This and That

A week ago we had four days of rain here in Florida, not a harsh rain, but gentle, constant.  I was sitting in the comfort of my home listening to the rain on the roof and enjoying it so.  And then my mind went to the people in Haiti who are still living in tents, even as the rainy season begins.  One can only pray and hope that a hurricane doesn't strike the country this year.

I splurged a week or so ago and bought a K*ndle.  I'm enjoying it so much.  One of the things that I'm trying out is one of the local newspapers.  As I was reading it this morning, there was an article about Haiti and an interview with W*clef Jean,  He left the poverty of Haiti years ago and has become wealthy as a musician here in the States.  He went to Haiti after the earthquake and "helped dig a dead friend out of the rubble.  He loaded bodies onto trucks.  He carried a 15-year-old girl whose ankles were crushed to a hospital, where her feet were amputated. 'What she said to me after the surgery defines the Haitian spirit for me', he said. She opened her eyes and asked, 'Can you help me go to school?'"

We shift our priorities all too soon.  Now all the media talks about the oil spill.  Haiti is a passing thought.
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Yesterday I had a call from someone looking for my husband to do electrical work.  That hasn't happened in a long time.  I was talking about Don to someone the other day and talked about his work was truly a calling to him.  I remember once hearing Chuck Sw*ndoll speaking about being ordained to do your work.  Don was truly an ordained electrician.  He did the work and then took the time to listen to peoples' heartaches and joys.

I read this quote in an e-mail newsletter the other day and it really hit home to me.  "If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, like Shakespeare wrote poetry, like Beethoven composed music; sweep streets so well that all the host of Heaven and Earth will have to pause and say, Here lived a great sweeper, who swept his job well." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Some of you have asked about my back.  I had an MRI done, and it showed some bulging discs and severe stenosis...so.  I'm still having therapy.  I've told some folks that it must be getting better because I'm noticing the shingles pain again.  The back and leg pain had taken over before.  I did read about a new patch for the PHN (postherpetic neuralgia) I seem to be among the one-third of patients who develop this.  I'm going to look into it.  There is one doctor here in town who works with it.  We'll see. 

Until the next time I manage to post something...

Where to Begin?

I eagerly anticipated the arrival of Ella the Bella and her parents at the beginning of February. They arrived just two days before our annual Sweet Adelines show. A few days before their arrival, I began having all kinds of pain in my midsection, so I decided a trip to the doctor was in order.

After checking me over, she thought that I probably had shingles. A kidney stone was an option. Because the lab tech wasn't in that day, the urine sample couldn't be checked for an infection. So I went home with the assurance I could call any time during the weekend since she was on call. On Saturday, I had a rehearsal for Sweet Adelines in the morning, a Pampered Chef lunch at my house at noon, and then something else in the afternoon. I don't even remember what it was.

On Sunday I was still hurting, so I called her back. She suggested my going to an urgent care facility where they could do a scan and whatever was needed. There was no kidney stone, and a chest x-ray looked fine, so the dear doctor there said in his soft Cuban accent, "My dear, I believe you probably have shingles." I got a shot for the pain, antiviral drugs, a prescription for nausea and one for pain and went home. I broke out with a rash on Monday. I believe the antiviral drugs kept them from being so severe, but it has not been fun.

As you will notice, I'm not in any of these photos. The day after the Sweet Adelines show, we went to Disney World. The kids had a great time. I stayed in bed most of the day on Monday. I had told David and Sabrina that I wanted to take Ella and the family to a character breakfast, so on Tuesday we had breakfast at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary Resort. The breakfast was yummy, and we really did enjoy seeing the characters up close and personal. I think I enjoyed it as much as Ella did.

The week went by much too quickly. The rash has subsided on my body; the pain is not as bad, but it is there. I'm finding that being quiet is better than lots of activity.

Just a couple of weeks before I came down with shingles, the nurse at our retired educators' meeting gave a brief report. Her point was to make sure that our immunizations were up-to-date, and then she mentioned the shot for shingles. I don't know where I've been because I thought that I usually stayed current on what I should be doing, but this one passed me by somehow. At the appropriate time, I will be getting it. I would not like to go through this again!