Wonderful wonderful news!

Guess who's UP?? Yep! Dad.
Physical therapy is in progress and (drum roll please) he ate ALL his dinner - yeah right after we got him some ensure because he wasn't eating.

Saturday Dad update

Physical therapy is now approved after discussions via phone with the medical services. So that's good news as he really really needs to start moving as he's getting weaker and weaker laying here.

Breathing is still very labored but no crackling in the lungs so pneumonia is still not suspected.

He's a bit more slurred and really slowing down. Not sure if this is due to the whole fact of being down for five days now and being just slap wore out from any activity or not.

So physical therapy will be here today. Sometime.

Temps back down.

Temp is down and mom is staying the night...I left her with the packed lunch for dinner...and headed home. Bad daughter, bad daughter! To my defense there's only one bed....so I'll be back in tomorrow morning to see results of the tests from today.

This afternoons happenings.

MRI complete ultrasound MRI complete ultrasound complete. Now we wait for the answers as to if there are clots in the in the groin area. He's had some visitors. Now he's breathing hard. Not sure if it's the activity if MRI or the visitors or the combo that's doing him
In on his breathing. His sats are good but he's hot
now. 100.6 now what the crap?
Lungs clear on listening to them.
More wait and see.

Shifting and changing

Echo was rough apparently they were supposed to have us leave the room and they got started but they forgot and there we were.

I'm sure most can't stand to watch this stuff but even though it was rough I'm glad I was there. I watched his breathing and oxygen on the monitors so I know with all the gurgles and gagging all was really still well and results would be forthcoming soon enough. So we stayed and watched the torture continue until the bitter end.

When all was said and done were in for more tests. Now we're in a "Where's Waldo" hunt for the clots as its not in his heart. Next set if tests will be another MRI in his lower extremities and an ultrasound on his groin.

And the hunt continues.

Hearts and such.

Not a clear picture it was dark in here. Heart echo done. Found a small hole in the top part of his heart. This is the main suspect. The mini stokes appeared to be old and new so... Now they look at fixing that to avoid more strokes. The heart docs will confer and see what they will do. It could be mess it could be surgery. Hurry up and wait. More test more folks talking. And we wait...

Sense of humor

For those in our family you'll appreciate the morbid humor we have. While talking with dad about what he could remember about the episode I teased him that I couldn't even give him flack about "don't go into the light" and the fact they were shining a flashlight in his eyed during all this.
Fast forward to today when he asked mom for a dees-a-da, which for those non family members was moms childhood statement for wanting a drink of water. I joked with him not to tell the nurse that or he would be getting folks running in QUICK. So, yep, you guessed he he told the nurse he had asked for a dees-a-da earlier. Boy the nurse whipped her head to us on that one - ha! NOT nice of him but shows where we are right now.
On to the medical stuff for today. Last nights MRA showed a series of mini strokes in the back region. The original damage is in the frontal area so this is new and now throws suspicion on the heart and clots breaking off for there and going to the brain.
The order was put in for a trans-esophageal echo to look at his heart much closer. So we waited and waited then found out at about two thirty that they were going to do the test tomorrow morning at 8am. Sigh. The good news is that we will know right then what they see as they do it in the room. So first thing we get to see if the heart is the issue.

Still chipper

Proof dads doing "OK"


See good color and doing well. Still a people person and knows 99% of the nurses and doctors by name.

Stoke of bad luck.

I’ve always said I was going to use this blog as a journal of sorts and was going to put everything in here and print it annually – so for I have done this, but there has been no BAD.  There has been bummer news, bad things to the house, but nothing this personal, however, it is life and it’s mine, so here it is.

 

Wow, how to start this update…

 

From the beginning:

Monday: Dad went in for kidney stone surgery and came through that OK, or appeared to, anyway. 

