Goodbye & Good Riddance to 2019

So, yeah, that tablet wasn't worth squat. I take that back- it was great for all kinds of games that I wasted far too much time on.

So, 2 years later, here I am again. What's gone on?

Lost several aunts and uncles.

Lost a couple of officers.

Lost my beloved Nightshade kitty.

Worst of all, I lost my Daddy 2 days before his 86th birthday.

2 days after his Louisville memorial service, I had my left knee replaced.


Ok, so that last item is a positive thing, although it didn't feel like it at the time. The first week was agony and I thought I had made a terrible mistake. Then, amazingly, I started seeing progress EVERY SINGLE DAY and now I'm nearly pain free for the first time in YEARS. (we're doing my right knee in another year or two. My left HAD to be done when it was because I had taken a nasty fall and shattered my kneecap) A series of visits to a chiropractor in 2018 fixed my back problems. I now don't know how to handle not being in constant pain. #firstworldproblems?

Still working on the diet/weight loss issues. It's getting better now that I can actually move without hurting myself.

Boo kitty has turned into my new cuddlebug. He's in disgustingly good health for his age and the vet tells me that I will probably have many more years with him. Which is good, because I'm not ready for any more losses. Mom has been put on notice too- She's not allowed to die unless it's because I've snapped and killed her. LOL

And that's where we are now. There's plenty more drama, but I'm going to ease my way back into blogging and save some of it for later.

Well, at least I made my dad laugh...

Dinner with my parents tonight was less than successful, but I DID make dad laugh twice.
Mom drove, & she has bad habit of tailgating cars @ red lights. I finally told her to put her Damn foot on the fucking brake & leave it there until the light was green AND the car ahead of us was moving. Dad started snickering and said he tells her that all the time. I told her there would be NO sympathy from me if/when she rear ends somebody.

Second laugh came after dinner when Mom asked me what I thought about the experience. "I can't believe I put on pants & a bra for that" was my answer. Dad thought it was so funny that he whipped out his phone & called my crazy uncle to tell him. Uncle John then wanted to know what I usually wear to dinner. "I don't know what to call half what that child wears. It usually looks like her pajamas to me!" My outraged squawk had both old coots laughing.

For the record, I have only gone to their house in pajamas ONCE that I recall, and that was Christmas a few years ago. I had a new pair of pajama pants with Cardinals on them & a fuzzy black PJ top. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to wear them out, but I did.

October/November catch-up post

So, we took Dad down to NC for his birthday at the end of September. I can’t handle many more of these trips. Between my health issues & my insane parents, they’re just too hard on me. We left shortly after I got off work Friday morning & I drove all the way to Burlington. At that point I had been up 27 hours and needed a break, so I let Mom drive. I forgot that she cannot drive and read road signs at the same time, and made the mistake of falling asleep for 20 minutes. That’s all it took for her to take the wrong damn exit in Raleigh (due to road construction) and turn our 16 hour trip into a 20 hour one. We wound up in Little Washington and having to drive back down to Jacksonville because she wouldn’t pull over and let me resume driving.

Anyway, I spent Saturday sick as a dog and mostly asleep. Sunday we went over to see Uncle John & it was decided we should go to the State Seafood Festival in Morehead City. That’s when we learned that Uncle John flatly refuses to ride in a car with Dad anymore. He says it’s because they’re the last 2 Spencer men and there wouldn’t be anyone left if there was a crash. So I had to ride with him (he also wouldn’t let me drive, and yes, his driving is a bit unnerving) while Mom & Dad followed in their car. We got there and the parking situation was dismal. Anywhere that we could find space was still too far away for Dad & Uncle J to walk, so we cruised the strip and then decided to head back for Jacksonville. Uncle John was concerned that we’d lost Mom, so he drove about 10 m.p.h. and created an even bigger traffic jam than there already was until she caught up.

Oh, and we went out to see the Montford Point Marines memorial. It was really nice- I took quite a few pictures on my phone and will post them as soon as I can figure out how to get them onto this device.

We were supposed to leave Jacksonville mid-morning on Monday so that we’d have time to get to the Philly Deli in Wilmington & have lunch with Sandra. We got a late start due to Aunt Myrtle deciding (at the last minute) to go to dialysis. (She also held up the old folks getting together Saturday for the same reason) We wound up following them over to say our goodbyes and THEN she wanted to chat.

We finally got underway to Wilmington, but were way late. Sandra’s car was DOA & Brandon (her son) didn’t want to pick her up from work and bring her over to join us for lunch, so we called in an order for Mom to pick up and take to her while Dad & I stayed at the restaurant so he could visit with everybody. We went ahead and ordered, because she was only supposed to be gone 20 minutes. Our food arrived, along with Brandon (what a surprise) and no sign of Mom. Dad finally insisted I call and find out where she was. She’d started yakking with Sandra and didn’t realize she’d been gone over an hour. So now we were 3 hours off schedule and still had to stop for Dad’s fish. He was so pitiful- “we don’t have to stop for fish if you don’t want to, and I don’t have money for a lot anyway.” Like I was going to take him down there and not let him get a cooler of fish & country meat. (we got his meat Sunday) I had saved money out for his fish, so he didn’t need to worry about that.

