thread for middle age to older Christian women.
Comments
-
This is especially for Carol to share with her Dad who was an orthopedic surgeon and I believe wrote a book on hand surgery. I might be way off on that memory. Anyway some of you may have "heard" me share this story but the newer sisters to this thread probably have not.
My Mom passed away on Oct. 10, 2020 two days before her 95th birthday. My Dad passed away in 2005. My Mom was a survivor and this story takes her back to when she was 9 yrs. old. She grew up in a small town in central Illinois and was second to youngest of 9 siblings. Some of the details are a bit fuzzy but she was walking home with one of her older sisters. My Aunt Mary Ellen was the tower of strength through out her life and she had 7 children. Mary Ellen and my Mom as they were walking home was approached by an older man in a car who offered them a ride. They knew this man and accepted the ride. Apparently this man took the railroad tracks too fast and as we all used to do with cars without air conditioning would put our arms out the window holding on to the top of the car. The car turned over on it's side……..the side my Mom was on with her arm out the window.
The part of the story that I never did know was what did the man do after that. As my Mom told us, Mary Ellen grabbed my Mom's hand and told her not to look at it. They were still about a mile from their house and they walked home from the accident. As I look back now Mary Ellen was absolutely the best sibling that could have been there with my Mom as she was always as calm as a cucumber. I guess if you raised 7 children you would have to be! I don't know the middle of this story and I will jump to when my Mom was in the hospital. There were no hospitals in this very small town so they had to take her to Springfield, IL. She was in the hospital for many, many weeks. Initially there were several doctors that gave their opinion on her condition. As my Mom tells it all the doctors but one suggested amputating her hand. My Mom's Dad died when she was only 4 so it was probably her Mom and the older siblings who made the decision to go with this doctor who believed he could save some of her fingers. My Mom ended up losing her pointer finger and her ring finger on her right hand but her hand was saved. She was right handed so that in itself would have been a challenge. This would have been in 1934-1935 so medicine was nothing like it is now. I believe she stayed in the hospital for months. In todays medicine it would maybe be a couple of nights in the hospital. My Mom enjoyed all of the attention and was hesitant to go home. My Mom was talented in music and played the violin and the piano. She learned to play the piano with only three fingers in her right hand and played piano clear up until the end of her life even with dementia. She had a way of talking to others and always hiding that hand. She would either have a handkerchief in her hand or some other distraction. Most of the people that even knew her quite well were shocked that she had lost two fingers. When she had to go into an assisted living facility I asked the staff if she could play the piano in the dining room. So I believe that was the last Christmas I had with her in 2019. She played the piano and people started coming into the dining area to hear her. They were absolutely amazed that she could play with her dementia and one lady came right up close and saw her fingers for the first time. The people clapped for her. That was the best Christmas albeit very different than our usual ones.
My Mom used to play little concerts for me and my Dad when he was living. Even though I inherited her talent I could never play by ear like she could.
My Mom survived that horrible accident. After my Dad died she survived for almost 15 yrs. without him. She survived moving from her home of 70 some years. She adapted to the assisted living facility and then went from the hospital to a nursing home where we were supposed to visit after her quarantine was over. The day we had planned to visit her they told us that they were not having any outdoor visits that weekend. My Mom died that very day and we never got to see her. I had made a card with Cammie's face on the card. She loved Cammie as much as I did as we lived with her for almost 8 yrs with Cammie and me going back and forth. I don't know what prompted me to have flowers for her birthday delivered early but I did. I gave my card I made to a nurse that would not let me inside as it was the height of Covid. I didn't find out until the day after she died that one of the nurses told my niece who had traveled from Iowa to visit her that they woke her up and read my card to her and she saw the flowers. I cannot tell you how much comfort that gave me as I was so afraid she would think we had abandoned her. She is in heaven now with my Dad and no more dementia for her and no more cancer for my Dad. When my sister and niece and I were writing her obituary my sister teared up and said she now has all of her fingers. My Mom left me with her strength and determination to move forward no matter what. So coming off of Mother's Day this is my tribute to my Mom and a story that Carol can share with her Dad who will appreciate the medical side of this story.
Love,
Nancy
0 -
Nancy, what an amazing story about your mom. My dad told me that he always prayed before he operated on someone.
