Chronicles Of My Mind

Cats kill...

starrynight — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 19:26:28 GMT

Ok, more like Catskills, because that's where I am! You know where Woodstock took place? I'm 5 miles away from there.

Being up here is very interesting. Lots of long, winding roads with very little cars passing, big empty highways, and I'm in the middle of nowhere. On Long Island, we have tons of public parks and stores aplenty. Up here, it's 30 minutes to the nearest Walmart.

I'm not complaining, it's a free vacation for Oliver and I and I love that I don't have to get up and worry about when Oliver's therapists are going to come. On the flipside, Oliver had many, many meltdowns the first day he was here. He was screaming about everything - getting into the elevator, being near my parents motorized scooters that they rented, etc.

There's lots of snow and freezing weather. I'm taking 15 degrees with the windchills. Funnily enough, I saw some cows outside. I didn't even know they could last in this weather.

This is just to give you an idea of what the weather has been like since I got here. I'll post more photos when I'm home :)

Story Time, Ft. Oliver

starrynight — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 19:16:33 GMT

This is the second week of story time at the local library. It's a half hour and the librarians read three books, do music and bubble time, and we all sing nursery rhymes. Oliver loves the automatic bubble machine, I may have to get him one at home.

I think it's good for him to be around kids his own age, it's all one and two year olds. He doesn't seemed overwhelmed which is great. If he did, I would stop taking him to the library and figure something else out. We've also been going to the park a lot. I loooooove the cool weather, it's easier for me to get out and do more.

In addition to story time, there's pajama story time and there's also a parent/tot class. It's too late for me to sign up for the current session, but I'll certainly sign up for the next one which I think is in November. Pajama story time doesn't start until the end of Sept, but it's basically the same thing except toddlers go to the library dressed in pj's.

My boyfriend asked if I mind doing it and I said no, because Oliver is enjoying it and he needs to get out and experience different things. He needs to do something else other than therapy during the day.

Oh, and I went to Mitsuwa in New Jersey over the weekend. The ride up was great, it only took an hour and I had to go through Manhattan. Specifically the Throgs Neck and GWB and cross the Hudson. On the way back, my boyfriend and I stopped at his sister's apartment in Hamilton Heights because she went with us. I gotta say, for a city apartment, she has a big bedroom and huge bathroom.

It took 2.5 hours to get home because traffic through the city was awful. It took forever to get to the 59th street bridge, and then the LIE was backed up as well as the Cross Island Parkway, grrrr. On the plus side, Oliver was good the entire time. He didn't fuss or whine once.

relief!

starrynight — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 23:43:07 GMT

My boyfriend's parents had a spare a/c window unit, brand new in the box. Works great and the bedroom is nice and cool now. It'll have to do until the central air is repaired.

Oliver's 21 month checkup was today. He's 29.5" inches tall, 21 lbs. So he gained half an inch and four oz of weight over the last three months. He does seem to have allergies, as the nurse practitioner noted that Oliver's eyes were red underneath. I said that they are always like that and probably due to envrionmental allergies.

I believe the plan is to refer Oliver to an endocrinologist just to make sure he's growth is ok. It's not like he doesn't grow, but he's at least three inches shorter than the average kid of the same age, both male and female. Between 1 and 2 years, Oliver should grow three inches per year until the age of ten. So far, Oliver's only grown an inch and a half since his first birthday and probably won't grow much more. He averages about half an inch every three months. But I'll let the doctor worry about it. He's not on the chart anymore for height but that's ok, I guess.

I saw Ghostbusters today with my friend and it was so, so funny. I have a girl crush on Kate McKinnon now.

Hot @___@

starrynight — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 14:30:30 GMT

Today is supposed to be near 90 F. It's summer, so it's to be expected. But I am heat intolerant, with heart problems. It's not a good mix.

The heat is messing with my stomach and giving me diarrhea and cramps, and I get a little dizzy at times. I went out and bought an extra fan and that seems to help a bit. I could go to my parents but I worry about my rabbits. They can withstand temps up to 85 F if necessary [55 to 70 F is ideal] but it's going to be warmer than that today and I want to keep an eye on them. If they do fine today, then I know I can leave them alone and I'll put the fans by their pens to help keep them cool.

Oliver is doing pretty well with the heat. As long as he's only in a diaper, he doesn't get hot.

