WHATS HAPPENING SATURDAY

Hi there, Jan and OH Peeps~

I cant believe its Saturday-and its just amazingly beautiful outside....the thought of pulling one of my nice recliner chairs out of the pool area and laying on it and just laying in the sun with the nice breeze on me-sounds too good~to happen, anyway!!!

Renee is good....we did have a little "incident" at the hospital the night before discharge-and it ended up causing her a lot of unwanted pain......and so-thats one of those "freaky" events I was speaking of. Wednesday night she wanted to walk....so we go walking. Always took the wheelchair and that way if she got too tired-could toss (LOL) her in it and push her back to the room. She walked all the way down to the lobby (quite a jont) and half way back and got in the chair. Get on the elevator....get to the 4th floor-am backing her out of the elevator and the first set of doors start to close-ON HER FOOT PEICES! The elevator DID NOT STOP WHEN IT SHUT ON HER FOOT PEICES!!!! SHE WAS STUCK...I yanked her from THAT set-well, then there is the outer set-and they wouldnt budge-she was stuck in the elevator and it was going down! NOW....***FREAKY PART***the DRAIN FELL and was lodged-between the foot pc and the wheel-BUT...the mechanism in the elevator was pulling it-as it was going down!!! I FREAKED! I grabbed it so it wouldnt/couldnt go anywhere-the thought of that ripping out of her side right there-OMG! SO anyway...once it was securely STUCK and I knew it wasnt going to go ANYWHERE (it couldnt because it was wedged now-AND broken) I ran, and I mean RAN to the nurses station, yelling for her nurse, Tina (could see her).....We get there-and Tina could NOT believe her eyes. Renee was still stuck (thank God) between the doors-and her drain was still intact (on her body anyway). Drain bulb broken. Had to cover the tubing with a plastic glove until the new drain got up there (had to order it). Now-for the bad part-they had to tug on it from the incision sight-to make sure it hadnt come loose there before she was sent home! Renee ALMOST slapped the doc upside his head-thats how bad it hurt her-and so that poor gal-she just had that extra pain that SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED! This freaking hospital even has sensors for the ice and water machine-EVERYTHING there is done with a sensor-so why in the hell dont the elevators stop when something is in its way? Now-we are telling the nurse who is wheeling Renee out to the car Thurs when she was discharged and she tells us that 6 months ago-same elevator-she was helping a patient and put her arm out to stop it from shutting-and it shut on her arm-breaking it in several places-it was going down and didnt stop!!! IT messed her up BAD!!! I would THINK that they might want to fix that!

So-Renee is good-as good as can be expected, for what she went through! Poor thing! She is doing really good with her fluid intake! The ride home was HELL on BOTH of us-but we made it okay and I was so happy to get her home and all settled. Its ALWAYS nice to recover in your own surroundings where there isnt someone up your rear every single time you fall asleep! I mean to tell you-IF her OR my eyes shut-someone walked through that door!!! AMAZING! Its like there is a sensor that goes off-a radar....room 29 is thinking about getting rest-get in there, get in there!!!! NOW!~LOL...I know, I know-it was just a rough 3 nights and I think I totalled about 6 hrs of sleep COMBINED-and the sad part is-I got 3.5 of those at Becs!!!! Would have gotten more, Im sure-but it stormed-and you know how I am about storms! LOL....Combine that with the fact that the little visitor recliner chair in the room was HORRID-and I couldnt get my broken butt comfortable-it was just a mess. I didnt get to go to the motel-because Jon was sick and running a temp-and Megan was getting sick-and I didnt want to take that back around Renee and have her "catch" any of it. I didnt let them go up and see her either! I remembered that when I got sick a week out-that I really thought I was meeting my maker-and I was NOT going to let her get the "bug" and by chance, dehydrated-MAN......What a mess that would have been, but, like I said-Im so very happy to be home!

