Pages

Monday, January 31, 2011

Really, more snow!?

Are you all in the Northeast ready for m ore snow??

Where are we going to put it all???

Sunday, January 30, 2011

And it continues...

Apparently people read this blog because they have been asking me how my bum is doing.  Hehehe.  Well, me and my bum were at the doctors on Friday and we are now on three antibiotics for what seems to be an infected abscess inside my right butt cheek.  People often get those in their mouths, you know? And then have to get them drained because they are so painful! Well I have one the size of a plum deep in my butt cheek! Like seriously....this could probably be happening to someone else instead, haha.  We are going to try the antibiotics for a week and go from there - if it doesn't get better they are going to have to perform surgery and drain it.  This will not be pleasant to have an open soar that has to heal on my bum, so cross your fingers for the antibiotics!

PS you can't see it! It's way way under the skin! 

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

My Butt

So it looks like I might have some kind of infection (like staph) in my butt cheek.  HOT, RIGHT? Started antibiotics yesterday...hopefully it fixes this painful mass....

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

A Giant Pain in my Butt!

So for about a week now I've had a really bad pain in my right butt cheek.  It started out as a small pain and now it's a giant pain.  I've been icing and heating and doing everything one can think to do and eating Tylenol like candy and to no avail it is getting no better.  I thought at first it was something with my muscle.  My doctor thought it was something else.  But after a week, no changes.  And I might add a have a really big like mass where it hurts, like if you press on my butt cheek it's soar and hard.  So now I think maybe I have an abscess, but there is no sign of bruising or anything on my skin.  I'm not really sure, but it has not been a pleasant week! Doing anything really aggravates it, especially walking....Any ideas out there??

Monday, January 24, 2011

The Gallows

So I guess I must be living under a rock because I only heard of The Gallows in the South End like a little while ago and usually I am really up on new south end openings.  They are in the spot that Sage used to be in.  Well, Laura and I went last week and we were really excited about their menu.  They have a nice little space, and we love the valet parking.  We are early birds so we were some of the first diners to arrive.  I got a Tar & Feather drink which was really good, I didn't drink most of it because I had some heartburn from taking lots of Tylenol, but it was really refreshing! I fear my server thought I didn't like it, but I swear I did.  We were a little upset that french onion soup was no longer on their menu.  You know if you read this blog we are french onion soup groupies! But they had a lot of things that sounded interesting to us! We started with the Scotch Egg and poutine (hand cut fries with gravy and cheese curd)



Oh my God the fries were awesome.  The gravy was really really good.  I couldn't stop eating them seriously! They have different kinds but we just had the simple ones.  And I've never had a Scotch Egg before (a soft boiled egg wrapped in house made pork sausage and rolled in bread crumbs and fried)  The consistency of the yoke was perfect.  And the combination of the egg and the crunchy layer was really great.

I had two appetizers, roman gnocchi and little neck clams, instead of an entree and Laura had the Hudson Valley duck with pineapple chutney, sticky black rice, and brussel sprouts..


   

The duck seemed a little overcooked to me (I like it pinker) but other than that it looked good.  Laura said it was "good" I think.  The black sticky rice intrigued me.  My clams were done in blood orange, pink navels and fennel which sounded like a great combination to me.  And it was! I loved it, it all worked together really well, I could have drank the leftover "sauce."  (Sorry for the bad quality photo here!) My other appetizer was interesting.  I thought it was going to be gnocchi but it was not.  The beef bolognese on it was really good though!

We don't usually have room for dessert but they had a dessert that we couldn't say no to! It was a layer of bananas, peanut butter, chocolate and torched fluff and it was amazing! The taste of torched fluff is so good, I might even do this at home!


We were really happy with our experience here and we will come back again for the fries for sure and maybe some more torched fluff!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Lucky Number 8

I'm number 8 on the transplant list.... But there are two people ahead of me my size and my blood type so that means I will not get a call until they get lungs - unless of course I have a decline and am moved ahead of them.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

BIG BIG NEWS!

So, I have some really big news to share with you all! I am officially on the transplant list as of yesterday! My quality of life is getting to the point that I think it was the perfect time.  So, this means at any point now I could get the call for new lungs! It most likely won't be for a while (average wait 6 months but I hope they come sometime in April or early May) but you never know, I know people that got the call a week after going on the list! It really just all depends on when they find lungs that match for you.  And with my size, if they found tiny lungs they could call me tomorrow!

The next step in the journey continues...

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Flip Cam

I got a Flip Cam for my birthday and it's a wonderful little gadget.  I have been using it a lot to film everyday not important sort of things.  But I really got it so I could film the transplant process,  I really regret I don't have the first time on video to look back on.  I think the first time I might use my flip cam is tomorrow when I am visiting with my doctor.  Because tomorrow is a big day - which I will blog about tomorrow.   She is going to walk in the room and I am going to be like "Hi!  You're on flip camera second transplant edition!" Hahah.  I'll let you know how it works out.  But the flip cam is an amazing little thing!  I designed it myself with tiny little hearts. 

