Mystery Stole 2 - "Scheherazade" - finally posting pictures! [I wish I had participated in Mystery Stole 1 "Leda's Dream" -- but I bought the pattern for $2 PayPal - and will eventually make it.]

Here's the before-blocking version:






















Here's the After-blocking version. I used it when Steve and I went to see "Carmen" at the S.F. Opera, and it still wanted to curl some. So afterwards, I pressed it with the iron, and it seems to be staying flatter. We'll see if it stays flat after wearing it again though. Maybe I'll just need to re-press it a little after each wearing?

















Continuation of Barbara's health:
I never did come back to the blog after Barbara's surgery. Surgery was a success, but she needed to stay in the hospital overnight because she wasn't coping with pain well. Among the pain meds they gave her during and after surgery was Toredol, an intravenous NSAID, like a strong version of Motrin or Aleve. Most people don't have problems handling it, unless they're very aged. We drove back to San Mateo mid-day on Thanksgiving, and I cooked the turkey breast and a simple meal, all things considered.

Unfortunately for us, on the Sunday after surgery, on Barbara's 22nd birthday in fact, she went back into our local hospital with pain, nausea and vomiting that had worsened since the previous day. It turned out when push came to shove that her kidneys were shutting down. The most likely candidate subsequently determined for why was the Toredol. What was bad was -- the emergency room doctor gave her more Toredol while they were trying to decide what to do.

So, I'd taken Barbara to the emergency room on Sunday, she got admitted about midnight. They kept her on intravenous anti-nausea and pain meds for several days, and finally weaned her off to pills, hoping she could go home. Her BUN (a urine indicator) and Creatinine (a breakdown product of protein) readings were abnormal, with Creatinine in particular being a problem. She should have had a 0.8 reading -- hers rose over 4 days to 5.7 -- if it had gone up to 10, they'd have had to do temporary dialysis. When it peaked/plateaued and dropped to 5.2 on Friday, they discharged her. She had to stay in our area until she visited the kidney specialist again. Her Creatinine was down to 1.5, which is still not normal. She'll need to see him again in early February to see if it comes down to 0.8 -- or whether she has permanent kidney damage.

She had to take incompletes in most of her fall quarter graduate school classes. The main teacher who supervises her work coordinated with her other teachers, and she has until March to complete incomplete assignments.

Then when she was feeling well enough to go back to work and called her bosses at the Ramada, it turns out that they sold the motel the previous week (without ever mentioning it to her), and the new owners didn't want hired help. So she lost her job, too!

So, she's now trying to get Unemployment insurance until she can find another job that works with her student teaching and classes. Wish her luck!

Mystery Stole 2 "Scheherazade" -- and Barbara's Gallstone

It's been quite a while since I posted. I finally finished my Mystery Stole "Scheherazade" in late October or so -- but I had purchased blocking wires -- and then had ordered special U-shaped blocking pins from KnitPicks, and was waiting for them to arrive.

They finally arrived -- and one weekend, I had a killer headached that knocked me out of commission -- the next I was busy for other reasons. So, I finally blocked the Scherazade Stole on Sunday. I think it's dry, but I've left it blocked just to be sure. Maybe I'll take it out tomorrow and photgraph it.


The sad news is that Barbara had another of what I guess is called a bilious attack around 5am on Wednesday -- and was vomiting hard, with blood in it. When she called me for advice, I told her to go to her Santa Cruz Medical Foundation urgent care. They took lots of ultrasounds and diagnosed a large gallstone in her gallbladder -- and needs surgery since she was in great pain. They gave her a shot of painkiller because she couldn't keep the first pain pills down. Then they gave her a prescription for Vicodin. Barbara's had problems for about 5 years -- and had been misdiagnosed as having gastric reflux. Her gallstone is huge -- 2.3 cm -- about 1 inch in diameter.

She saw the surgeon yesterday (Thursday), and they scheduled the surgery for next Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. He also prescribed stronger pain meds. I'm taking Wednesday off from work to drive up to Santa Cruz, and will take her to the surgery center. We hope she's in the 90% who can just have outpatient laparascopic surgery -- but they don't know until they start.

So the Thanksgiving holiday and her 22nd birthday the following Saturday are kind of on hold. I'm going to just buy a turkey breast -- in case we can come back to San Mateo after her surgery -- and we'll just have a small feast on Thursday. If I end up having to stay in Santa Cruz with her (or if she has the big surgery and is in the hospital for 4 days) -- then Steve can put the turkey breast into the freezer for some other time.

So -- I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her, and keeping her in my prayers (whether she likes that or not!).