Been a few days

Ok well today I was busy getting my fair enteries ready for the Ancaster Fair. My Niece and I took them out tonight. I have 8 entereies in this fair so we shall see how well I do this time. I put in some of the same stuff as the Binbrook fair. The Stocking, In Loving Memory, t-shirt, pin cushion, christmas card and the towel. If you would like to see pictures of them check out Binbrook Fair Results below.

This is one of the other pictures I did. I was the first project I ever did on linen. I have one other entery that I don't have a picture for that I submitted.

I will post on Monday my results with pictures. I can not pick my stuff up till about 7 or 8 pm so I might give a quick update Sunday night

I have been having trouble with my ears the last few days. They feel like they are completely plugged. Like just getting off an airplane. I saw the doc today and he says they are fine but he thinks it is from my allergies. So I need to get a stronger antihistamine and see if that works. Lets hope so. Well I am off to bedsince my ears are bugging me. Tomorrow I hope to work on my Victoria Sample Heart Welcome Bellpull.

Fair Entries

Well I took my fair enteries in tonight. I get to go pick them up Sunday night. So I won't know until then how I did. I don't have pictures of all the enteries but I will post ones that I do have. One has a red ribbon on it already cause that went into the fair 9 years ago.

I put this into the pincushion section. They had to be made out of fabric so I thought it would be good. I stuck two pearl head pins into it.

This is not a great picture but it was put in to the Cross stitch article not deemed a framed project.

This stocking is for my Second cousin. I did 5 of them all different for my cousins and my niece one year.

I did this In Loving Memory for my Aunt and Uncle when my younger cousin passed away. The reason for the ribbion was I entered it into the fair the next fall. Everyone was so happy to see the ribbon for it.

Unfortunatly that is all I have pictures for. I will add some when I bring the stuff back and before I change the fair tags. I will be taking my stuff next Wednesday to another fair.

I bought a new Hardanger pattern yesterday. I have only showed one person and already have orders for 6. Not sure how fast they will stitch up. I have a few things to finish up before my classes on Saturday.

I went to see Deb who is a friend of mine today. I met her when I went to Cardiac Rehab the first time at one of the hospitals in the city. I haven't talked with her since last July. Her and I were close we used to go for lunch and coffee every coulpe of months. I would always update her via email as to how I am doing health wise. Then all of a sudden she stopped responding. I did see her last July when I was admitted to her hospital. Then in January of this year she stopped responding to me all together. I have for awhile wanted to go see her and today after talking with Martha I decided I would. She has become very distant with me and others that know both Deb and I have said to forget about her. That is kinda hard when she was my rock for so many years. There was never any closure or anything. Something inside of me keeps saying don't let this friendship go things will turn around. Martha told me today I had to do what I felt was right and forget about what everyone was saying. So I bought a nice card and wrote her a message. Then I went and dropped it off and actually got to talk with her. She was alittle better.

More good news

Well I was talking to the cardiologists nurse today .

She said my TSH and my GGT levels that were out of whack in July have now resolved themselfes for August. We shall see what happens in September. I have to have them done next week I probably won't find out till the begining of October what they are unless there is a really big problem. Now that the arrhytmias are undercontrol and the blood work seems to be straightening out I am doing not to bad. If I could only now get my blood pressure to co-operate I would be 100% cured. Don't I wish that were true. I will see what happens in October if I end up on blood pressure meds again or not.

I am still rather irked with the nonsense that went on yesterday with the pacemaker but oh well it is done and over with. I guess there is not sense worring about it.

Tomorrow night I take my stuff into the fair so lets hope I fair not to badly.

Well I am doing good 4 days in a row now. Don't get to used to it. I doubt it will last much longer.

Ok here's the verdict

First before I go into details I must say I was RAKed by a very nice person Beth. I was very surprised to see this pattern in the mail yesterday. I love getting surprises.

I also love to torment people can you tell.

Ok so I went to the hospital and hour away. They were 45 minutes late in seeing me which is not unusual. So I finally get in and they hook me all up to the machines and start to interrogate the pacemaker. Well this takes for ever even if there is NO new information. Ok so that finally downloads and the doc (who I am not overly fond of) came in to see what was happening. He sat on a chair on the other side of the room and never moved. Usually the docs check different things and see for them selves what is going on with the pacemaker.