Don’t ask me what time we finally got back to Louisville. Or how many times we had to stop on the way back. My father is the king of telling us he needs to stop AS WE’RE PASSING THE DAMNED REST AREAS. I (VERY RELUCTANTLY) had to give up and let Mom drive again, but not until we were well into Kentucky. There are no exits on I-64 for her to take by mistake, so we did finally get to Louisville without too much hassle.

Let’s see, what else? Saw my doctor and he was appalled to discover that my thyroid hormone levels had dropped even more since my last visit. I asked him how bad it was and he paused for a minute before saying that I should probably be catatonic instead of as functional as I was. So that medication got doubled & I go back to see him in January. It does explain why I’m still having fatigue issues though, so that was helpful.

Oh, the little punk that broke into my house got caught breaking into another house. Unfortunately for him, he was caught by LMPD, and even more unfortunately it was AFTER his 18th birthday and by a pair of officers who had backed West Buechel up on the call to my house. So he got a one-way trip downtown to the big-boy jail. Heh. The little bastard got to spend the weekend in jail because his momma couldn’t come up with his bail. My heart just bleeds for him…

Discovered a new snack (that I really shouldn’t be eating) when we went to Costco the other day. Golden Island Korean Barbeque Pork Jerky. It’s good stuff and surprisingly tender for jerky! Dad even liked the sample, although it was still a bit too hard to chew for him.

I may as well tell you this last bit. Had another adventure in medical drama & Mom driving on Friday. We’d gone out for breakfast after I left work. Something I ate decided to disagree with me and I wound up having a hideous acid reflux attack about 20 minutes after I’d gotten home & gone to bed. I’m already on Rx strength Prilosec twice a day for reflux, but decided to try a dose of Alka Seltzer since Prilosec does nothing for immediate relief. It worked for about 10 minutes and then I started vomiting. And then the chest pain started. (relax- I did NOT have a heart attack) Since I knew what those symptoms could be indicative of, I didn’t want to risk driving myself to the ER. I also didn’t want to call an ambulance as I’m still paying off my thyroid surgery. So I stupidly called Mom & said I needed a ride to the ER. I didn’t go into detail because I didn’t want her or Dad to panic.

Now any sane, rational parents would think “hey, the kid that normally has to be dragged kicking and screaming to the doctor just called me for a ride to the ER. We should hurry.” Not my parents. They took their time getting dressed (they’d gone back to bed after breakfast), diddling around, and finally showed up at my house almost an hour later. Good thing I wasn’t bleeding to death. Then Mom wanted to take the surface roads instead of the Interstate because “I’m not comfortable on that exit with this kind of traffic.” I was trying to stay calm in case it WAS a heart attack, but that sent me screaming over the edge.

Anyway, after an hour of being poked & prodded, they determined that it WAS just an acid reflux attack. The chest pain was caused by a hole in my esophagus that allowed acid to leak into my windpipe and down to my lungs. So I was pumped full of antacids & antibiotics (and a GI cocktail- lidocaine & milk of magnesia- that was seriously foul tasting, but blessedly killed the pain after about 5 minutes) and sent home. I’m now on Rx strength Pepcid along with the Prilosec, and a couple of other things that I don’t recall off the top of my head.

So that's my current life. We've spent the evening watching the election results at work & I think life with President Oompa Loompa is going to exceed the limits of my medication. Tried to check the Canadian immigration website & it had crashed. I'm still seriously considering leaving. We'll see what happens.

Life goes on...

I'm still here. Still posting (or not, as you've seen) from my tablet, so this will be brief.

1. Removing myself from Facebook was one of the smartest things I have done in a long time. I miss the contact with quite a few of my friends, but it has lowered my stress levels considerably. I may resume at the end of the year, but will be leaving the remainder of my fangirl groups as not being obsessed is working well for me. Also, I gave gotten a LOT more reading done.

2. Was anyone surprised that the British Twit & the Toxic Twat didn't make it past the end of the summer? No, I haven't renewed my interest in him, but the breakup story was everywhere. I did, however, laugh my ass off.

3. New love of my life. One of the younger grey cats in the feral colony has a kitten. She is the most adorable little thing! She's so cute when I see her tumbling around in the yard. I am able to pet her & pick her up- Mama knows I'm friendly- but I don't do it too long so that she & Mama won't get nervous. I'm hoping to bring one or both of them indoors once she's a little bigger. Not sure how Shady & Boo will feel about it.

4. Guess this should have been #3. Remy got out after my last post. He'd escaped once before & it took me nearly 2 weeks to find him. It only took 2 days this time. I went straight to the neighbor whose yard I found him in last time. Sure enough, he was lolling in their window. I rang the bell & we talked about it. They begged to keep him. He & Boo had never been separated before his first escape, but they both seemed to be quite happy apart. In fact, Boo beat the hell out of him when I brought him home the first time, and was quite nasty for several days. So I let them keep him on the condition that he gets returned to me if something happens & they gave to give him up. In the meantime, Boo has turned into quite a cuddlebug.

