February Reflections

 

Etsy

 I realize this is a long post. I apologize for that. I tried to edit it down. Please forgive me. I will try to do better about this.

Snowy and Cold

 

Winter got here this past month. Phil predicted six more weeks of winter, no big surprise to me. Before we had snow, we had cold temperatures. When the snow came, we still had cold temperatures.  We had three visits of winter to our area The last time, we had ice and freezing rain before the snow.

 

Physical Therapy

 

Per my Radiation Doctor, I started physical therapy for lymphedema, a side effect from the lumpectomy. I saw the therapists three times a week from the middle of January for  six weeks.

After one session and a day of home exercises, I felt better that I have in quite a while. Good sleep and the absence of pain were causes of the change. However, the morning after session two, I felt a lot of pain. I finally figured it out. I needed to wear my fleece jacket over my sweater etc. Once I did that, my arm stopped hurting.

 

I received a compression garment that extends from my wrist almost to my shoulder. It felt like a cast on my arm. I wore it 23 hours a day until my compression sleeve arrived.

 

 My “New Normal”

 

I received my compression sleeve and glove. I also got some news I wasn’t expecting. I will have to wear this sleeve and glove until Jesus calls me home. At night, I wear the compression garment and hand piece, also until Jesus calls me home.

 

I texted those in my local prayer group and told them the surprising news. My best friend texted back that this sounded like my ‘new normal’, hence the heading of this section.

 

An Invitation to a Poetry Group

 

I am a member of a Christian writers’ forum. The site recently went to another server. The result is a crisper page and reformatting the appearance of the pages.

 

When I logged on the second time after the redo, I had an invitation to a poetry group awaiting me (for those who write read or enjoy poetry.) I used to write poetry and am considering writing some again. It may help me to get out of my “writers block”.

 

 Some Pleasant Surprises

 

On the day before Valentines Day, it was my turn to give the Children’s Moments message.

I chose to have a Valentine message, bringing out the love of God. I used the blog entry of February 14^th and edited it for children. The Children’s Director thought it was good. After Church, I had two women tell me it was great.

 

Our Sunday school class leader was back with us that day. She gave me a gift, a book entitled “graceland” by Ruth Chou Simons. It is a devotional book with added scripture readings and the author’s artwork. As I looked through it, the artwork echoed the scriptures. This book is interactive. At the beginning, to get the most out of it, the author suggests certain auxiliary items to enhance the experience.  The book is divided into four sections, one for each season. I have added this book to my pile to read.

 

 Valentine’s Day Mission

 

Last year, our church presented our neighboring nursing home with Valentines etc. for 90 residents. This year, our pastor announced that the church has been asked about doing it again. The congregation brought in enough items for 103 residents.

 

A Different Type of Writing

 

During my physical therapy evaluation, the therapist explained something to me about the cost of an essential item used in the treatment of lymphedema not being covered by Medicare. She has been to Washington D.C. and talked with senators about the importance of having this item covered by Medicare. There are people, women, and men, who would benefit from this bill being enacted into legislation. I felt the need to do something to try to help. I wrote three letters, one to each of our senators and one to our representative about the importance of this act to those who are affected by this condition. This neglected act is named, Lymphedema Treatment Act.

 

There is a website for this bill. One page lists activities people can do to help garner attention of the government about this need. One item was that each person with this condition write their story about lymphedema. My physical therapist encouraged me to do it. I did just that.

 

Substitute Teaching Sunday School

 

Due to illness in my Sunday school leader’s family, they had their family Christmas celebration on January 2. I knew ahead of time. We were between study books. I chose to be daring and teach a lesson based on one of my blog entries, (NEW).