The Spark

I just had to write one more entry before we set out on our latest journey.

Today I took Dennis to two medical appointments. One was to have his catheter changed and the other was to his doctor that specializes in movement disorders. Both went fine, but the second visit is the one that prompts this entry.

Dennis always wants to know how long he has left to live, and he always asks the question. Of course there is no real definitive answer and we know that a bad fall or pneumonia may be the end of it all. We work hard to prevent either from happening and, at the same time, know that we cannot control everything.

The doctor's answer to Dennis question was, "You still have a spark in your eyes and that is encouraging."

I have said it before and I will most likely say it again, but love, laughter and an enjoyment of life must play a part in all of our lives. Perhaps this is even more important when a person is sick.

So as we are off on this Alaskan adventure, I will know that we are doing the absolute most that we can do for Dennis' longevity. It's what works for us.

I have no idea what puts the sparkle in your eyes, but I do hope that you know it and keep it awake and alive.

Until after vacation,
Ann and Dennis

PS - Look for updates on Facebook while we are gone. If you aren't my friend on FB, feel free to friend me. Otherwise you will just need to wait until we return home.

Blessing in Disguise

Yes, the feeding tube did burst open, just like predicted.

The staff at the hospital where Dennis hangs out is so friendly. I called Sunday morning, and they fit us in right away. They did not make us go hang out in the ER for hours, but instead let us go directly up to the radiology department for the replacement tube. I don't like having Dennis sit in a room full of sick people sneezing and coughing and waiting and complaining. Who does?

We both decided this was a blessing in disguise. It was going to happen sooner or later anyway. Since we are leaving for our cruise on Saturday, it's good to have everything in good working order before we board the ship. No one would have been happy if we had to leave the ship to visit a hospital for a day. Now that is a worry that is off of our plate.

This will be my last entry until we return. Hopefully I will have some fun pictures to post of us at play in the wilds of Alaska.

See you in a couple of weeks!

Ann and Dennis

Laughter

I am often asked, "How do you two do it?", by friends and sometimes strangers.

It's a difficult question to answer, because I am not often sure what the question means. I try to answer it meaningfully, but I doubt the answers really say much of the truth.

One thing I do know that keeps both of us going forward and living fully is laughter. One of my favorite sounds in the world is listening to Dennis giggle. Another of my favorite sounds is my own laugh, although I will admit that it sometimes is too loud for others. But both Dennis' giggle and my laugh are completely genuine.

Many mornings I hear Dennis and Raquel sharing laughs in the mornings when he is getting ready for the day. Sometimes I join in and other times I just listen and smile. Even as I right this, my face is grinning and I am feeling that warm fuzzy feeling all over.

Dennis can make me laugh so easily. He is an odd duck with a quirky sense of humor that I adore. The other day he and Raquel were cleaning out his closet and he found a set of goggles from his skiing days. He immediately put them on and kept them on for hours.

Now how can you not smile and laugh along with such a man as this?

Until later,
Ann and Dennis

J/G Tube

I know that there are no sane people in this world that are begging for a feeding tube. Perhaps a kid or two who is thinking about all the extra play time and the ease of clean-up, but no reasonable person would want a tube of any type sticking out of their body.

Unless, of course, it is necessary.

When Dennis had just the gastric tube, he suffered from acid reflux. He was continuously spitting up and vomiting. He stomach is much more settled with the J/G tube, but it is constantly getting plugged. The food is thick and sticky. It actually looks quite a bit like Elmer's Glue. I am sure, in a pinch, it could be used for glue. In the past week it has been plugged twice and last night it even turned off the feeding pump.

Yes, this is another one of those waking up in the middle of the night stories.

In the middle of a school dream, where I was one of the most ineffective teachers ever, the alarm started to beep. This time I didn't mind being woken up. I really hate school dreams.

I got out of bed and looked at the message - "No Flow." Everything was hooked up properly, the food was going through both the bags tubing and into the jejunal tube, so the only reason I could surmise for the alarm was that Dennis was plugged up once again.

Hot water works most of the time on getting the tube unclogged, but I need to push and pull the water in and out until a break through occurs. It took a while, but I managed to push to clog into his intestine where it could be taken care of through whatever way the intestine takes care of such things.

It's wonderful that Dennis gets all of his nutrition without having to fight with food. Actually, he would waste away to nothing if he was depending on food for his caloric intake. But why can't they make the canned nutrition less sticky? Or thinner? Or make the tube wider to accommodate what is going through it? And why in the world is it vanilla flavored?

It's not a big deal bringing him in to the hospital to have it replaced, but it could happen while we are on a trip, and that would be a fairly big nuisance.

By the way, Dennis slept and snored through the entire episode last night.


Until later,
Ann and Dennis

PS: I was injecting water into the tube on Saturday night, two days after this post, when it burst wide open. Sunday morning back to the hospital. This time they put a slightly larger one in, so maybe this will help? Time will tell, I guess.

Retired and Working

Yesterday I received a series of emails and phone calls regarding a part-time job. I really was not expecting to be recruited, but I wasn't taken completely by surprise.

I used to work under a federal grant umbrella within the Minneapolis district. Our over-all direction was to promote and provide training for safe schools. I worked with a small group that attempted to move schools towards a positive and preventative approach to working with behavior issues. Unfortunately, Minneapolis did not adopt the idea with any enthusiasm, and it faltered and petered out.

However, most of the state has embraced PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) just like the majority of educators in the country. The metro group alone (areas surrounding Minneapolis and St Paul) has 49 new schools this year, and 30 last year. Not surprisingly, they need more staff to train and work with new school staff.

What does this have to do with Dennis' MSA?

Nothing, I suppose, but it will provide extra income that I could use now that I have retired to spend time with Dennis. This is a very part time job, with flexible hours and dates. There are only 3 times during the year that I must be in town at a meeting.

Most importantly, PBIS is something that I really believe in, understand and can support without any reservation. School staff that have signed up for the training are usually fun to work with and motivated to make positive change. Within a few months of the beginning steps of implementation, schools are able to see positive change.

And, as my last entry stated, Dennis will be happy to get me out of the house more often doing something that I enjoy.

Until later,
Ann and Dennis

Thank You For Taking Ann Out!

A few days ago one of my girlfriends and I went out for a large part of the day. Dennis wasn't feeling well and neither was Raquel, but I really wanted to get together with Ann. So off we went.

Near Minneapolis is the 10th largest lake in Minnesota - Lake Minnetonka. We took a boat cruise around the lake, ate lunch at an Irish pub and walked around the touristy town looking at all the art shops. We topped it off with a glass of iced coffee and drove back into the city.

When Ann left, Dennis thanked her for taking me out of the house.

I have been hanging around the house too much lately, but I am enjoying being home. I do love to go out with my girlfriends, but I right now I seem to be home more often than out and about. I can sit on the deck, do my art, write, nap, read and just stare at the TV without any desire to leave.

I don't know if this is a phase or what. I don't even want to explain it to myself. I am just fine, right now, with being content at home.

Until later,
Ann and Dennis

Another Vacation

I can't quite believe this, but we now have two vacations booked and ready to complete. Not only will we be cruising the Alaskan coast in late August, but we will also be visiting London in late September.

We have decided to travel, rest 3 weeks and travel again. I don't know how long our energy or bank accounts will hold out, but we will keep on until one or the other says stop already.

I have dreamed for years of retiring and traveling. Dennis and I had hoped at one time to buy a condo in Mexico and spend our winters there. While we are not interested in that anymore, we still want to be out and about with people in new and familiar places. I only wish airfare was at the price range it was when we first started out fulfilling our travel fantasies.

For those of you new to this blog, my sister and brother in law live in London. We used to be able to stay with them, but they have a typical 2 story English house. Dennis can no longer do steps under the best of circumstances, so we will need to stay in a motel. Finding an accessible hotel nearby was no easy feat, but thanks to my travel agent, we found one a few miles from Jane and Ralph.

Dennis is already dreaming up the next destination. Stay tuned, folks.

Until later,
Ann and Dennis

Moose

We just returned from 3 nights on the North Shore of Lake Superior. We stayed in the small town of Grand Marias about 2 hours up the coastline. It was a beautiful drive. The town has suffered from our recession, and so many of the cute shops and restaurants were closed. One more sad reminder of how our economy has suffered.

One day we drove on the Gunflint Trail in hopes of sighting a moose. Dennis was in his babble, coughing and grunting mode for the entire two hour drive. Neither JoAnn or I could understand one word he was mumbling. Occasionally I would ask him what he was talking about, but it was not worth the effort to try and understand him. He was beyond participating in any real conversation.

I was driving very slow. One of the dirt roads we took had recently been graded. We felt like we were riding on top of a washboard. The second off road experience had not been graded, but instead was covered in rocks. There was no choice but to drive slow, enjoy the scenery and keep the eyes open for a moose.

We were just approaching a small body of water when Dennis said, "MOOSE!" Sure enough, there along the edge of the water was a large moose drinking water. The moose slowly took off when he heard the car and hid in the trees. We could see him hiding from us and we stayed for a while hoping he would return. The moose, however, took off for the woods after a few minutes and we drove on.

For the rest of the vacation we would tease Dennis with, "oooeeeeaaaa, uuuuaaaerrrrr, cough, cough, grunt, mmmmnnnnoooooouuuu, MOOSE!"

I am glad that he is such a good sport and laughed each and every day he teased.

Until later,
Ann and Dennis

A Mini-Vacation

Dennis wanted to squeeze in another vacation before we left on our Alaskan cruise next month. So we are headed up to the North Shore of Minnesota for four days and three nights.

Our friend, JoAnne, is accompanying us on this trip. JoAnne is the gal that hosted my retirement party, worked with Dennis for a short period of time and has the garage that I am helping clean out. She also is the gal that helped so much with cleaning out mom and dad's place when we moved mom to Minneapolis last summer. She has been there for me so often that I don't want to begin counting how much I owe her. Thankfully, we both believe in the philosophy of "paying it forward."

So adios for a few days, and see you next weekend.

Until later,
Ann and Dennis

Hockey Pants

I mentioned a while back how much weight I have gained over the past three years. The good news is that I have not gained a pound since retiring, and perhaps even lost a pound or two. I think getting away from the stress of work, and I know that not eating school lunches has made a bit of difference already.

What does it really matter anyway. Where ever we go, Dennis gets all of the attention.  Rightfully so, I suppose.

Someone left a comment on a previous post asking about the hockey pants. They are actually one of the reasons that Dennis gets so much attention.

Whenever we walk, even if it is in the condo hallways, Dennis wears his helmet. If we walk outside, he also wears his hockey pants. They have great hip and rear end padding that protects him if he should fall. I know that you can buy padding that is made just for this purpose, but he had them around and they work. In fact, they probably work better because of the harder plastic padding. Sometimes he also wears his elbow and knee pads that are also left over from his hockey days. Believe me, no one is looking at me when we walk around the block.

There are many reasons Dennis garners all of the attention from others. Most of the time the attention is good. Some of the time, it is a bit harder to take. But even I will admit that I would stare at him long and hard I if saw him tottering down the road, a girl at his side holding him by his gait belt, dressed up in his gear. It is a sight to behold.

And yes, he often wears a matching jersey. Sigh....

Until later,
Ann and Dennis