Income Tax Day

Well, today was the day we all dread, preparing the annual income tax. I must say I was approaching the Federal return with alot of uneasiness. This past year I started collecting social security payments. For whatever reason I did not file a form to have any federal taxes withheld so I was almost certain that I was going to have a big bite taken out of us. I was right, we owe a nice little chunk of change to Uncle Sam. It doesn't seem right to have to pay taxes on a fixed retirement income, but what can we do, you know that whole death and taxes thing.

Well anyway when TurboTax and I finished preparing the necessary form and doing the efiling thing, I selected Friday, march 13th, 2009 as the day to make the payments to the IRS and the state of Maryland.

I just hope that all of the government agencies that are hungry for money don't nickle and dime us into the poor house over the next several years. The problem is that we have the Federal governemnt, state government, county government, city government as well as the business community all trying to get their hands just a little bit deeper into our pockets.

42nd Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 42nd wedding anniversary and we started our big day by taking Leah to her cardiac surgeon for a checkup. She received the same good news and she did from her other doctors. She was released so will not have to go back for any more follow up visits.

After the doctor's visit we looked for 2 Maryland Municipal League Geocaches that are located in the city. We had a good day and was able to find them both. The MML has set up a geocache trail that covers the entire state of Maryland. The state is divided into eleven districts and you must find two caches in each district. For more information go to the Maryland Municipal League Website.

We stopped and had a soup and salad lunch at Bertucci's knowing we were going out for dinner. For our anniversary dinner we went to Mealey's Restaurant in New Market, Md. We didn't know it, but on Wednesdays they have a seafood buffet with prime rib. What a nice surprise and what a nice meal we had.

Our son, actually our daughter-in-law, sent us an Edible Arrangement for our anniversary.

Good Doctor's Report

Today it has been three weeks since Leah's mitral valve repair. She went to her cardiologist for a check up and got a good report. Everything is healing nicely and her heart murmur is gone.

Leah is to be contacted by the cardiac rehab facility so she can continue her recovery back to doing normal daily activities.

Leah, like our son, Todd, can not wait to get back to driving as she has to have me drive her everywhere now. We hope that on February the 4th she can resume driving on at least a limited basis.

Mom's Funeral

We had mom's funeral to day. The services were held at our church and because it was so cold and windy, the section of the service normally performed at the grave site was also performed in the church. Mom never like to be the center of attention, but today she had no say in the matter.

After the service we invited everyone to join us is the parrish hall for a lunch and fellowship time.

The one nice thing about a funeral is getting to see family and friends that you have not seen in awhile. As we always say, "it's good to see you, but not under these conditions." We always promise to get together sometime other than a funeral, but for the most part we all know we won't.

Leah's Mother Died

Today we received a call from our minister informing us that mom was not doing very well. She has been in the hospital for the last nine days and he felt her condition was worsening.

We called Leah's doctor to see if it was alright for her to go to the hospital to visit her mother. The doctor said it was fine to do so. As soon as we go that word, we got ready and went to Carroll Hospital Center.

When we arrived, we found mom to be in very very poor condition. Our minister, Leah and I spent all afternoon with mom before going home. We left the hospital with the feeling that mom would not make it through the night. At 6:15 pm we received a call from the hospital that mom had died. Leah and I went back to the hospital and waited to meet her brother in the lobby. After he arrived we all went to her room and paid our last respects.

Mom was 91 years old. We will lay her to rest on Friday 1/16/09.

Good Day Today

When I left Leah at the hospital last night, we were fairly certain she would be allowed to come home today. On my way to Baltimore, I got a phone call from Leah letting me know that she was going to be discharged today, but she could not get dressed until I arrived.

After being messed around for several hours, Leah was released to come home. Because of the type of surgery she had, she had to ride in the back seat in case I had an accident and the airbags deployed.

The first thing Leah asked for was a soft boiled egg and toast. She said it was the best food she had eaten all week. As good as the hospital is, the food there sucked. I hope that the hospital will improve this area in the future, but my guess is they will not.

It sure is good to have Leah home again.

Happy 2009

We wish a happy and healthy 2009 to everyone that reads this blog.

I am really looking forward to putting 2008 behind me. This past two months has not been kind to my family health wise. It has been tough to see the two people you love most in this world laying in a hospital bed, intubated and with all sorts of IV lines and monitor leads attached to them. The good thing is our son is well on his way back to normal and Leah is on the mend. It will take about three months for her to heal from surgery, but it will be over before we know it.

