Mad Macedonian

Your Sunday Smile

 

I'm letting the sun shine in,
facing all my challenges with a grin.
If I smile I will never lose.
My dreams and potential I will win,
by letting the sun shine in.
By facing my future with a grin
I open up my heart and let the sun shine in.

Medical Update: Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3, Testing

In the wake of my last update I went to my next appointment this morning, and the news is mostly positive.

The liver ultrasound came back with no onions, and the anemia is of no real concern, though my folic acid and B-12 levels were such that another blood test was done so they can decide if to prescribe 1 or both.

Since it's been 6 yrs. since my colonoscopy they gave me a packet to get samples for testing so as to see if I need another one.

My next appointment related to my eyes is on Monday.

Medical Update & More: Yappy Hew Near!

Sigh...

I knew it wasn't gong to be easy. I just have to trust that it will all work out somehow.

I turned in the application, and documents to the County liaison with MD Anderson. She had been trying to reach them last week to ask about the strictness of their 6 months in TX requirement.
She got through this morning, and the person she talked to said I would have to wait until March 20th, when I will have lived here for 6 months, to turn in the application.

My liaison lady, who has worked at her job 18 years, says that sometimes if the situation is serious enough, and there is a month or 2 to go before the 6 mo., they have relented, so she and my docs at Ben Taub, who had forwarded my medical records already, will keep trying. In the meantime the docs will monitor my medical situation.

Next appointment there will be the 14th.

I checked my test results on my "My Heath" page on the county website, and while most of my blood results were positive, including my Phenytoin level, I received a letter telling me I have mild anemia and will have to have a check-up on that. I called and since my next appointment with the county is the 11th it will be brought up then.

My problem is financial, right now.

I have just $165 in my checking and savings combined.

I don't know if I can get a limit increase on my credit card, and am reluctant to cash in my IRA, but may have to survive.

I have my electric bill, credit card, virgin mobile, and renter’s ins. yet to pay this month, not to mention the doc visit co-pays, Cat food in a couple weeks, and more money on my transit Q-card as needed.

Then my rent is due by the 3rd...

I am still expecting a 2nd job interview, following the first one, and stopped by the store, Sunday, to let them know I was still interested.

I called the local office of the Cancer Society of America and they gave me a list of area resources to look into, so I will check them out and learn more.

I am tired, worried, yet hopeful that somehow everything will work itself out.

As I wrote before, this is no time to be freaking out, and so I am doing my best to not do so.

101 I Am's: 2013 Edition - Inspired by Pastor Joel Osteen

I took the first step towards spreading my writing wings in Houston, with the start of a series on my visit to the Houston Cat Club's 60th Annual Charity Cat Show (My small admission kindly paid by a local friend who also attended.)

I have set up a Facebook Page for my writing efforts (A Mad Macedonian and 2 Opinionated Pussycats.) separate from my personal Facebook. I am also going to attempt remodels of both
blogs.

(As we remodel the donation buttons are still parked in the sidebars of both blogs, but also at the top of the page here, and here, on Meowsings.)

Medical Update: Operation Vitrectomy Successfully Accomplished

The surgery went well, on Friday. It was an interesting experience, to say the least.  Since I knew the way to and from the Hospital it was one of the few days where my sister Violeta didn’t get lost trying to find her way around Houston. I think the freeway system, here, was making her quite loopy! I was taken into what appeared to be a prep and recovery room, and traded in my clothes for a hospital gown, and hopped into bed. My sister took my clothes, and spent most of the afternoon loitering in the McDonalds down in the hospital basement.

My time was then spent getting prepped for the Vitrectomy (In case ya missed it, here is part 1) and entertaining the nurses with stories of my previous surgeries (ankle, and cataract), both of which were blogged in some form or another. They got a big laugh over how I had stuck a sign reading “drive carefully!” on my butt for the docs to see at my colonoscopy, and how I’d blogged the, um, fun of drinking NuLytely the day before, & more. The nurses were all very professional and did their jobs quite well. Though my request for the Houston Texan Cheerleaders to be on hand to give support was regretfully not something they could make happen (Why not, I don’t know. I mean it wasn’t as if I was asking for the gals in Dallas, after all, sheesh!)

