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MONDAY: HEARTLAND HAVOC...
ALIVE AND WELL IN PORTLAND...
CARETAKERS, VOLUNTEERS AND INSURANCE COMPANIES...
TUESDAY: UPDATE!!! MOST EXCELLENT NEWS!!! MUST READ!!!

HEARTLAND HAVOC 2007

WFTDA East Regional Tournament:

August 17-19, 2007

Battelle Hall in the Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, OH
Hosted by the Ohio Roller Girls, LLC.

***Twelve women's flat track roller derby teams will compete in the Eastern Regionals for one of four spots in the 2007 National Championship!***

Tickets are now on sale at brownpapertickets.com!

A NICE DISTRACTION:

Our Abbey will be heading to Ohio where her team, the Carolina Rollergirls will be competing in the Eastern Finals. I'm SO excited she'll be this close, I hope to make it up to Columbus to see her. Far TOO many months go by without seeing my girl. Anyone wanting to tag along on Friday the 18th, drop me a line. Should be GREAT fun!

ALIVE AND WELL IN PORTLAND

Our Megan is finally settling in a bit, Thank God! It has been a rough few weeks, jobless, homeless, and far away from family and friends. Things are coming together.

Megan's been in training with her new job at the Apple Store, and she's moved in with Kathy and her husband, who seem to adore her (and she them). Yesterday she attended church with our friends Michael and Judy Gibbons. They treated her to lunch, a bit of shopping, and some house/apartment hunting. Megan and the Gibbons' have both reported about what a great time they had. I'm SO very glad Megan caught up with Michael and Judy. Knowing they're not too far away brings this mum a lot of comfort and peace of mind.

CARETAKING, VOLUNTEERS AND INSURANCE COMPANIES..... Oh, My!....

CARETAKER CLASS

Today... Tony, me, Dan, John, Carol, Amanda and Jamie attended the Caretaker Class. Londia (transplant team coordinator) went over various things the Caretakers need to be aware of, what's involved in the transplant process, and what's expected of the volunteers. She provided a handout for everyone present, which included a Caretakers Contract. Many very good points were made in the contract, but I think we all decided it was not necessary for our volunteers to sign such an "un-official" document, ESPECIALLY since it had one clause stating,

As the caregiver I will assist the patient in developing a plan to have adequate financial benefits to cover the costs of......blah-blah-blah

Heavens to Betsy! We certainly could not ask this of our volunteers! This subject raised an important issue. Tony will, on some days, be sent home with prescriptions to fill. With my being in school and his not being able to venture into a grocery store or pharmacy, how will they be paid for! There's always a new question for every answer!

We did manage to have some laughs during our "Class", especially while reading one of the other requirements on the Caretaker Contract. It read:

As a caregiver I do not have current psychiatric or substance abuse issues.

Londia was asked to explain, and I'm glad she was! I'd honestly like to know if there's anyone not ready for a padded room who is a cancer patient or even worse, the cancer patient's caretaker! grin

Before we left the hospital we went over to 9-West to visit some of the nurses we'd grown so fond of over the past year, and informed them Tony would probably be seeing them soon.

The Volunteer List seems to change or need changing regularly, if not by the hour. I had hoped maybe Londia could shed a bit more light on the subject of Tony being admitted, but it seems clear there's still something going on... preventing us from getting a final answer on the subject.

During the drive home I couldn't help but wonder why part of me feels a bit in the dark. Having read through the notebook supplied to us regarding the Stem Cell Transplant program at WVU, it seemed refreshing to read how open and willing to communicate "the team" would be regarding all aspects of the Transplant. There's so much to absorb, not to mention having to help others (our volunteers) absorb, yet I don't get the impression I'm making any headway with the concerns we have.

I'm also quite puzzled by this whole Insurance / Outpatient / Inpatient thing. Being a bit frustrated by the lack of information, I sat down and gave Empire BCBS a call. Once through the lengthy automated answering system, I managed to reach a human being. She was very kind, and dug through Tony's files for any information regarding a case pending, or anything to do with the Stem Cell Transplant. Nothing! She found nothing!

Of course, I have to keep in mind this is the same insurance company that took over a year to actually admit we even existed, so I'm forced to take everything from Empire BCBS with a grain of salt. The very kind nurse on the other end of the phone took allllll the information I provided, including dates of procedures, when we'd like to have Tony admitted, why we'd like to have Tony admitted, and the contact information of our doctor and all his team-mates. Think I covered all the bases? Well, we shall see! I'm told we should receive a call back tomorrow. Hopefully they'll call while Tony and I are sitting with Dr. Craig and I can introduce them. :c)

UPDATE!!! MOST EXCELLENT NEWS!!! MUST READ!!

OHHHHH... THE DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!

Up with the sun, quite frazzled, close to the edge, and ready for a total meltdown after a long night of tossing, turning and battling a splitting headache! Hrumph! Inner voice kept trying to reason with myself about: keeping my cool, not over-reacting, making sense and sticking to the point, and so on. This was especially difficult while sitting with the first doctor who came in to review Tony's records, meds, etc.

The man walked into the room, sat down, and began launching into questions... with NO introduction, especially when we made it fairly obvious we were wondering who the heck he was! We let him go on, as Tony and I glanced at each other with that secret puzzled glance couples sometimes share, then during a brief moment of silence I asked, "and you are?". His response, as he looked directly at Tony, "We've met before". Suddenly, I felt very invisible! So, I zipped my lip and patiently waited for the man to leave, then Tony quietly told me that maybe he was acting towards me this way because I was a woman, and he was "of a different culture". All I know is we were not getting off to a good start, in light of my present state of mind, and the countdown to total meltdown was growing increasingly close!

Fortunately, it wasn't long before our dear Michael came strolling into the room, his beaming all-will-be-well smile leading the way. He reported there was no sign of the cancer in Tony's bone marrow biopsy, among other things. EVEN BETTER..... Dr. Craig announced Tony will be admitted to hospital on August 20th when he'll have his 2nd round of chemo, then transplant, then week+ of living on the edge (sans immune system). At that moment Michael could have followed with, we're going to have to chop off Pat's head, and it wouldn't have even mattered!

We await word today on one final test, then things will officially begin unfolding. Tony's scheduled to have his first chemo Thursday morning, and we proceed from there. Although we left with my spirits MUCH lifted, I think Tony left in the frame of mind I arrived in! So.... please do send him your well wishes, thoughts and prayers. He's got a very tough road ahead, but we know he's going to get through it!

Must get on with totally revamping the volunteer schedule, maybe slip in a well deserved nap, and track down the head of the cancer center for a little pow wow about this Dr. Different Culture who cannot detect a woman in the same room with him! -grin-