You can reach Sue at (314) 452-3685 or (314) 726-2032. You can write to her c/o Rose Holt, 905 Barnard College Lane, St. Louis, MO 63130


Our family get-together while Pete and Janet are here is tentatively set for Sunday, October 3. More detail as we know it. If you have comments or preferences, please let us know ASAP.

Brother Joe sent a newsy update today. Here it is:

"Thanks for the weblog update. The date of Saturday Oct. 2nd sounds good. Hopefully, I/we will be going to one of the final St. Louis Cardinal baseball games but so far, we have various conflicts. I may see if there is a charter bus to & from the game on Thurs, Sept 30th or Fri. Oct. 1, & go by myself.

Back to practicing medicine without a license, Don't you think Janet should consider another house nurse besides Pete? One time Aunt Mit was removing a splinter from brother Bob's finger & he told her she would make a better butcher that a Dr.

Not much new around here. Just keeping busy. The new overtime rules did not change my rate of pay! Still work free & furnish all materials.

My Dr. appointments are pretty well routine. On Oct. 18th the 60 day follow-up or whatever it is called is with Dr. Tay, the rheumatologist. The goutric arthritis & also the rheumatoid arthritis appears to be responding to the pills.

The Dr. appointment on Oct. 19th is also pretty routine. Our own D.R. (Donald Roy, the Felin Boy) gave me the best explanation of what the surgeon will do. He has had the same or very similar surgery, except his was close to one of his eyes & required very close & careful surgery. In my case, both of the skin cancers are near the end of my nose. Donald explained (verified) what the Dr. will do & that is remove a small portion of the skin, inspect it in a microscope to insure all the roots are removed. This is out patient surgery & I will be sitting in the waiting room until inspections are complete. They will call me back in for additional removal & this process continues until the results show all the roots have been removed. The original sample show them to be benign. Paperwork said bring some reading material. Thanks to daughter Lisa, I will take The Da Vinci Code book she & Jack loaned me several months back.

Take care of yourself, will see you soon!

Love, brother Joe"


We are urging Joe to stay for a few days and we will put him up and feed him well. That DA VINCI CODE, which the three of us have read, should occupy him in the waiting room for as long as necessary. It is a great read!

Chris and Shelly are having the cleaning lady at the Oakland House in case Pete and Janet end up bunking there, but they may choose to stay here or at Margaret and Norm's when the time comes. We haven't had an update on Janet's recuperation since Sunday, but will post when we hear.

Shirley leaves for Chicago tomorrow. My car has a 'problem' which Doug says is a simple fix. He and Suzanne will pick it up tomorrow and fix it, so that Rose and I can tool off to Chicago in it on Saturday. There I will see Master Want for two accuncture sessions, and we will return on Tuesday.

I had physical therapy, two sessions today, and tomorrow see my healing touch therapist. I am working the problem of what further medical treatment with my two neurologists, Dooley and Frank. Right now, I am continuing the Solumedrol that Dr. Frank started last February. The question before me is whether and how I add immuno-globulin IV treatment to my regimen. My strategy is to try anything that holds promise of helping.

As to my condition, I am stronger in some ways, but my hands are THE PROBLEM. There are many things I cannot do, and the left hand seems to be going the way of the right hand, that is to say, toward uselessness. On a more hopeful note, the rest of me is getting better. My balance is good. I can walk unaided, can workout daily, and have good stamina. I don't sleep well without my trusty Ambien, but recent sleeplessness may be part of the side effects of the return to Solumedrol treatments. Daughter-in-law Shelly reminded me that steroids bring with them insomnia.

Rose and I spent some time with Margaret yesterday. She is recuperating just fine, has lost weight, has great hair, and looked like a million dollars. She goes back to her physician tomorrow, and we will provide an update after we hear from her about her checkup. [Margaret, maybe it is time to send those baggy purple pants to the Good Will? They are getting awfully long.] This afternoon she and Norm were planting garlic in their garden for harvest next spring.

There are three big family birthdays this month. Dan, Stephanie's husband, and Dave, Sabrina's husband, and Connor are September birthdays. For Dave, this is the Big One--the Big Five-O. We think Randy and Lynn have their big Four-O's early next month. And Rose turns 62 in October--the Big Social Security Moment. She is working the system as I write. She has big ambitions to be a Double Dipper. Just as she finally gets educated, she is retiring!