Leah's mother appears to be getting along at the rehab facility recovering from a broken hip, but a 91 there is only so far she can come back to normal. We still don't know what is going to happen with her for the long term, but we can not worry about that right now as Leah is our first priority.

Once again, everyone have a great 2009.

Glad to see 2008 end

Boy oh boy, are we ever to see 2008 end. Our son, Todd, had his cardiac problem in November. Leah's mother fell and broke her hip on 11/22/08 and Leah had open heart surgery on 12/30/08. And before I forget, I got another year older on 12/29/08.

Todd seems to be doing just fine and can not wait to get back to full time work and driving. Mom had her hip repaired on 11/24/08 and is now in rehab at a local nursing home.

Leah's surgery went well and she is coming along well. She was moved from cardiac icu to a step-down unit. We are hoping she will be allowed to come home this weekend. It looks like she has about 3 months of recuperation time ahead.

So far, knock wood, I am still going strong.

We hope everyone has a good 2009!

Christmas Day

Well, today is Christmas day. With all that has been going on in the past several months, it has been hard to get into the Christmas Spirit. We have done all of the normal things like decorate, put up a tree, purchase presents, go to Christmas parties and go to Christmas Eve services.

Last Friday Leah's mother was moved into an assisted living facility. On Sunday we went to Leah's brother's house for a family Christmas party. Leah and I took mom along with us and returned her back Sunday evening.

Monday morning Leah got a phone call that her mother had fallen during the night and injured herself. Her mother told them at the assisted living facility that she didn't want to go to the hospital. By early morning her leg was hurting her to the point where she thought that she should go the the hospital and have things checked out. At this point we received a phone call telling us what happened and that mom was going to be taken to the hospital.

In the emergency room it was determined that mom had a broken hip and would need surgery to repair it. Surgery was scheduled for 8:30 am on 12/24/08. We got to see mom at about 3:00 pm and she looked as good as a 91 year old woman can look after surgery. There will be a rehab period after mom gets out of the hospital. We are hoping that we can get her in at Lorian which is here in town.

Leah's surgery day of December 30th is getting closer and closer. Leah has a leaking mitral valve and must have it repaired or replaced. We hope that thing goes well with her surgery.

Oh, and did I mention that Tom's birthday is on Monday.

Missed Maddy's Birthday

Today we were planning to go to our son's house and help celebrate our granddaughter's 9th birthday. But this was not to be, we both were sick. I started feeling bad on Friday with sore muscles, a headache and everything going in to top was coming out the bottom.

When I got up Saturday morning, I thought I was feeling beter, but as the day went on, I felt worse. During the night after making one of my several trips to the bathroom, Leah told me her stomach was starting to bother her.

Sunday morning found us both too ill to make a trip to a store and back let alone a 2 hour trip to Va.

Not only were we ill physically, we were broken hearted that we would not be spending the day with Maddy on her Birthday. We hope the next weekend goes much better as we have several Christmas parties to attend and host.

Busy Month

Boy has the past several weeks been busy. Between getting ready for Christmas and hospital visits, the weeks have been full.

Just to bring everyone up to date: Todd has been back to the hospital twice. Once for a wire that dislodged in his heart from the defibrillator/pacemaker and second for an infection in his incision. This latest incident was on Sunday 12/7/08. He is back home again and we hope this time that he does not have to go back except for normal check-ups.

Leah had a cardiac cath several weeks ago and was told she had to have her mitral valve repaired. We had to make several trips to Baltimore to meet with the surgeon and to have a prior to surgery work up. Her surgery is scheduled for 12/30/08.

We had to take Leah's mother to the hospital this morning as she was not feeling well. They admitted her and are going to give her a blood transfusion tonight. She should be home by Saturday.

I have been driving a school bus everyday because of the regular driver having a baby and the substitute drive having a fall and being injured. I don't mind driving now and again, but this driving everyday is like working a full time job again.

Sunday the 14Th is our granddaughter's 9Th birthday. We are looking forward to going down to Virginia and having a small party for her.

Things are Moving Fast

Everything is moving very fast for Leah.  Today the doctor's office called to make appointments for tomorrow for some test to be conducted for the upcoming heart valve repair.  We both are hoping that everything will go well and we can get on with our lives. 

