A Wonderful Husband

I do have a wonderful husband. I felt bad after hearing of several dying patient's dreams. Many wanted to take a great adventure in a different land. Some wanted to scuba dive in a beautiful reef. Still others wanted to accomplish some type of physical feat.

So, I asked Keith if he had something special he wanted to do soon and described what I had seen. You probably know what he said but I was somewhat surprised because I Was thinking about the request from my selfishness. Anyway, he said in very few words that he wanted to teach and coach.

That's my guy. You gotta love him. I know I'm blessed to know him. =)

Good Things Happening

Just a note to say Happy Thanksgiving. This week a lot of good things happened for Keith and I. The Social Security papers were filled out and even mailed! I also found out that I can just go to the mail zone to get a disability placard for Keith rather than the DMV where we would have to wait in long lines. Also, Keith looks and feels very well. I know there have been a lot of prayers and good wishes. Thank you.

Finally, I got to babysit Kayleigh for the first time. She is so precious and sweet and smelled good. =) We pray that her cough will go away soon.

Enjoy your family and friends and we will do the same.

I'm a Caregiver

I'm a caregiver. I AM A CAREGIVER. I can't believe it. I just realized that I am a caregiver. I kept thinking that day would come later, but it must be here. I was filling out the social security forms about 20 pages of which I am not suppose to asked the "disable person". I tried really hard not to ask Keith but he's my husband. Well my thinking may have been off because when I mentioned to him that he prepares his own meals quite often he said,"Pam, I haven't made myself a meal in a long time."

Also, my job is affected by my being a caregiver. I cannot take a substitute teaching job today because Keith has a speech appt. It's ok and I want to take him. In fact, others have offered to drive him. (Thanks Cheri) I may have to accept that offer of help and I will when needed.

Keith looks really well so the rest is helping. Plus all the good food being sent our way. We were given some soup at church by Holly and Michael. It was so nice because as it turned out I was able to invite my cousin and wife over after church and not worry about what we would have for lunch. Thank you.

Yes, we found an elliptical at a great price on Craig's list and they delivered! Thanks all of you who were looking.

And finally, you guys did it. I thought I can be super-woman and always write you hand written thank you notes. After all, I not really doing anything right? Guess again, Pam, I can't keep up with all you have given, so I humbly ask you to receive mine and Keith's heartfelt thank you for all of it. Your generosity reminds of us our blessings not only at this time of year, but always for our family and friends.

Off to speech we go!

Paper work and more paper work!

Just got back from a "brisk" walk. It took 20 mins just to warm up. It was great to breath the cool crisp air. And how about those mountains? Those of you who live in Granite know what I mean. Of course our Minnesota friends and Reno friends are ahead of us with its snow. Keith went on a walk also. We both went exact opposite directions (maybe we needed a break from each other you say?) but ended up at the house almost at the same time. Funny. We'll enjoy a cup of coffee and a Christmas movie at 4pm. Almost time. :)

I said paper work because the Social Security Dept. must have decided Keith's MSA wasn't bad enough. They sent me about 20 pages of stupid questions to answer. Example, What did your husband (oh excuse me, the disabled person) do for you before he was disabled and write it all down on two lines!! Well I said he did everything a good husband does for the wife he loves. I don't think they wanted that answer so I tried to write it all but how do you put into words what Keith means to me as a husband. He not only takes care of me but also does anything (ok, most) anything that I ask. Then they ask what did you do all day at each of your last 15 jobs before you became disabled. Ugggggg.

Good news, however, We think we found Keith an eliptical. It was used by a woman who also needed a very stable machine and without swinging arms. We will probably get it tomorrow. Her husband said he would even bring it to us!

A few thanks to all of you wonderful friends and yes our relatives are our friends too.

To Michael.........the food was yummy.

To Linda............the food was yummy.

To our church family..........the food was yummy.

To Uncle Gary and Aunt Jean.............the food was yummy.

Are you sensing some sort of theme here? I know I am. It's time to go and have some pumpkin bread and eggnog in my coffee. YUMMY

Eliptical

Keith wants me to let everyone know that he is looking for an eliptical. Probably used and one that only works the legs because it's hard for him to balance using the arm controls.

