The Life of a 20-Something With Lupus

I was super tired from dialysis yesterday. The entire day I walked around like a zombie. Like seriously...how did I ever manage in-centre dialysis 3 times a WEEK?? I can't wait to get home to my precious machine and get back on a regular routine!



After dialysis, we drove around some until we found a Burger King where we had lunch. What's with the fries around here being so salty? I should have learned my lesson and should have asked for the fries to have no salt on them.



After that, we went to Tyrone Mall. At Tyrone mall I bought a couple of shirts for my bro's gf as well as a nice warm sweater for myself. It is a thick sweater from Aeropostale. It was originally 49.50 but I got it for 12.99! That's what I call a boxing day sale!



We spent quite a bit of time there. I was pretty well finished after an hour as I was quite tired. I sat on a bench near the door we entered as that is where we agreed to meet after 1 hour. An hour passed and I did not see my mother or my father. Numerous people kept coming to sit either beside me or across from me with their ice cream from a nearby Dairy Queen. Finally an older couple sat across from me each with an ice cream cone in their hand when I decided that was the last straw. I went over to the Dairy Queen and got an ice cream cone. $1.80 well spent.



I went back to my seat when the man across from me pointed as his cone, then at mine. "I just had to get one once I saw you with one!" I exclaimed. Both the gentleman and the woman had a laugh and we made additional small talk. They soon got up, telling me to enjoy the rest of my ice cream before they went on their way. :)



I sat there for about another hour when we finally found each other. We headed on our way. After much pleading with my father, my Dad took me back to the beauty supplies shop that we had already gone to. What can I say...I love shopping for beauty supplies! My hair is already quite weak and breaks easily, either from Lupus, prednisone, or whatever other medications I happen to be taking. I am making sure to take better care of my hair so as not to have constant breakage.



After this, we stopped at the grocery store to buy some food for dinner. I sat on a bench at the front of the store as I was exhausted. After this, we went home. My mom somehow managed to cook rice in the microwave. It was delcious.



Today, we decided to check out some of the flea markets. I did not see anything that I liked and could have done without both trips. My parents both enjoy flea markets and I do not mind walking around and looking at things, but rarely do I buy anything. We went to the first flea market and I was wearing my birkenstocks. Bad idea- it was reallllly cool outside. Since the flea market was not far from our hotel, I had my father drive back after we were finished at that flea market so that I could put on socks and shoes.

After that, we went to another flea market called Wagon Wheel. It is both an indoor and outdoor flea market. I took the keys from my Dad as I knew that I would be finished much sooner than he would be. The flea market wasn't as great as it would have been on Saturday due to the weather-it was looking like it was going to rain soon...and it did. Either way, my avascular necrosis in my left hip was acting up and I preferred to just sit down anyways.

Soon we all met up at the car and then drove to Pizza Hut for lunch. After this, we went to the grocery store again to get water, then to Walmart for a few last minute things, then back to the hotel. We have to pack and get everything tidied up. Our flight is at 1pm-ish and we need to get there early. With the recent failed terror attack attempt, delays are eminent.

I can't wait to upload my Disney pictures and possibly some of the videos I recorded at Disney too.

Oh, and since that late night fiasco where the manager tried to get into our room, for the past 3 nights when we tried to get into our room, our keycard hasn't worked and new ones had to be made. 3 times. Should I request a discount?? 3 times on 3 different days!

MERRRRRRRRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONEEEEE!!

Disney World today was great!


We went to Magic Kingdom first and went on a couple of rides before stopping for the Christmas parade (pictures will be added once i get home). I got a front row spot luckily, so I got a lot of good pictures.

After the parade, we went to Epcot centre and had lunch. A Half chicken, mashed potatoes and carrots cost 9.99 + tax (no drink). Just terrible.

After that, it was more shows, and more rides.

Meh, I'm going to update this post later. I'm sooo exhausted and gotta be at dialysis tomorrow by 7am!

Strange indeed.

Strange for me, but after a long day of walking around, shopping, and dialysis, I was actually fast asleep by 11pm or so. I woke up to the sound of someone trying to open our door! I could hear the keycard going into the slot, and i could hear the distinct click that it makes when the keycard has been approved and the door is open. The person or persons behind the door pushed the door but it would not open. I had secured the bolt lock beforehand. My Dad is also into propping a chair up against the door and placing something heavy against the door, in this case, my luggage. There was no way that door was opening.

My Dad got up and asked who it was. A male voice said it was the manager. This was weird. Why was the manager trying to get into our room? I looked at my blackberry. It was 12:23am. My Dad opened the door. The man behind the door asked my father how long he had been in this room. My father told him when we checked in. Why was he asking stupid questions? Did he think we broke into the room and were somehow squatting in here? I did not hear much what they were saying as I was still in a daze from being asleep. I did hear my father close and lock the door again, then back to bed.

