On the last day of February, I was very sick. Since I had not been able to keep my temperature down for several days (nor any food!), I decided it was time to go to the hospital. Boy, was I upset when they said the bad word - pneumonia!! But I wasn't the only one. The ER and hospital were FILLED with people who had had the flu and had it develop into pneumonia. I tried to rouse Jodi from her sick bed to go with me; but she didn't want to listen to me. So she paid the price and had to come to the hospital the next day. Her bout of pneumonia was much worse than mine. The pneumonia was in both of her lungs, plus she had a blood infection.

I was lucky (?) this year. My pneumonia was not PCP like last year but was the streptococcus kind. It didn't take too long for me to start getting over it this time. I was released from the hospital on Wed. (a day early. Yeah!). Jodi was terribly sick and ended up having to stay in the hospital for 7 days! On my way out, I had the wheelchair driver swing by her room so that I could see her. I sure wasn't going to come back for a visit and expose myself to anything else.

Unfortunately, we both might have a problem paying for our hospital trips. Although Jodi did sign up for insurance, they hadn't been taking any premiums payments from her checks and may not pay the bill. I found that because I had not used any medical benefits within two months, my Medicaid card had been canceled (on the day after I entered the hospital).

Jodi was quite sick and had to stay in the hospital for a whole week. Boy, I'm still no where near recovered and am having to play nurse. I'm glad I listened to Jodi telling me all about her nursing education from last year. LOL We had some good news though about our respective insurances - both are in full effect and covering the charges. My trip cost a little over $2300 and Jodi's ran over $4000 (she'll have to pay a deductible of about $690.)Whew! That sure is a relief.

Good News: Although, we had such a time trying to purchase a couch, we finally were well enough (and had the refunded money) so that we could try again - from a different store! Within 6 days of our purchase the sofas arrived (a queen sleeper and a dual recliner). Oh yes, everything still seems to be okay with the car, although I was too sick to do too much driving. LOL

my '94 Taurus	the new furniture

Bad News: After a trip to the doctor, I found out that I had been much, much sicker than I thought. My TCell counts were very low again (57), and the viral load count was the highest I have had yet (194,000). So as soon as I got the mess with my medical card straightened out, I started on a new regime of drugs. Some of these drugs are so new that I had to go online to find out about them. If the benefits of these meds weren't so good, I would not take any of these since the side effects are so strong.

It's been about a week on the new medications now and they are still messing with my body and mind quite a bit. I have found a way to take one of them (so new that it is still in liquid form and tastes like kerosene) without throwing up anymore. Which is a great relief. However, the mental effects from the other drugs is still very bothersome (drowsiness, insomnia, lack of concentration and focus, abnormal dreams, nausea). Some days, I am able to function well (My friend Cheryl and I chain sawed my hedges back into submission); while other days, I continue to stumble about the house and take frequent naps. Hopefully within 4 to 6 weeks, I should be doing much better, or so the online information says. LOL

the shortened front hedges	and the ones on the side

There was another reaction to the medications I have been taking. I was just waiting the "required" 10 days for it to start LOL. Well, right on time, the hives have started! I should be able to handle a little case of the hives after surviving 15 days last August with a severe case of the hives. (scratch, scratch) (Aren't you itching just a little bit too? LOL)