Tag-Archive for » Jerrod Balzer «

Silly doped-up guy

If I don’t go right to bed after taking my night-time pills, I tend to get pretty goofy and there’s no telling what I’ll do or say. I try to stay off of the Internet to avoid making strange blog posts like this one. Last night, I remember doing something funny, though, so I thought I’d type it up real quick.

At around midnight, I talked to a friend on Skype for a bit, making very little sense I’m sure, and then I decided to make Robin some s’mores. She was sleeping, of course, so imagine me stumbling around with a sticky mess on a plate, and slurring to groggy Robin, “Wobin, I haf smurrs. Eet th’ smurrs!”

She got up and enjoyed the unexpected treat, then helped me to bed before I fell down in the kitchen.

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My First Christmas

That big bald baby is me, Jerrod Balzer, enjoying Christmas with my niece, nephew, and the rest of my family in 1975.

I’ve made a permanent page for it to be archived in the “Home Videos” section of my site HERE, for any family interested, but there’s also the YouTube link, of course.

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KHP Publishers names new editor

KHP Publishers officially named Louise Bohmer as Associate Editor this week.

She will join S.D. Hintz, K.H. Koehler, and Jerrod Balzer as the publishing house continues to grow financially and expand in imprints. Louise brings a wealth of literary knowledge and expertise to the KHP team.

Please welcome her aboard.

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Robin is home!

Yay! And she seems much more calm. Well, gotta go spend time with my honey!

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Update on Robin

Sorry to keep this short and sweet, but to be honest, these seizures are killing me. Robin is doing better. She was hoping to come home tonight but she was pretty sick last night, so her doctor thought it best to stay through the weekend. Unless anything serious comes up, she should be coming home on Monday.

They needed to lower her Lithium, which helped, so that’s a good thing! Anytime they can lower something to stabilize her is great, because she’s at the safe maximum dosages of everything. The doctor really doesn’t want to dope her up any more than necessary to keep her comfortable.

They also found that her blood was low in potassium, so they’re giving her something to help that. Low potassium can certainly cause confusion, etc.

I worry that nerves could be contributing, like from the stress of taking care of me. I certainly deal with a lot of stress watching over her, as well, just as anyone who cares for a loved one with some sort of special needs. It comes with the territory. I just hope it doesn’t end up being too much for her.

To help with that, my mother has made arrangements so she’ll be able to come over much more often through the week, even if it’s to help with the housecleaning and whatnot. It will be wonderful having her around more.

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Robin to the hospital… take two

I apologize for the back-and-forth, but we were able to reach Robin’s doctor today and he secured her a room. No visit to the ER first and all that red tape. All she has to do is show up and they’ll get her settled in.

She went with us to Columbia to see my neurologist and had a really rough time with her hallucinations. And I had a ton of seizures so right now, I feel like someone tossed me in a UFC ring while drunk. My doctor sent for some more tests. He’s glad to see that my cataplectic spells don’t last as long, but he’s struggling to fight the spasms. He’s trying, though.

I’m home now and Mom is getting Robin ready to go.

Again, thanks for all the well wishes. They’re very much appreciated.

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Robin is going to the hospital

UPDATE: She’s home! See full update at the bottom:

I’ve been extremely proud of Robin. She used to need a stay at the hospital at least a few times a year (usually during big changes in season), but she’s managed to do okay for about a year and a half. Well, she’s been having a terrible time of it lately, and the voices are getting too noisy for her. She was asking to go to the hospital and I don’t want her to suffer just to keep her home. It takes so long to get registered and settled in, that it’s probably best to go in on Sunday evening. Then she’s there and all set for her doctor to see her in the morning.

It’s probably just a matter of adjusting her meds. It’s a necessary evil that keeps her stable. This is the first time since all my problems came on that I’ve had to be without her, though.

I’m always an emotional wreck when she’s away. I know she’s being taken care of, but you don’t spend 24/7 with the person you love and not get worried sick when they’re gone. I’m predicting that the stress of it will mean tons of extra spells/seizures for me, and I’ll be home alone. It can’t be avoided, though. I’ll simply do as little as possible while she’s away, which will probably last about a week, maybe a week and a half. I have video games, music, movies, the laptop and all my friends here… I can stay busy.

