Day 789

No, daughter isn't engaged yet. Boyfriend asked permission from us, but no ring on her finger yet. And yep, Lisa, Macys is her employer. Still no guesses on his from anyone?

How about this one - can you guess how pretty dew is on violets?

Pretty darn pretty, I say.

Day 788

34.03 miles v. 2.42 miles.

From our house in Marsing to our daughter's place in Boise it's 34.03 miles. With one way miles like that we don't see her all that much. Especially with her going to school full time and still trying to keep 20+ hours a week at work. But from our place in Boise to hers? 2.42 miles.

With as close as she lives it has been nice to see her whenever we spend the night over there. We don't always get to see her every trip - trying to pull straight A's takes quite the studying on her part - but last night we got to spend a nice chunk of time with her, her boyfriend, and their cat.

Boyfriend made dinner. Stir fry, fried rice, and egg roll.

Then daughter needed help making cupcakes for a party. A party where the attendees work at either her work or his work. (Can you tell by the logo cupcakes which two stores she and boyfriend work at?)

Oh yeah, and that's not all. Boyfriend asked our permission to marry our daughter. We said yes.

Day 787

Another mystery solved. Again, not the right one but one I'll again take.

On Day 770 I took a picture of a pod in the middle of rhubarb at our place in Boise.

Well that pod has now opened. Yep, a rhubarb flower.

Day 786

A mystery was solved today. Unfortunately it wasn't the one about me, but I'll take it anyway.

Back on Day 275 I had taken a picture of a plant with some berries on it. I had asked for help on identifying it and Karen came through. Could be grape holly, she said.

I had to wait until spring to see if yellow flowers appeared. I somehow missed checking last spring but I caught them this year. Plant identity confirmed.

Day 785

I could use all kinds of (bad) words to describe how things are going right now, but I'd rather focus on a positive word.

Stunning.

Day 784

You and I aren't the only ones who like admiring flowers. Check out the bottom right corner of the picture.

Day 783

Must. Keep. Moving. Forward.

Day 782

Scene: picking hubby up afterschool.

Conversation:
Hubby: What's for dinner?
Me: Tacos.
Hubby: I'm not sure how good the cabbage is. And I took the salad mix for lunch so we don't have any lettuce, either.
Me: (In a smart aleck-y voice) So what, we need to get our tacos at Alejandra's instead?
Hubby: You want to?
Me: I don't know.
Hubby: You up to it?
Me: Well I had a shower today and am dressed. (Okay, admission here...I don't shower everyday when I'm sick and sometimes I'm lucky to be wearing clean clothes.)

And that's how we wound up having a chimichanga for the first time ever.

Day 781

I needed another happy picture today. (Although if you knew nothing about flowers, a picture of a "bleeding heart" might not sound all that pleasant.)

Day 780

Figured after all the complaining I've been doing it's about time for happy things.

Like spring flowers.

Day 779

How much can one person take?

Despite my repeated declarations to the contrary, I've had to start back on the pain pills. Can't believe I crossed back over that line. I also have to get a shot today - in my rump - that is supposed to help with pain.

When I lifted those big, heavy boxes for the post office the other day I forgot something. Part of the recovery instructions from the cardiac catherization was to limit my lifting to three pounds. Oops. Now I'm paying for the oversight. The ache from the elbow to the wrist is not pleasant.

The soonest I can get into the doctor to discuss my pulmonary function tests is Wednesday. So more days of keeping still, more days of not being able to breathe.

Today is my chemotherapy drug day. Which means the next few days will have me feeling even worse than usual.

And the cherry on top for the day? I'm writing this from the rheumatologist's office. It's infusion day. Happy flippin' Friday.

Day 778

Still no word from the doctor, but I did get a nurse to read the results of my pulmonary function test to me. In hindsight that was probably not the best idea. Amid all the medical gobbledygook a key phrase stood out that I did understand. So Ms. Researcher me typed that phrase into the computer and added the words rheumatoid arthritis to the search.

Shouldn't have done that. All kinds of research studies connecting the condition to rheumatoid arthritis popped up. Studies painting a gloomy picture.

I can't let my mind go there. I'll go about my day, my week, my month and wait to hear the doctor's take on it and the next steps involved. And I'm pretty sure there will be at least one or more next steps.

To prove that I am moving on, we went to Alejandra's tonight. It has been so long since we've been there I couldn't even remember what menu item we were on. So I guessed. Two combination platters, one with a tamale and the other with a zope.

Day 777

Selling on eBay has been pretty fun. I get to clean out my stuff, send it to someone who could make better use of it, and make a little money while doing it.

