Saturday, November 30, 2013

11-30-13

9:40am


Got the ornaments on the tree and a few decorations
placed about.

Got a load of laundry in the dryer and washer
and next will work on getting a turkey in the oven.
I've been up since 5:45am because that's
when my stomach alerted me to run to the bathroom
and then I got some ibuprofen for my pain.


11:40am


Turkey is in the oven.
I always use oven bags for my turkey.
I did one thing a little different,
I put the turkey upside down in the bag
in hopes of getting moister breast meat.
We'll see as I've never baked it like this before.



2:55pm


Turkey is done.



Flipped the bird to get the breast golden brown also.





5:55pm



One can only drink so much Gatorade or water.
Hot chocolate sounded good tonight.
I lost the craving for pop anymore!



10:30pm


I'm tired of pooping!!!



Friday, November 29, 2013

11-29-13

8:20am


We had a very nice Thanksgiving.
We left the house around 9:30am and got home about 5:30pm.
I don't think the lake saw any snow!
Thank goodness that we didn't get all the snow
that they had predicted because I had worried
about our drive up there.

I had taken a diarrheal medicine Wednesday night
and it last all through yesterday thank goodness!
It wore off in the wee hours of this morning.

I fell asleep at the in-laws for about an hour and a half
on their couch waiting to eat.
Then once back home I went to bed at 6:30am
and got up at 8:00am!!  I slept 13.5 hours!!
I did awake a couple times to go potty
and get something to drink and take an ibuprofen.
My muscles in my upper body have been aching pretty good,
especially my shoulders. 
2 weeks to go til I see my GI doctor.
Seems like the wait has been forever.
It's almost been 8 weeks I've been in this flare up!!


10:00am


I took my first pain pill just to help me with
everything that needs done today.
Today I put up the Christmas tree like I've
been doing as far back as I can remember
the day after Thanksgiving.
I was determined to do it no matter how bad I felt.


3:20pm


We just got around to getting out the Christmas things.
Hubby is outside putting lights on the fence out back.
Me, I got the Christmas tree up.
Don't buy a prelit tree.  I haven't had the lights
last on one for more than a year.
I don't care if the box says if one light goes
out the rest stay on.  
I had to put lights on our so called prelit
tree this year.  The only things I had to use
that had white cords (because green cords on a white tree
stick out like a sore thumb) was about 3-4 strands
of icicle lights.  It didn't turn out too bad.
And my living room is officially wiped out at the moment
with Christmas decorations and lights laying everywhere.


10:15pm



I laid down about 6:45pm and got back
up about 9:45pm because I was thirsty
and my body hurts all over.
Took me another pain pill.
That pain pill helped a lot earlier today
to put up Christmas lights and wreaths outside
and to get the large tree up inside
along with putting lights on a little
tree that sits in the bay window.
We'll see how I feel tomorrow about getting
out the rest of the decorations.




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11-28-13

6:15am


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I'm up but moving slow til my medicines kick in.
Yesterday my muscles in my arms and shoulders
started hurting.  Always something.

Time to get the crock pots going.
I still have some gravy to make to mix with the noodles.
and creamed corn to make.


7:15am


Ok I think all cooking is done and ready to go.
Just in the crock pots warming, WHEW!

I'm taking along a couple of food storage bowls.
I eat like a bird sometimes or have no appetite at all.
I don't want to miss out on Thanksgiving dinner
if my appetite should not be there so if it's
not I'm bringing home a plate of food to enjoy
later when I get my appetite back.


Last night hubby unloaded my truck for me.
My friend had brought over a bunch of
stuff for me and I had her put it in the rear of the truck.
I started going through it last night.
There was another 2 large trash bags full of clothes,
2 Kroger bags of clothes, a large trash bag full of shoes
and a box of books.
This will sound weird but I have so many clothes
I don't know what to wear.
You usually know your clothes, what you have
and what goes with what.  Well with so many
new clothes I haven't figured that out yet.



Wednesday, November 27, 2013

11-27-13

7:15am


I wonder what is up with the township.
Usually at the first sign of a snowflake they are
out in full force all hours of the day and night
clearing roads and/or salting them.
I haven't seen hide nor hair of them and
the roads are very icy here.
Not good when you have stop signs sitting
at the bottom of sloped streets.


8:10am


My goodness.  Going through another hot spell again.
It seems to happen soon after taking ibupfrofen
then eventually goes away.
Then when the ibuprofen wears off I get cold chills.
Got my little table top fan blowing on me.

