Hello Long Forgotten Blog - A Super Long Catch-Up Post

Months go by way too fast. I meant to post about Poly-Family Christmas scheduling nightmares, then about  New Years resolutions and some "Happy Spring" posts. But here it is almost the end of June and I'm just getting back here. I think I need to do a 30 day writers challenge or something to kickstart daily writing again. I should go back to Whatever Wednesday posts too. Ideally I would actually post the short stories on Wednesdays. Everyone knows that Wednesday is the sexiest of all days, right? No? Just me? I am O.K. with that. Mostly because Frisky Fridays sounds too much like a cat food commercial and I think Moaning Monday is taken.  I do have ideas for Jake and Emily, its just by the time I get home from work all I want to do to turn my brain off. 

So what have I been up to lately? I think in bullet points so here we go: 

1. I think I had a serious case of winter doldrums this year. Honestly the cold had me borderline angry all the time. Luckily it wasn't freakishly snowy like winter 2014 so I didn't kill myself (or anyone else.) It didn't hit me how miserable I was until Spring came along and I could leave the house without a coat most of the time. The one bright spot was our nearly 70 degree Christmas Day weather. Orion, Chrissy and I headed to the beach before lunch and had a wonderful time. 
2. I had a crazy, crazy gallbladder attack in April. I've honestly never been so sick, ever.  I think labor was easier, at least I knew labor would end. My liver was swollen, which is a common side effect of a dying gallbladder, so I couldn't get comfortable in any position. Long story short I ended up at my doctors office for help and left with anti-nausea meds (a godsend) and a referral to a surgeon. Oh, and an appointment for a yearly physical because I've skipped the last 5 years so why not? 
3. I dreaded the yearly physical. I figured if my gallbladder was dying the rest of me couldn't be tip top. I was wrong, aside from my weight (I weigh way too much for my 5'4") and the dying gallbladder I looked great, I'll probably live to see 100. I don't know who was more surprised when all my blood work came back well within normal ranges me or my doctor. She was confident that I would be pre diabetic with high cholesterol, etc. But there it is, you can technically be healthy but overweight.  
4. I had hoped that by the time I went to the surgeon whatever issue my gallbladder was having would have resolved itself. Turns out they don't do that, ever. The attacks just get worse with time, lasting longer and becoming more severe. I didn't think I could handle "more severe" what I had just finished going though was as severe as I ever wanted to experience. So surgery was scheduled for mid-May. My panic over surgery started shortly thereafter. I liked the idea of having all my bits and pieces and hospitals are not my favorite place to be. Luckily, I was promised and outpatient procedure. Then the surgeon said I wouldn't be allowed to work for two weeks. Two weeks out of work would have been all the PTO time I had left for the year. Cue second panic. After some discussion she agreed to me working from home the second week. I assured her that I was a desk jockey and really there isn't much difference between sitting on the couch with a laptop and sitting on the couch without one. 
5. Pre-Surgery Drama ensued shortly after my consultation. P & H assumed I would be going home afterward and they would take care of me.  It probably speaks to how secure I feel in this relationship but after getting the surgery date I immediately made plans for my parents to take me home to their house for the first few days of recovery. In my defense let me say this: I was told that I couldn't be left alone for 48 hours post surgery. P&H both have full time jobs. H actually works the same job I do so she wasn't going to get any time off during the two weeks I was out of the office. P is just coming up on his first anniversary in this job so he has limited PTO. I didn't want to ask him to give up any of that time just to watch me. My mom is retired, knows me really well and was more than happy to have me come home to recover. Regardless, some feelings were hurt but by the time surgery day rolled around everyone was pretty much over it.   
6. The week before surgery I tried to think of every possible reason to not have surgery. Luckily,  I couldn't come up with a good enough reason so P dropped me off at the hospital at 5am on the day. The surgery went off without a hitch and before I knew it I was waking up in recovery. I have to stop here and mention how wonderful nurses are. Nurse has to be one of the most under appreciated jobs on the planet but what on earth would we do without them? My nurse was kind, compassionate and friendly. She could tell almost immediately that I'm a horrible patient the kind of person that likes to do things their own so she very kindly guided me into doing things SLOWLY.  "You will be able to stand up soon Catherine, let's just try sitting upright for a few minutes first." and "Once you have something to drink I can take out the IV for you, don't tug on it." Honestly, I felt pretty darn good considering they had just taken an organ out of me. I was able to eat, drink, get dressed and walk myself out of the hospital within 90 minutes of getting out of surgery. The rest of didn't my recovery went just as smoothly. I was back home with P&H by Wednesday, eating again by Thursday and driving by Friday. Friday I actually took the dogs to the park with my mom and Orion. I wasn’t running any marathons but I was up and around. All I ended up needing was some super strength ibuprofen. The stronger meds they gave me are still sitting in the cupboard. 
7. Surgery follow up was the first week in June. I had healed nicely, was eating anything that didn't eat me first without any issues. Remember how I said it was lucky that I couldn't think of a reason not to have surgery? Turns out my gallbladder wasn't just blocked, it was swollen and had a chronic infection. My surgeon said it had probably been infected for months and that she wouldn't be surprised if I found I had more energy now that my body wasn't constantly trying to fight something off. Also, its possible that my gallbladder could have burst spilling infection into my abdomen and bloodstream, which can lead to death. Fun stuff. Here's to family that doesn't let me back out of medical procedures, even when I'm really, really scared and whiny about them. Thank you.
8. Bullet 8!  If you're still reading then I deem you a saint of some kind, or a knight whichever you prefer. 8 brings us to this week. This week....hasn't been great. I think I've mentioned before that I was a gestational carrier (surrogate) about 5 years ago. I carried for with a wonderful couple that I remained friends with. Unfortunately, their older daughter (NOT the baby I carried) lost her 30 month battle with cancer on June 20th at just 7 years old. There are no words of comfort that could possibly help her parents right now. My heart is broken for them and for the little sister that I carried. The combination of shit that happens to you when your child gets sick is insane too. The main breadwinner of the family lost his job (and therefore their health insurance) about six months ago due to all the time he needed away from work to be with his husband and their little girl. They had just barely been scraping by (with help from family) when he was employed and they had decent health insurance. They are now facing bankruptcy and the very real possibility that their might lose their house. GRIEVING PARENTS SHOULD NEVER HAVE TO FACE REALITIES LIKE THIS. What kind of society are we that we let families fall into financial ruin when their child - or anyone - is fighting a terminal illness?? What kind of company fires an employee when the KNOW that the employee has a child fighting a terminal illness??  I've felt like crying most of the week. For my friends, because we suck as a society, because life is just so damned unfair. 

But I'll stop here because for the most part everyone is caught up now. Also because it's taken me two days to get my thoughts from my head to the page so to speak. I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully in a better mood and with a sexy bsdm-ish story.