Dear Lorna

I am writing today to call your attention to a quality control issue.  You know, I had a rough day today.  I took Beast to the hospital to see the oncologist.  After his last chemo treatment, she said to make sure to let her know ASAP if he started to vomit.  He was fine for the first week after the chemo, but the second week was not good, even though his drug regime has not changed.  After a lot of vomiting and constant dry heaving for a week, and several phone talks with the oncologist, it was decided that he needed to come in to the hospital.

The good news is that the current complaint doesn't seem to be in any way related to the cancer.  The bad news is that, in addition to an unknown cause of this problem, Beast has other, new medical issues.  He was admitted to the hospital's CCU.  He's had a huge number of diagnostic procedures performed and his results have been considered by specialists in oncology, radiology, internal medicine, cardiology, and emergency/critical care.  The best case scenario is that he has pneumonia, which would account for all the fluid in his chest.  There is also a possibility that his cancer has spread and he has a tumor in his lungs or on his esophagus.  It's hard to see it because of all the fluid in his chest.  Heart failure has been ruled out.

And what about the vomiting?  The dry heaving that he does all day long and even wakes from a sound sleep to do?  It's not caused by any of the above.  It might be due to laryngeal paralysis.  The test for that costs thousands of dollars and requires he be put under anesthesia.  If he has it, he will have to go under again because the only cure is surgery.  Anesthesia is risky in older animals, and Beast has terminal cancer, so we have decided not to put him through that.  The vet concurs.

As you can imagine, this has been a stressful time, going through this and not knowing exactly what is going on with Beast (shown here lying on the floor in the waiting room today).  It was hard to come home by myself with Beast's leash and collar but not Beast.  It was even harder when my DH got mad at me for not bringing Beast home and for not consulting him before doing that, especially since I called him more than once from the hospital with updates and he never returned my messages.  I didn't bother telling him how big the bill for today was.  I'll save that argument for another day.

Although DH probably doesn't remember, this is also a particularly stressful time of year because we lost our last two pets in late March.  The cat on the back of the chair died of pancreatic cancer and lymphoma in March 2002.  Snuggles, the dog lying on the chair, died in March 2003 of liver cancer. 

When Beat was first diagnosed with cancer, all I wanted was for him to not die in March.  In that we've been successful, but as March tails off, his health appears to be declining quite rapidly.  It's very bad timing.

I have some special plans for April, though.  I was going to start knitting a new pair of socks.  I know I'm not done with DS's cardi yet, but I love sock knitting and it's much, much more portable than that cardi.  So, this evening I set up my winder and swift and prepared to make myself two lovely cakes of Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock yarn.  Now, obviously, I wouldn't be writing this if there wasn't something unusual  about the winding of the yarn.  I mean, people wind yarn every day and it's no big deal.  Hell, some knitters have trained their children to perform this task.

I popped the skein on my swift and then untied it, as is my usual habit.  I find that this minimizes any chance that the yarn will get tangled prior to winding it.  As I started winding, I discovered that my usually foolproof method of avoiding tangles and knots was not 100 percent.  No matter, I took the yarn off the winder, fixed the problem, and set about winding again, only to have this scene repeat itself over and over again.  Now, I'd like to think of myself as fairly intelligent, but I know I was stressed out today and had other things on my mind, so I was willing to accept the blame for this mishap, that is, until I discovered this:

WTF?????  This skein of yarn was twisted and turned all over itself.  I ended up having to wind it by hand, and even doing it that way I ended up having to change the direction in which the swift was traveling in order to follow the direction of the yarn.  So, this is my very long-winded way of saying that this was not a high point in quality control for Lorna's Laces.  I have to wonder how this even happened.  I've never had this occur before with any Lorna's yarns. 

