Helga the witch

Helga was quiet this year

I carried on a conversation with her last year. There was somebody hidden in the camper and they corresponded with the people walking around. It was fun. We had a little crowd and we kept up the jabber and banter back and forth. I told her my name was Helga, too. This year, nothing. No words, no movement. Must be a bad spell cast upon her.

As I mentioned before, early October is too busy for me. I like things quiet, but I have to grab life where I can. We have been running every evening and in a couple of days we are off to Wild, Wonderful West Virginia. Camera is ready!

My nephew is not the best at communicating what is going on in his life medically. He would much rather talk about computers, gadgets, cars and movies. I grabbed papers and copied them when I was there this past week-end. Now, I can better understand what is going on. I am learning about zpulmonary zvalve zreplacement, zTOF (zTetralogy of zFallot), zstenosis, and zpulmonary zregurgitation. (Kindly remove the z in front of each word - I am attempting to foil family searches on this information, thus leading to this blog). I am in the dark no more. I can't ask the doctor. They are sworn to secrecy now-a-days. And with the Internet, I don't have to spend time in the library or try to find a medical dictionary.

I am sitting here

This evening I spoke with a co-worker on the telephone. He had a serious heart attack the day after Christmas. He has Type I Diabetes, he had pneumonia, and he is now on dialysis three times a week. He is trying to focus on things one day at a time. As the world continues to turn around him his days are filled with sending his vital signs to a hospital over the phone line, having a physical therapist come in to see him twice a week, going in for a dialysis treatment three times a week that takes four hours for each visit, trying to keep his new onslaught of medicine straight as to which one does what, and dealing with his regular dose of insulin shots.

My newspaper is full of the sad story of a grandmother and granddaughter who drove into the Tuscarawas River and drowned yesterday afternoon. Two men from the nearby skating rink attempted to jump into the river to assist, but the current was too strong and the water was too deep and cold. The authorities are saying road conditions contributed to the accident.

I just want to rock back and forth with a blanket over my head.