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The Way of the Cat

17 Jan

Time out for a bit of silliness.

This morning the cat sat in front of the water dish and yelled pitifully. The dish was full, so I ignored him. He came into the bathroom with me, and proceeded to drink from the spigot while I brushed my teeth.

The Squire came down for breakfast, and Eddie followed him into the kitchen to complain, alternately sitting in front of his dish and trying to climb The Squire’s trousers.

The Squire went over to the dish and discovered a piece of brown leaf, about the size of a nickel,  floating in the water. Once he pulled it out and showed it to the cat, Eddie sat down with a huge sigh and drank as if he hadn’t had water in days!

 

 

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Update

13 Jan

Eldest Daughter called at 1:30 to say she was on her way home from Philadelphia, and about ready to drop in her tracks. She’d been up until very, very late waiting to see what was going to happen with the baby, and then she and Austin’s mum had tried to catch a few winks in recliners in the hospital room, with the baby unhappy and medical staff coming and going. She just called again to say our grandson had arrived at CHOP and the doctors are going to operate in the morning.

When I last visited with the kids, a week or so ago, things seemed to be going pretty well. Austin had gained a bit of weight, and even though he was still spitting up, it was no more than the usual baby stuff.  Early Thursday the baby started the projectile vomiting again, and was frantic with hunger. His mum would give him four ounces, and he’s shoot it across the room, and be rooting for more. Add to that the fact that he was becoming dehydrated and had dry diapers, and you have a very sick little boy.

When the kids first got to the hospital, the doctors were talking about an NG tube, which our grandson vetoed very firmly. If the food isn’t leaving Austin’s stomach, putting him (and his parents) through the insertion and cleaning of the tube was a waste of time. Another doctor suggested something else, and yet another came up with Plan C.

Dear God, let this surgery do the trick. Austin is three months old and only weighs 5 ounces more than he did when he was born.

 

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Here We Go Again

12 Jan

I just received a frantic call from Eldest Daughter (at 4 PM EST) that she, Austin’s mum, and Austin were headed back to Philadelphia.  We’re talking at least a two hour trip, probably more in rush hour traffic, so – although she didn’t give me any details – we can assume we have one sick little man on our hands.

Not to make light of Austin’s problems, but there was a house fire in Baltimore today which killed nine children, from 8 months to 11 years old, and left the mother and two other children in critical condition. The house is in such dangerous condition because of fire damage that firefighters are having to search for the bodies by hand.

Lots and lots of prayers needed in our neck of the woods.

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Back Home and Much Better

7 Jan

After a trip to Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania (CHOP) Austin is home and doing much, much better. He is not throwing up as much, and seems more alert and interested in what’s going on around him.  He still throws up some, but babies do, and it’s not nearly as bad as it was. He has also gained a few ounces, which is a Good Thing.

His dad has been released from the military and is back at his day job with the electric company.  So far this winter we’ve had only two days of snow flurries, but I know that won’t last, but he bundles up and enjoys climbing poles.

More power to him.

 

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MIA?

3 Jan

When I left this morning to do the wash, there was a dreadful accident at the top of the hill. Quick U-turn, a detour, and grateful I wasn’t the one driving.

While I was out, I swung by the see The Bride and Groom, but the house was vacant! They had said they planned on moving, but I figured they’d at least let us know they were leaving town.

I came straight back, and there were at least four utility trucks at the accident scene, and more people standing around, pointing, than I could count in a hurry. A pole was broken off and I swear there was either smoke or steam coming out of the box on the side of the pole. (Maybe it was coming off the men standing there!)

Austin is headed back to Philly tomorrow for an upper GI and yet more testing. This will determine if the doctors will do the surgery again, or try another approach. Its been two months, and if it’s going to work, it should show some results by now. The doctors at Hopkins wanted to insert an NG tube, which would have meant the “kids” would be responsible for inserting and cleaning the tube, which is a recipe for disaster if ever I heard one. And if the food isn’t leaving the baby’s stomach, what is to be gained by dripping formula into it? And obviously, this is a “Band-Aid” approach. Austin can’t live with an NG tube for very long.

