I forgot to mention! ... if you're following my health progress which I sometimes mention .. I haven't done an update since I had minor surgery to bury a catheter just under the skin in my stomach, ready for when I need to start dialysis. (If you want to know more about this variety off dialysis, ask Wiki about peritoneal dialysis) .. when my kidneys have no useful function left the doc will make a small incision and pop out the catheter and I'll be good to go!
So I had my latest set of blood tests last week, and the kidney doc called yesterday and said that since I'm not experience any symptoms (which can include lethargy, nausea and excessive itching from high phosphate levels) then there's no need to rush into the dialysis yet.
My kidney function has slowed from 12 in September to 8 and now 6.5, so my simple linear regression suggests they'll stop working effectively in January or February next year! ... not complicated mathematics that one!
In the meantime the only noticeable side effect is that my feet swell a bit, which is making it tricky to put my shoes on ... but apart from maybe a bit of extra shoe shopping (and how bad is that?!) it's not a bad problem!
So there you have it. to be honest I'd rather get hooked up to the dialysis system and in to the new routine of being connected to the system overnight ... rather than wondering when I'm going to have to fit in the training sessions and whatever else is involved! ... but the doc said I can just increase my diuretic pill to reduce the swelling in my feet / ankles, and if that's the only symptom I won't complain!
It can be very odd feeling sometimes having the catheter under the skin ... some times it's barely noticeable and others you can feel it through a thick sweater! Magpie Mimisuggested it probably reflected how much chocolate pudding I had in my tummy, and I suspect she is very correct on that!
How to sew a straight line when you're blind or have low vision, and other adventures. Follow me as I try my hand at sewing after 25 years, beginning with quilting class .
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
"Just because the best tailoring you've ever seen is above your f***king appendix doesn't mean anything!"
So I made it to the hospital in time for my 6:15am check-in. By 8:30 I was ready and waiting to be wheeled back into the OR. 5 minutes later it was sleepy time and then 2 hours later I was awake. I got a $50 discount because when I told them I was a quilter they let me sew myself up, so I used a bit of free motion quilting and hopefully the stitches will hold ... ;)
Unlike the last surgery I had (on my left eye in Atlanta) where my blood pressure esclated into the 200s after the anaesthetic wore off and it took me maybe 5 hours to get through recovery... here I warned everybody who would listen that my BP might do that and so they were able to control it and I was out and home by 2pm! :)
Boy am I sore now! Well I'm not in any great pain, but the area of my stomach feels it whenever I inadvertently stretch it... my throat is sore from the breathing tube, and oddly my shoulder blades ache something chronic! I wish I'd booked tomorrow off work, but I thought this would be a bit quicker and easier procedure... and plus I really need to keep hold of my meager days off because I'm sure I'll have a need for them when I need training for dialysis and goodness knows whatever else!
... I might call in sick though tomorrow if I'm really sore in the morning. We shall see. I've had a handful of sick days in 10 years of working, so it's not something I like doing, but if I'm aching too much I will do!
In other news the loss adjuster adjusterised the Jeep... and despite my fears of what value the insurance company would use, they didn't use the low trade-in value, and they didn't use the middle value price a private seller would charge... they took the mid-point between the private seller and the dealer price, which is a huge relief! That means we've about $5000 to look for a replacement vehicle with, about the same value as what we paid for the Jeep. There seem to be a choice of the same model we had, a slightly smaller model, or possibly some some 2-wheel drive options... most are year 2000 with around 140,000 miles, about the same as the old Jeep... but there's a 2003 with slightly higher mileage, and similar permutation!
We have a week to find something and then the insurance company stop paying for the rental car. If we can find something local our nice mechanic will give it a quick inspection gratis if we can stop by on a test drive... very kind indeed (though I'm sure a vehicle of that age and miles will be headed to him for attention at some points of its time with us haha!)
BTW, the quote is from the film "Withnail & I".
