How we are doing... AND our baby boy!

June Kellum

 

(from my Face Book page today)

It's a gloomy day here in north Fl.

 (Sunshine State-HA!!)

 It's not extremely cold, just dark and gloomy!

 

 Charles and I have both been sick since before Christmas with cold/flu symptoms. Charles went to the doctor yesterday (an appointment he already had scheduled) so he has meds -and breathing treatments to help him. He's a lot worse off than I am and has been sick a lot longer. If mine hangs on much longer I may have to go in too, but I'm hoping NOT!

I will have to take care of our sweet boy for the next 3 days!

Thankfully, the baby is almost over his bad cold!


LOL!! Here he is a couple days ago, sitting at my computer! Looks amazed at what he is seeing on my screen! ....You just never know what might pop up on 'Ginga's' computer!

 

Easy as...falling off a ladder...

~ 

Didn't mention it before but....

...yesterday I fell off a ladder after climbing up to clean the blades of a ceiling fan! I thought I was to the last step coming down, when, actually, I was 2 steps up! I fell hard, into the entertainment center,then, landing on my back and hitting my head on the floor. Nothing broken (and my head is ok -really!!!) but I am sore all through my body; just adding to the leg and back problem I already had.

....What's worrisome is that I'm needed to take care of Drake a few days a week...

Luckily, Chris has some vacation days off, the next few days so can take care of Drakey if Joy works this week!

Also-if I felt like it- I wanted to try to get back into some crafting-"DANG IT!!"

Hope I get better soon! How long does it take to recover from a stupid fall off a ladder?? I have things to do!!

Junie Rose

Update on my finger

June Kellum

 

(posted on Face Book today)

 

 

Update on finger:

Just got back from the visit with the Orthopaedic Group and as you can see from the picture the finger is not improved (after 6 weeks of wearing the splint)

The only other thing to do is surgery-however they do not recommend putting myself through the pain (putting a steel rod through the bone) and expense of it-as it would only improve the appearance-NOT the efficiency of the finger. I'm leaning toward just living with this messed up/ugly finger. At the moment it's painful-after being supported with the splint all those weeks. Hope that will improve soon!

Hey-I can live with this-just so long as I can do a little rose clipping and pick my wildflowers...and hold that new little grand baby that's due to arrive soon-I will be happy!

Love,
Junie

(3-27-2012-after 6 weeks, splinted)

 

 (2-15-2012-at time of injury)

 

Stupid Little Accident...

June Kellum

June Kellum

(FaceBook-last night)

Stupid little accident a couple hours ago.... I was cleaning a spot on the carpet with some cleaner/spot remover. Saw the need to use a cloth to get rid of the lather so it could dry and then be vacuumed....Welll- somehow THIS happened as I moved the rag back and forth!

 I was afraid it was broken but Tina thinks it's not..however it hangs down in this ugly-strange way! :( I can't straighten the finger out...Strangely, it's not very painful and not swollen.

Typing with the other fingers...

 I was in the process of cleaning the house a bit for out of town company tomorrow . They are just stopping in for a quick hello and a "hug,"(our niece Kathy said) so maybe they won't look too closely at my house! :) Hope so because I can't do anything, at this point!

Charles got me this splint, hopefully, it will help.

 Meanwhile, I'm going to check out the TV...One of those,
 "It is what it is" moments!

Love,

Junie

 

(FB-today)

June Kellum 

 Back!! Torn ligament in the finger and have to wear the splint for 8-to 12 weeks! :( The doctor told me the finger would heal, and be functional without treatment, but it would always turn down (as in the picture)....but who wants a droopy finger? Especially that middle one!! haha!! Just kidding....I don't want ANY droopy fingers on my little hands!

One good thing in all this...I expect I will have to drastically reduce my time cooking dinner-etc-can't do much serious stirring with a messed up right hand!

Junie

Packing away Christmas

June Kellum

(posted on Face Book today)

Knocked myself out yesterday in packing up my Christmas stuff...Got most of it done except dragging the tree out- Chas will have to help with that-bad back or not!!!! I was sooo tired I couldn't get to sleep when I went to bed at 1:00AM...At 3:30 I was still awake... so had to take a prescription sleeping pill. My Melatonin didn't work last night- I guess I was just too tired!! My goodness-couldn't believe it when I looked at the clock when I awoke this morning...10:30!!!! :) But I feel better and am ready to face the day.....and the Rest Of My Life!!

~~~

 

I am reminded of some lyrics from a Dan Fogelberg song...

 The song is "Loose Ends."

.."Surrounding myself with possessions, I surely have more than I need...I'm wondering if this is justice hard earned, or simply a matter of greed...."

 

LOL-

I'm sure Dan was not writing about putting away Christmas decorations...nonetheless...those words came to me!!

Junie Rose

Weekend Reflections_Nov 12, 2011 ~ Wichlacoohee River-near Hernando, Fl

