Proper-fitting jeans

I hate shopping for jeans. If I try on thirty different styles, maybe one will look good. Maybe. If I don't see a muffin top staring back at me in the mirror, it's a huge gaping chasm over my butt that has me tugging the jeans up every 2 seconds. If my thighs aren't being squeezed like sausage in a casing, they're flailing around in a sea of denim - and I can't swim. And don't even get me started on the length - either they're so long that hemming them would ruin the entire line of the jeans or they're so short my ankles are showing. Petites are usually too short, so I have to look for "short" length in the regular department. I'm only 5'3", for Pete's sake - jeans should never be too short for me! It's depressing. I wear a size 8 short, so it seems to me that it shouldn't be that difficult to find jeans that look decent. But apparently, size isn't the issue.

I recently came across a wonderful blog that discusses the proper fit of jeans, including the importance of:

• Pockets - placement & length
• Tightness
• Flare
• Color/Feathering/Stitching

You can check out this proper jean fit post on the Grasping For Objectivity blog. There are a ton of pictures that show bad, good, better, & best jeans for different body types - and ages. It's amazing!

There is a follow-up post where the blogger (Rachel) tries on different GAP and Old Navy Jeans to show why they don't fit well on most people. Thank you!! I'm always wondering why GAP & Old Navy jeans not only do not fit me, but actually make me look bad. Now I know it's not me - it's the jeans! :-)

As in the original post, there are a ton of great pictures, so be sure to check out the GAP & Old Navy jeans post here.

Best jeans to date for me are: Levi 515 straight leg & Tommy Hilfiger Spirit Skinny. (And I only paid around $30 for each at Macy's during a sale.) I'm going to face jean shopping with a whole new attitude now - it doesn't matter if I have to try on fifty pairs of jeans to find one great-fitting pair - because it's not me, it's the jeans!! And one great-fitting pair is worth the time it takes to find them. Just ask Gus. ;-)

Dayton Celtic Festival

This past weekend, Gus & I made a little trip to the 11th annual Celtic Festival in downtown Dayton at Riverscape Metro Park...

The park was very pretty!

 Love the kilts & bagpipes!! Gus didn't wear a kilt.

There was plenty of Guinness - as a matter of fact, I think it was the only alcoholic beverage offered!

There were a lot of food booths - and also booths selling clothing, souvenirs, and handcrafted items...

Yes, we tried haggis. How can you go to a Celtic festival and not try haggis? It wasn't served in a sheep's stomach - and it was made of sheep's liver, beef, oatmeal, and spices. I don't think that's quite how it's made in Scotland, but we decided to try it anyway. And yes, it's pretty much as disgusting as it looks.

Here's a booth that had tartans displayed as flags...

The Celtic rock band, Enter the Haggis! They were really good! I recommend their CD "Gutter Anthems" - love "The Death of Johnny Mooring", "Did You Call Me Albatross?", and "Murphy's Ashes"!!

We had a great time - can't wait for the Scottish Festival in September!!

Fishtail braids

Have you noticed how braids are the "in" thing this summer? That's all you see on Pinterest, YouTube, and the fashion/beauty site/magazines. Since I really like fishtail braids, but had no idea how to do it, I went on a search and find mission.

This video is really easy to understand and explains it very well. Who knew it was so simple??

Riley

Riley took a little trip to the groomer the other day...

BEFORE:

This is what a typical Miniature Australian Shepherd looks like (well, he's a little shaggy here, but you get the idea)...

AFTER:

And this is what a shaved Miniature Australian Shepherd looks like. There was a little miscommunication about how much hair was supposed to be trimmed. At least he'll be cooler in the 100 degree weather. And we thought he was fat, when in fact he's not! He was very distressed at first - he cried all the way home. But we all made a big deal over him and now he's working it.

But I still think he looks like a waif. :-)

Hey, there!

Did you wonder if I was coming back? Here I am!!

I had no intention of being gone for so long, but recovery from my surgery has been a lot tougher than I ever expected. There were a few problems with the surgery, as some of you are aware, so let me start there...

