It's Pouring.

Have you ever heard that expression....when it rains , it pours......well, life is really pouring right now.

Last April, hubby started to feel quite poorly. On and off for the last year, he's had a problem with his digestive system. It's been all out of whack, not working properly since July of 2011. There have been times when he's been quite incapacitated by it, but he's kept motoring on. He went to the doctor many times....the doctor kept saying...well, try this medication, or go off this medication...that may be causing your trouble. They said he was anemic, so they determined he needed extra iron in his system. This continued on til this past April when it hit him hard. I was scared, really scared......I've known this man for 42 years....never have I seen him this poorly...he lost weight ( 10 pounds less than a month), he was constantly exhausted, his colour was extremely pale......hubby went from a man that was always on the go, doing everything....to someone who sat there, listlessly, unable to move.

Back to the Internist that he saw three years ago.....more tests.....finally a diagnosis...Crohn's Disease.....thank God it wasn't cancer.....he was put on a steroid that would fix him up....and seemingly it did.....24 hours after starting the meds, he was back to his old self...we were all SO relieved....okay, we could learn to live with this...watch his diet, take his meds...life was good....that was six weeks ago, this Thursday.

Five weeks ago, last Sunday, I very stupidly, fell outside, in the dark, and broke my wrist....the same wrist that the doctors fused together in a bone fusion operation, fifty years ago. The doctors said that between all the arthritis and fragile bone and swelling in there that they'd put a splint on for a week...come back after that...we did...than they put the cast on. They said it was for three weeks...I was pleased...when they did the bone fusion it was on for three months! Three weeks I could do...but, I guess when your fifty years older, three weeks seems like three months! Then everyone said that....oh no, this will be just an exray and check at three weeks...they'll probably put another cast on....I wasn't impressed.

So hubby and I went along for the three weeks.....him looking after me, the broken wrist was useless, the fingers so swollen that I could barely move them. He had to help me with virtually everything....bathing ,dressing, I could feed myself but I could prepare very little. People would say...good thing you have the three kids at home....but they are so delayed that they are of very little help.

The Thursday before thanksgiving, hubby started to feel unwell again...the area where his Crohn's is located...where the small bowel empties into the large, seemed to have something going on...it was swelling and painful to touch.....

Thanksgiving came and went...family dinner at eldest daughters' home....Emma showed up with her boyfriend..she said she was sick and spent the whole time in bed....it was really a combo of drugs, lack of sleep and anxiety...I wasn't impressed....the boyfriend tried to hitch hike back home....couldn't blame him...all of a sudden, thrust into a family celebration with 18 people he'd never meant before..but really..hitch hike? He didn't even know where the Pete he was, never mind how the heck to get back home...daughter lives 'in the boonies'.....a couple of hours from where Emma and boyfriend live.....anyways, that day was finally over....

Two days later I had to go for the cast removal...hubby still wasn't well and tried to get into see the internist at the same time (they were all at the same hospital) ...they couldn't see him that day, but said...come back on Thursday..two days later.

They removed the cast...said it was still healing...that slow and steady would be the course for it and put a removable splint on it.....said...'come back in a month, we'll check it again'.....

Two days later, hubby went to his appointment...by himself, as I had to take Ben and Megan to the dentist for their check ups. When I returned home, hubby sent a text....the clinic thot he had an abscess that would have to be drained...but they couldn't do it at that hospital...they recently changed the in patient status of that hospital to 'only children'....so hubby said can you meet me at another hospital....so I did, ....we naively thot...okay, they'll look at it, drain it, and then we'll be home.

We are sooooooo naive......this hospital admitted him...he would need another cat scan so they could confirm the abscess....but the scan couldn't be done til the next day.....

The next day, they did the scan...after he went all day without food.....at about 4 pm.

On the third day (the next day)...they confirmed, yes, it's an abscess, that has to be drained. That turns out to be a little more complicated then we realize...again....this requires a radiologist, intervention they called it....being taken into this room with huge machines all around...very intimidating...but he had to wait til the fourth day for them to have a spot open.

So, on the fourth day...this past Sunday, they finally drained the abscess....
The drain is still in, it has to stay in for 48 hours after no drainage....

Yesterday, the fifth day...the doctors...many doctors came in total, in the morning....all pretty well saying the same thing.....get the infection cleared up and look at surgery....nobody could exactly say when the surgery...one doctor finally said, in the next few months....they'll cut out the Crohn's...but it'll grow back, they assured us...they'll be subsequent surgeries down the road...good thing we have many feet of bowel! He wanted to come home today...the sixth day...the doctors said that would be pushing it.....they did do an echocardiogram on him yesterday...when questioned the nurse said she didn't know why it was ordered...nice....hubby was upgraded from clear fluid to full fluid diet...he's thrilled....

So, we will see what today brings.....everyday, I go to the hospital in the morning and stay all day til it's dark....sometimes I take my own food to eat...hospital food is very expensive....the parking is very expensive.....the hospital is a half hour drive away.....hubby and I have had lots of time to talk...which is nice...but sometimes he's too tired and needs to sleep...so then I read.....it's a long day....the kids are on their own...which isn't a good thing but there isn't anything I can do about it...it is what it is, hubby says...that is so true.


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Thanksgiving Weekend

Good Morning Company Girls!

This is a holiday weekend in Canada...Thanksgiving.....other than we always have our holiday on a Monday instead of a Thursday...and ours is in October instead of November.....a Canadian Thanksgiving isn't any different than the American one.

Turkey tops the list as the protein of choice.....plus the usual accompaniments.....mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, rolls(buns), cranberry...various veggies....carrots, peas, or corn....or even broccoli..for the last number of years eldest son has made a lovely sweet potato casserole...all smooth and whipped and calorie laden.....dessert is always pie....pumpkin, for sure...with whipped cream....and an apple and some kind of berry....I usually have some kind of dessert for one of my kids that doesn't care for pie....

This year, because of my broken wrist eldest daughter is hosting the family meal,.....hubby and I still plan on cooking the turkey and then taking it to her house for son-in-law to carve.....
If everyone comes....there might be as many as twenty.....one son and his girlfriend, are doing thanksgiving with her family and Christmas with ours this year and that is fine...that's what happens when they grow up and get connected with other families. Emma says she's coming but I'll truly believe it when I see her walk in the front door....not sure about Corey...it would be nice if he did since he hasn't come to one in a few years.....this year we hope to take my mom with us....it might be confusing for her, her dementia is slowly advancing....but I don't want to leave her at the retirement home, so we'll give it a try.

The plan is to celebrate on Sunday.....that is the day that works best....which is kind of nice cause then you have the holiday on Monday to recover....

I'm actually looking forward to a quiet, relaxing weekend....well, Sunday will be far from quiet but the other days, so far look good....

For the last three weeks I've been looking forward to getting my cast off on Tuesday...but, it would seem...as many people have suggested...that this wont be the case...people have said that this is just a 'check', apparently they remove the cast, take an exray and decide if the cast needs to be reapplied...well, a new one put on....I've been discouraged all week about this but I think they're probably correct...the arm and fingers are still swelling regularly and sometimes I still have some pretty significant pain from it. :-(. I think I'll probably be having another cast put on. Very frustrating since I had great plans for getting my house in order before winter this year....I was purging and organizing...I even had a written out schedule...the basement was supposed to be done for this weekend....not happening, and hubby has warned me that even when I finally have no cast that I'll probably have to take it easy with the arm for awhile.....sigh...you know what they say about the best laid plans.....

On Tuesday, I also have to go for an appointment with a social worker that apparently gives employment support ...Ben is having some significant difficulties with his job at Shoppers Drug Mart...it would seem that he's not doing as well as everyone hoped...then, in a conversation with a worker about something else, this subject came up and she said that there was this employment services that could go into his workplace and help him work out the trouble spots with Ben and his employer....good thing! I hope it works cause I would hate to see him lose his job!

This whole world of intellectually delayed kids in the adult world is a difficult journey to travel and wade thru....they should really give you a manual!

So, that's my world right now....still a little unsettled but that seems to be the new norm.....no quilting yet, which is a bummer.....but I still go to class and have fellowship with the ladies so that's nice.....

Take care everyone and have a wonderful weekend!