-Though it was -10 tonight both Jeannette and I were commenting the day's warmth. Sure, we both still wore jackets when we went to the grocery store, but I'm not sure either of us zipped them up.
-So, it seems that maybe at least a little residential snow clearing occurs in Regina.
When I came home from work I noticed that a few inches of packed snow had been removed from the roads near our apartment. Of course, these streets still have a few inches of packed down snow on them, and in at least one case the dreaded ruts are already beginning to re-appear.
-As I returned home from work I reminded Jeannette that this morning she expressed an interest in a return visit to a local grocery store this evening. Of course, we could both remember that Jeannette asked to go to the store but neither of us could remember why she wanted to go. Throughout our visit, though to no avail, we both kept trying to recall the original reason for our trip.
Not surprisingly, just a little while after we returned home Jeannette remembered that she wanted a new pillow. Woops.
I guess we'll be heading back tomorrow.
-Today Neil sent me a link about oxalate content in certain foods that lead me to additional material on the same topic. The real bummer of the whole excursion out onto the fast lane of the information super highway was that I learned that just about everything seems to have kidney stone causing oxalates.
Well, at least I still have water with lemon, right?
Kidney stones are the worst.
-But at least the days are getting longer?
Showing posts with label Kidney Stones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kidney Stones. Show all posts
Thursday, January 03, 2013
Monday, June 13, 2011
Another extended absence
A little while ago I explained that comps a move to Wolfville had been keeping me away from the blog. My most recent absence was for a completely different reason. This time I have a medical excuse.
On Thursday of last week I had a Percutaneous nephrolithotomy to surgically remove a few kidney stones from my right kidney. The procedure resulted in a two-night hospital stay and then some post-hospital downtime. (Now that a few days have passed and I am not losing as much blood I am getting a little energy back).
Anyway, it seems that this procedure, like other surgical procedures that I have had, is a little more involved I imagined it would be when I agreed to it. Instead of just removing the stones surgically, the process is really three somewhat distinct process that all involve some form of anesthesia or sedation.
The first step, which is conducted while under a general anesthetic, involves the places of stents in the urinary tract. And, surprise, surprise, I also woke up with a catheter (one of the aspects of the whole thing that I don't recall being mentioned explicitly much in advance of the surgery). Once the procedure was complete I was sent to the recovery room where I pretty soon regained consciousness and had a nice talk to the nurse about the fact that all three of my names are last names (this fact is commonly noted in Nova Scotia).
After a relatively brief wait in the recovery room, where I foolishly declined pain medication, I was sent along for the second step of the procedure - the introduction of a tube from my back to my kidney. Much to my surprise, this procedure didn't involve a general anesthetic. That this was to be the case was a little disconcerting at first as the last time that I had surgery to my back I was quite awake and could feel the whole thing. Fortunately in this case I managed to sleep/pass out for most of the procedure. As far as I recall I don't even really remember very much of them placing the tube or how I got from the operating table back to my bed, something for which I was likely at least partially responsive.
The third and final step of the procedure, though it involves no new holes or incisions, is really the most significant part of the whole process. Through various means the stones are broken up and/or removed (an exclusive 'or' is used in this case). All in all, these processes can seeming be quite aggressive and really lead to fair bit of internal bleeding and disruption. And apparently in my case at least of one batch of stones was located in a particularly hard to reach area that required some particularly aggressive maneuvering of a scope (the miming of this process that the doctor did for Neil, Rebecca, and I really made it clear why my procedure was particularly sanguineous).
After this third procedure I was finally sent to my hospital room. Soon after I arrived one of the nurses offered me something for pain - this time I gladly accepted the drugs and began to feel less bad almost immediately.
As I was slowly coming to my senses in the room I started to become aware of the fact that my three roommates were all quite a bit older than I and also, arguably, in much worse overall health. This fact fact was pretty quickly driven home when the patient to my right lost control of his bowels all over the floor next to his bed (and then there was some talk of c. diff). Discussions that doctors and nurses had with the other two guys also made it clear that they too were not in the best health.
