Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Killer Prayer Tips
*BEFORE starting the video, remember to scroll to bottom of this page and hit the PAUSE button on the music.
Enjoy.
KILLER PRAYER TIPS
[grin]
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Guess Where I'M Goin'???
Friday, July 23, 2010
Addilyn Rae Found
You see, I am a Great Aunt!!!!
Great Auntie Michelle.
I am "tickled pink" to introduce my Great Niece....
She is the brand spankin' new daughter to Jon's nephew Raymond and his wife Kelly.
Photo by Noelle
This sweet babe was born on July 19, 2010 in California, weighing 8lb1oz. She's adorable.
Photo by Noelle
As you can see, she already has her Daddy's full attention.
We're so proud of you, Raymond.
Photo by Noelle
And she's an angel to her Mommy. Congratulations, Kelly. You look beautiful.
This is what "peaceful" looks like!
This is Jon's brother, Dane. He's a very proud
first-time Grandpa.
And here is one very proud Grandma, our
What joy and happiness a wee babe brings to a family.
I couldn't resist putting in this photo as well...... It's the celebratory "It's-A-Girl" Cigars!!!!
I think she's perfect.
*All photos belong to Raymond unless otherwise noted.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Ice Cream and Junk
and joining me is a big ol' bowl of Neopolitan ice cream.
Mmmmm.
It's the cheap stuff, but that doesn't matter. It tastes good tonight.
With each mouthful I am very careful to move the ice cream around in my mouth just the right way, for fear that the coldness will hit one of my teeth that need desperate attention from a dentist.
The cold ice cream sliding down my throat into my stomach is refreshing. The hot and humid weather has taken it's toll on so many of us that anything cool is refreshing.
The cool breeze tonight (yes.... there was actually a cool breeze!!!) at Jared's baseball game was SO cool and refreshing that I actually got chilled! Can you believe that? I had to go to the car and get my jacket. I sat there thanking the Lord that I actually had to go and get it! The Wellington air is almost always fresh; but in the last few weeks with that humidity, the air wasn't much different than here at home. That's very unusual for Wellington.
('Scuse me while I take a bite of my melting ice cream.......)
Rain is predicted for the next few days. It will help to cool things down, I'm sure; but unfortunately I didn't get the lawns cut today. Oh well.... what's a few more days, eh? Just means the mower will have to work a little harder.
The last few days have been filled with me trying to "get organized" here in the house.
When you live with your
I feel that way right now about my office. It used to be the boys' toy room. We converted it to an office a few years ago, and I gave away many of their "baby" toys. The closet, however, is still full of some things, and this week I have tried spending a few hours sorting.
I have been extremely successful and am proud of myself for giving many things the ol "heave-ho". Not to the garbage bin, of course; but rather putting it in boxes; then I will be calling my sisters and saying, "Get over here and get what you want before I put it out at the edge of the road with a big FREE sign."
Oh I did that last year and it felt sooooooooooooooo gooood!!!! The stuff we had wasn't bad enough for the dump, but wasn't anything we were using here, or else the boys had outgrown it; so I thought, "Why not GIVE IT AWAY?". I couldn't believe how happy people were to receive things for free.
I thought about having a yard sale and giving half the proceeds to an organization, such as Samaritan's Purse; but I couldn't imagine sitting outside all day for days on end, watching for "customers". I felt led to "give it away", and that's what I did. I had over eight small and large tables FULL of "stuff", along with numerous coats and snow suits..... oh it felt so good to watch people put it in their vehicles and drive it away.
When last summer was over, I only had one small box of items that were left. I decided to set them out again this year rather than send them to the dump. I also had only one small garbage bag of things that I sent to the dump.... some stuff had gotten rained on and was mildewed. I think that's pretty good for eight whole tables!
(Mmmmm.... my ice cream is gone now.... I've been sneaking bites in between paragraphs. It was deeeeelightful!).
Back to my office..... the closet is likely going to be as full when I'm done as when I started; but at least the stuff we don't use anymore will be gone. I'll be replacing the empty shelves in there with stuff that's been stacked up here in the office.
On the floor of the closet is a whole bunch of remote control items that the boys have received over the years. They either don't work, need batteries, or just aren't interesting anymore for the boys. I'm sure my nieces and nephews will enjoy them. My one brother-in-law is good with electronic stuff, so maybe he'll be fixing some of these items so his kids can use them.
I've got lots of paperwork to sort through as well...... I keep so much stupid stuff. It doesn't seem stupid at the time, but after twenty years you look at it and you think, "What in tarnations did I keep THIS for????".