Fun Days

Wow, I told you we liked visitors. We've had several the last few days. Keith is looking and feeling very well. Thanks for the concerns and prayers.

Jack and Julie Goyette came and stayed with us Saturday. We talked and talked and even walked a little. Well, Julie and I did while I think Jack and Keith were watching some football game. You know they had to check out the new TV. :) Keith just pointed out that it was not "just some football game, It was the Vikings!"

Yesterday our neighbor Ernie came by mid-morning. Then we had a couple of dr. appts. In the afternoon came Andy who was nice enough to come by and see what he could do for us. That was great, but guess who kept getting mixed up as to when Keith's aunt and uncle were coming? You're right. ME. Well, they were at the door about the same time as Andy. It was great because I like a lot of people around. (Keith kept saying they were coming Monday. He is the better listener. I should have paid more attention.) We couldn't have been more happy that they were here. The church had given us some great food the night before and we invited Clint and family over. Fun times.

About that same time, Eddie, a former player, came by to borrow a stopwatch for coaching basketball. Speaking of b-ball, this is the first week in years that Keith hasn't coached it. It's sad, but ok. We're glad for the distractions.

So, we had a good visiting day. Thanks Linda and Jim for the coffee maker. We have had so much fun with it and have been serving all our visitors coffee. (Is 10 cups of coffee too much in one day?) We don't want our guest to drink alone!

It's Tues. morning. Tony Mace should be any minute to get his cup of coffee. No, he's coming to have Keith tape his ankle for his firefighter physical test. Gotta go, It's time for my first cup of coffee. :)

Good Morning

Listening to Christmas music from our former church worship team. They made a tape. I know Keith had asked them to please make one. We're so glad they did because most of the team are doing God led ministry elsewhere. We remember them always with love. Keith would go early to church to hear them practice each Sunday.

Speaking of Keith, he's probably doing better than a lot of you. He, thankfully, hasn't gotten the typical cold that can come when you work at a school. Like I said, he was able to exercise this week. He slso had a good speech session. Apparently, the therapist is encouraging him to speak much louder than his family is used to and we have accused him of yelling at us. I told her about that and she reprimanded us because she told him to breath a certain way so he could talk loudly. We will obey :)

Keith has declared December as a vacation from MSA. No doctor appts. He says, "We'll see if that works out."

More about me and being a caregiver later. I didn't think I was one!

Have a great weekend. We are looking forward to Jack and Julie coming over today and staying the night.

Relaxing Day

Keith and I have just been hanging around getting things done on our list. Sort of boring, but we have been waiting for that day so we did Yoga this morning. We laughed as we tried to get up from the floor, but hey at least we did it.

Keith remarked that he hadn't even read his book because he hasn't had time. He is busy, it's just a different kind of busy than he is used to. I, on the other hand am used to doing "house chores," and was more than willing to have him help make beds, empty the dishwasher and fold clothes. No wonder he went for a walk. :)

Oh yea, Keith's test came back negative for DVT. We were very happy.

I bet not many of you have had the following happen. Sat, Keith and I were on our way to Clints to visit and Keith called Kristi and asked her what she was doing. Her answer was, "I'm learning arabic." It was so funny and so like her. She loves to learn and was so excited to tell us about the free language programs available at the library.

We enjoyed all the grandkids and their parents Sunday though the Seahawks was disappointing.

Keith says, "Go Vikings, great win Sunday!"

We just got off the phone with Keith's Uncle Gary and Aunt Jean who told us they would be coming up on the 15th. We look forward to their visit. This Sat our good friends Jack and Julie are coming over.


Time for dinner.

Disability Card thing

When you come from a stubborn family and one in which prides itself on having perfect attendance for several of its members some of who can say they went all 12 grades without an absence( And one who had a teacher who made a mistake and marked a trip to the dentist as an absence, but I'm not bitter!) it is hard to realize that you need to find out how to get one of those cards you hang on the rear view mirror because your husband is having more and more difficulty walking. He's walking still but with winter coming it won't work very well to have to park quite some distance away in possible inclement weather to go to dr. appts. We both didn't want to ask for one. We didn't even know who to ask. Remember, this is Keith who only missed 1 day of school in 26 years. The first two places I asked were not the right ones so we asked our case manager. She steered us in the right direction and of course it was not a problem. They have the application right there in our neurologist office and of course, Keith qualified.

