Snow Days...I Sure Miss 'Em

My mother got her pathology report back...cancer free! And my mother-in-law has gotten better! They were able to remove the breathing tube, she is responding well to a different mix of meds and the swelling in her body has receded. The feeding tube will be removed soon too. She is speaking, moving, etc. By the time Troy left Cleveland, he had caught a nasty flu bug from the hospital. He finally got back to Wichita and took to bed. I am on responder duty this week at work. This weekend the snow and wind keep coming. They have not called me at all and I have one more day. I have decided to not answer my phone if they call today/tonight. I am #5 on the list. If I don't answer the call then it would mean a $40 decrease in my end of month incentive bonus. I think I can live with that. I hate responder duty. That job is stressful enough..although most days are not that terrible...but answering the phone and dealing with ppl that have power outages is THE WORST! My older sister says that their electric company has an automatic answering bot that once you enter your address it will inform you that it is aware of the outage, tell you what has caused it and give you an estimated time of restoral. This company needs to do that. It is absurd that it doesn't. I have managed to do very little so far this weekend. I do have to go outside and use a shovel to try and find my driveway again. I see that the Sunday paper was left part way up the sidewalk...halfway between the garage door and the front door. nice. I see the green wrapper peaking out from under the pile of snow. Brains working much? drop it by A door...any door. Just like the idiot that packed the groceries Friday night. I unload my cart so that the frozen foods are all checked at the same time so they will be packed together...I unload all the dog food items together so they will be packed together...all non-food items are unloaded together...then the squishable/breakable foods (bread, eggs) are unloaded last. I got home and there was soap in the bag with food (I have never had anyone do that!) and, canned goods in the bags with frozen food and I even had a can of soup I had not bought. It will be returned. Someone paid for it. Not me... and I really don't care if it contains free range chicken. I know it doesn't sound like much but this kid stopped just short of packing heavy things in the bread bag. He needs more training. Yes...I found something trivial to gripe about. I am just really kinda ornery about having to go out and shovel snow. Just not feeling it. My daughter has been rather bratty about the fact that the weather spoiled her and her friends' plans to travel to Columbus this weekend for Ohyaocon. I told her that disappointment is a part of life...believe me I know. This is just the beginning. Things happen...be ready to change your plans. I am still looking for the next place to jump. Guess I'll do some laundry...and take another nap...cuz I can. I sometimes miss being a teacher cuz when I was teaching, on a day like today I would be watching the snow and feel snug in the knowledge that there would most likely be no school the next day.

Share a Ride

The last few months have been...stressful. And the ride is not over. First, Troy's mother went into the hospital. She had gotten pretty sick...never did know what was up. She got sent home only to wind up in the hospital less than two weeks later. She was very sick...is very sick. Turns out she had something called C-Dep...don't know what it is but told it was pretty bad. She contracted it from her last hospital visit. Then my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I kinda lost it. Troy came back for the Christmas holidays and we made the trek up to see our families. His mother was still pretty bad. My mother was awaiting her pathology results still certain it wasn't really breast cancer. Troy's mom had to have part of her colon removed. She continued to complain of major pains. My mother was told she had early stage breast cancer and she opted for a mastectomy. Troy's mom was moved to another hospital in Cleveland where she was diagnosed with pneumonia in one lung, UT infection, and another internal infection from the colon surgery. My mother made it through her surgery very well. The doctor was 95% certain the cancer had not spread but we still haven't heard yet. She went home the next day after surgery and she has been doing very well. She says she hasn't taken any pain meds cuz she is mostly tired and a bit uncomfortable (now I know where I get it from). In the meantime, my MIL was put on LF and sedated. She is being given massive amounts of antibiotics. This hospital says there isn't anything further they can do until the infections clear up. Her white blood cell count is way up and so is her fever. Her husband Fred called the family and Troy drove from Wichita to Cleveland yesterday. The hospital said the breathing tube seemed to be making the infection worse and they are going to have to remove it and they are not sure how she is going to do after that. Troy said she is very bloated looking. The worst I can say about me is that I have been fighting a sinus infection this last week. I worked a 25 hour shift almost 2 weeks ago and then a 10 hour shift a few days later. That 25 hour shift just about killed me. I can't do that. It was a bad night...outages and mean ppl. I took a vacation day to get some appts and insurance straightened out. Finally got myself a doctor appt but it isn't going to happen until March 25. Had to get my son an oral surgeon appt. The last 2 of his wisdom teeth need to be extracted. Found a new dentist for the family. I hated the one we've had. It's the 'little' things that will kill ya. Sometime in April we are all going to have to put the pedal to the metal. My siblings and I have a 60th Wedding Anniversary party to put on for our parents. It will be more than worth it...that they are both with us after everything. My mother has endured a lot of pain and surgeries in the last 36 years. She's tough. She is 78 and I hope I can hold up as well as she has. My dad will be hitting the 80 year mark in just a few weeks. They have been very active ppl and no one believes them when they tell them what their ages are. I just pray that Troy's mom can pull through this. If something happens to her, he may take a nose dive...again.