Righty ho, that's it. Thank you all for your kind wishes for the surgery.Send me some ache-relieving vibes if you get a moment :)
Unlike the last surgery I had (on my left eye in Atlanta) where my blood pressure esclated into the 200s after the anaesthetic wore off and it took me maybe 5 hours to get through recovery... here I warned everybody who would listen that my BP might do that and so they were able to control it and I was out and home by 2pm! :)
Boy am I sore now! Well I'm not in any great pain, but the area of my stomach feels it whenever I inadvertently stretch it... my throat is sore from the breathing tube, and oddly my shoulder blades ache something chronic! I wish I'd booked tomorrow off work, but I thought this would be a bit quicker and easier procedure... and plus I really need to keep hold of my meager days off because I'm sure I'll have a need for them when I need training for dialysis and goodness knows whatever else!
... I might call in sick though tomorrow if I'm really sore in the morning. We shall see. I've had a handful of sick days in 10 years of working, so it's not something I like doing, but if I'm aching too much I will do!
In other news the loss adjuster adjusterised the Jeep... and despite my fears of what value the insurance company would use, they didn't use the low trade-in value, and they didn't use the middle value price a private seller would charge... they took the mid-point between the private seller and the dealer price, which is a huge relief! That means we've about $5000 to look for a replacement vehicle with, about the same value as what we paid for the Jeep. There seem to be a choice of the same model we had, a slightly smaller model, or possibly some some 2-wheel drive options... most are year 2000 with around 140,000 miles, about the same as the old Jeep... but there's a 2003 with slightly higher mileage, and similar permutation!
We have a week to find something and then the insurance company stop paying for the rental car. If we can find something local our nice mechanic will give it a quick inspection gratis if we can stop by on a test drive... very kind indeed (though I'm sure a vehicle of that age and miles will be headed to him for attention at some points of its time with us haha!)
BTW, the quote is from the film "Withnail & I".
Righty ho, that's it. Thank you all for your kind wishes for the surgery.Send me some ache-relieving vibes if you get a moment :)
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Snip Snip
Well here's a story of sharp objects! Today I got a nice snazzy haircut after work. I'm a big fan of haircuts at salons... I know most men don't pay $35 and up and visit a salon for their hair cuts... but I had long hair for 14 years back in my uni days, and when i took the plunge and got it severed, I went to a nice posh place, Ken Picton's in Cardiff Bay and I've never looked back!
In Atlanta I frequented Oh La La in Decatur and here in Rochester I've found Michael Avery hair salon, and I've liked them all!
Here's the results of tonight's attack of the scissors...
So what happens now? Well I'm going to have a nice long hot bath in case it is my last one for a while... I go for surgery tomorrow so they can instal a catheter which I will use for dialysis in the near future. They tell me "no baths" ... which I'm not quite ready to take litterally yet... me, being me, thinks there might be some work arounds, like using anti-bacterial Fairy Liquid (dish soap) instead of bubble bath, even if it only works if I don't tell them!
... and after that long hot bath, which can't really be too long because it's 9pm and I have to be at the hospital at 6:15 ... so I have to draw a line on my stomach / waist where my belt goes, and then they'll probably put the catheter just above it. It'll take 2 weeks to heal and then I'll be able to start using it whenever I need to start dialysis... I'm tempted to draw a little pair of scissors at the start of the marked belt line, though I'm a little worried they might take it seriously and just amputate my whole torso by mistake!
... I've just supped a cup of tea ... I think there's time for a couple more cups before bed. And I also just polished off a rather tasty lemon meringue pie - well if it all goes wrong... well what if they forget what they're doing and sew up my stomach? I'd want my last food to be something yummy!!
In Atlanta I frequented Oh La La in Decatur and here in Rochester I've found Michael Avery hair salon, and I've liked them all!
Here's the results of tonight's attack of the scissors...
So what happens now? Well I'm going to have a nice long hot bath in case it is my last one for a while... I go for surgery tomorrow so they can instal a catheter which I will use for dialysis in the near future. They tell me "no baths" ... which I'm not quite ready to take litterally yet... me, being me, thinks there might be some work arounds, like using anti-bacterial Fairy Liquid (dish soap) instead of bubble bath, even if it only works if I don't tell them!
