Hi everyone,
I never cease to be amazed at God's blessings. I'm not surprised at His mercy, just always in awe. My flare up is under control and my blood counts are in the normal range! Praises to the Lord for this new blessing. I still have some soreness, heaviness and weakness but the blood counts are normal. I can begin to exercise to rebuild my myscle tissue now! I want to find an exercise machine I used to have called Body by Jake Ab and Back Plus. It will help me with trunk exercises as it works to strengthen through isometric exercise and also with range of motion because of the swivel seat. Hopefully I can find it, they don't make it anymore that I know of.
God also blessed me Sunday and I am thankful for His protective hand. I bring a lady friend of mine to church who is legally blind and when I drove up in her drive she was worried about where her trash can was. I told her that the men who'd been working on her house had put it to the road loaded with trash. She likes to know where it is so that when the trash men empty it she can get it from them instead of them throwing it wherever. She went to her porch (amazing lady knows how many steps there are wherever she goes) and I got out of the vehicle and went to the road to put it in her usual place so that she would know where it was. Then I walked over to where she was by her porch and talked to her for another minute and then told her I would take her trash home with me since her can was full. I reached up to grab the garbage bag from her porch railing and as soon as my hand touched the bag I was immediately shoved hard by something heavy and I was beginning to fall. I grabbed for whatever I could...the porch handrail... and then the thing that hit me. It was my vehicle. It had rolled forward and hit me! Needless to say I was doing some yelling. I know God was with me and my friend because she had already been on the porch, the mirror snapped off my vehicle when it rolled forward and the corner of the bumper had come in contact with the side of her steps in such a way that it stopped it's forward motion. If not for that it would have run right over me. I hung on for dear life until I realized it was not moving anymore and another neighbor had gotten across the street to say he'd seen it start rolling but couldn't get there in time to stop it. Once I realized it wasn't moving anymore I let go then got in and then backed it up. Luckily there was no injury to my friend or dmage to her house. Poor thing though she kept asking what happened because she couldn't see. I'm ok though, just a small bruise on my hand and the side of my knee. It scared me more than it hurt me. What surprised me was there wasn't anyone else in the vehicle and it sat for more than 2 minutes before it decided to roll forward.
We lost another dear friend Tuesday. She was a lady who lived next door to us when we lived in Norco. Her name is Geraldine Montz. She was 97 years old and never married. She was once a school teacher. She was one of the sweetest women I've ever known. We used to help her keep her yard up and she loved my girls and husband. I remember one Thanksgiving we had her over for dinner and she told us so many stories of what life was like when she was a child. She told of how all travel was by train or horse and buggy in rural Louisiana. She said the people at that time spoke English, French, or German depending on what the local priest spoke. Louisiana is predominately Catholic. She had so many stories we hated to let her go home. We're going to miss her.
On the flip side, our friend who had the double transplant is home! Thanks for the prayers and please continue to pray for him and his wife.
As always remember our troops and their sacrifice for our country especially now with Christmas coming and they are far from their families. We love you troops!
Take care and God bless.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Early December Happenings
Hello Everyone,
I know I haven't written for a while and I'm sorry. Remember I told you last time that the doctor seemed to think I had fibromyalgia? Well, I was waiting for a definite diagnosis and then when I got my diagnosis I didn't know how to explain what was going on. Ever since my last posting I have been struggling trying to get around and do things. Sitting at the computer sometimes can be painful. I have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called polymyositis. If you want to know a little bit more about this disease here is a link http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/polymyositis/DS00334 During the weeks surrounding Thanksgiving I was having difficulty walking but now that has improved as the doctor prescribed muscle relaxers (in addition to the steroids) and once they kicked in I am walking better. Heaviness of limbs, weakness, muscle deterioration and some other things are part of it as well. I have noticed that the numbness in my hands and feet have left as well as the shooting pains from my right shoulder to my fingers. My husband has taken very good care of me and makes sure that I have all the help I need. He was there the other night when the cold weather came in and I was having severe muscle cramps all night. He helped me get into a warm tub and brought me medicine and sat up with me for the rest of the night. I am blessed to have a husband who takes care of me. I am thankful that we caught it early before it got too far. The doctor wants me to begin physical therapy as my muscles have already begun to shrink, so we will do what we need to do.
I am not afraid of what the future holds I know my Savior stands with me all the way and at the end of this road I will be with Him in Heaven. I don't question either why this has to happen to me. God is never wrong. I simply trust in His will.
