thread for middle age to older Christian women.
Comments
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Hi Ladies,
Teka, we are all praying for you and may the Lord surround you with his love and protection giving you strength for each day, helping you through those PT exercises so that your knee will be as good as new again. Nancy, continuing in prayer for you and complete healing and also those distractions like the HOA and the water issues. Hershey, praying for you and your Mom and that she is doing fine. Yes, it is unusual here to get into the dermatologist right away and you're right that they normally are booked out for months. But it seems like they must reserve some spots for people who have had some cancer spots or some reoccurrence. My appointment is the 28th but now I can't find the spot, and I had my friend look twice for it too. We had even taken a picture of it. So I'm praying maybe the Lord took it away or if it's still there we find it by the 28th or no use going in, but letting someone else have the appointment. Thank you for your prayers and praying for you all.
Wheatfields
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Thank you, Nancy. I love "his day" because they're all "His", right?
Teka praying for you and your husband.
Love to all,
Carol
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Ladies, sorry I have been out of it for a few days. I now have a rebound cold and have been in bed--unusual for me. I am up a little right now so my husband can wash the sheets...don't ask! I am praying for Teka and that she will gain some strength. We are both on the same oral medicine so I understand her weakness on top of being sick though mine is not Covid.
Nancy, I am so glad you are recovering. I don't know your construction situation, but can they so a sewer or water scope? We did this before we moved in here to see if there were any potential problems. They actually put a camera down in the pipes. We also used to do a water flush-out in the condo we lived in but perhaps that is a multi-story issue.
Hershey, I have been praying for your mom. Falls are serious and I pray she recovers well.
Wheatfields, can you message your nurse to find your appointment? I had this happen once and it was removed by accident. Too many hands handling the appointment lines.
I know it is Sunday, but we are supposed to have the Christmas outside light company come and hang lights today. He keeps putting us off for various reasons. He postponed from Friday because it was snowing with a high of 20*...don't blame him. But it is supposed to be 50 today. I just hope he can hang them with snow still on the roof. Oh the joys of Colorado!
Have a blessed Sunday. Chris
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HI ladies,
It has been a pretty crazy week for me catching up with apts that I had to postpone from Oct. I am still in quite a bit of pain and I am frustrated with that. I am starting to think I have been consuming too much fiber and that may be why I am having some issues which just aggravates my surgery.
Wheatfields, we'll be praying for your apt on the 28th. I had a similar situation many years ago with a cyst on the back of my head. It required a surgery and i had my surgery all scheduled and the cyst completely disappeared. That would be fantastic if your spot is totally gone. So maybe you won't have that apt after all.
Teka, we are still praying for you each day that you feel better and stronger.
GB, how are you doing? Haven't heard from you in a while.
Chris, I am so sorry to hear you are sick again. For you to be bed ridden says a lot since you have been such a trooper through so many things the last few years. Praying for complete healing for you. Also praying your Christmas lights to get put up for you.
My water situation has not changed and my computer situation which I thought was fixed is not. I have this terrible feeling that even if I bought a new computer it would not change because I think it may be something with my internet cables or ???? I have no trouble with my laptop but it is all operating off of Wifi with no cables. My TV is fine as well so it is a mystery and I fear what this might cost to get to the bottom of it. I already downgraded my cable package recently because I could not afford the sky high bills and my two yr contract was up and my bill really went through the roof. They downgraded my internet speed which is not helping this computer issue. One lady on my zoom HOA meeting suggested keeping on the city with this water situation and when the odor is happening to capture a glass of water and have someone come back out and test the water. I am a bit down because I just don't feel like doing much. I will not be going to my family's Thanksgiving downstate and I had to say no to a friend for lunch this week. I am still doing church online so feeling isolated even though I have been doing my zoom meetings and going to apts. I just am not feeling completely convinced that this surgery is going to make me feel any different but I need to be patient as the healing apparently is not finished yet.
Sorry for the venting. The sun is shining today and I need to rejoice in that as it has been snow flurries for days with little sun.
Take care dear sisters.
Love,
Nancy
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Hi everyone, I've been here but lurking. Struggling with aches and pains. PT is helping in some ways, but not others. I was able to secure an Ortho appointment for mid-December. Might need to see podiatry too, because I can't find comfortable shoes to exercise in. By exercise I mean walking, at home walking DVDs, nothing more fancy than that. I don't want to go to the gym and breathe everyone's flu droplets. I also, I guess, pulled a muscle on the bottom of my foot on Saturday. So I basically sat around yesterday. I hate doing that because I just stiffen up. Something is definitely not right though, what happened with my foot should not have pulled a muscle. It was a gentle normal movement. Saw MO this week and she said it sounds like medicine induced problems. PT says to go to rheumatologist. I don't know. I guess see what Ortho says. In my experience orthopedics tend to be generally dismissive, so we'll see. Maybe this guy will be nice and helpful. It's a new doctor for me.
