Karwoski Life

Holy cow – where did September go?! I feel like this month just flew by and I hardly had a moment to sit down and write an update – so I apologize for the long delay in posting. Life just gets in the way sometimes, I guess! Last week we had some upsetting news about our doggies, and both had to have surgery on Monday to remove tumors. Each dog had a different kind of tumor in a different place that needed to come out. Penny had a large tumor on her left side that was bulging out for a few months. It seemed to be getting larger, so we decided to take her in. Buddy developed a weird red bump inside one of his ears a week or two ago, so I thought I’d take them both in…thinking neither one would be a big deal. Well – apparently I was wrong! I’m still waiting for pathology results on the tumors to find out for sure the type of tumors they were, if they were cancerous, and if they got it all or not. We’re hoping that both tumors were successfully removed and no cancer will be found in e...

Well, it’s the end of another week…another jam-packed busy week! Phew…am I ready to kick back and relax on ‘Football Saturday’! Matt’s TCM treatments with Jay have been going well. It’s so great to be able to ask questions and talk about what parts of the body he’s working on with different needles. He actually ordered bigger/thicker needles to use on Matt and thinks he may use them on more of his patients too…it seems to get the desired results faster than twisting the smaller ones. The other day he placed needles in Matt’s abdomen and talked about how he’s trying to strengthen his stomach and kidneys…that improving strength here will push out strength to the limbs as well. He’s been changing up the needle placement with each visit, so Matt is definitely getting a good variety of acupuncture points! We also started the herbal therapies last night. We got our teapot and herbs from Jay on Wednesday and I cooked them up last night. Pouring the herbs out, I was surprised at how the...

So, something wonderful happened this weekend…September 14th came and went…and we nearly forgot all about it!! As we were getting ready for bed last night, and I was making my plans for the week, I realized it was the 14th. THE FOURTEENTH of SEPTEMBER …I stepped into the bathroom and told Matt that we had forgotten all about it being the 14th. He even mentioned that it was the 14th earlier in the day when I was trying to figure out the date, but neither one of us paid any attention to what the 14th really was. We both just took a moment for that to sink in…and I think it speaks volumes about where we are at right now. I knew in the back of my mind that it was coming…but it wasn’t looming ahead of us, this big, black, cloud…like in years past. It just quietly came and went, its significance no longer consuming all our thoughts and emotions. How much of a blessing is that!?! I simply cannot say how happy that makes me. While we often reflect back on the experiences and changes t...

Happy Belated Birthday to Matt!!!! Yesterday was Matt’s 33rd birthday! We spent the evening in kind of an unusual way…but it was all good! Matt had his first acupuncture treatment with Jay (the acupuncturist…not his buddy…just to be clear!). We went at 5:30 and didn’t end up leaving there until 7:00! Things just move at their own pace at Jay’s office, and you can’t really rush this kind of treatment. I guess it’s just another way in which TCM is so completely different than our typical medical treatments here in the US. Matt seemed pretty relaxed in Jay's office and even commented on how happy he was to be having the treatment in IOWA! ('I hear cars outside and I'm so happy because I know there are IOWANS driving those cars') We talked a little more about changes Matt could make to his diet to help promote healing in the various areas he struggles with as Jay placed the needles in Matt’s scalp, face, arm, hand, legs, and feet. The needles Jay used were smaller than ...

Today it really feels like fall is in the air. A cold front swept through yesterday afternoon and dropped our temperatures down into the 50’s overnight. We opened up the windows in the evening, only to close them again before bed…because it was TOO cold! I do love the changing of the seasons, but it sure seemed to come quickly. This time of year always comes with mixed emotions, but this year we are ready to step into the next phase of our journey, and I feel like we are in a good place. We had been discussing the possibility of seeing an Acupuncturist locally, in hopes that coupling some of the TCM treatments with the exercises that Amy had given Matt would help continue to provide improvements. I had been emailing a couple TCM providers over the past week or so and last night we met with one. Right away he put us both at ease with his knowledge, experience, and personality in general. We talked briefly about the treatments Matt has had, the benefits he has seen, and the areas he’...