Please say a prayer for my husband

[Calibabe]

Sorry I haven't been on for the past few days but my husband had a little bit of a health scare over the weekend. His BP went up to 210/100 and I just about hit the floor after I took it, and then took it again thinking there was something wrong with my bp cuff. Nope. So he took some of his bp meds that he had from a year or so ago and that brought it down to 166/88 which was a lot better. I monitored him for the rest of the day and his bp stayed pretty much stable. Then on Sunday morning his bp was back up to 170/100 and again, that lower number really had me upset so he took some more medication and laid down. Our priest came over after I called him at 6:30am to tell him we would not be at Mass. He was so good. He called back around 7am and said that we were excused and that it was important for us to stay with him, and that he would come to see him after the 11am Mass or the 5pm Mass. He came in the afternoon and spoke with him and he gave him extreme unction just in case things did get worse then he is protected in the event that he would not be able to get to him quickly. My husband was a little scared about it but my son and I left the room and let my husband and him talk and my husband said his confession, received communion and then received extreme unction and also an apostolic blessing that also is important (my son assisted our priest with the resposes in Latin which was nice to see and our priest really appreciated it). Many people think that when you get extreme unction (otherwise known as last rights) that it means that you are near the end and that this is your last sacrament. That is not true. When as a Catholic we receive the sacrament of extreme unction it helps to heal us and protect us from further harm and it relieves us of all our sins and any Purgatory time we would have had to serve. Most of us as our priest put it have a pretty good size pile of wood for the Purgatory fire! He is just a wonderful person and such a good friend to us. He is our priest but he is also a wonderful friend and a trusted friend that we have. My husband is as close to him as a brother, seriously. Our priest has even said that. They have talked about things that even they were the only ones to talk about, as far as things within the church and he has always been there for my family. He came every Sunday and two to three times per week to see my son when he had surgery, not once but twice. He gave me extreme unction when we thought I might be looking at ovarian cancer. Thankfully that diagnosis did not occur and it was just polycystic ovarian disease, which my doctor and I monitor. He has helped us move and has just been such a blessing in that anytime we truly needed him, he literally would drop what he was doing and would come to help us. We are truly blessed to have him.

Now for some kevetching!!!! The damngumit doctor's office is about to really tick me off big time. What the hell is it with doctor's staff today? When I worked an office I had my computer but I also had a scheduling book and if in the event that the computer's went down, I had the ability to book appointments and it also served as a way to double check that everyone that was on the schedule was on the schedule. Now I consider 210/100 BP a pretty serious situation in which a patient needs to get in and see their doctor. If this doctor's office doesn't call back, I am going to contact his IPA and request another doctor see him on an ER basis. This can't go on for a long period of time. He has 10 pills and that is it. My son has his BP cuff with him (yup, he knows how to take a BP and can read it and he like myself and my husband can also do it by palpation that is without the stethescope). So he will call me if there is a problem. Also say a tiny prayer for him. He has a girl at work that he really likes. She seems to be interested in him, and on Friday he gave all the girls in her section a little box of chocolates with a bear on it (it was five small boxes). Everyone including the girl thought it was really nice. So hopefully things will work for him with her. From what my husband tells me she comes to work with her aunt who works there and that she comes from a very nice family. She is a very responsible young lady and my son and even my husband said she is very, very pretty. Has long brown hair, dark brown eyes and as my son says "is just proportioned right!" ;) Her aunt the other day was talking to my husband and asking questions about my son (he told her about his stay at the seminary and how strong he was in his faith which he is and that he had decided to become a fireman instead of a priest), so there appears to be some interest on both parts but I think both are shy.

On Valentine's day my husband got me a beautiful bouquet of roses that were shaped like a heart (about 3 dozen) and the flowers are huge! The blossoms are about the size of my hand. They are just beautiful. When the florist delivered them I was sitting on the couch and when he turned around with them and said "Happy Valentine's Day" and gave them to me I turned into a blithering mess. Then he gave me a card and that made me cry even more. Everytime I would go by the flowers I would cry. They are just beautiful. I keep them watered and they are in a cool place in the house so they should keep a good time. I am going to take a picture of them with my phone camera and put that on as my wallpaper. It will look nice.

So please keep him in your prayers until we find out what is causing such a large spike in his BP. It was never that high before so it does cause me some concern. His side of his mother' family has cardiac disease in it so there is some history. He also said he had some tightness in his chest but that it was going away and not that bad. Thankfully he told me that day that he wasn't feeling right and that his head felt funny. He asked me to take his BP so thankfully he didn't do what most men do and not say a darn thing which is usually what he does. I am glad this time something in him said to say something. Also had those BP meds not worked it would have been off to the hospital posthaste. Thankfully we have one of the best cardiac facilities in CA about 5 miles from me at Providence Holy Cross. They even take cardiac patients from other areas around here to there if they are having cardiac difficulties. So I am glad we are close to them.

I just hope everything turns out alright and it is just a spike in the pressure and not something more serious like a blocked artery which can cause it to spike like that.

[johnrocks]

Sorry to hear this! Hope all gets better and sending a prayer!

[Seanachie]

Your Husband is darn lucky to have you and the fact that he came to you is a Blessing and indicates his complete trust in you and your abilities. Most guys (me included) wouldn't have said a thing. That is tantamount to his trust in you and that's a wonderful thing.

I'm glad your Priest administered the sacrements. It's never a good idea to face the ultimate without the Graces one's beliefs entail. Your Priest is a darn good man.

I'll be praying for some intercession to the 'Big Guy' for your Husband, Yourself and your entire Family.

Be well Lady in your ministrations. They are indeed a Blessing to all concerned, including us.

Jim

[blazer]

Praying for you and hubby sister! You are such a blessing! :hug:

[rhet 2]

Oh, yeah, I too am praying.

Our families are our lives -- our everything -- and I should not wish you to be hurt like this.

May the LORD move SOME doc somewhere to get his/her butt in gear and find out what is causing the spikes and think of a solution, asap.

And thank God for a priest who knows what the word "shepherd" means -- and takes his duties to the LORD seriously. :clap:

[Calibabe]

Oh, yeah, I too am praying.

Our families are our lives -- our everything -- and I should not wish you to be hurt like this.

May the LORD move SOME doc somewhere to get his/her butt in gear and find out what is causing the spikes and think of a solution, asap.

And thank God for a priest who knows what the word "shepherd" means -- and takes his duties to the LORD seriously. :clap:

Oh rhet, you have no idea how great a "shepherd" this man is. I have literally seen this man hit his knees in prayer and have seen miracles happen. He is a very, very special priest and a wonderful man of faith, that I wish more people could see and then they might change their views due to the scandals of the church in the past. This man and I talked about that and he was almost in tears that the church he loves would have people so widespread doing such unspeakable things. He was the person who made my son bud forth with his faith so dedicatedly. He was also the reason that my son wanted to be a priest as well because he is such a great role model for a young man. However the seminary was chaotic and then with two back to back surgeries, it just maybe wasn't the time for my son to be there. Maybe things in the future will change but I am not sure. My son isn't the type of person who keeps his mouth closed when something is wrong. This other seminarian while he was first there was very nasty towards him. To put it in other terms the guy was a bully. That is not what you need in someone who is going to become a priest. Well, it got so bad that my son was almost going to fly home with me when I visited there but he stayed. However it was when he came home that December that he had to have his first surgery and then after that his other one 6 months later. However when the bishop visited our home he told us that this young man was no longer there anymore. I almost fell through the floor, my son was somewhat speechless but when he did go back after that first surgery he was told by one of the priests that he crossed the line by telling us (his parents) and his priest. I was ****ed off and I thought maybe you don't deserve my son if you would rather have someone like that. At the end of the year however, they saw how hard my son worked and the priest who said that to my son, did apologize to him. It is something that never should have been said. That is my main thing. My son was 16 yrs old, on his own, and had this guy who was 30 who seemed to have a real grudge against him. It's pretty bad when your child has to put a chair with empty soda cans on it so that if someone in the middle of the night tries to sneak in, he is woken up.

I did manage to get an appointment for tomorrow at 11am for my husband. Called the doctor's office back at 2:15pm and asked them "if their computer's were fixed yet or were we doing appointments by braille"? I think the receptionist lost the "humor" in my statement but I was being sarcastic and she just laughed. I wasn't in a funny mood. Wait till I walk in that office tomorrow. I know this doctor personally from having worked for my former physician. This is how my husband got to going to him. So, when I get in there and tell him his staff "sucks" I don't think he is gonna be so thrilled that they did what they did. This is not an isolated incident either. Everytime over the past couple of visits that my husband had in his old office there always seemed to be a crisis of some sort. So we shall see how things go tomorrow and if I do not see a change, then my husband will because that will be the last visit to this doctor's office and he will go to someone else. That is it.


Thank you all for the prayers. I know that they will help. I will keep you updated. :hug:

[Calibabe]

Your Husband is darn lucky to have you and the fact that he came to you is a Blessing and indicates his complete trust in you and your abilities. Most guys (me included) wouldn't have said a thing. That is tantamount to his trust in you and that's a wonderful thing.

I'm glad your Priest administered the sacrements. It's never a good idea to face the ultimate without the Graces one's beliefs entail. Your Priest is a darn good man.

I'll be praying for some intercession to the 'Big Guy' for your Husband, Yourself and your entire Family.

Be well Lady in your ministrations. They are indeed a Blessing to all concerned, including us.

