Friday, March 17, 2006
Saturday, March 11, 2006
The Start of March Break
It's March Break! Today I watched my lovely 14 year old daughter go off with a local group on a coach bus. She was so excited to be going on this trip. Her first opportunity, and visit to Florida. So amazing! I am so proud of her too. She saved up for this trip for a long time, and she paid for most of it all on her own. She is very fortunate to have this opportunity to go there, and to have some special friends in which to share it with. I've never been there in my lifetime, and somehow I suspect it's a place that I never will have the chance to see. I'm just glad that she has been able to go, and I pray that it will be a wonderful & happy experience that she will never forget.
It's a long trip down there on the bus. They were going to be travelling for at least 25 hours. They won't even arrive at the camp until sometime tomorrow afternoon. The kids who were going seemed so excited. They have lots of activities planned for them to enjoy this week, and I'm looking forward to hearing all about her trip.
Whatever am I going to do to keep my 11 year old busy? Today we decided to venture out on this bright, spring like day, and went to visit my friend with the Irish Wolfhound pups. She has three litters of pups at the moment, 20 puppies in total. One litter is already 6 1/2 weeks old. One is three weeks, and the other litter is only two weeks old. They are all so adorable. I love the tiniest little one, all the way up to the biggest ones. The older ones are now getting more playful, and starting to show their colours & personalities more. As they grow, they are starting to look more and more like little visions of their parents. We were able to take them outside in the sunshine and let them play and run about. I took turns picking them all up and cuddling them, and getting them to run around the yard. I know my daughter was certainly enjoying the time with them as well. One they were tuckered out, we went in and went for a swim in the warm, indoor pool. Great for easing the pain in my legs. I wouldn't have minded staying in there all day, as it was certainly helping with the pain. Once out, we spent some time with the other pups, and got to hold the youngest ones, and help get them out and settled to be nursed by their mommy, while our friend took care of the other pups & mom. The middle aged ones are also starting to drink from a bowl, and are getting an added milk supplement, and they seemed to be doing really well. We stayed as long as we could, and enjoyed a nice dinner with them then had to head home finally. I thought it was a pretty good start to March Break. They also lent us their newest movie, Harry Potter, and the Goblet of Fire. That took care of our evening and put an end to a pretty good day.
It's a long trip down there on the bus. They were going to be travelling for at least 25 hours. They won't even arrive at the camp until sometime tomorrow afternoon. The kids who were going seemed so excited. They have lots of activities planned for them to enjoy this week, and I'm looking forward to hearing all about her trip.
Whatever am I going to do to keep my 11 year old busy? Today we decided to venture out on this bright, spring like day, and went to visit my friend with the Irish Wolfhound pups. She has three litters of pups at the moment, 20 puppies in total. One litter is already 6 1/2 weeks old. One is three weeks, and the other litter is only two weeks old. They are all so adorable. I love the tiniest little one, all the way up to the biggest ones. The older ones are now getting more playful, and starting to show their colours & personalities more. As they grow, they are starting to look more and more like little visions of their parents. We were able to take them outside in the sunshine and let them play and run about. I took turns picking them all up and cuddling them, and getting them to run around the yard. I know my daughter was certainly enjoying the time with them as well. One they were tuckered out, we went in and went for a swim in the warm, indoor pool. Great for easing the pain in my legs. I wouldn't have minded staying in there all day, as it was certainly helping with the pain. Once out, we spent some time with the other pups, and got to hold the youngest ones, and help get them out and settled to be nursed by their mommy, while our friend took care of the other pups & mom. The middle aged ones are also starting to drink from a bowl, and are getting an added milk supplement, and they seemed to be doing really well. We stayed as long as we could, and enjoyed a nice dinner with them then had to head home finally. I thought it was a pretty good start to March Break. They also lent us their newest movie, Harry Potter, and the Goblet of Fire. That took care of our evening and put an end to a pretty good day.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Spiritual Gifts
These are a few different sites you can visit for tests on searching for your spiritual gifts. Have you ever checked them out or discovered what your spiritual gifts happen to be? do you find they actually reveal something that you feel comes close to what you feel is right?
