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Welcoming 2011 in the ER

Saturday, January 1st, 2011

We planned a quiet, laid-back New Year’s Eve; a home-cooked meal, a DVD and “maybe” staying up until midnight. Thomas (IV) had been fighting a migraine for two days, and truly only wanted peace, quiet & reduced pain; he retreated to his space after dinner, hoping sleep would help, and we decamped to our bedroom.

By 10:15 or 10:30pm, I had opted for sleep while Tom (III) was ready to watch the rest of the movie we’d started. I may have been asleep for 10 minutes when Tom woke me up. Thomas had made his way downstairs for help; he was cold and clammy to the touch, extremely pale and heaving up lunch/dinner/ et al. We arrived at the local ER around 11:45 pm and it took several exams and two doses of a medicine “cocktail” to make the nausea subside and the headache recede (not disappear). By 2 am on New Year’s Day, we were on our way home. Thomas was surely “seeing stars” through most of this, but it wasn’t the traditional (and illegal) fireworks being set off to celebrate the begining of 2011!

All is well now, except that his headache is still lurking like a beast ready to pounce. I’m hoping he got the last of 2010 out of his system and 2012 will be healthier for him! (Note:I must have still been tired when I wrote this! As Shannon pointed out, I’m hoping 2011 will be a better year for him!)

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Physical therapy – that’s a surprise!

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

 Before my follow-up appointment with the hand surgeon (today), I fussed and whimpered and fussed some more; the “brave Christy” simply went into hiding, leaving a complete coward in her place!  

 My last encounter with stitch removal was two years ago, when the male nurse (aka Attila the Hun!) removed all of the surgical wraps on both feet (including the ones which had adhered to the incision) briskly, efficiently and painfully.  He then proceeded to SCRUB the incisions with great zeal and particularly rough-textured gauze! I have a witness – I think the marks of my fingernails are probably still dimly visible on Tom’s left hand!  The actual stitch removal was done by a very sweet, empathetic nurse, but she still had to dig for stitches within a rather deep V-shaped  area on both  feet and somewhat overgrown by new skin. . . . every time it hurt too much for me to stay silent and stoic, I felt guilty for making her feel guilty about hurting me!  All of this, of course, was on my mind while Tom helped a very reluctant me to get dressed for The Appointment before he left for work.

The mystical, “magical gauze strip with important healing qualities”  hadn’t been removed when my neighbor (aka Ace Nurse) or I did my own dressing changes, mostly because it was obviously well adhered to the surgical site by the rather important red fluid that flows through my body!  I was fussing because I had mental images of the surgeon (or nurse) calmly ripping the “magic strip” off.  In point of fact, it was the nurse who did the deed, and then proceeded to dig around and remove twelve stitches before leaving me to my surgeon’s tender mercy.  OK – I  survived that, the  incisions looked good and I was sent off to physical therapy to be fitted with a ‘figure-eight’ brace and given a sheet of exercises to be done five-times daily.   (According to the surgeon, “We had to remove a lot of extraneous bone.”) and released to return to the therapist’s clinic on Nov.10th. 

Excuse me? (1) The center of said figure  8 brace rests across all three incisions, with no padding between brace and skin! 2) I can perform the range-of-motion exercises much better without this infernal appliance constantly shifting and 3)  ”OK, Chris. . . .give it time. Calm down, do the exercises, breathe deeply  & give it time. . . . well, I’m trying, but. . . .!

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Off with her head (erm, hand)!

Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

O.K., confession time. With the guys off at work all day and ”The Hand” sending out post-surgical messages I cannot repeat in polite (or even semi-polite) society , my “plan” was to escape boredom and pain by napping as much as possible.   However,  my self-appointed ‘nurse cats’  have decided  it would be a good idea (and very helpful, of course) to keep the injured hand warm if I  happen to doze off!  This ‘good deed’ consists of either Diva or Cassidy draping their considerable weight over the elevated hand , centering themselves over the bandage, and falling into a deep, virtuous sleep! 

