Clunk

I'm glad things are going well.
Give Abby a big 'ol grandaddy type hug for me.

IA_James

Well, just when things seem like they're going so well, the wheels fall off something else. Abby has been doing wonderful, but her Grandpa, my Dad, not so hot. The day after Thanksgiving I ran into my uncle, he told me my father hadn't been feeling so hot lately. I'd talked to him on the phone several times in the previous month, but hadn't been face to face with him. The next day we went over to his place, he had lost some weight and seemed to be kinda confused, so we take him down the VA hospital in Des Moines. The more we talk to him, it becomes obvious he's pretty out of touch, short term memory is about zero, gets confused as to where he's at and what we're doing. They admit him due to his being so weak as to not be able to stand up on his own, and extreme difficulty walking. Spends about a week in Des Moines, after that he goes to the VA center in Knoxville for some physical therapy to get whipped back into shape. He makes it about 2 days there, and comes down with pneumonia. They send him back to Des Moines, they do a cat scan on him to scope out the pneumonia, and find not only pneumonia but a spot on his lung, liver, kidney, and one on his abdominal muscle. They also see what appears to be a bunch of fluid around his lungs. They do a biopsy on the lumps, and a sonogram on the stuff around his lungs. Turns out it's all cancer. This about 2 weeks before Christmas now. The cancer turns out to be a very agressive kind called Spindle Cell Sarcoma. We had hoped to get him into the Veteran's Home near my house so that we could be close to him, but wound up deciding to bring him home, and have hospice help us care for him. We brought him home 1 week ago today, and were just getting into the swing of having him living with us as far as taking care of him, wheeling him around, and such. Saturday was his best day since Thanksgiving, very little confusion, good energy, high spirits. He even gave me the bird as he was going to bed because I was picking on him. Sunday he started having labored breathing in the morning, and faded rapidly until he passed that afternoon. We miss him already, and Abby is having a tough time with it. I've tried explaining that Grandpa isn't hurting anymore, and has a brand new body that he can run and jump with, she seems to approve of that.

SRTchris

so teribbly saddened to hear of your loss... we lost many good people this year, one of them was uncle Alivin, he was that crazy fun uncle that we all loved dearly and think of him often. he was the guy at weddings who would get the girls up and dance like crazy and din't care who laughed at him, he was the best cowboy ever!! his only downfault i can think of is his love for the d-max but that made for great dinner and firseide pokes at each other. we surely miss him and think of him daily. this poem was read at his funeral, i thought i would post a link for all .http://www.pryor.com/mkt_info/products/dashpoem.asp

ChrisLib

Very sorry about your Dad. My heart goes out to you folks.

Clunk

Like Chris said.

Tee

I'm new here, but I just wanted to express my most heart felt sympathy and prayers for you and your family......

crobtex

Hang in there bud. My Grandfather was the only Dad I ever claimed, and when he passed it left a big hole in my heart for a long time. The pain eased when I quit being selfish and accepted the fact that he was in a better place with no pain and suffering.

God bless, and give Abby a hug for us.

pwirch

You and your family are in our prayers.

IA_James

Well, the latest on my eldest curtain climber. She's feeling excellent, and doing very well. Blood counts entirely kosher, going to pre-school, brawling with little sis, etc etc. And now, for the news that's almost as good as that, her Make-A-Wish trip came through, so commencing Monday we'll be at large in Southern California, doing the Disneyland thing, and whatever else we think might be fun for a pert-near-5 year old, and a 2 and 3/4 year old girl. Thinking maybe Sea World in San Diego, and then maybe take 'em to check out the ocean. Maybe the USS Midway, or the Queen Mary, they'd probably get a kick out of a boat that big. Have to have pics of the "Hollywood" sign too I suppose. We're planning on trying some of the stuff that I couldn't afford to do when I was stationed out there. SD zoo also maybe? Not real sure what yet, outside of making sure to have a ball, and come back from vacation completely worn out.

Dr. Evil

Thats awesome....hope you all have fun...

crobtex

Great news! Abby still crosses my mind from time to time.

While you're making the "tour", don't leave out Universal Studios theme park.

Also, the San Diego Zoo is a must. If you're not going for more than one day, take the bus tour first to be sure and pick the things that interest you the most.

Have a great time!

IA_James

We were thinking on that, we went to the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, and Abby and Hannah loved it. Monkeys and tigers being the favorites.

This pic is from the first spotting of the monkeys, I'm not so sure that she believe that they really swung around from trees and such. The one she spotted was swinging along from the top of his cage.

http://www.angelfire.com/mac2/abbyr2...m/zoo_004?i=49

megajoltman

Sorry about the loss of your Dad, cancer got my Mom a few years ago

Hope you all have a fun and safe trip

crobtex

Kids and zoo's......a great combination. My wife belongs to the Dallas Zoo Association and takes the grand kids at least twice a year. They never get tired of it. Especially the 3 yo.

IA_James

I'd give $50 a pop to see the look on their faces when they first saw the tigers and monkeys, you could just tell it was the coolest thing they had ever seen.