Virgil, a doctor and a special delivery.

Wow, what a week it has been.   The weather has been a roller coaster of chilly, rainy and flat out cold.
But we are keeping warm and comfy with the handy space heater. (No further fan mode goof ups)
The first small adventure, was with Virgil. While Sugar is content to stay within the realm of her kingdom, not bothering with the dirt of outside. Virgil is not so contented, and has made it a personal goal to get outside.     I'm fairly quick to spot him, so after many thwarted attempts, he incorporated Gordi into his plan. It was simple actually. Gordi only needed to delay her coming in the door behind Brikita. Delay, leads to begging by me, while Virgil made his mad dash to freedom.
Now Virgil has escaped before, from our apartment. He never went far, and was easily coaxed back inside by a shake of the treat bag, or maybe an actual corner and pick up by a shrub.
But there aren't any shrubs here, only the fence line, and pasture that contains animals much larger then the dog.
So out Virgil goes, into the dark, his dark coat acting as a cloaking device that would impress the Klingons. There is the chaos of me securing Gordi inside, obtaining flashlight and bagged treats and I venture out into the dark.
Now a few things about Virgil, he doesn't have a full meow. He usually makes strange click sounds and other odd noises. We aren't sure why. He can meow, (at 2am he sings a lovely cat song) But mostly, it's like trying to follow the sounds of Dolphins under water. The other dis-concerning fact about Virgil is he has no K-9 teeth. When he was adopted he had all his teeth. (I know this to be true, as he bit me, and he did indeed have all his teeth) When he lost his milk teeth, for some reason unknown to the vet, he never developed his "Big boy teeth" So, he is somewhat defenseless. I have had cats my whole life, and I used to let them outside. But many years ago, I moved away from that thought, do to fear of cars, disease, coyotes..
So I'm trudging about in the dark, and the cold, following the sounds of Flipper, I mean Virgil. I'm shaking the treat bag, baby talking the cat, and scanning the terrain for the cloaked bandit. We make a loop around the caravan, then he makes a slinking dash (Yes, he slinks) for the yard. He gets through the gate and freezes, at which point I scoop him up, and the verbal commentary takes a whole new road.
Deposited in the caravan, I am explaining how he can't go outside, the coyotes will get him, drag him off, cats taste like chicken, no more walking the plank, it goes on and on.
Then it hits me.
In the event Sarah, Dirk, or both are out wondering around, there is no sound barrier to a caravan and they are going to be on the ground laughing, and trying to hit record.
So, my voice drops, and the issue is dropped by giving everyone treats and being more careful with my little pet lectures.

He has had two more escapes, once when my son came,(my sons lecture involved language I won't share, but it was interesting as it was dark and I had no idea Virgil had slinked away into shadow) and another this am, when he learned that by climbing the screen door, it magically swings open. This mornings escape was less stressful, and I was able to keep him under the caravan, until the chicken, Larry came to visit. I think Virgil was a bit afraid of Larry.
Must learn to be more diligent with Virgil. And considering a collar with bells.

I went to the doctors on Thursday. It went well for the most part. I got on the scale to see the damage of the past few weeks. Even with a few layers of clothes on. I maxed out at 108 pounds. Not to good. But, not a shocker. I did learn that caretakers for Alzheimer and Dementia patients, have snack type foods readily available, so I started making sure I have simple things around, and I am snacking on things throughout the day. So hopefully, that will improve things.
The doctor took copies of more tests I've had done. I have a fairly large folding file, that contains several test results. We are working our way through them, slowly but surely.
The doctor and the PA are both supportive at this juncture (they haven't become flustered yet) The doctor has diagnosed me with Orthostatic Hypotension and Autonomic Neuropathy. Which doesn't come as a surprise to me. I already knew this. But now I have a doctor putting it in writing. That is a monumental event everyone. This craps serious now.. (It always has been, but no one wanted to put in it writing)
The research and information gathering I've done in the past few years has been difficult, in I know whats going on with my body, and I know what systems are starting to shut down, or go off line. I stopped sweating over a year ago. Heat intolerance is a huge issue, as is an inability to stay warm because with the digestive and appetite issues, one can't gain weight. The gait issues, the tremors, the muscle waste, the tendons seizing up, all points to few options.
Pure Autonomic Failure (PAF) or Multiple System Atrophy (MSA)
Neither come with a fantastic prognosis. There is little treatment available. More like manage the symptoms.

