Weekly Update

Well, that's what this is turning into -- the once-a-week apology for not posting and the update on my life. Work and life have been spinning me around like a record (baby, right round, round, round).

-My friend is home and the complications continue (the new episode features DVTs [deep vein thrombosis - a blood clot in the leg {what David Bloom died from}] and a rash and swelling [from one of the drugs]). But at least she's home with her family. I've spoken with her a couple times and she sounds better each time. She tells me that she is in less pain and that her hearing is improving. She does have some memory loss, which she finds very inconvenient. It is frustrating that she has to go through so much to get better from this freak accident.

-The appointment with the RE went very well. He's totally on board with dIUI and covered the process and our protocol. John Dear was up and participating and very engaged in the discussion, asking several pertinent questions. I was really happy with him and told him so as we left the doctor's office.

-In terms of choosing a donor, JD and I have had a couple of conversations regarding what our must-haves, would-likes and must-not-haves are. I'm going through the initial search and will present a small group to JD for us both to go through. Being the incredibly anal lawyer that I am, I'm making a spreadsheet for ease of comparison. JD and I will go through it this week.

-JD and I met with the fertility clinic's social worker on Friday and it went really well. Again, JD was up and engaged and talking a mile a minute. The social worker mentioned several times how impressed she was with us and that we had overcome a lot of problems and had really covered possible issues with donor sperm and that we were ready to proceed.

-Once we've got a donor picked, we'll be ready to start at the next cycle!!

-In other health news, JD may need to undergo another surgery on his foot. The physical therapist (who's been a real help lately) has mentioned that JD's currently high degree of pain might be irritation from the three surgical screws in JD's foot. Now that enough time has passed and the bone has fully healed (used to be three bones, but is now one SUPERBONE), the screws could be removed. I hope that this surgery (if that's what the doctor decides to do) will alleviate JD's pain and will be less traumatic than the original surgery. I don't know if we can live through something as bad as the first one without beatings divorce murder MIL moving in. Course, if MIL moves in, all the previous options might still be on the table. ;)

Typing at A Mile a Minute

Thank you to so many who sent their prayers and good wishes out for my friend. We found out on Saturday that she was awake, breathing on her own and talking a mile a minute. Thank G-D.

She is still in the hospital as they are concerned about some swelling in her brain and she still cannot hear out of her right ear.

Right now, we're praying for a speedy and full recovery so that she can come home soon.
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John Dear and I had a nice time at our families' seders for Pesach. We've been pretty observant in our own house and had a fun time at KosherMart yesterday, finding kosher for pesach vegetable oil (yes!).

Our joint therapy session yesterday really focused on JD -- how he was feeling about being a father, using donor sperm, his depression, the job search, etc. I think it was a good conversation. Our relationship has been going really well lately, and I'm glad that something seems to be settled for now.
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I am just waiting for JD to pick me up so that we can head over to our appointment with the Doctor to set up our dIUI cycle. OMG, it's really happening! We haven't picked a donor yet, so I'd like to get on that. JD is kind of being passive about everything, and I'd like to not push him, but come on, things need to be decided.

I talked yesterday at therapy that I'd like to narrow down our choices to a small group, then order the info packets on those donors so that we can then pick the one we want. I'm also interested at looking into the photo-matching option that the bank has (they take a photo of JD and look at your choices and pick the one that goes best with JD).
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Never did my Sock It To Me post because I was overwhelmed with work and Pesach stuff. Let's leave it at I LUUUUUUUVVVVE my new socks from KateDaphne at Sadness/Euphoria and I love all the wonderful people that I've met in the blogosphere. Hugs to all of you!

Must run.

Prayer

I just learned some terrible news. My coworker, my mentor, my friend, was on vacation with her family this week. Last night, while at dinner with her husband, my friend tripped over a chair and hit her head against the concrete sidewalk. She is currently unconscious and on a respirator. Please send prayers and good thoughts for a speedy recovery into the universe.

My New Name

I am no longer Jendeis. I am now Kills Ants With Dawn. Die, you emm effers, die!!!

They are in my office, crawling through the wall, running up and down one of the window jambs. Ugh, aaaahhh! I'm not a fan of bugs. Am now typing, pausing every 30 seconds or so to twitch in revulsion and fear of bugs crawling on me. Hoping that the residue of the dish soap that I liberally cleaned the jamb with (killing a zillion ants on the way) will deter them till the building services people come with heavy artillery.

Ants: stay outside if you want to live.

Pesach Prep - Part 2

Had to skip out of work early today because my anxiety had gone sky-high. I was practically twitching and on my way to knocking my head against the wall to stop thinking. Not a good sign.

Left work just after 2 PM, picked up John Dear and we went to the library (I had an audiobook to pick up). I picked up a bunch of books and that definitely helped to calm me down.

Here's where I am so far with work for Pesach:

-Figure out where we're going for seders
-Discuss with Mom and SIL what we should bring Mom: Carrot-zucchini kugel; SIL: flowers
-Make meal plan and grocery list for all of Pesach
-Arrange with BFF to take chametz
-Clean out fridge
-Clean out silverware drawer
-Kasher silverware
-Find Pesach box (with Pesach dishes, pots and pans) in big living room mess (but might be in JD's office mess) Was in JD's office mess
-Clean living room after spare furniture is given away this weekend
-Clean dining room table and cover
-Clean kitchen table and cover
-Buy tablecloths Found tablecloths; didn't need to buy. Yay!
-Tape cabinets shut
-Figure out what I've got left in house to use as meal plan for week before Pesach to use chametz (BFF gets what's left)
-Check if I need Pesach cooking utensils (might be in Pesach box) I need 'em
-Pull unopened sugar and tea packages for use during Pesach
-Wash all dirty dishes and empty dishwasher before taping up cabinets!! (Lesson from experience)
-Figure out whether I need to cover kitchen counters or if I can just clean them
-No food in outer rooms after this Friday - make sure to remind JD about this on Monday morning
-Check if I need foil pans for kugels Found a bunch in Pesach box
-Clean oven and stove
-After turning kitchen, clean new crockpot for use during Pesach

Calendar Girl

It's all about the scheduling, round here.

April 7th: physical w/ GYN (Yay! Less than a 2-month wait; unlike my primary care doc).

April 13th: consult w/ RE specifically on dIUIs

April 17th: psych consult w/ one of Giant Fertility Clinic's social workers

In related news... I can see my jawline re-emerging from my cheek. Weight loss city, baby! I brought in breakfast from home this morning: tea with milk and sugar, fage (Greek yogurt) with fresh strawberries and chopped walnuts. My morning snack was a Luna bar. I could've done better at lunch -- had a tuna melt sub. Getting back on track though -- my afternoon snack will be a banana and a Luna bar. Woo!

Prelims

Just got off the phone with my nurse. It looks like we won't be able to move forward this cycle, because we've got preliminaries to get out of the way first.

• We need to schedule a consult with our doctor so that we can discuss dIUIs specifically and confirm that that's what we're doing.
• We need to schedule a consult with Giant Fertility Clinic's shrink to be cleared for going forward with donor sperm. (Asked whether we could get a letter from our therapists and was told no).
• My nurse will be sending us a big packet of info on choosing donors and how much to get and that should show up at our door in the next few days.
• I know that I haven't had a physical (gyn or otherwise) in awhile, so I'm going to try and schedule that, since I'm pretty sure that GFC will want that info updated before we move forward.
• Gained back some of the weight I had lost (gained 9 lbs, have lost 1 already), so I'm going to be trying hard to get back down to my fighting weight in the next few weeks.

I feel like we're moving forward at the very least. :)