Just sitting here thinking about things I need
to make for Thanksgiving.
I got homemade noodles to make, ahhh.
This year I'm gonna do something a little different,
I'm making the gravy for the noodles on the side
and won't mix them with the noodles
til after I get to my in-laws.
Last year I mixed everything together the night before
and by the time I got to the in-laws with them
the noodles sucked up all the gravy.
I got all the apples peeled, cored and chopped up.
I had them sitting in a bowl of water with
lemon juice in the fridge.  Today I'll make up
the apple pie dip and then have pie crust cookies to make.
And lastly there's creamed corn which
shouldn't be too hard, just throw all ingredients
in a crock.


9:30am


Well I got the apple pie dip done.
Now if I can just stay out of it, lol, mmm!
I made a triple batch because that's
how much apples I had.

And I got one batch out of about 3-4 batches of homemade noodles
done and hanging to dry.
One problem, the kitty thinks the dangly things
hanging off my cart are strings!!  AHHHH!!



And while one kitty is trying to destroy my noodles
the other one is in the living room tearing up the rug!

Well break time is over.
Gotta keep moving while I feel half way decent.


11:40pm


Pie crust cookies just went into the oven.
I rolled out the pie dough and cut small circles
with a shot glass, brushed each one with milk
and sprinkled a cinnamon-sugar mix on top.
Bake 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes.






12:40pm


Taking a break for a bit before I cook noodles,
make gravy and get the creamed corn ready to make.
I got our turkey out of the freezer and now
have it thawing in the fridge to hopefully
bake this weekend.


1:15pm


I think I'm gonna go lay down and take a nap.
I had part of a cheap little frozen pizza
for lunch and now my stomach is throbbing
and I'm feeling tired.
Hope I'm feeling better later on to get everything finished.
Still worried about our trip to the in-laws tomorrow
and how I'm feeling.
I think I'll pack a little Crohn's survival tote bag with a tub of wipes,
depends, ibuprofen, chapstick, eye drops, gatorade, 
anti-diarrheal medicine, etc.
It sucks being like this!
The trip is like an hour and a half long to get there.
And when we get there, there's gonna be a house
full of people with only one bathroom.
At home when the feeling strikes to go potty
I have a matter of seconds to get to the bathroom
or else there's gonna be an accident.
It's embarrassing but I feel like others
need to know what Crohn's diseased people
go through to help better understand them.








Tuesday, November 26, 2013

11-26-13

6:20am


I slept through the night.  No getting up 
running to the bathroom or to the kitchen for something to drink.
Not to sound gross but to let others know some
symptoms of dehydration...
dry eyes, no tears, dry mouth and/or lips
and last night I noticed my lower area
front and back was dry also.
It started to itch really bad is what
brought it to my attention.
I have been using drops, lotions, gels, creams,
to keep all the above moisturized
all while trying to drink yucky pedialyte and gatorade
to get hydrated which I have been drinking warm
to try not to upset my stomach.


10:50am


Today I'm feeling a tad bit better.
Don't want to jump the gun and say I am better
because it changes from one moment to the next.

I got some pork chops brining for supper.
I placed them in a casserole dish
filled with water, kosher salt and I added in garlic & herb
seasoning and some onion powder and placed
it in the fridge til time to make for supper.

I started getting out things needed for Thanksgiving.
Mom had given us a bag of apples and I thought
about making an Apple Pie Dip along with some
Pie Crust Cookies.
 Then sometime between today and tomorrow
I need to start making homemade noodles with turkey gravy and
some Creamed Corn
which is made with butter, cream cheese, seasoning
and a little sugar.


8:45pm


Spent the afternoon/evening watching tv on the couch
because I didn't feel like doing much of anything else.
I did get up to make supper but didn't eat supper.
The only thing I ate today was some tuna fish
and lots of gatorade.
We had a guy come over and hopefully fix
the brake lights on the truck for $60 tonight.
(My Christmas present)
I don't think that was too bad for someone
to drive across town to work on your car.
Don't know him personally just found him
by word of mouth through hubby's friend.
I didn't go outside to check out the truck
or to watch him work like hubby did.
I just laid on the couch.
I then started getting cold chills again
and went and took a hot bath.
I think I'm getting the cold chills because
of a fever.  Hubby did say I felt warm
so I took some ibuprofen.


