this might be why.....
BBC Taped Easter Special at Christmas To Save Money
The BBC has acknowledged that its planned Easter special, Songs of Praise, was taped at Christmas time. Responding to numerous editorial complaints that Britain's publicly funded TV network was "tricking" its audience, the BBC acknowledged that it taped the program at Lichfield Cathedral at the same time it taped a Christmas special last year, simply changing the lighting and flowers. It also changed the dresses and suits of the congregation, the London Times observed. "Hundreds of worshipers shivered at Lichfield Cathedral after being told to change their overcoats for floral prints suitable for a warm spring day," it reported. The BBC noted that it is common practice to shoot two programs back to back.
(found on www.imdb.com's website)
I was hoping to have more information before writing about this again but I don't -- so here goes anyhow :)
Basically I met with the surgeon last thursday -- and he confirmed that I will have to have the right side of my thyroid taken out. For whatever reason (and that's where I had hoped to know more) it is enlarged -- twice the size of the left side of my thyroid. He did a needle biopsy in the office that day (yayyy two needles in the neck... how fun!!) and sent it off to be analyzed and told me that it takes 3 days for the results to be in. I also found out that the surgeon performs between 10 and 15 of these surgeries a month, so it is one of his specialties... it sounds like I am in good hands.
So yesterday (wednesday) I phoned the surgeon's office because I hadn't heard anything. The surgeon is out of office this week but I spoke to his secretary and she got the results for me -- basically there are no results -- the results were inconclusive, which means they can't tell if it's cancerous or not. This was really annoying/heartbreaking to me for 2 reasons -- one, at least it would have meant peace of mind one way or another, so I could gear myself up for just losing half of my thyroid or the whole thing... and two, because now they will need to biopsy the right side once they have removed it. This may not sound like anything annoying or heartbreaking but here it is -- if the right side is cancerous, I then have to go through a second operation to have the left half removed. Who wants to do that?? NOT ME. One operation will be fun enough for me thanks.
So I have my surgery tentatively scheduled for 27th April -- because in the meantime I have to have my appointment with the endocrinologist (which I am not sure what exactly that will do for me... as far as I can tell he/she will only be able to just nod and say "yeppp it's gotta come out!" *shrug* I dunno), have a "pre-surgery approval" appointment with my doctor where she will check my health to make sure I am fit enough for the surgery and also draw all kinds of blood for tests etc. for the hospital. Also in between now and then is my sister-in-law's baby shower which I would not miss for the world. Hence the surgery being several weeks away.
Apart from being mildly annoyed and really being ready for this whole scenario to be over, I'm doing fairly well (feel very tired these days, but not sure if it's leftover from lost sleep leading up to the appointment with the surgeon, or if it's something else).
I will keep you all posted. A big special hello to all the Wheelock Heath crowd -- I miss you guys so badly it hurts!!! HUGS to you all!
is one of the worst books I have ever wasted the time to read....
I just needed to vent that -- and also to thank my high school and college english teachers for not making it part of the curriculum!!
Tagged by Paul Smith (aka Mediafiend) so here is a meme for you:
YOU'RE ON MY FRIENDS LIST; I WANNA KNOW YOU... I want to know 33 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, never liked each other, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine... You're on my list, so I wanna know you better!
1. Can you cook? Yes -- I love to cook (you can ask Andy for testimonials) lol
2. What was your dream growing up? To be an actress or a marine biologist or to have 5 children....
3. What talent do you wish you had? I wish I could read minds :)
4. Favorite place? oceanside...
5. Favorite vegetable? hmmm I love most veggies raw -- I would say it probably has to be olives (but I'm thinking they are a fruit??) -- so to be on the safe side I'll stick with carrots
6. What was the last book you read? hmmm... Iast good book?? Eragon by Christopher Paolini
7. What zodiac sign are you? Virgo
8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? No tatts... but have my ears pierced (only single pierced)
9. Worst Habit? comfort eating lol
10. Do we know each other outside of lj? Heck Yeah!! I went to your wedding :) And your beloved is one of my closest craziest friends :D
11. What is your favorite sport? to play, volleyball -- to watch either college football or pro hockey
12. Negative or Optimistic attitude? optimist
13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me? probly we'd be joking and be laughing so hard we'd run out of oxygen too fast
14. Worst thing to ever happen to you? oohhh ummmm i dunno
15. Tell me one weird fact about you: I turned 13 on friday the 13th
16. Do you have any pets? Yes -- 3 lovely cats -- my three "sons"
17. Do you know how to do the macarena? Yes but I have never done it in public lol
18. What time is it where you are now? 10:15 am
19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary? funny -- not cute, but not scary
20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? my weight!!
21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience? oooh both!! lol First I would be your conscience, but then halfway through I'd be your partner and whisper more ideas in your ear!!
22. What color eyes do you have? Brown
23. Ever been arrested? Nope
24. Bottle or Draft? ewww yuck -- don't like beer
25. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it? Ooooh I'd play a big family vacation cruise or I'd put the money towards the mortgage or I'd use it to let Andy take time off to get his MCSE (and pay for the tests)
26. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew? I like minty gum for breath-freshening but I do love to have a couple of pieces of fruit-flavored BubbleYum or some other soft gum for bubble blowing -- but usually makes my jaw sore and the flavor is gone too quickly!!
27. What's your favorite bar to hang at? none -- don't really drink
28. Do you believe in ghosts? yes and no -- i love stories/movies about them but i don't believe they really exist
29. Favorite thing to do in your spare time? at the moment -- play Albatross18 but I also love to read, stitch, knit and hang out with friends
30. Do you swear a lot? not a lot -- but more than I should!!
31. Biggest pet peeve? oooh too many to list rofl
32. In one word, how would you describe yourself? anal-retentive lol!! no... ummm people-pleaser :)
33. Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you? Tag you're it peeps!!!
Thank you
I got this from Snackie's World:
And to continue on with this theme, a book meme stolen from Kevin over at his Fun With Dead Trees blog:
Look at the list of books below.
* (Bold) the ones you’ve read
* Italicize the ones you want to read
* Leave unchanged the ones that you aren’t interested in.
* If you are reading this, tag, you’re it!
1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austin)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell) LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK!!!
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon) Another huge favorite -- have read all but the most recent one!!
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling) (known as Sorcerer's Stone in the US)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King) another great classic read
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) -- i tried to read it -- got about 50 pages in and it's not for me....
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) -- this is my Dad's all-time favorite book and I have tried twice to read it -- going to give it one more chance before I give up on it lol
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley) really like her books
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) tried to read this one too -- gave up
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible really good book!! :) I'm italicizing it b/c you can never read it enough!
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb) -- am currently reading this
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling) okay yes -- i'm sad -- i have read almost all of her books
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger) --one of my top ten fave books -- which says a LOT
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice) really loved her books
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)
Okay -- what about you ?? What have you read??
So this morning... 48 hours was up.
I missed the cell phone call from the doctor -- just as I got to and picked the phone up off the countertop, it stopped ringing. So I waited to see if they would leave a message, which Dr. Huston did. She asked me to call the office because she has the results of my scan. The time of the message was about 8:12ish -- I then tried the office number and received the automated message about the office being closed at the time... please try again later.
So I had to sit and wait for about 20 minutes or so to get through. Once I did, they quickly got Dr. Huston for me -- I must have caught her just before her first appointment of the day.
She said that she had seen the results of my scan, and that there was an "odd looking thing" (her exact words -- I was nervous and happened to have my alba18 notepad right by me and wrote down what she said) on the right side of my thyroid. Well let me tell ya how much confidence that phrase does NOT instill in a person!!!
So then she continued and I'm so thankful that my ears sent the messages to my hands because I really don't remember much of the conversation after that -- those words kind of rang in my ears...
I wrote down the phrase "thyroid scan" and then when she mentioned it a second time she added the word "intake" so I wrote that in above it. She also mentioned that a surgeon would soon be contacting me to schedule a biopsy of my thyroid.
Okay -- just in case you need it -- in case you don't know my life history, my hubby Andy went thru melanoma skin cancer -- surgery etc. and has been given the all clear etc. -- but let me say that having been through all of that, when you hear the word "biopsy" -- it just isn't the same as for a person who has no history with that word...
For me, it kind of makes my heart skip a few beats and sink down into my chest and my palms clench, and suddenly I can't breathe.
So I wasn't thinking clearly enough to ask "what kind of timeline are we looking at?" "what is an intake scan?" "do you think it's cancerous?" -- I was in shock. She told me that the surgeon does visit her office on thursday afternoons but that I could visit him at any of his other office locations any other day if thurdsdays didn't work for me.
Before I knew it, the conversation was over and I was saying goodbye and hanging up the phone.
