What did I say about normal?

What was that I just said in my last posting, “Life is getting back to a much more normal pace as far as I can remember what that is like.” Hmmmm! What is normal? Exactly what fits into “normal”?

Saturday started out to be a beautiful day. I went walking at the lake, did a little shopping and then came back to the apartment. It was a little after three. That is when my newest adventure started.

We have two elevators in the building and one of them has been down for three weeks. They finally got it working on Friday (so it says in the small print). On Saturday that is the elevator that came and three of us got on. One resident got off the elevator pretty quickly and the second man got off on the 14^th floor. The elevator started going up before the door closed. I said, “OH NO!” The door did shut and then the elevator started jerking really bad and then jolted to a stop. All of the lights went out on the panel. I am not sure exactly why there is an alarm on the elevator because no one answered it. I pressed the talk button and was connected to Otis, the elevator repair company. Keep in mind that this is a Saturday. The lady said she would send someone. I told her this was an emergency because I am claustrophobic. She said someone is on the way. Keep in mind that I do not trust her at this point!

I tried to push the fire alarm button and it did not work. I had my phone so I called security – no one answered. I called the front desk just hoping that someone would answer – no luck. Okay, I am starting to get a little panicky so I called Laurie, who knows about my claustrophobia. She absolutely could not believe that this was happening to me. Neither could I. She kept talking to me to keep me calm while her husband called the fire department. She stayed on the phone with me and occasionally she would say, “Katherine talk to me”.

The firemen did get there rather quickly, I think. It seemed like eternity to me. Finally one of them was knocking on the door and asked if someone was in there – yes! He said, “We are going to get you out.” They worked and worked and I was beginning to wonder if they were going to have to ax there way in. Finally two of them with crowbars of some kind got the door open. A couple of them helped me out of the elevator. It had stopped about two feet above the 16^th floor and I had to jump down. I was shaking pretty bad and perspiring and on the verge of becoming hysterical. 45 minutes on an elevator for a claustrophobic is a long time, When they helped me off the elevator I said, “This is the 16^th floor”. One of them asked where I lived - on the 15^th floor.

There were four firemen and they were all very concerned about my condition. My blood pressure was high but I told them I was sure it would go back down when I calmed down. There were two ladies on that floor waiting to see who came out of the elevator. One of them went and got me a glass of water and the other one walked down the steps to my apartment. I would not get back on even the working elevator with the firemen.

Apparently Otis did show up after everything was over because I heard that they put the elevator back in service. No one from there came to me to see what had happened. I will be in the Property Manager’s Office first thing Monday morning.

Sometimes it is really hard to keep things in perspective and to remember that God is with us all the time through every trial we encounter. He was not going to let anything bad happen to me. I just needed to trust Him.

Attitude

Well the everyday nuisances of life are back or else I am just noticing them more now that I am feeling so much better. My thumb has healed very nicely and my torn cartilage is doing much better. Life is getting back to a much more normal pace as far as I can remember what that is like. The main thing for me is to maintain a positive attitude no matter what the circumstances. My latest adventure this past week was a tooth that I put off for about a month. You know, the hot and cold thing, so you know it needs a root canal. Last weekend the pain would not go away and by Sunday I was hurting so bad that not even pain pills would calm it down. I called the dentist for an appointment on Monday. They called back early in the morning and woke me up. I did not notice that the tooth wasn’t hurting anymore. By the time I got to the dentist office I felt kind of stupid even being there. I was trying to explain my pain that was no longer. Here is where I learned something new. The pain is from a root that is dying. We usually go right away and have the root canal done so we do not know the consequences. She further explained that the root kind of explodes, thus the extreme pain. When the root is finally dead there is no more pain. There was no abscess on the tooth so for the time being we are going to leave it alone. Could be a week. Could be longer, we will see. There are a total of 4 roots in the back tooth and the bacteria are still in the tooth. Oh yea, I forgot that the tooth is part of a bridge. $$$$

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”                                ~Charles Swindoll

Noah the Dove

"This one makes you wonder who are the smart ones. How we treat the weakest among us is how we will be judged." 
~ Mehmet Oz, M.D. 

