Sunnybrook not so sunny

Since the severe reactions and my body rejecting the meds in December and January, I've had to set up drug allergy testing at Sunnybrook Hospital. For those not in the GTA, that's way across the city, driving along the super-highway named 401, the busiest in North America, and not something I fancy!

So, date made in early March for June 8th, at 7:30 am. Psyched myself up for the drive and managed it with not too much stress - other than the borrowed GPS sucky cup thingy dropping off in the middle of the drive and scaring me half to death!

Arrived at the Hospital at 7:00 am with nobody yet waiting, which was very pleasing, knowing that the 5 hour ordeal can start pretty soon! Until I tried to report to the office and was faced by an irate woman, who told me there were no tests scheduled for June 8th, that she has been there for three months and there never has been a test for that date.

When I pulled out the original sheet with the handwritten notes (by the clinic attendant, no less, very distinct handwriting), showing exactly that date, she became even more agitated, told me she was alone, had no nurse, and what did I want her to do?

My reply that I had sent a fax two days before the test, to list meds and supplements and to ask if any should be dropped for the allergy test on June 8, she tersely said she gets 40 faxes a day, has no time to look at them all, and is "a lone paper-hanger".

Yes, I've filed complaints with the hospital immediately, but still haven't heard back (3 days later). So wrote a letter and mailed that off today. I have to go back next Friday for the test to take place, even though the original nurse told me that drug allergy testing is only done on Wednesdays. Hopefully this one will be confirmed properly before the trek is attempted again!

Positive notes: I braved the 401 and survived it without making dents in the steering wheel and chewing lips and cheeks to pieces! So, it is a practice run for the next three times to go for three different allergy tests (Zithromax, Penicillin and Cephalosporins).

Trying to cope with the new regimen

The last month has been a whirlwind!
In March, my treatment in Canada has been halted unexpectedly. Eye infections came fast and hard, 6 in less than 5 weeks, one landing me in ER. More dramas happened and I knew I was in trouble.

On May 3rd I managed to see a Lyme doctor in the States (7 hours away), who diagnosed me with two co-infections, Bartonella and Babesia. She gave a heap of prescriptions, which I had to try and fill in Canada or order and pay for myself.

The severly strict diet is not fun, and an ongoing process to try and prevent the shakes and light-headedness as my blood-sugar falls. These Lyme bugs thrive on sugar, so starving myself from even the smallest bit of sugar, helps to starve them too.

The meds and supplements take hours to sort out and put into containers to try and keep them straight. Here's a view of some of them to take every day (in the foreground), minus the 4 liquid supplements, the probiotics and another vitamin.

It is an adventure trying to keep them straight, since some must be taken first thing, some 20 minutes before a meal, some not with another, one with a full meal, the probiotics of course an hour apart from any antibiotic ... Fun!

I firmly believe that the Auum Omega3 Sublingual oil I started using in June 2009, helped more than just a little to protect my brain from the ravaging effects of the Lyme spirochetes, and helped my energy levels and thought processes. My testimonial is online, if you want to read that. And if you want to try Auum yourself (only available in Canada), please let me know.
CLICK: Auum Omega3 Oil Choose the "Adults" tab - currently the 2nd entry on the page. The video clip can be played if you like to hear more. Auum is also used successfully for ADD, ADHD, Autism, Aspergers, and others.

Lyme Awareness Walk in Virginia Beach, May 21

No postings on the blog during the last two weeks, while we were on vacation. However, while we were away, friend Amanda in Virginia Beach cajoled family and friends to join her on a Lyme Awareness Walk. She wanted T-shirts, so I ordered from trusty Vistaprint to be delivered at her address.

There were over 200 walkers, and the first effort brought in several thousand $ to be used for research, etc!

I'm so very grateful to the five of you for walking and spreading awareness. Thank you!

Another meal - eggplant

Some friends wanted to know how the new restricted diet is going.
Well, inventing all new things as we go along!

Last night's meal was a concoction of fried onion and garlic, eggplant sliced in and nicely softened in cold pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO). It looked a bit bland, so in went the trusty green standby, broccoli!

It was great, just enough for a meal, and followed by fresh berries (strawberries, blackberries and blueberries) with a little Stevia, really hit the spot.

Combination picture quickly made, not prettied up with any shadows.

When Arno came in much later from his seminar, he was sniffing the air and commenting on how good it smelled!

Starting the restricted Lyme diet (doctor's orders)

With the added diagnoses of Babesia and Bartonella infections, the doctor was serious about me sticking to a very strict diet to starve the bugs and support the antibiotics: No yeast, sugar, white flour, cheese, mushrooms, overripe fruit, alcohol in any form, and a few other things. For the anaemia, eat red meat and have as much green veggies as possible.

