What are you doing New Year's Eve?

I am preparing for a quiet New Year's Eve at home with the folks. My family does the festa dei sette pesci on New Year's Eve; because we are usually too busy wrapping gifts & going to church and whatnot on Christmas Eve to cook.

This time last year dad was in the hospital and we didn't know what was wrong. Mom did the whole elaborate 7 fishes thing and brought it to his hospital room along with a small deli platter, & sparkling cider. I think she was afraid it would be his last NYE. Yes, he was that ill. He went in the hospital 12/27/08 and came out 3 weeks later and 30 pounds lighter. He was home 4 days and then had a relapse and ended up in a physical rehab for 2 more weeks. It's been a rough year healthwise for me and him; and I am ever so grateful he is here for another New Year's Eve.

The festa dei sette pesci menu:
1. Mussels Marinara
2. Alaskan Snow Crab legs
3. Lobster tails and drawn butter
4. Cocktail Shrimp
5. Shrimp Fettucini Alfredo
6. Clams Casino
7. Fried Catfish (hey we're black not Italian)

To Whom it May Concern:

To Whom it May Concern:
I am not responsible for the banning of CigarBabe or anyone else on that site. I do not have an 'in' with the moderators or the administrators of this site. As a matter of fact, I feel fairly confident in stating that many of the current mods don't even like me. They are NOT at my beck and call and never were.

If I were to hazard a guess as to why CigarBabe was banned she probably did to a few other people what she did to me. She has a bad habit of gaining peoples confidence and trust online and then anything said to her on the phone or in a text message, IM or e-mail goes into her liquor soaked memory banks. She then thinks nothing of posting private information about you, your mate, or your family in a thread.

This is kinda ironic to me. A few years ago she lambasted everyones favorite Arliss, for posting her personal information on a site; and he was banned immediately. Maybe it's like when kids are beaten or phsyically abused some grow up to beat their own children and physically abuse them. She had personal info posted online, so now she does the same to others.

FWIW: She told me things about her life, health, and marriage that I would never dream of posting here or anywhere else. Then again I'm not much for drunk posting.

Nashville Christmas

I was afraid the trip would be a nightmare because my dad has a lot of trouble walking now, cause of his Parkinson's. Steps are all but impossible for him. Since this was a bus trip run by the Senior Center I was dreading getting him on and off the bus. But the bus driver was really patient and helpful, so the only bad part was when I had to lift his 6'2". 185 lb. body out of the bus seat. Now, my back is killing me.

The lady who planned the trip did a decent job of it; but we didn't have a lot of information before we got there. So I was very pleasantly surprised to see that we were staying at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel! We got there about 3:30 Friday afternoon, took a nap had dinner in one of the 6 restaurants in the hotel and then we got back on our bus to go to see the Rockettes Christmas Show at the Ryman Auditorium. It was beautiful! I have always loved the live nativity and all the pretty costumes. It always makes me tear up with joy and I am not one of those girls that crys all the time.



Saturday, we got up early and had the breakfast buffet. AWESOME FOOD! I ate like a refugee. Then we went to a craft show which was in the hotel and the Hall of Trees, Christmas tree display. Mom was kind enough to buy me a nice, little dress with bling on it to wear to the Opry that night at the craft fair.






While waiting for the shuttle bus to the mall I browsed one of the hotel gift shops and found myself a pink cowgirl hat for only $20! When we were at the mall I saw almost the exact same hat for $49.98. I love a good bargain and I was so happy I did a little happy dance.

Then mom and I took the free shuttle to the Opry Mills Mall and shopped! Mom has been on a quest for black flats for months and she finally found a pair she liked and that fit. She wears a 7.5N so finding shoes for her is always a chore. The mall was packed tighter than I don't know what. There was a Subway in the mall so we picked up a foot long FEAST and some chips and took it back to the hotel so we could eat dinner with dad, before boarding the bus to go downtown to the Grand Ole Opry!

I've seen the Grand Ole Opry on tv a million times, but it was such a thrill to be there. I didn't realize it was such a small venue, but the acoustics are excellent and there isn't a bad seat in the house. BONUS: They not only allow but encourage you to get out of your seat and take flash photos of your favorite performers! There were a bunch of acts but the ones I enjoyed most were Jean Shepherd, John Conlee, Ricky Skaggs, Connie Smith, The Whites, and of course Trisha Yearwood. I love her! She sang: She's in Love With the Boy, How Do I Live?, and Your Cheating Heart. Back on the bus and back to the hotel.

We packed and loaded up, and were on the bus by 10:30 Sunday morning and headed back for home.

I didn't see a single motorcycle the whole time we were in Nashville, which I thought odd at first. However, it was unseasonably cold and some areas east of the city actually had 1-3 inches of snow Friday night, into Saturday morning. I've never been on a motorcycle when it's under 50 degrees so I'm guessing riding in the snow and the cold is less than fun.

All in all it was a good trip, mom and I bickered a few times but we do that at home too.

Just Ranting About the Usual

Dad fell twice last Thursday (12-3-09), the 2nd fall landed him in the ER with a mild concussion. His first fall was when I was at my shrinks office. Apparently he fell walking from the driveway into the garage with his 4 pronged cane. He gets nervous about steps. Fortunately, we live in a ranch house with no steps. He got all nervous & shaky due to the 1.5" elevation in the concrete from the driveway to the garage. Mom got hysterical and started crying cause I wasn't there to pick him up, as I did the previous week when he did the same thing. Finally she ran next door to our neighbors house and one of the guys there was able to come and help get daddy up and into the house.

The 2nd fall happend maybe 4 hours later at Captain D's. Mom had decided she didn't want to cook dinner that night so they went out. Dad fell walking out of the restaurant with his cane. The floor in Captain D's was not wet, it's just how he is now that the disease has set in.

I wasn't there cause I had to take the handyman home. I hired a handyman to help me get the 8' Christmas tree that mom prefers out of the shed in the backyard, and into the house. There is also a 6' tree but she doesn't like that one. At this point my life revolves around keeping mom happy so she doesn't bitch at me. Actually that's pretty much the story of my life.

The handyman also had to disconnect the old broken tv in the folks bedroom, take it out of the entertainment center, move it to the garage; and hook up the new 27" flat panel, LCD, HDTV to the cable box. Mom had purchased a new TV on black Friday. Dad as you know has Parkinson's Disease and is unfortuately all but useless to us around the house. I just didn't have the strength necessary to lift that large old television up and out of its perch.

Oh, the handyman is also a bit of a computer geek and he was able to install my new soundcard. He also sharpened my pocket knife. All that for $20! God Bless America.

Mom fell Sunday, getting off the bus, in the parking lot, at the senior center. She made it through the entire trip w/o a mishap and falls getting off the bus 5 miles from home. Her knee went out on her, this happens often . . . like daily. Usually if she wears her knee brace she doesn't fall all the way to the ground like she did on Sunday. She was lucky her only injury other than her pride was to her left elbow. It's a little bruised and the skin was scraped off in about a 2" area. I have been putting Neosporin on it and a clean bandage daily. It is healing nicely.

Tomorrow I have to schlep all the Christmas decorations out of the shed and into the house. Then I have to start writing out moms and my Christmas cards and get them into the mail.

Friday, I have to do the grocery shopping, start decorating the tree and do a host of other junk.

It's National Family Caregivers Month!

Top 10 Ways to Celebrate National Family Caregivers Month 2009

There are many ways to celebrate family caregivers and to take action and communicate the important messages of NFC Month. The following are ideas and guides to help you create a successful National Family Caregivers Month in your community:

* Offer a few hours of respite time to a family caregiver so they spend time with friends, or simply relax.

* Send a card of appreciation or a bouquet of flowers to brighten up a family caregiver’s day.

* Encourage local businesses to offer a free service for family caregivers through the month of November.

* Participate in the National Family Caregivers Association’s FREE national teleclass: Safe & Sound: How to Prevent Medication Mishaps The free one hour teleclass/webinar will be November 12 at 2 p.m. ET. For more information visit: National Family Caregivers Association.

* Help a family caregiver decorate their home for the holidays or offer to address envelopes for their holiday cards.

* Offer comic relief! Purchase tickets to a local comedy club, give a family caregiver your favorite funny movie to view, or provide them an amusing audio book to listen to while doing their caregiving activities.

* Find 12 different family photos and have a copy center create a monthly calendar that the family caregiver can use to keep track of appointments and events.

* Offer to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for a caregiving family in your community, so they can just relax and enjoy the holiday.

* A United States postage stamp honoring the more than 50 million family caregivers in America is officially “under consideration” by the U.S. Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee for introduction as early as 2011. Sign the petition at National Family Caregivers Association and ask others to sign the petition letter.

* Help a family caregiver find information and resources on the internet or to locate a local support group.

I know many of us are caregivers and the stress is sometimes monumental. For me the internet and blogging are a welcome respite from this labor of love.

Sister, Love Thyself!

