tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21273568252021626732024-03-05T02:07:10.744-05:00There Will Be GraceDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.comBlogger232125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-68247163197603433712012-10-06T12:30:00.000-04:002012-10-06T12:30:36.186-04:00Note To Self: Never Ignore Vital Warning Signs!!!!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, yesterday was the day for my biopsy. I got up at 3:00 a.m. I got ready and completed a few chores around the house and we headed out at 4:30 a.m. Stephanie went with us so we picked her up at Lowe's and then headed towards Knoxville. We arrived just a few minutes late but all was well!!!! LOL!!! They got me ready and had to do another last minute blood test. If you have ever had surgery you know they have some standard procedures that they go through with every patient. I was seen by at least 10 different nurses, lab techs and such, before the procedure. They all ask two standard questions, what is your birth date and what are you having done today? I was asked these two questions 150 times!!! I think subconsciously I knew something, because I would always stress that I was having two places on my tongue biopsied. I would go into detail explaining that one place was a lump on the top of my tongue and the other was a place the doctor had found on the bottom of my tongue. At one point, I was having to sign some routine papers brought in by one of the nurses. She again had asked what I was there for and I had once again went into detail telling her. When she handed me the paper to sign it read that I was having "A biopsy of the base of the tongue." I told her this was not really correct, the two places were not at the base of my tongue, they were on the part of the tongue you can see inside my mouth. She folded that paper over, said she would call the Doctor and get back to me. She returned later to say she had talked to the Doctor, he said it was ok, he knew exactly where to biopsy, and it was ok for me to sign the paper, so I did. I had told Wendell and Stephanie that I was not quite sure about this doctor, he seemed a "little sketchy" to me. I had asked one of the main nurses about him and she had only rave revues for him. She told me he had operated on her uncle who had had throat cancer and he had done a wonderful job. She thought he was one of the best!!! So I tried to lay those negative thoughts to rest. (You may ask why I continued to see a doctor I was not confident with and I will try to address that thought later, there is a real reason. The sentences further down, with the ** in front will tell you why. All of those reasons and the fact that every time I go to a doctor I am faced with normally multiple bills for the different things they each do. It is sooo expensive and I feel soooo guilty for spending the families income on my personal bills!!!!! And this situation, in particular, Wendell thinks I should just let go.) After some discussions with two anesthesiologists they decided how they were going to put me to sleep because of my unusual circumstances of my mouth not opening and all. The doctor came to see me right before they took me to the surgery room. He mumbled around trying to say something and then asked again what kind of cancer I had had. I told him. He then asked what "we" were going to do today. I got the impression this question was not asked in the same way the nurses had asked, but was asked so he would know what it was he needed to do that day!!!!LOL!!!! Insert note to self here: Never ignore vital warning signs!!! I went into detail pointing, showing, and telling him about the two spots he needed to biopsy. He left, they started wheeling my bed down the hall and through a door and that's all I remember until I woke up in tears because my back and chest were hurting so bad. A nurse came over and asked if I was hurting and then gave me a shot of something in my IV. Eventually I was taken to a recovery room where Stephanie and Wendell came in. They said the doctor had told them everything had went well. I did just fine. He didn't think there was much reason to worry he thought it was my broke, rotten teeth rubbing by tongue and causing the irritation. I needed to call his office Monday morning to get the lab results that will tell us for sure what it is. Once I was fully awake I got my flashlight I carry in my purse and headed to the restroom. I looked in my mouth to discover that there had been two biopsies done, but they were both done on the same spot on the bottom of my tongue!!!! He had not even biopsied the lump on the top of my tongue!!!!! I was sooooo disappointed. I had gone through all of this and I was still not going to know what the lump on the top of my tongue was!!!! **I had used the gas to drive to Knoxville on four different occasions...once for the initial doctors visit, once to fill out papers and get instructions from his nurse, once to go to the hospital for pre-op tests which included a chest x-ray, and EKG, and lab work where I was stuck multiple times as always when the nurse couldn't get a vein!!!! I was going to be facing multiple large bills for all of this. I had been poked and poked and poked, I had been anaesthetised, and I had had my tongue cut on And I Still did Not Have The Answer I had Came in search of!!!! I was in dismay!!! I was in tears!!!! I was so disappointed!!! I came out and told Wendell and Steph what had happened. Wendell did not feel the same way I do over this. He just thinks enough is enough. I know he feels exasperated. I know he is tired. I know he thinks I should have listened to Dr. Seifker and Dr. Netterville, they are both experts in this field and have said it is not cancer. At one point after seeing how upset I was he asked what next am I going to go to UT next? I can't imagine being in his shoes and going through all I have put him through!!! We told the nurse what had happened and she said what I expected any of the hospital or doctor staff would say, "Well he probably got in there and decided it was not anything that needed to be biopsied." She tried to locate the doctor but came back and told us he was in surgery and to call his office later that day. She then came back a few minutes later and said she had his office on the phone, Wendell took the call and his office personnel said what I thought they would say, she also said she would have him call us. Wendell gave her our home number and we left. I felt like I was in the "Twilight Zone". No one felt the way I did over the situation and I couldn't understand why. No one but me thought anything was wrong. No one but me felt the doctor had messed up!!! No one but me was upset that he had not done what he was suppose to. I was no better off after all I had gone through, not to mention the expense I was facing. No one but me seemed to have any emotion over this at all. Every thing was as it should be. I honestly felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. I did not want or expect anyone, including my self, to yell or scream or make a scene. All I was expecting was someone to say "I understand why you are feeling so disappointed." but that did not happen. No one else seemed to feel as if anything wrong had been done. Am I wrong? We left the hospital, Wendell stopped at Sam's to get product for the store, He went through the drive thru at Chick-fil-A, we dropped Stephanie off at Lowe's, We stopped at the store for him to unload the product from Sam's, and then we went home. Life went on as normal....Except.... during this time the Lord spoke to my heart telling me some things I needed to hear and to also let me know He IS in control. He gave me the grace and peace I needed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Humanly it is still hard to understand and come to terms with all that transpired yesterday. I keep remembering the feeling of standing there in dismay and no one understanding why. No one understanding what the big deal was. I felt so alone. I honestly felt as if it was all so clear and everyone should feel the same way I did, but no one did. I felt like I was standing all alone in the middle of the twilight zone. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Spiritually I know none of the humanly emotions or feelings matter. Spiritually today I am rejoicing in my soul Knowing God's grace is sufficient. I am rejoicing in my heart knowing God made His presence known to me yesterday, I was not standing alone. He understood and was standing there with me. He spoke to my heart yesterday at a time when I needed Him sooo bad. He spoke in a personal way that I will not publish on a blog. But I do want to say I am ok. I have peace of heart and mind over this situation now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">It really doesn't even matter now, but the doctor did call me yesterday evening. In a way he said what I knew he would say. He said when he got in there it was the strangest thing....he could not find the lump anywhere....he knew it was there, but he could not find it. It was so weird. All he could figure was...when I was asleep, well not just asleep, but in that perfect relaxed state that came from being under the anesthesia, my muscles were so relaxed that the lump went away...all he can figure is the lump must be just the muscles in my tongue tensing up when I am awake and not perfectly relaxed as only the anesthesia can cause. It was the strangest thing, he had never seen it before. He went on to start to give me a percentage as to whether or not the spot he biopsied was cancer but stopped and said we just needed to wait till Monday and get the lab results and we would go from there. He said my teeth really needed to be pulled and he can not believe the insurance will not pay for it because if we wait they will be paying for a jaw replacement. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The humanly part of me can't help but wonder how in the world he could have kept from telling Wendell and Stephanie about this really strange, weird thing that he had never experienced before!!!! I can't help but wonder how anyone could keep such a strange unusual phenomena to themselves!!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The spiritual part of me knows it does not matter. I finally have peace over this lump!!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!!! Thank-you Peggy, and Jen, and April, and Rachel, and Teresa, and Willie for your uplifting comments and for your prayers!!!! It meant so much to me to hear from each of you and know "humanly" I am still not alone, I have great friends!!!! Thank-You, Thank-You, Thank-You!!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I will try to give an update when I get the lab results back!!!!</span>Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-73200484482837129722012-09-26T09:49:00.003-04:002012-09-26T09:51:28.813-04:00Here We Go Aagin??????It has been a really long time since I have written here. I don't know if anyone still stops by now. <br />
I will give a quick update before I get to the real reason I am writing again, after all this blog has a theme we wouldn't want to stray from!!!LOL!!!<br />
