Bad news and good

So I spent two grand on car repairs about a month ago, only to have the same problem return.  Turns out there's another part that needs replaced and it's going to cost me another $800.  The car is sitting at the shop waiting it's turn.  I have the cash in the bank, though it will leave us all but broke again.  Meantime I'm driving our truck a little over 100 miles a day for work, which with the cost of gas is killing me, but it's only temporary.

We also had a meeting with a judge and our disability advocate concerning Mary Ann's condition.  The judge didn't approve disability but he didn't outright deny it either as has been the case before.  He requested more medical reports, which I have already requested from the doctors, so hopefully he will get them soon.  It's progress at least.


We've not been playing due to the stress of life, the Ladies each being sick one after the other, and my work schedule among other things.  I'm about to start the 4th of the 6 blocks of training I have to successfully complete to be made permanent on the job, and I am getting better at sleeping during the day for my third shift schedule.  Spring is here at least and the weather has been nice.  Hopefully things will calm down and we can move in the direction of a joyful and content life again in place of all this chaos we've endured.  At least things right now are headed in the right direction. 

So we had another appointment with a cardiologist for Mary Ann.  We were hoping to find someone that would continue the treatment her previous doctor was giving her (The previous fellow moved away).  Instead we were told that the medicines she takes are bad for long term use and there is no other alternative, Mary Ann will have to learn to live with it.  To be blunt, learning to live with it due to lack of medication could easily mean Mary Ann ends up in a wheelchair as opposed to walking freely with the aid of a cane, and is restricted to the house due to her potential to pass out.  This was not at all what we expected or wanted to hear.

We did agree in principle to allow Mary Ann to go off the drug long enough for the new doctor to run some tests, possibly he will find an alternative treatment.  Not completely buying the "It's no longer possible to keep using the old drug" story, I asked the nurse for anything she could give me about the affects of the drug and she kindly obliged.  On page 36 of the packet I found a reference to the long term use of the drug to treat exactly Mary Ann's condition, so I am looking for a new doctor.  In the meantime, I told this guy we can't run the test until the latter part of next month so that Mary Ann can see the several family members we expect to see in the coming weeks.  If we get that far, I can see some merit in the tests being performed at least so we can get new information.  That won't be the final disposition though.  I can't accept that.

Well that was no fun

Just as I was about to head off from one job to the next this morning, Ginger called to say Mary Ann was sick, could we take her to the hospital?  I said I'll be right there.  I arrived to find Mary Ann curled up in bed crying, her head covered in a hoodie to stop the light, and literally shaking from the pain.  I said fuck this and called the ambulance. 

Here's a tip, if you are going to the emergency room and have a free or cheap ambulance service (Like the city provided ones) take it.  It's effectivel;y the express lane.  You get off the bus and are wheeled straight into a room every time.  That's just procedure.  You never sit in the waiting room for an hour, you go straight to the front of the line.  That's what we did today.

They decided it was just a migraine gone wild, pumped her full of a drug cocktail via I.V. which put her right to sleep, and sent us back home.  Mary Ann ironically had stripped her bed last night (She keeps a third shift schedule to correspond with my work schedule) and then fell asleep, waking sick and in pain.  So when we got her home her bed was not made.  She's asleep in Ginger's bed for now, and Ginger is deciding if she should go to work at all today or just blow it off.  I'm going to get some sleep and then see about getting Mary Ann to her previously scheduled doctor's appointment this afternoon. 

It's never dull, I'll give it that.