Drink and be wary

I meant to blog last week, really. But I didn’t bank on a minor medical mess getting in the way of that.

As I mentioned earlier, my gastroenterologist had me schedule some more tests after my unfortunate GI problems didn’t clear up. One of those tests, just a regular old CT scan to look at my pancreas, was Wednesday morning. It meant getting up at 5 a.m. to start drinking the barium shake (foul-tasting stuff, see photo) so my insides would show up nicely on the x-ray. No problem, I thought; I’ll chug it, sleep a little more, then head to the hospital to get the scan over with.

I arrived on time, did my paperwork, changed into hospital scrubs, and got my IV put in for the contrast dye that, when injected during the scan, reacts with the barium to produce all the fun images on the film. That went fine. You get a very warm sensation as it’s happening, but it’s nothing particularly uncomfortable. When it was all over, the CT technician asked me if I was experiencing any tightness in my throat or itching. And at that time, I wasn’t. So he sent me off to change back into my own clothes.

It’s a good thing there was a mirror in the dressing room. As I was pulling my shirt on, I noticed that my face was slowly turning bright pink. As in the color it takes on after I’ve had a drink (yes, I’m one of those Asians without the enzyme that breaks down alcohol) but more so. As I peered into the mirror, I watched the pink stain spread down my neck toward my chest. Uh oh, I thought. Not good.

I went back to find the CT technician, who took one look at me and said, “Well, I think we’re going to have to keep you here a little longer.” He showed me to a large chair and handed me a very tall glass of water. “Drink this,” he said. “Sometimes people have a little reaction to the dye. We’ll just get your kidneys kick-started so they’ll pull it out of your bloodstream. Just sit tight, and I’ll check on you in five minutes.”

Now I know what an allergic reaction looks and feels like. My sisters and I each have our allergens that produce full-body swelling when we get exposed. So the feeling creeping down my body as I obediently downed the water was very familiar -- and it wasn’t going to go away without proper antihistamines. By the time the CT tech returned, the hives were progressing down my arms. “Hmm, I’m going to go get the doctor,” he said.

Sigh.

They kept me for another thirty minutes to “monitor my reaction,” asking me to drink even more water. By the time they were ready to release me, I’d had nearly a quart of it, to no avail -- the hives were all the way to my knees. So they sent me home with two tabs of Benadryl with strict instructions to call 911 if I “experienced any shortness of breath, increased swelling, or other symptoms.”

Of course, since I had to drive myself, I couldn’t take the Benadryl until I got home. It worked very quickly, but it also knocked me out -- for six hours. I think I fell asleep on the couch around 10 a.m., dozed intermittently, and woke up after 4 with a massive headache. And a first thesis installment deadline 24 hours away. I had a good number of pages written, but they needed serious attention. So, no blogging until I got that done.

The installment has been sent, and I’m happy to say I’m back to normal (no more hives, headache, or haziness). Can’t say I quite feel great about the writing, but more on that later. Feedback from my advisor is forthcoming. As for the CT results, I’m hoping to have them before my endoscopy, which is in just over two weeks. So much to look forward to …

Recent reveille-ations, or the diva cracks the whip

So it turns out that Jada is very much a morning kitty. And by morning I mean any time after 3 a.m.

Within her first week here, we've gradually introduced her to more and more areas of the house such that she now has the freedom to wander around most of it, but at night, we keep her in the upper hall and the laundry room just so she doesn't get herself into too much trouble while we're not supervising her. This has worked out well, except that the upper hall is not soundproof. So in the predawn hours, when Jada decides it's time to get us out of bed with her dulcet but insistent meows, it's impossible not to hear her.

The good thing, though, is that she does get me out of bed, and I've found that I do my most focused work before D is up -- no distractions, just me and my (small) bowl of cereal, a mug of freshly brewed coffee, and my laptop. And since Jada's become friendlier, she'll accept an invitation to snooze across my knees while I'm typing away. (Yes, she wakes us up not for her breakfast but just to have company.) It's not a bad deal: a warm kitty cuddled against my body in exchange for early morning thesis work. Really, I should thank her for the progress she's helping me make ...

