Written by Cindy on Mar. 14, 2016

Hi all, Just finished viewing Barb and Pete's vacation pictures-WOW Puerto Vallarta looks wonderful, we've never been there, is the water warm as it is in the eastern part of Mexico? Pete must really like to kayak, are you that brave Barb? Beautiful flowers and you both look so happy and relaxed in the pics, just what the dr. ordered-lol! Thanks for sharing!
I'm home in Greeley for a few days, kinda missing the old guy I live with-ha! I am planning on returning to Casper later this week, Mom is doing much better but we have a few more tests and dr. appts before she decides what she wants to do about the surgery on her hiatal hernia. Want to be there for Saturday which is her 80th birthday! Jill and Des won't be able to be there, Jill has to stay close to home until after the radiation treatments are over(she had her first one starting Monday of this week and said it was no big deal, hope that attitude continues)Des is still playing(and quite well it sounds like)nurse for Dave, guess things are going ok but now the shoulder is giving him grief, next thing he has to get fixed-poor guy, he is going to be the bionic man when all this is done!
Did get to go to Denver after church on Sunday to see the kids, I miss them even though they call regularly. Had a yummy meal and enjoyed each others company for a while.
Ron and his brother are busy trying to get things out of his folks townhome since it has been sold, lots of "things" to get rid of. Luckily, we have been able to take some of it to our church for the church garage sale this summer. My friend, Deb is the person who bought the place so hasn't been too bad of a transaction but she had to sell her place first which took 2 days, the people that bought her place want to close as quick as possible so she has to be out by April 8th-yikes, she has a houseful of stuff that has to be moved into the townhouse so need to get the inlaws stuff out, guess I'm glad to be hung up in Casper-lol.
Love to everyone!

Written by Barb & Pete on Mar. 11, 2016

Written by Val on Mar. 9, 2016

Great to see posts from Jill & Sue! Jill so happy that your tests came back & that chemo is not needed! Hurrah! Radiation is probably not fun either, but at least you don't have to have both! You better take it easy & rest up before they start the radiation treatments.

Sue - hopefully we will continue to have early spring weather during your visit to ND! It has been so nice! Hoping we can see you while you are in ND!

Val

Written by Jill on Mar. 9, 2016

Hi all. Just a quick update. Finally got the results back from my test. Only two weeks overdue! Anyway, I will not have to do Kemo! Yay to that. I start March 14 and go until April 8 for radiation. Everyday in the morning. Should take approximately 1/2 hour each day. That's in and out the door. I will not have to do it on weekends. I will still have continued doctor appointments with the radiologists, oncologist and surgeon. Plus seeing the regular doctors. I feel pretty good right now except tired and still have some pain in my arm down to my elbow where the lympnos were taken and zings in the breast . The doctors say this is normal and should get better soon. They say with radiation the biggest affects are redness and fatigue. Cindy is still up with mom getting her to all her appointments. Ill let Cindy explain all that when she gets a chance to get on the website. Our family is ready for a major break. Hope everyone is on the mend. Love to all

Written by Sue on Mar. 9, 2016

Thanks for all the updates everyone. We are having extremely warm weather here, too. Seems like winter was much too short. Protested my property taxes yesterday at the county appraisal office across town. Took about an hour and a little more to get there during morning rush hour, but it was worth it. I was able to lower my house appraisal value by about $17,000!! My other big news is I'm going to spend my Spring Break this next week at my dad and mom's in Minot. I arrive on Saturday and go home on Friday. I honestly can't remember the last time I was in ND in March. Must be over 35 years ago. I hope it won't be too cold! Steven is taking a cruise with 13 other kids to Belize, Honduras and Mexico somewhere. It is their big senior trip together before they all graduate from college. Kathleen will be at home working. 😤. I continue to pray for you all. Love, Sue

Written by Val on Mar. 6, 2016

Hello HHFs! Just had to report that us NDak HHF's had 70 degrees yesterday! Amazing! It's March 6th and it felt too warm to be wearing a jacket! Unbelievable! We are supposed to have another very nice week this week with highs in the 60s by the weekend! We are going to enjoy it, although we will probably "pay" someway! I enjoyed a very nice long walk yesterday and found mom & dad fixing fence so stopped to help them a bit & visit. My hubby was on a fire call - downside to no moisture & warm weather is that it is very dry here!

I spent Saturday and part of Sunday on a road trip with some good friends from work. We started our day by stopping in Rugby & shopping at a couple cute specialty stores and then had lunch at Rockin Relics, which is an old fashioned soda fountain. Fun. Then we were on to Devils Lake to the Spirit Lake Casino for dinner, a show and some gambling. All three were marginal, but we had alot of good laughs!