So anyway he sits there and looks at the printouts they give him. Which I don't think were everything he needed but oh well. So he says the battery life has gone down since May of this year but that there is nothing to worry about. He knows that I don't trust this pacemaker at all and that I have (as have many others) felt this was defective since day one. He asked me if something at the bowling alley could have interfered with the pacer to make it beep. I told him know this happened Sunday night at home watching TV. SO then he says to me are you sure it was the device?

No I just felt like calling you up and complaining for no reason at all and saying that I needed to be seen cause I didn't want to wait till November 4. How stupid do they think I am? Don't answer that. So they finally decide that the pacer has showed nothing at all not even the alarms going off so I can come back in 6 months. Then he decides that since I have an appointment November 4 I should keep that and see them again then. In the mean time my Nov appointment was cancelled and given away. I am supposed to see the Electrophysiologist that day as well. THe pacer clinic said since they were booked that day the EP doc would have to change his date to see me. I THINK NOT SORRY.

So after talking with the EP doc briefly he decided to see me today instead of Nov 4 ( I was really hoping he would since I was there. But I didn't want to ask). So he was thrilled with the news that I have not had any arrhythmia's since Jun 20 and that I now have a life as well and I am doing so much better. He said that he was really worried about me cause he felt I was on the verge of a nervous break down. He said that he tried to make stupid jokes (his words not mine) to help relieve some of the tension but realized it only mad things worse and I was even more upset. Which apparently really upset him (I knew that just by the way he would spend extra time with me. He didn't have to admit it). You don't find many doctors like that anymore. He said that at some point we will reduce the amount of medication I am taking (I would only take it Monday to Friday) and see how well that works. I must have had a horrified look on my face because he laughed and said not now maybe when I see him in January but we will talk and negotiate things together. So all in all I guess it was good news all around. It still burns me that they don't believe me with the pacemaker. Oh well I won't worry the next time it beeps.

I must go to bed now I have been up since 5 this morning and only got an hours rest this afternoon. Tomorrow I will post pictures of my fair entries since they go Thursday night.

Hey not bad three days in a row.

Wow two days in a row!!!

Ok so here is the latest on me. I have to go to a hospital an hour away to the pacemaker clinic cause the one 10 minutes from me won't do a damn thing. Their answer to my pacemaker issues was "Well it was only put in in 2003 so I should not be having problems yet. Also just keep calling the other hospital and bugging them till they decide what to do". Gee loads of help there.

I called the other hospital this morning and they said I was to go see my Cardiologist and have an ECG done and she MUST approve me to travel to this other hospital. So they did the ECG and the RN gave me the two copies they printed off (never kept one for their files) so I will take one tomorrow and keep one for me. To bad for them.

Hopefully things will be put into full swing tomorrow even though I am not seeing my regular docs. I will update more when I come home (hopefully tomorrow) after I go to my Girl Guide meeting.

On an up note tonight was the first night of bowling for this season. I did really well with out really trying hard. I bowled a 223, 190 and a 222 to give me a starting average of 212. I said I was only bowling 100's next week to bring my average WAY down.

Well gotta head to bed need to be up early in the morning.

Latest finish

Well this is my most recent finish. It was done Friday I think. It is one of the Victoria Sampler Kits where you learn Hardanger in stages. I think this one is level 4-5 but I am not sure off the top of my head. It was an interesting one to learn (not really difficult). I highly recommend those kits to anyone who would like to learn Hardanger. Saturday I finished the outline of a Cross bookmark that I will be taking to my class on September 13 to learn how to put the stitches in properly. I will also have a second bookmark done and ready to go and that probably will be it unless I take the Victoria Sampler kit (one of level 5) that has Greek Crosses in it to do. Oh yeahby the way did I mention I HATE Greek Crosses.

Things are still pretty good with me health wise. It is coming up to 8 weeks arrhythmia free which is great but I knew things could only be so good for so long. The other shoe finally dropped today. Tonight as I was watching TV my pacemaker beeped twice. This means the battery is low and needs to be replaced soon. Tomorrow I will call the Cardiologist and the Electrophysiologist and see what needs to be done and how soon. I want to wait till after September 20 as that is after the two fall fairs and about 3 weeks before the last one. If I don't get to put stuff in the last one that is ok since I haven't paid my entry fee yet.