These little bunnies, about 6 days old, were attacked by a dog and orphaned. Two out of the litter of five did not survive, and these three were not doing very well.

Noah is a non-releasable, one-legged homing pigeon/rock dove that is in the rehab center. Noah kept going over to the bunny cage and looking in -- even sleeping in front of the door to the cage.

Then, suddenly, there were only two bunnies in the cage.  But when Noah moved a bit from the front of the cage to everyone's surprise...there was the tiny bunny...under Noah's wing...sound asleep! That little bunny rabbit had crawled through the cage, preferring a featherbed, no doubt to snuggling up with its littermates!

Now, they are all together and the bunnies are doing GREAT. When the bunnies scoot underneath Noah's feathers, he carefully extends his wings out to surround them and then they snuggle. When one of them moves and they start sticking out here and there, he gently pushes them back under him with his beak!  It is beautiful and amazing to see.

This is what God does with us when we need the warmth and love He offers. He gathers us under His loving wings to a warm cradle of protection. All we need do in return is give Him the thanks and praise for being with us. 


Update on Noah the pigeon: 
We are Bob and Georganne Lenham of Wild Rose Rescue Ranch in Texas, home of Noah the Pigeon. 

After finding many posts online featuring Noah and the bunnies and reading about the many lives he has touched (his story has been forwarded around the world) we thought we'd post a follow-up and a few new photos. We knew there was something special about Noah the moment we saw him.Although the bunnies seem to be his favorite, Noah helps out with many rescue babies here at the Wild Rose Rescue Ranch. Noah's first litter of bunnies almost raised and ready for release. 

Now, Noah helps out with many rescue babies here at the ranch. How wonderful it is to have a full-time, soft-feathered nurturer here at the rescue ranch! He cuddles with 
all the babies as they snuggle under his warm feathers and he "coos" as if singing them to sleep with a lullaby. Noah is truly, truly a Godsend.

"He will cover you with His feathers

And under His wings you will find refuge."

Psalm 91:4

Like I have said before, “life is full of surprises.”

I have really been feeling good lately and have taken on additional responsibilities here at Francis Heights. I have accepted the nomination to be treasurer of the Resident Council. A little more responsibility than what I was told so we are going to have to set some limits. I am sure that it will all smooth out.

Changing subjects completely – I have this wonderful electric mattress pad on my bed. I like to say that I got it for me but we all know better – I leave it on a lot of the time for Ember. The control is on the opposite side of the bed that I sleep on. On Sunday night after I went to bed I wanted to turn it on and instead of getting up and walking around the bed (full size) I just kind of rolled over and reached for the control. When I did this I heard or felt a pop and I said, “ouch” out loud. Not thinking anymore about it I fell asleep and slept really good all night long. Monday morning I was meeting a friend for coffee and as I was moving around and getting ready I started feeling this pain over or behind my mastectomy site. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to walk, and it hurt to use my right arm.

As the day went on the pain got worse. I became worried that I might have pulled something in my mastectomy. I tried to call my doctor but the office had just closed so I asked that nurse call me back. After talking with the nurse and her reassurance that it might be a cracked rib, she said that I should go to the ER – did I have someone to take me. So, I called Rebecca and she took me to St Joseph Hospital, which is about five miles from where I live. Rebecca lives a lot farther than that.

After waiting two and a half hours it was my turn. When I got in there they wanted to hook me up to IV’s. I asked why – because of your chest pains. I said that my chest pains are not the usual. The nurse finally decided that we needed to talk. He agreed with me. When the doctor came in I had to tell the story again – I think this makes five times in all. Once I again I also had to take deep breathes while he listened my lungs. He acknowledged that it was going to really hurt but he needed to do it. He ordered a chest x-ray and it was normal. I guess my question is, "If they thought I had the typical chest pains, why did I sit in the waiting room so long?" 

