Hello!! I will start by saying that during my absence Weebly decided to make several changes. I am sure for someone who understands computers they are magnificent changes. But to me, they are nothing but a mess I have to try to deal with. The picture for instance. To save my soul I was not able to find the option for the smaller picture with the title. I just feel incredibly lucky to have gotten this far! My blog boy is not responding to me on facebook right now so I am going it alone! We'll see how I do.
I had planned on getting on a while ago but kept forgetting to ask Craig to get the pictures off the cameras. So this will be an entry with no family shots. So I guess all I can do is talk about myself!
Two months ago today I very suddenly became sick. Many of you know the whole story. I ended up at the ER with a fever of 103.9 and pain throughout my body. During the week I went to two doctor appointments and lost my ability to walk. I was also on two antibiotics and getting worse every day. by that Saturday I knew I needed to be in the hospital. The most amazing specimens of manhood carried me down the stairs and into the ambulance. Even through the horrible pain I was in that was not lost on me. I spent three nights in the hospital and was on several antibiotics. IV and pic line. I was stuck with needles so many times and they took so much blood. The verdict was cellulitis. I heard that kidney stones are the most painful thing to go through. I do strongly disagree! I came back home feeling no better. Still not able to walk or do anything for myself. Just happy to no longer be in a hospital bed. There was no improvement and I lay in my bed hour after hour and day after day feeling as though I was not going to live through this. I had another appointment with my doctor and she put me on yet another antibiotic. She said that the only thing I had not been covered for was staph and MRSA. Three days later I finally felt as though I would survive! I was on that antibiotic for 17 days. And I oh so slowly improved. I went from not being able to do anything for myself, to using a walker and wheelchair to being able to shuffle along without the walkers. I scooted down the stairs on my bottom and crawled up them on my knees. I was determined to spend as little time as possible in my room! I needed to be involved in life again! Doing something, anything for Liam! That was the hardest part. For two weeks I did nothing for him...I barely saw him. So, that is a quick look at what I went through and now I want to spend some time on the amazing people that made this a little less stressful for Craig and Liam.
It started on Monday, the 3rd of August. But Wednesday I was not able to walk. I called Jean, the woman who leads the Bible study I am in on Tuesday nights. I asked her if she could set up a few meals for us because in my mind I saw Craig and Liam eating at McDonalds every day. Within hours we had two huge Costco boxes full of food in the kitchen. Craig took a picture so I could see it. Ladies from my Bible study started knocking on the door with casserole dishes. A few days later another box of Costco food came. Craig said that there was no where left to put anything! What a blessing! That was one less thing he had to worry about while he cared for all my needs plus Liam. The Monday evening when I went to the ER we called friends who dropped everything to come and pick up Liam. Thank you so much Rich and Melanie! The night I knew I had to have the ambulance come and get me another friend took Liam and kept him overnight...thank you so much Susan! And not only did Susan do that but when it was clear that I was not going to be able to care for my garden, she came every other day to water it! What a blessing!!! The Chlanda family from my church stepped in and kept Liam during the time I was in the hospital. Kristina, also from my church picked Liam up one of the days he was at the Chlanda's and brought him to the hospital to visit me! She also took him for a day of play with her girls! Thank you so much! I got a few visitors during this time. Auntie Pam came. What a nice surprise that was. She also sent me a bouquet of flowers. They were gorgeous and brightened my room up for two weeks! Susan and Jean visited. My friend Donaca brought me homemade broth and soup which hit the spot in my ailing body. She also took Liam for an afternoon of fun with her kids...thank you so much Donaca! And Auntie Pam picked up Liam one morning and whisked him off to the fair! A day of just her and him. And I understand that for all but the quilt show, Liam was totally in control and completely and utterly spoiled! Thank you so much Pam!! And I should also mention that Jean took a stack of my dresses and ironed them for me! Thank you again so much! My mom and step dad came while I was in the hospital and then my mom and sister cleaned my house later that day! And then there was my sister Annette. Though our relationship has been growing and getting so wonderful in the last several months, she went above and beyond anything I could have ever imagined she would do. She not only took time out of her days to visit me twice in the hospital...but she came once a week and cleaned my house! She also helped water on days that Susan wasn't here. She harvested anything that was ready and took it back to her place to can it up for me! I haven't counted, but I have two large totes and several boxes full of green beans and tomatoes that she spent hours over a hot canner, canning just for me! My garden would have shriveled up and gone to not had the wonderful people in my life not kept it going for me! And then of course there is Craig and Liam. Thanks to FMLA and his accrued leave time, Craig was able to take off the entire month of August to be with me. And it was not easy. I needed everything done for me. And if you know me at all you know I am a very independent person. But what I was able to do for myself was so minimal. Craig was wonderful. And Liam helped also. Craig gave me a handle that I would knock on the floor if I needed anything. We worked out a system...three knocks would be for Liam and four for Craig. Liam would come running if he heard three knocks and freshen my water or bring me something that I needed. And when I started knocking he would start counting....if it went to four he would say "daddy, its for you."
