Monday, March 25, 2013

And then there was............................

I've said it before and I'll say it again......

NEVER!

EVER!

ask what else or what more? As there is ALWAYS a what else lurking around in my life.  So please stop wondering what more could happen to me or my family.
2 weeks ago I went into the Dermatologist to have my annual check over.  I had my forever reoccurring wart frozen off, and 2 moles removed.  The next day I went to go back to have a lump, about the size of a pea, on my leg removed. I've had issues with the incision since GO and have had to go in to have it checked out twice.
Can you believe ALL this for a size of a pea?  OUCHIE!  It takes up darn near my whole thigh :(
I finally get to have the stitches removed tomorrow morning, YAY!
Last week I received a phone call from the clinic that the lump was nothing to be worried about, but one of the moles that was removed on my leg has come back.......

CANCER!

MALIGNANT MELANOMA!

Well isn't that just great!

..................I can't even make this shit up.

Boy is my book just getting Bigger in bigger.  I don't even think I'd be able to fit all of my life in just one book.....maybe a series??  Now that's a thought.
I will be going in on April 4th to have surgery done on my leg in hopes the Doctors will be able to cut all of the cancer out.  They are hoping that we caught it soon enough that it hasn't grown too far too fast.  I can not have it done in the clinic as they believe the incision will be larger then the one I have already on the other leg, which could present an issue with trying to get it closed.  Why NOT, I wouldn't think for a minute it was going to be cut n dry (no pun intended).  With that being said, the concern is where else might I have cancer floating around that we can't see.  As it seems I'm a petri dish for cancerous cells and cancer runs rampid through my family. It doesn't help that my MS infusion is like chemo which drops my immune system down.  When I was younger I had Pre cancerous cells in my uterus (one of the reasons for my COMPLETE hysterectomy, yes I've been in menopause since I was 30), then again precancerous cells were removed from my arm last year, and now.....

I HAVE CANCER!

I'm getting a bunch a forms and paperwork about cancer,in the mail, to remind me and Even
"TIME" magazine is reminding me ~
Dan got me a beautiful bouquet of flowers to brighten my day.
So now I have to sit and wait to see how the results from my surgery come out to find out if the area we found can be all removed surgically.  
To make matters even worse.............
I will no longer be able to continue my MS infusion treatment.  So on top of dealing with this cancer scare, I get to await a ticking time bomb to blow up in my face any time now.  The stress alone should set me in a tail spin soon, but not being able to do the ONLY treatment that has worked against my MS.  Well hang on tight, this could be a very interesting ride.  I am trying my best to put a smile on my face and just go with the flow, as really that's all I can do.
Ever find yourself in the right spot at the right time??  Last Monday Ms Gail and I went to a presentation on Detoxing.  As you all know I have been busting my hump to lose weight and NOPE not a lb......  No matter how much I walk and watch what I eat.  I can get in a funk and eat whatever and not gain a lb either, which is nice...but frustrating non the less.  Dan knows and feels how frustrated I've been and showed me the article in one of the magazines we get.  So I went to see what it was all about.   I find it funny that I went there in hopes for some ideas, help, to lose weight.....BUT now I'm going there is for a life altering turn around.  This Dr practices functional medicine or holistic medicine....We are going back to the basics with this Dr and let me tell you how excited I am.  I'm amazed at the test results I've received, tests that really are common sense test, but the "mainstream" docs don't feel the need to test.  Oh no, why look into WHY ones system is the way it is.....just treat the problems, instead of trying to solve the problem.  Can you say pharmaceutical driven?  Going the "natural" way is going to be a very difficult route.  

Now why is that?  Shouldn't natural be easy?

I will need some serious self control and persistence.  It's SCARY  alarming to see what we eat and how programmed we are towards all this bad stuff.  I can't say this is going to be easy, but the way I see it.....

I have no choice

I need to be committed to myself to be a better me, a healthier me, and hopefully be around alot longer.  I need to be around for my family! I have to be honest I'm scared to death right now with all the unknowns and hard work I have ahead of me, but I am going to give it my all and try to kick this will everything I have.




Monday, March 18, 2013

Oh MY ~ 100!

Happy Birthday to one of the MOST AMAZING and INSPIRATIONAL woman I know ~
My Great Grandma, Sophia NaGreen
100 years young!!


Great Grandma Na Green's birthday was this Saturday and they were throwing a Lil party to celebrate her special day, at the nursing home, with all her friends there.  The BIG shindig was on Sunday with her family and friends in Fremont at her Daughters establishment, Hahn-a-lula.

