Stitching & Birding & Medical/Dental Stuff

I can't believe I haven't posted since Monday but this should give you a bit of an idea of what this week has been like for me.  Not that I really have much to complain about compared to some, but oy!

First off, I have yet to be able to find a prosthodontist who will give me their opinion of my bridge & whistling problems.  I contact an office, state that I need a second opinion as to why I'm having these problems, & I never get a call back.  I've tried prosthodontists in both Lexington & Louisville. I'm wondering if I'm going to have to start searching in surrounding states next! Monday is another day ... I will try again.

On Tuesday I had my appointment with my doctor who as you may recall had me get almost a page full of blood tests last month. They revealed a few puzzles.  These puzzles, along with the symptoms I've been putting up with for what seems like forever, can all be linked to one positive finding.  Lupus.  And here's where things "go Kentucky."  My doctor wants me to see a rheumatologist for further testing & diagnosing of the lupus.  She states that it is very important I see someone as soon as possible.  She also states that she can't provide me with a referral but I should be able to just call & make an appointment with someone myself.  I spent 2 days calling rheumatology offices in Lexington & Louisville.  None of them will see me without a referral.  I explained to one of them that my doctor says she cannot give referrals ... something about insurance issues (she does not accept insurance).   The receptionist I spoke with said that's silly ... insurance has nothing to do with it.  They just need her to fax them a referral form in order to see me.  I made note of this & went on with my phone calls.  I found another office & when I explained that my doctor does not give referrals the receptionist (Barb) told me they don't need a doctor to do a referral, a nurse would suffice.  This sweet person even gave me her direct line for someone at my doctor's office to call her to request the form.  Don't you just love it when someone goes out of their way like that to help you?  There's a special place prepared for that women in heaven. Anyway, I informed my doctor's office of this & you know what they said?  They told me that this receptionist was wrong, what she said wasn't true, that it has to be a doctor.  It boggles the mind, doesn't it?  Needless to say, I am not very happy with my doctor. She is supposed to be "the best."  When I told my cardiologist that I was seeing her, he talked about her as if she walked on water.  I really like her determination to find out what's causing the problems a patient is having ... not just hand them a prescription to take away the symptoms & leave it at that ... but she also totally ignores me at times when I ask her about symptoms I'm having, there's this insurance thing, & her office charges have gone through the roof recently.  Once again she doesn't accept insurance so I have to pay out of pocket & then try to get reimbursed from my insurance companies & that's a whole other trip to hell.  This year she instituted a new policy.  You have to pay an "office administrative fee" at the beginning of each year ... $250.  This fee is supposed to cover letters she may need to write, copies of records when they are requested,  & give you the privilege of her answering questions over the phone (with the nurse as the go-between).  Isn't this all normal business practices?  I had a doctor request my records a while back & was told that if any other doctors requested them I'd have to pay for them ... $1.00 per page. Anyway, on Monday I'll be calling rheumatology offices again.  I think I'll call Barb & let her know why she didn't receive a call from my doctor's office as I'm sure she was expecting it.  Sigh!

I tackled more insurance headaches.  Enough said about that.

Yesterday I woke up after sleeping 8 hours & I was totally exhausted.  I felt achy & very weak, my stomach hurt, I felt kind of barfy, & I was hot/cold.  After being up for an hour I went back to bed & slept another 4 hours. Then I got up, had 2 pieces of dry toast, & went back to bed for another 2 hours. Later on I had another 2 pieces of dry toast, a cup of tea, & went to bed at 9 p.m.  I slept 10 hours straight through to this morning.  I'm still not feeling quite up to par but definitely better than yesterday.

Throughout the week I was able to do some stitching.  I worked on HE's Merrie Birdies pattern which shocked me a bit when I started it.  I had kitted this up with the pattern & linen only, cutting the linen in a 9-1/2" square which nicely fits my Q-Snap when stitching 1 ornament.  However, I didn't realize that these bird ornaments were not the normal size.  The design area is only about 2" x 2-1/2".  I actually was able to fit 4 of them onto the piece of  linen I had prepared.  I had to stitch them without the Q-Snap or any other kind of hoop ... not something I'm comfortable with but it worked. They are not quite finished yet. There is supposed to be a wreath hanging around the cardinal's neck & some holly berries on the holly on the crows ... all made of French knots (AAAHHHHHHH!!!!!) ... but I haven't decided if I'm going to attempt these again or just use beads.  Beads would lend themselves well to these ornaments, I think, since they are not extremely prim.  As you can see, I had room for an extra birdie so I stitched the crow twice.  I really enjoyed stitching these & they worked up quite quickly!

And speaking of birdies, we put up the feeder earlier in the week.  We put it up in the fall so the birds will have something to eat during the cold months, & then when spring comes around we take it down so they will hopefully eat all the bugs in the yard instead.  The birds have been having a great time.  Not all the varieties are here yet but the mourning doves are having a field day!  One day I looked outside & was able to count 17 of them & then had to give up ... there were just too many to keep track! Yesterday John was able to count 29 before he had to stop!  They are ground feeders so they pay no attention to the feeders, but it's funny ... some of them will congregate right underneath the feeder because seeds drop onto the ground there when other birds are eating.  In fact, there are 2 birds in particular that are a hoot.  They are house finches & I don't know if they are searching for particular seeds or just helping out their mourning dove friends but they will perch on the feeder & just pick out seeds & drop them on the ground!  

The mourning doves are such sweet tempered birds.  I couldn't get a picture of all of them as I had to take these from the french doors.  All the windows have screens on them which are not good for picture taking.  Sometimes they sit on the electric wires out back & wait for us to toss out more seeds.  Here are a few of them doing just that.

And there you have it ... a recap of my week. I have not yet started the specialty stitches needed on my exchange piece.  I will attempt those when I'm feeling better.  Today I plan to start another kitted item.  When I kit things, I usually just prepare the fabric & put it & the pattern into a baggie.  The ones I have kitted in this way now are all LHN ornaments.  I think that sometime today I might also go through all my JCS Ornaments issues & see if anything calls to me.  I got the 2012 issue on Tuesday while we in Lexington for my doctor appointment & I must say that I was a bit disappointed in this year's offerings.  I don't know why exactly.  Perhaps on second inspection I will find more of interest to me   : )

I hope you all have a great weekend!  I extend a warm welcome to all my new followers & send special thanks to all my regulars   : )