A Call for Prayer - Again

I have all sorts of things I want to share, and have begun several times to begin that process.  In the midst of it all, we have been hit with a crisis of pretty major proportions.   I wrote this on Facebook today, and am so grateful for all of the prayer support the post has generated.  But I want to share with all of you as well.  

Dwight had an endoscopy Thursday, and that night he began vomiting and was sick all night long.  We called the doc, who prescribed nausea meds, thinking it was the flu.  Turns out there seems to be a direct connection between the confluence of the two issues.  He was sick for Friday and Saturday, but we just thought he was fighting a bug.  A big bad bug.  This morning, I was unable to help him up from the floor, where he had tried to crawl and get something from his dresser drawer (the girls were at the house, I was getting them ready for church, I had closed his door, and couldn't hear him calling me).  I felt like the worse wife ever!  I couldn't get him up, so told him I was calling an ambulance.  He said (true Bronco fan that he is), "not until after the game."  I think he's going to be glad he missed this one after all.  The ambulance, fire truck, and another vehicle arrived with siren blaring, lights flashing.  Quite a lot of commotion for our cul de sac.  The girls were traumatized, to say the least.  But they were all so kind to the kids. 

He is a very very sick guy.  He not only has pneumonia, but is septic (blood infection), and the lung doc just told me he could experience kidney failure, permanent or temporary.  This is just all so unbelievable.  I am so thankful for this network of prayer warriors!   

I am also so thankful for this amazing unit at this hospital.  He is getting top notch care.  Keep praying, please!

While you're at it, please pray for Kristen as well.  Just when things are starting to come together for her and her future, she had 5 miles removed.  (The fact that we have been trying to get her to get the largest one looked at for years now is something I have to let go).  She got a call from the pathologist at 8:00 Friday evening - which to me was a bit ominous.  The only word she understood was "melanoma", which is what my fear has been.  She has to see a specialist, and will be calling that office tomorrow - I suspect it is an oncologist.

I will try to keep you updated.  

Catching Up

I want to thank all of you for the nice comments on our yard - I wish we could all sit around the picnic table and have a refreshing conversation with coke, Diet DP, tea, coffee, or whatever you desire.  The tulips have been great again this year, the forget-me-nots are spreading like lovely weeds, and soon the irises will make an appearance.  

I had to chuckle at one of the comments - about the fact that even my yard has lots of stories to tell.  So true, and a reference to my most common posts - stories of my life.  I will never be a deep, insightful writer.  I will never make people laugh with my writing style.  But I do love to share stories of things that have made me who I am.

Another friend noted that I hadn't updated all of you about Dwight and his health situation.  He is completely over the celllulitis in his leg as well as the fungus issues, and the rashes that seemed to result from the residue of the antibiotics.  It does seem, though, that his resistance is still compromised, resulting in another sinus infection and pink eye last week.  He seems to be on the mend now, thank the Lord.

I have to say, though, that his strength and endurance seems to be coming along well, since he was able to go golfing twice this week with his brother, who was visiting from Georgia.  That's a good thing for sure.

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There is a reason I am copying this next story from a post last summer.  I know some of you will remember both times I have posted about Ann.

If you've been with me since the beginning of blog time, you may remember this story and these pictures. I can't find the earlier post, or I would just re-run it. My cousin, Ann, grew up in Africa, and we only saw our cousins every four years.  But it never seemed like that much time had elapsed when they came home. We usually didn't get to see them very much during their year home, because we lived far away from Minnesota, where they always stayed. Christmas was always very special at Grandma Swanson's house.

When we were all in high school, my sister and I had a great time getting better acquainted with Ann. Someone had sent her a subscription for Co-Ed Magazine way over there in Africa. Does anybody remember this magazine? I remember getting it through home ec. class and really enjoying it. Ann had written a letter to the editor, asking for some fashion advice for her year in America. She wanted to fit in at school. Unbelievably, they met her at the airport in NYC and did a makeover and did lovely story about her for the September, 1965 issue. I loved showing it off at school!

