New Look 6000 view C in progress, and food & flowers

OH, it's got a ways to go, but here's New Look view C now in progress.


Here's the pattern envelope:


I first saw this pattern at the American Sewing Expo last year, during the Simplicity Fashion Show.  So yes, I saw the actual red dress on the envelope, walking down the runway!!  Ok, maybe that wasn't worthy of two exclamation points, but it was pretty fun, especially as New Look/Simplicity and I are BFFs.  Then I saw Shannon from MushyWear make it, and then Kristy from Lower Your Presser Foot made it and said it's swayback friendly--NO swayback adjustment needed.  Woo-hoo!!

I put in my second invisible zipper ever, not too bad.  However, somehow this one is making like a hump on my upper back.  I'm hoping when I put in sleeves, it might mitigate some of that.  But here you can also see the lovely pleat/tucks/whatever you want to call them.

The back so far--the hem is haphazardly pinned up


Here's a closer view of the collar.  I haven't put the collar facings in yet.


The fabric has been fermenting in my stash; it's from Joann's and is synthetic and has stretch WITH the grain, and sort of looks like denim.
Here's what it looked like as a 14:


A bit too big. I sewed it down to what I think is a 12, which is all the other pix in this post, which is probably too tight in the hip. I'm probably going to grade it out to a 14 at the hips and downward.

What it needs:

• sleeves
• sleeve cuffs
• neck facings
• buttons
• hem
• fit fixed hip downward
• somehow fix that weirdy hump on my back?
• open up the back vent
• hook and eye half way up collar in the back

Here's some food I made Monday night!  Lemon chicken orzo again

Summer vegetable soup.  It looks weird (to me) but it tastes great!  It has fresh corn, chicken, onion, tomatoes, zucchini, red pepper and milk in chicken stock.  It's from The Food You Crave.

Are you craving it?

Oh, I already got guacamole on my new Vogue 1247 but it came right out in the wash today.    The fabric washed up beautifully.

Here are some gladiolas from the Princeton Farmer's Market:




I'm feeling pretty good. Numbness/weird feeling comes and goes. It was on the right side briefly Thurs night this week but switched back to left side. I don't know what's up with that but I'm able to do everything I want to do even if it feels weird. Back pain has been 0 many days or just slight discomfort. YEAH!

Hope you are all healthy-healthy-healthy! Be well!

My beautiful brain

Princeton Farmer's Mkt flowers today

This morning the neurologist looked at my brain MRI images.  He was really excited by how clear the images are; he said the magnet at the hospital is stronger than other facilities and the images are so clear.   He said my brain is beautiful, look at the folds in my cerebellum! (My favorite flower farmer joked, "I bet he says that to all  women").  So, no MS.  The evoked potential tests were fine (look at those beautiful lines!) and so was my bloodwork (no lymes, and some other diseases were negative, and no diabetes).  I got copies of all those reports.

I told him about my angst for the evoked potential tests.  He said the tech who I didn't like for the evoked tests no longer works there.  I told him about how I hated that test and how the tech wasn't really training the other person named Jill, the tension between them, how I thought I was going to start sobbing, etc, and he said, "Oh, so you were that patient!  Jill told me about that."  Then he said that tech was a bit of a nervous nelly, and I was thinking, he was a bit of a jerk.  He said they might have been too generous with the amount of time they let him stay on the job.

He ordered an EEG of my brain, which I had this morning with a tech who was very nice, and an ultrasound of my neck (carotid artery), which will be in his office next week.  With the EEG, the tech said the test was technically perfect but the doctor will tell me the results.  Well, techs aren't supposed to talk about results. 