Have fun and check them out!
http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/
http://www.christianet.com/bible/spiritualgiftstest.htm#114182505711082
http://mintools.com/discovergifts.htm
Have fun and check them out!
http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/
http://www.christianet.com/bible/spiritualgiftstest.htm#114182505711082
http://mintools.com/discovergifts.htm
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Writing
I keep thinking that I want to start writing more on my blog, or on another site I've joined, but I seem to have this block. I don't know what to write about or how to get started on anything these days. When I do get started on something, I tend to lose track of my thoughts, or get interupted. Some people seem to write something regularly, and have such a natural ability and gift with their words. I'm afraid I tend to stick to the much simpler words. I wonder if it's too late to start learning how to do new things? I've often thought how nice it would be to just have the time & the creative mind to start writing a book or even some short stories.
I've been told that it's a good idea to write something everyday, no matter what one writes. It's supposed to be the exercise of writing daily that is important. Learning how to use words that are both creative and descriptive, and that will allow the readers to hear, smell & feel what the writer is talking about; deleting excess words, and adverbs; using verbs and short, concise paragraphs, along with words that communicate. Don't use a lot of cliches, or little words, like also,and, that...; and try to put some order into your thoughts. Sometimes that's a challenge too, along with trying not to put in a lot of words and thoughts that don't support your story line. These are only a few simple suggestions that have been shared with me. I'm sure from the many books & articles out there that it would take years to even begin to read them all and learn the things that need to be learned. I suppose all one can do is to take some courses, or find a good book that gives advise, and do the best you can. For those with a natural, God given ability, I'm sure all they need is some simple instructions on "how to" and they are off. It's obviously not the type of thing that everyone is able to do. I think perhaps I fall into this category. It's just something that I enjoy doing, and think would be nice to be able to do. When I see what others put into writing, I feel so inadequate.
I wonder if I had taken some courses when I was younger if I could have learned and acquired the ability to write! I know I certainly had a much easier time putting things into writing, and keeping my thoughts on track and doing a lot more than I seem to be able to do now. I wonder if this is because of my age, or perhaps the fibro fog and pain that I live with that clouds my thinking? Is it perhaps that I never really seem to have a lot of time to just sit quietly, without interuptions, or perhaps that I just have too many things on my plate to keep my thoughts focused?
Is it perhaps that I've forgotten a lot of things that I once used to know? Perhaps it's just that I really don't have a lot of real knowledge on one certain thing that I can write about!
Having the gift and ability to be able to write and perhaps write something that could actually turn into a form of income would be nice, but I'm certainly not going to hold my breath. Then again, who really knows what the future holds. Miracles do happen!
I've been told that it's a good idea to write something everyday, no matter what one writes. It's supposed to be the exercise of writing daily that is important. Learning how to use words that are both creative and descriptive, and that will allow the readers to hear, smell & feel what the writer is talking about; deleting excess words, and adverbs; using verbs and short, concise paragraphs, along with words that communicate. Don't use a lot of cliches, or little words, like also,and, that...; and try to put some order into your thoughts. Sometimes that's a challenge too, along with trying not to put in a lot of words and thoughts that don't support your story line. These are only a few simple suggestions that have been shared with me. I'm sure from the many books & articles out there that it would take years to even begin to read them all and learn the things that need to be learned. I suppose all one can do is to take some courses, or find a good book that gives advise, and do the best you can. For those with a natural, God given ability, I'm sure all they need is some simple instructions on "how to" and they are off. It's obviously not the type of thing that everyone is able to do. I think perhaps I fall into this category. It's just something that I enjoy doing, and think would be nice to be able to do. When I see what others put into writing, I feel so inadequate.
