Not a fun week

Tuesday night I was walking down the hallway to the sewing room and my heartrate suddenly went way up and irregular. I knew I was in atrial fib, and hoped it would convert by  itself, so we waited about an hour, then went off to the ER. Two doses of IV meds and 7 hours later, I was back in sinus and admitted to have my meds changed.

I was there til Saturday morning, getting tests, IVs, and different meds. The hospital is no place for sick people. Entirely too noisy. I was lucky to have 3 nice roomates at different times.  


Ralph brought me in my iPad, pillow, and afghan. I sleep much better with my own pillow, and hospital blankets leave a lot to be desired. Having the iPad was as good as having a laptop. I was able to keep up with Words With Friends and my internet group, and my email. 


Today would have been my late girlfriend Linda's 59th birthday. She's been gone for two years now. It would also have been my late grandmother's birthday. 


Cliffie is enjoying being a housecat. She goes out occasionally, but not for long. 


And the beat goes on!
Holly

Knee update

I was really getting discouraged with my knee. I had the injection Wednesday morning, and Friday night it still hurt like the Dickens. One of my fellow nurses had told me it wouldn't kick in for 72 hours, and when I got up this morning it actually felt a lot better. Not pre-flare up, but much better.

Last night Ralph and I watched Eddie and Julianna for the time between when Heather left for work and Ed got home. I took the Kindle Fire and the iPad with me, and they had such a good time. Julianna taught me how to play Angry Birds- how pathetic is that, that she knew how and I didn't! I have Fruit Ninja's on both devices, to they played that for a long time. Eddie figured out every game that I had on the Kindle! Amazon has a free app every day, and I get anything that looks like the kids would like. 

I'm also playing Words With Friends on the iPad with 3 of my internet group. It's basically scrabble, and two people play, which means I have 3 games going on. 

We got about 3 inches of snow late last night. Usually when one of us gets up, Cliffie goes and stands at the door to go out. Depending on how cold it is, she's out for five minutes or an hour. Today she didn't even go near the door. She's sleeping on the ottoman next to me. As the weather gets and stays cold, we want to wean her away from going out. She was a garage cat for so long that we don't know if we can make her a total house cat, but we're going to try.

And the beat goes on!
Holly

My sore knee

My knee didn't get any better, so I went to the doctor last Wednesday night and she ordered an xray. She suspected it was the arthritis, based on the clicking and crackling when I extended the leg. Turns out the arthritis is significantly worse than the least xray, which was maybe 5 years ago. So I went in today and got a cortisone injection. 

I was a nervous wreck, based on what I've heard about cortisone injections. It turned out to be not bad at all. She put a topical spray to numb the skin, and the injection also had lidocaine in it, for more immediate relief. I have no restrictions, and can drive. I can go back to work tomorrow, as long as I feel up to it. The lidocaine gives immediate relief, and the steroid will kick in sometime tomorrow. I also have referrals for PT, ortho, and an MRI. It actually feels better already!

I've done some sewing this week! My friend Barbara has decreed that we will each do a Christmas present or project per month. I'm starting small- I found a tablerunner pattern I like, and I'm making 3, one for each daughter. Two are now flimsies, and the third is cut out and partially assembled. When I get that done, I'll pull backing and quilt all three. The hardest part will be to not give them to my daughters now. 

I took the big Kindle, the DX, up to my mom on Christmas Day for her to play with. She was apprehensive of it at first, but now she's getting used to it and really enjoying it. I had about 300 books on it for her. Amazon has been listing hundreds of free books every day for a month now. 

I have both the kindle and nook apps on the iPad, so I can read on that, but the screen is kind of big. I took an iPad 101 class, and learned a lot. iPad 102 is at the end of the month. 

Cliffie is mostly a house cat now, and is using the litter pan. My friend Sandra suggested putting some dirt on the litter, and that helped. She's the biggest and most solid cat we've ever had, and one of the most talkative. 

And I'm off to ice the knee!
Holly

Welcome to 2012

We've made it thru the first ten days of 2012! Cliffie is settling into being a semi housecat. She only goes out for short periods of time. She hasn't used the litter pan yet. That will probably happen on a snowy cold day.

All of a sudden I'm having a flare up of arthritis in my right knee. I have ice on it, but I may have to go see my doctor.

Work continues at Sam's house. Stephanie is going to rent it, starting next month. The last of the old furniture should go out this weekend. Today the sump pump was replaced.

Poor Toast has Lyme's and another tick borne disease, so she's on two meds.

I cashed in years of change, added my Christmas money, and bought myself an iPad! I love it! I'm taking an iPad 101 class this Sunday.

And so it goes!
Holly