I know it's been quite awhile!

It's been a long time since I've been on here and updated y'all about what's been gping on with me and how I've been doing. Well, A LOT has happened since my last post. I've been married and divorced. I am living back home with my parents. I had a second tarlov cyst surgery on March 20,2013 in Dallas, TX with Dr. Feigenbaum (the same Dr.that did my first one). All total I have had six Tarlov cyst treated either by decompression or buy them being wrapped. I have a bunch of asymptomatic cyst running up and down my entire spine. We're hoping and praying that those never become symptomatic. I don't think I could physically or mentally handle another Tarlov cyst surgery and recovery. The second surgery was much harder to recover from. However, I think that that I had a lot to do with it I was going through a painful divorce at the same time. It'll be three years in March since that surgery and I am still healing from it. They say it takes a year to two years to heal from a Tarlov cyst surgery. But, it does take longer. I have been feeling very well lately since I had surgery on my hip on August 26, 2015. I have Abascular Necrosis or AVN of my left femoral head. AVN is where for some reason blood flow does not get to the bone and the bone dice. This can happen in any of the joints like your knee or your ankle, etc. It's a very painful condition to half and it took me over a year and a half to get a proper diagnosis for it. I was blessed to find a wonderful Orthopedic Surgeon in Baton Rouge that treats AVN. I had surgery on August 26, 2015. My doctor took bone marrow from my pelvic bone and injected it into the ball part of my hip where the bone was slowly dying. When they do a blood marrow transplant the hope is that it will attach to the good bone that's left and start producing blood flow to that area. If it doesn't work then I will have to have a complete hip replacement. I do not want to hit for placement at 34! I am almost 9 weeks postop from the surgery on my hip I am doing absolutely wonderful with it I have full range of motion in it it does not hurt at all and I am able to walk without pain. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! We continue to pray and hope that this procedure works on my hip. The doctor said that if it works it will give me at least a good 10 years before I have to have a hip replacement. And I am perfectly OK with that. For some good news the Tarlov cyst foundation has been granted a little over $4 million to study Tarlov cyst disease. This study will take place at John Hopkins University in Maryland. My family and I have The privilege of participating in the study, because there are more than one of us that suffer from Tarlov Cyst Disease and Sjrogen's Syndrom; which has been directly related to Tarlov Cyst Disease. This is a HUGE deal for the TCD Community!! This is the first big study that has ever been done on Tarlov cyst disease. We are hoping that if there is a gene that causes this disease that they can find it. If there is not a gene related to the disease we are hoping that they are able to find out what causes this disease. And hopefully they may be able to find a cure! This is a big deal in the medical community. When this research is done it will be published and sent to Dr.'s and Medical Schools all over the World! This is a huge deal because 99.9% of doctors do not believe that Tarlov cyst cause pain and they are not taught anything about Tarlov cyst disease in medical school. Because of this it causes those of us that suffer from this disease to have to search for a doctor that believes in us to be able to treat our pain until we can have surgery and even trainer pain after surgery. So, prayerfully wants this study is complete there will be a lot of awareness brought to this "rare"disease! It's really not a rare disease. One out of every 10 to 12 people have this disease, but it is misdiagnosed and underdiagnosed by radiologist and doctors on MRIs and CT scans. And they can have the disease but still have a symptomatic cyst and not even know that they're there. Please pray for the researchers and everyone involved in this huge endeavor to bring awareness and light to this horrible disease that not only do I suffer from but my mom, my uncle, and migrating suffer from. It is not an easy disease to deal with at all! I have to stay it has been a whirlwind of the last four years since I've updated this blog. And I am going to try to keep it updated regularly. I have gone through a lot in the past four years but God has been faithful and he has provided me with his strength and his grace to make it through the hard times, and I am forever grateful to him for that. Like the name of my blog says this is just a season; and when I have learned in this season have been incredible things that I never thought I would go through or experience, but this season of my life has taught me many many things that I am so grateful for. Hopefully, a new season will begin in my life that doesn't involve sickness and chronic pain but since your happiness and gratefulness. I know that God will give me the desires of my heart to have a loving Christian husband and children of my own. That's all I've ever wanted and I will be content in my sufferings right now until God sees fit to bring that man into my life.