I wonder if I had taken some courses when I was younger if I could have learned and acquired the ability to write! I know I certainly had a much easier time putting things into writing, and keeping my thoughts on track and doing a lot more than I seem to be able to do now. I wonder if this is because of my age, or perhaps the fibro fog and pain that I live with that clouds my thinking? Is it perhaps that I never really seem to have a lot of time to just sit quietly, without interuptions, or perhaps that I just have too many things on my plate to keep my thoughts focused?
Is it perhaps that I've forgotten a lot of things that I once used to know? Perhaps it's just that I really don't have a lot of real knowledge on one certain thing that I can write about!
Having the gift and ability to be able to write and perhaps write something that could actually turn into a form of income would be nice, but I'm certainly not going to hold my breath. Then again, who really knows what the future holds. Miracles do happen!
Dialysis
Several weeks ago, I raced out of here one morning, anxious to have enough time to warm the car up and clean it off before I left to go pick up my father. We had received some heavy, wet snow that had covered everything. When the snow ended, freezing rain started up. There was a layer of snow on the car, along with some ice that had built up. Thankfully, I was able to clean off the car without too much effort. As I drove along, I discovered that the freezing rain was staying on the window, so I had to keep the defroster on high to try and keep it clean. The road was slippery in some places, but I didn't actually find it all that bad for driving, at least at that point. I picked my dad up to take him to dialysis, something I need to do 3 days a week, rain or shine, sleet or snow. There have been a few trips when the driving was pretty scary, esp. with all of the other traffic, but so far we've managed. Thankfully we don't have to travel too far.
Dialysis is a life saving treatment for patients whose kidneys have failed and no longer clean off the impurities & waste from the human body. It is a treatment that needs to be done regularly, and cannot be missed. It is something that once started, will continue for the rest of the person's life. In some cases, if the person is younger and a good candidate, transplant surgery can be an option. The only thing with this is that they need to find another good kidney that is a match. In most cases it is a close family member who donates one of their kidney's.. Anti-rejection medication has to be taken for the rest of the person's life, and hopefully they are able to handle it all and live normally. Our body has two kidneys, so we can actually survive with just one good functioning kidney. The problem is when we develop kidney disease and they end up quitting, or the level of function is reduced so much that it is not filtering the waste from our body. If our kidneys aren't functioning enough to get rid of the waste, then we either have to find something that will clean the waste, or be prepared to become quite sick and eventually having all of our organ's shutting down.
Dialysis is a huge commitment on the patient, and on the person who ends up driving them in the case of either younger children, or elderly patients. Some are fortunate enough to be able to drive themselves after a treatment, but because there is a higher percentage of people who are elderly ones, they often don't drive anymore and are in need of regular transportation. Treatment usually means going three times a week, for a period of approx. 3-4 hours, plus the time that is involved in hooking them up and taking them off of the treatment.
There are several different types of dialysis treatment, and the most common one used is done at the hospital or a special clinic which is hemodialysis. There are however a few treatment types that can be done at home and known as peritoneal dialysis. All are time consuming, and require commitment. About 90 percent of dialysis patients receive hemodialysis, in which the blood is circulated outside the body and cleaned inside a machine before returning to the patient.
My dad is going for the hemodialysis at the hospital, and needs to be driven to the hospital & picked up, 3 days a week. Thankfully the hospital in our town has a dialysis unit, which was started up approx. 3 or 4 years ago. If it didn't we would have to make the drive to another hospital approx. 1 hour's drive away. We did that for the first couple of months after he started treatment 2 ½ years ago, and it was really hard having to drive that distance, fill in the time waiting, and then driving back home thro' rush hour traffic, and miserable weather as we started just before winter. It was a long day for us both, and my dad found the added time in the car traveling, along with the stress of dealing with the traffic and weather conditions was just too much.
