Of course it’s not a heart attack

After I’d done my last post, when I mentioned letting the not so good things slide, I realised that I tend to do this quite quickly as I completely forgot to mention the quite bad pain I’d had in my chest the day we went to our last blood clinic appointment.

On the Thursday night I started getting some pain in my upper chest and by the time I went to bed it was actually quite bad. It initially crossed my mind that the pain was in a similar position to the awful discomfort I had during my stem cell transplant but by bed time time the pain wasn’t just in my upper chest it was also in my shoulders so my next thought was about where the pain would be if the rib with the plasmacytoma on it had broken or even that I’d done myself a mischief while throwing up. Since we were going to the clinic the following day it didn’t even enter my head to do anything about it at the time so I just took some Oramorph on top of my usual painkillers and went to bed.

I woke up Friday morning to find the pain was really quite bad, in fact it was the pain that woke me up. Now I do an odd thing when I end up in pain in bed, I use to do it quite often when I got regular migraines, instead of getting up and taking painkillers I carry on lying in bed in pain and then only get up to take them when I just can’t take anymore – fully realising that if I’d go up when I first woke up it would be feeling somewhat better by that time. So when I finally got my backside out of bed it was nearly 7.30 am. I took as many painkillers as I could (2 Paracetamol, 2 x 50mg Tramadol and not quite 5ml Oramorph) and went back to bed.

By the time I woke up again the pain in my chest had eased off but my shoulders were still sore. B and I got dressed and set off for the Royal. As usual I took my crocheting with me because even when I’m not feeling well I have to take something crafty with me – I think its like the equivalent of a child’s blankie. I sat in the car and didn’t touch my crocheting – the only thing I did was drink some of the ginger beer I’d taken with me (I was still being familiar with the sick bowl at the time and indeed saw the ginger beer again on the way home). It was as I was sitting there comtemplating the non use of the crochet hook that I suddenly thought ‘I wonder what a heart attack feels like’. I decidely it probably wasn’t, based of course on my extensive medical knowledge, because 1) I’d never heard of anyone mentioning shoulder pain, 2) surely the chest pain would be lower and 3) I hadn’t thus far keeled over!

When I mentioned to the Prof this pain (without using the words heart attack) it turned out it could have been one of two things. He ruled one out as I currently take Fluconazole – an antifungal medication which left irritation to the oesophagus by the large number of tablets I’ve been taking. The Prof upped the antacid medication to two a day and the pain eased off. It was still bothering my shoulders a bit on Saturday but had eased off completely by Sunday however I then forgot to take the evening tablet on Sunday.

Needless to say, apart from last night that is, I haven’t forgotten since. I woke up on the Monday morning and could barely move. I got out of bed, this time straight away, went downstairs, popped the same amount of painkillers as on the Friday morning and went to lie down on the settee. B had got up when he saw the slow way that I’d been maneuvering around the bedroom and fortunately was in the lounge to cover me with a throw (hand knit by me naturally) as I think if he hadn’t been there I would have literally lay there freezing before I could have done it myself.

I dozed somewhat fitfully* at first and when B got me a drink he held it up so I could use the straw without moving anything. Fortunately by the time I woke up from some proper sleep everything had settled down significantly and it hasn’t come back since.

When I was telling my Auntie Ann she recalled being in hospital and getting a pain in her shoulder. The nurse said it could be wind and Auntie Ann wasn’t sure if she was pulling her leg or basically just plain wrong. However a burp later the pain went. B’s Auntie S when I was telling her recalled a time she’d eaten toast before going to bed and awoke to chest pain and she has heart problems to start with. She contemplated that it might be a heart attack but asked her hubby to get her some hot water and again a burp sorted the situation out.

On the Thursday night before the Blood Clinic appoint I’d said to B that I wanted to walk down to the fabric shop for some fabric, funnily enough, and B asked me on the Friday morning whether we’d be going – okay, he more or less told me we wouldn’t – but of course I couldn’t just say no. It was only on the way out of the hospital that I admitted that I just wanted to go home.

