Count Your Blessings!

Hi everyone. Sorry it has been a while since I have made any posts, but life has been a little...uhhhh....hectic. Lets see...where shall I begin.
The first of October medical insurance kicked in for me so I have been busy with doctors appointments. I haven't been seen by a doctor in over 10 years so lots of problems to take care of. As it turns out it looks like I will be having stomach surgery in December to correct some major problems created by stomach surgery (gastroplasty, the predecessor to gastric by-pass) that I had done 21 years ago. It seems I have a major blockage, a hiatel hernia, several areas where the stomach is protruding into my diaphragm, some of the permanent surgical staples have come out, who knows where those have gone, and fluids are leaking out, I have what is referred to as "leaky gut syndrome" where there are leaks from the stomach into my body, plus I have severe reflux...just to name a few..lol. I have also been given a preliminary diagnosis of fibromyalgia, and will hope to find out on Dec 8TH what the major problem is that is stirring the pot. I have been seen by a cardiologist, and although I am scheduled for some further tests, the doctor doesn't feel there is anything to be worried about, he just wants to be certain because of my family history. So...if you haven't had medical care in over 10 years...look out!!
Mark was in the hospital for a week and was just released this past Wednesday. He became very ill last Friday night and had to be hospitalized the next day. They ran all kinds of tests but nothing significant was found. He has had terrible migraines for over a month but thankfully his CAT scan came out negative. He is going to be seeing a neurologist who specializes in headaches so we hope to get some answers very soon.
Work has been going well. We enjoyed Halloween with our participants with a small party the day before Halloween with our DD(developmentally delayed) young adults and celebrated Oktoberfest with our seniors on Halloween. Unfortunately like a dummy, I forgot to bring my camera, so that is my reason for no pics for the month of October.
We will be celebrating Thanksgiving in our home with Mark's mom. It will be nice to have her over as it will be the first time I have ever cooked a meal for my mother-in-law. I am not worried but actually quite excited about having her come to our house. I just hope we are able to find her something comfortable to sit in as we don't have any living room furniture(mine is still in storage in Utah) and we only have a dining room table and chairs, which aren't all that comfortable for a long period of time. Oh well...I guess we will figure it all out.
I want to wish all our dear family and friends a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving.
We have so much to be thankful for this holiday season. Mark and I have been blessed this year beginning with our marriage in May. We have an incredible family that includes 3 wonderful kids who are married to 3 wonderful spouses, my sweet Big brother, and sister and their families, and Mark's dear, sweet, Mother. We have been blessed with 7 beautiful grandchildren, 2 whom were born this year. We have a warm roof over our heads, we both have stable jobs where we don't have to wonder if we will be laid off. We have transportation that gets us where we need to be, food in our cupboards, clean water to drink, indoor plumbing with a hot shower, medical insurance with gifted doctors whom we can trust, friends that we cherish, our faith, and the privilege of living in a free country. We are truly blessed beyond belief.
We hope that this Thanksgiving is filled with as many wonderful things to be thankful for as our family has been blessed with, and more blessings for you and your families than you are able to count.
As we said at our wedding, "Best Fishes to all!", and I promise to have new pics up soon.

All our love,
Mark and Melinda