Its My BiRtHdAY!! Guess that makes it Offical, I survived the year from Hell..

                                                                         To Me

A big Howdy everyone...!!
I've always been one who loves celebrating her Birthday...I've always looked at my Birthday as a day to Celebrate making it another year...dealing with all the ups and downs of the year..learning something new everyday and applying it to my life! So celebrate I have done..even with all the ups and downs I've had a great life with very few regrets!
This year as I celebrated my birthday.. I found myself celebratng much more then just my Birthday..I was celebrating the survival of the year from hell..
I've had to climb a million mountians in my life...many that I wasn't sure I'd make it to the top and back down again..of course I always made it despite the struggles.....I'm a fighter!!
Last night I met my friends at the Dock to celebrate my Birthday just like I've done for the past 10 years. Even my long time Girlfriend came in from California to celebrate with me...but something was different, missing, a feeling of uncertianty lingered in the celebrating!
Funny how one finds themselves smack dab in the middle of change...I'm so thankful that I can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel...I'm Thankful that I am feeling more and more like my old self, I'm so thankful for all the friends here that were there when I needed you most, helping me threw the hard times in the past year. Thankful for the Doctors who finally figured out what was wrong with me & started putting my life back together..

The one thought that hangs on in the back of my mind is do I have the strength in myself to fight all the side affects left behind that still need to be fixed before I can truly be myself again..

As we all sat talking about Birthday celebrations past and the fun times we all shared over the years and lifted our glasses to toast my birthday last night I realized that I won't really ever be the person I was...I've changed not by choice but none the less I have changed..

I've moved on to a new Season in my life, a season that won't include some of the things I love most, but one that will offer many new things I may come to love, I will grieve the losses and celebrate the gains.
Its hard to move on sometimes, even scary at times and yet it's exciting too..!

I know I'm not alone there are so many others who are starting a new season of there life..struggling just as I've done trying hard not to let go of the things that made all those past celebrations such great memories..
I don't know what the future holds for me but I look forward to finding out... I pray that there are more and more positives in the year to come...& come next year I can tell everyone that I love Celebrating my Birthday!

God Bless you all! Until we meet again may your day be filled with sunshine and happy moments!

Hugs
Tonya

No Catchy Title Just come on in! Lots to share with ya!

A Big Howdy to all... I sure hope that you are all geared up for another summer weekend! Loved this sign had to share it with you! I've decided I'm using it this weekend.. I'm on the Island this weekend and plan to totally enjoy my weekend with all my boater Friends.. this is the biggest weekend of the season on Kelley's island. Its called Islandfest Weekend! There will be lots of Craft Vendors, Food Vendors, a Carnival for the kids, a street dance and finally fireworks Saturday night. I used to pack up a huge truck load of my Creations & set up a booth every year at Islandfest but it got to be to much work so now I just enjoy all the other crafters goods..
I wasn't sure if I was going to make it up here this weekend since my Van decided to breakdown on me. Finally got it back on Tuesday...but once again I wasn't happy with the shop that fixed it for me because the air Conditioner still isn't working properly.
The Air coming out of the vents is only cooled down to 60-65 degrees which isn't cool enough to cool the whole van down. So its generally 80 to 85 degrees which isn't cool at all in this triple digit temps we've been having lately.
But thank goodness it doesn't appear that there is any damage to the engine due to its over heating.. So I packed it and off we went to the Island to hang out with friends all weekend!!
Figure I'll deal with the repair shop next week..

I spent a lot of time in the Pool with my nieces this week. I used to be on the swim team so I was showing them all of the smim moves we used to do... It was so hot that was about the only place to find any relief and we had a great time together...Even Baby Eathen loves the pool and we took him in everyday too..

All of my nephews & there wives are expecting along with one Niece who is expecting. So we have 4 baby's in the warmer so Peggy is planning Baby showers. the first shower is Saturday for Jessie & jason. they are having a little girl. So we spent time getting the house & yard all cleaned up and ready for the baby shower.

Had another freak tragedy with my teeth this week. I was feeling the back of my teeth with my tounge and all of a sudden another one of my teeth fell out. Another front tooth right next to the one I yanked out with the duct tape. So another rush to the dentist office onl to find that it is not worth trying to repair. What was left just crumbled into pieces when he touched it with his tools. So I look like a total dork with one rebilt tooth in front that looks like a wood Tooth says my niece Hailey..and a big gap right next to it.
that makes 3 teeth that have crumbled right out of my mouth in the past 2 months.. Soon they are all going to crumble away...

I had my appointment with Dr. Awan on Tuesday to discuss the results of nerve damage test they ran on my hands last week. I now know exactly what is wrong with my hands and how bad the damage is as well as what can be done to fix my hands up good as new... Now of course we all know they will never be good as new but they should be close if all goes well with the surgeries that need to be done. Best part is that they are all going to be Microscopic surgery with small incisions & few stitches. No cast only bandaids.