Except on days like today when I have several packages going out at once. With me not being able to move/walk/stand but a minute or so before I run out of air it takes a bazillion breaks for me to get just these boxes packed, loaded, and to the post office. Boy, I hope I get some answers soon. Thank goodness my mind is still sharp (so far), because my body sure isn't.

Day 776

The soap opera continues.

I got the latest test results from the rheumatologist's office today. My inflammation numbers are down, like to normal. As much pain as I'm in I'm not sure I believe it. Looks like the doctor doesn't believe it either because he wants me to retake them next week. No question about my liver function, though. It's not working right, with the bloodwork showing my liver function off significantly.

Thank goodness for my flowers. Only thing getting me through today.

Day 775

Getting closer to answers. I think.

I had another test over at the hospital today, a pulmonary function test. It's a test all about lung capacity and force and oxygen saturation and so forth. I failed. Big time. They ran several tests and every single one was abnormal.  Every single one. My lungs ranked from 40% to 71% of normal on the different tests. Not good. Even the one where they did a breathing treatment with medication, medication that opens up the airways of asthmatics? Yep, that didn't show the results it should have. (In my mind that test told me I don't have asthma - don't know if the doctor will see it that way or not.) It'll be a couple days before he gets results and then I guess we'll see where we go from here.

And if that wasn't enough fun for the day, the rheumatologist and cardiologist had a consultation about me. They both agreed I need to, despite all the terrible side effects, continue with the infusions. That means I'm up for one again this Friday. I don't know if I have the strength.

Despite all that, I did have something pleasant today. Just look at our gorgeous tree!

Day 774

My daughter keeps telling me not to leave a bunch of stuff for her to get rid of. She's talking about when I'm no longer living and she has to clean out the house. We've been working hard at downsizing, but the sewing room? Yea, I'm afraid I haven't worked on downsizing it as much as I should.

I've always told kiddo that she wouldn't have to worry about my fabric stash because I'd use it up. But now with me being so sick I'm starting to wonder if I have too much. So today was spent getting ready to put some fabric on eBay soon. Might as well sell it there since that's where most of it came from anyway!

After spending the day working on what I can let go of, the boxes of colorful fabric fat quarters aren't even close to being full.

Day 773

Medicine is amazing.

Imagine such a tiny little hole in the wrist could be used to access an artery which in turn holds a guidewire which is then replaced with a plastic tube which is then guided into the heart and moved in and out as dye is injected. All while the patient is awake.

Just amazing. (Not so amazing on the bruising.) Sorry for the icky picture.

Day 772

Finally home and finally into different clothes.

I had planned on being in Boise this past week for a conference so I had three sets of dress clothes. Unfortunately I wound up missing the conference and spent my days in the emergency room, the cardiologist's office, the rheumatologist's office, and then just yesterday the hospital. All situations not requiring dress clothes.

So I've been wearing the one set of comfy clothes I brought with me for several days in a row. But today I felt strong enough to head back home.

Ahh, clean clothes. And ooh, tulips in bloom.

Day 771

I was good today. I should say my heart was good. They went through my wrist into my heart. Weird. But no blockages. So I'm here in the hospital bed with a clamp on my wrist to seal up the artery. I'll be here several hours until it's closed. What does the clamp look like? Another case of weird. A pretty white bracelet. I'll spare you the bloody underside.

Day 770

When I was a teenager, I used to watch soap operas. Once I got to college the only one I kept watching was Days of our Lives. Once I started teaching and actually worked during the day I stopped watching. Occasionally I'd watch in the summer, but over the past several years my viewing has become non-existent.

It's not like they don't have interesting story lines - they certainly do. But they just didn't seem believable anymore. How can the same person have a child they don't know about, get amnesia, find they have a deadly disease and be treated at the hospital by that same long lost child, and then miraculously be cured by the blood transfusion they received from the brother they thought was dead? (Okay, that's not a real story line but it could be!)

Anyway, I feel I'm starting to live a soap opera myself. Every day there has been a new development in my health. Today was the rheumatologist appointment. What did he have to say? Maybe it's about time I started back on pain pills to cut down on the pain until we can get the arthritis under control. Yeah, like that's going to happen. And what else? Oh, just that it's probably time I go on temporary disability. Yeah, like that's going to happen.

Now tomorrow is my angiogram. Can't wait to see what that doctor has to say.

Kind of like I can't wait to see what is coming up out of this pod in the rhubarb. It's sticking up a little higher than just the other day.

