Happy Halloween, Everybody !

Current Mood : Happily exhausted

Whew, what a day. I'm glad it went so well, but I'm also kinda glad Halloween's over. I was really bad and put off Dearest Son's costume off until today, and as usual, drove m'self crazy with it.

One of the gifts of autism - and Asperger's Syndrome, which he has - is an unwavering devotion to one often obscure-to-the-rest-of-your-age-group thing. And the devotion is absolute...until something else catches his eye. Sometimes we've been lucky, and it's been a timely, mainstream thing, like Cars or Thomas the Tank Engine. Most of the time, though, it's been stuff like Hammy the Hamster - popular, but still not widely known. Lately, he's been devoted to Tom and Jerry, the classic cartoon cat-and-mouse series. Not that obscure, but try finding a Tom costume from Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes at Mal-Wart ! Can't be done. But that's one of the great things about mammas who sew and daddies that paint. We can create almost anything !

Still, a 'Tom' cat in a tuxedo was a bit of a challenge. Started out, as usual, with a good, new pair of sweats - pants and shirt - in a good-enough version of Tom grey. We lucked out yesterday, and found a black karate 'gi' jacket at the thrift store, perfect size. It'd make a great tuxedo coat. I'd decided to sew two red hemmed 'vest' shapes to a white t-shirt for a waistcoat, and find a big gold button from my hoard. He already had a bow tie, but it would have been easy to make.

The cat ears were a bit of a challenge, since I couldn't find my pipe cleaners. I'd planned on those supporting the grey t-shirt scavenged ear triangles from within. Luckily, I had a tube of stiff (darn near hard !) pellon interfacing from sewing projects and embroidery efforts, and I knew where that was. Right under my feet in the Sewing / Computer arena ! Swapped the t-shirt fabric for some shiny grey fabric, and sewed it to the pellon triangles, then sewed the triangles to elastic for a headband. A simple white-capped tube of the same fabric - no interfacing - made a decent Tom tail, tacked to the gi jacket. He loved it ! And that's all that mattered. Beloved Hubby was happy to take him on the rounds, I had to stay home, since I couldn't walk as far as my guys could, and I didn't want to reign in the fun too early.

I'm glad I stayed - he proudly fetched a big bag of candy home ! It was a colander-filling haul ! He's limiting himself to just a few pieces tonight, saying he wants it to last a long time. He was so happy, and so was Beloved. That made my night !

Although going for a shorter walk with Beloved an hour later was nice ! Two houses a block away were awesomely decorated, and after hearing my guys both talk about them, I wanted to see. So we got the air tank ready, and off we went ! Whoever howls about Halloween being a money-grab didn't see our neighborhood, that's fer sure. Numerous houses were festive, without being bank-breaking. One house had a big TV aimed to the porch, detailing a UFO landing. The homeowners would jump out of the hedges, dressed as aliens, for a neat scare ! Of course, that house was so popular, they didn't spent much time in the greenery - and it was fun for the kids to get candy from aliens. They kept the theme with weird candy, too.

So I had a nice Halloween. Hope yours was thrilling, without being scary !

Last of the 'Hospital' series photos...

Current Mood : Frustrated with m'self

McRib Count : 3

Ah, shoot. I really hadn't meant to miss a week of entries. And I'm not even sure exactly why I did, other than 'I missed a day' became 'I missed a week' in an eye-blink. Lemme catch up, since really, there wasn't much going on, but I wrote entries anyway !

Today was 'the big day', if you were waiting for the Nickelodeon Monster High : Fright On ! special. I was amazed - our listing showed it as a half-hour show, so I had no idea how they were gonna resolve this huge plot in such a short time. I was delighted when it went an hour. Ended up having the whole house watching with me, and had to run it again to get the earlier plot points for the late-comers.

