Please, let this week be better than last

Ever had one of those weeks you wish would just end.  Now!  My week was actually about 10 days long.  It started when my medication was a little too successful and made me feel like a train wreck.  It caused upset stomach, massive leg cramps (including my inner thighs!), and other symptons I won't go into. Finally Thursday night I went to the ER.  Although I drink about 3 litres of water a day, plus some Gatorade I'd been chugging, I was still dehydrated.  Insert IV to rehydrate.  Take these two pills to stop the stomach issues.  When you get home, take this to sleep.  Test again for C-Diff (third time since August).  Have a prescription for some sleeping pills.  Friday night I took one and turned off the ringer on my phone. I woke up at 8 AM and called mom.  While I was talking to her, my friend and co-worker Tina beeped in.  Since the ringer on my phone was off, if I hadn't been on the phone, I wouldn't have known she was calling.

Tina would never call me that early on a weekend unless something was wrong.  I thought maybe she was sick and wouln't be at work.  No.  She had just gotten a call that her best friend Heather had been killed early Saturday morning by a drunk driver (Walt Taton).  She had no time to accept that when she received a call that one of her co-workers at the state had passed away from cancer during the night.  While you can prepare yourself mentally for the passing of someone from cancer, since it has been months, you cannot prepare for the death of a 28 year old friend with three small children. The news reports keep stating that the driver and Heather were not wearing seatbelts.  Yes, you should always wear your seatbelt, but apparently a seatbelt would not have helped Heather.  Her side of the car was hit full speed by a drunk driving a Ford F350 pickup.  "Apparently" alcohol was involved.  Really?  He was driving in the wrong lane and killed a woman--a mother, wife, and friend.  And he seriously injured a woman who was planning her wedding.  The two women were on their way back from making wedding plans in Rapid City.  Heather chose to stay home to raise her children.  I haven't met her daughters, but her son Alex is the cutest, sweetest little guy around. He's not 2 yet, and will not grow up with his mommy.  She won't be there to teach her daughters to make cookies or paint their fingernails.  If the man who hit them does not spend the rest of his life in prison, then that is a true crime.  I hope he has a good insurance policy, because they are going to get that and everything else he has.

All of this did not put me in a good mood, so when a stupid former employee called to find out why her paycheck wasn't deposited on Friday, I had no tact.  We get paid on the 1st and the 15th.  Anyone want to venture a guess why she did't get paid Friday? Right--she is an idiot.  I didn't say that of course, just explained the she would be paid Tuesday with the rest of us.  She tried to argue.  I said "Tuesday" and hung up.  Why does God let idiots live, and takes good people?

Middle aged? (a/k/a "How to make your social worker sweat")

This evening was supposed to be the regular monthly meeting of the Avera McKennan liver support group.  I forgot until about 3:30 when I called the social worker to make sure it was tonight, and to remind her to call me if people did come to hold the group.  Unfortunately, no one made it to the meeting, so B called to let me know there was no meeting.  She did have an idea that she would like to run past her manager, though, about possibly getting a post-transplant patient and I together so we could talk (since I'm a pre-me).  B explained that the gal was "middle aged, the same as you."  Sharply inhaled breath.  Middle aged, I asked?  I think I could actually see the sweat pouring down B's forehead just then.  She started apoligizing and back-peddling, and then I laughed.  It was pretty funny.  I am 46, but I do not consider myself to be, or even near, middle aged.  My staff can ask me about a song they heard and what is it.  I can tell them it's by Gotye (that's goat-ee-ay, not got-yee).  I can sing along with 'Rolling in the Deep' although they prefer that I don't sing at work.  After all, they say I know every song ever written, and I can sing it -- badly! 

So middle aged was kind of a shock.  Well, B, I'm going to drag that gem out every time I need to make a point or just to bust your chops a bit.  I'm still laughing.  After all, it is the best medicine!

The best dip, however, goes to the dip I made for work yesterday.  Not so much as a scraping of the bowl left!  So, here it is:

Garlic Dill Ranch Dip
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch buttermilk ranch dressing mix
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Mix all together until smooth.  Refrigerate at least overnight before serving with crackers or herb rusks.  If you want to make it lighter, just use the reduced fat versions of the cream cheese and sour cream.  I'm trying to come up with a salt-free version of ranch dressing mix, but so far no success.

Hey, Hey, Hey, It's a Beautiful Day

What a beautiful day!  Sunny, warm, a light breeze, and birds singing in the trees.  I went out for a bit this morning just to get out, and was completely bummed again that the local Super Waldo’s did not have any of the sugar-free black cherry Winky Gel Bites.  Yes, I buy finger jello in a bag, but in my defense, you can’t find sugar-free black cherry to make at home.  I love that flavor.

