Once again inspired by reading other people's blogs, I trot myself over to the computer keyboard to compose an update on this life of mine. It's a long weekend with Monday celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday and the school kids in our area also had a Pro-D day off Friday. Two of my three offspring are away at Sunnybrae Bible Camp enjoying (I hope) a huge youth May Camp event. So the house is pretty quiet.
The countdown on prednisone continues: I started with 10 pills per day (50 mg) on May 3, reduced to 6 on May 8, reduced again to 4 on May 13, and went down to 3 today. The initial "high" was great, but it is good to get down from that dosage as soon as possible. I'll get blood tests done this week and see how the muscle enzymes are taking this onslaught of steroids!
It was a steady day at the Historic O'Keefe Ranch today. I was on duty in the gift shop all day, and the two other interpreters divided duties between mansion tours and general store-keeping. We also had a wedding going on in the afternoon (as well as a rehearsal for another wedding tomorrow) so there were people all over the place. I did manage to keep ranch guests paying and wedding guests free, so they all got what they came for. Being on the front desk is a bit nerve-racking, especially when I messed up the first transaction of the day and then couldn't "void" it out of the till properly. Well, I'm sure I will hear about it when the bookkeeper is back in after the long weekend. Then there were the times when I rang in a credit or debit card transaction as cash ... or debit as credit ... well, I'm sure it wasn't this complicated last year.
I did miss doing tours today, especially the families with children. I love making history come alive for ranch visitors. But it is handy to know as much as I do about the ranch, because even people in the gift shop have questions, and I was able to answer a few today.
Well, that is all the excitement for now ... I thought I was in a much more reflective mood. Just enjoying my blessings today.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Sunday, May 12, 2013
A day for mothers
Today was Mother's Day in Canada and it was a busy one for me. Instead of lying in bed, being pampered, getting breakfast in bed and all that fun stuff, I was up and about, taking my normal round of medications, making myself french toast with cinnamon spread (yum) and getting ready for work. I'm not complaining -- I love my job at O'Keefe Ranch. And my 3 men were off to work at the mill an hour before I had to wake up for my first medication, so I didn't have to do anything for them.
The day was overcast and threatened us with grey clouds and little spits of raindrops. Between 10 and 11 am, I'm not sure that we were hopeful of a busy day, but we were ready for the guests to arrive. The first mansion tour was at 11 am, and I had the next tour at 12 noon. After that, there were fully packed tours (15-20 people) every half hour until the last one at 4:30 pm. I had my bite of lunch and then went to help out at the admissions desk ... people were lined up from the desk to the door for an hour or so! I folded maps, helped people pay for coffee and pottery purchases, and tried to be helpful without being underfoot. What an amazing rush of people! Of course, it helped that mothers, grandmothers, and preschoolers got in free!!
My favorite part of the day is giving tours of the mansion, and it was fun to reflect on the mothers who had been part of the O'Keefe story. From Cornelius O'Keefe's mother in Ontario, who said goodbye to her adventurous son as he left to seek his fortune on the BC goldfields, to Alapetsa who bore his first two children, Mary Ann who joined him in pioneering the cattle ranch and giving birth to nine children, and Elizabeth who married Cornelius after Mary Ann's death and gave him another six children ... then on to Betty who married Cornelius and Elizabeth's son Tierney, raised 5 children with him, and had the bold and wonderful idea of turning the ranch and its story into a public historic attraction -- thank you ladies!
Everyone seemed happy today, despite the grey skies ... the kids were enjoying the animals (especially the new lambs) and their trips to the general store for candy. I loved watching a couple little kids swaying to the music of the Treble Tones on the steps of the gazebo. I had fun cruising the vendors booths and made a few purchases for upcoming events. We had so many faithful volunteers manning (and womanning) the activities for children ... painting birdhouses, colouring, making beaded bracelets, taking Mother's Day photos ... the list goes on. Wagon tours and stagecoach rides were a big attraction too. And then, suddenly the day was done and we were taking down everything that had been put up and saying goodbye to our guests.
Home again, home again, jiggedy jig. I stopped at Safeway and bought supper ... 2/3 of my children were home and my husband arrived while we were consuming the barbecued chicken and fixings. I received a lovely PVC quilting floor frame for my Mother's Day gift (yes, I had hinted very loudly for it, some weeks ago, but had no idea that the hint had been taken!) I'm not sure when I'll have time to use it (probably not until the fall of this year, with all the other things I have to get to and through). But it is very nice and I am going to enjoy it for years!
Tired feet. Wakeful brain. Maybe if I soak my feet ... or my head (?) ... I'll settle down. Maybe not.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Where did the last two months go?
I appear to have missed much of March and lost all of April. Have you been watching this space? Oh, you noticed I wasn't blogging at all. Can't slip anything past you, can I?
So last update, I was tired and waiting for news when to start the new medication, Mycophenolate mofeti, the generic version of Cellcept. I started using it and but hadn't noticed much change, read the directions again, and reaffirmed that it had to be take on an empty stomach. This really messes up my life, because I tend to graze in a rather unhealthy way. So "take on an empty stomach" means taking it at 6 am and not having anything to eat until 7 am, while I am preparing lunches for my offspring, making tea, and so on. The morning installment isn't too bad, but it seems that the evening tends to stretch on. I was trying to take the Cellcept 2 hours after supper and then waiting another hour after that to take the final round of my other meds, but somehow a snack sneaked in and messed that up. So I decided to take the final round of meds at 9 pm, wait 2 hours until 11 pm for the Cellcept and then have that just before bedtime.
In a perfectly regulated world, that would work just fine. However, if I have dinner late, snack later, and don't get those meds taken at 9 pm, everything tends to run later than that. Last night I got lost watching an old remake of Shakespeare's "Tempest" on TV. I wondered whether it was the one I was planning to use in my student teaching practicum in 1983, but realized that it was way too different from the text to be that one ... plus there was a fair bit of gratuitous nudity (male and female) which I would never (then or now) show to a high school class. By the time I got to bed, it was after 1 am, and I lay there and lay there and rolled over ... it was hot and I was not sleepy.
When I got up this morning at 6 am, I took my Cellcept and went back to bed. I was supposed to take my weekly Fosavance (helps with maintaining calcium in my bones) 2 hours after that, but in my sleep-fogged state, I took another dose of Cellcept. Brilliant! I continued my morning routine, which included more meds and breakfast, then tried to put my hair up in French braids before church. The back was quite nice, but all the front all fell down from the braids. So I went with hair down and probably scared everyone. When I came home after church, I redid the "do" and it turned out quite nicely.
The other medication that is complicating life as we know it is Prednisone. The latest blood work showed a muscle enzyme level that had risen to more than 3500 ... probably the worst in my memory. So I talked to the doctor and the doctor left a note for my regular GP to contact the rheumatologist in Kelowna, and that probably took a week to get sorted out. Back to the major doses of Prednisone for me ... 50 mg (10 pills) per day for a few days to hit the flare-up and knock it down, then reducing the dosage regularly. Blood tests in two weeks to see how things are going.
Of course, my kids have never seen me on megadoses of Prednisone before, and after the first day or two, they were actually quite impressed. Instead of lying on the couch avoiding the inevitable torture of preparing supper for several implacable appetites, I had a plan and ingredients and supper cooking yesterday evening ... and even had it ready by 6:05 pm! Today was a little messed up though, as there was a pack of girls in the house, and the boys went out to eat with other friends of theirs, so I didn't have to be quite as ambitious (husband was content with perogies and weiners, and a little peace and quiet).
The difference in energy with the increase in prednisone is quite amazing. This week I managed to do 3 days of teaching ... actually two half days and one full day, but it did mean that I drove out to Lumby three days in a row. Saturday, I managed to run errands, attend a board meeting, followed by a memorial service, and a few more errands, then came home for lunch and a bit of a lie-down before the arrival of the boys from work ... and the start of my supper preparations. A week or so ago that much activity would have had me couch-bound and complaining. I do have to watch that I don't do too much, because this false energy is not backed up with any muscle strength, so I can really do myself some damage if I'm not careful. (Don't want to be back in physiotherapy again!)
