Today was haircut day! Steve and his boys Tyler and Caden and I all got haircuts. We are lucky that our beautician will come to our house for our hair cuts. Since I can't drive to her shop about 30 minutes away I feel very fortunate that she will come here. On top of that she does a great job!!

The top picture is Caden. He has always been so good for his haircuts but he wasn't today. When Katie came here one of her first comments is that Caden has hit his "terrible twos". He held on to that title during his haircut too. He squirmed and cried and threw a little fit (just a little one!). If you look closely he is holding a sucker...even that didn't work today. I don't know how MaryBeth can cut while he's moving around like that but she does a good job of it.

Tyler looks happy in his picture but that was about his last bit of happiness once the haircut started. His Mom had gone out to run an errand when it was his time and he refused to get on the chair. I finally bribed him with a dollar and that at least got him in the chair. Tyler's haircuts always hurt and itch and you name it....it happens to Tyler...or at least he thinks it does.

I got a call from the doctor's office today regardng my gall bladder ultrasound. He said there is some sludge in the gall bladder but no stones. He said they are not sure if that causes problems but if I start having problems again then I should come back in and they will make me an appointment with a surgeon. Oh fun!!! The liver had a small fatty deposit which is harmless and the kidney's were fine.

I was supposed to get a pump refill this morning but woke up feeling exhausted and sick. I called and rescheduled for next week. I'm so glad I make my apointments early in regards to when the pump alarms will sound off indicating low amount of medicine. By scheduling it early in that time period I have room to change my appointment.

When Kristi was about 18 months old and Alan was 3 years old.... I decided to go back to college and started in at IUSB. Kristi did not adjust to the day care at all. She would cry the whole 2 hours I was gone. After 2 days of her being so unhappy I decided it wasn't worth it and dropped my classes. I have never regreted that decision and I hope it was a sign to her of how much she means to me. Well, Kristi called yesterday with a delima. She was supposed to work at the doctor's office but wasn't comfortable for several reason about the place she was leaving Jacob. She called me and asked me what I thought she should do. From my experience with her in the past I told her that Jacob is her first priority. She agreed and called in to tell them she had some babysitting problems. You just never know when the decisions we make will come back around and either haunt us because of a bad choice or make us so happy that we did the right thing in the past. This was one of those times I looked back and was very happy that I'd made the right choice and done the right thing!!!

The pictures are of our grandson, Kael. He is Alan and Eutemia's middle child/oldest boy. He will be 3 the end of August. Hehas this thing about fish right now!! He carries around little rubber sharks all day long and cries at night if he drops them while he's sleeping. So..you can imagine his delight at getting to go fishing today. I wish I could do things like fishing with the grandkids but it is too physically demanding for my health. My Mom...Kael's great Grandma took him fishing. She tries to fill in the gaps for what I would like to be doing but can't. I try to accept these limitiations but at times it's really difficult.

I had an ultra sound done of my gall bladder, liver and kidney's this morning. I couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight. I was good and followed their instructions. What I really worried about is getting the chest pains. When I get those pains I have to eat something and drink a glass of water to get them to stop. I got lucky and didn't have any last night!! It was a real difficult morning because I usually take morphine and ibuprofen when I first get up and it helps me to get going. Since I couldn't do that the pain was really bad. I even had pain in both knees this morning. Just my luck they had an emergency situation in the ultra sound room. They were examining a baby that was just born yesterday. It took them an hour to do the ultra sound on the baby. I had to wait about 1 1/2 hours to get in to the room. I was just ready to leave and reschedule and they came and called me in the room. Won't know till Dr. Stillson's office calls with the results. I think I'm doing better since I stopped taking one of my blood pressure medicines. So...we'll see!!

Katie is so good to me....when she makes trips to the store she almost always calls me and asks me to join her. She'll never know how much it means to me and how it makes my day. All 3 of our children have been so good to me since I've been sick. Yesterday Katie and I and Tyler and Caden went to WalMart together....we needed to get a bridal shower gift. On our way out, Katie was going to get Caden some french fries at the McDonald's inside our WalMart. Well, the line was long and the fries weren't even done so she decided to go to Wendy's in front of WalMart instead. I have never seen Caden get so upset. He kicked and screamed and cried and Katie could barely get him in the car seat. He continued to cry and nothing we said or did would help. He didn't even want anything at Wendy's. I mentioned to Katie that maybe we should just drine to McDonald's. She agreed. As soon as we turned in their driveway Caden got the biggest grin on his face and was so happy!! I can't believe a little guy that's just 2 years old knows those restaurants so well. He's a pretty smart little guy!!