First things first.... I am finally going to be a grand ma!!!!!!! I can't wait!!!! Stephanie and Michael are expecting their first baby in February!!!! We will find out Oct. 12 if it is a boy or girl!!!! It is so exciting!!!! I at first thought it was a boy but now I am feeling girl....I don't really care....I just want a grand baby!!!! I guess if I could pick I would pick boy, only because my first child was a boy and he has been out of the house and married for over ten years, I have still had the girls here, so it has been a while since we have had a boy around. But let me say I will be happy with which ever the Lord blesses us with!!!! I did spot a cabbage doll in a store awhile back. Cabbage Patch dolls were the big item when Stephanie was little. One of those things that you practically had to fight to get because there was more demand than there were dolls. I had bought Stephanie one that had long dark curly hair like her. Well, I couldn't resist when I saw it this time, so I had to buy it. It has long, dark, curly hair too!!!! If my grand baby is a girl I will give it to her if not then maybe next time?????? I have struggle with what I want to be called. I wanted Mammy, but that is what my sister's hundred and fifty grand babies call her!!! Punky likes Granna, I kind of like Meme!!!! What do you think?<br />
I would love for you to give me ideas and suggestions on what I should be called. Please let me know in the comment section here or if you are shy you could email me. I would love to hear some options!! Also I would love to hear from anyone who has been in the store since the remodel!!! Let me know what you think and I will pass it on to Wendell, He would love to hear what you think about everything and any suggestions you might have!!!<br />
Wendell ended up keeping the store and running it himself. He remodeled it all spring and summer and is pretty much through now. Well, he has stopped for now, there is still a few things needed to be done, but for the most part he is through. He moved the deli into the dining room and out of the store area. He moved the cash register section to where the deli was and added fountain drink machines where the cash register originally was. It looks good and we have had a lot of positive feedback. We also, finally, was able to purchase a soft serve ice cream machine, which is a huge hit!!!! It serves eight different flavors and vanilla. I have literally gained ten pounds!!!! I can't stay away from the butter pecan, it's amazing!!!! I will try to post pictures of the changes soon. If you live locally come on in and get breakfast, lunch or dinner and an ice cream for dessert!!!! I really believe you will love it and won't be sorry you stopped by!!!!<br />
Now on to the original reason for this blog....my health....cancer. This past Sunday was two anniversaries for me...Wendell and my twenty third wedding anniversary and the third anniversary since my last radiation treatment!!!! Yeah for both!!!!<br />
My worst fear ever was not that the cancer would return, but that it would return on my tongue. That thought is terrifying to me. The first week in August Wendell, me and the girls went to Destin for our annual vacation. We usually always go in May, which I originally had reservations for, but had to change them till August, because, Wendell was head over heels into the store renovations. My throat and tongue were sore before we left but the pain only got worse as time went on. Then one night I had got up because I was really hurting and went into the bath room to investigate. My mouth was not opening very much at all, probably less than half an inch. I was having to squish food in order to get it into my mouth. It was really hard to see in there, but I saw what appeared to be a lump on my tongue. It was one of those things that I really couldn't be sure if it was or wasn't there. I immediately became terrified and began to pray. That morning I had Wendell make me an appointment to see Dr. Seifker, The doctor that treated me in October of 2009, right after I had finished my radiation and the Crabtrees and us went to Destin. I ended up in the hospital down there with what could have became a life threatening infection. If you want you can read about that experience in a blog post I wrote on October 17, 2009. You can access it by going to the bottom of this blog and clicking on "October 2009 and then looking for the post written on the 17th. I haven't figured out how to post a link. Sorry :( Anyway, Wendell and I went to Dr. Seifker's office on Wednesday or Thursday of that week I don't remember the day for certain. Dr. Seifker ran a camera up my nose and down my throat to look for any adnormalities, there were none there!!!Yeah!!! He had to stick the camera in my mouth to be able to see anything because my mouth just would not open very wide. He was very concerned with my teeth. The few I have left are all broken and rotten. He could not believe our health insurance will not pay for the dental work I need done, that will cost me over $30,000.00 dollars, that I, of course, do not have!!! He said my sore tongue was a result of my teeth being in such bad shape. He said it was definately not cancer. He gave me a steroid shot in the hip and a presciption for a steriod and one for an antibiotic. We left there relieved. Well, our vacation came to an end after a week of rain every day :( We returned home and my mouth becan to open wider than it has in years. We believe it was a result of the steroid shot I had recieved. Anyway, I could see in my mouth a lot better and the lump I thought I saw began to get a little more noticible. I started to get a little uneasy again. When I showed it to Wendell he said he could not see anything. I finally showed it to Kiah and she said she could see what I was talking about. As time went on I couldn't get it off my mind. As I said at the beginning of this paragraph, the cancer returning on my tongue has always been my worst fear ever. After some time I showed it to my daughter-in-law, Misty, she said she could definately see what I was talking about. By this time it had grown to the point where Wendell also could not deny it was there. On other occasions I had gone to an ENT in knoxville that I usualy ended up seeing the nurse practitioner. I was not confident seeing him but I had tried to make an appointment and it would have been over a month before I could see the actual doctor. Wendell made me an appointment with Dr. Netterville in Nashville. Wendell at that time and even now thinks I should listen to Dr. Seifker adn also what Dr. Netterville said and forget about it. But I can't. I can't stop thinking, "Why do I have a lump on my tongue? No one I know has ever had a lump on there tongue." I will admit I am scared. We went to Dr. Netterville and because this post is getting so long and I still have more to say I will not go into that whole visit I will just tell you the result, Dr. Netterville said it was not cancer. He came to this conclusion by looking into my mouth that had returned to hardly opening, and by trying to stick his finger in there and touch it. His hand is big and I feel he could not adequitely touch it. He said when he rubbed it one way it felt like a tumor but when he rubbed it in the oposite direction it felt like a wrinkle!!! I left there acting as if I was satisfied with his diagnosis but I definately was not. As time has gone on ....Wendell still thinks I am crazy for worring and should leave it alone because after all two experts, Dr. Seifker and Dr. Netterville have said it is not cancer. I went to my family Dr. for my monthly visit and I told him about it. He looked and said if it was him he would definately want it biopsied. His office made me an appointment with an ENT in Knoxville who I have went to see. This new ENT saw another spot he was very concerned about on the bottom of my tongue which is the source of the soreness. This ENT said if he were me he would definately want both places biopsied. So I have an appointment to go at 6:00 am on October 5, to have them biopsied. They will have to do it in a surgery setting. They will intabate me through my nose since my mouth does not open. It will be a quick procedure if nothing goes wrong. My appointment is on a Friday and he said I would know the results that day, but I asked his nurse, on another visit, and she said it will be that next Monday before I get the results. So this is where I am at this time....in limbo....scared, at times terrified. <br />
I am very interested in what you think. Should I leave it alone and foget about it? If it were you what would you do? I would love to hear truthful opinions, not what you think I would want to hear, what you truely think.<br />
I know God has not changed, He is still in control. I need His grace probably now more than I ever have. Please pray for me. I must admit I am scared. I know what having cancer on your tongue can lead to and it is not a good outcome. I never prayed, the first time for God to take this "cup" from me, but I have prayed for Him to take this "cup" from me this time. But if that it not His will, that He will give me the Grace I need to go where this might lead. <br />
Well after all this time, this is where I am. This is my update!!!!!! If you are still out there and reading this please let me know I am not alone and leave me a comment or email. You all made it soooo much easier last time not only for me but for Wendell also!!! Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-1256494980569596832012-04-23T09:39:00.006-04:002012-04-23T15:22:49.071-04:00After Much Thought And Many, Many Prayers....<div>I am writing this particular post mainly for those who live in our area and know us personally.</div><div>Wendell and I purchased the store, we own and operate as our source of income to support our family, in March of 2003. I am not one who can say that "God told me this", or "showed me this" concerning everything in my life, but I do know, one million percent, that "God put us in the store". I have always felt that we were suppose to be there until "God takes us out", in order for us to be in His will, concerning our careers, for our lives. I could go into detail how God showed me on more than one occasion that the store was where we were suppose to be, but I won't go into that now...maybe later.</div><div>Running the store and deli is no easy task. We have, and Wendell still does, spend many more hours there or running errands for the store, than a normal 40 hour work week. Wendell gets up at 3:30 am Monday through Saturday to open and begin the day at the store. We have always been closed on Sundays in observance and respect of the Lord's day. For the first three years we were open Wendell worked another full time job and I was left to "mind the store" during the day. After working all day in Knoxville he would come to the store and work there till we closed together at 10:00 pm. Wendell's job in Knoxville ceased to exist, (in 2006 or 2007 I'm not sure the exact date) He began to run the store full time and I put all my attention into the "book work" end of running the store and taking care of all the financial responsibilities concerning the store, and was better able to manage running the home also. This arrangement worked really well for us. He had his place and I had mine!!!!LOL!!!! Before opening the store I had no idea how to do any accounting work necessary to run a business. Luckily the Lord had placed a friend in my life who was so kind and willing to teach me how to complete and file all the necessary taxes and paperwork needed. I had always been of the mind set that if I didn't know how to do something I could definitely learn how to do it!!!! Hiring an accountant is very expensive and would add another monthly debt that we just can't afford. I have always preferred to save the money and do it myself anyway, that way I have always known where we stood financially day to day. The store is not a very high profit business and the government has burdened us with so many taxes, that there have been many times on Wednesday I have prayed, concerned that if the Lord didn't do something I would not be able to pay the bills due on Friday. I can rejoice and say that God has always been faithful and somehow in ways that I could not foresee, he has ALWAYS met our needs!!!! Once again affirming that where He leads He will provide!!!! </div><div>Then came Cancer.