The next morning, my father went and asked the gentleman who came to our door in the middle of the night what had happened. He said there was a computer error and it showed that we were supposed to be in another room while the one we were in was showing as vacant. Weird. It was just another thing to add to the list of what makes this motel poor. The lights keep flickering on and off, the tissue for blowing your nose is hard like lined writing paper, the breakfast choices are lame to say the least, the remote control requires you to push the up button about 5 times and shake it before the channel changes...i mean, what gives?? Anyhow, we went back up to our rooms, finished getting ready, and left the motel for the day.

We all went out for a day of shopping and hanging out at the beach side shops. When we got back to our room, guess what? My keycard would not open the door. I tried again. The door flashed red. My father tried his keycard. Nothing. My Dad went downstairs to get an explanation. He returned a few minutes later and said that he was told that a manager was not available but we got a replacement key. He was told that the person who gave our room to another couple had deactivated our keys when he thought the room was vacant and gave those keycards to the previous couple. Soo irritating. But again, I am not sure how that makes sense because we used our keycards since then-when we went for breakfast we came back up to our room and we used our keycard to get in the room. That means that the keycard was deactivated sometime after that debacle last night, and also after we had breakfast the following day. Weird.

Anyhow, I am psyched for Mickey Mouse tomorrow. Yay!

..l.As in, dialysis!

I'm on my very tiny dell netbook so i will not upload pictures until I get home. Dialysis went well. All the nurses and hemo assistants were great. I got there bright and early at 7am. Everyone and everything was very efficient. I had signed all the appropriate papers, prepped my supplies, inserted my needles, and was on the machine by 7:30am. Pretty darned good.

Seeing everyong was great. Everyone was so nice and helpful. It was easy to get someone's attention if need be.

After dialysis, we went to another mall which i believe is called orange blossom mall. I did a lot of shopping there. I bought some flip flops, shoes, shirts, etc. I also bought a couple things for my brother and sister. We spent about 2 or so hours in the mall shopping. Before shopping we obviously had lunch as I was suffering from post-dialysis hunger rage. LoL.

Anyhow, I must change my clothes and sort out my purchases. Tata for now. Tomorrow, its off to the beach! Hope it's nice outside...

Today started off with breakfast at the hotel. Breakfast consisted of frosted flakes wrongly labelled as Corn Flakes. I nearly puked it was so sugary. I also had some tea...and a sugary donut. Yech.

After that we stepped out. I was determined to wear my birkenstocks in spite of the fact that it was a might breezy. We drove to the Orlando area to do some shopping. I nodded off in the passenger seat as my Dad drove and my Mom sat in the back. Its such a funny thing to someone watching...nodding off, waking up, then nodding off again.

Our first stop was a pawn shop. I actually hate pawn shops but my parents enjoy them. My mom bnught some jewellry.

After that we headed to Winn Dixie which for those of you who do not know, is a grocery store. What I love about Winn Divie is the fact that you can buy raw shrimp or raw crab, tell them which spices you want on it, then they steam it for you! It's pretty sweet. So we bought some shrimp, bread, juice, salad, etc. and had our own little feast.

After that, it was off to Florida mall. The only thing I bought was some concealer from prescriptives. I just heard today that the prescriptives make up line is discontinuing! They didn't even have the concealer that I wanted so the nice lady made me a custom blend. What ever will I do when they discontinue completely?? The lady told me that I would be able to order online for about 24 months...then that's it. Hmph, and just when i found a concealer that I like! The lady told me to look at estee lauder when prescriptives is completely gone.

Afterwards, we went to an open air outlet mall. I just bought a x-mas gift and some stuff for my friend who will be having a baby in the new year.

After that, we did a quick run to walmart. I forgot my sponge thing for taking a shower so I had to buy a pair of those shower glove things. I also bought some snacks for me to eat while I am at dialysis tomorrow.

For dinner, we had some extra food that Dad had bought while we were at winn dixie-salmon, macaroni salad, texas toast, and cranberry juice.

Now, since we are supposed to be at the dialysis unit by 7am, I should probably go to sleep now! More tomorrow on the dialysis!

We're in our hotel in Florida! We are stayng in st pete's. The flight was uneventful, which is good, as was getting our luggage and our car. After we left the airport, we went to a really big hair store where my Mom and I picked up some hair products. I'm sure we will be there again before we leave as it was a great store.

Afterwards, we headed to the dreaded McDonalds. I barely ate half of my fries as they were so salty...much saltier than I'm used to McDonald's fries being. Blech!

We got to our hotel, dropped off our bags, and drove to the dialysis unit for a test run. We found it with minimal problems. It isa fresenius clinic that I have been to before which is great.

This hotel is the same one my father and I stayed at when we came to Florida in 2007. Some changes include the fact that the rooms now have computers (i brought my laptop and am using the free wifi. Their computers cost you an extra 3 bucks a day if you use it). Also, this must be the day that they decided to wash/shampoo their carpets. Alll the carpets and floors are wet and I almost wiped out 3 different times.

