Saturday, July 13, 2013

I left the house a little before 8am for the hospital.  I listened to 2 Nephi 8-9 on the way over.  I tried to call James but his phone went straight to voicemail.  I just thought he was on the phone  I stopped at the McDonald's on Indian School and Hayden for some oatmeal and orange juice for James.  When I get to the hospital I ask James where his phone is.  He doesn't know.  We begin a search, but no phone.  The night nurse, Mandy, cleaned up and moved everything around and now James's phone is gone.  I am so upset that in her attempt to clean she was so careless as to lose his phone.  I can think of no other explanation.  James seems to think she threw it away in the See's candy bag he had.  His Superman watch I got him for Father's Day is also missing.  He wants me to go outside and check the hospital dumpster.  I think his judgment is a little impaired because of the drugs he is on. 

James is feeling a little better today until he gets out of bed to get cleaned up, then he feels the pain!  While he is us Lisa, the nurses aide and I change the sheets on the bed and look for the phone.  No luck. The sad thing is that all of his contacts both business, personal and church are in that phone.

Lloyd and his wife Tracy come by for a visit.  Tracy finds the Verizon number for us and we call and stop the service on James's phone.  Tracy is a 6'5" black girl from Long Island, New York.  She and her Mom ran a cupcake bakery there.  She has been a member of the Church for 3 years.  She and Lloyd met via the Church singles site on the internet.  She seems nice.  I like her. 

The Desert Highlands job starts Monday so Lloyd and James have a meeting to make sure everything is ready.  Gail is coming down from Oregon to help with the job.  James did not ask him to but did tell him about the job.  That is just the kind of brother Gail is.  The stress of the job is that they want it done in one week. 

Lance and Karen Schneider came by for a visit this afternoon.  They brought dark chocolate covered almonds from See's.  They are James's favorite. 

Sheri, Ian, Alex, Ben, Max, Evan, and Michael also came by for a visit this afternoon just as Karen and Lance were leaving.  They brought James some chicken marsala from Olive Garden.  Usually this is one of his favorite things to eat but because of his loss of appetitie he just couldn't finish it all. 

James and Evan

After eveyone was gone I went down to the cafeteria and got us some dessert.  This lemon cream cake was delicious!

This evening we watched a movie called "Firelight" about a young girl who went to prison and then turned her life around and provided the inspiration for others to also turn their lives around.  It was good.

James got his bandage changed this evening.  This is something I will be doing when we get home.

Why is it so red?

My favorite character from Glee died today.  He played Finn Hudson.  His name was Cory Montieth.  He died of a drug and alcohol overdose.  So sad.  He was only 31.  Although I no longer watch Glee I enjoyed Finn's character because he was so good, most of the time.

Friday, July 12, 2013

I try to leave for the hospital but one of James's workers, Lauro (Christopher Gallegos) is here looking for a check.  I call Cindy at Comprehensive Business.  She sent the check on Wednesday so it should be here sometime today.  It is hard to communicate because Lauro does not speak very good English. 

At the hospital, James looks better than he did last night, but he is still in alot of pain.  I bring him his favorite breakfast, oatmeal and orange juice from McDonald's.  Darrel comes by for a visit on his way home from school. 

For lunch I get James a salad with beets from the cafeteria downstairs and a chicken mushroom swiss sandwich from the grill.  He doesn't like the sandwich, but I do. 

While James is napping I remember I need to make a deposit into National Bank.  The closest one around, according to MapQuest, is 4040 E. Camelback Rd. in Phoenix.  While I was gone Zaki came by for a visit.  He is gone by the time I return.  We play a game of Five Crowns.  Stacy, Paul, Michael and Joshua come for a visit.  James is not very good company because he is so groggy. 

Michael visiting at the hospital

Paul, Stacy, Michael and Joshua leave to go to dinner at Lola's Chicken and Waffles.  They bring me back chicken and waffles.  They were very tasty but I could only eat about 2/3's.  James didn't want any.  He had Ensure for dinner.  At this rate I am going to gain weight while he is losing.  Skinny and Fatty.

I leave for home around 7:45 as James gets ready for bed.  I leave his phone on the table on the right side of his bed where he can reach it.  There is also a See's candy bag there.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

I had an appointment at the dentist this morning.  It seems the impression for my crown was lost and I had to have a new one made.  The last one kept falling out.  I hope this one is better.  Afterwards I went to the bank and then on to the hospital.  Lloyd was there when I arrived talking to James about the job he is doing for him at Desert Highland Golf Course.

They came and got James around 11:30 to take him to the surgical waiting room.  I went with him.  We waited until 1pm for them to finally take him into surgery. His anethesiologist is Dr. Gilbert and his surgeon is Dr. Ortega.  Just down the street in downtown Scottsdale there is a jewelers called Gilbert Ortega.  I just thought that was funny. 

Sheri came to stay with me and brings me a drink.  We go for a ride and end up at McDonald's for a hot fudge sundae and a chocolate dipped cone.  She waits in the surgery waiting room with me until around 3:30.  She leaves to take her boys to Hamilton pool.

Josh and Evan at Hamilton Pool

I wait until after five o'clock when Dr. Ortega finally comes in to talk to me.  He tells me that James has three metal plates in his leg which will stay and a screw to attch ligaments which may come out. He said he had two bones that were completely shattered. ( Later I learned that James also has a rod in his leg.)

While I was waiting for James to come out of the recovery room I went down to the cafeteria and met Zaki.  He didn't know the surgery was today and he came for a visit.  He waited for awhile and then decided to leave.  He is very pleasant to talk to and we had a nice visit. 

James finally returns to his room around 7pm.  He is miserable!!  I stay until 8:30 when he finally goes to sleep.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

I got a call from Presidential Realty today about getting our house ready to put on the market.  I told them this wasn't a good time and to call me back next week.

