"Update on What's Been Happening

Hello, everybody! It's been quite a while since my last posting and I apologize for that. A lot of things have been going on in my life lately and now I think I'll let you know what's been happening.

Back in March of this year, I noticed a mole on the front of my right leg that was never there before. I showed it to Dion (my husband) and he wanted me to have it checked out right away, but I put it off. (That's why my father gave me the nickname of "Ben", for "Ben-puttin-it-off". I have a fear of doctors that goes way back, and I'm not exactly why it started, but I think it had to do with all the horror stories of what happened to my sister Carol Lee when she had her back surgeries. She was 16 and I was only 12 and well aware of what was happening to her. I felt helpless and ineffectual--I couldn't help her and I was terribly frightened for her, which also made me vow that I would never allow myself to be put in the position she had been in...ever.



Then, about two months ago, I happened to glance at my leg (I had been deliberately ignoring it because I was scared of what I might find) and now there were nine or ten moles instead of just one! It looked like a solar system had formed in the place where the moles were. It scared me, so I showed Dion again, and he wanted me to go to the doctor's right away, but I convinced him to let me wait until I went for my gynecological exam that was already scheduled for a little over two weeks away. My OB-GYN had sent me to have a biopsy on a mole once before, so I trusted him to know what he was looking at.



When my OB-GYN looked at my moles, he was alarmed. He told me that they looked very suspicious and he made me promise that I would get them looked at immediately and get in A.S.A.P.! It was too late to make an appointment when I got home that afternoon, so I called the next day. The dermatologist that I had been going to for years had retired, so I called a new one, and there was no opening until November.



When the secretary heard my hesitation, she said, "Will that be alright?" I said, "I guess it will have to be, but if you have a cancellation, could you please call me? My gynecologist looked at some moles on my leg and said they looked suspicious and wanted them looked at right away." Then she said, "Oh, in that case, we had a cancellation today. Can you come in today?" I believe that was the Lord's intervention! We jumped on it and we in the doctor's office two and a half hours later.



When they did my body check, they said they were amazed at how many moles I had all over my body. We discussed my history, and I told them it started with my having my first mole removed from my bellybutton area within a few days of being born.

After that, I have had a total of about 20 to 25 moles removed, either by surgery, having it burned off, or two of them almost fell off when it was time for them to be removed because I had ripped at them with my fingernails by mistake so many times (because they had been in my way). Only one of them had turned out to be melanoma, and it was benign. That was when I was a teenager--and my father took me to Geneva General Hospital for the surgery. I think I was somewhere between 17 and 19, but I'm not quite sure.



And now to the present. When I went to the Dermatologist's office, they were quite sure that I had a fast-growing melanoma, so they took two biopsies: a shave biopsy, and a plug biopsy, which was pretty deep because the melanoma is pretty extensive.

I got my results back and they are positive. I have malignant melanoma and I am scheduled for a consultation with the surgeon who will be performing my sentinel node biopsy. That biopsy is for determining how far the cancer has spread, and she will also schedule how much chemo I need and she'll determine if I need radiation or not, too.



Also, my husband, Dion, has hurt his back at work again and in a lot of pain. I can't bear to see him in this much agony, but naturally, he has gone back to work, even though he can hardly stand up, because he knows we'll be needing the money very soon and we don't know what we're going to do. The Lord is going to have to provide for us this time, that's for sure.



Please pray for us if you think about it, and in your spare time. It doesn't have to be a long prayer--just a few words would do. We could use all the prayers we can get. Thank you for being our friends and for caring.

"The Lord bless you and keep you--the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace."

Until next time...stay safe, stay well and as always, may the Lord bless you all.

Cynde


Please visit my other blogs:
Cynde's Got The Write Stuff ~and~ Usurper Exposed. Thank you!

"We're Baaaa-aaaack!"

Hi, everyone! It's been so long since I've posted that I have almost forgotten how to do it.

Well, "we're baaaa-aaaack!" We had a fabulous time and it was so romantic!

The weather was absolutely perfect the entire time we were in the Caribbean and everyone was so nice to us. The foldable cane that my husband, Dion, bought for me to use on the trip really helped me a lot. I don't think I could have made it without having it.



Here are a few photos from our trip, just to whet your whistles:

This is our view from the ship at Ft. Lauderdale, FL. ~ You can see another cruise ship off in the distance, ready to set sail.

I just had to show you this odd little storm out to sea. The little storm clouds got so close to us at one point, we could almost touch them, but we didn't catch it on film ~ it happened so fast we didn't realize what was happening!

Then, almost as fast as it came upon us, the sun appeared and whisked it away. I hope you can see what I mean when looking at these photos. It was all so vivid out there on the deep, blue sea...

