One for Emergiblog

I had this small “Rosie the Riveter” scrap of fabric which reminded me of Kim, Emergiblog.  She did so much to get the medical bloggers together at the Blog World Expo that I decided to make her a small quilt of thanks.  Here it is:

The quilt is machine pieced and quilted.  It is 25 in square.

SurgeXperiences 303 is Up!

 Updated 3/2017-- all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. and it was easier than checking each one.

Dr Bruce Campbell, Reflections in a Head Mirror, is the host of this edition of SurgeXperiences. You can read the “dog days of summer” edition here.

Welcome to the August 9, 2009 edition of surgeXperiences! I'm happy to be hosting again. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, these are the "Dog Days of Summer," so in honor of dogs everywhere, lets chew into the best of the surgical blogosphere. Along the way, we will sniff around a few categories and search for the "Best of Show."

Thanks Dr Campbell for the “vote” for Rusty!

The winner of the "BEST IN SHOW" Trophy: Rusty, who lives at Suture for a Living, is one of the medical blogosphere's beloved mascots (along with a certain lobster and some llamas). Rusty is a contestant in the Top Dog in Arkansas Contest! You can vote for him (registration required) at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's website from now until August 26. Go, Rusty!

The host of the next edition (304), August 23rd, will be Sterile Eye. The deadline for submissions is midnight on Friday, August 21st. Be sure to submit your post via this form.

SurgeXperiences is a blog carnival about surgical blogs. It is open to all (surgeon, nurse, anesthesia, patient, etc) who have a surgical blog or article to submit.

Here is the catalog of past SurgeXperiences editions for your reading pleasure. If you wish to host a future edition, please contact Jeffrey who runs the show here.

Theda Ann Sowell (1934 – 2009)

Updated 3/2017-- photo and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. and it was easier than checking each one.

My mother died peacefully Tuesday, May 19, 2009, in the presence of some of her family.  We were fortunate to have had a lovely Mother’s Day with her.  We had given her a digital camera which she was so very excited about learning to use.  Her grand-daughter Krystal showed her the basics while we ate lunch together.  She promptly took some photos at the restaurant table.  The next morning she was trying to take photos of birds at her bird feeder when she had her heart attack. 

This past week while attending her “deathbed” at the hospital, family and friends came and went, sharing wonderful stories about her and us.  It was a time of grieving, but also of celebration of her life.  We have continued to try to do so as we have gone through the steps of planning the funeral.  We are so very grateful to all our extended family, friends, co-workers, etc who have held us in their thoughts and prayers.  Thank you.

You can read her obituary here and my previous posts here and here.

Family History

Those of you who follow me on twitter know that my mother (74 yo) had a heart attack on Monday. She was seen quickly in a small rural hospital who gave her a “clot-busting” drug which open her right coronary artery back up and prevented/minimized any heart muscle loss. She was then air-evaced to the Arkansas Heart Hospital in Little Rock where she had an angiogram under the care of cardiologist Dr. Carl Leding.

For someone who has been “asymptomatic” it is amazing how much blockage she has! 80-90% in the RT coronary near it’s origin and another 50% in one of it’s branches, 70% in the left main coronary before it gives off the anterior descending branch, and 70% in the circumflex artery.

She has a history of hypertension and type 2 diabetes. She quit smoking in 2002. Her mother died of a stroke. Her father of heart disease. Her only sister died of a rupture cerebral aneurysm. Fortunately, she loves to dance and that has kept her active.

Tuesday, Dr Charles Watkins (CT surgeon) did her CABG -- a 4 vessel. All went well with the surgery, but she failed to "wake up" postop. So just after noon Wednesday a CTscan of her head was done. She had multiple small and large areas of non-hemorrhagic stroke, some old and other new. This morning she is to have an EEG and then the neurologist will see her. I hope he tells me that Dr Watkins and I are wrong and that all will be well. That is not likely.

I want to thank all involved in her care. I think they have done a marvelous job. I also want to thank everyone who has kept my family in their thoughts and prayers. They are much appreciated.

We can’t (yet) change our genetics, but our family history can give us warnings to change or improve our habits. You can tell by my mother’s history above that my own family history is heavy with heart disease and hypertension (several siblings have HBP). I own up to this history. I try to walk daily, but should pick up my pace and make it more aerobic. I try to keep my weight down to avoid type 2 diabetes. I try to limit my caffeine to 2 cups per day. I need to make my diet more consistent with the DASH diet (pdf). I have cut back on my salt intake, but could do better. I eat fruit and vegetables, but could do better. I don’t eat red or processed meat on a daily basis, but could add more fish to my diet. I am fairly good at the whole grains. I don’t smoke. I have a major sweet tooth which I have to fight. I most likely need to check my blood pressure weekly rather than monthly. It has always been normal, but the day of my mother’s surgery it was not.

