Taxes done for another year

We finally got our taxes done today. Usually we do them over Easter at Ian's parent's but this year Easter was so early that we didn't want to do it. I don't really remember why but it was maybe our receipts and stuff weren't sorted.

Anyways, we meant to go and do our taxes but last weekend we were tired and this weekend Ian was getting over an eye infection. Therefore, we did our taxes at home today. Well, Ian did them, really. They're filed jointly so they're filled out at the same time and mine are dead simple: I have a single T4A slip with a single filled box so there's just the one entry and I'm done. Ian's got more than that to do so he filled all the stuff in. Makes sense, right?

I always owe a little bit because the disability income (which is the single form I get) doesn't withhold any taxes. In previous years, I've owed about $100 but this year I only owed $43. I've paid it and now my annual tax chore is finished.

Spring!

Spring is here! Well, mostly - the temperature is a little low for this time of year but I think it's stabilizing to near-normal values. Plants in our garden are growing, the grass is green and growing, the birds are arriving en masse at our feeders, and the ants are here.

Of all the signs of spring, it's the ants that I dislike the most. I don't mind them when they're outside in the ground but they find their way into our house via the cracking caulking around the patio doors. From there they travel through the cracks between the hardwood planks to Gozer's food, other plants, the bird food, and the rest of the kitchen. Each of the last two years we've woken up one day to find huge numbers of ants between two areas.

This year we were lucky; we have Gozer the Huntress. She loves mice but she also loves insects - including ants. Over the last couple of days I've noticed her watching the floor and licking at it. I took a closer look and saw the ants. I spread some diatomaceous earth down around the areas where they travel in the hopes that if they cross the barrier, they'll die.

Because the temperature outside has warmed up, I've been spending time outside working in the garden. One thing I've been working on with my psychologist is figuring out how to do things I like without overdoing it. So the way I've been working is to set an alarm to go off in 30 minutes. When it does go off, I take a break, relax for five or ten minutes, and get a drink of water. Then I evaluate how I'm feeling; if I feel good, I set the alarm for another 30 minutes. I've only been doing this for a couple of days but I seem to be less exhausted than I normally would after doing the work. I hope this process works because I'll need all my strength to deal with the ants.

Conference fun

I had the best time in Philly at the conference this weekend. Getting there wasn't fun because of the winter storms; my flight into Philly was cancelled and I waited on standby in Chicago for hours before I could get out. Hanging around Chicago's O'Hare airport is less fun than it sounds.

One of the worst parts about being at O'Hare is that they don't provide free wireless internet the way most other airports do. Instead, they have a contract with Boingo and each user has to pay for access. I paid the $4.95 fee for the day via Paypal and happily used the web while I was there. I was shocked and angry when Boingo withdrew another $6.95 fee the next day; I hadn't authorized them to do so and I hadn't accessed their services. Naturally I emailed them right away and while they refused to admit that they had done wrong, my $6.95 fee should be refunded some time in the nest four days. They've asked me to call them if I have any other questions but I'll continue communicating with them via email so that there's a record of what they're telling me.

Some research uncovered the fact that Boigo has screwed over many, many people by overcharging and by making unauthorized charges. Boingo are scammers and it's better to go without internet than to use their services.

Aside from those hassles, my trip was uneventful. The conference wasn't as good as it's been in the past but I was mainly there to see my friends. Saturday night instead of going out to dinner we decided to get together in an open seating area on the floor some were staying on and I enjoyed that so much more than dinner. We hung out and laughed and talked and generally had a great time. I loved it.

Leaving everyone is always bittersweet because I don't know when I"ll see them next ... or if I will see them again. The happy and joyful moments I get to spend with them won't make up for the pain of losing my friends but they make my current life so much better that I couldn't give them up.

Our cute dog and my lymphedema

Gozer has been hunting chipmunks and mice in our yard since we got her. Last year we caught her with a stiff, dead mouse in her mouth and then a floppy, newly-dead mouse. At that time we weren't sure whether a cat had killed the mice and she'd just taken them or if she'd killed them herself.

Whether she killed those mice or not, we now know for sure that Gozer hunts and kills mice. This morning I watched her follow something through the grass with her ears forward to catch all the noises. I turned away for a couple of seconds and when I turned back she was coming towards me with something in her mouth. She dropped it, picked it up, and ran towards me with it before dropping it in front of me. It was clearly freshly killed by her.

No wonder she eviscerates her plush squeaky toys, and I'm grateful that she didn't get the chance to do that to her kill today. Her new nickname is "The Huntress."

