2014-05-31 Saturday

My bum leg this weak today, so I’ve not been able to move around as much as I would like to move around today. I was able, however, to prepare two excellent meals while sitting on the folding chair I keep in the kitchen.

Breakfast consisted of the last of my bacon strips and my last two eggs in the carton. With the final bit of orange juice and coffee—I have plenty of coffee—breakfast was a feast!

Dinner consisted of the last four frozen fish sticks. I wish I had a salad to go along with it; however, even the minced fish of the fish tasted yummy.

I can scarcely wait until Monday when my pension check will be deposited in my account so that I may do some shopping for the Kitty Kids and me.

I have been attempting to take a photograph of Midnight’s posterior past two days. Late Wednesday night as Midnight stood on my stomach looking at Alex who was curled up on my legs, I began to question whether or not what I thought was her vagina might not be testicles. Whatever it is, it is solid black and quite hairy. So, yesterday and today I have been trying to photograph midnight’s rear end so that I may share a photo with my Internet friends who are much better than I am in determining cat gender.

Normally Midnight is always sticking her ass in my face. However, each time I have attempted to photograph her posterior in the past 48 hours, she has turned toward me instead of away from me, which is the direction that I want her to point. I wonder if she is doing this because she perceives that I want to photograph what is beneath her tail.

Of course, Alex is always willing to pose.

I posted the May Graphic Wisdom on Nick’s Bytes earlier today. So I’ll close this Journal entry with a few of the wisdom graphics that touched my soul.

Please

July 20, 2013

Earlier this evening I posted twenty photographs plus a graphic I created on Nick's Bytes: Today. I invite you to click on the preceding link to view them.

What I didn't write about in my Nick's Bytes post is my health. The antibiotics are evidently working: today I have experienced less jaw pain that I have at any time since the pain began two weeks ago. I have yet to raise the $300.00 or so payment Dr. Lavely requires for the extraction. On Monday I shall continue making telephone calls seeking less expensively foreboding treatment.

What I can foresee of my income and expenses in August is that I shall have even fewer dollars than I have had this month [SIGH] primarily because of the $200.00 or so that the VA is having the Treasury Department withhold from my Social Security check to pay for medications because I have not paid them enough or as fast as the Veterans Administration demands. [double SIGH]

Give me this day my daily meds

July 11, 2013

I was back at the VA hospital in this morning, this time to keep an appointment I made more than a month ago. This time it was to pick up my replacement hearing aids. Before Christmas I had lost one of the hearing aids that I received about three years ago. Hoping that I would find it, I waited until June before requesting a replacement from the Veterans Administration. I was told that it was past time for me to be evaluated for new hearing aids. Great! So I had the appointment, and my ears filled with some goopy stuff that made an impression of my inner ear, and set up today’s appointment to return and pick up my new hearing aids.

As with so much of my life, things have not gone. I arrived at the VA hospital about 7:30 my 8:00 AM appointment. My left leg was weak and hurting intensely, both when walking and sitting. It took me about 20 minutes to make it the office; however, I had a 50 minute wait because the audiologist was having problems with their computer. It seems that the computer was necessary because these new hearing aids are adjusted the via a microchip in them. WOW!

Another thing about the new hearing aids is that they are clear so that one can visually determine if there is any earwax buildup in them.

It's grand to be able to hear again -- except for guy with the gasoline-powered leaf blower outside the hospital, the kid in the car next to me at a red light with hip hop blaring from his car radio, and the warning buzzer of my portable oxygen concentrator telling me the battery needed charging. 

The whole trip took longer than I expected, so that I ran out of lithium battery power in my portable oxygen condenser about 15 minutes before I got home. I was wheezing, panting, and nauseous by the time myself up to the large oxygen machine. I was met by all 3 kitty kids, who I suspect were still traumatized by the 13+ hours away from home when I was in the VA emergency room yesterday. 

