Appendicitis - Personal Experience

I recently had my ruptured appendix removed and I wanted to inform some people about what I experienced.

    I was working at the coffee shop and at about 4pm.  I started to experience severe pain in my upper abdomen (stomach).  I just thought I maybe had eaten some bad food or something.  I closed up the shop at about 8:30pm and headed home.  I started to vomit around 11pm and also had diarrhea and the pain was pretty bad.  I vomited about 4 times and finally got a bit of sleep. 
    When I got up around 8:30am, the next morning, the pain had increased, so I had my husband take me to the hospital because I knew something wasn't right.  I also had a fever of about 99 degrees.  They put me on IV's and gave me some pain medication which helped.  The doctor told me that vomiting and diarrhea were not usually associated with appendicitis and the pain is usually in the lower, right part of the abdomen.  I was then sent home and managed to sleep for about 4 hours. 
    I took the Anti-nausea/vomiting medicine when I woke up, so I could have some fluids.  I threw that up, not too long after, but the pain wasn't that bad, so I thought I was getting better.  The pain slowly increased until around 4am the next morning it was unbearable.  I rechecked my temperature and found it to be 99.5 degrees. My husband took me back to the hospital to figure out what was wrong.  I was seen my the same ER doctor as before, but this time he wanted to make sure that it wasn't appendicitis.  They did a CT scan, IV's and pain medicine and found the CT scan to be abnormal and then determined that it was in fact appendicitis.  I was immediately taken to surgery and my ruptured appendix was removed.
    I am currently typing from my hospital bed because it takes a long time to recover from this and I wanted to make sure people heard my story and understood more about appendicitis.  If I had only looked at WebMd, I would have found that I basically had all the symptoms on there and it would have saved me some pain and suffering.  Don't always trust everything your doctor says...sometimes you need to be your own doctor and do the research yourself.  Please visit the WedMd page for appendicitis here.

Trinity Blood ~ Sister Noel Bor ~ Armor and Costume Tutorial

I am going to add everything I did to make Sister Noel Bor's Armor here because it won't fit on my free website.  Please feel free to ask any questions on how I made something.

MATERIALS:

1. Craft Foam ~ Red, Green and White
2. Elmer's School Glue/White Glue or Glue-All
3. X-acto Knife
4. Heat Gun or other Heat Source for shaping
5. Muslin or Crinkle Gauze
6. Rub N' Buff ~ Pewter or Silver
7. Flexible Fabric Glue
8. Polyurethane ~ Clear Gloss
9. Hot Glue Gun
10. Hot Glue Sticks
11. AMAZING Mold Putty
12. AMAZING Casting Resin
13. Paint Thinner or Mineral Spirits

STEP 1:  Making The Curved Arm Guard

 

• Cut a piece of Red Craft Foam that is 12" in length and 4" wide.

• Then cut a piece of Green Craft Foam with the same dimensions, but you will want to cut out the center of it leaving an edge of 5/8" left.  *NOTE* You may want to leave a 1/8" of foam at each end of it because when you fold the piece is gets shorter on the ends. (I made this mistake when I made mine and had to fill in the gaps with lots of white glue



• Then cut a piece of Red Craft Foam with the same dimensions 12" x 4"  Using a piece of paper or poster board make a pattern for the cross, trace it onto the foam and cut it out with an x-acto knife. *NOTE*You may want to leave a 1/16" of foam at each end of it because when you fold the piece is gets shorter on the ends.  Also make sure to make the center of the cross slightly longer than what I did because when you fold the piece it lengthens the center part of the cross.  If you forget you can fill in the area with hot glue and white glue.

• Now put the three pieces on top of each other with the Red plain piece on the bottom then the Red Piece with the Cross and then the Green Border piece on top.  Glue the pieces together with white glue making sure to cover the entire piece.  *Since you want to have a nice red cross, make sure you apply the white glue to the back side of the cross piece when you are gluing it down so you can't see any white glue on the finished product. Let dry completely.





