Becky's Journal

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Here I am, trying to use LJ again.  :)  We will see how long this works.  :)

So, spring of last year, I found out from work that my license had been suspended.  It turned out to be an error.  The county had told DMV to suspend me for failure to appear even though I *had* appeared and made payment arrangements for a fix it ticket.  I got it straightened out with the court and DMV within a week and since then, my DMV record has consistently showed no problems.

Yesterday I spoke with Geico about my auto insurance and they said they were going to be DOUBLING my monthly payments because of last year's suspension.  What???  I looked at my record on the DMV website and sure enough, the suspension was back (resolved, but still there).

So now I've got to take time out of a workday (at my new job; I can't be just bopping off to do errands whenever) to go to the traffic court and probably also DMV to get this resolved.  Because that's *totally* what I want to be doing, losing wages to deal with this stupid crap that's not my fault.

Meanwhile ozzwepay and I have been renting a room from cerulean_me and family (and paying $500 a month to keep a bunch of stuff in storage) and hoping to save up money for a place of our own where I can also get one or more kids back to living with me.  He's been out of work for a while and is looking for a job (tech support, email, spam stuff -- if anyone knows of a position, let me know).  The rents in the area in the past year have gotten to be completely out of control.  To give you some idea, in 2011 I was paying $1750 for a three bedroom, two bathroom duplex in a decent part of San Jose.  I just looked on Craigslist and found that comparable units in the same area are now renting for at least $3200; most of them are closer to $3800.  I am beginning to despair of ever being able to rent again.  Even if I go for a two bedroom unit I'm looking at at least $2500.  I don't even make that much per month, and most places want you to make at least three times the rent per month.

If I didn't have my mom and the kids here I would move out of the Bay Area in a heartbeat.  But I am stuck.  Please tell me how a regular lower middle class working person is supposed to be able to survive here?  (Section 8 has a waiting list many years long and the list hasn't been opened up in ages anyway.  There are no other low income housing programs available, and anyway I've found that I make too much or too little for most of the controlled rent places around here.  Catch-22.)

Misty was up throwing up throughout the night last night but was pretty much better by bedtime, thank goodness.  She bounced back way faster than I did.  And as for me I've got some unpleasant gas and a little dizziness but am basically better.  Yay.

Ricky had his DEXA scan today.  He has this once a year because of his CF causing mineral deficiencies (which hopefully he makes up for by drinking close to a gallon of milk a day) and because he takes Heparin, Prednisone, and anti-convulsants on a regular basis.  After that we had Panda Express.  While we were doing all of this Misty was recovering at my mom's.

That's basically it for today.  The weekend is... Freeeeeee so far.  I can't remember the last time I've been able to say that.  Sadly, the most exciting thing I can think of to do is sleep.  *sigh*

ETA:( videos of Ricky's DEXA scans present (first) and past (second -- 2008) )

I would like to have the prince from Katamari for my BFF.  :)  Because he can gather up all sorts of awesome stuff for me!!

Recent new-ish pic of me

As many of you know, my son Andrew (13) suffers from anxiety and depression as a result of past trauma (PTSD). Over the years, he has been on various medications for this and for related conditions (such as trouble sleeping). His depression manifests in various ways, and being a teenager has made him even worse in some ways.

Right now he's on a combination of medications -- Effexor for depression and Clonidine for impulse control and to help him sleep. The Clonidine has had the excellent side effect of helping him with some other physical problems he has been dealing with.

Last week I noticed that Andrew was running low on his Effexor. I called the refill request in to the pharmacy. I expected that it would be ready in a day or two... Not right away because the doctor needed to approve the refill request.

A couple of days went by, and Andrew ran out of Effexor. I knew that we had to get more ASAP because he crashes hard when he suddenly goes off of this med. I mean, the depression and anxiety are probably 10x worse than how he was even before he was on meds. We can maybe limp by a day or two but it gets bad after that.

