July 17, 2013 · 6:44 pm

Coloring Cupcakes

For my birthday this year, my sister sent me a flower muffin mold, icing, sticks, and edible markers. Although I had good intentions to use these, they sat on the cupboard shelf unused until a few weeks ago. My first attempt at the flowers was using brownies. The brownies were delicious~but they looked like they had been trampled upon in the garden. 😉

Since Megan was coming to visit, my next idea was cupcakes since I still had the unused frosting and markers. Last night we made our Funfetti cupcakes, added the frosting, and set them to dry. We colored them after lunch today, but in doing so it became quite clear: Mel paints on canvas, but cannot color cupcakes.

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DSCN2356 Yes, sad to say…these are mine.

DSCN2363 It must be something about coffee mugs. At least I had one that turned out somewhat artistic.

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Now that we decorated them, we get to eat them. And I don’t think taste buds hold regard for outer appearances. 🙂

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July 16, 2013 · 5:04 pm

Weekend Rewind…

How much fun can you fill in a weekend?

Let me recount the ways:

It all started when we picked up my sister this past Friday from the airport. Her visit has been anticipated for weeks! We did not give her much time to catch a breath as the first of festivities was Chic Fil A for dinner. Friday, July 12th, marked Chic Fil A’s annual “Cow Appreciation Day” in which you dress like a cow and get free chicken. Last year I had a harder time gathering a herd to come with me, but this year it was the complete opposite.

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After enjoying our meal, we headed back home for dessert: Whoopie pies!!! (Yes, I know…the irony of it but they were already made the day before when we had company for dinner). It was such a nice evening, we went out to the patio. Megan caught fireflies and we had some tea. We helped my mom pick the last of her green beans off the stalks and soon after called it a night.

Saturday started out relaxing. Around lunch we headed over to Beans-n-Cream to see my paintings then went to Stoney Creek Roasters for lunch.

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We ventured to Yellow Springs for a few hours and enjoyed the shops. I started to get tired at this point, but after a LifeWater and fruit snack, I regained some needed energy. When we got home, dinner was served out on the patio and then it was suggested that we spend the rest of the wonderful evening playing put-put golf at Young’s Jersey Dairy.

It was already eight pm when we started out the door for Yellow Springs (again). Right before we got to Young’s, there is a sunflower field. It was too pretty to pass up the opportunity for a few pictures!

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We arrived at Young’s and began our game right at the start of dusk. By the time we were about halfway through the course, it was dark. They have lights on the course but not all were working. Considering my balance already when it is dark plus bending half over to swing my putter and the randomness of put-put course hills, I did quite well. My strategy: Don’t look down, just hit the golf ball. Results: Par in 1. (Just once but it was so cool!) We had a system down in which when it was my turn, whoever had my golf ball would place it on the ground at the starting point. When I made it in the hole, someone would bend over and retrieve it for me. Instead of waiting on the curb, I most often stood on the grass course and just moved my feet if a golf ball came in my direction. I learned that the putter can be a used as a great cane when needed for balance and my family helped when needed too. It was a fun evening, and most of all, exciting to say that “I played put-put golf in the dark.”

Sunday I attended church with my family. There is no interpreter there, so as much as I tried lip-reading, the most I got out of the sermon was from the power point slides. The pastor spoke of God’s faithfulness. I couldn’t help but think of Third Day’s song “Your Love Oh Lord,” which is based on the verses in Psalm 36:

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.

It was a reminder to me of God’s faithfulness in my life. I was able to think about this more as after lunch I finished a questionnaire for a research study on the social/psychological effects of living with profound hearing loss (or deafness). It was a lengthy endeavor that dug deep into the past–resurfacing memories and emotions…altered dreams. But it was good for me as well–to see the bigger picture since then and how God has brought me to this point in life of living with deafness.

Living with deafness also means when you go to a play (unless you have an interpreter), you don’t hear anything. To celebrate birthday festivities, my older sister and brother-in-law joined us that evening for the La Comedia Dinner and Theatre production of Peter Pan.

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We had an amazing meal (thanks to the waiter who went down and got my plate of food for me), amazing cheesecake (with “fairy dust” on top–aka sprinkles) and enjoyed a phenomenal performance!! We were close enough to see the lines that were attached to Peter Pan and the kids when they flew around the nursery.

