Alien Abduction!

On May 7th, I went back to Sunnybrook Hospital to see the chief neurologist there. I had some more tests done in the EMG lab. The neurologist was flabbergasted by the results of those tests; my legs were getting worse! Doh! I could have told him that without any painful nerve conduction tests!

He was puzzled by my diagnosis. He had originally thought that it was a spinal problem, complicated by a very recent diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes. If that diagnosis had been correct, I should have been getting better over the previous 2 and a half months, but I was getting worse. After consulting with his staff, he concluded that my condition was caused by my autoimmune system. To put it in layman's terms, my blood cells were attacking my nerve cells as if they were foreign invaders! He told me this condition would only strike one in a million people. Too bad I didn't buy a lottery ticket. He decided to admit me immediately and start me on a course of steroid treatments given directly into my blood stream. Unfortunately there were no beds available at that time. I was sent home to wait for a call from the hospital. Finally, the following Monday morning I was told to return to Sunnybrook to be admitted. My stay at the hospital remains like a foggy dream that I couldn't wake up from.

It felt as if I had been abducted by aliens! I was probed and prodded, scanned and scoped. Blood was drawn daily for god only knows what. My fingers were pricked to test my blood sugar levels. Dyes were infected into my veins. A course of five steroid treatments was started. I was told I would feel good and energetic, but instead, I became moody and tired.

Every night was a challenge to sleep as the others in my room dealt with their own pains and suffering. I wondered how long I could take this treatment.

When the steroid treatment was completed, the neurologist returned to my bedside. I had a million questions for him, but he could not answer any of them. He still was not sure if I had been diagnosed correctly. He was not sure if the steroids were the right treatment, and he could not give me any definite prognosis. I asked for more nerve tests, but he said that they would not show anything. Apparently nerve cells grow very slowly - only about a millimeter per day. I would have to wait at least 3 months before any result would show up on the EMG tests.

It was decided that I would go to a rehabilitation hospital to strengthen my muscles and learn to walk again. But that meant I would have to wait until a bed became available. so, I waited and waited. Each day went by without a light at the end of my long dark tunnel. I was not supposed to get any more medical attention, yet I was still prodded and probed, pricked and swabbed. A physiotherapist gave me exercises to do while I waited. I was surprised at the amount of strength and mobility I had in my left leg. It seemed as if the steroids had helped - at least a bit. But my right leg, which had always been my strongest, was totally useless. All of my muscles had wasted away. I struggled with every minute of my day. I practiced my exercises and slowly made my way to the bathroom with my walker. I was a very impatient patient! But then the good news came!

The social worker, who had arranged my rehab, together with the physiotherapist, came to my bedside. They had curious smiles on their faces. Had my wishes come true? Would I be moved to a place where I could get better? I dared not hope!

"Good news?" I asked.

"We have found a bed at West Park Health Care Centre. Do you want to take it?"

Did I want to ? You betcha!!!

I was transported by ambulance on the following morning. And so ended my abduction. I checked my body for scars. I found lots of bruises, but I was not missing any vital organs. All was well.

More next time on my stay here at West Park. Right now someone is waiting to use the computer. Till then.

Just Checking In!

Hi Folks! I'm back on the computer.
All is well. I am in a rehab hospital at the moment, but I have use of a computer in their library for about 20 minutes. I will write more tomorrow.

A Bad News Day!

I spent my day at Sunnybrook Hospital yesterday. It is one of the best hospitals here in Toronto! My neurologist is Head of the Neurology Department, so I think I am in good hands. I had some more test done and then we waited for a bed. My doctor thought that I should be admitted immediately. Unfortunately they did not have a bed available! So much for all the cutbacks lately!! We went home and now I am waiting for a phone call to tell me when to come back to the hospital. I hope it will come today. I want to get this stuff over with!