Four Months Post- Op

Hi Everyone,

I'm so sorry for not keeping up with the blog more regularly, but I have had trouble getting into my google account.

I am doing very well considering all that I had done four months ago! Granted this crazy Louisiana weather has not helped matters, but what else is new? I am feeling pretty good just dealing with some nerve pain now as the nerves begin to "wake up" and regenerate. I am also have some flare ups of back pain as well. However, all of this is to be expected at this stage.

I heard from the Neurosurgeon that did my surgery last Wednesday. He called with the results of my three month follow up MRI. Everything looked great on the MRI and the cysts that he operated on are still decompressed and the smaller cysts that are around the cysts he operated on have not gotten any bigger and continue to be asymptomatic! Praise God for wonderful news!!

I have enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with my family, throwing my parents a surprise 50th Birthday Party, and enjoy going out to eat and the occasional shopping trip with friends. I still am sore and get tired easily. I have to learn to pace myself so that I don't overdue it. If I do overdue it I pay for it!! It is not fun at all!

I have just been staying in lately with all this crazy weather to try and keep well. The weather has not helped my fibromyalgia either. But, I have weathered through two bad flare ups with both my back and the fibro and I am feeling much better now and loving this Spring like weather that we are experiencing!

Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers and please keep them coming. This is a long recovery process with expected set backs, but we know that through all things God works together for the good of those who love Him! I am holding on to that promise!

Blessings to all!

~Lisa~

One Month Already??Thank You God!!

As I sit here at 3:30 a.m. I can' t help but remember that at this time a month ago I was fast asleep. I cannot believe I slept the night before I had major surgery. It was the power of all of your many prayers!!

It is hard to believe a month has come and gone already. In ways it seems like the surgery just happened, especially on days when I am in pain. In other ways it seems like it was six months ago!!

I am doing very well so far! I had some trouble right after I started bending over that caused extreme pain for about a week, but I made it through. I am bending over pretty good now, I just cannot bend over continuously all day long. The next step is to start picking up on things that weigh more than nine pounds! They advised me to do that slowly as well. They said as I increased my activity my pain level would increase and that is normal and to be expected.
I guess I will cross that bridge when I get there.

I have been so blessed by all the sweet facebook posts, cards, phone calls, emails, flowers, etc. I have the best family and friends in the world!! I don't know what I would do with out any of them, especially my Mom who has taken such good care of me...so much so that some days I think she wants to put me in bubble wrap! LOL! I guess that's just a mother's love!!

I was blessed to be able to sing for the Lord last Saturday at my old church and it felt WONDERFUL to serve God with my voice again! I am also blessed to be able to see my best-friend and two of my sweet godchildren in a few hours. I haven't seen them in over a month and oh, how I have missed my "babies". I can't wait to be able to take all three of my godchildren's Fall portraits on Thursday afternoon! Who would have thought that only a month after surgery I would be back to photography? We will see how I feel after squatting, bending, and lying on the ground for a couple of hours with a 6yr old, 3yr old and a 23 month old. It will be interesting!!

I hate that it took me having surgery to see some of the special people in my life! My cousin, Kimberly and her little girl, Natalie came over and visited two weeks ago and Natalie is such a cutie and had us all laughing!! I love them both! I got to visit with my Great Uncle and Aunt for several hours Saturday before last and that was just a barrel of laughs! You have to know my Uncle to understand that!! I also got to visit with my childhood friend, Janie and her mom for a whole afternoon! It was wonderful to catch up and take a walk down memory lane! Other than that I have just been following Doctor's orders and taking it easy and resting.

I hope to make it to church this Sunday too. It is just hard to go because I can't sit or stand too long still! Please pray I will make it this Sunday!


Thank you all SO much for your continued love, support, and prayers!! Praise to God for all the many blessings HE has bestowed upon me and my family!