As some of you know, Dad spent a day and a half in the hospital last week. He had chest pains on Tuesday afternoon & again after supper so we took him to the ER at Trinity & things looked good on all the tests they did in the ER, but they wanted to keep him overnight for observation. Well, the next day a cardiologist who saw him suggested he have an angiogram. The doc said that since he had come into the ER for a possible heart related event, he would have to be cleared by a cardiologist in order to have his back surgery on March 22. So, the decision was made to go ahead with the test & thank goodness things checked out OK. He has no blockage in any major arteries. The hospital experience was not pleasant & quite frustrating, but glad things checked out OK.

Kevin & I went to Bergen yesterday to open the church up and see what kind of damage had occurred over the winter. Much to our delight, it looked just like it did last fall when we closed it up! Arlaine Durbin's family is hoping to have her burial sometime late April so we want to be able to gather there after we have been at the cemetery. The roof is looking really bad at the church, so we are going to have to start thinking about replacement. We also have new neighbors. Some gentleman from Minnesota purchased two lots on the internet across the road to the south of the church & is currently living in a homemade trailer of some type. He is building a small cabin/house. He has no water, sewer or electricity, but just plan to rough it. We suspect he's probably using the outhouse at the church. We really are going to have to replace the outhouse & put a lock on the door! The people that live in Art & Gladys's old house also moved a mobile home in across the street from the front door of the church as they own that lot. And... Christ Schatz's grandson has purchased the Schatz barn on the east side of Bergen & is planning to have some type of living quarters there. He is following in his grandfather's footsteps and has already been causing trouble in the town. Lot happening in the little village of Bergen!

Hoping everyone is well & on the mend. The only illness I want any of you to have is Spring Fever!

VAl

Written by Val on Feb. 29, 2016

Many thanks for the update Cindy! Good to hear that Audrey is feeling better & was up to a road trip! Hope she continues to improve and to get her strength back. Amazing how just a few days in the hospital can really make you weak. So hoping that Jill gets good news & can move forward with her radiation treatments. Waiting is hard! Thinking of all of you!

Written by Cindy on Feb. 29, 2016

Hi all, Just a quick note. Mom and I are in
Greeley, I had to come for a mandatory class at the hospital that had been scheduled long ago(would have cancelled if she hadn't been up to coming with me)
Came Sun. afternoon and had planned on returning to Casper yesterday but Jill and Des were here and had looked at the weather in WY and said there was bad wind and snow so decided to wait until today.
Mom is doing a lot better, the wheeze and cough are pretty much gone but the fatigue is still quite daunting. She came home from the hospital last Wed. and is on constant oxygen but at a low flow and has completed her course of antibiotics as of yesterday(yea, was really giving her GI tract fits) We are scheduled to follow up with her primary Dr. on Thurs. and the GI specialist next week Wed. so hope we can see the surgeon soon after to get this hiatal hernia fixed. I am planning on staying with her until things get "back to normal", I am so lucky not to have a job which requires me to be there on a scheduled basis.
Amazingly, the inlaws are getting along without my help-of course, Ron is over there much more often now. They are selling their townhouse and have to vacate by April 1st so the boys are having to help with what to do with the furniture, etc. Guess I lucked out with not being available LOL.
Jill STILL has not found out about her test results, was suppose to see the oncologist yesterday to review but they called to cancel due to not having results yet(this is the second time they have cancelled)she is getting really anxious and losing sleep worrying about whether she is going to have to have the chemo or not. Has met with the radiation oncologist so is ready to start that IF there is no chemo to be done. Its just a waiting game and a very irritating one. Will keep everyone informed as we are made aware. I'm sick of health problems.
Talked with Bonnie last night and hope things get better with Curt. Glad to hear Shelley got home ok from Cancun, sounds like where I need to get away to-ha!
Well so much for a SHORT note! Keep well.

Written by Val on Feb. 28, 2016

Hello all! I have updated the website for March as you can see! Sure hope everyone that has been sick is feeling better! Glad that Aunt Audrey is home from the hospital and sure hope you are feeling better! Wonderful that Cindy is able to be with you!

Dad's pneumonia is better but he's dealing with some pain & swelling in his leg. Not sure what is causing it, but he did get pinned by a cow over a week ago & had a sore hip, so it could be related. He is also having to climb in & out of the tractor more as his hired man fell off the horse a week ago & broke his femur & injured his hip. Not good, as he will be out of commission for awhile. We are still hopeful that Dad can have his surgery on March 22nd and will have to try & work out some type of plan to deal with the chores at the farm.

It was a beautiful weekend here in ND! We have very, very little snow here. It truly feels like spring!

Hope everyone has a good week! Sending positive vibes to all those that are healing from injury & illness!