</div><div>Since being diagnosed with the cancer my life has not been near the same as it was before. Before cancer I was never ill. I had been to the doctor maybe once in the ten years prior and that was due to an accident not an illness. I thought that when and if I made it through the treatments my life and health would be back to normal. Nothing has been farther from the truth!!! I underwent five surgeries, 37 radiation treatments and was administered two different kinds of chemo. These things and the cancer have left my body feeling ways I never dreamed of. I am constantly having some kind of health issue. Not only am I left with health issues but for me the hardest thing to deal with is the change in the way my brain seems to function. I don't know if it is because the radiation was so close to my brain or what the actual cause has been, but my mind does not function as clearly as it use to. This is extremely hard for me to admit, especially in such a public forum, but I feel as if I am at a point where I have to admit it so you will know why we are doing what we are doing concerning the store. I have been unable mentally and physically to keep up with my responsibilities. I had never paid a late fee or penalty before. If necessary I would have did without something else before paying a late fee on a bill, late fees would be like tearing money into shreds and flushing it down the toilet!!! I have always felt as if we have worked way to hard to earn the money, to just have to spend it on a late fee would be ridiculous. But sadly, I have paid many late fees and several major tax penalties over the last year. It has not been because the Lord has not provided the means, it has been because mentally and physically I have not been able to meet my obligations. It is hard for me to explain and I know even harder for those who have never experienced this reality to understand. The best way I can describe it is...it is as if my mind is jumbled and it is hard for me to concentrate and even a small mental task has become overwhelming for me, this along with the never ending health issues. I tell myself, "Ok just pull it together, you can do this" and I really, really try only to go back later, on many, many, many occasions and find I have did something wrong or forgot to do it entirely. My not being able to meet my obligations has put a tremendous added burden on Wendell. As hard as he tries it has just gotten to the point where he is unable to do it all. It has begun to take a toll on his mental and physical well being. All of this is very personal to me and extremely hard to admit publicly. I probably wouldn't admit it so publicly if it wasn't for the fact that we have reached a point where we have to make a change. I am heart broken at the fact that I have let my family down in sooo many ways. I feel as if I have been such a burden over the last few years and this has been very hard for me and my personality which has always been to take care of everything for them. I am not telling this here in the hopes of generating your sympathy, I am telling you this in the hope of explaining to you why it is time for us to make a change where the store is concerned. This has not been an easy decision and has only been made after an enormous amount of thought and prayer.</div><div>So with all that said....after much prayer....the Lord has opened the door for us to lease the store to someone who leases several other convenience stores in the surrounding area. This person is interested in signing a contract to lease the store for several years which will make it possible for Wendell to seek out other employment to support our family. We do not feel led to sell the store entirely at this time. I assure you we have not made this decision hastily. The person to whom Wendell will be leasing to is of Indian decent which, it has been brought to our attention, is a concern to some of our customers. I do understand this being a concern since no one other than Wendell has had a chance to meet him. I am writing this post and speaking to you about some things I would rather have kept private in the hope that you will not just "write this off", but will understand there are reasons behind our actions. When I have said the "Lord put us in this store and we should stay until He takes us out", I didn't realize how or why that might happen. But I know He is in control and all things work together for good!!! Wendell plans to still be in there as much as possible and our current local employees will still have employment there. We would greatly appreciate your continued support, without it I don't know what we would do.</div>Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-26551544513267055012012-04-15T19:26:00.004-04:002012-04-16T07:54:41.534-04:00I Have Been Inspired!!!!<div>I have been anxiously awaiting the delivery of the decision, from the insurance company, on whether they will cover the cost of the work I need done in my mouth. The problems are a direct effect of the 37 radiation treatments I endured. I appreciate any and EVERY prayer on this matter and will say thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to lift me and my trial to the Lord's ears. Thank-You, Thank-You, Thank-You!!!!</div><div>I know I said a lot of things in my last post that were not the happiest most positive things I could say. I have not only struggled physically, but<em> </em>I have also been going through an emotional trial over the last several months. I say emotional and don't use the word spiritual because I still have faith that God DEFINITELY knows what He is doing, and He has a plan for the path my life down here will take. I know He is in control!!! I know He has led me down the path I have walked !!! I know in the end it will be for my good!!!!</div><div> "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God" </div><div> Romans 8:28 KJV</div><div>So spiritually I am good!LOL!! It's emotionally that I have struggled. I am going to go into sharing more details of this struggle in my blogging but I have something I want to share first.</div><div>Wendell's cousin Charlene and her husband Roger came to TN for a visit over the last two weeks. I have met and enjoyed Charlene's company on several occasions in the past, but I had never met Roger personally. I have heard from him over this blog and if I am not mistaken through a note once. Wendell has told me on many, many, many, occasions that Roger said to tell me he was praying for me. A few years ago Roger was in an accident, that by all human standards, he should not have survived. But he did!!! God has a servant in Roger like no other one I have met!!! Roger suffered from traumatic brain injuries as a result of the accident. It profoundly changed the way he lives his life. He has suffered physically in ways that we can't understand. Mentally he is also a changed man, for example he has a problem comprehending conversations some times and will need a more detailed account of what is being talked about. I, having so many health issues right now of my own, did not spend near as much time as I would have liked to, visiting with Roger and Charlene. Roger's story of survival is amazing, and the direct work of the loving hand of God. Roger's love for our Lord and his desire to "give back" is so amazing and astronomically inspiring!!!! I guess what I am trying to say here is....I have been inspired over the last two weeks. I have never met a kinder person in my life. I have never met someone who loves and cares deeply for everyone the Lord crosses his path with. Roger's thought process may have changed, the way he comprehends things may have changed, all due to the terrible accident he indured, but the person he is now ....I am in awe of!!! Thank you Roger for helping to give me a better view on how I should strive to live my life. Wow, if the world was filled with kind, thoughtful, loving, and most of all praying people like you, this would be less like the world, and more like heaven. My hearts desire right now is to have a mind set more like Roger's. How I desire to view others with the kindness and love Roger seems to love and view them with. After having finally gotten to meet Roger, I am left with a lot to ponder on!!!! Thank-You Roger for opening my eyes to some things I needed to see!!! Thank-You for helping to ignite the desire in me to strive to be a kinder more loving person. Thank-you for helping me to have the desire to live my life more like you live yours...Christ like!!!!</div><div> </div><div>I hope to start updating this blog more frequently in the future. I have a lot to say!!!LOL!!! I also want to share here, for those of you who live around here and know my family and I, what Wendell's plans are for the store and why. So... enough for now....more later....