Roll Roll Cotton Boll Step 5 (spoiler alert)

I finshed the piecing of this rather daunting step last weekend/earlier this week.  All that remained was to cut apart the squares (I used the 8 in one speed piecing method) and worst of all - pressing and trimming down 600 2" HSTs!!! (and some extra plain squares)

I used 2 types of green in place of Bonnie's constant red fabric.

Here are just a few units but I promise I've made them all!!

I pressed about 25% last night and hope to finish today...or I'll wait until I need them and press/trim as I go.

I've hardly done any sewing in almost a week.  We have been decluttering, reorganising and maximising  what little space we have (Thank you, Ikea).  For the first time in 2 years I'm (relatively) pain free and able to do things like spring cleaning etc.  It's a great feeling!

I'm so unfit as a result because for the longest time even walking was painful as each step would jar my wrist so it's exhausting but I hope to get my energy back soon!

So back to RRCB...I still have 30 string blocks to go along with trimming down the HSTs.  I'm still no closer to figuring out the layout which is one thing I especially love about this mystery.  It's really exciting!

I'm hoping to make the quilt a little longer so if I add more blocks I'll need more of each piece but not knowing how they will be used means I can't be sure how many extra to make.  Maybe I can simply add an extra border at the top and bottom??

I'm desperate to know so I can plan ahead!  Clue 6 comes out tonight and i can't wait!!  I know I'm going to love this quilt.  I already love the units and colours and fabrics and the scrappiness of it!

Nemesis update

I just got back from my check up with the surgeon.

All going as well as can be expected.  I'm still sore and he warned me to expect it (like I don't know the drill by now!!) since the scar tissue inside and out is still settling down and my body is getting used to yet another new joint.  Usual spiel - no heavy lifting, straining, football (??!!) etc.

I'm having terrible trouble with both carpal tunnel and ulnar nerves but there is no way I'm willing to have anymore surgery...for a really long time...unless it's IVF related.

He said given the improvement he's "fairly sure" it's not an infection...ummmm...I thought we established that 2 months ago???  I know what he means and unfortunately pathology can be wrong so only time will tell which doesn't help when you want a clear cut definitive answer but time isn't the worst thing.

We need a good 3 months to get healthy (which means less booze for hubby and less weight for me), vitamins and supplements for both of us, acupuncture for me and police checks for both of us (lovely, right??!).  Oh yeah and money. 

Sooo I'm cautiously optimistic that come march 2011 or thereabouts, my doctor can start trying to knock me up.

I bumped into a friend I haven't seen in ages and she's due with her 3rd in march 2011 so there's something in the water (and visions of really cute baby quilts waiting to be made!)

On the crafty front, I've been plodding on with quilting Max's dinosaur quilt.  It's taking FOREVER!

I'm avoiding doing the Mystery Quilt clues until I get this quilt finished otherwise it'll never get done and I'm dying to get a move on with the 2 mysteries.

I'm also 1 flower and 2 leaves away from finishing the centre applique of Lizzy mae's Medallion.  Woohoo!  Final class for that is next week.  I'm LOVING all the fabrics and can't wait to put it together but gotta finish these dinosaurs first!!

New Stitchery

I didn't do any of them.  They were done by my old pal Mr B.

The one on the top is the newest. 

It's lovely and neat.  Very unlike my op in March.  The hugest scar is from that.  He used an old incision (from 11 years ago) and that's why it didn't heal properly.  You can kind of see the older, white scarring under and around the redder one, but the latest one is perfect!  It's lighter after 7 weeks than the previous one is after 7 months!!

 

Anyway I'm still to be careful and treat it like before.  I even got specific instructions not to have any falls or accidents.  Methinks he knows me far too well!!!

I pointed out that it's easier said then done given how unco I am, and he advised me to try to fall on my face with my arm held behind me. *lol*  he really is a lovely man though!

The best bit is...it doesn't hurt!  Well not really.  My muscles are all still very stiff and sore especially my elbow which hasn't been bent in 7 weeks and that'll take a good few days to improve.

Rotation is lovely and smooth and it doesn't pop out of its socket anymore.  Still a little sore when I push it to the full extent but it's post-op soreness not something's-broken-again soreness.

I go back in a month so let's hope I don't stuff it up in the meantime!

We stopped for a coffee after we were done and I sampled Hudson's Quad Shot with 400mg of caffeine loaded goodness!  Awesome! (just don't order one if you have heart problems etc!)

Oh and one of my Book Depository orders arrives yesterday:

Great book!  Now I'm waiting on the other one!

DaChintzy Code Mystery Clues 3 and 4 (spoiler alert)

On Monday night I was so keen to get on with the mystery that I marked up all my squares for Clue 3.

Clue 3 consisted of 2 steps - making HSTs with the fabric 4 paired with fabrics 2 and 3.

When I woke up this morning I felt so sore and swollen.  The plaster is rubbing against a particularly irritating spot and I'm all out of strong painkillers.  At least DH got me more Diet Coke so I forced myself to proceed, knowing I'd feel better once I got my fingers moving and I did.

Clue 3, steps 4A and 4B:

Since sewing them together was so quick i proceeded directly onto Clue 4. 

This involved pairing up the 2 units above and doing the same thing as before to make little hourglass units. I tried to keep the seam allowance as scant as possible but I have grave concerns for the health of this quilt.  My units are not even close to square and the seam allowances wander somewhat.

Clue 4, Step 5:

I spose it's not bad considering how plastered I am. :-P

I must say I love how it's all coming together so far!  This quilt will be a charity quilt but it'll be hard to give it up.  I've wanted a lovely pink girly lap quilt to snuggle up with for a while and been on the lookout for the perfect pattern or fabric.  Lucky for me (and the recipient of this charity quilt!!), my Block Swap friends have taken care of my "ME" quilt so provided this one doesn't look too sloppy it'll go to a good home.

I have a few tops for charity waiting to be quilted but I'm not sure when this will happen.  It will depend on what happens after my plaster comes off.

Clue 5 comes out in about a week.  That's probably a good thing since I need to finish off my table mat and bind my french braid runner and work more on Lizzy Mae!

I'm plastered!

No not in that sense!

 Just a boring white fibreglass plaster.  They don't have coloured ones anymore! :-(

DS will decorate it tomorrow I suspect!

The surgical wound looked great unlike last time and the edges came together beautifully.  All cultures came back negative but the main thing is the surgery uncovered and dealt with what appeared to be the 2 causes of all the trouble.  The only way to find out for sure is to wait and see.

I was hoping to sew tonight but I'm frantically getting ready for a playdate tomorrow with a school friend of DS's. Hope all goes well.  DH needs to help me do some baking tonight.  I'm starting to feel quite sore again. (I guess this morning's drugs well and truly wore off) which is disappointing but to be expected.

So I can stop the nasty antibiotics (altho I'll miss the weight loss!) and actually enjoy eating again for the first time in 6 weeks!  Yippee!

Bleurgh...

This morning i woke up with the worst nausea.

Even the meds i've been getting in hospital haven't controlled it. They can only give me as much as the dr has written up even tho higher doses are safe.

I got ready to go home anyway but it was a good hour after the official discharge time before i was able to go.

Cultures still aren't in so it's likely they will be negative but i still have to continue oral antibiotics until we get the official report.

Just to top things off we got rear ended on the way home while standing at a red light and they didn't even stop.

We took down the plates and stopped at the police station on the way home.

Hopefully the police can track down the driver.

I still feel awful despite the antinausea meds i took home. The pain is much better than i thought but the pain meds make me more sick as do the oral antibiotics.

I get my stitches out on thursday and a full plaster put on which will be more comfortable than the plaster splint and bandages.

It is wonderful to be home though!

Day 3

Day 3 has come to a close and I'm still in hospital.

This morning I agreed to stop the PCA and see how I go on oral meds with the idea of going home tomorrow.  I was apprehensive but it's been fine.  I'm still having the antibiotics thru the IV which makes me feel less sick.

I admit I don't much like the way endone makes me feel so I might just try a single one tonight.

Doc said there was still no news from the lab but we should get it today and he'll come see me once he gets the results.

Still no results!

I suspect they'll come back negative so I've been sending bits and pieces of stuff home with DH every night to lug less around tomorrow.  The only thing to stop me leaving will be a positive culture but I imagine if anything was up with that we would have heard by now.