Jim

Dear Jim,

Thank you so much. My husband knows my abilities because that is how we met. It is quite a funny story and he always tells everyone that he met me by looking at my derriere for over 2 1/2 hours as he was trying to extricate a guy from a car as it had flipped over and he was pinned by the dashboard on his neck. Had my husband not lifted the vehicle the right way the car could have come down and not only killed this guy (who had just happened to have been released from Trenton State Prison for murder!) but a couple of us (myself) included as we were in the vehicle trying to stablize the guy. Finally I was in a crouching position for another hour as we slowly placed the backboard under him and attached the straps to him so he would not slip down. Meanwhile, some nutjob comes out from nowhere and starts the grab the feet of this guy as my husband is trying to stablize the vehicle and I grabbed him, took him by his neck and threw him at one of the police officers there and said "Do you mind doing your job and keeping this idiots off my ass so this damn vehicle doesn't come down on all of us and kill everyone?" He just looked at me, muttered "bitch" and my husband said "that's my girl". That was it. However that wasn't the end of the night. We had to fly the guy out so Hanahamen hospital flew in their medivac and took the guy. We got things all together and were driving back home and as is in NJ in December especially at 2am in the morning, deer are all over the place. Well I saw this one rather large doe up about 1/4 of a mile ahead of us with her baby by her side. I told the guy driving to watch the deer, and sure enough, the mother bolts to the woods but the baby bolts right into the side of the ambulance and into the door on the side I was sitting. One of the guys in the back was asleep on the jumpseat and he literally jumped up screaming "What the hell hit us?". We pulled over, walked back and saw there was nothing to do for the deer. We then called my husband on the radio and I told him we were on Airport road and had just had a collision with a deer. His question to me? "Hey, how big is the thing?" I was tired, scared because I almost had this sucker in my lap and he was wondering how big it was. Well when he got there I was in just the right mood to tell him. There I was standing by the side of the ambulance, with the police officer and my husband and I am just rambling on and everyone else is laughing so hard including the police officer that they are telling me to stop, they are gonna pee themselves.

So yeah, he does trust me and I trust him. He is the more patient, patient. I am not so but that is just my medical training. One thing please if I can say anything to any of you guys out there is to please, please tell your wife, girlfriend or significant other that you aren't feeling well. His telling me that, probably saved him from having a stroke. It isn't a sign of weakness to say "something is wrong, can you help me". Please, please, as a medical professional, I have been on too many calls where the one party didn't say they were not feeling well and the next thing you know, they are either in the middle of cardiac arrest and we are doing CPR or they are already gone and there is nothing we can do. Either way it is never a pleasant situation to have to tell a loved one that "we did all we could". I always hated those words, especially when I was the one having to say them. So if anything can be learned, please, please say something.

As for the sacraments, yes we are truly blessed to have the priest we have. He traveled to Tijuana once to give extreme unction to a woman who was not supposed to survive heart surgery. He went, stayed with her for several hours and then left. She survived the surgery. He really is a wonderful man. We are blessed.

Thank you for your prayers. I am truly grateful for them. I know that my husband will be as well.

God bless you.

[stoked]

Don't call your doctor when something like that happens just take him into the E.R. I think he should have his head cat scanned and/or MRI'd and then that BP needs to be brought down. He is in total stroke territory with that level and having a strange feeling in his head should be looked into. That's my 10 cents. Any new medications should be carefully monitored by a doctor especially the resulting BP. Forget the at home BP monitors for primary BP monitoring. It's okay to use but I wouldn't depend on it when it's most crucial.

[Seanachie]

Hello Calibabe,

The story of how you met your husband is quite comical (from his point of 'view' anyways). Hey! Ya can't blame a guy for looking at something seeing that he really didn't have a choice in the matter! Can Ya? Right??? LOL :clap:

Out of mayhem does love sprout eternally. Toss in a released murderer from Trenton State and the efforts to save him and this story has Novel written all over it or perhaps a screenplay. Plenty of screenplay writers in Cali.

And BTW, I would expect nothing less from such an intrepid Joisy Girl. I suppose my ever present optimism would expect nothing short of a 'happy ending'.

You and your Hubby have many more chapters to write and again, my optimism tells me that you both will have the opportunity to be able to do so thanks to your love and caring for each other. It's a beautiful story already in the making from Coast to Coast.

Be well Lady with You and Yours. Tell that Hubby of yours for me that he's 'a darn lucky guy'! He knows why!

Jim

PS: On that fawn; it would have been on the dinner table in my neck of 'Penn's beautiful woods' in no time at all. I'll have to tell you the story of a dear friend who hit a buck right down the road from me when she was visiting several years ago. She was a Joisy Girl too who is now living on the 'left' Coast. A wee bit of irony there methinks.

[repchick]

I'll be prayin Cali,

[JenyEliza]

You have our prayers, Cali! :hug: :pray:

[JenyEliza]

One thing please if I can say anything to any of you guys out there is to please, please tell your wife, girlfriend or significant other that you aren't feeling well. His telling me that, probably saved him from having a stroke. It isn't a sign of weakness to say "something is wrong, can you help me". Please, please, as a medical professional, I have been on too many calls where the one party didn't say they were not feeling well and the next thing you know, they are either in the middle of cardiac arrest and we are doing CPR or they are already gone and there is nothing we can do.

My Mom is an RN. My Dad is 70 and proud of "never being sick a day in his life". He doesn't "do" sick.

Last year he had trouble doing #1, but didn't tell anyone. He figured it would happen in due time. It didn't. This went on for about two weeks before he finally mentioned to my Mom his difficulties.

Afraid what it could be (his older brother is battling prostate cancer), he'd kept it to himself. Turned out he was just getting older and had an enlarged prostate.

Mom had no idea he was having trouble and by the time he got to the doctor's and was cath'd, they took about 2 gallons of cloudy (infected) pee from the man. He had to have been miserable. I can't even imagine.

Two weeks later and 10 days on antibiotics, they did the surgery and he's fine ever since.

This not speaking up thing seems to be a man thing. Moral of the story is he could have saved himself a lot of discomfort and worry had he spoken up sooner and gotten to the doctor. He still would have had to have the surgery, but he wouldn't have had to wait 10 days for the infection to clear up if he'd gone in to be checked when he first had trouble.

At any rate---I echo Cali's plea. If you're not feeling right, tell someone. Go see the doctor. It could be nothing. Or it could save your life.

Jeny

[USMCmom]

Cali...am keeping you both in my prayers!
God Bless

[Calibabe]

Don't call your doctor when something like that happens just take him into the E.R. I think he should have his head cat scanned and/or MRI'd and then that BP needs to be brought down. He is in total stroke territory with that level and having a strange feeling in his head should be looked into. That's my 10 cents. Any new medications should be carefully monitored by a doctor especially the resulting BP. Forget the at home BP monitors for primary BP monitoring. It's okay to use but I wouldn't depend on it when it's most crucial.


Stoked,

Thanks for your advice. However, since I have 20 yrs of medical experinece in my bones and have taken probably well over 30K BP in my lifetime, I know how to work a cuff pretty well and read it as accurately. What I don't like are the cuffs that you can buy at the drug store that you can use manually. I don't think they give as good a reading in my professional opinion as a regular BP cuff and stethescope does. That is just my preference. I also am a block form the fire station who has probably one of the best paramedic squads in the country. If anyone remember the old series "Emergency" well that was in the Rampart section of Los Angeles and that showed how the paramedic field was really born. Los Angeles instituted it and all fire stations whether county or city have a paramedic attached to it. After I had taken the BP I had him immediately lay in a prone position and take the medication. Then in a half an hour I took his reading again and it came down to 165/86 an then about an hour after that it was at 154/80 so I know how to monitor an elevated BP patient.

Had he not said a word to me he would have no doubt had a stroke. That was key for him to tell me something was a rye and that I take his BP. He also has 15 years of medical training under his belt so believe me he also knows the signs. Had the BP not come down I told him that he would be going to the hospital whether or not he liked it. He agreed.

When I was with him this morning at his doctor's office the doctor concurred that I did the correct thing in having him take the medication immediately to bring it down and then monitored him for the reminder of the day. Other than the slight headache he had, his biggest symptom was that he felt the palpatations in his chest and that is what made him aware that something wasn't right.

If I had taken him into the ER with the elevated BP they would have monitored him as well. Since I live 10 minutes from one of the top 5 cardiac centers in the country right near me, I wasn't worried about what care was going to be provided. I just wanted that number to come down.

His doctor told him today that he wants me to monitor his BP three times per day. He works 5 minutes from me so he can come home for lunch and in the morning, I will take it, in the afternoon I will take it and in the evening I will take it. Any other symptoms that develop will result in a ride to the hospital posthaste. My BP's are as accurate as any doctor's office since I have been doing them for 20 years. My husband felt he was in good hands and he knew that I knew what to do if something was wrong. In that type of situation, my medical side kicks in and I don't panic or anything else. Afterwards I may sit down and get a little teary but while all is happening I am in medical mode and I show nothing other than what is going on aroung me. In that sense I have a very good ability to compartmentalize myself. I have always had the ability to concentrate on my patients and my duties and I didn't worry about all the other stuff going on around me. All hell could be breaking loose and I stuck right with what I was doing and never wavered. I had many a doctor ask me how I was able to do that. I said I don't know, I just do. They all said it was a great way of being able to handle the pressures of the job.

His doctor increased his dosage and he has to go back in two weeks with the logbook which will be no problem. So all in all hopefully the increase will do well and we will be alright with that. I do know that he has to be watched over the next two weeks that is no problem. My son works with him two days a week, so he will be able to take his BP when he is there and they don't come home for lunch. Then on the days when he does come home, I will take the all 3 daily readings.

Thanks anyway for the suggestions about the MRI/CT scan. They are as important a diagnostic tool as we can have. If things don't straighten out then I am sure his doctor will tell him that he will need to have that done. Also he will need an EKG as well. I am hoping that the next visit that they do that and I will call their office and ask that it be done on the check up visit just to see if there are any abnormalities in the EKG reading that may be causing this. That is my next move.

[Calibabe]

Hello Calibabe,

The story of how you met your husband is quite comical (from his point of 'view' anyways). Hey! Ya can't blame a guy for looking at something seeing that he really didn't have a choice in the matter! Can Ya? Right??? LOL :clap:

Out of mayhem does love sprout eternally. Toss in a released murderer from Trenton State and the efforts to save him and this story has Novel written all over it or perhaps a screenplay. Plenty of screenplay writers in Cali.

