Letting Myself Be Cared For

Happy Friday evening everyone!

Thank you for stopping by and taking time out of your busy schedule to sit with me. I appreciate every moment we spend together, and I’m working diligently to catch up on emails and your posts too. Between my son’s wedding, launching Eternal Echoes, and trying to post daily on social media, I won’t lie — I’ve fallen behind on my reads. But gosh, know this: I think about you all, and I will get caught up. That’s a promise.

So tell me, how are you this evening. Are you ready for this summer heat to engulf us. I’m most certainly not, but hey, that’s what the lake and pools are for. I might have to move my little make‑shift office over to the pool at least on super-hot days.

Please shoot me a text or drop me a comment — I would truly love to hear from you.

Tonight I was hoping to catch you up on the incredible wedding Kevin and Jagger had. Jagger looked stunning in her dress that seemed made just for her. And Kevin… he looked so strapping and grown; I couldn’t keep my eyes off him. There before me stood this young man who was once my precious little baby boy. Time sure did go by fast. Now, Kevin is a married man. But enough of that for now.

I’ll share the wedding soon — I want to tell it from a place of reflection, and I want to do his day justice. There were so many beautiful moments. I don’t want to miss a one when I share with you. I hope you understand.

Tonight, I wanted to give you an update on what’s been going on with me.

With all the busyness of moving into our forever home, unpacking little by little, keeping up with chores and pups, my body decided it wasn’t done healing from my surgery in December. I got sick again.

Over the last few months — really the last 6–8 weeks — I’ve been having a terrible time with food. In April, I was cleared for a normal diet, but it hasn’t been going well. I think I told you all about the intense choking episodes. Yesterday I finally had another endoscopy, and while the results aren’t horrible, they aren’t great either.

The hiatal hernia is back. I’m not sure if it’s in the same place or not — I’m not exactly sure how that works — but I do have a moderate hiatal hernia again. They removed three polyps from my stomach, and now I have two ulcers, one of them bleeding. So I’m back on my PPI’s twice daily. I have a follow‑up in two weeks and I’m being referred to a GI surgeon to reconsider another hiatal hernia repair. And yes… I’ll be having endoscopies every 2–3 months until this is resolved. I also need my esophagus repaired again.

Fun stuff, right.

At first, I wasn’t a happy camper. Then I went straight to, “Did I do too much? Did I cause this relapse?” The answer is no — not really. With a hernia of that size, nearly 10 cm., recurrence is common. I knew that going in. And the GERD is doing its fair share of damage to my body and my teeth.

Honestly, I knew something wasn’t right. Choking on mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, and rice… the sharp stomach pain… my body was telling me, you’ve still got issues my darlin’ girl.

I’m thankful for my medical team. They’re staying ahead of things, getting me scheduled quickly. The only hiccup is SCAN and my dental plan. The dental issues are medical, and SCAN assured me it’s covered, but getting the dentist to understand has been a mess. Thankfully, I spoke with a SCAN advocate today and she’s going to try to expedite everything. She promised to call me back no later than Tuesday.

Finger’s crossed.

Tonight, when I got home from my niece’s — she took me to my procedure and had me stay the night so she could care for me — I told John that the next few months might be harder for me to keep up with chores. He was so sweet. He made me my favorite acai bowl since I’m back on a partial liquid/soft diet and said, “I’ll help with the things you can’t get done.” I’m so lucky to have him. He’s so patient and understanding.

My boys also said they’ll help with appointments if I need it. I don’t want John missing work if we can avoid it. Thankfully my doctors are inland now instead of San Diego — that helps so much. I usually have no problem driving myself to my doctors now.

It’s not easy for me to let people take care of me. Like Mama Sandy said, “I know John will take care of you, but you’ve got me and so many others too.”

Right now, I’m okay. But after the next surgery, I’ll have to rest and heal. It won’t be easy, but I have John. I have Eternal Echoes calling me to write. I have you all and this beautiful blog you’ve encouraged me to keep building. I have YouTube and an upcoming podcast. I have dreams, aspirations, and I have my faith.

Someone always has it worse, and that keeps me grounded and for the most part, off the pity, why me train.

For now, I’m going to enjoy my summer in my new home on the lake. Pool time, golf cart rides, maybe a day trip to a garden or beach, 4th of July with my brother and my niece and two nephews, the boys and John, and of course, extended family and friends.

Mostly thought, I want to be home — on my balcony talking to the birds, enjoying quiet moments, putzing in my garden, painting, crafting, building my Halloween and Christmas villages, and writing.

So, when I promise I’ll catch up on reading, emails, and posts, I hope you believe me. Not recovering the way, I expected after December’s surgery has been a mixed blessing. It means I’ll be spending more time with you. Maybe this is God’s plan — a lesson in embracing simpler and calmer. I’m up for the challenge. Are you up for reading more of my postings. I hope so.

Well, that’s about all for tonight. Thank you again for stopping by. Take care of yourselves and please don’t forget — until next time,

Love Life++ Hugs,
Dawna‑Rae 🦋
may the butterflies remind you that we are all still becoming

P.S.
Thank you for walking through these seasons with me. Your presence here means more than you know.

Reflection:
Where in your life are you being invited to let yourself be cared for a little more?