my family is taking granny's death pretty hard. the fact that she lived with them for the past six months really makes it more difficult, b/c before that we just saw her on holidays. now it was an every day thing, even ever hour thing for them, and every week for me. in addition to all the grief over that, we have had some bad news about my grandfather's (mom's dad, and now my only remaining grandparent)health. a few weeks ago before granny died, mom and dad went to visit grandpa in paducah, and he had a heart attack while they were out to dinner. after several tests and some questions about having surgery, they discovered that he has an aortic aneurysm. the doctor said that if were to have surgery, he could pretty much guarantee that he would not make it through the procedure. so basically, grandpa could drop dead at any moment--he is in great health otherwise, but if his heart pumps blood wrong or too hard or if he gets too stressed, it could kill him. my parents didn't tell me about this until last night, but they found out the day that granny died. he came to the funeral and they told me later that they honestly thought he was going to die during the funeral.. at this point everyone is just trying to carry on as usual. my parents went and saw him and went ahead and discussed all the "final things" just to be prepared, but he could go on for a long time still. it's just a matter of time honestly.
okay...let's be positive now. i went to a new dr. in franklin, tn today to look into biologically familiar hormone replacement therapy. the dr. who founded this practice had pretty much exactly what i have--got sick w/mono and just never got better and it progressed into cfs. this type of therapy is not offered very often as it is a natural and more of a holistic-type procedure (as opposed to synthetic hormones most often used and studied by most physicians) and is considered an elective procedure so they don't file insurance (yikes!--the do give you the information to file a claim yourself, and we all know i have experience in that area!). they sent me for a bunch of labs a few weeks ago and then we analyzed the results when i got there. the main thing that they look for when treating cfs/fibro patients is testosterone levels. i never would have thought it before, but mine were super low. apparently they are supposed to be in the 120-140 range for women, and mine were at 21!! so now i have a hormone pellet implanted in my hip and we will see if it helps--i go for a second set of labs in 3 weeks, and then have a follow-up visit if i am not feeling better where they will supplement the implant. i am cautiously optimistic about this. i would love to feel better but i still have some questions that i forgot to ask--most importantly, if this works, will i have to get itconsistently for my health to be better, or will my body start producing testosterone again on it's own? here's hoping that it works!
i have still been baking bunches and will post soon with some of my recipes and some of my recent orders. i also started a cake decorating class! we did our first cake this week and, though i was lazy with mixing the icing colors and only did red & blue, i am proud of how it came out for my first try! the cake recipe that i made was super yum though--i was just bummed out to have to use the class buttercream icing recipe instead of something yummier. my printing needs a lot of work, but it is better than my normal handwriting at least!
also, i have continued to amass a ridiculous amount of cookbooks. most ofthese are from the past 2 months!
okay...let's be positive now. i went to a new dr. in franklin, tn today to look into biologically familiar hormone replacement therapy. the dr. who founded this practice had pretty much exactly what i have--got sick w/mono and just never got better and it progressed into cfs. this type of therapy is not offered very often as it is a natural and more of a holistic-type procedure (as opposed to synthetic hormones most often used and studied by most physicians) and is considered an elective procedure so they don't file insurance (yikes!--the do give you the information to file a claim yourself, and we all know i have experience in that area!). they sent me for a bunch of labs a few weeks ago and then we analyzed the results when i got there. the main thing that they look for when treating cfs/fibro patients is testosterone levels. i never would have thought it before, but mine were super low. apparently they are supposed to be in the 120-140 range for women, and mine were at 21!! so now i have a hormone pellet implanted in my hip and we will see if it helps--i go for a second set of labs in 3 weeks, and then have a follow-up visit if i am not feeling better where they will supplement the implant. i am cautiously optimistic about this. i would love to feel better but i still have some questions that i forgot to ask--most importantly, if this works, will i have to get itconsistently for my health to be better, or will my body start producing testosterone again on it's own? here's hoping that it works!
i have still been baking bunches and will post soon with some of my recipes and some of my recent orders. i also started a cake decorating class! we did our first cake this week and, though i was lazy with mixing the icing colors and only did red & blue, i am proud of how it came out for my first try! the cake recipe that i made was super yum though--i was just bummed out to have to use the class buttercream icing recipe instead of something yummier. my printing needs a lot of work, but it is better than my normal handwriting at least!
also, i have continued to amass a ridiculous amount of cookbooks. most ofthese are from the past 2 months!
i have a shopping problem, we all know, so i have firmly decided that i am not allowed to buy anymore!!!! done. done. done. i am at least using them now, as i have made a rule for myself that i have to bake & cook from cookbooks/cooking magazines that i have rather than looking online. some of the purchases (actually several) were right after granny died as some retail therapy, and i did return a few that i decided weren't worth it. i don't pay full price though--always at discount stores or book clubs--please don't judge me!! *hangs head in shame*
i think that's it for now. i will update later with more baking stuff--so far i have sold 5 pies/tarts and have a few more orders for this month. i have also decided that the price for my sourdough bread will be 3.50/loaf, so let me know if you want some! and stay tuned for more cake decorating adventures!
i think that's it for now. i will update later with more baking stuff--so far i have sold 5 pies/tarts and have a few more orders for this month. i have also decided that the price for my sourdough bread will be 3.50/loaf, so let me know if you want some! and stay tuned for more cake decorating adventures!
Oh Sarah!! I feel like there's so much going on in your life right now!! Your poor grandpa! And, I hope the implant works too. I want you to feel better.
ReplyDeleteI'm so pumped that you're taking the cake decorating class. Yum.
I am sorry you are going through a difficult time right now; I recently lost my grandmother last month, so I know how you feel
ReplyDelete