We Need You Please – Can You Make A Small Donation?

As some of you know, my sister Tina Marie Mote will be running in the 2018 Chicago Marathon.  She is doing this to raise money for a worthy cause – the Arthritis Foundation.  Recently Tina posted about this and I want to share with you a story straight from her.  If you can spare a donation – even if it is a couple of dollars – everything will be greatly appreciated 🙂 

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“This is going to be a long post and describes the main reason I am running the Chicago Marathon in October to raise money and awareness for the Arthritis Foundation. Donations are welcome of any size to help the Arthritis; donations can be made anonymously, if you prefer, and they are made directly to the Arthritis Foundation through the link provided in this posting.

Donate Here Please – Thank You!

Next week, a close friend of mine, who I will refer to as J, who is only in her early 30s and has rheumatoid arthritis (along with lupus and fibromyalgia), is undergoing another Rituxin treatment, which is a chemotherapy treatment that—fingers crossed—may alleviate the autoimmune response this disease has on one’s body. For those not familiar with RA, I’ve enclosed the following information:

“Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints. Autoimmune diseases are illnesses that occur when the body’s tissues are mistakenly attacked by their own immune system. The immune system contains a complex organization of cells and antibodies designed normally to “seek and destroy” invaders of the body, particularly infections. Patients with autoimmune diseases have antibodies and immune cells in their blood that target their own body tissues, where they can be associated with inflammation. While inflammation of the tissue around the joints and inflammatory arthritis are characteristic features of rheumatoid arthritis, the disease can also cause inflammation and injury in other organs in the body. Because it can affect multiple other organs of the body, rheumatoid arthritis is referred to as a systemic illness and is sometimes called rheumatoid disease. Rheumatoid arthritis is a classic rheumatic disease.”

Obtained from: https://www.medicinenet.com/rheumatoid_arthritis/article.htm

The reason J is undergoing a chemo treatment for RA is because all other medicines (biologics/DMARDS) for RA no longer appear to be working for her. As the description of RA above states, it may not only affect the joints of the body but also other bodily organs. Because of RA, J’s lungs have been attacked and she is symptomatic of COPD though she has never smoked. RA has also damaged her heart and lungs . In addition, because RA is an autoimmune disease, her body thinks the immune system needs to attack the joints. The way the medicine works to alleviate this response is to slow the immune system. Doing so lessens her resilience to bacteria and viruses and what may be a common cold to us could become to her a prolonged illness. The flu would be devastating for her. Because of lower immunity, she’s had sepsis twice (November 2016 and November 2017)! Thank God the hospital both times immediately followed sepsis protocol at the first sign that sepsis was a possibility and didn’t wait for further evidence!

So next week she has another Rituxin treatment (info found on the links below), which has become her only option. However, the side effects are potentially devastating and potentially fatal because it severely compromises the immune system PLUS not to mention it’s a chemo treatment that has its own nasty side effects. I wish beyond all wishes I could be down in Texas with her this week but there is no way I can juggle my commitments and be with her, too.

I cannot stand to see anyone have to endure this, particularly someone who is a beautiful and life-giving soul as J is! Because I cannot help her directly and heal her, I want to do my small part to contribute to the Arthritis Foundation, who finds research for cures to terrible ailments such as RA.

Me completing a marathon pales in comparison what J has to endure on a daily basis and because the disease isn’t visible to others, sometimes those around her don’t realize just how hard it is for her. I’ve learned so much these last few years from her and have been inspired time and time again. She is the most optimistic and determined and brave and courageous individual I know and I want her to be around for many years to come!!!”

Rituxin treatment links:
https://www.webmd.com/…/20060428/rituxan-treats-rheumatoid-…

https://www.rituxanforra.com

 

Spotlight Thursday – Meet General U.S. Grant and General W.T. Sherman

Spotlight Thursday

Welcome my friends to SPOTLIGHT THURSDAY.  This is the time that I will introduce you to one of my fellow anipals so you can get to know them better.  Some of them, you may already know.  We hope that you enjoy this series!

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Name:  General U. S. Grant and General W. T. Sherman

Age:  7 and 5 months

Location:  Southern California USA

Web/Blog Page:  http://threecatyard.wordpress.com/

What were your first thoughts when you met your new parents?  We came from the same cattery Rhea and Davout came from, although Grant is a British Shorthair. He seemed nice, but Sherman was coming down with a cold and sneezed a few times on the trip from San Diego.  Both were very good and brave.

What was the defining moment when you knew you were in your forever home?  We had a different safe room to start than the others had, since Anna has the old one. It has fewer cubbies, but there is a big wood desk you can run under and feel safe. We took to it right away, and soon met Rhea and Davout and like them fine. Sometimes we sleep in safe corners around the house but are coming out.  Grant likes to rub against everyone and Rhea sometimes gives him a swat to make him stop, but he’s working on her patience.  Sherman likes to purr when held, but has things to see and won’t hang out with you for long.

