Update

My little ones have gone home with their Mom, the twins are at the hospital with Mary and Jimmy, Krissy is with a friend's family, and Rod is on his way home from work.  I have a little less than an hour to myself.  Precious time, and I thought I'd talk with you.  The CAT scan showed that the ventricles in Bub's brain are enlarged when compared to the CAT of 2009.  They tried to tap the shunt and got no fluid, so the shunts will be replaced tonight.  When I spoke to Mary at 6:00, they were ready to take him up to the OR.  And so the waiting continues, as do the prayers.  The last time they did a surgery for his shunt , the dr. nicked a blood vessel in his brain which caused a bleed into the brain.  Resulting problems and infections caused his hospital stay to last 69 days.  According to his doctor, he should come home sometime Sunday evening, providing nothing goes wrong. And therein lies the catch.  We had planned a big Independence Day Picnic, which I have canceled.  The cake has been canceled, and thankfully no food had been purchased yet.  We do have about 20 two liters of pop and two cases of Capri Sun on the back deck, but that won't spoil or go to waste.

At 6:20 Mary sent me a picture of Bubbs labeled "all smiles and ready for surgery".  He probably doesn't know that they will most likely shave his head.   Right now he's mad because they won't let him have anything to eat or drink.  I appreciate all your prayers.

Too Many Thoughts

are running through my head and I can't sleep.  I went to bed almost three hours ago, and was awakened by leg cramps.  Now, I can't seem to sleep.  Bubby had a seizure earlier this evening.  He's been complaining of headaches, and has had some vomiting.  Mary has been stumped as to the cause, and tonight it became clear.  It's probably been almost three years since I actually witnessed one of his seizures, and I didn't really see this one either.  He was very quiet, and Mary asked him to sit at the table and help her get dinner ready, more to keep an eye on him than anything.  It's so strange the way it happens.  One minute he was in the living room talking to his Uncle George and kissing Izzy goodbye, and the next he was in the kitchen talking gibberish and unable to move his legs.  But his hand was jerking, his hand jerks every time.  Almost as bad as Bubby's seizures is Krissy's reaction to them.  Tonight, she came into the living room with a terrified look on her face, and cried to me, "Grammy, he can't talk.  He's just talking gibberish."  It scares her so.  And so, if I'm around, Mary sends her to me.  We've always stayed together when he's had problems, right from his birth.  During surgeries, seizures and hospitalizations, it's been Krissy and I together.  When she was younger, she would just get very quiet and want to hug.  Now, she voices her fears, and becomes almost hysterical.  I think she knows how serious they are now.

Mary and family

Mary and Jimmy leave me in awe when something like this happens.  As Mary is sending Krissy to me, she is getting Jimmy.  He takes Bubby away from the other people and stays by his side, while Mary calls Children's.  If he comes out of the seizure by himself, it's a good thing;  but if he doesn't, she's on the phone ready to get instruction from neurology.  My mother-in-law always said that God gives children with special needs to special parents, and he certainly did that in this case.  Mary and Jimmy were probably the last people that you would have thought could handle the stresses of a special needs child; and yet, they do it so well.  I'm so proud of the people that they have become.

It's uncanny how life gets in the way.  We all go on living our lives and not one of us stopped to think about how much Bubby has grown, how his weight has changed, and that perhaps it was time to get his levels checked.  A script for lab work is on it's way, and tonight Mary seemed relieved to think that all the problems with headaches and vomiting lately could be decreased anti-seizure medication levels.  When compared to a shunt malfunction and all it involves, the seizure is certainly the lesser of two evils.  And so, this blog is dedicated to my daughter, Mary.  She is always the same, never down.  She deals on a daily basis with the struggles of raising a child with special needs, the decreased income due to her unemployment, and the stresses of returning to school for a masters degree in education, focused on special education.  I've always said that a woman is like a tea bag . . . you don't know her strength until she's in hot water.  That is certainly the case with Mary.  She is a rock, a trooper, a great friend, a loving wife, mother, daughter and sister.  But most of all she is a woman with great heart.  And she makes me want to be a better person.  I love you, Mary and I'm so blessed to have you in my life.

Decisions

I've made a decision not to do any more Disney blocks.  I have so many right now that I made and was not able to get signed.  I will take them with me, and hopefully get the signatures I need.  Also I have some blank blocks to take so that if I see characters whose signatures I don't have, I can have them sign a blank block and add the appliqued picture when I get home.  And I think I will buy or make an autograph book so that if I run out of blocks, I can still get the signatures and then transfer them to a block later.

So what to do next?  I think I will buttonhole stitch the Be Attitudes blocks that need that done.  And maybe cut and put together some of the background blocks.  There is embroidery to be done on most of the blocks.  Do you embroider before or after you quilt the blocks?

I did nothing yesterday.  In the morning I waited for the FedEx man to bring our new phones.  He finally showed up at 11:00, with only one phone.  Seems that Verizon entered a zero amount when they submitted my order to the credit card company, and so it was declined.  I was livid, and gave both Verizon and the Credit Union a piece of my mind (not that I had a lot to spare).  Then Kris and Mary and their kids showed up and spent the afternoon with me.  It was a nice excuse not to do anything, since I had a headache, stomach ache, and nausea from the increased dosage of Vic.  Today, I feel pretty good, and love seeing the low numbers that I'm now posting.  So, this morning I'm off to the sewing room and will hopefully accomplish something before my new toy phone arrives. Hope your day is great.

