Christmas Lights, Sunshine & Snow

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Good early morning kids! I hope this morning’s post finds you all well.

Today’s post is a mish mosh of photos I’ve taken recently. I’ve been playing with iPhoto and Picnik (Flickr’s free photo editing program) and so the first two images are products of playtime with photo editing. The last is homage to the photos I took last winter during the 3 gigantic snowstorms we had on December 19, February 6 and February 10.

Write, He Said (Major Surgery & the Road to Recovery) — I Like To Color

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Enough of the heavy stuff! Let’s move on to something silly for tonight. I like to color. Plain and simple this almost 38 year old woman likes to color. I always have. A coloring book and crayons was one of my most favorite toys when I was a kid.  I still love to color. When I was 19 and had mono someone bought me a very cool coloring book from Tower Books on South Street. Art for Aids put it out and proceeds benefited Aids research. A few years ago I bought myself a coloring book of geometric shapes from Amazon.com. There’s just something soothing about the feel of a crayon in your hand and the sound it make as it covers the paper in color. 

When I got home from the hospital one of my very best friends sent me a care package full of things to make me happy. One of the items was a Winnie the Pooh (my childhood favorite) coloring book and another was a box of 24 crayons. That same week my mother bought me a Hello Kitty (another favorite) coloring book and a box of 48 crayons. So in addition to writing and taking pictures I’ve been coloring to keep my mind and my hands occupied. It’s been good for me to have so many creative outlets. It helps alleviate the anxiety.

Write, He Said (Major Surgery & the Road to Recovery) — MRI Tales & More

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Hola kiddies! It’s Monday, December 13. It is 1 week until my 38th birthday.

I’m back to tell you that I survived the nasty cold I caught over Thanksgiving weekend.

I also survived the pneumonia shot I received on Monday, December 6.

You can also add to the survival list an MRI, a cat scan and an ultrasound. The dye didn’t kill me nor did the fear of being sucked into a super magnetic tube. Yay me! I had Xanax to take in case I needed it but I opted to tough it out. As it turns out it wasn’t so bad. The tube wasn’t all that long and was open on both ends so it wasn’t like being encapsulated in a big closed in tube.

I was quite nervous about having dye injected into my veins twice in one day and I was none too thrilled at the prospect of being encapsulated in a big tube while magnets scanned and created a picture of my brain. I decided against taking the Xanax before the MRI because A. I’d never taken it before and B. I read one of the possible side effects is hallucinations, which sent me worrying that I’d hallucinate while trapped in the aforementioned magnetic tube. (see i told you. i worry in detail and i have a fabulous imagination.)

I suppose it was a good thing I was awake and alert and untranquilized for this visit as I had to answer quite a few questions and sign my life away before I ever made it into the room. Now to offer you a little back story. During the operation the neurosurgeon put a titanium plate in my head. For anyone who’s never had an MRI you have to remove all your jewelry and there is to be no metal of any sort in the room. This includes things implanted in your body i.e., stents, pace makers, insulin pumps, etc. I told the girl who made my appointment that I have a titanium plate in my head. Sure, no problem. I told the girl who was checking me in that I have a titanium plate in my head. Sure, no problem. I tell the doctor who walks me back and takes my information that I had a titanium plate in my head. Problem. He gets the MRI tech and I tell her the same info I just told the him including the bit about having a titanium plate in my head. She asks me, “Does it have screws in it?” Me: ~ blink ~ ~ blink ~ ‘”Ummm … I don’t know.” I tell her that I e-mailed Elizabeth, the nurse practitioner who works alongside Dr. Bussey, my neurosurgeon and that she said the MRI that they ordered was safe for me to do because the plate was made of titanium. I also told her that said e-mail was on my iPhone, which was out in the waiting room with the hubs and asked if she’d like to read it. She did and so we made our way out to the waiting room to retrieve my iPhone and Elizabeth’s (nurse practitioner) card so the MRI technician could call Elizabeth.

A decision was made to have me to do cat scan first so they would be able to see where the plate was before doing the MRI and allow the technician time to call Elizabeth. The cat can of my head took about 5 minutes. After I was finished the MRI technician came to get me. I asked did she talk to Elizabeth and she said, “No.” She said but that was okay because the e-mail pretty much spelled it out and that “If I was confident she was confident.” ^insert me looking alarmed here^ She went on to say that since it was my neurosurgeon ordering it she figured he knew what he was talking about and so she was okay with going ahead with the test. ^insert me looking alarmed here also^

I was here for the MRI and so I took a deep breath and walked into the MRI room all the while hoping that Elizabeth and the MRI tech knew what they were talking about. All I could think of while I was in there was that my head was going to be sucked up to the top of the machine. The MRI itself took about half an hour. The first part of the test was without the dye and the second part of the test was with the dye (more anxiety). I can happily tell you the machine didn’t swallow me, I didn’t die from the claustrophobia and the dye didn’t kill. All in all a positive experience. I won’t know anything about the MRI or the cat scan until Friday when I see Elizabeth and Dr. Bussey.

