Happy Birthday Dad (and Congrats!)!

Dad With His Biggest Supporters

As the longest serving professor in his department, my dad has won many awards for his research and teaching over the years. I still remember attending a fancy ceremony at the house of the university president when I was a very young girl. But after that, I missed out on my dad's other big awards because I was too sick to go. I missed the biggest of his awards several years ago, and it broke my heart.

Last year, Dad won a big award for his research--Distinguished Research Professor--and I finally got to go to the reception and ceremony to support him. It made my heart so happy to feel well enough to be there to support him and the incredible ways he has contributed to his field. 

My Favorite Professor

We all had a good laugh when the dean made sure to mention that no other professor in the college had served as many years as my dad has--he is now in his 41st year and still going strong!

It's incredible to watch Dad wake up every single day still loving his chosen field of study. It leaves me in awe. To discover your passion and remain so engaged year after year? Wow! 

Classes started this week, and Dad is back at it teaching two seminars.

At the Award Reception

In addition, Dad celebrated the big 74 this week. 

Dad says he can't believe he's 74. He says he feels just as peppy as ever. And just as immature. :)

It's a formula that seems to be working for him.

Who Needs An Olympic Medal?

For both Father's Day and his birthday we got to go out to dinner together, which is so special, because those are the kinds of things we were never able to do together. It's great father-daughter bonding time. 

Chatting It Up With Colleagues

In addition to being the family scholar, Dad is also, well, my dad. He loves me more than anything in the world. 

Because of Dad's generosity and hard work, I have been able to receive all of the medical care that I need and want. Without his help, I would never be on the path to healing. I don't talk a lot about how we pay for all of my needs on my blog, but without my dad and his caring heart, I would not be where I am today. Every day my needs are met because of my parents. This is a gift of monumental proportions. One for which I do not know how to ever, ever, ever thank my parents enough. 

Their willingness to sacrifice for me in the ways they do is humbling.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Dad's biggest gift to me, though, is not only the love he shows me through his support of my medical needs, but through his constant belief in me. Dad always believed that I would get better. He never gave up. He just kept believing it. He loved me through it all. We as a family have been through so much, and I am so blessed to have my Dad on my side through it all. He's steadfast and loyal. He's smart and philosophical. He's funny and goofy. He works hard at being a good dad.

Thank you for all that you do for your daughter. 

I love you, Dad and I wish you a healthy and happy year! 

Happy Birthday!

Love,

Champ

Red Curry

Me and Red Curry

I'm pleased to introduce you to the newest member of our family: Red Curry! :) 

Sexy, Sporty and Safe!

On June 2nd I picked up my new car, a red Mazda 3 hatchback, that Dad purchased for me to drive.

Isn't it the cutest, sexiest, sportiest little car? :) 

It was just last year at the end of September, that I decided to try driving Mom's car. 

Life is changing so quickly I can't keep up. It's overwhelming. It's exhilarating. It's stressful. It's fantastic. 

This post is so much less about a car than it is about where I find myself this June--the month I will mark 18 years since I first experienced debilitating symptoms of chronic illness.

This post is about the symbolic nature of being in a place in which I need a car and feel well enough to do my own driving on a regular basis. 

It's about how I leave the house almost every day, sometimes more than once a day.

It's about how I now have the freedom to go where I what to go and Mom has the freedom to go where she wants to go without and conflict over sharing a car.

Before last year, I had not driven since 2001. In 2002, I had given up my first and only car, a sky blue 1989 Ford Tempo that my dad purchased for me at a farm auction when I was 16.

This time, when Dad realized that I needed a new car, we did a TON of research, lots of test-driving and lots of discussing. We wanted a new car with great safety features. I finally narrowed the decision down to either a Honda Civic or a Mazda 3. As you can see, the Mazda 3 won and I am over the moon happy with my decision.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE driving this car. I LOVE how fun it is to drive. I LOVE the red. I LOVE the freedom. I LOVE being able to drive and listen to music and sing along again. I LOVE everything that this car stands for in my new life.

Happy!

How in the heck do you thank someone for buying you a CAR? I really don't know how I will ever thank my dad. When I tried to, he said it was some of the best money he had ever spent. He told me how we had all waited for this day and dreamed that I would reach a point in my life again where I would be well enough to drive and experience life in so many new ways. He complimented me on my persistence on the road to recovery.

I told him the best money he had ever spent was on medical care, specifically that which I receive at Hopkins and at PT.

I feel a little self-conscious about having a new car, a little intimidated by something so shiny and new, and a lot spoiled. 