I know that I haven't said much on my blog about my condition, but it has not been good lately. Since about a year ago I have totally lost the ability to walk. I am suffering from a lot of nerve and muscle pain and I can no longer put one foot in front of the other without the use of my walker. Sometimes even that doesn't work. Like about a week ago when I fell down as I 'walked' to the bathroom at 4:00am in the morning. I bruised my left foot very badly and have not been able to put my full weight on it since. Needless to say, I have not been able to walk at all since then. So now I have to sit in my wheelchair to get from one room to another at all times. I am too afraid of falling again. Yesterday, when I was at the hospital, the neurologist I was seeing told me that he is very puzzled with my condition. He has tentatively diagnosed me as having an immuno disorder. Apparently this is not a common disorder - only a chance of about one in a million of getting this! When I go back to the hospital today I will have to start some kind of steroid IV treatment. And maybe some Intravenous Immuno Globulin or something. I am not looking forward to that, but I know that things can't go on like this. Something has to be done!

So for the time being, I will just have to think positive thoughts, like those of the beautiful flowers that are growing in my garden. Too bad I couldn't take photos of all of them. It is too difficult to get around at the moment! But here is one of the urns I managed to plant a few weeks ago. These beautiful plants welcome all visitors to my front door. Because they are a couple of feet tall, I was able to reach them without any problems. I also planted a few other pots and a large container with some lettuce! I can hardly wait to enjoy a nice fresh salad - maybe in a few weeks or so!
Anyway, for the time being, these images will have to feed my psyche. I will need all the positive vibes I can get to make my way through all this treatment and hospital stuff!! Oh, did I tell you that I do not like hospitals! I guess there is no need to do so. No one likes hospitals!! Wish me luck. I hope to be back soon with some new creations.

My New Bear Family

Finally! I would like to present my new Bear Family!

Let me introduce them to you. This is Sunny Bear with his partner, Oni Bear (I think Oni is the word for 'Bear' in Japanese. An aside to my Japanese friends. Please correct me if I am wrong) and their children, Posie and Peewee. I got the pattern from a new Yahoo group which I joined a couple of weeks ago. It is called, threadanimals@yahoogroups.com. I joined it to do the newest bear challenge, but so far I have not received the pattern. Maybe I didn't join the challenge properly. But, in any case, it doesn't matter because they have lots of patterns (for bears and other animals) on their site. I just chose a couple of those and adapted them to my liking. I think they turned out very cute! I will probably make a few more before my interest in bears wears off. I hope to make some clothes for the next ones! Wouldn't a little dress look great on Oni? Or maybe a little sweater for Sunny?
This is a close up of Oni and Peewee. More bears are in the process of being made, as I write this! I already have a bagful of 'bear body parts' that need to be sewn together! I will post them as soon as I have them ready.

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Today is Earth Day! Hope everyone is doing their part to keep our planet clean and happy! Have you replaced your old, incandescent light bulbs with the new, compact fluorescent ones? They are much more energy efficient and last longer - many years, in fact. Do you drink regular tap water instead of bottled water? Those plastic bottles really add up when deposited in a landfill. I know they are supposed to be recycled, but now that the plastic used to make them contains Bisphenol A, which damages our endocrine systems, they can no longer be used. Canada has become the first country to official ban them. Tap water in a re-usable, stainless steel bottles is much better, both for us and for the environment - and it's cheaper! Perhaps you helped in a community clean-up. Thousands of people have picked up garbage in our local parks in order to keep our city clean. Planting a tree can be a pleasant pastime! On Earth Day thousands of trees are planted in parks, ravines and open areas across our city. They are the best defense against pollution! Trees provide us with oxygen! And where would we be without that? So do your part - turn off lights and appliances when not needed, or use cold water to wash your clothes and then hang your laundry on a line to dry. A family of four can save up to $90 per year that way! Whatever you are doing, keep up the good work! Our planet will love you for it! And we will have a legacy to pass onto our children! I wish all of you a Happy Earth Day!

Another Afghan Finished!

I guess it's about time that I posted something! Sorry to take so long. My sister gave me three huge balls of Red Heart yarn in two colours - aqua and beige. I had no idea what to do with them, so I decided to make an afghan. It turned out okay. So far it doesn't have a home yet, but I am sure I will find someone to give it to.

I have also been busy in the past few days, making some Amigurumi bears. These things are really cute! So stay tuned, you've just got to see them!!! I got the patterns from a Yahoo group site called, 'threadanimals' which I recently joined. It's a great site - lots of info and nice folks who like to help newbies like me! I will post some pictures of my bear family as soon as I can.

