Happy 2010!

Haaapppy New Year!

We just wanted to wish you all a happy, healthy and safe new year. We will try to keep you updated on John's follow-up appointments. We go back to Chicago Wednesday to see the vocal cord doctor and the eye doctor. The next week we see two eye doctors from St. Louis.

I go back to work on Monday and that is going to be very difficult. John and I have had so much time together we will really miss each other. He is improving daily and doing so well. He walked and played two holes of golf yesterday. One of his goals before the end of the year was to play nine holes--not quite nine, but still pretty darn good for all he's been through. He is just so thankful and feels God has blessed him so much.

Sometimes we have no idea how much and how many people care until something like this happens. We are so thankful and touched to know that so many people are thinking about us, praying for us and giving us their support. We hope that we can somehow bless you as you have blessed us. Thank you again for being such wonderful friends, family members and prayer warriors. We really don't know how we would have gotten through this without all of you. God has blessed us in so many ways including putting all of you in our lives. We hope each and everyone of you have a blessed 2010; we are planning to. Thanks again.

Love,

John and Cathy

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from all of us!

Happy Sunday Morning

Hello all,

Well, Christmas is over once again. Where does the time go? We had a great Christmas with our family. Bucky and Melody came home on Thursday and they are staying until tomorrow. We have really enjoyed them. We spent yesterday with them and Cejae and Adam. We went to my brother's house yesterday afternoon and spent time with his family as well. We had a really nice visit and it's always fun to see kids at Christmas.

John and I went to church on Christmas morning and that was a very sweet service. We went to church this morning also, but John's eye is coming unsewn so I brought him home before Sunday School. He has it taped now, but we don't really know quite what to do because we are not scheduled to see the opthalmologist again until January 6. He doesn't know whether to keep it taped or let it open or what. We may try to call Dr. Yoo tomorrow and see what he recommends.

I hope this finds all of you healthy, happy and having the warm afterglow of a blessed Christmas. We are so blessed to have a warm home, a loving family, a love for each other and the blessings of God. We wish the same for you and your families this year.

Love you,

John, Cathy and Family

"I Can't Sweep"

Good (early) morning all,

Today's title comes from when my niece Hannah was small and spent the night with us. We were trying to get her to go to sleep and she was roaming around the living room holding out her hands and saying, "I can't sweep," which was quite precious. Anyway, needless to say I am up early blogging because I, too, "can't sweep." I am either taking a cold or have a sinus infection so my right head (right side of my head) is totally stopped up, I can't breathe and I woke myself up snoring, so here I am blogging.

John and I didn't sleep very well in the hotel Friday night either. I believe the snoring was perhaps a problem again. We were on the road by 7:00 yesterday morning. There was about 2-3 inches of snow on the ground, but driving was not difficult. It snowed on us a good part of the way home, but we were home safely by noon or a little after. He did sleep about an hour on the way home.

John's eye looks quite good; a little swollen from the procedure, but I think that will go down soon. God has apparently given both of us this wonderful gift of healing, and we are so thankful for that. His scar from the brain tumor surgery looks great; there is no swelling around it or around the ear where they added the fatty tissue.

I know I probably say this too often, but he has such a great attitude. On the way home from church last week I said, "You are just glad to be alive, aren't you?" And he said, "Yeah, I like people." He seems to have this whole new lease on life and looks at things and people in a whole different light. We were awake early one other morning last week and he said, "Would you care if I prayed?" Now what do you think I said? It was the sweetest, sincerest, most touching prayer I had ever heard. (Yeah, yeah, yeah . . . of course I'm crying.)

We are so blessed and grateful and loved. And we can't say enough how grateful we are for everything and everyone.

My wish for this Christmas season is that each of you would have the peace of God in your hearts. And in this commercialized, chaotic season that we can find enough silence and solitude to appreciate the true meaning of Christmas: the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Thank you all again for your prayers, gifts, cards, caring, and all that you do.

Love and Peace,

John and Cathy

Friday Frenzy

Good evening everyone,

We are still in Chicago this Friday evening. John's appointment was at 1:30, but Dr. Yoo wanted to sew his eye shut again, only this time the stitches are on the inside instead of on the outside, so there shouldn't be any chance of it coming unstitched. But Dr. Yoo was very busy so he couldn't even start the procedure until about 4:00. It was probably about 4:45 by the time we got out of there and traffic was already horrendous (similar to McLeansboro on a Friday night). So we are staying at our favorite hotel yet again; thank God it is close to the hospital. I also think my road rage frightens John a little. That's just sad, isn't it?

Anyway, the good news is we will get a good night's sleep and head back home early in the morning, fresh and calm. We should be back home by noon or close thereto.

We had a very nice time at Bucky and Melody's the days we were there. They cooked a nice dinner for us on Wednesday night and we just hung out together. Yesterday we met Bucky for lunch downtown and then went back to their house for the afternoon. Our good friend Barbara met us for dinner last night in Evanston. It was a very nice time. We so appreciate our family and friends. I hope you don't get tired of hearing how much we appreciate all of you, but we really, really do. This ordeal would have been much more difficult to handle without the support of our family, friends and our faith in God. I don't know how people get through without all of these.

Well, John has gone down to the workout room here in the hotel to ride the bike, so I better go check on him. Notice that I am not riding the bike, just going to check on him.

Love you all and have a great evening.

John and Cathy

We're Ba-aack . . . in Chicago

Hello all,

Whoo! What a trip! We decided to take a new route today--not a great idea. First of all, we got totally turned around and then when we were finally going the right direction, there was unbelievable traffic and stoplights every 30 feet (slight exaggeration) and we went right by the Midway Airport. Needless to say, we were a little late for our appointment (only about 20 minutes), but they had told us we could only be 30 minutes late or we would have to reschedule. John was a tad bid anxious (ha!) when we finally arrived.

Yesterday, John's tarsorraphy (eye sewn shut) came undone and he had taped his eye shut again. So we really didn't know how it was going to go, but it was all good. His eye is pretty much healed up and the blood vessels are better as well. Praise God! Since the eye had come undone we asked if we could see Dr. Yoo on Friday instead of coming back next week. So we have an appointment on Friday to see him so, hopefully, we don't have to return next week.

I do think we are going to try to find someone closer to home though, because we drove six hours for a 15-minute appointment. Please don't misunderstand, we are so thankful his eye is better, but if we have to continue seeing an ocularplastics surgeon on a regular basis, it would be much easier to see someone closer to home, even if it's St. Louis.

Anyway, we made it to Bucky's safe again and we are so thankful for that. We have an appointment with Dr. Yoo on Friday at 1:30 and we will probably head home after that.

Thank you all again for continuing to follow the blog and for all that you do. We went to the Christmas Program at church on Sunday evening and it was phenomenal! The food was good, the program was such a good time, they all did such a good job and the setting was terrific. It really felt as if you were entering a 1950's diner. What a great time we had! We went to both services of church Sunday morning. I often say John is going to run for office the way he works a room. He just loves life and people, even more so than before the surgery I think. God has blessed him with such a great outlook on life and attitude toward everything. We are so grateful. And thank you all for continuing to support us and pray for us. I have to admit I had a bid of road rage today, so I will have to confess to my Sunday School class this week.

Love to all and thanks again for all you do.

John and Cathy

Lazy Saturday at Home

Good morning everyone,

We are home once again and so glad to be here. Home is such a wonderful place to be no matter how big or small. And we are so grateful to be back.

John's eye is much improved but still sewn shut. The abrasion began at 4.5 x 2 millimeters and is now down to 1 x 1. We have to return to Chicago again for an appointment on Wednesday and then again the next week we think. I think John wants to continue with Dr. Yoo if we can at all because he knows he's in good hands. He is eventually going to have to have a gold weight put in his eyelid, but Dr. Yoo said that it can be taken out again if the eye improves dramatically. No one has ever told him the procedure could be reversed; he has always been led to believe it is permanent. We go back next week to see Dr. Lin who is the corneal specialist; Dr. Yoo is the ocularplastics specialist. They are so proactive at Loyola, very caring and know John's history which are all reasons why he would like to continue with them. There may be a time when we have to go someplace else, but I think if we can at all, we will continue with them.


Well, that's today's update. We again feel so blessed to be back home safely with family and friends. We are so looking forward to the Christmas program at church tomorrow night. John loves going to church and visiting with everyone. God has been so good to us. We hope that somehow we are as much a blessing to you as you all have been to us. We are so thankful for all of you and so grateful for all God has done and continues to do in our lives.

Love,

John and Cathy

Frozen Thursday

Hello all,

Well, when I went to start the car this morning the thermometer registered 1 and I think with the wind chill it was about 23 below--COLD! But I had parked our car right by the hotel so the building stopped most of the snow and I didn't have to scrape and it started right up so, all in all, a good morning.

We arrived at the doctor's office about 10:10 and got called in about 10:40. They dilated John's eyes so they could look at the retina. Dr. De Alba thought the retina looked good, but could not figure out why the blood vessels are growing to the iris (John was right). He asked if John had had a stroke or had ever had an ultrasound of his carotid artery. John told him he'd had a brain tumor, but no one had ever said he'd had a stroke. Anyway he sent us over to have an ultrasound of the carotid artery. The technician doing the ultrasound said there was a little plaque, but nothing stopping the blood flow, so I don't guess we know anymore than we did, at least about that.

