WoNkEy

So today, is going to be interesting.  I get to see an Ophthalmologist Neurologist today.  Who knew that there was a Dr. like this.. ??  Well not me.  I guess if your balance is a little wonkey and other sorts of things, that this is one of the places you should visit, especially if you’ve been knocked around a bit.  Say for example you’ve had a CAR ACCIDENT or something…  It can also help rule out or confirm all sorts of other things too I guess. 

So this appointment is a 4 hour appointment.  YEEKS!  I wonder if my eyes will even be open after this?  I am supposed to bring Luka and my medications as the lady shared on the phone with me that some of the tests can bring out some issues.  Lovely!  I’ve got things I want to do later and they don’t involve feeling miserable… But then again, no pain, no gain.  Right?

Did you know that your eyes can be knocked out of alignment?  Or something like this?  I never really took the time to think about it.  In fact I have rarely given my eyes much thought since I was little.  I did wear glasses then, but guess what ever was wrong was something I grew out of…

Well, here is what I am hoping. They find something wrong with me that can be easily fixed!  Is that wishful thinking or what?  Because I’d really like to stop feeling so physically unstable… Hey, I know I am unstable (in more ways than one).  I’d just like there to be a positive solution for something I am struggling with.  Is that really so much to ask?  Oh, and I’d also prefer that it not include any invasive type of procedure!  I need to clarify that as well. 

I also really hope that I don’t need glasses….

                                                          or contacts… 

                                                             I hear I could end up with a sort of eye patch too.. 

I think that might make me a pirate!  Well that would be something I’ve never been before!  I wonder if wearing and eye patch means you get dibs on treasures???

                                                     Why am I going to this appointment today? 

 

                                                                   Really? 

 

I guess I am going because I’d like answers, or no answers.  But either way something else is ruled out or confirmed, even though I really don’t want to know.  I’ve got enough I think.  Quite enough.  Do I really need to add to the growing list of maladies?  I think not!

Oh, and the best part is, that Jason gets to come with me and sit for 4 hours with me!  NOT.  That man HATES to Wait!  Bless his heart he will do it anyway because he loves me.  So say your prayers for him and if you’ve got a spare say one for me too.

Sometimes we do things not because we want to but because they are the best for those we love.  He is appreciated.

Say some prayers for the Christian people living in South Central Nebraska would you.  There is a raging disagreement by folks going on that just breaks my heart.  Pray for Love Understanding and a willingness to accept one another.  

Blessings,

Pink Doberman

bLeSs HiS hEaRt!

These days have been difficult, it has been my goal to keep up with blogging most days.  Some days I am able to blog days in advance which does help me make it through days where blogging just is not going to happen for me. 

While I have been away from blogging this is some of what has been going on for me.

I have been trying to sleep at nights, sometimes this has been working and other times this has been a huge challenge. 

CreativeLIVE has been having some more fabulous FREE online training, this week it was on photography!  Next week my watercolor class will finish. 

Waking up one morning to sinus congestion was not my idea of a good time.  That wiped me out more days than I care to admit!  Piles of Vitamin C later… I am now today doing so much better. 

My sinus infection came on the heels of recovering from the ER visit, drive home, days in bed suffering from lingering pain… lets just say it was a difficult week and leave it at that shall we! 

All I can say is Thank God for CreativeLIVE watching the free online classes was a huge Godsend.  My mind was given some thinking to do during my misery.  The best part about it was that I learned TONS of great things!  I love learning!  Have I mentioned that?  I think the best thing about learning new things is putting what you’ve learned into action!  I’ve already begun! 

This week I need to get my watercolor up to speed with the place that the class is at.  I will be mightily impressed with myself if I can do this.  CreativeLIVE has also been having a FREE live online basic watercolor painting class that I have been watching.  Having only ever painted and finished one watercolor picture in my whole life, and that was over 20 years ago when I was in high school, well… let’s just say I need what this class is teaching.  I hope I will be able to put some of the pictures that Jason has taken with his camera to use on canvas with my interpretations of them. 

My knitting is going well.  While I haven’t spoken much about this for some time I did manage a while back to finish the first ball of yarn with a basic stitch.  I am now officially making a project.  A winter scarf, I am using some yarn that I had left over from another art project in high school.  Yes I know.. why in the world would someone keep something that long?  I really liked the yarn, I had wanted to do more weaving projects, but I only ever did the one and I wanted to use the beautiful yarn I had picked out for something. 

