AS YOU EAT THE ELEPHANT, YOU GAIN ENERGY AND UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

We spend just one night in the house and I have to hold John down! 

First, he says he wants to have breakfast in the motorhome:-0  I veto.  


Next, he slips outdoors and removes a battery from our front loader:-(  


Then he wants to go get the new battery.  Okay, he can ride in the air conditioning.  We go, but I need to stop at the store on the way home........He wants to go shopping!  :-(  Nope babe, you need to sit in the car with the air conditioning.  (really helps the gas mileage and the ozone layer)


Now, what is a person to do?  Be thankful! That's what.  And I am.  I was thankful when I heard him on our exercise bike.  I was thankful as he put the groceries away.  I was thankful as he emptied the dishwasher.  All of his activities are increasing his strength and easing my work load.  


I AM thankful that we moved back into the house.  John has more energy to move about, not just to sit and read in the heat.  


Today is the Indianapolis 500.  People are crazy on the roads here in May!  Many get the "spirit" of the 500 and speed from light to light.  The cars are gunned so they will go vroom, vroom!  

We had planned to find a place in southern Indiana to stay for a few days.  We wanted to go far enough away that we could watch the race on our television, but with this heat, we would be stuck inside the rest of the the time.  Thank you very much, but no thank you! 


We are being plagued with raccoons!  We have at least one family in our big barn.  When I walk in there, it a cacophony of chatter up in the rafters.    


Then there is the smaller barn that is closer to the house.  I also hear a raccoon in there when I take Oliver and Olivia for their morning walk.  They make such a mess!  


Last winter, when John was not feeling up to par, he sat the live animal trap in the drive and I, not knowing drove over it.  Now, we have no trap and to be honest, I do not want to have to deal with traps and with dealing with disposal of the animal.  But I don't want the raccoons around either.  Maybe I can find a trapper?  


Raccoons are nocturnal, typically sleeping during the day and becoming active at night. This prevents many people from witnessing raccoons’ disruptive behaviors. These animals can knock over garbage cans, tear up your lawn, nest in your chimney, attics, or under your deck, and also ruin gardens. Raccoons can become a huge nuisance very quickly. Also the feces may carry parasites that can be transferred to humans and pets, sanitation is a must!


Moving right along, guess where John is as I write this?  He is outside installing the new battery!  What is a caretaker to do!!!!  At least it is cooler right now.  It is seventy-eight degrees heading to ninety-five.  Humidity is seventy-two!  Calgon, TAKE ME AWAY!


Thanks so much for stopping in.  God's blessings to you today!  

CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMP

John has been eating away at that elephant until yesterday when the heat and humidity hit.  It took all our energy and I noticed his breathing was more difficult.  

The temperature "only" went to eighty-eight today, but the humidity took its toll on both of us, especially John.  I decided that we had to move back into the house.  


After making numerous trips with out "stuff" and leaving more of the same in the motorhome, I announced that I am not going to keep moving us back and forth as the temperature and humidity rises and falls.  I think John is really disappointed, but I just can not keep moving all our stuff.  There is no need to be air conditioning two places just for the fun of living in the motorhome.  There will be plenty of motorhome living when the house sells and we begin our life of full timing.  

The "buyers/lookers"  countered our counter with another low ball offer.  They came up fifteen thousand, but were still twenty-five thousand short of our counter.  We countered again and they threw in the towel.  They did not have the money and wanted to try to get something they could not afford.  I hope they find something that will make them happy.  


In the meantime, I will be able to enjoy my new kitchen and all the hard work we did over the five months we worked on the house.  I do not call it our home.  Our home is out in the drive waiting for the call of the road!
We even had someone come and give it a bath and a shine.  


As you can tell, there is not much to report here.  Just want to keep our friends and family advised of our progress or the lack thereof.  


God bless you all, enjoy the holiday weekend and be safe out there.  

YA KNOW ABOUT THAT ELEPHANT?

It seems we are getting to the tough meat and this old pachyderm is one tough fellow to chew.  The beginning of the "meal" was tough and chewy.  The middle was so tender and the chewing went faster.  Now we are getting back into the tough regions, but we know this is the beginning of the end of our Elephant Diet.


I am sorry that I have not blogged sooner.  Since John left Kindred Long Term Acute Care Hospital, we have had days and days of follow up appointments with physicians and more physicians.  


Then there is the physical therapy three days a week the first week and now two days a week.  It seems we cannot make three days a week work with all the other appointments.


John is not cleared to drive, so I'm is personal taxi.  I wish I could find a taxi drivers or a chauffeur's hat.  I guess he will just have to do with me the way I am.  


As it stands, the Internal Medicine physician wants John back June 1. Dr. Shea, the cardiologist, the first of July.  The pulmonologist,  Dr. Lykens will see him in September, hopefully to release us to the road.  


After our visit to the pulmonologist , we took the people mover from Indiana University Hospital to Methodist Hospital to visit the Intensive Care Unit, John's home for five weeks. 


John wanted to thank the nursing staff for their care.  He made their day!  It was the least we could do.  


Friday, we were off to Camping World's Sale.  We came home with a Coleman Gas Grill.  John assembled it and hopefully, we will use it tomorrow evening.  The grill will sit on either a table or it's stand.

On the home front, we have had between ten and fifteen couples look at the house.  We have an offer as of tonight.  Dan Nichols of Century 21, Scheetz Realty said it is an insult, but we should respond with our counter offer. 


We have dropped the price of the house once.  We will counter tonight's offer at two thousand under our new asking price.  We do not have to move, we can be patient since there is no way we can leave here before the end of September.  


Time is on our side.  The housing market has opened wide in the last two or three weeks.  There is no problem with living in our motorhome in our drive.  As we live here in Walter the Winnebago, we are refining our full time possessions list. We add something and take away another keeping weight in mind.  This is a good thing!


Judy, of Travels With Emma identified the fungus as Dead Man's Finger.  She is so right........it stinks, really S.T.I.N.K.S! Robin, a friend, fellow fiber artist and a Indiana resident, said that they are called Stink Horns here in Indiana.  


Robin's blog is really cool!  She has a PHD in linguistics.  She and her husband Eric have made the choice to live off the land.  They home school two of the sweetest young ladies I have ever met. The families gardening skills astound me.  Robin is a spinner of yarn, she dyes, she weaves!  Robin is Wonder Woman in my eyes.  


This years they have become bee keepers!  Her blog is a fun, educational read.  Some of these days, they just might become RVers and travel.  


My goodness, I tonight's blog has wandered all over the place.  That is what happens when I have not blogged in almost two weeks.


I have much to share with you, but will save it for the next post.  


Please be safe out there and remember those Blogger friends who are finding themselves in trying physical, medical and emotional situations.  Your prayers have helped John and I.  Please remember those in need.


Love you all!  God bless! 

POOR ELEPHANT :-(

I sure need help resizing my heading pictures!  Any suggestions?  


Today while purchasing new mower blades at Tractor Supply Co. (TSC), I saw this elephant and could not resist.  I was shocked at the price of the blades!  Sixty-nine dollars.  And let's see,  that is three times since John got sick.  Oh Well, over and done with.  

Again this morning, I was off for a nap.  This time it was a two hour siesta rather than yesterday's three.  Maybe my body is healing.  

Many of you suggested that I hire someone to mow for me.  As I read that to John, he said to me, "but that is your alone time, your decompression time."  I was thinking the exact thought.  

We have always had property large enough that it called for a riding mower or garden tractor to do the mowing and I have been the one to mow.  I was a stay at home mom when the girls were young.  When John got home from work I hopped on the mower and had my "alone time."  I did not hear the ringing phone, or one, maybe all the girls wanting my immediate attention.  I was in my own world.

With the present stress of being the care giver I will give up many things, but not my special on a machine that makes enough noise that I cannot hear anything else.

To prevent any more mishaps, all rocks and tree stumps will be market with little flags.  Right now the grass is short enough that I can find and mark them.  

Today was John's first outing to the grocery.  I let him out at the door and he found a motorized shopping cart.  When I came in, I wiped it down to eliminate viruses and bacteria.  Off we went to do the shopping.  

Now, how is that for a day of recovery?  I still feel so tired....almost as if I've been drugged.  I think that just maybe, I am sleeping too much, so will try no nap. 

We reduced the price of the house $8,000.  We will see if that brings us any offers.  In one way, we want to sell quickly, but in another, we do want to get a decent price for the place.  We do not HAVE to sell and can be patient with this new price point.  

