The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong in the broken places.
Ernest Hemingway
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WINTER WILL BE GONE SOON...RIGHT?

1/20/2019

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A SNOWFLAKE IS ONE OF GOD'S MOST FRAGILE CREATIONS, BUT LOOK WHAT THEY CAN DO WHEN THEY STICK TOGETHER!

                                                                                Unknown


Hey, it's almost the end of January! Whoo hoo! I guess winter is going fast for me 'cause I'm officially a "shut-in". Since I am home-bound so much, I guess I don't pay much attention to what is happening outside. I know Hubby snow-plowed our little town out. I was a bit surprised to look at my phone screen this morning and see that it was zero degree.  You see, I only go out for doctor's appointments and occasionally  to get some groceries. However, last week I made out a shopping list and sent Hubby. He's getting pretty good about getting this task done. 

The thought of stepping up and down the two steps from our deck onto the concrete walkway scares the heck out of me. Jenna says she thinks I am suffering Post Traumatic Syndrome, because I have to talk myself into actually stepping up on the deck. It does not hurt! But I have to give myself a pep talk just to make my left leg work. Weird.

I have been experimenting with my late dad's cane. Hubby put one of those attachments on the tip to make  it stand on four tips instead of just one wobbly one. Kinda like a Hurrycane. It worked pretty well and then he got the idea of sticking the black colored four prong tip onto a broom handle. This made it more like a walking stick. I was demonstrating my "gettin' around" walk for sis-in-law Nina last night, and then it occurred to me . . . it looks just like a long-handled stool plunger. When I commented on this fact, she laughed and said that that was her first impression but she didn't want to say anything.  hahahahaha

I'm going to have a hectic week coming up. I get my grandson tonight for a sleep-over, since he doesn't have school tomorrow. Then, starting Wednesday, granddaughter Abby is coming to stay for a week, since her Mom has a trip she needs to take. Hmmmm, I wonder how much work I can get out of the little buggers???? Alec was here the other night, and did a fine job following instructions on taking clean laundry to different rooms and putting them away. 

I did venture out Friday to pick up my newest wig. I ordered my light blonde color. These dark blonde wigs I have been wearing look too dull. However, when I picked it up, it cost way more than what had been quoted when I ordered it (grrrr), so the guy cut the price a bit. Then I get home (Hubby has already told me he hates this style) and I realize that this doesn't look or fit anything like the sample I tried on in the first place. The one I wanted was a bit fuller, a tad longer in length in the back and on the sides. This one is skimpy through the back and has spikey curls that flip up and makes it look even more sparse across the back of the head. hmmmm  Guess what? There are NO returns on wigs. waaa waaa waaa

I have made our February room reservations for Mayo Clinic. They sent me a schedule which shows that the first day I'm there, there will be non-stop tests from 6:40 AM until 3:30 PM. Next day is more tests, and then the third day surgery is scheduled to take out the tumor on the para thyroid (?). We have to be in Rochester a day early so we can make our first appointment, and then spend an additional night in the hotel, to make sure I'm okay after surgery. Rooms there are expensive but I got one that is right across from the Clinic, and has an underground subway station right in the hotel to travel to all the buildings. Location and convenience is utmost in my mind. Niece Susan took her husband to Mayo for his eyes, and stayed in a hotel like this. The subway system was invaluable to them, because they had been there during a snow storm, and they didn't have to walk or drive in that mess, to get to his appointments. Oh, Mayo also UPSed me a brand new 24-hour pee test. Evidently the results from the test I just did for the oncologist didn't cover some of the info that they need. 

Folks, I'm getting kinda tired. I want my old life back!  Please.  

The reservations for The Woodbridge Building are still coming in. People who have been to functions there are now reserving their own parties. I've got some graduation parties already line up for May and June, and even a repeat Christmas get-together in December. This community is being so good to me.

The bad part about it, is that Jenna has to come out and restock supplies and clean between gigs. Between work and her family, her schedule is already pretty hectic, but she still does it. I can not wait until I can take care of it myself. Since I live one minute away, it is so convenient for me to go down and work there. And, if I happen to forget something at home, it is soooo close to run back to my house and get it.

After all these years, I have finally found my "happy place". Sometimes, I call it  "Janene's Playhouse".

Well, guess I will limp out to the living room and watch more drama of the shut-down. I am so concerned for a friends of mine who works at the Atlanta airport. I can't even imagine what a financial disaster this is for her. 

​                                          GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY



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MOAN, GROAN, AND BONE SYNDROME

1/6/2019

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THEY SAY A PERSON NEEDS JUST THREE THINGS TO BE TRULY HAPPY IN THIS WORLD; SOMEONE TO LOVE, SOMETHING TO DO, AND SOMETHING TO HOPE FOR.

