Seven Quick Takes--Giveaway Winners!!!!

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It has been BUSY here this week! First there was the book giveaway—and the winners are….

Christy Thomas and Rachel Anna!

Congratulations!! I hope you love the book! I I have emailed you to get your information. :)

Thanks to EVERYONE who entered! If you’d like your own signed copy, email me—they are $20 and include a bookmark and prayer card! (And shipping!)

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I also wrote this: No, you cannot cure ALL THE THINGS with diet….

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Speaking of health stuff….this vaccine rollout has been sort of nuts.

First, the state decided that my group of people—people with “congenital” issues, which CF is, but it’s weird to call it that—can begin getting the vaccine on Monday. Ok. Fine.

I talked to my transplant clinic (OSUMC) and they said, well check with the Department of Health.

Oooookay.

So I register with my county’s health department. Fine.

Then I hear that OSUMC is doing a big vaccination clinic for their patients, even turning the basketball arena into a vaccine clinic. Yay!

Oh wait. I’m not eligible for that, because…….health departments are taking care of me? Huh? OSUMC is only doing their elderly patients? (Which makes zero sense given that I am a transplant patient and they see adult CF patients?!)

This makes no sense to me. OSU is doing elderly people, which, OK, obviously they need it. But health departments aren’t getting a ton of vaccines, especially in a county like mine which has a smaller population and is mostly rural. They’re getting a few hundred doses and they have thousands of people signed up.

So. I have no idea when I’m getting the vaccine or where, but I’m really annoyed that the place where I get my healthcare isn’t making an effort to put its patients in their clinic.

This sort of dovetails into something else I’ve been wanting to talk about….

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Adult hospitals really don’t care about making your life easier. They don’t. Children’s hospitals do.

The Resort had everything there. Radiology. Labs. Clinics. ER. Hospital. EVERYTHING. All under one roof. I drove, I parked once, I got everything done. It was easy.

At OSUMC, nope. I have to drive to one building to get my tests done before clinic. Because we can’t use the radiology department in the hospital. And there’s no pulmonary function testing lab at the hospital. REALLY? They do lung transplants. And there isn’t a PFT lab at the hospital itself?

So I have to go to this place, register twice, and then drive to the hospital itself for my appointment.

At the hospital, they do not take you early. They did at the Resort. At the Resort, my day started with an 8:0 lab draw in infusion. I was often out the door by 11 am. I’d seen everyone.

Here? NOPE. I’ve got labs at 9, then PFTs, then X-ray, then I have hours to wait before my 2:00 appt., because they won’t take me early. Seriously?

So I have to find ways to amuse myself between these two things, and I waste an entire day. This annoys the crap out of me.

Ad finally, the free parking is only good for a few hours. So there’s that.

Adult hospitals, quite frankly, suck at this stuff. They’re so awful. And if it wasn’t COVID-tide this would be somewhat better because I could go to cute cafes nearby, or go shopping or something. With COVID, this all becomes a massive pain in the butt because places are either closed to indoor seating, or I’m sitting around wearing a mask in all these places for hours, which is annoying.

ADULT HOSPITALS! DO BETTER.

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OK after that you deserve some Patty. Here you go

She just had her six month check-up and she has gotten taller and heavier so yayyy! And then she got her six month shots, poor bebe. :(

That’s one reason I want the vaccine NOW—I want to see Patty!!!!!!!!! I want to travel!

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This weeknight bolognese recipe is EPIC and you need to make it….I didn’t use ground sirloin, I used regular old ground beef. :) Also left out the cream. But SO GOOD.

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And finally, I read The Lost Man this week and really liked it. If you like mysteries, this is a really good one!

No, You Cannot Cure CF with "Diet"

(I’m doing a book giveaway this week! Enter here!)

I see a lot of crazy things on the Internet.

One of my favorites (sarcasm mode) is that you can “cure” every chronic disease with diet.

Um….

via GIPHY

No, you can’t.

No diet is going to make chromosome 7 magically work in me.

No diet will fix the fact that I have CFRD (CF Related Diabetes). It will not make my pancreas magically make insulin.

I am really, really tired of this crap. Stop it.

When I visited the CF dietician back in the day (I don’t need a specific CF dietician anymore) the rule was “eat as much of anything as you want” as long as it’s not diet, low-fat, or fat free. EAT EAT EAT. We were always trying to find ways to pour more calories into my body. Milkshakes. Ice cream. There was calorie powder!!! (I am not kidding.)

via GIPHY

That’s because when you have CF, your body burns an incredible amount of calories just trying to maintain your baseline. Coughing takes a lot of energy. EVERYTHING takes a lot of energy. Oh, and salt? You want a LOT OF THAT. Popcorn. Peanuts. Potato chips. Because your body loses a lot more salt that everyone else’s. So in the summer, I’m all about the sallllt.

When you see things that say “diabetes can be reversed with diet” they are (I hope) talking about type two, and yes, in type 2, what you eat does matter. It matter a lot. You can try to fix it with what you eat. But if you are a T1 person, you cannot. It’s not possible.