Tomorrow we are going to drive to Orlando and do some shopping. I look forward to some retail therapy. I am going to google some shopping places right now. I hope to take lots of pictures of the dialysis unit when I get there bright and early on Wednesday (have to be there by 7am). This is another reason we thought it would be a good idea to do a practice run to the unit today. It will take about 20 minutes to get there which is great.

Oh and as for school I got straight As except for Economics which i got a C! Hmph. Who likes economics anyways!!? I hope when this is all calculated I still make the Dean's list...!

I'm finally finished school and I'm on a plane getting ready to go to Florida! My flight leaves in about 10 minutes! Hurrah!
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Today was a regular Saturday like every other. I went to work. My Mom picked me up. We went shopping. We came home.

Little did I know that I was coming home to bad news.

I came home and took off my shoes. I hadn't yet taken off my jacket, but something told me to just go to the den and say hi to my dad. So I went there and said Hi to him. I gave him a hug too. He covered his eyes with one hand. I asked him what had happened. He said "My friend died". When I asked him who, I had to ask him to repeat it twice. Not because I did not hear what he said, but because I did not want to believe what he said.

Cyril Yearwood. He was the chaplain for Toronto Police's 55 Division. It feels weird for me to type "was". When my father told me, I simply sat down. I did not know what to say. My father was talking but I could barely hear anything past the deafening sound of sadness in my mind. He was such a wonderful and selfless man. I remember him coming to visit me all the time when I was in the hospital. I remember him praying for me, crying to God to release me from all that I was going to. So sincere. So lovely. Such a huge smile that was so bright that it could light up the darkest room...and no matter how down in the dumps you may have felt...you couldn't help but smile also.

It's so hard to believe that he is gone. I'm not sure how old he was. Probably in his late 60s or early 70s. It's hard for me to tell because he was so young at heart. He was also strong...strong as ever.

Sometimes when th house phone rings, I do not answer it as i know the call is not for me. But, if I happen to be near the phone and I look at the call display and I see his name...I answer. He's pleasant, and I like talking to him...even if it is only for a moment. I had no idea when I stepped out of the car that day, when my dad picked me up from work to take me home and Reverend Yearwood was there too, that when I looked back and said "Bye" to him...it would be the last time I'd see his smiling face. I had no idea when I hung up the phone after saying goodbye to Reverend Yearwood because my father was not home that it would be the last time I'd hear his joyful voice. I simply had no idea. I guess we rarely do.

I just want to curl up into a ball and sleep until this year is over.

I'm currently sitting in the waiting room in the eye clinic of the hospital. I was 10 minutes late for my 11am appointment. By the time I found the place I was going to be, the lineup was huge.

After about 20 minutes, I found myself finally ready to be checked in. I sat down and looked at my watch. 11:30.

Shortly after, a lady came out and informed me that all the technologists had gone on lunch at 11:30 and would be gone for an hour. I couldn't believe my ears. I had lost my spot simply because I was in THEIR lineup waiting to be seen by the receptionists.

My intent was to finish this appointment and head back to school to do homework. No such luck I guess...
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It's a few days after I received my shot. I received it on Thursday afternoon. The shot itself did not hurt. It was no more painful than any other flu shot in the arm.

After I got the shot, I went to school and was fine.

When I got home, my father told me to expect a sore arm the next day. I thought he was nuts. My automatic assumption was that if I didn't feel sore right after getting the shot, I wouldn't feel sore at all!

Father knows best.

My arm was sore the very next morning, and is stll sore today, 3 days later. Crappy! But it is much less sore today than it was on Friday morning.

I sure hope that getting this shot has adequately protected myself from H1N1! :\

Now one last quick note as I have to continue studying for my economics test on Wednesday morning. On Friday, I got back my Recruitment and Selection test. I got 40/50, so I got 80% Yay me! Why do I ALWAYS think I did poorly on tests when, in fact, I've done well??

Here are some before pictures of what my dialysis supplies room looks like, prior to getting it as organized as I would like. I'm just happy that all of the boxes are actually in the room as opposed to sitting on the floor in the middke of the dining room! Take note that I uploaded these pics from my Blackberry so I apologize if they are not top notch, but I think they get the point across.

Also included are a few pictures of good ol' B-16- Formula Home Care System!



Hello, Mr. B-16! I call hin that because right above that blue box that says formula, there is another, smaller blue tag that says "B-16". One of the pictures that follow will show his name tag.




Thumbs up to being ready to connect!





Mr. B-16. The pump is off and he's waiting for me to connect! I plan to take more pictures and get/eat a small bowl of apple sauce before connecting to you, Mr. B-16



Hello again, Mr. B-16. There's your name tag!




Box upon box of Sodiun Chloride, aka saline. This is actually 8 boxes as there is another set of four behind the set of four that you see here. Against the wall in the red bag is my yoga mat..a mat that I need to utilize more often!




Dialyzers and a blue box containing gauze up top, then tubing on two shelves, then at the bottom we have some acid concentrate and a bottle of bleach. Don't worry, guys. I promise not to get the acid concentrate and the bleach mixed up.




