Are Your Flowers Dainty Daisies or Twisted Briers- Endometriosis In Real Life

I really should have made more of an attempt to do this article while in recovery. It would have been nice to have a more “month by month” story but in reality, I was busy getting well and recovering. In the early days of recovery, I was also dealing with thyroid disease that was newly diagnosed and I was just so tired, it was all I could do to just feed myself. Thankfully, I am here today a little over two years later and I feel like an entirely different person! I’m not 100% well, I may never be, but endometriosis hasn’t been a problem for me in two entire years and that is HUGE.

What is Endometriosis? What could possibly have me reeling in pain day in and day out month after month with no end in sight? Well, let us start with what endometriosis is NOT. According to the CEC (www.centerforendo.com) it’s not dysmenorrhea or “mild painful menses” in common terms nor is it just “killer cramps.” In fact, when I was younger, like I’m talking 12, I used to boil over in anger when people suggested that I couldn’t handle being a girl… Yes! YOUNG girls DO suffer debilitating pain from this very disease! Also, it’s not just a little bit (or even a lot) of endometrium that has been misplaced or implanted from back flow of menses. This is probably one of the most common myths. Below is one of my favorite quotes from the CEC…

“Endometriosis is not a simplistic condition whereby normal uterine lining implants itself waywardly throughout the body like daises in a field with each period – yet unfortunately, this outdated, widely-touted notion continues to keep endometriosis mired needlessly in delayed diagnoses, hysterectomy, poor surgical treatment, ineffective medical suppressives and worst of all, a lack of hope. Fortunately – endometriosis is not a hopeless disease and quality treatments do exist.” CEC

Endometriosis is tissue that looks like but is NOT the same as endometrium tissue that grows outside of the uterus. It has a lot of symptoms but the most common one is extreme, debilitating pain usually around menses and often during ovulation as well. These tissues can grow just about anywhere, not just on the reproductive organs. Women have it on their diaphragm, liver, bladder, colon; it is not reduced to being located only on the ovary, Fallopian tube or uterus. Due to the lack of education on Endometriosis, it is commonly misdiagnosed and women wait on average 7-10 years to get a correct diagnosis.

To make matters worse, endometriosis is often responsible for the build up of adhesive tissue that begins to slowly glue our organs together so that they can’t move freely any longer. Adhesion tissues also contribute a great deal to pain levels, poor quality of life, and reduced mobility. By the time I was 32, 20 years of pain had passed (what would you do in 20 years of time?) and so had adhesion build up. I literally could not sit up in a straight back chair because my mobility had been so greatly reduced. Once I had been a pretty athletic person but as I aged, the amount of exercise I could do was greatly reduced until finally I could barely walk. I felt like I was loosing who I was in leaps and bounds while everyone else had a normal body and aged slowly.

During one the episodes of menses pain I laid in my bed and really wondered how much more I could take. I decided to search on youtube for endometriosis and I found a video done by Rebekah Hoyt called Ending Endometriosis. I was actually down right mad after watching it! Surely she must be selling snake oil and getting paid truck loads to make money off our suffering (she wasn’t!). You see, my mother had endometriosis and she had been to several physicians and nothing was ever able to help her. In fact, most of the treatments my mother went through actually made her pain worse each time she tried it. I had been conditioned since I was 12 to believe there was no hope for this, it was just my lot in life. However, my subconscious held on to the information in the video and a few months later, in agony again, I called the Center for Endometriosis Care, I had reached the end of my rope, I wasn’t living, I was literally just existing; something had to be done. Locally, I was only offered the traditional treatments of pills, Lupron, or surgery. I wasn’t willing to try Lupron with my newly diagnosis thyroid disease, pills had failed so many times before, and the surgery they offered here was the same type that failed my mother and every other person I’d known with endometriosis. I was determined, if I must have a surgery, it will be a different procedure than they offered my mom. Little did I know then, this would soon be the best thing I’ve ever done for my health. Hope was rekindled, life was on the way. Excision surgery via vaporization was now the agenda.

