Wow! I can't believe how long it's been since I've updated this blog!
Things have been in a whirlwind around here, and I just can't seem to get time to sit down for more than 5 minutes any more.
God has really given me the time to "Count My Abundant Blessings" in the past week!
There have been so many visitors, phone calls, emails, etc.
I have the greatest support network ever!
I thank every one of you for the emails and comments. They bless my heart!
My brother, Mike, is hanging in. He has so much courage and strength! He is using every minute he has left to witness to people and bring glory to God. I'm so very proud of him!
I had to laugh yesterday. His Hospice nurse, Betty, came over to check on him and had her Bible in hand! She said she was coming to have church! lol
She told me what a blessing Mike was.
In her job, it seems most things are sad and stressfull.
She says when she comes to care for Mike, she walks away refreshed, and realizes why she is in the profession she is. What a blessing!
At Celebrate Recovery last night, the team did a special program for Mike. They just wanted him to know what a blessing he has been to them and the program. It was precious!
OK...on to a happier note:
Renee tagged me to tell you 6 weird things about myself and then pass it on to 6 others.
So......here ya go!
1) I was born in France and my birth certificate is 8 pages long! (I can't read it)
2) I am NOT a fan of chocolate
3) I HAVEto have one foot out from under the blankets for me to sleep at night
4) I once found an abandoned newborn baby boy at a bank I worked at and revived him!
5) I have a daughter that looks just like me, and a son that looks nothing like me!
6) I am a major ice cream fanatic!
Now I tag:
The Motherboard: http://wheredidiputthat.blogspot.com/
Alicia: http://yayastuff.blogspot.com/
Martina: http://freedom2move.blogspot.com/
Lady Dorothy: http://ladydorothy.blogspot.com/
Sera: http://laughingthroughthechaos.blogspot.com/
Jade:http://theonecurlyfry.blogspot.com/
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
URGENT PRAYER NEEDED!
Hi All,
Just a quick update to let everyone know where we stand with my brother,
He is not doing well..
I posted the other day that we had called Hospice in. Alot has happened since my last post! But then again, there is no normal around here any more.
We called our oldest sister, Debbie, and let her know of the latest scans and about Hospice. She immediately made plans to come home from Kansas City and spend the weekend with Mike.She left early Thursday morning and got in about supper time. We all went out for a yummy meal at a Mexican restaurant Mike loves. I kind of noticed that Deb wasn't so chipper. I just chalked it up to the long drive and the news. Later that night she got SICK!! I mean really sick!
I called my doctor Friday morning (when I was at work)so we could get her looked at. They told us to get her there ASAP and he would see her. Thanks Dr. Brazil!!
While I was on the phone with my doctor, the other phone rang. It was Mike and he was SCREAMING! He had fallen in his apartment and could not move! Luckily he had his cell phone in his pocket! My first instinct was to call 911....then I remembered that I was supposed to call Hospice first! Of course, I didn't have their phone number with me, so I had to find a phone book! I was crazy!!
We got Hospice on the way,I sent Deb on to the doctor, Kristy over to Mike's house, and I headed for town. Kristy called me and told me that the Hospice chaplain was there when she got there. They called 911.
Mike was paralyzed! He had dislocated his right shoulder, and broken the right arm all the way through.
They would meet me at the E.R.
***Special Note*** A GOD THING!
The chaplain was actually on Mike's street at the time. He was coming over to introduce himself to Mike when all of this happened. He knocked on the door not knowing Mike had fallen! Mike was able to holler out to him and tell him he needed help!
THANK YOU LORD!
They got Mike to the hospital and started working on him.
They sent him to x-ray to make sure everything else was ok.
He had fallen flat on his back! That really scared us!
After about 30 minutes, Mike was able to move his toes....then his legs! He is NOT paralyzed! They said it was probably just the trauma from the fall. They reduced his shoulder and put his arm in a cast and a sling and let him go home! Amazing!
Deb came to the hospital to meet us. She told us that she had double pneumonia! The doctor had wanted to put her in the hospital right away. She promised him that she would stay in bed (she didn't) but she had not made that drive just to go into the hospital! So he gave her a "BIG HONKIN" shot (in her words) and a prescription!
We brought both of them home, and they slept the rest of the day away.
Later that evening,we all went to Celebrate Recovery. Another God thing because Friday was the 1 year anniversary of his diagnosis and he was determined to pick up his chip! GO MIKE!
We had special prayer for him at CR and the pastor anointed him with oil.
It was so precious!
Hospice called and said Mike had to be moved. He could no longer stay alone.So we spent the whole day Saturday moving him over to Patti's house. We agreed that he would be better there because I have a split level house, and we can't navigate his wheelchair through it.I also feel better that he's there because Patti is a nurse and knows how to care for him better than I ever could!
