November 2011
“Self-loathing is not a fucking character-builder. It doesn’t make you stronger. It doesn’t make you better. It’s just an ever-deepening, creepy-ass trap; a trap that is a huge moneymaker for corporations that do not have and never will have good intentions. You’re not disgusting. You’re not freakish. You’re not ugly. And you’re never going to be perfect. And holy shit, that is so okay.”
—Jane, Casual Blasphemies (via grrrlstudies, lipsbetweenthehips) (via clairebearstare) (via lacaterpillar) (via curvesahead)
Looking up vegan beetroot chocolate cakes for AIDS day queer cafe. Excited.
- Attitude Interviewer: What would you say is the gayest thing about you?
- Stephen Fry: Um, my preference for men and having sex with them rather than women in the end must be it.
So one of our housemates is leaving next year.
Not that I’ll really miss her, I’ve bumped into her a grand total of around 6 times since I moved in. She orders in pizza to avoid coming into the kitchen. So that’s fine by me.
Now we need to find a new housemate, someone who will get on with everyone and be tidy and trustworthy and all that. Now it so happens that my oldest friend (I have known this girl since she was BORN) is now studying at my uni. And she’d love to come and live with us. How awesome would that be? Very. That is how awesome.
The only thing is that there are other people who want the place too. No one’s really more entitled than anyone else to it, so I guess we’re gonna have to pick a name out of a hat, or have people battle to the death for it. Or something.
Just looked at this years medical insurance summary...
Apparently, had I not had health insurance my total costs this year would have been $116,547.81.
The orchiectomy was almost $9,000. My second surgery, the RPLND, ran almost $30,000.
Chemotherapy ran upwards of $3,000 a day, and each CT scan ran as much as $6,000 (and I had like 5 of those this year). Throw in all the doctor visits and medications…and yeah. Crazy.
What’s even crazier is that Humana gets $72,114.32 worth of discounts, meaning they paid a total of $41,281.89.
I’m super lucky I was still living at home when I got cancer and under my mothers insurance plan…If I hadn’t been, I would be completely screwed financially right now.
Cancer is fucking expensive.
(this is really kinda interesting because your treatment was pretty much the same as mine)
HOLY SHIT. Also, God bless the NHS.
Hospital just rang.
My CA-125 has gone back down again! It’s now 12, down from 25. YAAAAY.
RT @rachelthe3rd: I love this house. http://t.co/ckZ5EaRN
A and I send much love and hugs and hope everything’s ok
Thank you. I think what freaked me out most was how stressed out it made my mum. I think if I went to the appointment alone I would have focused a lot more on the positive. It’s not perfect but everything is definitely okay :)
Hospital Round Up
So I had my consultation today. It was okay, but not great. The PET scan showed no change, but also no improvement. There was lymph node activity, but whether that is down to cancer or just a minor cough at the time of the scan, we can’t tell. I might have to have a biopsy or a second surgery of the lymph node tumour under my left collar bone. Also my CA-125 tumour marker has gone up, from 4 to 25. Max normal is 32, but it’s a 5-fold increase and none too reassuring. I should hear about today’s blood test result tomorrow over the phone, and I’ve got another appointment to go to in December.
On the plus side, I came home (with olive oil, lime cordial, curry paste, mango chutney and a tupperware full of applesauce clanking in my bag) and everyone had decorated the house while I was away. We even have a christmas tree. Everything is festive and nothing hurts!