However, as I've told people about my dad's choice to buy me a new car and shared how excited I am to be driving and to have so much freedom, I have felt no judgment--only joy, happiness, and excitement for my new life and new freedom. 

Go Warriors! Go Red Curry!

The evening after I picked up the car, Mom and I headed to a nearby sports bar to watch the Warriors play Cleveland in the first game of the playoffs. This was another 'first' for me--chilling at a sports bar watching a game and drinking a beer!

The Warriors won!

Watching the Warriors in the Finals

I know the best gift I can give my dad in return is to enjoy my car to the fullest, to continue to heal as much as possible, and to continue to take joy in my new life. Because after all, that's what our family has dreamed about for 18 years--a healthy, happy Emily.

Blessings,

Emily

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Shhhh, I won't tell anyone how old you are! No one will guess anyways because you look younger than you are. :)

Dad is a hard guy to find a gift for, so I decided this year now that I am feeling better the best gift would be that of time and a meal together. We enjoyed a seafood buffet (lots of crab legs were eaten!) on Friday evening at one of Dad's favorite landmarks in town.

It was so nice to be able to GO OUT and celebrate together!

A very very very happy birthday to you, Dad. 

Thank you for being loyal, protective, smart, funny, supportive and 'by my side' through thick and thin. Thank you for all of the hard work you have put in to make sure that I can have things that would otherwise be financially impossible--especially the continued medical expenses that seem never ending. I know you have sacrificed a lot to make sure I have everything I need. 

Know that you are appreciated and loved, and that I hope this year is one filled with good health and many blessings.

Love, 

Champ

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday to my dad!

Dad, Abbie and I went out for lunch last weekend to celebrate (a little early). We enjoyed a leisurely lunch at a local restaurant that I had not been to yet. It's so exciting to be able to go out to lunch, enjoy a good meal, and celebrate together. 

Thank you, Dad, for your constant emotional and financial support throughout my life and, especially, during these years of illness. You are as goofy as ever, still smart as a whip, and always kind, generous and loyal to me. We grow stronger in our love as the years pass.

Here's to a happy and healthy year for you!

Love, 

Champ

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Professor Dad

Happy Father's Day to my Dad!

This year we really get to enjoy celebrating--we'll be going out to a new Thai restaurant in town, I've got a gift ready to go, and then Dad even agreed to stop at Talbot's to look at shoes for my reunion. I am sure his favorite part of our father-daughter date day will be shoe shopping! :) I'm so excited to be able to really spend time with Dad on his special day.

I snapped these photos of Dad one day for his webpage and thought they were great shots of him.

Professor Dad

I'd also just like to shout out to my dad how much I love him.  I think I learn to love him more every day. After many years of struggle we've come to a place of peace, understanding, respect, compassion, and nurturing. I'm sad we missed out on years of this type of closeness, yet I try to live in an understanding that maybe this was our journey and our path to each other. Still, I think of the time we have left and savor it.

Thank you, Dad, for your counsel, for your wisdom, for your constant support, for your commitment to my present and to my future, for your hard work, for your sense of humor, for your compassion, for your 100% stand-by-me on my medical journey no matter what attitude, for your perseverance through your own life, for your passion, and most of all, for your love.

Happy Father's Day!

Love, 

Champ

Monday Dog Blog: Serenaded

Dad is Here! :)

The puppies had a visit from one of our favorite people this week. 

Swing Low Sweet Chariot

Dad serenaded them with Swing Low Sweet Chariot and other favorites.

Hmmm...We're Not Too Sure About His Singing

As you can see from this photo series, Tovah Rose and Gershwin were not too sure what to think about Dad's singing.

Please Stop Dad!

But we were all still happy to have a visit from Dad.

Gershwin and Tovah Rose: Too Tired to Fight?

Never having had a sibling, I can only imagine that T and G are a bit like human siblings. One moment Tovah Rose is mad at Gershwin for 'invading her space' and the next I find them 'spooning' like this? 

Happy Monday!

Blessings,

Emily

Story Corps with Dad

"100 years from now, what will it mean to have recorded and preserved the voices and experiences of everyday people?"

--Story Corps Website--

Our Story Corps Pic

Our local NPR station has been doing its own version of the national project known as Story Corps. 

In August, Dad and I traveled to one of the agricultural exhibitions in town to record an interview together--me interviewing him about what it was like growing up on a farm in Iowa.

NPR has been a part of the fabric of our lives for so long,, and Story Corps is such a special project. When Story Corps has traveled to other places near us, I've not felt well enough to even consider going. But this year, I was able to go! And, the topic was a perfect one to do with Dad.