What has been your biggest “Oh no, now I’ve done it” moment so far in your home?   Neither boy has done anything bad or scary. Anna and her hissing doesn’t bother them when they invade her room, but Davout will sometimes pin them down by the scruff to keep them out of her room and upsetting her.  He does this to Rhea too.

 Who do you have wrapped around your paws more – mom or dad – and why?  Grant tries to beg for extra meals and since they both are growing boys they often get one. Mostly Grant just watches Dad and both follow him around to see what he’s doing.

What’s the biggest misconception that humans think about you?  Humans are still learning about us like we are learning about them.

General W.T. Sherman

General U.S. Grant

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Hope you enjoyed meeting my friend – check back next week for another Spotlight edition!

 

31 Days of Spook – Dad’s Aunt Dorothy

Today’s spook tale is a real scary story, something that happened to my daddy when he was a young boy.  Are you ready for this?  Are you sure?  You might want to hold someone’s hand.

When dad was around was 10 years old, his mom’s Aunt Dorothy passed away.  She had a house in Blue Ridge, West Virginia.  It looked similar to this picture.  Up on a hill top, had a wrap around porch and was two stories with a full basement.  The house looked normal but had a little bit of an eerie factor… especially to a young child.  Let me give you a little bit background on some chilling history of the home.

Aunt Dorothy had a brother named John that also lived with her. There’s two different stories that circulated about what happened to dear poor John.  One was that Aunt Dorothy and John had dinner one night.  Afterwards, he stood up, crossed himself and then fell over dead.  They other story was they had a fight one day and Aunt Dorothy left the house.  When she returned from cooling down, he was dead.  No one knows which tale is how poor John really died.  Only one fact did remain – John was dead.  From that day forward, Aunt Dorothy locked his room and no one was ever allowed to enter his room.   And although the room was locked and she had the key, she would often mention how it sounded like someone was in the room at night walking around.

Upon Aunt Dorothy’s death, daddy’s mom and dad took him to the house so they could start cleaning some things up to sale the home.  They traveled out of state and got to Blue Ridge, West Virginia on a Thursday evening.  They went to Aunt Dorothy’s home the next day to start the clean up.  They went inside and it was cool inside, almost like goosebump kind of cool with the hair on your arms standing up.  This was strange because in that time during the 1970’s in this area, there really wasn’t central heating and air.  It was the middle of August and it was hot outside, in the 90’s plus.  Typical summer time weather – hot and very humid.  But, in the home it was cool and comfortable, almost ice cold.  They commented on how it was so cold that you could almost hang meat.  But they started to go through the home to see what they wanted, starting with the upstairs.

They found the key to the locked room that once belonged to Aunt Dorothy’s brother John.  The room had just been locked and never touched – as if he was returning back home one day and it was just frozen in time.  There was a book on the bedside table that was still marked where he had left off from reading.  Clothes were still scattered about the room.  The bed was still made.  There was a partial letter written on the desk to an old friend that was never finished.  The room had a eerie feeling like someone was still there and it was cold in this room as well.  One thing that was strange about the room.  There was no cob webs, no dust, nothing that looked like this room had been vacant for over 15 years. It was bizarre but they figured Aunt Dorothy had been in dusting.  But why dust and not pick up the scattered clothing?

Daddy’s father wanted him to go down into the basement alone to check for any tools that they possibly might want to bring home.  Daddy being all of 10 said sure.  How very brave of him.   Each step he took going down into the dark, cold and dank basement, he felt like he was being watched.  At times, it was like someone was following him but no one else was there when he looked around.  He found some things that they might possibly want and he gathered them up.  Slowly, he took everything upstairs with each step still feeling like he was being watched and followed.  And yes he was a child and you might be saying that he was scared because of his age.  Well, was he?  Let’s continue our story.

They stayed at the house on/off for the next couple of days cleaning.  They would go back to the hotel each night and return in the hot August weather with the coolness inside of the home.  Each day they were there cleaning and fixing things up, the house remained cool like there was an air conditioner on… but there wasn’t one. 

On the last day, dad’s mom asked him and his father to start cleaning up the living room area while she was starting in the parlor.  There was an old china cabinet that had french doors on the front.  When you looked through the glass panes, you could see a locked latch across the front.  Dad’s mom tried the doors, but she couldn’t get them open.  They were firmly locked.   Inside of the china cabinet, there was some sterling silver and china that dad’s mom wanted to take back home.

She didn’t want to break the doors in hopes of selling the antique furniture.  On the opposite side of the wall, there was a hutch.  She asked for the boys to come over to possibly help find a key to the china cabinet.  While the boys were searching the hutch, all of a sudden dad’s mom let out a chilling scream.

They turned around immediately and the french doors to the china cabinet were standing wide open as if someone had opened them both at the same time.  Dad’s mom took full advantage of the opportunity and removed the pieces she wanted.  Afterwards, she pushed the doors back together and the cabinet locked itself back up.  You could hear the click-click sound of the latch going right back to where it was previously.

