And the beat goes on. . .

No Thanksgiving Day travesty this year. My oven didn't go out or anything. All the food was properly cooked at my home in my oven. No snags whatsoever. It was even very good. You might remember that last year on Thanksgiving day, my oven went out before I had a chance to warm the turkey and to bake the dressing, the pies, and the rolls. I nearly had a meltdown, but luckily I remembered that in the Home Ec. department at our high school, there are 5 working ovens. So, I just transported my food to those ovens and wa-la, the food was all baked to finish at the exact same time. Thanksgiving dinner saved!

This Thanksgiving was uneventful in comparison.

Ken and I have re-painted the two bedrooms at the end of the house and the Jack 'n' Jill bath between them. They look so nice and fresh.

We got the baby bed out of storage and, of course, we were missing 2 essential pieces. Lucky for us, our son-in-law is very clever and he can make us replacement parts. When we get those parts, we'll be able to dress the bed and we will be finished with that room, as well. I have all the little baby things (blankets, bibs, burp pads, and clothes, etc.)washed in Dreft and stored in the dresser.

B. C.'s room is nearly finished. I repapered a couple of walls and repositioned his furniture. Also, I sorted, categorized, and organized his clothes and other "stuff". He can find everything for a while until he messes it all up again.
That will take only about 3 days or so.

So, now we are listening for the beat. You know the beat that goes on and on and on. That means that our lives are steadily moving forward. I suppose that's a good thing.

It's been a while. . .

The school year is off and running. We have finished two six weeks already. That means that we are one-third of the way through the school year. Yippee!

Football ended on Saturday with a loss to Grandview. It was one of the coldest ball games I've ever watched. Although the temperature was not all that low, the wind blew like crazy making it seem like the single digits. It was all a bit too much. I'm sorry that the boys lost, but I am ready for basketball.

Our girls' team seems to be doing well. They have won all their games and they have some very talented athletes. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

The boys' team won't play until Friday. They won't have a home game until Dec. 19th. That's good and that's bad. Bad that I won't get to see them. Good that I won't feel obligated since I'll be busy.

Ken, B. C., J. P., Chris and Braden have been clearing brush at our place. They've made quite an impact. It's really looking good. They'd all stay for dinner on Sunday night and it was so nice to have the fam over. So, there's two pluses to that situation.

Ken and I painted the babies' room (formerly Brit's room) from the radioactive pink she wanted to a much more soothing leather color. We've moved some of the furniture back in. I'm looking for just the right bedspread. I cleaned the walk-in closet in that room. It was an all-day task, but it looks so nice and now I know where everything is and I can get to it. I can go shopping at my own house for things to decorate the room.

Whenever we get the Christmas decorations out, we will be able to get to the babies' bed and then put it in the room. I already have the bedding so that we can dress it. Whenever they are at Gigi and Pops' house, they are going to be little cowpokes. So, our time is occupied with getting the house in order before the babies arrive.

We are going to also paint Chad's room and the shared bath. Hopefully, the bath won't be a big job, but his room will. I have enough of the boxes from Britney's room sorted and packed so that now we will have space to do the same for his room. That will be an enormous undertaking. Pray for us that we don't kill each other!

The greenhouse is up and full of plants. Yeah for us! Aren't we just moving right along?

Saturday, I'm going with Brit to her other baby shower at Cranfills Gap. Her little church ladies are throwing her one. I've heard that they have some special gifts for the babies. I'm sure it will be quite fun. We may go shopping afterward since we are so limited on time. We'll take it easy, though.

Our family will gather at Brit's house on Thanksgiving. I plan on making the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Then, I'll bet the guys go outside and toodle around on the gator and four-wheeler for a while if it's nice. I imagine Brit and I will work on the babies' room or something. Then, we'll all watch the traditional football game on TV. Hope the Cowboys and A & M win!

That weekend will be a mad house for shopping so I'll most likely forego it. Besides, I'll be preparing for a colonoscopy the following Monday. Nice. . . not.

Well, I've gotta go get busy. My school day is about to begin. Check back later.

The hurrieder I go . . .

