Sickness

What a sad looking bunch. High fevers for the kids, mine was running as high as 101.5. very miserable. Hopefully I will be feeling good tomorrow...

More Improvement

Jon was moved out of ICU into the Step Down Unit yesterday. I spent the night with him last night. Well, sort of, I spent quite a bit of time in the surgical waiting room stretched out on beautifully long sofa. They are sending him home tomorrow sometime.

Still Improving

Last night about 11 Jon called and told me he wanted two pieces of pizza. I told him I would bring him some this evening. Daddy called and asked Rachel if I was really coming. Jon was really in need of pizza and daddy was getting quite hungry also. So I arrived with the pizza and found Jon vastly improved over last night. I was with there close to two hours and I could tell he was getting tired by the time I left. He wasn't talking as much and his head was starting to hurt some. He was suppose to be moved today to a step down unit but a room never opened up for him. Perhaps tomorrow. He may be coming home by the weekend...

Exhaustion

When I was in to see Jon this evening he seemed extremely tired. The MRI was clear which means his seizure did no damage or the damage is so little it didn't show up. I haven't heard the results of the EEG but they must be good also. They are planning on moving him out of ICU some time tomorrow.

Slowly Improving

It is becoming apparent that Jon is slowly rejoining us. He talked a couple times yesterday but each time he talked it was in regards to something negative. He didn't want something or something was scaring him. One time his IV was leaking and he told Laureen or Daddy I am getting wet. He knew something was wrong and needed attention. Other than this he said nothing. This morning when Daddy and Mama arrived at the hospital he was talking to the nurse. He was answering questions. He is very weary and exhausted but is recovering. He is still in ICU. They may move him to a step down unit tomorrow. At one point he was in pain and Mama finally got the nurse. The nurse asked him if his head hurt. He replied My head hurts all the time! So they gave him something stronger than Tylenol but not Morphine. I will be leaving here in a few minuets too go see for myself what kind of improvements have taken place... He did have a seizure this afternoon. The neurologist came and put him on a medication to take care of this. The Dr. said 40% of Meningitis patients have a seizure. The Dr. also said he probably won't have another one. To my knowledge he hasn't. Yes, he is still talking....
More later

Confusion

After having an extremely difficult day yesterday Jon was moved back into ICU. Apparently he stopped responding to the antibiotic. Once the Dr. had determined what strand of meningitis Jon had they had discontinued some of his meds. When they did this he started slipping backwards. Thursday afternoon the ran another MRI and did another spinal tap. The biggest concern was slurred speech or no speech. He was showing the symptoms of a very slight stroke. Naturally we were very concerned. So last night they moved him back into ICU and put him back on all the meds. He had a really rotten night last night however his day today was really good. Here is an email I sent to our church family.

Good evening folks,

I was in the hospital till 10:30 last night and was on the grounds again this morning by 7:15. So, here is what I know. He had a very bad night last night. Didn't get any sleep or very little. When we arrived this morning he was sleeping. He roused at one point and Daddy told him good morning and Jon replied Good morning Daddy. I thought I should try it also so I said good morning and he turned his head and spoke to me also. Saying good morning Glen. I was so relieve I started to cry and he then started to laugh. After this he promptly fell asleep. He slept until 12 noon. He ate really well, Laureen fed him, and then he slept most of the afternoon. They are still giving him morphine for pain but not as often. The MRI came back clear on all counts. No sign of stroke or any permanent damage. The Neurologist had them run an EKG on his brain too make sure he wasn't having seizures. This too came back clear. It appears that what he needs is lots of sleep. So, in short it appears that all of his cognitive functions should return to normal with time. He is very sick and in serious condition but things are looking much brighter than yesterday evening this time. I will give you more details as they arrive.

