BOOSTER'S BLATHERINGS

Mom called me a short while ago.

When she and Aunt Catbird arrived, Aunt Kay was restless and unable to settle down. She calmed down a little bit when she saw her sisters, but doctors still weren't able to get a good blood pressure on her until well into the afternoon.

Later on she asked that her breathing tube be removed. When staff removed it, she crashed. The staff were able to restart her heart and bring her back, but she's doing poorly. Doctors found more cancer, this time in her chest. The outlook is grim.

Aunt Kay does not want to be kept alive by machines, so the decision was made to give her a morphine drip to ease her pain, remove the breathing tube again, and wait to see what happens. I will be surprised if she survives the night.

Mom and Aunt Catbird were back at their room when Mom called. Aunt Catbird's legs were painful from all the walking, so they thought it best to retire and wait. And pray.

I have some big decisions to make as to what to do. I have to arrange for my absence from work, how to get to PA, etc. I appreciate your prayers for that as I'm feeling uncertain about the best way to go about it. The only thing that's certain is I need to go to PA. Thank you for remembering me as well as our family as we grieve.

Even in my wretched state of mind, I smile and give thanks for all of you. You all mean so much to me.

This visit has been charmed. All the dishes have come out right and were absolutely delicious! We got to squeeze in an appointment for tea, and have done a little bit of shopping. Lots of visiting. it's just been a great time. We've been throwing around the idea of having an early Christmas with Ed's folks and maybe driving back down here for Christmas. We'll see how it pans out.

In the bad news category, we learned that Aunt Kay has 6-12 months longer to live, possibly 1 to 2 years, before the cancer takes her. It's spread now to her liver. She is doing OK with the news, so far as we know. She's been facing this probability for quite a while. Doctors told her a few years ago that it would eventually take her life so she's been preparing herself for it.

Tonight, my cousin Sherrick, Aunt Kay's son, wrecked his car on a patch of black ice not far from their house. I'm really glad he was not hurt, as those mountain roads can get awful treacherous! He was supposed to take Aunt Kay to her chiropractor tonight, and she really needs to go to relieve some pain she's been having, so I hope the car rental place got him in and out quickly.

Reminds me never to take anything for granted, no matter how small. I try always to remember how quickly it can change. That's what makes even the smallest events memorable.

Well, time to close up and head back to the family.
G'nite!

We are here!

We have eaten too much!

We are immersed in the laughter and love of family.

We have so much to be thankful for!

I love you all. Happy Thanksgiving!

Counting down the hours, now, until we head out for Cleveland!

School is the only thing keeping us here. A half-day tomorrow would be nice, but Mr. Government says we must have a full 180-day year; you know how it goes. And it was hard enough to work up a good schedule due to our late start. Don't feel too sorry for us, though. Because of the way Easter falls next Spring, we'll have an 11-day Spring Break!! Is that awesome, or what?! Pretty hard to argue with that.

I should be packing right now, but procrastination has gotten the better of me. Leave it to my perverse nature, but I'm never happy with the stuff in my suitcase once I arrive at my destination. Inevitably I will stand in front of my suitcase and wish for different clothes. I can see my guy friends rolling their eyes in disbelief and muttering, "Fickle woman!" But I bet you ladies understand my dilemma! This trait isn't unique to us women, but we're often guilty of it. What can I say? I'm typical. At least I'm the only female in the house. With my guys, it's easy to pack. Just toss some clean briefs, socks, two t-shirts and two pair of jeans in the case, and they're happy. I'm not that easy to please, and if I had to wrangle with another female over the packing issue, I'd go nuts. It's hard enough to deal with myself!

Ohhh, dear. Must......get......MOVING! Uuuuuup! There. I'm up.

Kinda sorta.

We learned not long ago that a popular restaurant over in Jonesville has burned. The blaze was so big that fire departments from all of Hillsdale County, plus Coldwater (30 minutes away) and reportedly Battle Creek (one hour away from Jonesville) had to be called. The restaurant is a complete loss.

