My Video Valentine

Made this cute video valentine on animoto.com for FREE!

Post-op Day #11

YAY! Getting my sutures out today.

Hip Hop Hooray- I Reopened Today!

Well, enough is enough now...

I know that I'm impatient, but it is really hard to sit around doing nothing.

So I decided to reopen my Etsy shop today and list two monkeys I have been keeping on reserve.

The little guy to your right is the first blue monkey I've ever made! He is made from Rockford Red Heel socks that are blue instead of brown.

How do you like his little fez and vest? In his pocket he has a brass token from the ski ball arcade in Seaside Heights, NJ. Do you think Snookie gave it to him?

The second monkey is mader from traditional brown Rockford Red Heel socks. He is sporting a jazzy red and white handcrocheted pom pom hat and scarf ensemble.

Both of them were so fun to make and are looking for a good home!

Tutorial: How To Make A Sock Monkey Fez

Materials:

• One piece of red felt for the top of the fez.
• One piece of red felt (I prefer wool felt) for the body of the fez
• Red thread and needle
• Small gold tassel (purchase or make your own with braided nylon cord)

This pattern fits a sock monkey whose head is 8 1/2 inches in circumference. If your monkey's head is larger or smaller, you 'll want to reduce or enlarge this pattern.

OK, now right click on the pattern and save a copy of the picture. Next print your saved copy. The printed copy should be full size. Now cut the pattern out, adjusting as needed. You may wish to rough fit the paper pattern to your monkey's head to make sure of the fit before cutting the felt.

Now, cut out your felt using your pattern. Next, wrap the long piece of felt (the body of the fez) around your friend's head and use straight pins to fix the two ends of the felt together where you wish to sew them. At this time, make sure the conical angle of the fez is to your liking. Sew the two ends together leaving the top quarter inch free. Eventually, the top quarter inch of felt will be folded inside the fez and will be sewn to the top of the fez. If necessary, cut away any final excess felt from the sewn edges.

Bend the top quarter inch of felt outward. You will need to make a few cuts in the felt so that it folds outward properly (three or four should be sufficient). Now, take the top of the fez and lay it on top of the folded down quarter inch and pin the two pieces together. Remember that once the top of the fez is sewn on, you will turn the fez right-side out again.

Sew the body and top of the fez together by stitching the folded down quarter inch to the top of the fez. If necessary, you may need to make a few small cuts around the edge of the top of the fez to avoid gaps in the felt.

Finally, turn the fez right-side out and shape it to your liking. Sew the tassel on top of the fez. Add any additional embroidery or other decorations that you desire.

An Unexpected Gift From A Lovely Lady!

Hooray! I just received a thoughtful and unexpected gift in the mail today!

It's a purple glass Hope & Healing "Hide A Heart" from a lovely lady named Cathy who I met on Etsy.

The Hope & Healing Heart is meant to acknowledge the courage of those who are going through a rough patch in their lives such as I have with my recent cervical disc replacement surgery.

Cathy certainly knows from first hand experience what it is like to go through times of fear, pain and uncertainty as she is a head and neck cancer survivor.

The smooth glass purple heart comes in a cheery purple organza drawstring bag with a touch of dried lavender (smells great!) I keep mine in the pocket of my flannel sock monkey pajamas.

Check out other inspiring goodies in Cathy's shop here: HideaHeart

Post-op Day #5

Well, it's been 5 days since my cervical disc surgery and I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! Sleeping has been a bit of a problem since I have had to sleep sitting straight up in a chair with about 5 pillows but the pain is definitely getting better.

I'm still wearing my hard collar and taking things really easy.

I really miss my Etsy! I have some new blue red heel socks that I want to turn into sock monkeys but I guess I'll have to wait a while before I start sewing again  and take my shop out of Vacation Mode (sigh...)

Just Had Artificial Cervical Disc Replacement!

Well, I put this surgery off for a whole year but now I'm SO GLAD that I finally got it over with!

I am two days post-op for a total diskectomy and artificial cervical disc replacement at the C6-C7 level.

I feel very lucky to have found a really good surgeon (he was my 4th surgical opinion, not counting a neurology consult!) and the pain is not as bad as I expected.

I had surgery on Thursday afternoon and went home on Friday morning with my husband.

I can swallow with some soreness and I am not really very hoarse at all. Just a bad headache and neck pain, shoulder blade pain. I have some burning pain in the middle of my back. My surgeon says it is because they have to restore the height of the discs back to normal before they insert the plates and the stretching of the muscles causes the back pain postoperatively.

I have been wearing a hard cervical collar and sleeping in a sitting up position because that is the only way that is comfortable. I basically just sit around watching television all day because I am taking some strong painkillers. Luckily for me, my husband is doing all the house work and cooking.

I really wanted to publish this on my blog because I could not find much about people's personal postoperative experiences and the artificial cervical disc replacements are still really new. I will be going for my first post-op doctor;s visit in 10 days and I will continue to post my progress for anyone who may be contemplating this kind of surgery.