Bountiful Harvest . . .

Hi All!

Happy Tuesday! We all survived Monday and are back for another day! Actually, yesterday went very well for me. I started a new work schedule so that I will be ready when I begin my class next week. I will be taking ASL 4 on Monday and Wednesday nights and need to leave work a bit earlier on those days to make it to school in time to do some lab work. Anyway - I test drove the new routine yesterday and it seemed to work well. The only flaw is that Hubby didn't realize I was doing it and wasn't home when I came home - early - yesterday! How did I get home early? Remember, I test drove the routine but there wasn't really a class so . . . home early!

Miss Cleo Update: Well, I think Miss Cleo has finally accepted the whole "shirt" thing. She hasn't taken it off for an entire day! She is even walking a bit more and not looking quite so upset with me. Progress!

The main topic for today . . . my harvest from my tomato plants!

Six lovely, red tomatoes! Don't they look yummy?

There is just a little weird thing about these tomatoes though. Do you notice it? Look at the picture above closely. Yes, a few are a bit pointy but that isn't it. Go on - look closer - do you see it?

What? You don't? Well, Maybe I can help you out a bit by showing you this next picture.

Do you see it now? These tomatoes are TINY! Almost miniature! All six of them combined are still not as big as one golf ball! Hubby laughed when I brought in this bounty! There are other, bigger, tomatoes - still green - on the plants but, all that were ripe were tiny, small, minuscule!

But - they are still tomatoes, right?

Trisha

Voice Update: Well, my voice took a bit of a beating yesterday despite the fact that I wasn't on the phone too much. I don't know exactly what happened. When Susan gave me a massage, my neck was tight and sore! Nuts!

Skor and the Toybox

Hi All!

Some of you might have guessed that my cat, Skor, is a bit inquisitive. This leads to all kinds of trouble. He has cut his feet twice on things which Hubby and I have never identified. He gets locked into closets when he sneaks in without us noticing. He knocks all kinds of stuff off of low shelves and "hides" things we are looking for (can you say car keys? He made me late for work on Thursday!).

Skor's inquisitiveness does have its upside - it does keep him entertained. Sometimes it keeps him busy for quite a long time. Yesterday, Hubby and I were watching Big Brother (yes, we are addicted!) and Skor . . . well, he was keeping busy.

We put all of his balls in a box about once a week to keep them from underfoot. He spends the rest of the week digging them out.

Of course, the goal is to dig them out - not to play with them! See how he ignores the green ball in his quest to get the orange ball out of the box?

Sometimes he takes a moment to study his task.

Then he throws himself into the task whole-hearted. Hubby loves it when he gets his head in the box (don't worry - he can get out and can breathe!).


Here is a video of Skor's entertainment. Enjoy!

Miss Cleo Update: Still has the shirt on even though it becomes a "tube top" when we get up in the morning. She gets her legs out of the sleeves even when we tape them so they are tighter. Then she has the shirt stuck around her belly. The good news is that it doesn't look like she has been bothering the stitches too much!

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Trisha

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Voice Update: Still doing well. In fact, last night I was running through all of my most difficult sounds for Hubby and I didn't have a single break or skip! YEAH! Of course, this is just the beginning of the work week so - we will see how the voice lasts!

Chrismon and Miss Cleo Update

Hi All!

I thought I would show you the project I have been working on for the church. It is a holiday ornament called a Chrismon. This one is in the shape of a trumpet or horn. I finally finished sewing it on Saturday! Yeah!

Not too bad, right? Please tell me it looks good even if you don't think it does - it took me a long time to decipher the instructions which came with this thing!

As you might know, Miss Cleo went to get her teeth cleaned on Friday. While there they found that she also had a tumor on her right shoulder. They removed it and sent it to a pathologist so we will know soon just what it is.

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Anyway - when she got home she was really, really hungry. The only problem was that her teeth hurt and she was really loopy. I dug some salmon out for her and put it on a plate. It is on the carpet because she was sliding all over the tile floor.

Eventually, Miss Cleo gave up trying to remain upright and just laid down right on the plate. These pictures don't really show how funny this was but . . .

Miss Cleo really tried to eat but ended up pushing a lot of the salmon off the plate and then spent some time looking for it.

For the first couple of days, Miss Cleo was good and left the stitches alone. Then . . . this morning I was up and noticed that she had some dried blood around the incision which wasn't there yesterday. Then I saw her yank the heck out of one of the stitches. Don't you think that would hurt?

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Well, I decided that she might need to be coned. I pulled our Skor's cone and put it in place.

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Miss Cleo went absolutely nuts. She ran into walls and furniture, rolled on the ground trying to paw the cone off, she was doing stuff that made me worry that she was going to hurt herself.

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Obviously I needed another plan.

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Here is what I came up with.

It is difficult to see in this picture but Miss Cleo is sporting an infant's white polo shirt with blue trim on the sleeves and collar. This is a shirt which my teddy bear, Bearsy, usually sports but it seemed like it might serve the purpose.

Let's just say that Miss Cleo isn't too happy about her fashion statement. At first, she wouldn't even get up. She acted like the shirt was impeding her ability to stand and walk. Then, she got up but walked like something horrible had happened to her.

I think she is finally starting to get used to the shirt. I did notice that she managed to get her leg out of the sleeve - on the side of her stitches, of course. I buttoned the collar in the hopes that she won't have enough room to do that again.

What problems we have! I must say that it does break my heart to have to do this to my little girl!

Trisha

Voice Update: Doing okay. Still needs some rest. When I posted about Dystonia yesterday I realized that I was actually jealous of the amount of research there is going on about Dystonia. Jealous! Not good, not good! Especially since I just listened to a devotional about how jealousy is sinful! I will work my way through it!

Dystonia and Dysphonia

Hi All!

It is Saturday and today I have all the time I want/need to write my blog and to read other blogs! Heaven!

Yesterday, Miss Cleo got her teeth cleaned. She also had a small tumor removed from her right front shoulder. I am happy to report that she is doing well. She was VERY loopy yesterday when I picked her up. She would walk and stumble and fall over. Not too much fun to watch. She was also very hungry but couldn't do the dry food - which is all we feed our cats. I pulled out some salmon and she feasted the best she could. At one point she just laid down on top of the plate and licked up what she could reach. Poor Miss Cleo!

Today she is better - more stable. I just gave her some pain meds which I hope don't make her as loopy as she was last night. For the record - it was easier giving her meds than Skor.

On to today's "real" topic.

As I am sure you know (and are probably tired of hearing), I have Spasmodic Dysphonia. Abductor Spasmodic Dysphonia to be exact. This is a neurological disorder which causes the muscles controlling the vocal cords to spasm uncontrollably. This, of course, makes speaking pretty much impossible.

Well, Spasmodic Dysphonia (SD) is a focalized form of Dystonia. Dystonia is basically the same neurological disorder but affecting other parts of the body. Most people with Dystonia have Cervical Dystonia which is the neck and shoulders. The dystonia is so bad that people end up literally twisted by the spasms. It is heartbreaking to see people all twisted AND dystonia is generally very, very painful (SD is generally painless).

Anyway, my main point is that Dystonia and SD are related. Because of that, many people with SD are also very involved in Dystonia awareness. In fact, many people with SD also have Dystonia somewhere in their bodies.

My speech pathologist gets this magazine which is put out by the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation.

Working for Susan allows to me read this magazine (with her permission of course!). So - I brought it home this weekend to read it. I came to a couple conclusions while reading and I would like to share them with you.

First - God bless all people with Dystonia. It is a terrible disorder that is often very painful.

Second - thank God for the scientists who research Dystonia. They have found several ways to manage the disorder - including Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). DBS is where electrodes are placed in the brain in the areas where the spasms originate and then hooking the electrodes to batteries. The electrodes then send out electrical currents which basically disrupt the signals being sent by the brain to cause spasms. Most people I have read about with DBS are able to lead relatively normal lives after the implantation.

Third - there are a mess of studies about dystonia currently underway. In fact, I counted 18 listed in the magazine. With that much research going on there will surely be a cure found soon!

Fourth - a gene has been identified which is believed to be responsible for early onset generalized dystonia.

Fifth - dystonia is being researched using animal models.

Sixth - there was no mention of SD in the entire magazine. At first, this bugged me until I realized why. SD is very localized. Plus, there is no way to use animal models to study SD since humans are the only animals who speak the way we do. True, other animals have the capacity to speak (parrots, etc) but, they don't utilize their voices like humans so they can't be a good model for SD.

No gene has been located which is thought to be responsible for SD.

DBS isn't even considered for people with SD (as far as I know).

All of this sort of makes me feel like SD is the ugly stepsister in this process. Sure, it is hanging around but, it takes a back seat in pretty much everything. Now, I am NOT saying that research for dystonia should take a back seat to SD. I honestly think the research being done for dystonia is wonderful and needed since the disorder causes such pain. However, it would be nice to see just a little more done about SD.

SD is a real pain in the rear to live with. Sometimes I look at people with Dystonia and think, "At least they can talk!"

Then I realize that I am being foolish. Yes, these people can talk but they are physically "twisted" and in pain. Their plight is worse than mine. People must think that they are mentally deficient also because of their physical problems. God bless them all!

