When exactly do the 12 days of Christmas start? December 13? On the 25th, going through to January?
On this day of Christmas break the delivery guys brought to me . . .
Two new recliners, and a couch set up near the TV.
Early Xmas present from my folks, these things are quite nice. Far too nice, one might say for our house. Jeffrey, Charlie, and PJ fought over who would be the first to sit in each new piece of furniture. I told them it was all good, because I will be the first to sleep in each of the new chairs as well as on the couch. I am certain of this.
To prep for the new, we moved around a lot of the old, which meant a lot of rearranging of things. Two days of this, and my back - right across my shoulder blades - reminds me of how old I have become.
The problem is that sometimes this house still feels like a "work in progress" with another project waiting at the end of the current one. And I understand the reasoning some people have for building a new house from the ground up. Alas, that is another time and certainly another tax bracket.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
Fun with Technology
So in an effort to keep my parents entertained, I went out and purchased a Blu-Ray Wifi player to stream Netflix for them during times when they're both tired, and just want a movie to watch.
Setting up the Netflix account was easy enough, so I went and got them a Samsung Blu-ray player because they have Samsung TVs in the house.
I bring it in - set it up - and . . . IP address problems for their wireless network.
(Fiddle and futz around for a bit)
And . . . IP address is good, but Gateway Ping error (hurm?)
I proceed to spend the next two weeks trying to rectify this problem, from updating the Samsung firmware, to manually tying to enter all of the information (*directly from the computer settings, mind you) and still nothing. I cannot bridge this one gap.
I looked online and apparently this was not a problem that was confined to just me. MANY people had this same issue to the point where Samsung claimed to have programmed a patch that you could download free onto a flash drive and then plug it into the USB port.
I did that. Guess what? - That's right, nothing.
So I take the wretched thing to my house to see if, in fact, the problem is with the machine I have purchased or with my folks router.
Plug it in at my house and it works like a charm, so the problem must be with the firewall settings on Mom and Dad's router.
(If all of this is a little technologically Greek to you - don't worry, the punchline will make up for it)
So Mom and Dad have Cox (stop groaning out there) and I try to find the router firewall settings - nothing. All of the places I'm supposed to look either don't display the information, or say the server doesn't have it. Or that the Mafia kidnapped their sister, whatever. Suffice to say this purchase looks more and more like a boat anchor.
Fast forward to today where Target was selling the Sony brand at a FANTASTIC price. And I purchased one for our house. Took it home, set it up, and it was amazingly easy. So easy in fact, that I get this idea in my head.
Yep, took it over to Mom and Dad, set it up in their living room and faster than you can say "The Japanese will all own us someday," it is working. So I box up the Samsung, take it back home and set it up in my bedroom where it smiles politely at me.
To reiterate, for those of you lost in the gibberish.
The Blu-ray player my parents bought now sits in my bedroom.
The Blu-ray player I bought now sits in my folks house.
This seems like a fair exchange of gifts this holiday season.
Setting up the Netflix account was easy enough, so I went and got them a Samsung Blu-ray player because they have Samsung TVs in the house.
I bring it in - set it up - and . . . IP address problems for their wireless network.
(Fiddle and futz around for a bit)
And . . . IP address is good, but Gateway Ping error (hurm?)
I proceed to spend the next two weeks trying to rectify this problem, from updating the Samsung firmware, to manually tying to enter all of the information (*directly from the computer settings, mind you) and still nothing. I cannot bridge this one gap.
I looked online and apparently this was not a problem that was confined to just me. MANY people had this same issue to the point where Samsung claimed to have programmed a patch that you could download free onto a flash drive and then plug it into the USB port.
I did that. Guess what? - That's right, nothing.
So I take the wretched thing to my house to see if, in fact, the problem is with the machine I have purchased or with my folks router.
Plug it in at my house and it works like a charm, so the problem must be with the firewall settings on Mom and Dad's router.
(If all of this is a little technologically Greek to you - don't worry, the punchline will make up for it)
So Mom and Dad have Cox (stop groaning out there) and I try to find the router firewall settings - nothing. All of the places I'm supposed to look either don't display the information, or say the server doesn't have it. Or that the Mafia kidnapped their sister, whatever. Suffice to say this purchase looks more and more like a boat anchor.
Fast forward to today where Target was selling the Sony brand at a FANTASTIC price. And I purchased one for our house. Took it home, set it up, and it was amazingly easy. So easy in fact, that I get this idea in my head.
Yep, took it over to Mom and Dad, set it up in their living room and faster than you can say "The Japanese will all own us someday," it is working. So I box up the Samsung, take it back home and set it up in my bedroom where it smiles politely at me.
