Post Op Pics

The op site is a lot bigger than they told us. He is in quite a bit of pain, but they don't have him on a regular schedule for pain med. He has to ask for it. And being a man, he tries to slide through the pain. He still has use of his left side, he just does not know where his limbs are or what they are doing. Hopefully this will be better with time.

I am going to be taking pictures daily, while I can, just to track his progress.

Surgery a success

Well, he did not go in to surgery until 2pm and it took a bit longer than expected, as he did not come out until 6. They had told us 2 hours, but they wanted to take some extra time doing ultra sounds to make sure that they removed everything they could.

The doctor said that this removal was more successful than most and that Dad's response after surgery was impressive. After being awake for 5 minutes, he was able to talk to Candy and I. He said he was a bit confused, but his speech was good, he was asking questions and was relatively alert. The doctor also asked him to raise his left arm, which with this type of removal, should not have been possible directly after surgery and he did it just fine.

Now, we just wait and see how he recovers and wait for the biopsy results. Should have them by next friday, if all goes well.

Thats all for now.
T.

Update

Dad goes in for surgery today at noon. They are going to try and remove the entire tumor. However, they won't know until they are in there, if the entire thing can be removed. They are confident that it is an easier tumor to work with, than most. They also determined that this is not preexisting. It formed within the past few weeks to couple months. Biopsy results will be back probably within a week. More to come.

Can't Sleep

It's 3:15am here and I have to be to work in 2 hours. I really can't sleep, because my brain is on overload, so I am just writing to get stuff off my chest.

I am hoping for the best, but expecting the worse, when it comes to the results for my dad. I am praying that they are saying the tumor is benign, because I am not ready to watch my father pass away. This is the scary thing about brain tumors. They can be there most of your life and not even know it and then all of a sudden something triggers it. We are thinking this may be his case, but it's all theory until we get the medical information. One thing they are considering is that he was exposed to Agent Orange, when in the military, so this may have something to do with it. It would be wonderful if they could pin point something like that.

Something like this makes me wonder if it can be hereditary, because now, both my parents have brain tumors. Of course, mom's is benign and was found back in 96 or so and has caused no problems for her, since they found it, but now, my dad has one. Does this mean, I am at a higher risk for one in the future, or is this the luck of the draw(for lack of better terms) for people.

I also really hope that the doctors don't tip toe around the results, just to spare our feelings, because I think it's so much more difficult not knowing, then knowing something.

Well, I am gonna try and make it through another day of work, in hopes of getting some answers when I call the hospital today. Of course I will update as I get results. Hopefully good ones.
Thanks for listening to me vent.

My Dad is Sick

I just wanted to share with you all that we just found out that my dad has a brain tumor. He was having numbness in his left side, some memory loss, and vision impairment. He was hospitalized on Monday, with what they thought was a stroke, but a catskan also revealed a large mass on his right side of the brain. There was too much swelling to determine what it was at the time.
He had an MRI yesterday and today the results confirmed a large tumor.
He has been transported to Maine Med in Portland and will have a biopsy on Thursday. So, until we get these results, we don't know what the next step is. But as of now, they are thinking radiation to try and shrink the tumor.

I will keep you updated, as I get information. Candy, his wife, is down here in Bath with us, so that we can bring her back and forth to the hospital. Right now I am trying to be the strong one, but it is so difficult having two sick parents now.

More later

Exciting or Scary??

That's the question I'm asking myself right now. A couple of weeks ago, I finally voiced something that I had yet to say out loud. I miss my momma, and I want to be closer to her.

So I've been talking seriously with Eric, David, and Mom. We've discussed budgets and a whole bunch of other stuff. It looks as if it can all work out although we'll probably have to live a little farther from Mom than I wanted. I really wanted to live in Chiefland, but the facts are that Eric and I need access to doctors and specialists that are in Gainesville. So it is likely that we will try to live somewhere in the middle which would put us about 30 minutes in either direction of Mom or Gainesville.

We don't have many definite plans yet. We'll be using the money I have in CDs to make the move so we have to wait until they mature so that we won't incur any penalties for withdrawing the money (that won't happen until the end of April). I've talked with Susan, and I am relatively sure she is going to relocate with us.

It is likely that we will take our time on the journey with a down day between driving days. We're thinking about a southern route across country with stops to see Eric's family in OR, a Six Flags park in CA, a stop in Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Phoenix to visit my family, Jacksonville, and then Gainesville. It'll take about two weeks to make the trip.

