Category: Basal Cell Carcinoma

Doc Dan

Two or three months ago, maybe four, I had another appointment with Doc Dermy. I told him about a couple more little bumps on my head that seemed to pop up after my last surgery. He took a closer look and did a biopsy on one.

Then he asked me if I could go to Bangor. I asked, “why?”

He said that he was pretty sure the bump was basal cell carcinoma and that Doc M that did my last surgery has left and moved back to her home state. He added, ‘and I’m leaving too.’ He recommended this doctor that is in the Bangor area.

I asked him if I could drive myself and he said yes. I questioned him, “are you sure,? The last surgery they said I couldn’t drive home.”

He assured me I would be able to drive.

Leviticus 13:38-39 If a man also or a woman have in the skin of their flesh bright spots, even white bright spots; Then the priest shall look: and, behold, if the bright spots in the skin of their flesh be darkish white; it is a freckled spot that growth in the skin; he is clean.

About a week after the appointment, Doc Dermy’s office called and said the biopsy was basal cell and they would put in the referral.

A couple weeks passed and someone called to set up the appointment. She said she’d send out a packet of information.

Another week went by and the letter came. She had used a yellow highlighter for the location. Augusta.

That’s not Bangor. I called to confirm making sure they didn’t have my information mixed up with someone else’s appointment.

It was right.

So recently I headed south. My talking map, the GPS, took me to a residential area. I didn’t think it was right and all of a sudden I arrived at the building.

My view. Doc Dan came in, introduced himself and told me what he was going to do. It was MOHS surgery and he explained how he’d take the cells and the margins around it. Then it (the cells) would go down the hall for slides and results. If he didn’t get it all, he’d take another slice. He asked if I knew where the bump was and I said yes, but he wanted to look first. He looked saying, “I’m going to use my light to look.” Then he said, “It’s screaming basal cell!!”

I said, “Really? I didn’t hear anything.”

He said, “Maybe it was a whisper.”

Prepped and ready.

Ten-minutes later I was bandaged up and ready for the two-hour wait for the results.

The paperwork said to bring something to work on, a book, knitting, etc. I didn’t think they would want me to set up my sewing machine, so I brought my computer, AKA my phone, to start this blog post.

They still required masks. At check in, there was a box of masks outside the plastic partition. The receptionist said to take a mask. I questioned, “you mean one of these that a LOT of people have had their dirty hands in?” She didn’t say anything.

I really don’t understand how all these medical people think that the masks can be anywhere near sterile with people, either themselves or other patients, touching them.

Besides all those germs, the mask itself stunk like an old dirty sneaker. I tried to be a good patient, but needed to breathe.

My wait time wasn’t totally wasted. I found a recipe in a germ infested magazine in the waiting room.

I had asked the nurse how many surgeries they had today. She said six, but I only saw four other patients in the waiting room, so five counting me. We were all there for MOHS surgery for basal cell carcinoma, BCC. One man had a bandage on his nose and didn’t talk to anyone, just read his book. Another man didn’t talk either, he was reading when I went in and not long after, he was snoring. His bandage was on his neck.

The next lady didn’t talk either, she was busy on her phone. Her bandage was on her ear. Later she was more chatty. She left and came back into the waiting room and told us that her ear situation was worse than she thought.

The final guy that came in after me, had his bandage on his neck below his ear. He said that the Doc was more concerned about a second BCC than the one he had MOHS for today. He was a retired teacher so we talked some about teaching.

Basal cell carcinoma doesn’t discriminate on location. It can show up anywhere on the skin.

I did a power prayer for my fellow BCCer’s.

2 Timothy 1:6 For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

They finally called me back in after about 3-hours and the Doc said it looked great and he got the whole tumor.

The nurse asked me if I wanted her to shave my head or use a wrap. I quickly said, ‘a wrap is fine.’ It’s like a tourniquet for the head.

Did you notice I wore my orange for May is Skin Cancer Awareness month?

I was ready to hit the road north.

I tried to get a picture at a different angle.

That’s when I realized that the bandage was huge!! She said to leave it on overnight.

It was time to take the head tourniquet and bandages off. I’m obviously not very good at selfies. Not too much blood gushing around.

What do we have here?

My medicine cabinet of course. Some might call it my vintage medicine cabinet.

The nurse said I could shower and shampoo as usual just be careful around the wound. Then put some Vaseline on it and a bandage. I asked about my trusty Bag Balm, but she said Doc likes Vaseline. I’m trying to be a good patient. I’ll give him a little Bag Balm lesson at the follow up.

Do you suppose Vaseline has an expiration date?!?

It looks and smells like Vaseline.

If I die suddenly, have them check the Vaseline. Circa 1972.

Again, I guess I don’t know how to take selfies. The Vaseline is supposed to keep the wound from scabbing and as it heals the little hole will fill in. I’m pretty sure my Bag Balm would work just as well if not better.

Bandaid on. I think I did alright for the first go around.

Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; Save me and I will be saved, For You are my praise.

Search Basal Cell Carcinoma for past posts on skin cancer.

COPYRIGHT © Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. *Addendum to my copyright, I don’t have a say in what wordpress is advertising at the bottom of my blog pages, so it appears that it is something I support, which I may or may not. **And now, having seen a few, there’s precious few I support.

Black Friday

Sew, what did you do on Black Friday? I got my stitches out!! Bargain!!

Looks like a lot of tools for a half a dozen stitches.

It’s looking quite lovely.

Ephesians 5:18-20 Be filled with the Spirit; speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.

She gave me the scissors she used to remove the stitches as a souvenir.

And just like that I had my Christmas tree out!!

After a turkey sandwich on a delicious homemade roll for lunch, I started sewing something new.

First mock-up. I think I’m going to like it. Stay tuned.

Missed a few blogs? Find them here.

COPYRIGHT © Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. *Addendum to my copyright, I don’t have a say in what wordpress is advertising at the bottom of my blog pages, so it appears that it is something I support, which I may or may not. **And now, having seen a few, there’s precious few I support.

Where’s the Bump?

You might be wondering what happened to the bump on the top of my head. Doc Dermy had done a biopsy earlier this summer and it was basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or skin cancer. He made a referral to ENT and a couple months later I had an appointment with the ENT doctor. If you’re following the blog, you might remember she couldn’t find the bump.

It was on the top of my head and she found something on the back of my head that looked suspicious. She scheduled the surgery and confirmed with Doc Dermy about the location.

The surgery was scheduled for 11:00, but around 9:15 someone from day surgery called to see if I could come in early because they had a cancellation. I said yes. They’ve changed the check in process. They keep the doors at day surgery locked and you have to call them when you get there. I guess they think everyone in the world has a cell phone.

I called and they are still doing a Covid screening with 20-30 questions regarding your symptoms and whereabouts in the last two weeks. She said to wait and someone would be out to get me. It was about 22° out.


Psalm 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

A nurse checked me in and two other nurses got me hooked up. One said my hands were cold and put hot packs on them. I told her I had to wait outside for a while before they came out to get me. The other nurse couldn’t find my veins so she called a third nurse to find one. She said my veins were fine in size. I asked each of them how long they have been doing veins. One was 24-years and the other thirty something years.

While the nurses were looking for veins, I told them they might be in my blog. They asked what it was about and I told them it started with the nose bump, BCC, journey I had and wanted to educate and inspire others about skin cancer. One of the nurses said there’s a lot of BCC in the County. I questioned, “farmers, they are out in the sun all day?” She pointed to the top of her ears and said a lot of them get it on the tops of their ears where their ears stick out from their hats. So to all my farmer friends, or anyone working outside a lot, keep your eyes on your ears and get checked for BCC.

The Doc came in and started asking questions. One question they all asked was, ‘what are you having done today?’

Anyway, Doc started looking for the bump on top and it seemed like she was looking in the wrong place again. I mentioned it and she looked near where I said the biopsy was done. She and the nurse kept looking and compared my head to the picture on the computer. They finally decided on the location.

I wanted to make sure this wasn’t her first surgery like this and asked how many she’s done. She said, “thousands.” So I asked, “oh good, you probably won’t let my brains fall out when you cut in?”

She confirmed saying she doesn’t cut that deep to go through the cranium. That was encouraging.

She explained that I’d be awake, then asleep and then awake again. About that time the anesthesiologist came in and asked the same question, ‘what are you having done today?’ I told him and added, ‘I’m a little worried that no one knows.’ It seemed to me that it should have been in the file … that no one read.

Another guy came in and wheeled me to the operating room and again asked me what they were doing today? I said, “I’m getting quite nervous because nobody knows.”

He reassured me that they are the last confirmation in their double-triple checking. He also explained what he was going to do, that I’d be awake, then out and then awake. He was an anesthesiologist too, but not the same one as first guy that came in. He’d been doing anesthesiology for 10-years.

There were two other people in the operating room, he called them the doctors helpers.

During the operation I was awake and able to talk to the Doc as she removed what they referred to as a ‘skin lesion.’ I chitchatted with all of them and toward the end the anesthesiologist said I wouldn’t remember anything tomorrow.

One thing I asked the Doc was if she thought I’d be able to go out for supper tonight with some of my classmates. She was concentrating on my brains not falling out so the nurse said I probably shouldn’t go tonight.

The Doc left for a while saying she was going to pathology to see if she got it all. She returned stating she did get all and and was going to stitch it up. She used ten stitches.

Back in the room, the nurse said I’d be leaving in about a half hour and she had called my ride already. Going in I had to tell them who was picking me up. It changed during the day.

I texted M and she said they already called and she was on the way.

The room was really nice, even had a TV, but I didn’t bother to turn it on.

The first nurse of the day was back and walked me out to my ride. She asked, “what color is the car?” I said, “well if it’s mine, it’s red, or it might be a white Jeep, or black truck, or … it’s that one.” Thinking back about the high security on going in, I’m surprised it wasn’t high security going out. She might have let me leave with anyone!!

The nurse said it was okay to shower and shampoo, just be careful around the stitches. I had thought it was a straight cut, but it looks like she cut like a ‘Z.’ I think the stitches come out in a week.


Proverbs 1:5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,

I was thankful that all the people on my team were experienced in each of their fields.

Looking for more blogs about my basal cell carcinoma journey? It began with The First Miracle.

COPYRIGHT © Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. *Addendum to my copyright, I don’t have a say in what wordpress is advertising at the bottom of my blog pages, so it appears that it is something I support, which I may or may not. **And now, having seen a few, there’s precious few I support.

The Moonrise

My sunflowers are late this year, but I think I’ll get a few flowers.

Game time.

Beautiful moonrise over the kids house during the soccer game.

1 Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”

We won in double overtime, 3-2 with just three seconds left on the clock!! Great game!!

A couple days later I had an appointment with the ENT doctor for the bump Doc Dermy biopsied and was basal cell carcinoma (BCC.)

My appointment was interesting.  First I had to wait for her about 15-minutes.  When she came in, she introduced me to a training PA.  Doc ENT&H (Head) couldn’t find the bump in question.  Did it disappear? Did the Lord dissolve and heal it? Did Doc Dermy cut it all out with the biopsy? She had the pic Doc Dermy took, but couldn’t confirm it was the bump on top of my head.  She looked around and found a bump on back of my head that she said she was sure was basal cell.  She re-read his notes and was pretty sure it was the one in the back.

I again said, ‘no, he only did the biopsy on the TOP of my head.’ I said I had a picture from the blog that maybe she could see what she needed. She said yes, but it didn’t have any identifying marks, like the ear, for her to confirm the location. So since I said several times that it was on top, not the back, she said she’d call Doc Dermy and see if he could remember.  


I know Doc Dermy didn’t say anything about the back, mainly because it was the one on top that I sometimes picked at and brought to his attention. Secondly, for the nose bump blog, if he did two biopsy’s, one of each bump, I would have put both in the blog.  I know, it’s a little weird, but one goal I have with the blog is to educate about basal cell.

So she’s going to call Doc Dermy.  Then they’ll call about surgery in a month or so. Even though it seemed like she wasn’t listening to me, the Lord was fighting for me.

Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” 

First sunflower out. Small but mighty!!

I’ll probably have time to get to the rest of the soccer season before going under the knife.

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COPYRIGHT © Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. *Addendum to my copyright, I don’t have a say in what wordpress is advertising at the bottom of my blog pages, so it appears that it is something I support, which I may or may not. **And now, having seen a few, there’s precious few I support.

Doc Dermy’s Ice

If you’ve been following the blog, you know that earlier this year I had a dermatologist appointment that was canceled. A couple more months passed and it was time for my rescheduled appointment with Doc Dermy. As it happened, my driveway was again still glare ice.


Job 6:16 Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid:

I didn’t even hesitate, I called the office to reschedule. I mentioned my recent falls and I asked if she could make the next one for April or May. Maybe even June.

May and June came and went by and they didn’t call to reschedule so I called them in July to see about an appointment.

Leviticus 13:38-39 “If anyone, either a man or woman, has shiny white patches {bumps} on the skin, the priest must examine the affected area. If he finds that the shiny patches are only pale white, this is a harmless skin rash, and the person is ceremonially clean.

I had a couple questions for him regarding the bump I blogged about in ‘The Odd Question,’ that he’d said, ‘oh, that’s nothing,’ and as I picked at it, it fell off. He explained, in technical terms, what happened and told me again, it was nothing.

I had a second bump that he and the other dermatologist both said, ‘oh that’s nothing, don’t worry about it.’ I told him it’s still there. Today, he decided it might be something of concern and froze it; almost like my driveway; and did a cut for a biopsy. He put something on it and it looks like this lovely bump.

He checked a couple other nose bumps, I call them all nose bumps, and they were all fine.

Then another odd question. He asked who did my nose bump surgery and when I told him, he said, “oh, he was just here earlier this summer.” As he was telling me about this biopsy, he hinted that maybe my nose bump doc would do this surgery. And he added, “I’ll do a search for him.”

I said, “I’ll narrow your search down for you,” and told him where he was. He seemed surprised that I knew, maybe he didn’t believe me.

I didn’t know that ENT docs do heads too. Should be ENT&H.

Needless to say, I was kind a happy to know that my favorite nose bump doc might be available for this surgery if needed.

I asked him how NYC was and he said it’s getting back to normal, crime and all.

Need something to read for the dog days of summer? Find some blogs right here.

COPYRIGHT © Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. *Addendum to my copyright, I don’t have a say in what wordpress is advertising at the bottom of my blog pages, so it appears that it is something I support, which I may or may not.

The Odd Question

The other day someone from the dermatologists office called to set up an appointment. Has a year gone by already?

She asked, “what do you want him to look at?”

I hesitated and said, “I don’t know, what do dermatologists look at??, skin???” I thought, ‘what an odd question.’ I’m still not convinced the people that work in this office are fully qualified.

I did have this odd bump on my head. I didn’t give it much thought because it had been there quite some time and I’d asked him about it the last couple appointments, aka couple of years, and he had said, “oh that’s nothing.”

I decided to get a picture of it. Why? I have no idea. At the time, I wasn’t thinking to blog about it. Do you know how hard it is to get a selfie of a bump on the back of your head? Anyway…45 deletes later…

So a couple months prior to the call for the appointment, I could feel the little scab on the bump. Probably not my best idea, but I managed to keep picking at it. The scab barely budged. One day I decided to put some of my trusty Bag Balm on it.

The next day I was again picking at the scab when the whole bump fell off in my hand!! I half expected to have blood gushing out, or brains, or both!! There was hardly a drop!! And not even one brain cell!!

The bump was about the size of a chickpea. I threw it away, but in hindsight, I thought I should have put it in a ziplock bag to give it to Doc Dermy the next time I saw him. Don’t you think he’d love a skin bump as a gift?!? I’ll have to charge my brain and ask him about it. Actually I think he should mention it to me; I would think he’d have the bump in his Latin notes; and ask me; ‘where’s the bump?’

Leviticus 13:38-39 “If anyone, either a man or woman, has shiny white patches {bumps} on the skin, the priest must examine the affected area. If he finds that the shiny patches are only pale white, this is a harmless skin rash, and the person is ceremonially clean.

As it happened, I had to cancel the appointment with Doc Dermy because I fell the day before it was scheduled. I was still in the ER, and not knowing if I had broken bones or not, I decided there was no way I could make it so I called to reschedule.

The rescheduled appointment was actually about two months later.

In the meantime, I noticed a different branch, and bump, on one of my plants. My aloe vera seems to have a blossom. I didn’t know aloe vera had blossoms. Its never had one before. I’m curious to seeing what it looks like.

The two months passed and we were in the middle of an Arctic Blast. Can you see it? Dust? What dust? No. – 21. I got my picture around mid-morning, most reports in my area were thirty below zero!! I got ready and went out to warm up the car and it didn’t start. It was just a little too cold for my car.

I called AAA and the estimated arrival was going to be about a half hour after the appointment. I called to see if it was okay if I was a little late or if they could squeeze me in and the receptionist said, ‘no, I’ll reschedule it,’ and gave me the new date about another two months away. Doc Dermy probably won’t remember me after all these cancellations.

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COPYRIGHT © Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Tree

Don’t you just love a beautiful sunset picture? See the sun shining through the leaves of the tree? It was gorgeous!! Every once in a while I try to get sunset pictures through the leaves of my maple trees.

Remember when I asked my Doc if I could mow my lawn and he said, “as long as you don’t fall and hit your nose.”

If you are new to The Nose Bump blog, I had a nose bump, aka basal cell carcinoma (I refuse to call it the c-word,) and in The Settling I had asked my Doc about mowing. You might remember he looked at me like I had three heads instead of just a nose bump. Later I decided he probably has never mowed his lawn, he’s a doc, he can afford to hire someone to mow.

He loved me, I’m sure I was the highlight of his day. Anyway, the other day when I was mowing my lawn, I was thinking about him as I usually do when I’m going under my low hanging branches and they kind of fling back as I duck under them. “You can mow as long as you don’t fall and hit your nose.” He’s in my head a lot.

Do you see it? At closer look of my sunset, you might see a branch that’s kind of low.

How about this angle? Where you can see the cut line of my newly mowed lawn. Yes, it fell. And no, not on me!!!

It’s actually bigger than a branch.

It’s probably half of my tree big.

Psalm 37:23 The steps of a good and righteous man [or woman mowing] are directed and established by the Lord, And He delights in his way and blesses his path.

The Lord is great, isn’t He? Guiding my mowing steps so the the tree didn’t fall on me, or my nose. I’m okay Doc!!


Take a look back at the nose bump journey, it started with The First Miracle.

COPYRIGHT © Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Oh, Long May It Wave

Sew, I’ve had my thinking cap on lately as to what I want to make for a quilted wall hanging for my quilt hanger, aka spear, that Aust made me. I decided on something patriotic. A flag perhaps. I chain pieced some stars cut using my Dresden Plate cutting tool.

I used 5” strips and then cut on the 7” and 2” lines.

I had to remember to use the 7” line for the right size. Had I cut lining up with the top, I would have cut the wedges too small.

A few blues for stars ready to press.

Some reds and whites for the stripes.

Next a few tumblers paired up and pressed.

First mock up. I decided to sew the strips of four by six to confirm the size. In case you haven’t guessed, I didn’t have a pattern to go by for this one.

The four by sixes looked good and with the rest of the mock up rows lined up, I decided it was looking great.

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Next, I trimmed a little to square up.

I just eyeballed it from the short point to short point.

I machine quilted on the reds and blues about 1/16” from the ditch, rather than stitching in the ditch.

The Star Spangled Banner 

Oh, say, can you see? By the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming;
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air.
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there:
Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave?
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In fully glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!


And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution!
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust":
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. We love it so much, I think you do too.

I named the flag from the line in the song, ‘Oh, long may it wave.’


I machine embroidered the name, date and signature. Sometimes I hide the embroidery throughout the quilt.

Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

Next I added small plastic rings to put on the cup hooks that I put on my quilt hanger Aust made me. It looks lovely!!

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

Caribou Veterans Cemetery

The other day my friend and I stopped by the the Northern Maine Veterans Cemetery in Caribou. He’d been there prior and gave me a tour. I hadn’t been there before. It’s a beautiful location for our fallen heroes.

May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month

In other news, I had another dermatologist appointment recently. Just like the last time, they did Covid screening, any symptoms and a bunch of questions about traveling out of state. Then she asked me to wear one of their hospital masks as she took it out of the box with her bare hands. I questioned her, “you mean give up my mask to wear one you just had your dirty hands on?” She was speechless. Then after giving me the newly infected mask, she tried three times to take my temperature. Yep, reason number four hundred and twenty-eight why I’m truly amazed at how smart this virus is that it knows the difference between my mask and a mask infected by hospital staff.

Except for a half a dozen black fly bites, all was well with my skin bumps. They reminded me about staying out of the sun between 10:00 – 2:00, using sun screen, and wearing a hat before sending me on my way.

COVID-19 updates.

Find past blog pages right here. Like and share with your friends.

COPYRIGHT © Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

57 is Not 45

My great niece just started driver’s education. I can hardly believe it!! It was just a blink ago that she was born. Anyway, I thought I should give her some driving tips.

  • Keep a map in the glovebox so you won’t get lost.
  • Make sure you can shift smoothly; don’t grind the gears.
  • Don’t pop the clutch unless you are jump starting the car.
  • Shut the lights off so you don’t run the battery down. I like saying to myself, ‘lights, camera, action,’ before I get out. Lights, I turn off the lights; camera, anything else that I need to do like roll up the windows, and action as I shut off the car and take the key out.
  • Remember to fill the blinker fluid at least once a week.
  • Keep the AAA phone number in speed dial in case you have a flat tire.
  • Don’t put makeup on while you are driving.
  • Don’t buy a map that cuts off the part of the state where you live.
  • Unless the rest of the map is on the flip side.
  • Know how to parallel park, you never know when you might need it.
  • If someone seems to be following you, drive to the nearest police station.
  • You will always see the oncoming car before you will see its parking lights.
  • Learn how to follow the trailer when backing up.
  • Don’t focus too much on what the guy behind you is doing. (There have been a couple occasions when I was a passenger and the driver was more concerned about what the guy behind was doing, that s/he almost went off the road a few times.)
  • Share the road, remember horses have the right-of-way. So do bikers, pedestrians and anyone with a seeing eye dog.
  • Slush will pull you into the ditch before you know what’s happening.
  • Freezing rain will too, but you might spin around on the way.
  • If you see tracks in the ditch or field, slow down, let it be a sign that it’s slippery.
  • If you are doing 360° burnouts in the road, make sure you can afford new tires.
  • Don’t try to take flag pictures while driving. It’s better to stop safely.
  • Deer and moose don’t necessarily look for signs when they decide where to cross the road.
  • Don’t smuggle more friends into the drive-in theatre than you have money for popcorn.
  • Find a good mechanic. 😉
  • Know the speed limits; 57 is NOT 45; remember the $150.00 ticket fine is better in your pocket.

There is a certain section of road that I travel almost daily. It almost always seems like I am going 57-miles per hour before I get anywhere near the 50-speed limit sign. Thus I’m still in the 45-zone. (Did you miss that? Even at the sign, I still would be over the limit.)

I think that section is where the police catch up on their monthly quotas. It’s a little sneaky.

Anyway, yes, I’ve been stopped in that section. The newly pinned police officer immediately turned the blue flashers on and informed me that 57 was not 45. She took my license and proof of insurance and went back to her car to run a check on me.

When she returned I decided to chitchat and having noticed her name, I said, ‘I think your grandparents are my neighbors?’

She responded, ‘Yes, I saw your address is right beside their house.’

She seemed to be fixated on my nose bump, even though it’s healed up, it does have a little swelling still. When someone seems to be puzzled, I use it as an educational moment. I informed her it was Basal Cell and I think she felt sorry for me. She reminded me that the section was 45 mph and sent me off telling me to slow down.

Now I try to charge my brain in that area when I see the 45 sign and remind myself that it doesn’t say 57.

Luke 4:10 For it is written, He will give His angels charge over you to guard and watch over you closely and carefully;

You are precious cargo, drive safely Sweetie.

Coronavirus updates.

If you’ve missed a few blog pages, find them here.

COPYRIGHT © Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Doc Dermy

About eight months ago someone called from the dermatologists office to set up a follow-up appointment. You might recall at the other appointment I had, I asked him where he lived and he said, “New York City.”

The office had called during the height of COVID-19 to set up the appointment. Since he was from the coronavirus hotspot, I decided not to set up an appointment and wait until the next. The receptionist said that was fine, that most people were canceling now.

Isaiah 26:20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while [14-days] until the fury has passed by.

In the meantime I kept sewing masks to donate to the local hospitals, friends and agencies that requested them.

Probably four months later the receptionist called again to set up another appointment. She gave me a couple of date options and I picked one. She said, “That’s his first day back.”

I questioned, “his first day back? AFTER he’s self-quarantined for 14-days?”