</div><div> </div>Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-14808678628561732742012-03-21T13:06:00.004-04:002012-03-24T19:36:08.365-04:00Well, it has been a pretty eventful couple of weeks!!! Saturday, a week ago, we had Stephanie, Michael, Papaw Tom, and Granny & Papaw Ruppe over for dinner. Wendell cooked tacos, which I can not eat very well, so I had a bagel instead!!! About an hour after everyone left, I began to feel very nauseous. I had acquired my first stomach virus since well before my cancer in 2009. I have been afraid of getting a virus because my mouth will only open about a half an inch. I have been terrified that if I began to vomit I would asphyxiate and choke to death!!! Well, my fears have been put to rest!!! I am proud to announce that I can successfully vomit!!!! I was sick all night Saturday night and most of the day Sunday. After throwing up, the right side of my face, cheek, teeth, bones and gums hurt so bad I was unable to function. I sat in the house, in my recliner, all week, in tears off and on because of the pain. I do have some medication to help with pain but it wasn't even dulling it!!! Wendell had made me an appointment in Oak Ridge on Friday, at the Hypoberic Oxygen Treatment Facility (HBO). To try and make a long story short.....My teeth are all rotten because of the radiation. I need to have HBO treatments and then have all my teeth pulled and then get implants. I can not get dentures because I am missing a lot of bone and gum from my previous cancer surgeries. The total cost for the things I need to have done is in the neighborhood of $30,000.00. I do not have dental insurance. My health insurance is refusing to pay for the things I need to have done because they are saying it is dental not medical, even though it was medical issues that have caused the problems. (Just as a footnote, we pay $679.00 per month for this wonderful medical insurance!!!!) Anyway, Wendell has been working feverishly with the doctors and insurance trying to appeal their decision not to cover these expenses. PLEASE help us pray that they will have a change of heart and pay for the things I need done. My teeth are so rotten that I am in continuous pain and find it hard to function. Without the HBO treatments and the work I need done, my jaw bone is, and will continue, to deteriorate. If I do not get these things done soon they will have to take bone from my hip to replace my jaw bone at which point it will be considered medical and will cost my insurance some where in the neighborhood of a half a million dollars!!!! Not to mention the added pain I will endure!!!! It only makes logical since that they would cover the work now instead of waiting to the point where it will take extreme measures and dollars to fix the problem!!! Please help us pray. Wendell had me scheduled for an appointment in Oak Ridge at the HBO facility last Friday, for a consultation and to get them on board writing letters to help with my insurance appeal. I was in so much pain that I at times could not hold back the tears. The Oral surgeon that is willing to do the implants has his office in Oak Ridge. After leaving the HBO place I asked Wendell to take me to the oral surgeons office to see if maybe it was just one tooth causing me all the pain right now, and maybe he could somehow help me with the pain. I couldn't imagine going through another day in so much pain. I was at my breaking point. The oral surgeon took x-rays and determined that although my teeth are in terrible shape, there is something showing up in my sinuses on the right side where I am having all the pain. He said he has no ideal what it is. I asked if if could be cancer and he said yes. He said that I need to go back to Nashville to see Dr. Netterville as soon as possible. Wendell called Nashville and Dr. Netterville is out of the country and won't be back for three weeks. They said I could come out there and go through the ER and one of Dr. Netterville's colleagues would see me that way. Well, I could not have imagined driving all the way to Nashville and then sitting in the ER for hours waiting to be seen when I was in so much pain, and at that point, mental anguish!!! So I ended up taking my x-rays and going to see my family doctor that afternoon. He said there is no way of telling exactly what is showing up in my sinuses without doing a CT scan. For now he prescribed me more antibiotics and something to help with the pain. His theory is....(pretty gross)....When I was throwing up, some of my stomach content could have gotten into my sinus cavity. I was in so much pain I failed to ask how it would come out!!! Wendell asked a nurse that came in the store and she told him, it will get (or is) infected and the antibiotics will help clear up the infection and the contents will rot and eventually drain.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-50124145411223223072012-03-04T08:21:00.004-05:002012-03-04T08:39:03.214-05:00Yes, I Am AliveYes, I am still alive!!!!<br />I realize I haven’t written here in quite a long time. I have thought about writing many times, I have had much to say and to talk about. I have even been given topics of discussion from loved ones….such as what a wonderful sister in law I have!!!! (Which I do) I will leave it to the imagination as to who suggested that topic!!!!<br />The truth is…I have always been truthful here, as I have written about how I was living and feeling. I have been in a place for the last three months or so where I have been afraid to write honestly about what I have been feeling. So I have chosen to remain silent and not write here about my feelings.<br />I have not been in a good place. I have been in a place of deep depression or more accurately a place of grieving. The reason I had chosen not to write about it here was for fear I would be judged harshly by those that might not understand. I know there are some that would feel as if I should just “Get over it” “You are alive “ “how in the world could you be depressed” and worst of all “why are you not praying and trusting God”. Well, to answer some of these thoughts before they are voiced here….Believe me I have prayed, but I know God sometimes allows us to go through these valleys for a reason. He doesn’t always choose to lift us out and set us on sunny ground. Sometimes He chooses to let us walk there for our good and His Glory in the end. I know that there are times that we go through things that we don’t understand, but that help us later on in life with things we face. This may also just be a dark time in my life to help teach me compassion for others when they walk the same or a similar path.<br /><br />Sometimes we just need to grieve our loss. Yes, I have been blessed beyond measure in many, many, ways over the past few years. I fought and was given life back. The life I was given back, to me is far from the life I knew before. Yes, I am alive and getting to be here with my family, for which I am immeasurably thankful!!!! But my life has changed and I have had a lot of losses that I had not faced up to because of the fight for my life that now I have been forced to recognize. I have had more loss in the last couple of years than I have ever had in my life.<br />I feel as if I am emerging now from the throws of this grief and depression. I have certainly not fully emerged…but I am definetly on my way up!!! I am at a place now where I feel as if I can share my experiences here with you. So that is what I really hope to do in the coming days.<br /><br />So just to update you…This is where I have been and why I have been silent here on this blog. I now plan to divulge what I have been going through in future posts here. So, If you are interested…stay tuned…I do have things to say.<br /><br /><br />15 Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.<a name="16"></a><br />16 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.<a name="17"></a><br />17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.<a name="18"></a><br />18 Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.<a name="19"></a><br />19 Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.<a name="20"></a><br />20 O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.<a name="21"></a><br />21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.<a name="22"></a><br />22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.<br />Psalms 25:15-22 KJVDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-26086143327882934972011-11-22T08:54:00.002-05:002011-11-22T09:02:32.876-05:00All Is Good!It was 11:00 p.m. when we returned home last night, sorry the update has taken awhile! Thanks to those who were concerned and called or texted!!!! Friends sure can make your days better!!!! Dr. Netterville said that they do not know why, but some flaps (reconstruction sight) get irritated. They have no idea why this happens to some patients, but that is what has happened to me. It is not cancer, or my concern, pre-cancer!!! If it has not gotten better in a few months I am suppose to make another appointment, but for now ALL IS GOOD!!! He did a very thorough exam which was nice and reassuring that nothing is going on that I might be unaware of.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-6135777644253904582011-11-19T07:30:00.003-05:002011-11-19T08:00:18.461-05:00Heading Back To Nashville.Well, there is still no change on the inside of my mouth. I still have the junk going on. I went back to the ENT in Knoxville this past week. He is not sure what it is, he does not think it is the cancer returning, but he does not want to do a biopsy on the reconstructed sight himself and said he would feel more comfortable if I went back to Nashville. Wendell made me an appointment for Monday evening at Vanderbilt with Dr. Netterville. I REALLY dread making the trip, but want to know what this is, so I guess we will go. My appointment is not until 4:30 Central time which is 5:30 our time. It will be late when we get back but I will try to update here as soon as I can.<br /><br />Wendell's cousins, 21 year old daughter, had a very bad wreck two weeks ago today. She has been in a coma at UT Hospital since that time. Some people in our community put together a chili supper and auction benefit for her last night. It was an AMAZING sight to see all the people who turned out to support her!!!!! They raised over $6,000.00 on the chili supper and over $4,000.00 on the auction!!!! The people in our little rural community are some of the most amazing people on earth!!!! Wendell was asked to speak on behalf of the family and one of the things he said was the cream rises to the top!!!! Boy, is that the truth when speaking of the people here in Oakdale and the surrounding areas!!! I am so proud to be a member of this community, the people here are just small town, hard working, farming people. To see how they come together to raise up and support those in need around them is truly inspiring!!!! Please help us to pray for Rachel and her family. Her life verse is Romans 8:28 KJV "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-15769354133814946582011-11-03T22:55:00.002-04:002011-11-03T23:03:34.825-04:00Bacteria Infection????Well it has been a week, today, since I went to the ENT's office in Knoxville. There is no change in the appearance on the inside of my mouth. The left half of my mouth is still covered in red and white patches. I called yesterday to get the results of the swab test and the nurse called back to say I have thrush and also a bacteria infection. She called in more medicine to treat the bacteria infection, which I started taking tonight. I am still sceptical of the diagnosis...I guess we will see in a few days if there is any improvement.