Boy, it sure has been a long week. Last week we dropped the Yukon off with our mechanic Fred and he got started on what was causing the problems with starting the truck. After testing some things everything pointed at the fuel pump. Ken replaced the fuel pump a couple years ago and it just wasn’t doing what it needed to do so it was replaced and so was the gas tank. Fred had everything wrapped up by Friday and we picked it up and everything seems to be working great!

While Fred had the Yukon at his place we were using the Cadillac as the way of getting around. It made me more than a little nervous because there is a idle issue that pops up from time to time and between my brother Dave and Ken … it’s either the O2 sensor or the throttle positioning sensor. Now I just need to get it put on a computer to see what codes the car is throwing out there. My fear is it stalling while at a light or sitting in traffic and then having to get it towed if it doesn’t start. Then again I tend to worry too much as it is so I will try and relax about the situation. At least we have the OEM manual for the Cadillac – that makes things so much easier and it’s quite handy to have provided you don’t take the diagrams as true and factual. I learned that lesson the hard way when I was having light issues with the car.

Let’s see, I have a ton of doctor appointments coming up and my neurologist wrote me a script for physical therapy for three weeks. Not sure when I’m going to be able to fit that in but frankly at this point I’m not sure if I’m going to even bother, this is the same doctor that wants me to take folic acid supplements even though my last folic acid level was too high. Does he read his own labs? I think not, it’s that or he’s got his head up his ass.

I spent most of the week getting about at like 4:30AM so that Ken could get to work. That wasn’t too bad provided I went to bed early enough then I didn’t have to drag my sorry ass out of bed. I don’t know how Ken can stay up late and get up so early, perhaps he’s just used to it. My mono is taking it’s time forgetting about me, still having to take Motrin 800mg for the pain and slight swelling of my neck. It’s been like two months now, go away already! At least the fatigue and tiredness has gone away for the most part, so I guess that’s the good news.

I was surprised by a package I received from a dear friend! It’s for my birthday that’s coming up next weekend. I got some comics and a rather thick card which I won’t open until my birthday and three tins of DELICOUS FUDGE!!! It’s true you know, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach and let me assure you, it’s some AWESOME fudge!!! That made my week! I am truly blessed to have some warm, thoughtful and caring friends.

Well, that’s my week in a nutshell … I hope yours was well and that you have a great weekend!  :)

Yesterday, I finally saw the neurologist from Wayne State University that my neurologist wanted me to see. After three appointments later we finally met. She seems pretty intelligent and pleasant from what limited time I spent with her. My neurologist said that after his examination that I am worse than the last time I saw him. No surprise there as he said the same thing the last time I saw him. What puzzles me is he tested my folic acid level and it was high, yet he wants me to take a folic acid supplement daily for the next three months until I see him again. Now am I just thick or does that NOT make any sense at all. Oh well, I will run it by my primary physician and see what he has to say about it. Neither my neurologist nor the one brought in from Wayne State has a clue as to why I have polyneuropathy and I’m getting more than a little frustrated about the situation. He did however write a script for physical therapy to help me improve my walking and gait. I guess I will get on the phone tomorrow and get that set up. Round and round I go … where I stop nobody knows.

So that was yesterday. Today I mainly took it easy, pittering around the house, tanning, grocery store and then popped dinner in the oven. Tenutas makes the best roasted chicken! So we had that for dinner tonight. It’s easy and tasty so I couldn’t go wrong. I talked to Ken about taking the Cadillac up to the parts store to have them put it on the computer and see what codes it spits out. It’s been idling very rough at times, to the point that I think it’s going to stall. Then other times it’s fine and you wouldn’t know there is a problem somewhere. I’ve been told two different things, one is it could be the 02 sensor and then it could be the throttle positioning sensor. We’ll know more once it’s put on the computer. Either way, it’s driving me crazy.

There really isn’t too much going on right now. I’m still thinking it’s Monday because the holiday threw me off somewhat. Hard to believe that tomorrow is Thursday and the week is almost gone. Where does all the time go? Ah, but the good news is the weekend comes a lot faster when your body clock is all screwed up because of having a holiday on a Monday. :)

Hope you are well and that you’re having a great week!

Well, here I am again. Nothing really going on … especially this weekend as Ken and I have sent most of it relaxing and catching up on a chore or two. So I guess it’s good in a couple of ways, it’s not been hectic and we’ve gotten a couple things done.

