Vi har mycket att skratta åt imorgon.

Det är fredag natt. Vi ligger bekvämt nerpackade under täcken och har just avslutat dagen på det sätt vi vanligvis brukar; med ett avslappnat samtal om vad dagen har innehållit, när han vänder sig mot mig för att kyssa mig godnatt. Det är då han säger det, något så oväntat att jag får alldeles svårt att somna: 

"Vi har mycket att skratta åt imorgon"

Jag känner hur mungiporna åker upp, ögonen tåras. Skrattet och glädjen hotar att bubbla över och jag suger frantiskt på dem som på en favorit karamell. Jag sprängs inifrån av glädje.

"Vi har mycket att skratta åt imorgon"

Några enkla ord. Så mycket vackert innehåll.

Membranous glomerulonephritis, Round 2, Week 13

End of week 12

Week 13:

Medication: 225mg cytotoxins (Cyclosporin), 32mg cortisone and other assorted goodies.

It's now been 4 weeks since I had any change in my medication, but I keep telling myself that the swelling isn't as bad as it has been. I can't really tell if it's wishful thinking or not, but it feels like my chin isn't hanging as low as before. Geez, there's a line I'd never expect to write... :)
I'm definitely not as frantic as I use to be, quite the opposite actually. I'm almost lethargic. My high as a kite days are sadly over. It's nice to be able to think rationally again, but the rapid degeneration of my body is taking some of the fun out of it.


The side-effects are the usual. What's new is a loss of feeling from my knees down. The closest I can describe it like is as though I've lost about 40% of the sensory capability in my legs. I can walk, but it's almost like I'm relying on the memory of the mechanics of walking. Countering unevenness is a slow process as I can't rely on my knees responding according to what the soles of my feet are trying to tell me. The general muscle atrophy is adding to that: imagine not being able to climb even one step without holding on to something, pulling yourself up. And having to rest, breathing heavily after just a few steps of stairs. Or grocery shopping feeling like a hardcore weightlifting pass in the gym. Yeah for me!
I'm also terribly dizzy whenever standing up or lying down. It's probably bloodpressure related.
The bruising is getting worse - I still have a great big one from when they drew my blood last time, four weeks ago, and another one on my arm from when I walked into a handle 6 weeks ago. Just imagine the state of the rest of my body... I could probably do stand-ins as a smurf.
Hangovers twice a day is another treat. The hangovers occurs 3 hours after I've taken the medicine, so I'm prone to believe that they are related to the cyclosporin, as I didn't have them during Round  One. I call them hangovers because that how they feel, and they are just getting worse every day. They start with a general feeling of queasiness, then the tips of my fingers and toes start burning. The burning turns into tremors and finally I'm shaking like a leaf and cold sweating. The upper abdomen swells and burns, and ends with me feeling like throwing up. This lasts for 2-4 hours. During the day I can sleep it off, but during the night this shit wakes me up. No rest for the wicked, huh?
Let's just say I'm hoping we can cut down on the cyclosporin at the next doctors appointment. ..and the blood thinners, and the blood pressure meds, and the...

Sincerely,
Pepsi-Mama

Meanwhile, finished projects

Membranous glomerulonephritis, Round 2, Week 10

Day 0, and week 10 front and side.

Week 10:

Medication: 225mg cytotoxins (Cyclosporin), 32mg cortisone and other assorted goodies.

Hi Folks,

Time for a short update: As I claimed, the swelling would get worse, and as you can see, it has. I tried taking a picture from the side to show the hump on my back, but all you can really see is the chin. Well, it's there, you'll just have to take my word for it :) I'm now officially Quasimodo.As you can imagine, breathing with that thing around your head and throat isn't the easiest. I've chased Mr. Man out of the bed with my snoring and gagging for air several times, and my back is constantly aching. Good posture is non existent. 
The muscle atrophy is now so bad that rising out of chairs is difficult, and I'm constantly afraid of falling, even when just walking around at home. During Round One I fell over my own feet for anything, and as a result I was covered with bruises and scabs that wouldn't heal. Even just taking the biweekly blood tests leaves me with bruises that takes ages to heal. My arms look like I'm abusing intravenous drugs or something.

On a more positive note; my daughter and I am planning a "china-doll" picture of me, just for shits and giggles. I hope to be posting the pic soon. Also, we've decreased the cortisone again, so I'm now where we planned to be after four weeks; on half the dose of cortisone. Took some time, but we're getting there...

Sincerely,
Pepsi-Mama

Membranous glomerulonephritis. Round 2. Week 7.

End of week 6.

Week 7:

Medication: 250mg cytotoxins (Cyclosporin), 48mg cortisone and other assorted goodies.

For week 7 the Doctors orders were to amp up the cytotoxins again, but to decrease the cortisone by -16mg. So good news! 
I've responded really well to the treatment so far. Some measurement had decreased by 3/4 (which one I do not know) and the protein leakage into my urine has decreased as well. I got two more months of sick-leave, which makes the total four months. I'm hoping I won't need all of that.  

On the flip side of this change is the nausea and tremors caused by the cytotoxins increasing while the high from the cortisone diminishing, and frankly, I'd rather be high and frantic than feeling like shaking shit turned over. I'm already tired enough to lash out at my loved ones for the smallest freakiest things after the last increase, so an even more nasty temper is probably only to be expected. Explain this to your family, and remember to apologize after one of your outburst.