I'm sure you've heard that old adage, "The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get." That is particularly true for me. I try to take on too many things, do them way too fast, and then have to either re-do or am assigned yet another task. Anyway, it's safe to say that I am no Speedy Gonzales these days.

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks because of my hectic pace. It's not even spring yet and I'm already very, very busy. What will it be like then?

The grandbabies are doing just fine. They are growing inside. Brit is feeling pretty good. She has most everything in order. We're all just waiting for those little twins to grow enough to be born. We hope they're here by the end of the year. Christmas babies would be nice. I'll bet they will make their appearance, though, when they are good and ready.

Brit has added yet another item on her educational list. She is now a real estate broker. She has passed the rigorous test and will be getting her license soon. Who knows what is next on her agenda. She has lots of options. Way to go, Brit!

We have a big football game coming up this week. We play Crawford at Crawford. That is always tough. Although we are picked to win by seven, as you can discern, it's anybody's ball game. I hope the Dogs prevail. If they do, they have a good shot at going to the playoffs. We remember what happened last year during the first round of the playoffs. . . we beat #1 Mart!. That was such fun! All I have to say is, "Go Dogs! You're #1!"

Banker

B. C. has added a new dimension to our family. He's become a banker. No, not really, he's just a teller, but hey, that's an occupation we've not had in the fam before. He's still in the training phase, but he really likes it a lot.

Since his dad and I have had so many surgeries and other health issues, he wanted to stay nearby to help us out. What a guy! I think he just likes our home-cooking and beating me at Wa-hoo.

No matter what, we're happy to have him around (at least most of the time).

Halloween

Both of my children have always loved Halloween. They like scary movies, dressing up in costumes, trick or treating, and the entire silliness associated with the holiday.

For the past 2 years, B. C. has won costume contests at College Station. Once he won with his red Power Ranger suit. Another year he went as Woody from Toy Story. This year will be no different. He already has his costume ready to go. He will be the Penguin from the Batman series. I can honestly say that with his suit, he really resembles the Penguin (except his height).

I think Brit may paint her tummy orange and make it into a jack-o-lantern. Wouldn't that be cute?

Happy Halloween to all of you. I hope you have a safe, yet delightful experience.

Growing

Brit went to the OB yesterday for a sonogram. She said that she could see Gage really well. He has chubby cheeks (like his dad). Lila was more difficult to see. I guess she was in a "mood".

The OB told her that they have grown since last month. Both have just about doubled in weight. Gage has gone from 1 pound 6 ounces in September to 2 pounds 10 ounces this month. Lila grew from 1 pound 3 ounces last month to 2 pounds 5 ounces yesterday. At this rate, they may be almost normal size at birth.

Brit went shopping to pick up a few things that she still needed for the nursery and the babies. She said she thinks that she's acquired the essentials for now. She is so excited!

Babies' Shower

The babies’ shower was just perfect. Brit had requested a LeeAnne Jackson cake and cream cheese mints. The hostesses did not disappoint her. Brit had a great time and really enjoyed herself. There was a super turnout and many of those attending she had not seen in quite a while. That is always such a thrill. She also received many, many nice gifts for the babies. People who hadn't even been sent an invitation sent gifts . . . just because they love her. How wonderful!

The hostesses’ gifts, a travel system and a pack 'n play, are something that she will put to good use. Maybe she’ll actually take the twins out of the house since she has such a nice stroller and play pen to use.

Elizabeth (J. P.’s mother) and I went over Saturday night and helped her organize Gage and Lila’s room. We hung some of the little clothes and put others in drawers. We dressed the cribs and put up the valances. Their little room really looks like a nursery now. She added up the gift cards and cash and has already made plans for their use.

She’s really in the nesting phase right now and thanks to her shower gifts, she has things to feather it with.

Newest Addition

Last week, we had a new addition to the Stephens family. Brett and Elizabeth Stephens became proud parents to Landry Peyton Belle Stephens who weighed in at 6 pound 11.5 ounces and was 18.5 inches long. Although she had a little bit of a rough start because of some breathing problems, she's good to go now.

