thread for middle age to older Christian women.
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kerry, praying for you and your husband. These attacks from such a sinful world are hard to take sometimes. Thank God He knows and is standing close by.
Nancy, how is your pain today? Hopefully your knee is becoming more flexible and less painful.
hersheykiss, this is scary news. We are all at the mercy of computers now!
I received a call from my Dear Auntie that her daughter just died from pneumonia complications. This is the Auntie who is in AZ where we are all headed for our little reunion and my DB's memorial service next week. My Auntie and her daughter had been estranged for many years and just reconnected last year although it was still precarious at best. My Auntie was able to call her and say "goodbye" just before she passed although she was already comatose by then.
We got six inches of snow overnight and are expecting to get more later today and tonight. Hopefully we will then be done for this winter although a snowstorm in April is not unusual for Colorado. I had labs done at the oncologist yesterday and she ran an extra panel to check on the source of my extra fatigue and slight cough. Everything came back negative, so probably just SEs. I broke down crying at the doctor office yesterday which is unusual for me. That is what I get for having such a caring PA!
Praying this storm passes by everyone else.
Love, Chris
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@hersheykiss no I wish I could say I was :) but it is a good reminder I just had to share with all of you ! So far insurance will stay in place at our usual cost for at least 3 months after that it’s either new insurance or unaffordable Cobra. I’m so mentally emotionally and physically drained it’s ridiculous. DH is waiting for the word about a new job already in the works from Godly men who know the truth and are his friends so they have been working nonstop to get him back but under their company wing. GOD IS ON THE MOVE LADIES 👏🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
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@intolight I am so sorry to hear about your Auntie daughter saying a prayer for all of you 🙏🏼
Thank you for continued prayers I truly appreciate them ! I feel like crying every time I’m laying in the radiation room 😩 I’m glad your labs were negative 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
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Hi dear sisters,
I wore myself out yesterday and I don't think I posted. I ran a bunch of errands and walked into Home Depot so I got almost a mile of steps in. I came home and spent a very long time doing my home PT exercises for the first time so by evening I was absolutely wiped out.
Chris, I am so sorry that you have had another death in your family. I am glad that you have a compassionate PA and you allowed yourself to cry. I am sure you needed that release. You have had so much to deal with and when you don't feel well that just seem to magnify everything that is going on. I will pray for you and your family for another loss. I am glad to hear that your labs came back negative but I can understand that probably doesn't bring a lot of relief if you are still feeling bad. You had asked me a few days ago about dodgergirl I think you said. I don't know who that is so I am wondering if you meant that for perhaps Carol and from another thread.
Kerry, I love your banner you posted. I love the colors and presentation of the way God sees us. It is a great reminder. I am very encouraged to hear that some of your DH's friends are trying to help him out. I feel a door possibly opening up for him. I know this has to be so difficult to go through on top of your cancer treatments. Hang on dear sister. With the Lord by your side as you lay in that machine know that He is right there knowing how scary this is and wanting to comfort you. Reach out to Him. He is waiting for that. He is going to carry you through these trials you are in now. I remember someone telling me this won't be forever when I was going through some things and I found that very comforting. We are all praying for you.
Hershey, I have Walgreens as well. I wonder when this happened exactly. I know when we went to pick up my pain meds from Walgreens on March 4 there was a delay. When I got home there was a message saying there was an issue with your insurance but I finally got the meds. What a nightmare for probably millions of people. It is a scary world out there and it seems like no one is fully protected. I am glad we have the Lord on our side.
Wheatfields, how are you doing? Have you received tons of more snow like CO has? We were in the 70's yesterday, had a terrible thunderstorm very early this morning which scared poor Cammie. She is still on edge after our new roof installation last week anyway. We are expecting to have a hard freeze in a few nights. I think we are going to be in for a wild ride with the weather situtaion. How is your nurse friend doing? Are you still able to talk to your sister on the phone? I know it is so difficult to see a loved one going through what she is.
Teka, how are you doing in the North Country? I appreciated some of the tips you gave me before my surgery. Getting in and out of the car was one of them.
GB, you all have had some wild weather too. I think you may be experiecning the 70's that we had yesterday.
Carol, how's that baby blanket coming along? Are you still able to eat more? I sure am praying for that.