I love that your mom got your flowers and was able to hear as they read your card to her. I can't imagine how that must have been for you. I was able to see my mom a few weeks before she died. We saw her at Thanksgiving, and she died on her 85th birthday which was December 3. It's hard to believe it's been 5 years…
Thank you for sharing your story.
Chris, I'm glad you're home, but am stunned at what that doctor said to you. EXERCISE??? Seriously? Was he looking at the wrong chart? I did get a smile out of Nancy's image of wrapping his stethoscope around his neck. What is wrong with some people? I'm glad you'll get to see your MO on Friday and that you don't have any crises between now and then. I will continue to pray for you.
Carol
0 -
Good morning, everyone. I'm catching up on all the posts. Chris, I too am stunned by the doctor's advice to exercise. That comment was insensitive and unhelpful. I pray that your appointment today with the MO goes exceedingly well. Carol, your trip to Utah sounds like so much fun. Nancy, I hope you are enjoying a break from all the rain! Wheatfields, is your wrist healing well?
My mother's memorial service was very nice. There were rain showers before and after, but the sun broke out of the clouds in time for the service. The grounds were just lovely. I think my mom would have been very pleased.
0 -
Hershey,
I am so glad that your mother's memorial service had some sun in time for the service. I had been specifically praying for good weather. With the beautiful grounds I am sure your mom would be pleased. It is times like these that family and friends can be such a comfort and I hope you experienced that.
Carol, I know you are having a great time with your Dad and your sister.
Chris, I have been fervently praying for you and I do hope that you are feeling much better. I hope your MO has some good solutions for you as well moving forward.
Wheatfields, I hope you have recovered from your fall and are feeling better.
Teka, I heard from another friend in NY that frost was predicted a couple nights ago. I know we have had some pretty chilly nights. I do hope you are able to get out and enjoy the nice spring days.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Nancy
0 -
Hi ladies,
Chris, I'm so sorry you are not feeling well and then told to exercise. I'm praying that today was a good appointment with some solutions and that you will soon be feeling better. Hershey, I'm so happy your mother's service was special and the grounds were beautiful, I am certain she would have been very pleased. Nancy, continuing in prayer for you and a special thank you for sharing your mother's story. Carol, we are praying for a great time together with your Dad and sister. I am healing fairly well after the fall, i.e. my band aids are gone but my wrist remains very sore and black and blue, one knee is black and blue but better. The last couple days I've noticed pain especially on one side of my rib cage toward the middle, I don't know if that could be from the fall which was a week ago, I did land hard on the cement on pretty much everything except my face. One thing for sure is that we don't mend as fast at this age as we used to. Praying for all of you.
Love, Wheatfields
0 -
Wheatfields, I hope all of your bruises and pains will go away. I hope this rib pain is something that will disappear as well. What is your weather like this time of year? We have had some really beautiful days recently and I have enjoyed planting flowers and getting my yard ready for summer.
Chris, I continue to pray for you. How are you feeling?
GB, how are you doing? Have your bluebirds come back? I saw my first hummingbird and I was so excited. My Columbine that I never planted but the birds may have for me and is taking over my patio area is where I saw the hummer. I quickly got my nectar ready and got my feeder up the next day but have not seen anymore yet.
Take care everyone and enjoy this new week.
Love,
Nancy
0 -
Wheatfield, I am glad you are on the mend. Perhaps you have a cracked rib? I cracked three on my fall a year ago just running into a door...
Nancy, I love your mother tribute. She showed such strength.
I am not feeling much better. I am still in pain and very weak. I was able to take a quick shower so that is some good. My dear SIL came over today and cleaned for me. She knows I need more clean than what my DH does. I am in the livingroom in the recliner and force myself to get up every hour. I will continue hoping being off my cancer meds will help me improve. Thanks for asking.
0 -
Sorry, my brain is not functioning well right now. I did see my oncologist Friday and she took me off my oral chemo and immediately sent me for a blood transfusion. She wants to see me in a week to monitor my progress. She also can't see a cause, yet, but did say seven years on oral chemo could make it more difficult for my body to function well at this altitude. At least she is thinking. Knowing her, she will keep thinking. That at least is the beginning of finding a solution. Yesterday was the seven-year anniversary of my diagnosis. I asked God for five years and so far He has blessed me with seven God is good.