I am so glad that I see Martha this week cause I will need it after I finish with the docs tomorrow.

Tuesday I think I will bring the sewing machine up and put to gether the stuff I have made and then just put in my box to finish later. Maybe now I need to not only complete my stitching but also complete the entire project as well.

Long time no post

Well it has been awhile since I posted last. I have been busy doing lots of stuff. Not really stitching much. I have my 6 Ornaments cut out now all I need to do is put the tassel and the hanger on them. I have 4 sets of earrings done as well. 2 pair have hooks on them and the other 2 pair well not yet.

I have been busy filling in my entry forms for the fall fairs. I will be entering my stuff into three fairs this year. So we shall see how things go.

I had my niece out the other day and man did we walk. I kept reminding here that we didn't want to walk too far cause we still had to turn around to go back to the car. She told me she knew that and would tell me when we went far enough. We probably walked in to different places for about 2 and a half hours. She was having a great time. I could have wrung her neck when she started telling me we needed to exercise daily, and that is was a good idea she took me for this walk, that I didn't need the gym anymore I just had to walk with her (hell I need the gym so that I CAN walk with her), etc, etc.. Gotta love kids.

Hopefully I will post some pics next week of my stuff cut out and finished before they go to the fair. I am going for another private lesson for Hardanger Wednesday next week. Not sure what I will be tourchered with this time. Last week (or the week before) it was Greek Crosses. I HATE GREEK CROSSES. I learned how to do them came home and haven't picked them up since. Oh yeah did I mention I hate Greek Crosses.

My Hardanger classes start in 2 weeks so I need to get a few projects ready for then.

It has been one month and 2 weeks since I have had any issues with my arrhythmias. I have had a few close episodes that I thought might land me in the hospital but nope. I am still waiting for the proverbial "other shoe to drop" but hoping it won't be for awhile.

Another busy day

Well today myself, my mother and a friend of hers all went out to lunch. We go to the Vet Thi resturant where maybe two people speak english. We get WonTon soup. The bowl has to be about 32 oz and you get 6 Pork and Shrimp wontons with some other stuff. We also enjoy the fried wontons with cream cheese in them and the Shrimp fried spring rolls.

After we came home I had a nice nap. That energized me to do some more earrings. I now have two sets complete and one earring. I will post pictures when the stuff is all cut out. I also had to cut out a diamond so that I can have my next Hardanger lesson tomorrow after the gym. These are private lessons and then I signed up for 4 Saturday mornings for class lessons.

I just bought some more patterns (I need them like a hole in the head) to do more word trees and hardanger ornaments. I will have to post some pics when the order arrives hopefully soon.

Tonight mom and I made two batches of Peach-Pinapple Freezer jam and one batch of Peach freezer jam. Tomorrow I think we will make another Peach jam and maybe a pie.

It has been one month and one week (almost) since I have had any arrhythmias. I have to wait and find out what the blood work showed this month to see what will happen next.

Current WIP and stuff

Ok I know I should post more often than when I have finishes and WIPs but sometimes I just don't know what to right. Well here is my current project. These will be Hardanger ornaments when I get them finished which hopefully will be this week. My mom said she wants a bunch of them for her friends at work for Christmas. SO now I have to go buy more material because she only wants certian colours. Sorry the picture is kind of hard to see. It is Ecru on Antique White evenweave 28 ct. The pattern is one by Wren Song.Some of you know I put my work into the fall fairs for judging. Well last year my 5 1/2 year old niece decided she was going to do a piece as well. This is her stitching. Not bad for a 5 1/2 year old. The funny thing is she thinks she will enter it into the fair this year and take first prize. Off of me. I think I will have to make her a tag and just put a 1st place ribbon on it for her and hope she doesn't know the difference.Well we have had a record amount of rain this summer (and it is STILL not done). So last Thursday I decided that Mackenzie and Tracey could paint T-Shirts. So we brought Tracey to my house and away they went. This first one is Mackenzie's can you tell. I must admit it is pretty good for a 6.5 year old. The main thing is she had a ton of fun.This is Tracey's shirt. You can tell the difference in ages. Tracey will be 10 in November. She had a great time doing her shirt. Then the girls were able to play with each other for quite awhile after we ate lunch. Suprising I didn't go insane like I thought I would happen.

