Loosing Sight... Literally

This is one of those entries where I don't know how or where to begin. Forgive me if this entry seems a bit all over the place and long.

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During the nasty blizzard and snow storms we had two weeks ago I noticed something strange going on in the inside of my right eye. It looked like my glasses were somehow 'in the way' like around my nose. I didn't pay much attention at first, but, after a couple of days I took my glasses off and that dark 'spot' was still there. I then thought maybe congestion and pressure were causing this blackish-ness to happen. However, after a few more days and decongestants that dark spot still remained.

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Keep in mind I had no other symptoms going with this, so a trip to the ER didn't seem warranted and I couldn't even get my car out of the bottom of the driveway as the street was covered with snow so high it would've caused problems with my old tank, so, no trip to the doctor. When school began I was so busy getting back into the groove and ready for a weekend of Irish dance competition I put off calling my optometrist.

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The feises were difficult to say the least because of extreme fatigue and my depth perception being so wonky because of this eye thing. I managed good placements, but, not great dancing. In fact, at the second feis last Sunday, I sprained my ankle when I slipped on stage before I went into a turn. I managed to finish,and placed first, but, understandably I had to drop out of the rest of my competitions. I took the following Tuesday off of work due to the swelling in my ankle and since I had a moment to breathe I called my optometrist to arrange an appointment and get some drops or something so I could regain my full field of vision in my right eye.

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Well, no appointment with the eye doc was made. They told me I had to go to an opthamologist as it could be a variety of issues that only an opthamologist could test for. Oh and vision insurance doesn't cover this type of deal, I have to use my medical insurance. Great. Of course, that means I had to go through my PCP to get a referral as I have an HMO. Keep in mind, I am beyond grateful to have insurance! That said, I am beyond over this whole referral approval business. It took my doctors office 24 hours to get my referral approved and that was being listed as an urgent case. The opthamologist wants to do a vision screen as well and that has to get approved. Any tests outside his office will probably have to get approved as well. I hate the thought that finding answers to this problem may drag on and on waiting for approval.

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My PCP believes I have lost about half the vision in my right eye. Nothing looks wrong on the surface which means something funky monkey is going on behind it. It maybe optic nerve damage (bad, bad stuff), it could be a retinal issues, etc. I will need tests, maybe a MRI, and surgery maybe an option. Of course, this all depends on what the opthamologist finds tomorrow.

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To be honest, I'm freaked out. I'm trying very, very hard not to look anything up online and not to obsess over the what ifs going through my brain. The sprained ankle doesn't bother me that much because I KNOW what to do with it. I KNOW the prognosis is good as long I do such and such. I don't know anything about this eye issue and the thought of it being permanent freaks me out. It's hard to type on my phone, stare at comp screens (hence the major slow down in blog posts) for a period of time, music, text in a book, etc. I don't want to live my life not seeing correctly- I get a little nauseated sometimes, pressure headaches, and tired from having to constantly adjust my focus and perception. I just can't imagine going on in this manner. I'm hoping for a diagnosis and solution(s) tomorrow. I just need to know this can be dealt with.

Adventures In Raising Leo

Don't be fooled, this sweet face can mean trouble.

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After yesterday's blog post I left to Owasso, got lost thanks to road construction, but, made it to my new hairstylist there. Normally, I wouldn't go so far for a simple haircut especially while recovering from a virus, but, my friend and stylist rocks my hair like no other so it's definitely worth any commuter related troubles.

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After my stylist touched up my highlights (yes, I highlight, keeps my hair from going two toned when there's not so much sun outside to lighten my hair's natural highlights) I looked at my phone and saw a call from Jon. Odd. Right as I was about to call him back, he called me. I knew immediately something was up.
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Leo in a fit of boredom and lack of rawhide bones decided to climb into the bathtub and look for something to gnaw on. The object he selected was a razor- one of those cool five bladed ones that shave a man's face really nice. Jon managed to catch him doing this, fished out the bits of blades out of his mouth, BUT, two blades were not accounted for. Merde.

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Several frantic phone calls later, driving back to Tulsa in about 13 minutes (after my hair was finished, at least Leo had good timing), picking up Jon and Mr. Chomps-A-Lot, and driving to the south side of Tulsa in less than 15 minutes, we arrived at the vet clinic where Leo was whisked away to the back right away for x-rays. I told Jon if Leo had to have surgery AGAIN I would lose it. I swear I was suffering a bit of PTSD sitting in the waiting room of the vet clinic wondering if Leo would be OK. I was taken back to June when I waited anxiously at the emergency vet clinic to hear if Leo's leg was ruined forever.

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Fortunately, just like June there was good news. Leo wisely did not swallow the blades. So, no surgery, no recovery period, and no further set backs. Though I am still in the process of forgiving Leo for the minor heart attack I went through, I am beyond relieved that we have once again dodged the worse case scenario bullet.

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Let's just hope we don't have to do any more bullet dodging. Right Leo??

Deep Breath

I went to the school district's administrative building today and filled out paperwork. I guess you could say this is really happening!! Prior to today's appointment, I had a few minor panic attacks. When I was called Friday to come in this week they told me to bring in my social security card and a copy of my college transcripts. Naturally, I could not find my social security card (big WHOOPS right there) and couldn't obtain official transcripts from TU in time. Cue freakouts. I've realized that when good things start to happen I can sometimes get into this mindset of, "This is too good to be true." As a result, I was convinced the lack of a card and official transcripts would prevent me from getting the job.

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Turns out I was wrong... way, WAY wrong. While I will need to bring in my card at some point for payroll to have on record, my passport, driver's liscence, and birth certificate more than sufficed to prove my identification and citizenship. The transcripts I could obtain (all TU alums are allowed access to records online- they're just not technically 'official') were more than fine though I may have to get an official one at some point. Cue big sigh of relief!

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About twenty pages of paperwork later I was set. I still have to do the whole pee in a cup deal and pass the drug test. Gawd, I hope the copious amounts of Benedryl and Claritin I've been taking are legal. :-P Once that is passed and the background check proves I am not an axe murderer I will be given a start date. From the sounds of it I should recieve that call in a couple of days.

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I love it when life tells me to get over it and embrace the good that happens.

What Do You Do?

Life's been a bit distracting lately and, of course, I was going to blog all about it.... then all came to a screeching halt in my head. All it takes is life really handing you a doozy to make you gain some serious perspective on your measely 'distractions'.

I will back up and explain. As I was doing my usual perusual of blog and Facebook updates this morning I saw one of my friends post a picture of her father. I haven't seen her father in 10 years as they live in France [I stayed with the family in high school]. The picture was of her father flying and he looked exactly the same way I remembered him and that being so, I posted a comment on her photo.

About 10 minutes later I recieved a FB message from my friend. She told me that her father had passed away, two weeks ago, of a heart attack and that she and her family were having a hard time. I literally felt a Mack Truck hit me on the inside. I wrote back express my condolences of course, said what I could think of that would be comforting- felt like a complete looser for missing the status messages (no worries I didn't say that to her).

I don't think those words were enough. Though obviously those words were better than nothing. I wish there was more I could do, could say... I would love nothing more than to hop on a plane right now, go to Paris, and give her and her family a hug- cost be damned. Unfortunatly I don't have the cash to spare at the moment (one of those 'distractions' I spoke of earlier) and I have no clue what to do so far away. I am very unfamiliar with French customs when it comes to the loss of a loved one- I'm very familiar with American ones though, cards, flowers...food.

So... what do I do? Or is there anything I can do?

Three's

Bad things come in threes- or at least so they say.

Inspections had been going well. Of course, there was this and that, things that needed to be taken care of. However, all was looking well. The bank paperwork is nearly complete and Jon's father was actually excited about the whole situation(which if you knew him you'd be surprised at that adjective too).

Then- WHAMO! The fan in the h-vac unit goes out. Being that it's a 30 some-odd year old unit it has been an ordeal as to what to do. If that's not stressful enough we then get a call from the man who did the ambient mold test. Apparently, the results are shocking. We don't know the exact measurements though and we don't know where the mold is. All we do know is that the preverbial ball is now in the home owners court. She must decide whether to do her own test, which it would be wise to do what's called a destructive test which is when they take samples out of the walls, floors, etc to determine what is mold infested where. If we were to back out she would have no choice but to disclose the 'mold history' before anyone made a bid.

So now we wait. The scarlett M is on the house. Now we haven't folded yet. If the mold is in the air ducts and wallpaper in the bathroom (which you can tell there's some on there) then that's easily fixable and as long as it is documented it won't be an issue for future sale. We all are hoping and praying it's the airducts! The h-vac unit is old and this woman hasn't been actually living in her space for awhile. The next 'scratch your head' thought is the fact that during attic and crawl space inspections no one saw any indicators of bad leaks, mold, severe rot, and so on. Lastly, no one who's allergic to mold had any problem when walking through the house!

Ugh, ugh, ugh!!

Oh and what's the third thing? Minor in comparison, but, the nice digital-slr camera that Jon lets me hog fell over. Nothing seemed wrong until I tried to take pictures. Seems the lense is 'off' and since I know nothing about nice camera equipment I don't know what the problem is. It can take pictures, but, the fine focus just doesn't focus that well.

So crap on a stick, deep fried in sewage. It's been a crummy week.

Cuuhhhhhraaapppppp

When Jon was leaving tonight I noticed there were marks on the inside of the door. Marks that were not there yesterday. Upon closer inspection it was obvious that those marks were made by a crowbar. My memory wafted back to early this morning when I heard Louie barking, loudly, and (for him) viciously. Best we can figure, someone tried to pry our door open early this morning in hopes they could swipe something and Louie's barking and our sliding bolt saved the day.

Ugh and ugh. A call has already been made to our landlord, David, who thankfully will add more safety measures to the front door, the back door, and our fence gate. I am doing what I can to keep the "What if?" scenarios at bay and just process through all of the rather intense emotions. Most importantly, keep focused on the fact that we are okay and they (whoever they are) did not succeed. Some people aren't so lucky.