well, I guess I should have put a "Merry Christmas" note on my blog, but I forgot all about the blog on Christmas day.
On the 23rd of December, Paul, Jess, Dozer and I drove to El Paso from San Diego, in one day- about 730 miles. Pretty tiring for Paul, and probably for Dozer.
It was a quiet Christmas eve and Christmas day. I am glad my "youngest" child is old enough to understand that life doesn't always go the way you want, and isn't always a fairy tale, and it isn't always about you.....
We all got up on Christmas and opened the few gifts we had. For the first time ever, Paul and I didn't get each other ANYthing.... after a great breakfast of bacon, sausage, cinnamon rolls etc.... Gerry and I headed to the hospital and Jess and Paul stayed home. Paul was in charge of cooking Christmas dinner. Gerry and I came home a little early, to relax and enjoy Christmas dinner.
Today was pretty much the same as yesterday. Gerry and I went to the hospital to spend the day with Tom, and Paul stayed home to get some projects done at his parents house.
We plan on leaving here to go back to San Diego on Tuesday, but we are keeping an eye on the weather, which isn't supposed to be all that great. If it looks bad, we'll leave earlier if necessary.
We are trying to research places to store the RV in El Paso, but are being thwarted by the holidays. Every place is closed until after the first of the year. Worse case we will stay at the RV park here for a week when we get back, while we research places to store it.
There has still been no change in Tom's condition- he is unconscious but breathing on his own.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
San Diego, CA
I think Jess was one of the lucky few who actually didn’t have a flight get canceled. She flew from Indianapolis to San Diego on Saturday night, the night that the entire east coast got bombarded with a massive storm, dumping up to 2 feet of snow, and causing thousands of flights to be canceled. Luckily she had a lay over in Dallas, not Chicago.
We arrived here Thursday night from El Paso, taking two days to get here. Our overnight stop was in a town called Quartzsite AZ. What a quirky town! In January the population swells to over 100,000 people as the RVers come to spend the month at the many RV parks and on the free government land. One woman said that over a million people will come through the town in that one month. One online group that we are members of meets here in January to have a chance to actually meet each other.
Once in San Diego we did some shopping, some decorating for Christmas and took a day to unwind a bit.
Saturday it was in the mid 80s here, which was warm even for San Diego….it felt really nice to be warm! Jess’s flight arrived at 11 pm, so we just went to bed once she got here.
Paul’s brother Tom and his wife Sue live about an hour from here so Sunday, after putting the decorations on the tree, we went up to their house for the day, and got to see them and our nephew Shad and his wife Amy. A very nice afternoon for us.
We have two more days here before heading to El Paso for Christmas. Today it was cool out but we headed for Mission Beach anyway, since tomorrow it will be cooler. We walked the boardwalk and ate at a restaurant right on the water, then headed back home to turn on the heat!! We were all wearing shorts, which probably wasn’t a great idea. Its 62 degrees out, but on the coast there was a bit of a breeze.
We have not decided what we want to do tomorrow- I think, as usual, it will depend on the weather. Wednesday we leave first thing in the AM in order to make it to El Paso in one day. There has still been no improvement in Tom’s condition, and the more time that passes, the more likely it is that he will either not wake up, or will have tremendous difficulty if he does
We arrived here Thursday night from El Paso, taking two days to get here. Our overnight stop was in a town called Quartzsite AZ. What a quirky town! In January the population swells to over 100,000 people as the RVers come to spend the month at the many RV parks and on the free government land. One woman said that over a million people will come through the town in that one month. One online group that we are members of meets here in January to have a chance to actually meet each other.
Once in San Diego we did some shopping, some decorating for Christmas and took a day to unwind a bit.
Saturday it was in the mid 80s here, which was warm even for San Diego….it felt really nice to be warm! Jess’s flight arrived at 11 pm, so we just went to bed once she got here.
Paul’s brother Tom and his wife Sue live about an hour from here so Sunday, after putting the decorations on the tree, we went up to their house for the day, and got to see them and our nephew Shad and his wife Amy. A very nice afternoon for us.
We have two more days here before heading to El Paso for Christmas. Today it was cool out but we headed for Mission Beach anyway, since tomorrow it will be cooler. We walked the boardwalk and ate at a restaurant right on the water, then headed back home to turn on the heat!! We were all wearing shorts, which probably wasn’t a great idea. Its 62 degrees out, but on the coast there was a bit of a breeze.
We have not decided what we want to do tomorrow- I think, as usual, it will depend on the weather. Wednesday we leave first thing in the AM in order to make it to El Paso in one day. There has still been no improvement in Tom’s condition, and the more time that passes, the more likely it is that he will either not wake up, or will have tremendous difficulty if he does
Saturday, December 12, 2009
El Paso, TX
Latest update:
Tom has settled into his new room at the new hospital, where he has been for the past few days.
