ER – Round 2…

Well, my goodness… what a day, what a week!

I THOUGHT i was feeling better this morning, woke up, started to putz on the computer a bit, handle some email, even had a little breakfast, a good one, a pair of eggs and a half a tortilla, nice big glass of water… and then about oh, nine in the morning, started to feel a little weird. Just not right. And of course, it escalated to the point that by 11 or so, I was just in dreadful pain again, sweats, just ready to have any relief at any cost. Downed a bunch of motrin and called Miss Julia, my angel, and she came over and she and Jessy decided for me, I needed to go back to the ER. I was a mess.

Thankfully, it was not AS bad as Monday, but it was not good and they decided to run a cat scan on me. The iodine flush was a little weird to say the least but thankfully they had given me more pain killers so I was not in too much agony while they poked and prodded and did their best to discourage me from EVER wanting to be in an ER room again! (do you think they do that on purpose? Haha… ahem) Then sit around and wait, chatting with Julia was nice, and finally the doctor comes in and says, hey, guess what? It’s not your gallbladder, that’s fine. So are your kidneys and everything else, no lumps, bumps or tumors, everything is nice BUT… you have endometriosis. That is what is causing all this pain! Oh…. lovely!

Well, that answers a lot of questions and of course opens up more.. he was happy to report that my blood sugar was down to 270, which is better, still, needing a followup and all that, but I was happy to hear that. I was actually VERY VERY relieved that they did a whole scan of my whole tummy and all, and that he said everything looked great, other than the uterus issue there. Sent me home with more narcotics and another thing to follow up with my family doc. The good stuff they gave me through the IV really made the rest of the day peachy keen.

Wow… this has been one of those weeks! Let me tell you. Thank goodness we have had just dreadful high heat, so I didn’t have anything planned as projects, just knew we would be laying low, doing some in house work for clients, orders and such. My dear daughters have been SO wonderful… like I knew they would, they have stepped up to the table and have taken care of things like pros. Maggie has been so good keeping up with the animals and the heat, checking their water and making sure everyone had cool places to rest. She even kept my garden watered for me! So sweet… Jessy has been my nurse for the last couple days, making me broth and fetching me drinks, making dinner for everyone, and just managing the household part. They really do have it under control. Each has their area and they are so cooperative!!! Oh and Miss Julia! She’s been such a sweetheart, driving me in each time and staying up so late on Monday night, just being so wonderful, she just doesn’t know how much I needed that!

Well, thankfully, my client workload has been very low for the last week or so, that is a blessing. I would hate to have put anyone out when they needed me. And Jessy has all the orders caught up and everything on task. We are hosting our monthly Homesteading group swap on Sunday, and I am hoping that I will feel just lovely by then. I should. If not, the girls will do a fine job of setting up (it’s just a few tables and chairs, that kind of thing) and I will just sit in the shade and visit with folks! Works for me.

Laying in bed and worrying all week, knowing something more was up and just not sure what, that is a lonesome feeling. Really made me think a lot about life and the way I want to live and be. Looking at that big scary thing… diabetes…. that was tough. I’ll admit, I was a little wimpy about it at first. But then I just started to hear from folks here on the blog and on Facebook, and I had a nice long talk with my friend Mike, who has it, and all the sudden, it was less lonesome and scary. I did some reading online, and just thought, now wait a minute… my body must have been telling me something because I was already thinking about the juicer and had quit pop and knew that some healthy changes would do us all good.

And the drop of 20 points on the blood sugar thing today, that was encouraging. Even the doctor remarked that it was a good thing. I’m so happy that my daughters are on the bandwagon and are going to help me and help themselves as well. They are all suffering a bit from their pop withdrawal symptoms and said it’s okay, they agreed, no more pop in the house. And Jessy, especially, she’s been helping me to look at packages of stuff and check the carbs and sugars and give her approval for this and that! (haha) She wants me around a good long time, I guess! We read at the American Diabetes Association website that a good meal for lunch and dinner is 1/2 a plate of veggies, 1/4 protein and 1/4 carbs. And breakfast you get a fruit share and also as a snack at some point… so she’s designed the last two dinners with that in mind and did a great job. I think overall, this has been a real blessing, to have caught this now, when we are in the right mindset to make some good changes. So much better than if it had gone on and on, and lead to other much more serious complications.