And also, if you have T1, you actually need sugar sometimes. There are times when I am commanded to eat candy and pizza and drink orange juice! (hopefully not at the same time!)

While I’m fixing health lies, let’s fix another one: You do not just “get a transplant.”

If you need one, you might not get one. If you smoke, you must stop smoking. You are tested for cigarette usage in your labs. If you drink and you need a liver transplant, you need to stop drinking.

Do some people do stupid things post-transplant? heck yes. And these are people who get kicked out of their center’s program and are not eligible for another transplant, should they need one.

But the vast majority of the time, centers are hard core about making this sort of behavior STOP before, because there are so many people that need transplants. If you’re not going to take care of the organ, then you’re most likely not going to get one!

And it’s hard work to qualify for a transplant. It’s days of tests and evaluations by multiple people on a multidisciplinary team. The idea of “just getting a transplant” is laughable to me.

2020 taught me a lot about how little the average American knows about hospitals, illness, and ICUs. (And germs.) But in 2021 I’m seeing a lot of misinformation about what a “good” diet can do for your body.

homemade bolognese. YUM.

Good food can help you in a lot of ways. So can exercise. But it does not cure everything and people who say it does are charlatans, up there with the “essential oils cure ebola” crowd.

So, now you know! Go and use your knowledge. :)

WIN a Signed Copy of Living Memento Mori!

In honor of Living Memento Mori turning one on the 24th, I’m doing a giveaway!

I’m giving away two signed copies of my book, which includes a prayer card and bookmark specially designed for the book. So there are two winners!

I will inscribe the book to you, a friend, a relative—whoever. So if you already have a copy and you win, you can give this one to someone you love! It makes perfect reading for Lent! (Really, anytime, but especially Lent!)

So, here you go! Winner will be announced in a blog post, so keep your eyes peeled!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GOOD LUCK!

Seven Quick Takes--January 15, 2021

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Hello, all! Welcome to the Friday Quick Takes. :) Glad you’re here.

We’ll start with some Patty, per usual….

No, I did not make that really cute sweater, her grandma (my Aunt Sue) did. :) She’s almost 7 months old!

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We could talk about politics. But the thing is, I’d rather not, because I spent so much of my life in it. And at this point I am glad I am out of it. I will, however, repost something I wrote over the summer about how we deal with current events. Here you go.

I really do think that we have to think about what we say, pray about what we say, pray about what God is calling us to do. Not all of us are called to be big shaking world changers. Food for thought.

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Sort of attached….I know a lot of people are talking about leaving social media. I can understand that. If you want to stay in touch with me and the blog—which means you get all the posts, the giveaways (one next week!), notifications, and news—please sign up for my mailing list. I do not send spam. :) You get blog posts and my newsletter sent to your inbox, and you also get subscriber goodies!
And also, publishers look at the “engagement” authors have with their audience. So a healthy email list is something I can show publishing houses to say that people actually, you know, read what I write?

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My Book’s Birthday is on Jan. 24, and I’ve got giveaways! On Monday the first one will go, and then I’ll be doing another which is more Lent focused in February. I’m excited.

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In other news, I’m really happy because one, hockey is back (even if the Pens did lose to Philly last night) and two because I’m sleeping again, yay body! It’s so nice to have energy!

In other health news, my “group” of people here in Ohio is set to begin receiving the COVID vaccine on January 25. I’m registered with my local health department and OSU (Ohio State) is also setting up a site for their patients, so I’m not sure where I’ll get it or which one it will be . I guess it’ll be whoever calls me first. I you are in Ohio and want more information on the vaccination process, you can read it here.

What I’m hearing is that we (meaning immunocompromised folk) might not get as much protection as the rest of you from it, because we’ve broken our immune systems on purpose. But even some protection is better than none.

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Some books I’ve read lately and really liked: Miss Austen, Piranesi, and The Exiles. If you want some good fiction reading, I highly recommend these!

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My tree is still up, yup. I try to keep it up until Candlemas, which used to be the end of the Christmas Season. We’ll see how long it stay up. :) But some of the other things can start to come down. I don’t have too many Christmas decorations but some things like the pillows can move back into storage until next year.

How about you? Is your tree or nativity still up, or have then been packed up?

Seven Quick Takes--A Word for 2021

Hi everyone! This is going to be a sort of different 7QT today, but I will start off with a link to the first yarn along of the year, in case you missed it. :)

So today I’m writing about my word of the year for 2021. When I’m doing Power Sheets prep in November and December, this comes up—what do I want my word to be for 2021? Last year it was “discipline”—trying to create rhythm of life in my work and in housekeeping and things like that. Well, rhythm sort of went out the window in 2020, didn’t it? :)

In 2021, my word is LISTEN. Listen to God, listen to my body, and listen to my gut.

Listen to God is sort of easy, right? I want to listen to what He wants from me, so that means I have to make time to be quiet in prayer and give time to Him in deepening our relationship.

