Playing Catch-up

I know there has not been many posts on minis for a few days. After three months of being unable to walk properly and loads of medical tests, I've slowly be feeling better and more able to move around. This of course means that finally the real house gets some much-needed attention.

FH had been helping with things all along, but he couldn't do everything that needed to be done with his full time job taking 8 to 10 hours out of most days, including some weekends. He was able to make sure filth never got mixed in with the clutter. That's what mattered to me. I loathe filth. So now I'm working on a so crawl through the house with a combination of decluttering and deep spring cleaning.

There will be no before pictures, because frankly I'm too embarrassed to admit I let my house get to it's current state. I still can only get a few hours of the deep cleaning done in a day. My stamina isn't quite 100% yet. But soon! :-)

The neurologist said there's nothing wrong with my nervous system. So we're back to square one with trying to find the cause of the weakness, loss of balance, and inability to walk properly. I have a theory but I'm keeping it to myself until I see more evidence.

Not Much To Report

But I thought I had better post something or a few of you would be after FH for details.

Saw the neurologist today. None of the scary and somewhat problematic things showed up on the tests. But this means we still don't know what is wrong.

She's going to do a nerve conduction study (no needles, just electric shocks) next week to see if she can find a neuropathy.

The pills for my jaw muscles continue to make me think handling sharp objects is a very bad idea. I doubt I will take them for the entire 30 day prescription. Once a get the inflation under control or to the point where the muscles stay loose enough for the anti-inflammatories to work, i.e. when I can eat without wincing, then the rest are going away.

Hoping to get back to minis this week somehow. I do have to say I'm in love with Jane Harrop's Thirties and Forties Miniatures in 1:12 Scale. I spent most of yesterday afternoon reading through it.

The Rendezvous crowd have also suggested that I build a scale replica of an American colonial house and/or Shaker house to bring to the camps where tourists will visit. Then I can give a history lesson with props in addition to spinning on a drop spindle and doing embroidery.

We shall see what comes of that idea.

"Why Didn't I Take the Blue Pill"

So the medication that I was given for the stress-induced damage to my jaw knocked me down the rabbit hole without a second thought. I took a dose after the Long Rifle meeting was officially over (around 3 this afternoon) and by the time FH and I got home at 7 this evening I was fighting to keep my eyes open.

Went to bed and woke up about 45 minutes ago, still tired, but needing to feed the animals and give the boys their medicines.

Going back to bed now.

I'm so not taking this medicine during the day again. Will be an "after dinner" medication. I need to function during the day.

Castor's Medicines

The injections of B12 are once a week. Not a problem.

Trying to crush pills and hide them in food = FAIL!

The steroid and the imunosuppressant pills are not cut, and therefore not that difficult (for now) to get down his throat. We shall see how well that works. He's on them for about two months.

The appetite stimulant IS cut in half and apparently tastes foul. That one may prove difficult. Fortunately it may not be necessary.

Between my health and Castor's it was decided that I will not be going to St. Louis for the miniature show this month. Fortunately I've won several items by a particularly wonderful artisan and have found various wonderful places to order supplies like hat straw, no-hole beads, and other bits that I could only find at shows before.

I think once I order my copy of Angie Scarr's new book I will color myself content with new toys for the season and not be sad to have missed the show...at least not too much.

Final Musings before Bed

The marvelous Jean Day commented on a recent post of mine, calling me inspiring. Goodness! Thank you, Jean. That means a great deal coming from you, truly!

If I am inspiring to people, I believe I'm giving what I get. There are over 120 miniature bloggers and another 10 fiber artists who inspire me to work through the pain, the frustration, and the fear of "not knowing" what's wrong with me.

I think if I didn't have both minis and people to share them with right now I would be terrified with all these damned medical tests and the waiting... the waiting is the worst part.

At this point I'm convinced one of two things will happen:
1) The doctors won't find anything, the symptoms will go away, and then weird and bad things will start happening again a few years down the line. That's what happened when my hands stopped working correctly seven years ago. Small blessing that it's my legs and feet this time. No hands means no minis...

2) The doctors will find something nasty going on in my brain...beyond the immature gutter humor and sarcastic biting remarks that float around in there. If that's the case (which I hope to all that is good and bright that it isn't) then I will dive as deep into minis as I can for therapy while "treatments" are planned and whatnot.