And BTW, I would expect nothing less from such an intrepid Joisy Girl. I suppose my ever present optimism would expect nothing short of a 'happy ending'.

You and your Hubby have many more chapters to write and again, my optimism tells me that you both will have the opportunity to be able to do so thanks to your love and caring for each other. It's a beautiful story already in the making from Coast to Coast.

Be well Lady with You and Yours. Tell that Hubby of yours for me that he's 'a darn lucky guy'! He knows why!

Jim

PS: On that fawn; it would have been on the dinner table in my neck of 'Penn's beautiful woods' in no time at all. I'll have to tell you the story of a dear friend who hit a buck right down the road from me when she was visiting several years ago. She was a Joisy Girl too who is now living on the 'left' Coast. A wee bit of irony there methinks.

Thanks Jim.

My husband when he arrived on scene after the collision with the deer called it a "small dog" since he hunted all his life and had caught himself some nice 125lb bucks in season. That first week of December in Jersey always found him in the woods from the break of dawn to dusk. He always said that the deer were smart. They always knew when hunting seasons was and therefore hid really well.

Yeah we could write a book and believe me no one would believe some of the things that have happened to us since we have met and gotten married. It has been a heck of a 20 yr ride and will be for another 30 or more, I dare say.

Doc said I did the right thing in getting those meds into him and now he wants me to monitor him three times a day with his BP and bring in a log when we go back on March 3rd. His reading today in the office was 188/86, so still elevated. I want that bottom number in the 70 to 80 range and the top number between 140 to 150. No higher. My BP runs 90/60 so we always kid that they take it twice just to make sure I am still breathing. I have been as low as 70/40 and up and walking. I have also had a patient in the ER show up with lightheadedness and a BP of 320/190 and wasn't having a stroke. I damn near did after taking the BP but this patient was perfectly oriented x 3 (knew date, time, place). Sure shocke the heck out of me as my first patient as a new nurse. I almost fell through the floor on that one. I have seen stuff you could put in a book that would have people rolling on the floor. I have also seen some miracles that I could never explain. I had a patient in pediatrics which I didn't like working because I hated to see kids in pain and hurting. This young boy was hydrocephalic and had a host of other problems. They brought him in one night and he was flat lined. We were working on him for well over 45 minutes. I was trying to draw bloods on him and at that point in time his mom, who was as devoted a mother as I ever had seen walked in and said "Stop, I am not going to have him die on a cold gurney, I want to hold him". The doctor looked and figured there would be no harm. This woman picked up this boy who was about 2 1/2 yrs old and with four nurses, 2 doctors and 2 paramedics, standing around, he began to breath when she held him to her chest. There wasn't a dry eye in the ER. I simply have no answer as to why that happened. Yet it did. He passed away about 2 years later but that child was so precious and had such beautiful long eye lashes that it broke my heart to see him in such a state. I literally was sobbing as were the other nurses and I have rarely seen any doctor cry but these two did as were the paramedics. His mom just said to us "I knew you were doing all you could do, but I just wanted to hold him one more time if this was going to be it". I guess it just wasn't his time. I won't ever forget that.

Yeah I guess being born and raised in Jersey puts a toughness in you for whatever reason. I have had more people out here tell me that. Maybe it does. I don't know. I just know that I was brought up a certain way and that I expect certain things to be done and certain things to be honored and if not then I have no use for someone's services. That is just how I am.

I am glad my husband did alright at that doctors today. However when he goes back the next time I know he is going to want to him to do some things he isn't going to like to much. But trust you me, he will do them. He knows that I will make him hold to it. I guess it is that toughness that is what he loves about me. He knows that in a situation in a hospital I will be all over someone like a new suit if something isn't done at the time it is supposed to be. I am a stickler for that.

Thanks for your kind words form this Joisy Girl.

[Calibabe]

Cali...am keeping you both in my prayers!
God Bless

Thank you. How is your son doing? Well I hope. He and you and your family have been in my prayers. That list keeps getting longer but that is our duty to pray for each other. It is what we have to do.

God bless you.

[jwil59]

I am praying for you guys cali. If his BP gets that high again go to the ER. The ABI unit at Shepherd Center is filled with people who have brain damage from a stroke.

[Calibabe]

I am praying for you guys cali. If his BP gets that high again go to the ER. The ABI unit at Shepherd Center is filled with people who have brain damage from a stroke.

Dear Jeff,

Oh he will. I think his wake up call came on Saturday. First off thankfully he understood the symptoms and knew enough that something was amiss and immediately asked me to take his BP. Like I said, it scared me half to death to see the reading that high but I did not do the panic mode on the outside albiet I was a bundle of nerves on the inside. I kept my composure and I think that helped him and then I immediately got the meds and got those into him and monitiored him, and thankfully it worked. I did tell him if the meds didn't bring it down to what "I" thought was a safe level then he was off to the hospital and he didn't argue. He trusts my judgement when it comes to that. Also thankfully my son also knows how to take BP's as he has his own scope and cuff, which we all got after going though the C.E.R.T training out here for earthquakes. I think it got my husband back into that mode as well.

I am also glad that yesterday his doctor who is a really nice, low key guy who I have known for several years gave him heck. He doubled up on the medication and his BP this morning prior to any meds was 154/88, much better than the 210/100. I would like to see him in the 140/70 range but at this point I will take anything on the diastolic side of things that is under 85. I will be thankful. Like I said I know the target to shot for and so does he. He isn't much going to like the low sodium, low cholesterol diet that he is going to go on but it is going to be a necessity. For me it doesn't matter much. I don't eat but once maybe twice a day. I usually have a cup of tea for the morning and if I am hungry at lunch then I eat very little at dinner and vice versa. My weight keeps pretty stable and my BP is always low and always has been. I do keep track of mine every once in awhile especially since I had my "unintended spinal tap" on 11/17/08. That really threw my entire system off, big time! So I take it once or twice a week and it is still in the 90/60 or 100/70 range. That is a good thing. I also have low cholesterol which is good. My son has had a history of high LDL, high tryglycerides and low HDL. Just the opposite of what they like to see. However he went to the doctors today and he lost 16lbs and hopefully his bloodwork will come back better as well. He has had this cold/sinus/respriatory thing that he hasn't been able to shake for 2 weeks going on 3. He doctor was thrilled with the weight loss. Of course my son has been training every day he is off for the next round of ride alongs with the FD. Since we live on a very flat area, he is going to start running our street. If he can go around our cul de sac 5 times in under 10 minutes then he will make the cut. So that is his plan, plus working and home schooling.

Me I just take it as it comes. As long as everyone is healthy that is my main thing. However we have my mother-in-law with us and she is starting to fail as far as her memory and in her ability to get up and down. So, we really have to watch there that things don't happen. She has high BP as well and in fact her side of the family, her sister and both parents had a history of strokes and cardiac arrest. So my husband knows his family history. That is what should make him more attentive to taking care of that. I think this did wake him up a bit. So hopefully he will be alright. That is my main thing.

I am so glad to see things going so well for you, Darlene, Mitchell and the entire family. Keep the faith my friend and we will keep up with the prayers.

God bless you all.

[jwil59]

Dear Jeff,

Oh he will. I think his wake up call came on Saturday. First off thankfully he understood the symptoms and knew enough that something was amiss and immediately asked me to take his BP. Like I said, it scared me half to death to see the reading that high but I did not do the panic mode on the outside albiet I was a bundle of nerves on the inside. I kept my composure and I think that helped him and then I immediately got the meds and got those into him and monitiored him, and thankfully it worked. I did tell him if the meds didn't bring it down to what "I" thought was a safe level then he was off to the hospital and he didn't argue. He trusts my judgement when it comes to that. Also thankfully my son also knows how to take BP's as he has his own scope and cuff, which we all got after going though the C.E.R.T training out here for earthquakes. I think it got my husband back into that mode as well.

I am also glad that yesterday his doctor who is a really nice, low key guy who I have known for several years gave him heck. He doubled up on the medication and his BP this morning prior to any meds was 154/88, much better than the 210/100. I would like to see him in the 140/70 range but at this point I will take anything on the diastolic side of things that is under 85. I will be thankful. Like I said I know the target to shot for and so does he. He isn't much going to like the low sodium, low cholesterol diet that he is going to go on but it is going to be a necessity. For me it doesn't matter much. I don't eat but once maybe twice a day. I usually have a cup of tea for the morning and if I am hungry at lunch then I eat very little at dinner and vice versa. My weight keeps pretty stable and my BP is always low and always has been. I do keep track of mine every once in awhile especially since I had my "unintended spinal tap" on 11/17/08. That really threw my entire system off, big time! So I take it once or twice a week and it is still in the 90/60 or 100/70 range. That is a good thing. I also have low cholesterol which is good. My son has had a history of high LDL, high tryglycerides and low HDL. Just the opposite of what they like to see. However he went to the doctors today and he lost 16lbs and hopefully his bloodwork will come back better as well. He has had this cold/sinus/respriatory thing that he hasn't been able to shake for 2 weeks going on 3. He doctor was thrilled with the weight loss. Of course my son has been training every day he is off for the next round of ride alongs with the FD. Since we live on a very flat area, he is going to start running our street. If he can go around our cul de sac 5 times in under 10 minutes then he will make the cut. So that is his plan, plus working and home schooling.

Me I just take it as it comes. As long as everyone is healthy that is my main thing. However we have my mother-in-law with us and she is starting to fail as far as her memory and in her ability to get up and down. So, we really have to watch there that things don't happen. She has high BP as well and in fact her side of the family, her sister and both parents had a history of strokes and cardiac arrest. So my husband knows his family history. That is what should make him more attentive to taking care of that. I think this did wake him up a bit. So hopefully he will be alright. That is my main thing.