They opened the eye to look at the retina and Dr Hsue said the abrasion looked better today; it was smaller so I guess sewing the eye shut is again working. We see Dr. Yoo again tomorrow and we may know more then.

We are at Bucky and Melody's tonight and we will probably head home after our doctor's appointment tomorrow, but the doctor doesn't get there until 12:45 which is what time our appointment is. We discussed staying up here but John doesn't want to miss the Christmas program at church. He loves seeing and talking to people.

I can't tell a huge difference in his voice just yet. It seems deeper, but I think when he's tired it is still not strong. We will see if, over time, it improves more.

Stay warm and thanks for continuing to think about us and pray for us.

Love,

John and Cathy

Winter Wonderland (sorta)

Howdy all,

Well, the weather is still not great and is supposed to get BITTER cold. John went to his eye appointment and it wasn't great. He has another corneal abrasion and some blood vessels growing on some part of his eye. They can't figure out why that is happening. The abrasion is because the eye doesn't close, but they have no idea about the other. They sewed his eye shut again and we are supposed to put antibiotic ointment in it four times a day. He goes to see a retina specialist tomorrow and then goes back to see Dr. Yoo again on Friday. Dr. Yoo said we could then come home on Friday if everything looks as if it's going in the right direction, but he wants to see us again probably around Wednesday of next week. Dr. Yoo said we could try to find another doctor closer to us, but I don't know if John wants to do that or not since these doctors know his history and seem to want to stay on top of things. So we'll see how it all goes. Just pray that the eye will begin to heal again and they will know what avenue to take next.

We will hopefully see you all again soon.

Happy Winter!

John and Cathy

"The Weather Outside is Frightful . . ."

Hi all,

We are in Chicago again (I think there's a song with that title, or at least there should be). The weather cooperated all the way up. It had snowed, but we didn't have to travel in any. Now tonight is an entirely different story. We got a hotel because my sister-in-law had told us it was supposed to snow ten inches. And we thought a hotel reservation was a good idea, just in case. I really didn't want to have to fight traffic and weather and, thank God, we did. It is snowing huge snowflakes and blowing about 20 miles an hour and "we're living it up in the Hotel Holiday Inn Express." Not quite the same words as the Eagles song, but close.

John his vocal cord procedure done today and we believe it was a huge success. The doctor said it wasn't a perfect procedure in his eyes, but he thought he got enough of the substance into the deep tissue of the vocal cord to make a difference. He isn't sure whether the raspiness of John's voice will be satisfactory to John or not and if it isn't, he can do a surgery and change things. John and I both believe it will be fine. It is already much stronger and not so breathy and his choking is much improved and that is only in the first five hours. His granuola (polyp-like thing) has also improved and is about half the size it was last time he was here. We are so pleased. As we were leaving the office John shouted, "Bye Doc." And the doctor yelled back, "Show-off." John continues to have a positive attitude and is really quite funny. We have to return again in four weeks for a follow-up visit. Now if the eye appointment goes as well tomorrow with the eye doctor, we will be thrilled. We are thrilled anyway. God has been so good to us and we can't praise Him or give Him glory enough. Thank you all again for continuing to pray for us.

We will try to update you tomorrow about the eye appointment.

We hope and pray Van's doctor's appointment goes well tomorrow and they know more what to do.

Love to all,

John and Cathy

Sunny Saturday

Good sunny morning all,

I love sunshine! I know I am to be joyous in all things including gray days, but I have to admit I really struggle with that. But anyway, today is beautiful so I don't have to fret.

We really appreciate all of you still following the blog. It has been a wonderful tool and, oftentimes, a great outlet. We went back to the eye doctor yesterday and he said that a portion of the cornea has flaked off. His eye is extremely fragile and I guess when I took the contact off to clean it, a portion of his cornea flaked off with it. Ugh! So we are now taping it shut, but the doctor showed me a great way to do it. I actually (almost) did it right this morning. We goop it up good with an antibiotic ointment, then put some gauze over the lid, then tape the gauze down. The trick is to pull the bottom of his face up because it naturally pulls down with the paralysis. He sort of has a taped smile like the Joker. He takes it all in stride and still remains positive. God bless him! He is willing to do whatever they suggest when we go to see Dr. Yoo again on Wednesday.

We had a great time visiting with everyone at work. It was SO nice to see everyone and everyone was so glad to see us! It was really, really nice. I think my boss Buster has had a difficult time, but I'm sure he has handled it all very well. God bless him too! Again, what a blessing it has been to be able to stay at home with John, especially with his eye the way it is. One of my co-workers, Elizabeth Bailey-Smith, sells Silpada jewelry also and had a party in my name and gave us the commission. What a lovely, thoughtful, kind gesture and we appreciate it so much. I also received jewelry for Christmas from my co-workers, so I won all the way around. Another co-worker, Therese Melena, gave us money as well. John and I are just so blessed to have such wonderful, caring people in our lives It is a great feeling to be so loved; thank you all so much.

Today we are going to spend some time with Cejae and maybe take a little road trip (like going to Chicago is not one). Well, again, thanks for following. Charlotte, no promises about parking spaces.

John and I are so glad to hear Dan Dare is home and that Mickey Owen's procedure went well. God is good!

Love to all,

John and Cathy

Frantic (Maybe) Friday

Hello all,

I love it that people are still keeping up with the blog. I haven't been so faithful about writing since we are home, but it has been, and continues to be, a great way to keep in touch with people. I'm not a Facebooker or Twitterer (fun word), but I have really enjoyed this blog. I'm a little like Cejae in that I enjoy all of the followers and reading their comments. Thanks again, Michele.

John was sick Monday pretty much all day and night. I was at Huck's at 4:30 Tuesday morning buying Immodium if that tells you anything. I don't know whether antibiotics wiped his system out of all of the good bacteria or if he had some bug, but it was not pleasant for him whatever it was. He didn't feel well most of Tuesday either, but was sort of on the mend on Wednesday.

His eye continues to bother him. It's sort of frustrating because one doctor says one thing and another doctor says something else. It was getting better but then his contact went bad. We are going to try to get a replacement today. Until then, he has to keep it taped shut which I know is annoying and bothersome, but also throws his balance off. We see the opthalmologist in Chicago again on Wednesday of next week. By the way, you have no idea how long it took me to spell opthalmologist correctly.


Our kids got us a new computer for Christmas and Santa delivered it right to the back door. That Santa; he's a great old guy. It is so nice; we will probably fight over it. Thank you kids! It really is nice, and FAST!


We have a busy day today. We have to see if we can get a new contact for John's eye and then we are going to take lunch to Rend Lake and visit a bit. I haven't seen most of my co-workers since October 6. I really am missing them and I miss work. I really do enjoy my job and after being at a place for 26 years, it is a huge part of my life. The people I work with are such a great group and John and I are really excited about seeing everyone. He really enjoys going places when he feels good. Now he may just sit in the car or sleep in a parking lot, but he still enjoys going. He has therapy at 2:00 today, so we are sort of on a tight schedule.

We have this great, new Handicapped sticker. Johns says I am way more excited about it than he is. We had to go to Walmart the other day and every handicapped person in southern Illinois was there. I still had to park in the back 40 and looked like a drowned rat by the time I got back to the car. He stayed in the car, which was good, because I couldn't park any closer than I did. Anyway, loving the handicapped sticker; I will try not to abuse it.

John continues to improve. We had to buy a new battery for his car and he was able to hook it up. We fought over who was going to carry it. I won, but only because I'm a little faster. He is so independent and strong-willed which is really great. It would be terrible if he didn't want to improve or get stronger.

We have doctors' appointments in Chicago again on Tuesday and Wednesday. He has the vocal cord procedure scheduled for Tuesday, and an MRI. We may not come home until Thursday; we will see how everything goes.

Thanks for continuing to pray for us. There are so many out there that need our prayers: Jason Vaupel, Mickey Owen, Natalie Melton, Dan Dare, Gene Braden. And those are just the ones I'm aware of. But, again, thank you for being such a great support to us. We really don't know what we'd do without you.

Love to all,

John, Cathy and Family

Just Another Not-so-Manic Monday

Happy Monday everybody,

Sorry, it has been a while since I blogged. I will try to keep you updated.

Friday was pretty uneventful for us. John went to therapy for a short while on Friday. He walked by himself with the physical therapist and she adjusted his cane which I was unaware could be adjusted. Boy, did I feel stupid.

My family came for Thanksgiving on Saturday. There were about 19 of us including babies and kids. It was so great to see everybody. My nephew, Shawn, and his family came with the new baby. The baby is so tiny; he looks like a little doll. My niece Michele and her boyfriend Brian and the girls were here, also. We do enjoy seeing all of the kids. My brother Mike, his wife Robin and my niece Hannah were here. Bill and Denita Reed also came. And, of course, Cejae and Adam were here. We ate so much. We are all so much like my Mom in that we, evidently, don't think there is going to be enough food so we just keep cooking. It was certainly delicious and there are plenty of leftovers. Everybody thought John was doing so well, and he is. We had such a great time. Michele, Brian, Cejae, and Adam stayed a while and we played games. That was a lot of fun and we so enjoyed everyone coming.

