A couple of months ago, Kris (aka The Painted Sheep) had a destash, from which I scored a lovely Blue Moon Fiber Arts sheep 2 shoe kit. Of course, I don’t know anything about spinning for a specific project, so I disregarded the instructions completely and made 110 gorgeous yards of fluffy yarn for a hat (or something):
I finished it up last night. Isn’t it purty?
E5 has been on a sea-creature kick lately. It all started with seals and penguins, but has evolved into octopuses and other coleiods. When he found the ammonite fossil I keep in my desk drawer, he demanded a knitted version. Luckily there was already a pattern for one.
[ravelry]
As you can tell, he really likes it.
This weekend we traveled to Pennsylvania for the wedding of Karl’s cousin. E5 was the ring bearer for the ceremony and was just about the cutest little ring bearer I ever saw.
He was very dapper indeed.
It was a really lovely wedding and we all had a wonderful time.
For the trip, I optimistically brought 2 knitting projects to work on and 2 books to read. I think I knitted about 2 rows of this and read about 2 pages of this. We were so busy running around that time to do more just never materialized. Furthermore, I was away from the internet, like really really away, for the first time in forever. Amazingly enough, I did not die! It was an interesting experience to say the least but boy did I have a lot of junk email to delete when I got home!
So now we are done running around and going places for the summer, thank goodness! We can spend the remaining weeks of hot weather relaxing and trying to stay cool. Hopefully I can get some knitting done too. What are your plans for the rest of the summer?
So, in the last few weeks, I’ve been to a couple of doctors about my fatigue. I first went to my regular family practitioner, my GP. She recommended a physical, which included blood work and urine tests and an EKG and all that. During my appointment she intimated that she suspected the problem was with my thyroid. Well, it turns out that with the exception of my iron (which was crazy low), everything was normal! I was actually excited about the iron level, thinking that it could be the source of my fatigue, but when she called to give me the results, she said that since I’m not anemic, that shouldn’t be a problem. Ugh. (FWIW, my iron levels have been low since I started seeing my naturopath 2 years or so ago. He put me onto an iron supplement at that time and I have been taking it ever since. Personally, I think it’s weird that my iron levels are actually lower than they were 2 years ago in spite of supplementing all this time, but whatever. That is, apparently, neither here nor there.)
Ultimately, the conversation ended on a low note because she ended up giving me the equivalent of the “it’s all in your head” speech by suggesting that possibly this fatigue is actually depression. Now, I’ve been depressed before, y’all, and this is nothing like that. I do understand that fatigue is a symptom of depression, but unlike the times when I have been depressed, I actually WANT to do stuff. I WANT to write, to exercise, to knit, to be awake and to live. My mood is fine. But my body is another story. Most days I feel as though I am encased in cement. My eyes are gritty in the middle of the day. And, no matter how much or how little sleep I get at night and what time I wake up in the morning, I usually need a nap by 2 pm. I seriously do not believe in my heart of hearts that this is depression. I don’t feel depressed. Could I be wrong? Sure. But I really want to explore the idea that it could be something else.
Which is why, in fact, I went to see the sleep doctor and have the sleep study done. Today was the follow-up appointment with him. The good news: I do not have OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea)! Which means that I am not going to die suddenly in my sleep which is a VGT (Very Good Thing). The bad news: I still do not have a reason for constantly being fatigued! One thing my sleep doctor did say, which I found quite irritating, was that during the 3 hours of actual sleep I got, I had 27 instances (9/hour) of partial airway collapse, and, according to him, 10/hour would have meant a diagnosis of mild Obstructive Sleep Apnea (although they still don’t give a CPAP for that). Argh. Perhaps if I had been able to get a better night’s sleep they’d have a better picture of what’s going on with me? I dunno, but it still pissed me off.
So, that’s where we stand. I guess it’s back to the naturopath for me. In the mean time, I started taking vitamin C with my iron. Funny story: when the naturopath first started treating me for the fatigue, he had me taking vitamin C with my iron and for a while I was actually feeling a bit better. Since I was feeling better (and off the gluten) he said I didn’t have to take the vitamin C any more. Anyhoo, I decided to add it back in after my conversation with the GP and GUESS WHAT! HOLY SHIT, I was able to get out of bed at 8:15 this morning, I got through my entire day without a nap, and I am still awake enough at this ungodly hour to write this blog post. I am going to be seriously pissed if 2 years of fatigue boils down to no one telling me “Hey dumbass, you gotta take some vitamin C with that iron.”