The night of surgery-Bec showed up with some beautiful fall floral arrangements she MADE! LOVED the colors-she took one to Lou and then one for Renee and Me....So glad I was a third wheel-cuz I just LOVED it! Its on my fireplace mantel and is so colorful-just brightens the room-and Bec looked wonderful, but tired-felt so bad that she traveled, hurting as bad as she did! THANK YOU BEC!!!

Anyway-Lous mom came in and checked on Renee and then gave us Lous room # and all that-I went and saw her the next morning-and she looked wonderful! Nauseated-but other than that, real good. Later that day-a couple of hours or so-who walks in the room, with a t-shirt and shorts on? YEP-LOU! I couldnt believe how good she looked! My eyes about popped out of my head-and I am NOT joking when I say that you couldnt tell that she had even had surgery! Heck, I dont look that good on a normal day!!! LOL.....Love ya, Lou!!! You look awesome girl!

The trip up there was good. We stopped several times due to Renees swelling and having to pee every 1/2 hr (good ol' liquid diet) so that wasnt too too bad, and we stopped to eat....we had chinese-she had soup and I had orange chicken, in Buffalo. Really really good food-but overpriced, for sure!

I have been checking on her several times a day-yesterday she got in 60 oz. of fluids-so that IS awesome and she walked several times-so thats good! She is gonna do great! We went to the store to buy something for Bec as a Thank you for letting us stay at her place-and while we were getting her a plant-we went over to check out the vitamins and what not-and they had protein whey bullets at the Springfield WM for $1.99 each-only 26 g of protein compared to the other bullets-but thats not bad. We bought the last 3 they had-think they were fruit punch flavored, the only flavor they had out on the shelves.

Like I already said-Had a BLAST at Becs house! I love her interior decorating! She has such a gift, she doesnt see it, but everyone else does!~ Would LOVE to have her decorate my house! Ecspically the Kim Anderson room! Loved the bed Paul made too!!! Very talented, thats for sure! Loved the house they built from scratch and then what they have done with the gardens and trelesses (sp?) I got some really good ideas while I was there!~ Her fountain, which is her pride and joy-I think if that were right off my porch, I dont think I could tear away from it to go in the house-LOL...That was just awesome! Peaceful-and we sat out on the porch that evening, talking and giggling-and all you could hear in the background was the fountain and the crickets and frogs! I was in my element, thats for sure!

Well, Mr. Jon is STILL sick!!! Darn it. IF you all could say a prayer for my little man, I sure would appreciate it so! I even made his favorite thing in the whole world-his pancakes and he took one bite and said his tummy was too sick! I HATE THAT! I sure would take it from him in a heart beat, if I could! He is really upset-because today is a MAJOR RC race and Mike is in it-and Jon wants to see his daddy win his first real trophy race today....but I dont think he is up to it. Will see. I dont want to drag him out and have him get even sicker! Maybe we will go up for the main heat-to be cheerleaders, if you will-and then come back home? Would LOVE to be there and see him WIN!!! He was worked so hard for this!! I know its not a major health deal-but prayers for Mike winning would be fabulous! No major money or anything-BUT...It all leads up to sponsorships and so on.....

It looks like I FINALLY have a GREAT HOUSE DOG!!! YAY!!! Its been a LONG time since I have had a dog in the house~Mike bought me a purebred toy poodle 3 yrs ago this December for my b-day and that dog was PSYCHOTIC!!!! I mean it too-but I gave him a year of "maybe its a phase" until I just couldnt take it anymore. He destroyed so much it wasnt even funny-and TRIED to crate train him-and you could hear him howling all the way down to the main road!!! He was just insane...anyway-a breeder adopted him from me, so at least he is cared for and wont be in the house destroying it! Anyhoo-Ive been looking.....and the manager of the pound is real good friends with Megan and so she has been keeping her eyes out for me-and wouldnt charge me the "adoption" fee, IF I got the dog before it got put out...they have to keep them for 3 days before they go to the floor. Anyway-the pound has been at capacity for almost a yr, she said and she was telling us that they are putting down some uncredible numbers of dogs and cats-they just dont have the room for them all.....ok-so anyway-had turned down a couple of small dogs she had-a yorkie, another poodle, and a long haired weiner dog....well, the Friday before I went out of town, Megan calls and Melinda had a maltese, little girl, about 6-7#, 8-9 months old, white, doesnt shed, and is really good with kids....so on and so forth....said that the little old lady that had her-had to go into a nursing home and the family couldnt/wouldnt keep the dog. The lady wont be going back home, so its not a matter of her ever being reunited with her owner again (however I am taking Molly for regular visits starting next week)