For The Birds!

I know I am a little bit late for Easter, but aren't these the cutest? I started making these little birds several months ago. At that time I only got a couple of them done and they still needed eyes and a beak. Last week I started sewing on some buttons for eyes. They looked so cute that I couldn't help myself. I started making more of them! I still can't stop! They are so addictive!

Spring?

I know this is going to be hard to believe! But some crocuses are actually blooming in front of my house - just a foot or so away from a gigantic 5-foot snow drift! They are like a breath of fresh air. I was very excited when I first saw them! Could it be that spring has actually arrived? Although we celebrated the spring equinox last Thursday, our weather forecaster feels that spring is still about six weeks away. Our daytime temperatures are barely above freezing and at night it is very much colder.
It will actually be a good thing if the snow takes another month or so to melt. If it melts too quickly we could get flooding and dangerous water conditions in our local streams and rivers. That would not be good! So for now I will enjoy my bright yellow crocuses - my little bursts of sunshine - and hope for the best - a quick, but safe spring!

Even if it's Winter Outside, I Can Still Have Spring Inside!

My sister brought me these lovely tulips and hyacinths when she came to visit me last week! Instead of looking outside, I can now look at them sitting on my coffee table. They make me forget how much snow is outside and they give me hope that it will all melt one day and spring will come!
The hyacinths are magnificent! They have a wonderful smell. I wish I had smellablog, so you could all smell how nice spring smells!
And these are the flowers on my Oleander! They are blooming away nicely in my solarium! The room is surrounded by windows, but these plants don't seem to care if they look out and see the snow! They are blooming as if summer is here already! Nice, eh?

More Snow!

Okay! Are you fed up with my snow photos yet? Here is one of our driveway. You can see how the snow piles are higher than our car. See how my DH has piled the snow from the driveway into just a small pile near the sidewalk? That is so that we can see pedestrians when we back out of the driveway. The pile on the other side of our driveway is even higher! That drives our neighbour crazy! He hates snow on his property! But there is nothing that can be done about that this year! This is the year of the big snow! I am sure we will set a record. I even think that we have set one already! We live near the Lake. Lake Ontario, that is. It is less than a kilometer from our place. And because of that we get more snow than the rest of Toronto. So we may have even surpassed that old 1939 record already! Oh, boy! I can hardly believe that I am hoping for more snow! This is crazy. Isn't this enough?

Are You Fed Up With the Snow Yet?

Another photo of our house with snow! This is the front lawn. Nothing has been piled up here, so you can see how deep the snow is. It is hard to believe that there is grass under all that white stuff! And that we will have to cut it in a couple of months - or maybe less!

More Photos

For some reason Blogger would not let me upload any more photos yesterday. When I tried again this morning, I still could not upload more than one at a time. So here they are, one at a time, especially for Winny! This is the front of our house. My DH has been trying to keep the snow piles around out driveway small, so that we can see when we back out onto the road. But it has not been easy. Luckily we life on a nice, quiet street with very little traffic and few children.

Is There an End to All of This?

I know it is already the first week of March. So where the heck is spring? The March Break began last Friday, just as we were getting another blast of winter! I don't ever remember so much snow on the ground at this time of year! My crocuses should be coming up by now, but they are nowhere in sight - even the ones close to the house are still buried in snow! Another 32cm of the white stuff fell on us this time. Since the beginning of this year's winter we have had 195cm. The record, set back in 1939, is 207.4cm. We could break that record this year, because more snow is on the way. It does look pretty though. Don't you think? Hopefully by July all this should be over!

A Black Hat!

Finally finished the black hat for my DS! It fits perfectly! And he loves it! It's made of synthetic yarn - Red Heart. I used a set of 5, size 5.5mm double-pointed needles.

Here are the directions.

Cast on: 120 sts.
Join stitches and place on 4 double-pointed needles, making sure not to twist stitches.

Round 1: K 2, p 2, to end of round.
Continue in this manner until the hat measures about 5 inches.

I did 50 rows for the black hat. There should be enough for turning up the edge of the hat.

