Fatigue

I find myself being so fatigued lately. I feel like I am nearly back to the place where I was before my last IV abx in January. I fatigue so easily.


I've been taking Ryan to Zoo Camp this week. Zoo-Ability, it's called. Chattanooga Parks & Rec. puts it on at the local zoo for children with disabilities. He's been having a great time, but he's kind of at the top of the the spectrum for this camp and many of the activities are geared for younger children and ones with greater handicaps. But he's enjoyed getting to feed the Red Kaola's


and play with them and work with the snakes and feed the chimpanzee's.

It's been great having 5 hours to myself each day this week - especially with school starting next week - but I'm tired. All of the running back & forth and walking to get him at the sign-out spot.

Yesterday my mom took me to the Aquarium on her membership guest pass. I hadn't been in several years and there are some place there where I can't go because of the humidity, but we spent a few hours ambling through the two buildings. It was a lot of fun. My O2 ran out while there. I usually have back-up in the car, but didn't yesterday. And the day was VERY humid, like a wet blanket. All of that walking just wiped me out.

I got home and was resting in a chair when I remembered I'd signed up to make a dessert for a ladies luncheon today and was to deliver it this morning. It DID cross my mind to go out and BUY a dessert, but doing that takes energy, too, let alone costs more. So after resting a little I got laundry going and then diving into making pie crust and a lemon meringue pie.

I find that I'm too tired these days to enjoy most things I normally would. I think I'm going to need IV abx. soon. I need my tune-up!

Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane

Lynnette Kraft started Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane to encourage us to relive and share our memories. They can be recent memories, distant memories, happy memories, sad memories.

I don't think I've shared this one before.

When I was in my 20's, I was Hostess at a motel restaurant. One day I was hostessing and a couple came in for breakfast. When they were leaving, they just walked out...without paying!

I went after them in the hallway and tactfully asked him if he would like to charge his bill to his room. I was assuming he had a room and it was the only thing I could think of, spur of the moment, that would bring up his bill without saying "HEY, YOU CAN'T LEAVE WITHOUT PAYING FOR YOUR FOOD!"

He said "Sure, put it on my room tab." and started walking on!

Now, how would I know what room to charge???? I halted him and asked him to sign his bill so we'd charge the appropriate bill. He did, altho he seemed quite irritated that I was being so incessant and bothering him.

After he signed the bill and left I looked at his signature.

"C. Everett Koop"


I could have died. He was the Surgeon General for the United States at the time, but he wasn't in his uniform that he always wore on television. He was just in ordinary clothes so I didn't recognize him! No wonder he was being so impatient with me. Of course I should have known who he was and where to send the bill! (Yeah, right! Actually, I think that was a little rude to assume I'd know him, but that's another story.)

For more Memories, go to Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground.

Infection Control/ CF Webcast

Katey, brought this to my attention and I'm so glad she did. If you are interested in learning about how germs affect people with Cystic Fibrosis, check this out.

Watch the Web cast to learn the basics of infection control and about Burkholderia cepacia complex, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, MRSA and influenza. It is important to know and use the basic principles of infection control and prevent the spread of germs in the lives of people with CF.

"Germs and the Impact on the Health of People with CF"
Tues., Aug. 11 (8:00 p.m. ET)

The Web cast will feature CF infection control experts:

John LiPuma, MD, Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and
Epidemiology at the University of Michigan

Lisa Saiman, MD, MPH, Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Columbia
University and NY Presbyterian Hospital

Click here for more information and/or to register!

This could be very beneficial to newly diagnosed CFers or families/friends of CFers, so I really encourage you to attend the webcast. Practicing good infection control guidelines are a necessity for staying healthy for someone with CF. You can submit questions ahead of time that you would like answered.

The Web cast forum offers an opportunity for questions from the CF community to be answered. This educational tool helps to empower people with CF, families and friends to take an active part in CF care through increased knowledge about the research and the highest quality care.

Fill 'er up!

Being that I live in Georgia, I can't resist eating some of the yummy Georgia peaches available right now.

This morning I decided to put some on my son's and my cereal. (It was a LARGE peach.) I always put the fruit in the bowl first because I don't want my cereal getting soggy, even with fruit juice. I put the sliced peaches in, then thought some fresh-frozen blueberries would be good, too. Got them in the bowl. Eyed the banana's in the Green Bag. Mmmm, peaches, blueberries and banana's go well together...added half a banana to each of our bowls. By now the bowl was half full and I hadn't even added cereal yet.

I contemplated just eating the fruit, but I knew that wouldn't hold me for the morning. So I added some cereal. It wasn't really cereal w/ fruit, it was fruit with cereal.

This is what I ended up with.


Then I eyed my pills next to my bowl and wondered if I would have room in my tummy to eat the fruit w/ cereal after I was finished taking my pills.

Wednesdays Walk Down Memory Lane

Lynnette Kraft started Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane to encourage us to revisit our memories and share them.


This week we kept my parents smaller dog overnight with us while they were on a mini-trip. Toby is a Chinese Crested Powder Puff and is the happiest little guy! He romps and waddles and pounces his way around the room.

Our Lab, Raini, adjusts to him pretty well, but our Golden, Rico is terrified of him. He's such a little furrball, I'm not sure Rico even knows he's a dog. He studies him like he's thinking "What IS that?". All the first evening Rico hid clear across the house. By the following afternoon he was getting braver, though.

I was putting groceries away in the kitchen and all of the dogs had followed me in there. Rico had laid down immediately, then Toby laid on the floor near him. Amazingly, Rico didn't get up and run!




I went out on the deck to lounge in the hammock after getting groceries. (That job just totally wipes me out anymore!) Toby wanted to come up with me, so I lifted him up and he cuddled on my tummy while I swayed and relaxed. Raini and Rico sat and looked at me like they wanted to come up, too. But I didn't think it would hold us all!

Now Toby is back home and Rico feels like he can roam the house at leisure, not worrying about what might attack him and eat him up. (What a WUSS!!!)

For more Memories, visit Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground.

Guess what????

I won this GiveAway!! Yippee! Thank you, Alice!

Visit Alice's shop and also see her beautiful photography on her blog!

He restoreth my soul

I've felt such a load off me since I determined to guard my heart from bitterness about the lawsuit and pray for the man suing me.

I love Christian radio. I've been getting so much from devotional programs and music over the past few days. I'll have to see if I can load some of my favorite songs on here sometime.

It was so good to enjoy wonderful Christian laughter in Sunday School this morning. I love our class!

Life Goes On

After crying for a few days, and really struggling, I have come to a few conclusions.

Maybe this new direction is brought on by those of you praying for me. Thank you for your prayers.

I am now thinking about the person suing me. It takes a pretty miserable person to sue people so I'm thinking that I need to be spending less time thinking about myself and spend more time praying for Jesus to work in his heart. He needs Jesus.

I am also remembering that my God is bigger and more powerful than ANYTHING. He is in control. And with a Daddy that BIG and POWERFUL I shouldn't have a care in the world, so I need to "let go and let God."


(This doesn't mean you should stop praying for me!!!! lol)

Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane

It's always fun to take a trip down Memory Lane with Lynnette Kraft at Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground.


Today my memory is going to be something I posted about a few months ago, here, but I finally have pictures!!!

I'm talking about when Ryan went hiking with my father and nephew and fell over the waterfall.

My brother and his family have been visiting one last time before returning to the missionfield and this morning they went with my father to the spot where Ryan had his accident. My brother took pictures with his cell phone today. No one except my father, nephew and Ryan had seen where it had happened so it meant a lot to the rest of us to be able to see where it happened and realize all the more what he/they went through and how much God protected him.

At the top of the waterfall was this huge rock that gently sloped downward. Ryan was standing on this when he slipped and slid down the length of it.

This shows the waterfall/cliff that Ryan fell off of. We'd been told it was about 10-12 ft., but when they saw it today they said it's more like 15 ft. They were so amazed that Ryan wasn't killed or more seriously hurt.

Closer shot of the waterfall/cliff.

After Ryan landed, my nephew accessed his injuries and then helped him over the very rough terrain. It took over 3 hours for Dan and my dad to get Ryan out. Sometimes they helped with his arms around their shoulders but most of the way Dan carried him. (Dan weighed less than Ryan, so this was quite a feat!)

This shows the rough terrain they had to manuever. Can you imagine?

Ryan had broken his foot in 4 places and had surgery early May. He still has a few restrictions, but his foot is mostly healed and he is able to walk on it almost normally.

I'm so grateful my brother took these pictures and they were able to see the place and tell us more accurately what it was like.

It is such a miracle that my son wasn't hurt worse or even killed. God really was protecting him that day.

To read more Memories, visit here.

Giveaway

Here is a GREAT GiveAway, but if you forget to enter...well, that's okay with me because I want to win!

Just this and that

Katey, in answer to your question about the Chicken & Waffles, I make it different than some. I Googled for a picture and discovered that most serve fried chicken alongside waffles, but I don't do that. I cube/shred up leftover cooked chicken (usually grilled) and add it to a packet of Chicken Gravy. Add some basil to it. I make my waffles homemade and ladle the chicken & gravy over the waffles. My husband loves this!

Well, today went much better than yesterday! I spent a few hours working on the medical stuff and got most of it resolved (except the bills aren't paid off!!!). We have insurance once again. My glasses broke this morning, while I was innocently sitting here at the computer, but I got them fixed after my lab appt.

This evening I went out to the hammock with my MP3 and just layed there swaying to some of my favorite songs I've recorded from our Christian radio stations. It was so relaxing and it really revived my spirit.

What do you all do to revive yours, especially when you've been stressed? I'd love to hear it.

Today will be better

This has been a full week for me with extra appts. and running.

Yesterday was a particularly frustrating day. I woke at 4AM and couldn't get back to sleep. I decided to install our new homeschool curriculum, but the computer told me there wasn't enough memory. So I worked on that problem for a few hours. Then I called in our 90-day prescriptions for refills before going for a hair appt. They said I wasn't in the system, didn't have insurance! So I called the office and talked to the girl who handles that and she said they don't have us on their insurance. I said "Yes you do! We just went through this a month or two ago. Remember, we'd been paying for the insurance since January and you never had put him on, so you had to make it retroactive and refund us some money?" She doesn't remember that. How can she not remember all of that mess?

