I’ve done less than a handful of things in charcoal and I agree with you: it looks challenging: but if you’re a bit more relaxed about it, it is actually quite a forgiving medium, I think. I was introduced to it in the winter and the drawing above was probably drawing no 3, which is ridiculous!
I can tell you that drawing no 4 was awful! Practice, practice is the main thing.
I hope you have a bit of inspiration and distraction and maybe a bit of satisfaction from getting stuck into a bit of art at this time. Good luck! Do let us know if you do something you’re proud of!
This place often seems to be one of technical, medical details but in reality it’s a place for support. Finding something to keep the mind off the difficult stuff, for me, is at least as important as all of the understanding of scans and reports and what effects you or I might be having from our neuro journey. So don’t see this as a complete distraction what what we should talk about here. I think it is an important part of real life.
Wow! Baklava and mini-apple tarts - what fantastic ideas!! Let me know if you find any great recipes, and I can treat that as a splurge from the MIND diet. (One entire recipe counts as one serving, right?? )
@DickD, @Karla, what AMAZING talent you both have! I am mightily impressed at your skills. I can’t wait to see what else you create!
I 100% agree @DickD — half the battle of this neuro health and recovery journey is managing the mental and emotional roller coaster, even if you know you are extremely lucky to be here and grateful every day. I do find myself visiting this site more when I am slipping, but I hope I am also able to help others on here with my story as well.
Cheers! (though I can’t(?) drink anymore with all these BP meds!)
Alcohol does spike your blood pressure, so no, better to stay off. As an arteriovenous malformation patient I was told to avoid chocolate, coffee, alcohol, smoking and lifting/straining of any kind pre op. I’m not on any BP meds and I tipple occasionally these days: I had a beer yesterday, uninfluenced by the football.
I have had 7 angiograms, just one through my radial artery. I counted higher than she has but I’ll go with what she says. The recovery from the radial was much, much faster even though I went into severe anaphylaxis with that one. Limitations were less and for a shorter duration. I’ve had a couple hiccups with femoral entry and have a lot of scar tissue she had to punch through, even though she’s used both sides. One side is extremely tortuous with a 90 deg bend I told her she was using that one for the let’s look and see what’s going on with the other being for repairs. She told me she could do the repairs on either side. I can’t have anymore unless it’s to save my life, that’s my positive and I’m sticking to it.
I like your artwork and I agree with @DickD, the foliage on the bottom is fantastic, but I do like them all. BH likes art different than I do, we have a few lithographs of Dali’s, and some other surrealists. I like art work I can tell what I’m looking at. When I finally graduated university I was working that summer with a friend painting houses. She had one client that had a house full of art work, large pieces mostly. Ann asked which I liked best and I told her the small charcoal of the woman behind the front door. Ann was chiding me for my taste in artwork when the owner said I had the better eye for artwork. Seems the owner hung out with Picasso in his early days when he was selling on the streets. He had gifted her with the charcoal drawing.. A few years before I ruptured we went up to Asheville in February. They used to get local artists together to offer classes for a nominal fee. We met Vadim Bora during one such weekend. He was an amazing man and artist, I took a sculpting class with him. I was stuck on what to do for my first. Everyone was doing something with their small block of clay and I just stared at mine. He told me to do something I loved, so I did my dog:rofl:.
I also very much agree with @DickD in that we are here to offer support. Support comes in many forms. I think discussing hobbies is a wonderful break from focusing on aneurysms. Life is so much more to me than mine and it’s really nice to read about others doing something other than seeing what ours is up to.
Thanks - that foliage piece was started at the beginning of Covid in oil and I was struggling with the background and the blue – had no idea why – a couple years later, I was tidying up my easel and realized that I was using one rogue tube of blue acrylic and mixing it with oil. I returned to “fixing it” earlier this year, once I started feeling better post-rupture/ICU drama. Earlier this week, I started a small painting of my pup, but got side-lined – having three teens keeps my mind busy enough! I learned recently that I can appeal FAFSA for my 19 y.o. son’s college, so pulling together that info has had me “working” (any FAFSA experts on here?). Meanwhile, my 16 y.o. teen boy just flew out this morning for a 10-day hike with his Scout troop to Philmont Scout Ranch, so there was prepping for that – though my husband kept telling me he had it under control… (cont’d) Now post-nap… and this has been my experience after my first and now my second (awake) angiogram (really my 4th if you count the coiling and stents when I was under general) – I NEED a nap by early afternoon, at least for the first couple weeks after, and this time, I’ll be rolling right into my re-stent tomorrow, so I’ll be siesta-ing for the next couple weeks!
I appreciate all the support on here – will update after tomorrow and my overnight vacay at ICU.
Good to know about the electrolytes! I once ordered some drip drops and I do declare the one type tasted like alfalfa to me. Fresh alfalfa is much better though . But there were others that were more palatable. I’ll will try the one you recommend, thanks for that!
I imagine your son appreciated your help getting ready for his hike. Both my brothers were in the BSA, with the younger of the two earning his Eagle Scout badge.
