Our Life Was Turned Upside Down And Then Back Again!!!

Life sure does have it's share of surprises.  Let me tell you about our last 4 weeks.  It's been a roller coaster and one we would have rather skipped, lol.

Four weeks ago today Mike went to the doctors for a regular physical.  He was all excited because he had been dieting and also started taking fish oil for his cholesterol.   He spoke with our doctor and she was very happy with his weight loss and blood pressure.  Mike then told her he has had a few issues with heavy breathing while bending up and down.  She was concerned and asked us to stop for an x-ray on our way home.  We did that and then it was time to head down the mountain to look for tile to redo our bathroom.

The day started out well.  We just ordered our new counter to build an island and now we were going for tile.  About 1 1/2 hours later while we are down the mountain we get a call.  It's the doctor's office.  You need to go back for a CT scan because you have a nodule on your lung and emphysema.  What???  The doctor's office said she will call us back to let us know what time the CT scan will be.  Really….you call and drop a bomb like that with no explanations to ease our minds and then make us wait.  I don't know what Mike was thinking but I kept picturing older people with oxygen tanks and hacking coughs.  No this can't be right.

So we head back home and wait for the afternoon CT scan.  In the mean time I start googling.  Let me tell you, if you have a medical issue, take what you find online very lightly.  I was crying knowing that this is incurable.  I did find a British site where the people were nice and up front.  They said not to go to American sites as they are panic stricken, lol.  Anyway they made me feel better than I did.

At 4:00 Mike went in for his CT scan…and yay now there is no nodule on his lung, so that is huge:), but yes he has emphysema.  He is now scheduled for a Pulmonary specialist in 3 1/2 weeks(that was this past Monday).

So now we start doing our research.  Mike wants to be proactive about this new diagnosis and he has read that high elevation is bad for people with emphysema.  He believes this because he had no trouble when we were just in Florida.  We then start talking about moving.  We don't want to but after discussing it we feel it is best for Mike.  At the same time this happens our last house in Florida has been delayed in closing.  Mike says if they want one more extension we won't close and we will use it as a home base for now.  Two days later it closes, lol.  In the meantime we had to tell Nicole and the kids.  It was heartbreaking for us.  They are our closest and "best" family.  We were all upset at this point.  Nicole was trying to figure out if she might be able to relocate to Florida also.  So now for the search for a new area.  Nicole didn't want to be in the area where Mike and I usually go to and Mike would rather be on a lake than the gulf.  For a week straight we searched….then Mike and I found a beautiful house on a lake.  We did not want to travel down if it was a wasted trip.  We called our Realtor and asked her if she could drive to this new area for us.  She went the next day and told us "you have to see it…the lot is spectacular"  The next day Mike, Niki and I drove down and put a contract in on the house.  The lot is great….the house…well not so great, lol.  So that is a new project.


Back home we decide to get our house cleaned up, neutralized and sell what we can.  We start off by getting rid of the orange which I am not happy about:

Mike painting the new neutral color.  Boy after you go bold it is hard to go back, lol:

Well we are back to clean but blah:

Each weekend now we have been selling things at the store.  It is all things that we don't need.  The first weekend of selling, Ella wanted to stay over night.  I told Mike since we have limited time here we need to spend as much time as we can with the kids.  We are going to miss them so much.


Mike shows Ella how to use the pressure washer:

And away she goes:

Look out Nicole, I think Ella likes the pressure washer as much as you and I, lol:

They are best buddies:

Ella wants us to pack her:

My heart is breaking by now knowing we will be leaving our family.  Poor little Ella wanted to know if we could bag up the Florida air and bring it back here for papa.

Last week we decided to do something about the patio.  Mike pressure washes it to get it ready for new paint:

A color that we have never used…uh oh:

Mike came up with the idea to use and RV mat to dress it up.  We screwed the mat down so it won't blow away.  I think it looks much nicer:)

So now it is almost 4 weeks later and we have been cleaning, selling and we bought a new house.  Monday Mike went to see the Pulmonary specialist.  The doctor looked at Mike and said "I don't think you have emphysema. Lets go look at your results."  We all looked at Mike's tests and he said "no you are fine."  Mike and I are now stunned.  I am very grateful that Mike is healthy but I'm thinking "Are you kidding me."

It took Mike and I all night to decompress and figure out "now what".  So here we are.  Mike and I are both healthy:) and a little confused.  If only Mike and I were like most people we wouldn't have bought a house already, lol.  We do move fast and get things done.

So this is what we think we are going to do.  We know we have to work on the new house so the plan is to go down for the winter and do that.  We also promised the kids we would be here for a Christmas with them.  We will go down and then come back for Christmas.  We will go back and forth and set up a long term plan.  In a couple of years AJ will graduate from HS.  Maybe by then the whole family can relocate.  For now we will split our time between Fl and TN…kind of like how it was.



That's all for now.  Sorry for the drawn out story.  I just wanted to clear some things up.


Next week I will tell you all about the fun septic issues, lol.

Have a great week.