I mostly enjoyed it, save for the 'Oh ! He's back !' conclusion to Gil and Lagoona's Romeo and Juliet story. And the too-Twilight Vampires vs. Werewolves plot. I don't know (or care) if the bloodsuckers fighting the dogs has been around for decades, I never heard of it before Twilight, and I doubt most people read near as many fairy-tale volumes as I do. So, to me, it was kind of a cheap, quick plot when they really have the means to do far more with what they already have. Makes a fan wanna start writing fan-fiction, ya know ?

It was a little bittersweet to remember that the last special was a year ago, and to most of us fans, MH started last summer, so it's been well over a year already. At least they quit repeating how Frankie's only 15 days old - it was getting so her first day of life was at least a month long !

I've been to most of the majors around here - TRU, Target, Mal-Wart - at least once in the past week or two, and nothing's new. I still have yet to see an actual Abbey Bominable or Spectra doll yet. And I refuse to pay $25. for an $8. doll outfit no matter how much I like it. I really need to sit down and sew already ! 

More boring week - hope yours is more fun !

Current Mood : Lazy and relaxed

Current Image Notes : Lagoona is quite fond of the carousel music box DMIL sent via Beloved Hubby, so I'd have something pretty to look at in the hospital. How thoughtful !

Had to do some quick housework this morning - the oxygen company was coming by to get me (giggle) fresh air. Actually, they have me on a route, every month they take away the used tanks and get me fresh ones, ask if there's any issues or concerns. I wanted to make sure our room was nice and clean, and I know it needed sweeping. So I got it done. They came by mid-afternoon, and took care of everything, even testing out the one tank we thought was malfunctioning. Turned out, it was the valve that was messed up, so they put me down for a new one. Now I know it's an OCD - Oxygen Conservation Device - and they're fairly new, so suffer from some shakedown issues. I still had an old-style valve, so that'd do for now. Only real difference is the older ones go through oxygen faster. But, truth be told, I didn't even use three of my nine tanks.

The house oxygen device - the one that pulls O2 out of the air - gets a lot more use, but I take a tank along whenever I'll be out of the house for more than an hour. We often take two of the three-hour tanks when we have a VA hospital visit ! Just in case.

So that was the big excitement today. Well, not really. Beloved Hubby was home early, and we ended up at TRU again. Nothing new. (sigh) He found a blue MH headband, though, with a skullie / diamond print and a zipper bow, and insisted on getting it for me. It's really cute, but I could only stand a few hours of wearing it and the oxygen tube before my behind-the-ears space started to hurt a bit. Hope I can stretch it out a little from time to time.

He also moved the back porch boxes into a storage shed today, after shuffling some stuff to make more space. My jewelry armoire came inside, after being on the porch until yesterday, so today I did some shuffling of my own in our room for it. Now I can really dig through it !

But it'll have to wait. I have a Halloween costume to make - Tom, of Tom and Jerry fame - and bags to make for the VA, before my next appointment. I need to start sewing, and now !

Lots going on, too bad it's all boring...

Current Image Notes : Frankie finds the best spot for watching cable TV - on top of my IV feed !

Catch-up day today - since it's expected to rain all night, beginning at midnight, I decided I'd best go through the boxes on the back porch, make sure they didn't get soaked during the last thunderstorm. It took more out of me than I thought ! But I got it done. All my dolls were dry and safe, as well as the box of doll clothes. Whew ! I re-stacked them a bit further away from the porch edge and safety-pinned the rain-proof tarp around them. Now they're protected, top and all four sides. I'm hoping they won't get soaked from the bottom - it'd have to be a lot of rain for a long time for that to happen !

With that done, I decided to tackle some other 'meaning to' jobs - some stuff needed to go somewhere, and the step-stool toolbox was just the tool to get it done. Hung the 'Dull Women Have Immaculate Houses' print over the door in the kitchen, since there was already a screw there. While both DFIL and DMIL insist we hang or put up anything we like, I'm still reluctant to drill anything larger than a pushpin into someone else's walls. And even then, I'd rather push them into the walls of my desk hutch walls than their house.

