars alone, not counting the repair costs. It's pretty scary. Unfortunately, all we can do is wait and see what they tell us after the next group checks everything out.

The first part of the week had started out pretty good. I got some comics sold and was able to pay $170 toward my bill at the hospital and $250 toward Lee's $1500 bill from his breakthrough covid hospitalization. Of course, there’s always new bills to replace those but, it was still progress, no matter what. I’m hoping to repost my jewelry list this weekend. I’m also hoping to start going through my collectibles and comics, too. Any help spreading the word about my sales would be much appreciated.

Even with all the side effects I'm trying really hard to stay positive. I’ve been dealing with a lot of problems related to the side effects from the new chemo meds. They're playing around with the dosage to see if they can decrease them. Between the joint pain, increased neuropathy and cramping it's been pretty miserable.

It’s so hard not to get discouraged though, especially when things like this happen. I hope to find out something, good news or bad, later today. Good thoughts would really help right now.

*hugs*

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Guys, I have a big favor to ask for when you buy something from me, or even just send a gift to help out. If you pay through either PayPal or Venmo could you make sure you choose friends and family and not goods and services when you send it? Otherwise, besides the fees they take out of the total, they’ll now report anything I make over $600 for the whole year to the irs and I might end up having to pay taxes on money I’m trying to raise to pay medical bills or just help us get by. That could end up really hurting us in the long term.

I think the new rule is pretty ridiculous, huge corporations can make billions and never pay any taxes. But, if I try to sell something of my own, which I originally paid sales tax on, they can go after me and charge taxes on it again. I’m so sorry for asking this of you but I don’t know what to do otherwise.

Last night was another long night without a lot of sleep to be had. I’m hoping to try and catch a nap this afternoon if I can if my hands and feet will just behave. Hope that everyone is having a good Monday so far.

*hugs*

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Hi guys! When I couldn't sleep the other night from the pain and cramping in my feet and hands I decided to at least try be productive. I got an updated sales list posted with a lot of new, pretty pieces. If you could take a look or share it to help me get the word out I'd really appreciate it.

Things are even more tight than usual with co-pays, meds and doc visits right now. I've got another chemo treatment coming up next week and I'll have a repeat echocardiogram later this month. Plus Lee has doc visits coming up, too. So, any sales would help a lot. Here's the link:

JEWELRY & MISC SALES LIST

Thanks so much, as always!

*hugs*

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I've updated and added a ton of new pieces. All of the jewelry I sold last time has been removed and new pieces added to replace them. This is only part of it, I’ll have more to post later. Medical costs are kind of eating us up alive right now and we’re behind on a bunch of bills so any thing I’m able to sell will be a big help.

I’ve divided the different pictures by section to make them easier to navigate. There is a clickable link at the head of each section with photos of all the listed pieces. Any questions about size, necklace length, etc, just ask. I've got dimensions on all the jewelry. Also, I have pictures with multiple views of each piece if there's something you'd like to see more of.

I'd really appreciate your checking it out. If you see anything you'd like, let me know. My PayPal addy is bstaton @ iglou.com (without the spaces) for payment. I can also take Venmo, @ Barbara-Staton-2. I'll just have to have your zip code to add shipping to the final cost. Sending any PayPal payment via Friends and Family would be great. They take out tons of fees otherwise.

( JEWELRY & MISC SALES LIST:Collapse )

if you could help me pass the word about my sale that would be great. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

*hugs

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First off, I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to post lately,.I sure hope that everyone’s holiday was wonderful and everything that they hoped for.

I had my third dose of the new chemo, Kadcyla, this week. I was supposed to have it last week but they postponed it. I’ve been having a lot of problems with my new chemo meds and my session from dec 22nd pretty much kicked my butt You know, the one that was supposed to be easier on my system than the Taxol? Irony remains alive and well in my little world it seems.

I don't think my lupus likes it very much. After my dose on the 22nd I had the fun of flu like symptoms, hot flashes, joint pain and increased foot pain from the neuropathy flaring up. Twas not fun. Lee was wonderful and helped all he could. Even down to foot massages when the cramps were bad.

I spoke to both my nurse practitioner and my oncologist about it this week and we're going to be adjusting the dosage until we find one that doesn't hit me as hard. As my nurse said, what good is the cure if it makes you miserable? We started with this week's dose.

I've had the flu symptoms, and the hot flashes, but no increase in the neuropathy or joint pain so far. Fingers crossed we'll find the sweet spot for my sessions.

Complaints aside, I know that I'm still so incredibly lucky. I had a wonderful holiday season with my family and friends, my labs are staying stable, still no signs of any other cancer in my scans, still have my new grown hair and my heart is still behaving. I have another echo coming up in February.

Most important of all, I'm still here when so many others aren't. I count my blessings every single day for that. ☺️💕🤗 You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

Hi guys! I posted a bunch of new things to try and sell a couple of days ago. If you could take a look, and maybe share my post to try and get it seen more, it’d be wonderful.. I know that everyone is really busy this time of year but if you could I’d really appreciate it. Thanks so much!

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Hi guys!

I need your help with this sale. As of tomorrow we'll be overdrawn at the bank. I had a med bill for $191.00 come out today with another set to hit tomorrow for $65.00. We have $45.00 in the bank right now. With Lee being off work because of his Pneumonia for three weeks, on top of his hospital stay in the Spring, we had to take part of his time as non paid. That really hurts for this month. Plus we've got utility bills I need to pay on the 20th and our car insurance on the 26th. We don't get paid again until Jan. 3rd. So, I'm hoping I can get a lot of stuff sold.

I've added a ton of new pieces. A lot of the sets, especially the Chico’s, are new and unworn. They came from a local boutique shop. Back before all the health issues started, I was lucky enough to buy a bunch of jewelry stock from an estate sale. The store had belonged to a friend’s mom, she just didn’t want to have deal with it. The Glass Paperweights, various Trinket Boxes and the other Glassware belonged to my mom. Also, a lot of the earrings came from another estate auction I was lucky enough to win several years back. The owner of the jewelry loved to support local Designers and she had a lot of really beautiful, unique pieces. This is only part of it, I have more to post later.

