In Loving Memory of Shadow

On Thursday, August 30th, 2007 we lost our beloved SHADOW, a 10-1/2 year old black Lab dog that we had since we rescued her from the dog pound 10 years ago. She was only 9 months old then and she was a faithful companion for us, going camping with us and the grandkids, following us ( just like our shadow) every where we went, and she loved to go for car rides. All she asked for was a lOT of loving. She would actually make us put our hands on her head to pet her any time we would sit still. She would nose her way under our arm or hand. I always said we should tie a fake hand on her collar to keep her happy.





Shadow stopped being able to eat about 4 weeks ago, and that was a Thursday. We tried to get her to eat soft food, and even hand fed her some nuggets, but everything she ate she threw up. The following week on Monday, we took her to the vet, and he did blood and x-rays, but could'nt tell me what was wrong other than her blood count was high, indicating an infection. He gave me anti-biotics and told me to call the other doctor that removed some large fatty tumors off of her chest, back in April to see if he could suggest any thing further for her. I tried to call and we kept missing each other for a couple days. When he finally did call back again, I told him that she still could not eat, but was drinking lots of water. He had me take her back in, and he felt a lump deep in her throat but the x-rays did not show for certain what it was. He gave me cans of liquid dog food and some medicine to settle her stomach hoping that she could get some strength from that, and heal whatever it was. Shadow hungrily ate the liquified food and seemed to regain some strength for about a week, but last Wednesday we noticed that her neck looked terribly swollen. She ate her food, and later that night she threw up a foamy thick white substance. The next morning I prepared another batch of liquid food for her and she took one drink and shied away. Then I decided to check her swollen neck. It was hard and painful for her, and she flinched when I pressed on it and started to choke on more of that foamy discharge again. I could tell she was in pain, and she was fighting to regain her breath again. I immediatly called the vets office, but her other doc was not in and they asked if I wanted to wait till Friday to see him. I decided that Shadow didnt have time to wait, and they had me bring her right in. The vet took another x-ray of her throat, and thats when she showed me that Shadow had a big tumor in her esophogus that was nearly choking off her windpipe, and that this was not operable. She said in involved too many major arteries, in her neck, and the only hope is to try to refer her to a cancer doctor to try Chemo, but more than likely that Shadow would die during the night or within 24 hours, because she would suffocate with such a small windpipe to breath through, and that would be a horrible way to die. She suggested that it was the best to put her down. I called my husband and we decided together that was the best to ease her suffering. It was one of the worse things that I have had to do. I kept petting her and telling her that she was a good girl as the nurse gave her some medicine to make her sleepy. They then put her on a cute baby blanket and told me to wait about 15 minutes for her to get sleepy. When the doctor came in, Shadow was laying her head on her paws, but still trying to look around at the people, moving her head right and left to follow us. The vet turned her on her side and Shadow had trouble breathing, and was gurgling as she breathed. The shot took just a minute, and by the time she finished, and put on her thesocope to check her hearbeat, she said, She gone.


Yesterday my Granddaughter, Amber came over with a paper she make for us in memory of Shadow. She recalled all the fun they had with Shadow since she and her brother were little kids, and this Tribute just broke our hearts! It was so beautiful I just have to show you it.....

Today a New Day and A new PUPPY!

The next day after the death of our Shadow , my husband just had to go to the City dog pound and check out the dogs available, as it was too lonely without his dog. Wendy went with him and this is his new puppy he found. She is now named BUNNY because she hops like a little bunny rabbit, and she has ears like a bunny rabbit. She is a 3 month old part Lab and part german shepard puppy thats been fixed, and she is a little doll! Hope we can train her to be a great dog like Shadow was... time will tell..

Painting the whole house! What a great job my girls did!

Caroline and Wendy did a marathon job of painting all the rooms in my house that the contractor was not liable to do for the job. They teamed together to paint my bedroom, the Family Room, the Game room, the laundry room, and the front little bedroom, the contractor did the kitchen/ dining room, and the new bedroom he added for us and still has to finish the bathroom after he remodels it. Caroline did the whole little bedroom, (we call it the grandkids room so if they spend the night, thats where they'll stay) and my bedroom and then helped cut in the edges in the Family room and play room while Wendy did the rolling in of the walls and ceilings. Wendy did the whole hallway, and laundry room. WHAT A GREAT JOB THEY DID, THANK YOU GIRLS FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART! It wouldn't get done without your help.




The contractor also just finished all the Pergo floors in our Kitchen/ Dining room, the hallway, the Game room and the added bedroom and BOY do those look nice now! Next he'll be putting up the stained moldings around the room and new window sills throughout the house. Every thing will be stained an oak color. Later he'll also put stained bead board paneling around the dining room. He also installed the new cabinets to go along with the existing ones, now making me a penninsula counter and new pantry cupboards. Next week he gives me all new counter tops for everything! Can't wait! I picked a black, marble laminate for my counters.





Here's some views of the paint jobs and the new curtains as we got them going so far.....












This is my bedroom, a medium Rose color. Very Pretty!







This is the Family room, Same color as the game room with new curtain toppers. A cool shade of water blue.










This is the game room, with our pool table, a shuffleboard game and a our ships display along with a new pinball maching that Hubby just had to have! LOL! We also have a little games table for the kids to play cards or dominoes at.







Note the pergo floors in the game room and into the new bedroom at the end.




This is the hallway from the kitchen to the family room with the new Pergo flooring.











This will be the grandkids room, a lovely shade of Lilac, still working on curtains and bedding for this.








This is the kitchen and then the dining room in what I call a shade of cantalope color with the new flooring. They still need to install the beadboard wainscoating in the dining room wall yet. Catch a look at the new fridge I got! Thinking of putting bamboo blinds on the windows, havent found the right ones yet though.
















This is the new bedroom, in a cool ice blue with new curtains to match the blue striped bedding i got for it.

This is the complete front of the house with the new roof, siding and new porch. All the neighbors and family LOVE the new look. SO DO I !

Darin's 13 NOW!

Darin is celebrating because he became a TEEN AGER this week. He's 13 now - Look out world - Here he comes! Look how big he is next to the Mom and Dad! ( Note, he stood on his tip toes to emphasis the fact)

The outside of the house is shaping up nicely!

The new roof is on, the new blue/gray siding is almost finished, and the new porch is up, but needs a few decor items to finish it. LOVING IT!

And, this is what it USED to BE.....

Here's the new porch, still needs a hand rail for the steps, and plant pot stands for the top of the rail. Note the new beautiful pole lamp at the corner, and the great new door we found. There is also gonna be white lattice at the bottom of the porch to the ground.

This is the new garden window for the three or 4 house plants that used to sit on my kitchen window. Its now sitting in the place of the old side kitchen door that was removed from the house.

This is the new screen house, in the back yard, my daughter, Wendy helped put up for me last week with our new picnic table and chairs in it. Sure makes for nice sitting when the sun is setting in the evening on our patio.

And THIS is what we love to hear and see with our garden lights while we sit in the gazebo, my little garden pond with the fairys dancing in it! So calming!!!!

Update on Matthew

Update on Matthew
As of a week after having his tonsils and adnoids out Matthew can now eat normally again, but still has some problems with drainage in his sinuses. It was very sore and he coughed up lots of drainage and what looked like scabs from his throat for a while, but now is feeling a lot better than before. Still no news from the biopsies that were taken during the operation. Hopefully no news is good news.

Our Little Guy FINALLY had his tonsils out!

Just to update, our brave little guy, Matthew, finally had his operation to remove his big tonsils and adnoids on Thursday, May 24th. The doctor also did some biopsies and looked at his throat and lungs with a scope, but found nothing else suspicious yet. Still waiting for the results of the biopsies. As of Saturday morning he was still hurting pretty bad and is on antibiotics. He still refuses to eat and even wont drink much either. He has lost at least 50 lbs or more and really looks gaunt. Hope the docs come up with something to help this young man. He's got all of us worried yet.

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Holiday everyone! We spent some time on Saturday re-scheduling our picnic with the family from at the park to our house early Saturday morning after waking up to thunder showers!

We had the whole car packed and ready to go when the storm blew in. Instead I had the whole family come over my house to eat. Luckily the storm paused for a little while so I could grill the burgers outside instead of having to make them on the stove. The kids all came over and it was nice, but not as nice as at the park.

