Ok, let's catch up.
Had a UTI that turned into a kidney infection in less than 12 hours. Which then landed me in the hospital for a week. Renal unit forgot about me twice while I was up there and then one of the Renal Docs, who shall be known as Douche Canoe, left me in the unit for an extra night and day because his wife called and he had to rush home instead of doing his fucking job. I had to threaten a sit in in the Renal department before anything happened. And then his resident screwed up a bunch of paper work because Douche Canoe didn't check her work.
Had a kidney biopsy Monday to see what the hell Magnus is doing. Creatinine has crept up to 201.9 or something, so they finally had to do something about it instead of watching and waiting. This adventure ended in a blood tech ignoring me, doing what ever the fuck she wanted, giving me the most painful blood draw ever (I mean, I actually cried, it hurt so bad) and then I got a phone call Tuesday morning that there had been a fuck up along the way somewhere and I had to come back in to have that last tube drawn again. What a shit show.
Hospital food has reached a new low. No seasoning, no flavour, everything is looking boiled again and it's all either under or over cooked. I tried to talk them into a paediatric tray for dinner (since that's the only good food) and they wouldn't go for it.
So, now I wait.
In home news: there is not enough weed on the face of the planet to make me enjoy living here. It's like living with people who rented out a room because they desperately needed the cash and are resentful about it. And make sure you know they're resentful about it every time you enter the common living areas.
(Life tip kids: While someone who abuses you emotionally might not leave physical marks they are still fucking you up. Run far, run fast, run soon. They will never change. Ever.)
TV News: if you aren't watching Agent Carter, we can't be friends any more. GO! NOW! WATCH! When this season is finished you'll have a glorious 18 episodes of kick ass awesomeness to catch up on. DO IT! Also, Third Rock From The Sun is on Netflix. The complete series. I am forever impressed with this show. For an early/mid90's sitcom, it holds up EXTREMELY well. Still very funny, very well written and a surprising lack of homophobic, sexist and *insert term here* shaming jokes.
Gilmore Girls is coming back on Netflix but with no Sookie, which has dampened my enthusiasm quite a bit.
Video games: I've moved onto the Xbox One. Destiny, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Assassins Creed series and the Fallout series are my go toos.
And can we talk about the Fallout series for a moment? And about how half of what makes the game horrific is the fact that the secret vault experiments are something that is completely plausible today?
Fear not, I am still alive.
Barely.
I spent nearly a year in Weybridge before being asked to move on (more drama there than I actually know what to do with.) had a brief stay in Farnborough and finally settled in Redhill, Surrey for my last year here in England.
I have 9 days until my parents get here, 16 left in England, 17 days in Sweden, Iceland and Toronto for a grand total of 33 days before I get home. Crazy, I know.
I have traveled my little heart out while being over here; 10 day bus trip through Europe, Easter break in Ireland, just spent a week in Scotland and have jumped around the South East of England quite a bit.
There have also been a handful of scifi conventions, because of reasons. Specifically, Amanda Tapping and Hayley Atwell reasons.
ANYWAY.
Magnus continues to chug along, my heart however, is doing whatever the hell it wants. I've added some drugs to my collection including one for blood pressure and another to control my heart rate. No other issues though, so I suppose that's something.
STILL not allowed tattoos or piercings and believe me when I say that has become an issue the last few months here. I have, on a few occasions, almost said "fuck it" and just gone for it.
BUT I HAVEN'T! I'VE BEEN GOOD!
(sort of)
I'm still seeing a consultant, as they're called over here, every 3 or so months so that's a drag, but I'll soon be running the TBay renal unit again, so that's a plus. LADIES! TAKE ME! I'M YOURS!
So, uh, yeah.
To finish off the last post I seem to have left . . .
Magnus and I have come to an agreement. There were some medication changes and everyone is happy again.
In other news. . . .
I have now added minors in English and Art history to my transcript and I am two credits away from an HBA in history. I wanted to finish, but it's time to be away from school for a while. This year was very, very, very stressful and emotionally and mentally draining. I've been in school almost constantly since I was 4 years old and I've reached the "enough" point with formal education. At least for now.
So, what am I up to now?
Kids, I am moving to Weybridge, Surrey, UK to Au Pair for the next two years.
I KNOW!
I have found a lovely host family with 3 kids (a girl (Hannah, 11) and 2 boys (William - 7 and Harry - 4) and, to make matters even more amazing, the youngest son is chronically ill (That thing where you're allergic to food) so they understand what it's like for me:):) It's been stressful getting everything in line, especially figuring out medical care while in the UK, but thanks to WAY too many people to name, that's sorted. I cannot thank this family enough for not giving up on me, especially after a couple of knee-jerk, panick filled emails about lack of insurance and uncertainty about the NHS.
I'm leaving town on the 21st with my parents and we're driving down to Toronto and Southern Ontario for a while and then I'm flying out of Pearson on the 29th. I should be at Heathrow by 1pm on the 30th. My visa is good for 2 full years and I'm hoping to use them both to the fullest!