I’ve divided the different pictures by section to make them easier to navigate. Any questions about size, necklace length, etc, just ask. I've got dimensions on all the jewelry. Also, I have pictures with multiple views of each piece if there's something you'd like to see more of.

I'd really appreciate your checking it out. If you see anything you'd like, let me know. My PayPal addy is bstaton @ iglou.com (without the spaces) for payment. I can also take Venmo, @ Barbara-Staton-2. I'll just have to have your zip code to add shipping to the final cost. Sending any PayPal payment via Friends and Family would be great. They take out tons of fees otherwise.

( JEWELRY & MISC SALES LIST:Collapse )

if you could help me pass the word about my sale that would be great. Any help would be greatly appreciated. You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

Tomorrow starts my new round of chemo/immuno therapy so I wanted to post this selfie just in case my hair decides to go bye bye again. I'll be getting 14 rounds of Kadcyla, administered through my IV port once every three weeks. So, that means, if all goes well, I should be finished with it sometime next October.

It's not supposed to be as bad as the Taxol was side effects wise so that's a major plus. We'll just have to wait and see. The main thing is, I'm still here and doing fine all things considered. I have friends and family who love and support me, no matter what. I fully believe that things are going to be great and that you guys are going to be stuck with me for a very long time. ☺️

( Look, it grew back!Collapse ) You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

As I wrote to a friend earlier today, I'm thankful, and overjoyed, today because Lee got to come home from the hospital last night. He came with antibiotics, two new inhalers, a steroid dose pack, O2 Sat monitor, new BP cuff, new meds and strict orders to let them know if he has any instances of being excessively short of breath but that's okay. I think that mostly they let him come home because he lives with a nurse, retired though I might be.

They said to consider it as virtual hospital time. He’s not to go back to work yet. He still has to heal and build his endurance back up. The main thing is that he’s home! There were times in the last week that I was so scared for Lee. His respiratory doc told him yesterday that his being vaccinated is what saved him. With the speed at which this virus attacked, how quickly he became really ill, I truly believe that, too.

Even though Lee’s home we’re still postponing dinner with Amber, Anastaisa and our friend, Doug for now. Partly due to finances, the cost of food, gas for all the trips back and forth to the hospital, doc visits and meds were all unexpected expenses here at the end of the month. But also mostly due to caution, we don't want to take any chances until we have a negative COVID test for Lee. We don’t want any one else we love to have to go through this. I’ve never seen any other virus be as vicious as this one.

If he feels up to it at all he'll be working remotely next week. He’s going to play it by ear and see how he’s feeling. I plan on encouraging naps, using his inhalers and doing his breathing exercises to keep cleaning out his lungs. I’ll be fixing high vitamin foods to help boost his immune system. Mine too, I restart my chemo on Dec 1st.

I'm just so glad to have him home. The last year has taught me that life changes in an instant and you can never take anything for granted. That you have to cherish the people you love, hug them, tell them how much you love them, whenever you have a chance. So, I'm thankful, both for having Lee home and having all of you in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope that your day was filled with laughter, friends, family, good food and tons of hugs!😊 You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

Hi guys,

First off, I'm sorry it's been so long since I could give you an update. The last weeks of my radiation treatments really kicked my butt. Besides the fatigue, which I'm still dealing with, I ended up with two areas that looked like 2nd degree burns on the underside of my left breast. Getting those healed without infection wasn't fun but they're finally looking better. There's still some soreness but no breaks in the skin now and the redness looks a lot better. I've got a follow-up appointment with my radiologist on the 23rd, I think he'll be pleased with how it's healing. I had my latest heart Echo on Tuesday, overall it looked pretty good so I'll be able to restart my chemo/immuno therapy drugs on Dec 1st, which is good.

What's not so great is that Lee is sick, he was diagnosed with covid on Monday. Lee got an monoclonal antibodies infusion on Tuesday. He's still really sick. He felt a little better on Wednesday but then was up most of Thursday night due to coughing and congestion. He's pretty miserable. He slept in his recliner in the living room the last couple of nights, I've been sleeping in our guest room to try and keep down contact between us as much as we can.

Yesterday we had to go to the ER and he was admitted. He has bilateral bacterial pneumonia. Lee's covid exposure must have happened at work. Except to pick up our groceries each week we barely go out. We've worked so hard to stay safe the last year and a half. Got our vaccinations, always wore our mask and he still got sick. It’s so damned frustrating.

I know that he's scared, he admitted it to me, I am too. It's frightening how fast he went from fine to really sick in just a couple of days. I keep hoping he'll start to show some signs of improvement. They’ve got him on two different iV antibiotics and he’s also getting steroids to try and reduce some of the inflammation in his lungs. Hopefully, I’ll know more when I see him this morning.

Sometimes I wish I wasn’t a nurse, seeing his labs, knowing what the numbers mean, makes things even more frightening. Please, we could really use all the positive thoughts we can get sent our way right now. I'll keep you posted as I can on how things go. Thanks, as always for listening.

*hugs* You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

Good news first, I’m down to only five more radiation treatments now. I get to ring the bell next Wednesday which will be nice. So far, so good. Still dealing with the rash but I don’t think that will improve until I’m finished. I’ve got some tenderness in my breast but my skin still looks good, no signs of redness or peeling, thank goodness! Fingers crossed I’ll squeak through with only the rash and the increased tiredness. When they say you might have some fatigue they mean it! I tend to crash hard after therapy, watching anything on tv is kind of a joke right now.

It’s sure made trying to get things prepped for sale harder. Which I really need to do. I got a new bill from Norton hospital this week for $388 plus, I’ve got our car insurance, lights and gas bill and other bills coming up I need to get covered. The USPS sure isn’t helping my cause. I got my Superman Batman comics sold on ebay the other day for $95 plus shipping which was great. What wasn’t so good is that I got an email from the buyer saying they arrived damaged, which they did, he had pictures, asking to be refunded. I packed the heck out of those comics and sent them in heavy duty boxes. They really had to work to damage them like that! I send his $95 back just a bit ago. I told him just to keep the comics, to donate them to a family homeless shelter or a church. They may not be collector quality now but they’re still great comics that need to be enjoyed. I really hope that he does.

