My sister and her husband have Covid-19. She is home, but he is in the hospital.

It could have been easily prevented. They traced it back to one person. One irresponsible person caused them to get sick. A firehouse around here had seventeen people with Covid. One of them is friends with a man at the firehouse where my brother-in-law works. This person lied about being sick and got together with his friend for some stupid reason. (I really don't know or care what he thought was so important.) From there it spread to five people at my brother-in-law's firehouse, including my brother-in-law who took the infection home to my sister. My sister is on day seven of her infection. She seems to be doing well, but she's exhausted all the time. She said the headache the first couple days was the worst she's ever had. I worry about my brother-in-law. They are giving him some experimental treatment. I don't know what it is.

I have not been in contact with my sister or her husband for over month, so I wasn't exposed. I almost saw her a couple days before she learned about the need to be tested, but it didn't happen. I feel like a dodged a bullet there.

I knew that sooner or later someone in my family would get it. I just didn't know how it would happen.

I got my new glasses today.

I hate getting used to a new prescription. My brain needs to learn to interpret what I see all over again. I hope it doesn't take as long as last time which took several weeks due to having bifocals for the first time. My distance vision stayed the same. My up close part of the prescription is all that changed. I can see my tablet much better now. The issue is when I move. Looking at one spot is fine, but moving makes my vision blurry around the edges. I'm going to be seasick by the end of the day if I'm not careful.

For the first time this year, I'm starting to feel depressed. Because of my surgery and the Corona virus, I have only worked four and a half weeks this year. I tried to pay some of my medical bills, but I haven't had money. I got help with utilities and rent for a while. I got my stimulus check. I am getting help from legal aid with the credit card company that's suing me.

Now I have a bill from my family doctor for $660. I have no idea why it's that high. I saw her once, and it's never been more than $100 before. I got a notice from a debt collector for $1,200 from the ambulance that took me from the freestanding ER to the hospital. I can't even count the number of bills I have. I know they amount to at least $5,000.

I can't really pay anything because I haven't gotten any unemployment money yet. It's all in limbo. I can't pay them because every penny of my money is going to rent and food right now. I guess I will end up filing bankruptcy again. My lawyer who is helping with my credit card issues cannot help with that. I would need to find a different one.

But what really makes me mad about all this is that all the millionaires and billionaires don't care about the problems of people like me. They throw money around, but it never gets to people who really need it.

When I was in the hospital, my sister and I both tried to talk to someone about financial assistance, but they never got in contact with me. I played phone tag so many times. I don't know if it's too late to try. I can't physically go to their office, but maybe I can do something online. It's the only chance I have. I tried to raise money with online fundraisers, but I don't have enough friends to reach very far. I can never get any money that way. I tried to get help from friends in promoting my fundraiser pages, but it never works.

UPDATE: The Tylenol wore off, and my temperature went back down. Weird. Raised temp on Tylenol but low temp while not on Tylenol. I wonder if it's one of my other meds causing the rise in temperature. I will need to read up on it and maybe ask my doctor. Seems strange. At least now it's just sinus pressure and a little headache bothering me.

I think I was right in listening to my doctor and staying home. I just wish I had done it sooner because I am sick with something. In the last hour, my temperature has gone from 98.2 to 99.6. If it hits 100, I will contact my doctor for guidance. Actually, it feels like a really bad sinus infection and allergies, but I can't be sure. It all feels like it's in my head and not my chest, but I am getting a tickle in my throat. My temperature will probably go up when the Tylenol I took wears off. Best case scenario is I'm told to continue to stay home. I could be sent to the testing site in Dayton, but it depends on whether my doctor feels I am high risk enough. Maybe she will tell me my symptoms aren't right for Corona virus. I'm not going to think about worst case.

I have a mask to put on for when I need to open my door or go down to check my mail. If I do have it, I don't want to spread it.

I've been bad at updating. I'm doing well. Most of my time is spent either walking around or doing exercises. I'm trying to get my strength back. It's not easy. I think I did too much exercising the other day because now my right shoulder is sore. It feels like I strained it a bit. It's not much pain, just enough to be annoying.

Also, I figured out the food that's been affecting my blood sugar the most. I had been eating dried apricots because they have a lot of potassium which I need. I had no idea how much sugar I was eating with them. I guess I need to eat them less or save them for times when my blood sugar is low.

And I have a question for my diabetic friends. Why is the glycemic index for oatmeal so high? I thought oats were good.

The appointment with the surgeon went well yesterday. I was able to get rid of the heart hugger (a bunch of straps wrapped around me that I held whenever I got up or down that protects my heart). I just need to be careful when moving around. There are movements I'm not allowed to make, and I can't lift, push, or pull more than 10 pounds. But I am healing.

Also, we're pretty sure my high blood sugar was only because of the trauma. I haven't gotten the blood sugar meds yet, and my morning fasting sugar was only 101. It was 103 yesterday, and 107 the day before that. It's going down each day. The surgeon said it's correcting itself since I never had blood sugar problems before this.

I will try to update more as I recover more.

Thanks to everyone for all you have done for me through this. Your support means the world to me.

I am raising money to help pay for my surgery.

If you can donate, that's great, but I need people to share my link. The more this gets shared, the more likely I will get the funds I need. I got my rent covered, but there's no way I can pay this huge hospital bill. Share here or on Facebook or whatever social media you're on these days.

My GoFundMe page

 

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I saw my family doctor today. I thought she was going to cry when she saw me. She saw that I was in the hospital for chest pain. When I was still listed as in the hospital after three days, she was worried about me. She agrees with all the other doctors. If I'd have had a physical with checks of cholesterol and everything, they still wouldn't have seen this coming. It was purely an inherited condition that caused this, and nothing could have been done to prevent it.

We had a nice talk about my problem getting the blood sugar medicine. The doctor in the hospital wanted me on the extended release version, but it's expensive, and my insurance won't pay. She wrote a prescription for the less expensive version. I told her I was concerned about side effects. She assured me that side effects mostly affect people who eat high fat diets which I do not. I also have the option of taking half dose to see if it works. The prescription she wrote is the lowest dose you can get.

I swear I have the best doctor.

 I have been out of the hospital since Sun, January 12. I am staying with my sister for a while. The pain isn't as bad as I expected, but I am tired all the time. I have doctors' appointments next week, but this week I am resting and doing my exercises. It's going to be March before most of my restrictions are lifted. I'm not allowed to ride in the front of a car because of the airbag.

I am doing well.

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I am having heart surgery at 7am tomorrow

I am in the hospital, and I cannot sleep. I went to the ER with a blood pressure spike and chest pain. Now I am hooked up to 4 iv lines and waiting for tests in the morning. It's possible that I had a heart attack or caught it just before (or as) it happened. They didn't see signs of it at first, but the second set of tests showed signs of one. I am trying to sleep and rest, but I keep thinking of my cat at home without me.

We had a mass shooting here overnight. There's at least 10 dead, including the shooter. I have no idea yet if I know any victims. Only two people I know have marked themselves safe so far. 

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But I did it! I actually wrote a book!  This entry was originally posted at https://scratchingpost1.dreamwidth.org/468414.html. You may comment here or there. Thank you.

Monday night 13 tornadoes hit Dayton, OH. I live just south of there. I am good. I had no damage, but it's unclear how long I will be without clean water. The water pumping station was hit by the tornadoes. My internet and phone signal have been mostly good but go out randomly.

 I just wanted people here to know I'm alive and okay.



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February always messes up my finances, especially since we're coming out of the slow time at work. Then there's the issue of having been sick and missing too much work due to the sinus infection that lasted a month. I also had to have groceries delivered because I have no car and the local bus system removed the route by my apartment. The final kicker is that my rent is due 4 days before my next paycheck. So, I'm kind of screwed because my rental insurance and utilities payments are set to go through on Monday and Tuesday. Of course, because of my pride and not previously wanting to ask for help I did the stupid thing and got a short term loan when I desperate a month ago. Now, the payment for that loan is going through.

Honestly, I think I am still battling the depression from losing my sister and my brother in such short time, and recently I lost my mother-in-law too. All that was after losing my cat, who was my baby for 11 years.

So, I have no idea how I am going to pay my rent. I really don't want to pay late because I don't know what the new apartment managers are like. The previous managers were okay. I payed late once and payed the late fee, and everything was fine. The management company changed a year ago, and I have been afraid to take chances with them. The thing that worries me is that in Ohio landlords can evict for being late with rent once, even late by one day. Many landlords don't do it, but I moved from my previous apartment because they learned about this and told us we would be evicted for being late.

I thought about starting a Go Fund Me page to get help, but I am horrible at writing it up and sharing with the right people and places.

Update: Well, crap! It takes 2 to 5 days to get funds via Go Fund Me. That won't be any help.

Could anyone help me with this? Setting up a Go Fund Me I mean.

Seriously, I am capable of paying back people in a couple weeks (On April 4th or 5th), if people wanted to be payed back. I just don't want to fall into the borrowing money trap with fees and interest.