0 -
Chris,
I was just going to ask about your apt on Friday. I am a bit confused. I thought you had already stopped your oral chemo but it sounds like she just took you off of it on Friday. You have all of us praying for you. When I had our zoom Bible Study we prayed for you also and I had a chance to share that you had been doing the Beth Moore Bible study with your half sister.
I will be praying for wisdom for your oncologist as well. I know you feel horrible and I just wish I could do something for you. I will pray that God can alleviate these symptoms and show your doctor how to proceed.
This evening Cammie was sitting on her little pedestal near my hummingbird feeder and a hummingbird flew in and could see her and it flew down to her level to check her out. It made me smile and I hope it makes you smile in the midst of your storm.
Love,
Nancy
0 -
Nancy, I would have loved to see Cammie and the hummingbird.
I am sorry if I confused you. I took myself off my oral chemo temorarily to see if it helped and improved the weakness, but Friday the oncologist had me stop officially. I have been through this type of thing before where I go off the chemo part and stay on the anti-hormone alone. And for some maybe God reason it happens before my kids visit me in the summer so I end up with more strength while they are here. Right now I am feeling better. I still have all the same symptoms but they are milder so I pray it was the chemo med. They can do horrible things.
Chris
0 -
Good morning, everyone. I'm back and had a lovely visit. Intolight, I'm sorry for your continued issues. I hope the "break" from the chemo drug helps you feel better.
Nancy, I loved the image of Cammie and the hummingbird.
Below is the "copy-and-paste" I posted in another thread. (I haven't carefully proofread, so please pardon any errors.)
Good morning, everyone. Lots of posts to catch up on. I’m skimming through them and I’ll probably copy and paste this into the other threads I follow. Feel free to skip over those if you see them elsewhere.
DH and I got back from St George, Utah yesterday. My sister and her husband moved there last year. My dad drove out from the desert and stayed for a week. It was just wonderful. Their home is stunning, but not ostentatious, if you know what I mean. I have a feeling my dad may end up moving to SG. We met some of their LDS neighbors. What NICE people! Interesting backgrounds, wonderful stories to tell, and just overall wonderful people.
The St George area is beautiful. I wish I had a geologist in my pocket, or at least the back seat, as my sister was driving me around. Hubby, BIL, and dad drove around and saw equally amazing sights around the area. We decided to spend next Christmas there. It’s about a six-to-seven-hour drive depending on traffic. We did hit heavy traffic and some police activity in Las Vegas, but it was 5:00 AM. What were all those people doing on the road at 5:00 AM? Map app first gave our estimated travel time as 6:04 and it ended up being closer to seven hours. Oh well. I wasn’t doing the driving and DH is a calm driver even in heavy traffic.
I’m working on a baby blanket for our neighbor and will start another for my niece. (Technically, she’s my step-niece, since she’s my sister’s stepson’s wife.)
Appointments this week include getting my car serviced, seeing the dentist (I think I see a root canal in my future) and then an appointment with the neurologist on Friday. DH has a CT scan of his heart on Tuesday, too. He’s trying to get an in-person appointment with his PCP so that he can get an MRI of his spine. He can’t do any of the things he enjoys so much like running, climbing, surfing, etc. He did find that he can lap swim and he’s able to use his new (used) Peloton bike to get his heart rate up. Oh, and I turn 65 tomorrow! Who, me? Yikes!
Wishing a good start to everyone’s week.
Carol
0 -
Chris, when praying for you recently I had this thought which I will share. I know several months ago when you had scans they were not showing any activity (at least that is what I thought you meant) and you believed God had healed you but your MO wanted to keep you on your treatments. My thought was what if God was allowing you to feel awful on this drug so you would stop and start to feel good…………..then have more scans and STILL be cancer free then He would get all the glory and it would be clear he had performed a miracle. So that is what I would hope for you but I am not saying this is a prophesy or anything like that. Just a thought when praying for you. I am glad you are feeling some better.
Carol, you sound so good. Utah has been great medicine for you I think. It is always great to see family. It sounds like your sister is living in a fabulous place and home. How nice to meet there at Christmas. You know you are seeing all the sights that I have been dreaming of for quite a few years now. I want to photography the red rocks so bad I can taste it.