So - we went shopping to see what we could find. It is not easy to find something that has all three the requirements of no yeast, no sugar and no white flour! But we managed and I baked some muffins last night. Should have added Stevia (sweetener) to the mix and not just the poppy seeds and lemon juice!

Picture of some of the items we bought. The blue box is the Stevia sweetener, for when needed. I've given up most sugar anyway, but it would be nice to add to home-made tomato sauce for pasta, and we've added it to home-made lemonade as well.

Breakfast was the usual IsaGenix shake with berries. Lunch (too late, though - was feeling very wobbly by then as the blood pressure plummeted) was brown rice, broccoli and red pepper and Arno put a steak on the bbq with just Montreal spice on it. Fried onions on top - bug-busting capabilities in onions and garlic!
Isn't it pretty?

Since it was Mother's Day, Theo wanted to cook a special meal. He did his best to stay within the restrictions, even though I told him I won't keel over just yet! He made it all mostly green --- in "honour" of Lyme Disease month. Made his own pesto sauce which I enjoyed on the salad, and the grilled chicken was delicious! Dessert was fresh strawberries, sprinkled with a little bit of Stevia.

All in all, not a bad day of sticking to the rules! I'll miss the potatoes yet, and the mushrooms, not to mention the cheese ... but at least eggs are allowed!

After the Lyme Rally

YESSSS! We did it!! About 50 or 60 of us, several with canes, some in wheelchairs, others supported by family and friends, gathered at Parliament Hill, Ottawa on May 6. The weather was beautiful, and all of us could find hope, support, love and shared stories in the process. Trudy, you done good, girl!

Trudy, with the cane, arranged the rally. To the right is James Christie, who has suffered from Lyme for 21 years, but with the help of Steve (picture link at the end of this entry), is hopefully well enough, stubborn enough, and planning to cycle 2000 km around Ontario to bring Lyme Awareness.

We want a few basic rights: To have better tests, more awareness, support for the disease, and the right to be treated in Ontario / Canada instead of having to go to the USA. Read the signs --- and know, whenever you meet a Lymie, no matter how good they seem to be, there is always, always pain. We learn to hide it well!

Pictures: LYME RALLY IN OTTAWA

If you want one of the T-shirts, please read the next entry in this blog, just below this one, or click on the right of the page to go to the earlier entries.

Link to the radio interview with Goldhawk on "Goldhawk Fights Back" was recorded by a friend, will be cleaned up from ads and the download link added to the blog soon if anyone is interested.

T-shirt and buttons for the Ottawa Lyme Rally

Struggled with yet another neglected Lyme-related eye infection in the left eye last week. Opthalmologists didn't know what to do. Hopefully help will be coming from a doctor in the USA, who went out of his/her way to arrange a cancelled appointment for me. (I'm keeping it ambiguous for protection. Don't think we're paranoid. We've been proven right and we're doing our best to protect our few LLMDs left (Lyme-Literate Medical Doctors).

We spent the weekend, among other things, making a few T-shirts for the Ottawa rally. As it happens, next Sunday will also be Crazy T-shirt day at church, and I can use the same shirt for that, as well as boost May as Lyme Awareness month in Brampton!

There might be three extra T-shirts left, all size Large, if you would like one. Just to cover my costs, $12 should do it. Let me know if you want one, please?

BUTTONS
Also made about a dozen of these buttons below, three slightly different designs, all featuring the green ribbon and the legend "May is Lyme Awareness Month". Those should go for about $1.50 to cover costs. The paper inside is transfer paper, so can also be used to iron onto the pocket of a T-shirt or something later if you wish. Size is about 2.5 inch / 7 cm in diameter.

Let's make this May a very Lyme Aware month! Never know when the knowledge might help save someone else's life or sanity.

Awakening for Easter

Easter Sunday -- such a most excellent day was today! Full of energy, good hope, and fewer symptoms. Just for today, a good day.

Saw a healer on Tuesday, got lots of supplements, and have been using them along with the Auum oil and Oreganol for the past few days. If they helped, then great, but I think the main improvement was the re-discovery of hope again, and the sloughing off of the feeling of sorrow and probably a sort of mourning since March 17.

The music in church was so great, and singing the beloved songs, to be with the Easter people - how very blessed I am to be fighting Lyme Disease with the help of those who care and support!

Thank you, my friends.

Lyme Disease Rally in Ottawa - May 6

Things are coming together for our Lyme Awareness effort on Friday, May 6, 2011, in Ottawa!

(Click on the picture for a bigger one if you want to print or share.)

We need to ask for awareness for the public, for better and earlier tests to detect Lyme Disease, for research so that more is known about this fast-spreading infection, and for protection of patients and the doctors who treat them.

If you can join us, please do!!

Lyme walk in Virginia Beach, May 21, 2011

May is Lyme Awareness month.
Great big thank you to my friend Amanda, her husband Paul and their son Edwill for getting together a group to take part in the Lyme Walk in Virginia Beach!
She asked for my picture to put on their T-shirts, but the closest I could get was to use an image of my familiar, so to speak, the meerkat.

