Finally released!

My nephew M-moo, being walked out of the hospital by his nurse, his GMA and his Auntie

The boy was finally released from the hospital today! He had his surgery last Thursday. He seemed to recover quickly from the appendectomy but high temps and pneumonia were keeping him from going home.

All he wanted was to go home. Oh, and to have toast.

Today he got both!

If you happen to see this...

Check out page 6, top right corner. My daughter, holding up the infamous "Bite Me" sign. An even bigger photo than what was in US Magazine. She is mortified. Again.

Page 9, top right corner. The person hold out the book for Taylor Lautner to sign, yeah, that would be my sister.

Another day, another hospital

As if we hadn't spent enough time in the hospital lately.

Yesterday morning my 17 year old nephew, M-moo, went to the doctor because he had been sick. Bad stomach pain, throwing up. What was thought to be a reaction to shrimp turned out to be appendicitis.

The surgeon said that it was gangrene and his body was preparing itself for the appendix to burst. I'm not sure how a body can prepare for something like that, but it doesn't sound good. He got there just in time. We are hoping he can come home today but as of last night he had a fever so we have to wait and see.

And speaking of hospitals, MIL was finally released Tuesday night. She was never so happy in her life as when her doctor said she could go home. The lady in the next bed was really driving her nuts. It turns out she was homeless and according to what we were able to over hear, she is there on a pretty regular basis. She will OD on her medications when ever she wants to get off the street for awhile and was put in the cardiac ward because there were no other beds for her. That's how she knew she could have coffee, even though coffee isn't allowed on the cardiac floor. Since she really wasn't a cardiac patient, she was given a two hour pass to go downstairs to get her own coffee, only to be brought back to her room by security because she was panhandling down in the hospital lobby. County hospitals, what can you say.

MIL is home, thank goodness, and she seems to be fine, but has an appointment next week with a neurologist.

Now if we can just get M-moo home, hopefully, no more sickness for awhile.

I hope.

Please.

A little bit of wedding

I tried posting a short video I took as my niece walked down the aisle but Blogger cut it off on one side so mostly, all you could see was the bride's father. You can see it here though. With everything going on, I haven't been able to actually make sure its okay with her that I post this, so its up...for now. I'm sure she wont mind. Its cute.

MIL update

Still not being released.

Still don't really know what is wrong with her.

Its like every day they are finding something else.

She thought she would be going home today but when the results of the CT scan came back they found a "hyper dense cellular mass". Doctor ordered an MRI and told MIL that she was not going home just yet.

The MRI, which they hoped would show in more detail what this mass was, didn't help all that much. They still cant tell if its solid or blood. The mass is up against her pituitary gland, which is probably what was making her blood pressure go all wacky. They ran more blood tests this afternoon to find out what was going on with her pituitary gland but now I cant remember what the doctor said. If the labs came back with normal hormone levels that meant it was a solid mass, or was it blood??

Hubby, of course, is going into denial mode. While Mac was trying to explain what was going on with the latest tests to Hubby and his sisters, he sat there with his Sudoku book, not looking up. I told Mac later, he is listening to what you are saying, he just doesn't really want to hear it. I feel bad for SIL Who Lives Around The Corner. This is the same hospital where her FIL died a week ago. She said its like deja vu, being there again. Her Hubby cant even come visit MIL because he cant make himself walk back into the place.

MIL just wants to go home, especially since her new roomie is driving her crazy. Last night around 2am, they moved this drug addicted lady into her room. All day today she kept hitting her call button asking for Oxycontin and coffee and they weren't giving her either. They finally gave her coffee, I think just to keep her quiet, but then she started yelling because they weren't putting enough Splenda in it. When they cut her off, she tried to get out of bed and go downstairs to the cafeteria to get it herself.

I was all the way at the other end of the hall, coming out of the elevator, and could hear her yelling about needing to have a bowel movement. As I got closer to the room, I heard the nurse tell her, "Okay, I'm here to help you but we don't need the whole floor to know about it."

Too late.

The nurse told her when she was finished to pull the cord for help because they didn't want her walking unassisted. Not only did she not pull the cord for help but she took off down the hall. Probably to go get more coffee with splenda. BIL talked to the nurse about having either this lady or MIL moved to a different room but they are full. No empty beds at this time.

