Saturday, July 10, 2010

John went to the speech therapist yesterday. Did not go too well as his was not feeling very good and had very little voice to work with. However, when we got home, he felt well enough to go to a friend's birthday party and eat some cake. Happy Birthday, Jean.
Later last night was a disaster. John had asked for a sundae and I had given him a large dish of mint chocolate ice cream with raspberries on top. However, his mouth was bothering him a lot and he just sat there holding it while it melted. Eventually he spilled it - all over himself, his chair, the rug and the floor. The melted chocolate has stained his chair quite badly. Shortly after this, I went to give him his next set of meds and the tube blocked - and the meds shot out of the extra valve all over the wall and ceiling. It is orange - and staines. I tried to wash it off the ceiling but the surface on the ceiling came off too so I gave up - and we now have and ugly grey patch surrounded by orange dots! I was going to take him to emergency to get the tube unblocked but he said, wait until the morning because it was after eleven at night. During the night, the tube either blew open or came open but a bunch of the stomach contents spilled out in the bed. It made quite a mess - but unblocked the tube so that it has worked OK today. It still does not feel just right - sometimes it is hard to get the feed in. I am concerned that it may have worked it's way our of the stomach again.
Today was a much better day although Ernie and Helen, friends in the apartment building, came down to sing with John but he was having an "attack" just then and could not sing with them. He was disappointed.
He did one set of his voice exercises but could not get any volume today. Debbie came and visited and had supper with us. She brought Mr Bean's Vacation for us to watch.
Because of last night and this afternoon I am going to give it a one thumbs down. If I had written this blog last night I think I would have given it all ten finger and thumbs down!!!

Payer requests:
- for the feeding tube to work and not get blocked
- for Zeke to be able to fix our fan to use on the hot nights
- for John's new PDA to get here soon so he can keep all his appointments straight
- for grace and patience for me

Thursday, July 8, 2010

John did not have a good day yesterday. This was quite disappointing for him as it meant we could not go for the final service and farewells for the WEC Conference.
Today was much better. He was even able to join the Gateway staff for supper at a Langley restaurant. He had mushroom soup (which he only ate a little bit of) and a chocolate mousse (which totally disappeared)
It has been quite hot in BC the last few days and we do not have air conditioning in our apartment. Yesterday I wondered if the heat was bothering him, but as he was good today, I guess that is not a contributing factor.
Tomorrow we go to the speech therapist again. He has been doing his homework most days and is going to tell her his Foot Foot joke and sing Amazing Grace.
A one thumbs up kind of day.
Payer requests
- that the speech therapy will go well and that it will help his voice to get stronger
- that the meds will kick in when they are supposed to
- that the heat will not bother John too much

Thanks everyone!!

Monday, July 5, 2010

Start of a new week - three more days of WEC Conference.
Although the beginning of the day was a little shaky and John did not have the energy to get to the morning sessions, we were able to get there for the afternoon, supper, and evening sessions. And he did quite well. He even got up (and with the aid of a mike) gave his input on one of the issues under discussion.
We were very happy to see Ike and Trudy Agawin re-confirmed as Gateway Directors for the next three years.
 WEC will reach it's 100th Anniversary as a mission in 2013. In the discussion of plans for the celebration John said to me, "well, I don't think I will be here for that." I told him not to count on missing it!!! But of course, it is a reality we must live with.
Overall today deserves a one thumbs up

prayer requests
- for John to have more strength and that his balance would improve
- for the meds to be absorbed well

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy July 4th to all our American friends!
John did not have a good day today. He did not feel well all day and had several "crashes" - including one this evening which did not lift even after I gave him more meds. He did his voice exercises one time but was not well enough to do the second set.
I am sure that it was good for him to have a day of rest, but wish he had felt better for it.
There is one session of the conference tomorrow that I HAVE to be there for, and John wants to go too. It is on Monday afternoon. 
Please pray we will at least make that session.
I would have to give this a thumbs down for today.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Well, another day of encouagements and discouragements. Although John had no major "Crashes" today he was not feeling all that well, so we skipped the morning sessions of the conference and the BBQ. Got there early enough to say "hi" to many friends who had come in just for this event. We were able to attend the evening session and were blessed by the worship (John got to practice his singing) and the message..
John faithfully did all his voice exercises today and shouted at me in a nice loud clear voice! I was actually surprised at how loud he could get - much better than with the therapist yesterday.
However, John's balance is getting much worse. He almost had another fall today. It took two of us to get him in and out of Gateway. I had a very difficult time getting him safely to the car at this end as well.
I think we will have to start to take the walker with us wherever we go (he has just been hanging on to me and using his cane  when we go out although he uses the walker in the apartment all the time.) I will also have to start to bring the car around to the front of the building and bring him down on the elevator rather than using the back stairs that come out right at our car in the garage.
He got his palm pilot (PDA) ordered today so that made him happier. Now he needs a new mouse for his computer, new battery for his watch and I have only 4 days left to get air care on the car and get the insurance renewed. So now you know what I will be doing in between conference sessions this coming week!!
I guess it is another one up and one down for the thumbs today.
Prayer requests:
- that John's balance will incease along with his strength
- that we will be able to get to the most important of the Conference sessions
- that John will continue to do all his voice exercises and try to use his voice more
- that I will have more patience when he tries to say something and have to wait what seems like forever, because his mouth just will not work

Friday, July 2, 2010

Last night John had a fall - landing on his hip. Thankfully he did not hurt himself. This morning, upon our arrival at Gateway, he fell down very hard on the porch, and this time he has some bruises to prove it - but no broken bones. He was quite shaken by it. Whether that contributed to the rest of the morning or not, I don't know, but he had a misterable time. The meds were not working well, and he spent most of the morning lying on a couch in the student lounge ( which is next to where the conference is being held so he could still hear most of what the speakers where saying.) But he did not want to leave and come home.
In the afternoon we went to the speech therapist at Surrey Hospital. Nahal is a delightful person and seems to enjoy John thoroughly. However, John was still not doing well, and so some of what she was asking him to do - like breathing deeply - he had great difficulty doing because of his condition. She did enjoy his two jokes.
He has a mumber of exercises to do twice each day ( like shouting ahhhh as long and hard as he can). He now has permission to shout at his wife! He also has to bring a song to sing and another joke to tell at his session next week.
By the time we got back to Gateway at 4pm, he was starting to feel better which meant that we were able to stay for supper and the evening session.
So while half the day was a real thumbs down I do have to give a thumbs up for the later part of the day!
I am still amazed at how well he has done in the last three days. I know we are being upheld in much prayer.
Tomorrow is the BBQ and public meeting so please do pray he will be well enough to attend those.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Happy Canada Day everyone.
John woke up at 6:30 am this morning saying he needed meds (we usually start them at 8am) I gave them to him but then be began to throw up. Finally he was able to lie down and rest but said he felt awful. I told Margie and Linda that I did not think we would make it to the meetings today but because it was Gateway's time to give their report we really felt we should be there.
The ladies went to the Conference and told the prayer group that John was not feeling well - and they prayed very hard for us.
After more rest, John was able to get up, get dressed and we arrived in time for the beginning of the Gateway report at 10:30am. John felt quite good and was able to stay until the formal meetings ended in the mid afternoon.
After we got home tonight he had another small episode but it did not last long. We decided not to try and go back for the evening session - or join the group as they go to the park for the fireworks. But we hope we will be able to see them from our balcony as we ae much closer to the action than Gateway.
One thumbs down and one thumbs up today - with a big thank you for all the prayer and for God's strength for the day.
Prayer requests
1. That John will be able to continue to attend the important parts of the Conference this week and next week.
2. That speech therapy will go well tomorrow afternoon