Monday, February 26, 2007
Hello all,
My health is improving finally. It was a rough couple of weeks. On Wednesday I woke up with a headache and called my doctor to see if I could take a sinus headache pill. I was concerned about a conflict with the medications I was on for the Menieres (that's the vertigo thingy I was diagnosed with). Next thing ya know I'm back in the hospital for a CT scan. Fortunately all it came up with was a case of sinusitis. So now I'm on medication for that too. I am, however, now weaned off the other meds so I'm a little more alert than I have been. I'm phasing in going back to work.....mornings only and I get to go home and nap in the afternoon. My boss doesn't want me to come back to soon....he's a really good guy.
Alan and I have received our first quote on having all our windows replaced....OUCH! We've got a few more quotes to go. Hopefully, they come well under this one. They have to be done regardless. This last winter was quite rough on the old things....they won't last another one like that. We've also pulled apart Ellie's room to paint it. She's chosen a nice reddish brown.
Kids are all doing well. Rachel will start looking for an apartment this week. She's really looking forward to her own place. Because I was sick I wasn't able to take Adam to his information session at BCIT last Wednesday so we've re-booked it for March 21. He's really hoping a move to Vancouver this fall will all work out.
Alan's guitar that he's building is coming along beautifully. We'll post pictures when it's finished. I'll post pictures of my blanket box as well. Only two more classes and it will be done.
Well...bedtime. Night all
My health is improving finally. It was a rough couple of weeks. On Wednesday I woke up with a headache and called my doctor to see if I could take a sinus headache pill. I was concerned about a conflict with the medications I was on for the Menieres (that's the vertigo thingy I was diagnosed with). Next thing ya know I'm back in the hospital for a CT scan. Fortunately all it came up with was a case of sinusitis. So now I'm on medication for that too. I am, however, now weaned off the other meds so I'm a little more alert than I have been. I'm phasing in going back to work.....mornings only and I get to go home and nap in the afternoon. My boss doesn't want me to come back to soon....he's a really good guy.
Alan and I have received our first quote on having all our windows replaced....OUCH! We've got a few more quotes to go. Hopefully, they come well under this one. They have to be done regardless. This last winter was quite rough on the old things....they won't last another one like that. We've also pulled apart Ellie's room to paint it. She's chosen a nice reddish brown.
Kids are all doing well. Rachel will start looking for an apartment this week. She's really looking forward to her own place. Because I was sick I wasn't able to take Adam to his information session at BCIT last Wednesday so we've re-booked it for March 21. He's really hoping a move to Vancouver this fall will all work out.
Alan's guitar that he's building is coming along beautifully. We'll post pictures when it's finished. I'll post pictures of my blanket box as well. Only two more classes and it will be done.
Well...bedtime. Night all
Sunday, February 18, 2007
dizzy blonde
So for the last week and a half I'd been having intermittent dizzy spells lasting no more that 10 - 15 seconds. These would hit me shortly after I rose from a chair and began to walk somewhere. I began taking my iron pills again as I thought it might have been my anemia come back. It didn't help and after getting 3 or 4 dizzy spells one day I called and made an appointment with my family doctor. He said "vertigo", played around with my head trying to get a stray stone back in its rightful place and suggested I get some gravol if I was feeling nauseous. The next day I was fine...no spells at all. By Friday night I'm ralphing up dinner and a glass of very fine wine that Alan had bought for a minor celebration that I'll tell you about later. Serious dizzies now. Woke up Saturday morning fine...went to woodworking class and quickly went downhill. I went home and slid slowly into total non-functioning. Can't move, can't even open my eyes without extreme nausea and vomiting. Managed to get some gravol into me and feel asleep. At 6 am this morning, I got very scared and had Alan call my doctor. I couldn't focus my eyes on any one thing; they were flitting back and forth of their own volition. I start throwing up again...there goes the gravol I had just taken. Doctor suggests we get me to the hospital and an ambulance is called. I am proud to say I didn't vomit once on the way there but my world was spinning. As long as I stayed on my right side with my eyes closed I wasn't too bad. Diagnosis - viral vestibularitis. Basically, somethings gone wrong in my inner ear. They gave me an IV (fluids since I couldn't keep even sips of water down), a shot of gravol and an adavan (mild sedative). Within an hour I as able to sit up and speak intelligently. Obviously, I'm doing okay since I can sit here and write this. It's best described as "otherworldly". I'm just not all here. They gave Alan a prescription for Serc (betahistamine). It's supposed to help with vertigo. I'm to take it for regularly for 3 days and then try to wean myself off and take it only when needed.
I bet this sounds pretty familiar to Mom. I remember she had something very similar....probably around the same age that I am now.
Prognosis: It will resolve itself over the next week to a few weeks. All I can do is deal with the symptoms. No driving, no cycling (which is a major bummer since the weather is back sunny and beautiful). I'm to carry on as per normal leaving out the risky balancing type activities. Right now sitting in a chair appears to be risky for me. Enough of that...it will resolve itself over time. I'll cope.
So the celebratory wine was for a clear mammogram. At my last physical, Dr. Shoichet found a lump in my right breast. Probably a cyst he says and I cling to that for the week it takes to get me in for a diagnostic mammogram, ultrasound and possible biopsy. Went for the mammogram (Alan went with me). After the radiologist reveiwed the pictures he sent me home....I was fine. Whatever Dr. Shoichet felt was not there anymore. I think he burst it when palpating because I could certainly feel it and it hurt! Anyways, always a good wake up call to get those mammograms done on a timely basis, girls!