I’m hoping to get some jewelry posted this week. Plus, I’ve got a bunch of other pretties, too, like my mom’s beautiful glass paperweights, my grandmother’s glass candy dish and more. I’m really hoping that I’ll be able to get them and more comics posted and sold.

So, I’m off to work on that, even though what I’d really like to do is nap. 😊

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Hi guys! Just a quick update on the rash. Still no real word on a cause. Dr. Saving doesn't think that it's related to an infection in my med port but they're flushing it on Tuesday just to be safe.

Still dealing with the itching and redness. If it's not due to an infection, it's either my Lupus acting up in reaction to the radiation treatments or an allergic reaction to one of my drugs. I'm seeing my oncologist on Tuesday so I'll talk to him about it then, In the meantime, I'll keep icing it and using the anti-itch cream to try and keep it from getting worse. Four radiation treatments down, nineteen more to go.

There hasn't been a lot of interest in the books so far. Ill probably try and list some of them for sale on eBay. If you could still pass word along about the comics I posted I'd really appreciate it.

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I’ve got redness and a rash starting on my right side of my face and down my neck. This can be signs of an infected med port. I also had some pain in my neck over the weekend. I’m going to ask them to check it while I’m at radiation this morning. I’ve also got an appointment to be seen by my surgeon, Dr. Saving, tomorrow morning at 11am after I get finished at my 9:30 radiation treatment. If it is infected, they’ll either try treating it with flushing it with antibiotics or, they’ll have to move it. I sure know what I’m hoping for.

For those who have reposted my comic book sale, thank you so much. I start my daily radiation treatments today. I’m going to have to drive my car as is until I can save the money to get it fixed. Hopefully it won’t hurt it.

*hugs* You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

Between hard drive crashes, prep for starting radiation treatments and attempted car vandalism I thought I’d never get this list of books posted to try and sell. But, finally, here it is. This is only the beginning as I’ve made the decision to sell all my remaining comics collection. It’s time. Even though I still love them, I wouldn’t want Lee to be stuck dealing with all of them should anything happen to me. Life is fragile and can change in a heartbeat. Plus, between mounting med costs, needed home repairs we keep putting off and unexpected car repairs, we need the money more than I need to keep my many boxes of remaining comics.

So, here's my list. If you see anything you'd like, I can take PayPal at bstaton @ iglou.com, without the spaces. If you could make any payments Friends and Family that would be wonderful so they don't fee me to death. I can also take Venmo, my account is @ Barbara-Staton-2, without the extra space before my name. I'll just need shipping info from you so that I can calculate your shipping costs. I'm happy to provide any pictures you'd like to see of the books. I've always carefully stored my books boxed, most bagged and boarded. Their conditions range from Very FIne, VF/Near Mint to Near Mint Minus. My books still look brand new.

( Comics Sale ListCollapse )

Any help boosting this sale would be amazing. As always, thanks so much for listening.

*hugs* You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

I spoke to my team this morning after they got my x-rays, there’s just too much going on this week. Namely that I can’t afford to get my car fixed right now. I need to get stuff sold just to cover money for the rest of the month, including $175 for our gas and electric bill which has to be paid by the 20th plus $108 for our water and sewage bill.

Ms Boyd at Geico finally called me back this morning. The news wasn’t good, we have to pay $750 out of pocket for my car repair. They’re probably going to give us about $50 to $75 at most. They will send an adjuster out to do an estimate on my car but I’m not expecting much by the way she talked. It’s a damned if we do, damned if we don’t situation because if we didn’t have a high deductible our insurance would be a lot more expensive. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help us a lot right now.

I’m going to try and get some comics posted for sale later today. Hopefully, I can get some jewelry posted this week, too. I’ll just have to not drive my car any more than I absolutely have to and save up to get it fixed as soon as I can. Stuff like paying bills, gas money, prescriptions and groceries have to come first. It’s still a long time until we’re paid again on the 30th.

One of these days things will settle down and we’ll have a nice boring life. I truly, truly look forward to that.

ETA:

We got some good news for a change this afternoon. The Geico adjuster came by, took pictures and checked under my car. It looks like when my neighbor spooked the thief the other night he hadn't finished the job. My catalytic converter is still there! She says I'll have to replace the cover shield and the exhaust pipe which she estimates at about $550 to repair. Which is way better than the $900 estimate the muffler shop gave me to replace everything.

I still have to sell stuff to raise the money for it, Geico won't be paying anything toward it at all. But, $550 isn't as scary a number as $900 is.

I'll take any good news we can get. :) You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

I spoke to our across the street neighbor, Rick, on Friday. It was him coming down the steps at the end of our Nest doorbell video. He heard the sound of the saw the thief used to remove my converter and correctly guessed someone's car was being vandalized. He just didn't realize it was mine right across the street because the guy was crouched down where he couldn't see him.

Rick saw the car waiting for the thief down the street and took off toward it to try and take a picture, it was blurry and didn't turn out. However, he said it was a silver Honda Civic with damage on the passenger side. I'm going to check on Next Door. I think I remember an earlier post where someone else had an encounter with this car. And that they shared pictures of it in an earlier post.

He also got a glimpse of the thief as he got in the car. Rick said he had on light cargo pants and a dark baseball cap. I'm going to give this info to the police on Monday to add to my report. I'm so thankful for the extra info but was terrified at the thought that he could have been shot in the process of getting it!

Just wanted to give everyone local a heads up to be on the lookout for the car in their neighborhood in case they're cruising around looking for more people to rob. You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

We'll, it was a good news, bad news kind of day on Wednesday. I had my appointment to get a CT scan done to do the mapping for my upcoming radiation treatments.The good news was that they think they might be able to shield my pacemaker enough that they won't have to move it to the other side of my chest. Which would be wonderful. I so don't want more surgery right now.

