29 Medications

The last time we spoke I told you of my new roommate and what could be done for people like her. Because I am a kind person, I wish no ill upon her. I just wish she would take her meds so I could sleep.

That's right. When she doesn't take her meds, she is up all night, pacing back and forth like a caged animal. She has taken to putting blankets over all the windows then complains because I would rather not sleep with the light on. There is a light outside of our sliding glass door that is on all the time because most of the outdoor lights at the residence do not work and have not worked since we moved in 2 months ago. I do believe it is a violation of HUD Housing rules, but I cannot do anything about it because if I turn the organization in, I will have nowhere to lay my head at night. Being homeless sucks.

But back to the roommate situation. She announced Sunday that she was no longer going to take her 29 medications. She didn't like the way they made her feel. She said they made her sleepy and she didn't want to sleep her life away. Instead, she is up all night. Because there is a rule that states a program participant can be written up and given a strike (three strikes and you're back on the street) if they are in a common area between the hours of midnight and 7am, she has taken to eating in bed. Loudly. I woke up Monday morning around 2 because she was clanking dishes together. She had warmed up the leftover breakfast from that morning and was having "breakfast in bed". When she finished with that, it was time for her to sing. Poor thing has a beautifuol voice, but even Pavarotti at 3am sounds terrible. I finally got back to sleep around 4am only to be woken again at 5 with her durmming her hands on the kitchen table. She had opened our door, which is why the other people in the house didn't hear it and I did.

Earlier in the day she had decided to mop the bathroom floor. There has been a problem with ants since we moved in and they had come to the bathroom. I bought some of those ant traps that the ants go into and bring the poison back to their nest. I was able to get rid of the ants from our bathroom in the old house that way. Thing is, you have to let the ants be. I explained this to her, yet she threw away the ant trap on Saturday, so I got two more. During her mopfest on Sunday, she slopped water all over the traps, rendering them useless. She refuses to allow the traps to work. They do, when you let them. I already got rid of ants in pantry using this method. I have since run out of ant traps and the program refuses to purchase any, which I am certain is once again against HUD rules, but we visited that outcome earlier. The ants rule the bathroom now.

Loud noises, ruined ant traps, wow, seems like nothing will make me happy. Actually, a good night's rest between these 12 hour workdays might do the trick, but Monday night came and once again, loudness. The other roommate-who has her own room-decided the whole house needed to hear her radio at 11pm. She probably didn't realize she did it because she was stinking drunk, yes, another violation of HUD rules and even the house rules, but unless the Program Director sees it, it doesn't exist. And we are not allowed to contact the Program Director or the Case Manager outside of the hours of 9am and 4pm M-F. Because we all know that is when disturbed people decide to try and ruin other people's lives.

In addition to the loud noises at 11pm, the roommate decides it's time for more food in bed. Apparently she wants everyone to know she is eating because she smacks her lips at every chance. She turns on her computer and decides to play computer games, which would not bother me in the least if she either turned the volume off or wore headphones. She does neither. I ask her to turn it down and she tells me I cannot tell her what to do, that there are already too many rules in this place. I can't take 2 sleepless nights and work 12-hour days. My mind cannot process it. I text the case manager and ask her what she is going to do about this situation, that it is 11pm-actually midnight by this time-and I cannot sleep because the roommate refuses to take her medications and she is acting irrational. I had sent an email to the case manager, program director and Director of the organization Monday, explaining my concerns. I heard nothing back. Which is why I texted her. Still no response. Two nights without sleep and 12-hour workdays with angry clients (Thank you IRS).

