C Hardy,  I had many choices in front of me, and smoking was one thing that didn’t go along with any of them.  I didn’t quit because doctors told me to, or my kids.  I did it for me, I’m a real good co-dependent and always took care of everyone but myself.  After this last bout with cancer (this time colon) the side affects from treatment hit me harder then before. I didn’t cough, or spit up junk, but I was sick of being broke and not being able to do things I wanted to do because of lack of money.  I haven’t been to a movie in five years.

Thank you for the acknowledgement, my kids are going to be happy when they see me, I"m not telling them, I’m going to wait to see if they notice, hehe.

I’ll say a prayer that your dad quits, it’s never too late they tell me. For every month your smoke free you gain two months back of your life.

God Bless, have a Happy 4th, it’s next week. :)

Great accounts, one and all. My stuff is nothing spectacular, but it’s kind of fun to chronicle things. One thing I didn’t write about, but will now, is the heavy rainstorm we had Friday, June 19th. Some parts of West Michigan received more than 7 inches of rain, and there were lots of uprooted trees, a tremendous number of lightning strikes, this type of thing.

The following Saturday, June 20th, was the first day of the annual B-93 Birthday Bash put on by the station with the third-most powerful FM signal in the U.S. It takes place at the Ionia Free Fair grounds.

Well, it was sunny that Saturday, and things got underway normally, with an expected crowd of about 75,000. But not longer after, the entrance/exit to the south parking lot became impassable with rising water from the nearby Grand River. By evening, thousands of cars had to be left behind, and thousands of people had to be escorted out in knee-deep water by rescue crews. As of this writing, hundreds of vehicles are still stranded, and lots of people are taking heat. Some say officials should’ve know this situation could’ve occurred, etcetera. I won’t venture an opinion, as I don’t know diddly. The second day (Sunday) of the event was cancelled, obviously. But, it’s an ongoing drama. Check out the aerial photos: http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/central_mich/B93_Bash_car_removal_starts_Saturday

What is a Caregiver worth?  How does one measure that?  I am bidding fairwell soon to the loving family that used my services.  I have been with them for over two years now, and find the parting difficult. 

It all ended too fast….I just had a gut feeling she wasn’t going to make it once they removed the trake.  Two days…that’s it.  It’s hard to be the bed-side caregiver when the worst happens.  911 was called, and paramedics managed to get her heart to fuction…but she still could not breath on her own.  Her husband and I rushed to the hospital fearing the worst.  He was asked to make the heartbreaking choice.  He told me she had suffered so much…she had only been out of the hospital for about 3 weeks.  While hospitalized for 5 months she suffered a cardiac arrest, two episodes of lung collapses, infections, surgery for a bedsore and her bones were so frail that tranfers had to be done with extreme care.  The one thing that I have not mentioned is that she was a quad.  She had been one for 27 years.  I wasn’t the only one who sensed she was very close to the end, another nurse had the same feeling days before.   She tired quickly, couldn’t concentrate, had increased flem that was getting harder and harder to get out. 

I feel I did my best, and her husband agrees.  The best thing I can do now is help him through the comming days of preperation by offering support any way I can.  I feel a heartfelt sympathy and understanding for what he is going through.  I will stay as long as he and the family wishes me to.  I really don’t feel ready to say "goodbye", and I need a break from caregiving. 

Two things are on my priority list:  Continuing to write my book on child safety especially child drownings.  My husband is a survival instructor who teaches military and law enforcement, and teaches specific awareness skills.  Because we have raised 7 children through precarious toddlerhoods replete with hair-raising adventures, the two of us have put our heads together and come up with a list of Safety Principles and Concepts for Parents that are brand new.  We are calling it "The Toddler Survival Project" - How to keep your toddler alive, and keep yourself out of jail."  or something along those lines.  

The second thing going on with me, is that my friend Jules, lost her house to foreclosure and is now homeless, so she and her two children are living with us, and our 5 children, in a 4 bedroom home.  It’s more than cozy.  (And as soon as she moved in my dishwasher broke, and my dryer broke - for good.) Her whole family lives out of state, and because she is divorced, she can’t move in with them and leave the state.  She is working intermittently as a dental assistant, but just when she got her tax refund to use as a security deposit, her credit card companies froze her account and demanded payments.  She told them she was homeless, they didn’t care.  Nor does it matter that her 11 year old son has close to $100,000 in his bank account from an injury settlement that required her to miss 4 months of work to care for him  starting this whole downward cycle.  That is sealed by court mandate for his college costs.  

Government knows best.