Quote of the Week: Smile!

Pure joy!

“Your smiling at me is my daily dose of magic. Smile at each other, smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other - it doesn’t matter who it is - and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other.”
~ Mother Teresa
 

I need a smile, and I need to smile too. Do you? Let's follow Mother Teresa's gentle words of wisdom. Smile at someone today. It's free and easy.
Just do it!

Catching up, staying in, missing out

It's mid-February and I'm just now getting around to writing the first LeMOMade post of 2013. I could say that I've been too busy to write, but the truth is I've been hiding out in my house avoiding flu germs, sporting flannel PJs, and contemplating the "what if's" of my life. In late January, we headed back to the Cleveland Clinic for more testing and appointments as part of my lung transplant evaluation, and I'm still not done! To make a long story short, I'm closer to being listed as a transplant candidate, but the final decision is pending the outcome of more GI tests.

So once again, we wait.

Meanwhile, there are so many details to work out if the transplant is a go - travel, lodging, childcare arrangements, legal matters, caregiver plans, financial issues. The list goes on and on. At the same time, day to day life continues: kids need to be here or there, papers need to be signed, laundry washed, groceries bought, meals made, house cleaned . . . you get the idea. It's exhausting!

On top of all that, winter is not the best season for my health. Cold weather makes it difficult for me to breathe, and it flares up problems with my hands. This year has been especially hard because I require more oxygen to go out and about, and I need to avoid crowds because of my immune-suppressed body. I've missed gymnastics meets, soccer games, band concerts, recitals, church services, and more. The kids understand, but my heart breaks a little bit each time I say, "Mommy can't go because she is sick." It's sad to be left on the sidelines or stuck in the house. It is lonely too.

That's why the possibility of a lung transplant, although scary and overwhelming, fills me with hope. I might have a second chance at life - a life filled with simple pleasures or exciting adventures. Oh the things I could do with new lungs: walk up the stairs in my house without oxygen tubing trailing behind me, swim, bike, or hike with the kids, travel, ride a horse, climb a dune, skate, kick a soccer ball, or dance. Breath easy. Ahhh . . . that would be awesome!

If a successful transplant is in God's plan for me, the upcoming months will be busy with preparations. With the help of family and friends, we intend to work on a fundraising campaign to assist with the transplant-related costs that will not be covered by health insurance. We also plan to establish a household management team where we will seek volunteers to help out while I'm in Cleveland during the 2-3 month recovery period. More details about all of these activities will be coming soon in the event that I am listed. Stay tuned to this blog for updates.

For now, we seek your loving thoughts and prayers as this difficult journey continues.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand, Isaiah 41:10

Love and God's blessings, Sue

ps. If you are not up to date on my story, please take some time to read the November post, Waiting, or My Story found on the right sidebar. Thank you.

Waiting . . .

is the hardest part.

As a person living with a chronic illness, I spend a lot of time waiting:

Waiting in the doctor's office

Waiting for prescription refills, test results, or insurance approvals

Waiting for pain to go away

Waiting for promising new medical treatments or research

Waiting for good news . . . or bad

All that waiting is a huge weight on my shoulders. It's a burden I carry with me every day. It's exhausting, and makes me quite anxious.

For about a month or so, I've been waiting for an upcoming visit to the Cleveland Clinic where I will be evaluated for a lung transplant. The organ transplant process is quite complicated, and I am complicated patient with a rare, incurable disease, Scleroderma. Earlier this year, I was turned down as a potential candidate by Loyola University Medical Center after more than a year of being watched by their lung transplant team. I was not accepted by them as a patient due to my various problems related to Scleroderma. I wrote a little bit about my Loyola experience on my archived blog, In Sickness and in Health.

After being declined by Loyola, I took a little break to re-group. Then my pulmonologist at Northwestern sought out other potential transplant centers with mixed results: Duke - no, too risky, University of Pittsburgh - maybe, but problems with my insurance coverage, then the Cleveland Clinic - yes, but . . .

Yes, they will take a look at me, my medical records and my history, and my complications related to Scleroderma. Yes, they will give me a series of medical tests, mostly pulmonary function testing, and I will meet with several members of the transplant team during my two-day visit. Then . . .

The waiting will begin again as we do not expect to have any answers during next week's visit. But we will have questions:

Will I be accepted as a transplant candidate? If so, when would I be listed? If not, what happens next?

The waiting is the hardest part.
Every day you get one more yard.
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart.
The waiting is the hardest part
- Tom Petty

Quote of the Week: Gratitude

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

~ Melody Beattie, self help author

What are you most grateful for? Take the 30 day gratitude challenge during this month of thanksgiving. I'm posting my blessings on my Facebook page each day, but you don't need FB, a blog, or a fancy electronic device to note your blessings - a journal, a scrap a paper, or a quiet moment alone with your thoughts will do.

