Larry's Lousy Luck

Friends tell me I should write a book, 'cause stuff just happens at our house.

You remember Larry, my oldest Stooge. About six weeks ago, he screwed up his left knee at work, dislocating his kneecap. Last week he broke his right foot. The left knee is still in bad shape and pretty sore now since he's having to use it as his good leg.

It ain't over for Larry, poor guy.

His right leg has been hurting a good deal after he broke his foot. His leg - his foot hurts, but not so bad as the leg. And yesterday we found out why.

Poor Larry has acquired three clots in his lower right leg, probably as a direct result of the broken metatarsal. A clot like this is a deep vein thrombosis, or DVT. This is BAD. And it hurts - and can be deadly without treatment. A clot like this can move to your heart or your brain.

Larry and I spent the day going from one doctor's office to another. We got the diagnosis about 1:30 pm after spending all morning at the orthopedist then the vascular MD. We were finally sent to the ER, thinking that Larry would be admitted for 2 days. Fortunately, this was not the case. Our very nice ER doctor (he was cute too!) got Larry some injectable blood thinners and Coumadin and sent him home. Larry's to take the blood thinners until his Coumadin levels get to the right point, then take the Coumadin for at least six months.

He should be OK after this. Thank heavens.

He's been through a lot, has our Larry. He's a good kid, not accident prone, generally cautious and responsible. (I practically lived at the ER with Curly.) So this has really thrown him for a loop, and he's been pretty down. The ER doc told him he can go back to school as soon as the Coumadin levels are right, which should be Tuesday. The thought of going back to his paramedic classes on Wednesday cheered him up a good deal.

Whew. I could use a break from the crap. Maybe I should write a book.

And while we were out and about, I tatted a bit. This bit is done in the new thread I got from Tat-ilicious, her Pink Sunset or Queen Anthias. The colors are much more vibrant than show here. A cell phone and green fluorescent lighting tend to mess with colors.

Please God, no more issues for a while, m'kay?

 

Unhappiness at Chez Crazy

Sometimes I wish I had a different life. One where I could catch a bit of a break. For at Chez Crazy, just when things seem to calm down, life smacks you around.

Case in point.

Larry, who oh so recently badly dislocated his left knee, has now rolled his right foot and broken a bone in it. To be precise, he fractured the 5th metatarsal, which is the outside long bone on his foot, the weight-bearing bone. His bad knee buckled when his right foot was on uneven paving, and his heard an audible snap when his foot rolled. and now it's in a cast. For weeks.

So - he's hardly able to get around, even with crutches. And our house is multi-story, with his bedroom in the basement. Larry's having a terrible time just getting up off the couch (I have to help him), so Thursday night I insisted that he move to our guest bedroom upstairs. It's across the hall from the bathroom, the bed is high and easier to get out of, and he can sit with his foot propped up in my office and watch TV or play on his laptop. I left him yesterday morning well supplied with food and drinks, so he was be ok.

But when I got home, he was STILL in the damn bed, wallowing in his misery, playing with his computer. He'd only gotten up to use the bathroom across the hall. And now he's talking about dropping out of his paramedic training. For the second time.

Son, that ain't happening.

Argh.

A bit of venting - DH has been virtually no help during any of this. He does not handle medical issues or stress well. It's all on me.

And now my mother is yelling at me to take better care of myself. That's nice, Mom - no time!

In other news, I am tatting. (To keep sane.) This is for a neighbor and church friend whose husband died. It's my favorite Mary Konior cross, in Lizbeth of course.

Mom's cat, Honey

I had a nice time last weekend in Charleston. I stayed with my sister and helped with the college graduation prep for my niece. (She liked the bracelet!) Mom brought her kitty and we all helped with a big party my sister had for the graduates.

The view at the back of my sister's home on James Island

The weather was splendid. My niece graduated with many honors and awards. She is going to do Teach For America someplace in the Mississippi Delta region, teaching high school English. You go, girl!

At home, the tiny turtle is thriving, eating lots of meal worms, snails, carrots, and green things.So cute!

Now I have to get a crow bar and roust Larry out of the bed. Pray for me.

 

Done with that

I got my second cataract surgery completed this morning. I'm glad that's over. No more driving with one eye closed!

In the space of about 2 weeks, I've had a major dental procedure (two dental implants) and two eye surgeries. Thankfully, all my procedures went remarkably well with no complications. Which is good, as dealing with this along with DH's illness has been pretty stressful. But how many folks do you know whose eyesight was changed overnight AND can show you the bright green screws imbedded in their mouths? Huh? Huh?!!

And for my next trick, I will turn into the bionic woman and shoot laser beams from my eyes.

What I will NOT do is drink this nasty chocolate wine (Now In Raspberry!) that Larry found. Isn't this disgusting? I made the smart choice and left it in the store.

I have been tatting, a little bit. It's hard when your eyes don't work together. I finished this cross, a Mary Konior one done in Lizbeth's Spring Garden.

And I made this little item, Mary's Butterfly, using HDT I got at Tat Days, thread by Shuttle Lab Trends. I put the butterfly on a pin - it's for a woman who was recently widowed. She loved butterflies and always wears a butterfly pin.

Since I've been spending some time at home, the kitties have been enjoying spending quality time with me. I'll look up from my computer (or a nap) and find them all around me. I love my kitties. They make me happy.

I was amused by this - the size of Cisco's paws compared to my large hands. He's a BIG kittie!