Then I sat for a few minutes, a few tears strolled down my cheeks. I tried to call Andy but got voicemail -- so I left a message asking him to call me. Then I tried my parents' house. I was about to leave a message there but Dad picked up. So I told him about what Dr. Huston had said and my voice cracked despite my best efforts to put on my bravest face. I could hear the worry in his voice and wondered for a brief second if I shouldn't have said anything to them -- but then I realized that I needed for them to know, to be there for me.
I finally got ahold of Andy and told him... and he tried to be reassuring. I was just trying not to cry again. bahh -- failed at that big time.
So there it is -- i'm supposed to go for an intake scan (where they either inject you or you swallow radiated iodine and they track it in your system) and I will soon be scheduled for a surgery to remove said "odd looking thing" from my thyroid for biopsy.
Prayers would be welcomed and moreso appreciated. TYVM.
it's been a LONG LONG time!!
Great song that my Dad used to slaughter pun-wise whenever my Mom would make quiche (rarely thank the good Lord) --- he used to do every pun in the book though... quiche me once and quiche me twice and ... etc... you get the picture!
This entry isn't really about that story though -- cute as it may be.
I had an ultrasound done of my thyroid on monday, you know, just for kicks?? Okay, not for kicks, required by my doctor -- I've been diagnosed with an underactive thyroid and have been on synthroid since about last April -- slowly increasing doses (every couple of months they draw my blood, check my TSH levels and then up the dosage by 25 micrograms). Well on Thursday of last week she says she wants to really focus on my thyroid now (she wanted to do this ultrasound etc. last April but due to finances I couldn't do that and the sleep study and the other 3 things she wanted to do) -- so she booked me in for the ultrasound.
I must admit I was more than a little nervous. I mean, that's pretty serious stuff -- if I need an ultrasound, she really must suspect something more. So I went to my appointment and after a fun (not!) 40 minute wait in the lobby, the technician came for me and took me back into a darker room -- and at first I was wondering why it was darker, but later was mucho-grateful for the lights being dimmed.
I had to lie down on this table/bed -- I had worn a tank top b/c I figured I didn't want to have to wear one of those awful gowns -- good choice in the end. She put a pillow behind my shoulder blades and asked me to tilt my head back. THIS was the point where I was supremely thankful for the lights not being on -- as I already had a pretty good headache started, and the lights at that angle would have just bumped the headache up to a migraine.
She squirted a bunch of this gunk on my neck (later when wiping it off with the towel -- I learned that it is BLUE -- how fun!). It wasn't cold but it wasn't warm by any stretch. Then she held the ultrasound wand over my neck and began to put pressure on my throat with the wand -- scanning.
At first I tried to turn my eyes to see the screen -- not that I would have known what I was looking at -- but I sure was curious. In silence, she moved the wand back and forth -- she never said a word, just stopped every few seconds to freeze the image using a trackball mouse. Because I was scared and I get ummm "witty" when I'm scared... I broke the ice with "sooo... is it a boy or a girl??"
And thank heavens she had a sense of humor -- her quick-never-missed-a-beat reply was "it's TWINS!"
I kind of laughed and then we were back to the silence.
It seemed like an eternity.
Then she asked me to tilt my head back even further -- by this point my neck was pretty sore -- it was actually much more painful than I had even imagined it to be -- and at this angle, my breathing tube wasn't open much... so I had to take deep even breaths to avoid panicking. At one point I got a tickle in my throat and had to cough. She asked if I was all right and I said yes, and I did mention that it was a bit painful what she was doing. She apologized very quickly and I said not to worry that she could do what she needed to do to get the images -- that I understood it's her job. She thanked me.
Out of the corner of my eye during this point, I could see that she was shooting images with some bits of color in them. I can't explain why -- because remember I have no idea what I'm looking at!! -- but that color really scared me. Like I could sense it wasn't supposed to be there or something. I don't know. But it surely didn't put me at ease, so I turned my eyes away again.
The whole scan took about 20 minutes -- and by the time she had finished, my neck was rather sore -- I felt as though someone had strangled me -- in fact I can still feel that feeling even now, 2 days later. That day I felt like I had a major sore throat, very scratchy. When I got home the first thing I did was have a cup tea luv -- my first in a long time. That served to calm me down a bit and also to soothe my throat for just a little while.
The last thing the technician said to me after directing me towards the exit was that my doctor would get the results and contact me within 48 hours.
(cont'd)