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-77196433946454364462011-10-29T09:07:00.004-04:002011-10-29T10:59:05.451-04:00There Is A Mess In There!!!!For a week or more now, I had thought from time to time that I needed to "check my mouth", you know, look in it to see if anything weird is going on. I would always have these thoughts when it wasn't convenient. To look in my mouth I have to find my glasses, put on my glasses, search for a flashlight, and then look in my mouth!!!! I finally went through all the troublesome steps Wednesday, after thinking about it again and knowing it had been several weeks since I have looked. I really wasn't expecting to see what I saw!!! There is a mess in there!!!! I don't know what it is, but it scared me silly seeing it!!!! The complete left half of my mouth, from the roof on down, is covered in a red and white mess!!! It appears to be just under the lining. Needless to say, I checked my mouth repeatedly the rest of the day, hoping it would all go back to normal....but it didn't. Thursday, I called the ENT in Knoxville that I have seen a few times and luckily, or rather prayerfully, they had just had a cancellation and could work me in at 2:30. Wendell and I had planned to go to Knoxville anyway, so this worked out perfectly for us. They took me back almost immediately, which was a big relief when I was feeling so stressed, however, once back in the exam room we waited almost an hour for the doctor to come in. He asked why I was there and I explained the situation and how the sight of anything unusual can send me into a semi-panicked uncertainty!!! He was very understanding and immediately took a look. His response was..."Well, I'm not sure what it is but I don't think it is cancer. I've seen a lot of cancer. It's not cancer." It's amazing how a few words can make or break your feelings!!! He asked if it hurts, which it does not. He said he thought it might be thrush, (Which I have had plenty of times before, and hasn't looked exactly like this, and has always hurt). He took a swab, and wrote me a prescription to begin treating me for thrush. He said it would take a week to get the results from the swab. Nothing actually mattered after..."It's not cancer!!!" The medicine he prescribed is swish and swallow and a pill, I am suppose to take one a week for four weeks. I haven't seen any improvement yet but taking only one a week for four weeks, I am not sure how quickly I will see improvement. This, I know, is just one of the perks to having had cancer!!! Anything out of the ordinary, in my mouth, can send me into a panicked uncertainty. This is the second time, since finishing treatment two years ago, that I have faced this uncertainty. The last time we drove back to Nashville to be told the bone was showing through the gum!!! So far, nothing life threatening!!!LOL!!!!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-34302056492454344742011-10-11T09:21:00.003-04:002011-10-11T11:46:03.749-04:00Our Hearts Are Broken, We Love You Gordon!!!I want to begin today's post by sharing a little information about our family with those who may not know us personally. Wendell and I own the only business, a convenient store, gas station and deli, in our small rural town. It is not just a business to us, a way to earn a living and support our family, it is a huge part of our lives. From the time we opened the doors in 2003 our family started growing, not in the usual ways of marriages and births and such, but by getting to know the people in our community in a much more intimate way, like family. Wendell was raised here so he knew pretty much everyone for miles around already, but not in ways that having the store has evoked. Those, who under normal circumstances, were friendly acquaintances, have become like part of our family. There are many, many people, that we see every day as they stop by the store to pump their gas or get their tenderloin biscuit on their way to work. There are those that come in every day and sit at the counter as we prepare their food and talk. We share our thoughts and feelings with them and they share theirs with us. We have become like family to them and they to us. We worry when they don't show up as usually expected and call to make sure their ok. They bring their newborn babies in to meet us for the first time and we get the privilege of watching them grow. We giggle, laugh and rejoice together. We cry together. We pray for each other. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of so many peoples lives and to have them be a part of ours. We actually see and speak with people more often than their "real" families do in a lot of instances. We are blessed with an abundance of friends!!!!<br />We received a phone call Sunday evening that just sent us into shock. One of our precious friends left this life suddenly and so unexpectedly. Gordon Powers was found dead in his home by concerned friends, Sunday evening. He had not been feeling well and apparently was the victim of a heart attack. Wendell has known Gordon his whole life, the rest of our family got to know and love Gordon through the store. Gordon was sooo special to each member of our family. Stephanie, Jessica, Punky, Kiah, Wendell and I are all in shock and heartbroken at the loss of someone so loved by each one of us. Gordon loved our family and was such an inspiration to each one of us individually. He always had loving kind words of encouragement for us. We have each spent so much time talking to and sharing the joys or burdens of our hearts with him. He always found a way to lift our spirits and to make each one of us feel special. He was such an encouragement to my kids and I. He worried, and more importantly, Prayed for me constantly when I was sick. He made sure I knew he had his church praying for me. Gordon loved his church, the families, and especially the children. He loved his son and granddaughter. Gordon always came to every important event my kids would invite him to. He would always brag on Stephanie and her love for, and willingness to follow the direction, of the Lord. He loved to tease Punky and talk about how she was just like her daddy. He was like a surrogate father to Jess, giving her advice on love and men and supporting her in the things she is doing with her life. He always bragged on Kiah, and would lift her self confidence, telling her how beautiful she was. Walking in and seeing Gordon sitting at the counter was always a mood lifting experience for me!!! No matter what kind of day I would be having he would always make me laugh and just feel good. He would walk in the door at the store and holler "Well hello good looking!!!", addressing which ever one of us women he would see, to which Wendell would always holler back "Well hello Gordon!!!" Then Gordon would have to tell Wendell "I wasn't talking to you Stupid!!!" It was their routine, one that always made us laugh even though we had heard it a million times before!!! It is a routine that will be difficult to no longer get to hear.<br />There is no question in my heart of where Gordon has begun spending eternity. Gordon Loved the Lord. The fruits of the spirit were evident in the life Gordon lived. We feel so privileged to have had him for a friend. We will never forget his genuine love and kindness to our family and I. We will miss him so much. He has positively effected our lives. We will one day see him again, so until then ....We love you Gordon!!! Our hearts are broken by your sudden passing. There is definitely an un-fillable void left in our hearts and lives!!!!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-61940788583261525112011-09-14T10:53:00.002-04:002011-09-14T11:03:53.858-04:00Looking DeeperI originally wrote the following post a couple of months ago but never published it, it had been saved as a draft. It contains things that I am still thinking about. I have been thinking a lot about how we make judgements of others based on what we see or hear or are told. If we were to look deeper than the initial appearance or sound, we might very well discover we had reached a hasty, false judgement. I am publishing this post now, because, as I have said, it contains thoughts that I am still thinking on and want to blog about more in the near future. So..........Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-10451571174758783112011-09-14T10:50:00.001-04:002011-09-14T10:52:12.536-04:00Several conversations that I have been involved in lately have started me to think on some different things. I was telling my sister Teresa how her daughter Rachel had commented on one of my blog posts and had said she loved hearing about our childhood and I should include more of these stories in my blogging. Well, Rachel, your comment was both sweet and disturbing, all at the same time. Sweet for all the obvious reasons… Disturbing because I use to love hearing my grand mother talk about her childhood!!!!<br /><br /><br />As Teresa and I began to talk, though, I also began to think on how two people may experience the same thing, but both may walk away telling two totally different stories, based on their perspective and how they viewed it. We all develop our opinions and thoughts on others based on what we see or hear. By going on what we see and hear we may be totally misreading someone. If we knew why they really reacted certain ways or appeared certain ways, what really was behind “who” they are, we might be surprised.<br /><br />I began to think about how very few things are just "cut and dry", there is usually more to the story of peoples lives...who they really are... why they react certain ways or appear certain ways...All the things we can't see or are not aware of may be the key elements in why a person is the way they are.<br />The following is one such incidence, in my own life, that I feel as if others may have came to a different conclusion about me than the one I intended or thought I was giving. I have overheard comments, not meant for my ears, of others remarking on my appearance and how I felt as if I had to have every hair in place.<br />I have always tried to look “decent” when leaving my house and going out in public. Even if I was just "running" to the store to pick up that one ingredient needed to finish dinner. I know people have thought my need to have my make up on, and hair fixed, before leaving the house, was due to my being vain. I guess in a way that is true, but if you knew my heart and if you knew the experiences in my life that have brought me to the place of needing my appearance to be a certain way, you might view me a little differently. I am saying all of this out of a great desire to not be judgmental of others. I want to view and love others with a pure heart. I truly believe that we are a total package of the circumstances and experiences that we have experienced in this life.<br />I have the desire to be a better person, especially in the way I see and view others. God made us all. He does not love me one ounce more or less than He loves someone else. I may dissappoint Him more, but He loves us all the same. "For God So Loved The World...." Wow, it's mind blowing!!! And then to think that I may look at someone and have a not so nice thought enter my head like "who do they think they are?" If I truly knew "who they are" I might never had had that ugly thought to begin with.<br />I remember the exact moment as a child that I became aware of my looks. The moment I realized that the way the world treats you is directly related to the way you visually appear to them.<br />I had developed Rheumatic Fever as an eight year old child. I remember my Mom taking me to one doctor after another trying to convince them that was what was wrong with me. Mom had had Rheumatic Fever, herself, twice. Finally, she found a pediatrician who listened and ran the tests. I remember the night they called and said I needed to be admitted into the hospital. I was admitted that night. It was before Thanksgiving of my second grade school year. I spent close to three months in the hospital and then was bed fast at home for an extended period of time after that. The medicine I was on, it may have been steroids, I don't know, just a thought. Anyway, the medicine caused me to gain a lot of weight. I went from 60 something pounds to over 130 in just a few months. The medication caused my appetite to go through the roof!!! Most of my childhood memories begin during this time. I have very few memories before the Rheumatic Fever. As an eight year old little girl, I spent hour after hour, day after day, lying in a bed, alone, in a private hospital room. This is where my memories of being so lonely began. To this day, I believe loneliness is one of the worst feelings in the world. It breaks my heart to think of someone being lonely.