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Snow Day

We got a lot of snow here today in New England! It's been one of those do not much days but I watched a movie called Easy A today. It reminded me of mean girls a little bit. It was really cute though! Did any of you eel it? I liked the actress too - has she been in anything else? If you had a snow day today I hope it was a good one!!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Bad Mood

I'm in like a really unusually bad mood for me today.  I was supposed to be heading to new york for a doc visit but it's going to blizzard so that has been put on hold.  This is great news because I hate driving in snow, and I was tired and grumpy to begin with.  But I'm grumpy and this is unusual.  But really it's truly super super annoying to wear oxygen all the time.  Listen, I am 27, I want to be out doing normal things.  It's really annoying to drag my tubing around, to get it caught on things, to get dressed with it, and listen the other day I stepped on the hose and it ripped off my face and I literally was just so annoyed and frustrated  I started to cry.  It hurt my ears and it really pissed me off and I wanted to punch a wall that I'm really here AGAIN needing new lungs.  And it's just all emotional and annoying and tiring.  And I just needed to vent.  You know what this means, this means I am going to shop online today because this makes me feel happy.  And my bff Lindsey might stop by and maybe watch the black swan with me tonight or at least just make me giggle.  I need giggling. 

Monday, January 10, 2011

Me and my buddy

Today I took my little mini oxygen out with me for the first time in public. It brings about a feeling of relief and anxiety. The relief comes from the fact that passerbys see that I am really sick as opposed to the anorexic thoughts that I know float through peoples heads when they see me, or the snide looks I get when I park in a handicapped spot - well trust me those stop when a 27 year old steps out of a car with oxygen on. All of that equals a lot of relief in what other people think. Why should I care? Who knows but I guess I do. There is some anxiety that comes along with it because EVERYONE looks! It's like you know that old saying: take a picture it lasts longer!

Well this is the start of me and my new buddy...

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Dog Holiday (172 photos), by natasha kirker


I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

My First Book Review - Unberable Lightness



I got the iPad for Christmas and it has made me the avid reader that I used to be again.  It is such a great feeling to read a book! I really love books about people's lives and their experiences more than anything else.  The first book I read on the iPad was Portia de Rossi's Unbearable Lightness.  I have never ever struggled with an eating disorder but I do have a huge passion and love for food so it really interested me.  I was blown away by this book.  I literally could not put it down from the first sentence, it just sucked me into her psyche and her warped sense of herself and her world and her food.  I think many people would not equate having a full blown eating disorder to being something like a crack addict or an alcoholic but that is the feeling I was left with in my gut after I finished this book.  From the time she woke up, to the time she went to sleep, to her dreams, every single thought was about food and lack-thereof, and weight, and diet, and exercise and fat and thin.  It has to be how an addict of drugs feels about getting their next fix, it's like it's an entirely different entity from their body - it is all they can see around them and feel with in them.  It is all they care about at the end of the day.  There is one part of the book were Portia eats 60 calories of gum, and has a complete freak out attack and has to start running in the middle of a parking lot with ongoing traffic and people, like a crazy person to burn off the 60 calories she ingested.  I could feel the intensity as she described it, as she was running up a flights of stairs, two at a time in platform heels, up and down up and down, it almost made me feet bleed.  She was consuming no more than 300 calories a day and thinking it was normal, and thinking that being 82 lbs was normal.  She literally, and she will attest to this, was crazy.  It was more than a full blown eating disorder, it was a complete mental craziness that had taken over her body, a lot of which had to do with her also having to hide the fact that she was a lesbian.  I took away a lot from this book and even though I clearly don't know Portia, I am glad she found her peace, and she found her happiness and she finally found someone that just loved her for her and everything she is (that was something she really yearned for in the book, someone to just love HER.)  I think in a sense everyone has a story and everyone can use healing, so this is a book really for anyone to read.  And I suggest you all do!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Oxygen

It's come to the point where I am pretty much wearing my oxygen 90% of the time.  It's annoying as all hell, but it does help out a bit - my lungs are so so so tired.....  Here is a picture of me tired and crabby with my oxygen on.  My eyes are barely open I know, this tends to happen a lot in pictures hahaha. 

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The End of Rocca

Rocca is a restuarant in the South End of Boston that will always hold a very dear place in my heart.  It was one of the first big places to set foot on a street where there was nothing - and that took guts! My mom and I would frequent it, and it was one of her favorites (she was a successful restauranter) And it was in fact that last place I dined with my before before she died.  I will never forget where we sat and what we ate, and what she wore and what we talked about.  She died Dec 17th, and somehow after that I made a big group of her and my friends take me back to the scene of our last dinner for my birthday (which is December 29th) it was bitter sweet.  I often got Rigattoni in a bowl as take out (I used to live right down the street) and I loved it.  It was ooey and gooey and filled with love.  Interestingly enough last week a friend of mine was visiting from LA and I said we have to go to Rocca! We were also so excited that one of our favorite top chefs was now running the kitchen.  To my amazement they sat us where my mom and I last sat.  We had great food.  I started with the Tuna and Eggplant for apps:



We had steak and lobster for our entrees:



And we had butterscotch pudding for dessert:

Everything was really fabulous and I am so sorry to see Rocca closed just two days after we were there.  It will always hold a really special place in my heart and I wish it had been able to make it through whatever financial issues they were having.  It really was a fabulous atmosphere with well thought about food....

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all! I hope 2011 brings you all much happiness and great health! I don't really make resolutions but in 2011 I'd like to finally write that book I've been wanting to write and by writing a book I mean finding a literary agent and getting it published..

And here is to new lungs in 2011 and lots of great new adventures :)