I didn't post after my last weigh in, but I am down a total of about 17 1/2 lbs. But I have had to temporarily suspend my diet appointments for reasons I'll explain below.
So much has been happening that I haven't had time to update the blog. The biggest change for this year is that I won't be teaching Edison's 3rd jazz band. There was a change in the way the position is funded. The school district is now funding it as a differential position. What this means is the pay scale arrangement I had worked out with the Band Parents no longer applies and I would have to work at the scale established by contract with the teachers union. (Differentials are the pay a teacher receives for working with extra curricular activities in addition to their regular pay.) Of course, the scale for a differential position is not at all the same as the scale for a full time (or even part time) teacher. My arrangement with the band parents was more in line with that scale. In short to continue teaching Jazz 3 would mean a fairly severe pay cut. I tried to think of some way to continue teaching the band since this was the year I would get to teach my own son, but apparently to no avail. I haven't really spoken publicly about what happened, because I was still hoping that we could come to some arrangement, but so many people have been asking why and wondering what happened, so I wanted to inform everyone from my side. I do not know the reason why the change was needed, so I can't speak to that. But I was not technically fired nor was there any real bad blood. I am, of course, a little put out that I wasn't informed of this drastic of a change until the week before the band was to start. Had I known, I could have spent the Summer looking for other employment.
I had been looking to expand what I did this year, but instead of expanding, it looks like I am going to have to cut back my less profitable offerings. I won't be doing CIRCUIT band through The Conservatory this year, I will instead be looking to increase my group lesson offerings, beginning with an improvisation class meeting from 6:30 to 8:00 on Monday evenings at my office. The class is limited in size to a maximum of 5 people and this session we will be looking at basic ways to handle blues and rhythm changes.
Since it is too late in the year to find a full or part time band position, the most obvious way for me to make up the lost income is by substitute teaching. So I am in the process of getting that paperwork in order (TB test, physical and background check). That should be finished in about 10 days and hopefully, I'll be able to work a couple days a week.
The other major change is in the way I receive my Revlimid for the clinical trial. They switched the supply to the commercial supply through the Revassist program. It still won't cost me anything, thank goodness (Revlimid is quite expensive). But it will be a few more steps each month to get my refill. I really feel like this is the drug that is keeping me alive by keeping my tumors in check. While the tumors and bone marrow counts have fluctuated, there has not been a significant growth in the year and a half I have been on the protocol. And while I'd love to see the tumors go away completely, I'll take what I can get.
In general I feel like my health is getting better. The last time I lost weight was imediately before my diagnosis and losing the weight did not make me feel better, even though it was a truly significant amount. This time, I am getting a little boost of energy and some of the tremendous pain I've felt in my foot seems to be going away. I actually did some dance moves again on the last TOFB gig. So all in all, life is still pretty good. And once I can get some steady money coming in again, I'll even be able to say that life is a great big bowl of cherries, metaphorically speaking.
So much has been happening that I haven't had time to update the blog. The biggest change for this year is that I won't be teaching Edison's 3rd jazz band. There was a change in the way the position is funded. The school district is now funding it as a differential position. What this means is the pay scale arrangement I had worked out with the Band Parents no longer applies and I would have to work at the scale established by contract with the teachers union. (Differentials are the pay a teacher receives for working with extra curricular activities in addition to their regular pay.) Of course, the scale for a differential position is not at all the same as the scale for a full time (or even part time) teacher. My arrangement with the band parents was more in line with that scale. In short to continue teaching Jazz 3 would mean a fairly severe pay cut. I tried to think of some way to continue teaching the band since this was the year I would get to teach my own son, but apparently to no avail. I haven't really spoken publicly about what happened, because I was still hoping that we could come to some arrangement, but so many people have been asking why and wondering what happened, so I wanted to inform everyone from my side. I do not know the reason why the change was needed, so I can't speak to that. But I was not technically fired nor was there any real bad blood. I am, of course, a little put out that I wasn't informed of this drastic of a change until the week before the band was to start. Had I known, I could have spent the Summer looking for other employment.
I had been looking to expand what I did this year, but instead of expanding, it looks like I am going to have to cut back my less profitable offerings. I won't be doing CIRCUIT band through The Conservatory this year, I will instead be looking to increase my group lesson offerings, beginning with an improvisation class meeting from 6:30 to 8:00 on Monday evenings at my office. The class is limited in size to a maximum of 5 people and this session we will be looking at basic ways to handle blues and rhythm changes.
Since it is too late in the year to find a full or part time band position, the most obvious way for me to make up the lost income is by substitute teaching. So I am in the process of getting that paperwork in order (TB test, physical and background check). That should be finished in about 10 days and hopefully, I'll be able to work a couple days a week.
The other major change is in the way I receive my Revlimid for the clinical trial. They switched the supply to the commercial supply through the Revassist program. It still won't cost me anything, thank goodness (Revlimid is quite expensive). But it will be a few more steps each month to get my refill. I really feel like this is the drug that is keeping me alive by keeping my tumors in check. While the tumors and bone marrow counts have fluctuated, there has not been a significant growth in the year and a half I have been on the protocol. And while I'd love to see the tumors go away completely, I'll take what I can get.
In general I feel like my health is getting better. The last time I lost weight was imediately before my diagnosis and losing the weight did not make me feel better, even though it was a truly significant amount. This time, I am getting a little boost of energy and some of the tremendous pain I've felt in my foot seems to be going away. I actually did some dance moves again on the last TOFB gig. So all in all, life is still pretty good. And once I can get some steady money coming in again, I'll even be able to say that life is a great big bowl of cherries, metaphorically speaking.
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