5. In a moment of insanity, I agreed to drive my parents to NC again for Dad's birthday. And once again had to sic the union on my bosses to get a freaking Friday off. You'd think they'd learn after the last *3* times, but nooooooo... The Major that the union rep talked to was disgusted. "She's asked for 3 Fridays in the last year and a half and they think *that's* unreasonable?!? And she's had to file a grievance each time?" I'm sure it's a coincidence that the Hamster is suddenly being sent to management training classes, but it does make you wonder...

OK, this was more than I meant to type & I'm getting a headache squinting at this thing. More later.

Not the greatest week- I hate having blood drawn

So, I went to the lab a week ago to have blood drawn for my doctor's appointment. I got a new-to-me tech who I never want to see again. Actually, I *DO* want to see her, preferably across a courtroom when I sue her incompetent ass. This idiot picked up a needle that was a cross between a darning needle and a railroad spike and jabbed it into my arm so hard that I expected to see it come out the other side. Now, I admit to being a wimp when it comes to needles, but this was ridiculous! Then I got a fresh wave of pain when she jerked it back out after collecting the umpteen vials of blood needed for my tests. I've never had one hurt coming out. EVER.

By the end of the night, I had a huge bruise on the inside of my arm and the needle hole was still visible. There were also red streaks extending up toward my wrists. Sunday, the hole was STILL visible, although the bruise and red streaks had faded. I had, however, developed random shooting pains and muscle spasms. And a lump about 3 inches down from the needle hole. Then I found out that she'd done the same thing to my father on Friday, only he didn't have the same side effects. Luckily for her.

My appointment with Dr. B was on Monday. He looked at my arm after I told him what happened, and shook his head. He thinks the lump is an internal bruise. The pain & spasms are because that cow most likely nicked a nerve. He had his office manager call down to the lab to find out who we needed to complain to and was told that the cow's last day was Friday (the day after she abused me & the day she hurt Daddy) and they were very sorry to hear what had happened. That's great, but what about the damage done to my arm?!? Dr B said it should lessen by the end of the week, and to call him on Monday if it hasn't. I'm here to tell you, it hasn't.

Just to add to the fun, I got my flu shot. In the same f'ing arm. So now I have a stiff achy shoulder (I always have the worst reaction) as well as the shooting pains & spasms in my lower arm. Did I mention that this is my left arm and I'm left handed?!? Not fun.

Oh yeah, and my recurring sinus infection is awake with a vengeance. Love the changing of the seasons.

So, there's my WAAAH post for the week. I'm not even going to start on the general stupidity of my workplace. Instead, here are some pretty boys to look at!

Fall Weather Descended With A Vengeance This Weekend

I love it! I'm sitting here on my couch in layered sweats & fuzzy slippers. I've slept better the last 2 nights than I had in months. And Princess Purrsnickety has deigned to come indoors and be cuddly!

Not much else going on. Dad had a chest pain scare that landed him in the hospital Thursday night, but was allowed to go home after blood work showed no sign of a heart attack and a scan showed no blockages. They think k it might have been a weird reaction to his flu shot earlier in the week. He goes to his cardiologist for a follow-up tomorrow, just to be on the safe side.

I haven't made any progress on my two previously posted cross stitch projects, but I have made a start on this:

For the SAL that I signed up to do, this is the frame for Gold Cottage- part 1 of Country Cottage Needlework's Fall Festival series. I'm hoping to finish (or at least get close) all 5 parts by the time the SAL ends in November!

Until later, dear reader (readers? Is anyone out there?!?)

Catching up

So, my heart was broken last week when Leonard Nimoy passed away. There will be a longer post about that when I can write it without crying.

Dr. M says my thyroid tumor is still benign, so he wants to go ahead and give it another year. Easy for him- he doesn't have to make the copays for the ultrasounds & biopsies!

Dad surprised me when we went out to dinner last Sunday. I was waiting for him & Mom to get to the restaurant and heard a cough. I looked up and there he was walking to the table WITHOUT his walker! He's been practicing at home and is getting about fairly well, although he still uses it when the weather is bad or we're going somewhere crowded, just for the extra stability. Mom offered him her arm when we were leaving and he shook her off and fairly STRUTTED out of the place.


And the bloody snow is back. We got over a foot last night. The boss had to pick me up again because Sunshine once again pre-empted the day off.

That's about it for now. I'm mailing my Mug of Comfort exchange package out tomorrow (IF I can get my car dug out and get to the post office) and looking forward to assembling it tonight. I hope Melissa likes it! I've also got a mystery stash box to mail to the next person in the stitch exchange group I'm in and 2 packages of Red Velvet Oreos going to a friend in England. And two "Just because" presents going to friends in CA & Ontario. The post office loves me- I don't know how they can go broke with all the shipping I do!

Here We Are Again

So my weekend started out well- I got to sleep in and was thinking about taking a nap when it occurred to me that I hadn't looked at my phone. I usually turn the ringer off on weekends. Lo and behold, 5 frantic text messages from Mom.