With that done, I moved into our bedroom. A box with several of my Barbie cases in it had been moved in and emptied, leaving the cases. There's no real space to hang them in there, so instead I took my three favorites - the two Midge ones and the 70s era white one (I had an identical milk-of-magnesia pink one as a kid) - and placed them on the high shelf Beloved Hubby made me, behind some Monster High dolls. Looks pretty good, actually.

Unfortunately, that and the box shuffle wore me out, and I fell asleep for an hour. Arrgh. I haven't been that tired in some time. Luckily Dearest Son was watching cartoons with DFIL. He said Dearest went to check on me, and said I was napping, so they decided to watch TV. What a sweet boy we have !

Pretty much nothin'...

So little going on, I think I'll just pass for today. See ya tomorrow !

It's like a speedometer, Ghoulia - and you definitely don't want to get caught going too fast on it !

Current Mood : Diggin' for DVDs, frustrated at all the boxes...

McRib Count : 2


Current Image Notes : Has anyone noticed that most hospital rooms still have old blood pressure monitors secured to the walls ? They never get used anymore, since the newer ones are portable, faster, and more reliable. Ghoulia is always intrigued by old, outdated tech...

I don't envy the Post Office. BIL moved out, we moved in, F&MIL didn't move an inch, and we all have the same last name. We're gonna be trading mail for weeks.

But it's not something I need to worry about right now. Most of our bills already have our correct address !

Dearest Son lost another baby tooth last night, so we took him out for a celebration, any restaurant for lunch he wanted. He picked McD's, since it's been a while since we went out. I was happy, because I can't resist McRibs. With all the weird limits on my diet, and my still-wonky sense of taste weighing in, I was just glad they still taste good ! I now find the fries waaaay too salty, though.

That was pretty much the big excitement of the day. I reclaimed my jewelry armoire, a Christmas gift from DF&MIL the year Beloved Hubby and I got married. Over the last decade, I've nearly stopped wearing jewelry, but I have a rekindled interest in it lately. Of course, all of it's dimestore stuff - a couple pendants are from vending machines ! - but I sort of feel like I'm finding myself again in the various drawers. Hope my ear piercing hasn't closed up...

Had to run to Mal-Wart for a few groceries, and got a quick peek in the doll section. Nothing new there, either. Guess I need to get back sewing if I want anything new !

The view last month, for a week.

Current Mood : Lazy 

Another sort of goof-off day - Beloved Hubby got his stuff hung up, so our somewhat crowded bedroom is more homey, at least. He put in some time cleaning and maintaining the Airsoft field with his friends this morning...but mostly got to hang out with his buddies for the first time in weeks. I was happy about that. It's important to me that he not lose his friends, especially now.

I finished up some forms and paperwork I had to get sent off, and trawled eBay for MH stuff. Very little I want these days. Rethinking the whole 'Fearleader Set' purchase, even though TRU's having a $10. off a $50. purchase sale - thanks for the heads-up, Frannie ! It just seems so excessive, even with the sale, even with the small windfall we got. It's like I'm looking for something to buy as I'm arranging my current Monster High  collection to reflect the four dolls I already know I'm not gonna keep. I'm already aware I'm looking at buying the semi-expensive stuff I sort of want to stand in for the other stuff I truly want that I can't have - the Gil doll, the Ghoulia 'Comic Club' outfit, possibly an Abbey Bominable doll - that isn't available.

It's a character flaw - I hate being frustrated, and will find a way around it, but really, I don't need to spend the money right this minute. Heck, I just spent two weeks trying to keep as much as possible, shouldn't I go enjoy that ? Sometimes I think I frustrate m'self on purpose...

Meanwhile...figured I'd start posting the photos I took of the dolls Beloved Hubby brought to me when I was in the hospital. I'd taken off their shoes for clothes fittings before I left and that's how he found them. I took an unusual amount of comfort in their presence - and that extended to how the professionals reacted to them. Everyone - nurses, custodians, doctors, and volunteers - were curious about them, not at all judgmental about this weird sick lady and her strange dolls.