She still hasn't called me back and we still show that we have no insurance. I have had all kinds of medical appts. this week and procedures, so they'd better get their act in gear...

Oh, and my husband's truck broke down in Baton Rouge. The shop was supposed to have fixed the part when a recall notice came, but the co. decided to let it go until it broke. Duh. So he was stranded in Baton Rouge just before noon on Wed. and at 5PM the mechanics went home and hadn't done anything to his truck. He couldn't sleep in it, so they set him up in a motel. They didn't get it fixed until the next afternoon and he doesn't get paid for that lost day!

After my hair appt. I went to make (creamed) Chicken & Waffles for my parents for supper. My mom hasn't been feeling well and is in a lot of pain, so I wanted to help out. I had left-over grilled chicken in the freezer, so I thawed that out, then made the waffle batter, but when I went to pour it into the waffle iron, it was cold. It died. :-( It lived a long life, tho. I ended up picking up pizza and taking it to their place, then did some things to help them out.

My mom see's another dr. this morning, so pray they can get to the root of the problem and can help her.

She and Ryan did have a good time together this week. Tuesday night he stayed the night at their place and they roasted marshmallows at their fire pit




The day I went to CF clinic they went to the IMAX and saw a 3D African wilds thing. Ryan loved it, but the motion was making Mom nauseous! Then they went to Racoon Mountain, so lots of wildlife, went to TVA dam


and then they were both tired and Ryan's foot was bothering him from the long walk at the Dam, so they went to Logan's for an early supper!

My CF clinic visit went well. My lung function was down 7%, 1.08 liters, but it wasn't enough of a drop with symptoms to do much right now. My sinuses have been bad and I've been coughing a lot more, so they wanted me going back on Veramyst and gave me samples. If that doesn't help, they may have to do something more severe like IV's. I'm really coughing a lot these days.

This morning I get blood workup for cholesterol and triglycerides and then will spend the rest of the day putting the house back into order and freezing zucchini. I've gotten so behind on everything this week, including blog visiting. I'm so sorry. I hate missing reading your blogs.

Oh, I also have calls to make. Straighten out the insurance mess, plus deal with the creditors that keep calling. They're driving me crazy! We're paying on all of the medical bills each mo., but they aren't happy with that and want things PAID in FULL. Good luck with that! We don't have about $10,000 sitting around here.

Great! My glasses just broke as I was sitting here typing, so I'll need to go back to the optical place after my bloodwork to get them to fix them...

Updates

Ryan is no longer wearing his orthopedic boot and is walking around normally. He still has limitations and has exercises he has to do at home.

Well, he WAS walking around rather normally. Last night he was at a youth group activity and a storm started up. When lightning cracked nearby and they were walking to the church van, the girls screamed and started stampeding. Ryan got knocked down and now he's trying not to walk on his foot so I'm thinking it's hurting more than he's letting on. It's more swollen and discolored. Hopefully no permanent damage was done. Tomorrow if it is like it was today I'll need to call and see if the surgeon's office can work him in and take xrays. Just what we need...more bills and longer recuperation!

Wednesday I go to Vanderbilt to the CF clinic for my 3 mo. checkup.

family and food!

I've had a hard time catching up with everyone's blogs. It think everyone out there blogged over the 4th!

We had my parents and some friends over for a 4th of July picnic on our deck. I found these pretty flowers on sale for $3.33, which I thought was a great price. I stuck the flags in and used it for a centerpiece


We grilled angus burgers and hot dogs and had potato salad, broccoli salad, fresh fruit salad, chips and cake for dessert.

My mom made this cake on Mother's Day, but she didn't have the angel food cake pan, so she improvised and made it in square pans and cut then in half. Well, that made it REALLY tall so it was leaning way over and was quite a sight. And because it was so heavy, the cake layers pancaked. We had lots of fun laughing over it and teasing her and she DID give me permission to share it on here.




I made it this weekend for Fourth of July since it's such a refreshing dessert for a hot day. I used the angle food cake pan, but still made my sherbet layers a little too thick, so my bottom layer pancaked.

It was very refreshing!

Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane

Since last weeks Memory Lane was so serious, I thought I'd share a more "light" memory this week.

Remember that old song that goes Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking...into the future?

Well, when I was around college age I visited my sister. She was living in Columbus, OH then and I still lived in Lancaster Co, PA.

We were in a department store and there was a whole aisle of alarm clocks. When I saw them I got an impish idea and set each one of the alarm clocks to go off at the same time. I was just getting started when my sister asked "What are you doing?". She is 3 years older than me, so expected to be the mature one, but she couldn't believe I'd do such a thing. Laughing, she kind of disassociated herself from me until I was done. We waited in the next aisle until the appointed time, when about 20 (I never counted them, so I'm just guessing now) alarm clocks all went off at the same time. It was so much fun watching the salesclerk trying to turn them all off!



We laughed about it the rest of the day and still laugh over it from time to time about 25 years later!

For more Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane visit Lynnette Kraft at Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground.