Consuela, that's horrible. I'm so sorry for you and your family.

I'm about to pull the trigger on another 5k, I think, by myself again (my friend was interested, but the timing isn't working for her). It's called the Aloha Run and the medal has a turtle and a mermaid. [link] (It's possible that my state of mind is such that the mermaid is what's making up my mind for me). I've been torn because it's the same weekend as Who Con and I didn't want to have to choose. But I think I've talked myself into trying to do both. I feel like the last few months...years...?...when my mom is hospitalized my life is all Work and the Hospital/Rehab, and when she's not hospitalized my life is all Work and my DVR. I live inside my head too much (even to the point of hardly posting here), and I think I need to Get Out Among the Humans more. I have another 5k the following weekend (Bubble Run, with friends), and I'm probably going to see In the Heights (LMM's previous show) the next weekend as well, but I'm trying not to let the prospect of being physically & mentally tired out stop me.

I think I was already in Say Yes to More Things mode (in theory), but I just wandered over to one of the Goodbye & Good Riddance threads and I was reading about other peoples' travel and whatnot and it's really reinforcing that I need to Get Out There more, even if just locally (and here) to start. Anyway, just felt like sharing that with you guys. So many of you will Get It better than my local crew.

Consuela, I am so sorry.

Epic, FWIW, I highly recommend getting out there more, even if you have to hibernate again in between Adventures. That's what I do. It's good for people like us.

I have just sent a vicious email to the insurance agent who is sending mail to my beloved at my new address. He obviously got the address from a utility that got moved to the address but still had Hubby's name on it. I told the agent in my best formal, edged language to stop trying to get money out of my dead husband. Granted, this agent isn't targeting me, he's just doing mass mailings, and he's the victim of the bad mood I'm in after an 11-hour day at work, but I have decided to start responding to the people who are working off mailing lists because I'm tired of seeing my beloved's name in my mail box.

Plus, what kind of businessman thinks spreading his name of Shay D. Conyer is a good idea? Honestly, the first time I saw it I thought it was a pun.

Shay D. Conyer has put All other thoughts and comments out of my head.

I can snuggle Hurricane Purrmiester two more minutes then must go to work. May all of you have some moments that make you as peaceful today.

Seriously? An insurance agent who calls himself "Shady"? That should go well.

Sorry he's causing you pain, Connie. Hope your response does the trick.

Shady Con-you? That's gotta be a joke. Seriously??

About an hour after the first email, I felt bad for insulting his name, so I sent another one apologizing for nastiness but reiterating my request not to get mail any more. And I got an email this morning apologizing for the intrusion and that he won't send me anymore mail. So it's all good.

I didn't mention yesterday -- the new gastroenterologist was so much better than the first one. He listened to me, and asked follow-up questions that indicated he had (gasp!) actually listened to me, and said a couple of things that let me know he looked at the results of my CT scan and MRI before the appointment, which pleased me.

He said based on the symptoms and how the pain responded to Nexium (and came back when I stopped the Nexium [which I did on purpose, to see if the pain would come back so I would have more data for New Doctor]), it's likely an ulcer.

He'd rather do an endoscopy to be sure, rather than just treat it, plus with an endoscopy he can get a sample to culture to see if it is caused by H. pylori. He said he doesn't feel an immediate need to to a colonoscopy, BUT (no pun intended) if the endoscopy is inconclusive, then he's going to want to do a colonscopy, so he recommended just doing them at the same appointment.

So, ugh, I'm getting them both done, on Sept. 11. He did tell me to restart the Nexium now, and then once there's confirmation of an ulcer, he'll add an antibiotic if that's what's called for.

So I guess...wish me an ulcer??? Because that's fairly easy to treat. And then this should finally be resolved.

As for Tim's tests, he won't have the results until next week. He said that doing the pulmonary function tests seemed a lot easier than last year, so that feels like a good sign. And even though I'm prone to letting my anxiety run away with me and assuming the worst, I've managed to stay fairly chill so far. Therapy has actually gotten me to a point where I can recognize -- and BELIEVE -- that if anxiety lies to *other* people, then *my* anxiety is also probably a big fat liar. And that is HUGE progress for me. I mean, I cannot stress strongly enough how big of progress that is for me.