She hemmed and hawed, and stuttered, “oh yes, he’s all quarantined.”

I didn’t believe a word of what she said.

Proverbs 12:22 The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.


I kept sewing. I took a break from the masks and used the mask scraps to make a mask scrap quilt and a few other quilts. Maybe quite a few.


Next I made a mask wall hanging and a mask table runner from the selvages from the mask fabrics I’d used.

As it neared time for the appointment, I debated whether to cancel or not. I decided to keep the appointment even though I was pretty sure that Doc Dermy would not have quarantined himself for 14-days. I planned to ask him.

Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

With all the 700+/- masks I made and gave away, I rarely wore one. I was pretty sure I could stay at least 6’ away from anyone in a store. Interestingly enough, even though I wasn’t paranoid about giving or getting coronavirus, I was concerned about Doc Dermy coming from such a hotspot for COVID-19 and not self-quarantining.


The day of the appointment, I dutifully put on my mask and went into the office. The receptionist asked me to take some hand sanitizer and she took my temperature. Then she handed me a hospital mask to put on. First I wondered what was wrong with my beautifully stitched sewing themed mask, but my biggest concern was whether or not I should put on a hospital mask that the receptionist just had her grubby hands on!!!??!! Where have her hands been?, on the phone?, touching the computer keys?, through her hair?, touching the money I just saw her get?, hugging Doc Dermy on his first day back from the germ fest capital of the world?, pushing the door where she came into work that thirty other staff also touched?, did she host a riot during Thanksgiving with super spreaders in attendance?, and what about all the germs on the counter from all the earlier patients?, I didn’t see her wipe it down with bleach?. The list was a mile long. I can’t get over how smart this coronavirus is that it knows not to jump from her ungloved hand to the mask to me.

As I was chitchatting with Doc Dermy, I asked him, “how did you manage to quarantine 14-days all in one-day?” He explained he did the nasal test and all was negative. I said, “but you still came from the biggest germ fest in the world.”

Coronavirus Logo aka the germ

He assured me he didn’t have any coronaviruses on his sleeves. I’m still not so sure; I’m pretty sure I saw a million C-19’s hanging off him like Christmas tree bulbs.

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them [coronavirus germs], for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”


And that’s how easy it was for the devil to get into my mind. Just one, tiny, minuscule, little thought about Doc Dermy having COVID-19 because he didn’t quarantine for 14-days. The devil took my mind down a rabbit hole. And that, coupled with media hype and internet fear mongering, I was almost as paranoid as everyone else that believes it.

I asked about one particular spot and he said, “that’s nothing but old age.” I almost cried as I looked around the room for someone old and realized he meant me. He checked out all the rest of the aging brown spots and sent me on my way.

COVID-19 updates. *Note: if contact tracing is needed for me, start with Doc Dermy and his office staff.

Be sure to check out past posts.

COPYRIGHT © Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Rim

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1 Peter 5:7  Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.

Early on in the nose bump journey, during the first consultation, the doc told me he didn’t know if he would be able to save the rim of the nose or not.  If he couldn’t save it, he would have to build a new one using the cartilage from my ear.

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Jeremiah 30:17  I will give you back your health and heal your wounds, says the Lord.

He couldn’t save the rim.  As time went by, Doc told me several times he didn’t think I would need any more surgeries.  If I did, the rim surgery would be quite a ways down the road still.

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Isaiah 58:9  Then when you call, the Lord will answer.  ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.

“We’re getting to the short rows now.”  During my farming days, my father used this phrase all the time.  I remember him saying my grandfather said it too.  Whether it was planting or harvest, we would always start with the long rows of potatoes, then by the time we got to the short rows, we would finish them quickly and we knew we were almost done.

Over the years I use, “we’re getting to the short rows now,” in just about everything I am finishing.  So with the second year anniversary of settling coming up, I was getting to the short rows.  The rim was looking good so I decided I was at least three-quarters of the way to my nose being finished.

Isaiah 65:24  I will answer them before they even call to me.  While they are still talking to me about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!

I began writing The Rim soon after I wrote The First Miracle because I didn’t want to forget anything the doc told me about maybe having to build the rim.  I’m glad I did because with it looking so good I might have forgot about him saying he couldn’t save the rim.

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Now, nearly two-years after the second operation, I still hear the doc in my head from the appointment after the first surgery when I asked him if I could mow my lawn and he said, “as long as you don’t fall and hit your nose,” and I later added, ‘or let a tree branch fling back and hit you in the nose!’

I have quite a few low hanging branches so when I’m mowing I’m extra cautious about not hitting my new and improved nose bump.  I definitely don’t want to injure it before my follow up and meeting the second new doc.

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It was almost time for my follow-up appointment with the new guy.  I had only seen him from a distance at the last appointment, as my appointment was changed at the last minute to be with the original doctor, that ended up turning my case over to his colleague, my main doc.  I was a bit anxious, however looked forward to meeting him and getting his thoughts on how the nose bump was coming along.  A woman from the ENT office called and said, ‘the appointment would be with Doc Pat.’*  I said, “oh, what about Doc Bill?”*  She hesitated and said, “I’m sorry, I thought you knew, he died.”

My heart sunk.  I didn’t even know what to say.  I was kind of shocked.  I managed to write down the time of the appointment, hung up the phone and had a little cry.  I hadn’t even met him, yet I felt I knew him.

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Jeremiah 18:3  I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the [rim] wheel.

I made a new list of questions to ask the third  new guy.  Some were the same questions that I kept forgetting to ask my doc; that’s always in my head; and some were new questions.  Of course one was, ‘what’s your stance on Bag Balm?’  And, ‘how do you feel about being a character in The Nose Bump Blog?’

Another important question I had for him was, ‘do you think you’ll have to rebuild the rim?’  I didn’t think so from what my main doc had said, however I thought I should find out his thoughts, a second opinion of sorts.

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I arrived early and as I was signing in with a new receptionist, one of my old nurses came into the reception area.  He recognized me and said, “WOW, you look really great!!  How are you?”  I told him I was doing well and he took the chart he needed and left.  With what seemed to look like all new staff in the office, I was glad he recognized me and noticed how much my new and improved nose bump had continued healing.

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A few minutes later another nurse took me in, did temp and bp.  I asked her if she was new because she didn’t look familiar.  She said she had been there about a year and looked at my file and said it looked like she had checked me in last year.  Then she said, “I’ll let Doc Pat know you are here.”

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Maybe ten minutes later a woman came in and introduced herself to me as Doc Pat.  She was Doc Patricia, not Doc Patrick as I’d thought.

I asked her what she knew about my case, assuming, that she didn’t study my file in great detail.  She seemed to know at least the highlights.  She reiterated that she thought my main doc did a great job with me.  She also said rebuilding the inner nose is a difficult procedure.  And my doc had made it seem so easy!

Next I told her I was blogging about the nose bump and would she mind being in the blog.  To ease any anxiety about it, I told her I wouldn’t use her name, then I added, ‘unless you want me to mention it.’  She was fine with it and asked for the address of the site.  I might have another follower!!  Yeahhh!!

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I remembered to ask her thoughts on the rim.  She said she didn’t think I needed it, that the passage was clear and I could breathe through it.  She continued saying she wouldn’t do anything, the doc did a wonderful job.

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I left with my next appointment card in hand and got home before I remembered I forgot to ask about her stance on Bag Balm!!

 

*Doc names have been fictionalized to keep a little anonymity.

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© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

 

 

 

The Suggestions

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Matthew 21:22  And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

How do you pray?  Sometimes I think we get in a rut.  Repeating the same thing over and over again.  As if the Lord didn’t hear us the first time.  Or, we have a pity party, ‘oh poor me,’ ‘why me?’  Do you only pray in desperation?  Occasionally we get a little greedy.  Lord give me this or that.  Or, give me this AND that.

Once in a while I find myself giving the Lord a few suggestions.  You know, because He’s sooo busy, He might not have thought about all the possibilities.

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Ecclesiastes 1:9  What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

I have to admit that I find myself repeating the same prayer over and over sometimes.  A chant perhaps.  Especially when I’m ‘going through’ my prayer list for friends and family.  I don’t want to miss anyone so I tend to go in a specific order so I don’t forget them.

I even have a category for new needs, like when someone on FB posts a prayer request.  When I see one as I’m scrolling through FB, I’ll do a power prayer right then.  I know the Lord has heard it, however I keep the person and need in my prayers, just in case He didn’t hear me the first time.

I expect prayer is more for us than for Him.  For us to learn to trust Him.  For us to learn to ask and how to receive.  For us to learn patience.

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Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Years ago I read an article in something like, ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul,’ where the writer talked about how he thinks that when we get to Heaven, there will be a huge room with rows and rows of boxes with our names on them.  In each box are all the gifts and blessings we could have had, had we just asked for them in prayer.

I expect my prayers are pretty small compared to all the things others are going through.  People say we should pray BIG prayers.  I generally have a hard time doing that.  I don’t want to be greedy.  Gim’ me!  Gim’ me!  Gim’ me!  I imagine the Lord knows how to sort all that out.

My prayers are more the day-to-day things, like, “Give is this Day Our Daily Bread.”  I don’t ‘need’ anything more.  I may ‘want’ more, however it’s not necessarily a need.

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Psalm 116:1  I love the LORD, because He hears My voice and my supplications.

As in the case of my nose bump journey that I wrote about in The First Miracle.  Suddenly I found out I didn’t have health insurance, had a lot of appointments and surgeries ahead, and no income.  It seemed like I should have done a desperation prayer.  ‘Oh Lord if you fix this, I’ll be a better person.’  I don’t really think He works through negotiations.

I try to give it ALL to Him.  When the letter finally came for the COBRA insurance, I opened the envelope, saw the $1248.00 per month and said, more to myself than a prayer to the Lord, ‘You know I can’t pay it Lord; not now; I’m giving it ALL to You.’  I dropped the letter on the table and when I did, it was like the Lord took the whole thing, not just the insurance.  Everything!!

Not 2-seconds later the phone rang.  It was someone from the hospital saying, ‘we’ve had a meeting about you and we are going to take care of you.  You won’t have to pay a thing for this procedure.’

The Lord answered my (desperation??) prayers even though I didn’t know the words for what I even needed.  It was a BIG prayer for my daily needs at the time.  He organized the right doctors and staff to answer the prayers and I call it a miracle!!

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Daniel 10:12  Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel.  Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven.  I have come in answer to your prayer.

He tells us in Daniel that when He first heard our prayer, that the request was heard, and that He has come to answer it!!  What a Promise!!  Why do I ask again and again???

Lately I have been trying to only ask once in prayer.  Then give it to Him to come in and answer.  I think probably some of it is the process.  We need to learn and trust during the waiting.

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Hebrews 13:5  Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

It’s my believe you have to be content where you are in order for your prayers to work.  I think if you are not content, you will always be whining, crying and complaining about what you don’t have instead of counting your blessings for what you do have.  You will always be antsy because you don’t appreciate everything He’s already given you.  Your faith is misdirected.

That’s not to say the Lord won’t hear your prayers, it’s just that if you are not content, you don’t have faith that He will answer and provide.

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James 1:6-7  But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

Then there’s the unanswered prayers.  I’m pretty sure I did a prayer for a new job the same day the devil asked me to leave the job I had.  And, I’m pretty sure I reminded the Lord that I needed a job every time I applied for one or went to an interview.  Like He didn’t know or remember!!  Of course He knows!!

There have been several job interviews during this nose bump journey.  And several prayers that would appear to be unanswered.  I think they HAVE been answered!!  He knows which doors to close and which one to open.

It seems like it’s been while I’ve been job hunting that I give the Lord the most suggestions.  You know, suggestions about how He might send miracles my way.  I think He’s busy with bigger concerns, so I just offer Him a few, mind you, creative, ideas.

Like, it might be nice to win a million dollars in mega-bucks, that would take care of sending out resumes and buying stamps.  And yes, I could get a new car and a longarm sewing machine.  But … I think He probably just gets a good laugh out of my suggestions.  After all, He’s already got my life planned out for me since before I was born!!

Jeremiah 1:5  “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.  Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

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I’ll probably still offer Him up a few suggestions from time to time!!

 

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© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

101 Blog Posts

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Isaiah 40:8  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Recently someone new to the nose bump blog asked me how many pages I had posted.  I didn’t know.  I said, “forty, maybe fifty.”

Curiosity got the better of me.  I counted, and if I didn’t loose count or count a couple pages twice, I’d posted one hundred pages to the nose bump blog.  One hundred!!  I really didn’t think it was that many.
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About the same time I was debating whether or not to blog about the nose bump, I kept getting a pop-up on FB from The Bangor Daily News asking, ‘do you have something to blog about?, are you a writer?, if so, we want to hear from you.’

The pop-up had a ‘click here’ button that took you to a ‘brief’ survey.  The first set of questions was contact information.  The next section was a few questions like, what have you written, education, are you able to write a thousand words per blog page, do you have a website, etc.’

I expected they would be doing a background check to see if I’d passed Mrs. Stevens English class so there wouldn’t be dangling participles dangling all over their newspaper.  Or run on sentences running through their sports section.  Also, a lot of alliteration all around articles and advertisements.  Mainly I thought they’d be checking on dangling participles because I think I was absent that day and don’t really remember much about them!!

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The last section asked what the topic was that you were going to blog about and why you thought people would want to read it.  I explained I had this nose bump; that was basal cell carcinoma; and I thought the blog would educate, inspire and help others that might have a similar situation.

They also wanted to know how many years experience you had on the topic.  None … on basal cell carcinoma, but several years experience writing newsletters in pasts jobs.  The blog would be new and on going as each surgery happened.

Next, they asked you to list the first three (I think) titles and briefly tell what you would write about in each.  They wanted the blogger to commit to at least ten pages if I remember correctly.  I listed a couple topics I thought would be interesting, like the surgery, the flap and of course, the benefits of Bag Balm.  Since the procedure hadn’t started, I didn’t really know exactly what all the topics would be.

I hit submit.  Then headed to meet the doc and see if he’d take my case.

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Matthew 10:14  And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.

A couple weeks later when I was getting ready for the first surgery, I received an email of rejection from The Bangor Daily News saying that they didn’t think the blog topic would have ample ideas to submit ten pages, or be interesting enough for their readers … and wished me well.

Granted, the nose bump blog took on different topics as the Lord healed me and later there were other things happening that I wrote about like jury selection and job hunting, however I think I could have provided ten blog pages that would have interested the BDN readers.

The BDN may not have been interested in the nose bump blog, however I’ve enjoyed writing it and I think it’s been educational and inspirational for my readers.  Thank you sooo much for your likes, comments and shares!!  I don’t know if I have enough ideas for another hundred pages, however when I get new ideas, I’ll probably blog about it!!

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Psalm 128:2  You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.  How joyful and prosperous you will be!

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© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Scrape

Ezekiel 37:6  I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin.  I will put breath into you, and you will come to life.  Then you will know that I am the LORD .’”

The next morning I washed the scrape like the doc told me to do.  Then put some Bag Balm on it.  It should be healed in no time!!

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A few wrinkles.

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Matthew 20:16  “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Going into the appointment with the dermatologist I had a few little old lady age marks that I thought the doc might be concerned about.  As it turned out, the funny little spot that I was the least concerned about, was the one he was most concerned about.  Just goes to show, you really need to watch every oddball guy.

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The day after the first Bag Balm treatment.

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Second day, nearly healed!!

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About the fourth day after the scrape.  I thought it was healing well, but now noticed it was a little red around the scrape.

The fifth or sixth day, after the scrape, someone called from the dermatologist office and said the scrape was pre-cancerous.  She said not to worry about it unless it is painful or bleeding.  I mentioned the redness and she said it was normal, but that too, if it seemed to get worse, to call and they would take care of it right away.

Again I thought about the skin bump that I was least concerned about was the one of most concern.

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A month or so after the scrape.  Looks good to me, no bleeding, pain or strange changes.

Have you noticed any oddball skin bumps that you should get checked?

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© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

I Spy with my Little Eye

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Matthew 8:2  And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”  Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.”  And immediately his leprosy (skin disease/cancer) was cleansed.

Today, well, today as I’m writing this, probably a month or so ago now as you are reading it; or a year if you’ve just found the blog; I had an appointment with a dermatologist.  The new ENT Doc Pat had said she would make a referral, but that it would be 18-months or more before I would get an appointment.

Two-months later someone called to set up an appointment for the following week.  I asked if she was sure, explaining that it hadn’t been 18-months.  The receptionist told me that they hired another dermatologist.

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Typical northern Maine weather, we had snow and freezing rain the night before the appointment.  As I scraped the ice off my windshield and windows, I was hoping I wouldn’t be too late for the appointment.  Since you always have to sit and wait before they take you in anyway, I figured I’d be fine.

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The nurse called me in and asked a few questions, why are you here?, anything strange going on?  Then she asked what I had that caused the referral.  I answered, ‘I had an operation for basal cell carcinoma,’ and she asked, ‘where?’

Pointing to my new and improved nose bump, I said, “you mean here, on my nose, or here at this hospital?”  Apparently the answer was good enough because she didn’t ask any clarifying questions.

A few minutes later the doc came in and introduced himself.  He asked me where I grew up and what I did for work.  Assuming what he really wanted to know was about my sun exposure, I told him about my childhood farm days working in the fields and sun.  He looked at me like he wanted a longer resume so I told him I taught Home Economics for years.

Somewhat bluntly, he asked me how old I was.  I thought I should say, ‘Doc, don’t you know you aren’t supposed to ask a woman her age?!?, it’s not very polite,’ but I figured he could look at my file and do the math, so I said, “well Doc, for years I’ve been 29!!”

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He explained that this would be like a baseline appointment for the next couple years and if there are no changes he would lengthen the time between appointments.  In the meantime, including today, if I noticed any skin changes in sizes, colors or bleeding, to call for an appointment and he’d get me in sooner.

I told him I was blogging about the appointment and might take some pictures.  He didn’t seem overly excited about being in the nose bump blog, can you believe that!?!, and continued, telling me that he was going to start ‘dictating’ now.  Once, when he paused to take a breath, I said, “that doesn’t sound like English?”

He heard my question and replied, “it’s Latin.”

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This guy is an old age brown spot.

Who knew there were so many different nose, aka, skin, bumps?

I know I actually posted links during May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month a while back and tried to select different skin bumps that were cancers to inform folks, but really didn’t think I might have a few different skin bumps to monitor.

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This guy, although sometimes something to watch, is from when I missed the nail and hit my thumb with a hammer while winterizing recently.

While he was dictating Latin and looking at my arm, he said, “I did some sewing a couple weeks ago.”   I asked, “what did you sew, your name on a new doctor’s lab coat?”  He laughed and said what it was and that he’d learned to sew years ago in his Home Economics class.

He did discover a suspicious bump or spot on my hand and asked how long it had been there.  I said, “you know Doc, that’s a good question.”  I didn’t know.  He said he’d take a scrape and send it to the lab.  If it’s anything that needs attention, he’d call me back and take care of it.

Like my original doc, he got out a needle that didn’t look like my sewing needles, numbed the area and took a scrape, pretty much exactly like I had scraped the ice off my windshield earlier in the day.  I said I wanted a picture, but he was busy watching what he was doing.  So I got one after the scrape.

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Toward the end of the Latin exam, he said, “overall your skin looks great for a 29-year old!!”

Before he left, I asked him where he lived.  He said, “New York City.”

I questioned, “are you sure Doc, that’s quite a commute every day?”  He clarified that he goes back and forth between cities.

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Drop Off

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Joshua 1:9  Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

I remember the day my parents dropped me off at college.  It wasn’t so much a drop off and head home to get back before midnight, as it was a welcoming of new friends and their families becoming a part of my family.  We arrived after a five-hour drive, probably six, after stopping for gas and lunch, to a large brick building that would be my home for the next four-years.

After checking in and getting my room number and key, we got in line to park close to the door to begin lugging in all my worldly possessions that I didn’t think I could live without for the next year.  My roommate and her family had already arrived, also a 5-6 hour drive from opposite direction, so there were lots of ‘hi, how are you’s, handshakes and hugs.’  We had received paperwork ahead of time with contact information for our roommate so we had written a few letters during the summer as we began what would become over forty-years of friendship.

Our parents got along well and would also be friends over the years.  The college had scheduled something like orientations for the parents and included one on, ‘it being okay to let your children go and grow.’   They probably scheduled orientation for students too, but I don’t remember what the topic was about.

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Proverbs 18:24  A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

My roommate and I got along right from the beginning.  You might say we were like the old television show the Odd Couple.  She was from a city, I was from the country.  She was a straight A student, I was average.  She was a cheerleader, I was involved in sports.  She would read a book, I would sew.  She was a little bit rock ‘n’ roll, I was a little bit country.  She was enrolled in the Special Education program, I was enrolled in Home Economics Education.  We both liked Roger Thorpe and Alan Spaulding and watched The Guiding Light as our class schedules allowed.  We were assigned the same dorm, same room and same neighbors for three-years before getting an apartment during our senior year while student teaching.

She had a friend that once came to visit us and said, “You two could live in the back of the station wagon and still get along.”  We took it as a compliment.

Our friendship didn’t end at graduation.  We continued to keep in touch and visit each other over the years for family events.  Her family came to Maine and mine would go to Massachusetts for visits.  It’s been a few years since I’ve been that far south for a visit.  For the most part lately, it’s phone calls and Christmas cards that keep us connected over the miles.

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Job 37:6  He directs the snow to fall on the earth and tells the rain to pour down.

This year, I am blessed to have the opportunity to take my friends daughter to college and drop her off to begin her college days.  Although it wasn’t a crisp, colorful fall morning as when my parents dropped me off; it was the day after a blizzard; I guessed I had the same anxious excitement my parents had all those years ago, taking me to college.

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Matthew 16:2-3  He replied, “You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow, red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.’

The skies signs were right, red sky in the morning, farmer take warning, or in our case, traveler take warning.  The blizzard came in and dumped about 18” of snow in Northern Maine the day before we were to leave.  My friend packed and had four or five large boxes as well as a couple of large suitcases.  Plus we had all of my stuff to spend two or three days with her to get settled and explore the city.  I was pretty sure we could fit it all into my car.

There were still a lot of whiteouts, blowing and drifting snow.  The windchill the day we left was about 20 below zero.  We had to unpack a couple of the boxes, to squeeze in some of the soft and smaller items like blankets and pillows, but we made room for everything.  The snow covered car was ready.  I grabbed my Maine Gazetteer and GPS, and we headed south to Boston.

On the way down to Boston,  I thought it important to have a mother/daughter, aunt/niece, friend/friend talk about the college experience.  We talked about roommates getting along, how to avoid conflict, and all of the things that parents usually talk to kids about as they’re getting ready to drop them off at college.  I expect she already knew these things, but was glad she let me share a little wisdom.  I especially wanted to talk about the importance of creating new friendships that last a lifetime.

At the hotel, I woke up not to the sun coming through my windows or the birds chirping, but to a dark room, the banging of trash cans being emptied into the garbage truck and sirens in the distance.  I wondered how anyone could sleep well with all the noise of the city.

The city still had all the city characteristics it had the last time I had been there.  Probably the traffic alone sent my blood pressure sky high.  Or, not so much the traffic as everyone honking their horns, usually not at me, but even so, you think they are honking at you.  My doc probably wouldn’t like the sky high blood pressure, I’ll probably live to tell him about it.  But I digress, he’s in my head a lot.

At the dorm, the entire street had no parking and tow zone signs at every would-be parking spot.  It was a narrow one-way street with parking on one side, however cars and delivery trucks were parked on both sides of the street.  Cars that I decided were Uber’s provided a steady stream of traffic stopping right in front of me, dropping riders off before driving down the street.  The Pepsi guy, the FedEx guy, the UPS guy, the mailman, and a moving company guy, all seem to park on the street and not get towed.  I wondered if it would be safe for me to park there just like they did?  I didn’t want to get towed.  It would be a long, cold and probably snowy walk home.

As we unpacked the car, I asked the moving company guy if we could park here for a minute and if he needed me to move, I would be right back.  He said, ‘yes that’s fine.’  Afterwards I thought he doesn’t care, he’s not the police.

Later, I returned to the car and waited for my friend and this guy came to the car and knocked on the window.  He was wearing a uniform.  Campus police.  He probably noticed my Maine plates right away.  I told him I was waiting to pick up my friend, and he said, “that’s OK, you can park here all day and night as long as you’re in the car you won’t be towed.”  I thanked him.

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Naturally being that far south and fairly close to where my college roommate lived, I called to see if we might be able to meet for supper and some reminiscing.  She was available and we decided to meet just south of Boston where her daughter lives.  She told us to grab the ‘Orange Line’ and they would meet us.

