| To you from Nerdy Pickle |
[26 Jun 2009|07:55pm] |
(Click for full size)
Rachel here - thanks everyone for your well-wishes; they mean so much to my mom and me.
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| HOME! |
[24 Jun 2009|06:29pm] |
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Rachel is home!!! We're so happy!
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| Progress |
[22 Jun 2009|09:48pm] |
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So far we have gotten two negative cultures for staph on Rachel. If she gets a third one she will be allowed to go home providing everything else is looking good. She still has pneumonia though it is much better and she is still spiking an afternoon/evening temperature but that is to be expected. She is receiving physical therapy and will continue it outside of the hospital. Her regular gastroenterologist saw her for the first time today (he was on vacation last week!!) and he feels that once she is off the antibiotics her gut will begin to heal again. They will be sending her home with no PICC line or feeding tube so she will have to support herself nutritionally and we are working on that. She had another echo-cardiogram today and her heart looks fine - it was a bit weakened last week. I consider us lucky - sepsis is a dangerous infection and staph, especially, is deadly. We are really glad we were in the right place at the right time - the hospital - when the infection overwhelmed her body. I can't even imagine how things might have turned out had we been home.
Hey guys - I am so ready to go back to being a yarnwench again. I want peaceful days of dye pots and spinning, weeding the garden, and packing up boxes. I want my kid to get back behind the wheel of her car, to hanging out with friends, and enjoying her summer. I'll never complain about boring again. I want boring. And we will never, ever take our health for granted again. It's everything.
Hope you're all feeling well out there tonight.
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| Rachel |
[20 Jun 2009|08:41pm] |
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I no longer really even know what day it is - this has been a long, long week. Rachel is continuing to improve bit by bit. Yesterday she was moved out of intermediate ICU and onto a regular floor. She may be in the hospital for 10 or more days. They want to make sure the staph infection is completely out of her body - it is a serious bacteria to get in the bloodstream and can wreak havoc with all of the organs. They have done an ultrasound of her heart and it is okay though somewhat weakened. That is to be expected with sepsis. She continues to have pneumonia. Her fever is now gone and today she could actually stand up on her own and walk a few steps. Two days ago it took three of us to get her out of bed and it caused her unbearable pain. Physical therapy worked with her a bit today and we got her into a shower which felt so, so good to her. She is starting to take clear liquids and a little yogurt. She has no IV nutrition since the PICC line is what got the infection into her body and has been removed. We really want to get her eating and not reliant on anything else. Tomorrow she will be seen by the infectious disease doctors to make sure everything looks good to them. What an unbelievable week it has been. What an unrelenting spring. We are so desperate to have some health and normalcy return to our lives. What a kid for getting through this so bravely. Yesterday she finally began to grieve for her situation. It's about time.
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| Rachel |
[19 Jun 2009|12:24am] |
Rachel has been moved out of the ICU and into intermediate ICU so her situation is improving. She has, however, developed pneumonia, which often goes hand in hand with sepsis. I'm not sure how long she'll be in the hospital.
Thanks again for all the well-wishes. They are so appreciated!
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| Update on Rachel |
[17 Jun 2009|09:25pm] |
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Thank you for all the kind responses. It has been an intense 24 hours. My daughter has sepsis - a staph infection of the blood that occurred in the PICC line that went to her heart and through which her IV nutrition (TPN) was delivered. This morning she had 12 doctors and nurses working on her - it was an unbelievable scene. Luckily she was in the hospital when the infection hit full force and she had that kind of support. They got things calmed down though she is still a pretty sick little puppy. True to form, though, Rachel heard that there was a proctor in the hospital and insisted they administer the chemistry Regents exam to her and spent this afternoon taking it. She took half of the test with her left hand (she's right-handed) because she was hooked up to so many IVs on her right arm and they didn't want her to bend it! When she was through the ICU staff broke out into applause! What a trooper. It has been a rough road but I'm pleased to say that today she is officially done with her school year and is now a senior. We have the summer to get her healthy and we're determined to do it. Thanks again to you all for your support - it has meant so much to me.
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| Headed to University Hospital |