After further examination he said that it was not my mastectomy and I did not injure it. However, he was sure that I had a torn the cartilage when I reached and that was the pop sound. Bad news, of course, is that it has to heal on its own and therefore I will be in pain for an extended period of time. Discharge instructions – rest, ice packs, and Percocet for pain. I said I really have a busy week so he repeated the instructions. Okay! Okay! 
Rebecca did not get back home until midnight. Dear Lord, what would I do without her? I really don't want to find out the answer to that question.

Treating a Torn Chest Cartilage 

Point 1
Resting and not giving strain to the affected part is the most important thing to do. It will serve 2 purposes. There is a better chance that the cartilage will heal and it will also reduce the pain, as a result of moving the specific part. 

Point 2
Anti inflammatory medications like non-steroidal anti inflammatory injection or pills might be prescribed. It will reduce the chest muscle pain and swelling.

Point 3
If a rib belt is available, using a rib belt will give support to the torn muscle cartilage. This will limit the movement of your ribs. This will result in lesser pain during coughing sneezing, moving and breathing, which exacerbates the pain. Using a belt will reduce chest pain when breathing in.

Applying heat compression, and an ice pack too, can help heal the torn cartilage in the chest. But either of them should not be applied for more than 20 minutes at a time. Breathing exercises need to be carefully done, if at all they can be done, and in consultation with the doctor.

Ultimately, while dealing with a soft tissue injury like torn cartilage in chest or otherwise, being particular about following the doctor's instructions would be the best thing to do. Take Care!

I have to laugh – not hard because it hurts – but this is just an everyday event that could have happened to any one of us. I guess when you have had two major surgeries in two years you just begin to believe that it is never going to stop. Not so. This had nothing to do with my surgeries or my mastectomy.

“What’s better than answers to our why questions? 

Trusting a good God who has His reasons.”

Clarification for my printed journal

Mary, Ann, Helen (on the wall) Betty, Bonnie,
Cissy, Joe, Mickie, Rita (Sister Johanna)

Now that I have printed my journal there are a couple of things that are very confusing as people read through it. Since it is my journal I never gave it any thought of the term “sisters”. My mother was the second oldest of nine children. There was one boy and eight girls. All are now deceased except for the youngest sister who is Sister Johanna Burnell. The confusing part is that Johanna is a nun, Sister of Mercy.

Two of my mother’s sisters died after I started my journal. Now the sisters that I talk about are Sisters of Mercy. Over Christmas 2010 when I was in Omaha, three Sisters of Mercy died. When I go to Omaha I stay with Sister Johanna and Sister Jeanne. As I was writing in my journal I never gave thought to how confusing this could be.

Laurie's Wedding Day

Myrlyn's 85th birthday on cruise in 2006

The second thing that is confusing - “Who is Laurie?” Laurie is owner of The Carousel Palette, which is an art studio in downtown Littleton. Kathy Heck, who went to South Denver Church takes classes from her. In 2003 I wanted to leave Sunrise Assisted Living and work independently. Laurie’s mother, Myrlyn, had a severe stroke, which left her paralyzed on her left side and in a wheel chair. When she returned home from rehab it was decided by the family that they needed someone with her around the clock. Kathy told me about it and I called Laurie and interviewed with her and Myrlyn. I was hired and started in January of 2004. I worked with Myrlyn full-time and part-time up until I was diagnosed with cancer in 2008. We became very good friends and we are like family. Laurie loves cats and has a cat that has been fighting cancer for many years now. When I was diagnosed with cancer I asked Laurie if she would take my cats when the time came and of course she was in agreement. She now has Mario and there would be “no way” I could get him back if wanted.

Laurie is the one that makes me laugh daily. And I need to laugh daily – everyone does! It is so healing. 

Volunteer

I have volunteered at my church for many, many years now and continue even through my cancer journey. I love being a volunteer and am so thankful that I have more time to devote to volunteering - it is so rewarding for me. I wish that more people would try it.

It is amazing how different my life style is now from two years ago. I know that life changes daily but when it is in one giant swoop, it is a little overwhelming. Many, many things have changed for me.

