Heart Shrine

I completed my "Heart 35" shrine and decided to put it up on Etsy. I feel that it did its job for me, and that I would put it out in the world for someone else. There are plenty of folks out there who could use artistic protection for their hearts, in one form or another, maybe it has been broken physically or metaphorically. Maybe everyone needs a protective heart shrine...

Some details:

Yes, that is a real suture needle

and real suturing silk.

I figured that I might as well

go to total realism in at

least some regard, and I

did have all that old medical

equipment laying around.

Don't Ask...

Please note the heart diagram on the right...

This is a stamp pulled from an old anatomy text

Love it.

Then there is the spool of surgical tape

and the wooden spool/game peice

Interpret it as you will.

Buttons...I just love buttons.

These were decayed and falling apart,

which I see as a distinct bonus.

They hold things together....

until they don't.

What do you have to protect your heart?

Just your Sternum?

A wish, hope and a prayer?
Lame.

Get Serious.

No Holes

I am happy to report that I don't have a hole in my heart.



That is what they were looking for with the whole "gargle this Karo thick Lidocaine and then swallow this Sharpie on a rope" thing I did this morning. I simply won't tell you all the crude things that are going through my mind to describe how my esophagus feels right now...but let's say one scenario involves the Coney Island side show and a mug of flaming bourbon.



It is a great relief. I am a little torn however, because if they had found a hole (also known as a PFO) they would have been able to fix it pretty easily and then my Migraines might have gone away. The migraines mimic TIA type strokes pretty closely with progressive blindness radiating out from the center of vision until complete, total loss of sensation on the left side of the body, hemi-paralysis, and finally mind-crushing pain for 6 to 12 hours. Now it is back to the drawing board to try to find the root cause. I count myself as lucky though, I have found a medication that staves them off almost completely (Topamax), but I live with the constant fear that one day it might stop working. As someone who worked in research for a long time, I can not accept that a causality will not be found.

At least now I can go back to the studio and make my happy little flowers with one less thing to worry about.

So There!

Title: This is where all the trouble begins

(Yes, that is my brain in there)