I'm within a week or so of my (hopefully) last hematologist visit. A couple years ago, I finally admitted - or was forced to admit - that I was anemic. My GP had been telling me for years that I "didn't store iron." But it took my cardiologist to whomp me alongside the head - and almost refuse to do my PVI procedure, to tell me that, guess what? "Not storing iron" = anemia. He was madder than a wet hen that my GP essentially let my iron levels get to somewhere around a 5... They transfuse you at 4.
So I had iron infusions over 6 weeks. Looked like they were pumping in prune juice, to be honest. And my levels gradually increased to about 12-ish. And they've stayed.
That's not the problem. The problem is, the last 3 times I've visited "Dr. Blood," I've had to have blood drawn. And I go downstairs to the hospital. And they never have the order. In spite of my telling Dr. Blood's staff that I was going to go to the hospital's lab to have it done...
This time, I was busy, and was impatient. Finally, after the really nice registration clerk couldn't get the order faxed over (from 1 floor up...), I trotted over to Dr. Blood's office and kindly but firmly asked them to "go old school" and hand me the piece of paper... which they did. Trotted back. Got stuck into a room. And sat for another 10 minutes...
Good thing they weren't taking my blood pressure... Anyway, this nice lady walks in. I have stunning veins. Every nurse I know says so, and you can see them eyeballing my hands and inner elbows, thinking, "I want to sink a needle in there!"
This lady did the usual prep, and then said, "Little pinch" like they always do. But there was no pinch... She'd pressed down on my upper arm, right above the vein, and I didn't even feel it.
And better yet? No bruising. None. Nothing. You can barely see the needle poke. I'm on blood thinners, and I bruise when someone looks askance at me. It's insane. I come up with bruises where I don't even remember knocking the limb against anything. I pretty much take it in stride, and laugh it off. So when I get blood taken, I do bruise up nicely. It's pretty spectacular, if I do say so. But this? Hasn't happened in decades...
She was amazing. I think I've found my personal phlebotomist...
It's A Book...
As many of you may remember, I did the internship for elephant journal (yes, it's not capitalized). I met -- well, "met" -- a lot of great people. One of them - I can't even explain, but we click. We've chatted; we've kvetched. We've compared stories, trials and tribulations. It's just one of those things that happens online. You just click - there's no other word for it.
She's written a book! I have a copy and I can't wait to dive into it.
Our diets are closely linked to our health, both mentally and physically. Our bodies hold toxins - actually, they're held in the fat cells. And it's tough to get rid of those little buggers. Some estimates say that a larger and larger percentage of people will be diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Well - if you could "clean up" your diet and make sure that you are as healthy as you can be, wouldn't you do so?
I'm going to see about working some of these recipes into the rotation. Exercise and eating right - won't keep us alive forever, but if we can have a good quality of life, then we can live it to the fullest.
Knitting...
Busy, busy, busy... started working on Christmas music, and then after the guitar lesson, I picked up Close to You again. As you can see, we're plugging along. I'm supposed to have 32" needles, but these are 29". I'm hoping I can fudge them and just keep on knitting. Chandi's has a great "hurricane sale" selection and I may have to get a couple more hanks to create a few more of these. Or some variation of a beautiful shawl with sock yarn.
Tomorrow, I'm attending a Fall Fest; doing 2 yoga demonstrations (for which I hope students actually show up!), and I'll be bringing knitting along. I'm not sure if I'm even going to have a table or chair to sit in between sessions, but if not, I'm bringing a small folding table and a lawn chair. And I'll bring one of the socks to work on.
So either (a) I'll have somewhere to sit and chat with people about the yoga studio, or (b) I can go home. But if it's (a), then KIP (Knitting in Public) is a great conversation starter. And socks are usually right up there at the top of the list! I can bring this project, too - we'll see.
Cubs...
Clinched again! And I'm having a bit of a concept problem with someone I know. This person is a die-hard White Sox fan. I mean, if you cut into this person, likely the blood would be black-and-white. And the devotion to the team is high. Extremely high. On Facebook, this person is pretty derogatory about the Cubs. I mean, I don't like the Sox, but in the scheme of things? It's baseball. It's guys running around, getting paid a boatload of money to play a game. With everything else going on, lighten up a bit, right?
Anyway, the Facebook post was kind of... Well, no. Not "kind of." It was DEFINITELY nasty. I'm not sure how to handle it and am tempted to give it the attention it deserves: by ignoring it.
My issue is that of course it's just baseball, as I stated above. But also - I know the depth of the fandom. And in the larger picture? I can ignore it and live my life. But I find my respect for this person ever-so-slightly diminished.
Is that petty?
Mouse In the House...
As I sat waiting for my teacher to show up for my guitar lesson, I noticed the ceiling tile... Tell me what you see...
I thought it was kind of funny, and so did my teacher. Apparently, this tile had showed up in a classroom. It got moved. Then it was in a hallway. It got moved. Now it's outside his studio. I wonder how long it'll stay there!
In another bit of absolutely random news, my favorite mug sprung a leak. Hubby put the kettle on for me, and had put out a "breakfast" sized mug. Well heck... with THAT much tea, I'd be up all night in the bathroom! So I switched it out for my "Keep Calm and Just Breathe" mug. It was a gift from one of my teachers, and of course, my studio is Just Breathe Yoga Studio... I went in to get the tea, and there's tea...all over the counter!
Oddly enough, it was cracked in the middle. I have no idea how it happened. I guess I could've repurposed it for a pen cup, but I have far too much "stuff." So I tossed it. And immediately went on Zazzle to order a new one. First World problem, right?
Random Picture...Dug into the archives for this one. This was the last trip I took with my mom. She's doing well - she hit 80 and we're taking her to the theater in a few weeks. But she's not a traveler much anymore.
This is outside Pigeon Forge, TN. It's a "modern Mount Rushmore" by the Dollywood theme park. Left to right, just in case you're not sure what you're really looking at: John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin.
I guess the only thing you can say is that a woman finally made it onto Mount Rushmore...
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