Medical Update

I went to my surgeon Dr. McLeod for my six week follow-up. He wanted to know what Dr. Nelson was doing. He is the oncologist. Dr. Nelson had me get CT scans of my neck and chest and referred me to Dr. Sandrin an Endocrinolist. At first I couldn't get an appointment until Aug. 25th. The receptionist making the appointment told me to call Dr. Nelson's office and explain what is going on. Sometimes Doctors talk and appointments get moved up. I now have an appointment for June 18th.

Dr. McLeod the surgeon wasn't sure why I was referred onto someone else. I was wondering why I even saw Dr. Nelson. Anyways, Dr. McLeod told me to stop taking my medicine and is getting me the info I need for a diet that I need to follow for about three weeks. Most likely the Endocrinolist will want to do a scan and I need to be off my medicine and on this diet for three weeks. So Dr. McLeod is helping speed up the process. So by the time June 18th comes around I will be ready for the next step and hopefully will not have to wait three more weeks.

Rita

Memorial Day / Falls Park on the Reedy

Finally, we walked back the two blocks to this park. The bridge is the only one of its kind in the US. I (Rita) didn't like standing still on it - it moved too much. There is paths to walk, gardens to see, and it you want to you can wade / swim in the river. Steve and I didn't think a river running through a city could be that clean to go wading and swimming it, but there were a lot of people doing it. It was a warm day.

Memorial Day / The Children's Garden

After finding the Mice on Main we walked four more blocks down to the Reedy River. There is a walk way along it. We first walked two more blocks to The Children's Garden. It is just a nice way to spruce up an overpass. This garden is under a bridge. It has Winnie the Pooh, Rabbit, and Owl (at the top of the pole in the first picture). It also has the Secret Garden, a Gingerbread House, the ABC with a flower for each letter, and lots of plants and flowers.

Memorial Day / Mice on Main

Mice on Main in Greenville, South Carolina idea was taken from the book "Good Night Moon". In the book on every other page (the colored pages) is a very little mouse to find. There are 9 mice to find on Main St. in Greenville. We found all nine with the help of another family that had the camera aimed on a mouse. We then asked is they had found mouse number 4, as we couldn't find it. Here we has passed the mouse 3 times and didn't see it. By the way, Main St. in Greenville is a beautiful shade covered street, wonderful to walk.

Baseball Game

On Friday night we went to the Greenville Drive baseball game. Cryovac, where Steve works, has family picnics. For the last two years they have gone to a Drive game. Their mascot is Reedy Ribbit, named after the Reedy River which runs through Greenville.

Strawberry Jam

We have missed having homemade strawberry Jam. Last year in Louisville a late frost made for a small supply of strawberries. We have been buying it ever since. On Thursday I took the kids strawberry picking. Heather, Lane, and Seth each picked a gallon basket full. Tobias and I picked two gallon baskets full in the same amount of time. I was so proud of them.

My baby turned 12!

Tobias at 12 years old and at 2 months old.

On May 8th, Tobias turned 12 years old. We just had a little family party with his favorite cake (chocolate cake with peanut butter icing) and presents. He has asked for that cake for all of his birthdays. He still is waiting on a present. Every year I think I am going to start early, but don't. His birthday was upon us with only one present to be found in the house. I started a tradition of taking a picture of each child on their birthday in the same chair every year.

Birds

We as a family have been seeing a lot of birds that we normally don't see lately. We have a blue bird couple building a nest in our newspaper box. They haven't laid any eggs yet. I think it is too busy of a place to have a nest. They might be changing their minds. We have also seen two yellow goldfinch couples and purple finches. It brings a smile to our hearts to see these beautiful birds that God has created.

Oncologist

Two posts ago, I said I was going to an Endocrinologist. I worked very hard (consulted a dictionary) to spell that word. That night I was telling my neighbor about what was going on in my life. My husband informed me that I was not going to an Endocrinologist, but that I was going to an Oncologist. Which makes sense. Oncologist know all about cancer, so that is where I am going on Thursday, May 8th.