Day 31 = Wow! 

Thanks to everyone for their kind comments and support. I'm glad everyone has been enjoying my ramblings and flashbacks. Not to worry, even though May is ending, I will be continuing my blog with outfits (though not daily), random thoughts, more flashbacks (I've got to catch you up) and ongoing oncology experiences.

Can you believe, I actually made it through the month without any repeat outfits! Woohoo ;) My lovely mom took my pic today! Thanks...you did good!

I really like the beaded collar on this blouse! Which of course, I found at Savers! Even better, IMO.

I'm heading in to help in with Red One's class today. They've been working on their country projects (she had Egypt) and today is the international luncheon. The kids will be bringing in food from the country they are working on. Red One made basbousa, all by herself, which is an Egyptian sweet semolina cake doused in lemony simple syrup. It's a bit too sweet and one note for me, but I think all the kids will love it!.

This is it, other than the almonds...we went with no nuts to make it easier with the school allergy guidelines...I think the crunch would help though!

And finally, I need to share great news with you. The medicine arrived this morning!!! Hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray!!!!! I really hope that next time it's not such a nightmare!

This month has been so great. I've been able to talk to people about brain cancer awareness...the support from family and friends has been wonderful! Thank you all for your love, prayers, and friendship. This journey would be much darker and lonelier with y'all! God bless you all!

Day 30 - Frustration Galore! Can't pharmacies and insurance Companies just get along?

First off...here's outfit #30 :)

I did reuse the shirt, but it is a new outfit :) in case you've been keeping track, lol...Red Two took the picture, which is why the angle is so bad...haha!

Had a busy but nice time last night. Not only was it David's birthday, but the older two girls had their spring concert at school...plus, my mom was supposed to fly in late that night. Needless to say, I was running around like crazy. Grocery shopping, baking, cleaning, cooking...

We had ribeyes, twice-baked potatoes (Pioneer Woman's recipe) and corn casserole. I decided to make a melted ice cream cake...even though we are having his actual birthday party on the weekend with family, you can't have a birthday and not have cake and, more importantly for David, ice cream. It's this cool recipe where you pair any box cake mix with a pint of any flavor ice cream (melted) for the liquid, and then a glaze on top. I thought it was a pretty cool idea. I wound up going with an orange cake and vanilla ice cream. David always has liked orange cream stuff. It came out pretty good!

Anyway, we had an early dinner, then the girls had their concert at school. It was the worst time ever! The concert was at 6:00 and they had to be there at 5:30. Seriously! it couldn't be 7:00? or even 6:30? They did a great job though! Red One is in 5th grade, so she was in the 5th grade chorus, and she also plays the viola. Red Two plays the flute. 

After the concert we headed back to the house for cake and ice cream. Poor Buddy had conked out at the concert. I tried to wake him up so he wouldn't miss out on the cake...uh uh! He was done for. He perked up for a minute when I gave him some ice cream, but it didn't last long. He laid right back down on the bench ;)

David loved his presents! He knew I was getting him new shoes...he'd figured that one out. He has a pair of Merrell barefoot style shoes that he wears constantly when he's not working. He's actually worn holes in the material on top from wearing them so much. So he guessed that one pretty quickly. He did not, however, cheat and check Amazon to see what I got him, so the new set of really nice clippers was a surprise. He'd really been wanting some, so he liked that!

After that, my mom was supposed to fly in, but her flight was delayed due to bad weather...she finally made it in today at noon. She'd been awake for 30 hours :/ Hopefully she'll get a good night's rest tonight!

So today...getting down to the frustration that you are all so curious about; I spent the majority (at least it felt like it) of the day on the phone with the insurance company and the pharmacy trying to get David's medication filled so he can start his next round of chemo. It's been an absolute nightmare! I think I mentioned it a few posts back, but this one medication (the chemo he's on is a cocktail of three different chemos) is only available from one pharmacy and our insurance requires that all refills be processed by their mail order department. They had been giving us overrides, but the last time said no more, it had to go through them. So now I've been trying to get them to mail it...just seriously so frustrating! Everyone I talked to was really nice...they were trying to be helpful and do what they could...just wish there was an easier process! 