Like I said, I could not hear anything. I take that back–I heard soft mumbling, but could not understand anything. Have you ever tried lip-reading at a play? It is not even worth it when you can enjoy watching facial expressions and actions on the floor anyway. I did, however, hear the drums when Princess Tiger Lily and her tribe did their dance. That was my favorite part. 🙂

And so our weekend came to a close–one week over, another about to begin.

What makes a fun-filled weekend so great?
Let me recount the ways: family.

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July 12, 2013 · 3:34 pm

A Fresh Look

I don’t know if this is something hairdressers learn in their training schools, but how they can take a woman who comes in the hair salon looking like she just got out of bed (which I practically did) and have her leave feeling completely fresh is beyond me. This was my morning.

I woke around 8am. To get my day started, I did my physical therapy exercises and then planned to read a little over breakfast. The latter never happened. Mom found me asleep on my exercise mat at 9:15am…late for my chemo dose, I scramble to the kitchen and take my medicines, cram in a bowl of cereal, fill my Tervis of coffee and then head out the door. I get in the car and state, “I think chemo is making me more tired.” I think it is true.

My body changing quickly over the past few weeks has set me in a place where I have been going through insecurities about my physical state, especially the beauty aspect of it. It is easy to hear, “You are beautiful!”, but look in the mirror and see the opposite. Lies also wear you down…they make you tired. I was at this point a few evenings ago. After dinner, I decided to devote my evening just to reading with a cup of peppermint tea to help my sickly-stomach feeling. A few chapters later in my book, I come across this verse:

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

I went to my bathroom mirror and excitedly wrote the verse with a purple dry erase marker. The verse does not say, “You are beautiful!”, but I think it is implied. Choosing to believe it is now like a fresh look at the day…will I leave empty or satisfied?

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July 9, 2013 · 8:00 am

The end of my boy-band days

Since you are my friends, I will tell you a secret. After all, that is what friends do. I was in love. Yes, seventh grade and I knew I had found love. Every generation seems to have this love or at least the infatuation of the term: boy band. I don’t know much music history, but I am pretty sure this phenomena started before The Beetles.

My era was the Millennium. Yes, that was even the title of the best Backstreet Boys album. (Actually, the only one I ever listened to of their recordings.) Among the many during that time, I focused my obsession on the Christian pop boy band, Plus One. I saved up my allowance and bought their album The Promise on cassette tape. (Yes, cassette tape!!!) I memorized their songs, read the magazine articles, followed their Myspace, and daydreamed endless hours of meeting them in person. I never went to a concert.

Needless to say, by the time I reached high school, I had a little more self-control on my emotions. But I still listened their Christmas album for weeks after my surgery. Jason Perry could sing those high notes on “Oh Holy Night” so perfectly that I had no choice but to hit the back button and listen to it again.

Like all boy bands, there comes a day when they are no more. Your favorite decides to part their ways and seek other directions, much to the tears of the fans. I kept my copies of the cd’s but only listened to them here and there when cleaning my room or doing a workout. I never touched the cd’s in college. I hid my secret; only my RA and roommate knew as the song “Written on my Heart” came on over K-Love on our way to church. Now I am in the final stage: my cd’s are in the thrift store pile. I said goodbye to those cute little faces I had once been in love with–and that is that. (Ok, secret: I kept the cassette tape, only because it is a cassette tape. It is like an antique of my childhood days.)

– – –

I am not just saying goodbye to my boy band days. It has come to the point where listening to music is more frustrating (if I can even hear it) than it is enjoyable. But unlike the boy band tears, I am surprisingly unemotional about this predicament. Even more surprising that I found pure joy in deciding who would receive the last of my cd’s…to whom I bequeath the classics and oldies. (Secret: I kept one cd–Nancy Honeytree. She was the first of music I remember listening to as a child. I went to a concert and sang her songs in church. It is now added to my “Special Box” with the cassette tape.)

Sure, there are things about music that I miss being able to follow–like watching movies and hearing the soundtrack; jamming to the “oldies” in my car (but on long road trips, I substitute for a book in its place, read from the backseat and do just fine); or my favorite of falling asleep to the sounds of music. Honest thoughts here: this may all sound sad, terrible, or unfair–yes, it is all those things–but that is not what I feel. I am satisfied. I was brought to this point slowly. I think the change first started when I painted the simple bird for my dad’s birthday three years ago. Music is not out of my life entirely–I may not be able to physically hear it with my ears, but it is in me. It always has been. Always will be.

