Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!
Santa's been to my place and we must have been really good this year as he brought us some wonderful things!
From Christopher I have a BEAUTIFUL framed photo of the Saginaw Water Works building lit up for Christmas. Here's a link to I think the photo that was used for it - but this one has text on it saying what it is, when it was taken, and of course Chris' copyright on it: (LINK) It is absolutely stunning, and it's now hanging in my front hallway, along with the framed sketch Kerstin did of me last year when I visited. So now my entrance way is a gallery of my kids work. When my grandson gets here, his photo will be Terry's 'artistic' addition when I put a photo up of the baby. :-)
Kerstin made me a gorgeous make up bag that fits my diabetes glucose meter and supplies PERFECTLY. You can see it at: (LINK) - and it's waterproof, so my meter will stay safe if my antibacterial hand gel accidentally spills. Good thinking!
Terry and Jennifer sent a really pretty silver bracelet with a blue stone that was tucked inside the bag. I'm wearing it now!
From Terry, I have photos from his wedding and a CD with MORE photos that I can't wait to have a look at. :-)
Rod gave me a big box with a little stick of memory in it that says its a placeholder... because ... my prezzie from him (which I asked for) is a faster motherboard & CPU. The one we ordered only comes with 1 gig memory, so the stick I opened is a place holder for another 1 gig. I am going to really enjoy the new computer guts. It's a Gigabyte Intel 945 chipset Mother Board, plus an Intel Pentium Dual Core E2140(1.6Ghz X 2). Yes that's right, Drez, it's a DUAL CORE! Unfortunately it won't be here until Thursday, but meanwhile, we'll be enjoying Rod's gift that I've spent ages working on...
Santa brought Rod the full Married with Children complete box set including specials, which was cool, but I added to that a book that I compiled and edited: The Complete Guide to Married with Children. It includes cast bios, trivia, a list of DVD edits, and the episode guides that include notes, trivia, guest and recurring stars, plus listings of goofs. It literally is a book, and I might just make a PDF of it and add it to our online store. Oh, and thanks to all the work I put into it, I'm now a Married with Children expert! LOL.
I had two secret Santa's this year through Bookcrossing and both sent me the same book! One sent some butterfly stickers, Australian dried dragon fruit and some natural soap, and the other sent Bookcrossing post-it notes and bookmarks. I'm looking forward to reading the book, 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' as I read the authors first book, 'The Kite Runner' and really thought it was so well written. The other copy will naturally be bookcrossed - that's what bookcrossing is all about! :-)
We opened gifts in the office this year (since that's where the tree is) and I set the webcams to record movies. So once I edit them down, I'll put them online. I might wait until the new motherboard and CPU is here though - it'll make the job a LOT easier. :-) :-)
So our plans for the day now are to enjoy some prawns for lunch, do a few Instant scratchies, watch some Married with Children and then for tea tonight we have a lovely Turkey roll we're looking forward to.
I hope everyone enjoys their gifts from me, and a big thank you for sending me gifts - it's been really nice to share Christmas with you!! BIG HUGS, and lots of love!
25 December 2007
14 December 2007
Checking in
I've been 'unwell' for days now, and I'm so tired of it. Last Friday I saw my GP and he diagnosed bronchitis and changed my antibiotics from Keflex (which I still have about a months supply of) to Vibramycin (2 wks worth). He said to go back on the Keflex as soon as I finished the other antibiotics.
Thing is, the fevers I've been having (and accompanying high BGLs) are actually worse this week than they were last week. Amazingly, I can now seem to 'almost' function normally at 37 which I've never been able to in the past. But I've had 37.1 and 37.2 temps in the last few days too, and always seem to match with a high glucose reading. These are underarm temps, so I suppose a degree should be added. My baseline 'normal' underarm temp is 36.4. I ordered an ear thermometer one day this week. It'd be nice if it arrives tomorrow.
All my lovely low glucose readings and great averages have slipped away. I saw an add for a 'Glucoboy' which is a glucose meter for kids that will also play Nintendo Gameboy Advance games and has various incentives for regular checks and good readings. At the time I read the ad, I thought what a great idea. Now after days of high BGLs through no fault of anything I'm eating or doing, I'm not so sure withholding the ability to play certain levels is fair to kids who happen to be ill and have high readings. Otherwise, what an incredibly cool concept. Just my thoughts.
