Diary of a MadDad (#3)
Diary of a MadDad … similar to its 1835 Russian counter-part … chronicles the life of one low-ranking servant … he is a father of five! As he slips further into the insanity of PARENTHOOD, this MadDad reveals what is truly important in life.
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Dear Diary:
Can you believe it is St. Patrick’s day? I got dressed this morning and forgot my green tie. As I was walking out of the bathroom, I saw all five kids in or around my bed … watching some KidShow … all dressed with green t-shirts. They looked cute. Sickening cute.
Without thinking, I blurted to wife, “What’s up with the green shirts.”
Wife says, “Is it St. Patrick’s day. They need to wear green to school.”
I laugh. I mean to say it to myself, but the words actually come out, “That’s so childish!”
Nice. MadDad. Nice. They are children.
I went back into my closet and got my green tie.
100% Update: Do You Hear What I Hear?
NO! NO! NO! That is not me. (… although it looks a little like me … okay, it looks ALOT like me …. scary!!!! … ) It’s a picture that represents Dad’s hearing getting a little better. As of last week, Dad’s surgical ear had a 50% increase in hearing and there is still gel and packing in the inner ear that needs to be dissolved and absorbed by the body. His non-surigical ear had improvement also. Dr. Beethoven does not recommend surgery in that ear because he might lose more hearing than he gains. He still could gain more hearing in that ear.
The true test is how much the volume has gone done on the television. Dad has decreased from 43 (almost at the max) to 27-32, depending on which TV he is watching. Also, the volume on his computer has decreased considerably.
An appt has be set up with Dr. Noodle, who is a face and neck surgeon, for April 8, 2009. Beethoven thinks it is time to look into surgery to lift his face and to reconnect some of the nerves that might help his eye to open and close. That is a “biggie” since that will determine whether they can unstich his eye and then maybe they can do corneal surgery.
Dad’s shoulder rehab is pretty intense. He says it is quite painful but the results have been positive. His range of motion continues to expand.
HealthCare Crisis!
We love our doctors, our emergency rooms and our wonderful co-pays. Seems like a month, week or day does not go by without some medical emergency. It’s not that we are “needy” people … I think we are just “medically challenged” … we are trying to stimulate the medical economy on our own … we are trying to solve the health care crisis in America by trying out different doctors, different medications and different payment plans. We are going to keep trying until we find an answer. I don’t care how many doctors we see (… did you know that Dad is up to 26 doctors since the ViolentSilence? … ). I don’t care how many prescriptions we put in our medicine cabinet. I don’t care how many co-pays that we have to co-pay. We are going to find a solution to America’s health care problems.
Oh, yeah, MyBeloved slipped and broke the bones in her hand Wednesday night. Nice!
MiniCooper Update: Busy, Busy, Busy
Busy day! But not too busy to call out the Warriors, or in this case CoopersTroopers, for some special prayer requests. Please read closely and pray diligently.
MiniCooper Update: A Mother’s Instinct
Hopefully you have registered and are receiving regular updates about DillyBar’s socccer pal who had a brain tumor removed last week. MiniCooper is still stationed at Vandy’s Kid Hospital and his dad, Coach, is staying strong. But in this update, we find out that MiniCooper’s mom, MommaInstinct, has a mother’s instinct. Let’s see what Coach has to say:
Yesterday when we met with the doctors we were given the recommendation by their team for us to consider a Tracheotomy. This was a very emotional but critical decision to get Cooper breathing and on the road to recovery. This would mean a lot more care at home, speech, long term affects etc… This procedure was going to happen today if possible. To be honest I was with the doctors and I had prepared myself for that challenge. We did both agree putting him back on the ventilator would set us back in his recovery.
