I am one who always looks at my glass being half full

But am having a difficult time doing that now, although I must.
As I posted yesterday, Mike underwent a biopsy, and the doctor says there is an 85% chance it is cancer, I am saying it is a 15% chance it is not.
HERE is the link to Mike's post about the subject.

Blogging will be light as I am taking this opportunity to make a quick trip to visit my family in New Zealand. I leave on Saturday and will return on Christmas day.
Please continue to keep Mike in your prayers.

We need your prayers

Today at 2pm Mike undergoes a biopsy. Please hold him in your thoughts and prayers.
If all goes well, I could be on my way to New Zealand as early as Saturday.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I AM SO THANKFUL FOR MANY THINGS.

For my freedom bought with sacrifice by others.
For the man who loves me, and is my best friend.
For all the love and laughter in my life.
For my family.
For good friends
For a job I actually like.
For the sunshine today, after days of fog.
For the beauty on this earth.
Looking out the window, I can see two rabbits, snuggled up against each other at the base of a tree, trying to keep warm. I am thankful for all the wonderful creatures we have on this earth.
For all my blogger friends.
For all the other things too numerous to mention.


Happy Thanksgiving to all and blessings on your day.

I have always had trouble making a pie crust which is tender and flaky. Yesterday I remembered something I had read about using water and vodka, so decided to give it a try. I made a pumpkin pie this afternoon, and I am raving about the crust, as it is everything a crust should be.

The best ever pie crust (with vodka!?)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices (1 1/2 sticks) chilled
1/2 cup chilled vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup vodka, chilled
1/4 cup water chilled

Directions
1. Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds. (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour) Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around bowl. Add remaining cup of flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4-6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into large bowl.

2. Mix vodka and water together and sprinkle over mixture. With a rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until it is slightly tacky and starts to come together. Divide the dough into two even sized balls and flatten each into about a 4-inch disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes, or up to 2 days.

Update on Mike's condition

Mike is still not out of the woods yet. He went to see the specialist yesterday and has to go back next week for a biopsy to see how far gone is his cancer, then the following week we have to go back for test results. So I cannot rebook my ticket for New Zealand yet, and as it is so close to Christmas, I may possibly not be able to make it until early January.

Udate

Mike has been home two full days and is doing OK so far. We have an appointment with his doctor today to discuss some test results.

Good news, no news

Late yesterday I received a phone call from Mike in Harborview hospital saying they are sending him home can I come and get him. I called a couple of friends, and one of them said yes of course I will drive you to the hospital.
We arrived back home around 8:45pm last night and tucked Mike into bed for a good night's rest.

As for the 'no news' the hospital techs had drawn enough blood from Mike to do all the necessary tests, and as he was stable and able to keep his temperature under control with medication, they said he could come home. Harborview is a very busy hospital and of course they needed the bed and sending him home leaves a bed for another patient.

Our next move is to make an appointment for Mike to see his own doctor this week who will have test results, and we can proceed from there. We do know of one problem which will have to be addressed, but before that happens, the cause of the temperature has to be determined.

Mike and I sincerely thank you, our friends and family, for all the prayers and good wishes you have been sending our way, I can't begin to tell you how much it has meant to us to have your support.

Mike is now in Harborview

I had a very restless night tossing and turning wondering how things were going for Mike. And stewing over the fact that it is not easy to get to the hospital, that is for me anyway. I do not know my way around Seattle, and I am very, very, nervous about driving the freeway. I have also been advised I should not be by myself in the neighborhood of the hospital as there are some very rough characters around. I looked into maybe taking a bus, oh sure, just five bus rides to get there, scratch that idea. Then I thought perhaps there is someone here on the island who works a day shift at Harborview I could catch a ride with, spend the day with Mike and return in the evening or whenever the persons shift was over . I know something will work out, and Mike is in good hands but I really hate not being there with him, "Patience, Jennifer, patience," I am telling myself.

Here is a short email message I found this morning from my honey:

"Big adventure, some highs and some lows. Over the worst I think. Sat in ER for almost 6 hrs before getting to a full sized bed. Just had a sandwich, so I'm not starving. No problem getting Ibuprofen so far, so I feel pretty good. I'll try to call later as it's 1:30am. now. Will try to get some sleep. "

Update on Mike

I love that I can post on blogger and it goes directly to face book. This saves me countless phone calls to our friends and family.
Mike is in an ambulance at this time, 6 :06pm, being transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where they can do more tests than can be done here on the island. I sincerely hope something shows up very soon.

Frustration

Yesterday's MRI shows NOTHING, now the Doctors are talking about transfering Mike to The University of Washington Hospital. Of course besides the worry of not knowing what is wrong, Mike is fretting about his business, if he can't keep on top of things then there is no money coming in to cover bills, and of course that is a real concern. We don't even want to think of the many thousands of dollars it has cost so far, and all that will be in the future.
Well we will just deal with whatever comes up hour by hour and day by day. All I want is for him to get well and come home.
I will keep updates coming as I know more. Please continue to keep Mike in your prayers.

