Where did this week go??

Sunday 29 October 2018

Did not seem like a busy week, but it passed me by quickly.  Monday  I had an appointment at the Toyota dealership in Harrison (50 miles west of us) to get two keys and fobs made. I found the fobs on line much cheaper than the dealership price.  I found it interesting that a Toyota dealer would have a 1930 Model A Ford parked in their showroom, but they do.  That night at 1030 pm Sandy woke me up from a sound sleep and said her bag was leaking.  We didn't want to call the home health nurse knowing it would be over an hour before she would arrive, so I replaced her bag, solo, for the first time.  Not the best time for me to do this for the first time; while the body may act like it is awake, the mind wasn't.  But, the bag was replaced and all seemed good.

Tuesday we planned to go to the temple mid morning.  Unfortunately, I did not do a great job installing her ostomy bag and it started leaking early in the morning.  Sandy was able to connect with the on duty nurse and explained we wanted to go to St Louis and could she please come early.  And she did.  And we were able to get on the road about 11 am.  It was a beautiful drive with so many fall colors creating a beautiful kaleidoscope of brilliant colors. Just short of the temple, Sandy indicated that her bag was springing a leak and we needed to detour to the hotel first and do a repair job.  So we did.  Some paste and tape and she was good to go.  We were able to enjoy an evening session at the temple and then dined at the St Louis Bread Company.

We did another morning session and then headed home arriving in time for dinner.  We had a great time in the temple and an enjoyable drive home.  The new to us van performed well and the change of vehicles is growing on us.

Thursday Sandy attended a luncheon at Gaston's on the White River; one of our former ward members had invited a lot of the sisters she knew to join her for lunch and 18 came to enjoy a good meal and a have a fun time visiting.  I was able to work more on the Midway house installing drywall (still) for part of the day.

Friday I returned to the drywall site and am almost finished...finally.  Then I can start mudding.

Sandy got a ride to West Plains for the annual Relief Society retreat.  She left at 830 am and got home about 230 pm.  She had a good time.  Meanwhile, one of the ward families stopped by on Monday to inform us they would be at our house on Saturday to rake the leaves.  And they came and cleaned up most of the leaves.  Some were mulched and others put on the burn pile.  Took them less than two hours. And before the next crop of leaves falls, the yard looks rather nice.

We have certainly be blessed by friends and family.  We had a very tasty meal of taco soup delivered on Friday, the yard was raked on Saturday, an elderly sister insists on doing our ironing (I call her 'Iron Woman') and Kristy, with Miriam and David arrived late Saturday evening to spend a few days hanging out with us.

Kristy made a delicious enchilada dinner tonight and we shared it with a young couple from our ward. And both David and Miriam showed their youthful cunning by beating me in games of blockus.

Here are 3 generations of beautiful Fox women!

Fall has arrived in the Ozarks

Sunday 21 October 2018

Our /week started with Tuesday since I don't remember anything worthwhile about Monday!

Tuesday I worked more on sheetrock and we got ready for Miranda's family.  They (less Dan) arrived late Tuesday night and stayed through Saturday morning.  As usual, they brought fun and laughter to the home.  Ethan wanted to rake leaves into a big pile, so he and Miranda worked hard at building a large pile which then got transferred to the burn pile. Alex helped me make chocolate chip cookies one day. Miranda cleaned the house and prepared yummy meals for us. The boys had fun playing games, and of course Rachel delighted us all with her captivating smile and laugh. She has also found the lower cabinet with the storage containers and likes to pull them out and hide them.

Sandy had her weekly appointment with the wound healing center on Wednesday afternoon.  The wounds seem to be healing nicely.  And she is still wearing the same ostomy bag from that day without any leakage!  We invited the sister missionaries to dinner and had an enjoyable visit with them.

Thursday she had her first immunotherapy at the oncologists.  Took less than three hours and this time there was no reaction.  She then had an appointment with her Chinese healer.  She did not seemed overly tired by day's end. And we had the sister missionaries return for a second night of dinner.  One of them is a runner and received permission to participate in a 5K run in November; her running companion will be Miranda, since she and Dan are running as well. The other missionary is returning home this week.  Our sisters over the past year or so have been doing amazing things for the members and the community.