This past Sunday Rhebeca and Eutemia were baptized at the Plymouth Wesleyan Church. I was having a terrible day but I didn't want to miss seeing them baptized. Afterwards, my Mom & Dad had us all over to their house for dinner. The kids had a good time playing. We have 5 grandsons and 1 granddaughter. I need to get used to rough playing with 5 grandsons. The boys took the cushions of the couch and as you can see in the picture they had fun wrestling on top of the cushions. I had to sit there and keep an eye on Caden...the littlest who seemed to always end up on the bottom of the pile.

The first picture is our youngest grandchild...Kaleb. He is such a cutie. His parents think he looks like Curious George with the big eyes. He is such a cutie but we don't know him real well yet because he is so attached to his Mommy. He doesn't really want anyone holding him except for his Mommy. We keep trying and one of these days he'll come out of his dependency on Mom....and it can't be any too soon for her tastes. I asked her Sunday how she gets anything done and she said that when she puts him down he clings to her leg crying.

Tyler spent the day here yesterday and I was so tired. I tried to take a nap but everytime I would get to sleep Tyler didn't like it and would say....Becky, wake up, you're sleeping. We played games, did water balloons, watched TV, played with army men, and made rollout frosted cookies. He loves helping to cook. He did the rolling of the dough and cutting out the cookies. I frosted the cookies and he put on the sprinkles. Needless to say...there was cookie sprinkles all over the floor but it cleaned up pretty fast after he went home. He had several of his cookies to take home after eating a few while he was here.

I go to the 2nd dentist for an opinion this afternoon. The 1st one kind of worried me for 2 reasons....1st, he had appointments open every day at any time I wanted. This 2nd dentist has a 3-4 week wait. The 2nd reason is that when we were in there they gave a lady a shot and she screamed. Not sure if it was just her or if their techniques weren't all that good. So, I imagine I will stay with the dentist I'm seeing today. I can't wait to get my front teeth fixed so I can smile again. I hate having them all chipped up. I feel like a hillbilly:)....and now I can see why some people have the rottted out and broken teeth. Dentistry is expensive and not everyone can afford it!!

I kept Caden (Steve & Katie's youngest) for about an hour today. He just turned two and really isn't hard to watch...it just takes more physical action than if he were older. Right now an hour or a little longer is about my limit with a child his age. He doesn't understand my condition like the older two grandchildren do. He found lots to do. His attention span is probably very normal for a boy his age. We played with playdough, played video games as you see above, and looked at some computer programs I found for a boy his age. I think what he enjoyed the most is when I started to twirl him on my desk chair. I didn't go too fast because I didn't want him to fall off. It was his idea to put the plastic box on the chair and get inside of it. I would lift him in and then when he looked like he might be getting dizzy I would stop the twirling and he'd fall on me. (I was sitting on the bed) I loved it....my back didn't:(

I asked Caden when he was here if he wanted to take a bath but he didn't act too interested so I decided to let his Mommy take care of the bath. I like the Cheetos all over his mouth. I have the 100 calorie bags of the baked cheetos in the cupboard and he knows where to find them.

Tyler had his school physical today. He will be starting kindergarten in the fall. (actually summer now). Unfortunately he had to have 3 shots. Katie said it took 3 of them to hold him down and he was screaming. I'm so glad I wasn't there...I couldn't have stood it. I'm so close to him that I couldn't stand to see him so upset. What's really funny is that I asked him afterwards how his doctor's appointment went....I said....I heard you had to get 3 shots....did you cry? He said...No, I just whined a little bit. Katie really laughed at that one after being the one there with him.

I had a decent day physically today. They are few in number so I enjoy them when they come. My feet were still swollen but for some reason I was feeling better...and I'll take it!!!

