Thursday, December 1, 2022

Calico Cottages

 Hello Everyone,

I've been working on Calico Cottages, my newest design.  Many thanks to 'anonymous' who came up with the perfect name for this quilt.

I got as far as putting one of the inner borders on the other night and this is as far as I got.  It is just a figment of my imagination until I nail this idea down.  I try to be different when I design a quilt, and this one floats my boat.  I only used fabrics from my Marcus Fabrics stash.  I had hundreds of 1" strips already cut and were begging to be sewn into a quilt.  Now I still have hundreds of 1" strips left because I kept cutting more and more!


On the home front, we are in Livermore staying with our eldest son and his family.  Mr. Joe has been having some health issues and we've been here a lot lately while he undergoes many tests.  He started having breathing issues with sever shortness of breath and chest pain.  He would walk up to the garage and have to sit down once he got there.

After two chest x-rays, and an MRI, his doctor put him on a round of antibiotics. The antibiotics treatment consisted of only 3 pills......they are very powerful, but the side effects were 5 pages in length.  By the 2nd pill he felt better until the side effects of tendon pain kicked in, and this could last for months.  I call it 'pain of the day' as the pain rotates from one tendon to another.  You know the old game of head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.  Well Mr. Joe hurts in all of those areas except for his head.

Let's fast forward two months.  Shortness of breath is back with a vengeance. Tendon pain is escalating.  A bronchoscopy of his lungs suggests sarcoidosis which is an abnormal collection of inflammatory cells in his lungs.  But the verdict is still out on this diagnosis.  The good news is that there is NO cancer!

Yesterday he had an ultrasound of his heart, and all is well with that organ.  I was teasing him that he has a heart after all, and he's not the Grinch.  His heart isn't 2 sizes too small, in fact I think he is the most compassionate and kindhearted person I know, except when he's constantly teasing his sister-in-law, Gail.

Today he is having a pulmonary function test.  This should be interesting and will hopefully lead the doctors in the right direction of a diagnosis and then a specific treatment.

This is probably more information than you want to know, but it feels good to talk about what is going on and why I've been pretty quiet lately on my blog.  We didn't tell our kids for months what was going on with their dad, and now I don't think that was the right decision as they want to be involved in every step of his journey.

So, after the test today, we will head back up to the cabin and into a fierce snowstorm.  Hopefully we can get buttoned up inside the cabin before the worst of the storm hits.  We have snow shovels and boots in the car just in case we need to dig our way in.  We will put Mazey to work with the digging part.

Keep Mr. Joe in your prayers for a sound diagnosis and treatment.

Soon,
Lynn

27 comments:

  1. Well Lynn...truly another wonderful quilt. I'm eager to see the rest of the border that you come up with! As for Mr. Joe...many of my prayers for him have already been answered in reading your update. Much love and hugs to you both!!!

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  2. Please give Joe a hug from us. We will be thinking of both of you with fingers crossed. John fell off a ladder last week. Nothing broken but his pride and the need to recognize that it might be time to pass some tasks on to the kids. Miss you two.

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    1. Is this from you, Ruth? I haven't let Joe go up on a ladder in the last few years. Kade came up to the cabin and cleaned our gutters out last weekend. You two take good care.

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  3. Definitely praying with you for Joe's health and comfort. He is a dear one and we all want him to be healthy, enjoying his life and keeping up with you :-)

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  4. Forgot to leave a name....Sandi and J

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    1. Tell John to stay off of those ladders, Sandi!

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  5. Sending prayers to Joe. Anyone would get short of breath trying to keep up with you. Wishing both of you a Merry Christmas from Mark and I

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    1. This made us laugh, Bev! Thank you for that.

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  6. I do love how your mind works, Lynn - this quilt is more than just a scrappy quilt - it's a triumph! We're so sorry to hear of Joe's issues! Please do keep us in the loop (you can pretend we're your children). We hope he finds that magic diagnosis and gets to feeling better soon!

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  7. I hope your hubby gets some answers. My hubby had a similar episode with lots of tests a couple of years ago.

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    1. Thank you for your comment, Jocelyn. We found out yesterday there will be more tests down the road.

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  8. Lynn, sending health, healing, and lots of love to you, Mr. Joe, and Mazey.

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    1. Thank you, Laura. I will pass your message on.

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  9. I’m so concerned about Joe. He is one of the nicest people I know. I will continue to pray that he heals quickly…. and the side effects of the meds cease.

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    1. Thanks, Madeleine. We feel he is in really good hands and the doctors are being very proactive. He is a good guy, isn't he!

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  10. Sending positive thoughts and prayers. I also hope a resolution is coming soon. Take care♥️

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  11. Dear Lynn,
    I'm so sorry to hear of Joe's health battles. Nothing, I repeat nothing, is as frustrating as an ailing spouse, especially when there is literally nothing you can do. May you both recieve a positive prognosis very soon. Thanks for keeping us in the loop, I will add you to my prayer chain.
    Hugs, Sharon McD

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    1. Thank you, Sharon. There's nothing I can do except take good care of him which is healing for me.

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  12. Sincere thoughts and prayers for Joe, you and your family as you travel this journey with Joe having good health.

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    1. We both feel that Joe's doctors will get to the bottom of this and have him back to his normal, spunky self soon.

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  13. Well, dang! Poor Mr. Joe! Sounds awful but hopefully the answers will come now soon. Love your Calico Cottages. The sashings with the light squares just sets everything off beautifully! Hugs to you and prayers for Mr. Joe.

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  14. I wondered why we hadn't heard much from you lately! Now I know and will say a prayer for Mr Joe and his doctors. I sure hope they figure out what is going on and can get a cure going for his problem. Remember to take time for yourself....caregivers need care too.

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  15. Puisque je ne reçois plus la publication de tes articles, je ne suis plus régulièrement ton blog.
    J’aime beaucoup ta courtepointe surtout la disposition de tes blocs.

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    1. Je suis vraiment désolé que vous ne receviez pas d’avis lorsque je postedu blog. Blogger a supprimé cette fonctionnalité il y a plus d’un an. Je suis content que vous aimiez la nouvelle courtepointe!

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  16. So sorry to hear abut Joe's health issues. Will include him in my prayer list which seems to grow each day. Take of yourself too.

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