My mother came by to take Robin, and I wasn’t in good shape to go along. Then Mom is coming by early in the morning to take me to my neurologist appointment. That’s a good 3 hours away so it will be an all-day thing. We’re definitely keeping my mother busy. She is so full of awesome! She has to take care of an elderly gentleman who lives a half hour away, so there’s that when she’s not running around for us. She is just amazing.

Anyway, just calling for some cheerleaders to keep Robin in their thoughts while she gets through this. And if my online behavior is weird, you’ll know why. Thanks!

UPDATE: I was having a rough time getting to sleep, so I was still awake in bed when Robin and Mom arrived home. They said the hospital was full – no rooms at all. Apparently, the clinic in Hannibal, MO closed down and Quincy caught the overflow.

Once she was home, I slept like a baby, and we’ll just get with her doctor as soon as we can this week. For now, I have to get ready to go to Columbia for my doc. Thanks, everyone for their good wishes!

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8 Years and counting!

Well, less “counting” and more “enjoying,” but Monday, February 7th marks 8 years that Robin and I have married!

I remember during the first year that we were dating, I’d told her how I didn’t think of her as a girlfriend. Being the sadistic ass that I am, I waited a moment to let the disappointment spread across her face, and then I said, “I think of you more as a mate, as in life mate.” And of course, she liked that.

My opinion remains unchanged. In fact, we were watching Going the Distance the other night, and there was a discussion about how being content in life is better than being happy, specifically. I agree. Then there was the line that went something like this:

“The only way to be content in life is to marry your best friend.”

I gave Robin a tap and said, “Yep, I’m content.” And every year just gets more and more content, despite any problems we have because we’re always there for each other.

So, what’s going on for our anniversary? We have errands to run, so we’ll be running around with my mother. I’ll have the honor of handing over all of our medical bills to her so she can pay them using my back pay. That’s an awesome relief!

Oh, we may stop and get some Chinese food because we really enjoy that. But I’ve already given Robin my present to her: The Blu Ray of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8: The Motion Comic. She was so thrilled to see herself on the big screen with a voice put to her image (she’s in issue 10), and especially to see Willow calling her name.

Me? She let me order a video game which I’m enjoying thoroughly.

Then there’s Valentine’s Day coming up. I ordered that Shirley Temple DVD set that they’ve been advertising on TV. She loves her. And me, another video game that’s due out at the end of the month. My window for doing anything productive (including computer time) is so limited with my disability, that I spend a lot of time in the recliner these days. So video games keep my mind focused and my fingers active – given my brain shutting muscles down all the time, it helps to keep that hand/eye coordination going.

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Hemoglobin is A-OK!

I got the call from my hematologist today, and he said that despite being right on the high edge of safe, there is nothing wrong with either my hemoglobin or bone marrow. Plus, my kidneys are healthy.

So no threat of cancer! Woohoo!

Because it’s so high, though, he wants to keep a close eye on it, so I’m to go back every three months for tests. I’ll check with my local medical doctor about what to do about the headaches. At least I know what’s causing them.

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It’s official: I’m disabled!

I got the phone call today that I’m approved for Disability and SSI. Under normal circumstances, I’d never be happy to be “disabled” but it’s much worse to lose everyday abilities with no help or recognition from the government. Up until I had to stop working to care for Robin full time, I certainly paid my dues for this, one paycheck at a time.

So this is cause for a celebration! Yes, all these problems suck horribly, but it’s like Robin said this morning, “We may be stuck at home, unable to do anything, but at least we can be stuck at home with more peace of mind regarding the bills.”

They ruled that I can’t handle my money, and there is some truth to it. With my lack of concentration, mobility, etc, I’ve been a lot sloppier with the bills, thinking I paid them when I didn’t, etc. So my mother will be given responsibility for that, and she’ll be able to take out gas money, food expenses, etc, for herself whenever she’s running us around on errands. She comes up once or twice a week to help out. I need to look into those home nurses, too, to relieve the burden on her.

It will work out, and getting Medicaid should go smoother now, which will help the (at least) fifteen grand in medical bills piling up.

That’s a lot of stress out of our lives.

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