Trying to keep busy

I saw this recipe on Facebook and I thought it looked delicious.  I'll let you watch video and then I'll tell you my quest.

What of instead of using the buns for the top and bottom crust, you instead made individual little pies.  I'm going to use pie filling instead of granny apples and we'll see what happens.  I'll take pictures and let you know how they turn out.

I've also been slowly working on my Patriotic Scissor Pocket by Sampler House.  I didn't take it to the hospital when DH was in and by the time I got home at night, I was exhausted and didn't feel like working on anything.  So I'm back working on it and here's what I have so far:

Poor Vallie missed her Daddy so much and she's finally getting back to normal.

Have all of you heard about the Linens & Threads Mystery Sampler SAL that is being featured on Facebook?  It's a public group and all you do is hit the "join" button and you get to see other's work.  The pattern is free and you get a new segment every month.  I have the first segment saved but I want to finish what I'm working on before I start it.  Here's the LINK if you are interested.  It's a beautiful sampler which could be stitched in many different ways.  It's definitely worth taking a look.

That's all for now.  Coming up to the time for hubby's nighttime infusion.  

Blessings, Barbara

Reba McEntire - Back To God

This is just too powerful not to share.

He's home but not sure it was worth it

I was finally allowed to bring my DH home yesterday afternoon.  You can't believe what this hospital has done to this man.  

First off you must remember that he takes a drug called Cimzia for his auto immune disease called Crohns.  He must take this  once every two weeks to keep the inflammation down to a controllable level in his body.

Now with that being said, the hospital has given him an infection that they cannot find the source of in his body.  It's in his blood stream so about the only way this could of been given to him is a dirty needle or by blood transfusion of which he had 3.  He must be on 2 different kinds of intravenous antibiotics that he receives 2 times a day until February 28th.  After that he will be on pill form for the rest of his life.

Now because of the properties of the Cimzia and that it will nullify the antibiotics that are being given to him, he cannot take that any longer.  We must go to his gastrologist  and find out if there is a different drug to control the Crohn's disease that will not interfere with the antibiotics.  If there isn't, the hospital has essentially killed him because the Crohn's is what has caused most of the damage to his body.......lost of hearing, anuryisms, etc.  

He is so depressed and so am I.  What turned into a simple procedure and good news that he didn't have to go thru radiation and chemo has turned into a nightmare.  He has already told me that he will never have another operation for as long as he's alive.  I cannot blame him.  Needless to say, we will be contacting a lawyer because this must not happen to anyone else.  We pay hundreds of dollars every month for insurance and this is what it comes to.  

One thing I want to point out.  Not once in all the time he was going thru this in the hospital did anyone say they were sorry or any such thing.  I think that is what has made me the maddest.   The Bible says you must forgive but I'm having a hard time with this one.

Blessings, Barbara

A Dog's Purpose - Official Trailer (HD)

Good News

Well my dear husband is out of ICU and hopefully for the last time.  They have identified the infection but now they have to determine where it came from and where it is in his body.  Since he had a new valve put in his heart Nov 2015 and an aorta resection, this is the first place they will check out.  It seems when your body has foreign parts in it, it is also a good place for infection to start.  If that turns out negative then they do another scan.  He drinks a concoction 3 days before the scan and apparently this stuff that he drinks goes to areas of infection.  They are also giving him more blood because his hemoglobin is looking low.  This doesn't surprise me because he's had to have blood transfusions over that past several years several times.

He's really in good spirits considering everything that they have done to him.  Me, I'd be climbing the walls.  I want to thank everyone who has been saying prayers for him.  I hope to answer all your emails soon but time seems to get away from me.

Peyton and John got back from visiting John's family in Texas last nite and came into the hospital today.  That perked hubby right up.....seeing them and that Little John.  He always has a smile for you.

Again, thank you and I hope for a good week ahead.