That evening Neil and Rebecca came to visit, which was a very nice distraction from the general madness of the room. The visit also allowed Neil and Rebecca a chance to soak up some of the atmosphere of the room and meet my doctor. My sense is that they were somewhat shocked by the 'atmosphere' and impressed by my doctor and his general demeanor.
Not too long after Neil and Rebecca's departure things appeared as though they were starting to calm down and patients were washed and lights were turned off. Of course it didn't take me long to realize that the night wasn't going to be particularly restful.
One of the first problem I noticed was that the IV machines that we all had were really quite noisy and produced a special sucking noise every few seconds. The gauze that the nurse gave helped to some extent but really didn't do all that much to muffle much sound.
Pain and general discomfort were another set of issues that made it somewhat hard to sleep. Even though I was taking pain medication regularly almost any movement or muscle contraction would wake me. It felt as though I had to stay awake just to concentrate on not moving.
Finally, and this was maybe the biggest impediment to sleep, the incontinent patient to my right continued to make noise and lose control of his bodily functions all night long. If I recall correctly, at one point he might have urinated on the floor while at a later point he did something to necessitate a middle-of-the-night sheet change. Several times throughout the night while changing his own diaper he thought that he had messed up his IV drip. While in most cases his IV was fine and he hadn't really needed to buzz for a nurse, though in at least one instance he did manage to completely disconnect his IV from his body (amazingly, in this case he had called the nurse for a completely unrelated reason).
By about 5:00 AM all pretense of trying to sleep by any of the four patients in the room was lost. We were up for the day (or at least until our first nap). Fortunately breakfast soon arrived and I was once again pleasantly surprised by the quality of the hospital's food. I was particularly taken with the pumpkin bran muffin I was served.
Fortunately patient drama decreased dramatically on this second day, and the decrease was basically noticeable from breakfast onwards. Perhaps not surprisingly, at least three of the four of us were clearly getting better.
Shortly after breakfast the doctors came through on their morning rounds. It was at this point I learned that I would soon be losing both my IV and my catheter and that the tube that was still directly connected to my kidney would be stoppered and disconnected from the bag that had been collecting run-off directly from the kidney.
The upside of these changes were that I was no longer bed-ridden and I didn't have to have a loud IV machine constantly making noise next to me. The downside of these changes were that I was now expected to start moving around and I was cut-off from real pain medication (real pain would have been a sign of problems/infection so they didn't want to risk masking it). Fortunately I was eventually given an ibuprofen-acetaminophen cocktail that did a little to dull the pain.
Almost before I knew it I was walking around and pounding water to clear my kidney and bladder of stones, stone fragments, and clots. Relatively early on in this process it became clear that there were a few obstructions that were likely going to force me to stay an extra night in the hospital.
Fortunately, after maybe only an hour or two of aggressive water drinking and shuffling up and down the hall I managed to clear the worst of the obstructions and demonstrate that I was generally in pretty fine health. Of course, I had to deal with the consequences of all of the water drinking for the rest of the day.
Later in the day I had the pleasure of having visits from Jeannette, Neil, and Rebecca. Though at times I might like to put on a face of stoicism, it really is nice to have at least a few hospital visitors for a few minutes a day otherwise the days have a way of passing very slowly.
My second night in the hospital went much more smoothly than the first. Though I didn't wake up much I have the sense that the nurses were called to the room much less frequently and that there were fewer big problems for them to deal with.
During my second morning of rounds I learned that I would be heading home that day and that I would be losing the drainage tube that was then leading to my kidney. Much to my surprise one of the residents told me she would be removing the tube right away. Even more surprising was that the tube removal only took a few minutes and didn't hurt. That this could be painless and so fast and easy still surprises.
Of course the big downside of the removal of the drainage tube was that the drainage was no longer limited to the tube but soon began to flow directly from my side (a development that was expected). Of course, even though this drainage was normal at times it came a bit more quickly than I expected. At one or two points before I was released the drainage was abundant that it overwhelmed the dressings that had been taped to my back.
Not surprisingly, since being released from the hospital I have been trying to take it easy and limit my level of physical activity. Of course this sentiment has been reinforced after my one attempt at dishwashing/floor sweeping seemed to reinvigorate the drainage from the relatively small incision in my back.