I’ve started fiddling around with the bandage. Hey! The surgeon did say we could move to a smaller bandage after 3 days!  I’ve  re-wrapped the Ace bandage several times and in several unorthodox ways , as well as cutting away a few parts of the ‘cotton batting’ which had become rather frayed and disreputable. None of this activity has produced much in the way of comfort or improvement :(    The biggest problem is that some subconscious portion of my brain has decided that the main discomfort is a result of having the ring finger firmly bound to the little finger by layers I’ve been way-too- chicken to delve into. (Actually, I had worked my way down to three layers of ‘cotton batting’, all of which are firmly attached to me by post-operative bleeding. Nope – no way am I fooling around with that!   By the time Tom arrived home from work, I had latched onto a much better plan; catch my delightful neighbor/Ace Nurse at home, if I could, and have her redo this whole mess, hopefully leaving only the ring finger bandaged!

I’m thrilled to report that the Ace bandage is now banished, best neighbor/nurse freed me from the layers of felt/batting/whatever and released the trapped little finger!  There’s a strip of “magical gauze with mystical healing  & anti-bacterial properties”  (that’s an extremely loose quote from Nurse Kathy) that she left in place directly over the incisions . . . . .I was rather relieved, as said strip seems to be firmly attached to me by the aforementioned bleeding!  Still, with a fresh gauze wrap and bright pink cohesive tape wrap, I’m feeling freer and somewhat stylish. LOL!

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Good morning – rough evening!

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

Tom  and I had to report in at the surgical suite of The Hand Center of San Antonio at 6:00 this morning.  Ugh!  Granted, it didn’t give me a long time (thirsty and hungry) to wait or become nervous, but we were sure doing a lot of yawning!

Everything went like clock-work, and I’ve seldom met a warmer, friendlier group of clerks, nurses & technicians.  The in-take clerk (usually the worst of the “just-the-facts-ma’am, sign here..here…here, and there, “go sit and wait to be called” crew) was warm, welcoming, and even shunted some of the lengthy paper-work towards Tom to be filled out once she noticed that the pen & I were engaged in a small battle of wills.  (I try to have a Christy – friendly pen with me at all times, but I didn’t even bother to take a purse with me; just my ID, insurance card and med list.)

Pre-Op was fairly empty when I was taken back to be prepped. All of the nurses were sweet and “un-rushed” (If it isn’t a real word, it ought to be) and I drew Christy (yep!) as my prep-nurse. Went through the standard litany of questions (designed to avoid errors, so I don’t mind them at all!), but Christy didn’t employ the usual Drill Sargent approach :)   Got “comfortable” in my surgical gown (yeah, riiiiiight) and another nurse came along to start the requisite IV; lucked out again, as she slid the needle in and taped everything down without a twinge!  I was handed a marker and initialed the area Dr. Rust would be working on – LOL!  Met my anesthesiologist, who was a tad surprised to hear that all he’d be using the IV line for (aside from the standard Ringer’s Lactate) was a light bit of sedation; Dr. Rust & I had agreed on local injections at the base of the 2nd and 3rd fingers.

One of the pluses of avoiding general anesthesia is that I went straight from the OR to Level 2 Recovery, where I spent a very short time being monitored for wonky blood pressure (it does it every time!) and a little longer sipping dark roast coffee and sitting in a recliner before Tom came in to take me home! I was settled on our bed by 9:30 am.

That’s a good thing, because my surgeon encountered more than she expected.  After she removed the cyst, she found a large rheumatoid bony growth that had to be cut away (remember my “things can hide in x-rays” note a couple of posts back? Bingo!) . Hence, I apparently have a V – shaped incision instead of the small, straight cut she’d planned to make. It also means that the pain level is several notches higher than I expected; when bone-cutting is involved, it definitely ramps up the Ouch Factor!

I won’t be making miniatures for a couple of weeks, but I’ll feel better in a couple of days :)

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Run up to surgery # . . . whatever!

