Appendix.....Who Needs it Anyway

About two weeks ago I started feeling sick. I woke you with a pain in the middle of my stomach. I had gone out to dinner with family earlier and thought that maybe I had food poisoning. After a night of shouting Europe to the toilet I thought I would feel better.....nope! The pain started moving down to my lower right side. Still thinking it was food poisoning, I figured I'd be better in a day or two. I didn't have a fever and my only symptom was nausea and pain. It wasn't until the 3rd day I got a fever of 102 and chills. I took a hot hot bath and was still shivering. Rick decided to call the dr and get me in. By this time I was ready to just go straight to the hospital! The appointment wasn't until 1:30 in the afternoon. The drive there was not very enjoyable! Every bump and pot hole we hit was agony! I longingly eyed the hospital as we drove right past.

We arrived at the Dr office 30 min early. All the dr's were still at lunch. I ended up sitting on the floor balled up in the corner. A nurse came and asked if I would like a pillow......ummm yes! lol!

She ended up getting us a room for me to lay down. The Dr came in, took one look at me and asked a few questions. He said "If I were teaching a class on what an appendicitis looked like, you would be a text book example!" He didn't bother poking me (probably would have smacked him if he had!) or doing any tests. He told us to go straight to the ER.

So back in the car we went. Since our insurance had changed we had to go to Davis Hospital. Not my first choice! Had my fingers crossed that they wouldn't kill me. We've had some less than pleasant experiences there in the past.

I got checked in. First thing they did was give me an IV with pain meds. Morphine to be exact! I've decided I don't care much for morphine. It makes me loopy but doesn't do much for the pain. I guess it makes me not care as much about the pain. lol! Next the nurse came in with a big ol jug of bright yellow liquid marked with the time in 30 min intervals. I had to drink it all so that they could do a CT scan. by this time I'm thinkin "For heaven sakes! Just take the dang thing out!" But I guess they wanted to make sure it was my appendix. Despite me being a "text book" case. Three hours after we first checked in, we get the results back from the CT scan. Well, guess what? It's my appendix! And not only that....its perforated! (or ruptured) JOY!!!

Time for surgery! Rick gives me a kiss goodbye and they wheel me to the OR. The OR looks very stark and uninviting. Unlike when I had a tumor removed from my mouth 6 years ago. I walked into the OR and the surgeon was doing paper work listening to the Doobie Brothers "Jesus is Just Alright." Anywho, they drag me over to the table. They place the mask over my nose and mouth (stinks like plastic!) and within seconds I'm out.

Next thing I remember is waking up and the nurses telling me that I was all done. I get wheeled to the recovery room and then dragged to the bed. I'm so out of it but, hey! No pain! Rick is there waiting for me. I look down and see that I have a drain attached to me.

So.....Let's talk surgical drains!

Here is a pic of they type of drain I had. The nurse would come in every so often and empty the drain. All night long I was woken up by the suck sound of the drain being emptied.

This is in place to help drain all the yucky stuff left from the burst appendix. It looks harmless enough! The bulb and about 2 feet of tubing is left outside the body while the rest is stitched inside.

Now remember I'm still out of it! So I'm told that the drain is there to help me get better!

Awwww What a nice drain! It wants to help me! I had the drain in for about a week. Little did I know that while I was recovering, the drain was transforming inside me!

See there is this part of the drain that changes from tube to solid plastic. The transition at first doesn't look too bad. But after a week of healing it feels like its grown spikes as they rip the drain out of you!The day for drain removal has arrived! I was oblivious to what was involved. First thing was to remove the stitch that was holding it in place. The Dr then told me that it would hurt but only for about 15 seconds. Then said "But you can handle it!" Suuuuuuure!!!!

With one smooth, fluid motion the Dr pulled that sucker out! Now I consider myself to have a pretty high pain threshold, but I was not prepared for the intense burning, pulling, ripping sensations that I felt. I must say it was worse than labor! In fact I think it would be an excellent form of torture! As the Dr walked out of the room he handed my the lab results. Official diagnosis: Gangrenous Appendicitis. And with that said "Anything with gangrene isn't good!"

