News You Might Be Wondering About

Dearest Children, I went to the doctor yesterday, and talked to him about some test results (ie) Echo Cardiogram. This test tells how your heart performs. How the blood flows through the valves and so forth. Not to be confused with the veins or blood vessels of the heart. (ie) Does not tell you if you have a blockage. As far as we can tell I do not have any blocks, although it has been 12 years since I had an angiogram. It does tell how the heart's electric system performs. Since there is a question of why this was done, I hadn't had one since 2004. Also my blood pressure was elevated and they keep it low so my heart doesn't have to work so hard. So they went checking to see if the heart had a problem. I am the same as I was 4 years ago. That is I have 29 to 30% of the pump, cardiomyophy,an enlarged heart) any of you could get the weakness from me and have this, I get it from my mom) a left bundle branch block( this has to do with the electric system) caused by a virus earlier and a moderate to severe leaking of one of the valves. This long explanation is simply to tell you that as far as I know and the doctor knows I am the same as I was 4 years ago. It actually isn't a lot different from 12 years ago when it was diagnosed. This explains why I don't lift, walk fast, climb stairs, dance and jump around anymore as I used to do. (Or go shopping until I drop HA! which makes grandpa happy.) In fact I rarely walk very far as I get out of breath, which is why I no longer do some of the things I used to love to do like take a long walk on the beach. I walk in the water and do some easy strengthening exercises. I tell you this so if someone says they are concerned about my heart don't worry, I am the same as I was yesterday, I am totally thankful that they have some medications to help with this. I am also very grateful that I found out about it while I could still do most of the things that I usually do, clean my house cook and grocery shop. I can still go shopping He! He! I just park close to the store I want to go in and only go to one or two places and stay at it an hour or two. Sometimes when people have heart failure it isn't discovered until the heart is damaged to the point of functioning 5 to 8% which really limits them and their ability to function. I have a great doctor and cardiologist. We are doing well, grandpa is having a little down time because of the loss of his brother. He was pretty close to him and you know how you feel about your siblings, and he only had the one. I have a hard time imagining how it would be as I have so many. But I think it is probably the same as you love them all so much. I have to stop, grandpa will be needing dinner early as he has to go to plumbing school tonight. This one is at Lane C. C. thank goodness, the one last month was in Salem. So the drive isn't so long for him. He has to get 16 hours a year so he can keep his plumbing license, just one of the small things he has to do to keep up. Love Grandma

Grandma Grace's Graveside Service and Cliff Cook

Well today we went to the Willamette National Memorial Park in Portland Oregon for the buriel of Granny Grace. It was a nice service, however we had a double trial, as Cliff Cook passed away this AM from cancer at the hostpital in Vancouver. It was truly fast as the dignosis was given for him to last for a year or so. So his family was there for granny and then tomorrow they will need to plan his funeral. We had a really nice service and all of Cliff's family was there except for Michael Deb's son and Patrick Randy's son. Great grandchildren of granny. They had to work. A few of Grandma's neices and nephew were there. Roy came and he told a story of the geneolgy work that she did. We all went to Olive Garden and had lunch, Ed Jr treated and wouldn't accept any help from any of us though all offered. What a nice thing for Ed and Judy to do for a last tribute to Grandma. We all had some happy memories of her, and I think we will all remember the blessings that have come to us because of her. Ed Jr has brought this to our attention through his reading of the journals that she kept. We all are mentioned there so many times and the wonderful appreciation she had for all of her children, grandchildren, and the greats. What a legacy she has left us with her work for the ancestors and for all of her service to family and friends in the church. I am sure she was pleased with all that came to see her off and the ones that were there in spirit, if they were unable to come. She truly loved her family and I for one am glad to have been blessed to have had her in my life for so many years. I know that she is truly in the room in heaven where all of the people she blessed with the genelogy work she did. She had a dream once that she was escorted to a large room filled with people and was introduced to them as the one that had done the work for all of them. I know that her calling and election are sure because of this work. She crocheted hundreds of afagans for the vetreans along with slippers and did that until she went to the other side of the veil. There were finished and unfinshed lap robes there in her closet when we went to get some of the things she wanted us to have. She was always busy and working for someone else, she had lots of energy until the very end of her life. I have sometimes said negative things, about her and I truly am sorry that I have as her journals say that she truly was a repentant person. She deserves only to have the good remembered and I want to strive to always look at all of the postive thing she accomplished while she was here. I loved her as a daughter and I know she love me and all of mine. God bless us all to live to be as good as she thought us to be. The grange will take all of the lap robes and finish them so they can be donated to the vetreans. I love all of you and pray for us great and happy moments as granny wished. Love Grandma

Let It Snow!!!!

