Drive through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, March 2015

Hello again everyone! Eye Dr. appointment went great. Did not have conjunctivitis after all, just Blevitis (inflammation of the eyelid). Oil gland ducts were clogged causing the swelling which has since disappeared. The rest of the exam was good. A slight touch of cataracts, but normal for my age and no need to do anything about it. They also gave me a new prescription for glasses, but very close to what I have now. Said I was 20/20 with the glasses I have now, but they are two or three years old!

Today we took a quick drive through the Smoky's for something to do. It was a nice and relaxing drive, but wore me out by the time we got home! There are a few pics below. Sorry for the poor outcome but I just have my phone camera to work with. Wish I could afford a better one because I love to take photos, but you work with what you have and thank God for the blessing of even having it!

Bless you all for following my blog and I hope you will continue to check for updates. Going back for chemo on Monday. Thoughts and prayers your way! Mike

  

Hello Everyone!

Still here....sorry for not posting in a while. You know how it is with Chemo...ups and downs! I am feeling pretty good today, so I figured I should post.

I have had six chemo treatments thus far, I will have my seventh on Monday the 9th...really looking forward to that..NOT! Have an Ophthalmologist appointment for a sty and conjunctivitis infection that doesn't seem to want to heal. I have a ENT Dr appointment on the 18th because my voice is down to a wisper most of the time and it seems to be a struggle to talk for any lenghth of time. My wife says I should just shut up and not worry about it...I think she is just tired of me putting in my two cents...lol! I also had a CT scan the other day, but haven't heard the results yet.

That's all the update for now! Keep Christ in your heart and have a blessed day..Prayers your way, Mike! 

On the move...Locally...lol!

I went on a ten mile walk New Years Eve Day, just along the local roads near the house, and I survived..,lol! New Year's Day I woke up and had a slight headache but wanted to try to do some hiking. I text-ed my two oldest daughters and they said they were in. So they picked me and my youngest grandson up and we all headed to ijams Nature Center. They have lots of  trails from easy to very difficult, of course we choose the hardest ones first. Then we did the trail around the quarry and then crossed the street to walk along the river to the boardwalk along side the cliff, then back up to the visitors center to the greenway and then back down to the quarry parking lot.
The grandchildren had a blast being together, and it was a fun day for all us "grown ups" (I use that term lightly) to watch and join in on the fun. It was cloudy and around 40 degrees out, but it was a good day! 

Afterwards my oldest daughter and her husband took me to dinner in downtown Knoxville to the Stock and Barrel. I enjoyed a lettuce wrapped burger with a fried egg on top and a side of their Village Salad...yum!

Today I am a little tired and I'm resting up. Come Monday they will be adding another chemo in addition to the one's I have received so far. I will have to wait and see how I will react to it! I just thank God for the good day's I have had, and for being able to spent the time with my family!

Well, God Bless you all and thanks for reading my blog!

I JUST FEEL THE URGE TO WALK!

Ending the Year 2014!

What a way to end the year! I went from a dark depressed state full of anxiety to accepting Jesus back into my life. Now if you have been following my blogs, you would have been able to see the transformation that had taken place. If you haven't...now is a good time to start..lol!

I have learned to trust God with my future and not to worry about it like I used too. After all, He is the one that is in control, and not me like I thought...silly me! If I have a problem that may arise, I just pray it up to God and then forget about it. The future hasn't come yet, so why worry about it...makes sense I think!

As far as the past goes....oh, wait, that it exactly what happens, it goes! It is gone, so why worry and stress about what could have been, or should have been...gone...over with...adios!

The only thing we can do is enjoy the moment. That is all we have that is a given! So hang on and enjoy the ride. God has His plan for you already worked out before it ever comes your way. It may be a blessing, or a trial or tribulation (which I consider blessings also!) It is all a matter of how you look at things. As an example: my shin splints or the pulled or torn muscle in my calf...you would think, poor me, why did this have to happen to me? What did I do that was so wrong to deserve this...etc..etc. Instead I found it to be a blessing. It slowed me down and I got to met some of the best people by those things occurring. Sometimes...even at three miles an hour we are moving to fast and overlook the blessings right in front of us! 

As we close out the year 2014 and welcome in the New Year, I pray that God may touch you the way he had touched my life again! It is never to late, or if you feel you have sinned to much, that is not true, Jesus came and shed his blood on the cross to wash away those sins. Amen! I have come to realize my whole walk was a blessing in disguise! John 3:16 (ESV) says it all. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Amen to that!

Chemo....!

Well...I will be starting my chemo treatments in the morning at 9:00 am. I was told it would be for 6 months. I will have the chemo every two weeks, and a pill one week on and one week off also. Of course I will have to have my blood tested first, then the anti nausea meds, and then the chemo, it will probably be a three to four hour process. Of course I won't really know till I get started, just an uneducated guess...lol!

I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes, you all have been a blessing and an inspiration to me, thank you so much.

I really miss my walk and all the great people God had put in my path. It was a true blessing to have been able to do what I had accomplished, and to reconnect my faith with the Lord! As I had said before, God had my whole journey already planned out for me. It didn't totally work out the way I had planned, but He had shown how much greater His plan was. Before the walk began I suffered with Depression and Anxiety, but through his works and the path he layed out before me, I soon learned to rely on Him and to trust in him. If I had a problem or was worried about anything I prayed about it and left it in His hands, then I put it out of my mind, knowing He would help me, and I haven't had any stress or anxiety since. And He has indeed helped me in the things I prayed about. What a loving God to carry our burdens, and to have died on the cross for our sins, that we may come to the Father in His name. Praise Jesus in all His Glory! Amen!

Come to me, all who are weary and  burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my Yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. NIV Matthew 11:28-30

Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be open. NIV Matthew 7:7-8

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. NIV Matthew 6:34