Hey everyone!
 

 Sorry I’m so late in getting on here. I am probably going to keep the posts down to once a day. Unless something major changes. 🙂

  One of Mamma’s friends came and let me go home last night. But they said she did really well through the night. When I came in this morning Mamma was sitting up and eating breakfast (she managed to get more than half of it down). Her temp was 100.4 this morning and has pretty much held there. This evening it has gone up to 100.8 but they are still seeing this as good because we are still under the 101 mark. They have done Tylenol for it so we’ll see how it does through the night. If it continues to stay level and go on down they may switch to oral antibiotics and look into going home. But how she is in the morning will determine that. 

 She has been able to recline back a bit today which is something that she hasn’t done in several weeks. Also got up and walked around the room a bit and stretched her legs some. So all in all it has been a very good day. 😊

Hello everyone!

This is Amanda. I am reopening this blog to use as an update page for Mamma. I apologize in advance for grammar errors and typos that will be in these updates LOL! Grammar was never a very strong subject for me. Also, I apologize that my posts will not be as well written as the ones that my mother writes. she is way better at things like this than I am. :) However, I will do my best. 


Mamma was diagnosed with stage 3C breast cancer in September of 2015. She has since had several surgeries and gone through four separate chemo types. We found out in December of 2017 that the tumor had returned a third time, and it is inoperable because of being about 7cm and in heavily vascular area, around a nerve bundle. She has been on an oral chemo to try and kill or at least slow down the growth of the tumor.
  On March 13th, she had a PET scan and found out the tumor has grown to just over 9cm. Since the oral chemo isn’t working, her doctor had planned on starting a new round of Chemo infusion on the 19th, but they noticed that she has an infection under her arm and began a 7 day round of IV antibiotics instead. 
  Now, fast forward to March 27th. Mamma has completed the antibiotics and was pretty badly dehydrated. Home health came out that afternoon and did a bag of fluid through IV. Mamma began to show signs of feeling better and perked up a bit.
That evening around 10 p.m. Ferrell called and asked me to come over because she had gotten sick and was not getting any better. When I got there we checked her temp and it was high so we came on into the Baptist Memorial Hospital ER in Columbus. They diagnosed her with cellulitis and she had become septic from the infection. They admitted her around 2 a.m. Tuesday morning and have continued to give several IV antibiotics. There seems to have been good response so far as her fever is sitting around 100.8 now so it is slowly coming down from the 102 she was at when we got here. Well.... They just came in and checked her temp which is now at 101.4 :(so more tylenol and hope it will come down again soon. 

March 28th.
  We are still at the hospital receiving IV antibiotics. Last night things got kinda rough, her temp went back up pretty high and she had a great deal of nausea. The nurses here are wonderful and they were able to get things back under control fairly quickly. :) This morning things are starting to look better. she was able to eat some breakfast and had sat up for a while and was more alert. She does tire out very quickly though.  

 

 Spoke with the doctor a few minutes ago and he said that if we can go without anymore fever spikes tonight that he will back off on the antibiotics through tomorrow. After that, if all is going well with no more fever then we can talk about going home. 
In the meantime her appetite has returned! 👏🏻 she ate a really good light lunch and ate most of her supper as well.

 One of Mamma's friends is coming out to stay the night with her so i can go home and see my children and gather a few things. I will be back tomorrow and hope to have good news to update with then. 

Thanksgiving Blessings

As we approach this Thanksgiving Holiday, I can't help but think about how different this year will be from last year, and how different last year was from all of the previous years.

At this time last year, I was preparing for the holiday knowing that it would be the last one I would share with my precious mother.   In previous years, Thanksgiving was always a time of  fun, laughter, music, and food.  Most of all food.  Last year, we had the food, and we had the music, and we had the special love for each other that has always defined our family.  For that I am thankful.

This year, I am trying hard to stay focused on the many, many blessings that God has bestowed upon our family, and not the loved ones that are absent.  Not only will my mother not be with us this year, but my middle son Caleb will not be able to be here.  He is blessed to be living in Texas close to his future in-laws, so I know that he will have a wonderful holiday, but he will definitely be missed here.

We are planning to have our usual Thanksgiving menu this year and because I want this holiday season to be a blessing to the little ones here, I am working hard to stay focused on just how much God has blessed me this past year.

Here are a few of the ways God has blessed (and is continuing to bless) me this year:

My family is healthy.

My daughter and her children are living with us at the moment.  I have the blessing of spending time with my grandchildren on a daily basis.

My Dad is also living with us now.  Even though his health has gotten worse, he is still able to take care of his basic needs and just needs someone to help with meals, medicines, and helping him not fall on bad days.  I am thankful that God has chosen to allow us the privilege of caring for my Dad.

Even though I will not be able to attend the wedding, because of caring for my Dad, I am so thankful that Caleb has been blessed with the precious young woman that will soon be his wife.  I am also thankful for her sweet family.

I am thankful that my daughter is engaged to a wonderful young man, that is very good to her and has accepted her children as his own.  He encourages the children's relationship to their "real" dad, while making sure to be there for them himself.  In some ways, he reminds me of my own husband and how wonderful he was with my children from a previous marriage.

There are really WAY to many blessings to name, but suffice it to say, I have been greatly blessed.  God is so good!

Menu Plan 11/11/12 thru 11/17/12

Well, after taking a look at the amount we have spent on groceries this past month I have come to the conclusion that it is time for me to begin menu planning again.  Things have been hectic lately, but I can no longer use that as an excuse.   Here's our plan for the upcoming week:

Sun. - Pork loin, rice, gravy, steamed broccoli, sourdough bread

Mon. - Leftover Rice and Chili from the freezer, tortilla chips

Tues. - Meatloaf, peas, squash, sweet potatoes, turnip greens, cornbread

Wed. - Leftovers or soup made from leftovers :-)

Thurs. - Chicken Enchiladas, Salad

Fri. - Soup (Taco & Potato), cornbread and sourdough bread

Sat. - Leftovers


Breakfast - crockpot oatmeal, biscuits w/turkey sausage, cold cereal, yogurt, smoothies, fruit, pancakes

Lunch - leftovers, sandwiches, fruit w/cheese & crackers,  soup

Snacks - popcorn, fruit, cheese/crackers, yogurt


As always our menu plan is subject to change.  Hopefully, I will be able to stay on track and "shop" our freezer and pantry for a couple of weeks which will really help get our grocery budget back on track.

Have a great week!