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

Back on September 1st, I met with Dr. Stace’ Rust about the knot/lump/whatever which has been forming on my left hand ring finger, palm-side and just below the first knuckle.  It has been growing for several months……..not actually sure how long, as I have a bad habit of trying to ignore “little things”, even when they get in the way of normal mobility or make tasks harder. (It’s called Surviving RA!)  I finally quit ignoring this one when it occurred to me that I might not be able to remove my wedding ring or engagement band without having them cut off  by a jeweler!  Tom accomplished the removal with liquid dish soap, a great deal of pulling and some mashing of the knuckle; that was enough to convince me I needed to find a hand surgeon!  ( The wizard who performed three reconstructive surgeries on my right hand, the last one several years ago, has since switched to the more lucrative field of plastic surgery!! )

During my mid- August appointment with my rheumatologist, I asked him who his favorite hand surgeon was.  I was lucky on several counts; her practice is located close-by, she was accepting new patients, and I could get an appointment with her relatively quickly!  At the first visit (Sept. 1st) , she had several x-rays taken to rule out a bone chip or other solid mass. Nothing there, except a rather crooked finger. (Take note . . . .things can hide from an x-ray!)  Examining the finger, she posited three possibilities; rheumatoid nodule, benign tumor or cyst.  We could confirm or rule out door number three by having her attempt to use the typical, rather large needle & syringe to drain it.  Yes, I let her – yes, it is a fairly uncomfortable procedure – yes, it was a cyst.  Caveat: it could still return, at which point we would need to discuss surgery.

September 2nd, when I removed the band aid, the cyst had refilled and enlarged a bit!  Rats!   Back to Dr. R’s ~ time to get me on the surgical schedule. I saw her on Sept. 13th and my calendar turned out to be much more of a problem then hers!  Sept. 17th-19th was the Society of American Miniaturists (SAM’s) Wonderful  Workshop Weekend. I was signed up for two workshops, haven’t been to a real Miniatures Show in over a year, this was the firs Workshop Weekend at the new Temple, Texas venue  and I  Was Going!  Sept.21st & 22nd were appointments I had already booked with medical appointments and  Sept. 24th was our last round-trip to Houston & Baylor University for follow-up on Tom’s injured left eye (we’re rotating him back to the excellent medical team here in San Antonio, and I was not going to make that drive in surgical bandages)!  Finally settled on October 21st, which sent me into an energy-draining quest to complete everything on my “You need two hands” list before the chosen date. I almost finished everything on the list, too!

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Lots of good will and maybe one small spill*

Saturday, October 9th, 2010

(* With apologies to Dolly Parton, lyricist & singer – “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”)

SAS (San Antonio Shoemakers) hosted their 21st annual  Siesta Valley Ranch Walk today (10-9-2010, hosting thousands of participants at no fee.  T-shirts and a free bar-b-cue meal (with sides) await all those who arrive at the finish line. Participation in this event is a long- standing tradition in our Son-in-Law’s family; we were  introduced to this three mile (or six mile – hiker’s choice) walk/hike  through  beautiful ranch land in the Texas Hill Country three years ago. The vistas are gorgeous, the beautifully groomed horses make me ache to ride at least once more and the buffalo herd pastured along the walking course are simply majestic.  It is a working ranch, so the trails can be a bit rough, steep or rocky (or all three at once.) Also, as it is a working ranch, one needs to keep a sharp eye out for the cow patties while enjoying the cliff faces, valleys and lush green pastures , or face a good clean-up session :)

 My first ’Ranch Walk’ (with Tom & Thomas,  joining three generations of Moores)  was o the 19th annual walk (2008) ~ for me, it was a blatant challenge to the double amputation surgery (already scheduled)    of all ten toes. All family members caravaned to the ranch (about 10 miles west of Medina, TX and started the walk together. I successfully completed the hike with my leg braces, cane and Tom’s sturdy arm, but I definitely slowed down the parade! 

