fishing....food.....family...

by Anthony M

Spring finally makes her debut
slaying winter in an epic battle
flowers bloom as if on cue,
memories of her (him) begin to stir.

Blue skies overcome the gray
sun warms the pale skin
songbirds announce the day,
memories of her (him) still linger.

The air is filled with sounds
of so many mating rituals
love and lust easily found,
memories of her (him) bring a smile.

Alas, only a few earn the right
to fulfill their lonely heart's desire
and consummate their love tonight,
memories of her (him) still beguile.

"The Gentle Touch Salon" is closed on Mondays so Barb and Laura Leigh had the day off...Jason took a day off and they all came over and went fishing in the backyard creek/swamp...It was a beautiful, sun-shiny day.

David even managed to put-off going to work for a while...

The only fish to be snagged was caught by double L

a small bass...went back into the water...

more of God's creation

Shadows

I went outside for a little while....WOW..I'm getting fat!

Barb stayed back at the house with her dad...

Alabama Doctor #4..good news/bad news

Richard Hull...Neurologist..
Even tho Bob was unable to sit, stand, or stay awake we managed to get him in to see a neurologist ...not the one who Dr. #1 referred to while he was hospitalized a couple of weeks ago.....the one who never even saw him but ordered the EEG and Scan and from those concluded that he had had a stroke...prescribing the anti-stroke med Keppra and that the "seizures" were most likely caused  by the stoke.
We now have use of a hoyer lift and a hospital bed.  We were able to get him straped into his wheetchair and out into a hanicap transport service van....He did not have to transfer from chair to car, back to chair etc..
Dr. Hull studied the scans, reports, etc...listened to everything that Barb, Laura and I had to say and concluded that ..good news...Bob had not had a stroke...but did show brain injury...resulting from the very hard hit his head took when he fell a few weeks ago. He said that one can recover from brain injury but it takes a long time....he also said that Bob was not having seizures.....(took him OFF Keppra) .he called them "spells" most likely resulting when his blood pressure bottoms out whenever he transitions. We've since attempted to take his blood pressure lying, sitting and standing to substanuate this theory but unable to do so as he cannot sit or stand. Not sure where this leaves us...
Laura asked him if he felt that Bob would recover and...bad news...he said no...too much radiation, chemo, infections, respiratory distress,  pneumonia,  age...He has suffered much and it breaks my heart to see him like this but I'm not ready to lose him.
I received this encouragement from a friend recently..
"Dear Charlene,
We feel helpless, sorry and sad. And so we pray often through our days and trust the Lord to give you the courage and grace you need as you watch your beloved go through the valley and slip away from you. We know that He will hold you close..your family too, and the loving Shepherd will have Bob's hand in His as they approach Heaven, our final home."
It helped me, for even just a moment, to reflect on Bob being in the arms of our loving Jesus..

April 2009...Better days...

Eventful 15 days since my last post

We moved into our home on Sunday, March  14th thanks to our two sons, daughter-in-law Karen, two of our daughters, grand-daughter Laura Leigh and husband Jason, son-in-law David  and grandson Brian.....(have I forgotten anyone?)

 

the house is never in too big a mess to not have fresh flowers...

I like my movies in alphabetical order...

scraping paint off the front door...

Bobby and Brian had great fun driving the golf cart...moving boxes from David's garage to the cottage..

Cooper and Thomas found the toys..

The first evening we enjoyed a meal from the Olive Garden

Regardless of how busy or tired Barb is she always takes the time to cook!  For breakfast the second day she made a nice pear preserve breakfast casserol and  we started unpacking ...

That night David thawed out some fish he had caught last year and we had our second "dinner party" at the house...enjoyed fish, huspuppies, slaw and french fries...

"Super Cooper"

`

These much needed `little "specks" make this guy even more adorable..

Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil

It's birthday week for these three little boys...Barb always has their pictures made at Portrait Inovations..birthdays, Christmas and sometimes in-between..