We were already planning to go out to eat for Thanksgiving.  This latest development has proven this to be a wise decision.

You Gotta Have Heart. . .

Wednesday morning we received a call from our daughter-in-law, Beth that Todd was on his way back to the hospital with chest pains. She was on her way back home from work when she called. She said she would call us from the hospital in Richmond and give us an update.

Later in the day, Beth, called and told us they felt that the wire from Todd's defibrillator/pacemaker came loose inside of his heart and was causing his discomfort. Thursday afternoon he was in surgery to repair the wire placement. He came thru the surgery with flying colors. On Friday he was released to come go home again.

While all of Todd's cardiac problems were going on, Leah was awaiting cardiac testing herself. On Monday I drove her to University of Maryland in Baltimore to have a cardiac cath. The results were mixed. Her arteries are in fine shape, but she has a mitral valve that needs repaired. She is going to wait until after the holidays before having anything done.

The Value of CPR - Priceless

Tuesday, November 4, 2008 was a terrible day for us. About 11:30 am we received a phone call from our daughter-in-law, Beth, that our son, Todd, was being taken by ambulance to the hospital. He was in the shower getting ready to go to work when he just fell over. At first, Beth, thought Todd was just playing around, but he did not respond. As luck would have it, when Todd fell, he blocked the door shut. Beth's son, Anthony was home because of election day. He heard Todd fall and came to investigate. Beth had him call 9-1-1 and they managed to get the door open just enough to get the phone into Beth.

The dispatcher gave Beth CPR instructions over the phone which Beth did until the paramedics arrived to take over Todd's care. He was in V-fib cardiac arrest. They shocked him, continued CPR and transported him to Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Va.

Leah and I arrived around 2:30 PM and were surrounded by Todd's friends from the emergency medical flight service where he works. We were shown to a smaller room of the main emergency waiting room. An emergency room doctor came in and told us that Todd was stable and was being taken to the ICU. Soon after a Cardiologist came in and informed us that they did not feel that Todd had suffered any heart damage, but they were going to be running additional test the following day.

After we moved up to the ICU waiting room, Beth said that she had a feeling that Todd did not want to be in that hospital. Todd's friend, Dave, got on the phone to their Medical Director at VCU Medical Center. VCUMC put the wheels in motion to make the transfer happen on their end. We had to push on our end to make the transfer happen. One doctor wanted to wait another day until he felt that Todd was more stable to be flown to Richmond, Va. We insisted that Todd be transferred now. VCUMC is a hospital that has a protocol for using hypothermia treatment on patients such as Todd and it was necessary that that treatment be started within 6 hours. Todd's vital signs were stable and VCUMC is a familiar, comfortable environment for Todd. And since the weather was not very good the helicopter was not flying so he would be transported by ambulance.

The flight crew wanted to take care of Todd during the ground transport. A protocol for initiating the hypothermia treatment was available for this crew to use prior to hospitalization. So it was arranged for the flight crew to be in the transporting ambulance as his care providers. Another of Todd's friends came to the hospital to also assist during the transport. All went smooth with the transfer to VCUMC.

Beth's mother, Rose, drove down from New York state to look after things at Todd and Beth's house. We left Anthony with Rose and drove Beth to VCUMC. When we got to see Todd, the hypothermia therapy was in place. Prior to hospitalization the cooling was started with chilled IV fluids and ice packs. After hospitalization a cather was inserted into a vein in which cool saline flowed through an enclosed circuit cooling the blood but not mixing with the blood. They cooled his body down to 92 degrees and kept him at that tempature for 24 hours and then rewarmed him over the next 12 hour period. This was to protect his brain from swelling to minimize any possible damage.

It was a very scarry sight to see our 39 year old son with all sorts of IV lines, tubes and wires connected to him. We knew he was in good hands and was getting the best of care and felt that he was going to be okay.

Leah and I left Beth at the hospital and went home to catch a few hours rest and return back with our motorhome so we could stay closer to the hospital. We were able to find a campground about 15 miles from the hospital.

Wednesday was a day when everything was in place, the therapy was in process and all of the monitoring to go along with it. Todd was in a drug induced coma. So we were in a holding pattern. Another friend of Todd's took Beth home Wednesday evening so she could try to get some rest. She stayed as close to Todd as she could until then.

