On Tuesday, Dec. 8, Brandon drove home from work in an icy and snowy mix. As he exited the highway, he hit a patch of black ice and his brakes and steering wheel locked. As a result, he slid into an SUV and was forced off the road, as well as the SUV. Although their were large rocks on both sides of the exit, both cars steered past those.
We mourn the loss of our dear neighbor, Ron Pearce. He passed away this morning in his sleep in the care of hospice. He battled melanoma cancer for 4 years. He spent much of that time as a participant of new studies and drugs to treat the disease at MD Anderson in Houston. His wife is so proud of him for his efforts to further the cure and treatment of this deadly cancer.
Jessie woke up in the middle of the night with a 101 degree fever. Ibuprofen allowed her to sleep through the night. Today she is FEVER FREE. The mystery continues!
Brandon's good friend, Chris Davis, was playing basketball with our family at the rec center last night. We were having a fun game of HORSE and Chris was the winner. He twisted his knee the wrong way and went directly to the ground in major PAIN! You may think "So WHAT" however, there is more to the story!
Sunday, we enjoyed watching the girls gymnastics Olympic trials. What awesome feats those young girls perform under pressure. Also, Carson and Hunter are currently practicing everyday at 7 AM for their summer swim team. It's an EARLY summer start to our day and I LOVE when it rains and practice is canceled. Sleeping in never felt so good-except my body has finally accepted the fact that it will get up at 6:30 AM everyday. Thus, I am writing this blog at 6:30 AM.
On Monday, I awoke at 5:15 AM and said goodbye to Brad and Brandon as they headed off for a Colorado Adventure with their Scout Troop. After making sure Hunter and Carson were set for the day, (Carson attended Cub Camp), I took Jessie to Children's Mercy Hospital for her 7:30 AM appointment with a pediatric surgeon to remove a calcified cyst on the back of her right knee. This required that she be put to sleep. The surgery only lasted 1 hour and the recovery was 30 minutes. The discharge summary said I should expect Jessie to sleep the rest of the day and that calm, indoor activity could be resumed.
Last Wednesday, Brandon and members of his church youth group performed for their Talent Show. They sang to "Sweet Spirit" off the Sons of Provo sound track and made up a skit for the Priest Korum Komedy Troupe-PKKT! It was a RIOT and a must see! It maybe long, but if you are a RELATIVE, you must watch--a friend can simply skim through it.
Two weeks, after a particularly long bubble bath, Jessie continued to smell as if she'd gone #2! Another attempt was made to wash the awful odor off, yet it continued to linger long after towel drying Jessie, combing her hair and clothing her. I began to wonder if she had developed the worst case of "Babie's breath" imaginable, when a "light bulb" went off in my head! Rotten FOOD was the smell that was enveloping her tiny little body, particularly her NOSE! Brad was home and quickly did an "emergency exploratory" surgery in her nose and discovered that a pair of tweezers works quite well for such emergencies. A large piece of MEMORY FOAM was extracted from Jessie's nostril. At least she was "comfortable" with the extra mass in her nose. Come to think of it, Brad's pillow was missing a piece of foam for quite some time!
I had my second mammogram this week and boy am I grateful that I nursed 4 children and only have sagging skin to stretch out under the microscope! I'm sure as the years progress and my body sags more, the test will be increasingly less painful. No strange masses to report and I am free until next year.
Friday, Jan. 11 at 10 PM I started to have annoying pains in the center of my abdomen that lasted through the night. At 3 AM, I rolled my feverish 2-year-old off my head and consumed a bowl of honey nut cheerios, thinking that the pains I was enduring were hunger produced.
At 6 AM, my 16-year-old drove to his wrestling tournament with me sitting beside him, hunched over a barf bucket and a sick toddler strapped in her seat in the back. I proclaimed that I might need him to take me to the ER because of the unrelenting pain, but determined that he had worked hard to compete at the tournament and I did not want to prevent him from his matches. His anxiety rose as I pushed him from the car in to the High School and took over the driver's seat. I actually drove past the ER on my way home and contemplated stopping, but questioned what I would do with a sick child in the ER.
Brad arrived home from work at 6:30 AM and took over the care of the children while I determined to ride out the pain. At 11 AM, after a hot bath, ibuprofen, and a blessing, I said, "GET IN THE CAR AND TAKE ME TO THE ER--12 hours of pain was enough." The staff administered morphine, nausea medicine and a CT scan and by 5 PM, I had my diagnose-infected appendix. Within the hour, I was on the table, having the useless organ removed laproscopically. After 4 days of recovery, I am back to the daily routine of children's needs.
It just so happens that Carson turned 9 on this day! He spent the day with his grandparents and cousins and stated later that he had "the BEST birthday ever"! I like to think it was because of the TOWER OF CHOCOLATE" that he found in the morning for his gift. That was the ONLY gift he got all day as no one was in a mood to celebrate. Maybe he thought it was the best birthday because he did not have parents around to tell him to do Saturday chores.
Our future Eagle Scout began his project this week. It has been 15 degrees or below all week, and part of his project is collecting items in the neighborhood. He sent out 8 scouts in 8 degree weather to collect items. They were good sports about the project and loved the hot chocolate after!
After 3 days of being in my pajamas, I am back amongst the living. The flu bug struck Carson, my 9-year-old, and I pretty hard. We struggled with consciousness for a few days along with the fevers, chills and sniffles. Carson's pale skin was a dead give-away that he wasn't attending school after I sent him back for the FIRST day from WINTER break. I was soooo ready for all 3 of the four children to be academically challenged instead of electronically impaired!! All is now well and some of my energy is returning.
Brandon will participate in his second wrestling tournament Saturday. I will sit in the stands fearful of his life and my sanity! He turned 16 last Saturday and he played at the rec center with 8 friends and then was surprised by a bunch of girls at the house later in the evening.
Carson also has a birthday on Saturday, however, his party will be postponed until we have a free Saturday. Carson and Hunter are enjoying their hand-held electronic devices and hopefully will be entertained while supporting their brother at his tournament.
VALENTINE's DAY