Now that I am a few days removed from the surgery I am finally starting to feel a little bit less like I have been hit by a truck and a little more as though I am just at about 75% power. Hopefully with a few more days I will feel more like 90% or 100% power.
On Thursday of last week I had a Percutaneous nephrolithotomy to surgically remove a few kidney stones from my right kidney. The procedure resulted in a two-night hospital stay and then some post-hospital downtime. (Now that a few days have passed and I am not losing as much blood I am getting a little energy back).
Anyway, it seems that this procedure, like other surgical procedures that I have had, is a little more involved I imagined it would be when I agreed to it. Instead of just removing the stones surgically, the process is really three somewhat distinct process that all involve some form of anesthesia or sedation.
The first step, which is conducted while under a general anesthetic, involves the places of stents in the urinary tract. And, surprise, surprise, I also woke up with a catheter (one of the aspects of the whole thing that I don't recall being mentioned explicitly much in advance of the surgery). Once the procedure was complete I was sent to the recovery room where I pretty soon regained consciousness and had a nice talk to the nurse about the fact that all three of my names are last names (this fact is commonly noted in Nova Scotia).
After a relatively brief wait in the recovery room, where I foolishly declined pain medication, I was sent along for the second step of the procedure - the introduction of a tube from my back to my kidney. Much to my surprise, this procedure didn't involve a general anesthetic. That this was to be the case was a little disconcerting at first as the last time that I had surgery to my back I was quite awake and could feel the whole thing. Fortunately in this case I managed to sleep/pass out for most of the procedure. As far as I recall I don't even really remember very much of them placing the tube or how I got from the operating table back to my bed, something for which I was likely at least partially responsive.
The third and final step of the procedure, though it involves no new holes or incisions, is really the most significant part of the whole process. Through various means the stones are broken up and/or removed (an exclusive 'or' is used in this case). All in all, these processes can seeming be quite aggressive and really lead to fair bit of internal bleeding and disruption. And apparently in my case at least of one batch of stones was located in a particularly hard to reach area that required some particularly aggressive maneuvering of a scope (the miming of this process that the doctor did for Neil, Rebecca, and I really made it clear why my procedure was particularly sanguineous).
After this third procedure I was finally sent to my hospital room. Soon after I arrived one of the nurses offered me something for pain - this time I gladly accepted the drugs and began to feel less bad almost immediately.
As I was slowly coming to my senses in the room I started to become aware of the fact that my three roommates were all quite a bit older than I and also, arguably, in much worse overall health. This fact fact was pretty quickly driven home when the patient to my right lost control of his bowels all over the floor next to his bed (and then there was some talk of c. diff). Discussions that doctors and nurses had with the other two guys also made it clear that they too were not in the best health.
That evening Neil and Rebecca came to visit, which was a very nice distraction from the general madness of the room. The visit also allowed Neil and Rebecca a chance to soak up some of the atmosphere of the room and meet my doctor. My sense is that they were somewhat shocked by the 'atmosphere' and impressed by my doctor and his general demeanor.
Not too long after Neil and Rebecca's departure things appeared as though they were starting to calm down and patients were washed and lights were turned off. Of course it didn't take me long to realize that the night wasn't going to be particularly restful.
One of the first problem I noticed was that the IV machines that we all had were really quite noisy and produced a special sucking noise every few seconds. The gauze that the nurse gave helped to some extent but really didn't do all that much to muffle much sound.
Pain and general discomfort were another set of issues that made it somewhat hard to sleep. Even though I was taking pain medication regularly almost any movement or muscle contraction would wake me. It felt as though I had to stay awake just to concentrate on not moving.
Finally, and this was maybe the biggest impediment to sleep, the incontinent patient to my right continued to make noise and lose control of his bodily functions all night long. If I recall correctly, at one point he might have urinated on the floor while at a later point he did something to necessitate a middle-of-the-night sheet change. Several times throughout the night while changing his own diaper he thought that he had messed up his IV drip. While in most cases his IV was fine and he hadn't really needed to buzz for a nurse, though in at least one instance he did manage to completely disconnect his IV from his body (amazingly, in this case he had called the nurse for a completely unrelated reason).