Listening to my body is harder. As I write this (Thursday), I don’t really have any energy. I didn’t sleep for most of the month of December. What I mean by that is that I’d fall asleep around 3 AM after taking something to help me fall asleep, because I’d be trying to fall asleep for the past three hours, and the I’d force myself up seven hours later. I need nine hours of sleep a night. I was getting less than that, on a regular basis and the sleep I was getting was crappy, really hard sleep ( you know what I mean?). At 5 AM on Christmas morning my phone alerted me to a low glucose reading so I went down to my parents’ kitchen to give myself some orange juice, and then I realized that part of the sleep problem was probably that I was giving myself too much insulin. I was giving myself insulin around 8/9 :00 with my evening meds (because I eat with them) and then more when I went to bed. I didn’t need that much, and I’d been seeing low morning glucose numbers for awhile—not really low, but low-ish. I thought that was OK. But then I’d looked back over the night and seen that I was dipping to the low “danger range” more often than I’d like.

So for the past two weeks I’ve tried not having the snack insulin dose (which was something I had suggested to my team, not the other way around so I didn’t feel bad skipping it.) For the first few nights I slept hard and had really vivid dreams. I’ve been sleeping better, but I’ve also been low in energy meaning that I think my insulin is off—again—because I’m running high at night now. So today I finally sent an email to my nurse asking if she had any suggestions.

I clearly need to listen to my body. It’s tired. It doesn’t have a lot of reserves. It needs to sleep, to sit, to recuperate and recover from whatever. (No, I do not have COVID. :) ) And I’m trying not to listen to it because I have stuff that needs to be done that’s bugging me, like laundry and dishes and putting sodas in the fridge (Diet only. :) ). I’m falling asleep earlier, but I’m still sleeping 12 hours a night and I hate that—even though I know my body needs it.

So listening to my body? Yeah. I need to get better at it, especially when it’s yelling at me like it is right now. I need to stop thinking I need to get everything done and realize that my body does not, at this moment, have the capacity to do things like HIIT workouts or even a lot of puttery housework. It needs water, naps, and recovery, and easy workouts like stretching and slow, yin yoga. Nothing hard or intense.

Listening to my gut means that I stop doing things that I don’t really want to do or think I’m not suited for because I want to be “nice.” I want to not let someone down, I want to be a team player, I want to be reliable. My body, first off, doesn’t always let me do that (see above!). And second, if I’m forcing myself to do something, am I doing my best work? I don’t mean skipping out on things that I have to do based on previous commitments. I mean taking on new things new work, new commitments. Do I really want to? Am I excited about it? Do I have the margin to do it?

Right now, my body is saying, “Emily, you have no margin. You need to take care of ME.” And if my body isn’t happy then I can’t do anything anyway, because it won’t let me!

So, as frustrated as I am right now, I know that listening to my body will pay off. I just have to do it. I have to listen to God and see what He wants from me. And I have to listen to my gut, to see what I’m feeling about projects.

That’s my word for 2021. What’s yours? Do you pick a word of the year?

(Oh, and also: cute Patty for you:

The First Yarn Along of 2021!

Welcome to a new year of YARN ALONGS!

So, what have I been working on?

Two things, mostly: a blanket for Patty, and the cardigan. :)

First, the blanket

I did make Patty a blanket over the summer, but it was with a cotton yarn that I really didn’t like. It was hard to work with and so I made mistakes. After finishing the blanket I realized I didn’t want to give Patty a blanket full of mistakes. So the blanket is still here but I knew I was going to knit Patty another one.

This blanket is done in super wash wool and it’s much better. No arguing with the yarn!

( If you’re wondering about this: yarn from animal sources—wool, yak, whatever—has “give”. You can tug on it, manipulate it, it’ll work with you. Plant fibers—cotton, linen, etc.—do not. You are tugging them. At least this is my experience. I do not like working with pure linen and pure cotton. Blends are OK.)

So this blanket is done in Ewe Ewe Yarns Ewe So Sporty. I’m using Berry (the pink), Iris Blossom (the dark purple), lavender (light purple), and vanilla (white/cream). It’s the same Sully blanket pattern that I love.

The book I’m reading, Miss Austen, is one of my Christmas books. :)

In the #emilyknitsacardigan realm, picking up the collar has been….challenging, to say the least. I did OK when I practiced on the swatch but when I went to pick up the stitches on the actual cardigan, they didn’t seem to want to come! So if anyone has tips on picking up stitches I’d love to hear them!

Each day fresh, with no mistakes in it

“Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it,” as Miss Stacy once told Anne Shirley. And after the year that was 2020, I think we need to remember that tomorrow is always fresh! We can always start again.

Looking back on 2020, there were two great things: my book, and Patty. Those are things I am glad to keep, and things I celebrate. 2020, no matter what else happened, will always be a good year because of those two things, and the things that came from them.

Patty on Christmas, with the teething toys she got.

Stacks of my book in my office.

