catching up

Can’t Think Of Something Good to Title This

Hi, y’all.  Sorry I’ve been quiet for a little while.  I’ve been fighting thru the health stuff and nobody wants to hear how bad it is all the time.

I’m going to have to have an endoscopy soon.  🙁  I don’t know anyone in real life who has had one and could share what it was like…but I’m so scared I’ll choke to death or something. 🙁

Since we last met…

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Can y’all believe gas is a $1.75?

We voted early.  I jokingly said to the fam / friends that I didn’t want to hear what they had to say about anything political in nature unless they had a sticker on their shirt.  I was joking then but I think that’s gonna be my new thing…if you can’t produce your “I Voted” sticker…I’m not interested in anything you have to say. 😉

On the same topic…have y’all been watching the debates?  I tried but didn’t last long before thinking…

 😉

The birthday cake I made didn’t turn out all that great so it was Cheesecake Factory to the rescue. 🙂

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So good.  🙂

Took Papa B out to buy a new golf cart. He got the blue one.

What in the name of all that’s good and right is this?  The past couple years I did buy some of the special limited time ‘designer’ stuff at Target…but this?  Seriously y’all if you see this in person touch it and open it up to see the button situation.  Is it a coat? A tunic? A prison dress? And why is the fabric so rough?  Judging by the amount of stuff still sitting on the racks…epic designer fail this year, Target.

If you read the old blog you know that Mama B is having to do a low acid way of eating.  I bought some test strips to test out stuff and made us all test our saliva.  We were all between 5 and 9 (that’s good…the higher the better).  I’ve been going around testing everything though.

Now I’m gonna have a little rant so some of you might wanna peace out here. 🙂

When I was in grad school I had switched to a new lower cost high deductible insurance plan 2 weeks before getting my Lupus diagnosis…and was then immediately marked with a preexisting condition.  I was stuck with that high deductible plan until the Affordable Care Act passed and got rid of preexisting condition jail.

So the ACA passes and I’m finally able to get a lower deductible and just overall better coverage.  A plan I pay for 100% out of pocket with ZERO help from tax rebates or whatever it’s called.  Move on along anyone who wants to start screaming about your tax dollars and my health care.  If you would like to take over paying my premiums then and only then will I be interested in your thoughts.  This year I’ve had the best insurance I’ve ever had in my life.  My premium was around $300 a month.

On Sunday the rates and plans for 2016 were released and to my shock (though apparently it had been in the news for a while) there wasn’t ONE traditional PPO plan available at all.  Only HMO’s and some EPO thing that’s supposed to be like an HMO with a little PPO mixed in.  I live in a small town and there is literally not ONE primary care doctor available in my town on any of the plans.  Not one.  (Which doesn’t matter to me because I’ve driven 2 hours away to see my current primary care doctor and would self pay whatever I have to pay to see her) but that’s really not the point.  The lowest priced HMO plan with the same deductible I’ve got now is $100 more.  A hundred dollars more to have almost no choice in my care?  To have to beg to see a specialist?  And to then have to just settle for whichever doctor is on the limited list of doctors?  No thank you, Blue Cross.

It’s one thing, Blue Cross and Aetna if you want to limit the plans available for those getting tax help but to penalize those of us who are straight up paying you?   Yeah, again no thank you.

I did find ONE company offering an off exchange PPO plan that I will most likely be switching to.  It’s $140 more a month but to keep my doctors I’ll just have to make it work.

If y’all hear of any class action lawsuits over this drop me an email thru the contact form.  🙂

Ok I’ll stop here for now.  Hope y’all are having a good week.  🙂

See you soon.  🙂

 

Best Laid Plans

Hey, y’all.  🙂

First…thank you to those of you who reached out re: the randoms from the last few posts.  I’ll definitely keep doing them. 🙂  Also…if you email me a bunch of rage filled nonsense because you don’t agree with me…I seriously just roll my eyes and delete.  Don’t waste your time.  My space…my thoughts. 🙂

So I don’t know if y’all know this but a fractured tailbone hurts like hell.  I’m sure you’re thinking no shi kidding, texas girl 😉 but I really didn’t think it would be this bad.  I haven’t really done much…well anywhere…but esp in the kitchen so I don’t have a lot to share.

