An eventful week…..

These 2 main scabs on my head have remained quite stubborn.  The one closest to my forehead is the larger of the two and was dry and hard.  The smaller has been there for quite some time, was hard and dry, but very tender to touch.  The area around these has been dry and peeling. So I decided to try putting emu oil on the whole area.  I had used emu oil on all of the left half of my head after my radiation treatments ended and that area was all blisters.  This time, it did stop the skin from being so dry, and it began to soften the scabs.  They started draining a bit, and I got scared that perhaps they were getting infected, so I switched from emu oil to Bacitracin.  I decided after a couple days of that, I perhaps should see the doctor to make sure there was no infection going on and to see how I should go about treating the whole area.  I thought I remembered how I had treated the donor site on my arm when the flap was done back in the beginning, but I wasn’t sure.  I had a box of Xeroform left from another open wound and some telfa dressings, so I thought I had what was need.  Here Is the technical definition of Xerform: Xeroform is a sterile wound dressing that is non-adherent, which means it won't stick to the wound so dressing changes are less painful and trauma to the wound is minimized. Xeroform is also an occlusive dressing which means the dressing prevents air from reaching the wound. An occlusive dressing will retain moisture, heat, and it will help the medication stay in place, this promotes a moist healing environment. Xeroform dressings are made of a absorbent fine mesh gauze that easily conforms to the body. It is comfortable and soothing against your skin. The fine mesh gauze is impregnated with a 3% bismuth tribromophenate petroleum blend formula that provides bacteriostatic protection. Xeroform also deodorizes because it works to reduce wound odor.

I saw Dr. Page, the McPherson oncologist, Tuesday, and he set me up an appointment to see the wound care team on Wednesday.  He thought there might be a slight infection, but wasn’t sure, so he started me on an antibiotic since my counts were so low.  I saw the wound care guy on Wednesday, and he thought a bit of debridement was in order.  He said it was hard for anything to heal that was covered with a scab.  It actually was easier than I thought it might be since the scabs were all softened from the Bacitracin.  He took off about 75% of what was there, covered it with an antibiotic ointment, and a dressing.  It was painful the rest of the day, mainly due to the pressure from the dressing. He said I could change it daily or more if it drained through.  By evening, I did remove it because it was just too uncomfortable.  I put Bacitracin on it, covered it with Xeroform, and a telfa dressing.  When I went to bed, I took a REAL pain pill!  As long as I keep it covered, it is fairly painless.  Open to air is when it is really uncomfortable.  I think it is going to take quite a while for it to heal. I think that the two small places left are the cancer. If this pill I’m taking, IBrance, gets in gear and takes care of the cancer, then it can truly start to heal.

I still have various colored spots on my cheek, and the discoloration on my forehead and eyelids.  The right side of my forehead doesn’t seem to be progressing with the cancer although there is some discoloration there.

Wednesday and Thursday were particularly good days.  I felt strong, and was motivated to do a lot of hand sewing. The worst part of this pill I’m taking is how it makes me feel about 4-5 hours after taking it.  I take the pill at 3:00 pm, and by early evening, I begin to itch – everywhere – and scratching does not solve the itch.  Have you ever had an itch, and although you scratch it, it doesn’t satisfy the itch?  It’s frustrating!  Especially if you are trying to sleep.  The other thing is it gives me restless leg syndrome.  I had that after I had surgery on my foot back in 2013.  My doctor at the time gave me something for it – can’t remember what it was – but I knew it was addicting, so I didn’t want to continue to take it.  I mixed up a concoction of coconut oil, Peace and Calming, lavender, cedarwood, and Valor – essential oils.  I rubbed that on my legs each night, got off the med, and never had restless legs again. I need to make that up again.  I ran out of Peace and Calming a long time ago. At the time, it was not available from Young Living.  I think they’ve brought it back now with a slightly different formula.  I need an amber colored jar, and I can’t find the one I used (since we moved – along with dozens of other things!  UGH!)  So far the leg issue doesn’t bother me all that much at night, but if I sit in my recliner with my legs up, it drives me nuts!  Especially if there is something on my lap – like my laptop, or Annie.  I just have to get up and walk or exercise it off.  The other side effect is sometimes I get the “jeebs” – I can’t sit still, feel like climbing the walls.  I hate that SE!!  I’m hoping as I continue to take the med, that will ease somewhat.  I know a lot of SE show up at the beginning of taking a med, but go away once you’ve taken it for a while.  Other than that, I’m tolerating this med pretty well.  Now, if it will just WORK!!  If it is working, it sure is doing so s.l.o.w.l.y!

