New Year, New Medical Problems for Greg

As if the title to this blog post is a shock to anyone!  Ha!  It's looking like we're going to be facing more health issues/surgery for Greg. 

In the last few weeks, he's been experiencing some issues that caused us some concern.    Lots of peeing, fatigue, water retention, bloating, a return of acid reflux, lots of gas (oh, joy for those around him), and a sharp pain on the right side, under his ribs, that goes around to his back, right after he eats.   

We went to see his regular doctor on Monday, who mentioned gall bladder, and scheduled him for an ultrasound on Friday.  She also scheduled us to see their surgeon, because he also needs to have another endoscopy, to ensure that the acid reflux isn't a return of his esophageal cancer!  The acid reflux was something that really concerned us, and he hasn't had an endoscopy since September, 2017.  Praying that that test comes out clear!!!  

We saw the surgeon today and he agreed that Greg's symptoms are all classic gallbladder symptoms.  So, with that being said, we've got Greg on the calendar for the endoscopy next week Thursday.  If the ultrasound comes back that his gallbladder does need to be removed, that will be added to Thursday's schedule and will be done at the same time as the endoscopy.   

So, instead of new stuff growing in Greg (cancer), he's now starting to simply have parts removed!  HA!  Last year it was his hypothyroid, and this year, we start with the gallbladder (most likely)!  Sheesh!  If it's not one thing, it's another with this guy!   He has really forced me to take those "in sickness and in health" vows quite seriously!!   I will say, we were much happier with a simple gallbladder removal versus the many, many other things his issues could have been symptoms of!  Please do continue to pray for him -- that the endoscopy comes back clear and there is no return of the esophageal cancer!

And, just for fun -- we had about 6-8 inches of snow today, and I had to drive 22 miles on not very well cared for roads.  (Hwy 29 west and 13 north, for those in the area).   I plugged my truck in around 11:30 this morning and when we went to leave, my truck started just fine but after about 30 seconds, conked right out!  OYE!  I really wanted to take my truck, but God had other plans.  We had some cold overnight temps the last couple nights, and I'm not sure that I put any "anti-gel" stuff in the last time I filled up (my mistake).  Sooooooooooo, we're fairly certain that my truck is simply refusing to move because it's too dang cold (and the fuel has gelled).  I stopped at the local auto store on the way home and got some Diesel 911 and am hoping that it warms up this weekend like it's supposed to so we can get my truck moving again.   This would be only the second time my truck ever froze up (in 15 years!), and unfortunately, because it's now parked outside (the new car and Abby's car get garage privileges these days), we have to simply wait on Mother Nature to help us out rather than turning on a heater in the garage. 

At least we have the new car and were able to take that to go to the doctor.  It's front wheel drive and today was the first time I drove it in this kind of weather.  I felt it handled really well!  Course, there's also the incomparable skills of the driver!  HA!  

Just south of Stetsonville is where this picture was taken on the way home: 

I'm still working on my blog from our trip to Australia, and have the next entry about half done.  I'll be posting that as soon as I have some extra time.  Now that we are finally off mandatory overtime, that should be soon!  

Thanks to everyone for the prayers.  You all know how much Greg and I appreciate them!  

Love, peace and prayers to all!  

Julie 

Stomach Tube is OUT!

Today was just a bit of a crazy day!  It actually started last night, when we got a call at 4:30 p.m. that the surgeon's office did not have an authorization or referral for Greg's PEG tube removal.  Now, we made this appointment a week ago.  The PCP's office knows everything things referrals.  I've gone over this time and time and time again with them over the last months since this has been going on.  I even spoke with their office on Friday and was told that an authorization was not necesary, but the referral has been completed.   

Yesterday, we got a call from the surgeon's office that they did not have a referral.   The woman told me that they would have to send us the bill if they don't have the referral.  Uhm, we have half a million dollars in medical bills paid this year.  United HealthCare will pay for the procedure.  If they don't, Medicare is secondary, so they will pay.  One way or another, we are not going to have to pay the bill and the referral will be taken care of.  Don't worry about it and do not, under any circumstances, cancel our appointment!  