Please pray for me that I'm not miserable walking around work. I can sit a lot there the next couple of days so that's good, and then I'm off for the holiday. Early Dec brings work busyness back (my workload is cyclical by the month with a heavy workload at the beginning) so I'll be back on my feet a lot.
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Nancy, I hope your rate of healing picks up for you.
gb, I will pray that you are not miserable at work. I hope one of your docs can give you some answers.
Love to all,
Carol
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Hi GB,
What meds do you think are causing your problems? If it is your cancer drug how many years do they want you on it? I really struggled with mine for five years and when the question of adding two more years to it I said no thank you. My oncologist was fine with that as she said the benefit is not worth the side effects you are experiencing. At that time most of us on an AI were told five years and that has changed now to 10 yrs for some people.
I have foot problems too. I have plantar fasciitis and many years ago I had the shock wave therapy surgery and my foot surgeon recommended New Balance Running shoes for walking. I still buy those every year. Since then I have also found Orthfeet.com which you might check out. I have bought several shoes from them and they address many different types of foot pain. I also have orthotics which my podiatrist ordered. The nice part about this shoe store is not only can you return the shoes but they send several layers of foot inserts to help with fit. Those have really been a great thing for me. I have bought quite a few pairs of shoes and boots from them and I have returned none of them. In fact I felt like Christmas came early when I discovered a brand new pair of hiking type boots in my closet that apparently I purchased from them in 2/2018. I had totally forgotten about them until they were offering a 40% off sale and when I looked back at my purchases on their website they even had a picture of those boots that I bought. I thought I don't remember buying any black boots. If I had not seen that on their website I would have not checked in my closet and there they were still in the box. So that was a nice unexpected find. I do hope you can find some comfortable shoes that work for you and that your upcoming apts your doctors will be receptive and listen to what you are telling them. I walk laps in my house which is a lifesaver in the cold weather. I hope to get back into my routine soon as I haven't walked since my surgery. I am praying for you.
Carol, thank you. I saw my primary doctor today and I was bemoaning the fact that this surgery was taking way longer than I expected to be back to normal and to be out of pain. He said he hears that a lot from his patients that have had this surgery. That made me feel a little better not thinking it was just me or that maybe something was wrong, not that I wanted more people to experience all of this too but it is never good to think you are the only one when it comes to this sort of thing. I hope you are doing well. We are warming up to the 40's this week. Woohoooooo. Of course everything is relative. In other seasons we would think oh no the 40's are coming. I am afraid to ask your weather. LOL
Chris, I am praying you feel well enough to enjoy your Thanksgiving.
Teka, still praying for you each day that this day is an improvement over yesterday. You will make it!!!!!!
This is a photo I took a few years ago and made a banner out of it. I thought it was appropriate for Thanksgiving week.
Take care dear sisters.
Love,
Nancy
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Well, I had Taxol that was abandoned after #10/12 because of neuropathy, so that happened. But it's probably the Zoladex and exemestane, notorious for these problems. The MO told me that's likely what's causing all of this. I'm not even a year into it. But since this was cancer #2 after a tamoxifen fail, she probably wants me on it for awhile. I would not disagree, I just need to learn to live with this.
I think it's possible I might have a stress fracture. That's why I made the appointment, really, to hopefully rule that out. It could just be arthritis in that metatarsal joint though. I can't tell.
I've tried so many brands of shoe, including Orthofeet. If it doesn't hurt on the one side (where most of my issues are), it causes big toe joint pain in the other foot. Brooks has the best toe space that I can find, but their foot beds are wrong. I'm trying inserts now. My house is like a Zappos warehouse, lol. I think I might need a custom orthotic (if they can make it soft) inside of a Brooks shoe.
In other news, I found a fun chair Zumba workout on YouTube yesterday. Actually made me smile, got my heart rate up, and didn't hurt my feet!
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GB, I know it looks like you are between a rock and a hard place. Maybe you do have a stress fracture. Hopefully you will find out soon. I am glad to hear you found a Zumba chair workout which worked and made you smile. I find my exercising is good medicine and hopefully your Zumba workout will give you a lift.
Love,
Nancy
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gb, praying you find a foot pain solution soon on top of everything else...
Teka, I am praying for you daily that you will recover all your strength soon.
Nancy, I am praying for pain relief for you also. I am so sorry you dont feel you can join your family for Thanksgiving. May God send you a special blessing in its place.