If anyone can help, here's my PayPal link. PayPal.Me/scratchingpost1

Title: Not Fade Away
Rating: Teen
Pairings: Giles/Willow with some Fred/Wesley
Summary: Post Series -- What if Willow does get the message that Angel needs her to help save Fred?
Word Count: 4100
Disclaimer: These are not my characters. They belong to Joss, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB & Mutant Enemy. This is purely for fun.


https://archiveofourown.org/works/17124665 


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I don't think I said anything about it because so much has been going on, but my car it not running and hasn't been for a few weeks. I am pretty sure it's the starter. I have a friend whose husband is a mechanic. He has worked on my car previously, but he has said he refuses to work on it anymore because it's difficult to work on this car. It doesn't help that she keeps volunteering him without his knowledge. Well, I don't have money to take it to a repair shop. I bought a starter, thinking I could do it myself, but now the weather is terrible. My body has gone into winter weather mode which means everything hurts. I think I'm in over my head with this. If I only had a bit more money I could get it fixed by a professional. Ideally, I need a better car, but that won't happen. I can't afford a car payment, even on a used car. I really hate depending on others for transportation, and the bus doesn't run by where I work. The bus doesn't run by my complex on weekends anymore thanks to the state cutting their funding. I had thought about a GoFundMe campaign, but I am terrible at writing up those things and promoting them. I feel so lost after everything that's happened this year. Everyone tells me how strong I am, but right now I don't feel very strong. I want my brother back. I want my sister back. I want my car to work again.

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As if the last several days haven't been crazy enough, I just passed a kidney stone!

 

Earlier my back hurt a bit, but I thought it was from sitting in uncomfortable chairs this morning. Then, about an hour ago, I felt the pain move and knew it was a stone. (I have way too much experience with that.) So, I drank a bunch of water, took Advil, and tried to relax because the worst thing to do is tense up. After finding a relatively pain free position to rest in, I just waited. After a while I tried passing it. It passed on the first try. It was fairly small, but I never passed one that quickly before. It was less than 12 hours from start to finish, and less than an hour from the time it started to really cause pain. I think the longest time it took me to pass one on my own was 6 weeks. I guess I'm a pro now.

 

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 The funeral was this morning. I am home now, and I am exhausted. I don't normally nap, but I think I need one today.



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My brother's visitation is Tuesday evening, and his funeral is Wednesday morning. 

If anyone feels inclined, you can donate to the ALS Association. http://web.alsa.org/site/Donation2?df_id=37513&mfc_pref=T&37513.donation=form1  
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My brother passed away this morning.


 

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I really hate spiders. I just saw one, and really freaked out. It took me a while to get rid of it. I have lived in this apartment for 3 and a half years. This is only the second spider I have seen inside my apartment. This thing was big and fast. I have no idea what kind of spider it was as it's smushed and flushed now. I do think it was a solid color with a smallish body. It seemed to be all legs. I have no idea where it came from. I was moving something, and it seemed to drop out of nowhere. I think I startled it. It tried to hide at first, but I found it. It took 3 attempts to squish it under a shoe. I was barefoot and trying to smoosh it with a sandal on carpet. I would feel better if I knew where it came from, if there are any more, and if it was venomous. I tried Google, but all the websites I looked at asked for details I couldn't know after it was smooshed. I am so freaked out right now. I may need to sleep with the light on tonight. Tinker used to kill all the spiders for me. Ellie didn't seem interested in it at all. She does chase after flies and stink bugs.

 

So, long story short: spiders are scary, and kitty was apathetic.

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 Ellie is settling in nicely. She is loving the large window where my sliding door is. Right now she is bird watching.

 

So, I never expected to come home with this little bundle of energy. After work yesterday, a good friend and I went to SICSA to look at cats. I thought I wanted a black, male kitty. We visited for a couple hours and looked at all the cats. None of the cats seemed to take to me. Then Ellie saw me and yelled at me. She poured on the charm, rolling over in the cage to show me her belly. She looked in my eyes and "chirped" at me. It was clear that she wasn't going to let me leave without her. 

 

When we got home, she spent hours investigating ever corner of the apartment. She had so much energy after being at the shelter. It took us several tries to actually get to sleep last night. She would curl up and nap, but every time she heard a noise, she ran to investigate. She finally slept for the night around 2:30am. I woke up around 4:30, and she decided to rub all over me and curl up on my shoulder for the rest of the night. We slept until 7am which wasn't enough for me, but she's full of energy again.

 

Ellie only weighs 6 pounds, and she can really jump and run. Just now, it got really quiet, and I didn't see her anywhere. I peeked in the kitchen and saw her jump on the counter. I thought it would be too high for her. Now I need to figure out how to break that habit.

 

She doesn't really meow. She chirps and squeaks. She's a year old and a little too thin. She needs to put on a little weight, but just a little.

 

I really wonder what mix of cat breeds she is. She has little tufts of fur at the tips of her ears and a super fluffy tail. I wonder if she will stay small or grow big.

 

I will try to get more photos soon.

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This is Ellie. I brought her home a little while ago.






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