OK- before we start this story, we should do a little background here.
My sister Cindy, was the oldest in the family. Cindy was the little princess and grew to love being the center of attention. As each new child was born, Cindy got huffier and huffier because I think that in her mind, she should have been an only child. If she could have figured out a way to kill us all off without getting caught and/or spoiling her angelic reputation, she would have done so....without hesitation.... As it was, she tortured us unmercifully and we were ALL very happy when she went away to college. (Our nickname for her was "Snydley Whiplash-like in the cartoon. You know- The guy who was always torturing Nell and Underdog had to save her?)
She never returned to the family nest from school, but got married to Joe Martin Jr. of West Bend. ( I have to interject here, that she was absolutely livid with Mom as her wedding day approached because...GASP! Mom was PREGNANT with Phrog! ) We never could figure out what was up with that, because Jody was (and still is) the quintessential redneck. But, whatever, we were just glad she did not come back to torture us anymore.
She and Joe moved to a little farm in Neno and she soon became pregnant with her first born, Jennifer. Fast forward...they have 3 more children, Scott, Jessie and Patrick. Cindy still thinks that the world revolves around her and we are pressed into service as babysitters- sometimes for a week at a time- for FREE- at the drop of a hat. It would make no difference if you had plans to do something. If Cindy swooped in and you were there and she needed a baby sitter- you were it! Sometimes she just dropped the kids at our house and sometimes we were taken up to their house in Lomira. And I am not kidding- it could be for 3 days...5 days....a week. Who knows. Whenever they came back. And if the kids were not at our house, they got dropped off at Joe's parents house- Nonny and Poppy in West Bend. Cindy did not like leaving the kids at Nonny and Poppies because they "Spoiled "them and did not follow her directives. However, it did not stop them from dropping the kids at the free baby sitting service.
As the years passed, we saw less of Cindy's kids- mostly because we all grew up and weren't home much. It took me many, many years to really understand Cindy. She was diagnosed with cancer and operated on and was doing fine. Then it came back and spread to her brain, so Jenny had her move into her house and asked all of us to help spell her because Cindy could not be left alone- not that she was helpless and bedridden, but she would forget she was sick and take off her oxygen or go wander around. Not good. I really got to know her pretty well at that point and came to appreciate her for who she was now- not as she was when I was 8. So, when she passed away, I also became a lot closer to her daughters Jenny and Jessie.
Jenny has (through proximity and the fact that she jumps in and does what is needed) been taking care of Nonny and Poppy as they have been getting older. Non has had pretty severe dementia and hasn't known anyone for quite some time , so they had to put her in an Alzheimer's unit . That left Poppy at home alone and he was getting more and more cantankerous- he would call the police on them when they would stop to check on him. He called the bank and told them to revoke Jenny's ability to manage their accounts (that thrilled Jen no end). He would drive his car- which was a danger and he was a danger behind the wheel! (they finally took something off of it so it wouldn't run) And then, he started to not take care of himself and suffice it to say, they had to have him hospitalized to take care of severe infections. When they finally released him, the Dr. said he could go home only if someone checks on him several times a day. Joe Jr. semi-moved into the house and stayed over several nights a week and one night, Poppy lured Joe outside-I can't remember the reason- but, Joe went outside without shoes or jacket and Poppy locked him out. Fortunately Joe had his cell phone attached to his belt. But, that was it. He was in the nursing home faster than you could spit after that. They just didn't know what he would do next because (they diagnosed him finally) he also has dementia.
So, They have both been over at Cedar Lake Home and Nonny has been having a whole bunch of medical issues. Poppy has been doing pretty good for the condition he is in. The nurses called on Monday last week and expressed their concern over a medical issue for Non. On Tuesday, Jen gets a call-"You should come to the home, Joe probably won't make it through the night."
Jen says-"Do you mean Peggy?"
"No-Joe. Is failing fast. We think he had a heart attack."
So, off they go to the nursing home and sure as shoot- Joe dies 3 hours later.
The funeral was Saturday. It was a nice funeral- oh, and by the way, Larry is related to Peggy, so, he is more of a relative than I am. Larry got to visit with a bunch of people and look at old pictures. The best part was the bag piper during the service.
