Dad 248: Update on Spouse; NCAA Tourney

(I managed to stay up - sort of - until the end of both championship games. Now we're on to baseball. Go BoSox!  Enjoy Dad's post.  ~  Tracy)

Derf Here! The Northeast is sunny. The temperature is still at the freezing level. Snow is predicted for tonight. Possible one-to-three inches coming our way. Is Spring really here? Perhaps it is but just slow to join us. Please warm up. I'm ready for the warmth of the spring sun. I'm waiting.

Well, this week has been busy. Spouse (a.k.a. Mary Lou) seems to be making progress as she is working hard trying to normalize her life after her stroke. It will be a long road ahead of us. We are preparing for her recovery and the whole family is involved. Please keep the prayers for her recovery coming. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

I continue to visit Spouse daily, except for two days this past weekend when I believe I had a bout with food poisoning.  (It was not a pretty sight.)  Hope to learn a lot about her care in the next few weeks.

The college basketball season is now over. Duke men and UConn women are the new champions. Coach K continues to impress me with his ability to win titles. UConn coach, Geno Auriemma, won his tenth title without ever losing in the title game. He doesn't win every year but he has never lost the championship. To me, that is an amazing stat. Congratulations to both Duke and UConn. Job well done.

I am off to do a few errands this morning. My bloviating is over. Sooo....

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

Improvement (Times Three)

I had a follow-up appointment yesterday to make sure my gum graft is healing properly. Everything is going well, although I am still experiencing some pain. (I don't even want to eat nachos!)

 

To do: Continue to follow the post-surgery procedures until my mouth is completely healed.

 

I went with Dad to visit Mom yesterday. She wants to come home, so she knows she has to do what her therapists are telling her. She showed me a worksheet that she did yesterday as part of occupational therapy. The worksheet listed several steps for a task, and she had to put the steps in order. (She did well on it, although I joked with her about the "taking out the trash" task. Dad does that!)

 

To do: Prepare for Mom's return home. It will be a while yet, but we'll be ready!

 

I am glad our living room flooring is being installed on Thursday. It will be so wonderful to get our house back in order afterwards. (Right now our guest room looks like a cyclone hit it!)

 

To do: Wait patiently for Thursday.

Play Ball!

The Red Sox are about to win on the opening day of their season. I doubt they will go undefeated (162-0 would be hard to do), but it is encouraging to see them get their first so handily. A total of eight runs, with five home runs! I do hope they save some offense for the rest of the season.

 

Tonight is the final game of the NCAA Tournament. I plan on watching. I hope I can stay awake long enough to watch the whole game.

 

Sports on TV.... One of life's great pleasures.

Mom Update

Lew and I went to see Mom this morning. I brought her iPad and Kindle to her, so maybe she will be reading this post sometime soon. (Hi, Mom!)

 

She has three or four different sessions every day, so she's pretty tired. Her favorite thing is "therapeutic dining" -- NOT! Once she is able to eat normally, she won't need to go to "therapeutic dining," so that is a goal for her to reach. (You can do it, Mom!)

 

Mom's roommate is the mother of one of my friends! I couldn't believe it when I heard. My friend said the same thing and then she said, "But I can." God is definitely at work.

 

Thank you for your continued prayers. It's been a long week for all of us, but Sunday's coming! Happy Easter!

Good Friday: Read All About It

(Instead of writing for five minutes today, I am encouraging you to read for that long. Below is my suggestion for reading material. Blessings to you on this day. And remember... Sunday's coming!)

 

 

John 19 [NIV84]

 

Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified

1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face.

4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him." 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!"

6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, "Crucify! Crucify!"

But Pilate answered, "You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him."

7 The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God."

8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. "Where do you come from?" he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"

11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."

12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar."

13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour.

"Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews.

15 But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!"

"Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked.

"We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.

16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 Here they crucified him, and with him two others–one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."

22 Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

24 "Let’s not tear it," they said to one another. "Let’s decide by lot who will get it."

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said,

"They divided my garments among them

and cast lots for my clothing."

So this is what the soldiers did.

25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," 27 and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

The Death of Jesus

28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken," 37 and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced."

The Burial of Jesus

38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

The Original Living Room Floor

When Lew and I were doing the house remodel eight years ago, I took some photos of the hardwood floor in the living room before we put the carpet in.

 

The floor is in pretty rough shape, but I do love the pattern of the layout. If we didn't need something more maintainable, I would consider restoring it!

 

 

Dad 247: We Travel a New Road

(Dad summarizes the events of the last few days in his post today. Thank you for your prayers!  ~ Tracy)

Derf Here! Enjoying another bright, beautiful day here in the Northeast. However, it is still cold. As I write this we are slowly climbing to the freezing temperature. I'm ready for April! OH! It is April! Doesn't feel like April. I'm ready for it to feel like April.

There are several events that happen to individuals that one remembers. Such events include graduations, marriages, births, and several others not mentioned here.

The above events all are joyful events. I'm sure we can all think of many more happy occasions. Along with these happy times there are some things that happen that are not in the enjoyable column.  These events must be dealt with as a part of life.  They happen even though no one wants them to occur.

Last Friday was not an unusual day for Spouse (a.k.a. Mary Lou) and me. We watched the game shows from 7:00-8:00PM as usual. Then Spouse proceeded to go to bed as I remained on the couch. About 9:00PM, daughter (a.k.a. Tracy) came to our place for her "good night" along with her big cat (a.k.a. Jerry). This is a usual event.

I was on the couch watching basketball games on the big screen and my little extra screen. It is "March Madness."

A short time after 9:10PM Spouse called my name. I don't recall what else she said. I muted the TV and went to the bed. As I glanced at her, I knew Spouse was having a stroke. Her speech was slurred and the weakness on her left side was quite visible. A phone call to Tracy was made. Tracy and Lew came over and while Tracy called 911 I called Glen (our E.M.T. son-in-law). Strange circumstances had happened and Glen was already on his way.  In a matter of minutes our house was surrounded by police, fire, and rescue vehicles. The first responder was our good friend Lonny. And then the house was filled with people (some well known to us while others were strangers).

Well, I rode to Maine Medical Center in the rescue van. It was a quick trip. Tracy and Lew followed in their car. Our time frame was such that some type of a drug used to blast the stroke was used. It is successful in about one-third of the cases. Suffice it to say it did not have the desired results in Spouse's case.

Spouse was moved to a critical care room around midnight. We arrived home around 1:00AM. Spouse remained in critical care Saturday and Sunday as they continued to get vitals constant. She was moved to another room on Monday and monitored with all sorts of wires. All the time she was being challenged by therapists. I'm telling you. they don't allow her much rest! Even had her sitting in a recliner when I went home Monday. She was very tired!

I was surprised to receive a call from Maine Med yesterday (Tuesday) morning telling me the doctor thought she was ready for rehab. It would not be my decision but I'm not the professional. Well, she is now in rehab and as I left last night she was seated in a wheelchair and about to go to a room for eating. I doubt she ate anything. She will be under high-intensive rehab for three hours each day. She has some motion in her left leg, still has slurred speech, and has little or no movement in her left arm or hand. Left shoulder has some movement. Very, very tired.

It will be a long road to recovery. As of 9:10 PM Friday evening, our lifestyle suddenly changed.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers! All are welcome.

Sorry to my editor for being so long, but wanted to cover as much as possible. Soooo.....

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!