LOL, Bebe, where there's a will, there's a way! Know you will have a great time and all the fun and excitement will keep everyone's minds off their ailments--at least during the day!

Will look forward to hearing all about it when you get back. You can tell us about the fun new stuff coming out and what artists you got to see while there.

Luvs

Ok, those are some paintings I want to see! (I'm envisioning something like The Scream by Edvard Munch!) ha Just kidding. Ya'll are gonnna have such a good time. We will look forward to hearing all about it when you return. Take care of that stone. I've heard they hurt a lot. Have a fun and safe time! We'll miss you! ~Anj

I didn't get to go to Tampa, but I am going to HOOT are you? I received my regerstration back yesterday and got all my classes but one. So can't wait it should be fun. I am also taking a Linda Coulter workshop in June she teaches like the old masters. Check out her website. She is running a special $65. a day. Beautiful work. Have a great time in Tampa, lucky you.
Donna

Anj - hahahaha on The Scream!

B - have a grand time and I hope you all feel no pain and make lots of pretty paintings. Take tons of pictures to share with us and have a blast!

Hi Donna,

I usually go to the SDP convention and have been to HOOT but am not able to go anymore due to husband having a stroke and can't get around well.

You will love the class with Linda Coulter. I have a couple of small pieces I did with her and I have one of her pieces she demonstrated on at the Indy convention.

Have fun!

I know you will have a wonderful time and look forward to seeing your projects. I hope some day in my life I will be able to go to a class like that. Mean while you go and come back and help the rest of us unlucky sous out. OK? Kidney stones are horrible. The first one my husband had the doc described it as being like hard labor and the pain not letting up. He has always been lucky enough to get drugs and pass his. Be careful, they are not anything to mess with.

I can't wait to hear about your trip...
I hope everything goes well that you feel good.
Have Fun!!!

ladybug Jane,
I have to ask are you from Indy? I only live about 40 miles from Indy.
Donna

Hi Donna,

No I am not from Indy. I live in GA.

I did go to the convention when it was in Indy a few years ago. My husband always went with me to conventions. He was really good about letting me stay on the trade floor and he would go do whatever he wanted. He walked a lot at his job so I think he walked most of the downtown area while we were there. We really enjoyed it. It was a really nice city, lots of pretty buildings.

He went with me the ONLY time I have been to HOOT but he did not enjoy that at all. He said there was really nothing to walk to or do that he cared about. So we have never been back.

The last convention I got to go to was in Nashville about 3 years ago, I guess. He had his stroke 1 1/2 years ago and he can only barely walk now with a cane. So he can't go a long distance and I wouldn't want to leave him in the room by himself.

Sorry, didn't mean to ramble on!
Debbie aka Ladybug Lane

Well, I thought I was going to be off to the convention but that darn kidney stone got the best of me. The pain went from Lortab to Percoset and Tramadol to a visit to the doctor again. Had to go in and have the stones removed. However, it has now been three days since the surgery and I am still in pain, almost identical to the pain from the stones before surgery. They say that is normal so I have been high on Mepargan (Demirol and Finnegan sp). So for the past two weeks I have had one day without pain the rest have been absolutely the worst days I have every had. It is like the ending stages of childbirth but just on one side. I hope I will be back to normal in a few days.

My friends went on without me but of course I could not be refunded the $324.00 I spent on classes and my share of the room and gas. It turned out to be an expensive little stone!!

From what I was told the other ladies did not enjoy it as much as they thought they would. They left a day early. So, I hope to be back painting in a week so I will post something then.
Bebe

Oh, Bebe, I am so sorry to hear that you had to miss your trip. I was concerned about your kidney stone. I know when I had mine it was worse than the flu with vomiting, cold sweats and horrible unbelievable pain. They eventually had to go in with what they called a "basket" and remove it. Hard to believe that something so tiny can cause so much pain. Glad yours has been removed--hopefully they didn't miss one. Hope you get some relief and start feeling back to normal soon. Luvs

Oh Bebe!! So sorry you had to miss your convention but moreso that you had to go thru all that! My goodness, I've heard those things are bad news and a pain in your pocketbook as well looks like. At least you have the consolation of knowing your friends didn't have much fun without you. ha I sure hope you get to feeling better real quick. Don't over do it too soon. ((hugs)) ~Anj

I wrote this message yesterday, but it never did show up. I must do something wrong sometimes. But I said, I am sorry that you did not get to go. But I wanted to offer something else to you and maybe it is not too far away from you. I belong to a group called Luv21stroke and we have a annual weekend of painting and it is called Painting with Friend Weekend. This year it is on Sept. 24-26 at Fayetteville, TN. We paint all weekend and several of us teach and some of the ladies are Decor Artist Helpers, OSCI (myself). I will be teaching HD painting, there will also be watercolor painting, Tradiation painting, cookie painting, animal painting, etc. The best news about it is each of us charge only $5.00 per project and you get to paint all weekend and only spend less than $50. for many projects. There is also a $25.00 registeration fee and this is used for paper plates, paper towels, door prizes, etc. Of course you also have to pay for the hotel room and food. This year it is held at a lodge. I think you will have alot of great fun and get to meet some really neat ladies and learn alot. DecoArt also donates some free supplies to us and I have contacted Dewberry Designs and I am trying to get some free items there too. So what do you think? Hope you can come you can email me off line if you wish too.
kraftylady23@yahoo.com
Donna H.

