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It was so cold today we turned on the furnace to warm up the house a little. We were watching the Denver service and I was covered with a blanket and almost fell asleep. Not that it was boring but I was warm and cozy in my blanket. Our daughter and SIL were both singing so it was good to see them up on the stage. We have our church at 4pm so it is nice to have two services to see. I was with the kids today. We do it for a month at a time so today was my last day. The other teacher had her 2 y/o son (his Dad is the minister so he could not watch him) in the class so I spent quite a bit of time with him since his activites were distracting to the older kids in the class. We are thinking of starting a class for the younger children. There are 4 boys that are about the same age that would fit into the age group but I don't think I will be volunteering for duty there. They are all so busy they need someone in there with flexibility of getting on the floor to play with them and has more energy to play with them. They are between 1 and 2 years old.
Judith said she has been on MFP but not posting. She will be able to post here on Monday. She had a very busy last few days and will update us on Monday about her doctor visits.
Susan - the fun has begun with your granddaughters! How long are they staying?
I am late posting and need to get dinner ready. My husband has a zoom session with his Spiritual Formation class in a little while. The students are from Ireland, Kenya, Nigeria, New York and the Philippines. Not all can get on on Sunday night so he repeats the zoom at 10am tomorrow so all the time zones do not have to get up in the middle of the night to get on. It is aninteractive class and they seem to really enjoy it.0 -
That class sounds amazing, Linda. I am with you about taking care of 2 year olds. Lol! I think I would have fallen asleep too, in those circumstances! The granddaughters stay till Thursday.
Thank you for those thoughts, Marilyn.
Judith, we know you are needing to rest and heal. Take care.
I have appointments at the Podiatrist and Dietician today. The girls will go shopping with their Poppy while I do that.0 -
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Today is my 800th day of checking in. MissLori is 15 days ahead of me. Can we make it to 1000??
Susan - What do the girls call you? Poppy is a good name for Colin. We just go by Grandpa and Grandma.
Judith - I am anxious to hear more details of what the doctors said. I am sure it is a lot for you to process. How is your blood pressure and edema? Someday when you are healed, we can look back on these days and see how God worked powerfully in your life - both physically, sprititually and with those who have been involved in your care during your surgeries.
Marilyn - great thought. What ever we do, we will reap the consequences.
My husband went outside to get warm in the sunshine but I am sitting at my desk with a blanket wrapped around me to keep warm. I need to get up and start exercising so I will get warmer. Have a great day everyone - prayers persist for everyone.0 -
Linda, I am Granny or Grandma to the grandchildren. Two families call me Granny, another family calls me Grandma.
Marilyn, that's true.
Judith, hoping the oedema is beginning to lessen and you are feeling tiny bits better, day by day.
Another busy day with the granddaughters. We took them to a strawberry farm for lunch, then they went swimming. This afternoon they are going to learn pickle ball thanks to a neighbour.0 -
Went to my TOPS meeting today - lost another 1 pound so am pleased with that. The weight loss is adding up which is nice to see and it is looking like I could / will be close to be out of the 200 mark by the end of the year - but just taking it one day, one meal at a time.
Had blood work done last week - kidney number is down to 11 from 16 which is not good. They called when I was out this morning so have returned the call - the said they wanted to discuss the results and also have a new perscription for me- always something
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Oh Marilyn , the good and the bad is happening for you all at once. I knoq you would be disappointed with the kidney reaults. The weight loss is wonderful! 🙏💕
Just a quick visit today as we are driving to the coast with the girls to visit their uncle, aunt and cousin.0 -
Marilyn - Congratulations on your continued weight loss.
Susan - sounds like a fun time with the girls.
Judith - we miss you but know you are taking the rest that you need. I pray that you have a restful night's sleep and have more energy tomorrow.
