Country_Cinderella’s place

I recently read posts by Kzinti and Tom and I thought I would give it a try but I am probably not going to come up with sixteen things.

1. When I was about 2 or 3 years old I went on a vacation with my Dad and his parents (mom had to stay home, because of my baby sister). During our trip I made two comments that I was reminded of for years to come. [My Grandma just thought they were so adorable]. On one of the days we stopped for lunch at a truck stop and had hamburgers, later that day we stopped at another truck stop to have dinner. Since I was not experienced in the wide variety of food available my comment upon realizing we were at another truck stop was 'not hamburgers again!'
2. Also on this same trip we made a stop at the Grand Canyon and when I was shown this amazing wonder all I could say was 'it's a bunch of dirty rocks'
3. I do not drink coffee, I do not like it, but when I was in grade school I took it to school daily in my lunch thermos. I was a hyperactive child and my mother had read somewhere a theory that if you gave a hyper child a large amount of caffeine you could fight fire with fire so to speak, basically take them over the top to the point that they came down a bit closer to normal rather than hyper.
   
4. I had to have my tonsil removed twice. Apparently they can be regrown if not all the root is removed. It is also apparently genetic because my father's tonsils grew back after having a tonsillectomy, he lucked out and did not get tonsillitis again therefore he never had to have his tonsils removed a second time.
5. I have never had a broken bone unless you count a chipped knuckle. Before I started working in construction I worked in a factory. I worked in a department that used machines to cut wires to specified lengths for various different types of heater being made elsewhere in the factory. While placing some wire reels on the machine my finger got smashed by some counter weights at first I thought it was just banged up really bad and went about my work (I do have a high pain threshold) but when the swelling continued to increase and the next day my finger looked like a foot it was so big. I asked my supervisor if that was normal (I had never at that time been banged up that bad) I was immediately sent to the workman comp doc and that is when I found out the knuckle had been chipped and my finger was splinted until the chip healed (I guess it was close enough to the rest of the knuckle it just had to refuse back together)
6. I have never been arrested, but I have been hand cuffed, had my rights read to me, seated in a patrol car, and  on a different day fingerprinted {enough said}
7. My normal body temperature is about 97.2-4 so I have to remind the doctor's office of that when ever they are checking me for fever.
8. I have been known to answer the phone and carry on a conversation in my sleep (luckily the rare occasion I was so sleepy to do this, it was my mother that called and not a stranger asking me for personal info, lol)
9. There was a time when I used to have 12 earrings in each ear. I seldom wear any anymore.
10. I have known my roommate/best friend since the 3rd grade
11. my best friend and I used to foster dogs and cats and did it for almost 12 years
    

Okay that is about as much as I can come up with right now hope they were a bit interesting and hopefully not TMI

Well I took DancerMan to the vet today. He is still wobbly and has limited use of his back legs, but there is no sign of Lyme disease or any other tick born disease. The vet said that his symptoms are very characteristic of a nerve issue. He said it could be something as simple as a pinched nerve. He gave Dancer a cortisone shot and then gave me some anti-inflammatory pills to give Dancer once a day. Hopefully this will be all that Dancer needs.

5/8/09 update: so far the meds are helping Dancer still has a little bit of wobbliness but he gets around much better now and fall less often

thanks everyone for wishing him well

It looks like I may have to take one of my dogs to the vet tomorrow. My poor little DancerMan is having trouble using his back legs.

021908-020a

I noticed this morning that he was wobbling around and I thought this was a prelude to one of his epileptic seizures so I gave him one of his phenobarbital pills. I can not tell if it has made any difference. I do not think he is worse, but he does not seem any better. He has some problems getting around right now. It looks like he may be having some nerve problems with his back legs. He is still eating and drinking so that is a good sign, and he does not seem to be upset or distressed by his problem. He probably is so used to experiencing mobility issues periodically due to his occasional seizures that he is not scared yet. I am going to watch him overnight and if he is still not moving well I am going to see if I can get him in to the vet tomorrow.

