Life Just Got in the Way.

Wow, it has been awhile since I posted here! That's what happens when real life gets in your way I guess.

First, an update on my Dad. He is doing pretty good considering all he has been through. He got home on Tuesday, March 24th. He has been doing okay since getting home, but isn't really making any meals or anything, just pretty much resting. Nora has been bringing his lunch and supper everyday and eating with him and that really helps so much. He made a trip to Brandon on Thursday, March 26th which turned out to be useless as his surgeon didn't have any results back yet. He has another appointment tomorrow, but this time he phones in the morning to confirm that the results are back before he comes down. The surgeon has asked that Doug and I both be there, and I am trying really hard not to read all bad into that. I am hoping that it is because he is dealing with a 76 year old man who is somewhat hard of hearing and he just wants to make sure that we all know what is going on, what he did during the surgery and what he is recommending for treatment. Also hoping that he has asked us to be there incase we have questions and he can answer them first hand for us. Could also be that he wants to stress to us how important it is for us to make sure our own family doctors know that we have the family history of colon cancer now.
On Saturday we went to visit Dad, took him to the greenhouse to pick up a few plants and to get his planters. Gary put them all out for him where he wanted them and then we did a few more things around the house that he needed/wanted done. We stayed and had supper with him and then headed back to the trailer.

Yes, our camping season has started! Even though the weather has really been the pits I have so enjoyed being out there! I love the peace and quiet that goes with it. No phones ringing, no doorbells ringing! We have watched a fair number of shows we had taped, since the weather has been cold and wet and not good for being outside and I have been doing some knitting. I have been back making chemo hats again, they work up so fast and really are good for using up some odds and ends of yarn. I must get started on hats/mittens for the mitten tree and also have got to make the final decision on what I am going to do for the daycare kids for Christmas and get started on that.

Our basement reno's are slowly getting there, but with everything else on our plates right now we have just decided to not sweat it and it will get done when it gets done. I did get out and buy the border for the play room so we can put that up. I have an idea what I want for curtains, now just to find them*S* I must look through the catalogue and see if they have something similar to what I have in mind.

And now it is time to wake up my little ones, feed everyone and head outside. The bigger ones have been out playing for a hour now so they will be ready for snack. Our weather today is pretty nice, 21C. Wonder why we can't have this weather on the weekends?*S*

Monday already?

Goodness, here it is Monday already, where did the weekend go? What with the stress, worry and extra running around it just seems like there wasn't a weekend at all.

Went up to see Dad yesterday for an hour in the afternoon and he was doing pretty good. My Uncle Joe was there visiting him as well so we snuck out early and heading to the campground. We really wanted to get the trailer on it's jacks properly and just get things ready for the weekend. Not sure how much time I will get to spend there this upcoming weekend, will depend on how Dad is doing.

Heard from Ryan and he got home safe and sound and had good flights. We sent him home with a very bad cold. He seems to get one every time he comes home. We are wondering if it has something to do with the changing altitudes.

I had my fingers crossed for good weather today, and so far it is. They are coming to lay the new carpet in the basement today, so we are stuck upstairs. Brought a few of the toys up to keep everyone busy, but think that we will be spending a good amount of time outside that is for sure. The kids are all confused cos they aren't allowed downstairs, the dog has no idea what is going on... they all hate breaks in their routine, but we will survive

