I blog when I am inspired to by something - in other words, pretty much like a lot of other bloggers. I don't blog often, but when I do, I try to make it count.
So far using the ChipIn! widget on the side of this blog, I've raised $330 to go towards my sister's medical expenses, and a friend mailed a check for $25. That's a total of $355 so far. I recently found out that friends and family back home in Tennessee are holding a benefit for her on November 6. I'd LOVE to be able to send her a check for $500 that she could open at or before the benefit.
Can you help reach that goal?
If you do not do any online banking, you are welcome to mail a check to me at the following address:
Tonya Rosenberg
P.O. Box 611
Issaquah, WA 98027-0023
Please put "Loretta's Medical Bills" in the memo line.
**UPDATE: October 24**
Sissy has had her first chemo treatment. Apparently she had a pretty adverse reaction (like an allergic reaction) and is not feeling well. The next treatment is November 8, two days after the scheduled benefit.
For those of you in Tennessee - my family and friends still in McMinnville - here is the basic info that I have regarding the benefit:
For Loretta Lynn Ritchey's expenses related to breast cancer
Place: Centertown Community Center
Dinner plates will be served starting at 5:00pm
There will also be an auction. If you have any goods or services you could donate for the auction, please get in touch and I'll help you get connected with our Mom.
My sister is recovering well from her breast cancer surgery and her hysterectomy. Health-wise, it seems like good news at this point in terms of those issues.
Of course she will always have to deal with her fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, peripheral neuropathy, and so on. This will impact her ability to obtain and hold a job once her best friend (for whom she currently works as her health allows) retires and closes the business at the end of this month. My big sister (Loretta or Lynn to some, but Sissy to me) is someone who I've always looked up to. She has always been a strong, independent person - someone who I always thought would always find a way to land on her feet. She has always worked SO HARD. She always did her best to help others, and it's been hard for her to accept help. Sissy thinks she's supposed to be the helper, not the one needing to accept help.
I've been working on trying to raise some money online for Sissy to use for her medical expenses, and so far I've raised $355 ($330 from the ChipIn! widget on the right side of this page, and $25 sent as a check). Today Mom told me that they are having a benefit for Sissy on my birthday, November 6. I'd love to raise some more money for her by November 1 so I can send it to her by the date of the benefit.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Would you consider donating some funds directly for use by someone who just had breast cancer surgery and radiation?
If you do not have the ability to do online donations via ChipIn!, you can absolutely send a check. You can make it out me, or you can put her name on it and I can include it with the other funds in the card I'll be sending. Just contact me and I will give you my mailing address privately.
My 40th birthday is coming up, and it's making me relive some of (the cool parts) of my youth. Specifically, I'm reminiscing about television, movies and music from the 1980s.
Do you have favorite things you remember from that decade? Toys, games, technology, music, television shows, movies, clothing styles, etc. are all fair game.
I'll be posting updates on this blog in the form of replies. You are welcome to add your own replies if you like, of course.
I just got off the phone with my Mom.
Sissy has finished the radiation from her breast cancer removal surgery. Apparently they put some sort of balloon in the place where the cancer in her breast was removed, and then were able to administer radiation treatment twice a day for five days through that. I don't really understand all that, but I will research it.
This Friday Sissy is having another surgery, this surgery being a complete hysterectomy. The tumor on her ovary is about the size of an apple. Mom doesn't know if it's also cancerous, but hopefully I'll know more when I talk to her on Sunday.
Apparently she's been unable to have any bowel movements for a while. They have been giving her stool softeners, but so far she doesn't even have the urge to go. She is supposed to be "cleaned out" by Friday morning's surgery, so if there's still no movement I don't know what will happen. It's possible she'll have to have surgery to take care of impacted bowels, maybe? I don't know.
On the up side (or what I'm choosing to latch onto as an up side, at least), she's going to have the surgery at Baptist Hospital in Nashville. Not only is this a good hospital, it is where her life was saved back in 1973.
You see, when she was pregnant with my nephew she was VERY sick. She had hyperemesis (think of it as 24/7 morning sickness, but like a bad stomach flu where NOTHING stays down). If you can't keep food or water in your body at all, you can die - and a doctor at Baptist saved her life, and my nephew's life, by finally finding medicine that allowed her to stop throwing up.
Here's where the hopefulness, the belief and faith that maybe there are miracles, comes in. As it turns out, the oncologist gynecologist is the doctor WHO REPLACED THE ONE WHO SAVED HER when he retired! Maybe it's just coincidence. But we NEED something to cling to, some hope that there is something bigger than us at work, and that it's working in a wonderful, healing way in her life right now.
My sister is 16 years older than me. She's had to become a very strong lady as life has thrown more than a fair share of curve balls her way.
I can remember watching her dig for potatoes in our garden when, as a single parent, she was struggling to make ends meet. I know for a fact there were many times she literally went hungry to ensure my nephew would have food to eat.
As a teenager, I remember getting a call late one evening from her, hysterical and in tears. Her second husband (who was, I truly believe, her soul mate) had died from a heart attack, and she couldn't save him. It nearly broke her.
A few years back her last marriage ended in such a devastating way that I honestly had to pray all the time because I feared she might take her own life. He was simply that horrible to her.
She's struggled with fibromyalgia for a long time now, as well as neuropathy. A few years back she had to have carpel tunnel surgeries on both hands. Then she contracted the MRSA virus.
Through it all, she has remained as hard a worker as her health would allow (frankly, MORE than it should allow, but she's a stubborn fighter).
Now she faces another health challenge. During a recent routine mammogram they discovered cancer. She's gone through surgery to have the mass removed, along with two lymph nodes. She's about to start radiation treatment. Various cancers are prevalent in our family. We lost our Dad, Pa, and and uncle to prostate cancer. We've also lost grandparents and cousins to cancers. To hear the 'C' word in conjunction with my sister is a terrifying thing.
She works for a friend who'll be retiring in October - someone who knows that some days her health keeps her homebound, someone who wouldn't fire her for missing work. At 56 years old, with poor health, finding a new job will be difficult. Finding one with a boss who won't penalize her for her health seems impossible.
Her medical bills are already outrageous, and with radiation, follow-ups, etc., it's only going to grow.
She is a strong, independent, and proud woman. It's always been easier for her to do things for herself than to accept help. However, as her sister I can't sit by and do nothing. So, friends and family, I humbly ask for help for my sister. Some of you may know her personally. Many of you may not. But ALL of you who help - even if it's only to pray or send healing vibes her way - are SO very appreciated.
