Mon, July 27 - Good friends catch you ...

... when you fall. In George's case, it's been neighborhood friends and they have actually helped him up AFTER he fell! George felt "out-of-sorts" last week and it showed in everything he did, especially walking. It started over the weekend when he fell trying to sit down and he missed the chair all together. It was in our bedroom, so he fell on the carpet and Greg was here at the house, so it wasn't so bad. But then on Monday, it happened again. This time, we were coming in the house from the backyard patio, and his foot just couldn't get over the door threshold, and when I tried to help it over, George lost his balance and started weaving, and I did everything I could to keep him on his feet, but my arm couldn't hold him so he had a "controlled fall" to the wooden patio floor. I knew I wouldn't be able to get him up myself, so I left him on the ground and ran outside to see who was around. The only one I found home was our neighbor, Abby, and I wasn't sure we two girls could get George on his feet, but we did it on the first try! George said we both must have had our Wheaties for breakfast; he never thought that we would do it. On Wednesday morning, it happened again in the bedroom. This time, George was trying to dress himself and I had just stepped away for a minute and I heard a kerplunk. He had somehow tipped the chair and he was laying flat on his belly in the middle of the carpeted floor. He did manage to roll over and sit up himself, but once again, I knew I wouldn't be able to get him to his feet. So, out the front door I went again, and this time Mike McKenzie's car was in the driveway. I called over to his house and he came over right away and helped me get George off the floor. I just thank God that George didn't break any bones or get any cuts since he is still on that blood thinner, and I thank the good Lord that we have such great neighbors that are always willing to lend a hand ... and their muscles!!

Last week ended on a much more positive note than it started. George's brother, Johnny, who lives in Alice, TX came to visit for a couple of days. George loved having him here, reminiscing about old times, talking sports, watching "guy things" on tv. And I think Johnny enjoyed being here as well ... and he was such a great dinner guest! Johnny's a truck driver, and a bachelor, so he eats lots of fast food meals and mostly by himself. Therefore, he LOVED everything I cooked ... blackened fish tacos, pork loin, and even my chili-cheese dogs that I made for lunch one day! And, I must have earned extra "brownie" points by baking brownies Friday night, because on Saturday morning, he made a trip to Home Depot and replaced the breaker for me that has been giving us trouble. It was definitely a "win-win" situation, so hurry back John ... we sure enjoyed your visit! And, we had yet another good evening on Sunday. Kathy & Gary Nelson, old friends and former neighbors, came and took George & I for ice cream. Ritter's Frozen Custard is always a great treat, but nothing beats catching up with old friends ... thanks, guys, we had fun and will have to do it again soon since I forgot to take a picture for the blog!

Tues., July 14 - Heard A Rumor

I heard a rumor on Sunday that we (the Katy area) had rain on Saturday. I sure wish I could have seen it because I've forgotten what it looks like! I was in Dallas over the weekend attending a wedding, so I missed the wet stuff. The weather man keeps promising more, but so far, nothing! While I was in Dallas, George had a good weekend with his daughter, Terri, and her family. I dropped him off in Willis on Saturday morning as I headed out of town, and then Saturday evening, Terri and her crew headed back to Katy so Brady wasn't home alone! George enjoyed the outing to Bass Pro Shop at Katy Mills Mall on Sunday afternoon; it sounds like he and Paul checked out every aisle of hunting and fishing gadgets and accessories, but didn't do too much damage on the pocketbook! Emily, our granddaughter, decided to stay with us for a couple of days which is always a treat. Terri & Paul are coming back to Katy to pick her up tomorrow, and then George's brother, Johnny, who lives near Corpus, is supposed to be coming either tomorrow evening or Thursday morning to visit us for a few days. Busy household lately!

I took a video yesterday during George's physical therapy session. Paige is still working on improving George's balance, and I think it's going well. Watch him do "knee squats" without holding on to his cane or to Paige:

Thurs., June 16 - The Walking Wounded!

Look at these two guys ... aren't they a sight?!? We caused quite a stir at Panera Bread on Tuesday when George & I met Shirley & Ike Lucas for lunch. Ike had knee replacement surgery two weeks ago, so he is wearing a support stocking and walking with a cane. He is doing GREAT in his recovery, and if the guys had a race, Ike would definitely win. However, I have to say, George is doing SO MUCH BETTER walking with his cane and his leg brace that Paige recently had adjusted for him. He can even take quite a few steps unassisted, so we are THRILLED! Maybe next week we'll take some video of him walking. Of course, I need someone to take the video, or stand by George's side, because we don't want any accidents ... we've come too far! I've been making George walk everywhere we go ... no more wheelchair, except at therapy or where we have to walk long distances, and I think it has really helped his progress. Of course, he gets mad at me and thinks I nag him too much ... my new nickname is the drill sergeant. He tires pretty quickly when he's on his feet, and of course, he moves slow, but he's getting there. I do see light at the end of the tunnel. I think the fact that deer season is getting closer might have something to do with it. George is realistic and knows he won't be able to hunt without assistance this year, but I think him just being down there, even for a weekend or two, will do him a world of good. Heck, even the thought of cooler temps and being able to get outdoors around here will help. He is sooooooo bored watching tv all day long while I work. Mon-Wed-Fri's are a little better since he has therapy on those days, but Tues & Thurs are long days for him. I try to get him out in the evenings after work on those days ... even if it's a trip to Wal-Mart or Randalls, where he can ride around on those scooters for 30 minutes and be independent of me. He was pleasantly suprised today by some special callers ... T.W. Bevil (an old friend from the plumbing industry) and also Bill Peak, a cousin and fellow hunter ... both phoned him. Thanks guys, for checking in with him. I know he misses his male bonding time! Oh, and George wanted everyone to know that he helped me think of tonight's blog title; kudos to him!!

Sunday, July 12 - Birthday Boy!!

We have a birthday boy in the house today, and our family all went to Pappasitos to celebrate! Most of us feasted on the special ... fajitas and grilled shrimp ... it was soooo good! Then of course, we HAD to help George eat his dessert after the waitstaff serenaded him. George got some great gifts too: a new fancy electric shaver from me, Lindsay, & Dave, my mom bought him cologne, and David, Cheryl & the kids got him a new pair of shorts and a t-shirt to wear to therapy! He received a birthday "wake-up" call early this morning from his cousin and hunting buddy, Jack Peak, and then later today he got calls from his son, Ricky; daughter, Terri; as well as a call from Dan & Barb Zora in Austin. I think George felt pretty darn special today! We actually started celebrating his birthday yesterday along with Beverly Brewer (who, by the way, turned the BIG 6-0!) and her daughter, Heather (#34!), who also has a birthday today. Those three "crabs" have been celebrating birthdays together for as long as I can remember, but yesterday's birthday luau was the best one yet ... thanks to Bev's milestone!! She had a lot more candles on her cake than George and Heather did on theirs, but the "ol" girl still has lots of hot air and blew them all out! So, to George, Bev, Heather and Mike Ligon (who had a birthday last week) ... I hope all of your birthday wishes come true!!

Tuesday, July 7 - WHOOP!

Well ... it's a bittersweet "whoop!" We sold George's truck on Monday, which is a good thing for us financially, but George was sad to turn over the keys to its new owner. The only consolation is that it has found a good home with someone in "the family." Kevin is an Aggie, class of '92 (if I'm remembering correctly!) who lives in Austin, and traveled all the way to Katy (twice!) to find the truck he was looking for! My neighbor's daughter, Missy, lives in Austin and works with Kevin's wife. When Missy heard that Kevin was looking for a truck, she mentioned that we had a truck for sale, passed along the information, and the rest is history! This is just another example of one of those "god-things" that happen in our lives. Pieces just seem to fall exactly in the right place at the right time! So, thank you, Missy, for making the introduction, and Kevin, we wish you safe travels! And, maybe we will run into you in Aggieland!! As for George, I told him we are not giving up hope of him driving again. It is just taking him a little longer than expected to get on his feet, but when it does happen, we will get him a truck that will be easier for him to get in/out of and something not quite so BIG!

Monday, July 6 - Red, White and FLU!!

Hello everyone. We hope each of you had a fun-filled, safe 4th of July. George & I had our most boring ever, and it's all my fault! I got sick on Friday with flu-like symptoms ... congestion, fever, body aches ... so we did absolutely nothing. I didn't want anyone around us to catch what I had, so we stayed in and watched a lot of tv and ate whatever was on hand. No bar-b-que or fireworks for us; very disappointing holiday weekend. Lindsay was brave enough to come over and help with her dad Saturday morning, and she also transported me to the 24-hour clinic so I really hope and pray she doesn't come down with this stuff next. I'm sure she will be fine; her good heart will keep the bad germs away!! And, we want to give a "shout out" to Ike Lucas who is recouperating from knee replacement surgery. Maybe Ike and George can do their leg exercises together in the coming weeks! And speaking of George and his therapy, I do believe the "pep talks" he had the week before did some good. His therapy sessions went really well last week and he even asked me to help him get to the pulleys in the kitchen yesterday so he could do his arm exercises. Hopefully the new trend will continue!!

Monday, June 29 - Pep Talks

Hope everyone had as good of a weekend as I did! Thanks to Vicky, a family friend from Abilene, and Lindsay & Dave, I spent the last few days in Rockport with my bunko group ... and we had such a great time shopping, eating/drinking, playing games, watching movies, and getting some sun. Vicky and the kids took good care of George and Brady for me, and I am very appreciative!! George & I have had a rough couple of weeks so the few days apart did us some good. Progress in his recovery is definitely slowing, and we are both frustrated. I know George feels like I am losing my patience with him, and I admit that I am because I feel like he is giving up and not working hard enough to regain his independence. It has now been 7 months since his stroke and we were told right from the beginning that 75% of your recovery occurs during the first six months, and the window for improvement will close after a year. George does work hard in his out-patient therapy sessions 3 times a week, but I can't seem to get him motivated to do much on his own here at the house the other 4 days of the week. He just doesn't get how hard it is for me to now have the responsiblity of handling EVERYTHING in our lives plus caring for him AND working full-time. I want him to try doing more on his own, but I know he hates when I "nag" him, so I was happy that Butch Scherer, a long-time friend of George's that also attends our church, came by last week and gave him a pep talk. Butch even took the time to walk the hallways with George! When we arrived at therapy today, we also had a little "pow-wow" with Derrell and Paige, George's therapists. Along with reiterating to George how important it is that he do his exercises every day, they encouraged us to try and find a stroke recovery group that might help us deal with the emotional "trauma" that both George & I have suffered with this life-changing ordeal. Another of their suggestions was to have George visit with a nueropychologist who is trained to detect brain dysfunction in cognitive skills due to brain injuries. Of course, I welcome these suggestions, but it's just something else to add to my "to do" list which is already a mile long! Oh well, the old saying goes that God doesn't give you more than you can handle, but to that I must say, he has more faith in me than I have in myself right now! Anyway, George ended up having a pretty good day at therapy after the therapists' pep talk. He and Paige worked on sitting and standing and "making turns" on his own. He was doing so well that Pagie let George wiggle and wobble until he caught his balance. I was proud of him; he did good! Here's a quick little video clip that I took of that action:

So, just keep us in your prayers ... along with rain before everything dries up completely!!