By about 5:00 AM all pretense of trying to sleep by any of the four patients in the room was lost. We were up for the day (or at least until our first nap). Fortunately breakfast soon arrived and I was once again pleasantly surprised by the quality of the hospital's food. I was particularly taken with the pumpkin bran muffin I was served.
Fortunately patient drama decreased dramatically on this second day, and the decrease was basically noticeable from breakfast onwards. Perhaps not surprisingly, at least three of the four of us were clearly getting better.
Shortly after breakfast the doctors came through on their morning rounds. It was at this point I learned that I would soon be losing both my IV and my catheter and that the tube that was still directly connected to my kidney would be stoppered and disconnected from the bag that had been collecting run-off directly from the kidney.
The upside of these changes were that I was no longer bed-ridden and I didn't have to have a loud IV machine constantly making noise next to me. The downside of these changes were that I was now expected to start moving around and I was cut-off from real pain medication (real pain would have been a sign of problems/infection so they didn't want to risk masking it). Fortunately I was eventually given an ibuprofen-acetaminophen cocktail that did a little to dull the pain.
Almost before I knew it I was walking around and pounding water to clear my kidney and bladder of stones, stone fragments, and clots. Relatively early on in this process it became clear that there were a few obstructions that were likely going to force me to stay an extra night in the hospital.
Fortunately, after maybe only an hour or two of aggressive water drinking and shuffling up and down the hall I managed to clear the worst of the obstructions and demonstrate that I was generally in pretty fine health. Of course, I had to deal with the consequences of all of the water drinking for the rest of the day.
Later in the day I had the pleasure of having visits from Jeannette, Neil, and Rebecca. Though at times I might like to put on a face of stoicism, it really is nice to have at least a few hospital visitors for a few minutes a day otherwise the days have a way of passing very slowly.
My second night in the hospital went much more smoothly than the first. Though I didn't wake up much I have the sense that the nurses were called to the room much less frequently and that there were fewer big problems for them to deal with.
During my second morning of rounds I learned that I would be heading home that day and that I would be losing the drainage tube that was then leading to my kidney. Much to my surprise one of the residents told me she would be removing the tube right away. Even more surprising was that the tube removal only took a few minutes and didn't hurt. That this could be painless and so fast and easy still surprises.
Of course the big downside of the removal of the drainage tube was that the drainage was no longer limited to the tube but soon began to flow directly from my side (a development that was expected). Of course, even though this drainage was normal at times it came a bit more quickly than I expected. At one or two points before I was released the drainage was abundant that it overwhelmed the dressings that had been taped to my back.
Not surprisingly, since being released from the hospital I have been trying to take it easy and limit my level of physical activity. Of course this sentiment has been reinforced after my one attempt at dishwashing/floor sweeping seemed to reinvigorate the drainage from the relatively small incision in my back.
Now that I am a few days removed from the surgery I am finally starting to feel a little bit less like I have been hit by a truck and a little more as though I am just at about 75% power. Hopefully with a few more days I will feel more like 90% or 100% power.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
A Few Quick Notes 424
-While this morning was beautiful (clear and warm), things have taken a slight turn for this worse this afternoon. The sky is now overcast and the winds have picked up. All of a sudden the thunder and lightning that have been forecast for this evening seem much more reasonable than they seemed earlier today.
-Just as a point of comparison on the changes in conditions of the weather in Halifax, here is a photo that I took early this afternoon.
This photo was taken just after 4:00 PM, the switch to a grayer sky is quite obvious.
-It seems that today is election day in the UK. It was about a week after the last election that I left Keele after my year as an exchange student in the UK. After the last election the Blair government retained its relatively significant majority. According to recent reports the present election isn't expected to produce such a clear result. The Globe and Mail is providing live coverage, as is my favourite newspaper, The Guardian. Hopefully I will be able to follow (at least intermittently) the coverage of the election results tonight.