I’ll never wish those things back.

In my family, it’s generally a good day if, at the end of it, no one ended up in the ER. And I wonder if that’s a mindset we need to take with us into 2021? The idea that our days will not be perfect all the time, which is why we need to remember what Miss Stacy told Anne—every day is a fresh chance to get it right. And maybe we need to adjust the bar for what’s considered a “good” day? If at the end of the day, everyone is home, everyone is safe, and everyone is fed, then can we call that a good day? Or at least a day that we got through and we can try again tomorrow?

I wrote this on Instagram, and I share it here because it’s true: “Most of all, I’d keep what I know to be true: that a great, good God is running this show, and while I don’t always understand what’s going on, He does. And He has plans for our salvation, happiness, and joy.”

We don’t always see the plan. I like to know the plan. I’m BIG on that. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve also realized that I’m never going to know all of it. I’m just not! I have to give these things to God. That doesn’t mean I don’t try to do my best. But as John Paul XXIII (I think?) said, “It’s your Church, Lord. I’m going to bed.”

Sometimes, the best thing we can do is turn it all over to God and go to bed.

As we head into this new year, we don’t know what will happen. But if we try, every day, to live it with God ad with intention, I think we’ll have lots of good days, good weeks, and good years.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you and your family have

a joyful and merry Christmas!

Love,

Emily

Christmas Baking!

I don’t do a lot of baking for Christmas. I don’t make cookies because it’s just me here and I don’t need 4 dozen cookies sitting around. :) But there are two things I like to make and bring to my parents for Christmas Day celebrations, so I thought I’d share them with you!

The first one—which you see above in its unbaked state—are these Crumble Bars, from Ina Garten. She uses raspberry jam in hers but I’ve found any type works as long as it’s good jam and not like, basic store brand jam. I use Stonewall Kitchen a lot of the time, or Trader Joe’s preserves. The other tweak I make to the recipe is I don’t use sliced almonds. The granola I use does have almonds in them—you can see them in the photo—and if people want it, they can eat it, if they don’t, no biggie. :)

The second are Ina’s Hermit Bars. These are basically like gingerbread but cut like biscotti, so they’re really good and easy to make. I don’t do the glaze because I don’t need any more sugar in my life. These are great and people really like them! I also don’t chop up the crystallized ginger unless it comes in really big chunks like mine does this year. If you get it in the spice aisle in the jars, it usually comes in fairly small bits so you can just add them whole. The other great thing about the hermit bars is that you can make them ahead of time. I’ll make them tomorrow, wrap them in plastic wrap in the fridge, then bring them to room temp and slice them on Thursday before I go to my parents.

Happy baking!

Seven Quick Takes: Third Friday of Advent

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ONE WEEK UNTIL CHRISTMASSSSSS!!!!!!!!

WOO WOOOOO!

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OK with that said…I wrote an Advent reflection for Dec. 14 on my friend Elizabeth’s Joyful Momentum blog.

I also have a whole post on Christmas movies and Christmas Books for Grown-Ups! (Well, two whole posts. They’re linked in the link above!)

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Have you heard about the Year of St. Joseph? And did you know you can get plenary indulgences during the year?! Here’s how!

I am really happy about this because St. Joseph needs some love, y’all! If you haven’t read the Consecration to St. Joseph, I HIGHLY recommend it!

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It was Jane Austen’s 245th birthday on Wednesday! PARTY!

Basically, party like Patty…..

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In the “awesome stories abut saints” category: THIS.

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Quick Health Note: One of the annoying things about being diabetic is that sometimes you want to do things and your body goes NOPE! I mean, CF did this too, but it wasn’t quite as dramatic. I started exercising and then felt like I was going to throw up. Checked my BGL. Oh it’s LOW! OK then. Time for some orange juice and no more workout. Oh well. I guess some workout is better than NO workout, right?

It’s GOOD TIMES! :)

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What are you guys doing for Christmas? Share your plans in the comments!

Seven Quick Takes--First Friday of Advent

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Hellooooo everyone! :) How are you? How’s your Advent going? We had our first real snow this week!

One of my goals for December is to listen to no news, or read any news, because I don’t need to hear it. So I check a local news station’s website once or twice a day to scan the headlines, and then I click off. Because I do not need to know, you know? I need some peace and quiet.

If “the world is too much with you”, maybe you can try the same thing?

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From the blog this week:

The Find Your Fade Shawl is almost done!

Post-Turkey Quick Takes

Find Your Fade!

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My ebook, Catholic 101, is on sale through today! You can get it for $4, which is a buck less than I normally sell it for. Check it out! These sales give me some extra money which is always nice to have and helps keep the lights on around here. The book is printable, readable on any screen/device, and is also gift-able—just enter the recipient’s email and off it goes! Go get it!

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If you would like a signed copy of Living Memento Mori for the holidays, email me. They’re $20 and that includes shipping and a specially designed bookmark and prayer card! The last day for shipping this holiday season is Dec. 17. So you have some time, but…..order early. :)

If you would like a ‘regular’ copy, you can get them at all sorts of places! Here’s the link to my book at the retailer of your choice! (Scroll down a bit to find it.)