Well we are now going on to week #4 with out having any arrhythmias or needing the Bisoprolol. The Amiodarone seems to be doing the trick right now which is fantastic. The only problem with it is my TSH (thyroid) and my GGT (liver) are already being affected. Hopefully as I am on the Amio longer things will straighten out. I would hate to have to go on another drug because the Amio is affecting my system too much and lose the "good" health I am now finally starting to have. I guess the real tale will be in November when I have the Pacemaker checked out and see how many episodes I have had that I was not aware of.

Yesterday we had a semi family BBQ at my aunts house. My uncle is here from up north. We had 13 people there for dinner. Unfortunatly we were missing 6 people. But like I said to my mom no matter when we have it there is always some one who can't come for some reason.

This is a busy week coming too. I will try and post daily as to what is happening.

Semi-Finish and stuff LONG

Well here are two semi-finishes for me. I completed the bookmark Friday and did the diamond on Saturday in about 3ish hours. Now I have to cut the centers out so that I can learn how to wrap the bars properly for Hardanger. I hope to do that later this week.

I have been feeling really well now for about the last 3 weeks. I have not had to add any extra meds (Bisoprolol to the Amiodarone) since July 14. Which is really good. I will know on Wednesday what my blood levels are and see if the Amio is going to affect my thyroid at this small dose. Hopefully I can stay here for awhile. I have not had actually (probably just jinxed myself here) since early July.

I have been going to the gym twice a week now. The first week was only once and last week was one good work out and a modified one cause some how I hurt my knee. This week I am hoping to get in two good work outs and a modified one plus maybe a walk or two. Just have to play it by ear. I guess I should load my MP3 player tonight for the gym tomorrow.

Tuesday last week Mackenzie and I did some errands after the gym. I had picked some vegetables out of the garden and decided to take them to a friend of mine which just happens to be a Nun. So we go take the veggies to her. Mackenzie ( who is 6 1/2 years old) was telling her we were going on a mission.

Mackenzie: Auntie and I are going on a mission today.

Friend: Oh really. That's nice.

Mackenzie: Yes we are going to find Grumpy's ( Grumpy is what she calls my father her grand father) parents at the cemetery.

Friend: (looks at me) Oh that sounds nice.

Me: Yeah they are missing. I know they are dead and have been for awhile but can't find the headstone.

Mackenzie: We are looking for a War Cross too cause it is missing also. So we will have to go on a mission to find it.

Friend: (says to Mackenzie) Well I am sure your great-grandparents are there. Do you think they would have moved the bodies?

Mackenzie: Probably.

So we leave and start heading to the cemetery and the conversation between Mackenzie and I goes something like this.

Me: That lady was a Nun.

Mackenzie: Oh.

Me: (Figuring she didn't know what a nun was) I said yes she wears a habit like the Sisters in your church.

Mackenzie: We don't have any in my church.

Me: Yes you do the church you go to with school has Nun's in it.

Mackenzie: I haven't been to church with school. (She goes to a Catholic school)

Me: Yes you have. Grandma and I took you there at Easter time.

Mackenzie: No we didn't go to church at Easter.

Me: Yes we did.

Mackenzie: Does your friend wear a habit to church on Sunday?

Me: I don't know.

Mackenzie: Well why don't you know Auntie?

Me: I have never been to her church.

Mackenzie: I wish you knew everything in the world.

Me: Why?

Mackenzie: Cause then you would be my smartest aunt ever.

Me: Well thank you. How can you argue with that.

Later in the week mom and I promised Mackenzie that she could do her china tea set. We kept telling her that was a project for a rainy day. Wednesday was finally the rainy day she wanted. So we went to the gym did a couple of errands and her an Grumpy painted the Tea Set. See pictures below. Apparently she told Grumpy he couldn't do certain pieces cause she couldn't trust him enough to do it neatly and the way she wanted it. My father used to do beautiful Toll Painting. But can't be trusted by a 6 1/2 year old. I am sure from the pictures you can figure out who did what.

More progress on Freezun Seazun

Ok well here is todays progress on Freezun Seazun. It is really taking shape fast. I started on the Holly leaves tonight. Got two done and said done. I will work on them tomorrow when I have the sunshine and the patients. I can't wait to have this finished now. At first I was worried that the fabric was not blue enough. But now that I am adding the blue it is looking better.