We took the items we wanted out to the car while dad’s father took the trash out.  We came back into the house to lock it up to leave our final time.  We noticed that the house had lost the coolness feeling that it had and had become hot just like it was outside in the August air.  Three days of air conditioning, goosebump coolness, hair standing on your arms and now hot humid heat.  We left that day and never returned.

 

31 Days of Spook – Dad’s Aunt Dorothy

Today’s spook tale is a real scary story, something that happened to my daddy when he was a young boy.  Are you ready for this?  Are you sure?  You might want to hold someone’s hand.

When dad was around was 10 years old, his mom’s Aunt Dorothy passed away.  She had a house in Blue Ridge, West Virginia.  It looked similar to this picture.  Up on a hill top, had a wrap around porch and was two stories with a full basement.  The house looked normal but had a little bit of an eerie factor… especially to a young child.  Let me give you a little bit background on some chilling history of the home.

Aunt Dorothy had a brother named John that also lived with her. There’s two different stories that circulated about what happened to dear poor John.  One was that Aunt Dorothy and John had dinner one night.  Afterwards, he stood up, crossed himself and then fell over dead.  They other story was they had a fight one day and Aunt Dorothy left the house.  When she returned from cooling down, he was dead.  No one knows which tale is how poor John really died.  Only one fact did remain – John was dead.  From that day forward, Aunt Dorothy locked his room and no one was ever allowed to enter his room.   And although the room was locked and she had the key, she would often mention how it sounded like someone was in the room at night walking around.

Upon Aunt Dorothy’s death, daddy’s mom and dad took him to the house so they could start cleaning some things up to sale the home.  They traveled out of state and got to Blue Ridge, West Virginia on a Thursday evening.  They went to Aunt Dorothy’s home the next day to start the clean up.  They went inside and it was cool inside, almost like goosebump kind of cool with the hair on your arms standing up.  This was strange because in that time during the 1970’s in this area, there really wasn’t central heating and air.  It was the middle of August and it was hot outside, in the 90’s plus.  Typical summer time weather – hot and very humid.  But, in the home it was cool and comfortable, almost ice cold.  They commented on how it was so cold that you could almost hang meat.  But they started to go through the home to see what they wanted, starting with the upstairs.

They found the key to the locked room that once belonged to Aunt Dorothy’s brother John.  The room had just been locked and never touched – as if he was returning back home one day and it was just frozen in time.  There was a book on the bedside table that was still marked where he had left off from reading.  Clothes were still scattered about the room.  The bed was still made.  There was a partial letter written on the desk to an old friend that was never finished.  The room had a eerie feeling like someone was still there and it was cold in this room as well.  One thing that was strange about the room.  There was no cob webs, no dust, nothing that looked like this room had been vacant for over 15 years. It was bizarre but they figured Aunt Dorothy had been in dusting.  But why dust and not pick up the scattered clothing?

Daddy’s father wanted him to go down into the basement alone to check for any tools that they possibly might want to bring home.  Daddy being all of 10 said sure.  How very brave of him.   Each step he took going down into the dark, cold and dank basement, he felt like he was being watched.  At times, it was like someone was following him but no one else was there when he looked around.  He found some things that they might possibly want and he gathered them up.  Slowly, he took everything upstairs with each step still feeling like he was being watched and followed.  And yes he was a child and you might be saying that he was scared because of his age.  Well, was he?  Let’s continue our story.

They stayed at the house on/off for the next couple of days cleaning.  They would go back to the hotel each night and return in the hot August weather with the coolness inside of the home.  Each day they were there cleaning and fixing things up, the house remained cool like there was an air conditioner on… but there wasn’t one. 

On the last day, dad’s mom asked him and his father to start cleaning up the living room area while she was starting in the parlor.  There was an old china cabinet that had french doors on the front.  When you looked through the glass panes, you could see a locked latch across the front.  Dad’s mom tried the doors, but she couldn’t get them open.  They were firmly locked.   Inside of the china cabinet, there was some sterling silver and china that dad’s mom wanted to take back home.

She didn’t want to break the doors in hopes of selling the antique furniture.  On the opposite side of the wall, there was a hutch.  She asked for the boys to come over to possibly help find a key to the china cabinet.  While the boys were searching the hutch, all of a sudden dad’s mom let out a chilling scream.

They turned around immediately and the french doors to the china cabinet were standing wide open as if someone had opened them both at the same time.  Dad’s mom took full advantage of the opportunity and removed the pieces she wanted.  Afterwards, she pushed the doors back together and the cabinet locked itself back up.  You could hear the click-click sound of the latch going right back to where it was previously.

We took the items we wanted out to the car while dad’s father took the trash out.  We came back into the house to lock it up to leave our final time.  We noticed that the house had lost the coolness feeling that it had and had become hot just like it was outside in the August air.  Three days of air conditioning, goosebump coolness, hair standing on your arms and now hot humid heat.  We left that day and never returned.