Jenny Basset

Once upon a time, we loved a little brown dog that we named Jenny Rose.    My daughter and I bought her from a breeder on the side of the road in NW Austin.    These days, that's illegal.  However, we got to meet Jenny's mom and siblings as well the breeders.   Normally, I would not do that, but.... there was something about that little brown puppy with the white spot above her tail that called our names.    So we brought her home in July of 2000.

Jenny was a mess (in a good way) from the get go.   Congo loved her - amazing since he was a curmudgeon on his best days.    He taught her how to hunt birds like a cat would, so we frequently saw them tag-teaming a dove.    They would snuggle up together on the bedding outside our back door.   They were inseparable.

Jenny was a bed hog.    We slept with her, and she would crowd us out by stretching and groaning with delight at lounging on a king sized bed.  She liked to be covered up.   She liked to put her head on the pillow.   She loved it when you would curl up with your arms around her.   She was a four-legged kid.  Spoiled?   Yeah, she was, but then else why do you have a pet?  (p.s.  That's Remmy-basset in the foreground.)

She also loved little children.    Jenny wasn't always the biggest fan of being walked, but if she spotted a little one, her ears and gait picked up.   She'd trot, with the white tip on her tail waving, towards the child.   Once they started to pet her, she'd roll over to expose her belly to them.   She loved having them fawn and crawl all over her.    We'd often have to start dragging her, still tethered by her leash and laying on the ground, away so we could finish our walk.   What a goob!   I wish our grandson could've met her because she would have been absolutely bonkers about him.

She was, most of all, a glutton.   This frequently got her into trouble.   She loved to eat the pecans that fall in our back yard.   One October, she swallowed one whole.   It lodged in her duodenum and had to be surgically removed.   I still have the pecan in a sealed specimen cup, a $1200 testament to her piggy ways.   Not a week after she had her plastic collar and stitches removed from that episode, we found the half cracked remains of several pecans in her bedding.   Bad Dog!!   ;-)    She got to spend multiple nights at the emergency animal clinic because of gastric issues until the vet told us that if we suspected she'd ingested something putrid, feed her a Pepcid.    It worked!    Ka-Ching!

I could go on and on because that's what loving a pet is all about.  

Remembering.

It's been a year now that we took her to the vet for the final time.    Her end was close but it was so hard to acknowledge it, even with the vet's help.   In her usual Jenny way, she put her head on my lap and looked at me with those big brown and soulful basset eyes.  It's OK to say goodbye.   She selected New Years Day 2012. 

5-3-2000 to 1-1-2012.    Nice symmetry.  

Love.  The best "Little Brown Dog" ever.

Congo and Christmas

To say that this has been an interesting year is an understatement.   We started it off by having to put our beloved Jenny-basset down on New Years Day after a lengthy battle with a mammary sarcoma (another post on another day).  My mother-in-law was diagnosed with and had surgery for breast cancer about three weeks later.   Fortunately, she recovered nicely, and is in good health now.   And, of course there have been our daughter's health travails (well documented here).  Blessings include, among others things, the birth of our first grandchild.

Then there was Congo.   

This will be the first Christmas in 18 years that we have not had Congo kitty helping us celebrate the holidays.   He was a holiday fanatic.    As a kitten, he would climb high into the tree and lay in the branches.  Made no difference to him if the tree was real or fake.   It was put in the corner for him to roost in.   He loved to wander amongst the gifts, laying on and in them, hiding behind them, and eating the bows and ribbons.   Low hanging ornaments were to be batted at, removed from the tree, and swatted across the floor.   The tree skirt was for laying on in a shaft of sunlight.  I'm not a fan of all the hoopla and disruption, but he looked forward to it every year.   I think he enjoyed me admonishing him like one of the children to "be nice to the tree".

