31 Days of Hope - October 28

This was a hard day so I'm going to deviate a little on this post from what I've been doing. It's still going to be about HOPE because even in the hard things, there's HOPE.

I went to my pain management doctor today and the nurse practitioner I've been seeing since 2008 is no longer there. They just sprung it on me and to say I was shocked and sad is a huge understatement. Lisa has seen me through my three herniated discs and then the knee replacement when my artery got cut. She called me in the hospital I was flown to to check on me. She's the one that first realized I had an infection and sent me straight to the hospital. I thought of her as not only my NP, but my friend. I'm devastated that she's gone and evidently moving out of state. I would have liked to have hugged her neck and said goodbye. 

The new NP was nice, but he's a young man and time will tell how we relate. The unfortunate thing is I had to wait 45 minutes to see him, then we went over everything, which took time, and then he left the room to see another patient before coming back to finish with me. I was there over two hours, sitting in a chair with my legs down, and of course, they ballooned up. I came home and did my vasopneumatic machine right away, but it was not very helpful. I then decided to go in and lie down with my legs on pillows and hoped that would help, but the pain just got worse and worse and I was crying from the pain. I can take a lot of pain so for me to cry, it's bad. My sweet hubby came in and rubbed my legs which helped, but as I was lying there, it was 10:15pm and I was wishing that it wasn't so late so I could text someone to ask for prayer. Then it happened...a God thing!

My dear friend texted me to see how my doctor appointment went! I couldn't believe it! Such a blessing from God! I told her as much! I think I scared her, though, because she texted back but I was getting ready for bed and didn't get back to my phone for a few minutes. I'm sure she thought something horrible was going on! I won't do that again. The phone will go with me where I go! Anyway, she prayed for me, texted sweet words of comfort and Scripture. By the time we got done, I was feeling so much better! You have to understand how really special this is. My friend just had surgery and infections herself and here she was pouring herself onto me! I am in tears just thinking about this. It makes me think of this amazing song I love by Needtobreath called "Brother". It's about Jesus being our shelter, but to me it's also about those sisters in Christ that stand with us when we need them. There a line that says, "I can be the one you call, when you're low", and I think of this friend who pours the love of Jesus into me. I am so thankful for the gift of her friendship! I'm thankful that she gives me HOPE!

Here is the song I'm talking about. Please listen as I'm sure you'll love it as much as I do. Knowing God is always near is so amazing and gives me so much HOPE!

Blessings - Julie

A Little Update

It's been awhile since I've checked in with you all. I haven't been particularly busy, just tired and still trying to regain my strength. I've been reading a lot, crocheting, and that's about it. I do try and cook a meal once in a while and keep up the laundry, but otherwise, I'm relying on my sweet family to help me with things and they always do!

Speaking of which, my youngest son amazes me at his ingenuity. I have a recliner in my living room that I love, but the footrest was dipping in the middle. It acted like it was broken and it hurt my leg to sit in the chair. He decided to take the footrest off and see what was going on. Sure enough, the footrest was broken in the middle. The crazy thing was made out of pressed board and it was very thin - can you imagine? Mind you, this is a La-Z-Boy chair and they are supposed to be good quality. Anyway, he took the upholstery off, cut a new board and new sides for the footrest, put the upholstery back on perfectly, and fixed it! He has never done anything like this before, but I couldn't have had a better job done if I had taken it to a professional! He is always like this - he can analyze something and figure out how to fix it, and he does a beautiful job every time. In fact, he will improve it - just like  he did my chair. He used real wood and now there should be no problem of that ever breaking again. I'm thrilled because now I can use my chair again.

I saw a new endocrinologist the other day and I can say with absolute certainty that he was one of the worst doctor I have ever been to! He was arrogant, talked over me, didn't want to hear anything I had to say, basically called me a liar when he asked me a question and he didn't like my truthful answer, and was just horrible all the way around. I wouldn't go back to him for any reason! He made me feel uncomfortable and I had no confidence in him at all. I left there quite upset and then didn't sleep that night because it was such a horrid experience. I'm over it now, but am warning everyone I know never to go to this man. I will have to find a new endocrinologist in the big city again, which I really don't like, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do. lol I'm so spoiled by the first endocrinologist I had. He was so good! He doesn't take my insurance now so I have been trying to find one ever since. I keep praying that he will take my insurance again! I really don't like having things like this happen as it's so upsetting when you're trying to get help with a health issue. You're already concerned about the health issue and then the doctor treats you like dirt. I don't think people like that should go into the health care system. I should have checked him out more, though. Had I known he got his medical license where he got it, I would have never, ever even considered him. Oh, well...live and learn. On to brighter subjects...

I took this video of Miss Mitzi a few days ago. She just brings so much joy into my life!

When things are tough, I just have to give this little thing a hug or, look in those sweet eyes, and all is right with the world. I hope things are right in your world!

Blessings - Julie

Faith of a Mustard Seed

An update has been long over-due, dear friends! I have been busy with a lot of things and yet I've had some days where I'm just dragging.  Not due to pain, but due to allergies! Oh, the weeds growing everywhere are just too much! As I look out my window, I see weeds that are just thick and at least 3 feet tall! We live on 10 acres, so we live in a rural area where everyone's land looks like this. So many of the weeds have little flowers on them and I believe this is what's making me miserable. My hubby has also been out there on his riding mower cutting the weeds, so that just really stirs up the pollen! Fall is in the air, though, so I believe this season will be ending and those nasty weeds will be getting the cold snap soon.

My Bible study started and our group is so wonderful! The ladies just bonded immediately and it's exactly what I prayed for. I prayed that our hearts would be knitted together and I felt that the first night, we definitely had that happen. The study of Genesis has been really, really great and I love the in-depth study of this amazing book.

I am also going to be co-leading another Bible study that is once a month at our church. It's the Women's 101 study I showed you on another post. How amazing our God is to allow me to be used by Him in this way again! It's so true - if you have the faith of a mustard seed, nothing is impossible - WITH GOD!

I'm in the process of making changes in my doctors. My wonderful doctor decided to move back to his home state as his wife was really missing her family. I can't tell you how sad that made all of us. He was an amazing doctor and we were blessed to have him for the few years we did. I totally understand why he made the decision to move, though, and admire him for taking care of his wife first. I went to the doctor that was in that office, however, I was not impressed. Tomorrow I go to a new doctor and I'm praying that it will work out. I'm also going to start going to an endocrinologist in the big city for my thyroid issues. The doctor that left town was taking care of them, but I feel it's time to have a specialist now that he is gone.

I'm starting to think it's time to decorate for fall. I found a great table cloth at our grocery store for $3.99! I also found really cute Thanksgiving paper napkins for $1.00 per pack of 18! I was really surprised as normally those cute napkins are at least $4-5. Now I just need to get all my cute Fall items out and decorate....

God bless you - Julie