In other news, I feel awful. The physiotherapist did the lymphatic massage on me and I've been feeling awful since then: exhausted, incredibly nauseous, bad heartburn, terrible gas, and smelly evacuations. It's great that the massage did something but I could do without these side effects.

Happily, my compression sleeve and glove have arrived and I'll be picking them up tomorrow. This means that I won't need to wear the compression bandaging all the time and that is some kind of thrilling. I'd feel more thrilled if I didn't feel quite so awful. I hope I'm better tomorrow.

Oncologist appointment and more lymphedema

I saw my oncologist yesterday and she is very, very pleased with the improvements she saw in the areas affected by the lymphedema. She's so pleased, in fact, that I don't need to go back for eight weeks.

She was especially pleased with the changes in colour and texture on my affected breast: it's no longer an angry red colour, the tissue can be moved from side to side and is no longer "stuck" to the chest all, and the skin is less bumpy in texture. I guess the changes that I thought were just the morphea were actually from lymphedema caused by the morphea. The morphea made the skin much less elastic which meant that the lymph fluid couldn't move as easily. Eventually the lymph fluid just built up in the breast and backed up into the arm.

I wish I'd known more about lymphedema because then I'd have asked to see the physiotherapist early on. She could have worked on the skin and possibly prevented this whole lymphedema mess. Unfortunately, it occurred to no one that the morphea could cause lymphedema problems because morphea is rare and lymphedema is not well-understood. The lesson here is that if you've had radiation to a body part and you develop any kind of skin condition on that part, look out for lymphedema.

My oncologist is also sending me to Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto where they're doing this COMPACT (Community Oncology Molecular Profiling in Advanced Cancer Trial) clinical trial which is based on this IMPACT trial. From what I understand, they're looking for genetic mutations in specific cancer types so that they can eventually develop therapies targeted at the effects those mutations cause. The advantage to targeted therapies or treatments is that they're much less toxic to healthy cells and they're very effective.

This clinical trial doesn't require much of anything from me (just a visit to Toronto - everything else happens behind the scenes) and my participation will help in the future. I know that targeted therapies based on this trial are many years or decades away but if the information isn't collected now, those therapies will be even longer in coming. So I'll be participating.

I also asked for a referral to the dietitian on staff - my psychologist had suggested this in my last appointment - and they're setting that up.

I think that's it for yesterday's appointment. In other news, someone had asked about what my arm and hand wrapping looked like so I took a few pictures with my phone with Gozer in the background. Enjoy!

As much of my arm as I could get. The wrapping goes up to my armpit. The wrapping at the very top is a different colour because it's actually a different product with higher compression. We used leftovers to wrap my arm and since it's important to get the wrap good and snug at the top (or else it starts to slide down and that's very uncomfortable), using the higher compression wrap is ok there.

My outer forearm and hand on Gozer. The thing you see at the very top of the picture is a purple hippo squeaky that Gozer is holding in her mouth while she sleeps.

My inner forearm and hand. The creases you see are from the edges of the inner comfort layer wrapping (and sometimes from the outer layer). Both wrappings spiral up my arm from my hand and when I rotate my arm or hand the edges of the wrappings deform a bit. 

My hand. There's a bit of bulk over the fleshy part of the thumb which makes it difficult to use the hand. There's extra bulk over the wrist, too, but I needed that to have even compression around the wrist. Because my wrist is narrow it was hard to get the comfort layer tight enough (but not too tight!) around the hand, wrist, and forearm to provide much-needed compression on the wrist. There's extra comfort layer around the wrist which makes wrapping the area sooooo much easier.

My palm and hand. My fingers are coming to get you!

A long post after a long break

I'm still here! Yesterday was my birthday and I spent it in a low-key way. We were visiting Ian's parents for Easter and Ian's mom made me an angel food cake with an Italian frosting (sugar at the soft ball stage poured into egg whites beaten to soft peaks) so that I could have a cake without any saturated fat. I was touched and pleased that she went to all that trouble to make the super-delicious cake for me. Ian's mom even modified her usual hot cross bun recipe to reduce the saturated fat for us so that we could enjoy more of them.

I spent most of my birthday sitting around and being a bit lazy. I'm ok with being lazy :) I'm finding my days a bit busier what with all of the lymphedema physiotherapy appointments and exercises. The appointments take about an hour and a half out of my day twice a week and the exercises themselves take about a half hour to do, after which I'm supposed to lie down and relax for a few minutes to a half-hour - the longer the better to allow the lymph fluid to move around and settle after its been stimulated by the exercises. The relaxing time after the relaxing, slow exercises usually results in a relaxing nap that lasts until Ian calls to tell me he's coming home.

