Monday June 16, 2008

Flood Update: We moved to Iowa City the summer of 1993 during the worst flooding in the then recent history. SO when we bought our house we picked a location that was 1/2 a block from the marker that pointed out the hightest point in Johnson County. Result...our house is fine and our basement didn't even flood! Yet, Nathan was tired of the flooding and his work-place was was shut down, so on Saturday he packed up the dogs and drove to Rapid City. Yay! I was so happy to have my Nathan with me, and we had a great father's day. What a wonderful weekend we had and here are some photos to prove.

Grandma Update Grandma is holding her own. We have been told that a Leukemia death is kind and we are counting on that. Each day we continue to treasure her and we are making her laugh. Her pain in her thighs continues, but with viligent pain management of meds (Linda...Keep an eye on that clock EVERY FOUR HOURS...Don't forget) she hangs in there and with all the reminiscing the pain seems to lessen. Here are some photos.

Grandma's Boys

Nathan, Connor, Trevor, Neil, Bob, Erik and Dale
Grandma, Christopher and Trevor

Grandma's Girls

Cousins Bond

This is a time for us all to gather and learn about our family and family history. Cousins Kira, Trevor, Dakota, Connor AND Amelia, when possible are spending quality time together. This is what family is about. The kids have adventures each day and they come back and tell Grandma about their outings! Grandma is loving the activity and the photo-reports! Today Neil and Dale arrive, and more stories will unfold. Grandma is sleeping more and more, but she is still in her apartment, and she is still doing some of her activities of daily living. I am just so thankful I can be here this month and stay with her!

Trevor and Connor Arrive in Rapid City by Bus after a 21 hour ride

Leave Iowa City: Monday 6-9-08 bus departs 90 minutes late at 10:00 pm CST

Text mail recived by Mom in Rapid City from Trevor on the road: Tue am 6-10-08 from Minneapolis

"They stole it, they stole our CUB foods"

"The Minneapolites stole our CUB foods"

Text mail recieved by Mom in Rapid from Trevor on the road: Tue noon from near Sioux Falls:

"There is a lady here with two kids and a hicky on her neck"

Phone call received by Mom in Rapid from Trevor Tue pm about 5:30pm MST

"Mom Connor is driving me crazy. He won't share his donuts, he is clicking his dental appliance and so he has lost all his talking privileges!"

So 30 minutes later Connor and Trevor get off the bus and Connor looks like he literally has been through HELL. "Mom Trevor made me assume the position!" This means that Trevor, being tired of Connor's antics, had Connor put his head between his knees and grab his ankles. Oh my. The horrors of being a little brother and the horrors of being the big brother who has to deal with the "little fella". Shades of my brothers Mark and Larry! Later Grandma asks Connor, "Do you do everything Trevor tells you? " and Connor answers, "Do I have a choice?"

Condition Report--Wed. June 11, 08

Mom is holding her own, yet she is in more pain and having more discomfort in her femurs. Dull aching is to be expected as the bone marrow is what produces the white blood cells and platelets, yet we don't know for sure if the pain is leukemia related. We are managing it with pain meds, but this is a delicate balance as they make her stomach hurt, and then her appetite decreases. We will all go out to supper this evening as the boys are now here. More later!

Rainbows and Safeway-- Must be a sign of good things for all

Kira snapped these photos the other night. If she only knew the symbolism!

CRAZY HORSE VOLKSMARCH

Kira and I are taking breaks during this trip and we are exercising for spritual fitness. Sunday we got to walk up to Crazy Horse and stand on the ARM. We did the 10K in very nice time and came back in time to have the rest of the afternoon with grandma.

Ameilia says "G.G"

Stephanie, Sue, Grandma, Kira, Amelia, Linda and Dakota A fun Saturday afternoon at Suzie's house with Spaghetti and Meatballs! I think Mama looks great. She is having a few hematoma (bruising) episodes, but again she is in great spirits.

Update on Ginny's condition

Thursday June 5th 2008
Kira and Linda arrived in Rapid City yesterday to find mom fiesty! The weather in Rapid is dreadful...rain and flash flooding, but the good news is that we missed the hailstorm. Mom looks well, albeit pale and wan. She is taking care of all her daily cares and last night she was up later than I was! This am she awoke earlier than did her daughter or granddaughter.

