STILL raining

Thursday June 7, 2012
Lithia Springs Park Site 40
Lithia, Florida

Note: if you mouse over the pictures there are “remarks”

Surprise, more rain!

 

 

Yesterday, Tuesday, Karen of Travels with Karen and Al commented that in Florida in the summer, the forecast is always rain.  (Now that’s comforting) She says that “it’s the rainy season  (yes indeedy)   and you normally get some rain just about every day – just not all day like this week has been”.  ( All rain, all day every day is how it’s shaping up.)  

 

 

Catherine and Jo Beth, of RV Crazy Travel Journal,  who also have lived in Florida, comment that hopefully you are” just getting into the summer rain pattern of afternoon showers”.   My 92 year old father, who has lived in nearby Largo for 30 years says the same….afternoon showers.  (I sure hope so. And soon)  But he qualifies with “however nothing about the weather seems to be what it used to be”. Ah sadly yes, thanks Dad.

 

 

There are lots of repercussions of rain, rain, rain for us.

 

I’m sure hoping that it is soon going to settle into what these folks have come to think of as the “regular routine”.  I can handle that if there is just at least some time for things to dry out.  Some time to be outside.  For the last week, everything is wet inside and out and it isn’t raining inside the coach “yet”.  Books are damp, the printer won’t pull the paper because the paper is too wet.  Bath towels are not drying and mildew is just around the corner.  The clothes I wore out running yesterday are wetter than they were when I returned and hung them up in the bathroom.  But we can’t run the AC 24/7 for the dehumidifying effects or we’ll freeze ourselves out.  Especially David with no meat on his bones.  I’m thinking I should have brought that stand alone dehumidifier we USED to have.  Be CAREFUL what you think you won’t need when you give up your “things”.

 

So this morning I can’t sit down by the water.  It’s raining.  I can’t do yoga outside.  It’s raining and even the patio mat and furniture are soaked.  But at least as I sit inside working, I can look at the rain falling into the river below me.  The drops are on the window edge, on the leaves, falling into the water.  The land is loving this rain even if I am not so much.

 

We both try to figure out how to work around this constant rain.

 
David needs to go for a walk every day but that’s tough with all the rain.  There are breaks but when you set out, you never know if 5 minutes later it’s going to pour.  He needs the exercise for his bones but not too much exercise lest he lose any more weight.  It’s a fine line that we aren’t sure he is walking correctly.   But this morning he takes the camera and gets the shots that are the main photos on this post.

 

 

 

While it continues to rain, I do some research on the chores that are piling up.  I’ve still got these spots on the fiberglass roof and they are really worrying me now with all this rain.  So I’m trying to figure out how to do something about them even if it won’t stop raining.  Can’t get up there and sand them down and do whatever I should to reseal them (all detailed directions or advice on how to do something is welcome here).  Can’t call a mobile tech, same rain problem, and there’s only one listed in RV Service Reviews for the Tampa area and the reviews for him were not good.  We are near enough to Lazy Days and we have several friends who have purchased their Class A’s from them and been very satisfied with the way they were treated.  BUT there are more than 20 reviews on RV Service Reviews which say exactly the opposite.  High hourly rate, poor service, would never use them again.   SIGH!  Research time spent with no result.  

 

 

On to tires for Ruby. 

Ruby’s front passenger tire has had a slow leak for some time.  Actually a LONG time but David’s decision was just to keep topping it up with air.  My decision is that the front tires need replacing so I go on line to Tire Rack and spend eye glazing hours looking at the tires for this make and model of car.  Comparing this one to that one, reading all the reviews and the summaries.  I think I’ve decided what to buy and I think I’ve decided where to have them shipped for mounting and balancing.  Now the problem is when.  We have to leave Lithia on Sunday, our two weeks are up.  We have to go “somewhere” in the rain for at least a week before we can come back for our last 2 week stay here before moving to Quail Run.  Those two weeks are rapidly filling up with the pre transplant screening doctor’s appointments.  You don’t even want to hear about all of those.  I think I’ve counted 10 in 4 days.  But at least I know what I want to do about the tires.  That’s some progress.  How could I possibly do this without the internet?

 

After my progress/no progress, I realize it’s time to drive to Brandon.

 

 

Having driven this 10 mile route so many times since it is where David has his shots done on Tuesdays and Fridays, I think I can drive it in my sleep.  His Revlimid prescription was SUPPOSED to be delivered to the clinic Tuesday so he could pick it up at his regular appointment.  RXtoGO, the Pharmacy which provides this chemo drug, is SUPPOSED to do this each month.   For the past THREE they have not been able to manage to get it there on time and once again I have to make a special trip to pick it up.  What in the world would happen if we were on the road, in a different place each month I wonder???

 

Of course I could only drive this in my sleep if it weren’t raining.  HA! Rain, my favorite driving condition.  Oh no actually my second favorite, snow is my most favorite. Guess I can be thankful it’s only rain.  At least I know these roads so well well that when it starts coming down in sheets, it’s not quite as nerve wracking as it might be otherwise.

 

 

 

I must confess, I have an ulterior motive.

 

 

After picking up the medication I turn left out of the parking lot, go two blocks and pull  into Campbell’s Dairyland.  I actually volunteered for this Revlimid run because Dairyland has a “special” every day and Thursday’s is the Reece’s Sundae.  Normally $5.50. 

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t believe that in 4 months I have never been here on a Thursday?  I’m calling it a late lunch and it’s big enough to as a meal.  Are you getting the sense that the ice cream intake for yours truly seems to be going up steadily??

 

 

 

 

 

After I finish my sugar feast, I make another less fun stop, in the rain, to pick up some over the counter medications that David is prescribed to help with the side effects of the chemo drugs.  The category “medicine” in my monthly financial records is growing by leaps and bounds.

 

Still no break in the rain.  We haven’t even put the table cloth on the picnic table since it doesn’t stop raining long enough to sit outside to cook or eat.  The poor grille just sits there waiting.

 

Later in the evening, David watches some of Ken Burn’s National Parks series with a big bowl of popcorn.  We continue to try to put weight on him any way we can.  But that’s tough leaving out dairy and sugar.   We have the entire Burns’ series on DVD and enjoyed watching it as we traveled out west last year and enjoy it now hoping some day we may be able to do some of it again, see places we didn’t get to. 

 

“Hope is a thing with Feathers, that perches in the soul.” **

Although in honesty it isn’t looking good for long term travels since it will be very hard for David to have the kind of follow up that this type of cancer requires and also be on the road.  It’s beginning to look like he may be forced into a home base where he can have large series of blood work done each month to check the status of the myeloma.  But we won’t know any of this for absolutely certain until we see how he comes out of the transplant.  We’re trying to imagine ways in which we could continue to full time even with the necessity of having not just a hematologist, but a Myeloma Specialist that he can see each month. 

I’ve gotten a number of encouraging reports from commenters about friends and relatives who have had successful stem cell transplants and are leading normal lives again.   Those sound very hopeful.  But unless their transplant was for this specific type of blood/plasma cancer, the situations aren’t really comparable.

 

I hold Emily close.

 

We spend an increasing amount of time gathering information online from other Myeloma sufferers about their history and experience and from on line sites specifically related to Myeloma research and treatment.  We want to be aware of every option and to have our eyes open and know what to expect.  There are times when I wonder if increasing our knowledge is really wise.