We had a good Ladies Daytime Bible study today talking about Joshua. When he started to lead the people after Moses died, it sounds like he was a little nervous. God told him to take courage several times and promised to be with him all the way. This is true for us today also. God will give us what we need if we ask for His help. He wants the best for us. We went grocery shopping after the study. We did not know how we were going to get the 5 gallon water bottles out of the store and into the truck because they are pretty heavy. God blessed us with two different men who saw us and my husband's sling and helped us get the bottles into the cart and into the truck. When we got home, we were able to put one of them on the dispenser with only a small amount of water getting on the floor. God is good!0 -
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Thank you Linda, I just finished posting in all the threads and enjoyed the games.appreciate your kindness. I am trying to gain weight back but it seems not getting past the 94/95 pound range, mostly 94 pounds. 3 pounds doesn’t seem like much to gain to get back up to 97 pounds but with issues with face and dizziness it doesn’t help me! Anyway, I will get there. I am 2 weeks post up and see my Surgeon every 2 weeks as they have to treat the area every 2 to 3 weeks for the next few months until at least Christmas. I have appointments at Cancer Clinic via phone and in person but the main appointments are at the hospital where I am being closely watched.
So glad your husbands arm is coming along and less swelling, this is good news.please wish your Son a Happy 41st Birthday and your granddaughter her Birthday the first week of October.Happy times in your household!
Susan, so glad you are enjoying having your friend visiting. Your card making I’m sure is heaps of fun, but realize it can be tiring too. Hope you have a great Workshop and have a good turn out!
Marilyn, my thoughts and prayers are with you, take care and Get Well Soon. I believe you are recovering from your surgery at the same time as your surgery I think was same time as mine was.
Take care all, be back tomorrow! ❤️🙏🤗0 -
Good to see you posting, Judith. I do hope you will be able to eat better soon. You have been through so much. Hugs, hugs, hugs.
Linda, glad you gor the help you needed yesterday. Sounds like a good study, too.
Marilyn, I need to find my magnifying glass for tiday's quotw. I am sure it is good. Hope you are doing better today.
My friend left last Friday and pur granddaughters arrived on Saturday. Today is our last day together. They are going 10 Pin Bowling tbis morning and joining my card class this afternoon . We took them to see their uncle and cousin at the beach yesterday. It has been great having them here.1 -
So good to hear what is happening in your health Judith. It sounds like you are pretty busy with doctor appointments. I pray that with each appointments there is progress in your healing. I also pray you can gain more weight. As hard as it is for you to gain weight it seems is as hard for me to loose weight. It would be nice if I could give you some of my excess weight.
Susan - I hope you continue to have fun with the girls.1 -
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Marilyn - great thought. Sometimes we think we can do something big but do not have the time or skill to do it. It takes a humble heart to decide to let things go and see that the world continues to spin even if we did not do what we planned. Tomorrow is another day to try again.
We are starting a study on the book of Philippians in our Thursday afternoon study group. I am looking forward to learning about the church at Philipi as a group. We got through one verse today but we also had a few things of business to discuss first. The first Sunday of the month we have small groups church meetings. We were figuring out the meal.
After our Bible study, one friend stayed late to help me with a pattern I ordered online. It is for a Christmas tree that is made of circles that stack over each other. They sent me the template but no directions. We tried to make sense of it all and she finally said she would take it home and work on it. I was hoping to make some as Christmas presents for family and friends. They should be very pretty when they are done.
My husband is doing so well with his arm. He is leaving his sling off as he sits in the office. He says it feels very weak from not moving very much so it will be a while before he is back to "normal". I have heard it will take at least 4 months and will never have full lifting power since his muscle was so torn. We are go grateful that it was his left arm that was injured since he is right handed.
After our Bible study0 -
Linda, It's great to hear that your husband's arm is healing so well. Sorry to hear there will be lasting consequences for the torn muscles, but hopefully he will have less pain. Your Christmas tree project sounds interesting. I would love to see a photo of it when you have worked it out. It should be interesting to study Philippians together. Our group study is on Acts right now. In church we just went tgrough 1John and 2John, and Pastor will take us through 3John in coming Sundays. We had a good day yesterday with the girls. They have gone home now and the house seems so quiet. They were not noisy girls but we knew they were here.
Marilyn, I enjoyed today's quote. We should all give ourselves permission not to stretch ourselves too far when we need to have a little break.
