Living My Life Archives - Page 3 of 10

Finally Got to Illinois to See My Family

June 20, 2017 By Sherri

GRATITUDE OF THE DECADE!

I can’t believe we were finally able to go see my family in Illinois!

We had to purchase a very rare all fiberglass trailer, which is extremely hard to find, then we

had to make lots and lots of repairs and changes to it, as well as many other challenges had to be addressed. The whole process took ten years! However, WE FINALLY GOT OUT THERE!!!!

Wayne and I enjoyed our first stay in an RV park in Salina, Kansas at the KOA! We got the end spot right next to a pond! The park was a delight! It had lots of trees, a gravel road, two ponds, cabins, a pool and of course, no chemical sprayers in the restrooms (air fresheners). We LOVED this place!

Our landing spot in Illinois was OK, but it was hard to love it after the first stop (LOL). I got to know the owner and he watched out for me every day (it wasn’t in the best of areas near St. Louis).

We had a GREAT time visiting with my dad (Ron), mom (Nancy Jo), brother (Marty) and grandma (GG)! We had planned on doing all of our visiting on my dad’s infamous deck, but my dad really wanted to get out and show us a few sights! He is such a warrior, pushing through the horrific pain he has been in!

We went by my childhood home, my best friend’s house, my old favorite place to swim (where I lived in the Summers), my mom’s childhood home, the fire station where we had annual

picnics, Dad’s old school (where he taught band), his church and the “Angels of Hope” where my dad had a brick laid in memory of my brother.

Dad also surprised me by taking me by the house where we lived when I was born! It belonged to my grandma and grandpa and I had never seen it in person (besides when I lived there when I was one). The people who bought the house after we moved still live there and they were home! They invited us in to see that some of the same furniture, lighting, doors and radiators were still there! I don’t remember any of it, but it was so fun to see my grandma and grandpa’s things!

Wayne and I also made a quick stop at the St. Louis Zoo. I couldn’t go all the way out there without at least taking a peek. This place is one of my fondest memories with my dad, family and cousins as a child. It has the coolest train! Unfortunately, I couldn’t ride it because of the exhaust. But it was fun to see it!

All in all, it was a wonderful trip of a lifetime! We were sad we couldn’t see everyone due to schedules or living out of town. But, I am so thankful for the precious time we had with family we were able to be with! We had great conversations, lots of laughter and hugs! It was just so wonderful to be able to sit on their deck, surrounded by trees, Cardinals and my dad’s amazing garden!

I have missed them all SO much over the years and wish I could just hop over there anytime to visit or have pizza night with them. It is so hard being so far apart! Nonetheless, I am so very grateful to have had this time with them and I will cherish it forever!

Please keep my dad (Ron) and mom (Nancy Jo) in your prayers for healing and much, much less pain, as well as my grandma (GG) to find new friends and joy in her new (and very nice) assisted living apartment.

Sherri

You Were Definitely Momma’s Girl

March 14, 2017 By Sherri

My precious baby, you were so special! You were definitely Momma’s girl, right down to healthy eating habits!

I miss you SO MUCH, little monkey!

Momma

Wahoo! I Made it Through Winter!

March 12, 2017 By Sherri

WOWEE! I made it through Winter and into Daylight Saving Time!

The Winter was mild, but I got the flu, bronchial pneumonia, dislocated ribs and torn rib cartilage from coughing. I am on week 7 of this stuff, because I am still dealing with a lingering cough and torn ribs (which I just tore and dislocated again a couple of days ago). But the GREAT news is that today is the first day of Daylight Saving Time!

I know many don’t like losing an hour of sleep. But try to remember you gain one later and that we actual gain 238 hours of extra sunshine in the evenings! This is extra time outside when you get off work and when kids get out of school!

For me, this means: More sunshine, time outside, time with my animals, time to BBQ, time for appointments and outings for Wayne and me (don’t have to be home so early to put up the animals), time outside after my hubby gets home from work, more dopamine, more serotonin, more vitamin D and it marks a turning point day for me to look forward to Spring and Summer, warmer weather and hopefully swimming!!! … Must I go on?