Mr. Bleach on a date with Ms. Acid Concentrate. I don't think they are compatible or even like each other very much.



*barf*! Ugh...room full of boxes!




Corner shelves contain syringes, needles, tip caps, alcohol wipes, non-alcohol wipes, etc.



I remember you, boot. I had to wear you for 8 weeks..and even when I went to England last year! What a drag. I hope I never have to wear you again.




So when my Papa has time, he is going to put some more shelves up for me so that I can have more space to put more stuff! More pics to follow when that happens...taking into consideration that I'm a full time student and a part time worker! (aka it likely ain't getting organized anytime before my trip to Florida at the end of December!)

I'm currently on the subway on my way to school when a man started making these strange noises as he exited the train! It sounded as if he was saying "talk, talk, talk, talk, talk...". I though he was referring to a group of college students, also on the bus, who were chatting to each other. When I turned around and looked at him more closely, I saw that he had something up to his face which was is a white bag. "Booze, no doubt" I thought. It wasn't until the overwhelming stench of glue, or maybe paint thinner, smacked me in the face. Was that guy huffing chemicals on the train??
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I am studying for a multiple choice quiz in my Training and Development class on Tuesday morning. It is multiple choice and is worth 5%. The last one I got a B or something. I'm shooting for the stars this time.

Last night was a late night. I went to my friend's uncle's house where she was holding her birthday party. Man was the house beautiful. I didn't know that houses like that existed in that area. Something to strive for i guess!

The party included great games, great conversation, and tons of catching up. We played guitar hero and other Wii games. There was one Mario game where you choose your Mario character and you run a 100 metre race. You hold the remote in one hand and a nunchuck in the other hand. Then, when the gun goes off to signify the beginning of the race, you have to move your hands back and forth as fast as you can (as if you were running). Man was I exhausted after playing a couple of times!

Well, back to the books!

I got a call from one of the nurses from my home diaysis unit today. She told me that they have finally received the H1N1 Vaccine and will be administering it starting next week. I made my appointment to get the shot on Thursday.

Has anyone else gotten the Vaccine yet?

I was thinking about the conversation my father and I had a few days ago when he was driving me to work. Amongst other things, he was basically saying that everyone in the world has some sort of problem. Some have "bigger" problems, while others may not have anything that they see as a problem currently, but they have had problems in the past or will in the future.

When I go about my business at school and such, it kind of makes me sad to see the problems (unneccesary ones) that people put themselves through. People that I've grown to really like and that I look up to in terms of their work ethics and determination are the ones doing the silliest things! It's in my nature to be the person who is "there" for everyone, and yet I often find myself alone when it comes to these same people who rely so heavily on me.

I'm not saying that I will not be a friend to others. Quite the opposite, in fact. I guess I just don't like being put int he middle of a disagreement between two or more people that I consider friends. It doesn't matter if you're 8 or 80. There will always be some sort of drama as long as there are people around. Ah well. I just know that I'm not going to physically stress myself out over the small stuff.

Lest we Forget

My accounting test, that is.

Remember in my previous post I mentioned the poor formatting of some of the questions on the practice accounting quiz? Well, wouldn't you know that the test (which is an online test) had the same issues when I went to school to write it today?? And, because the prof gave us anytime between Monday morning and Wednesday afternoon to write this test, she wasn't specfically there to address this! One of the questions was outright missing a whole set of information needed to solve the question.

I emailed my prof and advised her and she replied quickly. She will review the test and make the appropriate adjustments.

I think I'm gonna hit the hay extra early today. I've packed my lunch and it's all ready for tomorrow. What I also plan to pack is a container of Clorox wipes for my desk at work. Other people are always on my computer, and the one girl who I know sits there often was home from work on Monday because she was sick!! Yikes!

...from the tears I've cried. What a long and strange few weeks. I feel like I'm at my breaking point. I simply cannot wait for this semester to be done and over with.

I've been trying to study for this accounting test. I went online to attempt the practice test. When I opened it, none of the questions made sense. There were no commas where commas should have been. No periods. No hyphens. Nadda! Well, there was none of the above punctuation in the most important parts of the questions.

I emailed the prof and she acknowledged that everything on the test looked mucked up. I'm going to give it another go tomorrow.

It's funny how different things are based on your prof. I work wednesdays so I have no classes that day. However, some of my friends have accounting that day and their profs allowed them to bring a "cheat sheet" into their tests. I wish we got that too. I don't see why not. Accounting isn't my major so it should be allowed. I could understand not allowing me to take notes into any of my hr classes...but c'mon.

I guess the combination of not being able to prepare for the test the way I wanted to just caused my tears to flow. My mom was there for me and comforted me.