2009 was the 20th Anniversary walk, and Tom III was the only Blackburn presence. Thomas was working an abysmal job with outlandish hours, and I just plain goofed!  I soooo much wanted this to be my “Victory  Walk” (post-surgery and extremely mobile), but had committed myself to being a facilitator at a  state-wide  Community Education convention before I knew the date of the Ranch Walk and felt obligated to keep my promise :(  

This year, all three Blackburns were able to attend, and we arrived at the ranch ahead of the Moore clan. Making the walk together (and watching rapidly growing grand-daughter Sara and her cousins enjoy the wide-open spaces while still within parental view)  are a special part of the walk, but I knew we needed to start the walk ahead of them. The surgery has done amazing things for my mobility, but I’m a bit wobbly right now and knew I would hold everyone else back.  Turned out that was a good plan. I handled rough terrain pretty well, kept a death grip on Tom on the loose & rolling gravel parts. . . .and about 2 miles into the walk (striding along on turf beside the main path) I took my mind off of what I was doing for a moment. Yep – flat out fall, stopped by my left ring finger catching on something (rock? tuft of turf? Who knows!) and my left arm!  Took a .5 inch by 3.5 inch strip of hide off of my left elbow and forearm, and bruised both knees!  That was the moment I was glad my Sara was somewhere behind us and unable to see Grandma do a wipe out! I got back up (with the help of both Toms and a gentlemen also sporting a cane (His comment was “If it hadn’t been you, it would have been me!” – sweet) and finished the final mile. . . . .then made a ‘pit stop’ at the on-duty ambulance for a clean-up and a gauze wrap to hide the messy patch from young Sara!  Fortunately, the relative size of a bandage hasn’t occurred to her yet, so it didn’t raise any alarms:)

I had a wonderful time, and the experience also convinced me that my legs & ankles are way too weak. It’s time to look into well planned physical therapy to turn this around! Oh, another HUGE treat. . . .Thomas won the dice toss at the end of the walk!  Since he is more a fan of younger-style footwear (and has no need of a purse), the certificate he received will buy me a much-need new pair of black SAS shoes!!!!  (They’re the only ones my orthotics will fit into!)

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Sometimes, you have to brag!

Saturday, October 2nd, 2010

Following up on yesterday’s triumphs, I was determined to complete at least one more task-in-waiting today. I had decided that task  would be applying the wood stain to the exterior of my Cypress & Fog room box (created in a workshop taught by the Guys From Texas), so that I could actually begin to furnish it with the goodies I’ve been collecting.  Before I could haul myself upstairs to accomplish that, DD and DG-daughter arrived. I enjoy their company, and watching Sara’s ever maturing ” take” on the world around her, but I Really wanted to get that room box off my list!   No problem – the rest of the family kept Miss Sara happy and entertained while I did my thing up in my Tower. Tomorrow, it will be ready to move downstairs (with help – this beast weighs a ton, probably because of all the field-stone castings that I [and the other members of the class] painstakingly detailed with multiple color washes to achieve a realistic effect)!  The Guys had mentioned that Minwax Provincial Pecan would be a good color choice for the box exterior;  as usual, they were right on target! It calls forth the Craftsman style of the room beautifully.  But that’s not what I’m bragging about – that’s just my “report card” :)

Nope, bragging rights go entirely to 3.5 year old Sara Elise (aka DGD)!  She has been looking at Grandma’s miniatures since she learned to crawl; Doc Dickory’s Hickory Clock Shop (housed in the base of our grandfather clock, safely below the sweep of the pendulum), the lower shelf of my antique mercantile showcase (housing as-yet-unhomed miniature treasures) and Noel 365  (my year-round Christmas shop, which occupies the lower level of the barrister’s bookshelves in the entryway) were her first introduction to grandma’s obsession. . . . . er, hobby.  When she mastered walking, many more scenes came into view and she realized there were even more which were either hanging on walls or sitting high above her head on shelves,, and she began to request “Up” so that she could inspect them.  Santa’s Teddy Bear Workshop – North Pole hangs on my kitchen wall and hasn’t been fitted with a protective Plexiglas cover yet. She’s always been very attentive to “just look, don’t touch” and very gentle when allowed to hold and examine any of my miniatures.