My rib seldom gives me any trouble now – praise the Lord!

The sores in my nose are almost completely healed, and I don’t plug up at night.  I don’t have to take the Sinex anymore – praise the Lord!

After having two really good days, I got up Friday morning, and while in the bathroom, I got terribly weak, sweaty, and nauseated.  I grabbed the waste basket and did a lot of drooling into it. I came within a hair’s breath of throwing up!  Guy was taking a nap in a room on the other side of the house, so he couldn’t hear me hollering.  I managed to limp back to the bed and lie down.  I took my BP and it was 91/66.  I tried to stand to take it (which they always do to determine if I’m dehydrated – if it drops more than 10), but I couldn’t stand long enough for the machine to register – I thought I would faint, so I had to sit down.  Sitting, it was 98/77.  In a bit I stood, and it was 87/63.  I had not yet taken my BP medicine, so I held it!  I lay on the bed for a while and finally was able to get dressed.  I knew I was going to have to have fluids.  This is the way I always feel and act when dehydrated.  I called the infusion center to tell them I was coming and got Guy up, and off we went to McPherson.  It takes two hours to infuse a liter of fluid once they access my port. They were kind of busy when I got there, so they didn’t get started for about 30 minutes.  I fell asleep in the chair, but bless Guy’s heart – I guess he always finds something to do for 2-3 hours.  Maybe he naps some in the car – I don’t know, but he doesn’t really complain. I know he doesn’t want to have to pick me up passed out on the floor at home.  Usually I sleep through the whole procedure.  This time I took a short nap, and my legs started up – UGH!  I told the nurse about it, and she had to call the doctor for someone else (he wasn’t in the office that day), so she asked him about my legs.  He said he would give me a prescription for Ativan, 1 mg to take at bedtime.  I told her I wanted to try my essential oils before I started another Rx.  I don’t like taking those mind-altering drugs unless I just have to.

Last night I remembered about 9:30 that I needed to take something for “dinner on the grounds” today.  We were to have the group from Victory Village in our morning service and then all eat together.  Luckily, I had a bag of Rhodes frozen cinnamon rolls in the freezer.  You just put them in a pan, let them rise overnight, bake them and frost them (frosting included).  If you haven’t tried those, you should.  You can’t tell the difference from the made-from-scratch cinnamon rolls.  You can take out one or two or however many you want.  They are just yummy if you like cinnamon rolls.

If you are not from this area, Victory Village is an academy near Hutchinson, KS.  The website describes it as “The mission of Victory Village Christian Academy, a subsidiary of Heart Ministries, Inc., is to show God’s love and compassion to wounded youth, seeking to bring them into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, as we minister to their spiritual, social, intellectual, and physical needs.”

This particular place is for girls from 12 to 18. Our church has helped to support this place for several years.  Some of our fund raisers are for this purpose.  It was a group of 16 plus a couple staff members and the husband/wife directors.  They sang and gave testimonies.  It was really inspiring to hear these girls tell about how God had intervened in their lives through the help of VV.  The academy receives no state or federal funds – mostly supported through about 50 churches and private donors.

I have this blanket spread out over my bed so Annie won’t lay on my bedspread.  Didn’t seem to help a whole lot on this day.  J

The boys went to their high school prom this weekend.  Oh, my!  They are growing up way too fast.  Such handsome young men!