She even made the Paper :)

My grandmother, Bev, was on her way to the nursing home Saturday with Great Grandma's birthday cake when her car slid on some ice and as she moved to not hit the car in front of her, she hit a pole :(  She was taken to the hospital and there we found out she had sustained a broken rib, sternum, and a sprained ankle.  She is very lucky that those are the only things that happened, after seeing the car and hearing what the Dr said could have happened to her heart n lungs....well lets just say this St Patrick's Day weekend we had some luck head our way.  Needless to say she didn't make the party at the nursing home.....nor did the Cake she made.

She was admitted for observation, as with 2 fractures and her age, 78, that bought her a ticket for a stay at Mercy Medical.  She was so worried about her cake that she made and the car, both of which were smashed :(  Oh Grandma.....cars can be replaced and more cakes can be made :)  Just get better!  I sat with her most of the day while in the hospital trying to keep her calm and help her understand all that they were doing to her.  Not to toot my own horn, but I'm really on my "A" game in crisis' like this.  Both of her daughters, my mom and aunt.....well.....one is an emotional mess and the other goes a mile a minute.....I will let you figure out which one is which, LOL.  Even as hard and painful it was for her to breathe, Grandma made sure that everyone at the hospital knew it was her mother's 100 bday and that she didn't want to miss the party that was planned for Sunday.
Dan and I went to look at the car that evening.  I really wanted to see this "Crumb" cake the first responders were talking about.  I was told it was smashed and all over the trunk.  When I opened the trunk I didn't think it was too bad.....and even despite Dan's opinion of me leaving the cake in the trunk....I salvaged it :)  She was so excited that all her hard work wasn't a total loss, plus I knew she would really want her cake board back.  Dan thought I was nuts to bring it home and "fix" it, but .............. I just had to.  And of course when I told her I saved the cake, her first comment was....."Did you get the cake board?"  Do I know my grandma or what?



I went back up the hospital Sunday morning and had I had packed n planned on spending the day with her there.  That way she wouldn't be alone thinking about the party.  Well she must have put her charm on and the good Dr discharged her.  Boy, if you want to see an injured 78 yr old women move fast ... tell her she can go to the party.  She was trying her best to get out of bed by herself, and even tried to take the IV out.  SLOW down...I WILL get you there!!  I got her dressed, did her hair, and off we went.  From the Dr saying she could go, to us walking out the door.....it was about an hour.  Yes, I had to bust my butt to keep up with her, lol.  She had a very rocky day and it wasn't a fun party for her, as the vicodin did NOT agree with her, so I spent ALOT of time with her getting sick......but if I had to do it again....
I would :)  
Just to see these two wonderful women, that I have in my life, be together to celebrate 100 yrs!!

Check out ALL the people ~ now does my Great Grandma know how to have a party or what?

My Mom made a wonderful poem  ~  

 Yes it is true she is a slobbery sap just like my Great Grandam, lol.

My Uncle Bob put together a 30min movie about my Great Grandmother's life.  Boy, what a woman.... I hope I can do half the things she has done in her 100yrs.  And let me let you at 100 yrs old there isn't much that slows this lady down.

Great Grandma and her 3 Girls ~ Beverly, Nancy, and Judy

Thanks Great Grandma NaGreen for all the wonderful Memories and all the life lessons we have learned from you.  You truly are an inspiration in my life.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Step'n it up!

I find it funny that when our life is crazy nuts and I have alot to say I find time to blog, but when life is going good, well ..... I'm a big blog slacker.  So the moral of it is...no news is good news around here. LOL!  That's not to say I don't have things to blog about, so here we go.
Wow almost a month has gone by.
I know the last post just briefly stated that Dan and I went to Minneapolis......so Yes, Dan and I were able to get out for an "extended" date nite.  We had a wonderful time.  We were able to get to the RV show and talk with the sales team there about what "needs" the RV would have to safely travel with Danny.  Let me say they were  WONDERFUL to work with.  They really listened to what we had to say and they helped us make an RV for Danny with everything he/we need.  The company we were dealing with is Steinbring RV, on a Newmar Coach Canyon Star model# 3911.  Click HERE to see some of the wonderful features this coach has directly from the manufacture, like a roll in shower and.....
wait for it.......
a Braun wheelchair lift.  This coach is/was designed for the driver/operator to be able to drive and operate the RV while in the wheelchair with ease.  They thought of everything and again it's right from the manufacture this way.  AWESOME!!!  We obviously don't need everything to be handicap accessible, so we changed and few things around to go back to the "normal" RV placements, but still keeping in mind that I possibly might be in a wheelchair down that road so we didn't change around too many things.  My point here is that they are very easy to work with and they truly want to make sure that this RV works for you. They will sit down and take the time to rearrange things to fit your needs.  Just to have the ease of getting Danny in and out of an RV without the fear of hurting him or ourselves.  As in the RV now we have to disconnect the vent from Danny, pick him up, carry him up the steep metal stairs, and have someone follow right behind with the vent.  Not a 1 person job and One slip up and .... I don't even want to think what would happen.  If you haven't guessed it by now, Yes we decided to go ahead and order one.  So today Dan and I packed everything up in our RV and they are coming to pick it up soon.  I'll be sad to see it go, we've made some great memories in there, but I'm anxiously waiting to see how many more wonderful memories we can make in this new one.  We already have 3 trips we tentatively have on the calendar for this summer, Bring it on.  We'll definitely give the RV a work out.
Danny got new Wheels.  This was a long haul to get it from the manufacture to our living room, but it was SO WORTH it!  This is a SymmetriKit Power Chair with Finger forms along the back and Aero "breathable" back panels.  It's made in the UK, So the traveling this chair went through was just a hope, skip, and jump across the "pond" which took approx 3 months to get here.
 Look at that smile......yeap he LOVES it!  Plus this momma LOVES it for him.  It's so comfy, it's VERY easy to adjust, and it's wide range to of adjustments this chair has is AMAZING.

