Puppy!

The most exciting thing happening around here is that my daughter got a puppy.

This puppy is an adorable ball of energy and my own little tripping hazard. We had two dogs when the kids were little but my two younger daughters, who are still living at home, came after the puppies so they did not know what life with puppies is like.

Emily has been wanting a dog for a long time, but with my heath issues the idea of a new pet went right out the window.  Last year we got a new higher fence around our backyard so that meant one of my requirements of puppy ownership was met. I really thought that my old wood floors should be redone and sealed against puppy accidents but that never happened.

Emily has been researching dogs to find the right one for our family.

• I have allergies to the oil on dogs coats so I need to have a dog that is more the fluffy type.
• we needed a dog that will be good with the grand-kids who are over frequently.
• we needed a dog that will keep Emily company on long walks and fun activities.
• we need a dog to be a family pet and not just a one person dog.
• Emily thinks she wants to show the dog and perhaps take part in things like agility trials.

She found a breeder nearby who had pure-bred Samoyed puppies from champion stock parents.
We visited the breeders at their home a couple of times and were thrilled with the mommy dog and her adorable 5 little balls of fluff.

Two weeks ago the breeder delivered an eight week old little boy puppy to our house.  Life changed instantly! He is very smart and cute and he has won our hearts.

Emily named the dog Jasper and she is working on teaching him the basics like sit and to go outside to pee. He needs a LOT of walking as he is really high energy.

I complained to my girl friend that I can't manage to take a turn walking him because the sidewalks are slippery and the dog pulls on his leash, tugs, bounds and runs under legs. My family is working on getting him to walk nice on a leash but it is going to take a while before he will be safe for me to walk with.  My sweet friend reassured me that I am getting plenty of exercise with puppy by rushing to get him out the door to prevent "accidents" and that sure it the truth. I need to get working on my old physiotherapy exercises and work on my stamina again ... so that I can try to keep up with Jasper.

Donuts, Dietician and Peer Support Meetings

I am a co-facilitator of a peer support group at my local Stroke Recovery Association. We usually have about 7 to 10 people meet one afternoon a month in order to discuss issues related to living life after a stroke. It is great to share and so nice to talk to other people who have had similar experiences.

We usually have a  snack time. In fact it is amazing how often we share food at the stroke association functions. Last month I picked up a pack of mini chocolate covered donuts and they were met with a great deal of enthusiasm. Maybe a bit too much.  Many stroke survivors have dietary restrictions that they should be careful about. I realize that several of my members are diabetics. Others should be watching their cholesterol and just about everyone is supposed to be watching their salt intake. A few survivors have to watch for foods with potential drug interactions. Other people, like me, really should be working on reaching a healthy weight. As I watched the donuts disappear it occurred to me that I was acting as an enabler! I wanted treats and this seemed like the perfect excuse for me to indulge --- and I was taking my group down with me!

I was assigned a dietician as part of my rehab team when I first got sick, and I still see her about every 4 to 6 weeks. (I still have a lot of food and weight issues) I talked to her about this little revelation and it led to a really interesting discussion about group dynamics, snacking and healthy choices. One issue is the possibility that group members might actually be hungry. Did they eat lunch? How are their insulin levels? What is my responsibility in all this?  We talked about how occasional treats are not a bad thing and it is normal to have special foods once in a while. The important part is quantity and frequency. Once a month is not a big deal, but at the same time it is an opportunity to share a healthy snack.

My dietician and I brainstormed about some easy, inexpensive snack foods that might be good choices for the average stroke survivors diet. I came up with a few poor choices such as cheese and crackers.  I thought it would be good because it is higher in protein but it is too high in calories and too high in cholesterol and possibly sodium. I already knew the Girl Guide cookies I am supposed to be selling were not going to make the list this time, no matter how yummy they are and good the cause is.

Healthy veggie wraps were one suggestion. The idea of cheese in them was again discouraged but we discussed using some lower fat cheeses that are now on the market.  Turkey sandwiches prepared with multi grain bread and cut in quarters would be good too. Fruit with a light cream cheese or perhaps a yogurt based dip sound pretty healthy and delicious. There are some yummy and good for you muffins available at the store and she has some recipes for some healthy muffins that I will get from her next time I see her.

We had a meeting this past week and this time I brought bagels cut in smaller pieces and I provided a spread choice of light cream cheese or hummus. It certainly wasn’t donut type enthusiasm, but a few people really seemed to like trying the hummus for the first time.  Next month I think it is going to be healthy muffins or banana bread. All I have to do is work up some energy for baking!

Does anybody have other suggestions for coffee break or snack treats for a group? I would be very interested in potluck suggestions too.

My Very Sore Finger

I have a sore finger on my good hand. It is a real problem to me.

It started off in August when I got a little thorn in my middle finger of my right hand. I was at the cottage, gathering and cutting branches into smaller pieces to fit in the fireplace and one of the branches was a hawthorn and they really do have thorns! I thought I got it all out but it stayed irritated. I thought maybe a tiny bit was still in there and would eventually work it's way out but it just kept not healing and then it seemed to be getting more painful and bleeding easily and getting bigger. I talked to the doctor about it at my regular appointment and he said it just had to take time and heal. Two weeks later it was much bigger so I went back to the doctor.

Don't click on the following link if you get queasy very easily. It was now something called a Pyogenic Granuloma. Basically I have pea sized cluster of capillaries that are probably a benign growth. Most likely it is a weird inflammatory response to a local trauma. It is amazingly painful to touch and bleeds like crazy with the littlest bump. My doctor told his nurse to hold everything he was going to be busy for 10 minutes and went to look it up. He came back with a picture atlas of skin diseases and was all excited. Next he called in his partner saying "Hey wana see a Pyogenic granuloma?" " Oh that's what it looks like!" while they compared me to the book. They decided "Wow, it's a big one.". Hmmmmph.

First they tried burning it with a chemical cauterization and told me that I should come back the next week. Nope didn't work. Okay lets try liquid nitrogen and freeze it off. (cryosurgery) Nope, still didn't work. The next suggestion is we need to freeze it and scrape it off and out, and cauterize the bottom.

They now need to send the sample for biopsy, still assuring me it is not likely to be serious but that we do need to take care of the ugly thing. My doctor can't really do it in the office because I react very badly to local freezing, so I am being referred to a plastic surgeon. It is going to be more than a month to even see the guy and who knows when he will actually do the surgery!

I tried hard to express that the stupid thing is not just a yucky looking bump on my finger. I use a cane in that hand in order to balance and stay upright and this is actually affecting my mobility. I can't keep a good grip on the cane so now I need to go back to using my walker full time again.

I can't believe how slowed down I am because of a little sliver!

Blueberry Muffins

I need to have a few regular things to bake and cook. I am still finding it harder than before to do things in the kitchen. If I can plan a few regular items, maybe I can remember the recipies better when I am cooking and maybe I can keep the ingredients around the house sothere will be less extra trips to the store for missing ingredients.


Blueberry Muffins



I like this version of blueberry muffins, but we have to avoid lemon in our house because of allergies. You can just leave out the lemon peel in this recipe.

If you have a recipe that calls for lemon juice you can use a 1/2 tablespoon of vinegar in place of 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. You can also substitute equal parts of apple cider vinegar or of white wine.