I was able to get in to see my PCP today. Test results show no Influenza B, Covid, or RSV but it did show Influenza A. I have been unable to get a flu shot yet because of my cold...go figure! So I will muddle through since it is too late for tamiflu to work. I do have a nasty cough and feel awful although my daughter and I braved the market for last minute Thanksgiving essentials...what a zoo! The doctor did call in an antibiotic because of my history. I pray I feel better so I can enjoy Thanksgiving with the family. I should...
Thinking of you all this season. May God richly bless you. Chris
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Nancy, got a chuckle out of your finding footwear that you had already purchased but forgotten about. I've done that.
I'm in the desert with my sister, her husband and my dad for Thanksgiving. DH arrives tonight. It's pleasant here with temps in the 70's. (Sorry to all those who are already freezing.)
We got our grocery shopping done today. It was busy but not crazy. Not much else planned - just some good old fashioned sister time.
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Ooh, 70 degrees sounds so nice!!
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Chris, so sorry you have the flu. I was starting to suspect maybe that is what you had. I am glad you braved the store. Yes, it is pretty much madness out there from now on. I do hope you feel well enough to really enjoy your Thanksgiving.
Carol, I am known for buying what I call back up shoes and storing away but totally forgetting about those boots made me question myself. That was the time we had just put my Mom in assisted living and it was a super stressful time so I rack it up to that. I hope you can tough it out in the 70's. LOL I am envious but we were almost in the 50's today so that was a blessing. I did get outside to walk for the first time in many, many weeks and it felt great. I am glad you will get some sister time. I will have to wait until Christmas for that.
I do have an invite for Thanksgiving to go out to eat with some friends but I told my friend that I would let her know tomorrow how I feel. This restaurant luckily didn't require reservations. She would be driving so I wouldn't have to worry about that. We'll see. I had quite a GI upset the last few days and that is the big reason beside the pain factor for my hesitancy.
Enjoy your week everyone.
Love,
Nancy
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Enjoy this old Dutch that we probably all know. It sums up the Thanksgiving season.
https://www.google.com/search?q=we+gather+together...:83e6dc77,vid:58YnptvuuXI
This link is having problems. Sorry if you can't get it.
Love,
Nancy
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This one should work. Not the same one but still beautiful and you get very pretty scenery as well.
Love,
Nancy
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Nancy, I love both of those hymns. Thank you for sharing them.
Carol
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Thank you for sharing those hymns Nancy, beautiful pictures! I remember loving the words to those hymns. Praying for your complete healing, and for Chris to be feeling better, for Teka less pain each day, and GB strength for every day and your work situation. Praying that each of you have a blessed Thanksgiving.
Love, Wheatfields
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Carol and Wheatfields, I am glad you got both of the hymns. That link wasn't working on my computer so I figured it wasn't working at all. At any rate I hope you are enjoying your Thanksgiving. I had a very nice time with my friends at a restaurant.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Love,
Nancy
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Hi ladies. I just got back to our house in the desert after being in the hospital for two days. I spiked a fever of 102 and the on call MO wanted me to go to the ER. They admitted me with COVID and I’ve been getting IV antibiotics.
I’m feeling a better, but now my dad is sick. My sister and her husband were also here for Thanksgiving and drove home to Utah yesterday. She texted me that she woke up with a sore throat and cough.
I’ll add more later. I’m typing from my phone while resting in my bed.
Love to all,
Caro
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Oh Carol, I am so sorry to hear of your hospital stay with Covid. How are you feeling now that you are back to your home in the desert? How is your Dad doing? It sounds like your sister may have contract it also. I think that in this country we have this feeling that since we are not locked down like the first year of Covid we are passed it but unfortunately it is still raging as you have found out. How about your husband? I will pray for a quick recovery. Did they feel like it was going into your lungs, hence the antibiotics?
I have either had an IBS flare or a stomach virus but I have been under the weather since Thanksgiving.
I will definitely be praying for your rapid recovery and for your family as well. My niece is getting over Covid but was able to come to IL to visit my sister (her mom ) and her Dad downstate. I was not able to join them. I will see them at Christmas time.
I remember when I contracted it the first day of summer the nurse that did my infusion said she thinks eventually everyone will get it. I wonder if that will end up to be true. I never had the high fever like you did. That sounds miserable.
Take care of yourself and I will be praying.
Love,
Nancy
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Carol, I am so sorry to read about your hospital stay and Covid. I will be praying for you and your family.
Nancy, how are you feeling? Do you feel like you are finally on the mend pain-wise?
GB, how are you feeling?