Earlier in the week I’d seen that Guitar Center was having a big sale so after the MRI we took a ride over to the Guitar Center in Cherry Hill so the hubs could buy himself a guitar stand for his acoustic guitar. The sky was a pretty mix of sun and clouds in anticipation of the next day’s rain. I used my iPhone to take a few photos. (i really need to remember to take my good camera with me everywhere.) This is the best of the few shots I took.

Tomorrow I should know the results of the ultrasound and find out if the Lovenox is causing the higher liver number or if I have gallstones or a fatty liver. I’m hoping it’s nothing. Who am I kidding? I’m praying it’s nothing while trying (and not doing a great job) not to obsess or worry too much about the outcome.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more Reverb 10 posts.

Love,

~ Carol Anne

He’s Late! He’s Late! Late For a Very Important Christmas Party?

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~ blink ~ ~ blink ~ *stares incredulously at the TV* ~ blink ~ ~ blink ~

*beats head on pillow* (the neurosurgeon says no more beating my head on the laptop)

Is he kidding? No. Really. Is he kidding? I’m somewhat convinced that President Obama hates being president and has just decided to do everything in his power to make himself completely unelectable in 2012.

I’ve been watching Senator Bernie Sanders filibuster all day in opposition to the wildly unpopular tax deal President Obama brokered with the Republicans. Granted I think if the Democrats are so damn committed to helping the middle class and to defeating the tax cuts for the rich they should have been passionate for the past 11 months not just now at the zero hour but that’s a point for another time. Right now I’m pondering if President Obama’s staff hates him and like making him look bad. 

Seriously. President Obama just brokered a wildly unpopular tax deal with the Republicans; apparently without first consulting the Democratic party. If they could get past the Secret Service his own party would be outside the Oval Office with pitchforks and torches. A senator from his own party was going on his 6th hour of a filibuster meant to defeat the President’s tax deal and what does President Obama do? He brings in Bill Clinton, who is revered in the Democratic Party to help him get the deal through then leaves the press room to attend the White House staffers’ Christmas party. After all he’d been keeping the First Lady waiting a half an hour. 

*stares blankly at laptop screen*

I got nothing. I don’t know what to say. I really seriously am convinced that either he wants to be a 1 term president or his staff hates him. Last week I wrote about reading on CNN’s on screen ticker that the president might have to delay (not cancel) his Hawaiian vacation due to the tax fight and now he’s leaving Bill Clinton at the podium to defend his tax deal while he runs off to the White House staffers’ Christmas party. I don’t get it. 

I was proud of him for taking on for the team and making a deal with the Republicans to extend the tax cuts for the middle class and for extending unemployment. It wasn’t a great deal but sometimes you gotta play with the hand you’re given and I’d rather the rich get their tax cuts than for the middle class to struggle any more than they already do. But that pride was squashed late this afternoon when the president and his people decided that a holiday party was more important than defending the deal he made supposedly to help the middle class. I have to question how much he cares about the deal or the middle class if rather than sticking around to defend his deal he runs off to a Christmas party. You have to question how much he cares about us (the middle class) if it seems his priorities are focused on Hawaiian vacations and Christmas parties. 

Were the people on his communications staff absent the day they taught politics? Even if President Obama’s priorities really did lie in vacations and parties you’d think the communications staff would do their best to keep that under wraps. Did they really think it would play well with the Democratic Party or the American people to have their president rush off to a Christmas Party while a senator from his own party filibustered to prevent the passage of the tax deal brokered by the president himself? What does this say about him?

My 4 Theories on President Obama & His White House Staff (in no particular order)

1. He hates being president and is doing everything in his power to make sure he is unelectable in 2012.

2. His staff hates him and wants to see him voted out in 2012.

3. They’re handing out ineptitude pills to all West Wing staff as they report to work in the morning

4. He’s a plant from the Republican party to convince the American people to never vote Democrat again. (payback for the “Anybody but Bush” sentiment during the 2008 election?)