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

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

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!

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.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig!

May 14, 2008

Sorry to be so far behind on updating the blog. When Daddy is in the hospital, things just don't run smoothly around here at all.

As expected, Daddy wasn't released on Sunday either; but on Monday when we arrived at the hospital, he was convinced that he was being released that day. However, a check with the nurse quickly quashed that hope. On Sunday they put a portable 24-hour heart monitor on him and they needed to get the readings from it before he could be released. So he resigned himself to the fact that it would be Tuesday at the earliest for him to go home.

Sure enough, the nurse called fairly early Tuesday morning to tell us that Dr. John had discharged him. It wasn't much later that Daddy himself called to say he could go home. By the time we got there he was dressed and sitting in a chair reading, waiting patiently for us to arrive. Before we even got out of the hospital he was asking where we were going to eat. Honestly, he really IS like a teenage boy - always hungry! I guess if you don't eat for three and a half weeks, once you finally feel better, you have to make up for lost time. We took him to Smitty's - a local family restaurant - where he ate an omelette and TWO pancakes. See what I mean???

Halfway home we discovered that his IV port had not been removed. Some nurse certainly wasn't paying very good attention. I started calling Dr. John's office on the way home, but could never get through. Finally this morning I connected with them and we had to take Daddy to the office to have the port removed. I don't think Dr. John was very happy with the nursing staff at the hospital!

Last night I spent the night at Daddy's; tonight (Wednesday) Arend is there. I am a bit apprehensive about leaving him home alone after what happened last week. He doesn't want to be at our house, so that means we are taking turns staying with him 24/7 at his house. From past experience we know how tiring that can be for both of us, so I think we will try to wean him (and ourselves) off of that soon (read "once I get over my anxiety about leaving him by himself"). We know that the time will probably come when we will have to move him into our home - to maintain everyone's sanity.

Today Daddy has been very good. He is able to walk with the standard walker better than yesterday, so that is progress. He is also able to get up from the sofa without help (most of the time) which is great. Hopefully he will continue to improve and soon be back to where he was a week ago.

Daddy had a nice little chat with Noah on the phone tonight which brightened his day immensely. Noah loves to talk on the phone and we love talking to him, too. We have a new appreciation for how much my parents enjoyed talking to our boys when they were growing up. I wish I could figure out how to turn one of Noah's messages to us into our Call Answer message. It is SO cute!

The frustrating thing about all of this is that we still don't know what is wrong with him. Arend and I both think that this episode was a repeat of what happened on February 14th, but that isn't much help since the doctors weren't able to determine what caused that seizure either.

And so we continue somewhat in the dark, but we know that our Father in Heaven has the answer and in His own time He will reveal it to us and to the doctors. The "fixer" part of me hopes that won't take too long!

Till next time,
Willa Dale

Round Three - Part Two

May 10, 2008

Charles arrived in Ridgetown Friday night about 11 o'clock. He decided to avoid the rush hour traffic by leaving later in the evening. I think that was a smart move, but it worried us a bit that he was so late arriving. He and Arend went to Daddy's fairly soon after Charles arrived to work on Daddy's computer. While he isn't really interested in using the Internet, he still would like to use his computer to write letters since he receives so many from friends in Pennsylvania. It's all fixed now so he will have something to "play with" when he comes home from the hospital.

Yes, you read that correctly. He isn't home yet. He was disappointed when we arrived there just after noon today because it had become clear that he wasn't going home at least till tomorrow. We are guessing that it will probably be Monday at the earliest since tests aren't usually done in hospitals on the weekends. The doctor told him this morning that they don't know what is wrong with him, but they are going to find out. Right now it appears that they are testing him for diabetes since they keep checking his blood sugar. We really don't know anything about blood sugar numbers but his have ranged between 6.1 and 8.6 over the last 24 hours. He is on an IV to help re-hydrate his body and is being encouraged to drink a lot more than he has been drinking. Having a Tim Hortons in the hospital makes it a bit easier to get him to drink more because he likes Tim's decaf coffee.

He was very happy to visit with Charles whom he hadn't seen since Easter. The four of us talked for nearly five hours straight. From that you can tell that he is feeling pretty good which makes it even more frustrating that he is still in the hospital. We are hoping that they will find an answer before long.

