I have decided to use my blog as a means of passing along news of Arend's progress.
Our 122-year-old home has 17 steps connecting upstairs and downstairs. On December 2nd, Arend fell down 10 or 11 of them as he was on his way upstairs. Over a year ago he was diagnosed with paraplegia but he has continued to be able to walk with the assistance of a cane or rollator as well as climb stairs. Most of the time, however, he uses a power wheelchair in the house and a manual one when we go anywhere. On this particular day his legs wouldn't hold him and he rolled down the stairs.
As I was caring for him immediately after his fall, I realized that he had a fever. He said he had had it for several days. Eventually I called 9-1-1 for an ambulance (Arend didn't really want to go to the hospital but finally agreed). We got to the hospital at 10:40 and finally about 5:40 in the morning they decided to admit him for a urinary tract infection. Apparently the infection had weakened his legs even more than they normal are and that is why they wouldn't support him.
He was placed on an saline IV drip plus a Cipro IV drip and he remained on those until yesterday, a total of seven days. We are wondering whether he should still be on the antibiotic in pill form since the infection was so bad. Usually, I think, antibiotics are prescribed for ten days for severe infections.
Miraculously, Arend suffered no broken bones or even bruising! He has been on the medicine floor of the hospital ever since he was admitted, but he is supposed to be moved to the rehab floor soon. We will be glad for that because he is not getting enough physiotherapy on the fourth floor to improve his mobility and general ability to the point that he can return home.
We had already changed our family room into a bedroom to accommodate my dad when he moved in with us. When he moved into a retirement home we kept the family room set up as a bedroom. There is also a bathroom on the main floor, so Arend really shouldn't have to go upstairs at all any more. Still, there are times when he will have to climb a couple of stairs (like getting into our house). There are also a few things which he needs to be able to do that he will have to work on while he is on the rehab floor.
Yesterday when I got to the hospital he was sitting in a wheelchair in the hall. I thought that meant they were getting ready to transfer him to the third floor (rehab), but I was wrong. He had been sitting there for quite some time waiting for the physiotherapists to help him on the stairs. Eventually he went down eight stairs with the physiotherapists and then came back up them. As far as I could tell, there was no change in his ability to climb stairs as compared to what he could do prior to his fall. I was surprised and thankful to see that.
Today I didn't go to see him but I talked to him several times on the phone. He remains in good spirits, even sharing laughs about the antics of his roommate, an 86-year-old Hungarian man.
We are so thankful that the Lord spared Arend's life and kept him from serious injury in the fall. And now we are continually reminded of His care as we see Arend progress toward the day he may return home.
So many people have called, visited, sent cards and e-mails, offered help and sent up myriads of prayers. We can never begin to thank everyone for their support. The communion of saints is alive and well!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
A Pleasant Surprise
Today (Monday) was as normal a day as days ever are at the Smid household. Then about 5 PM the phone rang. Seeing it was from someone at Monsanto, I quickly looked forward to talking to our son Matt who began a new job with Monsanto in Belmont ON this morning.
For the last several years he has been working in Monsanto's soybean program in Guelph ON and today he began his new job as a TOM in Monsanto's corn program. TOM stands for Technical Operations Manager. Moving to Belmont (which is near London ON) means Matt will be only an hour away from home.
When I answered the phone Matt said, "Hi, Mom! What's for dinner?" I asked what he would like for dinner and he said that whatever we were having would be fine. So 90 minutes later Matt pulled in, just as dinner was coming out of the oven.
We had a nice dinner together and then went to see Granddaddy at the Village. Daddy was really surprised to see Matt on a Monday night. Usually when our sons come to visit it is on the weekends, so a Monday night was completely "off the radar" as far as Daddy was concerned. We had a good visit and the aides were nice enough to wait about Daddy's bath until we left since "his grandson doesn't come to visit that often". That was really nice.
We had a chuckle with one of the aides. On Daddy's dresser is a picture of our family 13 years ago when we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. I asked Donna if she could tell from the picture which one of the young men in the picture was sitting beside his grandfather now. She looked and then picked William in the anniversary photo. That was funny because people always mixed Will and Matt up. I don't think they would do so now, but when they were growing up it happened quite often.
Matt spent the night here and then drove to Belmont to work in the morning. It is an hour's drive from Belmont to Ridgetown and an hour and ten minutes from Belmont to Guelph. Right now Matt doesn't have anywhere to live in London or Belmont, so he will be commuting to either Guelph or Ridgetown every day. Hopefully that means we will see more of him, at least for a while. However, he is hoping to finish up some projects he has on the go in his house in Guelph before he puts it on the market, so he will probably try to spend as much time as possible in Guelph for the time being.
