Home

 Mom got home today about 4pm EST.  

When Dad called her this morning, she told him to bring her some clothes. She had been up since 1:30AM and was ready to go home. She wanted to be dressed and ready when the doctor came in the room.  I don't think that quite happened the way she wanted.

A little before noon she mistakenly sent a text for Dad to me, wanting to know if he was at home because the home health care services would be delivering oxygen to the house before she could be discharged. A nurse should come out to the house tomorrow to check on her and do an evaluation for the insurance to see what she might need.

Dad sent us a picture of her at home. She looks wiped out and very sick, but it is SOOOO much better than the picture he sent us the day before he called the paramedics. After we saw that picture, we honestly didn't know if we would ever see her again. (Granted, we still don't know that because we are never guaranteed tomorrow, but there is still the possibility of that now.) I'm just so relieved that she is home. She will be quarantined for the next 20 days. While that part will be hard on Dad, it will probably be good for her. Otherwise all four of her kids might descend on the house to "help" and in her condition that is not what she needs right now.

My mother has been through so many things in her lifetime, but she says this has been the hardest ordeal of her life. 

My last vaccine is the 28th of this month. You're supposed to wait 2 weeks after the last shot before you consider yourself fully vaccinated. If we plan to see her around Mother's Day, that will be just a tad before my 2 weeks, but two weeks after her quarantine period is over.

So that is the current state of things in the Jerry White household.

the waiting game

The ending of March and beginning of April did not go as any of us had dreamed or planned.

Long story short:

Dad is in quarantine until April 6th.

Mom is in the hospital. As of noon today she is fever free and the doctor told Dad she is "much improved". At this point we do know she will be in the hospital at least through Sunday, though it could be longer. The doctors do not think she ever had bronchitis, but that the entire month of March, even before her first vaccine shot, she has actually had covid.  I don't know how they figure that, but I wasn't there for all the tests and explanations, so I'll just take their word for it. She still has headaches, but felt like texting last night and this morning, so we are all so thankful for that. She and Dad face timed this morning, and I think that made him feel a lot better. I am so thankful for modern technology.

She did have a plasma treatment, and is going through ongoing breathing therapies. They are hoping to start reducing her oxygen levels a little bit today.  They say when she does go home she will still be on oxygen and will need home health care for several weeks. 

So today has been much better than yesterday (and Tuesday night). Since I was up most of the night Tuesday, I feel like my days are all mixed up. I know Dad does as well. He was thinking today was April 1st.  I would love for all of this to be one big April Fools Joke, but it's not. So we wait for the doctors and the nurses to call and give updates, then for Dad to relay it to us.

I pray that today was not just a high on the covid roller coaster, but that we are truly heading toward healing.

plodding along

Garden - things are moving at a slower pace than normal this year. Not sure if it's because I've not fertilized as often as in the past or because I planted a week or two later than normal. We lost all our squash plants; not thrilled with two of the four tomato breeds we picked out (the Homestead goes bad too fast and is prone to worms and falling off the vine fairly easily; cherry tomatoes we just don't need quite that many). So far I've not had enough tomatoes to can yet; but hopefully by next week I can put up a few. Corn is finally starting to fill out, but not sure we're going to get two ears to a stalk as in the past. Beans have flowered but still are not putting out.

Snakes - I don't want to see another one. In the last three weeks we've killed two in the hen house...both of them over 5' long.  I saw a medium size one (between 15-24" - hard to tell when their slithering in their s shape) while cutting grass, and I've seen three small to medium sized skins...one between the front ramp and the dryer vent; one in my garden; one near the pond drain.

Berries - found some blackberries on the other side of the pond while cutting grass. I don't like them myself, but picked some for a cobbler for Mrs. Bryan and Bobby. When I looked again this week they were either gone or dried up.  Our one blueberry bush that has survived our plantings is actually producing this year and I've been able to freeze some. The wild ones our neighbor planted got mowed down by a friend while our mower was in the shop.

Virus - My cousin is still at home, but it wife is in the hospital and getting worse. She has it in both lungs; doctors at the local hospital are consulting with UAB about drug options. The brother of my high school friend is back at home, not back to normal yet, but improved enough to go home. And the father of another high school friend, after 40+ days in ICU, is now approved to move to an acute long-term care facility as soon as a bed becomes open. The Walker girls are well with an exception of they still have no sense of taste or smell. Meanwhile Wake County has announced there will be no fall sports (or band or other such activities), and schools everywhere are debating about what to do.