We went to church yesterday morning and again last night. John continues to enjoy seeing everyone. He was a greeter yesterday and Delores said everyone was trying to get to him to talk to him. I tell you, he's Mr. Popularity wherever he goes. How nice. We so enjoy being back in Sunday School and church. John said, "It is so nice hearing about God again." We take so many things for granted. We don't always consider going to church an honor or a privilege, but we are so thankful that we are able to attend our wonderful place of worship again. What an honor it is to serve a living, active God that still answers prayers. We are a blessed people.

I don't think John feels very well this morning. He got up, drank coffee and is back asleep on the couch. Maybe some days are just like that. He has been through quite a lot, so I suppose he is entitled to rest a little bit. We so appreciate your continued prayers for us; they mean so much. We go back to Chicago again next week. I will try to blog every few days for those who faithfully follow. It is a nice way to keep in touch. Thank you for all of your comments. Have a great day.

Love,

John and Cathy

Home Safe Again

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a blessed day with plenty to eat.

John and I had a busy day yesterday. We went to his eye doctor and he really wanted to stitch his eye closed, but he didn't really have time and we didn't think we had time for him to do it because we had an appointment with Dr. Anderson at 2:15. He is supposed to tape it shut all of the time to hopefully get it better. He said there was no longer a corneal abrasion, but it is extremely dry. We have to go back and see him again November 9.

We didn't get in to see Dr. Anderson until about 3:45, but he was really glad to see John. He showed us cuts of the MRI and how massive the tumor was. He said he really hated to look at it again, but wanted to show us. He said it was just a nasty tumor with all kinds of tentacles coming off of it. He said it was huge; about the size of a racquetball pressing against the brainstem. He was so pleased with John's progress and wants to do a baseline MRI when we come back on December 8. I think he started to say it was about the worst tumor he had ever seen, but he didn't go ahead and say that. He told us he thought John had a lot of years left and he expected him to continue to improve for as long as 18 months. John gave him a hug and told him, "I've hugged everybody else; I should hug the guy that saved my life." I think Dr. Anderson really appreciated that and grinned from ear to ear. We don't have to go back until February to see him.

We left Chicago about 5:00 and traffic was horrendous. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get to John's sister's house, but we arrived safe and sound.

We got up this morning and his sister Dorothy fixed us breakfast and then we went visiting to his nieces' houses. It was so nice to see everyone and his family was so glad to see him. We then went to his sister Gaila's house for dinner with her family. Everyone told stories and reminisced. We laughed and laughed and just had a great time. It was a very special day and we are so blessed to be loved and cared for by so many. We had a pretty uneventful trip home where it is, once again, good to be.

I will try to blog again soon. Peggy, John thinks he would do fine with your cookies. Hope to see you all soon.

Love,

John and Cathy

Happy Pre-Turkey Day!

Good morning all,

The hotel has computers so I can continue to blog, at least this morning. It is rainy and gray in Chicago this morning which often sets my mood in a non-positive way. But we are hoping for the best and we are so fortunate and blessed, we should never be non-positive.

We didn't sleep all that great, but it is so nice to be close to the hospital and our appointments. Our friend Barbara came last night and took us to dinner, but we were pretty pooped by the end of the night.

Traffic wasn't bad at all yesterday and we made our appointment in plenty of time.

While we were waiting for Dr. Akst to call us back, some little boy (probably about a year old) just toddled over to John, held his arms up and crawled on his lap. He leaned back against John's shoulder like he had known him his whole life. It was sweet and precious and, I think, made John's day. Many people look at him strangely, but what a blessing that children are so innocent and non-judgmental.

Dr. Akst was a really sweet doctor. Everything done at Loyola is put into a computer and when you go to a different doctor/area, all of the information is already there for them to look at. You don't always realize how nice that is until doctors start asking questions and you're the one trying to remember dates, outcomes, medicines, etc. So what a nice thing that is. Anyway, Dr. Akst asked John several questions and then took him for a video look at his vocal cord. Needless to say, the right vocal cord is paralyzed and he said there was something else going on as well. He said it was nothing to be alarmed about, but it was a concern. He called it a medical name which I can't remember, but what it boils down to is that there is something in there similar to a polyp caused built up by scar tissue. He said for that to be there a couple of things had to be present: the ventilator probably started it, but he has quite a bit of acid reflux that keeps it aggravated and then he works so hard for his voice to be heard, that it complicates things. I may not be reporting this at all correctly, but that is my understanding. He believes he can help the vocal cord by injecting a substance (again a long name). What we have to find out today is whether or not Dr. Anderson believes the vocal cord paralysis is permanent or temporary. If it's temporary, he will inject something that lasts about 2 1/2 months; if it is permanent, he will inject something that lasts about two years. He believes it lasts longer than that, but it has only been researched for a length of two years. He likened it to someone going in with flat lips and coming out with puffy lips. The would "plump up" John's vocal cord which would help his swallowing and his voice. After the procedure is done he wants John to work with a speech therapist who is comfortable working with voice issues so that he doesn't work so hard to speak. We have a follow-up appointment for the injection for December 8. I am just glad God helped John find doctors that know what they are doing.

John's memory is so great. We went to a mall up here yesterday. He just sits in the car and doesn't seem to mind at all. Anyway, we went past this restaurant called "The Clubhouse." We had also passed a couple of golf courses on the way in so we had to find out their names also, but anyway, I digress. He wanted me to go into "The Clubhouse" and see who owned it because he thought Kevin Costner or Paine Stewart or Peter Jacobsen owned it. So I go into this restaurant feeling like a total idiot for even considering asking this question. I went up to the desk and said, "I'm not really sure why I'm here, but my husband thinks someone famous owns this restaurant." The hostess said, "Well, they did eight years ago when it was first opened." Jack Nicklaus, Kevin Costner and she named somebody else that I can't remember are the ones that first opened it. They sold it but, once again, John was right. I swear, he remembers everything. But what an amazing, miraculous thing for him to have. God is so good.

I will close for now. I may not get to blog again until we get home. We hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving and we will see you again soon. Love to all.

John and Cathy

Traffic Tuesday

Good morning all,

Look, I am already anticipating much traffic today. We made it fine yesterday and traffic wasn't impossible. It didn't really get bad until the "Circle" or "Circus" as I like to refer to it. Ha!

John has a 1:00 appointment with Dr. Akst about the vocal cord procedure. He's not sure his name is okay for a doctor (funny, huh?). I'm not sure whether they will do anything today or not, but I'll try to let someone know something. I'm not sure when I will get to blog again, but I will try to either call Delores or send her a text as to what happens today.

Tomorrow he sees Dr. Yoo (the eye doctor) and then Dr. Alexander (the neurosurgeon). His eye is not drastically improved so I'm not exactly sure what they will want to do about that.

His balance is still very unsteady, but he is so strong-willed and independent (both nice ways of saying a bit bull-headed) that he insists on using the cane instead of the walker. Again, I just want him to be safe.

Please pray for Phil, Kay and their family today as I know it will be a difficult day for them. I understand Rodney Rubenacker has needs, also. Please continue to pray for Van and Delores as well, although Van looks absolutely terrific. There are so many that need God's healing touch in so many ways. We so appreciate your continued thoughts and prayers for us.

We are so blessed by God and by having all of your in our lives. This Thanksgiving season is very special to us. Ken's message Sunday was on being thankful IN all things. I think we often let our circumstances rule our attitudes and that should not be the way a blessed people should act or react to anything. Okay, I'll get down off my soapbox and say how appreciative we are for all of you and for God's mercy and grace.

Hope you all have a great day!

Love and thanksgiving,

John and Cathy from the windy city

Lazy Day

Hello everyone,

Hope you had a great Sunday. Church was wonderful this morning. We can't say often enough how wonderful it is to be home. It was great to be back in Sunday School this morning, too. We really missed our Sunday School class. We have a great group of people.

We didn't do much of anything this afternoon. Kelly and Dianne Friederich visited for a while this afternoon. John was his usual comedic self. He loves entertaining.

We are off again tomorrow for the windy city. We hope all goes well with traffic, doctor's appointments, etc. Please pray for safe travel and that everything goes good with John's follow-up appointments. We will try to blog again after his doctors' visits if we can. It may be Friday before you hear anything from us.

We hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for including all of you.

We will be thinking of and praying for Phil and Kay Huffer and their family during this time of their loss.

We love you all. Take care and have a great holiday.

John, Cathy and Family

Two Beautiful Days

Hello all,

We have had two beautiful fall days. It must be Indian summer. Whatever it is, we are certainly enjoying it.

John hasn't felt all that great the last couple of days. We ran some errands yesterday and John slept in the parking lots of the couple of stores I went into. I guess it's good he can do that. He probably slept a grand total of about four hours yesterday and then went to bed and slept all night as well. I guess his body just needs rest.

Today he walked to the mailbox and back with his cane. He did very well. He went slow and walked very methodically and looked like a pro. His eye has bothered him quite a bit today. We should know more about that at his eye appointment on Wednesday. He is waiting on himself more and got himself a huge bowl of ice cream. I said, "That's an awfully big bowl of ice cream." He said, "Maybe for mere mortals. . ." which made me laugh really hard.

His sister Marilyn and niece Reggie came and visited today. Christina Anselment Z. (I don't know how to spell her married name) also stopped by. John used to work with her at the bank and was very glad to see her. It was so nice of her to stopy by. Sue Tomlin and her mom, Ann, also came this afternoon. It was very nice to see all of them.

