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

Yesterday, Tuesday, was the day from hell. Rose and I went to the facility at 7:15 am, and at that hour we had to enter through the back door and walk a mile. Den was dressed and waiting for us. He had been up an hour and a half and was very anxious about his liver biopsy. He also had taken a fall during the night, and his left hand was very swollen. The van which was to take us to St. Louis University Hospital was an hour and a half late which meant we arrived very late for our 8:00 am appointment.

After a long period of waiting, some blood-letting, and uncertainty, Den was taken into a prep roomf for his biopsy. We did some more waiting there, only to find out that Den's blood was too thin so that the biopsy procedure would have to be postponed. Rose and I had raised such a fuss over the medical transport company's early morning performance that the van driver to return to the facility was actually early. While at the hospital, the young doctor handling Den's biopsy took a look at Den's swollen hand and ordered X-rays. Long story short, Den has a broken bone in his left hand which is going to require care from an orthopedic specialist.

I was so distraught by the end of this terrible day that I called Kim and said, "HELP!!!" Kim jumped into gear and arranged for all the logistics for today when Den had a return trip to St. Louis University Hospital where he indeed had the biopsy. Today Kim, Aaron, and Den had the day from hell. They arrived at St. Louis University Hospital at 10:30 am and were there until 6:30 pm. They did get the biopsy procedure behind Den. We will know some results, hopefully, next Wednesday when we have another full day of consult and Den has several evaluations all leading up to a decision about a liver transplant. Of course, all this is extremely critical to Den's future. Much has to happen--dental care, tuberculous testing, all kind of medical tests and evaluations--then the transplant team will assign a priority number to Den if he qualifies for a transplant.

Meanwhile, today, I had an early morning appointment with my neurologist, Dr. Dooley. Dooley was extremely pleased and suprised at my progress. He noted that I can walk as well as most folk, that my strength in arms and legs is much improved, and that my balance is just great. He, Rose, and I atrribute the improvement to the immuno-globulin infusions I had in St. Francis Hospital during the five days leading up to Thanksgiving. I have Chris Costas and Denny O'Brien, my tending physicians at St. Francis, to thank for their going out on a limb with the immuno-globulin when Dooley would not. Now Dooley has become a believer. He wants to think over the next immuno-globulin treatment for a few days. We will consult before next Wednesday, and I will have the treatment either as an in-patient in St. Luke's Hospital or in out-patient treatment over five days in Dooley's offices.

Of course, I and people around me have noted my physical improvement. I haven't used the wheelchair in weeks. I can walk unaided, doing steps and curbs that heretofore have daunted me. My balance is great. The one continuing source of frustration and worry is that I don't have good use of my hands. I am praying that the IG treatments will begin to have more effect on my hands and fingers and soon.

Immediately after Rose and I left this good meeting with Dooley, we raced over to St. Richard's Church for Shelly's grandmother's funeral mass. We were a few minutes late but so glad we could take part in the ceremony. Clearly Gramm's life is one to celebrate, and the mass was just that--a celebration. I was so proud of my son Chris who, along with Shelly's cousin, delivered a moving and loving eulogy. Shelly didn't think she could do it, so Chris stood in for her. Rose and I sat with tears streaming down our faces.

This evening I visited with Den and with Aaron at the facility. Den was exhausted after two miserable days. And tomorrow should be another miserable day. Early in the morning Rose and I will accompany Den to his neurologist for one more medical opinion. All this "doctorin" is a royal pain in the arse.

Shirley left for her routine Chicago days today. Rose will go on Saturday. My plan is to spend Saturday with Chris and Shelly, then spend Saturday night and Sunday night with the Abbotts. I am hoping to see some of the Abbott Clan while I'm there.

Den's big day is coming up next Wednesday. After that full day of consult and evaluation, we should know more about the possibilities for a liver transplant.

One note for all of our Dear Readers to consider: BE AN ORGAN DONOR!!! This whole process with Den is teaching us how very much people's lives and health depend upon the genrosity of all of us.

