Blessings

Barb and I often note it and we continue to thank God for the abundant blessings which we are given.  Saturday, the 17th, was another example of the many gifts that come our way.  I turned 65 on Friday and I asked the kids to forgo a birthday gift this year.  Instead, I asked them to come out on Saturday and help Barb and me clean up what is left of last month's storm damage.  There were several large trees, stripped of their branches and destined to die, that needed to come down.  Some were within falling range of the house and/or the RV.   One tree was 25"  in diameter and over a hundred feet tall.

We started the weekend with, for the first time, keeping all three gkids overnight.  Fun, although we didn't get our normal full sleep (goes with the territory).  Then at noon,  Kari and Eric, Nathan and Cailyn, and Justin and Cassie (a teaching partner of Kari's) with their two kids came to take on the project.  Then Vicki (Barb's sister) and Ed arrived, driving up from Gresham.

Even though it spit rain, hail, and snow, they all worked like beavers, clearing the brush, falling the trees, cutting them up, and transporting them to the wood pile.   We ended the evening with grilled T-bones and, my favorite, angel pie.

Fun.  Rewarding.  Productive.  Love.     Blessings abundant.

Clearing away brush to get to trees  Kari, Eric, Nathan, Me, Justin

Falling the largest tree.

The wood pile.  Cailyn said it reminded her of a Civil War encampment.

Even Jensen helped.  Note the working gloves that Barb gave him.

Vicki, Ed, Eric, Me, Kari, Nathan

Kari, Jensen, Nathan, Justin, Cailyn, Jane, Grace, Cassie

Angel Pie, my mom's recipe

Procedure Complete

I received my last infusion today and feel very relieved to finally have that plastic port out of my arm.  My strength is returning, my body functions have returned to normal, and my appetite has returned,  I will start on some mild exercises next week and am anxious to get back on the bike, still a couple weeks away.

Bad Blood

Every once in a while my bleeding disorder (VonWillibrands) raises its ugly head.  I hesitate writing about this as I fear that it may cause some fear related to a very important procedure.

I had my third colonoscopy last Thursday.  It is wise for adults my age to have it done every 10 years.  The technology used is efficient and effective.  There are few side effects or dangers…unless you have a bleeding disorder.

In my first two procedures, everything went well.  Last Thursday, for the first time, they found four polyps.  They harvested the polyps and cauterized the wounds.  The polyps were biopsied and found to be adenomatous (noncancerous).  I felt fine until Saturday when the pain in my abdomen increased and I began to pass blood.  I waited until Monday to call my doctor and I was directed to proceed directly to the Emergency Room.  There I was admitted to the hospital and given some clotting factor.  Later, but before the factor could take effect, my blood count continued to fall and the passing of blood continued to rise.  At one time I passed out due to low blood pressure.   I was infused with two units of blood and taken back into surgery on Tuesday.  They recauterized the wounds and put me back on the IVs.  By Wednesday I felt well enough to go home.  I continue to go into the infusion center once a day for 3 days for continued clotting factor.  I am on a limited activity regimen until I get the o.k. to resume normal activity.

Lesson learned?  When I had my hernia operation in 09 I was a bit frustrated at all the prep and procedure that I had to go through.  At that time I had my surgeon consult with my hematologist which resulted in presurgery clotting factor infusion, surgery in the hospital (most hernia surgeries are done in clinics as outpatients) and I spent one night in the hospital where they could monitor blood levels and infuse more clotting factor as needed.  There was no bleeding and everything went well.  I thought it was overpreparation and my insurance company was given a bill of over $46,000.   However, in retrospect, that hernia procedure did go well.  I guess overprep is better than underprep.  It is better to be proactive than reactive.

In the medical arena, we live in the best of times…

Clean Up

It has been two weeks since electricity returned and we are still cleaning up.  The piles of branches still litter the sides of our streets and yard work has been a priority.  We are thankful that there was no damage to the house or the RV but our trees, bushes, and garden fence were damaged.

ice thickly coated our bushes and deciduous trees

tall alders with few branches left

We've had some beautiful weather this week (almost 60 today) which has allowed us to work on the cleanup.