I received a call from the PCP's office this morning that everything was all set.  The referral was put through at 9:40 this morning.  At 11 a.m., the surgeon's office called and said they still do not have a referral and do we still want to keep the appointment?  Seriously?  What did I tell you yesterday about this appointment?  Then, she goes on AGAIN about the stupid bill!   As far as I knew, the referral had gone through, so there was nothing to worry about.  We drove to the surgeon's office and when we checked in, the woman again goes off about the referral!  OMG!  Seriously, people, we took care of all of this!  UGH!  

  

So, we finally got all that done and we're waiting for the doctor.  The procedure to remove the tube is not a surgical procedure at all and it's done in the doctor's office.    Here's one final picture of Greg's feeding tube while it's still attached!  





And here's the surgeon removing the tube!  Don't worry, it's not as gruesome as one might think -- there's really nothing gory about it at all, and it's very quick.  All it takes is a good yank!!!

And here's what it looks like!     

The white plastic part on the left that looks kind of like a flower (in the picture on the left) is what was on the outside of Greg's stomach.  The brownish looking part on the right (in both pictures) is what was inside his stomach.  When he would "feed" himself, he would put the liquid in the tube, and it would go through this little hole, directly into his stomach.  


  



And the final picture -- 

This is what his stomach looks like now, without the tube!  The hole will close up all by itself very quickly.  By morning, it should be closed completely, with no need for stitches or anything! Isn't that incredible?!  

The only advice the doctor gave us was that Greg probably shouldn't go out and get a Big Gulp!  You guessed it, it would most likely come spewing out!  Ha!  


After this was done, we decided to head over to Pick 'n Save (a local grocery store), because we don't get into Wausau very often, and it's nice to go to different grocery stores.  As we're in the area between the doors, where the carts are located, I was getting a cart and Greg was looking at the bread display.  Suddenly, some woman behind him throws her keys up in the air and screams about him not paying attention!  I couldn't believe it!  I looked at her and said that he just had a feeding tube removed and to cut him some slack.  The woman responded that the feeding tube has NOTHING to do with him being completely oblivious!  What a WITCH!   I must say, I let her get to me and gave her some choice words!   I then located her in the store and told her that this was the third time he had cancer and had beaten it and that I hope she never has to deal with anything like that.  She went off on me, and I ended up telling her she was a NASTY woman!  I just couldn't help myself.   

Our next stop was Hobby Lobby, and then it was on to Walmart and then Menard's for the rest of the stuff we needed.  When we were ready to leave Menard's, I got a text from our electric company telling me that our power was most likely out.  That was a first!  We got another text a short time later that our electricity would most likely be back on in about an hour.   When we were about a mile from home, I realized we might have a problem.  We always use our electric garage door opener to get into the house.  The side garage door is locked, and the front and patio doors are locked.  I had switched up key rings recently, and did not have a house key with me!  Sure enough, we got home and the garage door wouldn't open.  We checked every door, just in case we left one unlocked.  No such luck.  The poor dogs were going crazy, not understanding why we weren't coming into the house!  About ten minutes after we got home, I tried the garage door opener again, and it opened!  YAY!    I made sure to add house keys to my key ring, first thing, so that won't happen again!   

All in all, a very interesting day, with a few mishaps, but hey, it could have been worse!  We are so happy that the feeding tube is gone and Greg will have time to heal before Aaon and Rachel's wedding!   God is indeed GREAT!!!! 

Love, Peace and Prayers to all!  

Julie

PET Scan Results! More FABULOUS News!

On Wednesday, we saw the oncologist for the results of Greg's PET scan.   We were not expecting anything different than the EGD and biopsy results, so it seemed like just a formality.  We were not disappointed!   Greg's PET scan showed absolutely no signs of any cancer!    We are SO happy!  This is such an aggressive cancer, and with Greg not being a candidate for surgery, we really had no idea what to expect.   We have been so blessed with how Greg has responded to his treatment.   It's really been incredible.  The doctors could not believe that he actually drove himself the 30 miles (one way) for every one of his radiation treatments, and that he was able to do the same for each of his four chemo treatments.  At his age, and with the amount of chemo and radiation his body has endured over the last 25 years, it's simply unheard of!     