New Challenges

Did the seizures cause a stroke or did the stroke cause the seizures?
Which caused the
 "numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg,
 confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
 trouble seeing in one or both eyes
 trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
 severe headache with no known cause" ??

His headaches have not been sudden...he's had them since last summer after treatment started....but after CAT scans and MRI's the cause is still unknown..

Bob has been forced into the  position of being even more dependent on others for things he once did himself. Presently he is unable to stand, walk or even sit up without assistance.
He is still  having little seizures whenever we help him sit up or move from the bed to the couch or recliner.
My desire is that the therapy we can obtain through Home Health will be sufficient to keep him out of a rehab hospital...and that I will stay well and strong enough to give him all the care he needs...for as long as he needs it.
We will have a hospital bed for him in our new house, which we hope to move into this week. I will put it in the living room where there are lots of windows and he will be part of whatever activity goes on there...instead of being back in the bedroom, secluded.

Our two boys and two youngest grandsons will be here from Texas this weekend for a few days

"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."

 

Ecclesistes 9:11

Here we go AGAIN

INSTEAD OF A VISIT TO THE DOCTOR ON THURSDAY WE FOUND OURSELVES AT THE HOSPITAL....TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT  HOSPITALS?  WE'RE TIRED OF LIVING IT!!!!
THE SEIZURES ?  HE EXPERIENCED WED NIGHT AND THURS AM  RENDERED HIM TOO WEAK FOR AN OFFICE VISIT......SOOOO..ANOTHER 4 HOURS IN ER AND NOW OUR FOURTH DAY HERE...HOPEING TO GO HOME TOMORROW...NO PROMISES THO..

FIRST  24`HRS HIS HEAD WAS WIRED UP LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE! EEG...NOTHING,,,
YESTERDAY AN MRI..TODAY, SUNDAY, JUST  WAITING TO SEE A DOC...FOR RESULTS...IF NOTHING SHOWS UP HE  SAID SOMETHING ABOUT A SPINAL TAP...EXCUSE ME1111 /THAT SEEMS LIKE A MIGHTY BOLD MOVE.  GONNA HAVE TO TALK  SOME  MORE ABOUT THAT.

HE HASN'T BEEN ALLOWED OUT OF BED AND THAT BOTHERS HIM A LOT . THE LONGER  HE LAYS THERE THE WEAKER HE BECOMES, HE WAS UNABLE TO SLEEP LAST NIGHT AND WAS GIVEN   ..SO HAS  BEEN  SLEEPING MOST OF THE DAY.

ONE OF THE DOCTORS JUST STOPPED BY...THE ONE COVERING FOR HIS ONCOLOGIST WHO IS OUT OF TOWN....HE TOLD US THE MRI  SHOWED  STROKE ACTIVITY..BUT NO CANCER.  WE WON'T SEE THE NUEOLOGIST UNTIL TOMORROW.

STAY TUNED...........

March 3rd. and it's snowing again

Yesterday we had a break...no appointments.

Today...Bob's physical therapist..he won't be able to participate to any great degree as he is still unable to stand...and is asleep most of the time.

Tomorrow...appt. at Hunstville Hospital, outpatient surgery, to have his IV port removed.  Dr.#1 decided to have it removed as it is causing the blood clot in his arm and he has taken him off coumadin because of his propensity to fall...does not want to chance bleeding from an injury while on blood thinner.

Thursday...appt. with a nurologist ...hope to find out what is causing his seizure-like  episodes..and what to do about them.

Friday...his speech therapist..and, maybe, whatever results from Thursdays ' appt. will involve us in.

Next week we should be able to start moving our things into our "cottage"...Thank you, Lord!...tho it's been good being here with Barbara and David...we'll only be 20 or so yards away from the "big house'...I'll miss their company but it will be so nice to have our own "things" around us once again....and it will be fun decorating our new home.