Now although I may not actually have felt like using the fabric between then and now I was still a bit put out that we didn’t make it to the shop. So I’ve said to B that we’ll go after this Friday’s appointment. He said ‘We’ll see.’ Mmmmm, yes, we’ll see. I mean I have to finish off some outstanding stuff from Christmas. I’ve now finished the embroidery but need the material to back these…

and yes – there are two Christmas Trees.  I couldn’t find the angel pattern at one point.  And I don’t know about you but I can’t help thinking that the teddy bear looks like he’s desperate for a wee.

* I have no idea why that word when following slept or dozed amuses me.

The Great Slipper Hunt of 2011

I was hoping to be able to show you a finished shawl today but after I missed yesterday’s knitting target dramatically I took a picture today while there was still a fair amount of natural light left and abandoned any thoughts of getting to the point of weaving ends in this evening.

I ended up having to do another West knits Knitalong shawl after a friend saw the first one and said ‘I’ll have one of these for Christmas in white, grey and black if you can manage it.  It will be ideal rather than a cardy.’ To which I responded ‘Okay then.’ While thinking ‘DOH!’  You see said friend hardly ever asks me to knit, sew, crochet anything even though I’ve offered loads of times – thinking about it maybe she just doesn’t trust my crafting skills – I think things she’s asked for, rather than just had thrust upon her amount to a fabric pelmet and a throw.  The DOH! resulted from me having already bought her present.  A couple of months ago she accompanied me to a hospital appointment and then we did a spot of shopping in Liverpool and then, of course, went for food.  During the course of the shopping she spotted a handbag she really liked and I was able to buy it a few days later from the local version of the same shop.  ‘What a result’ I thought at the time – with the starting of a sense of smugness at getting ahead with Christmas presents.  Anyhoo needless to say I couldn’t/didn’t say no and bought the yarn last Saturday.

As I avoid circular needles at all costs I am, once again, knitting this one on straight needles so it’s not exactly photogenic.  Actually it’s not clear in the flesh, so to speak, two friends called round last night and one isn’t a knitter at all and couldn’t grasp how what went where at all – so I had to get the first one to explain it.  I also brought down Pyjama Bear which shows I’m feeling better than two weeks ago when I mentioned the bear but couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to go upstairs for it.

So here it is…

I didn’t meet my knitting target yesterday as we had a Buddy incident.  There I was all set to carry on with the shawl after getting a drink and getting myself comfy on the settee just after two o’clock and by half past I was putting the quilt off the settee in the washer along with Bud’s two duvet/mat covers – because I thought I might as well make the most of the wash.  This was because Bud had been out for a wee wee and come back in with a pooey paw, only slightly pooey right enough but still pooey!  And I made Bud flinch, I was shooing him out into the garage and he went onto his window mat as he thought he’d been naughty.  As he wasn’t moving quick enough I put my hand out to pull him towards me and as it passed over his head he ducked and I ended up feeling bad.  Then I thoroughly traumatised Bud by inspecting his paws and then washing the relevant one with large quantities of Dettol, copious amounts of kitchen roll and a huge, nay HUGE use of ‘It’s alright.   You’re a good boy.’  He got a doggy treat after it and I got a nap.

I wouldn’t mind but B did a poo sweep of the garden last Saturday as we got back from Auntie Ann’s on Friday to find one of B’s garage slippers was missing.  After a search of the garage and house we could only conclude it was in the garden and Bud was being no help, he refused to answer B’s question ‘Where’s my slipper?  What have you done with it?’  On Saturday I ventured out on a slipper hunt to find it was poo central in the garden.  B not having collected anything since I initially went into hospital in September, he was waiting for a frosty morning but the weather has been unseasonably mild.  So B ended up having to don a pair of latex gloves and go on a poo hunt.  What made it hilarious, er I mean worse was that it was frosty early on Sunday morning!  Hehe.