Carpal tunnel syndrome: A type of compression neuropathy (nerve damage) caused by compression and irritation of the median nerve in the wrist.

I have it in both wrist. Oddly it is worse in the left wrist then the right. But I have the most pain in the right hand. Mine is now in the advanced stage which requires surgery to repair & to stop any further damage to the nerve. It was determined that it advanced once my thyroid disease worsened. I can no longer feel much in my fingers other then the constant thumping/throbbing pain 24 hrs a day.

Dupuytren’s contracture. 

Dupuytren’s disease is an abnormal thickening of the tissue just beneath the skin known as fascia. This thickening occurs in the palm and can extend into the fingers. Firm cords and lumps may develop that can cause the fingers to bend into the palm, in which case it is described as Dupuytren’s contracture.  Occasionally, the disease will cause thickening on top of the finger knuckles (knuckle pads),
Mine has affected the two middle fingers in both hands. On the right hand I have the Knuckle pads.

Trigger finger and thumb are painful conditions that cause the fingers or thumb to catch or lock in a bent position. The problems often stem from inflammation of tendons that are located within a protective covering called the tendon sheath.
Mine has affected the right hand 1st finger. It's locked in the extended position always pointing. It's the worst of the thumping/throbbing 24/7.
Not to mention it gets in the way of everything so it gets bumped constantly. It also makes it really difficult to pick anything up. You think you have a hold of it but then realize you don't. then add the other thing to it & you simply can't hold onto anything.

Cubital tunnel syndrome is a condition brought on by increased pressure on the ulnar nerve at the elbow. There is a bump of bone on the inner portion of the elbow (medial epicondyle) under which the ulnar nerve passes. This site is commonly called the “funny bone”.  At this site, the ulnar nerve lies directly next to the bone and is susceptible to pressure. When the pressure on the nerve becomes great enough to disturb the way the nerve works, then numbness, tingling, and pain may be felt in the elbow, forearm, hand, and/or fingers.
Mine has affected the left elbow which is why the left hand is actually the worst of the two because it adds to the numbness.

So with answers to all my questions Dr Awan looks at me and says...So when do you want to schedule the surgeries..the sooner we get these things fixed the sooner you can get the use of your hands back...and less chance of any further damage to the nerves.. How about two weeks.. I was like wooooooooooo... I want to enjoy the rest of summer the best I can..no cast for me in this heat...He chuckled  & told me I wouldn't have any cast just tiny incisions and bandaids. I was like you're kidding right... he says, No..all microscopic & I will have you using your hands doing exersises on the third day, with full use within 6 weeks.   
I was so excited but reality is it probably won't be that easy...but If it is this will be one happy lady..
So I said, ok lets start with the left hand first so I know what to expect by the timeyou get to the right hand which has more issues then the left.
He scheduled my 1st surgery for August 22nd. Then if all goes well I will probably have my right hand done the end of September. That will give me a month or two to heal up before winter sets in and I start creating full time again..

It was a busy week...& I'm all tuckered out especially after the long drive north to the Island. So gona rest up tonight so I ccan spend the day hanging with my friends on the dock tomorrow. 

I hope you all are enjoying your summer..staying cool and safe!

Until next time remember you are always a thought away...

Blessings
Tonya 

Oh the Blessed Month of July~Sunflowers~Tomatoes~Heat~Birthday~Broken Van & Doctors appointments!

Happy July everyone.... My sunflowers are back in full Bloom & as you know I love my Sunflower Smiles!
I've even found a few new Sunflower goodies at GW..& just this past Monday my SIL gave me the most darling hanging flat bucket filled with Sunflowers... She said she seen it at GW and had to pick it up for me. I love it and plan to hang it on my Trailer Door..I'll take a pic to share with you after I hang it today..

As many of you know we have had record breaking temps here in Ohio this July along with some severe Storms. This heat has been really hard on all the Farmers. I had to laugh the other day as I looked at our beautiful Flower bed Peg and I worked on for a month filled with so may beautiful blooms but not a blade of Green grass anywhere on our 5 acres...Its so brown you can't tell if its dirt or dead grass..
But for the first time in the 4 years I've been living in my trailer at my brothers there flowerbeds suffered great neglect! Then this year I helped Peg make her flowerbeds look as pretty as the ones I'd made around my Trailer.

Finally every flowerbed on the property looks fantastic but they almost look funny amid the dried out lawn.
They get watered every day and it has paid off because they are just filled with pretty Blooms..

The garden is doing fantastic too..Yep it gets watered daily too!
Peg picked her first Ripe Red Juicy Tomatoes...Since Jimmy does all the work in the Garden she made him a huge BLT... He said it was Yummy... soon we will all get to enjoy a yummy BLT & I can't wait...

My Herb Garden is doing fantastic as well.. I started picking some of the Herbs, bundling them and hanging them to dry!

