{Life with your Dad}

Had a bad day yesterday…it started ok, I had no plans other then cooking and hanging up my clothes. Your dad asked me to get Duke dog food and a collar and he wanted me to fix him some egg salad and meatloaf. I took Duke and went shopping….decided I needed to wash the car so I went to pick up my free car wash card I get at KIA monthly… I drove into the dealership; I was not thinking at all and I went to park …I scraped the left side of my car big time on a large concrete pole. I was so angry at myself! It took me some screaming in the car for least a minute to calm down.

I don’t think I want to wash my car…the white paint from the pole won’t come out….Thank goodness I lowered the deductible to $250.

Filled the car up with gas and got the largest chocolate candy bar I could get; ate it and I felt better. Had the car checked out by your dad and Calvin….they both said “Dang”

I went to bed early but could not sleep and at about 11pm I went to the couch as it is cooler in the front room with the AC. After awhile I heard your dad in the front room messing around with Duke and opening doors. He let Duke out in the back yard. I turned around and went back to sleep. A while later I hear the front door open, and I thought Keary must be taking Duke out again.

I woke up with a start, it’s 4:30 am, where is Keary I didn’t hear him come back in. I look in his room …No Keary, the cell phone is on his table; and the electric wheel chair is sitting right next to the bed...Manual wheel chair is gone…My mind is blank!

I grab my wallet and car keys and get in the car…I am in panic mode! I get to the Apt entrance. I look left….Maybe he took Duke to the empty field. I see nothing…no traffic…no nothing except mist. I look right and about a Block and a half in the right lane is your dad in his wheel chair being pulled by Duke. Going the opposite direction of home!

I drive up to him and ask him what he is doing… “I don’t know where I am”

"Why do you have the manual wheel chair"

“I’m getting exercise so I can sleep and exercising will keep me alive longer”

I am in the middle of the street…I put Duke and your dad in the car. I put the wheel chair in the back of the car.

“What time is it?”
“4:30”
“Boy, I left at one, I fell of the chair I guess it took me a long time to get up”
“Where did you fall?”
“At the School”
“Dang, Keary”

I bring them home; I get his electric wheel chair. I help your dad get in bed and take his meds I tell him “never do that again” …He replies “But then you won’t be aggravated! I see the twinkle in his eyes … I laugh “I love you Keary”

I go to bed and I pray. My last thought as I go to sleep; “I am going back on anti-depressants!”

{News About Your Dad!}

I feel compelled to let you know the state of your father’s health.

Things have been stable for a while but it is almost a year since your Dad has signed his DNR. As you all know he does have a nurse come in weekly to check his heart, blood pressure, weight gain, blood sugars, any discomfort or abnormalities.

We also hired a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) Calvin to help daily. He comes in about noon and makes sure your dad eats and takes his med. He also keeps the house clean and makes sure your father’s needs are met ie: clean bedroom, change of sheet, bathroom cleaned etc. Because Keary’s eyesight is getting weaker I fix his syringes once a week for his daily insulin intake. He now has a pre-measured insulin syringes for his overage. And of course he has Duke as a companion.

We had for a while some home teachers that came by often, but since Calvin comes in we don’t see much of them anymore. He also had sacrament come in on Sundays but that again has fallen thru the cracks. I did address it with one of the counselors about 2 Sundays ago and someone showed up; but not this last week. His home teacher used to take him to the Temple once a month but it has been a while since that has happened and I am not sure if it is because your dad cancels or what.

So now for the updates:
Within the last 3 months your dad has lost about 25lbs, he has sporadic heart attacks, and of course some eyesight loss. A couple of Sundays ago your dad had a heart attack he felt and I wanted to take him to the Hospital and he refused. The next Tuesday I addressed this with his nurse. The nurse stated that the palliative care your father is receiving is to make him comfortable and pain free and live a reasonable comfortable life. There will be no intervention or aggressive health care unless your dad and I decide that is what he wants. (We discussed this and he doesn’t)

He has also developed a thyroid problem that makes him sleep a lot because he is always fatigued; he is on medication for that. Tuesday the nurse gave him a prescription for Ritalin to boost his energy. He went in yesterday for blood tests to detrmine the levels of his thyroid and check his heart enzymes. Today he went in to see his Dr.