• After the piece is dry you will need to heat form the piece to fit your arm.  I found a large bottle that was approx. the same size as my upper arm to shape the piece around.  You will need to use a heat gun or other heat source to get the foam hot.  Once the foam is heated up press the foam around the bottle until it cools.  Repeat as need until you are satified with the shape. *NOTE*  If you want you can burn the edges and make them smoother with a Soldering Iron.  This will help seal them, make them harder and even out the surface between layers.  I didn't do this when I made this armor because it was something I learned recently.  Be super careful of you use this method because you don't want to melt the foam too much.  Also, be careful not to over heat the foam with the Heat Gun because it will get too melty as well.

• Next you need to stabilize the piece with some fabric.  I used muslin and white glue.  Cut out a piece of Muslin that is slightly larger than the armor piece.  Completely paint the back of the piece with White Glue and then press the Muslin over it.  Try to press out any bubbles if you can.  Let it dry completely and then add another layer of the white glue.  Let dry.

• Cut off the excess pieces of muslin and make them even with the edges.  At this point if you find that you are unhappy with the edges of the armor you can take some time to fill it in with lots of white glue.  This takes awhile because you have to add several layers, but this is optional.  Let each layer dry completely befoer adding the next one.  You don't have to make it perfect if you don't want to.  The picture shows the piece drying upside down so the white glue doesn't drip.  It also lost a bit of it's shape, but that's ok.  It can be fixed later.

• Before you start to add color to the piece you need to seal it with a glue mixture. 
• Glue Mixture Recipe:
• 1/4 cup White Glue
• 1/4 cup Flexible Fabric Glue
• 1/2 Cup Water
• You will want to paint the surface of the armor with about 7 to 8 thin coats of glue mixture.  Make sure there are no bubbles because that will ruin the look of the armor and you want it to be nice and smooth.  Let each layer of glue dry completely before adding the next layer
• Once you have it sealed you will want to paint the back side just along the edge to cover anything that might be seen.  Don't cover the entire back with paint because you need to glue a piece of fabric back there.
• Now you will want to make the little round pieces that are on the corner of each part of the piece and attach them with Hot Glue.  I made mine with AMAZING Mold Putty and AMAZING Casting Resin.  Follow the instructions on the Mold Putty and Casting Resin.  I used a flat topped chapstick tub to get the shape and make the mold for the resin.  I don't have a picture of this but you will need to glue the pieces onto the corners of the armor with Hot Glue before you start the next step.  I included a picture of what it looks like when it is finished so you know what I mean.

• Now you can start coloring the front side of the armor using Pledge with Future Shine Woode Floor Finish and Rub N' Buff.  Apply the Rub N' Buff in small amounts with a circular motion using your finger tip.  Try to prevent streaking.  You can use a paint brush to get it into the smaller areas.  After it dries buff it with a cloth or paper towel.  Now paint it with a thin coat of Pledge Floor Finish.  Repeat until you get the desired effect.  Make sure to leave the red cross because you need to be able to see it. *NOTE* I had some trouble with the armor being a bit rough, so I would paint it with White Glue to smooth it out between coats.  I also wrapped the bottom of the piece of armor with some cloth to help it retain its shape.

 

• You will also want to weather the piece with some black paint in the edges and cracks.  I used a paint brush with some watered down black paint and wiped it away until I was satisfied with the appearance.  You can see some of the weathering on the above picture.
• When you are finished you can seal the piece with 2-3 thin coats of Polyurethane ~ Clear Gloss.  Paint the edges and the entire front side, including the red cross with the Polyurethane.  Be careful with this stuff because it is very runny.  Let it dry completely between coats.  Clean your brushes with Mineral Spirits or Paint Thinner.  *Don't use any water with the Polyurethane.
• When you are finished the armor should look something like this, but without the red fabric backing.  That is the next step.

That's all for now.  I will be updating this with more later....

Lets try this again shall we

So I was on Day 6 of my Challenge and I got Sabotaged by myself.  It is really hard to work out and be on a diet if you feel Anemic.  I was super tired, my muscles had no umph in them and my joints hurt more and more throughout my work day.  So needless to say I could exercise and when I feel like crap all I want is sugar.  I hope I feel better Monday so I can get back on the horse and keep riding. 

