Donations for Deborah Rice

NOTE: Deborah has passed away on August 2019. Thank you everyone who made her last months a bit easier to bear.

 

This is to update you on the helping Debbie go through her treatment. Please scroll down for updates.

If you're not familiar with the type of brain cancer she was diagnosed with (Glioblastoma IDH wild type) you can find information HERE. It's the most aggressive type of brain cancer that gives the shortest survival.

Deborah's story as told by herself.

" I realize you don't know me since you're new, and I haven't been able to be active in the group for a while now. The day after Christmas a brain tumor was found with a CT scan, and an MRI was done the following day, showing a tumor the size of a golf ball. Shortly after that I was taken by ambulance late one evening to the Corvallis Regional Medical Center, about 2 hours from where I live on the Oregon coast. I was slipping into a coma when I got there and they had to do emergency brain surgery or I would have died. It was a long surgery and they removed as much of the tumor as they could, but couldn't take it all without destroying and removing brain tissue itself. It has now already spread to the other side of the brain and is quickly forming others, as is the nature of this beast.

Samples were sent to multiple pathology labs across the state, including the Oregon Health Science University. All agreed that it is glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer. Though there is no cure, and not even much that will slow it down for long, I am going to pursue treatment, both chemo and radiation, which could either help for a short while, or make it worse and go faster. I will do what the medical field can do, but ultimately I know that God is the one who has the final say-so over my life, short or long. I've experienced miracles and seen many others. I'm a fighter, not a quitter, and will fight with all I have to not just surrender to this. so will see what He does on this section of my journey. I'm here for the glory of God, and I love Him passionately! I've had many opportunities to encourage others each step of the way, and I have been so blessed by it, and count it as a privilege. Sorry this is so long, maybe I just felt the need to ramble, but if I don't speak my heart now,while I still have a voice to express, then when? Those are my thoughts, anyway. And if I'm being a little selfish in sharing my thoughts, well then that's where I'm at, and it has to be okay. I can only be where I am, and live that moment, being present in it.

.......... I'm trying to catch up after being out of commission for too long. Clay withdrawal isn't fun at all, and I definitely prefer fun - all I can get of it! So, as Day always says, "Happy Claying!"

I had asked Deb Friday evening to try and do a donate button on her Paypal, following my tutorial on how to do subscriptions without using Patreon, but creating a donation button instead.
Why I chose to try and help her this way and not through GoFundMe, is because that way requires more steps, there are more fees and it takes longer for the money to actually get to her.

The thing is, Deb has issues focusing and concentration and following up. So when I didn't get from her the code, I waited for her daughter to get there Saturday (yesterday) so she can help Deb do it.
Unfortunately Deborah was set to go have a hair cut (truth is, the front part of her head was, obviously, shaved for the surgery so she only has hair on the back of her head) but due to the time zone difference, I would have been asleep by the time they would be back.  There are a lot of changes in behavior when having that type of tumor destroying your brain, so we have to have patience with her. I'll try and get  with Kari over Skype this afternoon. Deborah pretty much is awake at night and sleeps most of the day, so it's a bit hard to coordinate.

As soon as I get the code I will post the button here. That way, everything will go directly to her Paypal account instantly and she can purchase what she needs.

379 DIY Swan pendant - polymer clay tutorial

What's on my list of buys you ask?

Well, from my "monthly chats with you", you already know that my "must" to buy that are planned and budgeted, and very important, are, in order: a bigger monitor, an ergonomic chair, and new eyeglasses.
1. The bigger monitor - well, it will be actually a TV. For the size I need, a TV that size is less than half the price of an actual monitor. As long as the TV has HDMI input, good resolution and all that, it will work just fine. With a bigger monitor, I'll be able to see better what the heck I'm doing. And see when I get off-camera, lol
2. An ergonomic chair. They make "gaming chairs" now! That is for people that sit immobile (well, moving your mouse and typing on the keyboard doesn't count as much mobility) for long long hours. With an ergonomic chair I will be able to sit on a chair longer than one hour, not just for the lives, but I'll also be able to not have to go lay down every 15 minutes when I am working on something.
3. New eyeglasses. I actually need progressive ones, that will finally make it possible that I don't have to go "glasses on/glasses off) all the time.

But what about other things? what other things are "musts"
Well, there aren't many. Just a few.

One would be another organizer. If you haven't checked my Amazon influencer store, there's a whole section there with organizers. I have a pretty nifty one, all metal - that takes away the worry of it being affected by the clay. Why do I need so many organizers on my table? Because it can be painful to keep getting up and getting stuff from the shelves/drawers.
I already have one similar to what I will show you below, that I got at BigLots for $8. This one is $10, but it's a tad bigger. I love the fact that it has both upright holders AND little drawers.

