The Cleaning Ladies are Here! I Need You to Speak Spanish!

We have cleaning ladies who come once every great while to clean. There were items in the kitchen which needed to be put away so the counter was cleaned off. I was too tired to do it last night. I told myself I would be up in the morning and do it then. I woke up at 7:30 a.m. It was too early to get out of bed. I rolled over and remained lying in bed. It felt like just a few moments. I looked at the clock and was startled it was 9:33. The cleaning ladies were to come at 10 a.m. I race out of bed. I disconnect my TPN and flush my line. I go to the kitchen. My mom had cleaned off the counter. I am half asleep as I make some tea. I grab my food and put it in my room. The ladies are here.

When the cleaning ladies come, it is sometimes one person and sometimes two. One lady has a good understanding of English. The other ladies do not. I was relieved when I saw two ladies arrive. Good, we will have no language barrier. I assumed the one lady was the lady who spoke English. My mom starts talking. She realizes neither one speaks English. I am summoned.

Once upon a time, I used to know Spanish. I rarely speak it and my memory has faded over time. So, here I am, half asleep, with my hair a mess, and wearing clothes I threw on (It's 90 degrees out, but this girl is wearing a fleece sweatshirt because I did not have time to put on anything which required me to use extra time to get it over my PICC line). Now I need to speak some Spanish.

Thankfully, I have learned if you use basic Spanish words and lots of hand gestures, the message gets across. Also, using words which are the same in both languages helps. Patio is patio. The one woman was so kind. As I was trying to think how to say over there, I used a word which meant "way over there". As I was saying it, the woman gave me the correct word. I appreciated the help.

So far, everything is going well. The one woman has been here before and knows what usually gets cleaned. That was a lot of excitement for the morning. I am ready for a nap!

Back to School: I don’t miss that

The last few weeks, my Facebook feed has been full of kids going back to school. There is the obligatory first day of school photo, and many kids hold up a sign with a few facts about the child.

As I look through the photos, I do not miss going back to school. I do not miss the anxiety of having new classes, a new schedule, new kids to get to know…and then there is the stress of school work. There are constant assignments, projects and tests. The work never ended. It did not matter how carefully I planned my schedule, it was as if I could never get ahead—I never had time for a break.

Many people have wonderful memories of school. I do too. But I would take being an adult an adult any day. There is so much more freedom being an adult. If you do not like to wake up in the mornings, you can find a job which starts later in the day. If you do not like math, you can find a job in which computing numbers is not a requirement. Although there may be surprise tests and challenges as an adult, no studying is necessary. You either pass or fail and move on.

If my brain wants to give me a nightmare, it will dream of being in school. The early mornings, the rush to get to school, the constant questions asked by the teachers, pop quizzes, boring lectures and of course forgetting your locker combination or not being able to get your locker open. Whenever my brain reproduces these images from my school days, I wake up in panic. When I realize it was all a dream, I thank God I no longer have to go to school. I served my time. I am glad I am now free.

Scam Alert

We have all seen on television news reports of people (mostly elderly folks) who have been taken advantage of by scams. The story is often the same. The person is contacted and told a friend is in need of money. Can they wire transfer funds into a foreign account? The person out of the goodness of his heart complies. It is a scam, and the person loses all the money.

Recently, schemers have become clever. They call and pretend they are the IRS. They call and claim there is something wrong with your credit card or bank account. Using a keen eye, it is fairly easy to side step being a victim of scams. However, yesterday, I was involved in a new scam, one which was VERY HARD to realize it was not a real situation.

My mom gave me my mail. There was a letter from a medical company. I opened it. Inside, on official stationary, the letter explained the company’s records had been breached by a third party. An investigation was conducted. It was discovered my records were part of the cyber attack. The letter explained I should contact the three credit bureaus to ask for copies of my credit report to make sure there was no fraudulent activity. I was given the information to the three credit bureaus. The letter also advised placing a freeze on my account to prevent any unauthorized activity.

The letter continued, stating they valued my relationship with them. The company was offering one year of free credit monitoring. I was given a code to sign-up with the credit monitoring company. The letter ended with another apology for the security breach and promised the company was doing everything possible to prevent future attacks. The letter was signed by the company’s CEO.

As I read the letter, nothing seemed unusual. This letter was almost identical to another letter I had received from another company in 2009 when my former employer suffered a cyber attack. My former employer offered three years of free credit monitoring, which I took advantage of. The credit monitoring was a great service and alerted me to any suspicious activity on my account. Having this great experience from the past, I was happy to sign up for a free year of credit monitoring once again.

When I went to the credit monitoring company’s website, I suddenly had an urge to research the company. How did I know this credit monitoring company was real? I ran the company’s name through an internet search. The company’s website looked real. There were reviews about the company and articles written on various websites stating what a great service this credit monitoring company provided. As I scrolled down to the bottom of the search page, I saw there were suggested searches listed. One of them was, “Is ‘X’ credit monitoring legitimate”. I clicked on the suggested search.