During supper, my roommate and I recalled some of our college stories.  I told about one time our dorm was having a ‘S’mores Night’ and along with everyone else we went to the lobby to get our allotted graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows.  We waited awhile and decided that the line was too long to get to the fireplace to toast our marshmallows.  Instead we went back to the room, lit a candle and roasted our marshmallows over the candle!!

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My roommate told my friend about someone that had a project to do and was going to all the dorm rooms asking if anyone had any barn board.  Continuing, she said I responded, “I have some.”  She said I then proceeded to lift up the bedspread and pulled some barn boards out from under the bed!!  (After all, doesn’t everyone have barn boards under their bed!??!!)

I didn’t remember that and I don’t remember the details of why I had barn board under my bed, however I do remember framing a quilt square for one of my Home Economics projects, so I probably had it left over from that or maybe I had another project to do.  And yes, I still have the project which hangs on the wall right above my sewing machine.  A little dusty and a little faded after all these years, but I love it.   The instructor told us the project had to have a name, it is called, “The Weathervane.”

My roommate also told of a paper I was supposed to write just before the semester ended and I hadn’t even started it yet.  I didn’t remember this story either.  I think I might have Alzheimer’s?!!  As she told it, I was my usual calm self and she was getting upset to think that I might not get this paper done in time and might not pass the class.  We both graduated, so I must have passed the class.

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The Moral of the Stories:  Always keep a candle available, for emergencies of course, don’t wait until the last minute to write a paper that’s due tomorrow and always keep some barn boards under your bed … you never know when it might come in handy.

We also told my friend about one night, probably a Saturday, that there wasn’t anything to do and we decided take a ride to Sugarloaf Mountain.  Neither of us skied or had been there.  Several of our friends skied and always talked about going to Sugarloaf, so we wanted to see what it was all about.  An hour later we arrived at the mountain, saw the lights on the trails, and looked around before turning and going back to the dorm.

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Ecclesiastes 3:4  A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

We met for breakfast and did a FaceTime call with her family.  I told them about meeting my roommate and her family and that she could contact them at any time if she needed anything.  I also let them know that I met two of her roommates and that they were very nice.  They were appreciative of my dropping her off at college and getting her started on her way.

Leaving Boston, as I drove away, my friend took a picture to send to her family.  I didn’t ask if there were a few tears or not.

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Acts 20:36-37  When he had finished speaking, he knelt down and prayed with them.  They wept aloud as they embraced him in farewell,

On the way home, I managed to hold back a few tears, like I expect my parents did on their way home.

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Verdict

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Proverbs 24:25  But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come on them.

From the first day I received the letter getting called up for jury duty, I practiced yelling out, “Guilty,” or “Not Guilty,” at the television news stories involving those just arrested.  I watched The People’s Court, Judge Judy, Judge Joe, and Judge Brown.  I even watched Night Court, Perry Mason and Matlock to see what to expect.  Interestingly most of these shows didn’t even have a jury.  The ones that did, didn’t show the jury deliberations very much.  So much for educational TV.

In-between watching these shows, I would practice my ‘guilties’ and ‘not guilties’ with anyone I was with at the time.  At a soccer game, my nephew went to the Snack Shack and bought a candy.  He had borrowed $1.00 and came back with the candy and proudly displayed ‘his’ $.50 change.  His mother asked him who he needs to give back the change.  He said, ‘it’s mine.’  I said, ‘guilty!  The evidence shows it’s not yours.’

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Proverbs 18:17  The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.

The Snack Shack sold grilled cheese sandwiches and at one game the kids bought them.  They come wrapped in tin foil.  Did you know that tin foil makes a great ball to throw?  I’ve always used it for a better antenna signal to get Perry Mason to come in more clearly.  Anyway, I called them ‘guilty’ for throwing the shiny ball.  ‘Not guilty’ for littering.

Another time my other nephew was also at the soccer game and riding his skateboard on the track with his friends.  Someone in official capacity told them they couldn’t ride on the track so they moved.  It was a complicated case.  There were no signs telling them they couldn’t be there, they had played there at each of the five games prior, when did the rules change?  ‘Guilty’ of being on the track, but ‘not guilty’ of staying there.  The school – ‘guilty’ on two counts, of not having signs up and going against settled law.  This jury thing might tax my brain!

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Luke 12:57-59  “Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?  If you are on the way to court and you meet your accuser, try to settle the matter before it reaches the judge, or you may be sentenced and handed over to an officer and thrown in jail.  And if that happens, you won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny.”

While my nephews were giving me lots of guilties and not guilties to practice for jury duty and to get ready for court cases, my niece was playing soccer.  She’s a fantastic player!!  Guilty of playing her position, a legal throw in and overall great games!!

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Ecclesiastes 4:9  Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.

Our cases were interesting.  The first case was cancelled before we even arrived for jury selection.  The next case was longer than expected, at least for the jurors, because they didn’t get done until 6:30 PM.  It was a tiring day and most of the jurors had at least an hour traveling time to get home.

The next case the jurors arrived for jury duty and the Judge came into the deliberation room and informed everyone that this case was just settled out of court.  He again genuinely thanked jurors for their time and doing their civic duty.  He reminded the jurors when to report to court next.  Our day was done by 9:30 AM.

The next case was scheduled, but I wasn’t on it and didn’t hear anything about it.  Between the third and fourth trial, I had another job interview.  The final case from the first selection was also settled out of court, saving jurors the trip to the courthouse.

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Amendment 2 – Right to Bear Arms

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. 

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Ezekiel 18:20  The one who sins is the one who will die.  The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child.  The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.

There must be a lot of money to be made on court shows.  Another one I watched to ready myself for court was called, ‘Hot Bench.’  Are there really that many idiots out there?!?  On this show, one judge isn’t enough.  There are three!!!  We had one.  I’m not so sure our one Judge will be able to handle the cases thrown our way.

On Judge Judy, she almost always screams to either the plaintiff or the defendant, ‘are you nuts?’  ‘You’re crazy!’  Quickly followed by, ‘case dismissed.’  I was hoping for this much drama in our little courtroom.

What ever happened to love your neighbor and treat your neighbors as you would like to be treated?  Call me crazy, however I think ninety-eight percent of the worlds problems would be solved if everyone would just love their neighbors.  Probably then there wouldn’t be anything to watch on television except the test pattern.

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Galatians 5:14  For the whole law can be summed up in this one command:  “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The deliberation process would also be new to me although I figured it would be like the hundreds of staff meetings during my teaching days.  Everyone has an opinion about whether or not students should be able to chew gum in the classroom and no one could agree.

Fortunately the case I was selected for was settled out of court before we got started, so I didn’t experience any arguing about the evidence or agreeing on a verdict.

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James 2:10  For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

Nearing the end of jury duty, I had a chance to ask the Judge a question.  He answered and changing the subject he added, “I want to thank you for asking me if I’d had this nose bump checked for basal cell carcinoma.  It is and I’ll be having it removed next week.”  We talked for a couple minutes, I wished him well and told him I’d be praying for him.  I had done my duty, the verdict was in, confirming that I need to keep informing others about unusual nose bumps.

In the end I served on one case.  I was guilty for having a lot of reasons why I didn’t want to serve on jury duty; however, not guilty in the end because it wasn’t as bad as I had thought it would be.  I had done my civic duty and learned a lot about the process along the way.  I spent some time thinking about the defendant being judged.  It made me think about Judgement Day.

One day we will all be judged.  Every knee will bow, every tongue confess.

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Romans 14:11  For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

*This Nose Bump blog page, The Verdict, is protected under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries around the world.  Country of first publication:  United States of America.  The tale, all names or numbers, characters, descriptions and incidents portrayed in this blog page have been fictionalized a little to protect the innocent.  No identification with actual persons, living or deceased, places, buildings, and/or products is intended or should be implied.  No animals were harmed in the writing of this blog page, except for maybe a couple black flies I swatted.

Probably I watched too much TV in my youth.

John 3:19  This is the verdict:  Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Jury

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Matthew 7:1-2  Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

The jury was selected*.  Juror #1 was maybe 65 and retired, he was selected four times, answered questions in ‘counsel’ and was picked for jury duty twice.  Juror #2 was one of my former students that neither of us recognized the other until later in the process,  he was probably about 35.  Juror #3 was a gray haired, fiftyish maybe sixtyish, liberal loon woman with the typical scowl on her face saying, ‘I’m mad at the world, leave me alone.’  Juror #4 was a retired cashier, she was a crazy cat lady and about 70.  Juror #5 was smiling and told everyone she was happy to perform her civic duty, she didn’t pay attention to the rules about what to wear and what not to wear.  She was probably 40 and wearing a Trump tee shirt; they made her turn it inside out.

Juror #6 was the guy ahead of me going into the courthouse the first day that didn’t get through the metal detector.  He had several tattoos on his arms and around his neck.  He had a ponytail, or I supposed a ‘man bun,’ and a variety of piercings – – – probably the reason he didn’t get through the metal detector.  Juror #7 was similar to Juror #6 in that she had dyed her hair blue and had more piercings than you could count.  Both were probably in their 25’s and seemed like they just got off the yellow submarine.

The lawyers seemed to have picked their ‘quotas’ selecting one each from all the possible groups out there.  Juror #8 was me, Aunt Bee with my settling nose bump and my notebook in hand.  I pondered how a couple nose rings in my new and improved nose bump might look and quickly dismissed the thought.  I wore a navy blue suit with matching pillbox hat, just like Aunt Bee wore fifty-years ago.  Juror #9 was another retired guy without any piercings that you could see.  He reminded me of my doc.  He seemed normal and we hit it off right away.  I wondered if he was an eligible bachelor.

Juror #10 was a guy from another part of the County and said he had a 2-hour drive to get to the courthouse, he was about my age and also appeared normal.  Juror #11 was a woman about 55-years old that thought she was 20; she wore a too short skirt and a too tight top.  Juror #12 was around 75 and looked like my neighbor but he wasn’t.

Juror #13 was a guy that during the selection was sitting ahead of me and slightly to the right.  He brought The Good Book, The Holy Bible, and read all day stopping only to stand when his number was called.  Where I was too distracted to read anything, he amazed me.  I decided he was reading all verses related to judging others.  Juror #14 I first met waiting in line for the restroom.  She spoke to me thinking I looked familiar, but I wasn’t from where she thought she knew me.  She was around 65 and also had a nose ring.

We would be twelve jurors and two alternates; however, if I understood the Judge right, no one would know who the alternates were among us.

Going into the selection for the jury, I was thinking I could be non-judgmental, however first thing I did was judge the jury that was just selected by what they were wearing, looked like or by their age.  I justified my judging us as okay since we were not the criminal.  Is that okay?  Not really.  I’m so glad that God does not judge by outward appearance, but looks at the heart.

If the defendant was an older, probably middle class criminal without too many body piercings, we would be a jury of his peers.  If not, well, we’d do the best we could to uphold the law.

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1 Samuel 16:7  But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord does not look at the things people look at.  People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

On that first day, at the end of each selection the Judge gave us rules to follow.  We were instructioned not to talk about our case with any of the other jurors.  Nor were we to talk to the defendant or any of the witnesses.

We also could not go to the crime scene and try to figure out what happened.  It was like the forbidden fruit, all of a sudden I became Jessica Fletcher and wanted to be a gumshoe and go do some investigating.  Could it be that the police and detectives missed a clue?!  Surely I would notice something they didn’t!!  I would be able to solve the case in forty-four minutes and with no commercials!!  Anyway … back to reality.

Another no-no was listening to any news about the cases or reading any newspapers regarding them.  In addition, we could not talk to family or friends about the cases we were picked to serve.  If anyone brought the subject up, we were to say we couldn’t discuss the case.

Still another rule the Judge gave us was one I expect he has had to add to his list in recent years – – – do not post on FB, Instagram, or like social media’s that you are a juror in the stated case.

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Amendment 7 – Trial by Jury in Civil Cases

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

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Amos 5:10  There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth.

With our jury selection we were to be available for two-months.  Our first selection was for four cases unless any of them settled ahead of time.  In the first selection my number was called twice and I was picked for jury duty once.

The date for the trial I was selected for was a couple weeks away.  I used the time to continue my job search and can some salsa.  We were to call the 800-number courtroom hotline to get the latest on our case status the night before reporting for jury duty.

I called the hotline and our case was still scheduled.  We were to report to the courtroom with the same rules as before; do not bring cell phones, electronic devices or newspapers.

Once again I arrived early to get a parking place fairly close, but without all the potential jurors there were a lot fewer cars this day.  I grabbed my soccer snack bag with water and Aunt Bee’s notebook and headed to the metal detector.

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James 1:5  If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

We were corralled in a fairly small conference room.  I was about the eighth juror to arrive (maybe the reason for my new juror number???,) so most of the seats were taken.  Since we were not supposed to discuss the case, we all kind of chitchatted with the person beside us about things like the weather while we waited for the Judge to come in with instructions.

Juror #4, the crazy cat lady, told everyone about her cats, one in particular that would be running around the house all day because she wasn’t home.  No one seemed to care.  That topic for a conversation starter quickly ended.

Between weather conversations it was awkwardly quiet.  Looking around the room I concluded it wasn’t really a conference room, it was a storage room.  Maybe a lunch room.  One wall was bookshelves full of copy paper, file folders, official letterhead stationery and envelopes.  On the other wall was a small table with coffee pot, microwave and a refrigerator in the corner.  Some of the jurors next to the coffee pot helped themselves to coffee.  Perhaps they had been on the first case and knew the routine.  It was actually supposed to be the deliberation room.

There was a sign on the fridge that read, ‘Jurors, feel free to use the refrigerator for your snacks and drinks.’  I wondered if this meant they were not letting us leave for lunch?  Immediately I was glad I brought my soccer snack bag.  It might come in handy if I have to bribe the other jurors come supper time and they are not able to make a decision.  Yes, they, my decision would be the right one and not easily swayed by a granola bar.

Another thought that crossed my mind was why wasn’t this pertinent snack information included in our jury selection letter right before what to wear and what not to wear?  Someone should update that letter.

EDC8C8EA-3E75-4FEF-9723-AD16C47CBE98Ephesians 4:28  Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

On the wall behind me was a whiteboard with fourteen numbers on it.  Those of us that were new questioned if it was for us.  It was our new jury numbers randomly written.  A juror that had been on one of the prior cases told us it was a preselected order in which we were to enter the jury box and take our assigned seats.

After what seemed like hours of the awkward quiet and whispering chitchatting, the Judge came in and welcomed us, asking us if we were ready for a great day.

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Psalm 63:11  But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God will glory in him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

*This Nose Bump blog page, The Jury, is protected under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries around the world.  Country of first publication:  United States of America.  The tale, all names or numbers, characters, descriptions and incidents portrayed in this blog page have been fictionalized a little to protect the innocent.  No identification with actual persons, living or deceased, places, buildings, and/or products is intended or should be implied.  No animals were harmed in the writing of this blog page, except for maybe a couple black flies I swatted.

Probably I watched too much TV in my youth.

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Strikes

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Isaiah 46:4  Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

I still was waiting to hear one way or the other on my recent couple of interviews.  I was also quickly running out of résumé paper, envelopes and ink.  I was quite thankful for applying online, although I worried about where my résumés were floating around in cyberspace.  Was someone stealing my identity, it wouldn’t take much to connect the date dots?  A resume, FB and the nose bump blog, clearly enough about me to become me?!!  Most of the jobs I interviewed for were from good old fashioned hard copies of my résumé.  Nevertheless, I wondered where the others were landing?

One night about 8:15 the phone rang.  Still thinking it might be a telemarketer I wasn’t going to answer but did anyway.  It was a guy asking if I was still interested in the job that I applied for online.  The résumé had been in cyberspace so long, I had to charge my brain to remember the name of the agency.  We settled on a date, time and the location would be at one of the agency’s main offices that was at least a three-hour drive from home.

I didn’t have the same sense about this position as others I had applied for; maybe because of the extended time between applying and hearing from them; but decided I should at least go and find out more about it.  I grabbed my Maine Gazetteer and something called a Global Positioning System and headed south.  I left early to allow time for buses, farm machinery and construction.  Several years ago I’d had an interview somewhere in which the location was someplace like a hidden street.  I had gone in circles on every street in the area before finally finding the office so I didn’t want the same thing to happen again this time.

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Psalm 121:8  The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

The new map talked to me.  It told me to slow down because I was in a school zone and told me to turn left or right in three-tenths of a mile.  It took me on streets I didn’t think would get me to the interview on time, but I decided to give it a fighting chance.  I didn’t quite understand how it knew which streets I should turn because I didn’t even see any street signs to confirm my location.  After a dozen turns and a couple people honking horns, certainly not at me, I started looking for street numbers.  No street numbers either.  What’s wrong with this town?  Then the talking map told me I had arrived at my destination.

It was a bank.  And, it seemed like the talking map had me go in where people were coming out from the drive through.  I quickly managed to pull a U-turn in the small parking lot.  I went back the way I came and decided to park and go into the building next to the bank.  Looking into the new parking lot, there were ‘employee only’ signs up at every space.  I asked myself, ‘why did I even leave my beautiful, small, friendly and park anywhere you want to town, for this?’

Finally I found a parking place.  Parallel parking.  I hadn’t had to parallel park in a decade.  Again, I wondered what was wrong with this town?

I went to the building and as I arrived at the door I heard a ‘click.’  High security.  The two women at the desk didn’t know anything about interviews being held there this day.  She also had never heard of the agency.  She asked me if I knew the address.  I did and told her, ‘265.’  She pointed and said, ‘it’s that building.’

The bank.  Are you kidding!?!  I went over and looked for a sign with the agency name.  Nothing.  I know I didn’t apply for a teller position.  I went into the bank and asked a teller if they happened to be interviewing today and asked about the agency.  He actually had heard of the agency.  He said it was upstairs.  To the stairs I went and still didn’t see any signs.

Upstairs was like a maze.  Several long corridors, doors on both sides and not many signs.  Finally I saw a small, probably 10″ x 10″ sign with the agency name on it and a man going into the office.  I decided he was there for an interview too.

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Ecclesiastes 3:1  There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven.

I checked in with the receptionist and was given a partial job application to fill out.  The other guy and I went to the waiting area.  He played on his phone.  I filled out the application.  I changed my mind.  I didn’t think he was there for an interview.  There was nothing in the waiting area except six chairs.  No plants.  No pictures on the wall.  No TV like at the car dealership.  No flyers.  No magazines.  Nothing.  I decided I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

I felt like I was on the old ‘Candid Camera’ television show, where they would set up a prank and hide a camera to record how the person would react.

The time for the interview came and went.  He was late.  Finally he came out and I extended my arm for the all important, first impression,  job interview hand shake.  He asked me a couple questions as we went through the inside maze to his office.

His office was basically the same as the waiting room.  No plants.  No pictures of family, a dog or favorite sports team on the walls.  No awards.  No license like at the hair salon.  No filing cabinet.  No desk calendar with interview appointments written in.  No computer on the desk.  No stapler.  No nameplate.  Not even a phone.  Is this odd or is it me?

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He didn’t introduce himself so I didn’t even know his name.  First, he complimented me on how impressive my résumé was.  I thanked him.

Next he told me a little bit about the agency and asked a couple questions.  It would be odd hours, like noon to 8:00 PM and weekends, and would I be okay with that.  Not wanting to end the interview before it started, I said, ‘yes.’  The next question was, ‘what would your salary requirement be?’  I told him and he replied, ‘you’re right in the ballpark, we usually are a little higher,’ and gave me the range.

Then standing, he said, ‘this is the first of three face-to-face interviews.’  And just like that the interview was over.

I had been in the waiting room at least 15-minutes and in the interview for no more than 5-minutes.

He didn’t ask me if I had any questions.  He didn’t shake my hand.  He didn’t thank me for coming.  He didn’t say he’d be contacting me in a few days.  He didn’t say have a safe trip home.  Nothing.  Just led me back out through the inner office maze.

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2 Timothy 2:7  Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

I left and concluded the interview was a disaster.  It was the strangest interview I’d ever gone to in my life.  I gave him three strikes.

  1. He didn’t call to set up the interview during regular business hours.
  2. He didn’t introduce himself.
  3. He didn’t ask me if I had any questions.
  4. Foul tip.  He didn’t even thank me for coming to the interview.

He was out.  I had decided that if I did get a call for the second face-to-face, I would decline the interview.

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James 1:2-4  Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

On the way home I had plenty of time to reflect on having just left the Twilight Zone. I may have just experienced being in George Jetson’s world.  A talking map.  A town without street signs or numbers.  Résumés in cyberspace.  A futuristic office.  A five-minute millennial generation interview.  Had to have been the Twilight Zone?!?

Maybe he was testing me.  Maybe he was giving me three strikes before being out.  Maybe he wanted to see if I would shake his hand.  Would I thank him when he complimented me on my résumé?  Was I willing to work evenings and weekends?  Would my salary requirement be near the going rate?  Was he checking to see if I wore my cleanest dirty shirt or my best Sunday go to meeting outfit?  Did he want to see how I would react to an interview ending so abruptly?  Was he looking at my etiquette?  My reactions?  Was he thinking I would ask about the short interview?  Or demand he ask more questions since I came all this way via a talking map?

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Luke 21:25  There will be strange things happening to the sun, the moon, and the stars. 

Speculating even more, I thought about the lack of agency signs and empty waiting room and barren office.  Over my career I had worked in several grant funded startup projects and began with quite a few empty offices myself.  So in a way, I understood an empty office.  However, I had some stuff in my office even the first few days.  Like a computer and a phone.  I’d even brought in a picture of my family and one of my dog for my desk.  A pen.  Even a clock on the wall.

Maybe he had an iPhone, AKA a computer, in his pocket and that was all he needed?  Maybe the agency was going paperless and he wouldn’t need a filing cabinet?  Paperless – – – no reason for a stapler.  Calendar – – – in the iPhone.  Maybe he didn’t have a family or a dog.

I still thought it was all pretty Twilight Zone-ish!!

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Ephesians 5:4  Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

In the end, Allen Funt did not come out and tell me to, ‘Smile, you’re on Candid Camera.’

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

The Conflict

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Ephesians 2:10  For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

One day I had a call for an interview.  The position had been advertised and I had noticed it on a popular search engine.  I’ve found you have to pay attention with some of these search engines.  I clicked “apply now” and followed the directions.  It seemed like the application did not go through.  Since I had saved the job I was able to look at the account and it showed I had not applied for it yet.  So I applied again, and again.  I didn’t want to submit a dozen applications but didn’t think it was going through.

A bit frustrated with the search engine, I decided to see if the job was posted on the agency’s website.  It was so I submitted my application there.  It went through right away and I received the confirmation that I was looking for on the other site.  I’m thinking this is something common that happens when you apply online and people don’t realize their application did not go through.

Unlike most of the online ads that do not have a closing date, this one did.  Over the years of job hunting, I am pretty good at figuring out the timeline based on closing dates as to when agencies might interview.  Thus also figuring when they would call offering the position or send letters of rejection.

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Ephesians 6:13  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

As I was getting ready to vacuum one day the phone rang.  I get a LOT of telemarketer calls.  I’m too cheap to get caller ID for my rotary dial phone so most of the time I don’t answer and let the answering machine pick up.  BINGO!!  If it’s a telemarketer, usually no message.  If I do answer and they pronounce my name wrong, BINGO again!!, I know that it is someone that does not know me.

I gave in and answered.  Who wants to vacuum anyway?  It was a woman calling to set up an interview for the position next Wednesday at 11:00.  I said, “Yes, excellent!!”  I’ve always tried to answer and talk on the phone like I would in person so they can almost ‘see’ my excitement and attitude.

She proceeded to give me some information about the interview and would be sending me a packet with some ‘homework’ for the interview.  I thanked her and proceeded to vacuum.

After surviving the dust balls, I went to put the date and time into my calendar.  NOOOO!!!!  The interview was scheduled for exactly the same time I had to be at jury selection!!  Why!?!  How can I avoid the conflict?  What should I do?  Call and cancel an interview that are few and far between?  No!!!  Skip jury duty and risk going to jail?  Yes?  I think so!!  Maybe no!?!  How much could the fine possibly be?!  Maybe they would take a payment plan!?!  Or maybe I could barter a couple jars of dill pickles!!  Orange stripes day in and day out!?  Might not be so bad if I can wear matching necklaces?!  A heated room with winter coming?!  Maybe?!!  Warm bed and three meals a day?!!  I think I’d rather starve and go to the interview!!

How could I possibly have forgotten about jury duty??  It never crossed my mind!!  I think I was so excited for an interview for the job I had asked the Lord for, that I completely put jury duty out of my mind.  Maybe I could plead Alzheimer’s.

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Ephesians 6:14  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place.

I did a Power Prayer.  I explained to the Lord that I wouldn’t look good in orange stripes.  He told me He’d take care of it.  I reminded Him I had this interview that He gave me.  He told me He’d take care of it.  I briefed Him that I didn’t have $2000.00 for the fine.  He told me He’d take care of it.  I told Him that as much as a warm bed and three hot meals a day in jail was tempting, I’d rather have the interview.  He told me He’d take care of it.

