| leatherman's log |
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December 2007 |
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| Week One: |
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| My last update started at
Week Two of last month. Please take a
minute to check it out, if you haven't seen all the nice pictures DO
and I took in the parks. |
As you read at the end of last
month, Gabby hasn't been doing well because of her age since last
Monday (11/26). It's been a week now and this situation hasn't
gotten any better. Gabby has barely been eating or drinking anything
throughout the week. I really am surprised that she has hung on as
long as she has. I keep expecting any day to be her last. If she was
any sicker or in any pain, I'd take her to the vet. As I dutifully
stayed by Randy's bed side for his last nine days, watching and
waiting, I sure won't begrudge Gabrielle taking a little bit longer
to leave me.
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(You might want to read this post I
put in a forum the other day.
I will warn you though that it's quite a sad tale.
"Why
is it always my decision to make?") |
| Wow! It's starting to look
like Christmas time around here. Everyone has been getting their
lights put up, and you can see decorations and trees through the
windows up and down the street. To add to the holiday feeling,
yesterday we got about an inch and a half of snow. |
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| Although the snow looks
terrible weighting down the bamboo in the backyard, it was quite
light and fluffy. With a quick knock with the broom handle, the snow
flew off and the bamboo went back to it's upright position. |
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A blast from the past! My
mom scanned in some pictures from my childhood years. Many of them
will be posted in my holiday pages (which I'll have ready next
week); but here are a couple of pictures of me in the snow that you
can see now. Wow! We didn't even have color pictures way back in
'68, a year before I would start school. That's my brother Donny
with me as we enjoy the "blizzard" of snow down South.
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mIkIE in 1968 |
mIkIE and Donny |
| Not the kind of
update I like to give you :( |
Last Dec in our new house |
Dec. 6th is a very sad day. Gabby had a
very rough time last night. Although she had been doing as well as
could be expected up till now, after throwing up quite a few times
during the night, by morning she was moaning and groaning in pain.
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| If you read my posting, then you'll
know that I was dreading this turn of events; but it was that time,
and once again, I had to make that decision. Although I had tried to
avoid taking Gabby out in the cold and the snow, she was in pain
now, and there was only one thing I could do to make things better
for her. I asked Jim to contact a vet nearby (I knew I
wouldn't be able to speak through the tears) and make the
arrangements. |
this past Spring |
Ritchie and Angie came
over to say goodbye to Gabby, before Jim and I took my girl to the
vet. By 2:30pm, Gabby's pain was gone.
Although she never knew Randy, I told her to look for Goobie, and
Randy would take care of her. |
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A few days ago, before the temps went
below freezing and before 2 inches of snow fell, I had already
prepared a site for Gabby out in our backyard. (Just
11 months ago, I had done the same thing
before we lost Tsunami) |
| Afterwards Ritchie paid his respects
putting some flowers out on Gabby's grave with me. I don't think
Gabby, or Randy, will mind that we're using some artificial flowers
that I have used before on Randy's site during the Winter.
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Please visit the puppies
website (http://reigningpages.com/puppies)
and see all the pictures I recently updated (2006-2007).
Read more about Gabby's life at
http://reigningpages.com/puppies/gabby.htm |
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Having three legs never
stopped my little runner - Gabrielle
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Week Two: |
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| Saving a special batch of
pumpkin/cranberry and a batch of fruitcake muffins until Christmas,
I keep testing new flavor combinations ,building quite a repertoire
of delicious muffin flavors. Any of these flavors can be topped with
a sugar glaze (like they aren't sweet enough LOL) for special
occasions. The pumpkin muffins are excellent with a cream cheese
icing. |
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| lemon/poppy seed |
chocolate/chocolate chip/
cherry/walnut |
orange/cherry/coconut |
lemon/cranberry/
walnut/coconut |
chocolate/chocolate
chip/raisins/
mini-marshmallows |
pumpkin/cranberry/walnut |
lemon/cherry/
walnut/coconut |
cinnamon/raisin/walnut |
fruitcake/walnut/raisin |
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I've really have had fun baking
the muffins, and I love seeing them get gobbled up! It's also been
nice having them around during the holidays. A selection of several
flavors, a little crepe paper in a box, and I have a quick,
delicious Christmas gift to hand out. After cooking up a new batch,
I put together a nice selection for my doctor as I go to see him the
last
this year.
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The latest results from my
blood work are back, and things aren't too bad.