Let’s see…

I’ve become ‘addicted’ to chicken and beef pot pies.  Some day when (if) I ever get some energy I’m going to try making homemade pot pies in a pan made specifically for it that I got a couple years ago but have never used.

I’d always heard about Freddy’s but there used to only be 2 in the Houston area…both located in parts of town I don’t visit.  Now there’s one in a part of town I do visit a lot so I finally tried it out.  Let’s just say I wasn’t impressed…with the food.  The custard on the other hand…I can’t wait to have again.  There was just nothing hype worthy about the burger.  And their pickle game?  A very strong F.   Give me a Whataburger any day and twice on Sunday.  The custard though was outstanding.  It’s a good thing it’s located in a horror of a traffic stop so it’s not super easy to just whip in for a custard shake every single time I drive by.  😉

If you skimp on icing I can’t respect you.  Sorry. 😉  Sorry x 2, Sister B. 🙁  I made extra just for you.

In the texas girl casa we fight over the scrap stacks. 😉

As you can see a few pics above I made the cake in 9 x 13 pan only to have issues with physically getting to that size cake holder…thank you fractured tailbone…so I had to cut it in half and use a round cake holder.

At the time of this post that’s as far as I’ve gotten.  I’ll add a clean layer tomorrow after it’s rested / ‘soaked’ in some overnight.

So it’s birthday weekend and I had a fun trip planned but health and weather issues have ruined it.  🙁  So I made a cake. Red Velvet as always.  It looks kinda sad and ridiculous right now but it tastes good…or it will based on the scraps.  Here’s the post I wrote a few years ago as an homage to the grandparents anniversary / shared birthday / red velvet thing.  Muchos love to them this weekend. 🙂  And happy birthday to a certain someone else in my life whose b day is also this weekend.  🙂

Mostly because of the weather but also tailbone we’re staying in and then doing the whole b day meal out thing in a few weeks when things are better.

Hope y’all have a good weekend.  See ya soon.  🙂

Brain Drain

Hey, y’all. 🙂

I was kinda having a blah week last week. Didn’t cook or really even eat anything all that interesting. I saw a new Rheumatologist and she was fantastic. I really really like her and am so happy to finally have a good Rheum. The funk was because she said that the Scleroderma stuff is a serious thing that has to be watched closely. I had to have a bunch more tests and x-rays. The lungs and kidneys look good and the next step is to see a GI specialist. She also prescribed Methotrexate injections. 🙁  I didn’t want to start back on the pills because they gave me a horrible ulcer last time. The injections are supposed to help bypass that.

Anyway…I’m better now. 🙂

Before I add some pics…if the pics ever look really tiny on your device…just refresh the page and it should make them regular size.  I have no idea why it’s happening.

Some eats and stuff…

Tried these Dorito-like taco shells.  Y’all know I love me some Doritos but I didn’t really care for these.

McDonalds breakfast at 2 pm.  Big Fan, McD’s. Big fan. 🙂

My favorite new thing.  A home PT / INR monitor.  Thank you, TA. 🙂  This makes testing my blood thinner levels SO much easier.  No more being poked (multiple times) by bad blood draw people.  They’re very expensive but if you’re on a blood thinner and can afford it or your insurance will cover it…I highly recommend this.

Randoms:

  • What a good dad.  Not letting his kid be forced into traditional gender stereotypes.  The junk in the comments is so sad. Presumably grown adults calling a 5 year old a freak, gay, saying they should start his transition shots now. What horrible people. This is a five year old CHILD you’re talking about.

  • Probably the only time you’ll see any pro UT stuff on this blog…but Cocks not Glocks is genius. All the wackadoos with guns on college campuses now…can y’all even imagine the mess we’re gonna be dealing with when they’re in the hands of many emotionally and hormonally quick triggered young adults in relatively confined spaces?

 

  • FYI…obviously I’m a proud card caring liberal but the one and only issue I usually cross party lines on is gun control. Everybody should have the right to protect their homes…to hunt (even though I find hunting repulsive)…or whatever else you think you need a (non- semi automatic) weapon for. I DO NOT however support your right to get into an emotionally charged shootout in say Walmart while I’m trying to pick up some groceries. If anyone I love gets caught in y’all’s crossfire…I hope that gun is worth it ’cause you aren’t gonna have one cent left when I get thru with you in court.