The neurologist said since things are getting better, come back in 4 weeks.   His first available is 7:45am in 4.5 weeks.  He didn't talk about the spinal tap or further MRIs at all.  He asked if I'm stressed, anxious, depressed, and I said I have been freaked out, stressed and depressed about this whole thing....that when I feel the weird feeling, I wonder if I'm heading toward life in a wheelchair.  He said he doesn't think so!  He said it could be stress related but let's see how it goes this next month.  He said if it's still getting better in a month, then that would be the end of me seeing him.  If it's not, then he might order more tests or medication.  He didn't mention the spinal tap or more MRIs at all.  He said he would send a letter to my PCP to let him know my brain is normal.

Last night Len asked me if I'm getting better.  I said yes.  He said, is it yes or is it wishful thinking?  I said, it's really yes.  A month ago I felt like I was going to pass out quite a lot because I was so lightheaded, I couldn't go to the gym, and the numbness was much worse.  Now I can go to the gym, I push through the weird feeling, I don't feel like I'm going to pass out.

So, let's see what another month does!  :)  And on Saturday I'm going to see an Ayurvedic practitioner.   I'm very interested in seeing what happens with that!

I have a 4 day weekend.  Yeah!  I wish y'all a flood-free weekend with this hurricane coming.  And the earthquake was the other bit of excitement around here on Tuesday.  I felt it at work in my 4th floor office--did you???

All sorts of good news including a rescued wadder!

I got my bloodwork and brain MRI results by calling the doctor's assistant 7 times yesterday morning til she picked up the phone. I don't have Lymes disease and my brain MRI was normal (so no MS, brain tumors, or a host of other things)! So I don't know what is causing my numbness/lightheadedness but it is intermittent and not as bad as when it first started a month ago. I see the neurologist on the 25th. He said based on these results he might order more MRIs or a spinal tap.

I had the pelvic ultrasound yesterday which didn't show any real issues except a less than one centimeter fibroid.  So my ab pain is still a mystery--it's either my pelvic kidney or a muscle issue or ???

Thank you for all of your comments on the Butterick 5559 dress! I wore it to work today and got lots of nice comments. The boat neck is a little wide; it might need some bra strap holders.

You might recall the problems I had with Burda 7696, and I couldn't wear it because the torso is too long.  Here's what it looked like on me (and then the following weekend I redid it from scratch and shortened the torso).


I showed it to my coworker Marsha, also a sewist, who was able to make it work by adjusting the sash, hemming it, and adding the buckle!  She is taller than me so the torso length was fine.
Here she is in the dress. LOVE the buckle.

She treated me to lunch, super super nice!  Thanks Marsha for lunch and for rescuing one of my wadders!

Buddy has taken over my house, and my sleep.  I hate being sleep deprived!  But he is fun to have around. 


Be well and good night!

What it's like to have a brain MRI

I had a lumbar spine MRI in May 2009, which I wrote about here.

On Wednesday, I had a brain MRI with contrast to see what's going on with my brain, because of my intermittent numbness.  The two MRIs were a little different.

I still don't know the results.  I still don't know the results of my bloodwork from 2 weeks ago; the doctor's office has not received them.  I left a voicemail with the doctor's assistant on Friday asking about it and asking her to call me back; no response (she told me on Tuesday they still didn't have the results).  I'll try again Monday.

Ok,  so for the brain MRI.  First I checked in and filled out some paperwork in the waiting room.  I saw a nurse that takes some of the same gym classes I take and said hello to her.  I thought it would be great if she was my tech but she wasn't.  But the tech I got was totally nice and friendly and the polar opposite of the tech from the evoked potential tests.  Yeah!    She came right up to me and said my name.  As we walked back I asked her how she knew who I was, and she said when you check in, the clerk puts a description of what you're wearing on the form.  Hrm.

Since this MRI was with contrast, they put in an IV first.  I had to wait awhile for the person ahead of me to finish up his MRI. I don't know what was going on with him, but it sounded like he was having some difficulty, with lots of cheerleading on the part of his tech, and a "what did you react to?  let's get you to a nurse" afterward.

