Archive for September, 2024

Gene’s Medical Crisis: Part 23-It Just Takes Time

{ September 27, 2024 @ 7:40 pm } · { Medical Adventures }
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I know people are wanting an update but it feels like there isn’t much to write, which is a good thing. A VERY GOOD THING!

We have gotten into a comfortable routine and he is improving. Sometimes I see notable new accompolishments and then other times it is just maintaining a routine. It has already been three weeks since he came home which is hard to believe and in that time his walking and stablility have improved although he still has to use the walker, his appetite is better and he is gaining weight, his voice is not as weak, he can shower and shave himself, and his mind is clear. We have a lot to be grateful for.

Home Health and Physical Therapy are still coming to the house which has been a huge blessing. Today PT worked on strengthening the muscles that help you stand up from a sitting down position and he also did three stair steps.

We know this stage is going to take time. They are saying it will probably be Christmas before he feels like life is getting back to normal. Until then….

Greased Lightning

{ September 15, 2024 @ 7:29 pm } · { Life on the Farm }
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Two weeks ago I wrote a blog post about two cows hit by lightning. (Lightning Strike) One was a nursing mama. When I went out to the field to see what had happened, I saw a young baby calf high-tail it at high speed out of the area, down along the edge of the woods by the field.

For days we searched the farm looking for the calf. Several times we spied it, but it was always when one of us was by ourself and there was no way to catch the little speed demon. He also started hanging out with a group of bulls which presented its own challenges in trying to catch him. Once a calf is a week old he is faster than you on his feet and it becomes a cat and mouse catch scheme to snatch them. We started calling him “Greased Lightning”. He kept slipping away from us.

We felt time was running out for the little calf as he desperately needed his mama’s milk. We knew he was too young to make it on his own with only grass to eat. After about two weeks we gave up as we weren’t seeing him anymore. And then the other day we spied him…..it appears another mama has adopted him as her own. She was already nursing a slightly older calf and there he was just nusing away. That almost never happens.

Grease Lightning is the one in the back.

It makes me wonder, why did she rescue him? Did she realize he was an orphan? Did she know his mama was killed? Did he beg for help in calf language? Did she choose him or did he choose her? Cows always ID their calves by sniffing. It is amazing how in a big herd of cattle, even if they are all mingling together, mama and babe do not get mixed up. They know their own.

Both calves are slightly thin, he from his trauma, and the other one because he is having to share the milk with his new brother. Greased Lightning has escaped death twice; once by lightning and the other by starvation. Somehow the name just fits him.

Gene’s Medical Crisis-Part 22: One Week and Counting

{ September 13, 2024 @ 3:00 pm } · { Medical Adventures }
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Gene has been home from the hospital and rehab for one full week. I am now counting weeks home rather than weeks in the hospital!

It has been a good week and hasn’t felt like much to report. You know what do they say, “no news is good news” so I am claiming it! In looking back over the week, I can see noticeable improvement. For starters, he is eating so much better, everything I put on his plate. He has had meatloaf, scallop potatoes, chicken noodle soup, sausage gravy and biscuits, egg in a basket, Apple Dapple cake, plus his sandwiches at lunch.

We have had him out on the pastures with the golf cart twice so he can see his cows. He is sitting up a lot more and walking laps in the house from the sofa to the kitchen sink and back. He is much more steady on his feet and I am no longer feeling like he is going to collaspe or fall over any second. I stopped one day at his barber shop and asked if they did home visits. Last night one of the girls came and cut his hair. It hasn’t been cut since at least May. He is able to do more of his physical hygiene and has managed to get his beard shaved off. It has made him feel human again. Last evening we ate supper at the table for the first time. The number of pills he has to take each day is decreasing. Home Health and Physical Therapy are coming to the house several times a week which has been such a blessing. At first when we came home I was a little nervous that we would have another setback but we have settled into a peaceful routine and it is going well. I am so grateful for changes I can see!!!

Next week he has two doctors appointments which will get him out of the house for two field trips! He continues to enjoy visitors. You make his day.

Gene’s Medical Crisis-Part 21: Home

{ September 6, 2024 @ 2:28 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Home. He is home again and this time to stay-I hope. They have warned us this is an up and down road but I don’t like that warning as it seems infections are an ongoing issue. But we have to hope, hope that C-Diff was the last one.

