Gootopia and the Power Bill

I have mentioned before that radiation turns your saliva into glue. While my radiation this time wasn't as extensive or intensive, it still is working its magic. At night we run a warm air mist humidifier with herbs to help loosen up the goo. Last night it was particularly effective as I hacked up rubber cement all night long, all over everything. We had a canula pull in the middle of the night at some point. Overall, not a very restful night.

This morning I was completely covered in goo. Kelly very patiently tried to loosen the pad under the trach from my neck. In a fit of desperation, he even tried viscous lidocaine to try to deaden the pain. Unfortunately it stung so badly I could not tell you if it helped or not. Finally we just had to resort to the band-aid theory and he yanked the whole thing out. The wound has been looking pretty bad. It really hasn't appreciated being radiated. Dr. F said it looks about the way he expected it to look at the end. Here's to meeting expectations. Air circulation can only help, so Kelly put the trach back in sans collar. I feel like a rebel! He also rigged the circular pad up a little differently to try to keep the trach out of the wound both top and bottom. It really helped!

I was hungry when I went to bed last night, but knew if I ate that late the reflux would be a nightmare. When I got up this morning I was still hungry. And cold. And clearly did not have enough calories to keep my body going. Warm sweats on. Jacket on. Still freezing. Put a heat up in the microwave to try to bring my temperature up. Assembled my breakfast without passing out. An accomplishment.

I have a new set up with the feeding tube. A few days ago I had an exasperating morning of spraying food. At first it was due to blueberry seeds, but then Kelly put it through the sieve. But still I am spraying. And let me tell you, it is hard enough to work up enthusiasm for blended food without spraying something that looks suspiciously like baby shit into your lap repeatedly.

The new valve is supposed to be for bolus feeding. However, it doesn't grip the syringe at all well, so if there is the slightest resistance, the syringe jumps out and sprays all over. I would need a third hand to shoot out of... well, I'd need a third hand to make this work. We tried plugging the Lopez valve into the new valve, but that was a no go. It won't stay for the same reason the syringe jumps out. Finally we pulled the new valve out and put the Lopez right into the tube. So far so good. And I don't have a lap full of crap.

I did manage to do a few things. It is kind of frustrating that tasks that normally would be almost incidental now are jobs in my world. I planted the pumpkin and squash starts I bought the other day. Finally planted out the phlox that may or may not already be dead. I planted two rows of decorative corn. It is late, but it should still be ready by Halloween. Or not. It is saved seed, so what have I got to lose?

I sat down on an overturned bucket with the intention of topping and trimming all the cured garlic. This is hardly and arduous task, yet I was only able to get through about a third of the garlic before I had to call it quits. Part of the problem is that my head/neck are not that co-operative and it is a lot of work to move around so I can see what I am doing for certain tasks.

The head mobility issue is what is the concern for driving. I will need to try driving in a confined area (likely the church parking lot across the street) to see how much my head mobility impacts my driving. I know there are wicked blind spots in the truck. Trailer mirrors might be in my future...

Kelly is also trying to figure out how to get back to going in to work. I have reached a point where I can pull my own canula. If it came down to an actual clog, I could pull out my whole trach and then text him to come home. But I am not really well enough to be completely responsible for Karissa. Next week Reggie will be here and Karissa has day camp, so it shouldn't be a problem. The following week Karissa has another week of day camp so I would be flying solo for the week. It is when we reach the point where she is home most of the day that the problem comes.

As for the electric bill... we are pretty conservative people about power usage. We have our entertainment center and desktop computer/printers/modem on power switches which we turn off when not in use. We are usually quite diligent about unplugging charger cords when the item in question is charged. (No vampire power usage for us.) In the summer months I usually use the drying rack instead of the dryer for 90% of our laundry.  But...

In mid-June, Karina moved back home from college. Kelly and I upgraded (that is a questionable) to smart phones. I got a lap top. We went from one lap top and no smart phones to three lap tops and three smart phones. Also the Dynavox operates as a tablet, so it was needing a recharge more often. Suddenly we have a host of electronics needing juice.

In the chaos of our lives, we slacked on making sure the power switches were off every night. We often left unused power cords dangling. With everything else he was doing, asking Kelly to put the clothes out on the drying rack wasn't going to happen. As with all new 'toys,' I played with my phone too much. Too much time staring mindlessly into Facebook far too often. Let me check  my email. Let me send another text. This is a funny video! Wow this phone needs to be charged often. And of course I didn't shut down my phone at night, either.

Additionally, Karina, like many girls her age, is a big fan of the shower. So an additional shower everyday (or even more). I have been guilty of standing in the shower with the hot water pouring over my shoulders to ease the pain, sometimes until I drained the hot water tank. Some days I showered and soaked in a tub; more hot water.

We always get a bounce in the bill in the summer due to water usage. However we finally got out flow control valve put in so we don't have an insane amount of pressure coming in from the street any more and we got the leaky hose fixed (thank you Hap for both of these). Kelly got the irrigation system sorted out, so we are using water much more efficiently this year and were hoping for less scary bills.

Wrong.

Our kilowatt usage from mid June to mid July was nearly TRIPLE what it was the previous month, going from 800 something to 2200 something! Yikes! And that is without the window air conditioner in! But it isn't hard to see how we wracked up that kind of usage. Martial law descended on our household last night. All power switches were turned off. My cell was powered down. I restricted my use of my phone to a few times a day, not hours at a time. Charging cords were ruthlessly unplugged when not in use. I am hopeful that soon I will be up to hanging out the laundry as I know our ancient dryer is a giant power suck, too.

I am looking for energy savings. I am starting to do little tasks that have gone undone. I am hoping to start picking up/sorting out/putting away some of the chaos that has infiltrated our house. In between I am resting, crocheting, doing crossword puzzles, and trying to stay off my phone;)

Until tomorrow....

Love,
Kiara