Late For an Important Date…

No one in my immediate life remembered my injection this morning. Not even Tracy and she is so keen on my injections. I was sitting in front of my computer at 9:30am when I realized my shot was due. I almost panicked. I hurriedly put on some clothes with time of the upmost importance and essence. The longer I waited, the busier Kamath Medical would grow. I could be sitting an hour waiting on a nurse.

I was then driving down the Valley to my father’s former pharmacy at a speedy rate – putting my trusty Honda Civic through its paces.

“What are you doing here?” my father asked worriedly looking over his counter.

He thought something dire had happened for me to be at the pharmacy so early.

“My injection is due this morning,” I replied, proud of myself for remembering. 

I even puffed up my chest in bravado a little bit as well.

Dad checked my appointment card that he keeps in his wallet and looked up and said, “Good for you, Andrew!!!”

“I was just about to call you!” Rebecca, my nurse, told me as she called me back to an examining room. “I was just waiting for the clock to hit ten and I was going to be on the phone.”

I thanked Rebecca so very profusely for looking out for me.

I know it is psychosomatic, but I am already feeling better this morning.

Mean as a Timber Rattler…

I was passing Walmart on 29 when my cellphone loudly rang. I looked at the screen and answered. “Hello?” I usually hate talking on the phone while driving, but it was Tracy so I felt it must be important.

“Are you headed to get your injection?” Tracy asked. “I forgot to remind you this morning.”

“My ETA is 5 minutes,” I told her.

Tracy doesn’t miss a beat. She’s deft on me getting that injection ever since what happened mentally a few months ago.

Dad and AJ were in the front of the pharmacy when I arrived to get the Risperdal Consta box.

“Tell AJ what you say about me and my temper,” dad told me looking amused.

“He can be a mean little son of a bitch sometimes,” I told AJ

AJ and dad both burst out laughing.

The conundrum for the day was to ask my nurse, Rebecca, whether she was pregnant or not. She’s gained a lot of weight lately. I decided to play it safe and not ask today.

Surprise! It’s Injection Time!

I purposely didn’t tell my father my injection was today. I wanted to see if he remembered and if he didn’t, then I wanted to surprise him.

I walked into the pharmacy at 9:05am and dad asked me what I was doing. The pharmacy had just opened.

“It is not like you to just show up at the pharmacy,” he said tersely. “What’s wrong?”

“My injection is this morning,” I replied with a Cheshire grin.

Dad fawned all over me that I remembered. I got many accolades this morning. I was beaming with pride.

“It completely slipped my mind,” he said, patting me on my back.

Tracy didn’t miss a beat, though. When she got up at 6:45am, she told me to get up and get ready for my injection. She had astutely remembered.

Ode to a Biscuit…

I cooked more Mary B’s biscuits this morning. I also scrambled some cheese eggs and fried some sausage patties. I cannot express in words how lovely and delicious these biscuits are. I ate mine this morning with real butter and Charlie’s strawberry preserves. They taste just like my grandmother’s homemade biscuits and that is saying something.

It’s All Better Now…

I struggled yesterday all day with my mental illness. My injection was due in the morning and had petered out leaving me without that constant flow of medications into my bloodstream. I couldn’t concentrate on anything my mind was racing so fast. I went to open the front door and Tracy asked me where I was going late yesterday afternoon.

“I am going for a long walk to clear my head,” I told her with a grimace.

Tracy woke me up this early morning before heading to work.

“Remember your injection is this morning,” she told me worriedly.

She had never seen me get in such a state and it scared and worried her.

I got up and got ready to go. I was in a daze on the drive to the pharmacy to pick up my injection. To make matters worse, my father didn’t have my injection ready to go when I arrived. I had to wait about 15 minutes. I finally grabbed my injection and headed to Kamath Medical.

“You’re awful quiet this morning,” my nurse, Rebecca, remarked upon me.

On an interesting weather note, we had a freak sleet storm last night. My car was just covered with ice pellets this morning and I worried about slick roads. 

A Busy Household and Don’t Tell Tales…

The alarm went off this morning at an early 6:30am. I yawned as I pulled on some sweat pants and exited the bed.

“Sweetheart? What are you doing getting up so early?” Tracy asked sleepily as she sat on the edge of the bed getting up as well.