Watch Rebeka Hoyt’s Documentary Video Herel

I’ve never met this woman but I am SO thankful she made this video or I may still be in pain today!

Do you want to know more about my life with endometriosis?

Comment below or give me a like if you’d like to see more information regarding endometriosis in my life and how I eventually overcame it or if you’d like to see more resources.

Need more resources about Endometriosis?

If you’re on Facebook and would like to know more, join Nancy’s Nook group where lots of great up to date endometriosis information is posted by some of the best in the field as well as patients who have gone many years longer than I have to date with no recurrence.

Until next time-

Davi

December 30, 2017August 30, 2018

Looking Forward 2018 Book List

I can hardly believe that 2017 is nearly complete history now!

This time of the year, a lot of people are making New Years Resolutions and reflecting on the things that went poorly this year. I’m not sure you about you, but I often forget to look at the good things that happened during the year unless they are really big like, one of my best friends got married, or another out of state friend had a baby, etc.

The negative seems to linger more for me. Since I’ve pin pointed this dilemma, I’ve decided to remedy it by making lists to track my accomplishments during the year. It’s not a new concept really, I mean when you’re in school you get report cards that keep you in touch with how you are progressing. I can not really remember even 5 of the books I’ve read in 2017! I know I read many (my overdue library fees will prove it!) Are you compiling a list yourself?

Our sweet little bookstore, Read It Again, is going out of business this year, December 31, 2017. It’s really pretty sad for us since the owners have watched our children grow up over the last 10 years. The silver lining is, we were able to use up our store credit and the books were 40% off as well. With $33 dollars of credit in tow, DD and I went shopping! Here’s a list of much of what we found and what currently makes up my 2018 reading list. The books are not in a particular order.

Build Your Author Platform by Carole Jelen and Michael McCallister (2014): I hope that this book will still have relevancy since my end goal is to write full time.

Sim and Schuster Handbook for Writers by Lynn Quitman Troyka and Douglass Hesse (2005): I’m sure this will come in handy!

Teaching Developmental Reading by Normah A. Stahl and Hunter Boylan (2003): It’s probably a good idea to freshen up on “how” to read so I can also learn to write better.

Two Parts Textbook, One Part Love by Louanne Johnson (1998): This seemed interesting!

Lessons From A Lifetime of Writing by David Morrell (2002): Hope this will get me a little bit of a jump on the learning curve.

Yankee Home Hints by Earl Proulx (1993): because my homemaking skills can always use a little tweaking I’m sure. 😉

Blue Mountain- Turning Dreams Into Reality by Susan Polis Schutz (2004): I’m excited about this one! I hope it inspires me and ya’ll… I got this one brand new in the shrink wrap, a retail of $35.95 for $3.60! Gotta love a bargain for your frugalista self!

Incidental Music- Remarkable Stories About the Worlds Greatest Composers by David Ott (I can’t find a year): I’m really stoked about this book too since I’m an aspiring musician and love to hear stories of real people years ago.

A Short Guide to Writing About History by Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page (2002): I have always had a desire to write some sort of historical book.

What’s Yours is Mine Open Access and the Rise of Infrastructure Socialism by Adam Theierer and Clyde Wayne Crews Jr. (2003): I have no idea what to expect here, but it was very inexpensive so, why not!?

Defense of the Faith or Christian Doctrine by Albert Garner (1956): I really like the very old Christian Writing from the 1800’s and early 1900’s so 1956 is a little “new” for me but I thought I would give this a try.

Unfashionable Convictions by Bernard Iddings Bell (1931): Again, a little newer than I generally like but, the title was alluring.

Cupcakes by Susanna Tee (2006): Everybody needs a new book on making cupcakes once in awhile. num num DH is looking forward to reviewing this one with me, only he will do the eating not the reading!

Zone Meals In Seconds by Barry Sear and Lynn Sears (2004): It’s a cookbook but i have no idea what zone meals are. I sure look forward to having food in seconds though!

Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson (1999): I didn’t get this one at our book store, I ordered this one off of Amazon. It looks like it may be able to offer some information on the art and science of homemaking and I always desire to improve there, especially in house keeping and clutter control (my biggest area of failure).

