Oh, and just in case anyone is still bothering to check in here...healthwise I seem to be a LITTLE bit better.  But my team of drs is still trying to figure out just what in the world is going on with me.  I have had so many tests that I have totally lost count.  But so far, they have all ruled OUT things, which is fine by me.  I CAN tell you that after 2 months of extensive tests and appointments, the ONE area I am totally aok is my heart.  BIG SIGH OF RELIEF.  I am currently working with a hematologist, a gastroenterologist, and my reg. dr.  I think the NEXT dr. I will be sent to is a rheumatologist.  OH...and my "woman parts" dr...but I think everything is fine there, too.  I also have an eye dr. appt coming up, and need to find a dentist who will take our insurance.  Aug. is shaping up to be just as full of dr appts as the past six months!!

So...that's the news on that front (I guess I should say fronts, huh?) :)
Keep praying for me, okay?

Nancy

Wow...so there is something wrong with my computer.  Because I have tried to do a new blogpost for a long time now...and couldn't.  But today I am on Shao's 'puter, and no problem.  Guess I have to get my guru friend Henry involved.  But not anytime soon...cuz ShaoXi and I are in Phoenix AZ for the next five weeks.  ShaoXi is dancing with Ballet Arizona and I?  Hmmm...that remains to be seen.  She will be dancing each weekday from 9-5.  I have hopes to actually meet Linny Saunders (of http://www.aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/ fame) in person...and do some heavy duty lovin' on her kiddos! :)
So I will try to keep you posted on our doings, and such.  Honest, I've been trying, but that crazy computer of mine was NOT cooperating!!!

Hugs...Nancy

Incognito

Good grief. I literally disappeared off the face of the earth...or at least, blog land. I have been sick. Pretty darn sick. For more than a year. It's been hard just getting one foot in front of the other. It still is. Now, I'm not dying or anything. But I have a myriad of physical things going on that all add up to not much of a life, outside of doing the bare minimum (that being work.)

My house is beyond disaster; my child is beside herself if I actually cook anything. Mostly, I don't. It is all I can do to exist. It would be so easy to be totally despondent and discouraged. But I can honestly say I am hanging in there. It helps that I have a new primary care dr. who actually LISTENS (imagine that?!?!?) and he has hooked me up with a host of specialists, all who are trying their darndest to figure out what in the world is going on with me, and how they can fix it! :) I have: a hematologist, a gastroenterologist, a cardiologist, a pulmanologist, and an orthopedic on my team. I'm thinking SOMEBODY has got to figure out the enigma of ME.

Meanwhile...I will try not to be a total stranger here. For the past few days I have actually been able to do a few things, like pay bills online, and do some laundry, without being totally wiped out for days on end. This is good. There's hope. Please pray.

OH...and on a totally COOL note. My treasure ShaoXi was accepted at Ballet Arizona in Phoenix AZ. We are BOTH headed to AZ for five weeks this summer. COOL BEANS!!! You GO, baby girl!!!

Nancy

YIKES!!!!!

I can't explain where I've been. Suffice it to say life totally overwhelmed me, and I had all I could do to just drag myself through each day. I am just coming out of the long dark tunnel now. Two months....plus. Long time.

Our thirteenth "GOTCHA DAY!" anniversary fast approaches. How can that be? Thirteen years of joy. I am blessed.

I promise, I will try to blog more often...MUCH more often (which, hey...that would be like, every TWO WEEKS, and that would work, considering my long hiatus from here!!!)

Blessings to all!!

Nancy

Prayers for Megan

A post or two ago I wrote about ShaoXi going with her friend Megan to comfort her as she faced some minor surgery. Today I heard the biopsy report. It is hard news to hear. Our Megan has Hodgkins lymphoma. It IS highly treatable, but it is still not what any of us wanted to hear. The girls just started High School last week. Tomorrow the family meets with an oncologist. Thursday Meg will go in for further surgery on her arm. I suspect my girl will go with her. And then? Probably chemo. Maybe radiation. Hard stuff to swallow. Cancer just hit home here. While I follow many blogs of folks with kids with cancer, so that I can pray for them....it has now arrived in my backyard, so to speak. And NOW...now I need to act. How sad that it took this to spur me to some form of action. Not sure what that action may be....but I will find a way to make a small difference.

Please pray for Megan. This is going to redefine her world. And since we have had some ongoing concerns for where she was headed, we are hoping it will redefine it for the better. This will be a whole new direction for her, and I am hoping ShaoXi will be by her side to help her through to the other side. That is her plan, my girl, and I am all for it. I told Megan's mom that if there was something that was extremely tough, or if Meg was just in a bad place, that ShaoXi would be there, school or not. Some things have to come first. And close friends are one of them. We have to be warriors for those who have fallen and need help to get back up.

Blessings...Nancy

Vacation

So this is where we have been for the past several days! Recognize it? It's world famous...and rightly, so! Yep, Niagara Falls! Shao & I had never been, and we had the opportunity to go with my friend Wendy and her three kids (whom we traveled to DisneyWorld with two years ago!) It is beyond belief beautiful, and magnificent, and every other adjective you can think up, and then some. We got to see it at night, as well, when the Canadians put colored spotlights on it. And we were there for the Wednesday night fireworks show, as well. We went on the Maid of the Mist boat, right up to the Horseshoe Falls, and went to the Cave of the Winds, which takes you right up to the side of the Bridal Veil Falls, pictured on the right of this picture. If you look closely at this picture, you will see a beautiful rainbow.

We had a great time, and I hope we get to go back another time, when we can explore the area a little more. There is lots to see and do. And we all need to get passports, so we can go to the Canadian side. Unfortunately, mine was expired, and Shao and two of Wendy's three kids don't even have one. So NEXT time we will go and stay on the Canadian side, which apparently is less costly, and has much prettier views. Looking forward to it! Here are some pictures Wendy took. I don't even bother to pull out my camera, as she is a camera hound, and takes 100's of them. I let her do all the work, and enjoy the fruits of her labor! :)

So now it's back to reality...I start work on Monday, and Shao starts school the following day, on Tuesday. And can someone please tell me...first of all...where did summer go???? I am missing it already! And secondly...how in the world is it that I have a HIGH SCHOOL kid now? Where is my baby? This baffles me!

Blessings...Nancy

Ministry in your own backyard

Today ShaoXi got herself up early and headed off with her friend Megan and her parents. Nope, they were definitely NOT off for a day of fun and excitement. Today ShaoXi volunteered to go with her BFF to have minor surgery, to keep her company and minister to her. Miss Megan is phobic about drs, needles, and all things medical. When I say phobic, I mean she goes absolutely ballistic, kicking, clawing, hitting, biting, screaming, and swearing...and that's the better moments, I'm told! So ShaoXi offered to go along and console her friend. And I'm told it was way better than usual, and that Megan's parents were deeply grateful to ShaoXi for coming. I'm thankful for a child with a giving and compassionate heart. And that Megan's surgery went well. Now we just have to wait for the biopsy results. That could be a bit daunting. Please pray that it is a good outcome.

Blessings...Nancy