Then it was my turn.  I had to lie down on a table, shimmy up til my shoulders touched this piece of plastic.  The tech put earplugs in my ears and then some padding around that.    She then put a cage/mask type thing over my face.  I wasn't expecting that.  It snaps into place.  I'm not really claustrophobic, but I could see that being a problem if you are.  She asked if I wanted a blanket; I said yes.  The table moved me into the machine.  Unlike my lumbar MRI, I could not see down my body; I could only look up, through the cage and to the top of the MRI machine.    The tech told me how long each scan would last (3 minutes, 2 minutes, this is the longest one at 5 and a half minutes, etc).    Then she took me out of the machine, the other tech injected me with the contrast dye, and I was moved back into the machine for some more scans.

I did my meditation breathing, one that I learned from Whole Living (breathe in and think the word "strong", breathe out and think the word "calm").   A friend of mine asked me to figure out if she should go on a work trip or not; I thought about that.   At one point I felt headachy.   I occasionally moved my feet or hands.  My shoulders were definitely tense.  The MRI machine wasn't as loud as I remember it from 2009, though this was a different facility and a different type of MRI.


Then it was over.  I had asked the tech how long it would take.  I think she said 15 minutes without contrast and 12 minutes with (or was it 20 and 15?)?   But it seemed to be faster than that?  The table moved, the tech took out the IV and put on some gauze and a very funky red bandage, and told me to wait while they printed the films.  I was wearing long pants, socks, shoes, and a short sleeved t-shirt (the same shirt I wore for my lumbar MRI--it's got a squirrel on the front, one of my favorite gym shirts).    I felt really cold and then I started shivering.  I don't remember the last time I shivered, but the tech got me a warm blanket (it really was warm, like it had been in a dryer) and I sat there.  A guy in blue scrubs (radiologist?) showed up with the films and asked if I was ok.  I said, I'm always cold but I'm shivering.  He asked if I wanted to see a nurse.  Nope!  He showed me the way out and I was back in the Princeton warmth.


I then drove over to the Princeton Farmer's Market and told my favorite flower farmer my story (he asked if I had today off since I was, well, wearing a squirrel shirt).  I think he got more than he bargained for as I dumped my medical history on him (back/ab/pelvic kidney/shoulder/numbness).  He is so sweet, he actually gave me green and black eyed susans for free.  How nice was that?  



Then I went back to work where I showed some of my coworkers my brain.


So the parts that are super white on the top, that's just the halogen lightbulbs from my dining room lamp.  because I don't have, you know, one of those lightboxes to light up the images.  They gave me a file folder with several pages of images.

Here's my pumpkin plant.  It is running out of space and growing up the side of the evergreen.  It has some fungus growing on the older leaves, and is still not producing female flowers (ok, Pam asked how I know if the flowers are male or female; this site explains (warning, it has a talking advertisement)!  Anyway, I had no idea about pumpkins and female flowers, but I'm getting worried that mine won't produce any female flowers...)



Then I just thought this was funny.  The other roomba charger is downstairs so one of my Hals is waiting in line!



So....
knees are great
back pain has been light except for Sunday/Monday
ab pain comes and goes but overall is fine (pelvic ultrasound is on Monday afternoon)
shoulder is getting better, slowly
numbness and lightheadedness is intermittent.  When I do have it, it's not a intense as before.

Sewing:  I will be doing some soon.  I think.  :)

Be well!!!

Stupid tests and Simplicity 2594 emerges from the magic closet

Stupid, stupid tests.  I had the "evoked potential" tests yesterday, as ordered by the neurologist. On the surface, they seem like pretty simplistic tests to take. Sit there with some electrodes attached to your skull and chill out. But you're not allowed to move OR tense up. Um, hello, how are type A personalities with chronic pain issues related to chronic muscle tension supposed to take this test? For two of the tests in particular, the tech said if I tensed up or moved, he would have to start the test all over again. So I did horribly at that. He moved on to another test and then back to that one at the end.

