Winter doesn't officially begin until Monday, the 21st, but we got a pretty decent layer of snow this morning - about 4 inches in all. It was a wet snow, which made shoveling more difficult, but I'm sure that if there were any kids out playing in it, they had a good time making snowmen, a small fort or even getting involved in a snowball fight. Ouch, the wet snowball would really hurt if it hit someone in the face. Sounds like a good reason to get revenge by shoving a snowball down inside someone's coat. Burr!!!
I also started getting the first signs of a cold last night when a sore throat began bothering me around 6:00. I know a lot of people have had colds for a few weeks now, so it just finally caught up with me. The sore throat is gone now, but I've been sneezing this afternoon every so often so a cold is definitely in my midst. I got a flu shot back in late October so hopefully I won't come down with the nasty symptoms which come with that.
I went to bed before 9:00 last night not because the sore throat was bothering me, but because I was just plain old tired. Getting up after 10:00 made me feel kind of guilty, but it was Saturday so I figured if I was still tired, I might as well rest. I did exercises in bed for an hour after I woke up so I could get the blood circulating the rest of the day.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Check out my other blog too!
Since it's kind of difficult to keep up with one blog site, trying to do two is just not going to happen right now, so this website is primarily going to contain summaries of my personal life, whereas the other website has some videos which I produced. To watch the videos, just click on the link below:
Check out some of my videos at this blog site.
The above website link allows me to share the videos which I love to produce. If I felt better, had a lot more energy and could remain focused on a project for longer periods of time, I would be able to make more videos. Until the ifs in my life are all a part of my past and I can get through a day without being so tired and constantly thinking about eating in order to gain weight, I might actually get some more things accomplished.
Trying to gain the weight has been a struggle for me lately, not because I have an eating disorder, but because I had an undiagnosed bile duct problem for over two years, which caused a lot of pain and discomfort and reduced my ability to digest the food I did eat. When I was hurting after every meal, it got to a point that eating was no longer enjoyable. Then in July, a stent was put in to stretch out the bile duct which was dilated six times the normal size and then strictured to boot, which was causing the bile to not flow and causing the pain. In October 2009 the stent got clogged so it was removed. I felt fairly good for about four weeks, but the discomfort has returned. I'm trying not to let the pain prevent me from eating anymore, but it's still a struggle.
Even though my lowest weight was 101 back in January 2009, it's almost a year later and I've only managed to gain 7 pounds. By the way, I'm 5' 9" so when I was down to 101, everyone was telling me that I looked really thin, but no one, not even a doctor, understood that having pain was making me not want to eat as much.
Thank you for visiting my blog websites. I hope you enjoy watching the cat videos as much as I enjoyed making them. They were actually made about two years ago so the cats are a tad bit older now.
The white cat, which we appropriately named Betty (after Betty White) and the brown one, named Patches, are still hanging around the neighborhood a long with their Mama, who is black and white with the white paws, also called a tuxedo cat. The cats were never really ours, we just adopted them when pregnant Mama showed up on our doorstep one cold November day back in 2006 and we felt sorry for her and gave her a warm place to stay while she delivered her six kittens. Unfortunately, four of the six kittens died and Betty and Patches, which are in the videos, were the only ones that survived. A few months later, Mama had another litter of six, which are also seen in the one video of "In the Mood" by the Glenn Miller Band, but we ended up giving those all away. Since we didn't want Mama, Betty or Patches (all females) to get pregnant again, we took them to a vet and had them fixed.
That's about it for now. Once again, if you have some time and you want to check out my other blog website, just click on the link below. Thanks a lot and I hope you enjoy surfing the internet as much as I do!!!
Check out some of my videos at this blog site.
Check out some of my videos at this blog site.
The above website link allows me to share the videos which I love to produce. If I felt better, had a lot more energy and could remain focused on a project for longer periods of time, I would be able to make more videos. Until the ifs in my life are all a part of my past and I can get through a day without being so tired and constantly thinking about eating in order to gain weight, I might actually get some more things accomplished.Trying to gain the weight has been a struggle for me lately, not because I have an eating disorder, but because I had an undiagnosed bile duct problem for over two years, which caused a lot of pain and discomfort and reduced my ability to digest the food I did eat. When I was hurting after every meal, it got to a point that eating was no longer enjoyable. Then in July, a stent was put in to stretch out the bile duct which was dilated six times the normal size and then strictured to boot, which was causing the bile to not flow and causing the pain. In October 2009 the stent got clogged so it was removed. I felt fairly good for about four weeks, but the discomfort has returned. I'm trying not to let the pain prevent me from eating anymore, but it's still a struggle.
Even though my lowest weight was 101 back in January 2009, it's almost a year later and I've only managed to gain 7 pounds. By the way, I'm 5' 9" so when I was down to 101, everyone was telling me that I looked really thin, but no one, not even a doctor, understood that having pain was making me not want to eat as much.
Thank you for visiting my blog websites. I hope you enjoy watching the cat videos as much as I enjoyed making them. They were actually made about two years ago so the cats are a tad bit older now.