Here's one of the beautiful white, sandy beaches that we got to visit. Isn't it gorgeous? The weather was perfect and the water temperature couldn't have been more ideal.


This is a close-up of that same beach. If I didn't know better, I would have thought it was like that Chevy Chase movie where he paid everyone in the town to act perfect during the Christmas season so that he and his wife could sell their home and get a divorce.

And then, "Oh, joy!" This is the sight we came home to when we drove in to our driveway at our home, sweet, home. I must add that we were glad to get home, though, because afterall, there's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home...



Well, everyone, aside from our trip, I've been busy writing. I took a class at the Writer's Village University and it was awesome. I'm so glad I joined there! I've made lots of new friends and joined a critique group for the first time in my life, and I've learned so much from them. I should have joined a critique group a long time ago, but to tell you the truth, I was too shy. But now that I've taken the plunge, and the Lord lead me to the perfect people, I see that it's not so bad afterall.

I'll write again as soon as I can. And I promise it won't take me five months this time!

Until next time...stay safe, stay well, and may the Lord bless you all.

Cynde

Please visit my other blogs:
Cynde's Got The Write Stuff ~and~ Usurper Exposed. Thank you!

"We're Going On A Cruise!"

Hi, everyone.

Guess what. My husband, Dion, and I are going on a cruise! My husband's boss is sending us on a seven-day, all-expenses-paid-cruise aboard the Crown Princess to the Western Caribbean where we'll visit the Grand Cayman Islands; the island of Roatan, Hondoras; the island of Cozumel, Mexico; Princess Cays, Bahamas; plus we'll have three lovely, relaxing days out at sea.




The weather out here is horrible; we've been having a blizzard and the roads have been icy and slick for two days now. I've been sick with a nasty cold since Christmas and now I have a double ear infection that oral antibiotics and antibiotic ear drops don't seem to help at all, so I have an appointment with an ear, nose and throat specialist tomorrow morning; I just hope the roads are clear enough for me to get there.

I'm so afraid that either the weather or my ear infections will be the cause of our missing out on this wonderful blessing, and I would feel so guilty if that happened. I am looking so forward to going. When we went to the cruise in 2003 to the Mexican Riviera (his boss, Billy Fuccillo, paid for that cruise, also) we had an amazing time.



Well, I guess I'll let you know how my trip went when I get back. I hope every one of you is doing fine and I miss you all. Can you believe it...I still have not hooked up my new laptop. Maybe this trip will be "just what the doctor ordered" and when I come back I'll finally feel like a human again. That sure would be an answer to prayer!




Until next time...stay safe, stay well, and may the Lord bless you all.

Cynde


Please visit my other blogs:
Cynde's Got The Write Stuff ~and~ Usurper Exposed. Thank you!

"Today Is: Blog Jog Day!"

Thank you for stopping by my Blog! Please explore all this Blog has to offer, then jog on over to Frontline Heroes. If you would like to visit a different Blog in the jog, then go to:

http://blogjogday.blogspot.com



Until next time...stay safe, stay well, and may the Lord bless you all.

Cynde


Please visit my other blogs:
Cynde's Got The Write Stuff ~and~ Usurper Exposed. Thank you!

"Blog Jog Day!"

Have you heard about the amazing event that my friend and fellow writer, Carol Denbow (a.k.a. Author 101) is hosting on Sunday, 09 May 2010? It's called:

"Blog Jog Day!"

"This is the type of event that is designed for the sole purpose of benefitting any and all of those individuals that own a blog. Also, the more that participate in "Blog Jog Day!", the better the results for all!"



What is "Blog Jog Day"?

"It’s a one-day event where bloggers are joining together for a "pyramid effect" promotional rally. We all post on the same day with each post leading the visitor to the next blog, and so on, full circle.

That’s it! Visitors explore your blog, and then click on to the next one, bringing potentially thousands of unique visitors to your site."





"So...How Can "Blog Jog Day" Benefit Bloggers" did you say?

• More unique visitors to your Blog


• More subscribers


• More comments


• More inbound links


• More Followers


• More exposure and sales


• Grow your daily hits



• And all of these things look great to Google, Yahoo, Bing, and the other search engines, which translates into greater popularity!



• And with greater popularity comes a higher Page Rank and greater exposure for your Blog!



• So...How Cool




• Is That!?!

So jog on over to the official "Blog Jog Day!" blog and sign up. There is a one-time $2.00 participation fee for each blog that you sign up to have in the event (a steal!), which helps support additional advertizing for "Blog Jog Day!" Furthermore, all the information about "how it works" and "where
to sign up" is right:

here


These are some ADDITIONAL BENEFITS of the event:

• You'll be able to plug your blog



• You could receive potentially thousands of hits in one day!



• There will be long-term positive results!



• You're bound to receive some permanent links!

