May 7, 2008

May 7, 2008

There have been moments in my life that I have been pretty proud of my intellect...... Hey, I still have the certificates for each report card time thru four years of high school showing I was on honor roll! I have the newspaper article relating my being chosen for a special honors class in college. I mean, really, there has been lots of 'proof' over the years that I do have a brain. Even my maiden name...Brainard! The dictionery states that the suffix -ard means 'lots of what comes before it.' (True it gives the examples of 'drunkard' and 'braggard' but I was a BRAIN-ard!! )

But then there are times that make me wonder if I have any smarts at all! And I think I just encountered the pinnacle of all those times!!! I have spent more time and energy than I want to think about, trying to create a lovely walkway up to my front door. I have weeded, have transported gravel, have coerced my guy into buying me a bunch of brick things. I have raked, ..... you get the idea! Well, the gravel comes with dirt mixed in it. (I suppose there is gravel that is washed clean....but I am sure it is out of my price range.) So even tho I spread that fabric stuff all down the path before putting down the gravel, the dirt made my path a good breeding ground for dandelions etc. I have struggled with them thru the years....gasoline, commercial killers, back breaking weeding.... So when my 'mentor' Jeff L. (the newspaper official gardening expert) said to put newspapers over the weeds to kill them and keep them from growing back....and said they would be biodegradable and in all ways be better than chemicals or the fabric stuff or plastic.... I started saving newspapers. Eventually...just before my stash actually took over the house....the weather indicated that spring had sprung and the time had come for me to spread my papers. There was still snow on the lawn, and that would be a good thing, as the snow would be useful for my project.

Nevermind that I had recently torn a ligament in my knee.... I could do this job straight legged (if not straight faced!)

I carried more newspapers than you can even imagine to the front porch....then hauled as many as I could manage (I think this took me 3 or 4 trips.... or 5 or 6)down the ten front steps and down the sloped path and started covering the largest weeds....they were left over from last fall. Too cold for new ones to grow yet. Now this all took place about 3 weeks ago, yes, my knee was still pretty 'fresh.' But I am stubborn. (When I decided I wanted to build an igloo out of ice blocks one year, my four year old granddaughter ....after more than 100 blocks were packed to the site....asked, 'Why does G'ma say this is fun?') She's grown up and is smarter than to be available now when I get my hairbrained ideas.

Well... I got to thinking about how the wind could blow my papers around, and wondered just what steps Jeff L. would do to secure them. Remember that snow?? I found me a shovel and started throwing snow on them....it would wet them and make them seal right into the dirt and in the meantime weight them down in case the wind blew. (IN CASE the wind blew!!??? This is the hurricane alley of America! )

A couple of days later, mother nature agreed to help me out, and sent two feet of new snow....so my papers were well secured and would be plenty 'pulpy' when the snow melted.....right!! Instead, I watched the sun come back and dry up all the snow and dry up the papers. I knew I was in trouble, but not how MUCH trouble!! A few days ago, while I was in the throes of a doozy of a cold, I observed quite a few papers finding their way on to the lawn, and invading the driveway. Phil and KaCee took pity on me and went out and gathered up the loose ones, and put rocks on the others. And I kept busy with Stan, and forgot about my papers. Today I saw the trees swaying, felt the wind try to blow my hair off my head, and remembered my papers. Oh, oh, oh!!! They were everywhere. I couldn't ask for help!! Phil had been flu-y all night and Stan is 'just hanging around' (his words!) Out I went and started gathering. They were caught in every bush and bramble available, but many had still managed to make their way over the bank and onto a neighbor's property. I knew without a doubt as I struggled to gather them, that this has to be the dumbest idea I've had yet. (But don't despair.... I bet before another 68 years go by, I'll figure out some way to top it!)

I just thought you could all use a good chuckle.....brought to you at the expense of this chuckle head!!! Can't you just see me... hobbling around chasing flying newspapers, hoping no one is watching....while the wind keeps teasing me by getting more to give up their rock holds and join the fun. And just in case that isn't enough fun.... some of the ones I had stuffed in my arms would escape for a rerun!

Remember those bricks Stan bought me? They have been in a pile by the side of the path waiting until I could figure out just where I wanted them. Tonight I decided where I wanted them was securing the newspapers that hadn't taken flying lessons yet. But the wind is blowing so hard out there, that I am afraid of what the morning will show. I may have a few angry neighbors pounding on my door demanding my head! And who could blame them.

Regarding 'hairbrained' ideas....Pete was sure I was having a major one yesterday. I still think it would have worked, but I didn't get a chance to find out.

Stan's doctor insisted she could not treat him over the phone. (I had called 2 or 3 weeks ago when he was having headaches to ask if he could take something stronger than tylenol.) She hadn't seen him since before the stroke, and needed to assess him. So it was up to me to get him to her office. I thought I was calling TransCare plenty early to set up an appt. for them to come transport him, but found they were booked solid for that day. They are the ones who brought him home, so I was a little familiar with them. This is all new and uncharted territory I am trodding each day.