I started off by contacting Caremark to see if they were able to process the mail order that had been called in two days ago. A very nice gentleman was helping me, but I was on the phone for about an hour that time. What's crazy is his wife had actually gone through the exact same PCV chemo regimen...it's not that common anymore. I think that helped him want to help me more. He talked to his supervisor and was finally able to get me one last override code. He saw the order in the system, but couldn't access the details. He said that he recommended using the override code for Accredo, the other pharmacy, so we could go ahead and get the medicine sent as soon as possible. The only drawback was the code was only good for today, so it had to be submitted by Accredo to Caremark today. He also told me in the future that it needed to be a 90 day supply prescription...which is crazy in itself, they don't give out chemo in 90 day periods...it's constantly being reevaluated...and then they would process the order and hopefully be able to fill it. I have my doubts. But if it was not a 90 day supply, it would automatically be rejected. There just doesn't seem to be any common sense override in the systems. 

After I got off the phone with Caremark, I called Accredo asking them to send through the order today, as it was only good for then. The representative there was very helpful and set up the delivery for next Wednesday, the earliest time she could. I asked when we would know of the override actually worked. She said it would typically be about an hour...but they would call me if there were any issues. 

I was hopeful, but planned on calling them myself to verify, especially since the authorization had a limited time frame. My mom flew in and Buddy and I picked her up. He's been talking about her coming for a few days now, so he was happy to see her!

When a couple hours had passed, I called Accredo back to see if there had been any problems with the order. That time, the representative said the only thing she saw in my notes was that it needed to be mail ordered, so had been rejected! I'm so ridiculously upset at this point! I try calling Caremark right away, I get transferred to whoever can help me and what happens? Her system locks up, it's updating, can you call back later? What?!?!?!?! I'm on a time limit here, you know....but nothing I can do. I try calling the doctor's office to update them and see if there's anything they can do, but I never get a call back. The one nurse who is so great and always helps, was out for the last couple days, but nobody else helped me. 

Now it's time to pick up the girls from school. Homework, projects, chores, dinner...I call Caremark back around 5:00...surely someone can help me this time! The rep I talked to this time said there's no record that Accredo submitted anything to them today. The last time Accredo tried was on the 24th...not today! She suggested I call them with her on the line...so nice. I get David's phone and call Accredo to find out why I was told it was rejected and it hadn't even been submitted. Unfortunately, right as soon as I get someone from Accredo, I accidentally hang up on Caremark...UGH! Oh well, keep going...I tell her what Caremark told me, it was never submitted. She's trying to find out what's going on, had it been submitted or not. She said she needs to call another department to find out some stuff and see what's going on...can she call me back. Okaaayyyy....sigh

Dinner...I'm so fried at this point I can't even cook. Grilled cheese was sounding too hard. I finally threw on a pot of water for spaghetti, crack open a can of marinara, dump it on, voila! I did have a loaf of French bread that I put some Fontina and butter on and heated up...that was good! 

No call...so I call back...again. Different rep, not sure, checking, I'm showing that it will be delivered tomorrow. Wha....??? I'm happy but confused. Then the lady I had talked to earlier called me, said it went through, delivery is scheduled for tomorrow...Hooray!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Other than the nagging sensation of I'll believe it when I see it, hopefully that is that! Until next round anyways. 

The End.

Oh wait, no it's not...then we had to scoot to the girls basketball game. Yay...they lost, oh well...

Now it's over. Where's my bed again?

Day 29 - Happy Birthday!

Today is David's 34th birthday! While we will be celebrating over the weekend...of course we're still gonna have a nice dinner and cake and ice cream!