Tuesday was Sammi Jo’s ‘Celebration of Life’ at the funeral home in Waterford. Ken and I attended but I couldn’t muster myself to go up front and look at pictures and spend time with his ashes that were in some sort of wooden box. Like I said, I didn’t go up so that’s all I know about the box, maybe it was hand carved with something. I think I will ask someone who was there about the box. I’m just used to urns so it just sort of threw me a little. Ken and I talked to Mark and some of his other friends who came up and introduced themselves. Several of his friends didn’t make it not for not knowing the arrangements but I guess they couldn’t show enough guts to pay some respect. Leon was held up at the hospital hooked to IV antibiotics so obviously he couldn’t make it but there were others that knew and just didn’t show up. I guess it puts me off a bit because it’s the last time you have to pay your respects, but everyone mourns differently so I will just keep that in mind.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful for the most part. I’m still sleeping a lot because of the lingering effects of the mono. Then yesterday I am sitting there in the chair and notice my neck and jaw hurting much like when I had full blown mono! I am thinking, Oh no you don’t! Today it really isn’t bothering me much to my glee. I really didn’t want to go through the whole swollen jaw and neck thing again. I should note I am venting as this blog is healthy for me to get things off my chest. I type what I am thinking about and then it’s done. I sure beats driving Ken crazy with all my zannie ideas and posts. I have been regularly checking in on Facebook and not so much on Twitter. Mainly because I have the apps on my cell phone and can be watching TV and posting at the same time without booting my computer up. Lazy I know, but it’s just what has been working for me lately.

No, I am not abandoning my blog. Scaling back on posts is more like it but if you follow my blog, you already know I’ve been scaling back so this comes as no surprise.

I hope you and yours had a great weekend!!! :)

In my last post I described to you the problems I was having and how frustrated I was having them. Well my doctor gave me a tentative diagnosis (until the labs came back and proved his diagnosis correct) of “infectious mononucleosis” also called “mono”. It’s most often seen in children and their symptoms are often not too troublesome, adults are another story. I had swelling of my neck and jaw last weekend … I looked like I had been hit with a 2x4! And the pain was relentless. Tiredness and fatigue are also symptoms and I have had more than normal but had no idea it was related to my current problem. I have no idea where I picked this nasty virus up at, the only person I kiss is Ken and he’s not sick, but he has a stronger immune system than I do (remember how screwed up my bone marrow is). I’m about half way through the usual time it takes to recover from it and it makes me feel like a walking disease machine. I saw my stomach doctor this morning that not to get close because I have mono and he quickly went to the other side of the room. Can’t say as I blame him. I just wish I wasn’t getting the same thing at home. Maybe I should just go live in a leper colony or something. Other than that, things have been going pretty good.

Thankfully, I can’t give you mono by reading my blog. I know your relieved.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!! :) 

Same sh*t different day. My neck and lower jaw have been swollen for ten days now and the doctor ordered a bunch of labs and that was last Thursday and I emailed him today, he hasn’t seen any of my paper work and will check in the morning. This is frustrating, the amount of pain I’ve had that the pain pills didn’t touch until I started taking Motrin 800mg.

I should hear from my doctor tomorrow sometime. Until then I have no clue as to what I’m dealing with.

Like I said, same sh*t, different day.

I need a HOLIDAY!!! :)

This past week in a nut shell has been doctors, new information and plans for more doctors. First off, I saw my neurologist and my polyneuropathy has gotten worse and spread to my hands and arms. I am scheduled to see a neurologist who specializes in neuropathy on 22 August. I am more than a little unnerved (pardon the pun) to the fact the neuropathy has gotten worse and am stuck guessing, what’s next?. The other doctor was my pain specialist. I thought it was a routine refill visit and to update him on the neuropathy and the results from my endoscopy I had on my stomach showing a perforated ulcer, it’s okay … it came out back into my stomach so I won’t need surgery. Weird I know, but hey, I never claimed to be normal. Anyway, he changed my Loratab to Oxycodone and just warned me that it’s stronger than the Loratab. Great, now I have to get used to another medication. Could it be any more hectic getting used to another heavy duty pain killer? Argh … If I never have to see another doctor as long as I live it will be too soon!

