Steak and squash and salad actually sounds great. But the drunk deer chili turned out very good. Could have had a little more heat to it, so I'll adjust that next time.

I'm glad the day is going ok for you, -t.

I have to figure out what all I need to get done tonight ahead of tomorrow's snow. I think just the trash and I'll go ahead and pull the can out. And then fill water jugs. That's it, probably.

Inspired by Top Chef this week, I made smothered chicken for dinner. I was impatient and burned the chicken slightly. It was okay.

I am having graham crackers.

Santa Monica has given me dose #1, and they have given me 6. I...I don't know what to make of it. And I really don't know if I'll get dose #2, which I will need, but at least they've got me down from off the ledge.

As soon as they said the doctor's name I became optimistic. I remember that name. He's got the same surname as that person from that show I like. I remember that doctor being nice.

And he's still nice, because he asked if I want 6. I also asked for oxygen, to be sure THERE ARE NO ISSUES. Because I am not actually cavalier with my life, you stupid fuckers.

I wish I could rely on this being my replacement ER, but it's a whole 'nother gamble. and they're nowhere near as big as RR, and when they get full up it could be way tedious.

Here's what happened at the other hospital:

1. I wait 4 hours, 2 in the waiting room, two in a bed
2 The nurse and resident are nice, concerned with my health, and trusting of my knowledge about my treatment.
3. I wait another hour after the resident tells me there is an agreement about how much I will get, weekly. It is a good agreement.
4. The nurse comes back from lunch to find out what dose I was on (she was going to tell them I could handle 3), and the answer is 0
5. She goes to eavesdrop and comes back feeling sure the news is bad.
6. Dr IsADick comes back and tells me they can give me: fluids; anti-inflammatory, anti-emetic. The agreement with my doctor is weekly opiates, and I was last here Monday, so no dilaudid for me today.
7. I explain: this is the first week of the agreement, I didn''t know when the clock started; last weekend was a long weekend; we'll need to reset to Sundays, because I clearly can't do this every Monday
8. Dr. Dick tells me it doesn't matter because this isn't appropriate treatment and my doctor cannot make agreements for my treatment in the Er and they will not page him so I can get new instructions....maybe he can find his email address (he never comes back)

Apart from, oh, everything else, I find it horrifyingly rude that their standard operating procedure is #6 then #8. Any doctor or nurse who balks always puts up some sort of procedure-related objection that if I push at even the least little bit they quickly replace it with "Fuck you, you can't have any."

Do other people not push? Do they have to play this game with everyone? Is it just doctor dancing? The number of times I've heard "We never" "You have never" :It's not possible that" and they every time have reduced to "I don't care, I don't want to."

Fuck you. You run the place anyway. Start off with fuck you and save us all time and oxygen.

Dr. YouHaveAGoodName just came in and asked me what needs to be done to get my headache below a 5. I asked for 4 more mgs of dilaudid and he said fine and wandered off.

It's not perfect--they're also running two litres of saline, which dulls the impact, but it is so motherfucking better than RR has been in weeks that I'm marrying them all.

Egad ita, that's unfuckingacceptable! You're right that you are getting caught in some power play, but it's absolutely boggling to me why they refuse to treat you!

I can plan to be around tomorrow if you need me, just call or text.

Oh thank goodness for SM hospital!

This is also what passes for meal planning at my house.

Corn on the cob. Can I implant that suggestion? I think I have one ear left that's not going to get cooked in time. Sadface. Someone should be having some somewhere though, and who better than a Buffista???

(Someone on IO9 is excoriating me for being a perv who wants Judge Dredd gay because I have established a long history of forcing sexual attraction readings and fanfic onto canon. The conversation? "Judge Dredd is too fascist to not be asexual." "Why would fascism make you asexual? Here is a book with famous fascist sexual perverts" "Oh, so now you're saying all fascists are gay? Are all environmentalists furries?" "No, I said they can have erections." "FANFIC PERVErT" "Hitler and Lenin had sex drives" "STOP SHUTTING DOWN DISCOURSE WITH FAKE GAY" "I think I need to go now.")

ita's alleged doctors sound like they think her specialist is being blackmailed by ita into giving her drugs so they're seeing themselves in the roles of heroically saving her specialist from his folly.

I never say this, but they are so asking to be sued. If your doctor has privileges at that hospital and has filed orders with the ER (for a treatment that can't currently be done anywhere else), a doctor refusing to treat you is obscene.

I'm glad Santa Monica came through.

"Persistent and intractable" "chronically cyclic" "ample evidence"

Those are the sorts of phrases my neuro uses in framing his case.

For naught!

I'm so nervous to check my work email and see if the project is complete. Punk ita ! In the bad way.

ita, I"m glad that SaMo is working for you. I think they are a nicer setup than RR, personally. Even if the parking makes the Baby Jesus cry.

We did not take Grace to the hospital. I'm pretty sure she has either RSV or flu, both of which aren't treatable by anything we can't do at home. Can I keep her monitored at home? YES. Can I pump her full of fluids even if she won't drink? YES. Can she be on oxygen? YES. So in lieu of taking her in, we are keeping her here. I don't think her antibios are helping, but she will remain on them for the full course, cause that's how we do it here.

Her pulse is below a 100 which means she currently doesn't have a fever. With oxygen on, she's satting at 99, which is good. Of oxygen she is ranging between 87-90 sats. She was much more chipper and had more energy today, but she was on oxygen for almost all of it.

I think she'll stay home again tomorrow. She was supposed to have surgery on Tuesday, but we rescheduled. Nothing that can't wait.

Though we still have Santa Monica in our pocket and if things seem out of control, we'll take her to the ER tonight.