Starting Spring with Good news!

I have good news. It's spring! Sometimes in Minnesota the official first day of Spring arrives and there is still snow on the ground. Not this year. We had temps in the upper 70's for the past four days and that is unheard of in March in Minnesota. Today it's not quite so sunny or warm but it is still spring-like and I can hear the birds singing outside my sewing room window. There aren't any flowers growing yet but some neighbors have tulips that are beginnning to pop up. These beauties will soon bloom again in Ned and Mary Ann Pillings yard. The photo was taken in the spring of 2010. Ned's tulips were so pretty and I love tulips! They are my very favorite sign of spring! I have this quilt that I want to make that will feature tulips. I may get to it this spring. I am taking time just for me these days. And there is good reason for that.............

If you follow my blog regularly or you are in my Yahoo groups, then you know that I have had some health issues. I shared details in my private Yahoo groups last week but then I had to decide........To share or not to share on blog? Well, the time has come when I need to share because I do have some health issues facing me and I need to let you know what is and isn't happening. Let me just say......... I have had a very bumpy road the past two weeks, but I am doing well and have a brighter outlook than I did just two weeks ago. 
For those who don't know......a little background......a routine chest x-ray during a visit in early February to a dermatoligist at the Mayo Clinic revealed a shadow area on my right lung. That triggered a series of exams, a CTscan and then a PETscan. The PETscan showed three tiny areas on the lung that "lit up" (which means they are looked at as possibly cancerous) plus a spine lesion and an ovarian cyst (neither "lit up"). So that meant more exams, a needle biopsy of the lung, an MRI to look at the spine lesion and an appointment with an oncologist. All this in a couple of weeks. I was exhausted, not sleeping well, and my emotions and those of my husband, kids, and family were stressed to the max. Then yesterday, I had my appointment with the oncologist who gave me and my husband the good news that the biopsy showed NO cancer in the lung nodules!!  Big, big sigh of relief!!  However, he thinks I have some kind of an infection/fungus in my lung so I have been referred to a Pulmonary Specialist for an appointment in early April. He felt there is no emergency now that they know they are not cancer but it does need to be treated, whatever it is and he will follow the nodules for several months to observe if they change size. I am not sure what the spine lesion is but at this time it is not looked at as cancer. The next thing up for me is surgery to remove the ovarion cyst (a blood test for ovarian cancer was done and I only scored a 6 and needed to be below 35 so the doctor is confident this is just a water density cyst). That surgery will be "very soon" according to the doctor and I am just waiting for the call with a date. So, behind the scenes of my blog and Facebook, lots of doctoring has been keeping me busy and will continue to keep me busy for a couple months. You all know I would rather be busy stitching instead of visiting new doctors, nurses and clinics. However, there is one plus in meeting new people........I often meet a quilter and get to introduce them to my blog and learn of their quilting adventures. LOL!
Yesterday's news was such a relief as the last two weeks have been "grueling" to say the least. The time had come to share this on my blog because I have not been able to blog regularly.......no time and sometimes just didn't feel well or feel like writing a blogpost.  Now, though, if I'm not chatting much or blogging regularly, you will know why. I am looking forward to getting treated and getting well and getting back to regular blogging and family fun!!!  I have lots of photos for blogposts that never got written and projects I want to do and didn't have the energy to make. Spring is a season of Hope and I have lots of hope that this spring will be a good one!
Thanks to those who have been praying and sending positive thoughts. Knowing others care makes getting through tests, scans, etc. so much easier!
Sandi