I am so glad to see things going so well for you, Darlene, Mitchell and the entire family. Keep the faith my friend and we will keep up with the prayers.

God bless you all.

I am glad he is ok Cali, that BP stuff is scary. A trip to the ER never hurt anyone to make sure. I know us men can be a little stubborn about that stuff at times though, so if it happens again put your foot down hard my friend.

I am so proud of your son, what a wondefull young man he has turned out to be. All the health stuff from last year just made him stronger mentally, physically, and most important spiritually. God bless you guys

[Calibabe]

My Mom is an RN. My Dad is 70 and proud of "never being sick a day in his life". He doesn't "do" sick.

Last year he had trouble doing #1, but didn't tell anyone. He figured it would happen in due time. It didn't. This went on for about two weeks before he finally mentioned to my Mom his difficulties.

Afraid what it could be (his older brother is battling prostate cancer), he'd kept it to himself. Turned out he was just getting older and had an enlarged prostate.

Mom had no idea he was having trouble and by the time he got to the doctor's and was cath'd, they took about 2 gallons of cloudy (infected) pee from the man. He had to have been miserable. I can't even imagine.

Two weeks later and 10 days on antibiotics, they did the surgery and he's fine ever since.

This not speaking up thing seems to be a man thing. Moral of the story is he could have saved himself a lot of discomfort and worry had he spoken up sooner and gotten to the doctor. He still would have had to have the surgery, but he wouldn't have had to wait 10 days for the infection to clear up if he'd gone in to be checked when he first had trouble.

At any rate---I echo Cali's plea. If you're not feeling right, tell someone. Go see the doctor. It could be nothing. Or it could save your life.

Jeny

Ouch! That must have hurt like heck.

I just want to thank you for your kind words. However I really have to commend you for all that you have done for Jeff, Darlene and Mitchell. You are truly an angel of mercy. God will heal you with your troubles as he has healed Mitchell. See we will pray just as hard and just as long and just as much as we did for him as we will for you. When there are so many united in prayer for one individual, God cannot turn a deaf ear and he will hear our prayers that you will be healed and have a good surgeon that will do the right things to get you there. I have faith that all will be well with you. I know that it can be a scary thing to go through this. I too have several issues with my back. I have no discs from L3-S1. None, zip, zada, nothing. Very painful in the rain, cold, and such. In fact very painful period weather conditions or not. I see a pain management doctor who is wonderful and attentive. I had my MRI last year and my herniated disc went from 2mm to 4mm so it is getting bigger and I also have two new ones that are 2-3mm each in size. Those are in my thoracic spine. Because I basically have no cushion in my lumbar spine, the thoracic spine takes the load and it just can't handle it all. So needless to say, surgery will be in the future for me as well. I just have to find the right doctor. Have a good neuro guy, just need the surgeon.

Anyway, you are in my prayers.

[stoked]

Stoked,

Thanks for your advice. However, since I have 20 yrs of medical experinece in my bones and have taken probably well over 30K BP in my lifetime, I know how to work a cuff pretty well and read it as accurately. What I don't like are the cuffs that you can buy at the drug store that you can use manually. I don't think they give as good a reading in my professional opinion as a regular BP cuff and stethescope does. That is just my preference. I also am a block form the fire station who has probably one of the best paramedic squads in the country. If anyone remember the old series "Emergency" well that was in the Rampart section of Los Angeles and that showed how the paramedic field was really born. Los Angeles instituted it and all fire stations whether county or city have a paramedic attached to it. After I had taken the BP I had him immediately lay in a prone position and take the medication. Then in a half an hour I took his reading again and it came down to 165/86 an then about an hour after that it was at 154/80 so I know how to monitor an elevated BP patient.

Had he not said a word to me he would have no doubt had a stroke. That was key for him to tell me something was a rye and that I take his BP. He also has 15 years of medical training under his belt so believe me he also knows the signs. Had the BP not come down I told him that he would be going to the hospital whether or not he liked it. He agreed.

When I was with him this morning at his doctor's office the doctor concurred that I did the correct thing in having him take the medication immediately to bring it down and then monitored him for the reminder of the day. Other than the slight headache he had, his biggest symptom was that he felt the palpatations in his chest and that is what made him aware that something wasn't right.

If I had taken him into the ER with the elevated BP they would have monitored him as well. Since I live 10 minutes from one of the top 5 cardiac centers in the country right near me, I wasn't worried about what care was going to be provided. I just wanted that number to come down.

His doctor told him today that he wants me to monitor his BP three times per day. He works 5 minutes from me so he can come home for lunch and in the morning, I will take it, in the afternoon I will take it and in the evening I will take it. Any other symptoms that develop will result in a ride to the hospital posthaste. My BP's are as accurate as any doctor's office since I have been doing them for 20 years. My husband felt he was in good hands and he knew that I knew what to do if something was wrong. In that type of situation, my medical side kicks in and I don't panic or anything else. Afterwards I may sit down and get a little teary but while all is happening I am in medical mode and I show nothing other than what is going on aroung me. In that sense I have a very good ability to compartmentalize myself. I have always had the ability to concentrate on my patients and my duties and I didn't worry about all the other stuff going on around me. All hell could be breaking loose and I stuck right with what I was doing and never wavered. I had many a doctor ask me how I was able to do that. I said I don't know, I just do. They all said it was a great way of being able to handle the pressures of the job.

His doctor increased his dosage and he has to go back in two weeks with the logbook which will be no problem. So all in all hopefully the increase will do well and we will be alright with that. I do know that he has to be watched over the next two weeks that is no problem. My son works with him two days a week, so he will be able to take his BP when he is there and they don't come home for lunch. Then on the days when he does come home, I will take the all 3 daily readings.

Thanks anyway for the suggestions about the MRI/CT scan. They are as important a diagnostic tool as we can have. If things don't straighten out then I am sure his doctor will tell him that he will need to have that done. Also he will need an EKG as well. I am hoping that the next visit that they do that and I will call their office and ask that it be done on the check up visit just to see if there are any abnormalities in the EKG reading that may be causing this. That is my next move.

Well I sure wish I had you around because maybe my mom would still be here with me now. I took her into the doctors and they sent me home with her blood pressure at 180/86 with instructions to drop her atenolol and put her on lisinopril. I had no monitoring equipment at home and she had a stroke a little over 24 hours later. Right before that I became concerned and took her to the ER because she started acting strangely. They took a CAT scan right before it ruptured and right after so it was pretty clear it was a large aneurysm. It ruptured right as she was getting up from her first scan. Things had been deteriorating for my mom in the weeks before but I wish that they would have told me to admit her to the emergency room when her systolic was 180 over rather than leaving me to sort it out with her as delicate as glass. I have to live the rest of my life blaming myself for what happened.

[Calibabe]

Well I sure wish I had you around because maybe my mom would still be here with me now. I took her into the doctors and they sent me home with her blood pressure at 180/86 with instructions to drop her atenolol and put her on lisinopril. I had no monitoring equipment at home and she had a stroke a little over 24 hours later. Right before that I became concerned and took her to the ER because she started acting strangely. They took a CAT scan right before it ruptured and right after so it was pretty clear it was a large aneurysm. It ruptured right as she was getting up from her first scan. Things had been deteriorating for my mom in the weeks before but I wish that they would have told me to admit her to the emergency room when her systolic was 180 over rather than leaving me to sort it out with her as delicate as glass. I have to live the rest of my life blaming myself for what happened.

stoked,

First of all, please, please don't blame yourself for what happened. I want to let you know that that aneurysm was there long before the CT scan and whether it burst when she got up from the first or three weeks later, it would not have made a tinkers bit of difference. Aneuyrsms are one of the hardest things to diagnois and they are one of the hardest to predict as to what will happen with them. If you remember John Ritter from "Three's Company" he had what is known as AAA (Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm) and there is nothing, zip, zada, not a thing you can do to detect them. He thought he was having a heart attack.

Had the doctor in your Mom's case erred on the side of caution he should have kept her overnight for observation. Especially if her BP was never in that range before. My husband is on lisinopril. It is a very good drug. Works well.

But please know that there is nothing, even with monitoring equipment that you could have done that would have allowed you to stop the aneurysm from bursting. There is no way to stop that from happening.

I am not sure that if I had been there I would have made the difference. Most lay people aren't expected to know the ins and outs of what the norms for BP are. 120/80 was the norm. Now it is 120/70. My BP like I said runs 90/60 to 80/50 just depending upon the day. It always has. I have had some spikes in it when I have been upset, like with my husband, because I can tell as I get a slight headache and when I took my own it was 120/91. Even my son when he went to the doctor on Wednesday for his sinus infection which has resolved itself, his BP was 120/90. However his doctor didn't say anything. He attributed it to the coughing and lack of sleep that he has had. I attributed mine to being upset about my husband. I took it the other day and it was 90/50 which is the norm.

I really, really don't want you blaming yourself. You did all that you could for your Mom. She knows that and God knows that. I know that just from what you have said. Please, please don't feel that you did nothing. You were with your Mom. That is the biggest thing that you could have done. That gave her more comfort than you will probably ever know and while I know how hard it is to lose a parent (I lost both mine within 9 mos of each other) you find it very difficult to get over it. For the first few years I was in the mode of "Did I really do all that I could have done?" "Was I there for them when they needed me most?" and on and one. There is no answer for those questions. What I know is that I did the best that I could do since I was 3,000 miles away. I was always on the phone, I was talking to their doctors, I was talking to family members and so on. I thankfully had the chance to be with my Dad 6 weeks before he passed away. I didn't have that chance with my Mom because her passing was so fast. I regret that to this day but after speaking with my priest, who is just wonderful and offers me great comfort when I speak with him, he told me that there was nothing I could have done any differently. It was just how it was. I was not to blame. Neither are you my friend. Neither are you. Please know that.