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 [Para] Our brother Bernie continues to amaze. He was in the hospital in Spokane in acute care where he had some kind of procedure to help the blood flow to his heart. His wife Maudie told Margaret today that the procedure was a complete success, that Bernie would be going home today or tomorrow, and that they could go south with their camper as planned. If any Dear Reader has more detail, please click on the 'comments' link and clue us in. [Para] Tomorrow is a busy day. Den has to be downtown St. Louis at St. Louis University Hospital at 8:00 am for his liver biopsy. He will be there four to six hours. Rose and I plan to follow the medical transport van which will take Den to the hospital. We will be there for the start of the procedure, then leave, and return to accompany him back to the facility. Tonight Den was worried about the biopsy, not necessarily about any biopsy results, rather more about the procedure itself. [Para] After we return from the university hospital, Rose, Shirley, and I will go to the funeral parlor to Shelly's grandmother's wake. The funeral mass will be Wednesday at 10:00 am at St. Richard's Church. The obituary is available in the 'comments' section of yesterday's blog post. [Para] Shirley, Rose, and I went over to Sam's today to buy light bulbs. We ended up spending $210. Needless to say, we won't be going back soon.

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.

It is our sad duty to report the death of Shelly's grandmother, Dorothy Peterson, age 93. She died peacefully at home last evening about 7:50 pm, surrounded by loving family She had suffered with cancer for several weeks, spent one week in hospital, and then came home to be tended by family. The obituary will be in the St Louis Post-Dispatch tomorrow and Tuesday. Visitation will be Tuesday at Ortmann-Stipanovich Funeral Home, 12444 Olive Blvd, which is west of Hiway 270 about 1/4 mile on Olive Blvd. The funeral mass will be Wednesday morning at 10:00 am at St. Richard's Church, 11223 Shuetz Road in Creve Coeur.

This is a terrible loss for the whole family, particularly for Shelly for whom 'Gram' was truly a second mother. Shelly and Chris have been absolutely wonderful to Den and me in these recent months, and additionally Shelly had been helping family members keep a 24/7 watch with Gram in recent days. Chris and Shelly were actually with us on an outing for Den yesterday when they got the call to come to Shelly's grandmother's because the end was near. Our hearts go out to the family.

Margaret Anne called to give us the latest news about Bernie and Maudie. They got through the Panama Canal on their cruise when Bernie became ill. He was taken in a medical boat to Aruba where he was hospitalized. From there, Maudie got the two of them home to Spokane where Bernie was again hospitalized. Last night his condition was severe enough that he was moved to an acute care facility at another hospital in Spokane. Maudie believes Bernie's problem is not his heart, as his physicians suggest, but is rather his lifelong battle with the diabetes and the various medications he has had to take. We'll update when we know more. If any readers have information, please post it in the 'comments' section of the Blog.

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. [Paragraph] Much has happened since the last entry. Let's start with today. At 8:00 am Den, Kim, Rose, and I were downtown at Dr. Bacon's office (Dr. Bacon is Den's gastroenterologist) for Den's appointment. Dr. Bacon was encouraging and discouraging today. The spot on Den's liver is most probably malignant. However, the presence of a malignancy is cause to move Den up higher on the candidate for a liver transplant list. We spent over two hours in Dr. Bacon's offices, mainly to see him for 15 minutes then to be briefed on all the ins and outs of the transplant protocol. From there we went down the hall where Den had blood drawn for various tests. [Para] The next step is a biopsy of the liver. Den will have that next Tuesday. A lot of testing and prep work has to be done prior to any surgery, actually prior to Den being approved for the candidate list. It is clear that this liver transplant team leaves little to chance. Den will have to be ready for this major surgery with as little as one hour's notice, once the approvals and tests are all complete. It is clear that many factors go into the determination/decision of who gets a liver and when, and of course one big factor is chance. [Para.] The last we heard from Pete and Janet was a phone call as they were crossing the border into Mexico. [Para] Last weekend I spent with the Abbotts. Chris and I took Rose to the airport Saturday morning, then he and I went to the facility for a visit with Den. Later in the afternoon Chris and I went to see Shelly's grandmother who is very ill at home. From there I went to the Abbotts. On Sunday Kim and I took Den out to his mother's in O'Fallon for a Boaz Day. This was the first outing for Den, other than for medical reasons, since November 4. He had a fine time, but he was surely exhausted by the day. [Para] Shirley came home on Monday, Rose on Tuesday. Chris called for each of them. Mark and Karen are in Chicago this week for Karen to attend a trade show at the McCormick Center. They are staying in Rose and Shirley's apartment.

