I can't believe this!!!

I think I have a cold for the first time in years!!! I avoid my friends with kids with this colds because when I get sick it really drags me down.

I always take a flu shot!

Some how it got me! I got the crud! My throat is scratchy and sore.... I'm coughing! Yuck!

Luckily my best friend is also my personal nurse if needed...

I'm kinda mad I got the crud... I am so careful.

Merry Christmas from the Stow family

I'm trying to get back to work at my blog. So first thing I go to Bryan Stow's blog to see if he had a good Christmas. They have decorated his room and decorated a tree with ornaments and the works.

Bryan had another infection which caused some problems. You can read the details in the link above.

The Stow family remembered Matt the friend that died from a peanut allergy soon after Bryan's accident. His birthday must have been during the holidays.

As we all got a day or two of holiday break from our jobs... Bryan can't take a holiday from his condition. Its for life!

Merry Christmas!!!

As we rush from house to house to grab up present don't forget to remember the important things about today.

Number one today we need to say "Happy Birthday Jesus."

Second we need to remember our family and neighbors that don't have anyone at this time of year.

As you see in the picture this is pepper. He is 13 and my name sake for my blog. He is diabetic and has several other aches and pains that comes with old age. Besides being grumpy...LOL

But I am very thankful to still have him to enjoy one more Christmas! Just as I remember the last Christmas we got to spent with my Mamaw. I have a picture of use all together.

One thing I would really like to have is a picture of my parents and me. My dad was wanting one the other night.

Attempted kidnapping at the Asheville Mall

I hear story after story of children being abducted in Florida, Texas ans California. In Hickory, North Carolina we even heard the terrible story of Zahra Baker. But I have felt pretty safe in this area with our children. I do sex offender checks often and find many and keep there faces in my mind just in case.

One of my close friends refuses to watch the news. I may watch the news too much but I want to be aware of what is going on around me and be prepared. Thank God!!! This dad was on his toes!!!

I heard this story last night about Barney Wooten trying to take this man's daughter. Dad held the man until police could take him into custody. Wooten was found to have candy and Vaseline on him.

This makes me physically sick to hear these stories.




Asheville Police say they arrested a man who tried to kidnap a 4 year old girl at the Asheville Mall yesterday. Barney Eugene Wooten is charged with Indecent Liberties with a Child and Abduction of Children. The child's father says Wooten sat down next to his daughter, grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. The man ran away when the father approached him. Mall Security told Police they had received other reports about a man following young children. Officers recovered a tube of Vaseline and several pieces of hard candy from Wooten during the arrest. Wooten is in the Buncombe County Detention Facility. He is currently being held on a $100,000dollar secure bond.

The Asheville Mall issued this statement: "One of our top priorities at Asheville Mall is to provide our shoppers, retail partners and employees with a comfortable, convenient and enjoyable shopping environment.There are security measures in place at Asheville Mall. We are not at liberty to discuss policy specifics as that may compromise the situation.The situation was reported to mall security, who identified the suspect and worked with Asheville Police Department to quickly make an arrest."Attempted Kidnapping at the Mall Thursday, December 22 2011, 06:39 PM EST

http://www.wlos.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wmya_vid_6247.shtml
You can see picture and video here:

Depressed at Christmas

This year has been crazy... Not a bad year as far as with being sick. It has just been really busy trying to get my health back.

My mom had surgery this year. I have been concentrating on her rehabilitation. We have been going to the gym 3 times a week and water aerobics.

We been drinking the protein shakes with trying to eat healthier. Protein helps to keep you from being hungry, gives you energy and gives your body what it needs to work off those extra pounds though out the day.

We have been so busy this year that things have just got away from me. It's December 22 and until yesterday I did not have one present under my tree.

My dad and I went shopping and he came in and looked at my empty tree and told me to grab everything and we would wrap some presents real quick.

We had fun wrapping and looking at my mom's presents.


I don't know if its because it's because its not been very cold this year... or maybe that I have had a hard time finding what I wanted for people...AH!!! Then being over charged!!!

My friend Keyt was telling me how she hates Christmas. I love Christmas. This is my favorite time of the year. I love being able to give presents.

But as I was telling Keyt I don't know why I don't hate Chrstmas too. My family has all left me while I have been down...