God bless you and I hope that I have offered you some relief that no matter what circumstances that happened, the stroke that your Mom had would have happened whether she was in the hospital CT table or at your home or even if she had been put in the hospital overnight. None of this is or ever was your fault. The doctors yes, maybe for not giving you more information or the nurses for not giving it to you. But as for your part, my friend, you are totally blameless. Please believe me.

I hope that I have helped. :hug:

[stoked]

Thank you so much Calibabe. It means a lot coming from someone who knows about these kinds of things. The ER doctor told me basically the same thing, that even if he knew in advance this thing was coming, that there wasn't anything he could do. He also said changing the medication wouldn't have made a difference. Thank you for the emergency TLC, I really needed it. You're a real sweetheart you know.

[Calibabe]

Thank you so much Calibabe. It means a lot coming from someone who knows about these kinds of things. The ER doctor told me basically the same thing, that even if he knew in advance this thing was coming, that there wasn't anything he could do. He also said changing the medication wouldn't have made a difference. Thank you for the emergency TLC, I really needed it. You're a real sweetheart you know.


Thank you.

I could just feel your pain in what you wrote and wanted you to know that you did really truly do the best that you could and that what happened was out of everyone's control.

After what happened last weekend with my husband, he told me that each night that he goes to sleep, if he should not wake up, well then that is God's plan. Now I don't want to see that for quite a while, between you, me and Him. I know that He knows that. I also know that my husband knows that. That is why he is so good with taking his medication.

Thankfully the meds are working well. His BP the past two days has been in the 120/70 to 150/80 range which makes me a very happy camper. I don't want that upper number higher than 150 and that bottom number is just right where it needs to be.

I am glad that the ER doctor told you what I echoed. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Just depeneds upon the doctor. Please know in your heart that your Mom is in a most wonderful place. A place where there is no pain, no illness, and nothing but beauty and happiness. There she will wait until Our Lord, in due time, also calls you, as he does with all of us. I look to that day when I again will see my parents and my grandparents and I am sure some other relatives along the way that will pass between now and the time I go. I am in no rush (only 48) so I hope that I get to see my children marry, hold some grandbabies, and have a long and happy life with my husband. If life goes that smoothly than I will have no complaints. However we all know that bumps in the road do occur. So we will have to wait and see.

I am glad to have been able to offer you some solace.

God bless you my friend. God bless your beloved Mother also.

[Calibabe]

I am glad he is ok Cali, that BP stuff is scary. A trip to the ER never hurt anyone to make sure. I know us men can be a little stubborn about that stuff at times though, so if it happens again put your foot down hard my friend.

I am so proud of your son, what a wondefull young man he has turned out to be. All the health stuff from last year just made him stronger mentally, physically, and most important spiritually. God bless you guys

Stubborn? No, a mule is stubborn. Males, I don't know what the heck you guys are! My Grandma used to say "You can't live with 'em and you can't live without 'em". True enough. I don't know what I would do without my husband. He is a good person, like you. Cares about his family, has his faith in God and busts his butt at work.

Thanks for the compliments on my son. We too are very proud of him. Between the faith that he exhibits and his general caring for people, both my husband and I are blessed to have such a fine young man (I can't believe he is 18!) under our roof. Oh he gets his moments just like we all do. However he does have a way of snapping out of them as well. I think it is his faith that carries him. He likes a girl at work (very, very attractive young lady) and of course he has that shyness that we all do when we find someone we really like. I have been trying to give him reassurance that things will go fine. So Friday he goes to work, and he leaves my husband office and says "Dad, I gotta go, I'll be right back". He managed to find the young lady in question and ask her if the candy that he got her for Valentine's day was alright and she said "Yes, it was really good, thank you so much." It made his day. She smiled when she said it and hopefully things will start to go his way. When he walked through the door after work he had a grin from ear to ear like a cheshire cat. I knew just by looking at him that something went well. So hopefully other things will fall into place and maybe he may have himself his first girlfriend. Yeah, I know 18 probably sound old to some, but I am grounded in the fact that I know that his faith will guide him and that he will treat this young lady very well if he is able to have that chance. We have talked about it and when he told me some things I was so impressed that he truly knew what it was that would make a young girl happy and what works and what doesn't. Guess we did something pretty right.

God bless you and from the bottom of my heart thank you for the prayers for my husband. I am truly grateful.

[rhet 2]

Thank you so much Calibabe. It means a lot coming from someone who knows about these kinds of things. The ER doctor told me basically the same thing, that even if he knew in advance this thing was coming, that there wasn't anything he could do. He also said changing the medication wouldn't have made a difference. Thank you for the emergency TLC, I really needed it. You're a real sweetheart you know.

Calibabe is a real treasure, beyond doubt.

A stroke is what freed my mother to go Home, and I've got an aneurysm of my own, so it will probably be a stroke that frees me to Fly Away Home, too.

At this time, there is no way to fix it, no way to stop it except try to keep it from expanding. To repair it would cause as much or more injury than the stroke would -- I'd lose my eyesight and my ability to control language, more than likely -- so NO WAY I want anybody to even try to fix it -- without words, I don't want to be here.

I can live with the headaches, live with the threat of the stroke -- I can't live without my books and my wordsmithing.

And knowing about what's happening -- without a cuff, I can tell when the BPs going up just by the pressure behind my eyes playing games that always precede the headache from hell -- I've grown so ...... I don't know, maybe just "aware of the early signs" is the best way to describe it ....... and I can do some things to reduce and escape the worst of the effects -- maybe -- though not always -- including getting the BP back down a little bit and staving off the headache, reducing it to bearable.

But I can't prevent it.

Nobody can, because we don't have the technology to do it.

And I'm not about to let it ruin my life.

The LORD knew the day of my birth long before He ever said, "Let there be light." And He knows the day I shall board the ship which should be called the Freedom Express and depart for the Promised Land.

Like I've told my family and friends, No regrets,no guilt, and keep the tears at a minimum, please. Right now, I'm having a great good time, and I wouldn't miss this party on earth for anything because I truly enjoy the people I know -- including you and Calibabe -- but the aches and the pains and the disabilities, they are a-growing, and I'm not going to be too sorry to pack up and head Home, either. I'll stick around and do what I can for others in the hopes I can ease their way, but when the LORD calls, I'm leaving, and you guys will just have to do the best you can without me.

Want to bet your mother doesn't feel the same way I do?

I couldn't stop Daddy's Alzheimers, and I couldn't stop Mama's stroke -- though LORD knows I would have if I could have -- but each of us has a Coming In Time and a Going Home Time -- and I'm glad they're partying in the New World.

No regrets, Stoked. You did what you could, and you would have done more if you could have. But you're not God, and you don't and can't control the world.

Your mother's watching -- and she's bound to be very proud of her "little boy," even now. You're a man after God's own Heart. Not perfect, no. Not yet, anyway. But you will be. Oh, yeah. You will be. :hug:

[stoked]

Thank you.

I could just feel your pain in what you wrote and wanted you to know that you did really truly do the best that you could and that what happened was out of everyone's control.

After what happened last weekend with my husband, he told me that each night that he goes to sleep, if he should not wake up, well then that is God's plan. Now I don't want to see that for quite a while, between you, me and Him. I know that He knows that. I also know that my husband knows that. That is why he is so good with taking his medication.

Thankfully the meds are working well. His BP the past two days has been in the 120/70 to 150/80 range which makes me a very happy camper. I don't want that upper number higher than 150 and that bottom number is just right where it needs to be.

I am glad that the ER doctor told you what I echoed. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Just depeneds upon the doctor. Please know in your heart that your Mom is in a most wonderful place. A place where there is no pain, no illness, and nothing but beauty and happiness. There she will wait until Our Lord, in due time, also calls you, as he does with all of us. I look to that day when I again will see my parents and my grandparents and I am sure some other relatives along the way that will pass between now and the time I go. I am in no rush (only 48) so I hope that I get to see my children marry, hold some grandbabies, and have a long and happy life with my husband. If life goes that smoothly than I will have no complaints. However we all know that bumps in the road do occur. So we will have to wait and see.

I am glad to have been able to offer you some solace.

God bless you my friend. God bless your beloved Mother also.

God Bless you honey! I'm so glad your husband's bp is back under control. I'm get afraid for anyone whose bp shoots up like that due to my own experience. My husband and I are getting to the age that we too have told each other "it's been a good life" in case something happens. And thank you, thank you, thank you... :hug: You are wonderful!!!

[stoked]

Calibabe is a real treasure, beyond doubt.

A stroke is what freed my mother to go Home, and I've got an aneurysm of my own, so it will probably be a stroke that frees me to Fly Away Home, too.

At this time, there is no way to fix it, no way to stop it except try to keep it from expanding. To repair it would cause as much or more injury than the stroke would -- I'd lose my eyesight and my ability to control language, more than likely -- so NO WAY I want anybody to even try to fix it -- without words, I don't want to be here.

I can live with the headaches, live with the threat of the stroke -- I can't live without my books and my wordsmithing.

And knowing about what's happening -- without a cuff, I can tell when the BPs going up just by the pressure behind my eyes playing games that always precede the headache from hell -- I've grown so ...... I don't know, maybe just "aware of the early signs" is the best way to describe it ....... and I can do some things to reduce and escape the worst of the effects -- maybe -- though not always -- including getting the BP back down a little bit and staving off the headache, reducing it to bearable.

But I can't prevent it.

Nobody can, because we don't have the technology to do it.

And I'm not about to let it ruin my life.

The LORD knew the day of my birth long before He ever said, "Let there be light." And He knows the day I shall board the ship which should be called the Freedom Express and depart for the Promised Land.

Like I've told my family and friends, No regrets,no guilt, and keep the tears at a minimum, please. Right now, I'm having a great good time, and I wouldn't miss this party on earth for anything because I truly enjoy the people I know -- including you and Calibabe -- but the aches and the pains and the disabilities, they are a-growing, and I'm not going to be too sorry to pack up and head Home, either. I'll stick around and do what I can for others in the hopes I can ease their way, but when the LORD calls, I'm leaving, and you guys will just have to do the best you can without me.