Today, when I needed to go back up to my Tower briefly, Sara asked permission to go with me.  Since I had already cleaned off the seat of the recliner, I said “sure” and off we went.  (The recliner seat issue is important; I have a bad habit of stacking tool-containers, magazines, file folders I’ve pulled out and  printies I haven’t filed yet on the chair. Naturally, Sara doesn’t see them as “research” or “future minis” – she sees them as an impediment to sitting down comfortably. Her youthful and direct approach is to get her little hands under as much as possible and sweep it to the floor. . .repeat as necessary. My fault for leaving it there – LOL!)  Once seated in the recliner, my multi-drawer organizer full of props for my “Door for All Season” shadow box is a slight glance to her right and within reaching distance.  She wanted to see what was in each drawer, and was extremely gentle in the handling of the contents of each  as she explored. When she removed the October/Halloween drawer, I realized it was time to dress the Door shadow box for Halloween! With some trepidation (hey, she’s only 3 1/2!), I brought the shadow box upstairs and opened it to remove the prior decorations.  She clambered up on my work stool, ready to go to work!   Yes, I was nervous, but the opportunity was just too perfect!  Propping the shadow box where she could reach it, I encouraged her choose a wreath and hang it on the door, pick from the items in the drawer and place them where she wished on the front stoop and the “ground” outside the door; the only help I offered was applying temporary adhesive here and there  and nudging the yard flag a bit as she tried to slip it onto to the hanger.  Throughout, she kept repeating “I’m being careful, Grandma” and she truly was.  At 3.5 years of age, Sara has decorated her first miniature scene – to me, that’s VERY impressive! I am so proud of her carefulness, reasoned choices and patience!  Bravo, Sara – you did a great job, and Grandma is hoping to play with miniatures with you a lot more as you grow up!

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Confucius Say. . . . .

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

Confucius say “Never celebrate success of journey until destination is reached”. (He probably didn’t, but . . . . . .)

Poor DH got a 4 am wake-up call – - – well, more of a wake-up whimper, actually. The story began at 1 am; I’d been courting sleep for over an hour and gave it up as a futile enterprise. There were just too many unhappy joints sending pain messages*, and my brain insisted on a detailed & repetitive review of the many steps remaining on my current miniature project. (*Although the renewed Enbrel therapy does seem to be making a difference, we’ve had unstable weather & bouncing air pressure for several days. Happily, it has brought a bit of welcome rain along with the discomfort!)

Since sleep was not a viable option, I decided to at least let DH sleep undisturbed, retreat to my Tower (studio) and work on said project. With “Celtic Woman”, “Top Gun” and Andrea Bocelli selections to break the silence, I completed the pegboard display and many more bags, boxes & pouches of pet care items for ‘Le Beastro Pet Supplies’ over the next few hours. I was using an X-Acto knife with a fresh, very sharp blade for much of that time; it’s amazing that my *journey* didn’t end (badly) much earlier than it did:)

At 4 am, I decided my nocturnal creative burst was over. . .truth be told, I was beginning to get basic construction steps out of sequence and mess things up a bit! Turning on the lights in the stairwell or family room would run the risk of awakening DH, so I made my way (slowly & carefully) down the stairs in the dark. No harm, no foul. I remembered to move forward cautiously in the family room until I located the quite large, quite solid oak shop-case, and navigate around it. I mapped the archway into the dining room with my free hand, as a cue to the location of the step & I took that step carefully.

That’s when I got careless!! By the faint light of the nightlight, I could see where the dining room table ended & where the bedroom door was – I was ‘home free’. NOT!!! I picked up speed. . . . .and one blink later, I was flat on the floor, with coffee spread everywhere. After a moment spent wondering how that had happened (and listening to profanity from various parts of my anatomy), I hobbled to the kitchen for a towel to clean up the coffee. What happened? Well, I can answer *what*, but I have absolutely no explanation for *how*! I forgot about the spare side-chair to my left as I entered the dining room. . . . .but I stubbed two toes (baby toe and the one next to it) of my right foot on the chair leg! I turned on a kitchen light to clean up the coffee spill & assess the physical damage. OK – Two strips of hide off my right forearm, a throbbing foot and the knowledge that my right shoulder, ribs and hip were going to be sore. But wait – why was I leaving a faint trail of blood wherever I wiped up coffee?! When I inspected my foot, I could see just enough to know I needed help. As well as breaking the baby toe (and possibly its neighbor), I sustained a deep, ragged cut around two-thirds of it!!

