The Detective’s Power of Persistence

“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

What a busy week this has been.  Two times to the doctor's office, worked three days, had a staff training meeting to get ready for the Summer classes that begin on Monday and working on a book trailer for Dr. Kay.  However, let me first tell you how I was able to do all this. 

  

Being diligent and proactive as well as pursuing the role of a detective, I actually discovered a couple of things that was messing with my body!  I will tell you what happened, and by deduction I learned a couple of things that have made a difference in how I feel.

I was having really bad dizzy, weak, shaky spells.  I decided to stop one of the blood pressure medications.  It helped some, but I was still having problems.  (I did call my doctor to let her know.)  I kept check on my blood pressure, and it was fine; however, my heart rate was very fast.  So, I stopped the second one.  Blood pressure fine, not quite as dizzy and shaky but heart rate was still fast.  I began researching my other medicines, and I found that was a severe symptom of one of the allergy medicines.  So, yesterday, I didn’t take it in the morning.  I had just a tiny bit of vertigo, but it was a great day and my blood pressure was fine as well as my heart rate.

  

I felt so much better that I had a young lady come in to help me try to get the house back to some sort of order.  I actually felt well enough to do some sorting, cleaning a pitching of things myself.  I did things I had not been able to do in more than a couple of months.  It felt so good that by the time the day was finished, I was so tired I hurt.  However, a good hot shower and tucking myself in bed took care of all that.

I almost forgot to tell you that, the Doppler ultrasound imaging, which uses sound waves to check blood flow and measure the thickness of my carotid arteries turned out well. No problems there.  Check - that is good. 

  

This morning all systems are pretty much go.  I am not a 100 %, but I have been up getting more things accomplished.  I washed a load of clothes, gave myself a haircut and fixed my hair.  I have a list of things to try to get done before bedtime.  It always amazes me that if you just hang in there, be proactive just how much of a difference it can make.  If things are rough for you right now, I hope you tie a knot in that rope, hang on and climb out of the hole when opportunity knocks! 

 “It isn't the things that happen to us in our lives that cause us to suffer, it's how we relate to the things that happen to us that causes us to suffer.” ~ Pema Chodron

That is all for today.  I have lots I want to do, so I will update you sometime next week.  Leave a comment if you can and let me know how it is going with you!

Tiny Lights and a Flashback…

           Last night I was sitting on our patio in the dark just listening to the night sounds when suddenly tiny flashes of light caught my eye. The tiny lights flashed here and there like tiny fairy lights against the wooded background.  It dawned on me that I was seeing fireflies darting here and there.  I found myself transported back to another time when I was a child. I remembered sitting on the back porch in the middle of summer enjoying the evening’s cool air after a long, hot summer day.  

          It brought back some of the good memories of my childhood, and suddenly I really missed that big old-fashioned back porch.  Most everyone I knew, when I was growing up, either had a big front porch or a big back porch, and ours was a big back porch.  That old porch was a vital part of our lives.

        There was a swing, a couple of chairs, a small table and a place to leave muddy shoes and boots.  In one corner was a place where Momma stored her broom and dustpan.  It was a great place to play on warm rainy days and a place to enjoy the fresh evening summer air.

        My father had a lumber business and I can remember that when the mid-summer thunder showers would hit in the middle of the afternoons, my father and his workers would take a break to sit and have a cool drink on the back porch.  I loved to sit and listen to the tall tales they would tell about things they did when they were young. 

      The swing was a great place to play, but it had many other practical uses.  My mother and I would sit in the swing and break green beans or shell peas for canning or for the evening meal.   The porch was also where cream was churned into butter for the family or black walnuts were cracked and the nutmeats removed for baking cookies and cakes.  Maybe most important of all, it gave Momma a break from the hot kitchen where the wood stove was used to cook three meals a day.