Day 769

My trip to the cardiologist today is helping rule some other things out. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we're bypassing the stress test and going straight to the angiogram. A long thin tube through the groin, up an artery, and into the heart. Add a bit of dye and he'll get a good look in there. If all is good I get to go home the same day (Thursday). If not, there's a bit more involved. (I'm planning on all being good!)

Good like my daughter's kitty. Remember my cat that wouldn't get in the carrier? We gave the carrier to my daughter and take a look what her kitty does with it. No fair!

Day 768

Thanks for all your kind thoughts through all this. I spent the afternoon in the emergency room and got some things excluded, others not. I have an appointment with a cardiologist tomorrow and hope to have answers soon. I've been told to lay low for a while so no work for me for at least a couple days. Just hanging out in Boise, close to the hospital.

Discovered something new out my window. Rhubarb.

Day 767

Only one thing to do when you feel as bad as I do and have an excruciating headache and have blood pressure numbers looking like this. Decide it's time to head to the hospital.

Day 766

Even kitty knows things aren't right with me. She's sticking pretty close these days.

Day 765

I decided to stop with the book giveaways. No interest and I'm just sooo tired and get so winded just picking up a book let alone two or three. I have a feeling something is wrong. Something besides arthritis, besides asthma. I suspect an emergency room visit may be in the near future.

In the meantime I have to lay low. Just hanging out in the recliner, feet up. And looking out the window.

Day 764

It's "thank goodness it's yours and not mine Friday."

Your pick - books or cat, just for cost of postage. Just kidding on the cat.

Day 763

Call me Mrs. Do-It-Yourselfer.

Hubby needed a valet parking board for prom. He had the board, he had the nails. But no ideas.

So Mrs. Creative here cleaned off her sewing room table, dug out her yardstick and tapped into her brain power. I first drew some lines.

Then added some nails.

Wrote in some numbers.

Added some tear away cards.

Done and ready to go!

Also ready to go, my Win It Wednesday book. First person to respond gets it, free postage.
When Jaycee Dugard was eleven years old, she was abducted from a school bus stop within sight of her home in South Lake Tahoe, California. She was missing for more than eighteen years, held captive by Phillip Craig and Nancy Garrido, and gave birth to two daughters during her imprisonment. On August 26, 2009, Garrido showed up for a meeting with his parole officer; he brought Jaycee, her daughters, and his wife Nancy with him. Their unusual behavior raised suspicions and an investigation revealed the tent behind the Garridos’ home where Jaycee had been living for nearly two decades.

Day 762

I'm naming today "Take it off my hands Tuesday".

Despite all the fabric piled in the bedroom at our Boise house and the hundreds of sewing patterns at our Marsing house, it's probably hard to believe I'm downsizing. But I am. Things have gone to my daughter, my mom, Idaho Youth Ranch, the garbage, recycling, and eBay. (You can find my eBay stuff HERE if you're interested.)

But now I'm hoping some of the books I'm clearing out might go to you. For free. Well, sorta free. I'll send them your way for just the cost of postage. I'm going to be putting pictures of the books on the blog, and if you see something you want, let me know. I'm more than happy to have you part of "Take it off my hands Tuesday".

You'll want to check back everyday because there will also be:
"Win It Wednesday" - the day I pay for the postage.
"Thank goodness it's yours and not mine Thursday"
"From my house to your house Friday"
"Sending it your way Saturday"
"Something for you Sunday""
"Mailing it to you Monday"

First up, a pack of three books with those who still have teens around. (Glad it's not me!)

And a pack of three books for those who might be thinking about a home business...

If you're interested in either stack, let me know at my debzdays at yahoo.com email and we can work out postage details.

Something else you can take off my hands? A cat on sewing machine watch. Aw, never mind. I think I'll keep her.

Day 761

I felt like the doctor was pulling an April Fool's Day prank on me.

I've been sick. Like down and out, can't get out of bed, can't get in the shower, can't raise my arms, can't focus, can't walk straight without leaning against a wall, can't catch my breath, body aches, joint aches, headaches kind of sick. It's probably the result of the terrible medications I'm taking, including the infusion from a couple weeks back but today's doctor - one I hadn't seen before, one that doesn't know my long medical history, one that didn't even read my multi-inch think file - had a different idea.

Asthma. So let's just add that to the list of things wrong with Debbie.

Thanks a lot, April Fool's Day. At least I had a pretty sunrise to see this morning.

Day 760

Happy Easter! Says who? Me.

And the cat. (At least that's what I think she is saying.)

Day 759

I'm not a big fan of chocolate. Yeah, I'll eat it, but it certainly isn't my go-to snack. Heath bars aren't something I care for either. But today hubby made some brownies with Heath pieces melted over the top. Oh, my. Now I can learn to like these!

