~Update on Mel~Update on Me~(warning-its long)

Hi All,

I have a lot of people either asking me in a post or asking me by email-so I am sending out one of each to update everyone.....

Mel was discharged from the hospital Saturday afternoon, with the understanding that she would be going to Joplin and getting her surgery. Was not an option not to have it done etc-but she wanted to go to Joplin where her doctor was (is)....

I got a call from Terry Saturday evening about 7 pm or so-and the ambulance had picked Mel up and was taking her back to the hospital-where she still is at this moment-in West Plains. They did yet MORE testing-and she has a strangulated hernia AND a bowel obstruction and that is worse than it was when they let her go Saturday afternoon. They will be transporting her by ambulance to Joplin sometime today. Mel had decided to have the surgery done there because of our hospitals and such being full due to all the storms causing injuries and such, but Terry got ahold of the doctor on call for Mels surgeon and he said they would take her-no problem-so they will be transporting her sometime today. I spoke to Mels sister, Rosemary yesterday and she said they do not know when the funeral will be-they are trying to wait for Mel so she can be there-but dont want to put it off for 2 weeks and go through all that again.....so I do not have ANY news yet on funeral arrangements for Mom Theresa-only that she was cremated. If any of you want the families address-just zip me an email and I will send it to you, ok? Im waiting to talk to one of the siblings to get the correct zip code-because I cant even read my own hand writing-and then I will have it.

As soon as I know WHEN Mel will be having surgery and all of that information-I will get in here and post it for everyone-

I have not seen her since I went down Friday. When we got there-she had been taken to the hospital about 1/2 hr-45 minutes after we walked in the door. I had to leave Saturday before she got released as I needed to get my daughters car home to her-she was generous enough to let me borrow it for the good gas mileage and such.

Well, on my way home on Saturday afternoon, my tummy was hurting really bad and I stopped at Walmart to run in and get my Prilosec, which I had forgotten to put in my purse-made it to the counter, but not my purse-ANYHOOOOO-I am in Walmart-and someone tried to steal Megans car while in there (15 minutes most) and they used a crowbar to pop up her sunroof!!! So, the sunroof is broken on the passenger side AND the bagel crisps and bag of cashews on the passenger seat-they were on the floor in front of the seat-the car was getting shaken hard for that to happen. I freaked out. That was the straw that broke the camels back, as they say. I bawled and bawled and bawled-almost until I was sick. Then, when I got the car to them and had to show them what happened-I cried some more. BOTH Megan and Aaron said-Mom, its NO big deal-I have insurance and I will turn it in and get it fixed. Please dont cry, its okay. I just felt so bad-she let me use her car out of the kindness of her heart-and I bring it back broken-I do NOT do things like that! I told them I will pay for ANY deductible on it.

If thats not bad enough-it was Saturday-I had stopped at the RC track to hug and kiss my husband before heading home-and the tornado sirens sounded about 5 minutes after I got there. We got everything packed up-and Mike had the Suburban and I had Stephanies little Prism-trying to get home-and we were caught in that Newton County tornado. I am telling you people- I have NEVER, in ALL my life-been as scared as I was on my way home. I was being whipped into the ditch and back out-had my flashers on because you could NOT see anything 2 feet in front of your car. We could NOT see ANY of the houses-we were doing like 10-and you couldnt see the road-it was horrible. There was no place to take shelter ditch wise, they arent that deep until you are closer to my house. The sky was green and thick-ALL around us-we could hear the train sound-like a roaring train and the hail was pelting us so bad that we cant believe we just got out of it with a little body damage-we both thought our windsheilds were gone. We suffered some light property damage and our dogs ran away-they came back as soon as the storm was over-but they have never done that before. Our fence was blown apart again-and we have trash and our sewer lines that were being fixed-lets just say the piping was being found over 1/2 mile away! By the time we pulled into our driveway-the hail was bigger than golf balls and it was pelting Mike and I-Mike has bruises all over his shoulders where he wa****

The damage-just 1/2 mile from my house was devastating-there were cars that were on Gateway Drive that were twisted and thrown into the fields. One of our friends lost his trucking company-it overturned his semis that were fully loaded-just tossed them all over. He lost his building too. My ex's cousin, who we adore-she lost her whole house and barn. They had closed part of that highway-Mike saw more when he went to work this morning and he actually sounded a little sentimental-because he knew how close we really came to not being here. I prayed every second-all the way home.....And-it was the first time I have climbed down in the storm shelter- I didnt even care if the snake was down there. I wouldnt bother it if it didnt bother me. So-when you all see the Newton County-thats us! I have gotten together some of my clothes I had for the next sale-and some of Jons old clothes and shoes-and we are taking them to the donation station today when I go to the doctor. I also got together a bag of stuffed animals and a bag of toys.

Ok-I know this is long-just wanted to update everyone and post. Sorry. I want to thank ALL of you for the prayers and the kind words. I appreciate that ever so much. I know its what has helped get me through everything this past couple of days. I hope all of you are healthy and are okay as well....those storms were pretty bad. All my love and prayers, Janet