Water, Morning and Foster Feathers

We have a water problem. Not just a little water problem, but a BIG water problem.  We were going to renovate our bathroom.  We knew there had been some leakage behind the tiles around the bathtub.  We just didn't know how MUCH leakage or how MUCH damage has been caused because of it.  Hubby pulled up the floor last week in front of the tub as the tile had broken and the wood underneath was rotting.  I just had the restoration company in this morning and the water comes out into the hallway, the wall is WET up to three feet (according to the moisture meter) and who knows what's behind the tub as it's still in there.....  and there's MOULD - LOTS OF MOULD - you can smell it - Yuck! The fellow said that there could be a very slow leak, which could have been going on for up to 10 years.

It's a little bit stressful not knowing what's involved with fixing a problem of this scope.  We will be getting a detailed estimate, of course, but the fellow said roughly $4,000-$5,000 JUST TO TAKE EVERYTHING APART and fix it.  Then it will cost more to actually get a new tub/surround, fittings, flooring, etc.  Hubby was going to do it himself, but because it's so much worse than what we thought, he just doesn't have the time.  We are going to have to bite the bullet because the mould, now that it's exposed, is now a health issue.  Insurance doesn't cover it either.  They will only cover "sudden and accidental", not a slow, insidious leak over many years.  :-(

On the subject of morning, I am again becoming the morning person that I once was.  Since I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December, 2008, it seems like it's been a struggle to get out of bed every single morning.  Well, when I was diagnosed, I immediately stopped being able to sleep.  The doctor prescribed a sleeping pill - the mildest one available.  Let me back track a bit here.....

Chemo will send some women into premature menopause - this seems to have been the case with me.  Good in some ways, others - not so much.  Two of the not-so-nice things are the hot flashes and the insomnia.  The sleeping pill helps most of the time with the insomnia.  There is little that can be done with the hot flashes - suck it up and get on with it!  The insomnia I've been experiencing can be caused by menopause - it's one of the side-effects.  I am also on a drug called Tamoxifen, which lowers the recurrence of breast cancer by up to 76% over five years.  This is a wonder drug of sorts, an old drug, but it's not without its own side effects.  Hot flashes, bone pain and insomnia, to name a few.  So, I'm fighting the insomnia on two possible different levels.

So, one little sleeping pill does help me to sleep.  I've been wanting to wean myself off of the sleeping pills, so about 4 months ago, I started breaking them in half and only taking a half pill at bedtime. Still works for me pretty well.  On Saturday night, I started cutting the half pill into another half, so now only take a quarter of a pill.  Well, surprise - I started dreaming again.  Apparently, sleep meds do not allow your brain to hit REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, so you DON'T dream.  My dreams the past few nights have been very vivid and it's obvious I haven't dreamed in a very long time.  I also am waking before my alarm at 5:45 a.m., which I did all my life until the cancer hit and then I was stressed by that and on the different medications since then. I was then dragging my butt out of bed, and having to lay down again once the kids left for the bus.  Today I feel good.  It's early still, and I feel good and not like I'm dragging my butt and wanting to go back and lie down.  It's the sleep meds.  There are so many side effects of drugs.  It's so nice to be able to enjoy morning again. It felt horrible not to be able to enjoy the morning as I had before cancer came to visit.

On to foster feathers.  I currently have two extra foster birds and one of my own birds that I re-homed last year is also returning.  It's difficult some days as two extra cages (it will be THREE shortly) does make a difference.  There's also the extra dishes to fill when making breakfast and supper, which involve cooking and chopping. Extra cages to clean, too.  It all takes time. 

I am blessed that I am a stay-home-mom and have the time to care for the birds, as the kids are now in middle and high school.  I wasn't able to foster for a few years, but now I can again and it's nice to be able to help out. There is a season for everything in our lives.

I am enjoying the busy-ness of life again.  It reminds me that I am well again.  Halleluia!