Oh I have been running the gamut these past few days....
going in a million directions as usual....
Radically changing my scenery from day to day.
Saturday night I was in an old dive bar in Canton listening to Blues music from a friend's band,
yesterday I was traveling the flatlands of south eastern Michigan hunting for Vintage treasures, and today I was getting my teeth poked and prodded for an hour and a half in a dental chair.
Fun, Fun , Fun I tell you.
tomorrow will be the gynecologists office. So nice.
Was that too much information?
you know how I like to keep it real here.
But I wanted to share with you how important it is to take care of yourself, because clearly I haven't been doing a good job of that myself!
most of you know about my stomach issues, so I apologize for repeating myself, but maybe some of you out there might not know, and maybe you have the same thing and could benefit from the information.
anyways, several months to a year ago I started having problems with a lot of acid reflux, and air getting into my stomach making it really hard for me to eat and swallow because I felt like a big bubble was in there...finally it became almost impossible for me to eat comfortably, it was a chore and a struggle just to do the most basic of thing in life.
then the vomiting began.
in the beginning I went to the Doctor and told them all about my ailments, they of course prescribed prilosec
without doing any tests,
They also told me I needed to see a psychiatrist
because most of my problems seemed like they were in my head...probably caused by stress and anxiety.
This went on for months. it was very frustrating. I was losing weight, which of course was a good thing, but I went from a size 18 to a 10 in less than 6 months. losing 52 pounds.
I basically had to beg for tests to be done...most of the time feeling paranoid that they thought i was some whack job. the tests came back normal, so it only made me feel MORE paranoid that maybe it was all in my head!
then one day I came home and actually got sick and
threw up a cupcake that I had eaten 6 hours earlier in the day, it came out exactly like it had gone in...
looking just like a cupcake. that did not seem normal to me,..... again, I apologize for too much information...
I called the Doctor and told her I thought that was weird, and she agreed, and finally ordered some MORE tests that revealed that indeed something was wrong.
my stomach muscles were no longer working to move the food on down to my stomach, and then out through the other side to the intestines. It's a condition called
gastroparesis. definitely NOT in my head, or caused by stress or anxiety. it's something that just happens, sometimes it's due to Diabetes, or trauma to the stomach in surgery or sometimes it just happens for no reason, like in my case.
So basically my food just sits there
for HOURS....so I always feel full, and can only eat small amounts of food, like soup or crackers, or little things, otherwise i get sick.
They don't have a cure for it, there really isn't much they can do for me except try to help me with drugs. because it's nerve damage it may or may not get better, they just don't know.
Now I don't want you to feel sorry for me, because i am o.k. I am learning how to adapt and find my way around it...and I love that I lost weight...I can wear some very cute clothes!
But i will admit that it's been a struggle, and it can get depressing at times, or the fatigue can be overwhelming, but I am a STRONG woman and i will not be held back or down. I just want you to learn from me that you MUST BE PERSISTENT and listen to your heart and do not take any garbage from your doctors. you need to be your own patient advocate!
Now with that being said, since I have had such crappy luck with mine i totally avoided going until things got really bad....don't do that!
It's been 2 years since I've been to the dentist, and when i went in today it was because I was having so much jaw pain from clenching..after a few x-rays and a nice cleaning they found i have 7 cavities! now this was a shock because I haven't had a cavity since I was a child! well evidently the P.H. level had changed in my mouth from getting sick all the time, which in turn caused the cavities. UGH.
So again, learn from me, don;t wait till it's too late.
So I am now on a mission to try and take better care of myself, hopefully tomorrow they won't find any kind of cancer, or lumps......but at least i am going for a change! SO please
go out and make that appointment, do it NOW!
All right, off my soapbox as usual, and on to other things....
now that you know about my issues, you can see why I am a little bit slower at getting some things done, but I
am still working hard behind the scenes, I spent most of yesterday scouring the lower half of southern michigan looking for goods to replace all that sold on saturday! we sold a few bigs pieces, so i was on a mission to find goods, not an easy task, but I was lucky and found some fun things, a gorgeous yellow shelf and some big display pieces, I also have a dresser and a table and chair set in my garage... all of which need to be painted! i am going to set a goal to try and do some of that this week, so I will not be around much, plus we are leaving for vacation on Saturday for a week on the coast in north Carolina!
A much needed week of rest and relaxation.
So as usual I will leave you with some images from the past couple of days...it's been a whirlwind!
we hit the open road.....nothing but flat lands around us from all sides.....
we traveled for hours ending right down to the edge of lake Erie! i'd never been there before.
it was a little too chilly to be on the beach...
we lasted about a new york minute
then we headed out and found a great little spot where i
found these sweet little goods
I like to find things in groupings, so i was on a mission to find vintage planters in springy colors.
i lucked out!
but I also found this sweet little vintage japanese creamer and sugar set with a coffee pot and 3 cups.
adorable!
I also found a cute little wooden shoe form, i love the number 5 on the side.
and these cute little salt and pepper shakers
I also bought myself a new 70mm macro lens for my camera so i can take super-detailed photos....it will take some getting used to....i really don't know what I am doing actually, but it's fun so far!
so in the future you can see jewelry RIGHT up close like this...
and this..
or this..
you can also see the fantastic detail on this handstitched and beaded leather belt that i absolutely ADORE down at the shop. made by local artist Leslie Sapp.
So as you can see I have LOADS to share with you, but as always I am lacking in time.
I had paperwork and a soccer practice to take my kid to
which kept me from any creative persuits today!
but look how cute they are!
So after tomorrow's Dr's. appt. I plan on putting my nose to the grindstone and hope to share some more goodies with you before i leave this weekend. wish me luck!
as always, thanks SO much for reading and being such
sweet people, you mean the world to me!
xoxo
catherine