We sat outside in the swing this afternoon for a little while. It was such a beautiful day and the temperature was just perfect.

We were so sorry to hear about the death of Phil Huffer's step-mother. Please pray for that family. We also ask that you pray for Van and Delores; pray for wisdom for the doctors and guidance for Van and Delores' decision about what's best. We thank you for your continued prayers and thoughts for us. Thanks for reading.

Love,

John and Cathy

Slowly Getting Back to Normal

Howdy Everyone,

Well, today is Thursday. It is almost the end of another week. Where does the time go? John didn't feel great today, but he didn't feel horrible either. He had therapy again today, but he was quite tired. I think he may be trying to do a little too much. He had ridden the stationery bike today and he said his legs were like jello for therapy. Perhaps he should not try to do quite so much all in one day. Our niece Judy and her husband Rick stopped and visited a while today. It was nice to see them. John really enjoys telling stories and tells them quite well. Nancy Epperson brought us lunch and stayed and visited for a little while as well. People continue to be so kind to us and, again, we are so blessed to have such wonderful friends, family and support system. We hear everyday of people that have been praying for us and, evidently, continue to do so. We cannot tell you how much we appreciate your caring, kind and giving spirits.

We are enjoying being at home so much. It is so nice to live in a small town where people care. We have such a great community of caring people. It's great not having so much traffic also. We have to travel back to Chicago on Monday, so please pray that we make it safely. John has an appointment with the ENT doctor on Tuesday about the possibility of having an injection pushing the vocal cord over. Supposedly that will help both his swallowing and his voice. There is no guarantee at this time that it can be done because the doctor has not yet seen him. On Wednesday we have an appointment with Dr. Yoo, the opthalmologist and Dr. Alexander, the neurosurgeon. Hopefully, those appointments will all go well.

Have a nice evening. More blogging to come.

Love and thanks,

John and Cathy

Good Day

Hello all,

It is Wednesday, November 18 and it was a very good day. John took a real bath today and that felt so good to him. I had bought one of those transfer chairs last week, but he didn't use it very long and I'm pretty sure will not use it again. He did very good at getting in and out of the tub--better than I thought he could. He is also walking around the house without using anything. He says he has to try new things; I just worry about him losing his balance and falling. I had to run some errands this morning and I told him I would be gone quite a while. I got back sooner than expected and I found him outside airing up a tire on his car. He had carried the air compressor to the patio and charged it up, then carried it to his car and aired up the tire. He was pretty off balance by the time I arrived home, but he again said he had to try new things to get stronger. I was pretty angry, but I have to admit he is getting stronger. Maybe he's not doing it in the way I would like, but he's certainly very eager.

His friends from Kentucky, Lee and Joann, stopped today. I had cooked dinner and they ate with us and stayed until about 3:00. We had a very nice visit. John certainly keeps us all entertained.

His eye is still bothering him but, hopefully, that will start to get better soon. He has therapy again tomorrow.

We continue to pray for those in need. We love you all.

John and Cathy

Back At It Again

Hello all,

Today was a better day. We had quite a bit of company this morning, but John really enjoys visiting with people. His brothers, Gabe and James were here and our sister-in-law, Mary and niece Tammy came. We all visited for quite a while.

Yesterday he had this eye thing happen to him and it happened again today, so we thought it best to call the doctor at Loyola. The nurse said it sounded like a migraine and there were such things as ocular migraines which we'd never heard of. She said we might want to go to a doctor just to make sure everything was okay. John has a lot of faith in the eye doctor at Marion Eye Center here in McLeansboro and they were kind enough to work us in. She did a very thorough exam and said everything looked fine in his good and the cornea was very dry in the bad eye, but there was no infection. She said he had a stye and gave him a couple of antibiotic prescriptions, but thought he was doing the right things. She was going to send his results to the doctor at Loyola so he would know what she had recommended. She also said the exact same thing about the migraine and that it is not unusual for those to occur after a major surgery. She said she hoped those would lessen in severity and frequency soon.

He was able to go to therapy today. He said he got to play soccer and had to keep a balloon up. He said it was a lot of fun. He also had to put tiny pegs into holes for occupational therapy. He said the hardest thing for him to do is to sign his name with his right hand. He is trying to do everything with his right hand now which is difficult because he has taught himself to use his left. In speech he tried to strengthen his face, work on pronunciation and sang. He seemed to enjoy it, but it really wears him out.

Tonight Cejae stopped by and Mike Pritchett came and visited. Tomorrow his friend Lee Craddock and Joann are going to stop by on their way back to Kentucky. He doesn't have therapy tomorrow.

He is so independent which is a good thing, but he doesn't always listen to me. I love that he wants to get stronger and do things for himself, but occasionally I think I know what's best. And, go figure, he believes he knows what's best. Hmmm . . . a battle of the wills. We'll have to see how this goes.

Well, I hope you all have a good night's sleep. We will try to let you know what's happening tomorrow. Thanks for continuing to read.

Love,

John and Cathy

No Therapy Today

Hello all,

John hasn't felt very good today. He has had a lot of trouble with his eyes today and has had a headache pretty much all day. I cancelled therapy for him today because he felt so bad. We plan to go tomorrow. We may have overdone it yesterday. This has been the first day he has felt really bad, so that's a good thing.

Randy Banovz came and visited for a while this morning. John really enjoys company.

Needless to say since he felt so bad we did not do much, which is fine too. He took about a two-hour nap this afternoon. It was a gray, rainy day anyway so it was fine. I watched a lot of Law and Order, Criminal Intent.

John told me I would be a good schizophrenic because I am over here talking to myself as I blog. I guess the voices don't talk to me, I just make my own conversation with me.

I will let you know how therapy goes tomorrow. Thanks for continuing to read and pray for us. We appreciate your continued support. Thanks.

John and Cathy

Fourth Day of Sanity

Hello all,

John titled this one. This is our fourth day home and being back to sanity. He has some terrible memories of things that happened to him in the hospital that must have been hallucinations. He thought there were terrorists, mannequins and all kinds of terrible things. They are extremely real to him, but we of course know that didn't happen. Drugs are wonderful things, but can also do all kinds of strange things to our minds at times. Anyway, we certainly continue to enjoy being home. He said McLeansboro has never looked so good and made me drive through town just so he could see it.

We plan to continue blogging until after John's follow-up appointments in a couple of weeks. We have so enjoyed this and hope you have too. It is certainly a way to keep everyone updated and as much in the loop as we are.

Today is Sunday and we went to church today for the first time in five weeks. That's a long time for us to have missed church. Cejae went with us this morning and it was a very spiritual and emotional (imagine that) experience for us. It was our fellowship dinner at church today and we brought plates home with us. How nice and how delicious it was! God has been so good to us and blessed us so much that we cannot begin to give him all the praise He deserves. It was so good for John to see everyone and for everyone to see him. Everyone thought he looked so good and many thought he was talking better than he was before the surgery. We are so thankful to God and to all of you for your kindness, thoughtfulness, gifts, prayers, yard work, food, and everything you have done for us. We really can't say how much it has all meant to us.

We took a ride with Cejae this afternoon to Ridgway and that was very nice also. John really enjoyed that. He didn't even have a nap today. His brother Gabe and his wife Mary came to visit this evening. We went to church again tonight.

Friday and Saturday we had several people come visit. Rick Bailey came on Friday evening, John's brother Steve and his wife Sheila were here on Saturday as was Jerry Hart, Jim Hutchcraft and Steve Bowling. It was so nice to see everyone. Rick had been up right after John's surgery and couldn't believe how much better John looked. John doesn't remember Rick being there at all.

He seems to get stronger and have more stamina every day. His eating is going very well, the feeding tube wound is healing nicely and his eye appears to have improved somewhat. Last night I asked John how his belly hole was and he sang, "There's a hole in my belly, dear Liza, dear Liza. There's a hole in my belly, dear Liza, a hole." He just makes me laugh--a wonderful gift that I appreciate so much.

Well, I'm going to sign off for tonight. We'll try to let you know how therapy goes tomorrow. Thanks for following and, again, for everything you've done.

Love,

John and Cathy

Saturday Evening Post

I have not had a chance to read any of the blogs before today and yesterday. I couldn't stop reading the blogs or the comments. I was unaware of some of the stuff that happened to me even though it happened to me! I am grateful for each and everyone that responded. I wanted to write down some of my thoughts for you on how this whole journey started. As most of you know I like to play golf. About 2 years ago I started experiencing some difficulty with some basic golf skills. I chalked it up to old age. Last summer I couldn't walk a full nine holes without falling at least once a round. My scores were going up and I couldn't make my body do some of the things my brain was telling it to do. Sometimes your hobbies can be a precurser. As the year went on I was getting worse. I decided to go to my old neurologist, he did an MRI and found out I had another tumor and I would need another brain surgery. After consulting with Dr. Pencek we agreed I needed to see another Dr. to do the surgery. I immediately started to pray for guidance. I joined a website called epidermoidbraintumor.org. I found a lot of great things on that website. They talked a lot about different techniques and Drs. I researched for over a month. In the meantime Dr Pencek made me an appointment with a Dr. in Springfield. The Dr. in Springfield turned out to not be the right Dr. either. All the time I had my eyes on Loyola Hospital. I couldn't get away from that feeling. Meantime the Dr. in Springfield referred me to Northwestern Hospital in Chicago, a Dr Bajher. I looked him up on the internet and found out he was a good Dr. I waited about a week and no call. I decided to call Loyola. Dr Anderson had a very good track record. I had prayed constantly for God's will. I prayed for guidance, I was annointed with oil and I knew God would take care of me one way or the other. I called Loyola on Friday and they made me an appointment on Wed. I thought that was a sign. I met with Dr Anderson on Wed. and he was very professional and told me everything he was going to do, what to expect and all the precautions his team would take. I had been through this before and I knew I had found my Dr. He scheduled my operation and I knew God had put me in this man's hands. It was a couple of weeks later when I heard from Northwestern Hospital. I said I already had a Dr and I had already scheduled my surgery. The rest of the story is in the blog. I throughly think God took over and watched over me. Thank you God!