I just looked at the time. Oh my gosh. I had no idea it was this late. I haven't fixed dinner yet. Where is that personal chef when you need them????
I was a bit discouraged yesterday when I did my home exercises. It was killing my knee right from the start.
Today was much better so I am grateful for that.
Have a restful night everyone.
Love,
Nancy
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Ladies !!!!!! I have a message !!!!!!
YOU ARE ALL MIRACLES IN PROGRESS 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
READ THAT AGAIN WE ARE ALL MIRACLES IN PROGRESS and it is ok that our progress is different than someone else’s because so is …ya ready ????? YOUR PURPOSE 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
This line struck me while listening to my worship music and laying my day at the cross. When you have time check out the song “Before and After” by Elevation Worship & Maverick City Music feat. Amanda Cook
I think I listened to it 3 times because it struck me so much, have a blessed night sweet warrior sisters God is with us walking ahead of us, along side us and behind us in case we stumble 💕🦋
Kerry
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Kerry, thank you for your banners you have posted, they are so true and so very encouraging! We are praying for you and your husband.
Nancy, praying that your knee is coming along real well, and the stiffness disappears. It sounds like you walked a long ways when you ran errands yesterday. My brother had his knee replaced February 13 and he's doing pretty well so far, but admits there's a lot of work to the exercises.
Chris, I am sorry to hear about another loss in your family, praying for you and your loved ones. Also that you are feeling better.
Carol, I'm praying that you are able to eat better and feeling better.
Hershey I think you must be just as sweet as your name sounds.
My nurse friend's sister in law recently passed away and the services are this Saturday. She and I have been helping her brother on the farm with mostly household things, that his wife had always taken care of. My friend is feeling some better. It really does make a difference in how she feels if she sleeps well. I am able to talk to my sister most nights, either by calling and they take the phone to her or my brother in law still goes over there most every night at 8:00 and then can call me on his phone face time and we can talk. The only thing is now with the time change we are two hours ahead of AZ and 8:00 is 10:00 here so it gets late for me. We have had some nice days, although we have lots of wind. But no snow, so thankful. The temperatures are kind of a yo yo lately up and down.
Praying for all of you!
Love, Wheatfields
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Good morning, dear sisters.
I don't have much to add, but just wanted to say hi. Quiet (hopefully) day here. Praying for a peaceful, safe and pain-free day for all.
Carol
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Kerry, I love your enthusiasm for the Lord! It's such a blessing that your husband's friends have pulled together to place him at their company. I hope it turns out to be a great fit.
Chris, I'm so sorry to read about the passing of your Aunt's daughter. I will be praying for her and your family.
Wheatfields, it's good to know that your nurse friend is feeling better. I'm sorry that her sister-in-law has passed away. It's good that you and your nurse friend are helping her brother. No doubt he is very appreciative of your support during this sad time.
Nancy, the Change Healthcare cyberattack was reported on February 21. Thousands of hospitals, doctor offices, and pharmacies across the country have been affected. What's not known is if the attack took personal patient data. Here's a link to a Scripps News article that was posted last night:
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@hersheykiss thank you ! I truly love God and I am not ashamed to say or show it 👏🏼 I do have my ugly cry moments with him daily though sometimes more than other days today is that day they hit me for radiation treatment costs after insurance pays for $4000 like I could write a check right then plus all the claims from surgery have NOT finished being processed so the Ded is paid for the year and OOP met. I refused to sign that amount explained and the fact she couldn’t see the hospital & 2 surgeons billing makes a HUGE difference so she rewrote it up and I told her just bill me. I’m just now slowing down the crying I know God has a plan I’m just so confused about this part of the valley it’s definitely dark and DH hasn’t heard any more re work and tension is HIGH at home.
I hope you’re having a better day then here
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@sunshine99 I hope you have a blessed & calm day !!
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@wheatfields Thank you so much !! I appreciate the prayers !!
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Kerry, I'm so sorry that the hospital billing person expected payment when your previous claims have not yet been processed. Your response ("just bill me") was spot on. You've given yourself grace and time to locate your EOBs, receipts, etc and go through the bill line by line.
Job offers and onboarding take time, but I'm praying that your husband receives the "you're hired!" message very soon.