Just want to say thank you to everyone and without lots of blogs to read my hospital stay would have been much more boring!!!

Day 2 Adventures

The doctor finally turned up 2 hours later than usual.

He said he also found a flap of cartilage stuck beween the ball and socket of the joint that was the cause of the clunking and popping out of its socket.

He was surprised I had been getting oral antibiotics.  I told the nurses he said IV ones but they listened to the anaesthetist who wrote up oral.  grrrr!  Anyway Mr B sorted it out and I'm back on IV again.

Apparently some of the cultures could be ready by today but I have a feeling they will all come back negative.

Just to make things more exciting, my IV line blocked off so I had to wait fot the IV nurse to come put in a new one. She had terrible trouble getting a vein but found one in the end.  She could only get half the cannula in as it wouldn't budge any further so she just taped it all up tightly.

The main thing is I'm reconnected to my lovely PCA!  I was getting worried for a while!

Theonly drawback is because it's all plugged into tthe power point, I need to buzz for a nurse to come unplug me if I need to go to the loo and back again when I'm done.

Now the question is whether I go home tomorrow morning or not.  Depends on lab results and my willingness (or lackof) to part ways with the PCA.

Dh could probably take friday off work but if I came home tomorrow I'd either be kidwrangling or home alone while the boys go to work.  Neither option is good so I'll see about staying another night when the boys come visit since they should be here soon!

In the meantime the big syringe in the PCA is looking almost empty so I hope they recharge it for me!!!

I've really enjoyed looking at everyone's block swaps and the latest  AP & Q
is excellent!  Lots of nice quilts to make!  Not that I need any more ideas for a while!

OK so amuse me - if you've seen the newest edition of the mag, please leave me a comment and tell me which quilt is your favourite or which one you want to make.

I'm loving the cover quilt (Waiting for Russell) by Sandra Dart and also A Summer Place by Frances Leate

My New BFF

I finally started being able to feel my fingers at around 10:30pm. 

The down side to all this is that pain very quickly followed.  By midnight I'd taken the various oral meds and wanted my PCA that the anaesthetist promised me.  The only thing left was panadol osteo and no-way was that going to do anything.

The nurse gave it to me and said I could have more endone in an hour or two!!!  Apparentlt the PCA was a last resort and I was to try the oral endone again first.

She left and I cried.  An hour or two later I was greeted by a couple of nurses coming in with my PCA!!!!!!!!!!

Such a wonderful sight!  And I didn't have to beg for it!  It look a while to get set up especially since a drip was ordered with it.  Now I have fentanyl continuously flowing into me and I can have a boost at the press of a button!

It's wonderful and I don't react to it as much as morphine or pethidine.

The doc will be doing his rounds in an hour or so and he better not send me home.  They will have to pry the button from my cold dead hands first!!

This is why...

nemesis ...I am so insistent on a good nerve block!

It means that not only can I be awake during the surgery but keeping all other drugs to a minimum makes me feel better in general.

My block was put in a 10:30 this morning.  It's now almost 6pm and I feel absolutely nothing!  My arm is so numb I can barely move it and I have absolutely no movement in my fingers!

I needed painkillers for a headache rather than anything else!

Once DH returns with DS and shows me how to use the webcam on this thing I can post pics.

Thank you all for your love and support over the past few months weeks and days.  It means so much to me!

oooh I am rather clever!  While looking for the webcam I discovered this thing has bluetooth so I was able to transfer some pics from my mobile!

Flowers from mum and dad

Check out the pervious post for a pic of my "pearl" as they seem to call the head of the implant.

On the other side!!

Everything went much better with the new staggered admissions in the DPC.

The anesthetist was lovely and did the most thorough arm block I've ever had along some much better suggestions for post-op pain relief.

The primary cause for all this grief was a tendon rubbing againt the artificial joint to the point it got a hole through it.  Luckily this tendon is redundant because my wrist is fused so they cut it out along with some pathology samples.  It didn't look infected but we'll wait to hear the result.  the ball of my joint was replaced with a smaller one and it seemed to fit better.

I seem to be an unusual case so they had a few extra doctors watching and I got the anaesthetic nurse to keep peeping over the curtain to see where they were up to.  They even let me keep my old ball and they never usually allow it.  i always ask to keep stuff and normally they say no but I'm to keep it a secret! lol

Looks like i may go home sooner but i imagine I'll be in a few nights. I'll see what the pain is like when the nerve block wears off.

