Friday, February 2, 2024
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Not long after I posted the update Truman had another seizure. We rushed him back to the vet and decided to let him go. I am a wreck but I know it was the right decision for him.
I don't even know where to start.
I got back from Hawaii December 23. The flight from Maui left at 7 pm-ish and landed in DFW at 6 am CST. I was a little nervous I would be stuck (in a middle seat) wide awake but I took an ambien and a valium and was asleep shortly after they served our turkey sandwich. I started watching the Barbie movie and made it about 30 minutes in and decided to put on the eye mask and fell asleep pretty easily. They must have made an announcement that we were getting ready to approach because I woke up about an hour before we landed. I wish I could do that on every flight. I paid extra for the extra leg room but I probably would have been ok without it. I called Dennis when we loaded and sent him a text with the flightaware data and asked him to please not make me wait in the cold for too long. It all worked out. The upgrade was worth it because it pushed my luggage to the front of the pile. You can see the luggage go over the gateway in the TUL airport and I walked my suitcase to the carousal. We stopped and got a soda in a styrofoam cup as god intended, I get why they don't have them in HI and agree with the idea but man I missed them. Please don't tell the two green sea turtles I 'adopted'
I went to a different stylist, a story for another time. The results were ok...Tribal chicken!! This is on the inside of my arm so it is really hard to get a picture of. I forget I have it because it is pretty hidden. I do love it though.
I got home and tried my best to stay awake but I ended up crashing for a few hours.
The entire trip was just off. I wasn't in a good head space when I left. We had Dennis and his heart issue, Truman and the worst seizure I have ever witnessed and probably a brain tumor, HMF telling me two days before I left that she is suicidal, ya know, just minor issues. I told Dennis several times that I was going to back out but he reminded me that it would be a really big mistake for my 'career'. It is also a very financially lucrative trip since it is in a very high dollar area and the room I was renting had a full kitchen and a washer and dryer, which helped a lot with expenses.
The day I got there I could tell the vibe was off. I am used to being a field person and this was the first real position I have had in office so I just kind of blew it off thinking that was throwing me off. Turns out 3 out of the 5 people in the office area I sat in hated each other. One of them I was replacing so we didn't have much interaction but I still got to hear all about it after she left. Another girl in my office I can only describe as a pick me bitch. She started lying to me the minute I met her and over stupid stuff. She got a tattoo before I got there and she was telling me she got the traditional Hawai'ian method stick an poke. She didn't tell me who did it but she gave me enough information that it didn't take much for me to figure out who/where she had it done. We got off work at 4:30 on Sunday's so I went to see about making an appointment. The girl at the front desk was like, nah that didn't happen here. From out of nowhere liar shows up (her boss was getting a tattoo) and walks me away from the girl I was talking to. I had already made the appointment because I liked the style she did but I knew exactly what she was doing. I kept poking the bear though because that's just who I am as a person asking for more details and such. She told me that they did the tattoo in the shop but she wasn't supposed to because they aren't licensed. It just kept getting bigger and bigger. I didn't care enough about her to try and catch her, I mean there really was no catching her because she was an obvious liar. There was a lot more but that is just kind of how it all started off. I had to refrain from saying something to her because she works for the guy over the RFO and it was obvious he was buying her bullshit. I was very proud of how non confrontational I was but I really didn't give a fuck about her so I most set her up to dig herself in a deeper hole. Then her and the planning chief got into it over some stupid shit and ended up yelling at each other across the table. Me and Cat, the other constant in our office who was actually a saint just got up and walked off shutting the door behind us. According to liar liar pants on fire she told PC that if she didn't have her red shirt on she would have kicked her ass. First of all, ding ding ding, my money is on the other girl so do it, second of all, she should have been on an airplane back home the next day. There was a lot of energy being spent on things that didn't matter in the scheme of things. Most of the city lost everything and a good deal of them lost loved ones. It was just a bunch of crap. I think I am not suited for office deployments but I am glad I went. I could do it again but it isn't my first choice. The next disaster in our area I am trained on the system we use to assign and track jobs. The two frisky ones left about a week before I did and they were replaced with someone that I never really did get a read on and one that acts just like AP. I was ready to be rid of that know it all bitch too, but at that point it was all a mess. At least they didn't have any issues with us wearing noise cancelling headphones. There were a few people there that I got to be really close friends with and that made it worth the trip. I would love to go back to the islands with someone and experience some of the stuff with them. I did get to go snorkeling, one night trip and one day trip, and I saw whales and so many green sea turtles that I just loved to watch. Oh, and the parking lot chickens. I miss the chickens most of all, lol. I still look for them when I pull into a store parking area. As far as the extension goes my doctor said that HI wouldn't fill a script for a controlled substance from the mainland. We thought about having Dennis pick it up and mailing it to me but I was nervous they would lose it. I called his doctor about his heart procedure and they said that really wanted him scheduled asap and had him down for first thing 2 January. So, I came home.
