Brian

My oldest son Brian, who is 25 years old has had a very bad week. I got a phone call last Sunday evening from Joey, who told me that Brian was taken to the hospital in Sharon, because he had passed out twice during the day. I figured he would be okay, passing out didn't sound like anything that I needed to go to the hospital for. I told Joey to keep me posted, and he said he would. Around 1:30 in the morning on Monday, joey called me to tell me that Brian had blood clots in his lungs and his leg. I then realized that this was very serious and Dawna and I rushed to the Sharon Hospital. Once we got there, we got to see Brian, and he was not doing real good. He has had problems over the years moving his bowels. It has been an on-going problem with him, but, I didn't realize how bad it was until that day. His stomach was distended badly. Kind of like he was 11 months pregnant. The nurse said they were going to monitor him for the night, and gave him blood thinners for the clots. Dawna and I went home and slept for a few hours, and then went back to the hospital around noon. About 4PM, the doctor talked to me, and said they could not do anything else for him there, and they were going to life flight him to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. I knew this was bad, but, I didn't want to think what could happen to him. Dawna and I went to Kmart and picked up some things, we were not sure how long we would be in Pittsburgh, and then we were on our way, with joey and my ex-wife Denise in tow with us. Taking my ex wife was not a good idea, but, she had no other way to get there. After spending all day at the hospital, and most of the night, and the ride to Pittsburgh I remembered why I did not want to be married to her. She is a real trip! More on her later. We got to Allegheny Hospital around 6:30 PM, and I got a phone call from Sharon hospital telling me that Brian had not left yet. They could not fly the helicopter, due to freezing rain, so they had to send a ambulance from Butler to Allegheny hospital to pick up a nurse, then they went to Sharon to get Brian. This made for a long wait in the waiting room in Pittsburgh. While we were waiting, Denise's sister and her husband and daughter showed up to wait with us. Brian finally got to the hospital around 10:15PM. They stabilized him, and told us they would not do anything that night, except to monitor him. I saw no reason to stay there, while they did nothing. So, Dawna and I decided to head home for the night, and go back the next day. Denise road home with her sister, which made us happy. I don't think Dawna and I could have handled listening to her all the way home. We did have to pick her up the next morning and take her back down with us. Another long ride, listening to her whine about her cold. We stayed there till 2PM, and got to see Brian, but, they still weren't going to do anything that day. Dawna and I went home for the day, and let Denise go back with her sister again. My daughter Tiffany showed up at the hospital with her girl friend Jill. Another long story there. My niece, Sarah drove them down. We had more people there, than most people have in the hospital waiting room. Anyhow, They finally did some surgery on Brian on Thursday morning. They basically did a colonoscopy and cleaned him out. Not a pretty sight, but, they had to do this. I have not been back to the hospital since Tuesday, but I have talked to Brian on the phone, and communicated with the doctors to monitor his progress. I will be going back to see him on Tuesday of this week. He is doing better, but, he is still in CCU. He came very close to not making it through all this. He really gave us all a scare. We need to keep praying for his recovery, and for him to get all the help he needs. I will let you know more when I find out more.

OH,the weather outside is frightful.....

Yes, the snow is piling up here. It started snowing today while I was out delivering mail. And it is very cold! The wind was howling all day. I wasn't real cold, except for my face. I wear long underwear, sweater, jacket, gloves, and a stocking cap. I have a stocking cap, that covers my face, but, I really don't like wearing it. I can't see much from the sides, and I do need to watch for dogs. Anyhow, we are supposed to get 6 inches of snow tonight. I am off the next 2 days, so I really don't care how much it snows. I do need to get out my snow blower, and get some fresh gas and oil for it. I should have done that before winter got here, but I have just been too busy. I have been working way too much. I am going to enjoy my next 2 days. Tomorrow, is football. Steelers are playing the cowboys. That should be a wild game. Steelers are having a great year. They beat up on the Patriots last Sunday. They have a real good shot at going to the super bowl. I sure hope that happens. Okay, got to go watch some college football. And, watch the snow fly!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving with your families and friends. we had a wonderful day today. Mindie and Jim hosted a delightful thanksgiving dinner at their home. They really did a nice job as hosts. The house was all decorated and clean, and everyone brought the best food for dinner. Dawna's Mom and her husband, C.R. were there. And her brothers, Denny and Daryl came. Dawna's best friend Deb and her husband Randy and their daughter Olivia joined us for dinner, also. And Randy came home from Texas yesterday, so he was there, too. He is living with us, while he is home. We all had a very nice day together, and we all had a lot to be thankful for. The weather was nice, no more snow, and the sun was out almost all day. We all had plenty to eat, and their was plenty of leftovers. My parents spent thanksgiving with my sister in Florida. I hope they had a nice day with them. I am very thankful for having such wonderful parents, and for having such a loving family. I am also thankful for my wife, Dawna. She means the world to me. I hope you all have as nice as a day as we had here. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Lots and lots of snow

