Posts Tagged: dad

Rabbit Rabbit

Posted by & filed under Uncategorized.

Hello February 1, 2013.
Once again, I was all geared up to BLOG DAILY and a wrench or two has been thrown in my path. I have been sick with the flu*, yes the real live infuenza, for the last 8 days and then on Monday my wifi went down and out. Neither problems have been fixed fully at this point. I am still sick & I am still using my Nokia N9 to get a small thin stream of internets.
My big praise for the week is to Open Mobiles. Yes, my Nokia N9 is a true working horse trooper. My Nokia Lumia 920 said no – sorry, can’t, my 808 PureView valiantly tried, and the Nokia N9 just did it. I very much look forward to the the open linux mobile phones to be released this year by Jolla Mobile, Ubuntu, and Firefox.
Tomorrow is my Dad’s 70th birthday. We are going on a bit of an adventure with Grandpa’s ashes (if I can find which box they are in) and then to a lovely birthday dinner. Hopefully, I will have enough energy and will not cough up on everyone.
Tomorrow is also St. Brigid’s Day and Groundhog’s Day!
Happy February to you.
* I was terribly sad to find out that this season’s flu did not have a sexy name & story like the Swine Flu or the Bird Flu or the Hong Kong Flu or the like, but has a very dull name of Influenza A (H3N2) [556] (mostly likely of the blabbity blabbity California or Victoria sub-name blabbity boring we-have-no-storytelling-naming-capacity blabbity blabbity strain). The October 2009 Swine Flu was MUCH MORE SEXY. Because if you are going to be stuck in bed with 103F fever and bored out of your skull, the virii should have a great name and story. kthnxbai

The Two Week Dad Update

Posted by & filed under news + events.

Yesterday, Wednesday, my Dad, Cam, had his check up ultrasound at his local hospital, the La Paz Regional. After the “all good” ultrasound result from the hospital, we went to lunch at a local Mexican restaurant and then I went to do a good clean at my brother’s vacation place.
With Joe’s house clean, my dad’s fridge stocked, his body in recovery, Scruffy & I were on the road by 3pm yesterday driving back to California. I am very glad to be home after 13 days away.
According to my Dad’s doctors, he still needs to rest for another 2-3 weeks before returning to work. Over the last week he went from only being able to be upright and attentive for less than an hour a day to over 6 hours a day. By upright, I mean sitting and occasional walking.
I am glad that Cam is on the mend and on the road to full recovery. I am very grateful for my Mom coming to join me for a week and my brother for his support in the first 5 days. Most of all, I am darned glad that Cam is healing.
Thank you, one and all, for your emails, twitters, pings, texts and phone calls of support. Y’all are wonderful.
p.s. On Sunday, 3/1/09, in the parking lot of the Buckskin Mountain State Park, I had my first “lifer” sighting of a Vermillion Flycatcher, the desert dwelling red & black cousin of the Black Phoebe. I was so ecstatic, I almost hyperventilated. Yes, I am a bird geek.

Week and Some Change Later: The 2nd Saturday Dad Update

Posted by & filed under news + events.

Sorry about the lack of updates the last few days, but we have gotten into a bit of a routine here in Parker, Arizona, and blogging from the computer has not been apart of it.
The Backstory: A week ago Friday, I drove out to Phoenix to see my Dad, Cam, in the hospital as he had had a bad work accident 2 days previously that resulted in 3 broken ribs & a ruptured spleen & a bruised lung plus scalp lacerations. Last Sunday he was released, and my brother Joe and I drove him back to his home in Parker, AZ, which is across the street from my brother’s vacation place. My Mom joined us on Monday and my brother left on Wednesday. My mom and I have been filling our days with making sure Cam is comfortable, hiking/exploring, and cooking. Lots of cooking.
The Cam Update: After his naughty escape morning on Monday to go have coffee with a crony, Cam has been mostly sleeping and resting. His ribs and spleen are quite painful and he was quite weak most of the week. Yesterday was his first follow up appointment with his primary care physician here in Parker. Basically, he is on bed and other forms of no work / no activity rest for four weeks. Due to the nature of the fall that caused him to fall, he does need to have a follow up ultrasound next week at the local hospital.
All in all, Cam is slowly on the mend but is still in a lot of pain, esp. when he moves. He spends most of his time sleeping and lying down watching TV. He is allowed to walk short distances, so he has been walking across the street for dinner with us. Mom and I have been bringing him his breakfast coffee so that he is not tempted to go out and about again.
How long will we be here? We decided after yesterday’s doctor appointment and how wiped out Cam was after returning, that we would stay for at least another 4 days and reevaluate on Tuesday, March 2nd.
As I noted before, I have no phone reception at my brother’s place, so please either leave me a phone message and SpinVox will email it to me or email me and then I will call you back on Skype or I will walk about 1/2 a mile away in the Keys were I do have reception.
Thanks for your kind Tweets, emails, prayers, and thoughts. Y’all rock.

Scruffy and Mom Have Arrived, or the Monday Dad Update

Posted by & filed under art + photography, news + events, photos + text from the road.

Scruffy and Mom
Photo taken by Ms. Jen with Mom’s Nokia N82

Mon 02.23.09 – The rear guard / back up troops have arrived… Mom and Scruffy pulled into my brother’s place in Parker, AZ, around 5pm or thereabouts today. My mom kindly agreed to come out to Parker to help me keep Cam resting and taking care of himself.
Which is a very good thing, since when I walked out of Joe’s house this morning to go across the street to my dad’s place to check on him, I found my dad in one of his crony’s trucks about to take off to go to have coffee. Grrrr….
While it seemed like a good idea after a night’s rest, when Cam returned from the jaunt, he was much worse for the wear and more willing to go back to his bed and nap. When Mom showed up, she told him that if he didn’t behave that she would get a electronic dog training collar for him and set up a perimeter. She was only half joking.

The Sunday Morning Update: Cam is being Released

Posted by & filed under news + events.

In fabulously typical American hospital fashion, my Dad is being released this morning. Campbell gets to keep his spleen, which is good news, but it is still ruptured though healing.
Right now, Joe and I are packing up the hotel room, going to run a few errands, and then go pick up Cam from the hospital and drive him home to Parker.
I am going to stay in Parker at my brother’s house there for a week or so to watch over my Dad and make sure he is sleeping, resting, taking deep breaths, and generally taking care of himself. My Mom is going to join me tomorrow evening and stay with me for the week.
Please do continue to pray for his healing, as it will be a couple weeks before Cam is able to resume daily life.
Also, email me if you want to get a hold of me rather than call, as AT&T wireless has little to no reception in Parker, AZ.