<br />My family had moved to California when I was six years old. My Mom & Dad had worked in the hosiery mills in Harriman and had both been laid off. My Uncle owned a fire sprinkler business in CA. We moved there for my Dad to begin the apprenticeship program, and eventually become a certified sprinkler fitter. My Uncle, Aunt, and there three kids, were our only family there in California. So there were not a lot of options as far as visitors went!!!!<br />I remember being so excited to get a day pass to leave the hospital on Christmas Day. I still remember the presents that awaited me when I got home that morning, a brand new bike and a pair of roller skates where two of the main ones. I remember pushing my bike around the dining room table at the urging of those around. That’s so funny to me now!!! The thought of this bushy headed, chubby girl, in pajamas, grinning to please those who were watching and waiting, pushing her brand new bike around the dining room table while everyone watched, as if this brought some sense of joy to my little girl heart!!! It would have been as much fun to have laid down and let Teresa ride her brand new bike over me!!!! Too funny!!! I was also denied the opportunity to try out my new roller skates latter that day with the sisters and cousins. I did however decline the opportunity to try them on. I could imagine it now…this bushy headed, chubby girl, in pajamas, sitting in a chair, sweating from the process of lacing up those never ending shoe laces that accompany roller skates, grinning for those watching and waiting, as my legs dangle off the chair, feet adorned in brand spanking new roller skates that are forbidden to touch the floor with my feet in them!!! Too Funny!!!<br />Anyway…. I was eventually discharged from the hospital, sent home and eventually was able to return to school….<br />I remember being so excited to finally get to go back to school. My Mom had bought me a new dress to wear. I think I thought wearing a dress made you pretty. I went back to school only to be a little disappointed that no one seemed to remember me or care that I was back. I left school that evening and started the walk home only to realize B. H. , the boy who I had spent every recess with, from the time I started school there until I went in the hospital, was walking behind me. The boy next door was walking his bike talking to B. H. I remember being so happy thinking he would see me!!! I remember feeling those butterflies in the pit of my stomach just knowing he was behind me!!! When the neighbor boy and I had to turn down a street and B.H. continued on.... the boy next door caught up with me and was laughing as he told me B.H. had asked him who the new ugly fat girl was. I was heartbroken. That was the day I knew it took more than wearing a dress to be pretty. From that day forward until finishing middle school, I was the "fat girl". I was teased and tormented at recess. From that moment on I just wanted to do everything I could to blend in, to be invisible, to fit in. As long as no one noticed me I wouldn't be teased or judged. I guess that just carried over into my adult years too. As long as I had my hair fixed and my makeup on I just kind of blended in and wouldn't be noticed. If no one noticed I was there, I wouldn’t be teased or humiliated. So, you see, even though I may have been viewed as vain with my appearance, in my mind I just want to blend in!!! This is just one personal example that comes to my mind when I began to think of how we could possibly have a very wrong opinion of someone based solely on what we see or hear. I want to use this realization in my life to try desperately to be less judgmental of others. I can’t say that cancer has really changed the way I see or view things or has changed the way I want to live and view my life but it has made me want to get on with it…not waste anymore time in striving to be a better person…a better friend…a better family member…a better child of God. I want to not make hasty rude judgments, but I want to always take the time to look deep enough to see who is really there. It’s kind of mind numbing when I think of all the people and opportunities I have surely missed in this life by seeing only what I saw, not looking deep enough to see who is really there.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-58396545849881653102011-09-12T08:27:00.002-04:002011-09-12T13:55:58.490-04:00HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!Happy Birthday to my Mom today!!!! She would have been 69 today but instead the Lord called her home 2 years ago when she was just 67. I miss you Mom. I miss being able to call and get your advice and instruction on just the simple things in life. We had a huge family get together at my house a week ago, the Saturday before Labor Day, I really missed you being here. I thought so much about your macaroni salad, I could almost taste it, yours was absolutely the best ever!!! I wish I would have came up and had you give me hands on instruction for making it. I wish I had done so many things differently and better where our relationship was concerned, but it is to late for that now, I know. I Love you Mom and miss you terribly, but at least I have the promise of being reunited with you again one day. Until then ....HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mom, I Love you!!!!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-79672654492664919402011-09-02T11:04:00.002-04:002011-09-02T11:08:35.895-04:00Just Lazy...<div align="center">
<br /><div align="left">No, I haven't died or experienced anything too physically dramatic in the last month or so....just lazy, I guess, when it comes to updating this blog!!!! I have however had many thoughts that I wanted to "air out" here, but just haven't took the time to begin typing. </div>
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<br /><div align="left">Physically, I am about the same...I wake up with my bones and joints stiff and hurting. I get up some mornings at 4 or 5 a.m. to take a hot shower to relieve the discomfort until my medication takes effect. I have days where I spend the whole day freezing but sweating profusely, those days I am pretty miserable. I still run a low grade fever from time to time, for no explained reason. My swallowing has seemed to have slightly improved over the last few months. I am able to swallow some breads now where I wasn't previously able to. Yeah!!! I love and had missed eating bread!!!! My face and ears still hurt some days more than others, I have begun to think that may be related to how much I talk on any given day!!! The chronic fatigue is my biggest complaint. I just have no energy most days, where as pre-cancer, I could have worked circles around a much younger person, now I feel like a thirtyish, (heehee), woman trapped in an 85 year olds body, that becomes disheartening on some days when my mind is working harder than my body can even think about!!! </div>
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<br /><div align="left">I would like to be able to blog that my life feels like all sun and roses since my cancer is in remission right now, but if I am to be honest, that is just not the case. Several things have transpired over the last year or so that have been less than joy evoking. A lot of circumstances have changed that have left me feeling a little lost some days. I plan on blogging about them, it's just hard to find the time to start and when I do the fatigue sets in and I find it hard to keep my eyes open long enough to write much. But anyway... for now....lifes' happening that is forefront on my mind...</div>
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<br /><div align="left">My aunt, Sue Coffey, my dad's younger sister, lost her ten year battle with cancer last week. She travelled home to be with the Lord on August 25, 2011. She had courageously battled cancer for ten years. Having cancer is an awful, awful, experience, but Sue didn't just battle one cancer she had went to war with three different kinds and then on top of all those she developed Pulmonary Fibrosis. My Grandmother, Sue's Mother, had Pulmonary Fibrosis which is a lung disease that causes hardening of the lungs. One would think since Sue and her mother both had it, it would be hereditary, but that was not so in their case. Sue developed Pulmonary Fibrosis after having undergone so many different, large doses of chemo therapy. We had celebrated Sue's 67th birthday in May. I had traveled to South Carolina twice in the last month or so to visit with her. She ended up in the hospital both times. Her attitude, even on her death bed, astounded me. She wanted desperately to get better and live to see her precious grand sons graduate from high school. But she knew at the end that that was not going to be the Lord's plan for her. She laid in her hospital bed struggling to breath enough to speak with all of us gathered around her bed side. I watched and listened as God provided the Grace she needed to endure until her walk here was complete. A young preacher boy named Austin came to visit her one day while I was standing by her bed feeding her ice chips. It was all I could do to keep myself together as she told him I was the one he and their church had prayed for for so long. She struggled to breath as she told him how very sick I had been and how it was a miracle I was still here and how God had been so good to me. Then she started bragging on the goodness of God in her life!!! It was such a tremendous blessing to listen to her, as she laid there struggling and pausing frequently to catch her breath, praising and worshipping her God!!!! She told Austin how she had never been sick one time from any of the many chemos she had had to take. She bragged repeatedly on the goodness of God in her life. What a testimony she had!!! After all she had gone through, she had kept the faith through it all. What an inspiration she was to me!!! Through it all she had never became bitter at God, or life, or the circumstances she was living in...instead she kept her focus and continually praised God for His grace and goodness to her!!! Everyone, I had the pleasure of meeting while there, talked about what a Christian my Aunt Sue was, how she lived by the principles of the Bible for as long as they had known her. How, through the good and the bad, she praised and honored God. I wasn't there when she told those in the room to tell my dad she loved him and she would tell Pat, (my Mom), hello for him when she got there. I can only imagine that reunion. Sue's husband Jack, passed away in 2001 as the result of cancer, a brain tumor. Her sister Barbara's husband, Liege Roberts, passed away in 1998 as a result of colon and then brain cancer, Sue's Mother, and my grand mother, Roxie Hurst, passed away 4 or 5 days after Liege in 1998 as a result of pulmonary fibrosis and then colon cancer, Sue's father and my grandfather, Luster "Buckeye" Hurst, passed away in 2000 as the result of a stroke, and then my Mother, Sue's sister in law, Patricia Hurst, passed away in 2009 as a result of a brain aneurysm. What a reunion it must have been on August 25th as Sue entered the gates of heaven. I believe they were all there anticipating her arrival. Although she will be greatly missed here, she was reunited with so many of our loved ones who have already made the journey!!! What a day of rejoicing that must have been for them!!! How could we possibly overcome the grief that accompanies the death of our loved ones without the sweet, precious, promise that those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and saviour will eventually be reunited to spend eternity together in the presence of an almighty, loving, gracious God!!!
