Last few days in review

I guess people and objects do get sick after visiting the hospital. While mom was there I had to go to my doctors appointment (more about that later) and came back to mom's room and my computer had died. It plays taps when I try to turn it on. I paid for geek squad to fix it for 3 years and I guess they will be doing their job now since my two geeks can't fix it. That is why I have not updated in the last couple of days because I can't get Tom's computer. He is very protective of his toy.

About mom...she finally hatched an escape plan for Saturday. On Friday, she said that she wanted to stay one more day to gain a little more strength, but wanted me up there bright and early on Saturday. Well, I had to stop at the bank, Wal-Mart for groceries, and staples for other stuff. So, I left home about 7 and arrived at the hospital about 10. I still had the groceries so I could only stay for about an hour. The doctor still had not released her so I came home to put the groceries away and Tom stopped and picked her up on his way back from taking foliage pictures. She is doing a lot better this time then she did with her last surgery. She is sore, but is able to move around and do a lot more. She can't bend over because she has about a 12" scar with a lot of staples in it, but is catching up on her sleep and watching her soap operas.

On Saturday, Kristi and Alayna went to Kansas City to spend some time with Beth and the boys. Alayna and Brayden were having withdrawl from each other so they needed some cousin bonding time. They went to several places and then Tanya took Brayden and Alayna to another place. Sorry, I don't know all the names - I just know they had fun.

But...you have to pay for fun sometimes and Alayna is paying a rather big price. On Sunday morning she woke up about 3 and threw up in her bed. Kristi cleaned up the mess and calmed her down. We just thought it was a result of a very busy day without a nap - but with a temp of 103 we were afraid of the flu. It is now Monday, and her fever is down a tad, but she has no energy and is not eating . We are not pushing food on her - just feeding her if she asks. She threw up again this morning, but that seem to break the fever - so maybe we are on the downhill slide. We are concerned about mom getting sick now since Alayna is so generous and I am sure is going to pass this around. This is the last thing that mom needs after major surgery.

On the 15th, I had a doctors appointment that mom made me promise to keep if she made it through surgery ok. So, at 3 I was at my doctors appointment while mom sleep her medicine off. This appointment was for my yearly bladder check to make sure I have not developed bladder cancer. I thought all he would do was look in my bladder - WRONG! He saw the same mass I had a year ago had grown so he wanted to do another biopsy. You do this with a full bladder thanks to the fluid the poor in your bladder (reverse Cather) and then he uses these tongs and pulls - REALLY HARD until you scream! He got a rather large section and was pleased. He also said that because the mass was larger he wanted to do a test on my urine called a FISH test. It determines your risk and if you have have bladder cancer the stage. I won't get the results for about a week or so. I left that office bleeding very badly and hurting like heck. I stopped at every bathroom on my walk back across the "bridge" to the hospital to mom's room. Kristi took off when she found out they were going to do the biopsy and sent me packing. I came home and took my pain medicine and died!! I feel better today, just anxious to hear what the results are. Oh, I forgot to add that the FISH test cost $2,000 that we are not sure if the insurace will pay. I told them to do it anyway, who needed to pay car payments, groceries, or the light bill anyway!!

Kristi started her on-line classes today, and it helped that she had to stay home with a sick girl. While Alayna was asleep Kristi was doing her homework. Kristi was also a great help today making sure Oma had something to eat and drink and was ok. I was worried about her being at home by herself, maybe that is why Alayna got sick so someone could take care of them both!! Tomorrow Tom is going to stay home. Not sure about Wednesday.

Mom's surgery

Mom entered the hospital this morning and had her surgery already. It took about 90 minutes to complete the surgery. The doctor said that she probably "popped" a stitch sometime ago and thus allowed her colon to have a place to go. He said about 4" of her colon and made it's way behind the mess and that was causing her problems. He is now concerned that he might have made the mess too tight around the opening and this could restrict her urine output, so they are keeping her until she can fill her bag on her own. He put a catheter in to keep it open until the swelling goes down. I don't have a room number yet as she is still in recovery and will be there until she wakes up - and for those of you who know our family that could be days from now!!!

Offical birthday dinner...

