Joy's Blog

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My Heart Cries

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Our Jodi

We are so heavy hearted today. Our Jodi, Hans' caretaker, has been told that she more likely than not has Ovarian Cancer and Cancer of the Thyroid. She is so good and the most compassionate person we know. We have put her on our Church prayer chains and have prayed for her ourselves and will continue to do so. God is still in control and he is not out of the miracle business yet - not that I have heard. Jodi just cannot be sick. She is too precious to us. Maybe the next tests she has wi

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New Year - Renewed Hope

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. We have a Southern-German meal for New Year's Day. We have always eaten Black Eyed Peas (of course, with cornbread, onion and sweet iced tea) but Hans being German - he had always eaten Sauerkraut with Sausage for New Years Day. Sooo We have black eyed peas, sauerkraut, cornbread and tea now. I have everything ready to cook. Fortunately before Hans stroke I watched him cook the sauerkraut so now I can do it pretty much like he did. He drained it (out of the can

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Long time no Blog

Well, it's been a while since I have been here. I just have felt scattered. Two of Hans' recent surgeries have been on his right great toe. The first one was mid September. When we went back to the surgeon for a check on December 5th, he began talking amputation. We have done several pressure checks since the last surgery to put in stents in the leg to keep the artery open. His pressure is still very low in his feet. The doctor told us that we were looking at amputation just below the kne

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Aftermath

OK World, here we come. Hans sailed through his arteriogram and the placing of stunts in his artery like it was childs play. I was worried about him having to lay for so long on his back in order for the puncture wound to clog properly and not bleed. Wellllll They do a new procedure now and close that hole in the artery with a stitch. It's called Perclose Procedure. Even the hospitalist did not know about it and was getting upset that the nurses had let Hans turn on his side only two hour

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Hans is slipping

Well, I have to adjust to Hans' decline in the health area. After his colostomy, he had to have surgery on his toe. It had a blood clot under the nail the began to bleed out. I could not stop the bleeding and his surgeon removed part of the toe nail and the dead skin. Now every time he bumps it even a little, it bleeds terribly. Sometimes I can stop it right away and other times it bleeds for a couple of days. It is bleeding tonight. He has had some tests on his affected leg this week and

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Hans' surgery

I haven't blogged in a few days now - been at the hospital with my Sweetie. Last Monday he was in so much pain that I loaded him up and took him to the ER. After a Colonoscopy, CT Scan, Barium Enema and Sonogram, the Surgeon decided that he really need to have a Colostomy. They did that Wednesday afternoon. He handled the surgery wonderfully. Instead of the hour and a half they had told me it would take, it only took 45 minutes. The doctor said it was a Textbook Surgery and he was so please

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Good news

Well, got really good news today from my daughter, Phyllis. The spot on her liver is nothing to be concerned about. Thank you, Jesus, for answering that prayer in the affirmative.   Hans is still very listless today. He has run a low grade temp all week and not is not eating or drinking very much. Today has only eaten 1/2 sandwich, a glass of orange juice and about 1/4 fo a soda. Also a Boost drink. That is not much for a big man. His skin feels so dry even though I lotion him really

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My precious Hans

My precious Hans - I feel like tonight that he is slipping away from me. He has been really sleepy all day - only got up to eat breakfast and then again this afternoon when we had appointments at the vet for our cat and dog. He slept in his chair in the van while I took our babies in to the vet. When we got home, he went right back to bed. I checked his blood pressure and his pulse and they are normal for him - even a little higher than usual but not much. While he was up those few minutes,

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Bue Today

Today has been a good day but I still seem really down. I have been at our Church twice today and once yesterday taking things for the evacuees from Katrina. We have 90 people in our Church Family Life Center. They are so precious and have so little. We are trying to meet individual needs and they are so great. These people range in age from infant to grandparent. They came here with only the clothes on their backs and those needed washing so bad. Fortunately we have four showers in the F

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Another plus

I am so happy today. Hans and I both had Steroid injections in our backs yesterday and last night we slept six hours straight. No pain. I have hurt for so long that I almost forgot what it felt like to walk without pain. The slipped disc in my back must have really been affected by the steriods. Whatever - I am so grateful and thankful for the relief. Hans' general demeanor is better too. He cannot tell me he feels better but his smile is much wider and he doesn't frown as much when I tra

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New Aide

We are so very happy. We have a new aide for Hans and she is wonderful. I did not realize how really bad the one we had for 15 months was. She was a liar and just plain lazy. This young lady thinks she is supposed to work while she is here not stay on the computer or telephone or sleep. She baked us a cake one day and then cleaned the oven another day. She puts the dishes in the dishwasher immediately after we eat and insists on keeping the laundry done - FOLDED AND PUT AWAY. I only wish

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Just feelings

I'm so tired this morning. We've had four nights now that were not good. Up every two hours or so. That kinda makes me a zombie. We go back to Hans' Gastro man this afternoon. I sure hope he has some answers for us on the diarrhea situation. Hans and I both are about at our wits end. Our rope is too short to tie another knot in it.   His new chair is really good. It is so much more comfortable for him. Like I said before, it should be for the money it cost. I have bought really go