A5EE37DC-A80F-4391-B7A3-2B8332066CE1Ephesians 6:15  And with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

The night before I was to report for jury selection I decided to look at the paperwork again to make sure I had the time right so I wouldn’t be late.  The time was right.  I re-read the rest of the details and the next line was an 800-number to call the night before for updates.  I thought it was probably for winter and snow storm cancellations, but decided I should call and see what it was all about.

The woman in the recording mentioned the date for jury selection and proceeded to say it had been cancelled and rescheduled for the following week.  Praise the Lord!!  The conflict was resolved and I didn’t even have to fight the battle!!  He said He would take care of it and He did!!

Doubt set in for a minute.  The devil likes to get into your mind and discourage you.  Did I hear the recording right?  I knew it if the Lord said, ‘He’d take care of it,’ He would, but I had to hear the message again.  Maybe my ears were playing tricks on me.  I dialed the 800-number and listened to the same message again.  He heard and answered another one of my prayers!!  We serve an awesome God!!  He’s bigger than orange stripes, fines and jail!!

6C23F551-F5DA-417E-BE60-622677CDE1DEEphesians 6:16  In every battle you will need faith as your shield to which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

The interview went well.  A panel of three asked most of the questions I had prepared for plus one that caught me off-guard.  It shouldn’t have, but the way it was phrased had me give the worst answer to an interview question ever, ‘I don’t know.’

On the way home and going over the question in my mind, I decided not to fret over it.  Better to answer honestly rather than say something that didn’t make sense.  I also surmised that if I had a difficult time with the question probably all the other interviewees did too.

The panel would be interviewing candidates all day and would make a decision in a couple weeks.  Despite the one terrible answer, I was pleased with how the interview went.  I sent a thank you note and looked forward to hearing from them either way.

00150253-0FCD-456F-ACE0-559C2DAE234CEphesians 6:17  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

At the same time I had a resume out for the job with the interview conflict, I also had another resume out for a position in a nearby town.  Like my other applications I tried to apply mainly for jobs I felt I would be able to use my transferable skills to benefit not only me but the employer.

This time I received an email request to set up an interview for the second job.  I remembered to schedule around jury duty.  Again the interview went well and then, wasn’t I asked the exact same question that in the last interview my answer had been, ‘I don’t know.’  I couldn’t believe it!!  Are employers googling questions to stump interviewees?!  I wasn’t stumped this time.  I answered the question with confidence and the potential employer seemed happy with my answer.

When I arrived home and picked up the mail there was a letter of rejection from the interview with the conflict.  That afternoon shopping I ran into someone that told me they had hired from within and that it was a difficult decision due to all the exceptional candidates.  Although I didn’t get the job, I stayed in faith and waited to hear from the second interview.

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Ephesians 6:18  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

*The beautiful pictures in this blog page were all the same day.  The first one was taken in the afternoon.  The next two are close ups of the third at sunset.  The fourth is more to the right to get the sun.  The fifth one is about 15-minutes later when the clouds moved and new beautiful colors came in and the last one is a wider view of the fifth one.  I should have looked for a panoramic feature but didn’t think of it.

 

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© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Selection

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1 Corinthians 5:9-13  I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.  But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler–not even to eat with such a one.

Probably eight or ten-months into the nose bump journey I got called up for jury duty.  The first official letter I received was basically confirming my address and contact information with a little threat that it needed to be returned within 5-days or risk a big fine or going to jail, or both.  Well, the only part I really read was about going to jail.

My first thought was jail might be easier.  Then I thought I probably would be like Aunt Bee from the classic “Andy Griffith Show.”  She was a juror in one episode and she took notes throughout the case.  In the end, it was a hung jury as Aunt Bee was convinced he was not guilty because of the evidence.  Someone in the audience yelled at her saying the guy was guilty of stealing all these things, ‘a TV, a record player, a toaster, a radio, a camera, …’  Aunt Bee referring to her notes said, ‘no, he didn’t steal a radio.’  She caught the real criminal without really realizing it at the moment.

I didn’t think I would be a very good juror.  In my multi-tasking world, I don’t always pay attention to details.  Well, it depends on the details, if it’s making sure my plaids match when I’m sewing, I pay attention.  If I’m watching the Red Sox take down the evil empire, we get a couple home runs and you ask me the next day, ‘who hit the home runs yesterday?’  I don’t know.  My memory bank can’t handle it.

Although orange is the color to promote skin cancer awareness, I didn’t think I would look good in orange stripes day in and day out, so I sent the threatening letter back with the pre-questions answered.

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Luke 6:37  “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.

Probably like everyone else getting called up, I had a few million excellent reasons why I couldn’t serve on jury duty.

  • I needed to sew,
  • Mow my lawn; doc said I could mow as long as I didn’t fall and hit my nose,
  • To dust,
  • I had to pick potatoes and work potato harvest,
  • And do my canning,
  • Make salsa and mustard pickles,
  • Make apple jelly,
  • Put up string beans,
  • Sew,
  • I had to alphabetize my spices,
  • Smoke a ham and a slab of bacon,
  • Make some yogurt and goat cheese,
  • I had to update my resume, press an interview outfit and practice answering ‘tell me about yourself’ questions,
  • Put on storm windows,
  • Fluff up my Pom-poms for the kids soccer games,
  • Sew,
  • Bank the house,
  • Rake the leaves,
  • Dry my sunflower seeds,
  • Make pickled beets,
  • Make Pumpkin Whoopie Pies,
  • Sew,
  • Take my ‘where in the world am I’ pictures,
  • I have this nose bump situation going on … … … ,
  • I have ‘peeps,’
  • There’s a Nose Bump Blog to write and publish,
  • Sew,
  • I needed to write Doc a note, tell him I missed him and update him on the nose bump,
  • Clean out the car,
  • And finish reading Gone with the Wind – – – I’m on page 17,
  • It was hunting season, I had to get a moose … at least a partridge,
  • Sew,
  • Process the moose, I prefer Spaghetti & Mooseballs,
  • I needed to knit a muffler before the snow starts flying,
  • And make my bread & butter pickles, and of course, make dill pickles,
  • I needed to meet the new doc,
  • I had recycling stuff to recycle, and
  • Did I mention I’m addicted to sewing,
  • I needed to sew.

A couple months passed and another official letter from the court arrived.  It was the call for jury selection and and a list of dates in case I was selected for jury duty.  The letter had a lot of information, like not to whine and cry about it and try to get an exception.  Where to park.  And my favorite, what to wear and what not to wear.  Nowadays I expect they have a lot of people arriving in slinky outfits, pajamas or offensive tee shirts.  I bet Aunt Bee didn’t get a list of what she could and couldn’t wear.

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Proverbs 17:15  He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.

Given my past year of the nose bump journey, I decided to treat jury selection and jury duty as an educational adventure.  Whenever I went shopping, to events or meeting new people, I would always say something like, ‘had a little basal cell carcinoma surgery.’  The conversation would include details, surgery and even sun safety.  I reported for jury selection and noticed the Judge had what looked like the beginning of a nose bump.  Naturally I asked him if he had it checked for basal cell carcinoma.

He nearly threw me in jail!!  Apparently I’m not supposed to ask questions.  I’m just here to save lives.  It will probably be a long jury duty.

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1 Samuel 16:7  But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord doesn’t make decisions the way you do!  People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at a person’s thoughts and intentions.”

Generally speaking I like everyone and get along with everyone I’ve ever worked with or met.  I don’t think much about judging them, I just accept them as they are.  We do judge though, whether we realize it or not.  We think things like, ‘I can’t believe she’s wearing that to work,’ or ‘he should cover up all those tattoos.’  Sometimes we even judge others out loud.  Saying something offhand to a co-worker about another, gossiping about a neighbor or stretching the truth to what you think makes a better story to tell, persuading others to think like you do.

My thoughts went back to the doc.  He could have judged me and not taken my case because of the nose bump.  He may have wondered what is wrong with this woman, she’s too old or she doesn’t have insurance and I’ll never get paid, but he never said anything judgmental to me.  He reminded me of me, not judging others; maybe it was being a teacher for all those years, or maybe it was just our professions of serving others, but I was hoping if I was selected, I would be extra sensitive to judging others during the trials.  I would try to put myself in the defendants shoes.

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Amendment 6 – Right to Speedy Trial, Confrontation of Witnesses

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

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Colossians 4:6  Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.

The selection process was all new to me.  It was the first time I’d been called for jury selection and I didn’t even know anyone else that had served in my circle of friends and family.  I didn’t have anyone to talk to get a little insight as to what to expect.

After fussing over what to wear that would be acceptable, I arrived early to make sure I could park fairly close and not have to walk a mile to the courthouse.  We couldn’t bring cell phones, electronic devices or newspapers; I grabbed my soccer snack bag, packed a book and a notebook … just like Aunt Bee, a water and a ‘green’ tea; and followed a steady stream of potential jurors to the courthouse.  Already the line was out the door and down the steps.

As I got closer to the door I realized some court people were there, I figured signing us in.    A few more steps in and the reason for the long line revealed we had to go through a metal detector.  Good thing I left my gun in the car.  The guy ahead of me didn’t get through on the first try.  I got through but had to go into the other area to pick up my soccer snack bag then upstairs to the courtroom.

Another line.  I had to stop on the stairs as the line curved around the landing as we were checked in.  There had been a small number ‘52’ next to my name on the paperwork they sent and I decided this would probably be my juror number.  It was.  We would be referred to by our number for the day.

After signing in; I supposed so if you didn’t show up they would send Barney after you in the squad car and throw you in jail; you went into the courtroom … and tried to find a seat.  It looked pretty full and people were already sitting in the jury box.  There were extra folding chairs set up so I took one.  It was kind of like church at Christmas, the ushers running around to get extra chairs and squeezing more people into the space.  A few minutes later one of the bailiffs asked me if I wanted another chair.  Not wanting to cause a scene, I said this was fine.  He said, ‘come with me, you’ll thank me this afternoon.’

He directed me to the end of the bleacher section, opened a door that was somewhat blocking the space, and revealed a nice cushioned chair.  Along with the nice cushy chair, it was right beside the radiator.  I preferred the warmth to having the cold drafts from the windows.

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Nine o’clock came and went.  Court was late starting.  I was surprised.  I thought the Judge would be on-time.  Or that he would come out and tell us he was running late.  Forty-minutes later one of the bailiffs informed us it would be a long day and that the Judge and lawyers were working on our cases.  I supposed someone accepted a plea bargain, changing the whole schedule.

Looking around the courtroom I saw a lot of people yawning, rubbing eyes and heads down napping.  I was exhausted and it wasn’t even 10:00.  I wouldn’t be this tired if I’d been working in the potato fields all morning.

During the waiting, I looked around at everyone and was surprised to see one man had his hat on in the building.  Today it seems people don’t have as much etiquette as they did years ago.  Not five-minutes later one of the bailiffs went over to him and asked him to remove his hat.  Without incident, he removed it.  Perhaps all we need to get back to basic etiquette in the world, is a bailiff.

It was unusually quiet for a roomful of 150 or more potential jurors.  A few people sitting nearby were whispering and a couple near me spoke niceties, ‘hi, how are you?’ etc.  Maybe others were having real conversations, but in my section, most were staying to themselves.  Even though I brought a book, I didn’t even try to read it, I was too distracted by the newness of it all.

Finally the Judge came in.  He welcomed us and thanked us for doing our civic duty.  He sounded genuine even though he probably had the spiel memorized from saying it a million times at every jury selection.  He told us we would see a film and he would be back.

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Proverbs 2:6  “For the Lord gives wisdom!  From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

The film explained the process, how we were selected and what was still to happen.  The Judge came back and said he was going to give us a little history lesson.  Suddenly I was back in high school in Chubb’s United States History class and learning about the U. S. Constitution.  It was a good review, the Judge explained in 15-minutes what took Chubb the whole second quarter to teach us and the Judge didn’t even give us a test!!!

The selection process wasn’t at all like I thought it would be.  The next thing we had to do was fill out two forms; one green and the other red; and answer a few questions related to the cases, date and sign with our number.  At least one of our cases would be about domestic violence so the questions on the second sheet were related to that topic.  They gathered those, like Chubb would have collected a quiz, and the Judge and lawyers went into chambers.

The Judge returned and then the clerk gave directions that she would start calling numbers and we were to stand until the next number was called.  It was like the moose lottery, our numbers randomly picked out of a box.  After forty-five numbers were called, the Judge asked the forty-five selected several questions, you were to stand if your answer was yes, then he called for ‘counsel’ and the lawyers huddled to the left of his bench.  They went down the list and would call up jurors by number that had conflicts from the ‘quiz’ they collected and ask them questions.  From the forty-five called, they would pick fourteen.

They seemed to be finalizing the selection; however, it would not be for at least an hour because they were breaking for lunch.

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Romans 3:31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?  By no means!  On the contrary, we uphold the law.

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The New Guy

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Isaiah 43:18-19  “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

While I was at the appointment that the doc told me he was leaving, I asked him something like, ‘how will the new guy know that?’

The doc said, “he’ll read it in the file.”

I said, “well … that won’t tell him much, if he really wants to know me, he should read the nose bump blog.”

In my mind, all the file says is something like, ‘elderly woman had an 1/8″ nose bump, had a long surgery, removed a tumor the size of a pea, strangely – – – stitches miraculously healed because she put Bag Balm on them; and, the new and improved nose bump looks lovely.’

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Acts 28:30  For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him.

And just as quickly as the doc came into my life, he left.  A friend wrote me and said, ‘he was in your life when you needed him the most.’

Acts 21:6  After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and returned home.

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.

One day I went to Walmart and as I was going in a man with a hospital name tag badge on was coming out.  I said to myself, ‘I bet he’s the new guy.’  The next appointment was still a couple months away,  so I charged my mind to remember what he looked like.  A few days later I was scooting around online and found that the new doc had arrived.  I think it was him.

My cousin and I shared the ‘old’ doc (and I suppose ten thousand other patients too) and we liked him very much.  We both wondered if the new doc would pass the muster.  Maybe a month later I was at a family event and my cousin had just had an appointment with the new guy and he liked him.  We shared some doc stories and decided we’d give the new doc a fighting chance.

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Titus 3:15  Everyone with me sends you greetings.  Greet those who love us in the faith.  Grace be with you all.

There were some very important questions I felt like I needed the new guy to answer.  Like, what’s your stance on Bag Balm?  And, what do you do in your spare time?  I didn’t want him stressed while operating on me.  What if I have a nose emergency?  Another question I needed to know was how he feels about being a subject in the nose bump blog.  After all, a doc in blog is about the fourth most popular character in the nose bump blog.

I was both hesitant and excited to meet the new guy.  With my list of twenty-seven questions in hand, I headed to the appointment.

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Romans 15:13  So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in him.  May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The appointment ended up not being with the new guy.  The receptionist asked me if it was okay if it was the other Doctor.  I asked her, ‘does he know anything about noses?’  We both laughed a bit and she said he’d be with me in a couple minutes.  In the waiting room I noticed the new guy going into the reception area.  It was the guy I had seen a couple months ago at Walmart.  I didn’t get a chance to talk to him and welcome him to the County.  Since I didn’t officially meet the new guy, the jury’s still out on him.

The appointment ended up being with the original doc that had said he was pretty sure the nose bump was basal cell carcinoma, scheduled and then canceled the biopsy, and had wanted to send me to Las Vegas, remember him?

He looked through my file and asked the nurse where the pictures were.  She told him there were no pictures.  He kept looking.  I almost told him what doc had told me, that he had something like a photographic memory and the ‘before, during and after pictures’ were in the memory bank in his head, but I didn’t.

I did tell him that I had some great pictures in The Nose Bump Blog that he might look at, but he didn’t seem overly interested in seeing them, or the blog.  What do you suppose is wrong with him!?!  Everyone is interested in The Nose Bump Blog!!  Especially the more graphic pictures.

Since it didn’t seem like he had read my file, I explained to him that doc had done a wonderful job and told him what he did with the flap surgery.  He actually seemed confused at first, thinking the doc did the flap differently.  Maybe I didn’t use the right technical medical terms, but after I explained it again, he looked it all over and agreed my doc had done a wonderful job.

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Isaiah 38:16  Lord, your discipline is good, for it leads to life and health.  You restore my health and allow me to live!

I asked this original doc if he remembered me.  Reminding him that when I first met him he had wanted to send me to Las Vegas, Atlanta, etc., and he said he did remember me.  With tens of thousands of patients I’m not so sure he did remember me, but maybe.  How many nose bump patients could there possibly be in the area?  He explained how he consulted with my doc and how he had been willing to take my case.  We had a nice talk and he said I would still have some more settling for another year and would make an appointment with the new guy to see me next year.

Excitedly I asked, ‘so doc did such a great job that I’ll live another year?’  He said, ‘yes.’  I tried to trick him and said, ‘I’ll have to write doc a note and tell him the fabulous news, what’s his new address?’  He didn’t fall for it.  My doc is like my résumés – – – out in cyberspace someplace.  I think he’ll be the next contestant on Survivor.  His whereabouts is TOP SECRET.  I might have to call him on my shoe phone!!  I’ll still send him a note.  He loves my notes.

While I was doing a post a day to promote #MayIsSkinCancerAwarenessMonth, I came across the free “SpotSkinCancer” screenings and wanted to see if the doc could let the right people at the hospital know to set one up for this area.  I had forgotten to ask my doc before he left, but the conversation seemed to lead right into it with this original doc.  He said it was a good idea and would tell someone else that was in charge of things like health fairs.

As I was checking out and getting my appointment for the next year with the new guy, another woman came into the reception area and said the #SpotSkinCancer screenings was a great idea and she would see what she could do to get the ball rolling.  Yeahhh!!  I’m saving the world, one nose bump at a time!!

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3 John 1:2  Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you and that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is. 

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Sparrow

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Luke 12:6-7  “What is the price of five sparrows?  A couple of pennies?  Yet God does not forget a single one of them.  And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows.

Don’t you just love that song, “His Eye is on the Sparrow*?”  I do.  My sparrows look a lot like robins!!  Generally speaking robins are my first sign of Spring.  The second sign is the ice-out of the river.  The third would have to be the new green leaves coming out on my maple trees.  The fourth is the smell of dirt, newly tilled land for another season of planting potatoes, I LOVE it!!  The fifth, of course, is the click, click, click, click, click, click, click heard in the distance of the planters in the fields.

Sixth would have to be fiddleheads, trout and potatoes for supper.  Seventh, churning ice cream using the last of the snow.  Eighth, planting my sunflowers.  Ninth, welcoming the gold finches and hummingbirds.  And the tenth sign of Spring, the smell of freshly cut dandelions, or my mowed lawn!!  I can still hear the doc saying I can mow my lawn, ‘as long as you don’t fall and hit your nose.’  He’s in my head a lot; I imagine I’ll hear him for years to come.

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Maybe it’s different where you live, perhaps you live in or around a major city with millions of employment opportunities.  For me, in small rural beautiful northern Maine, jobs are to a certain extent not as plentiful.  Especially in some careers.  So whenever I taught my Job Readiness workshops I always spent time on the importance of ‘Not Burning Bridges’ in any job.  Someone would always ask, ‘why not?’

A discussion about ‘networking’ would reveal that many employers, especially here, in our close knit area, all know each other.  You never know when you might apply for a job and there will be your old boss.  Or, you might be interviewing your old boss for a position in your agency!  These and other reasons are why I always ‘take the high road’ when leaving a job.

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Joshua 10:25  Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.  Be strong and courageous.  This is what the LORD will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.”

Thinking back to when the devil asked me to leave my position, I’m pretty sure the devil expected me to scream, swear and storm out of the office, thus giving the devil a reason to let me go.  I didn’t do any of those, I left quietly.  It took them two weeks to call me back and tell me, ‘your a great worker, blah, blah, blah; but, your not a good fit for our agency.’  I thanked them calmly, smiled and said, ‘it’s been a pleasure working here, have a good day.’  I think they were shocked.  They both sat there looking dumbfounded at each other.

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Ezekiel 3:10  Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.

Is there a red light that comes on to tell you you’re crazy?  Like the brake failure or check engine light in the car that comes on?  Throughout my job hunting there were a few search engines (see, engines, there could be a light!?!) I used that I liked better than others.  Every month from the time the devil asked me to leave my job, there would be a job opening posted for the agency, including my old position.  I thought about applying for it but didn’t.  Then it was posted again.  Ummm, guess they couldn’t find anyone to fill it.  And, a third time.  Interesting.

About a month passed and the devils position was advertised.  SHOCKER!!!  Not really, to me anyway.  This particular devil said everyday, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing,’ ‘I’m just flying by the seat of my pants,’ and asking staff, ‘how do you do this … or that … ?’  The lack of skills for the position was probably the reason to get rid of me; I knew more about the program than the devil did … and that was threatening … to the devil.

The next few months also had job postings for the agency.  I didn’t apply for any.  Then one day I got an email job notification for another position.  And that’s when the engine light ‘YOU. ARE. CRAZY!!’ came on.  Well, it wasn’t really like a light, I think it was more like that “still small voice” of the Lord telling me to, ‘apply,’ ‘apply for that job,’ and ‘apply, I’ll fight your battles, just apply.’

I couldn’t get the words out of my mind.  So I dusted off my résumé and applied.  Asking myself, ‘Will it drive me off the deep end?’  ‘Will I be drunk in a ditch somewhere?’  ‘It’s not even going to cost $.50 for a stamp, $.12 for ink or $.07 for fancy resume paper to send it online.’  ‘Why not?’  ‘What’s one more letter of rejection?’  ‘One more letter of rejection that they don’t even send anymore when you apply online.’  ‘Guess there’s not too much to lose.’

In-between hearing the Lord say, ‘apply for that job,’ He also kept saying, “I will restore EVERYTHING the devil has taken from you.”  he took your job, “I’m getting it back for you.”  he took your health insurance, “I paid it and will pay it again for you.”   he tried to break your car, “I fixed it.”  he stole your finances, “I’m restoring more money to you than you had before!!”

I’d already given the health insurance to the Lord and He provided it all Summer, Winter and Spring.  I gave Him the unemployment situation and He found me in the system I didn’t exist in.  I asked Him to send me a doc that knew what he was doing and He sent a decent, sincere and wonderful doc from California just for me.  So I knew that if going back to my old agency was where I was supposed to work again, He would make sure all the right people reviewed my résumé and offered a better salary than before.

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Deuteronomy 30:3-5  then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes.  He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all … He will make you even more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors!

A month went by, then two, four; I stopped counting, I didn’t hear a thing on the job application.  One day there was another opening for the agency.  I applied for this one too, after all, I wasn’t drunk in a ditch somewhere.  Probably twenty years or more ago, I had a job in which I helped create policies, interview and assess clients, prepare and present job readiness workshops and work with employers in the area.  Now this agency was doing the same thing only they broke down all the duties into five or six different positions.  I had done all of it myself and knew the job(s) and regulations well.  Surely I would at least get an interview.

Another month passed and I pretty much had forgotten about the second application when I received an ‘email of rejection’ for the position.  The email stated that I did not have the background or work experience for the job.  I nearly fell off the chair!!  My sense is they have ‘red flagged’ me for anything I might apply for and are not even looking at my resume and skills.  I still haven’t heard anything on the first application.

The interesing thing about it is that I know the job market in the area.  In another job I had, I reviewed resumes coming in for open positions and most would only attract one or two qualified applicants.  So for these jobs, I doubt they received many competent applications based on their advertised qualifications.

Praise the Lord!!  He is watching over me and closing doors that would not be good for me.  I know He has His eye on this sparrow, me!!  He will provide a better job.

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James 5:16  The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Since I began ‘The Sparrow’ six-months have passed.  When I started this page I really felt like I would hear something about the job I had applied for sooner.  And if not that position, then surely another.  Now I find myself looking at some of my favorite signs of Fall.  The first being a chill in the morning air.

The second, the fields of amber waves of grain and dark brown fields of potatoes ready for digging.  The third would have to be my maples turning beautiful gold, red and orange colors.  Fourth, my sunflowers.

The smell of dirt, I love it as much in Fall as I do in Spring so it has to be the fifth sign.  Sixth, the sounds of the trucks and harvesters.  Seventh new potatoes for supper.  Eighth, the smells of my pickles and apple pies cooking in the kitchen.

Nineth, making doughnuts and gingerbread cake with whipped cream to take to the crew for breaks.  And my tenth sign of Fall would have to be watching “Potato Pickers Special” to see if my farmer is, ‘going right on time’ and hearing Dick Curless singing ‘Tater Raisin’ Man,’ as I’m headed out to the fields.

