Good Saturday to you from our corner of Iowa where morning fog and clouds greeted us today. The ground is coated with leaves after yesterday's "gust front" and we are seeing a lot more gold and orange in surrounding trees as the leaves began to change or let go. It has been a week of beautiful weather except for a couple of days in the 80's. I'm so over summer and ready for the crisp fall temps to take hold.....it may be awhile.
Speaking of "so over" and "may be awhile" this has been quite a week for this old body. I have always been open about my journey with life and that includes health issue of which....I have had a few. This week I was at rehab for lymphedema three times. The first picture is of me on Monday...........the second picture is of me yesterday. So here's the story.......I went in Monday and they "wrapped" my arm to bring down the lymph fluid in my hand, wrist, and arm. It was cumbersome, and down right painful for me. I live with chronic pain, especially nerve pain and the layers of wrapping and the firm foam used triggered high levels of pain which made for tough days and tougher nights with a few tears and lots of "I can do this!" Anyway the fluid started going down in my hand and wrist right away which is good news.......but the therapist was concerned about the pain, and on Friday as we talked about the upcoming wedding she thought maybe we should try a compression sleeve for now with a hand glove. Thus the second photo. The pain levels decreased right away with the compression sleeve due mostly to the smoothness and less cumbersome padding, BUT the glove she had for me to try is too loose and my hand started filling with fluid again later on.......arm good, hand not so much. We will see what Monday brings. At least right now I remove it at night and can shower then....and use my right hand to eat, scratch my nose when it itches and all the other stuff a right handed person does! The breast cancer journey? It is a "gift" that just keeps giving.......
Speaking of gifts, someone we knew and cared about went to be with Jesus on Monday. He and his family were a gift to us when we moved to Medicine Lake Montana in 1980. Roy and Cheryl are some of the nicest people we have ever met. Roy was a big gentle giant of a man with, as his obituary described, "a heart of gold". He was 75 when he died........way too young. This week our family has been flooded with many memories about our short three years there with Joel as pastor of their three point parish. We seldom made it back there to visit with life, too many responsibilities, health issues, etc. but we have never forgotten the people and the community. Especially Roy and Cheryl and their two kids. We spent a lot of time with the family and cannot help but feel their loss. I know Jesus welcomed Roy home with open arm
Joel is off riding a bike trail about an hour north and east of us. It is a trail that goes about 14 miles before he will turn around and head back. It takes him through farmland, prairie land, woods and more. He was planning on Rendezvous days in S. MN today, but Covid seems to have put a stop to that....his favorite event of the year. It is still happening, it is just happening without Joel. His usual bike trail is finally back in operation here too so he is getting out a bit more in-between getting me to therapy, picking up the slack because of my arm limitations, and preparing for the wedding.
Speaking of the wedding, do you remember when I talked about my trusty sewing machine last week? Vintage 1976 and never needing repairs? Yeah......I am better off not speaking things out loud~ it broke the day after! I managed to get done most of what I needed for the wedding but it is definitely in need of repairs. I have also been walking, resting too much, reading, and watching too much TV. Some days are like that.
So, this week I am grateful I can use my right hand to type today, grateful for fall colors, smells, and sounds, grateful for memories of a good man and wonderful family that shaped all our lives, grateful for Joel getting to bike a longer trail today, grateful for texting, phone calls, and emails, for our oldest son starting to feel better from a Covid breakthrough, for the power of prayer, for God's promises to hold on to, Hallmark movies (some days you just need a happy ending!), packages in the mail, and so much more..............
Enjoy your weekend!
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