Other creative spaces can be found here.

A Non Bare Bear

Darn, as Ernie pointed out I missed a prime opportunity in the title of my previous post when I could have gone with a play on a Bare Bear!  Anyhoo said bear is now fully clothed – well nearly.  Although he looks fully attired his goggles need a press stud and are just tied on and his little jacket needs an open ended zip/zipper.

Oh, and his jodphurs require a bit of white shirring elastic but other than thathe’s fully dressed!  The pattern is again from Teddy Bears: More Than 25 Irresistible Designs for Knitted Bears by Debbie Bliss.

As you can clearly see I got the loopy knitting finished whilst at the hospital yesterday.  I did have to adjust the pattern as keeping to the instructions was only sending me loopy not the yarn.  In fact I also managed to reknit the goggles as the first pair were 12cm/4.76″ short.  And then I ran out of knitting, seriously I had nothing left to do, no book to read, I did write out my Christmas present list again, got about five cups of water (they are very small cups) and went for a wee – which was a feat in itself let me tell you due completely to my choice of attire – and then fortunately my Auntie Ann appeared – but back to my clothing.  

When we have an appointment with a doctor/prof at the clinic I make at least half an effort (although they may disagree) due to the fact that, as you may recall, we go into Liverpool for a meal but when I go to the Day Unit, for treatment or when I’m feeling ruff, I go casual to the point of completely un-ironed in some instances.  So yesterday morning I was all of a do-da – an appointment with the Prof but in the Day Unit – what to wear? Anyhoo, the decision was made for me – I ironed a pair of trousers only to find I didn’t have a suitable clean t-shirt so I ended up wearing a dress with tights.  I also ended up getting two units of blood and let me tell you, if you don’t already know, it is quite a performance dealing with tights while you have a cannula in the back of one of your hands – but I’m getting ahead of myself.

I got there at 10.50am for my 11 o’clock appointment – I was early as B wasn’t involved, my Uncle Ray provided transportation.  I saw the Prof and he asked me how I was.  I said I didn’t feel ill but had been tired – and he said yes I would be because I was anemic.  So I got to have two units of blood – I could have gone back today but whilst I was already there I said I might as well stay plus if I did I’d feel better sooner.

Due to my haemoglobin count (7.6 – normal min for women 11.8), white blood count (2.6 – min 3.5) and neutrophils (1.00 – min 2.0) the next cycle of Revlimid has been delayed.  I go back to the clinic a week tomorrow (11 November) and will, hopefully, start cycle two then but this may be reduced to 10mg every other day or 5mg a day.  On the upside my kidney function has improved again and my PP (I think rather than my IgA – you’d think I’d know definitely wouldn’t you) has gone from 15 to 10! We’ll just need to wait until my next bone marrow biopsy to see if it affects (ie, squashes and stomps on) the plasma cell content of the bone marrow.

My appetite was better yesterday I’d managed half a sandwich for my lunch with a bag of french fries (which are a crisp/chip) and for tea I’d been craving spag bol (which is so much easier to type than spaghetti bolognese).  Due to the tiredness I fortunately hadn’t decided to make this from scratch so B had got a ready made jar to go with some mince. However subtle hints to B on the phone such as ‘Are you going to make the bolognese?’ hadn’t worked so I got home at 9.10pm (hence my Auntie Ann collecting me as B had gone to work) to find the meal still in kit form.  And you know what I did – I made it!

I’m not going to say it was without incident – I ended up with about a quarter of the spaghetti I started with due to a colander and sink incident – but I really enjoyed.

I’d done the mince and the sauce before going upstairs for a shower and realised we had a couple of phone messages.  So I had a quick shower, put the pasta on and phoned one of my friends back and had to do something I rarely do, I had to say I couldn’t stay on the phone long as I was cooking pasta.  When she called round this afternoon she said she got off the phone and said to herself ‘She’s been out nearly all day, she’s not been home long, it’s 10 o’clock at night, did she really just say she was cooking pasta?’ but apparently I looked and sounded a lot better today – totally like someone who could deal with cooking pasta at that time of night!