Despite all the “right” things we may do to avoid disease such as heart disease, sometimes it finds us anyway. Check out Denver Doc’s recent post (Heart Attacks and Low Cholesterol) about a patient with almost perfect “numbers” who had a heart attack.

Two lessons here: prompt access to modern medicine is grand, and none of us can rest assured in our low cholesterol numbers.

Blog Review of 2008

I thought I would look back over my year of blog posts and find ones  stood out for me.  Here they are in chronological order:
1.   My Facial Fracture Series (January)

Zygomatic Fractures
Nasoethmoid Orbital Fractures
Mandible Fractures
Le Forte Fractures
Eye Exam in Facial Trauma
Orbital Blowout Fractures

2.   Amputations, Prosthetics, and War (February)
3.   Tips for Surgery Patients (March)
4.   Bilobed Flap for Repair of Nose  (March)
5.   Medical Leech Use (March)
6.   The Anophthalmic Syndrome (April)
7.   Guidelines for von-Willebrand Disease (May)
8.  Abdominal Wall Reconstruction (May)
9.  Ring Finger Avulsion (June)
10.  Callipygian (July)
11.  Maggot Therapy Revisited (August)
12.  Surgical Loupes (September)
13.  Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (September)
14.  Soft Tissue Injuries of the Finger Tips (October)
15.  Medical Methods Patents (November)
Many thanks to all of you who drop in.  I hope you will return.

I hope you have a great 2009!

A Gift from India

I didn’t make Vijay’s daughter the pink quilt expecting anything in return.  Vijay (Scanman) and his wife, however, wanted to give me a gift from their country.  This is what they chose.  It is a Tanjore metal plate, and I think it is lovely.  I am trying to decide the best place to hang it in my home.

 

Here is some information on the history of the craft:

The creation of the Tanjore metal plate is credited to Raja Serfoji II (1797-1832), the Maratha ruler of Thanjavur (or Tanjore), who asked his royal artisans to create an object that would reflect the glory of his kingdom. Silver, brass, and copper are encrusted on to each other to create this stunning piece of art. The effect of silver in high relief on the reddish copper ground is unusual and striking. Artisans of the Vishwakarma community follow this hereditary profession in Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu).

This metal plate has as its base a plate of brass prepared by a heavy-metal worker; the relief on copper is worked upon by a jeweler while the encrusting is done by a stone-setter with silver. All the three processes could even be carried out by a single craftsman also. The tools involved include hammers, pincers, moulds, punches, chisels, grinding stones and a forge.

The first stage involves cutting the base to the size of plate planned and polishing its front side. It is then fixed firmly to an asphalt bed with a wooden base which is then heated with a blow pipe and leveled so that the basic design die is prepared. The silver and copper sheets are then cut to the size, heated slightly before being cast into an impression on to the die. The impression thus achieved is finished by etching and refining the embossing with the aid of chisels and punches.

The next stage involves encrusting and superimposing the metal sheet(s). This is done by filling with wax made of brick powder, gingili oil, and frankincense the hollow depressions at the back of the relief sheet. The relief sheet is then placed on the base plate and riveted on by punching along the grooves. This is then followed by the final polishing.

Designs on the central circular metallic disc may include a representation of deities like Nataraja, Saraswati, Ashta Lakshmi and Ganapaty while the designs around the central motif can be from the pantheon of Hindu deities or floral designs. Besides plates, other products such as bowls, boxes, key chains and paper weights are made using the same technique.ns, and paper weights --- are made using the same technique. Logos and emblems of corporate houses and organizations have also been embossed.

Quilt Auction for Zippy’s Charity

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. and it was easier than checking each one.  

The auction for this quilt started on Monday, December 1.  Currently, the bid is at $300 (LQ004).  I’m reposting the  particulars regarding the auction and how to bid (see below) to try to keep the interest up.  Remember it is for a good cause and if the bid is too high for your budget, perhaps you can make a small donation instead.   Several of you have done just that (made donations rather than bids) and I and Zippy thank you all.

…………………………………………….

That charity is  Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation - MD.  If you would like to simply donate to the charity rather than make a bid you can do so here. 

For the entire story (and more photos), see the previous posts here and here and here. 

The item being auctioned is this wall hanging quilt. It is a Lobster Hawaiian Appliqué.  It is 41 in X 41 in.  It is machine appliqued and machine quilted.  There is hand embroidery around the appliqued edges. 