Dylan - 17

 Chris 15

 

He and his girl are on the right end.

I guess that is enough for this week.  Hope I can stay strong all next week.  Nothing special going on – just don’t like down days.  You can scroll down for pictures for those that want to see.

And as always…….I’m in His hands…..

Before debridement 

 After debridement 

Midweek update

The last couple of days have been fairly miserable.  The scabs on my head have been very dry and hard.  The edges have been chipping away little by little, and the skin very dry.  I started using some emu oil on it.  I had used it all over my head when the blisters from radiation were healing. This began to soften the scabs, and they started to drain.  I was afraid, from the drainage, that there might be some infection beginning, so I started using Bacitracin instead of the emu oil.  The smaller of the scabs was extremely tender and was causing a great deal of pain – like there was a buildup of pressure under it.  The Bacitracin softened the whole area enough that it all drained more in the night and relieved some of the pressure (and pain). 

I got concerned this morning that I might not be treating it as I should now that it is all softening around the scabs, and what if the scabs came clear off, leaving all that rawness.  So, I just called and got in to see Dr. Page, the local oncologist in McPherson this afternoon.  He was glad I came in.  He said there mightbe a little infection beginning, but I really needed to see the wound care team, and they could direct me on how to care for the whole area.  I’ll see them tomorrow at 1:00 pm.  That is a relief, because now that it is starting to open up, I need to be able to care for it and not get it infected.  I don’t really know if it is a sign the medication is working, or if it is getting worse.  Time will only tell that, I guess. He ordered an antibiotic for me to take orally for a week to take care of anything that might be developing, especially since my WBC is so low.  He also told me not to be afraid to take pain medication. “I know you don’t like to take it, but I’m just saying  – take it when you need it.”  I’ve been using Tylenol and Aleve, but so far have not taken the stronger prescriptive stuff. I almost broke down and took some last night, but the Aleve seemed to help.  If I keep the area covered with Bacitracin, it’s not too bad, but when the air hits the raw places, it burns like fire!!

Otherwise, I’m not doing too bad.  Since starting back on the medication (last Saturday), it’s made me sleepier.

Each night I eat a little bowl of Cheerios when I take my bedtime meds. Last night, after consuming that, I got the JEEBS!!  I wasn’t sure what was going on – still not sure, but I felt like climbing the walls. I knew I’d never get to sleep like that, so I did some leg exercises, and then I tackled my closet.  I switched out my summer crop pants for my winter pants/jeans.  I bagged them all up (according to sizes) and labeled the bags.  I’ve lost about 40 lbs now, so most of my pants are 14s and are too big.  I think I have more 12s somewhere, but haven’t run across them yet since moving. (Just like a pair of nice knee-length boots that have disappeared!)  Now I just have to do the same for my shirts.  Anyway, by the time I got that all done, I was exhausted and figured I could go to sleep.  I itched everywhere, but none of the scratching helped.  So, I took a Benadryl.  That helped everything.  Guy finally opened my door this morning after 10:00 am to see if I was still alive!

I had a great time last weekend.  Mark came to visit.  Amy was sick, so he thought he would just come and spend the time with us – no special event.  It was soooo nice to spend the time with him.  He went hunting with some of his buddies, but spent most of the time here. Then Saturday night, his throat started feeling scratchy.  He had originally planned to stay over and go home Monday, but given that he might be coming down with what Amy had, he didn’t want to risk giving to me, so he went home Sunday after we all went out to eat after church.  Monday ,he went to his local doc-in-the-box and got an antibiotic. The boys are both doing well in school and both playing on the varsity soccer team.

I’m really happy for Jeannine.  She closed on a house Monday and moved in that evening with her girls. The pictures she sent showed the girls smiling from ear to ear.  

The house looks so cozy.  She is now about 5 minutes from her school where she is a school counselor (rather than almost an hour).  The girls are closer to their school, too.  The house is on a nice corner lot across from a nice large park.  