There has been a little improvement in his condition. He opens his eyes and look at whoever is standing in front of him. So far there has been no purposeful movement on his part other than his eyes. The doctors are hopeful and we are as well, since he was so active before the accident.
Because Tom's condition is stable, Paul and I are going to go to San Diego in time to meet up with Jess. We'll pick up our trailer in Phoenix on the way, and leave it at the park where we have reservations, in San Diego. After 2 weeks without the trailer, there are things we need from it, and things we can't leave in it indefinately. We'll head back to El Paso for Christmas, then back to San Diego for the last week of Jess's break, so she can keep her original flights. After that we will head back to El Paso, with the trailer this time, to stay there as long as we need to be there....lots of driving, but its the best way we can think of to handle everything.
General blurb for anyone who hasn't read previous posts....
Paul and I are in El Paso with his parents. On November 30th Paul's father fell through the floor in the attic. He has no broken bones, but is currently still unconscious. We have stopped traveling for the time being, and will stay with his parents for as long as they need us here.
Tom has settled into his new room at the new hospital, where he has been for the past few days.
There has been a little improvement in his condition. He opens his eyes and look at whoever is standing in front of him. So far there has been no purposeful movement on his part other than his eyes. The doctors are hopeful and we are as well, since he was so active before the accident.
Because Tom's condition is stable, Paul and I are going to go to San Diego in time to meet up with Jess. We'll pick up our trailer in Phoenix on the way, and leave it at the park where we have reservations, in San Diego. After 2 weeks without the trailer, there are things we need from it, and things we can't leave in it indefinately. We'll head back to El Paso for Christmas, then back to San Diego for the last week of Jess's break, so she can keep her original flights. After that we will head back to El Paso, with the trailer this time, to stay there as long as we need to be there....lots of driving, but its the best way we can think of to handle everything.
General blurb for anyone who hasn't read previous posts....
Paul and I are in El Paso with his parents. On November 30th Paul's father fell through the floor in the attic. He has no broken bones, but is currently still unconscious. We have stopped traveling for the time being, and will stay with his parents for as long as they need us here.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
El Paso, TX
Latest update: Yesterday afternoon Tom had a tracheotomy and a feeding tube installed. There has been no change to his condition other than the fact that he is breathing completely on his own now. Today was a long day as we waited and waited to get him transfered to a new hospital. There is nothing else they can do for him in ICU, so this afternoon at 5 pm he was transfered to a longer term acute care hospital.
General blurb for anyone who hasn't read previous posts....
Paul and I are in El Paso with his parents. On November 30th Paul's father fell through the floor in the attc. He has no broken bones, but is currently still unconscious. We have stopped traveling for the time being, and will stay with his parents for as long as they need us here.
General blurb for anyone who hasn't read previous posts....
Paul and I are in El Paso with his parents. On November 30th Paul's father fell through the floor in the attc. He has no broken bones, but is currently still unconscious. We have stopped traveling for the time being, and will stay with his parents for as long as they need us here.
Friday, December 4, 2009
El Paso, TX
Just a quick update to our situation- I waited a few days to post this for a couple of reasons. I was hoping each day that there would be some change that would be happy news that I could write about, plus, honestly, I am not quite sure how much information to put in the blog about life as it is right now.
I guess at this point, anybody who is reading my blog to read about all the great places we are visiting, well, you should probably stop reading for a while. In fact, anyone who wants me to send them a note when we get back on the road can send me an email at paulporter11@gmail.com. I have no idea when that will happen, but I will send out a note when it does.....
So, where we stand. There has been no perceptable change in Tom's condition in the last few days. There have been small improvements- he is breathing more on his own, and he is moving around more, but he is not responding to touch or to voice. Monday he is scheduled for a Tracheostomy and the installation of a PEG feeding tube.
I have seen this type of brain injury before- and I know that the doctors really have no idea what will happen, how quickly Tom will recover, and to what extent. Its one of those frustrating, one day at a time situations.
Paul and I have canceled our reservations up until December 18. At that point, our daughter Jess flies into San Diego to meet us there for her 3 week winter break. Our trailer, with most of our clothes and belongings, is in Arizona, half way to San Diego. We are running through many potential scenarios, so that as it gets closer to Dec. 19th, we will have considered all our options and made the best choice as to what to do, based on what is happening here. As I have mentioned before, I am very grateful that Paul and I were on the road and therefore available to stay here as long as his parents need us.
I'll post updates here every few days or so, but I have pretty much decided that this is a public arena, not a personal journal for me, so it will be limited to the basics.