I have a bone scan today, and a CT scan tomorrow in a snowstorm. I am still coughing and have a headache. I was tested for Covid but it came back negative. I also have a headache and had I not had a brain scan last month, I would worry. I hope they can still do all the testing with this cold hanging on.
On a good note, my son is coming for an early Christmas. That actually works out well as my brother-in-law's family will be gone for Christmas so we can all celebrate before they leave. I knew there was a reason I decorated early!
Gotta run...Have a good week. Chris
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Carol, I'm so sorry that you were ill with COVID over the Thanksgiving holiday. I will pray for your speedy recovery. How are your father and sister doing? I will pray for them, too.
Nancy, how are you feeling?
Chris, I hope the snowstorm turns out to be minimal and your travels aren't impacted tomorrow.
Thank you all for your prayers for my mom. She is back to participating in her chair exercise class, attended a special Thanksgiving presentation last week, and says she feels "just fine."
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Hi ladies.
This banner seems appropriate for several of you who are fighting sickness, side effects and recovering from surgery.
Carol, how you feeling today?
Chris, I wish you could just rest and get over the flu that you tested for but with medical tests and the holidays I know that is a challenge. I am glad to hear your son will be coming early for a visit. Praying you can finally get rid of this headache and cough and start to feel much better. Take care as you venture out in the snow storm as you get your scans today and tomorrow.
Hershey, I am really glad to hear your Mom is resuming her chair exercises and is feeling fine now. I am sure that is a great relief for you. How is your shoulder doing?
GB how are you doing?
Teka, we are continuing to pray for your recovery.
Wheatfields, did that spot completely disappear for you. That would be be a great thing if so!
My GI tract is still in an uproar but I have been pushing through. I did some walking in the house yesterday and trying to get more steps in I walked very late last night and that was a BIG mistake. I could not sleep all night so i was up in the night working on some things and even making a call at 3:45 am to the fraud division of my credit card. Yes, in fact they must work through the night. Got a situation resolved. I think I just got back to bed around 6:45am just to hear one of the construction workers blasting his radio in his truck that I could hear in my bedroom. They start working at 7am. We have not had any significant snow yet which is pretty amazing. Once that happens it is going to be more of a mess than it is now with all the work that seems like it will never end. My water is still smelling so I am going to contact the city again today. I have several projects that needed scheduling so it has been a challenge. I watched the movie Erin Brockavich again to see if I could get any pointers if I need to do battle. One thing I did find out is that Chromium 6 which was the deadly toxic chemical that sickened so many people in Hinkley, CA is odorless so that gave me some relief. I also found out that the City does not do inside the house testing of the water and I will have to contact a lab on my own to do that. My computer ills are to the point I am looking into a whole new desktop computer. I am still hopeful as my pain has finally got to a point that I am hardly noticing it the last couple of days which I am thrilled about for sure. I am completely off of my pain pills. I have had some very strange things going on physically and I am wondering if I am having some physical withdrawal from the pain meds. I know this will eventually pass. Thank you for your prayers!!!
Love,
Nancy
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hello ladies,
I like that banner and praying for Carol and Chris that they would be able to rest easy and be feeling much better soon, also, for Nancy and complete healing from surgery and GI issues. Continuing to pray for GB, Teka and Hershey and her mom. I did go to the dermatologist today even tho the spot wasn't quite what it was but my nurse friend thought there was kind of a rash or red blotches in that area. He said it's a faint birthmark on the back of my neck and then some dermatitis in the hair area, so he prescribed an ointment for a couple times a week. So thankful to escape without anything major. I have an EGD on December 20 to see if the ulcer is gone. My stomach sometimes seems better and than other times not. I was diagnosed before with chronic dyspepsia so that could be what it is too, I'm praying the ulcer and abrasions have disappeared with omeprazole. Keeping all of you in prayer!
Love, Wheatfields
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Wheatfields, I am sure that was a relief to not have to go through another procedure like you had before. Hopefully the ointment will clear up the dermatitis. We will be praying for your EGD on Dec. 20. That would be wonderful if your your Omeprazole is helping to eradicate the ulcers and abrasions. I pray that will be so. Thank you for your prayers. I am doing better regarding the surgery and hopefully on the mend with the GI issues.
Have a good night.
Love,
Nancy
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Nancy, I'm ok, thanks for checking on me! Still dealing with the foot issues...I see Ortho on the 12th. Work gets really busy starting tomorrow, and doesn't really end until right before Christmas. I will try to heed my physical therapist's advice to sit down more often when talking with patients, where I'm used to staying standing up. I'm in a better pair of shoes now for work but I haven't tested them with a busy day. I've been mostly sitting at my computer recently. Still not in my office, no renovations have been started yet. Oh well!
