Feeling a Tad Better, and 2013 Garden

For those friends concerned about my health, I think I'm finally starting to improve. It's been 3-1/2 weeks since the GI bleed was repaired. I'm down from 3 to 2 long naps per day (plus a somewhat decent night's sleep despite bathroom calls), and the naps are getting a little shorter.

I won't know if my red and white blood cell counts and hematocrit have actually improved until I go back to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital 2 weeks from Monday and they do more blood work. I really hope the counts have increased, not just because of low energy, but also because my body sure doesn't like the iron supplements! (I tolerate the other meds fairly well.)

I've lost 27 pounds (a lot of which was fluid build-up), and some of my appetite is returning. My energy is slower in returning, and my mind plans too many small projects that are still only fantasy. I still get distracted easily, and lose my train of thought between breaths, but overall I'm focusing better than I was 3 weeks ago.

In the last month I have planned and re-planned my 2013 garden several times over, and ordered or traded for a bunch of seeds in addition to the heirloom seeds I saved from last year. I will probably do a smaller garden since there's a good possibility I may need surgical repair on this aneurysm before the garden is in full swing.

I still need to order leek starts, and a friend will be sharing cipollini onion starts with me in April. I want to pickle some cipollinis in balsamic vinegar since I've fallen in love with them, and they are SO expensive on the grocery store's olive bar.

I am certain the Belgian endive I had growing in the dark root cellar over this winter is probably history, due to a month of neglect. I'm afraid to even go out there to check on them. I did learn a lot from the experience and will do it again.

Hope Springs Eternal.