Hospice came right away and delivered him a hospital bed and a wheelchair ramp. We spent today at Patti's getting him everything arranged for him.
Things are finally settling down.
So that's our weekend in a nutshell. Deb left at 5:00 this morning to drive back to Missouri and we're all going to bed early!
Please keep us in your prayers. This fall caused Mike alot of pain, and now he's frustrated that he has lost his independence.
PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR FAMILY!
We'll keep you updated!
Just a quick update to let everyone know where we stand with my brother,
He is not doing well..
I posted the other day that we had called Hospice in. Alot has happened since my last post! But then again, there is no normal around here any more.
We called our oldest sister, Debbie, and let her know of the latest scans and about Hospice. She immediately made plans to come home from Kansas City and spend the weekend with Mike.She left early Thursday morning and got in about supper time. We all went out for a yummy meal at a Mexican restaurant Mike loves. I kind of noticed that Deb wasn't so chipper. I just chalked it up to the long drive and the news. Later that night she got SICK!! I mean really sick!
I called my doctor Friday morning (when I was at work)so we could get her looked at. They told us to get her there ASAP and he would see her. Thanks Dr. Brazil!!
While I was on the phone with my doctor, the other phone rang. It was Mike and he was SCREAMING! He had fallen in his apartment and could not move! Luckily he had his cell phone in his pocket! My first instinct was to call 911....then I remembered that I was supposed to call Hospice first! Of course, I didn't have their phone number with me, so I had to find a phone book! I was crazy!!
We got Hospice on the way,I sent Deb on to the doctor, Kristy over to Mike's house, and I headed for town. Kristy called me and told me that the Hospice chaplain was there when she got there. They called 911.
Mike was paralyzed! He had dislocated his right shoulder, and broken the right arm all the way through.
They would meet me at the E.R.
***Special Note*** A GOD THING!
The chaplain was actually on Mike's street at the time. He was coming over to introduce himself to Mike when all of this happened. He knocked on the door not knowing Mike had fallen! Mike was able to holler out to him and tell him he needed help!
THANK YOU LORD!
They got Mike to the hospital and started working on him.
They sent him to x-ray to make sure everything else was ok.
He had fallen flat on his back! That really scared us!
After about 30 minutes, Mike was able to move his toes....then his legs! He is NOT paralyzed! They said it was probably just the trauma from the fall. They reduced his shoulder and put his arm in a cast and a sling and let him go home! Amazing!
Deb came to the hospital to meet us. She told us that she had double pneumonia! The doctor had wanted to put her in the hospital right away. She promised him that she would stay in bed (she didn't) but she had not made that drive just to go into the hospital! So he gave her a "BIG HONKIN" shot (in her words) and a prescription!
We brought both of them home, and they slept the rest of the day away.
Later that evening,we all went to Celebrate Recovery. Another God thing because Friday was the 1 year anniversary of his diagnosis and he was determined to pick up his chip! GO MIKE!
We had special prayer for him at CR and the pastor anointed him with oil.
It was so precious!
Hospice called and said Mike had to be moved. He could no longer stay alone.So we spent the whole day Saturday moving him over to Patti's house. We agreed that he would be better there because I have a split level house, and we can't navigate his wheelchair through it.I also feel better that he's there because Patti is a nurse and knows how to care for him better than I ever could!
Hospice came right away and delivered him a hospital bed and a wheelchair ramp. We spent today at Patti's getting him everything arranged for him.
Things are finally settling down.
So that's our weekend in a nutshell. Deb left at 5:00 this morning to drive back to Missouri and we're all going to bed early!
Please keep us in your prayers. This fall caused Mike alot of pain, and now he's frustrated that he has lost his independence.
PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR FAMILY!
We'll keep you updated!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Somebody Stop The World
I found this poem this morning, and it explains right where I am this morning.
Anyone who has had a loved one with Cancer will be able to relate!
Somebody stop the world,
I want to go back.
I want to go back ,
Before cancer Turned our world upside down.
I want to go back
this wasn't supposed to happen to us,
not to you .
I want to go back ,
To our carefree days
And future plans.
I want to go back
before doctors and chemo
and losing your hair
I want to go back,
When you were so strong
You seemed invincible
I want to go back,
When I didn't cry every day
for fear of losing you.
I want to go back ,
To where people didn't avoid me
Because they don't know what to say.
I want to go back ,
To when we still had forever
And weren't living on borrowed time.
I want to go back ,
To a point in my lifeI wasn't so angry with God.
It wasn't that long ago,
Though it seems like forever
Somebody stop the world,
I want to go back........
Author Robin Reynolds
Anyone who has had a loved one with Cancer will be able to relate!
Somebody stop the world,
I want to go back.
I want to go back ,
Before cancer Turned our world upside down.
I want to go back
this wasn't supposed to happen to us,
not to you .