Was feeling OK enough on Sunday to take my walk. Monday I also went for my walk, but probably shouldn't have. On the bright side of that, I got my hair trimmed. Love those pensioner discounts. Last night was the computer club's annual Christmas dinner at the Flagstaff hotel. I was OK while there (napped in the afternoon beforehand), felt really rough in the car on way home. Had a fever spike.
We were out a little while tonight doing weekly shopping. We found a kettle that will boil water, and then keep at whatever temperature you set it for, so you can have perfect temp for being able to drink coffee or tea without waiting for it to cool down enough for it. We both are really happy with it.
Sunday I also uploaded the scans I've done recently to Flickr. The link is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/flitterg/
Thats about it for now. Just thought I'd do a check in.
Thing is, the fevers I've been having (and accompanying high BGLs) are actually worse this week than they were last week. Amazingly, I can now seem to 'almost' function normally at 37 which I've never been able to in the past. But I've had 37.1 and 37.2 temps in the last few days too, and always seem to match with a high glucose reading. These are underarm temps, so I suppose a degree should be added. My baseline 'normal' underarm temp is 36.4. I ordered an ear thermometer one day this week. It'd be nice if it arrives tomorrow.
All my lovely low glucose readings and great averages have slipped away. I saw an add for a 'Glucoboy' which is a glucose meter for kids that will also play Nintendo Gameboy Advance games and has various incentives for regular checks and good readings. At the time I read the ad, I thought what a great idea. Now after days of high BGLs through no fault of anything I'm eating or doing, I'm not so sure withholding the ability to play certain levels is fair to kids who happen to be ill and have high readings. Otherwise, what an incredibly cool concept. Just my thoughts.
Was feeling OK enough on Sunday to take my walk. Monday I also went for my walk, but probably shouldn't have. On the bright side of that, I got my hair trimmed. Love those pensioner discounts. Last night was the computer club's annual Christmas dinner at the Flagstaff hotel. I was OK while there (napped in the afternoon beforehand), felt really rough in the car on way home. Had a fever spike.
We were out a little while tonight doing weekly shopping. We found a kettle that will boil water, and then keep at whatever temperature you set it for, so you can have perfect temp for being able to drink coffee or tea without waiting for it to cool down enough for it. We both are really happy with it.
Sunday I also uploaded the scans I've done recently to Flickr. The link is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/flitterg/
Thats about it for now. Just thought I'd do a check in.
06 December 2007
Three Quarters of a Year
Three Quarters of a Year
Today marks 9 months since I had surgery for an abscess in my back, and I'm still recovering from it, with a hole in my side that tracks 11cm deep. I still have regular dressing changes, and my back is a hodge podge of scars and odd swellings. I can't believe it's been this long and although the opening where packing is inserted and measurements are taken is smaller, it's still there, and not showing much sign of going away anytime soon. The depth of the track is actually DEEPER now than it was after the original surgery, but the last time I saw the 'specialist' they weren't too particularly concerned about it. My GP on the other hand, has been quite concerned and has contacted the clinic at the hospital that I have to deal with, but didn't really get too far either.
Here's the situation...
I had breast cancer in 2001 and had a mastectomy on the right side. In August 2005, I had reconstructive surgery, moving muscle and other tissue from my back to my right side to re-create my right breast. It's not the best reconstructed breast I've seen, but I'm happy to no longer have to wear a bra and prosthesis. The end of February this year, my BGLs got really strange and I felt very ill for a couple of weeks. I'd seen the doctor, was on antibiotics, but just couldn't shake whatever it was. And then I developed cellulitis (a skin tissue infection) that tracked in the area of one of the major scars on my back. The entire right side of my middle back was swollen, very red, and very hot. Blood tests were ordered that confirmed that I was 'septic' (the infection had reached my blood stream and was systemic). I was sent to the ER and consequently seen by the department that did the reconstruction - the plastics team. They determined I had an abscess and immediately scheduled me for emergency surgery. The goal was to allow it to heal from the inside out, and that is still the goal, but now a large section of it is a cavity on its own and separated from the area the top portion that is the deep 11cm track that is dressed on a regular basis. This area swells and becomes quite 'full' and painful feeling. We think part of the swelling, fullness and pain is due to lymphedema -- my lymph nodes were removed from under my arm when I had the mastectomy so this system that removes lymph fluid from my right side doesn't work as well as a normal persons. As a visual description, imagine a regular ruler sitting above a dinner plate. The ruler is the 'hole' or track that goes from my side to my spine and is 11cm deep. The dinner plate is the area underneath that is a hole inside - a cavity that is just there, going nowhere, and certainly not going away.