We have been out to the caravan today to see if there were any leaks after yesterday's storm. I am happy to report that all was dry. We did some reorganising and replacing of parts. Our preparation for our big trip has begun.0 -
Thank you Linda and Susan, I saw my Surgeon and Oncologist last week when I was 1 week post op now I’m 2 weeks post op. I have dizziness and weakness still and my Surgeon said he couldn’t say my surgery was successful as it will take months to recover and he has to watch the areas for any sign of recurrence of disease. I see him every 2 to 3 weeks for follow up and to treat the pooling and bubbling of skin to cut those areas away and trim the sutures.
My oncologist said with Malignant Melanoma they give a 5 year survival rate with treatment. I am at 3 years and 6 surgeries later.
I am believing I will get to the 5 year stage and go beyond. After 5 years they do blood work Pet Scans and CTScans and if they come back clear of disease they put me on a yearly protocol doing tests to rule out disease.
I am trusting I am going to hear the Oncologist say Disease Free! I have a lot of living to do and believe God is going to heal me, using my healing
to touch lives I have been in contact with.
I have treatment for Trismus that was caused from the cancer and multiple surgeries and for the damage done to the inside of my mouth which in the end will help me to eat normally. As my Doctor’s said a slow and steady process. Sorry
for long report but it gives you an idea what lies ahead.
Your travel plans sound fun Susan, glad you were able to clean up the Caravan from the storms. Glad you enjoyed your friends visit and time with your grandkids.
Linda glad to hear about your husbands arm healing but sorry about lasting affects from torn muscles. Great study in Philippians, our Church just finished our series in Philippians, love this Book!
Thanks Marilyn for last quote. Yes it takes courage and to be humble to admit when we can’t finish what we hoped to do. Good reminder.
Good Night all, so tired. God Bless ❤️🙏😴0 -
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Marilyn - another great quote. It is a matter of mind set and attitude sometimes rather then circumstaces.
Judith - The life expectancy the doctor is talking about is only for an average of person- many of whom do not have the Great PHysician on their side. You have so much to give and are such a servant of people, God has more work for you to do in my opinion. Is your trismus painful? I had to look it up and it said it was caused by a muscle spasm in the TMJ joint that will not relax. I am glad they have a treatment for this.
Susan - I am glad your caravan did not leak. That would be a big problem as you travel if it did. I have forgotten when your trip starts. I know it will take a while to get everything ready but you have traveled quite a lot so maybe it will be easier. Of course you have not taken a trip that lasts several months in this caravan. Once my friend figures out how to make the Christmas trees, I will put a picture on here.
We are going out to eat with friends tonight. The man has a birthday on Monday but will be out of town fly fishing on that day. When we meet for church on Sunday I will have a pineapple upside down cake to celebrate with him and the group. I also will be making dinner rolls so a busy day of baking for me tomorrow.1 -
Linda the definition is much more than what you have said. Yes spasm in jaw is TMJ that you are describing. And I also have TMJ too and before cancer I had a mouth guard I wore every night. But Trismus is different when Cancer is involved. Read below please.
Trismus can and in the case of cancer is caused from Head and Neck cancer surgeries. And mine has caused a mouth opening of a 10 and normal mouth opening is a 30 to 35. I have a detailed print out from Cancer Clinic. As a result that is why I have syringe’s and very narrow straws and my food is pureed with extra liquid to drink everything I eat. This is why I have to undergo treatment to stretch out the whole inner mouth and because I had my mouth wired shut on one side that is why the jaw is involved.
And yes a lot of pain in face lips mouth and jaw.
And amen I have a Mighty God who is looking after me and I am trusting at the end of all my treatment I am trusting God for His Healing.
Marilyn, Thanks for your quote you shared:
Thinking of you Susan.
God Bless you all.0 -
Judith, Thank you for the update on your painful and difficult health conditions. I too looked up Trismus but it is better when you tell us how it is affecting you. I agree with Linda that you give so much to others and are such a wonderful witness of God's love. I am sure God has many loving plans for you. 🙏💕
Linda, your baking day sounds good. May Glen have a terrific birthday celebration. Tell him to be careful with his arm during the fly fishing! We will actually be away for six to twelve months in the caravan. We are trying to get it all set up the way we want it before we go so we will not have to do too many alterations on the road. You are right, we have not spent a long period of time in this van yet.
Marilyn, that's a good quote.