It is a good thing I hung on to it.  Because yarn is expensive!  Especially the kind that doesn’t make my skin itch!  So while my scarf is already not perfect, I think it will be fun to wear.  I hope mauve comes back in style soon!  I’ll post a picture when I am done with it!  I think I will be adding some extra creativity to it to hide my errors. 

Today ended up being a great day!  My first in a while!  Jason was home too!  An interesting thing to note… when I went to the ER the other day and we had to travel home after the ER visit, Jason packed up all of my stuff in minutes!  We got back from the ER, I sat in the car and waited for him to load all of my stuff up.  I’d been so sick I hadn’t packed up a thing from my week long visit.  What takes me hours to pack because I move so slowly, he gathered up with dizzying speed.  He even packed my clothes rather neatly!  We got home and I’d been in bed for almost another week before I even asked for more than my face cleaning stuff. 

I needed to go out in public one day for a bit, and NEEDED some makeup to cover the HUGE circles around my eyes and some other blotchy spots on my face..  NO Makeup!  NONE!  Yikes!  Not good…  Turns out he’d gathered up the things I left on the counter but forgot to look in the bathroom cupboards..  where my jewelry and accessories were stored as well as my makeup brushes and all of my concealor, eye shadow, mascara… you name it..   None of it is within reach of my finger tips!

This was about to become a travesty!  UNTIL I remembered… Hey, you sell makeup!  Ha!  I do sell makeup!  I have a ton of it in my old office now my craft/art/MaryKay room…  I was saved!  I have samples and demos and all sorts of things… phew!  I tell you the world was never happier!  This girl needs her makeup!  Not that I am that vain, I am just thinking of others.  I really do look much more ill with out my makeup than with it.   I should post a picture of me before my makeup which I am not kidding will really make you happy I do wear it. 

I have tried to go out with out it.  It isn’t good.  Are you ok?  Are you sick?  Have you been sleeping?  (people avoiding looking at me.., not wanting me to stand to close as they might catch whatever I have) It really isn’t worth it. 

Thank goodness for all 17 years of being trained by all of those professional makeup artists!  Aging, Accidents, Illness, Acne and Allergies do not make for a flawless face.  But knowing the tricks of the trade can pull off a blooming miracle!   I am not kidding!  It just takes a couple minutes, and the worst things are fixed and then people will look at me and never know how crappy I feel! 

Jason did find some earrings that I had made from old broken jewelry and manage to pack those!  Bobbly Pink and red beaded earrings can go with just about anything I think!  And he packed my silver necklace with my mom’s amazing slide.  So I even have jewelry to wear!  I have tons of jewelry from my previous life, unfortunately I became allergic to almost all of it about 15 years ago and couldn’t wear it any more.  I had made tons of it too, so now I am slowly redoing all of the findings on it.  This girl can wear sterling silver or hyper expensive platinum..  not good on the budget.  So most of it sits here waiting for some new bits.  UGG! 

My friend is going to go search the bathroom I use while I stay and drop a box of my precious goodies in the mail.  I just wish I’d have realized I was missing everything sooner!  But hey, Jason did an amazing job of taking care of me and everything else!  I am actually amazed that he found all of the things of mine that he did to get packed loaded and taken back home with us.  Because I do bring everything in the house including the kitchen sink, the floor mat, … you get the picture! 

Bless his heart is all I have to say!  My man takes good care of me!  Am I a Diva.. probably.  But I really do TRY NOT to be one!

Blessings,

Pink Doberman

In BeTwEEn MoMeNts… & JaSmiNe StAr

I love In Between moments.  These days I live for them.  Ever since the car accident August 6, 2004 I have been living my life in these moments.  The moments where the pain recedes enough to have either mental clarity or mental clarity and physical move-ability.  Even if I don’t have much mental clarity I still can get online and peruse and make snippets work for me. 

Other times I might still be hurting too bad to be out of bed, but I can think rather well and these days I spend some extra time blogging or learning online.  These days I am learning online. 

I’ve mentioned CreativeLIVE before.  I love creative live!  I’d scheduled myself another class to watch online.  This one is a Wedding Photography Class featuring acclaimed wedding photographer Jasmine Star.  I loved the class today.  It was long, I dozed off in the midst of it I admit.  I am still groggy from my latest flare.  But I did catch some things. 