Test 1: stare at a block on the center of a tv screen, one eye at a time, while all these black and white squares dance around it.  It looked like a video game circa 1982. They used gauze to cover my eyes one eye at a time. Well, when it was time for the right eye to stare at the screen, the gauze over my left started sliding down my left cheek. But I wasn't supposed to move or talk. I felt like I was concentrating more on the gauze moving down my face. By the end, I had some peripheral vision in my left eye. I wish I had said something. But I'll tell the doc.

Test 2: Put on some earphones and listen to clicking sounds. This is the test where he kept saying I was moving or tensing but he didn't know where.

Test 3: The tech put some device on my wrists that made my fingers move. But I wasn't allowed to move anything else or tense up. I'm thinking, how am I going to get through these tests? I channeled the energy of the most competitive person I know, thinking that if it were her, she would be able to be perfectly, utterly still and not tensed. After that I got through test 3, then went back to test 2, and got through that.

I don't even know what those tests were for.

At the checkout desk, I asked if my bloodwork is back ("no") and how it's going getting the authorization number from the insurance company for the MRI ("hrm, your file hasn't moved out of dictation, but once it has moved on, then the person who calls the insurance company gets it and will make the call").

The waiting room was more full this time, and I had to wait and see people sitting there with their big folders full of old fashioned films and looking glum, terrified, and/or bored.

I felt like, I don't belong here, this is not my path, why couldn't we wait to get the bloodwork results back before doing these tests, I don't like this tech, I don't like the tension between the tech and the person he is training, I am ready to get off this treadmill of doctors and nurses and techs and tests.

I went to the car and FINALLY had the BIG CRY. I have been waiting for the big cry to happen for a while now.  and then I went to Whole Foods and bought cookies.  You know, the double chocolate chip ones that are $1 each.  SO GOOD.

Last night I saw my chiro. He said my periods of numbness could be neurological, but it could be musculoskeletal. It could be that I'm having pockets of hypoglycemia when I'm lightheaded. He thinks I'm wound up right now which only makes it worse. Hyperventilating would also cause numbness. He did his active release technique on muscles and nerves that go into my skull and down my arm and leg. So my plan is to start an enhanced stretching routine, sleep more, eat even better than I'm eating already, not read any medical website, and chill out.

OH, and today was the first day I wore Simplicity 2594. Mary Nanna has talked about her Magic Closet where garments she doesn't like go to ferment and emerge better-liked after a period of time. I made S2594 TWO YEARS ago and finally wore it today. Here's how I styled it, with this very cool glitter belt from a Princeton consignment shop clearance rack for $4.



and here's the back:


I last talked about it here on my blog, and also pattern reviewed it.

I remember, it was such a struggle to make this shirt; that yoke was horrible to sew. But I loved wearing it today with the belt!

Pete sent me this very cool get well card today; I just love it! (also love how random sewing fluff is in the picture):


Thanks for listening to me yammer on about my health issues.  I've decided too that I'm healthy, I'm healthier than I think I am, and there's nothing wrong with me.

Be well and good night!

this week in health

Pumpkin plant in back yard with male flower...still waiting for female flowers to bloom!!

Thanks for your comments on the Burda rufflicious dress.  I wore it to work on Tuesday; the ruffle was a big hit.  It definitely needs bra strap holders, though.  The weight of the ruffle pulls the dress to the left, exposing the right bra strap.   

No sewing this weekend as I did chores yesterday and went to a 6 hour silent meditation retreat today.  The program I am doing is Jon Kabat-Zinn's Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, though I'm taking the class in Princeton, not Massachusetts.  It's an 8 week program.   I have two more classes to go.  It's a great class and have found it helpful for dealing with my chronic pain, though today my back was screaming through the class.  Often the meditation reduces my back pain but not today!