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@hersheykiss thank you so much and I agree not only did I go to nursing school I have worked in the medical industry since 1992 (cringing showing by age lol) and did billing & collections for 10+years so I definitely knew the claims are no where near finished. I haven’t even received an EOB from my surgery date yet 🫤😖
I’m praying the new job/work calls him this week 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 yesterday was such a stressful day before and after radiation like the radiation isn’t enough right 🤦🏼♀️
I hope you’re having a great weekend !
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Wheatfields, I am sorry to hear about your friend's SIL passing away. Going through someones possessions when they have passed is really a tough job. God Bless you for helping out your friend and her brother. . I'm glad you get to still talk to your sister but the time change is a bummer. Does AZ not go to DST like your state or maybe the way around?
Yes, your brother is right. The PT exercises are a lot but I had arthroscopic surgery and not a full knee replacement so I will hopefully have a faster healing that your brother will. I hope he is doing well. My initial progress went very well but this week when my PT started it is been exhausting. I had my second session yesterday and I was in PT for and 1 1/2 hrs. The first time I was there it was almost 2 1/2 hrs. We did quite a bit of talking yesterday as I found out his wife had a bad stroke about a year ago and this poor man is spending long hrs at work and then coming home and fixing dinner very late in the evening and cleaning up and then he works in the wee hrs of the morning. He sent me different exercises twice this week aroun 3 in the morning. So I am fighting with more pain after PT sessions and trying to find a good balance. So I am still doing a lot of icing.
Kerry, I finally had a chance to listen to Elevation Worship today with the song you mentioned. I love listening to worship bands. I had never heard this one before. I listen to a Christian radio station exclusively and they have not played that but it was powerful. I pray that things will fall into place for your DH with a job soon. My network of doctors was taken over by a new company and they are ALL about the bottom line. I had to prepay for my surgery and for my MRI and it is so maddening when most are used to getting a bill first. I am glad that they didn't make you pay some of it because I have heard patients with the receptionist in that awkward situation. I am glad that you could say bill me. I am praying that God will make a way where there seems to be no way. How many treatments total do you have? How many down so far? Just remember you are one more treatment away from the finish line that you were on Thursday!!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!!
Hershey, I am going to click on that link when I finish this post. I haven't had a chance to do that yet. Now that I think of it there was a children's hospital that was hacked recently in the Chicago area. I am wondering if this is the same deal. What a nightmare for those in the hospital and those trying to dredge through the nightmare of billing etc. with millions affected. I hope you are not caught in the middle of it all.
Carol, how are you doing? Glad to see you checking in even if it is to say hi.
Chris, praying for you.
Teka, GB, I hope you have a good weekend.
Love,
Nancy
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Nancy, I hope your knee pain resolves very soon. You are accomplishing a great deal in your PT sessions. A 2.5-hour new patient evaluation and a 1.5-hour second appointment are thorough ones indeed. My former therapist allotted 1 hour for new patient evaluations and only 30 minutes for subsequent appointments. Your therapist's life-work balance is concerning to me. He sounds like a devoted husband and caring therapist. I will pray for calmer days.
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Hershey, our new PT policy with my network of doctors only allows 30 min for the initial evaluation. My therapist told me that otherwise I would not have known that. He didn't spend that whole time 2 1/2 hrs with me but I was at the clinic that long. I came early as they wanted and then he was quite a bit off schedule. There was another patient he was working with too and we were the only two patients in the whole clinic. He said he talks a lot as he likes to get to know his patients. He had an assistant and the guy was a very young guy but was clearly not having a clue how many reps I was to do etc. This guy was a freshman in college training to be an exercise specialist. To the defense of my therapist he did ask me if I needed to be anywhere and I said no. So I waited for him to come back as he wanted to do some testing and measuring. On Friday I was with him the whole time for 1 1/2 hrs. Even though in MyChart it says the therapy sessions are only 30 min they don't stick with that time frame and that was true in the past.
Way back many years ago when I had therapy I was assigned one therapist and I would work with that person the whole time. Those days are over I' m afraid. Now most of it is them watching you do the home excercises and hopefully they will correct you if you are doing them wrong as they spend a short time with you and then pass you off to an assistant. There is some manual therapy too which is good.
