Maggie, the goats, Cori and Savanna

I have written several things about Maggie of late. She has had several ongoing health issues. Most of the pains have been associated with the abdomen in one fashion or another; sharp pains in different areas, digestive problems, female problems. She has had a good bit to deal with. Yesterday, after having seen several doctors over the past months, receiving several MRIs along with numerous other lab tests, she got a conclusive diagnosis. The issue appears to be two-fold. One, she has a cancerous growth on one of her kidneys. We are not sure at this point if the growth is benign or malignant, but we will soon find out. Secondly, she has some cysts on her ovaries which are the source of significant pain – along with the cancer on her kidney.

The greater question at this point is why the lymph nodes in that general area are so swollen? It could be an infection or something much worse. At this time, that is all we know. It is enough to begin to pray in earnest. Aaron was released from duty a month early to fly home to be with Maggie and the kids as further tests are run. He was deeply affected by the news. Quite understandable. On the positive side, a diagnosis of cancer is not a death sentence; especially with the medical advances made in treating cancer in its various forms. It is still however, quite frightening. So far, Maggie is handling it well.

Mama and I had to try and get out of church as quickly as possible last night. The buyer for the goats was at the farm waiting on us. The buyers seem like a delightful Christian couple. We only got to meet the husband. The wife was home tending to a sick bottle baby. They have 35 head of Nigerian Goats. The husband was in Graham to drop off ten goats that were bought by someone there. On the way home, he stopped at the farm to pick up the two Mama and his wife had arranged to rehome. It was our first real sale of goats. Not as much as we had wanted to get out of the two but enough to be an encouragement to us. We talked quite a while after the goats were loaded – even though he had a four-hour drive to get home to Big Springs, TX. He remarked that the goats were going to be shocked by the difference in paddock. Being taken from a tree covered, lush pasture to a sandy, barren enclosure. Mama and I can rest assured that the goats will be well cared for with this couple.

Rick is going to advertise one of the bred goats we had with him for a couple months. That will add to our sales if we find a buyer. If not, we will advertise the babies when they come in the fall. In other goat news, the Nigerians (I called them Nubians incorrectly) are all three showing signs of getting ready to kid. Since they are all bred to one of our Myotonic bucks, Mama is anxious to see how many each of them has and what they come out looking like. The buyer last night, who had 35 does like the ones we have, told Mama that they often have quadruplets and one time had quintuplets. That got her attention. Now she is not overly anxious to get rid of them. Although, Rick told Mama that to get the most money out of the Myotonic goats we need to keep only the Myotonic line on our farm. That way, breeders will not think there is any interbreeding with the Nigerians and we will avoid the possibility of losing our pure bloodlines.

We have not heard much from Cori, Nate and the kids, but have to assume that they are very busy getting things arranged in their new home. They did send a picture of Savanna the first day they were there. She was complaining of her hair being wet. The picture shows her kneeling at a table playing with toys. Her entire head is soaked with sweat; hair dripping wet. The temperature was 97° F with a het index of 105° F. Pretty warm. It will take some time to acclimate – especially for Cori and Savanna.

Fortunately, or not, depending on your perspective, the humidity here has been very low. There seems to be a constant breeze. So, the triple digit temperatures have been tolerable.