Lots of really nice bloggers and friends ask me how Don and I are doing and here is the most honest answer I can give you:
Don - He still struggles daily with all of the strange and changing side effects from the meds he is on. Last night - he was up and down all night long with leg cramps again. I lost count of how many pills he takes per day and am not sure how he can keep up since some are taken twice a day and others are taken once a week - still others are prescribed to be taken "as needed". He misses having the energy he had only last year - tiring easily. Many times though he pushes through his fatigue to finish a job started. I cannot thank him enough for this..especially when the job at hand has been one of my chores while I was recovering. We have our eyes set at the end of the tunnel - which for us will arrive in December when he can get off of the chemo. We know that there is a 50% chance the Hep.C can return over the following 6 months, but we choose not to talk about it. Don taught me something to tell myself when I get into stressful situations ... "Cross that bridge when and IF you get there!"
I don't know if you know this...but I left Don a couple of years ago. We were separated for almost a year. I moved in with my Father during that time and we were days away from being divorced. God changed Don. That was probably easy compared to God getting me to soften my heart! ha ha. Don told me that God used the situation (me leaving) to completely change him because He knew Don would need me during this time. Neither of us knew Don was ill when we got back together. We do not know what the future holds....but you know what??...we will cross that bridge when we get there!
Julie - It has been almost 6 weeks since my total hysterectomy. I thought I would have been further along in my healing than I am. I feel tons better, but just not 100% yet. I have not ridden, but I would have tried if it had not been raining every day. I have a burning sensation between the old appendectomy scar and the new lower bikini cut scar. The area also swells - especially if I have done anything physical. I frown about it because it looks really strange if I am not wearing girdle type panties under light weight clothes. You probably already guessed this - but I am very very strict on myself about the way I look...the physical shape I am in. I have not had plastic surgery ..unless you count a scar removed from my face when I was in first grade!
I went 12 days without any kind of hormone deficiency symptoms. Day 12 though was D-day for me! I started having hot flashes that stopped me in my tracks. It would start with a tingling feeling above my ears. Then I could literaly feel my pores fill with fluid just before I was soaking wet. They were so severe that although I was drinking plenty of fluid, my urine started to darken! I went to the doctors office. Because I object about the way the PMU mares are treated - I wanted to get on synthetic hormones. She prescribed pills. I started taking them immediately. They did NOTHING for me. I doubled the dose without permission ...with little relief. At the worst..I had over 30 hot flashes in one day and, in part due to someones insensitive joke during this time...I was bawling my eyes out for 2 days straight! My doctor called in a new prescription for an estrogen patch. Within 12 hours, I was feeling back to normal again.
I have lost about 6 or 7 pounds. I am not sure how much of that was my uterus though - since I was told it was 10 times the normal size. My waist is smaller, but the area below my belly button pooches out a bit. Because of this - some of my clothes are still uncomfortable. I hate that.
I am not aging well ...am I?
..so when it came up missing, I was a bit stressed. Well, after a huge rain storm, Don and I were walking back from the back pasture ...and low and behold..he found my phone..buried in the dirt..soaking wet...and filled with sand. 
..and he SWEARS that he is going to look like this by March 2010!
BTW - Don's birthday is on Halloween!
My Mom used to make them for us every year...yummmmmm!
This is Joy - in the white leathers on the white bike. She was moved to level 2 this last weekend and won Smoothest Rider Award!
but instead I am sending out a prayer request for this little guy - Trestin. When they returned home, Trestin had a whelp on his thigh. Emily took him into the day clinic and they told her it was nothing more than a bug bite. His 'bug bite' increased in size and his fever increased. Apparently they were wrong. Trestin is now in the hospital. He has a staff infection. They operated on him, opening it up and removing the infected tissue. He is still running a fever and it just breaks my heart. When Emily calls, I can hear him whimpering in the back ground. Please stop for a moment and pray for Trestin right now. Staff infections can get out of hand quickly.
I have a lot of pictures of this guy.....can you guess why??
Enlarge the picture and check out the funny look on Madison's face as she sees her brother walking!
My favorite part of this picture is on the box where it says "Life's Good"!
While she was here, a very large storm blew in and she got a small taste of what it was like to be in the barn during Hurricane Ike. The wind blew very hard, it hailed and poured down rain. We lost our electricity. Vicki helped me feed the animals (in the mud and rain!) and then, we went to dinner...even though we both looked like wet rats! It was so much fun. I was exhausted though and fell fast asleep soon after...but what a fun day. Thank you again Vicki! You will never know how much it meant to me!!!