OK, all you naturalists out there.  Each morning, this  is what is blooming in our mulch.  A fungus, very fragile, beautiful!  When I first spotted them, I thought someone had dropped some carrots. The fungus spring from the white mass to the right of the ?.  

Here is a photo of Wednesday's "crop"....  aren't they beautiful?  But what are they????? 

God bless you all....thank you so much for your prayers!  Please keep them coming for John, for me and for the sale of the house.... Not asking for much, am I????  

Love you all!  

Not a very exciting blog tonight.  

THAT DARNED ELEPHANT!

John has been home for eight days.  He is trying to do more than he can and becomes totally worn out.  I become a grouch fussing at him for what he is doing or has done.  He tries to do too much, gets so tired and either sleeps all day or just sits in a chair. I know that it is good that he can rest.  We just need to find a happy medium.  

But me?  I am having a terrible time.  I am tired physically and mentally.  Yesterday, I had a meltdown to top all meltdowns.  Actually, if I do not hold on tight to my emotions, I think I would be totally melted and flow into a drain. 

Last week, out back, I mowed the grass that was about ten inches tall.  I had not been able to mow due to running back and forth to the hospital. I hit a tree stump.  The new blade is history already. Tomorrow, I    buy a new blade.  It is the third since John got sick.  The grass grows so high that I cannot see stumps and rocks.   Ker thump, I have ruined another new blade.  That makes three since John got sick. 

Monday evening, our wonderful friends, Deb and Bob Cline from Maple Row  Stock and Wool pulled into our driveway.  They were returning from the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and came to help us out for another day.  Bob and his trusty chain saw cut down all the dead trees, branches and tree stumps.   He leveled our crushed stone drive enough to look beautiful and accomplished odds and ends that would have taken me months to accomplish alone.    

Monday, John went to physical therapy.  He did such a great job. We had lunch then returned home.  Tuesday and Wednesday, since Bob and Deb were here, he tried to participate and totally overdid.  

Physical therapy was scheduled for Wednesday and today (Thursday).  He cancelled both sessions.  

Yesterday, he did go to his Doctor.  He asked our doctor, what to expect in recovery since Kindred Hospital gave him no directions regarding activities after dismissal.  

John, our doctor, said to just do what he feels like doing and then he will learn by his feelings the next day what he should be doing or not doing.   It would be so nice to have a map or time table....If you do this, then you will be able to do that.  Nope, not that easy.  

Today, John rested.  I also rested.  We were up at 7:15 this morning.  I told John that I wanted to lie down for a while at 8:30 and slept till 12:30.  Now that is a very long nap.  

We do not know what is normal for this situation.  There are so many things we want to do, but have no energy.  I think that if we meet any of you, it will be as you pass through and the meeting will be in our driveway.  

What a whiny blog.....

God bless each and every one of you.  

THE ELEPHANT IS LOSING WEIGHT!

As predicted in my last posting, John came home on Wednesday but not until about twenty four hours of frenzied activity at Kindred Hospital captured patent's attention.  


Tuesday was a "happening" day.  But it all started Sunday when a nurse discovered that a patient had a strange rash on her arms and legs.  Scrapings were sent to the laboratory and the diagnosis was Scabies.  


The Kindred "team" went to work. Every inch of the hospital was sanitized.  Curtains were removed.  One room was sanitized.  A patient was treated and moved into the clean room then the patent's room was treated and the next patient was moved into that room until every patient on all floors was treated and moved into a clean room. Beds were removed and new, sanitized beds were brought in.  Every patients other furniture moved with the them.  This procedure continued for about twenty four hours.  


Tuesday morning John said he was "good to go."  What wonderful words.  Words that I had waited what seems like an eternity to hear.


We finally were able to leave the hospital around two o'clock.  The wait was hard on John.  He was so ready to leave, but had to wait for paperwork.  


I finally convinced him to take off the Posy / walking belt.  I said "throw that thing away" and he responds with "I want it to use on my kayak."  Yep, he's ready to get on the road. 

Doesn't he look wonderful?!?!

Nurse Buffy came to take John to the car.  She is one remarkable woman.  This past August, Buffy lost her eighteen year old son to respiratory failure.   And this remarkable woman tenderly continues to care for many patients.  Some of them, like John, experienced respiratory failure.  It is hard to get my head around this.  


Our ride home was confusing for him. The bright sunlight, the traffic noise all seemed to assault his senses but he handled it quite well as we talked about his feelings as we drove the ten short minutes home.  