Actually, there was
very little change at all. |
| Although I quit smoking (46 days now), was
biking about 15 miles a week for the previous 2 months, had a
mystery fever, and was stressing out about the situation with Gabby,
neither the viral load or t-cell count changed very much (any change
of less than a few thousand in the viral load is basically
negligible). |
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9/20 |
11/29 |
Diff |
| VL |
310 |
<75 |
-235 |
| T-cells |
255 |
246 |
-9 |
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I had hoped for some more t-cells before the flu and cold season
hits; but I'll take things staying the same and be happy.
The doctor did write me another prescription though, adding another
2 pills a day to my regimen.
Since that infection in my finger acted up so many more times this
past year, I'll be taking this med daily to hopefully control any
further outbreaks; in the same way that I take Bactrim every day to
avoid getting PCP pneumonia since my t-cells aren't much over 200.
I won't have blood work done again until the end of Feb, so my next
results will come when I visit the doctor the last day that I'm 45
(Mar. 13, 2008). (Let's all hope that news will be a good birthday
present.)
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| Looking back through my
charts, the doctor and I discussed that these next results will be
at the four year anniversary of being on these meds. (I changed back
in Feb 2004) These meds have done
well for me all these years by keeping my viral load pretty close to
"undetectable". Although my t-cells rebounded some at the start,
that count seems to have leveled off around 250 - just enough to
probably not get pneumonia again; but still low enough to be
worrisome. Things may not be great; but they aren't terrible either.
I'm happy to see the lines on my graph (see below) holding nearly
level all these years. |
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Unfortunately, as proved
by the red spike (at the end of 2004, in the above graph), there are
still some problems with this regimen. After starting on the meds
with successful lab results, I was still having problems with the
side effects of the meds. Although I am quite thankful to not suffer
lipodystrophy (a severe
fat redistribution syndrome) or diarrhea, I do have a terrible
problem with nausea.
Over the last ten years I have quit several regimens because of how
much the meds made me throw up. Quite frankly, I reached a point
when I would rather take NO meds, if I'm going to be reduced to
throwing up EVERY day. Unfortunately even this regimen made me
frequently nauseous, and I gradually began to be non-compliant in
adhering to my meds. By the time 2005 was rolling around, I
re-evaluated my life and made some MAJOR changes. Finally believing
that I might have a future of more than 6 months, I realized that it
would be irresponsible and immoral if I didn't try to adhere
to my meds and stay alive to keep Jim from having a dying partner.
I also came to realize that I would just have to learn to live with
"some" side effects. Because I've been through so many other meds
and are resistant to some, this current regimen is called a "salvage
routine" (yes, that is as bad as it sounds). Although I'm not
totally out of options, since this regimen does seem to work, my
doctor and I are both leery of trying any more changes at this time.
Things may not be great; but they aren't terrible either. |
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March will be another
anniversary too.
It will have been 10 years since I was last in the hospital! |
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| For more information about
my lab results, just click on the graph above. |
| Happy
Holidays! |
| Wow! Speaking of 10 year
anniversaries, this whole next year will be a celebration here on my
blog. It was a decade ago I
started this blog by posting pictures of Christmas. With all my
family so far away, this seemed like a great way to use the "new"
internet, so we could all stay in touch over the miles. So once
again, I would like to share my Christmas with you, just click on
the doggies below to get to the Christmas pages. |
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| After a year you can tell that Aries
think this is HIS home now. He's made himself comfortable on a
blanket lying on the living room coffee table. |
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Week Three: |
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| Looking Back |
| As we come up on the end
of year, let's get in the mood to review by taking a look back even
further to my childhood. Here are some more scans that I got from my
Mom. |
My first Christmas!
December 1963
baby mIkIE and
his Granny (Wenton Bivens)
Look at that grin! |
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| little mIkIE in a uniform (Cub Scouts) |
jon, mIkIE, donny |
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This picture of mIkIE, surrounded by
his good friends Bobby (later on a roommate!) and Jeff, was taken 30
mins after graduating from high school and less than two hours from
being at Myrtle Beach! |
A final family portrait circa 1982
Michael, Donald, Jonathan
Douglas and Celia |
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| Anniversary
Time |
Here's a few more recent memories to
consider -
not only was 12/18 the one year anniversary for me and
the kidz living in Jim's house
 but it's also
the "official" three
year anniversary for Jim and me.
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| 2007 in Review |
Looking back at my life in 2007,
though it was filled with NEW things, it ended nearly the same way
that it began; making it hard to decide, even with hind-sight,
whether my glass is half empty or half full.