This is Tyler. He spent several hours with me this afternoon. The only thing I don't like about keeping him that long is that I get so attached to him and really miss him when he goes home. All I can say is he's delightful!! I didn't say perfect but neither am I perfect. I was surprised he let me take this picture. He has been very private about dressing and using the restroom but today he didn't say anything about me being in there when he took his bath. I try to respect him when he wants his privacy...it's an important part of growing up when you realize that you don't undress in front of people:) Tyler put suds on his chin and was pretending to be Santa Claus and saying ho ho ho!! We played board games, he painted, we were going to bake cookies but I didn't have enough ingredients and we played computer games together.

I had a fairly decent day....at least for me. The swelling is not down in my feet but I'm wondering it the water pill has reduced it some internally and that's why I'm better. The neuropathy in my feet was so much better today. I usually take 3 pills a day for the nerve pain but only had to take 2 today. And, my back pain was much much better than usual. I will take all the days like this that come my way!

The picture below is Wayne that was taken when he was a Sophomore in high school and was in the yearbook for an advertisement for the laundromats his Dad and Mom owned.

Kristi send me the 2nd picture....the one right below Wayne about a week ago. She said in her caption for her picture was that Jacob enjoys helping with the laundry. She had never even seen the picture of Wayne before. So, for Father's day she had a picture made up of both of these pictures and put them in a frame. It was a cute idea for Wayne.

Katie called me with another good idea for Father's Day. She told Tyler she was trying to figure out what to do for Grandpa Wayne for Father's Day. Tyler's idea was a certificate for 1 time of fishing with Tyler. I thought that was so sweet! And, Grandpa Wayne thought it was a good idea too. I am usually the one that spends time with Tyler so it will be good for both of them to be together without me along.

Four Cousins taken Spring 2005

It's been a hot and very humid day here in northern Indiana and to top it off thunderstorms are moving their way in for tonight. There will probably be a few scared children that end up in their parents bed for the night.

Rhebeca came over this afternoon for a few hours. We have a good time together. I was limited to what I could do with her today because my feet were so swollen and painful. She loves to get into my jewelry chest and play jewelry store. I am the customer...she is the store owner and I come in and buy from her. I found some old checks so I now can pay her with a check. She is alot of fun to have around.

As I said in the above paragraph...the swelling is back. I got to enjoy one day without it. I am getting to the point that I'm ready to make an appointment with the pain doctor and see he thinks it could be the morphine. From the different message boards I have gone to it appears that morphine can cause edema. It he thinks it's causing the swelling then he can change the medication in the pump. It would be so nice if it were that simple!!

I have been working several days on the layout above. I have to make four identical ones and I can't believe how much more time consuming it is to just keep popping out the same layout. I am almost done today and can start on something else. I am really enjoying my new scrapbooking room.

In the pictures on the bottom of this post you can see that Caden is standing in the doorway of his house welcoming everyone that is coming to his birthday party. He acted like he really knew what a birthday party is...and maybe he did!! What a change from a year ago. He was still a baby at one year old. He has grown and learned so much in just a years time. He actually enjoyed opening his presents. He tore little tiny pieces off of the package at a time which made for a really long time for gift opening. I know that Tyler wanted to help his brother but he used great restraint in watching like the rest of us.

Please excuse the double post of Katie and Caden opening gifts. It takes me about 40 minutes to get these pictures on here and if I delete one picture they all go. I am just going to leave it this time.

Tyler sat at the table while we had cake across from me and started making all these silly faces. I got a shot of all of them but only posted a couple of them. I think the pizza on his face adds a lot to the character of the pictures. He then took over the camera and started taking pictures. I love to see what he takes pictures of and I had every little detail...even a picture of their waste basket.

Wayne called me on the telephone about 1/2 hour ago...right in the middle of scrapbooking. I didn't have a phone in that room so I went running into the bedroom. I banged my toes on the door frame and screamed out in pain. I have the neuropathy in both feet so a bang like that hurts more than it would w/o the neuropathy. After I talked to him I came into the computer room and started working on posting these pictures. I looked down at my toes wondering why they were still hurting and my toe next to the big one (the pointer toe?) was all bloody. I looked at where my foot was resting and I couldn't have been lucky enough to have it on the plastic mat...it was just off the mat on the carpet so I just got finished scrubbing the carpet. It just seems like it never ends at times.