11-25-13

5:20am


Oh yeah, I see a nap in the near future today.
Dozed off last night at 9:30pm woke back
up at 10:30pm to make sure kids had gone to bed.
2:00am awoke really thirsty and chugged a bunch of water.
4:00am woke up again really thirsty and drank some more water.
5:07am belly cramps woke me up so ran to the potty.  
After that I just decided to stay up because the alarm
was due to go off at 5:30am.
Another trip to the potty at 5:30am.
Just feel like my body is going in so many directions
between potty trips, throwing up, thirsty,
cold chills, hot flashes, tiredness, stomach and body throbbing
 and no energy at times.
The only thing missing is the severe stomach pain I had 
when that put me over the edge to finally go
to the hospital the first time.
I don't want to have to go back to the hospital.
Who can afford to keep going back there?


6:05am


Brrr again.  It's 17 degrees outside with about a 9 degree wind chill.


7:15am


My goodness I was having hot flashes this morning.
It's so cold outside and I only wore a sweater
and about had my head hanging out the window
of the truck at the bus stop.
But good news is that I started feeling hungry
so when I got back home I warmed up some pizza rolls
and are having a glass of apple juice.
I don't care what I eat or what time of day it is,
if I'm hungry I'm all for it especially 
when I don't have a very good appetite.


12:35pm


I laid down from about 8-10:30am.
Of course my stomach woke me up and 
I had to run to the potty.
Right now I'm trying to eat more pizza rolls.
Not as hungry and they don't taste as good as before 
but trying to get more food in me.
Went from being hot to now being chilly.
Time to grab a sweater.

I had some leftover pork roast in a crock
in the fridge I thought I would use for supper.
I peered into the crock and there's one little ole
itty bitty piece of pork in there!
ughhhh.   Well so much for that idea even
after I told everyone I wanted to use the leftovers
for another meal.  Looks like a freezer meal
will be used for supper tonight.
I don't really feel like cooking or baking
and are trying to limit any trips to the grocery store
trying to cut back because bills are gonna be due soon.


2:55pm


Mom has called my digestive doctor's office
and they are going to call her back.
We're trying to find out what I should do
with feeling the way that I do.
This morning I noticed my lips were getting really dry
and this afternoon I noticed my eyes burning
which worries me that I may be dehydrated.
I've drank a half glass of pop, gatorade, apple juice
and working on my 2nd or 3rd glass of water.

Why, when I was in the hospital for as long as I was,
being pumped full of anything and everything,
am I not even feeling the least bit better?!
I did gain my weight back soon after getting out
of the hospital because prednisone can make
you feel hungry.  But now I am back down 10 pounds again.


3:40pm


Doctor's office called me and said there was no other
appointments available unless there is a cancellation.
The secretary said my doctor suggested I got
to the emergency room to get fluids due to possible
dehydration.  I'm trying to avoid more costs of
going to an emergency room.  Mom is calling some pharmacies
to see what else is out there that I can drink.
maybe something like Pedialyte.
I don't know, we'll have to see.
I really don't want to go to the ER!!!


3:55pm


Mom's going to Kroger to get me some Gatorade.
The pharmacy actually recommended the 
pedialyte because it has low sugar and has electrolites.
Well I know Gatorade has electrolites
and a lower sugar also because I get it for
hubby sometimes and he's a diabetic.


8:00pm


Drinking Gatorade and Pediolyte, well as much as
I can tolerate, not exactly a favorite of mine.
How does pedialyte not have sugar in it
according to a pharmacist.
It tastes soo much sweater than gatorade.
I have dried out lips, dried out eyes and hardly any tears.
Been feeding my eyes eye drops.



Sunday, November 24, 2013

11-24-13

8:45am


Brrrr, it's 18.5 degrees outside according to my weather station.


This is just getting crazy having to run to the bathroom
all the time!  And now it's gotten to the point
that it wakes me up every morning running
for the potty.  This morning it was 4:50am, ahhhh.
Now I worry about an hour and a half road trip to the lake
for Thanksgiving then worry about the bathroom
being available while at the in-laws with a bunch of people.
People shouldn't have to worry about these things
but I am starting to.
I still don't have an appetite.  Yesterday I forced myself
to eat one slice of pizza, one yogurt and half of
a breakfast bar.  Anything else I threw up.


10:25am


Don't feel too bad this morning after taking
my usual ibuprofen.  Still working on cleaning
the house and getting things ready for
the Christmas tree and decorations
to come out on Friday.
Will be making a few trips to the basement
to put away some things I had in the living room
to make room for it all plus I have
laundry to finish up and put away.
We'll see how long I can go today before feeling like crap.
The kids only have two days of school next week
and hubby has only 3 days of work
then next week he has the on call pager.


11:30am


I feel like I'm Spring cleaning.
So much dusting, decobwebbing and wiping down of things 
from ceilings, walls, floor boards, pictures, floors,
electronics and everything in between, whew!
Definitely need to go change the furnace filter!