Metal organizer

Then some more sterilite stackable drawers. With those I have no qualms, I'll just look around at Goodwill. Last time I went there I found 2 of them, the kind that are over $10 in the store, for just $2.99 a piece.

Some tiered spice jar holders. That will also be Goodwill. I have this tiered carousel rack for spices, that's been on my counter for ages. I was looking at it one day and went "hmm... I almost never use the spices from it, I use the spices from the cabinet, it's there just because it matches the cabinets. I wonder..." So out the old spices went, jars were cleaned, lids were labeled, then were filled with all kinds of mica powders I had laying around in various plasticky containers and little bags. Ta-daa! huge space saver. Need to do that for more of the mica powders and also for the acrylic paints that I use very often.

I'm talking about stuff like this one

They're expensive as heck when brand new. But I've seen them plenty at Goodwill and other thrift stores.

So yes, as you can see, it's pretty much organizing. One day I'll show you my work room. And explain why I have it set this way - the whole idea is to minimize painful moving around to get what I need, and also decluttering and saving space.

Destash 1 June 2018

These are for now the packages for the first destash.
Yes, there will be more. I have a whole load of things that need to go as they take up a lot of room and I don't know if I'll be able to get to finish them and put them in the store, if I ever manage to get around and enable the store, that is.

So, shipping is included in the price for a small flat rate box, insured.
If you buy more than one item, I will try and see if the items in both packages fit in one box, or if they fit in a regular priority rate box that would be cheaper than a medium flat rate box. Trust me, I will try to find the cheapest shipping solution. And I will refund you the money if there are extra for the shipping. i.e. you buy 3 packages, normally the shipping would be $19, I manage to fit stuff in one medium flat rate box for $13.00, I refund you the $6, or if it fits in a regular priority mail for less, then whatever is the cost, what is extra I will refund you. I will send you the pdf with the USPS receipt so you can see  how much it was. You will also get a notification with the USPS tracking number.


VERY IMPORTANT.
If you are an international buyer, let me know ahead of time. For the quantity of items of a package, the shipping cost may be anywhere from $13.50 to $25.00. I will put the item on hold, you email me your address, I will weigh the item and go on the price calculator of USPS, and tell you exactly how much it is. Then I can simply send you a Paypal invoice for $27 +whatever the shipping cost difference is.

These will be up for 48 hours. After which I will take them down and bring up 0 more. What is left will be distributed in the future packages.
Destashes are NOT refundable.

Whisper

I'm sitting here praying and hoping. He was so good in these past months. Prancing and playing, and eating his food and interacting with the cats. My little Anubis. My little deer.

Taking you in the past... I used to have at one point two dogs, the most unusual pair someone could imagine - a toy yorkiepoo, Betsy, and a Great Dane/Newfoundland mix, Thor.They were best buddies since Thor was 3 months old. Betsy was almost 5 years older than him.
I will skip over how I got them and other stories, and just mention that at one point, when Betsy was 16 years old, out of fear that if she's going to die, Thor will also die of a broken heart, I adopted a lurcher (greyhound and terrier mix) baby girl, Maya. She was essentially raised by Thor.
Then in 2005, right after Thanksgiving, Betsy went to the Rainbow Bridge, two months short of her 20th birthday. The other two mourned for over two months - Thor more than Maya, understandable.
Then the next year, in the beginning of fall, one of Thor's back knees all of a sudden got all swollen. A trip to the vet and an Xray confirmed that he had a very advanced osteosarcoma - he had no knee, really, the whole end of the femur was a huge tumor. The vet told me that the leg would have to be amputated and he would have to go on chemo, but at 16 1/2 years old for that size of a dog (Thor weighed in his good days 125 lbs) he would probably not survive the surgery, and given the size of the tumor she was sure it was metastasized.
I agonized for three days over the decision and finally I had to put him to sleep. He couldn't walk anymore and was in pain.
I took Maya with me when he was put to sleep, so she could be there for him and kiss him good bye.
It was a good thing - she only mourned for a few days, and from the day I brought home his ashes, she started being fine.
But she was bored. Raised in a house with other two dogs, she was alone for 10 hours a day when I was gone to work. So I decided to get her a friend, in January 2007.
We went together around to local pounds and shelters. She was the one who was supposed to choose her friend, not me.
I was honestly aiming for another senior gentle giant, but we couldn't find one. Finally we got home with an adorable loveable 1 1/2 years old mastiff mix. He was awesome, obedient, housebroken, everything, only that.. when they started playing, and he playfully put his paw on her, Maya flew 3 yards back, head over heels. I realized he was too big and too playful and she could get hurt unintentionally, of course.
So the next day I took him back to the shelter (they have a foster with adoption intent program) and gave him the best references (he was adopted the next day) and then looked a bit more to the dogs they had there.
And in one cage, in a corner, all sad, sat what looked like a greyhound puppy. All the other dogs were at the door, trying to get to me and being happy. Only the little one was  in the farthest corner, looking dejected at the ground.
I went back inside and asked to see him. He was brought to me, his eyes were staring somewhere in the distance, oblivious to everything and everyone. He was registered as "whippet mix" and I found out his story. Apparently he was an owner surrender. He had belonged to an old man who was wheelchair bound. Why would a person who is in a wheel chair want a racing dog, beats me. Whisper (at the time his shelter name was Devo) had never been outdoors. His paw pads were as smooth as a baby's behind. But that was just the beginning of the story. The old man had a bum of a son, and alcoholic who was into dog fighting. And had a pitbull "puppy" about a year old. And every time he was visiting his father, Whisper was used as "training bait" for his pitbull. That is where all the scars covering his throat and face were from.
I signed the papers for him and brought him home. I placed him on the couch, wrapped in my woolen jacket. He stood there for almost two hours, staring somewhere in the distance, watching something only he could see. Still oblivious to everything and everyone. I tried feeding him. He didn't even sniff the food. I tried putting it in his mouth. It dropped. He hadn't even budged.
I let him sit on the couch, and from time to time I'd stop and pet him and gently talk to him.

