I'm glad your port surgery is healing well @shanaber and that you will finally be able to take a shower, today, I hope. I've never had to take chemo, thankfully, but have heard you will probably be okay for a couple of days, have a horrible day, and then more good days. I'm not saying this to be a downer, but so you will be prepared and know it is normal. Maybe ask when you go in and see what they say is normal. I don't know if all chemo is the same, but have heard a lot of people like to take ginger cookies to snack on or ginger ale to drink. It seems to set well on the stomach. Do you know how many treatments you are going to have? I hope not many, they do the job, and you are back to walking and running soon! Prayers.

I'm glad you got that feedback @shanaber . I hope you tolerate it well and it kills those nasty cells. Thanks for keeping us/me updated.

Thanks @quilteryoyo! It went pretty well without a lot of side affects. I was pretty stressed out before we even left the house as evidenced by my very high BP and a bit of maybe a panic attack in the waiting room. They didn't get me in until a bit after 10 (my appointment was at 9) and the chemo infusion didn't even start for an another hour+. It was a long day! I left the center a bit after 4pm. The only side affect so far has been a general feeling of jitteriness(?). It really feels strange allmost like my heart is racing but it isn't, but my hands are shaky. So weird!
I hope you and all of your family are safe from all the storms!!

Helllllooooo......
This thread has gone silent!
@CMorning99 - you out there and still doing ok? I think you must be retired now. Did you decide on doing some contracting or just relaxing for a bit? How are you doing now with exercise and food?
@swenson19d - How are the pups and kitties all doing? How are you doing with all the pain? I hope better! What are your next steps for school? Has it started already?

I miss hearing from you both!

Good morning everyone!

I told myself I NEEDED to see what everyone was up to!

@Shanaber Thank you for all the updates - chemo is such the pits and so ick. How are you doing now?

All is well here. Yes I am officially retired now - not on paid vacation. I have been adjusting, I think. August flew by! I really thought that it would drag as I really had nothing planned but holy heck...a blink and it was gone! DH had to take 2 weeks of vacation in August as well because he was over his allowed time (he had been saving it up for the trial which still has not happened) so it was great, we just hung out and enjoyed spending time with each other. I started off my paid vacation with a schedule and cracked the whip...but alas it only lasted 10 days before I was so dang tired.

Property: Oh the drama. So my neighbor told me about Senate Bill 9 that was signed in Jan that was a state law to try and increase available housing in the State. It pretty much voided all the county's red tape INCLUDING the developmental credit I paid $25K for. My project manager (who seriously needs a mega bonus) reached out to the county and asked what was up...the county played dumb but acknowledged I did qualify for the permit. So we started all the permits again and I had to sign an affidavit that I was "developing" the property for residential use only (no short term rentals). Under the new law my neighbor who had previously not been able to divide b/c he is .01 acres short of 10, would be able to divide. Fast forward 30 days the County "announced" they had redrawn some maps (IDK what ones) and they didn't know if I qualified. Long story short, somehow I allegedly still qualify and my neighbor does not. Sounds like the County tried to do some quick damage control once they realized the cat was out of the bag. Seriously? This should be a straight forward admin process..but somehow I feel it is personal. So hopefully I get the credit money back AND allegedly the State capped the permit fees at $3K - so I should hopefully get about $10K back on fees I have already paid. We still don't have the grading report back, I think that some of the requirements were removed with SB9 so I "think" that is what we are waiting on. I did get the easement legal paperwork done though. Project manager is hoping we will be done before the end of the year.

Retirement: Still trying my hand a reselling. Although if I had to be honest with myself, I am putting a lot more effort into it, but probably not enough. Sales are steady which means they are growing b/c there are been a lot of glitches in the platforms and so many others took big cuts in profits. I am waiting on the VA determination for my benefits - they have 30-60 days after separation (1 Sep) to do it. A lot of my friends got theirs within a week or two but I also filed at the end of my window and the VA sent me 300 miles round trip for an 8 min pulmonary function test a week before my separation date so I am not expecting my rating as fast.

Black cat is doing well. We have been able to push his chemo out to every 5 weeks and he is doing well. His weight seems to have leveled off and he has officially gained back about 1lb. He has developed a bit of a cough but the vet ran every test under the sun and pretty much came up with he is a 16 y/o cat with cancer...he is not gonna be a kitten all the time. Well damn. The neighborhood cat the previous owners used to feed (He belonged to an old man who died awhile back and so allegedly the "neighborhood" adopted him...I don't know how long ago though) has been coming to our door meowing like he is hungry. I wonder if the other old man who was feeding him is not for some reason? I "think" someone takes/took care of him b/c a couple months ago I noticed it looked like his back legs had been shaved for treatment of a skin issue. DH and I tried to resist and send him home but he persisted and the previous owners had left a big jar of cat food for him so we put it out and was very hungry. DH and I are still grieving grey cat and the thought of another cat is not appealing, not to mention he is very much an outdoor cat and a bit skittish.