Immediately, my screen lit up with urgent warnings stating: “‘X’ credit monitoring is a scam!” I read people’s stories. They were all the same. They received a letter from a company stating there was a cyber attack. Their information was part of the attack. Information was given to contact the credit bureaus, and free credit monitoring was offered.

One man stated this happened to his company. I will call his company Good Tree Inc. “X” credit monitoring service cyber attacked Good Tree Inc. They stole Good Tree Inc clients’ information. The clients were then sent letters on fake Good Tree Inc stationary that Good Tree Inc was cyber attacked. The victims were told to contact the three credit bureaus and to sign up for a free year credit monitoring service with "X" credit monitoring company.

The catch with this all is when you sign up for the free credit monitoring service, you have to provide your personal information including your date of birth and social security information for the company to monitor your credit. What they are really doing is getting your person information to steal your identity. I was shocked how good this scheme was. I also was surprised I was almost scammed.

Schemers are lurking around every corner. With the convenience of the internet, protect your personal information. If you sign up for any service, make sure the company is legitimate. Do internet searches on the company and also read reviews. Please make sure if you are reading reviews, they are NOT on the company’s own website. Look for independent reviews and find websites which allow anyone to post a comment or review. After carefully doing research, then make a decision if your should use the company and its services.

Blood Clots: Hello Old Friend

I scroll through my online prescription account at my pharmacy, looking at the number of refills I have on my medicines. A drug called nitroglycerine pops up on my screen. (I no longer take this medicine; it is used to dilate the blood vessels of the heart.) I am instantly transported back to last summer. It was a time in which blood clots plagued my life. I nearly died when a massive clot traveled to my lungs. I think about the d-dimer test, a test which is used as an indicator for blood clots. I think about Lovenox, a shot given subcutaneously to break up blood clots. I take a moment to praise God I have not had any blood clots since September 2020.

Twenty-four hours later, I develop a sharp pain in my chest. I ignore it. The next morning, my PICC line arm is slightly swollen and discolored. I groan. This likely means there is a blood clot attached to my PICC line.

A series of events happen. A trip to the ER. A d-dimer test. Two shots of Lovenox. The frightening memories of last summer come roaring back. I praise God that despite everything happening, I do not have the horrible chest pain and the severe shortness of breath.

This morning, when I got out of bed, my left calf ached in pain. I went to the kitchen. I was struggling to breathe. Soon, I found myself gasping for breath. I go to bed. I cannot catch my breath. I huff and puff. My ventilator is alarming. I get out of bed and more around. I twist and turn. Finally, I feel the pressure and tightness in my chest vastly decrease. I praise God, the blood clot must have moved. For the rest of the day, I am short of breath. My left calf aches. My PICC line arm throbs with each heart beat.

I wonder how this will all end. Will the clots pass on their own? Will my body break up the clots like it did last summer? Will I have to go back to the hospital? Will I have to get a new PICC line? So many questions swirl through my head. I cling, cleave and hold fast to God that He will provide a way.

If You Can Dream, You Can Do It!

I sit in my bed feeling absolutely defeated. After having spent nearly my whole life pursuing one dream, everything lies shattered on the ground. Since I was a preschooler, I have wanted to become a doctor. I lived my whole life for that dream. But a series of serious health crises allowed underlying medical conditions—conditions I did not know I had—to rise to the surface. It seemed as though one minute I was running up and down stairs. The next, I was clinging to life.

I tried everything to get better. I went to endless appointments; I tried countless medicines. I changed my diet. I learned about alternative medicine. I started taking vitamins, minerals, herbs and supplements. My health continued to decline. I sought out various mental wellness teachers. Perhaps if I changed my mind, I could change my health.

During a bad migraine spell—one which left me bedridden and unable to lift my head off the pillow—I watched the motivational speech Wayne Dyer. I hung on to every word…but his words angered me. He kept saying, “If you can dream it, you can do it!”

This may be positive advice to people who do not dream, but I dream a lot! I dream all the time. I dream about not being afflicted by all my medical conditions. I dream about not living my life attached to a ventilator. I dream about being able to go back to medical school and becoming a physician. I dream so many things.

I decide I am just not trying hard enough. Perhaps I am allowing my medical conditions to dictate my effort. I try to push through my exhaustion and symptoms. Soon, my health deteriorates to such a state that my GI tract starts failing. I pushed too hard. I used too much precious energy. My body is giving out.
 

Night after night, my dreams comfort me. I dream I am free from all my health afflictions. It does not matter how much I dream, my dreams remain my dreams. Perhaps in an ideal world in which disease does not prevail, maybe then all we need to do is dream. Until then, I cling, cleave and hold fast to God that as I struggle through my health, I am able to endure to the end and receive the crown of life.

“Blessed is a man who preserves under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life which the LORD has promised to those who love Him.” (James 1:12)