      At the corner of the house was an unusually big oak shade tree that made it more a comfortable place in the summer. In the evening, the porch was a gathering place for the family and neighbors. They would visit or, perhaps, get out their guitars, fiddles, banjos and harmonicas and sing the old songs.  Sometimes, my father would bring out the old wind-up record player and we would listen to music recorded on large plastic records.  They sounded scratchy and the voices didn’t sound like real people singing most of the time, but more like cartoon characters.  The back porch was always where the family gathered on Sunday after church and a big Sunday dinner, usually fried chicken.

      In the wintertime the porch was a place to leave our snow packed boots and a place to brush off our clothes before entering the house.  It was also a place where we would make homemade ice cream out of fresh fallen snow. 

      Eventually, my father screened in the back porch. Back then if a porch was enclosed, it was not a porch anymore, it was a room.  Once the back porch was screened in it took on a variety of other uses. 

       There was a small table about 18 inches deep and 18 inches across. There was a wash basin resting on it and a mirror hanging from the wall above it. There was also a straight razor, a razor strap for sharpening it and a shaving mug with a shaving brush in it.  The table also had a wash basin for hands with a towel on the wall.  Beside the wash basin sat a big cedar bucket with a large dipper.  There you could get cool drinks, except in the winter, when the water in it would freeze. 

       The back porch is one of my fondest memories and I often wish that the house I live in today had one, but it wouldn’t be the same because too many other things have changed as well.  It is a world that has gone, but it still lives on in our memory room.

 We have lost a lot since house builders quit putting porches on new houses. The families have also lost a lot, and what they have lost is much more than that old back porch.  However, the people who are from my generation have the memories to savor and to share.  Maybe you can share some of yours here.

A very early picture of my parents.

The following is an excerpt of the poem "Pulse Points" that is in my book, Pulse Points of a Woman’s World.

As the pulse points are caressed

     by life’s lusty fragrant perfumes,

Treasures entwine the heart

    in the twilight of the memory room,

Where memories are imprisoned

    by the heart on an intricate chain,

Each link clasping a captive dream

    to be evoked to living vividness again.

The Rocky Road of being a Bladder Cancer Survivor

This past couple weeks have been a little rough health-wise.  I started out with muscle cramps in my legs.  Those I can stand and straighten my leg to work them out, but then I began having them in my feet and toes.  The toes literally curled under and my foot distorted.  I had noticed that I was more tired than usual, and I felt weak and my hands and body trembled. I decided it was time to call the doctor to get checked.  She did a full blood lab work-up on me to find out what was happening.  I had to wait on the lab results. Each day while I waited, I symptoms got worse.  Finally, on Friday I receive a call from my doctor's nurse with the lab results.  Everything checked out fairly well except my potassium was very low even though I take potassium supplements.  The doctor instructed me to double the dosage that I was already taking. 
 


I am feeling better, but I still feel a little shaky today.  This is only one of the things that can happen after a radical cystcectomy with a diversion pouch because part of the intestines have been used to construct the pouch and the urostomy.  I had been lucky because this was the first time I had experienced such a severe spell.  You can find out more about bladder cancer, and understand more about why I give the proceeds of the sales of all my books to the American Bladder Cancer Society at: http://www.bladdercancersupport.org.  All my books can be found on Amazon at:  http://www.amazon.com/Sylvia-L-Ramsey/e/B002BMJ5NI/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1326569308&sr=1-1.

In addition, the weather has been beautiful and everything is blooming out.  My allergies are affected by the pollen, and therefore, so too is my asthma.  However, this too shall pass.  I just will have to pace myself even though there is so much to do this week.  I have a lot to do to get ready for the reception Saturday, and then the rest of the month and most of April will be very busy. 

Today I was the honored guest on Stuart Aken's Blogspot.  If you would like to read the interview, you can do so at http://stuartaken.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-to-read-list.html .  He asked some very insightful questions that were different that some other interviews I have had.  I think you would enjoy it. 