Due to the swelling and the fact the other track actually became deeper than it had originally, my GP ordered an ultrasound, which showed that this cavity was 'detached' from the other track and inflammed. So my GP sent a fax off to the plastics treatment team at the hospital requesting that I be seen sooner than my scheduled appointment, which at that time was about 4 weeks away. In the interim, I had my regular yearly mammogram and appointment with the breast cancer center. I showed my breast surgeon my back and his first reaction was 'what the heck is THAT?' (it's not pretty). When I explained what it was from, he suggested I get in to see the plastics treatment team earlier than my scheduled appointment (now about 3 weeks away). So this was three professionals - my GP, my breast surgeon, and my visiting nurse - who all felt that I needed this area checked out. When I finally heard from the plastics treatment people, my new appointment was a whole week earlier than my scheduled one. The appointment turned out to be rather surreal. The doctor more or less sentenced me to life with this cavity with shrug of her shoulders. As to expectations, she said they have none as they already gave up all their guesses on how long this would take to heal. She thinks the main track will probably eventually heal and I'll just have the cavity left permanently and it will be susceptible to infection. And then she shrugged. She didn't even seem too concerned that the depth of the track is now deeper than it was start with. One of her comments was that that they couldn't do any further surgery on it because obviously I don't heal so further surgery isn't an option - basically there's nothing more that they can do for me.
That was in October. Here we are in December and I'm not even sure when my next appointment will be (it was to be 4 months and they will send me a card. In the mean time, my GP is trying to find out who can see me for another opinion. As I'm a 'public' patient in Australia, this gets a bit tricky. If I were a 'private' patient and had my own insurance, I would have lots of choices. As a public patient, I don't seem to have any choices really. My GP can't refer me to another hospital treatment centre as he would get in trouble for not following protocol. He has spoken to the head nurse of the plastics department and they didn't have any alternative suggestions and were less than helpful. His next step is to talk to my breast surgeon, and I haven't heard the results of that conversation, but based on his observations and suggestions in late September, I think he has the same problem as he would have to deal with the consequences of the politics of seeing me for this problem rather than letting the plastics department handle it. Personally, I've come to think that we need for me NOT to be seeing surgeons for advice if surgery isn't going to be an option.
For the last couple of weeks, I've been having some really good and really bad days. The good days I'm able to nearly have a normal life, do extra walking, take care of my house, keep up with stuff on the computer. On the bad days, it starts with a fever in the morning and high BGLs both of which are intermittent for the rest of the day, despite following the same routines and meals as I usually have for breakfast and lunch... so I know it's not what I'm eating that's causing the higher BGLs. I also feel tired and can't keep up with stuff, needing to nap in the afternoon and sometimes falling asleep watching TV or at the computer in the evening. As I'm already on antibiotics, I talked to my GP about the fever when it first started and he felt it might be a virus, and I should wait a few days and watch for any new symptoms, but if I start getting worse to come in and see him. Well I haven't really gotten better or worse. At any rate, I probably do need to get back and see him -- and find out if anything is to become of his talk with the breast surgeon.
So this blog entry marks approximately 270 days of this. Most of the time I cope quite well and have a good sense of humour, but there are times when I wonder what next? Especially on the days I'm running a fever and my BGLs are higher than normal... it just seems like there's something else waiting around the corner to ambush me, and it worries me. Yet I don't want to be the type who's continually looking behind me in fear either. ((sigh))
Thanks for listening.
Today marks 9 months since I had surgery for an abscess in my back, and I'm still recovering from it, with a hole in my side that tracks 11cm deep. I still have regular dressing changes, and my back is a hodge podge of scars and odd swellings. I can't believe it's been this long and although the opening where packing is inserted and measurements are taken is smaller, it's still there, and not showing much sign of going away anytime soon. The depth of the track is actually DEEPER now than it was after the original surgery, but the last time I saw the 'specialist' they weren't too particularly concerned about it. My GP on the other hand, has been quite concerned and has contacted the clinic at the hospital that I have to deal with, but didn't really get too far either.
Here's the situation...