2 Weeks Today!

Today makes two weeks post-op and oh, how much a difference two weeks makes!!

I am feeling much better and just learning how to live without bending over, twisting, sitting for to long, etc. It's coming along, but I will be so thankful when I can do those things again.

Yesterday was pretty rough. I just had a bad day and wasn't feeling well all over. I was in some pain as well. I have been having more trouble with my right hip and leg more than anything. I keep having numbness and tingling from my hip down my leg and sometimes into my feet. The Dr. said that was normal and it will eventually go away, but it is very uncomfortable!!

All in all everything is continuing to go well! I am hoping to be able to get out a little while this week and enjoy this beautiful weather!!

I think I may try to get some sleep now. I slept all day yesterday so, now I am up! Go figure!!

Thanks for all of your prayers and love!

Lisa

Settling In

We are all still resting and settling in at home. I have felt pretty good since we got home. It was so nice to sleep in my own bed and just be home!

Yesterday, I was in some pain from traveling all day on Wednesday. Today, I have been okay just having some spasms and stuff. I have been resting and sitting up some and obviously playing on the computer! LOL!

Mom and Dad are still adjusting to be back home as well. You all know my Dad cannot sit still so, he has been busy doing stuff around the house and running errands since we got in. I finally got him to hang my new valance rod up today. When my friend came Wednesday to hang up my new valance the bracket pulled out of the wall. So, I sweet talked Daddy into putting the new one up and also doing a few other things I needed done in my room.

Mom has been resting. She hasn't been feeling well either. She and Dad have both been having trouble with their backs as well. Mom has been doing a lot of bending and stuff while helping me so she has been sore and having some discomfort. She has slept in the past two mornings as well! She and my Grandma went this afternoon and checked out the new Pinnacle Point Shopping Center in Covington and picked up a few groceries.

We are all just getting settled back into our individual routines and looking forward to when I can get back into my own routine!

Thanks again for all of your phone calls, cards, and most of all prayers!!

Home Sweet Home!!

We are HOME!! Our flight landed in New Orleans around 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday night. We had a very looong day of traveling and we are all so tired. I am so tired that I cannot sleep! I hate when that happens!

Anyway, we saw the Doctor, Wednesday morning for my post-op appointment. He said everything looked wonderful and that I was on track to healing! I don't have to keep my incision bandaged anymore and I can take the steri-strips off of the incision this weekend. He said that I had to wait for the wound to completely heal and for the area where they had my drain to scab over and fall off before I will be able to take tub baths or go to water therapy. That should take about six weeks. I still cannot bend over or pick up on anything over 8lbs for quite awhile. This is a slow recovery and I have to take it day by day. He said that once I am able to bend over that I have to do a little at a time and then rest. He also said that some days I may feel wonderful and back to my old self and then get a flare up-that is normal and could occur anywhere up to a year after the surgery. He said the flare ups can last anywhere from a day to several weeks and are more common in young women! Go figure! LOL! I will be able to drive in about a month, but I will not be able to drive my car because it is to low to the ground. I think it looks like my parents and I will be trading vehicles in the near future! He also gave me the orders to have my follow up MRI's at 3 months, 6 months, a year and two years. These MRI's are vital in making sure that there is no leakage from the corrected cysts and that no new cysts are forming. My first MRI will be Dec. 21st.

It is very hard for me right now not being able to bend over or pick up on things because this makes me rely on my family a lot more. I hate to bother them! I can't even shower myself or get dressed by myself because I can't bend over to reach my lower body. However, I know that is just a side effect and will be gone in a few weeks. Until then, I think I am going to enjoy the attention from my family! LOL!