Sorry I didn’t get this off yesterday, my cousin bombarded me with texts! She wants to know our family history as in where our shared line originates from. I just know they’ve been in the States since the late 1700’s. So I’ve had to reach out to another cousin. Who told me that her Dad used to tease Grandma about him being 100% Italian and she was a Heinz 57 mix. Apparently Grandma didn’t like that joke.
Hope your procedure went well yesterday. Don’t forget to eat protein while you’re hydrating!
Update from my new and improved flow diverter “placement” procedure: from what I’m told, sounds like all went well. Having said that, I feel like a few post-op things could have gone a tiny bit smoother from the rest of the neuro team (some RNs and residents). I woke up in the PACU (Post Anesthesia Care Unit) after the procedure and they updated that all went well… and then I had this painful urge to go to the bathroom. Turned out they forgot to put in a foley. While they were putting it in, my neuro surgeon came by to update me and said, oh my, they should have put in a foley, and left them to it, so I missed my his rounds/update. I had to stay flat for four hours, so just napped in and out until I could sit up. Note to self next time, don’t watch Netflix on my little phone after a procedure — my left eye got very tired and I feel like my peripheral vision narrowed a bit — all good now, but I suspect that was not a good idea.
Normally, I am supposed to be moved up to ICU for overnight observation, but they had no rooms at the Inn, so I was moved to overnight PACU. My new location was just under what sounded like an enormous HVAC unit that had zero acoustic isolation or wrapping. So I was grateful that I brought along my sound-cancelling ear buds (BOSE from several birthdays ago), which was also helpful for the neighboring visitors who thought that they were having a conversation in a bar or in the market at 11:00 pm. Big kudos to one of the support(?) nurses who got me an ICU bed brought into PACU — you know, the ones that adjust and way more comfortable. I was actually tucking myself in to sleep around 9:30 pm and then my phone reminder came on, which reminded me that I had asked the nurse about taking my blood thinner meds. I use this app to keep me straight and it vibrated
Before you tune out from all my rambling, all of this is to say that you have to advocate for your self and know what you are supposed to be getting. I had taken my Plavix/Aspirin the night before, as that was my usual time — I told them this…so I suddenly realized that post new stent, I was now well into 24 hours since I last took them, and I would say those were important meds to take and didn’t want to fall asleep without them. So the nurse paged the on-call neuro resident and waited… an hour later, I asked her to page them again and the resident came down and then they said we needed to wait for pharmacy. Waited some more and at this point, I’m rather tired and asked her to check again, so she went in-person. I got my Plavix and Aspirin and then later brought Keppra… anti-seizure meds … had me wondering if they had forgotten to give it to me. Anyway, jumping ahead, got my CT around 2:00 am and then my doc did his rounds mid-morning to get me ready for discharge. I get home, shower, nap and up after dinner, my little EveryDose reminder goes off and I realize that I am out of sync - they gave me Plavix and Aspirin early and also, I have no Keppra script, but they gave me a script for Hydrocodone for pain. So I check my little take home packet which had blanks for where it says when to take your next dose… I scroll back to April in my app, EveryDose, when I had my last stent and I most definitely was on Levetiracetam (Keppra) twice a day for 8 days after the procedure - the same procedure… I call the hospital to the on-call neuro and had to wait again… called again and finally they called me and said yeah, it’s listed as one of the meds I need to take at home — this is a prescription med — who has this at home?? She offered to send it in to my now closed pharmacy and said it was fine to miss this dose tonight. Okay.
One might say I should have asked these questions before leaving the hospital, but I don’t think we are all at the top of our game post-op , so keep a list!
I would say to anyone readying for a stent procedure, here is what I found made me a little more comfortable post-op:
noise-cancelling ear buds and meditation music or just ear plugs
sleeping mask or what I have, a satin head wrap thing that I also pull over my eyes while keeping the hair from getting too crazy https://a.co/d/202Crpu
EveryDose app and note whatever they give you while there.
Oh my, what an experience! Make sure to tell your doc he should have better prepared you for going home. In the end it’s the Neurosurgeon’s responsibility all goes well. When I had my stent installed, the PACU RN wasn’t that great, left his marks on my wrist enough that his fingerprints probably could have been lifted,. I had woken up and asked for Dr. Q-W and BH, he didn’t do it. Apparently he was supposed to the minute I woke up but he did tell me I woke up too fast. Then he refused to go help other RNs who were dealing with a crisis. I finally told him in front of the poor RN who came several times asking for his help that if he didn’t get his hand off my pulse, I was going to deck him. Adding in of course he didn’t need to babysit me as I wasn’t going anywhere. Really, where was I going to go with everything hooked up to me? Needless to say when Dr. Q-W came around to see how I was doing, she wasn’t too happy about him not telling her I was awake. The poor RN that repeatedly asked for his help was nearby and verified everything I said. But my oh my, when she saw the bruises he left on my wrist…I was still high from John’s happy place anesthesia and told her I could call it in to Rodney. She looked at me confused and I said you know, Adult Protective Services, I know people. She said wrong county but it’s a thought. You should have seen my PACU RN’s face turn whiter than a sheet.