China  - more countries are taking note of China's cruelty and annhilation of the Uigher's. American placed some symbolic censorship on party leaders in the area, etc. China has now in turn placed the same travel restrictions and such on Senators Marco Rubio (R- FL, Ted Cruz (R - TX) and two other American officials. Canada is withdrawing some of their officials in response to the current Hong Kong situation as well as the Uigher situation, and India is blocking 50+ phone apps that are all created in China. America is considering doing the same, or at least requiring a warning label to go with those apps. TikTok is the one that Americans are most familiar with, and the Chinese are adding faces in the videos into their facial recognition database.

Elections - training will all be online this year, which  means I won't be teaching this fall. On the other side of the spectrum, that also means I am free to work early voting. I've applied, but we won't hear for another month who they will be hiring.

And that's where things stand for July 2020.

Covid-19

As reports from friends continue to come in from TN and AL of people I know who either have COVID or have a relative of theirs with the virus, it was a bit disconcerting to get my email from the Wake County Board of Elections detailing all the precautions we will be taking this fall for the safety of both the workers and the voting public. I'm thankful they're taking this seriously (I knew they would) and are and will be doing everything in their power to make elections safely happen. And yet, it still makes me pause.

There's still so much unknown about this virus. Parents are being asked to make decisions about their children's education now (will they attend school or do online school), when we are still several months away from the start of school. A lot can change between now and then. My sister was telling me that if a student is out sick, they will have to be tested for Covid before they can return. My niece has a lot of sinus and throat problems, so this would mean she would have to be tested for Covid at least once a month. And when I think about friends with children who have true health needs, my heart aches for them. I've not double-checked the department of non-public education to verify this but I've heard that homeschool registrations for this next school year have doubled.

Meanwhile, people we know with the virus have symptoms that range from "mild flu with ongoing loss of taste and smell" and "extremely severe sinus infection with fatigue" to days in the ICU (most being 3-7 days, though there's one now on day 43) or repeated visits and steroid treatments at the ER.

It's such a strange time to be living. These are the types of things you read about in history books. Sometimes I ponder if God didn't send this to make us all hit the pause button in our lives to rest and refocus, and other times I'm still baffled that we can have such a pandemic in such a modern world. Regardless of its cause or the reason behind it, it is here, and likely here to stay for some time.

treading among the fearful

Bobby is scheduled for a follow-up procedure tomorrow at Rex Hospital. It will be outpatient, and this time I will be allowed to stay in the waiting room. (If I leave, I cannot return.) Since this time is a scheduled procedure and not an emergency procedure, we've had a few extra hoops to jump through. He had to be tested for the virus (he doesn't have it), his pre-op appointment was done over the phone, and we have to arrive three hours early instead of two (I'm starting to think we're taking an international flight or something) so the tests that would normally be done during pre-op can be done before/during the regular check-in and pre-op.

We will both have to wear masks the entire time, and will have to answer the "safety" questions for the umpteenth time tomorrow. Talking through a mask is not fun. Thankfully this time he is not running a fever so the admitting personnel won't be in a state of trepidation.  And I've already changed out the van seats so I can drive, so we shouldn't have a repeat of a few weeks ago. (When the ER  nurses told me he would be having surgery and then would be admitted and I would not be allowed to stay, I started changing out the van seats. We were not prepared for that and all the tracks were full of dust and straw and leaves from his chair. As I was blowing things out so I could attach the tie-downs for the seatbelt, the dust got in my face and I started coughing...as my phone started ringing from the ER nurse saying I needed to come inside and get his belongings. And of course I had to answer the safety questions on the phone, which included "Have you been coughing?" I squeaked out a no.)

I hope we do not meet the same receptionist I yelled at a few weeks ago. But if we do, that's okay. I don't think she'll tell me this time that my husband is not there.

the talk of the town

Last night was the monthly "gathering" (the name and meeting of one of the quilt groups I belong to). It is usually a very upbeat group, with interesting discussions. Last night was a little more somber. We had a LOT of discussion about COVID-19. No matter what else we discussed, it seemed to always rotate back to that subject.

A few interesting tidbits - one read a text from her daughter in Switzerland with the list of things everyone should buy or have on hand in case of a quarantine. The daughter is a therapist at a hospital, and she reported situations of people bringing water bottles into the hospital and pumping out all the hand sanitizer into their water bottle. I've heard reports from the US of people stealing face masks and it makes me wonder if these people have a brain. Why would you steal from the very people who might eventually be taking care of you? If you take their supplies, what will they use when everything they have is gone and you come in and truly need it?  It makes no sense. At all.

