We are in the bathroom at the library…..
Melissa, Zachary, and I…….
Mel is doing me a favor and washing Z’s face before going into the reading program…..
because he didn’t wash and home like he was told to do….
and I didn’t check…..ugh…..
I notice Z’s shirt is dirty…..
“Zachary…WHY did you put on a dirty shirt?”
Z – “It was in my drawer for a couple of days…”
Me – “JUST BECAUSE you put a dirty shirt in your drawer and wait a couple of days DOESN’T mean it gets clean!!!

I just found THIS ROFLOL

I do NOT drive a dark green SUV. Honest!

WARNING!! WARNING!!

Save Yourself! RUN away now!

Consider yourself warned!

Still here? Then don’t blame me! I am in no way responsible for what you are about to read and see!

Click your browers back button to leave at anytime!

ARTICLE I
Thursday, June 29th
I went to the dentist to have 5 teeth pulled. Yep, my mouth is sore, yep, the p@in p|lls make me feel bad, Yep, the antibiotics make me feel bad. I suck up the blood and get on with taking care of my family.

ARTICLE II
Saturday, July 1st
D got sawdust in his eye and scratched it. The pain kept getting worse as the day progressed. I ended up taking him to the ER. Yep, my mouth is sore, yep, the antibiotics make me feel bad, nope, I’m not taking pain pills. I suck up the blood and get on with taking care of my family.

In ER Room 6…

Yo Ho Yo Ho, it’s a pirates life for me, Yo Ho Yo Ho

ARTICLE III
Thursday, July 6th
Melissa was in bad pain from her lung thing. sigh It just keeps coming back. So i take her to the dr’s office. Her appt was at 2:45. We only waited about 10 minutes before being called back. She took the 4 kids and I with her for moral support (aka henchmen to “take care of” her dr if he made her mad). Well, her oxygen sats were low, 87 to 91, and her heart rate was high, she was pale and in pain. She had a chest xray, and an EKG which were normal. He considered putting her in the hospital, but let her go home with an appt for a CT scan at 9 the next morning.

ARTICLE IV
same day as Article III

9:00 p.m. Abigal falls in the driveway will walking, and cuts her knee. So Mel gets up off her sick bed to babysit while D and I rush Abby to the ER. We both had to go, so one could drive, and one could hold her knee shut. It was bleeding pretty heavily. Abby asked on the way why God wanted her to fall down and get hurt. So I explained that God didn’t want her to get hurt, but sometimes accidents happen. So she asked if the devil pushed her down. I asked her if she felt anyone push her. And cringed while waiting for an answer, cause, you just never know. But nope, she didn’t feel anyone push her. She was upset on the way, and requested to be put to sleep, while they stitched up her knee.
In the ER Trauma Room 1…


On the left, she “just” scraped off the skin, but you can see the gash on the right, that required 4 stitches. She did great! Such a brave little trooper. She did cry while they were giving her the shots to numb it, but didn’t feel anything while they stitched her up.

We got home at 1 a.m. and had to set her up a bed in the schoolroom. So if she need us in the night, I mean early morning hours, she was closer to us so we could hear her call. She can’t get up by herself, as she can’t bend her knee.

ARTICLE V
Friday, July 7th

We had to get up early (which was hard after the late night, last night) so we could leave at 8 a.m. to have Melissa at the place for her CT Scan at 9. That was a challenge, as Abby can’t bend her knee at all. But we made it. Even Mel, who couldn’t eat or drink after midnight. She had her scan, while they injected dye (or something) into her. I didn’t go in, as I was sitting in the waiting room with all the kids. But they are well behaved, so it’s not a problem at all. Except poor Mel had to go in by herself.
Abby and Mel in the waiting room…

ARTICLE VI
Saturday, July 8th

We got a call yesterday, saying that Melissa’s CT Scan was normal. No further instructions, nothing. What do we do now? Anyway, on to today. Mel was sleeping really late today, (so what else is new!) Anyway, I finally went to get her up at about 12:30 p.m. and she said she was really hurting. On a pain scale of 1 – 10, she was a seven. sigh I went to hit the shower (we had just got in from working in the garden) D came and told me that he checked on her and she was crying with the pain and we should take her to the ER. So she got ready and I took her.
In ER Room 10….