 
Strangest of all was Congo's obsession with a homemade Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.   My mom was a second grade teacher, and one year as part of a school fund raiser, the High School Shop boys made Rudolphs to sell.  She bought me one, and I began setting it out every year when the kids were little.   My oldest is almost 31 years old now, so suffice to say, Rudy has some miles on him.   He's a rustic piece of my family's "holiday heritage".   Assembled from a landscaping timber, wooden dowel legs,  plastic eyes, and do-it-yourself antlers made of twigs culled from the yard, he is also wired to accept a single, red light for his nose.   

Congo LOVED his nose.   He would sit there staring at it.  He lovingly head butted it, occassionally leaving a strand or three of his lush gray fur hung on Rudy's face.  He and Rudy had some mystical kinship.   Oddest of all, Congo would gnaw on that blinking red nose.   Did not matter if Rudy was plugged in or not -- teeth marks and flaking red paint everywhere.   When we caught him doing it, we'd scold him.  But the evidence of his crime was always there in the form of Rudy's red nose minus chips of paint.   We've replaced many a bulb nose over the years and every single one of them had his teeth marks on them.

Congo died of old age this March just a few days shy of his 17th birthday.    Part of his passing was due to his antiquity, but I also think another was grief at Jenny's passing two and a half month's earlier.   When she began to fail, so did he.   He was a strange cat who loved a basset hound and the holidays.

As I began to dig out and assemble the holidays decorations this season, I knew that I'd have to also un-box Rudy in all his not-so-red-nosed glory.   I told my husband I didn't want to set him up, but he encouraged me to anyway.    So, I went out in the yard to find him a new set of antlers.   Then I set him up and plugged him in.   The bulb still works, and if it goes out this year, I will save its mangled remains as a memento.

So, here's to you, Congo.   I'd give just about anything to be scolding you not to gnaw all the paint off Rudy's "red" nose.   He misses you - and so do we.

Fuck the NRA

...and, NO, I don't believe those assholes get a political pass on "Massacre Day"...

Because ...

...every 10 month old needs a dorky holiday cap crocheted by his loving Granny ...   ;-)

Oink, Oink

I always get amused at Republicans mouthpieces grousing about the Dems being moochers.   Case in point, John H. Sununu, King of the Racist Old Farts, who claims that Obama won the election by promising his base more "free stuff".    Let's see here:  former Governor Sununu was the White House Chief of Staff under Shrub the Elder for two years, but resigned in disgrace over financial improprieties.  He was also Governor of New Hampshire for six years, and spend two years in the New Hampshire State House.   According to my reckoning, that means he was on the public teat for 10 years.  I'm going to assume that he gets a government pension of some sort as a retired public sector worker (oh, the irony!!).   In other words, he's one of those 47% takers he loves to loudly and openly sneer about to anyone wanting to celebrate the holidays with an earache.     

What a pig!

Latest on the ITP Front....

Well, we were hoping that the N-plate injections would help our daughter.   And, maybe they will but on top of everything else, she's been battling a sinus infection.   For most folks, that would be a day or two of feeling under the weather with a steady but dependable recovery.   Last time she had a bad one, she was at the ER, then in the hospital for 4 days.   Her ulcerative colitis was also flaring at the time so it was a perfect shit-storm (pun intended) for her.   

On the ITP front, her platelet count dropped from 74K to 58K (no injection).   The following week it was 29K so she received the N-plate.    We were hoping that would help her for at least another week or so, but she was at 22K last week so she got the N-plate for a second straight week.   Of course, her sinus infection popped up during that interval so perhaps her body was fighting the "crud" and her platelets are low due to that.   Or not....who knows.   

Her arthritis has also been acting up so not sure if she is on the cusp of another ulcerative colitis flare.   Hope not.   In the meanwhile, the grandkid has had an ear infection - both ears.   We don't do nuthin' halfway in this fam-UH-lee, let me tell ya!!!   ;-)

CCFA

Wow, can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted.    This is Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week.   For more information, please see their site at: http://www.ccfa.org/

74K

Some good news....   Our daughter opted to do N-plate and see how that works for her.  She had her first injection on November 1.   Her platelet count that morning was 26K.    She went in yesterday for blood draw and injection #2.   Her count was 74K, so, NO injection this week.   Fingers crossed this will help her, but it was fantastic to walk out of there with her "poke free".  