Today, we repacked the tray of the Ute (generator, dog fence, tools) and made room for dog food, a jerry can for spare fuel and watwr. We bought a slide out rubbish bin for the caravan. Colin will install it for us. I am concentrating on getting my little pot plant garden set up for easy care by friends while we are gone. I have re-potted a few things, added water crystals to other plants so they will survive this summer, and have stocked up on fertiliser and potting mix so my friends don't need to buy anything. I need to add some kind of pest control options to the pile. I am blessed with friends who will keep an eye on my plants.1 -
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Marilyn - that is a great idea. I just get in and out quickly but it would start my day out better if I just let the shower wash away more than just what the soap is made for.
Susan - the birthday boy and the fishing trip were for the man we ate dinner with not Glenn. I would not allow him to go on that trip if he wanted to. That would be way too much exercise! It sounds like you are doing a great job getting ready for the trip. I am getting excited just listening to you. Plants would be something that would definately need a friend's help. When we go for more than a week we have a friend also help us out. I have never heard of water crystals. It sounds like a good idea to use.
Judith - thanks for explaining further how Trismus is affecting you. It sounds like it might take a while for the exercises to stretch your mouth. It has been a long time since you were able to eat regular food. I look forward to the time when this happens and you can enjoy our plum tarts and cobbler we are having at our virtual party. 🥧
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Thank you Linda and Susan for your kindness and comments. I have had my eyes opened by being a patient at the Cancer Clinic. You mentioned how it affects me. Sadly there are hundreds of Cancer Patients that are going thru what I am going thru. Every day and every year Cancer patients go into surgery to remove cancer on faces, heads, lymphoid, mouth and lips and due to the massive surgeries to remove the cancer they develop Trismus from Head and Neck surgeries that altar their abilities to open their mouth wide enough to eat, and need special tools to clean teeth and mouth; some have feeding tubes and that is what they were going to do for me! I said NO. Some patients die from both issues.
I read in the Cancer society that up to 79% Head and Neck cancer patients are affected with Trismus!
Anyway I see my Pathologist on October 10th and will ask what the prognosis is for me and what are all the treatment that is available out there I can have.
Yes I look forward to eating with you even if it’s a virtual party banquet.
Marilyn, thanks for sharing the Shower meditation! Very interesting. Haven’t seen this or heard of it before.
In closing May you all know how much I appreciate you all. Love you and God Bless
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Judith, that's a high percentage of cancer patients getting Trismus. I have a friend with head cancer aboit to ho in for more surgery. He is a missionary and loves to play harmonica, as well as eat! It would be such a mercy for Joe not to get Trismus. He's a man of faith like you are a woman of faith, so he will stay positive I am sure. He just turned 84....and may your treatments all be very successful too. 💖
Linda, sorry for getting your friend and your husband mixed up! Yes, our trip is coming up soon. I tend to get excited the day we leave. Lol! Yes, I was very relieved that my friend offered to help with my plants. Water crystals absorb water so the plant can access it when thirsty. They keep the soil from totally drying out. Very useful!
Marilyn, what a great visualisation technique.
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I am late posting today. This morning I had an instructive webinar by a concert pianoist who was supposed to give us some helpful hints on playing the piano with greater skill and flexibility. It started out bad by being an hour later than the original e-mail told me. He talked for an hour about some great things but since there were 5000+ of us on the webinar and some did not play the piano or even have a piano he had to keep is simple. After he spoke he spent 45 minutes telling us about a course we should buy that normally would cost $8000 but he would give it to us for $1500. After that there was an hour of question and answers. We had to leave for our church service at 1:30 so I finally got off the webinar thinking I was going to loose my chance to get a free book he promised if we "stayed to the end". To my great surprise, when I got home I had an e-mail sending me the book as a e-book. The book he had showed us was a hard back but at least I got the book. I have not had time to look at it much but I feel better about getting it.
We had a nice late lunch with our Bible study group/church group. We had brisket, cabbage and carrots and onions, mashed potatoes, watermelon and honeydew, rolls and my pineapple upside down cake and some cookies. We had a good lesson that my husband taught about the statement Jesus made about "I am the good shepherd". Since he grew up on a sheep ranch that went to the mountains every summer with the sheep, he could add alot of infomation about what it was like to really be a sheepherder. It added a lot of interest to Psalm 23 which he referenced also. There is a lot that the shepherd need to do to keep the sheep fed and protected!