In honor of David's birthday, I'm gonna tell y'all the story of how we met. It was the spring semester of '99. I was home, poor...couldn't go back to the state college, so I was attending the local junior college while working at a local bank. Apparently David was also going to the junior college to save some money during the off season. He was a football player...obviously ;)

Anyways, so kinda weird, but my brother, my mom, and I were all taking classes at the same time...fun time, lol...so Michael (brother) and I would hang out with some friends in between classes. I would see this dude wearing the most hideous colored t-shirt...imagine an unholy mix of chartreuse, mustard and lime and you have some idea.

this is close, but still too pretty

Anywho, there's a big, tall guy with this hideous shirt, jeans with a Tweety bird patch on the butt, arm in a sling...walking like he owns the place. Just wading through the crowds...wish I had a digital pic of him from back then. OK, I just took dug out a bunch of old pics and snapped them with my phone...not the greatest, but you'll see what I mean! ;)

I didn't know he played football at the time, but this is gonna be the right time period.

In fact, here's a montage of high school and college pics.

When I met him, he'd stopped bleaching his hair though :/...alright, I'm getting sidetracked! Back to my story...so, I'd see this guy walking around with Tweety on his butt. I thought it was hilarious! I even pointed him out to my brother. We never had any classes together though...and we never even talked...just a little eye flirting.

Fast forward to fall semester, I had transferred to one of the local colleges in Abilene, Hardin-Simmons University. It's one of three universities in Abilene...all private christian schools. HSU is a baptist school...this was my 4th (and last) college...and I still never graduated! haha...but that's a totally different story. This was both of our junior years. I was still working part time at the bank in the afternoons and I had a computer class at night. I would show up still in my work clothes. I'm sure y'all all know how computer classes work...you show up, get your assignment, then finish it and can leave. This was actually my second computer class, they were only half a semester long. Guess who was in my second class? I had no idea he went to school there, but I totally remembered him! He may have even had the same jeans...I know he had that shirt! 

So, we played the eye game a few classes. He told me later that he thought I was stuck up or something because I was always dressed up...lol! A few classes in, I had my eye on him and told myself, if he leaves early I'm gonna leave early too. Lo and behold, he gets up pretty quickly. I let him walk out the door then get my stuff and follow him out. Didn't want to look too pathetic...haha...so he's a ways ahead of me, gets to the doors and what does he do? He stands there and waits, holding the door for me...bear in mind, I'm at least 30 feet behind him. We start talking, he asks if I want to go to the cafeteria...we get a snack or something and talk some more. He made total fun of me for how slow I drink too...apparently he was amazed when I was drinking my Dr Pepper at how long I was drinking from the bottle and how little the level changed...seriously, that's what you notice??? 

And that, ladies and gentleman, is that...we started dating the next day I think, I remember the date...it was Nov 9, 1999. I remember because it was his little sister's birthday...she was turning 10 and he didn't know what to get her. It was so cute. Rachel says now that he was totally playing me...but I think he was really worried. It was adorable. Four months later we were married...I know everyone thought we were either crazy or it was a shotgun wedding...but here we are, 13 years later and still happy as can be!

Oh, I realized I never explained the arm sling. Apparently he had just had reconstructive surgery on his shoulder due to multiple dislocations. And by multiple, I mean over 50! He actually had 13 post surgery...which is not supposed to happen! Football. 

Happy Birthday my love! It's been a crazy wild ride...but I wouldn't change a thing! 

Oh yeah, here's my outfit today ;) Sorry about the lighting...I wanted to get the full dress in...but nobody here to take it for me. My full length mirror is on my closet door...horrible lighting! Just pretend y'all can't see the debris all over my room ;)

I love this dress! Maxis are one of my favorite things to wear! So comfy and cute.

Flashback #6 - Off to a bumpy start!

Alright, picking back up after our first trip to Sloan Kettering in NYC. The initial visit had gone well enough. The oncologist felt that there were trials that David would qualify for, which made us hopeful. We were to return a week later for a follow up and more information. This would give the Sloan pathologists time to complete their own analysis of David's tissue sample, as well as give the doctors more time to review all his information.