... and after that long hot bath, which can't really be too long because it's 9pm and I have to be at the hospital at 6:15 ... so I have to draw a line on my stomach / waist where my belt goes, and then they'll probably put the catheter just above it. It'll take 2 weeks to heal and then I'll be able to start using it whenever I need to start dialysis... I'm tempted to draw a little pair of scissors at the start of the marked belt line, though I'm a little worried they might take it seriously and just amputate my whole torso by mistake!
... I've just supped a cup of tea ... I think there's time for a couple more cups before bed. And I also just polished off a rather tasty lemon meringue pie - well if it all goes wrong... well what if they forget what they're doing and sew up my stomach? I'd want my last food to be something yummy!!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Squish Squash Sandwich
First, a public service announcement:
It's almost the end of the Men Quilt Too! competition on Pigtales and Quilts...Thanks to everyone who has voted. I'm biting my nails wondering if I'm in the top 4, the prize positions! I just hope I get a respectable number of votes and don't finish last ;) If you've voted you can rest assured, I won't be sending the hitmen round to help you remember to cast your last minute vote :)
Voting closes on the 22nd so if you haven't voted yet, just send your email saying "I'm voting for 14. Owls All Around!" to alliesgrandma@earthlink.net ... and a huge thank you to Thearica for putting on such a great show and exposing us male quilts to the world :)
OK, onwards and upwards... there's rainy clouds in the sky... well, rainy fabrics! The rainy day quilt is progressing well. I did several more squares whilst listening to Quilter in the Gap's latest podcast. If you haven't listened to the previous one which interviewed me, do go check it out, it's number 13, and the new number 14 is full of more Rhonda quirkiness and enjoyable ramblings about quilting and life.
It's sew night again tomorrow, so I'll be hopping on the bus and taking my bag of quilt tricks to do a couple of hours quilting after work. I'm going to concentrate on the charity squares since I haven't made a start on that multi-colorod assortment of fabrics yet! I'll post photos this weekend of the fabrics I'm working with.
In other news... I managed to thread my first needle tonight! Well not my first ever, but first since I became blind. I'm using the neat needles with tiny hooks at the top and which divert the thread into the eye of the needle. I'm very happy about this, it feels like a new kind of freedom!
On to the subject of today's post... bye bye Jeep. It became a squished sandwich between a car which stopped with warning and a big Chevvy truck which totally failed to do the same. So it's a write off :( I wasn't on board, and luckily Michelle and Tazzie dog are both ok... aching from the whiplash, but no serious injuries. Keep your fingers crossed that the insurance decide the value of the Jeep is a respectable amount else we will be struggling to afford anything that will work in the big snow we get up here... I suspect it will be a couple of thousand dollars short of what we really need... life sucks sometimes :(
And final news... I've got my appointment next week to have the catheter put in to my stomach ready for dialysis in the near future. I have the surgery on Thursday, full aneasthetic, but if all goes well I should be discharged by lunchtime... You all know me, I'm not very good with doctors, needles etc, so wish me luck because I'll need it! :)
So that's it, all my current news... now go vote if you still haven't done so! ;)
It's almost the end of the Men Quilt Too! competition on Pigtales and Quilts...Thanks to everyone who has voted. I'm biting my nails wondering if I'm in the top 4, the prize positions! I just hope I get a respectable number of votes and don't finish last ;) If you've voted you can rest assured, I won't be sending the hitmen round to help you remember to cast your last minute vote :)
Voting closes on the 22nd so if you haven't voted yet, just send your email saying "I'm voting for 14. Owls All Around!" to alliesgrandma@earthlink.net ... and a huge thank you to Thearica for putting on such a great show and exposing us male quilts to the world :)
OK, onwards and upwards... there's rainy clouds in the sky... well, rainy fabrics! The rainy day quilt is progressing well. I did several more squares whilst listening to Quilter in the Gap's latest podcast. If you haven't listened to the previous one which interviewed me, do go check it out, it's number 13, and the new number 14 is full of more Rhonda quirkiness and enjoyable ramblings about quilting and life.
It's sew night again tomorrow, so I'll be hopping on the bus and taking my bag of quilt tricks to do a couple of hours quilting after work. I'm going to concentrate on the charity squares since I haven't made a start on that multi-colorod assortment of fabrics yet! I'll post photos this weekend of the fabrics I'm working with.