Yahooo!!!!  

Yes!

Four More Years!!!

Whew!   HUGE relief at my home.    Thank goodness!!!

Image:  Obama Campaign

It's Election Day

....so be sure to go vote!!

Image:   Feministcampus.org

A Gentle Reminder ....

...that fire fighters, police officers, the Coast Guard, and other emergency personnel that we all rely on in times of disaster are PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS.  

Photo:    Adam Hunger / Reuters

The Latest on the ITP Front

The hematologist has been monitoring our daughter's platelet counts.   Last Tuesday, it had dropped from 44K to 29K.   So, he saw her last Friday afternoon where her count was 39K.   Higher than Tuesday and (probably) due to her Remicade treatment on Thursday.    But, of course, way under what it should be.   They had a hard time getting her to stop bleeding when they removed the Remicade IV so that was not fun for her.    He told her that he initially had three potential plans to deal with her if the IV-Ig did not work. He has had to rule out one of those (Rituxan) since her platelet count tumbled so far and so fast a week after the IV-Ig. Those options are a weekly injection of N-plate or removing her spleen. N-plate is a drug that encourages her bone marrow to produce platelets. Side effects are negligible. She'd have to have weekly blood draws and if her count was under 50K, she gets the injection. If over, then wait a week, do a blood draw, and go from there. Goal would be to keep her at or above 50K. He said some patients do this for years and for some, it loses it's effectiveness. As for a splenectomy - I guess it's generally a laproscopic surgery these days. They would give her a massive IV-Ig treatment the day before the surgery to get her platelet count up to a normal range, then do the deed. If it's not "open surgery"; i.e., they get the laproscope in and all looks well, then hospital stay would be about two, maybe three, days. If it is open surgery, then 5-7 days. And, naturally, she would have some restrictions on heavy lifting, etc., etc. The usual surgical post-op stuff. Down side to removing her spleen is that she would need a yearly flu shot (which she gets now for the ulcerative colitis), pneumonia shot, and she would be more susceptible to meningitis.  And, she would have to be very careful if she suspected she might be getting sick since  she would have lowered resistance to all the "crud" that is floating around. 

 

So, her call now on what she wants to do. For the first time ever, after leaving a clinic, she broke down crying and "had a moment". She told me she is bone tired of all the doctor visits, being stuck with needles and IV's, worrying about herself, missing work, being a burden on everyone, etc.   She has scheduled an N-plate for this week but is seriously considering the splenectomy.   

 

I'm not sure I know which decision I hope she makes.   I guess splenectomy would be the court of last resort unless she could get the N-plate to work long term.   I can appreciate (well, actually, no, I can't) not wanting to be a human pin cushion with non-stop visits to the hematologist for blood draws and injections.  But major surgery....Eeek.

 

She has a really big decision to make.    Wish this was happening to me instead of her....  

 

 

    

Well, Foo.....

We were optimistic that the IV-Ig treatments our daughter had earlier this month would kick start her platelet system into working like it should.   She had some unpleasant side effects from the treatment that included a migraine and some shakiness, but she recovered reasonably quickly from those.    At her blood test about four days after the infusions, her platelet count 283K (normal is 150K to 400K).    Yesterday, it had plummeted to 44K.   That's a drop of 240K in just one week.

Well FOO, indeed.  (I actually uttered another F-bomb but that's not gonna get printed here!)

Plan is to monitor her weekly for three more weeks, then go from there.   Her hematologist assures her that he does have a Plan C, D, E.....    But, what that is, dunno.

Oh My Goodness

Paul Ryan is often referred to as "the smart guy" in the Republican Party.   I wonder if that makes Vladimir laugh....

