Welcome to September 2006
September 7, 2006:
One week ago (8/31), was especially scary for both of us. During my art therapy session early that morning, I got two warnings that a seizure was coming on. This especially confused me since I had just had my last seizure only *10* days prior...and since it had been 1 1/2 years since the last one, I thought that my brain must be playing pregnancy tricks on me, and I blew it off. WELL. When am I going to learn to pay attention to my body!?! I got home, and, lo-and-behold, had another grand-mal seizure in the living room at about 11:45am, this time hurting my upper left bicep and elbow....and of course, my tongue. This one then had several petit seizures afterward for the rest of the day, leading into a fever and a *bad* cold as of that evening (I still have the remaining....annoying....cough from this). Mom claimed that in the past, I have had seizures when bad colds start to come on. Makes sense ("upsetting the apple-cart" theory). Well, this seizure was the breaking point, and Bruce drove home (for good), getting here after dark, stopping only to get his car gas and me some meds from CVS (the seizure made me finally agree with the doctor's Dx that I needed to up my tegretol levels). Since then, Bruce has continued to help me stay relaxed and healing (as much as possible, I guess).
However, as part of this cold, I woke up at 6am on Monday (9/4) to use the restroom....and was GREATLY upset when I saw a lot of blood (fresh, with a fingernail-sized clot) in the toilet. And for the first day in about the last month, my breasts did not hurt at ALL (never thought that I'd WANT them to hurt!!!). Because of everything that my system had gone through the previous few weeks, it seemed TRAGIC, but logical, that a miscarriage had occured. (Especially since with my PCOS, I guess I have 48% chance of early miscarriage; as opposed to only 10-15% for "normal" women.) SO, a lot of crying took place through most of the day. But, perhaps prayers were answered.....the blood stopped very early in the morning; and the following morning, my breasts HURT!!!. Perhaps no miscarriage afterall???? Maybe???? Just to answer these questions, I moved up next week's ob/gyn appointment to get my first ultrasound done later this morning. With Bruce now home, he'll be going with me. Yesterday, I explained to him some of the more....INTIMATE...things that might go on. God knew what he was doing when females were decided to do the birthing process. :)
Bruce wrote the following on his mom's update:
This past Thursday (8/31/06), mom was transferred out of the University of Louisville Hospital and into a room at the Hospice Care Facility in Louisville. This was done so that mom could receive more direct care than the hospital was able to provide. Also, this was done because after conversations between my dad and the doctors, it was determined that placing mom on a IV nutrional feed would only make things worse. The cancer mom has would feed on the supplement and potentially grow and spread faster. Unfortunately, this meant that mom would be receiving no nutrition at all either. Mom and Dad have both had this discussion before and neither wanted to be kept alive by any form of life support and since the doctors said this IV would be active for an extended period, dad considered it life support and thus was against it. Also in the doctors conversations, it was determined that mom would not be able to start any form of chemo treatments for several months because her intestines needed to heal, but they would have difficulty healing without nutrition. Basically, they were looking at a double edged sword staring them straight in the face. Dad made the decisions after consulting with the doctors and with full backing from my siblings and I.
Mom had some good days and bad days while at Hospice. The best was this past Sunday when the majority of her family came in from out of town to visit with her. According to my sister, mom and her family were able to have good conversations and that mom remained "with it" the majority of the day.
Dad called me on Tuesday evening (9/5/06) and let me know that Mom was going home. Home as in back to Elizabethtown and their house. A couple of reasons for doing this were 1- this would help mom to be more comfortable and enable all of her friends to easily come by and see her 2- the director of the Elizabethtown Hospice facility is also mom and dad's family doctor, so he will have mom under his direct care for her remaining time. Dad also mentioned that they would be monitoring mom closely and that if it becomes apparent that the time is near, they will try and transfer her back to the Hospice facility so that she can go in peace there. This would enable the family (and dad especially) to walk into the house without constantly thinking of this as the place where mom passed away.
That is all the news I have at this time. As more warrants, I will keep everyone informed. For now, please continue to prayer for my entire family as we continue to await God's will and God's timing for calling mom back home.