Keep in touch, there will definitely be more updates!

Press Release: Poplar Bluff author’s memoir to benefit American Bladder Cancer Society, SEMO Times

That was the headline in an article in the SEMO Times.  It is a newspaper in print and online that is in the town where I grew up.  I lived outside of town, but I went to high school there and it is where I started college and received my A.A degree. That was the first step on the road to getting my Masters degree.  I was a non-traditional student when I started college.  It took a while, but I made it all the way.  I tell about the hurdles and pebbles it took to get to that point in the book. You can see what they printed at:  http://semotimes.com/7813 .

Today,  I had more flyers and invitations made up.  I put up a couple.  I am going to go see my friend Jennie at one of the local television stations next week.  I am working on some more postings of interviews on my other website.

I read a lot of articles on how to market books today.  I found some very good information on the Mid West Review site.  I am waiting in anticipation of the book reviews.

I received an email from a lady who purchased the book.  This is what she wrote:

"Your new book arrived while we were in FL, and I read the whole book yesterday. It was wonderful!!! Thanks for sharing your story You have been such a gift from God in my life. Thank you. I'm looking forward to your signing at the Elks."

She may not realize it, but she has been one of the angels in my life. 

I have several things lined up to do tomorrow.  I dread daylight savings time. It really messes with my biological clock.  Monday is work, and I have an appointment with my doctor for a check-up. 

BTW, if you would like to purchase the book, or like my Amazon page, the link is:

http://www.amazon.com/Sylvia-L-Ramsey/e/B002BMJ5NI/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1326569308&sr=1-1

Tune in later for more.....

A News Update on the Birth of Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts

I am happy to announce that Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts will be available within five to seven days on Amazon. It will also be available soon to bookstores and other online channels very soon. 

For those of you who are new visitors, and to my wonderful followers I want to say thank you for your support.  I decided on this blog entry to take a look back on the journey and bring the journey up-to-date.  I have been given an additional opportunity to advance on my quest to make bladder cancer a common word rather than one that is unheard and/or unknown. 

As I have traveled along life’s highway, I keep running into people who have let the rocks that have been thrown in their life’s road giving up on themselves, or life in general. The truth is that life is harsh, and it is not like the movies that give a false impression that it is smooth sailing. Being the hero who toughs it out and keeps on regardless of the situation is difficult, but with faith, a few guts, and the ability to laugh, it can be accomplished. It often takes a backbone, humor and a wishbone to survive it all.

Because of life’s journey can get very rough at times, I decided to write a book to share my life’s experiences so that it may inspire someone to come back fighting when life knocks them down. The book is a journey though time from childhood to mature adulthood. The stories and poems in this book reflect the lows and highs of life. The loving memories, the hardships and the things we learn as we travel the road of life. It covers an abusive mother who had mental problems because of being abused as a child, childhood polio, a rocky marriage with a husband who was often abusive, the role of caregiving, death and grief, coping with bladder cancer, asthma, losing a home and more. Therefore, to not to scare you off with gloom and doom, there are funny stories along the way and an ending that I never dreamed would happen.  The reaction of the first person other than Dr. Kay who read the book was, “I just read your manuscript of the book. “Wow!”  What higher compliment could an author get on anything she/he had written.

My hope is that the book will bring about understanding to others, and be inspiring to even more. Our journey in life has a purpose, finding it is often the most difficult task of all.

I have been so fortunate to have the guardian angels in my life. They have always been there in my darkest hour, and when I needed one the most. They have walked beside me, helped me to maintain faith and belief in myself as well as in others. I have learned that giving is much more rewarding than receiving.

