The Front Porch Swing

[Blooie]

Shoot, I got so wrapped up in what's going on that I forgot to wish Deb a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! My birthday is 4 days after Christmas too! We share a birthday, Happy!

And what word am I supposed to make up? One for leaving the Porch and sneaking into places that get us into trouble? I needed you guys to make me smile tonight, and you did it!! Thank you all....now I have something else to think about for a bit, and I think I needed that!

 

[perchie.girl]

Happy Birthday Deb!!!!! Hope you had a wonderful day.

Thank you Zinia.... it was good.

Shoot, I got so wrapped up in what's going on that I forgot to wish Deb a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! My birthday is 4 days after Christmas too! We share a birthday, Happy!

And what word am I supposed to make up? One for leaving the Porch and sneaking into places that get us into trouble? I needed you guys to make me smile tonight, and you did it!! Thank you all....now I have something else to think about for a bit, and I think I needed that!

Thank you Blooie....

VBG dont know the word off to go peek
d
eb

 

[Oldmomma]

Happy birthday deb, ewwwww on the eggs thankfully I was having peach pie and tea with my morning meds. Nothing really accomplished yesterday but got a scare. In my new coop area on my balcony I have a large wooden crate draped with a airport blanket and I had put a fruit crate on side and wove my lamp around the end to give them a bit of warmth on the nights. Walked in to feed them their breakfast and found the crate had tipped over and the bulb fell onto a overturned plastic tub I had put in for sand baths and the bulb was melting a hole into it. Thank GOD it didnt catch fire. Not only my chicks but my kids bedroom door to balcony is right there. I got water barrel on the balcony but with early am who knows what kind of disaster might have happened. So I removed the crate and lamp since they are getting enough feathers now that even if its a bit cooler they should be warm enough. Took pics of all my chicks and hope to post them to album but she took headshots only. My Equinox been working on his crow and its improving. My daughter said the one on the roof stopped crowing. Also my NN. Bil never came to fix the light for me so im going to price another ladder since I refuse to borrow. Many times ive asked and been told they will bring over this or that and dont and its a needed item since I dont have one even in usa tall enough for these high ceilings. Im going to start one thing at a time and fix this place up. I now know enough words and figured out what stores I need to go to for what items and I will buy bare minimum since most of what I need I have at least 4 of back home. We did home repair with my sil family business and I always bought my own tools with what I earned. It will keep my mind busy, money invested on needed repairs and give the girls and I needed activity since we got a week or so and the month of fasting begins. We dont sleep our day away. Once each room is done I can feel a sense of achievement. So if I can load them I know head shots arent going to help much in identifying but you can see my beautiful babies. Take care all my tea is cold now.

 

[Triple Willow]

@Blooie... prayer for you. Sorry you're going through all of that.

 

[perchie.girl]

Not in a real good mood, so weird after the exciting, wonderful week we had with Little Diane and Dustin. Kendra started acting funny yesterday - grabbing her head, crying wildly, and exhibited some eye movements different than her regular seizures. She gets periodic mild headaches, but this was way different and Jenny knew it. She called Denver Children's and the neurologist called her right back, on a Sunday evening. Just that was a big clue that this might be serious. He gave Jenny a special phone number to call first thing this morning, and when she called it they confirmed that he had scheduled Kendra for an MRI on Wednesday and an appointment on Thursday. She and Kendra fly out tomorrow afternoon at 2:00pm, so I've got Katie until whenever they get back. Tammy and I are supposed to leave on our cruise on Sunday morning, and Ken said not to worry about a thing - he can take care of Bug just fine. I have total faith in him.

Kendra has mild hydrocephalus due to her Spina Bifida, but so far she hasn't accumulated enough spinal fluid in her brain's ventricles to require shunts. In Spina Bifida, the opening in the neural tube interrupts the plumbing of the cerebral spinal fluid so in addition to the fluid the ventricles "'make", she also has the fluid that backs up retained there. We were told by her neurosurgeons that the longer she goes without shunts, the more likely she is not to need them, a rarity for kids with SB but certainly not unheard of. She seemed to have self-balanced fluid and the amount of fluid hasn't changed that much since she was born. The unknown factor was her Chiari Malformation. That's where the brain stem is actually pushed downward into the spinal column. Hers wasn't too bad, but if it's now getting worse and starting to block what little normal draining she has, that changes everything.

