Saturday, August 25, 2012

Noon at 9 O’Clock, Team Bist du Stark and Sooner Rather Than Ladder


It had been a few days since our last sighting of the frog formerly known as “the little one.”  Now it is the middle-sized one and we were getting worried that something had happened to “Noon.”  We sat down to eat dinner in the screen house and Jeff said, “There’s one of them on the rocks!”

I looked over at our little round pond and said, “It’s Noon!”

Jeff said, “No, it isn’t.  It’s 3 O’Clock.”

We simultaneously realized that both of the little ones were there but not in their usual places.  I said, “Oh, do you see Noon at 9 o’clock?”

Jeff said, “Yes, and 3 O’Clock is at 6 o’clock.”  He laughed at our ridiculous conversation and decided it was a little like Abbott and Who’s On First.  For your listening pleasure, here is the classic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sShMA85pv8M

Jeff was very tired on Tuesday, the third night he applied his clown make-up medication for his face rash.  He is supposed to rinse it off after 10 minutes but when I suggested that it had undoubtedly been 10 minutes already, he sat inert.  He watched TV through TWO more commercial breaks and finally rinsed.  The next night he realized he was too burnt to do another treatment.

The dermatologists saw Jeff on Thursday and agreed he was burnt and that he should discontinue the treatment.  Jeff thinks he may use the mask once a week since it did seem to help.  He will, however, have to use it as directed!  Another medication was prescribed which is often not covered by insurance for patients past twenty years old.  It is an acne treatment.  A second medication was prescribed in case the first was prohibitively expensive.  On Friday, I went to the pharmacy and picked up the medication.  It was $45 which is more than our usual Rx co-pay but less than the bazillion dollars that the dermatologist suggested it may cost.  Jeff used it this morning and said it dried his skin.  That might be good since pustules continue to appear.  The rash is beginning to appear on his chest as well although this area does not appear to be infected.

Jeff asked the doctors why this continues to be a problem for him.  They said it was due to the low dosage of Prednisone he is now taking, “Less steroid, more rash.”  They do not seem overly concerned.

Kim and I visited Bartram Gardens in Philadelphia this morning.  Then we had lunch at a bar where Kim had seen Harrison Ford filming on Monday (it’s near her work), and then we went Shopping For A Cause at Macy’s.  Our cause is, of course, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s The Dude Hates Cancer event.  The link to Kim’s team’s webpage is available from their picture at right or you can link to Kim’s page here:  http://epa.tdhc2012.llsevent.org/ng/index.cfm/b340ae/regPages/pledge/KIMLOUX/

While Kim and I were shopping, Jeff installed a small air conditioner in our bedroom.  It is a wall unit to assist our central a/c on the hottest nights when the upstairs doesn’t quite stay cool enough.  Our old, old, old, old unit broke this summer and although we have not needed it much this year, some years we really do need the extra boost.  Naturally, the new unit required a differently-sized hole in the wall than the old unit.  Jeff started this project a couple of weeks ago and petered out.  He tried several times to get the job done.  This is the kind of project that would have been a small task for the old Jeff.  I began to worry that the new unit would be out of warranty before we ever plugged it in.  Uncharacteristically, Jeff had left the ladder propped to the back of the house from start (weeks ago) until finish.  I mowed around the ladder at least twice.  Jeff suggested painting the ladder white to match the house so he wouldn’t have to take it down at all.  Ha!  Anyway, it was a nice surprise to see the project finished on the outside at least, the siding replaced and ladder collapsed on the grass.  Jeff will need to have help returning the ladder to the garage.

Week two at 2.5 mg of Prednisone begins tomorrow.  Continued prayers, please, for a successful taper.

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