Fun in the ER

Last week Steve started tearing off the shingles of our roof. Since he's laid off currently, it would be perfect timing if the weather permits, to get the reroofing done. Unfortunately, the first night of demolition, Steve came in to me and showed me his arm. Directly above his wrist was a 2 inch by 1 inch swelling, very red, almost looked like a vein had burst. He was experiencing pain in it and I told him it should be checked. The next day there was redness on the underside of the arm (about 4 inches by 2 inches). I encouraged him to go to the doctor.

They weren't sure what caused the problem but decided to treat it as an infection. Placing him on Cefalexon, they told him to keep an eye on it. By 10:00 p.m., the redness was climbing up his underarm and there was a new swelling on the outside of his arm. After calling the hospital, he was told to come to the ER for an I.V.

We arrived at 11:00 p.m. There were probably five people waiting before us. They took his name and sent him to the lobby to wait. After a few minutes his name was called. He explained his symptoms and was sent to the lobby again. A young girl walked up to the reception desk complaining "I've been here for 3 hours!" Oh, my goodness. We are going to have a long wait.

After two I.V.s of something stronger than Cefalexon, we headed home (4:30 a.m.) He was given instructions to rest with his arm on a pillow. If the redness climbs on up the arm and toward the heart, he's in serious trouble. Cellulitis was the prognosis. Great! And how does he reroof resting with his arm on a pillow? I knew we were going to have trouble.

Stevie and Josh came over Saturday (Josh worked Friday evening) and worked, trying to keep their Dad from doing hard stuff. Ha! No, my guy keeps on working and wonders why his arm is still in bad shape. I swear, with all the stress I've been under, I'll probably need acne products after this.

It rained yesterday, so the roof will have to wait. Between Steve, Joshua, Stevie, and Joe (Steve's brother), the north side of the house has tar paper down and is ready for singles. The balance of the house has old shingles off. The addition is ready for tar paper, but the rest needs OS board put down first. With the winds yesterday, a board flew off and hit my bathroom window cracking it and leaving a few small holes in it. Great! It's not all the way through, but will need replaced. Gotta love it!

Tomorrow we should receive a bid for someone else to finish the roof. Steve's arm now has a hard knot in it where the swelling used to be and is getting more painful. Hopefully someone else will get up on the peak of the house instead of my husband, sons, or brother-in-law.

Hopefully the bid will be low enough for Steve to agree to it. Since most of the work is done (the shingling is the easiest part). We will have a ton of nails now around the yard. Heather and I have been walking around with a magnet collecting some, but Steve is going to get one on rollers which is a lot longer and will pick up a lot more nails at once. If Steve doesn't like the bid, at least the next three days (starting tomorrow) will be sunny!

Have a great day! Halfmoon

Saturday's the Day!

Well, the shower is almost upon us. I can hardly wait. I went to Abby's Tuesday to see what she received from the Sleeth shower and was nearly overwhelmed. Justin's mom got them an Eddie Bauer bassinet with all the trimmings. Seems like anything I get will be unable to compare to that.

They have tons of clothes now, two Binkys or BinBins as Alyce would say (pacefiers), a cool train that makes a lot of noise, bottles, diapers, etc. Speaking of diapers, Abby and I were trying to figure out which pile to put diapers in from the diaper cake as they were different sizes. This was after Abby told me she'd looked inside the diapers to find a tag (LOL). I told her, "Don't look at me, I haven't bought diapers since you were in them!" Finally, I said we should take one out of a package of diapers so we know what size is what. Guess what? Abby noticed the diapers have the size printed on the back of the diapers! How cool is that. And we were just about ready to call Heather for help.

I had wanted to get a rocking chair for the shower, then after I drove home, I remembered the leather chair I sit in a lot rocks. What else to get? Hmmmmmm! Of course I finally came up with an idea, but cannot divulge it here. What if Abby reads it?

Jackie sent her presents by UPS and they arrived a few days ago. I got out my trusty box cutter, zapped that puppy open and can only get a glimpse of what she sent (not fair). Jackie told me to open it and see if they arrived all right. I can't wait till Abby completely opens the presents at the shower.

That's it for now, have a glorious day! Halfmoon

Sue, Wendy, and the Kids

Sue, my sister from Council Bluffs, and Wendy, my niece from Avoca and her three children, came over for a visit Wednesday. Heather, Jordan, Kat, and Alyce, Shelley Taylor and Carter, Angie and Jadah, Abby, and Sydney (Steve's oldest daughter) were all here. That made all of my grandchildren here to play with Kyle, Kole, and Kloe.

There was a little shyness at first between the kids until they found a baby toad, then everyone lightened up and had fun. I cannot believe how Kyle has grown (both taller and mature wise). Kole and Katiana are around the same age and that is always fun. Kloe and Alyce are close to the same age too, however, they both wanted to play with the same toys All in all everyone had a great time.

When my sisters, brother, and I were younger, we used to be around our cousins a lot and made many memories. (Remember piling the mattresses in the living room, Sue, and jumping off the TV onto them? At least until we were caught by Mom and Dad.) As we grew older, there was a pig roast to go to yearly at my Aunt Velda's. That was always great fun.