Then Sunday morning at 5:00 am the phone rings- Nona is failing fast, you better get here. And she passed away a couple of hours later.
So, Peggy and Joe are together again. I suppose it was hard to be apart after 66 years.
As a little aside- Jenny called to say that Papa Joe wanted a whole 9 yards funeral- casket, visitation and burial and Joe and Tom said "Let's use Schmidt's". So, when Jen told me that, I said..."HELLO??? Remember Uncle Andy's funeral??? The orange, pumpkin-head, alien look?( He really looked awful, but it kind of provided a little comic relief for us during his funeral)
Jen, do you not remember- Vicki (Andy's wife of 2 days- he died on their honeymoon) had Schmidt's do his funeral!"
"NOOOOO!!! Oh Yikes!" So she rushed down to the funeral home and told them that there would be no orange makeup and Poppy better not look like an alien!-
They said that they have a new make-up person. Well, thank god! And Joe did look OK- I mean, for being dead and all.
This funeral is Wednesday and Larry is thrilled to be going to another funeral. Not that he is happy that Peggy is dead, but, he loves going to funerals to talk to people he doesn't see too often. Peggy relatives from California are flying in. Not Doris (their Mom) , but the daughters- we haven't seen them in over 20 years! We always had a lot of fun when our families got together, so it will be nice to see them.
And just for the record-the snow is almost gone! YAY!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Larry Turned 82-WOW!
Well, we had an exciting week- more snow.......sigh...... on Good Friday, no less- 15 inches of snow. Needless to say, it kind of put a kabash on our kite flying and baseball playing Easter Sunday.
However, my family, is not to be denied outside time, so they all just had a HUGE snowball fight. It was very entertaining to watch- how the loyalties were divided and how they would switch as the battle progressed. And no one had on boots or gloves-that is tough Wisconsin natives for you! Katie and Jessie were both out there in their high heeled dress boots- not real practical for running from a bombardment of snowballs and getting chased across the lawn. Very funny! I forgot to take pictures, of course. And poor Elvis had to tinkle in the midst of the madness, so I took him out on the porch and called for a truce while he peed. RIGHT! NOT!!! They kept bombarding us as he tried to go, so he was very happy to see everyone leave later. Finally, he could tinkle in peace!
It was Larry's 82 birthday yesterday. Everyone sang happy birthday on Sunday and we had cake then too, so I didn't really do anything special for him Monday- I just let him sleep more than he normally would. He appreciated it.
We are almost at the end of the antibiotics- he has 3 more to take every other day. But, he seems to be feeling better. I am really intending that it is gone. We need to move on! And when spring finally gets here and he can sit outside again, he will definitely fell way better! Unfortunately, it feels as if spring will never get here! It has been a long, long winter.
I also am finally almost completely over the cold/cough thing that I had going on. That was nasty! Many people that I have talked to have either had it before or have it now. I am just glad that I am over it. Thank you very much. I am also very grateful that Larry never got it.
We went to Columbus last weekend to see what they did to the town so that they could film the new Johnny Depp movie about Al Capone. Really interesting! Larry loved it! John and Mickey picked us up and we drove the scenic (Well, like there is any other way BUT scenic) route there. Found parking and got Larry out and pushed him around. It was kind of hard with him in the wheelchair because everything was roped off, so you couldn't just walk straight to it. You had to turn around and go around the block one way to see one side of the street, etc. It was worth it because we saw them painting store fronts and changing awnings and signs. They had a bunch of fake cobblestone down on the street and many store windows were filled with 1930 era stuff. I had often wondered how they use towns in movies, but make them look so different. Now I know.
We did not see Johnny Depp, but, that wasn't one of our goals anyhow- although Mickey would have fallen over if we had seen him!
I am hoping that it will be warm enough to walk this week. Sharon and I walked several times last week before all the new snow. Felt good to get outside and really walk! We will see....it is supposed to get to 50 degrees today- I do not think it has gotten even near that.
This week is relatively calm for us- April we have tons of appointments- May we have tons of appointments. We are having his cataracts done in May and June- so that adds a whole bunch of appointments right there. And...rummaging should be starting any time now! YAY!!!
However, my family, is not to be denied outside time, so they all just had a HUGE snowball fight. It was very entertaining to watch- how the loyalties were divided and how they would switch as the battle progressed. And no one had on boots or gloves-that is tough Wisconsin natives for you! Katie and Jessie were both out there in their high heeled dress boots- not real practical for running from a bombardment of snowballs and getting chased across the lawn. Very funny! I forgot to take pictures, of course. And poor Elvis had to tinkle in the midst of the madness, so I took him out on the porch and called for a truce while he peed. RIGHT! NOT!!! They kept bombarding us as he tried to go, so he was very happy to see everyone leave later. Finally, he could tinkle in peace!
It was Larry's 82 birthday yesterday. Everyone sang happy birthday on Sunday and we had cake then too, so I didn't really do anything special for him Monday- I just let him sleep more than he normally would. He appreciated it.
We are almost at the end of the antibiotics- he has 3 more to take every other day. But, he seems to be feeling better. I am really intending that it is gone. We need to move on! And when spring finally gets here and he can sit outside again, he will definitely fell way better! Unfortunately, it feels as if spring will never get here! It has been a long, long winter.
I also am finally almost completely over the cold/cough thing that I had going on. That was nasty! Many people that I have talked to have either had it before or have it now. I am just glad that I am over it. Thank you very much. I am also very grateful that Larry never got it.
We went to Columbus last weekend to see what they did to the town so that they could film the new Johnny Depp movie about Al Capone. Really interesting! Larry loved it! John and Mickey picked us up and we drove the scenic (Well, like there is any other way BUT scenic) route there. Found parking and got Larry out and pushed him around. It was kind of hard with him in the wheelchair because everything was roped off, so you couldn't just walk straight to it. You had to turn around and go around the block one way to see one side of the street, etc. It was worth it because we saw them painting store fronts and changing awnings and signs. They had a bunch of fake cobblestone down on the street and many store windows were filled with 1930 era stuff. I had often wondered how they use towns in movies, but make them look so different. Now I know.
We did not see Johnny Depp, but, that wasn't one of our goals anyhow- although Mickey would have fallen over if we had seen him!
I am hoping that it will be warm enough to walk this week. Sharon and I walked several times last week before all the new snow. Felt good to get outside and really walk! We will see....it is supposed to get to 50 degrees today- I do not think it has gotten even near that.
This week is relatively calm for us- April we have tons of appointments- May we have tons of appointments. We are having his cataracts done in May and June- so that adds a whole bunch of appointments right there. And...rummaging should be starting any time now! YAY!!!
Friday, March 14, 2008
What a beautiful day!!! YAY!
Well, it seemed like it would never come. Warmer weather- the sun- no snow. Yet, here it is, March 14 and 58 degrees and sunny. The snow is slowly fading into the earth. I feel like sitting outside on a lawn chair, but, it is not quite warm enough for that. Still, it feels great to even be able to consider it!
We drove Biza down to the airport this afternoon so that she could fly back home. We were a couple of large bumps on logs while she was here this time because we were so sick! I do not remember being this sick for a very LONG time! But, it feels like everything is clearing out. I still have a bit of a cough, but compared to yesterday or the day before, it is nothing! I thought that I was going to turn inside out- that is how hard I was coughing. And I can't take a lot of over the counter cough meds because something in them does not agree with me and makes me feel like I am dieing-not fun- so, I just try to manage with the natural stuff that I have. We were doing the apple cider vinegar and honey and we tried the onions sauteed for 40 minutes with honey. Took lots of echinacea and lots of emergen-C and drank copious amounts of water. I drink a lot of water everyday anyhow, but I think that we drank 2 gallons the other day. That's a lot of water.
Larry seems to be doing OK through all of this. We tried not to cough on him and I kept spraying the air and surface sanitizer everywhere. He had dialysis today, so is down for the count for the rest of the afternoon.
My Dad's sister, Nettie passed away right before Biz got here, so we went to the funeral. Nettie and her 5 boys were frequent visitors when we were smaller, because Nettie's husband passed away when she was pregnant with her youngest. She raised those 5 boys all by herself, while working full time. She was quite a gal! And up until about 1 1/2 years ago-probably right before she turned 90- she was still living by herself and still doing her thing! Her son Dick moved in with her ( He is retired)when she started to have some more serious problems, and she got to live out her life in her home. He and I were on the same learning curve with the cooking of food. Salt restriction means -NO PACKAGED FOODS! You learn to cook creatively ,freehand- no boxes. I do cheat once in awhile with Larry because he goes to dialysis to take off the fluid, but Nettie really retained fluid if she had even a little bit of extra salt! Not fun for a good Kraut woman who likes a bratwurst and a beer now and then!
