Surgery Date, May 6, 2016

Yes, I have a date to start stomping out the cancer....I will be at Medical Park Hospital for one night on May 6, 2016.  After the surgery they will dissect and find out exactly what kind of cancer, during the surgery they will check lymph nodes and take out any involved...I never understood exactly what they do, but have since found out they drain liquid from areas of your body....it would be good not to have any involved....after the surgery I will go back to Dr. Hines the oncologist and we will look at the options for treatment if necessary and go from there...so essentially I am on hold about what the summer holds until that time.

Other than having the 2 C-sections, I have never had major surgery and  or had any extended recovery times...this is the scariest part of what May 6th brings....I won't be able to drive for up to 4 weeks....I am so thankful to my cousin for putting her life on hold to come and take care of me and keep my house running for the first couple of weeks....and to Keely for taking the dogs and returning them one at a time as I can deal with them....I can not start to list everyone who has reached out, I have gotten some wonderful cards and lots of encouragement on Facebook.

I have met some of the most remarkable women who have been at the same scary place and are willing to return to that time so they can give me advice and tell me how things really are...thanks to you all as well.

Most of all I am grateful for all who have prayed for me and added me to prayer lists....that I the way I will be able to beat this disease....

So here is a happy photo from the fall visit to Disney World...it is exciting to think that the next time we go we will have one more little person with us!  (and I wanted to put a photo in so the blog wouldn't be just blah, blah, blah from me....

If you look below you will find I haven't written on this blog for 7 years.....sometimes that seems lifetimes ago and others it seems like it is just yesterday.  There have been several quilts finished in this time and several lost in a house fire 18 months ago, but I will get back to quilts later. 

Primarily I thought I would put the details of my illness and treatment here and keep it off Facebook as much as I can.

On March 24th I had a mammogram...it was a 6 month follow-up for a spot they were watching on the left side.  The afternoon of the 25th they called me to come back in on 29th for some spots they wanted to look at further....that lead to a 3 site biopsy on the 31st and the results of the biopsies were presented to me by a nurse navigator on April 5th.  It was the word no one ever wants to hear and to hear the words "two spots tested malignant" was truly horrible.  It took me a couple of minutes to start listening to the nn again as she was explaining size type and what was next.  The cancer is called ductal cancer...one spot has not spread out of the duct and in that form it is called stage 0 and the other one had spread out of the duct and was 1.9cm and considered stage 1/2....there are things about the tumors on the path report, but the most important will be when they operate and get all the tissue out and see what is in there.  Right now they don't think any lymph nodes are involved, but that could change as they check them during surgery.

I met with the surgeon last week and the oncologist today.  I really connected with both and the oncologist was very positive with the current facts and will be able to tell me more about possible chemo after the surgery.  I meet with the plastic surgeon on Wed. and hopefully will get a surgery date that day or the next. 

I am thankful that God has given so much knowledge about cancer to the doctors for quick and effective treatment, but most of all I know that I will come out of this better and will have more faith that I did before. 
James 1 2-4    Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

References for James 1:2

• Cross References
• Footnotes

• 6 1:2 - ver 12; S Mt 5:12 ; Heb 10:34 ; 12:11 ; 1Pe 1:6

• a 1:2 - The Greek word for "brothers and sisters" ("adelphoi" ) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verses 16 and 19; and in 2:1, 5, 14; 3:10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9, 10, 12, 19.                                                                                                                                                            

because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

I am just being "refined" again, as my friend Carol MacLeod would say!  (and thank goodness this time it doesn't involved a real fire!

About the photos

It's been a busy couple of months, some incredibly sad times with the passing of my nephew Scott, my brother Russell, and my colleague Ross Smith...there have been some good times also, our friend Katherine Southard won Miss North Carolina and will be going to Las Vegas to compete at Miss America in January. I went to a couple of stops with her on her media tour right after she won....the yellow and orange quilt is meant to be a table topper, it was quilted beautifully by my friend Gloria Stickney with her long-arm, she matched the theme and it has cut lemon designs in the quilting....next you will see the official "Tater for President" portrait and his vice-presidential running mate "Merlin" in his offical "who, me?
I hope you enjoy my photographs...b

Catching Up

Spring's here

Time is slipping away so quickly. Little Sydney found the most wonderful home with a friend who works in the Dean's office. The Dean knows the story of Sydney (now named Sadie, which I think is much more fitting for her) and is allowing her to come to work. She is now wagging her tail and excited to see her mom when she returns home. Which brings me to the next fosters who came into our lives. Peanut and Smoochy's owner had to go live in an assisted living facility because of a stroke. They are VERY spoiled children and we really love them. Hoping to find a home together for them. They are five years old and in good health. Praying for a home soon, because Leah and Tater will be home for the summer in 3 weeks and I'm not sure Tater will stand for any other small dogs in the house

I'm posting a photo of my finally completed felted nativity project. I am very happy how it turned out.