Before treatment can start they have to make several incisions in the chest & neck area, and this serves as the access area, going into an artery & a vein. Another way is to start an access place in the arm where an artery & vein are joined and allowed several months for it to heal before it can be used. This required some surgical time and tests at another hospital. Because of the type of access my dad has, he must go back down there every so often to get the line in his chest changed. The type of line that he has in his chest has a higher risk of infection, but is the easiest to access, and the least painful once it's been put in. It was the type that he chose, and has refused to have the one done in the arm. Perhaps because of his age since he's 80 years old, and he figures if he has to go for dialysis, then he's going to do it the most comfortable way he can.
One of the things with hemodialysis is the fact that the blood pressure can be affected by the treatment esp. if the patient has problems with their pressure. It's also an evasive treatment with the blood, and can be very tiring for the patient.
It is not a cure, but only a treatment. The only thing that can end the treatment, is a kidney transplant, and only if the body does not reject it. Patients must learn to watch their diets with great care, and their various levels will need to be monitored regularly.
The leading causes of end-stage renal (kidney) disease are diabetes and high blood pressure. The only way to avoid ending up with renal/kidney failure, is to start taking care of your kidneys when you are younger, and watching your diet.
If your kidneys are normal, they don't need special care. A healthy, balanced diet and enough water to quench thirst are adequate to keep kidneys working fine. Fad diets, such as those very high in protein, however, can hurt your kidneys. Drinking very little water, or an overabundance of water (more than 8 quarts a day), may also damage these organs.
Other than illnesses, the real kidney killers are drugs--they must pass through the kidney to be filtered out of the bloodstream. Some antibiotics, anesthesia medications, and antipsychotic drugs may damage kidneys. Even over-the-counter painkillers, if taken in large doses, may lead to kidney failure. In the same way, even common household chemicals can also harm your kidneys if ingested of inhaled so be careful.
For now, my dad seems to be doing well on dialysis, and we try to plan a lot of the days around his treatments and then do the other things that he needs to do. Thankfully dialysis is available as a life saving treatment for all who need it.
Dialysis is a life saving treatment for patients whose kidneys have failed and no longer clean off the impurities & waste from the human body. It is a treatment that needs to be done regularly, and cannot be missed. It is something that once started, will continue for the rest of the person's life. In some cases, if the person is younger and a good candidate, transplant surgery can be an option. The only thing with this is that they need to find another good kidney that is a match. In most cases it is a close family member who donates one of their kidney's.. Anti-rejection medication has to be taken for the rest of the person's life, and hopefully they are able to handle it all and live normally. Our body has two kidneys, so we can actually survive with just one good functioning kidney. The problem is when we develop kidney disease and they end up quitting, or the level of function is reduced so much that it is not filtering the waste from our body. If our kidneys aren't functioning enough to get rid of the waste, then we either have to find something that will clean the waste, or be prepared to become quite sick and eventually having all of our organ's shutting down.
Dialysis is a huge commitment on the patient, and on the person who ends up driving them in the case of either younger children, or elderly patients. Some are fortunate enough to be able to drive themselves after a treatment, but because there is a higher percentage of people who are elderly ones, they often don't drive anymore and are in need of regular transportation. Treatment usually means going three times a week, for a period of approx. 3-4 hours, plus the time that is involved in hooking them up and taking them off of the treatment.
There are several different types of dialysis treatment, and the most common one used is done at the hospital or a special clinic which is hemodialysis. There are however a few treatment types that can be done at home and known as peritoneal dialysis. All are time consuming, and require commitment. About 90 percent of dialysis patients receive hemodialysis, in which the blood is circulated outside the body and cleaned inside a machine before returning to the patient.
My dad is going for the hemodialysis at the hospital, and needs to be driven to the hospital & picked up, 3 days a week. Thankfully the hospital in our town has a dialysis unit, which was started up approx. 3 or 4 years ago. If it didn't we would have to make the drive to another hospital approx. 1 hour's drive away. We did that for the first couple of months after he started treatment 2 ½ years ago, and it was really hard having to drive that distance, fill in the time waiting, and then driving back home thro' rush hour traffic, and miserable weather as we started just before winter. It was a long day for us both, and my dad found the added time in the car traveling, along with the stress of dealing with the traffic and weather conditions was just too much.