In other news... I managed to thread my first needle tonight! Well not my first ever, but first since I became blind. I'm using the neat needles with tiny hooks at the top and which divert the thread into the eye of the needle. I'm very happy about this, it feels like a new kind of freedom!
On to the subject of today's post... bye bye Jeep. It became a squished sandwich between a car which stopped with warning and a big Chevvy truck which totally failed to do the same. So it's a write off :( I wasn't on board, and luckily Michelle and Tazzie dog are both ok... aching from the whiplash, but no serious injuries. Keep your fingers crossed that the insurance decide the value of the Jeep is a respectable amount else we will be struggling to afford anything that will work in the big snow we get up here... I suspect it will be a couple of thousand dollars short of what we really need... life sucks sometimes :(
And final news... I've got my appointment next week to have the catheter put in to my stomach ready for dialysis in the near future. I have the surgery on Thursday, full aneasthetic, but if all goes well I should be discharged by lunchtime... You all know me, I'm not very good with doctors, needles etc, so wish me luck because I'll need it! :)
So that's it, all my current news... now go vote if you still haven't done so! ;)
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Magnetism
On Monday I had my second iron injection and I've been so full of energy I've been zipping around, haven't slept a wink, pins and needles jump out of the pin cushions as I pass and stick themselves to my arms.....
erm, or not! I can't explain it but I've been shattered this week! I get home from work and promptly take a nap before dinner! weird... where's the extra energy boost?! maybe we'll give it a week and let it catch up with me.
Don't forget, anybody who hasn't cast their vote in the Men Quilt Too! competition, hop along and send Thearica an email with the name and number of your favorite quilt... that'd be number 14, Owls All Around ... there's a lot of cute little owlies on that quilt and they all need a vote, so tell everyone you know to adopt an owl! ... if you vote I'll even tell you which owl is yours when the competition closes!
... and there have been several more male bloggers linking up on the blog listing too, so go check out their blogs... seriously, there are some really talented guys there and some have been quilting for a long time and have some fresh ideas about quilting :)
In other news I tuned in for the #TALKNT chat on Twitter last night. This is a 2-hour chat about all things quilty and sewingy, and frankly it moves at one heck of a pace! I struggled to keep up - even setting the speed of my screen reader (which is called Jaws, so I'm going to start calling it that because it's so much shorter than "my screen reading software") up a couple of notches to the "motormouth" level, even then I was mostly 5 minutes behind the latest tweet!
I enjoyed the conversation and threw in a couple of comments. However, does anybody else do the TALKNT chat? I visited the blog page about it but couldn't find the "Add" button anywhere to show that I was participating... I think that's how you get entered in the sessions giveaways... the night seems to be often sponsored by the great Fat Quarter Shop :)
... if anybody has any insights as where I'd find the add button so I can appear on the list of chatters, please please please point me in that direction!
I think I'm going to turn some of my attention to the charity quilt block I've said I'd do. Watch out for some pics of the fabrics for that, and also some progress shots of the Rainy Day quilt which is becoming a neat little stack on my desk as I sew squares whilst listening to the likes of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and Coco Before Chanel ...
erm, or not! I can't explain it but I've been shattered this week! I get home from work and promptly take a nap before dinner! weird... where's the extra energy boost?! maybe we'll give it a week and let it catch up with me.
Don't forget, anybody who hasn't cast their vote in the Men Quilt Too! competition, hop along and send Thearica an email with the name and number of your favorite quilt... that'd be number 14, Owls All Around ... there's a lot of cute little owlies on that quilt and they all need a vote, so tell everyone you know to adopt an owl! ... if you vote I'll even tell you which owl is yours when the competition closes!
... and there have been several more male bloggers linking up on the blog listing too, so go check out their blogs... seriously, there are some really talented guys there and some have been quilting for a long time and have some fresh ideas about quilting :)
In other news I tuned in for the #TALKNT chat on Twitter last night. This is a 2-hour chat about all things quilty and sewingy, and frankly it moves at one heck of a pace! I struggled to keep up - even setting the speed of my screen reader (which is called Jaws, so I'm going to start calling it that because it's so much shorter than "my screen reading software") up a couple of notches to the "motormouth" level, even then I was mostly 5 minutes behind the latest tweet!