It's funny, eh? Things that were so important to us at one time..... now it's just junk. And why does it take us so long to realize that?
Oh I wish I had heard that one many years ago! I'd be cleaning less
Jared already went through his closet and gave Blake a couple of pairs of summer shorts that he [Jared] had outgrown. But they're still too big for Blake.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Mushroom Soup
There's nothing cooking on the stove, nothing in the microwave..... weird.
But it reminded me of something that happened at the hospital back in May. I don't believe I've told you the story yet.
When Blake had that problem with the intense excrutiating pain in his knees and lower legs back in May, just 14 hours after we were released from hospital, we were re-admitted to Picton Hospital and then transferred back to Kingston General.
Because of a lack of beds, we were given a room on Kidd 9, which is Oncology. That floor has just been recently renovated, and it is beautiful! It was so clean, you could have eaten off the floors! I wouldn't suggest it, I'm just sayin'.... well, you know....
On our last night there, we were moved from one room to another, as they needed our room for two elderly ladies. We were moved down the hall to bunk with an elderly man, whose name I believe was Jack.
The nurses wheeled Blake and his bed down the hall to the new room, and I loaded up my Geri-chair with our bags and computer and junk food, etc. and took off down the hall to our new room.
I got a whiff of mushroom soup.
I headed back to our old room to help the nurses bring down Blake's tray and his bedside table. This was about 9 o'clock at night.
Again as I walked down the hall, I could smell mushroom soup. I said to the nurse, "Oh, are one of you girls having a little evening snack?" She looked at me. I said, "Smells like mushroom soup."
She said, "Oh, that's not mushroom soup. Do you REALLY want to know what that is?"
Well now my curiosity is peaked.
I replied, "Sure. OK."
She said, "That is the smell of blood and body parts cooking."
[pause]
[pause....]
[pause........]
"Ooooooooooooooh".
[pick jaw up off nice clean floor]
[wipe disgusting look off face]
"OK, then. That's nice to know. Never gonna buy another can of mushroom soup again, thanks."
When Blake was admitted for his first dose of Remicade (this second round) back in June, when we had the private room, I turned to Blake one night and said, "DO YOU SMELL THAT??????"
Sure enough, coming through the ventilation system in our room was the smell of, none other than, "mushroom soup"!
Ann-Marie: I smell dead people!
(sorry, folks... private joke.... re: Sixth Sense)
Then, last week when we were at KGH for Blake's second dose of Remicade, what did we smell coming through the ventilation system once again?
Yup. Yuh-huh. Mushroom Soup.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Blake's Health Update 2010/07/17
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Blake's Health Update 2010/07/15 - HOME!!!
WE ARE HOME!!!!!
Who knew that just coming home from the hospital could be so exhausting! And "I" am not even the PATIENT!!!!
I AM TIRED!!!!!
I am sooo looking forward to a whole night of lying completely FLAT in my bed!!!! Four nights of sleeping (using that term very lightly!) in a geriatric chair will MAKE me a geriatric quicker than I want to be!
I AM THANKFUL!!!!!
I am thankful that my boy got his Remicade dose and that the healing process can continue. He's having some discomfort and a bit of nausea (that may or may not have developed from his Aunt Dani's crazy driving..... haha); but there are no stabbing pains!
I AM SAD!!!!!
I am sad because I miss our roomies. I miss Ray and that darling grin of his! I miss seeing how excited he was when someone came to take him for a simple walk down the hall. I miss seeing him look over at Blake and me on his way out the door and do a little "hop-skip-and-a-jump" (and the terror look on the physio therapist's face that he was gonna fall! hahahahahaaa!). I miss his extremely kind family who were so warm and kind to us.
I miss Ron and listening to him cuss away at the loud 3am screeching of the bed alarm and hearing him yell, "WHY CAN'T THAT GUY JUST LAY STILL SO WE CAN GET SOME SLEEP!!!!????".... only to discover it was his OWN bed alarm that had just gone off! I miss hearing him apologize over and over to the nurses for yelling at them and for being so impatient with them. I miss watching him wipe the tears from his eyes when he told the story over and over again to whoever would listen that he "had a small victory today!" because he had walked back from the bathroom all by himself. And sad that he returns to his home on Friday... an empty home... no family there with him........ and I'm worried because, in my own personal opinion, I know he is not physically ready to be released.
And I miss Erwin, who was only with us a couple of days, but had the best hearty laugh you've ever heard. His German accent was a pleasure to listen to, and I wish I'd been there longer for him to teach me some of the German language! He, as well, had a caring family by his side.