Craig got a couple breaks during this time. Tori Chlanda came over one day to babysit Liam and me so Craig could get out for a while. Annette and Jacqueline stayed longer than normal one day so he could have a break.
We were just so blessed by so much help and love from the people in our life! And even if your name isn't mentioned here, know that we appreciated so much what you did for us!
So where are we now you may ask? Craig is back to work. He had to go back to de-stress! And I am up and walking again. Though when we go shopping or anything that will require walking or standing I use a wheelchair. I am back to cleaning the house and working in the garden, though much slower. I tire easily and though it used to take me less than three hours to clean the house it now takes three days. I have done two canners full of tomatoes but paid the price with increased pain and swelling in my left foot. I am able to ride my bike so Liam and I have been taking daily bike rides for exercise. I am having a lot of back and hip pain from favoring my left side and there is a chiropractor appointment in the near future. But I have to say the strangest change I have noticed is that my body is not regulating temperatures like it used to. I will be in a 75 degree house and sitting under a blanket! Mid seventies outside is sweater weather! I just feel chilled to my bones so much of the time now. And if I am not cold I am hot. Very hot! There is no happy median now. At my last appointment my doctor said that I had a very serious infection and it will take quite a while to fully recover from it. She wasn't kidding.
So, I think I have covered just about everything. The only thing left is a Liamism....You would think in two months I would have a lot to choose from. But sadly...as the little bugger approaches six years old, the cute little sayings just get fewer and further between. But I did hear something cute last week. He was sitting on the floor with daddy building with lego's. "Daddy, you know, I'm not that good building lego's, but I am a master builder." Nothing like having confidence!
I have a thousand pictures on the cameras and several blog posts to catch you up on other happenings. And since I have muddled through this post I think I am up for the challenge:) And of course, someone here has a birthday coming up in a couple days! Another fun post! So check back soon!
I had planned on getting on a while ago but kept forgetting to ask Craig to get the pictures off the cameras. So this will be an entry with no family shots. So I guess all I can do is talk about myself!
Two months ago today I very suddenly became sick. Many of you know the whole story. I ended up at the ER with a fever of 103.9 and pain throughout my body. During the week I went to two doctor appointments and lost my ability to walk. I was also on two antibiotics and getting worse every day. by that Saturday I knew I needed to be in the hospital. The most amazing specimens of manhood carried me down the stairs and into the ambulance. Even through the horrible pain I was in that was not lost on me. I spent three nights in the hospital and was on several antibiotics. IV and pic line. I was stuck with needles so many times and they took so much blood. The verdict was cellulitis. I heard that kidney stones are the most painful thing to go through. I do strongly disagree! I came back home feeling no better. Still not able to walk or do anything for myself. Just happy to no longer be in a hospital bed. There was no improvement and I lay in my bed hour after hour and day after day feeling as though I was not going to live through this. I had another appointment with my doctor and she put me on yet another antibiotic. She said that the only thing I had not been covered for was staph and MRSA. Three days later I finally felt as though I would survive! I was on that antibiotic for 17 days. And I oh so slowly improved. I went from not being able to do anything for myself, to using a walker and wheelchair to being able to shuffle along without the walkers. I scooted down the stairs on my bottom and crawled up them on my knees. I was determined to spend as little time as possible in my room! I needed to be involved in life again! Doing something, anything for Liam! That was the hardest part. For two weeks I did nothing for him...I barely saw him. So, that is a quick look at what I went through and now I want to spend some time on the amazing people that made this a little less stressful for Craig and Liam.
