↑

Archive of ‘arm bands’ category

arm bands, babesia, bartonella, Elizabeth May, IV, spirulina, tired, Zithromax | 3 Comments

Starting Again

I feel like I’ve medically travelled backwards, and I’m on my first few weeks of IV meds, in Connecticut in the fall of 2008. Thank god I’m not as sick as I was back then (high-five for me for having no seizures or black outs! life is so much less exciting now for everyone else around me hahaha). Every drop of medication makes my head hurt and my chest have this weird feeling kind of like heart-burn, if heart-burn was in your literal heart. I know I’m slurring and tripping over words, the wrong phrases mix themselves together and every now and again the wrong fiddle comes out of my ear (fiddle…word….ear…mouth, same difference! work with me here.). I continually make simple errors, and cannot understand some sentences. I’m dropping out and tuning out (and I’m not even on those kinds of drugs!). I even sent out the complete wrong size DryPRO PICC protector (a cover for your IV line when showering) to a customer, which I still feel dreadful about.

In the past, when I’ve been on the IV drugs and the rest of my brain was acting like melting cheeze, it corresponded to a serious drop in my energy level. So I’d be loony and unable to focus, and stuck on the proverbial couch. Not so this time. Is it all the spirulina I’ve been taking? Maybe. Wait, no, it’d better be, because that stuff don’t taste the best if ya know what I mean. I’m not sure, but I’ve still been acting moderately peppy, even though I haven’t been sleeping well, and have been really busy. Meeting with friends, going for walks (or sojourns into nature involving me being pushed around), knitting, sewing, music, repeat. I’ve been making a sweater for my amazing Mama in luscious red Organic cotton.  A touch of lace, a touch of shaping, my raglan design…all the makings of a fantastic garment!

We’ve been planning the last minute details to our trip to Ottawa too. We’ll be meeting with as many MP’s as will see us, so I’ll be needing all my stores of peppiness in the coming weeks. Hopefully, we’ll be able to convince the MP’s we meet to vote ‘Yes!’ with a capital Y and an exclamation point on Elizabeth May’s private members bill on creating a “National Lyme Disease Strategy“. My fellow Canadians, have you talked to your MP about voting ‘yes’? I urge you to share your story (or the story of a friend/family member with Lyme disease) with your MP’s and make it clear to them that you support this bill, and change on this issue. There are undoubtably constituents in every riding across the country with Lyme disease, and if just a fraction of us visit our MP’s and even more people write to their Members of Parliament, we’ll be well on our way to creating change for all Canadians, present and future, battling Lyme Disease.

amy, arm bands, family, travel | 0 comment

Mr. Max Comes to Town

trying to make Maxwell laugh!

Jenn and Andrew and Mr. Max came down to visit over the weekend, and the family had a lovely afternoon together. Max is the sweetest little dude, and he’s growing up so quickly. It feels like he’s ready to take off running or mountain biking any day now :P. I love it when he chatters away to himself in a conversational tone. I wish we didn’t live so far away from everyone…I am getting so used to being able to see everyone all the time. I quite like it!

Amy left this morning and on the train and is en-route back to Ottawa. It was so amazing to be able to visit with her this weekend. I miss my big cuz already. She is just a few clicks away, I know, but Skype just isn’t the same as being able to see someone clearly and have their voice normal, not robo-tized :P.


What with all this relaxing and afternoons of chatting, I have been knitting up quite a storm! I am becoming a regular knitting machine. I have finished so many armbands that I’m kind of losing count. The latest colorway I’ve titled ‘Seascape‘, in reference to the waters off Vancouver Island, and make me a wee bit homesick. Our stay is drawing to a close though, so I’m sure I’ll be singing a different tune in a few days.

Seascape
amy, arm bands, birthday, cupcakes, sick | 1 Comment

Travellers by Train

mint and vanilla
Cuz eating a vegan/gf cupcake with a smile 😛

It just so happened that Amy was able to come down from Ottawa and visit for 2 days this weekend, as she never has classes on Monday. Yay! She took the train down and arrived yesterday evening. We visited a little bit and relaxed at the condo, and then Amy went to stay at Gramma’s house, just down the block! Amy and I had girl time today when we went to pick up early-birthday cupcakes at Kind Food. Yay for girl time :). It is very exciting to be sharing a birthday (almost on the right date!) with my family, because we usually live so far away that this isn’t possible. I have spend a few birthdays with Amy, but obviously I’d love to see her everyday, and on my birthday :). She’s like my big sis, and I love that! 

