Sabbath Sermon

    Prelude music at church was 6 violins, 2 cellos, a flute and one grumpy teenager. Apparently he wanted to sleep in but came anyway. They played 15 minutes of beautiful Christmas music. They have been doing this gift of music for twenty years every Sunday in the month of December. The organist a music teacher at Boise State. We were on the second row.

    The prelude orchestra.

     Elder Jeff Erekson of the seventy is presiding. He bore testimony of Christ and told the story of when he was a missionary in Liverpool England. It was Christmas time and their apartment was cold. Some one had thrown rocks at the windows and they had covered the holes with cardboard. They were still cold even with the cardboard and they had nothing. They decided to fix a Christmas feast and he wanted steak so they purchased some steaks. And he wanted it barbecued. He said cooking steak in an oven is not a good idea. After they put out the fire, they had nothing left. So they had a testimony meeting and each of the six Elders told how they knew Christ was real. It was a Christmas to remember.

      Only made one wrong turn on the way here. 

   Deryl and Carolyn Leggett from Baker Valley came to see us. They were watching grandchildren and doing some Christmas shopping. They suggested we visit the botanical gardens. I will look into it.

    Lunch was a delicious, moist pot roast, smashed taters with steaming mushroom gravy and sautéed sugar snap peas. Bruce had a small bowl of strawberries too, he said they actually tasted like strawberries

     Bro Robison and Elder Erekson, and two priests brought Bruce the sacrament. One of the 16 year olds said he was here on the third floor in rehab for ten days. He was weight lifting for swimming, by himself (shame on him) and dropped the weights on his back. He was fortunate it was a c 12 vertebrae. I'll find out more later from the Robisons.

     Bruce took a nap and then he got up at 4 pm and we went for a walk. He is in his electric wheelchair and I walk beside him. We went to see the outdoor garden which was closed for the season but I wanted to show it to him anyway. We went up to the ninth floor and no one was there so we went back down to the first floor and back to our floor and Bishop Hipple and his wife were waiting for us in our room. They moved to Meridian from Enterprise. It is really nice to see familiar faces.

      We are watching the Christmas devotional on lds.org. Such beautiful music. No wonder they call the Mo Tab America's choir. Alas my sister was unable to sing with the choir. She was home coughing her lungs out. We noticed a definite hole in the music with her absence. She has three years of her 20 years to finish.

     Bruce is talking to Andrew about the first bb away game of the season against the Dalles. Who started, positions, points, rebounds, experience, flow, fouls, how late getting home and 3 pointers. They solved all the problems for the team until the next game. Andrew had three points.

     We did FaceTime with our daughter and she told us about the town house they are buying and will move in to it in a couple of weeks. It is not wheelchair accessible so it will be awhile before we can visit it. Not that we are planning on going anywhere for awhile unless it is home.

    Talked to our son Dan in Grants Pass, he has 14 clients he sees. He is a teen counselor, 2 Spanish speaking youths. They are searching for a house to purchase too. 

     Am tired so will hit the hay, going to give Bruce a hair cut at 8am while he is up for his shower. Just a one inch buzz, it will be easier to take care of while he is here.

     

     

      

    

      

Get a Grip

                      Is this a forewarning?

    Not good this morning. He said his right tricep went numb last night. The Dr ordered an immediate scan. That was midnight. Needless to say I have a sleepy husband this morning. He slept for three hours.

   The OT came in and worked with his left arm, he slept through it.

     He woke at 11am and he wanted to go for a walk. He showed me everything on his hall, he had read all the pictures and about the artists. We got permission to go on other floors. We went to the cafeteria and the gift store. The library was closed. I wanted to show him the fish tank. He didn't break anything in the gift store. I was worried about the glass. He has steering skills.

     For lunch we had shrimp pad tai with rice and fresh fruit. We sat with a grandpa man named Lee he raised chickens and sold them to Albertsons about 1000 a day, he had 5 million on his farm in chicken barns. They would roll the chickens in a rubber coated drum that would pluck off all the feathers. I googled it. Interesting. He is from Caldwell, Id.  He told us PT asked him to make change for a dollar while they shocked his left cheek. The electrodes are supposed to stimulate the muscle. He said it was hard to think of the answer while they shocked him.

   No PT today. 

     For dinner he had Idaho steak fingers which are beef strips, wild rice, green salad and blue cheese dressing, 2 big chocolate chip cookies. We saved a cookie for later, it helps when he takes pills. He is worried about his waistline. Ahem

     We plugged in his wheel chair and it is recharging. 

      He really likes the stand for his ipad. The OT lady wants to get some for her other patients. Thank you aunt Kathy! He can hit all the buttons by himself, most of the time.

      He likes using the iPad. He uses the Oregon duck yellow stretch bands to strengthen his arms.

     He is listening to a conference talk with his earbuds, small headphones that fit in your ear. How well does one listen when they snore? Redo

      He shaved himself with the electric razor. I asked him if he wanted a mirror. He said no, he was shaving by touch. I told him he missed a spot under his chin. He said he was growing an under chin beard. It's a new fad in Boise. Oh really?

