I want to thank everyone for their caring and prayers this past week.

Now that we have changed the procedure for cleaning and bandaging Ray's arm, I can see healing taking place before my eyes! The Wound Center was treating it as a burn and it was looking terrible. Our G.P. is using medicated gauze that has a Vaseline product on it to prevent sticking and Ray is growing new skin slowly but consistently! He still feels "listless" and has no appetite and I am praying this is from the medicine which is Sulfa-based. Your continued prayers are so very welcome and asked for. I do believe in the power of prayer and I also believe that asking for prayers brings many blessings to all involved, the ones doing the asking and the ones doing the praying.

My father is doing better now that he knows why his arm is still so very swollen and oozing. And he can feel the Fistula growing in his right arm so he now has the incentive to squeeze the ball with that arm. I am still praying for a successful surgery on Monday. I also ask for continued prayers for my father. He is so very drained after his Dialysis - I am praying for an answer so I can help to figure what we need to do to help him. The thought is that they are draining off too much fluid but the solution evades us.

Thank you all for your continued support. Words cannot express my total gratitude to this SparkPeople community.

To change the subject, I am still making progress! While my weight jumps up and down through the weeks, I finished June down .8 which is awesome! I had occasion to measure the other day and was pleasantly surprised with another inches loss. WooHoo!! My "ladies" have turned into thin pockets that just lie there, but what a relief not to be toting "bloated ladies" around 24/7 anymore. I don't bounce in my sports bra anymore! (Sorry guys if this is too much info for you .)

Be careful out there! Danger lurks in every bite!
Love you all,
Linda & Ray & Pop

**I took the advice of my walking partner and came home and looked up the side effects of Ray's medicines and stopped his Bactrim (Sulfa). I also stopped using the Acyclovir cream thinking maybe it was double-dosing with the newer Acyclovir pills - Ray's appetite has improved and he is less lethargic! WooHoo!