A Visit from Laurie & Update on Grandpa Bud

Well, I've been using my new sleeping device for about a week and a half now... and feel better than I have for years. My mood has improved, I have more energy, and I've started to resume things I used to enjoy (like going for walks and drawing).

I've already lost five pounds.

The machine makes some noise at night, but it's quieter than my snoring was and mostly just sounds like deep breathing. This change has Jon sleeping better at night too.

There was fun stuff this week! My sister Laurie came over Monday for a two-night stay with us. She's on spring break from her teaching job in Madison.

The first night she came she made us dinner. We had baked Tilapia, a pineapple & pepper slaw, and parmesan couscous. The kids were skeptical about eating fish (I've often heard Emma lament about how on "fish days" at school the whole building reeks of fish), but Tilapia is mild and the kids LOVED it. We all did. In fact, the recipe was so good (and healthful), I'll post it here:

Laurie's Baked Tilapia

Tilapia fillets-- thawed, rinsed, and patted dry

grapeseed oil

fish herb seasoning

thyme

Preheat oven following package instructions. Spread a light coating of grapeseed oil on the bottom of a large glass pan. Place fish in the pan and drizzle lightly with grapeseed oil. Use a brush to coat evenly.

Lightly sprinkle fish with fish herb seasoning. Add additional thyme seasoning if not included in the mix.

Bake in oven until the fillets are flaky. Let sit a couple minutes and enjoy!

For most of Laurie's visit we hung around the house and visited. She played board games with Michael and Emma and read lots of books to Leila. We had long conversations over hot cups of coffee.

Monday afternoon Jon came home from work. He had just left for his job in Iowa that morning (at 2:30 am) and worked a few hours before turning around to come home-- his dad, who had been hospitalized the previous week, was doing worse and Jon wanted to see him again.

At left, a picture of Jon's parents around Christmas.

Bud has been in a nursing home for about a year now. Until recently, he was mobile (able to move himself around in a wheelchair) and in good spirits. But these past couple of weeks he developed terrible back pain and was no longer able to leave bed without the help of a lift.

His decline was such that the nursing home sent him to St. Joseph's Hospital in Chippewa Falls. The family rallied around him. But the doctor didn't seem to know what was wrong. All kinds of tests were performed and it was determined he had a bladder infection. For some reason they didn't treat it. At one point during his hospitalization Bud went 30 hours without being seen by a doctor.

After a week of that the family had him moved to Sacred Heart in Eau Claire. Sad to say, but there seems to be an incredible difference in the quality of hospitals. At Sacred Heart he was seen by someone right away. The nurses were very responsive and the doctor immediately came up with an action plan. He recognized that some of Bud's problems were drug-related. His slurred speech was a sign of narcotic overdose; since the pain had started Bud was heavily drugged (at the nursing home and St. Jo's) so he would be more compliant and easier to take care of.

The new doctor took him off the narcotics and instead started an intensive antibiotic treatment to address his infection. Untreated for so long, the infection had spread to other parts of his body and was the likely source of much of his pain.

Jon stayed home until Wednesday, visiting Bud everyday. By the time he left he had a sense that now finally his dad is improving. A sign of Bud's getting better? At one point a nun came into the room and asked him and Jon to join hands with her to pray. She asked what they wanted to pray for. Jon's dad said (with classic Bud humor) something about being a "heathen." But the nun didn't hear that and instead thought he asked for "healing". He didn't correct her and they had a nice civilized prayer about healing.

As you can see by the pictures, we visited Jack again this week, this time with Laurie. The little guy's doing great.

Last week Jon and I went to Mona Lisa's for dinner (Jonathan is the new bar manager there).

We came without a reservation and it was super busy. Jon got us a couple of glasses of wine and we waited at a seating area in the back for about an hour before getting a table.

But once seated, the food and the service were great! Jon had salmon and I had peanut chicken. It was a nice time out.

Anyway, back to Laurie's visit!

The last night Laurie was with us we had some strange March weather. It alternated between rain, snow, and sleet, and a thick carpet of slush covered the ground. There was thunder and lightning.

We awoke the next morning to six inches of snow... and it was still coming down hard. The kids had a snowday from school, and Laurie was marooned in Colfax until the roads were plowed and the weather let up a little.

It was lucky Jon was still around to help clear the snow. It was a messy job, since under the snow were layers of mud, slush, and ice.

At left you can see the snow through our living room window... the "think spring" decorations on my window look more than a little ironic, under the circumstances.

Anyway, Laurie finally made her escape and is safely back in Middleton. Thanks for coming to see us, Lulu!