     He wanted me to bring him his toothbrush. I said what do I get for doing that and he said I could have anything I want times two. I think I might go back to the gift store and get something Christmasy for the room. When I look in other rooms, I see small Christmas trees and pointsettas. I'm thinking something blinking and with lights to light up this room. My host family says they have extra strands of light. Should we put up gold and green lights? Might have to settle for white.

    He said the numbness in his arm is diminishing. The scan showed nothing so they think it might have been overworked or pinched. The nurse said they can't do an MIR unless it is an emergency because the insurance companies won't pay for it. They have to get it pre approved. The insurance companies do run the show. They have the tallest buildings.

      I saw Chaplin Tony on my way out today. He didn't recognize me, but asked about how I was doing so I told him we were back for rehab and would be around for a while.  A very caring man, I think they hire people like that here. We need a lot of compassion and caring.

     I heard the boys basketball won. 45- 35 go Tigers! Grrrr

   

     

     

      

    

      

New Release Date

      Andrew and the "white rumble".

     I made it up three flights of stairs. It felt good after driving for three hours.

 When I arrived Brook Thompson was here talking to Bruce. I got a nice hug.

     Bruce uses a fun bright Oregon duck yellow squeezy ball to strengthen his fingers and hands. It would make a nice stocking stuffer.

            Bruce and the Oregon Duck yellow ball.

     There was s big box full of treats for us. Thank you Ranee! We love the cookies. I like the magazines and CD. They will last awhile.

 Thank you Rosala for the dream catcher ornament. I hung it up. 

        New improvements while I was gone includ:

He can push down with his left leg and can move his left foot up and down.

He can move his right big toe. It is where his left toe was a couple weeks ago. 

He can move his right hand six inches up off the bed, a vertical reaching movement (put your armin an L shape shape and push up)   He got a steroid shot in his left shoulder and that reduces the inflammation around the shoulder. He can touch his thumb to his forefinger on the left hand.

His voice is back to normal.

His catheter is out.

He is starting to get ability to flex his abdominal muscles. They sit him on the mat and have him use his stomach muscles to balance. He said after 15 min he was sweating. 

     He had a couple of visitors, the Chadwick's, Lori and Stan Cox, and the Lawrence's.                       

    It is probably best that visitors come after 3 pm on the weekdays and Saturday and anytime Sunday. He has a full day of therapy and they want to keep him busy.

     They took a series of X-rays of his shoulder and no bone spurs. They are treating it as a case of severe tendonitis. The shot reduced the swelling in his hand and the pain in his shoulder.

     We ate dinner together in the dining area. He fed himself and only dropped his salad a couple of times. He had clam chowder and a bread stick, green salad, cantaloupe and honeydew melon.

There is Christmas music playing in the hall.

      He is the only patient in the spine section. There are two teenagers with brain injuries and an older man probably a stroke victim that we see in the dining area.

     Exciting News! When his left hand gets stronger they will put him on an electro stimulation bicycle. It stimulates the muscles to develop, he has lost a lot of muscle. It is a new piece of equipment they have and in the team meeting they mentioned it and they want to use it. He has to be able to hold on with both hands so he won't fall off. He will be the first to use it, a live guinea pig.

 A new release date is Feb. 5th. That will be 8 weeks. The Dr and staff are very pleased with his progress. I was voting for Mid January. Oh well as long as he is improving they will keep him here.

The White Rumble

   We found Andrew a place to stay, he will stay with Huntsman's again. We have borrowed a car from Pres Richards from Baker for Andrew to use so he won't have to ride the shame train, I mean bus, just til Bruce is here in mid January. It is an old white beater car and rumbles when it is turned on, it has over 220,000 miles. Andrew said it would do. He named it "The White Rumble" (I'll post a photo tomorrow) Thanks for going with me Chris to meet Richards in North Powder. It was a nice 30 min therapy session and the roads were clear. 

    Andrew was sick today so took him to the Dr., he has Sinusitis, he is on antibiotics. The Dr saw yellow mucous in his throat, he had laryngitis too, no fever.

     I will leave tomorrow for Boise, mid morning after the ice has melted.

    On Monday I got pulled over for an expired car registration. I was going to deal with Andrew's citation. Talk about ironic. The policeman knew Bruce so he just gave me a warning and said he knew I was on the road a lot. Kind man. From Andrew's wreck, he totaled the truck, he is on a year's probation and will have to pay all the fees if he messes up. He seems to be more cautious in his driving, lesson learned. (Knock on wood) 

      Tuesday I got a letter for jury duty. I asked to be excused. 

     Got a key made for Bro Chandler to do renovations to the house. Turns out he is booked to April so Bishop will get someone else to do the work. Insurance might cover part of it and will make the house easier to sell when we go on a mission in seven years. 

     Since Andrew was home sick today we watched a library DVD, called Follow the River. Mary Ingles is pregnant when she and her two sons are captured from their homestead in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains by Shawnee Indians. Her husband, Will, narrowly escapes death.  Andrew even liked it. We had to stop the movie to go see the Dr. and poor Andrew had to wait for me to get home, from picking up his antibiotics and getting some night shirts for Bruce to watch the rest of the movie. It was well done. The Indians are not too stereotyped. The real story does not have as happy an ending. I googled it. 

