I'm Back Home!

Sorry about all this health stuff..I sure don't want to become a hypochondriac, but I don't want to leave concerned parties hanging either.

My Angio Gram today showed the stint is where they put it and is working perfectly! YEY!!! The doctor feels that when I am stresses physically and emotionally simultaneously it is too much for my much weakened left ventricle that is only pushing out 25% of the 55% to 60% that a good muscle would be pumping under those circumstances. He believes the answer to be.."Let go and Let God!" Just choking, but it is a thought. He did say I needed to do whatever is necessary to eliminate as much stress as I can. He, also, wants a second opinion and has made an appointment for me for next Wednesday to do a Nuclear (or sometimes called a chemical) stress test. so, that's where we are at right now and thank you everyone so much fro all your prayers..God is good and He is working...Yesterday, the priest anointed me and prayed for my medical staff today. I feel a whole lot better now that I didn't have to have bypass surgery...at this time, anyway.

I am amazed at how many people are offering to help and bringing food and praying. It so wonderful to feel soo much love.

luv to all my babies big and small, your mama and grammie..;))

Good News :) , Bad news :(

Had my post-procedure tests today..the good news is that, without being under stress,, my heart is pumping out oxygenated about 45% now (it was less than 25% before the procedure and 55 to 60% is normal) and the not so good news is that under stress there has been no improvement. :( The doc thinks the stint has slipped or is becoming clogged..drats! So, Wednesday AM back to the hospital I go and they will start all over.

Needless to say, I am not a happy camper at this moment. I am trying to remember that I am right where I need to be right now for some unknown reason and I know there are many prayers being said on my behalf and I am so very grateful for every one of them.

Much to do tomorrow to prepare for another stay in the hosp, including taking down the Christmas Tree!

Luv to all my babies, big and small..mom and grammie

Drama at the Provence's!

Sorry for the delay in blogging, life has really taken up so much of my time. The more I do, the further behinder I get!

1st and foremost is the pageant, which will be here before I know it...As we all know, the month of December was a big set-back in many ways for me and I was unable to work on my dance routine...now, here we are four days from my first pageant rehearsal and I still haven't learned 40% of my routine, let alone polish up the styling and technique! I have been giving many hours the past 10 days trying to choreograph part of it and learn the other part that Shirley has choreographed. God bless Shirley for putting in endless hours helping me on this. Without her, I wouldn't be in the pageant, I am certain. Now, Friday after dance practice here with the Casa Belles, she and I will head for Phoenix for my second meeting with the MAN! Randall Designs will be taking my measurements..after losing 12lbs and then begin finalizing the design and begin making my costume that needs to be completed in three weeks! Guess they are capable of doing it with that time when you consider they made all the stars costumes in just four days from week to week. How exciting!! Still haven't found a gown yet..the MAN said they might have one for me to borrow when come Friday...then we will spend the night in Scottsdale in Shirley's condo and attend pageant practice Saturday from 9 to 12..hope this is all wortyh it.

Now, the trauma....Last night, Larry dropped a bronze praying hand and a black permanent marker off the cabinet in the kitchen. The hand fell on the marker on the floor..braking it in many pieces..needless to say, the permanent ink splattered in every direction! Of course, he did not tell me of all this or ask for my help until he had smeared it into and all over about a 1 1/2 square foot area! Oh my gosh! I tried pure ammonia..nothing..then bleach..nothing..by now, the worst is happening..for the first time since my procedure, I began to have Angina horribly up my neck, which made matters worse cause that was telling me that my heart wasn't fixed after all!
Suddenly, I remembered an old worn out piece of Mr. Clean Magic Eraser under my sink! I retrieved it and when I began rubbing it on my floor the stains started disappearing along with my Angina! Eventually, the entire stain came off the porous, cork like, $3500 kitchen floor. Now, today, I noticed a couple more splashes feet away from the original accident that had thoroughly dried and soaked into the floor. Another miracle, the remnants of the eraser pad and clear water removed those spots, too. I just got through e-mailing Procter and Gamble about this incident..I am sooo grateful..I told them I was going to tell everyone I knew about their product..by the way, coupons for it were in the Sunday paper and the pads are on sale at Walgreens this week! So, now you have it..my testimony for Mr. Clean Magic Eraser!!!

3rd...I am on the Foster Care Review Board in Verde Valley all day tomorrow..I have ten cases to review..(a paper pile about four inches thick of information) before then, so I better get started reading :(

Next Monday, I will have another stress test to see what improvements have been made, because of the procedure...now, since the trauma last night, we know there is still more to be done if possible, so the next time Larry has an accident of sorts and they seem to happen frequently) I can withstand the experiences without having chest pains and/or Angina.

Now, I think it is time for a short nap...

Luv to all my babies..big and small...yo mama and grammie

The checks are in the mail!