*His Eye is on the Sparrow

by Charles Hutchinson Gabriel was a writer of gospel songs and composer of gospel tunes.  He is said to have written and/or composed between 7,000 and 8,000 songs, many of which are available in 21st century hymnals.

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
Refrain:
I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

His eye is still on this sparrow!!

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Habakkuk 2:3  “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie.  If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

The Year in Pictures

 

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Philippians 4:19  And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

This past year proved The Lord Supplies ALL your needs if you just let Him.  I had titled The Nose Bump Blog, “The Lord Supplies” before I had any idea of what ‘all’ He had in store for me would entail.  Most people probably would not have thought being asked to leave their job would be considered The First Miracle, but I did.

Prior to this year I don’t think I had ever taken a ‘selfie’ let alone hundreds.  Hundreds to post half of them for the whole world to see.  To help document the journey, I attempted to get pictures for the blog and I deleted more than I kept.  Most were not very good.  I think it was the eyes.  At least I didn’t have to send the roll of film out to get developed to know I needed a better picture.  Some of you will understand this!!

Sometimes I can hardly believe the healing changes.  The doc had said he liked to start with a year before my nose would be back to ‘normal’ and it’s getting there.  When I look back at the selfies of the surgeries and the flap, I’m amazed.  Yes, the doc did a wonderful job and I give him a lot of credit, however it was the Lord that brought him to me, gave him the skills and steady hands, and healed my stitches.  Another need I had, He supplied.

He paid the price.  You hear it all the time.  This year the price He paid for me also included the price of the surgeries.  The price of appointments.  The unemployment.  The health insurance.  An extended warranty for the car.  Even all the words to write in a Nose Bump Blog.  For some things He used unexpected sources.  All my needs, He provided.

I hope you will have your faith strengthen as I did, as you see what the Lord did for me this past year.  I linked some of the Nose Bump pages for new followers, and when I read through them again I’m even more thankful that the Lord took care of my needs when I couldn’t.  Faith only has to be the size of a mustard seed, or in County terms, the size of potato seed and watch it multiply!!

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Matthew 17:20  And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

Before

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The Crew

The nose bump after the doc ‘took a slice.’

The first three or four days following The Surgery

Changing the flap bandages

After The Flap Surgery

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Thessalonians 4:17-18  Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever.  So comfort and encourage each other with these words.

About a month into my journey one of my dear precious cousins and prayer warrior went Home to be with the Lord.  I couldn’t even cry.  Mainly because I knew she was rejoicing in Heaven and also because I knew I wasn’t supposed to get my bandages wet.  They would have been soaked.  I miss her dearly.

At her celebration of life many people, some I knew and some I didn’t, asked me how I was doing, adding that I was on their prayer list.  They also told me that my cousin had called them to ask them to pray for me.  In the tributes many spoke of how when she would call them, she would always end the call with, ‘I love you dear and I’m praying for you.’  That’s exactly what she had said to me just two days before going Home.

The Settling Selfies

My Batgirl Mask for some outings and more Settling

Around Thanksgiving

Christmas Day Blizzard

Happy New Year

Beautiful Winter Days

 

 

Mid-Winter Settling, Maybe About Six-Months After The Flap Surgery

 

 

About Seven-Months After The Flap Surgery

Around seven-months after the flap surgery I went out to eat with my friend from my first teaching position.  We decided to go to a Chinese restaurant and were studying the menu when this woman came up to us and put a piece of paper on my menu.  She said, “this is for your supper tonight, I’m giving you this gift certificate.  Enjoy your meal.”  And just like that, she and her family were gone.

My friend looked at me and I looked at him and together, we both said to each other, “who was that?”  He thought I knew her and I thought he knew her.  We both went through the Rol-a-Dexes in our minds and neither of us could think of how we knew them.  The Lord was continuing to Bless me along this journey and it reminded me again of how He uses unexpected sources to provide all my needs.

Selfies for #MayIsSkinCancerAwarenessMonth

Probably eight or nine months after the first surgery

#MayIsSkinCancerAwarenessMonth

Game time!!

Skin cancer awareness hashtag selfies!!

 

Homemade sunscreen!! 😎

About eleven-months after the first surgery.

Took a little road trip …

… around The County, a Downeast and coastal tour of Maine with friends.

One-year after meeting the doc, the Pre-op Appointment and The First Surgery the following day.

A year and a week after the first surgery and when the doc said I could mow my lawn if I didn’t fall and hit my nose!!  I still don’t think he knows what a lawn mower is!!  Hi Doc!!  I know you’re reading the nose bump blog that your not in!!

About a year and 10 – 12 days after the first surgery.  My sunflower selfie showing how small the sunflowers are this year.

Sunflower selfies about a year and a couple weeks after the first surgery.

Around a year and a couple weeks after the first surgery.

Selfie Flops!!  Or, selfie successes!!  Wilson is in the yard!!

A windy, cloudy and sunny day to take a few sunflower selfies.  Besides the wind, my arm wasn’t long enough to get some pictures.  I think I’ll try to invent something like a yard stick with a holder to extend the camera.  If it works, I’ll be a millionaire!!

Having too much fun trying to get a few good sunflower selfies about a year after the second surgery, The Flap.  The doc counts a year from the second surgery, so I’m headed into year two now.

I still have a ways to go, but I’m getting to the short rows now.  With the Lord leading my way, all will be well.

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2 Corinthians 9:8  And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Thank You

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Revelation 14:2  And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps.

It was was time for another three-month follow-up appointment with the doc.  Sometimes I would make a list of questions to ask him but like my grocery list, would usually forget to take it with me.  I arrived and was in the system this time, yeahhhh!!

The doc came in and said how remarkably well my nose looked and said he really didn’t think I would need any other surgeries.  That if I did, it might be a small skin graft and that would be sometime down the road still.

He also told me he was leaving.  I immediately said, “I knew it.”

He asked who told me and in a split-second I found myself saying, “The Lord told me.”

We talked a bit and he said, “everyone knows, strangers will come up to me at the store and say, ‘sorry to see you leave Doc.'”  I reminded him the County is small.

I think I wanted to cry a little.  What I really wanted to do was thank him again for all he’s done for me but I didn’t think of all I wanted to say in such a quick appointment.  So I thought I’d thank the doc here for a few things he’s done for me, forgive me if I’ve already written about parts of it in earlier blog pages.  You can never say thank you too much.

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Philippians 1:3  Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.

First, I know I’ve said it before, but I have to say it again, thank you ever so much for taking my case.  While another was anxious to send me out of state, you were willing to take my case.  For this alone, you will forever be in my heart.

I also want to thank you for sassing me.  Yes, sassing me.  You probably don’t remember but during my second appointment with you, you asked me if they did the biopsy and I said no.  You said, ‘I’ll take a slice right now if that’s okay.’  My reply was, ‘yeah, whatever.’  I didn’t know what the next step was, so I was going along with what you said.  You turned to me with scalpel in hand, shaking it at me, and said, ‘no, no, no, you are the patient, if you say no, I won’t do it.’  It’s a wonder I even came back!!  Thank you.  This might be good information to know with the new guy.

Thank you for putting up with all my nose bump blog questions.  I doubt you’ve had time, or even cared, to read the nose bump blog pages, however you gave me plenty of information to get the word out about basal cell carcinoma and perhaps help someone else in a similar situation.  And, as a side note, just in case you’re wondering, my ‘peeps’ love you too.

You might not have thought putting Bag Balm on my stitches was a good idea, but you didn’t discourage me from using it.  Then you were amazed at how well it was helping to heal my stitches.  Thank you for not counting my old standby ointment out.

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1 Chronicles 29:15  We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us.  Our days on earth are like a shadow, gone so soon without a trace. 

You know I think you brought me back from the brink of deaths door, and even though you said I wasn’t at the brink of deaths door, I will forever be grateful to you for all you did for me.  Your gentle kindness from the first day I met you and you said calmly and without urgency, “we’ll have to take care of this.”  There was no doubt you were willing to take my case so I could stay here, at home.  And, to each appointment, your professionalism, knowledge and a little humor thrown in, will all be remembered.  Thank you.

Going into that appointment, I was going to thank you for never telling me negative things like, ‘you might experience depression, anxiety or even PTSD.’  In the couple months between the last appointment and this one, I had been doing a little skin cancer research and was surprised to find so many cases of people with skin cancer that were depressed.  I’m generally very positive and upbeat so depression is not in my vocabulary and especially not in my mind.  That’s not to say it wouldn’t have been if that was the seed you had planted in me.  You never did.  You were always very positive and encouraging as to how my healing was coming along.  Maybe you were lying to make me feel encouraged; I don’t think so.  Needless to say I didn’t think to thank you about this after the news of your parting.  Thank you for being so encouraging.

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Isaiah 6:8  Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to my people?  Who will go for us?”  And I said, “Lord, I’ll go!  Send me.”

You came into my life at a time when the Lord sent me a million miracles and you were one of the miracles.  I asked you once early on during a bandage change, “what brought you to Maine Doc?  Most people want to leave and go south or west.”

It was about the only question I asked you that you didn’t really answer.  Maybe you didn’t know why you came to Maine.  Maybe it was just a job.  Maybe you needed something like a nose bump surgery to update your résumé.  Maybe you were doing skin cancer research?  Maybe you wanted to experience winters?  Maybe you didn’t know why Maine, you just knew you had to take this job.  Maybe you wanted a change.  I know why, it was the Lord directing your path so you would take my case.  Maybe He knew you could handle the challenge.  Maybe He knew I needed your skills.  I’m not sure how He knows and does all the directing, but I know He works ALL things together for my good.  And you were one of those good things.

Another one of those things the Lord maybe had you have a hand in, was all the financials of my case.  Somewhere early on in the process I had a call from someone from the hospital saying, ‘we had a meeting about you and we are going to take care of you, you won’t have to pay for anything for this procedure.’  To date, I haven’t had to pay a penny.  I don’t think I’ve ever thanked you for your part in all that went on behind the scenes in my case.  Thank you for your selflessness.

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Colossians 3:23  Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

I wish you all the best in your new adventure.  You will forever be in my heart and prayers Doc.  In fact, I’ll probably think of you everyday when I look at my new and improved nose bump!!  In a world of texting, IM-ing and snap chatting, I hope you will allow me to send you a note from time to time, maybe even a selfie in a Christmas card so you can see the continued healing.  Seriously, may the Lord guide you and give you steady hands for all your operations.  Thank you again for coming into my life and taking care of me.

“I’ll miss you Doc.”

“You can send me a note or two.”

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Appreciation

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Hebrews 6:10  God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

Sometimes I think the doc probably has a thankless job.  You know, looking in ears with wax build up, down throats at swollen tonsils, and up noses with, well … you know, nose gunk.  Definitely not a job for me.

From the very first appointment and meeting the doc, I always ended all the appointments with my appreciation and telling him, “thank you Doc.”

It almost always seemed like saying thank you wasn’t enough for all he was doing for me.  It seemed like I should tell him I loved him and give him a hug before leaving.  It’s interesting how apps like Facebook work now.  It’s like it knows what you are thinking before you even have the thought.  One day it seemed like ‘out of the blue,’ advertisements started showing up on FB for “National Doctors Day.”

This was made to order.  The doc said I could write him another note and I was planning to send him a couple notes or cards between appointments so maybe with a National day set aside just for his occupation, I would send him a red carnation.  With google giving you more information than you ever really wanted to know, I googled this ‘holiday’ and it seems the red carnation is the flower for the day, like the poinsettia is a flower for Christmas, doctors have their own flower too.

The day originated to highlight the invention of anesthesia.  After having gone under the knife and having been sliced and stitched, I’m quite thankful for Dr. Crawford W. Long.  He’s the guy credited with using ether anesthesia on March 30, 1842.  Dr. Long operated on a man to remove a tumor and after the surgery the man reported not feeling or remembering anything until he woke up.

President George H. W. Bush proclaimed March 30 to be National Doctors Day.  Like most of these days, it is a day to recognize something; in this case, doctors and their work.  A day to thank them for, as in my case, working through their lunch hour, standing up for a six-hour operation and coming in and working on a Saturday.  I remember when the doc came in to see me and still a little groggy, I said to him, “I’m impressed Doc, you’re working on a Saturday.”

The doc replied, “if I had wanted to work a 9:00 to 5:00 job, I would have been a banker.”

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Galatians 6:9-10  So don’t get tired of doing what is good.  Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.  Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone

After much thought about what might be a good appreciation gift to give the doc for National Doctors Day, I decided a basket of goodies might work.  Naturally it had to be a potato basket.  A friend recently published a book about the history of the Ash Splint Potato Basket used for decades on potato farms here in The County.  There are still a few farm stores that sell these handmade treasures.  I went to one I knew carried them hoping they were open this time of the year.  If not, I knew of a couple other places that would have some and I would check them out too if needed.

The potato baskets are made from brown ash trees by our local Micmacs.   The brown ash tree is harvested any time of the year but often in winter to avoid damage to the logs.  After cutting, the ash is pounded into narrow strips and then different widths for the splints to be woven.  There is concern about the Emerald Ash Borer, a small beetle that is responsible for the decimation of the Ash Tree in the Midwest and has been steadily making its way East.  Although not in Maine yet, Native basket makers have created a seed bank to preserve the Ash Tree for future generations.

Years ago all the farmers had potato baskets in various sizes, small ones for the children picking potatoes and larger sizes for teens and adults.  I still have a few from my farming days and in one of the pictures below you can see one of them on the truck stake.  Over the years I have managed to ‘rescue’ quite a few others from garage sale finds.  Two rescues were headed to the dump, I got there just in time to save them!!  Who says I don’t recycle?

You might say I have a little collection of them.  Or, you might say I’m a little obsessed with potato baskets.  You might even say I’m extremely creative with uses for the potato baskets.  However, I find them all rather functional.  I might possibly have one for every need.

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What fun!!  My blog site has a slide show feature!!  Get out your popcorn and enjoy the show of how I use a few of my potato baskets.  See if you can guess all of them.  I know you can!!  In some pictures I’m sure you can tell my favorite items, they always end up on top!!  What’s your favorite?

After going to every Five & Dime (Walmart, Hallmark & Dollar Tree) in the area, not one carried National Doctors Day cards.  They had everything else including April Fools’ cards, none of which were what I was looking for so I looked online.  It was too late to order one without paying some outrageous shipping fee of $62.94 to get one here on time, so I decided to do some good old fashioned ‘Cut & Paste.’  I found a couple pictures and sayings on something like pinterest; printed and pasted.  And, TaDa!!  I had the card for way less than the shipping costs.

Sew, I found a potato basket for the doc’s National Doctors Day appreciation gift.  Then found a few goodies to fill it with and, yes, wrote him a note to go with the creative card.  It went a little like this.

Dear Doc,

You might think I’m Nuts, however, to me you are a Lifesaver, bringing me back from the brink of deaths door!!

That’s nothing to Snicker about Doc; you are one in a 100 Grand or, one in 82 here at the local hospital.  I’ll put my Potato Chips on you, that you’re the best EN&T doc I know.  Well, really … the only EN&T doc I know.

Enjoy National Doctors Day and please know how much I appreciate all you have done for me; working through your lunch hour, working on Saturday, probably getting more stress than you wanted during my operation and even letting me blog about you to the whole world.  Hmmm … I wonder if I need a release for that?!?! 

Thank you Doc for all you do!!

Hugs,

The Nose Bump Patient 

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Matthew 7:12  Do for others what you would like them to do for you.  

Happy National Doctors Day 

Thank You Doc!!

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. *Addendum to my copyright, I don’t have a say in what wordpress is advertising at the bottom of my blog pages, so it appears that it is something I support, which I may or may not.

The Produce

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Genesis 1:29  And God said, “Look!  I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.”

Nearly three-weeks after the first surgery I met a guy from India.  Since I still had my bandages on, the ‘elephant in the room’ had to be talked about so right after the introductions I told him I’d had a little surgery.  He was cooking something like curry chicken for supper so we continued to talk and I told him about the nose bump being basal cell carcinoma.  He told me that it is extremely rare for people in India to have skin cancer because they have so much turmeric in their diets.

Since I prefer a natural approach over medicines I thought I would try some turmeric for preventive measures.  After doing a little research, it is supposed to help lower the chances of heart attacks, help with osteoporosis, memory, depression, be an anti-inflammatory; and even be good for my bp, what did I have to loose?  Turmeric is also supposed to be helpful for those with lupus, multiple sclerosis (MS) and arthritis.  These and ninety other ailments might all benefit from adding turmeric to the diet.  I probably should ask the doc about it if I think of it.

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Job 37:10  The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen.

With ice still on my maple trees from a recent snow storm I decided it was time to stock up on cinnamon and turmeric for my natural approach to keeping my bp down to something the doc’s like.  Off to Walmart I went with list in hand.  Being a little bit of a creature of habit, I got a cart, checked the wheels for a smooth steer and headed to the vitamin aisle.

Next, to the lotion aisle to get another tin of Bag Balm, you can never have too much Bag Balm on hand.  They ‘hide’ it a little by putting it on the top shelf but even if I have to get someone to get one down for me, it’s worth it!

Then off to the fabric department, a must stop for me.  And over to dairy.

It’s my belief that most people do not know how to shop at Walmart or like stores.  Most people start at the front of the store and get frozen items and bread first.  So while shopping, all the frozen items thaw and the breads get smashed because they are put in the bottom of the cart.  The best way to shop the food items is to start at the back of the store and end at the front of the store thus not having your tomatoes crushed or grapes juiced before you get to the checkout.

After getting milk, eggs and cheese, I ventured to the baking aisle for flour and yeast.   I make bread (so it doesn’t get smashed,) then to canned goods before I finished in the produce department.  It absolutely kills me to have to buy potatoes now after having grown my own for years and years, so I usually have to study what’s available, disregard ALL that are not Maine potatoes and see what is left for choices.  Glancing out the corner of my eye I saw someone walk by me but since I was studying the round whites, I didn’t really look at them.  Finally picking the potatoes, get it, picking potatoes, I went along to the onions.

At the apple bin I saw someone I knew and spoke for a couple minutes, then turning to go to get some jalapeños, I walked by a guy that looked familiar.  After going through my ABC Name Game in the rol-a-dex in my mind and not coming up with how I might know this guy, I then put him into another category in my mind which is, ‘someone I went to school with a hundred years ago,’ and counted my jalapeños.  I needed a dozen for my Hot Pepper Jelly and lost count at eight.

It was the doc!!  The rol-a-dex works … just needed the right name!!  Shocker!!, he’s not under “The Doc!!”  The nose bump must really be settling and healing up if he didn’t even recognize me!!!!!  I had to do a double take, after all it had been a few months since the last appointment, maybe it wasn’t him.  I went around the peaches and saw him again at the papayas, this time I said, “Doc, is that you?, I didn’t recognize you without your headlamp.”

Looking at me like he’d never seen me before, I could almost see the rol-a-dex in his head spinning round and round.  Since my tin of Bag Balm was in the seat of the cart I picked it up and said, “remember me, Ms. Bag Balm, USA.”

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Proverbs 19:8  Those who get wisdom love their own lives; those who cherish understanding will soon prosper.

The three-months between appointments seemed to fly by.  I didn’t have much nose bump news to report on and my ‘followers’ wanted to know how I was doing.  Friends would send an FB message or call and I’d run into people I knew when out shopping.  Almost every conversation would end with them saying, ‘I’m looking forward to reading the next blog page.’

image    Enjoy six more weeks of winter, I saw my shadow!!

Proverbs 30:24, 26  There are four things on earth that are small but unusually wise: … Rock badgers (groundhogs) – they aren’t powerful, but they make their homes among the rocks.

Nibbler, that’s what my niece and nephews call the groundhog, came out for two-seconds and saw his shadow.  Good thing he had on that big fur coat or he would have frozen to death because Northern Maine was seeing an extra cold winter with several Arctic cold blasts coming and staying longer than usual this year.  The new nose bump flap was still freezing quite quickly whenever I was out, even for short times.  Usually I had to make sure I wore my cowl neck scarf and pull it up over my nose just to check the mail or shovel the walk.

It doesn’t look like it with bright blue skies, but this particular day the wind chill was about -20 zero.  It probably was normal for the flap to freeze quickly.  This is my attempt to prevent the new nose bump from freezing at least until I can ask the doc if it’s normal for the flap to freeze so fast.

imageThe next follow-up was scheduled for Thursday at 1:00.  I still think they only work on Thursday.  Anyway, I arrived the usual 15-minutes early to sign in and the receptionist said, “I don’t see you in our system.”

Handing her my appointment card, I said, “I’m getting used to that, I didn’t exist in another system recently either.  I think I’m invisible.”

She took the card and said, “since you have a card, we’ll get you in, it’s our mistake.”  Then she squeezed me in, between an ear wax removal and an allergy shot.  I had time to run a couple errands and return.

When I got back they took me right in.  The nurse said I look great.  The doc came in and figuring he knew about the appointment mix-up, I asked him if he could even see the nose bump since I’m invisible.  He didn’t know about it so I explained the situation.  The doc didn’t seem as concerned about the mix-up as he was about my nose and said, “your nose looks lovely!”  He looked it all over and said he still thinks it will be about a year for the swelling to go down and he’d see me again in three-months.

As usual I told him I would miss him and he said I could send him another note.  Maybe he’s writing a blog on all the notes he gets from patients!

Happy Valentines Day

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1 Corinthians 13:13  And now these three remain:  faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Questions

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Titus 3:14  Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.

Throughout the nose bump journey I wanted to keep everyone’s anonymity.  I also wanted to give credit to the doc but I didn’t want to identify him.  At least by name.  If that makes sense.  At the beginning he didn’t know me or what I would be writing about in the blog.  Neither did I.  And, what if I wrote something he didn’t like and now the whole world was reading about him?  I wouldn’t want to be recognized either.  So when I had questions for him I would always ask, ‘for the nose bump blog that I’m writing that you aren’t in, what about, … ?’

At the initial appointment with the first EN&T doc he said he would send me anywhere I wanted to go – – – Bangor, Portland, New York City, Atlanta, Las Vegas; he rattled off ten or more locations; wherever you want to go.

I don’t know if that scared me or not; that my situation was too complicated, or that he didn’t feel qualified or able to do the job, or that he thought I would want better care or what.  Right from that initial appointment I said I preferred here.  I told him I lived here and it would be easier for me.  He scheduled the biopsy and sent me on my way.  It ended up he cancelled the biopsy as I wrote about in ‘The First Miracle’ and wanted his colleague to meet me and for him to review my case.  Was it really that complicated?  A colleague to review my case?  Should I be thinking about going downstate?  Or even out of state?  He gave me the option, I wonder why?

At the second consultation with the new EN&T doc, the first doc said again that he would make a referral anywhere I wanted to go while waiting for the new doc to arrive.  The first doc introduced the new doc to me by saying, ‘he’s come all the way from California just for you.’  I didn’t know what that meant.  Was the new doc called in just for my case?  Was he making a joke to lighten the mood in case it was complicated?  Does that mean he’s a surfer?  A biker?  Did he do Michael Jackson’s noses?  Those and a dozen more questions went through my mind.  I hadn’t given it much thought.  In all honesty, I didn’t really care where the doc was from as long as he knew what he was doing.

When the new doc arrived he looked the nose bump over and said, “we’ll have to take care of this.”  There was no doubt he was willing to take my case.  I didn’t feel like he was trying to send me downstate or even out of state.  I didn’t feel like it was going to be a complicated case either.  I had no doubt the new doc would be able to do the job, right here, at home.

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After the first two operations I thought to google the doc.  Later I thought I probably should have googled him before the operations, you know, in case he wasn’t licensed or something.  And, guess what?  He did come from California.

The Lord sent him to Maine just for me!!!

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Galatians 6:11  See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!

As the weeks went by the doc lengthened the time between appointments so it was going to be three-months before the next appointment and the doc said I could send him another note or two.  Naturally I took him up on the offer.  I still had some questions on my list of things to ask him so I decided to ask him the questions in the note with the first question being, ‘will you be a guest writer for the nose bump blog I’m writing that you aren’t in?’

We’ll see if he responds.  My guess is that the doc is a little too busy for blogs.  However, I think curiosity will get the better of him.

The most common question I often would be asked was one I had too.  I’d asked the doc the question at an appointment recently, ‘how come I didn’t bleed to death with such a long cut and hole in my forehead?’  I’d given the doc an out, telling him I understood if he couldn’t answer it now because it was too long and complicated, and because out in his waiting room it was full of other patients, but sometime, maybe he could tell me.

It almost didn’t seem to me that the doc was listening as he was writing something in my file, probably how amazed he was that the Bag Balm was healing the new nose bump faster than he imagined, when he said, “because I don’t like any of my patients to bleed to death.”

Don’t you just love the doc?!!

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1 Corinthians 1:4  I always thank my God for you

The third question I forgot to ask the doc was about the pimples.  Remember the pimples?