Wahoo!!!!

♡ Sherri

We Lost Our Baby Snickers

February 21, 2017 By Sherri

I have extremely heartbreaking news! Our baby Snickers went to Heaven in the middle of the night. She had a catastrophic stroke, most likely from the probable tumor in her brain that has been causing seizures and some neurological issues.

As many of you know, she wasn’t supposed to live more than a few days in November 2014. She wasn’t eating, her heart rate was 200 and she had a fatal heart condition, with Epilepsy. But I didn’t want to give up yet. I put supplements in a syringe and force fed her with them and she started walking and eating again. Then I made her fresh meats and vegetables. She has needed a ton of hands on care around the clock, including constant feeding since then. Nonetheless, she was happy, eating, wagging her tail and running around like a puppy. In fact, we had to slow her down most of the time!

Anyhow, several people have commented that they noticed we have been through a lot lately. I don’t want to be negative, but it has been unbelievable! The past few years alone, we have had constant crisis after death after crisis after death. 7 deaths, Mom and sister with cancer, 3 more family members really struggling and major crisis situations, in addition to my broken ankle (which a year later is still not totally healed), as well as recent flu, bronchial pneumonia and current torn ribs.

And now, my baby Snickers is gone. I am thankful for the time we had! But Mommy misses you SOOO much! Goodbye for now, my sweet little monkey! Thank you for bringing love and laughter into my life!

Mommy

We Finally Have a Christmas Tree!

December 5, 2016 By Sherri

I am SO EXCITED about our new tree!!! Wayne surprised me and set it up yesterday!

We have only had two trees in 22 years of marriage. The first we had at our old house in the sun-room. The next we had here in the living room.

I have never really liked fake trees, but fresh are always so much work to get, decorate and keep watered. What’s worse, I had a bad reaction to the chemicals on the last one. Yes, chemicals on a fresh tree! We got it at a big box store and would not be surprised if it were sprayed with pesticides and probably even pine scented chemicals!

It’s true! Some places are spraying trees and flowers with scents these days. Our world is so inundated with strong, neuro-toxic chemical fragrances that people are losing their sense of smell, which leads to adding more toxic scents to everything from cleaning products to laundry to soaps, lotions, shampoos and deodorants. You don’t EVEN want me to elaborate on that! … But if you do, go to my blog.

Anyway … back to my story. We had been looking for several years, but I wanted something different than the average wide tree with lights and a green, plastic trunk. I wanted pine cones and berries! We walked into Hobby Lobby two years ago after Christmas and there it was! Wayne went to get an employee to help find the box, because there was only one left. So, I stood there and waited.

Another customer came up behind me and started to grab the tree! I turned to him and said, “Oh I am so sorry, but my husband and I are buying this tree. He just went to get the box.” He was quite upset, but thankfully he didn’t want to fight about it. The employee who helped us get the box, made a call and found the other customer another store where he could get the tree. So, it all worked out. But boy was that close!

Happy ending? Almost there. Hang on! Since fake trees are made of plastics, paints and glues, we really had no idea if I would even be able to have it in the house. What we did know, was that we would have to out-gas it for at least a year before we even tried. So, Wayne put it downstairs and didn’t bring it back up for almost two years.

After all of that, I am elated to say that he was able to set it up in our living room without any problems! Wahoo!

Long story short, when you live with debilitating illness and have to think twice about everything you buy, bring into the house, put on your body, wear or eat … the small things like finally having a Christmas Tree is an extra special blessing!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Celebrating Another Year with Snickers!

November 20, 2015 By Sherri

Today, we celebrate another year with our baby doggie, Snickers!

One year ago today, she wouldn’t eat, was shaking and her heart rate was 200. We took her to the ER and they ran lots of tests. She saw a cardiologist and a general practice vet.