Behind for a reason...

This is the reason I am behind in everything...her name is Sydney. Sydney came to our house as a foster dog. Her story is terribly sad. She was taken from a puppy mill where she lived in a cage and produced numerous litters of puppies. She was rescued and turned over to Chihuahua Rescue and Transport (the same organization that Charli and Tater came from) and they asked me to foster her and try to socialize her. She was scared of everything when she came to the house. Mostly noise scares her. She's come to work with me and shakes and is scared of almost everything, but has never shown one second of being aggressive. She is becoming a sweet and loving girl. I have been very lucky, a "forever" home has been found for her and I think it will be absolutely perfect....so back to finishing the hand work I redid on Christinia and Jeremy's quilt, my poppy wallhanging and the class I'm in right now (that I am two weeks behind on)....

Getting things done in the new year!

I'm able to post two quilts I've finished. My daughter's Yellow Brick Road and an original pattern I created using a jelly roll and charm pack. The jr/c quilt is a wedding present for my cousin's son. It was the first quilt I did on my frame using a pantograph and I'm very happy with the results.

Here's a sweet picture of Tater.

Happy NEW Year!!!!

We had a wonderful peaceful family holiday. Jill came home and brought Charli and Amber (dog and cat) and Leah took in a rescued Chihuahua/Jack Russell. He's not quite 6 pounds and they think 2 to 3 years old. He has a cataract over his left eye, but it isn't slowing him down. He loves to be held and "hunt cats"...this is hilarious, he runs around the basement looking for Twink and Merlin...they are usually sitting up on something about a foot above his head while he is frantically hunting for them.

Lilly is taking all of this in stride. She evens lets Tater bark at her when she eats her own food. Leah is planning on going back tomorrow so Tater can get into a routine and we can see if this will work.

I finished quilting Jill's Wizard of Oz Yellow brick road on Christmas Day and will post some pics when I get it bound.

I wish you all a blessed and happy new year!

Getting ready for Christmas

I've finished my first quilt on my new mid-arm machine. (well new to me anyway)...I got a Viking Mega-Quilter and Next Generation frame. I'm thrilled and this quilt was a learning experience. I can't wait to get the next quilt loaded.

Jill brought my "grand-dog" Charli by to visit. Leah and I found her a letter jacket at Ross Dress for Less and had to buy it for her. Jill took Charli in in Oct. She's 7 years old and had not been exercised or properly fed (she was just plain FAT)...so she's on diet food and getting a lot of energy back. She loves Amber (Jill's cat) and does well when she is at our house.

I made some blankets for Leah's friends in her pharmacy fraternity for Christmas gifts.

I hope that you all have a most blessed Christmas. I have had such a wonderful year and have so many things to be thankful for.

Finished another baby quilt!!! and the baby is here!!!

My great-niece McKenzie arrived and I actually got the quilt to her in her first week....they sent this picture of her yesterday. The carosel designs came from Charming Station. I just love using them on baby quilts.

Lots and lots of sewing help....

Everyone who owns a cats (or two or three) has lots of help with their sewing projects. I was working on a "Birdie Sling" last week and when I went to straighten up the sewing area you can see what I found.

Happy Cat!!!!

We use this bowl to pick up pears and apples for the deer. Mickey laid it on the porch and here is Orangejello (pronouned OR angelo) very content. She is one of the feral cats I feed.

Getting on with the election!!!