 

GEEESH!!!!

A Smackdown of Mitt-ville

Karoli over at Crooks and Liars goes after Mitt and healthcare.    Just read it.     This is probably my favorite outtake:

There is no greater inhibitor to the entrepreneurial spirit than a pre-existing condition, and nothing guaranteed to stop prosperity from knocking on one's door faster than a chronic health condition. That's a fact.

Photo credit:   Library of Congress

Campo Viejo Rioja 2010

Since I haven't posted any Vino items recently, thought I'd do that now.    We enjoyed this yesterday, first as a sipper, then with our meal.   It's a Spanish tempranillo.   Typically rustic (I call it peasant) but always enjoyable.   At 13.5% alcohol, it's not overly dramatic, either.    It's really pleasant with just about anything, so we drank it with chicken, veggie, and sausage gumbo and a crusty baguette.

Glasses up!!

IV - Ig

Been a rather hectic last few days.   Our daughter went to her hematologist for a routine checkup for her ITP last Wednesday, October 3 (which, coincidentally, was my mother's 82nd birthday).   She has routine blood draws for her ulcerative colitis, and the platelet counts have been hovering in the 50K range.   That's good for her (normal is 150K - 400K).    She visited with her doctor, then stopped by the lab for the usual "keg tapping" before heading out.    She was almost home when the nurse from the doctor's office called and asked if she was still in the building.   When she said no, the nurse said she was going to put the doctor on the phone.  She pulled over into a parking lot and took the call.   Her platelet count was 7K.   Yes, seven thousand.  

GULP!   That is bad.  Scary bad.  

"You crazy patient, you!   I had this plan all figured out, and you went and screwed it up!", is what the hematologist (semi-)jokingly told her.   The doctor told her he was fitting her into the schedule so she could receive IV-Ig infusions, pronto.   It's usually a 3-day process, 4-5 hours per day, but since he couldn't get her into the rotation until the next day (Thursday), he sort of doubled up on the treatment (2 days, 8 hours each).   So, she scrambled to rearrange her work schedule so she could spend two full days at the chemo center receiving the treatments.   IV-Ig is an intravenous immuno-globulin infusion that, we hope, will kick start her body into producing platelets like it should.  It's a massive dose of them along with a plasma protein recovery medication.  She spent about 16 hours over two days sitting in a chair with an IV drip, drip, dripping.   She also got bags of saline, steroids, benadryl both days.  The doctor was honest that there is about a 50-50 chance this therapy will be effective.  But, baseball players batting .500 make the All-Star Team so digits crossed that the Platelet Goddesses will smile on her.   She has an appointment tomorrow for a blood count.   Guess we will find out then if this worked.

If not, Plan C.   Her hematologist says he has one, along with Plans D, E, F....

Stay tuned!

Expedia Ad - Awesome!

Here's to peace, LOVE, and understanding......

http://gay.americablog.com/2012/10/stunning-expedia-ad-about-marriage-equality.html

What a mother f*cker!

It makes me physically ill to listen to Mitt Romney.   This is from the 60 Minutes interview last night.  I really don't even know what to say.    I'm so mad right now, I wish I could strangle him.   GO.  TO.  HELL !!!!

All my instincts, they return and the grand facade, so soon will burn

..and Charles Pierce nails Romney, as usual.....

Photo:  Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

P.S.   My seven month old grandson can also make that "stinky monster" face.  Cute on him.  Windsock Willard?  Not so much.

L'Shanah Tova, Y'all!!

Happy 5773 to one and all....

Image:   The Huntingtonian

Cue the Exploding Heads

Sometimes, I wonder if these nimrods can even walk, much less chew gum, too.   Pretty pathetic.   And, what is it with Republicans and rape?

From Wonkette:

My story of my battle with Ulcerative Colitis

This is VERY moving.   My daughter has severe ulcerative colitis.  Thankfully, no surgery for her.  But, we've experienced just about everything else in this video.    Thank You, Drew Carr, for posting this.  

