2014 was a challenging year for my family and I don't know how we would have got through it without God, family and friends. Actually, it started in December 2013, when Mom's eye surgery for her glaucoma went bad and she had to have a second surgery in January 2014 and then a third in May 2014. That surgery saved her from going completely blind, now she has one eye she is blind in and the other she can see shapes and variations of light. Going blind is a very difficult process psychologically, very frustrating for someone who has had sight and especially for someone who is very independent but we are working through it. Previous to Mom's May eye surgery Jennie and I went to PA and got our parents and brought them to stay at Jennie's (with her family, Ted and Katie), we decided it was no longer safe for them to live way out in Scandia, PA, isolated as the house is. Then my father had a heart attack in July, the day before we were supposed to fly to Colorado for a family reunion. He has recovered and we thank God he didn't have his heart attack on the plane. Dad is 85, has emphysema and is also an Alzheimer patient. The Sunday before Thanksgiving my brother Kirk's 15 year old granddaughter, Shayde, died from complications from her heart transplant. Then my sister, Jennie, was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer the day before Thanksgiving. We still had a great Thanksgiving dinner because we are a family of faith and have a lot to be thankful for. Jennie had her surgery at UVMC in Charlottesville, VA the following Tuesday but they weren't able to get all the cancer so she starts her chemo on 28 JAN. Prayers for her healing and recovery will be greatly appreciated. I moved from Herndon, VA to Ashburn, VA the weekend before Thanksgiving, and Mom and Dad moved in with me on 19 December. Mom fell out at Jennie's Christmas Eve, hit her head and we spent hours at the hospital in Warrenton, VA while she was checked out, other than a huge lump on her head and being sore from the fall and from Dad falling on top of her (he was trying to stop her from falling) she was OK. Then my Dad had a TIA (mini-stroke) on 5 JAN and had to spend the night in Landsdown INOVA hospital. He is OK, this is an expected occurrence for someone who had as severe brain stem stroke as he did in 1992, the fact that he survived with no residual damage is nothing short of a miracle. Still this is the second TIA he has had in less than a year, he had one in March 2014. And now Mom has some sort of infection in her legs that has caused severe cellulitis, her doctor is treating her with very powerful antibiotics but is stumped as to the cause because all her lab work came back OK. She has until Monday to show some sign of improvement or she is going to the hospital, doctor's orders.
So I have not had much time for e mails or blogs or politics or much of anything else. I am not complaining, just have more important things to deal with. My family will always have priority in my life, I thank God for the blessing they are and that I have them.
Peace
So I have not had much time for e mails or blogs or politics or much of anything else. I am not complaining, just have more important things to deal with. My family will always have priority in my life, I thank God for the blessing they are and that I have them.
Peace
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