Good Afternoon my fellow blogging buddys..Today is a rainy, cold, monday..we actually had 2 spring like days on friday and saturday..just gorgeous..makes living here what we love..it got to around 60 and sunny..it felt soooo good..This last week has been a bit stressful to say the least..on friday the 15th of April my mom was rushed to the hospital as she was in septic shock and got pnemonia....luckily my brother had stopped by to see her and found her on the floor..he called 911 and away she went..they didn't know if she would make it or not..and at 10pm that night they transferred her to a cleaner, nicer hospital..again not sure if she was going to make it or not..she had a swollen colon that was full of bacteria (that any of us could get) but with her being 83..its not pretty..she had thrown up and aspirated some of it..which caused the pnemonia..so another whammy thrown at her..the doctors got her shot full of antibiotics in hope of killing the infection in her colon..so she was in critical care for 24 hours..we had folks from our church give her a blessing on saturday and that evening the infection was gone..oh the power of prayer and faith!!! sunday she was out of critical care and moved to stable condition..still not able to eat as they didn't want to upset the colon..cause anything with sugar would have just thrived on the infection..however on saturday or sunday (this is in utah) and I live in washington..so I am trying to remember all of this..the dietary kitchen had called her asking her if she needed anything and she was thirsty so they brought her 3 gelato cups..(italian ice cups) and she was happy as you please.well the dietary kitchen didn't know she wasn't supposed to eat or drink anything..so they had to pump her stomach..oh my brother and sister in law were livid..they are the ones that realized she couldn't have anything..and called them on it and they had to pump her stomach..I tell you my brother was about ready to file a lawsuit..thankfully they got it all out of her system before it could reach her colon..again a very close call...so she stayed in the hospital till this last friday and was able to eat and drink..she did so well in the hospital..she has been transferred to a rehab place to teach her how to do some things so she can get around better (she is a couch potato) and needs to get out and walk more..so she strengthens herself etc..she can't use straws any longer as you gulp when you drink..and she could choke..so she needs to learn how to drink and put her chin to her chest so her throat doesn't open ..try this to see what I am talking about..so now we don't know when she will be released from here..I am going home in a couple of weeks to spend a week and visit with her and our family...but we have all decided that mom can't be by herself any longer..so now there are to be changes here in the future as to where she will live..or who will live with her in her home..We are considering moving back to Utah to live in my childhood home and be my mom's caregiver..have to see if its doable for us..her home is a 1954 rambler..with daylight basement..so she would be upstairs and we would take over the downstairs..the house needs a lot of work..kitchen needs to be remodeled just updating really..new appliances, paint etc..new bathroom for her to be able to sit down in etc..more user friendly..rip out the carpet etc..the downstairs needs the most work..but if we take her on..we get everything..house, savings, etc..and Mike can offically retire, and we live a mile from his folks and they aren't spring chickens either..but we could spend time with them, and I could see my family, neices, nephews etc..but this is a huge decision to make..selling our place (that I love) here, getting rid of a lot of stuff, packing the kittys and puppy up..so that is why I am going home to see if I can handle this and see how me and my mom mesh with one another...this is a HUGE undertaking..so will keep you posted on all of this..
sorry that was so winded..but now you know why I have been away from the computer..this is how it looks downstairs..hubby is back to sundays and mondays off as the big boating season is starting up..so back to tuesdays - saturdays again..so he is playing on his playstation..we have a fire going to take the chill off..and I am upstairs orgainizing and getting another project to work on..