When it was time for my operation someone “drove” me down several hallways to the operating room. I made sure to ask if she was licensed to drive, and was assured she thought she was, just hang on! I thought I was going to be knocked out for the duration, but after various things were either stuck in me, or on me, for various reasons, I was given something that made me numb, and woozy, but not completely unaware of the fun and games  of which I was the main attraction.

It is downright weird to be not only aware that some device is holding your eye open, so some guy in a white gown, and surgical mask, can rummage around in your eye socket with various tools of his trade and, at the same time be aware that the people working on you are holding conversations that you can understand some of. While most of the talk was medical, I can’t swear that they might not have been discussing the weekend football games that the Cowboys and Texans were going to play on Sunday, too.

I fell briefly asleep near the end, awakening just in time to be told it was all over, and the operation was a success, then I was drove back to a recovery room for a while before being allowed to go home, with a patch over the eye, eye drop prescriptions, and other instructions, in hand, and orders to come back to the eye clinic for a follow-up, at 9am the next morning.

(As we remodel the donation buttons are still parked in the sidebars of both blogs, but also at the top of the page here, and here, on Meowsings.)

 

Medical Update: Operation Vitrectomy

 

Good evening, and Merry Christmas, to friends and fans of this blog. The last update on my medical situation was on the 13^th. Last week I had appointments with my doctors, at Ben Taub, and also had an ultrasound done on my liver, related to the melanoma in the left eye. I am still waiting for results from this test and blood tests, and need to go back for another blood test related to determining proper Phenytoin pill level (An anti-seizure med).

As for my right eye the eye drop treatment, that has lasted a month, was not clearing up the condition of the eye sufficiently and this concerned the docs, as there are risks of a retinal tear having caused the issue and retinal detachment as well. The bleeding in my eye needs to be cleared up sooner, rather than later, considering the issues with my other eye, and so they suggested an outpatient procedure called a Vitrectomy. It takes 90 min. to 2 hours to complete, and 2 to 6 weeks to recover from.

I will have the operation sometime this Friday.

800 Musings by a Mad Macedonian

Change is good. So is evolution.

I became a blogger in May 2002, and over the years writing on my 3 blogs and, as my cats, on Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat, have allowed me to share the news, and share our opinions, and our lives.

Through those blogs I re-discovered a talent for poetry, and creative writing, and amateur journalism, and I discovered the courage to change my life for the better, a journey that had begun in 1998, and is a work in progress.

I also took up Facebook like just about everyone else on the planet.

Recently I've decided to consider creating a 2nd Facebook account, a page devoted to my writing side, to begin the New Year.

I have been something of a creationist, over a decade of blogging, bringing to life various "personalities", and concepts.

So where do I go from here? What, and where, is my place in the blogosphere, and other types of social media of today?

Eventually, EVERYONE stops by to see what the Mad Macedonian has to say, his place is an establishment of infinite delights: creative writing, & discourses on the many things that interest him, even his everyday life, are some of what can be sampled at Musings. So wear your thinking cap, check your expectations at the door, and don't forget to tip the bouncer (Elvira Mistress of Felinity) on the way out....

Welcome to the 800th post on Musings of a Mad Macedonian, since October 2007, and the 4,537th blog post in my career, over 4 blogs, since 2002.

Medical Update: What I Know So Far and What Next

It has been a week since my last update, and I am posting from a slow computer in the Apt. cafe where I live (I finally took my laptop in to be fixed, spending money I could ill afford, but it had to be done, as what's a blogger w/o his computer?).

My doctor at HEA talked directly to the docs at Ben Taub Eye Clinic on Monday, and I was reached on Tuesday to come in Wednesday morning.

A blood lab was taken for my liver then later in the day I sent 2 1/2 hours being examined by 3 of the top specialists there (And Ultrasound on my abdomen will be done of the 18th, as a cancer precaution in the rest of my body).

They looked at BOTH my eyes.

The news is complex, and worrisome, and before I go further I want to be sure no-one, human or feline, has a freakout.

If I am not going to have one, then my friends and fans are not going to be allowed to have one on my behalf! My 2 sisters are doing their best to ignore those orders for all of us combined. :-D

Measurement-wise my Malignant Melanoma, in the right eye is just over the border from small to medium. Chances of kicking the bucket are slim if not treated as soon as possible.

As for treatment options, there are 3, at least 1 of which Ben Taub is equiped to to, not only MD Anderson.