I just love this picture.  They are both together watching TV sitting side by side.
The King and Queenie of the House
 Look who's Back in the hot tub for.  He just LOVES being in there and Ms Gail doesn't mind it either. I really want to see him in the hot tub more often.  It's so good for his muscles, tone, range whatever you want to call it.  We are very lucky that he has a nurse that's just as excited to go in the hot tub as Danny is :)

 Danny is doing fantastic!  He never ceases to amaze me.  He had alil hiccup with a staph infection at his G-tube site.  I was alil discouraged as Danny has never had issues at his site's....we have always been commended on how healthy his sites look.  Today his site looks wonderful again with no scaring or granuloma.  YAY!!  The last few days he has thrown a curve ball by not peeing on his own so we've had to cath him once n awhile.  We are not sure why he is doing this, but all the tests we've had done have shown nothing funny is going on.  I guess he's entitled to a few off days once in awhile.  His school had contacting me about coming back out to see him again.  I can't wait to show him off to them.  I am not going to be sending him back TO school as it's just too "buggy" for him there, maybe a field trip here n there, but his schooling will be set back to home bound services.
Dan has been very busy between the EMR calls, Firefighting calls, Laundries, and plowing snow.  I've been calling him "Snowman".  He's getting alil frustrated with the days being like the "groundhog days".  I think he finally loathes winter as much as I do.  I tell ya Florida sounds better n better, to the both of us...lol.  Dan is starting to turn his gears to the 2013 racing season.  I'm sure the Fairmont is coming out of the trailer soon and the sounds n smells of racing will be floating through "The Ranch".  Since our trip through "The Southfork Ranch" in Dallas, it's sparked some fond memories that Dan and I had in our childhood.  We both remembered watching it as kids, but we don't remember the details.  So I found the whole collection of the "Dallas" seasons, so we spend most of our evenings watching what we call "Dallas Dope".  Once one episode is done we just have to watch another one.  LOL!
Avrianna is doing Great.  She is now involved in archery too and She loves it!!  I've said it before and I'll say it again....this girl is amazing.  I don't know how she does it.....ALL!  I believe there is nothing this girl can't do.  Watch out world, Avrianna is coming.  Between excelling in school, dive, piano, viola, trumpet, bells n chimes in church, choir in church, archery, and just being a kid she balances it all nicely.  I can't believe she manages it all, as being just the taxi can be alil over whelming, and she still has an open mind as to what else is out there for her.  I can't wait to see what she does when she grows up.
I'm just plinking about.  Taking everyday, hell every minute.....as it goes.  Some good and some bad, but for the most part I've been doing well.  I am still trying to balance MS and trying to loss weight.  I've hit a wall and it sucks!  I've gone to many health coaches and physicians but they haven't been able to get me any info that I don't know already.  I was able to talk to my primary/osteopathic Dr last week and he is going to help me.  Well, guessI should have gone to him first instead of hitting dead end after dead end.  Maybe I needed to hit the wall to give it my ALL.  I am IN THIS with EVERYTHING I HAVE.  My D.O. gave me a site to go to, The Canary Club, on this site you are able to order tests to figure out your levels of hormones and other things that could potentially be a key factor in maintaining your health and issues with weight.  Most Dr's don't test all of these things even though, they know for a fact, many have issues with these levels.  I did these tests and sent them in so now to sit and wait to find out the last piece of the Lori's health puzzle.  I've been tested for everything else so I can't wait to see what these tests have to say.  Then I can give myself a better feel of what I'm up against in this fight I'm having with myself.  I owe it to myself !!  I can only hope people look back at my life and say I did everything I could by taking every obstacle I've come up against with a fight and some grace.  I have enrolled myself in a pilot program for weight loss and wellness, with a local fitness center.  I'm excited to see if/how it is going to work.  Stay tuned...I'll keep you posted!