Busy 5 Days

This past 5 days have been very busy - Wednesday we took Aunti Vi to have her tooth pulled at the oral surgeon's. She did fine during the extraction and had very little pain/discomfort from it. We stayed with her until about 4:00 and then headed home. I did call her later on in the evening and she was still doing okay. 8:00 Thursday morning, she called me and said her left leg wouldn't support her and she couldn't walk. I couldn't do anything at that point since I was leading Bible study at 9:30. I told her we would stop down after Bible study and check on her and make a decision about her dentist appointment that afternoon (they needed to get an impression so they could adapt her bridge).

When we got there about 12:15, her leg was not back to normal but she was able to use it and walk with her walker. I had made an appointment with our regular doctor after the dentist appointment, but Aunti Vi decided she didn't want to go to the doctor so I cancelled it. After the dentist, we went to Wal-Mart and picked up some soft foods and then headed back to her apartment. We heated up some food for her which she ate. We left her about 4:00 and headed home. Thursday night Bible study went well and we didn't have any messages when we got home so we went to bed thinking Aunti Vi was on the road to recovery. However, it was a false sense of security.

Friday morning at 7:05, we received a call from the nurse at the retirement home where Aunti Vi lives and said Aunti Vi could not move her right arm and right leg and they were calling 911. She asked which hospital we wanted her taken to. We told her which one and got up and headed to the hospital. She hadn't arrived yet by the time we got there so we waited. About 15 minutes later, we were told she had arrived and we could go to admitting and get her paperwork filled out. By the time we got all of the paperwork filled out, she had had all of the tests to find out what was going on and we were told we could go back and see her. We then waited another 5 hours before we were told anything - we didn't know if she was going to be discharged or admitted. Finally about 2:00, the doctor came in and said she had had a minor stroke and was going to be admitted. At that point we headed out since we hadn't had anything to eat and had things to take care of. After getting some lunch, and picking some things up at Aunti Vi's apartment, we headed back to the hospital. Aunti Vi, by the time we got back, had regained use of her arm and also could move her leg some.

Yesterday (Saturday), we didn't go to the hospital until dinner time. When we got there, she was in bed but got up (with a lot of help) and sat in the chair to eat dinner. She was able to move her leg and use her arm some, but was far from normal. After leaving the hospital, we came home and rode our bikes out to the beach and home (13 miles round trip). We thoroughly enjoyed it and biking was a great stress reliever.

We didn't go to the hospital at all today. After the last four days, we just needed a break. Tonight we drove out to the beach for sunset, took our shoes off and walked in the gulf. It's up to 82 degrees so it was just delightful.

I called Aunti Vi when we got home and she does not sound good at all. Her speech was slurred and she was having trouble composing her thoughts. The neurologist who doesn't know her has put her on some new meds. I'm not sure if the slurring is a result of the meds or if her condition is deteriorating.

Tomorrow afternoon we're going to head over to Sea World for the afternoon and evening. We haven't been there since we were there with Dad in February, so it should be fun.

Time Flies

It doesn't seem possible it's been 15 days since I last posted. Days fly by and before I realize it, another week is gone.

This past weekend, we went over to Orlando to the Gaylord Palms for the Scrapbook Expo. We had never stayed at the Gaylord Palms and it was lovely. Sarah and Eric also went over. Our plans were to go to Sea World on Friday and then to the show and crop on Saturday. However, when we got over to Orlando on Friday, it was pouring rain and had been for several hours so the time at Sea World didn't happen! We stayed around the hotel and enjoyed walking around discovering all the resort had to offer. We met Rick and Csilla and the girls for dinner at a barbecue place we really like and then headed back to the hotel. Sarah and Eric had been upgraded to deluxe suite which included a dining area with a large table so Sarah and I spent Friday night cropping pictures and laying out pages we wanted to work on on Saturday at the crop. View from our balconySarah and I before starting - we only were at the crop on Saturday even though the Expo ran Friday and Saturday.This was the table next to us - obviously the ladies were there for the long haul!!!