1. Like father, like son...I lose the eye. It gets taken out, bye-bye issue.

2. Sew Radiation Plaque on the eye for a week or so, then remove it.

3. Radiation Beam on the eye.

With Options 2 & 3...radiation could still damage my vision in that eye (currently 20/20 w/glasses), but there is a very good chance of good vision due to where the tumor is, although I could lose vision in this eye at some point in the future.

As for the left eye, the one that had the blood hemmorhage, and brought this whole mess to my attention...

I am to continue taking the drops, and return on the 17th for another check-up. If the eye is still blurry they may have to do surgery to remove the blood, and restore my vision in that eye.

I have an appointment at another location, in the morning, to get the application for MD Anderson, and learn what documents they need me to provide about my personal and financial, situation. They are very strict on the paperwork requirements, and the sooner I can get what they need the sooner I get in to MD Anderson to see the Doc I need to see....

I chatted with one of the Docs about Disability, and to hear him tell it, as long as I can see out of one eye, and there is work I can do, chances of getting Federal Disability are slim.

Don't know where my 2 seizures, or my ankle (Still have the metal inside even though fixed & am working on strengthening my legs and hips, through exercise) would fit in to this equation, but those are questions for another day.

My unemployment extensions will also end, like everyone elses, on 12/29.

So, will I just end up with poorer vision in a formerly well-behaved eye, or am I destined to be The One-Eyed Mad Macedonian/Mad Houstonian?

 

In Honor of Veteran's Day



The day after the election I went to the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, and the nearby Battleship Texas Historic Site, and while I didn't take the tour of the ship, I did, with the help of a passer-by wielding my camera, pay tribute.

Thank you, Mog, for the assistance with the photos! (My PSE was down!) :-D

As anyone who has visited the ship knows it's birthed in the opposite direction. The wind was strong, but not in the direction I needed, so the picture had to be flipped. :-D

 

 

Taking an Initial Look Around #2

My first 3 weeks in Houston I got out and about, exploring the city a little, as I ran errands and shopped.

Part 1 is here.

Houston is a huge city, one that has expanded a lot, in territory utilized and built on, in the last 20 years. I realized that, just this afternoon, when I walked into a Westchase District branch of the Public Library. On a wall was a wall sized, aerial view, of Houston, looking from my neighborhood toward downtown, in 1995. A lot of open space, and groves of trees, can be seen where development has since sprung up.

Houston is a mix of historic, not so historic but old, just plain old from the last 50 years of the 20^th century, modern, and brand new. At 700 sq. miles there is a lot to see in in Houston and its suburbs and I hope a newcomer can be pardoned for buying, at some point, the latest copy of a city road atlas, to supplement using Google to learn the region.

Learning and using, the Houston Metro Transit System is an adventure in itself! :-D

Unlike what I’m used to, the routes don’t come in a book, but in individual pamphlets, like LA Metro still does, and there is only 1 short metro train, 7 miles long, with 3 more in development.

So, I did what any smart person, new in town or not, would do, and went to the Metro store, downtown, to get all the routes.

Yes, the streets (many of them narrow) and sidewalks, in many places may need some repair and the narrowness of sidewalks, or frequent lack of them on many residential side street (and whole neighborhoods, by deliberate design, or not), may be disconcerting, but it all adds the charm and fascination of the city, and makes me want to explore it all even more.

As a bus passed narrow streets, with no sidewalks, I found myself peering at older residential neighborhoods with nice, well kept, homes with neat lawns and even a few of the richer parts of town. One stretch of a tony part of Memorial Dr. had signs forbidding bikes on the street, while the narrow sidewalk, on the right, had signs identifying it as a hiking and biking path. OK… :-D

Faith, Furniture and Freakiness

OK, call me crazy, but I stopped by a Christian second hand store a mile from home and sitting outside was a beautiful 3 piece wood furniture set, received only two days ago and just put out today.

A day after going to church for the first time in a good long while, I decide to check out this store, which I discovered a few weeks back.

There were two end tables and a coffee table for a total of $55.

I hadn’t planned on buying anymore furniture, because of the cost, but could not pass this steal of a deal up and I know just how to use them in what space I have. :-D

I carried one end table home, and came back, twice more, with my dolly, to get the other two.