Kentucky woman who lost all four limbs after kidney stone surgery refuses to despair, shares inspiring message



A Kentucky mother of two went to the hospital last month to receive what she figured would be a routine treatment for a kidney stone. Lucinda Mullins, 41, ultimately ended up losing both legs and both arms from the elbows down.

Despite the great misfortune that has befallen her, Mullins has not succumbed to despair. Rather, she has exhibited great perseverance and optimism, focusing on the blessings in her life.

Mullins, who has served her community as a nurse for nearly two decades, told WLEX-TV that after getting treatment for her kidney stone last month, the mineral deposit got infected, resulting in her, in turn, becoming septic — what she referred to as a "perfect storm." She was first rushed to Fort Logan Hospital in Stanford, Kentucky, then taken by ambulance to UK Hospital in Lexington.

Mullins spent days sedated in the hospital until being awoken to learn that she had to have all of her limbs amputated. The alternative was likely death.

"I've lost my legs from the knees down bilaterally, and I'm going to lose my arms probably below the elbow bilaterally," Mullins said. "The doctor I used to work with, he kind of was like, 'this is what they had to do to save your life[;] this is what's happened."

Mullins apparently took the bad news in stride, leaning into her faith and family.

"I just said these are the cards I've been dealt, and these are the hands I'm going to play," Mullins told WLEX. "I'm just so happy to be alive. I get to see my kids. I get to see my family. I get to have my time with my husband."

Mullins noted that if "one person from this can see God from all this, that made it all worth it."

On New Year's Day, Mullins was transferred to Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital in Lexington to begin her rehabilitation.

At the hospital, her youngest son helped feed her.

At the time of publication, the GoFundMe campaign created for Mullins' medical needs, prosthetics, and adaptive equipment had raised over $183,300 towards its goal of $250,000.

Extra to financial support from friends and strangers alike, Mullins told WLEX she has been overwhelmed by in-person visits and support.

"At one time, I think they told [me] 40 people were in the waiting room here. The calls and the texts, the prayers, and the things people have sent. The little words of encouragement," said Mullins. "I just can't fathom that people are doing things like that for me."

While the nurse from Kentucky has a marathon ahead of her in terms of rehab and therapy, she shared counsel for others sprinting through life: "Slow down. Appreciate the things around you, especially your family. It's OK to let people take care of you."

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Sen. Tuberville not backing down in fight to free US military of woke burdens while Democrats and Biden White House fume



Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) refuses to surrender in his fight to rid the U.S. military of its woke encumbrances, especially its payments for abortion excursions, stressing that "the more Joe Biden attacks me, the more I'm convinced that I'm doing the right thing."

Democrats, the White House, and some Senate Republicans — Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in particular — continue to rage impotently against the Alabama Republican's use of senatorial privileges to block every personnel move in the U.S. military requiring a confirmation. Tuberville is doing so in protest of the left's efforts to turn "the military from the world's greatest killing machine to just another outfit for liberal social engineering."

The latest effort to surmount the challenge posed by Tuberville came Wednesday in the form of a call for a vote by unanimous consent that the Senate confirm nominations en bloc, advanced once again by Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, reported the Washington Examiner.

"For 230 years, nobody in this chamber has done what the senator from Alabama is doing: put a hold on the military promotions that people in uniform, the flag officers of our Department of Defense, that ordinarily come through here in a customary way to get approved by the Senate, for obvious reasons, because we need them, they're here there for our national security, they have sacrificed their entire adult lives," said Bennet.

— (@)

When Bennet tried this same tactic and line of argument in March, Tuberville similarly objected, noting that contrary to the Colorado Democrat's suggestion, his hold was not unprecedented.

"In fact, there is very recent precedent. Just a couple of years ago, the junior senator from Illinois, a Democrat, held more than 1,000 military nominations. The reason she held them was over one single officer she wanted promoted," said Tuberville. "My colleague from Colorado threatened to do the same thing just a few weeks ago."

Tuberville then referenced a Jan. 24 article in DefenseNews detailing how Bennet threatened to delay six Pentagon nominees "because Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin refuses to meet with him over the Trump administration's decision to move U.S. Space Command from its current location in Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama."