I so loved interviewing Dad for 45 minutes about growing up on the farm. He has so many good stories to tell and such a good memory for his life experiences.

Our interview will be airing on our local station on Monday. For privacy reasons, I have not posted the link to the interview, but if you'd like to hear it please shoot me an email and let me know, or check out the family website and check under 'News' for the link.

Father's Day: Asher Won't Hold Still!

Dad and I have had a good year together, filled with some really special bonding. I don't know what it is about girls and their dads, but sometimes these relationships can be hard. Dad and I are sticking it out and trying to be better in our father-daughter bond. He keeps sticking by me, supporting me so much through this illness. I'm very blessed to have parents who can and will financially support me--not only my medical needs but my enjoyment of life as well. I always worry about being a bag lady!

I Guess I Wore the Same Dress for Both Events?!

For Father's Day, I was able to take him out to lunch at a Japanese restaurant, and for his birthday we were able to go to lunch at a fun little local coffee shop. This is the first year I've ever been able to go out to eat meals! 

Blessings,

Emily

Birthday With Dad and Abbie

Love This Pic of Us!

Dad and Abbie came over this weekend to celebrate my birthday. Here I am with my new purse, book on CASSETTE (yes, this book only comes on cassette and I still have a cassette player), and Emmylou Harris CD. 

My friend Ellen has been encouraging me to listen to the book of letters between Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning as an example of a love story between a woman who is very physically ill and her husband to be.

Abbie and Tovah Rose

Twinkle Toes is a bit over exuberant in her greetings sometimes and Abbie has fragile skin, so she comes prepared with a pair of socks! This always cracks me up. Tovah was so settled in on Abbie's  lap she cold barely keep her eyes open.

Dad and His Buddy Gershwin

Dad loves to be with the pooches.

He and I are having a daddy-daughter birthday date on Saturday at Barnes and Noble to do a little shopping and have a cup of tea together. I'm so excited to be able to go on an outing!

Thanks for starting off my birthday week with a nice visit Dad and Abbie!

Blessings,

Emily

Happy Birthday Dad!

Dad gets ready to blow out the candles!

Before I sent my computer to the fix-it shop, I was able to upload some photos into Blogger so that I could complete the posts with text later (as my netbook doesn't have access to my photo library). So over the next few days, you will be seeing a few Summer Highlights. I will have to wait until my computer returns for more serious writing!

Ta da! Hope his wish comes true! Now, it's time to EAT this blackberry crisp.

Because it is so hard for me to go out, Mom generously agreed to cook dinner for Dad's birthday. We had a lovely dinner and visit.


Dad spent his birthday as he often does: teaching his first day of classes!

Dad and Daughter.

Happy birthday Dad! I hope this year is wonderful one for you!


Love,
Champ

Dad Gets TLC from Asher (at home)...

Dad is HOME! :)


This afternoon I received the following phone call:


D: I have some good news. Well, I think it is good news.


Me: What?


D: Well, they are ready to send me home, but they are concerned about me taking it easy when I get home and not pushing too hard too fast. 


Me: Yes, I'm worried about that too.


D: Sooo, I have worked out a compromise with them. I can go home as long as I have Asher to take care of me and help me take it easy.


Me: What?


D: We will be getting out of here soon, and will stop over at your place to pick Asher up on our way home.


At this point he really had me believing that he wanted Asher for comfort. (Asher is the king of taking care of sick people, as you know.). I don't know how I fell for this from Dad. 


Finally, I hear Abbie in the background telling me not to fall for Dad's plan. I DID end up making the great sacrifice of offering that Asher go over to be with Dad today, but we ended up planning for Asher to go over tomorrow instead. As most of you know, I am with Asher ALL of the time and hate being apart from him even when he is at the groomer or when we make our trips to see Dr. Complex!


Once I figured out that Dad was pulling my leg, I told him I would talk to him later and that he must be feeling just fine to be so full of himself!


Your brother Darrell/Uncle Darrell is back in full form it seems! 


It is going to be hard to get him to take it easy. He had already been on email this afternoon after he got home from the hospital. I told him that Asher has requested a LOT of cuddle time and undivided attention, that Dad must sit on the reclining sofa and pet Asher all day long. 


Blessings, 


Emily

Dad Reads the New York Times (in the hospital)

Just a quick little update for family and friends on Dad.


Today he said that he could feel himself improving as the day went on. He could feel his lungs getting clearer. He was able to get up for a little walk. He was transitioned from progressive care to the med-surgical.


