plans for the New Year

The Ashley's are coming for the weekend. This is good for two reasons; first I miss Betsy terribly and secondly, I get my hair cut. No, I still have not found a hairdresser down here (nor am I trying) This is no doubt inconvenient, but old people do not handle change well :-)

Susan and Matty took me to Red Lobster for lunch (this has become my Christmas bonus tradition) I love it. Which is especially good as I got two gift cards to Red Lobster for Christmas. :-) It really does not get any better than that. We had the ultimate bread dip appetizer. Crusty bread bowl filled with shrimp, lobster and crab in a warm cheese sauce.......I got the leftovers. Matty loves cheese and decided he could dip his french fries into the cheese sauce; after which he declared "cheese"!

I had PT today. I am improving despite what I may think. (I am frustrated thinking I am not making progress as quickly as I think I should be) Anyway, today I rode the bike for over a mile, ROM is now 119 degrees, (125 is normal ROM) I also opted to increase the weights another # from what I did on Wed. They are very pleased with my progress so who am I to argue.

I guess we will be sharing our New Year's dinner with the Ashley's, Susan, Tom and Matthew, and Uncle Roy. Josh and Jackie are taking the girls to her parents. I was blessed to have them for our Christmas celebration. Looking forward to our New Year's dinner with family and friends to share it with us.

family Christmas

I was very blessed to share our Christmas celebration with Susan, Tom and Matthew, Josh, Jackie, Lael and Alyssa. Uncle Roy and Wm. mother joined us also.

As is our tradition, there was an abundance of food, Christmas cookies, Italian Christmas cookies and cannoli.

I loved watching the girls with their little cousin and all three of them tearing into their gifts. My sweet little Alyssa exclaimed as she opened each gift "This is just what I always wanted". Most of the family walked down the street to see the way over decorated house in the next block. (Matty loves it and screams "go, go, go" when we go out on our porch) We did have one mishap as my adorable Lael slipped off the edge and into the mud filled ditch. Mommy brought extra clothes so a real catastrophe was averted.

Can't tell you how much I enjoyed my day. Now here are the pictures I promised to share.

Ramblings.........

After 2 nights with no sleep and my leg jumping (RLS) most of the night, I finally got some sleep last night. Not a lot mind you, but anything is better than nothing. I am much too old to try to run after a 16 mo. old baby on no sleep and sore leg. Yes, my leg is still giving me problems. It is still infected despite the change in antibiotics. (It can't stay bad forever can it???)

All the gifts are wrapped, got the last done when Matty was napping this morning. Cookies are baked and the tins for neighbors are distributed.
Last of my cards are in the mail. Sounds like I am all set, eh? Not quite. I need to shop for cold cuts for the meat tray, make up the bread dip (especially for my pregnant daughter in law) All that has to be done between tomorrow night and Sat. morning.

The church is having a living nativity again this year on Christmas eve. There will also be worship and refreshments.

Eager for Saturday! A special time when 3 of my 4 grandchildren and 2 of my 3 children will share a family Christmas. Jon and Donna usually come at Christmas but since they were here in June and because she is nearing the end of her pregnancy, they chose to spend Christmas at home. While I am sad I will not see my little southern princess (the other girls are the northern princesses) I am so anxious to be spending celebrating with family and grandchildren.
Stay tuned for my Christmas pics on Sunday!

Update

OK, just returned from the doctor appt. and PT. I have a Rx for a different antibiotic that she thinks will take care of the infection in my knee. She seems more pleased with my progress than I am. ROM has gone from 12% after the surgery to 95%, so if you look at it like that, yes, I am making progress. Not as much or as quickly as I would like......I know, I know, God's timing is perfect.

Snowing here, I actually do not mind it at all. It is enough to say it is snowing but it is melting when it hits the ground. Ya gotta love it.

Presents are all purchased and wrapped, with the exception of the ones still at Susan's house (remember all those she got for me on Black Friday) There is one thing to say about not continually shopping.......you stick to the list you made and don't over buy. Something I have always been guilty of. I see something special for one grandchild and then have to find 3 more special things for the others.

So looking forward to Saturday. Menu is planned and what we could buy already we have. The rest we will get closer to Sat. Will take advantage of not having the baby this afternoon and work on my baking.

Saturday night post

Found the perfect dryer sheets at Wegmans......they have no scent. I use Tide free so it never made sense to me to use some perfumey dryer sheet. Strange as this sounds, I am actually excited about a dryer sheet.

And speaking of excited, just one more week until Josh, Jackie and the girls come for our family Christmas. Matty is old enough to interact with the girls this year, which will really make it fun.

Still going to PT twice a week. I have infection in one of the incision sites though. Strange as the other 2 have nearly healed over. I go back to the doctor on Tues. morning.

