Bubbles

These bubbles in my head --- yes. That's right. I'm officially an airhead. All insults welcome.

Seems that the air trapped inside the skull after the craniotomy will take a while to disperse. I have this dripping or popping inside my head, which started when I was still in ICU. Quite funny, really - sometimes louder than other times, and often it sort of echoes inside my mouth or teeth.

At first the sound was mostly on top of my head and I could put a finger on the wound site and almost "feel" the sound which happened at the same time inside my mouth. No, not a pulse, I checked! The rhythm is different. This is a whole other animal galloping around.

Lately it seems the sound had settled in my forehead, just above the right eye. If you tap a forefinger on your forehead, not too gently, you'll more or less hear the same sound. Sometimes it is much louder than other times. I've tried taping the sound - like having Pop Rocks inside my mouth - but nothing recorded. Guess it is all in the mind ....

Two weeks since surgery, and it is utterly amazing how much healing has happened. Mind you, I do keep bumping my head! It freaks Arno out. I hit it when getting into or out of a car, I hit it on the wall at the top of the bed. You know how a hurt finger or toe keeps getting bumped and in the way? Well, it seems to work with a head too!

Saturday I gave it a really good whack when settling on the bed to read a bit. The pillow I had ready, somehow moved down and whack! Arno was so upset, he went into our storage space, dug out a foam mattress cover and with some painter's tape in hand, set to making a bed buffer for his whacky wife. He'll probably not be happy about me sharing the picture, but here it is! Double layer foam, stuck to the wall good and proper without damaging it. I said if the tape stays a while, it might pull off the paint. "Then I paint the wall again!" he declared quite adamantly. Good man. Yes, I know.

The kids are having fun -- I now have two knit hats to add to the collection covering the bald spot, courtesy of Jaco and Chelsea! Sunday morning the pink one made its debut at church. But I had to send a picture to ask if it is the "acceptable level of floppiness" or if adjustments might be needed. I have no sense of style, see? They also brought a handful of socks, some with half a face of a cat or pug on either foot. The pugs went along to the fairgrounds on Sunday, and amused some friends.

FALL FAIR FUN
The annual Fall Fair is over for another year. I love the fair, the smells, the sights, the people and the displays. Only wish we can somehow get more interest and have more people to take part! It is not about winning; it is about putting something in place to look at, to enjoy, to share, and to learn or teach. Did you know you can enter all sorts of crafts and hobbies, including baking, jams and jellies, knitting or crochet, antique items, flowers (both cut and potted), and more? Seriously - it is fun! Gardeners can enter their vegetables, including a class for the oddest shaped vegetable.

Look at these huge pumpkins, for instance, grown by young men in the community. The stalks top left are sunflowers, and the competition is for the tallest one.

Every year for the last five years or so, I've had the joy of being close to one of the raptors that were brought to educate and entertain visitors. Arno usually took the pictures. However, this year, he had the chance of holding the Bald Eagle as well. She is much heavier than she looks!

You can see the steri strips still covering his wound site. The stitch comes out on Wednesday. This time the wound seems more swollen than the previous time. We just hope it will heal as well again! We have the Miracle Oil all ready for application.


THE PORK ON THE PORCH
Today I received a phone call, saying that one of the kind church friends had left a meal for us on the porch. I just happened to be out at that time.

An hour later I arrive home --- and find no covered dishes waiting to be taken inside. What to do? I already sent a thank you, but what could have happened to the food? Nobody would have taken it from an enclosed porch, surely? And suppose there are dishes to be returned? I would have to check in and brave any discomfort.

Within two or three text messages flying back and forth, we determine that the delivery was made one street over. Now what? Do I try to find the house owners? Do I go and demand my food back? Do I leave it and hope they will enjoy an unexpected supper?

Too many questions, and too many options! I'm not so sure I'd eat a meal that suddenly arrives at my doorstep without prior notice! Suppose they toss it out? No, I'm off to find my food!

Around the block I walk, cell phone firmly clutched in hand, watching the house numbers. Two doors down from the target house, a lady is washing her car and fighting one of the obnoxious bees that seem to be everywhere this summer. We exchange pleasantries, and I wonder if she might watch where I'm going.

The house appears -- covered porch in sight - and I can see the containers from the sidewalk. All quiet. Nobody home. So I pick up the containers and purposefully stride away, arms full and eyes forward. Did anyone watch? Will I be stopped for stealing someone's food? Maybe if I move quickly enough I can be away before they start questioning what's going on!

