By Nancy LaPorta | Project Leader
For a very important date!
Yikes!
This newsletter has been 3 months in the making, so I hope you can/will forgive my delinquency.
What a year...
I wrote our last newsletter from the hospital, but I never disclosed that information. In fact, it was my first trip to the local hospital, Advent Health in Fletcher, NC. (Great people and great care!)
A tummy ache turned out to be diverticulitis. OUCH.
However, as so much of my life good comes from bad. I drove myself to the hospital with stomach pains and the ER ran a CT Scan to see what was going on. The diverticulitis was found, but so was a 7cm mass on my left kidney. I was shocked, as was everyone else that knew me. I had always been very healthy. I was sent home three days later with some antibiotics for the peritonitis that was going on. I made it about three days fighting a severe reaction to the antibiotics before my friends and neighbors took me back to Advent. I stayed a week that trip, coming home with a pic line for three weeks of IV antibiotic therapy and a referral to Wake Forest for surgery - kidney removal. The urologist was booked out for 8 weeks, but I was put on a standby list. I was able to be seen in three weeks and surgery was scheduled for the next week. The mass had grown .5cm in that short of time. Went from Stage 1, renal cell carcinoma to Stage 2. Cancer...
Once again, Terri and Paulina stepped up and I am grateful. I was able to have the much-needed surgery, a complete nephrectomy. The pathology came back as we suspected, but the margins were clear and all looked great as in textbook good! I have to have yearly follow up blood work, CT scan and chest x-rays forever. I recuperated for two weeks at my son's wonderful home in High Point. Back in the saddle in mid-October to go to MI for a high-profile court case on behalf of the defendants.
And, once again, you, our donors, supporters and volunteers carried the torch in my absence. Thank you all.
We welcomed in Loki, Spirit, Jax, Zeal, Pretty Girl and Gage, said goodbye to River, Dodger, Bob, Rocky and Glacier. Loki, Hercules, Hiro, William and Rudy found their "forever homes", so we are currently at 39 animals with homes pending for two of our girls. :-)
We are still in the market for a newer model AWD minivan to replace our Toyota Sienna and a UTV to replace our aging side x side. Please contact me if you have ideas! nancy@fullmoonfarm.org
Tropical Storm Fred caused tremendous damage to our driveway and undermined 3 culverts. Estimates have been higher than we had hoped. I requested help from FEMA, but was turned down since the property is leased to FMF although I am the owner. :-( So, I requested a grant from a foundation and we did a bit of fundraising. The work will start in December with the remaining balance to be covered by a generous donor.
We have had a bit of press too! Please check us out in the links below.
Thanks for reading and for all your prayers and support.
Joyous howls from the mountain,
Nancy and the Pack
(PS - I took my birth name back on what would have been my father's 103rd birthday, hence the new name but same me!)
Links:
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