A DIFFICULT PHONE CALL FOR KELLY AND I TODAY

I thought it a bit odd yesterday when 3 emails I had sent Kelly remained unopened.  And I saw half a dozen other things in our 'inbox' also unopened that Kelly usually opens.  And since our 2 p.m. phone call she hadn't phoned back a couple times.  With nurses coming and going tending to things it's easier for Kelly to pick a time to call than me to call her when she's in the middle of something or sleeping.  When no call came by 8 o'clock last night I picked up the phone and called her.  A faintly weakened and barely recognizable voice scratched out a meek 'Hello'.  It was Kelly and she was in pain.  Being immobilized in bed hooked up to a number of IV lines she has not been able to get up to even walk around and those two compression fractures in her spine have become very painful.  And, she had not yet been given any solid food.  As we talked, the positive bounce in her voice wasn't there and she sounded tired and discouraged.  It was obvious she had had a difficult day.  She hasn't been able to access her iPad because she can't sit up straight and that explains the unopen emails. Our phone call didn't last long as she waited for a nurse to bring her stronger pain meds.  The Covid advisory on her eighth floor is still in effect with 'No Visitors'...............

It was a very disheartened Kelly who I spoke with early this afternoon saying some Physiotherapy people had managed to get her up on her feet for a short walk but it didn't go well.  Doctor Scarrow, the head liver surgeon who both Kelly and I have met, came in to talk to her.  He's a straight shooter and told her that despite their best efforts it was very unlikely a matching liver for Kelly would be found.  He also said that despite her spunk, determination, and positive attitude her condition has worsened to the point now where it is likely that her name will be removed from the liver transplant list.  She wouldn't be able to survive a liver transplant now.  A meeting of the liver transplant team on Monday will decide this.  He said the only thing they can do for her now is give her stronger meds to slow down the bleeding and ease the compression fracture pain.  Palliative care was mentioned.  It was a difficult phone call for Kelly and I.  She is hoping to come home Sunday depending on her hemoglobin number. I wished I had happier news...........but we have run out of happy.

Al's Music Box:)) Teen Age Idol is a song written by Jack Lewis and performed by Rick Nelson. The song reached No. 2 on the Easy Listening Chart, No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, in 1962.  The song is ranked No. 77 on Billboard magazine's Top 100 songs of 1962.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( After spending 3-1/2 hours enduring the long lines, surly clerks and insane regulations at the department of Motor Vehicles, a lady stopped at a toy store to pick up a gift for her son. She brought her selection - a baseball bat to the cash register.  "Cash or charge," the clerk asked.  "Cash," she snapped. Then apologizing for her rudeness, she explained, "I've spent the afternoon at the motor-vehicle bureau. I am not too sane right now!!"  "Shall I gift wrap the bat?" the clerk asked sweetly, "Or or you going back?"

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- “What happened to the rich guy with the double chin? He made a four chin.”

Diner: "Pardon me, waiter, but what kind of pie is this?"
Waiter: "What does it taste like?"
Diner: "I don't know."
Waiter: "Then what's the difference?"

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The psychology instructor had just finished a lecture on mental health and was giving an oral test.  Speaking specifically about manic depression, she asked, "How would you diagnose a patient who walks back and forth screaming at the top of his lungs one minute, then sits in a chair weeping uncontrollably the next?"  A young man in the rear raised his hand and answered, "A basketball coach?"
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Al's Art Gallery

KELLY, IN HER OWN PRIVATE HOSPITAL ROOM IS DOING BETTER

 LOOKING OUT OUR SUNROOM WINDOW FIRST THING THIS MORNING I HAD ONLY TWO WORDS...'AWWWW NUTS'!!!!

I didn't hear anything from Kelly until 2 this afternoon when she called to say she had an Endoscopy this morning.  She said they found and banded two bleeding Varices in her esophagus.  Her voice sounded low and raspy and I'm sure that was from the Endoscopy procedure.  She said they must have used extra sedation because she has no recall of the procedure or of getting back to her room.  They were finally able to get a Picc line in on the other side of her neck today and that enabled them to draw blood for a hemoglobin test which came back with a 98 number.  Good stuff.  She hasn't had anything to eat since Tuesday but may get some soft food later today as her throat heals from this morning's endoscopy.    

WITH ONLY ONE PHOTO FOR TODAY'S POST I HAD TO SCRAMBLE AROUND IN OUR FRONT YARD LATE THIS AFTERNOON TO SEE WHAT I COULD FIND

 HEY, WE AT LEAST HAVE ONE CHRISTMAS DECORATION UP

For lunch today I fried myself up a bowl of bean with bacon soup.  An hour later I nearly blew myself through the roof of the house.  I think I had better stick with tomato soup for safety's sake.