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. >>>>Here is an e-mail from Sabrina that we thought we would share: >>>>"Hi Aunties,

Here's an update from the Proud Mothers Club. Last week Alex called me to let me know that he had won his class spelling bee and that today he would be competing in his school spelling bee against 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. He must have mentioned 4 times that parents were invited. So, I was able to attend today and I was so proud! I wish I would have taken my camera, but alas, I forgot. Anyway, he placed 3rd in the school. When I left, the verdict was that he was 4th, but he called me at work later to tell me that his teacher had contested and that the person saying the word that he missed, "inert", had mispronounced the word. Therefore, he took 3rd, rather than 4th. Now he's bumming because he thinks he could have gone to state and won a gold medal. Apparently his teacher concurred, telling him that he had the hardest word, since the boy that won subsequently had to spell "alligator" and "eleven". His "devoted fans", (his term for his classmates) made signs to support him and hold up during the spelling bee and then gave them to him afterward.

He also got straight A's again, and his teacher's comments on his report card said that he was a natural leader who is able to hold the attention of his peers when he speaks to his class. Brett got all A's and 1 B+. I have to fork out some money now, but aren't they wonderful?

I was sad that I didn't get to see you when you were at my Mom's. We need to pick a date for me to come over for lunch.

Love to all,
Bebe"

Jalen, Brayden, and Jamil at the Smiths 

Jalen and Brayden at the birthday bash 

Rose, Brayden, and Sue 

Brayden 

Rose and Brayden 

Rose and Brayden at The Smiths 

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.

Den had his CT scan on Thursday It was a terrible weather day, rain, sleet, wind, and snow; but he made the trip to the St. Louis University Hospital quite well. He had to fast from midnight until early afternoon then he ate everything in sight.

Yesterday Joe Felin, daughter Lisa, son David, and granddaughter Lydia travelled here to pick up Lisa's new Pontiac Grand Prix. Note: I am no longer calling the car a "Pontiass," thanks to Lisa and Jack. They drove from Springfield in 'Papa's' van. However, when it came to drive home, no one wanted to ride with Papa. Thanks to David, we now know what some of the 'extras' on the Pontiac are and how they work.

Chris and Shelly joined us for lunch. We all went to Applebee's where Joe gladly picked up the tab because, as he explained, "I have Pete's credit card." Thanks, Pete!

Shirley left for Chicago on Wednesday, and Rose is off there this morning. Another of Shirley's sisters is ill, Estelle who lives in Kansas. It seems she has had a couple of strokes which have weakened her right side and affected her speech. She is still in the hospital and all tests are not yet complete.

Sue, Shelly, Rose, Chris, Dave, Lisa, Joe, Lydia 

Sue, Shelly, Rose, Chris, Dave, Lisa, Joe (almost), Lydia 

Lydia, Lisa, Joe, Shelly, Sue, Rose 

Lydia, Lisa, Joe, Shelly, Sue 

Chris and Sue 

Lisa 

David 

Lydia, Joe's Granddaughter 

Joe Felin 

Shelly 

Chris aka "Big Ding" 

Margaret 

Norman 

Brian 

Jalen 

Brayden 

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 [Paragraph] Hello, it's Rose with a quick update. Sue is walking on the treadmill right now. I am happy to report that Lisa and Jack have decided to buy the Pontiac. Lisa, David, Joe, and Lydia will travel to St. Louis on Friday to pick up the car. This is one big load off Sue's mind. We deeply appreciate Lisa and Jack's decision to go ahead and purchase now rather than wait until Spring as they had planned. We are sure they will enjoy this car. Friday I will try to get photos of our visitors to post here. From feedback we've had, our Dear Readers appreciate pictures as much as words. [Paragraph] Brother Donald called today. He and Vita had to cancel their New Year's plans for Washington, D.C., because they were ill. Their plan is to go in the spring when the cherry blossoms are in bloom.