Hi all, I am a bit better today only because I am on pain pills - a new one called Toradal. I am very weak because I can't eat (lost 15 pounds in two weeks) and sure don't want to drink because I am so nauseas. Luvs, I went back to the doctor yesterday and he found a stone they missed last week so I have to go back in Friday and have it removed also. I will be so glad to have this over with. The only time I have had pain like this was during labor!!

Donna, that convention sounds great. I will check with a few of my friends and see if we can make it.

Thanks to all of you. Hope to be back chatting soon.
B

Ah ha! I thought it might be something like that! Those stones are sometimes so tiny, but when they lodge in the opening, it is excruciating pain! Glad they found it and can take care of it for you. Next week, you will be feeling lots better. ;o) Luvs

Oh Bebe I am so sorry to read about all the pain you've been having! I sure hope they can get you all fixed up just great and that you never have to go through this ever again. It sounds awful!

Hi Paintingfool. I've been lurking here for a while & just had to register so I could post on this thread. Paintingfool, I FEEL your pain!!!! I mean literally! Almost 30 years ago I had a terrible bout with kidney stones. At the time I was a hairdresser working everyday in the shop. I never knew when the "pain" would hit, but when it did, it floored me. Naive and young, I had no idea that the reason my urine (sorry if this is too gross) was brown was because my kidney was bleeding from the stone. (I thought I was drinking too much Coke) I asked my gynecologist during a regular checkup what he thought the "pain" could be & he said I was just ovulating! So, to make a long story short, I refused to go to a doctor when these attacks would hit. And I'm sure YOU know what kind of pain I'm talking about. I had had 2 large babies & believe me 24 hours of labor didn't even come close to this pain. After keeping my poor husband up all night & becoming sick on a ladies trip, he (my husband) called off work & MADE me go to a doctor. Well....he (a general practitioner) diagnosed me with iritable colon & treated me for the next 6 weeks. (never even took a "collection" at any dr. visit) Finally, after a rather bae attack & going back to that dr., he took a urine sample. I'm telling you, I can still remember how white his face was when he came into the examing room! He sent me right then to a urologist who after tests found a stone the size of a half dollar. He thought that it had probably been there around 7 years! (I have a very high pain threshold). Needless to say, I ended up having a 6 hour surgery which required me to be literally cut in half. End of story? No....the very next year I started having the pain again. I rushed right to the doctor who after a routine KUB xray came in & gently took my hand to inform me that another large stone had formed. I couldn't believe it!!!! My sister was getting married the next week & I was not only the matron of honor, but I was baking the cake & my son was the ring bearer! It was a large wedding, so I went on those noce strong meds that you were talking about & made it through. The second surgery didn't go so well. He said that my kidney had become calcified & he wasn't sure if it would function again. I went home 2 weeks later with a nefrostomy (sic) tube & bag & thanked God he created us with 2 kidneys! :-) As it was, I ended up back in the hospital with a staff infection & was finally released on Thanksgiving day. By Christmas my kidney had started back up & he was able to remove the tube. Once I was all healed up, my doctor sent me to Michael Reese Hospital's Renal Center in Chicago to have a complete study made. It was concluded that my stones were calcium oxalate & I ended up with 2 new meds that I am still taking every day religiously, and a brand new lists of foods to avoid. I was also told to drink a gallon of water a day. (that's twice as much as a normal person should drink). He said that because I am an active somewhat hyper person, I get wrapped up in activities (at that time it was styling hair & decorating cakes) that I don't get hydrated enough to keep the kidneys washed out. Now it is painting, just like you.....which is why I went into this LONG and probably boring story. From one artist to another (who has experienced what you have ;-) ), I can't stress enough to always keep a bottle of water beside the paint & brushes.....and I don't mean to rinse the brushes with! LOL Drink! Drink! Drink!

Sorry if I bored anyone. I just had to give you my support.

Wow maltezeoscar~ what a scary thing. So glad you got a dr that figured it out for you before that first one got much bigger! Hope you don't have any more problems since you are taking the meds to control it. I've heard that some people are more prone to them.
Welcome to the forum! We'd love to have you stop lurking and start posting with us! =)

Bebe~ how are you feeling?? ~Anj

Hi yall, I am feeling much better. Still have the stent and the urge to go but at least I am not as nauseated as yesterday. I sure hate feeling bad, just don't have the energy to do much of anything.

Maltezeoscar, you really had it rough. Hope things are better now. I am glad to see you post, keep it up. We all would love to see photos of your work. We have some really good painters on this forum, I love looking at what everyone has been doing - I was suppose to teach my "Wild Rose" painting this month at our chapter meeting but was unable to attend.

I am starting to ramble so will sign off for now.
B

Bebe, so glad to hear you are finally starting to feel better. Hope you've been able to spend a little time outside in your beautiful weather and just relax. Amazing how unimportant things become when we don't feel so good, isn't it?

Sorry you had to miss your meeting, bet lots of the ladies were disappointed. Maybe you can do it another time. Have we seen your "wild rose" painting? Sounds nice, and your painting is always so fantastic.

In fact, I was going through some of my old books and ran across a really neat Santa by Delane Lange with a gorgeous face and "fluffy" beard--I thought to myself "I could mess this up real good, but I bet PF could do this just perfectly". You really are an excellent painter. ;o)

And yes, Maltezeoscar, don't lurk, come join us. If you've been viewing for awhile, you know we are all friendly and very supportive of each other. Please join in and let us get acquainted with you and see some of your projects. Thank you so much for the warning about drinking plenty of fluids too. ;o)

Luvs