On going battle with fibromyalgia

I have had fibromyalgia for over 30 years. The disease has left me with weekly canker sores in my mouth and tongue, severe headaches, depression, muscle aches, extreme fatigue, irritability and the inability to plan much ahead because of flareups. The symptoms were mild at first but lately have reached a point of my pain levels around 6 to 7 on a scale from zero being no pain to 10 being severe!

Several doctors have suggested a drug called Savilla but I resisted trying to manage the fibro without medication. Perhaps it's my age -- 70 years old --perhaps it's the five surgeries I had last year, or the fact that I'm just ready for a better standard of life that I took the advice and have begun taking Savella.

The improvement is incredible. After taking medicine for only three days I had a great day yesterday for my pain was reduced with the fatigue and I was able to participate in very major activities without being completely exhausted and sick at the end of the day. My mind is lighter, I feel less burdened and I know there is something wonderful going on with this new medicine.

I am keeping a chart with my symptoms and the level, and the degree of severity and how they are improving plus notes on what I am able to accomplish. I am on a trial package right now that will end in two months, and we will see at what level I need to continue to take medication. I feel this is a blessing from the Lord, and I am very grateful for it!

Update on my health since using DoTerra essential oils and eating gluten, corn, chicken, dairy (mostly) free. I haven't had a sore in my. Now for several months.

Ward Spring Fling

They did a dance number called breakdancing each of their children participated as well as Avy and Trent and it was great!

American mothers of achievement

It was a most excellent day today. My daughter-in-law, Vicki, received the American mother's achievement award for 2012 and a beautiful luncheon that was held in Little America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake. Brett picked me up in the morning with Vicki and seven of their 10 children to celebrate this great day.

When we got there it was buzzing with beautiful women of all ages and their families. Cheri and Sophie arrived and joined us also Vicki's mother, Ara. we were all so proud of Vicki.

Lily sitting with the Lillys

Hear the wind blow, love!

The first wind that I ever heard was as a child living in Oklahoma. The wind would blow all the time it seemed like. But then I never noticed the wind much --that it was blowing but it never was a bother. It was just there -- part of the landscape and part of my childhood.

After I married my sweetheart and we moved to Chicago then Ithaca, New York then Albuquerque, New Mexico where he was employed after receiving his PhD from Cornell. One night as we were lying in bed preparing to go to sleep I asked him, "can you hear that? he said "hear what?". "The silence. I can't hear the wind blowing. It's so quiet!"

We have lived in 9 states. Oklahoma was our birthplace then we married and moved to Evanston, Illinois. Of course, Oklahoma is known for tornadoes and High winds. And oh how the wind blew in Chicago off Lake Michigan all the way up to Evanston where we left and Bob attended Northwestern University and I worked for Rotary international.

From Illinois, we moved to Ithaca, New York and Cornell University where Bob received his PhD and the wind blew and the snows fell and it was quite an experience. While we were there I worked for Cornell University in the ILR school which was Industrial and Labor Relations as a secretary for Dr . Risley
The Asst Dean. I got to met Dean Rusk, Sec of State and Bobby Kennedy, brother of JFK & Presidential nominee.

Our two sons were born in Ithaca and were 1 1/2 and 2 weeks old when we moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where Bob worked for Sandia Labs and we watched the Wind blow the tumbleweeds across the desert. We bought our first home there which cost us $14,700 in 1969 on Tahiti Street.
But the wind was different in the desert in Albuquerque. It didn't blow all the time like it did in Oklahoma and it was here in our first home that I heard the silence without the wind.

From Albuquerque we moved to Palo Alto, California. It was here I got to experience the wind off the San Francisco Bay. It smelled so different from anything I had ever experienced because I had never lived near an ocean before. I could smell the salty water and the fish and the boats and the wind.

Our next home was in Minnetonka,Minnesota but there wasn't much Wind there except when the storms blew in with snow and cold and one tornado that blew a tree on our Neighbor's house. One particularly nasty snowstorm took out the electrical lines and we were without power for four days. We lived in Minnetonka, Minnesota for 16 years. Our two sweet daughters were born there. Our two sons brought their brides there to meet us before they were married. The boys also had their wedding receptions there in Minnetonka.

We made our next home in Portland,Oregon for the next 13 years. Portland has a gentle soft breeze and the wind and the rain fall like a gentle mist most of the time. Our two sweet daughters were married and went off to college from this home. By this time we were grandparents of six grandchildren. Bob retired from the Fei company and we were called on a mission to Hawaii where Bob taught astronomy and physical science and I was his assistant. I also got to teach watercolor and was the stake primary president. We served for two years there and lived in Turtle Bay resort. There is nothing so rejuvenating as the Polynesian ocean breezes. Often as the sun was setting Bob and I would walk to the ocean shore,sit under an ironwood tree and feel the gentle breeze blowing off the ocean.

We moved back to Portland for a short time and then to our home in Eagle Mountain, Utah, where today I am writing this memory of the wind that is so tied to my own memories of life and home and feelings.

Hear the Wind blow love--hear the wind blow -- down in the valley --off the ocean --up on the mountains we hear the wind blow.

Hello, I feel sorry for you.;(

The title of this post was written on a yellow Post-it and left on my desk Sunday. It wasn't signed but was written by one of my grandchildren who came to visit me.

I had surgery about 10 days ago on my feet and my feet are wrapped up and I am in a wheelchair for the next two weeks. It was such a sweet message and so tender and much appreciated by me their Nana.

Malagueña or the Mexican hat dance

T plays the piano so beautifully today when we came over to help with online school she played Malagueña

Boy Scout merit badge

DH and I had the real pleasure of taking our grandson K to get his family history genealogy merit badge today. The requirements were: four generation pedigree chart, two family group sheets one listing him as a child and the other listing his parents as a child. Then he was required to interview a friend or relative which he did and he received his full blue card for his merit badge. K was able to answer all of the questions that were asked of the scouts. There were about 22 scouts at the meeting.

Lilly love on my lap

Lilly loves to lay on my lap in the evening after she's had half a can of her cat food and a very active day of being outside watching or chasing the birds or catching the voles. She wakes up around 7 o'clock after having spent the whole night inside and begins to plead soon meow meow, out out at the windowsill and  I open up the window and she jumps up in the basement casement into her life outdoors. I always say a prayer of thankfulness to my Father in heaven for bringing her home safely and in the morning I pray for her safety during the day. She comes in several times during the day and gets a snack of Tuna crunchy chews she likes to snack on and she goes back out to be with the other cats and the creatures.

Since it can be quite cold in Utah she has a chair with an electric heating pad and it is made especially for kitty cats to sit on. We have a covered veranda and so she's quite protected except for the wind but as you can see her fur is quite long and keeps her snuggly. She comes in if she's too cold.  However, when we open the door and she stands in front of it and the wind will hit her on the face and she'll back away shake her head and not go out if it's too bad. But she still is sad about it; wants to go out five minutes later to try it . It's a good thing DH and I are retired and have a lot of time to open doors for our kitty and make sure she's happy. We love her that much and she gives back twice as much love.

Foot surgery again

I just got out of the foot doctor's office. I have four cysts on my left heel and one on my right and they require surgery. My surgery will be Friday, March 17. The pain on these feet has been really bad so I'm glad to get some relief.

The only downside to this surgery is the recovery. I will have to stay off my feet for three weeks ouch. It is a small price to pay for feet that don't hurt anymore and I am going to do it.

Today I moved some of my things to the guest bedroom upstairs closer to where Bob works in the office. This way he won't have to go up and down the stairs and down the stairs to the basement where I normally sleep to help me with my meals and other necessities.