So after a long week of doctors and telephone calls I went yesterday and picked up the fixings for potato salad, my mom’s recipe. So I hit Tenutas Market and picked up all the goodies and once I got home I had a call from Leon and was on the phone for about two hours with him so I got a late start on the salad. By 5:30PM or so I was well underway and things were busy in the kitchen. Ken wasn’t in my way because he was at a Dungeons & Dragons game with his gaming buddies and I had room to tear apart the kitchen. The worst part was peeling ten pounds of potatoes! But isn’t that ALWAYS the worst part of making anything with taters in it?!! Anyway, I had a couple servings and it turned out perfect, I just hope the guys appreciate it. It takes about three and a half hours to make it.

I had planned to go to the pool party at Gary & David’s but I woke up with a wrenched neck and was tossing all kinds of stuff down my pie hole to kill the pain, including sitting on the heating pad … no luck, that is until Ken left and I actually feel asleep for a short nap. It’s starting to tense up again but I’m not too worried as it’s easier to control the pain when it’s not consuming your every thought. 

I really needed to vent what I have typed. I hate to drag anyone down by posting my ails but sometimes it helps just to get what frustrates you off your chest and out in the open. Oh, I just remembered I need to call Will tomorrow – still haven’t returned his call from last night. I know, my bad.

I hope everyone is having a super weekend and that you have a chance to just kick back and enjoy the weekend. :-)

Well, yet another week has passed and I was away from Tuesday to Saturday. My uncle called on Monday and begged me to come up and help him get to where he needed to be (his van isn’t in running) and I said I would but he would have to pick up the gas costs because I can’t afford a two hundred dollar gasoline coming out of my budget right now. He offered to pay me for my time and I was like, “We are family, you don’t need to pay me to for my time”.

I arrived about 3:00PM on Tuesday and rested up for a busy day on Wednesday as he had dialysis and had to be in Sault Saint Marie at the War Memorial Hospital. He has dialysis three days a week so far. The procedure takes a little over four hours to clean out his blood and dehydrate him, as he’s holding a lot of water throughout his body. Then on Thursday, we headed to Newberry to find another vehicle as his van is no longer running or worth fixing, he found a Ford Escort that was in his price range and I followed him home back to Paradise. Mind you that the Soo is 75 miles from Paradise and Newberry about 45 miles from Paradise. So when you go anywhere even to get groceries it’s at least 45 miles! Being the Cadillac requires I put premium gas in it, it gets expensive to do major running around to get anywhere. Of course there was the cost of getting there which takes about a tank, perhaps a little less. It’s 350 miles one way to my aunt and uncles place. So yeah, it’s something I needed help covering. Then while running around I get a message on the LED screen stating: “Service Vehicle Soon”. Could it be any more cryptic! I checked all the fluids and they were all fine. The car so far has been running fine so what the problem is Fred, our mechanic will hook up to the computer and see what error codes come up. As far as “servicing” the car, isn’t that what we’ve been doing for the last month and a half! ARGH!!! I made it home yesterday in record time. It took 4.5 hours to get home, 5 if you count me waiting in line at the drive through car wash to get all the bugs off my car. I got home in time that I wasn’t dragging ass all day and that Ken and I could at least see each other. I really missed him when I was gone. I brought my computer with me but found it easier just to update Twitter and Facebook via my cell phone. So my laptop stayed in the trunk. I did try and get Ken some fudge yesterday when I left to come home, but they didn’t open until 10:00AM and it was only 8:45AM when I was at Whitefish Point so I didn’t want to wait. We’ll just make some ourselves.

When I came home yesterday, Ken was cleaning out his dressers and closet. I was shocked! So today he had a Dungeons & Dragons game to go to and I did my part of the closet but haven’t got to my dressers yet. I don’t have much there to go through, but I am pooped so I stopped for the day. At least I got some laundry and the closet done.

I hope everyone had a great week and weekend. I missed reading everyone while I was gone. :-)

Gee, it’s been a while since I posted anything and we’ve been occupied with various things, some fun and some not so much. First, I would like to send a cheer out for everyone in hopes they are having a safe and festive Independence Day weekend.

We had plans but they fell through because Ken’s grandmother is in the hospital recovering from a blood clot in her elbow. They did surgery and started her on blood thinners and she can’t be released until her medication level comes up. We had plans to go to a friends place this weekend but instead it’s all been sitting … and waiting for the call to come and take her home.

