Home Sweet Home

Thank you very much for all of the prayers that were sent for Lee.  After one scare after another he finally came home yesterday-2 weeks after the accident.  He still has a long road ahead of him as he will be in a wheelchair for 3 months.  Both of his legs require NO weight for 3 months.  Cody went yesterday to help unload him which was very difficult; because of his hips and pelvic they couldn't grab his legs nor could they wrap their arms around his torso because of his broken ribs.  I am not sure how they moved him.  Jackie had carpenters and plumbers out to the house the past two weeks and they have made ramps throughout and built a portable outdoor shower off of the bedroom.  Lee called this morning and needs Cody to help him with something.  I can't imagine how frustrating these next 3 months will be for Lee.  He likes to be able to do for himself and that isn't going to happen for awhile.  We do have SO much to be THANKFUL for and we are.  Thank you very much!  God Bless!

Update on Lee

What a week it has been.  Lee was hurt a week ago yesterday and has been 'out'-sedated since last Monday.  Everyday things change.  Drs haven't been able to remove his breathing tube from surgery because he has been swollen and wouldn't have an air passage.  He has gone back into surgery to have his trachea dilated to remove the tube but lungs weren't properly functioning which made Drs think he had a blood clot in his lungs on Thursday.  Thank goodness the CAT scan proved that false.  He instead has pneumonia and they have moved him to a bed that vibrates to help break-up all of that junk.  Of course with all the broken bones he has it would be very painful if he was awake.  Yesterday morning they couldn't get him to move one side of his body and thought he may have had a stroke, but were finally able to get movement.  He still has the breathing tube.  His oncologist does say his wounds are looking great-finally some good news.  Cody and I are heading to Fort Worth today to visit Lee in ICU.  Hopefully this week they will be able to remove the breathing tube and wake Lee up.  He is definitely a trooper.  Thank you for all of the prayers.

Even More Prayers Are Needed

Please keep the prayers coming Lee needs them!

An Extra Prayer, Please!

My brother, Lee, could use an extra prayer this morning as he will be undergoing a very detailed surgery.  My brother owns and operates his own trucking company and as he was strapping hay bales down for the haul one of them rolled off of the trailer.  He tried to get out of the way & ducked but the bale hit him from behind and rolled off of him.  A hay bale weighs anywhere from 1000-1500 pounds.  He was airlifted out of the field to WF & then airlifted on to Fort Worth for surgery.  His surgery was scheduled later so the correct support staff could be assembled for this delicate and detailed surgery.  He has broken ribs, broken tailbone, broken left side of his pelvis, & the right socket of pelvis is shattered.  He is slated for a 7 o'clock surgery, but of course he probably won't go in that early.  His surgery is estimated to take 6 hours unless things are worse once they enter.  If so he will have to have two surgeries.  He can put ZERO weight on his right side for at least 3 months.  He should go home in a week either with crutches or a wheelchair depending if he is able to support himself on his left side.  Lee has a very high pain tolerance and it is very difficult to see him in such pain.  Any extra prayers would be very much appreciated as he has a very long and painful road ahead of him.  The doctors have said his recovery time will be 6-8 months.

Birthday Party & Lake Fun

Several weeks ago Lyndon had a birthday party to attend and then we took Memere and Carl with us to the lake.  The party was a lot of fun.This life jacket was one of our extras but it was way to big for Momma.The boys had a blast riding the tube.Trips to the lake are wonderfully fun and memorable!

Football Season

It was time to submit pictures for the Panther Football Program.  Last year was my 1st year to put Lyndon's picture in it and he thought it was really COOL to see his picture in the program with the REAL Panthers.  We snapped a few pictures Tuesday night.Lyndon HAD to take off his shoes, because the new turf just feels too good on bare feet he said!

