Fall - It Came and Went

Hello and welcome back. Actually you haven't been gone but I certainly have been. I have been gone much too long and fall is over with nary a post. We have had a bit of family illness of the parent variety with several trips to the emergency room including one ambulance ride and a few days in the hospital for Jerry's dad. My mom had a total knee replacement. Her knee is doing great but she had some other complications that has made recovery a long, slow process. All of this has lead to lots of impromptu over nights by various family members, canceled plans, last minute changes of plans, etc. I know most of you have been there. To top it off blogger has eaten two very nice posts. I have no idea where they are but if anyone finds them please let me know. I think they were some of my best posts ever.

We have had some fun and there has been a fair amount of knitting going on. So, let me entertain you with a few of the highlights of fall.

We went with Jerry's daughter and her family to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival.
We had so much fun. We did face painting but on the arm so it could be seen and enjoyed by the one painted on.
We got to know some very lovely sheep.
We looked through holes in walls simply because the adults told us too. They thought we were soooo cute.


Grandpa bought us flower shaped fairy hats. It was a day of making memories. I am printing a book of all the pictures from that day as a Christmas gift.

I knit this pattern back in August and love the pattern. I have started knitting it again in I Love This Cotton! from Hobby Lobby. It is so soft and yummy feeling I am truly enjoying knitting this little baby blanket. There are several babies baking and will need sweet little things knit for them. As soon as I get done with Christmas knitting I will be back to this blanket.

Speaking of Christmas knitting..... I have three granddaughter's under the age of 6. They are each getting an outfit for Christmas. I am knitting the vest and buying jeans and matching shirts. If time allows there will be a belt and/or headband. The pink and green is for the youngest and the pink one is for the oldest. I have yellow and lavender on the needles for the middle child. One front is complete and almost 1/2 the second front.

I keep a prayer shawl on the needles all the time and this is the most recent one. These multi-color, multi-yarn ones have been very popular.

I have talked about this shawl before but I like this picture much better. A dress form opens so many more opportunities for making a shawl look like something. I love the textures in this one and there are just hints of colors that the light picks up.


While talking about scribble lace shawls this is one of my favorites color wise. It is made with cotton crochet thread so isn't as slick and drape able as some of my others. I actually prefer it as a scarf.


Finally the mega afghan/blanket is complete. In case you have forgotten it's humble beginnings you can see it here.


I attempted to take a picture of my son with it before he left on Thanksgiving but I didn't have a memory card in the camera. Relatives took pics for me but I don't have them yet.

Congrats to KU in their win over Mizzou today. Thanks to the Olpe Eagles for a great season. I am so proud of you for making it all the way to state playoffs and for playing a good game against Smith Center.

Prayers, positive thoughts, whatever you have, please, send it.

 

In case you have not read my blog before I recently had a cancer scare. You can read the posts by clicking on those last two words in the previous sentence. I thank God I am cancer free.

In late March a 26 year old co-worker was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has now undergone a double mastectomy. Today she found that she has at least stage 3 cancer, she has probably had it for over a year but was told it was probably fibrous and not to worry. She will have chemo, radiation and cancer drugs for at least 10 years. This means no babies for at least 10 years and if the tests done on Friday reveal the cancer has spread, it was found in 4 of the 12 lymph nodes, then she cannot have her eggs frozen and there will never be babies.

Also today we found out about a recently former co-worker. She is 31, has a child approximately. 2 years of age and will have a double mastectomy on Tuesday due to stage three cancer.

What in the hell is going on?

PLEASE check the girls every month, PLEASE insist that a palpable lump is biopsied and PLEASE don't think you are too young, too old, too healthy, too anything to have cancer. I now personally know three women under the age of 35 with stage three breast cancer.

A story but no fiction

This is the Reader's Digest version of the last week give or take a few days. My brain is still under the influence of cold medicine but I am coming out of the fog.
Have you ever known beyond a shadow of a doubt, deep in your gut, that everything is OK, there is nothing wrong but no one will believe you? Every thing sensible knows you are doing the right thing but it is pointless and throwing away good money that could pay other bills or even better, buy yarn?
My gut knows that lump in my breast is not cancer, my brain knows that lump is not cancer and that is good enough for me. Of course we all know that until something medically tells me that lump is not cancer we must push on for that answer. Two rounds of mammograms read by no less than some cancer detecting piece of software, one radiologist, one medical doctor and one surgeon and I am headed for surgery. No big deal. A nice nap, 20 minutes, a larger than I thought incision and the feeling that my left breast has been run over by a rather large herd of horses and I still won't know until Tuesday that it IS NOT CANCER.
I have never had surgery before and have never been "put under". I apparently "go under" very easily as one Valium made me sooooo relaxed and the half syringe of sleepy stuff left me totally out. I was so looking forward to counting backward from 100 as they put the mask over my face like they do on TV. The last I remember is the back of the rather handsome anesthesiologist leaving the holding area before I ever even went to the surgical suite. I do feel cheated in that respect.
I did get one question answered though. How would I look as a D cup? It really is hard to tell when the dressing is quite lumpy and the other side is considerably less than a D but I think I will pass. Especially since I am pretty sure it would take a much larger herd of horses to equal the pain of increasing to a D.
Then there is the head cold. It actually started the night before surgery but I wasn't sure if I was reacting to chemical smells from work or if I was actually getting sick. I was getting sick and it is a doosy of a head cold. I hear my own heart beating in my ears at times and when I cough I don't know what will hurt the worst, my breast, my throat or my head. Thank goodness they are all sharing the experience so none feels left out. In reality I think if it weren't for the cold I would really be enjoying this time off from work. I can't go back until after my appointment on Tuesday but I really have not enjoyed much of anything so far. I have gotten some knitting done, watched a fair amount of TV often through closed eyes and slept rather fitfully at night. I don't plan to take anymore pain meds at night. I should be writing science fiction from the dreams I have been having.
Is there an upside to all of this? Well, you find out who your friends are. Food has been delivered, numerous phone calls inquiring about my recovery were made and more prayers than I will ever know about have been said. I have talked to my children, parents and sister every day. My children who have little money sent me a beautiful little bouquet of flowers. My sister brought a goodie bag with magazines, chocolate and flavored teas. She knows me well. We curled up on my bed and chatted for a while. I'm afraid I may have fallen asleep but then she didn't mind. Then there is My Man. What a jewel. He has cooked, helped me change dressings, reassured me and nearly had to be kicked out of the house to go hang with his buddies today to play poker and watch the Super Bowl.
The pictures below are the only two taken in the last week. The first is from Knit Night and the second is of the third heart dishcloth I have made. I love variegated yarn in the ball but not much when there is a design in the knitting. Believe me, there are five hearts in that dishcloth.
I hope to return to my regularly scheduled life by tomorrow but I have been up a little too long now. The couch and the Super Bowl commercials are calling my name. I wonder who is playing?

1/28/08




















2/3/08