To reiterate, for those of you lost in the gibberish.
The Blu-ray player my parents bought now sits in my bedroom.
The Blu-ray player I bought now sits in my folks house.
This seems like a fair exchange of gifts this holiday season.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
And now for something completely different . . .
In an effort to keep this from becoming "Mom's Cancer Blog" I wish to relay a story from yesterday.
Pj mentioned this on FB, but Jeffrey went to school and bought everyone Hannukah presents. Which is awesome in and of itself. But the day after, his class was instructed to bring something to barter with during class. Jeffrey decided on big glo-sticks as his item of choice. He traded them for some Almond Joy candy bars and Tootsie rolls.
Apparently someone in class did not bring anything and could not participate. So while this child sat and got a little emotional - Jeffrey went over and gave him his Tootsie Rolls so he had something to trade with.
Just about the time I think Jeffrey has trouble sharing things based on his actions at home, he surprises me with this gesture.
I got a pretty good kid.
Pj mentioned this on FB, but Jeffrey went to school and bought everyone Hannukah presents. Which is awesome in and of itself. But the day after, his class was instructed to bring something to barter with during class. Jeffrey decided on big glo-sticks as his item of choice. He traded them for some Almond Joy candy bars and Tootsie rolls.
Apparently someone in class did not bring anything and could not participate. So while this child sat and got a little emotional - Jeffrey went over and gave him his Tootsie Rolls so he had something to trade with.
Just about the time I think Jeffrey has trouble sharing things based on his actions at home, he surprises me with this gesture.
I got a pretty good kid.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
I'm going to start with the Bad and move forward from there (mostly because I don't want to end on a downer.)
Bad
1. Yes, it is in fact, liver cancer.
2. The size of the tumor is rather large.
3. Surgery is not an option at this point.
Good
1. It has not spread to any of the other organs.
2. There is no apparent accompanying liver disease that usually shows up with this.
3. Her treatment starts Tuesday Dec. 14.
The ugly could be any one of a number of things, but after talking with the doctor, the first phase of this treatment it what needs to be focused on at this point.
The drill is that she will start taking a pill form of chemotherapy, one a day, every day until told otherwise. Adding to this (and this is a benefit of going to the Mayo Clinic here in AZ) is that she could very well qualify for an FDA-approved clinical study for a new drug, Mayo being one place of 8 in the U.S. currently approved for said clinical trial. While this does mean more visits to measure vitals, blood tests and monitoring, the combination of these two drugs can be very aggressive against this tumor.
The new drug, which I have nicknamed Adam-12 (ICM-A12) will be injected through an IV once every three weeks. After 2 injection cycles, or 6 weeks, she will be re-scanned to monitor progress of the treatment. Favorable progress means treatment will continue.
Out there in the ethereal future is the possibility of the need for a liver transplant - NOT DEFINITE YET, but still a possibility.
So, the bottom line is that this will be an uphill battle, but I kind of thought that going in. There is still room for hope, and favorable outcomes for liver cancer have increased two-to-threefold in the last 20 years.
2011 is gonna be a difficult year.
I promise to stay as snarky and obnoxious as I can.
Bad
1. Yes, it is in fact, liver cancer.
2. The size of the tumor is rather large.
3. Surgery is not an option at this point.
Good
1. It has not spread to any of the other organs.
2. There is no apparent accompanying liver disease that usually shows up with this.
3. Her treatment starts Tuesday Dec. 14.
The ugly could be any one of a number of things, but after talking with the doctor, the first phase of this treatment it what needs to be focused on at this point.
The drill is that she will start taking a pill form of chemotherapy, one a day, every day until told otherwise. Adding to this (and this is a benefit of going to the Mayo Clinic here in AZ) is that she could very well qualify for an FDA-approved clinical study for a new drug, Mayo being one place of 8 in the U.S. currently approved for said clinical trial. While this does mean more visits to measure vitals, blood tests and monitoring, the combination of these two drugs can be very aggressive against this tumor.
The new drug, which I have nicknamed Adam-12 (ICM-A12) will be injected through an IV once every three weeks. After 2 injection cycles, or 6 weeks, she will be re-scanned to monitor progress of the treatment. Favorable progress means treatment will continue.
Out there in the ethereal future is the possibility of the need for a liver transplant - NOT DEFINITE YET, but still a possibility.
So, the bottom line is that this will be an uphill battle, but I kind of thought that going in. There is still room for hope, and favorable outcomes for liver cancer have increased two-to-threefold in the last 20 years.
2011 is gonna be a difficult year.
I promise to stay as snarky and obnoxious as I can.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Assuming the Position
Staring 40 full on in the face has opened my eyes recently to a lot of things. Mostly how everything has become older, but still . . .