12:50pm


I think I got the living room done top to bottom
now time to work on the dining room which also
is used as office, computer area, school area...
no fun.  Still haven't eaten anything.  Nothing sounds good.
Just been drinking my Gatorade.
Pop doesn't even taste good if you can imagine that.


4:15pm


Back to feeling like crap again.
Me and hubby went over to kroger to get
some milk and bread.
By the time we drove by the front
door I had to have him stop the car and let me out
to run into the bathroom.  My stomach started hurting
and I knew what was next.
I had an egg sandwich before we left
trying to get something in my belly.
Well right after the diarrhea episode came an episode of throwing
up then pissing myself in the process
all while in Kroger's restroom.
I'm sick of being sick!!
I'm pissed because I have to wait
a month to be seen by my digestive doctor.
What's a person supposed to do in the meantime??!!
I can't keep running to the ER.
Right now I am trying to eat some Cheez It crackers.
Crackers I would think would be ok to eat.


7:45pm


Had some pizza rolls for supper, about 12 of them,
and so far so good with keeping them down.
I went and took a hot shower because it seems
to help feel better some from the heat of the water.
I decided to weigh myself and see that I've lost
10-11 pounds again.  I lost that much before going
to the hospital but had gained it back.
I was on Prednisone and that makes you want
to eat everything in sight!











Saturday, November 23, 2013

11-23-13

9:45am


Got up about 7:45 running to the potty.
It's so far calmed down after that, fingers crossed.
After that I started a little cleaning and getting
things put away.
I stole part of one of my kids upper closet
to store my shoes.  I've never had that many pairs before
and I'm being told my friend has even more for me!
There's 15 pair in the upper closet plus I have
shoes to go through in my closet and this does
not include all the sandals I stored away for next year!
The ones that were in shoe boxes I labeled on the 
outside of the box what it was with a sharpie.
I've also seen a tip where people would photograph
and put a picture of the shoes 
on the outside of the shoe box.
Plus I stole a little closet space of theirs
to store some all season jackets.



12:15pm


For my birthday I got some clips to hang my brooms,
push mops and steamer.  I have been wanting something
to hang them for awhile now but are such
a cheapskate to buy those ones in the home improvement
stores for the money they wanted.
I ask for practical gifts, things I need.
I found these clips at Dollar Tree for a buck a pack of 2.
Now I didn't use the itty bitty screws that came
with it and went with a larger screw.



1:50pm


Twice I attempted to go down to the basement
and work on laundry and both times
had to run upstairs and go potty.
This last time I also threw up and then had
dry heaves.
I don't know if it had anything to do with greasy
food I ate or not.  I had fried taters
and then had sausage gravy and biscuits.
The sausage I rinsed off the grease.
I try not to eat greasy foods if I can help it.
Feel like I've been hit by a Mac truck after all that
so gonna try to recoup and get back to 
cleaning house and laundry.

Hubby went out on an emergency maintenance call.
The guy who's on call had truck problems
so hubby went out on call for him.
He'll get overtime for it so it's all good.
The paychecks seem like they are getting slimmer
and slimmer than what they used to be.
While he gets raises we probably won't see any
of it after they take out health unsurance increases
and then some.  CRAZY just trying to survive!


4:30pm


More potty trips with stomach achiness
right before each trip.  No appetite.
Sipping on my Gatorade.
Just took a hot bath to get my stomach to calm down.
My behind feels like it could just fall out!!
Might go lay down now.
Hubby is freaking out some thinking
I need to go back to the hospital.
I just deal with it.
I can't afford another hospital bill at the moment.
Just got another statement today
with more charges from the hospital
so they aren't quite done sending them all.

Almost got my laundry done.
Have the last loads in the washer and dryer.


5:30pm


It's 73 degrees in here,
I have fleece jammies on and a fleece sweater
with a wooly looking liner and I still feel chilled!
Just keep shivering.
Heading back to bed and under the covers!


10:55pm


Well we went to the emergency room...
but it wasn't for us.
Tony's coworker called us and asked if we
could take him to Riverside because
he threw his back out and could hardly walk.
We just got back home.
I survived it somewhat.  Just thankful
that the ibuprofen kicked in before we left.
It seemed to help make the cold chills go away.
Maybe I had a fever at the time of the chills.
I don't know.  Ibuprofen helps me alot
to get through the day.
Well I'm going to go lay down.
I wanted to be there for someone else tonight
even though I myself did not feel good.
I had a lot of people there for me in the hospital
and I didn't want him to be alone so me
and hubby took him.




