Wilmington, Worries, and the Potential of Puppies

It's been a week since we've moved down here to the old pirate port city of Wilmington, North Carolina, and I'm relieved to announce that I've finally "settled" my emotions into the place. Whether it was the chemicals from the Concerta mixing my hormones into a messy concoction, or it was just becoming familiar with the new, faraway and unfamiliar surroundings, I admit that I was having some trouble adjusting to the place. Kyle and I had come here only a few months ago on a week long visit and had fallen in love instantly with the place. The weather was cool but tolerable, so the main streets were bustling with activity, music, and friendly locals offering their warm, southern salutations and good wishes -- it was easy to become enamored. Plus, Wilmington's rich and ancient history catered to my Paranormal Investigation hobby, boasting to be one of America's most haunted cities.

I must say that I haven't actually experienced any paranormal activity since moving here (though, Kyle did see two spirits during our ghost tour). Thank goodness. I don't mind running into a ghostie or two out and about on the streets, or in other people's houses, but I was getting a bit irritated at having poltergeists and spirits running frenzy in my own living quarters. Seriously! They followed me from house to house in Pennsylvania, so it seemed. So far so good here, however; I even stayed behind from a poker night to clean the house by my lonesome. Not so much as a strange chill. :D
Well, there's some feelings of sentient vigil, but nothing too bad yet.

I've been making ample use of the beautiful kitchen, trying my hand at lots of experimental recipes. We don't have much yet (we still need to go grocery shopping), but I've proudly worked some miracles in the food department so far! I know Kyle's happy; thank God he's easy to please, lol! ^-^ I gotta say I'm most proud of my crab and spinach puffs, made with crispy Pilsbury crescent rolls. I spread butter over top and sprinkled some minced garlic (following in the Judy D tradition of garlic worship). Om nom! ~<3

On slightly more depressing news, we recently found out that Kyle might have some serious health issues brewing in his sensitive stomach. His mom called him two days ago and let him know that doctors had discovered the bacterium known as H Pylorie in her system. It's transmittable, so the doctors suggested that she had acquired it from someone within the household. This wouldn't originally be such a cause of worry if it hadn't been for the fact that when he was ten, one of Kyle's doctors had detected the bacterium's presence and the beginning of potentially harmful cysts -- and did nothing about it. Instead, he catered to Kyle's aggravated case of acid reflux (he actually has GERD, or something like that. An elevated/related form of the ailment) and decided to prescribe him Prilosec, a medicine known to --in time-- actually further agitate the condition.

H Pylorie and acid reflux go hand-in-hand. They feed off of each other and help to accelerate one another's harm. The worst part about it is, H Pylorie is highly linked to stomach cancer. Being that it's been infesting Kyle's system, untreated, for about twelve years now...chances are he's already potentially developed cancerous cysts. Whether they're malignant or not, he'll more than likely still have to undergo some painful and intense surgery to remove/treat it. 

...God damn it, man.

I'm tired of cancer.

It's been a year since cancer took the life of my beloved Godmother, Linda Chyuko, my dad's best friend aside from Mike Shukal -- who also died of cancer right before my graduation from high school. Mike had been smoking from an early age, but had stopped as soon as I was born. He wanted to see me graduate; he was my "grown-up" buddy. Often, he'd take me out for ice cream on days I was lingering at my father's electronic repair shop. Regardless of his efforts, though, he got cancer on his tongue (of all places!) and had to get part of his leg's skin grafted onto it. He'd often joke about the awkwardness of having to shave the five o' clock shadow off of his tongue. 

As for Linda, she'd been putting on a pretty strong front for a while concerning her condition. For a while, doctors were optimistic; she'd been recovering well. But the last time I saw her at a family dinner, I could tell something wasn't right. In a classic Freudian slip, I accidentally mentioned it to her. I remember her face flushing ever so slightly, something switching in her gaze, but she was quick to reassure us all that she was fine. That same week she passed.

It was the first time I ever cried at the death of a person. And I cried hard.

On top of it all, I can't help but think of Leila, who has HPV. She's been my best friend for over eleven years. I remember when she received the horrible diagnosis; I remember my incredulity at the knowledge that, considering how she could've possibly contracted it, I should've had it too...but I didn't. I who had been leading a freelance lifestyle had escaped scott-free while my [WAY MORE] conservative friend had received the short end of the stick. I was grateful to be healthy, but I just couldn't deal with how unfair it all seemed.

She went in for medical tests and scrapings for a while, and thankfully none of the results came back malignant. Still, there was high chances that the cysts would return and the gamble would have to be played all over again. We don't really talk about it much. Ever. It's an unspoken, un-thought of aspect in our lives. She hasn't been to a hospital in a little over a year now (or more, even), probably because of her lack of health insurance. The treatments are way too costly for a starving art student such as she. So instead, we just carry on. In fact, I often find myself forgetting about it completely. But, inevitably, the foreboding recollection creeps back in to haunt me.

It especially returns with a vengeance with word of Kyle's present worry.

Anyway, I just keep crossing my fingers and [even] praying more than ever that they'll be spared that fate. :/

Well, I can't keep thinking about these things, or I'll end up in a bad place, lol.

Kyle and I have been applying like crazy all around. Craigslist is a frequent in the History folder. I've applied to Lowes and Lowes Food, submitted a colorful application to Port City Java, and even found a fantastic posting for a twelve-hour job (wage negotiable) that involves baby sitting ADORABLE PUPPIES all day!!! <33333  I'm supposed to see them later today at 9:30 in the morning to fill in my application in person.

It's 6:37 a.m. now, and though I wish I could boast my early bird abilities, I'm only awake since Kyle and I are on a quest to rectify our wayward sleep schedules by pulling an all-nighter. Despite my strong distaste of synthetic medicine, I have to admit that Concerta's a helper on occasions like this. It helps my ADD tons and actually gives me the motivation to complete many of the tasks procrastination usually puts off (as it will always do). So here I am! Taking a break from online poker to blog about my recent days.

"GOOD WORK, SOLDIER!"