I enjoyed the conversation and threw in a couple of comments. However, does anybody else do the TALKNT chat? I visited the blog page about it but couldn't find the "Add" button anywhere to show that I was participating... I think that's how you get entered in the sessions giveaways... the night seems to be often sponsored by the great Fat Quarter Shop :)
... if anybody has any insights as where I'd find the add button so I can appear on the list of chatters, please please please point me in that direction!
I think I'm going to turn some of my attention to the charity quilt block I've said I'd do. Watch out for some pics of the fabrics for that, and also some progress shots of the Rainy Day quilt which is becoming a neat little stack on my desk as I sew squares whilst listening to the likes of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and Coco Before Chanel ...
Monday, October 3, 2011
Trigonometry
It's been a busy day of doctors appointments, mostly involving my arms so I was too tied up to do any quilting! first off it took 2 hours to do the paperwork ready for me to have a catheter put in (minor surgical procedure) for my looming start of dialysis... this involved some not-very-papery things too, namely chest x-ray, EKG, and the obligatory blood test.
After a couple of hours gap, next up was an iron injection, tying up an arm again as they did it like a blood transfusion, taking about an hour again (including the half hour observation period to make sure I wasn't going to react badly to the jab ... not sure what they expected me to do, run around madly quilting?)
But that was that, all went smoothly. i get another iron shot in a week, and should get an appointment for the catheter surgery in a couple of weeks. What a hectic month!
Time for some quilting news! Here are some pics from the Elma quilt show which we went to this last weekend. The theme was very definitely triangles, and this first one was one of my favorites
Blue Dahlia
And here are a couple more:
Jess & Lou's Wedding
Prairie Flower Patchwork
My Grandmothers Rose Garden
Back to work tomorrow... more rain in the forecast! Looking forward to sew night at Irondequoit Quilt Club on Friday - I need those hours behind a needle, I've got lots to do and today's needles didn't help! ;)
After a couple of hours gap, next up was an iron injection, tying up an arm again as they did it like a blood transfusion, taking about an hour again (including the half hour observation period to make sure I wasn't going to react badly to the jab ... not sure what they expected me to do, run around madly quilting?)
But that was that, all went smoothly. i get another iron shot in a week, and should get an appointment for the catheter surgery in a couple of weeks. What a hectic month!
Time for some quilting news! Here are some pics from the Elma quilt show which we went to this last weekend. The theme was very definitely triangles, and this first one was one of my favorites
Blue Dahlia
And here are a couple more:
Jess & Lou's Wedding
Prairie Flower Patchwork
My Grandmothers Rose Garden
Back to work tomorrow... more rain in the forecast! Looking forward to sew night at Irondequoit Quilt Club on Friday - I need those hours behind a needle, I've got lots to do and today's needles didn't help! ;)
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Not the Sharpest Needle in the Pin Cushion
Recently Magpie Mimi said she felt dumb because her "broken" sewing machine seems to apparently be fine and so has sat unused for several weeks! She asked if anybody else had those moments of feeling a few sandwiches short of a picnic...
Boy howdy! For the last month I've been trying one of my blood pressure pills in patch form, so instead of 3 pills per day I could have a nice smooth constant delivery throughout the day. I've been dutifully applying these patches every Sunday, and I have to admit I've not really noticed any benefit. Nothing to make it worth paying for the patches since I still need the pills too.
But it came to the end of the month and I realised on Sunday just gone, that I was going to be out of patches. So I rummaged in the box in case there was a spare lurking inside... lo and behold! 4 spare patches!
So I read the box. Contents: 4 patches and 4 extra adhesive plasters (band aids for my US readers)... guess what I'd been wearing for the last month - the 4 adhesive tops!! Doh!
So yes, I wasn't feeling like the sharpest needle in the pin cushion!
But I perked up today when I discovered I'd won a copy of Sue Patten's book, "Quilting Possibilities...Freehand Filler Patterns... thanks to Pigtails and Quilts blog! ... see, you can tell I'm excited because I've actually made the blog references hyperlinks so you can just clicky click click over on to read their great blogs too!
