FEMMES NATALES RUNABOUT

This weekend our community once again

saw the outpouring of love and support of

the organization called FEMMES NATALES.

Yes, on Saturday morning many met at Peltier Park

all in the name of Gina B. my dear friend who has

Lou Gehrig's disease.

Although I didn't make the race itself,

my school of TES reached out and campaigned to

make sure this years race was the very best.

The organization gives 100% of their earnings to

the family who has been picked for the year.

I do not know what the total raising was but

I hear it was one of the best years yet.

Why? Probably because Gina B. has meant so much

to so many. This quiet, kind teacher has reached so many lives

that everyone wanted to do their part to help her.

This is one way that she could be helped.

Early in Gina B's journey, before we knew where this road

was going to take her, we prayed for a remission of sorts.

Where the "devil disease" would go into a remission and

slow it's progression. We just knew she would be that one

that had a good 10 years before she had to think of

needing daily help.

It was clear earlyon, that this devil was not going to give her that.

Still, Gina B. at first was having trouble accepting help

from others. She and I spoke about how she didn't feel at the

time that she needed any help from outside, from the

community. I laid it on the table for her and she cried.

I said, " Gina B. this is not fair to us who want to help.

I know that if anyone else in your large circle of friends

had gotten this diagnosis rather than you, you would be

the first to be figuring out what could be done for the person.

You would be using any free minute to help this person yet,

here you are being the one who needs the help and you

are denying us in helping. You are stopping others from

doing God's work, you are stopping us from being the

disciple that God demands from us."

She cried, my Gina B. because sometimes I am a little rough

with my honesty. I believe she cried though because she

knew what I was speaking was the truth.

I am not sure if this conversation had anything to do with

her change of heart but not long after this our Gina B.

admitted to many "I HAVE ALS, LOU GEHRIG'S"

and help poured from every crack and crevice of our

community. Femmes Natales was only one of the

miracles that have transpired.

If you are asking "What can I do?"

Well, you can pray, pray for my dear friend Gina B.

who most days has a new struggle to face yet

always, always has a smile on her face.

Is always teaching us how to face a day the way

God is asking us to do.

If you are in a position to donate even one trip

to the McDonald's drive up,

there is an account at every Capitol One Bank.

Simply go there and give her name"

Gina Hebert Bonvillain Blanchard

and donate.

Also, when Gina B. was first diagnosed I started a letter

campaign for all to flood the mail carriers with

cards of well-wishes to our Gina B.

she loves getting these cards and saves each and every one.

Drop a card to Gina B. even if you don't know her personally.

Keep the mail system in business since I hear they are facing cuts

GINA BLANCHARD

306 BAYOU RESERVE

THIBODAUX, LOUISIANA 70301

Have your children do art work and send it to her.

She saves each and every one of them.

Most important of all spoken of?

Well, Gina B. says that would be prayers....

pray for God's will, for one of those miracle we read

about in the Bible, for acceptance for whatever may come.

Thanks for all you may do to help my friend,

Gina B.

IT'S NOT EVERY DAY YOU TURN 92

On October 1st my Uncle Luke turned 92.

Yesterday our family was invited to my cousin, Chris' house

here in Thibodaux to celebrate.

Because the rest of the siblings were all tied up I was

fortunate enough to be the one to take Mumsie to

be with her brother.

It could not have come at a better time since

lately she has been talking a lot about him and

saying she misses him and has been dreaming about him.

My cousins didn't tell Uncle Luke that Mumsie was coming,

she was the surprise and just like each time they are together,

he got teary-eyed when he saw her and they hugged like

they hadn't seen each other in years.

They were so cute together, if he sat in the kitchen, she sat

in the kitchen. If he sat to watch the Saints game, she did also.

Probably just like the little children they were, she was

the baby sister, the tag-a-long.

My second and third cousins, Uncle Luke's grandchildren

and great grandchildren were there to share the day.

This picture shows Celeste dragging little Luke down

the steps because he didn't want to join in the blessings.

He reminds me much of our Owen.

Father Dean came to celebrate and so our blessing

was extra special.

Uncle Luke does 92 really well.

I hope if I got their genetic make up that I carry it as

well as he does.

90 and 92, 182 years between the both of them.

They are so darn cute together.

Uncle Luke asks Mumsie,

"What happened to your hair"

"My hair?" she asks, "What is wrong with my hair?"

"It's all white"

Mumsie in her cute sassy voice,

"Huh, at least I have hair"

My cousin, Chris who is also principal of St. Genevieve

Catholic school also has this awesome house and yard.

A home she and her husband, Jimmy and the daddy's built

to look like an old Cajun home.

I was in love with the scenery.

This is an old storage building that they had moved there.

