I say I'm not going to do it, I'm not going to just waste my weekend, but I did it again - I did the couch potato routine. Granted, yesterday, I didn't feel all that great. Nothing specific, just blah - couldn't get going. I did manage to get a few things done. I even baked a batch of cookies, but don't tell Aunt Sally because I'm taunting her about saving me some of the cookies she's making.
We were invited to a couple of events yesterday, but I just couldn't get myself together enough to get ready to go.
I have cleaned the kitchen, made some gift tags, did a crossword puzzle, did some online surveys... you know - productive stuff. At least I can tell myself they are productive. Well, I did need to make the tags because I need them tomorrow, and the kitchen has to be done.
Making the tags was getting to be a little bit of a challenge because my hand kept going numb. I'd have to stop and take a break and rest my hand after only making a few. A sign of things to come if I don't get them fixed.
I'm going to have lunch with Kindredly on Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to it.
Three day work week this week and next. Lots of end of year work to cram in on those few days.
And this blog post, I'll count it as productive.
Oh, and Chris, yeah, he was right there with me the entire time. Well, except for when he went to the grocery store to buy steaks for supper last night. And today, he might have the edge on the potato-ness.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Scheduled
Looks like I'm starting off the new year with surgery. Right hand surgery is scheduled for January 6th. We'll schedule the left hand when the right hand is healed enough. The neurosurgeon who I was seeing anyway, took one look at my EMG and said he is very concerned about my hands and set me up to see the orthopedic surgeon the very next day, who was also concerned about how far advanced the carpal tunnel syndrome is. He told me that I already have permanent damage - bummer. Said I might get some improvement, but he wouldn't guarantee it, but that he could stop the progression.
I am still so surprised, feels like this came out of nowhere, when obviously it didn't because of how bad it is. It's been a sneaky little problem, I just adjusted as time went by I guess. Too much other stuff to worry about.
Meeting that $1,000 deductible EARLY!
I am still so surprised, feels like this came out of nowhere, when obviously it didn't because of how bad it is. It's been a sneaky little problem, I just adjusted as time went by I guess. Too much other stuff to worry about.
Meeting that $1,000 deductible EARLY!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Pointed out
It was pointed out to me that I neglected to post about my own birthday on my own blog. So, happy belated birthday to me.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Conspiracy
It has to be a conspiracy - my hands both got together and conspired to take me completely by surprise and throw me for a loop. So, yeah, they started acting up - being numb when I'd wake up, hurt, etc. The pain would go to my elbow or shoulder, but not often. My hand swelled - ONE time. Sure, I have lost tactile sensation in my hands, but that was really gradual - irritating because it made me have the dropsies all the time.
So, one day it was really bad and I had a doctor's appointment anyway - it was the day the hand swelled. He prescribed a splint and an EMG. Got the splint right away, it helped some, but was really 2 days before I could take the splint off for any length of time. Well, fast forward to yesterday, I had the EMG done. Carpal tunnel? Yes - no surprise there. Bad carpal tunnel - well, figured I had it, but not that it was all that bad. Wrong - it's advanced to the point that I have motor nerve damage, and it's "critical" for me to get it fixed surgically - soon. Well, that's the right hand. The left one is bad as well she said, but it can wait a little before I get it fixed, but I've got to move on the right hand.
Suggestions, tricks for using your non-dominant hand for everything?
Next time hands - send good surprises.
So, one day it was really bad and I had a doctor's appointment anyway - it was the day the hand swelled. He prescribed a splint and an EMG. Got the splint right away, it helped some, but was really 2 days before I could take the splint off for any length of time. Well, fast forward to yesterday, I had the EMG done. Carpal tunnel? Yes - no surprise there. Bad carpal tunnel - well, figured I had it, but not that it was all that bad. Wrong - it's advanced to the point that I have motor nerve damage, and it's "critical" for me to get it fixed surgically - soon. Well, that's the right hand. The left one is bad as well she said, but it can wait a little before I get it fixed, but I've got to move on the right hand.
Suggestions, tricks for using your non-dominant hand for everything?
Next time hands - send good surprises.
Never fun
I know that I have a reputation at work for being somewhat "hard" at times - but after 20 years of doing this, you have to be able to turn the emotion off. I had to fire someone today. I like the person, but the job performance wasn't there. She'd only been with us for a short time, but when you show zero initiative, you leave me with no choice but to turn the emotion off and be hard.
But, I can come here and blog about it, about the fact that it does bother me. I wish I didn't have to do that part of my job - but it was what was right for the corp. and for the other employees.
But, I can come here and blog about it, about the fact that it does bother me. I wish I didn't have to do that part of my job - but it was what was right for the corp. and for the other employees.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Brandini
I wanted some toffee, so the other night when I was searching for cherry berry nut mix, I found Brandini Toffee. I ordered some, it arrived today, and let me tell ya - that stuff is gooo-oood!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Triple Whammy & The Lydia Project
First it was Ronda, then Billy Joe -- and now Dr. Daksha. My Dr. Daksha, once my employer, once my doctor, and always my friend, is gone. She passed away on April 18, 2009 of stomach cancer.
Google is so pervasive in our lives, it's always "just google it", so I was googling dried cranberries and nuts in an effort to find the website where I had ordered some mix for Chris before. If I'd only read my own post Gifts from 2 years ago, then I wouldn't have been googling for the elusive company that sold the cherry berry nut mix, I could have clicked and gone right to it, and my heart wouldn't be heavy. But anyway, back to googling, in my search, I saw the word "chutkar". That stirred a memory, of the name "Chudgar" - Dr Daksha Chudgar... so I decided to google her. I was hoping to find that she'd moved back to Augusta after completing her fellowship in Kentucky, I'd love to see her again, have her be my doctor again, but what I saw was her obituary. There it was, staring me in the face. I couldn't take it in, I couldn't believe it. I saw the words, but my mind was scrambling to make it not be MY Dr Daksha.