I'm sorry your DH can't do all of those things he would like to do. I found lap swimming to be great for me until my Y permanently closed during the pandemic. I decided not go go back to it now and will walk instead.
My eyes are totally glazed over at this point. A friend, neighbor and fellow HOA board member came over to my house to help me with a computer problem and stayed for 5 hrs. I thought this would take maybe 30 min tops. She is just like me in that if she can't figure out something she will stay at it for hours until she has figured it out.
I got nothing done today that I had planned so I am scrambling a bit now. I have a painter coming to touch up the paint that got messed up with my windows installation and staining. Then I have my Zoom Bible Study so not too much time to do yard work which I had planned for today. Oh well. In retirement you can say I'll do it tomorrow. Right?
I didn't even have a chance to give Cammie her daily meds and I may just have to skip it at this point. Oh my. I feel like a terrible Mom. I was so tickled to see my little hummer doing her thing while Cammie was sitting there. Last year Cammie was not doing as well and I missed that special interaction so I know her meds are helping her besides being thrilled that my hummers are back for the season. Those hummers seem to be very smart and must have good eyesight. One of these days maybe I will get a video of the hummer going down low to check out Cammie. It made my day for sure!!
Happy Birthday Carol. This is a milestone birthday!!!!!! Celebrate like no one is looking. Or is that dance like no one is looking? Whatever enjoy it.
Love,
Nancy
0 -
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CAROL…………………………..SHE CAN NOW OFFICIALLY GET SENIOR DISCOUNTS!!!!!!!!!!
0 -
Happy Birthday Carol, I'm praying that this will be a very special day for you and year! Chris, we are praying that you will continue to feel better and that stopping the meds is the answer. Nancy, I loved the story about Cammie and the hummingbird. It sounds so cute! Praying for you as you juggle various projects and for any pain issues still lingering. Also, that you have an opportunity to photograph the red rocks sometime. The weather here is quite nice now and no snow. Actually we had a few beautiful days without much wind either and I like that. My rib feels better if I put ice on it now and then and my wrist is still sore. I feel a little timid now when I'm outside and walking, like I think it could happen again. I have a contrast mammogram coming up June 8th and appointment with the oncologist.
Wishing everyone a great week!
Love, Wheatfields
0 -
Blessings on you today and for many more days to come!
0 -
Happy Birthday Carol. May God richly bless you on your special day!
Wheatfields, glad you are feeling better. Continued prayers for you and for your DH as you navigate his medical appointments.
I am feeling a little better today so I am hoping the improvement continues. I am still weak with some pain so that I need a walker still but it is less. Thank you all for your continued prayers.
Chris
0 -
Nancy, you would LOVE Utah. The rock and mountains are stunning! Thank you for the birthday wishes. I don’t usually eat until noon, but I’m thinking of having cake for breakfast. My sister made our family recipe chocolate cake and sent some home with us. Hey, it’s my birthday and I can have cake for breakfast, right?
Wheatfields, intolight, thank you, also, for the birthday wishes. It’s going to be a good day. I actually have an appointment to get my car serviced. I’ll take my knitting and wait – so it will be nice.
We’re having solar re-installed today. They pulled the old system down last week and are upgrading our system with one which should zero out our electric bill.
Chris, I’m hoping that you are feeling better.
To all the rest of my lovely friends, I wish you a peaceful day!
Carol
0 -
Carol, enjoy your day. You might want to have a piece of birthday cake that Hershey made for you too!!!!!!!!! It looks like chocolate. Hey why not have chocolate cake for breakfast and lunch. You only turn 65 once. Live it up!!!!!!!!
My cousin and his wife are in town for a leadership convention at my church. They were missionaries in Poland and Africa. He called me this morning and wanted to know if I could meet them for lunch. So waiting to hear back from him. I had a painter here doing touch up from my windows installation that had some issues. He didn't have that many places to do and missed some. I should have checked before he left. Oh well……….it's not the end of the world.
Enjoy your special day.
Love
Nancy
0 -
Hi all. I saw my dentist this morning - nothing really bad going on, so no need for a filling/root canal. We'll keep an eye on several teeth.
DH took me to lunch today. It was lovely. Came home and had a nice nap and then went for a "ride" on the Peloton. I'm surprised at how much I like the thing! Who'd have thought?