The kids have been Swimming daily and I must admit every chance I get I jump in the pool to cool off.
My Bro & Nephew built a new deck yesterday beside the pool. It looks awesome!

Today I woke up to the sound of rain drops on my roof...what a blessed sound that was..It had cooled down last night so I opened my windows to let in some fresh air...It smelled so fresh this morning for the first time in months...Sadly it didn't last but an hour or so and it wasn't enough to make a difference in the dried out Grass..although so far it has stayed cool with little humidity so I still have my windows open to enjoy the fresh smell after the rain!

Every July my Birthday rolls around again! A time to reflect on all has has passed over the year count my blessings for the year! This year the list of not so good things in my life is much bigger then my Blessings list by far..but I'm trying to look forward to growing the Blessings list..as many of the negatives hopefully will lead to blessings as my health issues are resolved.

True to the month of July and my consistant life my Van is Broken down again. This is the 4th year in a row that the Van of the year has either The front of the Van litterly fell off the front of the Van 2019, Blown an Engine 2010, Gas Tank Sprung a leak 2011, Now July 2012 the air conditioner quit so replaced it last week but it wasn't working right. I took it back only to find the Fans froze up so the van is in the shop leaving me stranded once again in July waiting for the new Fan to come in so the Van doesn't over Heat & Blow another Engine. Unbelievable that every July my then van breaks down and leaves me stranded..

Before the van over heated I did make it to my latest doctors appointments on Thursday. I had the test run on my hands to verify one the general diagnoses made by Dr Awan and to verify how bad my hands are.
Good news/bad news however ya might look at it. I won't get the official report until next Tuesday when I see Dr Awan again.
But the neurologist pretty much varified what Dr Awan had diagnosed. It was strange tho. My right hand is the hand that is in pain all the time but the test show the left hand has more nerve damage/blockage then the right hand & my left elbow also has some nerve damage/blockage.I'm not sure if damage/blockage are the right words to use but I think you'll understand what I mean.
I do have Carpel Tunnel in both hands worse in left which further causes numbness.
I do have Dupuytrens Contracture in both hands which causes the numbness & pain.
I do have one locked Trigger finger. Contstant pain but numb very strange.
My thumb has a huge Calicum deposit in it that has spread my thumb joint apart and is in constant pain.

All of the above has left me with little use of both my hands. It is really difficult to do much of anything and typing is really hard. As I type this all my fingers are numb & tingling..so missing keys strokes and have to use spell check over and over...LOL..what a total pain in the butt!! As i mentioned tho most are fixable & God Willing once they are fixed and mended I will be find somepeace of heart and the ability to work in my shop doing everything I have always done or at least most...

Although I can't sand and paint right now I have been doing some creating gathering with the pieces that are already sanded & painted. Not much but enough to keep my mind busy.

Sorry this was so long but I guess I've been missing in action and found lots to catch up on..

I do miss everyone and love to hear from you all...

Have a great weekend filled with happy moments!

Summer Blessings from my house to yours!!

Tonya

Happy Blated 4th of July! and some catching up!

I hope you all had a fantastic 4th Of July.... sorry I'm a day late but hey Celebrating Freedom is worth celebrating for two days..Smile
Actually my computer/internet decided not to get a signal until about an hour ago..been acting stupid all day long..No clue why...
Wow today was a sweltering hot here... then I was driving my digital temp read out said 107 degree's..that is just plain down right to hot for this lady..and of course I had all kinds of errands to run and places I needed to be or i would have hidden inside all day long. then along came a thunderstorm that lasted maybe 45 minutes and it was even worse with the humidity almost took your breath away to step outside. I didn't even go to the fireworks I watched them out my window...decided my cool house was the best place to be..
What's it been like where you are?

I've been staying up at the lake, Port Clinton & Kelley's Island, Ohio and we've  had some nasty storms on the mainland... thank heavens nothing damaged at my house just some downed tree timbs.. On the island the storms weren' nearly as severe m,ostly down pouring for hours and windy.

In Delaware, Ohio and surrounding areas the storms were much worse with many people still without electric.
Thank God my SIL said that most of the storm passed them and my trailer by where we live outside of Delaware but down the road it was pretty bad with downed trees and power lines..Boy when mother nature decides to throw a tantrum she really throws one...to much heat & to many damaging storms.
the heat didn't used to bother me until my thyroid started acting up and now days I simply can't take it.. I feel so badly for those who have no electric and no air conditioning...
I have  one little air conditioner in my house and 5 fans running and its still 87 degrees in the house at 2 in the morning...even my poor kitty's and Puddles are hot..

I am feeling better over all ...other then the heat of course...but I do think my thyroid levels are finally leveling out.. to the point I actually feel like a human again and not some depressed nut case...I do notice that if I don't take my calicum on time I feel weird but as soon as I take it I feel better.. Doc told me I had to remember that calicum because mine is low... & it affects the Thyroid levels.. Its been kinda hard for me to adjust to a time to take that stupid Thyroid pill because you can't eat for an hour before or after... I'm a breakfast eater like within 1/2 an hour of waking up..so finally decided to wake up take it and go back to bed so when I really wake up I can eat and take the rest of these confounded meds..which have to be taken with food or you get a bad tummy ache...ick.....I think I finally have my schedule in place...

