More on Teddy later! Right now, we are in the midst of a huge battle. Not as hard as losing Teddy, but one I sure could have lived without. And I shouldn't say I, ME, Mine. We are in this together, Don and I, with 55 years of marriage, so everything we go thrrough is WE. 

Oct. 18, 2022, Don came to me and asked me to look at something. He dropped his pants and WOW, his scrotum was larger than a grapefruit. I asked him how long this has been going on, and he told me two to three weeks. I called the Dr. instantly, and made an appointment. Don saw Dr. Jordison on Oct. 19. He had a ultrasound, and it was determined it was a hydrocele, and was given antibiotics. His weight at this time was 274#.

A week later, the swelling was much worse. Back to Dr. Jordison on Oct. 26. Weight was 277#. Dr. Jordison decided to send him to Dr. Dyche, a urologist. He determined it wasn't an infection and started him on Lasix, since his legs and feet were showing signs of swelling. Oct. 28, back to see Dr. Jordison. And he was pretty much at a loss. 

November 2, Don was miserable, and had begged the evening before to please go to the ER. I notified Dr. Jordison's office first thing in the morning. By now Don is very weak, also. No pain, just miserable. It was determined to go to the E. D. We went to Mary Greeley and they decided on several tests to rule out heart issues and try and get to the bottom of what was going on. Swelling worse, 276#. Lasix not working. Very nauseated and no appetite. Hasn't eaten in days. 

Nov. 3, CT scan showed lymph nodes extremely swollen and it was decided to take him down for a needle biopsy of  one of the nodes. And he was discharged November 4. 

Continued to be very lethargic, with no appetite. Nov. 5, 271#. very nauseated and lethargic. And this continued. 

Nov. 8, to Dr. Jordison, no conclusive findings. 272#

Nov. 9, Dr. Patel, Hematology/Oncology! 270# Very hard to breathe, Abdomen distended, Severe nausea, rash on legs and chest. She ordered a PET scan. 

November 10, things are getting worse, continued swelling, no appetite, more lethargic. 

November 15, PET scan, weight 264.9

November 16, Dr. Patel. Our worst fears, LYMPHOMA....... Don was admitted to Mary Greeley, weght 261#. Dr. Schlicter removed a lymph node in the axillary area, so they will know exactly the type of Lymphoma, to determine the correct chemotherapy. His food choice at this point is a Tropical Smoothie, Paradise Point. Constant bloodwork, Kidneys aren't working properly. I just pray that we will have him around for Christmas. Using a walker, but only up to restroom. Amazing staff. 

November 19, started on Prednisone, which will be part of his chemo regimine. Also taken down to put in a PICC line, for chemo. More talkative with the steroids. More alert. Dr. Amaluroo, Nephrologist up to see him, and started him on Bumex, a diuretic. 

November 21, we have a preliminary diagnosis; Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma! 

November 22, 2022, Day #1 of first Chemo Treatment......... Had a good nights sleep. Was up walking in the hallways with a walker. He is actually pretty mellow about it all. Knows this is what will make him better.

Our Teddy

 Geesh, here we are, 5+ years out from our heart ache of losing a huge piece of my heart. Teddy was staying with his grandpa and I, after his high school graduation. Couldn't stand the dogs at his mom's house, so chose to stay here. And we loved it. All we asked for was to bring dishes to the kitchen and take his dirty clothes to the basement, which he was pretty good about. When school started, he started staying with his aunt Ginny, so he could see to it that Karlos got to school. We noticed he was spending time with a lot of so called friends. We pointed out that they were using him for his car. Which I hated, but it was true. There were a million reasons, in his mind, to take his life, Oct. 18, 2017. Nothing will ever break my heart more, than losing my dear grandson. He was such a huge part of my life, and the person I always felt would take care of me if something happens to Don, but that isn't meant to be. 

Teddy became an organ donor, and saved the life of 5 people. He also helped 133 others through tissue, bone and skin donation. Fortunately, we have met all 5 organ recipients, and love them all so much. And currently, all 5 are healthy and doing great. 

I will tell more of Teddy's story at a later date.