Haven’t slept much since then – haven’t moved around much, either. The project-in-work . . .upstairs. . . I guess it’s going to be off limits for a fair number of days:(
T

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Re-Earning My T-Shirt!

Saturday, May 31st, 2008

I took one of my favorite T-shirts out of the closet a few days ago, looked at it, and then put it back on its hanger. The shirt is black, with white lettering proclaiming “I’m Blogging This”. I haven’t written a blog entry since late-March, and need to re-earn that T-shirt! (So much for “Blog 365″!)

A passing glance at what has been happening in my world since the last post:

- I have *started the ball rolling* on the hideously expensive dental surgery which will (I hope!) end my on-going war with my upper dentures! Oh, it fits fine – it’s just that the palate plate and my over-developed gag reflex (coupled with the ever-present Texas allergens) are making making me miserable:( This will be a long-term project, since it involves consultations, scans, impressions, more scans, evaluations and more consultations before the actual surgery.

- Successfully completed my first *start to finish* wiring project in miniature! Sure, I have older scenes done with the tape-wire & brad system; I’ve created the minuscule plugs with the impossibly fine wires and hammered the wall outlets and junction splices into place…..but this one involved an LED, resistor, battery pack, switch and soldering iron! (Prior to a recent “LED Wiring 101″ tutorial at The Guys from Texas studio, I hadn’t touched a soldering iron in about 45 years!!)

- Instead of celebrating Mother’s *Day*, my family stretched it over a week- – -COOL! It started May 7th, when DH gave me a Waterfield case for my Kindle - a well padded burgundy carry-case with a shoulder strap and space for my Kindle and power cable. Over the next few days, I was gifted with a matching Waterfield slipcase, an Amazon GC, a new T-shirt (WOOT!) and a carte blanche wander through Rainbow gardens Nursery! Purr!!!

- DS is finally through with the Sand City/San Antonio carousel! He now gets to spend his off-work hours surrounded by the comfort of his own possessions (and water his own plants, hehe!) and my alarm clock is no longer sounding off at hideously early hours; life is good;)

- Thunder storm & tornado season has arrived. Ugh!

- “Wakefield Arms Pub” is established in it’s new location; four marble-topped tables have arrived, and nine Chrysnbon chairs have been constructed, stained and upholstered. (The search for appropriate flooring continues.)

- New space awaits “The Petal Pusher Florist Shop”, too. The wiring, wallpaper and *tile* flooring are all in place, and a new light fixture has been installed. (Now it is just a matter of putting counters, shelving, display tables and many, many plants, flowers, vases, pots, bowls, etc. into place. Yikes!)

- DH completed construction of my brand new (life-sized) greenhouse today! Yes, I know; this is SC Texas, and anything I put into the greenhouse before November or December will fry, but it’s ready when the time comes. The kit came with a built-in, collapsible table and prepping shelf and the three shelving units from my old greenhouse fit perfectly!

- Best of all, watching our Grand-Daughter explore, learn and grow has been amazing:) She’s walking, running, climbing and learning new words everyday! Grandmeow (that’s me) taught her “gigabyte” yesterday evening, as she admired her Uncle’s new Macbook Pro – hehe! Yep, that’s our little “Geek in Training”:)

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76/365 El Paso Return – round #???

Sunday, March 16th, 2008

DS is flying back from El Paso early this evening. The end of the not-so merry go-round is, at last, within sight; unfortunately, he has a few more rotations to complete before he tuck the over-worked suitcase into a corner. (I’m sure he’s getting dizzy – I know I am!)

Since I haven’t done a proper two-week shopping in mumbletoolongmumble, I made a midday dash to the market for something which would cook quickly when we returned from the airport. Passed DD’s sleek & pretty Ford Escape Hybrid just after leaving the Casa. . . O.K., make that lasagna & green salad for four!

DS’s plane was delayed, but he still got some time to visit with his Sis and play with his Niece.

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