I imagined Ghoulia telling Frankie and Lagoona, "There's the Terrace Restaurant ceiling, and that's the Women's Center. Over past that tower is the landing pad for the Life Flight helicopters - this hospital averages three to four flights a week." I was glad - and a twitch disappointed - that there were no flights the week I was there !

Kinda ranks that the ones I like are in the background...

Current Mood : Much ado about little... 

Major thunderstorm tonight. The skies are lit up and beautiful, and I'm trying to not worry about all our boxes on the back porch. There's simply nowhere else for them to go, so all I can do is hope that the tarp is enough to protect them. I'd hate to unpack moldy dolls in a couple of months.

Kind of a boring day otherwise. We mostly sat around and goofed off. Rented Red State and Bridesmaids - I wouldn't say Red State is really a horror tale, more like a suspense one, although it tries early on for some Saw-like ick and gore. It's scarier more for the opinions espoused than the action. Bridesmaids wasn't the fart-and-raunch comedy the ads would have you believe, either. It was more of a late-coming-of-age rom-com. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't a laugh riot.

Skinned my left knee when I tripped over some lumber-trash put out for the next big trash pick-up day at DFIL's. I knew it was there, and if I'd been looking where I was going, I would have seen it, but I wasn't, and down I went. I still feel like an idiot.

Programmed the cable to record this year's Monster High special, Fright On ! . Here, it comes on Nickelodeon and Nickelodeon HD at noon and again at 3pm on October 30th. The plot synopsis has me a bit worried - how are they gonna cover all that in 23 minutes ? I wanna see my favorite characters, not get introduced to 400 new ones I'll never see again. 

When other monster schools are merged with Monster High, our ghouls find themselves up against a Normie administrator determined to drive a stake into the harmony of the school, and magnify old grievances in order to isolate and separate the monster groups. This agenda of intolerance can only be cured by Frankie, Clawdeen, Draculaura and their ghoulfriends as they strive to prove that the culture clash of Fur and Fang will not inevitably lead to a war within the walls of the school.

I guess we'll find out in a few days ! 

I got a scale - but I'd rather have Gil !

Current Mood : Happy

Beloved Hubby says he's never seen anyone play with shelves before, but my MH crew was still in the oversized 2010 ComicCon  Monster High  swag bag they were moved in last week. I was happy to get them out ! Still need to do some rearranging and such, but I love my new shelves. It's hilarious to me that one of them was made - actually re-made - from one of the 'Yard Sale' signs we put up last weekend ! The yard sale signs were made from cutaway he saved from a job earlier that week. I hung the ComicCon bag under the shelf, to catch the odd prop or package leaflet that turns up as we recover from the move.

It's surprising even to me that I never got the 2011 ComicCon bag. It was completely different and even had Ghoulia on it. But really, one of those huge things is enough. And I really preferred the 'classic' styling (and less neon brightness) of the first one.

Dearest Son and I exchanged boxes - he got the bright skull one he's always liked, I got the bigger underbed box I needed. It can hold all the skull box did, plus the Hydration Station and DracuLaura's coffin-bed, and all the stands. Frankie's 'recharging station' bed was too tall to fit in it (and the other two took up most of the space), so I put it all back in its box and stored it next to the underbed one. Much better.

Got to visit Target today, to pick up the bathroom scale I have to have. I'm supposed to weigh m'self daily, as a precaution, and note any sudden increases. Ugh. I hate keeping up with my weight. But I don't want a repeat of this past...nearly a year, so I'll do it. Got a nice one I can read easily - digital ! - and spent a few minutes in the MH section. Nothing new. We still don't even have the new clothes or Spectra and Abbey, much less Gil and the Skull Shores dolls. I know it shouldn't matter, especially with all we've been through lately, but our total lack of doll stuff gets downright depressing sometimes.

My heart just loves...I wish that was all it does.

Current Mood : In love...