Our New Life! It shattered Oct. 18, 2017

I was thinking this morning that I needed a place to talk about Teddy, my fourth grandchild.  I cut Teddy's cord when he was born with his darling orange hair.  From that moment on, we were bonded for life.  May 25, 1997, he arrived.  He didn't have the sparkle of a new born, but the Dr. didn't say anything was wrong.  At his two week visit, he had dropped weight, and was admitted into the hospital.  Misty said the day we took him home, when he was 2 days old that something was wrong, she was so correct. 

Teddy was in the hospital for several days, and finally diagnosed with a severe kidney infection.  He was such a sick little guy.  Scared us all so much, he was loved so much.  He started to get lots better, gained weight, and started to flourish.  Then at three months, just before he was to get his first vaccines, he contracted Whooping Cough.  So again this little guy was deathly ill.  Since I had gotten to quit my job, before he was born, I got to spend all the time in the hospital with him, since Joan had to work, being a single mom.  Once he got through that, he really flourished.  And you would never have known he was ever that ill.  

This little boy was so very, very loved and my world was so full of joy, spending every day with him. 

When Teddy was 5 months old, Don and I took all 5 grandkids and Joan to Surfside Beach, TX.  We rented a beautiful house right on the beach.  It was amazing.  We unloaded everything and got settled in.  Once settled in, Grandpa decided to play with Teddy and was holding up in the air, and BAM, he bashed Teddy's head into the ceiling fan.  Didn't seem to faze Teddy much, but man, we have laughed about it for almost 20 years.  Great job Don.

When we returned from TX. Joan was starting to date a man that we found out was a monster.  We kept questioning her, but she said he was wonderful and really loved the boys.  They wed Feb. 14, 1999.  Never felt right, but what do you do.  The monster revealed himself the very next day.  He was a racist, narcissistic, sociopath.  The Hell began for all of us.  Joan and the boys came to us a month later and opened up about the abuse, and she kicked him out.  He would terrorize our family for the rest of our lives.  The boys witnessed a lot of his abuse.  Joan finally confided that she was pregnant, and was when they got married.  Getting rid of a monster, that you are married to, and lives across the street with his mommy, and you are carrying his child is easier said than done.  Numerous police visits, and so on continued for years. 

 Teddy turned one on May 25, 1999.  He was a happy, healthy little guy, full of lots of love for everyone.  What a cutie pie.

This is the sketch I used for the layout, and here is the layout I did for the challenge at The Scrap-Room.com.  http://thescraproomblog.blogspot.com/2016/03/march-be-our-guest-sketch-challenge.html

Wow, 4 years since I have been here and posted........crazy.  I will try and catch up, somewhat, later.  Right now I want to post about my scrapbooking.  The past few years I have been in the blahs with scrapbooking.  I still host my monthly crops.  There are only 4 of us that get together regularly, but that is terrific.  I had accumulated so much STUFF, and my mojo wasn't real gung ho, so I was only buying the necessities and nothing was really giving me that oomph I needed.  A few weeks ago, the 4 of us, plus a couple others, got together at a retreat place in Des Moines.  I went down on Thursday afternoon, and came home on Sunday, with 40 completed pages.  As a reward I joined a kit club, http://www.scrap-room.com/  I got pretty excited when I received my first kit, and got busy.

Did these 4 layouts, and then decided to do the Monthly Challenge, with some of the left overs.

Now I am ready for the next months kit.  So much fun to work with new things.  Thanks for looking

TRAVEL, TRAVEL, TRAVEL

Since I was a little girl I have wanted to go to Mackinac Island in Michigan.  My grandmother went there and talked all about it.  There are no motorized vehicles on the island, except police cars and ambulances.  Finally decided to go.  A beautiful step back in time.  It was amazing.  We left Ames and drove to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and spent the night.  Very lovely drive.  We then got up the next morning and drove to St. Ignace, Michigan.  We unloaded our bags, and they were taken and tagged by a couple of guys, and put on a cart.  We then boarded our ferry for the 6 mile ride to the island.

As we got closer to the island we could see the Grand Hotel.  Wow, what a gorgeous place.  We weren't staying there, but a very spectacular place.



When we arrived on the island, we met with the porter from our hotel, and then went and checked in.  We went off to explore, and the porter delivered our bags to our room.  Our hotel was two doors down from the dock where our ferry dropped us off, the Hotel Iroquios.