Tuesday: 9am mom noted he wasn’t using his left arm for a lot of things and it was weak.  Well, he hadn’t started as surgery was Monday and he was pretty loopy Monday from what I hear – you see, until now, this was still considered “one night” as a precaution for bleeding stay.  By 2pm the hospital was confirming a stroke.  There was nothing they could do for him on any level as he had just come out of surgery and couldn’t get blood thinners or he would bleed out.  So… they waited.  He had lost use of his left leg (as in no wiggle, but sensation) and partial loss of his left arm.  It was weak, however he could lift it over his head, but it would “drift” down or to the side.

Wednesday: He was grabbing his cup a little better with his left hand and having more control over movement and they had him starting his rehab.  The rehab gals came in  and they had him up sitting and even had him standing with a walker for a few minutes.  He was teasing the nurses and was sitting fairly well, when he would list back, he would stare at the nurse and pull him self back to sitting and eye to eye with the nurse.  She teased him that she thought he was coming in with a pucker and he teased her back that he was…  When they sat him down he was farther down to the end of the bed, so they  were having him scoot to the head of the bed.  While he was scooting, he got two scoots in and close to the middle of the bed, then his left arm went slack and he fell over into the bed and had what appeared to be another stroke.  He was totally non-coherent at that point and couldn’t even respond, or open his eyes.  They were asking him how he was and he responded with a “Fafdlkajdf aadfaf Fafdalfd Hadfasdf safdaf fawerae wafead”… Mom looked at me and said “you know what he was saying don’t you?  Well, of course, typical dad answer – “Fine as Frog Hairs Split Four Ways”.  No one else would have gotten that one, but it was so typical Dad that even though I was rattled and tearing up, I knew he was still “in there”… I did wonder if he knew that this was all going on and if he was in there in his body totally freaking out… or if he even really knew what was going on…  They shined lights in his eyes and you could tell he was saying “bright light”… and he was trying to squeeze hands when asked, but he was using his right hand and he reaching over.  His motions were jerky and he was having trouble keeping his eyes open and slowly stopped responding.  We really thought we were loosing him.

 

The whisked him away to do a CT scan and other tests – and moved him to ICU.  We were moved down there to wait until they were done with him and when we walked in he was speaking again, slightly slurred, but speaking and coherent.  It was a shocking recovery from where he had just been.  He’s lost a little more movement in his left hand, if the sheet is on there, he couldn’t lift it, however he still has sensation in all limbs, just not movement.  He’s still able to wiggle fingers, however limited and can only lift his arm about 6 – 12” off the bed now instead of over his head.  So, setback, but not down and out yet.

 

He’s still in great spirits and teasing the nurses.  He did, however start a strange tick of blinking and opening his mouth.  We did bring this to the nurses attention and she was watching him and evaluating him.  Regretfully there still appears to be nothing that can be done at this point – we’re still in a wait and watch mode as they can’t thin his blood other than with an aspirin.  The good news?  Urine output is good, color is good and he’s in good spirits.

 

I’ll see if he’ll agree to a photo today to show everyone he’s OK…

 

More pantry storage ideas

My pantry is small. Too small until today I have had two white board calendars on the door. Those will need a new home now. The good news? I like the instant access idea. I like the room it gives me on the shelves.

Back entry change up

There has been a change up to the back entry. The hose rules are gone. Let's face it. It our disfunction, no one really followed them ;)

I found this cute iron key holder at goodwill a few days ago and couldn't resist!


And a close up:


I'm thinking brown vinyl above saying "home tweet home". What do you think? Too cheesy?

Meteor shower observation deck

Last night there was a meteor shower and the clouds cleared in time for us to see some. I stayed outside until midnight then the citronella candles did my sinus' in. I did see a few pretty good meteors before I gave up and went to bed :). The older two stayed out much later..and are still sleeping or I would ask them how the peak was. It was to peak between 1 and 2 am. Yeah. I still can't quite do that timeline!

Storms

We've been having a lot of BIG storms lately


I happened to be taking video and captured a big strike close to home!
I can't load video from here but will try to remember to do somewhen I get my computer back up and running - it died this week. As in totally dead now :(

Angela's Birthday!

For Angela's birthday I got the girls out of bed at the crack of noon and convinced them to go to waffle house with me for breakfast - yay me!

Angela wanted to have the girls over for her bday this year... so Grace, Micayla and Angela had a BIG sleep over...  so they came over and swam and had a good time all afternoon!

Then it was time to go to Public's and get some movies.  While there in that shopping center we opted to go to Moo's for frozen yogurt :)  YUM!!  AND Public's for a cake as well - we were going to do this up right!!

Three movies, yogurt, cake and ice cream at the house, what more could a girl want? 

Oh, yeah, more swimming the NEXT day too :D

DCI weekend travels

Lovely Liz rooked me into taking a car load of kids to DCI in Atlanta - what is DCI?  I have no real clue, something about bands and competition and it's HUGE as it's at the Georgia Dome.  Did she leave an open spot in the car for ME to bring someone with me?  Nope.  Did she think *I* would need something to entertain me while she was on her adventures?  Nope.

Sigh.

So Off I head to Atlanta with 7 kids in the car.  Yeah, me.  I drop them off and decided to try the Varsity for the first time.  I have to say I did like the orange shake - just short of a dream-sickle taste... but good.  The person in front of me recommended a chili dog/chili burger combo.  I was surprised at how THICK the chili was - it could stand up and say 'howdy'... it was OK... the onion rings were the bomb and I know why college students like it after drinking all night, that's for sure!  BUT for this (getting slightly (oh and I mean SLIGHTLY) older) woman, I think I'll pass.  it's not a memory from my college days, so the draw isn't there.  I'll go to Hermies instead for fry sauce :)

Project completed...

I picked up this clock a while back.. I should have taken a before picture - I'm getting to be very bad about that, aren't I?  Well, it was a brown stained bamboo color - dark, not light.

I didn't like it, it had some nicks in the body of the clock (one near the foot), so I patched it all up with some Spackle, hit it with some Kilz and painted it ....

 Purple... this picture makes it look a shade lighter than it looks in person... but it really is purple.  If you look above, you can see why I did purple - to play into the painting above (wisteria) and the curtains in the room... what do YOU think?  Too much?

Threes.. Why three?

Well. Because its just that way... The third was NOT my car it was - drum roll please. The upstairs A/C unit. Yep belly up and blowing HOT air like a heater. Not good. Not good at all! I had known there were bad noises from it and had nudged Butch to fix it - he said the bla bla bla needs a bla bla. So... Do it? Nope. So now it's blowing hot air. The girls had stayed upstairs earlier in the week and knew it was hot up there - another case of NOT telling the parental units. Sigh. So I start calling to check lead times on a technician. I finally found one with Keadle Air. He came out that afternoon and fixed it. Yeah!!! There is a freon leak, however - boooo. That, however will have to be a morning call as our other unit is in the attic. It's WAY too hot to do that job in the afternoon!!

So there you have it...and MY car has still not made it to the shop to see about its sticky lock yet either. Maybe it really doesn't come in threes? Maybe it's 4's and 5's around here? Scary thought! I only say this because that was the trend last year...

Let's hope not!

Someone Jinxed me... saying I hadn't posted in a while.

Why do I say that is a jinx?  I don't post until I have something to say... and regretfully, I have something to say now...

It all started... kidding, kidding - its not that long of a story (or maybe it is!)

I'm working on my three expenses this year that will break me.  The Truck - I offered sweetly like a LOON to have Butch's truck in the shop for a MUCH needed brake job since it hops down the road like a bunny when you are braking - always a fun experience.  Anyway, his comments when I offered this - he's on his way to the Tortuga's when this offer was made via phone - his words?  Well, while you have it there get the transmission service and the 100,000 mile check.  Me, stupidly, had NO idea what that would cost.  Let's see, Ford thinks they are now in a league with Mercedes... $900 for the 100,000 check with transmission flush and coolant, because lets face it I don't think this truck has seen much "servicing" in it's life... THEN the $500 for the brakes and rotors.  OUCH.  So, $1500.00 and it drives (and STOPS) like a top!  Damn well should for that cost!

