Monday, January 21, 2008
Funerals, Surgeries, and Senate Hearings Oh My!
I took last week off work, and blog updates, because there was just too much going on and I needed to focus on family as well as myself. Grandpa's funeral service was beautiful. That was the beginning of the week. The graveside ceremony was Monday morning, to avoid the exhorbitant overtime cost of internment on a Sunday. (Grandpa would have decided to haunt us if we'd done it on Sunday!)
After the graveside we headed to the hospital so Sarah could have her gallbladder(sp?) removed. The surgery went well, however, a stone got away from the surgeon and made it's way into the bile duct(sp?). Sarah went back on Wednesday and the went through another procedure to remove the offensive stone and is now back at home entertaining Madeline and dodging the cats. The family is taking a breather while Sarah continues to recover. Next Monday we'll be back at the hospital while a different surgeon releives a ruptured disk in Dad's back. I think he's coming over on Sunday to check out some movies from my DVD collection.
While Sarah was going through her second procedure last Wednesday I was at the Statehouse testifying in a Senate hearing. I hadn't planned on this but, after receiving an email on Tuesday night regarding a senate bill that requires better insurance protection for people with prostheses, I decided to attend the hearing. It was a very interesting process, and the Senator who is supporting the bill has asked me to come back this Tuesday (tomorrow) and testify for a similar bill that is going through the state House of Representatives.
Any residents of Indiana who are interested in these bills can look them up at www.in.gov. The Senate bill is SB 269 and the House bill is HB 1140. Please contact your local Senator and House Representative and ask them to support these bills. You can easily find out who your Legislators are at the above website and can also e-mail them straight from there.
Many of you have expressed interest in my continued challenge with the canes. As noted in one of last weeks comments I have been walking with them at Church. In fact, I've been trying to walk with them almost exclusively. However, some situations do require me to switch back to the crutches. Long distances, bad weather conditions, and unexplored terrain tend to be easier with the crutches. The canes continue to be a challenge and we have been experimenting with many different adjustments to my legs to try to compensate. I am more confident with them now than I was at the beginning. One of the biggest issues is that it hurts my hands. Unless something even crazier than whats been happening lately happens in the next week I'll talk more about the struggle with canes and Physical Therapy when I do my next update. Which will probably be after next Friday, the 25th. Now, make comments!
After the graveside we headed to the hospital so Sarah could have her gallbladder(sp?) removed. The surgery went well, however, a stone got away from the surgeon and made it's way into the bile duct(sp?). Sarah went back on Wednesday and the went through another procedure to remove the offensive stone and is now back at home entertaining Madeline and dodging the cats. The family is taking a breather while Sarah continues to recover. Next Monday we'll be back at the hospital while a different surgeon releives a ruptured disk in Dad's back. I think he's coming over on Sunday to check out some movies from my DVD collection.
While Sarah was going through her second procedure last Wednesday I was at the Statehouse testifying in a Senate hearing. I hadn't planned on this but, after receiving an email on Tuesday night regarding a senate bill that requires better insurance protection for people with prostheses, I decided to attend the hearing. It was a very interesting process, and the Senator who is supporting the bill has asked me to come back this Tuesday (tomorrow) and testify for a similar bill that is going through the state House of Representatives.
Any residents of Indiana who are interested in these bills can look them up at www.in.gov. The Senate bill is SB 269 and the House bill is HB 1140. Please contact your local Senator and House Representative and ask them to support these bills. You can easily find out who your Legislators are at the above website and can also e-mail them straight from there.
Many of you have expressed interest in my continued challenge with the canes. As noted in one of last weeks comments I have been walking with them at Church. In fact, I've been trying to walk with them almost exclusively. However, some situations do require me to switch back to the crutches. Long distances, bad weather conditions, and unexplored terrain tend to be easier with the crutches. The canes continue to be a challenge and we have been experimenting with many different adjustments to my legs to try to compensate. I am more confident with them now than I was at the beginning. One of the biggest issues is that it hurts my hands. Unless something even crazier than whats been happening lately happens in the next week I'll talk more about the struggle with canes and Physical Therapy when I do my next update. Which will probably be after next Friday, the 25th. Now, make comments!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Sad News
My Grandfather, Dale Palmer (Mom and uncle Michael's Dad), passed away on Wednesday afternoon. Mom and Uncle Michael were with him. He passed peacefully in his sleep. I saw him on Tuesday night and, at that time, he was not conscious. I got to say what I needed to say to him and know that he heard me, at least in a spiritual since. Grandpa went into hospice care shortly before Christmas and our family was, for the most part, prepared for his passing.
Service arrangements are as follows:
The calling will be held at Shirley Brother's on Saturday from 3pm to 7pm.
The address is 9606 E Washington St., Indianapolis
The Funeral Service will be at Old Bethel United Methodist Church on Sunday at 2:30pm. There will be a 30 minute visitation at 2pm. The address is:
7995 E 21st St, Indianapolis
There will also be a small Graveside Service on Monday morning at 9am.
Service arrangements are as follows:
The calling will be held at Shirley Brother's on Saturday from 3pm to 7pm.
The address is 9606 E Washington St., Indianapolis
The Funeral Service will be at Old Bethel United Methodist Church on Sunday at 2:30pm. There will be a 30 minute visitation at 2pm. The address is:
7995 E 21st St, Indianapolis
There will also be a small Graveside Service on Monday morning at 9am.
Monday, January 07, 2008
The First Update of the year
I realize it's been a little longer than normal since my last post. There are a few reasons for this delay. The first and foremost is that the new year has started off with flurry of activity! I took a week and a half off of work for the holiday's, returning to work on January 2nd. During that time I was home less than I probably would have been if I was working! Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my time off, but WOW was I exhausted by the time New Years Eve came around.