Come On! Ask your friends to join us on "Blog Jog Day" on Sunday, 09 May 2010...

and let's have some "FUN!"

Check it all out by clicking on the official "Blog Jog Day" logo, below:



~http://blogjogday.blogspot.com~

and...

(DON'T FORGET TO: "Pass The Word!")



Until next time...stay safe, stay well, and may the Lord bless you all.

Cynde


Please visit my other blogs:
Cynde's Got The Write Stuff ~and~ Usurper Exposed. Thank you!

"R. I. P. Barbara A. (Tillotson) Northrup"

Barbara A. (Tillotson) Northrup, 80, of Endicott, born August 2, 1929 in Johnson City, NY, peacefully entered Heaven on Tuesday, December 1, 2009, at Lourdes Hospital surrounded by her family. Barbara was predeceased by her parents, Asa and Margaret (Davis) Tillotson; a niece, Nancy Wagner; and nephews, Donald Tillotson and James Tillotson. She is survived by her husband of 52 years, M. Carl Northrup; six sons, Carl Thrasher, Colchester, VT, Robert Northrup of Colorado, Richard (Ann) Northrup of Maine, NY, Randall (Diane) Northrup of Endicott, Thomas (Christine) Northrup of West Henrietta, NY, Timothy Northrup of Endicott; and one daughter, Debra (Lee) Vivian of Lancaster, PA. She also loved all eleven grandchildren, Jason, Melanie, Kristine, Richard, Heather, Nicholas, Zachary, Josiah, Kathryn, John and Matthew; and great-granddaughter, Mosel. Also surviving are two brothers, Ronald (Diana) Tillotson of Endicott and Donald (Sandra) Tillotson of Vestal; and sister, Louise (Warren) Whittemore of Endicott.

She was actively involved in supporting her children's and grandchildren's activities and sports and squeezed in some of her own activities. She was a member at various times of: PTA, Union Business Women's Club, U-E Wrestling Boosters, Good Sam Club, U-E Football and Band Boosters, Round Hill Chapter 104 OES, Old Town of Union Historical Society, Supervisor for Organization of Triangles, Parents Circle for DeMolay, Precious Moments Club and U-E Class of 48 Lunch Bunch. She enjoyed attending musicals, sporting events and most any activity her children and grandchildren participated in. She loved her family, a good party, her trips to Aruba and Las Vegas. After her 20th trip to Aruba she was honored as an honorary Ambassador to Aruba. A lifelong member of Central United Methodist Church, she loved her church and the many friends there. She was an election Inspector for Broome County and had previously worked for Day Hollow Restaurant, H&R Block, Art Services, and as a "Temp" at IBM. She also was an Avon Lady for many years.
Funeral Services will be held Saturday, 10 a.m. from the Allen Memorial Home, 511-513 East Main Street, Endicott, with the Reverend Douglas Clark, Pastor of her church, officiating. Burial will be in Maine Cemetery, Maine, NY. The family will receive friends at the Allen Memorial Home, Friday from 4-7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please feel free to make a donation to a Children's Charity of your choice in memory of Barbara.



Barbara was my mother's cousin and was an important person in my life for as long as I can remember. Hers was one of the first faces that I would search for when we would go to our Carpenter-Davis family reunions. If I didn't see her, somehow I felt uneasy. Scanning the faces, I would search for someone with a big smile and an unusually huge photo album full to the brim with mostly photos of her little daughter, Debbie, in pretty party dresses. Barb was so happy that she had finally had her little girl—not to take away anything from her six amazing sons, mind you. It's just that she had been wanting to have at least one daughter in the mix, so she could dress her in lace and frills and now that she had her, she took every opportunity to show her off.

At the time, I was too young to understand that was what was happening. All I knew was that Debbie was so lucky to have all those neat clothes and I loved to hear the stories Barbara told about Debbie's latest accomplishments. I just always found myself wishing that I could do something special, too, (just one little thing!) but I couldn't come up with one single thing that I would call special that I could do. I guessed I wasn't special at all. My face must have showed that quite clearly because the next thing I knew, Barbara had wrapped her arms around me and was playing with my hair as she talked with me for the longest time, asking me about what I wanted to do when I got older. I confided in her that I was scared because everyone else seemed to know exactly what they wanted to do, but that I had no idea. I wanted to be a mommy most of all, I had told her, and to get married to someone like Dad. Just talking to her made me feel better—it always has.

I never forgot that day...or the many others that followed as she seemed to keep a special eye on me throughout the years—or at least I'd like to think she did. She was a very special lady, and I will miss her every day of the rest of my life here on this big old earth...until we meet again in Heaven.



Until next time...stay safe, stay well, and may God bless you all.

Cynde

Please visit my other blogs:
Cynde's Got The Write Stuff ~and~ Usurper Exposed. Thank you!