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.

~Plato

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July 8, 2013 · 8:08 pm

I am Protected

I am noticing the more my right hand progresses in numbness and the left in shakiness, the more clumsy I am getting. I constantly drop things like pens or silverware I am holding. Today I could not get a grip on the permanent marker I was attempting to write with and after a neat little hand stunt of marker flinging in circular motions, it landed on the table. I just had to laugh.

About an hour later, I am downstairs setting up my paints and canvas to finish a large painting that has been sitting in the basement half-finished for almost a year. (Yes, believe it.) My phone was in my pocket and I took it out to set it on the stool. I lost grip of it and it crashed to the cement floor. But it was protected…

When my Dad and I set out in February to seek a new phone for my upgrade, I had two options that were not flat Smart phone style with the touch screen. I can’t hold those, let alone use the touch screen with my fingers (especially now – even using the mouse pad on my laptop is getting extremely difficult.) I reasoned even then that sticking with the old-fashioned flip phone was the best choice. Because I drop my phone so often, Dad suggested getting a hard protection cover. Brilliant suggestion; the cement in the basement was no match for my phone cover!

Then I began to paint. Because I was painting a tall canvas, I knew that when I reached the bottom I would not be able to bend over and paint the way that I intended. I tried different ways to set it up, but ended with laying it flat on the table and working from the sides.

My sister had given me an apron specific for painters at Christmas. I always wear old clothes when painting and usually the apron. I forgot the apron today and with working from the sides of the painting, I started to get a fancy blue lined paint pattern on my shorts. Then I noticed my right hand had smeared in the paint on the board and left a huge print where there was not supposed to be any blueish-green color. Frustrated, but figuring it was a more abstract style of a painting anyway, I fixed it.

My thoughts have been on protection today. Maybe it started after yesterday’s experience of coming within about ten feet of hitting a deer about a quarter-mile from my house. Or last night when I came out of my room to get more water, I lost balance right next to the sofa and came within inches of hitting my head on the coffee table. Marcia and Mom were already in bed.

It is in these small moments, even to the monstrous health problems, that I see God’s protection. I am protected. There are still days to come but with this truth, I am living with an extra dose of gratitude.

Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. Psalm 91:14

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July 5, 2013 · 11:59 pm

The Next Chapter

Rainy days have strange effects on me. Some days it makes me groggy as I feel it in my body…especially my right hand. That was my yesterday. I even smashed my index finger that morning within the umbrella as I was closing it; I never felt a thing–just a small pinch but it was only when I looked down to see why the umbrella was not closing did I see my finger jammed.

Another rainy/cloudy day today, but completely opposite. Today was my motivation day. I went supply shopping: paints, paintbrushes, canvases and various add-ons for my upcoming paintings. Yellow Spring’s “Art on the Lawn” festival is only a month away. (More to come on that topic!)

Today I was focused on the broad spectrum of details and errands that needed to get done, even though my right hand seems a bit swollen and my arm is tense. Like an equation, I am not always that full of energy. Yesterday I just focused my attention on one thing at a time. My favorite being a book. I was achy with sick feelings in my intestines, so I made a cup of Chamomile tea and picked up where I left off in Through Gates of Splendor, by Elisabeth Elliot. I was determined to finish the last few chapters.

Growing up, we knew the story of these five missionaries. Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, and Jim Elliot who all followed God’s calling to show and communicate the love of Christ to those tribes in Ecuador that otherwise had no contact with the outside world. These men were at the time, the same age range that I am right now. I sat thinking of this…how these men gave everything for the Gospel. They were taking part of God’s plan to reach the nations, ultimately never seeing the fruit of their labor this side of heaven.