Friday, November 22, 2013

11-22-13

7:20am


For the first hour of being awake I ran to
the bathroom 5 times and once upon
returning from the bus stop!!
Sipping on a glass of apple juice.
Went to the store last night in search of drinks
that had potassium in it.
100% juices had the most,
Gatorade and sports drinks had the least
but I still got a few to keep hydrated.
I'm popping an anti-diarrheal pill now.
Not sure that it helps that much but does
seem to help calm down any stomach pains or cramps.
I still have 21 days before my digestive doctor appointment.


8:00am


2 more trips to the potty.
I always have company in there.
The cats think that is there time to get
a pet or scratch in, sometimes they
even jump in the bathtub to play.

Drinking a glass of strawberry-watermelon Gatorade,
eating a cup of yogurt and
I just took a probiotic vitamin,
everything that's supposed to be good for your gut.


I got a big pork roast in the crock pot
with a can of sauerkraut which I think gives it
good flavor.  I also topped it with garlic & herb seasoning.
Now I don't think it would be in my best interest
to eat the saurkraut.  I'll give that to hubby.
Might shred some of the roast, add gravy 
and serve it over some mashed potatoes.
Potatoes have potassium.
I'm hoping this roast will last a couple of meals.


8:30am


I'm ready to go back to bed.
Sleep is best when you don't feel the greatest.


10:30am


Got back up from my nap because of the phone ringing.
The throbbing has started so I took some ibuprofen.
My appetite still isn't the greatest but I'm trying
to eat little things here and there like a yogurt
and a breakfast bar.
I haven't felt like doing any baking or cleaning today.
Taking it easy because this weekend 
the housecleaning starts and possibly getting
the outside Christmas lights put up.
I have been dealing with this Crohn's flare up
for 6 weeks now!
Considering taking a pain pill if the ibuprofen doesn't help.
I have yet to take any pain pills since leaving the hospital.


12:05pm


Since I have nothing better to do at the moment
I thought I would look through recipes
for when I make my turkey sometime.
A lot of times I just cut off the turkey and bag
it up into portions to make meals with and
freeze it.
Don't ask me why I'm looking at recipes because with my appetite
nothing even looks or sounds good.
But I'm trying to plan ahead.

1.  Easy Turkey Tetrazini
2.  Sliced Turkey Sandwiches
3.  Turkey Potpies
4.  Turkey A La King
5.  Turkey Noodle Soup with Dumplings
6.  Turkey Hash
7.  Shredded Turkey and Gravy over Mashed Potatoes
8.  Turkey and Stuffing Casserole
9.  Turkey Salad Sandwiches


Maybe now I'll go throw a load of laundry in the washer
and get it started before the weekend.



1:35pm


Well the ibuprofen took the edge off of 
any pain and throbbing.
Thank goodness because I had some things
to get done.
I got the dishwasher loaded and going
and have a load in the washer and dryer.


1:50pm


Woo hoo, my friend is giving me some insulated curtains
so I can put them up in the bedrooms
and the dining room to help keep any drafts out
during the cold months because it gets chillier
in the bedrooms compared to the rest of the house.
I need about 4-5 pairs.
I could make do with 4 but the one set I have
has cat claw marks on them.
One pair I can cut in half and make
2 pair from for our small windows
on the side of the house.
We currently have blinds and all I can
say is cats and blinds don't mix!!


2:05pm


I can't believe all the stores opening up on
Thanksgiving when that's supposed to be time for family!  
I just now saw that even
the Ohio Thrift stores will be open on Thanksgiving.
Come on now, I think it's going too far.


3:40pm


The smell of the pork roast in the crock pot
actually made my stomach growl so 
I've been eating some bites here and there.
Yum yum!  Hey, did I just say that after
not having an appetite the last couple of days?!

Hubby called to tell me how his Thanksgiving
pot luck went at work today.
He said everyone was saying my pumpkin pie was the best
pie they had!  
What is funny is that I don't even like pumpkin pie.  LOL.  Seriously!
I went out on a limb and beyond my comfort zone
with making it.
Hubby also said the new girl in the office
at his work wants one made for her birthday
January 13th.
So with all this in mind it gives me confidence
of sending it into the contest.


5:30pm


Well I got my explanation of benefits from
my health insurance and if they listed everything
from my hospital stay it would have cost a little over $12,000.
I thought it would have been much more than that
 considering how long I was there and everything they did.
Our insurance covered $10,000 of that.
I don't know if there will be other billings
from doctor's and what not on top of this.
Plus I have to pay for some of Tony's
tests that wasn't completely covered
from his doctor's visit.
Always something to worry about!


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