Thank You!

Hello dear readers, homeschooling was a bit rough today, so not feeling witty enough to post something special, but did want to thank you all for your lovely comments to my last few posts. Your support and prayers are very much appreciated!

Haven't had much pain the past two days, but I am having issues with pressure. It is a really odd feeling and it wears me out. In other news, Lady Bird has taken to flying about the sunroom. She lets us know when she wants out by doing a little side step dance in her cage. When we open the door she flies around the room. She is getting better at landing. Today I left the cage door open while I turned to get her a worm. She flew out and landed on the buffet where I keep the worms. She is a smart bird! Tonight she flew out of the cage and landed on my shoulder and was content to just sit there. I cannot believe how fast our happy bird is growing.

Surprise!

Today Mark brought me these flowers when he came home from work. It was such a lovely surprise! It really meant so much to me because the past few days I have been struggling with pain and bowel troubles. Even so I am trying to keep up with my homekeeping duties. I am behind after being on Danazol. Below is a picture of the baby bird which I have named Lady Bird.

We have had her a week now and she has been a joy even though it takes a lot of work to keep her fed. She has fattened up and the bald spots have filled in with feathers. She is full of spunk and hops around her cage happily cheeping at us. She has taken to flying about at times, but needs a little work on landing.

Today was a busy day of homeschooling, laundry and cooking. Last week the boys had SAT 10 testing so there was not much school work to be done. Good thing I tried the Danazol last week. Today I needed to be teaching and I am thankful that I am back to my regular self so that I can teach. Below I am sharing pictures of what I cooked for dinner hoping it will help inspire you in your cooking.

Here is a lovely pot of Red Beans.
They were served with brown rice.
(The recipe link says to use "kidney" beans, I use "red" beans instead.)

A lovely green salad.

Some garlic bread I made up.

For dessert we had Butter Pecan ice cream.
Happy meal making!

The Comfort of a Cozy Bed

Sleeping with a bit of Shabby Chic on the bed makes me feel like a princess. The only thing I lack is a headboard. I am too cheap to buy one and too lazy to make one. So my bed is very simple. I enjoy lounging in my bed writing in my journal, reading the Bible and spending time with the Lord. However, this morning I did not want to rise. I would have rather curled up under the covers and drifted back to sleep. Even so, I rose because I needed to take my boys to school.

Thankfully, Thursday found me feeling like my old self once again. The Danazol had finally worn off. The fog that had enveloped my mind had disappeared. I was free from confusion's grasp and able to prepare meals in the kitchen, read the word of God with clarity and organize my day. Dinner was everyone's favorite and I sugared up some berries and baked homemade shortcakes for dessert. The only problem was that my pain returned. It always begins with nausea and Thursday evening the nausea kept me from finishing the laundry. After putting the boys to bed, the pain flared up worse. It feels like something gets blocked and is trying to get through. I tried to get in a comfortable position to sleep, but I couldn't. The pain kept me up past 2 A.M. When morning came I was not eager to meet the day.

I took two naps today, which felt like heaven. Tonight I am in pain again. Between drugs and pain I feel I am losing the battle. I think of doctors, of surgery, etc. The only real resource, the only one who can fix me, is the Lord. I need to lay all in His capable hands for He himself says "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Genesis 18:14.

Thanks for Your Comments!

First I would like to thank my readers for their comments on the previous post regarding the Danazol. Your comments were very important to me and helped me in my decision to stop taking Danazol. Even though it did work on the pain, the side effects were not worth it. I would rather have my sanity and be in pain, then be loopy.

I have not taken it for the past two days and I am still having side effects so it is going to take awhile before it gets cleared out of my system. I began taking milk thistle today as the Danazol is metabolized by the liver and the milk thistle will help my liver recover. I am in no hurry to tell my doctor because I am not interested in trying any other drugs. I just want to recover from the bad reaction I had on the Danazol. I was hoping that Danazol and I would get on because it is the one hormonal treatment for endometriosis that does not cause bone loss. For me that is important because I already have bone loss. Not osteoporosis yet, but I am headed that way. The other drugs to try all cause bone loss so I am not eager to try them. I can see it now, I finally get the endometriosis taken care of only to end up dealing with my bones. I refuse to take any of the drugs for bone loss as I had already tried one and it did not go well with my digestive tract and frankly scared me. Besides which, I am sure the pain I am having is from endometriosis. I think the lessening of pain from my stopping hormones proves that enough.

