New hobbies, Scotty? Um, I've been too busy with teaching to do much. I am doing my own Tarot carding readings--it sounds silly, but it's easy to have a good day when the cards tell me it's my destiny. Silly to do, but it is generally positive and I don't take it seriously.

As of this afternoon my toenails are "Purple Potion"-colored. I quite like them, although a shower to get the oopses off of my toes will improve the entire pedicure. Thankfully, tomorrow is not a sandals day--50s and thunderstormy. The rest of the week my tootsies will shine!

And, of course, I read. Not a lot--I go to sleep soon after I go to bed--but it is daily and comforting.

What are you doing besides reading? Not that there's anything wrong with reading and reading and being mom to two small boys, but you usually have more things going on at Casa de Scotland.

Honestly, it's quite boring over here. I am reading, of course. We are watching movies, started with HP Philosopher's Stone tonight. We watched Yogi on Friday and Tangled last night.

My BIL's GF is pregnant and I have been making a baby blanket and cross stitching a birth record. I also am doing the same thing for a cousin of mine, who is also having a baby.

I applied for a manager position at work, fingers crossed that all will go well with that.

I have been going to my boxing lessons 4 hours a week still. It's hard work and I am usually in pain after but it is so worth it.

I am also looking at the college programs to see what I can take online.

Spring time is coming and I need to start getting the house cleaned out and the outside painted.

And I am still dealing with a wayturd H. He is asking for a change in visitations. I am going to write about it on my thread. I will update it.

Hi H&G,

So sorry about your sister, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

My H and I went out of town the end of last week to H's BF funeral. He was 51 and died of brain cancer. It was very sad but also we know he isn't suffering anymore. There were quite a few people at the funeral, most of them friends. The minister was saying that even though he was an only child, both parents died of cancer, never married or had children, doesn't mean his life was wasted or without purpose. The purpose clearly was that he was a friend to many people and had a positive affect on them.

Makes you think, live life to the fullest and with meaning.

I am here for you too <<hugs>>

ba

Thanks, BeginAgain. I'm sorry for your H's loss--his BF sounds like he was a great guy.

I love this comment:

Makes you think, live life to the fullest and with meaning.

So very true.

Thanks for being here for me. I really appreciate it.

Hi. I've been busy being a support for my sister as she is being a support for me.:)

I don't know if it's good news or not, but her doctor thinks she may not have pulmonary fibrosis; he thinks it may be sarcoidosis or lung cancer instead. Both of those are treatable, but the former could lead to PF and the latter may not be curable, either.

So she's scared and I'm scared for her. She asked me today if I thought she was going to die. I told her I didn't think so, but--truthfully--I'm afraid she is. She sounds so sick and wheezy on the phone--worse than 3 weeks ago when she was visiting me. She chronically exhausted and has lost 16 pounds for no reason.

Tough stuff to get through. She'll see a pulmonologist as soon as possible and then we'll know more.

(((H&G)))

I am so sorry. It's good that you are there to support your sister, it will mean the world to her.

Take care. I'll be thinking about you.

My sister's spirits are better, but she is still scared, as am I. She'll see the pulmonologist next week and we'll know more.

I had an amazing day today--one of those really rare days for a teacher. One of my former students, now a college sophomore, came by to see me.

I adored this student. He's an only child, raised by a single mom. He struggled with reading and math, but he was a very well-informed student in science and social studies. The reason? He and his mom only watched the History Channel, science shows, and CNN.

He came to tell me that I had made a difference in his life and that he appreciated all I had done for him. I only remember being his cheerleader as he gained skills in reading and math, but perhaps that's all it took. I told him to tell his mom hello and to tell her that she had done a good job.

He's Black and has no father in his life, but he has succeeded because he always kept trying to do better and be better.

I stood in front of my class and cried today from the sheer joy of seeing one of my top two (in my heart) students again.

I wish all of my tears this year had been for such a happy reason.

I wish all of my students had the desire to improve that this young man had.

It was a beautiful day!

So loving and so wonderful HnG! Kudos to you being MORE THAN A TEACHER! You are his inspiration and such a positive force in that little boys' life!

