Renovation Chaos

We gave the contractor the go-ahead on the renovation project on Sunday and on Monday--BAM--the bathroom deconstruction unexpectedly began. I was at the Dr. Chemo's office for my 6-month check-up and came home to my foyer rug turned upside down and the banging of hammers. I was immediately sent out for paint. I've made about eight home center runs this week.

It's hard to keep all the project characters straight. We have the contractor and sometimes one or two helpers. We have the patio guy, the shed guy, the plumber and son, the electrician and son, and the floor guy. George, Henry, Andy, Paul, Steve, Steve, Joe, Rich, ???, and Joe. With chemo brain, I can't get them sorted out.

The bathroom and closet (formerly utility room) are stripped to the studs. The entrance door has been reframed to accommodate a 36" door. Jim has chosen the paint colors he wants in the bathroom and bed/family room. The laundry room has new shop lights, most of its new paint, and most of its new ClosetMaid shelving. The plumber will bust up the floor tomorrow. The electrician will start rough wiring tomorrow. The floor guy will put the vinyl down in the laundry on Monday. The shed pad goes down on Tuesday and the shed will be delivered next week.

The rest of the outside work is waiting on the new patio door to arrive, which takes 6-8 weeks. The windows come in at the same time. So we have another wave of chaos to look forward to in several weeks.

Stefani's diabetic kitty foster is here for two weeks, closed up most of the time in the "separation room." Her name is SweetPea. She is OK, though a little standoffish, with people. She apparently hates other animals. During an introduction to Ennis, SP charged him, and luckily I got into the middle. Stefani called SP off, but I did get a little damage to my hands from SP's razor sharp nails. I have never seen such a healthy appetite on a cat, outside of a feral colony or cat room at a shelter. She has the cutest little phrweet instead of a meow. She's been scratching paint off the door jam of her room.

I saw Dr. Chemo on Monday. He apologized that his staff refused to become involved in my social security claim. Said he'd be glad to summarize my peripheral neuropathy condition in writing for my lawyer or Social Security. I'm not sure whether that is worth it because that is such a minor part of my condition.

Dr. Chemo also took me off Tamoxifin for a 6-week trial period. Some of my complaints are possibly Tamoxifin side-effects, such as insomnia, hot flashes, and short-term memory loss. If I feel significantly better off the Tamoxifin, we will do hormone testing to see whether I can be switched to another drug.

This morning I had an abdominal MRI--following the condition of my liver. Results sometime next week. I asked the MRI tech to note for the radiologist that I have had invasive breast cancer, so that he knows (at least from my point of view) that one of the things s/he is looking for is metastatic cancer.

The dentist starts massive restoration work on my teeth tomorrow. My teeth have continued to erode. I am so dreading the word dentures. I have tried most of my life to take very good care of my teeth, and now.....

I really need a break from all of this. The calendar is chock full. Jim suggested that I might want to cut back on some of my counseling because of the time demands of the house project. That wasn't where I was going with my "I'm so busy" comments.