As per the conversation I had with your Dad the following occurred:

1. His heart is slowly being damaged and the only alternative is to have a heart by-pass but he would not survive the surgery due to the fact that his body would not survive the anesthesia, his heart would not improve by much.

2. The blood tests also indicated that his liver enzymes are not normal and have not been since 2007 but now they are going to do a sonogram to determine the extent of the damage to his liver. The Dr told your Dad that the normal thing for him would be to be hospitalized for a battery of tests to minimize the damage to the liver; Dad told her he was not going to the hospital. The Dr agreed and she scheduled the sonogram as an out-patient for Aug 12.

3. He is receiving many types of medication to cover many his conditions; however the liver condition cannot be medicated because this medication would make his low blood pressure even lower putting more stress on the heart.

So… as per my conversation with your dad he believes not being hospitalized and having all these procedures will prolong his life. He states he has prayed about it and feels it is the right thing for him to do. He does have a DNR in place and I will do as he asks.

I just wanted to update ya’ll with what is happening. I know that you girls read these blogs but am not sure of your brothers, we don’t seem to hear from them much. So please pass this on to Alex and Andrew I am sure they would want to know this also.

Love you all!

*56 Blog*

That's how many blogs I read!!! It was great reading all about Spring breaks, Easter, Fishing, Wiggly teeth, Pretty dresses, Baby pictures. Because there were so many I did not comment on them so I just wanted to let you know I did read them all and was very entertained and excited to see what ya'll were up to.

Ya'll are the BEST. I am so very proud of our family and all the efforts that are made to keep all included in what we do.

Unfortunately I am the worse. But I do enjoy keeping up with what y'all are doing. As for me I am in work mode. This supervisor thing is very time consuming and very emotionally vested. It is an experience. I really enjoy making changes and streamlining processes, which helps the people I supervise. They have waited for yrs to have someone make a difference. So it can be very rewarding. I must say the paperwork and data keeping really is not my cup of tea!!! (to put it in polite words.)

I did go to Utah first week in May and I had a great time with each family there. I did come home with a bruised knee, some one's camera, a mermaid video, definitely broke and a very blessed heart to be around family. I miss ya'll!

A New Journey

I have had several experiences this last week that have really enlightened my awareness to how much influence I have in other peoples’ lives! The job that I do allows me to have contact with thousands of people literally, (accumulative since 2001). Literally Monday thru Friday people approach me and thank me for making a difference in their lives.

Catherine in an earlier post spoke about relationships and who it affects in our lives. I really did not have an understanding of how much I do that. All I know is that I get up every morning knowing I have to go to work because I need to care for Keary and make sure that I provide the same kind of care he provided for our family before he became disabled. I don’t think I am doing these things consciously, but do them because I know it is the right thing to do.

In just the last week the following situations have made me realize how much influence I have in my co-worker’s lives: (names have been changed to protect the innocent, lol)

#1 Mimi… Had owned her own business was CEO of her company, she was divorced and lost her business she had with 2nd ex-husband who embezzled the money from the business (she has been with our agency since Jan)
We were at a team meeting and we were asked to recognize another team member and thank them for something they had done for us. Mimi thanked a couple of our co-workers for teaching her new processes and procedures but then she got choked up and told the following story (paraphrased of course):

“ I came in here a more than a year ago a broken person with no hope to my circumstances and wondering what I was doing wrong. I came to one of the classes and the instructor gave the whole class great information but I felt she was talking to me and after the workshop I stayed and talked to her and her words really gave me a reality check and she encouraged me to move forward. Because of her it has changed my life. I went home drank a myself to sleep (she told me that part later) I pulled myself up and did what she told me and within a month I was working at the DSHS office. So in Dec when they had budget cuts, she was the first person that I called and she advised me of these openings and guided me thru the process.”