A few months after the deaths of these men, their story was recorded. The first copy of Elisabeth’s book was published in 1956. The edition I pulled off my parent’s bookshelf was the 25th anniversary edition, 1981. As I read the Epilogue II, I came across this conversation that Elisabeth had with Corrie Ten B0om:

“Sometimes,” she told me, “I have said, ‘L0rd, I must have something fresh. I cannot go on telling the old story.’ But the Lord said to me, ‘This is the story I gave you. You tell that one.'” So Corrie encouraged me to go on telling mine. (pg. 266)

And this encouraged me. I set out to write blog entries and feel like I am sharing the same story–repetitious. I want something new. But this is my story. and God wants me to tell it. So a new chapter to my story happened this week:

Tuesday evening I started my first dose of the chemo treatment, Sirolimus.  I take it every 12 hours. I have to be consistent with the time, so I chose to take it around the same time I take my other medicines.  So far I have had no side effects.

The chemo itself is very different from the other chemo treatments I have taken in the past. It does not feel like a chemo. Of course this is the first time I have had to keep medicine in the refrigerator…that could be part of it. The recommendation for taking the solution is to put it in a small 2 oz or so of orange juice stirring it a lot, drinking it and then drinking water or something afterwards. If it tastes the way Marcia says it smells, then I am double blessed as I can’t smell it nor does it change taste of my orange juice. Tonight I thought I would try the other recommendation for taking the medicine: in chocolate syrup. It was disgusting. I think I will just plan on drinking lots of orange juice for a while.

However, this chemo can cause mouth sores and so I have been given mouth care instructions to help prevent or treat these sores. First, a reward: I get an excuse to eat pudding, ice cream, applesauce, yogurt, ice cubes or pop sickles before and/or after as the cold and smooth will help prevent mouth sores. I have always been one for flossing and brushing my teeth after meals so that has not been a problem. They did give me a “recipe” for making my own mouthwash as I am no longer allowed to use store-bought ones due to the alcohol content used…even if it says “Alcohol free,” I am not chancing it.

My diet is much the same as it was before, except now I am a bit more cautious on going and getting that white mocha, as I am to watch my sugar intake. God must still want me to learn self-control. There are a few others on the list that I need to watch–eating red meats (which I don’t do often anyway), watch the different fats in dairy products and limit egg yolks to 3 a week; egg whites are fine. They warn against eating spicy foods as they can cause sores. I need to drink lots of cold fluids, eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, and get enough fiber. Even if I wasn’t taking this chemo, it is good eating habits to follow.

I am thankful right now that my body has been tolerating the treatments and will just have to take it one day at a time. I will have labs done every week and my first clinic visit to Children’s is at the end of the month. Do I think chemo is working? I don’t even think I can honestly answer that. My body changes from day-to-day. I note more aches or strains, more numbness or bad balance. There are always things at the back of my mind or new physical challenges to overcome.

My story is not yet complete. I know this. Some chapters seem to fly and others seem to drag on endlessly. Some pages make me laugh, some leave me in suspense and others make me cry. Like reading any book, you have to turn the page at some point to continue reading. If I focus on only one page full of th0se physical sufferings, I will never get to the ending or get to share the new things learned with you. I might just find out that the best part is only a few pages over.

*Elliot, Elizabeth. Through Gates of Splendor. Wheaton, Illinois: Living Books (Tyndale House Publishers), 1981.

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July 4, 2013 · 11:58 pm

“Writing Letters on the Veranda”

I like to write. Anything from handwritten cards, typing emails, thoughts in a journal or “to do” lists, taking notes during church or blog entries–writing is something I enjoy. I was the odd student that celebrated when term finals was a twenty page research paper or when essays on tests were a major percentage of the grade. When writing I get to think. It is a conversation on paper.

I think writing flows in my blood. My mom is a role model for what I love in writing. I watch her journal at the kitchen table and admire how she is not just writing but adding color and imagery to the text. Every month she writes cards for all the occasions–birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, get well, sympathy, thank you, thinking of you–to all members of the family, extended family, or close friends. And Mom has the prettiest handwriting.

Yesterday was my writing day. I had momentum. First agenda: I finished all my drafts in my email inbox, much to my hand’s delight. I should have paced myself, because by the time I reached Stoney Creek Roasters for an afternoon tea to accompany finishing some snail mail, my right hand was about ready to call it a day.

But it was worth it. It may not have been a “veranda”, but I was able to sit by the window and look out at the luscious greenery by the creek and write.