As I have mentioned before I am currently unemployed. Even though I am one of the lucky ones, I have state and union unemployment available to me, it still gets to me. My mood has not been all that great, it does not help matters none that we have had so many rainy days here in the Midwest lately. When I first was laid off I was working on my beaded jewelry in and effort to keep my mood up and with the thought of selling it as a way to make some money. Unfortunately I have not really been doing much with that either, I just was giving in to the blah feeling of it all.

In an effort to break out of that mood, I have been taking pictures of the jewelry that I do have made. (even though I do not like the quality the camera gives me, that is for another post). Last night I started working on editing for upload. I do not have much done yet, but it is a start.

I just uploaded some pictures of one piece that I have repaired. I showed the piece to both WPG and Country by Design when I got to meet them, but unfortunately it was broken at that time. So I wanted to post that one first so that they could see how I repaired it.

The necklace has a glass heart pendant and when I originally made it the pendant had a glass loop on it for suspending it from the necklace itself, but I broke it when I was storing it away to take with me on vacation. I have since repaired it using some copper wire to make a cage and loop for the pendant. I will probably not sell this item because even though I have filed down the sharp edges of the glass where the loop broke off of the heart, I do not want to take the chance that I missed anything. I am not sure what I will do with it now.

Never mind I found it, I knew it was there just suddenly could not remember.

hello I have a quick question for anyone.

I have a PC with Windows XP on it. Do I have a program that I can use to doodle something? I just felt like goofing off and was wondering if there was a program that I could use to do that. I have photo editing stuff but I just want to create  something on a blank page not on a photo.

thanks for any info.

Hello everyone I have a very good friend that has a niece that is currently being held in the Missouri Department of Corrections. I do not know the exact details of her incarceration and that is not the point anyway. The problem is that she is suffering a tooth infection that is not being treated not even with meds. Her sister has sent an email that give a little more information about the details and I am going to just copy and paste it here, because it is her intention to let everyone know about the poor health care her sister is being provided, and I am willing to help her get the message out. (I have not edited or anything this is the letter of one concerned sister for another)

On Behalf of my sister Kalynne Graves,

 

To Whom It May Concern:

 

My name is Katherine Holloway. My sister is Kalynne Graves, and she is incarcerated in St. Louis County jail in Clayton Missouri. The night my sister was incarcerated she was on her way home from the hospital because she had a terribly infected tooth. She received antibiotics for the tooth, but unless she received either a root canal or extraction the infection would return. I know this because I have worked as a dental assistant for several years. Unfortunately she was arrested and incarcerated and did not receive any p ost-op care. Even though the infection was cleaned out prior to her arrest, she let her guards now that she now needed further care. They allowed her to remain on antibiotics and ibuprophen for the first seven days of her incarceration, and then nothing. This was two months ago. And as I knew it would, the infection has returned. It is an upper molar that is infected. I am very concerned about this is because if the infection remains untreated it could get into her bloodstream and spread to her brain and cause further complications that could ultimately cause death. It has enraged me and my family that this matter is being grossly overlooked because she is an inmate. She may be incarcerated, but she is still human and deserves proper medical care. I do not want to get a call from anyone telling me my sister has died from unknown medical reasons. To me they would not be unknown. It would be the fault of the MO Department of Corrections for ignoring this. I will personally hold them responsible for any neglect that could hurt my sister. I have tried to contact several people, including my sister’s attorney, with not so much as a courtesy call in return.  I will be forwarding this email to everyone I know and instructing them to pass it on, and so on. Next I will be contacting news channels, posting blogs on  the internet, and even protesting outside the jail if I  have to in order to get her the care that she needs. I sincerely hope that this mat ter will be resolved so that my sisters tooth infection and the excruciating pain that she is in will be taken care of quickly and efficiently. I would appreciate someone contacting me when this is received to inform me of what, if any, actions will be taken.

 

A very disappointed Missouri Taxpayer,

Katherine Holloway

Its been a while since I have posted anything and although there has not been a lot going on there has been a few things.
 