I’ve been sewing nearly every day for a week now.  I’m hand appliqueing on this little flower quilt.  

I tried stitching the applique pieces by machine, but I just didn’t like the way it looked.  Since the sores on my hands have healed, and I got a new thimble, I can once again hand applique, one of my most favorite things to do.  For several of the blocks, I’ve been using the technique recommended by the pattern designer – sewing a light-weight interfacing to the right side, making a slit in the interfacing and turning.  I don’t like that method because I can’t get nice smooth curves.  No matter how hard I try, there is always a little “pointy” area that pokes out. When I needle turn, that doesn’t happen. Since my fingers are better, I’m going back to my tried-and-turn method.  This quilt with have all kinds of techniques used on it!

On Oct. 9^th, I’m going to be going to the Methodist ladies’ group to give my quilt talk and show my quilts.  Hope I’m having a good week that week.

The areas on my forearm, knee, and back where the mosquitos bit me (over a week ago) are better.  My back is still itchy, but I’ve been using a Benadryl spray that has helped. (This resulted from 3 mosquito bites.)

 Here’s a big “praise the Lord”.  Guy had a CT scan of his lungs last week, and there is no evidence of cancer!!!!!! Thank you, Jesus!!!

Another praise the Lord – my side is so much more comfortable.  Almost no pain there unless I cough.  I’m coughing less too.

Specific things to pray for:

1.   My eyes.  The discoloration from my forehead had come down onto my eyelids somewhat.  

     My eyes are not swelling quite as bad as they were, but still swollen.  My distance vision seems to be getting worse.  My right eye becomes painful by about mid evening, especially if I’m trying to read.  It’s like it just dries out, even when I use eye drops.

2.   The healing of this area on my forehead and head that is opening up.  Pray for the pain involved there – sometimes 8/10.  I’ve been so blessed to have had very little pain all through this journey.

3.   Pray my blood counts don’t drop too low.

4.   Pray the med doesn’t cause my neuropathy to worsen, especially in my fingers.

5.   Pray the itching/blisters doesn’t start up again now that I’m back on the medication.

6.   Pray my restless leg syndrome settles down.  (I need to make my coconut oil and essential oil concoction that I’ve used in the past for this.)

And as always…….I’m in His hands…….

Another roller coaster ride.....

Well, I guess I spoke a little soon in my last blog about feeling so good….

Monday morning I woke up and, instead of being hungry for breakfast (which is the only meal of the day that I’m actually hungry for), I wasn’t particularly hungry.  As I was preparing my bowl of cereal, I suddenly felt very weak and had to sit down. I headed for the bathroom, and I thought I might end up in a pile on the bathroom floor.  I sat on the toilet, but couldn’t get my head higher than my knees.  I broke out in a sweat and got nauseated.  I knew I had to somehow get to the bed to lie down.  I called for Guy to come help me.  I just laid out flat on the bed for a while.  My BP was 117/71 lying, 89/69 sitting, and 61/45 standing.  I knew right away I needed fluids.  I called the McPherson infusion center, and they said to come right in.  Once they got my fluids going, I fell asleep and slept the hardest I had in a long time.  It’s amazing what a liter of fluids will do for you.

Today, I had a 2:00 appointment with my regular PCP – my yearly physical at Hutch.  I started out well, but as the time wore on, I realized that I wasn’t up to par.  I wanted to go to Kohl’s, and Guy dropped me off there.  I could tell things weren’t quite right when I had to sit on the bench inside the door for a while.  I got a cart, and slowly walked to the lingerie department.  I couldn’t find what I wanted, so left empty-handed.  I really wanted to go to Hobby Lobby to get a needle threader – not one of those cheap wire things, but they didn’t have the kind I wanted.  I just didn’t feel like looking around, as I loved to do in Hobby Lobby, so I bought a little $1.99 package of plastic thimbles and headed for the car.  