As the results were everything we were hoping for, we were able to have Greg's PICC line removed!  Fortunately, that's not a surgical procedure, so we were able to have it done in one of the "clean" chemotherapy rooms.  Of course, I need to share some pictures!  Don't worry, they're not very graphic!  

And here's some video!  It was like pulling out a tapeworm!  LOL    

The best news of all is that he is getting his PEG tube (stomach tube) removed on Tuesday!  That means we don't have to worry about it accidentally "popping open" when he's in his tux at our son's wedding!  YAY!  And it's an office procedure, so that makes it even easier!   For once, all the paperwork was completed and approved by the insurance company without a fight, so we're good to go!  

All the praise for this belongs to the Ultimate Physician!  God is the only one that could have given us such an incredible outcome for such a horrific disease!  All the praise and glory is His!   Once again, our Father has healed Greg!  He must have some amazing things planned for him on this earth to continually heal him!   

Thank you to everyone for your prayers.  It is obvious to us that they were heard!  

EGD Today for Greg -- GREAT Results!

I'd like to start off by apologizing for not getting this out sooner as I know that many of my Facebook friends have been waiting to hear the results.  My work day was a bit messed up and I had to finish working once we got back from the hospital, and then well, other issues in life got in the way.   

Let me start by saying GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME,  AND ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD!   That should give you a bit of a clue about how the Esophagogastroduodenoscopy went!  HA!  Decided to use the "big" word!  LOL  I'm sorry, I'm just a bit giddy about all this!   

So, here you go!  The doctor told us that if he had not known Greg's history, he would have given him a clean bill of health!   There was no narrowing of the esophagus and absolutely NO SIGN OF CANCER!   He was completely amazed at how awesome everything looked!  

Of course, we need to hold on a minute and can't start rejoicing just yet, as there is always the possibility that there is cancer underneath what can be seen on the outside.  So he took some biopsies and we should have the results from those in a few days.  We also have a PET scan scheduled for Friday, which will show us if there is cancer in any other parts of his body, including anything that may still be in his esophagus.  The previous PET scan did not show any metastases (spreading), so we need to continue our prayers that nothing shows up on the PET scan.

As we don't know the rest of the results, we cannot even begin to hazard a guess as to what might be next.  Assuming there is no cancer and no more treatment, then he will be able to have his PICC line  and removal of the PEG  (stomach) tube!  I know he will be incredibly happy to have that stupid tube gone!   And, it is my goal to have that all gone before Aaron's wedding on October 7th!  I know it sounds a little selfish, but I know Greg wants it all gone as soon as possible, too.  

Please continue to keep Greg in your prayers, as they are most certainly working!   Per James 5:14, (Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.) this past Sunday at Church, we had the Church elders and the rest of the Church body pray over Greg as they have done time and again and our prayers are being answered.  THANK YOU, FATHER GOD!  

Officially Empty Nesters! Oh, and Turkeys are Jerks!

I am not old enough to have my baby turning 20 years old tomorow!   I'm not old enough to have a 26 year old, either!  And before I get hollered at for not mentioning my poor, neglected, misunderstood middle child, I'm not old enough for her to be 23!  So, there you go!   I'd like to think of it as my amazing children growing up, rather than me growing old.  Ha!   So, Abby made plans, I think in late June or early July, to be moving out.  I think she thought we weren't going to "let her."  But as she's over 18, we didn't have much of a choice.  She had all the plans with her friends made and seemed to have thought of just about everything.  What could we do but advise her and help as best we could.  She has a great head on her shoulders and has always been very good with money, so I don't think we have much to worry about.   Now that Abby has moved out, though, we are officially empty nesters!   First time in 26 years that we are all alone in our house on a daily basis!  While it's odd to not have any of the kids around, it's also kind of nice!   At least for now, Greg and I are enjoying being all alone and not having to worry about closing doors or being quiet!  Ha, ha, ha!  