They want me to have 23 sessions in all, which will start next Tuesday. They'll keep the doses on the low side to try to not aggravate my Lupus too much.

After I complete those I'll be going back on my IV drugs for thirteen doses. They'll be infused on an every three week schedule and will be a mix of chemo and the Her2 inhibitor drug. Hopefully with less side effects.

The bad news was that someone stole my catalytic converter right off my 2004 Honda CR-V, which was parked in front of our house, early Wednesday morning prior to my scan.

I noticed my car sounded louder than usual as I drove to the hospital. To be 17 years old it's normally still pretty quiet. I checked our Nest door bell camera's video feed as I waited for my scan because I had a horrible susoicion I knew what had happened. Sure enough, I watched video of a guy stealing my catalytic converter right off my car!

That meant I spent most of the day after I got back from the hospital making a police report and talking to Geico. I still have no idea what, if any, they'll cover of my cost to replace it. I left a message for our assigned claims adjuster this afternoon but she hasn't called me back yet. Our mechanic told me it'll cost about $900 to fix it. I hope Geico will at least cover some of it. It sure was a rotten time for it to happen, right when I'm supposed to start daily radiation treatments I need to be able to drive myself to. Right now it looks like I’ll need to postpone starting my treatments for a week, I can’t get to them without a car to get there.

Here's the link to the Nest video, I captured it because the policeman who took my report said it might be helpful at some point. Watch mister creepy pants as he just stares at our house before he gets started. Seven minutes, that's all it took from beginning to end. He was here from 2:26 until 2:33am, when he got spooked and left. I so don't need this in my life right now.

https://youtu.be/5AH-EDv_l4I You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

My computer's hard drive has died, joy happiness. Not looking forward to having to rebuild it and then having to try and rescue files off the old drive.

I really don’t need the expense or the hassle right now. Time spent dealing with this is time I won’t have for trying to get stuff sold. And, I really need to get stuff sold.

Good thoughts would be much appreciated.

*hugs* You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

First, off, thanks to everyone who helped or bought comics last week. Everything has been packed up and most things have already arrived at their new homes. I was able to get our utilities and some other med bills paid. I have more coming up this week so I'll be posting more, hopefully tomorrow, as I can go through boxes.

On that note, would anyone be interested in buying my iPad Pro? It's an Apple iPad Pro 12.9" 3rd Gen. 256GB Wi-Fi + 4G LTE. It's unlocked and can be used on any carrier and is Space Gray in color. I bought it from Verizon through their payment plan. It's fully paid for and is still like brand new. It's selling on eBay for between $600 and $800 dollars. I'd be happy if I could make $600 for it. Just let me know if you'd like it and we could figure out shipping. I hate to lose it, especially since I'll be restarting my chemo after I finish my radiation treatments. But, we need the money right now.

Speaking of which, I met with my radiologist, Dr Cornett, yesterday. He was really nice and kind, as all of my docs have been. He wants to do six weeks of daily low dose treatments, Monday through Friday. Sounds like radiation treatments will be really tricky between my Lupus and my Pacemaker. The Lupus worsens side effects, the Pacemaker might not be shielded enough. He's going to consult with my heart doc, Dr Henes, and with Medtronic, the makers of my unit. If it isn't I'm facing more surgery, either moving it to the other side of my chest, where I already have a med port, or having them do a complete Mastectomy and bypass the radiation altogether. Which would suck. I wouldn't have had the Lumpectomy if I'd known that they'd have to go back and take the breast about a month later. I'll keep you posted on what I find out.

Lee's stent removal went okay on Monday. Fingers crossed but, so far, so good. Hope everyone is having a good Saturday night so far.

*hugs* You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

Well, I'm doing a little better, it's been not quite a month since I posted last. Unfortunately, it's been a pretty eventful month. My healing continues to progress, slowly thanks to my Lupus but, I'm getting there. Still taking Voltarin, both by mouth and the gel version that's applied as a topical pain killer and anti-inflammatory. They've both been helping. I go back to see my podiatrist next week to see what further treatment they want to do to my left heel.

Lee's been in the hospital. He ended up with kidney stones and we had a daylong ER stint followed by hospitalization for stent placement. Plus, sonics to break up the stones. It was so sad that Lee's first worry was how much this would cost us. Then, yesterday he passed another stone with more bleeding and pain. Thankfully he didn't have to stay in-patient this time. He has an appointment next week to have the stent removed, I wonder if they'll have to wait? I understand Lee's worries, though. I am now officially at just slightly under $500,000 for my medical claims with many more procedures, tests and med cost to come.

We still don't know if they'll want to move my pacemaker prior to the radiation treatments. Which would be my fourth surgery for this year. I meet with the radiology team next Friday, hopefully I'll know more then.

I met with my oncologist yesterday and got some pretty frustrating news. Because there was still some malignant cells left in my tumor when they removed it. my doctor wants me to switch to a mixed chemo/Her2 immuno therapy drug called Kadcyla. It's given on a 21 day cycle and he'd want me to have 18 treatments. That translates to effectively a full year of chemo still to come on top of everything else. I guess I'd better enjoy my little bit of hair regrowth, it's not going to last.

I know how lucky I am, I'm still here. Plus, I don't have any signs of metastasis. I count my blessing every day, I promise. It still doesn't change the fact that this will be another year of not feeling good combined with astronomical health costs that we'll have to keep finding ways to deal with.

Speaking of which, I need your help. I'm posting a list of comics I'm hoping to sell with this note. I've decided I'm going to sell my whole comics collection, plus jewelry and other fannish things I can find to post. We'd had co-pays for two ER visits this month. It's eaten up not only the money I had set aside for living on but bills as well. We're on a payment plan with Louisville Gas & Electric. If I can't pay them $160.00 tomorrow they'll cancel the plan and everything I still owe them will come due. Plus, I've got a $200 payment to Clearbalance for our Norton Hospital bill, So, any boosting of my sales you can do, I will really appreciate it.