[16 Jun 2009|03:45pm] |
Please send your good thoughts and prayers our way.
xoxoxoxo
Bennie - thank you for the call- I'll call when I have a chance. Bless you!
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| Rescued from cat... |
[13 Jun 2009|06:11pm] |
Kevin rescued this little guy from the clutches of a neighbor cat who was having a grand time playing with his food. We took the bunny back outside near where he was found - hoping his mother found him and took him back, though after being handled by a human I have my doubts about that. Here's hoping. He was awfully cute.
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| A rubber room perhaps... |
[12 Jun 2009|02:37pm] |
That might be a good place for me. Nah, just kidding. Home - home is the best place to be. Let us stay here and keep us far, far away from hospitals and doctor's offices, please. We spent yesterday morning back in the ER. Apparently the kidney stone that put Rachel there on Sunday wasn't quite done with her. As soon as I got her to the ER (5:00am) the pain stopped. Of course. And as soon as we got her back home (9:30am) it started up again. Of course. And with a vengeance. I've never seen her in such pain. Thank god the stone has now moved into the bladder. Hopefully that is the end of the stone story as the docs think it will dissolve there.
So today she made it back to school and is trying to tackle all missed finals at once. I took the morning to do dye pots (yay me!!) and then I called a friend for a luncheon buffet at an Indian restaurant and some retail therapy. I got the cutest top and split skirt, both of which made me most happy. I don't often find clothes that I like but I found a little shop today that sold really great unique stuff. I got this totally comfy rayon split skirt in my favorite turquoise/dark brown combo in my favorite spiral pattern:
It doesn't look like much laid out on my bed but it is really cute - lays below the belly button and is such a nice drapy fabric. Also got this cute shirt:
Excuse the headless myspace shot but this was the best I could do. Anyway, these two pieces of clothing made me very happy in a very materialistic sort of way. I don't often buy clothes for myself since I spend most of my time doing dyepots! Most purchases come from Old Navy. It was fun to splurge at a little boutique.
Hoping everyone has a very nice weekend. I'm hoping for some kind of update next week if all goes well, and I'm trusting it will. Please?
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| Whew. |
[08 Jun 2009|04:12pm] |
Okay, so life is going to calm down now. This is my declaration and I've had a little talk with the benevolent universe and it agrees with me. Because, quite frankly, it's been a bit difficult and we are ready for some down time. This weekend started out so nice - Rachel's gut is really calming down and she is starting to properly digest food. Saturday she felt great and we actually walked about a mile outside and enjoyed a beautiful day. Sunday - not so great. She woke at 5am in extreme pain and was passing kidney stones. We tried to get through it at home but ended up taking her into the ER shortly after noon. A little Demerol did the job and she spent the rest of the day in relative comfort. They ended up admitting her overnight though because of her anemia (CBC was 6.3 - how did she manage to walk a mile on Saturday? Two years ago when her CBC was 6.0 she could barely stand up!) and they tranfused two bags of blood into her. Her lips are pink again, the kidney stone issue is apparently resolved (knocking on wood), and her gut is feeling the best it has in a long, long time. Hopefully that was the last bump in the road for a while.
If you ordered from me on Saturday your box will go out tomorrow - I always ship the next shipping day after payment but I wasn't expecting a day spent in the ER. Last night I got home very late and didn't have it in me to get my packages ready! But I promise to ship out tomorrow - thanks for your understanding.
Okay, now.We're ready to play. School ends in a week and a half and summer vacation never looked so damn good!
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| Update! |
[06 Jun 2009|11:21am] |
The Yarn Wench has just updated! Please stop by to check out new hand-dyed wool top, Border Leicester locks in lovely colors, a new snarling untamed yarn, and a little bit of hemp!
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| Oh boy! |
[05 Jun 2009|12:48pm] |
I think maybe I'm actually going to pull off another update!! Right now I'm aiming for tomorrow if life doesn't throw any monkey wrenches into the plan. I have a nice assortment for this week including rovings in Falkland, merino, and merino/silk. I posted pics of those a few days ago. In addition I have a new yarn, Tiger's Eye. I also have lots of lovely, lovely Border Leicester locks in some great colors and a few bags of hemp! I used the hemp in my Tiger's Eye yarn and enjoyed it's texture tremendously. This is organic semiprocessed fiber and is long, long, long and great for adding a textural element to an organic looking yarn. A little goes a long way and you get two ounces for only $2.00. Can't beat that! I only put three on the update but if they should go just let me know and I'll bag up more - I have plenty.
Here are a few pics of the hemp which comes in a quart size bag:
 