Either way, I'm thankful and grateful for all of you who have come along for the ride with miniatures, fiber art, critter stories, and random musings. I am thankful and grateful for the inspiration with new techniques, ideas, thoughts, and projects that creep into my head while I read your blogs. Most of all I'm grateful for the friends here.

Thank you all so very much.

-Kathleen

Post Nap Blogging

After a long nap today I am back... I think. I haven't taken a nap in years but I felt chilled and nauseated so I curled up with the kitties and some books on making miniature furniture. The Sun was out so I pulled back the black out curtain on the bedroom window and left the regular blinds closed. The sunlight was a nice change. At night there is a horrid streetlamp that shines right into the window, hence the black out curtain.

FH and I talked the neurologist out of the glucose tolerance test. I was right, she hadn't received the record about the hypoglycemia. Instead she had them check hemoglobin. I have always thought hemoglobin sounded like the perfect name for a goblin or other creature. Not sure why.

After discussing the MRI contrast dye with the lovely folks at the imagining center I opted to refuse the dye. The scans without the dye were very good and I didn't see the point of risking a reaction to it. The tech agreed with me. Even though less that 1% of the population reacts to the new contrast, I was in no mood to find out if I was in that 1%. I tend to be in those small fractions for everything else which gets old after a while because it's never the small percent for something good.

So now we wait and see what the results are and I go back to see Dr. A in three weeks.

Since FH was already off for the morning he took me by a morning clinic to see if I indeed has a sinus infection on top of all this. Yep. I think the medicine for the infection is what turned my stomach earlier.

I think I'm going to go play with the Greenleaf. The exterior bits are mostly done. I want to work up an estimate for how much electrical stuff I need to get. I have some furniture to start building too.

Wish the News was an April Fool...

...but it's not.

MRI with contrast of my brain and c-spine tomorrow. I guess we'll find out if I'm allergic to the contrast dye the hard way.

More blood work on Friday, beginning with a glucose tolerance test. Note that I've had my blood sugars checked on a yearly basis and there has been no signs of diabetes but I will be on tap and have my carefully controlled hypoglycemia f@$^ed up all day. I am not pleased. My glucose levels will be screwed all day.

However, the neurologist is very nice and worked with my father's neurologist's husband (another neuro guy) back in St. Louis for her residency at one of the best hospitals in the city. If she wasn't good, she would have never been accepted to the program. At least I appear to be in good hands.

She is not happy with the strange symptoms and has ordered this barrage of tests to go with the previous battery from two weeks ago.

Progression, I Guess

So Monday the nurse at the clinic will be calling a neurologist's office and giving them the referral and my contact info. From there an appointment will be scheduled. Whee.

After the appointment today FH and I ran errands and went out to eat. Not alot of time today to play with minis but I did get a few holes filled with putty and some painting done. I was also able to get most of a small setting thrown together.

I will finish the setting and have pictures tomorrow.

Now we're waiting for snow. Yes. Snow. Three to six inches. Of snow.

So much for the first day of Spring...

Water, water

And I'm thanking the gods that it is not everywhere.

The pipes thawed out and managed to not burst last night. FH and I celebrated by running loads of laundry.

This evening we took a trip to Toulon, IL (middle of nowhere with gorgeous buildings) to visit our friend who rolled her van in November at the nursing home. The core group of artisans from the Rendezvous society had our Christmas in January so she could be included. Dinner was potluck and consisted of dip type things, Italian pulled venison, and plenty of sweets. It was a good time.

I have a splitting headache thanks to the alarms on the outer doors to the facility. Since it's a nursing home they have alarms on the doors to make sure staff know when the inner doors open from the inside. When people come in, the outer doors turn off the alarm. But when you leave and the code isn't entered, the beeping from Hades starts up. It is much better than having grammy with Alzheimer's wandering out into the bitter cold and getting lost. But I wish the "party room" where we were having dinner was further from the exterior doors.

Castor has new medication now. The vet had his Metronidazole and Ranitidine compunded into a goop to spread in his ears. That has gone over much better than the pills. However it's much, much more expensive. Here's hoping the 10-day doses work and he doesn't need refills. He is a bit annoyed with the cold goo in his ears, but as far as FH and I are concerned he can just deal with it. I'm not bleeding and he's still breathing.

I'm going to go find something for this headache and a warm, horizontal surface. Hopefully there will be kitties following me. It's still cold enough that I prefer them to curl up all over me than for them to sleep elsewhere.