Surgery was on October 31, and the plan was to do a thoracic laminectomy at the T6-7 level, with rods & screws - and for me to just be in the hospital overnight. Unfortunately, I woke up over 24 hours later in neurosurgical ICU on a ventilator. Scary stuff. Apparently, the surgeon had problems getting the last screw in at the T7 level (probably due to my scoliosis below that level), so he moved down to the T8 level. Somehow, either my aorta or intercostal artery was nicked & there was a lot of bleeding. They had to call in a cardio-thoracic surgeon, and do an arteriogram, a venogram, 3 CT scans, & give me 4 units of blood before deciding that I could go to ICU. For obvious reasons, they wanted me to lie still for a time & also keep my blood pressure under control, so that's why they kept me in a medically-induced coma on the ventilator for 24 hours.

I remember seeing Gus's shadow & hearing his voice saying that I was okay and everything was going to be fine. I remember nodding & then starting to cry - and he told me not to cry, everything would be fine. When I finally "really" woke up the next day, I was still intubated - and let me tell you, it was horrible. It was really hard not to fight the tube. Even after they turned off the ventilator, they left the tube in for several hours to make sure I could breathe well enough on my own. I swear it was the longest few hours of my life. They kept me in the ICU for 2.5 days, and then finally moved me to a regular room on the neurosurgical floor. After another 2.5 days, I was allowed to go home. I was in a lot of pain, could only do a few things for myself, and I was as weak as a newborn kitten.

Those first few weeks, I relied on Gus for everything. I don't know what I would've done without him. I was supposed to shower 3-4 times/day (to help prevent muscle spasms in my back), but even with a shower chair, he had to help me. The first 4 weeks, I wasn't allowed to do much at all - which is good, because I probably wouldn't have been able to anyway. After 6 weeks, I was allowed to go back to physical therapy. After 8 weeks, I was doing better - less pain, getting a little stronger, doing more for myself.

Now it's been almost 12 weeks since the surgery. I'm still going to physical therapy twice per week, I still need pain meds, & I'm using Lidocaine topical patches for some of the nerve pain. I continue to have muscle pain as well as the nerve pain, but for the most part, the pain in my legs is gone. I have good days & bad days - and on the bad days, I tend to get discouraged. I still can't do much around the house, I can't do much work for my business, and I can't spend much time at the computer. It's difficult to deal with that.

I've seen the neurosurgeon a few times & he's pleased with my progress as well as being dedicated to helping me recover completely. I've also seen the cardio-thoracic surgeon, and my latest CT scan showed that the hematoma on my aorta has resolved, but I still have a pleural effusion on the left. He feels it's probably blood, which would be fibrous at this point & impossible to remove without opening up my lung. I've lost about 5% of my lung capacity on that side, but since I seem to be mostly asymptomatic, he doesn't plan to do anything. I'm supposed to have another CT scan in March & if it's okay, I won't have to see him again. I still can't cough very well and I can't sneeze, but they think it's due to muscle weakness & the fear of pain. Again, I don't know what I would do if I didn't have Gus to take care of me!

So that's what's been going on for the past 3 months! I have a ton of things I want to blog about, so I'm hoping that my tolerance for sitting at the computer will get better before I forget everything!!

I hope you've all been well & are having a great 2012!

Wish me luck...

My back surgery is tomorrow - I have to be at the hospital at 5:00 am. I should only have to stay overnight if everything goes well, but I don't know how long it will take me to get back to "normal". They tell me 4-6 weeks, but I hope it doesn't really take that long. So I'm not sure how long it will be before I'm able to post here. Keep checking, because I'll be back as soon as possible!!

Why no posts?

In case you've been wondering why there haven't been any recent bog posts from me - it's mostly because I was on vacation with Gus for a week!! I will be "celebrating" my 50th birthday this year, and my wonderful husband asked me if I would like a trip or a party. Really, was there any need to ask? Of course, I chose the trip - and we went to Navarre Beach, Florida.