Working in the communication department at Wake Forest University definitely keeps me involved with current events. Dr. Allan Louden is one of our professors here and a family friend. You will see him commenting on national and international news shows and in newspapers all over the world this time of year. He specializes in campaign advertising, debate analysis, and now digital politics. He gets wrapped up in all that is happening second by second on the computer...if you call his house you may have to wrap your conversation up so he can take a call from Minnesota NPR or an Argentinian newspaper. The Wake students seem to be really into this election and we've been having "debate watch" parties on the big screen in our auditorium. The media has been really interested in these gatherings and last night we attracted Luke Russert to our auditorium to do a web spot for NBC news. Of course him being here was news as well. Jill came over after she finished her day at school to watch with the students, but maybe more to check out Luke. Here are pics of Allan and Luke, Jill and Luke, and of the auditorium before the debate.

Getting into fall routines!

Finally got the handwork done on not one, but two quilts. The pastel one I did last fall and it was quilted in the spring. The teal and orange quilt is a BQ2 pattern and I quilted it with embroidery designs.
This past weekend I helped with a spay clinic for the feral cats in Forsyth County. My job was to watch them until the sedation took effect, remove them from the traps, label them and pass them over to be prepped. Of course I wanted to take almost everyone home with me. I know that God gave me a husband so I wouldn't become a cat horder. The sweet kitty pictured here, is Aerial, our oldest kitty. She is primarily an inside cat. She's getting a little dotty in her old age, but is still very sweet.

Getting back in the groove!

Well tomorrow I will be here as my 15th freshman class arrives on campus. Can't believe how quick the time has flown and my kids have grown up. Jill is settled in her new apt in a 100 year old house in downtown Statesville. And because of that, (she took her bedroom furniture) I have a sewing room for the first time. I've been working on unfinished and unstarted-promised projects and have the first one finished. Cady was born in May, so it's a little late, but hope they like it.

School starts........

Well, the summer has flown by, Leah, Jill and I are all set for the start of our respective schools. Leah's white coat ceremony was held yesterday at Campbell and we went down for it. We got her settled in her house about a week ago. She started orientation today.

Jill starts work in her classroom on Friday. She is very lucky because the woman who retired left her alot of material for her room.

Next week our grad students will be here and the freshmen will move in and we will start another year at Wake Forest. Drop me a line and let me know what you are up to....b

Upside down and fixed in less than a week...

When last we saw our heroine, Leah, she was happily planning on attending school in August at Wingate School of Pharmacy, near Charlotte. Little did we know what lurked around the bend.....(insert melodramatic music here)...Campbell University School of Pharmacy called last Tuesday offering her the last spot in their class. She would have loved to return to Campbell, but we had made the deposit and planned on preceding to WUSOP. Then Campbell called back and Leah was awarded a $7500 academic scholarship, which would really help for the year. Within 8 hours she answered an email looking for a 4th roommate at Campbell and it all fell into place...and finally I was at peace. Wingate itself looked terrific, but the housing options were less than desirable and we had not been able to make a commitment to housing because everything we found had at least one major drawback (too far, too old, etc)....so this worked itself out, she will be closer to Katy at Carolina (they visit back and forth during the year) and her friends are ecstatic that she is returning. We went to sign the lease yesterday and met one of the new roommates, measured the room and spent time with her friend Robert. Pics attached.

Now you say, this is a sewing blog, where is the sewing? Here it is....on Saturday I went to my favorite haunt (Sewingly Yours) and took a class from Debra Bohn on stabilizers...I sure learned tons. Talk to you all soon, love,b

My wonderful Mother's Day present!!!

We got up at 5am on Saturday to travel to Boone, so Jill could graduate from Appalachian State University. It was really exciting!

My Girls!

JILL GOT A JOB!!! Jill was hired last Thursday to teach 7th grade social studies at North Iredell Middle School. She felt right at home with the principal and the teaching team and will start in August.
This past weekend Leah came home and stayed for 2 days. During that time we did some shopping for her "professional clothes" that are required for pharmacy school and she went out to dinner with Jill and Rebecca. I stole these 2 pics off of Becca's facebook. Thought some of you might like to see how they have turned out.

FINISHING PROJECTS!!!!!!

Yes, I'm excited, I finished two projects today. Molly's quilt. Molly was born on 3/26 to Leslie (one of Mickey's cousins) and her husband. Don't know that I have ever seen a baby whose hair had to be parted on their first day!!! But she sure is beautiful

So the pink blanket is for her and the other one is for Leah. I love the Felicity Miller fabrics in it and didn't want to cut them up any smaller so that is why the blocks are so big.