GOP Torino

Found this link from Political Carnival over at Dependable Renegade's site.   It's masterful!!!

The Bain of Mitt's Existence

Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone is at it again with another smackdown of Windsock Willard:

    Four years ago, the Mitt Romneys of the world nearly destroyed the global economy with their greed, shortsightedness and – most notably – wildly irresponsible use of debt in pursuit of personal profit. The sight was so disgusting that people everywhere were ready to drop an H-bomb on Lower Manhattan and bayonet the survivors. But today that same insane greed ethos, that same belief in the lunatic pursuit of instant borrowed millions – it's dusted itself off, it's had a shave and a shoeshine, and it's back out there running for president.

Here's another, if you've got the stomach for it.

Mitt to USA:   "Yea, ME!!!!"

Pro-Birth, NOT Pro-Life

I love Jennifer Granholm, the former Govenor of Michigan.   And I especially like this outtake from Sister Joan Chittister, a Benedictine nun, in Gov. Granholm's post in Huffington Post Monday: 

I do not believe that just because you're opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don't? Because you don't want any tax money to go there. That's not pro-life. That's pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is.

And there you have it.   I'd like to see and hear the Democrats repeat this over and over and over between now and November 6th!

My Possessions are Causing Me Suspicion But There's No Proof

A great slap-down of Princess Imperious, Ann Romney, from Karoli at Crooks and Liars.   

Honey, everytime I've applied for a job, I've been finger printed, had a background check run, supplied my birth certificate, a credit report pulled, AND I had to pee in a cup.  Since I worked on government defense contracts, some variation of the above was performed at odd intervals during the course of the contract.   This was all in addition to filling out a lengthy job application, having multiple references called, and supplying a detailed resume.  Oh, and once hired, I badged in and walked through a metal detector when entering the building.  

Why does she think we, her husband's potential employer, don't get to see what she and Windsock Willard have been up to?

What a vile human she is. 

Someone Has a Birthday.....!!

Why, it's the Mistress of Snark herself.     Hope you've had a great one,  Lady Tigre!    XOXOXOX

I love It When People Slip Up and Tell the Truth

From Balloon Juice.   Of course Obama is pro-life.   If you take care of others, you just are.

Zombie-eyed Granny-starver

So Windsock Willard has made his selection, and it's Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.    Ah, yes, that Paul Ryan, the zombie-eyed granny starver of Paul Ryan's Marvelous Budget fame.    I'm sure the Teabaggers are rejoicing since they've bullied Romney into making their choice, and not his own.   

The Dems should have a field day with this selection.   Even the Catholic Church, of which he is a member, does not like his positions on gutting Medicare, Social Security, and just about every other safety net out there.   

Shorter Eddie Munster:  I got mine.   F**k you.

Meth Lab Barbie

From Wonkette.  As one of the posters commented:  "To think we came this close to electing Peg Bundy as Vice President.".      Because nothing says "Support Our Troops" quite like 5-inch gladiator clodhoppers from Pay-Less.   The captions just write themselves.    LMFAO!!!!

The Can't Understand Normal Thinking Society

I've said it before and will say it again:  You cannot be PRO-life and AGAINST universal health care.   It's really quite simple.   Apparently even Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul gets it, even though she is off-message.   Hilarious.  Clip is from Crooks and Liars...    And I hope the election turns on this very thing.   GOP = Idiots!   

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/scarce/asd-0#comments

Love This

Unfortunately, the chicken was always basted in it, but now we all know just how much  ...

Donating money to hate groups is not the same as exercising free speech

Chik-fil-A (and others) deserve every boycott they get.   

From Crooks and Liars:  http://crooksandliars.com/blue-texan/why-chick-fil-homophobia-bad-business

Thank You, Obama-Care!!!!