On a better note, things are going great with my Rydia costume.  I only have a few things left to do:
1. Finish my other shoe
2. Create two more dangles for the smaller side of the head piece
3. Create two dangling pieces that hang between the two head pieces (waiting for wig)
4. Attach some Green Ostrich Feathers to the large head piece(waiting for them)
5. Add the dangling star/tassle to each side
6. Glue on the hair clips and make sure it will stay in place on the wig.
7.  Add some ribbons to the shoes that go up the leg and criss-cross until it reaches the knee.  Tie of in a long bow.
Then I'll be all done.  Yahoo!

I will be cosplaying at NDK 2012 as:
1. Virgo - Fairy Tail
2. Rydia - Final Fantasy 4
3. Sara - Fire Emblem
4.Sister Noelle - Trinity Blood

I also finally get to officially play GW2 starting Auguest 25th.  I can't wait! I'm trying to get everything done before it comes out, so I can fully enjoy the game.

Jillian Michaels: Making The Cut

So, I'm starting my Challenge again.  It's the 30-day, Jillian Michaels: Making The Cut Challenge.  I didn't finish the first time, but I luckily kept just about all the strength I gained from the first time around.  I got sick and ran out of time last time, but I know I can finish.  I gotta try.  This is Day 1 of Day 30 and all I can say is JUST DO IT!!!  I even had a rough morning because I subconsciously turned off the sound on my Alarm Clock at 3:45am.  Luckily I got up at 4:35am because I had to be at work at 5:00am.  I was able to get ready fast enough and eat breakfast.  Although I drank the equivelant of 7 cups of coffee just to wake my ass up.  That made me alittle too jittery.  5 is my max.  I don't usually have more than 5, but this morning I had a Venti Ice coffee with Breve and 2 splenda, a Grenda cup of Orange Blossom green tea and 2- Dopio Espresso's.  Bing-Bing!  I was shaking a bit when I left work, but it did the trick to wake me up.  Now off to the gym.  Wish me luck :)

Famous Person

So today a famous person visited the coffee shop.  It was Travis Stork from the Doctors.  It was pretty cool.  I kept hearing that we get famous people in the shop, but that was the first time I got to see one.  I am way to scared to ask for a picture or autograph though because the last famous person my husband asked for anything blew him off.  It takes alot of guts just to go up to someone famous and speak to them.  My husband is my hero :)  There have been a few other stars in the shop such as Matthew Perry, but I didn't work there then.  I always hope that maybe someday he will come back.  At the least, it made for some excitment in my workday, lol.

Comics

So my husband and I decided we would like to collect some comics.  It is a fun hobby that we can do together.  We put our collection on comicpriceguide.com and went to Mile High Comics.  We bought a bunch, so we will have lots of reading for awhile.  Hopefully in the end we will be able to sell them for at least alittle more than face value.  We plan on keeping them for a long time and storing them in a file cabinet.  We also got a subscription to a couple of the Marvel comics.  The comics we are collecting are: Sailor Moon, Tomb Raider, G.I. Joe, The Mighty Thor, Invincible Iron Man, Avengers Assemble, Uncanny X-men and Uncanny X-Force.  I was able to get alot of Tomb Raider and G.I. Joe for cheap.  I am missing one or two on Mighty Thor and Iron Man and for some reason the two Uncanny comics are super popular because I couldn't find a bunch of those ones.  I decided to get what I could on X-men and luckily I found a starting point with 19.1 on X-Force.  Maybe eventually I will be able to find those missing one's.

Work has been super busy.  The weather is hot and it's Frappuccino season.  July 4th is expected to be a mad house.  People are flocking to the mountain's to escape the city heat.  Traffic was horrible on Sunday.  It was as bad as it gets in the winter in Summit County.  At least it's good for business :)

I Win, I Like This Game

So to report further on the Westgate Scam, I got a cancellation letter from them and they refunded my $300 down payment on Matt's credit card.  Thank God!  It's over!  I can hardly believe we got out of it so easy.  Someone up there must like me :) 

I have been working alot lately at the coffee house which is good.  I need the money.  Although I want more time to spend on my business.  I know it will slow down again and I won't be working as much there.  At least I like my job :)

I've been playing alot of Tales of Graces f lately.  It has been a long time since I really got into an RPG story.  The depth of this story is better than I have experienced in a long time.  It has me really caught up in it.  I just want to know what happens next.  I still can't wait from GW2 to be officially released though.  I am loving that MMO.