Concerts, life, death and chaos

Hey yall, its been hectic lately and a few weeks since my last post. Its easier to just list the events and happenings of my last few weeks:

Todd is still recovering but returned back to work- his catheter was removed which made him much happier as you can imagine. He’s a stubborn goat but who am I to say anything because I am also a terrible patient!

Todd and I went to see Iron Maiden with 2 friends from church. It was so much fun and Todd did well hanging in there until the end.

The weekend after Todd’s surgery, some very dear friends of our Mark and Debbie, came over to our house and cooked us dinner. I cried . It was the best gesture someone could do. Hindsight, I should have asked for casseroles so that I wouldn’t have to go grocery shopping when Todd was asleep and then prepare dinner when I am totally frazzled.

My boss was in from out of state this week for work .Always added pressure when that happens.

My bestie  ( Kimi) had her 50th birthday and we had party a few weeks ago for her. We didn’t stay long because Todd loses his steam in the evenings but we stayed long enough and had a blast.
About the same time Todd was diagnosed with prostate cancer,his cousin Mark was diagnosed with lung cancer. Mark lives in Utah and his sister Kimberly lives 10 minutes up the road in the next town over from us. Their parents Karen and Larry, live in Houston. Mark has been on a cross country roadtrip with his son Eric and they were supposed to be at Kimberly’s tomorrow and we were going to have lunch with them on Monday.Sadly, Larry passed away last night. He has had some rough years previously with his health but he always seem to manage and pull out of the dire moments.Unfortunately, this means we wont be seeing Mark and that makes Todd sad and disappointed but completely understandable. Mark is a few years younger than Todd and they grew up close friends.

Yesterday , Mom called and said Nanny was back in hospital with congestive heart failure. Apparently,Nanny did not take a single pill from her list of medications in over a week.That’s not good! She is diabetic and has high blood pressure and many other ailments she takes medication for.So far, they have removed 5 liters of fluid off her heart.

Tomorrow, my uncle James is hosting his annual grand party for July 4th. He lives on the lake and there are fireworks, BBQ, and the whole shindig. Specifically, this year we are having a combined July 4th party and a surprise birthday party for Nanny. She will be 90 towards the end
of the month of July but cousins will be in from out of state and it’s a perfect
time to celebrate. The hospital feels that they should be able to get her stabilized and ready to go home tonight or tomorrow morning if all goes well.
For Mother’s Day, I wrote Nanny a letter telling her how much she meant to me and recounted some fun memories I have. My uncle is “stealing”the idea and asked all the family members to do the same and add pictures and we’re putting in a scrap book for her tomorrow. I had to come up with another letter for her and I based it around the food she makes and how there’s nothing else like hers. I was bawling silently at my desk as a I tried to put how much I love her to pen and paper knowing she was in hospital and I was scared to think of it being life or death serious.

My mom’s husband Randy was diagnosed with lung cancer 2weeks ago ( seriously I cant make this up). He went in this week to do biopsy and they went in from his back and punctured his lung in process.The day was much longer as expected but they sent him home with a chest tube and he got it removed today.

A close friend works for Brighton and they do a ginormous shoe drive and they send all to Haiti so she asked me to ask my coworkers forshoes. My backseat looked like Sanford and Son and had over 50 pairs of shoes to hand off to her this past Wednesday. Its always fun to help with a good cause.

The same week Todd had his surgery, my cousin Monya and her family –husband Scott and daughters Mari and Emma moved into a rent house less than a mile from me.I have really enjoyed them being so close. The girls love that I have a swimming pool and have already been over many times which I enjoy.
 Last night was a series of crazy events though. Todd was in Chicago on business meeting and Scott was working late shift at his job . Monya, the girls and I went and ate dinner at Red Robin and on way home the girls dropped me and Monya off at my house and they were going toswing by and pick up their swim suits and then circle around to join us. As Monya and I were sitting in the pool, she happens to look over at our piece of the fence that got damaged and fell during big storm a few months ago.The fence had pulled away again and there was large gap that my dog Lila can get through.We all jumped into action because Lila is a runner. She runs and runs and will not come back until you catch her.Mari picked her up, put her in the house and Monya and I jumped out of pool looking for a solution. I grabbed hammer and nails and she saw a 2x4piece of wood I had in the garage that I use for my junk shows.We hammered that into the middle of the 2pieces of fence that are separated and filled in the gap. It totally looks redneck but it got the job done! Lila isn’t getting out in that area. I literally am so grateful she noticed becauseI would have been besides myself if I let Lila out at 2:30 am ( seems to me the magic hour) and she got out- I would have never known until too late. So then once we got the fence stable, it was time for the all of them to head home. As they went to Mari’s car that was parked in my driveway next to me, they noticed that the tire was flat. Not just a little flat yall but like pancake flat.None of us knew how to change the tire. I happen to live across the street from a large Frisbee golf park so I sent the 2 girls to ask some guys if they could help us. Two nice young men agreed and they walked over, however none of us had a jack so they weren’t able to help us after all. Monya found a can of fix a flat and has an electric tire charger and it took a while but it got aired up enough for them to follow me to the closest tire repair store. We left it overnight and they had it fixed with a replaced used tire by 10 am today.  I mean the night was exhausting !!! Note to self- buy a jack, an electric charger and learn how to change tire.