On another note, Greg had his last chemo this past week!  YIPPEEE!!!!  His "travel pack" of chemo emptied for the last time on Saturday.  I must say, he really hated that thing!  I can't even imagne.  I hated it and it wasn't even connected to me!   Just imagine having to have a "fanny pack" attached to you 24/7 via a long tube connected to your arm.  You certainly don't want to accidentally get it caught on something, or that's going to rip right out of your arm.  It makes my stomach tumble just to think about it.    His oncologist gave him the option of having his PICC line removed, but he decided it was better to keep it a while yet, as there's still going to be blood tests and scans, etc., and it's much easier to use the PICC line than to have to have an IV stuck in his ("very tough") skin, and veins that are probably in even worse shape with more chemo and radiation over the last three months.   It's not too big of a deal to have the PICC line, as there's nothing we need to do for it, except wrap his arm in plastic wrap (and vet wrap) when he takes a shower.  Not a big deal at all in the scheme of things.  

He's had a hard time with chemo during this most recent cancer attack, but he's still handling it better than I ever would!  He tries to do as much as he can around the house, but after 15 minutes of mild exertion, he needs to sit and rest for a bit.  He just doesn't have the energy or stamina he's had in the past, which is completely understandable.  The other issue he has with this chemo is mouth sores.  They've reared their ugly head again.  He has his "magic mouthwash" but it doesn't completely cure the issue.   I feel bad for him, because he really wants to be able to do more, and it really bothers him to see me working full-time and then doing so much around the house.  Most of the time I don't mind it, but like every other human on this planet, I occasionally have my melt-downs.  It happens.   

One of the things that normally helps to keep me calm are the chickens (and geese and ducks).   A couple months ago, when we added four chicks to our flock, we also added two turkeys!   I don't recall the breed, but they look like wild turkeys.  

They're very cool looking and are fairly friendly.  The only problem is that they don't want to go into their coop at night!  For about 1-1/2 weeks I've had to grab them off a low tree branch and put them into the coop when we go to close them up at night (usually around 9 p.m.).  That wasn't so bad, except when our neighbor had to do it for me when I had to take Greg to the ER!  Poor Jessica!   She wasn't exactly thrilled about having to do that!

If that wasn't bad enough, the last two nights, the stupid things have flown up on top of the chicken coop when it was time for bed!  Seriously?  What's up with THAT?  The first night, (Saturday), I was able to grab one and then had to get up on a ladder and literally push the other off the coop with a push broom!   So, we got them safely in bed Saturday night.  

Wouldn't you know it, once again, last night, the stupid things were on top of the coop again!  I happened to be watching out the patio door and saw how they did it.  They jumped onto the little coop, onto the window sill (the window was open), and then up onto the coop!  Oh, geeze!  So, last night, I was again able to grab one, who managed to scratch my arm pretty good with his claws.   It started to welt right away like I do when the cats scratch me, and was bleeding slightly.  But I had more important things to do than worry about the scratch, and that was to get the other stupid turkey off the roof of the coop!  Greg came out to help me.  I was on the ground this time, with the push broom, trying to get the stupid thing to fly off the roof.  He finally did, and we were able to coax him into the big coop.  This was the first time that everyone was in the big coop overnight!  I was a little concerned, but they needed to figure out their "pecking order" and who sleeps where at some point.  

I let them out early this morning, because I was concerned about how they fared overnight.  The baby chicks are getting bigger, but they're still quite a bit smaller than the full grown chickens, so I was more worried about them than anything.  Everyone was just fine this morning, so I'm really hoping that the turkeys will just go into the big coop without me having to chase them off any roofs!  If this keeps happening, we are going to have to clip their wings sooner than we anticipated.    As for my scratch, I washed it well when we were done, but it still itched (again, the way it does when a cat scratches me), and it was still welted.  I slathered it with some triple antibiotic ointment and that seemed to help.  It was a little red this morning, but it hardly hurts at all now.  So all is well.    If anyone has suggestions for names for these two jerks, I'm all ears!  We don't know if they're male or female, and they look so much alike that we'll probably never know who is who, but still, they need names!     