We don't know what they are planning to do....Chiari Malformation surgery is pretty drastic, not always effective, and it's almost a given that any Chiari surgery will be accompanied by the shunt surgery. They may simply change her meds around, add a pain medication, and watch and see how she does, or they may end up doing the Chiari procedure, removing a piece of the skull to accommodate the displaced brain tissue then do the shunts. They could also decide just to shunt and see if the pressures are relieved enough not to push the brain stem farther down. I don't know yet - this is all speculation based on Jenny's three conversations with the doctors and the neurosurgeon's nurse. I just don't know about this cruise. It seems so selfish and wrong to go at this point, but I can't change anything anyway. Ken is determined that Tam and I still go...if they do anything about the Chiari and do the shunts it won't be done this week - they need time to schedule and prep and such, which will mean another flight to Denver in a couple of weeks. If they do just the shunts to see if that relieves the pressure, that will most likely be done this week while Jenny already has her down there. Shunt surgery is pretty straightforward and routine, but the Chiari surgery isn't. Kenny is still there in Denver, and she needs her hubby much more than she needs her mother-in-law, but I have been with Jenny since the last 5 weeks of her pregnancy and all of the subsequent stuff so it feels strange to even consider being gone right now.

I am praying so hard that the doctors make the right decision - what's best for Kendra - and that I make the right decision about taking the cruise despite what's going on. All this has made me rethink the other decision that I planned for after the cruise as far as my legs go. Oh, everything is so just so mixed together and I can't seem to make heads or tails out of it right now. Maybe I need a good night's sleep, a lot of prayer to make the right decisions and the strength to live with those decisions. Any volunteers?

Hugs to you all....

deb

 

[heartsizedfarm]

We picked up Madi's pup today. The one her mom bought for her without any input from Madi. At first she did not even want to go get it. Once we got to the shelter she rushed in ahead of me and went to the cages. She was standing in front of a cage of one of the dogs we had decided against. I took her out to the desk and asked the staff where the dog was that we adopted. It was in a separate holding pen because it had been neutered this morning. When she saw it she got her special little Madi smile and said he was cute. They are now sleeping together in her room. The pup will go home with her when she goes. She finished all her classwork for the week today so we can go do something fun I hope. I have an eye doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon to see  if my cataracts are ready for surgery. I hope so, I can barely drive anymore and seeing the screen is getting more and more difficult. Maybe on Wednesday

She isn't giving me clues about what she would like to do, but the pool is open at our local High School for the summer. If I can find a bathing suit to wear we might try that. I am trying to think of places to take her where she will meet other young people, but I did not live here when I had kids and everything is so far away. I need some ideas.. Those of you with teens, where do your kids hang out? Her sister will be here Friday so  I won't feel like I have to hang around the pool or park with them all the time. It has to be hard for her as she always had a group of people around her. I wouldn't consider most of them really friends after the trouble they got her into. I know she is lonely, but we keep trying  Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. I am tired again tonight. Still haven't recovered from the weekend. Off to bed soon.







4

What about a trail ride? My daughter loved hanging out at stables when she was a teen and I figured it was better than the mall. And sometimes an outing without any structure is really satisfying. A walk someplace to get ice cream and someplace to sit and eat ice cream gives space and quiet that makes for nice conversation. She probably needs quiet time with you, your insights and maturity, more than she needs time with others her own age anyway.

If all else fails haul out the board games!

 

[heartsizedfarm]

What about a trail ride? My daughter loved hanging out at stables when she was a teen and I figured it was better than the mall. And sometimes an outing without any structure is really satisfying. A walk someplace to get ice cream and someplace to sit and eat ice cream gives space and quiet that makes for nice conversation. She probably needs quiet time with you, your insights and maturity, more than she needs time with others her own age anyway.

If all else fails haul out the board games!

Oh and she might well enjoy having some shared chores with you. Young people bristle at chores but actually feel great learning those skills. Didn't someone on this thread make strawberry jam just now? What about a strawberry picking, jam making day rrrmama?

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Blooie I'm sorry to hear about Kendra. It is really amazing she's gone this long without shunts. It sounds like she has a very skilled medical team that you trust to make the best decisions for her.

I can imagine how hard it would be to contemplate enjoying the cruise while all this is going on back home. Sometimes us Mum/Woman people have put the care of others first for so long that it physically hurts to be away when care is needed. But there are others in the picture who will feel really bad if their circumstances have caused you to give up what you've been looking forward to for so long. And sometimes not being there allows others to step up into the care position. Sounds like your sweet husband is keen for that role.

 

[lovingmyhens]

no I haven't looked at that thread. I heard we get in trouble if we leave the porch.

I thought if we got written permission it was ok.

 

[TexasLisa]

Good Morning!

What do you think of my new pet?



I was coming back from the mailbox and found him climbing up the side of our house. That is the 2nd one I have seen in 3 years. He is fairly quiet. Doesn't get upset when I touch him.

Lisa