And some of this week's Border Leicester:
 
 
 
 
 
Like I said, I will do my very best to get this update off the ground. Things are calming down a bit around here. Rachel is improving every day little by little. Yesterday she did a whole day of school and walked a mile with me afterwards! She is still on IV nutrition but is getting to add more foods to the repetoire and we get to quit doing antibiotic IV drips by Monday - yay!! As she tolerates more and more food we can get her off the IV nutrition and back to her life - right now she is tethered to a bag and makes plenty of radius jokes. Remember, she's a math geek. She has gained back half the weight she has lost and looks forward to gaining the rest. Fingers are crossed that all will continue on in this positive direction. For now, we are encouraged. Look for me tomorrow!
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| Sick |
[03 Jun 2009|10:32am] |
Boy, I don't know what I've got but I am sick. I started feeling like I was having some allergies on Sunday when Rachel and I went shopping. I was coughing a lot and my sinuses were really draining. Monday I was really coughing but felt fine otherwise. Tuesday - look out. I started running a temperature of 101 and I slept much of the day. I was achy and having chills. Last night I went to bed at 7:45 and slept 10 hours! Today I feel better but I did just take an hour and a half long nap. I really feel wiped out. I'm scared to death that Rachel will get this as she has a very supressed immune system. Yesterday I stayed as far away from her as possible (hard to do when having to administer IV drips! Kevin took over the evening one for me so I could go to bed). I can't help wondering if this is swine flu. The chills and achiness have me suspect though I don't think I'd have two days of mild symptoms before running the temperature and really getting hit.
Anyway, I don't know how the rest of the week will play out. I do hope to update at some point but it may not happen until the weekend.
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| Getting a bit done... |
[01 Jun 2009|02:37pm] |
I am starting to photograph and inventory recent work so maybe, just maybe, I'll manage to have an update this week. We'll see what happens.
 
 
 
I still need to photograph a bunch of new hand-dyed Border Leicester locks and some hemp I have for sale. I think I have finally figured out the white-balance on my camera - I just haven't had time to mess with it! This batch of photos was taken using the manual white-balance and I'm pretty happy with the results. Things have been looking washed out recently and hopefully that will change.
Our weekend was a bit intense. Introducing new foods has been going pretty well. We are seeing some improvement in digestion and Rachel is experiencing no pain whatsoever for the first time in a long time. Over the weekend she may have passed a kidney stone, which we really didn't need at the moment and caused me to put in an emergency phone call to a doctor at 1am on Sunday morning. Not quite sure what happened there but we had a scary sequence of events that I won't go into here. Suffice it to say, whatever happened wasn't earth-shaking and we ended up walking around the mall yesterday for two hours - Rachel actually wore me out! She has an appointment with her urologist but not for several weeks. Unfortunately stones and UC go together. There are 10 more full days of school followed by two NYS Regent exams and then she is done for the year and can just relax and heal.
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| Today's mantra is... |
[29 May 2009|03:47pm] |
Rice be nice. Rachel just had her first solid food in 3 weeks! Four lovely spoonfuls of fragrant, delectible jasmine rice. I tell you - rice never tasted so good! If all sits well, she can have a few more spoonfuls in a few hours. Tomorrow - a little homemade yogurt which I'll ferment for 24 hours to get all of the lactose out. Sunday a bit of banana added into the mix. Small slow steps.
Second infusion of Remicade this morning. The doctor is very pleased with how she's looking and feeling and sounding. Fingers and toes are crossed!
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| Lo and behold!! |
[28 May 2009|07:00pm] |
Look ma! I spun a yarn!!! First yarn spun in a long, long time. It felt good to get behind the wheel again:) This baby is hand-dyed domestic wool, hemp, angelina, locks, and is wrapped with a linen blend slubby thread. I had a damn good time spinning it.
 