We ventured out to Great Northern Mall at 4 pm; I was naive enough to think a lot of the crowds would be gone by then......Surprise! We went to Sears and Old Navy and the food court and were back home by 6:30. Just 2 more gifts to get. I am planning on doing that on the way home from church tomorrow.

new trials

I had Matty again this morning. Was not sure how that would work. There really was not a lot of choice. His other grandmother had been watching him but when she went to the doctor on Fri; her BP was 220 over something. They immediately hospitalized and kept her for 2 days until they got it down to 150.
We managed pretty well. I laid down when he napped. I was grateful to see Wm come home early as I needed to go to PT was not ready.

Part of my PT is electric stimulation. There were 2 of us hooked to same machine today. I was already hooked up when she tried to set the level for the other patient. He said he could not feel anything at all.......I however got the full jolt when she set mine up by mistake......oops.......that was one big oops let me tell you.

Needless to say, we are all missing our sweet Zoe. Matty looked all around for her today. We found some pictures of her when came to Syr. nine years ago to pick her up (0f course they would turn up now).

We are now looking forward to Dec. 23 when Josh and Jackie and the girls are coming down for our family Christmas. This is the first time we have not gone to them but with all the problems I had with my knee healing, they decided to come down this year. PTL

updates and ramblings

This will be a hard update for me to write. We had to have Zoe put down yesterday. She had been at the vets for 3 days and her condition only seemed to deteriorate even with the IV antibiotics and steroids. A red blood count level of at least 15 is needed to sustain life......Zoe's had dropped to 12 yesterday. They had run out of options and we could not bear to see her suffer anymore. We had nine years with her and she brought us much joy......it will definitely be a loss. My DH faithfully walked her at least twice a day so that in and of itself will be an adjustment for him. Besides her walks, she loved a scoop of ice cream every night. At about 9 pm every night she would come to the kitchen and Wm. would ask her what she wanted. He would say show me what you want and she would touch her nose to the fridge. He would say, ice cream and her tail would start wagging. Yes, she will be sorely missed.

I am still hobbling around, going to PT twice a week, but have not been up to having Matty here all day yet. He is coming tonight so Susan and Tom can go to the funeral home.

Today my baby turns 30. I know he is not happy about the end of an era but he will no doubt be even less happy when he sees that I have called him my baby. But it is the truth, he will always be my baby.......nothing can change that!
Happy Birthday sweetheart.

update on Zoe

Zoe is still in guarded condition today. She will remain at the vets where they can monitor her for another 24 hr; at which time they will do more blood work to see if the antibiotics and steroids they are giving her are helping her.
They have decided that she has autoimmune disease. This means that the immune system begins to attack and reject the body's own tissue as foreign; red blood cells in particular are affected.
I feel so bad for my baby. (she will be 9 this month, so I guess she is not a baby) I will keep you updated on her progress.

ramblings.......

Well, now we are well into December. The gorgeous weather of last week has given way to snow and cold. (like I should be surprised for Upstate NY). My Christmas shopping has so far been limited to what Susan graciously got for me on Black Fri. and what I ordered online. On Sat. we did venture out to the Great Northern Mall to pick up pajamas for all the grandchildren (a long standing family tradition that everyone gets new PJs on Christmas Eve) at Old Navy and a Lands End dress for Morrigan at Sears. I have Josh's birthday gifts here, but I should get them in the mail. I had hoped they would venture down this weekend but with the concert being postponed, I guess that is out :-(

Just in case you are wondering, I am still hobbling around here. Not happy with the progress I am making,(or not making). I am going to PT 2xs a week.
Since I only began this last week, I do not see a lot of progress here either. I am doing exercises here at home on my own the rest of the time. Matty's other grandmother has been watching Matty and I am very blessed by that.

Zoe went to the vets last week. They ran some tests and said they thought it was some kind of infection; other than the ear infection they diagnosed. They called back a few days later to say her bilirubin was high and her red count low. They thought it may be a tumor in her liver. She has gone down hill over the weekend and will go back to the vet tomorrow morning.

Lights and garland decorate the porch and our little tree we had inside last year (which got knocked over twice) is on the porch. The little tree in the garden is lit. (I do love little white lights!)

edit: Zoe went back to the vet this morning. They now think it is her immune system. They are keeping her over night and giving her IV antibiotics, etc. We should know more tomorrow morning.

Tues. update

OK, I will try again. I typed out a post only to have it disappear when I hit publish.

During the night Sat. (about 2am) I woke up in excruciating pain. My knee pain was and still remains minimal. The real pain is in my shin bone and on the opposite side of my knee from the repair. By Mon, I was still unable to put any weight on my right leg and just getting to the bathroom has proved a big trial.

Monday afternoon, on my DH insistence, I called the doctor who assured me what I was feeling was to be expected. She told me that they shoot novocaine into the knee during surgery and then again when surgery is over. What I was feeling was just the novocaine wearing off. She also called in another pain prescription to be used in between the doses of the original pain med. It is helping some but the pain is still more than I had anticipated.