This blog was sent to me by a good friend in Jersey. I'm glad she shared it with me; and in turn I shall share it with you.

Sister, Love Thyself

It’s the Rosa Parks syndrome.

We black women are taught to be martyrs, to lay our bodies on the altar of our community, in the well-worn tradition of our mothers, and their mothers, and so on and so on and so forth, so that our children—preferably, our male children—can go forth.

Before Mother Parks sat down that day on the bus, she had done all sorts of work for the community as a civil rights worker, but she wasn’t given time to speak at the historic March on Washington. Neither were other black women.

But I can bet you all that fried chicken the male speakers invariably ate—after the March—was cooked by black women.

Every woman of every complexion is taught–outright or by observation–to ignore her own needs for the good of others; I think that’s a universal woman thing. But I don’t know any white women who are taught that, white guys just have the right to listen to songs calling them “bitches and hoes” because it’s part of white male rage, the need to for them to blow off historical steam. Unless it’s Rush Limbaugh, nobody tells white women that white guys have had it so hard in this country, so let them play their mean-spirited, woman-hating music.

And though a lot of white people, men and women, don’t believe a white woman’s testimony when she accuses a white man of rape, a white woman doesn’t have the entire white community on her back, telling her to recant.

Even black women’s magazines differ from “mainstream” (i.e. white) women’s magazines. You never get articles in mainstream magazines advising white women to marry men who have less education than they do and/or who make less money than they do or even, to marry men who have been to prison. You don’t have articles chiding white women for being uppity, reminding them that they can’t really be too choosy about their romantic partners.

Tangent: I’ll never forget years ago, in the aftermath of that “other” march—the Million Man March—Essence magazine had this whole spread on the March. But black women weren’t even invited by Minister Louis Farrakhan to attend the March, which was billed as a “Day of Atonement.” I kept asking myself, if this is a March for men, why is it in a women’s magazine? And then there were my other questions: if a brother wanted to “atone” for what he had done to his wife and/or the mother of his kids, how come he spent hundreds dollars to travel hundreds of miles away from her to say so? I mean, he couldn’t get a babysitter and take a sister out to the Red Lobster within a twenty-mile radius or something?

The notion that black women should never occupy an uppity space means that she must feel responsible for saving the community in which she was raised; she must never get above that community, even if she hurts herself in the process. I’m all for doing the essential work to help black folks, but it’s time for us to find a way to keep this community going without destroying black women in the process, and one of the ways I’ve decided is just to tell other sisters, “You matter, to me and to yourself.”

In my own life, I try to give my sister-friends affirmation, what I call the “woo-woo,” a term I stole from Sinclair on “Living Single.” Remember that show? It was the precursor to “Sex in the City,” only instead of living in Manhattan, those four black women lived in Brooklyn before it was all edgy-like.

Sinclair was my favorite character, a quirky, strange-dresser woman who looked at the world the way she saw it: through nice, sweet, loving eyes. She was the quintessential, idealized black woman, only without the crack-addict relatives sleeping on her couch always asking her, “Can I hold five dollars?” And whenever one of her friends was feeling down, she would pat her and say, “Woo-woo. Woo-woo.”

Whenever one of my close friends has been depressed, he or she will call me. Most have to call instead of visit, because all but two live in other states, far away. On the phone, if I hear sadness, I will ask, “Do you need the woo-woo?” And then I’ll begin my litany: “You’re fabulous. You’re so cute. The world doesn’t know your power. You are touched by the hand of God.”

Or if I’m depressed, I’ll call up one of them and say, “I need the woo-woo bad.” In this way, I can cut through the preamble, and get right to what I need, which is reassurance that I am loved and accepted, just as I am. Sort of like an emotional quickie, without the need for condoms and such.

There’s one friend I have, Kim, who doesn’t even wait for me to tell her I need woo-woo. She just knows. Kimberly is the can’t-live-without sister I’ve been friends with for thirty years. She’s the one I’ve shared every cycle of my life with. And I do mean every, if you get my drift.

Kim was the one who insisted that I start this blog. Really, she pushed me to start it because she knows that I needed to say certain things out loud, in public, even if it makes other people uncomfortable to hear them.

She’s not in this crazy, writing world of mine, where the publication of a poem in a journal that only a thousand people read—out of the three hundred million people in the country—can define a person’s self-worth, and can determine whether your peers will speak to you at the annual Associated Writing Programs conference.

And because Kim and I go back so far, have grown up together, we know that when you’re a young girl, you say you are never going to ignore yourself for others; you promise yourself you’ll never be your mother. Kim and I talked about that–laughed about it– just a couple of weeks ago. It has been on my mind ever since.

If you’re a black woman, in your secret heart, you insist you’ll never sing your black mother’s blues song–but then suddenly, you are your mother, for better and worse. Sure, you’ve inherited the good things, like her great skin, her cute and (mostly) firm breasts, her love of God and her recipes for cream biscuits and peach cobbler. But you’re carrying her emotional loads, too.

You’re taking care of others who can’t or won’t take care of themselves. You’re waiting in vain for somebody to say “I appreciate you” for the work you do at home or the office. You have an inability to stand up for yourself because “ladies” just learn to suffer with grace. You’re depending on God to change the hearts of others because Jesus can work miracles on even the worst person. (We ask a lot of Jesus in this community, don’t we?)

Everyday, you’re driving yourself crazy while repeating that same “keeping it together” mantra as your mother did– and you’ve probably also inherited at least one of her health problems, too. The same extra thirty pounds. Her grapefruit-size uterine fibroids. Her high blood pressure. Or her diabetes.

Usually, I blog about something that strikes me that I’ve read about in the news, but this issue with black women and self-love is something I don’t need to read about, because it’s going on with me every day—in my body, in my life, in my family, or on my job. It’s also going on with all my black female friends, whether they are married or single, child-free or mothers, and I see it with sisters I meet when I travel or who email me because they read a poem I wrote somewhere.

As a black woman, I have to give the woo-woo to myself, if I want to do more than just survive–if I want to thrive. And I am determined to do that. No disrespect to the mothers of our past, because they’ve given us some real gifts. But I decided this year that the Black Woman Martyr Look ain’t cute for me. I want my reward now, not in heaven, and I don’t care who thinks I’m selfish or unloving or “un-Christian” or too loud or too pushy.

When I say “reward,” I’m not talking about money. I’m talking about peace of mind. I’m talking about health of spirit and body. I’m talking about self-love.

I understand now that sometimes, you have to fight for self-love. It just doesn’t get handed to you–not when you’re a black woman. I strongly suspect it doesn’t get handed to anybody. And people can stand in the way of your self-love. If you can’t be ladylike and just calmly walk around them, then sometimes, you got to learn judo in order to kick people’s you-know-whats. Then you carefully roll them to the side of the road, so you can walk peacefully on your way.

The lesson about claiming self-love and leaving some people or causes to the side is a difficult one, because we sisters want to help and maintain our community and also, honor our mothers who kept this whole thing going for so long. And also, let’s face it: co-dependence has been going on a long time in the black community under the guise of “No brother or sister left behind.”

The girl-children–even the grandchildren– of those black women from Mother Parks’s self-sacrificing generation are grown now, and some of us are even mothers. For those of us who still need to learn self-love–and that’s a whole bunch of us–we can’t say that we’ll start valuing ourselves only once we’re fully valued by others, love ourselves only when we’re fully loved by others, because that time may never come.

We can’t wait for God to give us our reward in heaven or for someone nice to hand us glory now. Remember what even the most self-sacrificing of black grandmothers used to tell us, back in the day? “God helps those who help themselves.”

I am Sick & Tired of Being Sick & Tired

Just to recap and get everyone up to speed:
5/26/09 Hysteroscopic Myomectomy
7/6/09-7/24/09 The painful & heavy period from hell!
8/25/09 Hysteroscopic Myomectomy. That's not a typo, I had 2 surgeries in three months time. If only my garden grew things as well as my uterus grows fibroids.
9/4/09 Deep Vein Thrombosis of lower right calf.
9/20/09 I was watching Mystery Diagnosis and realized I have Non-Classical Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia 9/21/09 E-mailed my Reproductive Endocrinologist to tell her I have NC-CAH.
9/25/09 Post-Op check up & blood work. The idiot endocrinology resident insisted I had Cushing's not NC-CAH.

They sent me to the lab and took 6 vials of blood. And I was given an orange jug for the 24 hour urine test.

10/5/09 Shockingly bad news
Renal Failure
Well I had a complete blood workup done and thats what the results apparently pointed to. My primary care physician told me that I was anemic, had no vitamin D, am diabetic, and apparently I have very poor kidney function. When I asked what that meant she said I was at risk for renal failure. Which I automatically translated to mean I would need dialysis and/or a kidney transplant. I think I went into shock at that point because although normally very vocal, my brain just sort of shut down and I couldn't speak. It was at this point that my primary care physician told me that I should forget about ever becoming pregnant because it would probably kill me and if I lived my baby would be put at risk of various birth defects, such as low birth weight, heart disease, and other things.

