Aunt Violet Bell

We were sad to hear that one of our favorite Aunts has passed away this morning. We will miss her so much. We had been to visit Bill and Vi in their new condo in the last few weeks and had enjoyed our visit, as usual! Our sympathy to their family and so many friends. Here are three of my favorite pictures. First of Bill and Vi in their old house working in the kitchen together and the next looking comfy in their new place. (Click on photo with mouse to enlarge it)

Update: I just heard from the family that Auntie Vi's funeral will be on Thursday April 3rd at 6:30 pm at the Weyburn Church of Christ.

Misson Accomplished!

We have returned from Regina with Stan hooked up to his $33,000 bandage. I kid you not!! The machine, which is the size of a lady's handbag and weighing in at about 4 pounds has a price tag of $33,000. A couple of years ago they were $16,000. The good news is that they are holding an inservice on Monday to teach nurses etc. in this health unit how to use them and Stan gets to be the model.The Five Hills Health Unit rents the machine from the company out of Edmonton and it gets returned when we are finished with it. Hopefully it will work it's magic in about 3 weeks instead of months. We also hope that when the need arises, it will be made available to others who need this kind of treatment, too! We return to Regina again in 2 weeks so his doctor can monitor the progress. We are very grateful for this opportunity.

Good visit with Dr. C

Well, I think the appointment went maybe even better than I was expecting. The infection appears to be under control, however, they will not be restitching the surgery site. The wound needs to heal from the inside out. We had requested the vacuum bandage and although our health unit prefers not to use them for several rea$$$$$$$$$$$$$ons, it sounds like some people have gone to bat for us and it is likely Stan will have it put on possibly next Thurs. when he has another appointment with the Regina surgeon. This bandage has worked so well for Stan before that we are so grateful to have it used again. It changes healing time from a couple of months to two or three weeks! Thankyou, God, for good things today!

Spoke too soon......(and added update)

Well, we've had a bit of a disappointment following Stan's surgery last week. Infection has disturbed healing. Our local Dr. has been working on getting it under control with Intraveous Antibiotic 3 times a day and daily irrigation and bandage change. We are hoping it looks better and that we are making progress by tomorrow, if not, we are on a road trip back to our plastic surgeon in Regina for followup surgery. Stan has "farming on his mind" as it is Spring around here and this is no doubt and unwelcome developement. We'd appreciate your prayers again.

Wednesday afternoon: We have a Thursday morning appointment in Regina with our plastic surgeon who will evaluate what bandage is needed next and make any adjustments to the affected area. The infection seems to be under control, however, the incision has not been restitched and it will take some time to heal the area. We're hoping to convince them to use the vacuum bandage again. We hope to understand better after tomorrow's appointment.

Update on our "Little People"

I am just amazed how fast a year has gone and more amazed at how much Linaya and Josiah have figured out in such a short time. They are both walking with great determination and communictaing very well with new words and signing! Little Josiah has been here a few days and is so calm as he signs to tell us "please", "thankyou", "more", "I'm done" and his own signs of "take me outside to see the dog"! He calls anything with wheels a "Go!" (You may know the Dr. Seuss book "Go Dog, Go"?) He makes me laugh with his cheery little giggles and smile. Linaya is such a little "girl". She loves to feed her dolls from the bottles that you tip up and the milk and juice disappear!, wraps them up and "mothers" them! She loves pretty colors, touching flowers and knows what clothes she like to wear. She will make a fun big sister!
We just marvel at what "neat" little people they have become and just can't love them enough! Thankyou, God, for Grandchildren! What a great idea!! Thanks, too, Roy and Monica, Robert and Melissa as we see you doing such a good job of teaching them and loving them.

Ah, March 12th is over!

Well, the appointment with Dr. Chang is now behind us. Stan went into Regina General on Wednesday and had some surgery as out patient with Dr. Chang who had done his original skin grafting. Hopefully, Stan will be more comfortable when the stitches come out in 2 weeks and will have a little more range of motion with his right arm after the "release" procedure has healed. I had really been dreading the thought so Melissa and Josiah walked the hallways and visited me while Stan was in surgery. Josiah is a sweet diversion and we read books and he caught a nap on Grandma's shoulder and we had a lovely time together! Thanks for you consideration. I appreciated you so much. Robert, Melissa and Josiah came home with us until Sunday so it has been such a nice visit. I have been fighting a terrible cold and tried not to pass it along to Stan and mess up his surgery schedule! So far he hasn't got it but I feel like I've been taking a double dose. SIGH.