On the Same Calendar?

I have been catching up on people's blogs and I decided what my recent blogging problem is. I don't have any cute babies to take pictures of, show off and talk about. There is hope though. If all goes according to schedule, in less than a month I will have a grandson to feature in my thus far baby deprived blog. However, I'm not sure if this baby is familiar with the word schedule yet. Today the daughter had one of her now weekly appointments with her doctor. He was kind enough to inform her that there was very little possibility of this not so little boy arriving early. In fact, there was no sign that delivery was anywhere close. His comment to her was "I wonder if this baby is on the same calendar as we are?" That observation was fine until he added "2009 that is.". The good thing is that the daughter wasn't even offended by his statement. I'm glad to know that she's not desperate to be "un-pregnant" yet, especially if this child is planning on taking his own sweet time. I do hope though that he decides to show up before the new year arrives and I'm pretty sure the daughter does too.

Today I am thankful

for a relatively enjoyable telephone repair experience. This morning our house phone kept ringing but it would either disconnect when we picked it up or stop ringing after the first ring. I tried calling it with my cell phone and even though the screen on the home phone said it was ringing there was no sound. On the cell phone it just rang and rang. I picked the cordless up and it had a dial tone, but when I tried to dial out it would immediately connect with some ongoing conversation in Spanish. I called Qwest, answered the automated questions and then pushed option 3 to speak to a representative. In less than 60 seconds I was connected to "Howard out of Salt Lake" who kindly, courteously, quickly (and in perfect Utah English) determined what was causing my problem and scheduled me for a repair for later this very same day. Howard and I also had a bonding moment when it came to light that his wife and I have the exact same first and last name, even spelled the way I spell it. It wasn't until the end of our conversation that I realized I had been speaking with Howard Johnson. Apparently the motel business isn't doing too well and he has picked up a second job with the phone company. I am happy to say that the telephone is once again functioning properly!
that my daughter is the one who is pregnant in Arizona in September.
for hand sanitizer. I have a little hospital germ phobia after our enrichment class on the Swine Flu last night.

One year ago today - Cemetery Thoughts, The Fruits of Fall

Insignificant Flaxing on the Left

This was the message I received from my doctor's office today. Would anyone like to interpret it for me??

Power Restored

Today after the ENT appointment
the son and I went to the DMV
to get him another permit.
We tried out a different DMV
than we usually frequent
since this one on Greenfield Road in Mesa
was very close to the doctor's office.
Although the lines didn't seem
to move any faster at this location
than any of the others I have visited
the people did seem to be competent
and even somewhat friendly and helpful.

The small one only missed one question
on his test and is now the proud owner
of his 3rd learner's permit.
Hopefully someday he'll score as well
on his school exams
and will actually get to possess
a full fledged Driver's License.

As the boy walked out to the van
with the keys in his hand
and the permit in his wallet
he exclaimed, "I feel so powerful."
I'm glad that being in the driver's seat
can do that for him.

Most Likely Not the Last Time

So, after 2 hours at urgent care,
2 hours getting an x-ray,
2 hours trying to find
an ear, nose and throat specialist
that could fit us into their schedule within a week,
an hour filling out paper work
and then cancelling
the no longer necessary appointment
with the ENT specialist we found
since the urgent care doctor
got an appointment for us
with the specialist he recommended
who apparently was no longer
totally booked for the month,
and 2 hours visiting the ENT specialist
the final decision on the boy's nose is -

Yes, it is fractured in two places.

However, chances are good
that it could very possibly happen again
before this child reaches adulthood.

The recommendation is to do nothing.

Hmm... I'm pretty sure that's what
I suggested the night it happened.

I guess I'm glad to know for sure
that no necessary breathing apparatus
has been damaged
and that I am not just being
a cheap, neglectful mother
intent on ruining my son's chances
of ever finding a wife
due to his hideously deformed nose.

Oh, and the souvenir x-rays seem to show
a good sized brain in this boy's head
so maybe that,
in of its self,
was worth the time, money and effort spent.

Here is the nose before the break.


and here it is after


It does look a little different,
but rugged is a good look for men,
isn't it?
Perhaps if I teach him to smile
he'll still have a chance of finding a wife.