Yesterday was a very productive day! Ken managed to find the cause of the lighting issues I had with the Cadillac. Apparently, the hinge from the trunk lid crossed with one of the wire harness in the trunk and it killed my back up lights, trunk dome light and the plate lights. I am VERY happy he took all the time he did to fix the problem with the wire harness. I can’t remember the last time the back up lights worked or frankly any of them working, but Ken said it was fixed before, at least the back up lights were. I’m still left scratching my head over it. He also spliced in a new running light for the drivers rear quarter panel which I had already picked up sockets and plenty of bulbs that I needed. I never really knew just how light happy that Cadillac is. I mean there are lights everywhere on it. Alas, we survived that mess and Ken went out to decompress. After doing all he did, I think I would need to decompress myself.

Later last evening at about 11:30PM (EST) Ken started playing with the explosives he picked up when we were coming back from Charleston. He basically had some fire crackers and something a little louder to play with. He started and then the neighbors started blowing up with what they had. So yeah, you can imagine it was a wee-bit noisy for a while last night.

Today hasn’t been real great. My stomach really went on a tangent and giving me more pain than I’m used to getting. So I’ve been taking Lortabs most of the day just to keep it under control. I saw my gastroenterologist this past Friday and he wants me to call on Monday and get an endoscopy scheduled with his nurse. I’m hoping it’s my stomach being difficult and not an ulcer(s) which I’m prone too. At any rate, the scope should provide some insight.

I really appreciate the few regulars I have coming by to read the blog. This Spring and Summer I haven’t been too talkative online, perhaps I’m just burned out on computers … Man are they high maintenance appliances! I hope you all are doing well and are having a great weekend!!! :-)

Alas, it’s the weekend and it’s Spring and everyone is out buying flowers and such to pretty up their homes. It’s always my favorite time of year with all the planting and the well manicured lawns.

Yesterday I set out to try and find some paint and some flowers for our place. Ken had went to Bordines on Friday and picked up the plants for our box garden. I have yet to weed, hoe and plant the plants, but it’s on my agenda to get done this weekend, most likely today once it warms up a bit outside. No luck so far on the paint. They only have limited retailers but I haven’t exhausted my search yet … I still have to try True Value hardware, WalMart and Meijer. I only need two gallons and have no ambition or money to repaint the entire deck because I can’t find the color and type of paint I need.

Below is a sample of the spidering geraniums that I picked up for the deck. I thought the color would look great with the gray house as it sorta “pops”. I don’t know the name of it but nevertheless it’s a geranium of some sort. Also I included a road view of the front of the house. It looks so much better with the flowers! Plus, the Cadillac is pictured and you should know I like showing off my baby. Still haven’t figured out when we are going to fix the turn signal. It’s one of two parts, I’m half tempted to replace both and just get it fixed so I don’t look like an idiot without any turn signals.

I hope everyone is having an excellent weekend. Wish me luck in finding the deck and porch paint I need, I could use it. :P

LATER:

Well it’s been a very productive day! I was able to get the box garden weeded and I planted marigolds and tomatoes. We have six tomato plants, I am hoping they all make it through the season. They are small plants and yes, it’s getting a little late to start planting things, but alas … the garden is done.

I also ran to the auto parts store and picked up a new turn signal flasher and some bulbs. I had no idea I had so many body lights out, I’m like … “What the f_ck…”. Every one I’ve installed is now working except one. I think the socket is shot so I have to stop at a junk yard for another one that way all the lights are working. I was pretty happy with myself getting so much completed! I suppose it wasn’t a typical Sunday but it was a beautiful day to get a couple things off my mind. :)

Have a GREAT week everyone. :)

Well once again another week has went by and I have to admit I’ve really missed my blogging friends this week. I haven’t been in the mood to surface myself for the past several days mainly do to the fact I ran out of one of my meds and the doctor that was supposed to fill the scripts didn’t show up to my appointment … the place was closed and locked up tight as a drum. It’s not a good idea to put people on meds and then poof and disappear. I don’t know what’s going on with her but it looks like I need to replace my psychiatrist. My primary doctor wrote for what I needed as of today, so I was saved there.

My personal/primary doctor is pointing me towards the nutrition route, sending me to some colleges in the new building he’s in. Bad part is that my insurance doesn’t cover for me to see a nutritionist under the diagnosis that I have, so I’ll end up having to pay for it. Then today, I get this letter from another one of my insurances that they are no longer paying for dental or vision among a few other things. Great day this has been. Ack!