~~~

~~

~go here for more "Weekend Reflections" posts~

~~~

We stopped here recently on our trip home following a medical appointment for my husband!
~

~

We've been here a few times before and I always find this tranquil beauty soothing to the soul!

Don't you?

~

Love,

Junie Rose

More skin surgery for Charles...

~~

Yesterday Charles had another appointment for skin surgery,this one on his ear. In the past he's had several such procedures done on his face, arms and hands etc. They are usually classified as precancerous...but sometimes NOT.  This one on the back of his ear was one of the more serious types and after the cutting out he had to have a small skin graft from a section of his face just in front of the ear.  He hasn't felt well today but, hopefully, will soon be on the mend.

The place where we have to go to have these things done is more than 40 miles from our house, (maybe 50) so it's a long day.

This was our beautiful fall sky yesterday. I took this when we arrived at the place...

The waiting room was comfortable and welcoming.  I liked this statue and our flag in the main waiting area.

They also had a coffee machine and cookies for the ones left to wait.

After a second trip back...after the cutting and testing...Charles was finally finished and ready to leave!

... Rescued me just in time, too, as another old lady had just started into  what looked to be a political tirade with me!  Whew!!

On our way home, we decided to stop for dinner at a restaurant we both love. Actually, this is one of the two  'Stump knockers' restaurants that we visit when it's convenient. One is located in the town of Inverness...this one of yesterday is near Hernando, right  next to the Wichlaccochee River!  This is a beautiful setting ; ideal for a Catfish/Seafood restaurant!

 

This is what the Catfish looks like!

Great!!

 

And this is our favorite - fried mushrooms!

After our meal, we took a few minutes  looking around the property outside by the river!

One of these days we're gonna take a riverboat ride up that lazy river!  Charles promised!!

Love

Junie

From my Face Book page today

 

 

June Kellum

 

Our daughter Tammy, was hit in the driver's side of her car yesterday as she drove to work . Thank God she has only bruises, as her airbag on the driver's side saved her from worse injuries! Her car, though, seems to be totaled! Thank you , GOD, for keeping my girl safe through this!

~

Junie

Health matters_IMHO

  ~~

   IMHO

Today I went for the 2nd installment of my 4 part, deep cleaning treatments for my teeth! Thursday I will go again for the 3rd. quad...and I suppose next week for the final 4th quad deep cleaning!

This is expensive, but necessary, to save my teeth!

Today's episode was not only uncomfortable but also painful as heck!!

  After the deep cleaning  is over it's been recommended that I will need to go in 3 to 4 times a year for regular cleaning- instead of the more usual, once yearly schedule! Oh, well!  You do what you have to- as long as you're able!

Seems like C. and I are having more than our share of bad luck these days... (but of course I'm just being petty and stupid to say that. We've got it better than a lot of people we know...still-It's normal to feel one's own problems more acutely, I think.)

Happens I'm still bothered with my sleeplessness quite often so am always tired.

Saturday night (before Mother's Day,) I did not  get to sleep at all...not one wink... finally got up at 5:00 after lying awake for hours!  :) But I got through the day somehow- even enjoyed being with the family  very much!

This day I've been going on under 5 hours of sleep last night! (hate it when I wake up 2 hours earlier than I need to - which was the case this AM)!) Tonight I will not hesitate to take a full dose of a sleep med my doctor has prescribed!

I'm happy to say Charles' injured leg is healing nicely... says our daughter, Tina! The dressing still must be changed daily but the hole is getting smaller and there's no infection!

Maybe we will be able to plan a belated anniversary trip in a few weeks...but no plans just yet!

  Junie

Update on Charles- (and getting ready for tomorrow-)

~~~

Have to say things are looking better tonight than they did yesterday morning-although you may not think so when you see these pictures...

OK~Yes-they do look bad but we feel it's the beginning of the healing process for C.'s injured leg!

This is the situation we had to deal with... the hit to the leg had caused this to happen!

( hematoma |ˌhēməˈtōmə| ( Brit. haematoma)
noun ( pl. -tomas or -tomata |-ˈtōmətə|) Medicine
a solid swelling of clotted blood within the tissues.)

 The pictures show the damage done...and we know it will not heal quickly but we do believe it will heal! It has to heal from  deep inside- outward!