Thursday was a great day for us, they were bringing Todd out of his drug induced coma and he was able to communicate with us. His first question was what happened to him and what hospital was he in. When we all left at the end of the day we were feeling very good as all of Todd's reports were comming back very good.

Friday when we came back to visit, Todd told us that he "woke up" around 1:00 am to find himself in the ICU. He did not remember us being there before Friday morning. After removing all of the IV lines, tubes and wires, the doctors felt Todd could be moved from the ICU to a step down unit later in the day.

More test were performed on Todd, but they could not find anything wrong with his heart nor anything that caused the sudden arrest. As a safegard, Todd had a pacemaker-defibulator installed and was allow to go home on Wednesday 11/12/08.

The doctors said Todd can resume a normal life and in fact is better protected with an implanted ICD than most of us. We hope and pray that he is.

So, if you don't know CPR, please learn. Who knows you might need to use it someday to save a life.

The rehab is finished

Well, we now have a different looking motorhome sitting in our driveway. Last Thursday we left Maryland via our car and headed to Indiana. After a night in a motel room, Travis' first time, we arrived in Elkhart, Indiana on Friday to get the motorhome from Bradd and Hall's. We were really pleased with the exterior paint job that had been done by Mike's Custom Painting and the interior flooring that Bradd and Hall had just completed that morning. It looked and felt like a new coach. But we were not finished we had to go to Irv Kauffman/ Gene Miller's in Nappanee, Indiana to have the window treatments and headboard installed. So Friday afternoon as planned Irv and Gene installed their part of the rehab in the motorhome. What a difference in appearence did the changing of the window treatments from cloth treatments to wood make. Irv and Gene had also taken the table top and refinished it as it had become yellowed and suffered a few knicks. It now looks better than it ever did- the leaf never did match the rest of the table before but now it matches very well.

Painted Motorhome

After leaving Kauffman's we went to "Camp Newmar" for the night. It was then that we were able to add our touches to the rehab. New braided rugs were placed on the floors and the completed quilt was put on the bed. Needless to say we are very pleased with the end product. It was not an inexpensive venture but it was a whole lot less than buying a new unit. We have been comfortable in this motorhome and have not seen anything else that we just felt we really had to have.
Saturday morning we left Nappanee and headed east. We stopped at a Farmers's Market on Route 19 before getting to Elkhart. This is a nice market with vendors of all kinds plus a food court area. We spent a little time and money here before moving on. Our next stop was the RV Museum and Hall of Fame in Elkhart. This is a must-see museum for RVers. Brings back menories seeing those pop-up and other trailers on display.
Saturday night we spent at Harrison Lake, Ohio visiting with Tom's family. On Sunday we traveled on easterly and stopped in Pennsylvannia for the night before arriving home today.

The Rehabbing Continues

The painting of the exterior has been completed. Pictures of the motothome were sent to us from Mike's Custom Painting and we are real pleased with what we see at this point. On Thursday Josh from Bradd and Hall picked up the motorhome from Mike's in Bremen, In. and took it to their facility in Elkhart,In. Tom talked with Josh on Friday. Josh said the motorhome outside looked like a new coach. Bradd and Hall will be installing new flooring which will take about a week. Our plans now are that on Thursday we will be heading to Indiana. We are anxious to see the finished product.

A week in Biloxi

On Saturday Morning, October 4, 2008, eighteen persons started heading towards Biloxi, Ms. Six members of our group were flying into New Orleans, La and spending Saturday night than driving to Biloxi on Sunday. Four members flew into Gulfport/Biloxi, Ms and the remainder were driving from Maryland to Mississippi.

Tom was in the second group that flew into Gulfport/Biloxi, Ms. he decided to do this because we have been to New Orleans three times. AirTran was used and all of the flights were trouble free.

Our group of four was picked up at the airport by the car rental agency. After signing for the rental vehicle, we drove along Beach Blvd which runs right along the gulf coast. As we were heading for Biloxi and the Back Bay Mission everything looked it had when Leah and I spent a week in Biloxi the winter prior to Katrina hitting the area in August of 2005.

My first impression was everything was back to normal before Katrina. However as I looked around in more detail, I started to notice the aftermath that is still present in the area. Most of the rubble has been cleared away, but the scars remain. Many of the vacant lots have concrete pads where once stately beach front houses stood. Lots of old oak trees have been damaged and many more were uprooted and gone forever.

If you click on the picture, you will be taken to a photo album that will show you Biloxi, the people in our group and the homes we worked on during our week there.