Now to get these hands working again and I just might really feel like my old self or at least close to it..

Neck is nearly healed.... Imagine it has been 3 months & 1 week since my surgery and it is still healing.

Had a great weekend...Hung out with my friends on the Boat dock Friday evening, went to a Block party Saturday on the Island and got to see a lot of people I haven't seen yet this summer...Great food and lots of fun..
Hung out with my girlfriend Sunday night sitting on her porch swing having a glass of wine together...watching all the wild bunny's hopping all over her back yard..just chatting the evening away..I love that swing of hers reminds me of the one we had on our porch when I was growing up..

While running errands today Of course I had to stop by the GW and check for goodies. I hit the jack pot forsure. I bought a basically large 3' long x 22" tall x 24" wide New Tote filled with over 40 New Holiday Gift Bags, different sizes, 10 Gift boxes, 28 packages of every color of tissue paper you could think of, Gift Tags, Stickers, Bows, Ribbon, 20 little bags of diferent Confetti's, Cards, some Mini Star Garland for a mini tree and a container of large Star Garland.
All For the unbelievable price of $12.99 minus my Golden Buckeye card 10% discount. Every single thing in the tote was new never used... I couldn't beleive it.. I have enough gift bags & boxes to do all my Christmas gifts this year and birthdays too! Especially with the few I've picked up here and there at the thrift store this year...

Time for me to call it a day much to do tomorrow...

Have a wonderful week/weekend...Stay Cool!

Blessings from me to you all!
Tonya

There's a Stranger In the room!

Hi Everyone..Just thought I would pop in and Say Hi!
Its been forever since I've posted...I really miss everyone...I hope that everyone is enjoying there summer!
Since the old camper was still on the island I've actually been going to the Island, hanging out with all my boater friends. Its been great getting away from all the health issues ....
Its been really hot here in Ohio..the poor Herb, Flower & Veggie gardens have to be watered daily. The grass has already turned brown...lol even the weeds look dried out.. We need rain really badly...

The kittens have grown & left the shelter of the Shop... they are spending there days running around the yard and playing...they are so cute.. I plan to take Lisa to be fixed very soon. In the meantime I've really enjoyed the kittens..

Last week around 10:30 I was walking out to my shop to get something and close up the door for the night and I see something sitting in the door of the shop.. I thought it was two of the kittens but the closer I got I realized that actually it was two Baby Skunks....Yep two Baby Skunks..Omg they were so cute sitting there. As I got closer they took off running around the building..I haven't seen them since but my Brother came home from work at 11 a few nights ago and he said they were sitting beside the garage.. Neither of us have seen a mother Skunk so I'm wondering if something didn't happen to her and the baby's discovered the steady supply of cat food and moved in on us... Not sure what we will do if they decide to stick around. Skunks aren't naturally agressive animals but if they are startled or frightened they will spray once they are about 8 months old... So they will need to find a new home...

Weve also had two baby Raccoons come up on the porch at night to steal cat food. they aren't afraid of people at all and will stand there and eat right in front of us...So they to will have to find a new home soon...
We will probably have o trap them and then take them to state park and let them go real soon..

I'm feeling much better and it appears that the last round of antibiotics worked. I still have two small open holes in my neck that are finally healing. I think..pray that there are no stitches left to abcess. So hopefully I can finally heal and be done with this piece of my life once and for all...

I have to say I feel so lost..with my hands getting so bad It has become almost impossible for me to work in the shop sanding & painting wood pieces to create gatherings with. I can't hold a needle anymore so I can't sew. I can't hold onto the rags to create Rag Balls either. Its so frustrating...Creating has always been my salvation when all else failed me I could go create something and feel good. I don't know what to do with myself.. I can't clean houses like before and now I can't create.

I'm just hanging in limbo, lost, frustrated, angry, sad & confused about where to take life right now...A huge reason I haven't been posting much lately... 
I so pray that the Ortho Doctor can fix my hands. I still can't beleive they got so bad so quickly... I understand why after seeing the Ortho Doctor but still it seems like it happened over night. My right hand the one I use the most has continued to get worse by the day..even typing has become one fingered and I was a good typest.
 I finally called my friend on the Island and made arrangements to come to the island. Even tho my old Hippie Van Camper is here my friend had a nice Camper right beside it and they told me to stay in it so I had Air so that's what I've been doing.. and hanging with my boater friends when they come to the island on there boats for the weekends.. its been great being around happy people. Being on or near the water has always lifted my spirits and filled me with peace of mind....Good place for me to think threw what is to be next in my life...