As for your sister, it sounds to me quite suspicious for lung ca. If so, get her a pet scan scheduled asap. Trust me, that would do a world of good and instantly get the staging underway and cut to the chase if any malignancy is there. has she had a chest ct and or mri? any biopsies/aspirations or suspicious areas yet?

You have to find out what is there so she can get the right help. Alot of the time we see patients go here to there to another doc, when all along a pet could have shown what was really there. (say this as I know clinically). Prayers to her (and of course you for being amazing!)

That is fantastic, H&G, now think of all the students you positively affected who don't visit! So great that he was your favorite too. btw I thought of you and your sister in church today and will continue to.

Peachy, I'm not sure but I think she had the PET scan last week. This all began because she had stomach pain and a CAT scan was ordered to see if her hiatal hernia was again a problem. After this CAT scan, another scan was ordered using some sort of nuclear IV stuff to highlight her lungs (can you tell I'm not an RN?).

Does this sound like a PET scan to you? The IV meds made her, um, hoo-hoo get quite warm.

I should have asked my oldest--she's a charge nurse in an infusion clinic. She may know something. Well, clearly she does know a lot, but I don't think she knows much about cancer imaging. She's all about chemo.

My sister, who goes to a military hospital, has been treated for asthma for the past 3 years by a PA. I have nothing against PAs but a chronically ill patient should be in the care of an MD. The PA never ordered any pulmonary tests, just kept upping her asthma meds. She's now on the highest possible dosage and she may die because he didn't look at the bigger picture.

Thanks for the kind words about my former student and myself. I've gone from saying that his visit made my day to believing his visit has made my month and year. What a treat to see him!

Thanks, cabbage! I've actually created a prayer list of those I read about here. I've grown in my spirituality since D-Day (Aug. 13, 2010). I truly believe in the power of prayer and how maintaining faith in God is helping me heal.

Thanks for the perspective of all the other students I may have touched. My town, near a large military base, is very transient. It's easy to forget that they may have moved several times since they were in my class.

I just miss them all; even if I forget their names, I remember their faces and personalities. They become a part of my soul.

My sister just called. She's in the hospital. She was exhausted yesterday and running a fever. Her husband took her to the ER. Her O2 level was 87 so she was put on oxygen. They did her 3rd CaT Scan today and an x-ray. It showed a tumor in her lungs near her heart.

She'll have a bronchoscopy tomorrow when the lung doc will hopefully be able to get a piece of it.

It looks like cancer. You were right, peachy.

Please pray and pray some more for Karin.

Sending thoughts and prayers. {{{{{{H&G}}}}}}}

Sending my prayers for your sister and your family

Sending big thoughts and prayers out to you and your sis and family. (((((Karin and HnG)))))

Please make her get a pet scan when she is able. A few days after the bronchoscopy b/c that area will be a bit hot after the bronch is done. Must be done before any chemo is begun too.

Peachy, her lung CAT scans have show "ground glass" shadowing in all areas. I'm hopeful that this is just from the flu she had in February or from her COPD, but she's been told that right now, all of her lungs would show up as red on a PET scan. Does this make sense to you?

SusieQ and Smileygirl, thanks for the prayers. It means a lot to me.

And, Peachy, I forgot to tell you thanks, too.

You don't really see red on a pet. You would see dark areas. not red.

What a pet shows is hypermatabolic areas of the body, usually areas of rapidly dividing cells or growths. A tumor would show up prominently. Pet/ct is perfect for that, fusion technology. Hugs to you HnG. I'll help you however I can

(((H&G)))) Prayers for Karin (pretty name).

Thanks, cabbage. Karin won the family name lottery.

Karin's had a rough life. She was sexually abused by the same relative who abused me and our brother. She married at 15 (pregnant) and, two children later, divorced at 22. She remarried that jerk and divorced again a year later.

Then she jumped into a marriage with an absolute bum but stayed with him for 15 years. She became an alcoholic during this time and nearly died from it. She sobered up, got a college degree in psychology, and divorced the bum.

Six years ago she married the kindest man I've ever met. She's been so happy since then, but plagued with health problems from lupus, asthma, and arthritis, all of which were caused or aggravated by her previous alcohol abuse.

And now this.

Life's just so unfair sometimes. As much as I currently hurt from WH's actions, Karin's life has been about 10 times worse than mine. And now when she's so happy.....

It's not fair.