Update to surgery...

Well, my Mom had her double mastectomy in February. We breathed a collective sigh of relief when she came out of surgery and was doing as well as could be expected. My brother, his wife and Dad were there for the big day. I am 10 hrs away and was unable to be there in person, but I can tell you, I worried, fretted, cried and prayed right along with them.
Praise God, she came through ok. She has had a few blips during her recovery, and it will still be some time before she really feels normal again. She feels a bit better almost every day. For awhile, it seemed one step forward, 2 steps back.

The visiting nurses came daily for 2 weeks. Bless their hearts, they were the most caring and thoughtful ones you could ever hope for. Their kindness and tenderness exceeded all expectations, and I commend them. This really helped my Mom's recovery, as she felt she could ask questions and mention concerns without feeling intimidated. They went above and beyond the call of duty, calling her during the more difficult times, and coming by an extra time or two just to make sure she was ok. THANK YOU, Visiting Nurses of Frederiction NB Canada!!!

Mom had alot of swelling and tenderness, and it was weeks before she could even lay on her side to sleep. I don't know how long it will be before she can sleep on her tummy. Removing her staples turned out to be mostly painless. She had 24 in one side and 25 in the other. I told her it shouldn't be too bad if they were gentle.
I remember when my hubby had his hip graft and hip replacement (now that's a story and a half for another
time - bone graft one summer, didn't take, so hip replacement next summer. What fun that was...sigh.) Anyway, I got to remove his staples with this nifty little staple remover. Pretty neat, and I went slow and easy, so it didn't hurt.

The drain tubes gave her alot of problems though. They removed one, but left the other for nearly another week. I think 3 weeks total, or maybe a bit more.
This one kept stopping up, and then would bleed quite a bit. First outing she went to town with Dad, and before the day was over, she had bled through her blouse and into her jacket. Not cool.
She is currently going to physical therapy once a week to improve her arm movements and gentle massage to deal with all the fluid buildup.
Her spirits are good though.

She gets a bit impatient that she isn't 'over it' yet, but then reminds herself that it hasn't been all that long ago, and that it was a major surgery. I remind her too, to count her blessings. THANK YOU GOD that she didn't have to have chemo or radiation!!! What a blessing that was. They found precancerous cells in the other side, but everything was non-invasive and contained. They caught it early enough. I don't think she would have survived chemo, and at this point, she might have just opted out. Thank the Lord we didn't have to make that decision.
She is feeling well enough now that she and Dad are coming in a couple of weeks to spend a week here during Mother's Day. It will be a great time to visit here, lot of flowers and trees will be blooming. Beautiful time to be in CT after a long winter. Especially for them, as they are about a month behind us in the season.


Today, I am counting my blessings once more. Often things don't turn out like we want or hope, I've lived long enough to know this.
So I'm extra thankful for God's mercy and goodness towards my family during this time. I am so very thankful.

Button Button, Who's got the button?

I recently went through my button box - an old yellow tupperware container from the 80's. Remember the orange, yellow and green line? Yeeaahh... me too. Not my favorite colors then either.
I thought I'd share some of my photos with you (while eating Gifford's Black Raspberry ice cream straight from the container! Yum! And no, I don't usually do this, but today it just seemed the thing to do... :0))

I had a good start on most of these buttons, if not nearly all, when I found a container of buttons in the attic of an old farmhouse we bought back in 1982 or 1983. It was a turn of the century farmhouse, and the lady who passed on was in her 90's. I think she had lived there most of her life, and when we bought it, there were a few neat old things left.

One was a very very old small Bible. I can't remember if it was in German or not, but it was very old. I haven't seen this for a few years, so I'm not sure if my mother has it, or I do. Since there are a few boxes I haven't unpacked for several years (ok, I really want to buy a house now!!), it's possible it's still in one of them, along with several antique dishes I forget I even have. It will be Christmas and better when I finally unpack them all for good.
Back to the attic. I can't recall much else, as we sold this house 3 years later, so it's been a long time ago, but I still have the button collection.


There are a lot of neat buttons in there, some I think might have some value, such as a few that might be Bakelite.
Now I don't know what these are made of - does anyone know? They could be lead. Did they ever made such a thing??
They are a heavy stone-like material. Perhaps they were covered once.
If anyone has any thoughts on these buttons, I'd be happy to hear them.


This is an odd assortment. Some mights be Bakelight. Acouple are wooden, the dark one of the left is metal. The off white/blue edged one is kind of funky. Any thoughts on that one?

(If you need to, you should be able to click on each picture to make it bigger.)














Are the red ones just plastic? How can I tell?














A bit of miscellaneous stuff found in the button box as well. Not sure what that round goldish metal thing is with all the holes...









And, we got your standard garden variety of whites, tans and torties...












and we got your standard garden variety of black and metals.
Oooh! Even a bone ring button. That is, I think it's bone...














And these very special buttons are...
Beans! Yup, that's right. I found these beans in there too! I wonder if they are magical...hmmm.....

Gorgeous day!

February 11 2009 was an absolutely beautiful warm day out, considering we are in CT. It is currently 56F. Going to cool off after tomorrow of course, but that's ok. It was so nice out, that I opened the back door and a couple of windows a crack, and turned off the furnace for a bit. Talk about smell wonderful outside!! I sure miss that spring smell in the winter.