It was much cooler today. I had to wear my sweater as we traveled to the house we were meeting in. Once I was inside, I was able to warm up some. The pollen is also high so I am sneezing today. We have been having some really beautiful evenings with the full moon. It looks like a street light is on but it is only the moon shining. God's power is shown in the creation he made!
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Linda, how lovely it must be with the moon shining like that but sorry to hear about your allergies. Maybe they won't last long. I hope not anyway. Your husband's shepherding experiences would have made psalm twenty three really distinctive. I would have liked sitting in on that sermon. The experience with the piano instructor sounded a bit tedious. Glad you got a book from him and hope it helps.
Marilyn I liked today's quote and also the colours of the poster. Thank you for that.
Judith I am thinking of you and hoping you are slowly improving each day. I hope you are getting enough rest. It sounds like recovery is a lot harder for you this time. Take care of you.
I went to ukulele this morning and we were a small group but had fun. There is choir this afternoon. Both groups have asked me if I would record either my voice or flute to help them with the Christmas concert. I have never been asked to help live groups with recordings before. Who would have thought this would happen now! Lol!1 -
Susan, how wonderful for you to be able to have your voice and ukulele recorded to help out with the Christmas concert they are planning. With you travelling will you be away when the Concert is put on? Thank you for commenting on my post I explained about what the Cancer Society says about Trismus and Head and Neck cancers with the percentage of patients acquiring the condition up to 79%.yes as you commented, it is high.
Linda, I so enjoyed reading about how your husband shared about the sheep ranch on a sheep ranch and watching the sheep learning about them. I am sure it was so interesting having the study on Psalm 23 for the people to hear about this, growing up on a sheep farm he would of added so much information that perhaps they would of not known.
So glad you joined the group on webinar by a Concert Pianist. Now that is a real treat gleaning the info on piano. With you having to leave before end of the instruction it was such a surprise for you to get the e-book waiting for you in your inbox.I am so glad for you.
Marilyn, thank you for sharing the quote, I sure could identify with it as I have learned so much on this journey especially how God has been with me every step of the way pouring out His Grace Peace and Strength. My desire is to be a witness of how God has carried me and want to be able to share that with someone who goes thru the journey I have been on.
God Bless you all, you are such a blessing to me in which I thank God! ❤️🙏🤗0 -
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Nature has so much to offer us in the way of home remedies! I read historical novels that talk about poltices, and herbal teas and other "medicines" and I wonder if it would have been better on our bodies to go back to that. So many medications were based on herbs that have been replaced with chemicals that are hard on our bodies. Of course there are some medications that are totally necessary that are man made but then the Indians chewed on willow bark for aches and pains I think that was the best medicine.
Susan - that is wonderful that you could do a recording to help with the Christmas music. That would be so helpful while you are gone. Maybe they will preserve it and you will become famous sometime.
We had a rainy night and it is overcast most or the morning. ONce in a while the sun will break through and give a golden hue to everything then will hide again. I don't know if it is through raining or not but the sun shine is a welcome sight.
I had a very discourging phone call this morning from the jewelery store that is making my new wedding band to go around my original ring. They said the my ring had to be sent to another specialty place that does custom jewelery to measure it and the original ring had been returned and I could pick it up anytime. Unfortunately the band that was also supposed to be ready at the same time was not worked on at all.They said that the custom company said my ring had "fallen between the cracks". It will be another three weeks before it will be done. We had hoped that when we go back to Denver tomorrow, I would have my new ring to show to the family. I have really had to pray to have the right attitude of forgiveness toward the custom company. Originally I was disappointed/angry because I had my plans all set and now they are inconveniencing me. Now, I am trying to put myself in their shoes and see that the jewelery store is probably disappointed that they could not deliver as they promised. It is not their fault and it is all fitting into God's plan even though I do not undertand it. There could have been problems with the custom company also that I am not aware of. Either way, it is not my business to judge anyonne's motives but to just trust that it all happens for a reason. What will I learn from it? I learned I am quick to judge and that I am prideful to think that my plans are more important than God's. It took a while to get to this point but I am now resolved that God is in control and I am not!!
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