Love,
Val

Written by Desiree on Feb. 22, 2016

Hi - here's an update on Audrey. As of this morning, Tuesday, Cindy said that she seems to be doing a little better. She is still getting breathing treatments but the respiratory therapist removed her oxygen during the day. She will still be hooked up to the oxygen at night. She no longer is having to receive fluids via the IV and hasn't had any issue with foods and fluid coming back up since they are giving her anti-nausea meds to help with the hiatal hernia. Cindy says that she doesn't seem to be wheezing and coughing so much. They did move her to another room, however, it's much smaller so Cindy isn't able to stay through the night. However, I think Cindy actually is glad to be able to go back to mom's house and sleep in a bed.

The doc hadn't been in yet today so not sure what the future treatment plan is. Cindy is hopeful that they might consider releasing mom and then she can take care of mom at her house.

John's family is getting better too so hopefully the worst is behind us.

Mom says that the flowers that Curt & Bonnie and Val & Kevin sent are absolutely beautiful and thank you!

Dave has started rehab on the knee and was able to actually ride the bike for a sort time but it's progress - woohoo! He'll see the shoulder specialist next month.

We are still waiting for the results back on Jill's pathology test to learn if she'll have to have chemo or not. Anxious to hear something so she can proceed. She's done really well following the surgery and is back to "light duty" work (paper pushing) which she hates lol.

In the famous words of Porky Pig "that's all folks."

Written by Val on Feb. 21, 2016

Thanks Desi for the update on your mom. Not sure why the date is wrong on here again. Maybe since it's a leap year? Anyway, sure hope Aunt Audrey is feeling better today (Sunday). Hope John & family get better too! Good grief too much illness!

Mom & I sang with our gospel group at the nursing home & assisted living center today. The residents sure enjoy hearing the old familiar hymns & so nice to see some singing along.

Thinking of Jill too & know you have some doctor appointments this week.

Try to stay positive everyone! Know it can be difficult when so many things seem to be going on with illness & all!

Love to all!

Written by Desiree on Feb. 19, 2016

Wowza, who is that gorgeous woman in the pic below? Thanks for re-subscribing to the website Shelley and I will be sending a check to help with the cost. I also would like to thank Val for what a great job she does on the website and keeping everyone up to date on what's happening in our family with birthdays and all. You two are ok ;-)

Here's the update on Audrey as of 3pm Saturday. Cindy says that they had a rough night and did not get any rest at all. Mom's in a double room and she and Cindy were hopeful that she wouldn't get a roommate but another patient was brought in around 10PM last night. Poor Cindy ended up sleeping (or trying to) in a chair. The hospital is full but they are hopeful that mom will be moved to another floor and be able to rest a little better. They are doing breathing treatments on her 4 times a day (which seem to be helping) and giving her antibiotics which in turn are making her stomach upset and giving her diarrhea - ugh! One problem seems to lead to another. Cindy anticipates that mom will be in the hospital for at a least a few more days.

Additionally, John, Candy and Talon are all very sick with colds, flu and double ear infection on Talon.

That's all I know at this point in time but will keep you posted.

Lastly and on a more positive note - Happy 24th Birthday to Bryan Boshinski!

Love to all

Written by Shelley on Feb. 19, 2016

Written by Desiree on Feb. 18, 2016

Hi Family - I just wanted to let everyone know that mom was admitted to the hospital last night with pneumonia! She's been having a hard time with the hiatal hernia but last night she was having a difficult time breathing so John took her to the hospital. She is scheduled to have another GI procedure this morning and Cindy is heading up there so hopefully we'll have more info to provide later in the day. Enough already - everyone just needs to get healthy!

Written by Cindy on Feb. 17, 2016

Hi All, Spoke with Val last evening to let her know that we are going to have to cancel the March trip to Deadwood. Things are just too crazy right now with Jill's treatments and also my Mom has been having some problems with her esophagus(lots of coughing and bringing up liquid/phlem) saw the doctor yesterday and will get things worked out in the next few weeks for her to have surgery on a hiatal hernia. Should be a relatively easy surgery but I will be planning on going to Casper to help during her recovery, thank God for Candy who is doing all the appointments, tests to get her ready for the surgery-as Mom says "she is a good egg" lol. I certainly hope things start improving with the health of everyone, sounds like Uncle Curt is getting better as far as his pneumonia but too bad the surgery has to be put off, probably will take an act of congress to get him to reschedule it!
We have been having beautiful weather here but I would love to be in Mexico like Barb and Pete or Shelley. I'd be drinking a few wonderful fu-fu drinks on the beach.
Maybe this summer we can plan a "girls" weekend where we can all get together to celebrate getting through all the difficulties we seem to be having at present.
Take care, love you all.