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So grateful

I've been smiling all day. Hans' new chair came yesterday. I could not believe the invoice that I saw - $9,403.00 for the chair. The chair is wonderful. It fits him like a glove. Has been adjusted to his height and weight. Everything is adjustable. It has a Hemi-tray for his right arm. It is so comfortable for him. We have to get used to the way it works. It responds more slowly to turns and backing up than his Hoveround. We will get used to it though and be able to do everything he w

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Today in History

Today has been a good day. Started out early going to therapy for my back. It is getting much better with the exercises and the traction. I hardly have any pain now. That's a really really good thing.   We are still waiting for Hans' new chair. Maybe it will come tomorrow. They said three to four weeks and we're going on five weeks now. I know - patience, patience, patience. Oh, well, when it gets here - it gets here. I just hope it is exactly what he needs. If not, I know better

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Something Good

When I woke up this morning, I was smiling. Just felt like something good was going to happen today. All day long, I kept waiting for the "something good" to happen. Hans' aide came late this morning, didn't even ruffle my feathers. Went to the store, got everything on my list, visited the cemetary, came home still expectant. Had wonderful lunch brought by our church. Took good nap - then got up and did some laundry. Ordered Pizza for supper. Ate all of mine - boy, I shouldn't have done

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Tests complete

Today was the culmination of two days of starvation for both of us. When Hans can't eat, I won't either so we have eaten a lot of lime Jello and drank everything in sight that could be considered "clear liquids". I had my MRI on my back yesterday (Thursday) and got home in time to get Hans to the hospital to pre-register for his procedures this morning. We were at the hospital from 2:30 until nearly 5:00 just getting some blood work done and an EKG. It was like a three ring circus there. No

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And the poop goes on

Well, we have had a few nights of fairly good sleep and all seems well with our world today. I have all the Stool Samples ready and in their little brown bag to go to the lab Friday when Hans has his procedures done. His diarrhea problem has been going on now for over a year and that is way too long. We were working with the only Gastro person in our county until he was arrested for sexual assault on two female patients. I really liked that man, too. I was very disappointed in him and so up

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Good to be back

It's so good to be back on the internet. My computer has been in the intensive care ward for the last two weeks and sure hae missed this fellowship. It's back now. Not a hundred percent but it is working. Things here at home are about the same. We have been to the Podiatrist and got Hans toe nails all done up. Maybe now, I can keep them that way now that I know what to do. I bought this battery powered thing that the Doctor recommended and it really works good. It just trims off the nail

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New Van

We are so enjoying our new van. The other on was a disaster and I was so tense not knowing whether the door was going to work or not and whether the ramp would come down and if it came down - would it go back up. I finally contacted the company I bought it from and they agreed to buy it back for what I paid them for it. Surprise surprise surprise. I bought one that is a factory conversion and is it ever nice. There is even a magnetic eye in the passenger side rear light that will open and

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Trip to Bluebonnet Festival

Yesterday really set in stone that Hans just does not do crowds well anymore. I wanted so bad to go to our Annual Bluebonnet Festival here in town. Being a small town and designated as the Bluebonnet Capital, it a big thing - closed off streets and all the hoopla. People do come from all over on big buses and vans to see all the pretty Bluebonnets that grow around here. There are booths set up on two blocks of Main Street and lots of neat things to see (and buy). I got Hans all dressed up a

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Yippee - another word

This has been a wonderful day. Hans said a new word this morning. "Coffee" It was a real celebration. He has also taken up saying "Shewee" when anything needs washing or he thinks it is dirty. When he is wet or dirty - when I come in to check on him - he grins and says "Shewee". I call that reall improvement. All the powers that be have told me there won't be any improvement but I kinda guess they are wrong. We even have a little movement in the affected leg every now and then. Maybe o

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More thoughts

well, the Pope has been buried and Charles and Camilla will marry tomorrow. We got a good nights sleep last night and today has been really good. Got a lot of little things done that needed doing - like emptying the dirty mop water from yesterday, dusting the ceiling fans, starting on my quilt. I love to quilt but don't really like putting them together. I am four behind. Sometimes they go together really easy and then again, they are a problem. This one is for my exes family reunion in J

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Bad News Today

Oh, If I could just have a day that was ALL good. I guess that is too much to ask. Went to my Orthopedic Surgeon today for my one year check up on my knee replacement (the second one on the same knee) and got really bad news about the other knee. The one I have had fixed is doing great - just need to keep on exercising it but the other one has bone on bone all over. The only thing I can do to get some relief from the pain is to have a series of injections every six months until I decide to

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Tough days

Today was another one of THOSE days. It was beautiful outside but I did not feel like getting out. These allergies and sinus have got me by the throat, literally, and won't let go. Maybe if I wasn't so fat - I would not be so easy to get down with this gunk. Hans hasn't felt really good either. We had a really late breakfast and then Phyllis and Wes brought us plates from a benefit that we would liked to have gone to. That was lunch and supper all in one. We had desert and juice later on

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