Welcome to our family blog to keep you updated on all the happenings around the Walker cottage and "farm". Even though we live in a rural section of the Tennessee Mountains life is far from boring as you will see.

Friday, March 15, 2019

MARCH Walker Newletter

Hello!

Here we are halfway through March already. How time flies.
The earth is coming alive as spring arrives here in the Tennessee Mountains. The crocus, mini iris, and daffodils are blooming brightening up my plot of ground with a range of colors while the row of forsythia bushes are slowing opening their yellow buds.  Some of my cherry blooms froze in the last cold spell, but thankfully all weren't open so hopefully I'll still get some cherries. Last year they all froze out.

This time the big news is that Dwight moved back home. When Dana turned 62 this year in November the "powers that be" decided that not only was Dwight eligible for SSI (state insurance) that he has been on all his life, but also Medicare (federal) since he was born disabled, although they insist that it is impossible to have duel insurance. Instead of having better insurance coverage suddenly Dwight was knocked off the insurance he had been on having to scramble around to get his clotting factor paid for as some of the other insurance wouldn't insure it or said he'd have to go to the dr's office for every shot, which was impossible as Dwight gets internal bleeds at night or on weekends- you can't time them. And of course it all was supposed to get worked out before the first of the year. Despite being on the phone constantly in all kinds of conference calls, Dwight ended up having to get some emergency factor to tide him over. Then his monthly check was split in two and we hoped that by getting two checks he might get a bit of an increase. Lo and behold didn't they end up giving Dwight $120 less! Only the government can do such crazy stuff. So Dwight suddenly wasn't able to even afford his apartment that was pro-rated. The month of Feb was a rush of cleaning Dwight's room from top to bottom and moving most of Dwight's things back home before
Dawn and her kids came the last weekend to finish moving all his furniture. What a job. On the bright side having Dwight here at home really helps me out.  Dwight’s back is still not back to normal so he can’t do much, but here he can walk outside on slower days instead of being confined to a small apartment or putter around in one of the workshops. And as you know there is always something happening here on the Walker farm, which can help keep Dwight’s mind off of what he can’t do as it’s difficult being so young and having a body where you can’t do stuff like normal. And when I have to run into town, Dwight will be here with Dana.

On Dawn’s side they finally got a big break through with Annette. It was very frustrating for Dawn knowing something was wrong and yet not being able to figure out why Annette kept getting so sick after eating. Ever since Annette was little she was a picky eater and often would get sick. First Dawn had to convince the doctor that Annette wasn’t depressed and didn’t need counseling, then they had her tested for all kinds of allergies, and nothing showed up out of range. The next step was Annette having all kinds of tests done where they discovered her esophagus was badly scarred- quite unusual for someone only 16 yrs old- and quite inflamed as well has her gallbladder. So last year Annette had gallbladder surgery. After recovering from that, she still got sick so Dawn tried eliminating different foods and spices, but no pattern showed up. When Dawn took Annette back to the surgeon and explained that Annette was still getting sick he told her that they couldn’t keep taking Annette’s organs out. Can you imagine? Dawn said she didn’t want Annette to keep having surgery she only wanted to find out the root of the problem. Frustrated Dawn took Annette back to the allergist specialist to try and get some answers. The crazy guy said (instead of him trying to figure out what was going on) that he’d run whatever tests Dawn wanted. So with all her research and testing of foods etc, Dawn made up a list of a bunch of things to test for. Lo and behold whey showed up. And when Dawn started looking at ingredients in stuff it all made sense. Did you know that cake mixes, gravy mixes, and a host of other things you wouldn’t think of have whey in it beside the obvious milk products and cheeses? Dawn was getting quite desperate and I was concerned as Annette’ skin had a white unhealthy pallor and sometimes she would binge eat as no matter what she ate, she’d get sick and often throw up- even Annette’s tongue would swell, yet she was always hungry. Even eating a small amount at a time didn’t help. It became normal for Annette to always leave the table after eating while the rest of us sat around talking. In one month’s time after making sure there was no whey in what Annette ate, there is color in Annette’s cheeks, and she is so happy she can eat and not get sick. It’s horrible it took so long to find out what was wrong, but thankfully Dawn wouldn’t give up. Finally Annette can start living a normal life and not have to worry about getting sick whenever she eats. Isn’t it amazing how intricate and finely tuned our bodies are?

Well I do need to hush up as I’m about to run out of space. 

Sending lots of spring hugs your way~
Dorcas