They were always here while they thought my parents were rolling in money and they saw my parents business as doing very well. We would have big Christmas parties at our house for the kids.

I think the things that really hurt me about my family the most and made me realize that they were just coming around when they needed or wanted something. I never got a phone call or a text... not even an email in 10 years that I have been sick having surgeries from my hydrocephalus.

I now hear my other relative talk like I am suppose to feel sorry for her kids... When the kids are in better shap than I am...

I invited one member for Christmas and she blew up that she did not have money for presents! I said "What" I'll find you presents if you think its all about presents!"

She was just using that for an excuse...

Another family member told she could not afford to buy Christmas for anyone because she was going through this terrible divorce... but with in months she was able to buy laptops and all other kind of expensive things she was always trying to hide.

I am thankful to have my parents without them I wouldn't have any family I could rely on...

Deanna was telling me it was hard for her to get the Christmas feeling too... We have always known what each other was thinking... Hopefully my Christmas gift will help a little... at least it will get her mind to working again...

She told me something the other night that let me know I had done the exact right thing for her Christmas!! I can't wait!!!

I know my post was hard to understand but I needed to vent and honestly I know I have not been around in a few days...

Saved from Sinility

Saved from Senility

(CBS) ..For many people, it's the worst possible news. They're diagnosed with Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, and they're told to put their affairs in order and prepare for years of suffering, and eventually, death.

Millions of Americans have to live with that diagnosis -- and all the heartache that goes with it. But what if the diagnosis is wrong? What if they're suffering from something that's treatable? Correspondent Vicki Mabrey reports.

"I was totally convinced I was dying. I was totally convinced I'd be gone in a month or a so," says Bob Fowler, who wrote his own obituary five years ago, at the age of 69.

"It was hard to write it. I was totally convinced because I'd been to doctor after doctor after doctor with absolutely no positive results. No diagnosis of what was wrong with me at all. It was a very traumatic time for us.

" For nearly a decade, Fowler had struggled with debilitating symptoms – trouble with balance, memory, and incontinence. Doctors suspected Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, but weren't sure. His condition worsened so terribly that he ended up in a wheelchair and had to stop working. Eventually, his wife Bonita began making plans to put him in a nursing home.

Fowler says he also developed a severe case of dementia: "One morning, I wandered out to the sidewalk to get our morning paper. And Bonita was at the door and she yelled at me. She said, 'Why don't you have anything on?' I said, 'Well, I've got a towel.' I had a towel around my neck and nothing else on. Now, I've always been a shy, kind of private person. And yet, it just didn't seem to matter."

He says he's probably been to 15 doctors over the past nine years. And in all of those years, none of his doctors suggested he have an MRI or CT scan, and he never got a definitive diagnosis of what was wrong with him.

In Phoenix, retired dentist Milt Newman suffered for 15 years from the same symptoms as Fowler. In Newman's case, a CT scan was performed, yet none of his doctors could pinpoint what was causing his decline.

"My concentration was nil. There wasn't any. Reading a book was difficult because I couldn't remember what happened 10 pages back," says Newman. "And later on, conversation was difficult because I'd forget what people would say."

He says it started when he was 55. His wife, Phyllis, says she remembers watching her once vibrant husband simply slip away: "It was like his brain was sinking into his body. That's the only way I could say."

Eventually, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. "I was floored by that because to me that was a death sentence," says Newman. "I said to myself,'Well, let me get prepared.'"

What Newman wasn't prepared for, however, was the news that it was all a mistake – and that there was hope.

Last year, after 15 years of suffering, Newman met Dr. Harold Rekate, a neurosurgeon at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. He realized that what Newman had wasn't Alzheimer's but a condition called normal pressure hydrocephalus or NPH. NPH is caused by excess fluid putting pressure on the brain.

"There's 10 times too much fluid in here than there is in a normal person," says Rekate. "It's pushing the brain outward and stretching the nerve fibers so they can't function properly."

The result can be the very symptoms that plagued both Newman and Fowler – problems with gait, or walking, with thinking and bladder control.

To Dr. Rekate, those symptoms – especially a shuffling walk – are a giveaway. But doctors rarely realize that the cause might be NPH and a surprising number of cases go undiagnosed, and untreated.

Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia afflict more than 7 million people in the United States, but medical professionals estimate that between 5 and 10 percent of them -- at least 375,000 people -- might actually have NPH. And most physicians are missing it. Why?

"It's hard to make the diagnosis. You have to sit down and you have to listen and you have to examine the patient. And you have to do it in a thorough way. And then you have to order an expensive test," says Rekate. "An MRI scan will cost somewhere around $2,000-3,000. It's not that the insurance carriers want you to do that."

So what do those who are misdiagnosed need to do? "You don't have to go gently into that good night," says Rekate. "You need to fight. And we need to give you the tools to fight."

The first tool is knowledge, because once the condition is discovered, the treatment is a 45-minute procedure in which neurosurgeons surgically insert a tube called a shunt into the brain. That tube drains the excess fluid from the brain and moves it to the belly where it can be absorbed.

The shunt may need to be adjusted because removing too much or too little fluid can be dangerous. That adjustment used to require further surgery, but now it is done painlessly with a magnet in the doctor's office.

After the surgery, Newman said he "felt like the old Milton."

Fowler said he had a similar transformation in 1999, when he was finally told that he had NPH: "I never anticipated feeling that good again in my life. And all of a sudden I felt fantastic. I'm 74 years old now and I'm doing things that I would have dreamed of doing any time during my 60s."

Today, five years after his surgery, Fowler is back at work and back at play. But he's also a man with a mission to spread the word about NPH.

He's starred in a public-service announcement, re-enacting what his symptoms were like then, and showing how he is now. The ad was produced by one of the shunt manufacturers.

"We've had hundreds of calls from patients who saw those commercials and said, 'That sounds like me. It sounds like my mother, my father, someone that I know,'" says Dr. Gail Rosseau, a neurosurgeon at the Chicago Institute Of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch.

Rosseau is working to raise awareness in both doctors and patients about the three classic signs of the condition.

"Patients and their families should know that if someone is aging and their gait is worsening, their mental thought processes are becoming less clear, and they have urinary incontinence, they need a scan," says Rosseau. "They need to insist on a scan and they need to see a specialist who knows about normal-pressure hydrocephalus."

But even that, she says, might not lead to a dramatic recovery.

"We can improve the symptoms of normal-pressure hydrocephalus, but we can't make you look younger," says Rosseau. "We can't slow down the other things that make you feel old that have happened during that same period: arthritis, perhaps heart disease, the other medical problems that we all seem to accumulate as we get older. This only helps one of them, but when we're right about it, it can help a lot."

No one understands that more than Fowler, who says he feels like he's been given a second chance, and he wants to share it with others.

"I can spot 'em quickly. I've even walked up to people and had the audacity to walk up to a person and say, 'Have you had an MRI or a CT scan in the last few years?' And they say, 'No why, what business is it of yours,'" says Fowler. "

And I say, 'Because I know your gait and I know your walk. I want you to go from here and have a CT scan or an MRI. Do yourself a favor.'"

Nomorerack

I just got an amazing opptunity to Check out an amazing web site. It's Nomorerack.com.

I am really excited to be able to pass on this great information to my friends.

Every day at 12 noon EST, the daily deals are updated and they last for 24 hours. The best deals do sell out. You can return an item if you are not satisfied within 30 days of purchase for a full refund if the merchandise is returned in new, fully saleable condition.

Have you heard about the insanity of Nomorerack? It's name brand products sold for one day only at totally insane prices. 60-90% off the regular retail prices. Deals are available for 24 hours, or until they sell out. They often sell out, very quickly. Nomorerack send out an email shortly before the new deals go live, so you can see what will be coming up, and can prepare to click and buy before other  shoppers snap up the items you want. Shipping is a very reasonable $2 per item.You have popular name brands like Sony, Gucci, and Apple.When you sign up you receive a $10 gift card.

Of course, after reading about this site I was skeptical of such great deals. I did a search of nomorerackreviews.  I found mostly positive reviews about normorerack. But I did find a few negative reviews. Apparently nomorerack had been going around the been hacked for a while and reported as  nomorerackscamThis issus has sice been fixed .

Nomorerack can offer suck great deals because they are always on the look out for overstock and closeout items. So when they sell out of an item it is likely they wont get it again. So don't miss out on the saving. Be sure you checkout nomorerack.com today.