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If you’re still looking for an Advent devotional, I wrote two essays in this one. My friend and fellow Ave Author Elizabeth Tomlin put it together and I think it’s lovely! And it’s free!

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For some reason, Christmas is the time for the Harry Potter Movie Marathon. Not sure why. :) But I’m on the third movie now, Prisoner of Azkaban, and I’m also re-reading the books at the same time, so I’m also on that book.

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If you want to support your local Catholic authors, here’s a big list of Catholic authors and their books that I put together!

Yarn Along--Find Your Fade is almost done!

Hi everyone! Time for the December yarn along!

Yes, yes, my cardigan is still happening, I’m just being really lazy about picking up the collar! BAD ME. So I’ going to do that this week and hopefully by the January YA you’ll get to see the finished product! Actually I want it done by Christmas, which is totally doable.

But the project that I am working on, which is almost done, is my Find Your Fade shawl:

So a few notes on this:
Not all these colors are available any more, but the ones you can still get from KnitPicks are:

• Hawthorne Fingering: Abernathy, Alameda (These are the two right before the deep pink section)

• Hawthorne Fingering Kettle Dyed: Delphinium (the jewel blue), and Turkish delight (the jewel pink).

• Hawthorne Speckle: Berry Smoothie (the last color, still on the needles)

(The first two colors, Sellwood and Goose Hollow, aren’t available anymore, but they were the Fingering yarns.)

I’m on the last section. In this bit there isn’t any lace—it’s just the garter ridges until the end. Then it comes off the needles, gets a nice bath, and then gets blocked!

I changed the pattern a bit—I only did one repeat of the lace section each time because I am still learning lace. :) But this is a great project for learning it, so the next one I make I’ll do more of the lace repeats. This pattern is really forgiving in terms of customization.

I love the way the colors fade into each other. It’s just so nice to work on such a colorful project. I bought this as a kit from Knitpicks and their inspiration was wildflowers in the Rocky Mountains, and I have to say it really does remind me of that! (Having spent minimal time in them since my sister lives in Denver, and got married near Rocky Mountain National Park.)

As far as what I’m reading:

I’m reading The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock, which was a Christmas gift (I exchange gifts with my friends really anytime in December, and this year we’re mailing them to each other. And yes, I open my gifts when I get them.). It’s an interesting book so far. I’m also re-reading Harry Potter (I’m on Chamber of Secrets) and the Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell series (which I love)—I’m on the fifth book, O Jerusalem. For Advent reading I’m re-reading my favorite, Come, Lord Jesus. I’ve read this book so often that it’s falling apart and it’s all marked up. I love it. If you’re still looking for a good Advent book I highly recommend this one.

(book links are Amazon affiliate links)

I actually didn’t have any Christmas gifts to knit this year, so I’ve had time to work on my own projects!
What about you? What are you reading/knitting?

Cyber Monday at Ave Maria Press!

Hello all!

Wanted to let you know that Ave Maria Press is having their Cyber Monday sale now through tomorrow (12/1). Use the code CYBER20 to get 30% off + FREE SHIPPING!

Yes, it’s Advent but get ready for Lent by picking up Living Memento Mori now! :)

Seven Quick Takes--Post Turkey

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Happy Post-Thanksgiving! I hope you had a lovely Turkey Day!

Patty certainly had a good day.

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We had Buca di Beppo. They had the normal menu (well, a smaller menu, as is usual these days) an then Thanksgiving meal which was very good. I really liked the stuffing, which had Italian sausage in it—WINNER. It was a little different than regular stuffing (or dressing, as some of you say), but I really liked it!

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OK time for business!

OK first: my ebook, Catholic 101, is on sale for FOUR DOLLARS. If you are a blog subscriber, you get even MORE off with your special coupon code! So if you aren’t a subscriber, sign up now and get the code!

This book is based on my experiences as a first grade CCD—as I was teaching the kids things, I noticed that parents and other adults didn’t know the stuff I was teaching the kids! So I decided to write an ebook about it.

The ebook is gift-able—you can email it to people!—printable, and also readable on any screen.

The sale runs through next Friday (Dec. 4), at midnight. You don't need a code or anything. Just go buy it. :)

Second, Ave Maria Press’s Black Friday deal is on. Using the code BLACK20 to get 30% off and FREE SHIPPING PLUS an Advent booklet (while supplies last) for free! You can get Living Memento Mori here.

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I got my first Christmas gift today from Tiff (aka Billy’s mom)—three books that I will probably spend the rest of the day devouring. That and also digging out in Orchard House—it’s a disaster. One of the biggest issues with not going out to shop is that I get so many BOXES AND BAGS delivered on a weekly basis. So they pile up fully quickly! So today I’ll be making several trips to the bulk trash and trash compactor.

