Introducing the Reverend Deacon Marj Oughton

After approx. five years of studies, I'm proud to introduce the Reverend Deacon Marj Oughton aka my sister, St. Albans Episcopal Church, Albany, OR. I was privileged to attend her ordination on 2/28/09 and then spend a few days with her just being sisters. Congratulations again, big sister.

THE man in my life

Brian and I met in Key West, Fl in August 1976. We were married 2/14/77. There have been many ups and downs but we decided before we got married that we would take our vows seriously and always try to work things out. After 32 years, he's "still the one."

Getting to Know Me

I'd like to introduce you to two of the men in my life. My dad, who is a young 94, and his best buddy, my dog Jamie. If you say Pop-pop is here, Jamie heads for the door. The two have a relationship that brings tears to your eyes. Jamie will jump up onto the sofa back so that Dad can pet him without leaning over. He can't wait for Dad to sit down so he can sit down next to him and get his head rubbed. Now this would not be special except Dad is the only one who Jamie will sit next to for any longer that a nano-second.

Brightening a Cold, Gray Day

Thought I'd try to brighten the day by looking at some of the stars of my garden last year. I've had the amaryllis for years but it never bloomed in the house so I finally put it in a big pot outside last year. It has multiplied and bloomed beautifully. The clematis I bought at Home Depot on clearance. Didn't know if they'd grow here in the heat but I was pleasantly surprised that both varieties (Nelly Moser & Alice Fisk, I think) thrived.

Update on the Man

The primary care MD has ordered more tests which are to be done over the next few weeks. Brian had bloodwork done on Wed. and they are changing his Coumadin dose again. So far Brian is doing his best to comply with the doctor's instructions. The doctor also cleared him to go to work Monday if Brian thinks he can do it. He does, so we'll see what happens.

Upside Down

Two days after I started this blog, our world turned upside down. On Friday, 12/19 my husband, Brian, got dizzy and fainted outside our home. When he fell, he hit his face on the corner of the house and the drain pipe, cutting his face in three places. He was bleeding profusely from the cuts. I got him to the ER (with the help of the local police & EMS). The reason he passed out was a pulmonary embolism. The doctors told me the bad news was he had multiple clots in both lungs; the good news was they were all small. It was difficult for the doctors to find the balance between keeping more clots from forming and keeping him from bleeding to death. They told me he almost died and we weren't out of the woods yet. He was sedated and intubated, CT scanned, X-rayed and then moved to ICU. The chaplain took me up to the ICU waiting room.

By the time I saw Brian again, he had a naso-gastric tube, a breathing tube and about four IV's. They had tried to clean up his face but he was still bleeding. They also had him restrained because he was occasionally breaking through the sedation and would then try to remove the breathing tube. (He pulled it out once in the ER.) Someone came in and stitched two of the three cuts.

The first two days were touch and go. They gave him two units of blood on the second day. The afternoon of the third day he was completely weaned from the breathing tube and he was awake. He was moved out of ICU on the fifth day. After six more days of speech therapy, breathing treatments, blood draws and learning how to give himself a shot in the stomach, he came home on 12/30.

The first few days home were pretty hard for him but slowly he is improving. He has seen the pulmonologist, cardiologist, and Tues. sees his primary care physician to have his blood checked. He will be on Coumadin for at least six months. Next Monday (1/26) he hopes to return to work. Pretty good for a guy who almost died five weeks ago, huh?
P.S. he no longer smokes!! Yay!

To my scrapping friends especially Marie who left her family to get to the hospital that first day, Patti, Janet, Julie, and Susan, a huge THANK YOU for your prayers, support and helping to keep me calm; to my dear friend, Kathy who dropped everything and drove over from Conroe to stay with me, you are the epitome of a true friend, I can never thank you enough; to my sister Ruth who is always by my side, I don't know what I would do without you. This last year has been a medical adventure for us with Dad and now Brian. I hope 2009 is a year where we can catch our breath finally. Thanks to my niece Roxy and her boyfriend, Sam for being there whenever you could, for making Uncle Brian laugh even when he didn't think he could. Thanks to my big sister, Marj and my niece Heather (and Daniel for sharing her). More thank yous to my nephew, Alec and his wife, Crystal for helping me sort out the medical jargon and reassuring me that things were progressing as they should. Thanks to my cousin, Cathy and my lifelong friend, Winnie. Thanks to all the people that we don't even know who were out there praying for us.