Dad is in the hospital AGAIN. He woke her up about 2 hours after I'd left Saturday morning saying that he was having trouble breathing.
One trip to the ER later and a transfer to the main hospital downtown, we were told he was having congestive heart failure.

Mom is still having vision problems, so she has to leave him before it gets dark, and can't get back down to the hospital before sunrise. Dad, of course, is having fits because that means he has to be by himself and doesn't think her vision problems are that bad. Guess who got to the spend the weekend up all night in a chair at his bedside?

It's not like I had anything better to do. I don't have a life anymore. I did get some reading done. Hit a new level on Candy Crush. And slept like a rock once I got to go home and crawl into bed. And it did seem to make Dad feel better to have me sitting there, even if he slept most of the time.

Today we've been told that he seems to have a recurrence of his COPD, some congestive failure (but his heart is functioning fine), and a UTI with possible kidney stones forming. Yay. They're treating him with all kinds of diuretics, BP meds, and other meds. Not sure how long he's going to be in this time, but at least we know he's not in danger at the moment!

Happy (?) New Year

I may as well start the year out complaining. 2014 couldn't leave without a few parting shots to remind me that it sucked ass.

1. Mom developed a problem with the eye she had cataract surgery on. The panicky eye doctor sent her for a MRI to make sure she wasn't having a stroke or anything like that. Luckily, she wasn't, so now she's being sent back to Dr B to be tested for a sinus infection or to see if it's some sudden diabetes complication.

2. Dad, who objects to going to PT to build his strength up, keeps trying to do things on his own and falling. Luckily he hasn't hurt himself yet.

3. I ruined the ham we had for Christmas dinner. It was mostly edible, but NOT the delicious feast we were planning on.

4. The thyroid tumor is now exactly half the size of what's left of the thyroid. I get to go see the surgeon again and we get to fight with the insurance company over whether or not we can just remove the damned thing or if I get to have a needle jammed into it again first. Dr B. decided that wasn't enough to deal with, so I also have appointments to have my boobs mashed and a camera shoved up my ass. And I'm still too fat for his taste.

5. My car started doing all kinds of not-so-neat tricks. Two days at the mechanic for them to do the repairs that it turned out were part of the recalls on my vehicle and for them to come up with enough time to find something wrong that I'd have to pay for. Bob needs a $250 part (not including labor, of course) that I just can't do until later this month. The kicker is, of course, that the longer I go before I can afford the part, the more likely it will go from the $250 repair to a $1500 one.

6. The cousin my mom was closest to, Aunt Georgia, died yesterday. There's a winter weather front moving into the Iowa area (hoping it blows itself out before it gets here) and with Daddy's shakiness and needs, there is NO WAY we are driving into a snowstorm to go to the funeral.



On the plus side:

1. I still have a job even if I hate it most days.

2. I still have both my parents, even if they drive me crazy.

3. I still have my Shady-cat, who is very cuddly in winter weather.

4. I have a ton of new books to read.

5. I have a ton of new DVD's to watch.



Let's see what this year does to me...

Foodie Friday- Pioneer Woman's Butternut Squash & Kale

found here:

I foolishly volunteered to cook our post-Thanksgiving dinner since I had to work on the actual holiday. Mom was so worn out after the health care battles with Dad that she agreed to that plan. I had made grandiose plans for what we were going to have, but the CFS & a sinus infection kicked in, so those plans went by the wayside.

Instead of the turkey breast cutlets, pounded, filled with homemade stuffing and wrapped in bacon that I planned, we had the cutlets pan-seared and simmered in homemade gravy. The stuffing came from a box. Sigh. It was good with the gravy over it. And I cracked open a tube of crescent rolls for the other bread dish.

Usually we have a green bean casserole or the brussels sprouts w/bacon dish that I introduced to our dinners about 10 years ago. This year, I decided to try Ree's Squash & Kale dish. Why? No idea. I don't generally like butternut squash. But it had been on her site and the picture looked so appetizing that I kept coming back to it, and I thought I remembered both parents liking the squash, so I went for it.

Butternut Squash and Kale
Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 10 Minutes Difficulty: Easy Servings: 8

Ingredients
1/2 whole Butternut Squash; Peeled, Seeded And Cubed
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
Black Pepper To Taste
1/4 teaspoon Chili Powder (more To Taste)
1 bunch Kale, Leaves Torn, Stalks Discarded
Preparation Instructions
Heat 1 tablespoon butter and olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add squash and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chili powder. Cook for several minutes, turning gently with a spatula, until squash is deep golden brown and tender (but not falling apart.) Remove to a plate and set aside.
In the same skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat and add in the kale. Toss it around with tongs and cook it for 3 to 4 minutes. Add in the cooked squash and gently toss together.
Serve as a side dish with chicken or beef, as a main veggie dish, or as a filling for quesadillas or sandwiches.




My cheats- I used a bag of squash cubes and shredded kale from Trader Joe's. If you go with pre-cut squash, you will probably want to cut the larger chunks a bit smaller. I didn't and wound up adding a little water to the pan and steaming the cubes to make sure they were cooked through. I also used Lawry's 17 seasoning blend instead of salt & pepper, but I did add the chile powder.