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Normally I put my tree up tomorrow during the OSU/ Michigan game. But….that game is now next week, so my schedule is all off. :) So I might not get the tree up until next week but it’s all good, right? I would like to get the nativity set out this weekend.

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In what has become a Thanksgiving tradition, I watched Miracle on 34th Street (the original) last night while I worked on my Find Your Fade Shawl. It’s actually quite a lovely tradition, if I do say so myself.

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And speaking of knitting, this weekend I will start picking up the stitches for the cardigan collar! Wish me luck. :)

Black Friday at Ave Maria Press!

Starting TODAY (Wednesday), and going through Sunday (11/29), Ave Maria Press is offering 30% off PLUS free shipping with the code BLACK20. So if you need copies of Living Memento Mori, go get them! This sale gets you a copy of the book for under $10—that’s a GREAT deal.

Have a great Thanksgiving!!!

Hospital 101

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in 2020, it’s that an awful lot of people don’t know what “hospitalization” actually means.

So I think it’s time to educate y’all!

There are many reasons why a person might be hospitalized. Here are a few reasons I’ve been “in house” (the hospital term for being in the hospital):

• To receive IV antibiotics, and I basically felt fine.

• To receive surgery and recover from it (or, to receive procedures and recover and go home—these are called “23 hour admits.”).

• Because I’ve needed fluids and pain meds around the clock, and regular labs to verify how things are going in my body.

• Because I felt like crap and needed lots of therapies and needed to be carefully watched.

My first admit for CF, in 1993, was one where I felt pretty good. I mean, I played in the playroom, I did wheelchair races in the hallway, I wasn’t lying in bed. But I needed IV therapies, I needed albuterol therapy, and we had to learn about CF. So I was in the hospital to get that intensive training and therapy. But I felt fine. (Well, as fine as I normally felt!)

Later on, I’d be in the hospital for a few days if I needed IV meds. We’d do them, make sure I was tolerating them OK, and then I’d be sent home—on the IV meds. I went to school with an IV in. I went to work with an IV in. I just did the meds when I needed to do them. (Now, apparently, this doesn’t happen as much, which I think is ridiculous, but….I digress.)

“23 hour admits” are basically admits where I might stay longer, but the plan is to get me out that day. This is how we used to do bronchs, or even things like pH probe tests (AWFULLLL). You’re in for a day or so, and then you go home. When I had my cardiac ablation, I was in for a few days, we did the ablation, and I went home soon after. Again, didn’t feel too crappy. On with life.

Sometimes yes, I do feel like crap, and I need to be admitted! But even then, this doesn’t equal DEATH. When I have pancreatitis, 99% of the time I will be admitted, because the “cure” for pancreatitis is pain meds and fluids, along with regular blood draws to check certain enzyme levels which show how the pancreas is doing. Now, being in pain isn’t fun and being hungry isn’t fun, so these aren’t the most fun admits, but generally, they’re not EMERGENCY LEVEL PANIC admits.

Then we get to the last category, which is, “Yes, Emily is very sick and needs to be in the hospital to make sure bad things don’t happen.” These are not fun. The upside is that you get to sleep a lot (or I did anyway.).

Being in the hospital does not mean “WOW SO SICK” just like being in the ICU doesn’t mean “DEATH!” It just means that you need a certain level of nursing care and medication. Whenever I needed cardiac cardioversion (aka the paddles), I was always admitted to the ICU, for monitoring. I felt OK once the pain meds were on board and I had stopped vomiting. :) But I was in the ICU because things could go south and then we’d need to work fast. But I was a pretty easy patient for the nurses on those nights!

Sometimes, yes, the “hospital census” (aka, in patient number) is high. Sometimes you have a lot of people in the hospital, like….during cold and flu season. Hospitalizations tend to go up then, because people get things like pneumonia (which I was hospitalized for a few years ago), or other things like that. Sometimes you might need to be in house but aren’t admitted like the one time my doctor had me deal with pancreatitis at home (which was….weird, but anyway). Sometimes, yes, I have waited in the ER while a room was made ready upstairs.

Some hospitals have observation rooms in or off the ER, and some don’t. These can also be used to “hold” patients until a room on the floor is ready. In January that’s where I stayed when my BGLs were wacky and endo finally….gave me insulin. (Sigh.)

That’s not to say that hospitals can’t be overwhelmed—they can be. (See, OSU ER trip in January where we waited for eight hours which has never happened in my life.)

But what I want you to take away from this is the idea that hospitalizations or ICU usage means a lot of people are at death’s door.

Also remember that people are in hospitals every day for a lot of things (see above), and are in the ICU for a lot of things every day. I’ve done three (four???) ICU stints now and I’d prefer to not to do it again because it’s sort of un-fun but I was in the “census” as an ICU patient, even though I wasn’t really at the level of an ICU person (see cardioversions above!)

All a census number really shows is how many people are in the beds at the moment. That can change based on a lot of factors. For example, NCH used to try to discharge a lot of people before the holidays. If you could go home, they wanted you to go home because who wants to spend Christmas in house? NO ONE, REALLY.