This is what the joint looks like

And this is where is goes altho my wrist looks a little different since I've had a full wrist fusion also

 

T minus 12 hours and counting...

Until my admission that is.

The generic time for a morning admission is 7am but the Day Procedure Centre has finally listened to patients' complaints and is nor staggering admission times so you don't arrive at 7 and wait 6 hours in a chair for surgery!

Apparently the surgeon has to OK the later admission time tho so when the hospital rang me and the lady admitted it said 9am on her sheet but wasn't "allowed" to tell me to come later since she would get in trouble.  I rang the secretary who seemed to think it was all up to the hospital and I got her to agree to 8am so I'm thinking sometime between 8 and 9am.  I'm ALWAYS last on the list.

Then someone with more authority rang from the DPC and said I can come in at 9am!  woohoo!

Unfortunately the hand surgeries, opthalmology, gynaecology and endoscopy procedures all go through the DPC even if the person is staying overnight (like me).

At least if you have to wait hours for other surgeries you get shown into your room and can chill out there in a little more privacy, watch TV etc.

I'm usually too nervous to concentrate on a book so I'm making DH stay with me this time and amuse me since DS is being looked after by my sister (he can't wait!!).

DH is also trying to organise a laptop for me.  My old one is dead and quite ancient anyway so I'll be blogging updates.

September FNSI results - fail!

That's right I did nothing!

I hoped to finish binding the tablerunner but nope!

I've been so tired lately.  Going to bed well before midnight is so UNlike me!

The weekend was a little more productive although no sewing was done.

Saturday saw us shopping for bits and pieces for hospital and stocking up on things to feed the kidlet while I'm out of action.

Sunday afternoon we went across town to where the Russian shops and delis are.  DH bought a dozen boxes of sachets of buckwheat porrige that he and DS love to eat.  Usually making it from scratch takes agaes but these little bags just get thrown into boiling water for 15 mins.  It's the equivalent of 2 mins noodles for Eastern Europe!

 

No I didn't take this photo.  I got it from this cool Russian blog.

We also got a pack of frozen pelmeni and a yuuumy poppyseed pastry.  All stuff I will have no hope of making for a really long time.  

On the way home we had an early dinner at TGI Friday's and a trip to Border's bookstore.

Today I still have mountains of washing to get though and I need to pack my stuff.  I managed to wrangle a slightly later admission from my surgeon's secretary so dropping off DS at my poor sister's house at the crack of dawn wont be quite as unwelcome as it might otherwise have been!

I'm terrified they wont find anything when they open me up so please pray for SOMEthing!  I don;t care what it is or how bad it is just find SOMEthing.  SOMEthing can be fixed but they can't fix what they can't find!!!

We have a date!!

What an eventful day!

My surgeon realised it's definitely crunch time.  He'll see if he can replace the ball of my artificial joint with a smaller one to make it fit better given the idea is to replace at least the ball anyway to attempt to beat this infection.

If it is indeed an infection.  The Dr isn't sure.  These things are very hard to diagnose.  He said he wont be removing or replacing the stem of the prosthesis unless it's loose since in his experience he has never seen or even heard of an infected stem that wasn't loose.

I'm still keen he rips it out.  If it's a very slow growing infection, it mightn't loosen for another year or so and we'd be right here where we started.  I'll have to plead my case in theatre.

He'll also give everything a good wash out and cut out any dodgy looking bone and tissue and send swabs and samples to pathology.

I'll have IV antibiotics for a few days and depending what's found and how it looks, he might have one of the infectious diseases docs to come see me in hospital.  If that happens they will figure out what my antibiotic treatment will be at that point but he warned me whatever it is it would probably last 6-8 months if the infectious diseases people get their hands on me!

He couldn't commit to how long I'll be in hospital but he did say it could be quite a while depending what they find.

Usually after the consent forms are signed, his secretary finds a spot on the operating list (which is currently a month away!) but he said he'd get me in sooner and was true to his word.

