Merry Christmas

Christmas is only one week away. Are you ready?

 Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

coldantlerfarm: Do I Enjoy Killing?

coldantlerfarm: Do I Enjoy Killing?

I haven't updated here since August so here goes...

a stray dog showed up, I fed her and she stayed. I named her Duchess.

my oldest cat Roxy went outside into the woods and never came back. I figured the weasel got him.

another stray dog showed up, I fed him and he stayed. His name is Buddy.

my female cat, Penny, went outside into the woods and never came back. I think the weasel also got her.

my uncle Gene was diagnosed with cancer before my husband lost his battle and died in September.

I got my well dug but am saving for a pump.

my aunt Jean died. She was 92 and not the wife of the uncle who died.

I got a propane gas tank and heater installed. Just waiting for my cook stove from Sears.

And that's about all that's happened since August. I think I need a nap LOL.

I'm hanging in there. Each day is a little brighter. It will be hard during the holidays.

If I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck at all

I got back from PA and first thing I checked on the animals.  The chickens were highly upset, one was on the fence, one was running around, one had blood on her head and yes one was dead in the coop. There was a big hole in the screen on the window.  I cleaned it all up, closed the window until I could get some hardware cloth on it.  Two of the chickens were pecking at the one with blood on her head (Katie) so I left her out of the pen.  My cats looked like they had lost weight, not a good thing for the 16 year old.  I fed everyone including myself and had a nap.  That night I had to pick up Martha and actually put her into the coop.  Katie I left out and she headed to the woods and slept there overnight.

The next day I got up and found Martha dead in the coop.  The weasel which is what I thought it was had ripped open the little metal air flow screen on the back of the coop.  Esther was really upset.  I let Katie back in the pen so her and Esther could be together.  Cleaned up the coop again, got the hardware cloth out and sealed all the openings with it.  I figured that the remaining chickens would do better on their own out in the woods for the night so let them go.  In the middle of the night I heard Esther screaming, I grabbed my flashlight and saw her running for the opposite side of the road.  I walked out over to the coop and there underneath one of the trees were these little red beady eyes looking at me...yep a weasel.  Evil little thing. I told it to leave my chickens alone.  I would have gotten my gun out and shot it but it's not a good idea to shoot if you can't see where your bullet might end up.

The next day Katie showed up but Esther didn't.  So now I have one chicken who sleeps in the woods at night and is under the pine tree by the front door during the day.  I think she's lonely for another chicken.  I hate to give her away cause she is part of the family.  The cats look for her every morning.  Every time I go out the door there she is clucking at me.  I suppose I could get another chicken.

I called a well drilling company before my dad died and found out that my land is not wide enough for their equipment so yes you guessed it, I can't get a well dug.  If I can't get a well, I can't get the sewage permit so I can get electricity.  Catch 22.  So now I'm looking for another place to live cause without water there's no sense in even putting any money into this place.

On a better note, I got the AL house listed yesterday.  Yipee!  Can't wait until it's sold so I don't have to pay any more on it.  When it's sold, I'll start saving that money for a new place.  I have to keep thinking good thoughts.

Hope to post more in the future and it will be good news...I hope

Denise

Made it through

Dad's memorial service on Saturday.  It was really nice.  We had a regular service and then a military service.  The local honor guard came and did a 21 gun salute, gave Mom a flag and played taps.  They also gave her three gun shells - one for God, one for country and one for family.  Dad will also get a bronze marker in the cemetery.

If you have a veteran in your family, please ask about getting your local honor guard to do part of the service.  It is free for all veterans.  And it's very moving to hear the guns and taps being played.

Please keep praying for my Mom.  I'm going back to Tennessee this week and she will be alone for the first time here at the house since my Dad died.  They were married for 54 years and it's going to be tough for her.
Thanks,

Denise

Another death in the family

My father passed away on the 18th from a massive heart attack and stroke.  Not much I have to say about it.  I miss him very much and still grieving of course for my husband.  Life goes on.  Seems like it should stop or at least pause for a moment though.

Update

I just wanted to thank everyone for their prayers.  My husband died last month after fighting so hard against the cancer that had spread throughout his body.  He was in a great deal of pain.  I know he is in a better place now.  I'm dealing with my grief.  He was my everything.  I miss him.  Again I appreciate all your prayers.

Cancer update

Hubby had a stomach tube placed last week and the feedings were going great but on Monday he complained in the afternoon of stomach pain and his leg being swollen so I took him to the ER.  They admitted him and did lots of tests.  He had a blood clot in his leg and one near his kidney.  His stomach tube was OK although he was dehydrated because of the diarrhea (from the tube feedings).  He had two units of blood transfusion on Wednesday and they kept him because of his low white count until today.  He is now getting his chemo and after it is done he gets to go home YAY.   I'm rather tired.  Don't know why :)

I went home yesterday early and called my friend and she and her husband delivered some more wood to get us through some of the chilly nights.  I don't want DH to get too cold.  Bless our friends.  They have really come through for us...

Last night I heard something strange outside.  The cats make noise but this sounded different.  I went out with my flashlight.  I bring the chicken feeder up on the porch at night and here was a furry butt sticking up out of the middle.  I told Mr. furry butt to get out of the feeder and here it was a raccoon. I guess he thought the jig was up cause he got down and jumped off the porch.  I put the feeder in the house.  No more free food for him...I don't need a raccoon around.  I thought we had a possum.  We had some tracks in the chicken yard and the feeder was dragged under the chicken coop so that's why I started putting the feeder on the porch.  That worked for a while but Mr. furry butt is just a bit too smart for me LOL.  And the cats didn't even do anything when he was there...nice...I have the worst guard cats in the world ;)

Well that's all for now,

Denise

Busy week

It has been a very busy week.  DH has been going to radiation every day and then chemo on Tuesday.  He had a bit of a freak out with the mask they do the radiation therapy with and so he now is taking Alprazolam for anxiety.  Well he does have claustrophobia, can't say I blame him for freaking out a little bit with the mask and being strapped down to the table so he can't move.  He couldn't eat anything (Boost) on Sunday but was drinking juice and water but on Monday he had a hard time drinking.  The mouth tumor had swollen up so when we went in on Monday we asked about a stomach tube and he had it placed on Wednesday and is now on tube feedings.  He stayed in the hospital on Wednesday night and I picked him up on Thursday.  He is feeling much better and looks a whole lot better.  He kept saying I thought I was dead.  Seems they left him in the hallway alone at one time.  He was having a lot of pain after the procedure too.

To place the tube, the doc runs a little light on the end of a tube down the nostril to the stomach and pushes it up against the stomach towards the outside.  He can see that light and then makes the incision from that.  There is a little balloon that holds the tube in place so it won't pop out and then there is a disc on the outside.  He has cans of food that I put down the tube every five hours.  Right now he is only taking one but he should be up to 2 cans every feeding by Monday.  Don't want to overfill his little tummy :)  And you definitely don't want him to cough either when you are feeding him cause it comes back up the tube, yuck.

Hope everyone has a very Happy Easter!

too funny!

 

Learning new things

Yep I'm learning new things.  I changed the oil in our gas generator yesterday.  What a pain!  Why they put it behind a bar almost on the underside of the generator I don't know but it makes it difficult to change the oil.  I had to tip it one way to get the oil out and then tip it the other way to put new oil in. And that thing is heavy.  I did spill oil...oh well it's done anyway.

I wanted to show you the owls I made my mom.  I got the kit from Mary Maxim.

Sorry that some of them are a little blurry.  I took the pics with my phone.  Something else I learned.  Aren't they cute though?  I sent them as a surprise before Thanksgiving.  They are made out of felt with little touches of embroidery.  I even got myself a kit to make them too  :)  Mary Maxim even has Halloween owls and Christmas owls too. I just loved the mummy one.  Think I'll have to get the kits for those too and some for my mom as well.  She loved them.  Cost me to ship them to her but they didn't weigh anything it was the size of the box I had to put them in so they didn't get crushed.  I never worked with felt before so this is also something I learned.  I'll try to get some more pics on here.  I know everyone loves pics.

Next, learning how to service the riding lawnmower which I haven't done before and then cutting the grass (which I have done before when DH would let me - it's his toy not mine LOL) 

Hope everyone enjoys the spring weather - summer's just around the corner!

Cancer update

Well, DH's knee is doing better now.  The chemo has not helped his mouth tumor though which surprised the doc and now DH will be going for radiation treatment on it along with chemo treatments every week.  Hopefully this will take the swelling down so he can swallow better.  He dropped another 18 lbs since my last post.  He is very dizzy and is afraid of falling when he stands up.  I think the tumor is pressing on his inner ear putting his balance out of whack but I'm not a doc so what do I know?  He is still drinking the Boost/Ensure and now has a taste for ginger ale.  I found some at Kroger after looking everywhere for it.  I didn't want a big bottle just a small one.  He thinks something will taste good and then it doesn't so I end up throwing it away but he loved the ginger ale so it's all good.  The radiation doc made a mask of DH's face so they can bolt him down for treatment.  Sounds scary but he said he would just close his eyes.  He's very claustrophobic so I wonder how he will deal with this. He will have almost a sunburn in his mouth but it can't be any worse than it is now, right?

The bills are starting to come in, don't know how we will pay them with only my paycheck and we're still paying on the house in Alabama.  I'm working on getting it cleaned up and ready for sale but it's hard to do all by yourself.  I did get some help from one of DH's friends, Robert, who came and helped me load the trailer with some of the heavier things and then helped me unload them at the cabin.  I think he was really shocked to see the change in DH.  It was not one of his better days when Robert saw him though.  Because DH is so dizzy, he can't focus too much on what is going on around him sometimes and this was one day that was the way he was.  It takes a lot out of him to travel to the house which is 1 1/2 hours away from the cabin.  I told him next time I'll go by myself and not be gone so long.  He's afraid I might not come back but I told him that I wouldn't leave him for the world.  I love him too much.  I'm not going to let this cancer beat us down but I see him slipping away from me and it hurts.  I go out to the car and have a nice cry and try to keep a good attitude for him.

We appreciate your good thoughts and prayers, keep them coming.

Denise

Thanks

Just wanted to thank everyone for all your prayers and thoughts.  We really appreciate it!

We did make it to Nashville and had no problem getting there.  The surgeon said that it would be better for DH to get chemo and radiation before any surgery might be needed.  Surgery right now would involve removing his jaw to remove the tumor there so we are going to chemo and radiation therapy right now.  He has had radiation therapy on his knee and is finishing that up tomorrow YIPPEEEEE!  His knee is feeling better although it is stiff when it's cold out and he does have trouble with his balance and being dizzy.  He uses a cane and we are going to get him a walker soon.  We talked to the radiation doctor and after this chemo treatment he might be having radiation treatment to his facial tumors.  Right now he can't eat anything.  He is drinking Boost and Ensure and I got him some chicken broth yesterday which he said tasted really good.  His taste buds are off and nothing really tastes very good.  I think he's getting bored with the Ensure and Boost too.  His hair has started to fall out a little bit but he still has some and he lost about 30 lbs in two weeks before it leveled off.  I had to fight with him a little to get him to drink the Ensure but now he understands he needs the calories to keep his strength up.  I think the reason he was so irritable was because they had him on morphine for the pain but he has stopped that and is feeling more like himself now.

Keep up the prayers.

Denise

Ok I'm back

To let you know what's going on.  My hubby was having a lot of tooth pain back in January and so we went to the dentist.  She pulled some teeth but the swelling just wouldn't go down and he was still having a lot of mouth pain so we went back.  This time she and the other dentist in the office looked at his mouth.  The other dentist wouldn't do anything with his mouth and so she sent us to a dental surgeon in Florence, AL.

We went to the dental surgeon and he told my hubby that he had mouth cancer and wanted to make him an appointment down in Birmingham, AL.  It was quite a shock to us both.  We both knew Birmingham was quite a ways away from us so hubby wanted to talk to the dentist (Dr. Jamie Blood who is a wonderful dentist if your in the Lawrenceburg TN area and need a dentist)  so we stopped at her office.  He went in and talked to her and she gave him another dental surgeon's office number to call.  Which we did when we went home.  His name is Dr. Stephen Parey (if you need a dental surgeon, he is located in Columbia but has a satellite office in Lawrenceburg.  He sent hubby to get a CT of his head at Maury Regional Hospital and did a biopsy of the growth in his mouth.

We went to get the CT and afterwards hubby became very dizzy walking down the hall.  Luckily a doctor was passing by and asked if he needed a wheelchair.  When we said yes, he stopped a passing nurse and she pushed hubby to the front door where we got in the shuttle they have there.  They took us directly to our car.  I suppose that he was kind of allergic to the CT dye but I really don't know.

Meanwhile Dr. Parey's office made us appointments with a radiologist/oncologist, chemo doctor and a dental surgeon.  The first two are located in Columbia TN and the surgeon is in Nashville.

Oh and hubby was having a lot of knee pain so I made him an appointment with an orthopedic doctor who sent him for a MRI of his knee.  Turns out he has cancer in his knee as well.

If that wasn't a lot to grasp, it turns out after a PET scan that he has kidney cancer as well.  And all the other cancer stems from this.  He will start chemo on Monday along with radiation therapy on his knee.  We go tomorrow to the surgeon in Nashville to see if he can do anything for his mouth and face.  I've never driven to Nashville so wish me luck.  And if you pray, please pray for my hubby.  We need all the help we can get.  Thanks!

Denise

I'm still here

My hubby was just diagnosed with mouth cancer and we are busy with doctor appointments but I will be back.