Quickie

[vanillafluffy]

Why is it that when I'm NOT in front of the keyboard, I can think of a plethora of lively bits of chatter, yet once I'm in the chair, it all hides in a cave somewhere?!

Let's see...I spent last weekend doing colonoscopy prep, yay--fun!...not.Nothing solid after Friday night, nothing at all after Sunday night. Appointment was for 8:30 a.m. Monday. Get it out of the way, right? And that early, there shouldn't be any delays, right? Ended up spending OVER TWO HOURS in pre-op, while GK was waiting for me...we'd both thought I'd be home by 11, when actually it was later than that before I got in for the procedure(s).

As I soliloquized, by then I was Hungry, Thirsty, Sleepy, Chilly, Bitchy and Anxious--all I needed was Doc. (Well, it seemed witty at the time!)

But it finally got done. The doc sent a couple bits to the lab, but said he's pretty sure it's nothing evil. So that's one step closer.

GK jets off to California to visit her MIL this morning, returning next week, without taking me shopping at the beginning of the month as she's promised to do. By the time she gets back, I'll be ready to do my food stamp shopping...I swear, if she gets onto me about transportation costs, I'm going to let her have it. Because the disabled transport has a 3-bag limit, and they don't help you get things inside, either. So Lyft it is, at least for the return trip.

Thursday, I have the psych eval, for which I need to fill out the most godawful questionnaire...I'm tying myself in knots over this one, because I'm trying to figure out what's the best answer for the results I want--but holy cannoli, I'm probably overthinking it. Hey, I've been faking sanity for years, this is just doing it on paper, right?

Hell, it's not even going to matter unless I can get my sugar under control, because my dear bariatric counselor neglected to mention that they want me somewhere under an A1C of 8, and I'm currently 9.1. My new primary--I'm not crazy about her, but I'd look too flaky if I changed after just one appointment--she badgered me into starting insulin, which I've been dragging my heels over. I saw her the week before last, and she told me she wants me to check my sugar twice a day. Not looking forward to that, but I'd be willing to do it...IF I had a glucometer and test strips.

Medicare is refusing to pay for a meter, saying I've had one within the last five years. Apparently they're counting the one I got in 2016 from Medicaid. They're not taking into account the fact that I've moved since then and have NO FUCKING CLUE where it went. I had trouble with it from the beginning, but it was the only one Medicaid would pay for. Now, I'm willing to pay out of pocket for a friendlier meter, BUT I need a scrip for the test strips and lancets, and I've called the doc's office repeatedly and gotten no satisfaction. Jesus wept.

On a brighter note, I saw Jesus Christ Superstar on Sunday (in between trips down the hall) and thought it was tremendous. I'd seen it on Broadway back in 1973, but I think I appreciate it more now.

I get "official" sent to GK's PO Box, because she monitors my financials...I got a notice for jury duty which didn't get to me until after I was supposed to check in...I have to call about that tomorrow. I hope I'm not in too much trouble. (Funny--I used to think GK was super organized. No. Not even close. Just more organized than me, most of the time.)

A week ago, she *did* come over and we made progress on my bedroom. We got the boxes out of there--I've got about four of them in my living room awaiting sorting. My problem is, okay, NOW where does X go...? But that corner that was literally four feet high with STUFF was cleared out, and now my scale is in there, which frees up a sizable chunk of bathroom real estate.

The bathroom decor is sort of beachy. I have a painting that Ex-RM#3 dubbed my "Beach Goddess"--a woman in a sundress sipping a cocktail with the ocean in the background. I have a small watercolor-and-ink print of palm trees, and because I'm geeky and attached to them, a row of rubber ducks on my mirror ledge. The towels/rug etc. are aqua-teal and orange, and if/when I ever get the place painted, the walls are going to be swimming pool blue. Not holding my breath, but I *have* got a GC when I finally get over to Home Depot. As usual, the difficulty is not so much the materials as the labor!

Chalk up yet another reason I want to have the surgery--I've had some success with DIY in the past; I could paint the blasted bathroom, hang the closet rod, or the living room drapes, or the pegboard in the kitchen--IF I could just stand on a step-stool without worrying about breaking my neck.

Alrighty...I'm so tired my eyes are practically crossed, this thing is probably riddled with errors...I'll just leave you with last week's fic:


Lunchtime Surprise: Bucky Barnes, finding long-lost family members.
It's here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14138073
From this prompt: https://comment-fic.livejournal.com/898513.html?thread=107055825#t107055825



...