After Halloween festivities, we headed back to the city. David was scheduled for an MRI at Sloan, then we would meet with Dr Lassman to discuss our options.

Mary Catherine Woolley

November 5, 2010 at 12:33pm via mobile · 

• Sitting in another waiting room waiting for another MRI ;) then off to the doc to get our finalized treatment plan. Let's get this show on the road!

  
  

  

  
  

Waiting room pic...Sloan actually has several buildings other than the main hospital. David's doctor is in the East 53rd St building. It's very nice inside...the security/greeters are always super nice! The waiting room is pretty neat for a medical building.

Mary Catherine Woolley We've graduated to the dr's waiting room...

November 5, 2010 at 2:48pm via mobile · Like

Once we actually conferred with Dr. Lassman, he gave us our options. In his opinion, chemotherapy alone was just as effective as the radiation/chemo combo that the local doctor had recommended. However, instead of being a six week course of chemo and radiation, it would be a year of chemo. But it would not be everyday...it would be cyclical. David would take a higher dose of Temodar (than if he were doing the 6 week option) for 5 days, then nothing for 23 days. This would go on for 12 cycles. 

Then he took the opportunity to tell us about a trial that he felt David would be eligible for based on his pathology, tumor grade, etc. They essentially agreed with Hartford's diagnosis...however, they felt that the grade was slightly above a 2, they called it a 2.5...but rounded it up to 3 so he could participate in the trial. Of course, David just called it 2 and change. No way was it a 3...except for on his Sloan charts. He wouldn't be able to take part in the trial with a grade 2, or slightly above 2...so that's why they rounded it up.

Anyways, the trial would be 6 months of standard Temodar treatment, with MRIs so they could monitor growth/shrinkage every 3 cycles...at least that's what we thought. It wound up actually being every 2 cycles. Depending of the response of the tumor to the chemotherapy...if they felt it was responding (and they were hopeful it would be due to the deletions in the chromosomes I talked about last Flashback), then he would proceed with the actual trial portion of treatment.

The trial consisted of a few steps. First of all, before he started any chemotherapy at all, he would need to take an immune system boosting drug called Neupogen, which would cause his white blood cells to increase. After being on it for a couple days, he would head to NYC to be hooked up to a machine which cycled his blood from one arm, through a centrifigal machine that harvested the stem cells, then back into his other arm. They said it usually took 2-3 days of being hooked to the machine to harvest enough stem cells. After this procedure, he would do the 6 months of standard Temodar. Then, a very high dose of chemotherapy would be administered for about 3 days I believe, at which point all his bone marrow would be destroyed, but hopefully also the cancer cells. After receiving the chemotherapy, he would get a rest of a couple days, then would receive back his own stem cells that they had harvested and frozen previously. This would get his immune system ramping back up faster. He would need to be in isolation at the hospital, probably for about 3 weeks. Then he would be discharged, but would need to stay in NYC for another 3-4 weeks in case of emergency. They said we should be able to stay at Hope Lodge, which offers lodging for cancer patients for no charge. After that he would be able to go home, but would still need to stay away from people for the most part, wouldn't be able to go back to work until 3 months were up. This was some hardcore stuff here. No fooling, it was dangerous!

I'll be totally honest, from the minute I heard about this trial, it scared the s@*# out of me!!! I was seriously terrified. I had no good feeling, but what were our options?

So after telling us about the trial, Dr. Lassman said he wanted to discuss something on the MRI with us...but then proceeded to keep on "selling" us on the trial for another 20 minutes. Talking about it later, David said he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, but he just kept on telling us about the trial and why he felt it would be good. Like I said earlier, it was for grade 3 Oligodendroglioma, which is why they rounded up the 2.5 grade they had told us.