Her family had a 90th birthday party for her and she had a brat and a beer. The Dr. , kind of scolded her the next week and she told him "You only turn 90 once!" Last year on her 91st birthday, her sister brought her chocolate cake . She said-"Oh! It was so good!" Unfortunately, it was loaded with sodium and she puffed up! Sigh...no more chocolate cake. Now there is only one of my Dad's family left- the baby Collette. She looks pretty good for being 82ish!
Well, I feel like a slug, but I could do nothing all week because I had cotton candy between my ears. Kind of sad when you can't even focus on anything! I couldn't read a book...I had trouble following TV shows... Oh well, I am on the upswing ,so, I should probably get to work trying to get stuff up for sale. Have a sunny day!
We drove Biza down to the airport this afternoon so that she could fly back home. We were a couple of large bumps on logs while she was here this time because we were so sick! I do not remember being this sick for a very LONG time! But, it feels like everything is clearing out. I still have a bit of a cough, but compared to yesterday or the day before, it is nothing! I thought that I was going to turn inside out- that is how hard I was coughing. And I can't take a lot of over the counter cough meds because something in them does not agree with me and makes me feel like I am dieing-not fun- so, I just try to manage with the natural stuff that I have. We were doing the apple cider vinegar and honey and we tried the onions sauteed for 40 minutes with honey. Took lots of echinacea and lots of emergen-C and drank copious amounts of water. I drink a lot of water everyday anyhow, but I think that we drank 2 gallons the other day. That's a lot of water.
Larry seems to be doing OK through all of this. We tried not to cough on him and I kept spraying the air and surface sanitizer everywhere. He had dialysis today, so is down for the count for the rest of the afternoon.
My Dad's sister, Nettie passed away right before Biz got here, so we went to the funeral. Nettie and her 5 boys were frequent visitors when we were smaller, because Nettie's husband passed away when she was pregnant with her youngest. She raised those 5 boys all by herself, while working full time. She was quite a gal! And up until about 1 1/2 years ago-probably right before she turned 90- she was still living by herself and still doing her thing! Her son Dick moved in with her ( He is retired)when she started to have some more serious problems, and she got to live out her life in her home. He and I were on the same learning curve with the cooking of food. Salt restriction means -NO PACKAGED FOODS! You learn to cook creatively ,freehand- no boxes. I do cheat once in awhile with Larry because he goes to dialysis to take off the fluid, but Nettie really retained fluid if she had even a little bit of extra salt! Not fun for a good Kraut woman who likes a bratwurst and a beer now and then!
Her family had a 90th birthday party for her and she had a brat and a beer. The Dr. , kind of scolded her the next week and she told him "You only turn 90 once!" Last year on her 91st birthday, her sister brought her chocolate cake . She said-"Oh! It was so good!" Unfortunately, it was loaded with sodium and she puffed up! Sigh...no more chocolate cake. Now there is only one of my Dad's family left- the baby Collette. She looks pretty good for being 82ish!
Well, I feel like a slug, but I could do nothing all week because I had cotton candy between my ears. Kind of sad when you can't even focus on anything! I couldn't read a book...I had trouble following TV shows... Oh well, I am on the upswing ,so, I should probably get to work trying to get stuff up for sale. Have a sunny day!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
C-diff 101 or What I have learned About C-diff
First of all, let me just say that I really think that at this point I know more about treating c-diff than most of the doctors that I have talked to. The infectious diseases doctor confirmed- YES!!! You need a really good probiotic twice a day and she wanted Larry to have as much acidophelis yogurt as possible- up to 4 times a day. The tapering dose of antibiotics is important because it kills the flare-ups before they can get out of hand and it is easier to up the dose for a day or 2 to keep it from coming back, than it is to have to start all over again. It was nice to finally talk to someone who knew some of the things that I had read about online and didn't look at me like I was nuts asking about these different treatments. And Larry is feeling better. This is a good thing.