I think you'll be able to read the article and see the pictures better if you double click.

After this furlough, we rather lost touch with each other. I'm not sure why - we all went to college, got married, had kids, and got very involved in our adult lives. We never did correspond by mail for some reason, and that didn't change, unfortunately. It must have been about 15 years ago when Vicki and I took a trip to Minnesota to visit her while she was home, and to meet her husband and children. It was amazing how at home we felt with each other - as if we had seen each other regularly over these many years.

We finally began keeping in touch at least once in awhile, by e-mail of course. Then she got a good phone plan and we talked over the many miles and it sounded as if she were next door. We still didn't get together often, but we felt so close. We had things in common, not specifically, but generally - the fact that we had children going through rough stuff. 

Ann came to visit my sister and me after her dad, our uncle Al, died two summers ago.  We've been privileged now to keep in touch by Facebook, which has been a blessing.  Recently, if you are up on international news, you may have read or heard about the military coup which took over the government in Mali a small central African country where Ann and her family have lived for close to 30 years.  Two of their daughters have been there teaching English this past year and they've been so happy to be together in the same city.  When the coup happened, they didn't quite know what to do about leaving or staying.  Eventually, Larry and Ann were told to evacuate and join their missionary team in the country of The Gambia.  But they had to wait until their daughters' families were released from their schools, ironically schools overseen by the American Embassy.  Strange, it seemed to me!  

They finally were able to leave at dawn on a Saturday morning, and spent the next 3 days driving through desert country and heat with two cars, 6 adults, and 2 little ones.  I have discovered in my dealings with missionaries over many years, that they are resourceful and adaptable.  They made the best of a tough situation, picnicking along the way.

 

 They had to go through the country of Senegal to reach The Gambia.  One of the days, they had some fun in one of the huge, spreading trees of the area.

 I haven't heard any details in the last week, but last I knew, they were with their missions team in a lovely setting on the ocean, enjoying cool breezes, fellowship, and a conference.  The young folks are teaching via internet all over the world.  I'm hoping to hear more soon.  I know they're all hoping to return to their home soon. 

Have a wonderful week-end!

Catching Up - Again!

A new record has been set - almost 3 weeks between posts. It is ridiculous - I just can't seem to put words together these days. The good news - Dwight is back to normal - his silly sense of humor is back, and he is back doing things with the girlies, enjoying the yard work, and going for his long walks. It was fun watching the girls "helping" Grandpa change the oil in Mommy's car the other day.





When he got sick, we had tickets for his visit to Maine which had been purchased a couple of weeks before. My first thought when we realized how ill he was - we will probably have to delay the trip. But, praise God, he was able to go last week-end and he, Kev, and Angie had a great time together.


I am sitting here on Saturday, Easter Eve, with my foot bothering me. We did our first performance last night of our Easter music, which is such a fabulous collection of glorious songs. We will do it again in the morning, after a lovely breakfast.



But I did something very foolish last night - I decided to stand on the risers without my boot. Mistake. It wasn't the ball of the foot that hurt the most, but the heel - I think from trying to avoid standing on the ball. I am truthfully very discouraged about this tendon situation.


I've taken or sent the kids to Disney on Ice for quite a few years. The last couple of times, I have sent Kristen and the big girls while I took care of the twins. But this year, the littles were big enough to enjoy the extravaganza. They are accustomed to being left behind on a lot of occasions, so when the big girls and I were talking about the upcoming event, they said, "Do we get to go?" When I told them they were going to get to go, the excitement in the air was palpable. It was a long wait for the night to arrive, but it was the subject of a lot of anticipation.

The night finally arrived, we went to Culver's for a treat before the show, then arrived just in time to claim our seats before the lights went down and the gala began. They all four enjoyed it very much, but the littles, in their princess dresses, were absolutely mesmerized the entire time.



