Review 2023

 Happy "Last day of 2023".....New Year's Eve!

This has certainly been a fast year with many unexpected happenings. Here is a mini review.  

Unforeseen health issues for my niece, The death of my mother-in-law, and some health issues for Sam.  Even in the time when things seem out of our control, God is still on the throne!  Hallelujah. 👐

In early March.....Sam and I took a trip to California to visit our Grandson and his family.  We only see them about once a year, due to him being in the military.  We were so excited about this trip because, not only were we going to see the family, but we were going to explore parts to the Beautiful state of Cali.  

Just so happens that Mother Nature took care of our adventure trip to see the "Sequoia's."  Flooding had taken place and when we arrived at the entrance to go visit the National park.....the GATE was CLOSED.  Flooding had wreaked havoc on the roads.

Just three days into our trip, I received a phone call letting me know that my niece (Tammy) was not feeling well and had been in a lot of pain.  I made a few phone calls (as I am her guardian) to try to get her the medical help she needed, but it was not until Sam and I got home from California (about 2 days later) that we had to take her to the Emergency Room.  We found out that she had a very severe infection in the femur bone of her left leg.  Staph had somehow got up in the bone and was making her body septic.  

It was a LONG 6 months of being in the hospital, the nursing home and doing rehab, before she finally got to where she could walk again.  The sad thing about this is that Tammy is not able to care for herself, as she has mild to moderate mental challenges that occurred from a brain injury some 40 years ago. 

I am thankful for all of the prayers she received during this long period, and I am thankful for God's healing power.   

NEXT.....my Mother-in-law became ill and was in and out of the hospital several times, as well as rehab.  She had A-fib and ended up with a pacemaker, however, her health had declined and she just was not able to get better.  She passed away in September of this year.  This was the first loss of a loved one in Sam's family and it was very difficult on his dad, his brother and Sam.  Of course, Sam's dad is 94 and not in the best of health.  Sam and his brother are going over to the house at least four or five times a day to take care of his meals and his needs.  Thank goodness, we only live about 3 minutes from his dad.

Sam and I did manage to go on our Alaskan cruise that had been booked for over a year, only to end up with me having Covid during the last couple days of the cruise.  ARGH!

In October, we took a trip to Branson with several of our friends.  The Sunday morning that we were scheduled to drive home (8 hours) Sam woke up around 4:00 A.M. in much pain.  He had a kidney stone that was trying to pass.  👀.  That following Monday, Sam went to the doctor and the doctor ordered an MRI.  Sam also ended up having to go to the Urologist.  It was determined that he needed to have surgery to have the kidney STONES  removed.  He not only had one in the tube, but he had a 9mm stone in his right kidney along with 4 others, and a 6mm stone in his left kidney, as well as other small ones in that same kidney.  Those large stones were not going to ever pass, so the doctor went in and crushed them and then removed all of them.  

Surgery was done and now, he is free of Kidney stones.  It wasn't until after his surgery, that we found out he had as issue going on with his liver.  The MRI showed something else.   Totally not what we were expecting!  Sam has nodules on his liver and has what is referred to as cirrhosis of the liver.  Now mind you....Sam is NOT a drinker and never has been.  No Alcohol...!!!   This damage is due to a fatty liver.  We've all heard of a fatty liver before, but just never think of it damaging your liver such as this.  

Unfortunately, the Liver specialist in our area is totally booked with appointments until March.  MARCH!  can you believe that?

We will meet with this doctor, the first week in March.  For now, Sam is on medications and we have had to completely change our diet and eating habits.  Thankfully, the pain that Sam had from the kidney stones actually was somewhat a Blessing.  Not only was there pain from the kidney stone, but his liver was acting up as well.  The pain from the liver has actually been a whole lot better with the changes we have made.  

2023 was very good to us in so many ways, but it is definitely a year that was full of many, many extra prayers.  We are looking forward to 2024 and are expecting, and receiving the Blessings that God has for us!

Hope you all have a Happy New Year's Eve....Be Blessed and be safe.  

Shug. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