Ok-so Melinda says that I can take her for 48 hrs, see how she does with the family and so on-and IF I want to adopt her, that the charge will only be $35 for the spaying fee and they will micro-chip her for free for me....she is even crate trained. They sent her home with a crate for those 2 days as well. So.....she is awesome!!! She is housebroken, I dont even have to put her on a leash to walk her anymore-she comes as soon as she is done doing her business-she LOVES all of us-she is settled-she doesnt bounce around like she is on cat-nip, she snuggles-LOVES to sit on your lap and just relax, even with the boys-AND she barks when someone is at the door OR comes through it....PERFECT!!!! I dont even put her in her crate anymore at night! So Im pretty excited about that. Have really missed having that companionship with a dog for quite some time...since my last indoor dog died 5 yrs ago and Mike said then-NO MORE dogs in the house IF they shed-My dogs were shedders, but I had them a long time before I met Mike-so Mike had to accept my dogs if he loved me-LOL....so he had those lint thingies-all over the place (cause of his job, he HAS to wear dress clothes!!!) Too funny! Anyway, now he wont have to use them and we are all happy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~Excitin` Stuff for Me Anyway!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day of Renees surgery, in the "prep" room-the LAST room your in before your taken to the OR, I get to finally go back there and the nurse there, Jan, started to talk to me.......and we were talking about Dr. Fearing and that I would get to see her the next day and have my pictures taken with her for the billboard/bulletin board-and all the while, it be a surprise for her-because Natalie (the nurse, manager at MOBAR) didnt want to tell her (Dr.Fearing so it would be a surprise).....ok-so this nurse, Jan-tells me to wait right there for a minute and she would be right back (she is really tight with Dr. Fearing-they are good friends)-she comes back in the room 10 minutes later-its 1:20......and she says to me-Dr. Fearing will meet you (at the location) at 2:30!!!! OMG!!! OMG!!! OMG!!! Thank goodness that I had taken a shower at Becs that morning (or my hair would have been WAY BIG and fly away~madwoman lookin!~LOL) and then I put my face on while Renee was driving to the hospital (wanted to keep her mind occupied-and what better way than driving and putting my life in her hands? LOL)....Ok-so Im like-freak-I gotta go change = car is parked in no mans land and they havent even taken Renee back yet-and I CANT leave before she does...this will work...yeah...right. I look down at the floor and I have Stephs laptop in its suitcase....then...Renees overnight bag, my purse, her purse AND now her bag of what she wore there....LOL...They come get her about 1:50 and I still have to stop and get my pager and all of that. Get that, get loaded, get out to the car-dig through my duffle to get my outfit.....and Im practically out of breath trying to get to the bathroom to change and get to where I am suppose to meet her....Now-she has not seen me since I was 6 mos out-and I havent sent her pics since one yr out. I was suppose to go to the Christmas party in 2007 and get the pics then for the billboard/bulletin board but it was cancelled due to a storm and then never did make it back up (was going to meet Tammy up there at that one)....Anyhoo----so, I have sent Natalie the most recent pic-of me and Mike and then me and the boys at the Grand Canyon-so Natalie has seen me-BUT...Not doc. I get off the elevator-and Fearing comes rushing over to hug me-SHE RECOGNIZED ME! That bummed me out so bad!