Time to take Puddles for a walk..so I will bid you all a good Evening...

 Blessings
Tonya

Do You remember when shopping for under garments was simple Sharing Some Humor from my shopping Trip..Health Update

Hi Everyone...I decided tonight to share some humor only us women can understand and appreciate and above all laugh at each other as we remember just such an occasion when you felt the same way I did today while out shopping for new Under garments...!
I remember not so long ago, well actually about 3 years ago I went on just such a shopping trip. I decided it was time to clean out the underware drawer. Now we all have our favorites and somehow they never leave the drawer till they are totally unrecognizable... Blushing yet?
So off I went to the store I went to the lady's dept & I walked out 1/2 an hour later with two packages of 12 pair each of Fruit of the Loom lady's Cotton Briefs. One package of White and one package of colors...Simple!  Note I said Cotton Briefs...Well three years later I made the same dicesion!
After my Doctors appointment I headed for the store. My plan was to walk in go straight to the lady's Under garment section and pick out two new packages of Fruit of the Loom Cotton Briefs..and be on my way...
Now this is where the Humor comes into play.... To start with there are four Display Racks 20 feet long and I'd say 5 1/2 feet tall with choices on both sides....all hanging in cute little plastic bags with a hook to hold them to the display rod...Some were on cardboard holders with hooks that did the same..Some hung seperately on a hanger....1000's of Underware!!!
So I locate the Fruit of the Loom Lady's Cotton Briefs....
Only much to my surprise Briefs are no longer my kind of briefs, you know the ones that fit nicely on the top of your hip...... but instead I found what I call up to the waist granny panties....so on me being short waisted granny panties that reach up to the part of the body that wears that other hard to choose under garment...LOL..

Now comes the difficult part what do they call those panties that fit nicely on your hips...
So I start scanning the racks...I've decided I am going to cherish those two packages I bought to day and care for them so they last me forever...
I'm not old or frugle I simply like comfort.....
I mean Good Heavens how many kinds of Ladies Fruit of the Loom panties can there be...
Well let me tell ya there are a lot...
We got Briefs,
Brief Wardrobe Panty,
Cotton Hipsters,
Stretch Cotton Hipsters,
Boy Cut,
No pantyline Boy Cut,
Cotton High-Rise,
Stretch Cotton High Rise Panty,
Fit for me High Cut Cotton Panty,
Cotton Bakini,
Stretch Cotton Bikini and a few more I can't even remember...
Okay I eleminate the Ganny panty Briefs first..then next comes those High Rise panties cause this lady has short legs and short waist so those high risers were more then hip rise they were between the ganny and above my waist...Ok I am now down to only 6 choices...I'm standing there looking at this huge rack wondering ok how am I going to figure out which ones are going to fit me and be comfortable... I finally decide to take down one package of each lay them out and then remove one pair from each package and this should give me an idea which ones are closest to my last purchase...I am feeling like a total fool standing in the middle of the panty section laying out my selections and proceeding to make some sort of choice with out actually going to the ladies room to beg them to let me try them on... Can't do that...

About that time a store clerk woring in that department comes up to me and says having a hard time deciding what is what and what might fit? She smiles at me and says I can remember when we could walk in the store go grab a package of panties and be on our way... Not any more its High Teck to figure out the right ones...and she giggles and me I just bust out laughing....
I've already been in the store now for at least an hour by this time with my elimanating, laying out, neatly removing one of each and sharing a giggle and laugh with the store clerk... So here we are standing there looking at six neatly lined up Fruit of the loom Lady's Panties. At this point my only option is to hold each pair for inspection and sizing them up to my short legs and short waist.
Bingo... I weed out 3 styles right away...I'm down to Cotton Bikini, Cotton Boy Cut and Cotton Hipsters...
I finally decided that It would be one package of 12 hipsters and one package of 12 Boy Cut... Thank God I have finally made my choices...and its only taken me an hour and half... That is rediculous and especially for me who hates shopping for under garments in the first place... Reason #1 that I buy so many at one time...
When I finally made my choices I thought to myself these things best last me till I die and at least till I reach the age of Depends... then it will be easy just go to the store and pick up a package...hehehe...as I rounded the corner to head to the check out with my choices in my hand what do I pass but the Ladies Depend Section....Imagine they now have a Lady's Depend section...
Oh yes ladies they have over a half a rack with many choices of Depends....Good Lord by the time we reach the age we need depends who can think about making a choice and guess what Ms Tonya burst out with laughter at the thought of having to think about that when the time comes....I hear the Store Clerk close by laugh too.... I know she knew exactly what I was thinking as I stopped to stare at the Depends Choices..and broke into hardy laughter... Have a nice day she says as I walk away....with a little giggle in her tone.
Want to bet she shared this little hour and a half story with someone after she got home and thought of the things that made her giggle or laugh today.... I hope she did cause Laughter is good for the soul....!!