Bruce's dad then wrote the following (9/6/06):
Good Afternoon to everyone,
I wanted to let all of you know that we have just moved Lorraine from the Hospice facility at Norton Pavilion in Louisville to our home. It was her wish to be home instead and we wanted to respect that wish.
She will be under hospice are home and under the care of her longtime physician Dr. Paul Gerard who is also the hospice director. My sister Harriet is planning to stay with us for as long as needed so that gives me some help and relief.
So far Lorraine has been painfree which is indeed a blessing from God. All of the nurses and doctors are amazed at this fact.
Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you wish to keep informed
One week ago (8/31), was especially scary for both of us. During my art therapy session early that morning, I got two warnings that a seizure was coming on. This especially confused me since I had just had my last seizure only *10* days prior...and since it had been 1 1/2 years since the last one, I thought that my brain must be playing pregnancy tricks on me, and I blew it off. WELL. When am I going to learn to pay attention to my body!?! I got home, and, lo-and-behold, had another grand-mal seizure in the living room at about 11:45am, this time hurting my upper left bicep and elbow....and of course, my tongue. This one then had several petit seizures afterward for the rest of the day, leading into a fever and a *bad* cold as of that evening (I still have the remaining....annoying....cough from this). Mom claimed that in the past, I have had seizures when bad colds start to come on. Makes sense ("upsetting the apple-cart" theory). Well, this seizure was the breaking point, and Bruce drove home (for good), getting here after dark, stopping only to get his car gas and me some meds from CVS (the seizure made me finally agree with the doctor's Dx that I needed to up my tegretol levels). Since then, Bruce has continued to help me stay relaxed and healing (as much as possible, I guess).
However, as part of this cold, I woke up at 6am on Monday (9/4) to use the restroom....and was GREATLY upset when I saw a lot of blood (fresh, with a fingernail-sized clot) in the toilet. And for the first day in about the last month, my breasts did not hurt at ALL (never thought that I'd WANT them to hurt!!!). Because of everything that my system had gone through the previous few weeks, it seemed TRAGIC, but logical, that a miscarriage had occured. (Especially since with my PCOS, I guess I have 48% chance of early miscarriage; as opposed to only 10-15% for "normal" women.) SO, a lot of crying took place through most of the day. But, perhaps prayers were answered.....the blood stopped very early in the morning; and the following morning, my breasts HURT!!!. Perhaps no miscarriage afterall???? Maybe???? Just to answer these questions, I moved up next week's ob/gyn appointment to get my first ultrasound done later this morning. With Bruce now home, he'll be going with me. Yesterday, I explained to him some of the more....INTIMATE...things that might go on. God knew what he was doing when females were decided to do the birthing process. :)
Bruce wrote the following on his mom's update:
This past Thursday (8/31/06), mom was transferred out of the University of Louisville Hospital and into a room at the Hospice Care Facility in Louisville. This was done so that mom could receive more direct care than the hospital was able to provide. Also, this was done because after conversations between my dad and the doctors, it was determined that placing mom on a IV nutrional feed would only make things worse. The cancer mom has would feed on the supplement and potentially grow and spread faster. Unfortunately, this meant that mom would be receiving no nutrition at all either. Mom and Dad have both had this discussion before and neither wanted to be kept alive by any form of life support and since the doctors said this IV would be active for an extended period, dad considered it life support and thus was against it. Also in the doctors conversations, it was determined that mom would not be able to start any form of chemo treatments for several months because her intestines needed to heal, but they would have difficulty healing without nutrition. Basically, they were looking at a double edged sword staring them straight in the face. Dad made the decisions after consulting with the doctors and with full backing from my siblings and I.
Mom had some good days and bad days while at Hospice. The best was this past Sunday when the majority of her family came in from out of town to visit with her. According to my sister, mom and her family were able to have good conversations and that mom remained "with it" the majority of the day.
