14dabucs's Blog

...  Okay, so the mother-in-law finally and reluctantly went to the hospital Friday night.  She has congestive heart failure, but she really hates hospitals and doctors.  She was not doing the best, but she wasn't doing the worst either.  We went and saw her Saturday morning and she seemed like she was doing better.  

Throughout the day she  complained about shortness of breath and her back hurting.  When we called that evening to see how her day went, she asked my husband to bring her inhaler, which he said he couldn't do.  He told her to ask a nurse for help, she was really struggling, and she was frustrated and hung up on him.   We called the nurse's station and the wonderful folks at Missouri Baptist responded immediately.  She said she was walking into the room right then and that she was sitting up and would speak with her.  The nurse said that the MIL walked from the chair to the bed and then laid down while the nurse began checking her out.

 It was a good thing too.  Throughout the day, fluid was building up around her heart until it was putting pressure on her heart like a vise.  Usually when you have a heart attack, your heart goes all bonkers and THEN stops.  Hers simply stopped.  For 14 minutes.  Her heart failed.  Her kidneys failed.  Her lungs failed. 

 Things were looking very grim.  They were working on her throughout the night.  Because she was on Coumadin and had not had her protein level checked, her blood was dangerously thin.  The doctors wanted to put a line into her heart but couldn't because it was too risky.

Sunday we went to see her and she was still unconscious, but she was starting to produce urine again.  She had pulmonary hypertension, which if I understood right, means that the blood vessels in her lungs were under a lot of pressure and blood was not flowing very well there, so it was backing up everywhere else.  The doctors thought they saw her doing a thing called "posturing," which is a kind of involuntary movement that indicates brain damage, but a CT scan showed no sign of stroke.

 Well, yesterday afternoon, my good ole 82 yr old MIL WOKE UP.  She already is acting a bit like herself again, or at least as much as you can while you are still hooked up to a ventilator and getting your food through your nose.  How she survived all this, how God watched over her and the nurse just happened to be in the room when she flatlined... it's all amazing.

 Today she was even more alert and she may be weaned off the ventilator tomorrow.  They saw she is still very weak, but she's also much stronger than they originally thought.  It's still a LONG way to go, but she's made a LOT of progress.

 Thanks to all of you for your kind thoughts and prayers.  Please keep them up. 

 

Tonight was supposed to be awesome.  Billy Donovan up close!  The atmosphere of March Madness IN PERSON.  What could be more awesome?  With the way every game seems to be coming down to the wire, you never know who is going to finally run out of steam.  I was hyped, as they say.

 Instead I spent the evening with my M-I-L at the emergency room.  I don't think I'd have it any other way, either.  She's been bummed a bit, but when Wednesday was so gorgeous and she wouldn't even go for a ride in the car, I knew something was really wrong. 

 It's tough trying to help an elderly parent.  You want to be respectful, but you want to see them better too.  It turns out her congestive heart failure is acting up again.  I'm blessed with a M-I-L that is easy to deal with and that I love hanging out with.  Sure, she's over 80, but she has a great sense of humor, shares great stories and in general, is just plain fun to be around.  However, since the new year, she didn't seem to be interested in the things she was.

 Another tough part is being the daughter-in-law and not overstepping bounds.  She would have tests run every few weeks to make sure her blood-thinning medicine was okay.  We've barely been to the office this year to have it checked.  I thought that was odd and mentioned it to my husband and he said he wasn't sure about it either.

Tonight in the emergency room, the doctor asked about her blood medicine and if there had been any changes lately, to which she said not really.  Turns out her blood was WAY too thin.  I make myself very available to her, and I cannot help but feel guilty for not pressing the issue of getting her blood checked more. 

 I guess my question to you guys is how do I handle this?  Gentle prodding?  Maybe some semi-tough love?  This is totally new territory for me.

Sorry I missed Glen's show and I'll do my best to get to blogapalooza, but I may be at the hospital instead.  Hope everyone is well and hug your family!