When I say I have no vitamin D I mean zip, zilch, nada. She put me on a presciption dosage of Vitamin D, 50,000 iu's twice a week.The average over the counter vitamin D caplet has 400 iu's.

Yes, that's right I am as mouthy and brassy in real life as I am on line. I believe in asking doctors questions. But I was truly stunned.

Not sure about the rest of that day. I know I called my mom on my way home; but she wasn't there. When I got home I just kicked off my shoes, curled up on the sofa in the den, tried not to think about Julia Roberts character in Steel Magnolias, and went to sleep until dinner.

10/10/09 My repro. endo's nurse called me at 2:00 on a Saturday afternoon to tell me they need to do more blood work. FYI - A call from a doctors office on a Saturday is NEVER a good thing.

10/15/09 I go into Atlanta for the bloodwork and this time I write down the test names so I can check them online. Guess what? They are just now testing for NC-CAH. Apparently the 6 vials of blood they took to test for Cushing's all came back negative. The 3 vials of blood they took Thursday were to test for Non-Classical Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia.

Son of a gun, turns out I do know my body pretty well. Imagine that? After only 43 years I know my body better than some young pup medical resident.
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This was of course in the midst of my computer dying and the Great Georgia flood of 2009. Meteorologists have said that this was not one of those piddly little 100 year floods; but a 500 year flood. Hence there being no previous record of a flood this bad. Seventeen counties have been declared a state of emergency including the one in which I live.
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Also during this time my dads neurologist put him on Mirapex for his Parkinson's Disease. Guess what? One of the side effects of Mirapex is visual, olfactory, and auditory hallucinations! Talk about the treatment being worse than the disease. Mom and I thought "OMG! He's gone senile overnight and it's getting so bad so quick." We didn't know what to do. We finally thought to call his doc as this was a new medication. Sure enough, he told us to cut dads dosage. Literally overnight his hallucinations ended.
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The really disturbing thing is my primary care physician, Dr. Sharon Haynes wait and see attitude about my kidneys and the diabetes. This is serious stuff! My doctor has NOT put me on any diabetes medication or insulin, has not recommended a change in diet AND has not laid out a treatment plan for my kidneys. WTF!?!?! Until a cousin who is a retired nurse, visited me on Saturday, I didn't even know that I should be seeing a nephrologist for my kidneys.

Diabetes Increases Risk of Eye Disease

Roughly 40% of people diagnosed with diabetes in the United States have some form of diabetic retinopathy. Retinopathy refers to non-inflammatory damages to the retina of the eye, in most cases, due to problems with blood supply. The retina is a tissue located at the back of the eye and sensitive to light. Retinopathy leads to decreased vision and eventually blindness.

Diabetics also has higher risk of other eye problems such as cataracts (loss of transparency in the eye lenses) and glaucoma (build-up of fluid pressure in the eye).

Early Retinopathy
Early retinopathy is also known as nonproliferative retinopathy.
Poor blood sugar control in diabetic patients makes small blood vessels in the eye (called capillaries) become particularly fragile and develop weakened spots called micro aneurysms. Fluid is then leaked onto the macula, which is responsible for precise vision. This problem is referred to as macular edema. As the disease progresses, some of the damaged blood vessels are closed off, blocking the blood supply to parts of the retina. No new blood vessels grow during this stage of retinopathy.

Later Stage Retinopathy
During the later stages of retinopathy, new capillaries grow in the eye to supply blood to the areas that are damaged. This is why this later stage of retinopathy is often referred to as proliferative retinopathy.

These new capillaries are very fragile. Bleeding from these new capillaries can severely reduce vision capacity and cause blindness. In some cases, bleeding can lead to retinal detachment and the retina is detached from the wall of the eye.

Risk Factors for Diabetic Retinopahy
According to the Wisconsin Epidemiologic Study of Diabetic Retinopathy (WESDR), 3.6% of type-1 diabetes and 1.6% type-2 diabetes were legally blind in the study.
The main risk factor for developing diabetic retinopathy is the duration of diabetes. Among patients with type-1 diabetes in the WESDR study, 8% develop any form of diabetic retinopathy at 3 years after diagnosed with diabetes, 25% at 5 years and 80% at 15 years.

On average, it takes 15 years to go from the first stage of diabetic to blindness if it is not properly treated.

Early Detection of Retinopathy Can Prevent Blindness
Early stage of retinopathy is treatable. If you have diabetes, you should have your eyes checked every year. If you have some difficulty seeing clearly, seek an ophthalmologist immediately. Good control of blood sugar levels, for instance through metformin use or lifestyle modifications, also prevents the onset and slows down the progression of retinopathy.

Rude Questions From Strangers

Lately my mom has been perturbed by acquaintances and strangers asking her a weird question. My mom is 79 and my father is 81. My mom could pass for 50 in a heartbeat. My dad on the other hand is in the advanced stages of Parkinson's. He no longer walks but shuffles with the aide of a rollator. Sometimes he drools, and he has trouble speaking. Yet they manage to go to the local senior center three days a week. Last week a rather rude woman, whom she had only spoken to once or twice before asked if that man she came with every day was her father or her husband? Mom was aghast! When she told me I was horrified at the womans rudeness and audacity. It seems to me and mother agreed, that she should have quietly asked one of my mothers closer friends at the center. More importantly, why did she need to know?

Has Fear of H1N1 (Swine Flu) Changed Your Routine?

From Altar Wine to Beer Pong, Flu Fears Curb Life’s Rituals

Yolanda Ray works in the kind of place where people “really love to eat and snack.” Colleagues are quick to tempt one another, she says, with homemade dishes and sugary treats laid bare for the taking on desktops. Before the age of swine flu, the arrangement was fine. But now, employees at Rudd Equipment in Louisville, Ky., have new company-wide directives: No sharing of unwrapped candy. Cakes and pies must be cut and wrapped at home. Food needs to be served with utensils. She added, “Sometimes I feel like the swine flu police.”

In offices, churches, hospitals, college dorms and schools — and even at yoga classes and in apple orchards — the fear of swine flu is turning age-old rituals on their head. What used to be O.K. is not anymore, as the flu has ushered in new standards of etiquette that can be, in turns, mundane, absurd and heartbreaking. Students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., are being asked to refrain from playing beer pong, a communal drinking game, after an outbreak of illness that officials feared might be swine flu. Roman Catholic parishioners of the Diocese of Raleigh, N.C., have been instructed by the bishop not to shake hands at the sign of peace, and wine is not being offered for the sacrament of communion.

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As many of you know I am kind of a germaphobe. I also have the immune system of a 2 day old infant. Yet, I am not freaking out about H1N1, because I'm already doing most of the stuff the CDC and various health officials recommend in so far as hand washing and cleanliness.

I think it's time for the religions who do communion from one chalice or cup to change. The first time I went to a church where everyone drank from the same cup I was about 7 years old and I was HORRIFIED! Even then I knew that 100 people drinking from the same cup was a great way for germs and sickness to be transferred. I know that the Priest or Reverend wipes the cup with a cloth which has allegedly been soaked in alcohol or some disinfectant after each sip. I just don't buy that it is really disinfecting after the 10th person or so. As for the 'Passing of the Peace' , I have never liked that tradition just because of the germ thing. During cold and flu season I find myself making mental note of just who is coughing and sneezing into their hand so that I know NOT to shake their hand at the 'Passing of the Peace'.

In the church in which I was raised, we took communion from individual mini-silver chalices. None of this cross-contamination business happens in any of the dozens of United Methodist churches I have attended since childhood. In my current church they use miniature clear plastic cups. Kind of like the Nyquil cup, but smaller. I like this because they are disposable. There is no question that so-and-so didn't wash & polish them properly; because you get a new one each time.

MRSA - Infection Control in Dialysis Settings

My beau's mom is really sick. She has diabetes, high blood pressure, she lost 2 toes to diabetes in April. Since then she apparently has had a few bone infections. She is also on dialysis 3 days a week. To say she is unwell is the understatement of the year. Tex likes to know the bottomline, the worst case scenario, so he can prepare himself and his younger siblings. He won't like hearing that 23% of dialysis patients die due to MRSA but that appears to be the fact.

Infection Control in Dialysis Settings
68 slides:

Slide #4 - 23% of those who get MRSA in a dialysis setting die. :(

Slide #7 - Cause-specific hospitalization rates among hemodialysis patients, 2004-05:
• Vascular access infection = 132 admissions / 1000 pt-yrs
• Bloodstream infection = 102 admissions / 1000 pt-yrs
• Pneumonia = 86.3 admissions / 1000 pt-yrs

Since 1993, rates have increased for:
Bloodstream infection (+29%)
Cellulitis (+24%)
Pneumonia (+19%)

Kanye West is CRAZY!