In addition, the neighboring furniture store is a complete loss. It belonged to the family of some dear friends of ours. The husband has been in very poor health for some time now, so his sons have been running the store. To have this happen right before Thanksgiving...it's so sad. But our friends are believers, and I know this Thanksgiving, they will be thanking the Lord the store and restaurant were closed, so there was no loss of life.

We don't know at this time what caused the blaze. There was speculation that an explosion occurred. I've seen pictures of it, and the back of the stores are gone. But, the fire department had brought in a back hoe, so it could be due to that, and not an explosion. It amazes me just how quickly the fire spread from the first picture until the last. Another person speculated that it might've been intentional, and judging from how quickly and ferociously the flames spread, I could see how an accelerant might've done it. We'll just have to wait for the news to cover it.

This is a serious blow to the community of Jonesville. They're still reeling from the loss of a parts factory just this past summer. Now a much-needed nice restaurant and a family-owned, long-standing furniture store are gone. This loss hurts very much.

Please, if you would, remember our friends who lost their business and for the community. If I get any worthwhile information, I'll pass it on. Meanwhile, thanks for remembering these folks.

Some friends will have seen this story on FB 'cause I was just there.

For my strictly LJ friends, we had a call from a bill collector first thing this morning, harassing us because we wouldn't agree to pay what she wanted us to. There's no way we can! She got really obnoxious when we wouldn't commit to it. When Ed hung up on her, she called back, and I answered the phone. Whooooo-boy. She didn't like me! I didn't curse or holler, but I told her off. She wanted Ed back on the phone, and I refused. She wasn't going to bully my husband, she was going to deal with me. That further set her off. She got huffy and a bit ugly.

You know, so long as we agree to give them something, they can't touch us. We will send them $20 per month, but no more. I have to feed my children. She didn't like that answer, but she didn't have to. That's the way it's going to be.

We are in that unfortunate group that is hospital-poor. We could probably scrape by on our meager income, but our medical bills are killing us. We are glad to give them what we can, but they may not bully us into giving them more than we are able. I flat-out refuse to starve my kids so these big corporations can have all their money right away. Forgive me for putting it this way, but no way in Hell! That's not even a reasonable request, and they know it.

So. I've had my aggravation for the day. It was enough to last the weekend, really! ;o)

Now onto bigger and brighter things! Tonight is the Battle Creek Festival of Lights (Christmas) parade. Our Red Cross clown troupe will be in it! Scruffy will be walking with the "drill team" (brace-n-bit drill props, clown-size!) and I'll be riding my bike. If you're in the area, look it up on the television! IIRC, it's always broadcast on WOTV out of Grand Rapids, and it may be on WWMT out of Kalamazoo. :o)

See ya.

It promised to be a busy day as the charter review team came to visit our school. When it was our room's turn for a visit, our class behaved very well and did exactly what they were supposed to. I was so proud of them. I was also proud of S for her poise. This morning she was feeling a bit unsure, but I had no qualms she would do well, and she proved me right! :o)

Dave is really beginning to feel the effects of all the training he's doing for basketball and now wants to quit. Oh, no, no, no. He wanted to do this so badly, I'm insisting he stick with it. Dave has always had a fair amount of tenacity, but he doesn't realize it. When he was a very small babe, he had to have determination just to survive. Now that he's older, when he takes a notion to see something through, he does it very well. He just has to apply this ability to basketball. It'll be good for him to make it work. Not to mention he's been wanting to get rid of some of his pudge, and this physical exertion will help him do just that.

One week until we leave to see my parents for Thanksgiving! We're all so stoked, we can hardly wait for the day to arrive! My Aunt Catbird is going up this Saturday to begin her visit and will stay through the holiday, so we'll get some much-needed time with her, too. I'm hoping Mom and Aunt Catbird will be open to making a butternut-squash lasagna I saw on the Food Network the other day. When we get together we always have way more dishes to make than we have time! Even when we stayed for two weeks this summer, we didn't quite manage to make everything we wanted to! LOL. Boy, do we love to eat!