Health:

I have been feeling a little down (not enough to go back on meds but just not peppy). I know part of it is just because of the frustration from being unemployed. I also know part o fit is from being worried about my health. There is nothing really big going on unless you consider that I am 'big'. That definitely is getting me down. Being unemployed so often I have gotten in to some very bad habits and also very sedentary behavior all which has allowed me to gain more weight than I am happy with. Heck gaining any weight is not something I am happy with.

Recently I had an IA attack and before it I had noticed something that I am not sure if it is connected to my IA or if it is another health issue. I have been having a lot of swelling in my legs and hands. I am not sure if it is symptom that can be tied to my IA or if it is a symptom of High blood pressure. (I have taken my blood pressure multiple times and it is borderline high [i.e. 135/85 or 128/87] it has not been extremely high but it has not been low {right now it is 119/84 so not too bad}). For right now I am going to keep an eye on my blood pressure, cut back on the soda, try to limit my salt in take and just in case it is a symptom of my IA I am taking an extra Benadryl once or twice a day if I feel the need. Of course taking the extra Benadryl is not helping my activity level, but I have noticed some of the swelling has gone down so maybe its the Benadryl or maybe it is just the reduction in soda and salt. I am fortunate that I have never been one that felt super sleepy from Benadryl but it does make it easier for me to sleep once I get to sleep so I do sometimes spend much longer in bed than I should be.

Friends & Family:

I gave one of my best friends a ride to get her cataract surgery. She is one of those fortunate people that have never had much need for any kind of surgery.  The only surgeries she has had were her tonsils out at the age of 5 and her wisdom teeth removed. Because of her limited surgery experience she was pretty nervous about the whole thing. She made it thru it just fine and is healing nicely. The biggest ordeal of the whole thing was the wee hours of the morning that we had to get up to make it to her surgery appt on time and to her follow up appt the next day. I do not blame her for being nervous about the surgery itself, after all it is her eyes that are being operated on. It does not matter that it is a very well practiced surgery that is supposedly pretty simple, there is always that one time that something goes wrong. I have  always had a  fear of loosing my  eyesight.  I  developed the fear as a child when I started getting glasses and there was a period  of time where I had  to get a new prescription  in as short a time as  6 months. I was afraid that my eyesight was eventually going to get so bad that I would not be able to see. 

My roommate has been considering adopting a rescue dog. He is a cute 3-4yr old beagle missing one leg. We have been keeping an eye on him on the groups list of adoptable pets on Petfinder.com . We were going to go see him last weekend but the weather was so bad that we made arrangements with the foster home to go look at him this weekend. I really was not super enthused about getting the dog, I was not against her getting a dog I knew she would take care of it. I just am feeling drained from being unemployed so I was not super enthused, but she wanted to get him so I agreed to go look at him. Did I mention that it is almost a 2 hour drive to get there, well it is. We drove all the way down there (mad-tante might know where I am taking about if I say Morse Mills) only to find out that he is not a cat friendly dog. {my roommate never thought to ask that, and I made the mistake of thinking that would be one of the first things my roommate would have asked since all our cats are indoor cats}. So we petted him and turned around and drove back home. I had mixed feelings about the whole thing. I was glad that we were not getting him, I just was not ready for another dog. I was a bit miffed with my roommate for not thinking to ask, what I thought to be, the most important question. I was glad it was a nice day and the drive was a pleasant one. I felt bad that the poor dog was still going to have to be passed up, he is a very active energetic dog, despite having only 3 legs. He seemed genuinely upset that the people petting him were leaving him behind, yet again. I was glad that he was in this foster home where he got lots of attention instead of at a shelter in a cage.

General:

I took pictures of jewelry that I have made and just need to start editing them so that I can upload them. I will try to get some of those posted as soon as possible. We have been having some very warm weather here. I just wish the weather would level out in one direction or the other so that I get the temperature in the house steady. If it stays warm I am going to have to consider putting the AC on early. Since we spent most of today on the road I did not check out the lawnmowers like I planned. We have two different mowers, a push one for using in the dog yard and a rider for all the area outside of it. We really need to get the lawns mowed, all the rain we have gotten has made for a very plush lawn. Of course it is supposed to rain again, so now it will have to wait a few more days.