Finally, Dr Lassman said, "about your MRI..." They had noticed missing bone in his forehead and were worried about "bone-eating bacteria." WOW, you really are worried about bone eating bacteria, but you took 30 minutes to sell us on the trial? lol...we were a little amazed. Anyways, they said David had bone missing and they were concerned. Of course, David didn't have any signs of infection, no fever, dumbness, etc...so he asks if they were aware that Dr Schwartz had gone into his brain through the sinus cavity and sealed it off. Dr Lassman says, "really, he told you that?" Oh my!!! Seriously, it's in the surgery notes...which apparently they don't read...even though we sent all that info over. Surgeons and oncologists really don't cross over. He had no idea about that...and to make matters worse, David suggested that he call Dr Schwartz and Lassman said, yeah, do you have his number? At this point, we are not feeling good about the collaboration at all. We've given ALL this information to his office. The doctor in fellowship jumped in though, saying that they did have it.

However, Dr Lassman was still concerned and wanted us to catch the next shuttle to the main hospital and go to the ER and get examined right away. We were thinking if it was such an emergency, why did you waste so much time talking about the trial, etc. We were a bit concerned honestly, who wouldn't be at this point. But we thought it was probably just the erosion from the tumor being in there so long, as well as the missing sinus cavity that they hadn't been aware of. So we caught the shuttle and went to the ER.

Mary Catherine Woolley

November 5, 2010 at 5:54pm via mobile · 

• Sitting in the urgent care waiting room at Sloan Kettering hoping and praying that the possible signs of infection they saw in the MRI is just the bone erosion that was already noted before surgery. And if it is, hoping that the transfer of info between doctors goes more smoothly in the future.

Oh boy...so we waited for 4 hours...bear in mind, even though my in-laws are watching the kids, I'm still worried about them!

Mary Catherine Woolley

November 5, 2010 at 9:57pm via mobile · 

• Been in the er for 4 hours and finally saw a neurologist, but David still hasn't gotten his ct scan. The doc did say they were going to admit him overnight until they can have an infectious diseases dr and an ent meet with him, and make sure this isn't a problem...but still don't know any more than we did before, other than that we're staying the night.

boooo...some serious CYA going on here! An infectious disease doctor, and an ENT...wowzers. At this point David and I were pretty confident nothing was going on...it was just missing bone that the surgeon had already told us about...but we needed to see it through. So they admitted us, because apparently it wasn't that big of an emergency, it could wait till morning.

Then David decided to hijack my FB...lol

Mary Catherine Woolley

November 6, 2010 at 5:55am via mobile · 

• She is actually sleeping in my bed kicking me to the chair. She's in a very happy place now and convinced I am fine:)

  Mary Catherine Woolley Ahhhhh, feeling much better, had the worst crick in my neck from the awful chairs! Lol, David apparently hijacked my account 

  November 6, 2010 at 8:56am via mobile · Like · 1

I wasn't the only one convinced that he was fine. And at this point, with as anxious and vigilant as he was about his health, that's saying something!

So we finally saw an infectious disease doctor (no infectious disease), an ENT doctor (everything's fine, yup, your sinus is blocked off), a neurosurgeon (yup, that's how we would have left him) and finally the green light to go home, you're good.

Mary Catherine Woolley

November 6, 2010 at 3:25pm via mobile · 

• We're finally being set free! Nothing is wrong, no infection, so about to head home. Here's hoping the garage bill doesn't send us back to the hospital with a heart attack!

Sigh...mind you, this is the next afternoon!!! I missed the kids so badly at this point! Never was I so happy to be home!

Mary Catherine Woolley

November 6, 2010 at 8:17pm via mobile · 

• Home sweet home!

Of course, we're also trying to decide what to do. The trial sounds risky, but could have a big payoff. We decided to go for it. We could always back out if we didn't want to continue.

David called the doctor and said he was in. He needed to go back up to sign paperwork the next week. I've been going to every single one of his appointments at this point. However, the girls parent-teacher conferences were that same day. I figured since it wasn't an appointment, he was just signing paperwork, it would be OK.