So, here's my list. If you see anything you'd like, I can take PayPal at bstaton @ iglou.com, without the spaces. If you could make any payments Friends and Family that would be wonderful so they don't fee me to death. I can also take Venmo, my account is @ Barbara-Staton-2, without the extra space before my name. I'll just need shipping info from you so that I can calculate your shipping costs. I'm happy to provide any pictures you'd like to see of the books. I've always carefully stored my books boxed, most bagged and boarded. Their conditions range from Very FIne, VF/Mint to Near Mint Minus. My books still look brand new.

( Comics Sale ListCollapse )

As always, thanks so much for listening. :)

*hugs* You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

Hi guys, I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I've written, it's been a pretty challenging few months. It's hard to describe just how much chemo drains you, the fatigue is very real. The good news is I'm finished now. As you can see from my picture, I've lost all my hair but, overall, I tolerated it pretty well. The best news is that my tumor shrank from 7cm when we started down to 4cm when we were done. They removed it yesterday. I had some bumps along the way, I developed blood clots in my left arm and had to start on a blood thinner, Xarelto. I also had a course of antibiotics for a bacterial infection that caused a pretty nasty red rash on both my arms. They look much better now.

( Me, in all my hairless gloryCollapse )

Prior to my surgery I had to have electronic location markers placed in my left breast. That's so my surgeon, Dr. Saving, knew where the tumor was for making the incision. The doc at Women's and Children ended up placing three markers.

The first two weren't so bad. She numbed my breast then placed the two markers using the ultrasound wand.
Then they took me for a mammogram to check placement and she decided she wanted to add an additional marker. They had to re-numb my breast then tighten it in place on the mammogram machine. That hurt worse than placing the marker!

I had to be at Audubon hospital at 8:30am yesterday. She had the two surgeries scheduled one right after the other. I have two incision lines, one under my arm where she took a lymph node to biopsy and the four inch one on my breast from the Lumpectomy. She closed them both with interior dissolvable stitches and surgical glue. Thankfully, I didn't have to have drains placed and I got to go home same day.

They'll start the Immuno therapy drugs, Perjeta and Herceptin, back up in August but they plan to wait six weeks to start my radiation treatments to give me a chance to heal. My body scans have been clear so far, no metastasis. I've had two full body scans with contrast. If my lymph node biopsy comes back okay I'll be cancer free. If it doesn't, we'll deal with that, too.

Now that they aren't giving me the weekly dexamethasone infusions prior to my chemo my lupus has been going bonkers. I've been having really bad pain and stiffness. It's made it hard to walk. The Celebrex I've been on wasn't really touching it. My regular doc stopped it yesterday and put me on Voltarin twice a day. I'm getting both the oral med and the topical gel. I can already tell a difference, my pain levels are much better today so, yay! I have an appointment to see her on the 27th.

Now that the surgery is behind me I've got to concentrate on getting stuff sold. I'm really hoping for a good window to be more productive as I heal. I need it. Bills keep cropping up and eating up our money to live on. We're staying pretty broke all of the time.

No matter what though, I know how lucky I am. I responded well to the chemo, I was able to get a lumpectomy instead of a mastectomy, there's no sign of any metastasis so far. Plus, I'm surrounded by family and friends every step of the way. I've just got to keep my head up and continue plowing my way through.

*hugs*

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It's been very expensive for us auto wise this past week. First off, when I went out to go to my doc appointment last Thursday my car was dead, it had ceased to be. By the time I was finally able to get Geico out to jump it I was too late for my appointment so I had to cancel it. Since I was up and dressed any way I went to run a couple of errands, carefully making sure I didn't turn it off for the over 25 minutes like he suggested. When I went to start it up, it was dead again. That meant I had to go to AutoZone after they got it started again. Thankfully my alternator was okay but, my battery was shot, it wasn't holding a charge. So, $223.09 later I had a new battery and wiper blades for my faithful 2004 Honda CVR.

Then, I had to make an appointment for Lee's car because it had started making an awful grinding noise whenever he had to use the brakes. We took it in on Monday to be fixed. All four brake pads had to be replaced so that was another fast $519.21 that we couldn't afford. The nice thing was that he let me postdate for the 31st, when we got paid again, otherwise we didn't have it in our account to pay them. All this was happening on top of everything else going on and was horrible timing. I've had no time and not a lot of energy but I have to somehow get stuff sold just to keep us in the black and not overdrawn at the bank. Even with not paying some of our bills it'll be way too tight.

There's been no surgery scheduled for my breast and there won't be for a while. Everything changed after they had their team meeting to present my case. Which meant an outpatient visit to Audubon Hospital to have Dr. Saving place my med port two weeks ago Wednesday. It went really well considering how my Lupus normally attacks any wound I get. The pain is very tolerable and its healed well.

I started targeted chemo therapy today, Taxol, paired with Immunology drugs Perjeta and Herceptin for my HER-2 Positive tumor. Plus, I got a pre-treatment cocktail of Pepcid, Dexamethasone and Kytril to help with any nausea that might occur. My appointment ran from 10am until 4:45pm so it was a very long day. One down, eleven more to go!

I met with my oncologist, Dr. Driscoll, before my port placement. I like him. He's worked with Cancer patients with Lupus before. I'll be getting low dose treatments every week lo decrease the chance of my Lupus going haywire. I'll also be receiving the two immunology drugs, every third week. Right now, they plan on twelve weeks of chemo and up to a year on the immunology drugs. There’s a chance I won’t have to have breast surgery if I respond to the drugs like they hope and it shrinks the tumor. In all the studies I’ve read, the great news is that the weekly low dose treatments are just as effective as the three-week blast dose with much, much less destructive side effects. I'll still lose my hair but, hopefully a lot of the other problems like nausea, lowered white blood cells, neuropathy, won't be as bad.