Blow OuT

Lyndon and I were headed to WF 2 weeks ago when just as we entered the divided highway the left front tire blew out!  We were very lucky because I had the grass in between the oncoming traffic.  It scared me to death & Lyndon started crying.  I don't blame him-for a few seconds I didn't know what happened: it was loud and it was like I slammed the breaks on.  Everything on the console was in the floor.  Once I got the pick-up stopped and calmed Lyndon down I called Cody.  I told him I would feel a  lot safer on the right hand side of the road.  It wasn't slopped over there and there was a huge area before the two lanes began.  He told me to drive over there and he would call me back.  It happened Daddy was in WF, but he was sitting in the waiting room for a dr. apt.  Cody called a local farmer he has known for years.  He and his son came to our rescue.  The son jacked the pick up while the dad worked on getting the spare down.  I really felt sorry for both of them because it was extremely HOT!!!!  They could NOT get the spare to unlock.  Finally after they messed with it and laid under the bumper on the HOT pavement I decided to get the owners manual out.  It turns out that there is a special latch system to  prevent theft.  They followed every step in the manual but the spare would NOT come down.  Finally the dad ran to his shop to grab an old Chevy spare he had while the son cleaned up.  Afterwards Cody heard of several others who couldn't get their spare down either with this special latch system.  Cody is redoing the latch system so we won't have the same problem again.  About 1 1/2 hours later we were on the road again.  We could only drive 55 mph because the spare wasn't the same size as the others and that could ruin the transmission (NO stress there!!!!)  Lyndon and I returned our Home Depot items.  We brought Cody's pick-up because we were returning the extra cabinets from our laundry room reno and picking up a bike I bought from Heather for $10!!!!!  As I am leaving Home Depot to go get the bike Cody calls and says I need to be at the local tire store before 5:00 so they can order new tires.  I start doing the math in my head: we can't drive over 55mph, we have had nothing to drink except the melted ice we shared from my diet coke when we stood on the side of the road for 1 1/2 hours, and Lyndon is starving.  We called Heather and told her there was no way we could make the trip to her house.  We were bummed because we were excited to get to see her new home.  We stopped at Sonic and headed home going slow mind you.  I am not a slow driver at all!!!!!!!  As we were leaving town we suddenly heard a loud thumping.  I stopped to inspect but couldn't find anything.  As soon as we get to about 25 mph I hear it again and I can even feel it under my feet.  I look again and do find the 4 wheel drive plug in, but couldn't imagine that little plug would be making that much noise.  Tuck it behind some 'stuff' and we try it again.  We still hear it.  I am scarred we are going to ruin something else so I call Cody.  He says not to worry about it-whatever it is he will fix it when we get home.  His philosophy is: He just wanted us home safe, he isn't worried about how much it cost to fix something @ this point, he is stressed because he can't hope over to us as he is an hour away, and stressed because the last person he knew who had a blow out on the front left side went head on with oncoming traffic.  My philosophy: I DO NOT want to buy something if I don't have to-period!!!!!!  Finally after stopping about 5 times I see that the front fender is slapping the side of the pick-up.  Just as I noticed it Chuck passed us.  He of course noticed it and called  Cody to tell me to pull over and he would fix it.  We just pulled it off because it was missing the rivets.  Chuck asked Lyndon to ride with him back to town.  Lyndon has been wanting to ride, but has turned Chuck down because his trips have been too long in Lyndon's eyes (3 hours one way-too long for him!)  Of course they were waiting on me because I could only go 55mph!!!!!  You can barely see them through the windshield.    The pick-up is as good as new with all new tires and a trip to the body shop to replace the fender, wheel skirting, trim, and a few dents.  Lyndon still talks about the blow out.  He also has noticed that our blow out remains are still on the side of the highway every time we pass by which starts the conversation all over again.  Lyndon has really gotten into asking tough questions this past year like: "Momma would you rather have a blow out in your car or Daddy's pick-up?"  When you say neither one, that is never good enough you must pick and then be able to give reasons (lots of them) as to why you picked the answer you picked.  I am sure I will miss this some day! :)

It seems insane to have such a long post over a blow out-sadly we have done nothing in the last four weeks except school, so a blow out deserves a long post! :)

Just for the record: I have changed a tire before-Momma made me do it when I turned 16 just to prove I could if I had to; however, I probably never would for fear of who might stop.  Luckily I have never been stranded on the road except this one time.  Lyndon wanted to stand outside and look at the tire, but I wouldn't let him until Art arrived because I was scared of who would stop when they saw a mother and child staring at a tire.  I am sure everyone would be a very nice helpful person trying to do a good deed, but I am a WORRY WART!!!!!  I wouldn't have been able to get this spare down anyways.