I AM HOPEFUL!!!!!
I'm hopeful that our Ontario Government will take one look at Blake's file and say, "Hey, by cracky! This boy MUST be on Remicade immediately and indefinitely and we are gonna make sure every penny is completely covered!" What a blessing THAT would be!
I AM GRATEFUL!!!!!
I'm grateful to those Doctors and Nurses and the whole hospital staff, from desk clerks to porters to cafeteria staff to cleaners..... the whole "kit and kaboodle".... grateful that they take such good care of
I AM BLESSED!!!!!
I am so blessed because God has our lives all planned out already. And we will be richer in this life if we stop trying to do things our own way and just simply follow the plan He has for us..... until one day when we all will be able to say that we're "HOME!!!".
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Blake's Health Update 2010/07/14 - Remicade Dose #2
The infusion is taking place as I type!
Blake is receiving Dose #2 on this, his second, round of Remicade.
We were really stretching our hope in receiving the dose on Monday. As it turned out, they indicated the infusion would be Tuesday. However, Pharmacist Alastair informed us that they had switched suppliers, so it would be arriving a day later. (Grrr! Oh well!!!)
So Wednesday arrives and so does the drug! Wahoooo! At approximately 1:30pm today, Nurse Susan started administering the Miracle Medicine through the I.V.
No bad affects.
No allergic reactions.
Just a glorious feeling for Blake watching that drip... drip... drip... down the tube and into his arm.
Dr. Lowe came in, with Resident Dr. Wijeratne, and she said if Blake is feeling really well tomorrow or the next day, then he could possibly be released. She said if he is not feeling well once we get home, we are to hightail it back to hospital.
Another dose will take place in four weeks, assuming that our "good ol' government" comes through with the paperwork end of things.
I'm thrilled that the hospital has admitted him for this dose. I remember my mother-in-law making the comment years ago that "one way or another, you get the meds you need". I sure didn't feel that way last Fall. But I sure was thankful for our family and friends and community who pitched in to help out in a time of need.
And this time, I think the good doctors realize that this is a med that Blake cannot live without; so they've been very good in ensuring it gets into his system.
The other day was the first time we had met Dr. Lowe. She seems like a very pleasant lady. I'm so thankful for a great team of Gastroenterologists.
And we've had some pretty great times in this room, here on Connell 10. We are, as I mentioned in Monday's post, in a room with three other gentlemen. Their names are Gary, Ron, and Ray.
Gary was moved to a more private room yesterday. I believe his time here is limited. His family was called in and was spending time with him, so I'm glad they were able to find a more comfortable private room for him.
Ron got his wallet back from the safe, so he's been a little bit more settled in that regard. He walked to the bathroom and back to his bed the other day, and he is absolutely thrilled with that accomplishment. He says to me, "I had a bit of a victory this morning.... I walked to the bathroom and then back to my bed! It doesn't sound like a big deal to anyone else, but it was a great accomplishment for me!" His eyes welled up with tears as he told me. He apologized for getting emotional, and I told him that what he'd done was amazing and that he should be proud of that victory!
Sometimes he gets so frustrated and yells at the nurses. Five minutes later he can be heard saying, "Nurse? I need to speak to [so-and-so].... I just yelled at her and I shouldn't have and I feel just terrible about it. I shouldn't have done that." Then he will repeat that statement to every nurse that walks through the door. Bless his heart. He keeps saying, "All I do in here is eat! I just get finished breakfast and they bring lunch! Then they bring supper!" hahaha. The man sure does have a good appetite. He thinks he's going home soon and will be living on his own..... I don't think he's really in a position to live on his own now; however, the social worker is just currently talking with him and it sounds as though he just might be! If that's the case, I'll bet it won't be long and he'll unfortunately be right back in here.
Ray, the retired priest, is just a sweetheart as well. We have a fun time joking with him. Who'd have thought that Catholics and Protestants could get along! hahaha. Just kidding. Ray has had quite a number of visitors. He's had siblings and nephews and a priest and friends and other family members. His sister Isabelle has been in daily, and last night she invited me to come to her home this morning for a shower. She picked me up at 9:30 and we spent the morning at her house. She's delightful. She and Ray and their siblings are East Coast folks from Cape Breton originally.
On our way back to the hospital from Isabelle's apartment, my cell phone rang. It was Blake. He and Ray were not happy with their hospital lunch, which was a Shepherd's Pie, so they were wanting Isabelle and me to pick them up a hamburger and a chicken burger.