Whenever I look at her, I can see both Brett's and Elizabeth's features about her. I think she is absolutely precious and just what that part of the Stephens' family needed. . . a girl. With six little grandsons, Rick and Gloria needed a feminine touch to that generation.

Welcome to the world and welcome to our family, Landry. We already love you!

He's home

My husband had yet another back surgery yesterday. To be exact, it was on his neck. The neurosurgeon fused two vertebrae and re-did a prior fusion. The doctor took bone from his hip to help make the fusion. As one might expect, he is sore and sleepy. His hip seems to bother him worse than the incision on his neck. It did the last time, too. After less than 24 hours in the hospital, he got to come home to recuperate. I get to be his nurse this time around as he was mine for the last couple of months. I hope I'm at least half as good as he was. Please keep him in your prayers and ask for a speedy recovery.

When it rains, it pours. . .

On the side of the Morton Salt box, a little girl with an umbrella holds a box of salt. As it rains, the box of salt still pours out. Thus, the saying. However, most of us nowadays find this to mean that when one thing happens, it seems a deluge of other things happen, as well, and they occur all at once. So it goes in my life right now.

So far, 2008 has been a very eventful year and some of the events are ongoing.

• Our UIL kids tied with Crawford for the district championship. Way to go H.H.S.!
  
• Brit and J. P. began their in vitro journey in late January. That ride lasted until May when the pregnancy was confirmed. Now the twins are on their excursion. What a joy!
  
• My mom passed away in late March. I miss her terribly.
• In June, I began to have back trouble with excruciating pain in my lower back. It got to where I couldn't sit, lay, or stand nor sleep.
  
• July 7th brought emergency back surgery followed by twelve days in the hospital and weeks of recuperation from the surgery and the MRSA I had. I'm still getting bills for that.
  
• Early August brought a new air conditioning system because the old one went out. Along with it came a $6200 bill.
  
• August 8th, Chad graduated from TAMU. Whoop! and Gig 'em.
• School started without me for the first time in 30 years. Brit subbed for me the first week and parts of the next two weeks.
• Last week, I went to see both my doctors and they were very encouraged with my progress. I have to report back to him in November.
  
• Tomorrow, Kenneth has to have yet another neck surgery to fuse more vertebrae and fix one of the ones he's already had done. Poor guy. If it's not one thing, it's another.
  
• B. C. takes his LSAT on October 4th. He's taking the Princeton Review to help improve his score. That had a hefty price tag, too.
  
• Brit's baby shower is October 11th.
• Sprinkle in there mountains of medical bills that the insurance company is not covering, and I think you can see why I am somewhat overwhelmed and can truly say, "When it rains, it pours. . ."

Ready or not. . .

I worked the first four days of this week. The kids have been great. I really enjoy being back with them. They are so funny. I just love them.

Monday started out good, but I was really tired by the end of the day. Tuesday started out with me weak, but it got better. Wednesday was pretty good all day long, except that my ankles swelled and hurt. I even played Keno that night. Thursday was NOT good from git to go. My back hurt most of the day which is something that it has not done since the surgery. My legs hurt. I was fatigued and my ankles swelled again.

I notified my sub that I'd need her on Friday. I had pushed myself to the limit. So, I've been resting today and hopefully I'll still build enough stamina to go through next week.

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers.

Finally

Today was the last day of my IV antibiotics. Yippee, I am so glad about that. I'll still be on oral antibiotics for quite a while, but I can handle that (I think). The pills are like horse pills, but so far I've been able to swallow them.

I also had my normal infusion although is was over a week late. I've been so tired and lethargic that I haven't wanted to do anything but rest. But, even the rest did not make that tired, sick feeling go away. The last few days, I've also experienced a lot of the Crohny symptoms related to the time period just before an infusion. My hope is that they will also subside.

The nurse then took out my PICC line. I'm so glad to be free of it. It continued to be sore and really bothered me. I almost feel like an uncaged bird. I'll still have to take medicine by the clock, but at least it won't be 3 times a day.

