Goodbye!

I've loved this chance to keep you updated on my family, but I think it's time to let things go. I realize that every person has their own dramas and things to deal with, and perhaps my family would like a break from seeing their personal lives here on a daily basis. So feel free to e-mail or call if you'd like like. I'll be glad to keep you updated that way. But it's time to put this baby to bed. Thanks for the prayers. We appreciate you all so much.

It's flu season!

Well, yesterday sure didn't turn out like we expected. Bethany woke up violently ill around 3am and didn't stop throwing up all day. When she was curled up in pain and crying at 1pm, we decided to make sure it wasn't something worse than the flu and I called urgent care and the Dr's office...both were too busy to see her. So we headed to the ER ("her" ER--the one where she works on Saturdays.) We were stuck in the waiting room for about 45 minutes waiting for triage when someone she works with recognized her. She said, "there ought to be some perks for volunteering here" and she got us right into a trauma room--totally bypassed triage! Of course Bethany was treated like a VIP! The biggest concern was that it might be her appendix, so they did a CAT scan. Turns out it's just a nasty viral infection that has to run its course. After 2 liters of saline, morphine, tylenol, anti-nausea medicine x 2, they finally released us with 3 prescriptions to fill. She's hungry, but afraid to eat. I'm hungry, too, but if I'm gonna get this, I sure don't want much in my stomach. We'll just lay low today and see how it goes. For once, I'm glad Brian isn't here. Hopefully the worst will be behind us by the time he gets back from Korea on Saturday.

We have such awesome friends/neighbors/family who rallied around us and it was a comfort to know I had options if we needed additional help. But as I told Brian, we've handled far more than the flu and we just deal with whatever life brings. It's not like we have a choice, is it?! To those of you who knew what was going on, thanks for the prayers. To my sweet friends whose son's funeral I missed yesterday, my thoughts were with you. I'll hug on you when I see you the next time.

Love to all....we're blessed!

After lots of phone tag with Amy's local primary care doctor and the Mayo Clinic, I'm a bit frustrated to say that things aren't looking good for a December visit with pain management. Evidently the only thing we can sign Amy up for is a 3 week "how to live with pain" clinic. Seriously? They won't schedule a pain consultation, which I don't understand at all. We were really hoping someone there could tell us whether or not we'd exhausted our options as far as pain treatments go. Our PCM said they'd be very specific and ask for a consult, but it's been several days and I haven't heard anything else from Mayo. Recently Brian brought home a 5280 magazine (a Denver magazine) and it listed the top Dr's in the Denver area. There were 3 pain mgmt ones, so perhaps that's where we should try next. I find it hard to believe that Amy's pain is getting so much worse and there's not a darn thing that can be done about it. For goodness sakes, she's only 19 years old and has her whole life ahead of her!

On November 1st Amy will meet with administrators, the head chef, and the disability office lady, Jean, to see if the school will approve a different kind of internship for her. The normal requirement is 35-40 hours weekly in a kitchen, but there's just no way Amy would be able to do that. So she's asked to be approved for a food writing one instead with minimal kitchen time. Whatever they decide to do here will set a precedent, so they're taking their time and thinking it all thru. I'm not holding my breath, but then again, I am. If they approve the adjustment, she'll be allowed to graduate (assuming she makes it thru labs.) If they tell her no, then she won't be able to graduate with a culinary degree. So we're hoping and praying they'll see what an asset she can be to the culinary world despite her challenges...that it would make them look good to have her graduate. That's my prayer for our girl.

The other news for the Anderson family is that it appears we'll be moving to Utah next summer shortly after Laura & Ian's wedding. The company Brian works for asked him to be the site director for a new division they want to stand up at Hill AFB in Salt Lake City. He loves new challenges and he's excited about the possibilities. We'll all rally around him and this great opportunity. Timing will be a bit nerve-wracking, but we'll make the best of it. In the springtime we'll be planning the wedding, going to bridal showers, going to graduation at Mines and JWU, putting the house on the market, and having a wedding. Shortly afterward Laura & Ian will head to places unknown, and we'll head south so Bethany can start her senior year in a new place. We're hoping to take Amy with us so she can look for a job there and possibly work on some English classes at Weber State University. So many changes! If I think about the details too much, I don't sleep too well at night. I'm learning to do my best praying in the middle of the night!