Quick update

Mike went another full body MRI yesterday afternoon and sometime this morning his doctor along with head of radiology and a specialist will be reading the scans. I hope to have good news later on when I get to the hospital.

No definite news yet

We have a great team in this hospital doing all they can to determine what ails Mike. As of today, he in not being given any IV fluids antibiotics and nor pain meds. The doctors are waiting to see what shows up in his body, then they can form opinions as to what could be a potential problem. I have just finished a conversation with his doctor, who pointed out that perhaps there could be something stemming from the surgery and subsequent internal bleeding from last year. This afternoon he is going to have another scan so we will wait and see what that shows, if anything. If nothing is determined at this hospital, it is possible Mike will be transferred to The University of Washing hospital. I sure hope that does not happen as I fear driving through seattle traffic to get there.
Time will tell.

Update on Mr C

Mike remains in the hospital, still no diagnosis on what is causing his illness. I have cancelled my trip to New Zealand. That is all for now, I am too tired to think.

Update on Mr C.

Sheesh I need to learn not to panic, but I am over tired and as a wife it is my job to panic a little bit.
When I left Mike last night he was doing Ok and as I said in my last post, he told me that while he was on the pain meds which also keep his temperature under control, he will be feeling OK. Well, they cut back on the meds and when I called him earlier his exact words were " I am going backwards, they are sending me down for another scan"
My panic mode set in and I dropped everything and rushed up to the hospital. He is not as as bad off as I had imagined, although the doctors are still testing to see what the dickens is going on. I just had a nice long talk with his doctor and I am now feeling better that I know more.
I will try to keep updates coming as I find out more.

It's been a wild ride

and not a fun one either.

Last Wednesday evening Mr C started to feel unwell, Thursday he felt worse, Friday no better and Saturday morning, that's yesterday, morning he was in the hospital.

After the tech took, it seemed pints of blood, another tech doing a nose swipe to determine if it was perhaps influenza which was laying him low, and then he had a cat scan, it appears he has an infection of one of his kidneys. The blood samples are being tested to make sure no infection is in his blood as his temp when taken during the first minutes of being admitted into hospital was 105F. The poor guy sure had a time of it when they tried to insert the IV, as due to serious dehydration his veins had collapsed. I stood and held his hand while the attempt was being made to insert the IV but had to go sit down for a while, to ease the queasy feeling which overcame me, I usually am not fazed by these procedures, but I guess when it is one of your own family it is different.

Mike was hooked up to the pump which administered fluids and the first dose of heavy duty anti-biotics and after about three hours he was starting to feel a little better and actually started to doze off. As he had not really slept for the past three nights, he really needed the rest so his body could start to heal, so I decided to leave him dozing and go down to the cafeteria for dinner. I ate a wonderful Thanksgiving kind of turkey dinner, and yes, it was very good for hospital food. After eating I wandered back upstairs to ER and peeped into Mike's room. "where have they taken my man?" I said to myself, and found out from his nurse he had been finally moved to a room in the main hospital.

Mike was chatting to his nurses when I arrived at his room and he appeared to be doing so much better. All the relevant information was given for the hospital records and I settled down in a chair beside him. As we chatted Mike told me he was cold, so I grabbed another blanket from the closet, then he started really shivering, I went out to the nurses station and reported the happenings, and a nurse brought in a nice warm blanket. That did not chase away the chills, so Mike, being the bright guy he is, said that it had been a long time since he had the motrin or whatever it was, to bring down his temperature was wearing off and his temp. was on the rise, again which proved correct. They brought in more meds, another couple of warmed blankets to wrap around him and his dinner. But after a couple of bites, his appetite vanished, and that is because of his temperature rising again. Poor guy, he really was having a rough time.
It was now fairly late into the evening, and a friend of ours had arrived at the hospital to drive me home. I was so very tired as I had only dozed off and on for the past three nights, so I poured a small glass of my favorite red wine sipped it until gone, then slipped into bed. I went out like a light and woke up at 6am, that is according to the bedroom clock, I had forgotten it was time to turn the clocks back, but as I was up drinking a cup of Ovaltine and writing this blogpost, I decided to stay up. I can get a nap later on today after I return from visiting my honey.
Our wild ride is not over yet, Mike will be in the hospital at least one more night and will undergo another scan sometime later today to check the infected spot on the kidney. Our dear friends Wayne and Lori, are insisting I go on my trip home to New Zealand on Wednesday and they will take care of my honey. Lori is a nurse so I know he would be in good hands. Mike also says he will be sick whether I am home or on my trip.Oh what a decision to make.

Tuesday chuckle

The teenager lost a contact lens while playing basketball in his driveway. After a fruitless search, he told his mother the lens was nowhere to be found.

Undaunted, she went outside and in a few minutes returned with the lens in her hand.

"How did you manage to find it, Mom?" the teenager asked.

"We weren't looking for the same thing," she replied. "You were looking for a small piece of plastic and I was looking for $150."