Want to bet your mother doesn't feel the same way I do?

I couldn't stop Daddy's Alzheimers, and I couldn't stop Mama's stroke -- though LORD knows I would have if I could have -- but each of us has a Coming In Time and a Going Home Time -- and I'm glad they're partying in the New World.

No regrets, Stoked. You did what you could, and you would have done more if you could have. But you're not God, and you don't and can't control the world.

Your mother's watching -- and she's bound to be very proud of her "little boy," even now. You're a man after God's own Heart. Not perfect, no. Not yet, anyway. But you will be. Oh, yeah. You will be. :hug:

Thank you so much Rhet. :hug: Honestly, I've cried so much over her I think I've probably given myself my own anni. You know, months after she passed away, I remembered that years before, we had a conversation that her doctor thought she might have an anni. I kept needling her for about a year to get further testing and finally she said, that there really wasn't anything they could do and she didn't want to look further. (I think that was about the time MRI's started to come on the scene.) I gave up and we both forgot about it over the years.

When she was a little girl, I'm guessing about six or so, she was riding with her family in one of those old cars, a model A or a model T, something like that. Somehow they had an accident where the car went off the road and into a ditch. Mom's head hit the dashboard and she was hurt pretty bad. It left scar on her forehead and on her knee. Anyway, she said she remembered kind of hovering a ways above the car for awhile and seeing her body sprawled out down below. She didn't remember being afraid, just curious...

I noticed you lost your mom and dad the same way I lost mine. You are so wonderful. Thank you for helping me put it in perspective.

You know when I took Mom on her last trip to the hospital, she became so animated and smiling, just sparkling, like she was having the most fascinating conversation with me she ever had, but she wasn't making any sense (this is when of course I realized things were really going wrong). Words flowed that she hadn't used in who knows how long (even though she had become more and more withdrawn in the last year or two). It was like the emptying of a dictionary but none of it formed a complete sentence.

She finally said what sounded like a couple sentences in another language, like Scandanavian (my cousin thought it might be a Norwegian prayer from childhood). Everytime something more (disturbing to me) came out, I'd press on the gas and she'd say "slow down!". (She never liked to drive fast.) I'd think "phew, she's still with me." Then the next thing I knew, I'd be speeding up again (in fear) and the cycle would repeat. Anyway, it was a hair raising 20 minute drive, but it was like she was looking forward to what was coming! She wasn't afraid (except for the driving). I was terrified of course, I just couldn't get there fast enough.

I've blubbered enough though, thank you so much you guys.

[itsrea]

Sorry I got into this so late, haven't been online for the last couple of days except to post in my own thread, but glad I saw it now so I can add my prayers to everyone else's..

hugs,
Rea

[jwil59]

Stubborn? No, a mule is stubborn. Males, I don't know what the heck you guys are! My Grandma used to say "You can't live with 'em and you can't live without 'em". True enough. I don't know what I would do without my husband. He is a good person, like you. Cares about his family, has his faith in God and busts his butt at work.

Thanks for the compliments on my son. We too are very proud of him. Between the faith that he exhibits and his general caring for people, both my husband and I are blessed to have such a fine young man (I can't believe he is 18!) under our roof. Oh he gets his moments just like we all do. However he does have a way of snapping out of them as well. I think it is his faith that carries him. He likes a girl at work (very, very attractive young lady) and of course he has that shyness that we all do when we find someone we really like. I have been trying to give him reassurance that things will go fine. So Friday he goes to work, and he leaves my husband office and says "Dad, I gotta go, I'll be right back". He managed to find the young lady in question and ask her if the candy that he got her for Valentine's day was alright and she said "Yes, it was really good, thank you so much." It made his day. She smiled when she said it and hopefully things will start to go his way. When he walked through the door after work he had a grin from ear to ear like a cheshire cat. I knew just by looking at him that something went well. So hopefully other things will fall into place and maybe he may have himself his first girlfriend. Yeah, I know 18 probably sound old to some, but I am grounded in the fact that I know that his faith will guide him and that he will treat this young lady very well if he is able to have that chance. We have talked about it and when he told me some things I was so impressed that he truly knew what it was that would make a young girl happy and what works and what doesn't. Guess we did something pretty right.

God bless you and from the bottom of my heart thank you for the prayers for my husband. I am truly grateful.

WEll I am going to keep praying for your husband and son, and you too, but you already knew that.

Truth is, women are stubborn too sometimes :lol:

[itsrea]

WEll I am going to keep praying for your husband and son, and you too, but you already knew that.

Truth is, women are stubborn too sometimes :lol:Naw, say it ain't soooo???

[rhet 2]

Naw, say it ain't soooo???

Not ME! Uh-uh. No way!

:))

Prayers continuing for Calibabe and her entire family, including her soul mate.

[jwil59]

Naw, say it ain't soooo???

It ain't so :lol:

[Calibabe]

WEll I am going to keep praying for your husband and son, and you too, but you already knew that.

Truth is, women are stubborn too sometimes :lol:


Yeah, I guess we do get a little on that "determined" side as well.

However, I think you will agree that if you guys had to give birth, we would all be a family of three because after the first time, that would do the trick for you guys! :))

No seriously yesterday morning he gave me a good scare. He woke up around 6:20 to get ready for Mass. Well, I took his BP on his Right arm and it was 180/100. Again, I let the air out and re-positioned and pumped it up again. Same thing. He tells me "no way, there has to be something wrong" because he has no pounding, no nothing and feels pretty good. So then I take it on the Left side and it is 130/70. He looks at me and says "See I told you". So all day I am anxious. As we were getting ready for bed, again I take it on the Right side and it is this time normal. Thank God!! I would have been very scared if it would have happened again. It would have meant a blockage. That is what happens. You will get a reading on one side that is normal and the other way out of bounds. Just crazy readings that happen. Whether it is high or not, I always keep my cool because I don't want to scare him.

Hopefully, when he goes to the doctor tomorrow, we will get some kind of news. He had his blood drawn on Saturday. So he should have the report.

I will let you all know if anything happens.

Thank you all for all the prayers. Just pray a little extra hard that the blood work comes back alright.

[rhet 2]

Yeah, I guess we do get a little on that "determined" side as well.

However, I think you will agree that if you guys had to give birth, we would all be a family of three because after the first time, that would do the trick for you guys! :))

No seriously yesterday morning he gave me a good scare. He woke up around 6:20 to get ready for Mass. Well, I took his BP on his Right arm and it was 180/100. Again, I let the air out and re-positioned and pumped it up again. Same thing. He tells me "no way, there has to be something wrong" because he has no pounding, no nothing and feels pretty good. So then I take it on the Left side and it is 130/70. He looks at me and says "See I told you". So all day I am anxious. As we were getting ready for bed, again I take it on the Right side and it is this time normal. Thank God!! I would have been very scared if it would have happened again. It would have meant a blockage. That is what happens. You will get a reading on one side that is normal and the other way out of bounds. Just crazy readings that happen. Whether it is high or not, I always keep my cool because I don't want to scare him.

Hopefully, when he goes to the doctor tomorrow, we will get some kind of news. He had his blood drawn on Saturday. So he should have the report.

I will let you all know if anything happens.

Thank you all for all the prayers. Just pray a little extra hard that the blood work comes back alright.

Me, I'm praying with all I've got in me that the doc can figure out what's going on and fix it asap so all this scary garbage stops NOW.

[jwil59]

Yeah, I guess we do get a little on that "determined" side as well.

However, I think you will agree that if you guys had to give birth, we would all be a family of three because after the first time, that would do the trick for you guys! :))

No seriously yesterday morning he gave me a good scare. He woke up around 6:20 to get ready for Mass. Well, I took his BP on his Right arm and it was 180/100. Again, I let the air out and re-positioned and pumped it up again. Same thing. He tells me "no way, there has to be something wrong" because he has no pounding, no nothing and feels pretty good. So then I take it on the Left side and it is 130/70. He looks at me and says "See I told you". So all day I am anxious. As we were getting ready for bed, again I take it on the Right side and it is this time normal. Thank God!! I would have been very scared if it would have happened again. It would have meant a blockage. That is what happens. You will get a reading on one side that is normal and the other way out of bounds. Just crazy readings that happen. Whether it is high or not, I always keep my cool because I don't want to scare him.

Hopefully, when he goes to the doctor tomorrow, we will get some kind of news. He had his blood drawn on Saturday. So he should have the report.

I will let you all know if anything happens.

Thank you all for all the prayers. Just pray a little extra hard that the blood work comes back alright.

Ok I am praying about this. So how did it go today?

[USMCmom]

Cali...am praying that everything turned out ok. Have you heard anything?
God Bless

[Calibabe]

Ok I am praying about this. So how did it go today?




Well as the old saying goes, I was hoping for the worst and praying for the best and it seems......the best was what we got. His Hemoglobin A1C which is a test for diabetes (yup he is a type 2 diabetic with no family history mind you) and after being off of his medication for 3 years, it is slightly over the 6.0 mark, he was 6.25. So he is back on his medication for that and then they gave him hydrochlorothiazide (or as it is known to me, HCTZ) , which is a diuretic and the downside of that is, he will have to go to the bathroom more often. Small side effect for a drug that will help "fine tune" as his doctor said the blood pressure. The medical assistant and the doctor, who like I said before I have known for several years, both commended me on my chart for his BP. Said they wished everyone made such a detailed report. I wanted them to see what I was seeing so I did as much detail as possible.

So he is back on his meds and we have to go back in 2 months. Prior to that he has to go to have his bloodwork done again. Thankfully the lab is only 3 miles from our home. Pretty close. So travel will be on a Saturday with an appointment.