John

"Home again, home again, jiggity jig"

Happy Friday!

It's a great Friday the 13th for us. It is so wonderful being home. I didn't know home would look so good, but it shore does.

We had welcome home banners in our yard when we arrived home yesterday evening. People have just been so wonderful. We just can't tell you how much we appreciate all that you have done for us.

We slept good in our own bed last night and John is doing really well. He has gone to his therapy at McLeansboro now and I'm sure it will wear him out, but he is so eager to improve and get stronger.

Cindy Inboden brough us supper last night: roast, potatoes, carrots and rolls. What a lovely gesture. It was so good. You forget how much you miss a good home-cooked meal.

Wow! What a ride this has been--literally and figuratively. But how God has blessed! When we were getting ready to leave Rehab. on Wednesday everyone was telling John goodbye and he said, "Wow! I could run for mayor." So we told him he could probably be mayor of Rehab. H e still has such a good attitude and is so funny.

Melody took Wednesday off so she could drive me to the hospital and help us get things together. That girl is amazing. If you ever need anything organized, she's your gal. She is a little, tiny thing that just takes care of things. She knows the right questions to ask and just gets things done. I was so thankful to have her with me. She and Bucky were both great.

We have a great new rail to come up the back steps with. It was a really big help for John. Thanks go to Bob Brockett and Ron Gibbs for that. Adam had gotten some of the supplies, so thanks to him also.

I feel like I'm saying the same things over and over again, but we are so grateful for and to all of you. The support we had was phenomenal. We will never forget what you've done for us. If there is anything we can do for you, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Love and appreciate all of you.

John, Cathy, Bucky, Melody, Cejae and Adam

Coming Home

Hey all,

My parents are on their way home. Mom said that she thought they'd be home around 3:30 today. They are really excited.

What an emotional ride this has been. I just want to say, on behalf of my family, that we can never begin to thank you all enough for all that you have done for us! Thank you so much for caring so much about dad and for being here for all of us. We are so incredibly blessed to have such a great family and such a wonderful group of friends and supporters. From the bottom of our hearts, we want to say thank you SO much! I know we will never be able to repay all of you, but just know that we will never forget your generosity and kindness. We love you!!!!

Thank you!

Cejae

"Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty I am free at last."

Good evening all,

John is free and looking forward to going home tomorrow. But it was probably a good idea to stay the rest of the afternoon and night at Bucky and Melody's. Traffic was great coming back to their house and I hope it is good for us tomorrow as well. John is napping now and I am so glad he is able to do so.

We have had a great day, but a little stressful. We didn't know they were going to take that tube out and had to wait a while for them to come. We had the eye appointment at 1:00 and as they were taking the tube out Dr. Hsue called and said they could see us right away (at 12:15). So we were kind of in a hurry to begin with and then had to rush even more, but it's okay. John knew the tube removal was going to be painful, but I think it was even more painful than he had anticipated. There was a suction-like cup on the end of it larger than the hole it was coming through. So the doctor pulled hard and fast, but it was still really painful. He told John he was one tough guy because most people couldn't stand that. And Cejae told you what he compared it to.

Everyone on the 5th floor came in to tell him goodbye and say how much they were going to miss him. Carolyn (PT) said they decided the first week he was there when he got ready to leave he was going to be "Patient of the Week." They base it on hard work, attitude, the ability to work with the staff and someone who inspires others. What an honor for him to receive it. Everyone told us when we come up for the follow-up visits to stop in and see them. How nice that people want to be around you even when the chips are down.

They have put another contact on his eye that we remove nightly so that we can tape it shut when he sleeps. When we come back we will see Dr. Yoo again and they will decide at that time what should be done, if anything needs to be done more permanently.

Today with his walker he maneuvered uneven surfaces, steps (with and without carpet), sidewalks, elevators and curbs and did a fine job of it. He is so thrilled to be someplace other than the hospital, but knows he has to take it slow and steady. We had our first meal out of the hospital: soup, crackers and applesauce and he did a good job of that as well. Tonight Bucky is going to fix penne pasta with marinara sauce at John's request.

We may stop at John's sisters in Streator tomorrow. We will see what the morning brings. Love you all and look forward to seeing you soon. Thanks again for everything.

Love,

Cathy

Feeding Tube

Guess what everyone? They took dad's feeding tube out. He said it felt like someone was pulling a baby out of his (ummm, how shall I say) butt. So, for all we know, dad really was pregnant this whole time and gave birth to a feeding tube. All jokes aside, he is VERY relieved to get that dern thing out. He said yesterday that the doctor told him they would probably take the feeding tube out when he came back up for his appointment later in November, but apparently, they decided that today was a good day so they went for it.

Dad has been away from most of his family, friends, and home for over a month now. A month is not long at all when you think about all of the people who leave their homes to go fight for our country for months and years and some who, unfortunately, never return. As it is Veteran's Day, we just want to say thank you to all of those people who have fought and continue to fight for our freedom. Three people that I am really thinking about today are my grandpa "Buck," Adam's grandpa Frank and my uncle Mike. What brave people! Thanks to all the Veteran's!!!

I'm sure mom will have more of a detailed blog later but until then....toodaloo!

You all rock!

Cejae

Breakin' Out!

Good morning all,

Well, I have lots to tell you and I was just too tired to try last night. John's new theme song (Cejae has tried to put it on) is Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews "I'm Alive" and he wanted her to try to add it to the blog. [Sidenote from Cejae: I finally figured out how to add the song but can't figure out how to put it on autoplay, so if you wan't to listen, you'll have to click play button] She's had a dickens of a time getting it on there and is frustrated at this point. Anyway, when you hear it, just think of John.

He had his video swallowing test yesterday morning and that went REALLY well. The speech pathologist said he was making a liar out of her. When he eats slowly, concentrates, takes small bites/sips he does a bang-up job. He is at least so much more aware of what is going on and knows how to control it better which is great. He chokes so much less frequently than he did even before the surgery. Praise God!

They opened his eye again yesterday and took out the tasoraphy (pretty sure that's not how it's spelled, but I at least wanted to sound intelligent), and his eye looks good. They put a contact back on it and he sees Dr. Yoo, referred by Dr. Hsue (pronounced Shoe), today at 1:00. I think Dr. Seuss could write a book using these two doctors' names. Well, anyway, a bit of humor this morning. And everyone there has been so great and so pro-active that we have no complaints whatsoever. The top and bottom lids of John's eye look pretty rough, but that's where the stitches were keeping it closed. Dr Hsue thinks that Dr. Yoo may want to go ahead and put in a more permanent tasoraphy or possibly a gold weight, but yesterday she said the eye is closing really well and they may just try the contact for a while. Wouldn't that be wonderful? But, again, John is perfectly willing to do whatever they think is best.

He was also awarded "Patient of the Week" yesterday. Guess who cried! I'm such a sap, but it was so sweet. I think everyone in Rehab. votes on who it is and then decide. They said he had been such a pleasure to work with. We're going to try to get a picture today with his certificate and put it on the blog. They choose a "Patient of the Week" weekly (imagine that) and put their picture on a board in Rehab. You are then supposed to return in a year and show them how far you've come. Cool idea, huh? Well, anyway, it was very sweet and touching.

Our friend Barbara came and brought a huge cookie tray for everyone in Rehab. for John to give to them. They were so excited and asked how he had gotten that so quickly. He said, "I just called my peeps." They thought that was hilarious.

He is so looking forward to getting out today. We are going to stay at Bucky's tonight and then head home in the morning. So we will be staying an extra day, but that's okay.

We have several follow-up appointments in a couple of weeks, so we will be headed back but we get to spend some time at home first. Man, that place is going to look good.

Thank you to Bob Brockett and whoever helped him add a rail for us. We can't tell you how much we appreciate everything each of you has done. We love you all and will try to keep you updated as much as we can.

We continue to pray for Van and others and hope all goes well today.

See you soon.

Cathy

Tuesday, Tuesday

Good morning,

I couldn't think of anything catchy for today's title so you yesterday's again (only with Tuesday instead of Monday). Ah, but I ramble.

I am going to go in early today. John choked quite a bit yesterday at breakfast so they want to do another video swallowing test. They told me the last time if the had known we were there we could have watched, so I'm going in today to watch. Evidently they put a camera on his throat and can actually see where the food is going (amazing, huh?). I don't think he will have to go back on the feeding tube, he just may have to thicken all of his liquids. He had been getting some thin liquids and the stuff that he uses to thicken things is kind of gritty. But, whatever, he has come so far.