Fourth, what did you write on my neck with a sharpie at the first operation?

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The latest thing I noticed was how cold the new nose bump was when I was outside.  It seemed to freeze quite quickly if I went out to the mailbox, to shovel my walkway or to brush the snow off the car.  The rest of my nose and face was a ‘normal’ cold for this time of year and the temperature.  I’ll definitely have to ask the doc if it’s normal for the flap to freeze like this.

The final question I think I’ll ask him in the note will probably be the typical interview question, ‘tell me about yourself’ so I can let my blog followers know a little about you.  Things like, what do you do in your spare time?, surf, ski, sew, maybe mow your lawn?  It seems to me like you have a stressful job and you probably need to protect your hands from harm, so even though I think you could field dress a partridge inside of 10-seconds, I don’t think you go hunting to relax.

Hopefully the doc will pm or text some answers to the questions for the nose bump blog he’s not in!!  It’s such a cliff hanger!!  Stay tuned!!

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2 Corinthians 5:17  The old has gone, the new is here!  

Have a Very Happy and Blessed New Year!!

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

N is for Nose Bump

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Matthew 6:24   “No one can serve two masters.  Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and money.

Welcome to my alphabetical series of The Nose Bump Blog.  The series may or may not necessarily be in alphabetical order!!  I thought I’d start with “N.”

My precious great niece and nephews were all interested in my nose bump, flap and surgery.  My niece-in-love has a daycare and several of the kiddos she cares for were also interested.  When I would stop to visit them, they were all curious to see my bandages, stitches and changes.  They had a lot of questions.  It was time for teachable moments and let them know the importance of using sun screen, long sleeves and hats.

Not long after the first surgery, my one nephew had just started pre-K and would get the bus around 11:00.  Almost every day that I would see him I would ask, “what letter are you learning about in school today?”

One day I asked him if they were up to the “N’s” yet?  He didn’t say anything, after all, how would he know what letter the teacher would be teaching about that day?  I told him that when they get to the “N’s” and it’s his turn to give a word that begins with “N” he should say “Nose bump.”

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As my appointments went on and I would stop at the daycare, the kiddos wanted to to know, ‘what did the doc say today?’  Their memories of him amazed me.  They were especially glad that the doc had said, ‘as long as you don’t fall and hit your nose.’  Occasionally I would do activities with them and one day they were coloring and I told them the alligator had a nose bump and needed a nose bandage!  From then on, all the characters they colored had either a nose bump or a bandage.

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Psalm 115:6  Nor can they hear, nor smell,

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A mallard in my yard with a nose bump bandage on!!!

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

 

 

The Spitting Sutures

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Mark 5:34  And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.  Go in peace. You have been healed.”

As the month was passing I kept getting all these pimples!!  Pimples!?!  Pimples Doc!!  What’s going on??!!!  I haven’t had a pimple for 10, 20-years!!  Maybe even 25-years!!  I can’t remember but it’s been a loooonnnnng time.  The next appointment was still a couple weeks away so I couldn’t ask the doc about these pimples so I decided to google pimples.  Word of caution, don’t google pimples.

More specifically I googled, ‘pimples around scars after basal cell carcinoma surgery.’  What came up was that the body is ‘spitting sutures.’  Just what I needed, another google search to find out about spitting sutures.  The doc is my google searcher.  I’ll write it on my list of questions to ask him.

Well…what’s one more google search?   It seems that spitting sutures are the body’s way of getting rid of something that’s invading it.  Who knew there were thousands of kinds of sutures?  I didn’t.  There are sutures for inside stitches and outside stitches.  The inside ones seem to dissolve.  Most of the time.  If they don’t, and as the swelling goes down, then small nearly invisible stitches will appear, sticking up through the skin.   Spitting sutures.

While the sutures were dissolving, my nose apparently didn’t care for the foreign invasion and that’s when, and where, the pimples were showing up.  I’ll probably still ask the doc about the pimples, you know, to test him, to see if his google works!!

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Matthew 6:19-21  Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal.  Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves.  Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be.

My cheek was also still kind of numb.  Besides finding out about spitting sutures, another topic that seemed to come up in the same pimple search was numbness in the cheek.  I hadn’t given it much thought.  Turns out it’s pretty common and lasts anywhere from 3 – 12 months depending on the surgery.  In non-medical terms, the nerves are reconnecting and usually the numbness goes away.  Probably one of the reasons why the doc told me he likes to say the whole process takes at least a year.

With my pimples and spitting sutures taking center stage, I had a call for an interview.  Yeahhhhh!!  Usually when I went shopping I would wear one of my “Batgirl” masks.  People seem to understand a bandage more than they can handle a swollen nose.   My bandage usually took the form of a “v” to cover a couple of the scabs.  Occasionally I would use just one to cover the scab on the nostril.  But now with all these pimples, and an interview…there’s no way I would wear a dozen bandages to an interview!  That would be worse than the pimples themselves.

The interview went well, I broke the ice by saying, ‘I had a little operation for basal cell carcinoma and was glad it wasn’t a broken leg because I probably wouldn’t have been able to drive to the interview with a broken leg.’  They asked all the typical interview questions and said they plan to make a decision in a week or so.  The Lord gave me pretty good intuition and from one statement they made toward the end of the interview, I concluded that they already had someone in mind for the position.  Perhaps someone in-house that had applied.  Either way, if I don’t get this job, I’ll get another.  The Lord will provide one.

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John 15:7  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

One day on my way home from one of the many appointments with the doc I had to stop for construction on the road between the doc’s office and home.  I noticed smoke coming out of the engine.  Like the nose bump, I was kind of in denial, asking myself, ‘is that my car on fire?’  Once traffic started moving, the smoke stopped but I watched the engine light go quickly up to hot.

The next day I took the car into my favorite mechanic for an oil change and asked if they could check out the overheating.  They hooked it up to the computer and pressure test and told me to keep an eye on it.

About a month passed and the car was again overheating.  I needed to get my snow tires on so I told my favorite mechanic it was still overheating and he said they would check it out.

An hour later, my favorite mechanic came into the waiting area and handed me some papers that I noticed on the bottom it read, ‘1 of 27 pages.’  I did a power prayer over my car.  He continued showing me a picture on page five, “you need to take the car to the dealership and have them check for these leaks.  There’s at least one crack in the block and they will need to check for these others.”  He went on, “I ran the VIN number on your car and it should be covered under an extended warranty.”  The Lord knows I’m not working and unable to get a new car right now.  My favorite mechanic continued, “if it’s not covered, you might want to think about getting a new car, a new block will be expensive.”

On the way home I stopped at the dealership with my twenty-seven page analysis in hand.  I explained to the kid at the service desk that my car has been overheating and needed an appointment to have it checked.  He looked up my account and said, “we have an airbag recall on your car.  We’ll replace that and check the leak on Thursday.  If we find anything, someone will break it down and explain the problem to you in words you can understand.”

As I was writing down the appointment time, I responded, “just break it down to, ‘it’s all covered under the warranty.’ ”

While waiting for the car, several people were in the waiting room and talking cars.  Funny how that works, at the doc’s office they’re all talking about nose bumps.  The service guy came in, looked at me and turned and went the other way.  I had my “Batgirl” mask on and thought maybe it scared him since I hadn’t had a chance to tell him right away about the surgery like I usually do when seeing someone new.  He came back a few minutes later, probably realizing I wasn’t the Joker or the Riddler and said, “we’re getting you a loaner, you need a new block and it will be a week or two before we get your car back together.”  He continued, “the dealership will cover all the costs, it’s all under warranty, even the loaner.”  Another Praise for the Lord that provides ALL my needs!!

Our weatherman had predicted snow for the next day so I asked the service guy if the loaner had snow tires on it.  He replied, “it’s a 2017 Something-or-Other and has all-wheel drive so you’ll be okay.”

WOW a 2017 and not a clunker!  The other guy in the waiting area with me said, “they’re trying to sell you a new car.”  I said, “I know, but with a new block, I’ll have a new car, for now.”

The service guy gave me a quick lesson on how not to automatically lock the keys in the new car and sent me on my way.  I was in love with it before I got out of the car lot!!  I can’t afford new car fever right now.  I’ll just dream a little.

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John 20:27  Then he said to Thomas, … “Stop doubting and believe.”

The next couple weeks passed and the pimples and spitting sutures pretty much cleared up.  Still using the new loaner car, I went to see the doc for the next appointment and my followers said my nose looked great.  When the doc came in, he said excitedly, ‘I saw you in the waiting room and you look great!’  I had to ask, ‘so now that you are up close Doc, better or not so much?’  The doc said, ‘no, no it’s looking really good.  As time goes by, I’ll tweak it but that’s a ways away still.’  I said, ‘it’s the Bag Balm.’  Somewhat puzzled, he shook his head and agreed that maybe it could be.  The doc actually seemed a little amazed by my miraculous Bag Balm cure-all ointment.  I may have converted him!!

The doc said he’d see me again in three-months and I said I’d miss him again.  He said I could send him another note or two.  I should have said, ‘Doc, we live in a high tech world now, I’ll pm or text you.’  Course I don’t think my rotary dial phone has a pm feature!!  I’ll probably stick to snail mail.  He won’t get it as quickly but he’ll be able to retrieve it.  Then, the next appointment will probably be something called snap chat where he can see my new nose bump through the phone.

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Philippians 1:9  I pray that your love for each other will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in your knowledge and understanding.

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Blessings

 

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Psalm 30:2  O Lord my God, I cried out to you for help, and you restored my health.

As Thanksgiving was approaching, I had puréed pumpkin for pies, ground breadcrumbs for dressing and peeled baby onions in preparation for the dinner.  Maybe it was the onions but suddenly tears came flooding to my eyes.  My mind was reflecting back over the somewhat strange summer I had and all the blessings that came every single day.  They chased me down like goodness and mercy.

The process was long and I expect involved.  And this was still the beginning.  Most of the time I didn’t think that I had major surgery however, as I would talk to people they would always say something like, ‘Wow, that was major surgery you had.’  At different times as someone would ask about my situation, they would also tell me about their own skin cancer case.  It seems there are a lot more cases than you realize.

At the appointment that the doc was really excited about how much the flap had settled, I asked him, “so Doc, tell me, even with all your other patients, you remember what my nose looked like two weeks ago?”

The doc responded sincerely, “I remember all my patients that I have to cut into.  It’s like I have a photographic memory recording all the procedures.  Then it plays back in my mind and I see it and remember what it looked like at each visit.”

Thinking back on what the doc said, I don’t know if that would be a blessing or a curse.  I guess we all do it in some form or another though, remembering some childhood memory, vacation or conversation.  For me, it’s a blessing that the doc remembers how my nose looked at all the prior visits.

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Isaiah 53:4  Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.  And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins!  But he was wounded and crushed for our sins.  He was beaten that we might have peace.  He was whipped, and we were healed.

Most of what remains of my farming memories of my youth are old rusty things.  Horseshoes and a one-row plow makes me think of my grandfather and all the miles he walked the rows of the potato fields.  Chains and gears from our farm machinery are what I now use as plant hangers on my porch.  One of those plant hangers is a stencil my grandfather made to identify our potato barrels.  His initials were G. C. so he made the logo to be basically a C in a diamond, <C>.  It can be seen in the above picture and on the barrels in pictures in The Crew.  Over the years using it as a plant hanger, I have studied it for hours and noticed he had a small line on the C.  I’ve come to the conclusion that the C is actually a combination of a G and a C.  It might not be much, and it might be rusty, however, it’s a part of my heritage that replays in my memory that I love.

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Isaiah 28:24-26  Does a farmer always plow and never sow?  Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting it?  Does he not finally plant his seeds for dill, cumin, wheat, barley, potatoes, and spelt, each in its own section of his land?  The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding.

Most of my blogs have been read, liked, shared and commented on by many.  The Settling, the blog page in which I asked the doc about using “Bag Balm” to heal my stitches, seemed to be quite popular.  I had kind of decided early on in my appointments that the doc probably grew up in a city.  So when he questioned Bag Balm as my ointment of choice, it pretty much confirmed to me that he did not grow up on a farm.  Maybe I’ll ask him at the next visit where he grew up.  Many of my friends and family commented on how they grew up with Bag Balm in the house and still use it today.

Not only is it great for dry skin, chapped lips, diaper rash, cracked heels and of course, healing stitches; Bag Balm is also handy to have around for squeaky hinges, zippers and scrapes on the paw pads of your dog!!  No household should be without at least a dozen cans!!!

At one visit with the doc, I asked him about the little bump on the bony section between the nostrils that hurt a lot if I touched it just right.  He said, “oh, don’t worry about that, that’s nothing.”  I probably don’t ask the doc the right questions.  I should have asked him if there’s a stitch in there?  Then he probably would have said something like, ‘yes, it will dissolve, or I’ll pull it out someday.’  I’m pretty sure that there probably is a stitch in there that’s holding the inner part of the nose in place.  Like a basting stitch in my sewing world, and if I pull it out the whole flap would fall off and be on the floor with a bunch of threads and dustballs.

 

About two months after The First Miracle, the day the devil asked me to leave my job, I received a letter in the mail from unemployment.  As you may recall, the devil was trying to prevent me from qualifying for unemployment benefits.  The letter was the determination that I was not released from my position due to misconduct, as the devil was trying to convey.  The staff at the Department of Labor had been researching my case for eight-weeks, yes eight-weeks, and determined that I was in fact doing the job I was hired and trained to do.  The letter went on, therefore you are entitled to unemployment benefits.  By this time I’d lost count of all the blessings, however it was somewhere around the four-thousandth miracle that had come to pass in a couple months!!  Another Glorious Praise for the Lord We Serve!!!

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Romans 8:28  And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

There were so many things happening, working together, all at the same time, I sometimes could hardly keep up with everything.  Around the same time I was waiting to hear about the unemployment, I was also waiting to hear about the health insurance.  Remember Obamacare was not affordable, $1200.00 a month.  I did the math, that’s like buying a good used car and paying off a five-year loan in one-year, while not eating or paying for fuel oil, … but I digress.  The financial staff at the hospital were working on it and I had met with another lady that submitted paperwork for all the costs of the procedures to be paid.  The next miracle!!  Four-thousand and one!!  Praise the Lord!!  I’m glad my God caused everything to work together for my good and He was keeping track of everything, because I was a little busy in surgeries.

Another three months passed and it was time for me to do more paperwork which would pay any outstanding balances I had from the surgeries to date.  The ladies at the hospital from the very beginning had said that the hospital would pay for all my bills and I believed them.  We live in a paperwork world; your word or a handshake doesn’t mean as much today as it did a hundred years ago.  I filled out the paperwork, prayed over it and returned it to the hospital staff.

A week later I received a letter from the hospital.  Another bill probably.  Usually I’d get two or three a week.  I had an envelope on the table that I put them all in and it was overflowing.  I kept them all just in case I needed them again for all this paperwork.  Upon opening it, it wasn’t just another bill.  It was another miracle!!  Five-thousand twenty-eight!!  It was a letter saying that all my outstanding bills would be paid!!  How can anyone not Love our Lord and how He works EVERYTHING out for our good?!!!!

 

Sometimes we are so busy we forget to stop and count all the blessings given to us from the Lord.  I tried to keep track of all of them during the nose bump journey by writing the blog to help others in a similar situation but I know I probably forgot some.  Sometimes, like when I’m peeling onions, tears will come to my eyes and one of the summers strange happenings will replay in my mind.  It wasn’t strange at all.  It was a Blessing.

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Psalm 105:1 Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim His greatness.  Let the whole world know what He has done.

Happy Thanksgiving

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Note

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Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek His will in all you do, and He will direct your paths [to just the right doc you need.] or [to just the right patient.]

Dear Doc,

Hi, how are you?   It’s a beautiful day and I thought I would take a couple minutes to write you a note.  You probably see so many patients in a day that you may not remember that I said I would miss you with the next appointment being a month away instead of two weeks and you said I could write you a note.  So, it’s note time!!

First of all, I would like to thank you ever so much for taking my case.  I expect you had a choice and could have said no and sent me on my way hundreds of miles from home, but you didn’t.  I truly appreciate all you have done for me and the nose bump, including putting up with all my questions and quirks.  

You and the staff have been very kind and encouraging during all of my many visits.  All of you seem genuinely concerned about me and my progress.  If there were times for a negative comment, it wasn’t noticeable. 

The flap has been settling nicely and I think it’s because I anointed it with Bag Balm!!  My bp was 93 this morning, the cinnamon is working!!  I may have accidentally pulled out a stitch, but there wasn’t any blood gushing out so I figured I would live to tell you about it!!

Please know that I’m praying for the staff and all your patients.  You are in my prayers daily Doc.  I know the Lord sent you to me for this procedure and I pray He gives you all the skills, knowledge and steady hands to do the job you do.  He has given you a gift and I for one am truly blessed to have you in my life.  

Love and Prayers,

Jeanne 

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Ephesians 3:14-16  When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.

 

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© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Make Hay While the Sun Shines

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Proverbs 10:5  Make hay while the sun shines – that’s smart; go fishing during harvest – that’s stupid.

Have you seen the post on Facebook that goes around from time to time that says, ‘you don’t know hard work unless you spent the summer haying?’  I have always said that haying was the hardest job I ever had.  Generally speaking it was only for two weeks in the summer.  What could be so hard for just two weeks?  For us, haying season was usually the last two weeks of July or maybe into the first week of August.  What made it the hardest, I think, was the job had to be done during the hottest days.  Just like the saying, ‘make hay while the sun shines.’

From about the age of 10 until I went to college, I worked for my neighbor every summer during haying season.  You could only hay on a nice sunny day, because you couldn’t bale wet hay.  So it was always about 75 to 85° outside on days we would work.  In the barn, in the hayloft, it was probably 95 to 105°.

Looking back, haying season was one of the times where I was a bullseye for skin cancer.  I would have already been outside for harrowing and planting in spring, and picking rocks in early summer.  Now it was time for a few more sunburns.  I’m pretty sure we didn’t have anything like sun screen back then.

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Proverbs 27:25-26  After the hay is harvested, the new crop appears, and the mountain grasses are gathered in, your sheep will provide wool for clothing, and your goats will be sold for the price of a field.

Over the years, I have filled this barn with more bales of hay than I can count.  Sometimes I wonder how many bales of hay I threw up into the haymow from the truck.  I’ve decided it has to be well over a million bales.  This barn belonged to my precious friends and neighbors and has long since been sold.

All the years I worked for my neighbor during haying season, we never used a conveyor such as the one in the picture to get the hay into the barn.  He always felt that because it was mechanical, there could be a spark which would catch the hay on fire and he would lose his barn.  So we would load and unload the truck by hand, handle all of the bales of hay inside the barn and stack them until it was full.

The load on the truck had to be built a specific way so as not to be lopsided and fall off the truck as we would go back to the barn.  The same was true inside the barn.  The squares had to be built in such a way that they were straight and square.  Nothing haphazard.  The  sturdier the squares were built, the easier it was to climb on them to build the next square higher.  I think we built our squares 12-bales high, maybe higher, I don’t remember.

I found a few pictures online to illustrate.

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Building the Load

Crisscrossing the bales.

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Stacking Squares in the Barn

Building the squares with platforms to throw the bales up to the next level, then to the next higher yet.

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Bales in a Shed

Once we filled the barn, we filled the shed.  It was similar to this one.

Proverbs 3:9-10  Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

If it was a good hay season, and he had more hay than he could store at the shed, he would store hay in our barn.

One day haying, walking beside the truck to load the bales on my side of the truck, a mouse ran up the inside of my jeans pant leg!!!  I’ve never been the same since!!!  I remember screaming and shaking my leg to get him out, but I don’t think the rest of the crew could understand my sudden hysteria.  My mother was driving the truck and stopped to see what happened.

Somehow despite being in a state of shock, I was able to think quick enough to pull my jeans tight at the knee so he would be at a dead end and have to leave the way he came in.  Probably the reason someone invented skinny jeans!!  I should have thought of that, I’d be a millionaire!!

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Young Haying Crew

I really like this picture I found online of a haying operation.  It reminds me of ours in that we were so young.  When I was growing up this was a very typical farm scene.  I love it!

Proverbs 12:11  He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who pursues worthless things lacks sense.

*Some of our haying crew on the truck in the first picture, I can only recognize myself in the center and my neighbors granddaughter on the truck roof.  Where were digital cameras back then?!  I seem to have a lot of pictures with heads cut off!!

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

The Farming Memories

“The Farming Memories”

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Mark 4:26-29  And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.  He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.  The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.  But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”  

You might say I was a little obsessed with putting all my farming memories on fabric for the Potato Blossom Festival anniversary quilt.  I decided to make duplicate squares and start my own quilt of my potato farming memories.  I still had several sketches that I thought would be perfect for a quilt.  This time for my squares I added another layer of memories.  I had a piece of chintz fabric that my grandmother used to use in some of her sewing projects.  After thinking about it, I decided that for each square, I would somehow try to incorporate a piece of chintz into the design.

Chintz is a shiny fabric used for things like slipcovers, pillows and even draperies.  Like a cotton, it is similar to calico and often has several designs on one panel.  My grandmother often used chintz when she would make aprons, either for herself or to give as hostess gifts.  She might cut out a flower as a pocket or to embellish the apron.

If you have been following The Nose Bump Blog, you know that some of my recent blog pages have been sewing tutorials.  This page is a combination sewing tutorial and history of some of my farming memories put on fabric.

Exodus 35:35  He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.

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“Cutting Seed”

During my farming days, I cut a lot of seed potatoes by hand and picked a lot of rocks by hand.  Today’s seed is all cut by machines and most rocks are all picked by machines.  Naturally these were two squares that I had to include in my farming memories quilt.  Some of them I could see in my mind, I just needed to get them onto fabric.  Sometimes I don’t do well with dimension, however I think you will recognize the designs.

One thing I do when I appliqué and have small details, I will use a light weight interfacing on the back of the fabric.  As above in “Cutting Seed” and below in “Picking Rocks,” the small potatoes on the seed rack and the rocks in the field and the rock cart, these details are quite small so I stabilized them with interfacing.   Sometimes I might only need a small square like 2 1/2“ x 2 1/2“ square to get whatever it is I need from it.  And then sometimes I might need a the larger piece that I might even be using the same color for something in a different square.  The interfacing gives it a little more stability especially when you’re moving the square a lot to do all the appliqué.

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“Picking Rocks”

One of my grandfather’s cousins used to come to visit us every summer and he always told me that he didn’t know how I could pick any rocks because he had picked them all when he was a boy!!  I always told him I think he missed a few.

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“Monkeyface”

Some of my designs were rather easy like “Monkeyface Work Gloves.”  What a thrill to ‘graduate’ to the Monkeyface gloves!!  The bright yellow and red or blue cuffs!!  I could hardly wait to get them dirty!!  I still have an old pair on the porch, on the potato basket, that I dust off occasionally.

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“The Planter”

Some squares had more detail to convey the block like, “The Planter.”   When a square that had the same thing, like in “The Seed Rack,” the cut seed in the barrel, I used the same fabric to also portray the cut seed in “The Planter.”   I tried to show my rows of potatoes being covered up by the discs of the planter.

My childhood dog used to follow us up and down the rows for miles.  I had to include him.

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“Dinner Time”

Two other farming memories that I turned into quilt squares were, “Dinner Time” and “Gingerbread for Coffee Break.”  During planting season and especially harvest season, my grandmother would be busy preparing the meals for dinner and supper.  We stopped for dinner at noon and could smell the delicious meal as we were coming in the house.  She had Apple Franciscan dishes, so I found a piece of fabric with some apples in it to incorporate the dishes into the dinner time square.

Every once in a while my grandmother would come out to the field and bring us out an afternoon coffee break.  One thing I especially remember her bringing out to the field was gingerbread cake with whipped cream.  We would stop, turn a barrel upside down for a table, use other empty barrels as chairs and have our coffee break.

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“Gingerbread for Coffee Break”

For these two squares I also use interfacing on my small pieces.  I didn’t really know how to make people so I decided to use shadow forms and they too needed to be stabilized.  I also used  interfacing on the plates, the clock, the gingerbread, the whip cream, the thermos, the coffee cups and the gloves.  In these squares, I incorporated some chintz in the clock and as the whipped cream using pieces of white chintz.

Each farmer had their own logo to identify the potato barrels in case they left one at the processing plant or maybe one fell off the truck and would be in the ditch between the potato house and the field.  Many farmers would just paint their initials on the barrels.  I think my grandfather wanted something that was consistent and easy so he made a stencil using his initials.  My  grandfather’s initials were GC and he designed a logo that was basically a C in a diamond, <C>.  I still have the stencil which I use on my porch for my hangup plants.  I used my alphabet embroidery feature to create the logo on the barrels in the farming quilt.

