Where Has The Time Gone?

Since I last posted I've had some health issues. I had my gallbladder removed in March and a full right hip Replacement on June 6. I have gone all my life and not had surgery until this year. It's quite a shock to have to have surgery and scary too. My nerves have taken a hit but I'm slowly recovering. Let's just say that I'm not happy to think about having to see a doctor again for a new ailment. Enough already!!

I'm 2 months post op and have been steadily improving. I've begun walking up the stairs now but cautiously. If the stairs look too deep I'll go up them one at a time like a little kid. And depending on how tired my legs  and hip are I may ride the cart at the grocery store. I am doing almost all my housework except bending over to scrub the tub.

Good news! I washed my right foot yesterday! I still can't wash the outside of my right foot but I could scrub the inside of my foot and my toes. You have no idea how good that feels if you've never been unable to wash one of your feet. I'll require pedicures for awhile since I can't take care of my toenails yet. But I'm not complaining. I'll miss those pedicures once I can do them myself. They are quite the luxury for me which I have greatly enjoyed. When my kids ask me what I want for Christmas or my birthday I'll be asking for a pedicure.

My DH and I just got back from a trip to Michigan to see my younger sister.It's been many years since we have gone on a vacation so this was a real treat. We left on a Monday and got back on Saturday. We drove up there and back which was a 12+ hour trip one way. Well actually the trip up there was over 14 hrs as I had to stop to walk around. By the time I got home my hips were numb and I'm still trying to get over all that sitting. Owwwww!
But it was worth it to visit with my sister, Laura, and visit with her beautiful grandchildren. I saw both my nieces though I spent only a few minutes with one of them.Maybe next time we can stay longer.

Surgery Experience

Well, I had my gallbladder taken out on March 3 which is now just a bit less than 2 weeks ago. As surgeries go I guess this was one of the easiest to have done and to recover from. But, having said that. I don't want to go through another surgery again. There's something unpleasant about having to go under the knife, isn't there?

I can see that I've got to go through a longer recovery period than I had expected given the positive comments I heard about the surgery. The truth is that I've had an organ removed from my body and at age 58 it may take more time to fully recover than I was willing to allow. I tire more easily and have a sore spot on my stomach that causes me to be careful when lifting and when I cough. Also, my right knee and hip ache terribly now and I suspect it has something to do with being lifted from the operating table. Maybe not, but I feel as if I've been jerked around somehow.

For 5 days after surgery I had terrible acid reflux! It keep me awake at night coughing and sputtering which began the sore spot on my stomach. After doubling up on my Protonix for a few days it is now under control. To make matters worse I almost had diarrhea  which kept me runnning back and forth to the loo. At my check up appointment the doctor said that will calm down and by then it had! I would hate to have acid reflux like that all the time.

This experience left me feeling a bit ignorant. When I don't know about or understand something I normally take to the internet. For some reason I didn't do that this time. It amazing now to look back to see that I allowed someone to perform surgery on me with having so little information! Perhaps I am wrong but I feel that I could have been better prepared to deal with the acid reflux and almost-diarrhea. Instead I felt a bit of panic and uncertainty about what was happening to me. So of course I ran to my computer to see what I could find out about what was happening to me. While it is rare with perhaps only 5% of all gallbladder operations, some people do develop persistent acid reflux and diarrhea. For those people it is a true misery which sends them searching for way to deal with their problem. I felt so bad for them as I read story after story.

Reading all that scared me but it is also the reason I talked to my sister who is a nurse and then asked permission from my doctor to double my Protonix. Plus I purchased a bottle of a really good probotic called Primal Defense to take to help get my gut back to normal. I used Primal Defense last winter after having to take so many antibiotics that my gut was constantly in an uproar. It's pricey so I only use it when I am having a problem. FYI: I do take another probiotic daily. So I'm doing well on the internal stuff now and just wish my knee and hip would calm down!

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Thanks for letting me vent a little. The next post will be cheerier.