All I can think of is December 21 when I'll be on the sandy beaches of Florida. Oh God...do I ever need it. :(
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My day consisted of lying in bed, sleeping. I am happy that I was actually able to sleep. I woke up this morning and started to give my blood back. When my tubes were clear, I began to disconnect myself from the machine...but I didn't feel well. I thought perhaps I had miscalculated and taken off too much fluid. I looked at the numbers I had entered into my machine as well as my dialysis logs. They both looked fine. While still connected to my machine, I stood on my nearby scale. My weight was perfectly fine and I hadn't dried myself out. I resumed disconnecting myself and pulling my needles.

I didn't feel well. It had nothing to do with being too dry. My stomach hurt. My body hurt. I felt exhausted. After clotting my arm off, I got up, brushed my teeth and washed my face, exactly as I would on any Saturday morning. I tried to force it. No matter how often up Lupies try to force ourselves to do something, it's important to realize that if Lupus isn't having it...trust me. Lupus is NOT having it. My body was weak, my stomach felt crampy. I had to listen to myself. No work for me today.

I often do NOT listen to my body. I think if I did, I'd never go anywhere. But sometimes, you just have to listen to your body. I had everything all planned for today. I was going to go to work during the day and be home by 4:30. I was going to study for a few hours as I have two tests next week, then leave my house at around 6:50pm. Today is my friend's birthday, and we were all invited out for dinner. It was a really cool looking restaurant - lots of healthy, organic food.

We make plans.

Lupus laughs.

So I realized that I can simply type a post from my cell phone and by emailing to myself I can post it to my blog. This will serve as more of a test post.

Neat!
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Today was a pretty long day for me.

It started off early this morning. I got up just before 7am and got ready to go out. I went to a friend's house to get my hair done. That whole process took about 3.5-4 hours. I was lucky enough to have my Dad pick me up and drop me off at the subway. I also had a dialysis clinic appointment today.

I got to the hospital early, so I took the time to greet the nurses in my old in-centre dialysis unit. I was happy to see everyone and they were happy to see me. It's sad going back to that clinic, because I know that they're going to tell me about another person in the unit who has passed on. Today was no different.

After my visit, I headed back upstairs for my actual appointment. I waited for a few moments before being greeted by Fabian, one of the tech guys. He informed me of a new system/form they were implementing whereby I would have to fill out a document about my machine. The questions are yes/no questions, basically asking me the general questions like am I disinfecting my machine, am I doing the citric acid rinse, am I testing for bleach after disinfecting, etc.

I was a bit surprised (and I won't lie, disappointed) when a doctor other than my nephrologist called me in, when I saw my doctor just a few moments before. I knew that meant they were putting me in with a fellow. This means a billion questions when it is already 2:10pm and I have to get out of here, get back on the subway, and take another bus in order to get to school before 3pm.

I didn't get asked too many questions which is great. He did, however, question some of the medications that I'm taking (like cellcept), and also some that I truly felt that he felt I should be taking (like magnesium). I kind of get annoyed when they do that. My doctor(s) of a trillion years know what medications I'm on, and if they're happy at where I'm at, don't go and muck things up by taking things away-throwing extra things in. I already went through that during my pre-dialysis years. One doctor's quest to be a superhero and change all of my medications resulted in a serious flare and subsequent dialysis (dialysis that I feel didn't have to begin at least for another several months if not for that particular doctor). But, I digress.

He discussed my Feritin. My feritin was too high for his liking. Ah well, it hasn't changed in several months and I am just fine.

My real doctor came in and this fellow recited my history to my doctor. I left with a prescription for Losec (omeprazole).

After that, I hurried on down to school for business communications class. The prof handed back our mid-terms. She totally embarassed me by announcing that I got the highest mark in the class!! Why would she do that!!? I got 49.5/50. Why couldn't she just give me that extra .5 of a mark!!? I lost .5 because I accidentally put a question mark somewhere that should have been a period. Bah! Oh well, 49.5 is a-ok by me!

Classed ended at about quarter to 6pm, so I walked to the subway, which is about a 10 minute walk, and took the subway and the bus home.

Gah! I'm tired!

Today is a much better day for me than yesterday.

I was stresed and sad yesterday for a number of reasons. I just knew that if one more minor thing happened to me...if a fly landed on my keyboard as I typed through teary eyes..I was bound to have a total and complete breakdown if uncontrollable scream-crying. Luckily it did not get that far.

I was afraid to go to school. I had written a test 2 weeks prior and I was to get it back today. You ever have a test where you study and you study, but the material never seems to settle in your brain? That is what I was experiencing for this test. I studied and I studied. No dice. Simply just not as comfortable as I felt I should be.

I went in, wrote the test, and faked a happy smile the rest of that day.

So today, I arrived in class a bit late. Everyone else had already gotten their tests back. Mine was in a pile amongst others. I saw my test - 61/80, plus 2 extra marks would be added on later due to a computer error. So...you're saying I got 79% on a test I was convinced I failed? WOO HOO!

I do that a lot. I think I've done poorly on a test when, in fact, I've done well. I'm very happy with a B+.

Then today, my brother sent me a text message informing me that our mutual cell phone company was giving him grief over a phone upgrade he wanted to do. They said he'd have to pay $449 + an extra $35 to get this phone because he still has about 10 months left in his 3 year contract. Whaaa?? A new subscriber would get this same phone for $299 flat! He spoke to different levels of representatives, but none were willing to budge.

Since I work for a bank, I am able to get a corporate plan. I spoke to my corporate representative and he told me that if I added my brother's account to my own, he would not only get a discounted monthly price plan, but he'd also be able to get his phone for $299 (and no extra fee!)

Hey, this is my big brother we're talking about here. He's one of the best men I know. He's there for me 24/7. He taught me how to play video games, but even more I enjoyed watching him play as much as he enjoyed playing games when we were both younger. He allowed me, his younger sister, to hang out/bike ride, etc with HIS friends! What kind of brother does that? I'll tell you. An awesome one.

So I promptly text'd my brother to see if this was a good arrangement for him as it was a good arrangement for me. So, we went ahead with it..and now we're just waiting for his new blackberry to arrive. I'm happy because it saves my brother a whole heap of money not only on the phone, but also on the monthly plan. Just a mere fraction of what he does and has done for me since I was born, but it still made me feel great. I wish we had done it before so we could have saved him some money on his monthly plan in the past.

I'm a happy girl today. And thank you to those who read, sympathize, and comment!

--Yup, I got the virtual hug from Miriam via DSEN. Thank you too!

I feel like I write a lot of "just one of those days" posts.

My day was fine. I went to work today. Work was fine. Then, I went to school. School was also fine. Then, I came home. I was fine.

I sat in bed and looked to the right. I saw my dialysis machine. I could feel the tears building up in my eyes.

I see my machine everyday. In fact, I sometimes feel happy to see it, knowing that I do not have to go to the hospital frequently just to do dialysis. Other times, like today, I'm like...why do I even have to think this to myself? Why do I even have to be "happy" about not going to the hospital?

Most days, I'm ok. Other days, it's like...Im here, going to school and working part time, just trying to get by. Everyone else I know in school is doing that too...but they're not dealing with endless boxes of dialysis supplies, dialysis, doctor's appointments, kidney pagers, etc.

I'm sorry, but the whole thing just sucks sometimes.

+I did manage to get some much needed rest, but rest does not necessarily equate to sleep. For the past while I've been having trouble falling asleep, even when I'm on my machine. I'm going to see my doctor on Thursday so it is something that I'll definitely need to discuss with him when I see him.

Yesterday I went to the movies with my friend. We saw the movie Good Hair. It's basically all the things black women go through to maintain their hair. It was all quite funny. Much of it applied to me...except for spending $1000 on a weave/hair piece. Not I, said the fly! I'd never spend that much money on stupid hair. Dumb!


After that, I caught up with a friend of mine and we went for sushi. I haven't seen him in about 5 years or so. It was great to catch up with him. I hope another 5 years won't pass before I see him again.

Yesterday I went to the pharmacy and was very annnoyed with the service. They had called my doctor to get a prescription refilled for me exactly a week earlier, so I went to pick it up. First, they had filled the prescription but couldn't find it. So, I had to wait for them to fill it again. Then, they told me that they were going to give me 25 days worth. What the heck is 25 days? Why not 30? They told me that was the amount my doctor had authorized. \

Lies.

So, I went to the bank across the street and stood in a 20 minute lineup to get some cash. When I went back to the pharmacy, much to my chagrin, they hadn't started filling my prescription. I stood there and I stood there for about 15 minutes. I got tired and sat down for another 15 minutes. Then, one of the pharmacy assistants walked by and says "Uh, your medication is ready." Why the heck didn't they tell me??

By now, there was a lineup of 3 people. Oh, this shouldn't take long, I thought. So I waited. The lady at the front of the line had asked for 3 months worth of medication so she wouldn't have to come back to fill her prescription every month. She told them this earlier in the morning to drop off the prescription. Much to HER chagrin, they only filled it for one month. So, they had to do it again. This took about 20 minutes. I was exhausted.

After they FINALLY finished up with her, the gentleman in front of me waited and waited only to find out that they did not know which medications he needed, even though his wife had called them in, as they were for her. Since he didn't have a cell phone and they didn't offer up a phone, he had to leave. What a waste of time!!

When all was said and done, I spent over an hour in that pharmacy. Ugh.

Anyhow, I'm going to go an "Fall Back" before I connect myself and go to sleep so that my clocks are all the right time when I wake up.

This coming from the girl who works for a BANK!

On saturday night, i went online to purchase the UFC fight so I could watch it. Sure, it's pricey, but I really wanted to watch that particular fight card. So I googled "watch ufc yahoo". I clicked on the yahoo website and entered in my card information.




Little did I realize until it was too late that this wasn't even the yahoo website! Look at the picture i just posted. The website says "YAOOO" instead of "YAHOO"! How could I be so dumb to fall for this scam!
I called my credit card company immediately to inform them what had happened. They immediately shut my credit card down. I emailed the company to tell them what happened, but the response was some canned reponse telling me how to use their website, which was a website for accessing tv online, some obviously illegally. I responded again and told them that I had NO interest in their service!