Thanks for praying

Glen

More Details

I was privileged to be present this morning when Dr. Wade, Dr. Woodward, and Dr. Joseph made an appearance. Dr. Joseph is the neurologist and read the MRI concerning Jon's double vision problem. Apparently there is some nerve damage. This nerve provides signals to one the muscles in his right eye. This nerve, I believe, will fix itself with some time. Dr. Joseph seemed very pleased with the amount of improvement that had taken place since he saw him yesterday. Dr. Woodward didn't say a whole lot but was trying to address the issue with Jon's hearing. His ears are ringing. Dr. Woodward explained this by saying meningitis tends to affect the acoustic nerve. This too should improve with time. Dr. Wade gave us the most information. Apparently meningitis is accompanied by lots of swelling in the brain. Because of the skull there is no where for the brain to expand too. This is why he has experienced nerve damage and is also why he has had such excruciating headaches. Dr. Wade also informed us that Jon will probably be out of school for two more weeks. He also is extremely doubtful VOP should be going on tour in Feb. I tend to agree with him. I don't see how he will have the energy to travel and sing in two weeks. One interesting thing we discovered was that Dr. Wade attends Rivermont Presbyterian Church. He was present when we sang there this summer. He thought we looked familiar. When I found out he attended Rivermont I remembered shaking his hand after the service. He is a very nice man and a very capable Dr.

Diagnosis

Here is what I know as of 8:15 this morning. Please bear with me, my spelling will be a stretch. He has Pneumochochole Meningitis and Bacterime (infection in the blood). The Meningitis is not contagious, (Sigh of relief). He is still having double vision which they will be checking this morning. His pain is still pretty bad, migraine headaches, and these will continue for two-three more days. They are planning to move him to a step down unit this afternoon, out of ICU, and he will be in the hospital several more days at the least. When he is released he will be sent home with an IV and he will need to be on the IV for 10 days. That is about all and think this is fairly accurate. I am pulling this out of my memory.

Thank you for praying

Very Sick Man

VOP was scheduled to sing at Chestnut Hill Baptist last eve. Jon, my brother, was sick and we were trying to decide whether to cancel or not. I called Jon and asked him if we should and he said he didn't know. He sounded like he was hallucinating. I finally got his wife on the phone and we decided I should go down and take a look at him. He was in extreme pain and couldn't communicate with me. Moans and groans he did issue forth. I thought he should go see a Dr. and after several minuets he finally consented. So, I took him to the Dr. After Dr. Jones watched Jon shuffle into the office he began to ask questions. When were you born? What year is it? Where do you work? Simple questions which he found very difficult to answer. He suspected meningitis or encephalitides and sent us to the ER. We arrived at the ER at 12:00 and by 12:05 they took us back and began to examine him. Dr. Jones had contacted them and told them we were on the way. They did a spinal tap, CAT scan of the head and blood work. They found no bacteria in the spinal fluid but did find lots of white blood cells. A normal white blood count is around 10,000 and Jon's was 44,000 which showed a definite infection. They spot diagnosed him with meningitis, the none contagious kind. However, this morning they were beginning to wonder if it wasn't bacterime (sp) instead. This is a blood infection. He is doing much better and is actually lucid. At one point yesterday he thought we were living in the year 2080. He was in extreme pain. Pounding headache, like an extreme migraine. He is on antibiotics and is doing better... More later

Binges

I try not to drink too many soda's. This is for several reasons. One, it isn't overly healthy. Two, it is more expensive then water. However, once a quarter or so I go through this binge. I long for an ice cold soda. Preferably a Dr. Pepper. How bout you?

Melanie Miller

I am sure most of you are aware of Melanie's fight for life. I do not know Melanie but I do know her father and several of her uncles. Ben, my brother-in-law, is one of these uncles. I received an email this morning concerning a prayer vigil. I was pleasantly surprised so see that the hospital would allow this.

Here’s an invitation to all who follow this blog. We got permission from the hospital to have a prayer vigil for Mel and the family outside around the hospital. To all who are interested we will meet at the hospital tomorrow evening January 25, 9:00 p.m. (Friday). There are some specifics we would like for you to follow. We want to make this a time of prayer not a time of socializing. When you get there let’s not have any talking to each other after you leave your vehicles till you get back in your vehicles. Meet outside the visitors entrance of the hospital, sign your names in a book provided. (So Mel and the family can be encouraged by all who participated.) Then start forming a circle around the hospital maybe about 5-10 ft between each person, when you get to an entrance go on either side of the entrance. ( They don’t want us to block any entrances.) Bring candles if you care to. Because of limited parking we encourage you to car pool. The Central congregation and others who would like to meet us there will meet at the church at 7:30 p.m. We will plan to take the big bus and the mini bus plus other vehicles as needed.

We encourage you to cancel previous plans if possible. We’re hoping to literally be able to pretty much surround the hospital if possible. Everyone is welcome near and far.( Don’t forget to dress warm it may be quite cold.) Our plans are to start leaving again around 10:00 p.m.

