Friday, August 10, 2012

The Scoop

I think it's time for a post with the latest scoop on things I've been blogging about over the past few weeks...

The Quilt
My daughter and I finally finished cutting all the fabric squares for her quilt last weekend and have been sewing and sewing.  It's coming along...just not as fast as we'd planned.  We've been busy this week with other stuff too.  But, I'm still hopeful that we'll finish it in time.  I'll be sure to post pictures.  I promise!

The Tufted Headboard
We've put this project on hold.  We priced out all the supplies this week.  It turns out that it'll cost a lot more than we'd expected...around $80!  Foam is expensive!  We're not sure how well it would turn out since we've never made anything like this.  We're thinking about it and trying to decide whether to chance it or see if we can come up with an alternative that's cheaper and just as cute.  We bought fabric for it last month but we got a deal...only $3 a yard.

Parking Ticket
Remember that parking ticket I whined about?  We had parked at the beach, in a parking lot and received a ticket that said we were in violation of parking in a red zone.  The curb was not red.  There were no signs that said we couldn't park there.  We were parked completely legally.  We even talked with other people there...even the lifeguards and they all agreed...we were innocent.  It was so wrong that they would give us a ticket, knowing that we hadn't done anything wrong.  Well, we fought it and WON!  Yay!  We're VERY happy about that.  They changed it to "officer error"!

Smog Test
All the error codes finally cleared on our car and it passed the smog test to renew the registration.  But, a couple days later the "check engine" light came on again.  Ugh!  I guess we'll have to take it to the dealer to have the computer "flashed" with the correct programming.  What a pain!  It runs just fine but this will have to be fixed before it needs another smog test in two years.

Post Op
I had my post op doctor appointment today.  I've been feeling great and the doctor was happy to hear that.  I was hoping to hear that the results of the biopsy showed absolutely nothing wrong.  But, that wasn't the case.  Luckily, it isn't the "C" word!  Whew!  It turns out that I have "Complex Hyperplasia without Atypia".  Say, what?!  I know...long words, huh?!  It means that my uterus is trying to be an over achiever...it has wayyyy too many cells.  It's what's causing the overly thick walls and wonky cycles.  It has a small chance of turning into cancer.  So, the doctor recommends progesterone therapy for 10 days per cycle, for six months.  It usually clears up the problem and it shouldn't come back.  She gave me three options for the hormones...the synthetic kind that insurance will cover (with a co-pay) but doesn't have a very good reputation for being safe; a bio-identical one that insurance might partially cover but it's suspended in peanut oil and absorbs so fast into the body that it causes unpleasant side affects; or a bio-identical one that is compounded, isn't covered by insurance but should only be $35-40 per month, and has the least amount of side affects.  Guess which one I picked!  The last one.  It makes the most sense and probably won't cost much more than my co-pay would have on the first choice.  Even though the cancer risk is minimal, it makes sense to eliminate the risk or, at least, reduce it.  I'm sure not looking forward to taking any hormones though and dealing with possible side affects.  Ugh!  I can only hope it'll be like my surgery was....dreaded but turn out to be painless and I'll feel great!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  I'll have to have a biopsy in six months to see if it worked.  But, it'll be a different procedure this time and can be done in the doctor's office.

Yarn Therapy
I know...I didn't talk about this before.  But, it was in my mind all along (and, some of you highly recommended it...wink wink) that I'd take myself to the yarn shop for a little yarn therapy and buy something pretty after my surgery stuff was over.  Well, it's not totally over but the surgery is and with the news of the biopsy and hormones, I needed it.  In fact, I just might need more therapy sessions over the next six months of added hormones!  ;-)  Right after my doctor appointment today, I stopped in at a wonderful yarn shop in Fallbrook, "Labors of Love".  I'll try to take some pictures of my new yarns (yes...I bought more than one skein...I bought three!) over the weekend and post them.

And, since I'm busy posting the latest...
I finally saw an orthopedic doctor a few months ago for severe pain that had developed in my left shoulder.  It had gotten so bad that it hurt terribly to put a shirt on over my head, put dishes away, even hold the steering wheel.  And, not just an ache kind of pain but really sharp....like close to a 10 on a 1-10 scale.  It was awful!  The doctor felt pretty strongly that physical therapy would help.  Luckily, it's been working pretty well...at least with my forward range of motion.  It has improved greatly.  But, I still can't raise my arm out to the side, above shoulder height.  Ugh!  I saw the doc again this week and had some x-rays to be sure there wasn't something wrong inside that was causing it to get stuck.  Luckily, it all looks pretty good.   The doc seemed pretty pleased with my progress and recommended more therapy...instead of shots or surgery.  Yay!  I've been working hard and pushing into the pain to get results.  I hope it'll take me all the way back to a normal and pain free range of motion.

That's the latest scoop on what's going on around here.  Maybe I should pour a glass of wine and celebrate all the good news....and, ease my mind about the upcoming hormones.  ;-)

Have a wonderful weekend!  And, stay cool!  We've been in triple digit temps all week...hoping for a cool down very soon!

4 comments:

judith said...

Congratulations on all the good news! Hey try juicing to help with the hormones... I know it may sound crazy but it really is the cure for everything that ails you. And acupuncture for the shoulder pain. Acupuncture's main use is for chronic pain, anywhere in the body.

roxie said...

The quilt will suddenly come together in an almost magical way. It takes forever to sew the little squares together, and then, abracadabra, they're big squares, and then, hey presto! It's a quilt top!

I found that if I took a twenty minute walk before my physical therapy for the shoulder pain, it warmed the area painlessly, and I got much better results.

Female troubles: For ten years I had periods that lasted 28 days. I finally had a hysterectomy and life was SO much better!

Yarn therapy: The best thing for you! Enjoy, enjoy! Until you're stuffing skeins of yarn behind the canned beans, you don't have too much yarn.

The tufted headboard: Keep it simmering in the back of your mind. You're a creative, inventive woman and something will come up. Garage sale, Goodwill, who knows?

Sandra said...

I would have chosen the same med option - luckily the cost isn't prohibitive, and it sounds like the outcomes are SOOO much better.
And yarn therapy is ALWAYS a good thing!

Benita said...

Great news all around. I am so glad it wasn't the "c" word as you called it. And congrats for beating the crooked cops - that was very wrong of them. I'm glad you challenged them on it.