Jan 24

Dad is insisting that he is going to go watch Tim's volleyball game. I am nervous it will be too much for him. We shall see how it goes.

Not only did he handle Tim's game but he went to Kelly's basketball game, too. Total of about 1 1/2 hours he spent out of the house. He is tired and sore tonight but he was thrilled to get out and do something normal.

Jan 23

I am really tired so this is going to be short. Kevin is doing well. He is sore and needs assistance with everything, but he is getting up and walking around the house a little bit. Progress.

At 8:00 pm he commented that we should have been sitting on a airplane that very second heading to Florida. I tried to remind him things could have turned very differently 8 days ago and "you may never have had a chance to sit in this very chair and read that clock ever again so don't being worrying about sitting on any airplanes, yet."

Jan 22

Kevin is home!! Karen was his nurse today. She has been great right from the first day of admitting. She has only been on three times since Kevin was there but she was his favorite nurse, Veronica being his second favorite. She told him she was going to do everything she could to get him released today and she did.
My friend, Rose took the ride in with me to pick him up. He was back in his own house before the kids even got out of school. What a great surprise that was for them.
I know it is going to be tough for a while but he is so glad to be in his own house again. Now lets gets him better as fast as we can. He came home with a molded back brace made out of a hard plastic and velcro straps along with a cane to support him when he walks. I wasa hoping to get a photo of his homecoming but he didn't want any pictures so today's photo is of Skittles lying in his pillows. She was so excited to see Dad walk in the door!! She missed him as mush as the rest of us.

Jan 21

Wednesday. Kevin thought he would be coming home tomorrow but they Doctors and nurses are concerned. He has not had any normal body functions yet and he can't leave until he does. So it may not be until Friday now. He is very upset. He called me at least 5 times at work today. I went in right after work again and stayed until 9 again tonight. I have to get some rest or I am not going to be able to handle it when he does come home. I looked around my house tonight. What a mess. For the past 8 days my house has merely been a dumping zone. I have not been in the house long enough to do anything. The are piles of unread mail, newspapers and magazines are piled up, laundry is getting backed up again. And I have not gone grocery shopping in 2 weeks now. We have no milk, bread, eggs,etc The cupboards are looking pretty bare.

I told my Boss Kevin is either coming home tomorrow or Friday so this would be my last day for a while. He was fine with it but asked if I could get payroll set up for my sub.

Even if Kevin does not come home tomorrow my To Do List is to get the house ready for him.

I went in tonight to see him. He was very down in the dumps about being there still and the nurse was waiting for my daughter and I to leave to do another treatment to him so we left early tonight. 8:30. We will see what tomorrow brings.

Jan 20

The kids went to school and I went back to work. Kevin called me at work shortly after arriving. He was very dissapointed I was there. He was hoping my Boss would send me home so I could drive in and spend the day with him. I know I am going to need my sick days when he gets discharged so I can't afford to take any while he is still in the hospital.

I have to admit I was pretty useless at work, though. I spent more time talking to my friends and co-workers about what happened and how Kevin was doing. Then when I had time I was on the phone cancelling our Disney vacation we were scheduled to leave in three more days, Jan 23rd. Everyone I spoke with was wonderful and were able to help out either by cancelling our reservations at no charge or putting reservations on hold until a later date. Our airfare was another story. They did not give a care to our problems and charged us nearly half what we paid as a cancellation fee. Makes me not want to fly that airline again, EVER.

On top of all that I still am dealing with our banking issues. I have had over $1,000 withdrawn from my account by someone in Eurpope, so not only am I losing money but I am being charged ATM fees along with Foreign exchange fees. Just lovely! I know the bank is being great trying to fix these for me but I cring everytime I pull up my account and see all those transactions. I have not even told my DH about this year. The extra stress is not needed now.

After work The kids and I spent the rest of the day with Dad. The kids did their typical argueing. Kevin said he felt like he was home listening to them. We left around 9 pm. I am exhausted. Good night.

Jan 19

Its a holiday today. Martin Luther King Day so no work. I got up extra early to head into the hospital to spend the whole day with Kevin. 7:00 AM I looked out the window and wanted to cry. At least another 8 inches of snow feel while I was sleeping. My car is buried in the driveway again!!!
I headed out with the snow gear to shovel out once again. I lasted 1/2 an hour before my asthma kicked in and made me quit. A 30 minute Tea Break and I was ready to head out again. This time Tim was up so he went out with me. We got it all cleared by about 9. So we headed in. Dad was thrilled to see us. Tim stayed home and promised to finish clearing the rest of the snow away. Kelly and I had a very nice day hanging out with Dad. We played cards, watched TV and talked. We headed home at 9:00 that night. Dad was up and walking more today. It was a very positive day.

Jan 18

No trip to the hospital today. I woke up to snow. This is another torturous day. I am paranoid to drive in the snow, so my DH is all by himself for the day. I knew there was a chance of bad snow today so I took a family photo last night, printed it, and framed it to bring in last night just in case we could not get in. We also brought in his collection of James Bond movies to get through the day. But, my not being able to be there for him bothers me ssssoooo much.
The kids have been really great about all this. Both of them were out shoveling the driveway and walkway once the snow stopped. My daughter has been helping me get caught up on the laundry... We are trying to make the best of it but I really want to be there with him. I keep telling myself "he needs his rest, if I were there he would try to stay awake to keep me company, at least this way he will rest every chance he gets"

Well, the day just got incredibly worse. I was online paying some bills when I notice all these crazy transactions. Someone got a hold of my debit card number and has been withdrawing all my money since last Monday!!! As much as I hate driving in the snow I jumped in my car to find a bank branch open on a Sunday. The girl at the bank put my mind at ease by saying they wil close out my account and refund all missing money. The bad news - it will take up to 10 business days. Thats means I have to wait until Feb 1st before I get any of my money back. Can anything else happen to my family this month?

Jeepers it is only 7:45, it feels like the day is stretching on forever!