Man!  I hate this not being able to shop and enjoy it!   We ladies just love to shop!  Right??? I guess that “spell” from yesterday took more out of me than I realized.

Well, anyway, I went onto my doctor’s appointment.  I had my cap off in the room, and I could tell he was kind of shocked when he saw me.  I don’t think I’ve looked this bad when I’ve been in to see him before.  I told Guy just this morning, “It’s too bad when you feel so good but look so bad.”  Oh, well, he reassuringly told me I did not look bad.  Bless him!  He’s always so good to tell me encouraging things.  Anyway, I think Dr. Jackson didn’t think my medication was working.  I had to tell him that I thought it was because all that half of my head had been covered with scabs, and now a lot of it was just pink skin.  Now, granted, what is left is pretty awful to look at, but after I told him the strides I had made (rib feeling better, two fingers healed, feeling good most of the time), I think he didn’t feel so bad.  I was anxious to see my lab work.  Even though some was quite low, there was some positive numbers.  My WBC went from 2.2 to 2.6 (not great, but at least going in the right direction).  My Hgb went from 9.3 to 9.7 (still low, but better).  My AN went from 814 to 1180.  Now that made me happy, being not as susceptible to infections). What made me do a happy dance was my lipids – cholesterol, triglycerides, etc. They were ALL NORMAL!!!!  Haven’t see that in 40 years!!!  Of course, I know it is due to eating like a bird and mostly eating at home.  Every doctor has threatened to put me on cholesterol-lowering medication, and I’ve always refused due to the side effects.

I showed him the awful rashes that the mosquito bites had caused, and he gave me a stronger steroid cream than the over-the-counter stuff.  So I’m very hopeful that will relieve the itching – and itching and blisters on my hands, too. (SE from the medication).  Beow is my forearm - very lumpy, bumpy, and red.

Another angle of my arm.

And the rash on my knee.

I’ve always been so LOVED by the mosquitos – if there is one in the county, it will find me.  However, since being on this medication, I had not had one bite all summer until this past week when I got one on my arm, 3 on my back (through a thick shirt!), and two on my right knee.  I’ve never had these rash-reactions before, so I know this medication does NOT like mosquito bites.  Mosquitos have never bothered Guy before, but these Kansas big black monsters have nearly carried him away!!  He keeps slathering the lavender essential oil on, but is still miserable, bless his heart!  Well, I’m hopeful this cortisone cream will do the trick for me, and let me sleep.

That’s just a quick update for the 1^stpart of this week. Hopefully, I’ll gain some more strength as the week progresses.

Oh, look what our neighbor brought us again today!!  SO delicious!!

And as always……I’m in His hands…..

A feeling good week.....

This is the 1^st time I’ve felt good for a whole week. Someone must have had a direct line to heaven about my side/rib.  About Tues, it just pretty much quit hurting – at least all the time.  It remains sore, but I’m not thinking about it like I was. What a blessing that has been!!! Until the last couple of days my nose has been so much better, too.   The big sores that covered the inside of my nose are gone.  There are still some small ones that remain, but it is not keeping me up at night like it used to do.

My eyes have remained swollen, but the last couple of days, they have at least eased a bit by bed time.  If I sleep on my back (which I can do some, now that my side is better), they do not swell as bad, but if I sleep on  my right side (which is when I get the best sleep), I wake up with the right one almost swollen shut.

The biggest issue now is ITCHING!!  My hands itch to beat the band!  Sometimes, I’ll get little blisters along the sides of my fingers, but mostly they just itch!  Last night I was up, I think, about 6 times – nose plugged, and I had this tremendous itching attack – EVERYWHERE!! I would have taken a Benadryl, but it was after 3:00 am, and since they last about 6 hours, I wouldn’t have made it to SS or church. I did take one after lunch, and I believe it did help.  But I’ve slept most of the rest of the day away.

