Friday, April 27, 2007

Ramblings

Yesterday I read a something that really struck a cord with me. For the past few months I've been rambling about the house & the grease as I can't reveal what I'm knitting. I started something back in February for DH which got put on hold big style due moving house but it's back on track & will be finished soon. I've also got another little something going on as well & yarn & patterns were purchased on my birthday but I kept quiet about it. It's something small as the recipient hasn't been born yet but it couldn't be a total surprise as Mum-to-be has a 'thing' about some fibres & I had to check that it wouldn't make her skin crawl before I cast on. Luckily my chosen yarn Bergere de France Ideal was acceptable & as it's machine washable I thought it be a good choice for a baby.

So there will be some more FO's on here at some point as knitting is taking place but just not yet.

Now if you've just come on here to read about knitting please click on the sidebar & go & visit another blog. What follows isn't about knitting in the slightest but about what's happening in my life 'beyond' the needles as it were.

I had a bit of a stressful afternoon/evening today & arrived at Knitting Club an hour late because of it all Firstly DD has/had a problem with Verrucas for a long time. I blame it on the fact that she's been swimming for nearly 6 years & spends a lot of her time walking barefoot in showers or on a poolside. Our Doctor disagrees with the association but even he was shocked when he saw the state of her feet as she had 33 verrucas on the soles of her feet & toes & even 1 on her hand. I've been trying to arrange Cryosurgery for her for a while but the receptionists kept fobbing me off due to her age & referred me back to the chemist for more cream. But last week I stood my ground & got stroppy with them so got an appointment for her to see the Doctor. I had thought he would kill them off over a number of appointments but no he did them all in one session. Poor DD was nearly climbing the walls with the pain & was screaming with tears running down her cheeks. I tried to distract her by suggesting a special pudding after dinner & asking would she prefer chocolate cake, cheese cake or ice cream. It didn't really work as a distraction as her feet were so painful & as she had so many he just kept going with the liquid nitrogen. It seemed to me that he was enjoying himself in a perverse way. However she did manage to hobble into the supermarket afterwards & choose a cream cake with strawberries on top WITH strawberry ice-cream.

Then it was back home to collect the dogs as now it was Annie's turn. I've been worried about her for a couple of weeks & had my fears confirmed at the vets. She has gone blind in her right eye due to a Cataract but as she has severe von Willebrands Disease surgery isn't an option for this dog.

Annie
Annie - an old photo but one of my favourites


I'm not concerned about caring with a blind dog as I've done it before as my first Airedale Libby went blind when she was 3 due to PRA, Instead I feel sad as she's already been through so much in her short life & has just recovered from another nasty disease that I didn't mention on here. She's such a sweet shy dog who just wants lots of cuddles & is insanely greedy. She'll still have a great life even if she loses sight in her other eye as well but she could die any time due to the blood disease so every moment is precious.

Now just when you're all totally grossed out by DD's feet & then if you're an animal lover feeling sad about Annie, something to make you smile:

Grey squirrel
Grey Squirrel in our Ash Tree

6 comments:

dreamcatcher said...

Crumbs, stressful indeed. Sorry poor DD had to go through that with her feet. I had a cluster of verrucas only the once and I can sympathise with how awful they are. Hope she feels better soon. Also really sorry to hear about Annie, poor thing has really been through the wars.

My Five Sons said...

I feel for you not just for your DD but your precious Airdales,my bunny is a bit off today and I wory in case any of my furry mates are ill as its a long way to the Animal Docs!
Love the Squirrel

Emily said...

I have been through a childhood with almost a plague of Verrucas (didn't know the word at first but had a gut feeling!). I swam a lot but not like your DD plus I had them all over my body (and I mean all over, hands, arms, knees, feet, everywhere). The old techniques didn't work and eventually I found a great doctor who told me my immune system for Verrucas was just very low. I had to go through a - completely unpainfull - treatment to get it going again. It took a while and in the mean time he decided to remove the Verrucas with a different technique, which I call "freezing from the inside out". It sounds horrible, but they put a needle just beside the thing and push a fluid under it. (You don't feel it but at first as a little bit of local sedation goes in at the same time). The effects are the same as with the regular method - you get blisters - but it's way more effective as they destroy the roots of the little bastards!

Since then the treatment has started working and when I still get Verrucas - yes I do still get them - they dissapear quite quickly as my body fights them naturally. It's probably the same with your daughter. It often changes by age, but honestly, if she has that many I would look for a treatment! Basically we are all faced with the same bacteries that causes them but most of us have a good immune system. Like me your daughter doesn't and I was sick of the huge amount of treatments (I have a high painlevel so I wasn't bothered as much as your DD, but I know what she's going through!).

If you want a bit more information or such feel free to email me!

Love!

Emily said...

Damn, I lost my complete comment!!!

Ok, again. As a child I was going through a bad case of Verrucas myself! I had them everywhere (hands, feet, knees, even one in my armpit!). I went swimming a lot, but not like your DD.

After a lot of classical treatments (the chemical stuff didn't work with me either so I had to go to the doctor every time) my mom found a doctor who used a different treatment. Base is that we are all confronted with the same bacteries, but people like your DD and me have no immune system to fight them off. That's why she has so many. So I went through a completely unpainful treatment that was to get my immune system in action again. Normally your body can kick in when you get older but when you are plagued like that you can't wait.

In the main time - the treatment does take a while to start working - my Verrucas were removed in another way, basically "burned from the inside out". The insert a needle just next to the thing and push a fluid in. You feel it at first but as a mild anestethic is put in at the same time you don't feel the rest. The result is the same (you get the blisters as all) but it's way more effective as you destroy the roots as well (the most important, and the reason why many don't dissapear with the traditional method as the roots are not completely destroyed!).

After that I did get the damn things but my body fought them off and in no time they dissapeared again! I still have the proof to show you the endless amounts of classical treatments I went through! They left a lot of scars.

If you want to hear more, email me!

Love!

Emily said...

Oops, one more time, you'll probably read this. I didn't see you have to approve the comments and I thought Blogger was annoying me again! Sorry for the multiple post!!

Joy said...

Oh Blue - verrucae are the pits. I wonder if cryosurgery is the way to go with so many. I had no idea that DS had verrucae ( he is a 15year old boy after all but I should have done ) anyway we lost count of them after we reached 3 figures! Topical application of Occlusol and fortnightly visits to the chiropodist are working wonders.

A Happy Birthday for the 23rd btw - also Shakespeare's birthday!