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I started today with a visit to the lab vampire to have my quarterly blood work to check for side effects from the cancer drug that I am taking – Femara. I have been having a lot of muscular and skeletal pain which gets better when I get up and move. When I get up from sitting for a while, it is difficult to stand and my legs and feet are very stiff and I can barely walk. I had checked some medical sights for these symptoms and didn’t really find anything. Then I stumbled across a site: askpatient.com where you can log on and list your unusual side effects from drugs. I was utterly amazed. Almost every single woman taking Femara had the same symptoms that I have. If you go to the official site for the drug, it does not list this as a symptom. I also found that most had gained 15 pounds – like me and were having difficulty losing it.
My new oncologist thinks I do not need to take this drug and has been waiting for my records to arrive from California. They are here now. I will see him in September. I also got the results of my blood work this afternoon and all the numbers were at the high end. They have always been right down the middle before this. So, I am not waiting to see the Dr. I am not taking this drug any longer. There is too much of an impact on my quality of life. The good news is my cholesterol was 186 with high hdl and my fasting blood sugar was on the low side.
I came home and started fusing the piece that I am working on. Here is how it looks when I start interlocking the sections:
Tonight I finished fusing the sections together. Here is the back:
Here is th front:
Tomorrow, I will tear off the paper and fuse the whole thing to batting. I used cool colored batiks and hand dyes for the rectangular shapes and warm colors and blacks for the circles. Does it look too muddled or does the design hold up? It is what I had in my head when I started it. Now I have to figure out how to quilt it. And do I want borders?
This afternoon, I walked down the street past Reed College to a home where they are selling bunches of Zinnias for $3. Aren’t they pretty?
How about this fabric that I am thinking of using to make curtains for the kitchen – too much?
Why not use the fabric for curtains? It’s very unusual, but looks like it will go good with the wall color — which btw, is that what you were picking out the day that we went to lunch?
Glad you’re feeling better, medications can really effect how you feel and it’s important to stay in touch with yourself and your doctors and not end up overly-medicated like so many people.
ah, its the juxtaposition of the cools/warms in opposing shapes that makes it work…i hope i remember this down the road.
i’ve quipped that sometimes my docs should pay me instead…glad you’re feeling better already. did you call your oncologist and let her know?
the fabric for curtains? well if they make you happy, i love it! 🙂
Congrats on the cholesterol numbers, must be all that walking. I hope going off the drug helps your symptoms, what a drag. I think the fabric is perfect for curtains, goes so well with the wall colours.
Gerrie, so glad to hear that you have stopped taking the drug. We all have to become much more involved in our own health care these days. When I ask my Dr. about side effects and his reply is don’t worry about that…I just want to throttle him.
On to something wonderful..the quilt and the curtain fabric….perfect.
Could you email me privately your address? I talk about you in my new DVD and would like to send you a copy>
Hi–
Glad you’re being so good and careful about the medical stuff. I hope you feel better off of the medication!
I really like the new piece and am impressed that you remembered and used Robbi’s technique! That class day is still sort of a blur to me! I think the composition has a lot of movement and I specifically like the balance of the yellow bits and the blacker rectangles. It all works well, I think.
As for quilting, get some of that press-n-seal plastic stuff, put it over the top, and practice drawing different lines to SEE how different options would work.
I’m off to the new mini-group this am for inspiriation (I hope). Glad you’re doing fun work!
First, no borders. It’s perfect.
Second: quilting.. kind of follow the lines of the dyed fabric… “interpolating” the direction over the other fabrics.. except in the spheres.
Third. LOVE the curtain fabric.
Your new quilt is great! I love the turquoise and black bits in there…they really make it happen!
Don’t you just love Zinnias! I try to grow them in the summer, but this year didn’t get around to it, and I miss them.
So sorry to hear about your issues with Femara. what a pain…literally. Hope things are better soon.
The drapery fabric is wonderful! Where did you find it?
I do like the quilt….I just wouldn’t hang it in a bedroom…I’d be up all night following trails!!
The fabric is perfect for curtains.
Oh, and my little sister isn’t a quilter yet….but she’s interested!!
teri
Gerrie,
I hope your side effects go away soon…thank God for the internet! (most of the time). Your quilt really catches the eye and makes you want to look at it a while. It’s quite hypnotizing. The curtains are wonderful!
I don’t find the quilt design too muddled. I’m rather enjoying the way the colors move in and out. As for quilting…. no idea. Maybe follow the waves in the abckground? a little embellishment on the circles?
And, in any one else’s house that kitchen curtain fabric might be too much, but in yours I think not 🙂