Matters of the Heart

My dad called us at my brother's house on Thanksgiving to tell us that our grandpa (his dad) had gone to the hospital the night before with chest pain and that he was going to be having some kind of surgery (Josh thought it was to have a stent put in.) on Friday morning.

This morning I got an email from my dad saying that Grandpa had gone home from the hospital later on Friday, but the severe chest pains returned yesterday. He was taken to a heart hospital and told that he could have a heart attack at any time.

I just heard via Facebook from my cousin that Grandpa had a procedure done (not sure exactly what) and had 80% blockage, but he will be able to go home in the morning.

Thank you, God, for bringing him through the procedure safely. Please help him continue to heal and return to good health soon. Amen.

No School

It's official. The kids' school is called off today through Fri due to over 30% being out with flu-like symptoms. Yesterday started off with 33 students gone, and 5 more were sent home during the day. Thankfully E and J are doing better (although E still isn't completely well), and the other kids haven't caught it. All school-related events are cancelled, too. Hopefully this will give all the sick kiddos time to heal and prevent more from coming down with it.

Since I didn't get in to work during the day yesterday due to being home with sick kids, I went in last night after supper. I worked for about an hour, took an hour off to attend the ladies' aid meeting, and then worked almost 2 more hours, getting home around 10:00.

Josh is coming home from work today around 11:30 so that I can get in and work today til suppertime.

On a good note, the hydrocortisone cream prescription the dr gave us for F's legs is working wonderfully, and we're only 2 weeks into using it! The places on her legs where the really bad sores were is still slightly darker than the rest of her skin, but the skin there is just as smooth as that on the rest of her body, and F says it doesn't itch anymore either. Thank you, God, for finally letting us find the healing solution for her!

Excused Early

I've already emailed the school to let them know that E and J will be home sick again tomorrow. E is in no shape to go anywhere (very weak and tired), and J's fever came back this evening. He was doing well in the middle of the day, but then crashed around 4:30.

Josh is going to come home from work early tomorrow so that I can get in to work for about 2 hrs in the early afternoon before taking S to his previously scheduled appt to get the second dose of the flu mist nasal spray.

Side note: 25 kids at school stayed home sick today, including 9 of 16 first graders, so first grade was called off. More kids went home sick during the day. Apparently if 30% of the school is out sick, school gets called off. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Go Away, Germs!

E and J are home sick from school today with fevers. J seems to be feeling okay and even wanted to go to school, but his temp was 100.07. E's was just over 103. She's not doing as well as J.

So I'm home today with them and with S who isn't sick ... yet.

Just Life

E went to musical practice Monday night, but we found out later that she really didn't have to go. It was only for the cast in specific scenes, and they were scenes she wasn't in. Oh, well!

Things were a bit frazzled at work yesterday as 2 out of 5 of us in the office were having major computer problems. Thankfully Josh was able to fix one of the computers last night and another one during the day today.

I worked concessions last night.

E and F had dr's appts today. E needed a sports physical done for school, and F needed a form filled out from the dr for school, too.

While there, I also had Dr. G look at F's legs again. Her skin is still not healed. He'd given us some medicine for it a couple of months ago. Her skin had seemed to start getting better, but then after we'd quit using the cream per prescription instructions, the sores got worse again. Dr. G is still pretty sure it's eczema, and he prescribed a different cream this time, a steroid cream that we are supposed to apply for 3 or 4 wks. If her legs aren't getting better by then, we're supposed to give him a call, and he'll give us a dermatologist referral.

E had musical practice again tonight ... for real this time. :)

Josh had a church council meeting tonight, too.

I've continued to work a bit harder on our quilt. This cooler weather is good incentive to finish it. I'm estimating that, if I keep working on it at my current pace, it should be done in another month.

Blood and Tissue

Okay, that title makes this post sound a lot more gory than it actually is!

This afternoon I took F to the dr for her scheduled appt because of the sores on her legs. The dr said it could be eczema because that can really flare up at this time of year with all of the allergens in the air right now, but he also said it could be some fungal thing. He put her on an oral steroid prescription as well as a prescription for an antifungal cream to rub on her legs. Hopefully they'll work! If they don't, I think we'll try a dermatologist.

As for the blood part ... I donated blood today at the blood drive at the kids' school. At different times in the past I've been turned down because of my iron level being too low. Even though I've quit taking my iron pills, my iron level was high enough to donate. :)