So if I can progress with my limitations that is my goal and I have been able to do that in the past and I am very disciplined in doing exercises both in therapy and post therapy as well. My problem is I have three issues that I need to be doing exercises for and there is just not time to hit all three so something has to suffer for the time being.
I did get to read that link you had posted. This hack sounds like it is having more of an impact that even the pandemic. So many people are being hurt by this. I sure hope they can track down where this hack came from.
I ordered some refills at Walgreens online which I haven't done before. It seems like things were working alright. I guess I'll find out tomorrow if the meds are ready.
I hope you have a good week. We have snow in the forecast and my daffodils that were up may get zapped. I didn't have the energy to go outside and doing anything about it. I could have made cut flowers out of them so I hope I haven't waited too long.
Take care,
Love,
Nancy
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Wow, your PT stories are all over the place. I feel fortunate I had a main therapist plus one other the day he was out. I did it all in person, not virtual, but then my situation was not as serious…just some back pain. I am not very disciplined at being consistent now that I am released. I just don't feel like doing PT when I feel so bad.
We got two feet of snow with this last storm, but it is mostly gone already. It was a very wet and heavy snow which melts quickly. My DD had no issues getting to and from work in it. We should be clear the rest of this week.
Praying we all have a good week and can get our needs met in spite of the issues with the internet hack.
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I think most of us need this banner today. Chris, we had snow flurries today. I am NOT complaining after hearing of your two feet of snow!
More later. I am actually grocery shopping today and I put in a reservation for my organic plain rotiserrie chicken so I have to pick it up at a certain time.
I have prayed for you today. Come, Lord and be our helper to all of us today who have needs that only you can meet.
Love,
Nancy
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Hi dear sisters,
I had a very long time at Whole Foods. Today I had to wait on my chicken so I was sitting down in this eating area. Another band director friend came in and we talked for a long time. It was great catching up but then doing my shopping for the first time since surgery, coming home, eating lunch and then doing my exercises I am wiped out right now.
Faith, sent me an email. She was in the hospital for a few days with congestive heart failure caused by her chemo. She is on a new chemo drug, Ernesto which is just wiping her out so she is hoping to have the dosage changed. Her cancer has become active again which as some of you know she has been in Stage IV for many years. She will have a PET scan soon. She needs our prayers as she has already been dealing with depression and anxiety. She does hope to come back and join us when she has more energy.
Hershey, I got a call from Walgreens saying there is an insurance issue with the drugs I have taken for years and I need them. So this could be a domino effect from this hack. If I don't hear from Walgreens soon I will call my insurance company to see what is going on.
Take care and have a good night.
Love,
Nancy
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Nancy, what a lovely visit you were able to have while you were at Whole Foods.
I'm sorry to hear about Faith. I will pray for peace in the storm for her.
I'm off to get my brain MRI in a little while. New location for me, so hopefully not too hard to find. As I wrote this, I realized that you might think I'm hoping my BRAIN is not too hard to find. haha Actually, I meant the clinic. Scripps Clinic has several locations and I've not been to this one yet. I'm thankful to have Google Maps on my phone and not having to pull out my Thomas Guide. Do you all remember Thomas Guides? We'd hit Costco in January each year to get the latest copy.
Love to all,
Carol
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Nancy, thank you for posting an update about Faith. I will pray for her recovery.
I hope there's not a long delay getting your medication from Walgreens. When I went to pick up my prescription, the technician manning the drive up window was simply handing people their meds and saying, "your insurance will bill you." My cancer center has taken all their systems offline, including patient scheduling. They are using a hard copy spreadsheet to schedule appointments. This cyberattack has created such a mess for healthcare providers and patients alike.
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Teka, I LOVE your pics. The pussy willows took a second. (Surgery brain) Well what do you know???? I didn't realize it was the first day of spring. YIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Thanks for making my day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Carol, praying your MRI is uneventful and a good result!! Never heard of Thomas Guide.
Hershey, I called my insurance yesterday when I realized they were holding up one of my meds for what reason? I asked them about the hack and they just said it has not affected Aetna. Not sure about Walgreens here. Anyway after a day of delay my meds are ready.
Ladies, Chris is leaving for her long road trip tomorrow to honor her brother she just lost, with their side of the family. I am asking that you would lift her up all this week as she has a lot to deal with needing her oxygen tanks and just the sheer number of miles she will be traveling in a car. She has not been feeling well and she needs physical strength to do this. Let's all lift her up.