Begin decrease rows:

Round 1: K 2, p2 tog. to end of round - 90 sts.
Round 2: K 2, p 1, to end of round
Round 3: K 2 tog. purl 1 to end of round -60 sts.
Round 3: K 1, p 1, to end of round
Round 4: K 2 tog. to end of round - 30 sts.
Round 5: K
Round 6: K 2 tog. to end of round - 15 sts.
Round 7: K
Round 8: K 2 tog. to last st. K 1 - 8 sts.
Break yarn, leaving a end of about 20cm.
Run end of yarn through remaining stitches and pull tight.
Secure yarn and work end in.

That's all there is to it! My DS thinks I should make a few dozen of these and keep them around as Christmas gifts for the rest of my life! Hmm. Good idea, I guess. But I am tired of making hats. Right now I am working on other things. I found a darling little baby sweater on Oiyi's blog. (I will give you her blog later - Right now I can't figure out how to link someone else's blog to mine!) I made one in a day and then played around with the pattern to make another one, a little larger. I will post photos as soon as possible. I also have another hat with a kind of complex cable going on that I just can't seem to get around to finishing! Better do that too, before this 'hat phase' completely escapes me.

Oh, well. Back to work!

An Awards Ceremony for Academic Excellence!

I show you this photo with pride. My DS won a scholarship for his academic excellence at York University! They had the Awards Ceremony today and we all went. All of us, minus the furry felines, of course! It was kind of like another Family Day, but without the cats! There were only about 30 students who received awards - everything from writing essays to winning an entire scholarship. DS is doing his BS in Mathematics - so I am especially proud! When it comes to math, I know nothing, but my DS is very good at it! After the ceremony there were refreshments! And we had a chance to talk with the Dean and other important university people! I really enjoyed it.
For dinner we went to the Franklin Club. They were celebrating the Year of the Rat with foods from Singapore! Everything was delicious! I think you will agree with me that it was a great day!

Family Day Dinner!

A Family Portrait

Thanks to the current Premier of Ontario, we celebrated our first Family Day ever! It was nice to get an extra holiday in the middle of February. By this time of the year we are all feeling kind of fed up with winter. And in my case, I have 'cabin fever'! I only get out occasionally and then it is only for a short trip to the mall or grocery shopping or something similar!
But on Monday I had a wonderful day, my kids came over for dinner. My DH cooked everything! He made stuffing for the chicken and cooked some cranberry sauce from scratch! He peeled and cooked potatoes and made a delicious salad. He also steamed some green beans and carrots to perfection! The whole meal was fantastic and I didn't have to do a thing - just eat and enjoy it!
Even dessert was taken care of. I had planned to bake an apple pie in the morning, but it was not possible! When I told my kids that there would be no dessert, my DD jumped up and ran into to kitchen. She started peeling apples and quickly got an apple pie together. As soon as the chicken was done, she put it into the oven and we had the most wonderful apple pie, I have ever tasted, for dessert!
Too bad I forgot to take a photo of our happy get-together. But I did the next best thing! I drew a cartoon of our meal together! It's the first cartoon I have ever done! It took me two days to do it, mostly because I couldn't find my markers or pencil crayons. But once I had located them, in a nice safe place, I was off to the races! I like to think that my cartoon is better than a photo! What do you think?

A Few Hats!

Well, I knit some hats! The yarn is synthetic. The pattern is my own. I started with the off-white one and then made the others by changing the size of the needles and number of stitches. These hats were very easy to do. They took me from 1 to 3 days to make each one - a perfect project while I wait for the results from my latest MRI test. I am too anxious to do anything more complicated at the moment. But it is nice to be able to say that I finished something at least!
The blue and gray one is for my DH. The gray one with the cables is for my DS. The black ball with the needles stuck in it will also become a hat for my DS. He has expressly asked for a black one. The others don't have a home (head) yet. I may keep the multi-coloured one for myself. It was the most fun to make. I plan to make more of these to give to the school where my daughter works. They always have kids who forget or lose their hats. This way they will have something to keep them warm in our cold winter! I will also make some mittens for them too! Those are always needed. And maybe a few scarves - although I don't want anyone to get caught on the playground equipment, so I will not make them very long.

Contest Results - According to Mimi!

"Dish Cloth Comments" Contest Results - The Contest is Over!

Me: Hi Mimi! What are you up to?