Kanye West Storms Stage, Protests Taylor Swift's Victory Over Beyonce At MTV Awards

UPDATE:
When Beyonce won Video of the Year, she called Taylor out to the stage to give her interrupted speech instead.

PREVIOUSLY:
Taylor Swift got a surprise when she accepted the award for Best Female Video at Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards. After Swift, looking shocked, beat out Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson and Beyonce for the honor, she took the stage and accepted the award. As she was thanking MTV, Kanye West ran up on stage, took her microphone, and said Beyonce had been robbed for her "Single Ladies" video. "Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!" Swift stood silently holding her trophy, cameras cut to Beyonce looking stunned in the crowd, and MTV then cut to break.


This is the hair of a crazy man.
What is wrong with this fool?!? Why can he not go anywhere without causing a scene and embarassing people? A few years ago I thought his outbursts were just lame publicity stunts designed to sell more of his own CD's. Now I think there is something wrong with him, perhaps neurologically or psychologically. It's like he's hyperactive with a touch of Tourette's or maybe he's just bipolar or schizophrenic. Whatever the case, he needs help and he needs to be medicated or banned from awards shows.

41st Annual Yellow Daisy Festival

41st Annual Yellow Daisy Festival
Dates: September 10-13, 2009
Location: Special Events Meadow

Thursday, September 10: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Friday, September 11: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday, September 12: 10 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, September 13: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

FREE WITH PARK ENTRY! Voted the Nation's #1 Arts & Crafts Show SIX YEARS IN A ROW by Sunshine Artist Magazine, a Southeast Tourism Society Top 20 Event and winner of multiple awards by the Georgia Festival and Events Association.

More than 500 artists and crafters from 38 States and two countries display their works for your appreciation and purchase. Daily live entertainment, Children's Corner activities, clogging and crafter demonstrations throughout the event as well as fabulous festival foods.

Vehicle entry to Stone Mountain Park is $10.00 for a one-day permit during the festival or $35.00 for an annual parking pass. No coolers or pets can be brought inside the festival.


The folks and I plan on going on Saturday if the weather is clear. Looks like a lot of fun, I love craft fairs.


Yellow Daisy Shopping Tips
Tips for the Inexperienced(and Professional)Yellow Daisy Shopper


The many shopping, food and entertainment options can be overwhelming to any shopper, whether a long time attendee or brand new to the festival. To minimize anxiety, tips on the best way to delight in the Yellow Daisy Festival are provided.

1.Gather your shopping posse. Whether it is your mother, grandmother, daughter or best friends you will want to make sure you experience the Yellow Daisy Festival with your best pals.

2.Prepare for your Yellow Daisy Festival shopping weekend by checking the weather forecast, and then choosing appropriate clothing. Clothing that is light and comfortable along with walking shoes will suffice.

3.Prepare a bag with essentials that you will need through-out the weekend. This bag should include: cash, credit card, check-book, sunscreen, lip gloss, compact and cell phone. Shoppers are welcome to bring their own shopping bags for purchases, or they can pick up a free biodegradable one at the Yellow Daisy Festival merchandise shop.

4.Plan your shopping route. With an estimated 200,000 shoppers over the four day festival, it is easy to miss artist booths. Blackberry Lane is the suggested beginning; a map can be found here.

5.Arrive thirty minutes before the festival gates open. Hours are 10a.m.- 6p.m. Thursday, Friday and Sunday and 10a.m.- 7:30p.m.on Saturday.

6.Visit the featured artist, Vikki Mancil Weigel, at booth A35. Vikki is a self-taught artist and is recognized for her brilliant color palette and childlike spirit.

7.Send your husband, brother or father to the Men’s Den where they can relax in recliners while watching fall football games on a big screen TV.

8.Send your kids to the Children’s Corner where they can participate in crafts, rock walls, face painting and crazy hair.

9.Take a break from shopping and indulge in the fried candy bars, roasted corn and fresh cut fruit located at the many vendors. While on your break, enjoy the live bands providing entertainment at the Yellow Daisy Main stage.

10.End your weekend by taking inventory of all your purchases and plan next year’s Yellow Daisy Festival trip.

Why we don't heckle the president

Commentary: Why we don't heckle the president

Editor's note: John Feehery worked for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert and other Republicans in Congress. He is president of Feehery Group, a Washington-based advocacy firm that has represented clients that include News Corp., Ford Motor Co. and U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He formerly was a government relations executive vice president for the Motion Picture Association of America.


John Feehery says heckling the president is showing disrespect for the office.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- When I worked in the House of Representatives in the mid-'90s, Congressional Republicans grew enamored of the idea of replicating the tradition of "Question Time" that was popular in the British House of Commons.

C-SPAN had just started broadcasting "Question Time", where the British prime minister thrusts and parries with colleagues on the other side of the aisle, while hoping for supportive statements from those on his side of the aisle.

It seemed like a lot of fun, most of all because the party out of power could show their disdain for the government's leader in no uncertain terms, and best of all, face-to-face.

The proposal to do an American-style question time, with Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich as the principal antagonists, died, mostly because the president had little interest in subjecting himself to that kind of ridicule on a weekly basis.

I thought of that episode in congressional history when I heard the immortal words of Joe Wilson, who impolitely called the president a liar Thursday evening. Unlike in the House of Commons, where the governing minister is part of the parliamentary body, in America, the president represents both the government and something more exalted.

While Congress is the first branch named in the Constitution, the president is the commander-in-chief, the leader of the country, and in many unspoken ways treated as a king.

We stand when the president enters the room, no matter who the president is. He has his own tune when he goes anywhere. When he gives a speech, his seal is on the lectern. The president is treated with royal respect, even though he is overtly not a royal. Ever since George Washington declined to become a king, we have established traditions that give the president all the kingly trappings.

That is why when Joe Wilson blurted out loud about the president, it was so jarring. Wilson is a very nice guy, very earnest, conscientious, hardworking and unfailingly polite. He is not one to do this sort of thing. He is not a protester, a demonstrator, a conscientious objector or a nonviolent resistor.

So when he blurted out what many other Republicans probably were thinking, he crossed an invisible but firm line of decorum on the House floor. Under House rules, you are prohibited from casting aspersions on the motivations of your colleagues. There is even a procedure for punishing those who do. You can be stripped of your right to speak for the rest of the day on the floor if your words are taken down and ruled out of order. No such specific prohibition exists in the House for when a president is speaking because, well, it is just not done. Members understand that presidents, no matter who they are, deserve respect.

Joe Wilson understands that fact, which is why he apologized so quickly to the president's chief of staff.

When the queen addresses the British Parliament, she is accorded ritualized decorum and respect, firmly rooted in history and precedent. It is not so different here in America. In our nation's rituals, we treat the president with the respect befitting the office, no matter who the current occupant might be.

Some may question why we treat the office of the president with such respect, when sometimes our presidents in the their personal or professional lives perhaps weren't worthy of that respect. After all, America was founded as a reaction against monarchy, we pride ourselves on our democratic impulses, and we have ably resisted the temptation to crown a king for more than 200 years.

I guess it is because the office of the president is one of the unifying symbols of our country, and we place our best hopes and worst fears in the lap of the occupant, hoping that whoever resides in the Oval Office will resist partisan temptation and do the best for all of our citizens, regardless of party or philosophy.

We treat the office of president with the utmost respect because we hope that the president will return the favor.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Feehery.

I'm inclined to agree with John Feehery, about heckling the President showing disrespect for the office. Since I do not know Joe Wilson personally I can't comment on whether or not he is a nice guy; but judging by his most recent public behavior I'd have to say he was a butthead. :p

A Message to the "Honorable" Joe Wilson

As you sow, so shall you reap.

I'm a fan of expendiency:

I'm a fan of expendiency:
Can we stop with all the nonsense about
Obama being a socialist, a Marxist, and a
Stalinist, and just call the man the n-word
already! Dang!
~ Dee Hill Zuganelli

I'd love to ask my great-great-grandparents 'What was it like to be a slave?'

What was it like to be a slave?
I'm black. Duh :p My great grandmother on my mothers side was born a slave. If I have to go back to great-great grandparents I'd want to know all about the horrors of that life.

I spent Friday night in the hospital!

Know how to make God laugh? Plan something. ~ Anonymous



As previously mentioned, I had a hysteroscopic myomectomy on Tuesday, August 25, 2009. Since then I have had constant pain in my right calf. I kinda figured it was a blood clot and this was confirmed by googling my symptoms. That's correct as of Tuesday of this week I knew I had a DVT- Deep Vein Thrombosis. Now here is where my normal pragmatic nature flew the coop. I didn't do anything about it until Thursday, September 3, 2009. That's right I limped around for over a week bitching about the pain and taking Motrin in hopes it would just sort of dissolve and go away on its own.

Thursday morning the pain was so intense I couldn't stand long enough to brush my teeth. I called the doc who did the surgery and left a message for her nurse. The nurse called me back within the hour and told me it sounded like a thrombosis and I had an appt. in radiology for 9:30 AM Friday at Emory to check it out.

