12 August 2023
I’ll take it! The last two nights I haven’t had to break out the hydrogen peroxide for my tee shirts nor sheets. It’s kind of nice to have a normal wash day for a change.
Even better, my new sheets from LL Bean came in today. They were not to arrive until Monday afternoon but apparently the UPS driver was motivated. I bought two queen sets: Sunrise and Vapor Gray. I’m not big on thread count but these are 280 thread count, Pima cotton, Percale sheets. It’s gotten to be a habit of buying my sheets from LL Bean. I can always tell when it is time for new sheets because little tiny holes start appearing in the pillow cases or the fitted sheets. I purchased the old sheets in 2019 so I think they stood up well to 4 years of washing. The new sheets are in the wash now and ready to go on the bed next weekend.
The day started well. I felt decent enough that I decided to do my morning walk. I walk in hiking boots because I have weak ankles and after putting on socks and boots and getting ready to put my hat on, grab my walking stick and head out, my stomach began a gurgling sound. Discretion is the better part of valor. I hiked to the bathroom instead.
It’s funny but some days I don’t mind cleaning house and other days I’d rather you beat me to death. Today was a doesn’t mind day. I took my time, taking breaks, working on a couple of computer projects and reading some of my favorite online sites. My weekly cleanings include dusting surfaces, emptying trash cans, shaking out rugs, vacuuming, spot mopping floors and mopping the kitchen floor and cleaning the tub, basin and toilet. I didn’t clean the tub because why bother – I haven’t had a bath since the new drain.
I want to be able to thank some of the nurses and staff at the cancer center and I decided flowers were a no-no (particularly those people at the infusion center) and chocolates were too tempting for some. Instead, I decided to do sets of note cards. I spent part of the morning designing the note cards and then working through Mimeo photos to get them printed and mailed to me. Mimeo was nice enough to give me 15% off each order to help save some money. The note cards should be arriving in a few weeks. I decided on using some of my favorite old photos I previously put on cards and mixed them with some new photos to give me a packet of 10 different cards with envelopes.
Saturday wouldn’t be Saturday unless you clean poop off the pool deck. The iguanas don’t want to disappoint me. Lately, there have been both the black scaled iguana and the common (these days) green iguana. One of the greens is a massive male. I feel somewhat badly that the Bismarck Palm is gone because I had a family of iguanas living in the trunk. Not.
Some of the Medicare bills are coming in. Holy Cross charged $281 dollars to access my port and $15,150 for a drug injection. Then there were four more charges for drugs during the infusion from $624-$792.
For my emergency room visit (caused by the infusion) HC charged Medicare $1820 and then for the tests they did while in the hospital, it was another $13, 480. To be observed in the hospital was $2139. They actually had someone check on me every few hours.
Dr. Burgers was a bargain at $2361 for the breast removal although she charged extra for the lymph nodes at $1565.
For both Medicare bills, I may be billed $1284 but I suspect my supplemental insurance will cover that. Getting cancer is not cheap! Actually, getting sick is not cheap.
Tonight, I need to figure out what I’ll have for dinner. I just can’t seem to finish any meal. For lunch I cooked a hamburger and ate about 3/4 of it. Then its binge watching Vera on Acorn and then a little reading before bed.
Stay tuned!