So we drank a glass of really nice wine and I barfed it up.....such a goomba.
Everybody else is fine...thank heavens.
I bet this sounds pretty familiar to Mom. I remember she had something very similar....probably around the same age that I am now.
Prognosis: It will resolve itself over the next week to a few weeks. All I can do is deal with the symptoms. No driving, no cycling (which is a major bummer since the weather is back sunny and beautiful). I'm to carry on as per normal leaving out the risky balancing type activities. Right now sitting in a chair appears to be risky for me. Enough of that...it will resolve itself over time. I'll cope.
So the celebratory wine was for a clear mammogram. At my last physical, Dr. Shoichet found a lump in my right breast. Probably a cyst he says and I cling to that for the week it takes to get me in for a diagnostic mammogram, ultrasound and possible biopsy. Went for the mammogram (Alan went with me). After the radiologist reveiwed the pictures he sent me home....I was fine. Whatever Dr. Shoichet felt was not there anymore. I think he burst it when palpating because I could certainly feel it and it hurt! Anyways, always a good wake up call to get those mammograms done on a timely basis, girls!
So we drank a glass of really nice wine and I barfed it up.....such a goomba.
Everybody else is fine...thank heavens.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Adam is 19
We took Adam out to dinner tonight, just Alan and I. Rachel and Saul (he's visiting for a few days) took him to the museum and an Imax show this afternoon. Sat night his buddies are taking him out and on Sunday....and when he's recovered I'm taking him shopping for a new watch.
His plans to go to BCIT are coming together. He and Jason (his friend who will be going to UBC) and I are going to Vancouver on the 21st to attend an info session on the computer programs. We'll also toodle around and check out some housing.
He's also agreed to get his drivers license before he moves to Vancouver. He's going to sign up for some private driving lessons to get him started. Now that he's past the year with his L (even though he didn't actually do much driving) he's eligible to go for his N anytime. He could have it by summer.
Rachel seems to be doing well. Really enjoyed her trip to Cornwall to visit her Nana and has settle into her job and school. She'll be needing to start looking for a new pad soon. Alan and I will go around with her to check things out. She wants to go solo but I'm not all that confident she'll have the cash flow for it. I'm going to do a little cash flow training with both the kids to help them understand what they can afford and what they can't.
I'm stunned that I could be an empty nester by the end of summer. I was ready for Rachel to take the next step in her life...wasn't thinking that Adam would be flying the coop so soon. Well, we'll see how it all works out....
Started my woodworking course on Saturday. We're making a blanket box. I will use it to keep my bike gear in order in my bedroom. It's made from knotty pine and a pretty simple design. I just finished a wooden pull toy at Roy's. It's called a stack-a-saurus. Its a brontosaurus on lots of wheels and it stacks up on itself.
see pictures. I'm planning on giving this to Andrew 
(Pat & Harv's little boy) (they're friends from work). I'm making a little pull dog next. That will be for Dacian who is Varinia and Calin's little guy born on Remembrance day. They're our Romanian friends. Also from work. Then I'll have to make something for their daughter, Ortanza. She's 4. I'll have to think of something she'd like. Maybe a dolly cradle or highchair. Well, I'm having much fun doing it. Eventually, I hope to be good enough to take on some furniture projects...like a coffee table.
Alan's guitar is coming along. He's got the body cut out and laminated with the front and back. The back is a reddish wood called padouk and the front is walnut. He's starting the neck now. Some of the electronics arrived in the mail today....he's very excited. We'll have to send some pictures of it.
His plans to go to BCIT are coming together. He and Jason (his friend who will be going to UBC) and I are going to Vancouver on the 21st to attend an info session on the computer programs. We'll also toodle around and check out some housing.
He's also agreed to get his drivers license before he moves to Vancouver. He's going to sign up for some private driving lessons to get him started. Now that he's past the year with his L (even though he didn't actually do much driving) he's eligible to go for his N anytime. He could have it by summer.
Rachel seems to be doing well. Really enjoyed her trip to Cornwall to visit her Nana and has settle into her job and school. She'll be needing to start looking for a new pad soon. Alan and I will go around with her to check things out. She wants to go solo but I'm not all that confident she'll have the cash flow for it. I'm going to do a little cash flow training with both the kids to help them understand what they can afford and what they can't.
I'm stunned that I could be an empty nester by the end of summer. I was ready for Rachel to take the next step in her life...wasn't thinking that Adam would be flying the coop so soon. Well, we'll see how it all works out....
Started my woodworking course on Saturday. We're making a blanket box. I will use it to keep my bike gear in order in my bedroom. It's made from knotty pine and a pretty simple design. I just finished a wooden pull toy at Roy's. It's called a stack-a-saurus. Its a brontosaurus on lots of wheels and it stacks up on itself.
see pictures. I'm planning on giving this to Andrew 
(Pat & Harv's little boy) (they're friends from work). I'm making a little pull dog next. That will be for Dacian who is Varinia and Calin's little guy born on Remembrance day. They're our Romanian friends. Also from work. Then I'll have to make something for their daughter, Ortanza. She's 4. I'll have to think of something she'd like. Maybe a dolly cradle or highchair. Well, I'm having much fun doing it. Eventually, I hope to be good enough to take on some furniture projects...like a coffee table.Alan's guitar is coming along. He's got the body cut out and laminated with the front and back. The back is a reddish wood called padouk and the front is walnut. He's starting the neck now. Some of the electronics arrived in the mail today....he's very excited. We'll have to send some pictures of it.
Anyways, that's all for now. Take care all.
Labels: Adam, Empty Nest, Woodworking