Cold Knights: Two Brothers: One A Prince by LeRoy Clary (2017): I saw the cover and have looked forward to reading this since!

I plan to review all of these books, we shall see how the endeavor goes!

What do you think? Did you get any ideas for your book list? Get started today, not much time is left before we start a brand new year.

Until next time-

Davi

December 29, 2017October 13, 2018

Bloom Baby Bloom

I really love sunflowers! One of my childhood memories involves my father planting a field of sunflowers. That year, I must have been around 12 years old, it rained, and it rained good! You see, I’m from an area of Texas that literally hinged on 3 words all my life, IF IT RAINS. There were green blades of grass, the little “buttercup” flowers came up with green leaves, the Mesquite was even green! Daddy knew the birds would fly and we’d have a good hunting season, he also knew I loved flowers, so he killed two birds with one stone and planted an entire field of sunflowers. I loved riding out with daddy in his truck to see them grow, we’d go as often as possible and I loved how the “head” of the sunflower would “wake-up” in the mornings and follow the sun and then “bow it’s sleepy head” in the evening. Many evenings those sunflowers would shelter a deer family. It was a wonderful time, filled with life and joy all around. When the sunflowers were fully grown I remember standing under them and feeling as though I was actually “Alice” in wonderland. I’ve tried several times to grow sunflowers here in Florida and I have yet to be successful.

This year we decided to have our towering pine tree removed. It was such a beautiful tree, I really enjoyed it the three years we had it but, it was located in a bad spot and with the hurricanes here, we were asking for trouble; so, I reluctantly agreed, it was time to cut it down. I encouraged myself by making plans to save for a new tree, perhaps a fruit tree like, lemon, lime, or tangerine and tried not to be sad about the pine. With winter approaching, I didn’t want to buy anything right away, I felt a good rest would do the lawn some good so, I tabled a tree purchase for now.

Fall is may favorite time of the year but, it does get busy so quickly, I often feel I could loose my head if it weren’t attached. One day, I was looking out of our dinning window and I noticed something growing near the area our pine stump had been ground down. I went outside for a closer look and I thought, perhaps, just maybe, it was a sunflower. (I’m not exactly a botanist okay.) Allowing the plant to grow proved that it was indeed a sunflower after all. I couldn’t believe it, I finally had my very own sunflower and I didn’t even know how it had gotten there!

All this time, I had tried to follow the instructions given to me on the packages of seeds I’d bought and I waited until March to plant my sunflowers. A precious friend of mine now passed on told me that squirrels were more than likely eating the seeds I buried year after year. Hazel, living well up to 89, had been a very experienced gardener over the years and I enjoyed her hydrangeas and gardenias every year. I knew she was a gardening authority worth trusting so I had nearly resolved to just give up and then this wonderful sunflower popped up just after my first Thanksgiving since she had passed.

I’m sure that the equipment used to cut our tree down had a sunflower seed on it. The tree was removed in the middle of September and we have had an unusually warm winter with a few odd cold days thrown in. Even the Walton Outdoors website (www.waltonoutdoors.com) says that sunflowers should be planted no later than the end of August for a fall crop so, I was very happily surprised to see this beauty.

What can we learn from this bold sunflower that choose to bless me this fall? Well, I believe we can learn several things from nature if we will listen and pay attention. After all, hasn’t God told us to observe his creation when he said, “go to the ant thou sluggard Prov. 6:6” and “be instant in season and out of season 2 Tim. 4:2.”

