John's Medical Duties Expanding

John started giving me the blood thinner shots in my tummy last night. His medical duties keep growing! We decided to do the first shot at 8:oo p.m., putting my two a day at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Would you believe Diane Holt, who has a Masters in Nursing, called wanting to bring over some chili and a casserole at 8;00 p.m. !!! .....j.ust in time for Diane to show John how to do the shots without hurting. They didn't! We have had so many little gifts from God and his sweet angels like this.
Thanks to Jim & Nancy Foster for a wonderful valentine type meal, and they didn't even know that day was our anniversary. And thanks to Susan Weir for bringing her special chicken veggie soup for the third time. John sure knows how to brag on something to get more, doesn't he! I will quit naming everything people bring, but just know it's ALL good and appreciated.
WOW! We got a mouth watering Harry & David box mixed with pears and other goodies from Susan Marshall-Winslow and her Karen and Monte and their beautiful families. Susan is a close forever friend. She's been in Austin several years and we get to see her when we go to visit Karen, William, Carly and Emily Fordyce there.
Karen Fordyce is an electrical engineer with Motorola and is still standing after two major layoffs they've had. Thank goodness. We are all watching the economy.
Jack and J.R V (now 11 years old) Fordyce live in Hot Springs now and are spending the weekend here for a boat show where they'll be Sat. and Sun.

Love to All, Linda

Post Op Visit a Good One

We returned to Dr.Yuen today three days post-op. Everything looked infection-free. We are so grateful. I have had very little pain from the surgery, just the usual pain in my wrists and hands due to the swelling.

Surgery and Anniversary

The surgery went well yesterday. Dr. Yuen said the elbow didn't look infected and he did the two types of grafts as planned. He is concerned that the area isn't healing fast and not growing skin.

Today is our 20th anniversary! We are so blessed!

Family News

I invited my terrific son-in-law, Thom, to write about the adventure on which he and my terrific grandson, Garrett, are about to embark. Such a rare get-a-way opportunity for a father and 13 year old son. Garrett will be doing some volunteer research for the government that I'll get them to tell you about.
There is a chance Mindy and Brooke can join them in the last weeks, but for now Mindy will continue her on-line graduate program in Library Science and Brooke will finish out the year at her Montessori school on Saipan.
Here, 4 months after my accident, i suspect most readers of our blog are family, close friends, or true new adopted new friends! So, why not share things of family interest. I hope you enjoy following Thom and Garrett and please pray for me in my surgery tomorrow morning.
Love, Linda

Garrett and Thom’s Pagan Adventure

Garrett and Thom are making final preparations for their trip to Pagan (rhymes with “toboggan”) island. They plan to stay 2-4 months Robinson Crusoe-style on this uninhabited volcanic island 175 miles north of their home in Saipan.

The island was inhabited by 40 villagers until a volcanic eruption in 1981 forced their evacuation to Saipan. The cone still emits steam daily and occasional trace amounts of gas. For more information on Pagan visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagan_Island and Google Earth has a great satellite image.

The seas between Saipan and Pagan have been rough the past month and as soon as they quiet down Thom and Garrett will ride up on a fishing boat to be dropped off on the beach with their equipment and supplies.

They’ll have plenty of fresh bananas, papaya, mango, coconuts, citrus fruits, guava and taro to eat. They are also good at catching fish with rod and reel from the beach. There are feral goats, pigs, cows, and chickens for the catching. And they will be supplementing their island diet with rice, canned food, and military MRE’s. They plan to catch rainwater for drinking but have also made a campfire distiller that they can use to purify the well water or even seawater.

Garrett has been home-schooled for three years and will continue his 8th grade studies on Pagan. They’ll be living in tents and have a screen house for eating in and doing school work.

They will be in daily radio contact with Mindy and Brooke. Saipan’s Emergency Management office will continually monitor the radio on a dedicated channel in case of any emergency. If they do have an emergency there is a helicopter on Saipan that can leave on short notice and get them to the hospital on Saipan or Guam in just a couple of hours.

Believe it or not both Thom and Garrett are looking forward to living without roads or sidewalks, telephone, TV, electricity, running water, or any other infrastructure. Pagan also rhymes with “what’s wrong with their ‘noggin’? “

They will each keep a journal of their adventure and are looking forward to sharing their stories when they return.