Thursday, March 7, 2013

Spinal injury just sounds BAD...

Just over 3 weeks ago, I went to get my yearly mammogram. I was in an out of there lickety-split, with a clean bill of health. I even had the parking spot that was closest to the breast clinic. And then, when I was backing out, I made a mistake. I didn't see a little bit of curb that was jutting into the middle of the street and although my wheels completely missed it, the bottom of my car didn't and when I wanted to pull forward, I realized I was stuck. Looking at the bottom of my car I saw that it was one bolt on the bottom of the car that was stuck. A fairly important bolt, I'm sure. And it was less than 1/2 an inch stuck. Which is when I had the brilliant idea to lift the car with the jack. Only I couldn't find the jack. Plan B. I called over 2 guys and asked them to help me just lift the car that tiny 1/2 inch. Not wanting to look like a helpless woman, I helped too. In fact, I was totally into it. They weren't. And nothing happened. To the car, at least. I finally found the jack, lifted the car that stupid 1/2 inch and was safely out of there. Only my back wasn't OK.

I could tell right away that I'd pulled a muscle or something, but it wasn't too bad and I went about my day certain that by the morning it would be all better. It wasn't. The next day was OK, but the following day it was a lot worse. And it continued to get worse until finally, 6 days after the injury, I went to the doctor who gave me meds (narcotics, actually. Perhaps that's a benefit of being allergic to NSAIDs :-)) and told me I probably had a partially slipped disk. I took the pain killers (they helped. A lot.) and quit before I finished them, relieved that I didn't have any more pain.

And then on Saturday we took a walk. We were only planning to go to the doggie park (where Charlie, our new dog, can run free and practice some of his skills)... but it was close to Givat HaTitora - a hill full of wild flowers and a generally calming atmosphere. So we decided to take a little climb. I didn't realize what kind of climb I was getting myself into until it was too late. I started to feel unsteady and then my knee buckled and I fell, scraping up both of my knees. We finished the walk and I felt myself still unsteady and holding on to the railings extra-specially tightly on the way home (about 1/2 a mile). And at home, I still didn't feel steady. Going up the stairs was difficult and I could tell something was wrong with my left leg. Actually, I thought something was wrong with my left leg, but I also thought that I was probably imagining it. Making it up. By the next morning, I decided it was better to check it out. An appointment for Monday (it was Sunday) seemed like too far away, so I insisted on Sunday afternoon. Hadas (my soldier girl) came with me and was there when the doctor checked my strength (OK, not great) and my reflexes (almost no response in my left leg, hyper-response in my right) and was there when I nearly fainted. (See, Stacey, it's just something I do periodically when I have trouble taking in information ;-)) She got me some water and I put my head between my knees (as well as I could)... and I recovered and went home.

I was able to get a quick appointment for Physical Therapy, where the Physical Therapist (really nice woman, btw) was very thorough and explained everything to me as best she could. Right now I have 2 problems - strength and reflexes. My leg seemed to respond ever-so-slightly to the exercises we did and she says that that is a sign that we caught it early enough so that I won't have any lasting issues (I hope she's right). She also said that she needs to see me again on Monday and then on Thursday - and has me doing exercises at least 4-5x a day until then.

I'm keeping my elbows extended* that this will work and everything will be back to normal soon.

Right now, it's sort of scary.

*The exercise I'm doing requires extending the elbows.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Chemo Graduation

OK, so I'm far not-at-all-happy that my friend had to go through this, but I am very happy that my friend's last chemo treatment is this week - and I'm hoping that what this means is that from now she's going to start feeling better and stronger every day. As always, I tried to think of a way to celebrate the occasion - so I designed a t-shirt to give her.


And since I got good feedback about my design, I'm posting it here so that anyone who wants to use it for any good purpose is welcome to (click on it to see it full size).

Wishing everyone good health and good friends.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

In case you were wondering, my kids are average

You know those parents who are always bragging about their kids’ amazing achievements? Well, I sometimes (though not too often, I hope) find myself doing the same thing. But there’s one big difference. I recognize that although my kids can be great at some things (e.g., my 3-1/2 year-old has known all the letters of the alphabet for over 2 years and started reading words during the summer) they’re basically, overall, AVERAGE.

My totally awesome, you’re-lucky-if-you-get-to-meet-her daughter has the sass of an average 18-year-old (and, believe me, I really dislike that about her). My could-do-practically-anything-if-he-tried son does just about nothing (well, unless you count lying around in his bed and watching Pokemon cartoons on an iPod as doing something). My I’m-not-sure-if-her-father-is-Japanese* daughter has great people skills, but getting her through school is quite a challenge. My 6-going-on-16 year old daughter can whine any kid out of this town. It’s really a shame there’s no World Whining Record (and corresponding prize) because she’d totally win it. I mean, the other kids would meet her and they’d just back out because they’d know they were beat without even trying. My feisty-little-five-year-old is quick to beat on anyone in her path. And she’s constantly stepping on everything and falling off of everything (not necessarily the same everythings). You know those kids who sit with half their tushes off the chair. That’s her. And she’ll inevitably fall and drag half the tablecloth and everything on it with her. My little one is really the cutest child who’s ever walked the planet. (Oh, you have one of those too?) But he gets so obsessive about things that he can completely drive you out of your mind. Like he’s looking for a really specific toy. So specific that if you have two identical ones, he can tell them apart. And he doesn’t want the one you just found. He wants the other one. And guess what? He really *can* tell them apart. And he’ll continue pestering you until he gets it.