Bethany
 

So I'm doing stuff at the NCAA Regionals. 

Notes from today:

• There sure are some stale pretzels floating around the Edward Jones Dome.

• Writers never fail to amaze me.  On one hand, they craft amazing stories and columns in the wierdest places and in the most unique ways.  On the other hand, as soon as the FREE stale pretzels are tucked away for the evening, they seem to scatter.  Coincidence? 
  

I'll be interested to see how things go tomorrow as today was, literally, a practice run. My bracket is shot ( My Elite Eight was Maryland, Miami, SIU, Duke, Texas, Georgetown, THE Ohio State University and Creighton) and my nerves are shot after the OSU/Tenn tilt. 

GOO BUCKEYES!

Well... that was FUN!  Yesterday our family headed to Dogtown and the party thrown by those fun Hibernians and folks at St. James the Greater School.  Once I got past the fact that I was ordering shots of Jameson's Whiskey IN A CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, there was a lot of fun to be had.  People were very nice, even to lace curtain folks like ourselves.  Even the really "happy" people looked out for the kiddo's stroller.  

As I get out of my own zip code more and more, I can't get over how much this city can be.

There are dishes in the sink, laundry on the floor, and dust under the table, but I simply CANNOT stay inside and do housework today.  It's like a crime to be indoors on a day like today.

The laundry can wait until this evening, as can those pesky dishes.  Since even my Coreopsis is popping out of the ground, I am headed up to Handyman for as much cedar mulch as I can fit in the back of the truck.

Pictures will be forthcoming.  See you all later!

 

Okay, full disclosure:  I am a bit of a naive nut.  I'm the girl that is cynical on the surface, but deep down still holds out hope for the best in everyone else out there.  If a friend does well, I am (usually) genuinely happy for them.  I've been lots of places and had great experiences.  If I meet you, I love to hear about you.  People have genuinely interesting lives.  

Now, I'm not ripping on people who like things the way they are.  After all, I married one.  He loves Gulf Shores (and quite rightly so), but really has no desire to go to other countries ("Why do I want to go somewhere that is probably a lot like America except I can't understand anyone?" which, come to think of it, may also explain why we've never been to Miami).  When I ordered our wedding cake from a bakery in Carondelet, he could not believe I chose somewhere so FAR AWAY.

 So right from the start, things promised to get interesting when we joined friends in Soulard to see a rock band fronted by a marimba player.  I don't think my husband had been to Soulard in 20 years.  I'd never been there.  Right off the bat, we overshot the place and ended up on the south side of the Budweiser brewery before we realized we were lost.  Once we got directions back to the bar, I saw a place I fell in love with immediately.

 The old Smile building on the corner of 9th and Allen was gorgeous.  All the old buildings were awesome.  Then we went into the Shanti.  Now, keep in mind it was dark, so my view might be a bit romanticized, but it was interesting.  The bar area was narrow and reminded me of some of the great bars along Water Street in downtown Milwaukee.  The bar's backdrop was a massive mirror and wooden shelves.    Just past the bar was a large brick patio, hilariously uneven due to the large tree and its expanding roots.  This made for some entertaining walks to the loo by various overindulged patrons.  Surrounding the patio was a wooden fence with lots of knotholes and various screened areas which allowed for interaction with passerbys on the street and even led to quite a show as a couple that could barely walk stopped for a five-minute-makeout session.

Well, I had a huge post all typed up with highlights from each game and behind the scenes at the MVC Tourney, but then I lost my internet connection and lost the whole thing, which sucked.  Anyway, rather than be bummed, I'll focus on some of the highlights this year.

