SewMona – Page 24 – A slice of my Florida life

Repurposing Torn Pants

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My husband recently had a wardrobe malfunction involving a pair of not-very-old khaki pants. There was no saving them for him, but the thought of just throwing them away was too much. They really weren’t that old! So, I dug out my favorite pants pattern, shortened the legs and made my son a pair of shorts – just in time for Easter. I started with my favorite pants pattern – skinny jeans from peek-a-boo pattern shop. I measured how long I wanted the shorts to be and then folded the pattern to that length. I made a size 8 and was able to get both legs onto one leg. On the other leg, I put all the other pieces. I did have to piece the waistband, but that was OK – I just lined the center back seams up and everything was good. I cut the pocket lining from the pants pocket lining.

I saved the zipper and buttons from the old pants.

Then, I had the perfect button for the new shorts.

Perfect Fit

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Teaching Kids to do Laundry

I hear a lot of people complaining about Mount Washmore. It seems that laundry just piles up and doesn’t get done until it HAS to be done NOW. I understand that laundry isn’t fun, but it is necessary just like buying groceries and putting gas in your car. Don’t do it and you’ve got unhappy people! I’ve made laundry very simple in our house. So simple, that my six-year old can do it (and he thinks it’s great fun to pour soap and turn dials!).

The first thing I did was use a sharpie to mark the normal settings. The only thing I didn’t mark was the water level. It’s normally a super plus load, if it’s something smaller, I adjust it. I also don’t sort our clothing. I know some of you might cringe, but honestly, it works for us. We don’t have any items that require special washing (I check when I buy things – hand wash, line dry? It goes back on the rack). I do wash sheets and towels in hot water from time to time.

Load up the washer and add soap using the pre-marked laundry soap lids.

Rinsing the soap cup? Lots of fun!

This refillable laundry soap container is such a wonderful invention! I can fit up to 5 bottles of soap in it. There’s so much less chance of spillage with this! Plus the kids think it’s pretty cool.

I also marked the dryer so it’s super easy for the kids to move stuff from the washer to the dryer and start it.

What about you? Do your kids do wash? Any tips for making it easy for them?

Saving Money on Your Car

Lately my van (a 2006 grand caravan with 97000 miles) has been costing us a lot of money. Not as much as a car payment, but it seems like everything is going bad. We found a local garage that we like and trust. I’ve taken my car there and they’ve told me what’s wrong, how much it will be to fix, if it’s a must or a when I have time/money. They’ve even told me that there’s nothing wrong (when the check engine light randomly comes on) and not charged me.

Most recently, I needed new tires and choose to go to a different garage (a chain store tire shop). They had the best deal on tires and I didn’t give it a second thought. When they were almost done, one of the guys came in to the waiting room and told me there was a problem; could I come out and they’d show me. So, I followed him to the garage with my two boys in tow (they were fascinated with the van up on the lift). He showed me how the front tire wiggled even though he had just tightened it. He said I needed new outer tie rod ends. I asked if that was why my tires had worn funny. He said yes. Hmmm…OK. I had been told that it was because they had been under-inflated for some time, but I’m not a car person. He quoted me a price and said it would take about an hour – they could do it right now. I told him not today – I had the boys with me and they would NOT be happy for another hour. I was also unsure of what they were talking about and wanted to at least get a quote from my normal garage.

When I got home, I called my trusted garage and asked for a quote. She gave me a quote, but added that she would want to look at it to make sure that it really needed new outer tie rod ends. So, the other day I took it over. It took them less than five minutes to determine that I do not need new tie rod ends. What a relief! They also told me that this isn’t the first time they’ve heard that story – get new tires at the other place and be told that the tie rod ends need replacing. Makes me mad that they were willing to take advantage of me! I’m so glad I hesitated! I “saved” almost $300.

Have you ever had a garage try to sell you something you don’t need?

Colon Cancer – My Story, Finale

See part one here.

See part two here.

So, my part in the colon cancer surgery was easy. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in my room. I remember that I was so tired it was hard to keep my eyes open. I remember opening them and seeing my parents. I tried to smile and say something, but it took so much effort! Then, I opened them again and my husband and mother-in-law were there. Again, keeping my eyes open was just too much work. I tried to say “I love you” when they left, but I’m not sure I did. Then the night nurse came in and asked if I had been up and walking yet. I managed to say no. She said that Dr. AB wanted me up and walking. I remember thinking there was no way I can walk – I can’t even keep my eyes open! Next thing I knew, I was waking up and it was morning. So much for walking the same day as my surgery!

Now, I was ready to get up and walk. I knew from past experience (I had my gall bladder out laproscopically several years ago) that getting up after having your stomach cut open was tough! The nurse’s top priority was to get me up and walking – at least to the door of my room – and then into a chair! I remember that it took a lot for me to sit up. The actual standing up part was easy. Walking to the door of my room totally exhausted me! I couldn’t believe it. The day before I had walked into the hospital with no problem and now walking just a few feet was hard. Each day I was able to walk a little farther and eventually I was able to walk the halls with no problem.

The other part was waiting for my intestines to wake up. Our bodies are designed to stop the intestines from working anytime after a surgery disturbs them. This meant that I had to have a tube up my nose and down my throat – what a pain – literally! Nothing could get past my stomach – not even saliva. I remember being thrilled when it could finally be removed about three days later.

When I was finally discharged (I believe I was in for 7 days), I still couldn’t lift anything over 5lbs. That in itself was hard! My youngest was still in diapers and wanted to be carried by Mama. I couldn’t go grocery shopping by myself, because while individual groceries don’t weigh over five pounds, the bags of groceries do plus the cart was too heavy to push. Ever go grocery shopping with your mom and not help her? She unloads the cart, puts the bags back in, loads everything into the car while you just watch? It was a definite learning experience.

I was very fortunate! After visiting three oncologists, the consensus was that I didn’t have to have radiation or chemotherapy. There was much celebrating! For three years I had bloodwork every three months, and I’ve had a colonoscopy each year. This past December I had my five year colonoscopy and it was clear. I’m officially considered cured.

I had some genetic testing done, and it came back negative. There’s some family history of colon cancer, but no direct links. I’ve read a lot of recent studies about ways to prevent colon cancer and that it’s one of the most preventable cancers. As always, better safe than sorry – get checked!

Colon Cancer – My Story, Continued

See Part One here.

I called the gastroenterologist’s office and made my appointment for 3:30 the next day. They assured me that the results would be in by then. The next day, Thursday, was very snowy and the doctor’s office had a lot of cancellations. They called me to see if I could come in at 11:00. I asked whether or not they would have my test results. They assured me they did (I’m surprised at how quickly some test results come back and others seem to take forever!). I called hubby to make sure he could go with me. I picked him up at work and we drove around to the doctor’s office. I remember being taken into her office and waiting for her, wondering what she was going to say although I was pretty sure I knew. When she came in, she started off by saying that she had my results and then she said I had cancer. I remember thinking that it was almost like she didn’t mean to say it so soon – like it came out before she intended. I wasn’t surprised, but I didn’t want it to be true. I had three little kids and I wanted to see them grow up! She asked if we had any questions. My only one was, “Now what?”

Dr. MB was all business (which at that moment was what I needed – someone to tell me what to do) and quickly got me scheduled for a CT Scan on Friday (it took all of 10 minutes to have done) and got me an appointment with a surgeon on Monday, February 1.

The surgeon, Dr. AB, was very nice. When he walked in, he looked at me and said “You’re 35 and have colon cancer?!” He was totally surprised (or at least he appeared to be) much like us. He recommended surgery (the sooner the better) to remove the cancerous part of my colon and then reconnect the remaining halves (colon resection). It was scheduled for Feb 16. Although it was only two weeks away, it seemed like forever. Especially since I knew there was a cancerous tumor growing in me. I could just imagine it getting bigger and bigger everyday. I’m sure it didn’t grow that fast, but I just wanted the surgery date to be here! I’ve never been so eager to be in the hospital. After the surgery they would biopsy the piece they took out and look for any signs of the cancer moving to other areas (nodes). The results of the biopsy would determine if I would need chemo and/or radiation. He also wanted to take out my ovaries (and my uterus since it doesn’t behave without the ovaries) as a preventative measure so he called my gyno, Dr. S. He called me to talk about it and to have me come into the office to sign paperwork. I also had a mammogram as another preventative measure (that was normal…whew!).

The day before the surgery was the worst! I had to do the prep again! This time however, I had the “good stuff” – a free sample from the doctor’s office (I’m so glad they took pity on me!). It involved two little pills and drinking maybe 16 ounces of liquid. Totally doable! The clear liquid diet is never fun and spending a good portion of the evening/night in the bathroom isn’t fun either. Because my OB/GYN had regular office hours on the 16th, they requested first surgery. That meant I had to be at the hospital bright & early. Fine by me – I wanted it over with!

I don’t remember what time I had to be at the hospital, but it was early – before my daughter had to be up to get ready for kindergarten (my parents and mother-in-law were staying with us for several weeks to help out). After getting checked in and IVs in place, the nurse gave me the most wonderful invention – a warm blanket! Seriously, I was absolutely freezing!! Then, they came in with another even more wonderful invention -a machine and blanket contraption. They hooked up the machine to the blanket contraption and it blew warm air into the layers of the blanket. Ahhh….so wonderful! At some point before I went into surgery, I found out that my daughter didn’t want to go to school. We had figured that this would be a possibility and the school knew what was going on, so it wasn’t a big deal to us.

Finally it was time. I don’t recall being overly nervous, just eager to have it done with. I knew I had the easy part for now – I would be out and have no idea how much time was passing.

Come back tomorrow for the final part of my colon cancer story.