 

Here are the rules for this silent on-line auction:

• I have set up an e-mail account for the sole purpose of this auction.  It is lobsterquilt(AT)gmail(DOT)com
  
• If you wish to make a bid, email me at the above address with “auction” in the subject line.  Include your name, the amount of the bid, and a working email address.  I will e-mail you back that the bid was received and give you an identifier number.  This will be how I “track” each bidder and their subsequent bids.
  
• The bidding will start at $200.  The minimal increment will be $10 for subsequent bids, though I would love to see the increments increase by $25 or more.
  
• Several times a day, during my awake hours and as work permits, I will tweet and post the current bid and time it was received.  The bidder’s name will not be posted, but the bidder’s identifier number will be.
  
• So you can check my tweets or check back here to see how the bid is going.  Take note:  I will mainly use twitter for the updates!
  
• If you have sent a bid to me that was higher than the one posted, please, be aware of the time received (it will be CST) and either recheck later or e-mail me again.  We all know that sometimes e-mails are lost.
  
• The auction will last two weeks.  Bidding starts Monday December 1st at 6 am (CST) and closes on  Monday December 15th at noon (CST).   I will notify the winner by e-mail shortly thereafter. 
  
• The winning bidder will be required to make a donation here at First Giving in the amount of the bid (or higher) and asked to leave a comment “I won the lobster quilt!”  They will then need to forward a copy of their receipt so that I can match the name/e-mail address to the winning bid.  This will need to be done within 48 hrs (or by December 17, 5 pm)
  
• Once the donation is confirmed, then arrangements will be made with the winning bidder on shipping.  Shipping costs and any insurance will be the winner bidders responsibility.  Options will be US Postal, Fed Ex, or UPS.
  

So let the bidding begin!

Thank You!

Updated 3/2017 -- all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active and it was easier than checking each one. 

Thanks to Dr Rob (Musings of a Distractible Mind) who has just given me the Kreativ Blogger Award!  Each winner of the award gets to list six things he or she is happy about.  With Thanksgiving upon us, it seems like a perfect time to do this list.
1.  I’m thankful for my family.   Yes, we sometimes disagree but that’s okay.  My dear husband still loves me, even after 18 years of marriage.
2.  I’m thankful for my friends, both real life and all of you (via the web).
3.  I’m thankful for my health.  Despite a few aches and pains (now that I’m over 50 yr) my hands still work and I can still walk/ jog / dance (okay not well, but with joy).
4.  I’m thankful for my neighbors.  One lets me use her walking trail with pond for my dog.  We look out for each other.  I know I could call them if I needed to do so.
5.  I’m thankful for the leaves I need to rake.  It means that I have trees to shade my yard in the summer.  And today, thankful for the rain that allowed me to put off raking those leaves.

So who should I tag for this MEME?   I went back to Dr Rob’s and to Bronnie (HealthSkills Blog) to be sure I didn’t duplicate them.   I thought I would go international.
TBTAM – a New York Beauty.  I wish I could cook like she does.
Dr Cris – another female surgeon who sews and knits in Australia
Silvia – the Italian quilter who sent me the lovely little quilt
Sterile Eye –a talented videophotographer in Norway



Dr Rob’s are the first four (his fifth was me) and Bronnie’s the last six.

Vijay - The nicest radiologist in southern India I know.

Theresa - at Ruraldoctoring - Remains nice despite her job turmoil

Liz - who blames me for her Mac purchace.  Even though I am hurt, I pick her.

Fizzlemed - a premed fixing to take the plunge.  Aghast at nasal suction devices.

Borealnz beautiful blog - stunning photographs and commentary from New Zealand

cb’s Fighting Monsters blog - a social worker in Britain with a wonderful wit and insightful thoughts

Salford University Occupational Therapy Education blog - learn more!

Musings of a Distractible Mind - Dr Rob’s humour is almost as nutty as mine! I have no llama.

Shrinkrap - a trio of psychiatrists, as they say ‘a place to talk where no-one has to listen’

HumanAntiGravitySuit - heady intellectual stuff from a Professional Human Primate Social Groomer and Contented “Neuroplastician” (a.k.a. Physiotherapist) 

Gifts from Blog Friends

My blog friend, Dr Cris, sent me some hand-knitted gifts from Australia.  It was an exchange for the quilts I made for her children (Mr J and Ms Z).  Here is a picture of the hat and scarf that I will be wearing when it gets colder.
Here is a picture of the two bookmarks that I am already using.

I realized that I had not shared this gift of knitted socks that Dr Smak sent me several months ago.  My only excuse is that it was back in the summer and too warm to wear them.  I put them away.  It is almost cold enough for me to wear them.

I Received My Quilt

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (other than to my own posts) removed as many no longer are active and it was easier than checking each one.

