The day before Memorial Day I discovered a large blister just below my collar bone. Within a few minutes my arms were breaking out, itching, and even burning some. By the time Wayne got home from church, I was in a lot of pain. Shingles. I had heard of them, but hadn't realized exactly what they were. I have never experienced such pain in my whole life. Wayne took me to the emergency room, where the doctor on duty confirmed what I already had figured out. He gave me a shot and a prescription. They didn't work. Since the next day was a holiday, I had to wait another day to see my family doctor. Dr. Bartlett gave me a prescription for a different pain medicine, one which he said was used specifically for Shingles. Six weeks later they were mostly gone. I say mostly, because I still have pain in my left, upper arm. I have been told that it may get better and it may not; depending on the damage to the nerves in my arm.
Later in the year my ex husband, Jim, the father of my two older children, passed away after months of fighting cancer. He had known from the time he was diagnosed that a cure was not to be. I had often gone to his home with Danny to visit, both before and after he learned of the cancer, and I am glad that we had those times. We did a lot of laughing, and I think he enjoyed the visits as much as I did. Terri called me his last morning to tell me that he was sinking fast, and I was able to be there for her when he passed. Thank God for my husband, Wayne, who understood perfectly and did not feel threatened by our friendship.
In November, Wayne flew to Baltimore to be with Garret, Kate, and Nora for Thanksgiving and Nora's first birthday. I stayed home to dog and cat sit. If we had not had the dogs, we could both have driven there. We didn't feel that we could afford to pay to board two dogs weighing nearly one hundred pounds each. I will get to go some other time.
We didn't have a real family Christmas this year. Weather was bad, and nobody had a lot of extra money to spend. With phone and Skype, we got to share Christmas with everyone.
I was hoping that this year would be so much better than last, but in February our dog, Jackie, had several bad seizures, and we had to have her put to sleep. The vet believed that she had a brain tumor, so we felt that was the kindest thing we could do for her. She was over twelve years old, and we couldn't bear to let her suffer. I still miss her.
I'm still hoping this year will be better than last year, but I'm not holding my breath.