Thursday was the day we went to the Kansas State Fair!!  I have a regular doctor’s appointment next week so needed to get a fasting lab done ahead of time.  That’s what I did first, then we went to MD’s for breakfast and headed to the Fair.  We took a chance to go into the handicap parking lot, hoping to find it wasn’t full at 10:00 in the morning.  We got the last place available.  Guy unloaded my scooter. (He had put a new battery pack in it, and it worked like a champ.)  At two of the gates to the grounds, there were tents with scooters you could rent. I think they were $75 a day.  They were doing a land-office business.  I wish I knew the actual statistic, but I would say for every 3 adults, there was one on a scooter.  Some company is making a killing on this baby boomer generation. I was glad to have my own.  It is kind of pain if you get into a crowd, but thankfully, it was not a terribly crowded day – at least not to start with. I went to the domestic arts building first to look at the quilts.  I took lots of pictures, but I’ll do a separate blog and include the pictures there.  It was kind of a pain getting around in a building with the scooter, but I did lots of going forward and backward down the aisles. 

Here  is Guy standing by this cute dog house.

And look a this life-size metal elephant.  RTR!!!!

After I left there, I took off for the Birthing Center, on the opposite end of the grounds.  I wish I could describe the immensity of this place for those who have never been.  If I had not had the scooter, there would have been no way I could have walked anywhere.  Anyway, the Birthing Center was kind of sparse this year.  There were 4 cows, each in her own stall, but nothing was happening.  

  

The mama pig was sacked out, as were her 10 piglets that were 4 or 6 days old.

In the center of the room were several baby goats, calves, and sheep that were already born.

From the Birthing Center, I drove through all the vendor booths under the grandstand.  

 Didn’t see anything new, but I did get a piece of chocolate fudge.  I just now remember that – I wonder what I did with it! Oh, well, I’ll have to look around for it.  The rides and the carnie booths were not open and operating until after 3:00, so I just drove down the midway, taking in the sights, sounds, and especially the smells. The midway has that very distinct smell of onions cooking.

Ye Old Mill is still operating – a very iconic ride. 

It’s probably been over 50 years since I rode it.  After getting into the boat, I would put my head on my lap and shut my eyes – to keep the wet strings from hitting me in the face and the scary creatures from jumping out at me – and of course screamed my head off.  Oh, those were the days…..

So many familiar sights…..

 Guy spent most of his time looking through the farm equipment.  He had a Pronto Pup for lunch.  I had an old dry non-melted-cheese burger on a cold bun. It was $5.75, and she kept my quarter – maybe a self tip??? Idk…… I couldn’t choke more than about half of it down. But then I had what I came for – a funnel cake – a batter, drizzled into melted fat and browned.  Then, served with powdered sugar – which promptly blew all over me in the wind.  But I ate and ate on that thing – got it about 2/3 gone.  

Thankfully, I had my water along. I finally met up with Guy, There are 3 large buildings at the west end that have vendors of every kind in them. He was sitting on a bench between them, so I left my scooter with him, and decided to try walking through the last two buildings.  It was getting crowded by then, and I knew I could get through them much more quickly on foot, and I was tired of sitting all day – needed the exercise.  Again, the vendors were pretty much the same in pretty much their same places.  One was a double-wide booth with Brother sewing and embroidery machines.  I saw a Brother ScanNCut.  I asked him what his Fair special was on it.  He said it sold for $600, but he was taking 20% off at the Fair.  Wow!  I told him that HSN just had their Today’s Special Value, selling the DX model for $299 and they included $299 worth of designs.  He about fell out on the floor.  He said, “That’s the new model, too.  I can’t even buy it whole sale for that price."  So I guess the deal on HSN was a really good one – kicking myself for not getting it for $299.  I've looked and looked at those and several times have come within a hair of getting one. It would be nice to cut out applique shapes from fabric.  I’m not really big into card making, which is a lot of what they are used for.  