My life reminds me of Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken, in the line: “Two roads diverged into a wood, and I took the one less traveled, and that has made all the difference.” I will always remember what my elementary teacher wrote in my scrapbook, “Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone.” This book is not about crying, it is about getting knocked down by boulders, and standing back up in spite of them to go forward.  It’s about facing your fears and laughing at

Dr. Aman Kay, who is an internationally published author, has been helping me with this book by reviewing it. He is the one who is responsible for my poetry that has been sprinkled throughout the book. This poetry has all been published either in my book, Pulse Points of a Woman’s World, or in various literary magazines. It is poetry that is written from the heart and soul, and was the only way I could express my feelings. I once had an instructor who asked me to explain poetry. I told him that it was much the same as an artist who paints what he or she sees and feels. The difference is that the poet uses words to paint the minds pictures rather than oil paints, watercolor or some other medium.

When I began a draft for the book, I crossed my fingers and asked Dr. Kay if he would mind reading it to see if I was spinning my wheels, or should I write the book.  He encouraged me to complete it.  Now that it is finished, his review of the book is:

“Taking the rocky road with Sylvia is a joyful challenge.  It takes the reader through the most common and uncommon hardships, but at the conclusion of this delightful journey, the reader feels more joy and satisfaction: Love, faith, and incredible guts turn the rocky road into an assuring path that all of us so humanly desire.  This book is so uniquely universal in every essential aspect that I enthusiastically recommend it to all readers regardless of their age, gender, and race.” ~ Dr. Aman B. Kay

Some wonderful things have happened on this journey.  I have met new friends who have supported me in this venture.  I owe a lot to them.  One of these friends is Julie Weishaar and she has volunteered to help me with marketing.  We discovered that we have a lot in common.  Her mother is a bladder cancer survivor.  The other person is Christy who is a freelance writer, and has a blog on poetry called the Poetic Parfait.  She is a cancer survivor as well.  One of the instructors at the college where I work came to me yesterday, and she wants to have a launch party for my book when it is released.  Healthy Women is going to publish a follow-up article on my book release.  So many other people are re-tweeting my blog and supporting me and my quest in many other ways.  The next thing I found out was that I had been nominated and selected for Today's Honoree.  I can never thank you all enough for your support and help. 

Where the next part of my journey will lead, I do not know, but stay tuned for updates.

The Highs and Lows of the Rocky Road and Hanging on With Love, Faith and Guts

The paperback proof has arrived! This weekend will be spent going over it carefully looking for any errors.  The final look before it goes to press.  There are so many things yet to do and so little time.  The brain is in a foggy whirl and writing at this point is difficult to find the words.  I have planned, but there is so much yet to do.  This book and the others are of more importance to others than to me.  Who knows, it may even save a few if they read the book. 

Right now it is difficult to write for more reasons than the book.  One of my very dear friends is going through what I did with my first husband.  Another young person I know is facing so many hardships right now, and I cannot do anything but stand by and be there if they need me.

In both situations I feel empathy, but useless.  I am a doer and a fixer...I can do none of this...so, I wait until I can.

The Silent Muse

Silence surrounds the muse

    like the murky veil

    on a smoke-stained rose

   that enfolds a city’s dawn

   as the elegant words

   of pomp and circumstance

   are as voiceless

   as the cry of a city’s neon lights.

In agony, he craves respite

    from the tyranny  of a need 

   that makes him a wanton, helpless pawn

   that lures him tauntingly

   like a siren lures a ship

   toward the hidden craggy rocks

   on cold, rainy, foggy, nights.

Thus, taunts this siren

   tricking the mind

   with ghostly strains

   of lilting rhyme

   to entice the muse,

   causing the need to be stirred

   when the mind’s curtain is drawn

    to suffer silent, voiceless nights.

© Sylvia L. Ramsey 2005

Getting Ready for the Book Launch of Traveling a Rocky Road, with Love, Faith and Guts

I have been busy getting ready for the launching of the book, Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts.  It looks as if it will be around the end of February.  There is so much to do before it is actually released.  I have been working on a Media Kit, and working on a page on this blog for that.  I have been reaching out to fellow authors for an interview.  I have been finding new release sites, media outlets, and whatever I can find to help this book sell and help the American Bladder Cancer Society.  I have a couple of interviews lined up, and I am looking for more.  If any of my readers are bloggers, and would like to post one on your site, please contact me. 

