Got a Feelin' Called the Blues

Water is still dripping through our living room ceiling, even though the new (as of November) roof that the independent inspector called "shoddy" was replaced this past Thursday. With bubbles in the paint, brown water stains down the walls, and a portion of the ceiling threatening to drop to the floor, it's difficult to work up much enthusiasm for Christmas decorating. I feel as though I live in a flophouse.

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In addition to putting on a shoddy roof, the November roofers never cleaned the gutters after finishing the job. I had been diligent about salting and shoveling the steps and the front porch, but I was out all day a week ago Friday and returned through the garage entrance. When a neighbor asked me to come over that evening, I stepped out the front door, did a half-somersault on the ice that had accumulated during the day on the porch from the overflowing gutters, and slammed the back of my head and my already iffy left knee on the concrete steps. I've had a constant headache and a "second kneecap" ever since.

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Hana was horribly ill last week with gastrointestinal problems, so ill that our vet sent her to a specialist for an ultrasound. The good news is that her intestinal system proved to be fine, and $1,300 of drugs, IV fluids and vet fees later, she is eating without vomiting. The bad news is that the ultrasound picked up a "solitary nodule within [the] right caudal lung lobe . . . consistent with primary pulmonary neoplasia." In layman's terms, our 13-year-old girl has lung cancer.

Hana, 12.18.09