 
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| One day at a time |
[25 May 2009|10:20am] |
That is how we are taking life right now. I must say this four day weekend has been wonderful with the general trend going in the right direction. On Friday, Rachel and I headed out to Old Navy, Barnes & Noble, and Target - a seemingly common sort of shopping trip for most people, but absolutely, exotically wonderful for us after two months of staying home and dealing with illness. It felt so normal to get out, even though Rachel had to drag the bag of nutrition along which is constantly tethered to her left arm.
Saturday Rachel devoted to homework for the most part - she wrote a 6 page English paper. But we did get out to walk a couple of times. The lilacs have been kind and have lingered long enough for us to get our noses in them. We were so afraid we were going to miss them this year.
Yesterday I took Rachel out to a beautiful hundred plus year old garden called Root Glen on the campus of Hamilton College. We hiked around there and admired the flora and she felt like she'd gotten a good workout for her legs as there is a fair amount of hilly area to cover. We then ventured into the little college town of Clinton and poked around in the bookstore and a few other places that were open. We pressed our faces against the glass of an Indian Cafe where we are absolutely longing to eat once Rachel's gut has found the peaceful place known as remission. In the afternoon we went to a barbecue at a neighbor's house (where Rachel appreciatively took in the smells from the grill and watched as everyone around her ate) and then we went for a second walk. In all, a lovely, lovely day.
Today I have Border Leicester fleece perking away in dye pots and it is gloriously sunny with clear blue skies and no humidity. I imagine we will get out and walk again. Tomorrow it is back to school and she is going to try to attempt a full day. This has not happened since April 10th. Hopefully Wednesday will be another full day but Thursday and Friday she has doctor's appointments and another dose of Remicade so will not be in school. Hopefully, if all continues to go well, she will be starting on solid foods again at the end of the week. By then she will not have had solids for nearly 3 weeks. She is so anxious to get back to eating!!
Anyway, here are a few shots from our walk at Root Glen yesterday.
 
 
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| My Matisse Cats |
[24 May 2009|11:19am] |
Sometimes photos take you by surprise. This one appeared on my camera today - I totally didn't expect it to look like this. The first thing it said to me was, "Matisse." The angle, the colors, the crazy perspective. I like when this kind of thing happens. I enjoy what happens when you look at the world through the lens of a camera. Somehow just putting a frame around a scene and paring it down can change everything.
Anyway, hope you all can see some new perspectives today, too.
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| Update!!!!! |
[23 May 2009|09:45am] |
The Yarn Wench has just updated for the first time in...uh....well over a month? Could it be??? Yeah. I think so...Anyway - it is a small update but an update none the less. Please stop on by and take a look. This week there is merino/silk and merino. Yay!! I updated!!!!!
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| Friday |
[22 May 2009|05:00pm] |
Life is definitely different these days. For one thing, I never know what the date is! The things that defined my life just a month and a half ago don't seem to apply. But I am happy to say that some normality is returning - slowly. I am hoping to update sometime over the weekend. I don't know how that works for people with it being a holiday weekend and all, but it is what it is right now! I'm just thankful to have some new items dyed up and ready to go.
This week has been a good week. Rachel has been improving - the gut is very calmed down with no cramping or pain. Of course, she has had no food for almost two weeks now! It has been good to give things a rest and food won't be reintroduced again until probably sometime next week. She is slowly gaining weight through the IV feeding - still very thin and down about 10 pounds, a lot of muscle gone. She is also very anemic but has more energy than she has had in a long time. They don't want to transfuse her again so will need to eat lots of iron-rich foods once she is back on solids. She is getting out and walking with me every day now, and she actually attended a half day of school yesterday. Today we went to Old Navy, Barnes & Noble, and Target - it completely wore her out but it felt so damn normal. She's getting dressed every day now and not spending her time in bed so that is progress there. Tonight Kevin and I are going to a Mexican restaurant and she is going with us just to smell the food - can you imagine? It seems torturous to me but she is getting pleasure from smelling food and often sticks her nose in whatever I'm eating! My poor baby! Being the mother bird that I am, it is all I can do to keep from stuffing worms in her beak...Just wait until we have her back on solid foods - there will be such activity in the kitchen as can only be imagined! I will become a short order cook and will tackle the job with joy!
Anyway, tonight when you sit down to your dinner take a moment to thank your digestive tract if it is in good condition. I don't think I'll ever take mine for granted again. Hoping you all have a great weekend filled with good foods to smell and eat.
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yarnwench's journal