I'm more aggravated that the technician came on Sunday and said it would be three to five days to get a new electrical board. It's Friday and I still haven't heard anything, so it may be another week without any air conditioning. I told my boyfriend we should buy a window unit just in case the a/c breaks in the future. It's central air so if it breaks, the whole house is affected. It shouldn't take two weeks. Heck, it shouldn't even take more than a week to fix. The only reason why we used this company is because we have a warranty, which apparently doesn't even cover labor. Soooo it's going to cost about $700 to fix. I told my boyfriend to never use this company again,

At least at night it isn't too bad. It cools down a lot and I'm able to sleep.

Quick notes...

starrynight — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 01:29:10 GMT

Oliver had an allergic reaction to what I can only assume is eggs, as he was eating toast that had eggs and bacon on top. He did not want to eat anything but the bread so he did, but there was still egg residue and voila....hives. Since the both of us [his parents] have food allergies, this is not surprising and somewhat expected.

He had patches of hives everywhere but it wasn't severe enough to impair is breathing. So at Oliver's 21 month old check up, I'm going to tell the ped. I also figure his eczema is also due to allergies, as it never really goes away. It'll dry up a bit with cream then flare up again. Who knows what else he's allergic to.

Also, Oliver is a super picky eater. He won't eat any kind of meat, he won't eat things like waffles or cut up cheese. But he does like pizza, crackers, rice cakes, yogurt and smoothies. I'm still experimenting with food to see what else he'll eat, or not eat.

He hasn't gotten speech therapy yet [boo!], and does seem to say a lot of words. BUT not in any sort of context, and he will only repeat words if you say it first. He has no idea what the words mean or what they're associated with. So he's a bit echolaliac but it might be temporary, it might not be. Only time will tell. I have to figure out what's going on with speech therapy. If there's no one available, fine. But I deserve to at least know what's going on with it.

Annnnnnd our central a/c broke, ugh. The utility closet where some of the electric is for it flooded and fried the electrical board. I don't know if it's because the originaly company who installed it last year screwed up the pipes, but we had a technician come in yesterday and he said he can get a new electrical board, waterproof it, and install either tubing or some other kind of draining system so water will never get into the closet again.

Sucks but at least it broke right as the heat wave died down, and hopefully by Wednesday, it'll be back up and running.

Other than that, nothing's really new. I've been driving around as usual and love my car so much. It cost $35 to fill up for the first month I had it, so hopefully it stays around that much. Not bad for an SUV, to be honest. My gas tank is 14 gallons and it's about 150 miles to use up half a tank, 300 miles for a full tank. And I have no car payments, which is great. Only thing is that I'm a new driver, so my insurance is almost 2k a year, yuck. Hopefully my rates drop over time. And I did take a defensive driving course to get an insurance discount.

New Toy

starrynight — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 13:06:42 GMT

So for almost a year, I've been wanting an embroidery machine. Even though I don't do a ton of sewing, I figure it would give me a little bit of motivation since historical clothes tend to be embroidered, and that's what I want to make.

I bought a Brother Designio embroidery machine. It's a lot different than a serger or sewing machine. For one, you have to use special bobbin thread, and that thread never shows on the right side. Second, it has no pedal. You just push a button to start it and it will stop when the design is done or if the thread color needs to be changed. Some designs use 5-6 colors or more, some only use 1 or 2.

Last night I set it up and it was a disaster. The needle that came in the machine broke. The needle I put in after that fell out of the shaft and broke [my fault, it wasn't in as tight as I thought]. It also took me forever to figure out the hoops even with the instructions. So after all that, I called it a night and went to sleep.

Then I woke up and decided to try again. I wanted to do a sample design to make sure my machine works properly. Everything went smoothly! I'm going to mess around with some more designs tonight.

The hoops also have a grid guide for exact placements, and I can upsize, downsize, and rotate designs if needed. I can also make vertical designs horizontal. It's pretty cool!

ETA: oops, the hoop was on wrong. It's been fixed, though.

Oliver started therapy this week. It's more overwhelming for me than it is for him, because it's three hours a day that I have to sit with him and the therapist. The schedule is a little more intense than I thought. Monday and Friday is only one therapy session, Tuesday, Wed, and Thursday are double therapy days.

It is what it is and it's in Oliver's best interest to do this, so whatever. I'll just deal.

FREEDOM!

starrynight — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 19:38:16 GMT

I love my car.

I love driving.

I have a really great GPS which takes the stress and worry out of it. Tells me the speed limit and which lane to be in. I've been on a couple of highways a bunch of times as my house is maybe a half mile away from one. They don't make me nervous at all. I just get in my car and go, and before I know it, I'm where I have to be. Granted, the highways I've used have stop lights, so the only thing left to conquer is the freeways where there are no lights at all. I don't think it's that different in terms of merging, so I am going to give that a try within the next couple of weeks.

