Healing

I trust my body's urge to heal. I don't have to make it get well. All I have to do is support it. I am becoming healthier every day.

After my last doctor appointment on Monday I was told I can start using the computer a little. One hour a day to either sew in my studio with a machine (no close hand work), use the computer or similar tasks. I can start adding an hour a day, as long as my eye doesn't get tired, up to six hours.

I was mistaken about cholesterol being the culprit of causing my retinal tears. Cholesterol DOES affect your eyesight and I have to get mine down for that reason but my doctor, Dr. Gloria Wu, insists that my tears happened from lifting heavy things. I am really puzzled by this. I don't lift heavy objects often and things I do lift seemed easy enough. She said that perhaps what I could lift at age 46 I can't lift at 56 but ............ ?????? I can bench press 50 pounds easy enough and often load my car with all the items I need to teach with. I usually have someone load and unload the two microwaves so I just can't believe I've lifted anything heavy enough to cause this. I guess I'll just have to be careful about that from now on, but how do I know what's too heavy? Confusing huh?

It's been weeks of resting my eyes which meant doing almost nothing. It's been a frustrating journey but I've had lots of time to philosophy about my life. I had to cancel teaching at Create in Costa Mesa, I had to cancel a show in Santa Cruz I was suppose to participate in this last weekend, and I have to cancel my trip to Missouri. Is this a wake up call for me to slow down? Can I do that? Do I want to? All these questions have come up for me to ponder I often wonder about the classes I teach and what it is that students really want to learn from me. There are deadlines for 2012 proposals that are approaching. I would love to hear from all of you who would be interested in taking a workshop from me, what class would you like to see me offer? I've been interested in teaching some natural dye workshops but that could not happen in a six hour hotel setting classroom. I would love to work with a small group to take a vintage or used garment and help them upcycle it by dyeing fabrics to create embellishments, tea dyeing, dyeing the garment itself, and/or dyeing vintage laces and trims. I could do small or individual workshops in my studio in the Santa Cruz Mountains. If any of this sounds interesting to you or you have ideas please let me know.

I'm getting off the computer now so I don't waste my two hours of time today doing this. I'm anxious to get back in the studio!!!

I'm on the mend and while it may take several more weeks before I'm back to normal I am grateful that my sight was spared, that the technology today is so amazing to repair eyes and to all those who have sent cards, called, sent positive energy my way and well wishes. I do so appreciate this. Thank you.

Putting My Life on Hold ~ Cancellations

It's finally sinking in how serious my eye surgery was. I'v been told by my doctor I'll have at lest six more weeks of being still, quiet, and no focus work. I've had to cancel the May Day show in Santa Cruz. I've had to cancel going to Southern California for the the Create Retreat in May. I may have to cancel going to Missouri in June. It's very hard for me to lay around the house and do nothing, but I'm trying to stay positive and follow my doctor instruction so my eyes can heal properly.

I want to thank everyone who has sent me well wishes, I really appreciate it.

BTW my mom is not typing on the computer...It's still me Tony (her son) I hope I am scoring lots of brownie points for this..lol jkjk

Update on My Eyes

My son Tony is posting this message for me.

At my doctor visit on monday she told me I was bad to have been on the computer. I'm taking that to heart now-no reading, computer, or close work.

I had a small retinal tear on my right eye also that she lasered.
i get another check up on the 18th and go week to week to see how I'm healing.

Now for the reason this happened to me.... high cholesterol! Did you know that effects your eyes? (click here for more info) I did not and no one ever told me. I've known my cholesterol was high for years. My LDL(bad) was high but my HDL(good) was equally high so the percentage ratio was normal. My triglycerides were good and my blood pressure good and low. No cost for alarm as my heart seemed healthy. But not one doctor told me that it would affect my eye sight. ACK! I feel like an idiot for not addressing the high cholesterol sooner.

Before my eye issues became apparent and serious i had already gone on a diet-no wheat( gluten), no dairy, no refined sugar, no red meat or pork, no eggs. I lost 8 lbs. in a month. I've been on the diet for two months and it's a good thing because that will help get my cholesterol down.

Everyone please get your eyes checked regularly. Vitreous floaters are one thing you learn to live with but if sudden cobweb like floaters appear go IMMEDIATELY to an eye(retinal) specialist and have them checked! The floaters at this stage are most likely to be blood because your eye has hemorrhaged!

I'm not using doctor in santa cruz anymore. I and my family have been misdiagnosed too many times. I'm going to the Los Gatos area in search of a new family doctor-I prefer a woman for myself-if anyone who reads this has a doctor they can recommend please let me know.

It's hard for me to be inactive but its the only way my eyes will heal. An online art friend, Judy, called me out of the blue and said to "focus on the fact that I'm laying here to heal". I am keeping that in my mind because it's a positive affirmation, I am healing.

Off Blog for a While

Last Thursday I developed severe floaters in my left eye. I've had floaters for years but this was different. I went to see a doctor in the ophthalmology department at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation in Santa Cruz and was told I did NOT have a retinal tear, that I only had floaters and they would settle down within a week. I was told I could fly this week as I had plans to visit New Zealand with my husband for 3 weeks. By Monday my eye was not better and I felt it getting worse. I had told that doc this seemed different than floaters but he didn't seem concerned. So I went to see a retinal specialist who did extensive test on my eye and discovered several very large tear in my retina and did emergency laser on the eye. So now I'm pretty much bed ridden, no reading, no computer, only large screen tv and audio books. Sigh. I'll be getting weekly checkups to see how I'm healing and determine how long I have to rest my eye.