Dad called me on Tuesday evening (9/5/06) and let me know that Mom was going home. Home as in back to Elizabethtown and their house. A couple of reasons for doing this were 1- this would help mom to be more comfortable and enable all of her friends to easily come by and see her 2- the director of the Elizabethtown Hospice facility is also mom and dad's family doctor, so he will have mom under his direct care for her remaining time. Dad also mentioned that they would be monitoring mom closely and that if it becomes apparent that the time is near, they will try and transfer her back to the Hospice facility so that she can go in peace there. This would enable the family (and dad especially) to walk into the house without constantly thinking of this as the place where mom passed away.
That is all the news I have at this time. As more warrants, I will keep everyone informed. For now, please continue to prayer for my entire family as we continue to await God's will and God's timing for calling mom back home.
Bruce's dad then wrote the following (9/6/06):
Good Afternoon to everyone,
I wanted to let all of you know that we have just moved Lorraine from the Hospice facility at Norton Pavilion in Louisville to our home. It was her wish to be home instead and we wanted to respect that wish.
She will be under hospice are home and under the care of her longtime physician Dr. Paul Gerard who is also the hospice director. My sister Harriet is planning to stay with us for as long as needed so that gives me some help and relief.
So far Lorraine has been painfree which is indeed a blessing from God. All of the nurses and doctors are amazed at this fact.
Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you wish to keep informed
September 10, 2006:
Okay, more things to report.....my teenaged pimples are suddenly returning and my hair is now seemingly ALWAYS in need of a wash. Teenage years once again. Yahoo..... Oh, and an almost constant somewhat-queezy stomach ache (morning sickness ALLL day long). Thank goodness for the Cola Syrup. 2 teaspoons, and I'm (usually) fine in 30 minutes.
Starting late yesterday, Bruce began to have my cold that I'm just now getting over. Like me, it's hitting him suddenly, strong, and with a vengence. :(
Okay, more things to report.....my teenaged pimples are suddenly returning and my hair is now seemingly ALWAYS in need of a wash. Teenage years once again. Yahoo..... Oh, and an almost constant somewhat-queezy stomach ache (morning sickness ALLL day long). Thank goodness for the Cola Syrup. 2 teaspoons, and I'm (usually) fine in 30 minutes.
Starting late yesterday, Bruce began to have my cold that I'm just now getting over. Like me, it's hitting him suddenly, strong, and with a vengence. :(
September 18, 2006 (late afternoon):
Bruce's update on his mom's health:
Unfortunately, things are not going well. Mom's health continues to decline. While she is home at her request, she doesn't improve (which none of us really thought she would). She is generally sleeping the vast majority of the day and when she is awake, it is near impossible to carry on a conversation with her. She basically is "spaced out" even while awake. She has an infection in her abdomen which continues to spread and appears to be working it's way towards the blood stream at this point.
From the way my sister talked, mom is basically skin and bones now, she might weigh all of about 60 pounds at most. Of course, the dramatic weighloss is inevitable because she is receiving no nutrition at all so her body is eating at itself (best way I can describe it).My dad seems to be handling things very well. His sister is staying with him until he kicks her out of the house and my sister lives less than an hour away so she is down every weekend. It will hit him hard when the inevitable finally happens (as it will all of my family), so we continue to prepare ourselves for upcoming events.
As for myself, I am thanking God daily for Diana. I don't know what my mindset would be like if she weren't here by my side. Yesterday after talking to my sister for about 10-15 minutes, I went upstairs to wake Diana from a nap, and as soon as I did, I lost it and just lay there in her arms bawling for a good 10-15 minutes I think. It was truly my first gut-wrenching emotional release since all of the latest has unfolded.
We are going to Kentucky on Tuesday afternoon (tomorrow) to spend some time with my dad and to see my mom. I simply ask that you pray for our driving safety and that God helps me when I see my mom. I know that just thinking about it frightens me and I am looking to him to provide stregth and peace as I go through the emotional roller coaster that I know I will on Tuesday evening. Also, please continue to pray for my dad and the rest of the family as they continue to prepare themselves for mom's death. Also, that they are able to finalize as many of the funeral arrangements and service needs as possible prior to mom's death.