It would be my dream home if it were on the lake where

I will spend my retirement years.

Her greenhouse is made all of old window panes, lovely,

simply lovely...

I always tease my Uncle Luke that I am his favorite

niece and he always goes along with the joke...

so maybe it's true.

We are never together where he doesn't share

an Uncle Freddie, my daddy, story.

Yesterday the story is

Uncle Freddie he was a special kind of man.

Often he would tell my Uncle Luke,

"Luke, those kids of mine, they drive me crazy,

but I love them, each and every one of those

kids of mine"

What a great day it was.

IT'S NOT EASY BEING A SUPERHERO

Yes, It is not easy being a superhero.

This week I am called to a classroom where a good

teacher holds a little one in her lap.

There on his forehead is a huge lump.

It seems like he ran into play equipment at recess

and now has a hematoma.

I take him with me to my office.

I already know that a bump this large on the head

will call for a parent pick up. He will have

to be watched closer than what we can do here at school.

Nap time is not convenient for a child with a bump on his head.

I call his good mother and she is on her way.

We go upstairs to await his parent.

This is how the conversation goes...

(SH will be his word, super hero)

SH: I JUST DON'T KNOW HOW THIS HAPPENED

ME: IT'S OKAY MY LOVE IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT

SH: NO I WAS A SUPERHERO, SUPERHERO'S DON'T

HAVE ACCIDENTS"

ME: WELL I THINK YOU WERE STILL A SUPERHERO

YOU HAD A SERIOUS BUMP AND YOU DIDN'T CRY

SH: (looking at me as though I know nothing about superheros)

SUPERHERO'S CRY THAT IS NOT WHY I DIDN'T CRY

ME: WOW, YOU ARE PRETTY STRONG, WHY DIDN'T YOU CRY?

SH: WHY I DIDN'T CRY? THAT IS EASY.

I DIDN'T WANT TO GET ANY TEARS ON THIS NEW

NEW UNIFORM PANTS"

Well, that is so simple coming from a superhero, I

should have known that.

So from now on, I am going to try and be a superhero.

Just like I am listening to Joel Olsteen right now,

I am going to see and speak of myself well.

I am going to have the mind of a superhero.

No time for tears, can't stain a uniform with tears.

Fun on the homefront with three of my favorite girls

(pictures are not in the order I wanted but still

cannot figure out how to change the order of pictures

so enjoy the gangsta poker faces of my girls)

Yesterday when I got off of work,

Kd, baby girl, and Melissa-kd's cousin

were ready to play.

We started by going to my new favorite place

to hang out, Inspire-a scrap boutique.

It was Melissa's first trip and since I gave

her a gift certificate for her baby shower,

she was itching to get her some baby album stuff.

We ate at WOW, visited sister, Taunt Mone

in the hospital and then headed home to get some

scrapping done. Can I say that this is the best

way I love spending Friday nights?

With people I love and scrapping.

Fun, fun, fun!!!

So here we are, getting our scrap on...

BG found spider tattoos and since the other two girls

were sporting pregnant bellies, she wanted in...

Kd cannot wait to have the belly cousin Melissa has

but insisted we get a picture of who I call Eskimo Pie

and she and baby boy calls Peafly....

Now Melissa, her oven is baking really good these days.

She is so darn cute carrying her little basketball there.

She is due in December and growing so darn good.

Yes, the only way to scrap, spread it all out and play, play, play!

Having the scrap room makes it so much easier to scrap in

the way we like to do it.

Conversations as we scrapped flowed to all kinds of topics.

Then we put the IPOD on and sang, sang, sang to old

songs that brought back memories of times past.

Each song that came on the girls reminisced at what

part of their lives they were at when the

song was popular. We sang loud.... and yes, the girls

had to put their Poker faces on,

hence the first picture on this post.

hope in the field of chronic back pain

When it comes to the back pain that has become

part of my life, a thorn in my side,

what causes me not to live the life I want,

I have tried and "seen them all"

or so I thought.

I have seeked the opinion of orthopedist,

chronic pain doctors, family doctors, physical therapists.

I have gotten opinions from chiropractors, spine specialist and even

took a trip all the way to Tennessee to hear what

specialist on the subject of survivors of childhood cancer

had to say about my issues.

I have read books on the subject and am even seeing

a counselor trying to accept this part of my life.

On a pretty good day, I can live with the fact

"such is my life" but on a bad day my mind always

believes there has to be something that can be done.

It is on those days that I grasp at straws and look for

another opinion different from the ones I have gotten before

which basically all say there is nothing that can be done

but take pain medications, exercise, loose weight

and wait for the day that you are no longer able to do your job

and retire. I was almost resigned to the fact that this

is what I needed to do but Dr. Cowen at the spine center

convinces me that before I resign to this I need to at least

hear what a neurosurgeon has to say.