I'm still trying to get other things done but I'm also trying to not overwhelm myself. I'm getting up early (for me) most days with the appointments and metalsmithing once a week and other appointments. I feel like I'm on the edge of too busy but I haven't gone over that edge.

At least the physiotherapy and exercises seem to be helping the lymphedema. We've started wrapping my fingers as well and they're definitely slimming down; Ian even commented recently that my arm looked smaller. I don't love the bandages but I found a cream that makes my arm itch so much less under them that they're much more bearable than they were. The nurse at the clinic where I get my port flushed gave me samples of Sween 24 and it worked like magic! It absorbed really quickly into the skin and it really helped reduce the irritation and itch. I highly recommend this product.

If it sounds like my life is all lymphedema all the time... it is, kind of. I'm aware of it all the time  whether I'm wearing the bandages or not.

Gozer is very happy. The snow recently melted in our backyard and exposed the chipmunk trails from their burrows under the snow. She decided to roll around in them yesterday and got herself completely filthy so ended up with an unexpected bath yesterday. She's getting groomed tomorrow and we'd hoped to not have to clean her before that. She doesn't mind getting the eye drops nearly as much as she did at the beginning: we don't have to hold her still anymore. Yay!

I've also finally given in on the "Gozer on the bed" issue. I wanted Gozer to be able to come on the bed and nap with me when I get to a point where I sleep a lot. Ian pointed out to me that I'm nowhere near that point and it won't be at all difficult to get her to come on the bed at that point. So I'm going to work on being firmer with her and keeping her off the bed.

Part of the reason for keeping her off the bed is to show her that I'm ahead of her in our pack heirarchy. She's not all that well behaved these days, what with barking at other dogs, showing no leash respect, not always coming to us when we call her, and jumping up on all furniture, and we want to train her to be better behaved. We'd like to take her to a dog park because she likes other dogs and clearly wants to play sometimes but can't on a leash. However, because she won't come to us when we call her, we don't think we have enough control over her to take her to the park. We figure that setting me up as a pack leader over her will help to train her out of her bad behaviours and to get control over her so that she can meet other dogs at the park.

On another topic, Ian's asked me to work on putting away my fabric and he's willing to help me do it on weekends. So starting next weekend, we're going to start working on the fabric. This way, I can start looking at doing some sewing in my sewing room. I really want to be sewing (especially once I get the lymphedema compression garments and don't have to be bandaged) but to do it, I need to get some of my fabric put away. I at least need to go through the fabric I might use for a particular project before I start working on that project!

Finally, almost all of our pepper seedlings are growing! Our first batch didn't grow, probably because I didn't water them enough, but after we set up a second batch both batches sprouted. About three-quarters of the seeds from both batches have sprouted and are growing their true leaves, which is a pretty good success rate for peppers, I think. Ian transplanted the seedlings into root trainers today and we'll see how many survive that process. We really only need ten pepper plants (two of each of the five types) and we currently have, let's see, 90 divided by five is 18 of each type.

Anyways, that's about it for me. Written all out it seems like a lot, doesn't it? It's only because it's been much too long.

More lymphedema wrapping adventures

The compression wrapping and I aren't getting along very well. The first wrapping rubbed around my thumb and I felt like I was getting a blister there so I ended up putting a big thing of gauze under the wrapping to provide some padding around the thumb. After I cut off the first wrap yesterday morning I noticed that the skin along my inner forearm was red and bumpy. I think it was a heat rash since I've been known to get them.

My physiotherapist and I decided to try wrapping the arm again for the weekend even though I'd developed the rash. She put an extra layer around the thumb to provide padding so that it wouldn't get blisters. Unfortunately, my skin became unbearably itchy yesterday afternoon underneath the wrapping. It felt like there were things pricking my skin and the slightest movement registered as pain. I ended up taking Benadryl to try to calm the reaction a bit and it did work alhough it left me very sleepy. I ended up asleep for most of yesterday afternoon and evening but at least I didn't feel the itch or pain while I was asleep so that's ok, right?

Then last night I woke up in the middle of the night because the tip of my thumb on the wrapped arm was numb. I fell back asleep and woke up a few times because it was still numb. I tried to shift the wrapping a bit to relieve the pressure on whichever nerve was making my thumb numb but nothing worked - my thumb was still numb. I looked up numbness and this wrapping online and found that if the patient experiences tingling or numbness in the extremities after the wrapping, the wrapping should be removed right away and the doctor contacted.

I don't have a direct phone number for my physiotherapist and by the time I realized that the wrapping needed to come off, it was 4pm and the cancer center switch board was closed. I removed the wrapping anyways because I figured that it was the right thing to do. Now, six hours later, the tip of my thumb is still numb which is a little worrying. I hope that I can recover sensation in it before Monday. I have Raynaud's phenomenon in my hands and feet; could that have contributed to my numb thumb?