We got buried in snow the past 2 days. A total of over 15 inches has fallen over the past 48 hours. That is way too much snow, and it is still fall! I hate snow. Especially since I have to walk through it all day, delivering the mail. It has been a rough couple of days. My legs were very sore yesterday when I got home. Trudging through the snow really wore me out. My darling wife fixed me a hot bath when I got home, and I soaked my tired old legs in the tub. It felt really good. I haven't taken a bath in years. I usually take a shower. I miss our hot tub, but, this was not bad. We are thinking of putting in a wood burner in our basement. A friend of ours is going to come over and see if it can be done, and if it can he will install it. It should save us a lot of money on our gas bill.
My mom and dad are going to Florida on Monday to see my sister Chris and her family. They are staying for 10 days. Lucky them! wish I was going with them. Maybe Dawna and I will take another vacation next spring, and head back to Florida. I think we will drive this time, and take a longer sight seeing tour. Maybe head to New Jersey first and see Steve and Michelle, then head down to North Carolina and see Daryl. From there, head down to Florida and visit with Chris and Tom. If Dawna's dad is still there, we will go see him too. Should be fun.
Not much else going on here. Getting ready to watch the Pitt Panther play Cincinnati in College football. Have a great day.

A new day

Okay, I have to admit, I have been slacking off from writing on my blog. I have no excuses. It has been 10 days since I have attempted to write anything. I was upset for awhile about my cousin Kathy passing away. Maybe that's why I didn't write. I don't know. I have been working a lot. But, I also had last Tuesday off for Veteran's day. So, no more excuses.
I finally finished moving all my steeler stuff into the basement. My new steeler room is ready to be used again! I will have to post pictures of it on here. It is actually pretty neat. Joey and I watched some football down there yesterday. Dawna needed some quiet to work on her concert, so we went to the man cave. Even Teddy came down for a little bit, while Dawna took a nap. He doesn't like walking down the stairs to the basement, so I had to carry him down.
Dawna sang at our church last night. She had a special concert after our thanksgiving dinner at the church. It was very nice. She always does a nice job when she sings. I could listen to her sing all the time. She sang to me at our wedding. A song called "Valentine." It was the first song she ever sang to me. Then she sang it again at our wedding. It was very special to me.
I am watching Monday night football as I am writing this. The Cleveland browns are playing the Buffalo bills. I hope the bills win. I hate the browns. Of course, the browns are ahead 13-0 now. Not looking good for the bills. The steelers won yesterday. 11-10. First time ever in professional football that a game ended with a 11-10 score. Pretty crazy.
My mom and dad stopped by for a few minutes this afternoon. They were on their way home from my dad's doctor appointment in Pittsburgh. It was nice to see them. They only live 10 minutes away, and I don't get up to see them as often as I would like.
Well, almost bedtime for me. I better let the dog out to pee, and then hit the hay. I will try and be better at wring on here again. No more excuses!

Saying good bye.....

My cousin, Kathy Fagley passed away on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008. Election Day. Guess I will remember that day for more reasons than one. Today was her funeral. Dawna and I went along with a majority of my family and many cousins and friends of hers. It was a very tough morning. The minister asked if anyone wanted to get up and speak about memories of Kathy. When Kathy's mother got up and started talking, I couldn't stop weeping for her. Then her younger brother Michael got up and started talking, and I lost it. Michael is also my god child, along with being my nephew. This is a very special family. Kathy's daughter, Amanda, who is 12 years old, could not leave her father's side. I felt so bad for her. Cancer is such a devastating disease. She just found out she had cancer less than a month ago, and now she is gone. So tragic, and so sad. I will miss her so much. Please, pray for her family. This is a very tough, trying time for them. So many unanswered questions. So many doubts. Just pray, please..

Prayers are needed

This is going to be a very hard blog to write today. My cousin, Kathy, who is 42 years old, was diagnosed with liver cancer a week and a half ago. The doctors said the cancer was inoperable and a transplant was out of the question. Not good news. Yesterdays news was worse. The doctors have given her a week to live. How can this be?? Kathy is much too young to be taken away now. She has a daughter who is 12 or 13. I am not sure exactly how old. Kathy's dad died when he was 43 from cancer. Dawna and I are going to Butler hospital on Thursday to see Kathy and to probably say good bye to her. That will be so difficult to do. How do you say good bye to a 42 year old woman? I am at a loss for words here. Just please pray for her and her family. They need your prayers at this time. Thank you all so much.