But, it was my Dr. Daksha, I called my mom - we cried on the phone. She knows how much Dr Daksha means to me. She gave me my first job after I graduated from nursing school, she diagnosed me with endometriosis and saw me through years of pain and tears, she understood me, she knew my body almost better than I knew it myself. She gave me her home phone number and told me to call her at 5 am to report on my condition - one answer would have had me going to the operating room, the other - back to sleep. Thankfully, that time I avoided the operating room. But my doctor gave me her home phone number and told me to call her at 5 am.
She refused to even talk about a hysterectomy until after I turned 30 she said. She would not consider even discussing it until then, so when, at age 29, she sat me down and cried with me when she told me it was time for me to have the surgery, I knew we'd done everything we possibly could to fight the disease. My hope of ever bearing a child was gone, I knew that it was time because Dr Daksha told me so. I had no health insurance at that time, she did the surgery without charging me, she got the hospital to cut 20% off my bill. She did things like that for me, and I'm sure for others.
I visited her home, she invited me and my mom to a celebration once, I watched her kids grow up in person and in photos, she was woven so tightly into the fabric of my life for a period of about 10 years. I cried when she moved to Kentucky. I felt so lost the first time I had to find a GYN, and I went to several before finding one I felt comfortable with. How could I fill a new doctor in on my complicated GYN history? It couldn't be done. But, she'd gotten me through the worst years, and now, I just see my GYN once a year.
Clicking through the pages that google found, had me seeing page after page, article after article about my Dr Daksha. Proof in print of what a wonderful person, wonderful physician she is.
I remember her mis-matched clothes, her soft voice, her laugh. I remember her fibs when she'd tell me something wasn't going to hurt, or when "just one more" meant she was going to go for at least 2 or 3 more.
I emailed the obituary to my friend Liz, the one other person next to my Mom, who could understand the impact this news has had on my heart. She did what I did, she googled, and she soaked up every bit of information she could find. She found out that it was stomach cancer, she found the photo of her. We remembered Dr Daksha this morning on the phone, we laughed and we cried.
The family asked that contributions be made to The Lydia Project. Go, read, check it out, do something. I did, I contributed money, and I plan on doing more.
If her family googles her name and finds my blog, I hope they can smile and know that I'm just one of the many who was touched by this amazing woman. Thank you Dr Daksha, for everything.
For a photo - go here.
Google is so pervasive in our lives, it's always "just google it", so I was googling dried cranberries and nuts in an effort to find the website where I had ordered some mix for Chris before. If I'd only read my own post Gifts from 2 years ago, then I wouldn't have been googling for the elusive company that sold the cherry berry nut mix, I could have clicked and gone right to it, and my heart wouldn't be heavy. But anyway, back to googling, in my search, I saw the word "chutkar". That stirred a memory, of the name "Chudgar" - Dr Daksha Chudgar... so I decided to google her. I was hoping to find that she'd moved back to Augusta after completing her fellowship in Kentucky, I'd love to see her again, have her be my doctor again, but what I saw was her obituary. There it was, staring me in the face. I couldn't take it in, I couldn't believe it. I saw the words, but my mind was scrambling to make it not be MY Dr Daksha.
But, it was my Dr. Daksha, I called my mom - we cried on the phone. She knows how much Dr Daksha means to me. She gave me my first job after I graduated from nursing school, she diagnosed me with endometriosis and saw me through years of pain and tears, she understood me, she knew my body almost better than I knew it myself. She gave me her home phone number and told me to call her at 5 am to report on my condition - one answer would have had me going to the operating room, the other - back to sleep. Thankfully, that time I avoided the operating room. But my doctor gave me her home phone number and told me to call her at 5 am.
She refused to even talk about a hysterectomy until after I turned 30 she said. She would not consider even discussing it until then, so when, at age 29, she sat me down and cried with me when she told me it was time for me to have the surgery, I knew we'd done everything we possibly could to fight the disease. My hope of ever bearing a child was gone, I knew that it was time because Dr Daksha told me so. I had no health insurance at that time, she did the surgery without charging me, she got the hospital to cut 20% off my bill. She did things like that for me, and I'm sure for others.
I visited her home, she invited me and my mom to a celebration once, I watched her kids grow up in person and in photos, she was woven so tightly into the fabric of my life for a period of about 10 years. I cried when she moved to Kentucky. I felt so lost the first time I had to find a GYN, and I went to several before finding one I felt comfortable with. How could I fill a new doctor in on my complicated GYN history? It couldn't be done. But, she'd gotten me through the worst years, and now, I just see my GYN once a year.
Clicking through the pages that google found, had me seeing page after page, article after article about my Dr Daksha. Proof in print of what a wonderful person, wonderful physician she is.
I remember her mis-matched clothes, her soft voice, her laugh. I remember her fibs when she'd tell me something wasn't going to hurt, or when "just one more" meant she was going to go for at least 2 or 3 more.
I emailed the obituary to my friend Liz, the one other person next to my Mom, who could understand the impact this news has had on my heart. She did what I did, she googled, and she soaked up every bit of information she could find. She found out that it was stomach cancer, she found the photo of her. We remembered Dr Daksha this morning on the phone, we laughed and we cried.
The family asked that contributions be made to The Lydia Project. Go, read, check it out, do something. I did, I contributed money, and I plan on doing more.
If her family googles her name and finds my blog, I hope they can smile and know that I'm just one of the many who was touched by this amazing woman. Thank you Dr Daksha, for everything.
For a photo - go here.
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