Whose Birthday Was It???????

Well, I hope Becky had a nice birthday. If she did, it was no thanks to me. I picked a rotten time to get rotten.

Her employees were good to her. They gave her some nice things, she got some beautiful flowers from both daughters, and of course we did manage to get her birthday present a little early. It seems he enjoyed her birthday balloons as much or more than she did.

DESPITE THEIR BEST EFFORTS.........

Well, despite the best efforts of some members of the medical profession, I am still alive and kicking, just not too high yet.

I got a little ill on Friday, September 5. It was very inconsiderate of me considering it was Becky's birthday. No matter. We had planned to have a night out on Saturday to celebrate. But Saturday was no better. My trips to the potty room had increased in numbers. Becky even threatened to take me to the hospital on Saturday evening if I didn't slow down, especially since I now appeared to be passing blood.

On Sunday morning, around 6:30 a.m., I made a return trip to the little room. I tried to get to my recliner afterward but lost control of my motor functions. Becky knew when I asked her if she would mind to get up and take me to the hospital that I was really low by now.

I was admitted to Parrish Hospital in Titusville shortly after 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning. The next five days are a little fuzzy. I had numerous tests run, was maintained on a liquid diet, and fed constant doses of Dilaudid. (Might that account for some of the "fuzzy"?)

At one point it was Colitis, then E-Coli, then a blocked intestine, etc. Finally, after one of the specialists refused my Florida daughter's request that a CT Scan by done, my primary physician stepped in. He ordered the scan, which probably saved my life. The scan showed that my gall bladder was shot.

Now a new problem arose. The surgeon that was chosen to remove my gall bladder asked me how long I had suffered from a very rare blood disease that kept my blood from clotting. It seems that I had been diagnosed last year as having a "K Factor Deficiency". The thing that got me was that I had never been advised of the diagnosis.

Parrish Hospital had no means to deal with this problem, so they decided on Friday, September 12, to ship me off by ambulance to Florida Hospital South in Orlando. More doctors, more tests, and more decisions. It was decided that I did in deed have a dead gall bladder. There were signs of gangrene. Now I had the choice of surgery and bleeding to death or continuing the downward spiral with gangrene.

The Orlando medics spent the weekend pumping junk into my blood. By Monday, they decided it was safe enough and started poking holes in my mid section. God bless them each and every one. By Wednesday evening, I was ready to hit the road for home. I had my first real solid food in almost two weeks. I am not ready for the golf course or swimming pool just yet, but I am walking around the block with the boys and Becky.

Thank God for people (and dogs) that love you and some good medical professionals.

AND THEN, THERE IS THE "CAPTAIN IN TRAINING"

The little doll second from the left in the front row is our Florida granddaughter. Remember when you used to tell your kids that you hoped they would have a child "just like them" when they grew up so they would get some payback.....uh, I mean, so they would better appreciate the things you went through to properly train them in their youth? This one fulfills my every wish. She is her mother made over, and that could never be considered to be a bad thing.

Was I Ever Set Up !

One night last week, Becky came home from work with a tale about a conversation she had with a co-worker. She said she was talking to him about something that she wanted when he asked her why she thought she should have it. She said when she replied that she should have it simply because she wanted it, he responded that he bet she got everything she wanted. She assured him that she certainly did. To this I replied that I do try to give her what she wants simply because I love her and enjoy making her happy. NOW I WAS ON THE HOOK.

The next evening she called to me to come and look at something she had pulled up on the computer screen. She said "isn't he adorable", referring to a picture of a little Schnauzer puppie. I agreed that he was cute and inquired as to his location. She said he was somewhere near Starke, FL, and I went about my business.SHE WAS REELING ME IN.

The big question came the following day when she asked if I intended to drive her on the nearly 300 mile round trip to see the puppy. I tried to convince her that Stormy would be very jealous if he had to share her time and attention with a puppy, and that he might even hurt it. She said we could take Stormy with us and introduce them. She already had her rebuttal ready for any objections I could think to raise. After all, I had admitted that I tried to give her everything she wanted.

We made the trip north with one dog and, needless to say, when we turned the car south there were two dogs inside. After all, Friday is her birthday. How could I say no.

It's CAPTAIN, if you please.

Well, she set her sights on a goal and then attained it. Granddaughter Kaitlyn decided she wanted to be the Captain of her cheer leading squad, and she made it. In this short clip from her church group outing to Panama City Beach, you can see the bubbly enthusiasm that helped her to attain that goal.


I don't think she ever takes off those big white sunglasses!