Friday, May 29 ... Time Flies

Time flies when you're having fun AND deadlines at work! I've been attempting to update the blog all week long, but have been very busy. So, here it is Friday evening, and I still haven't posted pictures from Memorial Day weekend yet. Oh well, better late than never ... or so they say!

Last Saturday, Bev and Jim Brewer came out to Katy for the day. We started out at Victor's; Bev was hankering some mexican food. Afterward, we drove our guys back to the house and Bev and I took off to do some shopping. I had some birthday gifts to buy for my wonderful son-in-law, and we girls managed to find a few things for ourselves as well. Bev also bought George a pretty new aqua blue shirt to match his eyes and brighten his spirits! He is sure getting restless sitting in that wheelchair looking around the house and seeing all the things that need attention, but hopefully he'll be on his feet soon. While Jim was here, he did a few things on my "honey do" list, like hang my new wall accessories in George's bathroom. I didn't give him the right tools at first, so he (and Brady) were trying to figure out what was going on, but the end result was good!! Thanks, Jim, for always willing to lend a hand; we love both you and Bev very much! Later that evening, after the temperature dropped, I decided to get down and dirty and plant some flowers in my front flower bed. I am not a gardener, George has always been the one with the green thumb, and I don't like to get dirty either, but lots of things have changed over the last 6 months, and I find myself doing things all the time that I don't like to do! My neighbor, Mike McKenzie, came over with a bottle of water for me and said he should go get his camera and take a picture of me planting flowers since he's never seen that before ... he didn't do it, but I did take a picture of my flower garden after I was through. I figured I better do it now, just in case the flowers don't make it! On Sunday, Greg volunteered to plant the rest of the flowers around one of our big trees. I quickly took him up on his offer before he could change his mind. I didn't tell him that George would be right along side him offering advice and his opinion, but I'm sure he already expected that!!

The best part of the holiday weekend was a surprise visit from a very special friend and her family. Susana, is a co-worker of mine that moved to Dallas along with our company several years ago. She and Paul used to live just a mile or so away from us, and I loved spending time with them and getting to know Susana's family from Mexico when they visited. She and Paul also have two handsome little boys, Michael & Ryan, that were born here in Houston, so I miss seeing them especially on their birthdays and holidays. Brady loves them too, as he does all kids that never tire of throwing his balls for him! Unfortunately, they only got to stay and visit for a few hours, but we had a nice lunch and got all caught up, and hopefully they will be back this summer and stay with us for a few days ... hint, hint!!

Tuesday, May 19 - Memorial Hermann Outpatient Therapy

As promised, here are some video clips of George's therapy sessions last week. As you will see, George's right hand is coming along great! He and Darrell "play ball" several times a week, and Darrell says that George can typically throw for several minutes before dropping it, but of course, since I was taping, it didn't happen. If he continues to improve, however, maybe the Astros can use him!?!



His right foot and leg are the stubborn ones. Paige says at times he is taking really good steps; unfortunately, there are still quite a few off-balance ones too! Since I've been making him walk to and from the bathroom and kitchen all day long now, hopefully we will see an improvement in his walking ability soon.



George had a little "spill" in the bathroom while I was attending a bridal shower this past weekend. Greg was home with him, but not present, so George tried going it solo. NOT a good idea! George got a bruised knot on his side and on his knee, and another bruise on his arm. I was thankful there were no cuts or gashes since he is on a blood thinner, but needless to say, I was still not happy with either one of the guys. I guess it will be one of those lessons learned the hard way!!

Sunday, May 17 ... A Special Visitor

Tonight's weather sure can't be beat; too bad our Houston Rockets were!! I still don't know how they can play soo well in one game, and then stink it up the next, but overall, they gave the Lakers a good fight, and I'm proud of them! We just need a few big guys that can stay healthy throughout the season ... oh well, maybe next year!! Losing the game, however, didn't deter any of our appetites; thanks to Lindsay & Dave, we ate well!

This morning, we had a very special visitor ... Charles Lee Luker. This is George's partner-in-crime/deer lease buddy that we talk about often. Charlie has had a rough few months after being diagnosed with lung cancer, and has not been able to get out much. His son, Mark, that lives here in Houston, goes to Victoria every weekend to check on his parents and help out, but Mark thought it might do his dad good to take a little trip and let his Mom have some time "home alone." That little plan worked out great for us! George has sure been missing Charlie, and so has Brady!! I don't know who was more excited to see him, but I know Brady got the most hugs and kisses! Brady loves to bunk with Charlie at the deer lease ... and hump his leg! We can't figure out why, but supposedly that is the way Brady always greets him down at the lease. Greg, George's son, and Mark told their dads that they would try to take them on a day trip down to Gonzales soon. I'm not so sure how the wheelchairs will "motor" down there, but I guess where there is a will, there is a way! In the meantime, we all had a great little visit and lunch, and we hope to do it again real soon. We love you, Charlie, and continue to pray for God's healing touch!

On Friday, I THINK I captured some video of George's therapy sessions on my camera, so I will try to add that to the blog tomorrow. I hope each of you have a great week ahead!!

Thursday, May 14 ... Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!!

This has been another busy week; the days just seem to fly by between working, therapy appts., medical appts., household chores, etc. And everything takes longer these days because George wants to go everywhere with me! I can't blame him; I know he gets soo bored sitting in the house but a 20-minute trip to the store turns into an hour by the time I get him and the wheelchair loaded and unloaded both at home and our destination. However, he is getting to be a pro at using those electric scooters, and I think he likes the feeling of being in the "drivers seat" for a change! We went to Wal-Mart early in the week, then to Target yesterday after therapy, and then today he went to Randall's with me to get some of his prescriptions refilled. Randall's has the fast cars ... Target's are super slow ... and Wal-Marts fall somewhere in between. George just shook his head the entire time we were in Target; he said he could go faster in his wheelchair, and we know that is true ... afterall, he was the wheelchair race champion at Katy Rehab Hospital! I hope to post some video clips of his therapy sessions next week. I thought I had captured some good stuff this week, but there was an operator error on my part, and it didn't record. Darrell, his OT, has him really using that right hand well, and Paige, his PT, is getting really good steps from him these days. In fact, I told George no more "wheeling" to the bathroom. From now on, he needs to use his cane (and me, Linday, Dave or Greg!) to walk there. He is never going to walk if he settles for 3 hours a week at therapy; he has got to walk as much as he can EVERY day. It takes a little more time and effort on my/our part, but afterall, practice makes perfect (I hope and pray!). Please keep those prayers coming; George is still quite a way from being independent, but that is our goal. I BELIEVE!!

Thursday, May 7 ... FOR SALE

No, not George (although I did try to get an offer for him at the garage sale ... ha!), but his beloved truck. As many of you know, George drove a company truck for years, and then after he retired, he drove a hand-me-down truck that we had bought Lindsay when she went off to college, and then in May 2007 when he decided to go back to work part-time, he finally bought a beautiful new truck of his very own. And, George didn't just buy a truck, he bought a F-150 Lariat Supercrew, leather interior, fully loaded, and then added a spray-in bedliner and grill guard complete with bug deflector package. In other words, a REALLY NICE truck! Unfortunately, since his stroke, it has sat motionless on our driveway, depreciating in value while we continue to make car and insurance payments. And while we truly hope that George will be able to drive again one day, we think that it is going to be too high for him to get in/out of and a little "too much truck" for him to handle. So, if you hear of anyone in the market for a truck, can you let him know we have one for sale? The truck has approximately 28,000 miles on it, and we are asking $24,000, and of course, I have all of the paperwork on the truck and added accessories!

Wednesday, April 29...HELLO, HELLO!!