They found she has serious heart failure and said she would not live without a pacemaker. However, she probably would not live through the surgery and it would not resolve the grandmal seizures she had been having, because they believed she had a head injury from a fall off the couch and/or a brain tumor. The blood tests showed, 95% chance she had cancer. We could have done an MRI, but with her heart and the necessary sedatives, they said she probably would not survive it.

They said she would not recover and suggested we say goodbye. I was not ready to let her go until I had tried everything possible. I was not going to let her continue to starve, but I was going to take her home and do everything possible to see if I could get her to eat. I even took a syringe and put liquefied vitamins and enzymes in it. Even if I were to get her to eat, if her quality of life did not improve (I had to carry her, help her stand and potty), then we would do the right thing.

But much to our amazement, she started eating and walking again! We took it one day at a time and here we are one year later!

Read the Full Story! See More Photos and Videos!

JULY 30, 2016 UPDATE:

Snickers made it to her 15th birthday! Nobody can believe it. AMAZING!!!

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Simply go to the top right side-bar to follow me!

♡ Sherri

Click on the above image to enlarge.

A Beautiful Tribute to Wayne’s Dad

October 11, 2015 By Sherri

We had a BEAUTIFUL Celebration of Life Service for Wayne’s Dad, Russ Connell, yesterday!

4 of his 5 children spoke about the things they most remember about their dad’s life and what impacted their lives. I am so proud of Wayne’s tribute to Russ. It was loving, with lots of laughter!

We also had a really fun and emotional video of his life, what he loved and his family. And what a treat it was to have the Connell nephews get up and sing in a quartet! They were incredible! Can’t wait to share that too!

I want to say THANK YOU to all of the amazing people who attended in support of Wayne and me! A special thanks goes out to several friends of Wayne’s and IDA Board Members who were there. We can’t begin to express how much your presence meant to us!

I would also like to thank a few of my special friends who were there when I didn’t even ask them to be! Thank you, Ali, Ann, JOdy and Nancy!! I love you all SO much!!!

Spring is Finally Here! My Favorite Time of Year!

March 20, 2015 By Sherri

All Winter long, I count down the days until Daylight Savings Time starts again!

I NEED the sunlight! When we turn our clocks forward, I literally come out of a dark tunnel!

Time for sunshine on the patio, BBQ’s and more time outside!

Then, next thing I know, Spring is finally here, so I can do my Spring cartwheels and come ALIVE!

Cookie Got Pet of the Day!

March 18, 2015 By Sherri

LOOK at ME!!! I am the “Pet of the DAY!” Wahoo!

I wanna tell the world how amazing goats are and help other goats find loving goats like we have!!

Check out the Pet of the Day page, leave comments about me, tweet it and more!

Check out Pet of the Day on Facebook!

LUV, Cookie

Updates on ME! From Snickers

February 20, 2015 By Sherri

My Story on November 20, 2014:

On November 20th I was in the ER. The internist and cardiologist said I wouldn’t live without a pacemaker, but I couldn’t get one, because I wouldn’t survive the surgery. They said my heart condition is not treatable with medications or supplements. They also said I either had a brain tumor or injury (from falling off the couch a couple of years ago) and they were 95% sure I had cancer. My personal vet and Pumpkin and Cookie’s vet agreed with the findings and prognosis.

I hadn’t eaten for days, couldn’t stand or walk and was having seizures and passing out from my heart rate being 200!! They said I wasn’t going to make it. Mommy decided to take me home and let me say goodbye to Grammy and she wanted to be totally sure she couldn’t make me better enough to at least have a few more days or weeks (she knows a lot about supplements and diets).

When I made it a few more days, my vet was amazed! When I made it 2 weeks, he said he was totally shocked! Well, here I am exactly 3 months later!

It hasn’t been easy. Most of the time, I want to eat, but nothing sounds good. So, Mommy has to give me all kinds of different foods about five times a day to try to get me to eat. If I don’t want it, she has to put it all back and try again later. I am also very restless with my heart rate all over the place. I want up, then down then eat, no don’t eat. I’m fragile. I can easily become stressed, start shaking, my blood sugar goes down then I either pass out or start having a string of seizures for several days or a week.