Well as everyone knows it did snow a bit today. We have a lot of it out here, around 5 to 6 inches I would say. Our church was cancelled also, and it was a good thing I think as we have so many little widows in our ward that drive themselves to church. It snowed some more tonight and is supposed to do more in the morning. I think it is about 30 degrees out there now. I wasn't very happy as I couldn't go out and trudge around. I would have loved to go out and built a snowman and grandpa wanted to but he has caught what I had. So we stayed in and watched the snow and movies and ate good food. Notice I said good food not junk. We spent some time at the hospital on Friday because my doctor sent me there to have a bunch of tests. It was too late for him to do them in his office. I spent my whole afternoon sitting on a gurney being hooked to a bunch of machines and being poked and prodded. Heavenly Father blessed me and my heart tests were just fine. So the diagnosis was adult asthma.... I have been told that I had some but it hasn't ever been diagnosed as such. I now have a nebulizer and I also have 5 days worth of Prednisone to take. It is interesting that they gave me a whopping double dose in the ER and I was told it would make my blood sugar rise and I would have energy and maybe be a little jittery. The reason that I can't go out into the snow is because it will constrict the airways and make it hard to breathe. I feel like I am a medicine cabinet. I have such a lot of pills and now all of this stuff to help with the asthma. This cold really compromised my lungs and they say I can't take a chance with it as it can cause a lot more problems hence the intensive treatment. I am really grateful that every thing with the heart worked well. I haven't had that through of a check on it in a few years. The moral of this story is of course NEVER GROW OLD!!! It is a royal pain....however as my little mother used to say time waits on no man. On that thought I will say so long until next time. Love Grandma

No Blocks

Well we spent the day at the hospital and it was long and tedious, but the news is good. There are no blocked veins. Grandpa still has to figure it out and why he is having the pain, but we can eliminate the heart being a problem. Thank goodness. I still am fighting the asthma problem and the cough. The antibiotics are slow I think, but they are working. I was going to mention a movie that we saw the other day I thought it was pretty good. It is Amazing Grace and based on a true event in history. We enjoyed it. I am about two hundred pages or so in the last book of the Twilight series and I am thinking that they are better than I thought in the beginning, maybe I wouldn't be afraid of a good vampire:) Who am I kidding I would probably run as fast as I could and that isn't very fast any more. Ha! I really do enjoy books about legends and these books have a lot of that in them. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel good enough to clean this house a little. Grandpa wants me to make him a bib of all things so tomorrow if I am too tired to clean at least maybe I can sew one. I love and miss you all Grandma

My Cold And Grandpa Going To The Hostipal

Well Didn't intend to post for a few days however I have to tell all of you the news. Grandpa is going to the hospital to have another angiogram his 4th stint it will be if he has one and he probably will. He is having the same symptoms that he always has and has been taking nitro for several days now. It is a real bummer, and I have the worlds worst cold, not a good thing to take to the heart patients I feel pretty nasty myself. Had a breathing treatment, chest exray and a blood test, yesterday and spent 3 and 1/2 hours at the doctors. I think I really don't like to go to the doctors anymore. It takes way too much time not to mention the high powered expensive antibiotics I am taking. I am not a happy camper about this at this point. Pray for us will you, we need it. I really pray that the surgeons will get it right and that this will be the last one for awhile. I need to call the kids so they (the boys ) can run down or up is they want to. I don't know for sure if Ed Jr is in town, and Alan is in LA. We Love All Grandma