I think there's a couple of fellows in here that are getting quite spoiled. hahaha
So last night, after Gary had been moved to another room, in came Irwin. He's an older German fellow, and he sounds like a real card as well. He likes to laugh. He's got some major problems with one of his feet, and it sounds like some surgery is on the "to do" list for him. I like to just listen to him talk... I like his accent. I haven't chatted with him much since he's been in, but just give me some time.... I'll get to know him and might even come home with some German words under my belt! haha
I'm glad we stayed in this room. We hear bed alarms all night and rarely is it completely quiet in here, but I've enjoyed staying with these fellows.
It was quite hectic in here a few minutes ago.
Irwin's doctor was in here talking to him behind his curtain and he was talking quite loudly and Nurse Susan seemed to be running from bed to bed. While emptying Ray's catheter bag, you can hear Ray saying, "Susan! Al's going to find someone to take me for a walk". She replies, "Oh, OK, that's good." On her way to empty the bag, Blake says, "Susan! I'm needing something for pain." She replies, "Oh, OK, I'll get you something." On her way past Ron's bed, we hear "Susan! Can you get this light for me?" Susan replies, "OK, just let me empty this!" So I shouted out, "OH SUSAN! Could I get a back rub?" hahaha. We all started laughing. Poor girl. Getting pulled in every direction. I sure hope this is her only room today, because she seems to have a full-time position in this room alone! She says that's what normally happens in a ward room, the questions just richochet from one bed to the next.
Well, I'd better close this post.... I see Ray starting to creep out of his bed, and his alarm will go off any minute. This post has taken me forever to write with all the action going on in this room.
And Blake wants me to run and get him an ice cream treat. Man, he's spoiled in here. Enjoy it, Blake; it won't be happening once we get outta here! :o)
And as I sign off.... Ray is just leaving for his long anticipated walk down the hall, and Blake's I.V. machine is beeping, meaning his infusion is complete!
Can I hear a Hallelujah????
Monday, July 12, 2010
Three Old, One Young
Snoring... non-stop.
Chattering away in his sleep.
Having a conversation with himself... none of it making heads or tails.
Answering his own questions in his sleep.
Screaming out in pain when moved by nurses.
Full of apologies to the darling nurses.... yet also thankful for their care.
Incoherent, by times. Convinced he's getting in his car and driving away from here.
Calling the nurse by the wrong name.
Full of congestion.
Ready to cough up a lung at any moment.
And more snoring.... sawing logs.
In his mind, he's resting peacefully.
One of the elderly
Confused by times.
Concerned about his wallet's whereabouts.
The nurse assures it's in safe-keeping.
He asks for it, in case he needs to prove to someone his identity. The wristband isn't enough.
He moves, adjusts his pillow, and off goes the bed alarm.
He's grateful to the nurse for her care.
Pushes the call-button because he thinks his roommate has had a seizure. It's only a matter of the pillow falling on the floor.... no seizure.
Doesn't like to be covered by the sheets, and the gowns aren't quite long enough. Of course his bed is by the door!
Wants the phone beside him. Doesn't expect any calls, but wants that phone next to his bed.
Again he thanks the nurse, not wanting to be a bother.
One of the elderly
Directly across from Blake's bed.
Coherent most of the time.
A retired Priest.
Extremely kind.
A sense of humour.
Another bed alarm.
He wants to walk on his own.
He tries.
The nurse comes running at the sound of the alarm.
No walking alone.
Sits in the chair by his bed.
He has many visitors.
Visitor sits on the side of the bed to chat.
Gets up to leave and sets off the alarm.
The looks on the faces are priceless. "What have I done???"
We grin.
Elderly man laughs.
Visitor waves goodbye, exclaiming "I'm outta here!"
Priceless.
One young man.
Waiting for his healing medicine.
Waiting on the Lord for a miracle healing.
Confident that the Lord can heal him of his Chronic Disease.
At any time.
At any moment.
Knowing that the Lord's timing is best.
Trying to keep open ears to hear His Lord.
Trying to have open eyes to see His face.
Trying to have an open heart to do His will.
Trying to understand what good can come from an illness that eats away on his insides.
Confident that God is all-knowing.
All-wise.
All-healing.
All-loving.
Striving to be a 'patient' patient.
One woman.
One mother.
One caregiver.
Wanting to take the pain on herself.
Wanting to understand God's plan, too.
But knowing His plan is best.
Lessons to be learned through the trials.
Knowing there's green grass in the valleys.
Wondering how others have any hope without Jesus.
Thankful to be a child of The King.
In Jesus name, we press on.