Blessings, Barbara

Update on DH

My husband was placed back into ICU yesterday due to several different circumstances.  His blood pressure dropped to 75/30.....he had a fever.....he is still draining liquid from his chest tube.  They started him on a broad spectrum of antibiotics and now are filtering thru them to see which one is gonna kill this infection.  They did a CT scan with contrast today of his chest and abdomen to see if they can determine anything that way.  His blood pressure was up a little bit today but he still is not responding the way they want him to.  All he wants to do is sleep but they do get him up for small walks.  I'm very concerned about this infection because of his auto immune disease his body doesn't respond the way a normal person's would.  This has me scared.

Good News

I thought I would check in with my sweet friends who have been saying prayers for my husband and myself.  I cannot thank all of you enough because the prayers were answered.

My husband had the top quadrant of his right lung removed and the surrounding lymph nodes.  We received news today that the lymph nodes were not cancerous and therefore he doesn't need to go thru radiation or chemo.  I just about threw my arms around this dear doctor and gave him a very large kiss.  I'm sure that would of scared the poor man to death.  He still has his chest drain in and hopefully that will be removed tomorrow.  

Again, I cannot thank all of you who said prayers for my husband enough.  I am a firm believer in prayer and this is proof it works.

Have a Blessed Day, Barbara

Update

Hubby and I went to meet with the surgeon today and the outcome has me worried.  He will have his pretesting done tomorrow and operated on Thursday.  The surgeon does not want to wait and he also explained how a biopsy can come back benign but really not be.  This did not make me feel good at all.  The lump is about the size of a golf ball in the upper quadrant of his right lung so he will have 1/3 of his lung removed.  They are also worried about some of his lympnodes but they won't be able to tell anything until he's on the operating table.

I hate to be asking again but please say a prayer for my DH.  This will make his 5th surgery and he's getting very tired.

Blessings, Barbara

And a New Year Begins

Happy New Year to all my wonderful followers and friends.  This day is always a little sad for me because today is the 11th anniversary of my losing my dear Father.  I always try to be optimistic about the new year, but starting out on such a sad note can make it difficult.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends.  We went to Jacksonville to spend Christmas Eve and day with our grand son in law (to be) and his family.  His stepmother is such a wonderful cook and I swear all I did was eat.  I was glad to get home and maybe try and lose those pounds.....but so far no such luck.

Peyton and John treated my husband and I to a day at the Gaylord Palms Ice Show.  The Gaylord Palms is a very large expense hotel here in Orlando down near Disney World.  Every year they turn part of their hotel into a winter wonderland.  You must wear warm shoes, hats and gloves and they provide the parkas because inside this area it's a balmy 9 degrees.  Everything inside is made of ice and it's just beautiful.

This years theme was:

They had sledding for the children.

But hubby and preferred this type of sledding and wow did it make your butt cold.

They had beautiful statues made out of ice and these were larger than life size.

Here is another one.

And at the end they had a stunning life size nativity scene.  

Little John was too young to really appreciate it and he didn't understand being bundled up like he was.  It did feel good to get back out into the Florida sunshine afterwards.  I had forgotten how cold 9 degrees feels like but we did enjoy it and had lots of fun.

I started a new cross stitch project over the holidays.  I started the Patriotic Scissor Pouch by The Scarlett House.  I'm not making it into the pouch but just either framing it or a pillow.  Will decide when I'm finished with it.

I'm stitching it on 28ct. checkered fabric using DMC floss.  So far it's been a fun stitch and a fast one.  I've also finished one shawl that I just love how it finished up and how well it matches the top I made it for.

I fell in love with this raspberry colored top but wanted something to wear around my neck and couldn't find a scarf to match but I did find a yarn.  

I started a new one and this is being made using a gradient wool yarn.  It's fascinating to see how the yarn changes colors so very slowly and how it makes a design come to life.

This yarn is a sock weight and it starts out with shades of tan to pink to purple to teal and finally blue.   I tried to get a good picture of this and this is the best one.  They are very soft colors and I love how it's turning out.

Well that's about all I've been up to.  My husband's doctor appt. with the surgeon is this Tuesday so then we should know when the surgery will be.  I don't know how I would act if it was me having to go thru this but hubby seems to be taking it in stride.  He hardly every gets down in the dumps about something.  He just says he has no control over this so why worry.  

I hope each and every one of you had a very Merry Christmas and that 2017 starts out as a Happy New Year for you all.

Blessings, Barbara