I thank each of you for your emails and the prayers that I know you have been lifting upon my behalf. Each one is truly heartfelt and eternally grateful. May God continue to bless each one of you in your lives and watch over whatever it is that may be going on in your families at this time.
I love each of you with Christ's everlasting, unfailing love.
Bruce
Bruce's update on his mom's health:
Unfortunately, things are not going well. Mom's health continues to decline. While she is home at her request, she doesn't improve (which none of us really thought she would). She is generally sleeping the vast majority of the day and when she is awake, it is near impossible to carry on a conversation with her. She basically is "spaced out" even while awake. She has an infection in her abdomen which continues to spread and appears to be working it's way towards the blood stream at this point.
From the way my sister talked, mom is basically skin and bones now, she might weigh all of about 60 pounds at most. Of course, the dramatic weighloss is inevitable because she is receiving no nutrition at all so her body is eating at itself (best way I can describe it).My dad seems to be handling things very well. His sister is staying with him until he kicks her out of the house and my sister lives less than an hour away so she is down every weekend. It will hit him hard when the inevitable finally happens (as it will all of my family), so we continue to prepare ourselves for upcoming events.
As for myself, I am thanking God daily for Diana. I don't know what my mindset would be like if she weren't here by my side. Yesterday after talking to my sister for about 10-15 minutes, I went upstairs to wake Diana from a nap, and as soon as I did, I lost it and just lay there in her arms bawling for a good 10-15 minutes I think. It was truly my first gut-wrenching emotional release since all of the latest has unfolded.
We are going to Kentucky on Tuesday afternoon (tomorrow) to spend some time with my dad and to see my mom. I simply ask that you pray for our driving safety and that God helps me when I see my mom. I know that just thinking about it frightens me and I am looking to him to provide stregth and peace as I go through the emotional roller coaster that I know I will on Tuesday evening. Also, please continue to pray for my dad and the rest of the family as they continue to prepare themselves for mom's death. Also, that they are able to finalize as many of the funeral arrangements and service needs as possible prior to mom's death.
I thank each of you for your emails and the prayers that I know you have been lifting upon my behalf. Each one is truly heartfelt and eternally grateful. May God continue to bless each one of you in your lives and watch over whatever it is that may be going on in your families at this time.
I love each of you with Christ's everlasting, unfailing love.
Bruce
September 18, 2006 (late evening):
Hi again everyone,
I know I just wrote earlier this evening, but I wanted to let you know the events that have just occurred.
Earlier this evening (7:30ish) my dad called to provide an update on my mom. He said that she was beginning to breathe very heavily and deliberately and that her heart rate had accelerated dramatically. These were all tell-tale signs that mom's death was indeed imminent.
However, we did not know how imminent. Dad called me back at approx. 8:10 to tell me that mom's heart had stopped and that she had passed away. He said that he was in another room calling one of my brothers when his sister called him back in the room to discover that mom had passed away.
While I am certainly grief stricken by these events, I also know that mom is now home where she belongs and that she is singing and dancing amongst the angels in heaven and smiling down upon us as we mourn her passing and celebrate her life.
All of the details have not been finalized yet, but right now the visitation will most likely be on Friday with funeral services on Saturday. As soon as I know definite details, I will let you know. I want to thank all of you again for all of the love and support that you have provided me and my family during this time.
Thank you with lots of love,
Bruce and Diana
Hi again everyone,
I know I just wrote earlier this evening, but I wanted to let you know the events that have just occurred.
Earlier this evening (7:30ish) my dad called to provide an update on my mom. He said that she was beginning to breathe very heavily and deliberately and that her heart rate had accelerated dramatically. These were all tell-tale signs that mom's death was indeed imminent.
However, we did not know how imminent. Dad called me back at approx. 8:10 to tell me that mom's heart had stopped and that she had passed away. He said that he was in another room calling one of my brothers when his sister called him back in the room to discover that mom had passed away.
While I am certainly grief stricken by these events, I also know that mom is now home where she belongs and that she is singing and dancing amongst the angels in heaven and smiling down upon us as we mourn her passing and celebrate her life.