Then I came home and made some kitchen sink pasta salad for my lunches this week.  It got pasta, protein, and lots of crunchy veggies and even some fruit.  Toss it in a little Dorothy Lynch dressing, and you’ve got loads of yummy.  I’m feeling really great now that I’m over my ear/sinus infection.  I’ve even managed to get a couple of nights of decent sleep in during the last week or so.  I do plan to call Dr. E’s office tomorrow.  I know he’s said I’m good skipping my Lactulose for a day if everything is going well, but I’ve been off it for three days now because everything was still going the way it should without the help.  Just want to make sure there won’t be any other issues.

Another of my favorite foods is meatloaf. So I made some last week, and decided to share the recipe with you. This recipe is totally legal with my diet—NO salt at all.   

Best-Ever Meatloaf

2 pounds ground turkey

 2 eggs

1/2 cup white rice                                                   

1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs (no-salt)

1 Tablespoon Marshall Creek Spices no-salt Sausage Seasoning

1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper                     

1/4 cup meatloaf sauce (below)

Mix all ingredients thoroughly and shape into a loaf in a pan.  Baste with 1/2 cup of the meatloaf sauce.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  Baste with remaining meatloaf sauce; cook for an additional 15 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Let cool for 5 minutes then slice.  Excellent with roasted potatoes, carrots, leeks, onions, celery, and sweet potatoes tossed with a bit of olive oil and cracked black pepper.  Lots of flavor in this!

Meatloaf Sauce:

1 cup Heinz no-salt added ketchup                    

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar                                   

1/4 teaspoon crushed garlic

Enjoy!

When the cat's away...

. . . the mice definitely play!  We had a party on Thursday at work.  It was for James' 18th birthday, I've been back in Pierre for 6 months with no problems, and Don and Linda are leaving us.  So I made a gigantic pan of apple crisp--of which there wasn't so much as a crumb of the crumb topping left.  If it doesn't get up and walk away, someone in the office WILL eat it.  After I left work, I came home to eat dinner and relax.  My phone chirped that I had a new message.  I'd seen the paper hat Tina made for James the night before.  But the hats had become pandemic, attaching themselves to the heads of seemingly intelligent people.  Attorneys even.  The tower fan had even been infected.  As of yet, there is no cure.  Here, see what I mean?

 James and Don, sporting the latest in call center technology--the tri-corn headset!

Strangely enough, the more they enjoy themselves, the more productive they are.  And the more sugared up they are, the more productive they are.  So I will gladly make some treats now and then if it means happy workers.  And the best part about apple crisp (aside from the crumbly topping, that is)?  NO sodium!!  A perfectly legal treat.  It's fruit, the oatmeal is fiber, and all the cinnamon should help control blood sugar.  Ok, maybe that's at stretch with the added sugar and the whipped topping we loaded on, but it's still not bad as desserts go.

Time to go take my meds so I get nice and drowsy by the time I need to crawl into bed.  Toodles Poodles!

Hodge Podge

All sorts of things I should have written about lately, but just never seemed to get around to.  Where to start?

It's been an unusual winter, for sure!  This past Saturday (3/10) it was actually 86 degrees. Yes, I said 86--it isn't a typo.  Don't believe me?  See below:

The BankWest sign at Harrison Hill confirms the 86 degrees.  What a gorgeous day it was!  I got outside to play for a bit after I got off work.

I was watching "The Young and the Restless" one evening while eating my dinner.  Suddenly my brain just snapped, and I was comfortable with getting the liver transplant.  Why then, I don't know.  But I've been struggling with the time element, the recovery, the possibility of rejection, and the thought of having another person's 'spare' parts floating around in me.  But since that moment, I'm ok with it, and ready should it be necessary.  I guess it just took me a while to make peace with it, but I have.  That doesn't mean that I don't want to avoid it for as long as humanly possible, but when and if the time comes, I'm good.

What I'm not good with?  Lactulose.  I still cringe just opening the bottle in the morning.  Then about gag when I have to drink it.  Really--couldn't they make some effort to make it taste a little better?  The most recent refill I got on it was one small (quart) bottle and one large (half gallon) bottle.  I think my car holds less anti-freeze than the green slime in those bottles!

Since I can't use commercial soap and have to make my own, I did make a batch last night.  The scent is a duplicate of Estee Lauder's Pleasures for Women.  Very nice!  And it even swirled nicely for me so I can have pretty soap  See?

I had my appointment with Dr. E on the 2nd.  Doing pretty well.  My MELD score looks like about a 16 according to the Mayo calculator.  I will see him and Dr. C the first week of June for my EGD, liver CT, and re-check.

