Rebel Without a Cause

Brody thought he was pretty cool when Devan put those tattoos on him. Indeed, he does seem like a rebel sometimes. He loves it outside but he is a fast little bugger, too bad grandma isn’t. I don’t dare take him for a walk and not use the stroller. I tried that once and it was a pretty dumb idea. He started running ahead of me when we got down by the river. He took off like a shot toward the river back because he wanted to throw rocks in the river. I took off as fast as I can and got to him before he got too close but it scared the bejeezer’s out of me. So I learned my lesson. No more walks without the stroller. He might not like that idea but he will just have to deal with it unless his brother and sister are with us or his mom takes him.

Bill finally bought himself a new toy. I don’t know why he didn’t buy one years ago as we have a pretty big yard to mow. The first time he mowed this year with the push mower took a lot out of him. I don’t think he’s totally back to normal after getting the pacemaker so it really tired him out. It made me nervous too so I kept looking out to make sure he was ok. We hated to spend the money for what these cost but in the end it’s worth if it makes it easier for him. All I can say is thank God for that 30 day even heart monitor for without it I really think the worse would have happened. I jokingly said that I was going to drive it up to the bar on granny’s night out. Wouldn’t that be a hoot? Now Bill gets mad that the grass doesn’t grow fast enough lol. You know what they say about men and boys and the price of their toys!

Josh is such a monkey. That kid will climb anything and there isn’t much that scares him. This was taken out of my dining room window. Not only that,  he’s very creative. Would you believe that he made a billfold out of duck tape? It even had slots for cards and DL license in it. I wish I had a picture of it because it was the neatest thing. I guess it’s true that you can use duct tape for just about anything lol. He takes old cereal boxes and cardboard and make ramps for his finger sized skate boards. I’m amazed at his imagination.

It’s time for me to get cracking around here. Hope you all are well and good. Well, maybe not good hehe. See ya soon!

On,off, on off

That’s what our neighbors light over her garage was doing the other night. Bill looked out the window and told me Marilyn’s light is flashing on and off.

Since I was still dressed and he was in his pj’s I said I would go over and check on her.

We wondered of course if she was okay so I put my shoes on and went over there. I knocked on her door and started to open it when she came to the door and I asked her if she was alright. She had been crying but she was okay. It turns out that she had been watching a movie on television and she said she always cries at movies. I told her we wondered if everything was okay because her light on the garage kept flashing but it turns out that something was wrong with the light. She was thankful for me coming over to check on her but felt silly because I caught her crying lol. I told her I was just glad she was okay and that nothing was wrong. I do wonder if the light might have shorted out eventually though and maybe cause some problems there. It’s fixed now and all is good

It seems things are getting worse in Japan if that’s possible. The nuclear reactors are presenting a huge danger and I hope and pray they can get them contained so no more radiation is leaked. I feel so bad for them. I can’t even begin to imagine what they are going through.  So many have lost loved ones not to mention everything they owned. They have a long road ahead of them to rebuild and how do you even begin to do that? My heart goes out to them.

Well Brody just woke up so I guess my day has started. Please have a good day. Go out and do something fun. I think I might take Brody outside and go for a walk today. It’s suppose to get all the way up to 59 and that’s going to feel great!!!

Don’t forget to…

Live, Laugh & Be Happy!

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

Thank God for Heart Monitors

For without it we might never have found out that Bill needed a pacemaker. I know Terry told you that he had one implanted last Monday and I thank you all for the prayers you sent. He started having fainting episodes and even though I took him to the ER each time and he even spent time in the VA hospital nothing ever showed up on all the tests they took. The second time it happened and I took him to the ER the doctor there thought that his heart was slowing or missing beats I guess you could say and he’s the one who ordered the 30 day event monitor. After he got that he still spent a few days in the VA hospital but nothing showed. They sent him home and told him to keep wearing the monitor and thank God he did. A week ago Friday he had another spell and pushed the button on the monitor. The next day the doctor called and told him that he needs to get to the hospital asap and that he needed a pacemaker. He told the doctor that he had an appointment the next Friday in Madison at the VA but the doctor here told him he shouldn’t wait that long. She said to come up to the hospital here and get a copy of the results from the monitor and to take them with us but to go the next day to Madison and show them what’s going on. She showed them to me and explained that his heart was stopping for 3 1/2 seconds then beats and stops again for a few more seconds. When it stops for 5 or 6 seconds or more is when he passes out. Then when it starts beating again is when he comes to. Eventually she said that it was very possible that one of those times it might not have started beating again. He then decided not to wait and went ahead and had the surgery here in our local hospital instead of going to the VA.

