User:Ofearna

About Me

My name is Susan O'Fearna. I live in Flagstaff AZ (yes, we have MOUNTAINS in Arizona ☺) with my dog. I run the office for a small pest-control office (which is funny, since I'm an arachnophobe). My house is a 2-bedroom because I needed a library, so I have LOTS of books to check/add/verify for this database.

I'll work around my job, so expect more at night.

My website, mostly fanpages for authors, artists, tv shows, comic books and movies I like is located at http://ofearna.us -- please visit and I welcome feedback!

My pride and joy there is the "official" Nina Kiriki Hoffman site at http://books.ofearna.us/hoffman.html -- scared the neighbor when I first saw the URL in the bio-blurb of one of her books!

I've been using the ISFDB for years but just started interacting here in April or so and it's been a learning experience. Thanks you guys (the mods) for all the help.

Susan

less active despite winter weather

I'm usually a lot more active here now that it's cold, but I've got my 13-yr old niece/cousin (don't ask) until her Momma gets out of the hospital Brenda slipped into a very dangerous condition called Diabetic Keto-Acidosis (for fourth time in 2 months) on Saturday and is finally out of ICU, but if she can't regulate her diet this will kill her sooner rather than later. Susan O'Fearna 17:30, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

Pray for me...

Pray for me, ya'll! My boss now wants me to teach him how to use the digital camera and the editing software. This is a man who thinks that having to re-boot his computer kills the internet. O'Fearna 23:53, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

snicker

Still giggling over the subtitle to On Land and At Sea (Or, Who We Did On Our Summer Holiday) -- which only appears on the title page. I got the book in the mail yesterday. O'Fearna 03:22, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

$950 !!!

Well, after an emergency root canal (shouldn't that tooth NOT hurt anymore?) that cost $950, I took some collectors-editions back to the UBS. Drat! I really wanted to keep them.

5 hours in 2 days my dog got to play with a younger ENERGETIC brindle-pitt, so she's wiped now.

Then I went and grabbed my discounted copy of Flesh & Bone from B&N (new book, but corner got smashed) - pain killer kicks in, so I'm off to bed. I'll be back in 4-5 hrs to get things ready for work tomorrow, so LATER Yall! O'Fearna 23:00, 20 January 2013 (UTC)

9º

Well, it's 9º by 9:30 at night -- I'm gonna go to bed now and read/watch TV while I use the dog as a heated blanket! Ofearna 04:24, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

new books!!!

Received Bill Willingham's Down the Myserly River, Rob Thurman's All Seeing Eye and Locke & Key book 5 : Clockworks... Ofearna 25 September 2012 (UTC)

Today, from SubPress, I got The Best of Kage Baker with gorgeous cover art by J.K. Potter. Yay!!!Ofearna 07:57, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

Today Instructions arrived with my 2013 "daily engagement calendar" by Susan Seddon Boulet; yesterday I hit paydirt with my Christmas/Birthday gift certs at Bookman's and B&N! Ofearna 23:18, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

Merry Christmas and Good Night

Relatives have left and the house has just me and the dog! I've just finished checking/verifying/adding ALL the SF anthologies I have up through the letter B -- my library may eventually recover.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas holiday and don't freeze here in the Northern Hemisphere!

Off to bed. Night All Ofearna 05:08, 28 December 2012 (UTC)

Snow

Now that it's getting cold and work starts to back off I can be "here" again! This weekend I found a hardcover first-edition of Rachel Caine's Ghost Town at the local Big Lots for $3.... nice Susan O'Fearna 05:13, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

Surgery SUCKS and the most unlucky lady in Flagstaff

so, January 21, I started experiencing stomach pain... just thought it was menstrual cramps. Over the weekend they abated, supporting my theory. Monday pain back BAD but still thought it was cyclical. Tuesday it was really bad, I had to leave work after only ONE hour - everyone kept telling me I looked like hell (thanks, guys!). On the way home I made an appt to see care provider at HMO as you can't actually SEE a doctor anymore.

They got me in to see someone that afternoon! So I went home and took a nap till time to go meet person at dr's office. Met with him NO EXAM just talked to me. Told me I likely had some kind of bowel blockage, recommended I take a laxative (?) and if the pain got worse to go Urgent Care.

Next morning I couldn't STAND UP. It hurt so bad I was crying, which does wonders for my migraines, ya'll. Went to Urgent Care at 7... turns out it should be renamed not-so-Urgent care. Before they even took me in for "triage" demanded payment. Refused to even take bp - recommended I go to ER. Off to ER. It's now 8:15 and remember I'm driving!

ER: 8:45 they took bloodwork at 9:30 I was taken to back... room 20 in a maze of - please remember I can't stand up! Doc comes in touches (NOT compresses) my lower stomach. Ooh, sounds/looks like appendicitis and your bloodwork has SO much white-blood count. Let's get ya to CT (where I *screamed* when they moved me from one gurney to other) and see if we can get you into surgery tomorrow. By 10 surgeon comes in says the appendix is "hugely distended" can't wait for tomorrow, surgery today! They start pumping Dilaudid (sp?) into me intravenously. 10 am passes... 11... 5. OK, we're off to the surgery wing and swap Dilaudid for Fentanyl (sp?).