One of the first things we can see from this little sunflower is, the ground was prepared. The sunflower would have had a difficult time growing directly under the old pine tree. The needles would have blocked the sunshine and the roots of the pine were well established ensuring the pine would easily sip away the water and nutrients. When we had the stump ground up the roots of the pine no longer drank all the water. The fine mulching left behind aided the sunflower seed during germination and the direct sun warmed the seed and called it to grow. Is there a giant pine tree in the fertile field of your heart preventing the seeds God’s planting in your heart from sprouting? Luke 6:41b “but perceivest not the beam that is thine own eye?” Perhaps you even like your pine tree but, God’s been trying to show you, it’s just time to have it removed, it’s in a dangerous place in your life and it’s just time to cut it down with the Word of God and grind the pulp for a new seed God is ready for you to have. Perhaps this seed is something you’ve been trying to do for awhile and you just keep failing because this towering pine sips all your energy, and sheds pine needles down on you. The pine tree doesn’t even have to be a “sin” but rather it could simply just be a “great waster Prov. 18:9.” Once this pine tree has fallen and the stump is ground, not only will God have a clearing for His seed to go, you will have a clear view straight to the Son of God, His love will warm your heart as you begin the next phase of your life.

Next we can see the flower respond to the sun in it’s newly prepared place. The seed needs to be nurtured out of it’s shell so to speak and the sun and earth help it to germinate, first the root, and then the stem begins to pop up. When we begin a new phase in our lives, the Lord bathes us in beams from His Son as we read in the word, he waters the seeds he has planted as well. Slowly, we begin to develop a special strength for this new phase as the Lord himself nurtures our heart and soul. As we yield our lives to the Holy Spirit, our seed becomes a baby plant unfurling itself before the Lord as he coaxes us out of our tight shell and into His light.

Now, the sunflower is fully grown and it’s bright petals reflect the glory of the Lord himself who gave the little flower not only it’s life, but it’s full color to beam outward for others to gaze upon as well. This tiny seed black seed only about a half a centimeter in size or so is now bright yellow and well over a foot tall. The black of the seed can represent ashes and the new bright yellow plant can represent beauty; sunflowers are beautiful. Jesus also takes our ashes and gives us beauty in return. Although bringing in our ashes can be a painful time, we have hope in the promise Jesus has given, to give us beauty in their place, once we have handed Him our ashes. (Isiah 61:3) The roots are strong and sturdy, supporting the plant in the wind, rain, and cold; the plant follows the sun with it’s “head” and points to those looking on, “look up there, there is the sun.” We too root in the word of God so that we are not blown around by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14), and reflect the direction of the Son on our faces as we follow his will.

Finally, the sunflower didn’t argue about where it was planted, it just received the spot it was given. Nor did the sunflower dispute the well known fact that it’s “too late” to plant this year’s sunflowers. This sunflower was planted in the “last hour” (Matthew 20:12) of 2017 and since the Lord knew it would be a warmer winter, the sunflower bloomed beautifully! Although there may have been a better time in the farmer’s almanac for a sunflower or even a better place, nothing can take away the fact that THIS sunflower was a blessing for me to gaze upon while sitting in my dinning room. Often it is easy to read about Esther the queen and think, what a time to live in! Or perhaps you’d like to meet Mary the mother of Jesus and ask her what it was like to be his mother? (I’m sure it wasn’t an easy task!) Don’t get stuck wondering why you are in “this place” or why you are in “this season.” Your time is now, God is here now just like he was before, he still asks you to bloom NOW despite the conditions you are in and show the world, the direction of the Son. There are so many barren fields; dry, cold, empty just waiting for you to plant your flower there and point the way to the Son. Don’t let the devil discourage you by telling you it is just not the season for flowers; you’re not too old or too late, you’re here to please the Lord and point others to Him, so just Bloom Baby Bloom!

Isaiah 61:11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Until next time,

Davi Todd

December 17, 2017February 28, 2018

Acura TLX

In a few regions of the United States, driving is not considered a skill necessary for the average, everyday person. Driving is considered a waste of time in many places with heavy public transit and large side walks that offer effective and faster travel from home to work. I am a free spirit though and for me, driving is more than a mode of transportation, more than fun, driving is a passion; it represents a freedom so to speak.