I didn't do much exercise today as my arms hurt from working out at the gym yesterday. But not bad enough to stop me from going tomorrow. I will do what I did yesterday plus add in leg weights. Hopefully I will still be walking on Friday. Well so much for easing in to the gym slowly. It looks like the arrhythmias are fairly well controlled at this point which is fantastic. Now lets hope it stays that way for awhile.

Today I had my niece so we called our cousins to see if they wanted to get together and do something. The girls haven't seen each other at all since school finished. So we were going to go Glow in the Dark Mini Golfing. When we got there the place had 150 kids already there. Must have been a day camp outing or something. So we ended up going to the movies instead. We saw Wall-E. It is not quite what I was exptecing but it was good never the less. But the better entertainment was when the four of us were in the theater alone eating the popcorn. The girls (ages 6 and 9) each got a small popcorn and with it you get a flavoring for it free. So they both picked Salt and Vinagar because you know they have to be the same. Well Tracey (9 year old) put half the package on her popcorn and Mackenzie (my niece and the 6 year old) put the whole thing on hers. So we were eating it and dying with the amount of vineager on it. I started with taking the first few pieces and inhaling nearly choking one the strength. Mackenzies was so strong. I finally mixed it up enough it could be eaten. Well Vicki my older cousin grabbed a handfull and was eating the popcorn. Thought she had a kernel and it was actually a clump of Salt & Vinager mix. Well I thought she was going to pass out it was so strong. She was sitting their stamping her feet and rocking back and forth. I was laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my face and I couldn't breath. Tracey said to me my face was beat red from laughing.

Vicki and I are 5 years apart and are just like sisters. The crazy times we have had together.

WIP progress and stuff

Ok I have the main picture now outlined and the word "Freezun" in. Not bad progress for 2 1/2 hours today. I have now started the blue boarder where the snowflakes go. Hopefully it won't take much longer to do.

My garden is really comming along nicely. It smells like a funeral home with all the lilies I have. At least that is what they remind me of. Here are some pictures of the garden I really like.

I love this picture. It is of my Shasta Daisies and my Cherokee Sunset Gloriosa Dasisies. They make a nice contrast together.

This is just one section of my lilies. I have 4 spots in my garden with various lilies. I have pictures in my webshots of all my flowers in the garden. Adding more almost daily. Feel free to check it out. They are all in Garden 2008.

http://community.webshots.com/user/AuntieKathy

Today was my first day back at the gym in almost 2 1/2 months. It was great. I have been told to start slowly but that kinda didn't happen. I did 30 minutes at 2.8 on the Treadmill. 15 minutes on the bike and 15 minutes of weight training. Then my friend called me and asked if I wanted to go for a walk. SO I walked for an hour. I really like this being able to exercise again. Tomorrow I am taking my niece and 2 cousins to play 18 holes of glow in the dark mini golf. That should be loads of fun. I should be so sore by Thursday that I can't move but it is back to the gym and mega gardening. Doesn't sound like too much stitching is going to get done. I am sure I will find some time for it.

Feeling better

I have been feeling alot better since I changed meds for my arrhythmias. I am tired and headache alot right now but that has a lot to do with our weather. I suffer from headaches when the weather is changing either to rain or snow. I have a real problem with humidity and tiredness and it has been really bad here lately up into the 100's (which we don't see often).

I will be starting back to the gym tomorrow for the first time since May. I finally don't have the suffocating feeling that the other drug was giving me. Now hopefully I can work out like I want to so that I can start and lose some weight.

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day. We try and meet for coffee once every 2 months or so. I was telling her what had gone on at my last EP (Electrophysiologist) visit and how I was switched to the Amiodarone which didn't thrill me too much cause of all the side effects. I was saying how bad the Bisporolol was and the suffocating feeling and that I just stopped it cause I couldn't handle it anymore. The symptoms were just getting way worse rather than better. We were talking about the Torsades De Pointes episode(s) that I had in September 2003. I was telling her that the EP won't put me on Sotalol untill he has documentation to confirm the TDP episodes or not. Which sucks since that is the drug that I cope with the best. Ok it nearly killed me but that is just a minor point. My friend suggested I talk with the Cardiologists RN which can be a chore in its self. BUT the Cardiologists RN was really really helpfull.