**This is a paid review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely
 mine, Monica Ball.

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What is a "Weather Doppler Headache?"

As I made an early morning wake up call to Supermom... Superdad aka hubby to Supermom broke in to our conversation to ask " What is a "Weather Doppler Headache?" Guess I should have told him that is not the CP name for it. But it was a great chance to explain to another non hydrocephalus related person about how the weather and even changes in the moon effect us hydrocephalus people.

I explained that as weather changes with the barometric pressure it effects the fluid in our brain. The CFS will increase trying to protect the brain from the increase of pressure from the weather making our head hurt and body ache from the changes.

Just like the old wives tale that people are crazy during a full moon. It is an effect that during a full moon gravity is stronger and pulls the brain down and people without hydrocephalus often feel bad and are just plan ill and hard to deal with. But for us with hydrocephalus it does the same but we have more pain from the change because our fluid around the brain and spine is very sensitive to the changes.

I should have also told him how my balance gets worse and have coordination issues. But I will save that for another time. I think it is a point for my hydrocephalus peeps each time we get to talk to a non hydrocephalus related person about this (our) condition.

What is a programmable shunt?

After joining a new site on facebookI had some new friends ask if anyone had ever heard of a shunt that programmed with a magnet? My first response was... HUH??? Then I read some of the comments! This is a group for spina bifida and hydrocephalus Women.

Several had never heard of programmable shunts. One made a comment it sounded like Star Trek. I Now see that I need to get my act together and get back to my job at blogging.

This is information on codmen hikim which has been having a lot of complications with their shunts lately and I don't recomend for any one. It was the one I had to live with for 14 moths that was faulty. But This explains how they work pretty well.

I don't have a problem with Codmen I just want them to fix this constant problem with this shunt.

There are several other programmables also you can find on my blog one is the Medtrinic.

Magnetically programmable shunt valve: MRI at 3-Tesla
Frank G. Shellocka,b,4, Stephen F. Wilsonc, Chrospinal fluid. istophe P. Maugec
aKeck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
bInstitute for Magnetic Resonance Safety, Education, and Research, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA
cResearch and Development, Codman, a Johnson & Johnson Company, Raynham, MA 02767, USA
Received 25 September 2006; revised 6 December 2006; accepted 7 December 2006
Abstract

A magnetically programmable cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt valve (Codman Hakim Programmable Valve, Codman, a Johnson &
Johnson Company, Raynham, MA) was assessed for magnetic field interactions, heating, artifacts and functional changes at 3-Tesla. The
programmable valve showed minor magnetic field interactions and heating (+0.48C). Artifacts were relatively large in relation to the size and
shape of this implant and, as such, may create a problem if the area of interest is in proximity to this implant. While multiple exposures and
various magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) conditions at 3-Tesla changed the settings of some valves (i.e., reprogramming was needed), the
function of the programmable valve was not permanently affected. Therefore, this magnetically programmable CSF shunt valve is acceptable
for a patient undergoing MRI at 3-Tesla or less when specific safety guidelines are followed, including resetting the valve, as needed.

D 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Magnetic resonance imaging; Safety; MRI; Implants; Specific absorption rate; Artifacts; Hydrocephalus; CSF; Programmable valve
1. Introduction
A hydrocephalus shunt valve is an implantable device
that provides constant intraventricular pressure and drainage
of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for the management of
hydrocephalus and other conditions of impaired CSF flow
and absorption. Programmable shunt valves allow
surgeons to noninvasively optimize the opening pressure of
a shunt system before and after implantation, permitting the
implementation of specialized treatment regimes.
Programmable valves are typically adjusted using an
externally applied programmer tool to magnetically couple
to the adjustable components of these devices.
Accordingly, exposure to powerful magnetic fields can
cause inadvertent changes in valve settings or permanently
damage CSF shunt valves. With regard to magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI), various other issues exist for
programmable valves, including the possibility of movement
of the implant, extreme heating and the impact of
substantial artifacts.

The increasing clinical use of 3-T scanners necessitates the
evaluation of implanted devices at this higher field strength.