So last Sunday night my left cheek started feeling numb, like I gone to the dentist and had novacaine.  Such a weird feeling, which lasted through early Wed morning.   Plus my arm was numb on and off, and my lightheadedness continued much of the week.   I called my PCP Monday morning who was able to get my appt with a neurologist moved up from Aug 16 to Wednesday afternoon.   The neurologist asked me how I was doing, and I said, "I'm a little freaked out" and he replied, "awwww...".  He also looks like a grandfatherly teddy bear with a white beard and white hair. He may be the most calm doctor I've ever been to, and his office was efficiently run.  My appt was for 12:30 and, get this, he actually came into the room at 12:30!!!

He did some of the same tests as my PCP and some new ones (Hold your hands out, palms up, eyes closed, and drew numbers on my hands, what were they?)   He ordered an MRI of my brain with contrast to rule out MS, bloodwork for things like vitamin E and lymes disease, and 3 evoked potential tests.  I had the blood drawn Friday (results??? but wow I was lightheaded for that test, and the phlebotomist had trouble drawing blood and now I'm bruised there--first time that's ever happened) and will have the evoked potential tests Tuesday afternoon.  I'm waiting to hear back from their office with the authorization code from my insurance company so that I can then schedule the MRI.    He said depending on the test results I might have to have other MRIs or a spinal tap.  Eek on the spinal tap.  Let's avoid that at all costs shall we??  I don't see him again til Aug 25, his first available, to discuss results. 

Yesterday I felt the best I have in two weeks!  No numbness nor lightheadedness.

As for my abdominal pain, I saw my gyno for the annual exam on Monday.  He says my pain is too high for it to be related to my reproductive organs but he could order a pelvic ultrasound if I wanted.  I said yes, so I'm to call on the first day of my period and get the u/s scheduled for about a week later.  He thinks my pain is either muscular or that I'm really sensitive to my pelvic kidney.

I never heard back from the surgeon about my CT results.  Well, she had said if the CT was clean to see my gyno for a pelvic u/s or go to a gastroenterologist for a scope.  I'm thinking of letting that go for awhile since my CT was clean as noted in this post (though the gyno noted that the CT scan results didn't mention the uterus or ovaries and that normally they do).  Anyway,  I haven't had bad ab pain since the day I wrote my frustration post.

So yesterday I slept in and took a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.  Subsequently I was wide awake at midnight, after watching, ahem, Say Yes to the Dress Bridesmaids edition and some other drivel.  I probably didn't fall asleep til 1am.  I'm trying not to lie down til bedtime tonight otherwise I will have a gigantic nap...

Princeton Farmer's Market flowers for this week, my happy, happy black and green eyed susans (with some flowers left over from the week before).



Be well and good night!

The CT scan results

Hello lovelies! Again, thank you for all your warm wishes.  I really, really needed them.  And for the doctors and nurses who read this blog (KID MD and Vanessa) I am totally interested in your opinion!  Don't hesitate to let me know.  :)

My brain is on overdrive. I took two, 2-hour naps this afternoon. The first one woke me up because I had a dream (nightmare) where I couldn't see anymore. Ugh. My brain really needs to take a holiday...

Ok, so here are some results! My bloodwork is normal. I don't know exactly all the things that were tested (vitamin B12 and thyroid were among them), and I asked for a copy of the results, but sometimes they don't send them. I will keep after them with these results since I will need them for the neurologist.

Anonymous asked if I take a lot of vitamins because it seems like I am mainly vegetarian, and too much of some B vitamins can lead to neuropathy, just like too little B12 can lead to it too.  The answer is I take a basic one-a-day multivitamin, Fisol fish oil capsules (they are small and easy to swallow) and vitamin D.  I had fallen off the wagon taking the supplements but am back on that wagon. 

I never heard back from the surgeon about the CT scan results. I went to the imaging facility on Friday evening to pick up the CT images (for my burgeoning 'greatest hits' collection) and the receptionist said, "oh, they didn't include a copy of the report. Let me print one for you now." JACKPOT! So here you go. Basically it says I have a normal abdominal exam and a right pelvic kidney. NOTHING about a hernia!