Verdict?

Dad said dinner was "Alright." That's code for "I liked it, but I'm not saying that because I don't want you getting a big head."

Mom LOVED it.

I actually liked it, much to my surprise. I knew I liked kale, but it blended really well with the squash. In fact, I liked it so much that the small amount of leftovers went home with me!

October and the Lack of Monthly Goals.

So last month's goals, as listed here should have been easy-peasy.

Short version of long story- they mostly didn't get done. Dad had several massive setbacks and I just plain couldn't cope with much of anything. The Shady-cuddling is about the only thing that I managed.

I'm not setting any goals for October. It's just not working right now. Actually, I take that back- my sole goal is to make it through October without checking myself into the local psych ward.

10 Random Questions Answered

Gail Carriger, one of my blogging/writing idols, posted these on her blog last week. Here are my answers!

1. As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Well, I'm not sure I've grown up yet, but I went from actress, to writer, to morning show DJ, to wrestler (actually did that one, briefly), to anything but what I am now...LOL. I'm not sure what I want to be anymore. Except a princess. I'll always want to be a princess!

2. What is your favorite food-related memory?
So many good memories in my life center around food! Here are two, one for each of my parents:
1. Daddy used to work for a chain called Jack's Steak House that had really good chocolate cake. I was in 2nd/3rd grade then. If I had been good, he would bring home a piece of cake when he came in for the night (He'd get home between 1030-1100) and I was allowed to get up and watch Odd Couple re-runs with him while I ate my cake.
2. Mom & I went to England for my 32nd birthday. On the actual day, we took a day-trip to Bath & Stonehenge. We had our first official British tea in a little tea-house in Bath. (not Sally Lunn's- couldn't get near it, but the little place we wound up in was charming!) I discovered the joys of clotted cream that day!

3. Summer or winter?
Winter. I just can't deal with summer heat, despite the fact that I was born & raised in the American South and it's pretty much a year round thing. Actually, I prefer moderate spring/fall weather to just about anything.

4. Proudest five-minutes-of-fame moment?
I won a best lips contest at a screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. We'll go with that.

5. What is your most irrational fear?
Not really irrational- I'm terrified of blindness & suffocation.

6. Favorite holiday destination?
ENGLAND!!!

7. What singer / band did you see at your first concert?
Eeep. I'm not entirely sure anymore. Does going to see my friend Peter's band in high school count? If not, I'll go with Garth Brooks in the early 90's. Not sure it's right, but it's one of my most vivid concert memories! (as talked about here)

8. What’s the worst lie you ever told?
"I've just got the flu."

9. Which teacher had the biggest impact on you?
My 8th grade English/Social Studies teacher taught me not to try to answer questions in her class. She asked us what amendment freed the slaves. Nobody in my class knew. I had read the chapter we were supposed to, but couldn't remember for sure if it was the 13th or 14th. (it's the 13th, BTW. I will NEVER forget that for the rest of my life) Anyway, I was brave enough to guess and got treated to a thirty minute diatribe about how disgraceful it was that I didn't know the amendment that set my people free. And another 5 minutes about being a smart ass when she paused for breath & I told her it only set half of them free, thank you very much.

My 10th grade Spanish teacher was a better influence. She was a big lady, and saw how uncomfortable I was in my own skin. She tried to teach me to appreciate myself as I was, and got me involved in the school student council. I'll never forget her for that. Sadly she died of cancer a few years ago. I regret that I never went back and told her how much she meant to me.

10. If you won a million bucks, what would you spend it on?
My parents get a house wherever they want it and then I'm taking the rest and going straight to England.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

So, 5 days before he was supposed to go home, Daddy was re-diagnosed with pneumonia and sent back to ICU. Due to the usual incompetence issues with the staff, we've been spending nights there to INSURE he's being treated properly. 2 of my sisters came up to help out with this.


He's been doing well, so we left him alone for about 4 hours this morning. Angie was at her hotel, I was at home, and Mom left him at about 3:30 a.m. At 7 we all got called and told he was having seizures & "coding" and we should come ASAP.

We got there, damn near kicked in the ICU door, and rushed into Daddy's room only to find him snoozing peacefully and thoroughly startled when we all started crying and hugging him.

Turns out there was a bit of a mistake. The patient in room 548 was the one coding/seizing. Dad is in room 584. Guess which family was mistakenly notified?

The idiot who called us is not having a good day. I raised hell, Angie (the most peaceful, calm, non-violent one of my sisters) raised hell, the correct patient's family raised hell, and the nursing supervisor raised hell after we all got through chewing on her.

Daddy? After the ruckus died down a bit, all he wanted was some breakfast and a nap. And then the doctor told us they might move him out of ICU today. We're still waiting for that to happen.


I dare these morons to send us anything resembling a bill for "services rendered." So far, all they've done is further endanger my father's health, stress the entire family out, and PISS ME OFF...

*HAPPYDANCING*

Met with Dad's doctors and therapists this morning. He has made such amazing progress just in the 4 days he's been in the rehab wing that they're projecting he'll be able to go home on September 9th!