More creative spaces can be found here.

Ho Ho Ho

Who are you calling a ho? {Groan – I thought I’d save you a job.}

As we all know it’s nearly Christmas.  What?  Next week is November and at that point Christmas is next month.

Now I’m not a big fan of hand embroidery but one of the quilting blogs I read ‘SewHappy.Me‘  (as you know I don’t really quilt but it’s one of those crafts that I like to look at and think about doing) started a Christmas Banner sewalong.  So far I’ve managed to remember – in some cases just – to download the instructions weekly eg, block 1…

and today I finally got round to embroidering one…

On another creative note here’s how you give your husband a fright – you go upstairs (yesterday afternoon) at 3.oopm (see I’m remembering to use ‘old money’ on the times) to make sure he’s still awake after his alarm went off half an hour before and chat to him, then you go back downstairs and do some knitting. As you sit there knitting your head starts drooping and you decide to take a little snooze, so you snuggle down on the settee under a blanket and promptly fall asleep. When your husband finally makes it downstairs he opens the lounge door and you raise your dozing head off the cushion to find him looking at you with a horrified look on his face as he says ‘Are you not well?’ to which you answer ‘I was just taking a nap’.  He was reassured when I was able to get tea!

Other creative spaces can be found here.

Bananas in pyjamas, no wait – a bear in pyjamas!

I got my finger out and finished my first bear tonight – watched closely by Bud, who when introduced to Mr Bear attempted to greet him with a nibble on the nose.

Here he is sans pyjamas…

With jim jams and slippers…

And remember this…

the mis-matched front and backs of the dressing gown?  Well it turns out that I wasn’t the problem – well in this particularly instance.  After finishing the jim jams I didn’t have enough variegated yarn for the dressing gown, so I re-knit it in another colour and as I was working up the first front I realised that there was no way that it was going to match the rows for the back – so I had to adjust the decreases to get them to end up the same length.  And here’s Mr Bear in his full outfit…

The pattern is from Teddy Bears: More than 25 irresistible designs for knitted bears by Debbie Bliss.

I think the second bear may turn out to be an Aviator Bear.  B meanwhile has stated that although I always deal with Christmas presents, and he has always had minimal involvement, that as presents go these bears potentially suck as gifts for the recipients concerned!  Well at least I know Bud likes the look of this one.

Happy Christmas Crochet

Some of you may remember this…

my attempt at broomstick lace earlier in the year.  Now although I didn’t dislike the effect the whole effort of wrapping the yarn around a big fat knitting needle on every other row was a pain in the proverbial – to say it didn’t flow was an understatement and I couldn’t have done it in public as it involved way too much propping of the knitting needle against a leg, stomach or other convenient body part.

So I abandoned it and used the yarn in my second holiday project which I have now finished…

It is intended to be a Christmas present and I’m sure it will be but we all like it. I’m taken with it, B has actually said he thinks it’s one of the nicest blankets I’ve done and this is what Bud thinks of it…

I only moved it to one side to get up to answer the phone and whoosh he pounced.

While attempting to do the above earlier Bud was getting a little restless as I decided that he wasn’t getting a second walk tonight and he didn’t exactly concur so I made him a super quick toy.  I had thought about this the other day and decided it would be a good thing to keep him occupied.

I took three old pillow cases I’d been hanging onto because they may ‘come in handy’  one day.  It may also have been because I used to buy organic bedlinen and at that sort of price (even if I could get it on sale) I couldn’t bring myself to throw them out when they got worn out.

So I cut the pillowcases up the sides so they looked like this…

plaited them and tied a knot at each end.

‘What do you think Bud?’

Seems like a winner, although it probably won’t last that long but then none of his soft toys do, and I don’t think he likes pretending to be a sumo wrestler in it.