-In April 2008 I posted a few videos on my YouTube account of the riots/violent celebrations that occurred after the first round success of the Montreal Canadians. Not only did these immediately become some of my most popular content, but I also ended up licensing them to the TV show Most Shocking. Anyway, after almost two years of YouTube obscurity these videos seem to be generating renewed interest with the current playoff success of the Montreal Canadians. I guess I should make it clear that 'renewed interest' only means that they are now sometimes receiving upwards of 30 views a day (I guess they are still relatively obscure as far as YouTube videos are concerned).
If you are interested, this is the most viewed of the set of videos.
[Embedded Video]
-Since I started working on this post it has started to rain intermittently. Tonight should be fun.
-This afternoon I finally motivated myself to move my old filing cabinet and place the new one.
Unfortunately I have not yet been sufficiently motivated to start filling the new filing cabinet. Also, hopefully within a few weeks the pots on top of the filing cabinets will be filled with plants.
-Yesterday I had the good fortune to pick up and start reading a book of essays by John Stuart Mill. Though it is not my habit, in this case I started reading the introduction. The introduction, at least the part I have read, describes aspects of Mill's intellectual development and charts his thinking on certain topics. One of the aspects of Mill's life (which seems to generally well known) that I found most impressive was that Mill's father, in association with the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, developed a program of education for Mill that was intended to create a perfect utilitarian. Perhaps not surprisingly after such a regimented upbringing Mill eventually moved away from some of these ideas and even went so far as to actively criticize Bentham's utilitarian positions. I am really looking forward to reading the rest of the introduction as well as a few of the essays.
-I had an ultrasound yesterday afternoon. It seems that I still have at least a few big stones, though I will likely only get the formal confirmation of this in a few weeks. That this is the case wasn't surprising in the least.
-Just as a point of comparison on the changes in conditions of the weather in Halifax, here is a photo that I took early this afternoon.
This photo was taken just after 4:00 PM, the switch to a grayer sky is quite obvious.
-It seems that today is election day in the UK. It was about a week after the last election that I left Keele after my year as an exchange student in the UK. After the last election the Blair government retained its relatively significant majority. According to recent reports the present election isn't expected to produce such a clear result. The Globe and Mail is providing live coverage, as is my favourite newspaper, The Guardian. Hopefully I will be able to follow (at least intermittently) the coverage of the election results tonight.
-In April 2008 I posted a few videos on my YouTube account of the riots/violent celebrations that occurred after the first round success of the Montreal Canadians. Not only did these immediately become some of my most popular content, but I also ended up licensing them to the TV show Most Shocking. Anyway, after almost two years of YouTube obscurity these videos seem to be generating renewed interest with the current playoff success of the Montreal Canadians. I guess I should make it clear that 'renewed interest' only means that they are now sometimes receiving upwards of 30 views a day (I guess they are still relatively obscure as far as YouTube videos are concerned).
If you are interested, this is the most viewed of the set of videos.
[Embedded Video]
-Since I started working on this post it has started to rain intermittently. Tonight should be fun.
-This afternoon I finally motivated myself to move my old filing cabinet and place the new one.
Unfortunately I have not yet been sufficiently motivated to start filling the new filing cabinet. Also, hopefully within a few weeks the pots on top of the filing cabinets will be filled with plants.
-Yesterday I had the good fortune to pick up and start reading a book of essays by John Stuart Mill. Though it is not my habit, in this case I started reading the introduction. The introduction, at least the part I have read, describes aspects of Mill's intellectual development and charts his thinking on certain topics. One of the aspects of Mill's life (which seems to generally well known) that I found most impressive was that Mill's father, in association with the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, developed a program of education for Mill that was intended to create a perfect utilitarian. Perhaps not surprisingly after such a regimented upbringing Mill eventually moved away from some of these ideas and even went so far as to actively criticize Bentham's utilitarian positions. I am really looking forward to reading the rest of the introduction as well as a few of the essays.
-I had an ultrasound yesterday afternoon. It seems that I still have at least a few big stones, though I will likely only get the formal confirmation of this in a few weeks. That this is the case wasn't surprising in the least.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Master Blaster
As I have previously mentioned on Montifax, for many years I have suffered from kidney stones and the associated ailments and discomforts. A few weeks ago I finally got around to thinking about actually getting them taken care of. Amazingly, within only a few days I was able to make remarkable progress on the issue, which was nice in the face of years of procrastination.