Around the corner -- switch arms -- breathe --- go! Old bod protests against the sudden activity, clearly still trying to pretend to need to rest every so often. But here's our house, and a table. Phew! Breathe, woman, breathe! Hubby chooses that instant to call. I'm giving an admirable impression of  heavy breathing on the phone and can hear his concern mount on the other side. "Wait .... (wheeze) .... food ... (hiss) ... key .... (whoosh) ..."

All's well that ends well, and the kindly prepared meal is where it is supposed to be! Pulled pork and the freshest rolls, cabbage salad and a shepherd's pie to freeze for later. The generosity of people is amazing, and all we can do will be to pay it forward.

Little does number # Behind-us Street know that for a brief, shining while today they had supper all prepared and ready for them - and just as suddenly, it was snatched away, promptly done out of food!

Dear Life,
Today I'm thankful for laughter and misunderstandings, for cell phones and text messages, and for the many kind people around me.
Marlene

Night at the hospital

Posting from home!

Apologies about no blog update yesterday. Didn't think anyone wanted to know anything after the fact of the completed surgery but caught flack from Janie (fortunately not a shoe flung to the head this time from her!) Trying to do a blog post from the iPad is - well - interesting to say the least.

So here goes. Updating you through the two nights and today spent at hospital. The end of this post will carry a warning so anyone squeamish can avoid scrolling past the "safe" stuff.

Yesterday (Sept. 9) was interesting after very little sleep during the night following surgery. My alarms and monitors kept going off since stuff attached to all four limbs and blood draining tube coming out back of the head out of the incision.

I tried sleeping, then playing games on the iPad, doze a bit, chat a bit - technology helped to pass the night, for sure!

Around 1:00 am during Tuesday night, which is 7 am Wednesday morning in South Africa, I phoned my dad to wish my brother success with his own surgery.  Complicated bladder procedure.  He was just getting changed so couldn't talk to him but good to set my dad's mind at ease about me so he could concentrate on the next child in surgery!

The ICU room was fabulous.  My night nurse, Catherine, a jewel. Within minutes of coming on duty, she had sorted out my blood collecting container from the wound by pinning it to the front of my surgical gown - it kept slipping off my shoulder and tugging the draining tube inside the wound.  Sort of like a mini-suction tube like you have at the dentist. Pinned to the gown, it magically didn't move and pull!

She didn't want to smile for a picture, though. But gave me a hug when she went off duty the next morning. Truly a sweetheart.

Catherine helped me brush my teeth in bed, since I couldn't get up yet.  Towels and dishes, water and wash cloths were brought.  Such a little thing, but makes such a difference I how you feel.  In the previous blog post you could see my liquid meal. Catherine went hunting for apple sauce to add to the bounty.  She came back with six little packets she had "stolen" from somewhere.  Just a little more substantial than lemon jello and cranberry juice! I snacked on those during the night.

7:41 am, Sept 9, 2015 (less than 24 hours after start of surgery): 
Surgeon came by to visit, took one look and stood smiling like a proud papa at the foot of the bed.  Guess that's a good sign! He also removed the head draining tube which was a huge relief.

Biska wanted to know if the wound was covered or not, so I took a picture.  Then Fi reckoned it was covered to protect my brain from zombies! My nurse, Jerry (who used to be a lumberjack in a previous life), told me to go look at YouTube to find how to avoid a Zombie Apocalypse. Such good and supportive friends, dragging new people into the void, right? Lol 

8:50 am, Sept 9, 2015 (24 hours after start of surgery): 

I have COFFEE! and it tastes good, not like the muck served up at Brampton Civic Hospital.  If Trillium can serve "real" coffee to patients, why can't Brampton? Same county and all that. 

Catheter removed and monitors off. Finger thingy to measure blood oxygen off. Yay! That thing bugged me squeezing my finger all night long.

Catheter was removed and Nurse Jerry said I should want to go to the washroom to drain my bladder in about four hours. Nope! My body, as usual, had its own ideas. Less than half an hour later he helped me stand and I went potty all by meself. Twice in one hour. Still swollen enough not to be able to get rings back on. 

Bat comments: I'm astounded! God is awesome!

She reckoned I deserved a sucker. Friend Bev came by with a Fortinos Cranberry-oatmeal cookie as prize. And another Timmies coffee. Hubby had already brought one earlier that morning when he stopped by. 