About a week before I was supposed to leave for home I ended up having a horrible gerd flare-up. It was bad enough that I knew I had made the right decision going home. Before NYE I was spiking 102 fever. Dennis kept bugging me to go to urgent care but I just didn't have the energy. Plus he had his procedure on Tuesday so I just toughed it out. I did get him to the doctor fine, they found no blockage so the issue with his heart is muscular. They called before close of business wanting us to come in and have him set up for an external defibrillator. According to the doctor the heart is supposed to pump out 55% of your blood but his is only moving 28%. They changed his medication around and they will revaluate in 90 days. If nothing has changed they are going to put in an internal defibrillator. The symptoms make sense. The one thing that always confused us was him just getting sick at random times during they day. He would throw up for a few hours and his color would go real pasty. Turns out that is a symptom of whatever is going on with his heart. He doesn't want to do the life vest because it is expensive but I told him he is worth more alive so lets just figure out how to make that happen. I recorded the doctor going over the results and I'm glad I did. I still have a ton of questions. It has been 3 weeks and he still hasn't scheduled to be fit for the vest. He claims it's a scam. I can't make him go it and I can't make him wear it so I just nag. I wish they would just go ahead and schedule the surgery to put the internal one in.
January 3rd I woke up feeling rough. I had a hard time staying awake and breathing was getting increasingly more difficult. I called Dennis and told him I needed him to take me to the ER. He asked if he had time to do something, no idea what it was, and I told him if he was going to be very long I was going to call 911. I really have no idea how long it took him to get here but we got loaded up and he took me to a satellite hospital on the other side of town. It is close to my mom's house and we have taken her there and gotten in and out really quick. There were a few people in the waiting room but when they sent me back to triage they took me right back. Dennis said he could tell by the look on their face they were not playing. They couldn't get my oxygen level above 80%. They tried 2 different machines. I got x-rays and ct scans and blood work, the works. Got diagnosed with double pneumonia that had gone septic. Turns out the hospital we went to was just an upgraded urgent care so I stayed there overnight and was transported to another hospital the next day. I ended up staying 3 nights. Dennis was pissed that I let it get that far but I told him it was like turning up the heat in the tub slowly and not realizing you were boiling until it was too late. I was lucky because it could have been much worse. I think I have finally convinced them to take the lap band out though.
I talked my doctor into giving me a note to telework last week and this week so I haven't been into the office since before Thanksgiving. I am not looking forward to my return. I know things are bad and I really need to update my resume and make an active effort to find something else. I can't be miserable for 6 more years. I am honestly starting to think I am the problem. I think we all know that can't be right.
I have an appointment with a new therapist on Feb 5. The one I went to over the summer just didn't click and the Mr. Roger's one just isn't my vibe right now. He moved and it is just a PITA to get to him. I have a new feeling about the new one. She called and talked to me when I was in Maui and we seemed to gel so we shall see.
HMF is a whole mess of it's own. She needs way more than I can give her. She regrets the day she ever met A and I can tell he feels it. I am not saying he is a lot but she knew that going into it. They should have never approved them for the adoption. She is going through a somewhat religious phase. She isn't being pushy about it and if it helps them I am all for it. A will be 14 in a few weeks but HMF says he is still doing stuff like smearing his own feces in the bathroom. I tried to tell her that isn't normal but she argues that it is in line with his mental/developmental age of maybe 8? I still say not normal. I am not around a lot of kids but the ones I am around have NEVER. Until she can get to a place to seek treatment for herself there isn't a lot I can do. I don't spend much time around A anymore as Aunt T isn't cool anymore. I have seen him a few times when he plays hockey locally, but that is few and far between here. He is still going to a therapist, psychiatrist, etc. According to her they will not take him as an inpatient.
Truman had been doing ok. We opted not to do the ct scan of his head because it will not change the treatment. All signs point to the brain tumor. He has a permanent tilt to his head and falls to one side. He also walks in circles clockwise. All of these are symptoms of a tumor. Earlier today he had a small breakthrough seizure so I rushed him to the vet. They increased his meds and we are going to see how he does on that. At least with the new meds it is extended release so we don't have to set our alarms every 8 hours to get him his medication. It makes me so very sad.
The rest of the crew are doing well. Olive has decided she likes to sleep in the bathroom sink so I have had to wash my hands and brush my teeth in the bathtub. She is so cute with her big white belly spilling over the basin. Ninja decided if O isn't going to cuddle with me at night he was going to. Mango is just Mango. Baby Daddy has spent a couple of nights in the house when it was so brutally cold. The other cats aren't fans but they stay away from each other for the most part. He got brave enough to jump in bed with me and Ninja had to tell him that was unacceptable. BD spend the rest of the night in the garage.
OK, I have to go drop T-man's new script off and try my best to get through some email. I have lots more I can update but this is long enough already.
Monday, December 11, 2023
Sea turtles and therapy dogs make life better. I have an appointment with my doctor in January to get my ambien refilled, if I can get it moved to telehealth I am going to extend. My mom is NOT happy about that but Christmas is an arbitrary date, we will do it another day. The per diem is 3X what I normally get and with a kitchen in my condo I don't eat out much at all.
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Aloha
I feel very betrayed by all of the television and movies. I did not have a lei put around my neck the second I stepped off the airplane. Very disappointing. The flights were unremarkable. I paid for an upgrade and ended up in first class from Tulsa to Denver and Economy Plus from Denver to Kahului and had an entire row to myself. I was a little anxious about an 8 hour plane ride but it went fine. I hope to change my return flight times and hopefully catch another upgrade.
Working 6-6:30 keeps me from doing anything. They do let us leave about 4:30 on Sundays. I went to the beach and walked around. It is dark when I leave my condo and dark when I leave work. The condo is really nice. I love having a washer and dryer. I was able to put my clothes in the wash immediately after coming in from the beach. For some reason I ended up with a 2 bedroom condo so if anyone wants a free room in HI I have the space.
Dennis said Truman is doing good. He makes a big show of telling my family not to stress me out while I am gone and succeeded in pissing me off while I was at lunch today. Go figure.
I am obsessed with the chickens here!! I looked it up and according to google the hurricanes caused chicken coops to collapse and there are no predicators here so they continue to thrive.
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Truman
Friday, November 17, 2023
Plans so far
Well, the tickets are booked and the hotel reserved. Funding has been transferred but it still doesn't feel real. This time next week I will be at the airport!!
Friday November 24 I will fly to Denver leaving at 9 to Denver. I have almost a 2 hour layover and leave for Kahului Maui at noonish, landing at 4:10
The hotel they have set up for us is a condo in Kihei. It is one bedroom so I won't be sharing and has a full kitchen and washer and dryer. I have never had a set up like this for longer deployments so it will be nice. The washer and dryer alone has me over the moon excited as laundry is a pita when you work 12 hour days 7 days a week.
My return flight starts on Saturday December 23rd at 3ish, 5 hour flight to LAX, 2 hour layover, 4 hour flight to Chicago landing at 6 am, 2 hour layover and back in Tulsa at 10:30 am on Christmas Eve. I think it's safe to say Christmas Eve is shot for me. I am going to take the next three weeks off, with the exception of a few hours to do my travel voucher. I am not keen on having a $13,000 hotel bill just setting out there.
All of that being said, I am a nervous wreck. I have never been this far away from my family and never during the holiday. Losing my dad so close to Christmas just kind of took what little fun left in the holiday. I know Dennis will have a hard time this year too since his dad passed on Jan 3. I am a little bit glad to be away. My cousin will be in Tulsa on December 13th so my mom won't be alone for long.
I really hope we have some downtime because there are lots of things I want to see while I am there. Mostly Pearl Harbor and some of the reefs. I bought 2 bathing suits on amazon yesterday in the hopes that I will get a chance to use them.
So much to do. I have my hair appointment cancelled and I will go have my extensions moved up Wednesday of next week. I have to cancel my allergy doctor and Dennis's cardiologist. I hope we can get him in before the end of the year. I don't think he was too upset about having to move his appointment out though. He did get a message last night from a friend whose wife works in a cardio surgery and she said that his doctor is really good and I think that might have help ease his fears a little.
I was able to transfer my Beetlejuice tickets to Thursday so I will get to see it before I leave!!
Aloha for now....