I’m still having issues with the turn signal on the Cadillac, only works when it damn well pleases too. I have no idea what this is going to cost to fix but we don’t need it now. I’ve been on disability for a while and Ken is back on disability because of his knee. I will be more at ease when the checks start rolling in so I know when to pay what.

I SO WISH I would have taken the opportunity to have more of a holiday when we were in Charleston, SC. I am really needing a holiday right about now. Good news is I found some retailers that carry the brand of paint that I painted the deck last year as we are all but out and it really needs to be painted again. Just another project to get taken care of.

We had a small get together last evening, there was myself, Ken, Tony, Wendy and Myrtle. We enjoyed some Kentucky Fried Chicken and a couple laughs, I really enjoyed their company.

I hope everyone has been doing okay while I’ve been hiding. Please don’t take it personal, it’s just hard to blog when your mind is going bizerk. I realize I shoot be posting more than once a week, everyone else does and they seem to be able to get other stuff done too. Sometimes I just don’t want to sit at the computer, most of this week has been like that. I certainly enjoy all the comments and those people who just drop by to say hello. :)

Until next time, Peace!

Well I realize it’s been yet again several days since I posted an entry to my blog, for that I apologize. Among all the stuff I needed to do once we got home from Charleston there was a computer repair that I needed to do and let’s just say that it’s amazing what a sixteen year old can get infected on a computer in just less than three years. This computer was dared to be tossed out a second story window and Mom took the dare and hurled it out the window and watched it crash finally. Strangely enough, other than the case being all bent, the motherboard, CPU and graphics card all seemed good. Ken and Nick’s mom Pam got out some tools and went away fixing the poor case. The only thing that needed to be repaired was the power switch was broke. Surprising huh. Well, this time it was just infected by a lot of spyware and viruses. Now, the system is running great and with a different case than it had before – an extra we had laying around. Nick better be happy with his computer, Ken and I put a lot of our time into it.

Here’s a picture Ken thought he’d lost when they were trying to bend the case back together.

  “I’ll fix it!”

I should have more time online than previously and when we were in Charleston. The WiFi at the hotel was crappy at best and so I stayed off my laptop for the most part. I have a couple projects for this week so I will be busy but I will hopefully have time to catch up with everyone. This is Memorial Day weekend and I hope everyone understands the meaning of the holiday other than it being a day off.

I put this in an album but wanted to display it here too in honor of all the service men and women.

I wish everyone a safe and happy Memorial Day holiday! Freedom comes at a price, remember where it comes from. Please take a moment during the holiday to fly our American flag and observe a moment of silence for all those who have fallen in the name of the United States of America!

I want to apologize to the many friends that I shut out while I was on holiday so to speak. With my bipolar when I get too many things going in circles I have major problems concentrating – that’s why I wasn’t blogging or checking blogs. I would every couple days check my email and private messages put here and Facebook and MySpace. So many thanks for baring with me during this stressful time.

On the immediate front just today I received a letter from the USPS and also from Blue Cross with Blue Cross saying that they never got last months premium. The letter from the USPS said they got an undeliverable piece of mail – it enclosed my premium payment check copy. They said it was the only remnant left as the image was deleted and the mail shredded. I was just lucky it ended up in Atlanta, GA and not god only knows where. So I will need to re-send my premium from last month and this month, not a biggy. Let’s just hope this time they get it.

I went to the bank this morning to meet with my banker and get some paperwork and a letter generated and so I could send them along to the person that needs these documents. That didn’t take long and Pamela was extra helpful, helping where she could. You wouldn’t believe all that’s happened since I found my checks to be missing, it would boggle your mind and frankly you’d probably wanna shoot me for even staying with my bank. They have been helpful whenever possible I must say.

This morning began at 7:30AM and after I ate some breakfast and went to the bank, I tanned (it’s only across the street) and then once all that was done I headed to KMart to pick up stuff for the house. It won’t be the only trip to KVille this week, so hopefully I can wrap things up next time. I got up early so I would be awake enough by nine or so to be ready to face the bank and everything else. I prefer to do my stuff whether it be online or offline in the morning. I prefer to blog in the morning but since Ken is resting I thought I would pop on and say “Hello” to everyone who checks up on me. :)

On the neurology front I won’t know much of anything until the 26th of this month because a lot of labs have been ordered and some they are still waiting on. I have partial numbness in my right foot which isn’t very settling but what else can I do but take my vitamins and meds. I am SO OVER getting my blood drawn and my urine (once even a 24hr urine test for heavy metals) examined. I went over things with my personal physician at my appointment last Thursday and we are under the same notion that the polyneuropathy could be due to my malabsorbtion problem with my stomach. I need or rather I should pull all my labs going back about three years and get them for the neurologist but I figure if he wants them, he can pay the document company to generate the stuff he wants, rather than me paying for it myself. I’ve relied on my appointment book A LOT lately just to help me keep everything together, otherwise I would be screwed.

