Faith, I am sorry that your DH is still having so many problems and is depressed. I am sorry you are feeling that way too. Don't worry about being a downer. Actually I have felt that way on this site many times too and fear that it drives people away but it some ways I think it helps everyone realize that they are not the only ones going through these same type of things. I have always felt that this thread was a place where we could be honest with our challenges and hopefully feel free to vent. We ALL need to do that or we would be like a volcano erupting all the time.

Thank you for your kind words. I do appreciate them so much.

I hope going back to PT will help you. I still have not made my decision to go back yet. I want to visit my Mom first.

Chris, they ran Mayo Clinic commercials more in the winter quite a bit. There was what I am assuming was a young man and his father going to the one in Minnesota. The young man is wading in a lake and he just lets out this yell and every time I here it it moves me so much. I have been to that Mayo Clinic before and I could identify with his angst. He was probably just an actor but he made it seem so real. I wish you could do that too and have a great release of built up tension. I remember the awful angst I felt when I had to wait 17 days to find out if my cancer had come back. By the time I got the news that it was only scar tissue my brain was still stuck in the fight or flight mode. I remember how awful that was and the downward spiral of the next six months because of that. I really feel for you going through this really tough time. Know we are all praying for you and support you through this. Please let us know how we can help you.

It is 3:30 in the morning and I am having another night of waking up and not being able to go back to sleep. The birds are singing already even though it is pitch black outside.

I better get back to sleep or I will see the sunrise before you know it!

Good night or good morning!

Love,

Nancy

Faith I fully understand how hard it is to stay on "level keel" when your hubby is depressed, not well, and with all that is whirling around seemingly out of control in this crazy world! We are rejoicing that James' fevers have subsided & pray it is not just a remission, but his migraines have him very depressed (with mood swings) and it seems no one at the VA is even listening. He is actually talking weekly with a VA psychologist (but he doesn't seem to listen either - blaming the depression on James' deafness, not the chronic constant pain!). Sometimes the weight on a wife is almost too much to bear. I TRY to be light-hearted and upbeat for James' sake - when I feel like crying and screaming, and you probably feel that way too. But God has, in His sovereignty, allowed this time of trial for His purpose - which is usually to drive us into His arms and strengthen our faith. He IS in charge of our lives and the entire world situation and nothing will or can happen that doesn't pass through Him first (just ask Job!). Sometimes we just have to trust one day at a time asking for grace which He promises to us who believe. DO vent here! We are all blessed to lift up one another's concerns to the Lord in prayer. May He grant you His peace, strength, and sense of His loving presence, and bring healing and uplift your husband. You will get through this. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him.

Nancy, beautiful scriptures, thank you. We NEED God's Word in good times and especially in trials! We are SO thankful you FINALLY got to talk with your mom! I hope your new air scrubber will be a blessing for you too and help you feel better, especially your sinuses. It is SOOO hot here lately! Our AC is running nearly non-stop, ($$$!) and we have a well insulated house! I don't know HOW folks in days gone by lived here without AC!

We are TRYING to walk in the cool mornings, though yesterday James had to cut it short and I did today - both of us with some chest pain. When your body tells you not to push it - you just don't, and you hope for a better day tomorrow. We missed all last week because of various things, but the week before we were doing 1.2 miles. Not too bad for 2 old folks not very physically fit...well, not at all! )

May God bless and keep you all close in His care,

Ade

Ade, I am praying for James and that there is mild and fixable diagnosis to explain all his symptoms. I am also adding the prayer of peace for you and safety for your journey.

Ade, I will certainly be praying for peace for both of you this evening and I pray for the trip. Maybe the doctor wants to examine him in person to help her make a more committed diagnosis. When the fear starts to creep in just fix your eyes on Jesus knowing He is right there with open arms always ready to comfort you.

Chris, praying that you will be able to enjoy your families and that this will be such a joyous time with them. Praying you will feel good while they are visiting. Try to soak up all of the special moments and try to live in the moment.

Faith, praying for DH's stent that will be put in tomorrow. Praying that he can heal quickly and start to feel better and get more sleep. Praying for you too as I know this has all just been too much for you.

Have a restful night dear sisters.

Love,

Nancy

Ade, I have been praying for you and James many times.

Faith, praying everything will go well during DH's stent placement and recovery. Praying for peace and calm for you.

Chris, praying that you feel really good as you get ready for your family to visit.

I have a touch of stomach virus or something. I started having problems on Sunday.

I didn't intent for this to look like a snapshot from "Finding Nemo"!

Trust is something that seems very easy at times and very elusive sometimes when we need it the most. God help us all in this area because I think so many of our challenges need a steadfast trust in You knowing that what we want and what you know we need are sometimes two very different things. Help us to say yes to your will and come to the point where our desires are Your desires.

Thank you Chris. I had planned on finishing my mulching today but I knew that would not be smart. I am also very aware that gastro problems for many have been the first signs of Covid 19 so I am laying low today.

I sure hope you feel better when your kids come tomorrow. I have been praying for that for you. I don't know if you saw it or not but I did post a Happy Anniversary banner for you a few days ago. I wasn't sure exactly when it was but knew you had made reference to it. Not many people can say they have had 48 great years of marriage so that is a gift for sure. I just feel certain you are going to have a great time with your family and new family coming in.

Ade, I hope we hear some good news from you and James. I know you will probably be exhausted if this was a 3hr one way trip.

Faith, I hope your DH is home and comfortable now and you being able to have some calm in your life.

I forgot to share that after all the saga of poor Mama robin trying to build her nest on my porch light and then finally laying eggs on the nest on my back porch light only to have something steal the eggs I have a baby robin in one of my bushes. When I have been outside working the pair of robins goes crazy until I am away from that bush. When I peek in I can only see one baby but I can't see very well. It is the same Mama? I would like to think so. I finally got my hummingbird feeder up the other day and I was so thrilled I had hummers at the feeder the very next day. These little things give me some feeling of normalcy when everything else has been interrupted.

Love,

Nancy

Ade, I’m so glad to hear that there was no really bad news but how frustrating for you to take that long drive when it could have been done by telemedicine. Also frustrating to still not have an answer to James problems. We will continue to pray that there’s an answer and solution for him.

Chris, Belated Happy Anniversary! I’m still praying that you can relax and enjoy your family’s visit. I certainly understand your not being able sit still. I get like that too. It will all be good, With God’s Help,I’m sure

Nancy, I’m sorry to hear you’ve had some gastro problems. I also had some issues about two weeks ago and was afraid it was Covid related but I don’t think it was. Maybe there’s a bug going around. One unusual symptom of Covid that my daughter had was a lost of smell and taste. That happens a lot, I understand. There are lots of drive through testing sites around and there is also a site at the hospital that you might be able to go to. I’m not sure if you need a doctors order or not but I imagine you can call to find out the details. It would be good to know if you have it or not, especially if you want to visit your mother and not have to self- quarantine first.

Thank you all for praying for my DH. He had his stent put in and right now is very uncomfortable but hopefully will feel better soon and finally get some sleep. He sure needs it.

Have a good night dear friends, sleep well.

Love and prayers,

Faith (in the future)

Ade, SO glad you didn't get disturbing news. I know that is a loooooong drive to get what seems like could have easily been given via video. Did they give you hard copies of these tests. Maybe that was the reason. At any rate I hope you can breath a little easier even though of course I realize you still don't have answers. So frustrating I am sure. I will continue to pray for both of you as I know James is still struggling and I know you are too. You will get through this one step at a time. That is what I keep telling myself.

Isaiah 12:2 New International Version (NIV)

2 Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense[a];
he has become my salvation."

Hershey, how are you doing? How is your Mom doing? My sister told me recently this lockdown at my Mom's facility has really caused her to go downhill. I do know that her facility is planning on doing some outdoor activities including their Bible Study. Our state doesn't enter Phase 4 until June 26 and we are all trying to be patient waiting for that to come. Our opening in Illinois has been slower than many other states. I guess time will tell if that was a good or bad decision.

The fee that your doctor's are adding for PPE I have not heard. I know they are really paying a hiked up price to get their needed PPE according to our governor. I didn't think that shortage was still an issue but apparently it is.

I hope you are staying safe and are well.

Love,

Nancy

Hershey,

I hope your company will allow you to continue to work from home so you won't be forced to resign. This pandemic has been so tough and has so many ripple effects that we may not even see for a while. When it involved lives vs. jobs it is so difficult and I don't envy those in position to have to make those calls for their states. I pray that your Mom will be safe and that one of these days we will both be able to see our Moms. I know that I can visit my Mom without going into the facility so I do have that option. I have some apts I need to take care of first and then will have a probably short visit this time. I would work my visits so that I only had to pay one person to water my flowers later in the summer so I'll have to figure this out. My friend who waters for me has lost her brother in law to the virus recently so I really hate to bother her now. Her sister, the widow, lives in town so I am sure she has been spending time with her to help her get through this loss.

Take care. Enjoy your weekend.

Love,

Nancy

Chris, awwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeee. What precious grand kids. Happy Birthday to somebody!!!!

I don't have to say enjoy your time with them because I KNOW you are!!

Love,

Nancy

Chris - what a blessing! There was a sign long ago that said, "Lord grant me strength to endure my blessings!". May He BLESS your time with them!

Hershey - praying you can remain working at home and for your mom too.

Our little town continued closure of our college, Sul Ross, since we now have eight virus cases.

This was done several years ago but I came upon it and thought how appropriate it is for today.

Love,

Ade

https://www.ajovy.com/why-ajovy/?utm_id=23530951;1541930;272922448;133213053&utm_source=1541930&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=23530951&dclid=COHg7JH9g-oCFc2LaQodKV0CcA

Carol, I have lifted your dad to the Lord in prayer just now. May the Lord be his Rock and sure foundation and grant him the peace that passes all understanding to guard his heart and mind in Christ Jesus. I know this breaks your own heart to see him like this as you bravely told him of your condition and I pray the Lord will just wrap you both in His loving arms of comfort right now. Thank you for posting this.

Your sister in Christ,

Ade

Ade and Nancy, thank you for your kind words, encouragement and prayers. I couldn't ask for more. Radiation is complete and I'm now taking Ibrance along with Amidex and monthly infusions of Zometa.

Most of the time I feel fine. Pain is moderate and hasn't really interfered with my life. I am blessed and will continue to thank God for each day.

My husband and I love to laugh, and recently when I was feeling a bit discouraged, he asked me to read one of the texts on my wall. I revised 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17: "Rejoice sometimes, pray when you really need it, and give thanks in the good circumstances". We got a laugh out of that and decided we would stick with the way it was written: Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." It's such a better place to be, right? Not to say we won't cry and we won't hurt, but we know with full assurance that our God is with us and will give us perfect peace.

Love to you,

Carol

Teka, welcome back from your hiatus from the threads. Thank you for your nice comment. Getting a picture of an eagle is real treat. To get two of them in the frame is really exciting. Thanks for sharing your pic.

I had a Covid 19 test on Tuesday. It was the first day for this newly opened site to open up in the county. Anyone could go get tested without a doctor's referral. Since I was having so many GI issues and really bad headaches I figured I wanted to get cleared of any virus before visiting my Mom. I haven't found out anything yet.

I did find out that they were letting residents at my Mom's facility come out on their patios with a family member and my sister got to do that with my Mom as long as they both had on masks and stayed 6 ft apart. However that was halted by the upper management so now you can visit through the patio door only. I was a little bummed out about that. I have a couple of apts next week but rain is predicted for days and days so obviously if I can only visit on my Mom's patio then it can't be raining.

I had my new AC installed today with this new Air Scrubber I have been excited about. I think it is going to take me some time to get used to the smell as it produces ozone. When Cammie stopped using her litter box a couple of years ago my neighbor put an ozone machine in my house for quite a few days as I was at my Mom's. It ran nonstop and when I got back home the smell of ozone was pretty strong for a very long time so I am very aware of that smell.

I think it takes a few days before it can work at maximum level but I am very anxious to see if it will get rid of pet odors. It gets rid of viruses not only in the air but on surfaces including door knobs and is a disinfectant for Covid 19.

Carol I am glad to hear you are doing fairly well and haven't been in a lot of pain. Laughing is such great medicine so I hope you and hubby can continue to instill some lightheartedness in your situation. Take care.

Have a great weekend dear sisters.

Love,

Nancy