Seems there was something else to include in this post, but I'm too distracted to remember it now. Guess I'll close this up and tend to my fellas.

Good night.

Strange title, eh? ;o)

Tonight our troupe graduates another class! We have quite a bit of talent in this group, so I hope they will all stay active, coming to meetings and events.

Sassy is not going to be there. I'm just too tired to deal with her tonight, and face painting is just too much to ask right now, since my back doesn't like leaning over (kidney pain.) Quite possibly I will help twist a few balloons if they need me. I need to get used to it, although it still makes me somewhat nervous.

The health department came to our school today to do flu shots, so I made sure all three of my guys got one. We were debating about getting one for Eddie since we suspect he had the swine flu a couple weeks ago, but doctors would not confirm he had it. I'd hate to skip the shot and find out later by his getting ill that he needed it. Better to play it safe than be sorry. When it comes to protecting my kids, I'm willing to do what I feel is necessary. It may mean taking some flack, but that's OK. I'm not going to gamble with their health, and damn anyone else's opinion.

Welp, time to get rolling. Have a good night, All. :o)

I just LOVE this skit!! It's my favorite of all the ones Carol Burnett ever did. I cannot help but roll on the floor when I watch it.

Hope you won't be offended that I copied and pasted rather than rewrite all this information down.

Well, here we go.

The doctor said the cyst is on the right side, same side as the one '87, but this one is fluid-filled and those are rarely cancerous. So that confirms the good news we'd gotten in the ER. But it doesn't explain the severe pain on my left side. The doctor said it was probably the kidney again, which is what I thought initially, too. The pain on Monday was the same as I had in May.

So....I have to go back to the kidney doctor sooner than expected. The two new stones are already measuring 2 mm and 3 mm. I am a bit concerned that might mean another lithotripsy, but I'm not going to worry about it until I talk to the doctor.

As for the cyst, the doctor said the same thing as the ER doctor. Since it's so large, he's doubtful the hormones will shrink it, but he still wants to try it first, simply because cysts like these can be a little unpredictable. He's gone in to do laproscopy before and had to cut patients open because he wasn't expecting to find what he did. So instead of a one-day, in and out visit, those patients endured full-fledged surgery and a hospital stay. Neither he or I want to do that just yet.

He also gave me Tylenol 3 in case the left-side pain gets severe again. I've not had good success with this medication because it lands me flat on my back. Since I'm the only one working, we can't afford for me to lose more work. But I will have it in case I collapse again.

While I'm not pleased with all of this, the news could be much worse so I will not complain. Instead I'm going to praise the Lord and keep trusting Him to provide for all of this. He has never ever failed me yet. 

I know I've already said it, but thanks to you all for praying for me. I am truly grateful and blessed by you. :o)

Now off to grab a much-needed nap.  Didn't sleep well last night.

Those of you who visit FB will have seen this already.  But for my strictly LJ friends, here's my update/prayer request.

It looks like I'm going to need surgery soon.  Don't worry, I'm OK.  

Today I was stricken at school with what I thought was another kidney-stone attack.  I had horrible pain, heavy sweats, vomiting, and the feeling that I was going to pass out.  Luckily I got to the teacher's lounge in time so the kids wouldn't see me and panic.  I had to have our secretary call Ed so he could take me to the ER.

When I got to the ER and had a CAT scan done, it did show two kidney stones but they weren't the source of the pain.  I have a huge, softball-sized cyst on my left ovary, and it seems to be twisting the ovary at times, cutting off circulation.  It could be dangerous if it's not addressed.

The doctor released me with strict instructions to get right back to ER if the pain returns.  It could when the Demerol wears off, but I'm hoping it doesn't.  If the pain doesn't come back, I'm to call the gynecologist first thing in the morning to get the first available appointment.  He will examine me and determine what we need to do.