I bought an Empire Passport which is a little sticker you put on the window of your car and it lets you get into all the state parks for free. Normally, the entrance fee for the parks is $8 per entry, so after eight times the pass pays for itself, and it's good until March of next year.

Also, I went to a park today and went on a three mile walk with Oliver, pushing him in the stroller. It's not easy because some areas have pretty steep inclines. Nothing crazy, but it gets cumbersome when you're pushing a 20+ lb kid and the weight of the stroller. I also didn't bring a water bottle so by the time I was done walking, my mouth was so dry that my lips were sticking together and forming mucus on top, yuck. I went out and got a water bottle with a flip top lid so it won't spill anywhere.

I know once Oliver starts therapy, I won't have time to visit my parents during the week, and I'll have less time to myself but I'll make it work.

Mother's Day Weekend

starrynight — Tue, 10 May 2016 15:39:01 GMT

I can honestly say it was truly an honor to see Itzhak Perlman play. I was ten rows from the front of the stage so I could see all his finger/hand/arm movements as well as facial expressions.

Saturday basically went like this:

-Went to Queens to visit boyfriend's side of the family [all the while tripping over the gutter in my driveway and skinning my knees and hand]
-Got picked up by Gabby at 3 pm
-Visited our mutual friend at a street far in Glendale [Queens], which is ten minutes away from where I was [we all know each other from college']
-Talked a bit with said college friend and had a nice time
-Gabby and I got pizza at 4 pm then hit the road. We basically talked for the whole hour and a half
-Went to NJ and got dressed/ready at Gabby's place
-Drove to MPAC [Mayo Performing Arts Center] to see Perlman
-Got out of the show at 10 pm,
-Went back to Gabby's place to get her overnight bag
-Went to Quick Chek for some food [similar to Wawa/7-11, I guess]
-Hit the road
-Arrive home at 1:30 am
-Go to bed at 2 pm

My knee stung a bit initially, now it's scabbing over.

Me: left, Gab: right

I helped her do her makeup, hehe

It was sad seeing Perlman in a motorized wheelchair. He contracted polio at the age of 4 and has needed to use one the last few years. I think polio primarly affects the legs so it doesn't affect his ability to play. He had a pianist named Rohan De Silva with him and played some Firtz Kreisler pieces and was totally awe inspiring and amazing. Personally I was hoping for a Paganini piece but I know the caprices are very technically demanding [not that the pieces he played aren't] and maybe they're a little harder to do in old age? I dunno, but it was still wonderful to see him.

Makes me feel guilty for not continuing with the violin because I reaaaaallly want to take lessons but I have to hold off for a bit until after I get a car and figure out how much insurance and gas is going to be. In the meantime though, I'm going to go back to my Suzuki books and do all my exercises [scales, arpeggios, intonation practice mostly] so that I won't be too rusty.

Sunday I woke up sore, stiff and exhausted from spending 3+ hours in a car so I didn't do anything special for Mother's Day. I didn't ask for any presents, I didn't go out. I was fine with that, though.

Oliver's Day Out

starrynight — Thu, 05 May 2016 01:01:20 GMT

I took Oliver to an indoor playground because it was a rainy day, and my parents are under the impression that if he's socialized, he'll be normal. And my sister said Oliver isn't autistic because he makes eye contact and smiles.

Yes, he does make eye contact and smile but that's it. There was such a huge difference between him and every other kid at the playground.

There was a 15 month old, 21 month old, then 4-5 toddlers ages 2-4.

Virtually every other kid was playing with anything and everything, dressing up, playing pretend, etc. While Oliver stuck to the same two or three toys the entire time. And they were all toys that had wheels and that's why he liked them so much,

Now, he did have fun playing with the same toys. He was laughing and happy screeching the entire time. But he could care less about the other kids and just focused on the toys he was interested in.

He also has a thing about constantly needing to carry something with him, even if it's an insignificant object. For him, it was a straw my dad gave him, you'll see it virtually in every picture.

Also, Oliver was the smallest one there and got knocked over about a half dozen times :/

[the little girl holding on to the car is 15 months old!]

I swear, Oliver does have hair. But it's platinum blonde and thin so it's hard to see in pictures.

Also, t-minus three days until I see Itzhak Perlman :DDDDD

Status Quo

starrynight — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 15:39:31 GMT

Ok, exciting news:

An old college friend of mine who lives in New Jersey managed to get tickets to see Itzhak Perlman play at the Mayo Peforming Arts Center. For those who don't know who he is, Itzhak Perlman is a world famous, Israeli violinist. What makes him different from other violinists is that he contracted polio and was basically expected to be disabled forever. He beat the odds and went on to become an amazing violinist. I am very much looking forward to going next month.