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The dogz and I had just
moved into Jim's house the week before Christmas 2006 and we were
all just beginning to settle in as 2007 rolled around. Inside, I spent my
days unpacking the garage, which was stuffed to the rafters with my
belongings; while outside, the snow began
to fall. The first lab results
of the year, showed that my meds were still working (VL <75; T-Cells
262). Sadly though, we lost a pet just as the year was beginning
when Tsunami (Jim's last cat) passed
away before the end of January.
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| Every year though must be judged, not
by how it starts, but by how things go the rest of the year. Ohio
had the nicest Spring and longest, hottest Summer in ages. I have
Jim and the dogz; and together we had a year filled with NEW things: |
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| NEW mailbox |
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replaced after the snow plow whacked it |
| NEW job for Jim |
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selling cars at TriCity Nissan |
| NEW patio door |
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to access the "dog yard" |
| NEW flowers |
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sunflowers, hostas, morning glories |
| NEW technology |
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cell phones, mp3 player |
| NEW Pooltag floats |
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the fly,
Aladdin, Tom Sawyer |
| NEW reason to visit NC |
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Nana turned 90! |
| NEW mystery trips |
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Visiting Wagon Trails
with Carolynn and DO; Seeing The Nightmare Before Christmas
in 3D with Ritchie |
| NEW projects |
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designing several phone book ads for Lambert Auto Repair,
painting a new sign for The Cottage Gate,
building a website for Suncrest Farms,
installing 30 webcams throughout the Waikem dealerships,
baking muffins for everyone! |
| NEW health changes |
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In September, I started biking about 20 miles a week through the city parks and my neighborhood, and continued until it got too cold in November. In October, I quit smoking cigarettes (up to two packs a day at the end of a 20 yr habit) after four weeks of Chantix.
Not all the health changes where good though. NEW lab results showed
NEW blips in my viral load. There was a NEW incident or two of the Mystery Fever.
I started having NEW side effects to my meds (PN). I reached a
NEW record high of barfing per month while on these meds.
NEW outbreaks of the herpes infection in my finger resulted in a
NEW med, adding another 2 pills a day (for a total of 10 a day). |
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As the year ended, all the
"new-ness" faded and things ended up back where they began.
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Sadly, we lost another
pet just as December started, when old age caught up to Gabby (the first
dog I had without Randy). Under those
circumstances, I was surprised to see my final lab
results of the year weren't much different than they were at the
first of the year (VL <75; T-Cells 246). Falling snow
again
blanketed us in white as the year drew to an end.
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2007 began and ended with
losing a
pet,
falling snow and
no change in my lab results.
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As I celebrate my first year of living
with Jim and our fourth year together, I'd like to be optimistic and
say it was a great year because of just being alive, being in love,
biking, quitting smoking and all the great times and activities of
this Summer. However, the pessimist in me points out all those many
times I've been sick this year. Plus, you have to agree, the death
toll factor was a little high for my family this year. So in trying
to decide whether my glass is half empty or half full, I'll just be
realistic and in deference my late partner and those who are no
longer with us, say that I'm simply quite glad to still have a glass
- especially 15 years after getting my HIV+ diagnosis
,
12 years after it became AIDS
and
almost 10 yrs after last being hospitalized with pneumonia.
Best Wishes and Best Health to you, my friends, in
2008
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| Several people have been asking me for
the recipe to Amish Friendship Bread and my variations.
Unfortunately, it's not as easy as that. This most important
ingredient for this recipe is a little glob of batter that someone
has to give you. This glob (the "starter") sits on the counter for
10 days. On the fifth day, you "feed" the starter some milk, flour
and sugar. On the tenth day, after setting some batter aside to
start the process again, the rest of the batter is cooked into
delicious bread or muffins. |
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Since you are where you are, and I'm
where I am, I can't give you a starter
But I can give you a
recipe for a starter!
Click the pictures of the
muffins to get the complete starter
recipe, bread recipe, and my own bread variations. |
Just before Christmas, I spent a whole
afternoon baking up 10 dozen muffins!!
pumpkin/cranberry, chocolate/cherry, fruitcake, lemon/cherry, and
lemon/poppy seed |
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And what's been on my new
mp3 player while I've been baking all these muffins??
I got tired of listening to the soundtrack for "The Nightmare Before
Christmas" and began to listen to the very un-Christmas-y
soundtrack to "Sweeney
Todd", the demon barber of Fleet Street.
I can't wait to go see that movie! |
| Christmas 2007 |
Don't forget to check for the most
recent additions to my Christmas Picture Page!
I just added pix that my family sent me from NC,
and should be adding my own Christmas pictures very soon now. |
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Week Four: |
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| Christmas 2007 |
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