CoCo's Corner

 Defnition: Purpura - noun - the appearance of purple or red spots on the skin and mucous membranes caused by bleeding underneath the skin due to small blood vessels bursting.  These spots can range in size from small dots (petechiae) to larger patches (ecchymosis or bruises) and may indicate underlying health issues.   Sadly, when people see my arms, I get many responses and questions.   From how are you doing?  How are you feeling?  OR what is up with your arms???  My BFF literally said, what the hell is wrong with your arms?? Like I had been out in the parking lot bruising myself up intentionally.  And we had just talked about it a couple of weeks before when she saw it. Are they pretty??  No.  But, they truly are the way I know the status of my health.  Between seeing this stuff show up on my arms and my overall general state of strength lets me know if I should be concerned.   Right now, my arms are actually look...

  I kind of referred to Ted and my "effing burger" saga that turned into a full-on tradition for us on a Facebook/Instagram post.  I added that if anyone wanted to hear the story, let me know, because I love this story.  A couple of people said they wanted to hear it - so I'm sharing. It was my 50th birthday.  It was a pretty significant birthday.  Now, in all honesty, a couple of people had gone against my express wishes and planned a whole surprise birthday party with family, friends and all sorts of people.  The funny thing was the person who was behind the whole thing had planned one for her mother a couple of months before.  She told me the story, and I said, I would kick your ass.  I'd be so mad!!!  Yeah, she took it as a challenge.  I had planned out a day of dinner out and the Muppet Movie at the dollar theater and I was excited to spend that time with my family.  When Ted started driving the wrong direction, I knew there we...

 I get asked at times if I "regret" making decisions I made as far as having gastric bypass.  First off, if you ask questions like this to people, DON'T!!!  Why on earth would you ask someone, who made a decision that was right for them at the time, if they regret it is a non-sensical question.  None of us know how a decision today will affect our tomorrow.  I'm sorry, but if you knew you were going to get into that nasty divorce, would you ever have married them in the first place? The other question I get asked is, if you knew what was going to happen would you still have gastric bypass?  Again - you're asking for crystal ball revelations.  Nobody knows how a decision we make today will affect our tomorrow.  If you knew you were going to go flying off that cliff, would you have gone a different way?? First off - I didn't have gastric bypass to lose weight.  Was I excited to lose weight, yes.  But, it was also a very soul-searching time...

Enough said!!!  It's been a rough couple of weeks.  But, this whole drama started on March 17.  Yep - St. Patrick's Day.  I woke up in the middle of the night and was in crazy pain.  I was sure my appendix was about to burst or something.  I laid there for a bit and dozed.  About an hour later, I woke up again and was in so much pain I couldn't think.  I called in sick to work.  I was so disappointed, I had my green beads and my four leaf clover earrings all ready to go.  Got up and simply dressed myself and dragged myself out to the garage and drove myself to IHC Hospital in Murray.  I just didn't want to wake anyone up, so I just did it myself.   Tests were run; blood, urine, CT scan and all that regular stuff.  I was given medication for pain.  I was told that I had a kidney stone that was making it's way down to pass and that is what the pain was.  My emergency room doctor was amazing.  She said I s...

This is not a health update. I decided to talk about life, in general, since 2014.   Today, I realized that eleven years ago today was my last day at my previous job, my previous career, my previous life.  I loved my previous life, until I didn't.  And that all turned around the end of 2013.  I was a 911 dispatcher for 32 years.  I started on March 1, 1982 as a records clerk.  Moved into dispatch as a call taker and dispatcher, was promoted to supervisor and finally was the deputy director at the end of my career.  That last part was probably the worst decision I ever made.  And maybe the best.   I was there through so many crises and events.  The day I took my application in, I was told pretty much everyone was gone "to the funeral".  A police officer had been shot and killed the week before and nobody was there to take my application.  This was LONG before the internet.  It was a handwritten application and ba...

 I was asked for an update.  So - I waited until my last appointment with my liver doctor to see what he was going to say.  What we were going to do.  What the hell is going on.   So - a little recap.  Mid August I was admitted to the hospital due to liver disease.  The initial diagnosis was cirrhosis of the liver due to malnutrition, which was caused by malabsorption. After a biopsy, that diagnosis was changed to pre-cirrhosis.  I had over two liters of fluid removed from my belly by needle aspiration the first day.  I left the hospital five days later with a PICC line with IV nutrition.  IV nutrition supplemented my regular diet for four months.  My PICC line was removed in December and now it's a matter of how my body adjusts as to what the steps are. Since August and having the IV nutrition, I gained over 40 pounds.  I was a little over 140 pounds when they disconnected IVY (my PICC line/nutrition/bag - that's her name...