On a lighter note, I did manage to take a shower this morning. My DH will be making Thanksgiving dinner on Thurs for the two of us and Uncle Roy. Yes, he is definitely a keeper. He has decided to take the week off from work as his vacation.......we were planning on using it when Max is born.

update

Well, surgery is over and I must admit that I am definitely feeling all your prayers. For the first time, I had no nausea after anesthesia (yes, I had a local in my knee but also IV so I was asleep for the entire procedure). Another blessing is the pain in my knee and hip are gone. I have pain meds that they gave me but I can manage very nicely with OTC meds. Remember I said I had to get a ice brace for my knee that was $85? Well, that is wonderful. It keeps the ice in place and secured to my knee at all times. There is an extra gel pack to keep in the freezer while one is in use. Right now I must keep it elevated except when I walk to the bathroom. I can walk with no crutches and NO pain. This has been a blessing in disguise. Thank you all again for your prayers.

surgery scheduled for tomorrow

Surgery is scheduled for tomorrow at 10:45am. While I am very eager to have my knee repaired, I am beginning to get a little anxious and concerned. I have to feel better, I certainly can not feel worse than I do now but I know that I will have to feel worse (something I did not really consider until lately) before I feel better. It is definitely time to do something. I walked at noon with Matty and my knee went out and I thought I would never get back home. I was in tears when we got here; but I did get here. PTL

Thanks to all who have said they would pray......I really aprreciate your prayers.

update from Matthew.com

Matthew had his 15 mo. check up yesterday. He is "off the charts" as far as height is concerned. He is 33 in. tall and weighs 27#. (I actually thought he was looking thinner lately but he gained 2# and grew an inch in 3 mo.) Yes, he is one big boy. He and Anthony are wearing the same size now so there is not much hand-me-down anymore. (Anthony is 6 mo older than Matty)

I did manage to make Wm. a birthday cake yesterday :-)

edit: here is a picture of Matty enjoying Grampa's birthday cake (I made another one Sat. morning.)
Oh, and did I mention I took it on my new razr camera phone Susan got for me?????? Pretty nice, eh?

Happy Birthday to my sweet William

Happy Birthday to my sweet William. He is 60 yr. old today. Wow, I find that very hard to believe! Seems like just yesterday we were our kids age with little kids running around. While I absolutely love being a grandparent, 60 sounds old. Yes, I know that "you are only as old as you feel" (I feel 106, I can barely walk anymore) and "age is relative" (relative to what may I ask) But this is not about me. It is about my DH whom God has blessed me with 30+ yr. ago.

My sister, Susan's birthday was also today and for most of our married life we always shared Wm. and Susan's birthday. She died Christmas day 2002 of a brain aneurysm.

I have not been out shopping to even get a card (this is the first time in 30+ yr. that I did not get one and have it on the table when he got up) and because there is cell group tonight, I am planning to celebrate Wm. birthday on Saturday.

On another note, I never thought I would be actually be looking forward to surgery. I can barely walk anymore. I would just like to be able to walk with Matty or make it though the grocery store in one trip or even just be able to walk around the house without holding on to the walls and cringing with every step I take on my right foot. (just 8 more days)

Alyssa's party

Yesterday was Alyssa's party. Susan, Tom and Matty rode with us. I tend to forget from year to year how bad the weather can be in the snowbelt. Granted I have seen it much worse but I was still surprised at the amount of lake effect snow through there. Having lived in Pulaski for seven years this should not really take me off guard like that.

It was so good to see the girls and the 3 hr. drive each way through the snow belt was definitely worth it. Alyssa seemed to have been pleased with all her gifts. She got quite a mix of toys and clothes. One of the gifts Grampa and I got her was a Bible and a Bible bag that said "God's Girl" on it. I fell in love with it the minute I saw it and could not wait to give it to her.

Jackie made her an adorable cake (Pablo from the Backyardigans). It had blue frosting and we all were sporting blue lips :-) She did an excellent job with the cake (allergy free) as well as the decorating.

Matthew was checking out Princess Lael's earrings in the fist picture . (Grampa too) The second picture is Lael, Matthew and the birthday girl.

Thought you might think this was as cute as I did. No, he did not go out Trick or Treating......just came to see both sets of grandparents.

Another whirlwind day

This has been another whirlwind day. First, I can not believe I can be so tired with extra sleep but I can barely get out of my own way.
Wm. came home at 1 and went along with Matty and me to my doctor's appt. Now, I was supposed to be there to go over the MRI report on my neck. The nurse told me on the phone it was unremarkable with the exception of the left side of my thyroid being larger than my right. Seeing I had a partial thyroidectomy and all of the right side and part of the left was gone, that did not seem too alarming. To make a long story short, I have a cyst on my lymph node over the carotid artery which looks to be benign. (how can they tell that from an MRI?) The doctor was all set to start the wheels in motion to have that taken care of. I told him I did not even want to think about it until after the surgery on my knee. (in case you haven't noticed, I am absolutely falling apart) I am going to start a round of antibiotics to see if some of the swelling in the gland goes down.