Not the news we wanted

This past week has certainly been an up and down one that is for sure. My Dad went into the hospital in Virden on May 4th, his 76th birthday. He had bad stomach cramps, diarrhea, and just generally feeling blah. They ran tests on him and couldn't really come up with anything other than he had a bug and put him on antibiotic. He started to feel somewhat better, but not 100%. Then when they tried to put him back on food he couldn't keep anything down. His doctor in Virden said that he wasn't sure what was going on, and they weren't seeing anything in his xrays so he contacted Dr Dhalla(he is a surgeon here, but also speciallizes in bowel disorders). Dr Dhalla said to bring Dad to the ER and he would see him on Wednesday. He ordered bloodwork and xrays. In the xrays he said he could see two obstructions but couldn't tell what they might be, and he also found out that dad's blood was critically thin. Dad was kept in overnight, put on something to thicken up his blood and a CT scan was ordered for the morning. Thursday morning he had the CT scan and Dr Dhalla said that as soon as they got his blood stable he would have surgery. Friday morning at about 10:15 the hospital called to tell me that Dad was on is way to OR. They said he would be a few hours, so I did up a few things here, had lunch with Gary and then got him to drop me at the hospital at noon. Then the waiting game started, but I took some knitting and I was the only one waiting in the room so could watch what ever I wanted to on TV. At about 2:45 Dr Dhalla came to talk to me, and told me the news I didn't want to hear. It was a fairly large mass, with lymph node involvement but he feels good that he got it all. He said the surgery went well, but that it was a big operation and Dad was not out of the woods yet. So that is where it stands and it looks like we are back to square one. At first I was thinking "well this isn't what we wanted to hear" and then my brother said, what do you mean, the news could of been much worse. So I guess one really does need to look for the positives in whatever situation they find themselves in.

We went to the ward to see Dad when they brought him up and other than being SO cold he was doing well, was so alert and visited right along with us. Nora came in to see him that evening and she said she was shocked at how with it he was and how he visited away with her. He did have a bad night Friday, his blood pressure dropped and they had to stop his pain meds so he got pretty uncomfortable. The nurse told me that he was 'tacky' (whatever that means) and they called the doctor and he ordered a drug to raise Dad's blood pressure and one to lower his heartrate, and they worked and he stabalized enough to put him back on his pain meds. When we went to see him Saturday (after we got back from taking Ryan to the plane) Dad was doing pretty good. He seems a bit down that he is going through all of this again, and I can't say that I blame him. He started coughing stuff up and that hurts! They did not get him up yesterday because of his low blood pressure, but the nurse said that as long as it stayed where it was they would be getting him up this morning.

Yesterday when we went up to visit Crystal wanted to come up with us, which was fine. We hadn't been there 10 minutes and she asked Gary if he could get her a glass of water. She was sitting on the heater, doubled over, sweating buckets and white as a ghost! She felt like she was going to throw up. Gary went and borrowed a basin from the nurse and helped Crystal out of the room, and then outside. She said she was so hot! Once they got outside in the cool area she said she felt some better. We aren't sure what happened to her: could of been that she ate goldfish & a kit kat for dinner, or, she said when we were walking down the hall to Dad's room she caught a smell of something that really bothered her, or, just everything we have been through, the worry about her Poppa, and then seeing him laying in the bed, machines, hoses and tubes around him. Once we got home she seemed okay, he color came back and she ate supper and said she was fine.

Busy, busy

Goodness, time just seems to be speeding by! Friday night Ryan got home about 8:00. It was so good to see him and to be able to give him a big hug! We visited and played some cards and then by the time we were ready to be heading to bed he was ready to head out. That is the problem with having someone here who is from 2 time zones away. So he went out with a couple of his buddies for awhile.

Saturday morning we headed out to Virden to visit my Dad. Crystal had to work so she came out later in the afternoon. Dad sure was surprised to see Ryan and it did seem to perk him up a bit. We had a good visit with Dad, who was looking pretty good. He was off all IV etc and was hoping to get home on Sunday. We visited with him till late afternoon and then we went and had supper with some very good friends of ours and spent the evening visiting with them.