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My right hand has become very numb. There are things that are getting more difficult to do and holding a pen firm to write is one of them (sometimes just holding a pen in general depending on size). Last fall, we purchased this tool to help me hold a pen and write. At the time I did not essentially need it so I kept it in the cup of other pens on my nightstand. About a month ago, I reorganized my room including the nightstand corner. I was switching the cup to an old souvenir mug and remember taking this pen holder out because it was too big. Last I remember is setting it on my bed with a few books before I put it somewhere I reasoned to be a good spot for later use. And I don’t recall where that spot is. Thus, at the time I need it most, it is lost.

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Probably a combination of my perfectionism with the sloppy handwriting, my “to do” lists or sometimes letters are sent to the trash can as I start over trying to write with more legibility. Last night, my hands were tired but on my way to bed I knew if I did not write down that I needed more orange juice for taking chemo doses that I would forget. I still forgot what it was when I looked at my sticky note this morning. I stood there like I was reading a riddle…”small..”‘–ok, what did I need that was small? It took me a few minutes but then I remembered what it was that was so scribbled. Small OJ. I threw the sticky note in the trash and wrote a different one.

Life can be like a scribbled sticky note of agendas. In trying to write out my story so perfectly of agendas, I see myself crumple the paper and restart the whole process over again…each time attempting to grasp the pen I write with just a little tighter. But my hands grow weak and I have to let go of the pen. It is only when I have complete surrender that God can post His notes to my heart reminding me (again) that my life is worth more than my own scribbled, crumpled sticky notes. It is a novel being tenderly written just for me.

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

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July 3, 2013 · 7:11 pm

I have started a facebook page!

I am testing it with this post.  🙂

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June 30, 2013 · 5:26 pm

Confidence

This morning was one of those mornings. Not that I got started off with the wrong foot, but definitely the wrong shoes! I should start paying closer attention to my gut feeling that says, “This is not going to work.” Now I like to be optimistic, but that little voice inside tried to warn me that the dress I was trying on in the Target fitting room was too small. “It’s so cute, I want to try it anyway.” I get stuck. Thankfully my Mom was shopping with me that day. Lesson learned (at least for shopping).

You would think from my Cinderella shoe experience that I would have learned to follow signs that it might not be a good day to wear certain shoes. Think again. The cause: they completed my Sunday morning outfit (even to the choice of earrings). The effect: I was tripping in them even before I left the house. “If I walk slow I will do fine.” Even slow was not working. I get to the church door and the man who greeted me acted calm but I wonder what he was actually thinking. I said, “Good morning!” Then tripped and said, “Stupid shoes.” I never fell, but on the way out of church I was having such a hard time, I just slipped off my shoes and went barefoot to the car. The shoes are now in the thrift store pile. As cute as they are, they just have to go.

This morning, the message was on Psalm 16; “A Psalm of Confidence.” On the drive home, I was thinking of how the message was exactly what I needed to hear in encouragement and truth that “Confidence in the Lord means that I trust Him regardless.” It was like preparation for the days to come.

As I am still thinking, before you know it, one of my favorite movies comes to mind: Rogers & Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music. It could have been my shoe experience or emphasis on the word, “confidence,” but I started to laugh as I could picture Maria (played by Julie Andrews) singing and doing her fancy feet work in the song, “I Have Confidence.”

http://www.rnh.com/videos.html?video=109&gallery=170&vpg=7

[Fancy feet – 2:30; my feet – 3:46] 🙂

I definitely don’t trust my feeble ankles or my shoes to preserve me when I walk, but I have confidence in the One who is able: “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” Psalm 16:8

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June 28, 2013 · 11:59 pm

It’s like lab work…Part II

Yesterday morning, my mom, sister and I set out for Cincinnati. My first appointment at Children’s was at 10:30am, and although it turned out to be a very long appointment (which I am used to), it really helped in understanding more of the treatments and a few ” for future reference” ideas from my social worker in the case I start getting to a point where more help is needed in daily things.

Whereas last appointment I was emotionally calm, this time I seemed to be an emotional wreck. In discussing the chemo treatments and steroids with my doctor, I burst into tears as I tell him the thought of me not being able to be on steroids (which are moderately helping as much as they can with the pressure from the tumors) is just unthinkable for me. How will I function? Then I turn right around about an hour later and get upset when we start discussing the options for receiving help in the case I am no longer functional, such as areas like getting ready in the morning or in the event I need to stay home alone and need someone to be there just in case I need help. I blurted out defense, “I am fine on my own.” Yes, but for how long. I see now that these decisions also affect my family and although I rely on them and they will do anything to come to my aid…there may be a point in time when they just need to be family and I can get more professional assistance. And thinking that way bugs me. So I ignore that fact, when I may someday have to face it.