Each episode he had was almost a month apart for each one and the last one he had happened just two days before we were suppose to send the monitor back in. All I can say is, as funny as it sounds, I’m so glad and grateful that he had another one while he was still wearing the monitor, otherwise we would have never known and I hate to think what might have happened. So anyway, he had the pacemaker implanted on Monday and he’s back home and recuperating nicely. He’s still a little weak and he can’t drive for a couple of weeks or lift anything over 10 pounds. He also can’t raise his arm over his head. I guess he could pull the leads out of his heart until they get imbedded securely and we sure don’t want that to happen do we? I tell ya, it’s scary how fast things can happen. You just never know do ya? That’s why it’s so important to let those you love know just how much they mean to you and that you love them each and every day.

On a happier note my grandson Josh turned 13 on the 10th. I don’t know if I’m ready to go through the teen years again. It was hard enough with my own kids. I  have a feeling it will be worse with my grandkids, I’ll worry just as much if not more, I just know it! Anyway, I took him birthday shopping today. He wanted a skate board so off we went to the store where he picked out a pretty red one. I guess they come in different sizes depending on how big you are. That makes sense when you think about it. So he’s one happy skater right now and I’m a happy grandma. I enjoy taking them shopping on their birthdays. It is our special time, just the two of us. I love it!

Isn’t it awful about the earthquake in Japan? I can’t imagine what that is like and the devastation and loss of life is beyond comprehension. I feel so bad for them. It will be several years before they recover from this if they ever do. I pray the nuclear plants doesn’t leak radiation and cause more grief then they are already going through. May God bless and be with them all!

That’s what’s been going on in my little world. What’s been going on in yours? Hoping all is well.

Don’t forget to…Live, Laugh, Love & Be Happy!

Computing

Isn’t this cute? My daughter bought herself a new laptop and Brody kept wanting to play with it so she bought him his own. She’s slowly buying things for her new place when she moves out. She also bought a set of Racheal Ray pots and pans, a set of Chicago Cutlery and a set of dishes so she’s well on her way to getting things she’ll need to set up housekeeping again.  She hopes to be out by spring. I must say having a 2 year old around the house again is both fun and frustrating. He can be pretty stubborn at times and I have to be more stubborn then he is. But on the other hand he makes the day fun for the most part and makes me smile. Having toys laying around and the mess that comes with kids was hard getting use to again though.  But it won’t be long and they’ll be gone and I will miss them for sure and the mess….for awhile!

I’m very happy to report that both Bill and William are doing great. Bill did have a little dizzy spell the other day but he thinks it was because he bent over to pick something up and came up too fast. They did reduce his bp meds so we are hoping that does the trick. Seems like it’s working so far. He’s still wearing the event monitor and did push it when he got dizzy and sent it in but we haven’t heard anything so I assume it showed that it was nothing. William hasn’t had any issues since his surgery thank God! I can breathe a little easier now.

I am so far behind on what is going on with all of you and I’m sorry about that. I just don’t have the time I use too but do check in now and then. Google reader keeps all of your blogs together for me so I can read and come visit from there when I have the time. I do miss all of you terribly and am determined to do better then I have. I even went to the library to get a couple of books I’ve been wanting to read and haven’t even been able to do that yet. I even had to renew them once and that’s unusual for me. 

Would like to do a little plugging here if you don’t mind. My son wrote another short story and he would be tickled pink for you to read it. You can find it here.

Well that’s all for today. I’m sure as long as I’ve been away that there must be a lot more I could talk about but my minds a blank right now. Besides, you don’t want to sit here all day and read about my boring life now do you lol. So until next time…

Live, Love, Laugh & Be Happy!

