Small updatr

I called in sick. Still feeling feverish - hasn’t stopped since 330p yesterday. No appetite. I forced a sandwich for lunch and that made me full. A headache has been developing for a while about two inches behind my left ear and is now quite severe. It hurts just to move my head. I’m tired but cannot sleep.

I spoke to green shield who said that the physician’s authorization first needs to be approved before I receive coverage. It makes sense when I think about it, but I wish they had made that more obvious just cuz.

This headache is really getting retarded.

I’m exhausted

I didn’t feel too well today, but for the most part it was tolerable.  That changed around 330 this afternoon when I came down with a fever.  I got through it some how and went home.  I’ve been laying on the couch since.  I’ve barely any energy to lift my phone and press the home button so it’s proving quite a chore to type this up on the laptop.  Sitting up gives me a headache too.

BMs really suck.  Whereas just this past weekend it wouldn’t hurt until after the 3rd or 4th one, it now hurts from the get go.  It hurts to sit down and get up.  Last night I had a bit of insomnia as well.  I woke up at 245am and couldn’t get back to sleep.  There were a few times where I slept 5-10 minutes, but it wasn’t enough.

As for the remicade, here’s a little background;

• I need three vials for each infusion.  Each vial costs $1015.45
• The infusion schedule is as follows; take first infusion anytime, two weeks later is the second infusion, four (six?) weeks later is the third infusion, then once every eight weeks after that.
• Green Shield is willing to pay for it but they need a lot of documentation which they were really slow to send to me.
• I was supposed to get my first infusion today … that has now been pushed back to Monday

Needless to say, I’m excited to get my first infusion.  I really want to get better.

Happy Birthday to Me!

It was my birthday yesterday, and for the most part it was fairly quiet.  I went to work and didn’t get a single birthday with from anyone at all there.  I received a few txt msgs here and there.  There was no way anyone was going to beat Meg’s msg at 12 midnight (in fact, the first one after Meg came at 8:01 in the morning).  All in all, the day went by quiet fine.

After work I headed to Meg’s house to start a quiet hang out.  Her mom came out with a birthday card for me as well as some a pair of sandwiches and snapples (I LOVE Snapples!).  Meg also gave me her presents (I took the pictures this morning at home);

First I got a huge Homer Simpson card which I read in the car.  It actually made me jump because it said “D’OH!” when I opened it up!

Second was a layer of brand new black socks! Some people may not know it, but I love getting new socks because there’s nothing that feels more luxurious to me than a brand new pair of socks.  They are delicious!

They were layered like a cake …

and individually packaged too!

She told me to look under it.  Like a dumbass, I looked at the bottom of the dish it came with and saw nothing.  She quickly directed me to what’s underneath the socks and found Killzone 2!!!  I’ve been wanting this game since it came out but either (1) didn’t want to pay retail price or (2) was too lazy to get it at a reasonable price from a Craigslister.  I got to play some of it this morning and it was awesome!

Added to that was also $300 from her for some tailored shirts (I know a good company that sells them for $50 each in packages os 6), and also $20 from her Mom.  What an amazing round of gifts!

So after I was able to pick myself up off the floor, we made out way to Metrotown to deposit the money and also to go look around.  We went to Aritzia but went away empty handed, then had a cinnamon bun before heading out.  The Grand Villa was our next destination just so I could show her the craps table.  I explained the basic rules, but it’s difficult for them to stick unless you’re actually playing.  We watched an old guy lose anywhere from $100-150 in about 15 minutes.  That was fun, especially as we sipped on our free cokes.

We drove around for a bit before Meg asked to go to Cactus Club.  I figured she was hungry - and I was capable of eating as well - so off we went.  It was kinda strange when we got there as we were seated immediately and the hostess wasn’t carrying menus.  Neither did the hostess look down on her little map of the floor to see what tables were not occupied - strange, isn’t it?!  My suspicions quickly shot up within a matter of seconds, and were confirmed when I saw a table of about 10-12 people huddled up behind their menus.  It was a surprise party!

I never would’ve been able to guess that something like this was going to happen.  It’s the first time it has ever happened to me.  Even Andrew Lui made it out!

It was great having all my friends there in such a casual environment.  It’s exactly what I would’ve liked a birthday party to be; nothing too over-the-top that puts me up on a pedestal.  Just a buncha people getting together for food and drinks, and it just happened to be my birthday.