All of the details have not been finalized yet, but right now the visitation will most likely be on Friday with funeral services on Saturday. As soon as I know definite details, I will let you know. I want to thank all of you again for all of the love and support that you have provided me and my family during this time.
Thank you with lots of love,
Bruce and Diana
September 29, 2006:
As most everyone is aware of at this point, Bruce's mom, Lorraine, passed away on Monday evening, September 18. Thus the reason for the delay in updating the webpage.
This is a copy of the card created by Carla (Bruce's sister) and handed out at the memorial viewings. The picture of "Life is Fragile, Handle with Prayer" is of a cross-stitch created by Mom.
As most everyone is aware of at this point, Bruce's mom, Lorraine, passed away on Monday evening, September 18. Thus the reason for the delay in updating the webpage.
This is a copy of the card created by Carla (Bruce's sister) and handed out at the memorial viewings. The picture of "Life is Fragile, Handle with Prayer" is of a cross-stitch created by Mom.
We traveled to Elizabethtown, KY on Tuesday, Sept. 19 to visit with the rest of the family and make final arrangements for the visitations and funerals over the weekend of Sept. 22-23. Most of Bruce's family was coming in at various times throughout the remainder of the week and everyone was in town by mid afternoon on Friday. It was nice to see everyone on both sides of the family even though it was a somber occasion for the visits. All of mom's brothers and sisters made it to town expect for her sister, Helen, who lives in Alberta, Canada. Aunt Helen had been in town for the week prior so she wasn't able to make it back. Again, it was good to see mom's side of the family despite the reason and plus they were all finally able to meet Diana since none had been able to come to our wedding last year.
While all the visiting was enjoyable, it did get kind of cramped in mom and dad's house. On Thursday, we had approx. 20-25 people there and than on Friday, we had approx. 40 people in the small house. But again, it was all bearable just to be able to visit with all of the family.
The visitation held on Friday evening was very nice. The funeral home did a wonderful job of preparing the body so that mom still looked like mom despite all of the weight she had lost. She was approx. 50-60 lbs at the time of death, but certainly looked her normal, healthy self (and weight). Also, there were dozens of floral bouquets lining the front of the room and up and down the sides. It was quite a site to see all of them and they just seemed to keep coming throughout the evening. The night was good for Dad because the flow of people was fairly consistent, yet not overwhelming so he was able to talk with each person and not feel like he had to rush them through just so he could visit with everyone.
While the day on Friday was very nice, the night turned into a nightmare. At about 10 pm, everyone had left Dad's except those of us that were staying there so luckily there weren't many people there. There were terrible thunderstorms that pounded Kentucky on Friday night and they started right after everyone had left for the hotel. Those of us left were wondering how bad it would get and if the basement might get some water in it, as it has done in the past. Well, to say that the basement got some water would be an understatement. The rains ended up creating a ton of flash flooding all over the place. Dad's house has a creek behind it passed the road that runs behind the house and all of the rain caused the creek to overflow its banks and come flooding up Dad's (and his neighbors') yard(s). Well, the waters ended up coming down into the basement and because of the rapid nature of it all and the force behind it, the basement door was knocked off the hinges and instantly there was about 2 feet of water in the basement. Luckily, we had tried to get all clothes and everything off the floors and onto beds and dressers to try and keep them from getting damaged. Those precautions worked to a degree because the waters continued to rise in the basement and ended up settling at about 5 feet 3 inches of water. Because of all the rain, most of our clothes were nearly ruined, but we were able to wash them several times over and salvage a good majority of it. We ended up losing 2 suits, 2 dress ties, 2 shirts, 6 pair of shoes, 2 suitcases, 1 garment bag, and several other clothes that were in the destroyed dryer, along with many of the electrical appliances that we had brought. Our family almost lost 2 family heirlooms during the flooding as well. Dad has an old Dutch Bible (which is over 200 years old) and one of my grandpa's old Bibles that were stored in a custom built coffee table that was kept downstairs. Dad remembered them just in time to get them out before water flooded the table. So we were glad to salvage those.