Friday morning mom drives me into Atlanta for the ultrasound. It's a 46 mile drive door-to-door. My appt was for 9:30 AM and we were signing in at 9:10 AM, we left home at 8:30 AM! FYI-Until you have had a 79 year old woman with cataracts, who is nervous about her baby girl being sick, drive 80 mph to the hospital you don't know fear.

They had to do both legs. I guess so that they could see what normal looked like as opposed to the leg with the clot. Anyway the radiologist finished the ultrasound and asked if my doc was easy to reach? I said yes. Things moved somewhat quickly from there. Much to my chagrin, I was told I was being admitted to the hospital. Not sure why, but I just figured they would give me some pills and send me home. I was genuinely shocked to hear they needed to keep me.

They walked me upstairs to admissions, I filled out the necessary paper work. Then I was taken to the CIU which is a sort of transistional waiting area for people while they get your room ready. I was there for a few hours. They took my vitals, 7 vials of blood, and hooked up a saline IV. By 1:30 PM I was in my own room and trying to push my mom out the door. I can't speak for all cities; but you do not want to be stuck in Friday afternoon traffic in Atlanta. Add to that it was a holiday weekend and you are just pretty much screwed. I wanted mom to leave before the holiday rush hour started. It has taken us as long as 2.5 hours to get home, if we let rush hour catch us. Plus, mom sometimes gets disoriented in the city.

Why they discharged me less than 24 hours later I have no idea. They still don't know for sure why I got the blood clot. They think it might be because after the 19 day period I had in July they put me on the pill. Surgery + birth control pill can = blood clot. More importantly in my mind, I still cannot walk, stand, or sit upright with my feet on the floor for more than 5 minutes without severe pain in my right calf.

So now I have to take 5 mg of Warfarin once a day for the next 3-6 months; and Lovenox twice a day. Both are blood thinners. I dislike the Lovenox intensely because it is not a pill, but an injection which comes in a pre-loaded syringe; which I have to give myelf in the stomach twice a day. I hate needles.

About my original plans for the day: After the ultrasound I had planned on going to pick up some pantry and freezer staples at Trader Joes's, then lunch at the Majestic Diner. I was craving their chicken souvlaki gyro, which is the best I've had outside of NYC. Then we were just gonna go home, maybe swim, and relax before my cousin Malcolm (age 8)came to stay for the weekend.

Glad My Fertility Issues Amuse You . . . NOT!

There are NO funny jokes about infertility! Don't even try it.

In case you couldn't tell, this is gonna be a rant.

Don't tell women who want children and who have thus far been unable to have them, that we are better off without children, or to get a puppy, or that we should adopt one of the millions of orphans here and abroad. Do I look like Angelina Jolie? No, I do not! Even she gave into the hormonal urge many of us women have and gave birth to her own children. Plus, adoption is crazy expensive. Many health plans will cover all or part of infertility treatments. Nobody gives you $50,000+ to adopt.

IMHO The absolute worst thing to do or say is that, "Kids are nothing but trouble, you are better off without them." Really, I'm sorry for your children that you feel that way.

Or, and I had this happen just this week, do not give us a doll baby! Yes, that's right, one of my mothers friends at the senior center sent a one inch tall plastic baby to me via my mother with the message that "If I wanted a baby so bad here's one." WTF?!? On what planet is that appropriate behavior?


Now I know exactly how Charlotte felt on Sex and the City when she was having infertiltiy issues, and her idiot, husband Trey gave her a giant cut-out of a baby. Like that was gonna placate her. NOT!


I mean not for nothing but just because she couldn't have children and was forced to have a hysterectomy, doesn't mean I am willing to accept the same verdict without a fight. She is 80, 40 years ago doctors gave women hysterectomies like lollipops. Thankfully, today things are different.

Okay, I think I am done ranting now.

Success! I Survived Another Hysteroscopic Myomectomy

My most recent surgery was a success, but I am in PAIN! Apparently they didn't adjust the stirrups for my long legs. So my upper, inner thighs are very sore. Last night I put some of my moms menthol scented arthiritis creme on my thighs, and I put my hot water bottle on my belly. Isn't that a lovely mental image.

My abdomen feels like I was run over by a Jeep or maybe a small pick-up truck? Doesn't matter which way I turn I can't get comfortable sitting, standing, or lying down. I was puzzled by this as the hysteroscopic myomectomy I had in May was virtually painless. The only reason I stayed in bed for 3 days then was so I could read romance novels and have mom bring me food and pamper me.

Turns out with each procedure they do, the more fragile the uterus can become. Plus there are adhesions from my previous surgeries, I should have known that.

Apparently in addition to the uterine fibroid, I had a ruptured cervical cyst, a portion of which had become lodged inside me. I swear I am a walking medical disaster area. Fortunately, I have no internal stitches, they were able to remove that stuff and cauterize the area.

Please Pray for TruckerTexman!

I've been dancing around posting this for weeks. My man is not doing well and as of Wednesday this week he is suicidal, I am at wits end trying to help him. My previous Angry Blog is now kinda null and void. I didn't realize he was breaking up with me cause he was depressed and suicidal.

I better start at the beginning, fall 2008 when he was working for J.B. Hunt he got a ticket for bobtailing through Mc Donough, GA. He was going to see his baby boy from a previous marriage. Anywho he went to court twice to fight the ticket and both times the cop didn't show up. Do y'all have any idea how hard it is to get dispatch to route you home for a court date when you are OTR? I know you do, yet he did it; and he took all the loads that no one else wanted to do it. In NJ and GA if you fight a traffic/moving violation and the cop doesn't show up they are supposed to dismiss it. They didn't do that. Apparently there was a warrant out for his arrest but he didn't know it. He has always used his parents address as his mailing address since the divorce. He never received anything in the mail from the court after his last court date in December 2008.

Fast forward to June 2009, my darling Tex was one of those that got caught in the Swift debacle a couple months ago and lost his CDL. Tex has been driving for almost 5 years so neither of us thought re-taking the test would be a big deal. He passed the written test with flying colors! When he went to take the driving portion they ran his license and found a warrant for his arrest from the bobtail ticket 9 months earlier. He was shocked! Worse because he had just spent the last week getting the rig fixed at de Boer up in Wisconsin, he was kinda broke. They sent my man to jail for 3 days and the little money he had went for the fees and such. I think that going to jail just broke his spirit.

My cousin has a rental property that had been trashed back in March, by the previous tenants. So I gave them each others numbers and he has been working on making that house liveable again since June. He is almost done. He used the money he has earned from fixing up her rental property to help out his folks financially, as he was staying with them, child support, and of course some minor repairs on his motorcycle. He also re-took the driving portion of the CDL test . . . and he failed, twice. I don't understand how he could fail it twice when he has been driving for almost 5 years and he did so well on the written test, and neither does he.

Then his mom who is on dialysis 3 days a week and needs both a kidney and a pancreas transplant went crazy and kicked him out. So he moved into his friend Danny's grandparents house along with his friend Danny. Danny was let go from de Boer after failing the test just once. It's a big house, her 8 cats have 2 rooms of their own. Well Tuesday he was down at my cousins house working on finishing it up and Danny calls and says his grandparents are kicking Tex out. He's only 29, and he's desperate and he can't seem to catch a break lately. Now it seems he has just given up on everything. He told me Thursday afternoon that he was going to kill himself. He has set up a small trust fund for his son, and is looking into the best ways to die so that he can be an organ donor. He wants as much as possible to be used to help someone else. Here I go crying again. I just can't seem to stop.

My dad doesn't believe in shacking up, but this is different. I told Tex last night to come here and stay, even if he does it in his tent. I would never forgive myself if he kills himself and I hadn't done something, anything to help him. I'm still a little weak from my surgery but I am gonna try to get down to Fayetteville where he is working on that house for my cousin today or tomorrow.

Me, mom, and my cousin have been praying for him round the clock. I'd be mighty appreciative if you all would pray for him too. He really is a good man, but he has fallen on hard times and just lost his way it seems.

I'm Angry

I'm angry at you for leaving,
I'm angry at God for sending you into my life,
and I'm angry at myself for believing that I deserved to love again.


I'm just too old for this crap.
Relationships are really not worth the effort I always put into them.
I am locking my heart up again, this time for good.



Some say, "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."
This is bullshit. This is always said by people in love, people who have never had their heart ripped out by a spikey glove then stomped upon by King Kong in cleats.

I' know my heart will heal . . . in time; but I am not doing this again.
I just don't have the strength.

I LOATHE Pre-Op Testing!

Emory University Midtown Hospital MUST streamline their pre-op testing! It took 4 hours to take my vitals (twice), get 4 vials of blood, and update my medical history (twice).

My appointment was for 9:10 AM we got there 10 minutes late, which considering what time mom got up and the traffic we encountered was a miracle. I thought I was gonna have to reschedule; but fortunately they were already running late.