On the way to the hospital I stopped by Lois's to get an apricot pineapple pie for James.  I arrived at the hospital around 9:30, my usual time.  James had a Slimfast shake and apricot pineapple pie for breakfast.

For lunch I got turkey enchiladas and green beans for lunch but they were both disgusting.  Luckily Sheri and Kim were on their way over and they stopped at Whataburger and got us each a Whataburger Jr.  Yummy!  After we ate lunch Sheri, Kim and I left to go to Sweet Tooth Fairy to get cake bites and cupcakes.  On the way we stopped at See's and got dark chocolate almonds and dark chocolate truffles for James.  When we got back from the trip, Sheri and Kim visited awhile and took some pictures.

We have such sweet caring daughters!

After Kim and Sheri left James and I played a couple of rounds of Five Crowns.  I won both so I am afraid it didn't do much to cheer James up.  

James has his second surgery tomorrow.  He sent me the sweetest text this evening:

"Goodnight sweetheart.  Be sure to ask in your personal prayers tonight for the Lord's tender mercies to bless us with more of the love and passion that keeps us close and in each others hearts and minds, and which helps us remain hopelessly in love with each other.  The love I feel and experience with you so often for me, is a sacred feeling which can't be described in words.  It leaves me with a feeling of gratitude never to be forgotten; a feeling which I can only attempt to describe as euphoria because of the lack of adequate vocabulary in the English language to express it. The bottom line is you are loved beyond my ability to express with words alone.  

Good night sweetheart!"

This almost made me cry.

 

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

I was up at 6:30 this mornng.  I took a shower, washed my hair and dried some clothes.  I left for the hospital around 8:45 after having prayer and scriptures.  I went to get gas and then went to the bank.  I stopped at McDonald's to get James some oatmeal for breakfast. 

James is tired and sleeps most of the morning while I am there.  At 1pm Scott West from Presidential Realty comes by to talk about selling our house.  We signed papers to list the house for $446,000.  I am a little disappointed because I wanted to sell it right now, as is, to the investors for $360,000. 

Trina and her kids came by for a visit this afternoon.  They went to look for a See's candy store but could only find a Godiva one at Scottsdale Fashion Square so they brought James Godiva chocolates

 Addy, Rowan, and Ruby

James and I had salad and chili for dinner from the grill.  I left around 7:30 for home.  Sheri invited me to go get Froyo with her, Alex, Evan and Max. 

I went to bed around 10pm. 

Monday, July 8, 2013

Happy 21st Birthday Jared Ammon!

On the way to the hospital I stopped at McDonald's for a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit.  When I got to the hospital I went to the grill and ordered James a veggie omelet.  He liked it but really doesn't have much of an appetite.  I got him a toothbrush at Walmart this morning and after breakfast I helped him clean up in the hospital bathroom.

James is on roommate #3.  His name is Eric.  He was in a car accident recently.  His leg had an infection and he broke five vertebrae.  Something was fishy though.  He just decided to get up an leave the hospital.  He didn't even last a day.  At one point someone from the hospital finance department came in and asked him some questions.  He said he makes a penny a card in royalties and last month he made $20,000, but he doesn't really have a place to live.  

I went to CVS this afternoon to get some adhesive for my temporary crown which keeps falling out.  When I returned Stacy, Dallin, and Joshua were visiting with James.

Dallin visiting with James in the hospital

Grandpa and Joshua

We had a nice visit with Stacy and the boys.  Sorry I didn't get a picture of Stacy.  After they left Zaki Shakir came by and brought James an orchid plant.  

James got a new roommate this evening.  His name is John and they think he had an appendicitis.  He and James got into a bit of a war with the TV's tonight.  John was watching something and then James decided he wanted to watch but he couldn't hear because John's TV was too loud so he turned his TV up and then John turned his up.  Finally I said: "This is ridiculous, let's just turn our TV off."  We were trying to watch War Horse and John was watching Dark Shadows.  

I help James get ready for bed and then I leave to go home.  He texts me but accidentally sends it to Zaki.  This is what he said: "Goodnight, babydoll."  I told him I hoped Zaki's wife didn't see the text because then she really wouldn't trust him.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

James and I were both sad to miss our meetings today.  Kim, Brian, and Joe attended fast and testimony meeting in the Vernon ward.  Kim sent me this text: : Brian, Joe and I went to your ward today.  It was one of the most spiritual meetings I have ever been too.  You have an awesome ward!"  We really do have an awesome ward and I surely do miss it.

Laura called.  She and Dave are still in Idaho but she wanted to check on James.  Also Lois and Dawn visited this afternoon.  The walk to the room is quite long and I think it discouraged Lois from coming again. 

The doctor came in and said the second surgery would not be tomorrow because the swelling has not gone down enough. 

Rowan and Darrel came by for a visit.  Rowan watched Sponge Bog while Darrel visited. 

We actually ordered James's first meal today.  He ordered cod but said it was so overcooked that it was rubbery. 

James got a new roommate.  His name is Harold.  He has a bad cough because he smoked for 50 years.  I hope he makes it through the night.

I went back home to Chandler around 7:30.  Joshua was outside playing in the sprinkler.  He says: "Hi Grandma, have you been to the hospital and to Church?  I said, well Joshua, I have been to the hospital but I didn't get to go to Church.  He says:  "I didn't go to Church either."  I said, "Oh, that makes me said."  Joshua says: "Why?" 

Stacy fixed me a nice dinner.  Chicken, rice, corn, and biscuits.  It tasted good.  I watched The Next Foodnetwork Star.  Chris went home.  I wanted it to be "Pie Man" Rodney. 

Kim sent me a picture of the sunset and said it was raining. 

I miss Vernon