The girls are doing well and working hard. We are almost ready for Christmas to come. You know, I don't like that phrase...ready for Christmas. It makes it sound like Christmas is something other than what it is. Christmas is a celebration of our Savior's birth I am always ready to celebrate Jesus' birth. I accepted Him as Lord and Savior when I was 12 years old and have been ready for Him ever since. I watch everyone every year go into debt to provide a "nice Christmas" for their families. Jesus already did that and we could never in a million years give a gift comparable to Him and yet people are afraid to even say the words Merry Christmas to anyone. It is so sad. Many have forgotten Him even as they celebrate His birth.
We had a rare treat the day before yesterday, Thursday. It snowed! Now to you northerners this may not be a monumental occasion but to us in south Louisiana it is amazing. The last time it snowed here was four years ago on Christmas day. We went outside at 7 am when our neighbor called to tell us it was snowing and you could hear the kids in the neighborhood cheering. I got to watch my family have fun throwing snowballs at each other and I took pictures and short videos. Tiffany's boyfriend Chris came and was trying to make a snowman and he had a nice 7 inch ball formed when my David thought it would be fun to bomb him with a barrage of snowballs while he was occupied. It's amazing how quickly a 6'1" man can duck to a height of about 4 ft. Needless to say Chris gave up and lobbed his extremely large snowball David's way. It was hilarious. It was tough to have to stop the fun so I could go to the doctor and Tiff and Chris could go to work. Heather and Rochelle were the only ones home. David had begun a large snowball for the bottom of a snowman before we left and put Rochelle in charge of finishing him. Well, as things would have it in my family things are never the way you expect them to be when you come home.
David had me call to ask Rochelle to take a picture of the snowman as it had started to rain and he didn't want to miss it if it melted. Rochelle sounded very humored during the phone call and informed me that they had indeed taken pictures of not one, but three snowmen they had made. I was impressed that they had accomplished all that so quickly...of course we did have about 3 inches of snow. Rochelle proceeded to tell me she couldn't wait for us to see them.
We came home from the doctor's office and the rain had stopped but the snowmen had not melted. There stood a nice snowman made by southern girls complete with a scarf and rocks from the driveway for eyes, mouth and buttons. I was impressed. Then, I looked at the other two snowmen.... Hmmm ......I was informed that Rochelle had the brainstorm and remembered a Calvin and Hobbs comic strip where Calvin had made snowmen. They went online, found the comic strip and used it as inspiration. One snowman was a victim of vehicular homicide with one body part (twig arms pointing skyward) on the trunk of the car and the head and lower body lying on the ground behind the car, and the other had obviously fallen over into a tree and his head was just a mound of snow. Poor, poor snowmen didn't have a chance. I can sympathize with Calvin's mom in a whole new way. They had even used a reddish substance for clarity. I found out later that all they had available was tomato soup. Crazy kids...if you believe comic strips are innocent diversions for the kids of today don't believe it.
David recieved his diploma for his associates degree on Friday. I am so proud of him. He's working hard on his studies and remains a straight A student. He continues working on his bachelor's degree.
Pictures of the snow day and David's diploma can be found in the photo link.
Please, when you get a chance remember the following people in your prayers: my mom, my nephew Ryan, our friend Julian who had a double transplant, the family of our friend Norman who passed away, David's stepdad, our church we're still searching for a pastor, and as always the troops: in particular Josh Stevens, Keith Schulz, the 927th Sapper Company 3rd platoon, and most of all our son-in-law Sgt. David Ghere. David, we miss you son-in-law. Keep safe and hurry home we miss you terribly.
That's about it for now, I hope this letter finds everyone happy, healthy and safe. I love you all. Take care and God bless.
I know I haven't written for a while and I'm sorry. Remember I told you last time that the doctor seemed to think I had fibromyalgia? Well, I was waiting for a definite diagnosis and then when I got my diagnosis I didn't know how to explain what was going on. Ever since my last posting I have been struggling trying to get around and do things. Sitting at the computer sometimes can be painful. I have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called polymyositis. If you want to know a little bit more about this disease here is a link http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/polymyositis/DS00334 During the weeks surrounding Thanksgiving I was having difficulty walking but now that has improved as the doctor prescribed muscle relaxers (in addition to the steroids) and once they kicked in I am walking better. Heaviness of limbs, weakness, muscle deterioration and some other things are part of it as well. I have noticed that the numbness in my hands and feet have left as well as the shooting pains from my right shoulder to my fingers. My husband has taken very good care of me and makes sure that I have all the help I need. He was there the other night when the cold weather came in and I was having severe muscle cramps all night. He helped me get into a warm tub and brought me medicine and sat up with me for the rest of the night. I am blessed to have a husband who takes care of me. I am thankful that we caught it early before it got too far. The doctor wants me to begin physical therapy as my muscles have already begun to shrink, so we will do what we need to do.