For the last several years he has been working in Monsanto's soybean program in Guelph ON and today he began his new job as a TOM in Monsanto's corn program. TOM stands for Technical Operations Manager. Moving to Belmont (which is near London ON) means Matt will be only an hour away from home.
When I answered the phone Matt said, "Hi, Mom! What's for dinner?" I asked what he would like for dinner and he said that whatever we were having would be fine. So 90 minutes later Matt pulled in, just as dinner was coming out of the oven.
We had a nice dinner together and then went to see Granddaddy at the Village. Daddy was really surprised to see Matt on a Monday night. Usually when our sons come to visit it is on the weekends, so a Monday night was completely "off the radar" as far as Daddy was concerned. We had a good visit and the aides were nice enough to wait about Daddy's bath until we left since "his grandson doesn't come to visit that often". That was really nice.
We had a chuckle with one of the aides. On Daddy's dresser is a picture of our family 13 years ago when we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. I asked Donna if she could tell from the picture which one of the young men in the picture was sitting beside his grandfather now. She looked and then picked William in the anniversary photo. That was funny because people always mixed Will and Matt up. I don't think they would do so now, but when they were growing up it happened quite often.
Matt spent the night here and then drove to Belmont to work in the morning. It is an hour's drive from Belmont to Ridgetown and an hour and ten minutes from Belmont to Guelph. Right now Matt doesn't have anywhere to live in London or Belmont, so he will be commuting to either Guelph or Ridgetown every day. Hopefully that means we will see more of him, at least for a while. However, he is hoping to finish up some projects he has on the go in his house in Guelph before he puts it on the market, so he will probably try to spend as much time as possible in Guelph for the time being.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Getting the Flu Shot
I had called our family doctor on Monday to ask which flu shot we should get considering our health issues and he said to get the seasonal one, so Arend and I went to the Royal Canadian Legion at 11:15 Tuesday morning to get them. (The seasonal shots were being given starting at 11 AM, the H1N1 shots were to start at 1 PM.)
Even though it is just across the street, we drove because we were going to run some errands afterwards. I pulled into a handicapped parking spot by the back door of the Legion and Arend started to get out. The "guard" at the door told him to just stay in the car and he would call us when it got closer to the time for us to go in thus avoiding having to stand for a long time. (There was a line of about 40 people waiting to go in. What we didn't know was that there were probably another 40 already inside.)
We took his advice and waited in the car watching as he let four people at a time go inside. However, he forgot where our place in line was supposed to be and when people who arrived after we did started going in, I got out of the car. He immediately realized that he had made a mistake, but he still put us at the end of the line which meant we continued to wait. Finally we got to go in and that is when we saw that we were only halfway through the process. By the time we finally got to the "injection seats" we had been there for two hours. Then, when the nurse saw my birth date, she told me I couldn't have the seasonal shot because I was too young! Two hours of waiting for nothing.
However, since by then it was after 1 PM I thought I would try to go through the line for the H1N1 shot. I asked the man who was "running the show" if I could get back in line for the H1N1 shot and he said, "Of course!" So I did. Ten minutes later I was done and sitting waiting for my 15 minutes to be up. (No two-hour wait for H1N1.) By the time we got home, we had been gone almost three hours (and we never did get those errands run!)
While we were waiting after the shots, we were talking to some friends who were also waiting. They had gotten both shots because the health nurse recommended it since they are with their grandchildren a lot (ages, 2, 3, and 4). That made me glad I had gotten the H1N1 shot. The nurse had told them that they have lots of the H1N1 vaccine, but not a lot of the seasonal one.
Later on that afternoon, Arend was reading his e-mail and saw that the College staff and students have a clinic on Thursday, so he is going to go to that and get the H1N1 shot so he can play with the little ones, too! LOL Granddaddy got his seasonal shot the last time he was at Dr. Garcia's.
If you are wondering which shot to get, or even if you should get one at all, I hope all of you will decide to get the H1N1 shot.
Till next time,Willa Dale
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Introducing Nathan Meeks Grayson Smid
Grandson #2 - Nathan Meeks Grayson Smid, son of John and Nadia - arrived via C-section on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 at 8:33 A.M. weighing in at 8 pounds 13 ounces. Everyone is doing well.