• The Valley is blowing up big time.  Attendance records were shattered and I think 85,000+ were in attendance, with Saturday and Sunday sessions sold out and upper level tickets going for an unconfirmed $150 and up.  That made for an awesome atmosphere with SIU and Missouri State fans going crazy.  Lots of fun to see the tournament enjoyed by so many.
• Mid-major?  Not so much.  Nearly every game in the conference was decided by three points or less.  There was some great basketball being played at Scottrade.  Heck, even the usually one-and-done Drake Bulldogs put on a great show with an OT victory.  The wins were hard-fought and entertaining.  The Valley has great teams nearly top to bottom and this weekend proved it.
• Missouri State can't win for losing.  After a heartbreaking loss Saturday, I think Missouri State's chances for a tournament bid are over.  On the other side of it, the decision makers might take the strength of the conference into account and rectify the mistake they made last year of not inviting Missouri State to the big dance, but I have a feeling things don't quite work that way.
• The bubble.  Creighton is definitely in after their final victory (about the only upset in the whole tournament as the four teams seeded 1-4 all ended up making the semifinals, which does not happen often).  SIU may be seeded a tad lower after Sunday's game, but they are still in.  However, it is anybody's guess on whether or not Missouri State (who played a lot like SIU did today) and Bradley will get invites.  Methinks it comes down to one or the other and the Valley has three representatives in the NCAA tournament.
• Maurice Drummond is one of the happiest people I have ever met.  I saw Mo up in the pressbox enjoying a quick bite to eat before he ran somewhere else.  He was one of the most gracious folks I've come across in a long time.  I don't think any of us here have any idea how hard he and the other folks at Fox work to bring us the latest and greatest news.  I got tired just listening to his schedule.  Somebody give that man a raise and some time to blog!

Car washed FIVE days (or more) after snowfall:

Car washed THREE days after snowfall:

Thank me later, folks. Thank me later.

I railed on them in Roche Madden's blog, but man, they were bad.

I am still superpissed that CARS was robbed by Happy Feet.  What the heck?  Nobody can tell me CARS was not as good as HAPPY FEET.

 The interpretive dance numbers ground the show to a halt.

That choir blew (literally).

 
Overall, it was umpteen hours of my life I'll never get back.

THANKS FOR NOTHING, ACADEMY!  YOU BLOWHARDS!

Good Lord.
 

Well, consider me a freak... my husband certainly does. Like I said on Glenn's blog, we live in a house that was a foreclosure. For some reason, everything (and I mean everything) in the yard was cut down. Over the past four years, I've worked to get things a little more colorful. Our yard presents a number of challenges as there are drainage problems ( we live on a huge hill and our backyard is one bog slope towards the house). We've done some digging and other things to alleviate the problems, and there is nothing like piddling around the yard on a gorgeous day. Right now, the yard is trashed. In hopes of putting pressure on myself to stay on top of the yard, I am sharing pictures from last year.

Feel free to share pictures of your yard and offer tips on what I can do to improve mine (I need mulch!)

First is the bit in the front. Japanese Maple (diessctum, I think) with iris, liriope and celosia.

Strawberry patch in the backyard. If anyone has clues how to keep birds away, lemme hear them. I used netting last year and it failed miserably.

Dinky herb garden with lemon balm, lavender, dill (I live the smell of dill), chives and some eunonymous.

Planter. Can't remember what is in here although I think I ended up planting the rose stuff and also the fiber optic grass.

Another planter. Now I remember replanting both planters. The Bloodgrass in now in front of the Japenese Maple, if it survived the winter. The caladium tanked when we were on vacation in August.

My attempt to produce a nearly all-white garden in the front yard. Definitely a work in progress and I am not-at-all patiently waiting to see what comes back, it all should, as it is all perennials. Key word there is "should."

Planter in front. Did I mention I love dill?

Herb garden later in the year. Dig the dill!

Coreopsis (moonbeam) and dwarf Korean lilac in backyard

Hardy hibiscus (we shall see) and Witch's broom in backyard

Color added to the patio

Bub's Birch tree, planted a few months after he was born.

