Book

So I've been trying to get this damn book for the last month and finally got it yesterday. It's called Bald in the Land of Big Hair and is about a woman living in Texas who is diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (land of big hair cause it's Texas of course).

I'm debating walking to campus today or just reading the book since I'm kinda tired. Started it last night, so far it's shown me that my doctors are awesome and my insurance (though they like to scare me) is really pretty damn good. One of the author's friends had thyroid cancer after the birth of her first child, then after the birth of her second, she noticed a lump in her breast. Her doctors absolutely refused to do a biopsy, telling her she was just paranoid and that it was just a cyst. She battled with them for months before finally getting the biopsy done, though she had to pay for it herself because her insurance deemed it unnecessary and would not pay. She was then diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, which is pretty much lethal if not detected immediately. Then she had to fight again to get a bone marrow transplant because her insurance said she was too far gone and her probability of survival was not sufficient to justify the expense. So after months of fighting she was finally approved for the procedure, but by then the cancer had gone to her bones and she died soon after.

Fortunately, the book isn't that depressing throughout.

Anyways, I've been having weird eye problems. Yesterday my eyes were all red, burning, and tearing up. I called Dr. Mininberg and he prescribed some eye drops and told me to see someone about it today. But right now my eyes are fine, so I'm a little confused. He thought I had caught some sort of virus, but I'm thinking it might be something in the EAS building. After I left, my eyes got better on their own. I had to go back later because I'd left my ipod, and for the 5 minutes I was in the building I could feel my eyes beginning to dry up again. Maybe they're using some new cleaning solution or something, I have no idea. I'll have to see if it comes back when I go in again. I've never had such a problem before. Was not too much fun sitting at my desk with burning eyes and tears running down my cheeks. Ah well, add it to the acne on my forehead, the weird bumps on my head, the peeling skin on my legs, sores in my mouth (if I forget to chew my gum), nose bleeds, the exhaustion, anxiety, etc etc.

Ah, so I never did write about my insurance scare. I think today I'm finally feeling less miserable. It really left me a nasty shock. Basically, I called up just to check on things (as Jason suggested I do). The woman on the phone, however, didn't bother to actually check my account and gave me very VERY wrong information. So for about an hour I thought I only had $100,000 coverage. My bills have passed that mark already... Needless to say I was completely panicked. I wasn't able to reach Fritz at work. I talked to my parents who said they would take out a mortgage on their house (you know, the one that isn't rebuilt yet after Katrina...) and do whatever was needed to get me through my treatment. It just made me miserable. I can't help but feel like a burden. I mean, I don't really do anything other than be a mess right now. But today I am finally feeling better. And insurance is fine. I have $500,000 coverage which I shouldn't reach anyway. *cheers*

I think I'll go to campus tomorrow, and find a nice big pile of papers online that I'd like to read and print them all out on that lovely color laser printer. Something on Deep Chlorophyll Maxima cause I just find it cool. Then on my bad days next week I'll hang out by the pool and read them all (along with my lovely new book if I haven't finished it by then). My dad said he'd bring me some books too. Oh, and by "hang out by the pool", I mean sit in the shade with 50 spf sunscreen on and make sure that by the end of the summer I'm just as pale as I am now. I burned easily before chemo, but chemo makes it even worse.

I should really paint again. I have one I started ages ago of a giant coconut crab. They're called coconut crabs cause they can actually crack open coconuts with their giant claws. Man, I want one, they're so awesome. But I have a dog, 2 kitties, and an unknown number of hermit crabs, so I think I'm full on animals (that and coconut crabs are kinda endangered). Meh, details. =P