Opa, Granddaddy and Oma arrived when he was only three hours old and got to hold him right away. Do you have any idea how exciting that was for Granddaddy? He never got to hold any of his grandsons when they were that young and he didn't see Noah till Noah was about six weeks old. Holding Nathan was a real treat for him!Nathan is a beautiful little boy. What surprised me was that when we first saw him he looked a lot like Noah, but by the time we left seven hours later, his facial features had changed and he just looked like Nathan.
Watching Noah's reaction to his baby brother was fun, too. He came into Nadia's hospital room (with his
daddy and his nanny, Fey) to find not only his mommy and baby brother, but also Granddaddy, and Opa and Oma. It was a bit overwhelming for him. At first he was content to sit with Mommy and didn't want much to do with Nathan, but eventually we could get pictures of the family of four. Fey was a great help in getting Noah comfortable with Nathan.Almost immediately after he got there Uncle Will and Aunt Angela arrived, so it was a full house. After holding Nathan for a few minutes, Will and Angela, Arend, Granddaddy and I took Noah to the playroom just down the hall and that gave John and Nadia a little breathing space.
Hopefully it won't be long till we see him again and have MORE pictures to show.
Till then...have a great day!
Willa Dale
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Living in a Small Town - Part 1
We live in a small rural town with a population of 3,300 give or take a few. When we moved here from Brandon, Manitoba we were told by friends in Brandon that we would enjoy living in a small town because the people are so friendly. In fact, Ridgetown is called the "Friendliest Town in Ontario". Never having lived in such a small place before, I had my doubts. Now we have lived in Ridgetown for 33 years and almost every day I am reminded of what we were told so long ago.
There is a saying that goes something like this - one advantage of living in a small town is that if you don't know what you are doing, someone else does. That became very apparent to us when my dad moved here a year ago. He immediately got involved with Rotary International in which he had been very active in Pennsylvania and in Georgia before that. He also started going to church in town. It didn't take long till people were approaching me in the grocery store or even on the street and talking to me about what an amazing man he is (they're right!). These are people that I wouldn't have expected to know who I am. I have never been very active in things in Ridgetown because our children went to school in Chatham (22 miles/35 km from here), we go to church in Chatham and I taught in Chatham. Arend, on the other hand, is well-known in Ridgetown since he grew up here and has worked at the College here for thirty-three years (and counting).
Now we are in the process of having our 120-year-old home painted. I am amazed at the number of people who know that we are having it painted and know who is doing it. Because we live on the main street of town, many people drive or walk past our home every day and they seem to be closely following the progress. Hopefully the painter will get some more jobs out of this one; it seems that every time he comes down off of the scaffolding, someone walking past the house stops to talk to him. He is doing a fantastic job and we are very happy with him. He's even taking the storm windows off, cleaning them and painting the part between the interior and exterior windows! Wow!
Till next time,
Willa Dale
Before
With primer coat
There is a saying that goes something like this - one advantage of living in a small town is that if you don't know what you are doing, someone else does. That became very apparent to us when my dad moved here a year ago. He immediately got involved with Rotary International in which he had been very active in Pennsylvania and in Georgia before that. He also started going to church in town. It didn't take long till people were approaching me in the grocery store or even on the street and talking to me about what an amazing man he is (they're right!). These are people that I wouldn't have expected to know who I am. I have never been very active in things in Ridgetown because our children went to school in Chatham (22 miles/35 km from here), we go to church in Chatham and I taught in Chatham. Arend, on the other hand, is well-known in Ridgetown since he grew up here and has worked at the College here for thirty-three years (and counting).
Now we are in the process of having our 120-year-old home painted. I am amazed at the number of people who know that we are having it painted and know who is doing it. Because we live on the main street of town, many people drive or walk past our home every day and they seem to be closely following the progress. Hopefully the painter will get some more jobs out of this one; it seems that every time he comes down off of the scaffolding, someone walking past the house stops to talk to him. He is doing a fantastic job and we are very happy with him. He's even taking the storm windows off, cleaning them and painting the part between the interior and exterior windows! Wow!
Till next time,
Willa Dale
Before
With primer coat
Monday, June 30, 2008
Update on Granddaddy
Things have been a little quieter around here the last few weeks for which we are very thankful. Arend and I took Granddaddy to Port Huron Hospital on Wednesday (June 25) for a colonoscopy which had been ordered by Dr. Brooks, Granddaddy's infectious disease doctor, to rule out any more serious illnesses connected with the C. diff. diagnosis.