 

  • Are y’all watching Quantico? I wasn’t prepared to like it but they’ve got me hooked. Who do y’all think is the terrorist? Blonde girl with the Arabic phone contact and mysterious calls is too obvious. I’m kinda thinking maybe surfer looking boy. He seems so dumb and self – absorbed most of the time. Like the last person you’d suspect.  I don’t bother learning names on new shows til I make sure the show is gonna stick around.

 

  • Roku watching… Longmire (Netflix).  Used to really like this show. I’ve watched a couple of the new Netflix produced eps now…not enjoying it so far. And if they hook up Vic and Walt I’m gonna lose my ish.
  • I hope they work something out and are able to save this ship. Maybe it’s something to do with the fact that Papa B and my Pappy were both Navy guys but I just love old ships.  All the memories and stories they must hold.

 

 

  • Sign says…Man Not Animal. Dump Obama.  About once a month these LaRouche loonies camp out in front of our post office. They usually have their favorite poster with them…a picture of our president with a Hitler mustache. So tacky. So disrespectful. So dumb. Today they had this new one calling him an animal. They were spewing some gibberish about the 25th amendment / the Glass – Steagall Act and taking back the country. The guy seriously said to an elderly lady “Have you heard of Glass Steagall? He…”   No. Just No. You’re not smart. You’re not clever. You’re white, uneducated, childish, ungrateful and disrespectful. You live in a country where you’re allowed the freedom (and clearly the time) to stand on public land and scream your uneducated nonsense but yet you think YOU’RE disadvantaged and need to take ‘your’ country back?   Get real.  And an education.  Oh and hey…Glass and Steagall…were TWO different people.  Both democrats.   Education, dude.  Invest in some.

  😉

Hope y’all are having a good week. See ya soon. 🙂

 

 

Well Hey there, Bloggy Long Time No See

So…Hi, y’all.  🙂  It’s been a while.

So many things have happened since the last time we met.

Mostly bad. But not all. Hey, you. 😉

Let’s see…first, turns out that after a couple of years of believing I was celiac…and making all the required changes…I am indeed NOT celiac. I won’t waste time ranting or whining about the misdiagnosis but my PSA for today is…if you ever think you or esp your child might be celiac…get the biopsy.  We relied on blood testing for my diagnosis (because of my blood thinner issue) but if I had to do it over again I’d definitely risk the bleeding for a biopsy.  It’s crazy expensive…not to mention time consuming…to switch to a gluten-free life style.  Better to be absolutely sure than to waste all that time / money / energy if you don’t need to do it.

After I found out about the misdiagnosis I eased back into regular eating. It went surprisingly well.  My 3+ year iron struggle improved a lot.  I guess because I was eating real bread / cereal / ect…stuff that is fortified with extra vitamins and minerals.

Then in July something horrible started happening.

****Gross Pic Warning****

arm sore1

First ‘blood spot’ showed up last month.

arm sore5

Then a few more.

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Then worse.

chest

And then today this grapefruit size ‘thing’ on my side.

I’m seeing a hematologist, a new rheumatologist and my normal dr.  My regular Dr initially thought it was petechiae.  Sent me to the hematologist who said it wasn’t petechiae but bruising.  I haven’t bumped myself in any of these areas prior to these things showing up.  I just don’t get it.  I feel like I’m bleeding to death or something.  It’s so scary.  I can’t get into the rheumatologist until next Monday so I’m left here worried for days still.  My iron has plummeted again but my blood thinner is barely in the required range (between 2 – 3) so it’s not high at all.  If it was at least that might explain the weird bruising.

Have y’all seen anything like this before?  What did it turn out to be?

Anyway…there’s a lot to catch up on but I’ll end here for now.  I’m going to try to get back to blogging if for nothing else than to get stuff out of my head.  Haven’t been doing much cooking…but I’m also wanting to try to get back into that for the same reason.  The kitchen has always been my creative escape.  I think I need that right now.

See ya soon.  🙂