We should also know today if they can do something more permanently with his eye while we are still here. They may try to do something late tomorrow or wait until Friday which is when Dr. U (I have no idea how to spell his name, that's just what they call him) usually has clinic. We haven't actually met him, but he's the "attending" or the "chief." I'm learning all of these teaching-hospital terms, but I'm not always sure what they actually mean.

I had some training yesterday on what I need to look for and how I need to help John. Pray that I will be a good helper. You know, I have always told him I am not a good nurse (he believes me) and I don't think I'm such a hot physical/occupational therapist either. But we will try to get through it the best we can. And John has come so far by the grace of God and all of your prayers.

We are going to be in constant prayer for Van, Delores and Beth today and have faith and confidence that all will go well. What an amazing God we serve!

Well, I'm off to try to beat rush-hour traffic. I will try to blog again later.

Love you all,

Cathy

Monday, Monday (la, la, lalalala)

Good morning,

I hope you are all singing today's blog title to the tune of the Mamas and Papas' song. I know I am and it will probably be stuck in my head all day.

I forgot to tell you yesterday that John's chest X-ray was normal. Yay! He is doing so much better about slowing down and eating and he seems to really listen to what they say. He is a bit of a strategist, however, in that during swallowing (which is in front of the speech therapist) he eats things he knows will go down well so that he doesn't choke. If he continues to pay attention to those things when we get home, he will do fine. And he loves to tell them stories. He loves to tell EVERYONE stories. But, praise God, he has stories to tell and he is here to tell them.

I just need to reiterate once again how thankful we are to have all of you. Denita loaned me a book entitled When I Lay My Isaac Down by Carol Kent. I was very apprehensive about reading it because I knew it was going to be a tear-jerker (and it is!), but what a blessing and what insight it has given me as well. In it it talks about "stretcher-bearers." Those are people who help you, oftentimes, when you don't even know you need the help. And not all stretcher-bearers are the same. Some may be prayers, some may be helpers in physical ways, some may be donators, some may call to give you moral support, some may just give you some much-needed comic relief, an for all of them we are thankful. The point is we need those stretcher-bearers and don't know what we would have done without all of them, without all of you. Thank you, Denita, for the book.

I have to say again what a gift our children have been. Bucky and Melody have given me a place to stay and a sanctuary in which to come to at the end of long days. Melody directed and produced the video (she is awesome) and has made me a calendar with things that are already scheduled, and follow-up questions that need to be answered and need dates. Bucky is always so positive--sometimes to the point of being annoying (just kidding), but he always sees the good in everything and, usually, everybody. Our Cejae has been a rock (maybe not emotionally), but what a gift she has been. She certainly kept us entertained. I think she's getting a wheelchair for Christmas, because she got pretty good at using it in Rehab. Adam is taking care of some of the things that need to be done at home and we so appreciate that. He is certainly a constant, steady, reliable individual in all of our lives.

Well, before I start blubbering, I am going to go. I will try to blog again later. I hope that someday I can be a stretcher-bearer in a way that you have all been to us. Love you much.

Cathy

Good day.

Hello all,

Well, another day down and only three more to go, hopefully. We are still planning on being discharged on Wednesday. If they could go ahead and do something with his eye on Wednesday or Thursday, we would try to stay the extra time to get that taken care of. We should know something more about that tomorrow.

It was another beautiful day here in Chicagoland. Bucky took me down to the hospital yesterday and then our friends, Chuck and Barbara picked me up and we met Bucky and Melody for dinner. It was very nice. Today Barbara picked me up and took me down to the hospital and stayed most of the day with me. Bucky and Melody then came and picked me up, we had dinner and now we are home. We took John outside both days; the weather was so beautiful. I think he really enjoyed being outside.

John is so funny and continues to have such a great attitude. That means so much to all of us. One of the nurses said, "What are we going to do without you, John? It will certainly be different." This surgery has been so much different in many ways. He has never been agitated, he seems to take everything in stride and he is just so easy-going. I am so thankful for all of these things. This makes my life as well as his, so much easier.

Yesterday he said, "Are you excited about Christmas?" I said, "Well, I guess, I'm justing wondering how I will get everything done." He said, "I already have my Christmas gift: I'm alive." I thought that was just so touching. He is so thankful that things are as good as they are. Sure, he has some residual effects, but he is not focusing on those at all; he is just appreciating the good things. God bless him! He has been such a blessing to me and to all of us. He is such a joy. We continue to praise God for His wonderful mercies. "They are new every morning," and we are so thankful for each new day.

We hope all goes well with Van this week and we are certainly going to pray extra hard for him, Delores and their family. We also continue to pray for Glenda Mitchell, Greg Vaupel, Mickey Owen and others who are in need or hurting.

Charlotte, we received Heather's card with her special surprise in it for John. Thank you, Heather; John thought it was great. We also received cards from Suzanne's class at church. John really enjoyed each one of those and how sweet they all were. Again, we are so thankful for all of you and your kindness and thoughtfulness.

We are counting down the days and "if the good Lord's willin' and the creeks don't rise," we will hopefully see all of you very soon. Take care and know that we are thinking about you and excited to see you. We love you.

Cathy

Beautiful Saturday morning

Good morning all,

I tried to make it sound like, "Good morning VietNam," you remember that movie with Robin Williams ages ago. Oh well, I thought it was funny. Anyway, it is an absolutely beautiful day here in the windy city, and it is windy today, but that's alright. The sun is shining, the temperature is great and I like the wind.

Bucky and I met Cejae and Terri last night in Kankakee. I so appreciate Bucky going and driving for me. I just had to sit and not worry because he knows exactly where he is going and 103 different ways to get there. Cejae and Terri had the longest drive. We started late and traffic was awful so it took us two hours to get to Kankakee. But Cejae sent me a text around 12:30 saying she got home safe and, hopefully, she got a good night's sleep and at least her vehicle is home now. Bless her heart. She has been a jewel through this whole thing.

I called John this morning and he was doing well. He said Van had called him last night and so had his friend from Kentucky, Lee Craddock. He said it's kind of hard for him to talk, but it was great to hear from both of them. Van, we are praying for you and Delores and we know what a wonderful God we serve.

I was telling John what our plans were for the day. We are going to clean a little here at the house and then we're coming to see him. Bucky gets to pick Melody up from the airport this afternoon and I told him I'd stay until 4:00 or 5:00, then we have some plans to go out to dinner. John said, "That will be good. I think I'll just stay here." That just cracked me up. He is such a great guy, and funny. I made him promise me before the surgery that he'd still be funny (not that any of that was in our control). And I am so glad that God continues to bless in so many ways.

We are so glad Melody is coming home today. She has been so wonderful and we have really missed her. She's a get-things-done kind of gal, so if I don't get all my questions answered, she has been so great to help me out. We love you, Melody!

A couple of days ago I was talking to John on the phone and was asking how his eye, swallowing, therapy, etc. was going and he said, "How are you holding up? Nobody ever asks how you're doing, so how are you doing?" I thought that was just one of the sweetest, selfless things he could have said. (Guess what--crying!) But anyway, I was so touched that he asked that, and we are so blessed to still love and care about each other after 33 years of marriage.

Okay, I'm going to go slather on some Estrogel so I'm not a mess all day and will, hopefully, blog again later.

Love you all and continue to feel your love and kindness.

Cathy

Counting down.

Hello everyone,

Well, it's Friday again. It doesn't mean quite the same thing that it does when I'm working, but I'm sure it does to others.

John had a good day. He is working so hard and they REALLY worked him hard today since he had been a little bad yesterday. Everyone thinks he is doing so well.

The doctor did say he was a little "wheezy" today so she started breathing treatments again and did a chest X-ray. We haven't heard the results of the chest X-ray yet. The respiratory therapists said they didn't hear anything in his lungs when they came to give him his treatments so, hopefully, whatever it is isn't too bad.

They are still planning on him being released on Wednesday. I go Monday for some "training" from occupational and physical therapy. Wish me luck. I am also concerned about food for him. He has everything "mechanical soft" which means ground meat, thickened drinks, soft fruit, etc. I have been trying to think about things to fix and I hope all goes well. The consistency of the Ensure shakes seems to be what works best for him. He can have thin liquids if he sips them and drinks them by themselves (not with solids). We take so many things for granted when we are healthy.

He will also have to see an ophthalmologist for his eye as well. They said he can either come back to one here or see one closer to us if he wanted to. I'm not exactly sure what we're going to do with that just yet. I'm not sure we can get all of the follow-up appointments in a small time frame and I'm sure the weather is not going to stay wonderful forever. So, we'll see how that goes.

I'm pretty sure he will come home with a walker. His balance is not bad, but he is still very weak. His stamina is not great either, but he's been through an awful lot and come just a long way in a short time. God is truly amazing.

I know John will be so glad to get home as will I. It has been great having a place to stay and they have been wonderful at Loyola, but home is home and we are so looking forward to being there.

Well, Bucky and I are getting ready to go and meet Cejae somewhere between Chicago and home. So pray for safe travel for all of us.

Love you all and plan to see you soon.

