Other than not being particularly warm, the weather has been all over the place. We've had clear sunny days, and cloudy days. Wet days and dry days. Stormy days, and mild days. Still no snow though. It's been cold all the time, even on the sunny days. But obviously things haven't been quite right for snow. Rain, like I said. Even hail. Oh, and a bit of ice and fog too. But not snow. Although, they say we'll get some soon... Maybe this week. I hope so. More than anything though, I hope our snow doesn't come while I'm in hospital, or right after I'm home, when I'm not going to be able to run downstairs to play with it. That would be incredibly annoying.
Speaking of annoying things: I started getting all sniffly, like I was getting a cold, just before the Winter Solstice. I took strong cold and flu medication, and got rid of it quickly. But then I got a dry cough just as we were heading in to the new year. So I took strong stuff for that too. I usually give a few days to let my body try and fight it, and then use natural remedies first, avoiding anything stronger unless I really can't shake it. But I couldn't risk it lingering with my surgery coming up, so I hit it hard with the strongest stuff we could get over the counter. Either I wasn't going to get much anyhow, or it worked, because I'm fine now.
Another annoying thing that happened concerns my surgery date. my surgery was rescheduled. I got a call about it in the middle of the holidays. It's now two weeks later. I'll be going in on February 7th instead. That means, instead of being in nine days time, my surgery is now in a little over three weeks. At least that's still soon. It's kind of frustrating though.
One comforting thought though is that they should have a note on my file saying they can't reschedule again, because I pointed out to them that my not being able to have January's shot - which I'm not allowed to have, because it would be too close to my surgery date (there's meant to be four or more weeks between the last shot and the surgery) - means there's a risk of the shot wearing off enough for the bleeding issue to start again, which risks me being back to ending up back in hospital because of needing blood transfusions, which - as I pointed out - wouldn't be a good thing. In theory, the surgery date is still close enough to the last shot that this won't happen, but if they delayed it again... Well, I think you get the point.
On the subject of my bloods: they had no trouble taking blood for the blood test in mid December. Also, as we thought would be the case, the fact the shots are doing their thing makes a huge difference, since I learned when I went in for my pre-op assessment five days later that my levels were actually up above the normal range now. The iron tablets, combined with the lack of blood loss, have meant my HB levels were at 16.3 or 163. I was told to continue taking the iron tablets for now, but this means I shouldn't need to continue doing so after surgery, and they now have clear evidence that I was right about what the problem was, in case what happened in August wasn't enough evidence for them. Hopefully my levels being above normal, and the continuation of the iron tablets to keep them that way, will help me avoid problems in those couple of extra weeks, when the shot could start wearing off.
Anyway, everything went relatively smoothly for the pre-op assessment, apart from my veins being reluctant to give up any blood. Apparently, my veins said five days wasn't enough of a break. But, as it turned out, since they already know my blood type from my hospital visits earlier in the year, and before that, and I'd had the test the week before because of checking my iron anyhow, it didn't actually matter, so they stopped trying after only one failed attempt. I'm definitely not complaining about that, as I'm sure you can imagine.
My blood pressure was up a little on the day of my pre-op assessment. But it wasn't too high, and considering both me and the nurse were getting frustrated with the machine - which took four attempts to be persuaded to give a reading - I think it was fine. The nurse seemed to agree.
They weighed me while I was there, but didn't complain about my lack of success in the weight loss area either, which was nice. I think the clear evidence of the issues being caused by the bleeding, and the fact I've now had so many of these shots, has temporarily stopped their arguments. Of course, I'll probably get a post-op lecture about how I should get weight off after I've had my recovery time. But I already want to do that anyhow, so whatever. Not that I plan to start going on an actual diet, or heading out to the gym. But I wouldn't mind losing some weight, and plan to try and get out more, and continue being more sensible with my food choices.
Oh, if you're wondering: I was exactly the same weight as I had been a little over two weeks before, when I'd gone for my end of November shot. I didn't bother getting them to weigh me when I went for the last shot at the end of December, since I'd only been weighed 10 days before, and they'll want to weigh me again on the day of surgery anyhow. Plus, it was a couple of days after Christmas, and who wants to be weighed that close to Christmas? Not me, that's for sure!
So, I had my final shot on December 28th. It would have been due again on January 25th. But, as I mentioned above, I'm not allowed to have that one, because it's too close to my surgery date. It would have worked out perfectly, since it would have been due right as I was having the surgery, but them rescheduling means I'll have a couple of weeks between when it would have been due, and when I go in for surgery. I'm crossing my fingers that's not enough time for the bleeding to start back up again. Hopefully it wears off as slowly as it originally kicked in, since that took a couple of months to happen, which would give time for me to have the surgery before it wears off, by which time it would be too late for it to make the bleeding start up. I really hope that's how it works out!
So... Now I'm all set for surgery on February 7th. Even have some special drink stuff they've started giving out before surgery to make sure patients have all the vitamins and things they need to get the best chance of recovery. I have to admit, I'm not looking forward to tasting it. The nurse commented on how, "People have found putting it in the fridge improves the flavour," which makes me suspect the flavour is bad enough to need that improvement. I've put it in the fridge, so it will be nicely chilled for when I need to be drinking it. But, as I said, I'm not looking forward to doing so.
I'm glad nasty neighbour isn't here any more, since I need to be having my breakfast about 7:00am on surgery day. If I haven't had it by 7:30am, I'll have to go without until after surgery. That idea doesn't appeal to me, so I'm glad I'll be able to get up and have breakfast early, and that the neighbours we have now are nice enough that they'll understand.
By the way... Just so you know: because of our stairs I can almost certainly expect to be in hospital at least close to a week, since they won't want me doing all those stairs too soon after surgery. The nurse told me that straight during the assessment. I'd suspected as much though.