I enjoyed visiting with my nurses at the ACS department today. There are five of the nurses that I have gotten really close to there. They look forward to seeing me and I look forward to visiting with them. Whenever they know that I am scheduled, they make it a point to pop in if for just a minute. Even though we don't really know each other's families, it seems like we do because we share stories about them the entire time I'm there. Over the course of the years that I have gone for my infusions, they have made my "room" so very comfortable. They have not one, but two leather recliners (one for me and one for Ken), a television with a remote control, a telephone (I don't know why), an ice cold soft drink, and a bathroom just steps away. In addition, they have put the neatest little picture film in the fluorescent light boxes so that when I recline while infusing, I can see cloudy skies and bougainvillea spires.

My stamina is improving, but I still don't have enough strength to stay an entire day at my job. Luckily, I have an awesome substitute while I'm recovering.

I'm going to try to go back to work next week. I'm going to take it day by day, but maybe I can make it the whole week. If not, I'll call on my substitute to step in.

My principal said that they would start school without me and that whatever they messed up, I could fix once I got there. That sounded fair to me, so I agreed. No telling what I'll find next week. Oh, well, it'll give me something to do.

Did you hear that?

Did you hear that noise yesterday afternoon between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m.? You know, that great big “Whoo-hoo”? It came from Waco’s direction. Well, if you were one of the few that missed it, let me explain. Britney and J. P. found out yesterday that they are having a boy and a girl. How ‘bout that? That’s exactly what they wanted.

The sonogram technician said Twin A is a girl. She loved having her picture taken. She has a little turned up nose and faced the sonogram camera every chance she got. On the other hand, Twin B is the boy. He did NOT like having his picture made. In fact, he ducked his chin and would move his arm and hand in front of his face consistently. At one time, he even moved his entire shoulder around so that his face could not be seen. Hmmmm. . . that’s something that his mom and dad will have to work on.

They are both right on track developmentally with Twin B being 1 day further along that Twin A. They weigh exactly the same (about 10 ounces) and measure the same size. The girl is positioned slightly lower than the boy. Both, however, are head down and feet up and snuggled right up against each other.

Her OB told her that given her physical make-up that she would probably not go past 35-36 weeks which would put their birth date in the two weeks before Christmas.

Please keep the little Aaron family in your thoughts and prayers as they continue on this wonderful journey. Also please remember the twins' grandparents: Pops and Gigi Andrews, as well as, Honey and Pa Aaron. I figure we'll need some prayers, too.

So-So news

I went to see two specialists yesterday. One is the infectious disease doctor (ID)and the other is the neurosurgeon(NS). My incision has two “soft” spots in it and they are concerned. Both agreed that even though I am supposed to be through with my IV antibiotics on Monday, they want to be sure that everything is as it should be in my back. They ordered an MRI.

· I go in at 5:30 on Monday morning for that. I’ll see how I feel afterwards to determine whether or not I’ll go to school on Monday.

· Pending that report, I may get to stop the IVs on Tuesday. If they think something is amiss, then I’ll have to continue the IV antibiotics for at least another week. I’ll have to go in and get more medicine on Tuesday from the ID's office if that is the case.

· Nothing to do so far on Wednesday.

· Thursday of next week, I have appointments with both of the specialists again to see what my progress is.

· I was supposed to have my Remicade infusion this coming Tuesday, but the ID doctor has asked that I put it off until the following Tuesday, August 26. I know that I will feel like poo because that will be a whole week late. I get so extremely tired and sick whenever the infusion is late.

· Then, that Thursday, August 28, I’ll have to go back yet again to see my ID doctor.

So, there are many more appointments than I anticipated and more time out than I thought.

Thanks again for your continued prayers. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I’ll be up and at ‘em real soon.

Aggie Graduate

B. C. is a member of the former students of Aggieland! He picked up his RING on Friday morning. He quickly loaded the last of his possessions into whoever's vehicle was nearest and was off to Dana's for lunch. Several of his family members from both sides enjoyed the meal. Dana had made him a memory book which he read to and showed to the group.

Soon afterward, we all made the trek to Reed Arena for the next big event.