When I noticed that all three kitty kids—Alex, Sugar, and Little Girl—were on my desk begging for treats, I wondered about the kittens being alone. So, I grabbed the camera and limped to the walk-in closet to check on them. Of course, Momma Little Girl and Aunty Sugar followed me. And, I took what I think are the best photos of the three kittens to date. Here is one of them:

I published the above kitten photograph plus six more earlier today in  a Nick's Bytes post entitled, Lots of Kitten Pics.

Later, after much needed nap, I decided to shoot a video showing off my new hearing aids. I had just taken the right hearing aid into my hand when LG jumped on the desk and this video was made:

The video demonstrating the new hearing aids was never produced. I did take the photograph that begins this post. Then I decided to take the hearing aids out of my ears and put them away. It was then that I discovered that the hearing aid for my right ear was not in my right ear! I have searched desk, floor around the desk, the kitchen, bathroom, and the cats feeding area. I found no hearing aid.

I shall continue searching for the missing hearing aid and hopefully will find it. Meanwhile, I am blessed because the one remaining old hearing aid is far my right ear.

I have yet three more Veterans Administration medical appointments coming up. While I was on my trip to the hospital this morning, the Newburg VA clinic telephone and request that I set up appointments with my primary care physician and my psychiatrist. It was good timing. The appointment with the primary care physician, including a visit preceding it for lab work, is set for mid-August; the appointment with my psychiatrist is set for 9 AM tomorrow. I sure hope I have no more appointments because the round-trip to Newburg tomorrow will just about empty my gas tank! 

Donate a penny 

to help support SSN, 

his 3 Kitty Kids, 

& LG's kittens?

July 9, 1023

PAIN! That word sums up my life since last Friday. Pain! Lots of pain.

Jaw ache! Headache! Ear ache! Leg ache! 

I have done everything I can find (and afford) to stop the pain. Some of the treatments work. None of the treatments work well. Some cause other problems: for example, the pain prescribed medications I have been taking have caused stomach aches and nausea.

At 10 PM last night, after the temperature was down to the mid-80s, I drove myself to the Veterans Administration emergency room. The drive was difficult because my left leg is weaker and more painful than it has been a very long time. As I expected, I had a three-hour wait before I was allowed into the emergency room. I was finally seen by a physician around 1:30 AM; her English was poor and I had difficulty expressing the problem.

New-style ID now used by VA Hospital with color photo of patient

About 45 minutes after the decision talk to me, I and my bed were wheeled to the radiology department where I underwent my first- ever CAT Scan. This was of my head and did not take very long. Then I returned to my room in the ER where I was injected with a pain shot that was very effective. A couple of hours later, my dad and I were again wheeled from the emergency room and my chest was x-rayed. I was rather concerned about this x-ray because, having been a 50 year plus smoker, I feared that the blood work that was done on me may have indicated something like cancer. I need not have been worried; as it turned out, the chest x-ray was to determine if some of the excess mucus with which I am plagued each day was entering my lungs. It isn’t.

Nothing else took place until after 8 AM when the shifts changed and a new doctor was assigned my case. It was a real go-getter and much easier for me to understand. After reviewing the status of my case this new position had me go to the eye department to have my eyes checked because he was concerned that I might have infection in them that could cause blindness. I was less than impressed with the services I received at the eye clinic. The physician in charge did not understand why the consultation was made to have my eyes checked. He was the same physician who had supervised my cataract removal when the intern surgeon allowed the cataract to break up in my left eye. Although the physician did examine my eyes, he spent most of the time complaining that it was unnecessary.

When I returned to the emergency room, the ER physician explained that he determined my problem is an abscessed tooth or perhaps even more than one. Since the Veterans Administration now provides dental care only two vats who are 100% disabled due to combat. There will be no dental treatment for Nick by the Veterans Administration! I was prescribed three medications:  an antibiotic, an antihistamine nasal spray, and an analgesic gum. Unfortunately, the analgesic gum was not in stock at the VA hospital; I was told that it will be mailed to me and should arrive next Monday or Tuesday. 

My drive home was difficult. With the heat index over 90°F and not having air-conditioning in my car, I was nauseous and having difficulty breathing. My eyes were also unable to focus because they had been dilated at that I clinic. The sunlight was painful and I had difficulty seeing. However, I did make it home safely.

When I came inside the apartment, I was met by three very excited Kitty Kids. Food, water, and treats pleased to cats immensely. The rest of the day I spent trying to stop the pain and attempting to sleep. In other words, this afternoon has been much like every day since the pain began last Friday.

This evening I did manage to obtain some new photographs of LG’s kittens:

At the moment I am feeling a lot of pain and nausea. The best means of pain relief that I have is the rice filled bag that is heated in the microwave, a gift from one of the parishioners at the last church I pastored. 

Now that this post is written and soon to be published, I plan to spend the rest of this Tuesday trying to control the pain and attempting to sleep.

My sincere thanks to everyone who has expressed their concern, made suggestions for my healing, sent virtual hugs, and offered prayers on my behalf. My love and blessings to all.

PLEASE...

July 7, 2013

Pain, from just above the temple down to my jaw including my ear—all on the left side of my head—has been so intense today that I did not know if I could make it through. I’ve also felt nauseated much of the day, possibly due to the medication I have been taking in attempts to stem the pain.

I’ve gotten very little sleep, primarily in one or two hour increments even though I’ve tried to sleep. The pain keeps awakening me.

Likewise, the nausea I am feeling and the pain in my jaw have prevented me from eating.

My left leg has been extremely weak, so I’ve not gotten around much today. Most of today I have either been at my desk sitting before the computer or in  my lift chair attempting to sleep. My leg is so weak that I have been afraid to attempt to drive to the emergency room because I fear being unable to engage the clutch.

My final symptom is that I’ve been having moments of being unable to breathe. This, too, has affected my ability to sleep.

Now that I have explained how I’ve spent most of today in pain, I shall add the good parts. I have attempted several times today to take photographs of the kittens. I finally succeeded in getting a few plus some of the adult kitty kids:

I’ve not been able to complete Monday’s Nick’s Bytes blog post. I’m working on it a bit at a time, but spending most of my time trying to deal with his horrendous pain on the left side of my head.

July 6, 2013

Today has been gloomy, rainy, and relatively cool. The temperatures have been in the low 70s all day. I am getting very tired of the shadows, so tired that I’m feeling rather depressed. If it were not for the Kitty kids, I would probably be very depressed. However, playing with them and watching their antics bring smiles to my soul.

It has been difficult to take pictures of LG’s kittens due to their being in the back of the closet beneath clothing and my being unable to stand. I have been able to take a few pictures today of the kittens and the Kitty kids:

My body pain has been less today than it has been over the last four days. It still more than normal and my left leg continues to be weak. The pain in the left side of my head is much less and that’s the good part.

I have been unable to stand or walk well, so I have spent most of today either sitting in front of the computer are reclining and sleeping in my lift chair. Being up on my feet for a few minutes at a time I’ve been able to do a bit of housecleaning. Most importantly, I have been able to wash all of the Kitty kids’ bowls so that I was able to treat them to their favorite wet cat food.

I was also able to edit and post a blog I wrote in 2009, A Story and Two Questions, regarding the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. It describes a terrible historical event, very prominent in the Nazi genocide. All of the sadness and anger that I felt when I first wrote the post came back to me today.

To think of the lives lost due to the evil of Adolf Hitler and his crew saddens me. I remember the words spoken by Elie Wiesel that evening I met with him when I was in seminary: we must never forget the victims of the Holocaust. If we do, it will happen again and again and again.

Elie Wiesel

Unfortunately, genocide has continued: Genocides in History. And genocides continue today.

Please

July 4, 2013

For me, it has been a strange Independence Day. The pain in my left leg and the left side of my face has been increasing/decreasing all day. The former makes it difficult for me to stand or walk; the latter to rest or concentrate. I've used all three pain medications I have been prescribed alternately, but none of them ends the pain fir long.