And there you have it...the many crazy things going on in our lives. Never a dull moment, eh?!!

Laura

Ok, usually Laura hates it when I mention her or brag on her in my blog, but I think it's time. This week she was notified that she is one of the top 50 female student leaders in construction and engineering and was selected to attend the 3rd Annual Women's Construction Leadership Seminar sponsored by Kiewit Corporation, the organization she worked for during the summer. And did I mention they already made her an offer for AFTER graduation? (Sorry, Laura...I had to brag a little.) Yes, my sweet, quiet little Laura is going to be working in construction and she can hardly wait! So about 3 weeks after her wedding, she and Ian will be headed to parts unknown (but possibly New Orleans) to begin their life together. Remember how exciting it was to be a young newlywed and just starting out life together? I sure do! Coming up on 26 years ago, as a matter of fact.

Chef update...

I haven't updated you lately on how the chef is doing mainly because she's been in academics this trimester and physically it hasn't been as challenging. And now that she has "Leo", her wheelchair, she's able to head off the pain in her feet/ankles much of the time. For instance, if she knows she'll be on her feet a lot or will need to drive somewhere later in the day, she'll use Leo early in the day so the pain levels are manageable. She used to have to keep plugging along and then deal with the pain afterward with ice/drugs. Now she can head it off. I'm sure it confuses the other students on campus when sometimes they see her in a wheelchair and sometimes she's walking across campus like it's no big deal. More than one student has come up to her to ask if she's just goofing off with the wheelchair. Surely she doesn't really need one. No doubt she gets tired of having to explain it. And unless you've been along for her journey for the past 3 years, I'm not sure it's possible to understand it.
Amy wraps up her academic trimester in mid-November and begins culinary labs soon afterward. No doubt it's weighing heavily on her mind. Last year during labs she was in constant pain and then had to deal with the lymph node/cancer scare. And this year she has to make up one of the segments she missed during that time. She's going to give it her best shot and will just have to take it one day at a time. Because she's beginning to feel "secondary symptoms" of her pain disorder, we've decided to try to get her back to the Mayo Clinic...this time to be seen by pain mgmt specialists. The location in Phoenix doesn't have a pain mgmt dept, so we'll have to schedule this visit with the Rochester, MN clinic. I discovered this week that a Dr referral is needed in order for her to be seen, so on Wednesday that was faxed over. I can't call again until Monday at the earliest to set up the appointment; they need time to process the referral. The only chunk of time Amy has during the school year is the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, so that's what we're shooting for. We'll try our darndest to get affordable flights, but given that it's a busy time for travelers, we might have to take our chances with winter weather and drive it...14 hours each way across the plains of Nebraska. So I guess we have a couple of prayer requests currently...that we can make an appointment sooner rather than later and that we can find affordable flights. As we get closer our prayer will be for good travel conditions...whether we fly or drive. Amy has to be back in labs on 4 January, so we don't have a lot of wiggle room with our time.
Thanks for being faithful with your prayers. I'm amazed at how many people ask about Amy and are holding her close in thought and prayer. What a blessing to us when we know no one is exempt from needing prayer support. By the way, Amy sends out e-mail updates about once a week from school just to let friends/family know how life is on campus. If you'd like to receive these e-mails, feel free to contact me with your e-mail address and I'll make sure you're added. (Yes, she gave me permission to tell you about the updates.)
Ok, hopefully you feel updated. It was kind of nice to relax a bit lately...nothing major to talk about. Calm is good!

Chile rescue

Is everyone else as captivated by the rescue of the miners in Chile as I am? I'm finding this quite fascinating and I can hardly focus on anything else right now. What a miracle this is! I can't even fathom the emotions of those who are key players in this drama. It's been just incredible. Twenty-eight miners rescued so far. Wow! It's easy to get caught up in the joy and excitement of this success story. What we need to keep in mind, however, is that it's all unfolding just as God intends. He's chosen to bless this mission so far, but even if things go south before it's all over, He's still in control and His plan is still perfect. I hope and pray for continued success. But I'll still praise Him if things change in the next few hours. And now...back to the live coverage!