We had to cancel our trip to New Zealand, wah! But I am so grateful that Dr. Wu was able to address my eye and I didn't take that first doctor's advice. If I had gotten on a plane my retina would have detached and my eye would have bled. I could have lost my eyesight in that eye.

I do not know why the tears happened but am getting some further testing to see if we can determine that.

I won't be posting for a while again as I should be resting my eye. My son has been helping me with email messages and he may check back here for me for time to time.

Our eyesight is precious and do not take it for granted!!!

Yesterday's Dyeing

I had a woman from Santa Cruz come to my studio yesterday to have a private workshop session. Suzanne was delightful and we discovered we have mutual friends. I am so disappointed that I did not take any photos of her work. She had the most beautiful color scheme, dreamy seafoam, golden wheat and brown.

After she left I got busy shibori dyeing silk ribbons at the request of super talented friend, Suza, to add to her spring linen jacket collection. It's hard to color match and it may be that none of the ribbons will work for her color scheme. A color name can be a wide variety of actual colors. Think if someone asked you to color something plum what would that mean to you? I bet everyone would have a range of purples but maybe not the "plum" the person who asked envisioned.

I've not said much about my back issues but it's been difficult for me. We trust doctors so much but often they can't help us and only offer opinions that we take for gospel. Sigh. I'll not go into the saga but next Friday I will get another round of epidural steroid shots and really, really, really, hope they give me some relief. I mean I'm leaving April 6th to go to New Zealand and I so want to not back pain!!

The sun is finally shining today so I'm going to go outside and enjoy it since it's predicted we'll only see a couple days of it and then more rain and gloom. I really am starting to feel like Eeyore.

Silk Crocheted Flowers ~ Nuno Felt Wayward Wrist Wraps Class

I sent my friend Doris Arndt some silk yarns and asked her if she'd crochet some small flowers for me. I intend to put these in kits for the class I'm teaching at Create, "wayward wrist wraps". I can't imagine the students taking the class won't love them as I do. Of course I will use some of them myself to embellish the nuno felted wraps with.


If you click on the highlighted "Create" above it will take you to the website. Check out the classes being offered and if there is anyway you can attend the retreat you really should!

I'm also planning to travel to Missouri in June. My friend Sharon Kilfoyle and I are putting together a weekend retreat at her studio in Ashland June 11 & 12. We'll be doing shibori dyeing silk and silk ribbons, creating a wayward threads ribbon scarf and nuno felted projects. I will be posting more about that a little later so please stop back by my blog to check for more info.

On another note I have been affected by the tragedy that has hit Japan. There are many charitable organizations to contribute to that are setting up plans to help Japan. We have contributed to Save the Children but I urge you to contribute to the charity of your choice any funds you can.

Finished Garments

I finished the piece I have been working diligently on for the Altered Couture Wedding Challenge. The due date is March 15th and I was able to finish the dress this morning and mail it off USPS Priority mail so it should arrive in time. Whew!! Now to wait patiently for them to go through all the entries and decide who gets accepted. I think it could take months and sometimes that's hard for people (like me) who get impatient and anxiously excited to know. I'm just like a little kid who wants to know what's in the wrapped box?! It's that same feeling.

I'm not going to reveal any of the dress since there is a possibility of getting published and I want it to be a surprise in the magazine. I mean that is the point. I guess it seems like I am contradicting myself since I both love surprises and at the same time can hardly stand to be patient to find things out.

I also finished this garment I've been working on for a while. Let me explain. I often start a piece by hanging it up and looking at it from time to time. I pin different fabrics, or vintage pieces, trims, and laces to decided where I want to go with it. I work as I go so sometimes it takes a while to get a piece completed. I work on more than one garment at a time so I've always got projects going in different stages.

The back of this garment has a velvet piece that was designed by Marian Clayden. I attended a tea in her honor in 2008 where remnants of her designed velvet pieces were for sale and I purchased a few of these along with some of her shibori fabrics. Marian is wheelchair bound by her illness now and I have not heard a word about her since I attended that tea which was fabulous! A whole exhibit of her lifetime works of art in the garment and fabric design world.

I always thought of her velvets as being "burn out or devore" but in fact she created the designs and the velvet was woven with them and not the reverse. With devore (in a nutshell), the velvet is woven and then the design is "burned" into the fabric by screening or painting a chemical onto the velvet fibers in the design you want and the chemical causes the rayon velvet to pull away from the silk backing.

This is the finished piece:







But it started this way:





My goal now is to clean up my space a bit, begin gathering materials to make kits for Create in May, and do what I can to create more garments, dyed ribbons, flower pins, etc. before I leave on April 6 for a trip to New Zealand! My hubby and I will be gone until April 28th visiting friends there and exploring a bit on our own. I've never been and am looking forward to this trip!

I'll be participating in a May Day show On April 30th and May 1st and sincerely hope I will not be jet lagged and spaced out for the show. I'll be posting more about that show in a week or two.