Kerry, praying that your treatments become easier for you. Praying for a financial break through.
Wheatfields and GB praying you both have a good day.
I have a really big day today and have been battling fatigue. I have to vote, pick up meds, see my PA for post op visit and my Zoom Bible study tonight. I would appreciate prayers that my fatigue will soon disappear.
Love,
Nancy
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Wow, Nancy, you have a lot going on today. Will lift you in prayer as well as Chris, Kerry, Wheatfields, GB and anyone else who needs (and don't we all) prayer.
MRI seemed long yesterday. Was able to find the clinic but got lost trying to exit the hospital. Ended up finding a security officer who guided me out. Pretty funny. New locations can be difficult to navigate. Friday's PET is at a location I've been before, so I should be OK. If I drop off the boards for a while, it's probably because I'm wandering the corridors of Scripps looking for an exit that isn't going to sound off any alarms. (Ooh, that might be a good blog topic: "Looking for an Exit." What do you think?)
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Sunshine, Oh I get lost in hospitals all the time. My DB says I can get lost in the bathtub! Praying for your results.
Nancy, thank you for your kind words. I am sitting here waiting for my DD to get a few hours sleep before we drive away as she had to work last night. It makes me a bit nervous, but she has done this before and is an excellent driver. My sweet DH has done so much to help prepare the car and extra batteries for my O2 machine, etc. Yesterday we went shopping so he can have good food to eat while I am gone. I usually do all the cooking but I know he will be ok. I am feeling better today but sometimes it is just the adrenaline that kicks in. I am trusting God to travel with us and keep us safe. I try to tell myself to treat it like an adventure like "The Amazing Race." Problem is I tend to prefer the comfort and safety of my home. It is hard to purposefully make things harder when you have been sick. I almost backed out, but I know others have made extra effort too.
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Carol, I am glad you made it to your destination. Yep, I have no sense of direction so I totally get it. If you spun me around in my one car garage I might have a hard time finding the exit!!! I have my brain MRI coming in August and I am clostrphobic so I just close my eyes and think of things that take a long time to end. I Praying your MRI and PET scans bring stable news. Are you eating better? Gaining more weight? I wish we had a system of I give you all the pounds you need and I don't and it would be a win win. 😁
Chris, I forget your daughter works the night shift. At 10 am CT time I was think you are probably on the road but no. I am glad you are feeling better. You are a dear to go shopping for your DH for good food to eat. Praying this will be a good adventure!!!!!
I got good news at my first post op yesterday. No more bandages but at least two more weeks of no baths. I may have to message him on that as I got home and thought is that really what he said. He was so handsome …….. maybe I lost my concentration. This was the PA I had never seen before. I don't need another follow up unless I think I need it and that would be another month. I won't go into all the details but my gut feeling that I needed this surgery was right according to some of the findings even though my surgeon was still telling me in might not help. Time will tell in the end but I feel good about my decision and my progress.
I appreciate all of your prayers and you all know you have mine.
Love,
Nancy
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Hi all. Got my MRI results back with no significant interval change. There was a mention of "multiple enhancing calvarial and skull base lesions" so I'll ask my MO about those. PET scan tomorrow.
(Copied and pasted from another thread.)
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Carol, I hope the lesions are of no clinical significance and pray you receive a good report on the PET scan.
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Carol, how many MRI's of the brain have you had? I wonder if the radiologist had mentioned these things before. I do pray that your MO will give you some encouraging news on both the MRI and the PET scans.
I had my PT session today. They had measured my range of motion in my leg that I had the surgery and in just two prior PT sessions and all of my home exercises there was quite a bit of improvement. So I was thrilled about that. However when talking number of sessions he wanted me to add 8 more sessions to my original 8 so I was surprised and disappointed with that. He did say we could cancel some of those if needed. He mentioned even taking a break and then resuming. I really voiced a strong NO on that proposal. My idea was to get back to gardening and my photography by warm weather so we'll see. My therapist is very slow so each session is way longer than it is supposed to be so it is eating a up a big chunk of time but if it means smoother healing and progress then I need to accept that knowing in the long run it will be worth it.
Have a good weekend dear sisters. We had snow so we are back to a typical March.
Love,
Nancy
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