Scattered Thoughts . . .

Sometimes, those who knew me when I was healthy still see me as the healthy person I once was in better times. That is great... we all would like to be remembered in good light but it is not “me” as I am today. What I feel is worse, however, is that I see myself vastly differently today than when I was healthy... I feel I am a very different person today... and, in many ways, I am a different person today... but I am sometimes reminded that, in some ways, I am indeed the same person I have always been... That gets me wondering if those who see me the same as I was when I was healthy fully understand my limitations and how these limitations have caused me to change... to evolve... simply in order to survive. If they don't understand these limitations, there is no way they can see the person I am today. Every now and then, this uncertainty inevitably gets us talking about who I was then compared to who I am today. I've been meaning to write about this topic for qu

I've had more biopsies than I could count in the past 12 years or so... ranging from simple punch skin biopsies to bone marrow biopsies (yes, plural on the bone marrow biopsies)... but today's minor procedure was a bit "different" and thus worthy of a few words here.   A month or so ago, a small spot appeared on my neck. At first it was no big deal but it grew quickly... got pretty nasty looking... and seemed to continue growing. It was scabby, red, irregular shaped but, other than looking rather ugly, didn't affect me at all with itching or any other symptom. It was just there and growing. The doc scheduled me for a biopsy and that appointment was today.  Skin biopsies are typically pretty simple, straight-forward and quick...  oftentimes not even requiring anything more than just sitting there in a chair as the doc quickly collects a small sample for the pathologist. Today's procedure had me lying on a table on my side for this "different" pr

This weather is brutal for my health!  Our thermometer hit triple digits this afternoon and that is extremely dangerous for my health. Warm environments cause my health to deteriorate quickly and dangerously. Other than a medical appointment first thing this morning with Sheila, I've been accomplishing absolutely nothing lately. I'm not even sure I would imply that getting to a medical appointment is an "accomplishment"...  but, it is something I managed to do without my health crashing. I have resorted to residing in our air conditioned living room which is at a comfortable 75 degrees... a much more comfortable and mastocytosis-friendly environment especially when compared to the triple digit temperatures outdoors! Whenever I have had to wander from the living room and into the heat (for instance, going into another room in the house), my health would begin to crash quickly. There is no doubt that heat is my kryptonite. These short trips from the living room ca

It is a hot and humid day today so I am indoors in the air conditioning today.  My original plan was to put the table saw on the deck and start cutting some lumber to finish a large desk and shelves. Unfortunately, it is far too hot outside for my health so I changed plans for the day. ("Too hot" means any environment which is consistently in the 80s... hot environments cause anaphylaxis and numerous debilitating neurological and gastro-intestinal problems for me... today is in the mid-90s, so I'm in the air conditioned living room.) Yongnuo YN560-TX transmitter mounted on my camera. So, as I was sitting in the air conditioning, I pulled out some new photography flashes I recently purchased. I opted for flashes rather than big studio lights so I could stay as portable and flexible as possible (and to minimize storage space required in the house!) . Also, being on a very limited budget, I needed a low cost system and this system fits the bill. Up until now, I

We've had quite a bit of rain in the past couple of weeks... hmmm... maybe even longer! Everything outside is waterlogged... the house is damp... towels never seem to dry... and the grass is growing wild. Regardless of whether or not I can specifically remember the daily weather, I'd say all signs are that it has been rather wet lately. My health has been rather lousy, off and on, so it is hard for me to remember much about the weather. When my health is lousy and particularly when it swings back and forth between lousy and miserable, I seem to spend most of my time on the couch in the living room. During these periods, the days blend into one another and the nights fade together. Lousy health due to Systemic Mastocytosis is oftentimes accompanied by brain fog so this makes remembering specifics like daily weather difficult as well. I do, however, remember the other night quite vividly because the kids had visited us. While the kids were visiting us, we had some more rain s

As I've mentioned in previous blog entries, we all had a great time at the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival. The antique boats were beautiful and impressive... there was a really nice selection of boats... and we were even surprised by a newly created raffle for one of these beautiful wood boats! (It would be nice to win that!) I shot a lot of photos and I'll be posting some of those soon. In the meantime, here are a few video clips I shot during the "Parade of Boats" at the Burlington Boathouse...   It was a good time!

During the antique boat show yesterday in Burlington, we decided to head up to Church Street for lunch and a few cold drinks. We couldn't get a seat at Vermont Pub & Brewery so we headed to Sweetwater's. As always, Sweetwaters provided great service, great food and decent drinks.  While we were at Sweetwater's, I had a hankering for some smoked buffalo wings. Sometimes chicken wings do not affect my health and sometimes they have a huge impact. Unfortunately, it seems yesterday the wings impacted me negatively. Regardless of how they affected my health, these smoked buffalo chicken wings were succulently delicious! I'm not sure exactly what caused my health to crash (and this is a very conservative, mild term when talking about what happened to my health last night) but I do know that chicken rarely, if ever, agrees with my health.  We also had some french fries and onion rings at the restaurant at the boathouse which were clearly deep fried in the same oil as