Texas A & M University – College Station held its summer commencement on August 8, 2008 (08/08/08). Whoop! Among those receiving their diplomas was our very own three-year honor graduate, Brennan Chad Andrews. He completed a Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree in Management from the prestigious Mays Business School. He earned a 4.0 GPA in his major.

While at Texas A & M, Chad embraced university life. He was a member of Aggie Access; Aggie Gateway to Success where he served as a mentor; Phi Eta Sigma, the freshman honor society; Lambda Sigma, (1 of only 50 out of all Aggie sophomores selected) where he served on the Executive Board and as Fundraiser co-chair; Reed Rowdies; and of the Aggie Pre-Law Society. Chad was named to the Dean’s List, Distinguished Student’s List, and to the National Honor Roll.

In reaching his goal, he won several scholarships past high school including the Texas Interscholastic League Foundation scholarship (UIL), and the renewable Texas Student Housing Authority scholarship and the Robert C. Byrd Honors scholarship. The Aggies awarded him the Thomas A. Carter Scholarship, the Ellison Miles scholarship, and the Mays Business School Management Department's Mildred Carmichael scholarship for excellence in his major. All of the scholarships helped tremendously. However, Chad still worked part-time at two jobs. He worked for the TAMU Division of Finance, Student Business Services tuition department for three years. His sophomore year, he was chosen as one of only two mentors to the students in the Aggie Gateway to Success program who were working to gain full admission to the university.

Chad was the 2005 Hamilton High School salutatorian. Thanks and gig 'em!

Busy week

This week will be a busy one for my little family of five. There are several small events taking place and then there's the BIG ONE.

Brit has a doctor's appointment in Waco on Wednesday when they'll set up the date and time for the ultrasound the next week that will tell us the twins' gender. That is so exciting!

I have two doctor's appointments this week. One is on Thursday with my infectious disease doctor in Waco and the other will be scheduled either Wednesday or Thursday with my neurosurgeon. Afterwards, we will go down to College Station to begin B. C.'s Aggie graduation celebration.

B. C. picks up his cap and gown on Monday in anticipation of his graduation on 08-08-08. He takes his finals and has the final degree confirmation. He gets his Aggie ring early Friday morning. Then, he will be honored with an Aggie graduation luncheon at his cousin, Dana's home.

Dana is such a sweet, loving, and thoughtful person. She will ensure that the luncheon is all about him and his accomplishments. She has some very special plans for those attending to help commemorate his years as an Aggie.

Although only his Stephens' family and close Aggie friends will be attending his luncheon, rest assured, they will shower him with lots of lasting memories. Dana will capture those memories and see that B. C. knows how much we love, admire and respect him. After all, his Aggie graduation should be all about him.

Next, we'll go to Reed Arena for the actual graduation ceremony. He has some friends who are graduating, too. The fam has a little surprise ready for him there, too.

Afterwards, I suspect that he will be dunking his Aggie ring. What a tradition! It's one that only an Aggie could understand.

Progress

I have graduated myself from a walker to a cane. It seemed like I was relying too heavily on the walker and in order to recover in the upright position, instead of being bent over that I needed to proceed with a cane. So far, it has gone pretty well.

My back has stopped oozing so Dr. Verner said to leave it uncovered. I'm a little apprehensive, but I'll do what he wants anyway. I just hope that it doesn't cause me any embarrassment.

There are some things that I've learned from this incident:

• If unusual things are going to happen, they can and will happen to me.
• Don't pick at or pop any skin abnormality--ever--says the doctor.
• Nerves can really make a difference in how a person's body performs.
• If you stay in the hospital for 12 days, it will take 5 times that long to get any strength back.
• Morphine is good--and bad--real bad.
• Learning to make my legs walk again looks very similar to when I learned to walk the first time.
• Being sick and taking tons of medicine messes with your mind and your emotions.
• Good nurses are your good friends.
• Good doctors are the best.
• You find out who your friends are.
• You find out that you have more friends than you thought.
  
• You find out who really loves you.
• You owe most everybody a thank you card for prayers, thoughts, cards, calls, flowers, visits (or 2 or 12), food, house cleaning, lawn mowing, and errand running, but you're afraid to send them lest you leave something unsaid or unthanked.
• Pain is a strong motivator--and a strong deterer.