My forearm was also quite red and bumpy for a while but it seems to have settled down.

My physiotherapist did say that if this type of wrapping didn't work, we could do the kind of wrapping that they used to do. This other wrapping is changed daily and uses a different product so it might be better for me and my thumb. After this experience I'm wondering if it would be better to go a different wrapping route.

In other lymphedema treatment news, my hand and forearm were measured yesterday for a compression sleeve and glove. There has been no real change in the measurements in the one week but it's important that I have something for my travel in three weeks. The person checked and my measurements don't fit into the ready-to-wear measurements so my sleeve and glove need to be custom-made. It's going to take about two weeks for them to arrive so they'll be here in time for my trip.

Lymphedema and its treatment both suck. Wah!

One bandaged arm

My arm did get bandaged up at the physiotherapist's appointment yesterday. The wrapping stuff are new products by 3M that have only been around for about two years. The arm is wrapped twice: first with a foam comfort layer that's backed by that stretchy bandage that sticks to itself and then with a second layer of the stretchy bandage that sticks to itself.

The bandage is fairly comfortable except around my thumb. The edges of the bandages were cutting into the meat of my thumb. I trimmed the bandage a bit and now the bandages are cutting into the webbing between the thumb and first finger. I've been experimenting with gauze to pad the area a bit but it really hurts and I'm worried about getting a blister there. The point is to get rid of the lymph through my arm, not through a blister.

I'm also having some trouble bathing with this bandage. It's not supposed to get wet so I bought one of those waterproof cast protectors. The first time I used it I didn't do it properly so the bandage got wet. The second time I did use it properly but because I was sweating in the silicone, waterproof bag, the bandage got wet.

Wah! I like my baths but the baths don't work with the bandages.

Fortunately, the bandaging won't be forever. I take these bandages off (by which I mean I cut them off) on Thursday morning before the next appointment. The physiotherapist will do the massage on me and before I leave, another specialist will come and measure my arm so that I can be fitted for a compression sleeve. After that, my arm will be re-bandaged for the weekend. I spoke with the other specialist and she said that a sleeve will take up to three weeks to arrive.

The important thing is that I will have a compression sleeve before I leave for Philadelphia on April 12. I checked and the only way to get there in any reasonable time is to fly so that's what we're preparing my arm to do. Apparently if you're wearing bandages, security makes you cut them off because you might be hiding something there so I must have a compression sleeve.

Anyways, if the compression sleeve arrives within three weeks, I only have to be bandaged for that long. I think I can live with that (although don't be surprised if I whine about it).

More on the lymphatic massage

I think I remember now that the physiotherapist asked me to wear loose clothes this coming Monday because she's going to try bandaging my arm after giving me the lymphatic massage. In that case, it would only stay on until Thursday. Either way, I'll wear a top (or combination of tops - I usually wear a t-shirt and sweater combination) with loose-fitting sleeves.

The physiotherapist told me that the fluid under the skin contains cellular waste products and that the lymphatic massage will help those waste products to be filtered out and cleared from the body. It's important to drink lots of water to help this stuff be processed. I did some research and it seems that some people get lymphatic massages to clear the body of toxins (although they really mean cellular waste products and not external toxins).

Anyways, these waste products and the extra fluid end up being filtered through the kidneys and liver. Therefore, my physiotherapist warned me that I might feel a bit nauseous or off my food and that there might be an increase in sweat, urine, or bowel movements. She also warned me that the cellular waste products can change the smell of those secretions and excretions.

She was right on all counts - everything she described, I felt or experienced. I also felt that pain in my right side that I keep thinking is my liver but is most likely my bowel which I figure was also related to the side effects of the lymphatic massage. All of these things together tell me that the lymphatic massage definitely had some effect.

I'm feeling a bit better this evening even though I'm still off my food. I'll eat food but I won't seek it out and I'm not getting exciting about it. Maybe that's a good thing?

I've been doing the exercises that I've been given and so far I've only had problems with one of them. In that one, I lie flat on my back, raise my bent knee, grasp my shin, and bounce the knee back towards my chest using only my hips and not my back. The ball of my femur is too big for the hip socket which greatly reduces my flexibility and this exercise strains the limits of what little flexibility I have. I'll talk to my physiotherapist on Monday about changing that exercise to account for my hips.

Lymphedema physiotherapist appointment

I saw the physiotherapist today. She measured my arms every 20cm up the arm starting 40cm from the tip of my longest finger to see whether and how much lymphedema was there: anything more than 2cm on the arm is considered a significant amount. Also, the dominant hand and arm are generally larger than the non-dominant side. I think when I had it before there was only about 1cm of swelling.

I'm right-handed and the left hand and arm have the lymphedema. My lower forearm, upper forearm, ower bicep, and upper bicep are 1.5cm, 2.0cm, and 1.5cm, and 1.0cm larger than the right side. My left hand is 0.5cm larger than the right hand which is significant for it being a non-dominant hand. So I have lymphedema and it's a significant amount.

She explained that between the muscle or fat and skin is a space that fills with fluid via the arteries and capillaries due to the pumping of the heart. There are lymphatic vessels in that space that collect that fluid, after which it's sent back through lymph nodes to filter out waste products. The whole system is divided into four quadrants: right and left sides of the body and above and below the waist.

In my case, the fluid is blocked in most of the upper left quadrant due to a combination of factors. There are the lymph nodes that were taken out in my underarm when I had the primary cancer, and then the are the mediastinal lymph nodes that were taken out when we found out I had sarcoidosis, and then there's the area that was irradiated as part of my primary treatment, and then there's the morphea which has tightened the skin. All of that together means that the lymph channels are damaged or blocked and the skin is also damaged and tight so the fluid doesn't move.

Because that whole quadrant is blocked, normally we'd just move the fluid over to the other side. However, the missing mediastinal nodes make that difficult as there aren't as many channels available. So instead we have to move the fluid to the lower left quadrant which is a bit more difficult.

She did some lymphatic massage on me which basically pushes the fluid under the skin around and it definitely felt better afterwards. This kind of massage is very different from muscle massage; she described it as standing in a pool and making ripples that go to the other end of the pool. It's very slow and steady and relaxing. She's given me exercises to do at home that are supposed to stimulate the lymph system and fluid flow that are also supposed to be done in a slow, smooth, relaxing way.

I'll be seeing her on Monday and Thursday and during those visits we're going to continue with lymphatic massage while I do the exercises at home. She wants to see how things go this way - apparently it's important to not to try to force the fluid to move too fast or it can bound back. Then on the following Monday I think she's going to try to bandage up the arm with the foam bandage stuff and that stretchy bandage stuff that sticks to itself. It'll stay on for four days.

She said that the sleeve and gauntlet that I had before definitely wouldn't work since things were so different and that I will be needing a new set. She wants to wait to see how things are doing before we order the garments to make sure that I get the right kind with the right kind of compression in the right places. When I do get the garments, apparently provincial insurance will cover 75% of the cost if I have a thing that says that I need to wear it every day for six months. She'll give me the thing that says that because it'll be true.

We also talked about my upcoming trip to Philadelphia April 13 and 14. She said that I'll definitely need to wear compression garments when I fly from now on. However, she's not sure that it'll be time to order the compression garments before I go. She might be able to bandage the arm because it gets left there for four days and that's long enough for the trip. Another option could be for me to take the train there.

So... that's it, I think.

Optometrist's appointment

I got my pupils dilated today at the optometrist's office, just like Gozer did when she saw the eye doctor. And just like Gozer, I have a small cataract in my right eye. We're like twins!

Seriously, I have a small cataract in my right eye. My optometrist had thought I had Mittendorf's spot in my left eye but the spot that just appeared in the right eye can't be the same thing (since it's a genetic malformation) so now she's thinking that the spot in the left eye is also a small cataract.

The spots aren't affecting my vision at this point so I can pretend they're not there. My ego is taking a bit of a blow because cataracts like this are a normal part of aging and are a sign that I'm getting older. I don't mind living more years if I didn't actually have to age.

Someday, if the cataracts get bad enough, the lenses can be taken out and replaced with artificial lenses.... which could also give me near-perfect vision. I don't want cataracts and I certainly don't want my vision to dim, but the possibility of having really good vision sets my heart a-fluttering with longing. Wouldn't it be awesome if I lived long enough to be able to see without thick lenses?

Appointment and the house

I received a call from the cancer center today with my appointment with the lymphedema physiotherapist. The appointment is scheduled for this Thursday at 11am. I'm thrilled that they got me in so quickly as my oncologist wasn't sure that they booked took urgent appointments.

Unfortunately, the hour-long physio appointment conflicts with my metalsmithing class. I'll still be able to go to class but I already had to leave early so I'll only be there for an hour or so. Of course I don't know whether I'll be up for doing any actual metalsmithing after the appointment so it's just as well I won't be there that long.

I need to leave early because Thursday afternoon is the only day that my cleaning person can come. I have a harder time than usual doing things around the house what with the lymphedema and she hasn't been here for five weeks so I'm willing to sacrifice some metalsmithing time for her to come. Of course it's March break so she'll have her two boys with her but I'm willing to put up with that just to get the house cleaned.

