Bad Boy Babesiosis

He forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. (Psalm 103:3)

Last week about this time, Andy and I were in the Emergency Room at the local hospital. That morning, we took his temperature because he was complaining of intermittent chills & sweats. The thermometer read 103.5 degrees. We both had a hard time believing that was accurate, so I shook the thermometer and told him to take his temp again. But it registered the same, so we made the decision to go to the ER.

Andy has a history of urinary tract, bladder, kidney infections and had just finished antibiotics for one several weeks before. So we thought he was experiencing another one. Thursday he had been so sick that he stayed in bed all day, so untypical for him. That evening he got in to see the doctor who prescribed another round of antibiotics. So we were expecting he would start feeling better on Friday. But that didn't happen, he continued with a high fever, chills, dizziness, weakness, exhaustion. Again, he didn't get out of bed all day. Saturday wasn't much better, then on Sunday, with the high fever, decided we better get to the hospital.

I believe it was the Lord directing us that way. Blood work was immediately called for and the results came back fairly quickly. The doctor told us that the lab tech was "sharp" for picking up that there was a parasite involved, which is not what they were looking for. We had still been thinking it was a UTI, so for the lab tech to discover the parasite was providential.

Andy was admitted and assigned to a room and remained till Wednesday afternoon. They pumped into him all kinds of antibiotics, as well as parasite killing drugs. In the meantime, we got an education into the parasite called babesiosis. It is carried by a tick. Most people who are infected feel fine and do not have any symptoms. But there are those rarities where it can be a severe, life-threatening disease. I guess Andy is a rarity - but we already knew that, didn't we???

If interested, you can read more about this parasite by checking out this site.

While Andy was in the hospital, I spent my days driving back and forth to spend time with him there. I also felt it my mission to try to understand the medical care he was getting. Because of Andy's high fever and all the medicine he was on, he was having a hard time focusing. In other words, he was a bit "loopy." I felt bad for him because he would try to hold a conversation, but it was obvious he wasn't "all there." I could tell him something, but the next minute he would ask a question about what I had just told him.

Dawn and her mother-in-law, Pat, came to visit on Sunday afternoon. Dawn was a bit shaken up with her dad in the hospital. I'm not sure the visit helped ease her mind because Andy did not look good while she was there. The next day, Amy came down with her kids to visit her Dad and that wasn't a very good visit either. While she was there, Andy got the chills and was shaking so badly. He had 5 blankets on and wanted us to ask the nurse for more. He lay there most of the time with his eyes closed.

It seemed like such a long time, but finally Wednesday at lunch time, the doctor said he would be going home that day. He's still taking lots of medicine and one in particular, leaves him feeling sick. He's still somewhat jaundiced looking, but every day, he seems to be a bit better.

Sometimes you don't realize how precious life is until that life is threatened, or how wonderful it is to feel good until you're ill. But we are very thankful that God spared his life for a little while longer and that his health is continuing to improve.

This has been a very busy week. I hardly know where to begin.

Last Saturday, July 16
Andy's mom loves family reunions in July. So she invited 70+ people to our house for a picnic on July 16th. People were supposed to arrive at 12:00 noon, then we were going to eat at 1:00. We borrowed tables and chairs from the church and put up tents and canopies. Mom organized it and it was a bit much for her. She says this is the last year she's doing this, but she said that last year, too. So we'll see. It was a very fun and a lovely day for a picnic and just renewing relationships.

The party was supposed to last until 5:00, but people stayed longer, some as long as 8:30! Christy and Dawn and their families joined the party from our immediate family. Christy and Christian stayed until around 6:30.

I was on the schedule for playing my bass guitar as a sub that weekend. So I needed to be at the church by 6:30 for rehearsal, then played in all 3 services on Sunday morning. When we got home from church on Sunday, I fixed lunch for Andy and me. The rest of the afternoon was spent in getting ready for another picnic. That's right - another picnic. I decided Andy's new name should be Mr. Picnic. He loves picnics, although after having 2 in 2 days might have been a little much even for him. The picnic itself is fun, but it's the set up and take down and prep work that makes one question the whole idea. This one involved our older singles group from church. I prepared turkey burgers (from scratch) and deviled eggs. Everyone who came brought either a salad or dessert. It was a fun time with everyone.

We decided to buy a canopy to use in the yard since we do plenty of entertaining. Isn't it pretty?

Along with all this activity, we also had a guest staying in our front room - Mom's cousin, Joan. We set up the futon for her and she slept there Saturday and Sunday nights. Then she and Mom went to the shore on Monday through Wednesday, when she came back and stayed another night.

On Monday, I left work an hour early and drove up to C & C's to get Aiden. His birthday was back in April but it hadn't worked out yet to have him over for his time with Grammy & PopPop. When we got home, he helped us water the flowers. After dinner we watched a movie and had some ice cream.
Andy had to clown around on Aiden's bike.
On Tuesday, we had some more fun together. He enjoyed beating me in 15 games of Uno to my only 3 wins. Then I had to teach him a new game, Tri-ominos, so I could win. He went to the church and rode his bike with PopPop, and we also watched a couple of Veggie Tales episodes. And a visit with the grandkids isn't complete without doing one of our favorite things: reading Uncle Remus stories. By 3:00 pm, we started our trip back to C & C's, getting there in time to visit a little before joining the family for dinner.

On Wednesday afternoon, I left work early and went to Dawn's to babysit Kira while Dawn had a doctor's appointment. She woke up from her nap about 20 minutes after I got there so we played and read books for about 2 1/2 hours till Tommy got home.