When we arrived home,  I drove throughout the yard and around the house so he could see everything Cruz, Bob, and I had done.  When I got back to the drive he insisted on getting out of the car by himself.  I insisted that he stand there until I could get around to take another photo of him. He headed into the house to see how we had finished preparing the house for "show and sell|."   After the "photo session,"  and his tour he went straight to the motorhome and claimed his seat!  He has claimed the motorhome as our residence and we have continued to stay.

looks like too much fun here!

Thursday was the first day of physical therapy as an outpatient.  Grant Foley, co-owner of Hayden Physical Therapy and the person who helped me when I had my knee replacements, took John under his wing and began to work with John.  Jaime Hayden came over to encourage John regarding his memory loss.  


Jamie is a survivor of a malignant brain tumor resulting in surgery, some memory problems and seizures.  He is a miracle man in his own way.


Would you believe that after P.T. John wanted to go to our favorite Mexican restaurant, El Rodeo for lunch?  Yep, that's John.  After lunch, he crashed a good crash at home.  

NO....my feet are not blue!  

Friday brought visitors for John and a pedicure for me!  We both were totally delighted.  



Today was grandson, Ross' birthday party.  His gift concerned us for just a bit.  We went on line to Toy'sRUs website and found a Cars themed 

bicycle.  He loves anything Cars and he was thrilled with a shiny new bicycle.  




We are now home and tomorrow will be another rest day before Physical Therapy on Monday.  


Again, thank you for your prayers and thoughts!  


God Bless you all!  

THAT POOR ELEPHANT....& THAT VICTORIOUS INCHWORM

You know, I hardly know what to say!  I am dumbfounded, astonished, in awe of how God has worked in John's life and death battle......


JOHN COMES HOME TOMORROW~!!!


The recovery is not complete.  He has weeks of physical therapy to get back to "normal."  But he is coming home!  


The tracheotomy is out, he is breathing just plain ole, normal air, walking without assistance.


He gets confused at time and still has some fine motor skills to work on, but wow, that's nothing compared to all that has happened to him.


He is considering talking to a therapist friend.  His loss of time / space bothers him.  I cannot imagine loosing six weeks of my life.  He talks about tulips...they are long gone.  Easter, April Fools Day, etc.  One nice thing he has missed is all this politics rhetoric! 


One thing that astonished me is how can a man who entered the E.D. / E.R. (they now call the emergencyf room the emergency department) with only the clothes on his back need two huge plastic bags of "stuff" to take home.    


We hope to stay here in the motorhome until the house sells.  We had a showing tonight...of course, no feedback yet.   


On the motorhome subject, there are some repairs needed.  As I have stayed here in the motorhome, I have had no "house" lights. The motorhome is plugged into our house electricity so I have a working microwave, electric outlets and the television....but the technician tells me that while plugged into the home power, we should be recharging the "house" batteries.  Something is wrong.  


We used Edmundson RV in Taylorsville, IN for repairs.  But if you have been following my blog for a long time, you will see that Edmundson's service department leaves much to be desired. So much that I would not recommend that you stop there for repair.  


We are going to try Family RV Rental in Whiteland, IN.  They are just south of Indianapolis right off I 65 at the Whiteland exit.  I spoke with them today and explained that John is leaving the hospital tomorrow and asked if we could park there if repairs would take more than a day.  Of all things, the technician said that he would speak with the owner and most likely they will be able to come to us since we live fairly close to I 65 (15 minutes).  


If their service and repairs are good, you will be hearing raves from us.  If not, I will tell you the facts.    


It is getting late.  I need to get some sleep!

Once again, I want to thank each and every one of you for your kind thoughts and prayers.  


The staff at Kindred Hospital all are in awe of the progress John has made!  He makes that hospital look like miracle workers!  But...........we know who the miracle worker is!  And to God be the glory!  


Without your prayers, John would still be in the hospital tomorrow.  The doctors said he would be there  until, at the earliest, the first of June...probably till the middle of June. Tomorrow.....May 2!   


Here we are at the second of May and John is coming home!  To God be the glory, great things He has done!  


Thank you to each and every one of you for your prayers for John's recovery.  I wish I could hug each one of you.  How I wish we all could have a huge cook out to celebrate.  Maybe......someday soon!