We've been vacationing in the Destin area for about 13 years now, but we had never stayed in Navarre Beach (which is about halfway between Pensacola & Destin). The weather was absolutely perfect, the condo (and view) was amazing, and we had the best time ever. I took about 500 pictures, and once I edit those down to a manageable amount, I'll post some here.

The other reason I've been missing in action is more back problems. If you remember, I had surgery on a disc in my neck back in May. That surgery was completely successful, and all of my symptoms had disappeared. However, I continued to have pain & weakness in my legs. The MRI of my lumbar spine showed a couple of bulging discs, but nothing too bad. I kept going to physical therapy and finally started to get some relief. Then about 3 weeks ago, I started having pain in the middle of my back. Sometimes, it felt like my ribcage was in a vise - like someone was squeezing me - making it uncomfortable, painful, & difficult to breathe. I also started having increased weakness in my left leg - along with decreased reflexes (causing me to stumble at times). My neurosurgeon ordered a MRI of my thoracic spine, which showed a severely herniated disc at the T6-7 level. When the office called me to have me come in, they said it was to "discuss my options" - when I got there & saw the doctor, he said the disc was compressing my spinal cord & decreasing the blood flow - and if I didn't have surgery, I would become paralyzed from the mid-chest down. Hmmm - that doesn't sound like an option to me! LOL!

This surgery is a little riskier than the last one, and I admit I'm more than a little scared. I have absolute faith in my surgeon, but I'm still scared. He will be going in through my back, removing part of the vertebra to get to the disc, removing the disc, then inserting two rods & screws to stabilize my spine. Unfortunately, the spinal cord is right there (along with a lot of blood vessels), so he has to be very careful. He mentioned that there is a significant amount of post-op pain. Just what you want to hear, right? I'll be staying in the hospital overnight (assuming everything goes okay), and I shouldn't need to wear a brace. So those are good things.

Gus has been amazing, as usual. (Well, okay - he's pretty pesty, but his intentions are good!) He has pretty much taken over the household chores again & calls or texts me several times a day to make sure I haven't fallen down. See? Pesty, but good intentions.

Surgery is scheduled for October 31, so I'm just hanging in there until then. I can't sit up for very long, but I'm going to try to at least get my vacation posts done before I have surgery. I'm hoping that I don't have to postpone my birthday dinner at Buca di Beppo's - and I have to get back on my feet quickly because Gus has promised me a birthday shopping trip to the outlet mall!! What a guy!!

Being a mom...

I love those little "10 Things Never To Say..." articles in Redbook magazine. They always make me laugh, LOL. I'm going to share a couple more with you - and these are about something that can be a pretty touchy subject - working moms vs. stay-at-home moms.

I've been both and I've heard most of these at one time or another. We all do what we have to do in order to take care of our families & ourselves - whether it's out of choice or necessity. I've learned to just let comments like these roll right off my back - and I consider the source. :-)

Remember - these articles are meant to be humorous - they do not reflect my opinion on the subject.

10 Things Never To Say To A Working Mom

1. It must be very hard missing all those special moments every day.
2. I suppose it's smart that you're working. You know, in case your husband leaves you some day.
3. I'm surprised you went back to work. Your husband seems so successful.
4. It's cute when they call your nanny "Mama".
5. I just love my kids too much to leave them during the day.
6. Did you see "Dateline"? The one with the hidden camera in the daycare?
7. I could never let someone else raise my children. But that's just me!
8. I hated my mom because she was never home after school like everyone else's mom.
9. You must feel so guilty.
10. I wish I were as laid-back as you and could just let the housework go.

(Liz Gumbinner of Mom-101.com, with help from her blog readers)

10 Things Never To Say To A Stay-At-Home Mom

1. When the kids are older, do you think you'll get a real job?
2. How June Cleaver of you!
3. Oh, so you don't work?
4. Since you have extra time on your hands, could you whip up a few dozen brownies for the bake sale tomorrow?
5. All day with your kids? I can't even imagine.
6. I'm jealous. I wish my husband were rich so I wouldn't have to work either.
7. What do you do all day, anyway?
8. I'm sure you're not the only one who's ever wasted money on a college degree.
9. That explains why your son is so clingy!
10. Weird. I assumed your house would be super clean.