“I have my injection this morning,” I replied chirpily and in good spirits. “I am going to take a shower before you have to and get on the computer for an hour before I have to go.”

I slept so well last night and it was a blessing.

I took my very quick shower so as not to use all the hot water and ate a granola bar for breakfast. Soon, it was time to head on down and get injected. I was quite together this morning and dressed smartly.

Dad was telling the pharmacy employees interesting stories about me and my mother when I arrived – some of the antics we have committed over the years.

“Don’t tell them all that!” I said exasperated. 

“I can tell one on you!” I then said. “You slept with your mother until you were thirteen!”

Everybody laughed and asked me if I was serious.

“I am damn serious,” I replied haughtily.

That clammed my father up! He prepared my injection and sent me on my way. I was still smiling when I got in my car to head to Kamath Medical.

In and Out…

I was a little early this morning when I arrived at the pharmacy to get my injection.

“I have to wait until nine to run it through your insurance,” my father told me.

I took a seat as this elderly lady took me under her wing and immediately started to make small talk with me. I was relieved when dad said my injection was ready. I made my way to Kamath Medical just down the highway.

“What do you do for fun?” Rebecca asked me grasping for answers this morning as I sat in an examining room.

“I play role playing games on my computer,” I told her. “They are much like interactive books. I can’t stand the run and gun type games that are so popular with the teenage and college crowd.”

“The kids keep me busy, but I like to curl up with a good book after they’ve gone to bed.”

I told Rebecca how industrious I’ve been about cleaning my house and car lately.

“I always say I am going to vacuum my car, but never get around to it,” Rebecca replied. “It is in pretty bad shape.”

When I arrived back at the pharmacy, Charlie was there. Charlie has the gift of the gab that I do not possess. When he steps in a room, he immediately becomes the center of attention. Charlie was there to pick up a prescription for Horsefly before he drove to Dadeville and work. 

There’s a Pimple On Me Bum…

Ah, injection time – a time where I get to commiserate with my favorite nurse in the whole wide world. I didn’t go to bed until 1am, but somehow miraculously woke up at 8am this morning. I called dad and let him know I was up and going.

“I’ll see you at the pharmacy at nine,” I told him.

“Good deal, Chuck,” he replied and we got off the phone.

I rousted Tracy from the bed after a fitful sleep and told her I was sorry but I didn’t have time to fix breakfast this morning.

“There are some strawberry Poptarts in the kitchen cabinet,” I told her. “And cinnamon rolls in the breadbox.”

I took a really quick shower and then she soon followed behind me. She had to be at work at 9am my time.

My injection went without any problems or mishaps for the most part. I sat in the lobby for far longer than usual and I could feel those old panic attack feelings creeping in. Kamath Medical was busy this morning and the parking lot was full. I was nervous for some reason. I guess there were too many needy sick people sitting with me – people who also didn’t want to wait long for the doctor or a nurse. I must’ve taken precedence as Rebecca called me back before any of the others. Most likely Dr. Kamath was running late after morning rounds at the hospital. I only needed an injection – something a nurse could handle.

Ah, small talk – a thing that used to mystify me. I get better and better at the craft. I knew to ask about Rebecca’s children’s Christmas and how it was.

“It is truly magical to kids,” Rebecca told me of Christmas. “They had a blast. It was a Lego themed Christmas this year.”

I told Rebecca that I, too, loved Legos when I was a kid. They weren’t as fancy then, though. I would have loved Star Wars Legos.

Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas…

I decided I wasn’t going to be alone on Christmas Eve this year. I took a shower and dressed in the nicest clothes that fit me and headed to my father’s house. There were a crowd of folks in attendance, but I managed to muddle on by socially. I was terribly and woefully underdressed, but nobody seemed to care. It made me feel self conscious and uncomfortable, though. Charlie had already fixed me two plates brimming with food to carry home with me. He was going to bring them to me along with my gifts. I stayed only about a short hour and a half. My sister helped me load up my car with gifts.