6:30, they finally wheeled me into the surgical suite stoned to the gills but still hurting. A LOT. I wake up at 2 am as they move me from recovery to a room. During the 8.5 hours, they had me cooling my heels, likely as they either moved me from ER to OR or OR to surgical suite, the appendix ruptured. Such a "nice" word for EXPLODED!!! Outpatient surgery is now major surgery. I'm put in a ward sharing a room with the sweetest little old lady who's been in hospital for almost 5 weeks on dialysis but the ward has Covid patients and the one COVID patient from jail who was left unattended at jail infirmary and got into drugs and ODd... he kept trying to escape, causing alarms all night. I was there from 2 am Thursday till I was released Saturday at 5 pm. Can't drive, walking's iffy and wow, I hurt. Also, still working fine then "you must sleep NOW" but by Monday the 7th I was feeling well enough to go to work (mistake).

I worked half a day but was too weak to make the rest of the day. Came home, went to bed. Woke up about 4 pm and per doctors' orders, even tho not hungry ate something (Taco salad). At midnight woke up vomiting. Four hours! of that then once I finally stopped off to ER as orders were if nausea (and 4 hours of vomiting certainly counts!) get to ER.

ER doc says bloodwork has definite signs of an infection, need another CT - and if I'm the most unlucky lady in Flagstaff, the infection may have congregated in my gall bladder. Sure 'nuff. Now the gall bladder has to go.

ER people explain that sometimes during laparoscopy they "drop" stones and have to go in through the breathing tube with a grabber tool to find those, but chances are low. Well, they dropped stones, then nicked my pulmonary artery with the grabber tool. Now I do have to get opened up, to repair the artery (!!) but leave that gaping hole just over my lower sternum packed with gauze (ugh).

Back in hospital till Friday (yesterday) about noon, but mich nicer post-op ward mostly filled with people who've just had spinal surgery or knee/hip replacement. Can't drive, walking to bathroom or kitchen leave me shaking and exhaused. The big hole in my chest/upper abdomen isn't packed with gauze but... big gaping hole! Hopefully after first followup visit with surgical team on 17th I can plan on going back to work.

followup

The doctor sent me home with pain meds... without apparently looking at my medical history! I didn't even LOOK at the bottle, just took one. BIG mistake!!! I shook so hard I thought parts of me might fall OFF. Sent me home with Percocet (generic, but still Percocet). It was odd... once I finally stopped shaking and feeling like I might die, my sister called. We haven't lived under the same roof since I was in 8th grade/1986, but she recognized my reaction; so that weirded me out. That was Saturday.

Monday rolled around - and me with only otc Ibuprofen for pain and I called Dr's office to see if I can get in sooner than the 17th. Had to start by leaving a message. 5 hours pass no answer, so I called BACK. Finally, around 3pm someone called said can't update paid RX unless I come in and I should wait till my appt on Thurs. NO NO NO! I hurt and I told the person on the phone what I thought of THAT idea. About 30 minutes later got a call back - they can see me Tuesday at 12:15. I asked if they have some kind of pick-up service was told I can drive myself.

So I drove myself - not the smartest decision I've ever made! HURT every tiny little bump and I'm DRIVING! Swapped my meds, wanted a blood test - I can get that downstairs. Go downstairs (remember, no pain meds and every step is so painful...) and the lab in their building won't take my insurance - not HMO, PPO dangit! By this time the only place I'm going is HOME, dammit.

Bill (my landlord ex-boss) was nice enough to pick up my new prescription for me - blessed relief from pain but now I'm loopy :-)

Next day, woke up late and got ready to go to blood lab... checked hours and they closed at 3pm (I checked at 3:20 or so). So today (Thurs 17th) got to lab (Bill drove me, so nice of him) expecting 2 vials to be drawn. Nope, she took 8!!! Then she asked so see that big open hole in my upper abdomen. It's all leaky still. She goes "hmmmm, excuse me" and left me in that high-chair contraption they strap you in to take blood. When she came back in about 10 minutes later asks to see the incision again and WITHOUT WARNING stuck a q-tip thingy IN the hole. Excuse me!?!?!? That f*cking HURT, thanks for the WARNING.

So, now waiting for Doctor to review blood panels and whatever they need the "effluent" (urcgh) sample for and call me back for next appt which she wanted for tomorrow, but I have no idea if that'll happen or when. Still in limbo...

book on porch

Came home early, still can't work a full day yet. Starting to rain/snow as I parked my car, hey look a box on my porch. SST!!! My new Joe Lansdale book (thankfully ordered and paid for months ago, since I haven't worked for about 6 week) and I'm home in time to rescue box and book from weather. Off to bed, will delight in a new book after sleep off pain.

Quick update - last week was the first week I worked a full 40-hour work week, still can't walk my dog and I still hurt like hell most days, but not as bad, so recovery seems to be happening, though so very slowly.