Awesome!   H/T to Scarabus:  http://agrippinaminor.com/scarabus/?p=10952

Mitt's a Policy Cipher

From the one and only TBogg over at Firedog Lake:

http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2012/07/30/if-this-is-monday-were-pissing-off-palestinians/#comments

Since someone asked....

Pattern is the "Sweet Pea Shawl" from Debbie Stoller's "Happy Hooker" book...  The model is your's truly:

Retro 70's Style Christmas Stockings

Found the pattern for these online so decided to make them.   Kind of cute in an angular sort of way:

And yes, I do crochet things other than granny squares.    Guess I've been on a granny square kick since I actually became an real, first time Granny in February!

Ouch!

From Daily Kos.  This is probably the most cogent article I've come across to explain "what it is about Mitt Romney" that people just cannot warm up to.  In a word:   Asshole.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/27/1114317/-Hey-pundits-here-s-why-Romney-can-t-define-himself

This and That -- Aurora-style

This:    Editorial from Crooks and Liars.   Susie Madrak, as always, nails it....
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/editorial-blood-hands-obama-mitt-and-  

That:  Twitter screen shot from Dependable Renegade of the inestimable TBogg.  

Cline Ancient Vine Zinfandel - 2010

Continuing with the cheap-o wine meme, here's one of our favorite zinfandels.   Another "go-to" when we want a zin but not pay a premium.   Cline, at one point, was part of the Trinitas folks, which make some of the best zins in the under-$50  category around.    Definitely a keeper.  Enjoy!!

I Love Matt Taibbi

...in which he nails the Willard-bot.....

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/romneys-free-stuff-speech-is-a-new-low-20120713

Post and Picture of the Day

Presented, without comment, from Jezebel.    Picture from MoveOn.....

http://jezebel.com/5925651/comment-of-the-day-mitt-romney-can-partake-in-the-finest-selection-of-horse-penises

Wanker.

Just Read This

http://fullfrontalostomy.com/my-child-has-ibd-a-mothers-journey/

Another Scare

We had another scare with our daughter this week.   Thought she might end up in the ER/hospital night before last.  Her ulcerative colitis has been flaring since the first of July but she began running a high temp (~ 102 degrees), and dropped a couple of pounds.   She's also beginning to have joint pain in her hands, wrists, and elbows, which is not good and yet another sign of the progression of her disease.  She went to the doctor yesterday where they drew more blood and looked her over.   She's back on 40 mg. of prednisone daily again - Boo Hiss!   Usual course is to take that dosage for a few weeks or even a couple of months to get the flare under control, then begin to taper off.   Taper off is code for "I'll be on this medication for at least the next six months".    The good news is that it really helps.  The bad - she hates taking it since it makes her feel like a psychotic bitch about to crawl out of her skin.  I mean, she's on 'roids, baby!   Then there's the lovely side effect called "moon face".   Oh, and acne,  insomnia, sweating, shakes, etc.   Sweet stuff.  

And you thought she only pooped blood 15 times a day - silly wabbit!

Because of her ITP, she bruised just removing the tape that was holding the cotton ball in place from the blood draw.    Haven't seen it this morning, but no doubt it's gotten more interesting overnight.   She's a trooper!!

Stay tuned!

Grayson Cellars 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon

And now for a little more levity since I have been on a rampage lately. 

This little gem is one of our favorite cheap-o cabs.   Under $10 a bottle, very easy to drink, great with food, tasty even after a day in the fridge - just all around pleasant.   Not one to make you break out Roget's to search for superlatives but it's a no-brainer when I go to grab a cab out of the cellar.   

Enjoy!

I'm screwed because I got laid off from Iceberg Watchers, Inc.

Rick Perry is one of the dumbest fuckers around.   Period!   "The bottom line here is that Medicaid is a failed program," Perry opined. "To expand this program is not unlike adding 1,000 people to the Titanic. You're going to further drive this country into debt. ... We don't trust this administration and we don't trust Washington, D.C. to be able to deliver health care in our state. If they trusted us, they would basically block grant it back to the states and we would do a substantially better job than what you're going to see with these exchanges and with the expansion of Medicaid."