We talked, she asked me a LOT of ?s, we took several pictures and then when she said I should NOT lose anymore weight-I told her of my last goal being of the "normal" BMI and NOT Overweight.....so she pulls this new BMI meter out of her pocket-we go over it-and IT DOES DO the 5'8 1/2 inches for the height-and she says that it reads NORMAL anywhere from 160-168 (I thought it was 162-168-but I wrote it down and found my notes this morning)....SO-I weigh 166 now-ON THEIR SCALES-at 1 pm in the afternoon-YA~HOOOOOO!!!! HEEEE HAWWW~!!!! and WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!! She says DONT LOSE ANYMORE....AND THEN....She told me-Janet, the changes in your life have been amazing and you LOOK FANTASTIC-and YOU HIT GOAL WITHOUT PLASTICS AND.......that doesnt happen very often-I have yet to have a patient that started out at your weight, that has lost 100% of their weight!!! She says that you normally ONLY lose 70-80% OF THE EXCESS WEIGHT- "NOT" ALL OF IT! She told me how very proud of me she was-and that "I" saved my own life-SHE DIDNT! I started crying and couldnt stop. Nose running and the whole bit! She asked me to write down a little bit of my journey and email it to them-and then said I needed to get over to the office to sign the release forms for them to use my/our pics....the before, which I supplied to them (they chose out of my book) and the after-which we are using me and Dr. Fearings pic. We even got a pic of me and her and the scale reading 166#!!!! Needless to say-I was on a cloud...then she said she had a meeting with her boss and asked if I wanted to walk with her-and so we did...and while we were walking back to the lobby-she confesses that she only recognized me because Natalie couldnt keep the picture to herself and showed it to her!!!! (that made me feel better). She said my hair recovered great and that when she looked at my belly-that she suspected that it would be anywhere from 4-6#-depending. She only saw from the waist up.....I can say-that I have never felt as proud of myself as I did that day! Another first for me-WHEN I saw the pictures of her and I-I, for the FIRST time-thought-Wow, I look good! (I dont do that!!!) The other amazing thing to me was......The Friday before that-when I was trying on the 4 items I had in my closet that didnt fit me yet-from Lana-2 prs of what we call - SKINNY JEANS.....THEY FIT-THEY FIT-THEY FIT....AND they werent even tight-in fact, I have to wear a belt!! Sz 12s....but, what is that in "skinny jean" terms-like dog years-LOL....???? Anyway-the 2 pr of jeans fit and so did the one shirt and pr of capris.....I wore the Levi skinny jeans and a new shirt I bought in the juniors department, blousy AND FORM fitting-size 13. That outfit was the most perfect fit outfit I have ever had.....AND.....the sleeves were so little-that I wore my green overshirt-with the 1/2 sleeves, but didnt button it up....I felt a little weird having something form fitting on top AND bottom.....But...I MUST ADMIT-Jan and you others-it felt GOOD! Is it boasting to say that I am proud of myself? Does that make me-whats the word Im looking for? Egotistical? ****y? I sure dont want to seem that way-I just have never been in this place in my life before! I had an amazing couple of days of WOWS and I guess what sticks out to me the most - is that for the first time in my 40 yrs of life-I am PROUD OF ME! I DID ACCOMPLISH this-ME! and....best of all-I no longer want to vomit when I look at a picture of me. I dont care if someone cracks a camera out-that was absolutely FORBIDDEN before...I would leave the room-OR the event all together IF someone insisted on taking my pics-I have NEVER had a REAL family picture because of my size!!! We are doing that in 2 weeks!

On my way home-I got a call from Mike. He was so upset-His dad was back in the hospital-he had taken a really nasty fall and required some stitches again AND he was having a hard time breathing again, and Mikes biological mom didnt call him-Usually, his aunt, who is terminal with cancer calls us-BUT....she was in the hospital herself. AND....the 2 uncles-Tom-he was in the hospital due to a back surgery and then his other uncle, Micky, he was in the hospital and he is now terminal too-and weighing in at 103#. MAN! All but one sister (aunt) was in the hospital-2 were in the same at least-dad and aunt sis. So, we are going to do our best NOW to start putting a little money aside here and there to get our Arizona fund started for the spring. We have to get back out there. We will take time for the Grand Canyon again-AND have told Megan and Aaron IF they can save their own money, they can join us-we will just stay at a motel while in Havasu, unless Dad and grandma have no visitors-then we will just split us up 4 here and them there.....so not one place has all of us! We will also have to get dad out on his fishing trip and Uncle Russ already said we will take out the party pontoon boat-so we dont want to do it during spring break-because Havasu is known for its parties (very very rich people bring their fancy boats and yachts there.....very crowded) and we dont want to fight that!

Well, I could just ramble and ramble-because I keep taking breaks and coming back-so I better just wrap this up and get it all posted-LOL....

**Jan-PRAISE GOD!!! That is AWESOME for Michele-I was just smiling from ear to ear when I heard that! How wonderful~Im so happy that this was all accomplished before you and Joe leave-so I bet you will be able to enjoy yourself even more now, huh? Kia fixed AND her job!!! Whats really neat is that she already knows her boss and wont have so much training to do! Her boss being a good christian woman-makes this even sweeter! I know she doesnt know me-but PLEASE tell her CONGRARTS! Im so happy for her and proud! She is going to be great now!!! Thank God!! I hope and pray that the loser goes back to LA with his mother and gets out of this state ALL together!

Im so sorry Joe hurt his back! Dont let him do anything else so you guys will have a good time on your trip! Maybe that 2nd shot WILL help? I hope so! Im praying for Joe and his back-and his pain in general-I want you guys to get away and relax! Between EVERYTHING going on with the house, reunion, the house, Michele and then just everything else-Susan and Andy and all-its just been crazy for you!!! You guys take care, relax and have FUN!!! I know you will! Hey-about the packing-thank goodness your so skinny now-your clothes dont nearly take up as much room!!! LOL...

When you get time, can you email me Andys address? I have a card for him-and I was just going to send it to your house-BUT....I didnt have my address book up at the hospital-so that brainstorming was a waste-LOL...Thank you!

**Deb D-Luke is so handsome! Of course, you have to be so proud! How are you going to pick his pics? I dont envy you trying to pick! LOL....

What color is your granite? I LOVE granite countertops!!! CONGRATS!!!! And, I agree with you, sometimes those little imperfections-make it have character and I like that too! Im so happy for you! Make sure you take some pics for us!

I laughed about you going to work! It so sounds like something I have done before-LOL!!! At least you knew most of them! LOL...You have just had a lot going on!

Hey-I never did hear how your dad is doing and what happened at the doc-unless I missed a post...How is he? what happened and is everything alright? Have you gone yet? If you havent answered cuz you dont want to talk about it-Im sorry, not trying to irritate you-just wondering. Have been praying for you and just have thought of him and you so many times and wondered.

**Shannon-I was so happy to hear that your sis got that job in Columbia! I know you had posted that she was having a hard time getting one! Im so glad to hear it!!!

So, your neighbor is nice AND talented? HMMMM....And, he came over bearing gifts? Is he single? LOL....Maybe he was flirting with his cute, single neighbor across the way?

I LOVE hearing about your happenings-so even though you thought it was a long post-I enjoyed it-it lets us get to know you better-and I think your pretty awesome!!! Im so glad that your feeling better. Im not sure what you would do to gain the weight....isnt that weird? All the years of WANTING or NEEDING to lose-and now you have to gain? That would be hard to wrap my mind around! I would be really interested to find out what you find out on the subject. I think I will read up on it when I have some more time-sometime....cuz I want to stay right where Im at and dont want to lose anymore... Not trying to anyway. Will see. Anyway-Really happy that everything is going good for you!

**Sheila-Oh sweety-IM SO SORRY about the upcoming surgery and being off work! I KNOW its so hard for you right now the way it is without losing any more income! I wish I was in a position to help you out, cause I sure would-In a heartbeat! If I can do anything-even if its just listen, let me know. I love you and your in my thoughts and prayers! Take care!!!

**Andy-How are you? I hope and pray your better and better every single day! Are you going to stay with that doctor or pick a new one? Im scared about you continuing to see him-he isnt "up to snuff" when it comes to wls patients! Im so sorry you went through that, but, so happy your okay. Will continue to pray for you, and for Susan-please take care and update when your up to it, ok?

**Tammy-Ammy-HHHHEEEEYYYYY!!! Long time, no see!!! So-there were like 2 posts in a row-does that mean that maybe, just maybe-we will be graced by a little more postings from you? I sure hope so-dont make me come down there!!!! At least till my broken butt is fixed, k?

Hows the new g-daughter? Is Christa okay with her? Send me a new/updated pic-ok? Im going to the hospital here in about an hour to see one of my daughters best friends little baby girl-she is sooo CUTE! I cannot wait to hold her! YAY! Anyway-Im so glad to see you back-have been praying for you like crazy and I sure miss you. It sucks when life gets so busy that it keeps us from being in contact a little better. Please know that no matter what-I love you and always thinking of you, ok?

**Bec-I know you have already posted-but could tell that you just werent yourself....I am going to continue to keep you in my thoughts and my prayers. You have been on my heart A LOT and I know what that means-so I am praying for your FULL recovery!! Please take care and even with pain meds-dont over-do it...Thanks for everything-I cant tell you enough how much I (we) appreciate all you did for us....Love ya.

**Deb (Pooh)....I just wanted to tell you that I LOVE reading your posts...I would be lost without seeing you on here!!!! We have so mu*****ommon already-and I already know I just love ya to peices-so meeting you-its just a formality! I have talked to Megan about coming up and getting the clothes-and we just may make it when you have those Christmas decorations out-cause we love them too-AND....then we can stop and say hi to Bec on the way up and Angie on the way home!!! How awesome would that be? When are you done with your decorating for Christmas? Some dont do it until the day after Thanksgiving-but thats always changing to a little earlier, it seems-heck, they had Christmas decorations out at WM 2 months ago-I about choked! Pool stuff out-AND Christmas! How crazy is that (scratching head-I remember when it didnt get put out until the day AFTER T-giving AND that everyone HAD to work that night stocking shelves strictly because of it-NOT because of Black Friday) I guess that shows my age, doesnt it?

Thanks for the clothes-you just dont know how much I appreciate that. They are a young, struggling couple-so you know every bit helps-and NOT just them, me too-cuz you know what they couldnt afford to get-nana would have to help with... well, you know!

So-your gonna be a nana again in January? Boy or girl? Is it the kids that wont let their babies wear used clothing? I would hate for you to give me all of that if your own babies can use it?

Hows Gail feeling? When do you go to the pain clinic? I would really like to talk to you more about your back and all of that...Dont want to bring up bad/sad feelings about your brother, but have been more than concerned because it sounds like my situation!

Would you mind if I sent you an email? I have your contact info due to the secret pal thing-but didnt want to just assume you wouldnt mind...Please let me know if I can. Thanks. Oh, and WILL let ya know about November 21st, ok?

You do know that I returned your call the day Renee and Lou had surgery, dont you? I did-and I left a message on your call notes/machine. Hope you got the message-but I never heard back from you, so dont take it personally-I only got signal 1/2 the time- IF that and never got some of my calls OR texts. Do you have AT&T cell? Do you have texting? Alright-20 ?s are over. Love ya and am thinking of you and the whole family-OH-and DONT FORGET to get me the sizes for Nikki. K?

**Jeanine-come out, come out, wherever you are!!! Are you ok? Havent seen you for a couple of days and getting worried that something has happened-just pop in and say-im ok....Love you and I am thinking about you AND praying for you AND....THANKS for ALL your prayers for us as well....

Where is your surgery again and what date? Whose your angel? We need to get you one if you dont have one yet.

**Susie-pretty soon, huh? Its getting to countdown time...Im so happy for you! Do you have an angel yet? If not, we need to get you hooked up too-where and when is your surgery? Keep your chin up-everything your feeling IS normal and you WILL BE SUCCESSFUL!!!!

To everyone else-Im sorry if Im forgetting anyone-its not my intention-Im just getting caught up on reading posts and such! Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday! As always, your in my thoughts and prayers-Janet