So after telling them the long story about the last couple of days, and numerous tests, etc. The Dr. said he wasn’t going to repeat any since they were so recent. But he thought she had Pleurodynia aka the devil’s grip aka the grasp of the phantom. Link 1 Link 2 He put her on n@proxen 500 mg. So she started taking those tonight, and they WORKED! Yeah for Mel!

ARTICLE VII
Monday, July 10th

We all go back to the Dr’s. so Mel and Abby can have rechecks. Abby’s knee looks fine, no signs of infection. The Dr. didn’t know what to do with Mel (typical) said he’s glad the meds are working, and just for the fun of it, he wants to check her oxegyn sats. Well, it’s in the 80’s again. sigh So then he starts doubting the machine. He tests it on himself, and then knows for sure that the machine is messed up. grrrrrrrr He tells us that the Ct scan was completely normal, and sends us on our way. But not before telling us how well behaved the kids are, along with the nurse, and receptionist, who tell us that everytime.
Mel and Abby in the Dr’s office…..

ARTICLE VIII
Wednesday, July 12th

Today, I got to go the big, big city, for Calen’s 3 month exam with his oncologist as well as lab work. He saw Dr. G today, and she’s really nice. He had his favorite lab tech, B, who always gets it the first time. He did it for the 2nd time without any numbing cream! I asked him if he felt brave and he said “No, it hurts!” Well, I think he’s brave anyway!
Calen in the exam room….

ARTICLE IX
Thursday, July 13th
Final Thoughts

Duane’s eye is better now. And I’m working on having him remember to wear eye protection. He’s been getting things in his eyes a lot lately. He did buy a pair of safety glasses…

Mel’s meds are working, and she is in less pain, but not totally feeling better, as the meds make her very tired and she has to nap alot. Wait! she did that before the meds!

Abby’s knee is better. She can now bend it, and is running around all over the place. She hasn’t attempted to ride her bike yet, though. She is busily planning what she is going to wear to the Dr’s on Wednesday the 19th, when she goes to have her stitches out.

Calen had a good exam, and doesn’t have to go back until October. He will spend the next 3 months deciding where he wants to go eat lunch after his exam.

Me? My gums still aren’t healed. It’s been 2 weeks today. I was hopeing for faster healing. But since I wasn’t able to lie low and heal like I had planned, and had to out and about, I guess it’s to be expected. I know all this activity has hindered my healing, because it hurts when I talk, and I’m the one who has to do all the talking at all these dr’s and ER visits. I’m not in very much pain, only hurts once in a while now. But I’m hanging in there, happily anticipating the time when I’m healed enough to get my replacement teeth!

Coming Soon!

To a computer near you!

The June – July edition of Linda’s Lunacy Medical Journal

Complete with pictures!

Not to be missed!

I just wanted to let you all know there is a two part series coming on this
Wednesday and Thursday it airs on PBS. It’s called “A Lion in The House”, I
encourage everyone to watch it, and also pass it on and encourage other
people to watch. I have already heard from some people who have seen it and
it is something everyone should see.

If you “think” you could possibly know (or even have a glimpse of) what a family goes through, or more important what a child goes through battling this disease here is an
opportunity just for two nights to walk in their/our shoes. Don’t worry it’s only for
two nights, not the 2 1/2 years or more that these families (and far to many
others) have had to endure. Calen had treatments for 3 years and 3 months.

In this great country we live in, ONE in every 330 American children
develop cancer before the age of 20, (it could be your child), and when
Childhood cancer is the #1 disease killer of American children – more than
asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, AIDS and muscular dystrophy combined!

We need awareness that children do get cancer so there can be more
reasearch. Reasearch to find cures to save the lives of our precious
children.

Calen has been blessed by God. It has been 5 years and 8 months since his diagnosis and 2 years and 6 months since he finished treatment. So far he has beat the odds,
but there are no promises. There are far too many children who do not have “good outcomes” and even some of the children who do have good outcomes initially do not beat the odds.

One review:

‘One of the most cleansing, emotional, honest,
unsparing, devastating, cathartic experiences I’ve
ever had in a theater, A Lion in the House simply must
be seen. Following five cancer-infected children and
their parents over the course of many years as they
deal with the ups and downs, tragedies and hopes, wins
and losses, this momentous work of human empathy
demands to be seen. You will simply not be the same
person coming out as you were going in.’

Please watch “A Lion in The House”. It will be a memorable event.

To find out when it is playing in your area, or for more information, you can click on the link below.

A Lion in the House

sheesh!

My kids would NEVER come out!!