When they responded again, they offered me a discount off of the membership price. What?? Didn't I just say that I didn't want this service?? They then went on to say that there was a strict 7 day policy, after which no refunds would be granted. If I still wanted a refund at this point, they would deduct 9.99 from the cost refunded to me for "administrative costs". What the??

I emailed back, more angrilly but calm, and told them that I had NO interest in there and to refund the FULL amount back! They responded again discussing their 7 day policy and the 9,99. They told me the 50% off was still open to me, and if I didn't want it to email back. How long was this back and forth business going to go on?

I finally called them today, and after much discussion, the lady finally agreed to refund my credit card. I'll keep an eye on it...and if I see the refund then I'll call my credit card company and inform them.

The name of the charge on my credit card is marketbill.com. The website I went to was liveyahoosports.info. I wish I had paid more attention and not have gotten myself into this nonsense! I'll report back if this company does refund me the FULL amount back, and also which steps I take if they don't!

This week is reading week. That means no school all week! That also generally means that I am pretty much at the half way point of the semester. I couldn't be happier to be progressing.

I went to work today from 10am-1:30pm. I used some over my banked overtime hours so that I could sleep in this morning. I want to savour reading week as much as possible. Work was busy today. Even though I got there an hour and a half later than usual, I still felt like I was there all day!

After a long day at work, I got on the bus and headed home. After being about half way home, I noticed that some of the people on the bus were looking out the window, looking shocked. I got up and moved to the back of the bus, as at that very moment a lady with a baby carriage, a baby, and a toddler got on the bus.

As I headed back and also looked out the window, I noticed a man stumbling up the sidewalk. He swayed from side to side, dangerously close to the flow of steady traffic. I gasped out loud as I saw him step right into the street and in front of a now abruptly stopped taxi cab. The obviously intoxicated man put his hand up in a "Stop" motion to the cab. Other cars in the lanes near the cab screeched to a stop also, unsure of what this man's unpredictable next action would be. By that time, my bus, which was travelling in the wrong direction, started moving. I noticed the taxi cab driver talking into his walkie talkie. I hope he was telling his dispatcher to call the police, as that man was on another planet! I just hope he didn't step into traffic at the wrong time and get hurt.

This week will be a week of utter relaxation for me. I plan to catch up with friends, sleep in, etc. I will also do the other important chores, like bloodwork, laundry, etc.

I have this weird bump on/in my right knee. It's not huge, but it is quite big. It's perhaps the size of a medium sized marble. It moves around and sometimes it seems to sneak under or behind my knee cap and I cannot find it! I first discovered it about a month ago...then I "lost" it, then just this evening when I got out of the shower I found it again! What the heck is it?

I wish words could describe how much I'm looking forward to my week off. I'm so looking forward to it that the anticipation of it might actually be even sweeter than the experience itself. These weeks at school seem like they've been dragging on endlessly. I think it's the idea of having to wake up SUPER early to disconnect myself from my machine and actually be somewhere that is an hour and ten minutes away by 8am.

During rush hour.

It ain't easy. Dialysis is a tiring process, but imagine getting onto a crowded bus with a backpack full of books only to find out that there are no seats anywhere. *sigh*.

There is so much that I want to do next week. I want to continue to organize my dialysis supplies room. I want to see that Chris Rock movie about hair. I want to get MY hair done. I want to get a manicure and a pedicure. But above all things..I want to SLEEP!

I only have 3 more hours of class tomorrow...then freedom for a week! I like school, but I don't like having to wake up early. But then, I must say that I will not be heartbroken when I'm finish school and can (hopefully) have some more normality in my life.

I wonder if that kidney pager will ever ring?

So I'm gonna take some time to write a short post while I wait for my machine to post.

School's going well. In spite of all the tests I've been doing all at once, my lowest mark so far is 74% in economics. I was actually pretty happy with that as I walked out of that test not feeling very confident.
I got 94% on my Business Communications assignment which is pretty rad. I have a Business communications test tomorrow. It's an open book, use all of your assignments/powerpoint slides test. How does one study for such a test? Do you need to??

I got a blackberry. I've had it for 1 day and I feel that it will come in great handy. I wish all of my friends had blackberrys so we could BBM each other instead of text message.

I can hardly wait for my machine to be done rinsing and such so I can connect and SLEEEEP. I feel so depriaved. And, next week is reading week so I'll have a whole week to relax and work on assignments and such. CANNOT WAIT!

This most stressful part of this half of the semester is done. I just wrote my Training and Development test and all I can say is that I'm glad it is over. I studied hard, had little rest, and now the only test I have left is business communications...and it's open book! So that test should be ok.

Now, I'm just gonna relax as next week is reading week! I can refocus and get ready to do it all over again!

I've been thinking of creating a post about this a long time ago but I have been way too busy. Well, as they say...there is no better time than the present!



