Saturday, October 28, 2006

Sad.

Weeeeell. I have been away for awhile. It's been a rough two weeks. I was in the hospital for 12 days, suffering from a Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) that ran the length of my left leg. I don't usually talk about things other than knitting here, but this has been the most traumatic thing I've ever been through in my life. I thought I was just having ovarian problems, but it turns out that it was WAY MORE SERIOUS. I am a very active, 23 year old, mostly perfectly healthy girl. I have never smoked anything in my life. I rarely drink. I should not have gotten a blood clot. My only risk factor is that I was on birth control, namely the NuvaRing. IF YOU ARE ON THE NUVARING, STOP RIGHT NOW. Or atleast, seriously reconsider your choice. It seemed like the perfect birth control for me. It cleared up my skin and regulated my very irregular cycle. I only had to worry about it twice a month. However, on their website it states,
"The risk of getting blood clots may be greater with the type of progestin in NuvaRing® than with some other progestins in certain low-dose birth control pills. It is unknown if the risk of blood clots is different with NuvaRing® use than with the use of certain birth control pills."
Apparently, even though they knew the ring may cause more blood clots, they did not perform the studies to see just how much higher the risk would be. My doctor did not tell me that the ring might have a higher risk than the pill. I was on Ortho-Tricyclene Lo for 7 years with no problems. I was on the NuvaRing for 5 months.

I now have 3 stents, 10" long in my iliac vein holding it open so that the blood will flow and not clot. During the 12 days I was in the hospital I had to undergo 6 operations where they put catheters through a shunt in the back of my leg to perform veinograms, angioplasty, bust up the clot with powerful (expensive) drugs, or install metal stents. I was in the intensive care unit for 2 days because there was a danger that I might bleed to death because the drugs were so strong. I was forced to keep my left leg perfectly straight while I was stuck flat on my back for 7 days because I had an 7" shunt in the popliteal vein behind my knee. They had to put two shunts in my vein because after the first time they thought they had fixed me, but the clot came back. It came back despite being on a heprin drip 24/7 into my leg becasue my vein was collapsing. I had every painkiller you can think of in the hospital and they were a godsend because I was in serious pain. Morphine was my best friend. Demoral, phentinol, vicodin, percocet... all of my good friends.

And now I am finally home. I am pretty weak from being in a hospital on bed rest for the majority of 12 days. I have good venous return in my left leg now, thanks to the stents. However, the stents run over the bend in my hip. The continual movement and flexing of the metal stent as I move my leg will eventually cause it to fail and kink. When this happens, my vein will be occluded and I will be plagued by a swollen, painful left leg for the remainder of my life. Stents cannot be removed. Your body internalizes them and grows epithelial cells over the mesh. The stent could fail in 2 weeks or 10 years. No one really knows because they don't usually used them in young people, and especially not over joints. I have to wear a support stocking on my left leg for who knows how long. I have to give myself a daily injection of a anti-coagulant in my tummy. I will eventually have to take a daily oral anti-coagulant for probably a year or so. I will never again go on hormonal therapy. I will always live with the fear of possibly having another DVT. Or worse... throwing a clot and having a Pulmonary Embolism (PE). Or even worse... a stroke.

My life has been forever altered. And I am sad.

See other people's stories here.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Finally!!!

Yay! My mom has finally sent me pictures of the shawl I made for her. It was a birthday present for her. I bought the yarn in Philly when she came to visit me on day and promised to knit her a shawl. The yarn is a lovely variegated green that is definitely her color. The pretty colors and the Lace Leaf pattern made a great combination.
If you look closely you can see Libby's tail (our chocolat lab) in the background...

Specs:

Yarn: Koigu KPPPM ( ???? & P426)
Amount: 225grams
Pattern: Leaf Lace Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark
Needles: US5(?)
Started: April 12th
Finished: August 16th

Close up of the purple scalloped tips of the shawl.

Doesn't the scarf compliment her new coat? And can you see Libby sniffing Shotze??

The sand in this pic is reminiscent of the color of her coat... Cool coincidence.

I really loved knitting this shawl for my mom. It turned out really nice and I'm happy that my mom likes it. Now she is all set for the winter cold. :)

Knitting away...

And now for some recent knitting; tonight I finished the knitting on the pink cabled bag. Now I have to figure out how to put it together with some cute bangle handles and some brown satin ribbon. Also, I have begun swatching for Forecast. Bring on the wool sweater knitting!

Friday, October 13, 2006

TWO!!!

I did it! I finished my first pair of socks. There is a whole pair of them. And they are super cool... er... warm. The first goal of Socktoberfest has been accomplished. :)
Specs:
Yarn: Trekking XXL Colour 69 Olive
Amount: 86grams
Pattern: based on Wendy's generic toe-up pattern with some ribbing thrown in for fun
Needles: US1
Started: August 1st-ish
Finished: October 13th
Too big for even my size 11 feets.

And I finished the wavy scarf! Two socks and two FOs. I feel so productive.
Specs:
Yarn: Elizabeth Lavold Silky Wool (#012 & #008) and Silky Tweed (#02)
Amount: 141grams
Pattern: based on the Misty Garden Scarf from Scarf Style
Needles: US6
Started: September 18th-ish
Finished: October 13th
I really like how this scarf turned out. To tell the truth, I usually think the feather and fan stitch looks very inelegant, but it looks great in these colors and the finer gauge yarn. Very delicate and pretty, but it will still keep the neck warm. Yay!

Now I feel like I can start something new. What shall I choose?? I think I'm going to fix the toe of my Jaywalker first. Then I'm going to start an new sock to get another pair on it's way. And then I'm going to start a sweater. A wool sweater. Because I have a good stash of lovely wool and I'm thinking that the wool sweater knitting season here in SoCal is pretty freakin' short. But then again... there is the lovely chocolate Kidsilk Haze that is call my name ever so sweetly... Decisions... decisions... but what fun decisions to contemplate!

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Let's talk about socks, baby...

I have a problem knitting socks. Exhibit A:
One is the loneliest number.

I have never once completed a pair of socks. I have knit plenty of single socks. I have started single socks and never finished the poor sock.

I am not a good sock knitter.

However, I am trying to change. The first thing is to admit you have a problem... Well. I've admitted it. I understand it. I am too often seduced by other pretty yarns and pretty projects. I get bored with the fact that I have to knit a second sock in the same yarn.

I have taken several actions to change this behavior. Exhibit B:
Socktoberfest 2006!

October is going to be about socks for me. Not just socks, but I'm going to make an effort to pull myself out of the depths of Second Sock Syndrome hell. I am going to finish the Mountain Man Socks and claim a victory as the first pair of socks I have completed. The second sock has already been started and is well on it's way to the heel (See Exhibit A). I am going to fix the toe of my Jaywalkers because I love the yarn and the sock and the pattern. But I do not love the toe. I am going to start a second sock to pair one of the multiple single socks that I posses (either the Bruise Sock or the Summer Sock). And finally, if I finish another pair of socks (beyond the MMS), I will maybe allow myself to start another pair of socks... just to keep it interesting.

P.S. I'm also thinking about picking up a KnitPicks circular needle to see if I would be more satisfied knitting two socks at once. Or even just to try knitting a sock using the magic loop method... I've only used dpns up to this point... No pun intended. :)

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Mandie
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I like pizza. And knitting. And photography. This place is to keep track of my antics. Enjoy.

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