"Vision" in HDT

A big thank you goes out to Marilee (YarnPlayer) for her sharing her pattern for the necklace she designed called "Vision". I made this for my daughter for Christmas using Tourmaline HDT and Fluorite and Amethyst beads and Swarovski crystals. This pattern is wonderful to tat and as you can see the finished product is spectacular. My daughter was very pleased.

Mail Call

Call me old fashion but I still find it fun to get things by snail mail. A few days after I returned home from the hospital this wonderful card arrived for little ol' me.

Now this is not just your every day plain card this " Ray of Sunshine" card is a wonderful Get Well card from Sherry ( Lady ShuttleMaker ) and imagine my delight when I opened it and found one of sherry's "Pen Hook's".

Now I don't know how much everyone knows about Sherry's Pen Hooks but they are fantastic and the price makes them a must have for every tatter. The way they keep your crochet hook handy but not in the way is fantastic and they do not roll away on you like a crochet hook does which drives me crazy. They come decorated in a variety of ways. For more information here is the link. By the way I think the quote Sherry put on mine is perfect. Thank You Sherry.

THANK YOU

I would like to start this posting with a huge Thank You and HUG to all who blessed me with warm thoughts, words and prayers for without them I would not have made it through the past 6 days.

The surgery went well but the hospital stay was criminally harmful and negligent. I will go no further than to say that it is going to take a while to heal from the emotional damage and scarring, but I am strong and I will get better.

I am home know and I think today I feel like I may just be able to pick up my shuttles and do a little tatting which I am sure will speed up my recovery. I am looking forward to healing and living with I hope what will be less pain.

May the thread flow gently from your shuttles and needles as you watch the sunset on a day that when you really and honestly look at it was a pretty good day. ( At least that is my wish for you.)

This is a picture of tropical flowers that Laura, Tattycat, sent me to cheer me up and it worked. I think they are wonderful and they remind me of my trips to Hawaii.

My Health- An Update

After an eleven week struggle I am finally making some progress. One of the things I am suffering from is Avascular Necrosis which is part of the ball end of my femur is dying because it is not receiving proper blood flow. To deal with this I am going for surgery this Wednesday to have the following done. Core decompression. (In this operation, your surgeon removes part of the inner layer of your femur bone. This relieves pressure within your bone, reducing your pain. The extra space allows your bone to form new blood vessels and stimulate the production of new bone. Core decompression works best in people with early-stage avascular necrosis.) This hopefully will rid me of the horrific pain I am dealing with right now. If this does not work then I am looking at a full hip replacement.

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank the tatting community for all your thoughts and support during this horrible time. It has really helped. I will keep everyone updated.



Clyde

Finally, Back to Tatting

These two hearts where made using a pattern from The Tarnished Tatter. The heart was designed as a fund raiser for Tracy who was diagnosed with breast cancer. The pattern can be found here. Along with the heart you will find other patterns and links to her many books. Be sure to visit her blog, I know you will find something fun to tat.

I Will Survive

I am letting people know about what has happened to me with the hope that it saves anyone who reads this blog or there friends from going through my horrible experience. I am not looking for sympathy and am not doing it because of the poor me's but I just hope it saves someone from having to go through the misery I am going through.
To give you a bit of history I am a 48 year old male who has a severe case of osteoporosis. 8 weeks a go I was helping my partner lift a ladder and when we where done I had a sharp pain in my hip. The next day the pain was worse so I saw my doctor and she referred me to an orthopedic surgeon who x rayed my back and hip and then did a MRI. His conclusion was that there was no breaks and just a slightly herniated disc that should calm down and I would be fine. Over the next 8 weeks I returned to see the doctor 3 times and was in excruciating pain. I was only able to walk a couple steps using two canes, without stopping because of the pain. The most sleep I got in a night during the 8 weeks was 2 hours a night. Finally on my third visit to the doctors I stressed that I could not go on with the pain I was in and she told me there was no reason for the pain it was just in my head. I did not leave the appointment and insisted on how serious it was and that she has 5 days to find out why I was in so much pain. She finally agreed to send me for a nuclear bone density scan of my body. Last Thursday I had my scan and they found that my hip is indeed broken. I see the surgeon today to find out what they are going to do about it. I called my osteoporosis specialist and told him what had happened and he told me that he has had a few cases in his practice where this has happened. I cannot begin to explain the hell I have gone through in the past 8 weeks with pain. It is something I want to try and save anyone I know from.
My reason for telling you this is if you have osteoporosis and you think you have broken something because of the pain, if they do an x ray and a catscan or MRI and do not come up with a satisfactory answer insist on a nuclear bone scan as it will find things the other tests can miss. This also goes for other health problems if you do not get a satisfactory answer insist on more tests or second opinions until you get the proper answer. Remember it is you we are talking about here and you are worth it.

Update:

The top of my femur bone is not getting enough blood to grow. I go for a MRI on Saturday October 31 and then see my surgeon on November 5 to decide which surgery I need. If it is a small area of the bone they will try drilling holes in the bone to increase blood flow but the surgeon feels that what is going to happen is a full hip replacement. This is complicated by my severe osteoporosis. I will update next Thursday.

Rock and Gem Show

A hobby that Gregg and I have is collecting rocks, semi-precious stones and fossils. We went to a show a couple of weekends a go and found a vendor with very reasonable prices and where able to add some interesting pieces to our collection. I was very happy to be able to purchase this large piece of Desert Rose that measures about 12" long x 8" deep x 7" high. It is so nice to have a rock specimen large enough to use as a table centre piece and conversation piece. Below is a short slide presentation of some other pieces that we purchased to add to our collection.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I hope you enjoyed the show and keep and eye on this blog for future shows of our Rock, Gem and Fossil collections. Happy tatting everyone and be sure to mention this blog to your friends.