Removing the damaged trees

Normalcy

The electricity  came on at 3 p.m. today.  After 80 hours of mostly just fending for ourselves and our neighbors, we can now return to life as we want to live it.

Ice Challenged

On this Saturday morning we have the internet back up but still no electricity.  Neighbors Gordon and Carol showed up at our door yesterday afternoon.  Their house temp was in the 40's so we invited them to stay overnight.  The outside temps now reach toward 40 so the ice is beginning to melt.  It is not as dangerous now as there are no branches or ice chunks falling from the trees.  However, there is so much to clean up and there is much damage to trees and bushes but, thankfully, not to the RV or our house.  The RV's generator keeps the fridge, lights, and internet going (when it is up).  The wood stove keeps our home in the high 60's.

When I  was out in the backyard this morning, a visitor came by to assess the damage.  He looks a bit concerned.

Snowed/Iced In

It is just another challenge.  God in His wisdom sends these once in awhile.  O.K.  Get out the chainsaw, put the Jeep in 4 wheel drive, load the woodstove, and start the generator in the R.V.  Test your resolve.  Deal with it.  Tonight we sit in a dark world (1/18), the main noise being the hum of neighbors' generators.  What sounds like gun shots nearby is another tree or significant branch buckling under the weight of freezing rain.  Barb and I sit comfortably warm.

We thank technology as we knew it was coming.  They predicted precisely.   We picked up Jane and Jensen on Tuesday with ominous warnings of impending ice storms.  First, the snow fell, 6+ inches as we awoke Wednesday morning.  We tried to play in the snow but it was so deep, crusty and the rain began to fall.   

It won't go.

After playing in the snow, let's make snow ice cream.

yummy

 The kids spent most of the day riding their peddlebikes in the garage.  Then the lights began to flicker.  We decided not to risk the trip to take them home.  We hunkered down another night.  We made it to 7:30 a.m. Thurs morn and then the electricity went out.

No electricity.  Why, GramB?

We were warm and had some light as the G kids woke up.  The challenge then was trying to explain to them why there were no lights, why the milk was sitting on the back porch in 30 degree temps so we didn’t have to access the refrigerator, why we couldn’t watch Thomas the Train, how it is that there is a power that comes to every house that powers the lights, the TV, the microwave, and now that power is no longer here.  Eureka.  Jane at 4 understood. Jensen, at 2, remarked, “Can we watch Thomas?”

We took baths and showers with the last of the hot water.  We ate lunch then boarded the Jeep to take the Gkids home.  The trip, some in 4 wheel drive, was like no other drive that I have had in the Puget Sound Basin.  It was like being in the mountains in January.  The roads were littered with ice and tree debris.  As we descended into the valley and drove through Puyallup, there were no lights, stores were closed, the entire Puyallup commercial district was a ghost town with no electricity.  The ride to Tacoma was slow but uneventful.  In Tacoma we experienced electricity.

The road in front of our house.  I had already cleared it once.

Neighborhood street...pull over to let vehicle by

We dropped the kids off at Nathan and Cailyn’s and headed back home.  The roads had deteriorated since our trip into Tacoma.  We drove 4 wheel drive most of the way home, up Shaw Road, spinning at times , and fishtailing through  ice encrusted snow to our home.

We fired up the RV’s generator and we plugged the refrigerator and freezer into the electricity. In the midst of it all a cell phone call.  It is the other Ben, our dear friend from Bangkok, now in Kansas City.  “Puyallup is in the national news,” he relates.  “How are you doing?” 

 As darkness fell, we turned off the appliances and directed the current to lights and internet.  The wood stove ran at full force and we were able to maintain inside temps in the upper 60's.

It was a fitful sleep but we awoke Friday morning to softball sized ice chunks falling from the trees.  It sounded as if we had added a bowling alley on a third floor as the chunks landed on the roof.  Still no power and it is warming up way too slowly but inching above freezing.  It is still very dangerous outside.