Please Pray For Frankie

Hello, friends.

My husband and I did NOT have a great night.  Frankie kept breaking out in fevers and I'd give him ibuprofen and then he would start sweating like crazy.  He's been doing this cycle now for a day.  I am SO worried about him.  I've been giving him fluids like mad, but if this continues, I will have no choice but to take him to John C. Lincoln Hospital.  They are so kind there, EVEN THE EMERGENCY ROOM!!  That is a rare find indeed.

He has two small wounds that he has been picking at over the course of last week.  So glad that counseling is helping him not to pick at his skin!  Ha!  Anyway, one sore is more red than the other.  Yesterday they had some drainage on the band-aid but then today when I changed it, both sores had no drainage, but the one was still very red.  I'm thinking infection?  He DID have that staph infection last year from picking at himself.  I don't know what I"m gonna do with him!!!  Please pray for him and his healing of whatever is ailing him.  He has a doctor appointment next Wednesday, but if he is not showing signs of improvement very soon I'm going to take him to the hospital.  :(

And then to add to the situation, last night I woke up on my bad side, ON THE FLOOR.  I can't move over far enough on the bed because it hurts my leg so bad and I'm so weak with my leg muscles, that I end up sleeping near the end of the bed.  Last night, I went over the side and on to the floor.  I can't begin to tell you how much that hurt!  I could barely even breathe and saw stars there for awhile.  I slowly and painfully tried to get up on my feet.  After what seemed like an eternity, I had managed to get back into bed.  I couldn't fall asleep, though, so I stumbled into the computer room and logged on.  I'm just so miserable with my body and I know my husband is miserable with his, too.  They don't seem to want to cooperate!!

Alrighty, that's all (that's enough!) of our adventures for now.  I hope you all have a blessed weekend.  :0)
To close, here's 2 pictures of our sweet kitty baby with his "buddy."  He's been on the bed with Frankie almost non stop.  I think animals know when you don't feel well.

 

What a cute little life Jackie has, wouldn't you agree??  :0)

God bless you all!

Until next post,

Signature bar by Helena.

Stormy Sea

Hello, everyone!

Hope today finds you happy and well!  I'm still very sore from my bang-up of a fall yesterday, especially my right knee and hip.  I must have hit the floor with those areas.  My first step of this morning could be described as: OUCH!  That wasn't EXACTLY what I said, but you get the picture.

Today I'm going back in time to when I first came to Arizona to live and work after that fateful trip Mom and I had in May of 1993 and we saw how bad Grandpa was with Alzheimer's.  I originally came to help Grandma with him, but he died of pneumonia, so I was glad to be here for her as she went through a very bad time.  She missed the man he USED to be and that is who she grieved for when he died.  We both did and still do.  I'll think of something funny and I gotta tell my grandpa, then I know he's gone and I get sad.  I hope my mom and her dad are having a party up there in Heaven!!  They deserve it!!

When I flew in from Chicago to Las Vegas, NV on October 31st, I guess you would say I was re-born.  New place. New job. New roommate (my grandma). The ONLY thing I remember about that flight was the flight attendants where wearing costumes. I remember getting a coke from a flight attendant dressed as the Devil!  I took some Dramamine before the trip so I could sleep, as I was balling about leaving my parents (I'm an only child and we are a very close family!) and didn't want to carry that over to the plane.  Crying four hours at 30,000 ft over the country didn't appeal to me.  My grandma was so sweet, though, she picked me up in Las Vegas as she thought it would be fun and exciting for me.  She was right.  I will never forget, as long as I live, how beautiful the lights of the Strip were over Vegas as the plane landed at night.  There were even slot machines in the airport!  My grandma and her friend, Betty, weren't there yet to pick me up, which kind of worried me because all I had to my name was $75.00 (which was mom's last $75.00, I am quite sure!) and my suitcase.  But they came after thinking I would be landing at the main airport instead of the charter plane airport.  We spent three days in Vegas and headed to Yuma.

Getting used to life in Yuma was hard. I missed my mom and dad everyday and I would call them frequently.  My new job at the hospital was challenging. I felt like an idiot at every turn because you don't know what you are doing yet, so you ask a lot of questions and then think your patients THINK you are an idiot!!  But I finally learned the ropes.