I've had to really think on these things. Had to take stock of my body, what it does, what it doesn't do, and there have been times of anger, fear, and grief.    I will be completely honest when I say. I've had enough crap to deal with in this life, why in the world did this happen to me?
No answers there. All I can do is accept it each day, and try to carry on. And every day it's a battle of wills.
I think of all the things I want to do, the books I want to read, the list goes on and on.    But it comes down to, what matters today.
As the saying goes. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.

The other bugger side of this is, with me being unable to work, I have zero income. My friends support me, and my sister sends money when she can.
I'm fully eligible for social security disability. But lets face it. I'll probably be half dead, or passed before I get a hearing. Its already been 18 months sense I applied. 2 denials and hurry up and wait for a hearing.

Now, on with it.

I have to say when the reality of the caravan, well became a reality, I was super excited. And I had a few people I called for information. The first person I called was my Dad.    I have a Father, and a Dad. My Dad Bob, is a huge supporter, always has been, always will be. He taught me so much growing up. So I obviously called him when we got the caravan because my awesome Dad has lived in a 30'+ travel trailer for 15 years on the desert of Eastern Utah. He has this caravan living stuff, down to a science. His caravan sits on 20 acres, and he has all the bells and whistles at his place.
So he had alot of information and advice, and he is very excited about the build of the tiny home next year. Dad spent many years in the designing aerospace drafting field, and more years in carpentry.
The other call I made was too a great friend and fellow driver, Lisa. Lisa has years of knowledge and years of hacks to help things run smoothly, and efficiently. And she was very helpful to share all kinds of tidbits with me about the caravan. How to seal things up, make things work well and just make life easier.
Lisa and I met driving carriages, and she has always been a fountain of knowledge and hacks. You'd be amazed what you learn driving a carriage in Northern Utah for years.
So two very helpful people, and tons of info.
Of course, being a professional driver and a trainer, I have the whole dress warm thing down to a scientifically, layered accomplishment. Layers are essential. And I have them. Cuddle duds are wonderful.
However, the animals do not, so that is always a place where adapting is essential.
Gordi for instance, is part Chihuahua, so warm is not something she ever is. So, sweater shopping I went. Now she is a toastie pup.    Of course, I will be shopping for a full on coat for her soon, as there is snow on the mountain peeks already.

And I had a special delivery on Sat night.
Another one of my fellow drivers, Dale read the blog and we chatted about the caravan, and the plans for the roof. Dale, as it so happened, had a shed he was removing, and so he offered up the materials for the caravan roof. Now that was just awesome in itself. He worked really hard to get the materials loaded up into his trailer and deliver them over 40 miles away. And in true driver form, it happened in the dark, and later in the evening... We drivers always seem to run on little to no sleep. It's a form of magic we posses.
So Dale arrived, and wow what a load of materials.   Now here the other cool thing about the materials. Sarah and I are big on the 3 Rs. The reuse, re-purpose and recycle. So the shed Dale took down, some of the wood was from another shed he had torn down, so the caravan roof with have wood that been re-purposed three times. And of course, we will get a 4th use out of it on the rebuild.
A wonderful little conversation went on while the trailer was unloaded, and then in true driver form, Dale and I stood in the cold night air chatting for another hour or more.
That is one thing we drivers did alot of. Standing around, chatting. Sun, rain, sleet, snow, we were just as content as could be in any weather.
OK, maybe not all weather. But we made do.
It was wonderful to be able to stand around and chat about things, it was like the old days and so much of that lifestyle is missed by every one of us that drove.
Of course we all agree, we don't miss the bag pipe player, whom couldn't play. No one misses that guy.

And that brings an end to this entry. A good week, a fantastic visit with an old friend, and one escaping Dolphin cat.