Update

Sorry I have not blogged in a while, but I have a really good reason. Sunday, September 6, 2009 while I was riding to Irish Fest I was not feeling terribly well. It finally passed and I thought it was more of the basic GI distress and associated back pain. I was fine through most of Irish Fest that day, but towards the end of our time there, I started feeling uncomfortable again. Chalking it up to lactose intolerance, I dealt with it while we went to Yarn Shop and More so Stepheny could spend the gift certificate she won (she won 3rd place in the non-wearable category). Well, after leaving there I stopped at a pharmacy to get some generic phazyme, and it didn't help much so I was pretty uncomfortable on the drive back to town. After we dropped off Brigette, I started feeling like I was going to be sick to my stomach, so I figured I had eaten something that had disagreed with me. About five minutes after I got home, I got sick. After being sick three times, I called my dad and asked at what point should I go to the Emergency Room. He said if I was asking, now. He came and picked me up, and I continued to get sick, all the while thinking, I am going to feel really silly if I stop being sick once I get there and start feeling better. Unfortunately that did not happen.

After getting to the ER, we got checked in and went through the usual wait. I ended up laying on one of the semi-circular benches because most of the chairs were taken, and frankly I just felt lousy. I got sick at least once in the waiting room, maybe more, my memory is kind of fuzzy on that. At one point they took my vitals, and eventually I got called back into the see the triage nurse. Then it was more waiting in another area while we waited for a room to open up. Again I was laying on one of the padded benches from what I can remember, and eventually they got me back to a room. At one point I had a CT scan, and at some point they gave me something for the pain, but I am not sure in which order. At another point I remember being told I was had pancreatitis (I have since learned it is a moderate case of acute pancreatitis), and I was being admitted.

As I understand it, it apparently passed a gallstone into a duct that caused all these issues. I knew I had gallstones, but I had never had any of the symptoms my doctor told me to watch for. Plenty of people have gallstones and are never troubled by them. And I have been assured by three different doctors that my previous problems probably were unrelated. There probably were not any early warning signs that could have tipped me off that this was coming.

Yesterday, they tried to do an endoscopic procedure to see if a duct was still blocked, and apparently I was thrashing about in too much pain, even with a sedative, so they are going to try again next week, this time with anesthesia.

I do not want anyone to think I am looking for sympathy with this post. It is purely intended as an update in case some of you had not already heard through other sources. I have been incredibly reluctant to post anything on facebook about it, but I have been trying to get the word out to people I know.

Celtic Knot Stole Pics

Here are some pictures of the finished Celtic Knot Stole.




I think it turned out very well, especially considering it is only my second serious lace knitting project. And while I feel like I am still a novice lace knitter, one of the judges at KC Irish Fest told me I should not call myself a novice lace knitter, because I would be setting the bar too high. Speaking of Irish Fest, I did enter the stole. There were some very high caliber entries, including a circular shawl that they actually put through a wedding ring. Not being a serious lace knitter, I am not entirely sure of the significance of that, but I know it is important. Upon hearing that they did that, it was no surprise that it won first price in the wearable item category. In all likelihood, it will win the grand prize.

I will be entering the Once Upon a Time Blanket today. Mary was kind enough to bring it to town so I could enter it, and I will be heading out to Kansas City in the next hour or so.

This may be the last year I enter anything in the knitting contest at Irish Fest but not because I did not do well. The same judge who told me I should not say I was a novice lace knitter expressed an interest in having me be a judge next year because I clearly knew what I was doing. Additionally, now that I have paid off the student loans, I want to start attending Scifi/Gaming conventions again, and Dragon Con in Atlanta is usually held at the same time as Irish Fest.