Colonoscopy Prep

Today I am getting ready for my Colonoscopy tomorrow. For those of you who have "been there, done that" you know what I mean. For those of you who haven't, be grateful that this is not a descriptive post. Overall I would have to say it hasn't been as bad as I expected it to be. My only thought is that it might be more enjoyable to drink 2 liters of frigid medicine, 8 oz at a time every 10 minutes, if it were during the hot summer and I was actually thirsty. I am freezing and I am very tired of drinking!

Today I am grateful that

there were only 5 kids in nursery.
I have lots of blankets.
this procedure is only a screening and that I'm not too worried about what they'll find.

Puzzling Trips to the Doctor

My mom doesn't look forward to her daily trips to Provo for her cancer treatments, but I actually have a hard time not getting a little bit excited. The radiation waiting room has a puzzle set up between the rows of chairs and I quite enjoy the time I spend there. The first day was a long visit and I worked for quite a while on a puzzle with lots and lots of snowmen on it. It was close to being finished and all that was left were the harder pieces, but I was able to fill in quite a few holes. The next day I was looking forward to working on it again, but it was gone and a new one was in it's place. This was a Charles Wysocki Winter Scene with houses and people. It was just barely started which made me happy because I knew I would get a chance to work on it for a few days.
I am not much of a border person. I am happy to let someone else work on the border while I focus on the easier parts of the puzzle. I like to work on places where there is a distinct difference in color and the buildings on this puzzle were just up my alley.
I didn't see too many other people who had an interest in the puzzles while I was there. The first day there was a man working on it when I got there. He told me he has to do one piece every time he came and then he could sit down and read his book. He was looking for one specific piece, with a unique shape, and it took him awhile to find it and then he was content to stop. Stop?! I even have a hard time stopping when my mom comes out, ready to leave. One day a lady came in and asked the receptionist at the counter if she could please work on the puzzle. Her husband was waiting for an appointment in a different office, but their office was boring and she'd rather wait in here. We had fun handing each other pieces for the part of the puzzle each of us were working on. Her husband came to look for her at one point and she said "I'll be right here." He asked if she wanted to go into the appointment with him and she said, "No, I'll be fine right here." I don't know if that was the answer that he wanted to hear, but he didn't seem to be too surprised by it.
One day while I was plugging away on the puzzle a woman approached me and asked me if I could do her a favor. They were making a brochure for the medical building and they needed some subjects to be in it. I tore myself away from the puzzle long enough to sign a wavier and get taken on a fun ride in and out and in and out and in and out of the sliding doors to the parking lot in a wheelchair carrying on a pretend conversation with the pretend employee who was pushing me. It was my one moment of fame and I'll never even know if I made the brochure or not. The photographer told me I did such a good job he was going to make a poster and put me smack dab in the middle. I think I'd rather be working on "my" puzzle than plastered on a poster.


It's fun every day to walk up to the puzzle and see what has been accomplished while I was gone. I wonder about those other puzzlers who come each day and put pieces into this community puzzle. Who are they waiting for? What kind of cancer is their family member or friend fighting against? How many puzzles will they work on before they stop coming? I was a little sad as I left the waiting room today. I won't be back to work on the puzzle anymore. I wonder when this one will be finished and what the next one will look like and who will come to take my place?

The Waiting Game

Today my mom had her surgery. She got up early and was ready to go by 8:00 AM and then we had to come up with something to do until it was time to drive across the street to the hospital for her 10:30 scheduled arrival time. She couldn't even use up some time eating breakfast since she had to fast. Just when we were getting tired of staring at each other my brother and my sister-in-law (my other brother's wife) arrived to give us someone new to look at. They had decided they wanted to hear what the doctor had to say and they also didn't want me to be waiting all alone. I appreciated their support and I'm sure mom did too.