I can load a bigger version of the image if anyone else wants to use it on a T-shirt or something --- and my thanks to all, for getting the message across.

The walk is officially called, Walk to Defeat Lyme Disease. More information can be found on the link here if you are interested.


PARLIAMENT HILL, OTTAWA
** In Canada, there will be lots of walks and rallies going on. Join us in Ottawa at Parliament Hill if you are anywhere near there on May 6, 2011!
More information and time for the rally can be found on the link here.

To see a bigger view of this poster on the right, please click HERE.
Thanks for reading and sharing!

Healing Prayer Meeting

There is not much time to update the blog, but this graphic was quickly made, from a gift given today, and the greater gift of a group of friends taking time from their own busy lives to share in a healing prayer meeting for me. My appreciation can not be expressed, for all the care and concern so freely and warmly given.

Sweet jam of summer

 

Three days this week - three different kinds of berry jam.
First we picked wild blackberries in the rain on Sunday, fighting off mosquitoes. The jam was cooked on Monday - my first try at blackberry jam.

Tomato jam is from the tomatoes from friend Valerie J's garden. With little slivers of ginger, it is comfort food for us, and something so many of our Canadian friends have never heard of, but are willing and eager to taste and to adopt.

Our raspberry bushes are literally covered in berries! So, today it was the turn of this wonderful fruit that we first tasted fresh here in 1997. As soon as we had our own house, we planted four --- but by now they have taken over the back yard, and we gladly share with squirrels, birds and sometimes friends!

Quilled frog pond

Because of the Lyme disease, I've lost a lot of fine motor skills and strength in my hands. For moths I haven't touched any artistic projects, since it was just too disconcerting and upsetting to have my eyes all blurry and the hands not doing what they were supposed to do!

However, being on the antibiotics has created another set of problems, but I've regained much of the use of my hands, as well as other benefits.

A weekend ago, I tried my hand at quilling again. Nothing fancy, and just playing, using old CDs as the base. The finished project is not as "tidy" as I would have wished, because the application of Mod Podge at the end relaxed the paper more then planned, so the coils opened - but since the theme is water with ripples all over the place, I guess it doesn't matter.


The edge consists of a double layer of "rocks" made of different combinations of brown and cream strips. The water has different colours and I tried to make the rings even more irregular by folding the paper before rolling it, where the frog dives in. I'll add some more green leaves to the one big water lily.

The base has about 5 old CDs glued together. The top is covered with a layer of paper, to which I've applied Mod Podge before starting to glue down the quilling.
The frogs were all made separately, sealed with Mod Podge and allowed to dry before applying to the CDs.

Everything is paper, except the CDs and the googly eyes!

It was fun to make, and forcing the stubborn hands to do the same movement over and over again, while knowing that the rocks and circles didn't have to be completely uniform in this case.

Grab Life

Wasp dipping in
Originally uploaded by MeerkatMarlene

The short night was made shorter because of two girl cats wanting attention early, and then arguing over it in the middle of the bed, between us. They made no sound, but their bouncing around is enough to wake up the sleepers!

So, upsa-daisy and the morning started with talking and laughter, with all three guys home to go do some special work at some or other company. They'll probably be gone all day. I cuddled the bunny, emptied the dishwasher, wiped up some rabbit pellets, got some rabbit hugs, toasted the Bulla for breakfast and fed the cheeky squirrels outside. Yes I know that's not how others eat Bulla, but we love it toasted, with butter, all crunchy and comforting! It is one of the new additions to our diet, discovered in the last few years.

With the menfolk gone, the house quieted down -- ironing calls, dusting and vacuuming and straightening up should be done.

Camera in hand, I found a busy wasp dipping his head completely into a raspberry blossom, holding onto the find with both paws, and not caring that hair was sticking up, bottom swaying from side to side - just embracing what is given!

SOOC -- Straight out of the Camera Saturday. Thanks, Melody, for your inspiration on "Slurping Life"!

Pet collection

Our pets amuse and amaze us, give us love and companionship. We've always had pets, but when we came to Canada in 1997 and lived in an apartment, we had no animal friends. We could only take it for seven months before adopting Patches and a few hamsters for the boys!

Since then, we've always had pets. And Arno, who grew up with dogs, is now a confirmed cat lover!

After Patches went over the Rainbow Bridge, we adopted Chatter. He is almost 9 years old now. He is very big, and very tall as well! Usually almost impossible to take his picture because his features just disappear, this one was snapped last night thanks to some tweaks on the camera. Even his single white whisker on his left can be seen!



