The 1st of October...

Okay, life is returning to normal and I'm hoping to get back to a little more "blogging" normal. The adjuster had come and gone (need a new roof, new gutters, new fence, new flooring) and are now waiting on the insurance settlement offer. In a catch-22 where we now have to replace the roof, no matter how much $ they give us, because they've noted damage. Oh, well... the roof's 16 years old and it's better for resale value; not that we're going anywhere soon, but this isn't going to be our retirement home!

Back to work in my normal hours, with my normal (well, not really) co-workers, and all the goings-ons there. Where did September go? Ike took it along with everything else. Some GREAT news: I became an Aunt again (for the 8th time!).... Zack was born on 9/29 (I was hoping to share my bday today!!) at 7lbs 7 ozs, just under 21". He's the 3rd boy to my middle brother and they told me they are not going to try for a girl... which is fine, since my oldest brother has a girl and my step-brother does too... I was the only female grand-child in my family and loved being spoiled-ass rotten.. in a very good way of course!!! I can't wait to get up and see my newest family member!! I have a close friend/co-worker that has been trying to have a baby for a while and got a very early initial good news from her doc - we gotta wait til the 17th to find out for sure.... I'm keeping my positive thoughts cenetered on her!!

Have my appointment with my neurosurgeon tomorrow to discuss my L-spine MRI issues. They called today to confirm the appointment and it was an actual human being, and not the computerized reminder, so I figured it was very important... it was actually my normal neuro's nurse calling to check on me. Have I said how much I love my neuro and his nurse practitioner and his staff? Especially after reading some fellow posters' horror stories of their medical "experts" experiences.... I hit the MS doc jackpot! I'm very anxious to know whether or not I'm going to need surgery or just a bunch of PT.... I'd probably be more anxious about it if we hadn't just survived a hurricane in pretty good form - amazing how you get perspective from things, huh?

Let's see.. I seem to following the "brain dump" in this post, needing to get various, random thoughts out of my head. Ohh, neighbors and how great they are!! OMG!!! Amazing and wonderful and awesome our the neighbors - there's a reason I live outside the big city (although I've heard some wonderful stories from friends & co-workers about their neighbors in the city as well). We're all making sure everyone's getting what they need, not getting ripped off, and sharing info on insurance, repairs, and recipies... I'm glad that the bonds we were semi-forced to share during the 1st week after the storm don't appear to be fragile or temporary. We're supposed to be all bbq'ing in the cul-de-sac here soon. Can't wait!!

Been sleeping a lot here trying to catch up from working the night shift for 2 weeks. Amazing I did that for almost 5 years and actually preferred that shift on the streets. My boss and I were chatting in her office on Monday and she asked how I was doing. I was fine and so didn't think twice about the question until she asked again and made sure that I understood she was asking about how my body was reacting.... ie, did I think I was going to end up with another flare-up cuz of the mobilization and stress on my body and did she need to prepare to have me out for a while. And, she is a friend as well, so it wasn't just from an admin standpoint. I told her that it's MS - who the hell knows. I feel fine right now - I didn't remind her of my doc's appointment tomorrow... I cover that in the morning. Actually, I might cover that the following morning when I might actually know something. The worst thing I think about sometimes is not being able to do my job.... I love it (as I've mentioned a few times) and have no freakin' clue what I would do without it... When I did my rounds with optic neuritis, that was the one fear that I could never squealch or conceal - it was constantly bubbling at the surface. And, it's still a fear I have every time I have to get a new MRI, bloodwork, or visit the doc - will this be the time I get info that changes my life... more so than my dx.

I dunno - I consider myself still an MS infant. I'm past the newborn stage but I'm still stumbling around trying to figure out what happens if I put my right foot in front rather than my left. I still have some of that paranoia about this new world that I don't trust.... but I know I'll graduate to being a child - and enter that stage where I have no fear and will do whatever the hell I want and dammed be the consequences. My docs, nor my partner, probably won't like that stage, but am I ever looking forward to it!!

BTW, I also finished Teri Garr's book (amazing how she got that part after being told she could not have 2 consenants (sp???) in her 1st and last name - I wonder if it's worse if you have the same 2 letters in both your first and last name.... Does the double LL mean anything special??? The book was great and she's another heroine with MS to add in my brain about looking at how she's still able to accomplish soooo much while dealing with a crappy chronic illness. I love alliteration!!!!!