Monday, June 19, 2006

Updates

Well, I thought I should give you some updates on everything here.

Jimmie is doing better. He's still in ICU, but he's not having further Heart Attacks. We found out last night that he has a blood clot in his left arm, but hopefully the blood thinners he's on will help with that. He's also had to have 2 transfusions so far because he's bleeding into his stomach and/or lungs, but they can't stop the blood thinners for this. I've been told that, if all goes well, he might be going home very soon. However, he has a long recovery down the road for him even once he's home. It'll be mostly bead rest and working with therapist to build his strength back up. Please keep them in your prayers.

Julie is having a blast in Los Angeles. She's been to Mexico, has a picture window view of the mountains, and said it's all just wonderful there. I'm still torn over how I feel about her being there at all. The sister side of me is thrilled that she's there experiencing new things. The relative caregiver side of me that's raising her kids wants to scream at her and tell her to get her butt back in Tampa to finish doing the things she's supposed to be doing to get her kids back. So... I choose to say nothing to her about it at all. She's sent several 'wow this is awesome' emails, and I've not responded to any of them (they were sent to all her family and friends, not just me).

Dr. Vijapuri called me a week or so ago and told me that he wanted to see me sometime this week at my convenience. He said it was about Julie and "we both knew what was going on but that we needed to meet to talk about it". Last time I wasted my time there and we all agreed that Julie had the mind of a 15 year-old child and therefore would never parent children. At that visit, Dr. Vijapuri said that he wanted to 'string her along for another year' so as to not take away all of Julie's hopes and because it might 'put her over the edge'. Which I totally understand. He then he wrote a letter to the judge saying that she would parent again. So... I don't know what's going on with him, but I know I don't want to waste any more time over there unless it's going to help the kids. I think I also told you a while ago that the court had ordered another psychiatric exam, an extensive and expensive exam, to be done on Julie to determine once and for all if indeed she could parent the kids. Course, the whole thing will take forever... they've been saying they're going to get a second opinion since her first court date over 6 months ago. This, of course, has yet to happen either.

Chris had a great Father's Day, I believe. We went to church in the morning, then the boys helped him do the yard work while the girls and I went shopping. We came home, watched a little bit of "The 4400" (television show we taped), cooked steaks on the grill, and even went for a dip in the pool at the end of the night. All in all it was a good day.

We also went to see Doug on Father's day. He looks..... content. It was painfully apparent how difficult it would be to take over his care. He's refusing to shave now, and pretty much lies in bed all day and night, unless it's time to eat. But he's not doing this because he's depressed, it's physically difficult for him to transfer himself into and out of his wheelchair. He did ask us about going to a Nursing Home. He seemed to think they'd have more for him 'to-do' there. But the place he's at now has lots to do... he just doesn't get out of bed to do it. We also brought him a television so he'd have something to watch from his bed. He didn't seem to like it at the time because it was small and a little far away from him. We might need to bring him either a bigger TV or an extension cord depending on how he likes it after a few days. Of course, I couldn't go there and not hear from their administrator asking me if Doug had been approved for Medicaid yet... which he has not yet been approved for. It just takes a while I guess.... We also have not yet told Doug about his brother and sister passing away. It just didn't seem like the time on Father's Day.... Chris is going to have to find some other time to do that. How do you tell someone that they lost all of their immediately family in one weeks time? Sigh.....

We've been experiencing a bit of a grocery dilemma in our house the past couple of weeks. Like, we were down to practically nothing. So... I was driving home from work last week, trying to figure out what I was going to make for dinner with the little bit of food we had left. I was thinking.... they should have a website where you could put in what main ingredients you have on hand at home, search, and it give you some recipes of things you could make with that. Like... I had 1 lb of ground beef, lots of white rice, and green beans. Surely you'd be able to make a meal out of that... and the website could give you a few options of what meals you could make. Great idea, eh??? Course, me not being that great of a cook just looked at everything and said... uh... no clue. We ended up having pancakes and bacon that night for dinner. (The kids love it when we have breakfast for dinner!) So... yeah... the food situation has been a little bleak. Okay... that's an understatement. Course, we took a week to go on vacation, and Chris being hourly doesn't get paid when he's gone. Add to that the kids being on vacation and eating like HORSES, and it just makes it ten times worse. I can't begin to tell you how much food these kids can put away... and I know I talk about it often - but you really wouldn't believe how much food they eat. And, we're not talking about fat kids... they are healthy looking kids. So... we were re trying to make due with what we have on hand. But we are out of most everything right now... the fridge, with the exception of condiments and a little tea, was empty. We have 1 lb of Ground Beef, rice, and a tiny bit of oatmeal left. Oh and we have spaghetti and sauce, but only the 1 lb of ground beef, but we'll just make it stretch. The one thing we do have plenty of is canned foods (thanks to Julie's recent rejections from the Salvation Army). But there are lots things we'll rarely eat: olives, beets, diced tomatoes. So... we tried to do our best to get by. But we also fully realize how blessed we are. So this weekend, I went to Sams this time and spent... are you ready for this.... keep in mind... 4 teenagers home for summer break.......... $600 in groceries. Holy cajolie! I still have heart palpitations every time I think about it. I might need to get a second job to feed them. Kidding. Well... sort-of kidding. I was speaking with Dottie today (the kids guardian ad litem) who was saying that she really thinks the state HAS to have some kind of food help for our situation. It's simply unreal that the state, to this date, has given NO money towards the care of these children. Every doctors visit copayment, every meal eaten, every school supply, every after school or summer activity - all funded by us. It's surreal. You'd think they'd help... but nothing so far. Dottie is going to ask about it again. We'll see if she's able to work any magic.

It's funny - I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately -- gee, I wonder why?

Please... keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ground beef, any vegetable, and rice, hmmmmmmmmmmmm sounds like the makings of a casserole. Any person who has needed to make food stretch, knows that casserole is the way to go. The only ingredient you need is some cheese, Velveeta, or otherwise, works great. If you don't know how to even begin to prepare, call me, I know you know who I am...