Having underscored that this is a game Democrats have been more than willing to play, he reiterated that his protest is critical: "Secretary Austin seems to think he can make a change in the law without going through Congress. It would irresponsible for the U.S. Senate to allow an administration to walk all over the legislative branch. Secretary Austin cannot change the law by memo. Congress cannot be replaced by a post on the Department of Defense website."

TheBlaze reported this week that extra to using taxpayer dollars to pay for service members' abortion excursions, in violation of the Hyde Amendment according to Tuberville, a recently publicized Pentagon memo revealed the military is paying for a myriad of mutilating sex-change procedures while also permitting transvestites to dodge deployments and sit on the sidelines.

In response to Bennet's latest ahistorical claim, Tuberville once again hit back, saying, "Senator Bennet, President Biden, and Secretary Austin need to realize this: I am not alone. Our team is building and growing."

Tuberville referenced House Republicans' successful passage of amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act that would disentangle the U.S. military from pro-abortion and other woke initiatives.

Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson (Texas) saw his amendment, which had over 70 cosponsors, pass in a 221-213 vote. Two Republicans voted against the amendment, and one Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar (Texas), voted in favor.

Extra to axing abortion funding, House Republicans also passed an amendment to end the military's sex-change mutilation program in a 221-211 vote.

In his Wednesday remarks, Tuberville highlighted how "the Pentagon's new abortion policy ... is a taxpayer-funded abortion that nobody, and I mean nobody, in the House or here voted for," adding, "We are here to make the law. Not the Pentagon."

Although he recognized that Congress conferred upon the Pentagon the ability to conduct abortions in the cases of rape, incest, or to protect the health of the mother as of 1984, Tuberville noted that there are no such restrictions on this new policy, which has been put into effect by undemocratic means.

Despite the hostility directed his way over his support of life and the democratic process, Tuberville appears unfazed.

"Democrats' media machine is throwing the kitchen sink at this hole. Doesn't bother me," said Tuberville. "I've been called everything anyway. It just makes me that much stronger to hear people complain about this, knowing, deep down, somewhere there's a soft part in their heart for four to five thousand unborn babies that will never breathe life on this earth. So the more Joe Biden attacks me, the more I'm convinced that I'm doing the right thing."

The New York Post reported that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer offered Wednesday to hold a vote on an amendment that would scrap the Pentagon's abortion excursion policy.

Tuberville's office indicated that the amendment vote would likely have to be attached to the must-pass NDAA, which the Senate appears desperate to pass before the August recess.

Tuberville Blocks Twelfth Attempt to Break Hold of DoD Nominees, DoD Fails to Provide Answers youtu.be

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NASA rover Perseverance lands on Mars after 6 month journey



NASA's rover named Perseverance — or "Percy" for short — successfully landed on Mars on Thursday, after a journey of more than 6 months travelling at 12,000 mph through space for 293 million miles.

What are the details?

Perseverance is on a mission to take photographs and collect samples of Martian soil and rock for analysis as a $2.4 billion "robot geologist," as CBS News described.

The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., erupted in cheers and applause after the safe landing, with guidance and control operations lead Swati Mohan declaring, "Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance is safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life."

NASA releases first images taken by Mars Perseverance rover after historic landing | ABC7 www.youtube.com

Following the landing, the rover's Twitter account shared a photo taken from the red planet with the caption, "Hello, world. My first look at my forever home."

Hello, world. My first look at my forever home. #CountdownToMars https://t.co/dkM9jE9I6X
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover)1613682061.0

CNN noted that "Perseverance is NASA's ninth landing on Mars and the agency's fifth rover." It's also the heaviest, weighing more than a metric ton.

The outlet reported:

Perseverance also carries instruments that could help further exploration on Mars in the future, like MOXIE, the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment. This experiment, about the size of a car battery, will attempt to convert Martian carbon dioxide into oxygen.

Not only could this help NASA scientists learn how to produce rocket fuel on Mars, but also oxygen that could be used during future human exploration of the red planet.

Ken Farley, project scientist for Mars 2020 said in a statement, "Perseverance's sophisticated science instruments will not only help in the hunt for fossilized microbial life, but also expand our knowledge of Martian geology and its past, present, and future."

Anything else?

After Perseverance landed around 4:00 pm EST, the name "Matt Damon" began trending on Twitter, as social media users joked that the rover might stumble across the actor who starred in the 2015 hit film "The Martian," based on the book by Andy Weir.