Monday, January 14, 2013


My Cousin Lisa found this photo of my Mom and Christa when she was a toddler while she was going through a huge box of photos at my Aunt Betty's!   Lisa is there visiting her as Betty is in the Hospital with Pneumonia.

Hey Ya'll,

Well, I found out that my daughter Kat visited with my parents on Sunday.  She was shocked at how much my dad has deteriorated in just a couple of weeks.  She said that he is now living in a Hospital Bed in their living room and is on Oxygen.  And she said that he doesn't look well at all.

So I am really glad that the weather is cooperating this week, so that I can drive down to Sacramento and visit with them.  I fear that this will be the last time that I see my dad alive....

So I am going to be there for 3 nights.  And I have a full schedule!!  My girls and grand kids want to spend as much time with me as they can.  So I will be having lunch with all of them on Wednesday, the day that I drive over.  Then after lunch, Christa and the grand kids will go over to my parents house with me, as she doesn't have a car, and can't see them as often as she would like to.  Kat has to work.

That night, I will go over to Christa's house for dinner with her family.  And then back to my Hotel room for some much needed sleep as I will probably be getting up at about 6 am that morning in order to be there in time to have lunch with the girls as Kat has to be to work by 2 pm.

Thursday, I will have lunch with Christa and the grand kids again, before I go over to my parents house.  Once Kat gets off work, she will pick up her husband, and I will meet them for dinner around 5:30-6 pm.  After dinner, Kat will take her husband home, and meet me at the theater to see Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part II.  Since the movie will get out a bit late for Kat, she may just stay the night with me at the Hotel and go into work from there the next morning, as she has to be into work at 7 am and my Hotel is about 20 miles closer to her work than where she lives.

Friday I will meet up with Christa around 3-4 pm and we will take the grand kids over to her friends house so they can babysit them for us.  Christa wanted to spend some quality time alone with me.  So we will go see a movie and then have dinner.  After dinner she may stay the night with me as well.  But she will need to drive my car home early in the morning as her husband Mark has to go into an early morning job meeting.  Thank goodness I decided to book a double Queen room!!  LOL

One of Mark's co-workers died earlier in the week in the Bay Area.  Some of you may have seen the accident reported in the news.  His Big Rig went over the railing, and dropped down off the Freeway.  The Big Rig caught on fire, but some good Samaritans managed to pull him out of the Truck before he was burned.  Unfortunately, he died at the Hospital leaving a wife and several young children.  So they are having a meeting on Saturday morning to discuss the accident.  After the meeting, Christa will pick me up and we will all have lunch together before I have to drive home.  After lunch, they will be attending the Funeral Services for the co-worker.

So I will be seeing my parents Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  I may stop by on my way out of town as well, just to say goodbye one more time, and let them know I am on my way home.

So I will be very busy this week!!  Tomorrow I will be doing about 10 loads of laundry and packing for my trip.  I also need to remember to make sure my washer fluid is full...so many vehicles on a wet road splashing up dirty water....ugh!  And the fact that it will be freezing cold while I am driving over the Sierra's, I need to make sure that I have washer fluid that will clean the windows and not freeze when I use it!

I got a call from my PCP Doctor tonight, letting me know that she got my Lab results back (about $800 worth of Tests).  She said that my Liver Function is now normal....whew!  When I was in the Hospital ER the night that I was released after my RNY Surgery, it was sky high.  So she was happy about that.  My Hep C is negative....great!  My Cholesterol is much better.  The good Cholesterol is 165 and the Bad Cholesterol is 93.  So she says that I can go off my Cholesterol meds for now, we will recheck in 6 months.  The only thing that she is a little concerned about is my Potassium Levels.  I am at 3.4 and the low end of normal is 3.5.  So I am not too much below normal, but she is concerned.  But since I am not currently showing any symptoms like Leg Cramps, she said that we will watch it for now.  And if I do start to have Cramping, I am to call her right away.  I didn't tell her, but my mom has always had problems with her Potassium Levels as well....

Anyway, I better go for now, I have lots to do, and so little time to do it in.  Till next time....

Aloha My Friends :) 

Saturday, January 12, 2013

What's Happening Here!

My Parents At Christmas 2012

Hey Ya'll,

Well, it has been awhile since I have updated ya'll.  So much has been happening....as usual!  Some good, some bad....

We went through a long super cold stretch here (like almost 2 weeks of 0-5 degrees over night, and daytime highs barely getting into the 20's), and since Walt was driving my car and not his Diesel Truck, once he decided to start driving it again, so that I could get around in my car....it wouldn't start.  We went through a lot, to find out that the only thing wrong with it was the batteries were completely dead!  So now he has his Truck back, and I have my car!

Also, because of the cold spell we had....We had some major problems with the RV.  Our Heated Water Hose decided to choose this time to die....So our Water lines froze.  For like almost 2 weeks, we had no running water!  We had to fill up milk cartons, etc with water to be able to flush the toilets with.  And then we were having issues with our power.  But we finally got it all straightened out, and we are back to normal....kind of!!  LOL

We went in to Reno on Monday for joint Dental appointments.  These were supposed to be about an hour each, but long story short, Walt ended up in the chair for 4 hours!!  This would be my first check up in OVER 4 YEARS!!  I was terrified that they would tell me that I had all kinds of issues.  But they said that my teeth looked great!  I just needed a good cleaning....Whew!!  I don't know why, but God blessed me with good Genes when it comes to the Teeth!  :)

As for how I am doing after my RNY Surgery, I am doing great!  Other than that first night out of the Hospital when I didn't take any drugs for pain because I forgot to take them with us to Reno....(can you say Duh...STUPID?), I have been practically pain free.  I figured that I had gained up to about 230 lbs before I started my pre-op diet.  And yesterday, I weighted 195 on our scale at home.  So that makes me having lost about 35 lbs total so far, and about 15.4 lbs since Surgery on the 18th of Dec.  Somehow I always thought that the weight would come off a bit faster with the RNY Surgery....But the Surgeon was pleased with my progress at 2 weeks post op.  I go in for another check up on the 23rd, so I am hoping to have lost at least another 5 lbs by then!

My Aunt Betty is in the Hospital.  She has Congestive Heart Failure, Pneumonia and an Infection in the Colon.  So thoughts and prayers would be appreciated.  This is my Mom's only Sister.

My Mom isn't doing well herself.  She has multiple issues including the Liver, Stomach, COPD, Diabetes, and Heart problems as well as living in constant agonizing pain from major Back and Spinal issues as well as Neuropothy pain in the Legs and Feet!  Every time that I speak with her now, she can talk less and less without going into a coughing fit.  And at that time, she has to end the call.

My Dad....Was taken to the Hospital on Dec 29th.  He was coughing up Blood and in severe pain.  they determined that he was Anemic and gave him Blood Transfusions.  After a couple of days, they felt that he was stable enough to go home.  While in the Hospital, we found out that his Lung Cancer has spread into the Rib Cage.  And we found out that he had broken his Shoulder and a bone somewhere in the Back (we weren't given specifics) about a month earlier.  Since he felt that the Chemotherapy wasn't helping him, he decided about a week ago to end his Chemotherapy Treatments and go on Hospice Care.  He is just hopeful that Hospice Care can give him better drugs to treat his pain.  And everytime that I speak with him, he only talks about a minute or two, then gives the phone to my Mom, as he is in so much pain that he doesn't want to talk (which is totally uncharacteristic of him).  He is still coughing up Blood.

So since we are finally getting ready to have about 4-5 days of warmer weather (like in the 40's during the day and no rain or snow in the forecast), I am driving down to Sacramento to visit with my Parents and see my Daughters and Grand Kids.  I will spend as much time as I feel my parents can handle during the day, and have lunch or dinner with the girls.

I'm telling my Parents that I am staying with my Daughter Kat so they don't worry.  But I will be staying at a Hotel close to my Parents.  This way, I can see them for shorter periods of time, several times a day if necessary.  They can barely stand to sit in chairs let alone lay in bed as it is.  And while I am there, they will insist on sitting in the living room to visit with me.  So I will not stay all day long each day, so they can get some rest as well.

My Daughter Christa has requested that her and I spend time just the two of us while I am down there, as we rarely get to spend time alone.  So we are planning on letting one of her friends babysit the Grand Kids one day, so we can go to a movie or something and have a meal alone so we can be together and talk.

So I am looking forward to the visit and can't wait.  But I do dread the drive there and back.  I am not the most comfortable driver on long drives, especially when it comes to driving over the Sierra's.  I hate driving over 2 lane roads with traffic and trying to pass tons of Big Rigs!!  Sigh!  Oh well, I will get through it....again!

So, that is what is happening now, I would appreciate it if you would keep my family in your thoughts and prayers.  Till next time....

Aloha My Friends :)

Monday, January 7, 2013

I"m Back!!

It's a bit blurry because Walt's Mom took the photo and she was a bit shaky.  But this is Walt and I on Christmas Eve at the Fandango's Casino Buffet.  My first time eating out after my Gastric Bypass!


Hey Ya'll,

Just a real quick post to let you know that I am still here....my Computer crashed a few weeks ago, or whenever my last post was.  It crashed the day after my last post.  We were afraid that it was truly gone....otherwise, the fix would cost so much that it would be less expensive to purchase a new computer!!

But luckily for me, it was an easy fix.  It just took a while....but we picked up the computer tonight.  I am just so thankful that I didn't lose all my data and photos!!

So, I am going to go for now, I will post a longer more detailed post of what is going on later.  So, till next time....

Aloha My Friends :)