I was really blessed this year. My sister basically bought me a whole new wardrobe of clothes that fit wonderfully and that are stylish. I got about five shirts and three pair of pants. I also got a fleece lined jacket that is the most comfortable jacket I have ever owned. Charlie gave me two shirts that feel like silk they are so soft. My brother and his wife got me a spindle pack of 50 burnable 25GB Blu-Ray discs which just thrilled me to death. I needed them badly having only a few left. Time to start backing up computer files in the next day or two. I need a Techmas and not a Christmas.

Tracy is at work right now. She gets off at six my time and is dying to see me or so she said when we talked on the phone earlier. She is going to run by my house on her way home. I can’t wait to see her as well. It seems like we haven’t seen each other in over a week. I told her I took good care of Wheezy while she was gone. That was a long drive everyday to water, feed, and pet a cat. I made sure to spend some quality time with Wheezy before I headed back home every day which entailed me petting her while she lay in my warm lap and I watched the television or fiddled with my tablet computer.

Glittermom, I regretfully never got around to putting up a Christmas tree this year. Maybe next year. Dad and I kept procrastinating about getting it and then it was too late.

My injection was this morning and it was certainly due. It was actually due on Christmas Day. I got to feeling really shaky last night – a jump out of your skin feeling. I went to bed early and headed straight to Kamath medical in the morning. My shot was already in my fridge and I was ready to go. Rebecca took really good care of me this morning. She was in a joyful, happy mood and it was contagious.

For the Love of a Princess…

It would be just my luck that my next injection falls on Christmas day. Rebecca said they are open the 26th and she will be there. I just have to tough it out for a day. I told dad to be sure to give me an extra Risperdal pill just in case for Christmas. I don’t want to spend Christmas miserable with my not so friendly friend mental illness.

My eyes opened this morning and Tracy was propped up on her elbow watching me sleep. Good morning she said with a giggle as I yawned and stretched. She’s my little princess I tell you. Despite my trying to dissuade her from coming, she came anyway last night. She didn’t get here until almost ten my time. I went to bed at eleven and she soon followed me after using my computer for awhile. She was trying to decide what course to take next term. She took my advice and is only going to take one class next term instead of the two she took this time. She took two doosies too – biology and chemistry and their corresponding labs..

I couldn’t dawdle this morning. I told Tracy she would just have to excuse me – that I was all business. I had warned her the night before and she still came. Dad called me at 8:30 to make sure I was up and getting dressed. Soon, I was on my way with a 9:00 am rendezvous with the pharmacy. Dad already had my prescription filled so I was ready to go. Kamath Medical was my next destination and my shot went without a hitch.

Christmas will be here in two weeks and I still haven’t bought Tracy’s gift. I know she loves and collects turquoise jewelry so I think I am going to get her a turquoise neckless and matching bracelet. I better get on the web and order that right now while I am thinking about it.

My Ladies Get Me In and Out…

The setting was another injection. I had to be up bright and early at 8 am. I signed in and went to sit down when Rebecca opened the door to the examining rooms and called me back. Pat and Dee Dee had already greeted me when I walked in.

“How was your Thanksgiving?” Rebecca asked as she led me to the examining room.

“It was fair to middlin’,” I replied as we say in the South.

“How was your Thanksgiving?” I then asked Rebecca.

“It was okay,” Rebecca replied. “We drove to Birmingham to my parent’s house. I hated that long drive.”

We talked a long time about how the holidays can be hard on the infirm and mentally ill. Those kind of folks tend to get left out or marginalized.

“Big prick!” Rebecca then said as she inserted the two inch long needle.

I didn’t even feel it except for a little pressure as the fluid expanded within my gluteal muscle. I bid Rebecca farewell and told her thank you as always. I grabbed my next appointment card from Dee Dee and headed to the pharmacy.

“That was really quick!” my father exclaimed. “You were only gone twenty minutes.”

“My girls take care of me,” I replied with a thankful sigh and a grin.

I asked dad to step out from behind the pharmacy counter to tell him something in private.

“If you call on my home phone then let it ring twice and I will call you back,” I told my father. “It is best to call me on my cellphone. Tuleana is driving me crazy calling all the time and she thankfully doesn’t know my cell number.”

“Don’t you let her harangue you into carrying them around again,” my father said with great caution.