We appreciated having Charles here for it gave us an opportunity to discuss what we need to do to continue to care for Daddy once he is released from the hospital again. We bounced a lot of ideas around and have come to some good conclusions that we think will work out well for all concerned.

What a blessing it is to be able to talk to your children as adults! Our sons have been very helpful in talking with us about what is going on with their granddaddy and how all of us are coping with it. When your children are little, you don't think about the fact that they will (all too quickly) be adults and be able to talk to you on equal terms. And then, suddenly, there you are with four adult sons who love and care for you and for each other and have a mature view of the world. Wow! My mother was right!

Our thankfulness to the Lord continues unbounded. He has watched over Daddy and over the health care professionals who are working with him. We are confident that He will continue to hold us in His hands and give us the strength we need to cope with what He has given us.

We thank all of you for your support, too. It is wonderful to enjoy the communion of saints!

Till next time,
Willa Dale

Round Three

May 9, 2008

Just when we thought things were just about back to normal, POOF, and we are into "Round Three"!

Arend stopped by Daddy's this morning to tell him that I wouldn't be there until later in the morning. (I'm not sure why we decided that he would stop by rather than calling. I think it was God's Hand guiding us.) What he found when he walked into Daddy's house was Daddy lying on the kitchen floor unconscious. Arend called me and I went right over and decided that we needed to call 9-1-1. The ambulance was there almost before Arend hung up the phone! That's the advantage of having an ambulance depot in town, I guess.

We weren't really sure what had happened, but as the morning progressed the whole thing became clearer. Apparently Daddy had gotten up and made himself a cup of coffee and put out the peanut butter, jam and margarine for his toast. He didn't make the toast, though. He started feeling a little weak and decided that he should sit down. He was leaning against the counter and just slid down the cabinet till he was seated on the floor. That is how Arend found him. Daddy does not remember losing consciousness.

He was still not responsive when I got there (we only live three blocks away, so it only took me a couple of minutes to get there), but when I started to talk to him I could tell that he was trying to respond to me. The more I talked to him, the more responsive he became; but he definitely wasn't "normal". His eyes were just "blank" and he didn't really talk.

When the paramedics arrived, they first checked his blood sugar (normal) and his blood pressure (high for him, but high-end normal for most people). They were able to talk to him but he wasn't making a lot of sense. Since they weren't sure exactly what injuries he had sustained, they decided to put him on a back board and in a neck brace before they put him on the stretcher. This involved securing the brace with long pieces of tape that wrapped around the brace and the back board. Daddy fought the paramedics like crazy trying to keep the tape off. He also pulled off the oxygen mask. All the while he was moaning and groaning.

The paramedics asked for one of us to ride in the ambulance with him to keep him calm. Arend usually has a more calming effect on people, so he was the one who went in the ambulance. As it turned out, I probably should have gone instead since Daddy kept asking for me all the way to the hospital. I followed in our car. "Followed" is probably not the best term. The ambulance doesn't have to adhere to speed limits, so it was at the hospital quite a bit ahead of me.

By the time we saw him in "Emerge" he was very alert, his eyes were clear and he knew exactly where he was and what was going on. It was Daddy who told the nurse and doctor (and Arend and me) what had happened, and he was quite clear about it. It was truly amazing!

After a myriad of tests and x-rays, they decided to keep him overnight in the Progressive Care Unit (PCU) for observation. He was fine with that as long as they promised to feed him! That was a definite indication that he was fine. When he isn't feeling well, he doesn't eat. Today he ate everything that was put in front of him - including pears which he doesn't really care for at all. He even sent me to Tim Hortons (like Dunkin' Donuts in the U. S.) for a coffee and doughnut after he finished his dinner tonight! Ever since he came home from the hospital in Port Huron he has been eating like a teen-age boy - something we have had a lot of experience with over the years!

We are hopeful that he will be able to come home again tomorrow (Saturday), but we are not sure how we will work things out. Perhaps we will have to go back to the 24/7 care of him. If so, we will either have to work out a better sleeping arrangement at his place or set up a bed for him on the first floor of our home because whoever slept over at his house before never got a truly restful sleep. That is something we will have to talk about tomorrow morning.