And this girl trouble stuff… well, I know I’m not the first and I guess that I’ll just have to deal with that as i comes along the pike. I found a good health center not too far away that takes patients with a sliding scale and is very reasonable. I printed all the forms and need to call about an initial appointment, hopefully next week.

Oh, I tell you this… I so miss being out back with everyone and I dearly miss my little Cody man… he saw me at the kitchen window this afternoon and trotted over, whinnying… I just had to go out and give him a little petting and love, I have been trapped inside all week! I hope tomorrow I can at least get out and do some visiting, check my garden and all. The temperatures are supposed to drop considerably in the next couple days and that will help. We got about 10 minutes of rain, which helps some but we are desperately dry right now. Most of the grass is burned out and dead. We have a little scheduled here and there for the next couple days, so I’m praying that we get a nice dump load at least one of those times!!!

Well, I promise not to dominate the whole blog with my little maladies… haha… I have some much stuff I want to do and share, ain’t about to let this get me down too much longer, I’m just too ornery and determined for that. And with the nice narcotics the good doc gave me??? haha…. well, better living through pharmaceuticals, I say!***

Thanks again for the good wishes!!!! It means a ton to me and my girls!!!!!

Disclaimer here… I am one to hardly take ANYTHING for any pain or ache. In fact when they gave me morphine the first night at the hospital, oh my goodness, that hit me like a herd of elephants! I was so effected by it, I was silly. I haven’t been on any medicines for like years and years… heck I haven’t even had to take any antibiotics for at least oh, 10 years? Aside from my weight, my health has been really fine. In fact my blood pressure and all those vitals were so laid back and cool, they could hardly believe it. So, yeah, I may laugh but bet you a dollar I’ll probably have most of those pain pills left over because I’m just so stubborn to take stuff like that. Dumb, I know… but hey, that’s me. Now, I will admit, if it comes back again, I’m gonna take one. For sure. Maybe two. I’m learning in my old age!!! Finally!!!

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News…

Just got home from a night at the emergency room. Endured about 12+ hours of pretty intense pain in my stomach, was beginning to think something was really wrong. My wonderful friend Miss Julia took me in when I finally admitted to myself that something was not right. They gave me morphine to cut the pain and an IV with fluids because I was dehydrated… and ran some blood tests and such to see what might be up.

Suspected it might be my gall bladder finally acting the fool, but turns out, nope, everything was fine there. Some sort of gastrointestinal virus was causing the pain and other symptoms. Should pass in a day or two, they gave me some nausea and pain meds for that.

But then the Doctor had to drop the heavy news. He’s pretty sure I have diabetes.

Wow. Okay. Hmmmm. Still kinda trying to wrap my noodle around it all. Funny, I gave up pop three days ago, and have been working on getting my diet in order. Even ordered a juicer a few days ago… guess it’s time to learn how to use it.

Not really sure what is the next step, but he suggested I follow up with my regular doctor and get a firm diagnosis.

Aside from just the normal stuff everyone knows about diabetes, I really don’t know a whole lot on the care, the life expectancy, the issues and results of such a thing. Kinda scarey for sure. Still kinda just thinking about it all, guess it’s time for some serious life changes, goals and thinking. And praying, of course.

Lots of praying.

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My crazy two weeks…

Well, I have the perfect recipe for a super stressful fortnight. Add in a heap of bills due all the sudden and hardly any income to take care of them, a murdering varmint rampage that was killing our little friends left and right, a car that needed some serious attention all the way around with brakes and calipers and door issues and a leaky radiator, through in 2 gigs and a 5 year concert series we’ve produced ending… oh yes, and a garage sale… Oh, yes, and a pregnant rabbit and ah, problems with clients not wanting to pay up and just a general feeling of despair over the lack of rain, some health issues and worries of future projects!

Yeah, mix that all up and then see how it fits ya! Well, I am happy to report that we have survived it all! Yes, by bare knuckles, help from friends and family and just a stick to it spirit that for some reason we have developed along this rough road. Blue is all fixed and safe thanks to Jr. and Wayne, our mechanical friends that got her brakes all fixed and working properly…. thanks AGAIN guys! And we have caught the possum and coon dynamic duo that were wrecking havoc through our little peaceful farm yard…. And the garage sale was not exactly a good thing, as it only raised about $40 max, but it got a bunch of clutter out of the house and has cured us from wanting to do this again for at least 3 or 4 years I suspect. Bills slowly resolved, and with the help of the bank of Dad, we managed to get through it all. (Thanks Dad!!!)