Green prayer shawl made by friend Sue H. kept me company in bed.

The DVT pump cuffs from ankle to thigh on each leg

around 7 pm, Sept 9, 2015 (31 hours after end of surgery): 

Walked with Arno through the hospital to the Timmies at the Main Entrance to visit with Jaco and Chelsea since my new room had barely enough space for two beds, never mind visitors. By then the wound dressing had come off and I had 25 staples and a very funky new hairdo on display. (Picture will be at the end of this post, so if you don't want to see, don't scroll pass a clear warning I'll insert!) 

Biska: Was your bum hanging out your green gown at least?

Hmf!

Answer: No! As soon as I was upright during the morning after surgery, I went to wash myself from forehead to tail and dressed in my own pink pjs. Nurse came by to help me wash --- and stood in the door with hands on hips, smiling and frowning at my attire. But she couldn't have been too mad. Called me "sunshine" and came by to visit in the new room. 

Between 1 am and 3:30 am, morning of Sept. 10:

My new roommate was noisy and complaining from the start when I got to the new room at 7 pm. Every time my nurse came in to do the paperwork to get me checked into the new ward, roomie would set up a wailing and demand for attention. Nurse would look at me apologetically and go over to her side. That's when hubby and I left the room to leave them to it, visiting with the kids elsewhere. Roomie was waiting for surgery but we couldn't understand why she was kept in a room instead of down in pre-op. 

Finally by 11 pm I had my last meds, put in my foam earplugs and donned eye mask to try and sleep. It worked - for about two hours when nurse shook me awake to give another pill. After that, sleeping was a joke, what with roomie kicking up a fuss as soon as her family walked in the room, setting off her IV alarm with her antics and then not pressing the bell to get the nurse to quiet the thing again. Piercing through the ear plugs. They kept telling her it was a sensitive thing and not to carry on so, but she would have none of that. 

I kicked up Netflix and put in the earbuds to watch Lilo and Stitch and not try to antagonize Morpheus! Then roomie  pooped the bed. Poor nurse had to clean up while I could pull my head under the sheet. By 3 am they bumped and moved my bed to get hers out to go to operating theatre. 

Sleep came after that, until once again I woke to bed being pulled and moved around to get her back in the room after surgery. She was on a morphine pump and I could hear the thing going constantly, again with the IV alarm going off every few minutes. 

By 5 am I slept again, only to be shaken awake again at 6 am for a pill and taking of vitals. A really good nap to about 6:45 am was enough to make me feel a little more human again. 

** Rant over ***

7 am, Sept. 10 (47 hours after start of surgery):

Took my trusty and beloved small Norwex cloth into the teeny tiny bathroom and started wiping some of the hard, dried blood out of the front part of my hair. Amazed at how much came out and how much better I felt after that! 

Breakfast arrived shortly after, and now knowing that the coffee was good, asked if there was maybe an extra cup around meant for a patient who was discharged. Roomie, probably trying to make up for the night, offered hers since she wasn't going to drink it. So I returned the favour by sharing lotion with her for her feet and a bendy straw I had brought from home. 

About 9 am, Sept 10:

Surgeon stopped in, smiled broadly and said he's "telling other doctors about me" - not sure what, since I was really trying to behave and not be difficult! He said he is leaving it up to Arno and I to decide what to do, going home today or staying until Friday morning. And I finally got him to smile for a picture with me after begging since before surgery! Thanked him for relieving the pressure in my head that felt like a tight helmet for the last few years. My head certainly felt lighter, after son Theo asked me to pay attention to that. 

Around 11 am, Sept 10:

Friend Rouxline came by after merrily driving down to the Lakeshore instead of turning on Queensway. LOL She had a goody bag in hand, but took one smell in my room and we departed to Timmies again to visit and have a steeped tea. Friends Carolyn and Bill called to say they are dropping by and joined us, her with a container of her 99-year old dad's homemade date squares which I love, and a container of more goodies. I thought I was going to go on my blubber during this surgery ... no such luck! 

After Carolyn and Bill walked me back to my room, knowing Arno was on the way, I enjoyed lunch - which was again too much to finish. I had the cauliflower soup, fruit and salad and left the pasta for Arno.

Told the nurses I'd vacant the bed and go sleep at home for the night. They started the discharge process, I waited for another friend to drop by --- thanks, Alexa! Took only about three years and a brain operation to see you again .... and then we were on the way home.

Peace and quiet, a nap on my own bed, cats saying hello, rooibos tea and Theo's homemade buttermilk rusks -- life is good!

From brain surgery to home in about 55 hours - not bad, I'd say. And not at all what was expected. Thought I'd be out of commission for days. Prayer at work.

MRI to be taken in about 6 weeks and back to the surgeon for checkup after that.

THANK YOU for all the messages, care, thoughts, prayers, emails, calls and interest from all over! I'm truly humbled and buoyed up by many people.

Now we concentrate on preparing Arno for his surgery on Sept. 16.

Oh and brother Andre came through his surgery, originally in a lot of pain, but now under control. He was still on bed rest and liquid diet when I talked to him earlier today. But sounded in good spirits and on the way back to health now that it was all over.

Thanks for all the thoughts surrounding him too!

WARNING
Picture of wound with staples showing will follow below.  
Stop scrolling now if you don't want to see. I'll post small and those who want to see details, can click to enlarge. 

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Still scrolling? Okay, here's a "safe" picture of the pink pjs and green prayer shawl. But below that is the staples. 

Front view

Back view with 25 staples and funky hairdo

The black marks and yellow-green bruises are where the prongs were stuck into the skin to hold the head absolutely still during the drilling and sawing process, as well as the surgery itself. 

Staples come out next week, about ten days after surgery. I got a special staple remover! My usual doctor will remove them. 

Good night, sweet friends!

UPDATED: Brain Surgery Day

 Marlene: Writing this post on Monday evening, and setting to go live at 6 am our time on Tuesday, September 8. At that time, we should be at the hospital. So no, Valerie, I'm not posting from the operating table!  :-) Technology is!

We had a joyful Monday as we got to spend time with both sets of kids. What a privilege! We had a photo shoot in Gage park, using the magnificent plants and flowers to play with backgrounds. Below is a quick collage of just a few shots.

Tripod, remote shutter release, various stops and poses and patient subjects.

Afterwards, we stopped at T by Daniel  and had the man himself serve us with his usual exuberance!
Thank you to so many people for love and care, messages and calls, concern and prayers. We can never thank you enough.
Off to bed now --- and Jenni will take over, posting a few times during the day as she gets updates from Arno. Remember to hit Refresh / reload if you come back later for updates!

Jenn (11.30am): Marlene and Arno made it to the hospital at 6am and were processed through very quickly by hospital staff. Arno sent this pic at a bit before 8am saying that they had an estimated 3 to 4 hour operation ahead and when I last followed up around 11.15am, it was still a work in progress.

12:30pm: Marlene is out of surgery. The doctors say that they were successful in removing most of the growth and preliminary analysis shows it to be benign. She will be kept in recover for a couple of hours and then moved to the after-surgery critical care area so that the staff can monitor her.

1:30pm: Arno sent a couple of pics of Marlene coming to with her head bandaging slightly visible in the second photo (the surgeons shaved a piece off near the top of her head ... very punk rock!). He says she is a bit groggy but is talking and seems to be doing okay.

5:00pm: Marlene is on her way to the critical care area. As you can see, she's already on the phone and checking in on people.

6:20pm: Marlene sent me a collage of what she sees from her bed right now with all of the cables and tubes hooked up to her. Says her head is a bit sore but mostly okay, and that her hair feels the weirdest right now! All stiff from the operation. She will be staying in this room until tomorrow afternoon and then should be moved to a shared room at that point. (TW: picture below includes a shot of the bandages, which are a bit bloody)

7:00pm: No coffee, but Marlene gets a liquid dinner (not that kind of liquid dinner...)

Brain Surgery Day

Writing this post on Monday evening, and setting to go live at 6 am our time on Tuesday, September 8. At that time, we should be at the hospital. So no, Valerie, I'm not posting from the operating table!  :-) Technology is!

We had a joyful Monday as we got to spend time with both sets of kids. What a privilege! We had a photo shoot in Gage park, using the magnificent plants and flowers to play with backgrounds. Below is a quick collage of just a few shots.

Tripod, remote shutter release, various stops and poses and patient subjects.

Afterwards, we stopped at T by Daniel  and had the man himself serve us with his usual exuberance!

Thank you to so many people for love and care, messages and calls, concern and prayers. We can never thank you enough.