My grandma was her usual wonderful self.  She knew how homesick I was, so she planned all these little trips.  My first trip to San Diego at Thanksgiving to see the ocean; Palm Springs at Christmas and Laughlin, NV for New Year's.  I loved the San Diego trip the most.  As usual, I took lots of pics.  I'll show you a few in a minute.   When we went to San Diego (which is my FAVORITE place in the world, I think!) we couldn't have chosen a lousier day.  It was rainy and stormy, but oh, my goodness!  The pictures I have of the storm-churned sea can't be beat!!  At first Grandma wouldn't find the beach (we were always getting lost!) so she tried to pawn off on me this little pond we kept passing that was the ocean, just a little smaller than usual.  I didn't buy it!!!
We finally found Pacific Beach and I took a lot of my pictures there.

 Look at them there swayin' palm trees.  There was quite a gust that would come up from the ocean and just about blow you over!

Grandma and I walked to the end of the pier.  She's probably gonna kill me for putting her picture up on the 'net, but some things are worth dying for! LOL!  Don't worry, Grandma, I'm putting my picture (next) up!

 There I be, waving at all of you folks at home!  I just ADORE San Diego. Have I mentioned that yet?  Hehehehe.....the next batch of pictures are the stormy sea taken from the pier.

This next photo was taken near La Jolla, California. I think it is one of my faves in this group of pictures.  La Jolla is a really ritzy area of San Diego and all the posh go there.  Grandma and I took the scenic route through there so I could get some photos.

 And last, but certainly not least, here is a photo that me, my mom and Grandma all called "The Church of the Lost."  Quite simply, every time we would go to San Diego, we would get lost.  I don't care how many times we planned our trip out before we went or what map we used, we would ALWAYS end up on I-5 by this church.  So now, it's such a familiar site, we use this church as a marker to tell us where to go!  It's such a beautiful church.  Mom wasn't real big on GPS, she didn't want to take orders from some "voice in a box."  My hubby and I can't live WITHOUT our GPS!

I never have regretted moving to Arizona from Michigan. In fact, I can't imagine going back.  Arizona is such a beautiful state with its mountains and gorgeous sunsets and we are close to California and the ocean and to Vegas.  It can't be beat!!!  So thank you, Grandma, for letting me live with you for six months to get used to my job and to save money so that my parents could come out the following April of 1994.  I'll never forget the fun we had and I really appreciate you.  If I never said it enough growing up, I'm saying it now: I love and really appreciate you!!!

That'll do for today's post.  Hope everyone is having a good day.
God bless ya all!
Until next post,
Missy

A Mind Lost

Howdy, everyone!

Boy, did we just have the mother lode of storms, so to speak! Rain, hail, thunder...it made me think I was in Michigan again!!  I loved it.  It went on for about 30 minutes and now it's down to a little sprinkle.  I'll bet the cacti in the desert are really sucking the water in!!!

I went to the doctor yesterday because my right foot is absolutely killing me with that "fire" sensation all the time.  I'm already on 800mg of Neurontin and now she has upped that to I still take the 800mg pill, but I add a 100mg pill with it three times a day.  I have to admit, I haven't had that "fire" sensation too much since the medication change!  Thank goodness!  I'm still falling, though. I did it again this morning. I was on the computer and must have fallen asleep and leaned too far back in the chair and I toppled backwards to the floor, chair and all.  I am so damn sore from all these little mishaps!  I wish they would stop!  I got rid of the fire feeling, but added thigh and leg pain because of the fall.  ARGH!

You may wonder why I titled this post "A Mind Lost."  Today I'm going to share with you my grandpa, who had Alzheimers and lost his battle to it (that and pneumonia) in July of 1993.  He was a wonderful, kind-hearted man who deserved a much better way to leave this Earth than how he did.  He went from doing complicated math problems to not being able to tie his shoes.  He gave my grandma a very hard time.  He would think she was a man (probably because of the short hair) and wouldn't let her sleep in the bed with him.  She spent many nights out on the couch. Sometimes he would even throw her out of the house, so she would go to the car. She had to cover up all the mirrors in the house because it would upset him to see his own vision. THAT wasn't him...he saw himself as how he was back in the war days. So he kept thinking that an old man was following him.  He'd forget that he already ate and would eat again. So many things happen with Alzheimer's and I hate it.  It makes you do things and say things that are mean and hurtful.  I remember when we were going back to Michigan with him to take him to a VA hospital, at the motel we had a second floor room with lots of mirrors, of course.  Motels love 'em!  He went into the room, saw the old man following him again, and out the door he went.  My mom went to stop him and he got up to her face and said, "If you don't move, I'll throw you right off this balcony."  My mom said, "I love you, Dad. We are staying here for the night.  It's OK."  And he said, "Well, I DON'T love YOU!" and pushed past her and went downstairs.  Grandma flew down the steps after him and somehow, Grandpa found this huge rock and he began chasing Grandma with it around the yard of the motel.  I was in such shock, I had no idea what to do.  Mom was in the bathroom, because when she gets stressed she always has to take a crap and she kept telling me, "call the police!"  Well, the police were already called by a church group who saw the whole show as they there raking leaves next door.

