Great news.........on the tumor !

That big ol' octopus of a tumor that was wrapped around everything it could find was           benign  !! !!! !!! !!

        non-cancerous   ! ! ! ! !

 !  !  !  !  ! PRAISE GOD !  !  !  !  !

Home again, home again,.........jiggity jog !

Well, I am definitely happy to be sitting here today.   What was supposed to be a 1 1/2 to 3 hour surgery turned into 4 hours, and what was supposed to be an overnight stay turned into 5 days. 

The tumor was not the type that the doctor had expected, and it was just wrapped around everything it could find to wrap around, including and especially my jugular vein ! 

I came out of surgery unable to swallow my own saliva.......panicky........and called upon the name of Jesus MANY, MANY times throughout those trying days.  He was everpresent, and put so many angels/saints of God in my path all along the way !  Unexpectedly being able to speak a bit, I found that singing praises to God could bring me out of the most miserable states.  It was off-key, as I lost a lot of range for now, but he's used to some of that out of me anyway, and like the wonderful father he is.........he likes to hear me sing however I can do it .

I have come home with a feeding tube in my nose, and my swallow ......partially prohibited by some paralysis of the back part of the tongue....is slowly returning.   I can swallow a little bit of water, maybe 2 - 4 swallows now.   They don't want me to even try any type of food, as I may aspirate some into my lungs and wind up with pneumonia.  

I am humbled that God finds me worthy of such a trial, and have gained a new empathy for the suffering of others, including and especially my own husband.  He's had swallowing difficulties for nearly 6 years now, since his first stroke, and I had no idea what that was like.  It's one of those things we take for granted, sortof like breathing. 

I KNOW that I am healed, by the stripes of my dear Saviour JESUS, and I pray that this experience will help me to be of some help to another person going through a hard time.   In the mean time, I look forward to each step of that healing's manifestation..........especially being able to sleep someway besides sitting straight up !

Until I post again, my love to you all, as always..............

Surgery week !

My surgery is scheduled for Wednesday morning, and I am scheduled to have this tumor removed that has been slowly growing under my left ear for several years.   The MRI calls in a paraganglioma, and I've been told that it is a tumor of the parotid gland, probably non-cancerous.  The confusing thing is that my doctor says that he'll most likely have to remove a section of one of my vocal cords, and yet, when I google it, none of the surgeries I find seem to do that.  Mine must show itself to be located differently or something.

So, you who know me know that the thought of not being able to talk scares the bejeebers out of me.  With hubby having so much trouble being understood when HE talks,.......even by ME,  I just keep thinking...................?

Needless to say, I would appreciate  your prayers for a good outcome.......and NO NEED to mess with the vocal chords.....NO facial paralysis, and a quick recovery !
I give it to the LORD and find peace.........and then I take it BACK ! Why do we do that ??????  So silly .......... and so human.

In the meantime, here's a "before" shot.......

Maybe I'll regain my jawline !

Love to you all !

Hi again !

Let's see if I can update this blog just a bit.

 

The vegetable garden took off growing like wildfire after amending the soil with a good manure/compost mix.

God blessed us with enough cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, squash, and peppers to share with a good many neighbors, family and friends !

It is still producing okra and peppers, with a few small tomatoes.

 This plant that I couldn't identify last Spring turned out to be some Canterbury Bells that I had planted from seed and forgotten about. 














I'd never grown them before (or seen them grown by anyone else) so I didn't recognize them.  Many a morning I was tempted to pull the plant, thinking that it must be a big weed.  But patience prevailed, praise God, and here's the sight with which I was eventually rewarded !

 The long flowerbed gave me beautiful Gladioli, Crepe Myrtle blooms, Easter Lilies, Marigold, Lantana, and many, many, MANY Zinnias !

 And if you will notice, we added a carport to the end of the driveway.  Last week, we were also able to have the leaning power pole replaced, much to the relief of my husband.......he was obsessed with that thing, and it turns out that the old one was only in the ground 2 feet !   It's only by God's grace that it didn't fall before having it removed !

I pieced a little baby-sized quilt top yesterday from flannel squares that my sister brought me from California last month (what a wonderful visit we had !)  I hope to be able to finish it and give it to a young woman at our Church who is expecting a little boy !

That's all I have time for right now, I think, but I'll try to get back here again soon !

Love to all you guys !