Why Yellow is My New Favorite Color

For real time reference, this blog was written July 14, 2025.

It’s mid-summer and I’ve been   a pretty busy quilter.  I’ve quilted two of the T-shirt quilts I’ve been working on, have the third one on the longarm, and have one bound and ready to go.  As soon as the other two are completely finished, they’ll be winging their way to my aunt’s home in South Carolina, where hopefully they’ll ease the heartache she, my cousin, and my uncle feel from my cousin Kemp’s passing a little over a year ago.  As soon as they receive the quilts and have a chance to look them over, I’ll post pictures of them in my blog.  But I do want Kemp’s family to see them first.

The second quilt grouping I’ve worked on are these three little delights:

I have a Halloween door quilt, a bench pillow cover, and a small quilt. For several years now I’ve always decorated my entrance way according to seasons and holidays. It always makes me smile when I come through the door.  These were so, so, so much fun to make.  The door quilt and the bench pillow were made from kits from Shabby Fabrics and the Fat Quarter Shop.  I made the small quilt out of scraps leftover from each.

Now on to my new favorite color.  If you’ve been a regular reader of mine for any length of time, or one of my close quilting friends, you may remember my favorite color is purple.  I don’t use it overwhelmingly in my quilts or really anywhere in my house (except my bedroom), but I do love purple – especially the light, lovely lavenders.  Recently however, yellow has commanded my attention, and I need to tell you why.  Let me also throw in a disclaimer here.  If you would rather not know personal things about me or if health-related topics stress you out, feel free to click out of this blog and go about your day – no hard feelings.

Let’s back it up to Memorial Day.  I was looking forward to the long weekend.  It had been a particularly difficult season for my husband’s and my business.  We were getting through that, and things were settling back into my normal routine.  I got up on Saturday with plans to head to Danville with the hubs.  I had fixed my hair and make up and went into his den/study to tell him I was ready to go.

“You look yellow,” were the words out of his mouth.

I kind of brushed it off. I had changed makeup foundations and purchased a new brand.  I figured I had leaned too hard towards one with yellow undertones.  I explained this to him, and we got in the car and headed for Danville.  That night when I removed my makeup, Bill perused me again.

“You’re still yellow.”

Well, as much as I had been looking forward to a quiet weekend, it didn’t happen.  He put me in the car and headed to a Mediquick clinic near our home, thinking I needed an antibiotic or something.  A urine sample later, they were taking me to High Point Regional Hospital because I was jaundiced – pretty badly.  I chose High Point  Regional Hospital due to the fact it was affiliated with Wake Forest Baptist Hospital.  I knew if something was seriously wrong, they would immediately transfer me to Baptist in Winston Salem. 

Which they did.  Not only did I have jaundice, but it was due to the fact I had a mass blocking my bile duct from my liver to my gall bladder.  I’m sure you know what happened from there. 

Tests.

MRIs.

Scans.

A stent was inserted via endoscopy from my liver to my stomach because the mass was blocking the gall bladder duct.  A biopsy was performed. 

Here’s the deal. Yes, I have a mass on the head of my pancreas.  It’s approximately 3.9 centimeters.  After two biopsies and sixteen samples later, the majority of that mass is negative.  Five samples came back as rare positive cells (which means “few”).  There also are a few spots on my liver.  Mayo Clinic was consulted, they read the biopsy and agreed with Wake Forest Baptist Hospital’s findings.  Blood was drawn and sent away for DNA sampling to pinpoint exactly what type of chemotherapy I need. 

The good news is the stent is working wonderfully.  I call it “Steve” and he and I have a great relationship.  Most of the time I don’t even know he’s there.   And I no longer look like Marge Simpson.

I also was introduced to a drug called Creon.  When you have issues with your pancreas, quite often it cannot secrete the enzymes you need to properly digest your food and Creon replaces those enzymes.  I can’t tell you what a wonderful difference this has made.  I can eat pretty normally (no salads or red meat due to the stent – at least for now) without the miserable bloated feeling I had before.  I take it right before I eat.

So what does all this mean for me?  Well, my chemo doctor has arranged for a port to be installed (which I’m grateful for because I am tired of identifying as a pincushion) and chemo begins July 30. I’ll have chemo once every two weeks for 14 weeks. I am optimistic and want you to be optimistic for me, too.  What does it mean for my blog?  I hope nothing changes.  Most of you know I keep several blogs “in the can” and ready to post, so if I miss a few days writing, it doesn’t affect the blog for a couple of weeks.  They may be shorter than normal, and I may re-run some of the more popular blogs from years ago my new readers may not know about.  But if I’m late posting, don’t give up on me.  I’m still here.

What can you do?  Pray, send good vibes, good juju – whatever it is you do, please send it my way.  Bill has been a regular Florence Nightingale, and I don’t know what I would do without him.  My kids are pillars of support.  My brother, Eric, as well as my daughter have been great sounding boards as cancer survivors.  My quilting sisters surround me with love and distract me when I get gloomy.  My quilting BFFs, Janet and Susan, have taken me out for meals and worked to keep our quilting life as normal as possible.

Ironically, I feel really good.  My energy levels are back to normal. I’ve stopped losing weight (I lost 30 pounds before they put me on Creon).  But if I didn’t become jaundiced, turned that wonderfully, horrible shade of yellow, I would have never known about this ticking timebomb in my abdomen because I had no pain, no symptoms at all.

So I’m loving that color right now.

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers.  If you belong to a prayer circle or your church has a prayer list, I’d be ever so grateful if you would put me on it.  I believe in the power of prayer and the power of the Great Healer.  I’ve seen His work.  Message me if you have questions (within reason) or want to know how I’m doing.  I do understand that each cancer journey is unique and personal, and other people have tried diets and alternatives, but I’m sticking with my oncologist at Baptist and what he tells me to do.

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix