For my mom...

Oh my gosh, 6 days!! Yikes. Even three is too long...good grief. Thanks for your prayers, Savannah.

I appreciate your prayers too, Teresa. I haven't heard from my mom today so I'm assuming still no word. I told her I wouldn't pester her about this, so I just wait.

Good news about my mom! The specialist arranged to get her CT scan results and have her come in late this afternoon. It is not a tumor, thank God! Apparently her lung is slightly enlarged (she's not a smoker), and there is a 'calcification' caused by an infection on the lung. Strange. But nothing that antibiotics shouldn't clear right up, and they also changed her blood pressure medication as that has been unpredictable lately. I'm just so thankful this was nothing more serious.

The bad news is, my mom AND dad are actually sick now (I think it's all related to stress and anxiety) and are not sure they want to have Thanksgiving dinner, or even go to one of our houses. My mom said she'll let me know by tomorrow evening...I could be going out tomorrow night to get ALL our T-Day food, for a dinner just for the four of us! I am bummed out, but we'll have a 'make-up' dinner at my mom's house maybe next week, if that happens. This is just really poor timing.

Thanks again everyone for your prayers! I appreciate them immensely! :rainbowfaces:

So happy to hear that about your mom, Amy!

It's a shame about your parents being sick, but at least you know it's going to go away, and there will be many Thanksgiving dinners to come.

Thank you both! I know, I'm trying to be positive here about Thanksgiving---it's just that it's going to be 'weird' if my parents aren't part of it! But I'll try to make it special for my own family, nonetheless.

Their symptoms are more 'flu-like' than anything else, but they got the flu-vaccine. Can you still get the flu, if you get the flu vaccine? :think: Anyone know? Christina, I hope you get well before Thanksgiving too!!

I'm leaving right now to pick up Brendan from the train, so that'll certainly lift my spirits.

Amy, that is wonderful news about your mom's scan!! To answer your question, even if you get a flu shot, there is always a chance that you can still get the flu, since there are so many different strains of it. Some are more serious than others. Your parents may just have a touch of it. It may have been worse if they wouldn't have gotten a flu shot. You just never know. Hopefully they'll be feeling better soon. At least the stress of waiting for the scan results has been lifted, and your mom can breathe a sigh of relief.

Amy, what wonderful news about your Mom's scan!! I'm so glad!

Yeah, they do calculated guessing about which strains of flu to use in the vaccines each year. But there are so many that it can't cover them all. And, there have been some years when they didn't get the correct strain in the vaccine, and it ended up being basically useless. But, I agree with you about the stress. It probably has a lot to do with how she's feeling. Maybe with the relief of the wonderful results, she'll perk up and feel up to Thanksgiving with everyone. If not, then, like you said, you can have a make-up dinner. It isn't really about the particular day, anyway, it's about Thanksliving. And we have so much to be thankful for. Even when things are ugly, there's always something to be thankful for.

:shy: Sorry to ramble.

I'm SO happy for you and your family! Thanks for letting us know!

I'm so happpy about the good news, Amy.

(((hugs)))

That is wonderful news about your mom!!! I know all of you are very relieved!

I'm so sorry to hear that both your mom and dad aren't feeling well. I do hope they feel well enough to have Thanksgiving dinner with all of you. I know I would be disappointed too.

Savannah wrote:

Maybe with the relief of the wonderful results, she'll perk up and feel up to Thanksgiving with everyone. If not, then, like you said, you can have a make-up dinner. It isn't really about the particular day, anyway, it's about Thanksliving. And we have so much to be thankful for. Even when things are ugly, there's always something to be thankful for.

Yes
Amy, I'm glad about the results!

Thank you all so much! We are definitely breathing a sigh of relief over here. And thanks Teresa & Savannah for your insight on the flu shot...

Savannah wrote:

It isn't really about the particular day, anyway, it's about Thanksliving. And we have so much to be thankful for. Even when things are ugly, there's always something to be thankful for.

I like that.

I'm going to have to rely on that philosophy more than ever. I've got it now too. I woke up this morning feeling horrible, with all the flu-like symptoms. Last night I was getting pysched about going to my sister's for Thanskgiving (my parents are def not having it), and now this morning, I wake up with this. I'll still cook a dinner for the four of us at home, but no T-day feast, that's for sure. I'm going to HAVE to go out tonight to get food too. Bill is going to have to help me now. I just can't believe this rotten timing---I love Thaksgiving and I love the preparations for it too, and the cooking and baking. This really stinks.