On Saturday I met up with a fellow blogger that lives about 45 minutes to an hour away..and they are in the process of packing up to move to arizona..and she had some goodies to give to me..so we met in Port Gamble (where I buy my wool) see the red building behind us..This is Lisa of
The Davis Dialogues..here we are together..what a sweet beautiful lady..(she wants to color her hair like mine)..told her if she does..we meet up for another photo shoot.;)
and here she is with her handsome husband "Mister Produce"..what a cute couple they are..and they barely made the wedding..no thanks to me..I was 15 minutes tardy..(whats new) so we didn't chit chat much..we exchanged goodies and away the went for a fun, sun filled day..see her blog for the fun in the sun they had.:)
so I asked Lisa last fall since Mister produce works for a grocery store to save me any pumpkin stems they could..I now have a nice little stash of these to make my fabric pumpkins and top off with a real stem..thank you mister produce.;)
she also gave me these wonderful gourds..I will use these in my fall/halloween decoration..I would however love to clean them up..does anyone out there know how to clean off the fronts..
she also gave me all of these little hangers..great to make little quilt wall hangings etc..
However I will never use them all..so if anyone would like some..just let me know..all I ask is that you pay for the postage to send them..;)they are 6 inches wide and 4-1/4 inches tall..
she also gave me this wonderful swivel wooden stand (used for cards or jewelry) she had it for her jewelry..well I am using it for my sizzix dies..way better to find stuff now..so I have it grouped with like holidays etc..love it...right at my fingertips..;)
so the wool and fabric that had been sitting there moved over by my computer opposite wall..which is great there too..
I made this last week and just finished it up last night..this will be going up in my etsy shoppe just as soon as I am done here..I really enjoyed making this one..it came from the book that Cindy had given me..and there are more ideas in there that I have the patterns cut (on cardboard) makes for easier tracing..just need to decide what I want to make and then trace them onto wool and away I go..The waltons had a movie marathon on saturday till sunday..recored them all..so I have about 33 hours of waltons to enjoy this week..so if I can unglue hubby from the tube I am getting something to work on and stitch away..
Oh I went to the doctors for my post opp appt and now they are going to analyze the stones and see what they are made up off..he says mine are more then likely made up of oxalate (which is not good)..which means I need to eliminate alot of foods as this is not needed in my diet..so the things I need to avoid are: beets, black tea, chocolate (or drink with a glass of milk) so it crystalizes in my stomach and flushes right out), cocoa, soda pop, dried figs, ground pepper, (I love pepper), lime peel, nuts, parsley, poppy seeds, purslane, rhubarb, sorrel, spinach, swiss chard.so Ground pepper is the only thing I eat along with an occasional piece of chocolate..just have to remember to drink milk with that..and I only drink soda maybe once a month..oh and salt is bad too..so pepper and salt..those are what make my food tasty..so gotta figure out ways to cut way back or flavor my food in a different way..so if any of you have any ideas let me know..(forgot so is Vitamin C)
okay foods to eat in moderation..beans, (green or wax), blackberries, blueberries, carrots, celery, coffee, concord grapes, currants, dandilion greens, endive, gooseberries, green onions, green peppers, lemon peel, okra, orange peel, raspberries (black), straweberries, sweet potatoes..
now I can take magnesium and citrate as they are inhibitors for the stones...I am going to ask my Kidney doctor if I can take the magnesium first to be sure its okay with my kidneys.. I can also drink or eat citrus fruit..
as I was talking to the doctors he let me know that my kidney stone (yes only one) was a "Staghorn" type stone..I thought I had numerous stones that he removed..nope it was only a 13mm (just over a half in big) about the size of your thumb..it was huge!!! and the really good news..I only have 2-3 3mm on my right side..so no surgery for now..in 9 months..I go back to get an xray to see if they have grown or I have any more growing there..if not..I will do this on a yearly basis...so for now I am done..thank heavens..:)
okay for my weigh in..I have done really well on my diet this week..I am down 17 pounds..and feel fabulous..hubby is down 11 pounds..we are both feeling better, eating better..better choices etc..hoping still to get out to walk today..but it is still raining as we speak..
will be back to share my easter day with you tomorrow..this has turned out to be a long post..so don't want to take up any more of your time..I do hope you all had a wonderful easter..we did..Take care and I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead..;) thank you for your concern since I wasn't blogging this week..you are all great and I love you all for it.;)
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