Growing up in the dusty Caliche roads of west Texas, I began driving at a young age. I must have been 8 or 9 years old before I even knew what a “car” was. We were truck people and as far as I knew, there were two types of trucks; Ford, like my uncles and granddad had and Chevrolet, like my daddy had. Trucks were useful; they could haul stuff small or large and I loved to ride in the back and feel the wind on my face. Trucks were also fun! Once in a blue moon, we’d have real good rain, our red dirt would turn into a clay like mud and it was on, 4X4 was a favorite pass time! We’d rev those engines and make ’em squeal! No one wanted to be the first truck to get stuck but everyone wanted to be the truck big enough to pull them out. It would be many years from the days of my young childhood on daddy’s ranch before I met a man that would show me cars can be fun too. Heretofore, I had assigned cars to “city folk driving.”

In the early days, before our vows, DH drove a Nissan 240 out on the flat land of those west Texas plains in the heat of summer with the ground hard as brick and dry as bones. Drifting he called it, a lesson old Doc taught Lightening McQueen was taught to me by DH. I’d climb up the dam of an old dried up lake and watch him make that little car dance! With this marvelous introduction to “drifting” I came to the dawning of a new era, where driving could be enjoyed year round, no matter the weather!

With a childhood and young adulthood such as this, is it any wonder that “Acura” was no where on my radar when it came to a sporty car you could really enjoy? I drove the 2018 Acura TLX for the first time this week and I really loved it. With a 4 cylinder engine, my demo drive packed a nice 206 horsepower punch giving it enough power to be both sleek and sporty and yet keep some pocket change in my handbag. (For those of you looking a little more muscle, there is a v-6 engine packing a nice 290 horsepower.) The car has 4 driving options, Economy, Normal, Sport, and Sport Plus, honestly after driving 2004 models, all the options were a bit overwhelming! I was hooked just after we ignited her engine and couldn’t wait to see what she could do!

As I took her out on the road, I found the ride inside the cabin to be extremely quiet even in sport mode. In fact, the cabin made me feel like a cross of Speed Racer and Bat Man! The sales representative mentioned the all wheel drive and I soon found a nice empty parking lot to test the responsive wheels. I really enjoyed to responsiveness the car had while I accelerated in a tight circle, I could really envision myself in this car for years to come.

Some of my favorite technology features on this car are the lane keeping assist and the rear view camera angle that allows you to see directly under the rear bumper. The lane keeping assist works to help you stay in your lane. The sensors detect the car leaving the lane and give a gentle tug to keep you in the lane. In the current generation of distracted driving, I see this is a huge benefit and hope to see it more often. The camera is a great benefit to people with children who may leave their belonging behind the car. :-/ (Something that’s happened a time or two too often around here I’m afraid to say)

Well, I can’t say I’m exactly a car reviewer, but I certainly enjoyed this drive and hope you have enjoyed my little glimpse of a great car. Are there any cars you were surprised by when you drove them? Do you enjoy driving as well? Would you like to see more articles like this? Comment and let me know!

Thanks for reading.

Davi

December 14, 2017February 28, 2018

Florida Snow! Who Knew?

Yesterday morning I awoke to a wonderful surprise. I started my morning routine of making coffee for DH and getting his things ready for work and as I washed up in the sink, I saw a glimmer of some white powdery stuff on the roof of my shed. Of course, it doesn’t snow in Florida so, I was pretty sure that my eyes had sleep in them. I gently rubbed my eyes and looked again with a longer gaze. No, I wasn’t seeing things, it was actually there! With morning sun rays already befalling I knew I had to grab my phone and run out for pictures or no one would believe me! It had snowed and stuck (Though ever so slightly) here in Florida! I took several photos but the snow is just so little, it’s fairly difficult to see. I was so overtaken with this I almost forgot to finish DH’s coffee!

While taking the photos I heard lots of noise and not good noise either! Squealing tires, crashing, and shattering glass could be heard in the distance. I took a moment to thank Jesus that DH wasn’t out there in the bang and crash. Life is so precious, sweet, and short! It really only takes a few minutes and a phone call to change your life forever and I truly try my best to be thankful for every single good gift. Snow and ice in Florida are really pretty foreign to most of our drivers so, it was not too surprising that the first half hour of the morning involved several accidents.

So, what do ya’ll think? Is it really snow or is it actually just frost? We have so little of either here we decided to allow our imagine to lead and went with snow.