<br />How good He is!!!! </div>
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<br /><div align="left">Please help me pray for Sue's children and grand children they loved her dearly and will miss her greatly. They spent many, many days and hours caring for and taking care of her every need. I know it will be hard for them to suddenly not have those things filling their days and nights. It was a precious thing to witness the love she poured out on them and the great love and afffection they returned to her. </div></div>Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-50690443121264786992011-09-02T10:40:00.002-04:002011-09-02T11:04:01.094-04:00
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<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpuRl1H3ds2CtaomxOLu-tF3gUQ269HMyX0JTZkWfSETZZkItToO3nqTuXP0bT5dGYaVY-AzYfu0e-llfcd7kcffR1PgCZ2NwOq-UVd9AxiOSjBFRLyO_7p6tpZlRAtJu2vgeUmUIRVg/s1600/IMG_3950.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647772465179676706" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpuRl1H3ds2CtaomxOLu-tF3gUQ269HMyX0JTZkWfSETZZkItToO3nqTuXP0bT5dGYaVY-AzYfu0e-llfcd7kcffR1PgCZ2NwOq-UVd9AxiOSjBFRLyO_7p6tpZlRAtJu2vgeUmUIRVg/s400/IMG_3950.JPG" /></a> My Dad: Tommy Hurst, My Aunt: Bonnie Lowery,</div>
<br /><div align="center">My Aunt: Sue Coffey, & My Aunt: Barbara Roberts.
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<br />Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-44583962378477088112011-07-08T07:48:00.002-04:002011-07-08T07:56:07.296-04:00PET Scan Results.Clean Scan AGAIN!!! I'm almost beginning to think we may have beat this thing!!!!!<br />Realistically I know I can never really know I have beat this thing, because the kind I had you can never really know you are cured. Even after the familiar five year mark that we have come to think of when dealing with cancer. The kind of cancer I had is famous for coming back as many as fifteen years later. But for now I am clean. For now I am extremely grateful. I really wasn't scared this time. But after finding out the results the tears once again began to flow. I am sooooo thankful God has chosen to let me be cancer free for now!!!! Every time I get a clean scan, I feel even more like living life!!!! I'm ready for a vacation!!!!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-31773620849039169262011-07-05T06:10:00.002-04:002011-07-05T06:17:06.126-04:00PET Scan Today.I am going for a PET Scan this morning. Please pray that it will turn out good!!! It has became so routine that I almost didn't ask for prayer, but then this morning all I could think about is how Wendell and I both talk all the time about how your prayers are how we have made it this far in our journey. I know it is because of the prayers that have gone up for me, is why I have made it through this cancer, when so many others don't. So, once again I ask for your prayers!!! I will not get the results until Thursday, but will let you know as soon as I can!!! Thanks sooooo much!!!!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-41792529251677097742011-06-22T21:43:00.002-04:002011-06-22T21:46:59.970-04:00Punky's ResultsIt's been a long day, we were at the hospital for over four and a half hours. Punky was the last patient of the day in the surgery center. She has some irritation and a small hemorrhoid, but other than that, her colon checked out great!!! Thank you for praying!!!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-57246488931807476572011-06-21T11:57:00.003-04:002011-06-21T12:26:04.046-04:00Please Pray For PunkyIf you have a free moment today or tomorrow please say a little prayer for Punky. She has had irritable bowel syndrome her whole life. About two weeks ago she started hurting and cramping pretty bad when she would go to the bathroom and has been having quite a bit of blood in her stool. We took her to our GP and then to a specialist last week. She is scheduled to have a colonoscopy tomorrow at 3:00 pm. She is only allowed liquids today and tomorrow and has to start the dreaded medicine to clean out her system starting at 5:00 pm today. If you have had a colonoscopy you know the medicine is the worst part of the whole thing!!! The clear liquid diet will be no fun for her either!!! I know the symptoms she is having can be a sign of something as simple as hemorrhoids or it can be a sign of something much more serious. Please pray that God's will will be done and His grace will be sufficient for our family. I Thank-You ahead of time!!!! I will let you know the results as soon as I can tomorrow evening.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-76300183543382386252011-06-06T04:27:00.006-04:002011-06-09T10:46:04.877-04:00Cancer Walking With Me<span style="font-size:130%;">Once again I am up at 2:20 a.m. My bones are soooo achy, my ear and jaw are aching, and I have insomnia. This has been my "norm" for the last two weeks. This "phase" began on our vacation and hasn't ended yet. I wake up and have to get up immediately. It's hard making it through the day on two hours sleep at night. So as I sat here, in my recliner, in the weee hours of the morning, I began to think about how even though this September it will have been two years since I had finished my treatments, Cancer is still a several times a day thought for me. Cancer is still occupying a big part of my life. Cancer will never go away. Cancer will be a companion of mine throughout the rest of my life, and it is very probable that Cancer will be the culprit allowed to end my life. When you are a realist like me and you know the statistics, and you know the power of God, but you don't know the mind of God, or what His will in this will ultimately be, you think on all the outcomes more than you would like!!!! When your body is almost a completely different body than it had been for the last few decades of your life, you feel 88 instead of 48. Life takes on a new view. It's as if Cancer is walking along right beside me, never missing a step. It's as if I know him so well, as almost, in a weird way, as if Cancer is a friend. A friend in the since that Cancer knows me inside and out. I know Cancer. We know more about each other than we do anyone else. We have been intimately acquainted. Cancer knew how to bring me to the lowest point thus far in my life. Cancer walked me to the very door of death but then backed away for some unknown and unexpected reason. The will of God. God chose to back Cancer back out of my life for now but he will always walk beside me. Waiting I guess, like me, to see if it will be God's will for me to be left in Cancers grip ever again. I know God holds the ultimate keys to this situation, I know what ever happens He will supply my needs and the grace needed to endure. But that doesn't mean I don't spend some time a little scared, not desiring the experience of being left in Cancers grip again. Cancer is someone, even though he was very nasty to me, at the same time and in the same space, Cancer was a friend who forced me to a place of total reliance on a God I had trusted many times before. Cancer brought me to the place of knowing there is definately nothing good within myself. Cancer brought me to a place of rest in the Peace and Grace of an almighty God. I have never known such extreme peace as the peace I found in the bowels of Cancer. I am endepted to Cancer for life, for the major lessons he brought into my life.</span>Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-63651360865480476052011-05-30T11:03:00.005-04:002011-05-30T11:52:38.880-04:00Airport Security And My Need To Accessorize!!!!Well, we're back home and back to the real world :( Getting up and feeling the dusty, hard wood floors is not near as fun as getting up and walking out the door to feel sand between your toes!!!! I could spend all summer on the beach!!!<br />Before leaving home for the airport, Wendell had scolded me for wearing so much jewelry. Anyone that knows me, knows, I love my jewelry!!! I told him, politely, that I never have a problem at the court house and I wouldn't have a problem at the airport!!!! Well, for the first time ever, LOL, I was wrong!!! I had to go through the scanner several times, each time stopping to strip off a few more pieces of jewelry and then finally the studded belt, not a good accessory for airport security!!! Yesterday morning, when dressing for the return flight, I once again clipped on my 5 bracelets, two pair of earrings, 5 rings, and my watch (that I can't even see to read the time, but hey accessorizing doesn't have to be practical!!!) I did of course make sure to wear cloths that fit...thus no need for the beautifully studded belt. My plan was to take it all off before arriving at the airport and to re-accessorize before boarding the plane. After all, going anywhere without my jewelry would be like leaving my eyebrows at home!!!! I was just proud as punch to know I was going to be able to do this without holding up the long disgruntled line behind me!!!! As I approached the scanner they asked the usual questions about what you have in your purse and carry on, to which I remembered, at the last moment, thankfully, that I have a teeny bottle of hand sanitizer in my purse. Happily I removed it and with a satisfied smug grin on my face I proceeded to walk through the scanner. I made it! no beeping!!! Then I heard one man say to the other man that highly dreaded, illegal word "<strong><em>Aerosol</em></strong>" immediately my mind went to the small bottle of "just in case" hair spray, you know the one you carry for years and use maybe twice but you carry it "just in case"!!! One man picked up my purse and instructed me to get the rest of my stuff and follow him. I scammered around grabbing up my shoes, my carry on bag, my laptop, & my laptop case and hurriedly tried to follow him to a table at the end of the long line of belts and scanners. He firmly instructed me not to reach for, or into, my purse, he had to retrieve the<strong><em> "Item".</em></strong> I obediently clasped my hinds behind my back as my mind visualized me inadvertently reaching for my bag and being tackled from all sides and slammed to the floor, like a terrorist. After a long search he finally found <em><strong>"IT".</strong></em> He placed "it" and the illegal hand sanitizer in a baggie, handed it all back to me, and with my head hung low I grabbed my shoes, my laptop, my laptop case, my carry on, my purse and the rightly stored illegal products and went in search of the rest of my humiliated family. After arriving at the gate I was able to redress, get organized and finally accessorize (eyebrows in place), and boarded the plane without further incidence.<br />Lesson learned...It's a lot easier to go to court than the beach!!!!