I did have one of my love poems posted on a website today. If you are interested in checking it out and making a comment, please do so.  It is located at: http://www.romantic-ideas-online.com/you-by-sylvia-l-ramsey-from-her-book-pulse-points-of-a-womans-world.html. It dawned on me that the book of poetry would make a perfect gift for Valentine's Day.  You can hear me read some of the poems from the section in this book, Pulse Points of a Woman's World on my Authors Den site.  

All of the sales from any of my books is given the American Bladder Cancer Society.  So, any book you purchase is going to help others, and maybe even informing yourself. 

I am getting plenty of comments from the poetry posted on Poetic Parfait.  There has been comments on Romantic Ideas as well.  I am waiting to find out about three more interviews.

If you want to help out, simply copy paste the link to this blog, and send it to friends, or post it on your Facebook page.

The video link for the book is: 


Click on book cover to go to video

Or, click here:
http://www.behance.net/gallery/A-Story-of-Faith-Survival-and-Perseverance/3004817


Stay tuned for more updates, and check out my other posts for more information on the books and me!

News on Charlie's Story and My Book's Status

          Today, I was told that one of the instructors at the college where I teach is using “Charlies Story” in her new student success classes to inspire them that no matter what, if they want it, they can succeed.  She said it made an impression on her students, and it also opened the class up for a great discussion. 

                     What a fantastic compliment!

Update on the book. 

My book is at the publisher’s, and I am waiting to hear from them.  I have a couple of consultation calls that I am waiting to receive.  I wonder what the cover design will turn out to be.  I am working on putting together marketing ideas, and creating a plan.  I have decided that I would like to have a book trailer for the book.  I am not sure that I want to tackle that task.  I wonder if I can afford someone to create it for me.

It is a time of waiting, planning and contemplation.  I am working on getting my other blog (Thoughtful Reflections Blogspot) up-to-date on scheduled interviews.  There is a press release in the works.  I love to write, but I really am not crazy about the phase of the process.  I am a doer, and waiting is not one of my virtues. However, the success of this book is important because I really believe it can help others in many ways.  Regardless, I feel as if I am caught up in a time warp that has me suspended in time. In a way, I rather feel like this poem I wrote once when I had writer’s block: 

         

The Silent Muse

Silence surrounds the muse

like the murky veil

            on a smoke-stained rose

            that enfolds a city’s dawn

            as the elegant words

            of pomp and circumstance

            are as voiceless

            as the cry of a city’s neon lights.

In agony, he craves respite

            from the tyranny

            of a need

            that makes him a wanton, helpless pawn

            that lures him tauntingly

            like a siren lures a ship

            toward the hidden craggy rocks

            on cold, rainy, foggy, nights.

Thus, taunts this siren

            tricking the mind

            with ghostly strains

            of lilting rhyme

            to entice the muse,

            causing the need to be stirred

            when the mind’s curtain is drawn

            to suffer silent, voiceless nights.

Overcoming the Rocks in the Road

“Opposition is a natural part of life. Just as we develop our physical muscles through overcoming opposition - such as lifting weights - we develop our character muscles by overcoming challenges and adversity.” ~ Stephen R. Covey

 My new computer is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.  I can then begin the final polish on my book.  I have an angel who is proofing it.  I must thank Dr. Aman Kay who is an Internationally published author who has encouraged me along the way to completing this work.  He has been a mentor, an encourager, and now has volunteered to serve as an editor to make sure the book is ready to be published.   

He keeps telling me that my story is one that must be read by all.  He says that is tells an honest story of survival , faith and perseverance that will inspire others to hold on to hope and to not give up.  I hope he is right because I have been honest in the telling even though it is simple and a "literary" work of art.   