Yesterday morning I had to get up at 5:50 and then make my way over to the local hospital for 6:45. After a few preliminary interviews and name confirmations, I eventually made my way to the lithotripsy room. Almost as soon as I walked into the room the team of staff started prepping me for the experience. Before I knew it was I was in place on the table, covered in sensors, breathing with a thing in my nose, and moderately drugged.
I found it was over when they woke me up some period of time later. Within moments I was unhooked from everything and moved to a gurney to be taken to the recovery room, where I was served coffee and cookies with I waited for the drugs to wear off.
After maybe 45 minutes after the procedure ended I was in a cab with Neil heading home. Not too longer after that I had to head out again to run some errands for a few hours. Amazingly, I felt great within next to no time, though by the end of the day I was definitely starting to feel a little tired and rundown (though I think that this had more to do with the lack of sleep than anything else).
Of course, the most important part of all of this, rather than the coffee and cookies, is that I have already started passing stone debris. Some of the reading I have been doing suggests that this might continue to occur over the next several days, so the procedure has given me something to remember it by.
Yesterday morning I had to get up at 5:50 and then make my way over to the local hospital for 6:45. After a few preliminary interviews and name confirmations, I eventually made my way to the lithotripsy room. Almost as soon as I walked into the room the team of staff started prepping me for the experience. Before I knew it was I was in place on the table, covered in sensors, breathing with a thing in my nose, and moderately drugged.
I found it was over when they woke me up some period of time later. Within moments I was unhooked from everything and moved to a gurney to be taken to the recovery room, where I was served coffee and cookies with I waited for the drugs to wear off.
After maybe 45 minutes after the procedure ended I was in a cab with Neil heading home. Not too longer after that I had to head out again to run some errands for a few hours. Amazingly, I felt great within next to no time, though by the end of the day I was definitely starting to feel a little tired and rundown (though I think that this had more to do with the lack of sleep than anything else).
Of course, the most important part of all of this, rather than the coffee and cookies, is that I have already started passing stone debris. Some of the reading I have been doing suggests that this might continue to occur over the next several days, so the procedure has given me something to remember it by.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
A Few Quick Notes 324
-Though today started off looking rather overcast, by mid-afternoon things had turned around quite nicely. By late in the afternoon one could have safely gone so far as to say that it was a nice day.
-In the last post a I documented the developments of some of the plants on our balcony. It seems that I should probably do the same for the plants in my bedroom.
I guess I might start on the left, with one of the pots that looks as though it isn't doing much. I guess this pot looks as though it isn't doing much because it doesn't seem to be doing much. I planted some corn seeds a while ago but they seem to have done nothing. I will give this a few more days and if there is no growth I will either try planting a little more corn or maybe something different.
The aloe droplets continue to grow more quickly than I would expect a succulent to grow. I think that in the not too distant future I should consider re-potting them, but I guess this will likely have to wait until I have something to put them in that is a little nicer than a margarine container.
The pepper plant's continued growth pleases me a great deal. I am looking forward to the first flowers and peppers so that I may be reminded which type of pepper plant this is (we have a few type so pepper seeds and I can't remember which I planted in this pot).
The corn seems to be doing quite well for the size of the pot in which it is growing. The plant on the left seems to have stopped making upwards progress and now stands at about 41 inches. The plant on the right, whose development has somehow been delayed, continues to grow quite rapidly. Unfortunately, neither of the plants are yet showing signs of the development of ears of corn. I am hoping that such growth will be come visible on the larger plant in the very near future.
The thyme, which, as usual, is difficult to see, continues to grow rapidly. I think that in about a week or so I might be able to harvest a little more, or I might just wait and let the plant grow until I know what I want to do with all of my dried thyme.
The pot furthest to the right has some pepper seeds, one of which sprouted. In this case I am confident that the peppers I planted are a type of pepper that are supposed to produce rather nice looking purple (which turn to red) hot peppers. Hopefully a few more of the seeds will sprout in the coming days.