Apparently my doctor is very particular. So before going to Pre-Admission Testing on the first floor, I have to go up to her office on the 18th floor. The nurse weighs me, takes my blood pressure, temperature, blood oxygen, and pulse. She then goes over the list of my current medications. Then she takes me down to an exam room at the end of the hall. Where I sit and wait and wait. Finally, a resident comes in, introduces herself reviews my list of current medications, takes a family illness history, and explains the procedure to me. She seems curious and concerned about my thyroid issues. I'll blog about my thyroid nightmare another time. Then I sign a few forms and she gives me paperwork to take downstairs. It is now 10:03 AM

Downstairs they ask the usual questions, like if necessary can we give you a blood transfusion, do you have a living will, would you like a pastor to visit you before surgery. etc., etc. FWIW: I don't have a living will, I am afraid of, but not opposed to blood transfusions. If necessary I expect them to move heaven and earth to save my life. I sign more papers and they send me down to the room at the end of the hall. A room which I have come to hate. It is now 10:25 AM

There is a woman sitting behind the sliding glass window stapling papers. It takes her a full 4 minutes to acknowledge that I am there. I hate that. When a patient comes to the window, she should immediately say, "I'll be with you in a moment." Anywho she needs to make a copy of my insurance card and drivers license, which they just did down the hall, and also upstairs. Then mom and I sit and wait; along with the rest of the wretched, huddling masses, yearning to be free.

At 12:55 PM they finally call my name. I follow a nurse with a Susan Powter haircut into exam room 6. I can tell she is having a bad day, but she is making an effort to be cheerful. So I do the same. She notices I am reading a Janet Evanovich book and we briefly chat about the crazy antics of Stephanie Plum and who should play who in the movie. She weighs me, takes my temperature, blood pressure, blood oxygen, and pulse. Oddly, My blood pressure has increased by about 16 points both systolic and diastolic. Probably because I am now annoyed, tired, hungry, and I have cramps. Plus I am stressing about getting caught in Friday afternoon, Atlanta, rush hour traffic. IMHO, It's as bad as Manhattan & Houston combined, only worse because it's in such a small space. Did I forget to mention I have my period? I'm not supposed to have it right now because they have me on BCP's. Then she takes a complete medical history and asks for any prescription meds and vitamins I might be taking, I give her my list. She is suitably awed and grateful. I have an alphabetized, color co-ordinated list of all my medications, vitamins, and past surgeries. On the back I put all my docs info and the phone and fax numbers to my preferred pharmacy. An anesthesiologist comes in and asks if I have ever had surgery before and if so did I have problems with the anesthesia. I tell her no. Not quite true, but I learned the hard way, that if you tell them that you once had trouble coming out of anesthesia, then they don't give you enough and you feel pain before you leave the hospital, let alone get home. The anesthesiologist takes 4 vials of blood as per my surgeons orders. She then tapes some gauze to my arm and I am sent on my merry way. It is now 1:30 PM, the whole process took about 4 hours.

Just to re-cap, they:
reviewed the surgical procedure I will be having and asked if I had any questions
took 4 vials of blood
weighed me
took a complete medical history
updated the list of my prescription medications and vitamin supplements
took my blood pressure
took my temperature
took my pulse
took my blood oxygen

So now I am all set for my second hysteroscopic myomectomy in 3 months. God willing this will be the last time I have to do this.

Mini-Drama
When the Susan Powter look-a-like was done, I went back to the waiting room and didn't see mom. I thought maybe she went to the cafeteria or the bathroom so I started walking down the hall in that direction. I'm not 10' from the waiting area when I see a woman collapesd on the floor and 3 people standing around her not doing anything. I ask what's wrong and am faced with shrugs. I ask if they called a nurse and they said no. I quickly go back inside and tell them a woman has passed out and needs help. Some idiot clerk says 'on the floor?' I said yeah rather sarcastically. Fortunately someone with a brain heard me and 2 nurses came running to help this poor woman. From what I could hear she was diabetic and had been waiting soooo long in pre-op testing she got woozy. She was on her way to the cafeteria when she passed out. To make matters worse her right foot was in one of those grey plastic surgical boots. I was afraid she had re-injured herself from the fall.

So to make a long story longer, I was not exaggerating. The pre-op testing process at Emory University Midtown Hospital is ridicuously long. Anytime you have people passing out from hunger, the wait is TOO long! They should be ashamed of themselves. I understand that depending on what your surgery is you may need to give a urine sample, have an x-ray, an EKG, and/or an EEG in addition to the things I had done today. Regardless, that should not be a 4 hour process. It just doesn't make sense.

How many responsible adults do you know?

Here's the problem, I have to have another hysteroscopic myomectomy on 8/25/09. Whenever you have a surgical procedure, not matter how minor they say, "Make sure you have a responsible adult who can drive you home." Sadly, I no longer have a responsible adult in my life, whom I can trust to do this. I have no idea how I got to this point in my life.

When I had the hysteroscopic myomectomy in May 2009 my mom drove me to and from the hospital. The problem with this is that the hospital is 46 miles away in Atlanta; and mom hates city driving. Mom is also 79 and has cataracts. Apparently while I was in surgery my mom slipped and fell in the waiting room . . . face first. She ended up with a big goose egg on her forehead and her right eyelid was bruised various shades of black, purple, and blue for about 2 weeks. So there I am in recovery worried sick about my mom and how we are gonna get home. Fortunately she was able to drive us home; but when she stopped at Walmart to get the prescription for my painkillers filled she decided to do some shopping and was annoyed that I didn't then want to go to Target which is another 20 minutes away. "Earth to mom, HELLO MOM! Just had fibroids yanked out of my uterus, I need to lie down and take drugs." She then told me she did not like my disrespectful tone. This is why I no longer feel I can trust her to be my responsible adult, in these situations. I don't mind having her along, but I need someone else to drive me.

Oddly this is not the first time something like this has happend to me. In 2006 when I had the surgery that determined my vulvar cancer was benign, I had my best friend since high school drive me. This woman was valedectorian of her class, a National Merit Scholar, and came in 2nd place on Jeopardy. Yet even though I told her on the way out of the hospital that the anesthesia was wearing off and I was in major pain and just wanted to get my Rx filled and go to sleep. This dear, sweet, otherwise intelligent friend, decided she needed to stop at a Walmart for a freakin' oil change on the way home! She literally dropped me off at the front door and then drove around back, to the auto bays. Fortunately the were all booked up.

I need to make some new friends that live nearby. The kind of friends that can be responsible adults. It's not like I'm an antisocial hermit. Although I have many good friends there are only 4 I would consider responsible adults. Of the four, the one that lives the closest is about 90 miles away and she works as a teacher so it's not like she can just take off work to chauffer me around.

1)How do you define a responsible adult?
2)How many responsible adults do you know?
3)If you had to go to the hospital for surgery, who could you trust to pick you up from the hospital, get your painkiller prescription filled, and take you home?

I'm Scared.

I'm scared. Daddy hasn't been doing well this week at all. He has Parkinson's and his symptoms seem to have intensified lately. On Wednesday when they came back from the senior center he couldn't get himself out of the car by himself. That's only happend once or twice before, but it was last winter when he first came home from the hospital. His sudden weakness and inability to stand up from a sitting position is odd. It scares me, it terrifies mommy.

Mom has been helping him in and out of bed for months now. We had the master bath re-done in May to accomodate him.

Today after he came from the center he was still hungry, so mom fixed him a ham and cheese sandwich and gave him some water and a slice of poundcake. I keep telling her not to give him sweets cause he's diabetic, but she doesn't listen to me. He lost 21 pounds during the 3 weeks he was in the hospital and rehab center back in January. Mom has been trying to fatten him back up ever since.

After he ate, he was cold, because I had the a/c set to a frigid 77. He went outside on his own power using his cane; and sat on the deck to soak up the warmth. This is normal for him in the summer. When mom checked on him an hour later he was napping. She noticed dad had changed into his swim trunks before he went outside. She put on her swimsuit and was gonna try to get him to do some movement exercises in the shallow end. But then the phone started ringing, and she put in a load of laundry. I was finishing up painting the trim in the bathroom. Long story short, the next time she happend by the kitchen door he was calling for her in a low hoarse voice. Apparently he had tried to get up and couldn't! Mom immediately came and got me and said, 'he needs help getting up.' Daddy claimed to have called both of us for almost an hour and was scared he would have to spend the night out there. Mom said no way was it an hour. But the truth is one of the symptoms he has been having trouble with is talking loudly or even in a normal voice. He thinks he is speaking in his rich bass like he did years ago, but really it's almost a whisper and his voice trails off at the end of sentences. Lately, I have to lean across the table to hear him say grace at dinner and it's not that big a kitchen table.