We've also determined that Jada is quite the butterball -- she came to the shelter at nine pounds and entered our care with an additional three! So we've been asked to get her moving to help her avoid any further weight gain (I have great sympathy). D is in charge of exercising Jada as he's really good at enticing her to stalk and pounce on things, and a few days ago, he decided to see how interested she'd be in some Mardi Gras beads. Well, she was interested:


Just not in chasing them.

At the end of a rough day

... you can't be that down if you have a kitty in your lap.

Jada has been a bit skittish about being picked up or held in any way for the first week here, so we've tried to limit our contact with her to petting and scratching around her neck or under her jaw (she makes cranky noises otherwise). We'll offer our hands to her so she can sniff them, and when she's feeling friendly, she'll thrust her head into our fingers and rub it around.

So today I had my follow-up appointment with the doctor who put me on Pancrecarb back in July. On his instructions, I stopped taking it at the end of August, but my symptoms (I'll spare you the details) came back with a vengeance within a week and a half. Which means that the problem hasn't resolved itself. Sometimes a bacterial infection can throw the whole system out of whack temporarily, and Pancrecarb can help your body do what it's supposed to while its inner workings return to normal over a few months; since that didn't happen, we need to do some tests to look for other causes. Not what I hoped would be the outcome of this trial, but it is what it is.

I came home pretty unhappy about the tests that are now in my near future, among them, an endoscopy with some biopsies. That in particular shouldn't be a difficult procedure, according to the nice little information packet the nurse gave me after the doctor and I had talked -- I'll be sedated -- but it is unsettling all the same. Of course, we've got company at home right now (D's brother and the brother's fiancée, who've just gone to bed) so I haven't had the chance to sit with the thoughts in my head until this moment.

When I did finally get to plop down on the couch, Jada appeared. And she put her front paws on my knees and asked with a little meow to be picked up -- a first for her since she's been so reluctant to be touched. I lifted her into my lap and let her stand there, looking around from her new vantage point. Then she arranged herself very deliberately over my knees and cuddled down for a nap. I've been typing as carefully as I can so as not to disturb her -- it's such a nice feeling to have her so close.

So like I said, you can't be that down at the end of a rough day if you have a kitty in your lap. Especially one that gives you her trust as a present when you most need something to comfort you. Too bad she can't come with me for the procedure!

Photo by Marketing Sis

A restorative weekend

The title says it all: our stay at the B&B was bliss.

D and I were there for only one night, but the place was so tranquil and relaxing that you would have thought we'd been there for three by the time we left. The inn itself is a converted 1920s farmhouse with all renovations done by the couple that runs the place -- including the refinished woodwork, lighting, updated kitchens and baths, and a second floor addition. The grounds were also completely transformed by them from dry, open fields to shady tree-lined expanses of grass surrounding a sizable duck pond and antique barn. The whole place was clearly a labor of love -- it's been hosting guests for just over one year but it took seven to bring it all to fruition.

We weren't able to check in until after 3 p.m., so before that, we got lunch at the local greasy spoon and then went to a pick-your-own vegetables produce farm (one of many in the area). More on that later; it deserves its own post.

We also checked out several wineries. Most had free tastings, and one even offered special nibbles (as well as, more importantly, the recipes for them) to pair with what was on the pour list. We had a lovely time talking with the people running the tastings (especially here) -- no wine snobbery, just fun and interesting chit-chat about the region, tourism, and the ins and outs of running a family business.

We got to the B&B in the early evening, which gave us time to go for a leisurely walk around the duck pond before dinner and take a few photos as the sun was beginning to set. D also scoped out places he wanted to return to in the morning for more pictures. Here are some of the shots we ended up with.