I am not afraid of what the future holds I know my Savior stands with me all the way and at the end of this road I will be with Him in Heaven. I don't question either why this has to happen to me. God is never wrong. I simply trust in His will.
The girls are doing well and working hard. We are almost ready for Christmas to come. You know, I don't like that phrase...ready for Christmas. It makes it sound like Christmas is something other than what it is. Christmas is a celebration of our Savior's birth I am always ready to celebrate Jesus' birth. I accepted Him as Lord and Savior when I was 12 years old and have been ready for Him ever since. I watch everyone every year go into debt to provide a "nice Christmas" for their families. Jesus already did that and we could never in a million years give a gift comparable to Him and yet people are afraid to even say the words Merry Christmas to anyone. It is so sad. Many have forgotten Him even as they celebrate His birth.
We had a rare treat the day before yesterday, Thursday. It snowed! Now to you northerners this may not be a monumental occasion but to us in south Louisiana it is amazing. The last time it snowed here was four years ago on Christmas day. We went outside at 7 am when our neighbor called to tell us it was snowing and you could hear the kids in the neighborhood cheering. I got to watch my family have fun throwing snowballs at each other and I took pictures and short videos. Tiffany's boyfriend Chris came and was trying to make a snowman and he had a nice 7 inch ball formed when my David thought it would be fun to bomb him with a barrage of snowballs while he was occupied. It's amazing how quickly a 6'1" man can duck to a height of about 4 ft. Needless to say Chris gave up and lobbed his extremely large snowball David's way. It was hilarious. It was tough to have to stop the fun so I could go to the doctor and Tiff and Chris could go to work. Heather and Rochelle were the only ones home. David had begun a large snowball for the bottom of a snowman before we left and put Rochelle in charge of finishing him. Well, as things would have it in my family things are never the way you expect them to be when you come home.
David had me call to ask Rochelle to take a picture of the snowman as it had started to rain and he didn't want to miss it if it melted. Rochelle sounded very humored during the phone call and informed me that they had indeed taken pictures of not one, but three snowmen they had made. I was impressed that they had accomplished all that so quickly...of course we did have about 3 inches of snow. Rochelle proceeded to tell me she couldn't wait for us to see them.
We came home from the doctor's office and the rain had stopped but the snowmen had not melted. There stood a nice snowman made by southern girls complete with a scarf and rocks from the driveway for eyes, mouth and buttons. I was impressed. Then, I looked at the other two snowmen.... Hmmm ......I was informed that Rochelle had the brainstorm and remembered a Calvin and Hobbs comic strip where Calvin had made snowmen. They went online, found the comic strip and used it as inspiration. One snowman was a victim of vehicular homicide with one body part (twig arms pointing skyward) on the trunk of the car and the head and lower body lying on the ground behind the car, and the other had obviously fallen over into a tree and his head was just a mound of snow. Poor, poor snowmen didn't have a chance. I can sympathize with Calvin's mom in a whole new way. They had even used a reddish substance for clarity. I found out later that all they had available was tomato soup. Crazy kids...if you believe comic strips are innocent diversions for the kids of today don't believe it.
David recieved his diploma for his associates degree on Friday. I am so proud of him. He's working hard on his studies and remains a straight A student. He continues working on his bachelor's degree.
Pictures of the snow day and David's diploma can be found in the photo link.
Please, when you get a chance remember the following people in your prayers: my mom, my nephew Ryan, our friend Julian who had a double transplant, the family of our friend Norman who passed away, David's stepdad, our church we're still searching for a pastor, and as always the troops: in particular Josh Stevens, Keith Schulz, the 927th Sapper Company 3rd platoon, and most of all our son-in-law Sgt. David Ghere. David, we miss you son-in-law. Keep safe and hurry home we miss you terribly.
That's about it for now, I hope this letter finds everyone happy, healthy and safe. I love you all. Take care and God bless.
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