To our loyal following, we apologize for the delay in updating the blog … it’s been a busy couple of weeks! I am still trying to get settled into my home office and establish a routine so I can get my work done while caring for George. I have been so blessed to have the opportunity to work from home, I certainly don’t want to screw it up; there certainly aren’t many jobs out there, and no employer could possibly be as understanding and as flexible as mine has been! I also just returned from a long weekend trip to Chicago with my bunko group. We had soooo much fun visiting that beautiful city and it felt soo good to be with my wonderful friends for 4 glorious days without having a care in the world. George’s brother, sister, and a family friend came and stayed with George so I could get away for a much needed break. I can’t thank them enough for letting me escape and taking such good care of George while I was gone!

Guess what? Our hall bathroom is completely finished and is now 100% handicap accessible! Brian Lewis w/Klare Plumbing came last week and changed out the sleeves on the exposed pipe underneath the sink, and it looks soo good! George tells everyone what an excellent plumber Brian is, and I have to agree … we haven’t had one drip or leak!! We just have to say THANK YOU one more time to Marvin Klare for making the purchase, Brian for the installation, and Tommy G w/Moore Supply for taking the time to do the special orders and making sure everything matched. You are all wonderful!! Okay, so below are some before and after pictures of the bathroom. Let me know what you think!

George is definitely enjoying the bathroom remodel. He has still not quite mastered getting up out of the wheelchair and onto the toilet yet by himself, but he can now brush his own teeth (even unscrewing the cap off the toothpaste with his affected right hand!), wash his face, comb his hair, etc. without needing my assistance! And, I don’t think I’ve told you, but Darrell (his occupational therapist) has taught him how to put on his own socks and shoes too. It’s not easy for him, but you know what they say … practice makes perfect!! Monday was the 5-month anniversary of George’s stroke, and he sure has come a long way even though he still has a way to go. Since there are 6 more months until hunting season, I’m hoping for big improvements between now and then so he can go to the lease. However, his hunting buddies and partners-in-crime are kind of down and out now themselves, so we are sending our get-well wishes and prayers out to both of them as well. Let’s hope there are many more memories to be made in Gonzales!!

Thursday, April 16...The New Dream Team

Hello everyone. I hope each of you had a wonderful Easter holiday; we certainly did! Lindsay & Dave hosted this year’s gathering and did a great job with the crawfish boil, and then the rest of us brought traditional dishes such as ham, potato casserole, green bean casserole, a relish tray, and the best part of the meal … desserts!! I made my annual “bunny cake” that I have made ever since Lindsay was a toddler, and both my sister-in-law and Lindsay’s mother-in-law made “ME” their delicious hand-rolled sugar cookies with icing! Barb even cut out hers in the shape of a bunny, which made them taste even better (ha!).

As you know, George has been going to out-patient therapy now for about three weeks. He is back at Katy Rehab Hospital, which has recently been purchased by the Memorial Hermann Hospital system. In fact, George is somewhat of a celebrity … Clutch, the Houston Rockets’ mascot, was making an appearance for Memorial Hermann and he took a picture with George and supposedly it is going to be in their upcoming newsletter. As soon as I get a copy of it, we’ll be sure to put it on the blog! In the meantime, here is a picture of George holding the autographed book that Clutch gave him. George’s new “dream team” of therapists pictured above include Paige, his physical therapist, Darrell, his occupational therapist, and Jerry, a therapy assistant. Paige is concentrating on improving George’s balance to get him walking, and Darrell is working with George to become more independent in regard to his personal care/needs, as well as getting that right hand working better. I must say that I have seen a big improvement in this area (the death grip is fading away!), and as Darrell tells George, your right hand now works, you just have to remember to use it! This morning, George actually folded towels for me that came out of the dryer, and when I saw what a great job he did there, I also dumped the white load of laundry beside him on the couch and he matched his socks and folded his underwear! I wonder if I could pay Darrell on the side to teach George how to run the vacuum and mop the floor from his wheelchair?!? This guy is GOOD!

P.S. I am very close to posting before and after pictures of the remodeled hallway bathroom. I just need to get a few minor touch-ups done in there, and we are still waiting for a bronze sleeve for the exposed pipe underneath the sink, and then we’ll be ready for the reveal, so stay posted