Despite still feeling pretty unwell, I was determined to try and do a little something to celebrate Samhain )otherwise known as Halloween, or Nos Calan Gaeaf in Welsh). So we hung up an Autumn themed reef on the door...
Kelly helped me make sure there was a Mr. Pumpkin-Head (what I always call my carved pumpkins, ever since I wrote the poem of that name years ago) to put in the window...
And I enjoyed some tea in my new 'Witches Brew' cauldron-shaped mug (brought a couple of months ago, but not shown to you at the time, to match the teapot I got a couple of years ago)...
While we watched episodes of "Wednesday" on Netflix and waited for trick-or-treaters.
There were very few trick-or-treaters (even when compared to recent years, when we've had less than there always used to be when I was young) between the rain and our minimalist approach to decorations, but I'm sure Kelly doesn't mind finishing off the Halloween chocolates.
Now that I’m home, so have access to my laptop – which makes writing blog posts a lot easier – I’ll update you on my most recent medical adventures.
~
On September 27th I went to A&E complaining of abdominal pain, with my stomach feeling more bloated than usual. I spent the entire day there, only to be barely examined and told I needed to drink more liquid (ironic considering I’d spent the whole day there with nothing much to drink) and told I needed to lose some weight, and then sent home. My comment about having lost another kilo (just over 2lbs) since July, despite having not done anything to try and lose any, was dismissed as not being good enough.
Then, late on the night of September 30th, we called the number for non-life-threatening urgent medical care, because my pain and the bloating were worse, and I was starting to have trouble keeping food down. The out of hours doctor came to see me in the early hours of the morning of October 1st, and then arranged for an ambulance ride for me to the hospital, because she thought I might have some kind of abdominal issue and should at least be scanned.
Long story short, I’ve been in and out of hospital ever since (mostly in) and it turns out what I have is liver problems.
I’m now on medication to try and help with that.
I've also got some new rules for eating, a special meal replacement shake to have as one of my meals each day to ensure my body gets what it needs each day even if I don't manage to eat much, along with some medication to help me actually keep food down, which is something I'm still struggling with.
~
In other medical news:
I’m still waiting to find out about the sleep study thing.
And, as for my back, I had my MRI, and it turns out I have a syrinx (air bubble) on my lower spine, which is the cause of the problems I’ve been having with my back. Apparently usually air bubbles form and burst as you go through life, but sometimes they don’t burst, and put pressure on the spine, causing pain and other issues, which is what’s happened with me. So, I was right that it wasn’t weight related. But it wasn’t nerve-damage either, which is why the physio exercises weren’t helping.
When we took the dogs to the groomer a couple of weeks ago, we used the transport company we’d used to take them to the vet. They’re useful, and much cheaper than cab fare, but not particularly great at being reliable at timekeeping, and seem to keep forgetting I’m blind even when I’m standing right there. We couldn’t book a ride back from the groomer with them though, because they didn’t have an available car (even though I’d tried to book a couple of weeks in advance) so I had to look for an alternative option for picking the dogs up.
Luckily, as it turns out, there’s a second transport company recently been started up in the area, which works similarly to the other one, and I was able to book the second trip with them. So far, I’m more impressed with this second company, since they arrived on time to pick me up, and were a lot more helpful to me (which makes me feel better about any time I might need to use them without Kelly joining me on the journey).
*~*
The Autumn Equinox was a couple of weeks ago, as I’m sure you know.
With my lack of energy and not feeling great, we didn’t do much, but we made some apple pie and had it with ice-cream (dairy-free ice-cream for me, of course). So at least we did something nice for the day.
I’d have liked to do more. But between how I’m feeling in general and having been out to take the dogs for grooming the previous day (even if the trips there and back weren’t long ones) I didn’t have the energy.
*~*
I went to the sleep clinic (eventually – after the hospital transport got sent on such a stupid route we were all late for our appointments, so grateful the hospital takes responsibility if we’re late on their transport and fits us in when we finally arrive) and got the device they wanted me to wear for the sleep study.
Hopefully they got something from that device, because Kelly helped me make sure it was turned on (because, of course, it was all visual and not accessible to me) but when we got up in the morning it was off. We don’t know how, or when, it got turned off, but it happened some time while I was sleeping. Anyway, I’ll find out in a few weeks, when they say I’ll either get asked to do another sleeve study or told the results of this one.
In the meantime, my MRI appointment came through, so I have that on October 11th.
Hi everyone. This is Artemis the tortoise.
This past Wednesday (September 6th) was my 4th hatchday.
The human caretakers gave me some rocket leaves and raspberries to celebrate. No prizes for guessing which I was most excited about.
Mmmm! I love hatchday treats!
~Artemis
.jpg)
For those who might be worried: yes, this meeting was strictly supervised. The dogs are never left in the room alone with Artemis. In fact, I think you can see me a little in the photo. Actually, Artemis is always supervised when out of the vivarium regardless of where the dogs are, just to be on the safe side.
Anyway, neither Izabel nor Artemis are sure what to make of each other at the moment.
As you may have figured out from how I'm starting this post - or may have seen in my reply to a comment on last week's post yesterday - yes, we still have Izabel here right now, because Mam is still not in a position to take her back. Cai is still with someone else though.
