Blood from a turnip....

It amazes me, in this economy where people are declaring bankruptcy and don't have the money to pay bills, that when you try to do the right thing, you're met with rudeness...the fun with the medical bills begin...I had one of the places I've had to go for PET scans call becuz I have a balance due to them. I know this, I get my mail. She started with asking me which credit or debit card I'd like to pay the balance with...what?!?! Yep, I have credit cards just laying around to slap a couple of grand on...are you kidding me!? Now this isn't a bill I've ignored. I've had to see them twice and paid them over $500 in those two visits and just sent another payment a couple of days ago. I told her this and she told me we could set up a payment plan. Okay, I can do that, I've done that with all $15,000 worth of bills I've accumulated thus far. This just happened to be the one person I hadn't called myself first. So she goes on to ask me if $200 a month was good....uh, noooo...I have 3 children, regular bills, and about a dozen doctors and specialists to send money to every month...she proceeds to tell me that $200 is the least they can accept...what?!! The least you can accept!?! I'm sitting here willing to send you at least some money every month instead of ignoring you and letting it all drift into collections and you're telling me that what I can pay isn't good enuff...how many people pay you nothing?! How many people don't bother to try?! What makes your business any more or less important than the surgeon who removed my cyst, the hospital he did it in, the anesthesiologist, my oncologist, the chemo they're putting in my system, the labs that have to be run on me?! Would you prefer I don't pay them and let the cancer kill me so you can close my account entirely?! This woman had no answers for me other than 'we can't do that'...I unfortunately lost my cool by the end of this conversation and told her she'd hafta do what she had to do with my account cuz I was totally done talking to her...and these people deal with cancer patients on a regular basis and this is how they treat people who are willing to try to do the right thing...hmmmmm, thanks for ruining my day, lady, cuz I hadn't been reminded in a few days how helpless cancer can make you feel!

Pink is my new favorite color!

It's amazing to me how much a little rubber bracelet can put people at ease. I started wearing breast cancer bracelets a few weeks ago and it seems that opened the flood gate to questions...I know some people who go thru this want to keep it private but considering the fact I'm writing a blog on the internet I guess it goes without saying that I'm very vocal about my journey. Awareness is the key and I will shout that from the rooftops. I love my little bracelets. My kids wear them, my husband wears one, and I've given out a couple dozen of them along the way. People see my bald head or a bandanna tied around it and wonder, but they see my bracelet and it's like it opens the door for them to ask and gives me the opportunity to share whatever part of my journey might be beneficial to them...early detection if it's a young person I'm talking to, the importance of spousal support if it's a man, whatever the subject needs to be...I'm linking myself to this little website 'The Long Road Home' cuz they have a few cute little different bracelets they're selling...the messages on them are different but the pink color still screams cancer warrior! Check them out if you get a minute on my links page and know that they support Susan G Komen with their proceeds!
There's nothing sexier for my husband to wear than his 'Real men wear pink' tshirt!

Taken for granted

I've had a few achy days in the past couple of sessions but man, I think I took how well I've been doing thru chemo TOTALLY for granted...Saturday night after my Tuesday chemo, I started getting achy as usual and woke up Sunday feeling like I got hit by a truck....that's been pretty much how it's run the last couple of sessions, but I didn't know where we were going....the hubby had been sick last week and I'd chased him around with Lysol for days. Once he started acting better, I got lax...MISTAKE!! I guess in my weakened state, I did get a bit of his bug...the cough, the sneezes, feeling like my brain was leaking out my nose...
alas, that lasted for 4 days when the past sessions have only seen maybe a couple of days of aches and pains...won't be looking that gift horse in the mouth again.
One of my most interesting notations of chemo has been the steroid/tongue tug-o-war....they give you steroids to boost your appetite (and if weight is a sign of health, the 20lbs I've gained in the past 18 weeks must mean I'm healthy again). Chemo is poison and it kills fast growing cells in your body. Each session has attacked my tongue...it looks like I have a raging case of thrush...pleasant, I know, but I warned ya I'd be graphic at times...it hurts like someone sliced your tongue open and poured orange juice in it...you really don't have much taste at all...I haven't experienced the metal taste in my mouth since the first couple of sessions, but I think I'd rather have the metal taste than this ache...but alas, I digress my point...I can't taste much of anything and to be honest, don't really wanna eat much that will aggravate the pain in my mouth, yet I'm on the steroids and have an appetite like a starving horse...irony, huh? Oh well, maybe I should take the week of 'mangled tongue' to drop a couple of those huge pounds I've accumulated...LOL