Welcome Wild West Veterinarians Conference participants

Welcome Wild West Veterinarians Conference participants!

It was so great getting to know some of you during our yoga practices together each morning.

We'd love to send you a meditation and prayer stool. Thank you for ordering in memory of my momma.

RIP Maria 5.6.1953-5.22.2011

Please click the DONATE button on the right margin to make your suggested donation of $50-80 and in the "Message" section let us know your three favorite colors!!! We will use these color suggestions to choose an appropriate fabric for your stool.

Stools are one-size-fits all. They come handmade and upholstered with love by Ron, Maria's husband, and Monica, Maria's daughter. Your stool should arrive within 30 days of placing your order. :)

E-mail help4maria@yahoo.com with any questions.

Welcome Wanderlust Participants! How to get your Meditation and Prayer Stools

Welcome Wanderlust Squaw Valley participants! We'd love to send you a meditation and prayer stool. Thank you for supporting our family to avoid medical bankruptcy.

RIP Maria 5.6.1953-5.22.2011

Please click the DONATE button on the right margin to make your suggested donation of $45-80 and in the "Message" section let us know your three favorite colors!!! We will use these color suggestions to choose an appropriate fabric for your stool.

Stools are one-size-fits all. They come handmade and upholstered with love by Ron, Maria's husband, and Monica, Maria's daughter. Your stool should arrive within 30 days of placing your order. :)

Again, thank you for your support!

RIP Maria Reed 5.6.1953 - 5.22.2011

Maria (Semanko) Reed, 58, passed on Sunday, May 22 in Reno, NV. She was born to the late Roger and Myra Semanko, May 6, 1953, in Albuquerque, NM. Maria graduated from Coeur d’Alene High School in 1971, where she participated in many activities, including the Vikette Drill Team; and also attended NIC here she participated in Choir and several dance projects. She married Ron Reed in 1973, and shortly after moved to southwestern Wyoming, settling in Bridger Valley, Uinta County.

Maria was never one for idleness. She enjoyed the many roles she held at St. Helen’s parish; also assisting with local theater and the chamber of commerce. After raising 3 children, the couple moved to Las Vegas, NV. Maria worked in many different fields and especially enjoyed her latest career as an esthetician.

She loved to travel and visited Canada, Mexico, Spain, Eastern Europe and Israel. In the last few years of her life, Maria cherished exploring the lower 48 states with her husband of 38 years.

After fighting against the odds with a beautiful smile and positive spirit the entire time, Maria decided to live the rest of her days under the comfort care of Circle of Life Hospice. Maria passed peacefully in her sleep in the arms of her loving husband, Ronald Reed, whom she is survived by.

Also surviving – three children: Rocky of Durham, NC; Casey of Coeur d'Alene, ID; Monica of Reno, NV; one grandson: Jacob of Coeur d'Alene, ID; four siblings: Terry Semanko of Coeur d'Alene, ID; Caroline Nice of Twin Falls, ID; Claudia Normand of Chippewa Falls, WI; Marlene Knizley of Grand Junction, CO and Rosalia Peak of Coeur d'Alene, ID. A memorial service will be held in Coeur d’Alene, ID, and is to be planned for the end of summer.

In lieu of flowers, donations will be used toward Maria’s remaining medical bills and final expenses. To contribute:

• Send it to Reed Family 965 10th ST Sparks, NV 89431
• Donate by clicking the DONATE button in the top right corner of help4maria.blogspot.com
  
• Visit a Wachovia or Wells Fargo Bank and deposit into account number 1405883966

Make checks payable to Help4Maria.

Any funds in excess of what is needed for Maria will go toward her husband Ronald Reed's surgery expenses in excess of $12,000.

Thank you to our community and support system for everything over the last year and throughout our lives. We will be posting more updates soon.

Hello RN&R Readers

Thank you to Kat Kerlin of the Reno News & Review for interviewing Monica about our situation and publishing it in the 15 Minutes section.

Maria is back in the hospital after a trip to the ER Monday, April 4th concerned because she had been vomiting 4-5 times a day unable to eat or drink or hold anything down for 6 or 7 days in a row. After a blood tests, a CT scan, ultrasound exam and an MRI, there still is no diagnosis. Her pancreas is not functioning properly and is experiencing inflammation and pseudocysts. Her vitals are coming back to normal and hopes to figure out why this is happening and how to prevent it are high.

Ron has started his physical therapy for this second round of knee replacement and infection clearing surgeries. He is excited about the new regimen and relieved that it seems much more involved and thorough than that which he went through in 2006. Although this go around is creating a financial nightmare, he is thankful for a second chance at having a pain-free normal knee replacement that functions properly.

Support their journey by attending the Biggest Little MusicFest Stage 2 at Urban Beets (50 N. Virginia) in Reno on Friday, April 8th starting at 8 PM until 1 AM or so. Click here to RSVP and spread the word to all your friends.

Other ways to extend a helping hand:
Like Help4Maria on Facebook and encourage your friends to do so.
Reply to blog posts on Help4Maria.blogspot.com
Donate directly to the trust fund by clicking donate on Help4Maria.blogspot.com
Visit Melting Pot or The Studio to purchase prayer and meditation stools handmade by Ron, Maria and Monica
E-mail Help4Maria@yahoo.com with any suggestions, comments, to volunteer, etc.

We appreciate all the help we have received from this community. Thank you!

I FEEL LIKE A PRESSURE COOKER...

THE RECIPE

Throw in my recent 9 months of chemo, 3 units of blood and hospital stay, low low energy level, and very little time to wallow in my new remission status. Add Ron's leg infection and 2 surgeries on it this month, the countless trips to and from the hospital for various reasons, and now me trying to take care of him. Scramble in the mad rush to gather funds for these surgeries. Add a little more stress, like finding programs that help pay for his ridiculously priced medications, and a program that lends out medical equipment like crutches, walkers, etc. Let all of this simmer.

Then add our Help4Maria fund raising efforts which take a lot of time and cannot be neglected. Oh and a most important new ingredient; our move from the apartment back into the motor home which has to be done by the end of this month. Mix carefully with my minimal energy and Ron's leg in an immobilizer brace.

The extra special spices to tenderize this mix was the help we received from Casey, my son, and Linda, my sister-in-law, last week to get our motor home moved onto it's lot space and everything hooked up. They added hauling boxfulls of household items and clothes from the apartment to the RV, and also helped with our fundraiser MusicFest event on March 19. It was necessary to keep stirring the pot with as many things on our to-do list as possible while they were here.

Add some getting furniture listed on Craigslist to sell, things we don't need for the motor home, and getting them sold before the 31st.

Last, remember to add the daily trips to the hospital for Ron's anti-biotic IV for the next 6 weeks. We added a vehicle exchange with Monica, my daughter, as it is not practical for Ron to climb into the Jeep with a knee spacer that cannot support any weight for the next 3 months. Thus the need to detail the Jeep for added flavor in order to sell it as soon as possible, and stirring in finding an affordable, different, more practical car (and cheaper on gas) to the pot.

Ron's secret ingredient is a 3rd and final surgery on his knee in a few months to put him back together.

This recipe is not one I would recommend to anyone. The pressure is building up and would completely explode if we did not have the Lord to let off steam to. He will salvage this disaster, I know He will.

Side note: I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining, but to write this all out was very therapeutic for me. I do appreciate all you have done for us.

God Bless You.~~~maria

CHANGING PLACES

Ron says thank you for all your prayers & thoughts.
It's crazy, but we've seem to have done a role reversal here. Ron is in the hospital, and I'm the caretaker. Guess that's what true love is really all about!

After suffering from severe pain & swelling in the left leg last week, Ron found out he has a serious infection in that leg. The one that he had 2 replacements in in 2006.

After Phase 1 surgery this morning, he's doing well and resting. They drained the fluid infection out of the knee. He'll be in the hospital for a while yet.

Phase 2 surgery will be done next Monday. They'll take out the old knee
hardware and put in an anti-biotic spacer. Phase 3 will be done a few months down the road--another total knee replacement.

We are still doing fundraisers for my medical bills, now we need to step it up and raise money for Ron's surgeries. The Lord sure does work in mysterious ways...and He will get us out of this pickle too!

Well, here it is--

---A picture showing my hair starting to grow back!

I'm proud to announce also that I have eyelash stubble, and the eyebrows are coming in too. Just wish the mustache hairs didn't have to. But, always gotta take the bad with the good!

It's been over a month since I've had needles poking me in the arms. I'm really enjoying that. And the tendinitis in my right leg has faded away at last. I have a lot to be thankful for again today.

We had two Help4Maria fundraisers in February. It's a lot of work, but I like being able to participate in fund raising for my medical bills. There are more events coming up too. Monica has been working diligently on putting together the "Biggest Little Musicfest" for March 19. Along with many of her musician friends they have gathered the best of the local bands in the Reno area to participate. It's gonna be great.

I had a long-time friend from Utah visit here a couple of weeks ago. We laughed and cried and laughed some more for 3 days. It was just what we both needed. Her and I go back to our days of living in Wyoming.

I'm enjoying a ladies weekly Bible study at our church. I'm finally getting out & about more, and meeting new people. Now I can actually get to know some of them by spending time with them every week. They all have been so supportive and even bought our hand made aprons from me. They love them and I love making them.

Up until 3 or 4 weeks ago, Ron has been doing all the driving in town whenever we went anywhere; doctor, grocery store, laundromat, etc. Well, I have started driving again, and it feels like I've crawled out of a dark hole and into the land of the living!

I still have trouble making myself get plenty of rest. I never have been good at that.

Ron & I had our 38th Anniversary on February 10th. We are very thankful that we are both alive to see that. Ten months ago, I just wasn't sure.

I've gained more weight back, and my body is a little weird to me. Can't explain it, but there's still discomfort in my abdomen. My muscles are so shot that anything I do puts a strain on them I guess. The way time flies, I'm sure it will get better before I know it.

A little birdie told me there was going to be a 40th Class Reunion this year. Maybe I can make it, and just maybe I'll have hair on my head then too! Does God work stuff out in an awesome way or what?

Pray for Ron, he's working freight at night at The Home Depot. It's really rough on his knees but we're so thankful he is working. Only part-time for now. Good thing, so he can get used to it.

It will be St. Patrick's Day soon, March 17th. I always ponder on the fact that my kids are part Irish, but that I am not.

Thanks again for your attention. God Bless You many many ways~~~maria