I burst into tears when I asked whether another anaesthetist was available and how absolutely awful the usual one is.  I've had the misfortune of having him 3 times!  he keeps promising to retire but he never does.  Mr B was naturally very concerned and looked up his operating schedule himself on the computer and found me a spot on Tues morning!

I could have kissed him.  The catch is that all this depends on whether the hospital can get my spare parts in by then!  The secretary made some calls and turns out they need to come from Sydney.  I'm dreading a call to say they can't do it! 

Mr B rarely does morning surgeries too and they're so much better especially if it's an overnight stay.  If the anaesthetic block is done right, it can provide pain relief for up to 12 hours so if you have a late afternoon op, it wears off only hours before you are supposed to be discharged and don't have a good feel for what the pain is like.  I always stay at least an extra night for this reason.

I have so much to do!  I've bought a few extra pairs of nice jammies.  I always do when I go into hospital and my collection of "good" jammies is adding up but given I have an open-ended stay I needed a few more.  They all need short sleeves to accomodate the whopper of a dressing and temporary plaster they always use.

I've bought the newest Shopaholic book and I'm going to exercise every ounce of self control not to read it before tuesday!

Ready, (almost)set...

...go?

I certainly hope so! i'm doing what i can on the home front to get ready for surgery. Been doing some cleaning, finishing up my block swaps and getting things together.

Now all i need is a date!

Well not quite all. I need to pick which of the 2 surgeries i'll have and my surgeon's idea of sending me to see an infectious diseases specialist to manage the antibiotic side of things isn't such a bad idea afterall.

I'm seeing my surgeon in the morning and will keep him at his word to sneak me into theatre sooner than his operating list would would allow.

I'm also hoping to get him to organise for me to see the infections doc asap... Hopefully also tomorrow if it's in the same building and i can sweet talk the secretary into slotting me in. (i can usually!).

The antibiotic treatment will depend on which surgery i have and what bug/s are responsible.

I better not get put off again. I'm sick of the pain and uncertainty. I'm just not good with unknowns or waiting.

Please Mr B just do it already! I really appreciate your efforts to spare me a 4th op but it's become inevitable.

Me-0 : Staph-1

I wish this post was all about how much sewing I'd been doing!

Unfortunately my greatest achievement is that I've slept more in the past 24 hours than I have in the past week!  This means I've been late in taking at least the last 2 antibiotic doses. :-(

I did manage to finish cutting fabric for my block swaps in my few waking hours yesterday but that's all!

This morning I woke up with yet another sore throat.  This sheds some light on the situation!  The stupid antibiotics are basically weakening my immune system.  Thankfully they're fairly narrow spectrum but still.  Nor are they making much headway with diminishing the lovely staph colony that has made itself comfy in my bone canal.  They are being kept off the bone but are still happily breeding on my artificial joint.

It's no wonder that since my last op on 1 March this year I've had repeated illness when normally I have a great immune system.

DH picked up my kit for Month 2 of Lizzy Mae and I lovelovelove the fabrics!!

Other than that I really need to get those blocks pieced and posted.  I'm really looking forward to doing them

Well hope to BBL with some finishes to celebrate!!

September Friday Night Sew In

Will be held on the 17th this month.

Click on the piccie above to go to Heidi's blog where all the info is!

I'm still undecided as to what I'm working on.  September is a very busy month in terms of projects.  I may try to do DH's potholder. 

If I have surgery in October as I'm suspecting then he wont get his potholders until next year probably!  Hand piecing is OK in plaster and machine piecing is do-able towards the end when the pain subsides but I don't dare quilt anything for months afterwards.  It's just too painful.

Actually I haven't tried machine piecing in a above-the-elbow cast.  Only did it last year when I had a smaller forearm cast.  Should be interesting given my Lizzy Mae is a monthly class until December and the remaining classes are all machine piecing!

Runners and Rashes

Yesterday I went to my Table Runner Class!

After Tuesday, I had no energy to pre-cut my fabric but it was OK.  I was there for the technique anyway.

Here is as far as I got:

There are 3 more strips to go and each one is lighter than the one before.  The "points police" have threatened to send me an infringement notice if the most recent strip isn't unpicked and restitched but I am rather pleased (or at the very least satisfied!) with my other points!