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“The GMC”

I carried my barrel logo into the other squares that also had barrels like our GMC Potato Truck.  My grandfather had a two row digger and a potato picking crew.  After taking over the farm, my parents went ‘mechanical,’ investing in a one-row barrel potato harvester.  It was a big move at the time.  Thinking back on it, I expect they had a choice of getting the barrel harvester or a one-row harvester with a boom for a bulk truck.  It’s my belief that they went with the barrel harvester because they had so many barrels from my grandfathers potato picking crews.

“The GMC” represents loading the truck during harvest nearing the headland of the field.  Maple trees are on the headland in beautiful fall golden leaves.  If you look closely the fabric design is actually oak leaves, however my trees are maple trees and most of them are still standing.

When I got my first teaching job we loaded up the potato truck with all my worldly possessions, and my parents helped move me into my apartment.  Who needs a U-Haul when you have a potato truck?!!  Probably all my new neighbors thought it was the Beverly Hillbillies arriving with a rocking chair on the old truck.

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“Maples on the Headland”

Whenever it was possible when we were planting potatoes, picking rocks, or harvesting potatoes, we would stop and park under the Maples for our coffee breaks and welcome the shade.  A sun safety tip that I know more about now than I did then.

The square is a farming memory for summer, so the trees I selected green leaves.  For the rows of potatoes, I found the green and white stripe that I was hoping showed the rows of  potatoes as still somewhat small plants as the leaves were not yet meeting in the middle of the rows.

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“The Potato Blossom”

The Potato Blossom square was the first one that I did for the 50th anniversary Maine Potato Blossom Festival quilt.  I knew I had to do a duplicate square for my farming memories quilt.  For this square, I actually made a paper pattern for my leaves so that they would be all pretty much the same.  Then used two different green fabrics to kind of show a little shadowing.  I also tried to use some brown under the leaves a little to show the dirt under the leaves.  I made another pattern for the blossoms and cut freehand stamens from yellow chintz.

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“The Back Forty”

The Back Forty has a lot of different fabrics and a lot of memories in it.   We would drive tractors, walk or ride bikes ‘down back’ all summer.  Spring and Fall too as we would get to the fields to plow, harrow and spray.

Depending on the season, we would benefit from the fruit of the land.  Down the lane were wild strawberries that we would probably eat more than we picked, and bring back baskets full of berries.  My mother would usually make a strawberry shortcake with some of them and make some strawberry jam that we would be able to enjoy all winter.

On our rock piles were raspberry bushes that also provided a lot of berries.  My mother and grandmother would make raspberry pies and freeze some for later.

We also had a few blueberry bushes.  There were not very many so we didn’t get as much fruit, but when we did my mother would make fresh blueberry muffins.  The strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are all from my chintz fabric.

Another product from the land we had was honey.   We had bees for a while, maybe three or four years.  They loved the clover and produced delicious clover honey.

When we picked rocks and went to the rock pile to dump the load, we had to go by the brook.  So naturally we had to stop, cup our hands and get a drink from the fresh water.  It was the best water in the world!!

Usually we raised two types of potatoes, Katahdins, or round whites, and Russets.  Some years we would raise Cobblers.   For fabrics to represent the fields, I tried to pick greens that showed some type of lines for the potato rows and the grass for oats or buckwheat.  We also grew peas as a rotation crop.  I can almost taste new Cobblers and petite peas as I write!!

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“There’s a Cup on the Hook”

At the well house we had a holding tank for water to fill the sprayer to spray the potatoes for pests.  There was a cup on the hook to get a nice cold drink of water from a spigot.  In Spring the apple tree was full of blossoms and by Fall you could pick an apple for a snack.

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”Winter Work”

For my farming memories quilt, I wanted to represent all the seasons, so where the other potato house I depicted in summer, this one I did in winter.  I again used my white fabric that looked like it had wood grain in it and folded it in such a way to create clapboards for the front of the potato house.

There was a lot of work to be done at the potato house in winter.  My father would haul potatoes to the plant pretty much all winter where they would be shipped out and processed into something like French fries.  One load was fifty-five barrels pretty much all shoveled by hand using a potato fork.

When he wasn’t hauling potatoes, he would spend time fixing some of the potato barrels that were in need of repair.  If he bought new barrels, he would stencil the logo on them, evenly spaced in thirds around the top.

By the time Spring came around, we would begin to cut seed for another season of raising potatoes.

My grandfathers men plowing, my father operating our harvester and my neighbor harvesting potatoes in the same field.

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“The John Deere”

Like The H, the John Deere 3020 tractor had a lot of details.  By the time I appliquéd the John Deere, you would have thought I would be better with figuring out dimensions to better show a little 3-D, but I hadn’t quite figured it out.  I used my John Deere green and yellow as in “The Planter” and used the chintz for the headlights.

The tractor was like a Cadillac.  Compared to The H, the John Deere had power steering and power brakes.  It was also an automatic.  Parallel parking was a breeze!!

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“The Plow”

Sometimes I look at the plow and cry.  I have it on my lawn, I guess you could call it a lawn ornament, with some daylilies and a rose bush planted near it.  When I look at it I think of all the miles my grandfather walked the rows of potatoes.  One row at a time, just him and his horse tilling the land, it’s sometimes hard for me to even to imagine.

2 Corinthians 9:10  He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

 

The Settling

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2 Peter 1:3-4  As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life.  He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness!  And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his riches and wonderful promises.

The two-weeks passed and it was time for the doc to see how the flap settled.  During that time I tried to get a daily picture to see if I could see the changes.



One day early on during a bandage change, I asked the doc if I could mow my lawn.  He looked at me like he didn’t know what that meant.  Later I thought he probably didn’t know because he’s a doc, he can hire people to mow his lawn.  Anyway, after he thought about it for a minute, he said, “as long as you don’t fall and hit your nose.” Since it was still early in the process and I wasn’t supposed to shower or get it wet yet, I decided to wait a while before I mowed.

As I was trying to get a daily picture to see changes in the settling, I kept forgetting to take a picture.  When I did remember,  I didn’t notice a lot of changes, except that I have a lot of red tee shirts!!

I might need to go shopping.  I may look for a maroon tee!!

At the settling visit the doc said everything was still looking great.  He compared my scab to frostbite and said that as it heals he will cut away any dead skin.  I said, ‘I thought you had said it would settle more in the two weeks,’ and he said, ‘no, it will be a long time, probably a year.’  I had misunderstood what he said at the prior visit.  I thought the year would be the whole process, not just the settling.  I doubt I’ll take a selfie every day for a year.

The doc said to keep doing what I was doing; cleaning and putting the ointment on it.  Because it was all gone, I asked what kind of ointment I should buy, telling him that ‘Bag Balm’ was my ointment of choice.  He always looks at me like he’s never heard of what I’m talking about.  He thought about it and questioned, “isn’t that for cows?”  I said, “yes, but it’s the best for healing things like cracked cuticles, dry skin and probably stitches.”  Stitches doc, healing stitches?

My guess is that I’m his favorite patient, the highlight of his day!!!  He said he would see me for follow-ups every two weeks for a while before sending me on my way.  I might sneak some Bag Balm on the stitches once in a while, shhhh, don’t tell the doc.

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Even though the doc said I didn’t need the bandages, occasionally when I went shopping, to get haircuts or go to other events, I usually put a partial bandage on the ‘new and improved nose bump.’  Generally speaking, people seem okay with bandages rather than a little blood, a scab and some swelling.  Either way, I used it as a conversation starter to inform and educate about basal cell carcinoma whenever I was out.

*picture below 

One of my great nephews had an archery party for his birthday celebration.  While the little kids had cake and ice cream, the big kids had a some fun too!!  I could hear the doc during all of my shots, “as long as you don’t hit yourself in the nose with an arrow!”

**pictures below 

I couldn’t smile a normal smile because my cheek was still numb and it seemed like stitches were splitting depending on how I moved it, however I tried with my Bullseye!!

***pictures below 

Two more weeks passed and it was time for another follow-up appointment with the doc.  He was running a little late but two of my followers, aka the nurses, said the settling was looking great.

When the doc did see me, he too was really excited with the settling during these last two weeks.  Doc doesn’t seem to get overly excited about much, so for him to be excited about how the new nose bump was settling, was exciting in and of itself.  He put something on it and took out a couple stitches.  He said to keep doing what I was doing and he’d see me in a month.   The Bag Balm was working.  Shhhh, don’t tell the doc.

A month.  I’d already missed him in the two weeks since the last appointment, I told him I’d really miss him not seeing him for a month.  He said I could write him a note.  Early on when I met the doc I told him I was thinking to blog about basal cell carcinoma to inform people.  One day he asked if I had mentioned him in it.  I said, “well …, not by name.”  So in most future appointments with him I would say, ‘for the nose bump blog I’m writing that you aren’t in, what about … ?’  Instead of writing him a note, maybe I’ll write him in a new blog page.

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Romans 12:7  If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well.  If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching.

Several friends had shared the blog as I would add new pages.  One day I had a post from someone saying that he had forwarded my blog to a friend that was recently diagnosed saying he hoped my blog would be an inspiration to his friend.

After blogging about basal cell carcinoma for a couple months I heard from another  friend that told me because she was reading the blog, she mentioned to her friend with an unusual skin bump, that she should have it checked out and told her about my situation.  The blog was working, it was bringing awareness to skin cancer and at least one person was going for a checkup.  With all the shares I may never know how many people the blog reaches.

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Psalm 85:12  Yes, the Lord pours down his blessings.  Our land will yield its bountiful potatoes.

It was potato harvest and the smell of dirt was all around.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the smell of dirt.  It takes me right back into the fields!!

I might ask the doc if I can work potato harvest.

I can hear him now.  “As long as you don’t get your nose dirty or dusty,” “as long as you don’t get hit in the nose with a rock,” “as long as you don’t fall off the truck,” “as long as there’s no sun shining on it,” or maybe “as long as you can drive the tractor without hitting your nose on the GPS,” and my favorite would be, “as long as you don’t let a branch fling back and hit you in the nose when you run to the bushes!!”

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Exodus 34:21  Six days are set aside for work, but on the seventh day you must rest, even during the seasons of plowing and harvest.

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

*My nose bump ‘V’ bandage.

**Birthday party archery fun.

***My bullseye.

***Edit, pictures added for above dialogue. They didn’t come in with an update. I thought they were important to the post.

The Flap

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“It All Started with a Thimble”

That’s what I started to use as a title a couple years ago when I was thinking to write a sewing blog.  In my sewing world a ‘flap’ is something like that piece of fabric that covers a zipper or pocket.  The idea for a nose flap is basically the same, in my mind at least.

During the consultation the doc said he would create a flap using skin from the cheek, forehead or maybe skin around the ear area.  He might also consider doing a skin graft and looked at the skin around my shoulder area.  At the time he thought the least possible option would be the forehead, but would decide once he was in there.

It ended up the doc made two flaps.  One on the cheek and one on the forehead.  The cheek flap will be the inner part of the nose and the forehead flap would become the outer part.

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The doc didn’t have a thimble when he came to see me after the surgery, however he did have something like tweezers that he used to lift the flap and see how everything looked.  He was pleased.

A week later the doc changed the bandages and said everything looked great.  He would be on vacation the following week and would schedule the next surgery to be the week after his vacation to ‘split the flap.’  In my sewing mind, I could visualize what he was going to do.  Someone would call as it got closer with the exact date and time.

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Ephesians 6:10 A final word: Be strong with the Lord’s mighty power.

The flap surgery was scheduled for a Tuesday at 6:00 a.m.  Because I wasn’t supposed to drive, especially after the surgery, my nephew drove me to the hospital and dropped me off.  The sign in and prep was pretty much like the first surgery except this time I remembered being wheeled into the operating room.  I asked the anesthesiologist how many people were on the team and he said five.

This second operation was about an hour and a half and in recovery about an hour.  The nurse said she would call for my ride so my sister-in-law came to get me around noon.  My energy wasn’t nearly as drained as it was during the first operation probably because it was much shorter.  I was to go see the doc in two-days for the bandage change.

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Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength.  They will fly high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.

The next Thursday was time again for the doc to change the bandages and see how it looked after the second surgery.  He was again pleased with how it looked and scheduled me to come back in a week.

The week passed quickly and the doc said I didn’t really need the bandages but would put them on for now.  A couple of the nurses came in to see how it looked and they too said it looked great.  I had ‘followers’ at the doc’s office and with the blog!!  The doc will be famous by the time he finishes with me.  Or infamous.

Curiosity got the best of me about the tanning bed statistics I had found on basal cell carcinoma.  During one of the bandage changing appointments, I asked the doc if he found a high percentage of skin cancer cases in the area are due to tanning beds or if there were more due to exposure to sun, farmer types like me that were out in the sun for many years.  He didn’t know the percentage, however he did say that around here most of his cases are from exposure to the sun.  He added, people don’t seem to think that they need sun screen or they think the sun here isn’t as strong as other parts of the country.  That doesn’t exempt you from skin cancer just because you are using a tanning bed, the risks are still present.

About three weeks after the first operation and a week after the second operation.

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The next Thursday, I still think they only work on Thursdays as that’s when most appointments are scheduled, I had another appointment with the doc to change the bandages.  I mentioned that I was a little concerned about one section that seemed to be split open or wasn’t stitched quite right.  He looked it over and said it was healing nicely.  Then he said a few long technical medical terms about my concern which basically translated to, ‘it’s like a scab, it will fall off.’

Suddenly I noticed the doc had a little sense of humor!!

The doc took out his tweezers and pulled out some of the stitches.  The doc also said I didn’t need the bandages and that I could gently clean it with peroxide and put some ointment on it.  The next follow-up appointment would be in two-weeks so he could see how it ‘settles.’

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The doc still doesn’t chitchat much but he answers my questions.  I asked him how long the entire process might be, a couple months, six, ten?  He said he likes to start with a year.  And again, I knew that my case was different than most since I had neglected the nose bump so I wasn’t surprised it would take longer.  Had I had him look at it when I first noticed it, he maybe could have just removed the nose bump in a less complicated procedure.

Now I suppose some people would be discouraged thinking that there would be more appointments and surgeries for a year or more.  I had given it to the Lord and He had it all planned out.  Even though I neglected the nose bump and didn’t have it looked at sooner, the Lord didn’t give up on me, He was still guiding my steps and bringing all the right people into my life.  From the eye guy to the unemployment staffers and the hospital financial team to the doc; the Lord was meeting all my needs.

Almost two-weeks after the flap surgery.

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John 16:33  “I have told you these things, so that in me you have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”

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Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

The Job Search

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Psalm 90:17  May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us – yes, establish the work of our hands.

The job search began the same day the devil asked me to leave my job.  I’ve worked all my life and saw no reason to get discouraged.  On Friday, one-week after the surgery, I decided to go to the CareerCenter for job leads and postings.  The thought never occurred to me to stop job hunting, so stopping at the CareerCenter seemed normal.

imageFirst Impressions at the Job Interview?

Teaching Home Economics was always about teaching life skills to my students and therefore it was preparing them for the world of work.  After the program and budget cuts, most of my subsequent jobs included some form of teaching either through workshops, presentations or summer camp projects.  In addition many times the topics I was to present on was, “Job Readiness.”

In preparing my curriculum for my Job Readiness workshops, I had several lessons including, Dressing for Success, Getting Along with Co-Workers, Networking, Resume Writing, Cover Letters and The Interview to list a few.  So for over twenty-five-years while I prepared others for interviews, I didn’t train many employers on what to expect if an interviewee arrived for an interview with bandages after surgery.

Would you hire someone that came to an interview in bandages?  Would you be so preoccupied with the bandages that you wouldn’t listen to the answers to know whether or not the person was a qualified candidate?  Whether we realize it or not, we judge people by their looks.  It is said that you have the first 7-seconds to make that first impression at the interview.

To me the bandages were no different than having your arm in a sling or arriving to the interview on crutches.  The job search needed to continue.  My resume was updated and my interview outfit was pressed.

Having worked all my life, I have been a loyal, honest, dependable and hard working employee in any job I have had.  In today’s job market and knowing the mindset of job seekers, my sense was that I would work twice as hard with bandages than most others would work without bandages.  Plus I had the Lord directing my steps to my next position.  No need to worry.

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Matthew 7:7  Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for.  Keep on looking, and you will find.  Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened.

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

The Prayers

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Mark 10:16  And he took the children in his arms, placed hands on them and blessed them.

Growing up I had very precious neighbors that were like family to me.  They were invited to all the family events, holiday meals and get togethers.  Often when they would pray for someone they would say, ‘I’m laying hands on so and so for complete healing.’  I’m not so sure I understood what that meant when I was eight or ten.  As the years have passed, I find myself ‘laying hands’ on all my friends and family when I pray for them, knowing now that there is no distance in prayer.

Another dear cousin called me once or twice a week to tell me she was praying for me.  We would talk and I would update her on the latest steps in the procedure.  She would say she wished she could do more, but ‘at least I can pray for you.’  I would reply, “your prayers are enough.”

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Psalm 62:2  Truly He is my Rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

The Lord sent me a man to do some work at the house.  I rarely saw him as I was at work and he would be gone by the time I got home.  He had been working on the job a couple weeks or so and the Lord spoke to me in ‘that still small voice’ and said, ‘ask him if he will do this other small job you need done.’  I kind of argued with the Lord saying, ‘but that’s not what he’s here for.’  Well, the Lord doesn’t usually let it go that quickly, He kept prompting me to ask him.  So I did.  To my relief he said yes.  His gentle kindness was like the eye guy and it brought tears to my eyes, after all, he was busy with other clients but he made time for my extra job.

At different times while he was at the house working we had a chance to talk a little and early on we talked about church and people we both knew.  The whole time he was here we probably talked no more than an hour or two all total and I had added him and his family to my prayer list.  Later when I was in the middle of ‘The First Miracle’ the Lord again spoke to me and told me to ask him to pray for me.  Again I kind of argued with the Lord and said, ‘he doesn’t even know me,’ and, ‘I don’t know him.’  The Lord continued, ‘ask.’  The Lord still kept up so when I was asking my praying friends to pray for me, I asked him.  He too, was willing to pray for me and my needs.  It was then I realized the reason the Lord sent him to me wasn’t necessarily to do the work at the house, it was to be a praying friend.

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Luke 4:40  At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them.

Friends of mine that I had worked with years prior had moved and were back in the area for a visit.  We made plans to meet for lunch.

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James 5:14  Is anyone among you sick?  Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

Another friend that I worked with years ago has been praying for me and my needs for years.  We share a birthday and over the years and moves, we have kept in touch through birthday cards, letters and emails.  About the time I was finding out about the nose bump, she too found out she might need open heart surgery.  Quite the birthday presents for each of us this year, both our surgeries were scheduled a day or two after our birthdays.  We decided not to send each other birthday cards this year, just do extra healing prayers for the other.

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Deuteronomy 32:30  How could one person chase a thousand of them, and two people put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given them up?

My class was having a BIG reunion this summer.  At the time I had all these appointments so I didn’t see many of my classmates.  Later when I posted the blog, many of my childhood friends sent prayers and well wishes.  Many of them lived across the country but I felt their prayers as if they were right here.

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Proverbs 18:24  There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.

For something a little different, I asked my precious niece and nephews to make a selfie video for when I go ‘under the knife.’  Suddenly they were camera shy.  They are thinking about it.

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Ephesians 1:3  How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ.

In my first teaching position two guys came into my Home Economics room while I was putting up a bulletin board and welcomed me.  We talked for a while and they invited me to join their ‘singles club.’  It seems there were six or eight single teachers in the district and they would get together and go out to eat every Friday night.  Over the years I have remained friends with both of them, however one lives nearby and we find ourselves getting together two or three times a month.

We sit on the porch reminiscing, laughing and going out to eat like old times.  His prayers for me were on-going.  After the surgery I went for a visit and he said, “come in my masked friend.”  Laughing, I replied, “Batman started his career wearing a mask.”

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About three weeks after the surgery, it’s healing well.

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Isaiah 26:4 Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Saturday Night Bath

 

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Matthew 9:37-38  He said to his disciples, “The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few.  So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields.”

At the first meeting with the anesthesiologist the nurse said to take a nice long shower because you won’t be able to take one for a while.  A week and a day later I decided I could probably take a bath if I was careful not to get my face wet.  Shhhh don’t tell the nurse or the doc.

I threw another log on the fire, put a kettle of water on the stove and filled the tub with nice hot water.  It brought back memories of my childhood days and working in the potato fields all day.  Especially on a fall Saturday night during harvest.  We would have been on the harvester or in the potato house and stopped early because it was payday.  After having supper, getting a bath and check in hand, we would go to town and to the bank to cash the check.  Then off to all the shops to see what new clothes to get for school or park on Main Street and people watch.

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2 Corinthians 9:10-11  Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.  You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

It was time for me to change the bandages myself.  Here’s a before selfie.

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A during selfie.

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Another angle

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After

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It was almost like making a patchwork quilt.  Cutting fabric bandages the right length, getting the placement right and not even obsessing over being an 1/8″ off.  I think I did alright.

I was ready for another day in the field.

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

The Stitches

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A Time for Everything
Ecclesiastes 3:7  A time to tear and a time to sew.  A time to be quiet and a time to speak up.

Having started sewing about the same time I was working in the potato fields, I have been sewing most of my life.  There are several types of stitches; basting, satin, stippling, buttonhole, blanket, blind hem and top-stitch to name a few.

After the first surgery and reveal, the selfie was when I saw the stitches the doc used.

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The EN&T doc is a lot like the eye guy  He doesn’t talk too much.  Maybe it’s a course they all take, ‘Don’t Talk Too Much to the Patient 101.’  Sew, needless to say he didn’t chitchat or ask me much like, ‘what do you do for work?’  Of course given my jobless and insuranceless situation that the hospital knew about, perhaps he knew I wasn’t working.  Sew, he didn’t know anything about me and my background.

Besides starting to sew at a young age, I also taught Home Economics for many years.  As school budgets decreased and the programs were cut, I still continued to sew.  Over the years I have sewn clothing, curtains, shams, and quilts and have used just about all the stitches available.  I don’t think I had ever seen the type of stitches the doc used.  For now, I’ll give him a B+.

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Proverbs 31:21-22  She has no fear of winter for her household because all of them have warm clothes.  She quilts her own bedspreads.  She dresses in fine linen and purple.  

 

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© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Surgery

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Philippians 4:6-7  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The surgery was scheduled for Friday and I was to be there at 7:30 a.m. for all the sign in and prep.  I got changed and the nurse started to find my veins for an IV.  She couldn’t find one so called another nurse to help.  The second nurse said my hands were cold and put a heat pack on them and soon found a vein.

The doc came in and said good morning, took a sharpie and wrote on my neck.  I forgot to ask what he wrote.  A couple more people came in and the next thing I knew about three people were asking me to cough and wake up.  The surgery was over.  It was about 6:00 p.m.  Later I found out I was in surgery from about 8:30 a.m. until about 2:30 p.m. and in recovery until about 5:30 p.m.  My niece came in for a while around 5:30 p.m., but I must have fallen asleep because I don’t remember much except seeing her walk by the nurses station.

They asked me a couple questions, I don’t know what, and since I was so tired, they admitted me for the night.  Next thing I remember was being wheeled to a room.  The nurse told me to close my eyes so I wouldn’t get nauseous.  Once in the room they hooked me up to another IV and put on some anti-blood clotting shin guards.  They probably have a more technical name, but I don’t know what it is.

Later in the evening, my niece-in-love and great nephew came to visit.  I could hardly talk.  My arms were so heavy I couldn’t lift them and I was a bit nauseous.  My niece-in-love went out to tell the nurse and they gave me some nausea IV med that kicked in quickly.

My niece-in-love is a great photographer so she took my first post-surgery selfie.

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As tired as I was, I didn’t sleep all that well.  The noises from the shin guards, the noises from a different place and the nurses and CNA’s taking vitals, not only for me but also for my roommate, kept me in and out of sleep throughout the night.

In the morning my niece came back and the doc made his rounds.  I still could hardly talk, didn’t feel like eating and still didn’t seem to have any energy.  The doc explained to my niece that he got the whole tumor, Praise the Lord!!!  The next miracle along this journey had come to pass.  He also informed her that the reveal ‘would not be pretty.’  The doc took off the bandages and said he was pleased with how the nose flap looked.  If he was pleased, I was pleased.

My niece took another selfie of the first reveal.

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The doc said I could go home if I wanted to or spend another night, it was up to me, so I went home.  It was probably around 4:00 p.m. when I got home.  Still without much energy, I slept quite a bit the next 24-hours.  Monday I felt like I could eat a little.

Up and moving around some, I decided to take a selfie.  It still isn’t very pretty.  The doc told me not to touch it or pick at it, later he asked if I had changed the bandages and I said, “no, you told me not to and I’m going to be a model patient.”  He said, “a lot of people don’t follow directions.”