This dressing will have to be changed every day for awhile...we hope not a LONG while.  It will have to be packed with the gauze  as the pictures show my daughter, Tina doing it!  She says she will come do it daily. I hope she can because I don't think I can do it.

You can see how deep this wound looks but actually, it's much bigger than the picture shows...it goes deep and wide (in a circle) under what we see in the picture.

Tina changing the dressing...

You can see by the gauze she removed how big the wound underneath is! 

This removal has to be done very carefully and slowly...with a liquid wound wash solution poured on as you work.

The new gauze goes in, wet with the same wound solution, and has to be pushed in deep.

Here Tina is packing the wound with new gauze.

I can't do that!!!

Charles says he feels a lot better now. He's been in constant pain for more than 2 weeks, so this is good to hear!

YES!  Things are getting better!

***

Even as I'm showing you these bad looking pictures...The girls and Dan are decorating our dining and living room for our celebration tomorrow!

  :) We'll enjoy our Easter-
AND our 50th wedding anniversary party!

***

Love,

Junie

A new turn...for the better-I hope!

  ~~

Just after my post this morning Charles got a call back from the wound clinic...They told him they had a cancellation and asked if he could come in today!  Of course he said yes and luckily Tina was not working today and was able to go with him!  I was thankful for that because I've been really stressed lately. Tina is a nurse and knows  the procedures and medical jargon....so I felt good having her go with her dad.

The wound doctor did exactly what Tina has been saying he needed to have done right from the start. The wound was opened and  cleaned out. Under the scab that had formed was a cavity that was filled with congealed blood.  Charles said it was  hard to believe the amount of old blood that was  removed from the hole.  He said  the doctor used  an instrument with a little spoon-like thing on the end of it, and kept dipping the stuff out!  It was very painful, even though the area had been deadened with shots. After it was cleaned out the wound was packed with a LOT of gauze...and this  will have to be changed daily. Tina , hopefully, can help with that...and show me how to do it,also. It has to be packed into the wound- not just put over it!  :(   (Well, maybe you didn't need to know all that- but I don't leave out many details,  :)  )

The trip, of course, is off-for at least 6 weeks .  

Tina was able to call and cancel our hotel reservations -and to get our $$$ refunded- even though  the rules were that it was not refundable if canceled.  Because it's a medical emergency they are bending the rules for us!

We will plan another trip when C. is recovered from this!  We'll have our celebration with the family this Sunday!  :)

Things are looking up!  :)

PS-You may remember last year on our anniversary Charles ended up in the hospital from another accident...and he developed pneamonia. We had a trip planned then also.We ended up losing  our $$ on that one.  The hospital gave us a surprise anniversary dinner, which was very nice!  :) At that time Charles joked...."Well,next year I might just break a leg!" True story!! LOL  

Do you think he planned all this???

Nahhh- has to be just bad luck... right?

Junie

Update: 4-22-11

~~

Sorry I've been absent all these days,but Everything is beyond my control around here.

Charles' leg wound is still very bad!

Not easy to see your doctor when you need to (even though he's been your personal doctor for more than 20 years) ...and they say "Go to the emergency room!" OK-That would be fine....except nothing is done there either.

  C.finally saw his reg doctor again today (a pre-set  follow-up appointment...he had called the office early this week, hoping to get in sooner, but his call was not even  returned) 

 ....So-NOW they see the wound needs opening up and recommend he go to a wound center for treatment...  the wound is backed up with stale blood ...and has been this way all along...Every person who has seen his leg, had to see this condition from the start-because it hasn't changed at all!! He called and is hoping to hear back and get something done today!  That's doubtful!

Our anniversary plans seem 'out the window,' though  C. still thinks we can make the trip!  I don't see how that will happen with things as they are. The $$$ spent for the hotels for 4 nights is 'down the drain,' as far as I can see!  C. says we can't lose that much $$$ so we'll make the trip!

OH BOY!  Just got a call back from the wound center and they can't see him until Monday morn-and we were supposed to leave early Tuesday for the drive to Savannah-about a 5-to-6 hour drive!  So I'm insisting, the trip is out of the question!

This has been a most stressful time for us all- and painful for Charles, and our plans were doomed from the start! I'm so angry and bewildered at the ineptness of the doctors he has seen and TRIED to see and failed! -and I'm especially 'put out' with our family doctor who has not been interested enough to give Charles the attention he needed,relying on his associates in his practice to see him and evaluate his condition and decide on what to do for him.

The kids have planned an early anniversary celebration for us here on Sunday- so we will at least have that!

