Well the last couple weeks have been kinda exhausting...
Upon arriving home from DC we found some water in our basement (luckily not much)- the rain was coming down so hard that the sump pump was having a hard time keeping up. Luckily, I had already started cleaning/reorganizing the basement in prep for moving the kids room downstairs so not much got wet. UNTIL....
Last Saturday Jim really got a wake up call when his shower went cold - went to check the water heater to find a shower in the basement! A pipe had sprung a leak and it was raining in the basement. Again, luckily there was minimal damage. A few ruined kids clothes. Fortunately a friend of the twins was out within hours and fixed the leak. Problem was the leak had short-circuited the water tank. Good news -the tank was still under warranty, Bad News - it was Memorial Day weekend! (Our house always breaks on the holidays!) Good News - once it dried out all was working again.
Jim has been having kind of a hard time lately. Lots of pain with minimal exertion. Today we went to the rec center and swam while Mikayla attended a party there. I never did get Jim in the pool but he did enjoy the hot tub. Later, we met Mom at church so we could go to mass and she could take the kids home with her. I could tell Jim was hurting. I finally convinced him just to sit in the pew and not to worry about standing or kneeling. About 10 minutes later he was sitting with his head resting on the pew in front of him. I walked him out of church and by the time we got to the door he was in tears from the pain. After some rest mom said he seems to be doing much better. But some extra prayers would always help.
Memorial Day we spent a nice day with Mom, Dad, Jenny, Chad and the kids at Wallace Lake. We had a cookout and the kids swam in the lake. It was a nice relaxing day. However, once we got home Jim got VERY sick - throwing up several times. We are not sure, but we think he may have had a bad reaction to the heat. I know his body is having troubles regulating his temperature - usually he has problems feeling cold. We are wondering if he is also having problems with the heat. We will address the problem next week when we meet the new neurologist (this one specializes in the autonomic neuropathy which causes issues like this.) Until then we will just have to be careful!
As many of you know - yesterday was Mom's Bday!! We celebrated with dinner after she picked up her new car! (present from dad - plus she's getting a new screened-in deck/addition on the house!) However, her birthday brought some not-so-good (yet somewhat expected) news. She went with dad for his follow-up visit to the cardiologist and they were told Dad will have to have open-heart surgery in 6 months.
His heart has gotten worse in the last year then it did in the last 10 years combined. The Dr. says he is amazed Dad is doing as good as he is with how bad his heart is. Most people wouldn't be able to make it to the mailbox and back. However, since he is in such good shape and really not having any noticeable symptoms the doctor feels confident he can wait until after the new year for surgery. Dad will go back in October for more follow-up and testing. In the mean time you can be sure we are watching him like a hawk! Everything considered, the "old-man" looks good for his age (76 next week!) I'm pretty amazed he has gone this long on that old ticker - seeing as how we originally found out he may need surgery in 2004! Again, your prayers are very welcome!
Grandpa Metz is back in the nursing home after 2 stays in the hospital last month (one in ICU.) He recognizes Jim on a regular basis but that is about all. For some reason Jim is the only one he knows every time he sees them. It is truly a sad situation. Grandma is still with Aunt Mary - though she is quickly driving Aunt Mary to the Looney Bin! Sometimes I think Mary needs the most prayers out of all of them!!
Finally, I want to say thank you to all the people who have helped us out especially over the last few months! We have TERRIFIC neighbors and a WONDERFUL community of friends!! I really, really don't know what I would do without everybody!
We are glad summer is finally here - hope it is a safe and happy one for everyone!