Poor Matty, I put him in the high chair when we got home so I could make him some lunch. When I turned back around, he was throwing up (mostly phlegm; gross I know). He is sleeping now. He fell asleep while I was cleaning up the kitchen and washing his clothes. He looked like he was falling asleep when he was in the car.

Although the surgery on my knee is not scheduled until the 17th, I have to have tests on the 7th, a physical on the 13th. YUCK

Grateful that we are going to Canton on Saturday for Alyssa's birthday so I can see the girls and Matty together, that should pick up my spirits.

Inspiration

The other autumn pictures were an inspiration for this. Matty loves being outside but I really dislike him eating the leaves.
Guess we should rake them up!

Update

I had my surgical consult this morning. I need to have arthroscopic surgery on my knee to repair the torn meniscus in my right knee. Surprise.......like they were going to say "no surgery necessary, just go home and it will heal on it's own. No date yet. They will call me tomorrow.
As for the other MRI I had on my neck. Nothing remarkable. I do have to return to my family physician on Monday.

Next Saturday is Miss Alyssa's birthday party. We are all going up. Grampa, Susan, Tom, Matty and I. Uncle Roy is not sure yet.

edit: my surgery is scheduled for Nov. 17th.

Finally..........

PTL.....the laundry center is in upstairs! No more going to the cellar to do the laundry. Tom and Susan came after work and after we had dinner (ok, a small bribe) Tom helped Wm. put it in. I was surprised at all the maneuvering in order to get it through the sliding door in the kitchen. (the door looked big than it is I guess)
Matty was not happy with the roast beef and southwestern corn but he loved the mashed potatoes, crescents and adored the marble cake with chocolate glaze. He started out eating off his parents' cake plates but ended up with his own piece. This morning when he got here he ran right for the kitchen and pointed at the cake! Must be he really liked it :-)

Speaking of Matty, he got more teeth this week.

Well, I have my MRI (open) of my neck tomorrow and then my surgical consult on Tues. Glad to finally be getting this taken care of.......I can barely walk around the house anymore which is putting a real crimp in our daily walks around the neighborhood.

Did you see the pictures Jackie took of the girls in the leaves? Aren't they adorable? Not just because I am their gramma, who wouldn't think they were cute???

The church is starting a new 4 week series in small groups. It is called "walk across the room".
Hopefully by next week things will be back to normal at work and Wm. will not be working overtime every night.

Quite a week

Well, this has been quite a week so far.

Sunday morning, we went to Canton, (I was missing the girls so very much and Alyssa's party got pushed back another weekend) Now, spontaneity is not one of Wm.'s strong suits, so this was exciting. We called ahead and the girls were waiting for us. We went to Ponderosa, Lael's favorite and Jackie can always find something there for Alyssa to eat.

When we got home I had a message on the machine saying that my half sister, Dawn had passed away. Now this is going to sound strange to most of you.....we really had no kind of a relationship with each other......growing up our families wanted it that way. It was not until my father died that we actually sat down and talked. Even as old as we were, her mother asked her not to have a relationship with us (at that time, my sister Susan was still alive). Dawn respected her mother's wishes. Wm and I went to the funeral home on Mon. night and to the funeral on Tues. This is the good part. We had to take Matty with us to the funeral (long story) and part way through, Wm. took him outside so he could walk around. The woman sitting behind me said that someone had gone to pray with Dawn every few days since she became sick. (she had Lupus and was bedridden at the end) She said that Dawn was so pleased for people to come and pray with her and for her. I was very encouraged by this and other things the woman shared.

Yesterday, I had an appointment at the Imaging clinic on Taft Rd. I was to have 2 MRI's done. They had closed MRI's! I was shocked.......even up in rural SLC, the MRI's were open. Now I had a horrid migraine most of the night Tuesday and when I got up on Wed. it really was no better. The banging from the machine did not help matters. (It sounded like a jack hammer and they even gave you ear plugs) I was to get one of my neck also. Now there was absolutely no way I intended to stick my head in there. I prayed all through the one of my knee and when the time came for my neck, I had the courage to tell them I was refusing. (I am not one to "make waves") So I am waiting for another appointment at an open MRI and an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. They seem to think that the cartilage in my knee is gone and the pain in my back and hip are from favoring my knee when I walk.

edit: The doctor's office just called and the results of the MRI was a meniscus tear. They still have no appt. for the orthopedic surgeon. I do, however, have an appt. for an open MRI of my neck on Thurs. Oct. 19th.