1.  Jasmine Star is so much like who I used to be.  Only she’s much cooler than I was. 

2.  I used to do makeup for weddings.  She shoots them.

3.  She is much funnier than I am or ever was. 

4.  She loves shoes and lip gloss so do I!

5.  I am married to the most wonderful man and so is she.

6.  I love cool photographs. 

7. Jasmine Star shoots the In Between moments.  I do too. Those are my favorite pictures.

8.  Jasmine Star loves David Letterman’s Top 10 list.. me not so much.. I am stopping at the lovely number 8.

 

More about the In Between Moments..  Besides the fact that I now live for them.  The In Between Moments that I love the most in pictures are those captured when a person really has settled into themselves, when they are not thinking of outside influences they are just in a pure moment of feeling.  What ever that feeling may be.  I thing those make the best photos.  Jasmine Star does too, in fact that is what she shoots.  That is what I have always enjoyed shooting, and those are the pictures of myself that I love the most.  Jason is good at capturing them with me.  Sorry I haven’t shared any of them here.  I may someday. 

Years ago I took a favorite picture of my Grandpa and Grandma.  I will plan to dig them out and digitize them.  They are some of my very favorite pictures.  I caught them in their In Between Moments.  Their smiles and their eyes really resonate with me.  I can feel their souls. 

My soul lives for my In Between Moments when I have periods of less pain and more clarity and motion.  My soul will live through the photos that have been taken of me in those In Between Moments as well.  I am more acutely aware of how to achieve these moments than ever before.  They are rarer for me than they have ever been but I feel as if I am making the most of each one. 

I also really work hard to create a few simple moments to convey how I feel to those around me even if I am not feeling my best. 

I am so looking forward to watching the rest of the training on how to shoot a wedding.  I don’t plan to necessarily use it much as Jason really isn’t in to shooting them.  By myself I could never be depended upon to do it.  I am loving learning what she is sharing, as I think they are important things that can be lent to other areas as well.  What she is saying much of it is what I already know, she is just sharing it in a different fashion, and it is good to be reminded of what I used to do.  I was really good at it. 

I am proud that I did my best at it while I could.  I am now changing gears and figuring out how to do my best at something else. 

Don’t forget to check out CreativeLIVE and Jasmine Star!

Hugs,

Pink Doberman

FuNNy…

Or not so funny..  really.  So Jason gets to go on Vaca.. to Yellowstone, to forget about his worries, do some photography, hang out with his friend and do guy stuff really just have an all around amazing time!   Oh boy did he!  He came back a new man! 

That is until he saw me.  I’d also been having my own muted version of a Vaca… hanging out not doing much.. (Oh, I forgot, I guess that is what I always do.)  Well, anyway, I had been taking the advise of my pain phsych and doing things anyway as what I am doing is really not causing any more harm. 

Let’s just call his advise for my EDS self not good information.  I really hadn’t been doing much more than sitting up in regular chairs, and walking a bit more regularly, nothing strenuous or stressful.  My neck flared up in regular fashion.  I was really hoping this wasn’t going to happen.  I was doing so wonderfully by the time Jason got back that I couldn’t focus on his face or really even clearly view his pictures.  ( didn’t tell him that, but he could tell I wasn’t right) 

The day he got home I had already been medicating and sitting the whole day leaning back in fluffy chairs with my head and neck supported.  But it wasn’t enough, we woke the next day to me being in unbelievable unbearable pain.  We were hoping to leave for home this day.  Jason had to work the following day, by afternoon it was clear that I wasn’t fit to travel, so we made a plan to interrupt the New Doctor in town’s day and make a quick trip to the ER. 

While this didn’t help as much as hoped for I was able to at least see after the visit.  The pain was still prevalent, but if we were to make a break for home it was now or never…  At least in time for him to make his shift the following day.  Besides if I were to get worse again I wanted to be near Omaha to my regular ER.  No offence to the one I was at they are just more familiar with me and what it takes for me to get some relief. 

What a trip.  What a dose of reality.. 

It is now days later… I am starting to feel like a human again.  Oh lordy lordy… I was running a fever and the works this time.  Uggg…   Don’t know what this pain phsych is going to have to say about this…  I wonder if this is why my regular doctors didn’t suggest him to me.  It was a doctor who only saw me once who didn’t know anything about EDS and said I just had fibro..  Oh joy.  Well I will finish it out and see where it leads.  I’d really like to be able to come up with some sort of solution.  I hope this Dr. phsych is a creative thinker! 

I sure wish Jason’s vacation could have ended on a positive note.  My body really pisses me off. 

Blessings,

Pink Doberman

I DoN’t HaVe…

He is so right!  You’ve just got to read this post by Dave about a mother and son.  The son is brilliant and has Downs Syndrome.  Really click on this link and read it!  It is so worth the read!