In other news, my youngest son brought home a baby sparrow on Monday evening. He said he saw it fall from somewhere. So he picked it up and brought it home. Both boys searched for the nest, but they could not find it. They left the bird to call for the parents, but they never came. So we are taking care of this baby bird. It is the boys' job to feed it the insects it needs to survive. I have made up a little formula that I feed to her also. She seems to be doing fine. It makes me think when Jesus said that not one sparrow falls to the ground without the Father knowing about it.

Difficulties with Danazol

I am not sure how much longer I can last on the Danazol. Yes, Whimpville calls my name! I have read that the side effects will fade as the body adjusts, but how long will that take? My vision seems a bit blurry and my mood is all over the place. I am no longer my usual self. Slight diziness with headache. Lethargy. Anxiety. Sleep disturbance. The feeling that my life is not worth living. Lack of appetite. Plain and simple I feel I am on drugs and the drug is messing with my mind. It has helped with some of the pain and my bowel seems to be acting better. That feels nice, but otherwise I am not able to be a proper wife and mother. I feel I have a ball & chain and have to whip my body into submission just to cook a meal. On top of that once I get into the kitchen I experience a bit of mental confusion as to what I am supposed to do in a kitchen. Of course at the same time we are having a heat wave where the temperatures have been in the 95 to 100 range, but that is not what is messing with me. Wait! I hear something familiar, a tune playing...could it be the "Twilight Zone"? Seriously, I need to be on top of my game, I am skipping tomorrow's dose.

Sharing my Shamrock

Here is my shamrock plant in the morning.
It loves the sunlight and is all perky to meet it.
It seems to say "Top of the mornin to ya!"

Here is shamrock in the evening.
The leaves close up and the flowers droop.
It has tucked itself in for the night.

I love this little plant so much! The pot I have it in is a present from my friend who had surgery. She painted it for me for my 40th birthday. I have had the pot 8 years now. My-my how time flies. Speaking of my dear friend in Maine, she called me tonight. She is home from the hospital!! I wrote her a letter and she got it while in the hospital. She loved it. So glad she is alright and we are both hoping that this is the last surgery she will ever have to have.

As for me, the Danazol gave me terrible mood swings on Saturday. Today is day 3 and I am doing a bit better with it. The hot flashes are annoying, but I am used to them. I am only taking 200 mg. a day so far. I feel some pain relief, but
of course need more time to see. Maybe later in the week I will be able to get up to 400 mg. My doctor prescribed 600 mg., but most times I cannot handle the recommended dosage because I am so sensitive. A little bit seems to go a long way in my tiny body.

Thinking of my Friend

For the past couple of days I have been thinking of and praying for my friend who had surgery this past Wednesday, April 15th. This is a picture of her little cottage in Maine. She and I met because of Endometriosis. This disease has cost me my uterus, my cervix, my tubes, my ovaries, my appendix and my sigmoid colon. I was never able to bear children because of it and neither was my friend. Now what have I gotten in return? Well, I received my two beautiful sons through adoption. And I also received friendships with women across the country and in other countries. Some of them stayed just a while and others I am still friends with. The friend who had surgery this week has been my friend for about 10 years. We both have stubborn cases of endometriosis. One of the last times I talked to her, she expressed how scared she was to have surgery again and that she was afraid she would not wake up. I completely understood where she was coming from. I told her unfortunately we are not that lucky. We both had to laugh and we laughed hard. With endometriosis, life can be a curse because of all the pain and misery it causes. Even so, I think it helps us gals to appreciate the beauty of life in ways we would not normally.

So here is to my dear friend in Maine, who is a talented artist. Below is a picture of the lovely bubbling brook that makes its way through her property. She loves the sound of it.

As for me, I took my first pill of Danazol. I am supposed to take 3 a day. I am starting out slow with the pills because sometimes I do not take to medications very well. So far so good. Tomorrow I will take two and see how that goes.