So off David leaves in the morning. Of course, the weather is cold and super windy that day. Since the conferences are in the afternoon, the kids get out early...and because with everything going on, I hadn't signed up for the conferences early enough to get slots right next to each other...so I wound up having walk the half mile back and forth to school in the blustery wind with the kids about three times. I'm feeling sorry for myself...and then David gets home. Turns out, he saw all kinds of doctors...meetings...information...it was a bad day to miss. Of course he was unhappy I wasn't there...but, c'est la vie...if I'd known it was all that, I would have gone...but they had just said he needed to sign the paperwork to join the trial. I didn't miss another appointment for over a year...haha

I was hoping to get a little further along...but I guess this is enough for now.

Here's David's take on the whole bone eating bacteria fiasco.

Day 28 - MOPS morning!

So a bunch more of my mommy friends showed up to MOPS this morning in gray to show support for brain cancer awareness! Y'all are the best!

Today was the last MOPS meeting of the year...wahhh!!! Seriously though, this was my last day serving on the steering team...a few tears might have been shed on the way home. I hadn't realized how long I'd actually been going to this MOPS group...I figured out that this was my seventh year, and sixth on the steering team. MOPS has been such a huge part in my life, it's gonna be so weird not be as deeply involved. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, I'll still be going to MOPS, I just can't make the time commitment to serve on the steering team anymore. I still have a couple years before Buddy will be in school, thank goodness! It's probably good for my ego though. I liked being a part of running it and have come to the realization that I was a bit proud about it. Funny how you don't notice stuff like that till it's gone. 

I just want to say to everyone on steering team, discussion group leaders, mentor moms...y'all have been so wonderful to work with and it's been sheer pleasure being involved in this group. I appreciate all the times you picked up the slack when I wasn't able to come, the help you provide every meeting, the listening ears and arms ready to hug. I seriously am so grateful to EVERYONE at MOPS. The meals that have been cooked, the prayers offered, and just smiles and friendship every meeting and beyond. You are amazing moms, awesome friends and I love you all! I would say something special about individuals, but there's too many of you! haha...not everyone can say that! I am completely blessed!

OK, you know I gotta talk about my shoes ;) I love this pair! I found these awesome distressed metallic oxfords at, where else, the thrift store! I really like the oxford trend, but hadn't found the right pair till these. Super cute, IMO! On a side note, I love my porch swing!

I forgot to mention yesterday, while the kids were having their sleepover at Papa's house, they came up with Indian names for everyone. David and Rachel are actually card carrying members of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians from their mom's side. The kids are not members due to the bloodline being less than a quarter at their generation...they are known as First Generation. What's way cool is that First Generation kids still get school tuition benefits! Anyways, they decided they needed Indian names. Red One decided to be Wildcat. Red Two is Firefox, due to her hair color and sly sense of humor. Red Three is Dragonfly. Buddy decided to be called Tractor! LOL! The girls decided that Little Tractor sounded more Indian...although Pouty Pants was in the running too. Perhaps Pouty Britches would be better...hahaha

Rachel was Wildflower. Red One suggested I should be Glass Eyes...I said "really???" that's the best you could come up with? 

As my mom is flying in tomorrow night, I think I'm gonna go break down a Bowflex, move it to the basement, move a bed into the den, and clean up! I also have parent orientation at the 6th grade academy tonight; Red One will be going next year (say it isn't so!)! Not to mention David's birthday is tomorrow also, as well as the older girls orchestra/band concert for school...gasping for breath...pray for me! ;)

Day 27 - Happy Memorial Day!

I know it's turned into BBQ, parades and family fun...but we never forget the sacrifices of the millions of the brave who made this the home of the free. We salute you and we honor you! Having come from a military family (my dad was in the Air Force, my brother was in the Marines and now in the Army, and lots of uncles who served), we remember the fallen and thank those who have and continue to serve!

