Mom's heart scare.

This past Monday (6/15/2009) my mom started experiencing a burning sensation in her jaw and neck. She woke my dad and asked him to take her to the hospital. He did (after taking a shower first). When my mom describe her symptoms, they rushed her back to run the gambit of test for her heart. Oh, let's see if I can remember them all.
1. She had a heart cath: A thin hollow flexible tube is inserted in the artery by the groin.
Pressure was measured and an x-ray angiogram movie of the heart and blood vessels are taken. They inject a "dye" through the catheter to make the arteries visible on the x-ray movie. I was surprised that they keep you awake for this one!

2. Ultrasounds on her heart and legs.

3. TEE (trans-thoracic echocardiogram)

Mom said the TEE was torturous! She said the tub going in wasn't that bad, but then the doctor asked her to cough. That is when the gag reflex kicked in and 2 nurses had to hold her down as she thrashed around til the doctor pulled it out. It is, of course, completely normal. Who wouldn't gag and thrash.
I'm sure there's more, but this is me so what do you expect.
With these procedures, they were able to see that my mom had a small heart attack in her right ventricle. The cause of the heart attack was a blood clot found in a vein at the base of her heart. Her arteries are otherwise clean; no plaque. She does have slightly high cholesterol, so the doctor proscribed her some meds for that and blood thinners. Also, they gave her nitroglycerin tablets to carry around with her. If she develops the same symptoms (burning sensation of jaw and throat.) She is suppose to take up to 3. If after three, the symptoms don't go away, then she is to go to the ER.

So that is the facts of it all, here is how it all went down on my end. My dad called me Monday morning at 9:35 to tell me something was wrong with mom and that she is with the doctors in the ER. I spent the morning waiting, worrying and praying (kids included). My dad told me they might put in a stint. If they did, there is a risk of a heart attack during the procedure. Later, he calls me and tells me she had a heart attack. For you Facebookers, you will remember I thought she got a heart attack from the stint. I was wrong and didn't know the full story til I drove to Wausau, to visit my mom. There, I got the info from the horses mouth, ie, my mom.
I left, Tuesday afternoon with the kids for Wausau. I drove to my sister's new house, dropped off the dog and kids with Laura's mother-in-law, Carla. The kids were just too antsy to visit grandma in the hospital. I got the blessed opportunity to meet the male nurse who talked too much and butted in on our conversations. I mean, the man well meaning, but he was just too much.
The next day was Wednesday, check out day. Mom was so eager to get out of the hospital. Plus, Laura was having an ultrasound that day and mom wanted to tag along. I met mom at the hospital just before she left with Laura, because I was in charge of gathering the massive amount of flowers people had brought her in the hospital. She got so many complements and comments on the numerous flowers she received. One nurse asked her how long she had been there and was shock when my mom told her two days.
After dropping the flowers off at mom and dad's house I met them, laura, Jeremy, and Carla, at Buffalo Wild Wings were we all learned that Laura is having a girl, Sydney Mae. Yay!!!

I am so glad I went up there. Not only did I get to see the ultrasound pictures right away, I was able to help my mom out a little. Some of you may already know that my mom is not one for sitting down. She is persistently on the move and has a million projects she is doing or wants to do. Telling her she can't lift anything over 5 lbs for 48 hours is equivalent to torture. But, that was the doctor's orders, so she had to allow me to things for her like plant the flowers she got while in the hospital in her garden (at least the ones that were potted) from and do laundry. Luckily, my aunt Jackie cleans her house every Monday, so she doesn't need to worry about that. I just wish I could have gotten her lawn mowed, but we ran out of time. I'm hoping my brother or dad will take care of that.
I can't believe how fast the time went. Mom is going back to work next Monday already. I wish could be up there longer to help her more. She isn't suppose to lift anything over 10 lbs for the next month. Yeah, I give her a week.
During my visit I made note of several things. One, my mom is proof that a life serving others is a blessing with rich returns. The day after she is out of the hospital she is having me take individual pictures of the flowers she received, so she can make personal "thank yous." Her mind was yet again on others. She saw how many people called her, sent her cards, and gifts. I could see she was blown away and yet she says, "oh, don't waste your money." I think it did her good to see that she was so loved. I know it was a testimony I won't forget, and that's saying something. The second thing I noticed was, the power of prayer. When I heard my mom's health was in jeopardy, I logged on to Facebook and pleaded for prayer on her behalf. I'm so thankful for all who lifted her life up before the Lord. Most had never met my mother or barely knew her! While I was driving up to Wausau, I did have a sense of calm wave over me. I just knew that things were going to be okay. Finally three, God is good. Oh, I've known that for awhile now, but it was nice to be reminded.
Mom's little scare helped her (and me) see the need to slow down, enjoy life a little more, stop stressing so much about little things, cherish those you love and allow other to serve you so they can be so blessed. Now, hopefully she will heed the Lord's little tap on the shoulder and gather the blessings He wishes to lavish on her.