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The doc wanted me to come into the office on Tuesday to change the bandages.  My niece took another selfie for the blog.

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The doc was pleased with all the healthy skin and said it looks great.  The nurse did my bp and it was 117, the cinnamon was working.

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The doc put some ointment on it and I asked him how long the flap was, saying in my own sewing terms, “five-eighths of an inch or so?”  He held up his thumb and forefinger to about 3″ – 4″.  I was a little surprised.  He wanted me to come back in two-days for another bandage change, so Thursday.  Then the next surgery would be in about a week.

Tuesday I also felt strong enough to take a walk and go check the mail.  Then out again to water my sunflowers!!

 

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After supper I ventured out again and took a picture of a beautiful sunset.  It was five-days after the surgery and I felt like I had my energy back.

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And then the thought occurred to me to try and take a sunset selfie!!  After about ten selfies of my thumb, I got this one!!

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It has been a while since I first met the doc and having had a little time to google information, I finally thought to ask him if what he did in my surgery was what they call, ‘Mohs surgery?’  He said, “no but that it was similar.”

imageActs 13:3  So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.

 

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© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Ablazing!

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What has happened to me?!?!?  I’ve never been one to spend a lot of time doing my nails.  And I never cared much about bright colors on me.  If and when I did my nails, it was for a special occasion like a wedding and it was clear or the palest pink available.

It seems like about the last five years all that has changed.  I do my nails more often and in the darker pinks, mauves; maroon even.

And now, I’m trying different colors that I didn’t care for before … WITH GLITTER!!!

Today I did my nails in a bright red glitter nail polish called Ablazing to go mow the lawn!!  Surely something is wrong with me!!

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Proverbs 27:9  Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

And then I heard the doc say, ‘you can mow your lawn as long as you don’t fall and hit your nose!!’

He’s in my head a lot.

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

 

 

The Slice

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Jeremiah 29:11  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

The slice revealed that the nose bump was in fact basal cell carcinoma as the doc suspected.  The plan was to go in and remove the tumor during day surgery the next day.  The doc told me the type of flap he would create would depend on how deep he had to go to remove the tumor.  He said I would be in for several surgeries and take it one at a time.

 

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Ecclesiastes 1:9  What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

A Few Facts

One in five will get some form of skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.  Each year there are more skin cancer cases than breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer and colon cancer combined.  People who have tanned inside (tanning beds) have a 69% higher risk of getting basal cell carcinoma before the age of 40.

These and many more facts and statistics blew my mind.  It made me think about all the times I’m getting my hair cut and there’s a steady stream of people coming into the shop to use the tanning bed.  Although I never used a tanning bed the risk is still there and probably most people don’t even think about it.

It is interesting how many cases you hear about after getting your own diagnosis of others that have known someone that also have had skin cancer.  One friend told me about someone that had a bump on the forehead and another that had one on the cheek.  Early detection of any changes should not be ignored.  And, as someone that neglected the nose bump, I would urge you to have the gentle kindness of my eye guy and ask the person that has a new or unusual skin bump if they have had it checked out.

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Psalm 113:3  From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.

The teacher in me sometimes shows up when I least expect it and when I thought my teaching days were over.  Every day I learn something new about basal cell carcinoma and recently came across this Body Mole Map.  I thought it might help someone.

 

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© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Don’t FryDay

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Did you know the Friday before Memorial Day, has been declared “Don’t Fry Day” to encourage Sun Safety Awareness?

Skin cancer has been on the rise from exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays of the sun.   The National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention has designated the Friday before Memorial Day as “Don’t Fry Day” to encourage sun safety awareness and to remind everyone to protect their skin while enjoying the outdoors.

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There are several things you can do to help prevent overexposure to UV radiation.

  • Do Not Burn or Tan
  • Seek Shade
  • Wear Sun-Protective Clothing
  • Generously Apply Sunscreen SPF 30 or higher
  • Use Extra Caution Near Water and Sand, even snow
  • Get Vitamin D Safely
  • Wear a Hat
  • Avoid Tanning Beds

The American Cancer Society estimates that one American dies every hour from skin cancer.  This year alone, the American Cancer Society estimates there will be more than 73,870 new cases of malignant melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, and more than two million new cases of basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers in the U.S.

Fortunately, skin cancer is highly curable if found early and can be prevented.  The best way to detect skin cancer early is to examine your skin regularly and recognize changes in moles and skin growths.

Skin cancer doesn’t discriminate.  It likes you young or old, light skin or dark skin, male or female, rich or poor; could all be at risk for skin cancer.  Those who have a family history of skin cancer, plenty of moles or freckles, or a history of severe sunburns early in life are at a higher risk of skin cancer as well.

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Ephesians 6:11  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

The Spot

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Leviticus 13:22  And if it spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a disease.

If you are like me, you have fabric in your stash that you’ve had a while.  Maybe quite a while.  Possibly even so long you don’t remember where you bought it!!

Recently I was going through my fabric stash and looking for something else for a project I was working on.  I came across this polkadot piece of fabric that I’ve had for eons.  It was one that I didn’t remember what I was going to make originally.

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Have you ever noticed clothing styles?  I love that phrase, ‘if you keep it long enough, it will be back in style.’  Over the years I’ve had a few scarves that I wear with certain outfits.  I also inherited a few scarves that my mother used to wear that I love to incorporate into my wardrobe.  The latest trend is something called an infinity scarf.  I love them!!

The thing about all of these scarves; old, new, infinity; is that they can quickly and easily dress up an outfit, even a tee-shirt.   The infinity ones are great because it’s basically a big circle that you can make one, two maybe even three loops, put it around your neck and it won’t blow away in a wild winds.

A week or two ago I wore one of my scarves with a knot in the front.  I stopped to get gas, the winds were whipping and suddenly my scarf knot was in the back!!  Immediately I thought I should have worn an infinity scarf.

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With my new and improved nose bump,  I have read a few articles about skin cancer and last year discovered that May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month.  I also learned that orange is the color of skin cancer, like pink is the color for breast cancer, all the different cancers have a color to help promote awareness.  In addition, it seems that the polkadot also can represent skin cancer awareness, like a spot.

Suddenly I had a brilliant idea!!*  I would use my polkadot fabric I found, that was eons old, make an infinity scarf to help promote skin cancer awareness and, mainly have a new accessory to go with some of my outfits.

Are you ready for an infinity scarf tutorial?   For the pattern, I decided to use the measurements of an infinity scarf that I had on hand.  I measured it and it was about 22” x 80.”

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After prewashing the fabric, I cut off the raw edges.  The length wasn’t long enough for the 80 inches, so I added a section that was about 20”.

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Right sides together, I stitched the length, end and other length side, basically making a long narrow pillow case.  There may be other ways to make the scarf, however in my mind every time I would turn it inside out, the scarf wouldn’t come out right.  I decided I didn’t want to take that much time to make it wrong and have to seam rip it out.  So I stuck with simple.

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While the scarf was inside out, I took extra time to make sure I didn’t have any straggling threads on it that would show through on the right side.  Turn, press and stitch the two ends together.  I used a flat felled seam to enclose the raw edges.

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The infinity scarf was ready and I wore it a few days later to an event.  I got more compliments on it than I think I’ve had on any other scarf.  I was even able to talk about skin cancer awareness with a couple of people.

Have fun making your infinity scarf!

* ‘A brilliant idea …’. My Great nephew was telling me that he had, ‘a brilliant idea.’  He was 5-years old at the time.  You might have thought he’d have an idea.  Or a good idea.  No, he had a brilliant idea.  I asked him if I could use his phrase in the blog from time to time.

3 John 1:2  Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.

 

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© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

The Consultation

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Matthew 9:12  On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

The meeting for the second consultation was scheduled for Thursday, maybe they only work on Thursday, that’s when all the appointments have been.  After getting checked in and passing the bp test, 122/76, the new EN&T doc arrived and checked the nose bump all over again.  He asked if they did the biopsy and I said no, so he said, “I’ll take a slice right now, if that’s okay.”

He got out a needle, that didn’t look like any of my sewing needles, and proceeded to numb the nose bump.  Then he took the slice, put something on it to stop the bleeding, gave me some ointment for it and sent me on my way.  The follow-up and pre-op would be scheduled for the next week.

One thing he asked was how long the nose bump had been there and I couldn’t really remember because time seems to fly by these days.  Since then, one of the interesting facts I read on the Mayo Clinic site, (Google gave me another million or so, but right now I only have time to read one, so I picked Mayo Clinic) is that skin cancer starts below the skin, is slow to develop and could take decades to appear.  It also says usually not appearing until after the age of fifty.

Another interesting cause of skin cancer is due to ultraviolet radiation from tanning beds.  Research shows people that begin using a tanning bed before the age of 35 increase the risk of getting melanoma by 75%.

Men are also at a higher risk than women to get basal cell carcinoma.   When you think about it, it makes sense since there are many more men working in outside jobs during the heat of the day; construction workers, highway crews, roofers and of course farmers.

This is where I suppose you are supposed to say something like, ‘the following may contain graphic photos,’ in case you have a weak stomach.  I’ve debated with myself whether or not to do take this type a flattering ‘selfie,’ but I think the purpose of this blog is to help someone else that may find themselves in the same situation.  My case is probably more complicated than most because I neglected it figuring it was old age creeping up on me.

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Isaiah 41:10  So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  

Since getting ‘the diagnosis’ I haven’t done too much research on it.  I may Google it just to add definitions, facts and figures for more information as each procedure goes on.  Or better yet, add a link to cases per year according to the American Cancer Society.

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The nose bump before the consultation selfie!!

 

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© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Crew

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Psalm 16:6  The land you have given me is a pleasant land.  What a wonderful inheritance!

This is a glimpse into my childhood.  I grew up in Northern Maine on a potato farm and spent many days working in the fields.  When we were old enough to pick potatoes, plant seed and harrow the fields, we did.  Many of my spring, summer and fall days would be outside picking rocks, baling hay and working on the harvester, so needless to say I had a lot of exposure to the sun.  Which, when you are out in the fields at 6:00 a.m. and it’s cool, by noontime, you welcome the sun.

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Ephesians 1:11  Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as He decided long ago.

Now, having done a little research on basal cell carcinoma, one possible cause could be exposure to the sun.  I don’t think we even had sun lotion, let alone sun lotion with sun screen when I was growing up.   Most sites agree that fair skinned, blue eyes and light hair people are at a higher risk for skin cancer.  Another contributing factor could stem from severe sunburn during childhood and adolescence.  I always would burn easily.  That’s me, and hatless.  In hindsight I didn’t have a chance to avoid it.

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Genesis 8:22  As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night.” 

 

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© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Primary Doc & The Intern

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I’m generally against most doctors and medicines.  For the most part, their answer to everything is, ‘loose twenty-pounds and you’ll be fine,’ or ‘here’s a handful of medications you’ll be on the rest of your life,’ neither of which was what I wanted to do.  To the credit of the primary doc and an intern, they didn’t do either.  I expressed that I didn’t want medications and was given a natural approach to bring down the sky high blood pressure.

There were about ten options; cinnamon, basil, garlic, flaxseed, celery seed, ginger and a few others.  I decided to try cinnamon.  I had seen the large bottles of cinnamon on display at Walmart so picked up a bottle.  The bp was about 168/100 at that initial appointment.  A week after starting the cinnamon my bp at the first consult with the EN&T guy was 124/76 and the nurse said, ‘good, this is where we like it.’  I thought, this is good, the cinnamon is working and I won’t have to have a dozen meds.

Yes, a dozen, because my theory is that meds just cover up the problem, they don’t cure it.  The other problem I have is the side effects are worse than the problem, ‘the side effects may include dizziness, nausea, diarrhea, cough, seizures and the list goes on and on and ends with death.’  I don’t like getting sick anyway so the idea of taking something, some cure all med, that will MAKE me sick, it’s NOT a good idea.

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Ezekiel 47:12  Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river.  Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail.  Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them.  Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”

Then it continues, you get on the med, have some follow up meeting and they ask if you have any of the side effects, then they say, ‘oh, I can give you something else for that nausea.’  And on and on until you are taking more meds than you have counter space for all the bottles.

So after the 200 over something they didn’t like morning (the day the original biopsy was scheduled) the EN&T guy told me I had to go back to the primary doc and get on meds to get my bp under control. He’d said the m-word.  I didn’t like it but I hadn’t had the chance to tell him I didn’t want meds and figured I’d be in for a lecture.  So, back to the primary doc I went, got the prescription and an appointment to come back in a couple weeks to see how the drug was working.

On the follow up appointment to check my bp and see if this bp med was doing anything, the doc was pleased with how it was working.  I accredited it to the cinnamon, the primary doc was convinced it was the med.  And, as I predicted, at the end of the appointment, I was asked if I had the side effect of a slight cough and I said, “yes, once in a while.”  Like clockwork, the primary doc said, “I can give you something for that next time if it keeps up.”

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James 5:14  Is anyone among you sick?  Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

 

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© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The #SpotSkinCancer

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Song of Songs 2:11-12  See!  The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.  Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.

Layout 1May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month.  Are you able to Spot Skin Cancer?  In yourself?  In others?  Here’s a quick quiz for you to take.

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Pencils down.  How did you do?

  • (A) 100%
  • (B) 50%
  • (C) 25%
  • (D) I need to learn more

Thinking back on my nose bump journey, I suppose there were people in my life that figured I had something, maybe they didn’t know it was basal cell carcinoma, before I realized it was more than a pimple or just old age creeping up on me.  Or, before someone like my eye guy said something.  So the question becomes, if you notice an unusual skin blemish or bump on a friend, family member or co-workers face, what would you say?  How should you word your concern?  Is it too sensitive a subject?  How will they react?  Will you loose a friend?  Why should I get involved?, they probably are already having it checked out.

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Let’s role play.  Let’s just say I started working at your place of employment, got settled into my space, then you came to my office and introduced yourself?  You notice the nose bump.  What do you say?

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Last year the American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. did a public service campaign using social media and also using the now famous hashtag.  #SpotSkinCancer   Flyers were designed with skin cancer statistics to bring awareness and educate more people.  Here’s my challenge to you, download and print one of the flyers, or create your own, take a selfie and post it to the social media we love so much during the month of May.

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9,500 people are diagnosed with skin cancer every day!!!  Every Day!!!  That’s pretty much unbelievable to me!!!  That’s more than double, probably triple the population of my small town!!!  Will you be one?

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Women are 9x more likely to notice changes in skin blemishes.  Maybe it’s due to my nose bump, however it seems like I notice more skin bumps, and especially nose bumps, than ever.  It either looks like a pimple as mine did in the beginning or like other images in this second quiz.  Sometimes even watching the evening news and local interviews, to me, it seems like the beginning of skin cancer in some.  Am I the only one to notice?  Should I say something?

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One in five will be diagnosed with skin cancer?  How many people are in your office?  Family?  Friends?  How many of those would that be?  Mind boggling isn’t it?

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As funny as this cartoon seems, indoor tanning has quickly become one of the most common causes of skin cancers.  Several studies have shown that UV radiation from indoor tanning is associated with an increased risk of melanoma (the most deadly,) squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma.

It’s estimated that indoor tanning may cause more than 400,000 cases of skin cancer a year in the United States.  Young females have higher melanoma rates than young males, probably because more females use tanning beds than males.   Women younger than 30 are six times more likely to get melanoma from indoor tanning.

There are several regulations surrounding indoor tanning and minors.  Most people probably are not aware of the dangers, they just want a ‘nice tan’ for the prom, a wedding or class reunion.  Personally, I would think twice about it knowing what I have learned about tanning beds.  Just google indoor tanning images and read a few cases.

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There are several websites on skin cancer, however I really like this one, especially for resources.  It has some interesting tools for finding and getting more information on skin cancer.  One feature is this interactive map of free SpotME screening locations.  Just click on your state.  The other feature I really like on this site are the downloadable free resources and flyers to print and post.

If you are into ‘tweeting’ here’s a great Toolbox of Resources that provides a lot of links to get the skin cancer word out.  I may even share a few links myself.

The teacher in me seems to show up from time to time, like giving a quick quiz on skin cancer.  Next, I’m going to give you each some homework.  Yes, homework.  With all your newfound information, decide how you would approach someone with an unusual skin bump, what you might say and how might you help.  Hopefully you will have the gentle kindness of my eye guy and say everything in love.

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Psalm 32:8  I will instruct you and teach you (about skin cancer) in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

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#SpotSkinCancer

#9500aDay  #MayTheColorofSkinCancerIsOrange  #SunSafeSelfie #MayIsSkinCancerAwarenessMonth  #9xMoreLikely  #JustSayNoToTanningBeds  #AvoidBeingInTheSunFrom10to2  #SeekShade  #WearAHat  #1in5Diagnosed  #thenosebump.wordpress.com  #DontFryday  #Sunscreen #MoreSkinCancerDiagnosedThanBreastProstateLungAndColonCancerCombined

 

COPYRIGHT

© Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The First Miracle

During my last job the devil was around all the time and even came into my office and asked me to leave.  That was the first miracle.  I wasn’t even really shocked.  After all, the devil functions using tricks, schemes and strategies and this latest strategy was designed to make me get upset so I would yell, scream, swear and maybe even storm out of the office.  I didn’t do any of those, I didn’t want to give the devil that much credit.

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1 Peter 5:8  Be careful!  Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. 

A month or two prior, I received a reminder postcard in the mail that it was time to make an eye appointment.  Jobless, I called and asked the receptionist if there was any way possible I could get an appointment within 30-days because my health insurance was going to run out.  She had an opening, however it was not with my regular eye guy, it would be with another guy if that was okay.  After asking if, ‘he knew what he was doing?’ and she said yes; I took the appointment.

Eye guys typically don’t talk too much.  At least mine haven’t over the years.  He had me read eye charts, line up dots and concluded that my eyes were healthy and strong.  Then he added, ‘but I’m concerned about the nose bump.’  His gentle kindness was the second miracle.

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Ephesians 4:2  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

He made a couple calls and before I knew it I had an appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat guy.  To his credit he didn’t ask a lot of questions like, ‘why didn’t you come in sooner?’  He basically looked it over and said, “I’m pretty sure it’s basal cell carcinoma or skin cancer, I’ll have the nurse schedule a biopsy for next Monday or Tuesday.”

On checking out, the nurse said, “I’ll schedule it for Thursday, that will give the staff time to confirm your insurance and someone will call you on Wednesday for the time of the biopsy.”

They don’t seem to ask you many questions or even if you have any questions, they just seem to know what to do and schedule it.  Which is probably good for me because there are no decisions to make, should I do this or that, or … what was that other option?

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When I got home from the appointment I had a message on my answering machine from the eye guy’s office saying my insurance was invalid.  After going into my insurance account, I saw that my insurance had ended, the day after the devil asked me to leave my job.  He doesn’t stop, he was still trying to steal my Joy.

Google is quite something.  Sometimes I wonder how I functioned before The Google Days.  I looked up what I remembered to be the law saying employees have a 30-day grace period before insurance ends.  Google gave me a million links inside of three-seconds and the top one or two basically said, ‘normally employees do have a 30-day grace period when a job ends … depending on the state.’

I clicked on the state in question and it seems there is no grace period in that state, at least when the devil is involved.  Now I have no insurance, no income and a lot of doctors appointments and surgeries ahead of me.

Did I mention the devil was trying to beat me down from all angles?  I had already signed up for unemployment and had about four or five calls from the Department of Labor.  It seems that the employer did not pay in or skipped me or something because according to one woman that called, she said, ‘you don’t exist.’  She continued saying that my case has several ‘red flags’ on it and there were ‘a lot of staff’ working on this.  She told me not to worry, keep filing my weekly claims and that they would get to the bottom of it.  And, oh yeah, she told me the employer wasn’t answering phone calls.  The devil was still at work trying to kill and destroy by destroying any chance of my receiving unemployment benefits while I was between jobs.

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During the weekend I thought, ‘Obamacare, that’s supposed to kick in, and, supposed to accept pre-existing conditions, and, is supposed to be affordable.’  So I did another Google search and did an online application.  It came up with a few plans that I qualified for, just had to pick one.  The only problem was they were NOT affordable.  At least not for me, unemployed and no source of income.  The plans started around $1200.00 a month, yes, $1200.00 a month, and went up from there.

Another option might have been Medicaid but Maine didn’t have that part of Obamacare.  The pre-survey for Mainecare put me out after the first two questions.  Do you have a car and own your own home?  I thought everyone got COBRA options when a job ended but I didn’t even get that.

On Monday someone from the EN&T office called saying since the insurance was invalid, the biopsy for Thursday would be postponed unless I could do self-pay and to plan on anywhere from $13-$26K for this procedure.  I explained that I just found out about the insurance and looked up the Obamacare online.  She said to call her once I picked a plan and got a new insurance card.  It was all pretty much like a foreign language to me.

Instead of getting down and discouraged I continued to pray for all the things one prays for especially in difficult times.  My prayers were usually for all my friends and family members needs; things like healings for their finances, their emotional and mental health, their physical and spiritual healings.  Sometimes I don’t think to ask my friends and family to pray for me, but I did this time.  I sent a few FB messages to friends and called a couple others.  Yes, a couple, I don’t have a lot of friends, well, you know, old classmates that you haven’t seen in years and old co-workers that have moved and you only ‘talk’ by posting a comment here and there on Facebook.  All were very happy and willing to pray for me and my needs.  My friends and family were the third miracle.

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Job 42:10  When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes.  In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! 

Finally the paperwork for the COBRA came and shocker, it too was very expensive, $1043 and some cents a month.  I couldn’t pay it, not now, still job hunting; so I gave it to the Lord.

Wednesday I called a dear praying cousin asking her for prayers on my situation.  We talked and Praised the Lord for about an hour from 10:00 – 11:00.  I barely hung up the phone when it rang again.  Thinking it was probably a telemarketer, I wasn’t going to answer, but I also knew people might be calling about appointments, unemployment or maybe even a job interview, so I answered.

It was a woman from EN&T calling again saying that the doctor really wants to do the procedure on Thursday so, ‘someone will call later today with the time.’  She continued, “we have pushed through some financial forms for you and all the costs for this procedure on Thursday will be done at no cost to you.”

I was kind of in shock.  I thought, ‘maybe I’m dreaming.’  Did she say all the costs, the $13-26K would be paid?  Maybe this is an answer to prayer.  Did I even hear her right?  All the while I knew it was the Lord answering one of my many prayers, after all, He already had answered them two thousand years ago, why didn’t I remember that?

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Praise the Lord!!  We serve an Awesome God!!  The fourth miracle had come to pass with prayers being answered quicker than I think I had ever experienced. Malachi 3:10  “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

Later that day I received about three more calls from the finance department of the hospital.  One was a conference call asking several questions about the job and insurance ending and another doing a phone application for Mainecare.  That woman said someone may call for more information, but what we need is if you get a denial letter.

Now I suppose if you are used to abusing the system, you know all this, but to me, it was all fairly new.  Of course I knew that despite what you hear in the news and read on FB, not everyone has Obamacare.  There are a lot, thousands if not millions, of people without health insurance, so for these women from the hospital to call and tell me they have pushed paperwork through for all my financial costs of my case to be paid, to me it was a miracle, not just another day of the usual paperwork.

The call for the biopsy came and it was scheduled for Thursday at 7:00 a.m.  I arrived and was a little nervous.  The nurse took me in and did blood pressure and the machine made what I thought were strange noises.  It turns out, I was more nervous than I thought because my blood pressure was sky high, 200 over something they didn’t like, so the doctor came in and said he was going to cancel and also wanted his colleague to look at my case.  The second doc was on vacation or something and wouldn’t be back until the following week.

The new appointment was scheduled for the next Thursday and I was to call someone else to confirm.  When I did and said the appointment is with both doctors, the woman from the hospital said, ‘well that’s odd.’

Odd is my fifth miracle.  The new doc came in and looked at the nose bump, I refuse to call it the c-word, and he said, basically and nonchalantly, “we’ll have to take care of this.”  Again, they didn’t seem to ask me many questions or for my input, they just seemed to know what needed to be done.

The first doc did actually ask me if I had any questions, but I didn’t really even know where to begin or what to ask.  I asked a couple, but I don’t really remember what I asked.  As they both talked I seemed to understand them, but again a lot of it was like a foreign language to me.  They used simple words like cut, flap, bridge, hole, rim and stitches that in a normal conversation, or even in my sewing world, I understood, but I had a feeling they had somewhat different meaning in this case, so I expect each word will have its own blog page as the procedure continues.

Sunflowers

Philippians 4:19  And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

COPYRIGHT © Jeanne Bugbee and The Lord Supplies, The Nose Bump Blog, 2017 to date.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeanne Bugbee, The Lord Supplies and The Nose Bump Blog.  The Nose Bump blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.