Off and on through today I have had a hymn running through my head. It happens to be one of my favourite hymns and seems to be quite appropriate to our situation.

If you but let the Father guide you,
Relying on His faithfulness,
He will be evermore beside you
In all your sorrow and distress.
He who on God Most High depends
Builds not his house of shifting sands.

How thankful we are that we may trust in the Father to be beside us and to guide us through this valley.

Till next time,
Willa Dale

A Good Day

Friday, May 2, was a good day!

Daddy had an appointment with Dr. Button, our family physician, in the morning. I had slept at home Thursday night and by the time I got to his house around 9:15, he was nearly ready to go. He had even eaten a good (lactose-free) breakfast. It took both Arend and me to get him to the car and then into the doctor's office even though Daddy is using a standard walker. We just don't want him "traipsing around" by himself.

Dr. Button was happy with the improvements he saw in Daddy. He wants to see him in four weeks with "more meat on your bones". We are certainly working on that. Thursday night he ate two servings of the meal Marlene had brought for us plus a piece of apple pie sans ice cream or cheddar cheese and a small bowl of yogurt. (For some reason, yogurt is okay on a lactose- free diet.)

When we were done at the doctor's, we took him home for his dose of antibiotic and then we were off to Chatham to the hospital lab for some lab work for Daddy. The lab work had been ordered by the doctor in Port Huron, but Dr. Button had to re-order it since the local lab couldn't accept an order from a "foreign" doctor. We will have the reports back on Monday, but we don't expect any surprises.

Before we had hardly left Ridgetown, Daddy was already asking about lunch. That's a good indication that he is feeling better! After the lab work, we went to Swiss Chalet for lunch. You should have seen him eat! A good-sized bowl of chicken noodle soup, half of a grilled chicken wrap and part of my French fries!

When we had finished lunch, we were headed home but Arend decided that we should detour to Cedar Springs (the local fruit growing area) and buy some apples. I was concerned that the trip was getting to be too much for Daddy, but he didn't seem to mind the side trip to Cedar Springs.

Finally at home again, Daddy was happy to go to his bedroom and sleep. But surprisingly he only slept for about an hour and then was up again till after our evening meal. I think that indicates that his body is finally healing and he will soon be able to get back into the routine to which we've become accustomed in the last ten months.

We are so thankful that the Lord has blessed all of us is such a wonderful way. A week ago we truly thought that he might not make it and yesterday he was sitting in a restaurant eating whatever was in front of him. The Lord is such an awesome God and we stand amazed at everything He has done in our lives. We certainly have been blessed beyond measure!

I learned a very good lesson in all of this. The Lord has told us that He will not give us more than we can handle. He has also told us to place our burdens on Him. With Daddy's illness I was able to do that much more easily than I ever have before. Our human nature makes us want to be "fixers", but that isn't the Lord's way. I understand that much more clearly now.

Till next time.
Willa Dale

C. diff - Part 3

It has been a few days since I posted anything to the blog. That isn't because nothing has happened. Rather things have happened so fast that it is hard to find a few minutes to sit at the computer and type.

Sunday I went first to church and then to Port Huron by myself because Arend wasn't feeling well at all. Since he was experiencing the same symptoms that Daddy had, I was concerned that he might have C. diff as well. Before I left church to go to Port Huron, I called him and suggested that he go to "emerge" to get checked. Surprisingly, he agreed to go. That is probably indicative of how bad he felt. He ended up spending more than six hours waiting. Fortunately, the doctor told him that it wasn't very likely that Arend had C. diff since it is usually only people who have been on antibiotics who get it. (I guess that makes me a prime target.) Yesterday Arend saw our family doctor who told him that the blood tests they had run on Sunday indicated that Arend did not have C. diff. We were glad to have that confirmation. Apparently Arend's problems stemmed from the irregular sleeping and eating pattern we developed over the period of Wednesday through Friday last week.