All in all it was a success. He doesn't like having to take 4 different meds (his cholesterol was high along with his tryglicerides so he is back on Zocor which worked the last time as well) , but as he said "it's my health, which is important". Dropped off the RX (prescriptions) and picked them up later in the afternoon and 4 prescription cost (with insurance).........................$0.00!! That is correct. As long as he used generic prescription, they cost nothing. Absolutely nothing. I wish my health insurance was that good. His company only charges him $10 each week for the insurance. I couldn't believe it. Most companies these days are having you pay at least 30% possibly more of the premium. His company has over 200 employees so they get a pretty good rate. He is with an HMO but a good HMO. I bill a lot through them and I have rarely had a problem with them. Every once and awhile one will crop up but I have the number for the CFO and I just call him and things seem to get resolved from there. One of the few, if any, HMO plans that works and is pretty well liked by those who are under it. I get very few complaints even from patients about the insurance. Even the doctors don't complain about the plan which is pretty unusual as they always complain about something.

So all in all (I have to thank all of you) my prayer was answered and I am grateful to have you all praying that it did go well. Now if this blood pressure thing goes well with the HCTZ then I will be tickled pink.

Now I just need business to pick up and then I will be a happy camper. Not complaining but I always like to have several irons in the fire and right now the fire is roaring but the irons are few (a couple, but I like about 4 and I only have 2). Not that I am trying to be greedy but since I work from home, I like that I can do this and not have a problem, especially with this economy. I have seen big changes at all the doctors that we see. My son's dermatologist is usually jumping and they were empty the last time. Very unusual. My husband doctor, empty. My doctor's empty. It is really scarry. Hopefully things will turn around soon, but I don't know. We are already at 10.5% unemployment and I don't see much change in that number coming anytime soon unfortunately. Just one more item in the hopper to pray about I suppose.

God bless each of you. I am really grateful to you all. You guys are the absolute best. I really had my druthers about coming here when I first did but I tell you this is the best forum on this board. There is no arguing or belittleing. Just people caring about other people. That is the truth. It is a good feeling in a very unsettling world. I love you guys.

[rhet 2]

Well as the old saying goes, I was hoping for the worst and praying for the best and it seems......the best was what we got. His Hemoglobin A1C which is a test for diabetes (yup he is a type 2 diabetic with no family history mind you) and after being off of his medication for 3 years, it is slightly over the 6.0 mark, he was 6.25. So he is back on his medication for that and then they gave him hydrochlorothiazide (or as it is known to me, HCTZ) , which is a diuretic and the downside of that is, he will have to go to the bathroom more often. Small side effect for a drug that will help "fine tune" as his doctor said the blood pressure. The medical assistant and the doctor, who like I said before I have known for several years, both commented me on my chart for his BP. Said they wished everyone made such a detailed report. I wanted them to see what I was seeing so I did as much detail as possible.

So he is back on his meds and we have to go back in 2 months. Prior to that he has to go to have his bloodwork done again. Thankfully the lab is only 3 miles from our home. Pretty close. So travel will be on a Saturday with an appointment.

All in all it was a success. He doesn't like having to take 4 different meds (his cholesterol was high along with his tryglicerides so he is back on Zocor which worked the last time as well) , but as he said "it's my health, which is important". Dropped off the RX (prescriptions) and picked them up later in the afternoon and 4 prescription cost (with insurance).........................$0.00!! That is correct. As long as he used generic prescription, they cost nothing. Absolutely nothing. I wish my health insurance was that good. His company only charges him $10 each week for the insurance. I couldn't believe it. Most companies these days are having you pay at least 30% possibly more of the premium. His company has over 200 employees so they get a pretty good rate. He is with an HMO but a good HMO. I bill a lot through them and I have rarely had a problem with them. Every once and awhile one will crop up but I have the number for the CFO and I just call him and things seem to get resolved from there. One of the few, if any, HMO plans that works and is pretty well liked by those who are under it. I get very few complaints even from patients about the insurance. Even the doctors don't complain about the plan which is pretty unusual as they always complain for something.

So all in all (my prayers and I have to thank all of you) my prayer was answered and I am grateful to had you all praying that it did go well. Now if this blood pressure thing goes well with the HCTZ then I will be tickled pink.

Now I just need business to pick up and then I will be a happy camper. Not complaining but I always like to have several irons in the fire and right now the fire is roaring but the irons are few (a couple, but I like about 4 and I only have 2). Not that I am trying to be greedy but since I work from home, I like that I can do this and not have a problem, especially with this economy. I have seen big changes at all the doctors that we see. My son's dermatologist is usually jumping and there were empty the last time. Very unusual. My husband doctor, empty. My doctor's empty. It is really scarry. Hopefully things will turn around soon, but I don't know. We are already at 10.5% unemployment and I don't see much change in that number coming anytime soon unfortunately. Just one more item in the hopper to pray about I suppose.

God bless each of you. I am really grateful to you all. You guys are the absolute best. I really had my druthers about coming here when I first did but I tell you this is the best forum on this board. There is no arguing or belittleing. Just people caring about other people. That is the truth. It is a good feeling in a very unsettling world. I love you guys.

Well, I could feel sorry for him about the meds -- but he's right: his health is everything to his family.

And wow! could I envy you that insurance, except that envy is a sin, so I'd better just give thanks for the nothing we've got. :))

I am sooooooooooooooooo relieved! And so terribly grateful to the LORD, beyond words grateful.

[itsrea]

Well as the old saying goes, I was hoping for the worst and praying for the best and it seems......the best was what we got. , empty. My doctor's empty. It is really scarry.

<snip>

God bless each of you. I am really grateful to you all. You guys are the absolute best. I really had my druthers about coming here when I first did but I tell you this is the best forum on this board. There is no arguing or belittleing. Just people caring about other people. That is the truth. It is a good feeling in a very unsettling world. I love you guys.

I hope this is legal size (does anyone know how to tell?)...

http://www.thisisreasplace.com/images/circle%20of%20friends.gif

You are a blessing to me all the time Cali.. it is a honor to pray for you and yours :)

[stoked]

Awe, I love you too. It's good news to hear about hubby.

[USMCmom]

Well as the old saying goes, I was hoping for the worst and praying for the best and it seems......the best was what we got. His Hemoglobin A1C which is a test for diabetes (yup he is a type 2 diabetic with no family history mind you) and after being off of his medication for 3 years, it is slightly over the 6.0 mark, he was 6.25. So he is back on his medication for that and then they gave him hydrochlorothiazide (or as it is known to me, HCTZ) , which is a diuretic and the downside of that is, he will have to go to the bathroom more often. Small side effect for a drug that will help "fine tune" as his doctor said the blood pressure. The medical assistant and the doctor, who like I said before I have known for several years, both commented me on my chart for his BP. Said they wished everyone made such a detailed report. I wanted them to see what I was seeing so I did as much detail as possible.

So he is back on his meds and we have to go back in 2 months. Prior to that he has to go to have his bloodwork done again. Thankfully the lab is only 3 miles from our home. Pretty close. So travel will be on a Saturday with an appointment.

All in all it was a success. He doesn't like having to take 4 different meds (his cholesterol was high along with his tryglicerides so he is back on Zocor which worked the last time as well) , but as he said "it's my health, which is important". Dropped off the RX (prescriptions) and picked them up later in the afternoon and 4 prescription cost (with insurance).........................$0.00!! That is correct. As long as he used generic prescription, they cost nothing. Absolutely nothing. I wish my health insurance was that good. His company only charges him $10 each week for the insurance. I couldn't believe it. Most companies these days are having you pay at least 30% possibly more of the premium. His company has over 200 employees so they get a pretty good rate. He is with an HMO but a good HMO. I bill a lot through them and I have rarely had a problem with them. Every once and awhile one will crop up but I have the number for the CFO and I just call him and things seem to get resolved from there. One of the few, if any, HMO plans that works and is pretty well liked by those who are under it. I get very few complaints even from patients about the insurance. Even the doctors don't complain about the plan which is pretty unusual as they always complain for something.

So all in all (my prayers and I have to thank all of you) my prayer was answered and I am grateful to had you all praying that it did go well. Now if this blood pressure thing goes well with the HCTZ then I will be tickled pink.

Now I just need business to pick up and then I will be a happy camper. Not complaining but I always like to have several irons in the fire and right now the fire is roaring but the irons are few (a couple, but I like about 4 and I only have 2). Not that I am trying to be greedy but since I work from home, I like that I can do this and not have a problem, especially with this economy. I have seen big changes at all the doctors that we see. My son's dermatologist is usually jumping and there were empty the last time. Very unusual. My husband doctor, empty. My doctor's empty. It is really scarry. Hopefully things will turn around soon, but I don't know. We are already at 10.5% unemployment and I don't see much change in that number coming anytime soon unfortunately. Just one more item in the hopper to pray about I suppose.

God bless each of you. I am really grateful to you all. You guys are the absolute best. I really had my druthers about coming here when I first did but I tell you this is the best forum on this board. There is no arguing or belittleing. Just people caring about other people. That is the truth. It is a good feeling in a very unsettling world. I love you guys.

Cali that is wonderful news...YEAHHHHHH!!!!! I am truly grateful when I see another member receive good news and we love you to!
Take care & God Bless:hug:

[Calibabe]

I hope this is legal size (does anyone know how to tell?)...

http://www.thisisreasplace.com/images/circle%20of%20friends.gif

You are a blessing to me all the time Cali.. it is a honor to pray for you and yours :)

itresa,


It too is an honor to pray with you. I thought the thread about "pray for my grandmother" was from you, but you only posted in it, it wasn't your thread. Sorry about that misunderstanding. Just shows you how and where my mind was when all of this happened.

I really liked the little roses in a circle. Thank you so much for sending it to me.

I think I need a vacation!!! Just a short one at very best. Have a busy, busy weekend this week. Tonight we go to Mass followed by Mass tomorrow morning and then on Sunday we will be gone for most of the day as we have a luncheon for our parish priest, who is just such a wonderful person and friend of our family, since it is his feast day on Monday. We are going to a nice restaurant and we will have a really good lunch. So needless to say we won't be home that much.