So... I get the truck home at 6pm (I'm walking a bit funny from loosing part of my a$$ on that one)... I go to the computer - THIS computer... #$%^&*() computer.  It will NOT talk to my iPad nor iPhone anymore... %^&*() yes, I'm NOT happy with this thing... and it won't load the updated drivers - Say's the are just fine... yeah, right.  So, anyway, I'm working on it until 10pm when the girls (Clair and Liz) get home... first solo drive to and from practice... I'm happy to see them - UNTIL.... Until when you say?  Until I go towards bed at 10:30 - remember fighting computers, girls not home until 10... yeah... it's late... I hear a noise... not a good noise... I follow it and the outside upright freezer is SQUEALING... yeah.. and it's THAWING!!!  OK, it had not been doing this when I came in.. however I also didn't notice that the freaking door was OPEN either... ALL DAY. 

OK, so you can tell my language skills are now gone and reverted to four letter words and a LOT of them... "just who is this everyone knows the doors close on their own on fridges and freezers?"  Really????   REALLY???  No, they do NOT close on their own... MORE four letter words... oh, yeah, I'm THRILLED to discover this at 10:30 on the way to bed... NOT.  So... I drag out three coolers and toss all the non-thawed fish into the coolers and have Liz call Mom and Dad in Utah to see if we can stuff their freezer with our fish... LOTS of fish... I stuff our inside freezer with all we can.  I chuck all that is soft and thawed... fast, fast, fast - all coolers full to the brim with fish... dash to mom and dad's house, STUFF their freezer with fish... and I mean it's full.  They also inherited the LARGE box of corn dogs ... I left the candy in the freezer and booked.

So... it's now midnight and I'm dragging butt home.  I decided there was no smoke and maybe just maybe it's squealing for an alarm, and when it gets to temp it will shut up - it has been thawing all day while running... we'll see if it will ever catch up.  Nope.  All night squealing and nada - more melting.  Sigh.  The girls were left with the job of get all the candy out and put it into the cooler in the laundry room...

Now here is the "hello my name is Donna and I'm a hoarder..."

No, your eyes do not deceive you... that is TWO coolers in the laundry room  In my very weak defense, there is probably a tub of margaritas in there as well - the ones you add booze and freeze... yeah, I didn't specify to NOT put that in there and just chuck it.

So there you have it... all my Halloween candy stash - in ONE spot - there is no denying how much there is now, is there?  hahahaha

AND this is WHY the freaking door to the freezer was left open - CANDY raiding.

Guess my savings on the candy cost bit me in the butt, eh?

They come in three's - did I mention I need to take MY car to the shop again because the drivers side lock will not engage via remote anymore.. it's like it's sticking... yep... my third.  Let's just stop there on the expenses please!!

TDY to Dayton

I didn't want to have to go, but it all worked out in the end. 

I took this picture for Liz as the XM radio I had contained Korean music and talk shows.  She would have LOVED it - me?  I sat on the channel long enough to see this and take a picture for her!

 Pretty sunset one night

 the photo's don't really do it justice it GLOWED bright pink - the camera on my phone just wasn't enough to do it... but it was all I had.

 AND regretfully the ONLY phone I had for the dinner photo op as well - we went to dinner one other time after this one too!

This is Doug (DJ), Wendy and Tess.  Tess is the same age as Lizzie and they were bath buddies in Aviano growing up - too bad they have NO memory of all that!

It was SO good to see them again!

 went to Red Robin for lunch while there too - hadn't been to one of these in ages.

 

 Rainy day departure.  I sat in the airport watching the rain and eating breakfast the day I left town... quite relaxing.

 check this - I got UBER leg room on my flight home.  I did have to play footsie with the flight attendant when she was sitting in the jump seat, however that wasn't for much of the trip.  Talk about an AWESOME seat to be in!!

Children and growth

 

Measurements from the beginning of June.. Wow is all I have to say!