How vain are you?

AH, the joys of wearing baggy sweats ( landsend jersey knit, a little better than exercise sweats) in winter, and FLAX floods, elastic waist linen pants which friends call my Pajama pants, and of course, t shirts, comfy, soft/warm in winter, cooler fabrics in summer.  Can tell I'm gonna' get kicked off the Vain thread... ;-)

well, good to have company - the Powers that Be or Not to Be, can't do without BOTH of us ;-)))

I have gotten men's sweatpants because they are longer, have pockets and are usually much cheaper than women's.   

GramE and they're usually made of heavier material.  Also, pockets on sides & back.  Very good for cold brrrrr New England winters.  Big enuf to have lotsa room for long winter underwear underneath -

our Fearless Leader (SW) is plotzing as I write ;-)))

exbrn, me too! Cold weather is not for me. One big reason o live in Florida. 

Comfy is good, agter a long day at work I get home and change my suit for shorts. And to walk my dogs in the morning I don't wear my high heels with suits, but flip flops. I don't want to get blisters and then ugly feet for walking my dogs!

Even when I went thru menopause, I didn't have hot flashes, I had COLD FLASHES. Still do. Wore my sweatshirt on a day it was 105. My electric blanket (dual control) stays on the bed year-round. I think my thermostat is permanently broken.

LOL - cold?  Ya mean when it's almost 20 below on the thermometer and wind chill of MINUS 45, in New England.  Yikes, how do the people in the Minn and their neighbors SURVIVE?  We had SUCH a cold winter.

Yes, silk long underwear when it's only cold, and THERMAL from LL Bean when it's COLD - and that's indoors.  Which is why the Goddesses created Lanz Flannel nightgowns, and polertec bathrobes, don't suppose any of you remember Lands' End Snuggle Sacks?

Well, here's the rub. I went to a vein specialist who had me do a vein ultrasound (this is years ago) before he even saw me. He said the ultrasound seemed fine so I turned around to show him the lumps and he said (and I kid you not) "Wow, those look like tumours!" My appointment was then over and I never had a follow-up with anyone. I just let it go at the time and that was about 8 years ago. I mentioned it to my cardiologist two years ago who didn't even look and he said (and I kid you not) "Lumps on your legs have nothing to do with heart circulation". I gave up.

Oh, barbe - I just had two surgical consults for getting my spider veins done. The purple lacy marks are easy to spot, as are the bulging, larger, blue varicose veins on my legs. But I did have one lump on my left leg that both surgeons identified as a "feeder" vein to the spider veins, which would need a separate procedure.

(Both surgeons did ultrasounds of each leg; all were normal.)

If you search Google Images for "varicose veins" you'll see the everyday blue veins, some colorless snakey looking veins under the skin, and some isolated, skin-colored lumps that look just like tumors.

I decided to postpone the decision to have anything done until Fall - the compression stockings you have to wear are boogers, and it gets up to 110 here in the summertime. In the meantime, I'll get me some of that self tanner in case I want to wear capris. (No shorts for me, just in the back yard.)

kayb - your "Urticaria" story reminded me of the time when I had been having intermittent skin itching and rashes, and my dermatologist told me the next time it happened, he was referring me to the Dermatology Clinic at Stanford.

So one Friday morning I woke up with itching and hives, called Stanford, and got in the same day. I drove four hours to get there. I saw a resident - clueless - and then the Chief of the Department came in and examined me. His exact words were "You have Papular Urticaria. Go home and put a flea collar on your cat. You're allergic to flea bites."

So off I went, spending the night with family in the Bay Area, and driving home the next day (Saturday). On Monday morning I was in such pain I couldn't move; my pee was the color of root beer, and my poo was the color of chalk. 

I called a different Dermatologist (a kid I went to Elementary school with), who took one look at me and said he suspected I had Hepatitis. He said that one in a THOUSAND patients will present with hives as a first symptom of Hepatitis.

He took a biopsy of one of the hives just in case, ran some bloodwork, and referred me to a Gastroenterologist a few minutes away. I was admitted to the hospital the same day and remained there for a week. The dx was Serum Hepatitis, or HepB - ("dirty needle hepatitis") and I had no known means of transmission. No shared needles, no sex with an infected partner, etc. Later, the Gastroenterologist said I was the sickest patient he had who didn't die. I was on Disability for a year.

So what was wrong with the idiots at Stanford? Maybe they were just doing their jobs, hearing hoofbeats and looking for horses, not zebras. Thank God for a Dermatologist who was willing to think outside the box.

Sorry  you're dealing with this today, kayb, I'm here, hand holding if required! Hugs too! 

HORSES!!!!!!!!

Kayb, I am also dealing with neutropenia 8 months since my last chemo.  My tests with the onc have been right at the low end but my PCP sent me for bloodwork...different lab, and my counts are below normal and dropping after a retest.   I have an appointment with the PCP tomorrow and have no idea what she plans to do about my low WBC.   I feel great and this is so very annoying.   I will let you know what I find out. 

MsP

Aussie Stock Horse, Brumby (your Mustang)

kay, it's weird how teeth can cause so much trouble.  But I really get how we don't feel pain, I guess once the nerve in the tooth is dead, the infection just takes over.  What totally shook me was how dangerous it can be.  Yuck.

Allergy season.  I'm gonna hibernate ( with temps in the low 30's at night, it's not THAT strange an idea.) - big article in our paper about how crops are a MONTH late.