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Location: Middle of Nowhere, Northern Ontario, Canada

Thursday, June 22

Long roads ahead...

I hate to just pop in here and be full of crappy news but I wanted to write this all down.

Two weeks ago a kid who just turned 17 went over the handlebars of his mountain bike and broke his neck. We've known him since he was just a baby and watched him grow up. His parents are separated and neither one of them is the brightest bulb on the tree. The kid had enough challenges in life with the parents he was dealt, often waiting around outside the Legion while his Dad sat and drank. We used to snowmobile with the Dad and the kid would always ask to ride with me. I always let him because I felt he was safer on my machine. He's paralyzed from the waist down and now has a huge challenge ahead of him. I felt sick when I heard about it and wished there was something I could do. They had to do surgery to remove part of his hip bone to attach to his spine to enable him to sit unassisted in his wheelchair. I've been told the surgery went well.

A couple days later a close girlfriend's son who has Crohn's Disease had to be rushed to Ottawa to the same hospital that the other kid was in. He ended up having to have a section of his bowel removed on his 12th birthday. Two out of three of their children have Crohn's and the treatments and frequent trips to Ottawa have been very financially draining on them. The dad had just returned to work - he's a logger and self-employed - and ended up having to take another week off to be with the son. Again I felt very helpless, not being able to go and support my friends while they went through this. His surgery went well and they are hopeful that this will enable him to not have to have the monthly treatments to keep him out of the hospital.

Then, late last week my other girlfriend, who is on dialysis because of kidney failure, developed a blot clot. At first the clot was in her arm and it threatened her fistula (the permanent thing in her arm for her dialysis). Then the blod clot moved to her aorta and threatened her life. Her blood pressure skyrocketed and she stopped breathing a couple of times and it was very touch and go most of this week. On Monday night they didn't think she was going to make it through the night. Her sister, my other girlfriend, was terrified of losing her sister. They're so close. The sister had donated a kidney to her in 2000 but after two years of relatively good health, the kidney rejected and she had to begin daily dialysis. The girfriend with the son with Crohn's and the sister's and I are all best friends. If you remember me talking about the girl's weekend at the cottage in May, it was these girls who were all there.

On Tuesday night the sister stopped by on her way home from the hospital and we bawled our eyes out together. She was so emotionally wrung out from all of this. She told me how her sister had become so afraid of dying and had begged her to take care of her two daughters if anything happened to her. My friend has always been such a fighter and has fought her way through so many surgeries had almost lost her will to live. It was gut wrenching. The nurses said that her blood pressure had to come down or we would lose her. Last night we finally got the call we'd been hoping for and heard that her BP was down and, while she isn't out of the woods yet, she is doing much better. Like the other two, she still has a long road ahead of her.

After my friend left the other night I called my sister and cried on her shoulder for a while. I told her how much I loved having her for a sister and how grateful I was that we are all healthy. It's been a long couple of weeks and I haven't been online much because I was trying to keep the phone line free. I've missed you all.

Last night Jamie called. I can't remember if I told you about him having a car accident a couple weeks ago. He was driving to work in Sudbury and met a half ton truck who lost a tire. His car was a write off but he was not hurt which was the important part. Last night he called to complain about how bummed out he was because he had to give the rental car back and he still didn't have a replacement car. I swear I turned into my Mom and gave him the "Don't sweat the small stuff" speech. He needed to hear it. I know I've been guilty of whining over small stuff many times too but every once in a while we all need a reminder of just how lucky we are when we have our health.

love & hugs...

21 Comments:

Blogger Puffy said...

*hugs Lights, with tears in my eyes*

I'll be praying for you and your friends.

Thu Jun 22, 09:47:00 p.m. EDT  
Blogger mm said...

Oh Lights, I'm so sorry. Thank you for venting here, and for the reminders to be grateful for what we have.

{{big hugs}}

Fri Jun 23, 03:49:00 a.m. EDT  
Blogger Breezy said...

*big hugs*

Sending tons of prayers and good thoughts to you and your friends.

Fri Jun 23, 08:48:00 a.m. EDT  
Blogger ~Nutz said...

Oh man. All of these things would be tough to deal with one at a time, but all at once must be overwhelming.

Huge {{{hugs}}} & good thoughts for everybody are being sent your way.

Fri Jun 23, 10:36:00 a.m. EDT  
Blogger mtw said...

Lights, you are so right. Health is everythng. We love you and have missed you. I know, personally, I've missed seeing you around here.

Take care of yourself, your family, and friends, know we are praying and wishing for their recovery and good health, and know we'll be here for you when you need us.

{{{{GROUP HUG}}}}

Fri Jun 23, 11:47:00 a.m. EDT  
Blogger Seana said...

My goodness, lights. What a lot to have to deal with.

