40 Days of Thankfulness: Day Thirteen

Today I am thankful for my church choir.

I’ve had a long history with singing from the time I was a kid singing in the choir at my Dad’s church.  In High School we had a great choir and it was the time before “political correctness” would have banned us from singing such wonderful classical music like Brahms’ German Requiem.  In college, as a music major, there were choirs and when we finally got to our current home, I joined Sweet Adelines.

I was a member of Sweet Adelines for 10 years, before Cushing’s robbed me of that particular pleasure.  SA takes  lot of energy between rehearsals, performances, competitions, travelling.  I just loved it but I couldn’t keep up.

For a few years, I belonged to a local woman’s group but even that got to be too much after a while.  There wasn’t the travelling or the competitions but rehearsals and performances cut into that energy.

Last year, our choir director opened up the opportunity to sing for just the Christmas Cantata.  No long term committment and only half the rehearsal time for about 10 weeks.

I hadn’t sung anywere outside my car for about 10 years but, with trepidation, I signed up.  Because of my bell-ringing and work with children’s choirs, I knew most of the other choir members and that made it a LOT easier on shy-me.

Christmas came and singing with the choir and orchestra was just fantastic.  There was the invitation to stay, to become a part of the choir for good but I had my Cushing’s Interviews on Thursday nights and I couldn’t see how I could work all this in.

Last spring the choir sang How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place from Brahms’ German Requiem and I was hooked.  How could I not join?

So, I moved the interviews to Wednesday nights and Thursdays are free for choir rehearsals.

40 Days of Thankfulness: Day Twelve

Today, I am thankful for Saturdays.  It’ the one day of the week I don’t have to be anywhere, do anything.  I can do webwork, if I want, but I don’t have any deadlines.

I never have doctor appointments on Saturdays, no medical testing.

No piano students.  I don’t even talk to prospective students on Saturdays.

It’s a day for maybe brunch, a trip to the farm, maybe a little TV, maybe (most assuredly!)  a nap.

Saturdays are family days, even though our family is smaller than it was.

Saturdays are always full of promise.

Off to see what today’s promise is…

40 Days of Thankfulness: Day Eleven

Today, I am thankful for Lisa.  Her photography studio ( http://www.dickensstudio.com/ ) held a Girls Night Out fundraiser which benefitted Cushing’s Help.

Last night’s raffle raised $600.00 and that will go a long way to keeping the message boards up and running for another year.

You, too, can be thankful for Lisa here.  🙂

40 Days of Thankfulness: Day Ten

Today I am most thankful for naps!

40 Days of Thankfulness: Day Nine

Posted Image

I am so thankful for all my doctors but today I am thankful for Dr. Amir Al-Juburi who saved my life by removing my kidney cancer (renal cell carcinoma).

In 2006 I picked up my husband for a biopsy and took him to an outpatient surgical center. While I was there waiting for the biopsy to be completed, I started noticing blood in my urine and major abdominal cramps. I left messages for several of my doctors on what I should do. I finally decided to see my PCP after I got my husband home.

When Tom was done with his testing, his doctor took one look at me and asked if I wanted an ambulance. I said no, that I thought I could make it to the emergency room ok – Tom couldn’t drive because of the anaesthetic they had given him. I barely made it to the ER and left the car with Tom to park. Tom’s doctor followed us to the ER and became my new doctor.

When I was diagnosed in the ER with kidney cancer, Tom’s doctor said that he could do the surgery but that he would recommend someone even more experienced, Dr. Amir Al-Juburi.

Dr. Amir Al-Juburi has been so kind to me, almost like a kindly grandfather might be, and he got rid of all 10 pounds of my kidney and cancer.

I owe him, the original doctor, and my Cushing’s doctors (who will be featured later!), my life.

Posted Image