Monday when we went to visit my dad, he told us that he had been discharged! We were stunned, to say the least. The hospitalist (the in-house hospital doctor) had told me on Saturday that he might be released on Tuesday but we surely weren't prepared for him to go home on Monday! That sent me scrambling to Wal-Mart to buy him some clothes to wear home. Then we had to get his prescriptions filled at the CVS pharmacy. The one prescription was a suspension for which the pharmacist had to grind up the medication. It took two hours for him to get done! All that time Daddy and Arend were sitting in the car waiting for me.

Now Daddy is happy to be home in familiar surroundings. One of his medications (the one that we had to wait for so long) has to be given every six hours around the clock, so Arend and I are taking turns staying with him so that there is someone with him "24/7" not just to supervise his medication but also to keep him company.

His mind is just as sharp as ever and he is getting stronger every day. He is able to walk to the bathroom on his own using a standard walker and eats dinner at the table with us. Dinner - now there's an interesting concept...We are making dinner at home and then transporting it to Daddy's house since his stove is not hooked up. We didn't see the need to hook it up when Daddy moved here since we knew that we would be cooking all of his meals except breakfast right here. It's a good thing that he has a microwave and microwavable dishes, too!

We are so thankful that he is here in Canada where we can do this for him. Had he stayed in Pennsylvania we would never have been able to do so and he might have ended up in a nursing home somewhere.

How blessed we have been throughout this ordeal! The Lord has heard our prayers and supplied our every need. We thank Him for His continuing blessing and care. We also thank all of you for your support through prayers, visits, phone calls and offers of help. The communion of saints is an awesome thing!

Till next time,

Willa Dale

C. diff, Part 2

There isn't a lot to report today. We spent about six hours with Daddy and he was awake the entire time. He is still on a clear liquid diet which doesn't please him. However, until the antibiotics take effect he can't have anything else. Today he said that he would really like to have mashed potatoes and gravy. (I will keep that in mind for when he comes home from the hospital!)

He is concerned that things are not progressing as quickly as he would like for them to. However, I keep telling him that the C. diff had quite a hold on his body and it will take a while for the antibiotics to overpower the C. diff and actually start the healing process. I don't think he is buying my story, though.

His mind is regaining its usual sharpness which is nice for us to see, but he is still moaning and groaning a lot. When asked (by us or the nurses) he says nothing hurts; he is just tired of feeling so miserable.

Arend isn't feeling too well either. Hopefully it is just the stress of the past three weeks. However, he will ask our family doctor to test him for C. diff when he sees him on Tuesday.

C. diff

April 25, 2008

Dear family and friends,

Over the last 72 hours I have done what our son John told me a couple of weeks ago that I needed to do - I have grown up. Surprisingly, it wasn't as difficult or painful as I thought it might be and I am thankful for that.

You know that my dad has been unwell since April first. We thought that he was suffering from a viral illness, but it just wouldn't go away. This past Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday he completely stopped eating and drinking. Finally on Wednesday (the start of my growing up) I said to Arend that Daddy should go to the hospital "emerge" (ER in the States). Daddy really didn't want to go, so I just told him that I had called for an ambulance and he was going. If he had been well he would have fought me "tooth and nail", but that certainly didn't happen this time.

Because he arrived by ambulance he avoided that 6-8 hour wait one usually experiences when going to "emerge". Within two hours of his arrival they had made arrangements for him to be admitted to the surgical floor of the Chatham hospital. The whole time that he was in "emerge" he kept calling me "Dot" and I would just tell him that she wasn't there. I couldn't tell him that my mother had died nearly two years ago. It just wouldn't have helped things at all. I told him that it was Willa Dale with him. Then he kept telling me that he was going to die and I replied every time that he wasn't going to die especially since he wanted to see the two new babies and visit with Noah as well as talk to him on the phone.

The "emerge" physician told me that he felt fairly certain that Daddy had C. diff (see http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/c-difficile/DS00736 ) and possibly an abscessed diverticulum.

I went up with him to the fourth floor and stayed with him for quite some time. I was surprised to see a very dear friend appear at the door of his room about 10:15 with a large cup of Earl Grey tea in her hand! She stayed with me until I was ready to leave and was a great comfort, probably more than she can imagine. How did she get up to the fourth floor when all the doors were locked? She went through "emerge", told them that her granddaddy had been admitted to the hospital, got the room number from them and then the security guard unlocked the door and let her through! I would call that pretty resourceful!