Another doctor to add to my list but being the ultimate

optimist, what do I have to loose.

Yet this visit yesterday is different.

Not to mention that Dr. Donner is very knowledgeable in

his field and has a very good bedside manner,

he is also very handsome.

We first discuss all that has been done before

and my frustration over accepting that this is my fate.

He kind of chuckles when I tell him I am seeing a counselor.

I am not sure why but this seems to be the reaction

most often when I mention this.

He has reviewed my brand new MRI and talks

about am I really ready for this huge back surgery

for scoliosis that is really not that bad.

I question whether the MRI showed the spondyolisthesis

that many say are part of my severe pain and he admits

that the MRI does not show this.

I then show him the report of the CT scan that I had

in 2007 and as he reads this his whole facial expression changes

and he brings me to his office to pull the films of the CT scan

to view them together on his computer.

He sounds energized as he says and shows me,

"Here it is, here is the cause of the pain you have"

Wow, I see it. He gives me a quick lesson on bone formation

and what has happened as my bones formed.

There is a slippage of two bones that have causes

the spiny portions of the outer spine to not only

rub together but from the constant friction have

caused fractures in the spiny bones that are on the

outer part of the spine.

A Pars defect that can be surgically fixed.

He is confidant that this is the cause of the majority of

my pain and he is insistent that this can be fixed.

we discuss a lot in the half hour I am there.

I talk of my fears of back surgery and that I don't

know many people who have back surgery who still

need pain and what if my pain is more due to the

radiation I received.

He matter of factly explains that he knows the majority

of my pain is this problem he is not saying that the other

issues do not cause some pain but the severe pain

is this. Unlike what an orthopedist has talked to me

about a while back there will be no big cuts no big rods,

no trying to straighten a spine that is crooked.

He would simply go in and fix this Pars defect

and fuse the spinal fracture so that there would no longer

be this slippage that he shows me a few times on scan.

I love this doctor, he is the first one I have ever spoken to

who offers me some form of pain relief and speaks

with the confidence I need. I also had a bone density

so I question whether the bones are strong enough to

handle a fusion and he says although there is bone

thinning as seen in osteoporosis he reminds me

that the elderly who fracture their hips are most usually

caused from brittle bones and yet rods and healing take

place with these people.

Yes, he is right, I can heal no matter how weak the bones are.

Then he sits me down and gets to the real "nitty gritty"

part. His best prognosis patients are the ones he can

do via the abdomen. It is on the side of where the defect is

and patients have a better outcome when the surgery is done

this way and out of all the patients he does this way,

50% have complete pain relief, are off all pain medications

and are able to resume a full time job after recovery.

Out of the other half, most still work and some need pain medications

but the pain is minimal to what they experienced before and

all work. Very few do not have improving of their quality of life

but those he doubted, because of their mental thoughts and

having a narcotic issue, would do well anyway.

He says that someone with my optimism should do well.

The big doubt though is whether or not he can do this surgery

via my abdomen due to all the scar tissue and intestinal issues,

it may make this impossible to do the surgery in this way.

He sets me up to see Dr. Marino who is the general surgeon

he works with and who happens to be the doctor who follows

my bowel obstructions to make the decision as to whether

the surgery can be done this way.

He assures me that if we proceed with this type of surgery that

Dr. Marino would also scrub in as assistant in case the bowel

becomes a problem.

If he feels this cannot be done then we will talk again about

whether or not I should do the repair going through the back.

His reasoning for this is that this way of doing the surgery

does not have the better outcome that he would want for me.

There is a harder recovery and most patients are still left

with chronic pain issues. It may not be as bad as it is now

but he wants to be honest with me as we discuss and prepare

to move forward with this surgery.

He relieves my mind when I say I so want to be healthy and

I have been frustrated because Physical therapy, chiropractics

has not helped me and I know if I lost weight I would have less pain.

He reminds me that this problem will not be resolved or

pain will not be lessened by any of those things.

Because there is this defect and this fracture,

it is like having a broken bone that will not heal

and after so many years of stressing on it, the pain

is there. I leave there with a hop in my step

because this is the best news I have had in such a long time.

When I shared with him that just saying that I may never

nurse again makes me cry he explains that this is his

number one reason for doing back surgery.

When a patient expresses to them that their quality

of life is being affected, he decides it is time to do

surgery. So this morning I am trying not to get my

hopes up too high but very very optimistic in this news

and what this doctor has offered me.

Sorry for the long post but so much easier to

post it here one time than telling my huge family this

so many times.

Wish me luck as I move to a new adventure

and the belief that I can be well, I can have pain relief.

Oh what a good day this Friday is becoming!!!