You Just Never Know

You just never know what the day will bring.

On Wednesday, the 21st, I went to school for a short day of substitute teaching. Soon after getting home, B showed me a small dark area with some redness around it on his thigh, plus he was having terrible chills. We're always cautious about the possibility of blood clots (he's been on coumadin since a clot in 2001), so we called and went to the clinic. The dark area kind of looked like a bruise. Well, our doctor had him admitted to our local hospital, put him on an antibiotic for what seemed to be a virus of some kind, and did a CT scan of his lungs, just to be certain no clot had traveled there. None had!

It became obvious that the area on his leg was an infection, and both the center area and the redness around it continued to grow, despite a change in antibiotics. So, on Sunday he was transferred (M and I drove him) to Lincoln to be treated by an infections specialist. They changed him to yet another antibiotic, and this one (along with tons of prayers from friends and family) seems to be taking care of it. He was able to come home the middle of this week, with a 10-day, 4 times a day, prescription.

The infection was deemed “cellulitis.” We definitely need those prayers to continue so that it gets all cleared up.

Because..... needing to do the CT scan of his lungs turned out to be a blessing. The lungs were fine, but part of his kidneys were also in the picture, and our doctor spotted a small, most likely cancerous, tumor on one of them. Otherwise it likely would not have been found until it was larger and causing trouble. As it is, B’s urologist was able to get a full scan done while he was up at Lincoln. The tumor is relatively small, only one, and appears to be contained. An appointment is scheduled in a couple of weeks, once this cellulitis business should be done, when we’ll talk with him more and see what course of action will be taken.

You just never know.

Pencil Sketch #1 of ???--Shoe

Priscilla decided to keep a sketch journal, and plans to use this list for inspiration. Sounds like a great idea! I make no promises as to keeping up, but here's a start anyway! And who knows, maybe I can get better at this.

Disclaimer: This and any subsequent sketches are done merely for my own enjoyment; not with any claims of being an artist!

A Couple of Recipes

This first recipe is similar to GMJ's cake mix cookies recipe. As with them, add whatever baking chips, etc. that you want. For Christmas, I found some red and green striped white chocolate chips to use.

Crackle Cool Whip Cookies
Mix 1 egg in 1 cup of Cool Whip. (Chill.) Then mix with 1 regular size cake mix, whatever flavor you want. With powdered sugar-covered hands, shape into round balls. Dip in powdered sugar. Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. Yield: 3 dozen.

Pringles and Peanuts Candy
Crush one can of Pringle's potato chips (or approx. 6 ounces of another brand).
Mix with 1 cup of unsalted nuts.
Melt 4-5 squares of white almond bark.
Coat the chips/nut mixture.
Either drop by spoonfuls on waxed paper, or spread out and crumble into pieces.