So with the drain removed I can finally concentrate on getting better.

So all in all my experience with Davis hospital wasn't bad! All the nurses were wonderful and the surgeon was awesome.

And to the surgical drain designer.........I don't like you! :p

White Chocolate Cheesecake

I made this for my family for Valentines Day! It is sooooooooo YUMMY!!!!

White Chocolate Cheesecake

Crust
6 Tbs butter, softened
1/4 c. sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 c. flour
1/8 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350*. Grease 9" springform pan. Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg yolk. Beat in flour and salt. Press mixture into bottom and 1" up side of pan. Bake 14-16 min until crust is set.

Cheesecake
12 oz white chocolate
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
2 (8oz) pkg of cream cheese, softened
1 Tbs lemon juice (you can add more or less to taste)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
3 egg whites
1 whole egg
Slices fresh strawberries
White chocolate curls

Melt white chocolate and whipping cream in a double boiler, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted.
In a mixer, beat cream cheese, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Add white chocolate mixture. Beat in egg whites and egg. Pour into crust. Bake 35 min or until edges are lightly browned.
Remove side of pan and cool completely. Refrigerate. Garnish with fresh strawberries and white chocolate curls.

Makes 12 servings

Pampered Chef $1000 Mystery Host Show!

I am asking for 10 volunteers to participate in my $1000 Mystery Host Show!

Here is the scoop - I need 10 people willing to collect just $100 in orders (10 x $100 = $1000!) - you can do this by passing around a catalog at work, or in your neighborhood, at football games (can you say SUPER BOWL!), family gatherings, and I can also set you up to send out an announcement online to friends and family.

I will collect all the orders from the 10, compile and tally them, and then draw names from the 10 participants for the Show Host Benefits.

Here is what that will look like:

10 people collect $100 in orders -

-One Person will win $100 in FREE Product

-One Person will win $65 in FREE Product

-Two People will win $25 in FREE Product

-Two People will win A FREE Food Chopper, plus 50% off ANY ONE product of their choice (including cookware sets, or any other product in the catalog!)

-Two People will win a FREE Decorator Bottle set PLUS 50% off ANY ONE product of their choice (including cookware sets, or any other product in the catalog!)

-Two People will win A FREE bottle of Sweet Caramel Sprinkle (my favorite!!!) PLUS! 60% off ONE of the following:
7-piece Stainless Cookware set... Retail:$475.00 You pay:$190.00
Bamboo Knife Block set...Retail:$415.00 You pay:$166.00
12” Stainless Covered Skillet...Retail:$215.00 You pay:$86.00
11” Executive Cookware Grill Pan ...Retail:$135.00 You pay:$54.00
Stainless Mixing Bowl set... Retail:$74.50 You pay:$29.80
7” Santoku Knife...Retail:$70.00 You pay:$28.00
Bamboo Carving Board... Retail:$69.50 You pay:$27.80
Ultimate Mandoline... Retail:$59.50 You pay:$23.80
Large Bar Pan...Retail:$31.00 You pay:$12.40
Food Chopper...Retail:$29.50 You pay:$11.80


PLUS - each participant will receive a FREE gift from me, AND 30% off ANYTHING ELSE you order!

Gather $150 in orders and you will receive an extra chance in the drawing.
Secure a booking (or book your own show!) and you will also receive an extra chance

I need to hear soon, so that I can get your Show Information to you ASAP!

I need all orders turned in by FEB 15th! (any turned in later will not be able to be counted as part of the show - sorry!)

All orders will be shipped to me, and I will sort, pack, and label your orders for you & deliver them to you.

First 10 To Respond will fill the open spots! Email me at rkcreations@gmail.com with $1000 Mystery Host in the title.

Come On! Be Part of the FUN! (and I will greatly appreciate your assistance!)

Thanks!!!!

You want something for FREE???

If you read my last post you will know that I sell Pampered Chef now. :D I wanted to let you know that I have a website that you can order from. http://www.pamperedchef.biz/nieforth

Anyone who places an order either by email (rkcreations@gmail.com) or on my Pampered Chef website from now until Jan. 18th will receive a FREE Season's Best Recipe book!