Thanks for all the well wishes everyone, and feel free to drop me an email!
Sue
I guess at this point, anybody who is reading my blog to read about all the great places we are visiting, well, you should probably stop reading for a while. In fact, anyone who wants me to send them a note when we get back on the road can send me an email at paulporter11@gmail.com. I have no idea when that will happen, but I will send out a note when it does.....
So, where we stand. There has been no perceptable change in Tom's condition in the last few days. There have been small improvements- he is breathing more on his own, and he is moving around more, but he is not responding to touch or to voice. Monday he is scheduled for a Tracheostomy and the installation of a PEG feeding tube.
I have seen this type of brain injury before- and I know that the doctors really have no idea what will happen, how quickly Tom will recover, and to what extent. Its one of those frustrating, one day at a time situations.
Paul and I have canceled our reservations up until December 18. At that point, our daughter Jess flies into San Diego to meet us there for her 3 week winter break. Our trailer, with most of our clothes and belongings, is in Arizona, half way to San Diego. We are running through many potential scenarios, so that as it gets closer to Dec. 19th, we will have considered all our options and made the best choice as to what to do, based on what is happening here. As I have mentioned before, I am very grateful that Paul and I were on the road and therefore available to stay here as long as his parents need us.
I'll post updates here every few days or so, but I have pretty much decided that this is a public arena, not a personal journal for me, so it will be limited to the basics.
Thanks for all the well wishes everyone, and feel free to drop me an email!
Sue
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Phoenix/El Paso
We had a great time in El Paso and a great Thanksgiving, with Paul's parents and Jessica.
Jess flew back to Muncie early on Saturday morning and we left soon after that for Phoenix. We stopped along the way at Picacho Peak State park for the night, since it was too far to go in one day.
Once in Phoenix, my cousin Linda was nice enough to invite us over for dinner and invited some of my other cousins so we would get a chance to see them. We had a great time chatting with everyone.
Monday I hung out with Linda while she did some errands, and Paul did some projects on the trailer. I always enjoy Linda's company- we are about the same age and saw each other a lot when we were kids. Our daughters were born about 4 hours apart, 20 years ago....
Linda and her husband Michael came over for dinner Monday. Unfortunately we had just recieved a phone call from Paul's mother telling us that his dad had fallen and was rushed to the hospital, unconcious. Linda and Michael were a great help to us while we figured out what to do with our trailer so we could get back to El Paso ASAP. We couldn't take it, since was snowing in El Paso, and therefore too cold for it. Plus it would slow us down and we'd have to park it someplace. We ended up parking it in my cousin Marcie's driveway in Phoenix. We very much appreciated having a safe place to put it for however long we need to...
We left this morning at 6 AM and it took about 30 minutes to get the trailer backed into the driveway before we hit the road.
We arrived in El Paso at about 3 pm this afternoon, dropped the cat off at the house and Pauls mom came home to pick us up to go to the hospital.
Tom has no broken bones but has not woken up yet, due to some bleeding in his brain. They are still running tests and hopefully we'll know more in the next day or so.
This is one of the perks of early retirement- we can stay here as long as we are needed, since we have no where specific we need to be.
Jess flew back to Muncie early on Saturday morning and we left soon after that for Phoenix. We stopped along the way at Picacho Peak State park for the night, since it was too far to go in one day.
Once in Phoenix, my cousin Linda was nice enough to invite us over for dinner and invited some of my other cousins so we would get a chance to see them. We had a great time chatting with everyone.
Monday I hung out with Linda while she did some errands, and Paul did some projects on the trailer. I always enjoy Linda's company- we are about the same age and saw each other a lot when we were kids. Our daughters were born about 4 hours apart, 20 years ago....
Linda and her husband Michael came over for dinner Monday. Unfortunately we had just recieved a phone call from Paul's mother telling us that his dad had fallen and was rushed to the hospital, unconcious. Linda and Michael were a great help to us while we figured out what to do with our trailer so we could get back to El Paso ASAP. We couldn't take it, since was snowing in El Paso, and therefore too cold for it. Plus it would slow us down and we'd have to park it someplace. We ended up parking it in my cousin Marcie's driveway in Phoenix. We very much appreciated having a safe place to put it for however long we need to...
We left this morning at 6 AM and it took about 30 minutes to get the trailer backed into the driveway before we hit the road.
We arrived in El Paso at about 3 pm this afternoon, dropped the cat off at the house and Pauls mom came home to pick us up to go to the hospital.
Tom has no broken bones but has not woken up yet, due to some bleeding in his brain. They are still running tests and hopefully we'll know more in the next day or so.
This is one of the perks of early retirement- we can stay here as long as we are needed, since we have no where specific we need to be.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)