Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Hello to all my blogging buddies out there!
I pray this finds you all happy and feeling well. It's been a whirlwind kind of week again, I've been through the whole scope of emotions. Let's see.......to begin with, I received a call from my daughter last Thursday morning.......EARLY. The poor thing was so horribly sick, and Rick was still at work, and she needed help!! I got there as soon as I could, (which wasn't fast enough for ME), and got James up and dressed him, ran to the store for Sprite, and then got her settled on the couch, and left. My heart was breaking, wanting to stay and care for her, but knowing that James didn't need to be exposed to anything. My Mom came over for her weekly play day with James, so I was able to go over and check on her later. By that time, Rick was home, and I felt much better knowing she wasn't alone. At this point, Heather really thought she had a case of food poisoning.......ICK!!! She called me around 4:00 that afternoon, and said she was feeling a bit better, but certainly not good. I took James home that evening, and stayed with them till he went to bed that night. Rick didn't have to work that night, so again, she wasn't alone. Friday morning she felt better, but very woozy and weak, and SORE! She stayed home from work again, so I didn't have James that day. WELL,........by 10:30 that night, I called HER, and asked if she had any Sprite left! My sweet baby girl brought me the Sprite, along with Gatorade, and some saltines. Guess it wasn't food poisioning after all! So Friday night all night long was, well, as ugly as Thursday had been for Heather. I finally got to get some sleep around the crack of dawn the next morning. So Saturday was just a sleepy, sore, icky day. I prayed the whole time for nobody else to get it!!!! The thought of James being THAT sick, when he was still fighting off his first cold had me gripped in fear.
But THANK YOU, LORD, he never came down with it. And neither has anyone else. My diet still consists mostly of Gatorade and crackers, although I did manage a small bowl of tomato soup today at lunch.
Unfortunately, during all of this, Beryl's Dad took a serious turn for the worse. He is now living in his own world all the time, and doesn't really know anyone anymore. And he was in so much pain, and unable to tell us exactly where he hurt. Beryl called me Saturday night, and asked my opinion about some pain pills that his Mom had used awhile back. I told him to try them, and if they didn't work, then it was time to go to the hospital. They worked pretty well, and Dad was able to get some sleep that night, as well as the rest of the household. Sunday morning, he seemed to be just a bit better, but still refused to eat anything, and was still asking Beryl to take him home.........heartbreaking.
So I rode part way around the wells with Beryl that morning, and then we had to go to town to get his Mom some more cough medicine, and I made a mad dash through the store to pick up a few gift items for Easter, not knowing if I would get another chance. Then we came home, and worked on the house, starting to get things in order, as we have decided to use my house for the family gathering if and when Dad goes "home". He left here fairly early, and I stayed up working on the house till late in the night. On Monday morning, he called me in tears, asking if I could come over and help care for Dad. So I called my Mom, and she came over to stay with James, and off to the farm I flew. Dad was so out of it, and we were almost out of pain pills, and Beryl and his Mom were SO tired and emotionally spent. I went in and sat on the floor at Dad's feet, (he spends all his time in his reclining/lift chair), and reached up and took his hand in mine, and began to pray. As I was looking up into his sweet face, he opened his eyes, and smiled at me. "Oh, you made it", he said, and I said "Yes, Dad, I'm right here, what can I do for you?" Now, he didn't even know I was coming over, and to be honest, he didn't REALLY even know who I was, but he was able to tell me that he was hot, so I got his ice pack and put it around his neck, and he settled right down and went to sleep. He slept off and on for several hours, and I stayed the day with him, and Beryl was able to make a flying dash around his wells, and come back home. After talking to Beryl, I called the Doctor again, and explained the situation, and he called in a prescription for the pain pills for us. THANK YOU, LORD! We are all in agreement that all that can be done now is to keep Dad as comfortable and pain free as possible. And now, low and behold, he actually agreed to eat a little bit today! He still doesn't know who he's eating WITH, but that's O.K.!! I just pray that we can continue to control his pain.
SO, after 4 long days of hardly getting to see my little love bug, I was really looking forward to today! I NEEDED my baby! And I think he must have missed me, too, cause the lovin' and kissin' that went on here today was fierce!!!
LOL. We just had the best time, playing, and kissing, and reading books, and kissing, and acting silly, and did I mention how kissy he was? And it turned out to be a BIG day for us! Heather had told me that he started to pull himself up to his knees on Sunday. WELL, this morning, as he started to wake up from his nap, I just hung around outside his room, to see what would happen. He always just plays and babbles for a little while when he wakes up, before he wants out of bed. So I just sat down here in my computer chair, where I could see straight into his room, and watched and waited.........and sure enough, after a couple of minutes, I could see his little hand reach up and grab the rail of his crib............and then the other hand..........and after working on it a bit, the most precious face in the world popped up and looked out over the end of the crib!!!
He looked right at me and just SMILED!!!! He was SO proud! The whole world looked different to him, and you could see his little wheels turning at least 100 miles an hour!!! He was giggling, and I was bawling! Where has my little baby gone, and when did this "big boy" get here? So I went in to get him, and he chose that precise moment to get extremely, violently, kissy with me! I mean, grab both sides of my face, and just smother my whole face with open-mouthed, slobbery, sweet kisses that just made me laugh out loud!!!! So then we had to do the "happy dance" in honor of his newest achievement, which made us BOTH laugh!!! As if that wasn't a big enough "first", he had yet another one in store for me! We were having a standoff over him not bothering the floor fan again, (which he KNOWS is a no-no!), and after moving him away from it at least 4 times right in a row, he went RIGHT back to it AGAIN!! This time I picked him up, and said "Gammo told you NO", and sat him in the middle of his "playpen". At which point he looked directly at me, and shook his tiny little hand at me and said plain as day....."NO". In one split second I thought to myself...."you can't faint, and you can't laugh, and you CAN'T do the happy dance". LOL. What do you do? Inside, I was ROLLING, but I never let him catch on to it! And he must have got it through his head, cause he didn't try it again............but tomorrow is another day! So with that happy thought, I will leave you kind folks to go get some sleep. If I don't get back to post again before this weekend, I pray that each of you have a blessed Easter, and that you remember to thank our risen Saviour for shedding his blood for each of us.
God's Blessings to you all!

1 comment:

Earth's Alternatives said...

Oh my goodness - I'm so sorry you guys have been so sick. That sucks big time! And poor Beryl, he must be grieving so much for his dad. You don't want them to leave, but you can't stand to see them suffering either. It tough, really tough.

Thank the sweet heavens for BIG Baby James for bringing the happy back! Sounds like you better get your running shoes ready Gammo!

About Me

My heart is filled with faith in God, and love for my family and friends. I am in love with a fabulous man who shares in my joy of being the mother of H, and the grandma of J.

I never get enough of my little love bug!
If there must be strife, let it be in MY day, that this child may know peace.
Thomas Payne