Last Sunday morning, as I was sitting in church, I watched my wrist swell up, and a slight pain that had been there for weeks spread over my hand and arm. My routine check-up with the oncologist was scheduled for Monday, so she looked at the area and was very concerned. Her instructions were to go straight to the emergency room if the swelling and redness got worse, or if the Augmentin she had prescribed did not begin to improve the problem in a few hours. It did get worse over the next 24 hours, so I went, rather unwillingly, to the emergency room. I felt like a classic hypochondriac walking into the ER, alone, looking healthy, and feeling reasonably well (although my muscles were sore, and my wrist was hypersensitive - I really didn't feel sick). But after a brief examination and review of recent medical history, the doctor decided to admit me. Evidently, I have a kind of staph infection called merca (MRSA - antibiotic resistant staph). It was caused by some unknown intrusion into my left arm, which had been weakened by the lack of lymph nodes. I got a round of IV antibiotics and some hefty oral medication. The infection seems to be responding well to the treatments, so (much to my relief) I was discharged yesterday evening with prescriptions for big-gun antibiotics.
I'm feeling very well now. And I've already demonstated how accurate my wellness feelings are...I'm sure I'm all better now...I bet I don't even need those nasty antibiotics...
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Travel
We are home again after being gone for almost a month. Traveling with seven children is an adventure all by itself.
We left home at 5:00 a.m. on December 17. The kids did pretty well. For the most part, they didn’t require too many extra potty stops. They didn’t get car sick, although we were prepared for that with buckets, plastic bags, paper towels, and Dramamine. (Once, back in the days when we only had five kids, four of them got car sick within five minutes of one another. We learned our lesson about being prepared that time.) We brought our significant collection of Focus on the Family Radio Theatre recordings, so we had plenty of audio entertainment. Jon scheduled stops every four hours or so, and we got nice little breaks from the car. Gilead was very impatient with the car seat by the time we got to our hotel the first night, but all seemed to have gone well.
Just as we pulled into the parking lot, Jon noticed we had no oil pressure. My heart sank. I envisioned being stuck in this hotel for several days while our engine was rebuilt. It wasn’t the stuck part that was worrying me. It was the money part. But amazingly, the oil pressure had dropped at the very minute we pulled up to the hotel, so no damage had been done. Although Jon wasn’t sure why or how we were losing oil, he managed that problem by checking the oil at every stop . We arrived in Greenville late the next evening after taking a lengthy detour to avoid a winter storm.
Our stay there was good – the first time we’ve been back for Christmas with our families since 1996. The kids think it would have been better if I’d left their school books at home.
I knew the trip home would seem long. We left Greenville at 6 a.m. this past Friday. We’d gotten all the suitcases closed somehow, Jon squeezed all the extra stuff in, and we were off right on schedule. Late in the morning, we were zipping through Knoxville, Tennessee at 70 miles per hour, when we suddenly noticed a very harsh and unsettling vibration from the back of the Suburban. Jon immediately maneuvered across four lanes of traffic and into the emergency lane. He stopped briefly, then began to inch forward. We rolled less than ten feet, when the back, passenger-side corner dropped to the ground. In the side mirror, I could see the back wheel had flopped onto the grass. The thought of the accident we had barely avoided just about choked me. We immediately thanked the Lord for safety. I can’t imagine that we could have survived if that wheel had come off while we were on the interstate. I still have visions of what could have happened.
A Chevy dealership was right beside the interstate, so that’s where the Suburban was towed. Even though we could see the dealership from where we were, it still took more than an hour to get there. Of course, we had to wait for the tow truck. But then, no one seemed to know how to get our (large) family from the side of the road to the dealership to wait for the repairs to be done. The dealership offered courtesy transportation, but only had one too-small car available. Jon had to accompany the Suburban, so that left only one adult with seven kids, and we had to be divided up somehow in order to fit into the car the dealership sent for us. I wasn’t eager to send the kids anywhere without one of us, and I definitely wasn’t going to leave four of them waiting beside the road for someone to come back for them, in spite of the fact they were having a great time getting semis to honk at them. They would all cheer, clap, and jump up and down whenever a truck driver blasted his horn. I hope they entertained some bored truck drivers.
A kind lady named Mary came to our rescue. She stopped because she thought she recognized our family. Of course, we weren’t who she thought we were, but she still offered to give half of us a ride, and the other half rode in the dealership’s car. So we all got to where we needed to be together.