Seriously. Pissed.
I haven’t forgotten you. I hope to come back tomorrow with a post, but we shall see. In the mean time, here is a picture of Lolly in a chicken hat.
So, the sleep study was interesting. They hooked me up to all manner of wires and sensors, including one that went across my face and under my nose,
and then I attempted to sleep. I say attempted because I really did have a hard time sleeping. Not only is it really difficult to fall asleep when you are aware of something on your face and under your nose, but I was also kind of excited about the sleep study, so every time I felt myself starting to drift off, I would wake myself up thinking “OMG I’m falling asleep! SQUEE!” Then at some point my minder asked me to sleep on my back for a while, but because I am paranoid about sleep apnea I have kind of trained myself not to sleep on my back and so I didn’t really sleep for that part of the study. Also, there was one sensor on my scalp which kept coming off and had to be reapplied a couple of times during the night.
So yeah, it was a pretty rough night, although my minder told me I did get some sleep even though I felt like I didn’t get any. And I didn’t get to try a CPAP during sleep either, which was kind of disappointing because it means I will likely have to have another study done.
Verdict: Sleep studies are not as fun as they sound.
OMG you guys, I am insanely excited for tonight. I’m scheduled for a sleep study at the hospital where I’m to be evaluated for sleep apnea, the likely cause of this fatigue I’ve been struggling with. I’ll be hooked up to all manner of sensors and they will watch me sleep to see how it goes. Ooh, I can’t wait. I love that sciencey stuff. Also, my sleep doctor is incredibly nice, too, so that’s a bonus.
I’ve been knitting a little, and weaving too. I finished another dishcloth:
I love that colorway. So much fun and very cheerful. To top it off, I’m nearly done with my secret weaving project.
Now, I’m off to make dinner before heading over to the sleep lab. Cheers!
Okay, here’s the deal. I’ve been faithfully keeping up with my post a day challenge for 4 months and 26 days now. I’ve added nearly 150 new posts to the blog and in many ways it has been a wonderful challenge. But guys, I am SO TIRED. No, not of blogging. I actually enjoy the process of blogging very much. I just think it would be easier and more interesting if my life were more than just trying to get through each day, just trying to survive this damn daily fatigue. I do much less of everything than I used to. I don’t knit as much, I haven’t read anything other than what I find on the Internet in months, I rarely do anything with my kids. If I happen to do anything besides sit still for most of the day it is really and truly a major accomplishment. Unfortunately, if I actually do manage to do anything besides sit still, it’s usually to do the dishes or a load of laundry. Gah. And so, I regretfully, and yes even tearfully, have decided that today is the last day of my post a day challenge. I will still blog, but I just cannot keep up with doing it every single day.
Be well, everyone. I’ll see you in a couple of days. Or so.
In an effort to get some of my energy back, I’ve been trying to get a little bit of exercise. The idea is to do a little every day, but I confess that it’s incredibly difficult to stick to the plan when I am so tired I can barely get through the day without a nap. And this past gloomy, rainy week wasn’t any help either. Yesterday, I finally managed to get out of the house with the boys for a walk down our street and back. The round trip is a nice, flat half mile. Our tree-lined street is a one nice, too. With the except of our condo and the blue condos you see in the picture below, all of the houses are old Victorians, most of which have been converted to multi-family homes, but they are still lovely. It was a nice walk, in spite of yesterday’s shitty ass weather.
There were some puddles to splash in
and lots of flowers (a miracle, given the lack of sunshine)
(the lilac hedge has got to be my favorite!)
It was such a nice walk that we went again today (I didn’t bring the camera this time though). I still had to have a nap today, but it was still nice to get out of the house. :-)
Today I cleared some counter space (always a premium at our house) and unpacked my new mixer. This is the one I got:
And this is what it looked like when I opened the box:
Then I took everything out and set it on my newly cleared counter:
And later, once we had eaten and cleaned up dinner, E5 and I made cookies.
OMG, are they good.
OM NOM NOM NOM!
Knitting Interrupted 
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