Until next time,

Davi

December 10, 2017February 28, 2018

The Power of the Written Word – Authorship

Have you ever wondered why everyone is not out here in cyberspace writing a blog? Yes, I know there are lots of fish in the cyber sea and I am just one of many hundreds, thousands, millions actually. However, many thousands and perhaps even millions could also have a blog, maybe even a profitable one; so, why don’t they? Writing can be intimidating! On the face of it, it does seem silly that putting together a string of letters to form words and then sentences would actually be scary but, for many people it is. In fact, I myself have fallen prey to this fear of writing for others to read although I actually like to “write” as long as no one else reads it. Words have power, especially written words. Have you heard the old adage “the pen is mightier than the sword”? Well, in many cases it is true. One of my mother’s favorite quotes is, “Say it, forget it. Write it, regret it!” I’ve found after nearly 15 years of marriage that “say it, forget it.” is often true, as far as the “write it, regret it” part, well the bible says in Proverbs 10:19a “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin:” so, I’m sure there will be times I mess up, I’m still human and no one is perfect, only Jesus ever accomplished that. When I fall short, I hope that readers will remember my frame, that I also am just a human that makes mistakes and have a forgiving heart.

In my early twenties I attended a few political gatherings (remember the forgiving heart!), mostly just to meet new people in the area I had recently moved to. I remember someone saying there, though I don’t remember who, that one handwritten letter to a congressman is worth about 13,000 emails to the congressman. The logic behind this was that emails can be auto generated very easily but a person must purposely set aside meaningful time to actually find paper, ink, envelopes, stamps and TIME to write a handwritten letter. Time is valuable to highly successful people so, when they know a person has spent enough time to organize thoughts in a letter with the old fashioned pen and paper, those words are very highly valued to the addressee, even if the words are harmful; they provided a valuable insight about something or someone to the addressee. Now, I certainly can’t say that this has caused me to write a lot of letters to my congressman or even the city council, but it has shown me that words are valuable and they can and do have an effect of us whether we realize it or not.

Words can be intimidating because they evoke fear. Once you’ve written it, an expression of what was already in your heart has manifested. Once you’ve published it on the world wide web, it’s there forever to be a reflection of your life whether that be good or bad. Not only that, often words will be twisted and used against you in way you never intended them to be taken. Sometimes we have very passionate thoughts that are not easily transcribed in our current vocabulary, wherever we are on our learning journey, and we choose a word that misses the mark of the thought or emotion we truly meant to express. I know in my case, these fears have kept me from publishing a single word on davitodd.com until just recently. As I pondered over my blog, I realized that this fear of people I’ve never even met was choking out a desire to share the good things I have learned in my short life so far. After reading 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” I knew that allowing this fear to rule over me was not smart and not of God.

Be brave just like Davy Crockett! My father used to encourage me to be brave with this little taunt when I was a girl. Once I identified that “fear” was the root cause of my lack of action and that “not enough time” was really my justification for being afraid, I sat down to make an action plan. I began to pray and ask God for guidance about writing, blogging, new time management goals, and anything else that came to mind. On one of our family outings to the local library, I found out that a new writers group had formed so I signed up for it and have been to two meetings so far. Although I still mostly observe, I look forward to pushing myself into new journeys and expanding my horizons. I’m older now and although I can hear my daddy say, “Come on Davi Jo, be brave, just like Davy Crockett!”, I’m a Christian now so my battle cry shall be, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him[Jesus] that loved us.” Romans 8:37

If you’re interested in following along the life of a little ole’ housewife working on overcoming fear, learning new things, and making a cozy little home, stick around! I look forward to meeting you and hope to encourage you along the way of life’s journey. Thanks so much for stopping by and spending time with me today, I truly appreciate it. Leave some feedback in the comments and help me grow. Would you like shorter more frequent posts or longer more detailed posts? Are there any topics you’d like me to cover? Are there fears holding you back and keeping you from accomplishing a desire you have? I’d love to see your thoughts!

Until next time,

Davi