So, while I love my kids, they’ve all definitely got their quirks and it’s going to take quite a while until they’re as perfect as I am… (oops. That was the keyboard going without my brain…) What I meant to say was that when I look at my kids I see the good with the bad and when I put it all together, they come out just about average. Some days are better, some worse. Overall – average.

*Yes, I really once said that to someone when I wasn’t paying attention. No, her father’s not Japanese, his parents were from Algeria – and I’m absolutely positive that I know who her father is.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

My funniest experiences

Funniest experiences

Rules: Fill in the following. Tag 4 friends to do the same.
  • My funniest dream

    Riding a goldfish under a rainbow...
  • My funniest experience with a pet

    My parrot swore at my mother-in-law
  • My funniest experience at a job interview

    Dude came in with his shirt on backwards!
  • My funniest purchase

    100 cockroaches (don't ask)
  • My funniest experience in high school

    High school wasn't funny!
  • My funniest cooking experience

    Exploding pressure cooker?
  • The funniest thing I ever said to anyone

    Was that MEANT to be a hat?
Everyone tagged
Click here to fill in this meme
sleeQo

Thursday, April 29, 2010

A bit about blogging...

Blogging

Rules: Answer the following questions & tag 5 fellow bloggers to do the same.
  • The blogging platform I use most is:

    Blogger
  • On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the best) I rate it:

    8
  • What I like about it is...

    That I know how to use it... well, except for
  • What I hate about it is...

    Fixing the template is a disaster
  • If I could add any features I could, it/they would be...

    A template editor for real people (as opposed to people who read html as well as they read English)
  • My biggest mess-up with my blog has been...

    Moving from FTP publishing, which left me with over 200 static pages, each of which has to be edited separately if I want to make any changes...
  • I enjoy blogging because...

    It lets me write things and get people's comments.
  • I blog every time that...

    I have inspiration...
  • I never blog about... (tricky, huh? ;-))

    Things that are too private to share.
  • Tell one experience about someone you've met via blogging.

    I've met some really nice people by blogging - some in real life and some who are my facebook friends.
Everyone tagged
Click here to fill in this meme
sleeQo

Monday, April 12, 2010

Talent, knowledge or experience?

I just created this new meme on sleeQo. You're tagged :-)

Rules: We study, but then don't necessarily end up doing what we learned. Here's your chance to say why you think you're good at something that you do - either your job or one or more aspects of it - or something you do as a hobby.
  • Did you have any formal study of this?

    No, but my printing and language studies are very relevant.
  • Did you have any informal study / Did you learn on-the-job?

    I learned on the job and I've read a lot on the topic - including textbooks and articles. I also have Ohad to consult with (which I often do).
  • What do you think contributes most to your ability to do this well?

    Some of it is definitely talent - an ability to look at things in different ways from other people, to separate topics and reorganize them... and experience is also a huge factor.
  • What of the following do you think contributes *least* to your ability to do this well: studies, on-the-job training, learning from experts informally, experience, other

    I think that some of the theoretical material has proven useless, as reality often dictates solutions that contradict it.
  • Is this more a job or a hobby or a combination of the two?

    More of a job.
  • Do you consider yourself a professional?

    Yes.
  • Do other people ask for your advice?

    Yes.
  • Do you enjoy what you do?

    Mostly. I particularly enjoy starting a new project and higher level design OR finding solutions to things that are really complicated.
  • Do you continue to seek more knowledge so that you can improve at what you do?

    All the time.
  • Until what age do you think you want to continue doing this?

    I don't know... 10-15-20 years, I guess.
  • (Optional) What was your subject for this meme?

    user interface design
Everyone tagged
Click here to fill in this meme
sleeQo

Saturday, April 3, 2010

One Person

One person

Rules: Choose one person - either someone you know personally or you know of - and answer the following questions. Post the results on Facebook or on your blog & let people guess who it is.
  • Is the person male or female?

    Female
  • Is this person one of your facebook friends / famous / other?

    Famous
  • What facial feature do you think of first when you think of this person?

    Nose, I guess
  • What game would you choose to play with this person?

    Not sure
  • Where would you choose to eat dinner with this person?

    Fancy kosher restaurant - doesn't matter which
  • How long could you stand being on a desert island with this person?

    Don't know her personally, so I am not sure.
  • What color looks best on this person?

    Black.
  • Does this person have a skill or talent you envy? If so, which?

    Yes. She is a very talented singer.
  • Do you feel this person knows you as well as you know him or her?

    I am positive she doesn't know I exist.
  • What is the nicest thing you have heard this person say?

    Can't think of anything...
Here's who I've tagged.
Rona of DrSavta, Leah of triLcat Talks
Click here to fill in this meme
sleeQo