Monday, February 23, 2009

Andy Update

It looks like Andy may be at the end of his speech therapy, at least so sayeth the insurance company who has never met him and has no idea what's going on with his ST. Although I hope they decide he can continue, I feel comfortable with his speech now. He's a bit behind the curve but he is catching up. My pocketbook could use a break from the copays, so it's not all bad.

The big guy has an appointment at the Costas Center on Thursday. He'll get some blood work, maybe a chest X-Ray, and possibly an EKG. One of his chemo meds, Doxorubicin, has the potential to cause heart problems, hence the EKG.

I'm looking forward to going on Thursday. I feel so comfortable and safe when I'm at the hospital with Andy. Just kinda an "everything will be just fine" feeling. I guess that's a good thing.

Kanada sux.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

I should have expected this

Under Hussein's stimulus package, low-income families who DON'T EVEN PAY INCOME TAX will be receiving the $1000 child tax credit.

WTF?

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Recovery.gov

recovery.gov Check it out. El Prezzo seems to really be technology-oriented. Not a bad thing sometimes.

From the site:
Q: Who runs Recovery.gov?
A: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act establishes an oversight board of inspectors general (the watchdogs of government) called the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which is responsible for overseeing Federal agencies to ensure that there is transparency and accountability for the expenditure of recovery funds. For the interim period until that board becomes operational, the President has coordinated a team from across Federal agencies to track Recovery Act dollars and report findings on this website.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Moe and Clark

No, these aren't the names of Moe Howard's late-life attempt at a newer, more modernized slapstick, "The Two Stooges", characters. And yes, that first sentence is grammatically correct, you'll just need to read it a couple times.

Back to the point, these are the names of two little Japanese Mastiff / Lab mix puppies that are taking up "temporary" residence at the Kelley house. Julie and the kids have their hearts set on keeping Moe. I told her she can keep him if she cleans up after him. Everyone tells me to put my foot down, but really I could care less as long as someone other than I stays on top of hygiene, etc.

So we're testing this. We're fostering Moe and Clark. If things go well, we'll keep Moe. And it looks like my dad will be keeping Clark. It's kinda weird how Louie's passing happened at the same time as these two puppies came along. Coincidence? In my experience, there's no such thing as coincidence. At least so proclaimed a great man a long, long time ago.

Emma has really taken to the puppies. She spends hours in the kitchen with the puppies. And believe it or not, she's pretty good with them. I'm really impressed.

Speaking of impressed, and speaking of my dad... I don't think I've ever seen someone pick up a guitar from out of nowhere and get to where he is after a couple months. And believe me, I'm very hard to impress with anything musical. Within a year my dad will be coming over, plugging in, and rocking while I do a bit of drumming. Within 2 years he will surpass me after 20 years. That is, if he stays at it.

If "B" will post some pictures on her Facebook of Emma and the puppies, I'll post them here.

For those of you keeping count, that's 3 kids, 3 cats, and 3 dogs.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Yeah, That Hurt

Wow. The injection itself wasn't too bad. Don't get me wrong, it hurt. The elbow sure is painful! But it didn't hurt very long. I guess I was expecting it to take like a minute or so. It was over in probably 10 LONG seconds.

But wow. Now it really friggin hurts. At least now I'm to the point to where I can type. Apparently when they inject cortisone into you, they're injecting it in a crystalline form. To make it worse, using the elbow too much will get blood flowing and that's a bad thing because the blood will just take crystals away. Or something along those lines. But not using it is making the already-sore muscles around it even more sore. That rhymed.

Ouch.

So that's my Friday. How was yours? I'll type more when I can actually type without pain.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

This Will Hurt.

But it will be worth it. Apparently the elbow is the most painful place in which to receive a cortisone injection. My tennis elbow has been unbearable the last few days. The braces only seem to offer temporary relief while actually making it worse for me the next day. Advil isn't helping. It's now affecting my quality of life.

So I'll be getting a cortisone injection in both elbows tomorrow afternoon.

Let me tell you how excited I am about this. See, I don't handle pain very well. Granted, since seeing Andy go through what he went through, I've learned to deal with it much better. But still, ouchie!

Frick.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Andy's First Infection Since.... You Know.

Andy seems to have a sinus infection. Emma has a double ear infection so I'm sure one shared with the other.

