Answered Prayers

Alison came through the surgery like a champ and the surgeon was able to remove all the gunk from her lung area. She is currently on a ventilator, but will be removed from that tomorrow morning sometime. She has so much medicine in her little body right now that I know she is feeling no pain, but seeing her in this condition hurts the three of us more than anything. We are thanking God that the surgery went well and she is on her way to a full recovery with no lasting side effects. All your prayers made a difference.

We know she is receiving excellent care. We know she is right where she needs to be to get over this horrible pneumonia related illness. We know that trained medical professionals are watching her 24/7 with nothing on their minds but getting her well. We know all this.

But what I also know? Is that I will crawl into an empty bed tonight, because my bestest friend slash husband is at the hospital spending the night on a folding cot in a room across the hall from the Pediatric ICU because my curly-headed little girl is breathing through a ventilator that makes her sound like Darth Vader. My baby is not at my house, in her bed, being watched over by loving parents and a brother who loves her with all his heart. I know that I won't get woken up by her calls of "Maaaaahm! I nee apple juice!" at three am. I know that she won't be here in the morning, waking me up too early all because she "nee to watcha show!" I know this, and it breaks my heart.

But thank you, all of you, for your prayers and support and listening and all of it during this time. You are the bestest peoples ever. Your comments, phone calls and emails have made a world of difference in this hard time. To quote my daughter, "I wuv you duys!"

Alison should be in the hospital for at least five more days. Please continue to pray for her speedy full recovery and for fortitude for us.

Thanks again,
Missie

Baby Girl Update

Hi everyone. This is Missie's friend Robyn posting for her- it looks like Ali will have surgery today to get all the crap out of her lung. Unfortunately, the stuff is too thick to drain, so they will have to remove it surgically.

It's never easy to see a loved one in a hospital, but there is a special level of stress when it is your small child. Missie said Ali had so many tubes and wires coming out of her she could pick up pay-per-view. She is asking again for your prayers and good thoughts. For those of you who are so minded, please join me:

Father God, we ask now that You be with Ali, to comfort her in her pain and fear. We ask You to help the surgeon; to guide his hands and give him supernatural wisdom, and to surround the medical team in every aspect of this operation from pre-op to post-op. And thank You for sending the Holy Spirit, our comforter, to give Missie, Roger, and Zach the peace that passes understanding. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Pray, Y'all...

We had to admit Alison into the hospital last night.

She has a pleural effusion around her lungs, which basically means a bunch of infected fluidy-type stuff has taken up residence there and needs to be drained. Which means my baby is going to have a chest tube put in this afternoon. I am 37 and I have never had a chest tube. Happy Easter.

Anyway, if you could see fit to take a minute and pray for my daughter, I would so appreciate it. She is going from a regular room to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit today. That is so hard to type. My baby should not be in any care unit but mine at home.

Please pray for my husband and son also, that they can handle this strain and stress and deal with their schooling too. Pray for me that I can go with no sleep for much longer, because I have a feeling that's what it's coming to. Just...just pray, please.

Thank you for reading this very disjointed and rambling post. I am out of sorts because my baby girl isn't here jumping on my lap and getting all in my grill 24/7. She should be overdosing on Easter candy and getting dressed up in a frilly dress for church right now, not be hooked up to IV antibiotics and wearing a faded hospital gown. This is not how Easter should be. I am whining and I am sorry.

Going to take a shower now and pack stuff to head back to the hospital. Please Lord, give me strength. And heal my baby. Thank You.

Ripley Won't Believe It...

Since I last posted, the following things have happened...

My flu progressed to pneumonia, requiring me to try to find a doctor here who would take a very sick new patient..

My daughter's cold progressed to pneumonia, requiring chest xrays, blood work, expensive prescriptions, etc...

My husband's flu progressed to a killer sinus infection which required me calling his walk in clinic doctor about four times to get a reasonably priced prescription...(did I mention we have no health insurance?)

Our car was stolen out of our garage. Pneumonia Girl left the keys in the ignition and we forgot to shut the garage door...Because it was a used car with about 100K miles on it, we only had liability coverage. Yeah. Digest that for a minute.

We found out that homeowners' insurance does not cover the theft of your own car...

We listed our house and sold it in four hours...

We are on our way back to Idaho, otherwise known as The Land We Should Not Have Left, at the end of April...

I realize this sounds like a bad Lifetime Original Movie, but yes, this has been our life for the past two weeks. Try not to envy me. It doesn't look good on you.

Sick Freak

Last Monday, I came down with the flu. Not to be left out, on Tuesday, my husband joined me. Yesterday, our son had a temperature of 102. As of now, our daughter is just onery, not sickly.