The Hubby and Me just took it easy today and we grilled two half chickens for dinner and roasted baked potatoes. It was mmmm mmm good! Even the neighbors next door were grilling burgers and dogs at their yard with their son and grandkids. We had our stereo playing a tape of Hank Williams Jr.'s music, and to our surprise, the new neighbor lady and her husband yelled over, that they love his music too! They where standing by the fence listening to the tunes, and singing along! We do the same, every time he sings a lot of his Dad's Oldies but goodies , those songs like Jumbolia, and Kalijia, and Your Cheating Heart! (oops, hope I spelled them right) I remember my Momma jumping and floating to them, and singing her heart out to the same songs while working around the house when I was a kid, very happy memories,.... Memories of days gone by....... Remember all the others , loved ones who have past, and honor them today... I know I have.

VERY Smart KID!

I went to my Grandson, Darin's, award night last night and we were SO Proud of that boy! He managed to be on the honor roll for ALL 4 SEMESTERS this year. (7th grade) He won a Bronze medal of achievment and a certificate for doing so well. GREAT JOB ! We LOVE him bunches!

WORK CONTINUES....

Well, this is our front door and old little porch. And this is the new frame for the new 5'x14' porch deck that the contractor is framing in for us now.. It will have that new plastic wood decking and two white pillars holding it up. Cant wait to see it finished. (the cement slab porch will be torn down.)

This is where the kitchen wall between the kitchen and dining room was removed. Now the chimney and the furnace is gone and the whole room is opened up! Next comes the new floor and painting, along with new Island counter in the middle and new counter tops and new windows...

This is the new high efficiency furnace installed in the closet in the utility room. Really nice and quiet!

Sarah in her school Concert

Sarah played a butterfly in a new concert at school. The class wore different bug masks in a story about a bunch of bugs going to a neighborhood park to partake in a left behind picnic basket. It was just great and the story line and songs were so CUTE !

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY EVERYONE!

Happy Mother's Day to all! We had a great day Saturday, the whole family and the grandkids joined us at Stoney Creek Metropark for a family picnic. It was a little cool in the morning, but then it turned pretty nice and sunny after about 11 a.m. We brought hamburgers, hot dogs and corn on the cob, and Caroline helped with making our favorite potatoe salad. Grandpa and the boys, Darin and Matthew, kept a bonfire going in one of the parks grills to keep warm, and the girls, Sarah and Amber, got to ride bikes around the picnic grounds. My girls, Caroline and Wendy gave me a big Mother's day kiss! It was a grand day for all.

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Well, this has been a busy month, on May 1st we celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary. It seems sometimes like yesterday, but so many things have filled the time, children and now grandchildren. What an experience it has been. AND now on Monday, May 7th was my 58th Birthday and if it wasn't for the aching bones and muscles, my mind still feels like in my 30's. My kids gave me cards and we did the little picnic to celebrate all of it, including Mother's day. Boy! How time flies when your having fun!........

Work Has Begun!

This is the orginal house, and now the new 3rd bedroom is starting to be attached....

This is two pics of the half wall between our kitchen and Dining Room. as it was. ( it contained our old furnace) Now its ALL GONE!

The furnace that was enclosed into the kitchen will soon be gone and installed into a closet inside our laundry room. New Windows will be installed later in the old dining room and new pergo floors will come after that!

This is our old closet, and then an existing hallway just behind it with a coat closet and door to outside. The original closet is gone, and the little hallway will be our NEW WALK IN CLOSET! The door to outside will be removed and closed off!

Now the closet is gone- and the hallway will become the closet!

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Next the bathroom will be completely redone with whirlpool tub and new surround, and a new higher toilet set. Pics to follow. The whole house is completely in a turmoil as work begins and I dont know where to put everything, ( out of the contractors way), and theres still a new roof over all and a new front porch to be built yet.... our side kitchen door will dissapear and a new garden window will replace it.

Hubby is gonna retire early!