Hallelujah! Again, kids, so sorry the cards are a couple weeks late, but maybe they will be more appreciated at this time, ha,ha! They went out Saturday AM and, Cassie, yours were mailed to your mom's house as I do not have your new address....Enjoy ;-)

Yesterday, Larry and I were blessed with another miracle..Jeremy, his son, called and asked if they could come for a brief visit about noon. Well, everyone that knows me would say it'll never be OK at such a short notice! Well, you are all wrong. I figured I was willing to deal with anything to accomplish this huge hurdle. To make a long story short, Jeremy, Melissa and our most beautiful baby grandson, Jonathan came and stayed for 2 1/2 hours and a great bonding time was had by all.

A few hours later, one of my foster families called to say they would be dropping by in a few minutes to say hi. When they came, they gave me a beautiful daffodil plant. It is sooo nice to feel loved. My rewards from my volunteer work are so much greater than what I give. God is good.

This AM, Larry and I returned to church after missing last week and I helped serve communion, after which we drove into Prescott and met Shirley for lunch. I made a tape of my dance choreography done by another gal for her to preview. She called me at 7PM to say she'd been working on it for hours and has 1/2 of it ready to go! YEA! Please, God give me the strength to practice tomorrow at 7:15AM! I am so blessed with a friend like Shirley.

So, that's it for the weekend...besides the big milestone of Larry teaching me how to work our DVD player and how to record our TVO programs on a DVD. Welcome to the world of high tech!

Luv to all my babies, big and small...mom/grammie

Almost Good As New ;-}

YEY!!! How great God is....awakened this AM at 7:45 feeling almost good as new..what's with these late sleep-in hours since my return home? How grateful I am to be able to walk a bit and not have my groin hurt..how grateful I am today to know the reason I have been feeling like a wet dishcloth since my procedure (according to the doc, yesterday) is because I lost a lot of blood and am quite enemic!..So, off to Walgreens yesterday to get those iron pills! After I pop a couple of those, I should be able to start fitting in a busy schedule ahead. Have an appt with the Cardio on Jan 28th to recheck my fitness with all this new blood flowing thru me, ha,ha!

Talked to Kim this AM and was sad to find she was unaware of all these recent events...guess it is hard to inform everyone, especially if they are unaware of our blogs. I gave her my blog address, but Jacque, I know you are so very busy, but if you could give her a quick call someday after 3PM or just after 7AM her time, when she is off of work,,it would be so wonderful. I know she feels really disconnected from the family since Auntie Ree's passing.

OK...off to the races today..5 CASA reports to complete and Larry's billing for the Courts and his private practice and, of course, the laundry and maybe take the tree down and the Christmas decor in the yard! (sorry I am not there to help with your laundry, Joke)..what if, each day, the two girls each did a load or two? Remember how I had to do 2 loads everyday and 6 on Saturday to keep up? = 6x2 = 12 +6 = 18 loads a week and a couple extra here and there? Thinking back, I remember how I resented doing those 2 loads a day while dad rested...HHHMMMmmmm. Oh well, we made it and so will you, dear..just want you to know you don't have to be Super Woman and that it is OK to reach out for help. (End of speech)

Love to all my babies, big and small...grammie/mom

PS..the holiday cards might get in the mail by the end of the week and, Cassie, your B.D. card too,...I haven't forgotten you. ;-]

We Are Back Among the Living!!!

That's right..

Larry and I walked in our front door about 5:30PM last night and I thought I had gone to heaven...(even though our household had the appearence of being stirred with a spoon!)

Oh my goodness..the first thing we did was order a pizza from Pizza Hut and take a couple swallows of real coffee! Then got into our jammies and I quickly fell asleep in the chair 'til about 10:30PM, at which time I went to bed to sleep soundly until 8:15AM!!!! WOW! I haven't slept like that since I can remember!

Now, it is 11:22AM and Larry and I decided not to do church ;-{ this AM ...being, as I felt like I had been run over by a Sherman Tank when I awakened. Cooked breakfast...ham(with all fat removed) and eggs fried in Benecol and wholegrain & flaxseed toast with Benecol. Tasted like filet mignon!

Prognosis for all who care..(help me not to become an Aunt Ruth(God Bless her) in this respect;-

(I just returned from a four day stay at the hospital where a stent was injected into my right arterial vessel that is responsible for allowing blood to enter my heart; this inlet was blocked with hardened fiber more than 70% is all they would tell us and had been for a very long time, which weakened the left muscle (now diagnosed as Cardiomyopathy)of my heart (that was trying desperately to supply my body with needed blood that wasn't there to pump, for who knows how long), which in turn is interfering with the electronics and the my heart's ability to maintain a steady beat, due to the flittering of the weak muscle. Now that blood is entering my heart(full speed ahead, I expect!), all the docs have left to do is strengthen the left heart muscle through drugs (which, hopefully, I will not be allergic to as I have been in the past and , so far, so good.) We are very blessed and God is working! The docs think this blockage maybe even genetic, as so many of our relatives have had heart problems. The doc that installed the stent had nothing but praise for my cardiologist who took the time to take many pics from many angles of my heart and uncovered a very hard to detect problem. (Funny, I was just reading an article a short time ago that addressed how a seemingly perfect angiogram (as mine was in 1999) can really have unseen blockage if the pics are not taken from the correct angles. So, again, I feel very blessed and know that God was and is working for perfection in all our lives. It was and is a very humbling experience. One that really spells out what is important in one's life and makes me very appreciative of my many, many blessings. I will try to keep everyone posted as to the satus of all this without going overboard and becoming a hypochondriac. Who would ever have thought? Infallable me!!!