And of course at lunch the Governor for our state has issued a state of emergency, though the advice remains the same. Wake County public schools have now cancelled all field trips for the remainder of the year, a private school in Raleigh (Trinity Academy) has cancelled classes for one day as a parent has it and they want to disinfect the school just in case (not necessarily a bad thing) while meeting with health officials. Meanwhile the health department has released the early voting site where one of the five infected persons voted, as well as listing the restaurant twhere the person ate.

Some of the nurses in the group last night were very concerned; others were intrigued but not concerned much.

One thing we all agreed on - the quilt shops need to be open extra hours if we are going to have an extended quarantine period. 

trip one down

A few weeks ago Mom's cardiologist told her he would like to schedule an arteriogram. Her nuclear stress test showed some new irregularities that he was concerned about.

I know that arteriograms are routine procedures. But routine heart procedures, like any other physical procedure, can always go wrong. And with Mom's health status, it wasn't something I felt comfortable staying home during when we could be there with a few minor inconveniences.

So we shifted our schedules as much as we could. My mother-in-law had an appointment that couldn't be rescheduled Tuesday morning, so we left about 12:30 Tuesday afternoon. We made it to Irondale, AL about 9:30pm Alabama time (10:30 NC time) where stayed in a hotel. With Bobby's disability, bedtime is never as simple as simply crawling in the bed. It was about 11:45 before I turned off the last lamp. Our alarm went off at 4:30am, and by 6:10am we were on our way to the hospital in downtown Birmingham. We got there in time to see Mom and visit a little before her procedure.

Even though my brother had planned to come, he got called in to work. My niece had a final exam, so my sister had to wait for her to be finished (around 10am) before she could come. I was very glad we went so Dad didn't have to be in the waiting room alone. People often forget that preachers need a comforting word during trying times, too. As time drug on and other family members of people having the same procedures came and went, we knew Mom was either having stints inserted into her arteries or they had experienced complications. Dad was getting very concerned.

Finally the doctor showed up. There was a blockage in one of the arteries and it was successfully stinted. The congestive heart failure had improved, as had the pressure between the chambers. Her leaking valve has not worsened. The bad but to be expected news was the he feels this blockage was caused by her lupus and the chronic inflammation. The best outcome was before she left the hospital the next day he gave her the names of two different pulmonary cardiologists (she's had a next to impossible time getting the required appointments with the one she has) AND both of them are in the county where they live!! So that is certainly one answer to prayer.

I wasn't able to get everything done for my parents that I had hoped or planned, but I was able to get a few things done. And my younger sister (who is a teacher) is now out of school, so she's been a great help to Mom today. My older sister will be arriving there on Monday, so between the two of them I think they'll be able to keep Mom in check and help her with the things that need to be done. I think this will be a very different Christmas for us, though a good one.

I'm so thankful for a husband who is willing to drive 20+ hours in four days and help me see about the multitude of things that need to be done.

on the mend

The middle of September I began experiencing my normal fall congestion/sneezing, etc.  Except this time my ears begin to fill up with fluid. It finally reached a point where one ear was totally stopped up and I couldn't hear out of it.
I've been through a round of steroids, a round of antibiotic ear drops, and this past week I finally saw an ENT. He vacuumed out my ear, and I could hear!!! But then he put powder and a syringe full of medicine in it, so it is stopped up again. I go back in two weeks where he'll clean it out and possibly repeat the process. (The ear canal was still halfway swollen shut so he couldn't take care of everything...as opposed to totally swollen shut a few weeks ago!) It's still ringing some, but the pressure is gone, and for that I'm extremely grateful. Had a brief scare today when my left ear started filling up.  I think if I had muffled/no hearing in both ears I would go crazy. I have several friends who have gone deaf in one ear, and it makes me wonder  how they adjusted. It's been hard.  I can't tell how loud or soft I'm talking. Sometimes I can hear a person's voice but their words are a few degrees toward the adults in a Peanuts movie. Sometimes my voice echoes in my head, and it sounds really strange when I eat.
It seems like it's been one thing after the other this year.  Poison ivy reaction which took several months to totally clear, a bad fall that I'm still not totally recovered from, and now this. I'm hoping 2020 will be less injury/sickness heavy!

Gross alert

It's been a week and a half. While I am healing, there's still some discomfort and general ugliness.

 

Day one: hurts like crazy but doesn't look too bad

Week One: The bruising has come out halfway down my leg, 

but I can now bend my knee without pain.