I know I have been missing in action at least Posting but I was getting really tired of feeling like I had nothing to talk about but my year long health issues. I wanted to add some humor to your day!
 
I hope that my humor made you giggle too... who knows someday you may decide to clean out your drawers and go shopping for new under garments and as you stare at the rack and racks of choices you might think of me and giggle at the funny story I shared with you tonight...

Today was my doctor's appt with the Hand Surgeon and it went well. I loved Dr. Awan...Great sense of humor and very nice... He gave me good news and bad news all of which I was prepared for and expected.
He explained everything in great detail so I understood and I so appreciate that... My diagnoses is
Dupuytren's Contracture in the two middle finger of both hands..worse in the right hand or course my creating hand...No surprise there! My first finger on my right hand has what they call a Triger finger and it had locked in place..that was why It was numb rubbery feeling to me & why I couldn't hold anything & dropped things all the time. Both hands have Carpel Tunnel as well which is why my hands and fingers were so Numb all the time. As the doctor said, add osteoarthritis to all of this and your right hand especially is out of order but fixable. As for the huge lump on your thumb we can fix that too so you can get back the use of your thumb...
Then he said, has anyone explained to you that your Thyroid disease is what made all these issues worse so quickly?  Yes and No ..more or less I read about it and ask my Thyroid surgeon and he varified. Well I am here to tell you that had you not gotten Thyroid disease and had to have it removed you would have gone on living with most of these things and probably adjusted to them slowly for another 5-10 years but losing the use of your right hand is more then likely due to the Thyroid.
 Damn that Thyroid...is all I can say...
So Today he loaded my hand up with Cortizone shots that hurt like the devil and we talked about test he has to run to find exactly what he has to do to correct these problems..then we will make plans to do surgery to correct what we can..but I want you to be completely from the infection due to the thyroid surgery first so we will look towards late fall...so that is the latest update...

Have a Great Day my friends and I'm sorry I haven't been posting lately but I have been keeping up with everyone's Blogs and commenting....

Blessing to all..
Tonya

Strength of Duct Tape vs My Front Tooth Duct Tape Won Tooth lost Bad Luck on a roll..

If I thought that I was having a streak of Bad Luck Last week let me tell ya it CAN GET WORSE!
You see that beautiful happy Smile not perfect but its good...
Have you ever in your life given any thought to the actual strength of  DUCT TAPE? Me either all I know is it works great on any surface and I always have a couple of rolls around when something needs held together till I can figure something else out.
I have a story to tell you that you are not gona believe.. Yes it is true   If it were not for bad luck I would have no luck at all.
First let me say.... I couldn't get into the dentist today so that tooth that crumbled apart two weeks ago & had a temp filling in it did not get fixed today...ugg..... Yes it still hurts and the weekend was miserable.

Now as we all know the good Lord works in mysterious ways so maybe just maybe he knew I was going to be messing with Duct Tape tonight maybe he didn't. I will never know for sure but I really wanted to see that dentist today...

Since I couldn't get in I decided to get things done that just couldn't wait...Like a rip in the Red Neck Shed Tarp.... Awwww...Yes this is where the Duct Tape comes in... I'm gona fix that hole with Duct Tape..
So I'm out there ripping off pieces of Duct Tape and putting them on the hole...all of a sudden a gust of wind came up and just as I was getting ready to stick the piece of duct tape on it blew into my face and it stuck to my front teeth... Which by the way are both capped. No my teeth are always dry from the Sjogren's Disease so that tape didn't have any problem sticking to my capped teeth.

Now any normal human being would simply yank on the duct tape to pull it off...Right?
Now I know that I have been telling you all how crazy I have been going so maybe I'm not normal..but I try to think I am over all.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO... I did exactly what anyone else would have done, I yanked on the tape to get it off my teeth....
I'm here to tell ya .......BIG AND I MEAN BIG MISTAKE...!!
This is how bad my luck has gotten in the last year.....Thyroid goes Nuts-Shakes & Muscle Jerks-Visit #1 to the hospital-Thyroid gets worse-Thyroid removed-Incision Splits open with stupid stitches that will not disolve-Severe Infection-Tooth Crumbles apart-Temp filling-Tooth ache-Can't get into the Dentist & I'm sure not the last piece of bad luck to happen to me this year...... my run in with Duct Tape!
 Are you ready... Another Not so Pretty Picture...

Duct Tape was the winner it yanked my cap right out of my mouth. Called the dentist back and begged but he was gone for the day... So I have an appointement for 9:00 in the morning.

So I ask..... did the good Lord Know that I was going to have a run in with Duct Tape and lose my tooth so he made sure I waited till morning so the Dentist could fix both teeth.... Makes ya wonder doesn't it..?
At least I will have only One Office charge...That's good cause this chick is broke...