Status report: Doctor visit. Weekly questionnaire. All activities are ongoing. No pain. No discomfort. Mild fatigue. Answer to the question, what is the biggest problem this week? Mom's answer-- I am sad that Hillary is OUT.
Answer to this question: Sexual Difficulties? Yes...I'm not getting any.

So you can see her humor is totally in tact.
Her white blood cell count is now down into the normal range, meaning the chemo is doing its job. Her platelet count is 5000, which is so abnormally low (normal is between 150,000 to 300,000) that the Dr. Schroeder says it is amazing she is not having major bleeds. We will monitor her for bleeding and we had to stop her bungy-jumping habit. If she does begin to bleed
we will attempt to manage via transfusion. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, she is amazing us all.

Ona and her Love

Priceless

BEAUTIFUL! Goodbye to Norway!

Did I mention there were PRAWNS and wonderful treats?

Final photos

Last Day of the Trip

There was wine
Again Tor was our fearless guide and captain
This ski jump is for Dr. Mark S. who is my mom's oncologist and went to Oslo with me when we were in Band in High School. He has fond memories of visiting this jump.
This is a JELLY FISH and they were all over! I was assured by the cardiologiost (Tor) and theotolaryngologist that they don't astng, so I jumped in. We also knew that if Jelly Fish are out the water temp was at lest 20 degrees C.




This is Marie and she dove in right away and swam for quite a while. She is a true Scandinavian woman.

What a day. Ona took me to Bygdoy, which means island by the sea. This has been my favorite place to run. It is next to the Queen and King of Norway's "country home" and it is on the Fjord. I typically run about 2-3 miles there. Today I ran out to the sea, around the beaches and then I took a path back to Skyoen, which is the dock where Ona and Tor have thier boat, so in total it was a 5-6K run. It was lovely! Ona took the car and then met me at the dock. There were a few times where I was on some back trails and became a little worried, but a nice Norwegian man told me to follow the signs that said Kjersi or something and that kept me on course Here are some more photos of the Fjord. Tor took Ona, her colleague Marie (who is their oto surgeon) and me on a delightful boat ride through the Oslo fjord. We went quite a way out, parked the boat and then we all jumped in and went swimming in the North Sea! It was salty of course cold but very envigorating. Look at our day!

Norwegian Folk Museum

Mama...here is a real Stave Kirke and some of the Men I have picked up here in Norway. I tried to get my own men to travel with me but....

A walk in the park

A beautiful Rapid City Day followed three days after an 18 inch snow-storm in (wait for it) MAY! Sue and Bob took over 36 hours to get to Florida to visit Chris and I got to Rapid City after an adventure myself. Well it was all worth it as mom and I got to spend several hours in the sunshine strolling through Canyon Lake Park. Note to self: take every opportunity possible!

My mom

We recently learned that my mother has an incurable form of leukemia and that it is quite advanced. Her oncologist, who is a dear friend of mine advised me that she has days to weeks. I am here in Norway and I have an obligation for a few more days but I will get to my homeland of Rapid City as soon as possible and stay there as long as possible. In the meantime

And in the Fjord
I see the blue sky, the water
The trees
I see my mother’s eyes
And I feel her presence
Her will, her determination
Is in my blood driving me to seek
Beyond the ordinary
To strive to touch
All that seems untouchable
And to answer “yes”
To the question
Did you do your best?

End of a beautiful boatride

We passed a cruise ship
An omnious looking submarine with French sailors
Got cheeky with the Frenchies
Saw some Bali-Wood dancers in rehearsal for a film

Took in some more beautiful coastline

A Fine day for a Boat Trip

Ona her fiancee' Tor, and I went down to the Fjord today and geared up for a beautiful ride. The boat is Tor's and it has a lower cabin with a small kitchen, bedroom and even toilet. The day was wonderful and we went along the Oslo coast. here are some of the sights.

Tor is a very capable captain
I figured out how to get to the front part of the boat without falling off.

This is the new Opera house in Oslo. It is built to look like a ship and needs no stairs as it is all ramp! The ramp comes right down to the water.