Day 758

Looking at my front flower bed it's clear that it was a cold winter. Looking pretty bare out there.

Day 757

I made that call. Cancelled my books for the blind training. Made me sad to do it, but it had to be done. My health is spiraling downward and it is getting difficult to maintain even the little bit of normalcy I have. It seems like every time my health hits a low it winds up being a lower low than the time before. I've got to be hitting the illness rock bottom pretty darn soon. (Funny though, I thought all those other times were rock bottom. What little do I know!)

I managed to do two things today. Take a super long nap (didn't wake up until 7 PM) and box up things for eBay. I was able to squeeze most things into the boxes and packages I had, but I lost the battle of trying to get the orange fabric in the box.

Tomorrow is a new day and the fight will begin again. And I'm not just talking about fabric.

Day 756

I have a dreaded phone call to make. I've been putting it off all day, even putting it off until tomorrow morning, all because I'm hoping for a miraculous recovery.

It started with difficulty getting up out of bed. A having-to-hang-onto-the-walls kind of difficulty. Then there was the feeling of shaking on the inside. Then hands not able to grasp things. One full day of dropping everything I picked up. The culmination of all those symptoms didn't necessitate a call to the doctor, but yesterday's trip to the vet's office did.

Me, the driver. Me, the person who got carsick. (Who gets carsick when they're driving?) That's when I knew something was up. Add in the inability to focus, the hard time finding the right word, and those ceilings and walls that won't stop moving.

According to the rheumatologist I fall into the 2% of people that suffer such reactions due to the infusion medication. Like vertigo. Miserable, dizzying, nauseating, can't keep my eyes open long before getting sick vertigo. They tell me it should get better.

It better get better. That's why I haven't made that phone call yet. The one that cancels my training for my books for the blind work. Tomorrow is supposed to be my first training session. Last week's was cancelled because of the trainer and now I'm afraid I won't make this one. I can force myself through fatigue and stiffness and pain - I have lots of practice with that - but I can't force myself through nausea and dizziness.

I want to go to sleep and wake up normal. (Or at least as normal as I'll ever get.) In the meantime kitty is keeping me company.

Day 755

We got her in. Not easily, but kitty got in the carrier.

But leave it to me to have the little zipper at the top open, the one with an opening just big enough to put my hand in. For when I put her in the carrier, zipped her up, headed to the bathroom one last time before we headed out the door...she squeezed herself through that tiny opening. Not her whole self, just her head and front legs - and proceeded to get herself stuck. She couldn't get all the way through the opening (big ole belly) and she couldn't back herself out either. After lots of yowling on her part (and almost some tears on mine) and maneuvering of body parts it took something as simple as me blowing air on her face to get her moved back into the carrier.

Those weren't the only yowls of the day. Her crying all the way to the vet. Her terrified of all the dogs in the place. Her hissing when she got a shot. When it was all over, she was oh-so-happy to get into the carrier. Finally, after the poking and prodding she had a somewhat familiar hiding place from everyone and everything.

Despite all the howls and yowls and crying and hissing, she was a good girl. Especially since it was the first time she left the house in 10 years.

We felt quite relieved that despite our veterinarian neglect, kitty is in good shape. Other than getting a rabies shot, she's good. Her balding patches have been explained  too. It's "psychogenic alopecia". The stress of the other cats that she's recently been seeing and hearing out the window has caused her to overgroom which has led to the bald patches. Other than a bit funny looking, it isn't anything to be worried about.

In the vet's office, I found something else a bit funny looking. I might be more worried if I had this overweight one to deal with.

Day 754

We're getting closer...

Day 753

If there ever was any question about why kitty sits in the basket on my ironing board, it was answered today.

Just look at that sunshine streaming through the window!

Day 752

As much time and money hubby and I spend with doctor's appointments and tests and xrays and MRIs and prescription medications you'd think we'd give the cat the same treatment. But we have to fess up. We don't take the cat to the vet. We did when she was little but haven't had her back in years and years.

We know it's bad. We love her and feed her and brush her and play with her but we just haven't found our way to the vet's office. That changes next week when we finally get her there.

It's the getting there that has always been worrisome. Being that she never travels in the car I'm a bit concerned. Daughter and I bought a cat carrier this past week to give her a comfy place to hang out. Soft-sided, a long strap for me to carry it over my shoulder, a nice soft bed for kitty to rest on.

Trying to introduce her to the idea isn't going as well as I thought it would. Not that I haven't tried to get her interested! You can see the progress I've made.

Cat.

 Empty cat carrier.

At least I have until Monday to get it figured out. Might be time to pull out the treats.