Enough wisdom for now. I'm getting pretty tired. I'll write more when I can.

Things I've learned

I realize that God is always teaching us and allowing us to discover things about ourselves and our world that we either take for granted or overlooked. I wish I weren't so dumb because He sure has given me many tests lately.

I think that in order to teach me to more fully appreciate my world and what I have, he has "allowed" me to experience some of the things that others around me have already experienced.

Update

Family and Friends,

This is just a note to update you on the happenings of the last month. On Thursday, June 26, my lower back began to hurt with sharp, hot pains. Of course, I thought that it was my sciatic nerve bothering me again, so I scheduled an appointment with the chiropractor for the next day. She worked on me and I figured I’d get better. I certainly wanted to because that weekend (June 28th) was our first ever Stephens’ family reunion.

Throughout the weekend, my back continued to hurt and burn. I couldn’t even stay at the family reunion on Saturday evening long enough for the homemade ice cream (so you know that I was in pain).

On Monday, June 30, Chad took me back to the chiropractor while Kenneth went to Bedford with Britney for her last fertility doctor’s visit/sonogram. Afterwards, he took me home, but relief was only for a few minutes at a time. I returned to the chiropractor on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday so that she could manipulate my hip (which turns and rotates occasionally) and my back to alleviate the pain. For about 3 days, I couldn’t sleep because of the excruciating pain.

So, early Thursday morning (July3), Kenneth took me to the Hamilton ER. I was in unbelievable pain. I’m a tough old bird, but I couldn’t stand the pain. I began to cry which is not like me at all. I just had to have some relief. They gave me a shot of steroids and demerol and prescribed Darvocet. I had a short-lived pain-free period. The doctor wanted to schedule an MRI, but they only do MRI’s in Hamilton on Fridays and the next day was July 4th so they wouldn’t be doing them that day.

I went home happy only to find that during the evening, the pain returned. I tried waking up every two hours and taking pain medication and holding an ice pack to the affected area. Still, no relief. Dr. Andrews (me) had the idea that combining the pain relief from the medical doctors with the bone and muscle manipulation of the chiropractor that sooner or later, I would get some relief.

Early Saturday morning (July 5), Kenneth again took me to the Hamilton ER. Again, I was crying because the pain was so severe. I told her that I lived with Crohn’s and that I’d had two natural childbirths, but that I could not tolerate this pain. The doctor on call found that I also had a urinary tract infection (UTI) and prescribed antibiotics and Lyrica for my symptoms. She also gave me two shots and concurred that I needed an MRI. I knew that I had difficulty walking at this time, but I thought it was because of the excruciating pain that I was in. In fact, the nurses met me at the car with a wheelchair because I was unable to walk the few steps from the parking pad into the ER.

Sunday did not bring any relief either. Kenneth and I talked about it and decided that I needed to go to Clifton to see my regular doctor since they all knew me and my case (Crohn’s) and had all of my medical records at their disposal. Since Mondays are so hectic at the Clifton Clinic, I called my friend who is over the ER and ACS at Clifton and told her my symptoms which by this time included numbness, inability to walk or stand or sit or lay, and the inability to tell when I needed to use the restroom.

She insisted that we come to the ER immediately. We arrived and again, they brought a wheelchair for me. A Nurse Practitioner saw me and called in the doctor on call. She put all the puzzle pieces together and realized that I had a BIG problem. She immediately ordered IV’s and an ambulance to take me to the ER at Providence.

By this time, I’m beginning to become alarmed. “What is the problem? What does she think is wrong?” But, I went along amiably because I felt like relief was just minutes away.

Time got away from me and I don’t know the exact length of events either because of the pain and because of the drugs that they were giving me to help me cope with it. Upon arrival, I was introduced to a doctor who prescribed the immediate MRI. He gave me enough pain medication so that I could lie still in the MRI. The MRI technician asked if I had any numbness in my legs. I told her that I did. That simple question told me that I had a major problem that even she could see.