So I hope this gives you a slightly better insight into what a hospitalization can be, if you’ve never really experienced one yourself!

Seven Quick Takes--a bunch of random

-1-

We’ll start with some Patty for ya….

FINGERS ARE YUMMY!

( I seriously could just post photos of her all day…..)

-2-

In really good news, I’ve gotten to talk to Patty! Well, not really talking, more baby talk and gurgles and baby voices. But her mom (my cousin Diane) has video called me twice lately, and it’s been so great to see Patty and her brother, Johnny (who is too young for school yet) and also catch up with Di! Normally I’d have been in Houston for the baptism in September, but….not this year. Sigh. So video calls are what we do, which is still a good substitute. At least Patty can see my face and hear my voice! And I like seeing Di’s new house, too (well it’s new to me. I haven’t visited them there yet.) Johnny is not in school yet, so that’s why I get to see him while the other three are in school. (There are five kids in total, three girls and two boys.) It’s great to be able to catch up this way, even if I can’t actually snuggle the baby yet. I can make weird faces! :)

I am also going to get her several Baby Lit books for Christmas. :)

-3-

Speaking of Christmas shopping, get copies of Living Memento Mori for Christmas! Pregame your Lent! :)

-4-

As my cardigan project nears its completion, I’m thinking about other things I can knit! One of the things I like is the idea of a capsule knitted wardrobe. I like the idea of “slow fashion” (ie, things made with care, not as cheap as possible and things that last), and I also like the idea of making pieces that will go with a lot of other things. So right now, that means I have to get better at knitting in the round, so I can make hats and sweaters with a top-down construction.

In order to practice, I’ve got two patterns coming up. One is a cowl I’ve done before. After this is this hat, done in Quince and Co’s Lark yarn in Peacock.

Why peacock? When I was in the hospital last year for pancreatitis and gallbladder issues, I got a magazine with the model wearing a peacock colored beret on the cover, and I WANTED IT. Also, it has sort of a Mrs. Weasley-ish vibe that I liked. :)

So after I’ve done a hat (or two—probably two!), I will move on to this sweater, called Leslie, from the same book as my cardigan project:

Leslie is knit in pieces, like my cardigan, and then seamed. It uses Quince and Co’s Osprey yarn. Not sure what color I’ll pick yet, but to fit in with the “capsule” idea, it’ll probably be on that will go with a lot of what I wear!

-5-

Yes, I am watching The Crown. To me it seems like this is the first season where the queen is not…totally likable. I also wish they’d given Maggie T a little more credit, especially in the South Africa episode, but whatever.

Also, the queen’s sons sure are special!

-6-

What are you doing for Thanksgiving? If our restaurants stay open we’ll be going out. But things are sort of….tenuous right now, so no one really knows what’s going to be coming down from the state government….we’ll see!

-7-

I’m also working on my goals for 2021, using Lara Casey’s power sheets, which I absolutely love and highly recommend. :) Look for a post on 2021 goals soon! :)

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Hi! (And a health update)

Hi y’all!

Let’s start with my current favorite Patty photo:

RAWR!!!!!

So I promised you a health update and it’s been awhile in writing it, because there hasn’t been much going on so I felt like, “why write?” But then I remembered I owed you this. So!

There really isn’t much to say. Which is nice. The gallbladder surgery went well, I’m healing nicely (because of the prednisone and the diabetes stuff it will take longer for the incision spots to totally heal, but that’s OK, I don’t care.). Eye survived the corneal abrasion!

This week I am being trained by endo in using my InPen. An InPen is a “smart” insulin pen. It has an app, it communicated with my continuous glucose monitor (CGM), and it also does math for me. I am really looking forward to that feature, you better believe it. It can be nuts to try to figure things out.

It also has a nifty little feature where it tells you how much insulin is “on board”, meaning “active” in your body. For people with normal pancreas function, your pancreas just pumps out insulin when it needs to. You don't have to worry about supply. Diabetics do. One of the things that is frustrating—at least for me—is not knowing how long insulin “lasts” in the body. So basically every time I’m eating a meal I’m dosing based on my CGM numbers, but that’s not entirely accurate, because we don’t know how much insulin is still floating around in my body. (and if you give yourself too much insulin, that causes….weight gain. How fun. I mean it can also cause other not fun things, but…..yeah, I’m focusing on the weight bit.)

With the InPen, I should—I think—know how much is in my body already and then be able to do more accurately. I can also does partially. So, right now, if I should give myself 5.5 units of insulin, I can’t do that with a regular pen. I have to either do 5 or 6. With this pen I can give the 5.5 dose. So being able to do half doses doesn’t sound big, but it adds up in the long run to create better control.

So that’s all on Wednesday. I’m looking forward to it. (Also the InPen is bright pink so it’ll be easy to find in my bag, but it also comes in blue and gray.)

So, weight and insulin, we can talk about it briefly.