I have had a lot of free meals this week in preparation for my actual birthday on Tuesday. I got several coupons for free meals in the mail and Tom and I have been enjoying them. Today we went to lunch at Longhorn with Kris, David, Angie, Oma, and Tom. But, the real dinner and show was tonight at Kobe Japanese Restaurant. It was so neat and we all really enjoyed the show that the chef put on for us and the food was wonderful. I loved the vegetables, but I love vegs.

We decided to do dinner tonight since Mom was suppose to have her surgery on Monday. She has to be on a light diet for as couple of days before surgery so we thought we had better do it tonight. But, the hospital had to reschedule her surgery yet again (for the 3rd time) so we could have done it on on Sunday.

I only wanted two things for my birthday this year - dinner at Kobe and Brian to download some movies to my ITunes account (I can't do it here with satellite Internet - too slow). I am not really picky am I??

We are still alive...

It is bad when people start calling you to see if you are ok because it has been almost 2 months since I updated last. So much has happened in the last two months that I just have not had time to sit down and update. Sometimes I think my life is in fast forward and I can't find the remote to slow it down.

Let see...what has been going on??? Well, we had a sad event that happened a month ago. My brother Larry died on Sept 2 - the day before my dad's death anniversary of Sept 3 (1986). I have so many memories of Larry because he lived close to us most of the time. My brother Gene moved to AZ when I was little - maybe he was trying to run away from me!!! Anyway, about Larry. I was thinking about him yesterday and was thinking of all the things that remind me of him. He was such an inspiration to all and he will be missed. Mom is taking his death really well compared to Gene's death. I thought she would take this one harder because we saw Larry so much more than she did Gene, but she has done better than the rest of us. Alayna still questions Larry's death. It is hard for kids to understand but she was talking about all the funny things Larry did with her - I am surprised at what she remembers.

We have all been busy preparing for Tom's parents 50th anniversary celebration which is happening on October 4, 2009. We have to go to Boonville today (October 3) to set up the church and tomorrow is the party. I know I have spent a lot of money on this - I will have a total next week. We have been keeping the receipts to see what was spent. It is well worth it since this is a milestone that not many make it to. With Carl and Janice both having major health issues (cancer) and major car accidents which involved several surgeries and long rehab stays shows that God had a plan for them.

Brian moved into an apartment by himself last week-end. He needed to get out on his own. I am sure he is going to be happier. If there is a mess, then he made it!! He was getting tired of cleaning up after everyone else and having to stay in his bedroom because they were having a party on a week-night. His apartment is really nice and just right for him. This last Tuesday, I went over and fixed him supper while waiting on the guy to fix his dryer. It was good for us to have mommy/son time. We watched a funny movie and had a blast.

Alayna started kindergarten at Two-Mile prairie school in August. She handled the adjustment a lot better then we thought she would. She has a wonderful teacher who I have known for years. She didn't realize that Alayna was mine until the first day of school. She is taking her lunch most days because she can decide what she wants. She could be a vegetarian so easily since she eats all kinds of vegs, beans, cheese, eggs, fruit. She does not like sweets or potatoes, or bread. Such a strange thing for a child! She doesn't like eating at fast food places because they don't have vegetables.

Kristi is busy with school and work. This session has really kicked her butt. The history teacher is not very good, you can see this because over half of the class got a C or lower on the midterm. Only one more week sissy and you will get to a better class. We were saddened to hear that a professor that I loved when I attended Columbia College died unexpectedly a few weeks ago. Mr. Metscher had worked at Columbia College for over 35 years and was wonderful.

Mom is doing ok. Is going to have colon surgery on October 12. Near her stoma (from her cancer surgery) her colon is coming out - similar to another hernia. This surgery will be worse than the last hernia surgery since she will have to actually be cut around her stoma - about 8- 10 inches minimum. She was scheduled for surgery a week ago but has a terrible infection on her skin that has to be healed because that is where they are going to cut. Yesterday she had a car accident and is worried about her car being totalled. I told her if it is we will buy it back and keep it. It was her mother's day gift a few years ago and she doesn't want a car with a payment. BTW - she is ok, didn't get hurt in the accident.

Tom is doing well, just really stressed about work. Some changes have happened and he is not happy about them. He is just rolling with the flow. Had his yearly prostrate check and his number dropped - YEA!!! With his dad having prostrate cancer this is a big concern with him.

I guess I better close...too much information can be harmful to your health~~~~