There's also the possibility that mom will be able to fly over just as I'm finishing up so I can show her around before she takes us both up to Sweden where we have cousins. She went once in the 1970s as a teenager, but hasn't been back since so if she can save up the money, this is a great opportunity for both of us. If she can't manage it, I think I'll get her to contact the cousins for me and see if they'd be willing to get in touch with me and maybe put me up/show me around for a visit of my own.
I've been lusting over a Laplander hat since I was 6 years old and this is finally my chance to snag one!
I'll do my best to try and keep things updated here (if there's anyone still interested).
Dear Magnus,
Just fail already and get it over with.
I'm tired of this bullshit now.
So.
September.
Back in school again, hopefully for my last year at Lakehead. (WOOT!!) Though I'm still not completely sure how to A) get the money together for school in the UK B)Figure out how my Canadian education matches up to a UK education C) Figure out Canadian Cultural History.
Emailed the teacher about making an appointment to try and straighten that out and I was told to "Go over the readings from last week (first week of class) again" and it that doesn't help "do some background research".
WTF? If I don't understand the basic concept after a 3 HOUR discussion about those readings, how the hell is going over them again and doing more back ground reading going to help??
Whatever.
If looking at Pre-Confederation Canadian Lit doesn't count as Cultural History, I'm stumped. But, of course, it's 2 weeks into a seminar course, so I'm pretty well stuck here unless I want to spend another YEAR at Lakehead for one stupid credit. *sigh*
Who's idea was this education thing again??
Magnus seems to have settled, prednisone will be back at 5mg by Oct. 6 And Toronto was pretty damned awesome.
Yeah, I didn't tell you guys about the Fan Expo adventures this year, did I?
Long story short: Met Joe Flanigan and Rainbow Sun Francks. Got a picture with Kate Mulgrew (I would listen to that woman read a phone book, and then stand up and applaud afterwards) Nana Visitor (She is both tall and tiny at the same time. And hilarious.) and the Grand Empress of SciFi herself, Ms. Amanda Tapping. WHO WAS AMAZING OMG!
Not being on dialysis rocks.
Magnus doesn’t like one of the drugs I’m on (Cyclosporine) so they’re going to stop that and shift me to another.
I’m also showing some rejection, so I will be spending some quality time with BIG HUGE SCARY IV dosages of Prednisone. (3 days in a row, no word on exactly how long each dose will take)I will later be dropped back down to oral prednisone.
CellCept is upped to 2000mg a day instead of 1000mg.
This, of course, means weekly blood work.
Let’s take a moment to talk about how thrilled I am…
So, biopsy was done on Tuesday and I have yet to work up the nerve to peel the band-aid off. Normally I'd hope that it would just fall off, but it's Elastoplast, so I'm gonna have to man up about it soon.
Sad.
I'm not really sure if this biopsy really was easier than the other two, just because of the fact that I'm not sick/getting sick like I was with the last two. Instead of having to stick around all day, I was out of the hospital by 3pm, which was a nice change.
Side note: Day Surgery has been changed since I was last there. I like it.
Tissue samples are off to Toronto because the pathologist here can't do it. Not sure if it's that he can't do it because he doesn't have the right equipment or he can't do them because he's not that skilled. I chose not to ask for specifics, it seemed like a good call.
Clinic next Tuesday and hopefully there will be some answers. If the answers involve being told I can't see Amanda Tapping in Toronto this summer, there will be words. And tears. Big, fat, flaming tears.
Plus, Joe Flannigan is going to be there too. And Patrick Stewart. And the guy who played Darth Vader and the guy who played the original Hulk.
Yes, my inner geek is running around in circles, waving her hands in the air and screaming in excitement, thanks for asking.
Work is good, not crazy about the front desk, but because it's the local museum, things are generally quiet. I have yet to hang up on anyone, over charge anyone or have to call someone down to rescue me.
This is what we call a WIN! kids.
A final note: Spent most of yesterday looking through the year books of the nursing schools that were in town before they all amalgamated under the University and College courses.
And yeah, I found a couple of the Super Nurses. That pleased me, especially because they were adorable in their little white caps and bitchin' 1970 hair.
Magnus is stumbling.
Creatinine has been hovering at about 150 for a month and a half now, higher than my levels usually are.
Ultrasound on Saturday.
Biopsy to be booked shortly.
Fuck.
So, Clinic tomorrow, which means blood work today, only I get there and find out that there is a 2 hour wait, 1 hour if you're a cancer patient and they can't squeeze me in.
Because they changed how blood work is done.
Or something.
So now I have to wake up at the ass crack of dawn, down my meds, call the lab, tell them I'm coming and hope to god things work out.
And then show back up at the hospital for 3pm.
*sigh*
What a world.
Your waist band and belt won't stop digging into your transplanted kidney so you have to choose between pain or letting your pants fall down.