A year after Chatter, Essie followed. She was about 2 pounds when we got her (all our cats are from shelters) and she was scared stiff. Now she thinks she owns the house! Her eyes are always closed in pictures, but last night, thanks to camera tweaks, this one could be snapped while she was playing on the bed.


Dusty (Destiny) is a Ragdoll cat - never thought we'd ever have one of these placid darlings! She is a sweetheart, and incredibly mild-tempered. Her colouring is amazing.



Goomba is Jenni and Theo's lop-eared rabbit, but we have cuddling rights. He was resting quietly for a few minutes and this picture was possible.

Thought for the day: When a cat is purring and sleeping on your lap, you shall remain seated for as long as it takes!

Caressing Cloud

Caressing Cloud
Originally uploaded by MeerkatMarlene

There was a storm with lightning - which I love -- but a man was struck by lightning and killed during the storm.
I kept thinking about it, while trying to take pictures of our friendly softball game, played with clouds and sunshine taking turns.
And then this gentle hand appeared,
smoothing out the dark, angry clouds,
softly saying, "I'm here, I am your comfort, and I'll dry all the tears."

The picture stayed with me all night, and was the first thing I thought about when waking up this morning, along with a prayer for the family in their loss.

Pledge for today: be gentle with the loved ones, every day.

(SOOC, no changes, just watermark added)

First SOOC shot - Green and red

Frustrated with the lack of creativity, the battle with the exhaustion of Lyme disease and trying to function every day, I stumbled on a blog called "Slurping Life" - it immediately struck a cord, although it took a while to find out what SOOC means! (Straight Out of the Camera; in other words, undedited.) And I'm still not sure how to share any of the pictures taken with her blog, but I grabbed the camera, kept an eye on the building thunderclouds and started crawling around the back yard.

The picture here was untouched, other than adding my watermark. Upon opening it on the computer, I noticed the grub, adding another bit of texture to the combinations already caught in the frame!

Another boody test

lAm so sick of doctors, tests and the like. I've been saying that for a long time, but it is becoming a real issue. Don't want to see another doctor, don't want to have more radiation, don't want to know what else is going on. Been putting off going for three months, I guess, but this arm is becoming a problem. I was so afraid it would get frozen shoulder, though, that I kept moving it gently, and stretching it somewhat. Seems it was the right thing to do.

Left arm / shoulder has been agony for about three months. Not constantly, but every now and again, a certain movement would leave me gasping for breath. Sometimes the movement would cause me to go blind with pain, drop to all fours no matter where I am, and stand panting like an animal to gain control again. Whole left arm would be left numb with pain any time as bad as labour pains. Fortunately they don't last that long! After a few minutes, the arm would start throbbing and then life would start to come back. Once the pain is gone, it is gone completely and the arm is fine - until I move it in that wrong way again. I've been careful, but it still happens.

  I went for soft tissue ultrasound yesterday (been carrying the request form in my Lyme binder for six weeks, kept hoping it would improve or go away). Arno has been forcing me to go; he had seen the results of the pain a few times; there is no hiding it. They sent me for an X-ray immediately afterwards. Seems there's fluid in the shoulder. I didn't get the full results, but the lady was talking to me. When I said I had Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lyme disease, she said something about "having all the complications on top of it". I don't think it is serious enough for surgery. Will fight that. I'll have to wait for the doctor to give me final results, but know enough from X-rays and stuff to have recognized the pockets of fluid and to ask her directly.

http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/rotatorcuff/a/shbursitis_2.htm

Your falling-to-pieces green friend.

Wild Spring Storm!

It turned dark, TV and radio warned about thunderstorms,. high winds and hail approaching, and then the next moment it arrived!

I ran outside to get some pictures and a video clip, if you want to see.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The story of a Woggle

Well, it is ages since I last posted on this blog - life seems to get in the way!
But there has been this discussion about a Woggle on a friend's blog - and I promised to upload the sketch of this elusive creature!

Here you go:
A Woggle!

This is what I wrote ten years ago about the Woggles:

This is a woggle!!!

See, here is a sketch of one, done by John. The kids couldn't see the woggles, and they were not quick enough whenever we did spot one.
Also, one time we were at a service station on the Motorway, and we saw a whole gaggle of them! They were running all over the place, but the boys couldn't see them ....

To help you identify one next time you see one, here is a sound file, taped in the Lake District. [Actually, you can hear it on John's Blog; link below]

Woggles are small and covered in purple fur. They live all over the place. But you can't see them if you try to look for them. You have to look out of the corner of your eye.

Do you think you'll spot them next time?

See, Sus Evy in Canada was told about the woggles, and then a whole "subculture" grew around these elusive creatures. In the Lake District, we tried to catch one to take a picture for Evy - and - well, you heard the outcome of that on the sound file! Sus Evy never did get to see a picture of one - only this sketch.

** John's Blog post about the Woggles, and the Ladies Over The Water. Read the comments to find the link to the sound file.