Today's craziness

I managed to transplant a couple sunflowers and harvest some raspberries and peas this afternoon.



In addition, the plumbers are here to fix my broken sewer line.





This will be a very loud afternoon for sure. I hope they get it fixed today!

A major decision

After staying home 4 our of 5 days this past week with vomiting, diarrhea and low level nausea, I have made the decision to go on medical disability leave for 8 weeks until I'm done with the AC.

I've completed 5 treatments now, with 7 more to go and the side-effects are only going to get worse. My boss is very accommodating and understanding and she was in complete agreement. Plus, she doesn't have to pay me. LOL. Seriously though, I just started this job in March and I've used almost every hour of leave I have. In order to keep my medical and other benefits, I have to either work 8 hours or use 8 hours of leave time in a month. This will only affect August and I will have enough leave that I earned in July.

As far as money, I am incredibly grateful that I got the Aflac cancer policy last year. Not only has it helped by paying me for various treatments I've received, I also signed up for short-term disability. The only unfortunate thing is that I did not change my income level with Aflac when I changed jobs, so the amount I get is a little low. But, between that and the payments I receive for going through chemo and other things, I will get enough to cover what my paychecks would be.

In other news, my friend came over last night and shaved me head completely bald! No pictures yet though.

Oh, and in other OTHER news, there is a break in the sewer line leading from my house to the street so I am without a bathroom until they get the damn thing fixed! Argh!!

And so it begins..

Well, the side-effects are here, I think. This weekend I had really bad heartburn. It's still not completely under control. I'm taking Zantac twice a day, but I can't say that it's actually helping. I've been using some Mylanta as well. It works sometimes, but not always.

I have this feeling in my throat like it is blocked a little bit, or that there is something stuck. I have to be sure I chew my food really good, take small, small bites and chase everything with water. When I take my pills, I can only take 1 or 2 big ones at a time. I'm used to downing them in 2 handfuls. Last night and this morning, it took about 10 minutes to take them.

This morning, about 20 minutes before I was due to leave for work I had diarrhea. It came on so suddenly and unexpectedly that I decided not to chance going to work on the bus and I called in sick. Since then I've had two more "attacks," if you will. Can I just say this? My butt hurts.

My mouth is getting really sensitive. I switched from my electric toothbrush to a really soft one, but my gums still bled this morning.

Last night for dinner I had cottage cheese and tapioca pudding. Yeah. Today doesn't seem to be shaping up much better. I see applesauce and broth in my future. I may make up some gatorade-equivalent in a bit if the diarrhea keeps up.

In other news, even though a plumber came out yesterday, the problem still isn't fixed! This morning I flushed the toilet, ran water in the sink and then took a shower. About 3/4 of the way through my shower, the tub started backing up and I had about 2" of standing water. I could hear air bubbles coming up through the toilet. It took about 10 minutes for the water to drain. Hmmm... I see a potential disaster coming on.

I have calls into my oncology nurse, the property manager and the plumbing company that was here yesterday. I really hope they all call back!