So...like I said...exciting or scary? A bit of both I think. I'm am super excited to be able to see my momma on a regular basis (I love her so much), I am excited that we are all back to a place in our lives where we can be on our own again (many thanks to my family for their help and support), but it is a bit scary to consider all the planning to make it happen.

February Dog Thoughts

I had this picture on Cody's Dog Channel page and I thought it was so cute I wanted to share it with you.

We Sold Our Car

And we miss it already :o(

But we just bought the XTerra and didn't need 3 vehicles.

Our Plans

Alice and Barb are going to Florida to visit their daddy from Mar 11-16. Then on Mar 23 Alice will be leaving for AZ to get settled in and to find a job. Once she has a job I will give notice at work and then move to AZ. That way we aren't both unemployed at the same time.

Avon Representative

As of Monday I will be an Avon Representative and the best part is I will be able to have my own website that people can order from.

If some of you might be interested in ordering from me, could you please let me know, and I will post the website as soon as I get it.

Just another way to bring in a few bucks.

T.

2002 Nissan Xterra

I need a place to vent

prior to venting. Hope everyone had a good valentines day and mom hopes so too.

Okay, so here is the situation.

In October, this past year, we allowed our former roommate to move back in with us, because he found himself, in a situation where he needed friends in his life while he tried to become sober. He is a self proclaimed alcoholic, and his drinking is what caused our discord the first time he lived with us. But everyone, in some way deserves second chances, so when he told us he was working on being sober, we gave him a place to stay.

Well, after events of yesterday, I really wonder what the truth is.

He had been borrowing one of our cars, while his was in the shop. We get a call last night, saying that he is in a snowbank, the police are with him, and they called a tow truck. Didn't get anymore information than that for over 2 hours.
He returns home and tells Dave that he was pulled over for speeding and when he slowed down, he ended up in a snow bank. But the cops said they had to do a breathalizer test. Turns out he blew a .10, and legal limit is .08. The cops ask if he had been drinking, he said I had a couple of beers when i got out of work hours ago.

So, with this information I became very angry because I let him into the house again to help his sobriety and he faltered. I don't know if this is the first time that he took a drink since becoming sober 3 months ago, or if this is the first time he mentioned something to us. Regardless, this was a relapse, which I have been told, your sobriety starts from day 1 again. Almost like your hard work, didn't pay off.

And the other thing that upsets me terribly is that he was obviously driving while under the influence, on his way home from work. That means, driving 40 minutes after having a few beers and driving in our car. And I am very anti-drinking and driving. So, this in essence, pisses me off too.

I am honestly surprised that the cops didn't arrest him or file charges, because he just got his license back about 1.5 years ago, after having it taken away for 2 DUI charges, in which he went to jail.

Well, this is my rant and I am left to ponder, do I approach him with my thoughts, or do I just let him deal with his mistakes? I am really not sure, but he has betrayed our trust once again and betrayed our verbal agreement as to why he was allowed to live with us again. Do I chalk it up to as a mistake, or has there been more issues that have been kept secret?

It took a lot for me to forgive him for things he did and said to me, the first couple years we lived together, in order to let him live with us again, so I don't know where I stand with this situation.

Would love to hear from you all.

My Valentine's Day Gift

Way back when Eric had bought me a tri-gold bracelet. Unfortunately, it broke several years ago. So for Valentine's Day this year he bought me a new bracelet. Isn't it pretty? I sure think so!!!

Alice's Valentine's Day Gift

Talking to Perley

Hey Everyone!!
So last week I sent a letter to Perley Yager, for those who do not know, he is my biological father. He responded with a message on my answering machine, to which I called him back. We ended up talking for a little over an hour. This was the first time I have talked to him at all. Things I have learned from the conversation:
- He is very talkative (or at least nervous to talk to me)
- his grandmother was full native american Indian, Moehawk
- I have two half brothers, Perley and Brandon.
- He is an occupational theropist
- He is obsessed with baseball
- He is 5'8 and around 250 pounds
- His other two sons are huge, Perley is 6'2 260, Brandon is 5'8 and over 200
- Perley jr. is 16 and Brandon will be 12 this summer
- His wife knows about me but his sons do not

For the most part the conversation was very nice. Mom and dad have been encouraging me to talk to him for some time. It is one of those things that I have always been curious about. Next we will be trading pictures, snail mail because evidently he is no good with computers.

Tag

Tag has made his internet debut!! Check him out at http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/view.aspx?ciid=3316288