Well, tomorrow is another day ... and I'll be back to work at the Historic O'Keefe Ranch, just outside Vernon. We officially open on Mother's Day (Sunday) but there are school tours beginning this week, and apparently there is work for me to do tomorrow. Fun fun fun. I am looking forward to it. This will be my third season, and I am still saying that this is the best job I've ever had.
So last update, I was tired and waiting for news when to start the new medication, Mycophenolate mofeti, the generic version of Cellcept. I started using it and but hadn't noticed much change, read the directions again, and reaffirmed that it had to be take on an empty stomach. This really messes up my life, because I tend to graze in a rather unhealthy way. So "take on an empty stomach" means taking it at 6 am and not having anything to eat until 7 am, while I am preparing lunches for my offspring, making tea, and so on. The morning installment isn't too bad, but it seems that the evening tends to stretch on. I was trying to take the Cellcept 2 hours after supper and then waiting another hour after that to take the final round of my other meds, but somehow a snack sneaked in and messed that up. So I decided to take the final round of meds at 9 pm, wait 2 hours until 11 pm for the Cellcept and then have that just before bedtime.
In a perfectly regulated world, that would work just fine. However, if I have dinner late, snack later, and don't get those meds taken at 9 pm, everything tends to run later than that. Last night I got lost watching an old remake of Shakespeare's "Tempest" on TV. I wondered whether it was the one I was planning to use in my student teaching practicum in 1983, but realized that it was way too different from the text to be that one ... plus there was a fair bit of gratuitous nudity (male and female) which I would never (then or now) show to a high school class. By the time I got to bed, it was after 1 am, and I lay there and lay there and rolled over ... it was hot and I was not sleepy.
When I got up this morning at 6 am, I took my Cellcept and went back to bed. I was supposed to take my weekly Fosavance (helps with maintaining calcium in my bones) 2 hours after that, but in my sleep-fogged state, I took another dose of Cellcept. Brilliant! I continued my morning routine, which included more meds and breakfast, then tried to put my hair up in French braids before church. The back was quite nice, but all the front all fell down from the braids. So I went with hair down and probably scared everyone. When I came home after church, I redid the "do" and it turned out quite nicely.
The other medication that is complicating life as we know it is Prednisone. The latest blood work showed a muscle enzyme level that had risen to more than 3500 ... probably the worst in my memory. So I talked to the doctor and the doctor left a note for my regular GP to contact the rheumatologist in Kelowna, and that probably took a week to get sorted out. Back to the major doses of Prednisone for me ... 50 mg (10 pills) per day for a few days to hit the flare-up and knock it down, then reducing the dosage regularly. Blood tests in two weeks to see how things are going.
Of course, my kids have never seen me on megadoses of Prednisone before, and after the first day or two, they were actually quite impressed. Instead of lying on the couch avoiding the inevitable torture of preparing supper for several implacable appetites, I had a plan and ingredients and supper cooking yesterday evening ... and even had it ready by 6:05 pm! Today was a little messed up though, as there was a pack of girls in the house, and the boys went out to eat with other friends of theirs, so I didn't have to be quite as ambitious (husband was content with perogies and weiners, and a little peace and quiet).
The difference in energy with the increase in prednisone is quite amazing. This week I managed to do 3 days of teaching ... actually two half days and one full day, but it did mean that I drove out to Lumby three days in a row. Saturday, I managed to run errands, attend a board meeting, followed by a memorial service, and a few more errands, then came home for lunch and a bit of a lie-down before the arrival of the boys from work ... and the start of my supper preparations. A week or so ago that much activity would have had me couch-bound and complaining. I do have to watch that I don't do too much, because this false energy is not backed up with any muscle strength, so I can really do myself some damage if I'm not careful. (Don't want to be back in physiotherapy again!)
Well, tomorrow is another day ... and I'll be back to work at the Historic O'Keefe Ranch, just outside Vernon. We officially open on Mother's Day (Sunday) but there are school tours beginning this week, and apparently there is work for me to do tomorrow. Fun fun fun. I am looking forward to it. This will be my third season, and I am still saying that this is the best job I've ever had.
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