My health has been a little better just starting today because the swelling has gone down. Again, I don't know why it comes and I don't know why it leaves. It really is a cycle that comes often. I was popping advil every few hours while I was swollen because this time it really affected the back pain. I had the worst of the pain that I get in my back and that is the deep nerve pain into my tailbone. I almost feel paniced when that pain starts.

I have been sleeping in a recliner for over 2 years. It makes it hard to travel and I just feel like a "misfit" for not sleeping in bed like that rest of the population. I have made an effort to try to sleep in bed this last week. I have gradually increased the time every night and I actually think I'm sleeping longer at a time and better.

CADEN'S 2ND BIRTHDAY!!

Last week I went in to Dr. Stillson for swelling in my feet, ankles, legs and really my whole body. He told me to stop the Lotrel which is one of my blood pressure medications and come back to see him in a week. Yesterday was my one week appointment and I was very anxious to know what the blood pressure was doing. Well...thank goodness it is staying down in a very normal range!! But...the swelling was back again. It had gone away and I had nice looking ankles for several days but it came back full force the morning of my appointment.

The doctor seemed a little disappointed himself that the swelling had returned but was pleased that the blood pressure remained low. He gave me a new "water pill" to try....it works in a totally different way than the one I've been using so hopefully it will help. I will get that filled tomorrow!

I can take the swelling except that it makes the neuropathy in my feet more painful and the swelling also causes a LOT more back pain so that makes it pretty easy to remember to take the water pill. Pain is an amazing motivator.

Tyler spent a couple hours here this afternoon and as usual I enjoyed having him here. I don't think I've ever seen a child (unless it was Rhebeca) so able to play by himself with a HUGE imagination. I enjoy just sitting and watching that imagine go wild.

Before I had the morphine pump implanted I was on a very high amount of narcotics because of the horrible back pain. I couldn't ever have imagined pain that high and how it could affect me in every area of life. One of the medicaitons I was taking was fentanyl in the form of a small sucker. It was probably the most effective medicine in the end. The only problem with that medication is that it has almost ruined every tooth in my mouth. I have had several root canals and crowns and need a LOT more work done on my teeth. I think it's next week that I go to see a new dentist for an estimate and then I'll decide which doctor seems best and get started on this work.

About 3 days ago I was flossing and a piece of one of my teeth broke off and now tonight I was chewing and started chewing on something that felt like eating egg shells. I went into the bathroom to see which tooth it was and of all the luck it was a piece off of another one of my upper front teeth. I feel like going on a liquid diet...if it happens again I think I will go on that diet!!

Tomorrow I should have some good pictures because it's Caden (Katie & Steve's youngest) 2nd birthday party!!

Monday was a beautiful day here in northern Indiana...not too hot and not too cold with a nice breeze. About 3:00 Monday afternoon I listened to a message left on my phone around noon from Tyler and Rhebeca and they were inviting me to my Mom & Dad's house for pancakes. Well, I knew it was too late for pancakes so I drove over and was just gonna play with the 3 of them. When I got there they were getting ready to go to the park....the BIG park.

At first I tried to keep up with them but real quickly realized my pain flared up too quickly and I needed to sit. So, I sat on a picnic table and tried to keep an eye on Rhebeca and Tyler while my Mom watched Caden. I would get fleeting moments of great shots of the two of them so I posted them today.

I have had a couple of decent days physically except for the fact that I've had the grandkids here a lot lately and I've really overdone it ... but it's a good thing to overdo it playing with them. I've paid for it at night with pain flareups. Last night I couldn't get to sleep until about 4:00 and slept till 5:30. I just ached all over from my feet to my neck. I'm doing a little better today...my feet ache today but right now (knock on wood) my back is decent....hoping it will stay that way.

I finally have my scrapbook room moved from the basement to the former play room. It is the room in the house that gets the most light and I LOVE the outside light. That's why I disliked it so much in the basement...I felt like I was in a dungeon. I have posted on the bottom of this a layout I did last night while I watched TV and enjoyed my new scrapbook room. There is no way I can keep up with scrapbooking for 6 grandkids so I do what I can and hope to have it done for them some day.

The layout is not as crooked as it looks...somehow the scanner makes it end up looking crooked. If you are a scrapbooker and want to scan a 12x12 paper...I found a wonderful inexpensive program. It's called ArcSoft Panorama Maker. You scan part of one side of the 12x12 paper and then turn it around and scan the other half. The program then will read it and put together perfectly! I read about it on a scrapbook message board and did a google search for it!