Tuesday night I have had it. I don't care if she doesn't want to take her medications. She NEEDS to. Her lack of judgement is having a negative affect on my life. I cannot sleep because she is once again loud. Another roommate, who is the same race as the one who shares my room, and my roommate are no more than 10 feet away from each other, but yelling at the top of their lungs at each other. They are not mad; in fact they are having one hell of a time. I am told that is how persons of that race communicate. I disagree. I know many people of that race and they do possess and utilize inside voices. I try to get to sleep, it is now 11:30pm, after working my 2nd consecutive 12 hour day and my 12th consecutive day. I just want to sleep. But I can't. She has decided she wants Christmas lights on all the time in the room and wants these dark blankets over the window. I feel like I am in someone's bizarre nightmare and since I have no control, I cannot wake up. (Yes, I would love to wake up from this nightmare. Unfortunately, it is my life right now. Yeah, I get the irony). I ask her to please take the blankets down, that having them up makes me on edge. She says NO. She is a rape victim and I have to do what she wants because she is paranoid. I ask her if she has taken her meds and she says she doesn't have to. Well, let's see, if you were on your meds, you wouldn't be so damn paranoid. I, too, have been the victim of rape, but I still deal with life. And I take my meds.

I NEED my sleep. I am going crazy because my brain cannot process this life without rest. My roommate could care less. The world must conform to her whims. Around 11:30pm, I text the case manager again asking if she is getting any sleep because I am not due to the actions of her organization. Still no response. Until midnight that is.

All of a sudden someone slams through the door, orders the roommate out of the room and starts yelling at me. It is the program director telling me I have no right to text the case manager outside of the 9am to 4pm M-F hours. I try to tell her that I am unable to sleep and my work is being affected because this roommate will not let me sleep. When she is not eating, singing or yelling, she is grunting-a symptom of her not taking her meds. But I am unable to get through to the program director because she hates me. All I can figure is that she is jealous of me. Because I have done nothing wrong. All I want is a good night's sleep and I am being deprived of that. She continues to yell at me and tell me that I am going to get "another" strike (I was unaware I already had one.) and that I was going to be kicked out of the program for contacting them outside of work hours. She will not let me get a word in edgewise because her focus is punishing me. I am doing everything I can in my power to get out of this situation. But the Mantra that she chants to us weekly-"If you don't like it, you can leave. There are plenty more where you came from. You won't be missed." is once again yelled at me. And I pay rent for this treatment.

She apparently tells the roommate that I have been bitching about her computer being on-I mentioned it once to the case manager the morning after she first moved in but don't have a problem if she uses headphones-and that she is no longer allowed to have it on. The roommate now starts yelling at me and threatening my life because I just want to sleep. But since she can't have the computer on and wants a light on, she opens the door and says it has to stay open because she is a rape victim. (Gee, perhaps if you took the medications that were prescribed to you, you wouldn't bve so damned paranoid) Then she starts playing with one of those plastic bags that are still legal in CA (but soon to be banned) because it makes noise. She starts with the grunting and clearing her throat and playing with the bag and it is a caucaphony of noise and my brain just can't take it anymore. I start to cry and I can't stop. No matter how hard I try, the tears keep coming. She starts yelling at me because-get this-she can't sleep with me crying! Mind you, she has no job and has lived off of yours and my tax dollars her whole life because she is a "rape victim". I finally doze off to sleep, but because my nose is stuffed, am unable to use my CPAP machine. I must have been sawing logs-did you hear 'em?

This morning I get up late because I needed a few hours of sleep before taking on another 12-hour day. I write down what has transpired since she decided to go off her meds, so there is a record of it. I move all of my clothes out of her side of the closet-she didn't have much when she moved in and told me I could use it-and in the process accidentally knock down a pair of her pants that she has stacked up in the closet. She told me I dropped some clothes and I say I think it's yours. I put all of my clothes on my bed and go out to have breakfast. Next thing I know, she comes out of the bedroom threatening me again. She threatens to harm me for "touching" her stuff (actually my clothes touched her stuff) and says she can't wait for me to go to work so she can throw all of my stuff all over the room. I try to apologize and she just continues to threaten and yell at me. I give up. It is no use.

When she is on the 29 medications, she might be a little tired some of the time, but is okay to get along with. My question is, how do we make certain these people take their meds? Is there some sort of gene therapy where a surgery can be done to turn a gene on or off in one's system so they automatically have the effects of the medications? If not, I hope one emerges soon. I need some sleep.