A JOYFUL NOISE

Over the past week, I've been reminded of the graciousness of God and His Abounding Love; reminders that He has a perfect plan for me in my life. Let me start from an overview of the two things that got me thinking............ THIS PAST WEEKEND at my sister's house spending time/playing with my oldest niece. Deda: "Yee yee/Becky, why does your other eye don't close" (talking about my right eye) Me: Because I can't close it Deda: Why? Me: Well, because it won't close...I can't make it close (at this point I'm thinking "I wonder how far she's going to take this") Deda: But why can't you close it? Me: Well, Because God made me different; so one of the difference is I can't close my eye" Deda: "But why, Yee yee?" Me" God makes each of us different, so He made me different........i can't close my eye, but it doesn't bother me---I'll be okay" Deda: "Oh, Yee yee......I'm so sorry...

Last Wednesday, I got a delivery.............DAISIES!!!!!!!! (w/Roses) Daisies are my favorite flowers of all time. It is a Get-Well bouquet from a friend I've know for a while who lives in SC . It was a nice gesture and put a smile on my face!! I'm truly blessed with wonderful place friends, a great church family, and great family who has cared for me as I recover from this past surgery. I'm doing fairly well over all. Some pain here and there but I will be well enough to head back to work next Monday! thanks everyone for your prayers!

My surgery was on Tuesday. I had to go in around 9:15. I didn't wait long in the waiting room before they called me back to prep me for surgery. I was able to see my doctors before the surgery which in some ways is unusual. Apparently, the hospital now requires the doctors to come in a "see" the patient and draw on the patient to mark where the operating site is. The nurse who prepped me for surgery was extremely nice. Although I HATE HATE HATE needles for IVs, she do a phenomenal job in finding a good vein and sticking me. Around 10:15 or 10:30, they walked me (yes I WALKED) into the OR and jumped up on the table, where I then proceeded to freeze to death. Brrrr!!! They hooked me up w/ all sorts monitors and such as expected. They also gave me kinda like a warming blanket---it wasn't a blanket per say, but it it was kinda a thin plastic cover that hooks up at the end and blows warm air, so I was nice and toasty. Soon after, I saw my oral ...

I had a pre-operative workup today at UVA. Originally, my surgery date was June 18th. Little did I know until TODAY that they moved up my surgery date to June 9---NEXT TUESDAY! The recovery period is hopefully not long and I can get back to work w/in 2 our 3 weeks. ......of course I had mentioned that I haven't gotten confirmation on my insurance, but I'm sure that will all work itself out (Dr. Gampper said they will make sure it is authorized). While I'm glad it's closer and I can get it over with sooner, it also means I'm crunching time for FMLA paper work to my employer! ah!!!! My surgery will entail several things; and it will be at ASC at UVA (going home the same day!) They will do something with my jaw, thin out scars on my face at the same time thin out the excess tissue growth and such. They will move my right ear up and remove excess tissues inside my mouth. As far as recovery, I should be able to go home the same day and if all goes well, they th...

So much has happened since my last post that I will just give a synopsis of my busy life and news and events. First off, PT is going well. I'm still going once a week to once every other week. My therapist is really nice and thinks that because the copay for PT is high, I will be "OK" w/ just once a week or once every other week (plus the fact that I explained to her that taking off from work early is not an ideal situation because of my job, but more on that later). PT is rough, but it's helping my strength; however, I'm still sore. My follow up appointment with my orthopedic is next Wednesday, 27th. Mom is taking off work to take me to H'burg only because I already know I'm going to get another cortisone shot and I'll be too sore to drive or maneuver my arm. Hopefully we'll have some answers as to what's going on and more definite plans of attack......hoping and praying that he'll just advise to keep going on with PT. Since ...

Gina Gina and Me This past weekend (April 18th), my good and best friend from Ohio came down to JMU. She came to see her brother perform in JMU's accapella group Exit 245. She had let me know of her plans of coming to Harrisonburg a couple of months ago. I got to see her! ...and I haven't seen her for over a year...oh how I miss her. We spent a good amount of time together before she had to meet her family for dinner. It was great catching up with her and talking to her and just being with her. How do I know her you ask? I've know her for almost 9 years. We met in the Fall of 2000 while at JMU. She lived in the floor beneath me. We both were Special Education Minors. when we realized we lived in the same dorm and attended the same Special Education classes, it was a bond that formed right there----and that bond has only gotten stronger the past 9 years. You see, Gina has a remarkable story. Truely remarkable. She's a friend so dear to my heart ...

......MORE THERAPY! What kind of "more" therapy you ask? Well, I have to go through Occupational therapy now as well as Physical Therapy . Ugh. I went to Dr. Hendren today and he told me that the nerve conduction study (NCS) and EMG study done a few weeks ago was sorta on the borderline of negative and positive. Dr. Deputy, my neurologist, said he didn't think I showed signs of acute/major carpal tunnel; however, Dr. Hendren said that it doesn't necessarily say I don't have it b/c although the NCS and EMG study is about 90% reliable, about 10% is not shown on the test. I also mentioned to him that my elbow has been tender as well for the past couple of month and felt like Hitting my funny bone" feeling. So after further reading the report that Dr. Deputy sent to him, it did show that I can possibly have something sorta like carpal tunnel, only it affects the elbow area. So the diagnosis is minor carpal tunnel and elbow tenderness. So he's ...