My Relationship with Vic.

A week ago today, the doctor introduced me to Vic, my nickname for my new medication Victoza.  My numbers had been consistently high, I was waking up with headaches, I was grouchy and hard as I tried, I couldn't get my BS numbers down.  So it was time for me to meet Vic.  Vic works by slowing down the emptying of your stomach, thereby causing you to not feel hungry.  The medical community has had good results with it in weight loss as well as lowering BS numbers in diabetics.  So, how is my relationship with Vic going?  My numbers this past week have been pretty consistent, but now they're in the 96-l05 area.  I haven't been hungry, and find I am unable to finish my dinner.  I had one low number of 73 in the early part of the week, but I think that was a result on not adjusting my eating times to Rod's overtime.  We normally eat dinner at 5:45, but with the overtime, we aren't eating until 7:15.  I now have a snack at 4:00, and that has helped the nausea as well.  The nausea has pretty much disappeared, and I'm really glad of that.  I have only had a headache one morning, and don't think I'm as grouchy.  And, yesterday, I opened the door of the sewing room for the first time in weeks.  I had forgotten how messy it was.  I was a good girl all week - no sneaking what I shouldn't have, increasing my vegetable intake and cutting back on bad carbs.  So, last night, Rod took me to the local custard stand for a treat.  I had a small hot fudge sundae on strawberry ice cream.  I figured it was a good thing - strawberry ice cream, fruit.  Whipped cream, dairy.  Nuts, protein.  It was so good, almost like a chocolate covered strawberry.  Don't know if Vic minded, but this morning my FBS was 106.  Let's hear a big WAHOO, and promise it won't be an incentive to start "cheating" on Vic.

Today, Vic and I move on to the next step in our relationship as I move up to the next dosage level.  I will be monitoring my numbers very closely to make sure there are no serious lows.  And so, it looks like Vic and I may have a long lasting relationship.

What to do???

Part of Farmer's Market quilt

It's definitely time to rekindle the friendship with my sewing room.  It's a certain disaster, but with a little pick up here and put away there, I think I can have it up and running in no time.  But will should I do first?  Maybe I should work on my Be Attitudes quilt.  I was way ahead of my friend Cindy  when she started to make her quilt, but, for sure, she has passed me up.  Perhaps I should play catch up.  But then, maybe I should work on my Farmer's Market quilt.  It only needs borders on two sides and it's ready to sandwich and quilt.

Disney quilt blocks so far

Or, maybe I should make some new blocks for Disney autographs since our trip is just about 2 months away.

Sampler Quilt

But there's this sampler quilt that is so bright and that only needs borders and it's ready to sandwich, and it's been calling my name.




So maybe you can help me decide.  Vote for which project you think I should work on first.

Day 2

Yesterday was day 2 of my new medication.  I was a little apprehensive about doing the injection.  I had done it in the office under the supervision of the diabetes nurse, but this time was by myself.  I had no reason to worry -- there was a pamphlet with pictures and everything enclosed with the pen.  I followed my meal plan, and two hours after breakfast, my blood sugar was 118 - a number that I've not seen for some time.  Dinner time is usually 5:45, but since Rod started working overtime yesterday, we didn't eat until 7:00.  By dinner time, I was very hungry and realize now that, while Rod is on overtime, I will have to have something small to eat between lunch and dinner.  Dinner time didn't go very smoothly.  Halfway through the meal, I became very nauseated.  The nausea just seemed to get worse, and finally I just quit eating.  I took my pills, and thought I would really be sick.  The nausea subsided about 9:00.  This is one of the side effects that they warned me about, and it should disappear within two weeks.  I usually have a snack before bed, but last night didn't feel hungry.  I did, however, have a small glass of low-fat chocolate milk (one of my weaknesses).  This morning, my first number was 118.  Hello - I've not had a morning number below 135 in quite some time.  Am I excited?? Oh Yea!!  The medication changes are definitely something I can live with.

Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative

It's a song that my dad used to sing, but I need to apply it to my life right now.  I had such High Hopes (another song) for that 4 hr. body diet.  They practically promise a weight loss of about 20 lbs. the first month; the possibility of going off diabetic meds within a few months, and doing all this with little exercise.  Suddenly, after my dr's appointment, those high hopes were dashed to the ground.  Suddenly, I don't have to worry about my clothes being too big before our trip to Disney.  There's no chance that I will be thin enough to ride the Haunted Mansion ride.  And I will continue to take all the meds that I take now, but with an injection added.  And I won't have one day a week that I can eat whatever I want.  All in all, it's pretty disheartening.  But, I need to eliminate the negative.  So here goes!

What promise does returning to my diabetic eating plan hold?  I love warm applesauce, now I can continue to eat it.  I love cantelope, I can eat it.  I won't be making booty-tooty music constantly since I won't have to eat all those beans!  I won't be eating spinach and lentils for breakfast (a somewhat disgusting thought, to be sure).  I won't feel deprived when my family is eating a baked potato and I'm eating lentils.  I will know in my heart that what I'm doing is the best for my body.  Hopefully, if I concentrate on reducing my blood sugar numbers, the slow and steady weight loss will follow.

When I was much younger, I was a Richard Simmons fan.  I had every Sweatin' to the Oldies tape that he made.  And I remember that Richard used to say that we shouldn't call it a "diet" because it contains the word "die".  But rather, call it a Live-t because it will enable you to live a more healthy lifestyle.  So today, I am concentrating on the positive.  Today will be the first day of my new life.