What's even sweeter is that she went out of her way to make this a surprise for me. I feel so flattered! Luckily it's on the weekend, so my boyfriend can watch Oliver while I'm going.

Speaking of Oliver, he has been having really bad meltdowns. I think separation anxiety has kicked in, big time. Every time he sees me or my boyfriend leave the house, he screams and cries and is very inconsolable. It was particularly bad during Easter, all he wanted to do was cling to me and cried pretty much the whole day. I guess it doesn't help that he can't talk so he's unable to tell me how he feels. He still only says mama and dada, and that's pretty much it. He does seem to understand everything I say, though.

His 18 month appointment is coming up later this month so I'm going to yet again have a chat with the pediatrician about my concerns and if the pediatrician still insists there's nothing wrong with Oliver's lack of height, lack of vocabulary and some of his behavior, I am going to start looking for a new doctor. Sorry, but there's no reason why an 18 month old should be wearing size 6-9 month old pants.

Yesterday I had my knee MRI. There was a bit of a hoopla because of my loop recorder but 1. the company says it's MRI safe and 2. it was an open MRI so there were no magnets anywhere near my chest. Otherwise, I could have had the MRI done over the weekend.

I'll find out the results Thursday, unless the doctor calls to tell me first. TBH, I'm prepared for him to say that there's nothing wrong with my knee but whatever.

Holding On

starrynight — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 15:26:18 GMT

I wish I could say my knee is feeling better, but it isn't. So far, I've tried otc Naproxen, prescription Naproxen, Mobic, Indomethicin, Ibproufen and so on to no relief. I wish I had more oxy pills, it's the only thing that works but only when I'm asleep, and something is better than nothing. I am going to ask the orthopedist if it's possible to get a cortisone shot.I'm just trying to hold on until Thursday and I hope the doctor can at least suggest would could be wrong. I'm sure he'll do an x-ray and mri, as that's what he did when I was seeing him when my knee was broken.

I also found out that I'm anemic again and extremely vitamin D deficient. I've been anemic since I've had Oliver but I was taking iron pills and thought it had gone away, I guess not. As for the vitamin D, normal levels is 25-30 ng/dl. I'm at 8, which is in the severely deficient range. I'm assuming the doc is going to start me on iron and vitamin D supplements. My ferritin is also at 8 ng/dl, normal is 12 and above for an adult female.

I'm not so worried about iron and vitamin D as much as I am about my knee, because it's seriously limiting my mobility and my ability to look after Oliver. I can't really bend it, straighten it, or walk on it without pain.

Owwwie

starrynight — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 18:08:49 GMT

So, you know how I was in a car accident almost three years ago and now am suing? well I don't know what happened but my knee hurts terribly. It's been hurting on and off since the accident, but only mildly so. But since the weekend, it has been absolutely killing me. It's the same knee that was broken in the accident. It hurts on both sides and the doctor said that it was swollen and full of fluid. Nothing is helping the pain except oxycodone, which I had leftover from surgery. The thing is, it only works as long as I am asleep. Once I'm up, I'm in pain again.

I called the orthopedist and I am seeing him for next week.

It's really challenging because I'm a full time stay at home parent and my friends and family can't or won't help out. Thankfully I live in a house with no stairs and only one floor, and it's small enough that Oliver can walk from room to room and I'll know where he is at all times. And I won't have to worry about him getting in trouble. My boyfriend does help out once he comes home and on the weekends, so there's that.

On another note, my Fitbit completely fell apart. The metal clasp comes out and as you can see, other parts did as well. I've had it almost seven months.

I had already contacted Fitbit customer support once, when the clasp came undone and I had lost it. They sent a replacement even though my boyfriend found it in a box of cereal later that day. What happened to the spare Fitbit? my boyfriend's mom said she wanted it, so I gave it to her.

My boyfriend and I had tried to fix the Fitbit some weeks ago by using strong epoxy glue, but that didn't work at all. And I told him I may need to get a new one soon. Well last night it completely came apart and I saw that Fitbit is coming out with a new model that's only twenty dollars more than the one I had, and my boyfriend said that if I got a new Fitbit he would pay for it. So I pre-ordered the Fitbit Alta. It has better charging power and the clasp design is different, so it should hold together better.

ETA: I also have a cold, too. Thanks, Oliver. He got it from my parents, then gave it to me.

Answer

starrynight — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 20:06:45 GMT

It's mono. Who knew you could get mono in your 30's, and without a sore throat, I sure didn't. I would have thought by now, my boyfriend would have been exposed to mono. When my youngest sister was a teen, she had it for a month and was miserable. I'm glad it's nothing worse like hepatitis or cancer.