I was immediately worried about what this cyst might mean, and yes, cancer came to mind.  But the sonographer felt pretty confident this cyst was fluid-filled, which is a good thing.  Those kind can come and go.  But....here's the kicker (and I forgot to include this in my FB note)... Back in May when I had my kidney stone, someone noticed this ovarian cyst and noted it on my chart.  But NO ONE said a word to me.  NO ONE!  Why wasn't I informed?!  I've been going around with this big, honkin' cyst on my ovary, a potentially dangerous situation, and had no idea!  What if something had happened before now?!  I am simply furious about that.  When I can think about it rationally, not in a fury, I'm going to phone the ER director and find out why this happened.  In my way of thinking, it was inexcusable.  I might not be going through this now if I'd been told about this before.  I could've done something over the summer before work started!

So anyway, I would love any good vibes, prayers, and good thoughts you might like to send up.  It looks like I might need to have surgery soon, whether it's emergency surgery tonight if the pain returns, or sometime in the near future, depending on the gynecologist.

Thanks, Friends.  :o)

Another blanket done.  I decided to make this one mine.  Been crocheting for, hmmm.......nearly 20 years.  It's about time I had one of my own!

I didn't frill it up at all.  May edge it later, but for now, it's ready to keep me warm this winter.

 

Here ya go, Mikey!

1) Who is your hero?  Well, speaking in terms of earthly folks, that would be my beloved Grammy.  She wasn't perfect, but she was a wonderful woman.   She was generous to everyone, kind-hearted, and had a great sense of humor.  Most of all, she tried to set the best Godly example that she could.  I hope to emulate her as much as I can.

2) What's your all time fav book besides the Bible?  This is an easy one...Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.  It's one of few chick books/flicks that I enjoy watching.  The other (actually a series) would be Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.

3) What would be our dream job?  I would love to work from home, doing secretarial work.  More specifically, I'd like to finish my medical transcription degree.  No tattling, no constant exposure to sickness, no outdoor recess!  I do love my class and S, but I'd love even more to work from home in my very own office.  Getting better pay for medical transcription would be nice, too!

4) How many grandkids do you want?  Well, I hadn't thought about it much.  I'd like to have a bunch, depending on how many my future daughters-in-law are willing to bear.  I really, really want some granddaughters, 'cause I want to buy little girlie things!

5) What is the one movie that you absolutely hate?  I'm not a movie buff to start with, and there are many on my poo-list.  Probably the one that I loathe most is "Barney, the Movie"  After that movie I want to gouge my eyes out and pour acid in my ears to rid myself of the images and sounds of that abominable movie.

If you'd like to play, leave me a sentence in the comments, and I'll try to come up with five questions for you.  Give me time, though, please. I've been really busy!  ;o)

 --Eddie has all the flu symptoms, but his nose swab came back negative. Doctor didn't bother to tell Ed which flu he tested Eddie for. It would've been very helpful to me to know, since I work in a school. In fact, the doctor wasn't forthcoming with much information, which bothers me. The doctor could've been a bit more helpful. Dr. put him on antibiotics, and said he could go back to school on Friday, if he felt well enough.

--Dr. can't give a reason for Dave's rash...he's as stumped as we are, even though I sent pictures for him to see. So that was a lot of help. Dave can go back to school tomorrow.

--Doctor said it was too early to tell what Ed has...flu or bronchitis. How is it too early to tell when he's been sick for FOUR days and getting worse?? I feel pretty certain it's bronchitis because he gets it every year about this time, and he always gets the same symptoms. I'm a little worried, though, that it's turning into walking pneumonia now. His cough has gotten stronger and sounds more congested than before. He came home from picking us up and was so cold, his teeth were chattering like crazy. The thermometer said his temp was normal, but his action speaks of a fever to me. 

So there you have it. I'm annoyed with doctors, and I'm worried for Ed because he's the sickest right now. Oh, and it was the Delsym screwing up his sugar. His sugar hasn't been in good control anyway for a while now, so they are going to change his medication again. I hope it works. All the medication changes he's undergone before have failed to regulate his sugar. I'm concerned that it's going to come down to insulin shots if it doesn't regulate soon. 