Shorter Rick:  We don't trust this administration to deliver anything - except when we ask for and need it.  You know, like the National Guard for hurricanes and Forest Service firefighters for wildfires.   Oh, and federal aid to help rebuild.   Otherwise, we're seceding bitches!!

Boggles the mind to think that some folks actually consider this waste of human flesh "Presidential Material".    One in four Texans go without health insurance.   When they get sick or hurt, they end up in the ER.   Then the rest of us pay for it.   Slick Rick could care less.   He already "the rest of us" paying for his $10K a month rental (while the mansion is being restored) -AND- his health care.  

Asshat.

From Crooks and Liars:
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/rick-perry-medicaid-expansion-adding-1000-pe

Why I Love Austin

From today's Austin American Statesman, our very own Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Ben Sargent, who sums up the whole healthcare debate amongst the Rethuglicans quite nicely...

Decision Day

Hoping that they do the right thing and uphold the law.....

Update:   And, as of 9:15 AM CDT - they did.   Thank You!!!!!!!

Arrrgh!!!

Pardon the mess.  It was just my head exploding.   I wish I could slap her, but I'll be nice.  Here's hoping you never have a pre-existing condition (or two), you hateful f*ck-nozzle.   Oh, and don't choke on your chocolate cake.  It'd be a damn shame for you to end up in the ER.       Meh!!!

H/T Crooks and Liars:
http://crooksandliars.com/blue-texan/stupid-right-wing-tweets-dana-perino-ed#comments

ITP - Idiopatic Thrombocytopenic Purpura

The results from our daughter's tests are back.   She does not have cancer.   So, that is the good news.  

But, and there is always a "but'....    She has a rare blood disorder called ITP or idiopatic thrombocytopenic purpura.   Her platelet count is very low.   Normal platelet count is between 150K - 400K. Her's is 19K and will most likely not go above 50K.   For some reason, her immune system has decided that her platelets are a foreign invader and attacking them.    The oncologist wants to monitor her but there is no treatment.   If her count goes below 10K, then they'd tranfuse platelets.   Meanwhile, the oncologist advised her against "sky diving and knife throwing".   :-)    She needs to get a medical alert bracelet because she could bleed out rapidly if injured since her clotting ability is now limited.   What is amazing to me that with all the doctor visits, blood tests, trips to the ER, and hospitalizations, no one seems to have a record of her blood type (needed for the medical alert bracelet).

So, along with Crohn's, she now is now fighting this.    Fun stuff.....

My Daughter's Life: 8 Tubes and a "Beer Keg Tap"

(Photo:  Yes, they are going to fill those vials with her blood and use an IV to do it.   My daughter's words:  "Like tapping a keg.")


I haven't posted in a couple of weeks because my daughter has been very sick.   

She was diagnosed with Ulcerative Pan-Colitis in March of 2011, about six weeks before her 27th birthday.    She was ill for six months before they finally figured out what was wrong with her.   In the 15 months since that diagnosis, she's had three trips to the ER, a colonoscopy, a four day hospitalization, one almost-hospitalization, countless doctor appointments and visits with specialists, and begun IV Remicade along with the heaping double handfuls of oral medications she takes daily.   Along the way, she's had sinus and other viral infections, and a mild case of the flu (even with her flu shot), and ulcers in her throat that felt like strep.   Her gastro-enterologist now thinks she has Crohn's Disease because of ulcers in her mouth, throat, and eyes.   If we can get her healed up enough to do an endoscopy, that will confirm it.