David said my gray jeans just barely counted. He was checking my outfit out to see where my gray was...haha! I'm so excited at this point! David and I were heading to the movies to watch Star Trek Into Darkness. Oh my...I loved it. I thought they did a really great job with it. Lots of action, lots of feels, and Benedict Cumberbatch!!!! lol, but seriously, he is amazing! He did such an incredible job. Even though you know "John Harrison" is a bad guy, you almost start rooting for him. Until the end of course. Plus, I was totally geeking out with all the little nods to the classic Star Trek.

Last night we wound up going to my in-laws and roasting s'mores on their new fire pit. It was a bit cold, but the flames did a good job of warding off the chill. Then, I got to leave the kids there! haha, awesome! That's how we were able to go to the movies by ourselves. David was joking that it was our annual date. We do get out more than once a year, but sometimes it's a LOOONNNGGG time in between outings.

After the (awesome) movie, we headed over to the in-laws for the requisite cookout...and I suppose to get the kids too ;)

Dad smoked some delicious ribs! Yummy! And then more s'mores...lol
Red One invented her own concoction...she put two pieces of chocolate around her marshmallow and called it a Chore...haha

 
 

Apparently Buddy finds marshmallows blissful ;) Red Three was chowing down on the ribs! Red Two was very proud that she was wearing gray! I think she wanted to get on my blog :P

Overall, it was a nice, relaxing day! I hope y'all had a wonderful one too.

Day 26 - Brrrr

It just shouldn't be this cold and gloomy at the end of May! Yesterday it was in the 40s all day...today it actually made it to 60, but it's windy, cloudy, and at times, rainy. At least tomorrow will be sunny and 70!

I wore this dress for Buddy's baptism a few years ago. Wow, can't believe it's been that long! Kids just grow up too fast! And, I do love the baby/toddler stages! I always start missing it when they start get older. 

I finally did my hair last night. It's been super faded! I really like coloring my hair, and my favorite is flaming red! Although, I rather enjoyed the turquoise and blue I did last summer ;) I get bored when things stay the same too long...I grow out my hair, then I get tired of it and chop it all off. I go natural with my hair color, then go crazy, then semi-normal. I figure, it's just hair. If I don't like it, I can always change it/grow it out/cover it with a different color.

OK, Red One found this freaky bug in the shower this morning! EWWWWW! Anyone know what it is? It's so weird looking. I haven't the slightest clue. It was about an inch and a half I'd say. Apart from the ick factor, I really hope it's not poisonous or bitey...I totally made up that word...could you tell? lol

So, never mind...I just Googled "bug with lots of legs" and these suckers popped up. Apparently they are house centipedes...and they eat other bugs and aren't harmful to humans. Supposedly they are beneficial...hard to see how anything that ugly is beneficial. As long as I never see them, I'll be happy! 

I've actually been a bit productive the last couple days. I got the den cleared out (other than the Bowflex...hopefully we'll move that tonight), cleaned out the garage a good bit. If only I could keep up on all the small stuff. The house goes from mostly tidy to war zone in about 30 sec flat sometimes!

Looking forward to tomorrow. My father-in-law is smoking some ribs...MMMMM! And maybe we can even get some hiking or something outdoorsy in. I could stand to be outside after this past week or so of ugly weather!

Day 25 - Arghhhhh

I've had a frustrating morning and haven't been handling it well...which makes me more of witch! Vicious cycle!

I actually had another, cuter pic...other than the giant smudge on my nose I didn't know was there! Haha, luckily my glasses covered it up in this one. I didn't feel like going and taking more pics. OK, I know it's a little ridiculous, but I love the tiny hat on my headband. It's not too over the top, but still quirky!

I had to get a close up of the cool chain mail detail on my sleeve...it couldn't really be seen on the other pic. Makes this nice enough sweater really unique. Yes, I said sweater; the weather is once again going haywire...we might not even hit 50 degrees today. What?!?!?!?