Nancy, enjoy your time with your cousin and his wife. What stories they must have after living in Poland and Africa.
Love to all,
Carol
0 -
Hi Carol,
I am glad you had a good lunch with DH. A nap is always nice. I never have taken a ride on a Peloton. LOL I am glad you are enjoying it. It looks like quite a workout on the commercials. I am sure you are relieved not to have a big dental procedure. I hope you enjoyed your birthday.
This is a picture of Dennis, my cousin, his wife Linda and me in the middle. Who knew that we would be color coordinated! They were telling me about their mission work in Poland and Africa. They have helped start a new church downstate and have begun taking mission trips with some of their congregation to Cuba.
Yes, it was interesting hearing about there time on the mission field. I was especially intrigued when Linda talked about working near a Cheetah preserve where they were trying to grow the population as they are an endangered species. Dennis who was a farmer for a big part of his life said how strange it was to go from pigs and cows to seeing giraffes, elephants, lions and ostriches when they were in the bush. Warren Buffet, the well known millionaire investor has a son Howard Buffet. Dennis worked closely with Howard while in Africa helping the natives with farming techniques. Howard Buffet lives in my hometown downstate and pours a lot of money into charitable ventures. Dennis tells the story of how Warren Buffet gave each of his three children a billion dollars to use in charitable ventures. So I thought that was pretty cool.
I hope everyone has a nice Memorial Day Weekend.
Take care.
Love,
Nancy
0 -
Nancy, what a lovely photo of the three of you. It sounds like you had a wonderful visit.
I had a good visit with the neurologist this morning. She's ordering an EEG of my brain to rule out any seizure activity and a swallowing study to see what's going on with my swallowing process. I used to accompany nursing home patients to get swallowing studies done to see whether or not they were aspirating when they swallowed different textures and consistencies. Never thought I'd be on the other side of the x-ray machine!
0 -
Carol, glad you had a good visit. Sounds like things are moving forward.
Nancy, yes, lovely picture. Missionaries are lovely people to be around.
I had my treatments and saw my oncology PA today. Things are finally improving although I still had to have a wheelchair to negotiate the three appointments in the hospital. The pain and weakness are both receding and I actually have a glimmer of hope things will continue to improve and hopefully resolve. We decided to stay off my oral cancer meds a bit longer and see if it all resolves. It is a discussion I will have to have with the main oncologist in the near future but I am in no rush to go back on the Verzenio. In the meantime, I welcome a little medicinal respite and will stay on the anti-hormone shots only for a while. My DH and I were able to stop for an early dinner on our way home which was very welcome.
Chris
0 -
Thank you Carol. We did have a good visit. I hope your next tests will not be too cumbersome and hopefully reveal what might be happening.
Chris, it is so great to hear that you are improving. Having a meal out hopefully helped to feel some normalcy coming back. I don't blame you about not being anxious to jump back into your oral chemo. I hope you will have a very nice respite from all things medical. I am not sure if I told you that my Zoom Bible study prayed for you recently when you were in the hospital. It was nice getting together with family which rarely happens when I am in Naperville. My cousin's brother is an evangelist based out of Florida. They are both really great guys.
We are having some really great weather so I have been able to do some needed yard work getting my yard in nice shape with flowers and weeding. My neighbor did come over and helped me with some weeding I couldn't navigate with my knee in this brace. I am anxious to get my fountains up and running soon. I am so grateful that I didn't have to have knee surgery at this time.
I hope all of you have a great Memorial Day Weekend.
Love,
Nancy
0 -
Nancy, that's a great photo of you, your cousin, and his wife. I'm happy that the three of you had such a good visit. The restaurant decor looks fun and quite interesting!
Carol, I hope the EEG and swallowing study give you and your neurologist actionable results.
Chris, I am so happy you are feeling better and hope the drug holiday brings relief from pain and fatigue.
Wheatfields, how have you been feeling? Are you enjoying some nice springtime weather?
I have a rather trivial question for you wise women. Do you take a multivitamin? My husband and I eat a lot of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables; our cereals are enriched, so I don't want to overdo vitamins and minerals with mega doses. I value your feedback and any suggestions. Thank you so very much!
0 -
Thanks Hershey.