 

11 Days Out: Bruising is slowly fading, but after standing on concrete 3 hrs yesterday and then walking 1.5 miles at the corn maze last night, I'm feeling the pain today. At least the toe bruise on this leg is gone. Right foot is going to take much longer. My wrist healed and cleared within 3 days. 

I was really hoping this would be cleared up before the elections on Tuesday. But if I survived moving furniture the few days after this happened for the new floors (still working on putting things back!), I should be able to survive getting in and out of my car over and over followed by 30 minutes to an hour of standing and walking between each trip for 16 hrs straight.

I'm still thankful this fall was nowhere near as bad as the one 9 years, and there were no broken bones. Just a broken cell phone case.

current and not so current events

In the last two-three weeks:

• I had a "moderate" allergic reaction to something outside. Doctor thinks allergic reaction to poison ivy, though we're not really sure. On last round of prednisone, and it is improving though far from well. Basically my legs and torso are covered in whelps and sores of various sizes. Yuck.
•  DOT mowed the sides of the road, cutting the phone line in the process. The line has yet to be buried properly even though it has been repaired twice, so every time it rains heavily we lose phone and internet.
•  There have been two hail storms near us, though thankfully not at our place. Last night we made an emergency stop at Wal-mart at 42, and there were tubs scattered all around the store. I thought it was really odd, and then I saw water all around one. When I looked up, I realized the tubs were under all the sky lights. Evidently during last week's hail storm the hail broke through the sky lights and was coming into the store forcing customers to duck under clothing racks. I have honestly never seen anything like it.
•  My garden looks good, though we've not had any produce yet. Some of it is due to late start and late fertilizing. When Bobby's parents had their garden, we would be well into green bean harvest and beginning butterbean and cucumber harvest. So I'm learning as I go, and each year is a little better. This is the first year that I've been on top of the weeds this much. And while I've kept the geese away from the green beans, we discovered that chickens will also peck the leaves off through the fence. So I now have one row blocked off from the chickens. The other row I'll just have to give up.
•  And egg laying time should begin within the next month. That also means snake season will soon be upon us. We've already found one skin, so I know they are there, waiting.
•  I've come to the realization that I have entirely way too many ideas and brainstorms for one person. I'm trying to conquer what is necessary and limit my overactive brain to a few other things, but I fear that horse left the barn a LONG time ago and is no hurry to return.

crazy days

Over a year ago Mom told me she had a knot on her side. I asked her if she had told the dr, and she said no, she was just watching it. It never went away, but it never grew any, either. Until 2 weeks ago, when in the span of 3 days it grew from a small knot on the side to a small bulge on her stomach, and then grew again the next day. Her general dr saw her immediately, said he did not think it was a hernia and scheduled an appt with a general surgeon the next week. I was not overly thrilled that he did not order any other tests (and I don't think the surgeon was either) but we were all impressed that the surgeon had actually skimmed some of her charts, asked quite a few questions about her previous bouts with melanoma and had her set up for tests at the local (Mom's local...not the the dr's local!) hospital the next morning. We were all pondering the different possibilities (and there were many) and at the same time, trying not to think about it.

Meanwhile we (more like me) was debating whether or not to actually go anywhere for our anniversary. We finally went, and were thankful to get the texts/call about the appt on Friday, as well as get the call on Monday (our actual anniversary) that Mom's abdomen muscles have simply worn out and separated. She'll be fitted for a brace to wear to help it from getting worse. We don't know a lot more than that at the moment, but she's already anticipating that it will help with her back and hip pain. Considering that comes from disintegrating bones, I don't think it will, but I'm not about to tell her that.

I hope to post pics and tidbits from our trip soon, but I actually had some vegetables to prep and put in the freezer when we got home (a first this summer!), and I still have laundry and some other things that need to be done so it won't happen tonight or tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile 3 of our young hens (the leghorns, meaning white eggs!) have started laying. We are very happy to have our egg production come back!!!

We harvested most of the pears before we left to keep the squirrels from eating them all, so more pear salsa is on the horizon for this week.

