My Public Service Annoucement

Not that ten billion, or even ten, people read this, and mind you this is simply my opinion. I do not intend to have a comments war over this. I am merely telling you my experience. You don't like it, move along. I'm being pissy today.

In this day and age we are seeing more and more C-Sections by choice rather than through necessity.

I am here to simply say that if you don't have to have one, don't get one. Why?

1. This is major abdominal surgery people. They CUT you open! It's a heck of a lot harder to bounce back from then natural delivery.

2. After you realize 1 and decide to have a second child, good luck finding a doc or hospital that will allow a VBAC.

3. Wait a few years and see just exactly what kind of havoc the scar tissue can wreck on your insides. (No I'm not blaming my scar tissue for my abnormally long appendix, just for the fact that it got STUCK TO MY ABDOMINAL WALL. along with part of my colon) And yes I meant to yell there. It hurt! A lot!

4. Find out (at least in my case) that the scar tissue and it's frakking mutating ability to continue to bridge a gap are probably what is keeping you from getting pregnant now and into the future, through the non-doctor assisted route. Since last hysteroscopy, the tissue had formed a new bridge across the opening. Sigh

So what is probably actually a rant is done. I had my post-op yesterday. I have pictures - yes Kate they are way cool if you like stuff like that. No I'm not posting them. My appendix was really trying to take over. No it had no pathology problems, normal just really really really really long.

I can probably not get pregnant the fun way. My doc has recommended trying a couple more IUI's after my cycle stabilizes. If they fail, I'm done. I just cannot do this anymore and heaven forbid they find out something else is mutating in there. I don't want to know anymore. If it doesn't hurt, it's not a problem.

And yes Egypt is a very nice place. Why do you ask?

PS - Yes my C Section was required. 26 hours of labor, no progression, complete exhaustion, baby having a fit.

I won, I won, I won

Okay I actually won almost a month ago, but as you've seen I've been busy.

Ms Erin had a Photo Scavenger Hunt last month and I opted to take part.

I was one of the lucky winners:

That would be Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock yarn in Crazy Stripes Dye Lot 9966

Along with a cheat sheet for sock sizing (women's on the front, men and munchkins on the back)

A copy of Erin's Feather Pluckin' pattern and a cute little notepad.

I hope she enjoyed turning 30 as much as I did.

I also have to show you the following.

Last night I was straightening up the kitchen a little bit and I found a couple of things I needed to put away. Well they had to be opened first.

Oscar the Dog - a.k.a. the Mom Satellite (I am his moon and sun after all) got really excited while I was opening it (them) since plastic was involved.

So I held it and let him sniff it thinking he wouldn't grab it. Boy was I wrong.

He snagged it right out of my hand and headed straight to the living room with it and played keep away. Granted I wasn't trying too hard to get it from him. It was just nice to see him playing for a change.

Now you might be wondering just what the heck it is that I opened.

That would be the square one I opened first. I let him snag the round one as well since he had so much fun with them.

They are now fully expanded and drying in the laundry room for future use as rags. Or perhaps Tug of War toys.

Get Along Little Doggy

It turns out that being allowed to blow things up and build things that blow up is WAY more fun than I thought.

Hubby and I managed to get out of town Wednesday by 1 pm. I got lucky enough to leave my car in the shop to get the paint job fixed from the Operation Kill that Cul-de-sac last month and hubby left his car with the mechanic for a general checkup.

The wind going down to Lake Havasu City was a nightmare. We had a tail wind down I5, but once we hit the last stretch past Barstow, the wind was trying to rip the ROLLED up living room slide awning off of the side of the RV. Thankfully it didn't, but the awning canvas might have to be replaced.

Either way we got there safely. Turns out the event is held in a state park raceway thing that is VERY dog friendly. There was a dog park right next to the rig parking lot, so Scrat the Brat got to play every morning and most evenings off lead with his tennis balls. He ran so much.

Wanna see how much fun he had?

This is the little bugger while we were heading home yesterday. He was so tuckered out from the morning run and the fact that for the first time ever another dog beat him to a ball. To add insult to injury, it was a little girl poodle. Hehe.

On our way out of town, via my body shop, Ken called and said, go back for my phone headset. Then he called again and said grab Scrat's chew toy - aka that bed he's in - out of the office.

Scrat LOVES to ride on the dash of the RV. No he doesn't block our view. That's a big honking window let me tell you.

So he's zonked out in speed 0 mode. Then he hears the camera shutter. And it's ZOOM! straight to speed 60 with the ears doing really cute things.

He is still a brat, but he was a total angel on this trip. Turns out he's an excellent travel dog, except for the whole wanting to be in the pedal well of the driver seat.

He spent most of the road time curled up in his bed, or in the lap of whomever wasn't driving.

We crated him for the most part when we weren't in the rig, but gave him a chance the last day and he passed with flying colors. That does NOT mean he will be allowed loose in the house when we aren't home. After all the cats still hate him with a passion. But there is hope that one day he'll be as good a house dog as he is a travel dog.