     Yesterday I made some Christmas pillowcases, so when we lay our heads down we will think of the other two and pray for each other. At least it sounds good in theory. 

    Good night Neverland.

     

Checking Up on Uncle Bruce

    My niece Tiffany and family from Utah, visited Uncle Bruce today for about 10 minutes. These are her thoughts, "When we got there, the Dr was in there with him for about 40 minutes so we waited and then the PT was in there working with him right after so I felt like we were interrupting his progress since we went in there while they were helping him move his legs around. They said he was going to be busy with rehab until at least 2 pm today. I'm glad we were able to at least say hi though. He told us how strong you are during all of this. He is strong too! I had a warm feeling in my heart after talking with him. We love you and are praying for you all."

  Thanks for checking up on Uncle Bruce. Forty minutes is a long time to wait with two little ones. Good luck with your job interviews!

     Talked with Bruce for 19 min. this evening.  He said his hand was hurting from holding the phone for so long. 

     The good news is he will be in a manual wheelchair, 27 inches wide. Looks like we will have to make two door ways wider. This is an older house.

     He wants a ramp in the front so he can get out of the car and on the ramp and we will have to redo the back bathroom to a walkin shower with a snake hose shower head. We have a friend in construction with experience that will help with the renovations. 

     Bruce said he is learning to control his diaphram with the help of the speech therapist.  He can hold a note for 7 secs and she wants him to sustain his voice up to 20 secs. 

    Eating alone in his room is dull Bob, he eats in the dining area now and has made some new friends. 

     The Dr told him the workman's comp and insurance should pay for renovations to the house, just keep reciepts. I have a couple of files started.

    Thank you to all our friends and family for your prayers, love and concern. We couldn't do this without your support. 

    

     

Rearranging

     We have been busy moving the bed around so there is more room on one side for a wheel chair.

We moved the kitchen buffet by the front door entrance and got rid of the bench. Now I have something else to pile things on. I am a pilot, get it?  We moved the island counter, it is on wheels in the place of the buffet against the wall and we have a big open space in the center of the kitchen, which will work if we use the back door as an entrance using a ramp. 

     I hung a wreath on the front door so it looks like we are home. 

Tackled the bathroom, removed a wooden crate that was holding towels, took extra towels we don't use to the second hand store. Where did all this junk, I mean treasures come from? I get rid of stuff and it doesn't look like anything has changed. My children would be proud of me.

   We moved a chair out of the way in the living room and hung some Christmas pictures in the kitchen. 

Went to the library and got Brian Jacques Castaway of the Flying Dutchman. It is good. Will have to read the series. Thank you dear nephew for suggesting it.

     Had an extra key made for a friend that is going to suggest some options for wheelchair accessibility. We will probably have to enlarge a couple of door ways. The back bathroom will have to be upgraded for a wheelchair roll in shower. It needs to be redone anyway. A friend at church said he would bring his chainsaw over. That is how Bruce redecorates...

     

   

He Talks on the Phone

     Bruce called me today! He didn't talk long, it hurts his arm to hold the phone up, 5:44 was his time. It is heaven to hear his voice. 

    He is in an electric wheel chair. I asked him if he ran into anything (he did at the high school when he was test driving a chair, it is not easy to stop a 300 pound electric wheel chair) and he replied he goes slow. The Dr said he would give him a pass to go anywhere in the hospital and he said he would wait for me and we could go for a walk together. I know a couple places he might like in the hospital. He said we could go visit Dr. Thompson in the maternity section.  

     He shaved himself with the electric razor. They prop a pillow under his right arm and he goes to town. He trimmed his side burns too. He said when I get there I can give him a haircut and he will look normal again. I have always cut his hair. Only one time was it bad... No we didn't take pictures... It was at 10:30 pm. I wasn't thinking too straight and put the shorter blade on the clippers. He did look military, not too many people said anything and the hair grew out. He doesn't ask to cut his hair lat at night anymore. 

     He said he uses a regular fork now and it is easier to feed himself. He eats down the hall in the dining area. He said he was talking to a couple of people but some of them have brain damage so he didn't get very far. He said one young man he talked to was going home today. 

    He asked me if it is snowing here and I answered no. He said it was snowing in Boise and I should check the weather before I come. I do that already, here and there. He said they keep him really busy and I would just follow him to therapy (or venture out to a quilt store). 

    He asked me if I had anything to say and I said "I can't find the filter on the new furnace to change it." He said I might have to call T and T and get them to show me. I did take the front panel off and couldn't find it.

     This made my day!

  

     PS ~ Please hold your calls til he is stronger. They are going to let him do emails soon on his iPad. I'll let you know when they let him do that. He has a lot to delete or answer. 

    Look what I spent way too much money on at the craft fair in Riveria gym. Andrew made the table last year in his welding class.mournfirst decorations are up. Ta dah! Bruce said all he wanted for Christmas was some Oregon Duck socks. Our DIL Lindsy got some and some knee length shorts so he is all set.