Crohn's and UC are invisible but ugly, quality-of-life robbing diseases.    Food doesn't digest properly.   She's often anemic, undernourished, and underweight.  Fatigue is a big problem. She's covered with bruises.  Needle tracks in her arms from never-ending blood work, and IV's.    Words like 'anal ulcers' and '15 bloody bowel movements a day' are not things we like to visualize or talk about in public.   Most people have ever heard of these autoimmune diseases.   She can look and seem reasonably healthy, then be extremely ill and in the hospital a day later.  Simple things we take for granted like enjoying a good cup of coffee or diving into a pizza are pleasures she has to forgo since they make her innards go bonkers.   She is 20 times more likely to develop colon cancer.   Two-thirds to three-fourths of Crohn's and UC folks will have surgery to their digestive tract in their lifetimes.   Like I said.   Ugly.

Anyway....  She's been flaring (UC/Crohn's-ese for "guts on fire"), feverish, feeling bad, etc., for about two months now.   The real 'fun' started last Tuesday when her gastro-enterologist ordered her to the back clinic for a follow-up blood draw to the one she had Monday.   His words:   "Do this STAT, and I am not leaving the office until this is resolved."   He called her back in an ominous tone:  "Your platelet count is 19,000. "   (Normal is between 150K and 400K.)   "I've already made an appointment for you with an oncologist tomorrow because I am concerned about bone marrow issues like cancer.  Your insurance paperwork has been pushed through."

She called me, crying, with the news. 

I've heard the expression, "icy cold fear" before but had never actually experienced it.   Driving my child to see an oncologist is something I will never forget.

There is good news (we hope).  Her oncologist does not think that she has cancer although he is not 100% sure.   Blood tests will give a better idea as to what is going on.  The results are due back the middle of this week.   He thinks the low platelet count is related to her Crohn's and the Remicade.  We hope she does not have to give up Remicade since that has made her "feel halfway human" for the first time in two years.   However, it's expensive.  As in $10,000 a treatment expensive.   As in $10K every six weeks expensive.   And it has some nasty side effects including lymphoma and tuberculosis.  But, low platelet counts are fraught with peril, too.   Kidney problems, brain bleeds, etc.   Sometimes 'teh Google' is your friend, but not when you are researching what (else) could be wrong with your kid.  It can be overwhelming.  You really do have to stop and smell the roses (or drink wine in the back yard with your sweetie). 

Stay tuned.

I can say one thing with certainty, however.....

She's the strongest person I've ever met. 

(And, thank the goddesses for health insurance...!!!!)

Tuesday morning picture starters

Tocho, as usual, is not amused.....

Later, he will hunt his prey by lurking in the bird bath....

Why I Loathe Mitt Romney

This post nails it:  "It basically comes down to this: Mitt Romney has spent his entire life preying on the weak and defenseless, always from a position of complete safety for himself. In other words, he's a coward."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/20/1093061/-Mitt-Romney-is-a-coward

Swing Moggy

Herbert seems to be enjoying our grandson's baby swing.   It was interesting watching him get in there (take that US Olympic Gymnastics team!).  Once settled, he slept for a couple of hours.

Republicans, Get in My Vagina!

This is hilarious!   From "Funny or Die"....

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/87be7156f5/republicans-get-in-my-vagina?playlist=featured_videos

Domaine Laroque 2010

We enjoyed this wine at the suggestion of one of the sales staff at Central Market on Lamar.   100% cabernet franc.  Nice stone minerality and low alcohol of 13% - which was good since it was 96 degrees in ATX yesterday.   We sipped it whilst gnoshing on crackers and a cheese ball made of balsamic vinegar onions and feta.   Under $10 which is hard to beat.   Glad we picked up a second bottle.  

Latest creations

I've been busy crocheting some baby afghans for my new grandson.   This one uses University of Texas burnt orange and white, with black for some contrast:

I'm calling this one "Bright" in honor of my daughter who commented that it was (I don't think she likes it - HA).    I used some leftover bright and multi-colored ombre yarn to make the granny squares, then single crocheted the edges with royal blue.: 

Birthday Girl

Happy 28th birthday to my beloved daughter!!   You are my sweetie pie.