But wait.....that's not all!

You will also be entered into a drawing for a FREE Pampered Chef Food Chopper!!!! ($29.50 retail value)
The Pampered Chef Food Chopper is a MUST HAVE for any kitchen! No more stinky hands from chopping onions or garlic. Perfect for chopping nuts, tomatoes, celery, carrots etc.

I will draw a name from all orders received on the 19th of Jan. Winner will be notified by email! :D

Now go shopping....... :D

Do You LOVE Pampered Chef???

I recently became a Pampered Chef consultant! I never thought I would EVER do something like this! I was invited to a friends show, and thought, "Well, it's a good excuse to get out of the house!" So I went with no intentions of buying anything! Got there, had the demonstration, played with the toys..oops..I mean kitchen tools, and ate yummy strawberry amaretto pastries.
I don't like to cook very much....unless its desserts!!! I LOVE to make desserts. I think I would like cooking more if my kitchen wasn't the size of a small bathroom!
Anywho...back to the story....I saw some things that my husband would find useful (he likes to cook more than me!). After I tallied up what I wanted to purchase it ended up being over $200! The consultant turned to the back page and showed me the "New Consultant Starter Kit." It had almost all the items I wanted on my list! And then some!! And to top it all off, it was only $155! I said "Sign me up!!" Now mind you, I had NO intention of actually SELLING the stuff! I just wanted to get the starter kit. Well a week later my box (or should I say boxes!) came in the mail. I was excited to open it! I was like a kid on Christmas morning! I opened the "Welcome" box first. I contained all the boring paper work stuff. I quickly set it aside to get the the "good stuff." My eyes got big as I opened up the second box.....slowly peeling off the tape.......pulling up one flap, then the other......what could it be...........crumpled brown paper obstructed my view! I quickly pulled it off now as I was starting to get irritated at all the "hoops" I had to jump through just to get to my goodies! My living room floor was looking like the box puked all over it! Under all the brown paper were.........more boxes. I started to open up each box. I was amazed at the quality of the items! They looked sooooo much better in person than in the catalog! I got everything out. I laid them all on the table, just like in the catalog! hehehe! I found myself talking to myself about how wonderful the products were! LOL! That's when I realised that I need to tell everyone about how awesome Pampered Chef is! I am a very skeptical person. I never believe anything someone tells me until I have a chance to see if its true for myself. I started making dinner! WOW! My family was impressed! I bought more cook books from Pampered Chef. I made Carmel Apple Tartlets, Rosemary Chicken Pot Pie, Jerk Chicken Nachos, and of course, the Strawberry Amaretto Pastries! I LOVE using my Pampered Chef tools!! My family makes fun of me because I get so excited about their product!

I'd never owned anything Pampered Chef before! If fact I had only been to 1 Pampered Chef Cooking Show in my life, and that was 15 years ago! Funny, I don't even remember what we did!

I got a new phone!

I've been complaining about my old phone for a while. The track ball wasn't working right and the buttons were having their own problem. One day they worked great, the other they decided to poop oout on me.
So Rick decided to buy us new phones for our anniversary! (it's in 2 weeks! 17 years!) We both upgraded from our Blackberry Pearls to the 8900. LOVE it!!!! Spent all last night trying to configure it just the way I want....then I notice that the entire phone was heating up! Rick's was just fine. So tomorrow I get to go back and exchange the phone! Yippee!

Now that Rick has held up his end of the bargin, I have to hold up my end of the deal! Season tickets to the Hale Centre Theatre! :)

Happy anniversary Rick!!! xoxo

Perhaps the smallest egg in the world!

So I went out the other day to check for eggs with my youngest daughter, Megan. We have about 15 out of our 19 chickens that are actively laying now. Well, when I reaching in to grab the eggs, I pulled out this:

What a contribution!! LOL!!

Here is a comparison to the other eggs a got that day:

Megan just HAD to eat it right away! So we fried it up!

YUMMY!
She was done in 1 bite! :)

(just ignore the messy hair!)