Come Sunday Andrew was out of sorts. He moped around the house, didn't talk to me much. He didn't respond to me when I told him it was lunchtime. At dinnertime he came storming downstairs demanding food. He was angry about not getting lunch. He started screaming at me and pounding on the walls. I sent him upstairs to cool down and he stood in his room and pounded on things up there, crying and screaming. Eventually he came out of his room and downstairs and announced that he was going to go into traffic and kill himself.

I followed him out the door to make sure he didn't do that. I took the phone with me and called the pharmacy to find out what the holdup was. I was told that the pharmacy had been in contact with the insurance company (actually Medi-Cal, state insurance that we have because we are low income and my job does not provide health benefits). The insurance company was requiring prior authorization. But I was welcome to come get meds from the pharmacy, one day's worth for $19. Great.

While I was on the phone, Andrew ran into the street (luckily we don't live on a busy street) and then back again and tried to attack me. I decided he needed to go to the hospital.

I took Andrew to the county emergency psychiatric unit, which is luckily just a few miles away. He was admitted in right away after I did a little bit of paperwork. They assessed him and kept him overnight. He had his meds and came home the next day feeling a lot better, and much more safe at home.

I went down and paid $19 for a day's worth of pills (that's two Effexor XR 75mg capsules!) for today and called the pharmacy today to ask what was up.

You know what they said? The real reason for the delay was that Medi-Cal had decided that Andrew should be on one 150mg capsule instead of two 75mg capsules. This was their reason for delaying the prescription. For which they will have to pay for his overnight hospital stay. I was so angry. Of course Andrew can swallow a slightly bigger capsule. That would have been preferable to, say, him becoming suicidal. But to me it just seems like a stalling tactic. Maybe if we didn't bother with it, we'd go away and they wouldn't have to pay for his medication?

I looked up the medication. I thought... Maybe the bureaucrats down at Medi-Cal were trying to save the taxpayers money. (I had my doubts about this, since when we switched to Medi-Cal they actually insisted we switch from the less expensive generic to the outrageously expensive brand name! What the heck??) So I found out that the 75mg capsules are two for $19. The 150mg are $17 each. So I suppose they are saving themselves a few dollars. Although anyone in healthcare can tell you that Medi-Cal rarely pays more than a tiny percentage of what they are billed. I have some outrageous examples from my son Ricky's past hospital bills. But I will save that for another time.

So to save a few bucks, Medi-Cal delayed Andrew's prescription. And he ended up in the hospital. It may have worked out okay, but what if he had hurt himself or someone else? What then? I am very angry about this. I don't know what can be done but... It seems to me that something needs to change in this state, to the state of the mental health care/general health care systems. Red tape is coming before patients' health and safety. Where did things go wrong? They are so, so wrong.

Thanks for the nudges. I really am alive. As some of you know, we did score a great house and moved in, in the middle of May. It's a charming little 98 year old farmhouse in the Rosegarden area of San Jose. It's actually not TOO little... Four bedrooms and two baths, with a 10,500 sq ft lot. It's HUGE. And I finally have my own garden. Like, an in-the-ground garden, not in containers.



There are lots more pictures of the house here. It's an old house and as such we have been dealing with lots of old house issues... Windows that won't open or are otherwise defective, a garage that needs work (and therefore we have EVERYTHING in the house... it's still quite cluttered and maddening, especially to Liz), no air conditioning (I'm the fan queen), funny construction (the house seems to slant downhill in places, for instance). But overall... We love it. We have christened it "The Farmhouse in the Garden" (or FiG). :)

(And if any of you would like my new address, please let me know.)

Things with the kids are going okay. We've had to shuffle around school placements. We are now in San Jose Unified School District, the biggest one in the area but not without its faults and frustrations. At this point it looks like Andrew will be allowed to keep his county program placement. Ricky will be going to the same high school as Liz's son Kevin, which is down in south San Jose by their old house. There's a life skills program there that's a lot like the one he was going to transition into in the old district. Both boys are going to be in summer school. Well, Ricky is right now; Andrew starts on July 5 (my birthday). Andrew's county program is the same one Ricky was in for 2-1/2 years so ultimately Andrew will graduate from the same middle school Ricky did. :) Misty is going to be starting kindergarten in the fall (!) and turns 5 next month. She will be going to the neighborhood school. And she is EXCITED.