It’s been a typical Monday, I hope yours was at least more interesting! :)

Be blessed all my dear friends. :)

First thanks for dropping in and reading my blog. I haven’t been around online much lately because I am dealing with stressors that really don’t allow me to shut them off for a bit and play and chat back and fourth with my buddies and read their blogs.

I realize I am hibernating – let’s hope not till Spring comes but nevertheless I didn’t want my online friends to wonder what’s going on with that guy anyway. I have tried to keep up with personal emails and messages though thankfully. It helps to know so many people care and are empathic with another persons troubles. I can’t obviously go into everything here but let’s just say I could certainly go without the distraction.

It’s a little after five on a Saturday and Ken is taking a nap, he was up today pretty early. I thought I would just grab a moment to tell me from you … THANK YOU for being such a friendly and supportive bunch. I am glad to have you in my life.

I think I will go out and watch some TV and get away from the computer a bit. I just need a little me time to get my head back on straight and back in the swing of things …. and most certainly check in on everyone! :)

Have a WONDERFUL evening and rest of the weekend!!!  :)

Well it seems like it’s been longer than it has since my accident with the Cadillac, but it’s been less than a month. My brother Dave took care of dealing with the insurance company and the repairs himself and Wow what a difference.

Before Repair                                                     After Repair

It’s a like a night and day difference isn’t it! Great job Dave, I GREALY appreciate all your hard work and time taken in this mess. Let’s just hope I don’t have a heart attack when my insurance renews! My baby is fixed and I couldn’t be happier!  :)

Well it’s certainly been an interesting last couple of days. I called my insurance company and filed a claim on the accident. I dreaded doing it so I didn’t call the day it happened or on Saturday. I told the guy I slid into that I would call him this weekend to see what I was going to do, my word does mean something at least. Plus I got another call from the insurance company asking if I needed anything or had any questions about when the adjuster would be out to make their assessment. I guess he’ll be looking at the Jeep I hit too. It’s all swirling in my head, alas … thank heaven for better living through chemistry. Not a permanent thing, but it works for now. Besides, it’s Xanax … America’s most widely prescribed happy pill. :)

I’m still freaked out about the upcoming MRI. I don’t have a clear understanding of what was seen on the CAT scan so I’m sorta going through this blind and that doesn’t work for me. I think I will email my personal physician and express MY concerns. Ken keeps asking me if I’m alright and I usually respond by saying “Yeah”. After all, it’s easier to deal with something rather than vague comments when I spoke to the doc on the phone. Indeed … I need to email my doc.

Ken’s birthday is tomorrow, February 2nd!!! We’re getting the gang together and going out to dinner! Should be a good time. It’s nice when we all are able to get together – Maybe if were honored by his presence maybe Tony will show up. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. I know it would mean a lot to Ken if Tony was there too. :)

Gracey – I need your email to add you to Facebook. I tried searching for you via Friend Finder but you can locate me and invite me using the email: stephjk@live,com and my name Stephen Kent. With that information you should be able to find me, I think Facebook is just being slow when it comes to updating their friend locater. I’ll cross my fingers!

I hope everyone has a GREAT week ahead.  :)

Here I thought I would round out the week by running errands and getting a chance to relax at home over the weekend to work on the taxes – doesn’t that sound fun? Yeah, my sentiments exactly. I am NOT out for pity or sympathy but if you’ll allow me to vent, it will help me a great deal … so please bare with me.

Yesterday I was running errands and my phone went off so I ignored it because I was in the middle of Gordon’s food service and I would call the person once I got home. Little did I know it was my personal physician himself calling me about my CT scan of the brain, he left a scary message on my voice mail so I called him at the office as soon as I heard the message. Apparently, they found two separate items in my scan that were abnormal and need to do a MRI scan, which I later picked the orders up from the doctor and made the appointment for Wednesday of next week. All the while trying NOT to think the worst and hoping for the best. It’s not news anyone wants to hear, it really has me rattled and I can’t wait for the MRI and the results to find out what exactly they are seeing in my brain. So we’ll know more by the end of next week or shortly after.