I don't know if Oliver and I will be spared. Last night I woke up with night sweats and over the weekend, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep for two hours and would have slept Sunday into Monday. I guess time will tell if I get it or not.

He walks!!

starrynight — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 01:38:40 GMT

Oliver walked down the hallway today, aaaaaahhh! I was so excited, my boyfriend and I were cheering him on. He did it a second time but he got upset because he missed a nap and it was close to bed time. I didn't think it would ever happen to be honest. I'm really proud of him.

[He was crying here but as soon as I picked him up, he was all smiles]

Also, still no news about my boyfriend. The liver ultrasound showed heptomegaly but nothing other than an enlarged liver. Bile duct is fine, no tumors, lesions, etc. Still waiting on bloodwork.

Waiting Game

starrynight — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 18:18:37 GMT

No news yet.

The boyfriend had another round of blood tests two days ago, and his liver enzymes are still high. The first time he had four vials + 2 blood cultures, second time, two vials. And today he had four vials again and a liver ultrasound. He also had a chest x-ray because it's in his file he always tests positive for tuberculosis, but thankfully the chest x-ray looks fine.

The doctor think it's mono, but she said it would be strange to have mono with no sore throat and no rash.

I forgot to mention it in my last entry, but he had urine test as well and has urobillinogen which also points to liver issues.

The doctor weighs him every time she sees him and he's lost weight because he has no appetite. Luckily, he's well cushioned to begin with so even though he's lost a bit of weight, it doesn't look bad on him. And it's nothing drastic, maybe 5-6 pounds. So I guess we'll see as tests come back.

I've been keeping busy by planning my Easter dress. I wanted to make an Easter dress roughly two years ago, but then I found out I was pregnant and thought there was no point. Here's to hoping it all works out. Here's a little preview:

I Made A Thing

starrynight — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 20:45:37 GMT

I made a skirt and I'm pretty pleased with it. It went together easily, but after ripping out the zipper twice and trying to use a zipper foot to finish the back only to be disappointed with how it looked from the outside, I decided to hand sew the zipper with great results. I don't think I'll ever try machine sewing it again.

I used Simplicity 1690 and I changed the front drapes. And instead of using lightweight fusible interfacing with the waistband, I sewed in silk organza instead. I haaaate fusible stuff because it's really sticky and prone to bubbling.

Now to make a dress for Valentine's Day.....

Christmas '15 - recap

starrynight — Sun, 27 Dec 2015 17:48:04 GMT

Christmas was great. I woke up Christmas morning to find that my boyfriend got me two presents on top of the pasta machine he bought for me earlier in the month. One is a Funko POP figurine of Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas (it's one of my favorite movies of all time), and the got me something amazing.

About a month ago, I had seen an ad for American Girl. When I was a child, my neighbor had the Felicity doll and I was so jealous. I would get the catalogs and pour over every page, circle what I'd want and then total everything. My parents did not seem to think it was ok to spend over a hundred dollars on a doll, nevermind three because if I had one, my sisters would want one as well. So even though I would hope for one every year, I never did get my Molly McIntire doll. Until now!!!!

Yep, my boyfriend managed to find Molly even though she was retired in 2013 and isn't sold anymore. She even came with her book and all of her accessories, including her book!

I was shocked. I opened the box and kept saying: "no way! no way!"

It was incredibly thoughtful and amazing.

In the afternoon, Oliver, my boyfriend and I went over my parents house to see them, and Oliver got some presents. Then we left for my boyfriend's parents place and spent the whole day there. I got to drive from my parents house and that went pretty well.

Oliver made out. He got a lot of clothes, toys and books. Oliver got to see his great grandparents, his grandparents, great aunt and great uncle, his aunt and his cousin. It was pretty hot in the house though so by mid afternoon, I was fatigued from the heat. It was 70F outside on Christmas day which is very unusual for this time of year. Usually it's much colder and snowy. I cracked open some windows because a lot of us were hot and uncomfortable.

Aside from that, food was good, the company was good, etc.

I can't believe 2015 is nearly over. I don't have any resolutions for 2016. I feel like if I make 'em and break 'em, then I'll be disappointed. I did complete my main goal of learning to drive, so there's that.

I got official state license in the mail yesterday, and I would like a car. But I don't think the lawsuit will be settled in the coming year. Both the ambulette driver and the company owner answered the complaint and said the injuries were my fault for not having a seatbelt on.

