Aug 25: health updates, problems with renter
-Appointment with rheumatologist: completely unproductive. She said, repeatedly, that my not responding to the prednisone was something she'd never seen before and was 'very unusual'. Funny, it never gets any better hearing that about my body. After establishing that I didn't have any symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, with the exception of the fatigue being multi-factorial, she clearly had no idea what to do. Her only thought was putting me on methotrexate, the most common 'starter drug' for autoimmune disorders, which is a mild form of chemo. I told her that if she wasn't sure I wasn't poisoning my body. She wanted to talk to the ophthalmologist after my being seen on Friday. She also wanted me to be seen by a specialist in the city, whose first appointment is mid-January.
-Saw ophthalmologist Friday. My eye is totally fine, although the glands are still swollen, left more than right. Understandably, she doesn't feel comfortable treating me for anything else. I'm now trying to get a new patient appointment with another rheumatologist, but the first available time is November 12. I have requested that the opth doctor call the rheum doctor, explain that I have refractory Sjogren's and ask for me to be seen sooner. Waiting to hear if that is done on Monday. In the meantime, the opth doc did the only thing she could do for me: injected steroids into the glands again. The hope is that by doing so I'll be able to taper down the prednisone. We'll see if it works this time.
-CPAP arrived on Tuesday--YEAH!! Again, I could tell the difference after using just one night, which is just thrilling. While I can't say that I feel any less tired, or have more energy or can function at any higher level physically, what I can say is that my mind is dramatically clearer, and that's huge. Apparently it can take two to four weeks to receive the full benefits of getting truly restful sleep, so we'll see how things progress. I'm not holding out hope that this is going to make everything OK, because there just simply is nothing that will change the symptoms of having a tiny valve opening trying to support an adult body, and the resulting surgical damage to heart, lungs and chest. But being more clearheaded, that's a huge improvement. Honestly, I was getting concerned while driving sometimes I was so out of it, including before the prednisone.
-During the repairs to the bathroom it was discovered by the plumber that all the downstairs pipes were disintegrating, he advised me to replace them within six months, the sooner the better. It took until now for me to save the money up for it, along with everything else that's come up of late. He had a sudden opening on Friday. I had told my tenant about the issue before, I then texted her that the next day, the 23rd, the plumber was coming and that there was to be 'no toilet, sink or water use' between 9 am to 3 pm. Since I've already stated 'problem with renter', you know what's coming. Just after the plumber removed a particularly bad segment, which fell apart in his hands, the renter flushed the toilet and used the sink, causing all the excrement that was immediately below the area to be splattered all over him, his assistant and my basement. On my irate call to the tenant, who was very perturbed that I was furious, she said she hadn't forgotten, but since the water was on she figured it was OK to use everything. It wasn't, of course, because the problem wasn't water coming into the house but going out of it. The plumber, understandably, added $100 onto his charges for the inconvenience and additional time and clean-up that was necessary.
My decision is to tell her that she owes me the $100 in compensation, and that if she doesn't pay that I will be giving her notice to vacate the apartment. I've written about several times where her behavior has been unacceptable, but I told myself it was worth it because of the regular checks that never bounce from the County, her being fairly quiet and not being a convicted convict. (See the postings from later summer/early fall of 2010 if you don't remember that reference.) But her continued passive-aggressive behavior, constantly calling either me or my handyman about any tiny perceived problem (which is usually groundless) and her frequent whining and unpredictability are now outweighing the positives. While I hate to lose the rental money at the point when I'm moving towards disability and will need that income even more, and the expense of cleaning and re-painting before another tenant, the stress of dealing with her is really getting to me. She clearly has psychiatric issues, and I just don't need this stress in my life. It's one thing if you have a renter somewhere else, it's another to have one that lives in the same house. When it works, it's wonderful, but when it doesn't there is no escaping.
So that's the update. Thanks for checking in, Laurie
-Saw ophthalmologist Friday. My eye is totally fine, although the glands are still swollen, left more than right. Understandably, she doesn't feel comfortable treating me for anything else. I'm now trying to get a new patient appointment with another rheumatologist, but the first available time is November 12. I have requested that the opth doctor call the rheum doctor, explain that I have refractory Sjogren's and ask for me to be seen sooner. Waiting to hear if that is done on Monday. In the meantime, the opth doc did the only thing she could do for me: injected steroids into the glands again. The hope is that by doing so I'll be able to taper down the prednisone. We'll see if it works this time.
-CPAP arrived on Tuesday--YEAH!! Again, I could tell the difference after using just one night, which is just thrilling. While I can't say that I feel any less tired, or have more energy or can function at any higher level physically, what I can say is that my mind is dramatically clearer, and that's huge. Apparently it can take two to four weeks to receive the full benefits of getting truly restful sleep, so we'll see how things progress. I'm not holding out hope that this is going to make everything OK, because there just simply is nothing that will change the symptoms of having a tiny valve opening trying to support an adult body, and the resulting surgical damage to heart, lungs and chest. But being more clearheaded, that's a huge improvement. Honestly, I was getting concerned while driving sometimes I was so out of it, including before the prednisone.
-During the repairs to the bathroom it was discovered by the plumber that all the downstairs pipes were disintegrating, he advised me to replace them within six months, the sooner the better. It took until now for me to save the money up for it, along with everything else that's come up of late. He had a sudden opening on Friday. I had told my tenant about the issue before, I then texted her that the next day, the 23rd, the plumber was coming and that there was to be 'no toilet, sink or water use' between 9 am to 3 pm. Since I've already stated 'problem with renter', you know what's coming. Just after the plumber removed a particularly bad segment, which fell apart in his hands, the renter flushed the toilet and used the sink, causing all the excrement that was immediately below the area to be splattered all over him, his assistant and my basement. On my irate call to the tenant, who was very perturbed that I was furious, she said she hadn't forgotten, but since the water was on she figured it was OK to use everything. It wasn't, of course, because the problem wasn't water coming into the house but going out of it. The plumber, understandably, added $100 onto his charges for the inconvenience and additional time and clean-up that was necessary.
My decision is to tell her that she owes me the $100 in compensation, and that if she doesn't pay that I will be giving her notice to vacate the apartment. I've written about several times where her behavior has been unacceptable, but I told myself it was worth it because of the regular checks that never bounce from the County, her being fairly quiet and not being a convicted convict. (See the postings from later summer/early fall of 2010 if you don't remember that reference.) But her continued passive-aggressive behavior, constantly calling either me or my handyman about any tiny perceived problem (which is usually groundless) and her frequent whining and unpredictability are now outweighing the positives. While I hate to lose the rental money at the point when I'm moving towards disability and will need that income even more, and the expense of cleaning and re-painting before another tenant, the stress of dealing with her is really getting to me. She clearly has psychiatric issues, and I just don't need this stress in my life. It's one thing if you have a renter somewhere else, it's another to have one that lives in the same house. When it works, it's wonderful, but when it doesn't there is no escaping.
So that's the update. Thanks for checking in, Laurie
posted by Laurie @ 5:49 PM
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