And elections training for trainers is this Saturday - so life is about to pick up tempo again!

healing & progress

3 weeks ago this Saturday Tim Beatty, Josh McLean, and myself began dismantling and rebuilding the large hen house. I already had all the doors off and had torn what was left of the netting we had for the pen's roof off. While Tim built the frames for the pen's new roof, Josh and I worked on gutting the rest of the house down to the frame. The parts that were rotten (like the bottom of the back board and edges of the floor) came off very easily. The parts that weren't (like the top of the back board and the center parts of the floor) did not. Josh tackled the floor while I removed the wire from the top of the roof and the back board. While using the sledgehammer to knock out the top of the back board, my little finger somehow got wedged between the 4x4 post, the board, and the sledgehammer. I washed and wrapped it, and changed the band-aids several times throughout the day, and did my best to do jobs that involved holding my arms up to keep the swelling down. By that night, we realized it needed wrapping, and there was no way my left hand could wrap something on my right side. So we called Bobby's cousin Cindy, who is a nurse and lives down the road, to come wrap it. She showed up all excited and had even brought her suture kit. Thankfully I had done everything that needed to be done, other than ice it (which I tried but that made it throb worse), so she just bandaged it WAY bigger than I would have ever done. She was a little disappointed not to give me stitches, and said had I called her when it happened she would have given me stitches. I was kind of glad I didn't. :)

It took 3 days for the the first joint not to be black. Yesterday was the first day it was not swollen, which has me very excited. One of the swollen parts has also peeled like crazy and two of the blood spots have washed away. I tried to type with it yesterday, but that still doesn't feel good so I'm typing with 9 fingers instead of 10. Strange, but I'm adjusting!

As for the pen and house...the pen is 99% finished (need to close off one section and add 2 more bricks around the botttom) and the house is almost finished. Josh, Tim and I completed the roof of the pen and the house that Saturday, and Tim came back while we were in AL and finished the floor and house. I spent a day re-vamping and re-installing the nesting boxes and roosting bar when we got back, and a day painting. Still have about 3 more hours of painting to go (maybe Saturday afternoon?), and then I should be ready to post pics. The chickens have been staying there, and last night was the first night they all voluntarily went inside at bedtime. WhooHoo!!!!

a day for remembering

Last night we received a phone call that my cousin had been in an accident and was airlifted to a nearby town. For hours we had no other information, but prayers were going up in many states on the family's behalf. This family has been through a lot the last few months, with my cousin losing some of his memory (he's in his 30s) and a lot of tests and struggles with the VA hospital.

This morning they not only took the tubes out, but they allowed him to come out of sedation. Last night he had no reflexes at all below the waist. This morning he was wiggling his toes on command. Last night he once again didn't know his wife. Today he did. Tonight he was moved out of ICU and into a regular hospital room. He still has a very long way to go, and with his illness and being out of work so much the last month, I'm sure the medical bills are going to be unreal. But tonight his wife found the name on Facebook she had been searching for...the name of the woman who arrived at the wreck scene, stopped, called 911, and then stayed until both paramedics and the lifeflight arrived. And her FB post...a pic of his truck, his first name, and the helicopter arriving on the scene, with the request for prayer for his life, and for the family as well. I was almost bawling when I read that. Our family is so grateful for her, but even more for her asking for God's people to pray for a young man she knew nothing about. We still don't know how long or how much of a recovery they have ahead of them, but we do know God is healing and answering prayers, and that has all of us very excited.

Today we also had the privilege of going to Florence, SC to visit with a dear family friend. We had a good time, and it was good to be with someone from "home".

Tomorrow we have some repairmen coming out to look at two windows. The windowsill on one totally broke apart and pulled away from the handle Sunday morning as I was closing the windows before the rain started. Thankfully we were able to close the window enough that no rain came inside, but I'm not totally thrilled about having to replace two windows (maybe 4). That was not an expense we had on our radar for this year! But I am thankful to live in a country where such repairs can actually happen. We don't have to tape plastic over the window and hope the rest of the frame doesn't rot away too quickly because there would be nothing to replace it with when it did. There are many countries where that is a reality, and we are so fortunate to live in the land of the plenty.

God has blessed us, even though we really don't deserve it.

twirling with the leaves

More than once the last few weeks I've been amazed at the little whirlwind of leaves I've seen while walking or driving. And the visual aptly fits how I'm viewing life at the moment.

The municipal election has come and gone, and I'm no closer to a decision about what I need to do next year. Just when I think I'm going to keep going until I have a clear sign otherwise, things get a little crazy and I start thinking I might as well reconcile myself to the fact I'm in a new chapter in life.

Quadriplegics (and anyone with a spinal cord injury, I assume) do not sweat below their level of injury. And when they do sweat at the head, it's not the body cooling itself as we learned in school. It's a serious condition called autonomic dysreflexia (called AD in chat groups) where the blood pressure rises so the brain will know there's a problem somewhere. I guess it's the body's way of circumventing the broken nervous system. Since the nerve endings can't deliver pain warnings, the body tells the brain in other ways.