The smiles were huge --










The biggest thrill for the littles was when each of the princesses and their princes skated, one couple at a time. They would have liked it to be them the entire time, I do believe.






The finale was quite impressive, with characters from Beauty and the Beast, Nemo, Pinocchio, The Lion King, Toy Story, and several others I can't remember - besides, all the Disney characters, It's a Small World, Mickey Mouse Club, and all of them joined together on the ice at the end of the show.









It was an enjoyable time from beginning to end. I do have to say that I miss the shows when they concentrated on one story the entire time, and hope they do that again someday. But it's a great activity for little princesses.


This has been spring break - the first two days were really horrible weather. We even had a skiff of snow (not enough to help the near drought conditions, however). Kristen's work schedule was horrific this week, so the girls were here most of the time, including several nights. The last few days were lovely. One warm day, I captured this picture of "a grandgirl after my own heart." She has her name in a book, literally, almost constantly. She is so much like me in this way (and several other ways, too). I really love this picture.




Well, here's hoping I still have a couple of readers!

Party Day!

I've been meaning to share these pictures for several weeks, but seem to have had a slight disruption in the routine. Thank you for all of your prayers for Dwight. He has returned to work on a minimal basis - and is being cared for by his woman boss, who sends him home when she thinks he's had enough. He actually made it to choir practice tonight and seemed to really enjoy that. Everyone is so glad to see him back at work and church. And the girls are thrilled to have Grandpa back home. He does seem to have developed a secondary fungal condition on various parts of his body. A trip to the dermatologist yielded a powerful once-a-week pill for six weeks, as well as orders to take 2-3 bleach baths (one cup of bleach in a tub full of water) per week. Crazy!! But he'll do ANYTHING to get rid of this fungus junk.

I started this a few days ago - and today (Monday) Dwight worked a whole day, then went for a short walk when he got home. YAY for improvements every day!

One Saturday awhile back, there were three birthday parties planned. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera for the first one. All 4 girls were invited to both of the children's parties that day. The first one was for a 6 year old girl who was born in Peru to her Peruvian mom and American dad when they were missionaries over there. This was a really fun parties with lots and lots of cute little girls. The daddy led in very energetic games. The food was plentiful and good. Then there was the pinata, which they made themselves. It was such fun watching from the youngest to the oldest taking their whacks for the candy.

We went back to our house for a couple of hours, only to return for a "princess party" later in the day. Oh, my goodness, what fun they all had. It was a tea party and they were to all dress up.

The tables were set up with games and puzzles.

Then they were treated to manicures (well, fingernail polish) and "jewelry".






The professional princess serenaded them with Disney songs. She was really good!




Then they had tea and cookies. . .




Followed by the very special cupcakes - showcased by the very lovely little birthday princess --




The birthday princess received so many lovely princess-worthy gifts --




The princess posted with each of the girls, and with the whole group.










That evening, we left the little girls home with Grandpa and headed over to celebrate my dad's 86th birthday.

Thursday night, the 4 girls, Kristen, and I are all going to Disney on Ice. The little girls are used to being left behind, so when Katie asked, "Do we get to go?" and the answer was "Yes, you get to go!" - the reaction was priceless!!

Sorry to be gone so long . . .

It's definitely time to catch you up on what's been going on around here. It was four weeks ago today (Friday) that Dwight went to bed in the afternoon. It's been more than two weeks since I wrote the first post about this physical trial he's been going through. He has been on the i.v. antibiotics this entire time - the schedule was changed from one two-hour infusion per day to one-hour infusions twice a day - 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. His wonderful sister has done this process every day for 22 days. Hopefully this morning's infusion will be the last, prior to his appointment with the infectious disease doctor.

The improvement has been slow, but steady. It was a great day when his voice began to sound like himself. It was a great day when his appetite began to improve. He has spent a lot of time sleeping, reading, and watching t.v. with our brother-in-law, who is disabled. I have been there as much as I could, but have had the girls often, so I haven't seen him every day. I love hearing his voice on the phone, just as I did when we first met.