Let's face it, no one likes to wind sock yarn by hand.  (If you do, just keep it to yourself or send me a private e-mail and I will send you my sock yarn stash for your winding pleasure.)  I don't like to do it, that's for damn sure.  That's why I have a winder and swift.  I knit for many years winding skeins into balls using the back of a chair or my knees, but that was when I knit in primarily worsted weight.  One look at sock yarn and I was absolutely convinced in the wisdom of owning a yarn swift and winder.

I did wind the second skein of yarn and had no trouble with it.  But then I got all off balance about the fact that I had a nice yarn cake and a big ball o'yarn.  I want to make two socks that are the same.  I have a deep seated need to knit from two yarn sources that look the same.  I know it's no guarantee that the socks will be the same, but I can't tempt fate.  So I ended up winding my ball o'yarn into a  yarn cake with the winder anyway, for the sake of matchy matchy yarn and socks.  Damn, that yarn has seen more action and been touched more this evening that I am going to be, what with DH still annoyed at me about the dog and all.  It just doesn't seem right, does it?

Thanks for listening, and let's see some better quality control with those skeins of yarn, okay?  Thanks, Lorna, thanks very much.

Comments

[yvette]

Dear Susan
I am so sorry to hear your sad news, sending you virtual hugs and good thoughts.
Yvette

[jacqueline]

lorna and i had no difference of opinion at all when i was winding my skeins of manzanita.

i'm keeping my fingers crossed that beast pulls through once again. that boy is a fighter!

as for DH...well - that i can't help you with.

[britt]

I'm so sorry to hear about beast. Tell the husband to be nice >:-[ Love that yarn and I agree, handwinding is ridic.

[Karen]

I'll keep you all in my thoughts.
I hate when yarn does that. I'm surprised it was Lorna's Laces. I've never had it happen with their yarn.

[FiberFeverKate]

Hang in there Susan and Beast!!
Sending virtual love you way!

[jessica~]

Poor Boris! So... I'm confused, did you leave him at the hospital? So sorry Suz!!!

[Netter]

So sorry about the beast. Hubby's get so cranky when they can't control things, don't they? Hope the socks knit up better than the yarn wound up. that's a very lovely color.

[Ruth]

Oh, Susan ... I'm so sorry to hear about Beast.

The yarn situation just added insult to injury. I'm glad you had wine at hand.

[Nancy]

How the hell do you start a post and have me concerned and worried and end up with me cracking up? ;) Talent, pure talent, lol.

I'm so sorry about Beast. I hope his health improves again for a little while so at least he can enjoy a bit of romping in the Spring. It seems to me it would be a happy time of year for a dog.

[kathy b]

Gosh you are having it rough. Im so sorry.. Glad tohear the latest is not cancer related. Hang in there. Thoughts with you

[Danielle]

Yuck, sorry that things are not going well for the Beast. But, lady, you have a talent for telling a story, and I was laughing by the end of this post, especially about the yarn getting more action than you :)

[Jena (the yarn harpy)]

Thinking good healthy thoughts for Beast...

[Amy Boogie]

You and beast are in my thoughts. I'm hoping he pulls through again.

[monica]

I'm sorry to hear about Beast also. I'm sending him healing thoughts too.

[Madame Purl]

Sending you and Beast very positive thoughts.

[Denise]

So sorry that you are having a rough time.. my furry pal was VERY ill recently and I thought I was going to lose her.. I feel your pain..
Lorna sold the business quite some time ago.. and knowing her she would be appalled at the constant reports of tangled yarns.. it is unfortunate that she didn't stipulate a name change when the company changed hands,cause she gets all the blame!!

[Alarming Female]

I absolutely hate it when that happens. ::grumble::

I'm so sorry Beast is down. Hugs to you.

[Beth]

I have to admit I'm almost afraid to click on your blog for fear it'll be Bad news. :( I'll be thinking about you both.

[2paw]

The Labradors and I are sad to hear that The Beast is not well again. Poor him and poor you. It is a fraught time when your animal companions are ill. Hope he is resting comfortably and you are all OK. Harki and Peri send a tail wag and a head on your lap, looking a you lovingly!!!!