Bobby's AD kicked into high gear on Friday, and was intermittently giving warnings all weekend. We had already decided Friday night if things weren't better by Sunday night then we were calling the dr who did his colonoscopy to see if they could work him in and check a few things. He not only woke up with a fever Monday morning, but the earliest the dr's nurse could see him was in almost 2 weeks. I told them we couldn't wait that long. So I called his general practitioner, explained what was happening, and he saw us that afternoon. We're still not certain what the exact cause is, but he's on some fairly strong meds that will hopefully knock out the two possibilities we're thinking may be the cause. If by noon tomorrow we're not seeing any improvement, I'll call the urologist's office and see if we can get things rolling there as well. If nothing else, it will help us know what we are/aren't dealing with. I don't want to postpone things and then be stuck in the hospital over the holidays next week.

It was a bit of an emotional relief to listen to a soundtrack for our choir's Thanksgiving song while on hold with the dr's offices.

I come to your house, O Lord, in your presence to abide; to find true peace and quiet rest found only at your side. I come into your house, O Lord, to lift your name on high. I will give you all my worship, O Most High!

I found it neat and interesting how simply praising God for his attributes at a time when I felt like doing anything BUT being thankful made such a difference in my emotions. So my soul is still twirling in circles like the leaves, but it's mostly feeling playful and joyous now instead of turbulent. It is good to give thanks to the Lord!

whirlwind

Last Monday we leisurely traveled to Bristol, TN to visit one of my nieces. Leisure travel (stopping when you want to see whatever hits your fancy) is something I have always wanted to do. Usually we're on a timeline with a deadline and nod longingly at billboards or brochures and keep on rolling. We enjoyed our brief time with them. I don't remember the name of the restaurant where we ate, but it was very colorful with metallic flowers and designs and whimsical colors. My friend Sara would call it kindergarten art, or folk art. The food was good, but then we went to a bakery downtown that had live bluegrass music...and the BEST food. The hardest part was deciding what to go. I actually got a slice of chocolate cake with chocolate icing. And the craziest thing? I left 1/3 of it on the plate. YES... me, the chocoholic who does not believe in wasting food. I couldn't eat it all.

We didn't do the best job of choosing accommodations. The tiny motel we stayed in, while very clean, reeked of cigarette smoke. And the next morning we I pulled out one of the towels for Bobby, it was threadbare. I kid you not. We could see through several parts in the towel. White as all get all, not a spot or discoloration to be seen anywhere, just clearly very well worn (and bleached?). I don't think we'll stay there on the next visit. So when we left heading home I had a very bad headache (I assumed from the smokey room), and it eased and worsened as we headed home and stopped in various antique stores. It was a great trip.

Wednesday was catch up day, and as we headed to church, I began to feel very tired. Thursday morning I woke up to a very sore throat, congestion, and a fever. I alternated between sleeping and laundry. Friday I had no voice, and tried to get in to see the dr, knowing we had a crazy weekend ahead of us, but to no avail. So I continued using the over-the-counter stuff as much as a possible, hoping that I'd wake up Saturday and all would be well. That afternoon we got a call that they wanted us at the hospital by 2pm Sunday. (Bobby had a routine test scheduled for Monday) That was a bit earlier than we had anticipated. Saturday we slept late, and then ran errands. Sunday morning they actually called us at 9:15am and wanted to know when could we get there. I was thinking it was going to be a terrible time between not feeling well and never getting rest at the hospital. It actually turned out to be one of the most restful hospital stays we've ever had. And while I didn't feel well, I survived. I was thankful we pushed for a hospital stay for the prep. The nurses kept a close eye on Bobby's blood pressure, and while it was very high the whole duration of prep, he never exhibited the extreme problems we were anticipating. But seeing the nurses concern during some of the time made me thankful we and his dr's office had pushed the insurance company for an early admission.

And Sunday morning we found out Bobby's Mom was at the ER with a kidney stone, and my aunt was at the ER with a stroke. Bobby somewhat laughingly said it must be the weekend to be at the hospital. After everything was finished Monday and dismissal papers were readied, we stopped for a late lunch (2pm), as Bobby had not been able to eat anything since Saturday night. His choice of "soft food"?  A Hardee's hot dog. Not kidding. He said that was the softest thing he could think of.

I think I slept 10 hours last night, and if I allowed myself to, I think I could sleep the rest of the day. I can actually breath today and have almost no coughing, but I still have no voice and my temp is still around 97. Hoping I will be well tomorrow.