He did make it to church for the late service last Sunday, and he was so happy to be there. Everyone was so happy to see him. We're all hoping he'll make it back to choir in time for the Easter musical.

We had to go shoe shopping - there was no way he was ever going to put his toes into those possibly fungus-infested shoes. So into the garbage can went several pairs of really nice shoes. He also replaced his socks. I can't say that I blame him. We went on to Culver's and grabbed a bit of lunch together - it felt so good.

He's gradually doing more activity. I think he's hoping to go back to work on Monday - after four weeks off.

Interestingly, we received a survey in the mail, asking about our experience in the ER - I had been planning to write a letter of complaint, and this was the perfect opportunity. We filled out the survey, which went to a location in Miami. That wasn't satisfactory for me, so I sent a letter directly to the CEO of our hospital. Prior to that, and when he was still in the hospital in the town north of us (because his doctor is up there), I had called our hospital to register our dismay, and hadn't heard back from them, thinking that was the end. I don't know if they've received the letter, but they called us from the ER this week for more information. They asked if Dwight would approve the sending of the records from the hospital where he was admitted, to see what they missed. It'll be interesting to see what comes of that.

In the meantime, life has gone on with the kids as usual, except for missing their grandpa, who provides so much fun. I can assure you that Grandpa will not be renting skates again! I miss him in so many ways, but I really miss his awesome help with the kiddoes! Most of my days haven't been this crazy, but here is yesterday's madness:

7:30 - the girls had spent the night, as they always do on Wednesdays. It was "Crazy Hair Day" at school, so they needed to stop by their house on the way in order to do the crazy things to their hair, as they had forgotten their accessories at home. Got them to school and left the twins with their mommy for a couple of hours.

8:30 - went to the gym for a bit of "me time."

10:30 - picked Kristen up to take her to a meeting in Fort Collins (she was out of gas and doesn't get paid until today). Stayed in the car with the twins while she was in the half-hour meeting. Traffic was crazy both ways, so she was a bit late for her meeting, therefore late getting out of her meeting, therefore late to work. Had a headache from that madness, but it went away soon.

12:30 - dropped her off at work and went home for a few minutes - Emma was desperately asking for something she had left here.

1:30 - went to Taco Bell for lunch - we enjoy that little routine about once a week, usually on Tuesday after Bible Study. But today it was God's timing for sure, because there sat my other sweet babysitter for my kids, the one I mentioned in my last post who has 8 kids and is a fabulous mom. She's here visiting her folks and had brought her 4 youngest kids with her on this trip, whom I had not met before. We had a great time visiting while the little girls were on their best behavior. It was such a nice treat.

2:30 - went to Sam's to get gas, but realized it was now too late to go in there and get my glasses adjusted - Emma and I had collided heads the night before, and besides the knot on my forehead, I have wonky glasses, which is definitely not a good thing when you have lineless bifocals! So we headed out to school, even though it was a bit early - no sense trying to get anything else done, or go home. So we sat in the car again for a half hour, waiting for Livi to come out. Hayley had yet another after school activity, which would last an hour, so again, no sense going home. We could have gone to the grocery store close by to get some things I desperately need, but I didn't have the energy to drag all of them in for that adventure. It was a beautiful day, so Livi and the twins went to play in the little park right by the school while I sat in the car, reading and watching Livi be in charge of them. I dozed off a a couple of times in the warmth of the car, but all was well.

4:30 - Hayley was finished with her latest activity - a 5K run coming up in May for girls - they're beginning training. She also stays after school every Tuesday for Battle of the Books, which is a district-wide contest of teams reading and retaining details of the books in a showdown in April. They both also stayed after school Wednesday to try out for their (silly) talent contest coming up, which is not really a contest at all, because nobody gets judged - it's one of those politically correct affairs where they all get to "perform" but nobody gets their feelings hurt. I have to go every year, but can barely bear watching it! I am urging the girls to do an actual talent next year, such as buying a track tape and singing something without the backing of Taylor or Miley or Selena. Or singing one of Hayley's own songs that she has written. For crazy scheduling of Kristen's work reasons, I had to pick them up all three of these days - if she picks them up, she can just get Livi and go home, and go back for Hayley later because they live so close to school.