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-90013611831681048942011-05-28T09:27:00.001-04:002011-05-28T09:58:58.952-04:00Sun, Sand, Surf, & SeditaryAfter our trip to South Carolina, Two Parties, Bachalarque and Graduation, we drove to Knoxville on Sunday, May 22, 2011 and caught a plane to our favorite vacation spot...Destin Florida!!!! YEAH!!! THE BEACH!!!! WHITE SAND, SUN, RELAXATION!!!!!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-ra1NlXqFM81No0cMZ-v4rm8-5vq-RSqjU31yFmufOCeNAxPa_RHgHZFQ5qHk4PeWyxlvKH9-jTc4Uu_VzrhkvYolmuSoTiZdulT4iyMdMQZXDvBYuy_-kWWEahK6QOltSGFQTa_9w/s1600/IMG_4407.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611388978485758466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-ra1NlXqFM81No0cMZ-v4rm8-5vq-RSqjU31yFmufOCeNAxPa_RHgHZFQ5qHk4PeWyxlvKH9-jTc4Uu_VzrhkvYolmuSoTiZdulT4iyMdMQZXDvBYuy_-kWWEahK6QOltSGFQTa_9w/s320/IMG_4407.JPG" /></a> The View from our balcony. Breathtaking!!!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAStt71QpQYJ_WF0DeiAeao0cmD0kykRgI0Wye7ZdCUTW3ru47-KiCqB-kn37JLwxmk0UBwVOheD5eYi8xxnCnzVvWPbsw1YBoWmVrUxCqS-xhoHvIRPsO6rMbyWwpJjI-eIyVQvfFsQ/s1600/IMG_4347.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611388541937845634" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAStt71QpQYJ_WF0DeiAeao0cmD0kykRgI0Wye7ZdCUTW3ru47-KiCqB-kn37JLwxmk0UBwVOheD5eYi8xxnCnzVvWPbsw1YBoWmVrUxCqS-xhoHvIRPsO6rMbyWwpJjI-eIyVQvfFsQ/s320/IMG_4347.JPG" /></a>After Dinner at the Crab Trap.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bIpeey5nY0XL3iAN1at2JjsCXrYdIckrt6FBDs1JII8eBtAJv7YnA-J0PFHw3AjFyYYh0t7K-bI2CffmphVus5qPSyEuSX7bcipJlq92R8AfH34s6XnhXj5t9i29ZA_8uKg1mnCr5w/s1600/IMG_4342.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611388542777882482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bIpeey5nY0XL3iAN1at2JjsCXrYdIckrt6FBDs1JII8eBtAJv7YnA-J0PFHw3AjFyYYh0t7K-bI2CffmphVus5qPSyEuSX7bcipJlq92R8AfH34s6XnhXj5t9i29ZA_8uKg1mnCr5w/s320/IMG_4342.JPG" /></a><br />Dylan eating crab legs!!!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitcMOB77hTVPocEuOivDoAmOdo-Zzw9cn5h6S_Q_p_qqiJ4O3_obKyDycoAgJgNyYzvDL7W6n4uFHIC28UG9zShkqQmmwmL5byAt8km6w5_klqAa3Ushmm8B4pSGvzs2TfXQY1daLyLA/s1600/IMG_4335.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611388540449860930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitcMOB77hTVPocEuOivDoAmOdo-Zzw9cn5h6S_Q_p_qqiJ4O3_obKyDycoAgJgNyYzvDL7W6n4uFHIC28UG9zShkqQmmwmL5byAt8km6w5_klqAa3Ushmm8B4pSGvzs2TfXQY1daLyLA/s320/IMG_4335.JPG" /></a><br />Punky, Wendell, Kiah and Dylan posing with our rent-a-car!!! We definitely never lost it!!!</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">I couldn't wait to get here and start our week of total relaxation!!!! We decided to fly this year because they had $44.00 fares!!!! It would have cost more for us to drive the 8 hours and 45 minutes. We were here in 1 hour. It has been absolutely beautiful every day, so pretty I haven't been able to come up with an excuse to go shopping!!!! We fly home Sunday. Only two days left, then back to the real world!!!</div></div></div>Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-88075897338833087252011-05-26T11:08:00.006-04:002011-05-27T09:16:09.827-04:00Bachelarque & Graduation<div align="left">After our trip to South Carolina, the store graduation party, Jean's 70th Birthday party, we then had Bachelarque on Friday and graduation ceremonies on Saturday, May 20th and 21st, 2011. As I have said in my previous posts, I am having problems downloading pictures to my blog, so these are in no certain order!!!!</div><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"></div><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAwoVkPDFqM962NgQbcKgJQ52aHI0SHr9Kglr2EL1XWoR2npiHnScVw0pYZJ7gNy1gvXIMwqLWurl2KHbooG5kpxTmWjVEPhBGwV39hU6Elz1G_WrTMfQ3cgYqdSt4Zs72c2QG9fyqDQ/s1600/IMG_4151.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611045712066390114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAwoVkPDFqM962NgQbcKgJQ52aHI0SHr9Kglr2EL1XWoR2npiHnScVw0pYZJ7gNy1gvXIMwqLWurl2KHbooG5kpxTmWjVEPhBGwV39hU6Elz1G_WrTMfQ3cgYqdSt4Zs72c2QG9fyqDQ/s320/IMG_4151.JPG" /></a> Two Special Graduates, Aaron Kilby, Me, and Dylan!!!<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlXFoGxSGg8c5G-uRDUQHFjSyi9AiNNM2c5Umz5qqp1iYBkDxSqUqFfVbAi0K8UBrP_iJEM6LaQd0dvfjLxmGhp4bTfqifEIwoSVTJVGVdisK_bAXh58WpgDaQ3PfLp2dmn44uIFkNA/s1600/IMG_4277.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611045275318024034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlXFoGxSGg8c5G-uRDUQHFjSyi9AiNNM2c5Umz5qqp1iYBkDxSqUqFfVbAi0K8UBrP_iJEM6LaQd0dvfjLxmGhp4bTfqifEIwoSVTJVGVdisK_bAXh58WpgDaQ3PfLp2dmn44uIFkNA/s320/IMG_4277.JPG" /></a><br />Punky, Me, Kiah, Wendell, Stephanie and Michael.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA2OOYqJQ3lNw9WabrAWdtLaKDjuRlHWtzzQaRk_ReXcsj3CZabVXx5e6VCzRyjcjlq-9AP1-p6gH7OtbEDXWb5Xi0yogApg7e83jI6yddjoCEC0lrXDifAXbHVzBSA5z9F4ZYjP_F9A/s1600/IMG_4273.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611045275139337106" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA2OOYqJQ3lNw9WabrAWdtLaKDjuRlHWtzzQaRk_ReXcsj3CZabVXx5e6VCzRyjcjlq-9AP1-p6gH7OtbEDXWb5Xi0yogApg7e83jI6yddjoCEC0lrXDifAXbHVzBSA5z9F4ZYjP_F9A/s320/IMG_4273.JPG" /></a><br />Punky, Me, Kiah, And Stephanie.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSrQlmLHDwzXYx2zvix626MnyzNPIt0S3zHajnBZZTYW6SMXsEcETGaPPEsZWvFaWZ6Fh8BUD64p6ZSXOaggsBVpdaCld_phNTmqm9kIyjeAfi4hXjDUZIqRt2JfSsV7-jZ7PTuuMkuw/s1600/IMG_4258.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611045272091312882" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSrQlmLHDwzXYx2zvix626MnyzNPIt0S3zHajnBZZTYW6SMXsEcETGaPPEsZWvFaWZ6Fh8BUD64p6ZSXOaggsBVpdaCld_phNTmqm9kIyjeAfi4hXjDUZIqRt2JfSsV7-jZ7PTuuMkuw/s320/IMG_4258.JPG" /></a>Kiah Receiving Her Diploma From Terry Armes. Mrs. Diane Smith, Oakdale School Principal and Fred Snow, Oakdale School's Assistant Principal.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlfH1gzo9c0aLdHNWKodpcBvHT44uPXPVRKF8J05BnOSUkvl8inpIk0D0_vCC8P9Kro671ft-p8HHZabKBpGG7ITABlcRjJ7-b2t618xVMlBo9tzIQLwlcNUcnRIXi8T5AGHS2z8cXsQ/s1600/IMG_4183.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611044499188563954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlfH1gzo9c0aLdHNWKodpcBvHT44uPXPVRKF8J05BnOSUkvl8inpIk0D0_vCC8P9Kro671ft-p8HHZabKBpGG7ITABlcRjJ7-b2t618xVMlBo9tzIQLwlcNUcnRIXi8T5AGHS2z8cXsQ/s320/IMG_4183.JPG" /></a>More Special Grads!!! Dylan, Kiah and Blake Redmon.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLb9-1gpMDme59PRPrXwj31SVu9KG5sJw6VEADi8rS2EIvBwRYOnsSUpRpZA3NoH-ajVmL88XkdJ9sBdxNdSlTXJkgwSBMmdk730TbqKguYHFqQO8bxZljkRLaDMlnCpqqVfuEyT6v7Q/s1600/IMG_4153.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611044495280060482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLb9-1gpMDme59PRPrXwj31SVu9KG5sJw6VEADi8rS2EIvBwRYOnsSUpRpZA3NoH-ajVmL88XkdJ9sBdxNdSlTXJkgwSBMmdk730TbqKguYHFqQO8bxZljkRLaDMlnCpqqVfuEyT6v7Q/s320/IMG_4153.JPG" /></a>Aaron Kilby, Mikiah And Dylan Cox.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_uhuEjEDfkTVT4VP-85hqX8kroLzHZYHnNwa8t9hrhaVWYrVX0d-J0B-UMG1v0QOfbTPVlWXNViNkpHh5dID94Quftv7MU1dnzxMCxt8hXCDfZ3JmPRVlZ5M9f3ndT_Am95RNy8EUQ/s1600/IMG_4158.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611044487545042946" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_uhuEjEDfkTVT4VP-85hqX8kroLzHZYHnNwa8t9hrhaVWYrVX0d-J0B-UMG1v0QOfbTPVlWXNViNkpHh5dID94Quftv7MU1dnzxMCxt8hXCDfZ3JmPRVlZ5M9f3ndT_Am95RNy8EUQ/s320/IMG_4158.JPG" /></a> Punky and another one of my favorite Grads, Tee Stienmetz.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibnM3m_N2FeeDeoFBzJAva8e2uiFf30DnM9Q6intc-RMQIKpfPlYKEhiDSTQrsTh5s-8KEnIR2r-mvYd0RAhUIQna0MUTAgCZz40AqHeMlSfoM3TH0qEjTBLfy-MabISuR-cOU4dlYJA/s1600/IMG_4144.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 180px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611044482929708098" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibnM3m_N2FeeDeoFBzJAva8e2uiFf30DnM9Q6intc-RMQIKpfPlYKEhiDSTQrsTh5s-8KEnIR2r-mvYd0RAhUIQna0MUTAgCZz40AqHeMlSfoM3TH0qEjTBLfy-MabISuR-cOU4dlYJA/s320/IMG_4144.JPG" /></a>My Favorite Grad and her sister!!! Punky and Mikiah!!! </div><br /><br /><div align="left">I have no babies left!!! They have all graduated!!! I NEED A GRAND BABY!!!!!</div><br /><br /><div align="left">People keep asking me if I am sad to see my last child graduate and the answer is no, not at all. I can honestly say I have enjoyed every stage of my kids lives. I just see this as moving on to another new stage, that I know will be just as enjoyable as all the past "stages". I love being a Mom and all the joy that comes with that blessed position!!! I was telling someone the other day that I played with baby dolls until I was about 12 years old!!! My big dream for my life was to be a wife and Mother. God has truly blessed me!!! I've made a lot of mistakes along the way that if I could go back I would change and do them differently, but I wouldn't change being a Mom to my four + one, for any career in this world!!!! I did, however, think Wendell and I were going to "loose it" when the graduates started marching in. All I could do was quietly praise God for letting me live to see my last child graduate from High School. Two years ago it was a little "iffy"!!!! I praise God for His marvelous Grace and Mercy in my undeserving life!!!!! One of the boys, in Kiah's class, Mother was diagnosed with cancer right after I was, and she passed away a few months later. He was valedictorian of the class. It breaks my heart to know how he would have gave anything to have had her there. I know if at all possible she was looking down proud as punch!!!! I don't know why God has allowed me to continue my walk down here but I sure am glad He has!!!!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div>Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127356825202162673.post-48699519788513395962011-05-26T09:24:00.000-04:002011-05-26T10:00:48.631-04:00Happy 70th Birthday Jean!!!!!After giving the Seniors a party on Tuesday, I immediately began preparing to give my Mother-In-Law a party, in celebration of her 70th birthday, on Thursday.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ngpVpj9EvCPncybPd6WzPhzaf9NWzCh_4YQ9ejRG9C4NvG6khcFwiItnTlMnII6oLrw5WhVXlzBgXiqz3niITE_8SSMPGq4_ziKtUqz9MidgBmN-pgxxdmzUvTzcL5o0oWW_y2Ej-w/s1600/IMG_4125.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610273792039525138" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ngpVpj9EvCPncybPd6WzPhzaf9NWzCh_4YQ9ejRG9C4NvG6khcFwiItnTlMnII6oLrw5WhVXlzBgXiqz3niITE_8SSMPGq4_ziKtUqz9MidgBmN-pgxxdmzUvTzcL5o0oWW_y2Ej-w/s320/IMG_4125.JPG" /></a> Jean<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ-xwuprGnMjEHT_Ov6u2L2xT3Y6bWOm99gpmKTFTuDWolY4KXqkgmyz_1YTc7-K5Jsud6qIcwj3hKDzg1k9-H8J6BL6ClNh981NAwqrmRTPFEgBmHDS5DobwR7ppAjXoEH45uEffjOQ/s1600/IMG_4086.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610273789688213826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ-xwuprGnMjEHT_Ov6u2L2xT3Y6bWOm99gpmKTFTuDWolY4KXqkgmyz_1YTc7-K5Jsud6qIcwj3hKDzg1k9-H8J6BL6ClNh981NAwqrmRTPFEgBmHDS5DobwR7ppAjXoEH45uEffjOQ/s320/IMG_4086.JPG" /></a> I made the cakes and decorated them in fondant!!! These are the skills I learnt while taking the cake decorating class with Teresa a few weeks ago!!!<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">I would love to post more pictures, but with my new computer, I am having some difficulty downloading them properly. Maybe more later :(<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div>Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15013093073573388086noreply@blogger.com3