I had to literally pull him out of the chair today. It's just one of those plastic resin patio chairs, but we put a super thick pillow in it, so it's not so low and he can get up by himself. Once we got him to his feet, he started to sway and said, "I'm falling." Mom said no you're not and put his cane in his hand. I ran to the bedroom for his rollator. I wasn't gone a full 2 minutes and in that time he almost fell over and took my mom with him. :( I had to literally reach down and lift his feet so he could move, even with the rollator. It was scary . . . for all of us. We were able to get him into the bedroom and helped him to lie down. He looked so weak and a little grey. He went to sleep almost immediately.

There is no cure for Parkinson's. There are treatments, but they don't seem to be working well with my dad; maybe because he is 81 now. Or maybe because he refused various treatments when they were first offered 3 years ago; because he thought the Lord would heal him.

Mom came into my room around 2:00AM and I could tell she'd been crying because her eyes were red, and watery. I hugged her and said it would be okay, but we both know it won't be.

Life is . . .

Life is not about waiting
for the storm to pass.
It's about learning to dance
in the rain.

Buonna Notte

I gotta hit the hay, big day ahead of me. Lots of chores and errands cause mom's ladies bible study group is coming over tomorrow night. From what I understand, the August meeting is more of a picnic and the husbands and kids come too. Should be fun.

It's called a gun safe. Buy One!!

Police: Ga. Teen Awakes From Bad Dream, Shoots Sister 10 Times In Head

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Authorities in Georgia said a 14-year-old boy awoke from a bad dream and shot his stepsister in the head 10 times while she napped on the couch.

Richmond County Sheriff's Lt. Scott Peebles said Eric Lee Phillips Whitehead has been charged with murder. Whitehead is charged as an adult in the Friday afternoon death of 22-year-old Patricia Ann Troglen.

The teen told authorities he considered his stepsister to be his best friend, but he became enraged after he dreamt about an argument with her.

Police say the teen awoke, got a gun from his stepfather's room and shot his stepsister.

Peebles says Whitehead had been in and out of trouble and had been staying at his stepfather's home temporarily.

The sheriff's office didn't know Saturday whether the teen had an attorney.
===================================================================
IMHO no sane person dreams about an argument with someone they allegedly love or at least like; and then emptys a gun into them. Something must have been mentally or neurologically wrong with Eric Lee Phillips Whitehead. He wasn't sleep walking. He had to know at age 14 that dreams are not reality. Therefore his actions were intentional.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

I am so sick of these senseless deaths!
A high school junior was killed in Carrollton, GA Friday night because he and a friend were'playing with a loaded gun. WTF!?!?! I grew up in a house with guns. I was also taught gun safety.
Rule #1 NEVER point a gun at another human being!
Rule #2 NEVER use a gun in anger.

Family: Suspect In Basketball Player’s Death On Suicide Watch

CARROLLTON, Ga. -- The teenager accused in the accidental shooting of a Carrollton High School basketball player has been placed on suicide watch, according to the suspect’s aunt, Vickie Ware.

Ware told Channel 2 Action News reporter Ashley Hayes that she took her nephew, Johnta Chism, 18, to turn himself in at the Carrolton County Jail.

Authorities said Chism was playing with a gun and pointed the weapon at his best friend, 16-year-old D’Vante Rashad Williams.

Witnesses said Chism didn’t realize the gun was loaded. Williams was taken to a nearby hospital and died.

Police said the incident occurred at the student’s home in the 500 block of Willie North Street in Carrollton at about 9:30 p.m. Friday.

“He (Chism) didn’t mean to do it," said Williams’ mother, Michelle Strickland. "I can't hold a grudge against him."

Carrollton police Capt. Jamison Sailors said Chism was arrested late Saturday night and faces one charge each of manslaughter and reckless conduct in Williams' death.

Athletic director David Brooks confirmed that Williams was a basketball player at Carrollton High School.

The suspect’s aunt said both of Chism’s parents died when he was young. Ware said ironically, Chism’s father died of a gunshot wound while playing with a gun.

For the love of God in heaven if you have children and you own a gun, get a gun safe! Do not give the children access to the combination or key to the gun safe.

I wish I'd been there for Girl Scout

I always wanted to be a Girl Scout. I went to a private school that was quite a distance away and didn't get home in time to go to meetings.

When I'm a multi-millionaire, some Asbury Park is in order

Greetings From Asbury Park NJ

Buy a beach house in NJ. I grew up down the shore and I miss it.

Living With Crazy - I

My 79 year old mother just fell off a step ladder onto the new hardwood floors. I of course ran to her aid. She started crying and yelled at me when I tried to help her. I was told to: "Shut up, just shut up and go away!" Apparently she asked for my help this morning, but I was asleep and didn't hear her. Mom does this a lot she'll come into my room tell and/or ask me to do something and because I talk in my sleep I answer her; usually in the affirmative. Then later that day she gets angry at me for not doing what she wanted me to do. Does my mother know that I talk in my sleep? Of course she does! My father also talks in his sleep too, so maybe it's hereditary.

Mom shrieked and screamed so loud even daddy who is very hard of hearing, heard her and came hobbling with his cane to help. Now he's all shaky cause argueing and yelling make him nervous.

A bit of background info: We had new engineered hardwood floors installed in the living room, dining room, and hallway on Tuesday. The floor looks gorgeous! BUT the contractors which Home Depot hires will only move 5 pieces of furniture in each room. For about 10 days prior to the installation mom and I had to empty the china closet and the buffet of it's contents. This meant wrapping everything in bubble wrap or plain newsprint and neatly putting it into boxes and then storing the boxes in the computer room. We also moved all the small furniture that we could, leaving the heavier stuff for the floor installers. After the floor was installed my dear, sweet, crazy mother decided that every glass, dish, bowl, plate, and platter had to be cleaned before being put back into the china closet.

Here's the thing, the stuff was clean when it came out of the china closet! It was carefully wrapped and packed away. Why did everything have to be re-washed? Because my mom is an OCD/NPD freaking nut! I admit the silver was a bit tarnished as it hadn't been cleaned since Christmas; but other than that EVERYTHING was clean!

Poor dad, about 40 minutes after she fell he came with his walker to tell me she won't even talk to him; and he doesn't understand why. Poor guy, I know why she's angry. She's angry because he is physically unable to help because of his Parkinson's Disease. She told him around noon time on Saturday that she did not want his help because he shakes too much, and if he broke a piece of her good china or a crystal champagne glass she would probably start screaming and not stop. {This is true!} I know it sounds unkind but at least she was honest.

Now I am sure some of you are wondering why I didn't help her wash the 4 sets of china, crystal, and glasses. Because we only have one kitchen sink and it's not big enough for the 2 of us to stand side by side washing stuff. Plus, my mom has NEVER been satisfied with the way I have cleaned anything in my entire life. I'm not a moron, I know how to clean, but if I do it even one smidge different than how she does it, then it's not clean/right. That's where her OCD comes into play. An item can't just be cleaned, it has to be cleaned her way.

As for me, I told her Thursday I didn't think the dishes were dirty and she should stop wasting time and just unpack the boxes. She said, "No, company is coming and I won't have people talking about how I live in a dirty house." Did I mention mom has OCD about cleaning, she also counts things incessantly? Our house is never dirty. My mother majored in home economics back in the day when that meant something. She does not now, nor has she ever kept a dirty house.

About that company we're having, they will be here on the 2nd Monday in August. It's just the Circle 3 ladies from church. It's a ladies bible study group and each month they meet at someone elses house. The hostess provides dessert and the other ladies all bring a main dish or a salad dish. They seem to be a nice bunch.

So now I pray, I pray for her to not have seriously injured herself. The last time she fell off a ladder she had to have knee replacement surgery. She's lucky she didn't break a hip! I pray that she stops being such a beeyotch to dad and me. But most of all I just pray that I can take care of them for as long as possible and that I am never faced with the decision to put them in a home.

Misuse of Megestrol?

Megestrol is a progesterone derivative with antineoplastic properties used in the treatment of advanced carcinoma of the breast and endometrium. When given in relatively high doses, Megestrol can substantially increase appetite in most individuals, even those with advanced cancer.
Megestrol Acetate Oral Suspension (a form of Megestrol) is used primarily as an appetite enhancer. The method of appetite enhancement is not known, but it can cause high blood sugar.[1]

Currently, it is manufactured under the trade name Megace.[2]

It may cause adrenal insufficiency.[3]

My dad is 81, he has Parkinson's Disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Last January he was in the hospital for 2 weeks. After being discharged they sent him to a rehab for 10 days. During that 10 days, he lost 21 pounds and continues to steadily lose weight. Mom is scared because his skin is literally hanging from his body. His appetite does not appear to have changed much, not enough to warrant this consistent weight loss anyway. Mom and I are both puzzled and concerned.

Mom took dad to their primary care doctor a few weeks ago and voiced her concerns. At first the doctor feared a tumor. Which paniced both my parents. She ordered a complete battery of tests, including an MRI. Everything came back normal. So she prescribed Megestrol for my dad because it is supposed to increase the appetite. However, it can also cause high blood sugar. I'm so angry right now I could scream, as his sugar count has been up the last few days. Mom and I have been obsessing over his diet wondering what we gave him which suddenly caused this spike. His doctor should have known about this and either warned him or not prescribed it at all! Why would she prescribe something which such a horrible side effect for a diabetic?!?!

She's my PCP as well and I've never liked her bedside manner, she tends toward bored, surly, or just sad. In 4 years I have never seen this woman crack a smile. I don't expect a doctor to do a comedy routine; but a polite smile of greeting wouldn't hurt. Anyway, I have long suspected she wasn't quite up on the latest medical techniques and information. Looks like I am making a phone call to Aetna in the morning to get dad a new doctor.

How You Can Overcome Hypothyroidism

Found this on the HuffingtonPost.com and thought it was interesting. I have been battling my thyroid since 1997 when I was diagnosed with Graves Disease. After radioactive iodine treatment and radiation I became severly hypothyroid and overweight for the first time in my life. To say this was depressing is putting it mildly,as I had done runway modeling off and on throughout my 20's.


I know some people think it's a cop out when an overweight person says I have a thyroid condition. I know I thought that even after I was diagnosed as being hypothyroid. I figured the key to losing weight was a better diet and exercise. I joined Weight Watchers and counted points religiously. I started walking during my lunch hour and after work. When that did nothing, I surmised that I needed to kick my workout up a notch and joined Curves with some women from work. They recommend going 3 days a week. I went for 4 or sometimes 5 days a week. After 8 months,I had lost inches in the oddest placeslike my wrists. Plus, I had lost and gained the same 8 pounds more than I care to remember. I had my thyroid bloodwork checked every 60 days in addition to taking Levoxyl, finally after a few years of this I just gave up.

I'm gonna give this doctor's suggestions a try; and see if it works for me. Lord knows, at this point it can't hurt.

How You Can Overcome Hypothyroidism

I encourage you to take the following steps to rebalance your thyroid:

1. Make a thorough inventory of any of the symptoms that I mentioned in last week's blog to see if you might suffer from hypothyroidism.
2. Get the right thyroid tests including TSH, free T3, free T4, TPO, and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies.
3. Check for celiac disease with a celiac panel.
4. Consider heavy metal toxicity.
5. Check your vitamin D level.
Once you have confirmed that a sluggish thyroid is contributing to your symptoms, the good news is that there are many, many, many things you can do to help correct thyroid problems.

I have developed a seven-step plan to address hypothyroidism:
1. Treat the Underlying Causes -- Identify and treat the underlying causes of hypothyroidism, like food allergies, gluten, heavy metals, nutritional deficiencies, and stress.
2. Optimize Your Nutrition -- Support your thyroid with optimal nutrition, including foods that contain iodine, zinc, omega-3 fats, selenium, and more.
3. Minimize Stress -- Eliminate adrenal exhaustion and minimize stress by engaging in a comprehensive stress management program.
4. Exercise -- Engage in thyroid stimulating exercise, which boosts thyroid function.
5. Supplement -- Use supplements to help enhance thyroid function, including all the nutrients needed for proper thyroid metabolism and function.
6.Heat Therapy -- Use saunas and heat to eliminate stored toxins, which interfere with thyroid function.
7. Thyroid Hormones -- Use thyroid hormone replacement therapy to help support your thyroid gland.

I believe a comprehensive approach is needed to address chronic thyroid issues and to diagnose them. Unfortunately, most of the options for healing by conventional care are quite limited and only provide a partial solution. But by following my seven-step plan you can achieve lifelong vibrant health.

EGD - Update

My EGD was a breeze! No pain or even a scratchy throat after the procedure. But I am was so sleepy.

They told me to arrive at 7:00 AM, we were a tad late, got there at 7:10 AM. The procedure was supposed to start at 8:30 but it was closer to 10:00 AM. Man was that place busy! I mean people were in and out,in and out,the entire time. Any who, through the fog of anesthesia I think I heard the doctor say I was okay. Which is good and bad. Apparently, I am the only person on the planet who gets severe acid reflux for no apparent physical or dietary reason.

EGD - Esophagogastroduodenoscopy

Lucky me, in a few hours I get to have my first EGD!

EGD - Esophagogastroduodenoscopy

In medicine (gastroenterology), esophagogastroduodenoscopy is a diagnostic endoscopic procedure that visualizes the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract up to the duodenum. It is considered a minimally invasive procedure since it does not require an incision into one of the major body cavities and does not require any significant recovery after the procedure (unless sedation or anaesthesia has been used). A sore throat is also common.[1][2][3]

Indications

Diagnostic
• Unexplained anemia (usually along with a colonoscopy)
• Upper gastrointestinal bleeding as evidenced by hematemesis or melena
• Persistent dyspepsia in patients over the age of 40-45 years
• Heartburn and chronic acid reflux - this can lead to a precancerous lesion
called Barrett's esophagus
Persistent vomiting
• Dysphagia - difficulty in swallowing
• Odynophagia - painful swallowing

Surveillance
• Surveillance of Barrett's esophagus
• Surveillance of gastric ulcer or duodenal ulcer
• Occasionally after gastric surgery

Confirmation of diagnosis/biopsy
• Abnormal barium swallow or barium meal
• Confirmation of celiac disease (via biopsy)

Therapeutic
• Treatment (banding/sclerotherapy) of esophageal varices
• Injection therapy (e.g. epinephrine in bleeding lesions)
• Cutting off of larger pieces of tissue with a snare device (e.g. polyps, endoscopic mucosal resection)
• Application of cautery to tissues
• Removal of foreign bodies (e.g. food) that have been ingested
• Tamponade of bleeding esophageal varices with a balloon
• Application of photodynamic therapy for treatment of esophageal malignancies
• Endoscopic drainage of pancreatic pseudocyst
• Tightening the lower esophageal sphincter
• Dilating or stenting of stenosis or achalasia
• Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (feeding tube placement)
• Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) combines EGD with fluoroscopy
• Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) combines EGD with 5-12 MHz ultrasound imaging

Newer interventions
• Endoscopic trans-gastric laparoscopy
• Placement of gastric balloons in bariatric surgery

Procedure

The patient is kept NPO (Nil per os) or NBM (Nothing By Mouth) that is, told not to eat, for at least 4-6 hours before the procedure. Most patients tolerate the procedure with only topical anaesthesia of the oropharynx using lidocaine spray. However, some patients may need sedation and the very anxious/agitated patient may even need a general anaesthetic, such as midazolam. Informed consent is obtained before the procedure. The main risks are bleeding and perforation. The risk is increased when a biopsy or other intervention is performed.

The patient lies on his/her left side with the head resting comfortably on a pillow. A mouth-guard is placed between the teeth to prevent the patient from biting on the endoscope. The endoscope is then passed over the tongue and into the orpharynx. This is the most uncomfortable stage for the patient. Quick and gentle manipulation under vision guides the endoscope into the esophagus. The endoscope is gradually advanced down the esophagus making note of any pathology. Excessive insufflation of the stomach is avoided at this stage. The endoscope is quickly passed through the stomach and through the pylorus to examine the first and second parts of the duodenum. Once this has been completed, the endoscope is withdrawn into the stomach and a more thorough examination is performed including a J-maneuver. This involves retroflexing the tip of the scope so it resembles a 'J' shape in order to examine the fundus and gastroesophageal junction. Any additional procedures are performed at this stage. The air in the stomach is aspirated before removing the endoscope. Still photographs can be made during the procedure and later shown to the patient to help explain any findings.

In its most basic use, the endoscope is used to inspect the internal anatomy of the digestive tract. Often inspection alone is sufficient, but biopsy is a very valuable adjunct to endoscopy. Small biopsies can be made with a pincer (biopsy forceps) which is passed through the scope and allows sampling of 1 to 3 mm pieces of tissue under direct vision. The intestinal mucosa heals quickly from such biopsies.

Biopsy allows the pathologist to render an opinion on later histologic examination of the biopsy tissue with light microscopy and/or immunohistochemistry. Biopsied material can also be tested on urease to identify Helicobacter pylori.

My 2nd Sonohysterogram

Ladies, if you ever have to get a sonohysterogram, be forewarned...it HURTS!!!!

They told me to take 800 mgs. of ibuprofen an hour before the appointment. Not being a morning person of course I forgot to do this. So I had the procedure without any type of pain killer. How I drove home, I don't know, but I did. I then proceeded to try to nap the rest of the day. I say try, because mom kept waking me up for no good reason, the contractors were there to put down the new floor, and the A/C kept cutting off on a humid 85F day.

Oops! Almost forgot the most important part! I have another uterine fibroid which is why I had the 17 day period from hell. This one is much smaller, only 1cm, the doctor said. So I have to have another hysteroscopic myomectomy. They will call me later this week to schedule this surgery.