After two hours, he finally moved. He slowly started exploring the house. Then found the bedroom. And under the bed he went.
I didn't try to get him out. I placed a dish of food and another one of water under the bed (I had a very tall bed). Then, after some thought, I also took a stuffed teddy bear someone had brought me as a gift, and placed it on the floor, with one paw under the bed skirt. The teddy bear slowly disappeared under the bed. It was Whisper's friend and companion he took everywhere with him for the next month. But that was later.
Anyway. That evening I went to bed, and as usual, Maya jumped in bed and laid at my feet. About 10 minutes after I had turned off the light, I felt Whisper jumping in bed too. After a bit of sniffing around, he went under the covers, wormed his way up my body until his little head rested on my shoulder and there he gave a big sigh, and he fell asleep.
And that is how Whisper came into my life. A little dog who was so dejected and had been so abused. It took him 3 months before he barked for the first time - I thought at one point they had de-barked him. He would communicate only by putting his head near mine and sighing loudly - that's why I named him Whisper.
It took him 6 months before he wagged his tail for the first time. Even now, after so many years, when I see his little white-tipped tail wagging, my heart swells with joy.
He made friends with Maya instantly. Well, he became real fast the leader of the pack. Maya was so gentle and good-natured she would let him do anything he wanted.

They slept together

Played together

Discovered things together

Ate carrots together

And overall, loved each other very much

And so the years have passed. My fearful little deer after a while was even able to go out for walks - in the beginning he would freak out every time I tried to take him out of the house.

But after years and years, he conquered his fear and enjoyed going with Maya on walks in the neighborhood.

Then back in November 2013, in the first day of freezing of that winter, I heard little desperate meows at the entrance door. Two kittens, cuddling in the cold, scrawny and covered in fleas.

And that is how Conor and Seamus joined the family.

On the way to the vet for their first check-up

Then in 2015 Maya started going downhill. She became senile. Then started having problems walking. Then in January 2016, one day, her read end fell to the floor. She had paralyzed. I had to put her to sleep. She joined her friends Betsy and Thor at the Rainbow Bridge.

Then it was just Whisper and the Twins (I call them the Twins but they're not even brothers, Conor is about 2 months older than Seamus). Whisper is more bonded with Conor. Seamus was more bonded with Maya, he cried for her for weeks when she passed. Amazingly their furs matched too - Whisper and Conor's and Maya and Seamus's.

Now it seems it's time for Whisper to leave me. In October he was diagnosed with liver cancer and was given 2 months to live.

I've switched him to a special diet and he's still alive, and his liver enzyme levels went down, almost to normal. 

Why did I write all this?

Because two days ago he started having digestive issues again. That can be the sign of liver failure. Maybe I just wanted to reminisce all these years past.

Maybe because I wanted you to know why Whisper is such a special dog. And so important to me.

My little deer.