He was scheduled for ten o'clock in the morning, but we were told to be at the hospital by 9:30. That meant that we needed to leave Ridgetown by seven - pretty early for those of us who are not morning people! The drive to the hospital takes 90 minutes plus whatever the waiting time may be at the border; that's why we left so early. And wouldn't you know...we got through at the border in about seven minutes! Figures! That put us at the hospital at just after nine. By the time we parked and got up to Outpatient Surgery it was 9:20. We were given a number and told to take a seat. In just a couple of minutes (honestly, it was no longer than that!) they called us in to get Granddaddy ready for his surgery. Apparently the person who was ahead of him on the surgery schedule was going to have two surgeons, so they bumped Granddaddy up since his procedure would only take about 20 minutes.
We went back with him and helped him get changed into his "Christian Dior" gown. Then the nurse told us that they were ready to take him into surgery and we should go back to the waiting room until they called us when he was done. So we did as we were told. We had time to read only one section of the London Free Press newspaper before they called us to go back to the recovery room! Granddaddy was not back yet, but Dr. Akhtar came in to talk to us and said that all he had seen was diverticulosis plus a little inflammation left over from the C. diff. Whew! What a relief!
Granddaddy was back to "recovery" by 9:50 - before he was even scheduled to go in! It took a little while for him to wake up, but an hour later we were ready to leave the hospital. We crossed the border (another short time) and then I asked Granddaddy what he wanted to do about eating. He hadn't had anything but clear liquids since Monday night, so he was ready to eat. We ate lunch at Montana's then drove home. I stayed with him part of the afternoon just to make sure he was okay, but he did just great.
Now, five days later, he is still doing very well. Eats like a teen-age boy and is always looking for more! All of us are back on our "pre-Granddaddy's illnesses" schedule and are taking each day as it comes. We feel truly blessed that everything has gone well and that Granddaddy seems to be completely better.
Till next time, have a great day!
He was scheduled for ten o'clock in the morning, but we were told to be at the hospital by 9:30. That meant that we needed to leave Ridgetown by seven - pretty early for those of us who are not morning people! The drive to the hospital takes 90 minutes plus whatever the waiting time may be at the border; that's why we left so early. And wouldn't you know...we got through at the border in about seven minutes! Figures! That put us at the hospital at just after nine. By the time we parked and got up to Outpatient Surgery it was 9:20. We were given a number and told to take a seat. In just a couple of minutes (honestly, it was no longer than that!) they called us in to get Granddaddy ready for his surgery. Apparently the person who was ahead of him on the surgery schedule was going to have two surgeons, so they bumped Granddaddy up since his procedure would only take about 20 minutes.
We went back with him and helped him get changed into his "Christian Dior" gown. Then the nurse told us that they were ready to take him into surgery and we should go back to the waiting room until they called us when he was done. So we did as we were told. We had time to read only one section of the London Free Press newspaper before they called us to go back to the recovery room! Granddaddy was not back yet, but Dr. Akhtar came in to talk to us and said that all he had seen was diverticulosis plus a little inflammation left over from the C. diff. Whew! What a relief!
Granddaddy was back to "recovery" by 9:50 - before he was even scheduled to go in! It took a little while for him to wake up, but an hour later we were ready to leave the hospital. We crossed the border (another short time) and then I asked Granddaddy what he wanted to do about eating. He hadn't had anything but clear liquids since Monday night, so he was ready to eat. We ate lunch at Montana's then drove home. I stayed with him part of the afternoon just to make sure he was okay, but he did just great.
Now, five days later, he is still doing very well. Eats like a teen-age boy and is always looking for more! All of us are back on our "pre-Granddaddy's illnesses" schedule and are taking each day as it comes. We feel truly blessed that everything has gone well and that Granddaddy seems to be completely better.
Till next time, have a great day!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Arend's visit to Dr. MacDonald
We have just returned home from Arend's appointment with the tumour specialist. For those of you who see us on a regular basis, you know how Arend's health has seemingly deteriorated over the past year and that we were becoming quite concerned.
When he had his MRI done in 2007 there was no indication that the tumour had returned, so Dr. MacDonald told him that he could go for two years before he had his next MRI. However, when the appointment was received, it was for this year rather than 2009. As the year progressed, we began to think that what at first appeared to be an error was instead Divine intervention. By having an MRI done in May 2008 we could see what was going on and deal with it. We were tested yet again when Arend went for the MRI and the technician told him that they were going to image more of his spine than usual. The immediate question was WHY?, then "did they see something at the beginning of the MRI that made the doctor order a more in-depth image?"