Now, after a quick shower and very needed shampoo, off we are going to get Swif'-her, who Larry took to the sitter two days ago, where she can play with her friends, to help fend off her loneliness for me . YEY!!! ;-}

Next stop.......Ms. Sr. Arizona...1st routine discussion, taping, and possible, rehersal is tomorrow.

Much love and hugs and kisses to all my babies, big and small....mom and grammie

P.S......All this makes me question if Aunt Ruth's cardiomyopathy problem stemmed from the same source of a unnoticed plugged artery.

P.S.

Last, but certainly not least, Larry and I are both very grateful for God bringing us together and for the wonderful marriage and friendship we have today.

A New Year!

Yes, A New Year!!! Larry and I just came from church where I received a special blessing from Father Larry..which included the thought that "only good will come from my Angiogram tomorrow"....It is such a blessing in itself to have a church to go to where we have many friends and can really feel the Spirit and Love of Christ present. God is good!

Larry and I are looking forward to a new year of organization, saving money and, of course, tithing (can't spell it, let alone do it!) and giving back to the Lord in gratitude for all His blessings and we have had many this past year, along with some events that we didn't consider to be what we would have wanted. However, God has a plan and sometimes we don't understand His Plan, but that is what makes us His children and not His teacher and/or advisor.

Let's see, this past year I went to Illinois in March/April and renewed my real estate license for two more years (just in case I may need to buy/sell a house in Illinois in the next two years and/or become a realtor here in AZ. In which case I would only need to take the AZ State test and not the national one, too. Upon arriving home from IL, I found my sister to be quite ill and after having taken her to the ER and insisting that something was badly wrong, after they said everything was checking out OK, they agreed to do a CT on her head and found a huge tumor which was Cancerous. After four months of dreaded Chemo and radiation, she died. Her family had those four months to begin to accept the fact that she wouldn't be with us much longer and she passed away in Oct 8th. It has taken a great deal of adjustment, on my part, to accept her death as she has been the only constant in my life since I was born, especially since the death of my mother in the eighties. There has been no funeral for her yet, however, our church has said three masses for her and I am beginning to feel more at rest about her having found her way to Heaven. You see, a few weeks after her death, she came to me in the night very troubled and saying that she couldn't find her way to Heaven, which I shared with Father Dan and he is the one that suggested having the masses for her. God bless him. Her husband, Uncle Leo, is beginning to look more positively towards moving back to Illinois in the Spring and has been busy clearing out the house and anything that reminds him of Ruth since before her death. On his behalf, I must say that when Larry and I visited with him on Christmas Eve Day, he was pretty cheerful and seemed grateful for our visit and gifts and white chili we brought him. I do believe he will be much happier in IL where his best friend, Bob, lives.

This New Year, together we have many blessings to be grateful for...six healthy children and seven grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren and my Prescott Valley family here, Trish and Dan and there daughter and recently adopted two more daughters. It was a horrendous struggle, but God was working and they are a beautiful, deserving family of their two new adopted girls, ages four and one and we love them all very much. We are, also, grateful for Larry's contracts with the school system and the Supreme Court/Juvenile Division and for his private practice...all of which have provided us with the ability to remain debt-free and to share with others less fortunate and our church. We are grateful for the good health we have experienced, and, yes, even for my recent diagnosis which now can be improved upon with treatment and I will get my strength and energy back and become my old self again. This past year, God has blessed me a new best friend, Shirley. I love her as a sister and when she is with me tomorrow at the hospital, we will tell them she is my blood sister. God is good!

Projected events for our New Year include, a cleaning of the garage, a new garage door, a cleaning of our furnace and air conditioning vents, redoing our yard's landscaping, a new deck (need lots of help on that one!) finding a new place or owner for my beautiful bedroom set that will not fit in our house and needs to be removed from Leo's house, giving him back their full sized bed and dresser and bringing my daybed back here from their house, painting the kitchen, bedrooms, living room and finish painting Larry's office area....on and on, an endless list..but, I must not fail to mention the Ms AZ Pageant I hope to be in on 3/1/08. My goal is to win the State Pageant so I can compete in the National Pageant that gives away two awards to contestants that work with children. One is $5000 and one is $3000, which, if they awarded one to me, I would choose to be donated to the 'CASA for Kids' very deserving program.

This all sounds like a great plan, don't you think? Bottom line is "Thy will be done and help us to accept it." A Happy and Healthy and Wondrous New year to all...mom/grammie and Larry/pa pa Larry