-The pots in the next window over also seem to be showing signs of growth, but not quite as much as the plants I have already described.
In this row of pots the two at the far end have chives (which are just starting to show signs of growth), the third, fifth, sixth, and seventh have purple hot peppers, while the fourth pot has thyme. Hopefully these plants are at least somewhat visible in this photo.
-We have another ultimate game tomorrow. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to practice this week because of the rain. I think a practice would have been good as a few of our players are pretty inexperienced and are still unfamiliar with all of the rules. Anyway, I am looking forward to the game (and hope that attempts to arrange will be successful).
-Some time past midnight on Thursday night I had the good fortune to pass a kidney stone. Amazingly, I didn't clue in to what was happening until it had already happened.
I can't tell you want a relief this stone was. Not only did I feel an immediate reduction in general pain and discomfort, knowing that the stone has passed has been incredibly relaxing. After a few months of somewhat regular pain and discomfort you almost forget what it feels like not to have a stone working its way through your system.
-As most of you likely know by now, the NDP won a decisive victory in Tuesday's election. Contrary to the many predictions of doom and despair, the sky has not yet fallen and, as far as I can tell, things seem to be carrying on as were in the past. I will be sure to let you know if things suddenly come to a grinding halt and the world ends.
-In the last post a I documented the developments of some of the plants on our balcony. It seems that I should probably do the same for the plants in my bedroom.
I guess I might start on the left, with one of the pots that looks as though it isn't doing much. I guess this pot looks as though it isn't doing much because it doesn't seem to be doing much. I planted some corn seeds a while ago but they seem to have done nothing. I will give this a few more days and if there is no growth I will either try planting a little more corn or maybe something different.
The aloe droplets continue to grow more quickly than I would expect a succulent to grow. I think that in the not too distant future I should consider re-potting them, but I guess this will likely have to wait until I have something to put them in that is a little nicer than a margarine container.
The pepper plant's continued growth pleases me a great deal. I am looking forward to the first flowers and peppers so that I may be reminded which type of pepper plant this is (we have a few type so pepper seeds and I can't remember which I planted in this pot).
The corn seems to be doing quite well for the size of the pot in which it is growing. The plant on the left seems to have stopped making upwards progress and now stands at about 41 inches. The plant on the right, whose development has somehow been delayed, continues to grow quite rapidly. Unfortunately, neither of the plants are yet showing signs of the development of ears of corn. I am hoping that such growth will be come visible on the larger plant in the very near future.
The thyme, which, as usual, is difficult to see, continues to grow rapidly. I think that in about a week or so I might be able to harvest a little more, or I might just wait and let the plant grow until I know what I want to do with all of my dried thyme.
The pot furthest to the right has some pepper seeds, one of which sprouted. In this case I am confident that the peppers I planted are a type of pepper that are supposed to produce rather nice looking purple (which turn to red) hot peppers. Hopefully a few more of the seeds will sprout in the coming days.
-The pots in the next window over also seem to be showing signs of growth, but not quite as much as the plants I have already described.
In this row of pots the two at the far end have chives (which are just starting to show signs of growth), the third, fifth, sixth, and seventh have purple hot peppers, while the fourth pot has thyme. Hopefully these plants are at least somewhat visible in this photo.
-We have another ultimate game tomorrow. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to practice this week because of the rain. I think a practice would have been good as a few of our players are pretty inexperienced and are still unfamiliar with all of the rules. Anyway, I am looking forward to the game (and hope that attempts to arrange will be successful).
-Some time past midnight on Thursday night I had the good fortune to pass a kidney stone. Amazingly, I didn't clue in to what was happening until it had already happened.
I can't tell you want a relief this stone was. Not only did I feel an immediate reduction in general pain and discomfort, knowing that the stone has passed has been incredibly relaxing. After a few months of somewhat regular pain and discomfort you almost forget what it feels like not to have a stone working its way through your system.
-As most of you likely know by now, the NDP won a decisive victory in Tuesday's election. Contrary to the many predictions of doom and despair, the sky has not yet fallen and, as far as I can tell, things seem to be carrying on as were in the past. I will be sure to let you know if things suddenly come to a grinding halt and the world ends.
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