Again the ER doctor came in the room and told me that he was referring me to a neurosurgeon. He wanted him to take a look at the MRI and advise me. “A NEUROSURGEON!?!?! What the heck? What is going on here?”

Dr. Schickner, the neurosurgeon, came in and said that when he looked at the MRI that he saw a mass in my lower spine (the lumbar region). He said that it didn’t look like a tumor or cancerous, but he didn’t know what it was.

I immediately thought, “Oh, dear. It’s lymphoma.” Since lymphoma is a side-effect of taking Remicade (which I take for Crohn’s), I feared the worst.

He also said that the area within the spine for most people was measured from about an 8 to a 10 and mine looked to be about a 2. He advised that we do surgery sooner rather than later. . . like right then. “Whoa, Nellie.” I didn’t know this surgeon nor his reputation, should I get a second opinion, should I go ahead with the surgery? I asked for some time to talk it over with Kenneth and pray about it.

Since I hadn’t eaten since about 7:00 that morning, he advised going ahead and doing the surgery and beginning the fight right then. So, we called the neurosurgeon back in and agreed to proceed.

We met with the anesthesiologist (who, it turns out, is married to Brit’s OB) and began the process. About 10:00 p.m., I went in to surgery. I got out about 2:15 a.m. As they wheeled me to my room, I saw Kenneth, Brit and J. P. and Gayland and Ella Faye. Again, I said to myself, “Whoa, what are all these people doing here?” I had no idea what time it was.

When Dr. Schickner came out of surgery, he told my family that he was certainly glad that we didn’t wait any longer. He said that if we had waited until morning that I would most likely have been in a wheelchair the rest of my life with no control over my bowels . . . or worse. That frightened them and I must say, when they told me, I was also startled.

The good doctor came by the next morning and explained the surgery to me. He said that once he made the incision, that he had to remove the muscles from the spine. As he did that, there were large pockets of puss there. He cleaned those up and did the laminectomy (removing the back of the spine). Once it was removed, he used an instrument to run up under the nerves and he said he found even larger pockets of puss which he also cleaned up.

He then told me that he was calling in an infectious disease doctor to confer with. That doctor told me that I had a staph infection and that was what caused the matter (puss) in my spine. The Remicade that I take for my Crohn’s had suppressed my immune system so much that I didn’t have anything left to fight it off with. But, I have to have the Remicade or I’ll have a terrible flare-up with my Crohn’s. That’s a Catch-22. He did lab work and immediately ordered IV antibiotics. At first, he thought that the staph had cleared from my blood, but that was not the case. So, I had to stay an additional 5 days. Twelve days in the hospital was more than enough for me.

I had to have several procedures done while I was there including an EEG and a trans-esophogeal EEG. They also inserted a PICC line. Yuck! I hate all that hospital stuff.

I’m home now using a walker to get around. Kenneth gives me the IV antibiotics 3 times a day. He gives them at 6 a.m., 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. We have to do that for 3 more weeks. Then, I’ll have my Remicade infusion which will knock my immune system down again. But, the infectious disease doctor said that he’d probably keep me on oral antibiotics for 6 months to be sure that all of the staph is cleared.

The antibiotics make me nauseous and I have no appetite (which is not necessarily a bad thing for me). So, Ken makes his special grilled-cheese sandwiches for me. I can always eat those because they are the best in the world.

Just keep us in your thoughts and prayers as I make my recovery. Both the surgeon and the infectious disease specialist expect a complete, but long recovery. It’s nice to be here and be able to walk even if it is with a limp.

Today's my birthday. I'm alive and I'm home.

I haven't written on my blog in nearly a month. That's because I've been under the weather. Over the next few days and weeks, I'll give a detailed explanation of my illness, but for now, I just want to say how great it is to be alive and in my own home.

I had emergency back surgery on July 7th following two weeks of excruciating pain. I spent almost 2 weeks in the hospital following the surgery, but now, I'm at home. . . and it never looked so good.

It's funny how circumstances change your outlook. Things I used to deem so important are not now and others that I took for granted, I now treasure. The Lord is always teaching me. I hope that I learn and remember his lessons.