I opened the front window a bit, as Max was letting me know he'd love to sit in it for a bit. I had just taken him out for a walk on his harness (hot pink, by the way, poor guy!) out through the garage (door up) and into the driveway and sidewalk. Everything else is still snow covered, but melting like mad today.

I can hear skidooing out in the field out back along with barking dogs. What better day to snowmobile?!
The robins are happy that an area down back by the spring has opened up. They've been hopping around the leaf litter, thrilled to find an area devoid of snow.

Tests, options and surgery...

I knew I shouldn't have checked email that late last night. I could have just gone to bed, but no.
Instead, I opened an email from my aunt. In it was the news that my mom was going to have a double mastectomy in February. Just about 2 weeks from now.
I knew it was a possibility. Mom and I had talked about it some. She'd had the lumpectomy done late last year. The results suggested the possibility of a precursor to breast cancer. At least, that's the way we understood it. A 2 mm something or other. Non invasive. That was good news. However, when the 64 slides were examined, they found traces of LCIS and DCIS. Was it one or the other? Both? We weren't exactly clear on that. Nevertheless, she was scheduled for 3 weeks of radiation therapy. As a kind of 'preventive' treatment. Or so we thought. Then, 3rd day into treatment, they send her home. Why?? It was scary, not knowing. It was explained that the pathologist in Saint John read the slides differently that Fredericton. Only thing is, they didn't get them until she had already started treatment. What is wrong with that picture??
Suddenly we were in a state of confusion. Again. Just after we had reconciled ourselves for her 3 week stay for treatment. This would be the ticket, the cure, the 'just in case'. So back to the doctors.
After careful consideration, it was decided, partly due to family history (other kinds of cancer), and to the findings, that a simple double mastectomy would be best. Mom felt that due to her age (over 65) that she would rather have it done and over with now, than find out 5 years later that the other would have to come off too. She wants peace, not to live in fear of every mammogram of 'inconclusive' findings again, or worse, cancer itself, the invasive kind.
So here we are. After speaking at length with her this morning, and going over a copy of the pathologist's report, navigating all those big words, we were in agreement. Not that we want to do this at all, the Lord knows I'd rather she didn't have to go through any surgery, as she's not real tolerant of anesthesia or drugs of any kind. But the alternative is unthinkable.
So we go on with what peace we can with this decision. I never thought it would come to this, or happen in my family. Others perhaps, but not mine...
Isn't that the way it always is, though.

Mid January, and it's cold!

It was 1 degree F this morning! Cold! Especially for here in CT. It took the furnace an hour to warm up 10 degrees. I thought something was wrong, but doesn't seem to be. Just not used to being this cold here. I woke up at 4AM and started worrying over the pipes, even though this house is not quite 20 yrs old yet. How old does a house have to be to have a valid reason to worry over pipes breaking? I'm thinking turn of the century or older, depending on how well built it is, but I could be wrong.
We were spoiled a bit by some recent winters. Although last winter was colder and snowier, and this one has followed suit, I remember a few years back when people were golfing in February! Not this year, with snow and ice on the ground. I still see the occasional flip flop though when we are out shopping or out for dinner. Ridiculous if you ask me. Are some people in denial??
Not too much happening here. We are still looking at houses, hoping to move sometime this spring. I would really love to be out of here before spring planting time. It would be lovely to have a real nice garden this year. Plus, I want to get all my perennials out of the ground before a lot of growth has started. I have a lot of transplanting to do!
I'm still dreaming of acreage. Ok, an acre would even be nice, but I'm hoping for 2 or more. Very expensive here. But one can hope. If you've read some of my older posts, then you know what my dream is. I'm trying to temper that with my pocketbook! Ha!

Still fighting with the squirrels and blue jays at the feeders. Last year, had no squirrels, and only a couple of jays. This year, a whole family - about 7 or so, and at least 5 squirrels. Until I saw a couple of hawks this past week.The squirrels are now down to 2 at the feeder today - maybe the others are in hiding? I don't mind a squirrel or two, but 5 or more is just too many! They clean the feeders, and the little birds can't get at the food. Same with the jays, only now the jays have discovered my suet. They even chase off the biggest of my wood peckers - the Red Bellieds. I have so many downies now - at least 3 pr. A couple of pair of Hairies too.
Lately, they have been climbing up my patio door screens and leaping onto my feeder. I've moved the screen over, and as you can see above, he is looking for it! He scrambled around, looking into the house, trying to climb the glass, until he finally discovered it next to him. It was comical, and I did get a video or two of him climbing the screen. No damage yet, it appears their claws are tiny enough not to do any harm. However, they are great leapers, and very tenacious. I finally had to remove the feeder altogether.


Max is still braving the garage several times a day. He just has to go out there. It provides variety in his sheltered life, poor thing! Then he sleeps all afternoon. A short runabout during dinner, then on my lap with the afghan for the evening in the recliner. When I have to get up for something, he gets off, waits til I come back, and pops back onto my lap again. He knows the routine. He's a great lap warmer!