I plan to keep myself as healthy and strong as I can and will kick this Cancer’s butt! I have a lot of things in my favor. My lymph nodes look normal in ultrasound, all my scans and labs look great. Last Wednesday I had a full Body scan plus CT scans with contrast of my Lungs, abdomen and pelvic area. All of them came back free of Metastatic activity. They showed the damage from my Lupus but no Cancer, thank goodness!

I'm going to try my best to be more active here, to use this as a true memory box for what happens next. I know that having friends to talk to will be a huge, huge help. I also know I’m incredibly lucky as I go through this. I’m surrounded by amazing friends, family and tons of love in my life. I will beat this!

*hugs* You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

I'm so sorry that I hadn't written until now, I just needed a little time to come to terms with everything after I met with my surgeon, Dr. Saving, on Thursday. She seems like she's a really great doc. Lee and I both liked her. I actually have a treatment team now, surgeon, oncologist, radiologist, which will meet on Tuesday to discuss my case and make my next plan of care.

Lee came with me for my doc visit which was a huge help. It's ultimately my body, my decision but we're a team. What affects one of us, affects us both. I've decided I want to go with a full Mastectomy on the left, as opposed to a Lumpectomy because with one I have to have a full round of radiation, with the other I don't. Plus, she said that the tumor is so large that my breast would probably be deformed after its removal. I definitely want to go with the option that'll introduce less destructive forces to my body.

I'll have to go home postop with a drain in place. She said she'll probably implant my medicine port at the same time as my surgery. I know I'm looking at Immunotherapy meds for sure with probably at least some targeted chemotherapy for Her2 positive cells. A lot of it depends on whether there's any microscopic involvement of my Lymph glands. I don't know which drugs yet. I'll know more after she presents my case to her group on Tuesday.

I haven't decided about whether I'll want reconstruction. It's hard to want to have more surgery just for cosmetic reasons. Especially with the way I know my Lupus will attack after the fact. Dr. Saving says my insurance will cover a prosthesis for me, They even make a cami you can buy which has a prosthesis pocket. It's expensive, like everything else, but at least I know I have options.

Right now I'm just trying to make the best decisions I can and not freak out too much about the cost of everything. I promise to do better about keeping you posted as I find out more. Thanks again, so much, for listening, the support, all the love. I sure couldn't make it without all of you in my life.

*hugs*

PS: For anyone whos interested, here's my final diagnosis from the biopsy:

Malignant Neoplasm Of the Upper-inner Quadrant Of Left Female Breast, Unspecified Estrogen Receptor Status (cms/hcc), Her2-positive Carcinoma Of Left Breast (cms/hcc) You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

I've started this entry a few times now and kept deleting it. I got my biopsy results back from Dr. Steed a couple of days ago and it wasn't good. I've wanted to tell you about it but, the more I write about it, the more real it becomes. Bottom line, she said the tissue samples showed that the mass in my left breast is cancerous. They've got the preliminary report posted to my Norton Hospital MyChart Account, this is what it says:

PATHOLOGY ADDENDUM dictated on 3/1/2021.
Pathology of the left breast ultrasound guided biopsy at 12:00 position is invasive ductal carcinoma with intratumoral necrosis and focal ductal carcinoma in situ with associated microcalcifications. This is concordant with imaging findings.

I'm trying to read up on the different types of cells they found to better understand what I'm facing. The doctor didn't say a lot, she said the surgeon I'll be meeting with will be better able to tell me more about my overall prognosis and/or treatment plans. The good news is that, even though there is evidence of invasive cells, it looks like my lymph nodes are clear so far. Radiation therapy will also be a challenge because of my Pacemaker. If they're not careful they could literally melt my unit or leads which would not be good.

Like I mentioned to one of my friends, I'm going to be investigating some holistic meds on my own. We saw a documentary called Amazing Fungi the other night, which was just as amazing as the title implied. Paul Staments, the real one that Star Trek Discovery's character is based on, spoke about the benefits of Turkey Tail Mushrooms in the treatment of certain types of cancers, breast cancer being chief among them. His mom, who had a horrible diagnosis and was given months to live, has been cancer free for a very long time now. Since it reduces inflammation, which should help my Lupus, it'll be worth the expense to try.

That's the thing that worries me the most in all of this. The almost $7000 we owe so far from my Pacemaker is killing us, and that's not even counting the costs of the Biopsy, Mammogram and upcoming Lumpectomy. Heck, our regular bills are hard enough right now, much less with all the med bills tacked on top. Plus, when you factor in the chimney repairs we need it's pretty overwhelming.

I'm going to be posting jewelry for sale, I need to start getting my comics collection processed and sold too. Plus, I need to see if I can do anything about trying to sell my mom's glassware collection. I know that Crystal stemware doesn't sell like it used to but, every little bit helps. There's a place close to us that does home goods consignment called Eyedia Designs that I'm going to check out.

I have an appointment to meet with a surgeon, Dr. Allegra Saving, at Audubon Hospital at 9:45am on Thursday so any and all good thoughts and hugs will be muchly appreciated. I'll keep you posted with what I find out.

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I've had to wait another week for my needle biopsy to be done. Because of the ice, snow and extreme temps we had last week they rescheduled it for this coming Wednesday, the 24th at 9am. It'll be good to finally know something, no matter what. I'm going to try and set up an appointment with my cardiologist then, too. I've been having a lot of pain in my incision. Part of it is swollen and tender to the touch. I'm hoping it's nothing, or is just my lupus acting up. I don't want to take any chances, it could also be some sort of infection. I'd rather they tell me I'm worrying over nothing then ignore something that could be potentially serious.

We've also had to wait to start getting more estimates on the chimney repairs. The roof has just been too icy for anyone to have to scale. Which is just as well. With all the co-pays for meds and doctor visits I've been paying we don't have the money for any work to be done right now any way. It was hard enough to come up with the $250 we had to pay for the inspection and cleaning the other day.

Still waiting for the last three claims to be approved to know the total of what I'll owe for my pacemaker surgery. So far my co-pay stands at $6691.73 of the $65,000 total bill. Plus I'll have the additional costs of the needle biopsy and any surgery I'll need to remove the mass in my left breast. No matter how you look at it, it's pretty overwhelming.

