Thursday, May 29, 2008

I went to the doctor's today to hear the results of the tests. It turns out that the CT scan was absolutely normal. Not a thing evident that could be causing the pain. As relieved as I was to hear that, it was also frustrating. Because the pain can be breathtaking at times. He gave me some samples of Nexium ("the purple pill") which may help with the pain. It'll help if the problem is acid reflux. And now I get to go and see a gastroenterologist (digestion doctor). He might want to do an endoscopy. I looked at my doctor and said, "Why don't you just tell me you hate me? Instead of sending me to all of these tests and doctors who order nasty tests? I can take it, tell me to my face." He laughed and said hopefully the Nexium would help but it takes a week or so for them to take effect. Cross your fingers.






Here is a finished Lily of the Valley sock. When I put it on, it's so lacey. I wasn't sure I would like it but I really do. It's an easy pattern to memorize and like monkey socks, knits up quickly. I am about a third done the second one. And I am definitely making my supervisor a pair of socks. I told her (very tongue in cheek) that my goal for next year (it's evaluation time and the hardest thing is coming up with goals)was to knit 3 pairs of socks during meetings. She said right back "Only 3? I thought you were better than that!" This woman deserves a pair of handknit socks!




We watched I am Legend (with Will Smith) on Sunday night. We made popcorn the old fashioned way in a pot on the stove. That is a Calphalon pot we bought 26 years ago and except for some marks from extreme usage, it's still perfect. The popcorn was so good. Microwave popcorn is ok if you're in a hurry and air poppers are healthier but a good heavy pot and some oil on the stove makes the best popcorn. If this was a scratch 'n sniff you could smell the wonderful aroma of fresh popcorn. Too bad the movie didn't live up to the popcorn. I hate when they wrap up all the loose ends and tie them into a neat bow.


I was knitting on the train on the way home today and a woman sat behind me and leaned over the seat to watch me knit on my plain sock. She was fascinated with the fact that it was going to be a sock. She told me she knits but only flat things like blankets. She wants to learn to knit socks. I started to just tell her to look things up online and she'd find everything she needed but she was really interested. So I gave her a specific website which has instructions for socks from cast on to bind off. And it's loaded with photos. She wrote it down and was so excited, it made me excited.
And because I like to see photos of where people knit and spend their time, here is a sunny Sunday morning shot of my living room. The windows look dirty but that's the screens. You can see Saraspunda in her corner waiting to come out and play. This is where I like to sit and watch the world go by my window. I see the high school kids go one way on the street and the elementary school kids go the other. We live between the two schools and my kids walked all 12 years (a fact they often bemoaned). I just bought the hibiscus tree and also a large royal palm that I know won't last. They always die on me but the hibiscus will do ok if the cats leave it alone. I am not sure what drew me to take a photo of the living room except it was full of sunshine and peace. The couch is a sofa bed so Em has a place to sleep if she should want to stay over.
Tomorrow is Friday and then it's a weekend. I know I shouldn't wish my days away and I should stop and enjoy each day as it comes but that's hard sometimes. Tuesdays are just not as easy to appreciate as Fridays!

15 comments:

amy said...

I'll cross my fingers you don't have to have an endoscopy. And I LOVE popcorn popped in a pan. I used to pop it all the time, until the local grocery store began having a moth problem in their popcorn aisle. I bought some, put it in the Rubbermaid container I store dry kernels in (luckily), and found a humongous larvae thing in it a week or two later. Next time I was at the store, sure enough, big ol' moths in the bags of popcorn. MUCH bigger than normal pantry moths. Ever since then, I've been buying Whole Foods' store brand pre-popped in the bag. It's really good for what it is.

You can never be too careful with moths...

Anonymous said...

having had stomach pain that i thought would kill me i finally broke down and had the dreaded endoscopy and really it's nothing. it doesn't hurt, it is fast and easy and i found that i had an ulcer which caused my pain. nexium for two years has helped and a change in my diet has done the trick and i am cured. yay! fear not the endoscopy and it will tell you what is the problem and that is a good thing! go for it!

Julie said...

Yeah, baby, REAL POPCORN!!! I thought I was the only one who still did that. I agree completely with all the points you made. Yum.

Hope they figure out what the pain is, soon. Or better yet, since there's nothing on the cat scan, I hope it mysteriously goes away to bother you no more.

Darn. Now I'm gonna go make popcorn.

Galad said...

Your living room looks so welcoming and sunny. Now I can imaging you sitting there knitting :-)

My daughter is on Nexium too and still having some stomach pain, but it is much improved. She would agree with you on how frustrating it is to go through all these tests and still not really know anything. She's in a panic about what her portion of that last hospital visit is going to be.

My dad used to make popcorn on the stove like that every Wednesday and Sunday night. You brought back a lot of happy memories. Yum.

Rose Red said...

oh yeah, real popcorn!! yum! you are so right about the smell!

Love a sunny knitting spot - perfect!

hope the drugs do the trick.

Alwen said...

I love the lily of the valley socks and hope you find a solution to the pain soon.

Your knitting spot looks so inviting, and now you've got me craving popped-on-the-stove popcorn. With butter.

teabird said...

Don't worry about the endoscopy. I've had 5 of them. You'll be sedated; you won't remember the procedure; you will not be in the least uncomfortable afterwards. If you stay on Nexium or Prevacid for awhile, the sore or ulcer will heal and you'll be fine.

The socks are gorgeous!

Dianne said...

Here's hoping the Nexium does the trick! My sister had an endoscopy last year, and she said it wasn't bad at all. She was sedated, and when they woke her up, she had no idea the procedure was already done! The worst part was that she couldn't eat solid food for three days ahead of time. Ugh!

Anonymous said...

I know how frustrating it is when you have all those tests and they can't find anything wrong (just went through this myself). I hope you don't have to have another one, and that they figure it out. Love the sock - I'll have to put this in the queue. Have a great weekend!

Olivia said...

Clear scan is great, but continued pain not so good. I hope you find out soon and get it resolved. Love your sunny living room picture. It's just heading into Saturday afternoon here and I am planning to bask in the sun as soon as it creeps a little further into this room.

Oh, as kids we used to make popcorn on the stove too! So fun and weird. I still would, if i ate popcorn, but I have gone off it.

Sheepish Annie said...

I am so sorry that haven't been able to come up with a strategy for dealing with your pain. Hopefully, the Nexium will do the trick and this can all finally go away.

Meanwhile, I think that the best remedy for what ails ya is a good movie and old fashioned popcorn. You are sooo right: it is much better coming from the pan and with the butter freshly melted!

roxie said...

Love your sunny knitting nest. Thanks for sharing. I feel as if you have invited me into your home.

The sock is lovely! Good on you!!

And best of luck with finding and curing the cause for the pain.

Amy Lane said...

What a lovely sunny spot! And you must be a 'missionary knitter'--I know the breed, I am one myself! I remember fresh popcorn...but we won't be doing popcorn for at least two more months...and then the big kids lose their braces!

julia said...

LOVE the socks!
As a fan of lily of the valley and as someone who has been knitting a plain scarf for most of her long lifetime I am deeply impressed!

Good luck with the medication

MadMad said...

Oh, there was so much good stuff here to catch up on. One: I'm glad the tests didn't show anything wrong (though I know you probably want some answers!), two: you should DEFINITELY knit her some socks, hahaha, and THREE: I LOVE this idea of photos of where we all knit. I think you should start one of those thingies; I don't know what they're called... darn. But it is a cool idea.

Happy Sunday!  I am sitting here working on my sweater made with the cashmere yarn my husband gave me for my birthday last year. I’m further...