Still Catching up ...

It has been a while since the 4th of July. Labor Day is long past and Thanksgiving is about one month away....Christmas is less than two months. Wow time sure does fly the older we get. Let's see what has happened since the time took flight. The last post was really written several weeks ago. The update now is that Ann got her cast off after 8 weeks of riding a wheelchair. She is now using a walker for long distances and just suffling along holding on to whatever she can for short distance walks. I am still sleeping with her in our first floor "motel" room. I tried to move back upstairs and use the kiddie monitors to monitor Ann's snoring on the first floor. But after two nights back in my good bed, Ann woke me at 4 AM and by the time I got downstairs I found her sitting in her wheelchair with a bloody face. She said she had gone to the potty and was attempting to get back in bed when she fell into the parked wheelchair cutting her brow above her right eye. At first I thought she may have damaged her eye, but once the blood was wiped away it was a small cut not reqiring stictches. But a very black eye was the result. Looked like I had struck her. So, I am again sleeping downstairs so I can be of assistance during the night to her.

Cedar went to have her second operation on Friday Oct. 13. Vets shaved her, put her to sleep and began operating when the heart monitor started to beep funny. So, they closed up the incision and worke her up. Turned her over to the heart specialist and his tests show that she had a small leak in her heart valve. The doctors put her on a beta blocker like I use to take and had her rest up for a week. Last Friday they operated again .... this time without the heart giving any problems. Dr. removed the high tech stuff he had inserted in Cedar's left knee earlier in the year (since the knee never complely healed. He also operated on her right knee to releive some the swelling there. Cedar has been home a week and is well on the path to recovery. She is putting weight on all four legs and wants to run and climb steps on her own even as we try to keep her from doing so. Swelling is down and while she lost her appitie while on a med, it returned this morning and she cleaned up her bowl and looked for more. I think Wilson had a major cat fight this morning. Heard lots of very LOUD cat screams in the back woods sortly after he went out after breakfast. I called for him and he came from the area of woods where the fight sounds had come from. I saw know damage except a bit of blood at corner of his right eye. Anyway, I brought him inside and he has remained sleeping most of the day.

Byron drove down yesterday to VT to watch VT wip Clemson in a Thurday night football game. He made it back home by 12:30 this afternoon. Ann and I watched the game on Byron's HD TV. Real nice sound and view. Byron is now up from his nap and off to go down to Mollie's for the night.

Just before the game started I got a call from nephew David who informed me that my sister, Judy, was going into emergency surgery for a lumb jutting out of her stomach. They thought it was another hernia, but found that the mesh they that had been inserted during heria operations earlier this year has moved and was cutting into her intestine. Surgeon up at Bloomsberg Hospital told David it was the worst mess had had ever seen, since she had not had a chance to clean herself out before the operation. And there is so much scare tissue from previous operations. Fran called this morning and to say Judy was in intensive care unit doing well. I told Ann, if she is up to it, we will make the trip up to Bloomsberg sometime next week to visit Judy in the hospital. I know Mother would be pleased that I do that.

I went out the week before last and purchased one of the new alumium Nano Ipods and a wristband to carry it while I exercise. I really like walking and working out to the music. And I also purchased the Nike/Apple accessory that allows me to monitor me workout on the Ipod while using a transmitter that I attach to me shoe. It is neat.

Talk about neat. I stopped up at the new Tweeter store yesterday afternoon to scope out some better headphones to use with the Nano. Wow the new store is really nice. Different rooms are set up so you can see how all the new high tech stuff fits in and works (large tv wall screens that hide behind artwork that raises. Also a home theater reclining chair that is in sync with move music.
They had me sit in the chair to watch a plane crash segment of The Aviator movie. Wow the chair tilted as the plane rolled and it bumped and went up and down during the crash on screen. Very neat and very expensive. I have to go back next week since they were out of the headphone that I wanted to see.

Well that is it for now. All caught up.

Catching up ..... or down

The unofficial summer is over with the passing of Labor Day. Yellow school buses are back on the roads, leaves are starting to fall (or rather blow down in the wind and rain from recent storms). I am still not employeed. None of the jobs I have applied for have come my way.

BIG News is that Ann had a series of seizures (the first while in Maine on a week's vacation with Katie and Becky at the start of August). The Sunday (Aug. 6) after she retuned home, she had another one, so I called 911 and ambulanced her to Wilmington Hospital ER for a six hour stay. The following evening (Monday) I think she had another while going to the bathroom. Anyway, she fell with a really big THUMP and I found her on the floor wedged between the wall and toilet. She said she did not hit her head but did hurt her foot. Byon and I got her up and into bed with ice on her swollen left foot. A trip to Dr. Janice's office (she was on vacation) led us to get the foot x-rayed and then visit Delaware Ortho and Dr. Damian Andrisani who confirmed that Ann had broken the three bones in the top of her left foot. Ann picked purple for the color of her foot to mid calf cast. (Ann told Dr. A how she knew his mother and sister from years ago when Katie was in Brownies with them).

Knowing Ann's failure at using a cane in the past we forewent crutches in favor of a wheelchair. Byron built ramps into the front door and down the step from the Kitchen to the family room. After two or three nights with Ann on the family room couch and me sleeping in my recliner, Katie came up for a day and together with Byron and me, we moved my office upstairs to the guest room and put two twin beds in the office with a potty chair for Ann. Meanwhile, the same day Ann got her cast we saw Dr. Edelshon who started her on a new med to control her seizures better. So, the past four weeks have been rather routine for Ann, wheelchairing from room to room with Byron and me helping her up and down the ramps.

We have been getting out with the wheelchair .... dinner at Appleby's (Laura treated us to a very sweet dessert) and Hollywood Diner at Fairfax .... to various doctor's appointments .... and to Philadelphia with Byron and Mollie to see Lion King on Aug. 19, and to Joy Dara's weding to Cory Todd on Sunday, Sept. 3. Ann has done very well on these outings and we have had a good time. We both enjoyed Lion King and were impressed with the arrangements the Academy of Music on Broad Street made for us (space for Ann's wheelchair at the back of lower level with a chair next to it for me). Joy was a beautiful bride at the tradional Jewish wedding held at the Hotel duPont. Again, the hotel staff made it easy for us by helping us get from level to level via special elevators and allowing us to use the women's rest room.

Got to go make dinner .... more some day in the future.