Now last night I was running to KMart to pick up toiletries and while heading west on Walton Blvd, in the right lane to turn north on Dixie Hwy I came upon the light and there was a late model Jeep Grand Cherokee in front of me waiting for traffic to clear and as I slowed down to stop the Cadillac went into a skid (due to a patch of ice) and slipped, running right into the back of this guys Jeep. All I could think of saying as this was happening was, “Oh Sh*t!!!!. So I backed up a little to get off his rear end and then he looked back and I signaled to him to pull into Walgreens right at Dixie and Walton. We both calmly got out and exchanged information and he asked “Should we call the police?”, And I replied, “I really don’t know”. Then I thought HAH! my brother was probably still at work at Clarkston Auto Body so why not take the vehicles over and have an estimate and survey of the damage. His Jeep has only minor damage, mainly a scrapped up bumper, nothing dented or anything like that. Now the Cadillac was different, it needs a new grill, bumper and hood. It could have been worse of course. I haven’t figured out what to do as yet but told they other guy that I would contact him over the weekend and let him know how we’re going to handle this. What a damn mess! It really put a cherry on top of a bad week and I’m glad it’s over. Now comes the fun part, dealing with the insurance company. I have truly entered hell. So for SURE, the most important things is that no one was hurt and his airbags nor the airbags on the Cadillac went off, so there is at least a positive spin on the whole mess.

Accident pictures from January 30th, 2009

I PRAY that your week was less chaotic that mine. Sometimes life just deals us a crappy hand you know.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!  :-)

It’s just been one of “those weeks” where it never seems to end and you end up trying to rip your hair out at every twist and turn. Ken would laugh at that but it’s true, I get all wound up and don’t know what to do with myself sometimes.

I saw my personal physician last week and he wrote some scripts and for some tests to be done. As he’s thumbing through my chart he speaks aloud, “When’s the last time….” he stopped about there and said, “We’ll just do them now since we have nothing current”. Oh lucky me, I bet he’s fun at a party! Well seriously though he is a great doctor! He also wrote for a CT scan of my brain and made some smart assed comment – you know doctors. Anyway that was done yesterday and the nurse managed to blow a vein in my arm. Why don’t they EVER f**king listen to a patient when they tell them, “I have GREAT, viewable veins but they tend to roll and blow”. I think a lot of people in the medical community need to take a crash course in patient rights and LISTENing to the patient once in a while. Grrrr.

Today wasn’t bad. I crashed pretty early and got up fairly early and tanned, hit the smoker store, hit Staples for ink for one of my printers and then it was back home to make a pot of fresh chili. Yum, I made it really good this time, even added some sausage to the mix. In today’s mail I got a sweet card from a dear ole friend, Leon. He seems to be hanging in okay given all that he has going. That’s all we can ever do really, just hold on to something when it get’s bumpy.

Have a wonderful day!!!  :-)

Firstly, I want to say thanks for all those who keep an eye on my blog and that you leave comments for me which I always try to answer. It’s just a weird thing I like to do so we can have a better understanding for one another. Plus so many comments are positive that I can’t help but be touched by the outpouring of support I have here at Live Spaces.

The past several days have been trying to say the least. My moods have been all over the place so I have stayed away from posting anything because it probably would make less sense than they normally do. I ran out of my psych meds and my shrink still hasn’t returned my calls so I had to reach out to my personal physician to get my meds until I can see my shrink which is February 19th! I’m NOT happy about her (my shrink) allowing me to take the long way around to get my meds filled, and it’s going to be talked about when I do see her! Then, my checkbook came up missing from where I kept it and either I had a major brain fart and it’s stuck somewhere it doesn’t belong which isn’t like me, or someone walked off of it. So I took the only route I could to protect myself and froze my account and had to go into the bank for funds transfer and order new checks and debit card. Oh joy! Watch me find it fall out of a binder somewhere and I did all that hassle for nothing. At least that’s what I hope is the case. I just don’t like the “unknown”, never have. Ask Ken, he’ll be the first to tell you I hate surprises! Well with me cycling like I’m on a psychiatric treadmill and my meds running out and then have a missing checkbook – I’ve been pretty antsy and fit to be tied, Ken has been avoiding me just to stay out of my way I think. But alas, it’s time I get my head back on straight and try to get back to my routine. I just have found it hard to post anything when my thoughts are mush. I did however touch base with Chris S., an old friend of mine through Facebook and that has been nice hearing from him! I’m so glad he’s doing well and has a happy life. Chris always brings out the fun in a person – He always had that talent with me. After all, I can be a tough nut to crack when it comes to having fun. We do have tickets to an upcoming MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fight at the Palace of Auburn Hills, so that should be fun.