How much can I pack into 24 hours, anyway?

Yesterday it was all about Bethany's 17th birthday, beginning with making french silk chocolate pie in the morning...her favorite. Is my youngest really 17? She's growing up so beautifully, and I adore her! Last night her boyfriend, best friend and her parents, and my mom & dad came over for pie. Lots of laughs and love as we honored this awesome girl.
Today I picked up mom & dad and we headed to Denver to spend the day with Amy. She needed groceries and hugs from home, and we were happy to oblige. We met one of her favorite people on campus, Professor Wells. If only I'd had such teachers when I was in college...what a great guy! I can see why she loves his classes. We also met Jean, the disability lady who is trying so hard to make the campus more accessible for Amy. She's a great advocate for our girl and speaks quite highly of her. After pushing Amy in her wheelchair today I can see how frustrating things are...ramps that are steep and difficult to maneuver...buttons which are supposed to open doors but aren't working...ramps that lead to stairs...etc. It's all difficult and change is very slow in coming. But together Jean and Amy are determined to work on the things that are so important to anyone in a wheelchair. It'll happen, but it won't happen quickly enough for our girl, I'm afraid. Still, she keeps smiling and impacting those she comes into contact with on campus...we heard wonderful things about our girl from those who are blessed to know her.
The highlight of Amy's day was receiving her first set of wheels which we bought yesterday...a 2009 PT Cruiser. Now she'll have options other than places on the bus line when it's time to do her internship. She won't have to rely on Phil or her other friends to get her to the grocery. And when she needs to go to the various restaurants that she needs to write reviews for, she can drive herself! We named her car "Ruby", and she and Amy look quite good together!

I know, I know...it's been almost a week since I last wrote. Sorry. My computer was crazy this week and kept locking up on me. There was very little I could do, and my "tech support" was in Utah until Friday evening. Thankfully, Laura & Ian came home and spent many, many hours getting my laptop up and working again. It was a painful process...there was SO much to do! But now I'm back, and I'm a happy girl! I've become a geek just like the rest of my family, I'll admit it. I was rather lost until they got me up and running again.
It was wonderful to see Laura & Ian. They hadn't been home since school began in early August, so it was wonderful to wrap my arms around them. They worked really hard on homework so they could just relax when they got here. Yeah, I know...they worked on my computer. But to a Mines student, that IS relaxing! At one point we had 5 laptops open and it really was a geekfest! Ian did manage to play paintball for part of the weekend, so it wasn't all work. And Laura was able to try on her wedding dress; it was quite stunning on her. We never really did get to talk about wedding plans, but that's ok. There's still time.
Brian is enjoying being home again after being away all but 18 hours in the past 3 weeks. He'll be teaching online from home this week. Since he'll be here to keep an eye on Annie and to get Bethany to/from school, I'm going to head to Denver on Wednesday with my parents to take our chef to lunch and to the grocery. She really wants me to meet a couple of people on campus, so this will be a good chance to do so. She's holding up ok despite the insane amount of homework she's trying to keep up with. Did I mention she's taking 22.5 academic hours this trimester? So far, so good, but it wears me out to think about it! Ah, to be young again!
Bethany has been counting down the hours until her boyfriend gets home from visiting his mom in Alabama. He's been gone almost a month and will roll in tomorrow evening just in time to celebrate her 17th birthday on Tuesday. How did our youngest get this age when she was just a baby the other day?!!
I'm doing well...Annie's doing well, too. It's been a sweet few days.

Girly girl time...