Oh no! I'm sorry to hear that you are sick too, Amy! Savannah is right, it isn't the day that is important, it's the people and the traditions that you share them with that is.

Aw, thanks Pam...sorry, I'm just now seeing this! We actually had a really nice dinner at our house, and I was able to eat some of it. I'm doing a little better tonight, but after 'working' on the meal this afternoon, I'm ready to veg out now! I only wish my whole family could have been together, but it was really quite nice just the 4 of us.

I'm glad that the 4 of you had a nice meal together. I was thinking about how you said that your son was home for a long weekend, so I was glad to hear that at least the 4 of you were able to celebrate together. I hope that you, and your parents, are completely well very soon!

Thanks for thinking of us Pam. Originally we'd thought of having our 'feast' on Sunday instead, but there really is nothing like having it ON Thanksgiving Day, ya know? I'm glad now that we did it....it was actually very special, especially for Brendan I think.

I'm glad that you had such a nice Thanksgiving, Amy, despite the way that you were all feeling. I hope that everyone is feeling a little bit better today.

Thanks Teresa. I'm on the couch with the body aches, but that's about it. No fever so I really can't complain! I'm just bummed I can't decorate today...I always have my tree up the day after Thanksgiving! Ugh.

Thanks Christina.

Sorry to hear you're still under the weather, Amy. :alright:

Thanks Rob. I woke up feeling much better this morning though so hopefully I'm on the mend. I don't want to exert myself, but there is SO much I need to do around here!

Rhonda wrote:

Amy wrote:

And you know, the mind is a powerful thing, I must say. She's having all these physical 'ailments' lately, and I have to think they're all related to her anxiety and near depression over what's going on. I think the mind can actually manifest itself physically and that's what she's fighting right now. And it's so interesting...this morning I was on the phone with her afer her cat scan, and she seemed down. By the end of the conversation, after leading her into other subjects, she seemed almost 'chipper' and was talking about how pretty the snow was as it was falling. She said, "you kow, I'm really feeling so much better!". I think a positive attitude has so much to do with how we handle things emotionally, and can actually 'prevent' the physical 'ailments' from coming to be. Just making an observance.

While going through cancer both times, this was the NUMBER ONE thing that was stressed to us.....Keep a positive attitude.......It is 80-90% of the healing process...in anyone's life.....

If you ever see any of those commercials about depression, where they ask, "Who does depression hurt?" "Where does depression hurt?" The answers are, it hurts everyone involved and it physically hurts everywhere.......So, keeping your mom positive is what she needs....keep her mind off of things and be there for her and be her support.......

*UPDATE*...Well, I guess I was right on this, and I didn't want to be. My mom has been diagnosed with Depression. They put her on Xanax and another drug, and I don't like the idea of her taking two medication. She's agreed to try "SAM-e" for awhile, to see if that helps with her moods, before resorting to drugs. I have heard wonderful things about it, and it's a naturally compound, already in the body. Here's some info on it if anyone is interested:

http://www.nutrasanus.com/sam-e.html




If you could continue to keep my mom in your prayers, I'd appreciate it.

Amy keep that illness on that side of lake Michigan buddy!

Hugs and prayers going out to you and your family and what a relief regarding the news about your mother. Depression is easy to treat, they just need to find the right meds. Why do these things happen before the holidays huh?

Amy, I'll continue to keep you all in my prayers.

Lorrie

Thanks Lorrie, I appreciate that. And I am better, but I can't promise you everyone else will keep their illness on this side of the lake!

Yeah, my mom is just really upset that eveything is happening THIS month of all months. She has 7 grandkids to buy for, and 3 birthdays in the family! But I just keep reminding her that this is not going to last forever, and it's just this one year that's getting screwed up. I'm not big on prescription drugs, and neither is she...if this natural supplement doesn't do the trick within a couple of weeks, then she'll take the Xanax.

On top of this, my dad and I are noticing her memory slipping more...not just the occasional forgetfulness that we used to see. She's 67, and her mother died of Alzheimers. She knows right now that she's forgetting too much as well, and I'm trying to get her to go for testing for that, but she's afraid. We'll get her Depression under control, and then hopefully get her in.

I am continuing to keep your mom in my prayers, Amy.