DANCE WITH ME!!! I broke into a combination of Snoopy's dance and Balki's Dance of Joy. The doctor looked at Dad and told him NOT to try to do that. Mom told me to stop before I hurt something. My hip reminded me that I am getting too old for this shit. (Bonus points to anyone who gets the Dance of Joy & Lethal Weapon references)


Happy, happy, happy!!!

Just dropping by to say hi...

Dad is being moved to the rehab wing today! They finally got his lung infection and stomach bug cleared up enough to let him have real food (pureed, ick, but real food) for the last couple of days and as a result, he is now strong enough for the physical therapy. We're hoping this means he'll get to come home sooner than later!

Not much else to report right now.

As The Stomach Churns -or- The Continuing Medical Saga That Is My Life

Well, it was another fun filled weekend. I went to bed feeling rough Friday night, woke up Saturday feeling like I'd been hit with a truck. Not the CFS, this time I had strep throat. I texted Mom to let her know that I wouldn't be going to the hospital to see Dad and dragged myself to the clinic.

Amusingly enough, when I got to the clinic I was seen by the same doctor who treated me for the sinus infection 2 weeks ago. "You just came off of antibiotics! How can you be sick again?!?"

I told him my self-diagnosis, he took one look at my throat, and then he sighed. "Yep, you're going on the penicillin express...no wait, you're the one with the allergy...what the hell did I give you last time?" Flipped through the chart. "Ok, you're going back on this, but at a higher dose."

Then we had to wait for the pharmacy to call, because they did last time to make sure he MEANT to give me that strong an antibiotic. While we were waiting, he asked me what I keep doing ot myself to wind up there. I couldn't resist- I told him that I'd faked everything just for an excuse to come see him again. (He IS pretty cute...and probably about 12 years old) He snickered and said "Well, if I wasn't married and you weren't contagious, we might have had something there."

I love doctors who get my smart ass sense of humor. Dr B would have probably fainted on the spot if I'd said that to him.

So I hit the pharmacy & headed home to bed. The little black snot decided to come in for the day/night as we were having a nasty spell of rain that turned into a thunderstorm. She snuggled up and purred me to sleep and that was pretty much it until 2 pm Sunday.

Before I passed out, Mom had messaged me that Dad now had C.Diff- a really nasty stomach bug- plus he still wasn't able to eat. None of us were having a good time.

Mom & I went out to dinner at Panera Sunday and then I went back home to bed while she went back to the hospital to Daddy-sit.


Everyone is feeling better today. Dad is being allowed ice chips, honey, juice, and broth. They gave him a cup of tomato soup and you'd have thought it was manna from heaven. I was able to stick my head in and yell hello at him before coming to work today.


More news as it happens...

Belated: Happy Birthday to Me!

So, Dad got moved OUT of the ICU on my birthday! We're very happy about this, especially him.

Mom & I went and had our tea party at Sister's Tea Shop. It was tasty. I tried their Buckingham Palace Garden Party tea blend which turned out to be an Earl Grey with Jasmine. I loved it. The three-tiered nibbles assortment we ordered was also good. 2 of my favorites from that were the Black Pepper Biscuits with Ham Salad and the Caramelized Onion/Corn scone. They also brought me a giant chocolate cupcake with a pink rose frosting that was moist & delicious.

Went back to Mom's to open my presents. She & Dad bought me the Hollow Crown miniseries on DVD- Tom Hiddleston, yay! I won't list everything else, but Mom did her usual bang-up job of gifts and gift-wrapping.

Back to the hospital to spend some more time with the old coot, and then I went home and grilled myself a steak. Watched my new DVD's- ok, mostly just my favorite Tom scenes, but I'll watch the whole thing later.

The Surgery Story (may be long & rambling- my brain is not totally functional right now)

So Daddy's heart surgery was on Friday. The planned procedures were: replacing 2 heart valves, doing one bypass, and scarring on a chamber to alleviate his A-fib.

My sisters arrived on Thursday. All four of them. This was a surprise to us, because we were told only one would be able to come after it had been re-scheduled. Only 2 of my BILs were brave enough to come along for this adventure. To be fair, Sandra's husband Eddie was in the hospital with congestive respiratory failure himself, but he insisted she come be with Dad.

We met at the hospital at 5 a.m. Friday. They took Dad back almost immediately, and we were allowed to come back for hugs/kisses/prayers before they took him off to surgery. The nurse took one look at us and asked "Is this ALL of them?" The look on her face when we said no was priceless.

Waiting is the worst. Around 7-8, we went to the cafeteria for breakfast. I'm a nervous eater and apparently so are my sisters. That place made a lot of money on us that morning! I took coffee & a danish back to Mom and we all sat around playing the waiting game. Sandra called the hospital back home to get an update on Eddie and scared us all to death when she burst into tears. It turned out to be a good cry though- they told her that he was off the breathing tubes and doing just fine. In fact he was fussing about wanting something to eat.