Five weeks ago she cancelled her appointment with me because her dad had just been admitted to hospital with pneumonia for the third time in four months. I understand how heartbreaking that can be so I asked her to let me know how things were going and that we'd reschedule when things settled down.

I heard nothing from her until just over three weeks ago, when she said she needed to cancel our appointment because she needed to see her dad. He'd been released from hospital but she wanted to visit him. The only time she offered to reschedule was on the weekend which didn't work for Ian at all - he's been busy travelling and with work and he wants to relax on the weekends.

At first the only other option she gave me was our next appointment which would mean that our house wouldn't be cleaned for six weeks and that's just not going to work. Therefore, I'm sacrificing my privacy and my time to get the house cleaned.

I am, however, starting to look for another cleaner. My cleaner is a nice person but I need someone a little more reliable. If you know of a good, reliable cleaner in my area, please let me know.

Oncologist appointment

I saw my oncologist this past Friday. The best news is that my tumour markers are still holding steady at a nice, low 34. Yay!

However, my oncologist was quite concerned about the lymphedema I've got. It's still in my left hand and arm and it hurts when I try to do certain things like put my hand flat on a hard surface and straighten my arm, or bring my hand to be perpendicular to my arm, or if something puts pressure on a part of my forearm.

Then on Wednesday I freaked out a bit because my underarm felt strange. If I raise my bent arm to shoulder level, the skin just at the front of the skin is all dimply. If I raise my hand above my head and straighten my arm as much as I can, there are three ropey things in my underarm.

My oncologist looked at all this and told me that my breast (this is the one with morphea) is full of lymph fluid, as is my side, and those ropey things are lymph vessels that are showing up because there's so much fluid in the whole area (this phenomenon is known as "cording"). Of great concern to her is the fact that my morphea breast is pinker than usual; apparently when fluid builds up and sits there like this, a cellulitis infection can show up and it starts with pink skin. I'm to watch for pain in the area and/or a fever and they show up, I'm to head to the emergency department immediately.

Apparently the cancer center has a physiotherapist who specializes in lymphedema and my oncologist is referring me to this person. She's hoping to get me in urgently because of the cording and swelling everywhere. She also wants to see me in four weeks instead of our usual three months because if we can't get the fluid moving we need to scan to figure out what's causing the blockage.

Hopefully I can get in to see the physiotherapist and we can get the fluid moving so that I can use my arm and hand again.

2013 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Red Carpet

The Academy Awards ceremony isn't the end of Oscar night - there are many parties that go on before, during, and after the ceremony. The two biggest parties are the Vanity Fair and the Elton John parties. Many of the celebrities who walked the Oscar red carpet attend one or both of these parties and change their outfits to attend. You know what that means - more outfits to evaluate!

Of the two, I think the Vanity Fair party is bigger and more interesting so I've chosen to evaluate the outfits worn on its "red" carpet.

I've gone through these outfits quite quickly and haven't written nearly as much as I had written for the recent red carpet posts. I've also taken a rather irreverent approach that I hope you'll like. Shall we take a look?

2013 Academy Awards Red Carpet

And here it is - finally! My red carpet post from the Academy Awards. I probably could have finished this sooner if I'd worked on it harder but after being so busy over the last couple of weeks I wanted to take it as easy as possible this week.

There are quite a few interesting dresses on this red carpet which should be no surprise because not everyone knows how to dress to flatter their figure or colouring. I know there are stylists to help but not everyone uses a stylist and not ever stylist knows what they're doing.

There wasn't that much black on this red carpet which was a welcome change. White and nude are still popular colours and there were also varying shades of blue and a few reds which I really liked. There was a lot of beaded and sequin fabrics and embellishments which of course I love :)

Anyways, enough of me blathering on. Let's look at the dresses!

A couple of things

It's Oscar night! I'm watching the red carpet show and there are lots and lots of sparkly dresses. There are some non-sparkly dresses, too, of course, but embellishments are really trendy right now. I'm really looking forward to doing the red carpet post this week. I'd like to think I can get it done in a couple of days but let's be realistic - it'll take most of, if not the entire, week.

Today we planted our pepper seeds. We've bought pepper plants and planted them for the last two years but this year we decided to grow our peppers from seed for the very first time. We planted five kinds of seeds (three hot pepper and two sweet pepper varieties) in moist soil and they're sitting in their covered trays on the heating mat under a 24-hour light. Apparently peppers are tropical plants and so need the extra heat to germinate - at least that's the theory. We'll see if it pans out.