So last Monday when I saw the surgeon, she said that if the CT scan is clean, she would refer me to a gastroenterologist for a scope. She also asked about the last time I saw my gyno; that will be on Monday and I will bring all reports and ask him if he has any ideas about my pain.

Here's the ultrasound report for my kidneys and bladder from 6/14/11, with the comments from the urologist (I have blurred the radiologist's name):




As for the numbness, it is back on and off, and I feel lightheaded quite frequently. My mom found a member of her family with MS; we are genetically linked through my great-grandfather. However it's also plenty hot out and I never do well in hot hot hot weather (though I am inside in a/c like 99% of the time these past few days). Here's the car thermometer yesterday at 5:30 or so pm:



Weather.com also has had "air quality alerts" for probably 2 months now and maybe that has something to do with it too. Perhaps not freaking out about my health would help as well, and going out and having some FUN would help too. Two neighbors have said I should relax and not do so much (one suggested that I stop reading pain books), and my boss has said I can take some personal days. I am really appreciative of my boss because he does not make me feel guilty for taking so much time away from work for so many doctor appointments.

My only appts for this week are the gyno (monday) and massage therapy (thursday). I need to cook. and tidy up some more. and do laundry.

Here's some flowers from my neighbor's garden, that he gave me on CT scan day (so nice!):


Princeton Farmer's mkt flowers on my desk at work Friday morning:


My poor orchids; maybe they are just going through their lifecycle. The left is my white orchid (no blooms) and the right is my purple orchid (just two blooms):


Of course the day the purple one  had 14 blooms on it I didn't have my camera, and then the old blooms started falling off.


Here is my largest pumpkin plant. I learned about pumpkin plant fertilization from this web site but the plant still doesn't have female flowers (and it's been two weeks since the first male flowers appeared on the scene--male flowers are blooming almost daily):


I rediscovered this paper mousepad yesterday.    My new pain tracker?  Lol.


Be well and good night!!

What it's like to have a CT scan

Hrm, 5:15am and I'm wide awake!  So what better time to write about yesterday? Again you guys are the BEST and I appreciate all your warm comments and support.

I had the CT scan yesterday.  Thank you for the comments on what the CT scan is like.  First, no breakfast.  I had to drink the special drink and also had the IV injection.  The drink tasted fruity, and was the consistency of a milkshake so I pretended at various points like it was a chocolate milkshake.  Or that I was a reality game show contestant.  It did feel like the drink was regenerating itself in the cup at times, lol.  I was at work drinking the drink, and I was glad to be there doing my job instead of at home worrying about my health.

Then it was time for the test itself. The tech sort of interrogated me. I felt like if the doc ordered the test, that should be enough, but she asked a lot of questions, trying to understand why I was having the test, I guess. One of her questions was "why do you have a pelvic kidney" which I felt was like asking "why do you have brown hair?" and I said it's congenital and then she explained she thought I might have been a transplant recipient as that's where transplanted kidneys are placed? Not me. Like I wrote in last night's post, if I was on my toes I would have quoted Lady Gaga and said "baby, I was born this way".  She says a pelvic kidney can not be felt, so now it's 2-2 in that game, with the surgeon and chiro feeling the kidney and the CT tech and urologist saying it can't be felt. I pulled out my old analogy "maybe it's like when you make your bed and you leave your socks under the covers. there's a lump there because the socks are pushing up the covers" and she said that is possible they are feeling the displacement since the kidney would be pushing up the intestines, because my kidney is behind the intestines. Or that what the others is feeling is just abdominal fat.

She said the test would determine for sure if I have a hernia. At the end of the test she talked a lot about the orientation of my kidney being horizontal instead of vertical (interesting, since the ultrasound from 6/14 said it was "slightly malrotated".) This makes me think maybe the kidney is moving around? Is that even possible?  I was in some pain in that area during the CT test whereas I was in no pain at all on 6/14 in that area.

