Scott's home!

Word of wise to the squeamish... Incision picture ahead!
Scott got home from the hospital on Thurday night. We would have appreciated another night in the hospital, but you know how insurance companies & hospitals work anymore.... in one day, out the next.
Scott has 18 staples in his back where they put the clamps on vertebra L4, L3, L2.

There is another 7" incision on Scott's belly, but he didn't want me to take a picture of that one. :)
Scott's had problems with getting his intestinal system to 'wake up'. He's very distended & bloated. I'm not sure which is giving him more grief... the incision sites or the bloated belly. Yes, the gases have built up that bad. You'd think he wouldn't have any problems passing gas....!!

Scott's diabetes has been a challenge for us to learn. We've been watching what we eat & all the sugars & carbs in his diet. I'm afraid we're all in for a real lifestyle CHANGE. The insulin shots are helping his blood sugars come down to a more managable level... mostly 150's - 200's. Yay!

Dillon's snowboarding trip

Here is Dillon & his friend, John, in New Mexico at the Ruidoso ski resort. John's dad took several pictures of the boys. Here is a good one of Dillon 'gettin' some air'.
Sometimes his is the way John's dad would find Dillon. :)
Dillon had so much fun. We are thankful for a nice family to take him & a grandma who helped pay for the trip. :)

hospital update on Scott

I know many of you are awaiting news on Scott's recovery....
We had good news & bad news today.
Good news is that Scott finally got through the grogginess of anesthesia and nausea of pain meds (changed meds @ 9:00 this morning because he was so sick) - he got up 3 times today & walked the length of the hallway.
Bad news is that his blood sugars have been closely monitored since he entered the hospital & the internal medicine doctor has declared his diabetes is 'out of control'. He has oredered for Scott to begin a regular routine of insulin shots taken 4 times a day.
Great news (bonus! I forgot about this one!) is that his blood sugar count was down to 188 when I left the hospital tonight. Normal is close to 120. This means the insulin is working for him & he is looking at leaving the hospital on Thursday or Friday.
The Coles are planning to leave on Friday morning - but have no fear.... my Dad will be here Thursday night to be with Scott!
Do we have a Great God who provides, or what?! :)

Surgeon says 'looks good'

Wanted to give you a quick update from today's sugery (YES!! It FINALLY happened!):

6:45 left for hospital
7:15 arrived
8:30 blood sugar too high (309 - got insulin shot)
9:30 blood sugar still too high (311 - got another insulin shot)
10:05 left for surgery
2:20 Surgeon gave good report that fusion went well & pleased with instrumentation
5:15 Got into private hospital room
6:00 Kids bored & went home
8:30 Scott got out of bed to sit (for 10 min then back to bed)
10:00 I got home
11:00 Finishing this post and GOING TO BED

THANK YOU for your prayers & well wishes. KEEP 'EM COMING!!
The Doctor said his part is finished - now it's up to Scott to get the diabetes under control & get himself into a healthy lifestyle. Scott has limited mobility in his lower back now & it will be an adjustment for him (imagine wearing a brace that doesn't allow your lower back to bend - that's how his life will be now). We need to work on it... prayerfully this will be a GREAT new start for us! This is the good news we needed!

The Blue Bonnets are here!

We stopped next to the entrance to our subdivision to get this picture of a small field of blue bonnets. They are just starting to bloom & every once in a while you'll see a whole field of them.
Very pretty!

Chillin' with the Coles

Here are the Cole guys dinking around with the computer. Left to right on the couch: Howie, Jared & Scott. Behind the couch: Tyler & Dillon.
Averi & Jake enjoying the breeze coming through Dillon's bedroom window. Feels great!

look closely

A Texas friend sent this picture to us because he knows we're from Iowa. This is a post card from 1918. There are 18,000 men preparing for WWI at Camp Dodge in Des Moines, Iowa. If you click on the picture you can see the individual men. Neat, huh?

pressing 'forward'

Well... here we go...
Scott has been through pre-op testing at the hospital today. Everything is a 'GO' for surgery on Monday at 9:30am. His blood sugar & triglycerides are still high, but not enough to delay surgery.

The Cole family is on their way from Iowa & will arrive tomorrow! We're looking forward to spending some time together before Scott has surgery.

My eye is finally getting better. I went to another doctor on Tues. night & got stronger antibiodics. Did the trick.

Seems like things are holding tight for now. Makes me nervous. You know how our luck has been lately.... I guess stay tuned. Forgive my pessimistic attitude...

If we didn't have bad luck, we'd have no luck at all

I don't know how to even say this without crying...

There's a possibility Scott's surgery may get cancelled or postponed. He's supposed to have the surgery a week from today.


The doctor assured him last Friday that Scott's high blood sugar was caused by a side-effect from a blood pressure medicine he's taking. A simple change of meds should fix him right up... but they did a blood work-up to find out for sure.

Yep.

He has type 2 diabetes and his triglycerides were TEN TIMES the normal limit. This is very dangerous and long term damage could result in pancreatitis. These problems can be controlled through diet modifications & MORE medicine. If the surgeon believes Scott's health is a risk - he may cancel surgery. We won't know any more until Scott meets with the surgeon in the next few days.

Scott went to fill his new prescriptions for the diabetes & triglycerides and was notified our insurance has been cancelled - cost us $150 for the pills. Ummmm.... according to the insurance company the COBRA insurance would continue with no problems (surgery was fine, prescriptions fine, appointments fine...) & the paperwork should arrive anyday now. The insurance co. sent the paperwork TODAY by mail (my last day of employment was Feb. 29 - Seventeen days ago!). What the heck?!? Why would they wait so long?

They said they should have gotten the papers to us sooner & they would gladly reimburse us any expenses we've incurred. Right. Do you think they'll question a $130,000 back surgery?

My eye is not better.

Linda leaves tomorrow.

Don't even get me started on the kids.

We need some good luck. Soon. Like the lottery or something.

Last minute sightseeing

We have enjoyed Linda's company and thought we'd squeeze in a few tourist-y things before she leaves next week.

Here we are descending the steps at Mt. Bonnell in Austin. (we counted 108 steps!) The view of downtown Austin is breathtaking! (you should see it at night!)
It was such a beautiful day we pulled over at a park. The boys kicked around the football while us girls sat to enjoy the weather. Then we rewarded ourselves with Sonic Slushies. :)

Here is Linda photographing the sunset at the Oasis. Perfect conclusion to a great day. Thanks for coming to be with us for a while, Linda!!

"Sunset Capital of Texas"

On Friday night we took Linda to one of Austin's infamous restaurants: The Oasis. This restaurant has mulitple tiers of decks to eat outside & watch the sunset over Lake Travis. We got there just in time. When the sun disappeared below the hills all the people clap & cheer.

It was 94 degrees on Friday with a great breeze. This is so awesome for March weather! Lots of people came out to enjoy the sunset at the Oasis. So.... when you get here we'll have to go. It's a deal.

my turn to be sick - warning - icky pics!!

Here's how the end of last week went:

Wed night: My right eye feels 'sore', like I've been punched in the eye.

Thurs. all day: See picture. Eye is tear-y and still sore. Starting to swell by nighttime.

Fri. morning: Eye is swelled almost shut & matted with gooky stuff. Called into work & went to walk-in health clinic. I told her I thought I had pink-eye. So she wrote me a prescription for antibiodic drops. She didn't even look at my eye. Maybe she's not really a doctor but slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night?

Sat. morning: The whole right side of my face is swollen & slightly numb. I got up early & took myself to the emergency room. Dr. looked in my eye with microscope & said I have a stye that has become infected. Gave me some oral anitbiodics in addition to the drops.

Today: The swelling has gone down from my face but my eye is still very puffy & sore. Not so much gooky stuff but still looks bad. See picture.

YUK!!

I do solemnly swear...

Well the oath I took isn't as historic as the president... but I am now a Deputy of Williamson County, Texas. I have the power to witness & record marriages, and register death and birth certificates in the state.
Deputy Shelly.
The County Clerk who Deputized me said that I am an official Deputy of the County. I'm expected to uphold the law in Williamson County.... we don't carry guns but we have heavy books we could throw. :)

Doggie Circus

We had 4 dogs in the house this weekend... talk about a circus! When one of them started barking; all of them (except Macey who can't bark-just runa round frantically) joined in. Notice the little Chihuahua on the left... his name is Gizmo... isn't he cute? He's so tiny compared to the rest. Clockwise starting with the Chihuahua... Gizmo, Macey, Sophie, and Quincy.

Stony Point Tigers WIN!!

Scott & Jared just got home from a National Rugby Tournament in Dallas where the Tigers took Championship in the 2nd bracket and 5th place overall!
They played against teams from Dallas, Houston and Massachusetts (lost 1st game then WON last 2 games!!). There were 2 teams from as far away as Canada!
Congrats to the Stony Point Tigers! They have not won a game yet - so to take Championship in their bracket is AWESOME!!

hula with Howie & Scott

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'that was when I carried you'

A friend named Milo sent this poem to us to remind us to stay positive & remember God is always with us. Thanks Milo. :) It's true, sometimes we need reminded of God's provision....

“One night a man had a dream.
He dreamt he was walking along a beach with the Lord.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand;
one belonging to him, and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of his life
there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it.
‘Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life
there is only one set of footprints,
I don’t understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.’
The Lord replied, ‘My precious, precious child,
I loved you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.’ “
-Author Unknown

snowboarding anyone??

A friend of Dillon's had invited him to go snowboarding in New Mexico over spring break. We obviously could not afford for him to go. But at the last minute (last Thursday night) Dillon's grandma Sandy loaned him the $150 he needed (thank you Sandy!!). Click here to see the live webcam at the Ski Apache Ski Resort in Ruidoso, New Mexico.

Dillon's wearing a grey jacket... make sure you leave a comment if you see him!

Jared or Jeremy

Grandpa Larry has always thought Jared & 'Jeremy' from Zits are mirror images of each other. After yesterday's post about Jared's note-taking skills (see below) Grandpa Larry sent me to look at last Friday's comic strip.
Kinda creepy, isn't it?! :)

Open note? or Open hand?

Jared had an 'open note' test today. This is how he kept his notes. On his hand. Conventional. As long as he doesn't need to go to the bathroom. Eww. :)

our very own "Alice"

You remember Alice from the Brady Bunch... taking care of the Bradys.... cooking & washing & running errands.... We have our own "Alice" staying with us, named LINDA!! She's taking care of the Coles. She has come from Iowa to stay with us for a while this month and we LOVE HER!!
Thank You Linda for all you're doing for us!!

3rd time is a charm??

Here we go... again.... (and this BETTER be the last time!!)

Scott got a call from the surgeon's office today. The surgeon was able to overturn the denial!! YAY!!

Scott is scheduled for surgery on Monday, March 24 in Austin. We're sooooo looking forward to getting this surgery done! (I'm talking really, really looking forward.)

About health insurance... or how we're going to pay for this... ummmm... we're waiting to work things out - not sure how yet. I found out today that insurance from my new job is not effective until June 1. Bummer.

*goosebumps*

You really need to hear this version of the The National Anthem. Talk about goosebumps....!!

Williamson County Clerk's office

I will be starting a new job on Monday! I will be working in the Williamson County Clerk's office in the Vitals Department (birth, death, marriage).
Thank you God!
I will make about half the pay from my last job... and we have to wait 60 days for insurance.... it'll be a stretch but I'm happy to have a job!!
The picture below about our next house is still an option... heehee