Hospice care for mom

It's been a rough few weeks.

Mom's condition has continued to deteriorate, and after a meeting among us siblings yesterday, we opted to discontinue the IV meds and call in hospice. We met with Good Shepherd Hospice this afternoon, and they will take over her care tomorrow. We all agreed that mom is ready to "run through the fields of heaven" with Dad, who passed 18 years ago February 28. WE LOVE YOU MOM!

Bad Start to February

Mom fell ill early on Wednesday, February 1st. She was admitted to St. Francis Hospital with a serious UTI (urinary tract infection) that turned into sepsis (blood poisoning). She was extremely sick and after tests determined that the infection had reached her heart valves, she was sent to the LTAC (Long Term Acute Care) at Pawnee and Rock Road where they could provide and monitor the long-term IV antibiotic that she needs. She will be there until approximately March 18, assuming she gets better. At this point, she seems to have given up. She's not eating much, and sleeps the majority of the time. We're hoping that as the infection clears up she will get better, but it's in God's hands right now.

Then Friday, March 17, Mike was admitted to St. Francis Hospital (yes, I'm getting sick of that place!) He had fluid on his stomach, and originally went in for outpatient surgery to drain the fluid. They admitted him due to some kidney problems. Yesterday he was told he could home as soon as they found the right "cocktail" of medication for him. I'm not sure what the long-term prognosis is, but he was released late this afternoon.

As you can well imagine, this has been a rough time. Having just returned to work on Monday, January 30th from my 2 week work trip to Florida, I then missed Wednesday through Friday that week - staying with mom all day at the hospital. She was so confused and I just couldn't leave her. I've since returned to work full time, with long lunches or late arrivals to spend time with mom. With our huge new advertising system project going on, I can't afford to miss much work. We've got a lot of work to do, and not much time to get it done.

I got our taxes done today. Thankfully we are getting almost enough back from federal to pay state. Kaitlin is getting enough back from federal to get new rear brakes on her truck, which she desperately needs.

We are headed to Manhattan next Sunday to see Kaleb. We haven't seen him since Christmas, so we need a "Kaleb fix"!!!!
 

Florida Work Trip

I found out on Wednesday, January 4th that I would be attending a workshop in Melbourne, Florida with 5 others from the Eagle. We are getting a new advertising system, and this was the set-up workshop and training on how to build the system to work for us.

Our flight left at 6am on Monday, January 16th, and we went straight into the workshop after checking into our hotel - Crowne Plaza.

It was a very INTENSE two weeks of work, and there is much more to be done.

Corby flew down late Thursday afternoon - the workshop stopped at 2pm on Friday so the folks who were flying home for the weekend could leave. Three of us stayed, and three in our group flew home. I had opted to stay because it didn't make sense to fly home for 36 hours and then get back on a plane to Florida. We enjoyed a lot of rest and relaxation, and went to Cocoa Beach on Saturday afternoon.

The weather was beautiful the entire time, and I started my day watching the sun rise over the ocean.

We saw dolphin fins several times, and one jumped out of the water the first week we were there.

We worked late every day, so we didn't get to do a lot of sightseeing. We were all pretty tired after the long days!

Cheryl, Molly and I got a chance to know each other even better than we already did!

The next 5 months are going to be insanely busy. There is a lot of work to be done, and I have to keep up with my regular job. But the pot at the end of the rainbow is a new advertising system, one we've needed for a long time!

Really Good Book

This will obviously be listed in my "January 2012" books post in February, but I just finished "The Witness" by Dee Henderson.

I've read Henderson's books before, though it's been a long time. I got this one free on Amazon, and I truly enjoyed it. It was a pretty unique story line and a book I would highly recommend!
 

2011 Books

2011 re-cap:

74 books by female authors
14 books by male authors
2 books by couples
total = 90 books

top female author = Robyn Carr - 6 books
followed by Sherryl Woods with 5 books

top male author = James Patterson - 6 books
followed by Stuart Woods & John Grisham with 2 books each

Starting January 2012 off with Hidden Summit by Robyn Carr...

December books

I only read 5 books in December. Could it be because December is a crazy month for everyone?

Anyway, here's my list:

1) Longing - Karen Kingsbury (paperback)
2) A Love That Multiplies - Michelle & Jim Bob Duggar (hardback)
3) Lethal - Sandra Brown (hardback)
4) Kill Alex Cross - James Patterson (hardback)
5) Comfort & Joy - Kristin Hannah (hardback)

These are all authors I've read before, and some of them are my favorites. I love Patterson's Alex Cross books, and this one was great! Hannah's book was a quick read, but very enjoyable. Lethal is one of Brown's best books. Kingsbury always leaves me wanting more. And the Duggar family continues to intrigue me. This book was written after baby Josie was born prematurely and spent months in the hospital. I'm not sure I learned much reading this book because I watch their TLC show, but it was interesting none-the-less.

I'll be recapping my 2011 books sometime in the next few days. I read a total of 90 books, compared to 76 in 2010.

Melbourne here I come!

Florida that is.

Found out today that work is sending me for 2 weeks of training to Melbourne, Florida. It's for the new advertising system. Last minute...

Hoping Corby can take a few days off work and come down on the weekend in between for some sight-seeing and to celebrate our 24th anniversary (Dec. 26, 2011).