THIS IS THE LAST OF OUR DOZEN OR SO HOSTAS TO HAVE ANY COLOR LEFT

 I THINK THIS MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BEGONIA

I couldn't stray far from the house this morning because we had a chair being delivered.  Nothing wrong with Kelly's new recliner but with her spine fractures now she is finding the firm leather too hard on her back.  She called the Re-Use-It store in Goderich earlier in the week and they had one recliner in stock.  It was a sage color and made for a smaller person which sounded perfect for Kelly.  The recliner arrived via two men and a truck this afternoon around 1:45.  They didn't have any problems getting it into the house.  As I said, the recliner was made for a smaller framed person.  It awaits Kelly's return now to take it for an afternoon test snooze.  

 I'M HOPING THIS OLDER STYLE CUSHY RECLINER WILL BE EASIER ON KELLY'S BACK

Now, having mentioned the recliner, here is the back story about it that took place two days ago.  It was Monday and the plan was to stop at the Re-Use-It store on our way to Kelly's 4 p.m. X-ray appointment at the hospital.  However, about halfway to Goderich with Kelly feeling sick and weak, she began throwing up blood in the car.  (She had a paramedic vomit bag)  I said we had better head straightaway to Emergency but Kelly wasn't having any part of that.  She wanted to look at that chair before it got sold.  Against my better wishes, we pulled into the store's parking lot and she was still throwing up.  She told me to go look at the chair so I quickly went into the store to find and check it out.  It seemed in good shape and the reclining mechanism worked fine.  Back at the car Kelly was determined to come inside and see it for herself.  She was hardly strong enough to walk on her own so I had to hang on to her.  We slowly made our way to where the chair was. She sat in the older style softer backed recliner and said it was Okay and didn't press on her spine.  I had to pull her up out of it because she didn't have the strength.  While over at the counter to pay for it, Kelly was too weak to stand and had to sit in a nearby chair.  The store said they would deliver the chair on Thursday morning.  After a wobbly walk back to the car we headed for the hospital.  I tried to talk her into going to Emerg first and not worry about the X-ray but again she was having no part of that plan either.  That back X-ray was priority for her and I understood that.  So, it was after the X-ray on her spine that we walked across the hall to the Emergency department where she was admitted within minutes.  So, that's why Pheebs and I didn't get out for a car ride this morning.  We had to wait for that recliner to arrive.

THE SIDING IS FINISHED ON THE PARK'S NEW HOUSE AND THE BOTTOM IN NOW ENCLOSED

My good buddy Richard stopped in for about 40 minutes to see how I was doing.  We were scheduled for one of our country road coffee runs but due to the chair being delivered, we had to cancel those plans.  The chair didn't show up until 1:45 this afternoon, but that's alright I was able to get 3 wheelbarrow loads of wet leaves raked up and put into the utility trailer this morning.  Soon as the ground drys up a bit I'll take that load to the Park's recycle area and that will likely be the last load until next April sometime. 

 THIS WILL PROBABLY BE MY LAST UTILITY TRAILER LOAD FOR THE YEAR

Al's Music Box:)) What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted is a hit single recorded by Jimmy Ruffin and released on Motown Records' Soul label in the summer of 1966. It is a ballad, with lead singer Jimmy Ruffin recalling the pain that befalls the broken-hearted who had love that's now departed.  The tune was written by William Weatherspoon, Paul Riser, and James Dean, and the recording was produced by Weatherspoon and William "Mickey" Stevenson. "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" remains one of the most-revived of Motown's hits.  Composers Weatherspoon and Riser and lyricist Dean had originally written "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" with the intention of having the Sinners, then an act on Motown's V.I.P. label, record it. Jimmy Ruffin, older brother of the Temptations lead singer David Ruffin, persuaded Dean to let him do the tune, as its anguished lyric about a man lost in the misery of heartbreak resonated with the singer.  Ruffin's lead vocal is augmented by the instrumentation of Motown's in-house studio band, the Funk Brotherst, and the joint backing vocals of Motown session singers the Originals and the Andantes. "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and at No. 6 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart. The song originally featured a spoken introduction by Ruffin, similar in style to many of Lou Rawls' performances at the time. The spoken verse was removed from the final mix, hence the unusually long instrumental intro on the released version. The spoken verse is present on the alternative mix from the UK 2003 release Jimmy Ruffin – The Ultimate Motown Collection, and as a new stereo extended mix on the 2005 anthology, The Motown Box:  

GROANER'S CORNER:(( I took my 8-year-old daughter to the office on take your kid to work day. But when we walked into the office she started to cry. As concerned staff gathered around, I asked her what was wrong and she said: “Daddy, where are all the clowns you said you worked with?

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- What do you call a fake noodle?  An impasta.
- Those that forget the pasta are doomed to reheat it.
- Did you hear about the Italian chef that died?
He pasta way. So sad that he ran out of thyme.

- Why did the pasta call up his friend?  He was feeling canneloni.

- How come no one ever invites ravioli to a party?  He’s a little square.

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First day as a police officer...

Captain: "Why did you call for back up?"
Me: "There was a fly in my car."
S.W.A.T. Team Leader: "What exactly do you think we do?"

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings

You don't have a soul.  You are a soul.  You have a body.  ---  C.S. Lewis

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