I take MANY supplements and a bevy of vitamins. You will be surprised where I get many of them that are awesome. Andrew Lessman only sells his products online and through HSN.com. I know that sounds very strange…………but I have taken many of his products for probably 20 yrs and they are awesome. I have quite a few products on autoship. He was researching supplements long before it became a fad. I take his Women's Complete Vitamin and he has a line for men as well. When he appears on HSN just listening to all of his research and his products is in itself an educational benefit. His products work. That is why he is one of the top sellers on HSN. He will explain that some vitamins and minerals cannot be maximized in the body by food only. He is all about good nutrition and practices what he preaches. I think he is in his 70's and is in great shape. He is honest, extremely intelligent and is truly trying to help people to have a longer and healthier life.
I have some physical challenges that mainstream medicine was not able to help me. That is why I turned to a wholistic doctor and supplements. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1990 by Mayo Clinic. Believe me it is a very real thing. I battle pain and fatigue daily.
From my years of being in this world of herbs and supplements one of the biggest issues for many who live in cold climates during the winter is they don't get enough sun. I am a big believer in Vit. D and my pcp does check my Vit D levels as my wholistic doctor died a couple of years ago and I have not sought out another one.
So this may be more than you wanted but I am a firm believer in supplementation with vitamins.
I hope this gives you some food for thought.
Love,
Nancy
0 -
Nancy, wow! Thank you so much for your detailed and helpful reply!
I checked out Andrew Lessman's HSN web page and found several different "Essential-1 with Vitamin D3" formulations. Do you take one of these formulations? I'm leaning toward the one with 1000 IU of Vitamin D. Also, I really appreciate that this product does not contain Iron (so many of the grocery and drugstore multivitamins do).
0 -
Hershey, my main source of Vit. D was a supplement formulation made by my wholistic doctor. Now that those supplies are gone I have looked for similar items with other wholistic doctors online. I do take other supplements with Andrew Lessman which has some Vit. D in them. I take around 7000 IU of Vit. D. The government's daily recommended dosage of most vitamins is usually much, much less than what the wholistic doctors would recommend. My wholistic doctor was all about lab work and then he would base his recommendations on the results. It was all science based and not voo doo medicine or quackery the way some people may think. Of course there are probably those out there giving the good doctors a bad name.
I take his Healthy Skin, Hair and Nails supplement when my hair was thinning because of my AI. I still take that. I take a fiber supplement which also has a cholesterol lowing component to it. I take something for my bones and I take Maximum Joint Effort for pain. I take something for my immune system and I take Tumeric and Glutathione. They have flex pay where you can divide up the payments with no interest and I usually do that. I take CoQ10. So I do take a lot of his supplements. I have a whole other bunch similar to what I was taking with my wholistic doctor.
I wouldn't be paying a fortune on this if I didn't think it was worth it. All vitamins are not created equal and his does not have some of the filler type stuff that your grocery store vitamins probably have. His vitamins are known for being easy on the stomach as well. I take his fish oil which does not have an after taste for example.
Well I probably gave you more than you asked for but it will be food for thought.
Have a good Memorial Day.
Love
Nancy
0 -
Happy Memorial Day!
Nancy, the bluebirds did come back. The babies fledged about two weeks ago, and the mom and dad have been bringing one baby around this weekend. Statistically that seems right. It cracks me out how bluebird fledglings look so grumpy!
Busy week. Getting an actual curly cut from a curl specialist, and yet another Zoladex. Hope I don't bleed a lot. I see the doctor this week so I'm going to express my displeasure. :-( She's not concerned but I am. Do you all get broken blood vessels from blood pressure cuffs?
0 -
Hi GB! Have you mentioned the bruising to the medical assistants who take your blood pressure? They may need to use a different cuff size or take extra care not to over-inflate the cuff.
I hope your appointments go well this week. Let us know how you enjoy your new cut!
0 -
GB thank you for sharing your insight on the bluebirds. I didn't know those things about them before. And we will be praying for your appointments this week. Nancy, thank you for all your information on vitamin supplements. Have a happy memorial day everyone! I'm making a fresh rhubarb pie to take to a cookout today. We are enjoying some nice beginning of summer weather now and the rhubarb was just right!
Love, Wheatfields
0