Ahhh.  Just needed some cowbell.  That's much better!

It seems the sickness is not destined to leave us alone.  Eddie and Dave both stayed home from school sick today.  Ed can't seem to stop coughing.  He bought some Delsym, because it's good cough medicine, but it's screwed up his blood sugar (sent it well over 300.)  So....he found the Phenergan syrup that the doctor prescribed for him because it won't send his sugar through the roof.  I have him drinking water to help bring his sugar down to tolerable levels, and he'll need to sit in a steamy bathroom a few times to help break it up.

Tonight is the clown troupe class that covers face painting.  I feel I need to go since this is my specialty (even though I really just do cheek art, not full face.)  We're going to have a special guest speaker, who is an expert, and I really want to see her.  Plus, I'd hope to videotape some stuff that we could use in future classes.  Since Ed is sick, I'll be going alone.  It's not how I prefer to do it, but Ed is just too miserable.

So, I'm going to wrap this up and head out.  I need to grab some supper before I head to the Red Cross building. 

Have a good evening, All.  :o)

Trunk or treating at the mall yesterday. In this video are Scruffy and Batman (also known as Jonathan) who was there to "protect" people from Scruffy's popping balloons. ;o)

It's been a hectic day, but it's also been a rewarding day on many fronts.

Today our class carved pumpkins.  I was hesistant about it, given a few factors, but S said, "Oh, come on! Be adventurous!"  LOL.  Well, it was an adventure, but a good one.  The kids had lots of fun.  Only one got queasy.   For a short moment, I really thought this poor child would toss his cookies, but he held it together and made it through.  What a little trooper.  :o)  We had child-safe instruments to use, but S and I decided it would be best for us to do all the cutting.  So we cut the lids off and cut the actual faces.  The children did the scooping and designing.  We now have five very cute jack-o-lanterns reposing on our back counter.  And best of all, the kids got hands-on learning time about pumpkins and Fall traditions.

Ed drove the boys and I to school so he could use the van to transport some stuff to church.  When he came to get us, he surprised me with a small bouquet of roses!  They're so pretty.  They're a creamy yellow on the bottom with orange and brown around the rim.   Very pretty!  I decided to leave them at school where they're out of reach of the cats.  They (the flowers) wouldn't last long at home.  Well, for that matter, the cats wouldn't last long either for eating my pretty roses!  >:)

On the flip side of the coin, today was a poignant day because it would've been my Grammy's 87th birthday.  In January, she'll have been gone four years.  Still, if something brings her to mind, I find myself weeping.  She had a tremendous impact on my life...a good one...and I hope some day my own children and grandchildren will be able to say as much about me.  I'm striving for that goal.  So, in honor of my Grammy...

I'm referring to this wonderful Indian summer we're having right now.  It's partly cloudy, 60 degrees, and slightly breezy.  Perfect!  I would just love it if the weather could stay like this all winter!  I could handle a few cold snaps, but just to have the weather like this.....Ahhhh.  It would be so nice! 

My first day back to school since getting sick went very well.  It sure was great to be back with S and the kids.  I missed them a lot.  The day went smoothly, and it felt good to get out of the house and back to my usual routine.

Tonight is another clown class.  This evening, balloon twisting will be taught, and I'm going to work on learning a few designs.  Hopefully. Those of you who know me well know I don't like popping balloons.  I am determined to some day overcome that dislike just well enough to know a few designs so I can step up to the plate when our twisters are busy and help meet demand.  But let me tell you, I'm a long way from that point right now.  I can do a simple little flying mouse, and maybe a dog but that's it!  When the design calls for four big sections to be twisted together, I lose my nerve.  Tonight I'm going to work on it.  No promises are being made, but I'm going to try.

So that's it.  My love to all my friends.  Have a good night!  :o)