...but it looks like they are probably grinding, at least.
This is a Cancer Post™ (along with associated issues).
And fair warning, I'm a tiny bit PG-13 today. No F-bombs (probably), but there may be others.
I'm pissy about what my mom calls "the moving target that is cancer." I like to feel like there's some control over life. My ex-husband would probably call me a control freak (and who knows, Laston might too) but I just like to feel like there is control, even if it's not mine. With cancer you don't get that shit; there is no control, and all you can do is roll with the punches. Well, we're pretty battered by the punches over here, and we'd love to have a break from them.
Laston's UI insurance ran out a few weeks ago. Although I have been on UI before (more often than I'd like, frankly), I hadn't realized that the automatic extensions are only there during times of serious recession. In the normal scheme of joblessness, the assumption is that one should be able to find "suitable employment" in six months, so there.
Which works great if (a) you don't have chemotherapy and associated medical thingies to attend weekly or more, and (b) you have **any spoons** whatsoever.
Even if he had the spoons on a more regular basis, people don't want to hire him, because of the scheduling issues. They can't reject him because he's sick - that would violate ADA regulations - but they can reject him because he can't predict his schedule with a reasonable amount of, well, predictability.
In any case, we went down to the SSA on Tuesday to find out if he qualifies for disability. He damn well should; he's paid into said system for something like 35 years.
And he probably does. They'll let us know in eight to ten business days (from last Tuesday). And then another eight to ten days after that (assuming he qualifies), the SSA deposits a check into our joint checking account.
The good news? That's a check for both April and May. And he may qualify for other assistance (but they didn't want to slow this one down - it's fast-tracked - by adding others in there).
The bad news? He won't get it until mid-June. After his birthday, natch (and my ex-husband's (Abby's dad) birthday too, for that matter).
Why'd you have to be born in June, guys? Come on.
It's before Fathers' Day, at least. So there's that.
Anyway, there's enough for bills, but we're scraping for extras, and it's pissing me off. I could work overtime (and I did earn some overtime pay on Memorial Day) but I also need to be here taking care of people.
Bleah. Sorry. Rant over.
So, the Good Stuff: Laston's tumor marker numbers are down! This is the Best Thing of the Good Stuff. We probably get SSDI for him. He should be feeling better after tomorrow, when we go to Swedish Edmonds to get this excess fluid in his abdomen drained (rah, rah, chemo side effects, yay. Ugh). In fact, he feels pretty good today, because yesterday they gave him a two-hour infusion of magnesium as well as the short-chemo-day mix called Erbitux.
Everyone else in the family is fairly healthy.
Lizzy has just discovered the plight of the house-elf.
So that's normal, at least.
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