The Family

Two things. First, the quicky: Does anyone mind if change up the appearance of the website? I’ve been playing with another theme and I’d like to show off the basic modifications that I’ve done with it.

Second, the Doh! around here.

See, a few weeks ago I had an overheat in my car. I didn’t think of it as a really big deal. Except that I had to run the engine HOT for too long to get to a safe place to pull over. I found the top radiator hose popped in a most impressive manner and was able to replace it without much fuss. Then the other day I checked my transmition fluid – car was misbehaving a bit and in the past this was a sign of ‘add fluid’. Well, there was something ‘extra’ on the dip stick. Something that was chocolate milk-ish in color, kinda like hand lotion in consistency. Almost like… oil. A quick call to the car shop and they agreed – that overheat probably busted a seal somewhere, most likely the head gasket. Quick Estimate was 1200 – 1800 to replace and clean out everything that would need it. Then again, if something managed to get really busted – say, a crack from the overheat – well, I’d go north of 2000 pretty fast. He wouldn’t make an estimate of how much north, as it was a ‘well, it depends… ‘ moment. You kinda get an insight to the mechanic’s thoughts on a repair when their other question to you is “so, is the rest of the car in good shape and without problems?… “.

Apparently we’re now in the market for a new car.

I mean really, if I’m going to drop 1500-2000 on a car, I might as well make it a down payment. Not that I have that much saved up right now. All our spare money has gone to killing off these credit cards off. (getting so close too!) At least there is a program (Drive Clean Across Texas) that should get us a nice 3000 or so twards a new car… if we can wait a month (or so) for it to be processed. And before you say “oh, if only you’d used that Clunkers program”… well, my car was 1 (O-N-E) MPG higher than the cutoff range. So it wouldn’t have helped me anyway.

Sigh. It seems every year comes up with *something* to keep us from doing serious saving.

Andrea and Fred have come and gone. It was a good visit, short because Fred suddenly felt bad. I think he was tired. I offered to let him lie down here but he wanted to go to his own bed.

They are in this area because Andrea is singing at a few area churches. It seemed odd to me that she would be traveling around, singing when Fred is so sick, but i had a chance to talk to Fred while they were here and better understand why.

Luke took Andrea on a house tour but Fred was too tired to go so i stayed and talked to him. I learned that Fred, who has always been an aggressive businessman and always supported Andrea’s singing, is too weak to go out and install or supervise the installation of sprinkler systems like he used to. He does still own his business after 2 thwarted efforts to sell and is still getting jobs and arranging for others to do the work, and getting a percentage of the price, but this does not keep him busy enough.

He has turned his efforts to promoting Andrea’s singing. He calls people he knows and tries to get her invited into churches as a guest singer. It is just for exposure. He says that the churches often take up a love offering which covers most of their travel expenses but that is all. He just thinks she sings so beautifully he wants to promote her, and it makes him happy to go along and hear her. Which is in increditably sweet.

I am not sure how much longer he will be able to travel. He is not in pain, exactly, but he is in discomfort and traveling is hard for him. He is weak and uncoordinated and tires easily. He has to have assistance walking, sitting down, getting up (alot of assistance getting up – Andrea is barely able to lift him from a chair. I am not sure how much longer she is going to be able to act as his sole caretaker.) And he is losing his sight. He has lost peripheral vision on his left and the rest is fuzzy when he is tired.

He is not a fast thinker, but is still thinks and reasons and remembers much better than i expected which is why, i suppose, he is still able to take care of business and set up singing engagements for Andrea. He is cross momentarily from time to time… frustrated… frustrated with his inability to do what he needs to do, frustrated with Andrea for her inability to understand what he wants when he cannot think of how to tell her, frustrated with her because she talks too fast or too much. (Andrea is patient with him… though i am sure she has her moments of frustration too.) But for the most part he is very good – appreciative of Andrea, upbeat, positive, grateful for everything.