Just A Little Post

Rebecca says I need to post again. I haven't really felt like writing as I have been a little under the weather. Yesterday I went to the club and walked in the water for the first time in a week. I have been trying to get back on track with the dieting game ever since Christmas. I have prayed and thought about it and I still can't seem to make it happen:( A big FAT pain!!! I came home from swimming and I couldn't get warm. I sat around and felt sorry for myself as I was so cold. Then towards evening I made dinner and noticed that my throat was a little raw. I woke up in the middle of the night and I was really wheezing and coughing with it. So I get up and spit up a bunch of phloem and used my inhaler:( and think I must of caught a cold somewhere. Bah!!! I have been so careful to wash my hands and sing happy birthday twice so they have a good thirty seconds to be really clean and somehow I have caught a germ or missed one or someone gave it to me without knowing they had it. So today I have been on the computer and read some more of Twilight and I am almost done with it and I still can't decide whether I like it or not. I really enjoyed the Wednesday Letters, but I just can't seem to get into this vampire series. I have read some really good books this past year so I do know what a good one is. I will continue to read and see. I went to Tops this Wed. gained a 1lb. so I was depressed about that, but on a positive note I won $25.92 for them drawing my number which is 39 meaning I was the 39th person to join last year. It is the quarters we put in a can when we eat a no-no food. It changes from week to week, it is sometimes pasta, chips, salty, or popcorn or ice cream. If we eat it we pay and so that is how the money is raised. I don't know how often they draw the number, but I think it is once a month. Today I have also had some stomach problems so I haven't eaten much. I will have Grandpa pick up some more Chicken Noodle soup and bananas and I'll go to the store on Monday, by then hopefully I will feel better. I am sorry to have seemed to be whiny and not my usual upbeat self. I have decided to throw away or give away the white fudge that is left along with the pecan bars that I made for the holidays. (they have been frozen) I took them out the other day and managed to eat the chocolate fudge and some of the bars. But I have totally decided to rid the house of what is left. I made grandpa some date bars and I don't like them so I'll leave them alone. I have put the chocolate bars, and the chips in a large container in the freezer so it will be hard to get to them. I think for awhile I will think of only healthy foods and try not to dwell on anything good until Valentines Day:) I will go to the club on Monday if I am feeling better. I will not go and give this to anyone else!!!! I truly dislike people that do that. I probably won't go to church tomorrow, as we have so many little old widows that I don't need to cough on. I need to qualify the above statement, I will think of GOOD HEALTHY FOODS and enjoy that and stop thinking that chocolate and sugar are the only decent tasting foods on the planet, after all it isn't leaving the place it will be around when I am able to indulge a little again:) On that note I will say so long until next time I love you all Grandma

An Unusual Sunday

Today church was cancelled, because of the ice on the highways. We had snow Saturday evening around five and then it got really cold and froze on the roads as they were wet from the rain= ( so today the first Sunday of the year we didn't go to church. I have felt really strange all day, like I missed something. We had a great blessing on Saturday, grandpa went to the Temple as always on the first and third Saturdays. Everything went well and he was almost home at the exit off the freeway and the truck died and wouldn't start again bummer!! He said some people helped to push him on the edge, and then he got out and started to cross the street and our neighbors came as they had been eating at the Chinese restaurant, they pulled the truck to the parking lot and would've pulled it on home but grandpa wasn't going to let him risk his family on the icy road, so they left the truck there and brought him home. I think Heavenly Father really takes care of us when we are doing his work. Our neighbors had taken their four wheel drive pick up truck and planned to go to Eugene to eat and go to a movie, but they were prompted to stay in Creswell rent a movie and eat there a blessing for us= ) I am so thankful they were there to help grandpa or we would've had to pay a wrecker to tow the truck. Grandpa fixed it today, something about a hose breaking, he just cut it and repaired it. Thankfully nothing was stolen from the truck overnight, a miracle here as things sometimes disappear even in broad daylight. I suppose it was too cold for thieves and mischief makers you think? This has been a long story about a small incident, but sometimes I think Heavenly Father watches out for us a lot more than we realize even the small things. It has restored my faith, and trust I can testify to you I am truly grateful I didn't have to go out into the icy storm last night and pick up grandpa and pay a tow truck bill. Funny and typical grandpa turns on the TV and guess what the snow had frozen the dish and it didn't work. No News!!! How Sad= ) Of course he can fix that handy man that he is and he had the ice knocked off and the news on in minutes. I hadn't been informed all day, what could possibly be the matter with me? Ha! Ha! Most of you know that I would probably only watch TV when conference or something important was on, some people think I am clueless but that is the way some of us are. I do read and listen to the news on the radio in the car and contrary to what some people think I do know what is going on in the world. Danielle asked what TOPS is and it is a club for people to lose weight. It stands for Take Off Pounds Sensibly. It is very inexpensive and quite fun. They use the members to talk and motivate us and usually the assignment is for a month. So I took January to speak so mine would be done for the year. We have all kinds of different contests and things so it is a really good thing if the club is good and made up of women that really want to lose weight. This club has about 45 members and we have a pres. Sec. Tres. and other leaders and meet every Wed. morning. Out in Thurston my old stomping grounds. I think it is raining again out there and it is only about 34 degrees, so you know what that means tonight it will snow again, I wonder if all of the school kids are praying for it so they will have another day off? Catch all of you later keep on blogging. Love Grandma