We have been busy!! On Thursday morning, my mom watched Hailey while I went over to the hospital for a test on my heart. It's hard being on the fence when it comes to determining whether I have or don't have the same condition as my sisters. I'd like to take medicine for my depression, but all medications to treat this are on the LQTS "No" list. So far, my resting EKG's have been normal and my T-wave pattern does not match my sisters, but because my QT interval was prolonged when I had been taking a depression drug when my sister had her episode, my doctor says that he doesn't recommend I take any. While I completely understand his hesitancy (it's not like I can just stop taking the drug if I start to have an adverse affect to it...the adverse affect can actually immediately result in death), it's very frustrating not being able to take anything. Dealing with depression is a daily battle for me. I'm not the type of stereotypical sufferer that sits in a room and cries. For me, it's high anxiety, perfectionism, hard to move on after someone has hurt me, irritability and agitation, etc. And I hate feeling like this!! So, another test that helps to rule out two types of LQTS is the "Epinephrine Challenge Test". My doctor recommended I do this test, because it helps to "reveal" a prolonged QT interval (confirming LQTS) if you've had normal resting EKG's. If the test is negative, it's safe to say you don't suffer from those two types of LQTS (there are currently 4 -6 known types of LQTS). I had to be there by 9 am to get hooked up with two IV's, 12 EKG leads, and 2 defibrillator pads (always reassuring, right?). The doctor was running a little late, so the test didn't get started until about 10:30. They start off with 10 minutes of fluids, then 5 minutes of low dose epinephrine, another 5 minutes of a minimal dose increase of epinephrine, then 10 minutes of fluids. On the low dose, I could feel heart palpitations. By the next dose, I could feel my heart beating every single beat (a very strange feeling!). After the ten minutes was up, they had me rest for another 10 minutes and then wheeled me back to the room. The doctor said the result was negative. After taking the IV's out, and leads & pads off, they had me get dressed. I was still feeling light-headed and weak, so they made me hang out for another 15 minutes (and got me some juice to help the blood sugar since I had not eaten anything since 8 pm the night before and it was now almost noon). I felt pretty tired for the rest of the day...I forgot to ask the doctor if the test was equivalent to a daily exercise session. :-) I did ask him that since this result was negative, did he still feel uncomfortable with me taking depression drugs. He was again very hesitant and said he'd think about it and call me. I picked up some lunch on the way home and then ended up staying at my mom's for a good portion of the afternoon making a quilting gift for a couple friends (which I'll reveal later once I've had a chance to give them).
On Friday, Hailey & I did some shopping (as you read about in the previous post) and cleaning. On Saturday morning, we took our annual Christmas card photo and then in the afternoon, my sister, Stacy, and brother-in-law, David's sister, Beth, came over to help make baby shower invitations for my youngest sister, Stephanie. I'm grateful they came over to help, because after two & a half hours, we got about 3/4 of the way done. I continued working on them until 10 pm and then finished them up this morning. While we were working on the invitations, Brian started cooking and pureeing our "eating pumpkin" (we received from Brian's Aunt Lana) to prepare it for use in making our first "fresh" pumpkin pies. I can't wait to taste them! I'll most likely cook them tomorrow as I didn't have a chance to make them today.
Today we took advantage of a mild 53 degree temperature to finish putting up the outdoor Christmas lights as well as securing straw over our rose bushes and strawberry plants to protect them from the cold winter. And we actually did spend a little time relaxing! :-) I have another vacation day tomorrow and plan to get a couple more projects crossed off the list. Then Brian is off for a couple days while I'm back at work. We are trying to take advantage of one of two "vacation" weeks at half tuition that Hailey's daycare allows everyone. Your child must not attend school the entire week to qualify. We are also looking forward to several family gatherings this week for Thanksgiving!!
Working on the invitations.
Cut the eating pumpkin in half and scoop out all the seeds and strings. Place cut side down in an oven-safe pan and cook at 350 degrees for 90 minutes.
Once it's finished cooking, let sit for 30 minutes and then pour off any standing water. Scrape pumpkin out of shell and puree in food processor.
Measure into two cup amounts (as this is what is normally required for pumpkin pie recipes) and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use. This pumpkin made enough for almost 4 pies!
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