The cookbook I put together for some of my staff and friends is finally done.  I was the holdup on getting it finished, but I picked them up on Tuesday.  Some low-sodium recipes, and some of the regular recipes that everyone always asks for.  Like the Pecan Pie Cake.  It's the illegitimate love child of a butter pecan can and pecan pie.  I'm not sure how I stumbled across it, but after some tweaking, it is pretty good.  My staff always try to con me into making it.  Actually, they don't much care what I make, as long as I bake something.  What those people do to banana bread is unbelievable!

Ok, time to go to bed now.  More again soon!

Unconscious Realizations

For the past month or so, I've been focused on March 23.  No, mom, not just because it's your birthday.  Although it is, and you've already seen your gift.  I returned to Pierre on September 23 following my most recent hospitalization in Sioux Falls.  So March is the six month "monthiversary" of my return.  And yes, James, I know it's your birthday, too.  I have my telemed checkup this coming  Friday.  It's been 4 months since I've seen my liver specialist.  I've had my labs done though, and I was a 15 still.  So, that's good.

Every year, I have to repeat certain tests in Sioux Falls, one of which is an EGD.  Basically, they shove a tube down my throat, take a look at the veins and whatever else looks exciting down there.  I'm really hoping it isn't the same scope they used in September.  But that was a different kind of scope test, so let's just not go there!  I made my appointment for June to do the tests.  I had to change the date.  I'll be riding the medical shuttle from Pierre to Sioux Falls very early that morning, and meeting mom at the clinic.  I had no thoughts about the date. 

Last summer, I got sick and wound up in the hospital on June 8.  So, my tests are exactly one year from my major episodes with the liver disease.  I don't know why I didn't connect them sooner.  I wish I could say it was because I forgot when I was sick last year, but it's not.  I can tell you down to the exact hour what times and on what dates I was taken to the hospital.  I guess that means the the encephalopathy didn't totally scramble my brain permanently.

Why did I just realize that date correlation now?  I don't know.  I can't sleep (again), so I tend to do a bit of web surfing when that happens.  And it just popped into my head.  Anyone who knows me will know, of course, that set off a rush of tears.  Can't help it, I just get overly emotional anymore.  It usually annoys me.  It didn't last long--just long enough to realize that in that year, I had a few bumps, but the last five months have been pretty bump free.  I want that to continue.  I've missed only a few hours of work in that time, so I'm dealing with anything that does come up petty well.  I'd like to stay well enough that I can go to a conference at CDC in October for work.

I should probably try to go to bed now and get some sleep.  I don't work tomorrow either mom, so hold off on that 7:30 AM call until sometime after 10 AM.  Maybe I'll just grab a few grapes first.  Or some Jell-O.

Warm and Toasty

You know its crazy warm when you can wear just a sweater or jacket walking to work.  And it’s January.  This winter has been absolutely crazy.  The last time I looked out the window on Monday, it was 62 degrees.  And that was 2:30, so it probably went up a bit by the end of the day.  You just have to love that!  I’ve even tossed off a few of the blankets piled on my bed because I got warm enough during the night.  If I’m cold during the night, I get terrible spasms.  No chills, no spasms.

Work has been pretty busy with trying to train some new people, starting our projects late this month due to delays from the CDC, and having staff out all month with illnesses.  They finally gave me a cold, but it was just viral, and pretty much passed in a weekend.

And now it’s time to file my taxes—rather depressing when I see how much my income dropped due to not being able to work for so long last year.  I’m really hoping to prevent that from happening again this year.  I thought I’d get back a lot more than I did, but I guess they got rid of the $400 work credit, and I don’t qualify for Earned Income Credit.  Bah!

Oh well.  I promise to post more soon.  For now, it’s time to get ready for work!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

No, I haven't developed a strange need to watch old episodes of Mr. Rogers, or to wear a cardigan.  Today is January 5, normally a very cold time for us.  But with the unseasonably warm weather we've been having, it hit 70 degrees today.  I can personally verify at least 68 since I saw that on the thermometer at the bank across the street from my office.  After work I went to the grocery store and picked up what turned out to be bad turkey.  Oh, the joys of stomach cramps from food poisoning.  When I left there, I noticed that the sky was the most amazing shades of gold, orange, pink, and purple.  So I parked at the boat access to the channel across the street from my apartment.  I took several pictures of the sunset over the Missouri River.  The photos don't do it justice.  It was just absolutely beautiful.  There were lot of people walking down by the river and taking the same photos.  On a day like today, you just have to!

This almost looks more like a coastal view than the Midwest in January!

I also have another picture of Shiloh, the psycho puppy.  He got a new bone for Christmas.  This one is very lightweight, so he likes to toss it in the air and catch it.

Shiloh doing what he does best.  Resting, sleeping, and protecting his

bone--all from under the leg rest on dad's chair.



I'm sure you didn't really say that!

