When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When it gives you rocks, paint'em!

I have become obsessed with rock painting lately. It is a very peaceful and calming project.

 It has proven to be a Godsend to me, since I have learned that I have a mass in my stomach that requires surgery. I am petrified of having any kind of surgery at all, whether it be for myself or my family. The staph that is running rampant in the hospitals these days is unreal. If you live through the surgery, you could be laid up for weeks and in some cases, months with the staph. If you are lucky and don't die from one or the other. Then there is the worry about blood clots. That is a common problems nowadays, too. You hear of more people dying from blood clots after surgery, than ever before, and folks wonder why I am scared of having surgery???

I have so many friends and family on Face book who are praying for me, there is no way things could go wrong. I just have to resign myself to the fact that all will go well, and it will be over and done quickly, and I will be back to my regular routine. I just need to have faith.

I am gathering up lots of small rocks to keep me busy while I am recuperating. No lifting, tugging, bending, stooping. I guess I'll be lucky if I can even paint. We'll just have to play it by ear. I am scheduled to meet with the surgeon on May 29,2014. He will tell me more about the procedure he will be using, and answer any questions I might have at that time. I hope he has the time. I have many questions.

 I will be using Dr. Marshall Johnson. Hershell had him for his colonoscopy and he trusts him.  Carmen knows him well from working closely with him at the hospital. From all of the comments I am receiving on Face book, I think I have made a good choice. So many of my friends have used him and had great results. Now the waiting game begins.


P.S. I visited with Dr. Johnson and he wants to do an endoscopy on 6/4/14. Will update as I know more. Please keep me in your prayers as this is not over yet. Thanks, all!

One Step Closer to the Truth

A lot has happened, since my last post. Even if it is in my mind. So let me begin at the beginning.
I have always had concerns about my heart. It does weird things at times and I have no clue what triggers it into doing these weird things. I do know only with experience, that my heart is extremely sensitive to certain things. Some of these things are normal everyday things like coffee, tea, and chocolate. Others are products with certain ingredients in them. I am not even real sure what the ingredients are, but I do know that certain diet drinks are a problem for me and my heart. Green tea, which is suppose to be super good for you, causes me discomfort with my heart. Energy drinks. I learned really quick. I don't want any part of them. I lost a nephew a couple of years ago, in my opinion, due to the energy drinks. He had definite heart issues ever since he had open heart surgery at 2 weeks of age. These are a few of the things that cause disturbances with my heart. Then on occasion, my heart would give a big abnormal jolt in my chest, and go on for years with no more such occurrences.Nevertheless, I had the doctors to check my heart a few times over the years. On three different occasions, they sent me home with a heart monitor strapped to my body to record  it's rhythm and such over a 24 hour period. Nothing significant showed up the first two times I wore the monitor home. These heart monitoring cases took place over a period of years. Then the third monitoring which was done this past 3 months showed up some irregularities. Thus triggering the need for me to have more testing done on my heart. I was put through an echocardiogram and a stress test. The results were that my heart muscle is strong, but I do have a leaky valve. The leaky valve should not cause any problems, but if I was still concerned, he could recommend a medication to help with it. Not wanting to go on more medication, I chose to watch my caffeine intake and go from there. It was sweet relief just knowing all was well with my heart other than a sensitivity to caffeine. I could work with that along with regular exercise throughout the year, not just during the summer.  No problem there.

Then......out of the blue, as I was checking out, from my visit at with heart doctor, Dr. Mehta called me aside with more news, and it was not good news. He said they had seen something on my echocardiogram that concerned them, and he recommended I follow up with a CT Scan. I did so, and sure enough, it appears there is a 5 cm. mass inside of my stomach. I didn't panic....yet. I would go through the scan first. Maybe it was a shadow or an air pocket. It could be something, but then it could be nothing at all. I was a bit uneasy, but I kept telling myself, "Don't panic just yet".
I stayed busy painting and mowing. Two things I do to relieve stress. I got a lot of both done over the next few weeks. Now the day has arrived. I go in this morning for an endoscopy. From what I am hearing, it is a camera they run down your throat to see what we are working with. Once again, I must tell you. I am a bit frightened. I think more for what they may find, than for the procedure itself.
I am a strong, otherwise healthy, optimistic person, and I feel confident, it will be something easily corrected. At least I am going to keep telling myself so.

I am a Christian. I have been saved. Now it is in the Lord's hands. I pray for a good outcome. Other than that, I pray for peace to get me through it, no matter what we find. I have had a great life. Lots of pleasure and joys. A great companion to spend my life with up to this point. So whatever comes from this day on, I can handle it, with God's help and the support of my friends and family.

I will have an update as I learn more, if all goes well today. So until then........

Have a good day! Life is too short.Cherish Every Moment! 

Sue