As New Years Eve approached I found myself struggling with how to celebrate. Should I go to the party that my friends from church were throwing? Should I go to the annual party that my sisters IU friends were hosting? (I went to some of their parties when we were all in school (that's really all they teach at IU), I'm sure they're a little more docile now that we're all older, but I'm pretty sure I can't recover from their parties the way I used to.) Should I go out on the town and prove to myself that I can still ring in the New Year the way I did before my 20's ended? In the end I was leaning toward the latter but didn't really have any solid plans yet. (Of course, in my 20's that was how the best New Years Eve's started out, without a plan.)
So, I bet now you're all expecting me to regale you with some wild story about my New Years Eve. Keep in mind that in the intro I stated that I was exhausted by the time New Years Eve came around. Oh...I could tell some great New Years stories...but they wouldn't be about this most recent night. On December 30th I decided that I was going to spend New Years hanging out in my house with my roommate. I was too tired to do anything else.
However, I woke up on December 31st with the itch to do something I hadn't really done since before the accident. That something was to cook. (bake, really) Jamie and I went to the grocery to pick up the items I needed, and when we got home I made Magic Cookie Bars. I know this isn't real challenging but it's the first time I've put ingredient (other than peanut butter and jelly) together in over two years. The funny thing is that the Magic Cookie Bars weren't even what I was planning on making. The reason we went to the store was to get ingredients for an entirely different recipe, but while we were there I decided to get the stuff for the cookie bars too.
On January 1st I slept in, the cat did too, woke up at my own pace, and then made breakfast. I made something called a No Flip Oven Pancake (when I was a kid I'd get this mixed up and call it a No Oven Flip Pancake.) It's our family's traditional Christmas breakfast. Again, it's not too challenging, but it does require some measuring, beating, and mixing. Between New Years Eve and New Years Day I did more actual cooking than I have in the last two years. It felt good, a great way to start the year. I spent the rest of the day sitting on the couch watching movies, which is how I start every new year. It's my tradition.
After that it was back to work. It's been pretty hectic and I haven't had much personal time as a result. The second reason for the delay in my first post of the year is this. I'm having a hard time coming up with things to say each week. There are some things going on in my life that are taking a great deal of my attention, but due to the public nature of the blog I can't write about them, regardless of how much I may want to. As a result, I find myself struggling to come up with something that I think will hold your interest.
You can help with this by asking me questions in the blog or making serious suggestions about what you would like for me to write about. Otherwise, I will continue to do updates after Physical Therapy sessions, which are now about every other week on Fridays, and whenever anything inspires me to write. There is still a long way to go in my recovery, and I want to continue to keep everyone updated and involved in my progress. I wouldn't be here without all of you. Just remember, you can help keep the frequency of the updates by making comments that will inspire me to write.
As New Years Eve approached I found myself struggling with how to celebrate. Should I go to the party that my friends from church were throwing? Should I go to the annual party that my sisters IU friends were hosting? (I went to some of their parties when we were all in school (that's really all they teach at IU), I'm sure they're a little more docile now that we're all older, but I'm pretty sure I can't recover from their parties the way I used to.) Should I go out on the town and prove to myself that I can still ring in the New Year the way I did before my 20's ended? In the end I was leaning toward the latter but didn't really have any solid plans yet. (Of course, in my 20's that was how the best New Years Eve's started out, without a plan.)
So, I bet now you're all expecting me to regale you with some wild story about my New Years Eve. Keep in mind that in the intro I stated that I was exhausted by the time New Years Eve came around. Oh...I could tell some great New Years stories...but they wouldn't be about this most recent night. On December 30th I decided that I was going to spend New Years hanging out in my house with my roommate. I was too tired to do anything else.
However, I woke up on December 31st with the itch to do something I hadn't really done since before the accident. That something was to cook. (bake, really) Jamie and I went to the grocery to pick up the items I needed, and when we got home I made Magic Cookie Bars. I know this isn't real challenging but it's the first time I've put ingredient (other than peanut butter and jelly) together in over two years. The funny thing is that the Magic Cookie Bars weren't even what I was planning on making. The reason we went to the store was to get ingredients for an entirely different recipe, but while we were there I decided to get the stuff for the cookie bars too.
On January 1st I slept in, the cat did too, woke up at my own pace, and then made breakfast. I made something called a No Flip Oven Pancake (when I was a kid I'd get this mixed up and call it a No Oven Flip Pancake.) It's our family's traditional Christmas breakfast. Again, it's not too challenging, but it does require some measuring, beating, and mixing. Between New Years Eve and New Years Day I did more actual cooking than I have in the last two years. It felt good, a great way to start the year. I spent the rest of the day sitting on the couch watching movies, which is how I start every new year. It's my tradition.
After that it was back to work. It's been pretty hectic and I haven't had much personal time as a result. The second reason for the delay in my first post of the year is this. I'm having a hard time coming up with things to say each week. There are some things going on in my life that are taking a great deal of my attention, but due to the public nature of the blog I can't write about them, regardless of how much I may want to. As a result, I find myself struggling to come up with something that I think will hold your interest.
You can help with this by asking me questions in the blog or making serious suggestions about what you would like for me to write about. Otherwise, I will continue to do updates after Physical Therapy sessions, which are now about every other week on Fridays, and whenever anything inspires me to write. There is still a long way to go in my recovery, and I want to continue to keep everyone updated and involved in my progress. I wouldn't be here without all of you. Just remember, you can help keep the frequency of the updates by making comments that will inspire me to write.