She then got teary eyed and then said “I want to Thank Diana for all she has done for me and picked me up from where I was and gave me hope” WOW!!! (I knew that I had helped her with her resume and remembered her being a nice lady but I did not know that story)

Later that week she came over to me (because I met her 1st ex-husband in one of my workshops) and said that because she admired and respected me so much she hoped that I would not judge her because of her ex-husband, she had been young and foolish when she married him. My first thought was “why” would I do that? And I said so to her and I also told her we all go thru different experiences in our lives and these experiences ultimately make us who we are. (Honestly I thought he was a really nice guy; he was a Mexican migrant worker who had worked in construction most of his life and was not educated at all. I could tell he had a good heart.)

She thanked me and told me what a kind and nice a person I was.

#2. Mildred (also name changed) was extremely upset during one of our many audits and when I handed her a paper she grabbed it from me, which I thought was rather rude. After the 15 clients that we were auditing left…I went to her and asked if she was ok, she then took off with some very choice words( that I winched) about the clients, I listened to her frustrations with some very ill prepared and rude clients. I validated her frustration and went on my merry way. Later after lunch she came over while I was with another co-worker and apologized for her language and stated she knew that I was not the type of person that spoke like that but was grateful I had not judged her in her moment of weakness.

#3. The Co-director came to me and made me an offer of temporary Supervisor in another office. She stated that I came highly recommended and was one of the first, people had requested. I was really excited for the opportunity but there were several things I had to take into consideration: Time traveling, being gone from home for longer periods of time and a very negative environment. So I told her to give me at least an hr, as I had to finish the workshop and I had to consult with some very important people in my life.

I went outside and called Keary, he was so excited for me and felt that it would be an awesome opportunity. And then I prayed; a silent heartfelt prayer. The answer was so clear in my mind. I love it when that happens!

I e-mailed her the following “ I have received an OK from the two men in my life. The answer is Yes”

I didn’t hear from her at all and before I left to go home I went by her office and asked her “weren’t you curious who the two men in my life are” She responded “Your husband and God”.

It touched my heart that she knew that.

So relationships are important you never know how we influence others, a kind word, a listening ear, and continually remembering we are Heavenly Father’s children always being an example.
I look back on this week and the above are just some of the examples that jumped at me. Friday I had quite a few people compliment me on the Workshop especially one women who stated “You are an uplifting person and we know that you care, it comes from your heart”

I have truly been blessed by my Heavenly Father! So next week I start another journey in another office and I pray that whatever Heavenly Father is sending me to do, that he gives me the strength to always remember who I am.

(More thoughts on my other blog http://luzdelsol.typepad.com

La Familia Piñon

Left to right in order of birth: Diana Lee (Nield), Jose Maria (Joe), Linda Amily (Wyatt), Joel Daniel (Danny), Judith Ann(Judy Haines), Lauro Romeo (Larry), Dad(Inez), Mom (Viriginia Manuel De Rueda)

This is My Mom and Dad and Brothers and Sisters, the people who raised me, loved with, hurt with, knew me at my worst, and still love me!!!

I had a great time with my family. They are really neat people. Danny and Karen were gracious hosts and allowed us to invade their home. It has been almost 10yrs since we were together and it felt just like yesterday. Time does fly!!

My observations about my Family:
1. We are Noisey and Loud!
2. We are very Supportive of each other as family members
3. We love each other regardless of what we think of each other's lifestyles
4. Linda is our cornerstone...she keeps us all even keel
5. Danny keeps us on our toes
6. Larry is a great example of sacrificing for his children and lives by the philosphy:
"It is what it is"
7. Judy is optimisic and adventureous
8. Joe is steady and content
9. Mom is a woman beyond her era
10. Dad is a pioneer for his family and culture

And myself.... BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE!!!