Hello everyone,

As some of you may have noticed our wonderful host WPG is feeling a bit under the weather right now. So I thought maybe we could help her out here in the group by coming up with our own Quest idea. Myself I thought of making it about friendship since WPG is such a great VOX friend. I was thinking maybe we could just focus on the feeling of friendship, you know show something that makes you think of your friends, whether it is something that they like or something that makes you feel as happy as they do, or something that is their favorite color. Or maybe you manage to capture a photo of an act of friendship, like a hug, or a helping hand.

If you think this is a good idea you are more than welcome to try it out. Since this is not really an official Quest there really is no deadline, and not really any winners, other than we all get to be winners by sharing some friendship. Lets leave this as an open quest in so much as you are welcome to post an entry anytime to fill the time between now and the next official Photo Quest.

Cinders

ps 04/18/09:
Hi everyone, I am not as adept at Vox, blogging, or the computer in general as some of you are and I only have dial up, so I do not know how to make sure all the group members notice this post. (from experience I do know that unless you follow your groups closely it is easy to miss that someone posted, because Vox does not put group updates on the home page. You have to click on the group page just to see if 'any' of your groups have had activity, and then click on the individual group page to see what the activity was,,,, so my concern is that some of the group members will not be seeing this because it was not posted by the official host, our friend WPG, and I do not know how to 'share' it with 'all' the group members. Plus I have trouble getting my dial-up connection letting me pull up  a list of members to 'share' a post with so that is another problem. Anyway what I am getting at is, could you pass it on, to other members for me. Thanks Cinders

pps 4/18/09
Okay I tried to send a message to some of the members of the group, using the share this post thing only my dial up makes it impossible to select a member the traditional way, instead I have to copy and paste each name. my poor little mouse and fingers just were not up to the task of coping every members name, so I am sorry to say that I did not send a special message to all of our group members. if you read this and you are one of the ones that did not get a message please do not feel slighted I basically just went by members list order and not really any kind of preference, except for a handful of names that I could actually remember off of the top of my head.

 Well I checked in with the Union Hall this morning and I am 255/284 on the list. That is much better than I expected I thought I would still be in the upper 290's. Since my 'avaialble' placement number is different than my 'actual' placement number there must be a lot of guys out working little short 10 day hits (if you accept a call that is for 10 or less you do not loose your place in line, but you can only do this 3 time in a row before others get asked first). It is frustrating when the only calls are the short 10 day hits but it is also a relief to know that there are that many 10 day hits being called in because it can mean that work is slowly starting to pick back up. At this point I can only wait until I get closer to the top of the list, but with such a large quantity of people getting short term jobs, I can still hold out hope that this is a sign of better things to come.

“Idiopathic anaphylaxis (IA) is a rare and poorly understood disease. This group will offer support, information and understanding to people with IA and to those who care about them.

What is anaphylaxis? Anaphylaxis is the word used for serious and rapid allergic reactions, usually involving more than one part of the body, and which, if severe enough, can cause death.

People who have allergies or other diseases, like mastocytosis, can have anaphylaxis. In the case of people with IA, the cause of the attacks is unknown.”

This is a quote of the description for a message group that I belong too. It is a sufficient description for those of us that know about Idiopathic Anaphylaxis. If you have never heard anything about this ailment before, it really does not tell you much. Part the problem is that IA doe not affect everyone the same so giving a detailed definition/description is hard.

For each of us with IA things are different, from how often we have attacks to what the attack are like. Each person that is afflicted with IA there is a difference in symptoms and how they are treated. There is a difference in how easily an attack can be triggered and in what can trigger it.

I am one of the lucky ones in so much that my attacks are few and far between, others are not so lucky. The attacks are a pretty scary thing, especially since the exact cause is unknown. With time some people learn that certain things increase their chances of triggering an attack and they can work to avoid them.