She said she thinks maybe it's something gastrointestinal, have I been scoped?  No. So then I asked if she saw a hernia and she said she doesn't read the images (I know, they're not supposed to say anything but since she was talking about the orientation of my kidney and talking gastrointestinal I thought I'd give it a shot) but she said she didn't see anything "big".


So the test itself was removing my bra (she let me keep my shirt on, and I was wearing gym pants (no metal) and socks, though she wouldn't let me keep my cardigan on) and lying on a table. then she put the IV in and left the room. Unlike an MRI where the table slides into a narrow tube and is very loud, the CT is very "out in the open" and the machine looks like a donut on its side, like Vanessa said. The first few images are taken without IV contrast. Then she comes back in and starts the dye injection. she said I would feel warm and like I peed my pants, and that I might taste a metallic taste in my mouth. Oh yes she was right about the warm feeling spreading through my body and the sensation like I peed my pants. No metallic taste though my mouth felt weird esp the tip of my tongue, but all of those feelings went away probably in a minute. Then there were more images taken.

During the image taking process, this computer generated voice said "breathe in and hold your breath" and then the table moved and then the computer voice said "breathe".  At one point the tech checked in with me over the intercom.  I kept my eyes closed for much of the test though there was no real reason to.  it's definitely easier than a MRI, though for the MRI I had (which was 2 years ago for my lumbar back pain) there wasn't anything for me to drink beforehand and I wasn't injected with contrast dye.

The tech told me to not get too many CT scans and that the radiation accumulates over time, like sun damage.

I was out of there in half an hour and back at work afterward.   I took a training course in the afternoon and thankfully did not get the runs from the special drink.  If you really want to know I was gassy but that was it.  I asked the tech about the runs and she said it wouldn't happen with this drink.

Then last night I had the appt with my chiro for my shoulder and of course we talked about the CT scan, my kidney, and my numbness.   He said he really doesn't think I have MS or a mini-stroke; he said why would your PCP tell you those things and get you all worked up?  He said anything is a possibility but there's no need to freak out at this point.  I told him about my granddad's mini stroke at 42 and he said, "Let me guess: was he a smoker?  and a drinker?"   I don't smoke or drink.  He also doesn't think I have vitamin deficiencies.  He said a B12 deficiency presents itself like in all toes or all fingers, not one sided like my numb/weird feeling..   He thinks it's musculosketal, like nerve impingement (which was a possibility my PCP mentioned too) though my muscles were not too tight in many areas.  and then when I told him I was outside most of Saturday at a party and didn't turn the a/c on til my weird feeling Sunday night (it was pretty hot this weekend), he said "stop.  don't tell me  anymore".   My chiro is definitely my best doctor and knows me the best.  My dad said it sounds like he is more like an "old fashioned" doctor of years ago.  Before all my back pain I used to think chiros were quacks but this one is not!  He does active release technique which I have found to be incredibly helpful for my knee and back pain.

Then last night I talked with my neighbors for a couple of hours, wrote a quick post, and went to sleep around 11:15.  I woke up at 12:30 and then at 5am.

My back pain has been super light lately and even non-existent for several hours.  The meditation is helping that.
My knee pain only happens occasionally with transitioning and is very light.
My shoulder is painful during certain movements and I'm aware of it though not focussing on it.
My ab is hurting right now but not very much.  I'm not miserable like I was the Friday a few weeks back when I wrote my huge frustration post.
I walked up and down stairs several times without thinking about it.  I felt lightheaded and a little weird last night but I think that's understandable.

I am grateful for all your positive comments.  Be well!!!

Why do you have a pelvic kidney?