And we're down to one biddie. The momma hen squished the two youngest, and we think a hawk got the last three. I think it's Tuesday, but it feels an awful lot like Saturday morning.

hopping

We came home from an appointment this morning to find a dead chicken in the turn lane. I imagine some parent was running late and flying either into or out of the school and the chicken was crossing the road. So we lost a bird, but then this afternoon Bobby came to get me. A hen that has been sitting had abandoned the nest, and with her was one chirping, black ball of fluff with a white spot on its backside. I left the remaining eggs the rest of the day, but the mother never returned to the nest. So this evening when I realized she had totally abandoned everything but the biddie, I pulled out the incubator and placed the remaining eggs inside. I'm hoping she'll adopt whatever hatches. I really don't want to prep the brooder box and go through all that again.  Of course, there's always the possibility that nothing else will hatch. I know 4 of the eggs are less than a week old (I marked the newer eggs about a week ago). So I'm putting Oct 10 on the calendar as disposal of any unhatched eggs and clean-up date of the incubator. Those marked last week may go out next week if unhatched.

Somehow the last week I've overlooked a piece of okra. Today when I found it, it was about 10" long. Probably to hard to eat, but if so, I might save it as seed for next year.

Green beans continue to put out in an amazing fashion. I think they're as excited about the cool weather as I am.

We replaced two blueberry bushes today (hoping they survive), and planted a fig tree and one ornamental crepe myrtle over the weekend. I can see my father-in-law shaking his head over the last one. He thought every plant should produce some type of food or it was a waste of time and energy.

I'm officially finished with making grape jelly. There's still a little bit of juice in the fridge, but not enough to fool with (plus I'm out of sugar).

Hopefully tomorrow I can actually work on my fair quilt. I did go to the longarmers for three hours last Thursday and have most of it quilted. I still have the borders, the poison ivy, and the turtle left to quilt, and I may do some handwork embellishing the fish eyes. Then there's the border. I'd really love to have this finished within the next week. Deadline is the 8th, so it's starting to loom over my head and not just in the back of my mind.

We have appointments every day this week, plus I need to prep for 1st-6th graders on Sunday morning. For some reason I was thinking it was in November that we had all of them, but it's this month instead.

And I'm hoping tomorrow to get an assessment on my clarinet. It's in desperate need of a "spa" treatment. If the price is too high to replace all the pads and some of the corks, I may look at some used student instruments. We'll see what the cost is.

Bobby's sister Brenda received very good news back on the biopsy they took from her tongue, and my friend Joni came home from the hospital today. They won't know until all her tests are back, but they think they got all the cancer.

And Dad's hand continues to heal from his surgery. Returns to the doctor in a month. So all is going well on the front. They went to vote in AL's primary today after the doctor visit, and the entrance door was jammed with a chair and wouldn't open.  They finally saw a note that said to use the side entrance, as there was a yellow jacket's nest in part of that door frame that had been sprayed twice and they still had not gotten all of the insects. Dad was more than happy to oblige once he saw the note.

And that is all I can update on now...Hope to have lots to share next week.

turning a corner

Back in August one my many cousins was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. To be honest, I didn't think too much about it when she was first admitted. I figured a day or two in ICU with breathing treatments and she'd be home within 3-5 days. But then the texts and calls and e-mails got progressively worse. One lung no longer contained infection but was severely damaged from the infection. They were concerned if she picked up a secondary infection it would kill her. All visitors outside of immediate family was banned. I cannot even begin to fathom what her husband, who is a pastor, was/is dealing with as he tries to see about the congregation as well as make the 45 minute drive to B'ham to see his wife.

Fast forward three weeks:
Earlier this week doctors informed the family that if she continued to progress, she might be home by the middle of October, though Thanksgiving might be more realistic. They ended the conversation with a comment along the lines of "We didn't expect her to make it." Today they removed the vent for the first time with the plan to leave it off as long as she could handle it, and as of supper time, it was still of. They also put in a piece that would allow her to speak...a first in three long weeks.

She's not out of the woods yet, but just that little ray of sunshine today was huge. My prayers go out to this dear family who has suffered SO much heartache the last several years. They've seen God work miracles; they've seen God say no. My prayer is that soon she'll be singing with her family again, and testifying yet again that God has sustained her through yet another trial.