I did get some good news. There was a grant I was approved for by Louisville Water, it paid the past due amount of our water bill the other day, I was also able to set up a payment plan for what's left. I'm going to be talking to our other creditors to see what I can set up with them. One step at a time, right?

*hugs* You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

Still no needle biopsy yet. First they had to wait post surgery then my lupus went into overdrive and attacked my left arm and breast and my left Achilles tendon. I have a huge knot on the back of my left heel and it hurts when I walk. I had to use a Solumedrol Dose pack to try and beat the inflammation back a bit. Which makes my venturing outside much right now even more problematic. Weather permitting it's scheduled for next Tuesday, the 16th. I hope they don't have to cancel it again, it's hard not knowing what's going on with my breast. Even if it's bad news it'd be good to know.

Still waiting for all my med claims to cycle through. The big $54,000 hospital bill, and some smaller ones, are still pending approval. So far it says my out of pocket responsibility from Anthem is $3927.50. I'm hoping some of it will be paid by Medicare but it's a waiting game to see what they will cover.

Plus, we've got a new problem to deal with somehow. We've got water damage to the plaster on our chimney in our upstairs bathroom. We paid to have someone come out and inspect and clean it this week. The news wasn't good. I don't know when we'll be able to do the repairs for the problems he said he found. Besides the mortar repair he said we need, we also need to replace our chimney cap and seal. The quote for everything is $2766! I asked if we could break the repairs in two, do the cap and seal first and the mortar repairs later. He said we could, that the cap and seal would be $1484, the mortar repair $1060, before tax. Both still really scary numbers! We're going to be getting more estimates done to see if anyone has a better price to do the work. We just have to wait for the weather to improve. No one can go up there while everything is iced over.

It sure has happened at a bad time for us. Unfortunately we can't put off the repairs for very long or we'll have expensive plaster repairs, too. Right now they're still something that Lee can tackle.

As always, one step at a time. It's all we can do, realistically. I'll keep you posted on everything. Hope that everyone is staying safe and warm. Sure do miss you all.

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Want to see something truly scary? I copied this note from my Norton Hospital MyChart account the other day:

Some of the charges on this guarantor account are awaiting a response from your insurance. Depending on the response from your insurance, some or all of the $61,406.66 currently awaiting a response from insurance could become your responsibility.

That’s not terrifying at all, huh? Just the Pacemaker placement surgery alone was $54,000! Plus, that amount doesn’t even include the cost for the Needle Biopsy I’ve got coming up on Feb 10th of the mass in my left breast. Followed by the cost to do a lumpectomy even if I’m lucky enough for it to be benign. The costs for this will easily be over $100,000 and that’s only if I don’t need any further treatment for my breast.

Right now it’s a waiting game for everything to cycle through first Anthem and then Medicare to see how much of it will be covered and how much we’ll have to pay out of pocket. I’m doing my best to stay positive, worrying about it won’t change anything. It is what it is. I had to have the surgery to be able to survive.

Physically, I’m doing much better. My incision line is healing well and the pain and swelling in my left arm where my lupus attacked it is improving. I’m not allowed to drive or raise my arm over my head for 4 weeks to give the leads in my heart a chance to set. That’s part of why we had to postpone the biopsy. Lee’s been a such a huge help with getting dressed, carrying things for me, everything.

All the sweet notes and healing prayers have very been much appreciated. Thank you so much for your kindness, friendship and love. They always, always mean the world to me.

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Hi guys! Please forgive any typos as I'm dictating this to my phone. Typing is pretty much out of the question right now, as I sit here with my left arm propped up on a pillow. I'm home, my surgery went fine yesterday, thank you all so much for all the your kind notes and amazing support. I promise it means the world to me!

I'm a little more bionic than I was before with my snazzy new dual chamber pacemaker. Lee has been doing a fantastic job of helping me. I'm mostly just trying to rest and heal. I already feel world's better than I did. It's amazing what a huge difference just having a normal pulse rate again can do for you!

I promise to do my best to keep you guys posted on everything. Thank you again so much for all the kind thoughts, love and support. They truly, truly mean the world to me! 😊💕 You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

Hi! I wanted to let you guys know that I'm having surgery tomorrow. My Lupus has attacked my heart and has been causing me to have severe bradycardia the last few weeks. It's been getting progressively worse. My normal pulse is in the 60s and 70s, it's been running in the 30s and 40s.

The Cardiologist thinks that my lupus has attacked my heart, causing lupus myocarditis, which means that it's been damaged due to inflammation. The damage can affect the heart's ability to conduct electrical impulses correctly.
I have to be at the hospital at 8am and they're going to implant a dual chamber pacemaker.

Plus, in two weeks, after this incision heals, I have to have a needle biopsy of my left breast done because of a mass there. It'll, hopefully, end up being benign. One step at a time, right?

It scary to think how much this is all going to cost, especially if I end up needing both the pacemaker and a lumpectomy. Any good thoughts would be much appreciated tomorrow.

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This is something really neat that's happening here in Louisville. Spread the word. Lets see how bright we can make it for all of the essential workers trying their best to help us heal and keep us safe in these scary times. I know that Lee and I are joining in. 🙂


Shared by a neighbor on Next Door: From Baptist Health Hospital: With continued focus on the hope and joy of the holiday season, Baptist Health Louisville is asking local residents to keep their holiday lights on display through Jan. 31 as a way to encourage and inspire healthcare workers and first responders who continue fighting on the front lines of the pandemic. By keeping holiday lights up longer than usual, our community can display support for the healthcare heroes who have been fighting this virus for the last nine months.

Please, remind your neighbors and friends to keep the holiday lights shining. You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

I was at the docs office a couple of hours today. I really like Dr. Donohue, he really listens and takes his time with you. He said he wished he had more nurses as patients, that he loved how thorough my history was I gave him. He even used some of it when he was dictating his after notes.