                                                                            Tom Bodett

Lots of stuff happening lately, Kids. New Year's came and went. Everyone that I know stayed home the night before, even though the weather was pretty decent for Iowa. I'm sure hoping that 2019 is going to be a much better year than 2018!

Okay, here goes. The old lady talking about her "illness". Sorry, but this is a cancer blog - sometimes.  Anyhoo, Monday I had to turn in my gallon o' pee to the oncologist's office. Yup, I had to do a 24 hour urine collection for some tests that they wanted to run. Wednesday I went to the hospital for another PET scan to see if there were any "sparkles" floating around in my body after the last surgery. If there were some detected, that meant that they were cancerous.  What suspense! I was a nervous wreck, wondering what the outcome would be. The thought of more surgery was so discouraging. It made me tired just thinking about how much work and effort it takes to get through crap like that. 

Friday, I went to the oncologist to get the results of the PET. Jenna kept insisting that she get to go to the appointment with Hubby and me, and finally I caved and said she could be there. I was kinda afraid that it would be bad news and I didn't want her getting upset. And seeing me fall apart wouldn't have been a pretty picture either.
When the doctor came into the room to meet with us, he had a stack of papers in his hand and a serious look on his face. Crap! He said there were some things we needed to talk about. Ya think??? I asked him if there was more cancer to deal with and he said...… "NO!" Yay!!! I was so relieved. Then he got serious again and said that they suspected a non-cancerous tumor next to my thyroid gland and that it was called hyper parathyroidism. Kinda rare. And he wanted to send me to Mayo to have it removed. Only a few places in the U.S have surgeons that specialize in this kind of thing. Okay. I can do that. He told us his wife had had this and they had opted to have her operated in Arizona. The procedure only takes 20 minutes (once everything is all set to go) and she turned out fine, The internet says that there is a 95% cure. Okay, I'm all for that. Minnesota is only one state away and we can drive there. If I went to Arizona, that would mean flying, and I don't want to put my leg through that quite yet. Plus, I can imagine the alarm going off when I went through the airport security when it detected my two foot long rod in my leg.  lol

The reason they think it is this hyper whatever, is because I had all the systems of what they call the MOAN, GROAN, AND BONE disorder . . . high blood calcium, I have previously had kidney stones, my feet are going numb on the bottoms, I have a recent bone break (which basically shouldn't have happened in the type of fall that I took) and . . .  a history of aches and pains in my thigh muscles and legs. Remember when I was constantly belly-aching (and moaning and groaning) that I was beginning to get crippled because it hurt so much to walk? That's why I went and had the first PET scan done, because we were afraid that my breast cancer had metastasized  into my leg bones! Thankfully, no cancer in the bones but that is when they discovered more breast cancer in my lymph nodes. Which oddly enough turned out to be a life-saving move.  sigh Then, after going through getting rid of that cancer, there were constant blood tests to keep an eye on things. That's when the pattern of my blood calcium and a few other things began to make sense. Evidently this thyroid tumor has been there for over a year and THAT is what was causing my leg pain and trouble walking. What a round-about way to find out what that problem was done. Too bad I had to get cancer to figure out that puzzle.    jeeze!

So, I'll keep you up to date on what's happening. I'll get through this.  Don't worry.

​My camera is acting up (and I haven't figured out how to download pics from my smart phone yet), but I have a few photos to share with you today.

First, our own Little J. expresses her opinion of a gift Hubby gave me for Christmas. I hope that I have made it clear that we are ALL Americans and everyone is entitled to their own feelings about politics. I do not disrespect anyone who does not feel the way I do. 

​
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 Here's what she is looking at. A framed picture of something Hubby has ordered for me. I am trying to figure out which closet I am going to hide it in.  (Oh, come on! This is being done in fun. Enjoy)
​
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It's a Trumpy Bear!  Coming to my house soon!     OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then there is a new hair up-date. I have gone from a Vice President Mike Pence look-alike (with the close-cropped, pure-white hairdo) to a punk-rocker. Does (or did) Syd Vicious have spikey platinum white hair?
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It doesn't help my frame of mind that when I look in the mirror, I see that I have aged 20 years during the last eight months. 

And, as promised, I DID get myself an alert button. Can't be too careful, right?
​
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hahahahaha  It looks ginormous in this selfie. It's only 1 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches.  I like the fact that it is constantly flashing a dim white light.  Nothing too noticeable, but when it flashes under my shirt, it makes me think of ET when his little heart was beating and you could see it flashing through his chest.

                                                   GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY

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    Janene...

    ... was diagnosed with breast cancer on November 11, 2013. This is a place for all of the people who love and care about her to get the information about her treatment and her personal experience of kicking cancer's ass, (sometimes from her daughter's perspective). It's hard to stand by and not be able to do anything to help. Writing gives my mom an outlet and allows both of us to share information during this time. Therefore, we blog :) 

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