I am looking forward to a 4-day weekend. We get Monday and Tuesday off so it will be nice to have a short week next week.I bought Willie Nelson tickets for myself and bestie Kimi for her birthday and the concert is this Sunday.So east Texas party tomorrow, Willie on Sunday-laziness the next 2 weeks.HA!

My life is seems to be nothing but chaos mixed with good and bad and really bad.I don’t know what to think of it. I’ve been asking God a lot about his plan for me.

Have a wonderful holiday and be safe yall!

Such a whirlwind

Hey everyone- if there's anyone still left out there in my blogging world.  I have truly missed blogging. I know I have said that before but yet weeks go by in between my posts.  Lets see, where to begin?  SO do you remember when I mentioned that a really dear friend of mine was diagnosed with Prostrate Cancer? Truth be told, it was my husband Todd.  I needed to get it out because I was swirling with emotions but its a very personal thing and he had asked me to not tell anyone.  He elected to have his prostrate removed after speaking to 2 different surgeons and that was their suggestion. Last Monday ( June 5), he had his surgery and they kept him overnight and was released a week ago today.  He's been healing OK - he's black and blue from all the incisions and we're looking forward for tomorrow because he gets his catheter removed.  Last week leading up to the surgery, I asked Todd to tell our pastor so that he could be praying for us and then I was proud of him because he actually posted to our friends and family on facebook.  Here is the post:


So I'm going to share a PSA on getting a PSA test. If you're a guy or care about one - Get a PSA test. It's an easy blood test that can be performed with your regular annual physical as an early detection for Prostate Cancer. Years ago they recommended men start checking at 50. In recent years men have been diagnosed earlier and avoided prostate cancer (a typically slow growing cancer) from spreading through early detection. In November of 2008 I had a higher than normal... PSA. I had a biopsy in early 2009 and no cancer was detected. The PSA number remained the same until last November when it had spiked 3 full points. In March of this year I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. Early detection is helpful in that it has offered me a few treatment options. Based on my cancer rating I have elected to have it removed surgically. Homey don't play! I will have that done tomorrow. I have faith in God and my surgeon and expect to have a successful complete removal. I expect that it has not spread. So do two things for me please. 1) don't be scared to get your Test. If you're a guy you will eventually develop Prostate Cancer - maybe not until you're 88 years old but it's one of those parts that wears out and goes bad. (If you get it out before it spreads you have virtually a 100% cure). 2). Join me in prayer tomorrow as we affirm God as the ultimate physician. I'll be home Tuesday night counting down the 21 day wait time before I can ride my bike again. Lol. Thank you.


He's had a handful of men call him to talk about it and it got them thinking to get checked.  We're glad to get people aware to get checked because he had zero symptoms of prostrate cancer.
As for me, I am working from home so I can take care of him. He basically only has one hand because he has the catheter bag to deal with. The small one that can strap on the leg has not worked for him every time he's tried.  He cant lift anything over 10 pounds and he needs to take it easy.  I've cooked more than I have in ages. 
We  left the house last night which was the first time he's stepped out since I brought him home from hospital last week. We had to run some errands and we grabbed a bite to eat.
Needless to say, the last few months were kinda hard. Dealing with the fact that my husband had cancer puts things into perspective every day.  The weekend before the surgery though we went to see U2 in concert.  It was AMAZING and we had such a great time! We went with some good friends and it felt great to laugh and sing and dance and forget about cancer for a few hours.  I'll post pics from the concert later.  Oh did you know that the Blogger phone app was discontinued? Seriously, that alone is one of the main reasons I haven't blogged in a while.  I blogged from my phone mostly and I must have been the only one that did  ( LOL) because it was discontinued due to lack of usage.
In meantime, I found another App called Blogo.  It takes some getting used to but its helpful. You can post or go back to a saved post and add photos, etc.  That's why I liked using my phone to blog because all my photos are from my phone and I don't want to upload them to my computer every time to post a pic.
Anyway- I have missed yall and been thinking of so many of you but life has just been crazy!!!
Talk to ya soon!! xoxo