Sometime around 11-12, the surgeon came out to talk to us. He said Daddy had made it through the surgery like a champ! They wound up being able to replace the leaky heart valves instead of having to replace them, so the operation was less invasive/involved than they expected. (YAY) He also said that Daddy should be good for at least 10 more years now. (oh boy) It was going to be at least 2 hours before we could go back and see him, so we opted to go get lunch.

On the way to the parking garage, everything just hit me at once. I started bawling, much to the horror of my brothers. JR is normally a smart ass, but he was the first one to hug me and THEN he started picking on me to get me to stop crying. Roy started crying when I did, much to Audrey's disgust. Anyway, we all dried up after a minute or two and headed out.

We went to a Mexican restaurant near their hotel for lunch. They'd stopped in for Margaritas the night before and the host remembered them. (not entirely a surprise, given our family) Apparently he was so taken with the pack of us that he started pulling the staff out of the kitchen to gawk at us. The food was really good, though.

Saturday is kind of a blur. Daddy was still heavily drugged, so we took turns going in to sit with him. He did blink at us and squeeze our hands, so we knew it was really him in there. The ICU would only let us in 2 at a time for 10 minutes per pair. At the end of afternoon visiting hours, Sandra & I went shopping while the others went back to the hotel to pack up and move to a new one. Because the PGA championship was in town, hotel rooms were hard to come by and the 6 of them wound up having to share one room for Saturday night. I won't go into details about the dance off that took place before I left them for the night other than to say that Sandra & Audrey are wild women and should know better than to twerk.

Audrey, Roy, & Sandra had to leave Sunday morning. Daddy was still pretty out of it, but was fussing about his breathing tubes. The rest of us spent the day in and out.

Brenda, Angie, & JR left early Monday morning. Shortly after that, Dad managed to pull out his breathing tubes. Mom & I flew down to the hospital and were told that he'd thrown up while they were examining him to see how much damage he'd done to himself and aspirated some of it into his lungs. They were afraid they'd have to cut him open again to clean out his lungs, but were eventually able to flush everything out. He kept fighting the oxygen and other masks they tried to put on him in place of the breathing tubes, so they had to drug him senseless again and put him in restraints. And put the breathing tube back in. Needless to say, I didn't make it to work yesterday.

Today, after a night under sedation and lots of oxygen forced into him, Dad is MUCH improved. The doctors are optimistic that he'll be off the vents by Thursday, and if so, he can be moved into regular recovery. He waved at me when I stopped in to visit before work, and winked at me when I told him that I'd bought his lottery tickets for the weekend.

Then I made the mistake of coming to work. Psycho is giving me the silent treatment because I had the nerve to put my Dad before this hell hole, and if she rolls her eyes one more time when one of my friends drops in to hug me and ask about Dad, I am going to roll her head across the floor.

Yeah, life is getting back to normal.

The Great Spencer Family Reunion

So, we were supposed to leave for NC after I got off work on the 2nd, but my parents forgot and scheduled lab work for Dad on the morning of the 3rd. So we planned to leave at 8 a.m. instead. Needless to say it was 9:30 before we actually got underway. Partly because nobody could get up & moving, and partly because I had to totally unpack & repack the damn trunk in order to get my stuff in. (We took their car)

The drive wasn't too awful to start. Traffic was tolerable, the roads were fairly clear, and we didn't hit much construction. The first hiccup came when we were entering Winston-Salem NC. Mom was driving. The exit we have to take to get to I-40 is an ugly, sharp curve with about a 6 ft merge lane and even *I* mumble prayers on it. Mom, for some reason, gunned the engine as we were getting to the sharpest point on the curve and forgot to turn the wheels, so we nearly went careening into the guard rail. Daddy squawked about it for the next 30 miles.

Second hiccup came as we got on Hwy 264 to head toward the swamp. At that point, we were racing Hurricane Arthur to the upper NC coast. I was driving into heavy sporadic bursts of rain that were totally blinding. We got to Washington (where I was going to be staying)at about 11. The sky fell apart right after we got into our rooms and I was quite grateful to be off the road. We had a couple of brief power failures, but nothing too horrible.

Next morning: Loaded the parents & some extra supplies we were asked to bring into the car and headed to Englehard. Google maps said to look for State Road X on the directions to Cousin Josephine's house. What they/we didn't know is that it has since been given a street name. My father very (un)helpfully told me that I should have turned AFTER I passed it. Sigh. We finally got there, taking a ridiculously long way around. Jo was very happy to see us and horrified that I was going to be driving back & forth to Washington every day we were there while my parents stayed with her. (it was only 90 minutes each way, LOL) I promised her I'd be fine. Her power, as most of the town's, had been knocked out by the storm. She had a generator running, so there was a/c. We had to go buy more gas for it, and get another cousin to get it running again. I could have figured it out, but Jo was insistent that "one of those useless boys" should do it for her.

We got Uncle John on the phone, only to find out that he & Cousin Henderson weren't going to arrive until Saturday. So we sang Happy Birthday to him and tried to figure out where we were going to store the sheet cake we'd ordered so the frosting wouldn't melt.

