Garden Update: Late June

Pea Haven
Filet-style green beans are on the right. Purple hull peas to the left. And weeds further to the left. The green beans are already producing beans. The purple hull peas have a ways to go. The front border has kale, chard, and a marigold. The side border has basil. The middle planters have oregano and thyme. I planted other herbs, but these are the only ones that have come up.

Front Garden
The snap peas to the right have produced fairly well. I've gotten a handful of pods every few days for the last few weeks. The vines are starting to die. The plant on the left I thought was a strawberry plant, but it may actually be a very large, well-tended weed. Some marigold seeds from last year sprouted as well.

 Annex
I've got a really good sage plant. My Brussels sprouts and eggplants aren't looking very good. I've got a surprise cabbage that was supposed to be broccoli. But it's doing better than the broccoli did, so it's a good surprise. I transplanted some store-bought celery leftovers, which have taken root and are growing pretty well. The asparagus is still putting out occasional shoots, which are still tasty. In the front planters there are a few beets, parsnips, and carrots. But mostly the annex is growing weeds.

The corner of the annex and squash ghetto is where I have six pots of cherry tomatoes. Three are red, two are yellow, and one is sun-dried tomatoes. One of the yellow tomato plants has blossoms. All of the plants are looking really good.

Squash Ghetto
The ghetto is doing OK. I've got corn, sunflowers, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber, spaghetti squash, butternut, acorn, pumpkins, and watermelons. They look good, but I don't get my hopes up too much when it comes to the ghetto. It tends to disappoint. I think I planted late enough that the squash bugs won't be a problem. Very little is planted around the ghetto. A few beets seem to be doing OK.

If I get tomatoes and green beans, I'll feel the garden has been minimally successful. If I actually get squashes, corn, and purple hull peas, I will feel very successful.

Trying to lose the fat and keep my organs

My nurse practitioner's nurse left a message that my ultrasound showed gallstones. A doctor who goes to my church and works at the hospital recommended a few surgeons. I have an appointment set with Dr. Watkins for July 29. I'd like to see him sooner, but that's his first available appointment. I'll keep calling in case he has a cancellation.

The doctor-friend from church also gave me advice about deciding whether or not to have my gallbladder removed: if it's not inflamed, don't have it removed, but try a low-fat diet and weight loss instead. Large gallstones that could never fit in the duct aren't a reason to have surgery. I was glad to get the advice. I'm reluctant to have an organ removed.

First, I'm not sure it can be definitively known whether my gallbladder is causing my pain and vomiting. Some of my symptoms are textbook gallbladder attack, but some are not. Surgery might not help my current symptoms, but it could cause new ones. After I heard I had gallstones, I looked online for information about the surgery and recovery and found a message board full of people who had continued pain and new digestive symptoms after surgery. I don't want to continue in pain and gain diarrhea. I'd rather live with my current symptoms without adding another one.

Second, even safe surgeries like gallbladder removal aren't 100% safe. Dying is unlikely, but I don't want to take risks that aren't absolutely necessary.

Third, the logistics of caring for Lucy while recovering are tricky. Matt can care for her. But when she's sleepy, she wants mama and milk. Matt can't provide that. When she doesn't get mama and milk, she cries for a long time until she passes out from exhaustion. We would have to try to change her expectations before I had surgery so that we're not all miserable. Also because she is still breastfed, I would need to have a supply of milk frozen for her to drink while I'm on pain meds.

Fourth, timing is also an issue. I'm teaching this semester, so I don't have time for surgery, especially if I don't see the surgeon for a consult until the end of July.

Whether I have surgery or not, the low-fat diet is going to be a good idea. If I don't have surgery, it's still what my doctor-friend recommended. And if I do have surgery, I may need to eat less fat to compensate for no longer having a gallbladder to release stored bile to digest the fat. So I've started eating more mindfully. It's easier to do in the summer when there's so much good fresh produce, especially if that produce is growing in my yard. (Garden update soon)

9 Month Well Baby Report & Medical Update

Lucy did well at her checkup today. Everything is perfect. She weighed 18 lbs., 12 oz. (60th percentile), was 28 inches long (65th percentile), and has a 17.5 inch head (67th percentile). She gained 3 pounds and 2 inches in three months. Her first tooth broke through on Sunday. She is crawling and pulling up and climbing everywhere. She is right on track developmentally. We think she has figured out "dada" and "mama," but she doesn't use them regularly enough to claim that she is talking. She eats nearly anything. Last night she ate a few (pasteurized) blue cheese crumbles, and she sucked on the lemon that came with my water at lunch today. She wants to be big so bad. She wants to walk and eat crunchy things. And recently she has discovered that big people use toilet paper. Hopefully, we can leverage that interest while potty training in the future. The nurse noted today that the only appointments Lucy has had are her well baby visits. Other than a very messy stomach virus a couple months ago and roseola two weeks ago, she's been healthy. We are very blessed. Matt believes she inherited his immune system. I'm all for that.

I also had a doctor's appointment today. With all of the medical visits in 2013, it seems like I go to the doctor all the time. But I hadn't seen my primary care nurse practitioner since April 2012, just after the bowel infection. After my most recent backpain/vomiting episode last week, I decided to get another opinion about my problem. The stretches the chiropractor showed me help when I have attacks, but if something could prevent the attacks altogether, I'd prefer that. The nurse practitioner scheduled a gallbladder ultrasound for tomorrow morning. I have a follow-up with her on June 30. While I was there, I got refills on a couple of my "as needed" prescriptions, had her look at a 3-week-old tick bite (nothing wrong), and had her freeze off a plantar wart on my toe. It was all very efficient, and I really like Nurse Tammy. I'll post an update when I know the results of my ultrasound.