The cops were really nice and talked with us and with Grandpa.  He wouldn't go anywhere else with us and he definitely needed some sort of evaluation at the hospital.  So the cops took him and we followed behind.  At the hospital, he totally flipped out and was never the same again.  I think he had a stroke. He couldn't walk anymore, his speech was garbled and he refused to eat, so they placed a feeding tube until Grandma signed a paper stating not to restart his heart if it should stop. And to remove the tube feeding.  He wouldn't have wanted that.  They transferred him back to Yuma, where he died four days later of bad pneumonia.  We learned that according to the MRI he had at the VA in Phoenix, he only had a quarter left of his brain that still functioned.  The Alzheimer's ate up everything else.  It is a challenging disease, none I'd wish on anybody.  My grandma went through hell, but so did my grandpa.  I'll bet he was extremely scared not knowing who the people are around him.  Or not knowing where you are and how you got there.  We need a cure for this.  I'm happy, though, that medications are being released to help it.  It's too late for MY grandpa, but maybe not too late for someone else's grandpa or dad or mom or friend......

Here are some pictures I took of that very first time I set foot on AZ ground.  I took 7 rolls of film (give or take a few rolls!) and most of them were of desert, cacti and palm trees.  So bear with me....they are good pics, I promise!!

Isn't this an awesome, kick butt cactus garden?  My grandma's friends live here and take care of the garden.  I love it, but would hate to fall into it!!

This is my grandma, peeking out through the blooming cactus.  She hates having her picture taken and will go to all lengths to stop it!

Isn't she a fashion plate?  I don't know if you can see it or not, but my mom is wearing my grandpa's fuzzy blue slippers outdoors with her yellow shorts and black shirt.

Grandma, Grandpa and Mom taking what is left of our suitcase up to the trash.  I don't know what TWA did to it, but it was all dented and wouldn't close!  So we got another one while in Yuma.

Mom up in the Yuma Territorial Prison Historical Park Watchtower.  Little did I know that I'd be getting married there in three years!  Anyway, notice how mom is nice and centered in the camera?  Good. Because here is the picture she took of me.....

Isn't that a scream?  I have forever teased her about that and how off centered I am.  :0)

Here is the mystery of all time:  WHO is mom talking to?  I was behind her, taking the picture.  Grandma & Grandpa had to go back home real quick to shut the windows because it looked like a storm was coming in.  My mom and I have forever loved this picture because we just don't know what happened here!  :0)  Some things are never meant to be found out, I guess!!

As you can see, it does look like a storm is brewing.  Look at them dark clouds!  So rare for Yuma.  I think my mom and I fell in love with it the second we got off the plane in Phoenix and went to Yuma.

This picture was taken by me outside a Mexican restaurant we had lunch at.  Grandpa was a little agitated because all the windows there and he kept seeing his reflection and that "old man following him."

Here is a pic of my grandma telling my grandpa to hurry along and quit shuffling his feet.  You can tell by the look on his face he was getting pissed at her constantly griping at him.

Yay! We are almost on our home soil!!  Up ahead is border crossing and you go into a building and form two lines, usually, depending how busy they are. They ask you where you are from and check your license.  If everything pans out, you are free to go.  However, when your spouse has Alzheimers and he can't remember where he is from, that gets tricky so grandma always was on the ball and explained that he had memory problems and was from Yuma, Arizona.

This is the last picture I have of my grandpa.  This was taken the morning we were leaving for Michigan and we were trying to get ready.  I don't know where grandpa's glasses are, but we'll find them in some goofy place like the freezer or something!

We finally made it out of Yuma and got as far as Springerville, AZ which is approx. 14 miles from New Mexico.  Grandpa threw a giant fit in the ER in Springerville and they sedated him and transferred him to Phoenix.  He must have bitten a paramedic, because they asked permission from grandma if they could do an AIDS test on him.  They THEN transferred him to the VA in Tucson without even telling us. We found out from an employee in Phoenix that had worked the previous day and remembered they had transferred him.  When we called Tucson, he was there!
From there, they sent him BACK to Yuma to a nursing home and then he died.  That's the story of my grandpa.  When he was a young man, he was so many wonderful things: a son, a husband, a soldier, a father, a grand & great grand father.  Alzheimer's slowly takes who you were away and replaces it with a shell of the person that once was.  I really feel for everyone having to deal with this devastating disease.  So let's take a moment to think about how lucky we are to still have our mind.  We may not have much else, but we do have our mind!!  :0)

For more information on Alzheimer's Disease, please go to this very informative website. It also helps caregivers cope with the challenges Alzheimer's creates.  Here is the URL:  Alzheimer's Foundation of America.

I wish you all happy and well.
God bless!!
Until next post,
Missy

This post is lovingly dedicated to both my grandparents and to my good friend, Heather, who deals with the ugly reality of Alzheimer's everyday. Keep up the strength!!

PS-Heather's blog "Life and Fibromyalgia" is terrific. You can find the URL to it in my blog roll.  Give her a visit!!  :0)

BIG Blog Changes

Howdy, folks!

I just spent all morning and the better part of the afternoon redesigning my blog.  One of the first things I did was I got rid of the awards pages.  I couldn't seem to get very many interested in participating in it, that it just wasn't worth keeping the pages up.  I had so much fun distributing the awards...I must have went to 30 or so blogs...and not too many people responded back.  It was heart-breaking, as I had a blast designing them and giving them out.  To those that DID partake in my award giving, THANK YOU.  And please, don't feel you have to take your award down.  It's yours to keep and I'd like for you to keep it up on your blog.  I already link back to your blog with my blog list.

The next thing I did was redesigned all the other pages on the my blog with new graphics and completely re-did Jack's page and added a brand-new page, "Jingles and Tuffy."  They are part of our "Schranz Ranch" and live here, too.  They are my in-laws dogs and are real cutie-pies.

So take a peek at my whole blog when you get a change and let me know what you think. I love your comments, every single one of them!!

Whew, I am just exhausted. I have been for awhile now. I don't know if I'm in flare-up, as I do ache from head to toe and my head from when I fell the other day has a giant goose egg there and it is so sore to touch.  It's scary when that right leg gives out like that with NO warning.

Sorry to make this a short post, but I can hardly keep my eyes open. I need a nap in a big way.  Hope you all are feeling OK and not having too much pain.
God bless you all!!
Until next post,
Missy

PS....HAPPY FALL, Y'ALL!!

Aye Carumba!

Hello, everyone!

I feel like I've been run over by a truck.  No, make that a very long train.  Yesterday I was walking from my room to the bathroom and my right leg just gave out on me and down to the floor I went.  I bumped my head on the wall and wrenched out my shoulder.  My right leg, which I landed on when I fell, hurts so bad I'm considering amputation!!!  Last night I've been doing the heating pad thing, but I've got so many areas that hurt and not enough heating pad!!

It's scary that my right leg is getting weaker and going out like that, with no warning.  I'm wondering if it's related to the pinched nerves from my back doing it.  When I go through with that bariatric surgery, maybe it will relieve a lot of tension on those nerve roots.  We can ONLY pray!! :0)

I've been working on the blog again.  Last post I told you I moved the side bar stuff over to the right.  No, your eyes are NOT deceiving you, I moved everything back to the left again.  I'm a lefty, and I just couldn't get use to using the right side.  So it's gonna stay on the left.

I also was playing around with Photobucket and made a really neat slide show that is a TV and on the screen are all my pictures!  It's really cool.  Check it out...it's down towards the end of the blog.  You can do all kinds of amazing things at Photobucket, so I recommend you try it out.  It's at www.photobucket.com.

That pretty much is it on this end of the world.  It's still HOT here and won't get cooler probably until October.  Gotta love Arizona around summertime!!  Nothing new to report on the hubby, he is doing OK, although his pain has returned from the Gleevec he must take to keep his tumor killed.  He also has had some nausea and vomiting if he doesn't take it right after his meals.  I was hoping he wouldn't have the pain this time around, but I was wrong.  Thank goodness he is going to the pain specialist.

Hope you all have a great middle of the week day!
Love ya all!
God bless,
Missy

PS...As you might have noticed, Google FINALLY approved my site for advertising!!  So now I'm like everyone else with google ads on their blog.  I know, I know, what can I say? The strangest things excite me!!