Lilie and Izi are becoming great friends, but they keep ganging up on Logan – who would mostly rather nap than play, and tires of playing quickly when he does play – and he’s not happy about it, as I’m sure you can imagine. So, a couple of times this past week, I took advantage of the nice weather and took just him out in the yard for a while, leaving both girls indoors with Kelly, and I sat on the swing seat while he alternated between sitting beside me and pouncing on unsuspecting rocks. Plus, Kelly took just the girls for walks a couple of times, so they could burn off some energy while Logan got some peace. Logan definitely seemed glad of the breaks. And I’m sure Lilie and Izi enjoyed having some walks at a faster pace than walks usually are if Logan and I go too (Logan and I just like to slowly plod along; Logan and I don't do fast-paced walks... My leg can't handle it, and Logan's just not an energetic sort of dog).
With the issues Lilie has with her legs, as well as the fact she’s older than Izi and Logan (Lilie is six, Izi is four and a half, and Logan is four) you’d think Lilie would be the one who walks slowly and wants to be left alone. But, no. Lilie’s very energetic, and almost always up for some play time, even at times when you can see her issues with her back legs are causing her some pain. We try not to let her get too carried away with pushing herself, but she’s happy and waggy-tailed while doing it, so... *shrugs*
~
As I said, we've been having really nice weather. It's warm enough to be nice for sitting outside without the need for a jacket, and Kelly doesn't complain about my desire to keep the window open even at night (which I'd do most of the year, but he wishes I wouldn't do in colder weather) but not so hot I'm whining about it yet. Still hovering around the 20C (72F) range in the day, and dropping a little at night.
*~*
Just to make things even more fun – and I use the word “fun” with a heavy dose of sarcasm – the landlord (or the agency we rent through, or maybe both) decided now was a good time to do the repair work we’ve been asking them to do since we showed it to them when they did the inspection back in March.
Technically, it was a good time to do it. I mean, the nice weather means the damp
patches have had time to dry, it’s a good time to need to have all the windows
open, and the stuff they put on to treat the damp, as well as the fresh coat of
paint needed on those walls, could dry quickly with the nice weather. It just wasn’t fun for me being shut in a
room with three dogs who had a few things to say about strange men in the house
for the bulk of the two days the work was being done, and I could have done
without that experience right now. Logan wasn't happy about it either, since it was even harder than normal for him to get away from the girls during those two days.
On the bright side, they did work hard to get it done in two days, and even not only moved things themselves to get to where they needed to work, but tried their best to put them back properly. We’ll still have to go behind them and sort them a bit better, but I appreciate that they tried, and am definitely glad the work has now been done, even if I have to admit to some frustration at needing to re-do some of the organization we’d literally just finished doing in some of the rooms. Not to mention, the frustration of trying to do the cooking call on Tuesday while surrounded by barking dogs.
*~*
Last Friday there was a virtual Zoom birthday party for Kaila. Her husband, Jimmy, organized it as a surprise for her. Kaila’s the one in charge of the ACB Crafters (sort of the boss of the ACB Crafters admin team, which I’m part of) and I consider her a friend, so I wanted to go. The party was at midnight my time because of the time difference, and I’m not a big fan of parties as a rule, but since it was online – and since I happen to really like Kaila – I went anyhow. I know it made Kaila happy to have so many of her friends there to help her celebrate her birthday, even if we could only be there virtually.
Of course, I wanted cheesecake after Kaila said it was what she was having as a birthday cake, so on Saturday – after a long chat with Carl, since we hadn’t spoken much since Easter – I decided to try one of the recipes I had for a tofu-based one that requires baking. I was making some adjustments because I wanted to turn the blueberry cheesecake in to a lemon one (mostly because I didn’t have any blueberries) but I didn’t add enough extra lemon juice, so it came out more vanilla than lemon. It was definitely cheesecake consistency though, and it tasted good, so that’s the main thing. Sorry, but I didn’t take a photo.
~
Speaking of birthdays...
It was my Grandma’s birthday on Wednesday (June 7th) and it’s Kelly’s Mom’s birthday today (June 9th).
Grandma sometimes reads my blog, but I’m pretty sure Kelly’s Mom doesn’t. Still, happy birthday, Grandma, and Mom!
And, though I doubt she'll see this: happy birthday to Kaila too.
~
I went to another virtual party during the past week too: the ACB Crafters third birthday bash.
The ACB Crafters started as the occasional call on the ACB Community on June 7th 2020.
For those who don’t know: “ACB” stands for American Council of the Blind. They started doing community calls as a way for visually impaired people to connect with others during the pandemic, and it’s exploded in to a huge community. The ACB Crafters – which I’m part of the admin team for – is part of that community, and went from the occasional Zoom call to between three and seven calls a week.
So, to celebrate three years of crafty calls, we held a virtual birthday party this past Wednesday, (June 7th). I don’t usually go to the crafty call that happens on Wednesdays, but I went this time, since it was the birthday bash.
That means I went to more parties this past week than I usually go to in a year. I'm glad they were virtual though. I like virtual parties more than ones in person. I'm not a big social gatherings and parties fan.