Hopefully we will know more tomorrow, one way or the other.

The annual "I HATE SUMMER" post

yeah, yeah, I'll spare you the details. You've all heard it before.

I hate summer, blah, blah, blah...

Today was our first summer time power black out.

And so it begins.

Joy.

MIL update

We went up to the hospital very early this morning thinking she was going to be released. She is not coming home today either and she is none to happy about it, let me tell you! MIL told the doctor she wanted to go home because she only agreed to stay ONE night! Her doctor has other ideas. They are still running tests because her blood pressure is unstable. Going from very high to very low.

We were the first ones there this morning but we decided to leave when everyone else started showing up. There were just way too many of us hanging around. That's what happens when you have six kids! We will go back up this afternoon and take her book and cell phone.

So far all we know for sure is that she has a urinary infection and the beginnings of emphysema, which is not good at all. Still running tests.

In the 35+ years I have known this woman, this is the very first time I have ever seen her in the hospital. She looks very frail and weak but she is joking around and worried about how her hair looks so that's a good sign.

Not the way this was supposed to happen

We just got home from the hospital.

Yup...I said hospital, not wedding reception.

Half way through the evening, MIL started feeling sick and fainted. Most likely from the stifling heat. It really was unbearable at times. I had bought these little battery operated fans for us to use. One for me, MIL, DIL, Baby D and one for the Mother of the Bride. MIL did use hers the whole time she was sitting there but I guess it just wasn't enough. Lucky for her, two of her Grandsons are paramedics and two of them are EMT's so she had plenty of help.

It was very scary though. She looked horrible and pale, laying on the ground. The bride was crying. Mother of the Bride, who is MIL's daughter, was hysterical. The Bride's Father, who just lost his father last weekend was very upset but trying to comfort his wife. Lots of scared faces and tears among family members. It was not a good thing.

She was taken by ambulance to Big Town Hospital and after spending a couple hours in the ER having tests done, she was admitted for observation. The doctor saw something on the monitor that didn't show up on the EKG. We will find out more tomorrow.

MIL seems okay now. She was being put in her room when we left the hospital. She feels really bad for what happened. Oldest Son is a little embarrassed because when he was laying his GMA down on the ground, his pants AND boxers split right in front and the whole time he was tending to his GMA, his privates were, uh..not so private. I told him to forget about it. He did what he had to do to take care of his GMA and that's what counts.

What a week this has been.

The wedding pictures I did take will be up tomorrow.

Going to bed now, night.

Wedding Day!

R is on her way to get ready for tonights wedding. The girls are spending the day in the bridal cottage on the grounds where the wedding and reception are being held.

Too bad that today will be the hottest day we have had so far this summer.

105. grrrrrr

Pictures tomorrow!

June 24, 1978

The day we got married, 31 years ago.

We didn't exchange gifts. We didn't go out to eat. It was another ordinary day in the life, with the exception of going to a funeral.

Actually, it was more a celebration of life.

I have to say, after going to what is considered "traditional" funerals my whole life, this was refreshing. No Mass, no Rosary, no graveside, not that there is anything wrong with all that. This was just different. About 75 family and friends, together. Good food. Lots of stories. Some funny, some touching, most about fishing. Nothing down or gloomy or sad. Yes, there were some tears but all in all, it was good.

I think the family is still somewhat in shock though. This was so unexpected. Sr. had surgery for lung cancer but was expected to do fine. He died four days later.

He is being cremated but BIL's Mom didn't want to wait for this get together. Without sounding too harsh, she wanted the family to get past it so that they could be in better spirits for the wedding this Saturday.

I do feel bad for my niece. A death in the family is hard enough, but going from her Grandfathers death on Saturday to getting married the next Saturday. That has got to be tough.

We will probably do something for our anniversary next week. Maybe go out to dinner. Today, it was just enough to appreciate being alive, being healthy, being together.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Happy Father's Day

To my Hubby, a great father who has always tried to give his children more than he had.

To my Oldest Son, celebrating his very first Father's Day as a father himself.

To my Brother-in-law, who lost his father just last night, condolences. This will be a sad Father's Day for him, compounded by the fact that his daughter will be getting married this Saturday.

To my Daddy, who I miss more than words can say, especially on days like today.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there and may you have sweet memories of the ones who are no longer with us.