An Old WIP

It suddenly occurred to me last evening that it is fair season.  This year has been so incredibly busy that it had just slipped my mind.  I want to be supportive of the fair even in years when I do not feel very competitive.  I just want to make sure that they have entries.  So I dug through my WIP stack and found this one.  It is unfinished because I made an error on the border so I have having to redo all of those little red, white and blue Smyrna stars.  I will work on it this week and determine if I have time to finish and frame it in time for entry.  It does not match the decor of any of my rooms, so I am not sure what I will do with it after it is all done.  

It has been a good weekend.  Liesl and I had to go up to Santa Cruz, about an hour away, yesterday for her testing.  Luckily, the specialist has Saturday hours.  He is so kind to Liesl and even gave her a big kiss on her nose.  Liesl loves to be kissed, so she was happy even after all of the testing and ultra-sounding.  He told me that she has passed one of the bladder stones, thank goodness.  That is good news.  He said that the other one has not grown either. Then he told me that he would call me today after he had the results of the bile test on her liver.  

I am so grateful for your prayers for Liesl.  Words can not express how much I appreciate it.  I have been praying.  Today at church, as usual, I prayed for Liesl.  All of the sudden I was just overcome with a sense of peace and a sense that it was going to be okay.  

The doctor called me today, even though it was his day off.  He is really dedicated.  He said that he had mostly good news.  He said that her urine test came back looking much better.  She still has to pass the stone, but there is no protein showing up any more.  He also said that her liver values came back with a 20% improvement, most likely in response to her being on a low fat diet.  He said that he would prefer to do a biopsy, but that he understands my not wanting to put her through an invasive procedure.  He gave me a couple of options, which included just taking a wait and see approach to see if anything changes. We discussed the options and are on the same page.  He said that he strongly suspects the issue to be benign. He said that the bile test shows that her liver is doing its job. In the meantime, I am investing in the customized diet plan being prepared by a nutritionist so that I can cook her meals, which will be low fat.  The doctor agrees that this is a good choice for Liesl, so he is sending in the required paperwork to have the diet plan prepared for her. He said that he feels she would benefit from home cooked meals.  I told him that I would just plan ahead and cook ahead for her.  I still believe in the health benefits of a meal prepared with love.  Plus she eats them with gusto!

So I feel so blessed and grateful.  I have decided that we are both going to be as healthy as possible.  I am grateful that she has a doctor who is so dedicated.  He keeps telling me what a sweet dog she is.  She will have to go back in about six weeks just to make sure that the new diet is working after we get it.  

So tonight I feel some of the weight of worry lifted off of my heart.  I am so grateful for this.  

So my last share of the evening is the new development in my trying to lay my head on Liesl's bed. Last night I went to lay my head on her bed.  She just stood there over me with her nose an inch from my cheek.  Breathing.  Hard.  It was unnerving.  How does she know to just mess with my head like that?  She is a total character.