Cathy

Funny guy

Hello everyone,

Well, today is Thursday and only six days to go. I think we are still on target for getting out next Wednesday. They have him scheduled for therapy at Hamilton Memorial on Friday, November 13. So that is great news.

He is such a popular guy. Everyone seems to love him (but what's not to love, right?). He is constantly joking around and tries really hard to do what they ask of him. So today was one of the Occupational Therapists last days. He put John up to messing with the new OTs. John is very strong and, as I said, usually works as hard as he can. But today he dropped the weights a couple of times and decided about 3/4 of the way through occupational therapy that he needed to go to the bathroom and just generally threw the new OTs off. One of them had worked with him before and after the session was over said, "I don't know what's going on with Mr. Cross today." Well, Rick (the instigator) couldn't hold it in any longer. He just cracked up laughing. He thought it was just hilarious. John will probably have to do double OT tomorrow, but I think he really enjoys being Mr. Popularity.

He is doing well enough now that he doesn't have to have an alarm on his bed so he can get in his wheelchair by himself and take himself to the bathroom. He can get a shower by himself if he holds on to the bar. They are going to start working tomorrow on him brushing his teeth and shaving while standing. Up to this point he has been sitting in his wheelchair and doing that.

He is eating really well and doing much better. He has started slowing down, taking smaller bites and seems to enjoy it more. He went with me today to the cafeteria while I ate lunch. I think he enjoys getting out once in a while. It is nice for me as well.

The sun shone today and that makes everything look so much better. It gives me a whole different perspective on everything. It makes me so happy.

I will be meeting Cejae somewhere tomorrow to trade vehicles, so I may not be able to blog until Saturday.

I hope you all have a great evening. Thanks, as always, for your continued thoughts and prayers. We couldn't have gotten through this without your support and God's love. We are so blessed.

Virtual hugs to all of you,

Cathy

Only a week to go, hopefully.

Hello again everybody,

It's Cathy again since my sidekick Cejae has returned home.

John is scheduled to come home next Wednesday unless something changes. We have several follow-up visits to try and schedule and I have asked them to coordinate them in a time period that we could make one trip back up. We will see how that goes.

He is eating good enough now that they are no longer counting his calories. He is getting very independent, which is good and bad. He feels good enough that he thinks there are some things he shouldn't be monitored on, but there are still rules that need to be followed. He has been so eager to please and do whatever they tell him up to this point that I hate to see him balk at the required instructions. Hopefully, he will understand that they are only doing their job and have his safety and well-being in mind.

He is getting stronger as well. Today he lifted weights, rode a bicycle with his arms w/weights for 12 minutes, did physical therapy, and practiced writing. They keep him very busy and he tires quickly, but I think he feels he's accomplishing something. And he is. He has come such a long way in two weeks and we are so thankful. They are so encouraging, positive and fun. It has been a great place for him to be.

He received beautiful flowers today from Bob and Sue Tomlin. They are just gorgeous; thank you so much. He also got more cards. Again, we can't say enough how much we appreciate everyone still thinking about us and continuing to support us. How nice everyone has been.

John has lost quite a bit of weight. I, however, have not. I was talking to the speech therapist yesterday and she was telling me all of these things I could make when I get home. She said, "John needs the calories, so you could make cream soups with real cream." I'm thinking, "John needs the calories; I do not." You may not recognize either one of us when we get home. Him because he's so thin and me, because I'm not. I also may never want to eat out again. It's getting a little old. Oh well, at least I am able to eat anything I want. When we are healthy we take so many things for granted. We often don't realize how blessed we are until there are things we can no longer do.

His mind is so sharp. He doesn't forget anything. It's sad when we have to tell the guy who had brain surgery what we need remembered, because he's the only one who can. And he does; every time.

Well, my large butt is dragging, so I'm going to take a bath and hit the hay. Love you all and hope this finds all of you well and doing great.

Cathy

Home Stretch

Good Evening All,

In 8 days dad gets to come home! We are all very excited!! He worked extremely hard today. He went down to the 4th and 1st floor with the physical therapist and walked with just his walker. He even walked down stairs, which has not been easy for him for some time now. He does not do well with open spaces. One Christmas we all went to Macy's and he had to keep finding the elevator to get around because he could not make himself get on the escalator. Once before the surgery he also told us that he had to walk through a puddle because for some reason his brain would not tell his feet how to jump over it. He said he knew he needed to jump and he's pretty sure that he could jump if someone pushed him a bit, but he could not make himself jump. Hopefully that is better post surgery. The brain is an amazing thing!

He had 'swallowing' this morning and it went better than last night, but still not great. The speech and language pathologist explained to us what is happening. When we eat, our vocal cords come together so that food can pass down. Because dad has a paralyzed vocal cord, the right cord is not meeting the left cord thus making it difficult for him to eat without choking. The vocal cords also come together when we talk and vibrate off of each other to make sound, hence the reason he is so quiet and hoarse sounding. Speaking of hoarse, he is eating like a horse. He enjoyed his lunch today and tried much harder at eating the "right" way. In speech today they gave him a cognitive assessment. The test measured executive functioning, memory skills, and language skills. His score from today was compared to a score that he obtained on 10/21/2009. He scored within the normal limits on all areas this time. Last time he scored all over the board, in the severe, mild, moderate and normal limits. He has greatly improved since then. Today the speech therapist told us that everyone loves him and says that he is so nice, which was nice to hear. His neighbor George makes him laugh and they have formed a bond.

They had to sew his eye back up today. It was really red and irritated. I am not sure what the game plan is for that now, but I'm assuming they just want to watch it and see if it is healing. Dad will have to come back in December for his check-up's. He may also have a consultation with an ENT at Loyola sometime to see if they can inject something into his right vocal cord to make it meet his left vocal cord better so that he will hopefully be able to swallow and eat better.

I made it home safely in my mom's car! So, if you see mom's Camry riding around town, don't get too excited, it's just me. The reason I'm in her car is because I lost my keys. Yes, that's right, lost them. If you know me, that is not shocking, but it is very inconvenient and frustrating. Oh well, it could be worse and like mom said, no one is hurt and that is always a positive! I hope you all have a great evening and thanks for reading.

Love,

Cejae

Waiting for the bus.

Dad told me to title this blog entry "waiting for the bus." He went outside for a little walk/roll this afternoon to get some fresh air. He looked funny sitting out in front of the hospital as if he was waiting for the bus. He would love to be on a bus on his way home, but he's not quite there yet.

He had 4 hours of therapy today. He walked very well with a walker today. He is still learning to eat slower. This is a work in progress and a big struggle for him. Tonight he pretty much ate like a thrashing machine. He got choked a lot. He was aware that he was eating too quickly but apparently did not care. He was in a hurry to get to bed.

The stitches were taken out of his right eye and it is now open. He says he can see better, but there is still a glaze on his eye. He said that he has double vision up close, but he is able to see better at a distance. He had visitors today. His sister, my Aunt Gaila, and her friend came to see him as well as his nephew, Geremy. Aunt Gaila thought dad looked really good and that he had improved a lot since she had seen him last.

Dad was worn out tonight and was fast asleep by 6:15 p.m. He worked really hard today and had a good day. He is really missing everyone. He appreciates all of you so much as do all of the rest of us. Thanks for everything. I will be heading back tomorrow so mom will take over the blogging again.

Can you believe it is November????

Hello everyone,

This is Cejae again. I am staying up here until tomorrow. My sick days are depleting, but it is worth it! I'm just hoping like crazy that I don't actually get sick again.

Yesterday was the day of rest for dad. He got to just hang out! Mom and I got to the hospital around 10:00 a.m. and we stayed until about 6 p.m. We went to mass at noon and then waited for Bucky & Barbara to come so we could all go eat in the cafeteria. Dad ate good yesterday! He has to continue to eat "enough" calories in order for them to consider removing the feeding tube. Needless to say, he is a calorie consuming and counting machine. He wants that pesky thing out. He is very attentive to marking his calorie counting sheet just right and making sure he is eating enough. I can't blame him, because I would want that thing out too. He is down to 168 pounds. He lost 8 pounds last week. He has lost about 40 pounds altogether.

They came and checked his right eye yesterday. The corneal abrasion is almost gone and the doctor said it was looking really good. The optometrist that normally sees him will be back today to look at it. He has a huge day today! He has to go to 'walking' for an hour. He has 'swallowing' for an hour this morning. The 'swallowing' session makes him nervous. He says that every time he gets choked they look at him and say, "What happened there?" and they mark something down on a sheet. Him and George go to this session together. He says they alternate days where they are allowed to cough more. If today is George's day to cough then that means he has to be extra careful today and that he can cough tomorrow. He's funny!

He was excited about his video! He really misses everyone back home. He is so ready to be home, but he's just got a little over a week now.

For those of you who know me, this won't shock you, but the 5-year old kid in me - who subsequently needs Ritalin - kicked in yesterday and I couldn't sit still so I went for a little wheelchair ride myself. Bucky ended up pushing me into a wall. It was not cool. But, since we won't be going until later in the day and not staying as long today, I think I can contain the 5-year old. Sitting in that hospital room all day is very tiring and I look forward to the day that none of us have to do that any longer.

Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughtfulness. We appreciate you all so much and you mean the world to us. Please continue to pray for dad's recovery. Beth Steven's mom, Glenda, has been having a rough time too, so please send up a prayer for her and her family as well.

