Wednesday, Randi and I left the Cottage around 9am, heading back to Lockport to tend to Mom's procedure to remove blockages from her left leg (right leg was done on August 28).  We left that early because we wanted to bring her computer in to the store of purchase to see if it could be repaired.  And yes, it probably could; however, they would have to send it off, and the cost could be from $100 to about $400.  It just seemed to me that it would be foolish to spend that much in repairs when a new one, with more to it, could be purchased for only a couple of hundred more.  I know--a couple of hundred is a couple of hundred, but I'd rather wait a while, save some money, and get a newer model instead of spending so much to repair one that is probably almost obsolete anyway.  That, however, will be up to Randi and her Mom.

Now, you know Randi and me by now; since we were in Houma and there is a Piccadilly in Houma, guess where we headed next.  Yep!  We had lunch there.  It was good, as usual, and it was nice to see some of those old familiar faces walking around the restaurant.  We enjoyed the meal and the visiting very much.

Before heading to Houma, I had stopped at a donut shop to pick up some fresh pastries for all the kids.  They love to have donuts as snacks, and I try to get some pretty often.  Cade likes chocolate-covered donuts; Carly likes glazed and twisters; Randi isn't particular; Ty and Rett like glazed ones; and our girls (and I) like jelly donuts (I usually get us one apiece.)  I also got a few cake donuts, which I forgot at Jess'.

After bringing Randi home, I headed off to Jess' to unload the car.  No one was there yet, so I was able to just relax a bit.  As I've said before, these trips are getting harder and harder on my back and knees (they stiffen up on me lately).  Anyway, the house was soon buzzing with activity, and I decided that I would go out to Bec's to visit a bit with her and Randi.  Bec was delayed at work, so I didn't spend as much time with her as I would have liked, but we did get to visit a little anyway.

Shrimp/okra gumbo was the meal that night--thanks to Jess.  As usual, it was delicious.  She also fried some shrimp, and I hadn't had some good, home-fried shrimp in a long time, so I just ate them up (no pun intended). These were fantastic, too!

On Thursday morning, we had to have Mom at TGMC by 7am, so Paul and I left Mom's house around 6am to try to miss the work traffic--and we pretty much succeeded with that.  We actually didn't have to wait very long, so we thought this would be a better experience than the last time.  Ahhh--the dreams of men!

We DID get called to her room quickly; they DID come in right away to assess her; they DID say she would be called in soon; they DID come in to administer her steroid shot and said they would be there momentarily--yeah, right!  They told us this around 7:30am--they didn't get her until 9am--that's hospital time for "momentarily"--I guess!

While Mom was in the cath lab, Paul and I had breakfast, after which we went to her room to await the results.  And, we waited--and waited--and waited; no results.  Finally, after 3 hours (the procedure usually takes about an hour or less), I went to ask the nurse if SHE had heard anything.  She had not and picked up her phone immediately to call the cath lab.  Amazingly, they had "just finished" with Mom and would be calling in a few seconds.  Yeah--you know that wasn't the case; however, we did get a call fairly soon.

Everything went well, but it was long, tedious procedure.  Mom had to stay in recovery for about an hour, so Paul and I decided to have lunch in the cafeteria--burgers for both of us, and they were good.  When we finished lunch and arrived at Mom's room, SHE was being rolled into that room right then.  She looked very tired; she was in pain; she was "out of it" a little more than usual; she did know us, though, and started talking right away.

The nurses there were fantastic.  At this point, Mom's IV (which they had a lot of trouble getting started before the procedure) stopped working, so they had to put in another.  Think the first one was trouble!  Not even close!  THREE different nurses tried before the last one finally got it going.  (By the way, I will name these nurses--no last names, of course--because they were so good.  They were Allison, Renee, Jennifer, and Rahme, and a young man whose name I didn't get because I didn't see him--he was her night nurse.  All of these nurses were excellent and gave Mom so much TLC--we thank them very much!)

Today, Mom was discharged.  The process was quick and painless, except for Mom's constant questioning and interruptions as we tried to finish getting all the discharge papers done.  Because she can't hear and can't see, she couldn't tell what was going on, and even though we explained everything as it was being done, somehow, it just didn't get through.  Nevertheless, it was done and we were soon on our way.

Paul ordered a sandwich for Mom; we picked it up on the way home; and she wolfed it down.  Randi and I got drinks from Smoothie King for our lunch.  After dropping Mom off and getting her tv channels working, I dropped off Randi and began my trek back here, arriving around 2pm.

Sid and I ate left-over gumbo from Jess for supper and then went to DQ to get a banana split, which we shared.  Now, I'm even more exhausted than before and can't wait to get to bed, perchance to sleep!

Hope you had a great few days and that the weekend is filled with all things good.  Have a good one!

Oh, even though I did call and did send a card, I wanted to mention our son, Josh's, birthday, which was yesterday.  We hope your day was super special, Josh, and that you and your family did something really special to celebrate (I know they went to Applebee's for supper, so that was good!) your birthday.  We love you, miss you, and with you all the very best each and every day--not just on your birthday.

"A person is not old until regrets take the place of hopes and plans."

                                                                 --Scott Nearing

NOTE:  We all have dreams, some fulfilled, some not; if we have tried, though, to fulfill those dreams, there should be no regret.  We continue to hope and plan and who knows what will happen.  I retired from teaching, entered nursing school, and became an LPN at age 58.  What a blessing that was, and I feel that I am still dreaming, still hoping, still planning--I have had two careers that I loved, and I am still not OLD (although my body may beg to differ).  Dream, hope, plan--you will never really be old.