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Tag Archive for family history

diabetes Has struck Again!

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Renee Spindle

It is true, since becoming a Domestic Goddess a few years ago I have discovered a fondness for writing and sharing my life stories with the world. On April 30th, 2014 my own life path took a bit of a drastic curve as I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes. To say I was stunned and overwhelmed is a major understatement. I was feeling both of these things plus a whole lot more. Words like seriously (!!), unreal, unbelievable, and dumbfounded all came to mind.

This is one of those stories that I have hemmed and hawed about telling because it’s very personal, and concerns my own health, not one of my family members. However, it is important to me to share this with all of you just in case you have had or are having a similar experience. I am 54 years old and last year I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes (ugh). If you have been a follower of my family stories you know that my youngest son is a Type I diabetic. He has been diabetic since he was 6 and he just turned 24. Diabetes is not a new issue or challenge for me, except now I also have Diabetes of the Type II variety (ugh). The story of how that diagnosis came about is a rather interesting one and it’s the main reason I feel compelled to share this discovery with all of you.

In the summer of 2013 I had gotten what I thought was a cut or scrape on my right ankle. It was taking some time to heal, and then it started to get a little itchy. It took me awhile to decide to go to the doctor to get this checked out. What I thought was a simple scrape had turned into a circular sore that was simply not healing 100%. I had been applying Neosporin to this ugly little spot (about the circumference of a small coffee cup), and the first reaction from the doctor was , “Well you must be allergic to the Neosporin”, because of the way it had spread. At that point it was determined that my boo-boo was of the fungal variety (aka ringworm), and that I needed to apply some anti-fungal cream. So I did, and shortly after that visit I saw a dermatologist who also confirmed ringworm, via a biopsy. (ugh-not fun) The spot on my ankle continued to heal so slowly, the itching subsided, and I just “let it go” for a few months. Now we’re into November of 2013, my Mom went to a dermatologist for an annual visit, and she really liked the doctor. She encouraged me to make an appointment to see him since my ankle had still not healed 100%. Of course being the fathead that I am I put off doing anything about it until after the holidays and then some.

Now roll around to 2014, and in February of 2014 I finally go to the dermatologist my Mom had seen. He was great. As soon as he saw my ankle he said to me, “That looks like a skin tag.” I reply, “A what?”. A skin tag in my case was a discoloration of the skin where I had the open sore. It was still quite red, and had some occasional itchiness. The dermatologist ordered the necessary blood tests and a second biopsy on the boo-boo site, and it was confirmed that I did indeed have Type II diabetes. (ugh!) I got a referral to a wonderful endocrinologist, and was thankful to know I would be on the road to finally feeling better.

At this point knowing that there was something physically “off” for me gave me a sense of relief. I know that may sound strange, but it’s because there was a definitive issue I was dealing with, and I would have continued to fight an uphill battle if I had waited any longer to get my boo-boo checked out. This explained some things for me too. I had been having trouble dropping those extra “holiday pounds” in January of 2014. I was so, so tired all of the time. I blamed the stress and tiredness on the loss of my Dad. Now I know it was diabetes rearing it’s ugly head, and in my case it is genetically manifested. At some point in time diabetes was going to be in my life for a very long time. After my diagnosis the urge to run home and tell my other kids to get tested for any indicators of diabetes was overwhelming.

Pre-diagnosis

Feeling Great-40 pounds lighter!!

I don’t really remember when I started to actually feel better and more energetic again, but it didn’t take long. All in all so far I’ve dropped about 40 pounds from diet, exercise and getting my metabolism in order. I feel so much better. No sluggishness, not dealing with weight gain, and feeling so much better. Did I say that already?

Discovering my diabetes and finding my way towards a healthier lifestyle was an incredibly easy path once I knew what was going on. I wanted to feel better. And I will admit to you all that I was not really paying attention to me, and how I was truly feeling. I was feeling pretty crappy. No energy, could not lose a pound to save my life, and oh so moody which was totally not my character. My life lesson here is do not wait to go the doctor if you’re not feeling right, or if you have a boo-boo that’s taking forever to heal. Listen to your mother (love you Mom!) and take good care of yourself.

This post linked to the BlogShareLearn linky party.

11 comments Posted in Diabetes

A Fond Farewell

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Renee Spindle

Today while I was driving I was trying to remember the last time that I talked to my Grandma. I am fairly certain that it was Thanksgiving Day. I called her to wish her and my Grandpa a Happy Thanksgiving. They were bustling around the kitchen together getting their Thanksgiving dinner ready so we did not talk for very long. I wished them a “Happy Thanksgiving” and told my Grandma that I loved her. A week later to the day, she was gone. Our dear, sweet, loving Grandma was no longer with us.

My Grandma was one of the kindest people I have ever known. You know on her 90th birthday we all pitched in and got her a Mac Book which she loved learning how to use. Her love of learning never faltered. She was a voracious reader, and loved learning how to use Google to find the information she needed. As a matter of fact at one point in her life she wrote a letter to The Encyclopedia Britannica correcting them, and they listened!

Some of my fondest memories of my Grandma include-

Her stories and memories of times gone by. Especially the stories of how she met my Grandpa, and how their favorite place to go for their anniversary dinner was the Dog-n-Suds.

The fact that she drove a red convertible VW bug, and then a gorgeous blue Mustang. I thought she was so cool, and so hip!

We would always talk about gardening, composting and how her fruit trees were doing. She would always ask how my garden was doing, or what I was planning on planting.