Cynthia Kinsella who is the President of the American Bladder Cancer Society has contributed a message recalling our first meeting, and the importance of the messages within the book.  I have added this message as the epilogue to the book.   

If  my story can be helpful or inspiring to others, that is all I can ask.  I am a firm believer in what Edward Everett Hale said, "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do".

Excerpt from: Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts

           I was a very, very late child who was the only child of parents who had given up all hope of having children.  My father was in his fifties and my mother in her forties when I was born.  I really did not get to know or understand my mother when I was small.  She would have moods of depression, fits of anger for no apparent reason and sometimes that anger was directed toward me.  I really do not remember much about her until I was around four-years-old. 

I can remember my paternal grandmother who lived with us for a while, and that memory goes back to the age of two.  Those are very fond memories and very special because she died when I was nine-years-old.  She would be the one to take care of me when my parents would go out for the evening.  She loved listening to Inner Sanctum Mysteries, which was a popular old-time radio program that aired from January 7, 1941 to October 5, 1952, created by producer Himan Brown.  It always began with scary sounds that only an organ can make then the sound of a creaking door slowly opening. Every week, Inner Sanctum Mysteries told stories of ghosts, murderers and lunatics.             

These radio programs were very scary for me since I was only two-years-old when she stayed with us.  I know that because she bought me a little red rocking chair when I was two.  She would sit in her rocking chair close to the big console radio, and I would push my little rocking chair as close as I could get to hers.  Imagine a small child sitting in a large living room with only lamplight and shadows in every corner listening to this while her imagination takes over as she hears this radio show.  My grandmother would reassure me often that it was just a story, and when it got too frightening, she would let me crawl up into her lap while I clung on tight with my eyes closed. 

My early memories of my mother are quite different.  I remember that I often hid in one of the closets until she was over one of her tirades.  She would often threaten to leave and never come back.  When she did this, she would go out the door and into the woods on the hill behind our house where I could not see her.  I remember going in our back yard, calling out to her while I cried my eyes out.

 I loved my mother and I wanted her to love me back.  I guess she did, but I remember asking my father why, and he would tell me that she loved me, but that she had a nervous breakdown when I was born.  He had been the one to care for me until I was about three years old.  My father said he had hired someone to come in to take care of me while he worked, because the doctor said she might hurt me.  He assured me that it was nothing I had done to cause it, and that she really loved me.  I do not know what I would have done or what would have happened to me if it had not been for my father. 

As I grew older, mother’s mental health seemed to improve, but there were times when she would still lose control of her temper.  I was amazed at my father because he had the patience of an angel.  He never lost his temper with her when she was out of control, but would stay very calm.  I can remember once when she was on a tirade that he gently held her and talked softly to calm her down. 

More about the birth and author of The Rocky Road

I have been so fortunate to have the guardian angels in my life.  They have always been there in my darkest hour, and when I needed one the most.  They have walked beside me, helped me to maintain faith and belief in myself as well as in others.  I have learned that giving is much more rewarding than receiving. 

My life reminds me of Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken, in the line: “Two roads diverged into a wood, and I took the one less traveled, and that has made all the difference.”  I will always remember what my elementary teacher wrote in my scrapbook, “Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone.”  This book is not about crying, it is about getting knocked down by boulders, and standing in spite of them to go forward. 

Dr. Aman Kay, who is an internationally published author, has been helping me with this book by reviewing it.  He is the one who is responsible for my poetry that has been sprinkled throughout the book.  This poetry has all been published either in my book, Pulse Points of a Woman’s World, or in various literary magazines.  It is poetry that is written from the heart and soul, and was the only way I could express my feelings.  I once had an instructor who asked me to explain poetry.  I told him that it was much the same as an artist who paints what he or she sees and feels.  The difference is that the poet uses words to paint the minds pictures rather than oil paints, watercolor or some other medium.