Just for fun, here's a few more pics of our flock.  These are our Guineas.  The bigger one in the back is the male we got two years ago.  He had four mates, but they became casualty's of the highway (Guineas like to roam, and aren't quite smart enough to look for traffic).  The one in front we got when we got the turkeys and chicks.  We didn't know if she was female or not, but took a chance.  We got lucky (and so does the guinea! ha, ha) in that she's a hen, and he's not as much of a jerk as he was when he was all alone.   They are always together.   Oh, the Guineas need names, too!   Any thoughts on that are welcome, too!

The geese and ducks and a couple of the chickens just hanging out.   

And one more of George (our Naked Neck Rooster) and a couple of hens wandering about the yard.  

Hoping bedtime goes smoothly tonight!  

Blessings to all!  

This Time We DID End up in the ER!

I really hate this disease.   There are no words to express how much I hate this.  There are no words to express how much I've hated to see my husband deal with cancer three times in the last 25 years.  No words.

Monday night, Greg made a pork roast on the grill.  He cut a piece off to eat and, even though he chews his food up VERY finely and drinks lots of water while he's eating, a small piece of meat got lodged in his throat.  For over an hour he tried coughing it up and nothing was working.  I gave him some Coke to drink (it helps stuff to dissolve), and that didn't work.  After arguing with him, I finally got him to agree to go to the ER.  Mind you, it's a 30 minute drive to get there because we live in the middle of nowhere. 

The entire drive to the hospital, he's gagging and coughing.  I gave him an empty ice cream bucket, because he was spitting up stuff and that's as good a puke bucket as anything!  When we got to the hospital, Greg went and sat down and I got him checked in.  While we were being checked in, the young lady at the desk called and told them that there was a 61 year old man with esophageal cancer that had something lodged in his throat.  I assumed someone would be coming out to get him.  I was wrong.  After about 15 minutes a nurse came out, looked at him and said "Oh, you're breathing fine.  It's going to be a little while yet."  Granted it seemed fairly busy in the ER, especially for a Monday night, but I couldn't believe they weren't going to take him back right away!   We tried sitting away from everyone, because the sound of his coughing and gagging and hacking up stuff was pretty gross.  It was getting to me, too.  (I can't handle puke, it makes me want to gag!)   While we were sitting there, of course, some people couldn't help peeking around the corner to see who it was that sounded like they're dying of Ebola or something!    One woman looked at me very compassionately, and I told her about his cancer and that he has some food lodged in his throat.  She and the person she was with couldn't believe they were making us wait.  The other people in the waiting room just shook their heads.  There was no one there with any sort of life threatening illness, and truth be told, I'm pretty sure a bunch of them were there because their insurance won't cover an office visit!   

So, after at least 30 minutes we finallly got called to "triage."  The nurse takes our information and tells us that we have to wait again, because the procedure room needs to be cleaned, and that's the room they're going to want to use for Greg.   OK, fine.  More waiting.  Believe it or not, I was fairly nice to the nurses.  I was disgusted with the waiting, but I knew there was nothing that I could do to make anything happen any faster.  Greg was actually surprised that I managed to hold my temper!   

When we finally got into the ER, the doctor wanted to try a drug called Glucagon, which is supposed to relax the sphincter muscle in the esophagus to allow the food to go down.  This is normally a very quick working drug.  The doctor said it's one of those drugs that either works or it doesn't.  Unfortunately for Greg, it didn't work.   

Because that didn't work, they had to call in a Gastroenterologist.  We were lucky enough to have Dr. Christopher Young attending to Greg.  This doctor is the most compassionate, nicest, sweetest doctor I have ever met!  And that is no exaggeration!   While he was examining Greg, we were talking about his cancer, and Greg mentioned that he was "Iron Man" because of how he has beaten cancer twice before.  Dr. Young was more than just a little impressed at what Greg has all been through.  We talked about the endoscopy he was going to have to do on Greg and what he expected to happen.    He walked me out to the waiting room and then left to perform the procedure.  He came back about 20 minutes later to tell me he was all done.  He even had some pictures for me!   