If for some reason this batch doesn't work out there will still time to grow a second batch. Our growing season is extended a bit with the greenhouse. We may do a second growing just for fun just because we can.

Tomorrow is the last day I have to get up early to drive Ian to work for a few days. I'm looking forward to sleeping in on Tuesday; I was up early this weekend to walk and feed Gozer. Not having to do anything Tuesday morning is very exciting.

Almost overdoing it

These last few weeks have been exhausting for me. I've had something that I've had to do just about every day and I haven't had the kind of downtime that I've become accustomed to having. Because most of my activities have needed the car, I've been driving Ian to work and then picking him up afterwards. 

That's not so bad, really, except that to drive Ian to work I get up when he and Gozer get back from their walk and then I don't have time to make coffee or anything before we have to go. I feel rushed then and then I get home and rush to have breakfast and get ready to do whatever I need to do that day. Lather and repeat the next day.

I know that most people do more than that every single day but I haven't been doing that much so I'm finding it exhausting. This morning I got up earlier and had breakfast and coffee before Ian got back from the walk and it was much better for me. I was able to putter around making breakfast and to relax before my day really started. I didn't know I needed that time but clearly I do.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I have to take care of Gozer because Ian's curling all day but other than that I'm going to be relaxing in front of the tv with Gozer. She's missed me being able to sit with her, too - she keeps grabbing her squeakies (including Snakey, her newest squeaky that she loves more than any squeaky she's ever had) and running downstairs to wait for me. We're both going to enjoy tomorrow.

All about Gozer

Gozer saw the veterinary ophthalmologist on Friday because the vet had spotted a cataract in her right eye a couple of months ago that has visibly grown since its first discovery. I've held off posting the results because I had trouble understanding the information. I'm not used to all of these technical terms, you see, so it took a while for me to do the research. Well, I was also working on the red carpet post.

Ok, that's it for anatomy! We weren't sure what to expect but it turns out that they do the same exams on dogs as they do on people, just with slightly different equipment. It would be hard to get a dog to put its chin on the chin rest, lean forward, and stay still, after all! The ophthalmologist uses hand-held versions of the people version and holds the dog's face still using the other hand.

One test that's different is that they check tear production by sticking a test paper under her lid. Apparently some people do get to have this particular test but it's not one that's done unless there are problems. Gozer's corneas were also dyed to check for damage to them and her pupils were dilated to see what's going on.

Her tear production is apparently normal and her corneas showed no damage at all. She definitely does have a cataract in her right eye located "medial equatorial and cortical (mainly posterior, though anterior also involved)" which I think means that it's in the cortex of the lens around about the middle mostly towards the back of the lens and spreading to the front. Since the cortex is composed of new-ish lens fibres, a cataract there means that it's new-ish and hasn't been there forever.

She has other issues with her right eye; in particular she has a "posterior synechiae at 3 o'clock and associated with a small hole in the iris at this point." The posterior synechiae is where the back (posterior) of the iris is stuck or adhered (synechiae) to the front of the lens capsule or membrane surrounding the lens. The ophthalmologist thinks that she had some kind of trauma to her eye when she was younger that caused the hole in the iris and the adhesion, and that these in turn somehow caused the cataract to form. I'm not exactly sure how that's possible but he's the doctor so he must know what he's talking about.

We've been given Ketorolac (0.5%) drops to put into her right eye twice a day forever to try to keep prevent the cataract from getting larger. Apparently as the cataract progresses it can leak lens fibers and that's bad. The ophthalmologist wants to see her in three months to see how she's doing. He didn't talk about surgery this time around.


I don't know if it helps, but here are diagrams of the canine eye and lens to help you visualize what's going on. Don't let the human-looking eye in this diagram fool you - this is definitely a canine eye:

And here's a picture of the structure of the lens itself. It's in the same orientation as in the diagram of the eye above. Notice that the curvature of the lens is different on each side - I didn't know that was the case, but apparently it is. It's amazing what a person can learn with a bit of research, huh?

The posterior (P) of the lens is the back of the lens facing the retina, the anterior (A) is the front of the lens against the iris, the equator (E) is the widest point from top to bottom of the lens, and the capsule contains the lens itself. The lens is made up of fibres that are constantly being replenished; as new ones are formed in the subcapsular cortex (SC), the older ones are compressed into the cortex (C) and the very oldest ones are compressed into the nucleus (N).

We also took a picture of Gozer's right eye:

The green is the reflection of the pupil through the dilated pupil and the brown ring is her iris. The extra bump on the iris towards the bottom of the picture (her inner eye) and the little brown streaks coming from that are the adhesions or synechaie, I think. I think the white are between her pupil and that extra bump in the iris might be the cataract but I'm not sure. I'm not exactly sure where the hole in the iris is located.

