Faith, thank you for the information you shared. We are still waiting for the VA decision. The denial was for the program the pharmaceutical company has for their $750 injections - two of which my husband needs a month. The GOOD news is that he got a shipment today, two months worth! My hubby thinks they WILL be free after all but I think since they went for the Medicare info that they aren't free. This is one time I would gladly be wrong! We are ALL thanking the Lord your DH "just" had an infection and not the virus! PRAYERS ANSWERED! Now we pray for his comfort and healing of that infection.

Nancy I LOVE the egg photo! There is just something about nests and eggs I am drawn to. It's just beautiful! I didn't know Cammie's breed before now. They are gorgeous kitties indeed! James' cousin had two orange tabbies (Kit and Kat) and they lived to be 20 and 21 years - so Cammie may have some miles left on her after all. Our two were a gray tuxedo, Kate, born on our daughter's bed on our anniversary! She took in a VERY skinny stray about the same time - whose belly began to grow much too big when well fed at our home - and she presented us with 6 beautiful little kitties including Kate. The other kitty was Booey. One dark sleety night our daughter was driving home when she saw something white in the road. She stopped her car to see what it was and it was a very tiny, wet and cold calico kitten! Of course she brought it home. She came over to my chair and said, "Mom, close your eyes and hold out your hands". Well I had fallen for THAT one from my ornery kids too many times so I told her, "NO WAY!". (I have a WORM phobia and they all knew it! - NOT funny!) Anyway she said, "No, really Mom." So I did and she gently laid a sorry little wet furball into my hands whose one little ear tip had even frozen! I IMMEDIATELY bonded with the little thing and that was that! I named her Kitten Cabootle - which became Kitty-boo - which became Booey. I miss them but Maggie is NOT kitty friendly so we re-homed them before moving. Photos below -

Blessings and hugs to all of you,

Ade

Nancy, I lift up your mom to the Lord for His protection from the virus - and may He protect the staff and other residents there too. May the Lord grant you wisdom and assurance of His power to work on your behalf...and peace in the eye of this storm. It is my hope that your sister will step up and do whatever is wise and necessary regarding your mom. You need to take care of yourself or else you may need care too. Be strong in the Lord and in His might. I'm sorry about the loss of the eggs - may have been a raccoon, they're bad about that. :0( We just bought a Berkey water filter. They are hard to find now but we got a reconditioned one from eBay (within a WEEK!) for $75 off, and you would swear it was new! That way you would have GOOD water constantly without leaving your place, and you could stay hydrated which is SO important.

Sending a hug and lifting up prayers,

Ade

Thank you Ade. I just finished our live stream of our church service. Guess what the topic was? Why trust God? Not a coincidence that your banner is about trust as well.

Inserted into the online service was the first time we got to see the wife and son (also one of our pastors) of our pastor that died of Covid 19. It really spoke to my heart as I know that our family may be in the very same position as they were where they could not see their Dad and husband when he died at the hospital. There faith is strong but I could tell from the young pastor's whole being how this has taken a huge toll on him. He was very honest and said there were many tears and grief but he knew where his Dad was now and that was in heaven with the Lord.

As I sat and listened to a robin singing outside my window I wondered if that was Mama robin. The nest is not in a place where a raccoon could get. It could have been another bird.

Have a great week dear sisters. It is a beautiful day here again.

Love,

Nancy

Nancy, I’m praying that your mom is safe in her facility and that you and your sister can find the wisdom to make the right decisions for her. I do think that your mom would want both of you to be safe and at peace with whatever decisions you make regarding her care. I know that’s how I would feel if it was me and our children.

Ade, I’m so glad your DH got a shipment of his meds and will pray that they keep coming. Your kitties are really cute. Thank you for the beautiful banner on trust in God. It is always so appropriate.

I was really using my trust muscles last night when DH’s fever spiked to 103. Of course I called his doctor knowing he would say go to the ER. So this time I took him there not wanting to bother our kids that late at night. Neither of us wanted to walk into that ER but there was no choice. It seems the antibiotic they prescribed didn’t do it’s job, so now he’s on a different one and fingers crossed, he seems better but we are both very tired. Crawled into bed after 1am. He sees the Dr. tomorrow and I’m praying that somehow they can find a way to do his surgery since the bladder is not being emptied and that is causing the infection.

Praying for all of you and for this awful pandemic to somehow be over.

Love,

Faith (in the future)

Nancy, my mom's apartment is on the end of a building wing too. I've often wondered if there is a benefit to living in that location. I read a couple of articles that proper room ventilation is important to diminish disease risk. Perhaps the end units have more appropriate air circulation.

You are so correct when you say that this virus has no boundaries. The little county where my mom resides has had 5 positive COVID-19 cases. Two of the cases were people working at the local hospital. I shudder to think how many folks they could have potentially infected.

Thank you all for your prayers for my last scan. My oncologist called me this morning with news that my cancer has progressed in several places, but especially my liver. So I will be going in for a biopsy to determine my next medicine. I have no other news but was pretty sure this was the reason she wanted to talk with me this morning. I have been a little unsettled all day but am confident in the love of God and that He holds my future in His hands.

Chris, I posted for you last night and now it is gone. I am so sorry to hear this news. I am praying for a miracle that whatever is in the liver will be nothing serious. I can only imagine how shook up you are. I have known you around three years even though I feel like I have known you for much longer. I know you are a woman of faith and that your strong faith is going to get you through this time. There are all sorts of studies and statistics but I wonder how many studies on miracles and how someones faith defied all odds. Probably not many at least in the medical journals because the medical field doesn't know how to explain the power of prayer and faith in Jesus.

One of my good friends (my grocery runner) I hadn't heard from in a couple of weeks and I just knew something was wrong. She texted me yesterday asking for prayer. Her brother in law was on a ventilator with pneumonia and I am assuming it was the virus even though she didn't say. She texted later to say that he is off the ventilator which she attributes to prayers. He still has sepsis which is still serious but prayers matter. She asked for a grocery list. I had already ventured into the grocery store with my N95 mask. It was pretty scary at first and I did realize that people don't seem to understand what arrows mean!!!

Chris know that we are all here for you and will be diligently praying for you. You are a special lady and we all love you!!!!!!

I had a phone visit with my breast surgeon today. That was my choice and since my scans and ultrasound were fine and I had just had a breast exam in Feb that is why it worked. I waited for 25 min for his call. Our apt was listed as 15 min. It was over in about 6 min. He said with all the other stuff you have going on your breasts are the least of your worries. Which is really true. He saw my chart and the stuff prior to today and the orders for future. I will be having another phone visit tomorrow with my alt doctor and then will have a hand xray and a tailbone xray tomorrow as well. Friday repeat blood work praying my kidney function concern was only dehydration. There is more after that but I am tired of typing. LOL

Faith, how is your DH doing? Is his fever down? Continued prayers for both of you.

Love,

Nancy

Chris we are all lifting you in prayer to the Lord. That's not the kind of report one wants to hear but our trust is in the Lord and His loving kindness and power to heal and save. He will hold you close as you trust in Him and you are strong in the Lord. We are here for you with prayers lifted up!

Faith I know how alarming a hubby's high fevers can be! James' ran 102-106 nearly every day for two solid weeks. I had to treat him with alternating aspirin & Ibuprofen every 2 hours or it would spike too high. The doctor hadn't replied to my morning call by the end of the day for that high one so I had to leave James and DRIVE to the office as I couldn't get anyone to answer the phone again, it went to a machine. (I am afraid I wasn't so nice - and the waiting room folks were staring - so they led me back to a room.) Only then did the doctor say to bring him in - no E.R.! So I went home and got James and took him in to be seen. That was the worst one some time ago, but so scary! James has not had a fever in TWO MONTHS!!! PTL! Anyway I know what you are going through and I pray they will just DO the surgery he needs and there be no more infections! Bless your heart I also know this is wearing on you so I pray the Lord will hold you up through this trial.

Nancy & Hershey I can't imagine the fears that run through your minds concerning the care centers. When you feel powerless to change the situation remember that prayers DO change things and the Lord CAN protect your mothers ( and all of our loved ones ). We all pray that for you now.

Nancy I thank the Lord that your scans and ultrasound were ok and that your neighbor's brother-in-law is off the vent. Big reliefs there! I pray your xrays will be ok as well. I'm not sure what the protocol for a fractured coccyx would be - probably sitting on a donut for a while until it heals. Anyway it is the Lord Who knows the problems and He IS our Healer. May He grant healing and pain relief and peace. Those tele-visits are pretty amazing.

We are still awaiting the rheumatologist's assessment of James' genetic testing and it has been a couple of weeks now. Still awaiting the VA Higher Level Review decision too. All in God's time.

James went to the grocery with a mask on as always and said the groceries are limiting meat now. We heard that was coming. He also said that 60% of the folks were not wearing masks. We still feel that we older, compromised folks SHOULD wear them. (I just got a new purple one with butterflies that I ordered. It has a pocket for a filter and came with 3 filters.) We will be at our son's family's house for dinner tomorrow celebrating their middle daughter's 12th birthday. None of them wear masks out, so it makes me a bit nervous but there are no Covid-19 cases in town and they aren't out much anyway so we pray for the best.

We continue to lift one another up to the Lord as the fervent effectual prayer of the righteous man (woman) availeth much!

Ade

Ade, that is GREAT news about James not having any fevers for so long. Hopefully that med is working well for him. Are they suspecting he does have Lupus since I know that is a Lupus drug? I know that was one of the possiblities. I pray that all goes well with your family celebration with NO issues because of no masks for some. I went out with my camera as I really needed a mental health day. This is the first I have been outside with my camera (besides my yard) since Dec. I wore a mask and when I was traipsing in the woods I saw no one. However when I found another entrance to this place there were quite a few people and I had my mask on and everyone looked at me as if this was something unusual. This is an out of town place and not considered a suburb of Chicago. When I went to the grocery store this week in town everyone had masks on. Unfortunately my friends brother in law died. I was shocked and I feel so badly for his wife that had to have been on an emotional roller coaster once he was taken off the ventilator and they were hopeful. He had sepsis and just had too much stacked against him.

Chris, I know that the Lord will see you through this. I can only imagine how difficult this is for you. You are only being human when you are feeling impatient with your grand daughter. Goodness you need time to process all of this news and you don't have the private space as you probably need right now. We are all here for you and will definitely be lifting you up in prayer. My previous post for you disappeared but I did write more for you after that.

I have not heard anything about my Mom's Covid 19 test. I haven't been able to reach her for three days and it is making me crazy. I finally got her to answer the phone and she couldn't hear one word and hung up. I already called the facility yesterday and they said they would have her call me. Well that didn't happen and she could have forgot or they did.

I got my xray results back. I am a little miffed that my doctors response to me was kind of like nothing is broken so you are okay when that is not what the report said. I can't even remember at all the long and strange words of what I do have though. I didn't mention this pain to him that I have had in my groin area off and on for several years. They found out what that is but that I had not even mentioned that. After walking over downed trees in the woods today my hand and my tailbone are hurting more than ever. My alt doctor was quite upset when I told him my PT therapist wasn't very flexible when it came to my ongoing pain issues. He said well you can tell her that your doctor said ................................ I haven't resumed PT but I think I am going to go back to my old exercises which were more stretching and see if this tailbone pain lessens. I told him that this nursing home by me has now 80 infected and 11 deaths as of last Sunday. I said should i be concerned. He said that makes you at greater risk. That made me uneasy. The paramedics were there again last night. I drove by this facility last night and there was a resident in a wheelchair outside. I was appalled. I thought all facilities in our area had the residents locked down in their rooms. He said the virus can last in the air for four hours. We have all heard about the large droplets falling to the ground if someone coughs or speaks but I heard an expert on the news last night saying it is the small droplets that are the killers and can get deep into the lungs. I think when it is said and done they will have discovered that this virus travels through the air much more dangerously than we have been led to believe. So please be careful everyone. Be diligent and don't let down your guard.

I have my repeat bloodwork tomorrow and have been drinking enough water to float away so if it was dehydration that was the culprit on the kidney function tests then hopefully it will improve.

Take care dear sisters.

Faith praying for you and DH.

Karen, did you have an infusion today?

Victoria and Carol how are you doing?

Love,

Nancy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phBXe4RN3t8

Faith, I think this is the song you meant. A different group I imagine. It is a great song and the words are very comforting.

Faith, yes, "Total Praise" is one of my favorites. I so miss corporate choir worship. I worship alone at home when I can, but it is not the same.

Thanks Nancy. Always love your pictures and will look forward to seeing them! My son and family (with three grandsons) are still planning on coming out for our anniversary the middle of next month. That will be a belated best Mother's Day for me and Father's Day for DH. It might be a bit challenging, but hopefully stores will be stocked better. We can do it. We can always just stay here and swim in our pool everyday. Hopefully the beach will also be open finally.

The temperature today felt like we are going backwards in time. Tonight we are to have a freeze. I had hoped to visit several preserves and get photos of the Bluebells but I am not sure what hard freeze will do to them. I did go out today and it was cold and I didn't think the bluebells looked as good but I did find a warbler that was mentioned in our paper recently. I was thrilled to get that one.

Here are a few pics of the Bluebells , the Full moon last night and this Blackburnian Male Warbler or at least I think that is what it is. I think this is a migratory bird. I had never seen one before until a picture in the paper just a few days ago.

These bluebell pics don't really do justice to what I was seeing. It was massive carpeted bluebells on the forest floor. Truly amazing to see in person.

Have a great weekend dear sisters. Thank you for indulging me.

Love,

Nancy

Nancy, those are amazing pictures. You have great talent.

Faith, we are still tentative about my son's visit. Leaving Missouri for him is not an issue but we are a little unsure what San Diego will be like. They are slowly opening things here..there were finally boats on the bay today. Even boats are only allowed to have the family who live in the same home. My son from New York is not even going to try to come out for a long time. He lives north of the city but is extra cautious.

This is worth a listen. I saw her on her farewell tour right here in town three years ago I think it was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ3H3lg9NZM