Then on Monday I will go right back to the grind again. I thought weekends were for rest. :D Evidently I have to find a way to rest during the week! These weekends are gonna kill me.

[Seanachie]

It's great to read the 'good news'. And your Hubby's news is great news. He, You and your entire family continue in my prayers to the 'Big Guy'.

I tried twice to Pm you about that TBI genesis to no avail. Both times they were lost somewhere in the ether. I've finally learned to cut and paste these things into 'word' so they are at least recoverable. I'll try again sometime in the near future when my 'scrambled' brain has better abilities for the 3rd attempt.

Be well Lady,

Jim

[Calibabe]

It's great to read the 'good news'. And your Hubby's news is great news. He, You and your entire family continue in my prayers to the 'Big Guy'.

I tried twice to Pm you about that TBI genesis to no avail. Both times they were lost somewhere in the ether. I've finally learned to cut and paste these things into 'word' so they are at least recoverable. I'll try again sometime in the near future when my 'scrambled' brain has better abilities for the 3rd attempt.

Be well Lady,

Jim

Dear Jim,

I look forward to receiving your information and helping you in anyway that I can. That is my purpose in life and why Our Lord has put me here. At least I feel that it is. I do my best to offer comfort to those who need it, and assistance to those who need to cut through that endless medical bs that many receive from their physicians and then I tell them in words that they can understand exactly what it is that is being said. I worked for an amazing surgeon several years ago that taught me how to discuss and answer patients questions in straight English....no going around corners and getting right to the point. A number of our patients said that they were happy to have found a doctor with a staff that explained exactly to that what was going on and how it would affect their lives. I got a great deal of satisfaction out of that and I know that it helped a great number of people. It can however, when you are dealing with critically ill patients and patients who had poor prognosis with their respective diseases, affect your emotions. I had to keep myself in better control, which I have always been able to do. There were many times where I would just want to go into tears when explaining to a patient or their family that their diagnosis was not good. Sometimes I even went into the bathroom prior to the patient and family coming in, and would get sick to my stomach. It was really horrible. It was however worse when I would be informed by the patient's family or by the surgeon, that the patient had passed over the weekend. I sometimes would sit and just cry at the thought of the family that we had grown close to and now there was nothing but words of comfort we could give to them. However, I felt that Our Lord would not have put me into that position if he didn't feel like I could handle it.

So when you are ready please feel free to PM me and I will be happy to read what you have and then correspond with you over what I feel they say is going on or has gone on.

God bless you. You are in my prayers:pray:

[jwil59]

Dear Jim,

I look forward to receiving your information and helping you in anyway that I can. That is my purpose in life and why Our Lord has put me here. At least I feel that it is. I do my best to offer comfort to those who need it, and assistance to those who need to cut through that endless medical bs that many receive from their physicians and then I tell them in words that they can understand exactly what it is that is being said. I worked for an amazing surgeon several years ago that taught me how to discuss and answer patients questions in straight English....no going around corners and getting right to the point. A number of our patients said that they were happy to have found a doctor with a staff that explained exactly to that what was going on and how it would affect their lives. I got a great deal of satisfaction out of that and I know that it helped a great number of people. It can however, when you are dealing with critically ill patients and patients who had poor prognosis with their respective diseases, affect your emotions. I had to keep myself in better control, which I have always been able to do. There were many times where I would just want to go into tears when explaining to a patient or their family that their diagnosis was not good. Sometimes I even went into the bathroom prior to the patient and family coming in, and would get sick to my stomach. It was really horrible. It was however worse when I would be informed by the patient's family or by the surgeon, that the patient had passed over the weekend. I sometimes would sit and just cry at the thought of the family that we had grown close to and now there was nothing but words of comfort we could give to them. However, I felt that Our Lord would not have put me into that position if he didn't feel like I could handle it.

So when you are ready please feel free to PM me and I will be happy to read what you have and then correspond with you over what I feel they say is going on or has gone on.

God bless you. You are in my prayers:pray:

Very noble offer for assistance there cali.

How are you guys doing?

[Calibabe]

Very noble offer for assistance there cali.

How are you guys doing?


Thanks Jeff.

Things here are alright. Hubby is doing fine on meds at this point. My back has been bad the last few days. Probably due to the late and unusual March rain that we had yesterday. We usually get rain from October to February. However the past couple of years our weather pattern seems to have become stalled by about two months. So now we start getting rain in December instead of October and we get it up until the beginning of April. We have even the past couple of years had thunderstorms in the summer which is way, way unusual. The come at night and it really freaks out our dogs. My mini-schnauzer vibrates with every clap of thunder. It is quite comical. She did it also when we had the earthquake last year. The bed began to move like it was "The Exorcist" or something. I sat straight up thinking that my son was waking us up, only to find no one down at the end of the bed and then my son came running back in. My poor dog was so scared. The other two dogs didn't do a thing.

We think we had someone try to break in a week or so ago. We have our house alarmed and about 1am the alarm went off and my son came into our room quickly and woke us up. My hubby got the gun and we all walked out into the hallway. My son had his gun and backed up my husband and I had nothing. Anyway, we got to the livingroom, and saw that no one had made entry. We checked the alarm and it said "backdoor" when we checked the status of where it went off. We went to the backdoor but nothing appeared to have been moved. We sat up to see if the police would come, but nothing happened so we went back to bed. My hubby let the dogs out a few days after before he went to work and he forgot to turn off the alarm and "bang" it went off again. He got to the alarm panel and shut it off. However it was then that he noticed that the alarm it always "hot" and doesn't give you 40 seconds to turn it off. The reason why is pretty simple considering it is a one story house. So, I had him set the alarm and then with the door closed, I pulled on the handle and it comes out about 5/16th from the contact for the alarm and sure enough it went off. So we now know that it was someone on the outside setting it off. That didn't make any of us feel any better but at least we know.

How are things with you guys. You are never far from my thoughts. Everytime I go to Mass I say a prayer for you, Darlene and Mitchell.

God bless you.

[jwil59]

Thanks Jeff.

Things here are alright. Hubby is doing fine on meds at this point. My back has been bad the last few days. Probably due to the late and unusual March rain that we had yesterday. We usually get rain from October to February. However the past couple of years our weather pattern seems to have become stalled by about two months. So now we start getting rain in December instead of October and we get it up until the beginning of April. We have even the past couple of years had thunderstorms in the summer which is way, way unusual. The come at night and it really freaks out our dogs. My mini-schnauzer vibrates with every clap of thunder. It is quite comical. She did it also when we had the earthquake last year. The bed began to move like it was "The Exorcist" or something. I sat straight up thinking that my son was waking us up, only to find no one down at the end of the bed and then my son came running back in. My poor dog was so scared. The other two dogs didn't do a thing.

We think we had someone try to break in a week or so ago. We have our house alarmed and about 1am the alarm went off and my son came into our room quickly and woke us up. My hubby got the gun and we all walked out into the hallway. My son had his gun and backed up my husband and I had nothing. Anyway, we got to the livingroom, and saw that no one had made entry. We checked the alarm and it said "backdoor" when we checked the status of where it went off. We went to the backdoor but nothing appeared to have been moved. We sat up to see if the police would come, but nothing happened so we went back to bed. My hubby let the dogs out a few days after before he went to work and he forgot to turn off the alarm and "bang" it went off again. He got to the alarm panel and shut it off. However it was then that he noticed that the alarm it always "hot" and doesn't give you 40 seconds to turn it off. The reason why is pretty simple considering it is a one story house. So, I had him set the alarm and then with the door closed, I pulled on the handle and it comes out about 5/16th from the contact for the alarm and sure enough it went off. So we now know that it was someone on the outside setting it off. That didn't make any of us feel any better but at least we know.

How are things with you guys. You are never far from my thoughts. Everytime I go to Mass I say a prayer for you, Darlene and Mitchell.

God bless you.

Thank you for praying for us cali. Glad you all are well and also happy you didn't have to shoot any intruders :lol:

[blazer]

praying! :hug:

[jwil59]

How is our future firefighter doin Cali?

[Seanachie]

Hello Calibabe,

I was at the 'Falls" yesterday and You and Yours were in my prayers to the 'Big Guy'. I hope Hubby's BP problems are all ironed out and all is well.

Be well Lady,

Jim

[USMCmom]

Cali...hope all is well with you and the family. Am thankful that your alarm is working, just be careful! Your all in my prayers...
Take care & God Bless:hug:

[doodle5]

How are you and family...Husband.

I never know what the day is like until I get up.

Our son is doing well after the surgery on his knee, walking around
the apartment complex. It has been nearly one week+ since surgery.

His wife expecting again, she is feeling better.

What is happening with your husband better I hope by now and your back.

We know Christ's comfort and His presence.

Carlene

[Seanachie]

Hello CaliBabe,

You, your Husband and ALL of yours were included in my Easter prayers to the 'Big Guy' at the Falls today. This is kind'uve my own open air Cathedral where I hope that God hears my words and good intentions. I suppose I will find that out, hopefully not in the very near future. But as the saying goes; 'what will be, will be.' I hope you all enjoyed the Promise of the Resurrection and the bolstering of your Faith in these promises.

Be well Lady,

Jim

[jwil59]

I am praying for you and your family cali.

How goes it?

[Seanachie]

Hello CaliBabe,

Just a note to let you know that You and your entire Family were in the prayers I offered up to the 'Big Guy' at the Falls yesterday afternoon. At least now I don't need to make any notes to remind me of whom to pray for or why. Well not to often anyways; except in instances with which I am just not too familiar with.

One never knows when someone may just pop into the OO and request a prayer or prayers. As Jeff put it so succinctly when I started to come to the OO myself and especially in the T.O.M. thread; 'it is an honor and a privilege for me to do so'. It is also that for me now as Jeff imparted his fine example to me. I understood and felt the need, and some joy to boot, in etching this indelibly into my hippocampus and Soul.

Be well Lady,

Jim