My spider-sense started tingling again.  It got a little quiet so I was anticipating a cake coming out.  Of course, there was no cake at that moment, but that was only because my timing was off.  A plate full of home made cupcakes were eventually brought out.  I won’t lie … I got really shy at that moment!

The cupcakes were absolutely delicious.  I thought they were premixed but turns out Meg had actually made them from scratch.  They were amazing … even better than what you could buy from that cupcake boutique down in the west end!

The night soon ended after that.  Being a work night, there wasn’t a whole lot of opportunity to go well into the evening since there were quite a few full-timers amongst us, including yours truly.  It was an amazing night and completely turned around my views on birthday parties.  They don’t have to feel self-indulgent, and it certainly didn’t last night.  Instead, I got a the feeling that all these people cared enough to take a few hours of of their busy week to sit down and have a meal and drink with me - and to me, that’s all the attention and show of friendship that I could ever need.

Of course, non of this would’ve been possible without my wonderful girlfriend Meg who took a ton of time to get this organized.  And I know my good friend Aaron also played a big role.  Cheers to you Aaron!  And Meg; Best. Birthday. Evar!

COME ON FIFTY-FIVE!!!!!!!

No matter their finances, players at the craps table are there for more or less the same reason: it is the only game in the casino where, if played absolutely correctly, the patron can reduce the house edge to almost zero.

What a quote!  And it’s true too.  After a bucket at the range, some food at BP, and watching the Canucks trounce Dallas, we headed out to the Grand Villa to make a withdrawal.

They have two tables there, but I’ve only ever seen one of them open.  It was totally EMPTY when we got there so we hung out at the bar for a while.  Adam at a LI Iced Tea, Tyler had a rum and coke double tall, and Bryan was with his Guinness.  We didn’t want to be first at the table, so we watched from afar.  Then, faster than we could blink the table was almost full.  We raced in.

I won’t get into the details, but the hardways paid me off nicely last night.  Here’s a tip: if it’s a hot roller and they hit a 4 or a 10 on the coming out, then place a $5 bet on the hard point.  There are only two ways to roll are 4 or a 10, and one of them has to be hard (double numbers).  If they roll the hardway, that’s a 7-to-1 payoff!  And I got paid off good.

Tyler ended his bad rolling streak and paid the whole table off good.  Adam I had a good runs as well.  We both almost made the fire bets.

I maxed out at about $210, but I was silly and kept playing.  I whittled it down to $160.  Still, not bad with what I started out with.  The beautiful part is that at no time did I start to feel desperate - I was winning from the get-go.  Bryan got a few free drinks out of it and Tyler, unfortunately, just ended up buying himself a few drinks (his chips broke even though).  Adam was the big winner with $275 in his pocket when he walked in with $80.  That’s our hard-earned EI payments at work!  haha.

8:49am

Woke up this morning at 4:21am.  My dad was upstairs in the kitchen getting ready to go to work.  I had a little bit of a night sweat, but nothing strange since I bundle up when I go to bed.  I didn’t have to wait too long before I fell asleep last night.  I’ve given up on watching youtube or dvds and am now just trying to sleep.  It seemed to work.  Anyways, I went back to sleep again.

I finally woke up again around 6:30 or so.  I was tired, but it was the semi-extreme fatigue that I’ve been experiencing in the mornings lately.  Still, I didn’t want to get out of bed.  I stayed in until about 7:15. 

Breakfast was some won ton soup that my mom made.  I mixed some rice into that.  I had a very mild attack as I was finishing my food (1/10).  I’ve experienced no other symptoms today.  I will report on it again as the day progresses.

update:

attack at 12:58 …. 5/10

attack at 130 …….. 7/10

attack at 3:15 ……… 7/10

lightheadedness at 3:55 … caused me to lose my train of thought for several moments

I ate lunch at around 4pm.  I know it was a late lunch, but I had to drop off dry cleaning and also go to RBC to deposit a client’s cheque.  The lunch tasted funny.  It was basically the won ton soup that I had this morning.  I put it into a thermos so I thought it would be fine.  It tasted as if it had gone bad … a little … sour, for lack of a better word.  I’ll find out sooner or later if it was truly bad or if my taste buds are out of whack.

Tags: crohn's