I am so like this too!  I don’t have all of these things all of the time.  I mean I do, but different at different times I am affected differently.  Sometimes I can get up and down just fine.  Sometimes I can’t.  Some times I can negotiate stairs, while I should always have my hands on the rails…  Sometimes I can see and think and remember rather well, other times I can’t. 

I hope you’ve read the post I told you about above.  I will cause you to think about things differently.  It may cause you to think about yourself differently. 

I had often thought this but really hadn’t found a way to appropriately express it.  I am still me.

Blessings,

Pink Doberman

pAiN VS. sAfEtY

So in a couple of appointments I’ve had with my pain therapist.. this has been our topic.

Ok, so these are rough sketches of these so don’t hold yourself to just these standards… but this is my interpretation of what Dr. G shared with me. 

Pain does not necessarily mean increased injury.

Chronic Pain most often does not = increased injury ( longer lasting, 6 months or longer, same type/places )

Acute pain does most often mean increased injury. ( short term, related to something new )

So if your chronic pain is not causing further injury then you can walk move and be active, just do it anyway.  Even though it is hard.  It just requires a decision.

Acute pain means more to the rest don’t move and stay still to heal.. Broken things, etc.

I fall somewhere in between both. 

I regularly have chronic pain, but I do not regularly have acute pain.  Although for me moving means that I can easily be in acute pain (dislocation etc.)

For me I just need to balance, rest when appropriate, and move when appropriate.  Not to push myself much, but to move slowly but steadily and increase what I can do.  Mine is not cut and dried.. I can injure my neck by just turning my head.. pop something out and be in worse trouble..  The other morning I woke to pain in my hip horrible pain.. I wondered what I had done?  I wondered if my hip was still out of joint?  I don’t think it was, but it did click about a bit.  In the night I must have twisted horribly and knocked it out.  Which stinks.  But after a day of resting I was doing better.  So weird.

I’ve done this multiple times before.  I have a strange body.  My body does extremely well certain times.. I don’t know why, and absolutely horrible others.  I don’t know the reason for this either. 

I wish I did, I’d know better when to rest and when to move.  My body has a nasty way of shutting me down.  Landing me in the bathroom, whether on the toilet YUCK, or with extreme chills where my body starts to freeze and I need a hot tub.  Or other various things like shaking, extreme nausea, dizzy etc.  I know when these things happen I have gone to far.  My body is pissed and I need to rest or I will land in the hospital for God only knows what. 

I am not good at balance.  I wish I were, I am good at pushing.  Pushing Pushing Pushing, not only myself but others.  I am trying not to push.  I am seeking balance. 

So I am out and about as much as possible these days.  I rest while at home in between doing things.  Up a bit, rest a bit, up a bit, rest a bit… Getting simple things done.  Then going out and doing as much as I can.  Which mostly means getting my sorry a.. butt to a location and me sitting in a chair for the duration of whatever is going on. 

Nothing wrong with that, it is more exciting than sitting here.  And I do love being out with others.  Thanks to some amazing friends I have gotten out!  Thanks to Super Hubby Jason we went to an out door concert. 

People don’t understand how I can look normal and be broken.  Their minds do not think outside of the box.  So small their thinking.  Too bad for them.  I wonder what else they go through life not understanding because they don’t consider options? 

I hope this blog opens some eyes.

Blessings,

Pink Doberman

EvErYtHiNg

Amazing what things you notice while you are still.

The colors become brighter and more distinct.

The textures seem to leap in to your heart.

Sounds sing so sweet.

Imagination can take a greater leap.

People cruise by with out a thought.

I sit and ponder.

Amazing bits,

Interesting shapes,

A smell drifts in.

My mind wanders.

Appreciation,

Acceptance,

Awareness,

No longer unknowing.

I feel everything even if I don’t want to. 

Eventually. 

Blessings,

Pink Doberman

bReAkAbLe.

I feel locked in a box. 
Put away on a shelf.
Occasionally dusted off.
Put here for all to see.
But no one to touch.
Behind the glass.
Fed daily with pills.
A pat on the head.
A word here or there.
Too fragile.
Too pretty.
Too different.
But empty.
Blessings,
Pink Doberman

A MeMoRy.

I am in love with a memory of me.  It is what I choose to see. 

Things sometimes seem now so empty.  Comparatively.

How do you reconcile where you used to be.

A place where I was so incredibly happy.

A place I felt as if I had wings.

 

Some days I feel glimpses of my memory in me. 

Other days it is foreign to me. 

