Friday Catch Up

Friday, August 22, 2008

Hmmmm...I'm not feeling my best, but I don't want this to get behind in posts...bleh. If I felt better then I would be more detailed and probably more verbose so, for those who get twisted with wordiness, this entry will not irritate as much...enough words? :-o|

Still not sleeping like I would like, though last night I did get some hard sleep, where I didn't change positions for a matter of a few hours. I had to wake up in order to change positions, something that has become common with me. Often I wake up in the middle of the night, because the top sheet is stuck to me because of the sweating that's going on while I'm asleep. I know that's kind of gross thought, but it is what it is and something I contend with on a nightly basis. I have to sleep with a CPAP machine, as well as oxygen flow from an oxygen compressor beside my bed, and though I have gotten used to the mask that I have to wear, the tubing that connects the mask to the CPAP machine, never seems to be long enough and I end up waking up, because I can't turn my head or move my head without having to reposition the mask or the tubing. Without a doubt, I know this contributes to my inadequate sleep but I am unsure as to how I can remedy the situation.
More sleep, please. *sigh*

A show was on the ID network yesterday (go figure; I can't remember the name...) which included a story on a Sheriff who confronted a 70 year old man with documented clinical issues; the sheriff was there (with two other sheriffs) to physically evict the man from a vacant home he was living in. The issue was not so much that the man was being evicted, but it was the story of this particular sheriff and his daughter. Here's how it went: the sheriff was getting ready for work that morning and as he was getting dressed, his daughter came in and essentially begged him to wear his Kevlar vest, even though he was expecting to be at a desk (I think), so, due to his daughter's insistence, he wore his vest and left for work. In fact, he was called to serve an eviction notice and went to the residence with two other sheriffs to serve the older man staying there. after entering the house, the sheriffs were confronted by the man but he was holding a .45 automatic pistol. He pointed and shot the sheriff 3 times, hitting him in the chest all three times. Had the sheriff not been wearing his vest, the shots would have been fatal. As it was, when each bullet struck the vest, it ricocheted off and two of the three bullets ricocheted into his arms; one bullet to each arm, causing muscle, vain and artery damage in both arms. The two other sheriffs were not shot and because of how they were standing in the doorway at the time of the shooting, they were able to grab him as he was shot and they pulled him out of the doorway out onto the driveway, where they called for backup. So, to speed this up, he ended up getting into the hospital and they were able to stop the bleeding and currently, he is back on the force, full-time with no medical restrictions. Also worthy of note is that the police were eventually able to get the man out of the house without having to use deadly force, even though one of their own had been shot. I was truly amazed and proud of their restraint in dealing with this unstable man. It turned out that the law enforcement was able to contact the man's treating psychiatrist, and the psychiatrist told them to use a particular phrase with the man and that the man would respond to that phrase and essentially do whatever it was they were asking him to do because they used that phrase. That, in and of itself, was a victory in my book.
So, what's the deal with the daughter? When his wife got the call that he was injured and in the hospital, she went and picked up their daughter from school and she told her daughter that "Daddy's been hurt and is in the hospital." To which their daughter replied, "How are his arms? Are his arms alright?" This meant nothing to the mom, except that she didn't know why their daughter would ask that question so directly. When they both arrived at the hospital, they were able to go straight in and see him and the daughter then shared that while she was in her room that morning, there was a very bright light that appeared in the room and then out of the bright light stepped a woman dressed in gold shining very brightly and the woman told the little girl that she must convince her father to wear his vest today, that he will need it and it will save his life. That is why the daughter when to her father, asking him to wear his vest that morning. She then the shared that once she got to school, while she was out on the playground the same woman, who she then was referring to as an angel, told her that her father had been injured and was hurt in both arms, but that he would be alright after the doctors took care of him.
I thought this was so very cool to watch on a secular TV station and to have the real focus of the reenacted story to be that of God's intervention into the life of Islam and end his daughter. The paramedic, who was addressing his wounds at the scene had told him that the shots to the chest would have been fatal had he not been wearing his best, and he shared that his daughter had specifically asked him to wear his vest that morning in the paramedic said "...then your daughter saved your life today.". Thanks to the obedience of this child and, how incredibly that she was not afraid of an angel appearing in her room out of nowhere, her divinely given message to her father saved his life. Watching the story on TV actually gave me a sense of strength and reassurance.
**In case you haven't noticed, I'm definitely feeling somewhat better and as such, am a bit more "talkative", so to speak.**

Physical therapy has been going very well for me, as far as I can tell anyway. I think the same can be said for CC as well, though her issues are in her upper back, shoulders, neck and jaw, where my issues are global; full body. I have become more aware that I rebound faster after an attack, from a muscular standpoint, than I used to. When I was not pursuing the physical therapy. The simple things that everybody takes for granted, like putting on your socks and putting on shoes or slippers using your hands, reaching for a high shelf to put something away or take something down; we don't give much thought to these things. When our bodies are behaving as they should. In my case, I often can tell how my day is going to go physically, by whether or not put my socks on, easily or if it takes uncomfortable effort. I no longer reach with my right hand to reach for things on shelving and such, I typically use my left hand even though I am right handed. I say all of this, because I am now, more often than not, able to put on my socks, take off my socks, get my slippers or shoes on with less effort than it has taken in the past, and I attribute these successes to the work and effort that's being done in my physical therapy visits.

So here's what I can recall from the long weekend, last weekend, when CC took the kids on Thursday to Water World in Concord, and then the kids went to spend Friday through Sunday with Angel and Stephen, down in Hollister. From all reports, everyone had a very good time at the water park and there were no injuries and no issues and much fun was had by all involved, pretty much. After the water park, CC took the kids to a hotel that had an indoor pool. So the kids were able to swim to their heart's delight until the pool closed it like 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. that evening. The next morning, Friday, CC took the kids down into Milpitas, where Angel met them. After handing off the kids to Angel, CC headed back on up home and the kids went with Angel down to Hollister. I don't know what all they did in Hollister, I do know that they were able to go to the coast and they spent part of the day on Saturday at the beach playing in the sand. And I know that Friday night and Saturday night, both nights, the kids played video games and have fun and got very little sleep... the goal was for them to have a great time and I believe that's exactly what they did.
On Sunday, CC's sister Kimmy, connected up with Angel (Angel is Kimmy's daughter) and along with Kimmy's husband Steve, the three of them brought Missy and Joshua back home around mid-afternoon. I didn't realize how anxious I was to see them until they came through the door and I just didn't want to let them go. They came over and sat with me on the couch and shared with me how everything went, how much fun they had had and how they had missed their mommy and me. I was really glad that they were able to go and have a lot of fun, but I was really, really happy that they were back home within my reach.

Tomorrow morning, the kids begin their soccer games; of course, they will both be at two separate fields at two different times, which will take up the entire morning and will cause CC to spend most of it driving. I am planning to go to one field or the other, take my chair with me so that I can watch the game, comfortably and not have to walk all the way to the field and back; please be praying that whatever field I end up going to, does not have mud. That would be most problematic to me. I am planning on taking CC's digital video camera with me so that I can video Josh or Missy from where I sit, and then come back and uploaded into the computer and edit it. I'm hopeful, anyway.

Time to head down for dinner; I'll go ahead and post this so far, and then see if I can add more to it later.