BLESSINGS!

In my last blog post I wrote about John having a biopsy for prostate cancer.  Dr. Koch said that the results of the tests he ran showed an eighty percent chance of the biopsy confirming the cancer. Tursday afternoon was biopsy day.  

Friday, we left for Kentucky to pick up our Tiffin motorhome!  How could such a short ride turn into such a looooong ride?  Anticipation?

Saturday morning, we pulled into the dealer's lot and was greeted by our new home on wheels.  All the basement doors were open showing a spic and span basement. Ohhhh that storage.   When we walked inside, I said to John "welcome home!" What a blessing!

We love the extra room, but were surprised with the task of making everything fit.  Having slides changes the storage space in some of the cabinets.  We made a few adjustments and gave a bit more away to make everything fit.
  Early Monday  morning we were awakened to the thrump, thrump, thrump of a helicopter.  John said that he thought he had heard the sounds of a crash earlier. Sure enough, at the end of the drive to the dealers lot there was a head-on crash involving a pickup truck and a smaller compact car.  

loading patient into a Med Evac

The young man in the car had just left work after working the "graveyard" shift.  As he left, it was reported, that he told a co-worker that he was exhausted and was going home to bed.  He never made it home.  He fell asleep at the wheel and ran into the truck.  His condition was reported to be extremely critical.

  I called the dealer yesterday and they reported that he is improving - slowly.  Another blessing.  


It took us a total of four long, hard days to move and arrange everything.  In those four days, John totally abused his body and has paid the price since then.  Each day his condition improves.  But we learned a big lesson.  John cannot do the things that he used to do.  

The Colts plate will come later

John's final task was to put the license plate on the Tiffin!  

He was so tired that he could only put the plate on the back of the Tiffin and he left our Indianapolis Colts plate that rides on the front of the motorhome in the place of honor for a later time.    

Driver, take me to Greenwood, IN!  

We rolled out of the dealer's lot Tuesday afternoon.  It was so good to be on the road in our new home.  The ride is like floating in a bubble through the air.  And we can talk to each other in a normal voice.  No shouting over the noise of a gas engine. What a blessing.  

As you can see, Olivia likes riding in her new home. 

Both dogs are a bit miffed though.  In the Winnebago, they rode on the Dashboard.  No more dangerous traveling.  

Oliver says since he is the elder, he should ride on Mom's legs as she knits.  

Occasionally, both ride on my lap and the knitting is put aside.  



Since we have been back in the Indianapolis area, we have rested and awaited the outcome of the biopsy.  Today, we were given the diagnosis of......  NO CANCER! Another blessing.  

On a lighter note, you can see that Oliver's younger sister, Olivia is not

a beggar.  She just sits behind John with her chin on his shoulder and waits to see if he sneaks a treat to her when mom is not looking.

As you can see in this photo, there is still much arranging to be done.  Much of it is fiber that is waiting to be spun.  But this will wait for a few days. We are delivering pounds and pounds of llama fleece to a processing mill in Wisconsin that will wash, card and spin all the fiber into yarn to be sold on the internet.  

From Wisconsin, we will head to South Dakota to establish residency, title our motorhome, and get our South Dakota driver's license.  

We will probably spend Thanksgiving in South Dakota.  For the first time, we will not have any family to share our Thanksgiving dinner.  That is going to be strange.  

Our prayer of thankfulness will be long this year.  From John coming from death's door to his recovery and our full time living in our new motorhome.  What else could we be blessed with!  Absolutely nothing. 

It is time that we share our abundant blessings with others.  

Oh!  by the way, we closed on the sale of our condo Tuesday.  

Until next time....

Abundant blessings to you.... God is so good!    

MRI COMPLETED AND FORTY FEET OF ANSWERED PRAYER

We arrived at Indiana University Hospital and the Simon Cancer Center for John's MRI.  After a short wait, John was escorted to the "inner sanctum" of the hospital.  Then, I waited for an hour and a half.  I had no idea that it would be that long.  

While waiting, I watched many patients come for their tests.  Some had huge "cocktails" to consume prior to their test.  Others had their hair in pretty wraps to cover their bald heads on a very cool, windy day.

One gentleman sat in the warm sunlight and enjoyed the garden on the other side of the huge, glass window.  He radiated peace.  It was good to glance up from my reading and see him sitting there.  

Another gentleman came into our area and sat down, placing a huge backpack and what looked like a case for a medium size musical instrument.  He quickly struck up a conversation with the gentleman in the sunlight.  Then they included me in some of the conversation.  

I what kind of instrument was in the case.  As if he was just waiting for someone to ask, he opened the case and revealed a ukulele.  It was larger than the ones I have seen previously.  

He played the ukulele for a while then segued into his version of AMAZING GRACE.  After his song, he returned the instrument to it's case and the conversation turned to "why me?".  The man in the sunlight shared that he went from "why me?" to "why not me? The ukulele player said he has not reached the why not stage, but he does see life in a new perspective.  

Both men were then called for their respective tests and I resumed reading my book until John came out.  We then went to have lunch.  

While eating, my phone rang, but before I could get to it, voicemail took over.  I looked at the number and it revealed one of the dealers in Kentucky that we visited Tuesday and Wednesday.  We decided to finish our lunch, do our shopping and then call the dealer when we returned to our home on wheels. 

Tuesday, we had made our offer on a 40' Tiffin Allegro Bus and the salesman countered.  His counter was unacceptable to us and we walked.  

Wednesday, we returned and shot him our final offer, we left for him to think about it.  We came back to Indy for John's appointment.  We were totally at peace with what we offered and we knew that eventually, we would have a motorhome that met our needs.  

To make a long story even longer, I can now say that he accepted our low ball offer!  This is based on the buyer of the condo completing his purchase next week.

Soooo, here is our new to us Tiffin Allegro Bus!  It has only 26,000 miles, new carpeting, four door refrigerator, washer/dryer, tons of storage.  Thank you all for your prayers, advice, and your encouragement.     

One by one, we tick things off our list.  The only thing holding us back from heading to South Dakota is the results of John's MRI and biopsy.  

Did you catch the ONLY???

Thanks again for your good wishes and prayers.  Keep them coming!  I am praying for zero cancer!  I know the doctor said eighty percent, but I am asking for John to be in the twenty percent!  

God Bless!