We would also encourage you to fast and pray tomorrow. This can be a way for those of you from a distance or who are sick or for whatever reason can join us and you can also join us in praying between 9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. We appreciate your participation.

Any Questions call us at 302-242-0576 or 302-659-1451

What a week!!!

Every morning this week I have risen between 3:30 and 4:00 to milk. I have done so with great expectations. Ah, I am going too have a good day. Every morning this week has been a mess. I haven't returned to the house before 8:30-9:00 each and every morning. Usually I am in the house by 7:00 or 7:30. So when I am an hour late it messes the whole day up. My nap isn't right, I get back to work late, get home for lunch late and get home in the evening late. I hate that....
I have one more morning this week. I wonder if I will be 5 for 5 on lateness this week....

Play Ground

We stopped at Chick-Fil-A tonight to use a gift card. We sent the girls to the play ground while we ordered and started feeding the boys. The girls wandered back out and ate. We then sent them all back to the play ground while I snuck up to the counter and ordered a strawberry shake and a brownie. The wife and I shared the shake and the brownie while the children were playing and they never knew it. Play grounds are great. The parents did feel a little twinge of guilt and we were planning to save some for them. However, the more shallow the level in the cup got the less guilt we felt so we ate the whole thing and threw it away. They still don't know.... Once again, play grounds are great....

Last Load

We finished hauling junk to cycle systems today. I have a few more small loads. Old headers and a couple truck cabs but I need to save some parts off the headers and some things like that. I am sure we will find some more junk as time goes on....

Bobcat

We have had this problem with the Bobcat for three years and never could figure out what the problem was. It would not run properly, like it was lacking for fuel. I had an electrical in-line fuel pump I put it on it once and it made no difference. We tried various things over the years and never could figure it out until last week. One morning we checked the engine oil and here it was way over full. Sonny immediately suggested that fuel must be getting in the oil but we didn't know how unless it was through the fuel pump some how. So we called the Bobcat people and asked them about it. They said it probably was the fuel pump. We ordered one and put it on. What a difference. It runs properly now. It is so nice. It it would stop developing new hydraulic oil leaks we would be in business...

Frigid

Once again we are having some very frigid weather. This morning it was about 20 with a windchill of 7. Tomorrow morning is suppose to be 9. I don't know what the wind chill will be. Beautiful weather. Very brilliant, high, clear sky. When the temperature gets much below freezing we never have any kind of precipitation. It's too cold too snow...
I will need lots of clothes in the morning when I go to milk...

Geografacts

We found this game at a used store after Christmas. Have you ever heard of it? It is fun and very informative. It is like a world history and geography class for those of us who can't remember what we learned in school...

Snow

It snowed this morning. This afternoon it turned to sleet before finishing off with rain. It was a very wet and cold rain. I was driving the skidloader for a while this afternoon and my hands were numb by the time I got finished. I don't like that so much. I love the snow and wish we would get more of it.

Awards

Once a year DHIA has this meeting. At this meeting they go over some items that have to do with how much the tester gets paid and some other budget things. They also hand out awards. This year two were sent home for me, I was unable to go plus I didn't know about it. They were both for SCC (Somatic Cell Count or Mastitus). One was for the most improved count and the other one for having the lowest count. I was tickled. This means we are doing a really good job. This affects all areas of a milking herd which means more money or more production or something. Anyway, enough bragging...

Slow Going

Today I had high hopes of taking some more junk to Cycle Systems. However, I could not get the truck we use to pull the goose neck started. We spent all day fiddling with it and never did get it started. Well, Sonny spent most of the day on it. We also discovered the Bob Cat is way to much engine oil. We couldn't figure this out except that some fuel must be getting in the oil. It is an air cooled engine so water wouldn't be the problem. We called JFC of Roanoke and they informed Sonny on the phone that it probably is the fuel pump. It is a Diaphragm pump and this diaphragm is probably wore out and cracked letting fuel into the oil. So we ordered the fuel pump. Let's see, then I milked and went to the house. By this time it was 6:00 PM. A whole day gone and not much to show for it...

Old 4020

This tractor was purchased new in 1968 by my grandfather. The engine has been overhauled at least twice. Apparently we will need to overhaul it again this winter. It locked up on me this morning. It was low in oil. In our defense it was using quite a bit of oil. Still, it shouldn't of happened. I am so annoyed with myself...