We went out for lunch (they wanted to). It was while we were out that i experienced an overwhelming empathy for him. He ordered a baked potatoes with all the fixings. He was carefully forking up a bite and having trouble, but slowly, and without asking for help, managing. He was so intent. His hand was trembling and he was having a hard time with the cheese stringing down but he managed. Something about his having trouble with such a simple thing…. and the way he concentrated and persisted…. it just hit me how hard it must be. It is tragic when a strong vigorous person is struck down by cancer.

He told me that when they found the tumor they were able to take 90% of it. 2 weeks later they checked it and it was larger than it had been and there were new small ones.

A few weeks ago the VA released him, telling him that there was nothing more they could do. That frustrates him. He has had radiation and chemotherapy, but now they just monitor it. He says he is has already made it 2 months beyond when they thought.

They talked, at first, about seeking alternative treatment. I don’t know what happened to that.

Brad and Kim have a new baby boy. He was born August 29 at 11:14 PM. He weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. His name is Nathanael Truett White or “Nate.”

This makes 10… wonder if they will decide to make it an even dozen. 🙂

Pat has decided to go ahead with his release surgery. He said that he has reached the point that he has to do it. or he is not going to be able to function. His scars are so tight right now that his chest is drawn down so much he is becoming hunchbacked and his neck is so constricted he cannot move his head. To look right, left, or up he has to move his whole torso.

He has one big job lined up which i think he said was going to take 2 months. This job involves about 900 feet of crown molding which he says is hard for him to do. Hmmm, perhaps if he could look up…. He is going to try to schedule the surgery for right after this job ends. He has made an appointment for the preliminary exam.

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Luke’s sister, Andrea is married to Fred. Recently Fred went to a doctor… not sure why… headaches maybe… it turned out to be serious… a tumor.

He is a vet so he went to the veterans hospital where here they removed all they could and tested it. It is cancer…. the most difficult kind to treat. They give him a year….

They are seeking treatment. Some alternative methods offer some hope, but… well… thought you should know….

Luke, in his stately pose, with the “sling” he is to wear for the next 3 weeks or so and the cooling wrap that hopefully he will be out if in a few days, came thru his shoulder surgery well. He is in no pain right now and they have him supplied with so much pain killer that i will be surprised if he ever hurts too much. The most interesting pain killer is one that feeds directly into the nerve bundle that takes care of his shoulder. It is a pump that actually leads into his skin (which i am to pull out in 3 days). I like the idea of putting the pain killer right where it is needed instead of doping up the whole body… only they dope up the whole body too.

The main repair they had to do was to the tissue where the tendon for his bicep connects at the shoulder. The doctor said it was torn and pulling away when he used the muscle and would have eventually torn loose completely. They put a metal clip into the bone (where it will stay). The clip will hold the tissue in place while it heals and he should be able to use his muscle normally. The second repair was to a bone that had broken on the tip and the little piece that broken had healed crooked so it had a rough edge that irritated the tissue around it. That he sanded down smooth.

The rotator cuff, which we thought had a small tear, was fine, with only minor wear around the edges. No repair was needed there.

There were also some bone spurs which the doctor was to take care of and hopefully did, though i cannot remember him mentioning them when he talked to me. Luke will ask when he goes in for his check-up in a few days.

He had the surgery done at a small surgical clinic/hospital. They seem to only have a dozen or so beds for in-patient – a very small unit. I liked it. They seem to be set up only for certain surgeries and that is all they do. As usual, when a place specializes, the do what they do well.

If anyone stops by the house these days, be on the watch for an Aleah on the go. She has gotten the idea that walking is something she can really do, not just something to do when going between the coffee table and the couch. She has been seen walking the length of our living room, for some measure of how far she can get before sitting down again.

While we don’t have a walking picture on hand right now, here’s one of her standing.

Well, it’s official.  Kevin and I are moving to Fort Collins, Colorado.

Huge – HUGE – transition for both of us, I’m still getting my mind wrapped around the topic.   But thought I’d let everyone know the latest.

We may be moving in as few as three weeks.   (!!!)  I do not know what sort of job opportunities I might have.  There is a USGS office in Fort Collins, but as of now I’m not sure how or if I’ll be able to transfer.

Kevin will be working as a Senior Technical Staff member for AMD.  It is a tremendous position for him – they are expecting a lot, and I’m sure he’ll deliver.