Blood, Bandages and Parties

• Dec. 8 - Monday- More surgery! Not for me this time. My mom was told she need to have her gallbladder out in Oct. but she choose to go on the low fat diet for a while. She wanted to wait until after my surgery was over and I was doing well. MOM's always thinking first of their kids. I went to the hospital to be with my Dad as he waited. Dad and I went around visiting with everyone that made the time go by so much faster. Aunt Rosie stopped in with treats and flowers. Later in the afternoon I played Santa to the girls in Surgery and gave them a little Christmas gift. In return they gave me two tall candle holders that look great next to my hearth (they thought this was better than flowers at the time of my surgery). Mom left the hospital at about 5:00pm and headed home. I went to get Brody from daycare and we went on to Mom and Dads also. Tarese, Dave and family arrived with comforting chicken noodle soup. Everyone enjoyed the soup even Mom. She was doing great and never felt nauseated at all. Brody and I end-up spending the night.
• Dec. 9 - Tuesday- Dad was going into work so I sent Brody with him to be dropped off at daycare. Mom and I had breakfast. By 0900am we were both ready to go back to bed, so we did until about noon. We both woke hungry and feeling much better. Time for lunch and more soup. I did need to change Mom's band aids to her sites due to some bleeding. I had Mom hold some pressure to the sites and wall la all was better. We went to visit Grandpa Wilbert and Grandma Georgeann (my Mom's parents). I brought Mom back home and I went to get Brody from daycare. We came home to make dinner. Olivia and Tim were glad to have us home.
• Dec. 10 - Wednesday- I spent most of the day working on Christmas cards. I love preparing my annual letter and each year I get out the old letters and re-read them. Like I wrote in my 2004 letter....I do believe the tradition of Christmas cards is one of those embracing activities that sometimes seems like the challenge of putting clothes on a naked 2 year old. Although it take forever, I always enjoy it, because I get to think about some special friends and family and hear from them too. Brody and I had to run down to the Bank/local Post Office to get stamps. He manage to make it home with about 6 stickers and 3-4 suckers. No doubt we made time for our nap. Tim came home long enough to drop Olivia off and pick Brody up. Tim and Brody went to Horton to exchange a title on a SUV. Brenda Quigley came by the house with a plate of Christmas goodies and took Olivia to CCD class. Monica Holthaus brought her home. That meant I got to stay inside and finish half of our Christmas cards.
• Dec. 11 - Thursday- Last night was the first night since surgery that I didn't take a narcotic (pain pill) for pain. This was a very big step down the road of recovery. I have been taking some over the counter pain pills like Tylenol for occasional pain. I continue to feel better every day. I 'm still very sore and have pain with lifting by left arm above my head. I do wear an ace wrap and support bra all the time. This seems to help with the muscle achiness I have. I have been enjoying a shower daily since my drains came out. The most exciting news it that my hair is starting to come back in. My head looks like I have a five o'clock shadow.
• Dec. 12 - Friday- My Dad's Birthday! Wishing him a great one! Brody and I called him this morning to wish him a happy birthday he was working a farm show in Oklahoma. My cousin Angie and her two girls Kate and Emma came by the house to visit. I had just made a batch of Rice Crispy treats. That meant we had to sample them to see if it was OK. It was good to see them since we had not seen each other since June. Brody was very excited about Emma "the baby" that he got to hold. He has been praying and talking about baby Emma ever since. Olivia, Brody, Grandma Loralea, and I ran up to Sabetha to get a few things at Alco. The kids and I were making our way to the check out, but we stopped to check out some Christmas stockings. Brody went to step up on the side of the cart when the whole cart came over on top of him. In the process of the fall he must of hit his head on the corner of this hope chest on display. When I picked him up we discovered him to have a cut on the back of his head. We had blood everywhere. I took him back to the bathroom and to clean him up. After several Alco members came by to see what I needed a nice man brought us a gaze pad and coban to wrap around his head. That was the end of our shopping. We did stop to see my brother and sister-in-law to have her check out Brody's head. Sheri didn't think we need to go get stitches. Thank the Lord.
• Dec. 13 - Saturday- My Brother-in-laws Big 40th Birthday! Dave may you only get one more gray hair this next year:) The kids and I did call Dave and sing Happy Birthday to him. Olivia got invited to her first classmates (Kendall Durland) birthday party and she was so very excited about this. The class of girls were treated to bumper bowling and a pizza party. I'm afraid that Olivia might have got some new ideas for celebrating her birthday. Tim and I were invited to Brooke Sowers Nursing Graduation party this evening. Tim stayed home with the kids because earlier in the day he had injured his back. I told him to take some Ibuprofen and use the heating pad. It was fun to be out and see everyone and just hear what been going in their lives.
• Dec. 14 -Sunday- We had a surprise 40th birthday party for Dave. Even with the weather getting colder and a hint of snow, we had 12 brave couples and kids arrive at their house to party. We served cake, ice cream and drinks. I have included a picture of Dave holding his cake. Everyone had a nice time visiting and telling a few stories. I have to go this next week to Kansas City for some doctors appointment's. I will be going back to see my oncologist, I had not seen him since my last chemo treatment in Oct. I feel this will be another big appointment. We will discuss our next steps. My surgeon has hinted that I might have to have radiation. I will find out what my oncologist says about this. I do know that I will be seeing my oncologist every three months for the next two years.