Mimi: I am printing the names of the people who left their names on your blog so that I can pick a winner for the contest!

Me: But, it looks like you are just walking all over the papers!

Mimi: Yes! That's exactly what I am doing! I am stamping the names on papers and then putting them into a basket. Then I will pull out the winners!

Me: Okay. But those paw prints all look the same to me!

Mimi: That's because you are just a human and I am a cat! These paw prints are people's names! Now I am putting them into a basket! See?

Me: Okay, I see! But please don't walk on the furniture until that ink on your paws is dry.

Mimi: Huh? Oh, that. I'll just lick my paws clean! OMG!!! This stuff is delicious! I am getting high on this stuff! What a head rush! This stuff is great! Meow!

Me: Nooooo, Mimi don't do that! That ink might be poisonous or something! You might get sick!

Mimi: Poisonous! No way! Anything that tastes this good can't be bad for you!

Oscar: Can I help? Can I? Can I? Can I? And can I lick some ink too! I want to get high like Mimi!

Me: No Oscar! Don't you start!

Oscar: What does this stuff say anyway? I can't read it.
Me: I don't know! You'll have to ask Mimi. She seems to be the only one who can read paw prints!

Mimi: Me? What? Oh, yeah, read paw prints. Sorry, I have no idea! I can't think anymore! My brain is a bit mixed up at the moment! I can't pick a winner right now! So I will declare everyone a winner!

Me: No Mimi! You can't do that! You have to pick a winner!

Mimi: Meow! I can't! All of a sudden I don't feel so good! I think I will go and take a nap. Meow! My mind is feeling sort of fuzzy! Just send everyone a dish cloth! That should keep them all happy! I'm out of here!

Me: Well, you heard it folks! Everyone is a winner! Mimi, in her mind-altered state, has declared everyone who left a comment, a winner! So your dish cloths will be out to you as soon as I put them into the mail! Thanks Mimi! Did you hear me Mimi? I said "Thank you" for all your 'help'.

Mimi: ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!

Me: Goodnight Mimi! Oscar! Get out of that ink! One drugged cat in this house is enough!

Mimi Has an Idea!

It's my Turn! It's my Turn!

Okay, those silly 'brothers' of mine have been hogging this blogging thing all week! Now it is my turn! After all, I am Mimi! Meow! The Great Mimi! I have all the brains, all the humour and all the literacy skills. And... I am cute too! So here I go! This is going to be a contest! You can all win if you leave a comment on this post! I will put all of your names into a hat, or a cat dish or something, and pull a few out! Those that I pick will win a prize!
I am sure that you will all agree with me that cleanliness is next to catness! I am always licking myself clean! (My 'brothers' often neglect this step in their daily self care!) Humans like to wash too! They even like to use water! You can count me out for that!
Humans even like to wash dishes! What? Meow! They don't? What do you mean? I thought all humans liked to wash dishes!

Oh, well! Meow! My owner has been crocheting dishcloths in Valentine's Day colours! They turned out very nice. Don't you think? These are what she will give away! I think everyone will like to do dishes with one of these cloths! They are so pretty and made from cotton. They can be washed and used over and over! So leave a comment (or two) I will pick the winners on Valentine's Day! Good luck to everyone! Meow. Love, Mimi

Felix!

Hi Folks!

My name is Felix. If you thought my brother, Oscar was adorable, just take a look at me! I am the handsome one in the family! Meow! Also the smart one! I got all the brains! (Sorry Oscar!) I look after my owner and keep her safe! You will always find me, sleeping quietly beside her, either on her bed or right beside it. When she is relaxing in her chair, I like to sit on the arm rest and watch her crochet. Her fingers move like lightening! I imagine that I am chasing them, but I know that she would not like it if I bit her hand while she was working! See, what I mean by being smart! Meow! Her fingers move so fast, in fact, that she was able to finished another afghan. I love this one! I think it's my favourite! What do you think? It is black, gray and dark red! Very masculine! She made it especially for her DS! He has just moved into a new apartment and he is decorating his place. This afghan will look great on his black leather couch! Too bad, I was looking forward to sitting on it, but now his cat, Alpha, will be able to do so! I know Alpha will love it as much as I do! Talk to you all later! Meow! Love, Felix.