Carleen

Random Thought #1

Do you ever have days that start off perfectly fine -- Mary Poppins-like in fact, kind of "practically perfect in every way" -- only to have them go dreadfully wrong only a couple of hours later? Yesterday was like that for me.

I was on the ball and ready to conquer the world starting just after 3:00 a.m. In a couple of hours I managed to answer the business email, sort my personal email for answering later, complete the Monday meme posts, scoop the litterboxes, brush two of the four longhair cats, unload the dishwasher, get a new load of laundry started, and harvest my crops on Farm Town. James Brown's song "I Feel Good" was the anthem of the day. Then a single phone call brought it all crashing down around me.

I wasn't really paying attention to the time, but I think that it was shortly after 9 when Betty's estate attorney called. Evidently, he received a phone call from one of the daughters of Betty's deceased husband because she, after a single visit to Betty in the 8 years that she has lived at the board and care facility, was concerned that I might be mismanaging the trust. I don't think much of anything could have shocked me more than that phone call, but I do know that it's been a very long time since I was as angry as it made me!


This individual has no real relationship with Betty, has not bothered to check up on her except for a phone call last Christmas when she told the caregiver that she would come to visit but never showed up, and now, out of the blue, is "concerned" that her care is not being managed well? Where has this person been all these years? In a neighboring city, certainly not too far away to demonstrate this "concern" by visiting Betty to make sure that she is being well cared for. Last week was the first time in eight -- count them, I said E-I-G-H-T, years that Betty's caregiver ever saw this person! How's that for "concern"?


Random Thought #2

After yesterday's "excitement," I've had a headache that doesn't want to give up the ghost and die. I know it's because the anger is still seething in the pit of my stomach, bubbling to the surface every now and again to remind me how utterly brutal people can be. I can't place the blame for this one on The Brain; nope this misery is my own fault. At least the headache is not one of the Chiari types, so I am left to conclude that this must be the kind of headache that "normal" people get, LOL.


Random Thought #3


Surgery update (yes, Aunt Nola, this is for you): Next Thursday, the 27th, I am scheduled to have the thyroid surgery that should have happened last November but didn't because my pre-op blood work showed an elevated white blood cell count that turned out to be an indicator of the very nasty cold that made itself known on Thanksgiving. I have the pre-op appointment on Monday and barring any WBC issues, I will be AWOL for one day next week. Unless I have a seizure or some other Chiari related complication, the surgery is supposed to be out-patient. I am going to discuss with my doctor the possibility of having it done under a local instead of a general anesthesia as this significantly increases the likelihood that I will get to go home on the same day. Besides, how cool would it be to lie awake on the surgery table while a surgeon slashes a hole in your neck and takes out half of your thyroid gland? Sounds awesome to me!


Random Thought #4

Classes begin next week, and I feel sad. No school for me. I'm retired, remember? No animated discussions about censorship in the public school classroom. No more interesting essays defending the First Amendment as it applies to websites with disgusting content. No more introducing the uninitiated to John Milton's Areopagitica or John Stewart Mill's On Liberty. No more poring over the ALA's list of banned books to see which ones we've read. No more. No more. I'm sad.

And did I mention that I'm pissed off, too?


4 Responses
  1. Anonymous Says:

    BITCH is all i have to say to her. LOL. There I feel better already :) The up coming surgery and I know this is probably going to be a dumb question but will it have any impact on the seizures? Will it lessen it by some chance? I suppose it wont but I sure wish it would. Ahhh retirement...aint it grand. Me bitch slaps Betty's daughter to Pluto just for good measure. Aloha :)


  2. Anonymous Says:

    It's terrible when people become "interested" in elderly relatives' care for selfish purposes.

    I know how it feels when school starts and we're not there anymore. Have you thought about writing a short online course in your subject area and teaching it online? It's not real time consuming but it's interesting and provides some fun teaching. These are non-credit courses and people take them because they want to not because they have to! Something to think about - check out some of these websites where you can do that: http://teachonline2008.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-get-experience-teaching-online.html

    I hope everything does well with the surgery and you don't have to stay overnight. I remember one surgery that was supposed to be outpatient and the surgeon decided I was going to stay overnight. I woke up in a hospital room and I started pitching a fit -- a very LOUD fit -- stating that I was going home right then and there. I actually don't remember all this but hubby likes to tell how I blessed out the nurses and they called the surgeon to come up to my room as soon as he was done the surgery he was in after mine. I hate staying in the hospital :-)

    I'll be thinking about you!!


  3. Good luck today in your surgery! I hope it all goes well and that recovery isn't too bad.

    Estates and family, what a mess.
    When we most need to pull together and get along, it seems we can't. My mother cared for her mother and everyone else judged her constantly but never wanted to help in any way either. Anyhow, good luck with that situation and hopefully something or someone will put her in her place.

    Take good care of yourself when you get home!


  4. Anonymous Says:

    I saw at Thom's that you were having thyroid surgery and thought I'd pop by with hopefully a word of encouragement. I had half my thyroid removed 20 years ago. They didn't do it on an outpatient basis then, but surgeries have come so far. It was certainly no fun, but not as bad as some surgeries can be. I know you have extenuating circumstances with the chiari, but I wish you all the best.


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