In June I have had plenty of hours but that will be changing because the library's hours are changing drastically starting next week and all branches will be on a four day schedule. I am not sure how this will ultimately affect me; we shall see.

Oh, the new house is a block and a half from the Y. So we have renewed our membership and have been walking over to swim a lot lately. In fact tomorrow I am going back there with the kids (mine and Kevin).

And now... The knee saga. Sigh. I'm on state funded insurance. I injured my knee in December. My doctor refused to do anything until March, saying it could heal.  Then I had a negative x-ray and she referred me for an MRI which I finally got 3 months later (because the wait was that long). Then she waited 3 more weeks even to give me my results and I had to hound staff and dial random extensions to get an appt. Turns out I have a torn medial meniscus, torn MCL, and patellofemeral syndrome, which has caused knee instability and made me fall down the stairs in the new house twice, injuring my other knee similarly. It has now been 6 months since my original injury and I am looking at a wait of at least 3 months to see a surgeon. And then? Who knows.

So that's it for now... I will again promise to be a more regular correspondent. I spent a lot of today catching up on other people's LJs. I hope you haven't all given up on me!

So much going on.

House hunting... Looking for a new place with foreverlizzy and her son Kevin. There are precious few houses big enough in the high school district. We went to see a PERFECT one on Sunday. Well, close to perfect. It had been almost entirely remodeled. It's a four bedroom, two bath house with completely new kitchen and bathrooms, double pane windows, and a yard! We applied for it on the spot. There were three other families applying.

We gave the owner of the house a day to run the credit checks and then Liz called today. The guy told her that they're still running the credit checks and checking the references and that he hopes to have an answer before Friday. Please pick us. Please please please. I don't want to get to the point where I am *desperate* for a place to live. I want to be somewhere where we are comfortable and have time to move in and settle down.

I spent today sitting with Liz, helping her pack some, and also being there when she and her family said goodbye to their pit bull Lulu, who cannot move with us. Luckily, Lulu has found a wonderful home. Yay!

Guess that is all for now, for this public entry. I need to get to bed! It's spring break, but I do have a doctor's appointment in the morning so I can't sleep in.

Time for a new list!

1. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson (audiobook and Nook) finished 1/1/11
2. The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond (audiobook and nook) finished 2/8/11
3. Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult (audiobook) finished 3/27/11
4. The Widower's Tale by Julia Glass (audiobook) finished 4/14/11
5. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (audiobook and nook) finished 4/26/11
6. Bonk by Mary Roach (audiobook) finished 5/16/11
7. Lucky by Alice Sebold (audiobook) finished 5/20/11
8. Miracle Cure by Harlan Coben (audiobook) finished 5/26/11
9. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (audiobook and nook) finished 6/2/11
10. The Mind's Eye by Oliver Sacks (audiobook) finished 6/13/11
11. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (nook) finished 7/3/11
12. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (nook) finished 7/12/11
13. Ape House by Sara Gruen (nook) finished 7/25/11
14. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (audiobook) finished 7/25/11
15. Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich (audiobook) finished 8/2/11
16. Long Gone by Alafair Burke (audiobook) finished 8/16/11
17. Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell (audiobook) finished 8/19/11
18. Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman finished 8/27/11
19. Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner (audiobook) finished 8/29/11
20. God, No by Penn Jillette (audiobook) finished 9/4/11
21. Rescue by Anita Shreve (audiobook) finished 9/8/11
22. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (audiobook and nook) finished 10/6/11
23. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (audiobook, read by Wil Wheaton) finished 10/13/11 EXCELLENT
24. Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner (audiobook and nook) finished 10/24/11
25. The Kingdom of Childhood by Rebecca Coleman (nook) finished 11/4/11
26. Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho (audiobook) finished 11/12/11
27. My Life on the Run by Bart Yasso (nook) finished 11/20/11


Links to previous years' lists:
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005