Just trying to cut my hair throws me into a tizzy, so Mommy has had to do just a bit at a time. In the picture on the bottom right of the above collage, you can see Mommy finally got the bulk of my coat cut then a week later, did my face (first picture)! Sadly, she says, my tail is full of knots she can’t get out, so she’s going to have to cut the hair off my beautiful flowing tail.

However, as bad as it sounds, for the most part, I am still eating something every day, gained some weight back and wag my tail a lot. So, we are still living day to day and thanking God for every day we still have each other!

Thank you all for your prayers!

♡ Snickers

MORE UPDATES On Snickers:

2014 UPDATES:

JULY 30 UPDATE:

I MADE IT TO MY BIRTHDAY!!

Last November, I was only supposed to live a few days, but I am here and I made it to my 14th birthday! I am still having lots of problems, so we are being thankful for every day I have! Wahoo! ♡ Snickers

JULY 8 UPDATE: I’ve had 3 seizures in 4 days! Mommy’s worried to leave my side. But I am still eating. I know it is a big pain to feed me, cuz I have to eat every two hours or my blood sugar drops. Yet, Mommy usually has to try 8 different foods to get me to eat. And I am still wagging my tail and happy! So, I keep fighting until my day comes. ♡ Snickers

JUNE 7 UPDATE: Rough day! We have had company, which is awesome! But I get so upset with another dog here (several years ago a friend’s dog bit me in the face). I had another heart episode (hacking and wheezing to get it to beat). Then I had a seizure. Later, I had a panic attack and another seizure. Mommy had hard time getting me to stop shaking, but I was able to eat a few bites and am going to nap. ♡ Snickers

APRIL 22 UPDATE: I GAVE MOMMY A BAD SCARE this morning! I had a seizure then died! This happened a year ago. I have been blacking out and having seizures for 2 years, but this the second time my heart stopped and I quit breathing.

Mommy did CPR again and again and again. I wasn’t coming back, so she flipped me over and pounded on my heart then did CPR again and again. I was a rag doll with my mouth open and tongue hanging out. No life signs. She thought I wasn’t coming back, but she wasn’t giving up.

Finally, there was a short, small breath, so Mommy massaged my lungs and did some more compressions … AND I CAME BACK!

Thinking back, Mommy realizes I have been having more shaking and high heart rate episodes the past couple of weeks. And as usual, she has to work really heart to get me to eat 6 times a day or my blood sugar drops and I pass out and heart could stop or I could go into a coma.

But I have been happy in between, wagging my tail and loving life, so she wasn’t about to let go of me!

Thank you, Lord, for another day with Mommy and Daddy!! ♡ Snickers

APRIL 3 UPDATE: In case you all were wondering … I have a whole ‘nuther month under my belt! That makes 4 months of living, when they said I had only a few days! Mommy is really working hard 6 times a day to get me to eat. I am not picky, I just have a hard time finding something that sounds good these days. But because once I get my appetite or my blood sugar drops, I scarf up my food and because one of my foods has rice in it, I have gained all my weight back! Wahoo! ♡ Snickers

March 20 UPDATE: In case you all were wondering … I have a whole ‘nuther month under my belt! That makes 4 months of living, when they said I had only a few days! Mommy is really working hard 6 times a day to get me to eat. I am not picky, I just have a hard time finding something that sounds good these days. But because once I get my appetite or my blood sugar drops, I scarf up my food and because one of my foods has rice in it, I have gained all my weight back! Wahoo! ♡ Snickers

MORE VIDEOS AND PHOTOS Of Snickers!

Snickers Strikes Again

Snickers the Mighty Alert Dog

Beware of the Celery Monster

Drive-In Dinner with the Doggie

Guilty As Charged

What Does Snickers Want?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2015

A Very Thankful Thanksgiving 2014

There’s Someone Who Cares

We Have a New Breed of Dog! A Sheep Tzu!

Christmas Blessing and Happy New Year 2014