Something else that makes the attacks so problematic and confusing is how they start. My attacks almost always start the same, enough so that I can usually tell the difference between an oncoming attack and just itchy hands. Well at least I think they are easy to detect, I am still learning about all the different kinds of symptoms that can be associated with IA. Symptoms are not the same for everyone, so writing a list can be confusing, especially when what can be a symptom for one person may not be for another person.

Medication to prevent and/or treat IA is also different for each person. Some people, like myself, can often get by with taking extra Benadryl for most attacks, with an EpiPen just for back up. There are others that must take multiple allergy medications on a regular basis as well as using Benadryl and an EpiPen for each attack. The attacks can send some to the hospital multiple times in as short a time as a week.

Another quirk about IA is that other physical ailments can be trigger/symptoms and if these are not well treated and/or controlled with additional medication and/or diet, an attack can happen. This is something I am still learning about. As I continue to learn about IA I pay closer attention to my health and make decisions on a regular basis as to whether or not I need to see my doctor about new medications or changes in how I take the ones that I currently am on. Something else that is different for each person besides what medications they take, but how much and how often to take them.

I bring all of this up because I had another attack in the wee hours of Easter morning. (oh that is something else I have recently learned, our bodies have a higher level of histamines in the early hours of the morning and this can make it easier for an attack to happen).

I had stayed up late because of a sudden onset of indigestion, shortly before bedtime. (I am starting to notice unexplained unpredictable indigestion that could be a possible symptom linked to my IA) I finally felt like the indigestion was tolerable enough to lay down. I tried to lay down and get comfortable, I almost made it when I noticed simultaneous symptoms, my indigestion was feeling spasmodic, my hands were itching, and the inside of my mouth was itching. The itchy hands and itchy mouth are both things that I am well aware of as symptoms of the beginning of an attack. The indigestion is something that I am only recently starting to pay attention to as a possible symptom.

I quickly got up (well as quickly as possible considering I was under the covers and surrounded by my little dogs, that were on top of the covers). In the short time it took me to get up my symptoms were getting stronger, my hands were on fire, and my face was starting to swell. I quickly grabbed my Benadryl, EpiPen, and bottle of water and headed straight for the bathroom. (As embarrassing as it is to say, one of my strong symptoms of my attacks is severe diarrhea.) I downed 2 Benadryl as headed down the hall and I hollered into my best friend’s bedroom and asked her to wake up and stay awake in case my attack got to the point that I needed to call the hospital.

I spent the next hour plus going thru the symptoms of my attack. My hands swelled, I broke out in hives head to toe, my indigestion quickly turned to severe cramping diarrhea. I was on fire itchy and swollen, even my private parts were swollen with hives. I took another Benadryl 20 minutes into the attack. I considered using my EpiPen, but I could already feel that the swelling of my tongue had stopped and was even going down ever so slightly. After another 20 minutes I took another Benadryl. I was doing my best to remain calm and just ride the crashing waves of symptoms, because I know it does me no good to panic and hyperventilate. When the feeling of being on fire started to be replaced with chills I knew the horror was on the downhill slide. One of the ending symptoms of my own attacks is severe chills so when the chills arrive it is a relief.

After almost 1.5 hour and 4 Benadryl later I was finally able to go to bed. As is typical for me the whole rest of the next day is spent in a funk with softly lingering symptoms. For example my skin gets itchy from just being brushed up against and I have a slight chill for hours. I am beginning to wonder if I had used my EpiPen, even though I did not feel like my life was in peril, if it would not have made my whole attack much shorter, and maybe even eliminate the lingering symptoms. This is one of the things I will have to talk to my doctor about in the near future. I am going to have to go see him soon anyway because my EpiPen expires soon and I will need a new prescription because I have no refills left.

Despite all of this I did make it to a family Easter meal, thanks to my best friend because she drove. I was in too much of a funk to be driving. Once we got to my sister’s place I took another Benadryl to keep the itchiness and chills from bothering me too much. I was not the life of the party but I did get to be with my family and that is important.