Today I looked around me as I stood in the living room, after coming in from the kitchen, and was almost overwhelmed with the cutter. I have seven little projects on the go, all of which take up a little space. Mist Cottage is small, bigger than a tiny house, and not big enough to qualify for a building permit in modern times. Balancing projects is tricky, and requires attention, which I have not been keeping up with.
I started with straining the dandelion bloom tea. Then moved on to starting the bread baking for the day. Then moved on to filling the Berkey with water. Then moved on to making my breakfast, the usual, 1/3 cup organic rolled oats, 3/4 cup lactose free milk, 1 apple partially peeled, cored, and chopped. Then I moved on to replacing the battery on the wall clock in the kitchen and resetting its time.
More projects await my attention. On the weekend Attila gathered about eleven quarts of whole dandelions from the garden. After soaking and washing them on Sunday, I separated the roots from the plant and chopped them into three inch pieces. All of them went into the dehydrator. Dehydration generates a lot of humidity, so it takes up a lot time and space, running the machine for a few hours, then airing out the house for a few hours, then dehydrating again, and so on. When the dandelions are completely dehydrated they will be powdered, probably in the food processor, and hopefully put in capsules. This will be my attempt to lower my blood pressure naturally, we shall see how this goes.
The windows are open this morning, at the back of the house. The front windows let in a lot of noise when they are open. The new rental complex uses our street as its only access. There is a constant stream of strollers enjoying the fresh air every day, which is lovely to see, but very enjoyable when stand directly in front of the open windows and chat with raised voice, elderly you see.
I’ve talked about the dogs across the street, Yippy and Yappy. Their owners never took them for walks, and left them alone during the day, with the living room window open in milder seasons. Yippy and Yappy, perched on the back of couch at the open window, barked at every animated object, people walking, birds perching, branches swaying the in breeze. Lonely, unsupervised, frustrated little beings letting the world know they were still alive. They never barked when a human was home. But now, the couple had a baby last fall, and I’ve not heard a peep from Yippy and Yappy. I don’t even know if they live there any more. Amazing the difference it makes.
There is a bright side to my pain and nausea, as it happens. One of the many tests I’ve been going through detected an aneurysm. It is a serious condition that might never be a problem, or might kill me instantly at any time. It is not eligible for surgery right now, as the surgery is more likely than the aneurysm to kill me at this point in time. The fatality rate for women with this condition is much, much higher than it is for men, no research has explained why this is. It might be hereditary, because I don’t fit the typical profile for women with this condition (smokers), so I’ve let my blood relatives know about it so they can be checked. It is not the source of my pain and nausea, confirmed by a Surgeon, and other health care people I’ve interacted with about my tests. So there it is, I now have two sudden death conditions to contend with, anaphylaxis and an aneurysm. Once I get used to the new restrictions, and get settled in to the monitoring protocols, I will simply get used to it, and carry on enjoying life.
The quest to diagnose and treat my pain and nausea continues.
Today the sun is shining the the temperature, at 10:00 a.m. is 15C, and it will get much warmer as the day progresses. I now off to make my dandelion jelly, as I can smell the tea boiling away on the range. Then I think I will spend a little time sitting on the porch and watching the birds!
Worldly
Weather
Updated on Tue, May 10, 9:55 AM
15 °C
Partly cloudy
Wind 14 S km/h
Humidity 27 %
Visibility 32 km
Sunrise 5:47 AM
Wind gust 21 km/h
Pressure 102.9 kPa
Ceiling 9100 m
Sunset 8:21 PM
Quote
“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
1844 – 1900
You’re a great warrior! I vote that the aneurysm never causes you a problem. Good luck with the other stuff. We love you much.
Thanks Steve-Paul. my vote too, and it may well be the case.
I will admit that the revelation of the aneurysm threw me for a loop, it took me a little while to get my head around it. Contemmplating one’s mortality isn’t a place to get stuck in, and yet, these kinds of conditions demand serious attention and focus. Interactions with health care people is frequently stressful, occasionally unpleasant, so getting used to that constant contact has taken some time as well. Love you bunches SP!
Well I hope the aneurysm stays put and doesn’t cause you any harm. Fingers crossed that they can find a simple explanation for the pain and nausea and prescribe something to eliminate both! (((Big Hugs)))!
Ugh, so sorry that you have these health issues to deal with! Will keep you in my prayers, Maggie! I love you attitude about just keep enjoying life.
That is disturbing news, Maggie. So sorry to hear it. You seem to have the best attitude a person could have: keep calm and carry on. Easier said than done, but you certainly are a person who does what she says she’s going to do. Of that I’ve no doubt. Keep well. -Kate
Kate, thank you for your kind thoughts.
I have known about this for a few weeks, and it took me that long to get my head around it. Lots of sleepness nights, and bouts of terror, which I weathered through, because if you push that kind of stuff down it gets planted and takes root.
The worst part about the whole thing is dealing with my NP and clinic, they aren’t doing a good job, they weren’t even going to tell me about this, but I have the report and read it, which I doubt they did. At my insistence a specialist was consulted, but the info from the specialist that was relayed to me was only, “it is not surgical at this time”. There is a lot more to having an aneurysm than just knowing they aren’t going to operate at this time!
So that is my stress point, dealing with my medical people. I am sure they are well meaning, and they are pleasant, but they are not thorough, I need thorough, need it. Anyway, I do go on, you can see they upset me quite a bit. I’ve had such great GPs in the past 30 years that I was spoiled!
I have one bright hope though, medical science is always improving, so if this issue becomes a problem there may be better solutions for it in the future!
Many hugs, Maggie! So scary, to find you have a dangerous condition. Do they know the size of the aneurysm?
DH’s dad also has an aneurysm. They discovered it maybe 5 years ago. They won’t attempt surgery until it gets to a specific size, but at 87 years old he probably will never have the surgery.
With a condition that has such a strong difference in positive outcomes, men vs women, I strongly suggest you look for a female surgeon, if you should ever need one. Statistics show that in that kind of scenario women have a better prognosis if they have a woman doctor.
Thank you Teri! It is a scary condition, very dangerous.
They found it when doing a scan for something else, and did measure it, it is small, but has a few quirks about it that make it a bit questionable.
I knew nothing about this condition until I found it in my report, it was a shock. The NP didn’t even mention it to me, so it was a good thing I found it on my own and followed up on it, but I still haven’t been referred to a specialist, will be asking for this on my next appointment. I have a lot of questions!
Like DHs Dad, it is not large enough for surgery, but since it has just been discovered it remains to be seen if it is growing quickly, from what I read this happens to women more than men, rapid growth. So we shall see. That is an excellent point about finding a female doctor, in this case it would be a surgeon, so far I have only found one female in Ontario, surgery tends to be almost all men. With any luck I have time to find someone and get some answers.