FYI, the fireworks didn't phase him a bit. We took walks before the main shows while the WPA members were setting off their private stash. Let's say they really like the Salutes (I don't, but a lot of them do).

So I had fun building black powder rockets and tourbillions and setting off fireworks.

On V Day, hubby took me to a local Italian restaurant that was quite nice. I got somewhat tipsy. Okay a LOT tipsy and spent the rest of the evening in the recliner with the dog at my side watching - sleeping through - Chocolat. Now I have to rent it. lol

He got me bling for V Day. A lovely White Sapphire (sapphires are my birthstone after all) and White Gold Journey pendant from Kay and diamond solitaires for my top ear piercings. His present was not having to go to the mall and buy them himself. ::very big grin::

I finished his gloves on the trip! Actually I finished them on the way home.

To repeat, they are Regia Silk sock yarn on size 1 needles. I made both together, one row here, one row there, 5 rows at a time on the fingers, each thumb individually. Had to tink back part of the first thumb, but the second one was much better. All fingers end with 5 rows of K1P1 ribbing (could have probably settled for 1 row) and the thumbs only had one row because they actually stop on the thumb joint.

Now I want a pair for myself. But I intend to use a different yarn. More on that later. Oh the pattern is from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. Get your measurements, figure out your gauge, highlight (with the post it removable highlight tape) your rows and columns and jump in. Much easier than I thought.

Rosemary is going to KILL me

I'm going on vacation starting tomorrow morning, returning Monday evening.

Hubby is a member of the Western Pyrotechnic Association and every year they have their Winterblast get together President's Day weekend in Lake Havasu City, AZ.

I normally stay home, work, enjoy sole control of the TV and movie selection. He asked me to go this year and I said ok.

So we leave tomorrow morning in The Dream Machine (aka. the Rig).

Thursday is a veg out day and he's supposed to take me to dinner since this year it happens to be VDay (I got bling - I'll show you when I get back).

The fun starts with firework building seminars Friday through Sunday, with the BEST fireworks shows you've ever seen EVERY night! We head home Monday.

I have a bunch of knitting all ready to take with me.

Top priority on the way down will be finishing these:

Those are hubby's fingertip gloves in Regia Silk Black.

I am knitting them up on size 1 needles (yeah I'm whacked sue me - a requirement was thin).

I only have two more fingers and the thumbs to go and I am doing both gloves at the same time. One row on one, one row on another. Or in the case of the fingers, 5 rows at a time.

They fit him nicely so far.

He will also be getting a matching hat in Malabrigo Black.

Speaking of hats (can you tell I'm on a kick?), I felted the Green and Yellow one last night as well as the other Malabrigo I showed you all yesterday.

I hand washed them yesterday, and boy did they grow. Malabrigo likes water.

So I threw the Clash into the dryer by itself and nothing happened. I threw it in with the clean dog blankets and voila! don't walk off and forget about that. It fits nicely. It's a little short, so I cannot turn up the edge anymore, but OMG is this thing going to be warm. I LOVE it. Next one will be longer, and felted as well. I'm thinking the same green with the fucsia I have in that yarn as well.

Yesterday's hat got the same dryer treatment and I'm glad it got a little shorter. It fits much better now. I didn't leave it in nearly as long as Clash. They are both drying in front of the space heater at work right now.

Have a great President's Day weekend. I intend to relax and finish healing and blow things up.

The End of IT

This is the end of the surgery update.

Mostly because I'm tired of it and I figure you guys and gals are too.

I actually spoke to my doctor Friday (there was a complication and I was trying not to panic - all is well now).

While she apparently told me exactly what she did Tuesday on Tuesday, I always have minor amnesia after anesthesia. I barely remember talking to the recovery nurse and I'll swear on my mother that I never talked to my doctor that day except to say hi.

So here is what happened:

1. Went in and checked the female organs first.

2. Jumped to appendix and called in a GI Surgeon when she saw it was taking over my abdominal wall RIGHT where the pain has been forever, and it was also wrapped around my intestines. Fun times, let me tell you.

3. Removed the nasty sucker and impress the GI surgeon with the length. Sigh. I'd rather like to STOP impressing medical personnel that way.

4. Check out my colon which really doesn't look right. I imagine the convo between the two surgeons went something like the following:

Hey GI Guy, is that supposed to curve that way right there in FRONT of her uterus? I thought that part was supposed to be straight and curve NICELY behind the U, but isn't that a really cool S curve she's got going on right there?

No, Gyno Lady, it's not supposed to do that, and yeah that's pretty neat too. How about we put it back where it goes?

Sure GI Guy, Oh wait, it's attached to something that's keeping it there. How about you fix that?

Sure thing Gyno Lady. She's not going to be too happy when she's wakes up, is she?

We'll dope her up real good and she won't remember a thing.