I will never look at people who have those disabled placards the same way again. I never resented them having a close parking spot I just never knew what had to happen for them to get one. We now have to take the application to the Dept of Motor Vehicles. Those places can be scary. I hope we get a nice person that doesn't talk to loud about why we are there. Not so much fun to do.

Keith wants to go back to work so bad. It's hard for him not to.

We've had a good week though. Our friends and family are so supportive. Also, our new friend, Steve who has MSA is going to Hawaii. Keith is very impressed with his courage to travel and if it goes well for Steve, may consider a trip there himself. Well, I mean I think he wants to go with me. You know what I mean. ")

Good Friday Morning

Though the days sort of run into each other, Keith and I are trying to get into some kind of schedule where the weekends still seem like the weekends.

We look forward to this morning enjoying some more fruit from the large basket Keith's Aunt and Uncle sent us. Thanks Kay and Bob. The oranges melted in our mouths. I think we had 3 pieces yesterday. :)

I was recalling thinking that if I were ever in our position regarding our health that I would do anything, go anywhere to get help or treatments to keep myself or a loved one alive. But in reality you could spend tons of money which does matter because you may need it towards latter years and a lot of wasted time that could be better spent living a quality life with the one you love. Many friends have given us recommendations and supplements for Keith because they want so much for him to get better. I love that about you guys and I will continue to check with his neurologist concerning their effectiveness and value.

Speaking of his neurologist, he ordered an one hour vascular test to rule out dvt. Keith is not real happy about that. First he has about an hour of speech to do. Meanwhile I get to see Diala and Kristiana during that time. Grandpa would rather do that!

All for now. Keith is going to the school this morning to help someone. I forget who but he is always helping. Cool guy.

Record setting Fall day.

Keith and I have enjoyed the exceptionally warm last two days with two of our granddaughters. Also, Keith continues to be able to work out at the gym as well as doing some core strength work at home. I'm proud of him.

Today was a trip to the Social Security Office to pursue getting disability benefits. While waiting for our appointment, we looked at each other and laughed when I said, "Never thought we'd be doing this at this time in our lives." But because Clint was so thorough helping us (ok, doing the app.), the appointment was less than one-half an hour. The case worker mentioned that Clint had done an excellent job. It still felt funny sitting in those chairs sharing private information to a stranger.

Overall, good day. I just noticed some swelling in Keith's calf. I e-mailed his doc. His left one an inch larger than his right.

For those of you who are new to the blog, thank you for following along. Just a reminder that I am using it as a type of record for our kids and it will not always make sense I suppose. Thank you for letting me share and vent.

Hard Visit for me Saturday

You may have read Keith had a great visit with some of his players. I on the other hand, used that time to visit a woman who lost her husband 4 months ago to MSA. We could have talked easily for hours both comparing husbands Thankfully, it was more like an hour because she told me some tough stuff that she wished someone had told her. Things like where and who to call if you decide to donate Keith's brain (you feel a tug to help further the study of this rare disease). She not only told me but added necessary details.

I'm looking at a list with about 5 major sources of information she wrote for me. One is becoming a member of a funeral Co-op. She said it sounds weird but the cost is cut by so much that it is worth doing. She was glad she did and so many of the arrangements she had to make were done without pressure.

Let's see, next she asked me if I has a POLST. (Physicians Order Life Sustaining Treatment.) I thought a living will covered this but I guess you post this on the wall, or fridge so the fire dept. will follow it. Otherwise they have to basically do all measures possible to save a life. Now wouldn't you think you'd want that? She reminded me that it can be changed anytime.

Well that was as much as I could take. I will talk to her again because the awful shared kindred of this disease is welcomed. So very few people know what MSA is , its, complications, its progress, and its road to finality.

We are thankful for our blessings. You can bet I was ready to not only hold and be with Keith, but to pay extra attention to the wonderful family and friends we have.

With love, Pam