Future Plans

Posted on February 24, 2014 by TJ

Both Saturday and Sunday I sat down and began to write a post, but I never finished them. For some reason, an intense week of Chemo really tires us and it takes several days before we regain any energy. We have been sleeping late, taking naps, and watching a marathons of Downton Abbey. We have heard a lot about this BBC series from friends, but have only just started watching it on Amazon Prime.

Friday was JJ’s last day of Chemo, but it will take him a few days to feel well. He is so tired of being sick and taking medications so he tried not taking the anti-nausea meds. I thought it was too soon, but I can’t force the pills down his throat, and I can understand his being tired of them. He battled nausea all weekend. Yesterday he came out into the kitchen, sat in a chair, and said, “I feel dizzy and I think I am going to pass out.” I called to EJ to help me get JJ back to his couch when JJ began to heave. He made it to the wastebasket, but he was there for quite some time vomiting. Poor guy.

To encourage ourselves, we keep exclaiming, “No more Chemo! No more running to the Cancer Center every day! No more hours in the Infusion Room. Soon there will be no more nausea!” We also exclaim that soon JJ’s hair should start growing back. We’ve heard that the hair can grow back as a different texture or color. We wonder what it will look like when it comes back. Black? Red? Blonde? Brown? Straight? Curly? Fine? Thick? Soft? Wiry?

We just have one more major hurdle to get over: the surgery in Indianapolis. We are sort of in limbo right now because it hasn’t yet been scheduled. The nurse told us to expect a call to schedule the surgery any day. Once it gets scheduled, we will start making plans and calling the insurance company and all that. I am dreading dealing with the insurance company if they refuse to pay for JJ’s surgery because it’s “out of network.” I think it’s appalling that we pay all this money for insurance and then they refuse to pay for procedures we need. It seems like a scam to me. If I pay for a product, I ought to be able to get it without a fight. Insurance companies always reminds me of the scene in “The Incredibles.” I hope we will find a Mr. Incredible to help us if we need him.

JJ is concerned about the discomfort of a five hour trip home after the surgery, so we have begun discussing the possibility of renting a conversion van or small RV so he can have a more comfortable ride home.

A local friend told me that she’d come take care of our cats when we are gone. She loves cats so I know that she will take very good care of ours. She offered to take Danny home with her, but I do not know how he will react to small children. I’d prefer to have him stay at home in familiar surroundings but he’d need to be let outside twice a day. My friend could let him out once when she cared for the cats, but she has a large family and I think it would be too much to ask for her to stop by two times a day. I’d need another person to him out second time. I’ll probably end up having him boarded at our vets. He can endure it for the few days we will be gone.

Those are the things we are considering.

As busy and tired as we have been running to the Cancer Center, we haven’t had time to exercise and I feel flabby and slushy. I’m looking forward to walking Danny again and getting into shape. So is EJ. Yesterday I walked on the treadmill for an hour, and EJ and I walked Danny. It was icy and slippery outside, but as the weather warms we are determined to get into shape.

We still have a lot of cold and snow outside, but my thoughts are turning more and more to Spring. I have had so much fun watching the birds that I am hoping to “birdscape” the yard to attract more birds. This includes intentionally planting things to attract birds and putting in more bird feeders and houses. Little-by-little I am going to put more feeders up outside our living room windows and little-by-little I am going to put up more houses outside the kitchen window.

I bought two of these houses from The Birdhouse Depot.

We installed one bird house outside the kitchen window last spring. I wanted to add a couple more this spring, so a few weeks ago I searched Amazon.Com. for birdhouses. Most of the reviews for bird houses there were negative: They were not well made, they were flimsy, they split where they were stapled. So I expanded my Internet search. After much searching, I finally found The Birdhouse Depot. The prices were very reasonable, the products were made in the USA, and they looked well-made. They offer kits or assembled houses, and bargain or deluxe models. The deluxe models have vents and removable sections so they can be cleaned. I ordered two of a deluxe multi-family house called “Clearwater.” They arrived on Saturday. They exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend them. Here is a peak inside the deluxe house. As you can see from the video below, it is very luxurious. Only the best for our birds:

Ok, maybe not 🙂 But the houses are so pretty and well-made, and I was so pleased with them that I wrote an email to the owners to tell them so. They wrote back to thank me and to ask that I send a picture to them when I get them put up. I will do that. I can’t wait to get the houses painted and put up, but I have to wait to paint them until smells don’t bother JJ and I can’t install them until it gets a little warmer. The ground needs to be soft so we can put up posts.

It will be so much fun to work in the garden and watch the birds.