I'm kind of overwhelmed! It's been a glorious few days despite Brian's absence as he's in Utah. I really miss him a LOT. But my dear friend since age 11, Amy, is out here and we've had such an incredible time of reconnecting and just enjoying each other's company. No one in the world knows me the way she does. I mean, we've been friends since FIFTH grade...forty years! I always tell people they're blessed if they have one true heart friend, and between Amy and Susan, I have two. My life is so much richer for knowing these incredible women.
My friend, Amy, has 3 sons whom she affectionately calls "the manhood." They're all grown up now...amazing guys. But she's never had a lot of girl time like we have in our home. So this week we've been staying up late to chat and laugh, watch "chick flicks," and just enjoy being together. Over the weekend we headed to Denver to see the girls and Ian. Amy (Robinson, not Anderson!) got to see both of the girls campuses, eat in the dining hall, make a Target run, push the wheelchair for our girl (her namesake), and laugh a lot. On Saturday we met Laura & Ian at a really cool little pizza place for an early birthday celebration (mine), and then we headed back to Ian's house for coconut cake (my favorite.) Yesterday morning we all met at City Park in Denver to walk in an event for Down's Syndrome in honor of a special little guy named Myles. The day was gorgeous and the company was perfect. What a beautiful, wonderful day!

sparkly clean...

I have a confession to make. While I always manage to get surface cleaning done around the house, I struggle to find time to get down to the nitty gritty. Life is so chaotic and when I finally have a chance to catch my breath, I tend to pick up a good book or work on our family scrapbooks. Yes, I feel guilty, but it's how I "recharge my batteries" sometimes. Lately we've had a lot going on around here and while I was working hard to get ahead, somehow the to-do list just kept getting longer. Enter my parents, whom we affectionately call "the seniors." Yesterday they paid someone to come in and clean my house...for 5 hours! It was an early birthday present, and what a present it was! Tonight my friend from childhood (whom my Amy is named after) is coming to spend almost a week with us while Brian is away, and it's so strange to not have to run around and clean like crazy today. Instead I walked for over an hour, got errands run, gave Annie a bath, chatted with my Amy online, did the ironing & laundry, and made fruit/oatmeal bars. It's only 3:17 and I still have time to relax before she gets in at 7pm. Wow. Thanks, seniors, for this most awesome and appreciated gift! You have no idea how much I loved it!!!

The JWU 5!

It's been a crazy weekend with Amy and four of her JWU chef friends in the house. Yesterday the guys fixed Mexican food for us. I wish you could have smelled my house as it was cooking! It was poetry in motion to watch the action and I had a ring-side seat to it all. I have to say that at times it was a bit crazy and loud, but it was so much fun! Mom & Dad came over to watch the fun and enjoy the food, too. My favorite part of the meal was the jalapeno poppers. I know they're not really good for me, but it was a treat to have homemade ones and I loved them! Unfortunately, so did Annie, the wonder beagle (who I suspect is part Mexican.) Before anyone could stop her, she'd snatched one from the plate on the coffee table. If you'll recall, this is a dog who has random digestive issues. So far, so good, but I'm on alert for the next couple of days.

I just dropped Brian off at the airport for his 2 week trip to Salt Lake City. He wasn't even home for 24 hours this time. It's hard to believe he's gone again so soon. Just a couple more trips between now and 1 November, though, and then he gets to stay home for a little while. One of my dearest friends in the world is coming out this week for about 6 days. That'll make time pass more quickly for Bethany and me. And next weekend we're all headed up to Denver to see Laura & Ian and then walk in an event to raise money for Down's Syndrome. I think time will pass much slower for Brian. But I hear it's quite gorgeous in Utah, so he'll have lots to see/do.

Family update

Things are fairly calm for our family at the moment, and we certainly welcome it. Brian is in Maui this week for a space conference. I know, I know...Maui...what a rough life. But I have to say that neither of us like really hot, humid weather anymore, and he says it's not as much fun when I'm not with him anyway. So it's not all fun and games for him. He'll roll in Saturday and leave again on Sunday for 2 weeks...this time for Salt Lake City.

Laura is enjoying her floor this year. The group she had last year as an RA was always into something and she was constantly on guard. This floor is, for the most part, much more cohesive and fun. I think she called them "an RA's dream" or something like that. She deserves it after some of the stuff she had to deal with previously. Wedding plans are kind of slow but steady. We have a long way to go, but at least some of the big things are done. Now that things are rolling along with school, finally Laura & Ian are getting to spend some time together.