I may be nutty, but I sure do.  I've found some great music by digging up the songs, and tonight I figured out that the fun song from the Nintendo Wii commercial (where the Japanese men drive to people's houses and play games with people there) is "Kodo (Inside the Sun Remix) " by the Yashida Brothers.

The other song I STILL love even after hearing it a billion gazillion times is "Galvanize" by the Chemical Brothers.  That's the super-fantastic song from the Budweiser Select commercials.  If you heard it you'd know it.

Also, when Verizon Wireless first came out with the Chocolate phone, the commercial used a song I'd heard a number of times on Sirius Chill (channel 35) by a band that has a lot of other great songs, Goldfrapp (the song is "Ooh La La").

Last favorite, I promise.  Six or seven years ago when Jaguar had redone the S-type line of cars, there was an awesome commercial that aired on A&E a lot with beautiful footage of the car and was just perfect for the spots.  It's still on my mp3 player and I still love it.  Check it out under "History Repeating" by the Propellerheads.

If there's a song you want to know the name of, hit me up here and I'll find it for you, because I'm cool like that.

I don't know what the heck is wrong with the planet this week, but for BOOGEDY's sake! Stop the ride! I want off!

Britney checks into rehab and then out in 24 hours (maybe), shaves her head, gets a tattoo. I'm not one to judge, but isn't she in the middle of a custody battle? Where is her family? Where are the "no" people? Sheesh!

Some guy on the board of trustees at St. Louis Community College hired his friend WITH NO POLITICAL EXPERIENCE to head up a campaign to get Prop EJ passed, shoots $570,000 dollars of the college's money his way, starts a non-profit corporation with his father and brother without the college's knowledge and then spends the $13,000 left in the coffers on RETAINING HIS OWN LAWYER when the poo starts to hit the fan AND ALMOST A YEAR LATER IS STILL ON THE BOARD? And his friend, Earp is thinking about throwing HIS hat into the ring in the next round of trustee elections? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

The couple that kept their mentally handicapped kids in cages get TWO YEARS for what they did? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Jose Padilla wants to be declared mentally unfit for trial because his incarceration has traumatized him? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

People from the St. Louis City School Board won't step down when they have completely and utterly FAILED the children (and future) of the city? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

WHAT IS GOING ON?

My brain is melting and I am going back to bed.

Back when I was a kid, my dream was to live in Georgetown, drive a Beemer, write for USAToday and jog every afternoon on the Mall.

Later, my focus shifted to sports. I loved the tradition of places like Yankee Stadium and Lambeau Field. A Monday Night game, the playoffs, a basketball game at Phog Allen Field House.

I fell into radio as a board operator and then alter a technical director (glorified board op). Next, I fell ass-backwards into producing. I found my calling. I loved it. Pressure to book guests every day. Working at building relationships with teams and schools, sitting in on press conferences. I loved it. I worked my phone 18 hours a day for a pittance. My host was a flat-out jerk. I didn't care. Then the station folded and went to Christian Rock format.

I was lost, but threw myself into school. Then I started interning in a Sports Information department at a small college. There was still pressure, plenty of action, deadlines and what I considered fun. Now, I REALLY found what I wanted to do. I was a spinner, NOT a spinee. When I moved to St. Louis to get married and continue my schooling, I was lucky enough to be allowed to volunteer with the MVC. A great group of people that run things tournaments flawlessly.

WARNING!  This topic is slightly polarizing.  Proceed at your own risk.

Has anyone heard about this?  The guy made ridiculous, hateful comments, was given the chance to back off, but then only dug the hole deeper.  What's that all about?  What is with people doing things lately and thinking there will be no repercussions?  

 John Edwards hires hate-mongering bloggers, refuses to discuss the hire when challenged and then acts surprised when it blows up in his face?

What about all the people in St. Louis that Elliot interviews?  Especially that Pagedale mayor!  She couldn't have given two poops less about the situtation!

For BOOGEDY's sake!