The white cat, which we appropriately named Betty (after Betty White) and the brown one, named Patches, are still hanging around the neighborhood a long with their Mama, who is black and white with the white paws, also called a tuxedo cat. The cats were never really ours, we just adopted them when pregnant Mama showed up on our doorstep one cold November day back in 2006 and we felt sorry for her and gave her a warm place to stay while she delivered her six kittens. Unfortunately, four of the six kittens died and Betty and Patches, which are in the videos, were the only ones that survived. A few months later, Mama had another litter of six, which are also seen in the one video of "In the Mood" by the Glenn Miller Band, but we ended up giving those all away. Since we didn't want Mama, Betty or Patches (all females) to get pregnant again, we took them to a vet and had them fixed.
That's about it for now. Once again, if you have some time and you want to check out my other blog website, just click on the link below. Thanks a lot and I hope you enjoy surfing the internet as much as I do!!!
Check out some of my videos at this blog site.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
One year later and I've been a very lazy blogger...
Sunday, November 2, 2008 - that was the last time I visited this web site and posted the second blog. Wow, that's pretty bad. Yeah, I've been busy doing other things, but over a year and not writing something is a really a long time. By the way, I'm 49 now, one year older, but apparently not a whole lot wiser. Maybe contributing to this blog should be a new years resolution. I would like to keep it up, but I usually break my resoultions a few days into them so I won't make any promises - I'll just try to post at least twice a month. If that's my resolution, then you heard it here first.
OK, it's now December 2009 and a lot of things have happened. First and foremost, I had re-constructive surgery on my left foot. I am so grateful to be able to walk around on a flat foot again, because after walking on my toes for over 30 years, it feels really good and yet kind of amazing to be able to put one foot flat on the ground again.
This is what my foot looked like before the first surgery on August 4th. It probably took about 30 years for the bones to change so much. In order to prevent the hammer toes from curling up inside and digging into my shoe, a soft piece of sponge was put in between the big toe and pinky. I also had to wear custom-made shoes; the first pair I had for 10 years and the second pair I got in January 2007. When I finally realized that my feet were not going to hold up much longer, because I kept getting ulcerated calluses, I knew it was time to look into the foot surgery.
The first surgery which was done August 4, 2008, consisted of having four things done to it: the protruding bones on the bottom were cut and flattened, pins were put in the four hammer toes to straighten them, a bunion was removed next to my big toe and the big toe was fused. Of all the things that were done, having the big toe fixed in a permanent position so it would not move was definitely something I was not ready to deal with, because the walking boot and later custom made shoe I had to wear both had to have an indentation made so the big toe did not bear my weight.
The pins in my toes ranged in length from 6.5 inches to 4 inches. It was funny when Dr. Lee removed the pins, he first clipped off the little white pearls (for lack of a better word) at the ends of each one and then told me he was going to pull them out. I started getting nervous thinking it was going to really hurt so I laid my head back, closed my eyes, braced myself and then kept saying, Oh, no, oh no." several times. About ten seconds later, I looked up and told Dr. Lee I was ready for him to do the next one, but by that time he was finished pulling all of them out. I was really relieved that it didn't hurt near as much as I thought it would.
On October 24, 2008, I had the second surgery, which was probably not as extensive as the first surgery, but it was definitely more painful and took longer to recover from it. Like I mentioned before, I spent many years walking on my toes, which in medical terms is called plantar fixed. My foot was pointing downward at -42° and it should have been flat to the ground at 90°. In order to fix the problem, an external fixator, also known as a halo, was put on my foot, with six wires going through the bones - two near my toes, two through my heel and two above the ankle. There was also two heavier bolts that went in my heel and in my shin to give the smaller wires more stability.
The day after the halo was put on, my surgeon came into my room and said that his biggest fear was that as the struts were turned to gradually bring the foot back to a 90° angle, the two wires that went through the heel would rip through it, because the bone was so porous after not walking on it for such a long time. That was not exactly something I wanted to hear right at that moment, but at least I was pretty doped up so my anxiety level was not as intense as what it could have been.
During the 73 days that I wore the halo, I was non-weight bearing so I had to be confined to my bed or use a wheelchair. I also took Spirit Medical Transport, a private ambulance service, to doctors appointments, because getting in and out of a car was not going to happen.
On January 5, 2009, the halo was removed and I was so happy to be rid of the contraption. On one hand, it completely changed my life for the better, but it was difficult. The hardest part was the two weeks that the struts had to be turned. The movements were done in millimeter increments, but I could definitely feel the strain that it was putting on my heel. Even my brothers and a friend/aide who helped turn them, said they could feel the torque that it took to turn the two back on the heel.
The best part about wearing the halo is that I'm no longer a ballerina on my left foot, but I can walk flat-footed!!! I never realized how incredible it feels to be able to actually feel my heel with every step that I take. Before having the surgery, I had to deal with a lot of foot pain; everything from a bunion which had a callus on it, ulcerated calluses on the bottom of my foot that had to be removed every few weeks and trying to walk on an ankle that was turned inward, made me very cautious that it would not hold up much longer.
