Celebrating Jennifer's Birthday

On Friday, March 28th, we celebrated Jennifer's 30th birthday by delivering 30 craft bags for the Cystic Fibrosis patients at Arkansas Children's Hospital. We had a wagon full of our bags and were so proud and happy to see this vision become a reality. We are so grateful for all the ya ya sisters for working so hard and putting so much into this "Jennifer Project"!! I know that Jennifer is smiling and so proud that we are keeping her memory alive by doing for others.....that was the way she lived...always thinking of others. We are looking forward to keeping this project going for a long time...already thinking of ideas for our next delivery!!

I WANT TO DANCE!!!!

Today I finally got my sleeve and glove!!! I think I can FINALLY see that light at the end of this long road that I have been going down!!! When I started this, I never dreamed it would take this long or especially take me to surgery....but I always seem to take the long route to get things done.

It will definitely take practice to get this glove and sleeve on....sorta like being "fluffy" and trying to put on a girdle and pantyhose at the same time!! I do have a gadget called the "butler" that helps. ..I still think it will be alot easier than wrapping with all those layers of foam and bandages. I already have more flexibility in the use of my hand. I was actually able to sign the papers for the glove and sleeve!!

As my sweet Mother would say..."If the Lord is willing and the creek doesn't rise", I will get to go back to work next week!!!

March 28th

March 28, 1978 was the happiest day of my life...the day my precious Jennifer Suzanne was born. I have so many precious and happy memories of her. She was most definitely the light of my life...and she still is. On March 28, 2006, she just thought it was awesome that she turned 28 on the 28th. She was so beautiful and happy the night we celebrated her last birthday! None of us would have ever guessed that in just twenty-four days she would be gone forever from our lives here on earth.

I miss her more and moe each day. I do realize that I had her with me longer than anyone thought I would. I am very grateful and thankful for that....how I treasure those memories. I feel her with me all the time...sometimes I smell her hair and really feel like I can just reach out and touch her.

This year Jennifer would have been thirty years old on her birthday!!! I am a member of a wonderful group of women called the art ya ya's!!! We get together and scrapbook and make cards. This is an awesome group of talented and diverse women...we even have a member in Washington state that came to Arkansas last year and we all got to meet in person!! I am always thinking of ways to honor Jennifer and keep her memory alive....thus the advent of the "Jennifer Project"!! When a Cystic Fibrosis patient is hospitalized, they are in isolation in their hospital rooms for two weeks...no playroom visits or visiting other patients. You can only imagine how quickly boredom could set in. With the help of Kimberly and my wonderful ya ya sisters, we are going to provide gift bags with craft projects for the kids while they are in the hospital. My Aunt Toots in Tyler, Texas has already hand decorated about 100 bags for us. On March 28th, we will make our first delivery of 30 bags to Arkansas Chikdren's Hospital. We will deliver more bags every three months or sooner if need be. Happy Birthday, Jennifer!!!

ARM STATUS

I think we have found the source of my infection --my infusaport!! After thinking about it, the pain and redness was in my shoulder and in my chest in the area of my port. I saw Dr. Hagans on Tuesday and we will say goodbye to the port next Thursday, the 13th. I have had it in for eight years and thank God that I haven't needed it for chemo. I have only used it for infections. Since any foreign object in the body can cause infection, it is best that it comes out, my new skinny arm won't need it. I was able to start my therapy back on Monday and the fluid is going down once again.