That's the way it is at the moment!

Junie

Update: 4-17-11

 (posted on FB last night)

 

June Kellum

Update:

This is a picture of the injury to my husband's leg. He's still in a lot of pain and this picture is tame compared to seeing it in Real Life. I think the pain has diminished a little today for him but it's still swollen badly and red. It will take a lot of time to heal...

•  

  This happened 9 days ago! :( (Moving tree limbs with a tractor-a limb was thrown up by the tractor wheel, hitting him across the shin. It wasn't an open wound but a deep bruise..It erupted from inside ...

   
•  

  It really has been bad for him-and C. is not a softie by any means- It takes a lot to get him down!

   

   

   

   

  Junie

  
  

Update for Charles: (from my FB page)

June Kellum

Update for Charles:

He went in to ER early this morn. but it wasn't necessary to keep him. He was told the swelling is because of the accumulation of blood around the injury site...will just take time for it to be absorbed and swelling go down. More antibiotics were given but the wound wasn't drained or anything else. Blood tests were good. It will just take time to heal! :(

• • 
    

    June Kellum THANKS, for all your concern! We appreciate it very much!

    ~~~~

    Thanks  to all my blog friends for your concern!  It means a lot!

    
    

    
    

    Love,

    
    

    Junie

Health news-4-14-11

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Last Thursday Charles was doing some tractor work in the pasture...he was pushing up cut tree limbs into a pile for burning.  A tree branch flew up as he was working to maneuver the stuff where he needed it, hitting him across the shin. He said it was baseball bat  in size-and with the power behind it of that tractor wheel...

It's  been very bad...swollen and red...infected...a very deep bruise. Although the hit didn't even break the skin, the injury has erupted from inside. His leg from mid calf down is blue- except the red that spreads  several inches on all sides from the impact spot. He's  been in constant pain  since it happened.   He's on antibiotics and, hopefully, they will take care of the infection. He goes back to the doctor tomorrow and I hope and pray they can see a big improvement!

Just wanted to update for family and friends who care...

Junie

Show me the flowers!!

~~~

Just show me the flowers!

These days, that's the quickest way to get a smile out of this old gal!

  Give me a fine, spring day and it's flowers and I am happy...no matter what else the day and times may hold for me!

Walk with me through this spring day!

 ~

I bought some more flowers yesterday and would have planted them today but had a dental appointment.  Here are some pictures of them and the way they cheered me up and made me smile...even as I was headed out for my appointment with the dentist!

 

Flowers-grand babies and music ~

 3 of God's greatest gifts...Oh, and LOVE, of course, but LOVE is a built in essential part of all these other things, so it's there in all the things you hold dear to your heart; and goes without saying!

~~ 

The late afternoon brought showers...

 

but it was just what these flowers wanted and needed.

Look at the happy smiles!

Junie Rose

Alli's New Smile

~~

Look at this!!
(below)

Alli just sent me this picture of her new smile! Yes-she got her braces off today!

YIPPEE!!

She says it feels awesome!!

I think it LOOKS awesome, too!
(although you were always beautiful!)

Congrats, Alli!

I have admired Alli and  have been so proud of the way she's handled this braces  and oral surgery  ordeal - in her senior year of high school...when something like this would have been a big deal for a lot of 17-18 year old senior girls!

(One thing Alli is not lacking in is 'self confidence,'so she didn't let this overwhelm her)  

The problem was - the baby eye teeth on both sides had failed to come out at the proper time (around age 11, I think) and the permanent teeth grew above them but embedded in the gum  in a horizontal position. The baby teeth had to be taken out, with the hopes that the permanent teeth would then be able to come down. There was a chance these teeth wouldn't come down. If this happened, fake teeth would have to be put in those places. This required oral surgery of the gums around those embedded teeth- in order to get to them to start pulling them into the right position with wires and bands-etc. All of this was  a painful process for Alli...I think much more than the usual braces on the teeth-as a lot of pressure had to be used to get those teeth down.

Alli had the patience and faith that things would go well...and the will power and endurance to do exactly as she was instructed during this long process (more than 2 years) Never complaining or getting discouraged. Thankfully, the teeth DID start to come down into place!

Don't know if I'm explaining this in a way to be understood... LOL-I'm just very happy and excited for our girl right now!!

And here - after all these many long months/years - is the perfect smile of my granddaughter-Allison!! 

New Smile-2-10-11

4 days before removal of braces

Before the braces-etc-

in Nov 2008

On Graduation Day-

soon after the oral surgery had been done.

Proud of you, sweet girl!

Love,

Ginga

(happy,happy!)