The clouds are the stars #3

What a long hard tiring day.  Spent most of it in doctors offices, first the orthopedist, then the pain doctor and most of the rest of the time talking to doctors offices making appointments.  I really don't like days like this that just serve to remind me of my illnesses.  This one was worst then normal, after I fell the orthopedist waited several weeks before doing a MRI so that just in case the injuries were relatively minor we wouldn't be doing an unnecessary test (good doctor) and maybe they would heal on their  own.  No such luck I had the MRI last week and took it to him to look at today.  He came in and said yes I did tear the cartilage in my knee, however the arthritis in my knee looked worse than he expected. He took x-rays of my knee with me standing up and when he brought them into the room and put them up on the light box he inhaled deeply and said "Oh, my...(sigh)".  I knew I was in trouble than.  He said the only thing to do was a total knee replacement if I wanted any pain relief and wanted to continue walking. So we scheduled surgery and it had to be in a hurry because the insurance company and the hospital are having a contract dispute and after July 1 Spalding Regional may not be on our insurance list and with Obama care I'm in real doubt as to which way this is going to go and so are the doctors.  So probably June 22 is going to be the day. Anyway I did some editing for distraction and fun and a little denial.  All three of the long skinny photos started out the same but where edited differently.  I probably could have done a lot more and had more fun but I'm tired and I didn't even open my computer till after 7 and I am more than ready to go to sleep.  I am glad I did the blog; it did give me a distraction then a time to vent before  I went to sleep.  I hope you all enjoy the cloud pictures for the day.  I hope I'm giving you enough variety for the theme that I suggested for the week so you don't get bored.  if you do just leave it in the comments, promise you won't hurt my feelings.

Johnina

A trip to the zoo with my son

I went to the zoo yesterday with my son and we had a delightful day.  Between the two of us we took almost 500 photos.  I edited three of my favorites.  After I've had a chance to go through and pick out a few more I'll write more about our trip.  I hope you enjoy these.

Johnina  :^D 
By the way the elephant is the color he is because he plays in the red Georgia clay.
It stains everything.

The clouds are the star #2

Bright Sunny Sabbath

 On the way home from church I really wished I had my camera; there were so many bright beautiful clouds.  So as soon as I got home I grabbed my camera and took pictures of the clouds around my house.  The beautiful bright sunny skies just seem to reflect the beautiful spirit that was present at my sabbath meetings today.

I hope you all have a pleasant Sunday

The clouds are the star #1

Here is my post for the theme Into the Clouds on http://writteninc.blogspot.com/  This is one of my favorite cloud pics and even though it is not just of clouds the photo would not be the same without them.  The clouds are the star of this photo.  I saw this as I was driving along and made a quick stop (I really need a Caution: I Stop for Photo OPs bumper sticker) to take this picture.  We have been getting some of the prettiest cloud formations here in this part of Georgia and I have taken a number of them so everyday till next Thursday and a new theme there will a short post with clouds and maybe another post also.

Cheerful Good Morning

Hey I'm feeling much better and as I stepped outside this morning I was greeted by this bright cheerful sunflower that sits in a pot on my porch.

What a nice way to start my day.

Enjoy

Desperately seeking distraction

Distractions

Pain, horrible pain

need to go elsewhere-

to escape- to dream- to discover other places

Safe places- quiet places- beautiful places

peaceful- restful- still.

Or maybe...

exciting places, dramatic places, places of wonder

eye-catching, unique, creative.

Then again maybe...

Thoughtful places- contemplative places- reflective places

meditative, eyes closed, relaxed.

Wherever I find- whatever I find- whoever I find

provides a soothing balm

for the

Pain, horrible pain.
                                                                           © Johnina Young

                                                                                           

Today I am desperately seeking distraction from the pain.  I'm having horrendous after-effects from the IVIG yesterday.  Every muscle and joint in my body H U R T S; even though I took my MS Contin this morning ( I take this everyday for my fibromyalsia and neuorapathy, etc.) and then took lor-tab for the break-through pain, on a scale of 1-10 my pain is still an 8. Could be worse but still hard to tolerate.  I've done some editing but only simple editing and only to the point of where frustration might start as is the case with the above photo.  I really like this photo but I'm really having a hard time with the highlights being too bright, but I included it anyway cuz I like it.

Mostly today I've been checking out the blogs that I love and finding new ones; as reflected in the poem above.  Something I haven't done for a while.  I haven't checked on my favorite blogs because I have been sleeping so much and I don't often write poetry because it is something that has to come from deep inside and just come out somehow.  I don't know how or why; it just does.

 Today I found a blog that I have always enjoyed but have never noticed before how little attention it gets.  I think many more people would enjoy this blog and the other blog Carol does if they only knew about it.  So check it out:

http://caromoom.blogspot.com/

It is a delightful photography site. 

I have quite a few sites listed on the right hand side of my blog.  All those listed I have found personally to be delightful, interesting, thoughtful, insightful, and sometimes distracting in a very good and helpful way.

For those of you who follow my blog and enjoy it and have a blog list that you personally follow on your site; I would appreciate very much being included on that list.   Thanks so much for your support of me and all the kind comments I get.  Thanks even more for sharing your thoughts and lives and the beautiful world we all live in; it has helped get me through many of my ups and downs.  You are all a blessing in my life.
Thanks again,  Love,  Johnina

Is the treatment ...

Every three weeks I go in for my IVIG and I think of the saying "Is the cure worst than the disease ?".  I know for sure that this treatment is so much better than being in the hospital every 2 weeks for 2 weeks which is what was happening before the doctors discovered that my body was not making immunoglubulin like it was supposed to.  So every three weeks I go in get hooked up to an IV for several hours.  I took my computer with me this time and edited some of pictures that I took the day before; after I had an MRI on my knee.  I had no idea how the edit was going to turn out on the picture above when I was doing it, but I was totally delighted with the outcome.

This is the photo I started with.

I turned it on it's side slightly.  Did a mirror image.  Turned it to B&W.  Cropped it.  And finally using an effect called reflections I got the art work at the top of this blog.  (using Corel's Paint Shop Pro X3)  If you look closely you can see the image of the tree branch at the top and the lantern throughout.  This really helped pass the time in a really most pleasant way.  I also did some other more conventional editing of the flowers outside the Imaging clinic where I had my MRI done and some flowers I saw on the roadside.

However the worst part of the IVIG comes later in the day and usually I like to run errand over in Fayetteville or take a photo op and for the most part I am able to do that with no problems.  Today was an exception; I was starving because it took longer than usual as my regular nurse was on vacation, so I stopped and ate.  Diabetics can't wait too long before they eat, and ever since I've been trying to toss it back up.  Not a good thing.  I went to one store to window shop (no money) and had to leave because I was getting so sick.

Came home took something to settle my stomach and laid down and serendipity-wise it was a good thing cuz it stormed, thunder and lightning right over the house, then the lights went out.  I was certainly glad not to be out in it.  I went to sleep and woke up with the typical IVIG all over "Oh, boy does every muscle ache, and gee my head hurts even worse." on top of trying to toss my lunch.  Now you know why I think of "Is the cure..."

Thankfully it only lasts a day or two and I do have a good diversion to help distract me.  This time I have lots of new photos to edit so my days can be as pleasant as possible.  I am so grateful for being lead to this great hobby of photography for the distraction, but mostly for being able to capture and enjoy the beauty that surrounds me.