Yes I cryed and ask why me about a 100 times tonight...but the truth is right after it happened I just started laughing till I thought my gut was gona bust... I mean seriously how can one person have so much bad luck.
All wierd bad luck stuff that doesn't happen to 99% of the people in the world...As my surgeon said... I've only seen this happen maybe 3 times in the 20 plus years I've been in practice... Go Figure! And I can bet that no one else has yanked out there front tooth with Duct Tape either....
No I didn't break a mirror, haven't been bad ...just a huge run of really bad luck...

So my dear friends I just want to say this
DO NOT PLAY WITH DUCT TAPE ANY WHERE NEAR YOUR MOUTH...lol..CAUSE BAD THINGS CAN HAPPEN!!

Now on the brighter side my infection is healing finally... and looks 100% better...I can still feel one stitch behind that center red spot but the open side no longer hurts. Its clear and healing up finally. The red is gone and it no longer feels red hot to the touch....... I do believe it is on the mend..Thank God and all of your prayers.. The other good thing is I am already on antibiotics so any thing the dentist does is bound to heal up nicely...Well it should.. with me right now nothing is a given...

For Me 9:00 comes way to early so I must call it a day and bid you all Good Night!

Have a Great Tuesday!!

Blessings

Tonya

Thank you for all your Prayers & Encouragement!

Good Morning friends... I just wanted to leave a quick post to Thank each and everyone of you for being such good Friends and especially for all of your prayers.
Dr. appointment didn't give me the results I had hoped for. The Dr didn't want to chance opening my incision to reove the stitches because there was to much infection. So he doubled my antibiotics for two days and then has me taking the remainder of my script as directed for 10 days.
It seems to be working because there seems to be no infection draining anymore and the hole is looking so much better. It has even healed a little.  So I am grateful for everyones prayers and hopeful taht this will be the end of it and i will finally heal up normally with no new problems.

But of course me being the lady with the worst luck in the world... I'm not going to escape this drama without another new problem.. Well actually it's an exsisting problem that I was hoping and praying might be delayed until my neck was totally heals...No such luck!
Thanks to my Sjogren's disease my teeth jus crumble at will and I am losing another one that crumbled a couple weeks ago. The dentist has repaired it 3 times and finally two weeks go when I went to see him to put a new filling it in since the last one fell out..He said, I can't save it Tonya there simply is not enough tooth left to fill without it falling out within days or maybe a week. You know you have to get it pulled.
Of course I expressed how I wanted my neck to heal first as I know how a new trama wasn't gona sit well with my fragile system and probably get infected too.
So he put as much filling in it that he could and then said maybe you will get a week out of it but don't be surprised when it abcesses so get in to see the dentist who pulls my roots out...there is never any tooth left so I call him the root puller....Then I prayed it would stay till the neck healed.
It wasn't meant to be I'm afraid..Friday afternoon it started to hurt a little and by Saturday it was a full blown tooth ache... Of course no dentist on a Saturday or sunday...so come Monday I will try to get in to see the root puller.
The only promising thing about this is I am already on Antibiotics & God willing it works to ward off any infection from the extraction..

LOL...just another day in the life and times of Tonya...

Some day I am gona feel normal again.. I know i will I have all of you praying for those days for me..

God Bless you all
tonya

Prayer Request to help heal my neck Health Update--Picture Not for weak at heart

Right after Surgery March 29th 2012 Everything seemed to be going so well..

Good Morning my dear friends... In my last post I shared the Sunshine in my life today I come to ask for your prayers in helping to heal my neck. It has been two months since my surgery and I am strugging to get my life back on track with one infection after another. Building the flower bed with Peg

and playing with the new Kittens has been my salvation.

For Those of you who read my last health Update Post you know that I have been dealing with an Infection  in neck which has caused not only my Incision to break open but has sent me on a real tail spin with my recovery.
I've been so down and down right depressed about the latest turn of events. It seems that I breakdown and cry at the drop of hat. At this point I'm not sure which is worse my infection, the way my neck looks or the depression... I guess its all three..
I thought that my life would start to turn around after the surgery and I would start to be my old self and it just isn't happening at all.
Today I have an appointment with the surgeon to decide what they will be doing to try to get things back on track for me. I'm currently on antibiotics so my neck does look better but the problem isn't solved and won't be until the stitches all come out that aren't desolving.
You have all been so wonderful and full of encouragement, I don't know what I would have done with out your prayers and kind words the past months. Thank you from the bottom of my heart you are the best!

I know the power of prayer and today I have come to ask again for your healing prayers once again.

I couldn't share pictures last week when I posted the latest health update because frankly it was just more then gross but after taking the antibiotics it is not so difficult to look at.
But let me warn you if you are faint at heart skip looking cause it still isn't pretty by any means...

I took this last night after a shower & cleaning the wound so it looks great compared to last week.

Everytime I move my neck or lift my head the wound breaks open. You can see where it has rehealed
in some places in the middle. Last week it was open most of the way across & the large area was the size of the red around the open hole so it was like a 1' long x 1/2' open gap.

