To Your Health.

First of all, thank you all so much for your thoughtful emails and comments on my last post.  I am so, so, so happy to report that Mom was released from the hospital on Sunday and cleared to go back to work (half days only, and I have my spies out, Mom, so you better be following doctor’s orders!) starting today.  After what seemed like thousands of tests, blood work, scans, etc., it turned out that her blood clots and her weeks of illness were actually unrelated (we think).  The clotting was caused as a side effect of a clinical drug for cancer prevention that she has been taking for 2 years and is supposed to take for another 3.  After weighing risks versus rewards, Mom and her oncologist decided that she will stay on that drug and add Coumadin, a blood thinner, to stop the clots.  Meanwhile, another doctor discovered a blockage in her bile duct behind her liver and kidneys.  Unable to perform the minor surgery that they would normally do to remove it (since her blood was so thin), they inserted a stint to allow the liver to function as normal, and Mom has not been feeling much digestive distress (my new favorite phrase, I am going to use it from now on to describe anything from tummy aches to pooping problems) since then.  Her right leg is still swollen, so she got to go be fitted for a super sexy thigh-high compression stocking which I’m sure is probably driving her insane right now (but it’s for the best! Keep it on, lady!).  So all in all, she is much better and hopefully has a good first day back at work.

After all of my time in the hospital, I was exhausted when I got home on Friday night.  I actually ended up sleeping in our guest room because Deane has been battling a nasty hacking chest cold, and I woke up myself at about 5 am with “digestive distress” of my own (see? I used it already!) After 24 solid hours of expelling every last bit of anything that existed inside my body, I was able to stand up and even drink some water.  I have been back at work all week and this morning, I even got my appetite back!  I was a little sad about this last bit, because even though the 24 hour virus came after me with a vengeance and almost killed me (really!), it did produce a net weight loss of 2.6 pounds :) I am working hard to keep it off, as I have been doing pretty well in 2010, and want to be looking good in time for bathing suit season! 

Which, by the way, is coming way too late this year.  As I was getting dressed this morning, Deane reminded me to wear green (pinch me and die) and I was thinking about what I wore LAST St. Patrick’s Day.  After I got over my awe of being able to recall outfits from 365 days prior, I remembered that I wore layered tank tops and knee length black city shorts.  Today’s forecast calls for rain and a high of 62 degrees, which means I am not even rocking an open toed shoe, UGH – it’s gonna look and feel like Ireland around here :(  I wish it was sunny and 76 like it was last year, but I know spring is riiiiiight around the corner.  Maybe it’s the time change or the face that Easter seems super early this year, but I am SO BEYOND READY FOR SPRINGTIME!  In the meantime, I’ll be gobbling up some seasonally themed candy (chocolate covered Peeps blog review to come…) in moderation, of course – and hoping for days of 70+. Happy St. Patty’s!