I hear the rolling thunder...

Shortly after 3 a.m. this morning, I awoke from a sound sleep to the roar of thunder, lightning flashes, pounding rain on the roof. Some of the thunder shook the house and I'm sure the lightning was in the backyard by the bedroom window. The power was knocked out briefly after one tremendous bolt hit close by. The only one who slept through it was Nathan, who usually awakes at the slightest sound. I am always reminded of the hymn, How Great Thou Art, whenever I hear thunder. Thy power throughout the universe displayed..

Anniversary of sorts

Today marks the 22 anniversary of the accident that shattered the life of our beloved Nathan and changed our lives forever. It was a beautiful day, just like it is today. Warm, but not too hot. Nathan was riding his bike over to get a haircut at about 1 in the afternoon. At the same time, a drunk driver was on the same road, drinking and driving in his car. He struck the bicyle from behind throwing Nathan into a deep ditch on the opposite side of the road. The driver also ended up in the ditch. Lucky for Nathan, the accident happened almost in front of the local fire station. Paramedics were able to get to the scene within a few minutes after a motorist notified them. They originally thought he had died in the accident, but they administered aid and sent him by ambulance to Good Samaritan Hospital. Good Sam stabilized him as best they could and transported him to St. Joseph Hospital for emergency brain surgery. The neuro-surgeon told us the chances for his survival were not good and that he would never awake from the coma even if he did survive. Well, he did wake from the coma and he did survive. Now 22 years later he is enjoying life to the best of his ability and is a very pleasant and cheerful person. We are very glad that we still have him with us. With God all things are possible...

Update on Nathan

Today we went to see Dr. Sugar, the gastroenterologist. It was his first day on the job, he is a brand new doctor and we really liked him. He asked all kinds of good questions and referred Nathan for blood work, an endoscopy, and an ultra sound. We had the blood work done today, the endoscopy is scheduled for tomorrow and the ultra sound next Monday. We learned from him that one of the blood tests from the ER visit was abnormal. This is the first we had been told of that. So the blood work done today will give us more detail about what might be going on. We are praying that it will be nothing serious.

Monday we'll see the specialist...

Nathan has an appointment on Monday afternoon to see a gastroenterologist named Dr. Sugar. Nathan is still in pain and is now on a starchy diet, no dairy and no fat. I'll be glad when this is all over and I'm sure Nathan will be too.

A visit to the doctor...

Today we did a follow-up visit with Nathan's doctor. She said he probably had sludge in his carburator or something like that. The pain in his side may be clogged bile ducts, even though he has had his gall bladder removed, there may be some residual material in the ducts. Next will be a trip to a gastroenterologist for some tests.

It's Monday, let's go to the ER..

For the past few days Nathan has complained of severe pain in his abdomen. It seemed to be worse every day, so this morning we went to the ER and spent the entire day. When the doctor examined him, the pain was localized to the area of the appendix and it was VERY painful. They ran blood tests, urinalysis, ct scan, everything was negative, so they shot him up with morphine and sent him home. I could say alot more about this visit, but I am way too tired and nothing has been resolved. He is still in pain.

The Farmers Market...

We got up early this morning and went to see the farmers market. It is the first time we have gone this summer.http://www.puyallupmainstreet.com/farmers_market.html We bought some peaches, blueberries, cucumbers, string beans, corn on the cob, and some giant chocolate cookies. It was fun looking at all the stalls filled with produce, arts and crafts, plants, and goodies to eat. The downtown area is looking very nice, the new city hall, new condo/apartments, little cafes dot the main streets. It doesn't look like the town I knew as a child, it looks much better. I would love to have one of the condos downtown and be able to walk everywhere. Both of the new buildings are also very close to the library. A perfect retirement spot.