In other Gozer news, before this appointment the vet did a blood and urine work-up. Since we don't know anything about Gozer's history we elected to do the geriatric blood panel because it gives more information. Overall, everything is ok. However, there are two results that are concerning.

First, they found triple phosphate crystals (also known as struvite crystals or magnesium ammonium phosphate crystals) in her urine. It's possible that she has a few bladder stones but since she's not having any problems urinating we're just going to keep an eye on her. 

Second and more concerning is that her thyroid levels were low. I'm actually not surprised about this since starting early last summer she started having problems going on long walks to the point of having to stop and rest after about 40 minutes and walking very, very slowly after that. She also starts panting after going up the stairs - she really doesn't have much stamina. And then there's the little matter of the weight she's gained that she hasn't been able to lose. She's lost and gained the same 0.3kg several times over the last few months. All these signs point to low thyroid levels, or hypothyroidism.

We could have done a more comprehensive thyroid panel right away but since we had planned to waist for three months to re-do the main thyroid test, I decided that it would be better just to wait and see what happens. If her thyroid levels are still low (and I expect they will be), then we'll do the more comprehensive panel. Even if she does have hypothyroidism, she's managing just fine right now.

So I think that's it for now - our little Fluffybutt has a cataract and some possible health issues. I wish she was perfectly healthy but how many dogs out there are perfectly healthy? Besides, it's good to catch these sorts of things earlier, when there might be something we can do about it, then wait until the issues were affecting her and any treatment is drastic.

2013 Grammy Awards Red Carpet

I know it's taken a while, but I think it's been worth the wait: here's the red carpet post for the recent Grammy awards!

One of the most interesting things about this red carpet is that CBS (the network that televises the show) sent out an email describing a dress code for the event, apparently in response to lawsuits about indecency on television. People were asked to :

Please be sure that buttocks and female breasts are adequately covered. Thong type costumes are problematic. Please avoid exposing bare fleshy under curves of the buttocks and buttock crack. Bare sides or under curvature of the breasts is also problematic. Please avoid sheer see-through clothing that could  possibly expose female breast nipples. Please be sure the genital region is adequately covered so that there is no visible “puffy” bare skin exposure.

I don't know how I feel about the dress code. I think it's ridiculous that many women feel they need to show off their bodies. On the other hand, I think if a woman is comfortable in her own skin, why shouldn't she dress in a way she likes? Then I think that I don't much like censorship in any form... but at the same time, I don't necessarily want to see everything a person has to offer.

Interestingly, it seems that no one was sent home to change even if they wore something that violated the rules. What's the point of a dress code that isn't enforced? That makes no sense to me.

Anyways, let's get on with the show. Happy reading!

The dryer saga continues

In last Saturday's episode of The Dryer Adventures, we were left with a rescheduled delivery date because the dryer hadn't been received at the distribution center. After we spoke with the distribution center and rescheduled the delivery for yesterday, we received the automated call from the delivery people indicating that they were on their way. Confused, since they weren't supposed to be delivering anything, we called the delivery number but they had no explanation for the call.

It turns out that the delivery people thought they still needed to pick up the dented dryer and they showed up to do that. Of course we sent them away because we don't want to be without a dryer.

Fast forward to yesterday, when we expected the delivery to arrive between noon and 5pm. I'd called the night before to confirm that they were not only delivering the dryer but also picking up the dented dryer because at this point I believe that could happen. Imagine our surprise when we received a call from our salesperson at about 9:30am to tell us that his manager informed him (on his day off) that the dryer hadn't been received at the distribution center.

Honestly, I thought that he and his manager had received the note from last week and didn't really believe that the dryer wasn't there again. I figured that the dryer would still arrive in the afternoon because how could it not have been received again? We had to take Gozer to the ophthalmologist that morning (more about that in tomorrow's post) and I left early so that I could be home by noon in case the dryer really was going to be delivered.

As it happened, I could have stayed at the appointment because the dryer really didn't arrive. At least no one came to try to take our dented dryer away! The department manager called yesterday afternoon to tell me that she is investigating the location of our dryer. She'd hoped to hear something yesterday but didn't think she would and she's off for the long weekend so she's going to call me back on Tuesday with the information. We have tentatively scheduled the dryer to be delivered this coming Friday between noon and 5pm and we'll reschedule it if necessary.

We'll see what happens. We'll have a new and undented dryer someday, I'm sure of it.

In other news, I'm working on the Grammys red carpet post and I expect to have it up tomorrow. I know, I'm slow, but you don't mind waiting, do you?