Thanksgiving 2013

I haven’t done the month of being thankful as I have seen some of my friends doing on Facebook this year. I appreciate their daily wisdom yet somehow this year my feelings of thanksgiving run a little too deep to join them on Facebook this year. It’s just a bit too emotional for me this year so I thought that I would write it on this page instead this time. It’s been quite a year with struggles and trials and I've come to more fully understand and appreciate many things that have happened to me in my life thus far, so here is what I am thankful for. 

I am thankful for the pains and the struggles of my arthritis. It has taught me to savor the moments of feeling normal. It has taught me to ask for help and allow others to help me. It has taught me patience. It has taught me compassion and understanding for others with pain and disability. It has taught me to more fully appreciate the physical abilities that I do have. 

I am thankful for the periods of financial difficulties. It has taught me to be a better steward of the things I have. It has taught me to notice the beauty around me that is free to all. It has taught me to be a more grateful giver. It has taught me to be more humble. It has shown that I could work harder when I thought I couldn’t. It has taught me to rely more on the Lord’s help and guidance. It has brought me closer to my family as I relied on them for help. 

I am thankful for my broken marriage. It gave me 4 beautiful children. It taught me a greater understanding of my own strength. It taught me that the Lord is in charge of my life and allowed me to see that he had a greater plan in store for my life. It taught me how to be a better wife and mother. It taught me that what others thought of me didn’t matter.  It didn’t change who I knew myself to be. It taught me how to forgive.

I’m thankful for my brush with cancer. It taught me that the Lord is there whispering in my ear things that I need to hear if I am willing to listen. It showed me the compassion of sweet friends and how much I am loved. It taught me that the Lords timing is perfect because He has the big picture of my life. It taught me to slow down and be still sometimes. 

I am thankful for hard and difficult trials, for times when I am pushed seemingly passed my limits to bear because it teaches me to call upon the Lord for help and guidance. It teaches me that when I reach the end of my strength, He is there to help me make it through. It teaches me that I’m not alone and that there are angels around us both in this world and passed on to the other side. 

My bumpy neck.

I want to say a huge thank you to all my sweet friends and family who have been so caring and supportive this week as I heal. You are wonderful and every prayer, small care and thoughtful word was
noticed. 


Most of you know by now that I had surgery this week to remove part of my thyroid. I am usually pretty quiet about my health issues to people around me so some of my friends were a little surprised they didn't know before hand. I hate being the center of attention so I didn't want to make a big issue out of this. I've been dealing with some pretty significant health issues since around age 25 when I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis which is a variant of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

When you have a type of disease that is mostly hidden from outside views it sometimes is helpful for me to feel like a normal person when I am treated just like everyone else. It's also easier sometimes to just not have to explain it all. The question was usually "where do you have your arthritis?" Well, pick any joint (or connective tissue) in the body and you would be correct. Then some feel it their duty to tell me what their cousin's aunts sister-in-law did to cure it. I know you mean well and want to help but I am married to a physician who takes good care of me and I have done my own extensive research too.

I have always tried to not let my arthritis get in the way of what I want to do in my life. Occasionally I have needed help and have stubbornly learned to ask for that help when I need it. My children have grown up knowing they had to help mom reaching for something in a low cupboard or helping when I was too tired to do it all. Over the years they learned that sometimes I have "bad" days when I just hurt all over and they understood. I think this made them all very compassionate people.

The last couple of years I have had a few more health issues pop up which has stressed my energy to keep up lately. I have been very thankful for the ability to see some great people here in WV and get the treatment that I needed. One of my issues was a good size nodule on my under active thyroid.

You can kind of see the bump

Here it is in orange.

As we started to look at it, each test would come back needing another test to see what was going on. With each test we were getting pushed closer to a possible cancerous tumor.  So, about a month ago Dr. White (fabulous dr!) felt that it was 50/50 and the only way we could now tell for sure was to shine some light on it. Literally. I can't think of a much worse thing you can do to someone is let them know it's a 50/50 possibility that they have cancer, but we'll wait a month to let you know for sure! Talk about throwing your world for spin.

Day 1 with tubes

I just got the phone call from Dr. White. He's so awesome! Calls me directly and truly cares, even though I know he's crazy busy! The formal pathology report just came back and it all looks good. No cancer. Yay!

First look under the bandages

Day 3 of healing

I am healing up just fine. It feels really nice to be rid of the drain tube and extra bandaging! My energy level is low but my incision doesn't really hurt me that bad and the best thing is that I no longer have that "what if" cloud over my head. I counted my stitches and I counted 19 little black ones on the outside but there are more on the inside too that I can't count. It is a pretty awesome looking "Frankenstein" neck right now!

So, thank you to all my friends. I will indeed take you up on your offers for help should I need them, and would love to return the favor soon as I am able. Special thank you to D.Z. for the ride and the food. The bread is yummy. C.M. for making David's favorite dinner. How did you know? and L.F. for the visit. You were following your inspiration to drop in and you are a great example to all of someone who acts on those little thoughts. And also thanks to C.P. for her sweet support. 

I'll be back to my normal self (whatever that is)  soon enough.