10:44am September 11, 2014

Thank you so much…

I forgot to thank whoever sent the huge shipment of medical gloves a couple weeks back.  Medical gloves are a major medical expense for me, so whoever sent them, I can’t thank you enough.  This makes it possible for me to do other things like get the trackpad on my computer repaired, or paying for extra Benadryl that Medicare won’t pay for, or things like that.  There are always more expenses than there is money, so I’m always letting something slide in favor of something else that’s more important.

Gloves are important because staff here have to wear them every time they do anything that even remotely involves handling bodily fluids.  Since most of their job revolves around my feeding tube, that means lots and lots and lots of gloves get used, even when they try to conserve them.  And I have to use them at least four times a day myself, to take my butt pills (Phenergan, for nausea, crucially important, and I refuse to stick things up my butt without clean gloves on).

I am just trying to give you an idea what these things go towards, when you pay for them.  I mean some of the things on my wish list are just… recreational, that kind of thing, but some of them are vitally important for medical reasons.  I love getting both kinds of gifts, but I have to say when I realize that I won’t have to pay for a medical expense that always results in a big chunk of my money going down the drain, I actually cry a little.  And it amazes my caregivers too, when they open a random box from my mail and it turns out to be something we needed really badly but never counted on anyone actually buying, like the three different drainage bags we’ve got now, which is more than I’ve ever had before, which gives me a lot more security about the future.  We all get shocked by things like random drainage bags appearing in the mail.  And also gloves.  They know how much these things cost, so they know someone out there bought them for someone they just know on the Internet, and that amazes all of us.

I love the notes I get with a lot of the Amazon purchases, too.  I save all of them.  They sometimes mean more to me than the actual purchases.

And if I haven’t thanked you for something yet, there was awhile when I wasn’t feeling well and was having trouble writing things.  But I thought about it, a lot.  

And whoever sent the gloves – as usual, I can’t thank you enough.  The gloves make a huge difference for all of us here.  Also one of my caregivers likes this kind a lot because even though they’re medium sized and his hands are big, these are thin and stretchy so he can actually make them fit.  The rest of us have medium to small hands so they fit fine.

anyway… just thank you.  I can’t say it often enough, I can’t convey my gratitude strongly enough, you are making my life better in a very tangible way.

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