I’m really happy to read you were able to straighten everything out. I still find it odd that your doc didn’t have the meds you needed called in to your pharmacy prior to your procedure. Seems the ball kept dropping and you had to be the one to pick it up!
Yes, I will certainly be letting my neurosurgeon know about the “missing” prescription. I haven’t had any post-op seizures in the past, but I was also on meds, so no one knows if I would. All I know is that running catheters up through my arteries “can” cause seizures - I don’t need to find out if I am one that will! My nurse was a lovely person - we chatted, etc, but my feeling is that if I actually had gotten a room in ICU, they would have been more thorough.
I love it! If you ever want to change careers, you could paint animals. One of our Vet Assistants used to do photography. We’ve been going to the same clinic for about 35 years give or take. She has photos hanging in every waiting room. She stopped doing it when she started having children unfortunately. But our Vet does have one painting and it happens to be my first dog I adopted here in NC. She had the artist put angel wings on Gladys which was spot on for her personality and the reason for the painting - Gladys’s Angels.
I wasn’t given any anti seizure meds from my Neurosurgeon a Neurologist tried but I didn’t do well with them. One made me not like myself in about 2-3 days, worse than that our then new pup, Ohana, didn’t like me. He stopped trying out anti seizure meds😂
[quote=“Moltroub, post:32, topic:18670”]
I wasn’t given any anti seizure meds from my Neurosurgeon
[/quote] Hmm, interesting since I recall you had several vasospasms after your rupture(?).
I had them last procedure for 7 days, but for some reason, this time I think it has me more loopy and light-headed… could also be that I don’t remember .
[quote=“Moltroub, post:32, topic:18670”]
I love it! If you ever want to change careers, you could paint animals.
[/quote] And thanks, I may just have to consider that since I will be out of office for at least (and best case scenario) another six months assuming that my doc still wants to stent the big 18mm annie #1 in three months… sigh.
Yes ma’am 21 days of vasospasms. She ordered the Triple H therapy for them. The first time, she released me I tried dancing out of NSICU and was wheeled right back in a couple hours later. Didn’t even get my shower dang Resident🤣. I really, really wanted a shower. Vasospasms are dangerous becuase they can cause ischemic strokes to my understanding. I could be wrong on this, but I thought it was anesthesia that can cause seizures at least that’s what a anesthesiologist told us when BH went in to have some type of procedure and another when I went in for a couple other surgeries. But again, I can be wrong.
I had to look up the Triple H thing — sounds terrifying! I very clearly remember having ONE vasospasm while in ICU, and it was paralyzing pain that came out of nowhere. So Google AI say you’re right, which I did not know — anesthesia can indeed trigger seizures, but it also did not rule out the endovascular procedure itself, so I pretty much have two reasons I can have seizures, so I will just deal with my little light-headedness this week knowing that a seizure is not on the menu. I get you on the shower - of all the things you get obsessed about while in ICU, a shower is way up there
The best day of my life was this past April in rehab when I was finally promoted to a real shower after weeks of sponge baths. Showers still feel so wonderful afterwards!
Ok, it wasn’t REALLY the best day of my life. It sure felt good though.
@FinWhaleFan my favorite ICU nurse (during my 11-day stay) was this Polish guy named Jaeger (traveling nurse from Covid times that ended with him liking DC). I told him that one of the other nurses a few days before had given me this shower cap no-rinse shampoo thing and it would be awesome if he could find one. He said, “no, no I am an expert and will wash your hair for you” — he tucked one of those pink tubs under my head and surely he washed my hair — there was pouring of water involved. Best hair wash ever! (relatively speaking of course!). Nurses are awesome (most of them )
I absolutely agree with that!! I give them a lot of credit, as we put them through a whole heck of a lot in the pandemic, much less what they do for us all every single gosh darn day! I definitely confirmed I made another wise choice by not opting to be a nurse - does not play to my strengths … just my weaknesses.
3 cheers to neuro nurses!! (… and operating nurses and everyone else out there!!)
)
Success!
… had me wondering if they had forgotten to give it to me. Anyway, jumping ahead, got my CT around 2:00 am and then my doc did his rounds mid-morning to get me ready for discharge. I get home, shower, nap and up after dinner, my little EveryDose reminder goes off and I realize that I am out of sync - they gave me Plavix and Aspirin early and also, I have no Keppra script, but they gave me a script for Hydrocodone for pain. So I check my little take home packet which had blanks for where it says when to take your next dose… I scroll back to April in my app, EveryDose, when I had my last stent and I most definitely was on Levetiracetam (Keppra) twice a day for 8 days after the procedure - the same procedure… I call the hospital to the on-call neuro and had to wait again… called again and finally they called me and said yeah, it’s listed as one of the meds I need to take at home — this is a prescription med — who has this at home?? She offered to send it in to my now closed pharmacy and said it was fine to miss this dose tonight. Okay.
, so keep a list!
(… and operating nurses and everyone else out there!!)