Well I hope everyone is well! I am off to empty the dishwasher, get in the shower and head to the store and to tan.

Thanks for reading/listening!!!  :)

LATER, THURSDAY MORNING: Well it all comes down to me having a brain fart and putting my checkbook into the inside of my DayPlanner and I had looked there but didn’t see it, it was mixed in with some papers. Now I feel like a complete ass, but I’m SO GLAD it was my error and not someone walking off with it. My sense of foreboding has been lessoned greatly now. I am so glad that is over, now hopefully my direct deposit and stuff from the bank arrive in a timely manner, I can’t stand being without checks or a debit card. I don’t want to have to use credit cards to pay bills but will if I have too.

Alright come on now – the whole right side of my blog page is missing. It included my Sight Worthy Sites, My Guestbook link, My Zune card link, and a couple odds and ends. Where did Live Spaces put it? Somewhere in the bowels of Spaces I presume … now I have to figure out how to get these back. Should prove to be interesting, especially since I wasn’t the one who removed them. Grrrr!!!

We got slammed by snow yesterday and I thought it was a little strange that we were getting snow when I went to tan. That was about 1:00PM and the roads were a little dicey but nothing major – just the parking lots were slick. Then I get home and we were under a winter storm warning until 10:00PM last night and the prior predictions were that it would stop snowing sometime early afternoon – somebody dropped the ball in telling mother nature about this. Then this morning I got up at 8:00AM to clear the cars off before Justin came and cleared the driveway and guess what – he’d already been here. I don’t know what time he came but it was early. So I had to clean off the Caddy, Jeep and Yukon then move them out into the street so I could shovel the remaining snow left on the driveway. Isn’t the idea of having someone do your shoveling mean all the shoveling and NOT have to go back after them and shovel? I’m going to bring this up with him because this is the second time he’s done this. No gay man should be up at 8:00AM to clear off cars, that’s for sure. So I’m frustrated to say the least. One good point is at least we actually have someone to shovel the driveway. :)

Sorry to all those people who tried to get me on Live Messenger the past few days. I thought I had logged myself out and I wasn’t – I received text messages on my cell until late last night. I did sign out of AIM but haven’t figured out how to get myself signed out of Live Messenger on the phone I have. Sorry Bob, I should have got on my computer – instead of leaving you and others lingering in IM hell.

I hope everyone has a GREAT rest of the weekend and I will be roaming around a little today. I probably won’t tan today but will take a Neurtogena hot oil bath to add some moisture to my skin. It’s not overly dry but it could use some pampering! :)

Boy, we sure got blasted!!! Not in the way you probably think but with SNOW. Friday’s storm dumped ten to twelve inches of blowing snow on us and let me say that was one hefty storm. I was on the phone most of the day trying to get us plowed out. Couldn’t move the Cadillac because the snow was well past the height of the hood. I was able to get out and check the mail in the Jeep, mainly because the snow drifted onto the Caddy and not the Jeep – plus the Jeep has four-wheel drive. Ken was out running around and spending time with Tony, a good friend from high school. At about 6:00PM the driveway was cleared, well most of it anyway.

Yes – I know the plowing pictures are badly out of focus but I thought they looked sorta neat so I posted them anyway.

This week I got a couple cards from fellow bloggers/friends like Karen in the U.K. and Scott from Florida, which is someplace I wouldn’t mind being right now. I also got cards with notes from friends I haven’t spoken to in years so hopefully we’ll be able to reconnect and see each other soon. I love the beauty of the snow but HATE to have to drive in or deal with it in any way. I hope all of you had a better Friday than I did. I so much would have rather have done something else. Between waiting for packages and the snow plow – it took up most of the day.

I’m going to try and destress today, let’s all place bets on if it actually works or not. <g>

Have a WONDERFUL weekend everyone!!!