HeiressofBickworth
HeiressofBickworth's JournalSorry to report lymphoma of last year has returned
Im in a rehab facility. Dinner is pretty ordinary. Canned chicken soup but tasty enough, i suppose. I have little appetite any way.
Just to keep from being too bored i check DU frequently for news and entertai ment. Keep up the good work!
My passport expired november 2019
I failed to renew as i spent most of 2019. In the hispital or a,skilled nursing facility due to cancer. So i wasnt going anywhere to renew. And the fact that i lost nearly all of my hair and didnt want that picture for ten years. When i can get around again abd look more human ill get it renewed. It's not like I'll be leaving the country any time soon anyway.
I lived in Germany 1965 to 1967
In Stahl, a little village outside of Bitburgh in what was then West Germany. My husband was in the USAF, stationed at Bitburgh. I recall that some kids playing in the river across the street found a hand granade in the water. They reported it but no big deal was made of it. USArmy came and took it away. It was a German hand granade. Being just 20 years after the war, it probably was quite dangerous. There were houses in the village that still had pock marks from bullets. Patton's army went through the area from what i read .
On weekends the thing to do was pack a picknic and go into the woods. It was called bunker hunting. Found one. Really weird to go into.
I was very young at the time. (Just 19). We used William Schrirers book Rise and Fall of the Third Reich as our travel guide. Really good history lesson. Ive been fascinated with the war ever since. I'm a huge .MOVIE buff and i PArticularlLY Like movies about the lives of ordinary PEOPLE who did extraordinary things. RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS. My favorite German movie was Phoenix. There was one out a couple of years ago about aGernan soldier who had deserted calledThe Captain. It was atrue story.very disturbing about how someone became so brutal.
I cery much enjoyed my time there and i look forward to your posts about your life there. Thank you.
I finished my sixth and final round of R-Chop in Sept
Fortunately, I'm on Medicare and a supplement. I never had a problem with coverage for the expensive treatments. There is something woefully wrong with an insurance scheme that seems to exist just to collect premiums and deny coverage. Good argument in favor of Medicare for All.
My cancer was in remission after the first two treatments and still in remission after the sixth. Hope you have the same results!
I, too, was getting chemo for stage 4 lymphoma
I was fortunate that the treatments didn't make me sick. So the problem was one of just transportation. If i didn't have a friend or family who could take me to dr or home again, I used Uber. It wasn't particularly cheap but chemo was once every 21 days and I could usually get a ride one way so using Uber once every 21 days wasn't bad. Cancer now in remission and chemo is finished.
This is where I need to give credit to good doctors and good insurance
The oncologist jumped right on it and radiation and chemo did their jobs. Am ever so grateful for Medicare and a supplement insurance plan. After seeing the bills and the very small percentage I have to pay, I'm reminded that there are so many people who haven't reached Medicare age and would be in a world of shit if they had to go through all this with inadequate or no insurance. I used to be a bankruptcy paralegal back in the day. About 85% of my clients were medical bankruptcies. I have always been in favor of Medicare for All but now I see the actual numbers on the invoices and know that I would be bankrupt and homeless without it. Or, I would be taking a dirt nap. So, vote, vote, vote -- watch for the ones who will support or expand Medicare. And that DOESN'T mean Repubs, obviously.
Since there have been so many inquiries about my absence...
oh, what? No inquiries? Anyone the least bit curious? How about a round of mehh.
Ok, since you have asked so nicely, I'll tell you.
I've been busy fighting cancer. Stage 4 lymphoma to be a little more specific. Started when I had pains down one leg. I don't fault the doctors -- they followed to most common and logical evidence and treated me for sciatica. Then I did the proverbial, I've fallen and I can't get up thing and wound up in the ER where they gave me pain medicine that shut my brain down to the extent that one doctor told my daughter that I was in the final stages of Alzheimers and she should just make me comfortable and let me go. Fortunately for me, she was a terrific advocate and calmer heads prevailed. In walked the savior! An oncologist who gave the diagnosis and the treatment plan which was to start the very next day. Leg problem was that a tumor ate away at my hip breaking the joint and that was why I couldn't walk. So, hospitalized for a month, six radiation treatments, chemo every 21 days, seven weeks in the third level of hell called a rehab facility (oh, the tales I could tell about that joint!) Anyway, I'm home, still can't walk very well and now they are talking about a hip replacement. Anyway, what kept me from communicating with all you nice folks was that I had such neuropathy in my hands (I was warned the chemo drugs would do that) that I couldn't feel the keyboard in order to send messages. That's better now although I'm having to correct typos in this post. Oh, the good news: cancer has been in remission since the second chemo treatment (there were a total of six).
So, anything been going on lately? Just kidding. Through everything, I managed to read DU several times a day on my phone. While I was in rehab it kept me from climbing the walls.
I take Amtrak several times a year.
Once every other month, i take Amtrak to visit a friend in a city 75 miles away. I used to drive, but traffic south of Seattle is getting so bad, it no longer is a pleasure. On Amtrak i can read. Crochet, nap, or just watch the scenery.
I also take the train from Seattle to Sacramento. Been doing it for over 30 years. There were a few years that i drove. I found that it took less time to take the train because when i drove, i needed to stop over night somewhere along the way.
Flying? No way. I have a long term fear of flying and and absolutely won't get anywhere near an airplane. Fares could be free and i still won't fly.
So, for this 73 year old lady, im grateful for Amtrak and will continue to take the traim.
As a side note, Amtrak is very useful for small towns that have no near-by airports or other access to public transportation.
I've spent about 45 years doing genealogy research
I've never done a DNA test but I've researched the records. I've found that I have deep roots in Scotland. In fact, my surname is a Scottish name and I even know the small village in the Northern Highlands my distant relatives came from.
According to the rules applied to Elizabeth Warren, I owe the government and people of Scotland an apology for mentioning my heritage. I can't think of a time I've been asked my heritage, but if asked, I would say on my paternal side, I am Scottish. Likewise, on my maternal side, I am Swedish.
Lots of people proclaim their heritage. Thanks to my daughter's father, she can claim descent from Canadian First Nations. Not in a general or family lore way; I found the documentation. Her ancestors were part of the French claim to Quebec. Yes, it was hundreds of years ago, but it is real.
Maybe because of my years of research i just don't see that Warren has betrayed anyone's tribe. We all have "others" in our heritage. There is no pure American. Even Native Americans originally came from somewhere else.
So can we give this issue a rest and concentrate on policies and candidates to defeat Trump.
What came to mind is a quote attributed to Stalin
It doesn't matter who votes, it matters who counts the votes.
In this case, it doesn't matter what the FBI report has or will say, it matters what TPTB say about the report.
As I've said from the beginning, this is all kabuki theater. A circus to placate the masses before they do what they were planning to do all along. I don't place any hope at all on the three Republican senators who have said they haven't decided. What they really mean is they are waiting to see what Dear Leader says before casting their vote. It is, after all, the Party of Trump.
Now excuse me while I go vomit......
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Gender: Do not displayCurrent location: Snohomish County, WA
Member since: Wed May 18, 2011, 02:12 AM
Number of posts: 2,682