He survived the hospital stay- it was one of the worst ever-what the hell are they thinking at these places???? I wasn't going to say anything else, but I just wanted to say- They had Larry in isolation because of the c-diff. This means that you must gown up and put on gloves etc when you come into the room. So, they would come in and put him on the bedside commode and wipe his butt when he finished. Then they would help him back into bed and move stuff around-WITH THE DIRTY GLOVES ON! YUCK! Housekeeping did a terrible job on the room and they never once wiped down his hospital table. I was constantly getting anti bacterial wipes and wiping everything down! I think that it is totally ridiculous how lax they are with sanitary conditions. I can really see why they have so many problems in hospitals. It is a mess! I was glad to bring him home because I know that it is cleaner here then there!
Elizabeth is in town this week and she brought a lovely little bug with her- so she and I have been sicker than dogs since Saturday. Normally when she comes we have projects-like this time we were thinking of painting my bedroom. No.... we have been pretty much laying like sad little pandas doing Zip- Zero- Nada. I don't remember ever in my adult life coughing so hard and so much. Yikes!
Yesterday, it was finally kind of nice out, so we thought that we would take Larry for a ride. Into Milwaukee. There is a new restaurant that opened up that serves only grill cheese sandwiches and he has wanted to go find it for a few weeks. We headed down Pilgrim Rd- and I promptly blew through a stop-light (I did realize what I was doing and slammed on the brakes before I made it through) I then looked at Lar and Biz and announced- No Milwaukee today. Obviously my head is not quite there. We will get there one of these days.
He survived the hospital stay- it was one of the worst ever-what the hell are they thinking at these places???? I wasn't going to say anything else, but I just wanted to say- They had Larry in isolation because of the c-diff. This means that you must gown up and put on gloves etc when you come into the room. So, they would come in and put him on the bedside commode and wipe his butt when he finished. Then they would help him back into bed and move stuff around-WITH THE DIRTY GLOVES ON! YUCK! Housekeeping did a terrible job on the room and they never once wiped down his hospital table. I was constantly getting anti bacterial wipes and wiping everything down! I think that it is totally ridiculous how lax they are with sanitary conditions. I can really see why they have so many problems in hospitals. It is a mess! I was glad to bring him home because I know that it is cleaner here then there!
Elizabeth is in town this week and she brought a lovely little bug with her- so she and I have been sicker than dogs since Saturday. Normally when she comes we have projects-like this time we were thinking of painting my bedroom. No.... we have been pretty much laying like sad little pandas doing Zip- Zero- Nada. I don't remember ever in my adult life coughing so hard and so much. Yikes!
Yesterday, it was finally kind of nice out, so we thought that we would take Larry for a ride. Into Milwaukee. There is a new restaurant that opened up that serves only grill cheese sandwiches and he has wanted to go find it for a few weeks. We headed down Pilgrim Rd- and I promptly blew through a stop-light (I did realize what I was doing and slammed on the brakes before I made it through) I then looked at Lar and Biz and announced- No Milwaukee today. Obviously my head is not quite there. We will get there one of these days.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Well, It's Finally March,But Where is Spring??
We finally made it to March, which means that we are on the downhill side of winter. I know that I complained a lot.... I am not a huge winter fan, but, I do think that it was certainly a very pretty winter. With all the snow. All the time. And I can deal with the snow....it was just the seemingly never-ending cold! It snowed and then it would get cold...and then it would snow... and then get really cold.
Well, the end is in sight and daylight savings time is going to start this Sunday, which means that we will have the illusion of longer days!
Biza is also coming up this week. I am so glad. I can't tell you how nice it is to have someone else to be here and that can kind of take over some of the stuff to give me a little bit of a break.
It has also been a long winter with Larry's health. And-oh, that's right, I haven't said...he is back in the hospital with the c-diff. He was doing great. e took in a stool sample on the 22nd and it was good- no c-diff. He was feeling pretty good. Stronger, a little more of an appetite. We drove up to Fond du Lac to the Miracle Mile to get lottery tickets on the 24th and went to Culver's in Sussex and met Jim and Elaine for lunch on the 25th. All good. Feeling good. And then by Sunday night, he wasn't feeling so good. He was nauseous and couldn't eat. Then we watched the Oscars (BORING!!!But we always have to see the dresses and hope for at least one good speech) and he said-oh-oh! I have to go! So we rushed to the bathroom and at least he made it, but, I knew that it wasn't looking good. And then while he was on the toilet, he started the uncontrollable shivering (Again-not good), so when he was done, he says- just let me go to bed and we will see how I am in the morning.