Trisha

Voice Update: A bit tired from the week but doing well. I have done my inhalation exercises and massage. I am sure that I could do a bunch more (Which I will try to do) but at least I am working on it!

Am I a Bad Kitty Mom?

Hi All!

This morning I had to get Miss Cleo to the vet's office so she can have her teeth cleaned. This is something we do every couple of years. This year it was especially important because she has a swollen area in the gum around her right canine (the long pointy tooth she uses to snaggle us!). We want to get that cleaned so we don't have any problems with her gums. Hopefully, that tooth won't have to be removed!

All good, right?

Wrong!

Taking Miss Cleo to have her teeth cleaned meant that she couldn't eat after 10:00 P.M. last night. THAT meant that Skor couldn't eat either. Of course THAT meant that both kitties were very hungry in the morning and decided that 4:15 was an appropriate time to wake me up asking for food - which I couldn't give to them!

I laid in bed, awake with two kitties pestering me, until Hubby got up and got into the kitchen. Then the kitties went with him hoping he would succumb to their big, kitty eyes and give them food. He was strong. I was proud of him!

However, when I stumbled out of bed to walk, I was greeted with this.

Two kitties just sitting by the empty food bowls alternatively whining and peering up at me hopefully.

Eventually, they decided to just take up residence by the bowls. They would settle in for a while and then try the whining bit again. Any time either Hubby or I walked near them, both cats would jump up and wind through our legs whining for food.

Heartbreaking! Talk about being made to feel like a bad kitty Mom! The only thing worse was when I actually had Miss Cleo in her carrier and in the car. The heart wrenching meows coming from that little carrier were soooo sad!

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It does help a bit to know that when I go to pick her up from the vet's this afternoon she will completely ignore me for at least an hour as revenge.

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Trisha

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Voice Update: I don't really know. I am so darn tired that everything is sort of warped in my brain right now. I do know that I DO have a voice - I have talked to the vet and Jay this morning. I don't know what the quality is exactly but . . . when I get up from my nap I will do my exercises and massage.

Where I Have Been Working

Hi All!

As you might know, I have been working for my speech therapist for the past 7 weeks. That job isn't over yet but I thought it was time to show you my working space. I took these pictures yesterday - primarily to show my mom so she can imagine where I am working.

This is my office - there is under cabinet lighting which isn't on in this picture. It really makes things MUCH brighter.

Mom said that this is a messy room. I don't know - there is a lot going on but I think it is pretty neat. What do you think?

Next is another view of my office - this is to the right of the first view and shows the back of my office - lined with file cabinets.

The fax machine - on the corner of the cabinets - is a bit too high for me to read the screen so I employ that stack of phone books you see - as a stool!

Doesn't this look like a fun place?

It is actually a pretty nice place to work. All four of the therapists are nice people - VERY different but nice! - and they do care about how I am doing with my voice every day. If this was my office for the rest of my life - I might rearrange a bit but - I am only a temp here so . . .

Have a super Thursday!

Trisha

Voice Update: I have spent a LOT of time on the phone lately and my voice shows it. I am having a bit of skipping on those blasted unvoiced consonants (especially h and hard c's). Luckily Susan gave me TWO massaged yesterday. That should help combat the fatigue!

Mothra!

Hi All!

This morning didn't start too well for me. Skor decided that I needed to get up at 5:30 A.M. - an entire hour before I normally get up! Then, when I finally did get up, I walked out into the kitchen and saw this . . .

Call the National Guard! We are being attacked by Mothra!

Of course I grabbed my trusty camera and headed outside to take a picture of this HUGE thing on our window.

It was such a masterpiece of camouflage that my camera had a hard time focusing on it.

And did I mention that it was HUGE? I made sure that the bricks were in this picture to try to let you gauge the size of this insect.

Before going outside, I told Hubby that I was surprised that Skor hadn't found this bug yet. When I got back inside . . .

Poor Skor - always trying to get things that he can't have!

After this it was time to meet my neighbor, C, to walk. By the time I got home, the moth was gone. I don't know if it flew away or if one of the birds at our feeder right by that window got it. If a bird got that huge thing - I am impressed!

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That is my news for the day!

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Now I am off to my blog archives to see if I blogged about The Wedding Singer, the Musical. Hubby insists that he didn't go to see it with me and I am pretty darn sure that he did!

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Have a super Wednesday!

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Trisha

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Voice Update: I was on the phone ALL DAY at work yesterday. Today my voice is showing it. I am still sounding pretty good but I can tell that my voice is a bit tired. Poor voice!