Monthly Muster for March 2022 - Lauren Sparks
There’s been some March 2022 madness around here. And it has very little to do with basketball. Because of pain pills there is about a week of it I don’t really remember! But let’s get into it anyway.
On the last day of February, I woke up and could barely walk. I had been experiencing something different from my normal low level back pain for a couple of weeks and already had an appointment scheduled with a doctor in two days. So I threw some Tylenol and Ibuprofen at it and limped through work. That night I bedded down in our guest room so as not to disturb my husband (who is still undergoing cancer treatments) if I couldn’t sleep.
I was able to get off to sleep, but then woke up at 2:30am in the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life. A 15 on a 1-10 scale. I tried calling my husband but his phone was on silent. My teenager answered her phone and went to wake Chuck up and I proceeded to wail for the next hour – begging him to take me to the ER. I finally took one of his Hydrocodone and was able to get back to sleep. Upon waking two hours later I was easier, but we decided to take me to the Orthopedic Urgent Care.
When you sob through X-rays, staff move quickly. They gave me an anti-inflammatory shot and prescribed a muscle relaxer, a pain med and sent me for an MRI. This got me through the night until I could get to my scheduled doctor’s appointment the next day. Diagnosis? Severe disc bulge at L4 and L5 sitting right on top of my sciatic nerve. They scheduled me for a sedated epidural injection just a few days later.
March 2022 for Allie
In the middle of all this, my daughter Allie attended LIVE weekend (our church’s version of DNow) and helped lead worship for the main congregation. She competed in choir Solo and Ensemble contest, scoring a Superior rating and advancing to the state competition! Then she traveled with the school choir to Disney.
While at Disney, Allie found out she was selected for her school’s PALS program. She was then home a few days before traveling to Austin with the youth from our church for a mission trip. Quite a busy few days for our songbird. The rest of the month has been filled with rehearsals for choir UIL and a one act play plus try-outs for musical theater. Spoiler alert: She got in! Oh, and she squeezed in a little kayaking with friends and family.
March 2022 for the Rest of Us
Our Shelby got to attend the North Texas Best Buddies Formal. She loved getting all dressed up and spending time with friends – especially the music and dancing. She also got some special time with both sets of grandparents as they spelled me and Chuck during treatment. In addition to some good old fashioned spoiling, she even went to Sea Life Aquarium a couple of times. A definite highlight for her.
After receiving partial relief from my injection, I drove 450 miles with my sweet friend Karen (Chuck was not feeling up to it) for a wedding. And then I missed said wedding. Let’s just say that Apple maps is not always reliable navigation! But we made it for the reception – and had a good story to tell. I enjoyed the trip none the less with some shopping and windshield time with my friend.
My husband Chuck finished up his cancer treatments on March 23rd – my 5 year cancer free date – and we low key celebrated both as best we could. We now wait a few weeks for scans which will tell us if he is also cancer free. In the meantime, his body works to recover from the damage done. We appreciate your prayers covering it all.
March 2022 Entertainment
The hubs and I watched more TV than usual during our convalescence. I readied myself for several weeks of basketball with both Baylor Men’s and Women’s teams in the tournament, but our March Madness turned into March Sadness as both teams lost in the second round of play. We will Sic ‘Em next year.
With a temporary Netflix subscription, Chuck and I binged Northern Rescue, a family drama that we enjoyed. Then we moved onto Designated Survivor. We missed this political drama when it was on broadcast TV and thoroughly enjoyed the first two seasons. We quickly realized that it must have been canceled and picked up by Netflix for the third, which we gave up on. In the first three episodes we heard horrible language, saw nudity and finally a graphic sex scene that broke the camel’s back. Although we felt invested in these characters, we could not wade through all that to see their stories to completion.
We tried a few other things on the streaming platform and got so discouraged that I finally searched “Christian” to see what it pulled up. From there we watched The Resurrection of Gavin Stone (don’t let the weird title scare you off), Blue Miracle (based on a true story) and A Week Away. The last one is a musical using Christian music from my teenage and college years with cameos by Steven Curtis Chapman and Amy Grant! I liken it to High School Musical at summer camp. Cheesy? Yes. Fun? Also yes. We also watched Loving, about the couple that helped break the interracial marriage barrier and Audible, an Oscar nominated documentary short.
We ventured to the theater for Dog and The Lost City. The first was ok, but since it starred a dog it kept Shelby’s attention. The second was laugh out loud funny. In my opinion, this world needs more romantic comedies.
Well, I hope you find some time with those you love next month and maybe laugh out loud too. I thank you, I love you and I hope April treats you well!
And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!
If you follow along with me on Wednesdays, you know that praying scripture has become an important discipline for me. Amanda from instaencouragements.com gives us 5 Essential Prayer Requests for Believers that come straight from the Word!
1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.
2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.
3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).
We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.
MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
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LAUREN SPARKS
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LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
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TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
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