One of the most interesting, as of late, is forgetting to go to appointments. This has caused much embarrassment on my part because I am always punctual – always have been. I am not really sure what to attribute this new behavior to. One of my problems, and I am not making excuses, is that I am no longer a morning person. This happened, of course, when I was diagnosed with cancer – life changed – drastically.

For about a year now I work the front desk on Friday mornings. They have moved the shift up 30 minutes and I have to be down there at 7:30 am. Come on, that is way to early. Once last spring I forgot to go down on a Friday the 13^th. After that I was off for a couple of months because of my surgery. When I went back I was doing fine with the hours, so I thought. Recently two out of three Friday mornings I forgot to go down stairs. Actually I forgot to set the alarm so I slept late both days. I love sleeping late everyday except for Sunday.

Both Friday mornings Laurie called me a little after 10:30, when my shift ends. The first one she wanted to know how my morning was going, and I said that I was playing with Ember. And then she said something about it being Friday morning and I couldn't believe it - I forgot to go downstairs. The next time Laurie asked if I got to work on time. I said, no I don't have to be there until 3:00 - I was helping out at the Valentine dinner at church Friday night. She said, I mean this morning. NO! Not again. I was totally stunned.

When I got a hold of Lynn to apologize he said, “Your not a morning person”. At least they did not fire me. Guess it is too hard to find volunteers.  I switched my shift with Lynn and I now work on Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 pm. I think this is going to work much better for Francis Heights and especially me.

This probably has not been my most embarrassing moment by far, but it was still embarrassing enough. 

I need to be more careful

On Tuesday I decided to make some potato chips. I am whizzing along slicing the potatoes and suddenly without warning I sliced off the side of my thumb. Ouch!! The bleeding went on and on. I started getting a little panicky, because I am on blood thinners, so I called Rebecca. I really needed someone to talk me down. We had a bad snowstorm overnight and I did not expect anyone to come help me. I knew they would do nothing in the ER – there was nothing to sew up.

I wrapped the thumb with lots of bandages and Neosporin but it just kept bleeding through. I even had a shamus wrapped around it and it filled with blood. Then I found the piece of skin and threw it away and continued fixing my potato chips. There were sure good in spite of all the action.

I took a pain pill and went a laid down thinking that might stop it bleeding. After a while I call Laurie because I knew she would make me laugh and I sure needed it. Before I went to bed I decided I had to change the glob that was around my thumb and put on fresh bandages and used an ice pack. By morning it had quit bleeding so I took a shower with the bandages on – thinking that would soften them to take off. The blood was so thick that it was still sticking, however it did not start bleeding again. I wrapped it again.

I was supposed to work at the church on Tuesday but there was no way to get out with the weather the way it was and look what happened! So on Wednesday I really did need to go so I went out and scraped the car at zero degrees and headed for the church. It had started bleeding again so I changed the bandage again.  It did not bleed the rest of the day.

I needed to do dishes and since it wasn’t bleeding I stuck my hand in the water to get rid of all the caked on blood. Oh my goodness! All I could do was hold my breath – you know what that is like - you have all been there at one time or another. It did not bleed anymore and I let it air overnight. I just put a band-aid and Neosporin on it to go work at the church. I did not hit it again hard enough to make it bleed today. Wow! What an adventure.

"We have often contemplated the suffering and death of Jesus Christ through... But did we ever stop to think just how truly, physically painful it must have been for Him to be whipped, crowned with thorns, bear the cross, and have iron spikes driven into our hands and feet?"

I Can Only Imagine (with lyrics) - MercyMe

Forward to my printed journal

(I am posting this on my blog because it really is part of my journal.

It is totally out of order so some of the information is repeated.)

My Journey actually began some months sooner than July 1, 2008. The reason that date is chosen is because I did not have insurance and on July 1st I would be on Medicare. I never in my life thought that I would want to turn 65 so quickly. I did go to my doctor a couple of times but I did not pursue the issue because I did not have the money.