Friday I helped drive a group of seven from our ward to the St Louis Temple, leaving at 4:30 am and returning about 9:00 pm.  We had a great time.  In my absence, it rained about an inch of moisture and Deborah arrived in the evening.

Miranda left Saturday morning and things got a little quieter. It was a quiet day for all of us. I did take some time to familiarize myself with our 'new to us' van. I think we have the paperwork snafu solved so that we can get it registered this week.

We had a good Sunday with excellent sacrament meeting talks and subsequent class lessons.

This next week we hope to make a two day trip to the temple.

Where does the time go?

So, what happened this week worth sharing? With this family the answer will always be a resounding LOTS!

Monday Sandy had a followup appointment with the oncologist to see about starting an alternate immunotherapy treatment (aka drug).  While there she mentioned pain in her left leg; could it be a blood clot?  What happened next amazed me.  The nurse called radiology for an immediate ultrasound, gave us a the magic sticker that meant we did not have to go through the normal routine of checking in at the admission's desk and sent us to radiology. Within 30 minutes we were back in the doctor's office seeing him and getting the results (I believe he left a patient to see Sandy).  She did have a clot in the thigh area; he proscribe a blood thinner and sent us home.  Less than three hours transpired from our initial visit to our returning home with drugs in hand!  Today, she has almost no pain and just a little swelling in that leg.  And she will start this new drug on Thursday; hopefully no adverse reactions this time.

In the afternoon I drove up to Branson to do some shopping and then pick Sally up at the Branson Airport.  She flew in from Colorado for the week.  It was such a delight to have her here for a few days. She kept Sandy company, prepared some meals and helped her with some of her daily rituals. We were sad to see her leave Saturday morning.

We are getting familiar with the various nurses associated with the in home health center;  this past week, Sandy's ostomy bags have lasted from one up to five days. But the good news is that the smaller incision appears to be healed and no longer draining.  This means using a smaller bag. 

I worked on installing more drywall at the rent house and getting some around the house chores accomplished.  One of our houses has an overgrown section, about 10 feet by 25 feet; most tenants will mow the lawn, but the shrubs tend to be neglected and this one had been severely overlooked for a couple of years.  The property manager had someone bid on it and he wanted $250. I told her that was out of my limit.  I spent less than an hour there on Saturday and got almost 1/2 of the job done.  Does that mean I am worth $125 an hour?

Our weather turned from in the 80s one week, to highs in the 60s the next.  It is quite pleasant for me. More home front news:  we have official confirmation that one of the 5 four month old chicks is a rooster. He sounds a little pathetic, but is recognizable as a rooster crow.

We were finally able to conclude the purchase of a 2014 van in Dallas; now how to get it here.  Kera volunteered to pick it up this weekend since she and some of her children were going to the Dallas Temple.  Hard to pass up that deal.  However, she may be having second thoughts; I understand that there was heavy traffic in Dallas, lots of rain water and then a two hour delay just short from home when an 18 wheeler laid down dead in the road across both lanes of northbound traffic on the I-40. Andy drove the van up in time for church today and drove our old 2007 Corolla home.

This should be another exciting week for us. Miranda and children will be here for part of the week and then Deborah is coming for the weekend.

Conference Weekend!!!

Wow, what a great General Conference weekend this has been!!  But let me start at the beginning of the week.

I reported that on Monday Sandy went in for her immunotherapy appointment, but had a reaction to the drug so they stopped the treatment.  I brought her home and she was mostly washed out.  But, we did go to empty nesters that evening which was held at a local park; the hosts cooked up some great hamburgers.  I made some 5 bean salad to take.  She lasted up until the end.

We had a renter move out over the weekend (they were able to purchase a home) and I went over on Tuesday to pressure wash the exterior.  White vinyl siding, especially on the north facing side, needs a thorough cleaning about every year.  I returned on Tuesday to clear out part of the jungle that was growing around the house.  Fortunately, there was no interior work needed.  Just as well, because the property manager has been doing a great job of finding renters that are ready to move in as soon as the previous tenant is out.  We haven't had anything sit empty for more than a couple of days in the past year.  This is interesting since in the last 18 months, a 60 place apartment building opened up, a new set of 4plexes  just opened and more housing is being build in the local area.