My sisters Angie & Audrey arrived with their husbands. Like me, they were staying in Washington & commuting all weekend. We sat around chatting for hours while Jo called every relative she had a number for to tell them we were there. (Quick note- Jo is about 3-5 years younger than Dad, but is his niece. It amused me to hear this elder woman call him Uncle Leonard all weekend. They were pretty much raised as siblings) The utility company got the power restored at 4 (to everyone's relief) and we found out that the local seafood restaurant that everyone loved was going to be open at 5:30, so plans were made to go there for dinner.

I have to say, the food was pretty good. I tried their fried flounder (yum!) and fried okra (even better!) and had a hush-puppy eating contest with my BIL J.R. (I won) The siblings headed back to town, while I drove the old folks back to Jo's. They made me promise not to stay too long as everyone was nervous about me driving through the swamp by myself after dark. I don't know why- even *I* know not to speed in unfamiliar territory with steep curves and flooded canals on each side of the highway, especially in a racist-run county on a holiday speed-trap weekend. I had to promise to text/call everyone when I got back to the hotel.

Decided to go to Wal-Mart when I got back to Washington, but I duly texted everyone to let them know I'd arrived safely. Wandered around for longer than I intended, so it was about 10 when I pulled into the hotel parking lot. My sibs were out in the parking lot watching the fireworks and waiting for me to get there. They'd all left their phones in their rooms, so they hadn't seen my message. Roy told me that they'd just been debating on whether or not they should go look for me. We watched the end of the fireworks and decided to call it a night.

Saturday- The festivities weren't supposed to start until 3, so I had told everyone not to expect me much before that. So, of course I got a zillion phone calls wanting to know if I was ok, if I was lost, and when I'd be arriving.

Let me tell you something about my dad's family. There are a LOT of them. Dad is the 2nd youngest of 23 kids. (only 4 are still with us) Most of them produced a large number of children, who followed the same route. There were about 150 people there Saturday and that wasn't even 1/3 of the family. Amusingly enough, to me anyway, out of all those people, there was still nobody that really looked like me. Saw lots of dopplegangers of my sibs and their kids, though! We managed to get most everyone herded over to the tent that had been set up for the cook-out and had a presentation of birthday acknowledgements for Uncle John and some cousins who'd had birthdays recently, and then they had this pastor get up to deliver a sermon/prayer.

Yeah, I'm still a heathen. And this guy was a holy roller, hell-fire & brimstone preacher. Mom swatted me for giggling several times throughout the service. At one point, he went on for 10 minutes about how all problems could be solved by "putting the blood (of Christ) on them." I bit my lip until it bled, but kept quiet until he said to tell your boss-man that "you're going to put the blood on him so he won't bring you down!" All I could think of was what the expression on my boss' face would be and how quickly he'd have me served with a mental inquest warrant if I said that in our office and I lost it. Luckily I buried my face in my hands to stifle the giggles, so all anyone saw was my shoulders shaking and feet tapping, so they all assumed I was "caught up in the spirit" and nobody was offended. When I regained my composure, I looked around and you could tell which cousins weren't exactly comfortable with that type of ministry because they were all shifting restlessly in their spots. The final straw was when the pastor began pointedly preaching about how God created MAN and WOMAN and they should remain as God created them. Kind of brassy when you realized (as many of us did over the course of the weekend) that the cousin who had spearheaded the reunion and booked this clown was Transgender. Not cool. What happened to letting God be the only judge?

Anyway, he finally put a sock in it and we got to eat. The food wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't awful. We had to all but drag Uncle John over to cut his birthday cake. He was determined not to be the center of attention and cousins Niesha, Charvella, & I were equally determined that he was. One of the sweetest moments, and I'm still kicking myself for not getting a picture of it, was when the oldest Spencer male presented the first piece of cake to the youngest Spencer boy present. Little Damarion, age 1, had no idea why we were all cheering and clapping, but he was happy to scarf down that cake!

I didn't stay for the dance that was scheduled later. I was developing a sick headache and wanted to go back to the hotel to try to sleep it off.

We were supposed to leave right after they went to church Sunday morning. I was tasked with picking up the fried chicken order for the fellowship dinner and delivering it before collecting my parents for the trip home. We didn't get back on the road until almost 4, much to my dismay. I'll spare my reader/s the details of the drive home except to say that my mother still apparently can't drive and read road signs, my father is still a pain in the butt about wrong turns and getting in/out of the car in a timely fashion, and I got a damned speeding ticket in VA. (GRRR) Oh, and we didn't get to my house until 6 a.m. Monday.

As a result of the travel stress, my CFS has flared up big time; my face has broken out; and my knees/back ache like hell. But it made Daddy & Uncle John very happy that we went, so that makes it worth all the aggravation.

Next year's reunion is tentatively scheduled for August. I'm not going. I swore that if I traveled anywhere next year, it would be to England, and I'm not giving it up for anybody!

What doesn't kill me makes me stronger...

So right now I should be able to take on freaking Samson, or be Atlas with the weight of the world on my shoulders.

Daddy & Uncle John are both now in the hospital.

I can't take much more of this.