The three-week wait between the MRI and today was interminable in many respects, filled with anxiety, worry, a feeling of helplessness and an all-encompassing knowledge that whatever was there the Lord would see us through it. This became even more apparent in the last 72 hours when I felt the Lord's peace over me. It was such a relief to have the Lord carry me and my burden! What a blessing it is to have our faith to see us through the rough times as well as the easy ones! Still, both of us entered the hospital this afternoon wondering what we would hear and how our lives could be changing.
Arend was first seen by a resident, Dr. Cheung, who was very thorough in her examination and also very kind and understanding. Her first words to us were "The MRI shows no indication that the tumour has returned!" She could tell by our faces that we had expected totally different news. She then proceeded to talk to us about the changes that Arend has noticed in the last year. He has begun walking with a cane because he is no longer able to stand up straight. His body bends dramatically forward and to the right. To quote Matthew - "If Dad hunches over any more he'll be a circle!" Well, maybe it isn't that bad, but it is worrisome to look at him. Dr. Cheung did a lot of tests on him especially having him walk with and without his (very heavy) shoes.
Later Dr. MacDonald came in to see us. He and Dr. Cheung had discussed Arend's case and Dr. MacDonald also happily reported that the MRI looked good. He repeated some of the same tests that Dr. Cheung had done and decided that it would be a good idea for Arend to see the rehabilitation doctor that he had seen initially after his surgery in 2004. Dr. MacDonald is thinking that Arend might need some sort of a brace to give his back more support. He said "Hopefully he (Dr. Sequeira) can get you straightened out." We found that rather amusing.
When the doctors MacDonald and Cheung were finished talking to us and left to see other patients, we sat there and cried together. It has been a very emotional year for us as we watched Arend have more and more difficulty standing up and we are so thankful that it has turned out so well. It would have been nice to have had the appointment before Will's graduation, though. Our concern for Arend admittedly took away from the joy of that day for all of us.
Till next time.
When he had his MRI done in 2007 there was no indication that the tumour had returned, so Dr. MacDonald told him that he could go for two years before he had his next MRI. However, when the appointment was received, it was for this year rather than 2009. As the year progressed, we began to think that what at first appeared to be an error was instead Divine intervention. By having an MRI done in May 2008 we could see what was going on and deal with it. We were tested yet again when Arend went for the MRI and the technician told him that they were going to image more of his spine than usual. The immediate question was WHY?, then "did they see something at the beginning of the MRI that made the doctor order a more in-depth image?"
The three-week wait between the MRI and today was interminable in many respects, filled with anxiety, worry, a feeling of helplessness and an all-encompassing knowledge that whatever was there the Lord would see us through it. This became even more apparent in the last 72 hours when I felt the Lord's peace over me. It was such a relief to have the Lord carry me and my burden! What a blessing it is to have our faith to see us through the rough times as well as the easy ones! Still, both of us entered the hospital this afternoon wondering what we would hear and how our lives could be changing.
Arend was first seen by a resident, Dr. Cheung, who was very thorough in her examination and also very kind and understanding. Her first words to us were "The MRI shows no indication that the tumour has returned!" She could tell by our faces that we had expected totally different news. She then proceeded to talk to us about the changes that Arend has noticed in the last year. He has begun walking with a cane because he is no longer able to stand up straight. His body bends dramatically forward and to the right. To quote Matthew - "If Dad hunches over any more he'll be a circle!" Well, maybe it isn't that bad, but it is worrisome to look at him. Dr. Cheung did a lot of tests on him especially having him walk with and without his (very heavy) shoes.
Later Dr. MacDonald came in to see us. He and Dr. Cheung had discussed Arend's case and Dr. MacDonald also happily reported that the MRI looked good. He repeated some of the same tests that Dr. Cheung had done and decided that it would be a good idea for Arend to see the rehabilitation doctor that he had seen initially after his surgery in 2004. Dr. MacDonald is thinking that Arend might need some sort of a brace to give his back more support. He said "Hopefully he (Dr. Sequeira) can get you straightened out." We found that rather amusing.
When the doctors MacDonald and Cheung were finished talking to us and left to see other patients, we sat there and cried together. It has been a very emotional year for us as we watched Arend have more and more difficulty standing up and we are so thankful that it has turned out so well. It would have been nice to have had the appointment before Will's graduation, though. Our concern for Arend admittedly took away from the joy of that day for all of us.
Till next time.
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