The sight of the rising water in the basement and the force of rain coming down the street as if the street was a raging river was something that we can never forget. The water's force was so strong that it even picked up a truck at the end of the street and left it hanging in a tree!!! As a result of all the flooding, the fire department told us to evacuate and head to a hotel for the night because there was nothing they could do at that point because they had to focus on areas that were hit worse than we were. So we all piled into 2 cars (actually an SUV and a large truck) with just the clothes on our backs and headed to the hotel where all of the family was staying. Mike, Bruce's brother, and Bruce did as good a job as they could to keep Dad calm but he ultimately was suffering from a nervous breakdown because he was so worried about us and the house. Mike called Dad's family doctor and got a prescription for him so that he could sleep. Dad's family stayed with him the majority of the night just to make sure he was okay.
Saturday morning was better for the most part. Diana's mom and stepfather, Brett, had come down on Friday night and they took us out for breakfast that morning and than to Wal-Mart so that we would have clean clothes, shoes, and toiletries for the funeral service that afternoon. Also, it was a good thing they had come down because Diana thought she had left her purse downstairs at the house and it had a 2 day supply of her meds in it for emergencies since the rest of her supply was lost downstairs in the flood. So, Diana's mom had some Tegretol that she could use for her epilepsy medicine until the next day when we could get to a pharmacy if needed. While it was still raining off and on all day Saturday, it was better because it wasn't in the dramatic downpour that it was on Friday night.
The service itself was very nice. The minister and a friend of mom and dad did the eulogy. Both did wonderful jobs of describing mom and her life. The choir also sang wonderful renditions of mom's favorite hymns, including Amazing Grace. The graveside service was very quick because of the pounding rain, but it was still overwhelmingly emotional. On each corner of the casket was an angel and they were removed at the end of the service and presented to each child of the family. A very emotional reminder of mom for each of the brothers and sisters.
The last few days have just been an attempt for us to get back into our daily routines after being gone for a week. So nothing new from the last few days except that Diana has some PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) as a result of the flood, with nightmares about water and an immediate and intense apprehension when she hears water in the middle of the night (until fully awake). She continues to feel the aches and pains of pregnancy (perhaps feeling the first "somersaults" this week!) while Bruce begins to get back in the routine of working to find a job prior to his severance package running out in about a month.
Below are a few pictures of what some of our belongings looked like after they were salvaged from the flood.
While all the visiting was enjoyable, it did get kind of cramped in mom and dad's house. On Thursday, we had approx. 20-25 people there and than on Friday, we had approx. 40 people in the small house. But again, it was all bearable just to be able to visit with all of the family.
The visitation held on Friday evening was very nice. The funeral home did a wonderful job of preparing the body so that mom still looked like mom despite all of the weight she had lost. She was approx. 50-60 lbs at the time of death, but certainly looked her normal, healthy self (and weight). Also, there were dozens of floral bouquets lining the front of the room and up and down the sides. It was quite a site to see all of them and they just seemed to keep coming throughout the evening. The night was good for Dad because the flow of people was fairly consistent, yet not overwhelming so he was able to talk with each person and not feel like he had to rush them through just so he could visit with everyone.
While the day on Friday was very nice, the night turned into a nightmare. At about 10 pm, everyone had left Dad's except those of us that were staying there so luckily there weren't many people there. There were terrible thunderstorms that pounded Kentucky on Friday night and they started right after everyone had left for the hotel. Those of us left were wondering how bad it would get and if the basement might get some water in it, as it has done in the past. Well, to say that the basement got some water would be an understatement. The rains ended up creating a ton of flash flooding all over the place. Dad's house has a creek behind it passed the road that runs behind the house and all of the rain caused the creek to overflow its banks and come flooding up Dad's (and his neighbors') yard(s). Well, the waters ended up coming down into the basement and because of the rapid nature of it all and the force behind it, the basement door was knocked off the hinges and instantly there was about 2 feet of water in the basement. Luckily, we had tried to get all clothes and everything off the floors and onto beds and dressers to try and keep them from getting damaged. Those precautions worked to a degree because the waters continued to rise in the basement and ended up settling at about 5 feet 3 inches of water. Because of all the rain, most of our clothes were nearly ruined, but we were able to wash them several times over and salvage a good majority of it. We ended up losing 2 suits, 2 dress ties, 2 shirts, 6 pair of shoes, 2 suitcases, 1 garment bag, and several other clothes that were in the destroyed dryer, along with many of the electrical appliances that we had brought. Our family almost lost 2 family heirlooms during the flooding as well. Dad has an old Dutch Bible (which is over 200 years old) and one of my grandpa's old Bibles that were stored in a custom built coffee table that was kept downstairs. Dad remembered them just in time to get them out before water flooded the table. So we were glad to salvage those.