So, I'm totally gonna vent to y'all. I've been so super frustrated this morning...ain't even funny! Kinda boiled over from yesterday. I was stuck home most of the day waiting on that package...it finally came right before the girls got out of school. However, one of David's meds didn't come (I knew it wouldn't!). We've had such a hard time getting the Procarbazine each time! Unfortunately, there is only one manufacturer/pharmacy that carries it. Which wouldn't be that big a deal if our insurance didn't require all refill prescriptions to be filled through their mail order system. Can you see the problem here? We figured that the doctor's office should send the prescription to Caremark and let them figure out that they can't do it...maybe then it wouldn't be such a problem if they realized they can't fill it. But they sent the prescription to the other pharmacy, Caremark won't provide any more overrides (since this is the 4th refill) and now we're stuck. So anyway, yesterday, I called Accredo to check on the status (I knew it was rejected, but they hadn't contacted me) and they said that it had been kicked back due to authorization code needed, but they had the code, so they resubmitted and it would get here today (Sat). I hoped it was true (it wasn't).

Then I headed off to go grocery shopping...we were down to bare shelves! Took a couple of hours and the sticker shock on my receipt about killed me! It wasn't like I even got anything fun or unneeded...OUCH!!! That's what happens when you have 6 people to shop for and you need everything...ugh! So I was a big disheartened when I got home...and what do I come home to? The kids have "finished" their chores and were watching a movie...but had they really? Nope. Not even close...so they had to stop the show and actually do it for real. Also, David informed me that Accredo had called and the override hadn't worked and we needed to call Caremark, but it was too late to call them. I wound up going to bed early which is pathetic for Friday night, but I needed it. 

In our house, Saturday mornings are pancake mornings...sometimes we'll have waffles to mix it up. However, sometimes David would rather have grits and eggs instead...I actually had some Jimmy Dean's so we wound up having grits, biscuits and gravy with sausage. It was yummy! But while I was cooking, my phone alarm went off reminding me to call Caremark. So I did...and it wound up being a long, frustrating call that told me nothing that I didn't already know. Basically, even though they don't carry the drug, they can't process anymore overrides until we submit the prescription to their mail order service. If at that point they can't process the order, hopefully they would be able to figure something out. Of course, this is on a holiday weekend, so nothing can be done until the doctor's office can fax the prescription to them on Tuesday. Meanwhile, he's supposed to start his next cycle of chemotherapy on Tuesday...but the Procarbazine wouldn't be needed till the week following, which would give us a week to get it here. Last cycle, we had so much trouble that David was three days late taking his Procarbazine. Nothing like insurance bureaucracy to start your morning! 

Of course by this point I'm already frazzled and not in the best mood...not to mention the kids were all as loud as could be while I'm on the phone! And, they're supposed to be doing their Saturday chores! which they generally like to drag out as long as possible. Seriously, it's not like vacuuming whichever room they're assigned for the week, mopping/Bona-ing, and cleaning the bathrooms should take more than maybe an hour. Guess how long they took today???? Red Two finished first, around 1:30; Red One came in second around 2:30; and Red Three took her sweet time and just now finished, about 3:30...it drives me bonkers!!! Why, why, why??? I don't understand. I just don't. It's seriously like pulling teeth to get them to do their stuff. I don't think they're overworked. And don't get me wrong...they're about the best kids ever in regards to everything else. They're respectful (mostly), polite, sweet, caring...they're totally precious! But as soon as they're supposed to do any work, they turn into sloths. I just don't know how to get the whole responsibility thing ingrained in them. If they could just get it, that doing their job right the first time, getting it over with, not goofing off or doing a poor job...they'd actually have so much free time...and they'd feel better about it. But still working on figuring it out...lol

So...trying to calm myself...and I do feel better after venting. The internet understands. :P

Ending on a cute note...I was making a meringue for a pavlova yesterday...and Buddy licked the whisk.