(Candy Kirby of thelaughingstork.com, with help from Twitter followers and friends)

What DMRH&S Eats When Eating Out...

Recently, I came across an interesting article entitled "What Nutritionists Eat When Eating Out". I was really curious to see if I was doing at least some of the right things when I choose my meals - and happy to find out that I've been doing a good job!

You can read the article here. And I thought I would do a version called "What DMRH&S Eats When Eating Out", LOL!

Burger Joints
I'm not a huge fan of burgers, but occasionally I like one from Red Robin, Cheddar's, or Max & Erma's. Of course, some of those burgers can be in excess of 1000 calories - and we won't even discuss the fat grams. I order the smallest burger on the menu - with cheese, pickle, & tomato. (I know it would be less fat without the cheese, but I just can't eat a burger without cheese!) Instead of fries, I order a (side) salad with vinaigrette dressing on the side. When the burger arrives, I immediately cut it in half - I eat half and take the other half home.

Ice Cream
I don't eat ice cream, but I am a fool for Bruster's orange sherbet. It's an ice sherbet & it has the best orange flavor ever. I get it in a cup rather than a cone - and since it's such a large serving (3.5 oz.), I only eat half. Luckily, we live close to a Bruster's so melting isn't an issue, LOL. I also reserve this treat for once a week since it's not sugar-free.

Chinese
I love, love, love Chinese food. I could seriously eat it everyday. We have a wonderful local restaurant (where they know us by name & show up at our table with our favorite drinks - who doesn't love that?) that in my opinion far surpasses any chain. My favorite dish is steamed shrimp & vegetables. It comes in a light garlic sauce & is simply delicious. It comes with a cup of rice, but I don't eat more than half. Maybe one in five visits, I'll splurge and get a small chicken spring roll as an appetizer. In the fall, they have fresh, locally-grown edamame - and we love that as an appetizer. They also have the best sweet tea around (a major accomplishment here in the south), so I must have that while I'm here. This is the only place I don't order water with lemon as my drink, so I try to make sure I don't have too much sugar the rest of the day.

Mexican
I don't eat Mexican food very often, but when I do, it's usually from Chipotle, and I bring it home. I get the Carnitas Bowl with light rice & beans. Yep, just meat, a little rice, & a little beans. Then when I get it home, I divide it in half and add tomatoes, a TBSP. of fat-free sour cream, and a sprinkle of fat-free cheese. The other half goes in the fridge for lunch the next day.

Pizza
I don't eat a lot of pizza either, but my favorite is Papa Murphy's. I like the thin crust with light sauce, mushrooms, black olives, Canadian bacon (less fat than most other meat choices), light cheese, & sometimes onions. I limit myself to 2 slices of the medium pizza. I recently read an article that talked about Papa Murphy's Gourmet Vegetarian deLITE Thin Crust Pizza, so I want to try that. It has a cracker-thin crust and comes with creamy garlic sauce topping, herb-laced cheese, and six different vegetables—zucchini, mushrooms, Roma tomatoes, onions, and marinated artichoke hearts. I think I would like the regular Veggie deLITE Thin Crust Pizza, too - maybe even more than the gourmet version.

Breakfast
Cracker Barrel even has a decent offering with their Wholesome Mornin' Sampler - low-fat vanilla yogurt and seasonal fruit topped with a honey granola mix of almonds and dried fruit, along with two eggs cooked to order; served with a Wild Maine Blueberry Muffin or an Apple Bran Muffin and your choice of smoked sausage patties, turkey sausage patties or thick-sliced bacon. I ask for egg substitute, give Gus one of the turkey sausage patties, and save the blueberry muffin for later (or just eat half). The yogurt & fruit (strawberries & blueberries) is delicious - and the blueberries are the largest I've ever seen. I also love First Watch. The Tri-Athlete Omelette is really tasty - egg white omelette with sliced mushrooms, onions, tomato and green chilies. (I skip the onions & green chilies.) It's served with salsa, a dry English muffin and fresh fruit.