May you run and not be weary, Angela!

brushes

When I hear the word brush, I think of a hair brush.
When I hear the words brush in a motor, I think of this:

the brush found in a vacuum cleaner. So all these years when mechanics said "we need to replace the brushes" (in Bobby's wheelchair), that was the image that came to mind. So imagine my surprise last week when the mechanic came out with a piece smaller than my finger, and it looked almost like this:

This is a wheelchair motor brush. The bottom piece is the size of your thumbnail, and looks like a jump drive. The end of all the pieces are different, based on the model of chair. Bobby's had wires sticking out of it. The metal pieces near the bottom had snapped and burned, and we fear it may have caused the circuit board (the chair's brain) to short circuit. So even though we've found the parts (thank you Sean the sales rep guy!!!!), and are willing to pay out of pocket (insurance won't cover it since they're covering part of the cost for a new chair), there's a very good chance that this minute piece may not solve our problem for now. I'm so praying that it will. I'd love to photograph his hand and arm and other parts and send it to the insurance company along with my dr bill from last week to let them know the havoc and danger their delays and denials have created for us. But they really don't care. And it would simply be a waste of my time. But a chair is coming...I feel like a kid with Christmas two weeks away!!!!

a blur of a week

It's been a good but hard week. Sometime last week I did something to my back. Unlike muscle pain I've had in my neck and shoulder, this has been intermittent. One moment I'm fine; the next minute has me gasping in pain. Afternoons/evenings seem to be worse.

So I went to the dr today and was told I'd over-stretched a muscle between my ribs, and am to not do any major work in my garden for about a week. I guess that also means I won't be deep cleaning behind some of the furniture I didn't get to last week, either.

Meanwhile we found out Bobby's chair had NOT been ordered, so the ordering process began Tuesday evening - which means we're still 3 weeks out from having a chair he can use. I hate it for him even more than I hate it for me. I'm realizing more and more how difficult  it is to maneuver with manual chairs. We're still waiting to hear from the sale rep whether or not he can find us a "black market" part for the old chair or if we can get a loaner chair (meaning he can still get around on his own, but not drive) until the new chair arrives and goes through the modification process.

Tomorrow is Melba Lauver's funeral (the wife of one of Bobby's close friends). He wants us to stay and eat with the family after the funeral, and I have very mixed emotions about that.

I was also offered a unique temporary job this week. I have until next week to make a decision. It's an honor to be asked, but the hours are long (12 hr work days...on top of housework and caregiving...for 2 different 10 day stretches) and I'm not sure we're up to that right now. Praying for wisdom.

And that is Friday. Not quite ready to believe that it is August, nor that this week is almost over.

messy Monday

Today was one of the days I took a relative to a medical appointment. We were heading into the rehab/recreation area at WakeMed. Coming off the wheelchair ramp I decided to cut through an area, my foot hit the slight raised area (which I didn't see because I was reading signs), and my ankle turned. Before I knew what happened I was on my knees with my purse and hair hanging over my head. It took me a minute to get up, and by the time I was standing two therapists were by my side wanting to know if I needed help or needed to be checked out. I told them I was fine. One of them didn't believe me and said she wanted to see me walk before she left. By this point I am VERY embarrassed, and told her I was okay, just a skinned knee, and I needed to get my balance before moving. I told Bobby I should have told her the only thing hurt was my pride. And while my knee is a tad sore, I am thankful it was on a carpeted area.

Meanwhile construction workers started putting up the privacy fence between us and the school. Bobby requested a chain link fence when permits/approval of the building process started since Garner was demanding a walkway which bordered on our property line. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of a chain link fence, but since the school was paying and I don't blame them for wanting to keep costs down, I didn't say much (other than to my husband). But for whatever reason, they're actually building a fence with treated wood. I'm thankful for that, and they're certainly doing a great and thorough job. But one of my taller crepe myrtles was too far over the property line, and they chopped it down. Had I known, I would have dug it up this morning. But the school did pay us for one crepe myrtle. We thought they'd take the one planted on the new right-of-way. They left it, and took out this one instead. And after putting up a new garden fence last spring, it looks like there will not be about 12" between the fence and the garden. A part of me hates I put the fence up, but I know if we had waited the chickens would have dug up/eaten most of the produce. Nothing is more frustrating than knowing you have one more week to picking beans and going out and seeing the birds have scratched up the plants and all your work is for naught.

One of the quilt groups I belong to started the new year tonight (our first meeting was cancelled due to the ice/snow 2 weeks ago). I still haven't finished the quilt top from last year's group, but went ahead and started the new project. This year doesn't seem to be as complicated, so I think if I continue to work at home on the old one and save the new one for class I might be able to get both of them done before the year is out. Hopefully I'll be posting pictures of both soon.

It's hard to believe January is almost over. Mentally it makes me feel old to say time is simply passing too fast and I want it all to slow done. My 18 year old self thought that was crazy old people talk. Now, it's my reality. I guess I'm officially old.