I felt yesterday was a more typical doctor appointment. It was like a teeter-totter. I had my concerns/fears on one end and I had my push to continue to try hard when things are slowing down on the other side. I don’t think there is a right and wrong to this equation…but I realized the continual need for keeping this in balance is important too and that balance comes best when I lay aside both my fears of the unknown and my defense wall and focus on what God sees. Some nights I get in bed and have relief when I say, “God is not finished yet…” and other nights I just get in bed and cry, telling him that I am not sure how this is going to work. I think I took both these emotions with me yesterday even though I am at a peace about starting the treatments. I think too that because my body has been changing, I have been fighting harder against it and putting a “state of emergency” on getting treatments started to see if they help. Again, I have no control of this, but getting that into my heart and mind is a difficult task. Something I am struggling with and have in the past.

In general, I can’t say that I can give you much details about the chemo, Sirolimus. To be honest, I think I found the statement, “Third time’s a charm,” to be false. This is the third time that I went over the chemo treatments and side effects with my doctor. It was a bit overwhelming. I understood everything but it is very detailed this time with specific instructions that I am nervous. My RN assured me in an email this morning that the process will make better sense once we get started. And it will not be like Avastin where I go and have one day treatments then recuperate for a few days, get back to normal living and then restart the process in two weeks. This chemo treatment will be taken at home (which I also learned that it is a solution, not a pill) and I will be taking it more frequent than once every two weeks (like Avastin).

As we discussed side effects again, my doctor made it very clear that very few have started the chemo while being on steroids treatment at the same time. However, because I don’t have an option to stop steroids at this point in time (I guess I do but highly unwise), the team of doctors are going to be monitoring my blood levels from labs and anything that I email of things noticed, because this chemo affects your immune system and they do not want me to get infections of any kind, especially in the lungs (could lead to pneumonia). Most of chemo will be regulated by labs and blood levels..it will be a slow process, but still the hopes I do well on it and possible halt of tumor growth.

A few of the other side effects I will be given more instructions on what to watch (such as sores in the mouth, fevers, headaches)…and I was given specific instructions that I was not allowed to drink grapefruit juice. Still not sure why, but it does not harm me any as I don’t like grapefruit. 🙂 The plan for now is to get labs done on Monday, and as long as everything with labs check for an ok to go/insurance for the medicine then I am set to start this Tuesday, July 2nd.

…

The second part of doctor appointments was getting my much-anticipated Phonak Cros! I was a little concerned about the (probable) loss of hearing that I don’t think I was as excited about it as I was a few weeks ago. I told my audiologist first thing about my hearing loss observation. We did a quick hearing test on the right side and it did show that I lost some frequency in the low tones. Surprising but then again not so much, because the tinnitus has changed from when I wrote about my mind feeling “unorchestrated” to now a lower consistent tone. I said, “It sounds like a man gargling.” Sometimes things are hard to explain, ;).

We adjusted my hearing aid on the right side to give me more volume. I decided to go ahead and give the Cros the full trial run (keeping it under warranty of 30 days). This means I have time to try it out in different settings and see if it helps. If I think it is not-or in the event I notice more hearing loss in the next few weeks-then I have the option to return it for full refund. I am really wanting this to work, but at the same time, the hearing loss is something I will never regain…so I feel I must be wise in the final decision and give this a good trial run.

It is a strange piece! It is very tiny and there is no ear mold…just this little 3-D triangle microphone that goes in the ear and this little plastic tube that is attached the actual body of the Cros that rests on my ear. I am so used to having ear molds that I panicked when Marcia asked how it was working. I was feeling inside my ear and since I felt no ear mold I thought I had lost it. It will take some getting used to–especially putting it in!!

I can’t honestly say that I think I notice it helping yet as it has only been one day. Last night I didn’t notice changes, but I do want to keep my thoughts open about it and not “assume” the worst that it won’t work. Tomorrow I have a lunch with a friend at Chic Fil A. No time like the present to test it.

And that is the current news…the end of my lab report. 🙂

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