Then it was off to the doctors to deal with a sudden itchy rash around my underarm area.  They're so frustrating that they wont think outside the box!  No it's NOT from shaving as they're insisting!  Funnily enough the saved area has NO rash and I've never had a problem before.

My gut feel is that it's related to my antibiotics.

It doesn't look like a typical allergic rash according to the doctors.  OK firstly I've has at least 3-4 different things that presented very atypically!  Secondly some antibiotics cause a rash as a side effect and not as the result of allergy!

ARGH!!!

I'm to go back daily and I'll see the less useless doctor.  At least he is willing to admit it could be something other than shaving whereas the other one refuses to consider any other possibilities - yet he prescribed a stack of different antihistamine treatments!

The pain also returned after 24 hours on the lower antibiotic dose so I've gone back up.  I left a message with my surgeon's secretary to tell him to change the dose on future scripts and to mention the rash as well.  At least my surgeon is always willing to think outside the box.

Anyway hopefully by tonight the antibiotics will be working again and I can get on with the runner!

A Bit Devastated...

I saw my surgeon today and my options are worse than I thought.

Two options involve long term antibiotics. One of these may cure it and the other only suppresses it. The third option also aims for a cure but involves several surgeries and 6 months with no joint and my bone flapping in the breeze.

If we want to do IVF in a month... Well the maths just doesn't add up.  He hoped I could just keep taking antibiotics through pregnancy but I can't for various reasons - even baby safe ones.

My surgeon said i need to speak to my fertility specialist and she gave the most devastating blow of all. I have to be completely clear of all infection and off all antibiotics for at least a month before we can have any more treatment.

The thing is we may never get a complete cure. I'm just so very sad. I'm going to be so angry if my stupid wrist is the reason i can't have a big family.

Anyway for now I continue on antibiotics for a month to see if I get further improvement, my surgeon will think a bit harder and see what happens then.

IVF is off the cards indefinitely.

August FNSI Report

Well I'm pleased to say I actually did something!  I was certain I'd have to pull out due to the Nemesis.  Unfortunately DH's potholders had to wait.  Maybe next month!

My FNSI actually sort of started late in the afternoon!

I popped into Lorraine's shop today to pick up my pack for month 1 of Lizzie Mae's Medallion!

On the left is the original pattern sheet and on the right is Lorraine's applique so we know which bits of fabric go where. (click for a close up)

I'm really excited to be starting and now that my health issues seem to be under control I'm confident it will proceed well.

I love that Lorraine has pre-cut the bias stems!  Yippee!  All the little bits will be a challenge to pre-wash though.  I think I'm just going to swish them around in a pot of boiling water to reduce the fraying.

As soon as I got home I did what any control freak would do - scrutinize the colours, dive into my repro stash and pull out extra ones to tweak it.  The following pics include the fabric from the kit and FQs and F1/8s from my repro stash.  Not sure exactly what I'll use and where though.

I'm not really good when it comes to lack of symmetry which is one reason samplers bother me somewhat.  Anyway, any bits from the kit I don't end up using will go into my Dear Jane.

DH wanted to make stew for dinner.  I was too washed out to argue and as long as I didn't have to do it then fine...but I knew we'd be eating late (which we did).  Kidlet wasn't at all sleepy even after a week of school (what's new?) so he bounced around til almost 10pm (Yikes!).

The official portion of FNSI started around 9pm I think.  It doesn't seem like much but for me it was a huge achievement given how awful the pain has been lately. 

 First I cut out the A4 pattern sheets and taping them together to make the 20" by 20" pattern sheet for the central applique.  Sticky tape was MIA but due to my dodgy wrist we have lots of Micropore around.  It actually worked better than tape being soft and flexible and goopy holding the sheets together only on the back!

Then I numbered all the individual applique components and wrote down the ammended colours then traced them all onto freezer paper.

I still need to cut out all the individual shapes and wash my fabrics but I have til Tuesday morning.

I'm also feeling better!  Around the 24-36 hour mark after starting the antibiotics I'm pretty sure the pain is reduced!  Granted I'm still taking fairly heavy painkillers but they're actually working which they were not before and I take them less often. 

I'm really hoping we've found the problem but the downside to all this is to figure how to get rid of the infection permanently.  It's not going to be easy and the success rate isn't 100% (but neither is anything) so we wait and see.