 
 Main Street was about 3-4 blocks long with lots and lots of stores and eateries.  Several places were along the way to rent bicycles.

Fudge is one of the really big items on the island, and there are several different fudge shops.  Watching this guy was so fascinating.  Poured it out onto the marble slab and then it was constant motion on his part, keeping it from the edges.  The muscles that this man had to have in his arms, wow.

Since there are no motorized vehicles, horses are used for all purposes.  This was a garbage wagon.  There was a hotel remodeling going on so all deliveries and pick-ups were done in this manner.

Another garbage wagon.  These horses are so very patient, and are also well taken care of.  There are 500 horses on the island during the season, so they don't work too many hours daily.  In the winter there are only 12.  It is just so wonderful to see these beautiful creatures, doing what they do best, and being so well taken care of.



Now, since there are all these horses, someone has to clean up after them, therefore you have to have street sweepers.  They are constantly riding up and down the streets, cleaning up the messes that the horses leave behind.  Also, they clean up well after all the tourists.  No litter and no cigarette butts anywhere.
For smaller deliveries, bicycles are used.  Couldn't believe the high heels this woman wore, to ride her bike.

We did take a tour, on this wagon, of the island.  This man was so good at his job, and had a great sense of humor.  The tour lasted about 1 1/2-2 hours, and was excellent.  Don enjoyed talking to him all about the horses.  Don had horses growing up and loves being around them.




This was one of the beautiful sites we got to see on our tour.  We got to get out and walk up and take pictures.  So beautiful.

Our hotel served a wonderful breakfast of juice, milk, and delicious pastries, every morning.  Such a beautiful old Victorian hotel, with such lovely rooms and a large wrap around porch.  Just such a nice relaxing place.


 This is a view from one of our windows, in our room.  We loved it.

There is a little light house out there, and I loved watching it in the late evening.




 
This bench was right outside out door.  Such a pretty setting.  We really had a wonderful time and talked about the next time, before we packed our bags to come home.  Highly recommend visiting this beautiful step back in time to anyone, wanting to get away for a couple of days.

Keep Junking

Joan and I just keep heading out on most Saturday mornings to find some treasures.  Teddy likes to go with us, unless he has a friend over.  I am actually running out of space to put things, but I also have redone a few things, so will be having a sale in a month or so to get rid of some of my cast offs, so I can go find more.  No I'm not a hoarder, I do get rid of stuff.

One of my favorite things I just found at the Junk Jubilee in Des Moines, last weekend.  I had seen a picture of a pick-up tail gate.  Someone had taken one and made it into a message board, and I thought it was so cool. http://www.myhomemystyle.com/enotes/2012/03/16/salvaged-magnetic-memory-board/?utm_source=MyHomeMyStyleEnotes&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5695   So, I've really been wanting to find one.  Low and behold, I spotted one at the J.J.  It was red and it was a chevy, and it was mine. Mine is going to be a head board, as soon as we open it up, get all the rust out, and I think hook up some lights.

Also found some cool letters and numbers, which of course will go on the wall above the head board.  I found the lock today, and thought it could be a Y.  The 8/11 is an auction paddle, I think.  Just happens that Don and I were married August 11, 1967.

 
I also found this beauty!  The color is what caught my eye.  It is actually fencing, made into a circle, and the cute little bottles attached to it.  I had so many people stop me and comment on it.  Another vendor even wanted to buy it.  I brought it home and wired it, and no have it hanging.  I will have to reveal it's spot some other time.



I have been wanting a bottle tree for a long time.  Not that I have many bottles, I don't, but I just think they are pretty cool.  Someone posted on Freecycle that they had 2 dozen cobalt blue beer bottles.  I notified them and within 15 minutes I had them.  I started checking online "bottle trees".  I found lots, but what caught my eye was a place that sells spikes to pound into your own stump or 4x4.  I had the perfect stump, and some gutter nails, and now I have a bottle tree.  It is right out side my scrapbook area, and when the sun hits it, it is gorgeous.

Not much new with the family and us.  Summer is close, and hope to get a vacation in with some of the grandkids.