One Extremely Long Week! Kerry Surgery...

Kerry has been in pain since November and he has been to so many doctors and no one seems to know what is wrong with him...we saw Dr. Butsch at Rush in Chicago and he was willing to do surgery on Monday, July 13 to go in and see what was wrong with his stomach so we were at Rush bright and early! It seemed everything was going well until Kerry was about to go home and he lifted his gown and his bandage had blood all over it and it was bright red...I had the nurse call the doctor and they came out of the operating room to check and they changed it and made us stay a half an hour longer as they felt maybe he was bleeding internally! If I had only known what was in store for Kerry the following week! He didn't seem to bleed much more so we went home and he was fine for two days and the third day he woke up with a huge bruise across his belly! I had never seen anything like this but had no idea what it was...I called back to the doctors office but they didn't seem concerned and it was now Friday afternoon...told us to come in next week! I had a friend come over and check him and she didn't like how it was looking either and said to keep an eye on it...then on Sunday Kerry was really complaining so I called Chicago again and was told it was probably nothing and to come in on Tuesday...On Monday I still didn't feel comfortable and called his GP in town and had my dad take him over to see her and she immediately called the ambulance as she felt it was all infected..so he was brought to a Joliet Hospital...they ran tests and a Ct scan...it came back a huge blood clot and we were told his body should absorb this and to not move or twist and to lay still for a week...he was running a temp of 102 and it just totally brought back flashes from 11 years ago at Edwards Hospital and all the nightmares of the infections he has fought in his life....we came home last night but the nightmares I had and dreams...I woke up today with the worst headache and still today just laying here thinking of all the things we have been through and how much we have fought through to keep Kerry going ....Praying we do not have another fight on our hands and his body will just absorb this clot and no other problems here with this surgery! We are just worn out mentally, physically and emotionally! Please keep us in your prayers! hugs, cheryl

Broken China Necklace

I am finally back trying to get into making crafts again..I sure have missed not being creative...I had soldered this before my neck fusion and shoulder surgery and I made the necklace while Kerry was in surgery the other day! It feels so good to be able to look down and use my arms again! You have no idea what you take for granted until you lose it! I am so thankful to be able to start to do things once again! God is Good All the Time! hugs, cheryl If interested leave a comment!

The Brightness of Heaven’s Pure Gold

The Brightness of Heaven’s Pure Gold
In the course of your life, may you never lose sight
of God and his magnificent power.
For God is worthy of trust…and able to reveal
His strength unto you every hour.
When you need the wisdom and knowledge to grow
God will send you situations unknown.
But you will learn to cry out for what only He gives
and then later see how much you’ve grown.
There may be seasons you just don’t understand
where the pain seems more than you can bear.
But God will reclaim that brokenness for His ultimate glory
proving the purpose & plan that was there.
You may endure losses…much more than your “share”
or what you ever would have dreamed at the start.
Yet those heartaches are the instrument mysteriously used
to etch the peace of God on your heart.
You may struggle uphill in ways people don’t see
as you seek God through financial strife.
But later on, you will be the one voice in a crowd
to praise God for the basics of life.
You may walk through hard trials and difficult chapters
where others can’t comfort or relate
But you’ll hear the precious voice of Almighty God
and you can handle the stress on your plate.
For there isn’t a time in the course of your life
when God loses the power to hold.
And it’s the shattered, broken vessels of the Lord Jesus Christ
who shine the brightness of heaven’s pure gold.
©Sheila Gosney


It is hard to understand at times what we go through and why sometimes we suffer for so long. This past week my husband had one more surgery and it is so hard to watch him go through the struggles and pain. I wonder at times how much more can Kerry take as he suffers in pain each day. I never understood how difficult it was on both sides of this marriage. I feel as though I lost my partner in life but he is still here. I want my husband back that made me laugh and smile and we had the best times together. Now he lays in a hospital bed downstairs most days and nights in pain. He always has hope even after almost 11 years that someday he will get out of this pain and I know it is not going to happen until he gets to heaven but for now I have to watch him in pain. It is so hard to watch someone that you have loved so much just cry in pain and nothing you do helps! Medications do not even touch the pain and only in sleep is he peaceful....He had another surgery to repair tears in the stomach wall and scar tissue that the doctor feels nerves were trapped and caused the pain and suffering he has had since November. Now we wait to see if he is better in a few weeks...just wish for a day I could take his pain away! hugs, cheryl

Two Days!

"There are two days in every week about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension.
“One of these days is Yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back Yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed; we cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone.
“The other day we should not worry about is Tomorrow, with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise, and poor performance. Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow's sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds; but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is as yet unborn. This leaves only one day: Today.
“Anyone can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities - Yesterday and Tomorrow - that we break down. It is not the experience of Today that drives us mad, it is remorse and bitterness for something which happened Yesterday and the dread of what Tomorrow may bring. Let us, therefore, live this one full Today."
Malcolm Forbes believed the important thing is never to say die until you're dead, and he lived that example to the hilt. But it also is difficult to be depressed and active at the same time. So get active! And make today your best day ever!

Natalie's Broken Toe!!!!

Hard to believe that while redoing my kitchen this could have happened again to Natalie! I had piled everything into the dining room and it was taking longer than usual due to my shoulder surgery to get the kitchen painted and redecorated ...then about two weeks ago Natalie came walking through the dining room and got her toe caught on a cart and pulled her toe off the foot and dislocated and fractured it for the second time! She had to have it repositioned then cut open and a pin put in it to hold the bone and seven stitches put in it! Almost exactly four years to the day she did this as a freshman ...she is now on crutches and is suppose to be going to Florida on Saturday with four other friends....I think she might be taking Kerry's wheelchair to get around! She has three more weeks of not walking on her foot! Not a good way to spend her summer!!! Please pray for quick healing for her toe! hugs, cheryl