In this first picture, I have circled and put an arrow to the food that was stuck in Greg's esophagus. 

Greg's esophagus is narrower than a healthy person's, but that is to be expected, considering his diagnosis.    We do not know if things are better for him or not because this picture doesn't show it.   One of the things that Greg may end up having done is to have his esophagus dilated, to make it wider.   It's basically stretching it out.  Hopefully he won't need to have that done, but that is an option, nonetheless. 

While Dr. Young was in there, he took some other pictures, including this one of Greg's feeding tube from the inside!  

Isn't that cool?!!!   I find this sort of thing absolutely fascinating.  Hopefully, no one is too grossed out by the pictures, but if you've been following us for any length of time, you already know that we're not shy about posting pictures of Greg's various physical issues.  

After Dr. Young was done, all we had to do was wait for Greg to wake up sufficiently so I could take him home.  That took almost an hour.  Trust me when I say I was ready to go home.  It was already 1 a.m. and I really needed to get to bed.  I had left a voice mail for my supervisor at 10:30 p.m., so she would understand why I wasn't in at my usual time.   I  must say, I have some really awesome supervisors who are so understanding.  I'm also very blessed to be working from home!  Even though I started late, I was able to get extra sleep because all I have to do is walk downstairs to my office!   It's great to not have to worry about how I look or what I'm wearing.  Truth be told, I was in my pajamas until 4:30 p.m.!  Isn't that great!  LOL 

Anyway, when we finally left the hospital, I was starving, as I hadn't eaten dinner.  The only place that was open at 1 a.m. was Hardees, so I pulled into their drive through.  I asked Greg if he wanted anything, and he said "a burger!"  I damn near died when he said that!  After all that he had been through, to say he wanted a burger, well, I think he's tjust rying to kill me!   (LOL) Obviously, I did not get him a burger.   He got a chocolate shake!  
  
So that was our Monday night.  We finally got home at 2 a.m.  Neither of us got a lot of sleep.  Me, because I had to get up for work, and Greg because he had to get up to go to the hospital for his last dose of chemo!   Of course we appreciate all your continued prayers that this will heal him!  

Blessings to all! 

Julie

What an Incredibly Awesome, Busy Day!

So, a couple weeks ago, we were offered some free landscaping stone from someone on one of the Facebook groups I belong to.   The only way to get it home was to shovel it by hand into our trailer.  Of course, our dear friends and neighbors, Nate and Jess came and helped us shovel, along with a young woman that Greg used to work with and her father.   We took as much rock as we could, but just couldn't get it all, even though I would have dearly loved to do just that.   I wasn't sure if I would have enough rock to do what I wanted to do, but it was what it was.  

The first project I tackled was in the very front of the yard.   This is the ugly before picture. Notice how everything is overgrown in front of the light pole?  Yea, it's ugly!  

Here is what I did with some of the free rock that we picked up.  Isn't that gorgeous!  I do need to move the chicken feeder, as it's kind of lobsided with three things on one side and only one on the other.   I used the larger rocks to make the border, and just kind of followed the natural grass line.  

Yesterday, Nate and Jess came over with the kids to help out with the rest of the rock.  Everybody got started working, including the kids.  Jess brought over some boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and it was Greg's job to make lunch, seeing as he couldn't do any of the yard work.  When he tried cutting hte grass the other day his feeding tube started bleeding and oozing, so he was banned from any work whatsoever.   He just finished his 5 days of 24/7 chemo (he calls it his "to go" chemo) LOL   But he's having a hard time with it.  He's been exhausted lately and of course, not sleeping well.  Monday, he barely slept, and ended up taking almost a 5 hour nap on Tuesday while we were working in the yard.  Of course, that meant he couldn't sleep last night, either.  He's trying very hard to not take a nap so that he can sleep tonight.   