Now we must work on recovering, DH and I. I'm trying to rest and recuperate. And durn it, Thanksgiving is two weeks from tomorrow! The horror, the horror....

One down

My first cataract surgery went really well, piece of cake. (I just misspelled that as "sugary" - it wasn't quite that tasty.) My problem right now is the big vision difference between my eyes, and the fact I'm carrying around 2 pairs of glasses. One for the left eye, one for the right. Pick your poison.

The left eye sees distances really well, and the colors are nice and bright. I'm seeing distance at about 20/25 at the moment, which compared to my pre-cataract vision of 20/650, is pretty great. What's not so great is near vision. So blurry! I've found a cheap pair of reading glasses to get me through on that eye, at least for now. (Hurray for dollar stores!)

My right eye has been my dominate eye for a long time. Before I developed cataracts, its vision was 20/450. (That's without glasses. I've worn glasses since I was 8.) But that vision has gone downhill - I can take off glasses and see near things fine with that eye, but my vision is yellowed and now very blurry with my old glasses. (The reading glasses are useless for this eye at the moment.)

So... I have two eyes that don't work together. Sometimes I feel a bit drunk. And I'm driving with one eye closed, a lot. Heh.

But all should get better next Wednesday morning, when I get cataract surgery on the right eye. At least my vision will be roughly the same in both eyes at that point.

So far I haven't tried to tat anything, and I think I'm going to have to invest in one of those magnifying devices for the little stuff. But that will sort itself out. I can go to meeting and read presentations without glasses, so it's a huge improvement.

And now that I don't wear glasses for a lot of things, people know what color my eyes are (brown). And they can see I have big dark circles under those eyes.

In other news, we are still struggling at home with many issues. DH has been very ill and just started 4-6 weeks of out-patient therapy. We only have one car (he has a work vehicle, which he can't drive if he's not working), so we are sharing to get to work and therapy. (He's not drugged up, thank heavens.) Lots of juggling, lots of appointments, lots of money going out. This weekend we are concentrating on resting. DH and I are pretty exhausted, and the Stooges are all stressed too. But we are working together very hard and hope things will be better soon.

I leave you with a Vader pic. Larry likes funky toys and he pulled out a Transformer. Which he put on Vader.

Vader tolerated this for about 20 seconds, as you might imagine. (Gian - Sophie is in the upper left corner.) Then he was off.

Hope things are good at your place.

Wish me luck

My first cataract surgery is in the morning, for my left eye. I get the right one done next Wednesday. Hopefully, I'll only need reading glasses when both are done.

I should be able to see things like this amazing sunset even better. Gorgeous, isn't it?

Not in focus

I spent yesterday morning at the ophthalmologist getting tests run and things set up for my cataract surgeries. I'm scheduled for 11/2 (left) and 11/9 (right). The nice young doctor I saw was good and knew how to say the right things. "Now if you were my sister, I would recommend...." (I did the math - I graduated from college 21 years before him. I could be his mother. ) Anyhow, I'm probably getting a toric lens in my left eye, as it has a pretty significant astigmatism. That way I'll only need reading glasses. As I've been blind since forever (and am legally blind sans eyewear now), this will be a major improvement. Of course, the toric lens is an upgrade & is not covered by my insurance to the tune of $850. Donations are now being accepted.

During the exam I was asked to read the eye chart. Using my left eye, I couldn't read the top line with my glasses on. Pitiful, isn't it?

FYI - the first surgery is 10 days after I have to fork out $4800 for 2 dental implants. But it's either do both items, or be on the corner blind & gumming my food down, rattling coins in a cup.

I'm looking forward to having it OVER and being able to see well. My vision sucks big ones right now - I was a menace on the road driving in yesterday after I'd been dilated. Took me back to when I was in high school & my eyes sorta rejected my contacts & I'd lost my glasses. I walked or rode my bicycle to school, a menace on the road then. Ah, memories.

Shaking my cup while I still have coins to shake..... Toodles

Countdown to Tat Days

Tat Days starts on Friday, and I can't wait. For me, it's a kind of vacation, one where I can get away from work and family, hang out with girl friends and be silly, plus the bonus of being about a hobby I really enjoy. I really need this break!

In the mean time, I finished my Count To Four Necklace. It needs a clasp, but that's nothing. I'll wear it at Tat Days.

I'm not sure if the cats will miss me when I'm gone. I think so. When I woke up from a nap last Sunday, they were all lying in the bed with me. Aww, they love me.

Sometimes I wonder if Vader loves me. I was reaching to pet him, and he attacked. Other times he begs for petting, but not that moment. He looks WILD.

Cisco is so laid back that he appears not to care if I'm gone. But he rolls on his back when I come by begging for a pet, and he grabs at me when I stop, as if to say, "Hey - why'd you stop? A little more behind the ears. Who's important here?" I think he'll notice my absence.

Anyhow, I'm busying myself with making up kits folks have ordered for my classes, sending out Tat Days emails, and going to various doctor's appointments. Thursday I went to my internist and felt like a pincushion afterwards (I have awful veins), but at least I got a flu shot out of it. Friday I got a dental CT scan. (Did you know they can do those things? I didn't either.) This was in preparation for dental implants. Tomorrow I go see an ophthalmologist about scheduling my cataract surgery. I'm in a class this week at work, so I'll be buried every minute until Thursday, when I leave for north Georgia, and Tat Days.

I'm planning on blogging some while I'm there. The internet connection is a bit iffy, but it can be done.

Hope your week is good.....