Right, off for a bath and to listen to some of my book! Happy sewing :)
Boy howdy! For the last month I've been trying one of my blood pressure pills in patch form, so instead of 3 pills per day I could have a nice smooth constant delivery throughout the day. I've been dutifully applying these patches every Sunday, and I have to admit I've not really noticed any benefit. Nothing to make it worth paying for the patches since I still need the pills too.
But it came to the end of the month and I realised on Sunday just gone, that I was going to be out of patches. So I rummaged in the box in case there was a spare lurking inside... lo and behold! 4 spare patches!
So I read the box. Contents: 4 patches and 4 extra adhesive plasters (band aids for my US readers)... guess what I'd been wearing for the last month - the 4 adhesive tops!! Doh!
So yes, I wasn't feeling like the sharpest needle in the pin cushion!
But I perked up today when I discovered I'd won a copy of Sue Patten's book, "Quilting Possibilities...Freehand Filler Patterns... thanks to Pigtails and Quilts blog! ... see, you can tell I'm excited because I've actually made the blog references hyperlinks so you can just clicky click click over on to read their great blogs too!
Right, off for a bath and to listen to some of my book! Happy sewing :)
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Topsy Turvey
So, a little over 5 months after my first quilting class (an event most memorable for the horizontal direction of my stitching), my hand sewn quilt top is assembled!
It didn't really take me 5 months to get this far. the distraction of moving from Atlanta to Rochester, NY kept me out of quilting action for a couple of those months. I am very pleased to say that my stitching has improved over the course of doing this quilt top, and I now can sew two full rows together in about 15 minutes. Not too bad :)
So here it is, my very first quilt top.
I do have a name for the quilt (as all quilts must have) but I'm not going to reveal it until it's finished. From here it needs backing and stuffing, the real "quilting" stage... so keep watching for that process and the naming of the quilt!
In the meantime I'm going to start my next project, which is either going to be a quilted basket (I got the pattern from a website associated with Quilters World magazine, which I'm expecting a trial copy of), or a second quilt, a pattern from Quilter in the Rain in Seattle (also on blogspot)! ... or maybe both :)
today I go for an information session - 3 hours of learning what my kidney dialysis options are. I've just about got my head around the fact of needing dialysis soon, and am thinking positively that it'll give me extra time for quilting!! As long as I can do the "at home" option and keep working then I'll be ok.
In other news I had an ultrasound on my kidneys the other day, which showed them to be "as expected" (or "mostly ok" as the doc said)... but it did show "a mass" in my bladder, so I'm waiting for an appointment to go have that looked at with a camera and a biopsy taken if necessary... it may just be a natural thickening of the bladder wall (according to the kidney doc), but it's a bit of an apprehensive time until I get to see the urologist and find out what's really going on... wish me luck!!
It didn't really take me 5 months to get this far. the distraction of moving from Atlanta to Rochester, NY kept me out of quilting action for a couple of those months. I am very pleased to say that my stitching has improved over the course of doing this quilt top, and I now can sew two full rows together in about 15 minutes. Not too bad :)
So here it is, my very first quilt top.
I do have a name for the quilt (as all quilts must have) but I'm not going to reveal it until it's finished. From here it needs backing and stuffing, the real "quilting" stage... so keep watching for that process and the naming of the quilt!
In the meantime I'm going to start my next project, which is either going to be a quilted basket (I got the pattern from a website associated with Quilters World magazine, which I'm expecting a trial copy of), or a second quilt, a pattern from Quilter in the Rain in Seattle (also on blogspot)! ... or maybe both :)
today I go for an information session - 3 hours of learning what my kidney dialysis options are. I've just about got my head around the fact of needing dialysis soon, and am thinking positively that it'll give me extra time for quilting!! As long as I can do the "at home" option and keep working then I'll be ok.
In other news I had an ultrasound on my kidneys the other day, which showed them to be "as expected" (or "mostly ok" as the doc said)... but it did show "a mass" in my bladder, so I'm waiting for an appointment to go have that looked at with a camera and a biopsy taken if necessary... it may just be a natural thickening of the bladder wall (according to the kidney doc), but it's a bit of an apprehensive time until I get to see the urologist and find out what's really going on... wish me luck!!
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