I asked her if it was alright if I used the Bisoprolol in between Amiodarone doses if I am out of rhythm for long periods of time and she said that was fine. Then I asked her when I should go to the hospital when I am out of rhythm. She said that I only have to go when the things I normally do don't work any more or if I don't really feel well. She said I would know when the time was right. But that she feels that I have things under control for right now and that I am coping with things alot better than I have in the past. Alot of that is thanks to Martha.

SO then I talked with the RN about the TDP and what the story there was. She said that I have a history of TDP and that I was not in it at the present time (not sure you would be able to tell with me) but that it is something that is documented in my file and the family doc should have the information already. I said that the EP doesn't and I don't think the Family Doc did either. So she was going to send it out to both of them right away. She also suggested that I have it put on my MedicAlert bracelet (the wallet protion) so that if there was ever an issue they could find out before things were done. So that is what I will do.

We also talked about how expensive my one drug is and how I can't affored to pay for it and I can't expect my parents to either. She said that there are ways of getting it covered and we would work on that.

So all in all she was very helpfull last week when we talked.

Feeling pretty good.

Even with all this heat I have been feeling pretty good. My medication change seems to be holding my arrhythmias so far. I have had to take a supplementry dose a few days but nothing too bad yet. I seem to be able to do alittle more which is what I wanted so that is good. At least the feeling of not getting enough air in my lungs and the suffocation sensation is now gone which is great. Those feelings were starting to scare me and I don't scare easily. I should find out at the begining of August if this new medication is affecting my Thyroid or not. Lets hope not.

I have another finish today. I am not sure how many that is for this year now I have lost count. I think I am ahead of you tho Beth. I did "Think Spring" by Calico Crossroads. See previous post. All I have let to do is put on the charms and make it into a pillow. That should be interesting since I do not sew. Ihae o get th charms toorrow when I do my large stash shopping. I got some gift certficates and money for my birthday last week so that is why the shopping. Plus The Golden Threads (the needle work shop) is holding their Christmas in July sale.

My garden is coming along nicely this year. I have put loads of pictures in my webshots album under Garden 2008. I have a few more to add right now and there will be more as the day go buy so check often. http://community.webshots.com/user/AuntieKathy

Hand dyed fabric and stuff

Here is some fabric that I dyed today. I am not sure that I like the colours.

Please tell me what you think. The light pink is Periwinkle and Crimson Red. The green one is Olive with Yellow. The dark one is the light pink mix with a little more Crimson and Yellow mixed in. That one is not to bad. I would like to change them but not sure how or to what. The light pink one I am thinking of getting Royal Purple and using a toothbrush to spray it with. Then the next decision is what to put on them. The green one I think will be for an M Design. Please feel free to make any comments and or suggestions.

I finally finished mulching my large flower garden. The mulch is a red cedar mulch. I personally think it takes away from all the reds and pinks in the garden but oh well. Maybe next year I will put black mulch down. The only problem with the black is when it is dry it is grey and then when wet it goes black. Whereas the red stays red all the time. I have added some new garden pics more flowers are blooming and a few more will be out in a few days. I have also rearranged the pictures so that all the same flower is all together with the over all garden pictures at the beginning then the individual plant, my niece's gardens, the back garden or mom's garden and then the veggie garden.

I have a natural weed killer that I am going to try. Apparently it kills anything it touches. Once I have tried it I will let you know how it works.

I am almost finished my Rhodes Butterfly by The Sweetheart Tree. I have half the outlining left, the beads and the stitching for the basting it together. Hopefully soon it will be done. I have not been working hard on it otherwise it would be finished.

Today is the first day that I have not really had to have a nap in the afternoon. I am not overly tired right now either. I will be starting to decrease the Bisoprolol Thursday and see just how the Amiodarone is going to do. I am hoping this will be an acceptable drug and not give me too many hassles.

My Doctors Appointment

On Tuesday I had to go see the Electrophysiologist. This was my appointment that was reschedualed from May. We had a good visit. He is not overly impressed that I am having all these problems with the arrhythmias especially since he did the last Ablation in January. I told him that I am having problems breathing. Like I am not getting enough air into my lungs on the Bisoprolol and that I know I don't have asthma but I huff and puff and wheeze like I do. So we discussed alternative drugs which I was ok with. I also said that is seems like the drugs and the pacemaker are making my arrhythmias alot worse than not having either.