I had breast cancer in 2001 and had a mastectomy on the right side. In August 2005, I had reconstructive surgery, moving muscle and other tissue from my back to my right side to re-create my right breast. It's not the best reconstructed breast I've seen, but I'm happy to no longer have to wear a bra and prosthesis. The end of February this year, my BGLs got really strange and I felt very ill for a couple of weeks. I'd seen the doctor, was on antibiotics, but just couldn't shake whatever it was. And then I developed cellulitis (a skin tissue infection) that tracked in the area of one of the major scars on my back. The entire right side of my middle back was swollen, very red, and very hot. Blood tests were ordered that confirmed that I was 'septic' (the infection had reached my blood stream and was systemic). I was sent to the ER and consequently seen by the department that did the reconstruction - the plastics team. They determined I had an abscess and immediately scheduled me for emergency surgery. The goal was to allow it to heal from the inside out, and that is still the goal, but now a large section of it is a cavity on its own and separated from the area the top portion that is the deep 11cm track that is dressed on a regular basis. This area swells and becomes quite 'full' and painful feeling. We think part of the swelling, fullness and pain is due to lymphedema -- my lymph nodes were removed from under my arm when I had the mastectomy so this system that removes lymph fluid from my right side doesn't work as well as a normal persons. As a visual description, imagine a regular ruler sitting above a dinner plate. The ruler is the 'hole' or track that goes from my side to my spine and is 11cm deep. The dinner plate is the area underneath that is a hole inside - a cavity that is just there, going nowhere, and certainly not going away.
Due to the swelling and the fact the other track actually became deeper than it had originally, my GP ordered an ultrasound, which showed that this cavity was 'detached' from the other track and inflammed. So my GP sent a fax off to the plastics treatment team at the hospital requesting that I be seen sooner than my scheduled appointment, which at that time was about 4 weeks away. In the interim, I had my regular yearly mammogram and appointment with the breast cancer center. I showed my breast surgeon my back and his first reaction was 'what the heck is THAT?' (it's not pretty). When I explained what it was from, he suggested I get in to see the plastics treatment team earlier than my scheduled appointment (now about 3 weeks away). So this was three professionals - my GP, my breast surgeon, and my visiting nurse - who all felt that I needed this area checked out. When I finally heard from the plastics treatment people, my new appointment was a whole week earlier than my scheduled one. The appointment turned out to be rather surreal. The doctor more or less sentenced me to life with this cavity with shrug of her shoulders. As to expectations, she said they have none as they already gave up all their guesses on how long this would take to heal. She thinks the main track will probably eventually heal and I'll just have the cavity left permanently and it will be susceptible to infection. And then she shrugged. She didn't even seem too concerned that the depth of the track is now deeper than it was start with. One of her comments was that that they couldn't do any further surgery on it because obviously I don't heal so further surgery isn't an option - basically there's nothing more that they can do for me.
That was in October. Here we are in December and I'm not even sure when my next appointment will be (it was to be 4 months and they will send me a card. In the mean time, my GP is trying to find out who can see me for another opinion. As I'm a 'public' patient in Australia, this gets a bit tricky. If I were a 'private' patient and had my own insurance, I would have lots of choices. As a public patient, I don't seem to have any choices really. My GP can't refer me to another hospital treatment centre as he would get in trouble for not following protocol. He has spoken to the head nurse of the plastics department and they didn't have any alternative suggestions and were less than helpful. His next step is to talk to my breast surgeon, and I haven't heard the results of that conversation, but based on his observations and suggestions in late September, I think he has the same problem as he would have to deal with the consequences of the politics of seeing me for this problem rather than letting the plastics department handle it. Personally, I've come to think that we need for me NOT to be seeing surgeons for advice if surgery isn't going to be an option.
For the last couple of weeks, I've been having some really good and really bad days. The good days I'm able to nearly have a normal life, do extra walking, take care of my house, keep up with stuff on the computer. On the bad days, it starts with a fever in the morning and high BGLs both of which are intermittent for the rest of the day, despite following the same routines and meals as I usually have for breakfast and lunch... so I know it's not what I'm eating that's causing the higher BGLs. I also feel tired and can't keep up with stuff, needing to nap in the afternoon and sometimes falling asleep watching TV or at the computer in the evening. As I'm already on antibiotics, I talked to my GP about the fever when it first started and he felt it might be a virus, and I should wait a few days and watch for any new symptoms, but if I start getting worse to come in and see him. Well I haven't really gotten better or worse. At any rate, I probably do need to get back and see him -- and find out if anything is to become of his talk with the breast surgeon.
So this blog entry marks approximately 270 days of this. Most of the time I cope quite well and have a good sense of humour, but there are times when I wonder what next? Especially on the days I'm running a fever and my BGLs are higher than normal... it just seems like there's something else waiting around the corner to ambush me, and it worries me. Yet I don't want to be the type who's continually looking behind me in fear either. ((sigh))
Thanks for listening.
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