Hair Cuts

I am wondering how many of the male population have their locks shortened by the lady of the household? Some of you cut it yourself. This would be disastrous for me. Everything is backwards in the mirror and I would probably remove my ears from the head.
My wife has been cutting my hair for quite sometime. She has this habit of bouncing the clippers off of my head. Tonight I finally told her I felt like runway on a windy day with an inexperienced pilot. Here it comes and then SLAM on my and bouncing for a few yards before smoothing out and running smoothly along the contours of my skull. I calmly informed her of this rather annoying occurrence. After I relayed this information to her the clippers landings seemed to smooth out. I must say the haircut looks very nice...

Expansion

This evening Darrell Carol stopped by on his monthly supply run. I told him about my expansion idea and that I had a few thoughts concerning baby calf housing and I wandered what his opinion was. He promptly told me I should go with him down to Van-Derhyde dairy and see their operation. So I did. They are milking 1000 cows 3x a day. They have a 36 stall rotary parlor, very nice setup. For calf housing they use a greenhouse. I really like the way this looks and I think this is what I am going to do. It had a vented roof for air flow as well as moving stale air out of the barn. I couldn't smell a thing in this vented barn. They had another house they put up which they didn't put the vent in the roof. I was amazed at the difference. I have made up my mind on this one...

Hobbling

Last evening as I wandering around the farm with some purpose I found a nail protruding from a board. Lying across this upright projectile was a piece of plastic. This nail found it's way into my foot. So I have been hobbling around all day today. It has been somewhat painful at times. My tetanus shot is up to date so lock jaw should not be an issue. Hopefully this pain in the foot will remove itself in the next day or so...

Fun Fun

Here they are headed out to find the Dolphins. Looks like Sierra is bonding well with Uncle Rod...

Highlight

Rod's took Sierra and Carla on a boat trip. This trip was to see Dolphins. I think this was a highlight for them.

Fireplace

How many of you have a fireplace and how many of you use them regularly?

Hot Milk

We have a warning light mounted on the outside of the milk house. This light is clearly visible from the house. I noticed it was on when they finished milking this evening so I went to investigate. I discovered the milk temperature was 50 some degrees, much to hot. So I did some investigating and discovered something in the systems brain isn't functioning properly. I manually started both compressors and they worked. So for some reason they are not receiving the signal to come on. In other words, the compressors think the milk is already cold. I have to go out and turn them off after while. If I don't, I will have a tank full of frozen milk.

Determination

No matter what happens I am gonna eat this whole thing.. This set of pictures were taking by my MIL while we were at Dairy Queen in Breezewood the other night. These pictures were not posed in any way shape or form. In fact, I never knew she had taken them until she sent them via email the other evening. They are classic...

Hmm

Where do I start?

First

You gotta open your mouth real wide...

For Best Results

Stick your toungue out as far as possible

Oh Yeah

Life is good...

Brrr

It is currently 13 degrees outside. This is quite rare for us southern folks. Upper teens is rather normal. Low teens is unusual and single digits is shocking. But by this weekend we will be having highs of 50 and lows of 40. Not bad for Jan.

Back In Virginia

We arrived home around 4:30 this evening. We have some pictures from the trip on the lap top we are going to look at here shortly. I will probably post some of them sometime in the future. Good to be home.

Back At Grandpa's

We just got back from the airport. Sierra is very sleepy and isn't talking much. I think we will need too take a nap before we head for VA. I was very tired and finally had Dad drive the last hour. I will take a nap and we will see how the day goes and then head for home...

Waiting

I just talked to Sierra on the phone. She is busy eating chicken finegers and a cheeseburger. They have four more hours to burn before they lift off. She is having fun and is a little tired. She is excited about coming home which is nice. So, I will see her in the morning.

Landed

The ladies are currently waiting in a long line to go through customs. They left Los Mochis late and landed early in LA.

Lift Off

They have lifted off. In fact, they are in the air and have been in the air since 3:07 Mexico time. They have 45 more minuets till they land...

Awaiting Lift Off

I just checked Sierra's flight status and they were awaiting lift off. They are scheduled to land in LA at 4:08 LA time and will have a nice layover. The flight out of LA leaves at 10:20 which will bring them into Dulles at 6:02 AM Wed. morning.