Therefore, the objective of this investigation
was to assess magnetic field interactions, heating, artifacts
and functional changes for a commonly used [1] programmable
valve (Codman Hakim Programmable Valve, Codman,
a Johnson & Johnson Company, Raynham, MA) in
relation to the use of a 3-T MR system.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Programmable valve
The programmable valve (Codman Hakim Programmable
Valve, Codman, a Johnson & Johnson Company) is an
implantable device that provides constant intraventricular
pressure and drainage of CSF for the management of
hydrocephalus and other conditions in which CSF flow and
absorption are impaired. Intraventricular pressure
is controlled by a bball and coneQ valve that is under
the control of a calibrated flat spring and can be noninvasively
adjusted with the use of an external programmer
with a magnetic mechanism. Hard magnets fixed within the
base of a moveable cam react to the presence of the
magnetic field by rotating the cam to achieve equilibrium.
The adjustable valve accommodates 18 valve settings from
30 to 200 mm H2O in 10-mm H2O increments. Metallic
0730-725X/$ – see front matter D 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.mri.2006.12.004
4 Corresponding author. Institute for Magnetic Resonance Safety,
Education, and Research, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA. Tel.: +1 310
670 7095; fax: +1 310 417 8639.
E-mail address: frank.shellock@gte.net (F.G. Shellock).
Magnetic Resonance Imaging 25 (2007) 1116– 1121
materials for the programmable CSF valve include 316L
stainless steel, Vacoperm (Ni–Fe), Vacomax (Sm–Co) and
unalloyed titanium.
2.2. MR system
A 3-T (Excite, Software G3.0-052B, General Electric
Medical Systems, Milwaukee, WI) active-shielded, horizontal
field scanner was utilized for all tests conducted on
the programmable valve.
2.3. Magnetic field interactions
Magnetic field interactions were determined for the
programmable valve in association with the 3-T MR system.
2.3.1. Translational attraction
Translational attraction was assessed for the programmable
valve using the deflection angle technique [12,17–19].
The programmable valve was attached to a test fixture to
measure the deflection angle. The test fixture has a
protractor mounted to the top of the structure and included
a bubble level to ensure proper orientation in the scanner.
Measurements were obtained at the position in the 3-T MR
system that produced the greatest magnetically induced
deflection angle. This point was determined
using gauss line plots, magnetic field measurements and
visual inspection to identify the location of the highest
spatial gradient. The highest spatial gradient for the 3-T MR
system occurs at a position that is 74 cm from the isocenter
of the scanner [12,19]. The magnetic spatial gradient at this
position is 720 G/cm. The deflection angle from the vertical
direction to the nearest 18 was measured three times, and an
average value was calculated.
. Torque
Magnetic-field-induced torque was assessed qualitatively
for the programmable valve using previously described
methodology. This procedure utilized a flat plastic
material with a millimeter grid. The programmable valve
was placed on this test platform in an orientation that was
458 relative to the direction of the static magnetic field of the
3-T MR system. The test apparatus with the programmable
valve was then positioned in the center of the scanner, where
the effect of torque is the greatest (based on the known
characteristics for the 3-T MR system), and observed for
alignment or rotation . The programmable valve was
then moved 458 relative to its previous position and again
observed for alignment or rotation. This procedure was
repeated to encompass a 3608 rotation of positions for the
programmable valve in the scanner. A qualitative scale was
applied to the results to characterize torque: 0, no
torque; +1, mild or low torque, the implant slightly changed
orientation but did not align to the magnetic field; +2,
moderate torque, the implant aligned gradually to the
magnetic field; +3, strong torque, the implant showed rapid
and forceful alignment to the magnetic field; +4, very strong
torque, the implant showed very rapid and very forceful
alignment to the magnetic field. Of note is that one of
the investigators (F.G.S.) has more than 20 years of
experience applying this qualitative scale to the characterization
of torque.
2.4. MRI-related heating
An in vitro experiment was performed at 3-Tesla/
128-MHz to determine MRI-related heating for the programmable
valve according to a previously described
protocol [12,17,19–21]. The programmable valve was
placed to approximate its intended in vivo use position in
a plastic head/torso phantom (head portion: width, 16.5 cm;
length, 29.2 cm; height, 16.5 cm; torso portion: width,
43.2 cm; length, 61.0 cm; height, 16.5 cm). The phantom
was filled with a gelling agent in an aqueous solution (i.e.,
0.8 g/L NaCl plus 5.85 g/L polyacrylic acid in distilled
water) [12,17,19–21].
Temperatures were recorded using a fluoroptic thermometry
system (Model 3100, Luxtron, Santa Clara, CA) with
fluoroptic thermometry probes (Model SFF, 0.5 mm in
diameter) positioned on the programmable valve to record
temperatures associated with the greatest heating during
MRI, as follows [12]: Probe 1, sensor portion of the probe
placed in direct contact with one end of the programmable
valve; Probe 2, sensor portion of the probe placed in direct
contact with the other end of the programmable valve; Probe
3, sensor portion of the probe placed in direct contact with
the middle portion of the programmable valve. The
positions of the fluoroptic thermometry probes were verified
immediately before and after the heating experiment. The
accuracy of the fluoroptic thermometry equipment used to
record temperatures in this study is F0.18C.
MRI was performed at 3-Tesla/128-MHz on the gelled,
saline-filled phantom with the programmable valve using a
transmit radio frequency (RF) body coil to produce a
relatively high level of RF energy, as follows: fast spin-echo
pulse sequence; axial plane; multislice; repetition time,
425 ms; echo time, 14 ms; echo train length, 4; flip angle,
908; bandwidth, 16 kHz; field of view, 40 cm; imaging
matrix, 256 256; section thickness, 10 mm; number of

