Uncategorized – Page 4

Nipped in the bud

March 10, 2009 by Grandpa R

Saint Patty’s Day is just around the corner, and we have been enjoying a lot of greening up around here – not just on the family Web site.

If you believe the weather forecasters (and generally they are fairly reliable on the South Plains), a lot of trees are going to get nipped in the bud this week. We’ve been basking in spring-like weather so long that redbud trees, apples, even some elms are out in full bloom.

Why, even the Bermuda grass is starting to green up a little. We had the first wave of weather come through earlier today – with some rain – and then some wind this evening.

The real chill is yet to come. The weather folk say we will have a high Wednesday of about 39. Then Thursday and Friday they are forecasting “mix.”

What they mean by “mix” is that we will have rain mixed with freezing rain and sleet and maybe even some snow. Just for fun, we could throw in some severe weather, and with things as warm as they have been we may have a good chance for cold to clash with warm.

As they say around here, if you don’t like the weather, stick around a minute.

Six months / three months

February 5, 2009 by Grandpa R

We had a positive visit at MD Anderson today, and they put us on a 3-month / 6-month schedule. That is, we are still on a 3-month testing cycle, but we need come to Houston only a every 6-months – unless the tests suggest something otherwise.

We started the appointment cycle at 9:30 with the check-in and some preliminary exams. About 11 a.m., Dr. Gombos’s PA, Megan, and his nurse Suzanne ushered us in for the “detailed interview” stage of things. During this process, we met Dr. Gombos’s new PA, Cliff Leonard.

All the staff praised the work of the ocularist (Donnie Franklin), saying the prosthesis really looked good, even when it was sitting on the counter!

Dr. Gombos came in, and we discussed why some call ocular implants “coral” and the procedure known as “pegging.” The implants are called coral because they are porous and encourage growth and familiarity with blood vessels and other body tissue. Pegging is the process of drilling a hole in the “coral” and then placing a peg on the prosthesis that fits into hole.

Dr. Gombos said he does not favor pegging because the increased risk of chronic infection outweighs the marginal cosmetic improvement.

We’re good with that.

So we left MD Anderson about 12:30 p.m. with a handful of orders and prescriptions. We have to fulfill some of the orders this month, some in May, and return to Houston in August. Hooray!

Riley on the mend

February 3, 2009 by Heather Maybe

Well, we finally made it! After 11 weeks in the cast, Riley is finally free and moving about. This also means that she is back to using the potty all by herself. No more diapers–hooray! The pictures below detail the break and our trials with the cast in place. Now Riley hobbles around cheerfully all by herself and has resumed activities such as playing in the park with her older sister, Jenna, and riding her tricycle up and down the block. Riley still enjoys playing computer games, which became her favorite pastime while she was immobile.

Dr. Hooker cautions against waking a baby — Dr. Jennifer Hooker cautions against waking a baby

December to remember

January 19, 2009 by Grandpa R

The pace was torrid, but the saga was glorious. Jenni graduated from Tech. Ben and Amy got married, and we had children, grandchildren and siblings and such from coast to coast visiting. All this in one weekend, Dec. 12-14.

Dianne and Linda came in Thursday so that they could attend all the honors ceremonies for Jenni on Friday. Laura and Atarah had their own saga of flight cancellations, re-routing and delays, but they made it in Friday night. Driving in separate cars from California were Jake, Ani and Isaiah (car 1) and Dick and Jim (truck 1). Heather, David, Jenna and Riley flew in from the East. All arrived Thursday. Roxanne and Davis flew in Southwest on Friday.

Because Jenni graduated cum laude, we had two honors ceremonies Friday afternoon. The College of Education ceremony at the Allen Theatre was followed immediately by a more personal one in the College of Human Sciences. Jenni and Grandpa Randy both participated in the graduation ceremonies Saturday morning, and then all retired to a reception hosted by Grandma Nancy.

On Sunday, most everyone drove to Fort Worth where Ben, Amy and Emily had already rehearsed the wedding. The gathering time music had an Irish flair, while the reception music afterward was a little country. Some combination of Best Man Jacob Willard Reddick Groomsman James Lynch Reddick, and Usher Kenneth Faulkner prepared the getaway car with appropriate surprises.

The couple (and Emily) returned to Lubbock for a few days prior to a year-end honeymoon.

Photos here by Roxanne Reddick. (For other photos, see the December Page.)

David, Riley, Linda, Dianne, Davis, Jenna

Wild Wings dinner party: David, Kenneth, Atarah, Jenni, Heather, Laura and Isaiah

Emily and Aiden (background) couple's car

Amy's family on chapel steps at newlywed sendoff

Doing well, really

January 19, 2009 by Grandpa R

So, we have been duly reminded that one of the obligations of doing a blog is that you have to keep it up-to-date. Joe Benson (Joe and Sheila, Palm Springs) is now at least the third one who’s asked “how are you doing … haven’t heard.” It started with Milverton Wallace telephoning us from London, for Pete’s sake. His chastisement was strong, but friendly – “you haven’t written anything.”

We are doing well, actually. December was torrid (separate entry about the family doings), but wonderful. We are still making many small adjustments, the kind that Susan Smith correctly observed were the things you never think about. For example, you loose depth perception, and you also lose some sense of texture with things.

Or with jumbles of things. I have this little tray inside my top dresser drawer. I put my pocket contents in the tray at night. My wallet, keys, pens, coins, knife, coins, handkerchief, etc. There are also odds and ends of similar things that reside in the tray on a temporary (or more permanent) basis. Things like a shoehorn, comb, other pens, scattered coins, stray receipts, nail clippers, etc.

At any rate, things in that tray get jumbled together, and without a decent perception of depth / relief, it gets more difficult to know what I am looking at.

Oh well, in time. I just have to remind myself occasionally that I really do have a lot of blessings. I do have sight. I am generally healthy and lucid. And all indications are that at least for now there is no melanoma.

This week I start the next round of follow-up visits. First the ocularist, then back to MD Anderson in Houston the front end of February, and finally a visit with my local ophthalmologist later in the month. Regarding the MD Anderson visit, I am operating under the assumption that no news is good news. We had a lot of tests in November. Those results went to Houston, and I have heard nothing back.

That’s all for now.

God bless.