It has been almost a year ago since I had the halo removed and I can say without a doubt that I'm so glad I did it. My surgeons, Dr. Thomas Lee and Dr. William DeCarbo, both in Columbus, Ohio at Orthopedic Foot and Ankle were the absolute best. I was so incredibly lucky to have such caring, professional and talented surgeons to help me get through a very difficult time in my life. I have to admit that I was concerned and worried after having the halo removed, because I was still in a lot of pain, but I have to give Dr. DeCarbo a lot of credit for being so patient and understanding with me, because he knew it would just take time. Sure enough he was right and I'm doing 110% better than I ever imagined.
My next step, (yes that was a pun) is to have the right foot done just like I had the left one. I'm hoping to get things rolling by early April 2010, so I'll be flat-footed on both sides by the end of the year.
OK, it's now December 2009 and a lot of things have happened. First and foremost, I had re-constructive surgery on my left foot. I am so grateful to be able to walk around on a flat foot again, because after walking on my toes for over 30 years, it feels really good and yet kind of amazing to be able to put one foot flat on the ground again.
This is what my foot looked like before the first surgery on August 4th. It probably took about 30 years for the bones to change so much. In order to prevent the hammer toes from curling up inside and digging into my shoe, a soft piece of sponge was put in between the big toe and pinky. I also had to wear custom-made shoes; the first pair I had for 10 years and the second pair I got in January 2007. When I finally realized that my feet were not going to hold up much longer, because I kept getting ulcerated calluses, I knew it was time to look into the foot surgery.
The first surgery which was done August 4, 2008, consisted of having four things done to it: the protruding bones on the bottom were cut and flattened, pins were put in the four hammer toes to straighten them, a bunion was removed next to my big toe and the big toe was fused. Of all the things that were done, having the big toe fixed in a permanent position so it would not move was definitely something I was not ready to deal with, because the walking boot and later custom made shoe I had to wear both had to have an indentation made so the big toe did not bear my weight.
The pins in my toes ranged in length from 6.5 inches to 4 inches. It was funny when Dr. Lee removed the pins, he first clipped off the little white pearls (for lack of a better word) at the ends of each one and then told me he was going to pull them out. I started getting nervous thinking it was going to really hurt so I laid my head back, closed my eyes, braced myself and then kept saying, Oh, no, oh no." several times. About ten seconds later, I looked up and told Dr. Lee I was ready for him to do the next one, but by that time he was finished pulling all of them out. I was really relieved that it didn't hurt near as much as I thought it would.On October 24, 2008, I had the second surgery, which was probably not as extensive as the first surgery, but it was definitely more painful and took longer to recover from it. Like I mentioned before, I spent many years walking on my toes, which in medical terms is called plantar fixed. My foot was pointing downward at -42° and it should have been flat to the ground at 90°. In order to fix the problem, an external fixator, also known as a halo, was put on my foot, with six wires going through the bones - two near my toes, two through my heel and two above the ankle. There was also two heavier bolts that went in my heel and in my shin to give the smaller wires more stability.
The day after the halo was put on, my surgeon came into my room and said that his biggest fear was that as the struts were turned to gradually bring the foot back to a 90° angle, the two wires that went through the heel would rip through it, because the bone was so porous after not walking on it for such a long time. That was not exactly something I wanted to hear right at that moment, but at least I was pretty doped up so my anxiety level was not as intense as what it could have been.
During the 73 days that I wore the halo, I was non-weight bearing so I had to be confined to my bed or use a wheelchair. I also took Spirit Medical Transport, a private ambulance service, to doctors appointments, because getting in and out of a car was not going to happen.
On January 5, 2009, the halo was removed and I was so happy to be rid of the contraption. On one hand, it completely changed my life for the better, but it was difficult. The hardest part was the two weeks that the struts had to be turned. The movements were done in millimeter increments, but I could definitely feel the strain that it was putting on my heel. Even my brothers and a friend/aide who helped turn them, said they could feel the torque that it took to turn the two back on the heel.
The best part about wearing the halo is that I'm no longer a ballerina on my left foot, but I can walk flat-footed!!! I never realized how incredible it feels to be able to actually feel my heel with every step that I take. Before having the surgery, I had to deal with a lot of foot pain; everything from a bunion which had a callus on it, ulcerated calluses on the bottom of my foot that had to be removed every few weeks and trying to walk on an ankle that was turned inward, made me very cautious that it would not hold up much longer.
It has been almost a year ago since I had the halo removed and I can say without a doubt that I'm so glad I did it. My surgeons, Dr. Thomas Lee and Dr. William DeCarbo, both in Columbus, Ohio at Orthopedic Foot and Ankle were the absolute best. I was so incredibly lucky to have such caring, professional and talented surgeons to help me get through a very difficult time in my life. I have to admit that I was concerned and worried after having the halo removed, because I was still in a lot of pain, but I have to give Dr. DeCarbo a lot of credit for being so patient and understanding with me, because he knew it would just take time. Sure enough he was right and I'm doing 110% better than I ever imagined.
My next step, (yes that was a pun) is to have the right foot done just like I had the left one. I'm hoping to get things rolling by early April 2010, so I'll be flat-footed on both sides by the end of the year.
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