You can see the Red infection moving up and below my incision on the left in this next picture.
I suspect that there many stitches still in that area. Last night when I cleaned it I was able to pull a picec of stitches out about an inch long with 4 knots on the end of it. They were not disolved at all.
It felt so good to get it out of there. No longer poking that tender skin. Then it drained alot.

The truth is I'm scared to death what this is doing to me and wonder daily if it will ever heal. I know it will
but still as it continues to be infected and drain ickky all day long, so it is hard for me to forget it is so messed up..I couldn't use bandaids because it needed to drain and they fell off anyway.

So I made these cute little bandana's to tie losely around my neck to cover it when I had to be in front of people since it was ickky all the time and to keep it clean. They seemed to help it to get a little better I think since it wasn't exposed to the elements..

So today I pray to find some solutions when I go to see the doctor..
If I offended anyone sharing I do apologize I didn't mean to offend anyone.

Again please send up your healing prayers...

Thank you all for your support, kind words and prayers they mean so much to me..

Blessings
Tonya

Beautiful Flowerbed Finally Finished-Take a peek at what two old cripped up ladies can do!

A huge hello to all my Friends out there in Blogland...Nope I haven't forgotten you just much going on in my life ...To much actually and not necessarily all good things! But life goes on.. I've been telling you all about my SIL Peg's huge Flowerbed that Peg and I have been working on for a month...Why a month..well when ya got two old ladies with bad backs and one who just had surgery we are only good for about an hour before we crap out... But we prevailed and it is finally finished.
Now let me give you some back ground..this huge flowerbed was over run with weeds and plants that just took over. For the last couple of summers it was so bad that it looked like a jungle..
So with that said the first thing we had to do was start yanking out what she didn't want in there any more and all of the weeds before we could invision a real flowerbed...
So each of us armed with a spade, a bent fork little hand rake looking thing & our rubber garden pad we went to work one weed at a time... Now picture two cripped up ladies scooting  across a 43 foot flowerbed a foot at a time on our little foam garden pads digging up weeds.. We laughed so hard at our cripped up selves it was rediculous...
We did like an 8 ft section at a time.. Once we got about half of it done we could see taht we wanted to move large plants around so we had to find the shovel I dug while Peg Pulled a little to losen them up and out they came & into pots. We gathered stones from the farm for the pond and the stone edging.
You can't see it to well in the first picture but there is a Clemitis Vine in the left corner. We hung strings down from the top of the porch for it to climb and as of today it has gone 4 feet up the twine and has over 20 Flowers on it... It just needed a place to climb to really bloom..

We started on this corner first...and worked our way to the pond.

Once we got it all cleaned out and dug out the plants we wanted to move we transplanted the ones we wanted in this section. You can't see them very well but I gave Peg a few of my Hens & Chicks that my mom gave me before she passed and she planed them in the old Shoe.
Angel got her the pretty stepping stones once it was all done.

 
Angel also got her the pretiest shepards hook with Humming bird feeders on it. We put it behind the pond.

The pond has been here for 6 or 7 years but needed some TLC.
I donated my Water spout filter from my old pond. Peg Loves Frogs so I found all kinds of cute Stuffed Frogs at the Good Will for 33 cents each.. She loved all of them so they are here there and everywhere in the Flower Garden...All the stones we gathered around the farm to rebuild the Pond.

You will Notice that the pond is really green but we couldn't treate it till all those little black dots you see turned into Frogs. Yep 100's upon 100's of Tadpols hatched and were just waiting to grow legs and become 100's of Frogs. They will be the cute little Green Tree Frogs once they get there legs and hop away. They hang around and you can hear them singing all day & all night long...It takes awhile to get used to there singing...cause some times when they all get to singing they get really loud.
Some make there way to the swimming pool to make the kids jump when they hop around...hehehe!
They have almost all gottent here legs and started to make there way around the yard and trees...so soon we can treat the pond..

I don't know how I missed taking a picture of all the Panies we planted in front of the pond but if ya look real close you can see one on the corner there.

Once we finished the pond we started the second section.
Angel got her mom more Stepping Stones as we progressed...

Working our way down...Lots of Transplanting took place down this side.

This is the area that we actually tansplanted the majority of the plants we dug up...

Another 8 feet an Old Wagon Wheel and a beautiful Bird Bath.

Closer look at the Bird Bath....

Yep another 8 feet and were getting closer to the end...See the peeking Froggie

Only 8 feet or so left and we will finally be done...Check out the Old Spinning Wheel!
It now has flowing Petunia's growing out of it..

And there you have it 43 foot of jungle turned into a beautiful flowerbed by two old cripped up ladies..and it only took us a month to do it...
Peek a Boo another Froggie ....

I hope you all enjoyed visiting our Flowerbed journey. I can't wait till everything is in bloom it should be really beautiful..

I will bid you all a Good day filled with Sunshine and happy moments!

Blessings
Tonya