A Not So Fun Week-End, Followed by a Fun Retreat!

Back on July 22 while I was helping with a funeral dinner at our church, the world started spinning around my head and body at about 100 MPH!  I yelled out that I was falling, and a couple of the ladies also helping with the dinner grabbed me before I hit the floor and walked me over to a chair. Things seemed to go from bad to worse, and one of my quilting friends, who was also working the dinner, decided to take me to the local hospital ER.  I didn't want ambulance sirens screaming while the bereaved family was arriving from the cemetery.

I was afraid I was having another stroke.  The ER doctor decided to send me by ambulance to another nearby new hospital for an MRI, and also a Neurologist was nearby there.  That was my first ever ambulance ride; it was a little rough, but the guys took good care of me.  A specific room had been saved for me, and they took me straight to my room, which had a beautiful view.  I think they ran every test known to man, and assured me I had not had a stroke, thank the Lord!  They finally dismissed me late Tuesday afternoon, and my DIL brought me home.

I had been having a roaring wind sound in my right ear for about a week before the incident, but my ENT doctor could not see me until Wednesday, the day after I was dismissed.  I still think if he had seen me earlier, perhaps this would not have happened.  Anyway, my son took me to see him last Wednesday morning at 8 PM.  He said, after much testing, that I have Meniere's Disease, which is a problem with the inner ear.  He gave me some new medications, but I still have the roaring wind in my ear, and I'm a little dizzy and out of balance quite a bit.

It truly "took a village" to take car of this old lady through this incident.  One to take me to the ER, a man helping with the dinner to drive my car home and take the keys to my neighbor, another friend who has a key to my house to come and get a few things I needed from home and bring them to the hospital, a DIL to bring me home, and a son to take me to the ENT doctor the next morning and run me around town to pick up needed groceries, meds, and other things needed for the days ahead.

The really sad thing in this for me was that my DIL and I had planned on going on a quilt retreat on July 28-30 at the same place we went last Fall, and we were both so looking forward to it.  You can see the place here.  Now the question was should I try to go, and would she be willing to put up with me and help me as needed?  I was determined to go!  And I certainly wanted her to go because I knew she was really looking forward to it too.  It was settled! We would go!  She drove, of course, and loaded and unloaded everything, and waited on me hand and foot as needed.   What a sweetie I have for a DIL!

She worked on her  large paper-pieced stars like the one she fell in love with at the first quilt show I took her to about a year ago.  I can't believe I failed to get a picture of her blocks at this year's retreat.
The picture below is from the quilt that inspired her last September in Weatherford, Tx.

You may remember she drew a pattern from that picture I took and pieced her first quilt block ever in less than a week!  I bought Carol Doak's book with that pattern for her, and now she is paper piecing blocks like crazy for a king-sized bed!  I'm so proud of her, and the other gals who returned to this year's retreat were absolutely amazed!

I had one day to prepare for the retreat after getting out of the hospital.  Fortunately when I dug in the sewing closet, I found a tub with 30 four-patch Stack and Whack blocks, with sashings already cut, for a Christmas wall hanging.  I got that top together, and will add a narrow border maybe next week. I love playing with those blocks on the design wall.  Here's how it turned out.

Here's what's left of the fabric I started with:  (and it shows the color much better)

This is a close-up of some of the center blocks:  We all played with the blocks on the retreat design wall.

While at the retreat, I also finished hand-stitching the binding and label down on the Family Rules wall hanging, and I also made 20 more black and white log cabin blocks and got them sewed onto the big Log Cabin quilt.  With ten more blocks on each side, it completes the pattern the same on all four sides, and makes it square.  I hope to sandwich it later this week.  I still have to decide how I'm going to quilt it.  It looks better with the added blocks; I'll get a picture when it is finished.

I haven't made this week's Moda Block Heads block, but here's mine for the week before I had the Vertigo attack.

Hopefully the retreat was what I needed to get my mind and body inspired to get back to quilting, and indeed trying to do anything.  At least I've had fun this past week in spite of the vertigo.  I hope it goes away soon and my hearing gets back to normal.  I can't tell what direction sounds are coming from; that was aggravating at the retreat!  My son will take me to see my primary doctor Thursday;  I hope she can help get things settled down!

I'm so far behind on reading blogs and e-mails, but I will catch up someday.  I don't want to miss seeing all the pretty things everyone else has been making while I've been out of commission.

Happy quilting to everyone!

---"Love"