By about 4:00, our creative juices had about dried up. I had gotten 8 pages done and Sarah had gotten about the same amount done. When Dan and Eric called and said they were on their way back to the hotel (they had spent the day at Sea World), we packed up and headed back down to Bradenton after a stop at Giordano's for stuffed pizza!

Tomorrow, we take Aunti Vi to the oral surgeon's for her tooth extraction. Thursday is Bible study morning and evening and then in the afternoon, we're taking Aunti Vi to our regular dentist so he can get an impression for her new bridge.

We used to have scrapbook night at church once each month, but we stopped due to lack of interest. However, we were talking at Bible study last week and several of the ladies in the evening session are scrapbookers and would like to start the get togethers again. We'll see what we can work out.

It's now 12:36 AM and we need to be up early tomorrow so I'll sign off for now.

Update

Today was a busy day. It started out taking Aunti Vi to the dentist. She only has 7 teeth left - 6 in front and 1 molar (probably a wisdom tooth). She's been having trouble with the molar - sensitive to pressure and an occasional ache. The dentist said she had 2 options - a root canal or extraction. She chose the extraction, so I called the oral surgeon and she's having it done the 27th.

After we took her home, we came home for a few minutes before heading out to see if we could see the space shuttle launch. We went up to the rest area north of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and had a perfect view of the contrail!! We were too far away to see the actual shuttle, but we could follow the trail until it was out of sight.

Tonight, we headed out to the beach for sunset. It was too windy to bike today, so we decided to go for a walk on the beach. It was the first time we had walked on the beach since I had my knees replaced. It felt SOOOO good to be able to walk on the beach and not feel any pain. We walked for about 45 minutes while the sun was setting. The sunset was absolutely glorious.
Tomorrow, we have hair appointments and we'll take Aunti Vi shopping. Then tomorrow night, Dan has brass ensemble rehearsal. Wednesday, right now is quiet. Thursday is Bible study morning and evening. Friday, Sarah and Eric are coming over for an evening of scrapbooking and Saturday Rick and Csilla are coming over for the weekend.

Disney Studios 20th Anniversary

Friday, we left home about 8 AM and headed to Disney Studios for the 20th Anniversary celebration. We had registered with WDW Celebrations (www.wdwcelebrations.com) to be part of their group and its associated activities. We arrived at the Caribbean Beach Resort about 10 and checked in. Our room was available, so after finding our room (we were in "Aruba") and unloading the car, we headed to the Studios arriving just in time to get the materials for the scavenger hunt. The scavenger hunt was involved to say the least. The list included 69 items to locate and document and only 4 hours to do it. By 1:00, we had made it through less than half of the items and we had had enough! The intense sun and the heat made the saying “Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noon day sun” cross our minds a number of times!

We were getting hungry, so we headed to the Studio Catering Company to get lunch. We both had pulled pork sandwiches (YUM!!). By the time we finished our sandwiches, we were both too full to eat our dessert so we packed them up to eat later. After eating, we decided to head back to the hotel to cool off and take a nap.

We woke up about 4:00 and headed back to the studios. Earlier, while we were working on the scavenger hunt, we had gotten fast passes for Toy Story Midway Mania (TSMM). At 11:30AM the return time was 5:00. We had reservations at The Prime Time Café for 5:30, so we weren’t sure we would be able to take advantage of our fast passes. However, when we checked in with the hostess, she said to go ahead and have fun and come back when we were done. We rode TSMM and got back to the restaurant at 5:33! DH had pot roast and I had the fried chicken. We both had brownie sundaes for dessert and again, could not finish them.

After dinner, we headed back to TSMM, where the WDW Celebrations group was meeting to ride together. We met them and rode TSMM again. After the ride, we headed for the exit planning to take the boat ride over to EPCOT. However, our car was parked at the Studios and the boat was not returning to the Studios. We got off at the Swan and Dolphin stop and waited for the next boat going back to the Studios. We got our car, and headed back to the resort.

Back at the resort, we explored the resort and took pictures. We were really wiped out, so we headed for bed, not sure of what we would do on Saturday. When we woke up on Saturday, the heat and activities from Friday had taken their toll – we were beat!! We ate breakfast at the resort food court and then headed for home.