Back in April I was invited to participate in "Another Little Quilt Swap". I finished my little quilt (laced ribbons quilt) in May and mailed it to ____. Wednesday I got home to find I had received my quilt. Paula Dennee, otherwise known as Paula the quilter, is the maker of mine. She named it "One of These Things is Not Like the Others" and you can see it posted on her site here. I absolutely love it! She sent a note along with the quilt to explain her inspiration. She gave me permission to share it. It makes me love it even more.

I wanted to include a note about your little quilt. The first time I went to your blog was April 18. That picture stayed in my mind and this little quilt was the result.

In an email she shared this regarding the quilting which you can appreciated in the picture of the back.

O. And did you notice that I quilted it in the swirly type motion used for breast self exam? I certainly had fun making this. So glad you liked it.

Paula, I am thrilled with this quilt. Thank you so very much.

One Year Blogiversary

 Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it's easier than checking each one.

It has been a year since I began this blog. I am amazed to find that I have the same anniversary as T (Notes of an Anesthesioboist). I was sure she had been around for several years. She seems so polished. So congratulations to her and also to Dr Rich, Covert Rationing, whose blog turned 1 yr yesterday!

It has been a good year. I was nominated for the "Best New Medical Blog 2007" which was won by Dr Val (deservedly so). I have hosted SurgeXperiences twice (here and here). I was given the honor of hosting Grand Rounds (here). I won a Scrubby Award for this post, but still haven't received the red scrubs (they must be in the mail). I did get this T-shirt for my birthday last year after seeing it on Emergiblog's post.

I have made many new friends through this blog. My husband and I took Dr Val to dinner when she came to Little Rock, AR back in October. I was invited by a quilting friend, Kate, who lives in England (the country not the town in Arkansas) to participate in a quilt swap. I am almost done with my little quilt. I have grieved with Dr Smak over Henry, but am gladden by his response to chemotherapy. I have traded e-mails regarding our dogs with another quilter Penny and grieved with her when one of hers died as I did when I lost Girlfriend in September.

I would like to meet more of you in person, but until then thanks for the chats in Dr Anonymous' BlogTalkRadio chat room and the connects on Facebook, Pownce, and Twitter. Thank you all for welcoming me into your fold. It's been a very good year! I'm looking forward to another good one.

THANK YOU!

Spiced Nuts Trail Mix

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.


I love spiced nuts and usually make some every Christmas season. Spiced nuts make easy gifts for the delivery guys (Fed Ex, UPS, US Postal person) at the office, not to mention I have several family members who like them. This year I did them a little different. After spicing the nuts, I added some Chex Mix (chocolate peanut butter), and dried cranberries. It's really good and so easy! Here's the recipe:

Spiced Coated Nuts
3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp black pepper
1.5 tsp ground red pepper (I left this out)
1 can (34 oz) Mixed Nuts

PREHEAT oven to 325°F. Beat egg whites in medium bowl with wire whisk until foamy. Add sugar and seasonings; beat until well blended. Add nuts; stir until evenly coated.

SPREAD into two lightly greased 15x10x1-inch baking pan (half on each).

BAKE 20 min., stirring occasionally. Cool completely. Store in airtight container at room temperature or use in the below recipe.

Now this is where I started added things:

Spiced Nuts Trail Mix

1 cooled pan of spiced nuts
1 cup dried cranberries
1 12 oz pkg of Choc- Peanut Butter Chex Mix
1 cup of Sam's Choice Nature Trail Mix

Store in airtight container at room temperature or in refrigerator. Enjoy and share!

Thankful

 Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active.

Ask my husband--sometimes I grumble and complain. Often more than I should. Often about petty stuff. But not today. Today I want to give thanks. I want to tell you that I enjoy washing dishes. I don't enjoy drying them. It goes back to my childhood when my sisters and I had to do the dishes. One would clean off the table, one would wash, and one would dry. The one who dried also had to put the dishes away. I liked washing the dishes. It was nice to look out the window and see the cows, the apple trees, Mom's flowers, etc. It was nice to be in the "middle" of things. It was nice to "chatter" with my sisters as we did those dishes. Even now, so many years later, I don't mind washing dishes. I rarely use our dishwasher. I usually leave the dishes to dry on their own, and put them away later. My mother always insisted that we offer to help wash the dishes after eating a meal at someone's home. It stuck. I still offer. I always mean it. So when I saw this poem over at Nurse Ratched's I just thought I would second her thoughts. Thank God for dirty dishes. (photo credit)

Happy Thanksgiving! Wishing you many dirty dishes.

"Thank God For Dirty Dishes"

Thank God for dirty dishes,

they have a tale to tell,

While others are going hungry,

we’re eating very well.

Home, health, and happiness,

we shouldn't want to fuss,

With the stack of evidence,

God is good to us.

(author unknown)