They say time will heal all things… How much time?  You see?

Over Six Years now it will be…

My mind I feel is playing tricks on me.

Pretending these days can be never ending.

 

Can you see through me? 

Do you see what I see?

A girl who has lost her sanity.

It is a wicked thing that 90 year old man caused me.

I feel often so angry.

Because of my genes I may have had some of these issues inevitably..

I would have rather have gotten them gradually.

Naturally.  Instead of in a crash.

Blessings,

Pink Doberman

WhAt KeEpS Me gOiNg...

 It is time to share another Blog Carnival!  This is actually one that I contributed to.  I hope you enjoy it, I sure enjoyed reading everyone's posts!!  Click this link and it will direct you to our posts!

What Keeps Me Going...

Shweta put this one together!  She did a great job!  Thanks Shweta! 
Thanks to Duncan for starting this and Leslie for taking it over!!

Blessings,
Pink Doberman

gOiNg ThE DiStAnCe

This is such a broad topic that encompasses so many thoughts for me. 

Instead of focusing on just one I thought I’d share my perspective on a few of them. 

We all know people who go the distance.  They follow through, they do what they say they will do.  There is no grey area, no compromise, no substitute.  There is passion, deliberate action, and complete confidence for whom they associate with.  Going the distance is a description of excellence.  I used to be one of those people.  By choice it was something I worked hard to be.  In many aspects I am still that person, just on a much smaller scale.  If I say I will do something I will.  I now give myself and others less firm deadlines, and more flexibility.  But I am still a person who can be counted on to do her very best to deliver what was promised.  I too appreciate people who go the distance.  These people are RARE!  I am happy to say I can call many of my friends people who go the distance. 

I’d like to open your mind to some other types of distance and other ways to “go the distance”…

Right now, the distance I have to walk to get from my bed to the bathroom is difficult and painful.. I’ve done something to my hip joint that is causing me a great deal of discomfort.  I can walk, thankfully.  I wish I knew what I did to hurt myself like this.  I have no clue.  I just woke up all messed up.  Ugg.. Joys of EDS (ehlers danlos syndrome)  I am now wondering if I should stop eating and drinking…  I seem to need to make this trip all to often today..    I know that many others also struggle with physical aspects of daily life, making sacrifices in choosing what to do or not to do.  Some days I choose to clean a bit, other days, I choose to have fun instead.  Today is a day where I did unload the dishwasher, but I am also planning to go to a birthday party for a friend, thanks to my friends who are coming to get me.. (more on this type of distance below.)

I’ve started seeing a pain shrink… Yet another Dr. G.. funny!    We talked the other day about mental distance.  Moving your mind from a former reality and dreams to a current reality and building of more dreams.  Acceptance basically.  This is a very difficult distance to cover.  Not only am I having to cover this distance, but so is Jason.  So are my friends.  So is the rest of our family.  Seeing you for what you were, and accepting and embracing who you are now can be difficult for people to reconcile.  It is difficult for me to reconcile it has been a large painful distance to over come in my mind.  I still travel it most days.

When I have gotten to the floor either by choice or by chance the distance for me to get back on my feet can seem impossible for my body to achieve.  Having Luka or Jason around to help me up is a great way for me to over come the distance to standing upright once again.  Jason helping me is by far the easiest on me.  Luka helping me makes it possible for me to do it on my own.  Both are great ways for me to get back on my feet.  I am leery of help from others, in part because they may not know how to safely lift me for themselves as well as for me.  (proper lifting techniques are important)  Because I am so bendy and weak I can also be a rather flimsy object to pick up which makes it harder to get me up, and increases the chances I will get hurt in the process.  The other thing to consider is an even bigger fear that I face.  One that is an all to familiar reality… a fellow blogger shares her story here in her post titled Helping Hands.  

This morning my husband said to me in preparation for a vacation he is about to go on… “I don’t know how to relax and enjoy my trip.”  He will be going on vacation with out me.  Going with me is not really a “Vacation” for him.  He feels so far away from relaxation and enjoyment these days.  I hope the distance he feels from relaxation is able to be overcome on his journey.  Other caretakers/family members know this distance all to well.  I felt it when taking care of my mother during her terminal bout with pancreatic cancer.  She and my father lived with us and I was her primary caregiver/organizer.  I wasn’t only taking care of her, I was running my business, managing her nurse care, her friends who came to also stay with us and visit/help with her, other family and friends who would pop in and out, spend time with my father, and still be a wife to my husband who just really wasn’t sure what to do with all of the people that had invaded his castle.  Jason was also my lifter, gatherer, money maker, and all around emotional support guy.  It is tough.  We’ve been through allot.  How do you separate yourself from this mayhem?  How do you find you “happy place”.  How do you go about keeping who you are from what struggle you are going through at the moment?  I think the distance between your mind and you heart grows longer with each stressful moment, each night without much sleep, each day that answers don’t come.  How do you bridge the gap?  How do you find space as a caregiver for yourself, without the guilt or the fear?   I hope Jason has the most glorious trip.  I hope his journey brings him moments of peace calm and rejuvenation.  I hope he has fun! 

