Normally I take dex every Monday morning. Last night I took it at midnight. I am trying to see if that will make it easier for me to sleep tonight. On the morning schedule, I would have trouble sleeping that night. Well, I had no trouble sleeping last night, and am anxiously awaiting bed time tonight to see how that goes. I do have xanax to take if I have trouble, but prefer not to take any more drugs.
A landscaper is supposed to start work on my yard the week of June 9th. I say “supposed to” because, more often than not, contractors and others neglect to fulfill their promises. I don’t recall this happening with such great predictability when I lived in Ohio or California. It must be a North Carolina thing. What happens is, you hire someone to do a job. They may show up once or twice, but getting them to finish a job is a challenge. In the case of my yard, I had called several landscapers. Some promised to come by to give me a quote and never bothered. Some came to look it over and never came back with an estimate. One came a few times and did some work, but never came back again. I guess he had enough money already! You quickly learn not to pay a penny until it’s completely finished.
I spent a little time on the deck this afternoon. It will be nice to have the work done, so I have something nice to look at. I’m not much of an outdoors person at all. I don’t like getting dirty or sweaty. When I was a kid, I didn’t get sent to my room, I got sent out to play. That was punishment for me. Being outside is ok as long as it doesn’t involve dirt or bugs, or being too hot or too cold.
I have an appointment at UNC with Dr. Orlowski on June 11th at 8:30 am. I’m glad that’s been rescheduled and look forward to having someone knowledgable about MM to work with who’s closer than Boston. Dr. Richardson at Dana-Farber worked with Dr. Orlowski on a clinical trial before – Velcade, I think. I believe in one of the early phases.
If you ever watched one of those Craftmatic adjustable bed commercials and thought they looked cool, but wondered how much they cost, I can tell you. I went to their web site, looking for prices, and found none. I submitted my contact info online, and asked for pricing. Here’s what happened. One of the Craftmatic telemarketing reps called to set up an appointment for me to see a sales rep. They don’t give you any prices over the phone (or on the web, or on TV). I think I know why. The model I costs over $4,000. I think most of us would immediately lose interest. I’m sure it’s a really nice bed. Afterall, it does have a massage feature, and is adjustable for legs and upper body. I don’t know about spending that much money without even getting to try the thing out though. It’d almost be like buying a car you didn’t get to test drive. Anyway, after seeing the sales presentation, there really was a high pressure effort made to get me to put some money down on one of the beds. There were calls made back to headquarters, even! Could I write a check? Use a credit card? Do I need financing? After an hour and 45 minutes, the effort drew to a close. I guess I should have known!
I had an acupuncture session yesterday afternoon. It does help me feel better. It’s very relaxing, and does alleviate some of my back pain. I fall asleep sometimes while I’m there. The acupuncturist says that endorphins are released and that’s why I feel so relaxed. Since I’ll be in Boston next week, I’ll skip a week and then continue to go weekly.
I had an appointment with my Pinehurst oncologist this morning. I called in to say I wouldn’t make it, and they gave me a later appointment time. I’ll be seeing Dr. R. in Boston in less than a week, and I’ll have an appointment with Dr. O. in Chapel Hill after I get back from Boston.
Yesterday was kind of a fun day. I got a Toyota Sienna. It’s a nice van. I got the van so I could take my dog places with me. She was never able to get herself into the back seat of my car. I always had to lift her. I don’t lift anything over 25 lbs anymore, so no more car rides. She doesn’t have trouble stepping up into a van though, so this problem is solved. I hope to take lots of trips over the next few years. I went many years without taking any vacations, and am going to catch up now.
I have an appointment for acupuncture later today. I kind of lost interest in a lot of things over the last 3-4 weeks. I need to get back to doing some of the things that helped me so much in the beginning, like acupuncture and guided visual imagery.