How do you combine eating healthy with eating out?

Summer festival

Gus & I went to one of the local church festivals this past weekend. I'll be honest - we haven't been to one for about 15 years. The parish we used to live in always had their festival the last weekend in July - when it was sweltering hot. And everything was on black asphalt, which made it even hotter. Plus it always seemed that we had to be out of town that weekend. So I think we took the kids once when they were little & that was the end of that, LOL.

Since the weather was so gorgeous last weekend (and my sciatica was keeping to a minimum), we thought it would be a good time to help out one of the local parishes and eat some festival food, LOL!

I can't believe I forgot to take pictures of the food!! We shared a burger from some place I can't remember the name of, LOL - it was pretty good. We also shared a Reuben from Izzy's - yum, yum, & more yum!! And we also shared a slice of pizza from one of the local pizza places that we had never tried - ick - won't be trying it again. I also had a frozen lime margarita, but I didn't share that. :-)

We walked around for awhile, checking out the kiddie rides, games, and  pony rides.

Gus decided to ty his hand at the golf game. If you made a hole-in-one (without banking), you got to split-the-pot. When we left, the pot was up to almost $90. Gus came close a couple of times - too bad it was golf & not horseshoes. :-)

Before we left, I told Gus he should buy $4 worth of pull-offs. You can see him making his purchase in the picture. We each took 8 cards, and after I had pulled 6 of mine without winning anything, I told him that he was no longer allowed to choose the pull-off cards since he only picked losing cards. Then I pulled the 7th card and won $25!! LOL!! I swear he planned that just so he could make me eat my words. :-)

Festa Italiana 2011

Last weekend, Gus and I made our annual visit to the Italian Festival. The weather was gorgeous - sunny with a nice breeze - and it wasn't too crowded. When we arrived, a band was playing the Tarantella:

There were a couple of new restaurants this year, but I wasn't overly impressed with their offerings. What did impress me was a delicious prime rib cannelloni!! Delizioso!! Seriously melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The frozen margaritas weren't bad either. Wait - margaritas. Those aren't Italian...oh, well...

And of course, the cannoli. Mmmmmmm!!! I managed somehow to limit myself to just one small one...but I admit, I did have two margaritas, LOL!

And here's Gus & me enjoying the beautiful weather...

11 things never to say to a man you love...

I saw this in a recent issue of Redbook magazine (actually Gus found it & showed it to me, LOL!) and thought it was absolutely hilarious (and true!!) - so I thought I'd share it here:

11 Things Never To Say To A Man You Love

1. I can't wait to see what you're doing for my birthday.
2. Are you... crying?
3. If we leave right now, we'll have time to stop by Bed Bath & Beyond.
4. Do you need help lighting the grill?
5. I'm putting this whole conversation on my blog.
6. You had so much hair back then!
7. I don't care how big and drunk he is, he shouldn't be talking through the movie. I'm going to say something.
8. Actually, it doesn't happen to every guy.
9. We're vegetarians now.
10. My dad can fix that; you should call him.
11. You know why.

(compiled by Troy Patee of dadventurous.com, Shawn Burns of backpackingdad.com, and Aaron Traister of redbookmag.com)

C'mon, be honest - how many of these have you said?? I have definitely said #3, #5, #6, #7, and #11!!! LOL!!

Happiness is a clean house.

It's a happy day in the D'Agostino household. Why?

All of the bathrooms are clean!! And the kitchen floor has been mopped!! Silly, you say? You wouldn't think so if your house hadn't been cleaned really well for 3 months.

Since late December, I haven't been able to do my usual household chores. Gus has tried to pick up the slack, but there's just not enough time. Besides, he already works 40+ hours/week, does the yard work, & takes out the trash - so why should he have to do everything else as well? Anyway, I now have a cleaning lady that will be coming every 2 weeks!!! Woot!!