Wednesday, Sandy had a followup appointment with the surgeon just to see how she was doing; he didn't even check out her wounds.  Of course that would have involved the removal of the ostomy bag.  From there we drove to the wound center so they could remove the bag, check her out and install a new bag.  That process requires about 90 minutes.

I was looking forward to going to bed early that night, when Sandy mentioned about 7:30 that her bag was leaking.  Wait a minute, didn't the nurse just attach that one a couple of hours ago??!  Yes, and it was leaking.  Home Health was called, and since the nurse was with another patient, she did not arrive until 9pm.

I did clean out a drawer of the dresser in the bedroom that Sandy uses for bag changes and then organized all the various medical supplies that are used in the bag replacement process.

Late Thursday evening, Miranda and her family arrived to spend the weekend with us.  On Friday, I got Dan's help in cutting the trees that line the drive; FedEx will appreciate that.  I drove the tractor and Dan was in the bucket with the chain saw.  And his boys helped haul the cut limbs to the burn pile. In the afternoon, Miranda went with me as we took the sister missionaries to visit a couple of home bound members.  Good visits.

Saturday, we invited the sisters to join us for breakfast and they offered to made crepes for us.  And they did.  Andy they were most tasty.  I was able to get most of the yard mowed in time to watch the morning session of conference.  The children were well behaved.  Great wisdom and council was shared as well as the change of meetings starting in January.  Miranda and Dan made 7 layer dip which we consumed. The sisters left after the boys and I washed their vehicle.  We were able to view the next two sessions of conference.  Again, I was looking forward to reasonable bedtime.  However, Sandy had other ideas.  Her bag was ready to leak; this time the nurse arrived quicker, but it was 11 pm before she left.  That gave us other 3 adults time to play a round of 5 Crowns.

We are discovering that the ostomy bag removal/installation ability varies with the different nurses.  Last night's had never changed one before.  Fortunately, they are willing to listen when Sandy makes suggestions.  The bag that functioned properly the longest, was installed by a nurse with 8 years experience with ostomy bags.  And, sometimes they don't bring all the proper supplies with them; fortunately we have always had extras.  The other problem is that they are using up their supply of what I call 'two piece' bags; the wax ring gets glued to the skin and then the bag snaps on.  Automotively speaking, it reminds me of a slip ring. It is around that ring that she has been leaking the last two times.  The one piece bag would alleviate that problem.  Meanwhile, I tell people that Sandy is wearing a two piece.

Sunday, the sisters returned and Miranda made dutch baby for breakfast and we enjoyed another powerful session of conference.  Some scenes of today's activities:

 After, the sisters went their way and Miranda's family got out the door before 3 pm.  So Sandy and I had a more peaceful viewing of the last session of conference.

I should mention that due to the nature of Dan's counseling work for the Church, he does training with the missionaries and is well known by them.

It was exciting to hear of the new shortened 2 hour meeting schedule announced starting in January and to be able to hear of the 12 new temples to be built.  I thought it a little sad that of all the things President Nelson could address in his Sunday remarks, he spent 10-15 minutes reviewing why we need to call the Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But I liked what he said!!  I look forward to reviewing these talks to glean the things I need to learn and apply; my head is stuffed right now.

We look forward to the arrival of Sally tomorrow evening.   Hope all of you have a great week!
love,
Sandy and Tom

The Beat Goes On...

Monday Sandy awoke feeling extra weak and decided to see about a blood transfusion.  That entailed contacting the doctor's office to schedule that for Tuesday.  So Tuesday morning did the normal check in drill by going to the hospital, waiting for admissions to check her in and then going to the lab for blood testing.  Then a couple of hours later we reported back to the hospital, waited for admissions to give us a room number and then going to that room.  A few minutes later the nurse reported she had good news:  her blood count was high enough that a blood transfusion was neither necessary or healthy at this time.  So we came home.