When we arrived at the hospital they went to the waiting area and I stayed with mom to get all the paperwork filled out and the last minute tests conducted. Then we were escorted back to a curtained off cubicle and a reclining hospital chair to wait for it to be mom's turn. We waited and waited and waited. We talked about everything we could think of to talk about. We analyzed the interior decorating. We were fans of the clouds painted on the florescent light covers, but weren't at all sure that the fire engine red outlet covers went with the color scheme. We tried to decide if they glowed if the power went out, but then we decided it really wasn't important to know where the outlets were if you didn't have any electricity. We discussed the merits of hospital gowns and fuzzy socks. We tried to guess how much a hospital gown designer gets paid. I read the Outdoor Life magazine and learned that the life span of a frog can be as long as 39 years. Finally my mom's doctor and the oncologist who was assisting him dropped in to explain what they were going to do and to tell her the operating room was almost ready and then we waited some more. About noon they finally wheeled my mom to surgery and I went to the waiting room to wait some more.

Waiting made us all hungry so we decided to visit the hospital cafeteria for lunch. We all had turkey and I had a baked potato with mine. It was actually very good hospital food. Then we went back to wait a while longer. The doctor came out about 2:30 to tell us that the surgery and had gone well and what they had done and what to expect. He showed us with his hands the size of the patch of skin and tissue they had removed. It was about the size of a checkbook box. I'm not sure where they found that much flesh to cut out. He said they would keep mom until she was alert and then they would move her to her room on the 2nd floor. He told us to go upstairs in about an hour so we waited some more in the waiting room and then we headed for the elevator. The sign in the elevator said that the 2nd floor was Labor and Delivery and we weren't sure that was where my mom was really going to show up, but we got off and asked the nurses and they assured us that we were in the right place. They directed us to her room and we waited some more. About 4:00 my mom arrived in her room and we spent the next couple of hours listening to the alarms go off on her monitor while they tried to get her oxygen level and blood pressure stabilized and she tried to get comfortable with her entire body tied up to various machines and tubes.

My hand holders left about 6:30 or 7:00 and I went and bought my mom her fresh raspberry shake (which was her reward for being a good girl all day). We are grateful that our family has strong stomachs and don't throw up following surgery. The nurse told her she could have the shake once we were sure she could hold down food and she was anxious to get it after her not so delicious dinner of beef broth, herbal tea, water and a protein juice drink.

It was a long day of waiting but things seemed to go well and hopefully the problem is taken care of. Now we just have to wait for the report on the lymph nodes. More waiting.

Today I am thankful for

skilled doctors who can remove cancer from our bodies.
a brother and sister-in-law to keep me company and buy me lunch.
other people's opinionated kids who remind me that mine are normal.

Toe Surgery

My youngest son apparently inherited his father's toes and he suffers with ingrown toenails. In the Fall he had surgery on one of his big toes and today he had surgery on the other one. He went a lot more happily to this appointment, knowing what to expect. He says the only part that hurt was the numbing shot. He really likes to watch his toe get all swollen as the solution seeps into it though. I watched both of the removals and this one definitely was harder for me to watch. I don't know why, but it made me SICK! Hopefully this is our last trip to the foot doctor with him for a while. I thought the paper tray covers they had were pretty entertaining though.


The first surgery took place on a Friday during marching band season and being the mean mom that I am I made him attend the football game that night. I did get him excused from marching in the show, but he still had to play in the stands. His toe was still numb, so I didn't think it was a great excuse to not play and he wanted to go to watch the game. The hardest thing was finding something he could wear on his foot. Can you believe that I couldn't find a store that sells flip flops in October in Arizona? We finally bought some pedicure slippers and he wore that on the bad foot. At least this time he already owned a variety of flip flops - in assorted colors even.

Glasses

For about 3 months my 15-year-old had been complaining that he couldn't see and needed me to get him an eye appointment. I had been putting my eye check up off, so I finally decided to make us both appointments. The doctor told my son he needed glasses and we found some that he was happy with. He was excited to wear them and show them off for a few days. When it was time for him to go to the beach he didn't want to take them and lose them so I told him it was fine to leave them home. When he got back he kept forgetting to put them on, accidentally at first and then not so accidentally. Today when I asked him why he wasn't wearing them he replied "I'm not wearing glasses anymore. I can see ok without them." I asked him why he bugged me for 3 months to get him a checkup? "Well, it certainly wasn't to get glasses. I just wanted to know if I could see or not." The thought patterns of teenagers amaze me sometimes.