“I’m not,” I replied. “That’s why the two ring rule is going into effect. The 1st is Saturday when she gets her government money and she wants me to take them all around on their rounds paying bills, getting prescriptions and buying groceries at Walmart. It would be like a seven stop trip and they certainly won’t put gas in my car.”

I felt better with that little detail taken care of and I headed home to my Magster who was waiting in the window for me. My dear darlin’ of a dog.

Eastbound and Down! Loaded Up and Truckin!

Dad called me at 1:00 am last night sounding panicked. I was still up watching the television and fiddling with my tablet listening to the rain pitter patter on the eaves of my roof..

“Your shot is in the morning!” he frantically said as if we had already missed it.

“It’s no big deal,” I replied calmly, assuaging his worries. “Just call me at eight and make sure I am up and I will drive down and get it. It won’t take but 30 or 45 minutes. You just have the prescription filled when I arrive.”

Dad called me right at eight this morning. I had just popped two unfrosted strawberry Poptarts out of the toaster. It was like handling hot baked potatoes.

“You okay?” he asked worriedly. “You and I both haven’t had much sleep.”

“I am ready to roll!” I replied exuberantly.

He chuckled and told me I was a good man.

Guess who was back? I hadn’t seen her in a month! Rebecca, my coveted nurse, welcomed me back this morning to administer my shot. She had gained a lot of weight I noticed. She still looked the sexay in her dark blue scrubs. Seeing her was the icing on the cake. I have a slight crush on her.

The shot went without nary a hitch after much small talk and banter and I was soon on my way back to the pharmacy. Dee Dee had me all set up for another two weeks. I just had to grab my next appointment card off the counter.

“You look nice this morning, Chuck!” my father told me – a man who doesn’t give compliments lightly.

I thanked him for the compliment and headed home in a pouring rain. It is supposed to keep raining until tomorrow night. Yikes, but I enjoy the interesting weather to be honest. 

Where Art Thou, Rebecca?

Injection Time! Do you prefer coffee or tea with your injection?

It was downright cold this morning as I set out for Kamath Medical and the pharmacy. The temperature was 41° degrees according to my car. I was pleased I had donned my very warm suede leather jacket. I couldn’t see out the windows of my car worth a poot due to all the dew that had formed, though. It was a crap shoot traffic wise until my car got warmed up and the windows cleared. The morning sun was also just blinding as I drove.

I got nurse Tara again today. I leerily gave her my injection as I sat down to watch the process gritting my teeth along the way. Amazingly, she did fine this morning. I was worried for nothing. She insists on injecting me in my hip and not my buttock, though. That always worries me. I told Old Fuss and Feathers I can’t help it when I got back to the pharmacy. I am like my mother in a lot of ways. We’re both very literal and we follow the instructions.

“Where is my Rebecca?” I deftly asked Tara this morning.

“She’s got a doctor’s appointment,” she replied. “She will be back in the next two weeks.”

“Oh, okay,” I said. “I was just worried about her. She has been giving me this injection for ten years.”

“She’s been here a very long time,” Tara replied blithely.

“I had worriedly thought she had quit working here,” I told Tara.

Rebecca would get in touch with me, though, if that had happened. She would have at least called my father at the pharmacy.

Oh Dear!

Rebecca called in sick this morning and I got a nurse name Tara who had only performed my shot once before. I am afraid she botched the whole deal. I had to walk her through preparing the injection and she still got it wrong. If I go bonkers in the next week then you know why. I didn’t tell my father once I arrived back at the pharmacy as it would just worry him. I didn't feel the injection at all which makes me conclude I didn’t get the injection. I always feel a sting or pressure in my buttock as the fluid is injected. I don’t think Tara realized the gravity of the situation or how important the injection is to my sanity. There is no other recourse than to wait it out for two more weeks. Medicare Part D will only pay for one injection for every two weeks as prescribed.

Life’s Little Victories…

My father really was orchestral in getting all this done. To him goes the glory. I just called him and thanked him for all his efforts today and the previous days beforehand.

Last night, I arrived home from grocery shopping to find Charlie parked out in front of my house. He has a key and had let himself inside. He was busy cleaning house – vacuuming the rug in my computer room. He stopped and helped me unload my groceries as my father then arrived.

