September 8, 2008

After taking yesterday's update picture, I realized that the entire cream motif had to be frogged. I'd already ripped out most of it twice on my way to completing it the first time and it was still wrong! It took three more tries, but I finally got the placement and the stitch sizes correct at the same time. I just can't seem to be able to clearly see the fabric's threads. Three times I got to the end of the circle of embroidery stitches only to find that I was off by one thread! I finally gave up on doing any more stitching in order to get some rest before my busy day started.

Wow, was it a fiasco!

On top of the massive frog attack before going to bed, I woke up too early and couldn't get back to sleep. This has been happening alot lately and I usually take a nap later in the day when my eyes won't stop closing despite my best efforts to keep them open. Unfortunately, that wouldn't work today.

Since I had extra time, I told Kasey we could go for a walk to the end of the driveway and back. As soon as she heard that "w" word she grabbed a toy and trotted to the door. Our neighbor, Mrs A, was out on her deck reading and enjoying the cool morning air. As usual, Kasey ran over to say hello and get some attention.

Mrs A and I started chatting and I mentioned that I was leaving shortly for an Embroiderer's Guild of America meeting and that I cross stitch. You could have knocked me over with a feather when she said that she did, too! I've never seen any needlework when I've been over; she's always been reading when she sits outside.

I told her about the Yahoo stitching groups, EGA, and Heirloom Stitchers and invited her to the meetings. She had other commitments this month but said she was very interested in going to next month's meetings of both groups. I was so excited to find that another cross stitcher lives next door! I can't wait to show her some of my finishes and WIP's and to see what she's working on.

I left the house a littler earlier than I had planned because I was nervous about finding the building where the meeting was without getting lost. I wanted to be sure I was there on time. This specific chapter of EGA meets at the Howard County Center for the Creative Arts in Ellicott City, MD. It took about an hour to get there, and that's factoring in the stops to get something to eat and drink. It was about 33 miles one way.

I really liked the EGA meeting and the ladies I met. Everyone was suprised that I was actually stitching with my arm in the shape it's in. I am very excited about attending in the future because the ladies at EGA all do different kinds of needlework. There were ladies knitting, crocheting, tatting, cross-stitching, embroidering, and more! This will be a great learning experience to meet with all these talented needleworkers. I have to admit, though, that a dog was the main reason I went. Seriously! I was told that there was a lady who belonged to the Chapter whose assistance dog had originally been the family pet. I've been trying to find someone to train Kasey Kay to be my assistance dog so I wanted to find out how she did it.

I walked up to Edie and her dog as soon as they arrived and told her that she and her dog were the reason I was at the meeting. I explained about Kasey helping me and letting me know when something isn't right with my system and she said she'd be happy to send information about where they did their training. Edie is a very nice lady and sat beside me for the meeting. Her Akita, Yugio, is a sweet boy who is allowed to wander around to visit all his favorite people.

The program for this month's meeting was a sort of Show and Tell of antique and vintage sewing paraphernalia: ivory crochet hooks, knitting needles made from feathers, Victorian silver needle cases, mother of pearl tatting shuttles, tiny sewing machines that were hand-powered...all kinds of things to "ooo" and "aaaah" over. I couldn't stay for the entire meeting this time, but I'm going back and will most definitely join when my budget allows!

Carol B was at the meeting as well and she acted as my other hand when heavy or ungainly items were passed around. I still can't lift or hold stuff in my right hand so it was nice to have Edie on one side and Carol on the other to pass things along. Carol and I both left around 12:15, but we're hoping to be able to stay through the whole meeting and the stitching time next month. This is a picture of the one eyelet stitch I did while at the meeting. You can also see the difference between yesterday's picture and today's. The placement of the cream circle was way off!

I'm looking forward to November's meeting because it's a stash swap. I plan on taking my entire trade cabinet and maybe a few extra items as well! Each participant gets a table to spread her wares on and you are allowed to sell and/or trade. The President's Challenge for the Chapter this year is to reduce, reuse, or repurpose your stash and this activity is geared to help members towards that goal. I've been doing that already with all the trades, sales, and RAK's I've been doing all year, but I still have a 3-drawer cabinet full of items I won't use.

I arrived in Annapolis for my appointment with the vascular surgeon with five minutes to spare. The nurse practitioner, Louise, took my sutures out and my arm felt better immediately! No more sharp pains! She said I'd have to come back in two weeks to have Dr M look at the CryoVein and decide when to use it for my treatments. I let her know he told me it would only be a week that I'd need the perma-cath, but she said they wait four weeks to use new CryoVeins. So I go back on the 22nd to determine whether or not the CV is okay to use.

I got to my dialysis clinic around 2pm and they were ready for me right away. Usually I arrive at 2:30 and I have to wait a few minutes, so it was a nice change. I asked about the blood cultures that were taken on Friday when I wasn't feeling that great. Beatrice, the charge nurse, told me that one came back positive. She said that Dr D would be around today to talk to me about what he wanted to do.

Dr D told me that he was going to order an IV antibiotic to be administered for the next two weeks during my treatment and another antibiotic to be taken orally four times a day, also for two weeks. We got to discussing what antibiotics I could and couldn't take, which led him to call my infectious disease doctor. "Guess what Dr Y wants to do?" Dr D says. "Change the antibiotic?" I reply. "She wants you to go the hospital for IV treatment." NOT what I want to hear!

After my treatment was over I stopped at Wawa to buy 3 half-gallons of Lemonade Tea and a 10" Italian sub. I will not be deprived of my Wawa addiction! I went home and packed clothes and enough small projects to keep me busy for at least two weeks. Why so long? That's how long it took to get rid of the last bad infection I had. I wasn't told what bacteria I had until I got to the hospital. I was very upset when I discovered it was staph. I had MRSA for 2 years back in 1999-2001. Before the infection, which settled in my kidneys, my kidney function was over 40%. By the time the infection was gone, function had plummeted to under 15%. That infection is the main reason I had to go on dialysis as early as I did.

Of course, they HAD to try to put in a regular IV line but it didn't work. The IV Therapy nurse wanted to try a vein in the back of my wrist after she missed the only other vein she could find in my arm. I told her there was no way it'd work! Number one: I'm left handed. Number two: I can't lift anything with my right arm because that still makes it hurt, so I have to use my left hand. Number three: I can't keep my wrist from bending 24/7; I'd end up blowing the IV in a matter of hours, if not sooner. So she gave up and agreed that I needed a central line (which I had been saying all along).

I spoke to Debi on the phone tonight because I can't get internet access. I talked to someone in IT, but she couldn't helpe me with my problem because she doesn't work on the public access, but she said she'd let someone know about it when they come in tomorrow morning. I was getting really bored with Spider Solitaire, so I turned off the lights and tried to get some sleep.

So that was my day...I certainly hope your Monday was better!