I want to go back ,
To our carefree days
And future plans.
I want to go back
before doctors and chemo
and losing your hair
I want to go back,
When you were so strong
You seemed invincible
I want to go back,
When I didn't cry every day
for fear of losing you.
I want to go back ,
To where people didn't avoid me
Because they don't know what to say.
I want to go back ,
To when we still had forever
And weren't living on borrowed time.
I want to go back ,
To a point in my lifeI wasn't so angry with God.
It wasn't that long ago,
Though it seems like forever
Somebody stop the world,
I want to go back........
Author Robin Reynolds
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Hospice
Yesterday was NOT a good day!
I took my brother for his new set of scans, and they were sooooo much worse than we expected!
I met with his oncology team, and they told me it was time to call Hospice.
He lit up like a Christmas Tree when he was scanned. Despite the chemo and radiation he has been taking,he has major tumor progression and formation. They have exhausted everything they know to do for him at this point.
My heart is broken!
I'm not familiar with how Hospice works, or what they do, but everyone I've talked to says they are amazing!
I'm so sad...I'm ANGRY....I'm broken!
BUT.....I have the best support team around me! My Celebrate Recovery Team, my pastor, my church family, and all of you.For that, I am so thankful !
My brother is such a strong Christian man, and he is not scared or worried. He went into "work mode" when we told him, and started listing everything he thought we would need to know. I'm so incredibly grateful to have this time with him, and to know that I can make his celebration of life exactly as he would want it.
I'm angry that his daughter will never have the blessing of knowing this man. She has been told so many untruths about him. She will never have the chance to find out for herself what a blessing he truly is!
I'm angry that he has only been back with us for 2 years (after an 18 year separation)....that's another post... and he has spent 1 of those years battliing ths demon called cancer!
I know that in this past 2 years God has used Mike in a mighty way! He has made good use of his time here. Many many people have come to know our Lord and Saviour because of him. He IS a man after Gods heart and puts NOTHING before that! I stand in awe of him!
Please continue to pray for Mike and our family as we try to help make his journey into GLORY a precious one!
I'll leave you with my lifesong! I cling to this:
I took my brother for his new set of scans, and they were sooooo much worse than we expected!
I met with his oncology team, and they told me it was time to call Hospice.
He lit up like a Christmas Tree when he was scanned. Despite the chemo and radiation he has been taking,he has major tumor progression and formation. They have exhausted everything they know to do for him at this point.
My heart is broken!
I'm not familiar with how Hospice works, or what they do, but everyone I've talked to says they are amazing!
I'm so sad...I'm ANGRY....I'm broken!
BUT.....I have the best support team around me! My Celebrate Recovery Team, my pastor, my church family, and all of you.For that, I am so thankful !
My brother is such a strong Christian man, and he is not scared or worried. He went into "work mode" when we told him, and started listing everything he thought we would need to know. I'm so incredibly grateful to have this time with him, and to know that I can make his celebration of life exactly as he would want it.
I'm angry that his daughter will never have the blessing of knowing this man. She has been told so many untruths about him. She will never have the chance to find out for herself what a blessing he truly is!
I'm angry that he has only been back with us for 2 years (after an 18 year separation)....that's another post... and he has spent 1 of those years battliing ths demon called cancer!
I know that in this past 2 years God has used Mike in a mighty way! He has made good use of his time here. Many many people have come to know our Lord and Saviour because of him. He IS a man after Gods heart and puts NOTHING before that! I stand in awe of him!
Please continue to pray for Mike and our family as we try to help make his journey into GLORY a precious one!
I'll leave you with my lifesong! I cling to this:
Monday, March 16, 2009
OMG....The many uses of "UP"
Lovers of the English language might enjoy this. It is yet another example of why people learning English have trouble with the language. Learning the nuances of English makes it a difficult language. (But then, that's probably true of many languages.)
There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is 'UP.' It is listed in the dictionary as being used as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?
At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.
At other times the little word has a real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.
To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.
And this up is confusing:
A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.
We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP !
To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP , look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions
If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.
When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP . When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP.
One could go on & on, but I'll wrap it UP , for now ........my time is UP , so time to shut UP!
Oh...one more thing:
What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night?
U P
LOL
Now I'll shut up
There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is 'UP.' It is listed in the dictionary as being used as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?
At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.
At other times the little word has a real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.
To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.
And this up is confusing:
A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.
We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP !
To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP , look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions
If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.
When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP . When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP.
One could go on & on, but I'll wrap it UP , for now ........my time is UP , so time to shut UP!
Oh...one more thing:
What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night?
U P
LOL
Now I'll shut up
Funny Faces
I was feeling a bit "down" yesterday, so Lyric decided she would cheer me up with some funny faces! I love these! She always makes me smile!
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