Fame and new swing set.

The kids and I went to Farm and Fleet to buy a much needed weed-whacker. After locating it, we went to look for swing sets. I just went straight down the isle without really looking what was ahead of me. I was a little annoyed with all the cords laying around for me to maneuver my cart around, so I wasn't really looking as I loudly drove my cart into the production of a Farm and Fleet commercial. Oh, the massive embarrassment followed by apologies. So, after slinking out of there, we finally found the swing sets that were actually sold-out. Well we were already there, so we stuck around as they filmed the commercial. Zach was enthralled with the whole process and super excited when the main actor waved at him. Sam on the other hand, just played with the stuff animals on a nearby stand. I practically had to drag Zach out of there. He started plotting on how he could stumble into the commercial. Sorry buddy!

I did eventually find a swing set at Toys R Us which was last years model and on clearance. It took 3 days to put up. And technically it's not finished because we still need to put on the other 3 anchors. Oh, and if I every find the guy who put the directions together, I might strangle him.
But, after all the pain, sweat, and sudden out burst of screaming. The kids finally got to enjoy it a little with their neighbor friend, Lily.


One more little side note, there is suppose to be a teeter-tooter connected to the swing set, but it is currently on the rafters in the shed. Why? Because the lovely directions don't tell you which legs go where so we have the leg where the teeter-tooter attaches in the front. Turns out it has to be in the back or you can't connect it. So, in order to put the teeter-tooter on, we have to take off the 2 legs on the side and switch them. Matt, said that's not going to happen anytime soon (if at all).

Memorial weekend summary

We had a wonderful vacation up north this memorial weekend. We loaded up the van with camping gear, suitcases, and our dog Frost on Friday and didn't get back til Monday night (Memorial Day). 4-day vacation that went by way too fast. The original plan was to camp then help my sister move into her new house the last two days of our vacation. We arrived in Wausau around 4 PM on Friday stopped to pick up our cook-out food before heading to the camp site. Talked to Chris Stoerzer on the phone and discovered I had the wrong day for the camping trip/party. Thankfully it was still that weekend but instead of it being on Friday the party was actually on Sunday...oops! So, I called my mom and found out that there was a mix up with the bank's mortgage loan for Laura and Jeremy and it was on hold til it could be straightened out. Of course being a holiday weekend, that wasn't going to happen until the following Tuesday. That meant no moving for them til after I leave town >:-\. Frustrating for them, helpful to us. It kinda all worked out. Matt and I went to see the movie Terminator Salvation with my parents that evening, while the kids stayed with my grandpa Mathie and were able to spend quality time with him. Terminator Salvation was okay. Had some plot holes, but it's an action movie and had some great fight scenes, explosions, and an interesting enough story to keep my attention. Out of 10 stars, I give it a 6. The latest Star Trek movie, now that was a 9 out of 10.
The next day was an eventful kind of day filled with ATV rides for the kids, pond hopping with a snowmobile, shopping and golf. Well, Matt went golfing with my dad, Mike and Jacob. Mom, Laura and I went shopping. I bought some much needed shoes since I now have to wear arch supports, my shoes need to be a 1/2 size bigger to accommodate both arch supports and feet. I only brought with me one pair of shoes that were too small and hurt my feet. I found a comfy pair of shoes and of course, my mom found Sam a cute pink dress that was sale. Poor Zach was stuck shopping with us ladies and eventually ended up with a headache. We then went shopping for groceries and headed back to Mom and Dad's house for a cook out.
I suppose I should explain the "pond hopping" thing. One of Dad's friends called him up and announces he is going to try and drive his old snowmobile across Lake Rusty (Dad's rather large pond). Upon hearing this news we all flocked to our cars and ATVs and headed down to the pond. Where we got to see this:

It was an old junky snowmobile that was going to be pitched anyway, but this was a way more fun way to do it! They had attached a buoy so when they succeeded in sinking it, they could find it and drag it out with the truck. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to film the dragging it out part due to a bathroom emergency for Zach.
Now on to Sunday, the camping trip. Chris's father-in-law has some land and they use part of it as a camp site for themselves. Chris and Kristy have a camper that they keep on the property which is great because I really don't like going to the bathroom in the tick infested woods. Oi, the ticks and mosquitoes are bad this year. God bless repellent, man! We were able to get out of there tick free! I can't say that for everyone there though. Anyway, we had a blast getting together with old friends and meeting new ones! Something about a great campfire that brings people together.

Got a chance to test out our new tent which did a great job staying up against the strong wind that seemed determined to knock it down.

Listened to Matt and Chris do their Monte Python bits which I can't believe they still remember after all these years. Chris seems to have a endless supply of movie, TV, and book quotes stored in his head which he is able to access at anytime for the benefit of us all (who get to try and guess where the quote is from). The kids were excited to stay up late and eat S'mores. After they went to bed us adults stayed up past one just chatting and laughing.
The next day was really windy so the kites were brought out. One escaped and ended up in the trees

The kids played games with their new friends.


Then we took a walk down to a farmer friend of Chris and Kristy who had horses and the kids were able to feed them carrots and pet the dogs. Chris told this hilarious story about the first time he got to ride one of the horses. Who turns out didn't like Chris very much and galloped away with Chris holding on for dear life and praying like mad! The good Lord took pity on him because the horse eventually slowed down and Chris leaped off.
Before long we were packing up the van and heading back to my parents to pick up Frost and head for home. Oh yeah, we didn't take Frost with us camping because we didn't want to deal with watching her and yelling at her to stop jumping up on people or wondering off. My mom graciously took care of her which she soon regretted because Frost pooped on her brand-new rug, argh!
So, we are now home again, nursing our sun burns, and back to our old routine.

Kids bedroom ceiling

I can't believe it, the kids dangerous-soon-to-fall-in-ceiling is fixed! The room has been freshly painted and the kids are back in it now enjoying their dad reading them a story.
The man who fixed out ceiling was Ben O'lery. He goes to church with us and is definitely a God sent. He's honest, does good work, and kept his promises! I was starting to think those qualities didn't exist with contractors. Yeah!!

Ringing update

The Dr. Laurel Romer thinks the ringing is from too much aspirin. She asks that I dial back on the amount of aspirin I use. If possible I'm suppose to not use any aspirin and see if it goes away. If it doesn't subside, then it's off to the ENT doctor. Well, I've been aspirin free for about 2 weeks now and the ringing has been less frequent. Yay!!

Quest Open House performances.

Last night was Quest Open House. Parents and friends gathered at Roxbury Church here in town to see all the things the kids have learned this semester. We had a great time! Matt switched his work schedule to a day shift so he could attend. I can't even express how great that was to have him there. Matt was the camcorder operator which allowed me to attend to my ASL (Sign Language) students. Here are some videos of the students showing off the ASL stories they learned. All the stories are fictional except Zach's story which was an introduction.







They all did a wonderful job. The ASL course I used to teach my students was created by a Deaf Director / Instructor / Webmaster: William G. Vicars. His full course can be found at: www.lifeprint.com

Next set of vids are about Kindom series Medieval History class. This class was taught by Iaci Flanders. She was awesome. Always engaging the kids, making history come alive and interesting.

This next video has two boys from the medieval history class sword fighting with swords made out of PVC pipes.

Okay, last video. Zach talks about his Templar Knight costume. He talks really quiet so it is hard to hear what he says. But he basically explains that he pick being a Templar Knight because it's the only costume Mom knew how to make :). It's funny, because Matt made most of it.

Sam sang several songs for her choir class and Spanish class

Ring, ring...hello?

I've been experiencing ringing in my left ear. It's not a constant ringing, but it comes and goes. I don't really know what started it. I'm guessing it happen around the time I got a cold about 3 weeks ago. The cold was kinda bad but I didn't think it was that bad. Anyway, I set up an appointment for tomorrow, April 2nd. I really hope it goes away. It's annoying and causing problems for interpreting.