What else? Last week the mother of all nasty vaginal infections plagued me horrendously. I still have sensitive dry skin on the rest of my body, and after experimenting with taking no naps during the days I'm now sleeping 6 -7 hours on a good night. I still need to take it easy during the two hours I normally would have napped though.
Also, I no longer have any muscles in my thighs. Rising from a chair requires holding on to something, and don't get me started on getting up of the floor. Think truck backing up, ass first.


Sincerely,
Pepsi-Mama

Project "Tin jars"

Tin jars are a hoot and a half! Look for tin jars at the fleemarket - you can redo the even the ugliest ones to something usable. These cost me maybe 0,5€/pcs.

Before: The black chalkpaint was discolored,
and the tin had other stains that didn't come off.
After: Tea and Chocolate tins. No more half empty cartons of still unused tea or
half empty bags of O'boy in my cabinets.

How do you like my new cookie jar?
Sorry, it was so ugly I never took a "before" picture.

Sincerely,
Pepsi-Mama

Overstating the obvious

The Bitchslap I got from Karma for thinking bad about my mother (see previous post) , was an eyeopener in more than one way.

Apparently I've also swallowed the text-trend  in interior design sink and hook.
This pic woke me up:

At the bottom left corner. What do I see?

I'm not blind, nor stupid. I can see there's tea there. Why the text??

I'm sooo painting this over. 

Then I turn around, and no less than 3 meters away, there's this hanging on the wall by the fridge: 

Huh. Guess I have to rethink the not stupid statement, right? 

However, this does not contain tea... Bazinga! 

After doing it's foremost duty; reminding me to take the meds I'm on, it also  holds an assortment of all the little knick-knacks I don't know where else to put, but which comes in handy in the kitchen. Such as rubberbands, breadbags-clips, toothpicks and extra fridge magnets.

But why haven't I scratched off the text? Poor guests! I always tell them to make themselves at home in my kitchen, and yet here I am misleading them terribly. He, he, he... ;)

By now I'm intrigued. What else text-wise is there really here? Quite a bit it turns out. 

Just in the kitchen area I found:

Sink backsplash.

After 1,5 year in the house, I still don't remember which knob turns on what.
The controlfreak in me loves the labeller so...

True.

Again, true.

Truth #3. Sign remade to magnet,
hanging on the edge of  the stove fan, facing the living room area. 

The living room area had been spared, almost. This is the Man's addition of text in the house and it's going out to the Party-Barn come spring.

Moving on throughout the rest of our little house:

Hallway.

Bathroom. Colorcoded sortingstation for laundry.

Little bathroom, cabinet. Labeller in use again.
Top shelf: Batteries-Plugs-Insects-Sun
Lower shelf: Medicines (Me, the Man, All purpose)

The little bathroom again. Small window, no real need for curtains,
 so why not a framed comic? I do not know how my mind works...

Desk.

Bedroom mirror. "Life's simple pleasures:
A seed to sow, a place to go, a walk to take, something to make"

Bedroom again.

What do you think? I'm thinking maybe I need a text-detox. I'm really overstating the obvious, aren't I?

Funny thing is, the only "statement" we have deliberately placed in our home doesn't even have text on it.  This is it:

Hint: It's not the lamp nor the fern.

Sincerely,

Pepsi-Mama

Karma-curtains revisited

I'm a take what you have kind of girl, so the pink fabric is a sheet.
Sorry you didn't get to see it steamed straight.
The energy for that came much later.

Bitchslapped with knuckle dusters by Karma.

I needed some items for a project I was thinking of the other day, so I went shopping with my mother. I came back practically empty handed, but she filled the entire backseat of my car with stuff. As I saw her accumulate more and more things, the minimalist-me started worrying.

Where's she gonna put all this junk? At one point I actually had to ask her to come back from the 1980's and step away from the plastic red roses.

So for every new item that grabbed her attention, I kept asking her: What are you going to use it for?
Her reply: I don't know, but it's so beautiful, and on sale, so...
To my shame; Me: Well just because it's beautiful doesn't mean you have to buy it. That's consumerism. Just enjoy it's beauty for now, and if you can't stop thinking about it you know where to find it later.
Mentally snorting I even thought: Thank Goodness I'm Over Buying Just Because It's Pretty Enough.

Once back home at my own place, what happens? First thing I see wipes the smugness of my face.
By the sink the abominations hung.
Too long, touching the floor, bought because of their beauty, but too pretty to actually be used. All the things I thought about my mother's shopping.
I slap my self mentally and promise to never think bad about my mother's shopping habits ever again. Bad, Bad Daughter!!!

After sleeping restlessly, plagued by my condescending thoughts earlier about my mother, I decided I needed to correct my own mistake first thing the next morning as a penance of sorts.
The abominations became curtains:

Not the prettiest curtains, but I'll add some more pink fabric later on.

"Keep it simple, Less is more". Oh, the irony...
Sometimes Karma taps you gently on the shoulder, sometimes it literally Bitchslaps you in the face - With knuckle dusters.

Sincerely,
Pepsi-Mama

Serveras med Diabetes

Surfade nätet efter nåt lyxigt att baka till helgen till ära. Amerikaner är specialister på att kombinera sött med sött, gärna i trippellager och med en oanständig mängd fyllning som sedan täcks med topping, gärna även den en kombination av flera godsaker.
Hittade ett recept på Coca-Cola kaka som verkade enkelt nog. Men efter att översatt de amerikanska måtten till de mer europeiska så som deciliter och gram, kunde det bara konstateras att kakan borde åtföljas av en varningsetikett:

Serveras med Diabetes.

Gjorde den förståss ändå ;)
Kommer definitivt att göra den igen!

Mvh,
Pepsi-Mama