5:00 - grab a quick bite to eat, get homework done, and run back out to the south end of town for the 4th time.

6:00 - Family Math Night at school - timing is everything! This turned out to be a very nice event, but I was beyond tired by this time. They had a great time, and the twins were well behaved, so it was worth the time.

7:30 - back home to get baths taken and jammies on so they'd be ready for bed when we picked up Mommy from work.

8:15 - sit outside Hobby Lobby and wait for Mommy to get her closing rituals done - the store closes at 8, but it takes a lot of time to get out of there - we sat there another 15 minutes, them asking every few seconds when she'd be out. The answer - "when she's finished with her work."

8:30 - headed for their house - the 5th trip to the south end of town for the day. I'm hoping that they went right to bed and to sleep, as they were told they must do the minute they got into the house. I came home and breathed a huge sigh of relief that the crazy day was over.

So - hopefully today's trip to the doctor will see the pic line and all the paraphernalia hanging from Dwight's arm removed, him coming home, and life returning to some semblance of normalcy. I have a 9:20 appointment with the podiatrist and he has a 1:20 appt with his doctor, so the day promises to be busy as well. As for my foot - it's gone backward, I think. I really can't even think about the "S" word and being off my feet for 6 weeks. (NOTE: Dwight is home and so glad to be here! His numbers were very good, and the exhaustion should dissipate soon, since he is DONE with antibiotics. I, on the other hand, am back in a boot - ugh!)

Thank you all, dear prayer partners, for your love and concern and prayers! I'll be back again with more of the crazy saga that is my life.

A Quick Update

Good morning, dear friends. I have not written, nor been to visit, for many days. In truth, I have two posts sitting there half finished, but can't seem to get the words to form and land on the "page." I just wanted to update you a bit, and let you know why. Dwight was in the hospital for 4 days last week, after a trip to the ER on the previous Sunday. Then we treated an erroneous ER diagnosis, which allowed a raging strep or staph infection to worsen dramatically in his left leg. It's a long story, and I hope I can get it written soon. I have been keeping many of you updated on Facebook, but some aren't there.

He is getting i.v. antibiotics out of the hospital, and is doing this at his sister's house so that he can rest undisturbed by the lovely sounds of noisy little girls. His sister is a saint, in my estimation, and is caring for him so beautifully. I feel guilty, but blessed.

I will definitely try to get back soon for a real post. I love you all.

I am adding this piece that I wrote as a Facebook update:

If you have time, Google "cellulitis" and read about what Dwight has had going on. It is a condition created when staph or strep bacteria enter the body through a cut or scratch, no matter how small, on your body somewhere, anywhere apparently. We finally figured out, most likely, that it came through athlete's foot, which he's been fighting for a couple of weeks. Where he got the athlete's foot is another mystery, but perhaps when he took the girls ice skating and rented a pair of skates that had been worn by someone else who had the fungus, even though he had socks on. Disgusting, thought, really. But anyway, it seems that these bacteria live on our bodies all the time and why they choose at some point to invade and make us sick is a complete mystery to me, and to doctors as well, it seems. Anyway, it landed in his leg and began to get red. The ER doctor didn't even look at his leg unclothes, but just poked it and agreed with what we thought it might be - the pulled groin muscle. I am very very unhappy with this young, apparently inexperienced, doctor. So we did the wrong treatment for 3 more days and his pain was excruciating. Thank the Lord for our regular doctor who immediately sent him to the hospital, horrified at what he saw - the redness had filled over half of his upper leg. He still has pain in the leg even though it's improved greatly in the way it looks. Tylenol seems to be doing wonders on managing that pain. Let me know if you want to know anything more, and thanks so much for your prayers!