Sue and I exchanged birthday presents (our birthdays are in May). She always has such great taste, I love her gifts. With the gas prices what they are, we both put off making a trip to see each other. They came up to Adventureland and stayed over night at a friend's home, then stopped at my place before travelling back home. I made maidrites for lunch (since it's easy to make in large quantity) along with chips, yum. I normally don't eat lunch but it was worth it.

Shelley, Abby, and Angie weren't able to stay long but what time Sue and Wendy had with them was great. Of course, we took pictures to commemorate the event! When they left (to go home), Heather drove us to Sydney's house so we could drop her off. All in all it was a wonderful day. One I hope we repeat often before the cold weather comes on. Hope you all have a great day today. Until the next time....Halfmoon


Doctor's Visit

Those of you I've talked to recently know that I have been having problems with my gallbladder for a few weeks now. Saturday afternoon I started needing to use the necessary room quite often. Not wanting to go into more detail except it is what every person dreads. Not feeling nauseous, I ruled out the stomach flu.

I had made egg salad sandwiches for lunch (which were delicious) and immediately wondered if it was the culprit. Since Steve didn't become sick, that was ruled out also (although the thought of eating another one makes me ill). Wondering if it was tied up with the gallbladder, I became nervous about eating anything. After having rice for two days, I ventured into trying more solid food again.

Since I had a doctor's appointment today, I figured I'd just wait to see what she said. She doesn't know if the two are related either. Great, huh? I told her I didn't want to have the gallbladder removed since I read on the web that you have more chance of getting colin cancer after removal. She hadn't heard that but went to her website and printed out a report that confirmed it. So she said, "If you want to make an appoinment with the doctor you saw for the gallbladder is up to you." Okay, so what's the alternative?

I wouldn't mind going to a specialist who would consider zapping the darn gall stones (I have three). And how do you get them, for crying out loud? On the positive side, my not eating much (because I'm afraid to) has made me go down to 1/2 pound lower than my low weight. Now if I could just keep lowering it, that would be grand. I should have thought to ask the doc, "Which are the best diet pills to take?"

I had one more thing to talk to the doctor about but instead of her coming into the room again with the report, she sent her nurse in with it. I told Sandy about the last thing I had wanted to discuss and would the doctor order the US of the kidney that my sisters and I all need every two years? Since all of the doctors are helping out in the walk-in clinic today, my doctor would not be able to come back in to visit with me. Great, huh? Sandy said she would talk with the doctor about the US and see if she wanted to order an xray for my hand.

So I left the clinic not knowing if my current illness and the problem with my gallbladder are related, not getting my hand looked at, and no alternative to having the gallbladder removed. Isn't life grand? Hope you had a more productive day! Halfmoon

Time With Jordan

I went to Heather's Wednesday to visit and was amazed at Jordan's response to helping around the house. In the last two days he had emptied the dishwasher four times, picked up and swept the kitchen, and cleaned his room without complaining. Heather asked if I had noticed he is growing up. I agreed with her.

While I was there he'd taken two bags out to the dumpster plus two more trips to take empty water jugs out with not a negative word. I could see he was worn out, but was so proud of him. Apparently the girls got into his room and messed it up again which was frustrating, needless to say. I asked him to go into his room and pick half of it up and sent Kat in to straighten the rest. He looked at me with such tiredness, that I told him when he was done, he could go home with me for the night. Wow, did that perk him up.

Halfway home I wasn't surprised when I looked in the back seat and saw him asleep. Of course, when I pulled into the garage, he perked up again and was all excited. We had chef salads for supper and then Jordan and I played two games of Yahzee. Grandpa went to bed before our first game was finished. Steve's been working in Ames all week and the drive alone wears him out.

Thursday Jordan and I spent some time outside and then went in to play a game of Clue. I forgot how much fun it is just to play board games. We really enjoyed each other and I can see that he is maturing. Outside once again, Jordan swept the platform of the swingset and I helped him put a lawn chair on it. He said he felt like he was on top of the world and could feel a great breeze up there. (It was a very hot day.)

He helped me work on a puzzle after that and then I challanged him to another game of Clue. Of course, we had to play Yahzee again and he actually beat me! I took him back home late that afternoon. On the drive home I put our favorite song in the CD player and started singing. I kept glancing back at him and finally noticed he wasn't singing along. That surprised me as he usually loves to sing.

Once we arrived at Heather's, I stayed to visit a short while (long enough to make Kat pick up the mess she'd made in the living room). She asked me how long I was staying (I think she was tired of Grandma making her mind). When she had picked up the last thing that didn't belong on the floor, she said "Grandma, are you going to go home now?" I laughed at that because I knew she didn't want me to think of something else she should do! LOL I went in and told Alyce goodbye and she puckered up her lips for a kiss. I kissed her and then she held her little arms out to give her Grandma a hug. How sweet is that? Have a great day! Halfmoon

P.S. Steve is thinking hard about leaving the carpentry field. The only thing that has held him back is the cost of insurance. Maybe we should look into NC health insurance.