Gallbladder GONE

Wow... that was easy enough! They wheeled me in the operating room, made 4 small incisions and wheeled me into recovery and sent me home the same day... Now, the only pain I truly am experiencing is after lying down, getting up feels like I am tearing my insides apart, so I have to be careful getting out of bed. Other than that, I am so thankful that I won't have to worry about anymore attacks. Those were way more painful than this recovery has been and is. Some people take medicine for gallstones, but I am not sure why they made that decision. I feel so much better already and was living with nausea that I didn't even realize I had! Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers. Your friendship means the world to me! xox

Ordered More Flag Bunting ~

These are so nice... can't get any more Americana than these-- They are tea stained and made to look vintage. They are available on my website while supplies last.

BACK to the ER...

Back to the ER... I woke up again around 3 am and was having pain... waited until 530 and woke up hubby to please take me to the ER. We went in and my blood test results showed slight elevation of numbers for my liver and they did a scan and ultrasound to find several stones in my gallbladder. According to the scan, it looked like a large pecan seed sized stone, but on the ultrasound, you could see several in there and the walls have thickened, which from what I have read on the Mayo Clinic site, sometimes comes from being infected. Wonderful. Next step? Calling the surgeon on Monday to schedule surgery. This can be done as outpatient surgery, however, due to the thickened walls, they may have to make an incision, which for me would mean a much longer recovery period. It was a rainy day here, which sure fit my mood... We needed the rain, as the garden was getting dry...

Time to Mulch

It's inevitable if you have gardens... time to mulch your flower beds! I am removing two large low growing shrubs in the front of the house. They are approximately 12' x 12'. One is out and the other is partially gone. I can't believe the amount of dampness they hold. I have 5 barberry bushes in the front that are so pretty, but they have tons of thorns on them. I have rosey glow and the dwarf variety, which by the way, are just as large as the rosey glows are. I went to WalMart yesterday and purchased Cypress mulch... never again! That is the worst mulch I have ever used in my life! It is full of splinters, no consistency and is really only good to put in a garden of veggies or berries. It is not attractive at all... it is light brown/tan in color. So, off to WalMart I go today and will definitely look at the mulch before I prepay for it. They were out of the pine bark mulch chips that I usually purchase. The picture of the flower shown is my buttercup picture. They are in bloom now with the stella d'oro daylillies. Happy gardening!

Off to the ER!

I woke up in the middle of the night again, feeling like an elephant was sitting on my chest. Hubby gave me a couple of tums and I went back to sleep, trying to find a comfortable position. Around 5:30, the dog was barking and I woke up, feeling that awful pain. I got up and could not shake it. I took tums and then took a baby aspirin because I was scared I may be having a heart attack. I woke up my teenager and had her drive me to the ER. I called 911 from my cell and the dispatcher had a squad meet us at a restaurant in town. They were so kind to us and my daughter rode in the front with the driver. They drew blood and gave me nitro just in case I was having a heart attack. The pain stayed. Long story short, after the blood tests came back fine and the chest xray was okay, I was diagnosed with gastritis. OH my gosh that is kind of embarrassing, but my mom in law seems to think that I am having gall bladder issues, as this is the second time this has happened to me. Both times I have eaten my hubby's bbq spare ribs for dinner, so guess what I'm not having for dinner anymore :)

Pumpkins already??

With temps in the high 90s and heat index over 100, it's hard to think about fall being here before we know it, but it will be... Fall items are already selling on eBay, as people are getting ready for their craft shows and stocking up, knowing soon enough there will be Christmas items and snowmen listed. These pumpkins are a great seller for me. They are rag stuffed and poly stuffed and are sprayed with scrumptuous smelling linen spray. Please click on my eBay link to the right to see this and other items in my store...

Betsy Ross Flag Listed

This nice Betsy Ross flag is now listed on eBay. It measures approximately 17" x 28". I still have a few flag buntings left as well. They have all been tea stained. Check them out by clicking on my eBay link to the right.