“What are you doing here?” I asked Charlie inquisitively as he was then cleaning my bathroom sink. “I know you didn’t just come to clean.”

I was very glad to see him and so was the Magster. Thrilled would be a better term for the Magster.

“I am going to cut your hair again so you look good for the doctor,” Charlie said.

This was no doubt my father’s machinations. Old Fuss and Feathers parked himself on the couch with Maggie as Forensic Files droned on while Charlie cut and washed my hair. He gave me quite a nice haircut I might add. Old Fuss and Feathers said I looked like a new man. The deep shampoo and scalp massage was luxurious.

They soon left and Maggie and I settled down for the night. In the morning was my doctor’s appointment and I was as ready as I ever was going to be. Dad picked me up at 9:20am the next day and we headed down the interstate for a 10am appointment.

“I’m increasing your Risperdal 1 and half milligrams,” the doctor told me when I described the problems I had earlier in the week. “I will see you back in two weeks and let’s see how you are doing.”

So that makes 3 milligrams a day I am taking now on top of the 50mg I am getting with my long lasting injection every two weeks. My math is terrible, but I think that works out to be over 6mg a day. I thanked the doctor and dad and I left feeling something positive happened. Dad was worried he was going to take me off Risperdal and put me on another antipsychotic and all the teething pains that would result. Much of psychiatry is trial and error. In the beginning of my mental problems, I probably went through six drugs before they found one that worked.

Now, it was time for my and Maggie’s treat. We stopped at Hardee’s for sausage biscuits and steak biscuits. The biscuits are really stupendous at Hardee’s. Dad and I parked and ate our biscuits and I saved one for Maggie who relished it once I arrived home. It was still good and warm. She really was one happy dog. She hadn’t had a steak biscuit from Hardee’s in six months and neither had I.

The Sweat Shop…

“I am way so over dressed,” I told Rebecca this morning embarrassingly. “My house was freezing cold this morning so I put on a hoodie only to be met with a hot and humid Southern morning when I walked out the door. I was already running late so I didn’t have time to change.”

“Well,” Rebecca replied. “A lady at my daughter’s soccer practice yesterday was wearing a sweat suit in 90 degree weather. It must be something in the water.”

We both laughed and laughed. It was so good to see her this morning on this our mission of mercy for me. Rebecca gave me my injection and Dee Dee greeted me in the front office.

“What about our Tigers, Andrew?” she asked.

Dee Dee has always been under the delusion I am some wild, rabid Auburn fan. It doesn’t help that half of my apparel is Auburn related like what I wore this morning. Of course, I can talk the talk and walk the walk.

“We don’t seem to have that high powered offense we are so used to,” I replied. “Our offense seems flat and uninspired.”

“We need to get better as some tough games are headed our way,” she said worriedly.

I agreed and bid them all farewell and headed to the pharmacy after obtaining my next appointment card which Dee Dee dutifully filled out.

“Samantha left you a gift on the chair on the porch,” my father told me without fanfare sitting behind the pharmacy counter. “I put them in a Ziploc bag.”

Samantha is my father’s cat.

I left the drugstore wondering just what did Samantha leave me as I headed to my father’s house. Well, dad had put two dead chipmunks Samantha caught in a Ziploc bag on the chair. I called him when I got home and he just laughed and laughed. Such a sick, twisted sense of humor. I should have brought them home so Maggie could eat them and she would have. Maggie loves dead, stinky things. Samantha just catches them and leaves them as gifts and trophies at the back door.

Injection in the Morning…

Let us hope this goes a long way to making me feel better. I feel as if my long acting injection ran out long ago last week. It will be good to see Rebecca’s rosy cheeks in the morning. I’ve already called Old Fuss and Feathers and got him to fill the prescription so I am ready to go. I just have to drive by the pharmacy, grab the shot, and head to Kamath Medical in the morning.

Glittermom, I got Old Fuss and Feathers all hooked up and he is watching that Auburn football disc incessantly. I am glad I don’t have to live with him or he would be driving me crazy right now.  He turns the volume up so loud it rattles your eardrums. He is already hard of hearing and he likes it loud anyway on top of that.