I feel much more like my “normal” sick self, now that we have been here a few days and the affect of the elevation of flying have worn off. I feel a bit sluggish, like I’m dragging myself along the bottom of a river with each step.

hot pink & lime green
monet’s garden

Something I am enjoying a lot of lately that doesn’t involve a lot of energy on my part is knitting. I have knit several PICC line armbands since I have been here, and they are already up on my Etsy Shop. At this rate I am going to run out of yarn before we get home! Whatever will I do? 😛


My big cuz also helped me out with a rad impromptu photo-shoot for my latest PICC line armbands!

wonder-woman! showing off the Tahitian sunset armband

arm bands, cupcakes, PICC line, yarn | 0 comment

First Sale!!

Last night I got my first order for a PICC line cover through my Etsy shop from a lovely gal in the Mid-West. Needless to say I was over-the-moon jumping-up-and-down excited! I had only finished the armband that day, and hadn’t even had a chance to put it up on Etsy, so that was very quick turn around. I can’t wait to hear her feedback about the armband. Although I wear them myself, and am very self-critical about the product, it will be wonderful to get another opinion from a fellow PICC line user! The armband is already in the hands of Canada Post and on its’ way to a new home. I suppose this officially makes me an entrepreneur! Wow.

lace stitch panels in “Spun”

I know non-knitters could argue that most knitting stores sell the same products, by the same companies and most often in the same popular colorways, but that never feels like the case. There is always something new and exciting, and it would be impossible to remember all the different kinds of yarns available in specific colorways. Spun Fibre Arts is a Burlington store specializing in natural and organic yarns and fleeces for fibre artists! It was heaven. There was a lot of stroking as we strolled/rolled around the store. It just so happened that they had several colors of this cotton/elastic yarn I love to make the IV armbands from in new and exciting colors, and on sale. I can’t find it in any of the 3 knitting shops in Victoria, so I picked up three very beautiful colors; mixed hot pinks, mixed stormy blues, and a teal/purple/lavender/stormy blue striped mix. Hopefully these will soon be transformed from ordinary balls of yarn into something rather unique! I was excited to find a few more stereotypically male colors (blues), because until now I have had mostly  stereotypically girlie colors, and some gender neutral ones. I would love a blue armband myself, however, so I am careful to not always assume that blue/pink are for boys and girls, respectively. That is so last century!

prettttttttyyyyyyy

An equally exciting stop was at KindFood vegan/GF bakery & cafe, where we picked up 4 delectable cupcakes: Mint, Coconut, Chocolate, and Vanilla.

los cupcakes

Oh my goodness. We are saving them for after dinner, which is killing me. Fancies of icing and sprinkles are dancing round in my head. I was a tad bit excited about the whole experience. I’ve decided that at some time in my life, I am going to open a GF Vegan bakery & cafe, although I will need to firm up these plans with an idea of ‘when & where’.

outside the famous KindFood

Nothing could be better than the combination of cupcakes and yarn. Paradise.

arm bands, bakery, PICC line, vegan | 0 comment

Delish!

Sucks to have to do dressing changes on my PICC line, when I’m on vacation! No fair! I wish we could take a wee break and let my arm breathe, but obviously that can’t happen. The little end cap where you ‘plug-in’ a syringe wouldn’t come off yesterday, no matter how much Mum twisted. We went to a home nursing place this afternoon, and asked one of the nice nurses to help unscrew it. Thankfully they managed to get it off okay. I can’t imagine what we would have done if they couldn’t undo it. We also had yet another chance to talk to nurses about Lyme disease, an opportunity we never miss. The nurse’s sister had Lyme, so she was very understanding. I also got to show off my PICC line armbands to an appreciative audience…they thought it was a really cool idea. Maybe when I’m back home I can approach a home care centre about carrying the covers…that would be very cool, don’t you think?

Happy Vegan Food Day everyone. In honour of this very special day, we went to Kind Foods vegan/GF bakery with Gramma, and Mum of course. They were all sold out of cupcakes, but the cookies were delicious!! I also had the most amazing B.L.A.T (fake bac’un, lettuce, avocado and tomato) sandwich on fantastic wheat-free bread. The bac’un was indistinguishable from the real thing, from the texture to the taste. Sensational! Oh my. I could eat that every day, and I never really liked real bacon. WOWWOWWOW.

I have been feeling so hungry inside. It is not usual for me to feel odd sensations, or lack of, in my body, which changes as frequently as the battlefield of Lyme in my body. It is so odd to suddenly feel this way, after not wanting to eat for so long. But no complaints. I feel like gaining weight would make me feel better all-round.

%d bloggers like this: