Simply A Musing Blog

*Note - this is a long post, so grab some coffee and a bagel, because it's going to be a while. I've stared at this blinking cursor on the page for too many days, trying to put words on virtual paper...where do I even begin? I've had a month's worth of blog posts happen in a very short time, so I'll probably resort to a bulleted list at some point. We spent Saturday together as a family - the eldest was farmed out to her best friend's house for the night and we had the two youngest with us as we grocery shopped and spent the evening just goofing off. It was around 7:30 p.m. or so when we arrived home, and we were just settling in to watch a movie before the kids went to bed when I received a phone call from one of my brothers on my cell phone. Two things on this: A.) I rarely answer my cell phone if my family is together, because...well, I'm not a slave to my phone and I don't really like talking on it; and B.) I have five living brothers (in order...

Oh my word. Well, that was revealing, wasn't it? I am seriously trying to resist the urge to pluck it from the world wide web and chuck it into the recycle bin. I think I'll tell you a story from my childhood to get my mind off of yesterdays unfortunate post. I grew up on a farm in South Texas. To be more exact, my family was the hired help for the Rich Man who owned the big farm in South Texas. My daddy, though loving, was not exactly the sort of man you depended upon...he couldn't hold a job for very long because he couldn't stay sober long enough to do it. Mama never held this against him, but she didn't let him stay around when he was drinking, so he'd disappear for long periods of time and then, bam, there he was again. Like nothing had ever happened...I was too young not to realize this wasn't normal, but my brothers all resented him for it. The rest of us worked twice as hard to make up for what daddy lacked. Besides, the Rich Man was never there and...

I spent a good portion of the day at the hospital yesterday with Bob and Diane. My eldest brother, Jim, also came in from out of town and was there when the Dr. came in to shed a little more light on where we are at. Basically, Bob came in to the hospital with several very serious things wrong with him, which is really unusual for someone his age. In addition to suffering a stroke in the ER, we have learned he also has meningitis. The spinal tap fluid was cloudy, indicating an infection. It will take several days for the cultures to determine what type it is, so that I don't know. The good news is that the Dr. said that it wasn't viral, which means that the antibiotics he's been on from day one will also treat the meningitis. He still hasn't come to, and that's what's puzzling the Drs. -- the strokes did not affect his mobility as far as we know. He's able to move pretty freely in his sleep, which thankfully he's getting now. The last stroke was in his f...

To those of you who have prayed for my brother or sent emails with well wishes, THANK YOU. His condition has not changed much, but we do have a little more information. His heart is clear of any infection, as are all of his other vital organs. The Drs are performing a spinal tap today to see if perhaps he has meningitis. It has also been confirmed that he has suffered another stroke since he's been in the hospital, but to what extent, we really aren't sure. The Drs. are flummoxed as to how he could have come in with so many DIFFERENT problems, none of them seemingly related to one another. He did recognize my SIL yesterday and acknowledged her presence, as well as raising his hand when the nurse asked him to. He's still in an incredible amount of pain because the toxins in his body are throughout his bloodstream, but the Drs. say that will decrease over the next few days as the antibiotics fight off the infection. We have been told he will be in the hospital for at least an...

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed, and through the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. --Psalm 46:1-2" Thanks to my husband, I was able to spend several hours at the hospital with my brother and his wife yesterday evening sans the kiddos. The Dr. had him moved to Cardiac ICU so they could monitor him more closely (not because his condition was any worse), but they are puzzled by the fact that he is still not able to speak coherently and by the fact that he is in so much pain. This is the timeline of how he came to be in the hospital in the first place: He has had severe back problems for the last few years and just last year had a rod placed in his back, so when his back started hurting worse, he applied more pain patches to the area. Apparently, it was not his back, but his kidneys that were infected - which went on for several weeks until he became so ill that he could barely ...

UPDATE: He has been transferred to the ICU...the Drs. are running some more tests to try and determine the cause, but if they are unable to do so within the next 24 hours, they are considering transferring him to Baylor Medical in Dallas. That's where we are at right now. I have an urgent prayer request - one of my brothers was admitted to the hospital here yesterday with an infection of some sort that has turned septic in his body. He is in an incredible amount of pain, unable to speak, and incoherent. This man has been more like a father to me than a brother, since my dad died when I was nine. I am really concerned for him and covet your prayers. I'll keep you posted on his progress. In the meantime, thanks in advance for your prayers. We serve a mighty God who is MORE than able to deliver him from this, if it is His will.