Rosey (I'm going to call her Rosey after the Jetson's maid, LOL) swept in here at 9:00 this morning, and a mere 3 hours later, I had a spotless kitchen floor and immaculate 3.5 baths!! No easy feat considering that Lulu's bathroom had about 2 inches of hairspray caked on the counter & floor. Best $70 we ever spent.

I'm experiencing a few uneasy feelings about having a woman who is almost old enough to be my mother cleaning my house. I was raised to respect my elders, and her working while I rest feels a bit wrong. I know, I know - it's not like I just don't want to do it - I really can't do it, but I feel a bit guilty. Rosey's husband is out of work and she cleans houses to support them, so I'm telling myself that I'm really helping her by giving her more work. And let's not forget - I HAVE SPOTLESS BATHROOMS!!!

However, I don't feel guilty about having Gus's work clothes pressed by the dry cleaner. I have always hated ironing and I'm pretty sure that feeling isn't going to disappear, even when I can use my right arm again. Gus never understood what a nasty chore ironing was until he had to take over the job. I think he ironed for about 2 weeks when he made the executive decision to take everything to the dry cleaner. Hmmm. He ironed for 2 weeks - I ironed for over 20 years - and now we outsource the ironing? Whatever. At least I don't have to do it. And this is one expense that won't be disappearing anytime soon. I may even toss out my iron.  :-)

Just saying...

1. Season 4 of True Blood starts June 26 - woot!! I can't decide if I'm Team Eric or Team Alcide, so I'm hoping they both bring some hotness to the screen.
2. Turn signals were put on your car for a reason. That reason is to signal the other drivers around you that you intend to turn. It doesn't help much if you signal as you're turning or if you signal, start to turn, then change your mind at the last minute and swerve back into the other lane and almost hit the car that was behind you, but has now moved up to beside you. Of course, that does explain the smashed tail light on the passenger side of your car...
3. The Hangover, Part II comes out May 26!! Watch the trailer - it's hilarious!! I also want to see Arthur (April 8), Fast Five (April 29) - seriously?? Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, AND Dwayne Johnson??, Thor (May 6), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (May 20), X-Men First Class (June 3), The Green Lantern (June 17), Cars 2 (June 24), Transformers: Dark of the Moon (July 11), the last Harry Potter (July 15), & Captain America (July 22). I can't decide if I want to see Bridesmaids and Priest (both May 13) - they looked like something I might like, but I'm not 100% sure yet. (If you click on the links, they take you to the movie trailers). Oh - and Source Code looks interesting - I think it opens today.
4. Way, way tired of this cold weather crap. It snowed again the other day! So much for Punxsutawny Phil and his predictions for spring. Whose idea was it to trust a groundhog to predict the weather anyway? Well, I guess he is just about as reliable as the weathermen on the local news - but I'm ready for some warm weather!!
5. Thank God for pain pills.
6. Was there really life before internet, laptops, and iPhones? I'd be less upset if I forgot my purse than if I forgot my iPhone. And let's not forget Starbucks.

Have a great weekend!!

Things I want to accomplish in 2011...

Remember the list of 10 things I wanted to accomplish in 2010? Well, I managed to accomplish 6 of them - and I think I'm okay with that. Here's the list:

1. start a blog
2. learn to make fancy cupcakes
3. learn to use fondant to decorate cakes
4. try 1 new recipe per month 
5. reorganize my main closet
6. go to Cedar Point (I've never been there)
7. go to Disney World (I've never been there)
8. turn one of my upstairs rooms into an exercise room 
9. finish knitting my husband's afghan
10. lose 10 lbs.

I wanted to lose 10 lbs., and I actually lost 15 - so that's good. We had planned to go to Cedar Point & Disney World, but other things came up and we weren't able to go. However, Gus & I did make it to St. Pete Beach, and I had never been there before, so that was an accomplishment. The other two that I didn't get to do - learning to decorate a cake with fondant and turning one of my upstairs rooms into an exercise room - I plan to make part of my 2011 list. Hopefully, I'll have better luck with them this year!