The extra distance my friends have to go to spend time with me.  Since I no longer drive ( well not much lets just say)  and I live out of the way from most of my friends, they have to travel out of their way a fair distance and take a portion of their time to come get me and then return me.  This has taken some adjustment on my part as well as theirs.  I hate asking for help.  HATE IT!  I do not want to be anyone’s burden.  At the same time, I hate not hanging out with my friends or doing things.   So for the most important things I am starting to ask.  My friends are also starting to ask me more as well if I’d like to come along, and they’d come and get me.  So I guess this is something that can work both ways, decreasing the distance of friendships.  I am blessed to have such amazing and understanding friends. 

I have also just gotten a scooter.  I have yet to use it, as it has some minor issues that need to be fixed first.  I am hoping that this scooter will help me with becoming more active.  I have a fear of getting stuck somewhere because of exhaustion or a fall, even with Luka by my side.  Some times the physical aspect of moving just becomes so much and my body crashes.  I plan to use my new to me scooter to take me to the grocery store to get groceries, to the care center to see my neighbor, to the park to go play with Luka, downtown to the bank, out for walks with my friends and more. 

Will I stop walking?  NO.  But I will use the scooter for longer distances, and then walk the shorter ones once I am there.  Like my car!  I don’t drive the car because I am medicated most of the time and I don’t want to cause an accident.  But with the scooter, it reduces the chances of this greatly so I am feeling excited about expanding my world once again!  Yippeee!!!!

These are a few of my thoughts on the subject of distance.  I hope that they make sense to you or give you a greater understanding of what goes through my mind. 

I plan to go the distance!

Pink Doberman

Assistance/Service Dog Proclamation! Look who showed up!!!

Assistance Dog Week Photo’s 

Click Here to See the State of Nebraska’s Official Photo of our group with the proclamation! 

Thanks to Mikki McCann Nebraska State Senator Kate Sullivan’s Legislative Aid for coming in on her DAY OFF to support our awareness campaign!! 

She took these great pictures in the Great Hall! 

 

 

Here we are… Me (Luka is taking five), The folks from NOAH’s SD Training Center, Nike and Lilly (under the bench), Roxann and Tay, The folks from Domesti-Pups SD Training Center. 

Other folks who were present but not pictured… Stephanie a local independent dog trainer, Mikki McCann, My friend Gwen, Lt. Ron Baily from the Nebraska State Penitentiary’s Second Chance Pup’s Program  and Russ.   We had a great turn out! 

Thanks Mikki for sharing your pictures!!    As more people share their pictures of the day I will post them here also!  We ended up getting lots of very blurry pictures of our day.  So I am quite grateful for the pictures we did get. 

Find out more.  Visit the National Assistance Dog Week Website!

Blessings,

Pink Doberman

AsSiStAnCe dOg aWaReNeSs PrOcLaMaTiOn!

Today was a very busy day for me!

I loved it!

Check out the Proclamation! 

To see the proclamation more clearly give the picture a double click.  When the new window opens click it again and it should enlarge.  To get back to this post just click your browsers back button. 


I left this picture in a large format so it may take a minute or so to open up.

More pictures to come!  Thanks to Russ for taking this picture.  And for adjusting the settings on my camera so it would focus!  ( I'll share that story tomorrow!)

Blessings,
Pink Doberman

AsSiStAnCe DoG AwArEnEsS WeEk!

It is official, the proclamation will be signed tomorrow officially declaring this week Assistance Dog Awareness Week! 

I am so excited!  I think we are going to have a good turn out!  I am going to even get to meet some other Assistance/Service Dog Teams in person! 

Woot Woot.. 

Luka and I and our friend G who is driving us will be on our way to the Nebraska State Capitol tomorrow! 

Luka is ready to go! 

I'll be posting more shortly!!  

Blessings,
Pink Doberman

....

Great day yesterday.... Today, well nausea, migraine pill, achy, you know the drill.  Very short post.  I'll be better soon.  I've got lots to share! 