A Mother Instinct. Teresa was very against that decision stating that he needed a few days to get stronger. She was very emotional and told the doctor that he would breathe on his own … She agreed to stay all night and I would go home … She told me before I left he would breathe on his own and I said I hope you are right…
Cooper and God’s Will. After pulling out the feeding tube earlier, and reinserting before midnight, around 3:00 am Cooper took the mask off and threw it off and told Teresa he did not want the mask anymore. So the nurse said OK, called in some folks and they decided to let him try with no MASK. When the doctors were doing their rounds this morning they were amazed that they were seeing the same child. He was talking, coughing, and EATING on his own. Dr. [Neurologist] came in late today with a HUGE smile and said “this is big” He told if all is well he could be moved from the ICU in the next few days…. HOW ABOUT THAT COOPER TROOPERS -
Do you have faith like MommaInstinct? If so, please leave the family a comment or word of encouragement here. If not, get it.
What’s Going On?
You may have asked yourself that lately. Perhaps as it relates to your own life? Perhaps as it relates to G&G? Perhaps as it relates to the Church and the church?
If it is something you’re dealing with on your own personal journey, let us know how we can help. Need a prayer? Need a word of encouragement? Need a laugh? [ ... we specialize in those ... ] Let us know.
As far as G&G … which is what we call ourselves at growingandgrowing.com … we really don’t know what’s happening on any given day. We recently changed our look. Do you like? We have been following three messed up dudes lately … one Sr., one Jr., and one Baby … and we call them the 100% Update, the MiniCooper Update, and the BabyJ Update. We have been following … not really … the weight loss of four fat dudes, who we call the MusicCity Fatties. We had an old series called Diaries of a MadDad, and we started a new series called Dear World … both of which are my way of BrainDumping on you.
Finally, the Church needs help and the church needs help. I will leave it at that. Wanna help?
That’s what is going on here.
Google Rots!?!?!?!
Some may disagree, but MyBeloved says, “Google rots!” Pretty funny.
MiniCooper Update: CooperTroopers
What is a CooperTrooper? Sounds like something we would come up with her at G&G … but it is not.
Coach came up with the name:
Monday Day 10 in ICU – As we have learned this is a long, long healing process and a long road to travel. BUT we have “Coopers Troopers” on our side. You have been awesome in praying for him, sharing his story, signing the guest book and many have told us you check the site daily for updates as you are concerned for his progress: Today Cooper is still having a hard time breathing. Last night they took him off the ventilator to get him to breathe on his own accord. For awhile he was doing well but he gets tired and needs help.
They have him on a MASK to assist but when they cut down the oxygen levels he struggles to maintain. The doctors are concerned about his ability for his brain to control his breathing due to the surgery. They are determing what options we will have next to get him breathing on his own with some help. We will know that answer tomorrow but we are told we will be here another 7 days in ICU.
If you have been following MiniCooper’s journey, make sure you leave a message for the family here. They appreciate your prayers and support.
100% Update: Sandwich Walks into a Bar
And the bartender says, “Sorry. We don’t serve food here.” I have loved that joke ever since I was a little boy. Here at G&G, we have another First … it’s called, this sandwich walks into Dad’s mouth …
We know this may sound insignificant, but for the first time since the ViolentSilence, Dad ate a sandwich yesterday. Because bread is so dry, he quit eating it. He had been craving a Ham&Cheese Sammich for so long that Mom finally made one with lots of Mayo! And then he ate it in conjunction with lots of … we mean, tons of … chocolate milk. He had a few chips also. He had a good laugh. Dad said that he never thought eating a Sammich would be such a struggle … or such hard work … or that just eating one could be another success in the recovery process.
Dad is so cool and funny. [ ... mental picture ... think CookieMonster rifling through a cookie ... ] He is truly enjoying life in spite of his impediments.
Twitter Updates
- Chipwrecked http://t.co/HV4BBzry
- Who said Brothers and Sisters can't get along? Merry Christmas Evening! http://t.co/AXJ389de
- Just a cowboy, his horse, a gun, and some zzzzzzz's! http://t.co/XFsC3efV
- If I told you I swept this from my kitchen floor, you wouldn't believe me. If I told you I had 7 kids, you would! http://t.co/PPLv3052