Well, this week my husband saw our doctor for the first time in a LONG time! He was sick with some kind of stomach flu for a week or more since Easter. He decided to see if the achy knees and other stuff that have been plaguing him even before he got laid off on 2/2/07 would be enough for him to try to file for dissablility social security. He's been suffering with them, and excessive tiredness for a couple years now, and the time off has not lessened the pain, but actually increased it. He held his own, trying to keep up the medical insurance and extra income to help me since I had my stroke and other illnesses. Now I am on Medicare since November, and I set up a policy with Blue Cross to cover the difference and Social Security set me up with coverage for my prescriptions. Now we have bought a individual policy for him, so he was able to see the doctor for him.
It shows that he has an acute case of emphisyma, as well a high count in his PSA blood count, (meaning he might be will be fighting prostrate cancer ). He's had and EKG, and x-rays of his chest and knees, and is scheduled for further tests on his bladder, kidneys, corotid arteries and his heart. The guy is really getting the treatment now, and he really needs it! Lets hope that it not too late for him to enjoy a little of his retirement time.

I'll let you know later, as we find out more after the tests........

Follow up on Little Matthew

This is a little follow up on our Matthew as of today. He has lost over 35 lbs in the last month or so. He absolutely wont eat anything exept sometimes soft mashed potatoes and daily eats fudgsicles or chocolate milk. He refuses to eat anything more because he feels like something is choking him and he spits big phlegm balls and complains all the time of his throat hurting him. Hes been on all kinds of antibiotics and the swelling is diminished in his tonsils.

His Dad and Mom took him to the emergency room yesterday, and later I joined them to have him checked out again. We explained how he wont eat and they did a scan on him and then had an ear, nose and throat doctor come in to see him. The doctor put a little camera into his nose that looked down his throat to the tonsil area, but they still could not see anything that could be causing his discomfort. This is even when the ex-rays showed something suspictious lump of bump in his throat, behind the tongue. Today he is scheduled to be knocked out and a bigger camera will be put down his throat to his stomach and lungs to see if there is any problem down there.

Lets preface this with the original problem, when it began, Matthew had very large infected tonsils that were really hurting him about a month ago. Well, this one day he was eating a hot dog, and it became stuck in his throat! His Dad tried reaching down his throat to try to pull in out and it was lodged too deep to reach, so the Dad tried several times to do the Heimlich Manuver, and finally and with a few slaps on the back and one more Heimlich the hot dog flew out! Matthews face was blue and he was at the point of blacking out when the hot dog finally was removed. The bun or bread that he ate with it did not come out! We are wondering if the bread got lodged in his lungs or caused some damage further down. Lets hope that these tests today find out some answers. This is a 7 year old kid who eats well before, and is built like a college linebacker! He had a great appatite for everything before this happened and it is not like him to not eat anything at all. I know the surgeon that is doing these tests today, and he does do tonsilectomys too, but we dont know if while hes knocked out if he will deside to get it over with too, so I hope he can get all of it fixed and Matt on the road to recovery fast. This is the same doctor that did my surgeries for my blocked corotid artery as well as two operations on my Perotid gland and he is good a great doctor.
Your prayers are wanted and welcomed for this sick little boy. Please join my family in wishing him well! THANK YOU!

This is a later report of today, the hospital had Matthew come back for more tests today, one was a swallowing test, where he had to drink a mixture of Barium and the x-rays would show how well he swallows. Little Matthew did the best he could, and was brave, but he could not swallow enough of the fluid for the test to accurately tell what was wrong. After that, they said that it was an emergency for the other scope to check further down his esophogus, and they sent him to prep for the operating room and get prepared to knock him out for the proceedure. That meant that they had to again put in an IV and get ready for the anastesia. The Nose and throat doctor that had done my surgeries walked in to talk to the parents, and my daughter asked him if it would be possible that when Matthew is knocked out, if he could just do the tonsilectomy at the same time, instead of having the kid go through it again next week. The doctor said "Yes, no problem, of course." Then he asked about my daughter's insurance, and when she told him that she has this one from Medicaid, he changed and yelled that he cant do it! He doesnt work with that insurance! He gruffly strutted out of the pre-op area and refused to do the prodeedure! The hospital was slightly appologetic, and tried to make calls to Children's Hospital, the specialist that was going to be able to see Matthew on April 27th.
The doctor is unavailable until the 25th of this month, but they were able to move the date up to the 25th. For some reason, the insurance will only pay for this work being done at Children's Hospital!!! Children's hospital is many miles away in downtown Detroit, and my daughter has Matthew at a local St. John's hopital in the emergency room. (which the insurance DOES cover) l don't understand how a doctor would refuse to do an emergency proceedure on a kid so sick! I have a mind to write the hospital and make a formal complaint! My brave little grandson had to go home again with no answers to his problems and still not able to eat! More will follow later, after he sees the doctor at Children's Hospital...............................

A happy Easter! and much more!

Well, I sure hope that everyone had a very Happy Easter! My family and I went out and I treated them all to Country Buffet for an early dinner out. Poor Caroline, she wasn't able to go because they scheduled her to work from 9-5 and my Hubby didn't go either, because for the past 3-4 days he's had a stomach flue symptoms, and couldn't leave the house. He had light food, like a can of tomatoe soup, which was all that his stomach could handle. Ever one else had their fill of whatever they liked, and we all had fun. Little Matthew, still can't eat easily and his dinner just consisted of mashed potatoes and gravy. It was obvious that the little guy has lost at least 30 lbs. and was still not feeling well. He looks like a different kid now! Sure hope the 27th comes fast and he is scheduled fast to get those tonsils out! His parents and I are concerned about him.

Good news! We heard from our contractor, and he says that they will break ground this week for our new bedroom addition, and then soon after, the destuction, and reconstruction of the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom will begin.

I have taken lots of photos of the house that will change before the construction, and will match that with pics of the new spaces after the construction.

I have bought new appliances for the kitchen, as well as a new round table set with chairs, and a new living room set and tables for the living room, and I bought 2 new beds ( queens) one for my bedroom and one for the new bedroom being made. ( I have a king now, but never had a head and foot board, - Now ill have them) I have to hold the stores up for delivery untill work has progressed enough to get them brought it here. I CAN'T WAIT!
EVERY ONE - THINK SPRING- It seems that winter has not given up the battle, and it does not look like spring here at all! Temps in the 30s are not my idea of spring like weather! And OOOOOOH how I long for some good sunshine!

Matthew needs his tonsils out!

Here's Matthew sitting in the emergency room, on one of many visits to check on his very big, very infected tonsils. He is hurting something real bad. Poor guy! He gets antibiotics to help with the infection, but with the insurance they have, they have to wait till the end of April to see the specialist to arrange having the tonsils taken out. I can't believe how long doctors will allow all this poison to keep on before they finally say that the tonsils need to come out. Let's pray that the time passes fast, and Matthew will be finally taken care of, and on the road to recovery. The boy will not even eat anything too hard to swallow and has lost over 10 lbs. in the past month. He's in my prayers!

Great things are gonna happen!

Over the past 5 years, my Sister and I have been c0-operating in a lawsuit against 2 different nursing homes for damages they caused to our 96 year old step-mother. One actually allowed both other patients to injur her, but at one point they let her fall or something and actually broke her hip and let her lay for 3 days in pain with bruises before they finally took her to the hospital to repair it. THEN, after she had the operation, we had her transfered to another nursing home, in hopes that she would get better care. The second home broke her foot so bad that it was totally mangled. She developed gangreen, within days, which eventually killed her !
So as a result of these injuries, my sister and I have won a settlement for the portion of the case for the foot injury. The case for the hip injury is still in the works.

My husband and I are having our house worked on from the first settlement. First we are getting a third bedroom built on our home for the purpose of improving the value of the house. Then, we are having a wall removed from between the kitchen and formerly old living room/ our new dining room creating a huge open floor plan with new hardwood flooring throughout and a big island counter where the wall once stood! I am so thrilled to have this work begin! The wall that stands there now contains our old furnace, and thats going to be removed and a new high efficiency one will be installed into a closet inside our laundry room. We are also having the contractor install a new Jacusi tub and new high profile toilet and new floor in our bathroom. When these things are completed this house will be so roomy and more modern than ever before! We are so pleased and excited to have this work begin. I will take before and after pics of this work as it progresses.