The sight of the rising water in the basement and the force of rain coming down the street as if the street was a raging river was something that we can never forget. The water's force was so strong that it even picked up a truck at the end of the street and left it hanging in a tree!!! As a result of all the flooding, the fire department told us to evacuate and head to a hotel for the night because there was nothing they could do at that point because they had to focus on areas that were hit worse than we were. So we all piled into 2 cars (actually an SUV and a large truck) with just the clothes on our backs and headed to the hotel where all of the family was staying. Mike, Bruce's brother, and Bruce did as good a job as they could to keep Dad calm but he ultimately was suffering from a nervous breakdown because he was so worried about us and the house. Mike called Dad's family doctor and got a prescription for him so that he could sleep. Dad's family stayed with him the majority of the night just to make sure he was okay.
Saturday morning was better for the most part. Diana's mom and stepfather, Brett, had come down on Friday night and they took us out for breakfast that morning and than to Wal-Mart so that we would have clean clothes, shoes, and toiletries for the funeral service that afternoon. Also, it was a good thing they had come down because Diana thought she had left her purse downstairs at the house and it had a 2 day supply of her meds in it for emergencies since the rest of her supply was lost downstairs in the flood. So, Diana's mom had some Tegretol that she could use for her epilepsy medicine until the next day when we could get to a pharmacy if needed. While it was still raining off and on all day Saturday, it was better because it wasn't in the dramatic downpour that it was on Friday night.
The service itself was very nice. The minister and a friend of mom and dad did the eulogy. Both did wonderful jobs of describing mom and her life. The choir also sang wonderful renditions of mom's favorite hymns, including Amazing Grace. The graveside service was very quick because of the pounding rain, but it was still overwhelmingly emotional. On each corner of the casket was an angel and they were removed at the end of the service and presented to each child of the family. A very emotional reminder of mom for each of the brothers and sisters.
The last few days have just been an attempt for us to get back into our daily routines after being gone for a week. So nothing new from the last few days except that Diana has some PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) as a result of the flood, with nightmares about water and an immediate and intense apprehension when she hears water in the middle of the night (until fully awake). She continues to feel the aches and pains of pregnancy (perhaps feeling the first "somersaults" this week!) while Bruce begins to get back in the routine of working to find a job prior to his severance package running out in about a month.
Below are a few pictures of what some of our belongings looked like after they were salvaged from the flood.
September 7th, 2006 (afternoon):
YEAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, the concerns of earlier (see below) were all for naught. This baby is alive, with a VERY strong heartbeat (137 beats per minute, length 1.07 cm). He/she made it through mom's two seizures and is still doing just fine, thank you very much. There is no denying that this kid is one tough cookie. (Oh, my, one can only imagine what age 13 will bring.....lol!!!) We got to see many pictures of her/him, but the good pictures were minimal based on the position that they were in. But MAN, we could see the heart going. Other than that, the things forming are: elbows form, fingers start to develop, feet start to appear with tiny notches for the toes, eyes, ears, and nose start to appear, intestines start to form in umbilical chord, and teeth begin to develop under the gums. Hard to believe. But TRUE!!!!!!! Estimated due date is April 25th, 2007, and our next appointment is October 5th. :) :) :)
Our Engagement Photo, Spring 2005, Wedding Photo, October 8th, 2005, & Baby Makes Three!!!
Thank you for visiting. We update this page every few days.... check back soon!
Thank you for visiting. We update this page every few days.... check back soon!