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GB, glad to hear you found a good pair of shoes. I hope they will carry you through your busy time. I really do hope the ortho apt proves to be helpful to you. I used to see a myotherapist every week for years when I was teaching. She was really big into nutrition and she really taught me years ago how foods can really aggravate pain. You probably already know this but the "white stuff" like pastas, sugar and deserts with sugar are just a few of them. I try to eat gluten free and that would fall in line with helpful ways of staying away from the foods that can aggravate inflammation. Like I said, you may already know this and eat accordingly but in case you haven't heard of this it is definitely worth looking into.
Praying that your busy time which up to Christmas is a super stressful time anyway goes as smoothly as possible with hopefully your shoes allowing less pain to deal with.
Love
Nancy
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Hello All,
I've been following along with everyone's individual trials and needs and raising you up in prayer when I walk and say a rosary.
My husband got covid after we went to a funeral early Nov. He was symptomatic and slept a lot, and was better by day 5, but still tested positive for 12 days. Thankfully I did not get infected at the funeral which I credit to wearing a N95 mask whenever I'm in a group setting. I still wear a mask because of my diagnosis - otherwise I would not. Amazingly I didn't get infected from my husband at home either.
My latest CT scans were not good news. I have multiple new lesions in my liver and one new lesion in my spine. I see my medical oncologist tomorrow. Prayers appreciated.
I'd like to share the Five Finger Prayer guide that I learned from a friend who I grew up with. She was catholic, I was protestant. We went our separate ways after high school and she became a catholic grade school teacher for 30+ years. When I became catholic in my 60s I reached out to her and we renewed our friendship. She was the perfect person to go to with all my questions. My guess is that the Five Finger Prayer guide is not strictly Catholic, but it does fit perfectly with the rosary, which is made up of five sections.
The Five Finger Prayer: Hold your hands together with fingers extended as though in prayer. 1. Your thumb is nearest your heart, so these prayers are for those nearest your heart i.e. family and friends. 2. Index finger - the pointing finger - these prayers are for those who teach you, instruct you, heal you. They need support and wisdom to show direction to others. 3. Middle Finger - the tallest - these prayers are for our leaders and those in authority - spiritually and politically. 4. Ring Finger - the weakest finger - these prayers are for those most in need of prayer or those who have asked for prayers. 5. Fifth Finger - the smallest - prayers for your self.
Advent is here. I just learned the first Advent candle is for Hope. Advent Blessings to each of you.
Wendy
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Wendy, so sorry to read about your husband's Covid but glad you did not get it. Good for you to wear a mask so faithfully! But I am sorry to read of your progression. Will lift you up in prayers that you and your oncologist will find a good treatment.
Gb, glad you found some good shoes. Let us know how they work and what they are.
I had a full body bone scan Monday and a CT scan Tuesday. Both scans show no evidence of metastatic disease. My oncologist is having a hard time accepting that after 6 1/2 years my Stage IV cancer is "quiet" or in my words, gone. Her email response? "Good news." It is indeed good news. God has answered your prayers and my prayers. Thank you for your continual faithfulness. I will discuss this with her in person later today (should be fun) but right now I continue on the medicine that she feels is working. To me, the Good News is that God the Great Physician has touched me and said to my cancer "Be still and know that I am God." Praise the Lord!
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Wendy, I hope your husband is fully recovered. I think it is a miracle when someone in a household doesn't get Covid when another family member does. We will be praying for another miracle for you and that is for these new lesions to vanish. Praying for wisdom for your oncologist. Praying for hope for you as the first candle of Advent represents. Praying against all fear. I had never heard of the five finger prayer but it is a good way to divide your prayer time. Thanks for sharing that. BTW I am still wearing my N95 mask at indoor businesses. I got Covid the first day of summer and I don't want to get it again. My complete recovery took quite a long time.
Chris, that is amazing news. I hope you can go into Christmas this year with such joy and gratitude and feel so much better than last year. How is your cough and headache?
Teka. continued prayers for your recovery.
I am a bit concerned as I am still having very painful bathroom visits without going into TMI. According to my surgeon when I saw him last he said I should be pain free in three weeks. That date is tomorrow. I have gone with days of no pain which has been wonderful but the pain in the bathroom has increased and that makes me concerned. Of course I realize everyone's healing journey is different.
My water situation has not changed and the workers are done now. I texted this guy from the City who came out and I just flat out said I don't think this is any coincidence that this happened right when they were installing the water main just feet from my house. I asked about him testing my inside of the house water and I have received no response.
Have a good day dear sisters. The sun is shining and that lifts my spirits.
Love,
Nancy
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