1. If I had not had it on, I would have gone through the windshield due to the force from getting hit because the ambulette was speeding.

2. I was smart enough to take pictures of my injuries and I do have proof I was wearing a seatbelt since I had bruising along my shoulder and chest.

I can live without a car for now. I don't particularly like driving my boyfriend's car because I don't like the brakes. It takes a lot of effort to brake even slightly and I know that's not how it should be. I've told him a couple of times that he should get the brakes checked and tuned up. The other thing is, I'd have to either get up super early and wake up Oliver to drive my boyfriend a mile away to the train station, or walk to the train station to get the car, then pick him up when his train comes in from Manhattan.

I don't mind walking, but two streets over is where the bad neighborhood starts and that's the street that tends to have a lot of shootings. There have also been incidents of people walking and getting robbed during the day. I don't feel comfortable walking around so yeah.

I hope everyone had a good Christmas :D

Merry Christmas Eve

starrynight — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 20:01:37 GMT

The plan was to my parents, niece, nephew and my youngest sister over. I had crafts to do for the kids, cookies to bake, presents, and I was going to order pizza for the kids. Then at noon, I get a call from my mom saying she is sick and she wasn't going to come over. And my niece and nephew are sick so they aren't going to come over.

At first I was bummed because I had everything planned out, but on to plan b.....dinner with nonna, grandpa and auntie Ashley (aka the boyfriend's side of the family), plus their family friend and her husband and kids.

I feel proud of myself for getting my license three weeks after having a pretty invasive procedure. I haven't driven a whole lot, but I have driven, and I've been doing well.

I also feel lucky. I have my own place this year, and next month will mark one year since I've moved. I'm also not in the hospital ande I get to spend Christmas with the people that really matter, especially Oliver. He means the world to me.

When I first became a parent, I had a bit of postpartum depression. I would burst into tears for seemingly no reason and thought to myself: "what have I done? How can I possibly take care of a newborn all by myself?" and I would panic. It didn't help that I had to have a c-section and was also recovering from major abdominal surgery on top of taking care of Oliver 24/7 since my boyfriend and I didn't live together at the time.

But, I pushed through it. And now Oliver is 14.5 months old and every tear and thought of self-doubt was worth it. I'm getting to see him grow and develop. He loves to clap, laugh, high five and he cannot walk alone, but he loves to zip around while holding onto his push toys.

I wish everyone on my friends list a very Merry Christmas. If you don't celebrate Christmas, then I wish you a good yule/winter.

PS. Since it is the season of giving, the best gift is the gift of life. Please be an organ donor if you haven't registered as one already. It's not just old people that need transplants. I used to think the same thing until I learned about Cystic Fibrosis. Most people with CF end up getting transplants in their late teens/early 20s.

I PASSED!!!

starrynight — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 19:01:38 GMT

I took the second road test for the second time. I was much calmer this time around and I passed without any points off/no mistakes, woo hoo! In NY, you're allowed to rack up thirty points before you fail, unless you do something that is an automatic failure. Since I did neither of these things, I would say that I did pretty darn well :D

The route this time was different. Instead of making a right at the first four way stop, I went straight. Then made a right, parallel parked, made a left, did my three point turn, then came back to the DMV test site and voila! I recieved my temporary license and get the real one in two weeks.

Philips Pasta Maker

starrynight — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 17:59:22 GMT

My pasta maker arrived today and I made soba noodles. I like wheat noodles so that's why I chose to make that :P

First, the machine came already assembled. It included a recipe book, the user manual, and different shaped pasta discs like spaghetti and fettucine. It also includes a cup for measuring flour, and a cup for measuring water as well as a dough scraper. However, when making pasta you want to weigh out ingredients on a food scale so I didn't use the cups that came with the machine.

This past weekend, I had bought buckwheat flour knowing that I needed some to make soba noodles. I measured out 170 grams buckwheat flour, 80 grams all purpose flour, and 90 mls of water. Then I dumped the dry ingredients into the machine and selected the single batch option. When it started kneading, I slowly added the water and five minutes later, the machine started extruding pasta. I used the dough scraper to cut the noodles as long as I wanted them and voila! I bagged the noodles and put them in the freezer.

I wish I could say cleaning was super easy and quick, but it wasn't. It took about ten minutes to take apart and clean everything. The mixing chamber, the lid and everything else wasn't difficult. The pasta disc was another story. Wheat flour is much stickier than other flours so I had to use the metal ends of the dough scraper to get the dough out of the holes and everywhere else in the disc. I think I'll get faster as time goes on though. Also, all but one part is top rack, dishwasher safe.

Is it easy to use? yes.

Does it do what it's supposed to? absolutely. The only thing it does not do is work well with rice or non-grain based pasta. You can use it if you're gluten free and have GF flour around, but not rice noodles, yam noodles, etc.

Is it worth the money? heck yeah! (though this is a gift from my boyfriend for Christmas...)

Additionally, I made a video which shows the kneading and extruding process. It's only four minutes long :)

I can't contain my excitement....

starrynight — Fri, 04 Dec 2015 19:42:22 GMT

Last month, I was watching the Rachael Ray show and she was talking about various gifts for those who enjoy being in the kitchen . I like to cook and prefer to make things from scratch if I can. She was talking about the Philips pasta maker and as soon as I heard about it, I knew I had to have it. When my boyfriend asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I told him. I didn't think he would actually get it for me, but totally did!

This baby makes one pound of pasta in ten to fifteen minutes. Amazing, right? And what can it make you ask? ramen, udon, soba, spaghetti, fettucine, tagliatelle, penne, lasagna and ravioli sheets, and you can even make cookies with it. Plus you can flavor the dough and add vegetables and herbs even.

As long as the pasta is flour based, the machine can pump it out quickly with no problem. I am SO excited to try it and I'll post pictures of my pasta adventures.

If anyone's curious, here's the recipe guide for it: https://www.usa.philips.com/c-dam/b2c/pasta-maker/master/recipes.pdf

PS. I'm super excited for the holidays in general. I'm getting some Christmas stockings and am planning a Christmas Eve party with my niece, nephew and my youngest sister. I was thinking we could all do some crafts and make cookies. I also bought some stockings for my boyfriend, Oliver and I and some stocking stuffers for my niece and nephew. And we're getting a tree this week, yipee!!

I'm homeeeeee!

starrynight — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 03:17:40 GMT

Sinces today's events are fresh in my mind, I thought I'd write about my EP experience before I forget any details.

So, I arrived at that hospital pretty early in the morning. I went to registration and around 8 or 9 am, I was brought into the ambulatory cath unit where I had to change into a gown and get an IV inserted. A little before noon, I was wheeled down to the EP lab and waited a little because the doctor was still performing an EP study on someone else. Then when it was my turn, I was brought into the lab and I had to sit on a table and the anesthesiologist started putting a sedative in my IV. It didn't take long for it to work, I remember saying: "whoa, this feels good!"

Then I don't remember anything else except the very end when my heart was beating very fast. The doctor told me my heart rate had been 240 bpm. He said the procedure went well and that I had an extra pathway in the AV node that was ablated, but not completely because I would need a pacemaker. He said he burned enough tissue that my heart rate can't go in the 200's but that it's possible my hr could go into the 130's or 140's, which is much better.

And I will still have skipped beats and ventricular tachycardia so I will still need my loop recorder, my medications and to see my doctors. The point of the EP study was to see if there was anything the doctor could to help me a little.

After the doctor talked to me, I was wheeled back up to the cath unit and that's where the crappy stuff happened. At first, I felt ok, albeit a bit out of it from the sedative. Then I ordered some food and ate a mini bagel with cream cheese. I started feeling nauseous and wanted to throw up, but that never happened. I also was not able to take a deep breath without my chest hurting, and my back was killing me because I had to lay in bed with a straight leg for 6 hours. Oh, and the artery that the catheter was inserted into my groin kept bleeding. I had a sandbag put on my leg to exert pressure and it still bled, but the bleeding stopped in time for me to go home. I also had oxygen on.

I pretty much slept all day and didn't fully awake until 7 pm. I was discharged at 9 pm and now I am at home in my comfy bed.

I can't lift anything over 10 lbs for a week, and no hot tubs or baths for a week either. My chest might be irritated for a bit and there's an incision in my neck from where the catheter was put in for the ablation.

Since I can't lift Oliver, his mattress is on the floor instead of his crib. I'll have to feed him in his car seat and change his diapers on the floor. My boyfriend will be able to help me out on Thursday and on the weekend but for now I'll have to make do with not being able to lift him when my boyfriend is working.

The procedure was what I was dreading most and that was really not that bad, I was more surprised at how crappy I felt afterward considering I didn't even have general anesthesia. Just Versed through an IV. And I skipped dinner because I'm too afraid to eat again, so yeah, I only had a mini bagel with cream cheese for the whole day. I can't wait to wake up and make breakfast tomorrow morning.

Color Me Impressed

starrynight — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 19:27:35 GMT

The electrophysiologist I saw at the hospital today is interesting. In addition to his MD, he has Master's degrees in Comp Sci and Electrical Engineering from MIT, a prestigious school that only takes the best of the best. He also has a PhD in biophysics.

Since the loop recorder has been implanted, I have had three episodes of a heart rate of 190 bpm. After looking at the recordings digitally, he thinks I might have an extra pathway that's causing the issue due to the fact that it comes on so suddenly then terminates by itself. He says I need an EP study, where they insert three or so catheters up the groin and into the heart guided by x-rays, then they map out the heart and electrically induce arrythmias to see where the problem lies. If it turns out I do have a re-entry issue, the area will be burned through radiofrequency (ablation) and the dead area won't cause issues anymore.

I will still have my other health issues, and I will still have sinus tachycardia (you can't ablate the sinus node, it's the pacemaker of the heart), but I won't be at risk for certain ones anymore.

When he told me I needed an EP study, I expected he'd say that and started freaking out internally. I told him that the idea of someone provoking abnormal heart rhythms while I'm awake is scary, but he assured me I could do it under full sedation, yay!

My boyfriend has no more time off work as he had to take a whole week off because of the hospital stay, and even if I had my license, I couldn't drive because I'll have sedation. And my sister and mom are mad at me about the personal injury suit even though I explained that it's just a tactic to get my sister's insurance to defend her.

Also I'll need someone to watch Oliver.

Some things....

starrynight — Wed, 04 Nov 2015 23:29:19 GMT

1) I got a call from my doctor saying he wants me to go to a well renowned heart hospital in the area and see the electrophysiologist there. I know I saw one in the hospital but all he did was implant the loop recorder. So, I've had the thing for less than a month and I guess it's showing some stuff. My appointment is Friday.

2) The personal injury attorney called to tell me the insurance company sent him a lowball offer which he wants to reject. He said I can get a lot more by taking it to court, though he didn't specify an amount. In order to do so though, I need to sue my sister so that her insurance company will defend her and blame everything on the other driver. Otherwise, the insurance for the other guy will say it's all my sister's fault and they'll refuse to pay. I had to think about it, but I decided to file suit. It's not like my sister will have to pay anything, it's just a means to an end and this is the only way to do it.

3) I haven't done any sewing in a while and I was itching for a project. I found some beautiful plum silk dupioni and am trying my hand at making a 16th century pair of bodies, or what we would call a corset in the modern age.

Beautiful fabric, no?

What I've done so far. Cut out all the pieces from a double layer of cotton duck for strength. Then I drew all the boning channels. Tomorrow I am going to cut the fabric and this weekend I will start the laborious task of sewing each channel by machine - 33 or so channels in all between the front, sides and back.

The good thing is that once it's been fitted and adjusted (if it needs it), I can disassemble the layers, rip out the channel stitching, and re-use the cotton duck so I won't have to re-cut that. Then when I cut out the silk dupioni for the actual garment, I'll have to embroider the fabric. It's for a secret project I'll reveal at a later date :)

I'm finally home

starrynight — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 01:02:29 GMT

I went home late today. I thought I was getting out early but a couple of things happened. First, my IV line started burning every time it was flushed. Then it started burning anytime there was something going through the line. I had to ice the area every time it was in use and eventually I asked the nurse to remove it. She did, thinking I was going to go home. I ended up needing a new IV placed because of a procedure, but it did not hurt like the other area did.

I had to get more IV antibiotics and a bag of magnesium because my magnesium level was apparently low. I thought I was going to go home after that, but discharge orders never came, then the nurse told me an electrophysiologist wanted to talk to me before I left, because of the incident when I was sleeping. I was told that I had skipped 20 beats in a row. Apparently it was more than that and the EP thought it would be a good idea to have a little recording device the size of a paper clip implanted in my chest that would record my heart rhythm for up to three years. I consented because the doctor explained that what happened could turn into a very dangerous rhythm if it goes on long enough, and I have a beautiful little boy that I need to take care of and I don't want anything to happen to me. He told me skipping a couple of beats every so often is quite normal, but I had skipped 30.

The procedure was very quick. I had two lidocaine injections after my skin was sterilized and wiped down with chlorahexadine, then the skin was cut and the device was placed. Then the EP used some surgical glue and held my skin together in place (no stitches are used) and then placed a dressing over the area. I felt absolutely nothing and it was a good experience.

By the time all was said and done, I got home at 7:30 pm. The whole hospital stay wasn't very fun and I am glad I am finally out. I missed my Oliver something awful.

I went through 20 something bags of IV antibiotics, a bag of magnesium, three IV's, a nasty orange potassium drink, the LINQ loop recorder, and five days of blood draws. Yeah, I am certainly glad to be home.