I took this picture last night of Rhebeca and Grandma Marilyn. My Mom called and asked us to come over for pizza and strawberry shortcake...an offer too good to refuse! And, Alan and Eutemia were dropping off the kids for a couple hours and we wanted to see them too. I thought it was so cute how Beca was sitting on her Great Grandma's lap that I told them to freeze and wait till I got my camera!

Rhebeca asked if she could come over to our house for a little while and I told her yes. Wayne had to leave early to fix a crane machine so my Dad took Beca and I home. Rhebeca started talking about spending the night and I knew she wanted to. I asked her if she'd like to and she said yes. It was a pure pleasure to have her stay with us. I had just finished fixing up the new scrapbook room and it has a pullout couch and TV in it so I had her lay down in that bed around 10:30 and she said she watches TV and falls asleep that way....just like Grandma Becky:) I got up several times in the night....kind of worried about her....and she slept SO good!! She moves a lot in her sleep and I think she almost did a complete circle.

Rhebeca is now hooked on Fish Tycoon just as bad as Tyler and I. I had worked on her account all week to get her a lot of money and she had fun taking over the management. She is a little older than Tyler and plays a little differently. She didn't spend the money quite as fast as he did but wanted to save it. We're all different!!

I sleep in a recliner because sleeping all night in a bed hurts my back and my neck. I don't like it but that's the way it is and I've tried to learn to accept it. Last night I was really tired and fell asleep before I got the foot rest up and my feet were down on the floor all night. This morning my feet had SO much fluid in them....I've never seen them so bad. I took a water pill and tried to keep them up for several hours. By tonight, they are a little big better. I will be making sure tonight that the foot rest is UP.

Otherwise I felt pretty good today. I'll take all of those kind of days that I can get. I'm hoping tomorrow is good too because Tyler wants to come here tomorrow afternoon and do...guess what?....Fish Tycoon:)

And, finally tonight....here is the latest on the American Idol former contestants from this year......

Could this be right? According to the NY Post's Page Six, "Taylor Hicks has signed on to be managed by Jeff Kwatinetz's The Firm, which also reps former "Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson. Wouldn't 19E be managing Taylor's career at this point? Kelly signed on with The Firm after she left 19...

ETA: Here's a profile of The Firm from Yahoo Finance.

According to the Tonight Show's website Taylor Hicks will be a guest on June 22 with Kevin Spacey. Taylor will be the musical guest, promoting his new single, "Do I Make You Proud", onsale this Tuesday. Thanks cam and Maria.
Elliott Yamin is featured in this week's TV Guide. I haven't picked up my copy yet--but I will soon. Here's a blurb from the TVGuide website, "Everybody Loves Elliott--American Idol's third runner-up looks back on the challenges he's overcome--and looks forward to a great career."

And check out a photo of Melissa McGhee practicing her mermaid routine for the Hernando County 2006 Hurricane Expo taking place at Weeki Wachee Springs this weekend.

Anyone interested in reading the whole article or seeing what is on this American Idol blog daily you can go to mj's big blog . This lady is really an interesting person to read. She scouts out all the American Idol information she can and lets people know if it's fact or rumor!!

The picture on the top is Kael...Alan and Eutemia's middle boy. He is such an enthusiastic little guy. He loves life and loves learning everything he can about "boy things". Right now he loves fish and carries around a little bag with his shark, eel, baracuda and several others in it. Alan just talked to me and said that Kael will wake up in the night and start crying if he can't see his bag.

It's probably not hard to guess that Kael put on the protective gear for the scooter all by himself. The funniest thing he did that day is he somehow grabbed my camera when I laid it down. I am very protective of my digital camera....mostly because I know if I lose it I may have to wait a while to get another one. I got home after taking the picture of Kael and the pictures at the t-ball game and was going to download them into the computer. I couldn't fnd the camera anywhere!! I called my Mom and asked her to look around her house for it. She called back a little while later and said she found it in the bottom of a box in the garage. When Kael was there yesterday she asked him where Grandma Becky's camera was and he took her right to that box. I bet his Mom and Dad have fun finding things at times!!

