What's Going On?

Second Post of the Day

I have heard from many of you, both on the blog and by email, concerned about me being ill this week. Thank you so much for the well wishes. Yes, I have been ill this week, but it is a "good sick" not a "bad sick."

Glinda's query ran through my mind as I typed that! Hah!

This week all I have had is flu - headache, fever, nausea, tiredness, and more. I've slept a lot and two days later, I feel much better. I was glad to have a "good sick." 

By comparison, yes, there is a heavier issue going on. I have undergone many tests since mid May and more testing is scheduled through June 17 as we try to figure out what this is. It may be a serious diagnosis, it may be related to not having a spleen and no immune system, or it may simply be that an incisional hernia I have battled for a while (and we know is growing) is pushing on my lungs and diaphragm.

I am hoping that the issues are a relatively simple thing and are the result of my pancreatic surgery in 2019 as well as having had six babies (including 10 pounder Cole). The incision from that surgery has popped open internally twice now causing what is called (obviously), an incisional hernia.

I first had surgery to repair it in 2020. Two years later, I noticed a small protrusion that has been getting larger ever since. I've done my best ignore it. 

My primary care physician is aware of it and has been encouraging me to return to my surgeon and get it fixed. Normally I do as my physicians ask, but in this case, I just don't want to go through another surgery of any kind. (In my defense, I have had over 15 surgeries during the past 20 years.)

It's ba-ack!! 

But it's really big and needs to be done, I understand that. That it may be involved with the other symptoms I am having surprised me. But that would be much better than the other things that all this could be.

And, the other issues may be completely unrelated. They involve the heart, lungs, and blood. All the tests I have been going through (I have another this afternoon in Indy; no sewing time today!) are to gather info and see where the issues may lie. Some things have been found already and are being treated.

So, that's just an update to clarify. I don't want to share too much until we have a diagnosis. But since I heard from so many of you (heartfelt thanks; ya'll are the best!) I wanted to post an update. I promise I will let you know when we know what's going on and have a plan to proceed.  

Thanks again, folks. Your support has meant a lot. xo

Take the Long Way 'Round

In the eight and a half years that I have had Abby at Tim's, I have never walked out to the western edge of the property and along the fence line. When I bought her, I was 100 pounds overweight, I'd recently had a hip and both knees replaced, needed a spinal fusion, and absolutely did not feel well enough to hike back there.

A lot has changed since then. My spine has been fused and now I can stand and walk for long periods of time. In 2019 I lost that excess weight. I was sidelined last summer with pancreatic surgery and then this summer with some repairs to that first surgery, but now I feel great. It was time to walk around that perimeter.

It started with the notion of just getting a close look at the hay that we got from my sister's field.

A friend who cans a lot of produce from her garden said that when she's finished for the day and sees all those jars of food cooling on the counter, that she feels ready for winter.

I feel the same way when I look at a row of round bales or a hay mow stacked to the rafters with hay.

Tim made pallets to keep the hay off the ground.

The round bale feeder that is used in this section of the pasture. There is another hay rack by the old barn where the square bales are fed.

The northwest pasture is temporarily divided into two pastures. You can tell that right now the horses are in the pasture that I am walking through - look at the difference in the heights of the growth.

As I walked along the perimeter and then back up towards the new barn, I came across this pretty flower in the lane.

I'd seen it in the past but didn't know what it was, so I took a photo of it and ran it through Seek, the naturalist app that my daughter-in-love, Emily, recommended I use.

I had to laugh - how ironic to have Horseweed in a horse pasture!

Seek is a free app and a lot of fun to use to figure out plants, insects, and other wildlife.

I highly recommend it if you've ever seen something that you wanted to identify. 

A much healthier me with my girl (who has her tongue out - again!) happy that I feel so good and am able to do more than I could just a few short years ago.

I took the long way 'round the pasture today, but I've also done so health-wise. Both were worth it.