When you’re not getting enough insulin, you lose weight really easily. That was me last Christmas. I was like, wow, I lost all his weight without trying! HOW AWESOME!

And then we realized, oh, Emily needs insulin.
When you start insulin, you gain weight. That’s how it goes. Sometimes you need to gain that weight. In my case I …..really didn’t. But them’s the breaks.

Now that I’ve been on insulin for almost a year, we’re reaching good therapeutic levels so I think we’re done with large adjustments, and I’m hoping that I can start to drop some weight because I won’t be giving myself crazy amounts of insulin (because insulin you don’t need? Stored by the body as fat. Yeah, FUN TIMES.).

I have been working out during the pandemic by doing an at home program, which I have actually liked. So that’s helped and that’s made my doctors really happy. My PFTs are good, so that’s also happiness causing. But right now I’m hoping I can turn a corner on weight and start to drop some pounds, even though with COVID I think we’re all realizing that’s easier said than done….I haven’t been in a grocery store since early March. Yikes. (That sort of activity—that daily stuff? Not having that has been an issue. Also an issue—being subjected to what APN has in stock.)

In December I see my dentist, my ENT, and my dermatologist, so hopefully those will all be good. I’m anticipating they will be. The dermatologist is always sort of iffy because you never know what she’ll see that I don’t think is an issue or that I can’t see (like, things on my scalp or my back). But from what I can tell things are OK and it’s not like I was going out in the sun a lot this year anyway. :)

So that’s the health update! :) I’m still alive and kicking, which is good!

Yarn Along: A Tale of Three Shawls

Yes, there’s only two shawls in the photo, the third shawl is below! :)

I’ve been digging into my stash to work projects that I’d sort of forgotten about!

So the blue and green shawl is the sail-away shawl from Modern Daily Knitting’s Ease edition. And it really is easy—lovely garter stitch and KFB increases in gorgeous wool from Sincere Sheep! These are Suerte (the green) and Hathor’s Gem (the blue) . These were actually birthday gifts so they’re finally getting used, yay! I’m making the smaller version of the pattern.

The second, on the right, is the Find Your Fade Shawl, which was super popular a few years ago when it came out but I finally got the yarn for it…two years ago? And I started it but I thought I was messing it up so I frogged it and put it away. BUT the yarn was calling me!

Turns out that the stitch count isn’t really important in this guy. I got to the end of the first section and I had the right count on one side and the wrong side on another—how did that happen?—but I forged ahead anyway, and I’m also only doing one lace section instead of three as you see here, which I might change to two and then to three in the following sections. But the point is, this is a really forgiving shawl, so as long as you’re increasing and decreasing at the right rate, you’ll be fine if your count is off. All the colors here are from the various Hawthorne lines from Knit Picks. (You can see all the colors on my Ravelry notes, but the colors you see here are Sellwood and Goose Hollow, which they don’t make anymore! Sadness! :( The third color which is just coming in here they do still make, and that’s Delphinium)

The third shawl is the Hawthorne Shawl from Quince and Co, using their lark yarn in a limited edition color way called Blue Balloon:

I haven’t worked too much on it because it requires a lot of concentration! So I’m working on the other two shawls and will circle back to this guy. She is pretty, isn’t she? :)

What I’m reading: My copy of Clanlands just arrived so I’m really excited about that. In case you’re new here, I love the Outlander books and TV series, so a book written by two of the stars? Sign me up. Another new novel is The Strawberry Thief, by Joanne Harris. It’s part of the Chocolat series, so I enjoy spending more time with these characters.

A Book Two Update! (And happy birthday, Catholic 101!)

Madame Francois Buron, Jacques-Louis David, 1769

So, I promised you a book two update, and here we go !

I talked to my editor, the fabulously fantastic Jaymie, two weeks ago. There have been some ideas bouncing around about what this book should be but I wanted to really nail it down and get a clear sense of direction, and Jaymie graciously provided me with that. (She’s so awesome.)

The idea is: Saints with challenges, whether they be mental, physical, emotional, financial, whatever, and how they overcame those challenges (or learned to live with them) and became saints. What choices did they make that led them to sainthood? How did they keep going even when it was hard? Things like that. So it’s going to be seven to ten saints—not a huge compendium, but a cultivated collection. So that has steered me in the proper direction and now I’m in the outlining/table of contents/sample chapter stage.

There’s no real timeline yet, which is also good, because it gives me time to do the research I need to do and let ideas brew and bubble up, because you don’t want to rush a good thing! Writing Living Memento Mori on deadline was easy because it was my story, so I knew what I wanted to do with it, and even then there were two chapters I sent to Jaymie and said, “I have no idea, tell me if this is crap.” :) (It was chapters 10 and 11, if you’re curious). When Ave Maria Press said go, I went! With this book, I have to lay the research ground work before we go, so to speak.

Also, happy birthday to my ebook! If you don’t have a copy, it’s $5! You can gift it to people, you can print it out and read it on real pages, or you can read it on your computer or e-reader of choice! Go get it!