I don't know if all this activity contributed to Andy's health deteriorating, but by Thursday morning, he was feeling very sick again. He had alternating chills and fever and stayed home all day from work. He was able to get a doctor appointment for Thursday evening, so I took him to that. He should be feeling better soon since he started on another round of antibiotics.

Whew! I'm looking forward to a Saturday with no agenda. If nothing else, I need to clean my house since I didn't get to it on Tuesday. I guess I really do have an agenda. But at least it's my agenda, no one else has plans for my life. Shhh.

Adventures with Zucchini

Last week my neighbor brought over 2 huge zucchinis. So it's time to see how many recipes I can find to use them up.On Friday I made zucchini wraps. It was a mixture of grated zucchini with a bunch of spices including chili powder. That recipe was ok, but I don't think I will make it again. It was a little too spicy for our taste, although adding sour cream helped tone it down a little.

On Saturday I made a loaf of lemon zucchini bread. That was very tasty and Andy is eating it for his snacks.Tonight I made zucchini patties. I heated up some tomato sauce to dip them in. That was a tasty meal and pretty simple to make.

2 cups grated zucchini
small onion, chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup mozzarella
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in pan. Mix ingredients together and drop by tablespoon full in hot pan.

I still have some grated zucchini that I need to use up, then when I got home from work this afternoon, I saw someone had left me some more zucchini.
Looks like we'll be eating zucchini a while longer. I have another recipe I want to try yet: Pineapple zucchini bread. And maybe some stuffed zucchini for dinner tomorrow.

July is for picnics!

Since 4th of July is on a Monday this year, we have 2 days off in a row. So what to do??? Should we celebrate by going to see a parade? Or stay up late and watch fireworks? Well, those things sound like fun, but Andy and I prefer to work on projects around the house. Andy's foot is finally feeling good enough for him to get around and do things almost normally. So he can climb ladders, put weight on his foot and generally be up and around again. It was pretty hard for him to sit around for 4-5 weeks. But it was the best thing he could have done and his foot has healed up nicely. He's still not able to get his biking shoe on, so hasn't been on his road bike. He went out on the trail bike the other day with his sneakers on and did about 6 miles. He came back pretty exhausted, though, and will need to get his strength and stamina back again.

So today Andy is working on replacing the kitchen window on the south side of the house. That one will take a while, but he is already making good progress. I offered to dig up the little hydrangea bush so it wouldn't be in his way, but he promised he'd be careful of it. It's just starting to bloom so it wouldn't be a good time to dig it up, but it also wouldn't be good for it to get stepped on or have construction material dropped on it.I went out first thing this morning and made a new garden on the north side of the house. I had planted a crape myrtle bush at the edge of Mom and Dad's deck about 2 years ago, but never did anything there since then. So today was the day to get to work on that. I like to have gardens against the house because it's easier to mow around gardens than it is to trim grass right next to the house.

I surprised myself in doing all that work by myself without any help from Mr. Muscles, aka Andy! So I guess I'm Mrs. Muscles! I cut in the garden, then put cardboard down, then used up 10 bags of mulch. I was going to buy some bushes or perennials, but I think I'll wait till fall to plant anything there.

Before

After

Mom and Dad went to Johnson's Farm and bought corn on the cob this morning. They're going to share that with us for our evening meal, and we're going to grill turkey burgers and hot dogs. That's a pretty traditional 4th of July picnic menu. And maybe we'll have ice cream later!

Two weeks ago, we went to Amy's for a birthday party she hosted for Chase and Joanna's birthdays. Christy and family were also able to be there so it was fun to see the cousins playing together. Amy had also invited Ricky's family members and some friends from their church. They have a nice back yard for kids to play in.

Joanna liked the tutu we gave her.

Last week was a busy week at church because of VBS! There were 300 kids registered but I think the day with the most attendance was around 250. They sure had fun learning about Jesus. There was a comment from one little boy who told his mommy that it "was fun being a man of God." I saw Dawn and Kira every day because Dawn was helping with the music for VBS. So that was a treat. Then I watched Kira on Tuesday afternoon while Dawn had a doctor's appointment. I didn't really watch Kira, but sat in the house while Kira was napping.

Saturday was the annual Yoder picnic at my brother Sam's house. All my brothers and sisters were there with their spouses. Not all the children could make it since they have spread out all over the US now that they're grown up. My Aunt Sis and her daughter Jenny and her family were able to join us this year. I don't see them very often since they live a 4 hour drive from our house. My aunt was eager to see Amy's baby since she is named Katy Emma, which was my grandmother's name. So here is Sara Anna holding Katy Emma, her great great niece with the same name as her mother, Katy's great great grandmother.

Everyone has a good time being together. Kerby, Judy and Sam went berry picking in Sam's back fields.
And the kids (little and big) enjoyed the pool. It was a pleasant day - not too hot, with a nice breeze occasionally.
The party continued into the evening with fireworks. But Andy and I had to leave since it's a 2 hour drive for us to get home. And we had a lot we had to do on Sunday so we needed to be well rested for the day. I schedule people to do the slides for Sunday morning worship and the one who was scheduled for July 3rd was away. I tried about 4 other people who could substitute but everyone was away, so I had to do it. That meant I had to be at the church by 7:30 am and didn't finish till 12:30 pm. Then home for lunch and getting ready for the evening when we had our older singles group come over for a Bible study and fellowship. That was fun...some good relationships are developing and they seem to enjoy just hanging out with us and each other.