Here's the thing. This is Andy's first infection with his new white blood cells. No he didn't get a marrow transplant. But remember that last round of chemo pretty much destroyed his marrow. So this is truly his first infection with new marrow.

I'm a bit nervous. I know it's just a sinus infection. Heck, I'm not worried about Emma at all and she has a double ear infection! But this is uncharted territory. I'm feeling awkward. I realized this yesterday (Friday) evening and part of me thinks I should have called his oncologist because I know this is the type of thing she wants to know. I also know that when we talk to her on Monday I'll be in trouble for not calling over the weekend. But I also know that if I page the oncologist on call it will mean an ER trip for counts and such, depending on who's on duty.

He hasn't been running any fevers, so I know his white blood cells are doing their job.

Still, something has felt wrong for the last 24 hours and I haven't been able to put my finger on it. Sure it's sad that Louie died, but I don't feel like that's it. I don't know why, but I'm worried about Andy. I've been worried about him for about a week now. I don't have a real reason to be worried, at least that I know of. But it's that connection that Andy and I had. When something was wrong I could feel it. When he was healing I could feel it. When he was feeling well, I could feel it. I've had quite a few false alarms on those dreadful feelings, so I'm not going to let it consume me.

I'm going to call the Costas Center on Monday. I think he may be due for his checkup, so we were going to call anyway. Also, I know this is the kind of thing his oncologist would want to know about, so I at least want to inform her. Finally, if I tell his oncologist or his nurse that I've had that feeling lately, they'll probably react appropriately, whatever that may mean. They always have in the past.

The big guy is taking a nap now. He woke up at something insane like 3am this morning. I was up with him for some of that, Julie for most of it.

Back to the basement. Putting up some shelving.

Final note: Incase you haven't noticed, most of my posts have labels. I'm sick of seeing the combination of "Andy" and "Cancer" labels.

Friday, February 6, 2009

RIP Loogie - It Was a Good Run

Remember Loogie? aka Louie? He is the dog that will eat anything including, but not limited to, a fence, a strand of Christmas tree lights, a bottle of Tylenol, dozens of boxes of Kleenex, half a couch, two pairs of Levis, and many important financial documents. It seems he got into one too many things. I hate to sound insensitive about it but I've seen it coming for years, it was only a matter of when. So needless to say I was prepared for it.

Anyway, Louie is in complete kidney failure. He's being euthanized as I type this.

I'm going to wait until later this evening to call my dad. You'll recall we had to get rid of him and he's been living with my dad for a couple years now.

I need to figure out how to explain this to the kids. Oh crap.

RIP Louie, you'll be missed. But hey, it was a good run, buddy. I'm surprised you made it this long.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Hope and Change, Bitch!

*punch in the nose*

How'd that feel?

I've figured it out. I'm a fiscal conservative (small government, limited/no welfare, conservative spending). I'm a civil libertarian (support ghey marriage, FREE THE WEED!, black/white/red/yellow = people, no differences). Socially I'm somewhere in the middle (not gonna try to describe that but it stems from my fiscal conservatism / civil libertarianism). Generally because my overriding principal is money I'm a Republican although I do vote Dem when I feel it's the best choice. I don't vote straight party (anymore). W taught me not to do that. :-/

All of that being said, I think it's really funny how B. Hussein is pissing off the left. All of you heavy left-wingers who voted him in for "Change" didn't realize that what he meant by Change was really Change! Not "move to the left" but actually "let's change DC."

Haha! You got screwed!

Greg, I'm sorry, but I gotta say, I'm starting to kinda like the guy. He's already better than W, assuming he can keep the country safe for the next 4 years, but I think he's actually starting to change the status quo. Sure he's feeding the left by closing Club Gitmo, but he's gotta keep his original supporters somewhat happy.

I overheard a conversation today between two guys with Obama stickers all over their hard hats saying how he's really "screwing up." I couldn't help but smile. :)

Ok I'm off my high horse now. I won't rub it in anymore. (at least not too much)

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

We're Still Alive!

I promise, we're still alive. It's been very hectic lately, with virtually no spare time. But that's good. I perform better at everything when there's a lot going on. My metabolism also speeds up a bit as well, so there we go.

Andy is in the prime of his terrible twos. I really don't know how much longer this will last, but I miss my mellow, laid-back buddy.

Not really much else going on. Greg's still Kanadian. I still tell stupid jokes. Ford is in his Flivver and all is well with the world.

See ya in a day or 2 or 4 when things settle down.