Love to all of you!

Video for Church

Here is a video message of dad. He wanted to shoot it for his church family. Here is a little script of what it says because his voice is so hoarse that it makes it difficult to understand.
Hello McLeansboro. I hear you are having church today. I just thought I would let you know, I'm alive and well and I wish I could be home with you. As you can see, I can only see out of one eye, but Dale deals with that every week so I don't feel too bad. Anyway, I've received over 100 get well cards and I just want to thank everybody for your prayers and for all your thoughtfulness. Thank you and may God bless you!

Happy Saturday!

Hey Everyone! It's Cejae blogging here. I made it up safely last night and arrived at about 8:00 p.m. I went directly to the hospital and saw dad before heading over to Buck and Mel's. He was surprised to see me. The fam went and visited him again this morning. He looks great! He seems to be feeling really good and he is really making progress. The picture at left is dad helping his friend George "Bud" down the hallway. George wasn't having a particularly great day so dad was lending him a hand. It is funny to see a man in a wheelchair push another man in a wheelchair down the hall. Dad and George have similar residual effects and are both doing the best they can. They live right across the hall from each other. I am glad to be back up here to see dad, I've been missing him and my mom alot (and my brother & sister in law, but I'm used to not seeing them).

Bad Wife.

Hello all,

I am a bad wife today because I did not go to the hospital. I was going to wait and go with Bucky later and we started to go, but it was coming a torrential downpour, the streets were flooded and the traffic was horrendous so we decided it was going to take longer to get there and back than we were going to be able to stay, so we had lunch and came home. I feel really guilty (my boss says he can get me to feel bad about almost anything with my Baptist guilt), but I have to admit it was very nice to just hang out for a day. I talked to him three times and will probably talk to him again before the night is over.

He said they stopped feeding him through the tube. He didn't even have it last night. He's taking in enough calories so he doesn't have to supplement with the tube feedings anymore. Praise God! They are still leaving it in, but maybe he can have it removed before too much longer. That's just me being hopeful; I'm not sure they've said anything about it.

He said he ate dinner without anyone watching him and it was very liberating. I said, "Did you choke?" He said, "Probably," but I guess he was at least eating without someone staring at him or correcting his eating habits. He said he gets really nervous when he eats in front of the speech therapist. He said he's afraid to even clear his throat.

We are planning on going fairly early in the morning and then coming back early so that we can see trick-or-treaters at Bucky and Melody's. We try to find little bits of normalcy wherever we can. Hopefully, the sun will shine tomorrow and I can get a dose of Vitamin D.

Cejae is on her way up. I talked to her about 5:00 and she was at Tuscola. We are all very excited about her coming up again. Melody has to leave for Arizona for a job on Sunday, so I will be with Bucky for the week. Pray for safe travel for everyone.

Bucky has gone to get pumpkins now so that we can carve them. Fun, huh?

I spoke to Beth Stevens today and her family certainly has a lot on their plate. Please pray for healing, strength and peace for all of them.

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Cathy

Kickin' it!

Good evening everyone,

I just want to say this up front and get it over with: Chicago traffic is brutal no matter what route I take. Okay, I'm over that and back to Bucky and Melody's safe once again. What a relief.

My wonderful son is making enchiladas for supper, my daughter-in-law is on her way home and I'm blogging. I probably should be jogging, but that's not going to happen.

John said his swallowing went much better this morning. What they do is take their breakfast down to a little room and they have to eat in front of the speech therapist so she can see their progress. Tricky, huh? He said he did much better this morning so he was pleased and, evidently, so was the therapist.

He said they told him he is taking in enough calories that they may stop the tube feedings. We'll see; I know that would make him so happy.

He is so funny. Today he was on the matt doing kicks and his physical therapist came in and asked me if he had told me how much he liked his new shoes. Well, I'm sure he only meant to graze her or tap her, but he kicked her pretty good in the arm. It totally took everyone by surprise, including her. And then he said, "You can't hit me, I'm a patient." She said, "You're right, but I'll get you back." And I'm sure she will. Everyone is so nice in Rehab. They do such a great job and we are so blessed to be here.

He said they told him that his eye is improving. They said they wanted to leave it sewn shut another week and then see how it does.

He also told me Dr. Nguygen (pronounced Wynn) told him about a month after he is released he will come back and they will inject something into his vocal cord to strengthen it. I haven't been there to hear any of these conversations, but he's usually very on top of things.

I bet John got another ten cards today. I don't know whether you all have a schedule or what, but it is so nice to get cards everyday. They mean so much and thank you all for that.

Well, I'm going to go spend some time with my family now, but I know how much you all care, so I thought I'd give you a small update.

Oh, and in thanking people this morning, I failed to thank our friend Barbara. I'm just going to end every update with a thank-you to Barbara because she is doing something for us all the time. Thank you, Barbara.

Love to all,

John, Cathy and family

Good morning!

Good morning,

I took a Tylenol PM last night and slept really well so I am awake with a new attitude. I just can't be grumpy when God has blessed so much, so I am hopeful that I can stay positive today.

I appreciate all of your comments so much. Thanks Delores for always understanding. You are so good at everything you do and I so appreciate your support and love.

I have to thank Jerry Hart again for keeping our lawn mowed (no small task). What a thoughtful and caring thing for him to do. Thanks Jerry!

We continue to get cards. Awesome! Thanks to all of you who keep sending them. Sometimes we think those don't mean much, but when you're in a situation such as this and far from home, it means a lot.

I also must apologize to Jayda, Aysia and Adyson because we are not going to be home for trick or treat. Adyson had asked her mom if Uncle John was going to be home for trick or treat and she said she didn't think so. Addy said, "But Mom, we always go to Uncle John and Aunt Cathy's last, and Aunt Cathy cooks supper." So there will have to be a delayed trick or treat supper one evening for them. Michele, be sure and take lots of pictures.

I also hope my brother, Robin (his wife) and my niece Hannah had a great time at the Miley Cyrus concert last night. If any of you know my brother at all, you will know that he was so excited about a Miley Cyrus concert. But, what a great thing for all of them to do together. Time goes too quickly and we often miss some of those special moments, so kudos to you Mike!

Denita, I love you and I appreciate all you do for so many people. You are in my thoughts and prayers daily, as is your family. You have always been so good to us and you will always be my sister.

Michele, thank you for this great idea of blogging. It is very therapeutic and a wonderful outlet. I love you and your family so much and I pray things are going well for you. I'm glad to hear your kids are feeling better. Give them all big hugs and kisses for Uncle John and me. We have to plan a beach vacation this year!

And to my Rend Lake family I have to say thank you for all that each and every one of you have done for us. (Jeannie, the bread was wonderful.) I am thankful for a great benefit package so that I have sick days to take off, for a Vice President who was my friend before she was any of my bosses, for my current boss, Buster, who is a wonderful, understanding friend who cares about us, for a fabulous Liberal Arts Division to be a part of, and for all of my friends at Rend Lake College. I miss all of you so much and I hope you are doing well. I know in Liberal Arts there's probably no one skipping down the hall singing the "Sound of Music," (stop Buster if he tries) but hey, we have to be serious sometimes (not!). I appreciate each of you so much.

To my Sunday School class: I hope to be back with you all soon. I love each and every one of you so much and appreciate your love and support in return. My prayers are with you and I know you are in excellent hands. And I thank Phil for doing such a great job in my absence. Maybe I'll come back as a participant rather than a teacher. I still enjoy and look forward to Charlotte's devotions. It seems they come when I need them most. Thank you all for continuing to pray for us. We certainly know those prayers are coming, just look at God's wonderful miracles.

And to our church family I just want to say a big thank you for all that you have done and given to us. You have been a constant in our lives, and your faith and hope have been inspirational to us. I thank God daily for a praying, believing church. We appreciate and love all of you so much. It would have been much more difficult to go through this without all of you. A special thanks to B.J., Denise, Jason (twice) and Tim for making the trip. You all hold special places in our hearts for your sacrifice.

And now to our family. John's brothers and sisters, their families, and my brother and his family have been so supportive. We may not even see each other often, but when we need them, they all come arunnin'. What a great thing to know and have! We appreciate each and everyone of you and are so thankful for all of your prayers.

And I couldn't have gotten through any of this without Cejae, Adam, Bucky and Melody. Cejae and I are not very strong on the emotional line, but, hopefully, we have good hearts (I'm crying as I write this). She has been such a blessing through all of this and she loves her Daddy so much. Adam is so good to take care of things from the homefront and I appreciate that so much. I am living with Bucky and Melody and they have made themselves right at home in my new home (ha). They prepare meals, give me my own bedroom and let me come and go as I need to. What a blessing! We have such great kids (in-laws included) and I really don't know what I would do without them. We praise God for this wonderful blessing and we so love you all. We do this funny thing now--Cejae started it--when Bucky did something to annoy her she would say, "Dad doesn't like that." And now, even if John is nowhere in sight or we are somewhere else, when anyone does anything that annoys the other, we say, "Dad doesn't like that." Even Melody has used it a time or two. It is so nice to be with a family that you love and have fun with. Laughter is a great thing.

My plan this morning was to be thankful and praise God, because then there isn't room or a reason for negativity. Praise God for his many blessings and wonderful miracles. He is still on the throne!

Love you all,

Cathy