5. Hysteroscopy - there's still a ridge of scar tissue that we probably won't be able to ever do anything about.

6. Talk to Jenn while she's in recovery. (Just skip this step in the future please so you won't have to repeat yourself again)

7. Show pics of appendix to Jenn's Hubby Honey so he can tell her how weird it looked. (I get to see them the 25th. :-D )

8. Send Jenn home where she gets bored out of her mind for days on end and gets yelled at when answering work emails a day after the surgery.

9. Watch Jenn watch a lot of Charmed and every version of Law and Order and CSI over the next four days, as well as knit a lot.

Look what the crew at work sent me:

Those are some very pretty flowers.

Other items in the pic from left to right:

My wonderful, wonderful Camelbak water bottle.
My even more wonderful drugs
The fingertip gloves I'm making hubby, two more fingers and a thumb to go on both
My new Malabrigo hat in SW Gold
Opus - who lives in my planter.

BTW I finished the hat. Here on a pillow at a friends house yesterday.

And here on my head ( yeah I cut my hair off again ).

Any comments on how I look (unless they are nice comments lol) are not welcome.

I'd had surgery 5 days before. My body decided to kick start my cycle a week early and we'd been repairing the back fence all weekend. No I didn't actually help (I'm not totally stupid and hubby would have locked me in the RV). Just tool fetching and home depot purchasing and food retrieving. But still I was whooped.

And not I didn't make that sweater. It's a goodwill find and I adore it.

PS the hat fits great - that's 5 x 5 ribbing on the bottom for about 7 rows then straight no brainer stockinette till the 10 point decrease. I actually cast on the right amount for my gauge this time (5 st/inch * 22 inches = 110)

Case of the Rogue Appendix

How on earth can something that has no verifiable purpose cause so much trouble?

Got to the hospital on time yesterday.

Got me into the OR by 7:40 ( that's the last thing I remember till about 11 am - thank heavens ).

Next thing I know the recovery nurse would really like me to wake up and I want nothing to do with that route. But I comply because I want to know what they found.

I think I get back to my room and hubby by 11am and he tells me what he understood of what my doc told him.

I have (had) a rogue appendix. It was way longer than it should have been (should equal length and diameter of your pinky and I have TINY hands) and had apparently decided to attach it's 'free' end to another part of my intestines. Needless to say if it had actually ruptured back in August things could have been even uglier than normal.

Anyway, my gyn wasn't going near that with a ten foot pole, so she called in a general surgeon to remove the not so little sucker. So I think I have some internal stitches in a few interesting places now. Sure feels like it anyway.

As if that wasn't enough, (this part I'm not clear on - will have more info in a couple of weeks) my colon was STUCK to something that was keeping it in front of my uterus (should be behind it), so they had to unstick it and put it back in place. All I know about that for sure is that my colon was NOT in the right place and they had to do some maneuvering to get it into it's proper position.

All I care about at this point is that it stay put from here on out.

All in all, it may be a blessing in disguise that I haven't been able to get pregnant, because things internally sure weren't where they were supposed to be, and a growing baby would have made it worse, not better.

So I am sans one rogue appendix. I have three new holes and quite a fair amount of pain so I'm grabbing a pill and going back to bed with my knitting. Cannot wait to see what my new hat looks like after a couple of hydrocodones. :-)

It is What It is...

and tomorrow I hopefully find what is causing 'IT'.

IT is chronic lower right quadrant pain since August 29, 2007. How do I know the date? It's the date you double over in pain in the middle of your garage and hope you can get up before your husband finds you there (FYI I did and then it was two weeks before I decided to see a doc about it - yeah I'm stupid, sue me).

IT is not my appendix - or at least it's not ready to rupture (if I'm wrong here it is taking it's sweet ole time about it!).

IT is apparently not ovarian cysts (those went away).

IT could be any number of other things, many of which are WAY too scary to mention.

Either way, all scans, ultrasounds, etc to date have not been able to pinpoint a definite cause and it didn't go away, so in we go.

Therefore tomorrow I go into the hospital at o dark thirty (5:30 is WAY too early to prep someone to be cut open) for a laparoscopy and a bunch of other stuff that depends on what they find, if anything. They will also be repeating the procedure they did last June.

I'm on the fence here. I want the pain gone. I want them to find something to blame for it. I want the final result NOT to be that I truly cannot have any more children (son - adopted almost 18 years ago - scar tissue from that potentially causing these problems) or worse (i.e. removal of something other than my appendix).

So I'll have three more temporary openings in me by end of day tomorrow and perhaps some good news or perhaps some bad news.

I know what I'm hoping for.

PS there still has been knitting, the cursed bamboo for my mother has been paired with some gossamer mohair from habu which appeared to break the curse. Hubby's fingertip gloves have been transfered to DPNs and I'm finished with the cuffs, and I'm making another hat out of that wonderful Malabrigo, and my second Harlot sock has turned the heel but I had to swipe a DPN for the gloves, so it's in standby.

PPS I cannot promise to be anywhere near a computer or my email till this weekend if that. Have a good week.