A Battle I Face

I haven't written about this yet, but it feels like a good time to share a battle I've been facing for a few years with pain. I've had headaches and tight muscle problems since mid-college and have tried many different therapies since then to help with the pain. It's a long story trying different methods I didn't really see results from and have more recently had the pains get stronger and affect more of my body. 

I never want to be a downer, but I have to be honest and say that I very rarely have pain free days. It pains me to write the reality of those words, but it is the unfortunate truth. Some days, the pain is more mild and puts me in an achy fog, but it very rarely disappears completely. On the severe days, I'll be in bed with my heat pad on my muscles trying to rest it out and hoping for a better tomorrow.

In December, I visited my fairly new family doctor about how bothersome it's gotten and she suggested physical therapy since I was apprehensive about starting with medication. I went through mid-February when the physical therapists resolved that I hit a plateau and wasn't improving anymore. My muscles were still tight and I still had about as much pain as the last time I was in. I did have some improvements in certain areas, but my neck and shoulder pain and the headaches always persisted.

After months of hearing about fibromyalgia (click the link for Mayo Clinic's definition), I looked it up and decided I'd ask my doctor about it in my post-PT visit. She doesn't know if I have it yet (I hear it can be a long process to diagnose) but is trying treatments for it to see if they help with the pain. She prescribed Lyrica. I took it for 3 weeks unil I had some hefty side effects from the Lyrica (anxiety, racing heart, dizziness, unsteadiness, etc) and after them getting in the way of work, I stopped taking it.

I had a checkup with my doctor scheduled this week anyway, so it was perfect timing. I had called in to tell them about the side effects, so she had also suggested I stop taking it until I went in to see her. I let her know how badly it's gotten and that I'm in bed most times when I'm not at work. She prescribed Cymbalta and said she's had patients with my symptoms find a lot of relief from it. So I started it Friday and have been pretty nauseous/dizzy this weekend but my doctor said (and I've read) that it can take a few weeks to let your body adjust to the side effects of SNRI's like Cymbalta. I'm really hoping it helps and have already had glimpses of being pain free! Now I just need the side effects to subside soon :)

This is the journey I'm on, and I know God is here with me, but honestly there are many hard days that I need the raw, unfiltered love of friends and family to keep things in perspective. Nick has been so wonderful, doing basically everything around here when I'm in pain/sick, being understanding about my need to rest so often, and loving me when I'm grumpy after long hard days with pain, just to mention a few. I wanted to share this with the hopes that someone else may realize they're not alone in their pain, that you may be able to better help someone you know with pain, and even just to talk myself through it in writing. Here's to hoping and praying for pain-free days in my future...

A Couple with Cancer

Earlier this week, I read about a family touched by cancer. Twice. 10 days apart. They both got the news no one wants to hear. The husband was diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer on February 14th and the wife was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer on February 23rd. They have an 18 month old little girl. I simply cannot imagine what they are going through. They are both already undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiation and can really use our prayers and support. 

Click HERE for the family's blog - I've linked it to the post the wife (Elisa) shared her news with the blog world. Feel free to look at more recent posts for updates on their treatments and coping with their new reality.

Click HERE for a blog made to support the family. They're both undergoing intense treatments and are out of work, so this blog is for support, letters, donations, etc.

I was feeling pretty crummy last night (I've been feeling that way all week unfortunately - more to come on that) and I told Nick about this family and it's a perspective that hit me - we can certainly handle what's on our plate when this mom and dad are both fighting cancer for their lives. Let's join them in prayer.

Spring Decor and Closet Purge

 Call it Spring decorating and cleaning - I needed some brighter colors in here and really needed to get rid of clothes I haven't worn in years and ones that I love but just don't fit anymore. I had some free afternoons and decided I'd git-r-done!

Here's my new Springy centerpiece! I got the artificial hydrangea for $7, the vase for $13 (click HERE to find it on Pier 1's site in other colors) and the shell [plate mat] centerpiece  for $10 (and the square centerpiece for under $2 I told you about HERE a few weeks back) at Pier 1 and I love them! The shell centerpiece would look especially great on a darker or lighter surface. They're really versatile too and I could easily use each piece in many different ways around our home.

Here's another vase I got for $10 on clearance and the hydrangea for $7 also at Pier 1. I love these bright and fun colors - our home needed them pretty badly. As we registered for wedding gifts a few years ago I had our wedding colors on the brain (red, bronze/gold and brown) so our home has many of those colors which are great warm colors for the winter but too stuffy and dark for me in the spring/summertime, so I needed to brighten things up a bit (plus I still had some birthday money left over! ;).

I also bought a few more napkin ring holders (they were 20% off and all under $5 anyway) to add some inexpensive pops of color around here.