Amy is on duty in her dorm a lot, but she said it's because she only has classes 2 days a week. Next trimester she'll be in labs at 6am 4 days a week, so her duty hours should slow down. She's getting by pretty much with her leg braces but is thankful to have the wheelchair on the days she knows she'll be on her feet a lot. She's also taking 22.5 hours of academics since she added the independent study food writing class; she's a busy girl. This weekend she and 3 of "the boys" are coming down. Rumor has it they're cooking Mexican food for us one night!

Bethany's working hard in her classes and is holding onto some impressive grades. She also continues to volunteer several hours a week for the hospital and the fire department. Her boyfriend is gone for a month, and I know she misses him a lot. But we've enjoyed some girl time this week, and I really enjoy spending time with her. She's a great girl!

My big news is that I've begun walking 5 mornings a week with a neighbor, and already I feel better. We walk for an hour with her dog and often one of her two girls, and believe me, we feel rather accomplished when we get home! Having someone waiting at 7am in the cul-de-sac is a great motivator when I'd rather sleep in. Because the walking makes me feel good, I've also begun eating smarter and drinking more water. Baby steps. We're in our 4th week already. One of these days I'm going to look in the mirror and see a new me, right?!!

Annie, the wonder beagle, still keeps us guessing about what we'll deal with each day. She can be perfectly fine at night but wake up with a rumbly tummy in the morning. Because she doesn't always digest her food well, she sleeps in a port-a-crib each night. I'd forgotten how abnormal this is until my neighbor laughed about it...especially when I told her we cover Annie up with a fleece blanket each night. Our little beagle has become a "princess!" But she's almost 11, or 77 in human years. She deserves a little pampering, don't you think?

Blessed...

I have to say that I'm just blown away with the many awesome friends we have. Life is rich and full and we feel so loved. Thanks, all of you, for loving our family thru thick and thin. Despite everything, we're truly blessed.

Mile High Myles

Laura has a tiny little friend at her church in Golden named Myles. She adores that little guy, so on 26 September, we're going to participate in a fundraiser walk for Down's Syndrome in City Park in Denver in honor of Myles. I think it's going to be a blast. Bethany and I are going up the day before to spend the night, and we'll get Amy so she can have a night of air conditioning, too. We'll all take turns pushing her in the wheelchair during the walk. I'm excited about doing this. I've always felt that kids with Down's Syndrome are really God's angels on earth. What fun it will be to walk with them. We'll meet Ian & Laura there, and finally I'll get a chance to meet little Myles after hearing all about him since his birth. I can't wait! Oh, and Mile High Myles is the team name...pretty clever!

http://www.mhdsa.org/step-up-walk/ is the link if anyone wants to join the team virtually! Just don't forget to register under Mile High Myles. It's only $25 until Sept 11 for an adult and $35 after that. And if you feel like actually walking, that's even better! If you're registered, you even get a pancake breakfast. Hope to see you there!

Girls, girls, girls...

There's nothing like hearing the girls voices to warm this mom's heart. Today I was able to talk for quite awhile with Laura for the first time since she left several weeks ago. We were able to get caught up without interruption...huge since she's a really busy girl. And I have to say that she sounds/looks wonderful (thanks to Skype, I also got to see her.) She's happy and her senior year is getting off to a terrific start. The 3 previous years of hard work both as an RA and in the classroom are yielding great benefits for her in terms of experience. I'm really proud of her.
Last night I e-mailed with Amy a bit, and it sounds like she's still kind of flying high from her talks with administrators and teachers the other day. Today her suite mate moves in and I know she's looking forward to that. And she survived her first night of being on duty as a new RA last night. Yep, I'm really proud of this girl, too.
This morning I had the opportunity to drive over by the school to watch (across a field) Bethany ride a mechanical bull with her sports psychology class. She sure is a cowgirl at heart, and it showed in her form. A natural! It was mostly boys who pounced on this opportunity. In the time I watched, she was only the second girl to climb on. Yep, this girl makes me grin and I'm pretty proud of her, too!
My neighbor complimented me the other day on what fabulous girls we have, and it was a sweet thing to hear. But I made sure to tell her that while we'd love to take the credit, it's definitely God in them that she sees. We're their parents, but they're only on loan to us for a little while. They're God's girls! We sure do love them, but HE loves them even more.