Do something!

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It’s Bad Enough…

2 Jan

It’s bad enough that I snore, but The Squire tells me I was talking to myself last night. I asked him what I said, and he told me he didn’t remember.

Huh! Same thing happens when I’m awake!

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Philadelphia

30 Dec

Austin was admitted to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia yesterday afternoon. He had not, at the time he was admitted, had anything to eat for seven hours (he is a not-quite-three months old) and was not interested in eating.  Obviously, both of his parents are with him.

The doctors had done a sonogram and requested the original films from Hopkins for comparison. They have put him on IVs to build him up, and he will be needing another surgery in the near future.

Watch and pray.

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O Tannenbaum

29 Dec

As I drive around our neighbourhood there are still signs out announcing that this place or that is selling Christmas Trees.

I think they cater to the Late and Unlamented.

The easiest way to get that man to refuse to do anything was to tell him you thought it was a good idea. I swear, he’d have quit breathing if I had just told him to keep going. He was the personification of the old joke:”I’ll do it. You don’t have to keep reminding me every six months.”

One year he decided he was going to cut a tree rather than purchase one, and walked away from the house carrying an axe. If you stood in our yard and looked in every direction there was nothing but deciduous trees – not an evergreen in sight. I don’t know who he thought he was kidding.

When I left for church with the girls on Christmas Eve we still did not have a tree, but there was one in the living room when we returned.

He’d gone out after we left and stolen one from a lot someplace!

 

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And Again

28 Dec

Local Daughter contacted us this afternoon to say Austin was on his way back to the hospital. He was doing well on Christmas Day, but was running a fever yesterday, and when they took him to the doctor this morning he had lost weight again.

The doctors are talking about inserting “a tube”. Not sure if they mean a via his nose, something into his stomach, or a stent between his stomach and his intestine.

I feel so sorry for all of them – Austin, his mum and dad…this is just so disheartening.

We are very, very fortunate that the military allowed our grandson to come home, and that he has not yet had to return to his regular occupation.

 

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Merry Christmas

27 Dec

True to form, Resurrection was in full disorganized religion mode on the 24th.  The folks listed in the bulletin to serve as readers and ushers were not the ones who were actually scheduled, and our supply was so late – she lives in Hagerstown, and traffic was unbelieveable – that we were discussing whether or not I should just go ahead and do Evening Prayer.

Fortunately, Rev. B came scurrying up the sidewalk with seconds to spare, and all was well. (We had a situation several weeks ago when the supply neither showed nor called, and we had to do Morning Prayer at the last minute.)

We’ve been using a powerpoint system for the last year or so, as a convenience for people who weren’t born with enough arms to juggle a hymnal and a BCP – which is most of us! About halfway through the service, the computer died, and we were left going “by the book”. We started off doing Rite I, and then switched to Rite II after the Offertory. Prayer C, to make it even more interesting.

We do not have services on Christmas Day. The concensus is that not even our rowdy group could get into enough trouble overnight to need the extra service. The last time we had a Christmas Day mass was about fifteen years ago, when the entire congregation consisted of the rector, the organist, her husband, and her parents – who did not speak English.

Eldest Daughter and her family came down around noon on Christmas Day to give us a gift. We had told them not to get us anything, but she said “they’d had a good year” and wanted to give us something anyway.

A fifty-inch flat screen TV! The Squire is in seventh heaven!

We zipped over to the grocery store last night, but other than that we stayed put. The day after Christmas is, if anything,  worse than the day after Thanksgiving when it comes to malls and shops, and we avoid that sort of aggravation whenever possible. We needed birdseed, and I’m working this week, so I wanted to get some peanut butter crackers to keep in the desk. Just as well I did, as The Squire packed my breakfast and I left it home.

That’s gratitude for ya!

 

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