This post will simply be a ranting and complaining post about things that irritate me while on the bus.



1.- People who stand right at the front of the door.

Why do people have to stand there, ESPECIALLY when the bus is empty? I cannot count how many times I've stepped on a bus and had to shimmy my way past a large bag carrying person who chooses to stand right in the front! Why can't they move to the back? And what's with the people who stand right beside them, making it virtually impossible to enter the bus altogether?



2.- People who WON'T get up for others.

Let's face it- I have an invisible illness. People won't look at me and think "wow, that girl has lupus and is a dialyzor...she's probably tired. Let me offer her my seat". Ok, I get that. But, when an elderly man steps on the bus with a cane, what's with people looking down/avoiding his gaze because they don't want to give up their seats? It's so rude! This also applies to people with small children and/or baby carriages. I can't count how many times I've gotten up for people on a full bus when I wasn't even sitting at the front of the bus...more like the middle. I distinctly remember one woman (in a nurses outfit) putting her head down and closing her previously open eyes right after she saw the elderly man I mentioned previously get on the bus. Really??



3.- Smelly Stinkies!

Yes, it's definitely your choice to smoke. What I hate is when you sit down beside me and I have to choke on the smell of stale cigarette smoke permanently imbedded in the pores of your clothing and probably your skin. It's so gross! I remember once actually getting up and sitting elsewhere because someone who smoked sat beside me. Ugh!



4.- Listen to how cool my music sounds!

Why do people have to blast their iPods/cell phone music players so loud? Honestly, I really don't care if Beyonce thinks you shoulda put a ring on it, or if Kanye West thinks you're being heartless! Yes, I also listen to both artists on my iPod, but at a normal volume! There is no reason for me to be on one end of the Subway and I can hear your music when you're on the other side! And nevermind irritating me...that's bad for your hearing!



5- aaAAAaaaaCCHHHOOOO!

Ugh! You are so gross! Don't sneeze on me! Haven't you seen the commercials? Sneeze in your sleeve! That goes for coughing too! I can't say I'm a big fan of you yawning in my face either. I mean, sheesh! Let's be considerate here!

6- Mmm...tasty!

People get hungry. It's a fact of life. But if you're going to eat on the bus...or anywhere for that matter, do you have to eat with your mouth wide open? I can smell what you are eating...do I really have to see the partially digested food in your mouth? Yuck!

7- *YAWNNN*

Yup, like anyone else, if the bus is empty, I put my backpack on the seat beside me. However, once it starts to get even slightly full, I remove my back, not waiting for someone to look me dead in the eye before I subsequently ROLL my eyes and slowly pick up my bag. There was a lady on the subway today who had her leg stretched across two chairs as she sat in one. So, in total, she was occupying three chairs. It wasn't busy on the bus at first, but after a few subway stops, it was to a point where the subway got considerably busy. Nobody asked her to move because she looked slightly older (maybe mid-late 60s). She had a cane as well, so I kind thought that her leg was hurting her. But when it was her subway stop, she popped out of her seat like a heated popcorn kernal and skipped off on her way. Really??

8- "GIVE ME MONEY"

There are a number of people who hang around the subway and ask for money. I am happy to spare some change if I have any in my pocket. But there is one scary looking guy who gets in your face (he doesn't speak english) and he says "GIVE ME MONEY" then starts motioning to his mouth as though he wants money to eat. He's really quite scary and he gets right in your face! He scares me and I am afraid to give him money to be honest.

Ok so I know I sound like a complete and total whiner, but I know there are plenty of you out there who feel the same! What are some of your pet peeves when you're out and about in your city?

The week that I prayed would end is finally over. I'm not sure why I'm so excited that it's over, as I have to work tomorrow and try to finish two assignments and study for an economics test! Then, the week after next I have to worry about 2 more tests - English and Training & Development. I wrote my Recruitment and Selection test today. I'm pretty happy with the test I think. The prof gave everyone a review sheet, basically telling us everything that we should study. Boy, was that study sheet ever helpful. There were so many possible things to remember in just three chapters...it would have driven me crazy. I hope I did well...but I feel like I did. Some of the multiple choice was tricky. Don't you hate those "All of the above" questions? There were a few tricks in some of them and I am sure that some people will get caught with some of them.

I am looking forward to hitting the hay right after this post. The sooner I go to sleep, the sooner tomorow will come, the sooner it'll be time to go to sleep again, therefore allowing me to sleep in on Sunday! Hehe.

Monday is thanksgiving (here in Canada). I'm working from 8-4. I know, I know...it's thanksgiving! But who could give up double time and a half?? I'm glad I get to work during the day and not in the evening like some others have to. But then again, not everyone celebrates thanksgiving so it probably isn't a big deal for them.

Well, that's all for now. Let's hit the hay, get some decent rest, and head off to work tomorrow! I'm actually kinda looking forward to working tomorrow as my manager is working tomorrow and we sit right next to each other. She's a nice lady. :)