Comments

[fufaraw]

Wishing you luck with everything!

[vanillafluffy]

Thanks! I’ll take all the good mojo I can get!

[cbtreks]

Can you get to a Walmart? They have a meter and supplies - the brand is Relion - that you can buy out of pocket, no prescription. Even the strips and lancets. They're not outrageously expensive, either, though I get that expensive is always relative and you might end up paying more out of pocket that you would if you had something Medicare covered. They have several varieties, but I think the Relion Prime is the most affordable. The test strips are approximately $9 for a box of 50 or $18 for a box of 100. I forget how much the box of 100 lancets was but it was under $5. If you reuse (I've found that most of us do!) the lancets till they get dull - I usually pull a new one every 50-100 strips - they last forever. I also highly recommend diabetesforums.com. They people there are so knowledgeable and helpful. I literally don't know what I would've done without them over the past couple of years. (I'm Bookworm Betty there.) Dealing with diabetes is so frustrating! I can only imagine how much worse it would be if I had to deal with Medicare as well.

[vanillafluffy]

I've got a Walmart literally two blocks away, and it's good to know about the Relion--but as it happens, I found one of my old meters last night. I'm going to rummage around later and see if I can find any test strips that'll go with it--have you any idea how carved in stone those expiration dates are? They'll be a couple years old If I can find them. (If not, no biggie--I have an appointment my primary on Tuesday--and I'm not going to leave without a proper prescription.) Thanks for sharing your experience with me!

[vanillafluffy]

Crisis averted: I finally found my old meter AND got the right test strips prescribed for it...which I tested right there at the pharmacy counter before I paid for them. A box of those plus two 'scrips I collected together came to $7 and change, so I can't complain about the cost. Now *all* I have to do is stab myself twice a day. Yay....

[thru_the_blinds]

Colonoscopy... I was seriously considering having one done (as a baseline) while I still have Medicaid. How did yours go? I mean, I'm not queasy or even overly-modest but I do admit to a cringe when thinking about having someone poke around my nether regions. I've always heard that the prep is the worst part and the actual procedure is a piece of cake, so I'm interested in your thoughts?

Edited to add: you can certainly email about your experience if you'd rather not go into details here! ;-)

[vanillafluffy]

The days leading up to the procedure were definitely not fun. Stay close to the toilet, and possibly even invest in some adult diapers, aka, Panties of Shame. Candidly, I'm on a bunch of meds, and a lot of them will cause diarrhea if not taken with sufficient food--so I'm used to emergency sprints to the commode. This had me pissing out my ass for two days beforehand, so consider yourself warned!

The scoping itself...like I said, the lead-up and the waiting in pre-op were the worst of it. They knock you out for the procedure--for me it was propyphl, the same stuff that killed Michael Jackson--I didn't feel a thing. Woke about 40 minutes later, not woozy, no pain. The nurses fed me peanut butter and crackers and apple juice, which was lovely after no solid food for two days (for most people it's only one day on liquids, but I have a slow digestion when it's left to its own cycle). The doctor came in and told me there were two small polyps and one larger one, but he doesn't think they're anything to be concerned about, and he'll let me know when they get the Official Lab Results.

GK stopped by the grocery store on our way back to my place, at my request, and got me a rotisserie chicken. Bliss! I devoured it (except for the breasts, which I made chowder with later, AFTER I'd had about six hours of sleep. Thank goodness that's out of the way for a few more years!

.

[thru_the_blinds]

Thanks for the details (no, really)! Asshat had one many years ago during our marriage, and two good friends of mine have had them more recently. Everyone's experience has been about the same, so I'm thinking this must be the norm. I'll probably go ahead and schedule mine. *sigh* Getting older is a bitch!

[vanillafluffy]

As long as it's not TMI! But I'm not overly modest, either, and the truth is the truth. And yeah, like whoever it was said, growing old isn't for sissies!

[vanillafluffy]

Oh, and if/when you do it? There are two different formulas that I know of. One comes in a gallon jug and needs a prescription. The other uses OTC products. The OTC version is slightly less noxious, but next time, I'm going to try mixing it with broth instead of Gatorade, because salty Gatorade is just wrong. But still, anything is better than colon cancer. I saw LL last night, and she told me that Eisenhower (the snoopy neighbor from across the street in the Valley) has been diagnosed and doesn't have very long. Heaven knows, he wasn't my favorite person, but I wouldn't wish that on him.