Best Of

sfcakes, Ava is starting to pay less attention to it. It is not noisy unless I turn it to turbo which is loud and probably could freeze me where I sit even at 75 which I find comfortable.

tougholdcrow, I am glad you husband is doing better. Thank goodness for the meds we have nowadays but yeah, that can be a running joke for both of you with him getting a plague vs the terminal breast cancer.

Mel, must not miss commenting but Theo looks quite happy and well taken care of.

Hey all, happy post-fourth. I am on an island. Just before we left on this vacation, a very strange thing happened. My husband contracted an infection from a bacteria which is a close cousin of the medieval plague. Nobody can figure out how he got it. No, we did not sail here on a ship full of rats. I did ask, how could my husband (whom I do love madly) outdo me with a terminal breast cancer diagnosis. Oh, contract the plague! Who would have guessed? He doing very well now. Thinking of you and all of your wonderful stories and wishing you all a sorrow-free and plague-free weekend.

Mel - Additionally, I too continue to be very bummed about Emac and Spookiesmom. It's just so hard to take in the horrors of this dread disease. Two wonderful souls.

Hi to all the sweet friends here on Mel's porch. Hope you had a happy 4th and belated Canadian Day to those of you north of the border.

We celebrated 45 years today. It wasn't always easy, but love did carry us thru. His career as a Law Enforcement Officer of close to 40 years meant many different schedules, lots of overtime, a car accident, drawn weapons, loss of life but sweet moments, too. One favorite was when one of the officer's wife had arrived at city hall to pick him up. She was so darn past due with baby 2 and was just miserable. DH shined his spot light on her belly and said "we are gonna hatch this chick tonight". It worked. LOL Their baby girl came the next day. Small departments are like family and we were blessed in that regard.

Injections in butt tomorrow, yuck. In pockets for scans and all your needs.

Tanya~ hello my sweet sister…. Thank you for asking about Theo. He’s the shining part of my days.

I have blood work and injections today. Scans and MO next month.

Thinking of all on here that are struggling.

My in-person local Zoom group lost another one to Stage 4 cancer this week. So sad.

sondraf sorry to hear about that whole hospital fiasco! That is one very long day, and I think I would’ve had a meltdown also!

in your pocket for your scan tomorrow.🤞🏻

Just an update from here.

I fretted all weekend about this "disability" thing. I had called the 800 number for Social Security on Friday and the woman said I needed to bring the LTD letter up to my local office this week. This morning I called the local office to ask if I needed an appointment or could just drop off the letter. I proceeded to ask this person if I was losing income, not gaining, did I need to report that. She said no. Then I asked if the income was due to LTD, and my LTD was stopping, is the SSD somehow linked to that. She said no. She said they have their own set of qualifications and it is not tied to an LTD company. So I am going with this. I took her name for my records. I told her I just wanted to do what is right and I didn't want to get into trouble. I then asked her when I am set to have another review of SSD. She could not tell from the computer.

Nothing like having the sword hanging over one's head on when the review will come, and will they think I can work with stable cancer. I have thought on it all weekend. I could not work a 40-hour workweek. I just do not have the stamina anymore, with the ongoing fatigue from the treatment. I am pretty good in the mornings and dwindle fast in the afternoons. And keeping a schedule of work plus taking care of homelife sounds daunting.

Edited to add: I am not going to fight the LTD determination. I am not up for a fight; I don't have the energy. I live off the SSD. That one was most important. I would have to fight for that, if it came down to that.

I did not necessarily want to reveal to Social Security this determination, but it says in our paperwork from Social Security that if you have a change in income, etc, etc you are to notify them immediately. It will be a lesser income with not having long-term disability anymore, but it is a change. And I thought it would be better to fess up now, rather than get "caught" not informing them and then they have me on frauding the Federal Government. So I called Social Security and she said to bring a copy of the letter to my local Social Security office. She took my name, social security number, etc so now I am on record (if they record phone calls).

I hate losing the long-term disability benefits, as every bit of income helps. But the bigger issue is the SSD. If I lose that I would have to go back to working full time, as that is my only source of income. That is my worry now. If the determination from the LTD company will sway SSD that I am no longer disabled.

I am not going to fight the LTD, but if it comes to SSD I may look into free legal aid, if there is free. I cannot give a portion of my SSD to a lawyer. I live on that income. My car needs a new transmission— that is more important than hiring a lawyer, as that is my only mode of transportation.