I can tell he's hanging in there okay based on the following:


1. He had energy to read The New York Times and part of a book on gender and law. When my dad stops wanting his NYT and sociology books...well, then it is really time to worry! When Mom went up to visit today, she said it looked like he had brought his office to the hospital with him.


2. He likes to talk a lot normally, but on the steroids, he is even MORE talkative. He is so high on steroids I don't think he realizes how tired he will be when he comes home. And we all wonder how I got to be such a talker?


3. He is really enjoying telling his 'warrior stories' about his medical experiences, especially those that happened at the urgent care facility before his ambulance ride to the ER.


I am really not trying to make light of this situation here. However, I think that he has really received excellent care and monitoring so far. I've been impressed by how careful they have been in terms of monitoring his heart during the pneumonia and he's seen both an internist and a cardiologist. We/he had a little scare when he had an abnormal EKG, but all (extensive) follow-up has showed things are good. He will do a stress test in a few weeks to make sure the pneumonia did not affect his heart in any way. 


It was a bit hard to have two parents in a short time span go through being monitored with EKGs, stress tests, blood enzymes, etc. With Dad, though, we were pretty sure that what happened to him (near fainting, fast heart rate) was the result of the pneumonia (it was). At first Mom and Abbie kept withheld all of this information so that I wouldn't freak out! :P


I'm hopeful that he will continue to improve, and I really think that we have learned a LOT about how to prevent this from happening again. (He's very prone to respiratory infections due to other pre-existing conditions). 


Tonight, Dad said that he felt so much better that it was really amazing in the sense that he didn't realize HOW sick he was to begin with. Now that he is starting to improve, he can really see the difference. He's been a real trooper about the entire hospital stay (at least to me on the phone), and I'm honestly super proud of him because he is someone who hates a basic blood draw. 


We are not sure yet of his release date...but I'll keep y'all updated as I am able! It is going to be harder to get him to pace himself when he goes home. (I dread this part, but Abbie is going to have to deal with it more than I am--thankfully she is PATIENT!!! :)). 


Thanks for all of the good thoughts and prayers.. We DO agree that we all need to stay out of the hospital for a while! I have been blessed with relatively healthy parents and NO hospital stays for either of them in my entire 35 years, so this has all been a little surreal. 


While dad was in the hospital seeing one cardiologist from the practice we all go to, I was seeing another of the cardiologists. I wonder what sort of frequent flier/patient miles we can accrue to use towards a healthy year next year? 


Blessings,


Emily

Dad Watches the Masters (In the Hospital?)

Well, Dad took his Masters viewing to a new level today. Instead of getting to watch it on his fancy new 55" HDTV, he watched the conclusion from Room 233 at the hospital. Yeah, he's pretty excited about his new HDTV, even though I question his abilities to operate it and he's not that into gadgets. Recently he asked me what an app was and, while he bought me a Droid,, I'm not sure understands what exactly it is. I really think he just wants a TV bigger than his brother Larry. :))


The short of it all is that he is in the hospital with pneumonia. Abbie made a really good decision to take Dad in for care today, rather than waiting until Monday to call the doctor. Thank goodness for Abbie!


He is on IV fluids, steroids, and antibiotics and receiving breathing treatments. Abbie felt that he was so tired he would sleep tonight, and that he was doing much better than when they had arrived at the ER. The ER doctor said that he was past the point at which oral antibiotics would be effective, so he gets to hang out at the hospital for a bit instead.


By the time I talked to him this evening he had spent most of the day in the ER, finally gotten admitted to a room, watched the end of the Masters and had some dinner (which said tasted good!). He was so exhausted he wasn't making a whole lot of sense, but he said he already felt better than he had earlier in the day. 


While I am my usual anxious and worry-wart self, we are all feeling good that he is getting the care he needs and Abbie did a GREAT job being intuitive about what might be wrong when she heard a rattling sound when he was breathing this morning. He's dealing with what he thought was a respiratory bug all week. 


I wanted to put out a little blog post with the news since so many family members read my blog, and I don't have the website up and running well at all. I'm hoping y'all will read, spread the word, and say some good prayers. I have no doubt that our family can spread the word quickly and say lots of rosaries!


We hope Dad's first hospital stay since 1958 (!!!) will be a short one. He felt well enough to say he was already ready to fly the coop and they would likely release him at midnight tonight. It's going to be so hard for him to take this time that his body needs to recover. He'll be reading his journal articles, dissertations, and whatnot in the hospital!


Blessings,


Emily