The most sobering news of the last month has been the discovery that my mother may have cancer. She (and to a lesser extent, we) have been dealing with this news since the beginning of November. They found a large mass on her liver, when she went in for a scan because she thought she had a bowel blockage. Needless to say, this information, along with the many possibilities that this thing could be, have sent my parents into a freefall of hypochondria and worst-case-scenarios.
While I certainly understand the "Hope for the best, Prepare for the worst" mentality that something like cancer can bring to a family, the fact that this is appearing now has shoved an important role into my face. I am going to be the caregiver for my parents.
Logically, I knew this day was coming. I just never expected it so soon. I also never expected my mother to get sicker than my father.
Now, as if this weren't stressful enough, there is the small matter of the apparent lack of information concerning this mass. They ran a biopsy on this thing a couple of weeks ago, and the results came back as inconclusive, which I honestly didn't know could happen from a biopsy. In fact, I was under the mistaken impression that a biopsy was the most definitive way of identifying the mass. They seem to be trying to identify this thing by process of elimination, which is time-consuming. And really, if this mass is as large as they say it is, and is quite possibly malignant, why then does it seem that the medical feet are dragging?
If this thing is cancer, we've known about it for over a month now, and treatment has yet to begin on it. This seems rather incongruous with "aggressive treatment"
Which brings us to another point. My mother has had blood work, scopes, scans and labs done numerous times in the last year, and this supposedly cancerous mass went undetected and got very large within the last 4 months?
There's a lot of stuff going on with this, and hopefully we'll have some concrete answers by tomorrow when she goes to the Mayo Clinic. Until then, this knot in my gut will just have to keep a little longer.
The most sobering news of the last month has been the discovery that my mother may have cancer. She (and to a lesser extent, we) have been dealing with this news since the beginning of November. They found a large mass on her liver, when she went in for a scan because she thought she had a bowel blockage. Needless to say, this information, along with the many possibilities that this thing could be, have sent my parents into a freefall of hypochondria and worst-case-scenarios.
While I certainly understand the "Hope for the best, Prepare for the worst" mentality that something like cancer can bring to a family, the fact that this is appearing now has shoved an important role into my face. I am going to be the caregiver for my parents.
Logically, I knew this day was coming. I just never expected it so soon. I also never expected my mother to get sicker than my father.
Now, as if this weren't stressful enough, there is the small matter of the apparent lack of information concerning this mass. They ran a biopsy on this thing a couple of weeks ago, and the results came back as inconclusive, which I honestly didn't know could happen from a biopsy. In fact, I was under the mistaken impression that a biopsy was the most definitive way of identifying the mass. They seem to be trying to identify this thing by process of elimination, which is time-consuming. And really, if this mass is as large as they say it is, and is quite possibly malignant, why then does it seem that the medical feet are dragging?
If this thing is cancer, we've known about it for over a month now, and treatment has yet to begin on it. This seems rather incongruous with "aggressive treatment"
Which brings us to another point. My mother has had blood work, scopes, scans and labs done numerous times in the last year, and this supposedly cancerous mass went undetected and got very large within the last 4 months?
There's a lot of stuff going on with this, and hopefully we'll have some concrete answers by tomorrow when she goes to the Mayo Clinic. Until then, this knot in my gut will just have to keep a little longer.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Smoke and Mirrors
Having not blogged for over a year now, I felt it was time to get back into the swing of things.
While Facebook is what it is, it lacks the support for long, incoherent ramblings that I can be prone to.
And while I used to do this thing on LiveJournal, I felt that a clean break from there was warranted as well.
Clean start, clean slate.
Please bear in mind that some things which I post on here may be unsafe for some pairs of eyes. If you feel this pertains to you - you have been warned to look away. If you feel that certain things contain an edge of hostility, profanity, or otherwise general jerkiness, then you're probably right.
Again - you have been warned.
If you know me well enough, then the fact that I have a tendency to *not* censor myself should come as no surprise.
Other than that - enjoy the read
While Facebook is what it is, it lacks the support for long, incoherent ramblings that I can be prone to.
And while I used to do this thing on LiveJournal, I felt that a clean break from there was warranted as well.
Clean start, clean slate.
Please bear in mind that some things which I post on here may be unsafe for some pairs of eyes. If you feel this pertains to you - you have been warned to look away. If you feel that certain things contain an edge of hostility, profanity, or otherwise general jerkiness, then you're probably right.
Again - you have been warned.
If you know me well enough, then the fact that I have a tendency to *not* censor myself should come as no surprise.
Other than that - enjoy the read
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