No one knew that I had a problem because I kept it to myself. Over Memorial Day I went to Kansas City to see my aunt Mickie who was dieing from lung cancer. (She died in August 2008.) I knew that my chance of making it back for her funeral was not in my future. Besides I would rather see her alive and have a chance to talk with her. My aunt Johanna, cousin Betty and myself went out for pie and coffee one evening before I came back to Colorado. It was at that time I told them that something was wrong but I would not know anything until July. That is all that I told them and that I would let them know when I saw the doctor. Once I knew my diagnosis Johanna (my aunt) and Marci (Mickie’s daughter) took aunt Mickie out to dinner and told her that I had cancer. I called her the next day and we talked every week and sometimes more often until she died. She gave her children orders that if I called they were to wake her up so she could talk to me.

Several weeks before my doctor’s appointment I finally told Rebecca because I needed someone I could talk to who would not tell everyone. I just did not want it to become an issue until I knew something. I did not even tell my pastor because I am of the ‘old school’ where you just don’t talk about female problems with a man unless he is your doctor.

I was still working for Myrlyn at that time and I called and cancelled two Sunday nights in a row. I didn’t call Laurie, who I talked to everyday. Instead I called another person to fill in for me and she called Laurie. The whole idea of me not showing up for my shift was unheard of. Laurie called, “Okay what is going on?” So I told her that I had a problem and would not know anything until I saw the doctor on the 1st. I did not want to tell Laurie because she had enough going on in her life and she did not need one more thing to worry about. I also did not have the courage to tell Myrlyn when I was diagnosed – I let Laurie do it. Big mistake on my part!!

I am a very private person and this journal was very difficult to write. I started it and then decided not to do it so I deleted it. Then in October of 2008, I decided that it was the only way I could keep up with what was going on. I started the journal for myself and eventually many people were reading it. As you start to read you will notice that all I give are facts. That is the way that I am. Then as it goes along I start slowly inserting some of my feelings and beliefs and my knowledge that God will take care of me no matter the outcome.

At this point the blog continues to grow and it is difficult for a new person to start reading it because it is reverse chronological order. And, there are many people that do not have computers and they want to read my blog. Thus I have decided to print it off. Just a funny little story - One Sunday at church I walked past this young woman and just as I did I glanced over her shoulder. What caught my eye was that it was my posting from that week. I said, “That is my blog”, she said yes, and told me who had printed it for her. I had no idea that I was making such an effect on people.

My doctors have assured me that getting in a couple of months earlier would not have changed my diagnosis or the outcome of the journey I was about to take.

The first five pages of this printing are pictures and quotes that are on the side bar of my blog. I wanted to keep them as part of my memories when I printed my blog.

Happy "100" Birthday Helen

There were "100" lit candles on the cake. Good thing Helen did not have to blow them out all by herself - she is a tiny little thing. Everyone at the table helped!

On Monday afternoon, Francis Heights had a birthday party for Helen’s
100^th Birthday. She is an amazing woman and is certainly spry for being 100. Helen does use a walker now after breaking her hip last year. She quit driving when she was 92 and moved to Denver from Kansas City MO where she was a nurse at Shawnee Mission Hospital in Shawnee Mission KS. I told her that I worked right down the street from her at St Joseph Hospital in the early 80’s. I doubt that she worked until she was 92 – I did not have a chance to ask. Helen’s daughter works at for Francis Heights in some capacity and that is why she brought her mom out here.

At the party, which was in Claire Villa dining room, Helen got up and went to every table to great everyone that came to celebrate her. There were no gifts that I could see, but then what would you get for someone who is 100 years old. Can you imagine all that she has seen in her lifetime? Wow!

We have another lady that lives in the building that writes for the “El Semanario” neighborhood paper and she wrote a wonderful article about Helen along with pictures.

I made her a card that simply said, “If I told you once, I have told you a 100 times”, and then on the inside just Happy Birthday Helen -  I hope she liked it.

We always talk about it being such a small world – it really is!

I pray that God blesses Helen with many more viable years.