The trip home yesterday was very long and eventful! When we turned in our rental car there were a lot of people returning cars. The rental car company was trying to processes the returns fast because there were a lot of people coming into town for the NASCAR race this weekend. Anyway, while my Dad was dealing with the paperwork, Mom went and got a luggage rack to put all the luggage on so that it would be easier for them to handle. In the meantime my best-friend called to ask me a few questions and I sat in the front seat of the car and talked to her while my parents took care of everything else. I couldn't help because I couldn't pick up on anything. Anyway, we got all that settled and caught the shuttle to the airport. When we got off the shuttle and got all of our bags off we realized that we were missing my Mom's laptop and my parents carry on bag (which contained all of their medications and other important info). So, my Dad grabs the paperwork from the rental car place and proceeds to call them while catching the shuttle back to the rental car lot! Mom and I were praying so hard that no one had stolen the items! When my Dad got to the desk at the rental car lobby there sat all of our things....untouched!! PRAISE GOD!!

So, after that scare we went through security and got settled and waited in the Kansas City Airport for about two and half hours. It wasn't to bad sitting because I was sitting on a pillow, but I did have to get up and walk around occasionally. The flight from K.C. to Dallas was wonderful! I was able to get up and stretch my legs and the Southwest staff was great in helping me on and off the plane and into a wheelchair and pushing me from gate to gate! We arrived in Dallas at 7:20 p.m. and left for New Orleans around 8 p.m. The flight from Dallas to New Orleans was HORRIBLE!! The pilot kept swerving the plane and dropping altitudes really fast and it made me really sick! Plus, I wasn't able to stand up any on that flight so I was in some pain when we arrived in New Orleans.

I was never so happy to see my baby sister and her friend waiting for us at the end of the terminal when we got to New Orleans! I don't think I have ever been more happy to step foot on Louisiana soil than I was last night! I missed home!

I am SO thankful for all that God has brought me through and what He will continue to bring me through! It has been a long, hard road but I am almost to the end of it! I wouldn't have made it this far without all of the support and prayers from my family, friends, and church family! You all are wonderful and I thank God for each and every one of you!

Oh, and when I arrived home I was greeted by a beautiful arrangement on my dresser from my best-friend and godchildren and a beautiful valance to match my new bedroom set that my she made for me while I was gone! She is such a wonderful friend and I don't know what I would do without her!

I am going to bed now and probably will sleep until late tomorrow! We are all so exhausted! Thanks again, for all of your prayers and please keep them coming as I still have a long road of recovery ahead of me!

In Him,

Lisa

Halfway Home.....to LA!

I am sorry that I have not updated in a few days. I have been having trouble with the internet connection here at the hotel.

I am feeling better each day! I enjoyed going out the past few nights for dinner with my parents. However, even just getting out for a little while drains the life out of me!

Today has been a pretty lousy day. I have been in some pain and having some muscle spasms. I am also feeling like I am coming down with a cold or something. I spent the day watching t.v. and resting in bed. My parents and I enjoyed a nice dinner tonight at Red Robin! It was delicious and I certainly enjoyed the chocolate shake!!

Tomorrow we will go to the Doctor for my post-op appointment and then head to the airport. We have a looong day ahead of us tomorrow with traveling to the airport, sitting hours in the airport, and plane changes. I do NOT do well in the car. It causes A LOT of pain and I know the airplane will be worse! Please keep me in your prayers tomorrow for a safe, and pain free as possible ride home! I have never wanted to see LA soil so much in my life!! LOL! We will not arrive to New Orleans until around 9:30 p.m. tomorrow night. My sister and Grandma are picking us up from the airport. I am SO ready to be home and back in my own BED and in my own element!

My family and I appreciate all of your many prayers, phone calls, words of encouragement, etc. However, we are asking for no visitors until next week. I need time to rest from the long flight home and get adjusted to being back at home. Plus, my parents need time to rest and recuperate as well. We hope you all understand and we definitely do not mean this to hurt anyone's feelings. Phone calls are welcome! We look forward to seeing anyone next week!

Words cannot express my sincere thanks and gratitude to each and every one of you for ALL that you have done for myself and my family during this time in my life. I would not be doing so well if it were not by the grace of GOD and all of your many prayers! Please keep the prayers coming as this is a long recovery processes! I love each and every one of you and thank you from the bottom of my heart!