Senshi and Pirates and Robots , Oh My!

Two weeks ago today, I was frantically trying to complete my costume for Anime North, which was occurring the next weekend. I spend two full days (aka 12 hours a day or more) sitting at my dining room table getting the thing done.

BUT, I got it done. I was happy with it, and all geared up for that Thursday, when I was planning to leave. After two years, I was going back to Anime North!


...Wednesday afternoon at work, I get a phone call.

Up north, my grandmother's gone into the hospital. It's really not looking good for her; people are coming in from all over the country.

After A LOT of talking (and some arguing) on the phone, my father finally convinces my sister and I to go ahead with our plans for the weekend, and I would drive up with my sister to be home in case the worst happens. We do so, and I did enjoy the convention. But the situation back home never leaves my mind.

It only gets worse when we hear from our dad late Saturday that our mother is back in the hospital for the 5th time this year, as yet another complication from her surgery has come up. This time it's a pulmonary embolism (aka blood clot in the lungs). My sister can't drive in the dark, so we decide to leave for home early on Sunday.

My father neglects to mention our mother was taken to the hospital via ambulance (my dad had been at the hospital already with our grandma) and put into the ICU. Didn't want us worrying. Right.

So after a long weekend, we pull into the driveway, and within 15 minutes we're going to the hospital to see our mom and grandma. Mom is weak, pale, and being loaded with blood thinners, but she's good. She came home on Friday afternoon, hopefully for good this time.

And grandma...is absolutely stunning her doctors. Her kidney function is up from 10% to 40%; she's awake, and speaking a little bit despite the drugs she's on. 11 days after being admitted, she's fully conscious, and while weak and unable to feed herself, is eating a small liquid diet. She's nowhere near out of the woods, but there's actual hope.

For the last week, I was running back and forth to the hospital, doing errands for my family, and visiting friends and more family. I was expecting to go to a funeral.

For all the changes in plans the last week, I'll gladly take that result .

*goes to flop onto couch*

So, 11 months ago, I underwent surgery to deal with an abscess in my intestinal tract, which had been causing me pain for MONTHS. They had to do a resection (for those not in the know, that's when they remove part of the intestine, and reattach the two parts again). Took me MONTHS to recover, mostly because the opening decided to be a bitch and not heal properly. This was my introduction to the world of Crohn's.

So early in March, my mom wound up going into the hospital. For the first time in 13 years (since she got her ostomy), she was having complications from her own Crohns's (it's believed to be genetic). She was in there for a few days, getting her nutrition back up, and was put back on medication.

She was back there last weekend with pains, and this time they discovered and abscess they hadn't seen the last time she was there. They put a drain in her, and sent her home after a few days with instructions to see Homecare to get it replaced/cleaned every couple days. The whole time she was feeling pain.

My dad wound up rushing her to ER Friday night; the abscess had burst, and needed to undergo surgery for the first time in 13 years yesterday. She wound up not only getting a resection, but they also decided to move her ostomy from her one side to the other (meaning removing/sewing up one side of her, and reopening/implanting on the other side).

She'll be in the hospital for at least a week. She's going to be out at minimum 6 weeks; she's in pain because the morphine just ain't doing it for her this time (immunity buildup?).

EDIT: Just spoke to my mom via the hospital who had better info (and apparently is on better meds). Turns out it wasn't just an abscess, but a fistula, which had been leaking into her body and out the drain. So she's now got 4 separate openings that need to have packing done.

I'm pissed that the CAT Scan didn't show how damn bad this thing was, that the Homecare nurses didn't suspect anything when my mom was complaining of pain, and that they let my mom out so goddamn early in the first place. Two days is NOT enough time.

And even though dad told me not to worry, I really, REALLY wish I wasn't 5 hours away right now.

*goes off to plot for a longer Easter visit*

So, I WAS planning to go out clothes shopping, spending my gift certificate while they have their End of Season sale going on.

But it's been snowing off on on all morning, and not just a little bit. Pretty sure we've gotten almost 2 inches in the last couple hours. So trudging out and dragging around shopping bags doesn't sound all that great.

Instead, I've decided to wait until tomorrow for that (weather permitting), and I'm gonna have a home-day, doing some housework, some cosplay stuff, and watching some of my new One Piece DVDs (one being an Xmas gift, the other 2 being gifts to myself. XP)

I now have everything that been released, having Season Three's Third Voyage (up to Episode 182, in Skypiea). Of course, Fourth Voyage is coming out in a few weeks, followed by Fifth Voyage next month.

All at $40+ a pop.

And that's not even halfway through the series. Which hasn't even come CLOSE to ending in Japan.

Oh One Piece, you're so amazing. But my wallet wonders why, oh WHY must you be so LONG? ;_;

So I was out on the town today, wasting more money (oh DC, I never should have gotten into your stuff, you own my soul wallet), when I saw a piece of advertising attached to a traffic pole. Didn't seem like anything special, until I got closer and read it. Kinda made my inner graphic designer groan:


WHAT.

Ok, so Achilles and Achille are both real, but are TOTALLY DIFFFERENT NAMES (one Greek, the other French). On several levels, THIS DOES NOT WORK.

If it was the owner who thought that up, the designer should have commented and tried something else, 'the customer is always right' be damned.

If it was the designer who thought it up, I hope they got a stern talking to.

So this week I had the opportunity to get a one-bedroom apartment for myself, in a complex I like (I looked at one in the other building in April, but it was bad timing). I went and checked it all out, and it was nice. LOTS more space than I have now.

But because of the move-time (which conflicts with my parents moving), I wanted to talk to 'em, see if they'd still be able to help if I did take it. We discussed, agreed they could help me and that I should take the apartment. So I called the lady the next morning, saying I'd like to put in an application for it.

Someone had put one in just that morning, before I called. ;_; Sigh.

Very little chance of them being denied, so I lost my shot at this one. I still put in an application, and got my name on their waiting list. Hopefully I'll get in before the snow flies, but we'll see.

Good God, over a year without an update. And yet I'm on LJ every day checking my Communities.

EVERY. DAY.

*would headdesk, if she had a desk*

OKAY. New resolution. I am going to write at least one entry a week. Maybe I'll pick a day and make it part of my routine; maybe it'll be completely boring, and say "Nothing new this week; because I have no life" (which I don't). But I'll DO IT.

If I don't, come poke me on this entry and yell at me or something. Seriously.

Also, I need to keep up with my friends-page more. I don't check that nearly enough. *kicks self*

EDIT: Maybe I'll tweak my journal style too, while I'm at it. This orange is uglier than I remember...

EDIT 2: *eyes new journal style* Hmm, better. Much better. ^^

That girl? The one who called in and said she couldn't work yesterday?

SHE DID IT AGAIN TODAY, saying her kid was probably getting out of the hospital. And today, she gave me a whole HOUR to find a replacement.

Shock of shocks, I couldn't. Therefore, I had to cover her shift AGAIN.

Now, I don't mind 8-hour shifts. Really. Good opportunity for money and all that. But when I'm not EXPECTING to work said 8 hours, it's not as easy to get through it. When there's a damn good chance someone's lying so they can go get piss-drunk, it's even harder because I wanna smack someone instead of smile at them.

And if this girl's playing games NOW, what about at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year's? I don't wanna wait to find out. I need someone I can COUNT on when the bosses are away.