Well, I thought we could put him in the wheelchair and wheel him to the driveway, then lift him out of the chair and into the car with the Hoyer. Someone would have to bring the pickup, too, with the wheel chair and hoyer lift. Then I would use the hoyer to get him out of the car and into the wheel chair... And NOT ONLY would the ride be more comfortable for him, but we could have an outing and maybe get a milkshake from a drive-up. (The original trip home in the wheelchair, in a van, was difficult. He was not able to hold his head up at all back then, and not only did it stay flopped foreward, but his left foot kept slipping off the foot rest. I was buckled in sort of near him, but all I could do was try to keep a package of Depends shoved under his foot to keep it from being hurt. )

Well, I was all set up to have both the car and pickup at home for my use, and a couple of sons, too. Nothing went according to plans. I had neither of my vehicles at my beck and call, but assurance that they would be there. Andy was coming at 11 (I had asked him for noon....appt was for 1:20) because he didn't have much faith in my plan either, and wanted to do a 'dry run.' I figured if his dry run showed I was crazy, I would cancel the appt. and try for a day when TransCare was available.

Pete, however, was convinced I was going to kill Stan, and put in an SOS call to Kathy. Kathy spent her morning calling every transporter company in town....to no avail. Finally, she called TransCare and told them they had brought her friend home, but that the ride was so uncomfortable we had decided to never use them again. Whatever she really said to them...they decided they would squeeze Stan in....and would be at the house at 12:30. I called and told Andy he didn't need to be there until noon.....giving him a little more family time.

He showed up about 11:30 and it is a good thing. Stan has not been dressed for months!! We had to get sweat pants, shirt, and jacket on him. Then we had to get him in Hoyer, into the wheel chair, and down the porch stairs. There are three steps, a landing, and three more steps (to the side yard and driveway....definitely the most expedient route). That was no easy task, even with the help of the van driver. The van ride was the easy part. Andy and I went in the van and kept Stan as comfortable as possible. He didn't complain at all, and rather enjoyed the ride. The road is so bad (Alaska break up!!) that the van driver really went slow. BUT we got there with ten minutes to spare!! His sense of Humor has remained intact, and he was cracking jokes with the driver as he was unloaded from the van.

I was pleasantly surprised by his doctor. I had never met her, and had reasons to wonder...but she was very informative, did not rush us at all, and I never felt like I was taking too much of her time. She answered all my questions, and complied with things that were bothering me. She agreed to take him off coumadin, and also off insulin and put him back on pills for the diabetes. We will be monitoring his sugars carefully to make sure this is okay. She checked his tube and was pleased with what she saw. (Would you believe!! Since he's been home it has been oozing blood around the opening!! AARGH!)

The ride home was harder, mostly because he was tired. As we waited for the van to come for us, he repeatedly told us he was ready to go home and get in bed. He 'felt' every bump on the road home, and decided he didn't want the seat belt on the last couple of miles. It was a real challenge for Andy to keep him from releasing the belt. He was pretty determined, and now when he gets an idea into his head, he can be very stubborn. Luckily, Andy kept him laughing about it.

Pete and Corey met us at home and helped Andy get him back up those steps, while I went in and got his bed ready. So it was not a bad trip really.....blessings on Kathy!! But I would still like to see if he could be put in the car. If so, maybe he could enjoy a ride now and then. Dr. O'Fallon did say she wouldn't require him to come in very often.

He has been asking for a hamburger....very definite about where from and what's on it, too! Andy got him one today, chopped it up very small, put his teeth in, and tried to feed it to him. He really wanted it, but just seemed to choke and cough too much and finally gave up. We'll try again soon.

He expressed his disappointment about missing church tonight. Instead of the regular Bible Study, they had a mother's day banquet so we (I) opted to not have them worry about setting up the phone thing. I was surprised he remembered it was Wednesday!! That is a good sign. Dates seem to be hard for him.


I do have some urgent prayer requests before saying goodnight!

Little Darian King had one leg amputated last week due to the cancer and is undergoing additional surgery for reconstruction. He is just 5 or 6 years old.
Stan's cousin's grandson, Britt Chapman, is almost 12 and just today had some pretty serious surgery on his legs that will force him to be immobile for several months. He has had this type surgery when he was six, and now knows how painful the recovery can be.
Hannah Kingsley is just 3 1/2 and has had more heart surgeries than any of us want to think about. The doctor's want (feel it is necessary) to do an impending surgery asap... between November and March.....but first she needs to stay well AND gain five pounds. She only weighs 27 pounds right now.
Stan's Uncle Don had a stroke Sunday. The report we have had since is that he is doing well.
My sister Flossie just learned she had atrial fibrillation and was put on coumadin. This is what Stan was being treated for....and the coumadin is why he is in the condition he is in now.

Those little ones up there are all so young for such huge problems. Please put them on a permanent prayer list. These are all things that will be a part of them all their lives.

Thank you.....WE KNOW what prayer can accomplish! Stan is living proof!!

Love, M