First, the outdoor seating. These spots have a view of the gardens and apple trees at the back of the house. When we arrived, the owner had votives burning in hurricane lamps by every cluster of chairs, which set a lovely mood.




The duck pond is a short stroll from the house in a field surrounded by a rustic wood fence covered in roses.





On the other side of the inn, an old barn houses curios and antique machinery. My favorite item is the little wooden horse in the loft.



I'll close with my favorite shot, an old wheelbarrow we found hidden among some purple sage. I think this sort of embodied the aura of the whole place: a retreat from time at its usual pace, a sanctuary in tune with the land it's built upon, a home that's both luxurious and lived-in. The idea of work isn't hidden here -- you see and appreciate the effort that goes into creating such a beautiful space, the not quite nine decades of history that have given it its charm -- so the rest you take in its presence is that much richer.


We'll definitely keep this on our list of favorite getaway destinations -- perhaps a return visit in the spring once the thesis is done. It'll be a good way to celebrate a year of hard but hopefully worthwhile work.

She's here ...

Meet Jada.

She's not ours to keep, but she's the newest addition to our home -- we decided two weeks ago to become foster parents for kitties from the local animal shelter. Jada is our first resident, and so far, things seem to be going well.

I know I said we wanted to get a cat back when we were shopping for a house, but after a lot of thought, we realized that we weren't in a place where we could give a cat a good permanent home (too much travel, finances prioritized for other things first, etc.). So fostering became the next best option -- we give shelter kitties a place to get extra love and attention a few weeks at a time with all vet care and pet supplies provided, and we do it as our schedule allows. Seems like a win-win situation for everyone involved.

We are total newbies at handling cats (for various reasons, neither D nor I ever had one when we were growing up) so we're learning as we get to know our first charge. Jada seems to be fairly adjusted to us after 36 hours here -- she's eating well and showing interest in the toys we've made for her. We're still learning how to decipher her meows, though. I think we understand her "I'm hungry" pretty clearly, but there are other times when we're not sure if she's alerting us to something amiss in her kitty suite or just asking for some attention. Her mother had to surrender her when she lost her home to foreclosure in April, so Jada was definitely not used to shelter life. She's with us to get a break from that environment.

Speaking of which, we had a lovely break ourselves at the B&B last weekend. More on that soon. For now, I believe I have litterbox duties to attend to ...

Some R&R at a B&B

... is in the very near future for D and me. We're taking a little road trip over the long weekend to see the Cascades, explore Washington wine country and visit friends of ours in Idaho -- the perfect wind-up to summer before I really buckle down with the writing (a whenever-inspiration-hits kind of thing that does not exempt weekends and holidays from its schedule).

I did get some solid hours in this week on a scene (I know, I know, it sounds like so little!). It's evolving. My thesis director is pleased with my approach -- focusing on writing scenes to get at their emotional resonances before anything else -- so no concerns there either. She's also given me a tentative schedule for the semester with work due every three weeks or so, which will be very helpful. For a while, the plan was just that I would submit a big chunk of the manuscript after Thanksgiving, and that had me very nervous as I could see myself procrastinating until the last minute and then turning in something I didn't feel good about.

We've been making progress on our garden as well -- the irises got transplanted two weeks ago as planned and we've found the sprinkler valve at last. So now our poor yellowed grass is slowly coming back to life. To keep the weeds from reclaiming the iris bed, we picked up little perennial mums to create a border. Apparently, they bloom into the fall, so we'll be able to enjoy the color for quite some time. We were also able to get some wonderful lavender plants to flank the flagstones leading up to our front walk, as well as hens-and-chicks to place in between the stones themselves (see below).

It's nice to have something so delightful to nurture as we're putting down our own roots here. I know it'll help with the thesis stress for sure. If I didn't have the whole job search thing that I'm also supposed to be working on right now, I'd almost be able to say I felt like my life was in balance again ...