The second picture is Caden at Tyler's t-ball game. He doesn't pay much attention to the game yet...but he has fun playing in the dirt, playing with his grandma's and grandpa's. He is such a cute little guy and has a really bubbly personality.

I am still swollen today although I did feel just a little bit better than yesterday. I actually got dressed today which is more than I can say for the rest of the week. My energy was back too. I just had one period of sweating and nausea so I laid down to rest and felt better after a quick nap.

I still read the American Idol news when I get a chance. I read yesterday that all of the top four idols will be getting a record contract. Paris will be doing a jazz Christmas album to be out in time for this Christmas. Not sure what anyone else is doing yet.

If you're watching the NBA finals this Sunday...Elliott Yamin will be singing the national anthem for game 2 that starts at 9PM EDT.

Bucky Covington was at a Kelly Clarkson concert in Oklahoma last night. He reportedly sang the song "Sweet Home Alabama" with the band Sawyer Brown. There was a rumor earlier in the season that Sawyer Brown had asked Bucky to join their band....could that be his future? Time will tell.

One more tidbit...Right now this is just a rumor but could be a true one. One of the fan sights says that ...."People magazine will declare Taylor one of this year's 50 Most Eligible Bachelors."

The pictures are from Tyler's t-ball game. It was so much fun to watch even though Tyler didn't want to bat last week. Hopefully he will have a change of heart at this weeks game. He was the 2nd baseman and spent more time playing in the dirt than watching the ball. He did try running for several balls that went flying by! I think the cutest thing was when one of the other teams members was at 2nd base with Tyler and they both started playing in the dirt together. The coaches had to remind the other little boy to start running when his team member hit the ball!

I have not felt well again for the past 3 days. I finally called the doctor's office this morning and they worked me in at noon today. One thing I noticed is that I had a low grade fever. When they took my temperature at the pump refill it was also a low grade fever. I didn't mention it today because there was too much else to try to figure out. My feet and legs and basically my whole body is swollen again. The swelling causes my back to have the "before pump" pain and when I get that it scares me to death!! Dr. Stillson decided that we would see if one of the meds is causing the swelling first. We went over all the medications and he thinks it could be one of the high blood pressure medicines...the Lotrel. So I'm to stop taking that and see him in a week. He is a little concerned that the blood pressure will go up.

If we rule out everything else then it still could be the morphine. Many people that I've talked to on the internet have had go get another medicine besides the morphine in their pump because of swelling/edema in the feet and legs.

I didn't take the lotrel tonight and all ready the swelling is down considerably....time will tell.

Wayne has been working so hard the past week in moving his office to the garage. We had someone come in and insulate and put up dry wall. He also bought a window air conditioner/heater. I told him I don't mind parking outside at all...my only request is that he starts my car on the winter mornings when I'm either all frosted over or all snowed over. It will save us a LOT of money doing this.

When I got the pump refill on Friday the doctor increased me from 8mgs to 10 mgs daily of morphine going into the intrathecal space of my spine. This is the first time I got an increase that I can tell the difference. I can stand just a little bit longer, walk a little bit longer and have even been able to sleep up to 2 hours in bed. I have had to sleep in a recliner now for about 2-3 years. I don't like it that I have to do that but I like that fact that it is more comfortable and the pain doesn't get so bad as when I lay down in bed. I woke up in bed last night about 2:30am and hurt so bad I didn't know how I was going to get up. I wanted to call Wayne to help but didn't want to wake him so I "bit the bullet" and pulled myself up...and OUCH!!! I'm thrilled for any amount of pain relief I can get. I'm also thankful for a pain doctor that is willing to bump up the meds in the pump like he's done. I think he's increased it every time except for one time so that's pretty good!

Not much else happening...just been really sick....in a lot of pain....the story of my life lastely:( I will not give up though...I will keep plodding along trying to find answers.

These two pictures are Tyler and Caden (Katie and Steve's boys) on Mother's Day this year. If asked to explain their personalities I would say Tyler is very introspective, intelligent, very mechanical and loves to use his mind. He also has a great sense of humor and loves to tease. Caden has been a hard child for Katie & Steve until just recently. He makes up his mind on something and doesn't give in. He doesn't talk yet but he can sure let you know what he wants. He loves to laugh, loves his blankie that he calls B and like Tyler has a wonderful sense of humor. His eyes sparkle and he is very enthusiastic. As different as they might be I love them both for the people they have become!!

