A Year of Transformation

2025 was a year of transformation. God moves in mysterious ways...

Thanks for following along this year as Tony conquered large B-cell lymphoma, and we supported William and his children through the divorce.

I've shared very little about my own health challenges that started a year ago. It's been easy to see that Heavenly Father is mindful of Tony and our family, but I've struggled through disappointments, wondering if God is mindful of me personally.

Our son, William, was traveling a lot for work in 2024 and caught whooping cough before Thanksgiving. Seeing how difficult it was for him, and not wanting to be responsible for making an infant ill, I made an appointment to get a booster shot last December.

I hadn't seen a doctor in 20 years, so they required a full workup. My A1c was 13.1. I was metabolically very sick and didn't know it. I thought I was doing all the right things and had accepted that middle age and menopause included extra weight and symptoms beyond my control.

The doctor insisted I take medication, but I had allergic reactions to Metformin and Mounjaro, so I went maverick. I spent the first three months of the year relearning everything I thought I knew about food and the way it affects my body. I wore a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), and it became my accountability partner. God blessed me with superhuman strength to refrain from eating all the yummy, sugary, high-carb foods that are a part of the regular American diet. My weight dropped by 25 pounds, and I started seeing muscle definition I thought I would never see again. My energy levels increased. For the first time in years, I didn't feel ugly in a swimsuit. Just before Christmas, I went in for my yearly checkup, and my A1c is now 6.0.

Without this chain of events, I wouldn't have had the stamina to take on the difficult circumstances that we faced this year.

Six months ago, I noticed blood in my urine with no sign of infection. I was referred to an OB/GYN. An ultrasound revealed cysts on my ovaries and a kidney stone. A CT scan confirmed the findings. They determined that the cysts are benign. One is suspicious and needs to be watched. Tony was just starting chemotherapy treatments when I got the results back with a referral to the Kidney Institute. The OB/GYN office was thorough in telling me about the cysts. They didn't say anything about how big the kidney stone was, or how it was blocking the flow of urine from the kidney. I wasn't in any pain. People have kidney stones and pass them, so whatever. I had too much on my plate and would deal with it when the other crises were over.

On December 6th, I had a bad morning with classic signs of passing a kidney stone. I was tired and a little sore the next couple of days. I thought the worst was over. I followed up with the Kidney Institute and found out I shouldn't have been referred to them. I should have been referred to a urologist. The PA at the Kidney Institute told me the CT scan showed a stone 9 mm in size, and she was surprised that I passed the stone on my own. She said that with a stone that size blocking the flow of urine, I should have had an infection, could have gone septic, and done permanent damage to the kidney. They checked my kidney function, and it was normal. An ultrasound was scheduled for Monday to confirm that the stone was gone, and we had a wonderful Christmas week with our grandchildren.

On Sunday, the classic kidney stone pain returned. After fighting it for hours, I couldn't take the pain any longer, and Tony took me to the ER. They had to administer morphine to manage the pain. A CT scan revealed the stone was still active, measured at 12 mm. They made me comfortable and sent me home.

On Monday, I met with the urologist, and yesterday I had outpatient surgery to break up and remove the stone. Unfortunately, the stone was so big and impacted that the surgeon had to stop so that my ureter wasn't damaged. I will heal and undergo the procedure again at the end of January to remove the rest of the stone.

The surgeon told Tony that he has done about 2,000 of these procedures and has only seen my birth defect three times before. The reason I didn't get an infection and go septic is because God was mindful enough of me and what my future would hold that when I was in my mother's womb, he blessed me with two ureters on my right kidney so the flow never stopped.

We are so looking forward to the New Year. We are ready for healing and getting to where we feel we are not just surviving, but thriving. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. We are eternally grateful.

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