Things I want to accomplish in 2011:

1. learn to decorate cakes with fondant
2. turn one of my upstairs rooms into an exercise room
3. repaint the main & upstairs hallway
4. start on a little outdoor oasis (firepit, seating, plants, flowers)
5. learn to make infused vodka
6. make more time for me/my health
7. get my cholesterol below 200 (last reading was 274)
8. have a really well-stocked bar :-)
9. revamp the IFP website
10. ?

How did you do with your list for 2010? Did you make a new one for 2011?

Another health update...

I just wanted to let you know the latest on the health front. I had an EMG on Friday - and that was negative - which basically just means that there is no permanent damage to the nerves in my right arm/hand. If you've never had an EMG, just let me tell that that they are quite painful. Or at least it was for me. And the dr. also managed to hit blood vessels in two spots so I have a couple of really ugly bruises.

I saw the neurosurgeon after the EMG on Friday. Basically, he wants to put off doing surgery as long as possible because of my age. I already have 2 fused vertebra in my neck - if he fuses one or two more, it will really limit the forward/backward movement of my neck - and he thinks I'm too young to have that much limited mobility. So I'm going to be trying physical therapy three times/week for four weeks. They'll be doing hot packs, massage, and traction. Unfortunately, I'm still pretty limited in what I can do because it's my right arm/shoulder that is affected and I'm right-handed. It doesn't take much to trigger the pain. Hopefully, the therapy will help.

Then on Tuesday, I saw the dermatologist for my 6 month skin check. She froze three places on my face and removed a mole from my back and also from my stomach. No news is good news, so I hope not to hear from her, LOL.

Hope you all are well!!

So...where have I been??

I don't really like to blog about my health. I figure it's like when someone asks, "How have you been?" - they expect you to say, "Fine, thanks - and how have you been?" - they don't really want to hear about all of your problems. However, since I've been MIA so much lately, I thought I'd let you guys know what's happening.

I've mentioned that I take blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering meds. I also have a history of neck problems - I had surgery for 2 herniated disks in 1989. The surgery was successful, but I occasionally have muscle spasms in my neck & shoulder. Nothing major - just annoying. About 5-6 weeks ago, I started having more pain in my neck, right shoulder, and right thumb. I saw my regular doctor and he prescribed a 4-day course of a muscle relaxant and a 10-day course of an anti-inflammatory. After a week, the pain had worsened, so he sent me to an orthopedic surgeon. By this time, I was also having weakness in my right arm, along with numbness & tingling in the middle, ring, & little fingers of my right hand. I was having so much pain that I couldn't sleep at night. The orthopedic doctor did an x-ray in the office, and based on that, ordered an MRI & physical therapy. Even though I told her that the pain was so bad that I couldn't sleep, she didn't bother to order anything for pain. I was not pleased with her at all. Luckily, when I called my regular doctor again, he ordered some pain meds for me. Since this was just a few days before Christmas, I decided to wait to set up the physical therapy, but I scheduled the MRI.

The more I thought about it, the more I became unhappy with the orthopedic doctor. I really liked (and trusted) the neurosurgeon who did my surgery in 1989, so I decided to give his office a call. I had the MRI, he looked at it that same day - and called me back to set up an appointment for 2 days later. At this point, I still hadn't heard from the orthopedic doctor - even though she was the one who ordered the MRI, and she would've received a copy of it - and she had no idea I had contacted the neurosurgeon. By the time I saw the neurosurgeon, my symptoms were even worse. In addition to all of the other symptoms, I now had weakness in my left arm with numbness & tingling in the last three fingers on my left hand. I could barely lift either of my arm and I was just exhausted.

The neurosurgeon was puzzled by my exam. The MRI showed a bone spur at the C4-5 level pinching the nerve - and that accounted for the neck & shoulder pain. But there was nothing at the C7-8 level - which is the level that would affect my arms & fingers. He ordered some bloodwork to check for arthritis, etc. and started me on Decadron (a steroid). He also ordered an EMG to check for nerve problems in my right arm/hand.