Ok, in my previous post, I promised to be more positive this year.  Well, I have to start that tomorrow.  Today, it took all I had not to "bitch-slap" the owner of Infinity Natural Health.  I went into the store since I was at the mall to do some walking and checking for bargains.  I was actually in a good mood since I found fuzzy brown gloves at JC Penney to match my new winter coat.  Infinity carries some good brands of organic food.  However, I noticed that very little of it was actually lower in sodium.  The woman that owns the store said that if that is what I need I'd just love their raw food section.  Three shelves of what appeared to be birdseed and I'm supposed to get excited?  I tried again to explain what I was looking for  She then lectured me on how there are no forbidden foods and everything can be treated by addressing your digestion.  No, that won't clear up the cirrhosis I have for no known reason.  "Well, that is something you caused."  No, I did not.  I have not had more than about 40 drinks in my entire life, and the majority of those were wine coolers--not even hard alcohol.  "Well, it was created by you."  No, it was not.  She continued to tell me it's my fault that I have NASH liver.  I was so angry that I knew if I didn't walk out, we would wind up in a shouting match and I'd likely smack her.  I don't hit old ladies, so I left.  She kept at me the entire time I was walking out.  Finally I just yelled 'thanks' and was out the door.  Basically, she sold herself out of a customer.  Tomorrow I plan to call the state medical association and report her for practicing medicine without a license.  Her statement that some mysterious Dr. Schultz holistic person wouldn't agree that there isn't a real cause for my condition  just made it worse.  There is no doctor by that name here, so who knows where she is getting her info.  And who knows what she says in the nutrition classes she teaches.  She has just enough information to be truly dangerous.  And suggesting that people just improve their digestion when they may need real medical treatment is very negligent.  And they put their cell phone numbers right on their business cards so you can get them if you have an emergency.  A digestion emergency?  An emergency need for spirulina chips?  How utterly ridiculous.

New Year . . . New Me!

It’s a brand new year, with a chance to start over.  If the calendar can, so can I.  So with that in mind, my ONLY New Year’s Resolution is to be a new and better me.  I will see the positive side, not the negative side.  For example, I will gladly take the nasty smelling and tasting Lactulose because it helps me to stay healthy.  So buck up and drink it!  Although, I may still write to Qualitest (the manufacturer), and suggest that if they are going to make a medicine that looks, smells, and tastes  like antifreeze, they may want to try making a bottle that doesn’t look like a small antifreeze bottle.

I will not focus on what I cannot have, but focus on what I can have.  Who cares if I can’t have a big ol’ slab of steak or sprinkle salt on everything?  An herb-roasted pork loin chop is so much better.  And food tastes so good when you can actually taste the food, and not just salt.  Sorry, Sharon.  It isn’t ok to add salt just because you like the taste of salt.  Eating wonderful fresh produce is SO much better for me than grabbing a chocolate bar or cookie.  I'm more likely to grab a couple of cubes of sugar-free black cherry finger Jell-O.

I’ve discovered that I actually like a lot of things I grew up disliking, like asparagus, fresh spinach, horseradish, leeks, fennel, and pomegranates.  And I’ve always loved apples, oranges, grapes, pineapple, watermelon, and in the last few years, cantaloupe.  One of the biggest treats I have is keeping fresh fruit cut up in a container in the refrigerator.  So all you liver patients—break out your favorite shot glass once again.  And fill it with toothpicks!  Set that beside the refrigerator so you can quickly spear a couple pieces of fruit before heading back to bed, while you’re cooking, or as a snack while you’re reading.  In the Midwest in winter, fresh fruit can be expensive.  So try canned or frozen.  Right now I’ve got pineapple chunks and Mandarin oranges.  I just got the bigger-sized cans from my local Super Waldo’s (yes, their Great Value brand is as good as other more expensive brands usually).  The great thing about the pineapple is that it is generally canned in its own juice.  So when you drain the can, drain it into a glass and drink some delicious pineapple juice.  Or mix it with orange juice.  We always begged for the juice from the pineapple can as kids.  As long as she didn’t need it for some kind of green Jell-O concoction, mom would let us have it.  Yum!  And Sargento’s reduced sodium string cheese is actually wonderful.  Almost better than regular string cheese.  These are all things that I CAN have.  Nothing to feel sorry about there!

I will keep my feet elevated at work to further help prevent leg and foot swelling.  I will try to get as much sleep as possible.  I will be more patient (that’s a work thing).  I will thoroughly enjoy my lovely new (family heirloom) Broyhill chest of drawers with the cedar drawer boxes.  I will keep my card-making supplies in a more tidy fashion and not let them make a big mess everywhere in my house.  Especially the glitter.  I will overcome my addiction to glitter glue.  I will complete the projects I start.  And most importantly, I will enjoy regular foot spas.