Celebrate!!!

Today was a banner day for Amy on campus. To try to explain it all would take the rest of the night, and I doubt anyone wants to read that much anyway. Let me just say that all of Amy's goals/hopes/dreams for the next school year came together in a HUGE way for her today! She was flying high when she called to tell me all that happened when she talked to professors & administrators at lunch. Things are looking up, and it brings tears to my eyes to see something good happen for her after all of the rough days she's smiled thru when she was really hurting. I'm sure her grin was from ear to ear. My mother-in-law said it well..."I firmly believe that it's all because of the many prayers being lifted up for Amy." And it's true! So many times God's very clear answer wasn't what we'd hoped for, but we trusted it was best. His plans are perfect whether we like them or not. Today it was so awesome to see his emphatic "YES" to Amy. Will things be perfect from here on out? Not likely. Will Amy's pain go away? Not unless He chooses it to be so. Will we continue to trust Him thru the days ahead? You bet!!
Many, many thanks to the incredible prayer warriors all over this planet who lift Amy up in prayer. My parent's church and their good friends ask about her every week without fail. We receive postcards and "thinking of you" cards from people we've never even met. Brian's parents and their church friends in AR pray for Amy regularly, as do my brother Tom's friends in Indiana. I know people in Alabama and Bloomington, IN and Golden, CO and Pueblo, CO and San Diego, CA who are praying for Amy. We even have awesome friends who are in Beijing right now who continue to pray for our girl. We love you all...we appreciate you so very much. Tonight you can smile along with Amy as we celebrate her day.

Little Miss Bethany

Tonight I heard some really touching words from little Miss Bethany..."hey mom, let's watch a movie!" And we did! I want to always be available when my almost 17 year old wants to hang out with her momma. These days will pass much too quickly and she'll be spreading her wings to fly. I love that girl so much. She's fun...she makes me laugh...she reminds me to lighten up...to think positive...to be 'in the moment.' She's a treasure.

Lots of silver linings!

We're finally home after a quick turnaround in Denver with Amy. So much good came from this trip, and Amy said we took care of about 75% of what she needed to get done for the weekend. So many things to be thankful for...how awesome that we had a wheelchair to take to her...that Brian was in town and had the time to go with me...that RA training didn't go as long yesterday. Amy met us at the door of her dorm on crutches and was barely able to hobble along. We loaded her up, fed her, bought groceries, got the office supplies she needed, kept her with us overnight, fed her again, helped her with door decorations for her floor, loaded the laundry card, did laundry, headed across campus to help cut out more decorations, got her a microwave, got her internet working, and fed her again. Whew! We accomplished so much in a short amount of time which would have taken her SO much longer if she'd done it by herself! She was able to stay off her feet, and by the time we left today she seemed to be doing much better. One more day of taking it easy and she should be in good shape for training on Monday morning. Although we could tell she was a bit homesick, she's holding up well and still has a smile on her face. We met several of the other RA's who all seemed pretty great. She already is enjoying new friendships on campus. One more week of RA training and then things can settle into a more "normal" routine again. BA was awesome...helped SO much without complaining one bit...drove us all over Denver...just enjoyed being with us. Now it'll be a quick turnaround for him as he heads off to California in the morning.

One really cool thing is that my older brother, Tom, was at mom & dad's when we got home. I didn't expect to see him until tomorrow evening, so that was an awesome surprise. Anytime I get to see any of my brothers is just fine with me...they're all really terrific guys and I'm quite blessed to know and love them.

Time to pack up BA and prepare for another week of unknowns. Seriously, I just never know what's going to happen next around here! One thing I DO know...God gives us the strength to make it thru each day even when we don't think we can keep going. HE is my rock!!

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect."
2 Samuel 22:33

Ready to roll...