Kind of a 'not much' day today - I had a VA Medical Center appointment with Heart Rehab. I've been put on a gentle exercise regimen, and given some books to study. I also found that we qualify for travel reimbursement. It's a small amount, and only kicks in when we've had more than three appointments in a month. I still felt bad about asking for it, much less taking it - they're already doing so much for us. But as another vet put it, 'If you don't use it, we can lose it', so I guess I should. Don't want to muck things up for anyone else, ya know.

On the way home, we bought a new-to-us water heater, since the one at DFIL's is seriously wanting. Craigslist to the rescue ! I hope it works. Beloved Hubby's installing it now.

We also visited TRU, since Beloved holds that, after my appointments, we can go anywhere I want. Nothing new, although I am thinking of getting the Monster High 'Fearleader' 3-doll set, just for the clothes. Some of our waylaid funds will be in around month's end, and since TRU still had not much new - and certainly no Gil dolls yet ! - I may go for that. Hope they have another 20% off coupon coming up soon.

I did get to see the storage case and the display one, but they were both so flimsy, I didn't think either of them worthy of their cost. Far as storage goes, what I had was already better, but I'm thinking of moving it all to an underbed box. The colorful skulls box I've used since last year is just a bit too tall to go underbed easily, and I could use more space for their stuff. Now it just remains whether I buy a new underbed bin or encourage Dearest Son to consolidate his toys down to where I can gank one of his. He has five, but only four will fit under his bed anyway...and he loves that colorful skulls one. He picked it out last year !

Yaay ! The new-to-us water heater is installed and it works ! Oooh, hot showers soon ! The old one made for lukewarm ones at best. This one gets it nice and hot. Beloved's parents are thrilled.

You won't believe this, but Beloved wasn't done yet ! After the heater work was done, he unpacked some tools and made two shelves for me, to display my Monster High dolls ! He'll hang 'em after dinner. Isn't he the greatest ! I'll have to get some photos. One of them is wide enough to do small dioramas !

I love my incredible man...

Want, WANT, WAAAANNTTT !

Current Mood : Food-logy

As seen on eBay - at ridiculous prices - it's Gillington 'Gil' Weber ! Current bid is $51. plus shipping with a day to go if you can believe it. I can't wait to get my claws on this doll ! Just not enough to pay that much, although I've wanted one since he first swam into the webisodes. According to not-as-bad-as-eBay Angelic Dreamz.com, they'll get their first shipment from Mattel tomorrow ! Here's hoping they'll hit store shelves soon afterward. I missed the chance to pay $28. for a $12. to $15. doll with AD, so they've waitlisted other buyers, but expected to be back in stock around mid-November. I think I'll continue to wait for retail availability.

Heck, we still don't have the Ghoulia outfit I want on shelves yet. Not that I've had much of a chance to look, but I always do ! Scouting around on eBay for that, all the MH 'Club' fashion sellers are either in California or on the east coast. I'll find it eventually... I just hate feeling like a schmuck for paying $20. when I should have waited for it to be everywhere for $12., ya know ?

Anyway...while the jury is still out about Gil's 'look', I find that I like him. The earlier brief prototype photo that surfaced showed him with some fierce eyebrows that seem to be softened here. Yeah, with his fin, he sort of looks like Deuce, but that's part of the overall aesthetic of MH, so I'm glad he fits in without being drastically different. After all, no matter how big or shaped his head is, it still has to fit the same 'MH Male' body ! Although he's had some upgrades from Deuce, the Hyde boys, and Clawde - jointed wrists and some chest 'scales' instead of hair ! So incredibly awesome. Well. Guess now I have to start the campaign to get a Slow-Moe doll on shelves...

Otherwise, things are going well - it's the first day we haven't had to have a yard sale or move anything. It's finally done ! Well, it's not all off the back porch yet, but everything's out of our old place and we turned the keys in. Since Beloved Hubby was off work early, we went out for lunch with just us three, and Dearest Son thoroughly fell in love with Golden Corral's lunch buffet. They had a chocolate fountain and everything ! Too bad I ate so much pot roast, rice, and stuffing that I had no room for more than a single dipped strawberry for dessert.

