Water line, Jobs, and Mammograms, revisited

 November 10, 2007

      I decided to take a day off from my daily routine and visit my daughter,  Maria, in her little village town.  This was on Thursday.  We had planned for some time to make home made laundry detergent together.  I have a recipe that Mary Hunt from her Cheapsake website had published.  Maria likes the dry version so we made a huge batch.  She served me a lovely lunch, we took a walk and watched a movie.  I needed this break so much as the trials seem to have piled high for us lately.

    I had to pick up Jim at 2:10 p.m. Jim doesn’t usually grocery shop with me but we made the rounds at Kroger and Aldi’s.  When we drove up to our home, the plumber had made a huge headway of replacing our water line.  He also accidently broke the gas line.  The gas man was there trying to fix it.  It was rather a wild afternoon.  However, everything was finished by about 5:30 p.m.  The gas man told us that we would have to have a new gas line put in since our old line was ancient.  I sucked in a deep breath and let it out easily, relieved that they would pay for this undertaking.

     We sat on our porch and wrote out a check to the plumber.  I kept thinking about Dave Ramsey.  In 2006, we took his  Financial Peace University course.  Dave told a funny story about how Murphy (Murphy’s law)  likes to camp out in the spare bedroom.  Thus, everyone should have an emergency fund.  The planning began for us while we were taking the course.  This fund has been used for several major unexpected events.  Thankfully, we still had some to pay the plumber.  The days of living by the seat of our pants are over.  I want to do the best I can to help Jim save money.  There is real peace in making  an effort to save money , while at the same time giving the Lord his ten percent. 

     To finish our mammogram story……Jim and I left at 6:05 a.m. to drive to the Vanderbilt Breast Clinic.  We are actually only an hour away but the traffice is unbelievable.  It took us almost two hours to get to our appointment on time.  This clinic is amazing.  The number of women who pass through it’s doors each day is astounding.  They have a special room for all the women to sit in after they’ve changed into a gown.  I sat with several women who had been called back.  We shared stories of our heritage and history of breast cancer as we waited our  turn.  When my turn came, the technician told me that I would know what was going on before I left the clinic. She shared with me the philosophy of the breast clinic and told me that often mammograms are not read correctly or even read at all at some places.  She took three more pictures of my right side and then I went back to the little waiting room to swap more stories with the ladies.

     Soon, they came and took me to get an ultra sound.  The radiologist did the ultra sound.  He explained to what he was seeing.  I have a growth abouth 1/2 of a centimeter.  This growth is so tiney that it would take two full years for it to be felt upon a self examination.  “We’re going to schedule you for a biopsy .”  Deep inside , I knew this was coming.  However, I also knew that if it cancer, it was discovered at a very early stage.  So I go back to Vanderbilt next Thursday to have this done.  This time my daughter, Sandy, will take me.  She is 31 and has some real questions about what she should begin doing to protect herself against breast cancer.

      After we finished at Vanderbilt, Jim and I drove several blocks to the Orthodox cafe and book store.  The Elector Cafe  is wonderfully , fascinating place.  We had visited there on our previous trip to Vanderbilt.  Jim and I enjoyed spinach lasagna, French pressed coffee and chocolate brownies.  Then we browsed around a bit.  I bought a tiny icon of St Seraphim of Savro feeding a bear.  He was saint that had tremendous love for animals and the wild animals just came to him in gentleness.

      We finished up our afternoon visiting second hand stores in Clarksville, Tn.  I came home and made phone calls to friends and family.  I feel tremenously blessed  to have a doctor who insisted that I drive to Vanderbilt for a digital mammogram.  She is part of the MaxWell Clinic that works with patients to actually get them off medicine.  The MaxWell Clinic likes to use vitamins and herbs as their first choice.  The founder is a graduate of Vanderbilt Medical school, so these are not just quackly doctors.  Right now they are working with me to use alternative solutions for several minor health problems.  Look them up on the internet.  If you live anywhere close to the clinic , it is worth the drive. 

      Life is fragile.  We never know from one moment to the next what is going to happen in our lives.  Today , make sure you show kindness and gentleness to all who cross your path.  Love God, be obedient and love your family and friends.  Have a great day!