Twilight Movie and Book Series

I made an effort to watch Twilight last night. So many people are absolutely nutty about the books and movie so I thought I'd give it a try.  I've read Twilight, New Moon and part of Eclipse. Well OK that's not exactly the truth. I skimmed the last half of New Moon and gave up on Eclipse after a chapter though I peeked at the last chapter to see what happened. The truth is that I really wanted to like the books because at one time I was a huge Anne Rice vampire fan. Hmmm perhaps that is exactly the reason why I couldn't get into Edward and Bella's story.  All vampires are not equal. Overall I just didn't enjoy my venture into the Twilight land of the books.
Anyway, Twilight the movie had it's interesting moments and sometimes I remember thinking that it wasn't half bad. Some scenes in the movie reminded me a bit of the way "300" looked. Perhaps I'm wrong about that and maybe it was my TV or the fact that I was watching it late at night and was tired. The scene that comes to mind is the twinkling scene or when Edward is running up a very tall tree with Bella on his back. My final opinion of the movie is that it's not so bad for a teen movie. Not something I would enjoy but OK if you're 14. Honestly, I think Robert Pattison looks pretty good as a vampire which is good for the box office and teen adoration. But Kristen Stewart doesn't look like the Bella I envisioned.

 In defense of myself, I have to say that I don't want to come across as anti-teen movie. In the past I've enjoyed teen movies" like Breakfast Club","Pretty in Pink", "Dazed and Confused" etc so I'm not really such a bah humbug. I mean who didn't like "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure", right?

Ya know, looking at the teen movies that I did like it seems to be that each of them has a lot of humor. Perhaps Twilight has too much teen angst for me. In the first book I could see right away that Bella was going to want to be with Edward forever. So at 17 she wants to die. OK. Whatevah. Edward leaves. Bella mourns. Jacob comes to the rescue. Bad vampires enter the picture. And so on  At least there is a happy ending eventually. Jacob finds the love of his life and Edward and Bella live happily undead forever and ever. Oh yeah that hasn't happen yet in the movies. But it will.

But I'm glad I tried getting into the Twilight universe. At least I have an idea of what all the hubbub is about. I think I'll go watch something really interesting like Star Trek. Live long and Prosper.

I've been looking for healthy recipes since, as a pre-diabetic, I need to watch my carb intake. Unfortunately, I recently went through a five day gallbladder attack so now I have to eat low fat as well. However, I'll soon be having my gallbladder taken out but that doesn't excuse me from not having to watch my diet a bit more carefully. In my search for healthy recipes I happened upon a blog called Farmgirl Fare. Farmgirl Susan lives on a 240 acre farm on a secret location somewhere in Missouri. She chronicles her life on the farm with pictures, recipes and stories. I don't know how she has time to take pictures, write on her blog, plant her garden, tend to her animals and cook delicious meals! Besides all that, as if it isn't enough, Susan and her significant other also run a sheep farm. I am in awe of her and visit her blog often. I hope you will too. The picture is of her homemade ranch dressing which I have made and it is yummy. For anyone who is concerned about hidden sugars in salad dressing and/or too much salt this recipe is YOU! Keep on scrolling down the page past the pictures of her Savory Cheese and Scallion Scones and Little Shortbread Cookies and you'll see the same picture I have here of the Ranch Dressing. I hope you enjoy Susan's blog as much as I do. Have a great day.

Hey! Good to see you. Thanks for stopping by. For years I had a vision in my mind of what I wanted to do and say in a blog. Having rather lofty ideas, I naturally developed writers block which then sent all my thoughts right down the drain. So I've decided to just chat away about whatever is on my mind and I'll see where this goes.

The last few years I've become interested in lampwork beads. There are many skilled artisan bead makers whose work I admire and whom inspire me to keep trying to learn the art. Lampwork bead artisans make beads using rods of glass which they melt onto a mandrell over a flame using a torch. I've tried my hand at this and it's really a lot of fun! Now that it's winter I haven't been able to light up my torch and make my wonkies (irregular shaped beads) so instead I've been adding to my supplies.

Oh yeah, before I forget, the picture above is an example of a gorgeous lampwork bead done by Pam Brisse of The Blue Between. I love the organic look of this bead! Please click on the link to her blog and check out the other beautiful beads she has made.

Well, life is calling me away from the computer. There's never enough time to get everything done, is there? Please stop by again and perhaps even leave a comment or two.