We also got some running-around done. Replaced a tire on the Diesel, faxed some paperwork due tomorrow, dropped off some other papers, picked up milk and OJ, that sort of stuff. I wanted to add a bit of shopping, but I started to fall asleep after such a heavy lunch, and Beloved was tired from all his work and efforts, too, so we just headed home for a pre-dinner nap. My sewing arena is now all set up, it's now the sewing / computer arena, I'll have to get a photo of it for ya. It's an amazing use of limited space, Beloved did a fantastic job of getting it all together.

I think it's amazing how everything has come together. And I'm so glad you're here ! 

Part Two of The Whole Sordid Mess !

Current Mood : Digging out exhausted.

Taking up from where we left off yesterday, without too much wasted space...

So. After a bit over a week of intensive care hospitalization, I was released with seven new prescriptions - one I've already finished, so I'm down to six - and a subscription to an oxygen provider. Also a scad of appointments for the following week at the VA hospital. I have two next week, as well, and have barely had a week since this started without some sort of medical visit. But they say I'm improving, if slightly, and they want to keep a check on me. 

Now, you can imagine what this did to Beloved Hubby's work schedule. Between the ER, the VA, and the follow-up appointments, not to mention Dearest Son care on the days when DFIL and DMIL couldn't take care of him for their own medical maladies, he was about run ragged. And work suffered. Which meant, since he's self-employed, the funds did, too. Our landlord, to be immortalized here as Mr. Hardhart, wasn't interested in why the rent was late, just that he had someone skip out on another rental after doing $2000. in damage to it the week prior, so he had no sympathy to spare on anyone but Mr. Hardhart. 

So we had a choice. Although Ole Hardhart had our deposit (which is 3/4 of our rent), he clearly wasn't taking that into account. We could pay him what we had, which still wasn't all he wanted, and it meant eating what was left in the pantry and no fuel for the Diesel to get to the remaining job Beloved had. Or we could use our funds for groceries, gas, and getting us moved out - and stay for a while in the newly emptied DBIL's room at Beloved's parent's house. Dearest already has his own bedroom there. We had hopes that various delayed funds would come through, but they haven't yet, so...

Anyway, we decided to move, just until the bills were paid and we had some savings to move out, maybe around the first of the year. It's kind of humbling to move in with your in-laws, even if they are wonderful, especially when you weren't always on your best behavior those couple of months they lived with us. But maybe I was getting less than humble these past few years, I don't really know. I'm just lookin' for reasons in a random world...

Of course, that meant we needed to be up and out as soon as we could, since that's only fair to give Hardhart a chance to rent it as soon as possible. Even though we'd just had a major toss and trash from the last move to get there, and I've been too sick and not had a car to buy very much since, we'd still have to sort our stuff even thinner. Y'see, my in-laws have a bit of the hoarder bug, so all their storage is already stored beyond full, and a lot of it is stuff we tossed out three or four moves ago. Seriously, if I toss something out, it's rarely worth keeping, but they have ! Plus, we'd have to do the same thing anyway even if we were moving to that tiny apartment we were considering, so...

We did a yard sale this weekend, with DFIL helping while Beloved worked and Dearest stayed with DMIL. Hard work, but we made some decent money, enough to help out with bills, and got rid of a lot of junk. I also sold a lot of dolls, but not one went into the 'end of sale' pile, they all went to good homes, so I'm content with that. What I have is truly what I love the most, so I'm not upset or mourning. Heck, part of me really really wants a visit to TRU soon...

 I met some seriously nice people - got a card from a lovely lady, a set of coasters from another, and met P. who works at the VA hospital, hope to see her again soon ! And, even better luck - big trash pick-up day is Wednesday ! We invited the neighbors and anyone driving by late Sunday to help themselves to any yard sale leftovers they wanted for free, pushed the rest to the curb, and cleaned up the house. Got the cats moved - today you get to see a nearly-grown Oliver, asleep in a plastic tub that moved sewing stuff, with a bit of a breathing tube visible in the lower right corner - and even found someone interested in the place, and took her number and name for Mr. Hardhart. 

