stuff

I'm going camping in Wyoming this weekend and I just found out it's going to be all couples . . . and me.  I'm sure it will be tons of fun and not depressing and lonely at all!!!

Here are some random pics from my phone because I can't come up with anything else to blog about:

A friend of mine taught me how to make homemade kimchi.  It has these disgusting looking baby shrimp in it.  Delicioso!

I bought this awesome cat plate at DI for 75 cents.  Money well spent!!!

 I did not buy this Jesus statue.  Look into his eyes!!

 The difference between driving around in Wyoming . . .

  . . . and Utah.

 

Homemade sushi from the friend who made the kimchi.  I admit the thought of homemade sushi was a little frightening, but it was actually really good.  

 

This is how much snow was on the ground when I left Wyoming in March.  I didn't miss it then, but I do miss it now.  It's been so stinkin' hot lately!

 

 The friends I'm living with for the moment have two dogs (the brown one and the black one whose face you can see), and a couple weeks ago they were dog-sitting their aunt's dogs.  For unknown reasons they all liked to congregate on my bed.  While I was in it.  It actually totally made my day.

The cousin of my client who has cancer sent me flowers.  How gorgeous are they!  And how sweet is she!  It's always nice to know you're appreciated. 

Stating the Obvious

Cancer sucks and life isn’t fair.  

No, I’m not just realizing this, I’m just REALLY realizing it.  One of my clients was recently diagnosed with cancer.  I’ve been spending my days taking her to doctors appointments, chemo and radiation and my nights worrying about how to give her the best care I possibly can.  This is a woman who was born with severe disabilities.  She was then molested and contracted HPV, which eventually led to anal cancer.  She doesn’t understand what’s going on, she just knows she doesn’t feel good.  She can’t verbalize if she’s in pain, all she can do is scream and hit her head.  She doesn’t understand that her hands are covered in socks and taped up to keep her from pulling out her IV.  She just knows that now she can’t feed herself, which was one of the few things she used to actually able to do for herself.  She doesn’t understand that she can’t have breakfast because she has to go under general anesthesia five days a week and you can’t eat beforehand; she just knows she’s hungry every morning and we won’t let her eat.  And worst of all, she doesn’t know what’s in store.  The doctors told us that this is one of the most treatable types of cancer, but the actual treatment is one of the worst.  Not only is she going to have bowel and bladder problems, but when she soils herself it’s going to be on top of skin that is raw from the radiation.  She will probably be nauseous all of the time, but at her current 87 pounds, she really can’t afford to lose any more weight.  And her food doesn’t even taste good right now because we have to put her ground up meds in it since she can’t swallow pills.  I’m guessing chemo drugs and chocolate pudding probably don’t make a good combination.  She can’t even go to day programming anymore because there are too many germs there.  Instead, she sits at home all day long, only leaving to go to the hospital. 

Fortunately everyone at Huntsman has been really great with us.  They understand that this is a more challenging case than normal and they have been very accommodating.  There has only been one person who hasn’t been absolutely wonderful, but I think this receptionist just wasn’t quite sure what to think about the woman in the middle of the lobby who was screaming out and pulling her pants down, trying to figure out how to make the pain go away.  Everyone else just loves her.  She gives everyone kisses on their hands and says “Very, very sweet,” which is one of the few things she can say.  Then she starts crying. 

so far so good

EHarmony has been going well thus far.  I like the site because unlike all of the other sites I've tried, you don't have to browse for matches.  It doesn't feel like a meat market like the other ones, where the hottest piece of meat gets all of the attention (and then devoured?).  Instead, eHarmony "scientifically" matches you with other people and then sends you their info.  I can't decide if it's high tech and super cool, or just made for lazy people.  At any rate, I'm talking to several guys who seem very cool and I've got a date with one of them on Monday.  There is a new exhibit opening at the U of U art museum and we're going to a dinner to celebrate the opening, then attending the exhibit.  It sounds like it will be lots of fun, or at the very least, a bloggable story.  Either way-victory!  I'll let you know how it all goes.  This is assuming, of course, that I don't back out at the last minute with a bogus story about a work emergency.  Not that something like that has ever happened because wouldn't that just make me a horrible person!