The next morning I had some school board duties that had to be attended to at the school and that same friend took my place by my dad's bedside and made sure that he drank the contrast liquid he needed for one of the tests. Amazing - he wouldn't drink it for the nurse, but he drank it for Marlene! After he was taken down for the test, she came to the school and told me everything that had transpired at the hospital, then took me out for lunch. Wow! Unfortunately, I didn't have much appetite at that point.

When I got back to the hospital, I found him pretty much the way Marlene described - sleepy and kind of "out of it". (I didn't realize how "out of it" he was till today - more on that later). Matt arrived about 2:30. We knew that he might come because he had to be down in this area of Ontario on business, but we didn't tell Daddy because we thought he would be disappointed if something happened and Matt couldn't get there. Considering how "out of it" he was, I don't suppose it would have made a difference if we had told him that Matt was coming.

It was time for Daddy to have some barium solution for his CT scan. Matt got him to drink it all! Daddy's nurse said that Matt had missed his calling - he should have been a nurse. She really liked his bedside manner. That's something I have been saying for the last two years. I saw how he worked with my mother in the hours just before she died and he was fantastic with her!

Matt left about four o'clock because he had work that needed to be done in Guelph before dark. I went down with Daddy for the CT scan, but Arend (who had arrived while Matt was there) stayed in Daddy's room. Not too long after we got back to his room, the surgeon came to talk to us. The news wasn't very good. The diagnosis of C. diff had been confirmed through blood tests and the sigmoidoscopy and CT scan. However, there was no diverticular abscess. She told us that in 5% of the cases of C. diff a colostomy had to be performed and in people of my dad's age, that percentage was ever greater. She also wondered whether he would survive the surgery if he indeed had to have it.

That generated a whole new set of concerns, of course. Finally (the next step in my growing up) I told her that we would like to have him transferred to the U.S. if he were to be hospitalized for a long period of time and have to undergo surgery. He has no medical or hospital coverage here in Canada but is covered in the U.S. That doctor moved mountains to get him admitted to a hospital in Port Huron, Michigan! She even made arrangements for an ambulance to come from Michigan to pick him up! Unbelievable!

Arend and I rushed back to Ridgetown to pick up all of the documents the three of us would need to cross the border then hurried back to Chatham to be there before the American ambulance arrived. As it turned out, we needn't have rushed. We ended up waiting for it for 90 minutes!

We followed the ambulance to Port Huron then went up to the floor he was to be on - the fourth floor again! We had to wait until they had assessed him before we could see him. He was so "out of it" that we just told him that we were there and that we were going to stay overnight in Port Huron and would see him this morning. He didn't really grasp what we were saying at all.

After a short night's sleep we were back at the hospital. Before we went to see him, we stopped at the nurses' station and were able to talk with three of the doctors who had seen him. Imagine my surprise when one of them said that Daddy had told him that he was immigrating to Canada because his daughter lived there! Compare that to 12 hours earlier when he didn't understand that he had been moved from Chatham to Port Huron or even that he was in a hospital! Incredible!

When we went in to see him, we were very happy to see how much better he was. Sure, he was still in pain, still a very sick man, but dramatically improved from when we had left only 10 hours before. He didn't remember anything at all about Thursday - no Marlene, no Matt, no tests, no bumpy ambulance ride - nothing, but throughout today he continued to improve. He reminded us of some things that needed to be done - some of which he hadn't discussed in months! He even "ate" about half of his clear liquid lunch and the same of his clear liquid dinner. Clear liquid diets, we learned, include popsicles and Jell-o in addition to the usual broth, juice and tea. Not overly appetizing but good for you when you are so dehydrated.

We talked to more health care professionals today then we could count (well, not really, but there were a lot) and they all said that Chatham had done a very good job of "working him up" and that their (Port Huron's) findings concurred with those of Chatham. Now they are treating him with the antibiotic Flagyl by mouth and an IV GGG which is a specialized bunch of antibodies that will go directly to the colon and destroy the C. diff that is there. Of course he is still getting a saline or potassium IV drip to re-hydrate him. It appears that they are alternating between the NaCl and the KCl drips for some reason.