You guys are GREAT!!!   Thank you so much for all your warm wishes.  I got to my car this morning and realized that I walked down the stairs without thinking about if my legs would work or not--yeah!!   And the CT scan went fine and I could feel all your warm energy during my test (or maybe that was just the IV contrast dye!).  I will write more about the CT scan and my visit to my chiropractor (who is my BEST doctor) tomorrow, I hope, when I have more time.  Right now I need to get a shower and get to bed. 

I hope to get my blood work results tmw (for the numbness) and CT results on Friday (for the ab pain).  I'll keep you posted!!!

Oh, and the title from this post is the question the CT scan tech person asked me.  Really, if I was on my toes I would have quoted Lady Gaga and responded, "baby, I was born this way".   

Be well and good night!!!

I want to tell you a story

Me at 25, wearing the lei I made myself for free at a nearby mall. Duke's statue, Waikiki Beach.

The first time I went to Hawaii was July 2001.  I returned from a 2 week business trip in Osaka, Japan, and spent almost a week on my very first ever by-myself vacation, which just so happened to be in Waikiki.  It was on the way back from Japan, so why not?  I spent the first day in Waikiki sleeping off the jet lag and doing laundry, subsequently went to Don Ho's show, had my picture taken with him (he offered to kiss me, I declined), went to some Hawaiian tourist shops like Hilo Hattie's and the like. Spent a morning on Waikiki beach (with hundreds of people).  Made a free lei in a shopping center.  Took free hula lessons at the same shopping center.  Had my picture taken next to Duke's statue.  Went to Pearl Harbor and felt sad, discovered the North Shore (and a beach with 3 people) after somehow missing the exit for the Dole Pineapple Plantation.


Don Ho, RIP.


Me with hunky luau guy. He harvested coconuts from the tree and we all watched.  When he came down, everyone started to scatter.  I asked if I could get a picture.

One of my favorite memories was about four days into the trip, I'm on a bus headed to a luau on the western side of the island.  It's rush hour traffic heading out of Honolulu.  Bumper to bumper, stop and go.  Typical commuter stuff.  Only it's Hawaii, not the NJ Turnpike.  Paradise, not Parkway.  I'm from New Jersey.  New Yorkers, New Jerseyans, we're stereotypically aggressive. We want everything done yesterday.    We're impatient.  We're looking out for number one.    So the luau is about to start and we're still sitting on a bus close to that time.  By this point in my vacay I was mellowing out.  Starting to feel the aloha spirit.  The "hang loose" attitude.  We're all cousins.  So some guy who I pegged as a New Yorker yells out to our tour guide, "What's going on?  It's almost 6pm.  What about the luau?  What about the food?" or something like that and the tour guide says, "Hang loose.  We'll get there.  You'll eat."  I love that and I still do to this day, almost 10 years later. 


Making a lei bracelet at the luau.

After the devastation in Japan Friday morning, I was worried about Hawaii and the tsunami threat.  I love Hawaii.  I've been privileged enough to visit 5 times, once on my own, four times with Pete.  I've been to four islands.  It holds a special place in my heart.  I tear up thinking about pleasant memories of Hawaii.  So I was grateful to MushyWear for posting Friday on her blog that she, her family, and Maui were safe.  

I googled over the weekend to find out what was going on with the other islands.  I heard that Kona was hit with the tsunami.  Not Japan hard, but hard enough.   I found a news report of a three story house just knocked off its foundation and swept into the bay.  The person who lives next door, his house was destroyed, all broken up in pieces.  Watch his story here.  It's incredible.  He had started chemo for leukemia the day the tsunami hit.  He said he had to call his neighbor who was in California and tell her, it's her house out in the bay.  His family rescued the donkey after the tsunami.  But he really had that aloha spirit.  He said he felt lucky to have lived in that house on the bay that he loved for so long.  He wasn't bitter or angry, just seemed a bit sad but accepting.  He had that Hawaiian "hang loose, everything will be ok" attitude.
 
I have a lot to learn from Gordon Leslie about how to handle my health issues. 



Sunset at Waikiki Beach, July 2001.
Good night.  Be well.