I finally slept!!!

OK!! so what!! I had to take enough medicine to kill a horse! I have been on this crazy up and down schedule of hardly sleeping more than 3 hours at a any one time. I will fall asleep at 7 in the evening then be up for hours. I might go back to sleep... I might not... Usually I have to take something to get another 3 to 4 hours of sleep which I hate because because it just starts a cycle of needing something to sleep.

After only getting 3 hours sleep the night before last night I felt horrible last night. I had gone to the gym and exercised. I have not blogged in days. I have just been running on spent energy.

I feel guilty not blogging but with not having any sleep I have been really pushing myself to just remember what I am suppose to be doing everyday.

I kept up my exercising and water aerobics. I could tell during the aerobics class I was really getting tired. The trainer would be requesting we be doing jumping and waving our arms. I would let my arms float in the water and pretend I was doing arm moves and high knees.

I would come home and fall asleep every evening as soon as I got home because I was so tired from not getting much sleep. I usually wake up at 4am spend time with my other friends with hydrocephalus on facebook not sleeping either.

So this is another evil side effect of hydrocephalus. It could also be just life in general. I have a dear friend going through a very stressful time right now.

I just got an up date yesterday on Jane. Her cancer has spread. She now has the Chief of the service for her kind of tumor who will do the surgery.He took it over from the original surgeon.

Tumor has grown. They will take 3 to 4 ribs, and part of her diaphragm (what holds lungs in place) and replace it with a mesh something. The tumor has grown into the lower ribs. The surgery will take 6 hours. It was suppose to be the 9th of December but has been rescheduled for December 13th.

So please be praying for Jane. For anyone just reading about Jane she is having surgery in NY. She has a Sarcoma over her liver.

Rev. Billy Graham continues to recover

Late last week Rev. Billy Graham was hospitalized for the second time this year for phenomena. Rev Billy Graham is said to be resting well and felling better. He is reported to be telling stories of his past.

I noticed this morning someone was searching to find out who Rev Billy Graham's doctor was for his Parkinson. I was thrilled to see that they were forwarded to my blog. So they would be could read for their self that he has normal pressure hydrocephalus.

For several  years the Reverend was misdiagnosed with Parkinson. Just as many other elderly  patients have been misdiagnosed and still are.

After having a diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus. Rev Billy Graham quality of life  greatly improved.

The shunt helped the tremors that Rev Billy Graham was having . He no longer shuffles as bad when he walks. His balance has also improved.

Since having his first shunt put in. The Reverend has had a second revision to a programmable shunt done her in Asheville. Rev Billy Graham had the same surgeon do his last shunt that I have had do several of my surgeries.

Owing My Small Business

Guest post from: Constance Rodgers

Being the owner of a small business has been tough in this type of economy but we’ve been getting by. Small Business Saturday after Thanksgiving really helped although it wasn’t quite as much as I had hoped for – I’m really banking on these next couple of weeks before Christmas coming together to help us meet our yearly goals. Anyway, I’ve spent a lot of time getting the business updated so it’s more efficient in terms of small business xo and bank card processing and even dealing with my vendors – that’s really helped me in the long run when it comes to tallying my overhead at the end of the year. But anyway, I love being a small business owner but it’s tough – you don’t have time for personal relationships and much of a social lifeat all but I wouldn’t trade it for the world…I can’t imagine sitting at a desk all day long and that’s what I’d be doing if I wasn’t doing this – this is what I’m meant to be!


**This is a paid advertisement. The opinions made in this article are not mine,Monica Ball.

Prayer request for Jane

I was running late yesterday morning!I had this beautiful red and black pant suit I was going to wear... I had not worn it in several years. I had not taken the time to try it on earlier either. Since loosing weight most of my clothes have been fitting great.

Well!!! I should have tried this on days ago! I was having to make a quick consume change. I grabbed some jeans, dress boots and a red shirt.

I have not told you this is a very important day... I'm meeting Jane, a friend from my water aerobics class for brunch.

You see this is not our usually lunch. We often meet once a month just to hang out and catch up on life. But this is for Jane. She is leaving today for New York for surgery.

A little over six weeks ago a mass the size of your fist was found over her liver...It is a tumor.

For a very long time Jane has been having a very hard time with the water at the pool. She said it would take her until late at night ti get warm from swimming.

The tumor she has is a sarcoma. Sarcoma is very rare. I'm not sure if anyone else is familiar with it.

If you read this please say a prayer for my friend. She will be having Surgery December 9th, 2011.

Jane I do hope you have a safe trip...

Not a great way to get a blog topic

I have been stumped for days with nothing really hydro related to post about. I should not have complained in post because it happened. I got my blog topic.

Yesterday I was doing my usual feeding Pepper and Ginger. Which is a process. I have to get Pepper's medicine crushed add fiber cereal to wet food so he wont spit it out. Then give him his shot for diabetes.

But pepper will not eat until I feed Ginger her wet food and fake like I am giving him cat food too. But today went wrong.

I usually just feed Ginger a good spoon full of wet food. But She needed a new can opened. The can was a pull top lid. I have had some appetizers I gave to other people because my left hand can't grip to open the can.

So I was opening the can the same as I have for Ginger for over 7 years and Pepper for over 13 years. The can slips from my hand and the lid cuts my left hand and it starts poring the blood.

Of course Pepper helps me by cleaning the cat food out of the floor....

Not sure if I have blogged about this in awhile. When I had my brain tumor and the pressure build up. One of the complication I had was I lost function nearly paralyzed on my left side. I had to learn to walk again at 8 years old.

Today when I get tired my left foot will still drag at time. I have been ask before if I was hurt.

When I dropped the can yesterday I caught it with the inside of my arm. Nothing like having chicken cat food all down the front of your shirt.

I'm in a Christmas Fog

I'm not sure if anyone has noticed but I have blogged about Shopping my last few post. I have not post in sever days now because that is all I can think about is Christmas shopping.

So I give up! instead of going without content on my blog. I'm blogging about what is consuming my mind.

I think I was meant to be a Christmas baby. My birthday is Christmas eve. Everyone always has to say don't you hate having your birthday the day before Christmas?

I always loved it! I thought it was the best thing in the world that everyone got presents on my birthday!! When I was little. My parents explained better to me.

It was when I was very little I started wanting my own Christmas tree in my room. It was about 4 inches high. I still have the lights and small ornaments.

I even had to have my own presents to go under my tree. My mom would let me spend a few dollars on each present. I remember one of them was pins to go on sweaters or coats.

My mamaw was buried with her poodle pin still on her dress from when I gave it to her as a child. I can remember I got my aunt frog pins because she had a thing for frogs.

Several years I made pot holders with the weaving sets. I made sure to see what color every one's kitchen. I didn't want to be giving odd colored pot holder to people.

I love Christmas! I love giving presents! I love shopping for people! I have a problem. I don't have enough money for all I want to get for everyone. I also enjoy getting Secret Santa and sending to people that are doing special things and not getting ,credit from anyone for the
good deed they have been doing.