I had a ton of labs drawn today and an EKG. I’ve got an echocardiogram, mammogram and bilateral ultrasound scheduled for next Thursday which will make for a very full day. My blood pressure was 200/68 and my pulse was 48 when they first checked it. I got it back down to 140/68 by doing deep breathing and relaxation techniques before I left. He’s putting me on a medication called Lisinopril for my blood pressure. He had to be careful, he couldn’t prescribe a beta blocker because that would have lowered my pulse rate as well. Thankfully my lungs were clear but he could hear the missed beats in my heart when he listened to it.

The EKG showed sinus bradycardia with a heart rate of 45 plus a right bundle branch block with a left anterior fascicular block. Which is a fancy way of saying the electrical impulses, the things that control your heart rhythm, are screwed. It looks like there will be a pacemaker in my very near future. He’s referring me to a cardiologist, Dr Henes, to see what he recommends. As scary as that sounds I am more than ready to feel better. Feeling your heart flutter in your chest, getting short of breath just walking up the stairs are both frightening. I’ll keep you posted as I find out more. I’ll have my lab work tomorrow, I’m hoping that it’s not too wonky.

Thank you for the good wishes today, I promise you, they really helped!

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I've been having some health problems, irregular heart rate, elevated blood pressure, fun stuff like that. I almost had to end up at the er but was able to get a doc appointment for this morning at 10:30 instead. I really don't want to end up in the hospital during this time of covid so some good thoughts would be much appreciated that it's something easily fixed with meds.

I know it's going to cost us for co-pays and any meds they order, which will be hard this time of the month. In that vein, would anyone like to buy a brand new in the box Chromecast HD with Google TV for $45? I got it for Christmas. They normally sell for between $50 and $60 on eBay, I'd be overjoyed to get $45 for it. Just let me know if anyone is interested.

Regardless, good thoughts please. I'll update as soon as I can.

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Merry Christmas, Blessed Yule, Happy Hanukah to all of my family and friends! No matter how you celebrated, I hope that your day was filled with love, family and tons of laughter and hugs.

This year we had a non traditional Christmas dinner of Burgers, roasted potatoes and a veggie plate. Every morsel was eaten and I got lots of compliments, which is always nice to hear. I got an enthusiastic thumbs up from Doug, high praise indeed since he considers potatoes to be the food of the gods. There was also lots of laughter, which is always good for the soul.

It was a quieter, smaller Christmas, as it needed to be this year. But that hasn’t made it any less cherished at all. I have good friends, a family who loves me, an amazing kitty and a warm, beautiful home. Most of all, I’ve had the privilege of 42 Christmas nights and mornings with Lee. That will always be my very best present in the world! 🎁🎄😊 You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth ( comments)

Hi guys!

Sorry I’ve been so absent of late. My lupus has truly been kicking my butt, mostly due to stress. My doc has been playing around with my meds plus, I just did a cortical steroid dose pack. Both things are slowly but surely helping me feel better. I owe people emails and I apologize for being so silent, I promise to do my best to do better.

Things are still really tight financially. A third of Lee’s pay was taken again this month. The good thing is this is the last of it. We just have to manage getting through the rest of this month. With this payment the $10,000 medical bill is paid off! With the crappy way they’ve treated us I’ve asked for something in writing stating this bill is paid in full. Hopefully I’ll get a response back. I’m trying to get some things sold, if I can it’ll be a help.

Could use some good thoughts. Lee and I had to be tested for COVID yesterday. We’ve got a small circle of friends we interact with, they’re our pod. All of us are really careful, wear our masks, wash our hands, stay home as much as possible, etc. One of our friends works part time in a pet store. He wears both a mask and shield while at work. A co-worker he was with last Monday has tested positive. Before Dave knew, he had lunch with another friend, Doug, last Wednesday. Then, Doug spent the evening with us for dinner and to go out to look at Christmas lights. So, to be careful, we’ve all gotten tested. So, far, no symptoms so we’re hoping we dodged a bullet. We should know in the next couple of days. Keep your fingers crossed for us, please. No matter what, I’ll post what we find out.

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I have so much in my life to be thankful for. I have Lee, who I've loved since I was barely out of my teens. I had two amazing parents who loved me and were my best friends all rolled into one. I have Amber, who is an amazing special ed teacher and is really making a difference in her students lives. Plus, I have the rest of my family, who I cherish with all my heart. Even when we don't agree, it doesn't mean I ever love them any less.

And, last, but never least, as I've told you many times, I have you guys. You've been my friends, and my rock, you've supported me when I couldn't stand alone. I love, honor and cherish my friendship with you more than I can ever say. You have my heart, just as much as the rest of the people in my life.

The last two months have been hard. Your helping me spread the word when I've had things to sell, the kind gifts sent directly to us, have truly been lifesavers. They've helped with both bills and groceries. A lot of our Thanksgiving dinner was only possible because of you.

Thank you, so much for letting me share your lives. But, most of all, thank you for giving me the chance to know you and to be your friend. :)



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Hi guys! Sorry I didn't get this up sooner. Still don't have an mp4 for you. If I can find one I'll post that later, too. I haven't watched it yet. Part of me is putting it off because, once I see it, it truly is over. Still not ready. So much of the nope!

I have the mkv file for you, just waiting for it to finish uploading. Far as I know, there are no problems with it. Please, take and enjoy.

Supernatural 15.21 - The Long Road Home MKV File

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I was right, I was so not ready for this! I'm a mess right now. I could not love these boys, and all of you, more if I tried. These last fifteen years have been such an amazing journey!

I have the mp4, avi and the mkv files for you, just waiting for them to finish their uploads. Far as I know, there are no problems with any of them. Please, take and enjoy, whichever you need.

Supernatural 15.20 - Carry On MP4 File

Supernatural 15.20 - Carry On AVI File

Supernatural 15.20 - Carry On MKV File

I'm just posting the finale for now, I'll get the special, The Long Road Home, up later. I didn't want you to have to wait to get to see the finale. Please, when you've had time to see it let me know what you thought. For me, I'm off to watch it again, clutching my chocolate covered support almonds as I do.

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