Off to bed now --- and Jenni will take over, posting a few times during the day as she gets updates from Arno. Remember to hit Refresh / reload if you come back later for updates!

Surgery updates

Thyroid

Less than a month after his partial thyroidectomy, hubby already played softball again! The healing is amazing.
Below is a combination picture - taken less than 24 hours apart. The first one was taken shortly after surgery. Tape measure is around his neck to check for any swelling.
The next day, the tape measure was gone and he looked a little bit more "there"! The draining tube was removed about 24 hours after surgery and only left a small scab.

A week later, we had to go in for the stitches to be removed. Since it was only a single stitch, sort of like a blanket stitch (new to us!) I hardly had time to get the camera in place for a picture! He said it was more trouble to have the steri strips being pulled off than for the stitch to be removed.

The surgeon was happy with the result after seven days. We are still waiting for the pathology results of the removed half of the thyroid, though. I was hoping to have that ready and was holding off on this update for that reason.

Picture to the right was taken a week and one day after surgery, only hours after the stitch was removed.

Thank you for all the messages of concern and offers of help!

Meningioma

If you read a previous entry on this blog, you would know that I was diagnosed with a brain tumour, called a meningioma. My surgery is still scheduled for September 8 at Trillium hospital. By all accounts, their neurological department is excellent. (And it seems they have better coffee than Brampton Civic, which will be a plus! But I'm packing my rooibos teabags anyway.)

Realized last week I might need blood transfusion for my surgery. My sons have been blood donors for about 8 years, and I can use both their groups. I am A+; so is younger son and elder son is O+.  Called to ask if they can donate blood to be used for me, found out I would need about 2 litres during surgery. So that is in the works.

Blood Services Canada said  a parent can donate blood to be used for a child's surgery, but an adult child can't donate blood for a parent's surgery. Silly and makes utterly no sense! Now the surgeon's office is trying to let me know how we can go about using the boys' blood. Voicemail was garbled , though. I said if it is too much trouble, I'd just ask my sons and a few friends to go donate blood, which means the general pool gets replenished.

Oh yes, and the hair! So may people asked if I will have to shave my head. The surgeon said they'll shave what they need, but I decided to have fun with it. So did the hairdresser. She created a funky, spiky hairstyle, which will be cut once more before surgery and go quite a bit shorter. Another friend is making me a very bright hat so that people don't have to get sick when they look at me after surgery!

Here is a picture with a friend on the city plaza while we were enjoying the Farmer's Market. I'm the one on the right .... What do you think?

I'm still playing with it and learning how to do different things with the spikes. Part of it is adding some colour, using cream eye shadow. It works, and washes out with shampoo.

As for symptoms - headaches, fatigue (especially while working on the computer) and sometimes an unexplained twitch of the leg or arm might all have to do with the mushroom I'm growing in my head.

A very interesting year for us, indeed! 

Thank you to friends and family near and far, who carry us in thought and prayer. 

Mah Mushroom

People who visit this blog might have noticed the lack of regular posts the last few months. I stepped back from the activism to get help for Lyme patients, but thank the Lyme community humbly for a tribute they posted. A lot of things have been happening these last months, and this July, many of those might finally come to a head. I'll try to summarize in a succinct way! There are a few headings here below; skip or read at your own discretion, please.  :-)

The bruising

For more than a year now, weird, large, very sore black bruises have been appearing on my legs without any trauma.

I've once again been referred for many tests, including oncology / hematology. Blood taken - 18 vials on Halloween (how's that for irony! LOL) and then referred to the McMaster University Medical Centre in Hamilton for yet more tests. Twelve vials the first time and ten vials a month later. They are sure it is vasculitis, probably a complication of my Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) but my rheumatologist doesn't agree. Those tests and visits kept me busy with no real answers, so I called it quits. I'm happy. Forget a diagnosis and I'll just deal with the bruises. And no, hubby didn't beat me up or kick me back at night when my Restless Leg kicks in! (Pun definitely intended.)

The boob

In April I had a mammogram as part of the Ontario screening program and was called back a week later for an ultrasound. There were "things" found in my left breast and I have to go back in October to have that checked out again. No worries, though, I wasn't going to post a picture of THAT!