My friends, I am here to testify that this strain of the flu, KICKMYBUTTUS in Latin, is horrendous. Fever, chills, aches--check. Coughing, runny nose, head filled with cotton--check. Fatigue so intense that it makes the early days of my pregnancies look like I was running on espresso? Check. This is the worst sickness I have had in probably my entire adult life. While my husband and I are finally on the mend, we have heard from our doctor that some people are taking up to two weeks to get over this. And there is absolutely nothing you can do about it once you get it--other than ride it out.

Oh, and in case you don't hear about this in the news, because you really won't---the flu shot will not protect you this year, because the shot was for a different strain other than the one currently spreading across the country.

Please everybody....wash your hands frequently, stay away from anyone remotely sick, and get plenty of Vitamin C. You really really really do not want this.

Stay healthy, my friends. I will be back when I recover fully. (physically...we aren't waiting for the mental recovery, because that could be awhile.)

p.s. We aren't contagious anymore, so if anyone wants to come help me with the Laundry Pile That Can Be Seen From Space, let me know.

Real Life Conversations

Setting: Living room, night, watching tv with Son, see commercial for eHarmony.

Son: Mom, if they have eHarmony, do they have eDivorces, too?

Me: Why did you think of that?

Son: (stands up in front of the television) Hi, I'm Dr. Clark Warren Neal, founder of eDivorces. Remember when you signed up to that online dating service and thought you'd find the love of your life? Remember how it was great for a few months and then you got married? Remember how he wasn't as great as you thought and actually he's really a meanie? Sign up now for eDivorces dot com to get rid of a person you never should have married anyway because you didn't know him well enough. (Son then begins dancing around the room in parody of the happy couples singing, "I'm divorced now! I'm done with you!")

Me: Out of the mouths of babes.

Setting: Husband, Girl Child, and Me in the car, driving home from eating Indian food, passing by a church with a billboard that reads...

Me: "Make Jesus your valentine"?

Hub: Wow. Boy. Not good.

Me: What's next, "Make Jesus your Easter Bunny"?

Hub: Or what about "Make Jesus your Jack-o-lantern"?

Me: "Make Jesus Your Veteran"? You know, this would not work with every holiday.

Hub: "Make Jesus Your President"?

Me: "Make Jesus Your Santa"?

(After laughter dies down...)

Hub: We're not that funny really.

Me: No. No we are not.

Setting: My sister in law's kitchen, whole family assembled, mother in law and I are discussing our trip to New Orleans in 2005.

Me: I think we flew on Delta.

MomInLaw: No, we flew on that other one.

Me: American?

MIL: No, we flew on Bob.

Me: Bob? There is no airline called Bob.

MIL: Well, it was something like Bob.

Me: Do you mean TED? Like in United's regional line?

MIL: Yeah, maybe it was TED.

Setting: Our apartment in California, circa 2001. My parents are down for Christmas and my dad wants to see a certain Navy movie that just came out.

My Mom: Do you think Roger would want to go to the movie with Dad?

Me: I'm not sure. What movie is it?

MM: Some movie about some war.

Me: Oookay...That's a little vague. Who's in it?

MM: Robert de Niro and that other guy.

Me: That narrows it down. Does the other guy have a name?

MM: Oh, what is it?......I know! Scooby Dooba!

Me: Scooby Dooba? Who in the heck is Scooby Dooba?!

MM: He's that nice looking young black man who was in that one movie with Tom Something about sports.

Me: Do you mean Cuba Gooding Jr?

MM: (smiling) Yeah, that's him. I knew you knew who I was talking about.

I am soooo not related to any of these people...

Soup, Mmmmm Good!

I love soup. Really really love soup. A steaming hot bowl of broccoli-cheddar? A mug full of real Oregon Coast clam chowder with a pat of butter melting on top? A trough full of spicy chili with a side of cornbread? All guaranteed to make my heart go pitter-patter. (And unfortunately, to make my stomach and thighs go "flibber-flabber".)

"Shoup? You has shoup? Whatchu talkin' bout, Willis?"

My great-grandfather was a cook in the Navy. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of going to his house for lunch and being presented with a huge bowl of split-pea and ham soup so thick you could stand your spoon up in it.

Soup is such a comfort food, such a pick-me-up and make-me-feel-all-is-well-again food. But if you are like me, most of the soup you ingest comes from a can. There are some really good canned soups out there (Progresso's Light Southwest comes to mind), but there is nothing that says home and hearth quite like a bowl of homemade soup.

Today, I made this recipe given to me at a Weight Watchers meeting. Quick, easy, and oh so good. And only 1 point a cup.

Try it this week, and let me know what you think.

Super Easy Potato Soup

3 cans chicken broth

1 pkg Country Gravy Mix

1 pkg (28oz) O'Brien style frozen potatoes

Mix the broth and gravy mix together in a large pot. Add potatoes. Heat until boiling, then bring down to simmer. Cook for approx 15 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through.

Eat and enjoy.

This would also be great with sandwiches or as a snack for kids after school to warm them up.





"Zacky eat all shoup! No shoup for Ali? Waaaaaah!"