Don't forget this is Assistance Dog Awareness Week!  ALL WEEK! 

Do something for an Assistance Dog this week! 

I'll be going to the Nebraska Proclamation Signing.

Over and Out..
Pink Doberman

sLeEp..

Still Sleeping a BUNCH!.. Ugg.  Aching and sleeping.  I finally remembered I needed to be taking my B vitamins.. I'd been avoiding those for a while now, and have just taken some.  Those should help my energy level.  I've been having quite a little lower neck shoulder and upper back pain.. ( The places that the Radio Frequency Ablation did not address) 

Think that is taking its toll on me too. 

I have been watching/sleeping through my www.creativelive.com classes.  My favorite one going on right now is the watercolor class.  These classes are FREE and anyone anywhere can watch them LIVE!  If you can't watch them live then you have to buy them to see them but I've been able to catch most of them live this week! 

Although it still remains to be seen if I can do these things, but I am getting a better understanding of things and there is a possibility that I can put some of the information to use.  At least it is keeping my mind focused on something that has potential and I am continuing to learn.  It does make me happier!  I really do like learning new things. 

Well that is all for now.  I am awake and will be knitting a purple scarf.  My first official project.  No pattern, just making it up as I go.  I don't know how to follow a pattern or do anything other than a basic stitch at this point, but I am happy with that.  I've already had to pull a bunch of stitches and restart.  =D  Oh and I got some bamboo knitting needles!  Can't wait to share those as well.  I like them they are not heavy and they are bamboo!  Which is super cool!!

Blessings,
Pink Doberman

TiReD GirL

Another day without a whole lot to say.  Pretty tired I guess.  I’ve been sleeping allot.  I guess my body must be making up for last week when I was not sleeping much at all.  Migraines are still here.  One almost every day again, I think I’ve been sitting up to much when I am not resting.  I really need to get a different pillow I think.  My neck is in knots after I sleep, which keeps flaring up the pain in my head. 

No fun!

Other than that though the migraines are not horrible ones, just draining and annoying so that is an improvement.  I am getting around better at least right now.  Things seem to be staying in place, AND I am learning what I should and shouldn’t be doing as well.  So this is all helping!  Yea! 

I hope to go for a walk this afternoon around the yard.  Luka’s been getting plenty of exercise with his favorite friend Toby.  So life is good.  All he wants to do when he isn’t helping me or running with Toby is sleep also.  Poor guy is getting so much fun exercise that he is exhausted!  It is so good for him!  He is loving every minute of it!

Oh on another note: one of my Sugru pictures was featured in the Sugru newsletter this month!  How cool is that!  Visit their site I am sure they have a link to it somewhere.  It is one of the hacked perch and the finch!

Blessings,

Pink Doberman 

ThRiLLeD!

Ok so with the Radio Frequency Lesioning/Ablation working now… I am feeling a need to get everything done.  Problem is that the rest of my body is not agreeing with this method.  =D 

But I am moving about much better and with MUCH less pain from just having my head on my shoulders.  So I am thrilled about that!  THRILLED I tell you!  It is a relief to say the least! 

I’ve been going for walks!  1 block stop and pause for a bit one more block stop and rest let Luka run.. 1 block back stop and pause, 1 more block home and rest.  Hey it hasn’t gotten easier and it hasn’t gotten worse.  I am just thrilled as can be that I am able to do it! 

Jason goes with us when he can.  Otherwise Luka and I make the trek ourselves and wave at our neighbors as we pass by. 

It isn’t much but it is something.  Maybe soon I will start going out a couple times a day.  I don’t seem to be able to do more than this right now at one time, but spaced out I bet I could do a repeat or two! 

Luka thinks he’s going to die afterward, it is so dang hot outside.  I do try to go when it is a bit cooler, or I just put his cooling vest on him and we go anyway.  The humidity has not been agreeing with me as it has in the past.  I am doing alright in it.  Just not as good as I used to do.  Since I haven’t been out much this summer at all, I would imagine that would explain why it may be more difficult for me than usual. 

We’ve been having the air conditioning on quite allot lately as well.  The temperature where Luka and Jason are comfortable at leaves me in long sweat pants and a huge sweatshirt.  It is a funny site to say the least.  I don’t mind really, I think I live in this attire all most all year long, except for when we are able to have the windows open. 