Back Bay Mission Trip

If you have ever considered doing this type of volunteer work, I believe you will never do anything that will give you more satisfaction. It has been three years since Katrina and the amount of aid and volunteer workers has tapered off, but much work still remains to be done.

I and many others in the group will return to Biloxi to continue getting families back into their homes.

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Continuing the rehab process

Tom has been in Mississippi this week with a group of 18 people from our church and community working on the Back Bay Mission project. This project works on rebuilding homes damaged by Katrina 3 years ago. This morning I placed a call to Mike's Custom Painting to see where our motorhome was in the painting phase of the rehab project. I was told that by next Thursday it would be ready to be picked up by the Bradd and Hall folks for their work. I then placed a call to Josh at Bradd and Hall to let him know of the release date. Josh will go to Mike's and drive the motorhome to their facility for the floor work. Josh said he would contact Mike's the middle of next week.
Needless to say we are really excited about this process. Emily at Mike's says the motorhome is looking real good. I have gotten braided rugs for the floors and I'm working diligently on a quilt for the bed

The Rehab Adventure Begins

Wednesday, October 1, 2008
After much mulling over and planning we made up our minds that we would rehab our motorhome as oppose to trading for something newer. We like our motorhome- it is home away from home for us. Although it only has one slide we have been comfortable for the past 9 years traveling and living in it. And it is paid for!!!

We did a lot of planning and this past week started to carry out the plans. Last Thursday, the 25th of September we left home and headed toward Nappanee, Indiana in our motorhome. Thursday night was spent at a campground in Eastern Ohio and Friday we arrived at "Camp Newmar" in Nappanee, Indiana. "Camp Newmar" is the camping area that Newmar Coorporation has for units having servicing. We were scheduled for Monday to have the exterior clearence lights replaced, the awning material over the slide-out replaced, the slide-out seal replaced and a new front window drape/curtain.

On Saturday Irv Kaufman and Gene Miller came to our unit to measure the windows for wood trim window treatments and the headboard on the bed for a wood replacement of that. All the window treatments and headboard are fabric, not something that can be cleaned well and after 9 years have become discolored. When Irv and Gene left they took the table top with them (it needed to be refinished as it had become discolored) and the headboard of the bed had been removed and discarded.

Monday morning, bright and early-6:30am- our motorhome was taken into a shop area for the repair work to be done. We went to get some breakfast and then went to Bremen, In. to see the Mike's Custom Painting. Prior to going out to Indiana we had made contact with all the vendors that would be doing work on the motorhome and had arranged a tenative schedule with them. Emily, at Mike's, said she would have some colors mixed up for us to look at later on Monday or on Tuesday. We had chosen the design from the website and we had some idea of the colors.

After Mike's we went to Elkhart to Bradd and Hall's, the business that is going to be replacing the flooring. We had been sent some samples of laminates and carpeting which we had already chosen but needed to return the samples back.

By 1:30pm our motorhome was returned to us with the work completed. We decided at this point that we would stay the night at Camp Newmar. On Tuesday morning we took the motorhome to Mike's Custom Painting (Mike's open at 6am) . After selecting our colors, we left the motorhome and we're on the road to home before 8am. We were home by 6:30pm. It was a long day of traveling. Travis was the best little dog throughout the whole trip.

The plans are that the painting will be done in 2-3 weeks. Bradd and Hall will pick up the motorhome and do their work, which will take about a week. We will then return to Indiana, pick up the motorhome and go to Kaufman/Miller's for the installation of the window treatments and bed headboard which should complete most of the rehab work. We will finish with a new bed covering and rugs for the bedroom and the frontroom. Needless to say we are extremely excited about getting this rehab done.

We will have before and after pictures posted for all to see.

Mom's Birthday

Today Leah's mother turns 91. She still live at home, but requires a lot of help from us when we are home. About a month ago, she decided she was going to stop driving as she no longer felt comfortable doing it.

We put the car in her front yard with a for sale sign on it. When we returned home, Tom listed the car on Craig's List. Within an hour of the posting we received three calls on the car, this was Saturday morning. Sunday afternoon a guy came aroound to look at the car, took a test drive and made an offer, which was accepted by us.

On Monday we had the car state inspected and on Tuesday evening the new owner drove away with the the car. Now, someone has to do the food shopping and take mom to all of her appointments.