Today's Activities

This morning we attended the funeral of Sarah Yoder, my aunt. She had a degenerate mind disease and in reality she has slowly been leaving her family for 25 years. In some ways her death was a relief and yet it was sad. Sad because the children never really knew a mother's love. After the funeral we headed back to PA for a few days. Sierra leaves Los Mochis Mexico tomorrow afternoon. They will be leaving LA about 11 PM and landing in DC about 6 AM Wed. Then we will be heading home again. Home to stay for a month and a half...

She Hath Passed

The cow I mentioned in the last several posts has died. Oh well, there wasn't much hope for her and at least it wasn't negligence...

Lacerated Ulcer

I mentioned in yesterday's post we were taking a cow to the vet for surgery. We discovered this cow had a lacerated ulcer. Basically this means she had an ulcer which exploded within her and this caused a hole in her stomach. This hole may or may not heal shut. If it doesn't she will be a dead cow by tomorrow. She looks terrible at the moment. She isn't eating or drinking. She is on a high dose of Penicillin as well as a few other medications. We are trying to keep her alive, according to the vitnery or is it vetniry or perhaps vit-n'ry anyway, I guess you can pick your pronunciation...

Big Day

We have a rather big agenda today. Bed stalls this morning, clean out some calf pens, load ten heifer calves to take to Don Gardner. Don raises my heifers as well as does my veterinary work. We also have a fresh heifer with a DA or twisted stomach. This is not a good thing, so she will be making the journey to Don's for an operation. We also be bringing 3 heifers due in the next two months back to the home place. I think Sonny will be making this trip while I work on chores and other odds and ends. Like cleaning up the old shop site... They are paying 7 cent a pound for scrap metal right now so I would like to get another load of scrap up to Cycle Systems.

Home Again!

We arrived home this evening about 3:30. We stopped in Harrisonburg and browsed through the rt. 33 Wal-Mart looking for sales. We left Aleya at the grandparents for the week. We have plans on going up again on Monday. Rachel's Aunt Carol and her family are coming in from IN so she wants to spend some time with them. Sierra and Carla fly back home Tues. night. Dad and I will be going down to pick them up at Dulles Wed. morning. The flight lands at 6:00 AM. Twill be another short night... After that little trip I think I will be in the Gladys area until the middle of February when I will be going to Florida on a VOP tour.

The beginning

Carla sent a bunch of pictures up via email this afternoon. Here are some for your viewing enjoyment. Sorry if I have slowed your loading ability down but I had high speed and wanted to get some on here. Hope you enjoy them.... Here the girls are checking in the luggage and getting there tickets at Dulles International Airport. Sierra looks good for 5:00 in the morning and having arisen at 2:15.

Weariness

Weariness has taken over...

LA

Sierra seems to be in her glory. Maybe I will have someone in my family who enjoys flying...

Reunited

Sierra is reunited with her cousins...

Supplies

The girls took down four 50 lb suitcases full of things... Here they have begun to unpack...

Covered Wagon???

The kids call this the covered wagon. I am not sure what it actually is, an old water trough?

Christmas Cookies

Working on cookies in Rod's mexican house

Hawaii

My wife and I would like to go too Hawaii for our 15th anniversary. have any of you made this journey? If so, where in Hawaii did you go? Would it be cheaper to book it online or use a travel agency. I only use one agency, when I use one, and that is Golden Rule.

Wood Cutting

This morning Dad and I went out to cut some wood. He had a permit for three loads of wood to be cut off of Buchanan State Forrest along Rte. 30. Those of you who have traveled rte. 30 between Breezewood and Chambersburg know how steep the land is along the road. There are no access roads so you have to climb up the bank, cut your load, roll the wood down the bank, pick it up throw it up the ditch, pick it up again and load it onto the truck. I was shocked they didn't have access roads. Of course, this is probably why his permit only cost him $10.

Arrival

Let's see. they landed at 5:42 Los Mochis time which was 7:42 our time. They had some friends make one quick call to let us know they arrived with all the luggage and they had cleared customs and had been reunited...
Thus ends a very busy day...

En route

The ladies are en route to Mexico. They finally lifted off at 5:16 PM. They are scheduled to land in about ten minutes. I have been checking the flight status on line which is a really neat thing. They had some trouble in LA with getting tickets. They were trying to send them Reno Nevada but they sorted that all out and we are hoping the luggage is on the same flight as the ladies.