Grizelda had her litter but two were stilborn and that was sad. However, she has three happy, healthy little wigglies that are now a week old. A black one, a white one and a creamy white with grey eye patches just like her! So far, they are doing wonderfully! We’ll try and get some pictures soon. They do grow fast!

The music playing was fun and actually a nice spot in the crazy time. It’s hard to explain it but it’s always nice to play music, but it’s a little stressful as well, because it usually takes up most of the day or evening to go do so. So you have to plan around it and in the end, bluegrass bands make very little money for playing so long… it’s kind of sad really. $25 bucks a guy is normal around here, for a whole day spend playing music and driving and all that. We really lucked out, both gigs paid nicely, $50 and $60 respectively, and that was a good thing! Sure helped the bottom line and all.

The end of the Glass City Opry. Well, knew it was coming, we’ve been having terrible attendance, and last night was just the kick in the pants. 66 paying guests. For one of bluegrass’ favorite sons… Little Roy Lewis and Lizzy Long… Amazing show, just very entertaining and enjoyable. Everyone that attended was just so pleased and had such a nice time. We did too! Little Roy is just a super nice guy, great performer and what a story teller. Hard worker too, he was right in there unloading and loading and setting up their sound equipment and he drives the bus!

This was our 48th concert. 48 shows… 5 years…. my gosh, we’ve had all the top bluegrass talent here at the Opry… IIIrd Tyme Out, Dixie Beeliners, Ralph Stanley II, Newfound Road, Bill Emerson, Joe Mullins, David Davis and the Warrior River Boys, Little Roy Lewis and Lizzy Long, Honi Deaton and Dream, the Wildwood Vally Boys, Bo Issac, Rick Prater, Blue Storm, Northwest Territory, Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, Cumberland Gap, Coal Town, Dale Ann Bradley, Bartley Brothers, Lorraine Jordan and Carolina Road and tons of awesome local bands!!! It’s been a crazy ride, one that no one else in the area has accomplished…. so I’m proud of what we did, just wish that it could have gone on forever! The backstage memories alone are simply stunning… I can remember every show!!!

There’s always a chance we might have a concert or two here and there, something special, but Jeff and I are done for the most part. It’s just been too costly an endeavor. We haven’t made a dime and I’m afraid to say that we’ve lost over $20,000 for the effort. Granted, that is over 5 years and most of it was lost in the first year as we got it going, trying everything we could think of in advertising and such to get the word out. But still, each show was costing us at least a couple hundred dollars, and we just could not keep going. I know there will be a lot of disappointed folks, but well, we needed a core audience of about 100 and we just have not been getting it. We just can’t keep digging into our pockets to make it work. It was time. Very sad. Hey, it’s life, right?

We managed to get most of our garden planted… all the seedlings in the screen porch were getting pretty darn old, but they are doing great out back. I still have to get all my shipping boxes filled with good dirt… they are 3/4 full with composted barn yard manure and ready to just give up that awesome goodness to whatever we plant in there. I’m putting a layer of good potting soil and peat moss mix to sort of top them off nicely. Still working on that. I plan to hit some of the hardware big boxes when they start knocking all their perennials and herbs down to 75% off.. haha…. that is a GREAT way to get some nice plants for next year. I would love to have everything all pretty and finished but it’s just not going to happen… not this year! Yet, we just keep at it and things keep looking nicer and nicer as we do!

Hoping to get a little more fencing up and start painting. We’ve had a bit of a drought already, hardly any rain for almost three weeks. All the grass is pretty much burned out and we’ve had to start supplementing the hoof stock with hay. Not good for only JUNE! Feels like the dead of August! We’re getting a little rain today, finally, a nice slow soft soaking rain. I hope it continues ALL DAY LONG but they are saying it will stop in an hour or two. Still, it’s something and we might actually see a little more rain on Tuesday and then Thursday. That would be so wonderful!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Father’s Day and I’ll be giving my Dad a call in a bit… we’re all alive and doing fine, just recuperating a bit from our crazy fortnight of stress!!!! I would be happy if the next two weeks were nothing but calm and collective… no big projects, nothing much in the music world, just chores, work and some relaxing a bit… that would be lovely! Get our bearings… take care!!!!!

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