Over the next 3-4 days, I continued to get worse. It took every ounce of energy I had to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. My stomach hurt and I couldn't eat. I could barely talk because I was so weak. I almost had Gus take me to the hospital - and in retrospect, I probably should have done just that. I stopped taking the Decadron, thinking that it was the most recent med, so maybe it was causing problems. I had only been taking half of a pain pill at bedtime, but I stopped that, too. Unfortunately, I continued to get worse.

Then I started to wonder if perhaps it was the cholesterol med causing problems. The doctor had doubled my dose about 10-14 days before all of these problems started. I had problems in the past with statins prescribed for cholesterol - but it caused joint pain in my hips & legs. But I decided to stop taking the cholesterol med. After the first couple of days, the numbness & tingling stopped. After about 4 days, my arms weren't weak anymore. After a week, I was able to eat and the stomach pain & shakiness stopped. From Jan. 1 through Jan. 10, I was virtually bedridden & unable to care for myself. All because of this cholesterol med. I knew what signs/symptoms to watch for, but since they sort of went along with the disk problems, I didn't recognize what was happening.

Now I'm back to just having pain in my neck, right shoulder, right bicep, and right thumb. It's a relief really. I almost embrace this pain, LOL. I still think that I may have a couple of things going on - the cervical disk and possibly carpal tunnel (because the disk doesn't account for the thumb pain). I'm having an EMG tomorrow, and I also see the neurosurgeon again, so I should know more then. Once I get that all figured out, I need to call my regular doctor and tell him what happened. I have no idea how we're going to treat my high cholesterol but I just can't take any more statin drugs. I've tried all of the vitamins/minerals/supplements and diet/exercise - but none of that seems to help.

Oh - and I still haven't heard from the orthopedic doctor. Not that I have any intention of seeing her again - but she never even called to give me the MRI results. Thank goodness I had enough sense to take my healthcare into my own hands. And speaking of that - when the neurosurgeon ordered Decadron for me, he put me on decreasing doses with a total of 40 pills. When I picked up the prescription from Walgreens, it said to take 4 pills/day for 2 days, 3 pills/day for 4 days, 2 pills/day for 4 days - which totals 28 pills. I thought it was pretty odd that the prescription ended with taking 2 pills/day and not 1 pill daily - plus why would I have 12 pills left over? I called the pharmacy and the pharmacist (yes, it was the pharmacist) said that she thought it was odd when she filled that - and now that she was looking at the prescription, she thought it might have an additional line that said to take 1 pill daily, so yeah, I should just go ahead and do that. WTF?? Isn't it the pharmacist's responsibility to call the dr. and verify the prescription?? Now I'm seriously thinking that I need to find a new pharmacy, too.

Beware and be aware. Never trust your health blindly to someone else. Read, research - ask questions. You may be the only one who can save you!

ETA: I forgot to add that just as I started to feel better, I ended up with shingles on my scalp (for the 4th time). Most people only get shingles once, but not lucky me! Fun times, LOL!

Merry Christmas!

I hope that each & every one of you has a blessed holiday season!!

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

I think my first exposure to TSO was 4-5 years ago when I heard "Christmas Canon" on the radio. I've wanted to see them perform live ever since - but the concerts always sold out before we could get tickets. Their 2010 tour schedule put them in our area the day before Thanksgiving, and Gus & I were finally able to get tickets.

It was a great show - we both enjoyed it a lot. There were people of all ages in attendance & they all seemed to be enjoying the show. Fantastic music, impressive light show - what's not to like? If you haven't seen them, I highly recommend getting tickets the next time they perform in your area!

Hey, there!!

I haven't disappeared - I'm on vacation!! I promise to have lots of blog posts coming up soon.

In the meantime, don't forget to go to amazon.com every day to download your free Christmas song! There will be a total of 25 - and you can still download the ones from Dec. 1-6. While you're there, also check out the regular free daily download.