He has commented that each chemo has been harder than the last on him.  I can't even imagine.  He is my hero.  I know that the chemo is hard on him by he way he acts.  Things he normally loves, bother him now.  It has surprised me at how his attitudes about some things have changed.  It's because the drugs are changing him.  If YOU were getting filled with poison every four weeks, you'd change too!    I just have to learn how to live with him differently.  I'm sure we'll manage.  After all, we've been dealing with cancer for 25 years and God is with us.  He is watching over us and He is teaching us, and by me writing this blog, He is teaching you, as well!  Isn't that just incredible? How we are all touched by God?  

Anyway, Greg did a GREAT job grilling the chicken breasts and yanking stuff out of the fridge to put out quite the spread for an impromptu lunch for a group!  Everyone was quite happy and had lots of energy to finish the job!  Here are the before pictures of the front yard where we were working.  This is directly in front of the house, with bedroom windows upstairs and the family room and my office in the lower level.  

As you can see, everything is VERY overgrown.  I'll have to wait until fall to trim some of the bushes, but we did yank out a couple!   Just wait until you see the "after" pictures!   

We hadn't been working long when Jess' mom showed up!  Debi is a powerhouse when it comes to yard work and yanking weeds, and generally working on what needed to be done!  She was amazing! We had been working for just over an hour, when we were surprised by one our chuch friends, and Dan pulled up with shovel in hand to help out!  What an incredible blessing that was!  We certainly needed his help!  He worked his butt off shoveling stone from the trailer into the wheelbarrow and bringing it to the front where we were working.  

As I said, we wanted to yank out a couple of bushes that were half dead and needed to go. One of them was being stubborn, so we first tried to yank it out  with the help of the lawn tractor.  Abby had her waterproof barn bibs on because she was trimming in a "swampy" area of the yard and didn't want to get wet and full of dirt.  She added a nice pop of color! Ha, ha!  

As you can see from this photo, the lawn tractor did not work!  Dan put his Jeep to good use and we got that sucker out!  YAY!

Dan is coming around from the back yard with a load of rocks.  If you look closely, you can see another pile of rocks to the right in the driveway.  

Jessica and Dan are emptying a load of larger rocks that are being used as the border.  

And finally . . . here are the "after" pictures!  

I joked with Jess that I could decorate the entire front without having to buy a thing because I already have so much "stuff."  And guess what?  That's exactly what I did.  The old cast iron stove in this picture is something Greg had when I met him 33 years ago!  It has been outside as a plant holder for the last 19 years.  It was on our deck in back, but it looks much better here in front.  The large rock that is there is actually fake!  Erica used it when she was doing portrait photography, but as she's no longer doing portrait photography, it now belongs to me!  

In the picture above, you can see four cement stones.  We made those on July 30, 2000. The kids each have their own stone with their handprints and Greg and I share one with our handprints.  I had completely forgotten about these stones until they were found buried underneath pine needles and an overgrown evergreen!  I was so excited to find them and had to find a special place for them in the yard.  The next picture is a close-up of all four stones.  The color on them is a little off because they were wet from being washed.  

The washtub in this picture has kind of a funny story.  When we lived in Sturtevant, I was taking the kids to the babysitter on garbage day.  Someone had this in their pile of garbage.  Well, I stopped and grabbed the washtub, but left the stand there.  Once I got to work, I was berating myself for not grabbing the stand, too.  I called the babysitter and told her where it was located and asked her if she would mind picking it up for me.  She said she used to garbage pick with her dad all the time when she was younger, so had no problem getting it for me.  It was close enough to walk, so the kids were absolutely mortified by the excursion!  Ha ha!   The "pot" that the flowers are in, I picked up at a flea market a couple years ago.  It's some sort of strainer that's used on the farm.    And I've had that masher for over ten years, too.  I don't remember what it's used for any more, but it's cool, so there it is.  Oh, and that wagon wheel is over 100 years old.  I picked it up about 14 years ago just to irritate our old neighbors who preferred a naked yard, rather than one that is landscaped like ours was/is.  