Don't get me wrong - he's clearly entitled to his rent. We owe it to him, and no one understands it better than me. My erstwhile folks had rental properties (they actually raised the rent on me when I moved in to one), so I know how it is. But some slight compassion would have encouraged us to stay and work it out. As it was, money was all that mattered, not me just barely out of Intensive Care, running around with a breathing tube, and facing defibrillator surgery, so that's what they'll get. At least they won't have to evict us, we're already gone. And they'll get their rent money. It'll probably just take 'til the end of the month, and yes, we have asked about our deposit, we just haven't heard back from them yet. Go figure. 

So that's where things are. We're kinda crowded, and there's boxes all over the back porch, but we've already moved the dining room table back into the dining room - right next to my redone sewing/computer arena ! - and had dinner as a family, so things always get better. We have goals and hope and we're together, and that's about as good as things get. 

Tomorrow - the new Monster High special. And the Gil doll !! So much to be excited about !

Didja miss me ? (hugs !)

Current Mood : Grateful and joyful

Whew ! I'm back ! Gonna take me a while to get back into the swing of things, but I hope to be back up and running soon. Heaven knows I'm at least 200% better than I was just a month ago - and what a month it's been ! 

Here's a brief summary of what's gone on if you're interested - I figure a day or two of this and I'll be back to my usual shallow doll-obsessed self, so if this isn't your bag, I don't blame ya, and completely understand if you skip this whole entry. But for the interested here goes. 

We finally had the time and money for my follow up appointment about that infection I picked up on my leg. I got to see my practitioner - who pretty much ordered Beloved Hubby to get me to the ER. Not about my leg, that was healing fairly well. I was instead retaining so much fluid, parts of my stomach area were going hard, possibly due to sepsis. Scary. 

The local ER admitted me almost on the spot after a blood test and an X-ray. Turns out, my old friend peripartum cardiomyopathy had come back, with a vengeance. And I was working with a serious miscomprehension about that particular malady of mine. What I got is basically pregnancy-related heart failure, mine developed when Dearest Son was still natal. I thought, with the prescriptions and care, my heart might not recover totally, but it wouldn't get any worse. Especially if I never got pregnant again, which was not the case here, either. 

It can get worse. Slowly and barely detectably, as mine did. My poor heart has expanded again, and was barely beating, so my fluids pooled up something awful. How awful is this - in a month, including nearly two weeks of intensive hospital care, I lost 63 pounds. And I was not doing any aerobics here. 

We got it mostly taken care of at the local hospital, and once they saw our taxes, it was paid for by Medicare - or possibly the Veteran's Administration. I was transferred to the VA hospital after a week at the local one, and I'm still getting follow-up care there. I may have to have a device installed to help my heart, and I'm on six prescriptions now, instead of four, but I feel fantastic ! 

I guess you can count the oxygen as the seventh prescription, especially since it's done wonders for me. The local ER put me on a breathing tube early on, and I've been sleeping like a rock ever since. Yep, I'm still on one, the VA arranged a subscription oxygen delivery service before I left the hospital. I have three sizes of oxygen tubes - and an air exchanger for home use that saps the oxygen out of the air. I still fall asleep if I'm still too long, but Beloved says I'm still at least a year behind on sleep ! 

He's been so wonderful throughout all this. And both our local hospital and the VA have treated me kindly and respectfully, even when I've been almost shaking with worry and fear. I was a pretty good patient, though - I was nearly always asleep ! 

There's more going on, but this is long enough already. Tomorrow, you get to hear about the yard sale and the move - it's a doozy ! Then it's back to Monster High and sewing tales before you know it. 

Thanks for all your get-well wishes. They helped ! And I'm glad you've come back to check on me. I'll try to be fun and silly again just as soon as possible !