I promised to write and again and I never did. Life has been crazy so far this year. My friend, Carol is still fighting her battle with pancreatic cancer. She was released from her doctors on June 3rd to Hospice. It has been up and down since her diagnosis. We thought they would be able to perform a whipple but that was unsuccessful. While I was on my cruise in April, she was put back in the hospital. They had to do a bypass. Her tumor was blocking her stomach from exiting into the small intestines. She really struggled to recover from the two surgeries so close together and ended up back in the hospital. Our "Stitch and Bitch" group took her to the mountains for Memorial Day. We had a great trip and we were sure she would pass soon after, but she rallied and she is still with us. We are so thankful that she is still here and we can still spend time with her.
On June 24th my father-in-law decided to stop his kidney dialysis. As he told us, he has had almost 90 years on this earth and they have been great years. My children have been able to visit with him and say their goodbyes. He died on July 7th. He will be missed by so many people. He has always treated me like family even though I divorced his son many, many years ago.
I have followed through on my new year word - discipline. I have taken control of my health and my life as much as possible with all the things happening around me. The only thing I have let slide is my art. I hope to gain control of that soon and get back into it. I have been working with my chiropractor and my back is much better. My neurosurgeon said the only cure was surgery, but we are putting that off as long as possible. I have gotten a standing desk at work along with a balance disk. That helps take the pressure off my disk and strengthen my core. I had sinus surgery on June 3rd. It turns out it was a real mess up there. The week following the surgery was horrible. Couldn't breathe through my nose at all, but I am much better now. I didn't realize how much my nose was blocked. I am seeing a podiatrist on June 7th to see about getting my feet to stop hurting. I started Weight Watchers on May 7th. I have lost 24 pounds already! The best part - my sisters have joined me from the beginning and my daughter started last week. It is always easier when you have support.
I have had one great trip so far this year - a cruise in April to the Caribbean with Marian. It was such a wonderful trip. We left out of Miami after flying out of Atlanta. We spent the night before the cruise at a hotel in the Miami airport. That was fun. Once on the boat we discovered you could pay a little extra and use part of the spa which included a therapeutic hot tub and chiropractic beds. That was money well spent. My back didn't bother me all week! I went snorkeling for the first time and loved it. Cannot wait to go again. We took a bike ride and hike on one island, our snorkeling trip on a catamaran, a tour of the Barcardi factory and a shopping spry on our final island. We stopped at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, St. Thomas, San Juan and the Dominican Republic. It was our best cruise so far. Looking forward to the next one for sure. We had a cabin with a balcony this trip, but it did not enhance our trip any so we probably won't spring for that again.
Accomplishments so far this year:
87 books read
13 movies seen
17 plays seen
2 concerts seen
1 trip
I have learned to make yo-yos. That has always been Carol's thing and she got me started. I have 2 gallon storage bags full now. I am going to use the purple ones to make a wall hanging in memory of Carol. Purple is the color for pancreatic cancer. Carol sews them on pre-made quilts she buys from stores. She bought me a pre-made quilt in grey so I can sew my yo-yos on it.
I hope to be better at blogging.
No comments:
Post a Comment