A couple of my conversations around her birthday centered around granddaughter Madison. We were discussing the fact that Madison’s zodiac sign was the same as hers (Madison’s great-great grandma). My Grandma kept telling me she’s going to be stubborn and independent just like me. Remember my recent story about “Madditude”?

My memories of my Grandma are always surrounded by her love of her family. She would always stay in touch with everyone on birthdays, anniversaries, and at Christmas time. To me she was like the glue holding all of the extended family together.

I consider myself incredibly blessed to have been included in these five generation pictures over the years:

Is still amazes me to this day that my Grandma, my Mom and I are in all three of these pictures. Such priceless history, and such precious memories. I will miss my Grandma dearly, and hold my memories of her close to my heart.

Sometimes life can be overwhelming. The week before my Grandma passed away is when our daughter suffered a serious epileptic seizure. I remember saying to myself I cannot handle anymore, my plate is overflowing. But minute by minute, hour by hour, and day by day we get through life. My Mom and I have a new saying we share with each other when life is overwhelming us. We just tell each other or remind each other that “Life is Life”.

12 comments Posted in Family

It’s the First Monday of 2015

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Renee Spindle

Today marks the first Monday of the New Year and I just wanted to let all of you know that if anyone needs me today I will be sitting right here at my computer putting the final touches on our 2015 Family Calendar. It seems that I have volunteered for a task/project that has a much larger scope/involvement than I ever realized. This project is normally headed up by my Mom. This has been a much more emotional task than I ever fathomed it would be. Just perusing through all of the pictures to find the right one for my pages has been a journey all of its own. However, this is one of those family traditions that I for one do not want to let go by the wayside. So when my Mom asked me if I could help with the calendar for this year of course I said yes.

The Family Calendar is a time-honored tradition started by my parents many moons ago. I wrote about the legacy of our Family Calendar a few years ago, and today the tradition continues.

Now mind you our calendar is a tad late this year, but this tradition will go forward and the calendars will be delivered to all of our family members by the end of this week. Whew!

Honestly the one thing that I am most excited about for our 2015 calendar is that my Mom has not seen one page of it. The entire calendar will be a surprise for her as well as the rest of the family. I am the only one who has been viewing the pages in their entirety. That is the honor of taking on this tradition.

For now I bid you all adieu. I cannot wait to share some of our family pages with all of you once the calendar is completed. I already have a favorite month, but I cannot tell you which one it is. That is top-secret, classified information.

I hope that each and every one of you have a wonderful day today.

2 comments Posted in Family, Holidays

Can YOU fix a Thermostat? I did!

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Renee Spindle

Last August my baby boy got married here at home in our back yard. You can read all about the wedding here. It was a lovely summer day and pretty hot too. I remember we were so glad when the sun went down. It was such a fun night of partying and just having some fun.

My house was not only hosting the wedding ceremony, we were also the “get ready” station for the wedding party, etc. This included my grandson, Evan, who was the ring bearer. The household was a little tense to say the least. We spent the morning cleaning, decorating, and making sure all the details were in order for a wonderful wedding day.

Then came the time for the boys, including Evan, to get their best duds on to be ready for the ceremony. This caused a bit of a stir for Evan because he was already hot, tired and sweaty and did not want to put on his shirt with a bow tie. His Uncle Bryan ended up carrying him down the hallway kicking and screaming to the bedrooms to get dressed. That’s when a little fiasco happened. In the midst of his little tantrum while being carried down the hallway he kicked the thermostat right off of the wall and the batteries went flying!! We have one of those thermostats that can be popped off of the wall easily for programming.

I momentarily panicked, took a breath, and then calmness came over me. I had a house full of people, it was hot outside and we need the air conditioner running for the day. The thermostat was not going to fail us. I found the batteries rolling around on the floor, picked up the thermostat and put everything back together and back on the wall mount. I set the AC to come back on and nothing happened. Gulp, another small moment of panic. Then I did what I suppose any of us might do in this situation. I took the thermostat off of the wall again, and noticed that one of the batteries was a little loose. I proceeded to the kitchen and got out our gigantic roll of foil (Travel Man uses this for his grilling). Then I tore off a small piece of foil, folded it up, and stuck it in between the battery and the housing of the thermostat. I was totally focused on fixing this situation. The thermostat then went back on the wall and voila! the AC was up and running once again. I’m not really certain if this was the safest thing to do, but I did it and it worked.

Now a few things I need to mention here. Travel Man (my wonderful hubby) was running around the backyard like a chicken with his head cut off so I never told him all of this happened with the thermostat that day. In fact I don’t think I told him the entire story until somewhere around Christmas time. It was a stressful day for us, and I wasn’t going to add to his stress factor, especially since I was able to get the thing fixed. The other mention is that my Mom was quite emotional that day. We had just lost my Dad, her grandson was getting married, and it just really got the best of her. But, my five minutes of finessing (which seemed like 5 hours in the scheme of things) the thermostat completely entertained her and made her laugh and smile that day. I’m glad I could do that for her.

This is one of those stories that will go down in the family history books in the “Remember When” chapter. We had quite a few wonderful moments on that wonderful wedding day, but for me this one was the most stressful and most successful at the same time. And you know as I’m writing this I’m thinking that all of my own family members might not have heard this story. That’s ok though, I always want things to stay positive for everyone!

When is the last time you had a family “moment”that you considered one for the history books?