My dearest Maggie has been wild tonight. I like to see her feeling her oats. Something has unlocked her inner puppy. All her chew toys are scattered about the house and she keeps running outside to bark awhile and flies back inside to keep up with me and what I am doing. She’s on a down moment right now licking her paws as she lay on the rug next to me and this computer room computer. That means she is sublimely content. It will take the slightest noise outside (squirrel fart) and then she will be tearing out the dog door to go bark another thirty minutes. If I were to say, “Here Kitty, Kitty,” she would go absolutely nuts.

Inflation or Daylight Robbery?

My father just informed me this afternoon that the cost of my injection jumped from $300 to $700. Isn’t that just amazing and disturbing at the same time? I won’t dare tell Rebecca that as she will worry she will botch an injection and have to pay for it. Still though, that’s just astronomical in price.

I did get some awesome news in the mail today. It was from Social Security. They have decided not to review my case for another three years. Thank god and what a sigh of relief. My father let out a big sigh as well as I read the letter to him.

SNAFU My Dear…

“I got so worried about you when you didn’t show up for your injection this morning,” Rebecca, my nurse, told me. “I called your dad at the pharmacy and he filled me in on what was going on.”

“I could’ve slept in this morning,” I said with a broad grin and a chuckle. “I was up at 7:30 giving dad a wakeup call and getting ready to leave at nine.”

“Let’s get you injected and on your way home,” Rebecca said as she led me into an examining room.

“How’s your diet going?” she then asked me

“Kind of status quo at the moment,” I replied. “At least I haven’t gained any weight.”

Rebecca has gained some weight as well. She has always struggled with her weight in the ten years we have been doing this. We are kindred spirits on those regards.

My shot didn’t burn today and I didn’t bleed so I guess that is a good thing.

“Bye y’all!” I said to the office staff who were all smiling and waving goodbye.

I grabbed my next appointment card on the way with a rendezvous with Old Fuss and Feathers and fussy he was when I asked if they had ordered my $400 computer monitor.

“We might get to it after work!” he snapped at me. 

Waiting… Waiting… Waiting…

Today was my injection, but the pharmacy forgot to order it. I drove down there just to be turned around and sent home. They’ve got it coming with today’s order so I am waiting for the truck to arrive. Dad is going to call me and I am going to scurry back down there and hope things aren’t FUBAR when I arrive at the doctor’s office. This all makes poor Andrew a nervous wreck. It’s like when Horsefly doesn’t get his sausage biscuit every morning or misses a night of bowling.

Just a Motoring…

Dad asked me last night what I thought of my new car after driving it a few months. This is what I told him…

• The engine and transmission shift like butter.
• The car is whisper quiet on the road at any speed.
• The car feels much more powerful than just 127 horsepower.
• Thank god finally for windshield wipers that are reliable and actually work.
• The CD player/stereo sounds wonderful.

“What don’t you like about it?” he then asked.

“The car is so low I feel as if I am sitting on the ground and it scrapes the ground pulling out of my driveway,” I replied. “I would have picked a different color as well. Beige is so blah! An emerald blue car with that light tan interior would have looked gorgeous.”

The Cycling of a Different Kind…

I looked at the clock on my computer and it read 8:55 AM. It was time to drive down to the pharmacy and then go get my injection. I was giving them some time to open the store and get my prescription filled. Maggie had a hissy fit that I was leaving and going somewhere in the car.

“What about our tranquil morning in the computer room listening to ambient music?” she seemed to impart.

Dad shortly handed me the Risperdal Consta box and I was good to go. I signed in at Kamath medical at 15 after 9. My appointment time was really 9 AM, but they allow me some leeway.

“Does your life ever go in cycles?” I asked Rebecca as she dutifully prepared my injection this morning.

“What do you mean?” she asked me with an inquisitive glare.

“Right now, I am going to bed early and getting up really, really early,” I replied. “I was wide awake at 6 AM this morning.”

“The kids and work dictate my cycles,” Rebecca then told me. “Breakfast, off to school, work at eight, etc.”

“I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be a parent,” I replied wistfully.

“It can be a handful,” Rebecca told me with a chuckle. “But I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”

Rebecca injected the Risperdal which was extremely painful this morning. I bled a pretty good bit as well and there was blood on my Band-Aid. I didn’t say anything about it as it would just worry her for naught.