Before treatment can start they have to make several incisions in the chest & neck area, and this serves as the access area, going into an artery & a vein. Another way is to start an access place in the arm where an artery & vein are joined and allowed several months for it to heal before it can be used. This required some surgical time and tests at another hospital. Because of the type of access my dad has, he must go back down there every so often to get the line in his chest changed. The type of line that he has in his chest has a higher risk of infection, but is the easiest to access, and the least painful once it's been put in. It was the type that he chose, and has refused to have the one done in the arm. Perhaps because of his age since he's 80 years old, and he figures if he has to go for dialysis, then he's going to do it the most comfortable way he can.
One of the things with hemodialysis is the fact that the blood pressure can be affected by the treatment esp. if the patient has problems with their pressure. It's also an evasive treatment with the blood, and can be very tiring for the patient.
It is not a cure, but only a treatment. The only thing that can end the treatment, is a kidney transplant, and only if the body does not reject it. Patients must learn to watch their diets with great care, and their various levels will need to be monitored regularly.
The leading causes of end-stage renal (kidney) disease are diabetes and high blood pressure. The only way to avoid ending up with renal/kidney failure, is to start taking care of your kidneys when you are younger, and watching your diet.
If your kidneys are normal, they don't need special care. A healthy, balanced diet and enough water to quench thirst are adequate to keep kidneys working fine. Fad diets, such as those very high in protein, however, can hurt your kidneys. Drinking very little water, or an overabundance of water (more than 8 quarts a day), may also damage these organs.
Other than illnesses, the real kidney killers are drugs--they must pass through the kidney to be filtered out of the bloodstream. Some antibiotics, anesthesia medications, and antipsychotic drugs may damage kidneys. Even over-the-counter painkillers, if taken in large doses, may lead to kidney failure. In the same way, even common household chemicals can also harm your kidneys if ingested of inhaled so be careful.
For now, my dad seems to be doing well on dialysis, and we try to plan a lot of the days around his treatments and then do the other things that he needs to do. Thankfully dialysis is available as a life saving treatment for all who need it.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Winter Virus
It's been one of those weeks. The flu seems to be running rampant all thro' the schools and there are so many kids off sick. At the moment, one of those is my youngest daughter. She's had a fever on and off all week long, along with swollen glands and an upset stomach. It's been 5 days now. From what I here this is not unusual from what a lot of the students are coming down with at school.
This morning I woke up with some of the same symptoms, and it was all I could do to crawl out of bed. I just felt so sick. To top that off, I woke with a terrible cramp or charlie-horse in the calf of my leg. Even now many hours later it is still quite painful. Thankfully my hubby was here and able to take care of a few of my responsibilities and I was able to crawl shivering, back under the bed covers and sleep till noon. Both of my dogs curled up beside me and helped keep me warmed. I joined my daughter on the couch for the afternoon, and haven't been able to get anything done around here. I sure hope that this is one of those 24 hour, passing flu's at least with me. I just have too much going on that needs to be done, and company coming on Saturday. Right now, I'm going to crawl back into bed. Hope no one else comes down with this nasty virus! It's not very nice at all.
This morning I woke up with some of the same symptoms, and it was all I could do to crawl out of bed. I just felt so sick. To top that off, I woke with a terrible cramp or charlie-horse in the calf of my leg. Even now many hours later it is still quite painful. Thankfully my hubby was here and able to take care of a few of my responsibilities and I was able to crawl shivering, back under the bed covers and sleep till noon. Both of my dogs curled up beside me and helped keep me warmed. I joined my daughter on the couch for the afternoon, and haven't been able to get anything done around here. I sure hope that this is one of those 24 hour, passing flu's at least with me. I just have too much going on that needs to be done, and company coming on Saturday. Right now, I'm going to crawl back into bed. Hope no one else comes down with this nasty virus! It's not very nice at all.
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