I had my pump refill on Friday. I made sure to let the doctor know the amount of pain I was in and asked if he would consider changing the medicine in the pump. He came in to talk to me and he said that I have a long ways to go in increasing the amount of medicine I'm receiving before he would think about a med change.He increased the morphine I get daily from 8 mgs. to 10 mgs. I have noiced a little difference this time in the pain relief. I probably could stand now for 5 minutes instead of 1 minutes before. Every little big makes a big difference in what I'm able to do!! He also gave me a prescription for a new med for the pain of the peripheral neuropathy. I hope it helps but am a little worried about the side effects. I took it in to fill today and will pick it up and try it tomorrow.

Since I started taking the oral blood pressure medicine that is the same as what the patch was...the swelling in my feet and ankles went down immediately. Now today they are swelling again. It makes me wonder if I could have accidently skipped taking that pill this morning. I don't want to take another one so I'll wait and take one in the mornng and hope that the swelling goes down again.

Wayne and I worked all weekend on changing over the scrapbook room. I have spent hours going through everything and getting rid of what I don't/won't use. The scrapbook store here in town is having a sale of used supplies. I'm getting a lot of things ready to take to them next week. Last year I made almost $400. It can only be used in that store but it does make shopping a lot less stress ful when you know that you have a certificate to pay for what you want!

Not much else new. Didn't feel real well today...probably from all the swelling again. I sure wish someone could figure this out.

These pictures are also from Alan's birthday party. I love these pictures with him and two of his children. He took both kids out and had a neat little rocket to lauch. They had worked on it inside the house and were so excited when it was launch time. As you can probably figure out the rocket went into the top of the tree. He could have launched it 3 times but only got one launch because it was too high in the tree to recover. It was a very big ordeal to Kael especially when his Daddy went up in the tree. Just give Kael a few years and he'll be right up there with his Dad....or maybe his Dad will be down looking at Kael up in the tree...that's more like it!

We can hardly believe our "baby boy" will turn 33 on June 7th....two minutes before midnight. He kept the doctor up late that night and after that he kept his Mom up late many nights. Alan has always been a "night" person from the time he was a little baby. I learned to watch Johnny Carson many nights while I rocked him to sleep.

I am just such a lucky girl....not really:( Yesterday I spent the day running to the bathroom with the stomach flu. By this afternoon it was like I just popped out of it and felt fine. My stomach gurgled so loud you could probably hear it in the other room.

Tyler spent the afternoon with me today. His Mom had to run errands so I thought he'd have more fun here than sitting in the back of the car. That's boring for little kids. I remember when we moved to a new house that was much bigger than the last house (for those of you who remember it was Eva's house next to Plymouth Wesleyan Church) and I needed some new furniture. I went in almost every furniture store in the South Bend area and Katie would groan when we pulled into the parking lots. I'm sure her son is very much like her in that way!!

When Tyler left tonight he felt so bad...he really wanted to spend the night. I told him I'd rather he spend the night tomorrow. We have to leave early (9:00 am...that's early to me) to go to the hospital in Elkhart for a pump refill. That is something I can NOT miss. I do not want to get low or run out of morphine. I read that when you get to the last bit of morphine in the pump it starts giving you less so you won't run out. I will for sure be mentioning my level of pain to Dr. Grove tomorrow. I really wish he'd switch me to something other than morphine and see if it would give better pain relief...but I have to do it in a way that he thinks it's his idea! I really think I should be able to walk to the kitchen with out unbearable pain. If I try to pick things up around the house the pain gets so bad I end up in tears. I have never felt pain so intense. Wayne tries to do his part but men don't see the things to pick up like a woman does. Either it doesn't matter or he just doesn't see it...probably some of both! I can't complain though...besides working full time he has had to take over all the household chores. That's a big load. I'm excited because we have a cleaning lady coming over tomorrow for a good thorough cleaning. That's another thing men don't see...dirt. I try to keep the bathrooms to a level a little better than filth but it's about all I can do around the house anymore. Many of you may think that would be wonderful but I feel so useless at times. I would love to be able to do a good cleaning myself.