Helloooooooo there again- Its been a long time ...... I have been to hell and back; as the saying so aptly puts it, but definitely on the way back, thank god.

In the meantime my love, my mate, my Randy ended up in the hospital with a blood infection that turned into an infectious endocarditis. It was terrifying. But we are well on the way back to recovery and not a moment too soon. I never ever, ever want to be that afraid again. Quite honestly just writing about it is extremely difficult for me. It brings back a lot of feelings that I'd rather bury and never revisit.

Randy had not been well since the beginning of October. So for weeks and weeks he was losing weight, feeling badly on and off and getting weaker and weaker. But did he go to the doctor? Noooooooooooooooooooooo !! Of course not. - I am still mad at him for that- I urged him, I begged him, I threatened him .... No use, until he finally felt so ill that (about 5 weeks later) he made the appointment. "It's just a virus, it will go away with lots of fluids and rest" was the verdict. Yeah right. Four weeks later (now its 9 weeks all together of being ill- having lost about 20 pounds and getting grey and still weaker) he finally decided to go for a second opinion.

Fortunately those blood tests pointed in the direction of a blood infection- long. Long story short, Randy ended up in the emergency room (on a weekend. Yikes - my advice, try not to do that yourself. Not a good time to be there, if ever there is or if you ever had a choice). Subsequently he had to stay in the hospital for almost 2 weeks. With test, after test, after test, until after about 4 days it was determined that it was indeed a blood infection that had by now attacked the heart valve. Very serious business. In addition to his now compromised heart valve the infection also seemed to have settled on his lower back. He was screaming in pain. Even heavy medication did not help. Poor thing, he could not move without excruciating pain. It was heart breaking. It took all his will power and strength to get home from the hospital on Christmas Eve, but he was determined not to spend another minute in the hospital. He was inching his way from the car up to the apartment and he was flat on his back until about 10 days ago. But with the help of our 2 healing angels Rebecca and Sara who practice acupuncture and whole body healing he has improved fantastically. (You can check them out at www.theholisticbalance.com) I like to think that my cooking special foods to help build blood and to 'move' his blood, has something to do with his recovery as well. With the advice of Rebecca and Sara we decided on food beneficial to his recovery and I could go to work and develop some tasty dishes to make my boy strong and glowingly healthy again. Randy is still on IV antibiotics (just a few more days- it's been 6 weeks in all). The end is in sight and he is moving around and starting to resume his normal activities. Yeah!!

Now he is not only much improved, but also full of good intentions - he will go to the dentist (not going is what got him into this situation to begin with- the bacteria could attack because of neglected dental work) he will go for regular check ups he will not be macho cowboy, but take care of himself - that he promised me. He also listens to our healing angels Rebecca and Sarah and follows their advice and recommendations. GREAT! I took notes of the dishes I cooked while Randy was in the hospital I will share them with you. They are basic ingredients meant to boost his strength and immune system and also entice him to eat since his appetite was minimal due to his pain and overall crappy feeling ( yeah, it's a medical term - MY medical term ).