In fact, I'd already started planning posts to go up while I'm probably stuck in hospital. Posts I then rescheduled when I got the new surgery date. Yes, I'll have my Kindle with me, so there will be reviews when I'm home and up for sorting them. But I've scheduled some posts for while I know I'll be in hospital, while I might be in hospital, and when I should be home but want to give myself a few days before needing to worry about blog posts too much. This essentially adds up to about two and a half weeks of posts. I've actually scheduled posts for all my posting slots - that's all days except Saturdays and Sundays - from February 8th through to February 25th. I should be home long before that... In theory I'll be home by Valentine's Day, possibly sooner... But it gives me time to take at least a few days before needing to worry about sorting posts. If something happens that I'm not... Well, you'll have to do without posts until I am. Except the Monday ones, which I actually have scheduled right up until early April.
Honestly, I didn't have much to do to get those couple of weeks fully filled. The days were mostly already filled, between my getting tag-happy, setting up the quote posts, and doing the fun themed thing I've got going on for the Friday posts. I won't be sharing any of the posts that go up while I'm in hospital across social media until I get home though. It's a lot of hastle trying to do it on my phone or Kindle, so I'm not even going to bother trying. But at least those who come directly to my blog looking for posts, or who have them delivered by eMail, will have posts to read during that time. I'll share them all on Twitter and Facebook when I'm home and able to do so. I'll catch up with comments then too. Of course, I won't be doing these things immediately after I get home. Hence giving myself those extra days.
I know people understand if I can't be here to do posts. But it matters to me, and makes me feel better to have tried.
So, what is this Friday feature I keep mentioning?
Lilie and Joshua are both inviting some online furry friends over for a visit to the blog. Spacifically, they're inviting the furry family members of some writers I know over for a bit of a chat.
I originally started it as just something fun to fill the Fridays I needed to schedule ahead of time. In fact, still expecting to be doing that, I rescheduled the original person's post when my surgery date got moved. But I was having so much fun doing it, and everyone I invited to participate was happy to accept my invitation, so I'm going to be making it a regular feature. From the end of January through all of February, it's happening every week, so I can focus on dealing with medical stuff. After that I'll be making it a monthly thing, so I can do it in between my regular Friday posts.
In other news...
Our stockings and holiday decorations are now all packed away until the end of the year. I even have the sugarplum fantasies scented candle to enjoy again next Solstice and Christmas, since I didn't end up lighting it for long this time around, so have packed it away with the other decorations. I took advantage of Kelly taking Lilie to the groomer on January 3rd for her claws to be trimmed - she doesn't file them down properly, even though she does walk a lot on hard surfaces... That happens a lot with little dogs - to put them away without "help" from her. Kelly and Lilie weren't gone as long as expected, but I was literally putting the last one away when they got home, so that worked out well.
On the subject of decorative things: my December Makerly box arrived in mid December. It contained a couple of kits. One is a calender, and there are a couple of other kits in the box. It actually arrived in time that I could have mentioned it the Tuesday before Christmas, but Makerly likes to keep their box contents secret until at least most of them should have arrived with people, so I waited to mention it on my blog, so they could make their own online announcements of its contents first, and then was busy posting holiday and goal posts. Not that many - if any - of the other subscribers would have seen it mentioned in my post, but whatever. Unfortunately, waiting this long means I now can't remember everything that was in the box, and I can't be bothered to go look. Anyway, despite having a couple of kits I still haven't done yet, I'm already looking forward to finding out what will be in January's box when it arrives, which it should do soon... It should arrive the end of this week, or early next week at the latest.
I didn't get to look forward to January's SewMine box though, since the SewMine box is no longer going to be coming. I got an eMail from them towards the end of December saying they wouldn't be doing them after December. Something about a change of circumstances. That's the box the table runner and Christmas mouse kits came from. They were nice little kits, so I think it's a shame. It can't be helped though. I've got a couple of the kits I already had from them to do yet, since I haven't had time to do the owl from November, or the kits that came in December's box. But still. I was going to try and see if any of their old kits were still available, and buy some of them with some of my Christmas money, but their website doesn't even seem to be available any more, so I guess that's not an option. Oh, well. At least I have the kits I got before they closed, and I still have my Makerly and Harry Potter boxes to look forward to.
So, that's about all there is to say about what's been going on around here, except for the fact we have someone coming to fix the buzzer thingy... You know? The intercom buzzer phone thing for knowing people are at the main door, and letting them in? Yeah.. That one. Hopefully someone will come to fix it this week (assuming the repair guy doesn't have anything more urgent come up, and bad weather doesn't stop him getting back for any reason). It's broken again. Actually, it's not worked right since nasty neighbour left. I think her putting something to hold her buzzer's button down - which she then left on her buzzer when she left, forcing us to put up with the buzzers playing up until someone could get in to her place to release her buzzer's button - damaged it. Like I said, it's been playing up since then. It's gotten gradually worse, and now we have to all go to the main door to let people in if they try to buzz (and can't even tell them we're on our way, since the speakers aren't working properly either). Hopefully it will be fixed soon, and will stay fixed with her gone. Anyway, they came to take a look at it yesterday (Monday) to see what they'd need to do to fix it, and are meant to be coming back to actually do so soon. I hope very soon. It would be nice to have that working again before I go in for surgery, since I'm not exactly going to be able to rush downstairs while recovering from that if Kelly's out and someone needs letting in. At least if it's working, I can let them in, and at most will only need to do the one flight of stairs to meet them at our apartment door (and can do that flight more slowly). In fact, if it's the postman, and if I don't have to sign for anything, I can just let him in the building, and tell him to leave the post downstairs for Kelly to grab on his way back up.
Since I don't have anything else to say, and this post has gotten kind of long anyhow, I'll let this do for today.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey
