OR how bout this from Janice and Susan??
WD's Passport Portable Hard Drive!
Can I just say Squeeeal??!! I get absolutely GIDDY with excitment when I see new electronic toys! I'm like a kid in a candy store and not only is this just plain cool but it also comes in colors! Wheeee!
Ahhhh! I. Get. To. Choose. A. Color. which if you know me, you know this just makes me even more happy. :0)
Hows that for electronic stylin folks?? :0)
This is a fun one too! Who could use a new blog design?? I know I could.
Lindsay over at SPLAT Designs is offering just that so hop on over and enter! You never know you might just be the one stylin in your new blog design. I doubt it though cause I'm gonna win this one too! :0)
Now for the awards:
My dear friend Melody over at Slurping Life
has given me this Nice Matters Award
I'm blushing girlie but Thank You just the same :0)
Melody has 3 beautiful boys with an array of disabilities. Even through her struggles, she always makes time to leave an encouraging word and to me that means more than anything. So I'm tossin this award right back at ya girlie! Catch! :0)
Tia of Behind the Child She is my rock. A friend I met years ago through an online group for special needs kids. Tia also is a foster/adoptive parent and has 3 beautiful girls with multiple/complex disabilities. She is always a source of encouragement and comfort to me and, the best all night chatting buddy ever! She helps me make it through Jophies all night care and carries me clear to the breaking of the dawn! Tia is now facing her grimmest days. One of her daughters just recenetly died and she is currently in the hospital with another who continues to teeter back and forth from good to bad. I'm sure she'd love some words of encouragement. :0)
I can't wait for you to get home Tia cause I miss you my dear friend from across the pond. :0)
Now to "My Girls + One Guy" or should I say "Jophies Girls + One Guy"? :0)
Jophie has several caregivers. I really hate that word. I don't even like aides. They all sound so cold and impersonal. 2 have recently gotten their LPN degree so we now have 2 nurses on staff. Gosh I don't even like the word staff nor do I like the word STAPH but I digress. :0) "The Girls + One Guy" have been with us for many years. All but one were already close friends and ALL now are more like family. They are a constant source of encouragement to me. My strength and like Tia my rocks. They are my link to the outside world. I could not make it without them nor could Jophie. We depend on them greatly and they never fail us. They go above and beyond and even when the hours have run out and we still need help....They continue on their own time. And they do this endlessly without question nor do they look back in regret.
Only one has a blog so I'll start with her.
Katy of Mom 22 Teens is a childhood friend and has worked for me from nearly the beginning. We were best buddies in high school and loved being in the band. We sure took our share of Grand Champion and Best Percussion awards! Oh yea we were BAD!(Course you know that means good right?) Yep I'm showing my age. :0) Anyway, Katy is resourceful, creative and can host a mean fund raiser! She's made MANY a midnight run to the hospital with me when Jophie was near death all the while keeping her cool. It's nice having someone who can "stay calm" in the midst of the storm. She's fed us, paid our bills and bought items that Jophie has needed without question nor did she ask for anything in return. Her hubby sure is handy to have around too! Mike can fix anything and I mean anything! She's shared him with us on more times than I can count. I could go on and on but you get the idea. So here ya go Katy. Your very own Nice Matters award! :0)
Now for the others who don't have a blog:
Danny and Tammy(One of my LPN's) are as close as my family if not more. We've been through thick and thin together. They've endured from the beginning. We've lived together and vacationed together. They've fed us, paid our bills, bought Jophie needed items and carried us through many hard times without asking for anything in return. We've shared lots of laughs and rejoiced together in one anothers achievemants. Together we've wept over Jophies bed many times as he hovered near death. We've also wept over the death of their 4 children and then rejoiced over the birth of their 4 living children. They say trials and tribulation really show who your true friends are. This I know to be true.
Lora is the only one I didn't know prior however, we've grown to love her just like family. She cares for Jophie as though he's her own. She's compassionate and our organizer. She likes things to be "really clean" and organized. I love that in her plus it sure helps me breath a bit easier when she declutters something! She's just finishing up her LPN and I can't wait to get her back on our "normal schedule" so I can get back to the Y and swim! Hurry up Lora!
Laura of Mom2_4 is also an adoptive/foster parent that I met through the same online group for special needs kiddos. She's also a missionary in Japan who faces many challenges daily not only with her son but with just the daily grind of being a missionary in a foreign country then toss in a few natural disasters like EARTHQUAKES and voila! You have yourself another "crazy life". She's always been very supportive and encouraging to me even through all her struggles. Thanks Lora!
Alesha of akconklin is yet another friend I met through the same online group for special needs kiddos. She too is an adoptive mommy who faces many challenges each day with her precious little boy. Through her struggles she always finds the time to drop by and leave the most encouraging posts. Thanks so much Alesha!
All of these people are so deserving of this award and such a source of strength to me. Drop by and visit with each of them. You will be blessed. :0)
Stay tuned as I'm going to share with you one of my favorite Fall Crafts I've ever made! Pumpkin Topiaries! Wheee!
Phew! I think I'm finished and good thing too. It's time to get Jophies meds and tube feeding ready! Yikes!
Colonization: This means those nasty bugs have basically taken up residence in his body and are living there.
Think of it this way......
You have a good army and a bad army. Jophies good army is not as strong as it should be because of his immune system. The "Nasty Super bugs" are the bad army. Jophie is fighting with ONLY ONE good yet compromised army. The "bad guys army" is 5 fold. That would be 5 bad armys against ONE compromised good army.
What happens is this:
When Jophies immune system drops down a bit more, he is exposed to a cold or illness of any sort, he has an "off" day and doesn't get the nutrition in he needs, he doesn't get the fluids in he needs OR any number of about a bazillion other things
THEN......
The "bad armys" attack.....As Jophies "good colonies" drop in numbers the "bad armys" already large numbered colonies can take over and become "active" and often more than one of the "bad armys" is active at one time. The goal is to get Jophies army back up in numbers so as to "overpower" the "bad army" and knock their numbers back down to an inactive state.
Don't get lost here......We can NOT erradicate these bugs but rather our goal is to knock them down to an inactive state in which case that would mean his "good army" is big enough in numbers to keep those "bad ones" at bay.
Make sense??
OK so I'm asking for your help here. While I've been on bended knee storming those gates for nearly 100 days now......I think the time has come to multiply "our numbers" and all together we can Storm those gates! In numbers we are sure to succeed!
Specific prayer requests would be at this time:
1. The antibiotic that he is currently on would knock whichever bug or bugs is thriving down enough to make it inactive.
2. Jophies immune system would kick in enough to bring his numbers up to keep those bugs at bay.
3. IF this one does not work then we need to figure out which bug or bugs is active AND come up with the right drug or combination of drugs to knock them down!
4. Give his doctor the knowledge and wisdom to fight this effectively again.....
NOTE: His doctors name is Sherrie. She is a christian and leans heavily on Gods guidance not only in her private life but also in her work......
I think it helps to attach names to our prayers when we can :0)
One last thing.....
LISA http://www.thepreachers-wife.blogspot.com/ I was so blessed and honored to find you had given me the
I just wanted you to know how much I appreciated your kindness and will get to this as soon as I can. :0)
OK gotta scoot!
Jophies needs are calling!
Jophies Closet
Meals 4 Wheels Cookbooks
Loving Jophie Wristbands
Jophies Jungle Boutique