It's been a rough week for our chef. RA training has been really long hours and a couple of days she had to be on her feet a lot. She tried explaining to her boss what happens if she's on them for many hours, but I don't think he believed her. She finally asked me to engage by sending him an e-mail, which I did. Thankfully, I also copied a couple of other people on campus who needed to know what was going on. The lady from the disability office called me back and we talked for quite awhile about Amy's pain levels & physical challenges over the summer. Unfortunately, it wasn't soon enough to save Amy from 6 hours of picking up trash in a park yesterday. Brian and I got a phone call in the afternoon..."Will you please send my wheelchair up with Janis on Sunday?" We knew she was in trouble. So yesterday afternoon BA and I headed to Denver to get her out of the dorm for a night. We took her out to dinner at Olive Garden and let her spend the night in air conditioning, and I think that was just the boost she needed to get thru another week of training. She said with no consistent cell phone reception in her room, no internet access, and no A/C in her room it's been kind of rough and she was rather homesick. I hope she'll feel better when she wakes up. The wheelchair was a lifesaver and I'm so glad we decided to invest in one "just in case." My biggest concern is that her dorm isn't wheelchair accessible. I'm not sure how she's going to navigate getting to the laundry room and out the door to head across campus. She has to go down 2 steps once she leaves her room to even get to the front door. Hopefully there will be others around to help her out. We've done all we can for now, and she and the disability office will have to address those issues. For now, we're praying her boss will learn that she doesn't cry wolf...that she knows her limitations. Maybe in the future when she tells him she'll be in trouble if he asks her to do something that involves being on her feet for long periods of time, he'll believe her. She said he's really a nice guy. But he's probably never worked with someone who's disabled before. And really, how can anyone understand just what she's going thru unless they've been in her shoes? I just hope and pray that this episode doesn't last long and she'll be back up and "running" soon. By the way...when she expressed concern about trying to do an internship in the spring, Jean from the disability office volunteered to go with her to talk to whomever she interviews with to help explain her situation...same with talking to the career counseling office. It seems that Jean is an awesome advocate and will do everything she can to help Amy with some of these issues. Bless you, Jean!

If it isn't one thing....

I finally got to talk to Laura last night for about 2 minutes. She sounds really good, but it's clear she's one crazy busy RA. I think classes started today, so maybe things will settle into a routine for her soon. She said she's barely seen Ian this week; I'm sure that's been hard for both of them.
Amy called last night, too, and she sounds a little bit better. Finally she can breathe thru her nose again. Things seem to have moved into her chest, but at least she's hanging in there. Her dorm is insanely hot, so she had just taken a nice, cool shower and said that helped. She and Phil (her boyfriend, not her grandpa) were getting ready to head to the store to get a couple more fans for her room. I think the lack of organization in the RA training was frustrating her. They had 1 1/2 hours for lunch, and the meetings seemed redundant. The 4 RA's in her dorm were told yesterday afternoon that they had to fix breakfast for the team of 40 at 6:30 this morning, and they had to go out last night to buy ingredients. I got a text from her this morning that said the breakfast burritos were a hit, so that's good. Tomorrow they're doing a "team building" thing till 11pm. My guess is they'll go to a Rockies game. Amy explained to the head guy that her feet won't allow her to do some of the things he has planned, but he told her she'd be fine. He really has no clue. Amy doesn't think he's ever worked with anyone who's disabled before. He'll get an initiation if he tries to push her beyond her limits and has to carry her! If they go from 6am till 11pm, she'll pay for it big time the next few days. So my prayer today is that she'll be able to explain things to him that will make him sympathetic instead of frustrated with her...preferably in a timely manner. The last thing we need is for her to relapse before classes even start.
My back is slowly getting better after I pulled a muscle last Friday. I'm still moving kind of slow and not twisting as I bend. Each day is better but it's been rather frustrating. And today we woke up to Annie having issues, so I headed to the vet for more medicine. She's been up for about 6 hours and still won't eat. I can hear her tummy rumbling across the room. She just can't seem to get comfortable. As mom says, "Life is what happens when you're planning something else!" I guess I'll be staying close to home until she feels better. (I'm really just using her as my excuse...I sure don't feel much like being on the go anyway till my back is better.) Brian and Bethany are being very patient and supportive. That's a pretty good silver lining for the day!