We finally decided that I was to go back on Amiodarone which I am not happy with cause of a few things. 1st of all the side effects on this drug are very bad. It affects your eyes, lungs, liver, thyroid, and kidneys PLUS it can also turn your skin blue. Yes you read that right BLUE, blueberry blue. Which if you come off the drug doesn't always reverse its self.

2nd I don't want to have to start another drug to combat the side effects of one drug. That was the reason I came off the Amiodarone the last time I was on it. So I started it Wednesday and the last two days I have been out of rhythm like clock works between 1:30 and 2 pm for about 2 plus hours. Hopefully this will not last long other wise I will be visiting the ER or the Cardiologists office.

We made a plan that we will keep in the background for now but that is to put me back on Sotalol and switch the pacemaker to a pacemaker/defibulator combo. The only issue there is the Torsades de Pointes. which is why I have the pacemaker in the first place. I know the EP and my Cardiologist talked so hopefully if I have problems someone will be there to help.

What a day

Well today started out pretty good. Took it kinda easy this morning. I had to run an errand for my mom so I did and then went to look at some plants for the garden, plus some bug spray and fertilizer cause I need to feed the gardens. Especially the veggie garden.

So I did that and decided I wanted to stop for a drink. Well I was over on the far side of the mountain (close to my cousins) thought I would stop in at a little strip mall at the convenience store. Well they have been working on this little mall for probably the last 18 to 24 months. In the mall is a convenience store, a pizza place, another store, the pharmacy, and a doctors office. For some reason I decided to go up to the grocery store and get some KD, a pop and some crab meat. As I was about 3ish blocks away from this mall I hear a bang which kinda startled me. I knew I didn't hit anything with the car, there was nothing on the road and my tires are full of the proper amount of air. So I pull in the parking lot check the entire car. Find nothing so I went in the store. I come out travel back down the same road towards the strip mall and see a pile of Emergency vehicles there. I was stopped behind another car that was turning the corner too. I could see the big windows in the convenience store and the glass was gone. Looked almost like an explosion. But I couldn't see with all the EMS equipment there. I go around the corner and see the windows had been blown out and the wall collapsed.

That was when I realized that bang I heard was the explosion and going to the grocery store saved my life. I might not have been killed but could have been seriously injured as I would have either been in the store or just leaving when the explosion occurred. I am not sure what actually happened but I thank my lucky stars I did not stop like I was going to.

My doctors appointments

Well I figured I had better update my blogs with my doctors appointments before some of you start knocking down my door.

I saw the Cardiologist on May 13. She was in a pretty good mood this time. Her nurse is a pain in the you know what tho. Anyhow a another storey for another day. Well the Cardiologist was not to happy that my stress test results were way down. But like I said I haven't been able to do any real exercise in a long time so that could be a good reason. I was down 3 minutes in length or 3 stages as they say. Which is not all that great. WE had quite the discussion about how much I should weigh and how much I want to lose. She almost had a hissy fit when I told her how much I wanted to lose. I now weigh 158 lbs and would like to get down to 120 lbs. The cardiologist flipped and said that was way to low. Her nurse said that would put me at a BMI of 20. The cardiologist said first of all she didn't think I needed to lose any weight ( yeah right I have a thick roll/s around the middle) then she said that I was to go to no less that 130 lbs. WE shall see who wins that discussion (probably me).

We discussed my meds and if I could change them. My only problem is one of the drugs I was on 5 almost 6 years ago nearly killed me. That is the drug I actually wanted to go back on. NO I don't have a death wish. But it just controls my arrhythmias alot better than any other drug has and I have way less side effects on it. Minus the nearly killing me. She said that a small dose might be ok but she was not going to do it since Toronto is looking after my arrhythmias and pacemaker. So it was left that I would talk with the Electrophysiologist this week when I saw him.

Well I went Thrusday May 22 for that appointment only it didn't happen. Unfortunately he was away cause his mother passed away that morning. Ok I understand but now he is gone for the next 2 weeks to India to do some procedures. His secretary will talk with him as soon as he gets back on June 9.