It started on Monday, the 3rd of August. But Wednesday I was not able to walk. I called Jean, the woman who leads the Bible study I am in on Tuesday nights. I asked her if she could set up a few meals for us because in my mind I saw Craig and Liam eating at McDonalds every day. Within hours we had two huge Costco boxes full of food in the kitchen. Craig took a picture so I could see it. Ladies from my Bible study started knocking on the door with casserole dishes. A few days later another box of Costco food came. Craig said that there was no where left to put anything! What a blessing! That was one less thing he had to worry about while he cared for all my needs plus Liam. The Monday evening when I went to the ER we called friends who dropped everything to come and pick up Liam. Thank you so much Rich and Melanie! The night I knew I had to have the ambulance come and get me another friend took Liam and kept him overnight...thank you so much Susan! And not only did Susan do that but when it was clear that I was not going to be able to care for my garden, she came every other day to water it! What a blessing!!! The Chlanda family from my church stepped in and kept Liam during the time I was in the hospital. Kristina, also from my church picked Liam up one of the days he was at the Chlanda's and brought him to the hospital to visit me! She also took him for a day of play with her girls! Thank you so much! I got a few visitors during this time. Auntie Pam came. What a nice surprise that was. She also sent me a bouquet of flowers. They were gorgeous and brightened my room up for two weeks! Susan and Jean visited. My friend Donaca brought me homemade broth and soup which hit the spot in my ailing body. She also took Liam for an afternoon of fun with her kids...thank you so much Donaca! And Auntie Pam picked up Liam one morning and whisked him off to the fair! A day of just her and him. And I understand that for all but the quilt show, Liam was totally in control and completely and utterly spoiled! Thank you so much Pam!! And I should also mention that Jean took a stack of my dresses and ironed them for me! Thank you again so much! My mom and step dad came while I was in the hospital and then my mom and sister cleaned my house later that day! And then there was my sister Annette. Though our relationship has been growing and getting so wonderful in the last several months, she went above and beyond anything I could have ever imagined she would do. She not only took time out of her days to visit me twice in the hospital...but she came once a week and cleaned my house! She also helped water on days that Susan wasn't here. She harvested anything that was ready and took it back to her place to can it up for me! I haven't counted, but I have two large totes and several boxes full of green beans and tomatoes that she spent hours over a hot canner, canning just for me! My garden would have shriveled up and gone to not had the wonderful people in my life not kept it going for me! And then of course there is Craig and Liam. Thanks to FMLA and his accrued leave time, Craig was able to take off the entire month of August to be with me. And it was not easy. I needed everything done for me. And if you know me at all you know I am a very independent person. But what I was able to do for myself was so minimal. Craig was wonderful. And Liam helped also. Craig gave me a handle that I would knock on the floor if I needed anything. We worked out a system...three knocks would be for Liam and four for Craig. Liam would come running if he heard three knocks and freshen my water or bring me something that I needed. And when I started knocking he would start counting....if it went to four he would say "daddy, its for you."
Craig got a couple breaks during this time. Tori Chlanda came over one day to babysit Liam and me so Craig could get out for a while. Annette and Jacqueline stayed longer than normal one day so he could have a break.
We were just so blessed by so much help and love from the people in our life! And even if your name isn't mentioned here, know that we appreciated so much what you did for us!
So where are we now you may ask? Craig is back to work. He had to go back to de-stress! And I am up and walking again. Though when we go shopping or anything that will require walking or standing I use a wheelchair. I am back to cleaning the house and working in the garden, though much slower. I tire easily and though it used to take me less than three hours to clean the house it now takes three days. I have done two canners full of tomatoes but paid the price with increased pain and swelling in my left foot. I am able to ride my bike so Liam and I have been taking daily bike rides for exercise. I am having a lot of back and hip pain from favoring my left side and there is a chiropractor appointment in the near future. But I have to say the strangest change I have noticed is that my body is not regulating temperatures like it used to. I will be in a 75 degree house and sitting under a blanket! Mid seventies outside is sweater weather! I just feel chilled to my bones so much of the time now. And if I am not cold I am hot. Very hot! There is no happy median now. At my last appointment my doctor said that I had a very serious infection and it will take quite a while to fully recover from it. She wasn't kidding.
So, I think I have covered just about everything. The only thing left is a Liamism....You would think in two months I would have a lot to choose from. But sadly...as the little bugger approaches six years old, the cute little sayings just get fewer and further between. But I did hear something cute last week. He was sitting on the floor with daddy building with lego's. "Daddy, you know, I'm not that good building lego's, but I am a master builder." Nothing like having confidence!
I have a thousand pictures on the cameras and several blog posts to catch you up on other happenings. And since I have muddled through this post I think I am up for the challenge:) And of course, someone here has a birthday coming up in a couple days! Another fun post! So check back soon!