He was scheduled to come home on Friday (today) but yesterday morning when the doctor talked to me about when I could come get him I realized that Friday mornings in the store can be a little tough to get away. I asked if Thursday afternoon/evening was an option and they consented. By 6 p.m. we were home.

On the way home I buzzed by Burger King and got him a Whopper Jr. and we shared some fries. He ate it all. He had a good night and this morning was making some phone calls and trying to get emotionally back into the groove of home.

Mentally he is doing much better and physically he is still very weak but improving. He can walk across the room with the walker although somewhat wobbly. I weighed him this morning and oh my, I almost don’t want to tell you what he weighs. Before this started May 27 he weighed 183. Today he is 140 lbs and it is not a healthy look on a man his size. It is no wonder he is so weak. So I need to think cheese, gravy, meat, bread, ice-cream and lots of things made with mushroom soup and cream cheese! I can guarentee it could/would/will put weight on me!

We welcome visitors, you make his day. The steady stream coming by his hospital/rehab room kept him going and encouraged. The home health nurse and therapist will be coming in and there will be numerous doctor visits for awhile so you may want to give me a quick buzz or text to make sure he is available before you come.

Our main prayer concern for the present time is continued healing and NO MORE INFECTIONS OR SET BACKS!

The Rock That Is Higher Than I

{ September 4, 2024 @ 10:37 pm } · { My Faith Journey }
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Photo by Denys_Nevozhai from Freerange Stock

I love rocks, the bigger the better. When we travel I look at, comment on, and take pictures of rocks. Rocks are beautiful, heavy, and they represent strength and stability.

This morning for my devotions I read Psalms 61 written by the Psalmist David and it spoke deep to my heart.

“Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer…. when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever. I will trust in the shelter of Your wings…. you have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name….so I will sing praise to Your name forever.” (Selected verses)

My mind pictured a big tall rock, one that if I stood beside I would feel small. A rock that I could climb and sit on the tippy top and see the long view before me. A rock that gives shelter to surrying creatures and soaring eagles.

David spent a lot of time outdoors; on the rugged mountain ranges shepherding his sheep and years of hiding deep in underground caves and seeking refuge on distance mountains from King Saul who wanted to kill him. He was always on the lookout from a rocky craig or seeking shelter under an overhanging ledge.

David was good at writing his feelings, fears, joys, and tribulations. The Psalms are full of his gratitude to God for his protection. He saw God in nature and freely expressed his worship in poetic form.

I am not hiding from an enemy seeking my life but I have my own worries, fears, struggles and challenges in life. I too am reminded of God in nature; his glory in a stuning sunset, his majesty in the night sky, his care in the flowers and birds, his faithfulness in the seasons of life, and his never ending love in the ocean waves.

I love a big rock. When I am overwhelmed and weary, I go to the Rock that is higher than I. It is a place of shelter, refuge, a strong tower, and there I rest and am assured of His eternal care. It helps me see the long-view which is so much bigger than my short-sighted vision. I am so grateful for my godly heritage; ancestors and parents who have passed on to me the stories of their faith and who feared God giving me a solid rock on which to build my faith.

Like David, I will sing praise to Your name forever.

“My soul, wait silently for God, for my expectatin is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense, I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my my refuge is in God.” Psalms 62: 5-7

Lightning Strike

{ September 1, 2024 @ 8:33 am } · { Country Living }
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Thursday night’s storm was a boomer. As I laid in bed, I watched the sky through the windows as it was a constant flash of lightning. Next thing I knew it was morning! I obviously had missed the violent electrical storm. The rain guage measured 2.6 inches of rain but others not to far away got 6 inches in four hours. Later in the day we found two dead cows laying very close together in an open field. They were swelled up like tight toads which is characteristic of cows hit by lightning. One was a nursing mom so now we have a baby calf that needs to be bottle fed. In a large herd of cows it takes a little bit to figure out which hungry babe is searching for his mom.

You can see from the cow on the left the burn spot on her underside where lightning probably exited the body. We are fortunate it didn’t get the calf also.

Years ago-back in the late 70’s or early 80’s, we had six dairy cows hit by lightning. It is not a pretty sight to find.