I said-No....I think we better think about heading for the emergency room.
Please, can't we just wait and see if I feel better in a little while?
Alright.
Maybe if you got me a little ginger ale, it would help me feel better.
O.K. so off to the kitchen I go to get a glass of Ginger Ale, when I hear retching coming form the bedroom. Crap-he just threw up all over the place.
Now, I bring the ginger-ale and the thermometer in along with warm, damp wash cloth, etc to clean him up. He is shaking so hard that he can't keep the thermometer in- but it is reading over 99 so, we know that he has a temp.
I am sorry Lar- we have to go. I am not waiting until 3:00 am and have to call the rescue squad. So we got him cleaned up and into the van and off we went. This time, he was in a room by 5:00 am (11:15 pm to 5:00 seems about an average span, doesn't it?) They took a stool sample and ran all the other tests.
By 1:00pm on Monday, they knew that the c-diff was back, so we all have to wear the yellow isolation gowns again and they started him on Flagil. I told them that that would not work. But, they ignored me and sure as shoot, by Tuesday, he was pooping like a goose about 20 times during the day. Totally dehydrated (Yet-they had him on a severe fluid restriction). So, infectious diseases came in and started him on the 2 he was on before.
I will write more about that later because, right now, the sun is still out and I am meeting Sharon to walk.
Adios!
Well, the end is in sight and daylight savings time is going to start this Sunday, which means that we will have the illusion of longer days!
Biza is also coming up this week. I am so glad. I can't tell you how nice it is to have someone else to be here and that can kind of take over some of the stuff to give me a little bit of a break.
It has also been a long winter with Larry's health. And-oh, that's right, I haven't said...he is back in the hospital with the c-diff. He was doing great. e took in a stool sample on the 22nd and it was good- no c-diff. He was feeling pretty good. Stronger, a little more of an appetite. We drove up to Fond du Lac to the Miracle Mile to get lottery tickets on the 24th and went to Culver's in Sussex and met Jim and Elaine for lunch on the 25th. All good. Feeling good. And then by Sunday night, he wasn't feeling so good. He was nauseous and couldn't eat. Then we watched the Oscars (BORING!!!But we always have to see the dresses and hope for at least one good speech) and he said-oh-oh! I have to go! So we rushed to the bathroom and at least he made it, but, I knew that it wasn't looking good. And then while he was on the toilet, he started the uncontrollable shivering (Again-not good), so when he was done, he says- just let me go to bed and we will see how I am in the morning.
I said-No....I think we better think about heading for the emergency room.
Please, can't we just wait and see if I feel better in a little while?
Alright.
Maybe if you got me a little ginger ale, it would help me feel better.
O.K. so off to the kitchen I go to get a glass of Ginger Ale, when I hear retching coming form the bedroom. Crap-he just threw up all over the place.
Now, I bring the ginger-ale and the thermometer in along with warm, damp wash cloth, etc to clean him up. He is shaking so hard that he can't keep the thermometer in- but it is reading over 99 so, we know that he has a temp.
I am sorry Lar- we have to go. I am not waiting until 3:00 am and have to call the rescue squad. So we got him cleaned up and into the van and off we went. This time, he was in a room by 5:00 am (11:15 pm to 5:00 seems about an average span, doesn't it?) They took a stool sample and ran all the other tests.
By 1:00pm on Monday, they knew that the c-diff was back, so we all have to wear the yellow isolation gowns again and they started him on Flagil. I told them that that would not work. But, they ignored me and sure as shoot, by Tuesday, he was pooping like a goose about 20 times during the day. Totally dehydrated (Yet-they had him on a severe fluid restriction). So, infectious diseases came in and started him on the 2 he was on before.
I will write more about that later because, right now, the sun is still out and I am meeting Sharon to walk.
Adios!
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