Since walking has been difficult I have spent most of the day creating the fourth and last of my Nick's Bytes posts commemorating the 150^th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg.

Click to view:

• Gettysburg: Day 1
• Gettysburg: Day 2
• Gettysburg: Day 3
• Gettysburg After Pickett's Charge: July 3 & 4

I have enjoyed creating these, although I note that there have not been a lot of visitors to view them: about 350 a day compared to the 600+ who read my jokes posts.

I have attempted to shoot new photographs of Little Girl’s kitten, but it is now difficult since she has moved them to a back corner of the walk-in closet beneath hanging clothing. Here are the best two I have been able to take:

July 3, 2013

Usually the third day of the month has me feeling great; however, today I find myself in really deep shit!

First, I checked my bank account and found that the deposit of my Social Security check is $177.00 short. I know where the money went: the Veterans Administration had the Treasury Department withhold $157.00 because I'm not paying the copay for my prescription medications fast enough. THe additional $20.00 is what the Treasury Department charges me for the privilege of withholding my money. 

SHIT!

OK, let me try to explain. When I first signed up for VA benefits I had no copay because I had no income. If you've followed my Nick's Bytes blog through the years, you may remember that there was a time back in 2007 when I was homeless and penniless. Encouraged by my eldest son, Nick III, I enrolled in VA benefits, which obtained for me much needed medical services. Since I had no income (and no money in the bank), there was no copay for services/ medications.

At the same time that I enrolled in VA services, again at the suggestion of Nick III, I applied for Social Security disability. I really did not think that I was disabled. Call that denial on my past, for I was immediately approved as "totally and permanently disabled" and within three months received my first Social Security benefit check. I have since turned 65-years-old and now receive regular Social Security.

Back to the VA: once I reported an income, I was required to pay the Veterans Administration a $6.00 copay for each prescribed medication per month. That was not financially difficult because back then I was prescribed only three medications: 2 for genetic depression  and one for diabetes plus the diabetes testing supplies. Since all VA prescriptions are provided in 90-day increments, I was paying a copay of only $24.00 every three months, which was very affordable.

However, the VA increased the copay to $8.00/month and, as you probably are probably aware, my health has declined greatly since 2007.  Now I take 16 prescribed medications so that the VA copay is  $128.00 per month which, since each medication is provided in 90 increments, comes to a billing of $384.00 t one time. I set up a schedule with VA that I would pay $100.00 per month, which is difficult on my limited income, but affordable. (I usually run out of money by the middle of each month).

All went well until about a year ago when my car broke down and I was forced to have it repaired  Therefore,  I was unable to pay the full $100.00. Since then, the VA periodically (like every two months) has the Treasury Department withhold anywhere from $150.00 to $200.00 from my Social Security. I never know when that will happen because I am not informed of it until after it is done.

Since January of this year, I have had $452.00 withhold from the Social Security checks. The $177.00 withheld this month is the largest ever. I have Medicare Rx supplemental insurance that can pay for medications, but the Veterans Administration refuses to accept it since Medicare in a federal program and some idiot regulation refuses to allow one federal agency to accept payment from another even though the insurance is through AARP, which is not a government agency.

If none of this makes sense to you, please understand that it makes no sense to me either. 

Sooooooo, baseline is that I begin this month with $177.00 less money than I expected. [sigh]

Please understand me: I am not bitching about the VA. The agency has saved my life. I am concerned that no matter how I try to make ends meet, no matter how much of my property I sell, I find that my "retirement" is far from comfortable. 

On a happier note, the kitty kids and Little Girl's kitten bring great joy into my life! Here are a few of the most recent photographs I have taken of Alex, Sugar, Little Girl and her 3 beautiful kittens:

Little Girl and a newborn kitten

Alex meets the newborn

A pile of kittens

Kittens' dinner

Aunt Sugar kitten-sits

This morning's first kitten pic



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