Moving on to the closet purge... I was up for the challenge this weekend and decided now was better than later. Time to get rid of old clothes!

Here are all the skirts, pants, capris and shorts that are going. They were good to me, but all  most are too small now. Sad day, but it was inevitable since many are from high school (ok some I bought in the past year, but let's pretend they shrunk in the laundry... ;)).

Here's the pile once I added sweaters, jackets, shirts and pajamas. It toppled over a few times. Some of you may even recognize some of the clothes! I thought of many memories I had in them as I tossed them to the pile. Some newer stuff I'll see if I can sell to Plato's closet (love that store) and the rest will go to Goodwill. Out with the old and in with the new!

My dwindled down skirts/pants/shorts/capris section.

My many free hangers! Just a few weeks ago I told Nick we need to buy more since we were running out - well we're good for a while now! ;)

Gardens & Rodeos...

 I've been MIA for a few weeks hosting some Spring break guests! We're thankful to be in a place where friends and family want to come visit us :) Joe and Kristen came last weekend through mid-week and Nick's cousin Corey came with some friends mid-week and are leaving tomorrow morning. The guys are all golfing now giving me a chance to blog the many photos I've been taking!

Joe & Kristen at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens

Us at the gardens. I LOVE these gardens!

Hello Spring! Oh how I love pretty blooming flowers. And taking close up photos of them... I did that throughout the whole garden and could probably do many posts with all of the photos. But I narrowed it down to just a few.

This tree had blooms all up and down the trunk and branches, it was crazy!

Blooms on that tree - so delicate and beautiful

Of course we have to take guests to check out the Fort Worth Stockyards and see the cowboys (REAL cowboys, not the football team.. although we did take them to check out the football stadium too ;)).

Kristen practicing her bull riding skills for the rodeo.

My camera didn't get very good photos in here, but here's one where one cowboy lassos the horns of the little bull and the other cowboy lassos the bull's legs. Makes me wince a bit, but I feel better when the little guy gets up and runs around.

The cool atmosphere at a downtown Dallas restaurant we ate at.

Tulips in downtown Dallas with my man waiting for me to finish taking photos in the background ;)

We went out for gelato in West Village - a trendy neighborhood in North Dallas! They loved it :)

We went back to the rodeo last night with Nick's cousin and friends and I caught some more action (again, my camera isn't the best in this dim lighting, but it'll do). Here's a cowboy getting bucked off (is that right? Getting bucked off a bull? Anyway...), you can see how dangerous this is for the cowboys! You can also see the clown getting ready to run in and rescue him - those guys are seriously life savers.

A clown standoff with two angry bulls - the second bull came out to the stadium for some reason so they now had two bulls to try to get out of the ring. Fortunately, they got them both out.

Another where the clown had a close call with a bull. Looking at this more closely, I wonder if the bull did get him!

 It's been a great week showing everyone around the area and a break from our every day activities. I'm becoming pretty fond of the rodeos now too... uh oh...

Spring!

Some Spring images around here... 

blooming trees...

Pretty red leaves on bright green bushes...

Along with temps in the low to mid 70s most days! I know I know... pretty rough :)

Check out the ingredients on this Larabar. Amazing. One of my favorite flavors too!

Speaking of Larabars, they have a coupon out right now! These tasty bars can be pricey, so I'm super excited about this coupon! It's also a good time to give them a try if you haven't. Click HERE to see the coupon on the Larabar website - you'll sign up for their newsletter to receive the coupon.

We have two sets of guests coming to town the next two weeks so we're excited to show them around our cities!  I'm sure I'll have photos to post after the visits.

Also please keep Lucy in your prayers... she has ups and downs and could really use our support through prayer. I check their blog regularly and my heart just breaks for this family.

Prayers for Lucy

Image Source

About a week and a half ago, Lucy's mom took her to the doctor for what she thought was a stomach flu or dehydration. After being sent straight to the ER, they received the news that she has 3 brain tumors and also more on her spinal cord causing the stomach pain and difficulties walking she had recently. I've read about her in the past few days on two blogs I read regularly (Kelly's Korner and Baby Bennets' Family's Blog). Little Lucy already endured a 9 hour surgery and is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation to fight the cancer her little body has.  

I don't know her or her family, but after reading her mom's posts the past week and a half, my heart aches for the family and little Lucy has won my heart. Let's join them in prayer asking God to heal their little girl and give her a long healthy life. Here is the family's blog (http://erikandkatekrull.blogspot.com), I went back to this post on February 24th, where it all started, and read her story for about a half hour this morning and this little girl is a fighter. Let's join their battle and fight alongside her in prayer.