I went on around to the other booths – mattresses, kitchen tools of all kinds, spas, glasses cleaner, super-doper aloe cream that would cure a myriad of skin disorders (almost bought that one, but couldn’t pull the trigger on $60), kitchen cabinets, fancy cookware, bamboo sheets, home TV antennas (get rid of your cable – would work if you didn’t live in the boonies), jewelry, spices, humming bird feeders, slicer/dicers, knives, leather goods (purses, wallets).  You name it, someone was hocking it!!  You had to walk down the middle of the aisle, with a very disinterested look of your face, or you might be grabbed and takin’ in!   I did stop at this one booth where this guy has every kind of scissor, nail cutters, tweezers, etc.  They had a whole section of magnifying glasses.  I bought one that is about 5” in diameters and clips onto whatever.  I clip it onto my lap desk, so I don’t have to spend over 30 minutes now to thread a needle.

By the time I got about half way through the 2^ndbuilding, I was needing to sit down – just got weak all of a sudden, so I didn’t spend as much time in that building.  By that time, it was about 3:00, and I figured I had seen what I really wanted to see. Guy had been sitting, people-watching for about an hour, so he was ready to go.  Before we went through the exit gate, he took this picture of me.  I should have taken that fanny-pack off, since it made me look a little “thick” in the middle!  J  Good-bye Kansas State Fair……you have been a good friend for a life time……

 I would love to have gone to Hobby Lobby while we were in town, but I knew I didn’t dare ask Guy for that!  J  I hate, that I can’t just jump in the car and take off to do what I want to do, when I want to do it!!  L

Our neighbors and little community are so generous.  We’ve gotten tomatoes from two different neighbors. One is growing these monsters – about a lb per tomato.  Wow! There is NOTHING like the taste of a tomato picked right out of the garden.  

Another neighbor has brought lots of those small oblong tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.  The lady across the street and one down the road a ways have brought sandhill plum jelly. Guy’s mom used to make that and keep us supplied.

I’ve been doing some sewing this week – working on those little flower blocks.  I stitched the applique down with the machine (because my fingers won’t tolerate the hand sewing L), but I sure don’t like how they look compared to the needle-turned blocks.  This quilt with have a duke’s mixture of techniques within it. You’ll just not have to look closely at it.  For the 1^sttime in my life, I’m saying I’d rather have it done than have it perfect.  Ouch! That is hard to say!!! L

Saturday began my week off from my medicine, IBranc.  So many people ask me if it is working.  I never know what to tell them.  I think it is doing something because of the reduction in the number and coverage of the scabs on my scalp.  But there are some really ugly, stubborn, deep ones that have not budged. The skin discoloration continues on the right side of my forehead and down onto my eyelids.  I’ve developed  a cough that occurs occasionally, but I have a lot of post-nasal allergy drainage.  I hope that is what it is from, and not the cancer in my lungs! One never knows what is going on inside where you can’t see, but I’m still feeling good, so I can’t help but think that the med is working.  I'll include pictures at the end for those who want to see.  There probably is not that much difference from last week.  Maybe a little worse looking????

My grandson, Chris, (Mark’s), turned 15 this week, and Dylan will turn 17 next week.  My goodness these boys have grown – becoming young men.  Here they are working on Chris' varsity soccer banner in preparation for a game tomorrow.

 The last day of October, Jeannine’s oldest, Maya, will become 13 – a teenager!

Jeannine is supposed to close on her house the 24^th.  Please pray that all goes well there for her and the girls.  There have been a few migraine-causing glitches along the way, so she needs this week to go well for her.

I really appreciate your specific prayers this past week.  I do believe they were more effective.  Here are my specific needs for the week to come.

1.   Pray for the sores in my nose to heal

2.   Pray for my cough to go away.

3.   Pray for my white count to rebound while I’m off my medication for the week, and that I don’t get an infection or have to take further precautions (mask)

4.   Pray for continued healing of my rib.

5.   Pray this ITCHING stops!!!  I’m sure it is the medication.

6.   Pray I don’t have to get out of bed every night with leg cramps – don’t know why those have started.

And as always…….I’m in His hands……