Country, Home, and Update on Summer....

On Monday we packed up our things, closed up the camper and headed home.

It was time but I am always a little bit sad when we leave.

I snapped a few last country scenes on our way.

Louis Dean stopped the truck so I could take a pic of the purple flowers that were along side the road.

I swear they weren't there on Thursday.

Spring is coming.

This was last year's cotton field and I see a few cotton stems that have hung on.

Guess I missed one or two.

We stopped for a late lunch at the Lone Star Cafe in Hillsboro.

I've been saving scrap wood from building our new room so I could make a Texas flag like this one.

Perhaps a smaller version!

Louis Dean uses most of every piece of wood so I don't have all that many scraps.

We got home about 5:00 Monday afternoon.

I unlocked the door and came in to the house decorated just as if it were Christmas Eve!

So I went around and turned all the lights on and decided we would enjoy it all for one last evening.

Louis Dean unloaded and I unpacked and put things up.

I cleaned the fridge before adding the perishables we'd brought back from the camper.

While I did this, LD was soaking in a hot tub. He loves baths and he only took showers at the ranch.

He was in there soaking for over an hour!

Then I fixed a pot of hot tea and we settled down in the den to watch a little TV.

It was nice to wake up Tuesday morning in the big bedroom with Louis Dean bringing me a cup of coffee. Summer had an 11:15 doctor appointment here in Irving so I was dressed and ready when she picked me up on her way.

We got the results of her recent myelogram and the results were negative - which is a good thing.

Except it doesn't help in diagnosing her pain.

The doctor said there was nothing more he could do and recommended she see her rheumatologist - with whom she had an appointment with for the very next day - and request the doctor do a blood test for Polymyalgia Rheumatica - which would explain her pain. Perhaps.

Summer was in tears as she had been hoping this visit would mean a diagnosis and treatment plan.

The doctor was kind and sorry he couldn't help her.

She held it together until we got outside his office and then she just leaned up against the wall and sobbed. We had made a few plans for the day but she was in such bad shape all we could do was go home. 

Since I was driving her car, I had left my keys at home and Louis Dean's truck was gone when we arrived. I went next door to Stephanie's and use her key to let ourselves in and I put Summer to bed in the guest room. I took the key back to Stephanie and told her what was going on. I admit, I was in tears. It's just so hard to watch your child suffer. It doesn't matter if they are young or grown. If they hurt - you hurt. Good  friends and neighbors react the same way. Stephanie dropped what she was doing and came over and helped me take Christmas down from the den. She is a true friend.

I admit, I didn't realize how overwhelming coming home to a Christmas house would be.

I won't be doing that again. Once the den was cleared out, I felt so much better.

Stephanie also brought over home made cookie dough and parchment paper. They were all ready to bake. AND she gave me a chicken pasta casserole from her freezer all ready to pop into the oven - which I did. It was delicious!!!

She was prepared to work all afternoon but I insisted one room a day was enough!

Summer woke up and she and Louis Dean watch The Alamo with John Wayne while I cleaned in the den. Poor Louis Dean. He thought I was going to be gone all day and he would have the den all to himself. He was going to have a John Wayne marathon. Bless his heart. He made the best of it because, after the movie was over, he went to his music room and practiced for hours while we watched a few episodes of Fixer Upper.

I asked Summer to spend the night and I would take her to Rowlett for her appointment with the rheumatologist.

This morning I was about to have my first cup of coffee when I got a text from Stephanie.....

She is such a blessing to me!
 She took all the ornaments and garlands off the tree and by the time she left the living room was done except for Louis Dean taking the lights off the tree and taking the tree out!
Whew! It's getting done! I hope to have the kitchen done tomorrow and the dining room the next day.
I'm going to clean the house and leave it blank for awhile.

Summer and I left for Rowlett this afternoon and met with her doctor.
I liked her. She was straight to the point and read the note requesting lab work testing for PMR.
"Sure! We can do that. But what you have is fibromyalgia."
She then proceeded to press all the fibromyalgia points and with each one, Summer was winching in pain and by the time the doctor had touched them all - one by one - Summer was in tears.
Bottom line - the doctor says all of Summer's pain is from the fibromyalgia.
She was totally honest in saying she didn't think Summer would be better any time soon.
She has done everything for her that she can do and recommended Summer find a pain management doctor......which she said would not be easy to do, due to the fact she has been prescribed so many pain killers over the past year and a half. Seems not only the government putting restrictions on pain medicine but so are the insurance companies.
I understand. I do.
Summer has had as good an attitude as it would be possible to have.
I'm so proud of her!
We are praying and trusting God.
 For God to show Summer what to do. Where to go.
How to cope.

It was after 5:00 when we left the doctor's office.
We decided to go to Chili's and think things over.
Kind of let Summer absorb the news.
She called Sabrina and by looking at Summer you would never suspect how she suffers.

We watched the beautiful moon tonight as we crossed Lake Ray Hubbard and pulled off on the other side to take this picture. It comforted our hearts.

Look at that smile!

And look at Sweet Dexter!

Summer brought him that collar back from NYC for him.

This is Sherry's dog. Summer rents a room here at Sherry's house and I am here spending the night before I take Summer back home with me for the rest of the week.

I got to see some of Sherry's beautiful Christmas decorations.
She is taking hers down now, too.
I'm going to take the decorations down from Summer's bedroom tomorrow before we leave.
It's time.

But tonight we are sitting up in bed and watching The Ladies in Lavender.