The lump

In September last year, while on vacation, I noticed a large lump on the left of Arno's throat. We were out of the country but managed to see a doctor who called in a second opinion. Back in Canada, ultrasound confirmed a 7 cm (2.75 inch) nodule on his thyroid, and two more nodules on the right side.
 A needle biopsy found no cancer. The surgeon said the lump has to come out, though, and because it is so big, cancer is not completely excluded through the biopsy. However, even if it is cancer, it is very slow growing and should not be life-threatening. We have now been waiting nine months for a surgery date.

The collapse

In the middle of June, while we were busy making a batch of antipasto to have on hand for the summer, I felt weird. This was around 5 pm on Sunday night, June 14. While walking upstairs to collect laundry, I suddenly couldn't see, the stairs were jumping all over the place in my vision, I felt very confused and sort of out of it. My left side felt as if it was under water and had to be dragged along. On the landing I was even more confused, forgetting where I was going. I walked to the bathroom but had "forgotten" I had a left side and walked smack-dab and left boob first into the door jamb, rattling the house. Arno thought I had fallen down but I kept calling to him I couldn't see. I turned around, minus laundry, and tried going back downstairs - no, I don't know why! Told you I was confused! Almost fell off the stairs several times because I just couldn't focus. Back in the kitchen I felt like a padlock was hooked into my left cheek, pulling my whole face down. I tried to talk to Arno but he couldn't make out what I was saying, since my speech was slurred.

He made me sit on the floor while he finished bottling the sauce, where I looked up the symptoms for a stroke or mini-stroke (TIA). He drove me to Emergency where we were processed very quickly and into a room with ECG within half an hour. Two doctors gave him heck for not calling an ambulance - which would have taken me to the Stroke Centre. We didn't even know it existed.

The next test was a CT scan, which found a mass in the brain. Then an ultrasound of the neck veins. Around 11 pm yet another doctor came by and mentioned a few possible diagnoses. They were going to keep me for an MRI. Arno went home, and I spent most of the night on a cot in the busy ER, then a few hours in a corner of a hallway near the nurses' station in the Neuro ward.

An MRI confirmed a brain tumour called a Meningioma. I just dubbed it Mah Mushroom. Growing quietly in the dark. Yes, I had symptoms over the last few months but have mostly ignored them. I am even using a bath chair and handle, borrowed from a friend a few months ago because I felt unstable while taking a shower. A few times the headaches reduced me to tears. A feeling of a vice screwed tightly around my head has been ongoing for several months, as well as visual disturbances. I think my blocked left ear might also have something to do with it.

A Neurologist came by around 10 pm on the Monday evening. He spent a long time and said I have to be put on anti-convulsants to avoid seizures. What I had was not a stroke, but a seizure due to pressure on the brain. I was in hospital for four days, and the seizures continued on the left side until the meds kicked in by the Tuesday evening.

After just a week, my old bod went into its usual shenanigans and rejected the meds. I had hives, spots, galloping heartbeat, headache, sweats and shakes. So of course the meds had to be changed - or live with the seizures, which was not an option according to the doctor. I've now been on new meds a week, and so far, so good.

The tumour is near mid center membrane in brain, on top of the head, so might involve some of the large veins, possibly the bone of the falx and other things.

On July 7 I have an appointment with a neurosurgeon who will talk about the following steps, surgery or not, when and where.

I had to return my driver's license and am grounded until such a time as my doctor deems it would be safe to drive again. It might be several months, up to a year. But I have AMAZING friends who all swooped in and offered to drive me / us to and from hospital, to and from appointments, shopping, church and the like. How blessed are we???

Oh and guess what?? While I was in hospital, Arno finally got the call! His surgery is on July 15. What an interesting month for us!

Not knowing how things might progress over the next few days or weeks, I've set up a ......

Guest Author: 

Jenni - She's family, she is articulate and she is an artist. But most importantly, she said "yes" when I asked if she'd take on the job! When / if I have surgery, I might be out of it for a day or two. Friends (bless them!) and family want to be kept updated, hence asking Jenni to do the honours. The posts might be graphic, might include pictures, might sometimes be meant only for family and close friends. In that case, a post might be password protected for a while. Lots of "mights", I know, but guess that is where we are at this particular time.

Please check out Jenni's artwork! She has a website, a Tumblr account, Instagram and a deviantArt account. Her Bio is on The Caffeinated Rose Bride, with other links at the bottom of that post.

Jenni - as I see her (copyright Jenni)

The way she says she is! (copyright Jenni)

If you are still reading, take a break for bravery!
But thank you for caring. See you on the flip side.  :-)