My post on Day 4: Today I am thankful for a son who understands when his mom can't go to his soccer game because it's too cold outside, and she's not feeling well . . . I missed him score a goal :(

Please join me on this journey. From this day forward, I will post my blessings on both my personal FB page and the leMOMade page, where you can post yours as well. I also invite you to follow this blog on Facebook or by email by using the tabs to the right. Thank you!

Wing It Wednesday: DIY Halloween Wreath

Yeah, this blog has been looking quite bare for about 4 months or so! YIKES! That's scary ~ just like Halloween which is coming up next week. My front door was looking a bit bare for the upcoming holiday, so I decided to get my craft on and make a festive wreath by using a bunch of craft materials I had on hand around the house. In other words, I didn't spend a dime creating this wreath, nor did I spend a lot of time precisely measuring my materials. I just winged it.

Here's what I used:

A needlepoint hoop

orange tulle

black pipe cleaners

glitter

striped ribbon

scraps of cardstock and orange construction paper

a black Sharpie

spray adhesive and a glue stick

scissors

Here's what I did, and like I said, I just winged it. If you are looking for specific craft instructions, you're in the wrong place. I do OK, but I'm no Martha Stewart.

Anyhoo, I sat down on my couch and cut a whole lot of strips from the orange tulle, let's say about 6-8 inches long or so. I tied the strips along the needlepoint hoop, cut more strips, tied, repeated until the wreath was full and fluffy. I trimmed the poufs that were a bit uneven, then added my embellishments such as the pipe cleaner spider, a ghost made from glittered cardstock. (I just love glitter!), and a "Trick or Treat" label I printed from The Graphics Fairy (awesome free clipart on this site) that I attached with a candy corn striped ribbon.

Here's my finished product:

TA DA!

Do you have a craft project, recipe, or other good idea you created on a whim? Shoot me an email and tell me all about it. There's a button on the top left just for doing that! Thanks!

Summer Sips

Although the kids have been out of school for a few weeks now and the temperatures around these parts have been hot, hot, hot, today is the first official day of summer! Yahoo! With that in mind, LeMOMade is bringing you a pitcher of sweet summer goodness ~ Strawberry Lemonade. It takes a little effort but if you have some kitchen helpers like I do, it mixes up lickety-split!

Click play to see how to make this refreshing summer drink

Recipe courtesy of Everyday Food, June 2012.

Sue's Chef

I am so excited! I have a little chef in the house. My daughter Miss O enjoys helping out in the kitchen. She will chop veggies, she will stir pasta, she will bake cookies, and much more. One Saturday morning a few weeks back, she made pancakes for all of us - a little bit burnt, but overall a good job. Then a week or so later, we baked a homemade strawberry-rhubarb pie together. She cut all of the strawberries and the rhubarb for the filling - awesome!

Miss O likes to eat healthy, and she loves flipping through my Everyday Food and Real Simple magazines to find new recipes to try. Her latest dish, Herbed Ricotta Pasta with Corn and Zucchini, came out pretty tasty. She did most of the prep and cooking herself with the exception of grilling the zucchini. She gave that job to her daddy. She refused all my offers for help, just like when she was a little girl. "I do it myself," she used to say. Kids change in so many ways, but in many ways they stay the same.

Later in the evening on the day Miss O made dinner, my husband was reminding the kids about being kids for as long as they can, and to avoid acting grown up too soon. "OK," said Miss O. "Tomorrow, I am not cooking dinner."

If you would like to make Miss O's pasta dish, here is the recipe from the June 2012 issue of Everyday Food. She omitted the dill, used frozen corn instead of fresh (she just let it thaw a bit before adding to pasta), and bow tie pasta instead of campanelle.

Herbed Ricotta Pasta with Corn and Zucchini
Serves 4

• Salt and pepper
• 3/4 pound short pasta such as campanelle
• 1 3/4 cups corn kernels (from 2 ears)
• 1 cup ricotta
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving grilled zucchini, chopped. (about 3 small to med. sized zucchinis
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, plus more for serving
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

To prepare zucchini: Slice thinly lengthwise. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Grill until tender, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Chop into bite-sized pieces.

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook past 3 minutes less than package instructions; add corn and cook until tender, 3 minutes. Reserve 1 cup pasta water, then drain.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup pasta water, ricotta, and Parmesan. Add pasta mixture, zucchini, basil, and dill and toss to combine. Add more pasta water if necessary to create a light sauce that coats the pasta. Season with salt and pepper and top with more basil and Parmesan if desired.

Do you know some kids who like to cook? Do they have a yummy recipe that they like to make or try? Do share ~ send me email, just click the tab in the left sidebar.