Our family always attracts attention. You would almost think our last name was Dugger. Now all we need is a camera crew following us around (and thirteen more children, I suppose). Anyway, one of the dealership employees walked into the waiting room, stopped, stared, counted, then started laughing – almost cheering. He asked, “These all yours?” Then he ran into the customer service area and shouted to the desk lady to “Come out here!” I think everyone in the waiting room was laughing by now. He said to the customer service lady, “I told you there were other big families. Now here’s one that has more kids than I do!” Turns out, he has six children. When he met Jon, he pumped his arm, and said “You da man! You da man!!”
We sat there for more than four hours, but eventually the wheel was repaired. Six of its eight lug nuts had mysteriously broken, but no other damaged was done. Finding the right lug nuts was evidently the hard part, but finally the job was done, all the wheels were checked for safety, and we were on our way again. Now, I was not only gasping when another vehicle came to close for my comfort, and using my “assistant break pedal” when Jon was too close to someone else (I still haven’t gotten over the other four wrecks), I was also jumping every time I felt a little vibration. All that adrenaline has got to be good for something. Maybe it helped burn off some of those Christmas calories.
We made it to Paducah, Kentucky that night, and after a solid night’s sleep, we traveled twenty hours yesterday – all the way home. We arrived, bleary eyed and dizzy, at 3:00 this morning. We fell into bed, thanking the Lord again for safety, and slept until 10:00 this morning. And slept again this afternoon. Now I’m ready to go to bed again, so good night, all.
We left home at 5:00 a.m. on December 17. The kids did pretty well. For the most part, they didn’t require too many extra potty stops. They didn’t get car sick, although we were prepared for that with buckets, plastic bags, paper towels, and Dramamine. (Once, back in the days when we only had five kids, four of them got car sick within five minutes of one another. We learned our lesson about being prepared that time.) We brought our significant collection of Focus on the Family Radio Theatre recordings, so we had plenty of audio entertainment. Jon scheduled stops every four hours or so, and we got nice little breaks from the car. Gilead was very impatient with the car seat by the time we got to our hotel the first night, but all seemed to have gone well.
Just as we pulled into the parking lot, Jon noticed we had no oil pressure. My heart sank. I envisioned being stuck in this hotel for several days while our engine was rebuilt. It wasn’t the stuck part that was worrying me. It was the money part. But amazingly, the oil pressure had dropped at the very minute we pulled up to the hotel, so no damage had been done. Although Jon wasn’t sure why or how we were losing oil, he managed that problem by checking the oil at every stop . We arrived in Greenville late the next evening after taking a lengthy detour to avoid a winter storm.
Our stay there was good – the first time we’ve been back for Christmas with our families since 1996. The kids think it would have been better if I’d left their school books at home.
I knew the trip home would seem long. We left Greenville at 6 a.m. this past Friday. We’d gotten all the suitcases closed somehow, Jon squeezed all the extra stuff in, and we were off right on schedule. Late in the morning, we were zipping through Knoxville, Tennessee at 70 miles per hour, when we suddenly noticed a very harsh and unsettling vibration from the back of the Suburban. Jon immediately maneuvered across four lanes of traffic and into the emergency lane. He stopped briefly, then began to inch forward. We rolled less than ten feet, when the back, passenger-side corner dropped to the ground. In the side mirror, I could see the back wheel had flopped onto the grass. The thought of the accident we had barely avoided just about choked me. We immediately thanked the Lord for safety. I can’t imagine that we could have survived if that wheel had come off while we were on the interstate. I still have visions of what could have happened.
A Chevy dealership was right beside the interstate, so that’s where the Suburban was towed. Even though we could see the dealership from where we were, it still took more than an hour to get there. Of course, we had to wait for the tow truck. But then, no one seemed to know how to get our (large) family from the side of the road to the dealership to wait for the repairs to be done. The dealership offered courtesy transportation, but only had one too-small car available. Jon had to accompany the Suburban, so that left only one adult with seven kids, and we had to be divided up somehow in order to fit into the car the dealership sent for us. I wasn’t eager to send the kids anywhere without one of us, and I definitely wasn’t going to leave four of them waiting beside the road for someone to come back for them, in spite of the fact they were having a great time getting semis to honk at them. They would all cheer, clap, and jump up and down whenever a truck driver blasted his horn. I hope they entertained some bored truck drivers.
A kind lady named Mary came to our rescue. She stopped because she thought she recognized our family. Of course, we weren’t who she thought we were, but she still offered to give half of us a ride, and the other half rode in the dealership’s car. So we all got to where we needed to be together.
Our family always attracts attention. You would almost think our last name was Dugger. Now all we need is a camera crew following us around (and thirteen more children, I suppose). Anyway, one of the dealership employees walked into the waiting room, stopped, stared, counted, then started laughing – almost cheering. He asked, “These all yours?” Then he ran into the customer service area and shouted to the desk lady to “Come out here!” I think everyone in the waiting room was laughing by now. He said to the customer service lady, “I told you there were other big families. Now here’s one that has more kids than I do!” Turns out, he has six children. When he met Jon, he pumped his arm, and said “You da man! You da man!!”
We sat there for more than four hours, but eventually the wheel was repaired. Six of its eight lug nuts had mysteriously broken, but no other damaged was done. Finding the right lug nuts was evidently the hard part, but finally the job was done, all the wheels were checked for safety, and we were on our way again. Now, I was not only gasping when another vehicle came to close for my comfort, and using my “assistant break pedal” when Jon was too close to someone else (I still haven’t gotten over the other four wrecks), I was also jumping every time I felt a little vibration. All that adrenaline has got to be good for something. Maybe it helped burn off some of those Christmas calories.
We made it to Paducah, Kentucky that night, and after a solid night’s sleep, we traveled twenty hours yesterday – all the way home. We arrived, bleary eyed and dizzy, at 3:00 this morning. We fell into bed, thanking the Lord again for safety, and slept until 10:00 this morning. And slept again this afternoon. Now I’m ready to go to bed again, so good night, all.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
I'm finally getting around to doing an update. We've had a very good time here in South Carolina. We had been planning to return home this week, but will need to stay a few more days so Jon can finish up a job he's working on. We're enjoying Colorado-style cold weather here in temperate South Carolina. My kids had been wondering what a warm-ish, rainy Christmas would be like. Instead we're having frigid temperatures, some sleet, and even a little snow, although not enough for a white Christmas. But no one minded. Grandparents win out over snow any day.
We took our Suburban in to be repaired at Jerry Cain's Auto Body in Piedmont, SC on the Monday before Christmas. To our great surprise, Mr. Jerry called us on Wednesday to say the job was done! We didn't even have time to get the replacement car rented. It looks as good as new, and we are very pleased. It even runs better, thanks to a tune-up.
December 26, 2010
We took our Suburban in to be repaired at Jerry Cain's Auto Body in Piedmont, SC on the Monday before Christmas. To our great surprise, Mr. Jerry called us on Wednesday to say the job was done! We didn't even have time to get the replacement car rented. It looks as good as new, and we are very pleased. It even runs better, thanks to a tune-up.
December 26, 2010Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Wondering?
I just wrote a lengthy update, but the computer froze up, and I had to restart. So you're just going to get the abbreviated version now.
A week ago, it was looking like the insurance company was going to under-value our car and total it. We were warned that fleet insurance (the guy who hit me was driving a company car) is typically difficult to deal with, and we should be prepared to get a lawyer.
However, the sub-contracted appraiser assigned to evaluate our car made the other guy's insurance company's adjustor furious by not showing up for appointments he made with us, not communicating with us about it, finally showing up very late, then not sending any information to the insurance company, and not communicating with the insurance company about his supposed repeated computer problems. We found out the last part of this yesterday when Jon finally called the adjustor to learn what the insurance company's decision was. They still had not received any information from the appraiser. The adjustor was very sympathetic and apologetic. We've told everyone from the beginning about our upcoming trip and were assured this would all be settled by then. Now that's impossible. But we are going to drive our dented and scraped, but very functional Suburban to South Carolina and have it repaired there. The insurance company will provide a rental car there and will send the check to our "vacation" address. Although we haven't issued any threats, they aren't ignorant. I don't think they want to be responsible for the pain and suffering of 7 children who would have to miss being with all of their grandparents for Christmas. So now it appears that an appraiser who laid down on the job has made our claim process easier than it might have been.
A week ago, it was looking like the insurance company was going to under-value our car and total it. We were warned that fleet insurance (the guy who hit me was driving a company car) is typically difficult to deal with, and we should be prepared to get a lawyer.
However, the sub-contracted appraiser assigned to evaluate our car made the other guy's insurance company's adjustor furious by not showing up for appointments he made with us, not communicating with us about it, finally showing up very late, then not sending any information to the insurance company, and not communicating with the insurance company about his supposed repeated computer problems. We found out the last part of this yesterday when Jon finally called the adjustor to learn what the insurance company's decision was. They still had not received any information from the appraiser. The adjustor was very sympathetic and apologetic. We've told everyone from the beginning about our upcoming trip and were assured this would all be settled by then. Now that's impossible. But we are going to drive our dented and scraped, but very functional Suburban to South Carolina and have it repaired there. The insurance company will provide a rental car there and will send the check to our "vacation" address. Although we haven't issued any threats, they aren't ignorant. I don't think they want to be responsible for the pain and suffering of 7 children who would have to miss being with all of their grandparents for Christmas. So now it appears that an appraiser who laid down on the job has made our claim process easier than it might have been.
Friday, December 4, 2009
...and again
For the fourth time in 5 months, we had another car accident. It was snowing, and I was slowing down at a stop sign when another car came sliding around the corner into the side of our (newly acquired) Suburban. The other driver was very polite and kind - no problems there. His insurance company is one we've never heard of, and our company's adjuster said that the person she talked to there was the rudest person she has ever dealt with in her business. We are hoping this is not a foreshadowing of an insurance battle. We were scheduled to drive this Suburban back to South Carolina on December 17. We'll see what happens with those plans, but we're sure hoping they don't have to be changed. We're also hoping (more than hoping) that insurance doesn't decide to total our car because of the damage. Perfectly maintained, leather upholstered, four-wheel drive, nine-passenger SUVs within our price range are rare, and we don't want to have to start looking again.
I was very bothered by the accident, but then, after all, what's a car accident compared to what the Lord has already shown us He can do? The lessons we've been learning over the past year apply to accidents just as well as they do to cancer.
I was very bothered by the accident, but then, after all, what's a car accident compared to what the Lord has already shown us He can do? The lessons we've been learning over the past year apply to accidents just as well as they do to cancer.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thank you
The Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving, our pastor asked Jon to speak to our church family about our experiences over the past year. If you're interested in hearing what he had to say, click here. When you get to the page of audio files for Tri-City Baptist Church, select the file titled "PM Nov 25 2009 John Bixby Testimony". I did not speak that evening, but what Jon said is an accurate reflection of my heart too. The thanks that Jon extended to our church does not stop there. Many of you have supported us is different ways. We're thankful for all of you.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Jen did a great job. She trimmed my hair just a little (since there's just a little there), and gave me a lesson in how to man-handle hair like this. It feels nice to have my hair "fixed" again.
I know some of you who read my blog have been through cancer treatment, and I have a question for you. I'm loosing my eyebrows and eyelashes again. They are coming out in significant quantities. Is this normal? Am I just getting back into the cycle of growing and loosing hair?
Gilead has his first tooth! And he's diligently working on his second one (and third, and fourth). I'm having a hard time believing he's old enough to be getting teeth. But no turkey yet. He is eating cereal though and doing so well. He's eating much better than my others did when they first started cereal. He also rolls over from his tummy to his back and grins and giggles a lot. His big brother, John, is the very best at getting him to belly-laugh. John's such a clown, he makes us all belly-laugh.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving full of thankfulness.
Here are a few pictures of Gilead's progress over the months.
May 18, 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
I know some of you who read my blog have been through cancer treatment, and I have a question for you. I'm loosing my eyebrows and eyelashes again. They are coming out in significant quantities. Is this normal? Am I just getting back into the cycle of growing and loosing hair?
Gilead has his first tooth! And he's diligently working on his second one (and third, and fourth). I'm having a hard time believing he's old enough to be getting teeth. But no turkey yet. He is eating cereal though and doing so well. He's eating much better than my others did when they first started cereal. He also rolls over from his tummy to his back and grins and giggles a lot. His big brother, John, is the very best at getting him to belly-laugh. John's such a clown, he makes us all belly-laugh.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving full of thankfulness.
Here are a few pictures of Gilead's progress over the months.
May 18, 2009 
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