The doctors are extremely positive about his recovery and we are encouraged by that. But most of all we thank the LORD for hearing our prayers and answering them in such a way. Once again we have been reminded that we can place all of our burdens on Him and He will carry them. What a wonderful promise and comfort that is!

Granddaddy's Hospitalization

February 13, 2008

I was uptown this afternoon for an appointment when Arend walked in at two o'clock - totally unexpected. This is how our conversation went: "Hi, Hon. Helen Spence called from the Seniors Centre and said that Dad has a badly infected leg and he has to go to the hospital right now." (Daddy was at the Seniors Centre to have his monthly toenail-cutting.)

I headed home, Arend headed to Daddy's. He helped Daddy get his pajamas, a few toiletries and all of his medications together while I hunted at our home for Daddy's insurance forms (only to find out that the policy had lapsed on January 9th). We then had to decide which Emergency Room to go to - Chatham or Newbury. Finally we decided on Chatham in the hope that Dr. Button would be able to visit him there if he were admitted.

We ended up waiting three hours to see the doctor, but then things moved along a bit quicker. Dr. Denys (now there's a good Dutch name!) said he needed to be admitted and treated aggressively to prevent the infection from entering his bone and/or his bloodstream. If it were to progress that far, then there would be the possibility that he would lose that leg - not something we want to think about. Daddy was a little disappointed with being hospitalized, but didn't put up much of a fuss. In retrospect we see that Chatham was the right choice because it will be easier to visit him there . I already knew that I was going to be in Chatham for most of the day Thursday plus Friday and Saturday afternoons and evenings, so I will be able to visit him a lot and Arend will be able come on his own since we can use both cars - ours and Daddy's.

He's a little concerned about the insurance part of it, but we said that we will worry about that later. The hospital will send him a bill and then we'll see how much the insurance company will pay - if anything. Dr. Denys said that he would, hopefully, only be hospitalized for a couple of days; if it turns out to be a long-term hospitalization, we will probably have to see about getting him transferred to Port Huron, Michigan so that his insurance will pay.

Anyway...that's the story for now.

February 14, 2008

This morning started off as a normal day. Arend went to work and I worked on some decorations for the PTA/Willing Workers dinner. Once I was finished, I went to the church to help with the actual decorating. Around 12:30 Arend called to tell me that Daddy's nurse had called to ask us to bring one of his medications that the hospital pharmacy did not have. Since I was in Chatham, I told Arend where the medication was and asked him to bring it when he came to visit Daddy.

Just about ten minutes after. Arend called again. The nurse had called to tell us that they had found Daddy unresponsive in his bed. I was devastated. I was convinced that everything that had happened to Daddy was my fault because I hadn't gotten him an appointment with Dr. Button a couple of weeks ago when he had asked me to do it. The ladies who were decorating the church were very compassionate and insisted that one of them should go with me to the hospital rather than me driving there by myself. Sharon Burggraaf prayed with me which surprised me but which I appreciated very much. Diane Bergsma went with me to the hospital.

When we got to the fourth floor, I asked to speak to Rhonda, the nurse who had been talking to Arend. They told me that she was with a patient in crisis to which I responded, "I hope that patient isn't my dad!" They asked me if my dad was Mr. Meeks and I said that he was and they confirmed that he was the patient in crisis. Not what I wanted or needed to hear!

Diane and I walked down to Daddy's room, but we couldn't go in because there were so many people in there with him. Finally Rhonda came out to talk to us and said that he was doing a lot better and we could go in to see him. He looked pretty normal, but he was "out of it", not really aware of what had happened to him. They were getting ready to transfer him to ICU so Diane and I were allowed to go with him. Diane was a great comfort to me, insisting on staying with me until Arend got there. Once he arrived, she called Sharon to come and pick her up at the hospital.