I also have to let everyone know that Erica helped us this week, too!  She did one of the hardest trimming jobs, and that is the ditch next to the road in front of the barn!  It was fairly warm the day she did the trimming, so she got one heck of a workout  She did a great job and I was incredibly happy to not have to do that!   She was home to take some family pictures for our neighbors, so I stole her zoom lens to take pictures!  Course, I put it back before she even knew I used it!  

So, there you have it!   The rock is where it belongs and some other yard work got done, all with the help of some amazing people!  And it was all FREE!  Can't beat that price!  Nate, Jess, Debi, Dan, Abby, Erica and Greg!   All tremendous blessings that God has placed in my life!    

Blessings to All!

Julie 

It's become difficult financially without Greg working, so if you so inclined --> Greg's Go Fund Me

Father's Day! Greg and I both failed!

Yesterday was Father's Day, so Greg wanted to grill.  Nothing new about that, his nickname when we were younger was "Greg Grill!"  One of the first meals he cooked for me was steak that he grilled in the rain (under the neighbor's garage overhang) and in about 40 degree weather!   So, Greg wanting to grill is no big deal.  He wanted to make a Beef Brisket that we had in the freezer, so he took it out a couple days early and rubbed it down.  It was kind of a "thin" brisket, but was a brisket nonetheless.  He figured it would take quite a while to cook, along with adding some smoke.  Somehow, he managed to cook it at too high of a temperature and we ended up with shoe leather!  Mind you, HE is the one that called it a "failure!"  

And, just to be truthful here, I had my own failure.  For the first time, I made my mother's Pineapple Upside Down Cake.   I didn't realize at first that it called for a 12" cast iron pan.  I have more cast iron than most people have regular pots and pans, so imagine my utter shock that I do not own a 12" cast iron skillet!  Oh, the horror!   I had to improvise, so I used a 10" skillet and a 6" skillet.  I thought because of the amount of baking powder, that it would rise a lot more, and be OK.  Well, THAT was wrong!   My skillets are completely smooth and totally non-stick, but apparently, it was too much for them to have that much butter and brown sugar!  I don't know.  I DO know that I will have to try this again!  The cake tastes amazing, it just looks a little ugly!  LOL

Now that you know I've failed at cooking something, you need to know that that was NOT easy for me to admit!  LOL  Even with this, I'm still an AWESOME cook!  LOL!  

Aside from all the yard work I've been doing I was finally able to finish planting my flowers and cleaning up the deck!  I've had to put the plants under cover a lot because of all the storms we've had.  I certainly don't want to lose them!  I do that every year, but this year we are having a LOT more storms than normal.  Like every other day or every third day.  That's very unusual for North Central Wisconsin.  So, I've often times felt like the "Dunkin Donuts" guy -- put the flowers away; take the flowers out.  OYE!   

So, here's some pictures from the deck that I took the other day. 

We made the benches on the deck two years ago based on something I saw on Pinterest!  I changed it up a little bit as Pinterest didn't have "backs," and I felt it was too "unfinished looking" without the backs, so we added that.  Plus I had to figure out how to do the corner so that I could do both sides.  I painted the cinder blocks last year, and they turned out really nice.   They're actually quite comfortable, too.  You just have to be careful not to "slide" on them, so you don't accidentally get a sliver in your butt!  Ha, ha!  

Three years ago, when the steps were starting to rot, we couldn't afford to replace the stairs, so we did the next best thing by adding bricks to them!  That also turned out very well and very reasonable! 

And one final picture.  Every time it rains, the barn seems to fall a little more.   

So, that's all that's going on right now.  Greg is doing very well since his last radiation.  They told us it would get worse before it gets better, and so far, that ball has not dropped!  There is still much amazement from his doctors at how well he is tolerating all of this, especially considering how poisoned his body has been from previous radiation and chemos. 

Prayers to all!

Julie 


Greg's Go Fund Me