Sunday morning we got up and all went to the Mother's Day Brunch and were able to visitn with a few people there that we know. The brunch was good as was the visiting. We left the hall and I stopped in at the hospital to see if they had determined whether Dad would be getting or not. I talked with his nurse and she said that he wouldn't e going anywhere for at least a few days as he had had a very bad night. He had started throwing up through the night and they had to get that settled down first. I just totally don't agree with the way the feed patients who have been sick. His first meal was a hamburger! What happened to a couple of nice light meals to get your system kick started again! So, after talking to the nurse we went back to Dad's house and I did up a bunch of laundry and Gary ran the vacuum through the whole house and we just did a general tidy up so it is all ready for him when he gets home. We went up and visited with him in the afternoon and he wasn't looking too bad, but you could tell he was really fighting nausea the whole time. He wanted a few things from the house, since he was going to be staying longer so we went and got those for him and packed up our stuff and then went to say goodbye to him. He sure did have a hard time saying goodbye to Ryan, it was a pretty emotional time for them both! I was happy to hear Ryan tell him that he would be back on Thursday if only for a little visit. (that is the day Gary is going out the get our trailer and take it to the campground)

Talked to Aunt Evie last night and she said that Dad had had a rough night Sunday and a rough day Monday. They are only giving him fluids and they are encouraging him to drink as much as he can even though he is throwing it up. They did start him on Gravol yesterday and he had said that that seemed to be settling things down some. So, fingers crossed that maybe this will help and he can to start feel a little more like himself.

Do you see something wrong with this picture?

Hhhhhmmmmm think I did something wrong? LOL

Play room before painting 

The den with the primer on the dark panel board 

The play room with the mocha cream paint on the lower half 

The den with the ugly DARK paneling board 

Is that a glimmer that I see at the end of the tunnel

It is starting to feel like I have lived in the chaos forever, but I think there is a little glimmer way down there at the end of the tunnel. Last night as the last daycare child was getting in the vehicle to go home I was changing into my painting clothes and got the first coat of paint over the dark paneling in the den. Was able to get it all done, then ran upstairs, printing off the information I had to take to the daycare meeting, washed the paint off my hands, changed into my good clothes and ran out the door to my meeting. At the daycare meeting we discussed policies, but it kept drifting off topic and all I could think was, let's just get back to the order of business so I can get home! The meeting was over at 9:30 and just as I started the car I heard on the radio that the Wheat Kings won their game! I am so ready for hockey season to be over! And now they have to go another round. Ryan is happy cos he will get to see at least 2 games while he is home. But, getting back to that glimmer I see..... I rushed home from the meeting and changed back into painting clothes and got the second coat of paint on the walls. Then realized that I had not stopped to eat any supper. So made some toast, checked email and went to bed! Tonight we will put get the lighter color on the top part of the room, get the shelves back up and things on them and hopefully get the room into order so it is ready for Ryan.

On top of the painting I am planning my Dad's birthday party. It was going to be just us going out and taking him and Nora out for supper, but them with Ryan coming home it is easier for him to see everyone if they are in one place so the plans escalated a bit. Now it will be my brother, sister in law and boys, my Mom's brother and sister and spouses, my Dad's two sisters, and one brother and their spouses, plus really good friends of ours and their daughter. This couple that we are friends with they are just like part of our extended family and they really want to see Ryan so this is what seemed to work best. Laura would of been sad if she didn't get to see Ryan when he was home. So somewhere in here I have to get to the grocery store and get the food for the party! I know it will all come together, just sounds overwhelming at times.

Paint, paint, paint

This weekend I got very little knitting done, as most of the time was spent down here painting, ripping out carpet and painting some more. And then of course we did more painting. We have the play room painted now, just have to pick out a border for where the two colors of paint meet now and figure out what kind of curtains I want. We finished one side of the hall and almost the other side, but we ran out of paint so have to go and buy some more. Finally I got that DARK panelling board covered. I have wanted to do this for years and Gary always dragged his feet over it but it is now primed and has the first coat on. The utility room has the one long wall all finished and we are deciding what to do with the other walls. The we have to do the little den (Ryan's old room) and the downstairs bathroom. Will it ever end? We want it all finished by Thursday night, cos Ryan gets home on Friday evening and we don't want to be messing with it while he is home. And then the following weekend we take Ryan to catch the plane home and have to get our trailer to the campground. Whew! lot of work to be done in a short period of time.