Daddy hadn't been in ICU very long when some x-ray personnel came to take him for a CT scan of his head. We followed him to the elevator and were told we could wait in the ICU waiting room until he came back in 30 minutes or so. Well, we waited and we waited and we waited, but he never came back up that elevator. Finally after two hours (!) we buzzed the nurses' station and asked if he was back. Sure enough he had been back for some time. In fact, he was nearly done eating his dinner! I guess they brought him back up in a different elevator! By then he looked and sounded very good except for feeling cold. Arend asked the nurses for a heated blanket for him and that warmed him up a lot. (Those heated blankets were some of the few good memories I have of my extended stay in the hospital in 2006.)

We talked to Dr. Iyer and his medical student, but they were not able to give us anything definitive yet.

We stayed with him until visiting hours were over then left, telling him that we would be back tomorrow. Off to Wendy's for supper.

What a day!

February 15, 2008

I have gotten to the point that I am afraid to look at the call-display when the phone rings. If it says "Blocked Call", I start to shake because that is how the calls from the hospital show up on call display.

Thankfully, there were no phone calls from the hospital today except for Dr. Martha Clendenning telling me that the scans showed the possibility of a secondary seizure as the cause of his unresponsiveness. He will have to have an EEG in Sarnia to get a more accurate picture.

When I got to ICU I went to Daddy's room only to find that there was another man in that room now. When I asked where Daddy was they told me he had been moved to PCU, the Progressive Care Unit. That meant he must be doing a lot better, and he was! He was happy to see us and happy to feel so much better.

I went to the church to help out with the dinner and Arend stayed at the hospital until I was finished at the church, then he met me at the church and we went to Wendy's for supper. (I told Arend "No more Wendy's hamburgers for me after tonight. I like them a lot and don't want to get turned off of them!"


February 16, 2008

Another day, another room...in fact, he got moved back to the exact same room that he was in originally, but another bed. We could tell today that he was feeling better because he is getting impatient to get home. At the rate he is going, he should be home quite soon, I think.

The nurses had mentioned that he needed some other tests, but since Monday is a holiday (Family Day A.K.A. McGuinty Day) not all departments of the hospital will be open. We'll have to wait and see.

While we were visiting Daddy, Matt and Viktoriya came. He was very glad to see them! They arrived shortly before his dinner arrived and Arend and I needed to leave to go to the church for the dinner. That worked out very well because Matt and Viktoriya could keep him company while we were gone. When we came back from the dinner, Matt and Viktoriya had been gone about half an hour. Good timing!

We spent about an hour visiting with him and telling him about the dinner. He was sorry he missed it, and so were we. I think he would have loved the food as well as the decorations! Of course, he had seen some of the decorations since I made them at home.

We are very thankful that he is doing so much better and we are just as eager as he is for him to be home.


February 17, 2008

Sunday, and I didn't go to church! Actually neither of us went to church in the morning because it was too icy. Arend went in the afternoon, but I stayed home. I just couldn't risk falling and injuring my hip.

After church Arend spent the afternoon and early evening with Daddy at the hospital. I called and talked to him since I couldn't see him in person. He sounded very good and a bit impatient about getting home.

We'll see what Dr. Clendenning says tomorrow.

February 18, 2008

Since today is "Family Day" Daddy was afraid he wouldn't be discharged, but Dr Clendenning calling this morning and said that Daddy could go home. He will still need to have an EEG but that is done as an outpatient in Sarnia. I asked about having it done in Port Huron so that his insurance would cover it, but Dr. Clendenning said that I would have to arrange that myself. When they call from Sarnia, I will ask about that.

Because of the seizure, Dr. Clendenning said Daddy won't be able to drive for six months. I guess she will notify the Ministry of Transportation. Daddy won't be happy about that because it takes away some of his independence. I think he will adjust to it, though.

No Rotary tonight since it's a holiday, so he won't have to explain why he wasn't at the meeting. Next Monday Arend and I both have to be at the congregational meeting, so neither of us will be able to drive him to Rotary and then pick him up afterwards. After that, though, I will be home every Monday night, so that won't be a problem.

February 20, 2008

The EEG department at the Sarnia hospital called with an appointment for Daddy on March 18th. That's a lot farther away than I expected. I asked about having it done in Port Huron, but since it costs less than $100 I decided that we would just have it done in Ontario.