Good thoughts for your friends.

Fri Jun 23, 04:12:00 p.m. EDT  
Blogger HistoryDetective said...

Oh. I don't know what more to say, just

*hugs*

Sat Jun 24, 05:19:00 p.m. EDT  
Blogger Aislinn Sirk said...

Oh dear, oh dear.

Thanks for a reminder of how important our friends are.

Hugs to everyone.

Sat Jun 24, 06:27:00 p.m. EDT  
Blogger Lasann said...

Oh Lights, so much to cope with.

You will be my subject today!!

Sun Jun 25, 10:26:00 a.m. EDT  
Blogger Surveysez said...

((hugs))

It wouldn't hurt so much if we didn't love so much, but we would be so very much poorer for it.

Sun Jun 25, 04:08:00 p.m. EDT  
Blogger lights said...

Thanks everyone for the good thoughts and prayers. Please keep them coming and direct them all towards my friends. They need them much more than I.

Today I heard that the paralysed kid can't even breath on his own and only MAY regain use of his arms. Tragic.

The Crohn's kid was back in hospital over the weekend with an infection. They're hoping that he may be released again today.

My friend with the blood clot is doing better. She was able to go home for the weekend to be with her daughters. She had to go to the hospital for bloodwork and dialysis but they thought that being at home with her daughters would help with the blood pressure.

Yesterday, our friend that split with his wife last summer got burnt at work by hot acid on his stomach. He's not in the hospital so the burns aren't life threatening but still extremely painful. He admitted that he screwed up on procedure. I guess his head wasn't on his work.

I'm almost afraid to leave my lazyboy chair these days.

On a brighter note, I spent the weekend at the cottage with my niece Sara. Dave was gone for the weekend so it was just us. We had a great time together. I love that kid sooo much!

Last night she stayed with us so that her Dad didn't have to drive to our place to pick her up. We dropped her off this morning on our way to work. She wanted to sleep in the waterbed with me. We went to bed at 9:30 and watched tv. I must have dozed off and started snoring. By 10:30 she was still squirming like crazy and said that it was my snoring that made her squirm. I told her that maybe she should sleep on the couch because I really wasn't in control of the snoring thing. *grin*

We made poutine and quesadillas, went for a paddleboat ride, hung out with my friend and her daughter by their pool and watched movies. It was a nice weekend after a hellish week.

I haven't had a chance to get around to many blogs lately, but I did see mm's Alaska pics! Beautiful! Makes me miss Alaska and the mountains.

There's a commercial for Kokanee beer on the radio that makes me think of Zombs. It features Sasquatch. *snicker* I only wish I had the know how to copy and paste it here for you all to hear.

*smoooches all round*

Mon Jun 26, 07:26:00 p.m. EDT  
Blogger mm said...

I'm glad you had your niece around. You just take care of yourself and don't worry about the blogs. We'll fill you in if anything happens, when you get back. For now, more *smooches*!

Tue Jun 27, 01:56:00 a.m. EDT  
Blogger yvonne said...

I'm sorry, Lightsy. *big hugs*

I'll keep good thoughts for everyone.

Tue Jun 27, 09:00:00 a.m. EDT  
Blogger Zombs said...

I hope things get better Lights!

I will joyfully clean the house today because I can am lucky I can do it. Thanks for putting things in perspective!

Tue Jun 27, 09:13:00 a.m. EDT  
Blogger Bravie said...

*big hugs* I'm so sorry. I'm sending good vibes to you and your friends. *smooch*

Tue Jun 27, 09:39:00 a.m. EDT  
Blogger kim (weltek) said...

*hugs* Wow, the illness and accident train seems to be making rounds right now. This is crazy!

Your concern alone means you are a good friend.

Tue Jun 27, 11:59:00 a.m. EDT  
Blogger Syren said...

Oh Lights...

Hugs, and warm thoughts out to you and your friends and all their families.

My sister has Crohns, and it is so hard. Financially and physically.

Wed Jun 28, 08:51:00 a.m. EDT  
Blogger momma said...

*hugs*

Love and prayers to you and your friends.

Wed Jun 28, 07:03:00 p.m. EDT  
Blogger Schnookie said...

Wow, when it rains, it pours doesn't it?

I'm so very sorry to hear all this sad news about your friends Lightsy and will definitely keep them all in my thoughts

*BIG HUGS* So sorry!

Thu Jun 29, 03:49:00 p.m. EDT  
Blogger Buggy said...

Sending hugs and good thoughts to you and your friends.

Such a hard time, hang in there, be strong, people need you.

Much Lvoe!

Sat Jul 01, 08:39:00 a.m. EDT  
Blogger Glowie said...

*big hugs* I'm sending good thoughts.

Mon Jul 03, 12:05:00 p.m. EDT  

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