In the winter, I wear the same things as well to stay warm.. Actually I probably add on a few more layers as well.  Lucky for Jason that Luka has the same temperature preferences as he does, I’ve really tried to stop adjusting the thermostat for my boys.  Even though Jason is kind and shares that I should turn it down if I get cold.. oddly in the winter, he prefers that I just pile on more clothes.  $$$$ you know. 

Well I don’t have much more to share, except that things are improving and I am thrilled!  THRILLED!  I am even able to do a bit more around the house again!  Woot!!!  LOVING THIS!

Blessings,

Pink Doberman

InFiNiTy & BeYoNd..

What do you do when all of your choices have been limited to ONE? 
You CHOOSE to become happy about the ONE thing that you have!  No matter what it is.  You still have something to be grateful for, even if it isn’t the ONE thing that you would have chosen. 
I am happy!  Even if this is not what I would have chosen for myself.  I can still choose to be happy.  I don’t have to like it, but I am grateful.  I am talking about shoes.  When I was told I shouldn’t wear heels, I stopped wearing my beautiful Brazilian shoes.  I did not however stop looking at them or dreaming of wearing them again. 
I got myself flat shoes..  No comparison to my pretty heels, but better than nothing, they didn’t make me feel better. 
My friend got me MY Dansko shoes!  I like those, they made my feet feel better.. until I was told..
I could only wear this or this brand of shoes and my insoles.  Everything else would make me stand incorrectly and prevent me from getting better.  I grew to be happy with this choice.  My only choice.  Even though it is summer and my feet want to be FREE!!!  What I want most is to be better, to be in less pain and to have a better quality of life, so this girl follows instructions!
I have now heard from the to far most EXPERTS with those who have EDS that wearing a VARIETY of heel sizes and shoe types if preferred for me!  In fact keeping my body out of the “Optimal” shape may just be one way to keep my hips from being so squirrely.   I don’t know, but I used to be of the opinion to wear what feels good and does not hurt!  So I am going to take back my life with a variety of shoes!
That is however bad news for Jason…. which means when I go somewhere for the night.. I will be bringing a bag of shoes with me for me to choose what to wear during the day! 
I have two HUGE Thank You’s to TWO Dr’s my Dr. B and Dr. Byrd who Unknowingly gave me some unexpected footwear choices with their medical opinion!  Change it up! 
Which means CHOICES and EXTRA Happiness!! 
Hope you are enjoying your shoes today!
Blessings,
Pink Doberman

gOiNg & gOiNg & gOiNg…..

What keeps me going? 

Several things do.  Let me start by sharing, I have always lived my life looking forward to what new adventures tomorrow can bring.  No I know that the word adventures can lend itself to good things and bad things.  But that is life.  Down deep I am a practical gal.  On the surface you will think I am all diamonds and fluff..  Which is why it would behoove people to look at least three times before giving a final judgment. 

Even when I’ve been in a medicated coma like state suffering with pain beyond wildest imaginations… I would keep saying to myself it will be over soon.  Soon, I’ll be able to move.  Soon I will be able to sleep, soon I will be able to have a conversation, soon I will be able to remember.  Sometimes soon is all you have.  There is no exact time definition of the word soon.  I remember praying for God to take my life away.  I remember my conversation.  If I have done all that there is for me to do here, take me home.  If I am to do something else here, I will stay.  But if you are done, I am begging you to end this misery.

Jason would come home and check if I were still breathing, fearful that I had died in the night while he was gone.  I prayed for my suffering to end one way or another.

I am here for a reason.  This unknown reason is keeping me going. 

I am taking life one day at a time, testing out and trying to be open to possibilities as they unfold.  I am trying to be accepting of where I am at and the fact that I am still here.  There is a mission that I am meant to complete.  A road that I have yet to travel.  A life that I have yet to touch.  A reason to keep living. 

I am not sure of the exact nature of this reason.  I just know that there is one.  

Blessings,

Pink Doberman

bLeSsEd… & FoRgOtTeN

Today was a day full of blessings.  I am so grateful!  I had the best day physically I have had in MONTHS!  It corresponded with some amazing people being in my space.  I truly feel blessed.

 

I had forgotten how amazing it is to live. 

 

Today was not easy for me like before.  I just think I am finally transitioning mentally.  I also believe that the Radio Frequency Ablation is now working!  Praise God! 

 

I am exhausted.  From actual activity.  I am sure my body will be sore tomorrow, but as I write this I couldn’t be happier. 

Thanks to everyone who was a part of my Saturday!!  Even if I didn’t know you before today!   A special THANK YOU to my Long Time Friends for making this day possible!  And to Jason’s Mom! 

 

Blessings!
Pink Doberman