My weight has leveled off and I have not gained anything for 2 months - right at 185lbs so that is officially a 30lb gain in the last 3 years. I start to track but lose it by mid day - such a hassle...and when did MFP make barcode scanning a paid feature? WTF! When I first started my paid vacay I walked every morning for 30 min everyday. I need to start doing that but for some reason I am still.so.damn.tired! Not sleepy, if I lay down I don't sleep. IDK what is going on with me, I have never felt so "weak" and "tired". I have always prided myself in my mental fortitude and willpower and it seems gone. I actually had an anxiety attack in the middle of the night the other day - it was about PD (Psycho doc neighbor). It seems my carefully crafted mental compartments are cracking. I guess I took more damaged that I admit to myself in my career and combat deployments and obviously my mom. I was watching some YouTube video and it was talking about how people (specifically military) learn to disassociate or dehumanize events...well I seem to have excelled at that. I think back at how I handled my mom's death and it was eerily too calm and sterile...I had disassociated. And perhaps this is all coming back to bite me as in a book called "the body keeps score"...I don't want to handle it, I don't want to admit it...I just want to feel like I used to.

Well that was a bit of a downer LOL. But in all honestly I have so much to be grateful for and while the future is fuzzy - everything is going well and will go well! Well time to get my shipping done...yeah $$$$!

Good morning and Happy Monday!

@quilteryoyo Grey cat passed away Memorial Day weekend...we just couldn't control the symptoms any longer of his heart failure.

Well, life has been a roller coaster for sure!

Overall things are going very well. We are happy, healthy and have all we need and/or want.

We started feeding the "neighborhood cat" who had been living around here for I guess a couple years. Unfortunately shortly after our neighbor who also helped feed her found her deceased...seems a dog got her. I felt so guilty because DH and I were coming around to the idea of "catnabbing" her.

We also got word that the trial date was vacated with no new date due to the defense finding some issue with "discovery" that evidently they "missed" in the last 6 months the trial had been scheduled. I learned that this a common tactic of these types of attorneys, ones that represent guilty people and specialize in getting them a reduced sentence. He is delaying in order to weaken the prosecutions witnesses and evidence through time...he is also a piece of work, he can really talk you into circles and confuse you...he tried that on the medical examiner and she shut him down LOL. But my 75 year old neighbor? He is going to be easy pickings. Thankfully there is a lot of physical evidence so maybe it won't be an issue...and with all the nitpicking...LS can't say he wasn't given fair or good representation. Next "meeting" is end of Oct.

We are supposed to hear this week on the approval of the property split! And hopefully we can collect our money back! It is not a moment too late ... our landlord says the owners want to move back into the house and keeps hinting that they would be happy to release us from the lease early. She even said they were thinking of moving into the "ADU" on the side of the house.. DH and I looked and it is a 2 car detached garage we aren't allowed to use, so not sure they know what their plans are. According the the landlord and former owner, this house is their dream house...IDK...I wouldn't want to live here forever LOL. We are pretty sure that the house next to us is involved in the cartel and ICE came and did a raid a couple weeks back and took a bunch of folks away. Then there are the crazy drivers racing on the streets and the evening fireworks every night...also not to mention when they launch from south base, this house SHAKES....It can't be good for it. It is an older home, but Vandenberg is now launching almost weekly vs every other month.

Started walking last week, just 3x a week. It is a lot more manageable than every day like when I first started. No weight loss but holding steady. I always had to work so hard to loose and maintain weight, perhaps it was not my "meant to be weight?"...IDK, but I don't like the weight I am carrying...but evidently not enough to do something serious about it LOL

My business is going well! A lot hinges on what the VA is going to give me on if it will be enough but my sales are climbing as I get more consistent...although sometimes I am pretty sure I work more now that I did with the military LOL.

I hope everyone has a great week and looking forward to fall! Thinking of ya'll.

@CMorning99 Sounds like things are going okay, except for the trial. I don't know that I could handle all of that nonsense. Walking 3 days a week is great! I hope you are able to keep that up. And, I know I work harder now that I am retired than I did when I was in the AF. You just seem to find things that have to be done and occupy all of you time - or more than the time you have. I hope the house building gets started soon and your current living arrangements work out - or you find something better.

@shanaber I'm glad that chemo is going better than you expected. Those "panic attacks" sound awful though. Also sorry to hear about the not so good PET scan results. I hope the biopsy went well and that you get some good news from it. Hugs and prayers.

@CMorning99 Sounds like things are going well. I think I would give up on California if I had to go through all of that to build a house. I think all we had to worry about was a septic tank permit. The rest was quick and easy. Deciding what to do after retirement is hard. The good thing is that you can try different things and don't HAVE to have the money, so you can move on to something else if it isn't for you. You'll figure it out. Just don't rush yourself. You have a lot of other things to worry about right now.... like all of the house stuff.

I think you are amazing with how you are handling everything @shanaber . Have you talked to your doctor about the sleep? They may be able to give you something to help. That trip up the coast sounds amazing.

@CMorning99 I'm glad I didn't have to go through all of that with the insurance when I retired. That is crazy, and, like you said, sounds like a total scam. That's just not right. Congrats on passing your drivers test. Those things are stressful. I'm glad your reselling is going well. Sounds like that may just continue to be a side kick for extra money and not your primary form of future income. Retirement is almost like being a senior in HS or College again - deciding on what you want to do with your future. The best part, though, as I said before, is that you have your retirement income already, so it's not like you don't have any income while you are deciding and, you can change your mind a lot easier. Great job on the walk. I need to start logging better too, but it's so hard when I am not cooking an have to guess at the serving size and calories. Hope you have a great week.