Some time in the past, Sandy go started on a craft project that was long neglected.  When a sister at church asked what she could do to help her, Sandy remembered this project and since the friend does arts and crafts, she was excited to complete what Sandy had started.  Actually, she started over again and made this really nice calendar reminder of family birthdays and anniversaries:

Wednesday afternoon she had an appointment with the wound healing center.  I like this place!  Once the nurse got Sandy in the room she removed the old ostomy bag with all its tape and adhesive, then she measured the wound dimensions and called the doctor.  She came in with two other nurses and said it was time to think outside the box since Sandy hasn't gone 48 hours without her bag leaking.  Their goal was to figure out a way to attached the bag so it doesn't leak onto her skin.  Evidently having bodily fluids leaking, especially ones that may contain fecal matter, can cause skin infection.  Once that happens, it is difficult to attach the bag to her. They tried cutting the drain opening differently and stretching the skin.  She was up to trying out a new to us restaurant on the way home.

Unfortunately, the bag started to leak by Thursday morning.  So she called home health and they responded quickly.  This nurse cut the bag differently and did something else different, because it has not leaked since then! We have a church friend who has had a bag for many years; he indicates he can only go about three days before needing to replace his.

Friday we had planned to head to Russellville to visit Andy's family for the weekend.  We almost left on time, except...  I have been looking for a Toyota van recently and found that USAA has a used car buying guide on their website.  I found a very promising one in Dallas, which is about 9 hours driving time away.  But, wait. Miranda and Dan were at the temple there.  So I called them and they were gracious enough to go check it out and test drive it. Unfortunately, the paperwork drill was too cumberson to do in absentia despite our best efforts. We have been working with them over the phone, but I am not overly pleased with the care we have received.  But the price is right...

We had a wonderful time with Andy and Kera's family.  They had invited their 6 missionaries for dinner of taco salad and we arrived in time to join them.  On Saturday, like any typical all American family, individual members had different directions to go. Katie left before breakfast for the pool for a swim competition.  I took Aaron to church for an organ lesson and then to the pool.  Andy runs the computerized scoring system for these swim meets, so he was there as well.  And Kera took the other three to the local Boys and Girls Club for their annual obstacle course race.  It is only about .6 of a mile, but has a lot of obstacles, to include some mud and water.  It is for ages 6-14.  The kids seemed to have a good time.  Matthew ran the course 10 times last year; he only did 13 because the time for the event ended before he got to his goal of 15.  Both girls ran 5 laps.  And a good time was had by all!

And Sandy also got outside for a short time.

Kera had rented 'Infinity Wars' which we viewed that afternoon.  Sorry I did not wait for the sequel to come out to watch them back to back; now I have to wait to see how it will end.  And keeping to tradition, Katie and I made fudge and then we played a round of 5 Crowns before going to bed.  Kera was considerate and let us use their bedroom (it is purple bed) which has the bathroom right there.  Convenient for Mom.

Sunday was the Primary Program, so Kera did the girl's hair:

The Primary program was wonderful.  They have a large primary and their enthusiasm for singing was sometimes over powering!  And I learned a new verse to the song:  "Follow the Prophet"; when they sing about Jonah, the chorus goes:  'Swallow the Prophet...He ran away'.

The main purpose of going to Russellville was because Matthew turned 12 and was to receive the Aaronic Priesthood, which he did on Sunday.  We came home from church, had a yummy dinner and headed home.  We arrived to find everything in order.

This morning, as I was feeding the cats, I heard for the first time the attempts of a rooster crowing; so it is official now, we have at least one 3 month old rooster. Sandy also had an appointment with the oncologist to see about starting immunotherapy.  He asked if she was ready to start today. While she did not come prepared to do so, I returned home to get the computer, a book and a much needed blanket.  I wasn't home long before they called to say she was finished.  Turns out she had a reaction (hives) to the Erbitux so they stopped the infusion and will try another drug next week.

Tonight was empty nesters at a local park.  We had hamburgs and Sandy actually ate one.  We had a good time visiting and enjoying the friendships of great friends.

We wish Alex a happy 5th Birthday tomorrow.  We are looking forward to General Conference weekend - Miranda's family will be here to share it with us.

love,
Sandy and Tom