Thank you

For your prayers for Bill and William. Thank God both are home and feeling well. Williams procedure was quite long, 5 hours and very nerve wracking. They were successful in doing what was needed when they were finally able to get to it. They tried to go through his thigh but because of him having so many surgeries and heart caths the veins there were narrowed with scar tissue and they couldn’t get through. Instead they went in through his shoulder and neck area. Since they were in there they decided to take the opportunity and check his other surgery sites to see how they are holding up and I’m happy to report that they said they all look great! I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that. I hope and pray he never has to go through anything else as long as I’m still alive. We have been told that he may have to have another open heart when he’s older as the valve they repaired when he was 4 might need replacing someday. I pray it won’t be for many many years from now.

Bill’s problem is a mystery. He’s passed out twice with the last one being a week ago. It scared me to death. He collapsed on the couch and he wouldn’t respond to anything I did. I ran to the phone and dialed 911 then ran to the kitchen to get some sugar or honey to put in his mouth in case it was a diabetic reaction but before I could do that he came too. When the ambulance got here they took his sugar and it was fine, 103 but the ekg was a bit erratic. At the ER they did more tests and found nothing other then the ekg being a bit different but they said he didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke so they didn’t really know what’s wrong. They ordered an even monitor to wear for a month and he’s to push a button when he feels something is going on so it can be recorded. On Monday he called his doc at the VA Clinic and they had us fax the reports from the ER down here. On Tuesday they called and said for him to get up there to the ER as soon as he can. So, we jump in the Van and head to Madison. Did I ever tell you how much I hate driving that Van lol? Ok, we get up to the ER there and they admit him to the hospital. There again after taking all the tests again nothing shows up. He was there from Tuesday to Friday without passing out but does get lightheaded. Bill has lost weight and was on 4 BP meds so they took 3 of them away thinking that he might have been over medicated. I hope that’s what it is and it will be the end of his fainting spells. He’s suppose to take his BP here at  home and keep track of it for his next appointment. They said he can resume his normal activities but not to drive for awhile. They said they are not telling him to never drive but not to until we see how he does.

The best part (if that’s possible) of Bill and William both being in Madison was that I could go from one hospital to the other to see them. The VA hospital, the UW hospital and the Children’s hospital are all connected with walk ways and hallways. Even though it’s quite a walk I could go visit without ever stepping outside. I came home the first night as I didn’t have time to pack anything but I stayed in a hotel the next night. I decided to take my car back and I’m glad I did. I feel so much better driving I90 in my car then I do that big ole van.

It was so cold this week and when I left the hospital to go to the hotel my drivers door was froze shut. I thought “Oh boy, what am I going to do if both are froze” The hotel was just down the street but still quite a walk in that sub zero temps. Luckily though the passenger door opened and I crawled over and left. The next morning it opened. Go figure right lol.

So I’m happy to say that he didn’t have an heart attack or stroke or anything serious like that but we just don’t know what it was. I hope reducing his meds does the trick.

Thank you again for all your prayers. Bill, William and I and my entire family appreciates each and every one!

A bet is a bet

My youngest son is a Steelers fan and he made a bet with a co-worker who is a Packer fan that if the Pack won the Super Bowl that he would shave his head. Well, we know how that turned out don’t we? My son, being a man of character, isn’t one who welches on a bet. They were all at our other son’s house for a Super Bowl Party so after the game was over they broke out the clippers and proceeded to shave his head. I think he looks pretty cute bald. What do you think?

His girlfriend who is a die hard Packer fan was really enjoying this. He’s such a good sport and loves having fun so I’m sure he was laughing right along with the rest of them.

Not only that. Because he was the only Steelers fan in the house they even gave him a special place to sit and watch the game.

Wasn’t that nice of them? He also made a bet with his girlfriend and has to take her to the Red Lobster for dinner. Darn, I wish I’d made a bet with him.

Checking in

William is scheduled to have the catheter ablation on the 9th, 2 days after his 19th birthday. They are going to do another sonogram on his legs first to make sure there is no scar tissue on the veins that they need to use, if there is they have to find another way to do it. I’m going to go with them of course. I just couldn’t stay home and wonder all day what’s going on. If all goes well (and it will) he’ll go in in the morning and go home late afternoon. He seems to be fine with it and says he’s not nervous but the day of he might be. I know I would be and he doesn’t remember anything from his other surgeries. Last week he had an echo-cardiogram and other tests done to see how his heart is doing from his past surgeries etc. and they said that all looks really good. I’m sure grateful for that. Even though I know he’ll be fine I’m still nervous and anxious and will be happy when it’s all over and he’s back home.

Brody has been keeping me busy. He sure is a curious tyke. He likes to get in my book shelf even though he knows he’s not suppose too. The other day he was standing by it looking and you

can tell that he thinking to himself that he’s not suppose to touch them. He was drumming his fingers and contemplating the options lol Then he looks up at me and you guessed it. He reached up to pull one out looking at me the whole time. It’s just like he’s saying to himself. “If I do’d it I’ll get a whipping but I’ll do’d it anyway lol. Another thing he likes to do is as you can tell from the background is to take all of his toys out and spread them all around. The other day though he was so cute. He emptied the drawer and…

He thought that was so funny. That pic was taken before he got his haircut if you didn’t notice lol.

Tomorrow we are suppose to go out for breakfast with the gang again but if that blizzard hits us like they are predicting we’ll most likely stay home. I hope this is the last big punch winter hits us with this year!

If you’re in the path of the storm please stay safe and out of harms way. Keeping my fingers crossed that the power stays on. It’s 11:00 a.m. here right now and so far it’s just a real light snow falling. Could they be wrong…AGAIN!

They tried to scam me

Way back several years ago when we got our first cell phones we got them through the union where Bill worked. It was and is a great deal as we only pay $8.00 a month per phone and only 9 cents a minute. We don’t use our phones a lot so I’ve never seen any reason to change to a different plan. The people at the phone store tells us we have a great plan every time we got to get new phones so I’m sticking with it. Our monthly bill is seldom more then $25.00 for both phones so you can see what I won’t change. If we used our phones a lot then I would probably change to plans that have unlimited minutes, texting and things like that but we don’t and those plans are usually about double for one phone then what we pay for two.

Anyway… Bill wanted a new phone so about a month ago we went to the store so he could pick it out . He had internet and texting put on it as do I but it’s on a pay per use method as we don’t do that much either. The reason he wanted internet was because he wanted to download reveille for a ring tone. Ok, I got on the internet and downloaded it for him and all was good.  The phone he got is a touch screen and he sometimes hits the internet app by accident and when he does that and it connects we get charged so he decided he didn’t want internet anymore. So, the other day I called our carrier and told them to take texting and internet off of Bills phone. Because we got the phone through the union the name of the union is always on our bill so it’s classified as a business plan. When I gave the representative all the info she told me that I’d have to get permission from the union before she could take those off his phone. I told her that we didn’t have to get permission to put it on there so why should we need it to take it off. She said there was nothing she could do about it as that’s out of her hands. I told her that doesn’t make any sense and to me that’s nothing more then a scam. If you don’t need permission to put it on you shouldn’t need it to take it off right?  Well I wasn’t about to accept that so I told her that I wanted to talk to a supervisor where she promptly told me that the super would tell me the same thing. I told her that I’ll find that out for myself and to please put me through. After a few minutes the super came on the line, asked me what I wanted then proceeded to do what I asked with no argument. Now does that make sense to you?

It’s obvious they just tell their reps to tell people that to try to keep them from removing things off of their plan but it makes it so much harder for every one involved. It’s a scam pure and simple and I’m sure some people will just take their word for it and leave it as is. Why do they do that? I was nice during the call but the more the rep tried to tell me I couldn’t the more frustrated I was getting and that’s when I asked to speak to a super. Then to only have the super do what I wanted with no argument seems so ridiculous to me. They shouldn’t put their reps through that in my opinion.

On a happier note…HOW BOUT THEM PACKERS

Now that I have a minute

I thought I would surprise you all and write a blog.

We had a little scare yesterday. This time it was Bill instead of William. He was outside and Devan happen to  look out the window, turned around and yelled, “Grandpa fell down, he’s laying on the ground!” Deanna and I ran out side just as he was getting up and she helped him back inside. He said all of a sudden he felt dizzy and light headed and the next thing he knew he woke up on the ground. We took his blood sugar but that was fine, 120. I took him to the ER and they ran all kinds of tests. You know the usual, ekg, cat scan, blood and urine etc. but found nothing wrong. He hasn’t been sick or anything either so we have no idea why he did that. At one time in the hospital his blood pressure when up to 180/77 but then it went back to where it should be. I don’t know if it dropped all of a sudden when he was outside that caused that or what but it’s a mystery. He did cut his head when he fell and got a couple of staples put in but nothing else was hurt from the fall. What he liked the most at the hospital was that every nurse that came in couldn’t believe that he is 70 years old. I bet he was told that at least 5 times yesterday lol. Of course he ate that right up. Anyway, nothing showed up on any of the tests and he seems fine today. I just hope it never happens again, I/we don’t need a scare like that ever again.

Brody keeps me pretty busy. He’s such a 2 year old lol. Terrible two’s is a perfect description for him. One day he got a hold of a black marker somehow and wrote all over my kitchen wall. Thank God I was able to get it off as it wasn’t one of those erasable kind. Since our oldest son is out of town we also have his dog here and neither one of them likes the other sitting on my lap. Snuff is a Chihuahua and a needy dog. He follows me around constantly and if I’m sitting down he’s on my lap. If I go in another room he’s right behind me. Brody and him both have to be on my lap so that makes it hard to be on the computer lol.

William seems to be doing well on the meds the doctor gave him and has had no problems since. When his dad gets home, which will be today sometime, he’ll get in touch with the doctors in Madison and decide what to do. I think William would prefer to stay on the medication and he is 18 so that makes it his decision so we’ll see. I just want him to be okay and not have anymore problems for many many many years. Thank you all for keeping him in your prayers. I can’t tell you how much that means to me!

I’m sure I have more to tell you but nothing else comes to mind right now. When something happens I think “I need to blog about that” but then I get distracted or busy and the chance is gone. The kids are gone right now so I’m taking the opportunity to do some catching up and let you know a little of what’s going on around here.

I hope you all are (NOT) behaving yourselves and hope the new year started off good for you. It’s time for me to start dinner so I better feed the animals here before they start growling but after I’ll be around to see as many of you as I can before I get distracted again. Supper should be ready by the time they get back so they can eat and I can visit lol. See ya soon!

Supraventricular Tachycardia

William has Supraventricular Tachycardia, Tachycardias are rhythm disorders in which the heart beats faster than normal. They are generally not life threatening unless you have other heart disorders. But because of Williams history and the fact that he gets dizzy and lightheaded, short of breath and has pain with it makes it dangerous for him. They gave him some meds to get him through the holidays but are setting up an appointment in Madison to have a procedure where they go up through his groin into his heart and see what’s going on. They can follow his beat and see the electric current that is making his heart speed up like that and fix it.
They said he has 3 options. Take meds, have the procedure done or do nothing. Because he has dizziness, pain and shortness of breath I don’t think doing nothing is a good idea. I’m not crazy about taking the medicine Diltiazem for very long either. He has a low blood pressure normally anyway and that medicine can lower it even more. What do you do for someone whose blood pressure drops? That makes me nervous too. We are also not crazy about having the procedure done either but it does seem like the best option, at least that way it will be fixed and over and done with and he won’t have this happen to him anymore and won’t have to take pills the rest of his life.

So that’s where we are at right now. They will be getting a hold of us to let us know when to take him to Madison but I imagine it won’t be until after the first of the year. I’m glad they want him to go to Madison and have it done at the University hospital. That’s where he’s had most of his surgeries and they have all his records there. I did like the doctor in Janesville but he said he’d also feel better with him going there. A doctor who says that tells me he’s a good doctor. He said he does those procedures but the University has better equipment and they know William there.

Well I better go and get busy. No matter what Christmas is just a couple days away and I have tons to do yet. I think I’ll go to the grocery store today and beat the last minute shoppers. I’m looking forward to having all the kids home, I always love that. So from my house and family to yours I wish a Very Merry and Blessed Christmas and I hope the New Year treats you well.

Love & Hugs to all!