I got my pacemaker interrogated after some disscussion and presuading. So I knew I was having alot of arrhythmias since I saw them March 18 which was 9 weeks ago. I had done pretty good from my Ablation January 17 to March 18 only 20 episods. Not bad. That was way down compaired to what I had been having prior to the Ablation. I figured I had maybe another 20 to 25 since the last time I was there. Well we find out I had 71 episodes in the 9 weeks. Had my EP been there I am almost 100% sure he would have said that he was booking me for another Ablation. That will make Ablation #5. Like a friend of mine said to me the other day is it really worth having the ablations since the don't last? I wasn't able to talk to my EP about the drugs. I did speak with the doctor who deals with my pacemaker. She said that she could not in good concience put me back on the drug that nearly killed me. So that was out and a few others because any other drug in that class will do the same thing. Then since I am so drug sensitive that eliminates a few other drugs. So she made the changes to the pacemaker that she could but now there is nothing else that can be done that way. Part of it is because there are several programs they want to use but either they are not programmed into my pacer or they will drain the battery faster than they would like. Which we are watching cause that is coming close to start considering replacement. So there is no drugs, nothing that can be done with the pacemaker and they are at the end of their options. I was basically told that the arrhythmias are not serious or life threatening, they are annoying but there is nothing else they can do right now so I essentially have to suck it up and live with it.

That is easy for them to say they have not experienced what I have gone through. I just have to wait and plead my case to the EP when he comes back and see where that will get me. The only thing is his secretary told me she is booking in August now for his follow ups. I can't wait that long. Then the pacemaker clinic told me they are booked solid till the end of August and to see the doc I always do that would be mid September. Not good when you are told 3 months and no going over that because of the battery.

Life sucks.

Dinos done

Here is the last Dino for my blanket. It took me a little longer than I had hoped but that is ok since I have been busy doing other things. Here is a pic of all 4 of the dinos together on the baby blanket. I was a fairly quick stitch.Today I started another baby blanket. This one has waterbabies on it. I started the one fish in the middle and took it out about 4 times. I almost have it finished but found a mistake in it. I have worked it in the best I can cause I am NOT taking it out again. IF this is how easy the first square went in I hate to see how much trouble I will have with the other 5.

I have my garden almost completely planted now. Still have a few plants in the backyard to go in and still need to buy some more. I will take some pictures tomorrow of what is done as of now and will make an album of last year and this year. There have been major changes.

My rhythms have been bothering me terriably. I have been out of rhythm everyday since last Sunday with the pacemaker going off 4 different times yesterday and 3 times so far today. I am trying to just continue life as normal but some times it is hard.

Dino's

Here is Dino #3 done and what I did today on dino #4. Hopefully #4 will be done either tomorrow or Tuesday. Here is a pice of what I have finished so far. This has been a quick and easy project to stitch up. I finished 3 dino's in one week. Not too shabby. Like I said before hopefully this last one will be finished in the next day or so.

Well Wednesday last week I had a pile of tests at the hospital. They are just routine ones I have yearly and then more often if the need arises. Well the echocardiogram wasn't too bad. They had to call my cardiologist cause it was a new tech doing it and the one that knows me really well was busy. Then came the Stress (exercise) test. That didn't go so well. Last year I did 7:30 minutes or a little over 7 stages. This time I did 4:30 or just 4 stages right on. So there is a large drop there which is not great. Part of it is cause I haven't been able to exercsie for so long and part of it is my meds. Then I had the Pulmonary Function Test (PFTs or breathing tests) and they were modified cause the drugs they have me on for my arrhythmias is causing me lung problems. I find that I can't get enough air into my lungs and I am gasping for air. All this has started since we uped the dose in March. Well finally yesterday I droped the dose back to where I was not haveing problems. So time will tell. I have to go on the 13th of May and get the results from the Cardiologist (don't think she will be too happy) and then on the 22nd I go see the Electrophysiologsit.

Oh yes we now have a name for the newest family member. It is Bugs like Bugs Bunny but only Bugs cause you can't call a fish a bunny. My Niece is inthrawled with this stupid fish. She spent most of Thursday morning last week staring at Bugs and singing to him. She told him on Friday before she left for school that I was looking after him till she came back. That would have been ok but we had to do it in fish speak (blub, glub glub, blub, glub) or something like that. I don't speak fish.