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 For some reason, this blog will not accept line spacing so, once again, we'll do [Para] to indicate a new paragraph. [Paragraph] We had a wonderful visit with Joe Felin, his daughter Lisa, and our cousin Brian Madden yesterday. The three of them drove up from Springfield, had lunch with us, and then went over to the facility to visit with Den. We tried to get them to spend the night, but they wanted to make the whole trip in one day. Lisa is interested in the Pontiac and, it turns out, had done research so that she knew a whole lot more about the car than either Den or I. She and her dad took it out for a test drive and reported that they "got it up to 140." [Para] Lisa and her husband Jack spent some time in Spain last summer. She brought me a beautiful rosewood rosary from Avila, the home of St. Theresa. The rosewood has a permanent aroma that lends a sense of the eternal to the sacred object. [Para] We hardly recognized Brian. He is clean-shaven with semishort hair but the wonderful sense of humor and wit are unchanged. We were sorry that Brian's mother, Aunt Virginia, and the rest of Joe Felin's family did not make the trip. [Para] Den had a really good day yesterday and enjoyed the out-of-town visitors as much as we did. [Para] There is some distressing news in Chris and Shelly's family. Shelly's grandmother, age 93, is very ill and in the hospital. We didn't talk to either Chris or Shelly yesterday so don't have an update on Gram's condition. She had been unwell for several weeks leading up to this hospitalization. [Para] Our brother Bernie and his wife are on their trip through the Panama Canal. Pete told us that they likely have sold their farm in Spokane and will be building a new house. Bernie got very good news last week. His physician took him off the oxygen so that they are now is on this big trip unencumbered. Pete and Janet leave next week on their two-month, 7,000 mile caravan through Mexico and Belize.

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 If you follow this link, you will see a photo of Pete and Janet's son Kelly and his two sons icefishing: http://idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050106/IDOUT/501060317&SearchID=73195468889462 It's a great photo: Kelly Felin and his sons, John, on his lap, and Ryan wait for a fish to bite at Magic Reservoir.

Another busy week since our last update. On Thursday we went to the Smiths' for dinner and had a wonderful time. Sabrina and family and her parents made the occasion special for Jalen's birthday. Jalen and Jamil got along famously with Alex and Brett and truly thought they were in a young man's paradise with all the games, sports equipment, and knowledgeable 'older' models in Alex and Brett. Norm has been especially charming and witty lately, all in hopes of getting 'off probabtion' after only 40=some years. However, we like keeping him on the edge. [This site won't let us do paragraphs, hence the run-together nature of the last entry. Tonight we'll do this [Paragraph] indicator so as to separate our topics. [Paragraph] I had told everyone that the only Christmas presents I wanted this year were things I could eat or drink. Sabrina took me at my word and made me banana bread and gave me a big bottle of very good wine. Margaret semi-honored my request and gave Den and me some of her famous fudge along with other stuff. It is hard to say just who enjoyed that fudge or that banana bread the most. As mother would have said, "It didn't last til it was all gone." [Paragraph] As any Dear Reader can tell from the photos on this Blog, we enjoyed having Brayden and Jalen over the Christmas break. Shirley had to have some minor surgery that limited her ability to lift the baby which was frustrating to her. The surgery was successful and turned out not to be very painful. She is happy to have it behind her--no pun intended. [Paragraph] When Rose, the boys, and I returned from the Smiths' on Thursday, Dena and Layla (Jamil's mother and four-year-old sister) had arrived. The three of them left Friday morning in order to be home in Bloomington, IN, for New Year's Eve. [Paragraph] On Thursday morning I saw Dr. Dooley, my St. Louis neurologist, for the first time since July. He was surprised and pleased with my progress, particularly my balance and walking ability. Something has helped me. Dr. Dooley will review all my Chicago hospitalizations and treatment records, and I have another appointment on January 26 to see what the next step will be. [Paragraph] We've been e-mailing back and forth with Brother Joe and family about their upcoming visit this Saturday. We had asked them to come up sometime over the Christmas holidays, but Joe's son David thought we might be 'overwhelmed' with all that was going on. He suggested a visit after the holidays. Perhaps David was right because after Scott left with the two boys on Monday morning, we three old ladies semi-collapsed and were in the pits. We miss the boys a lot, but also know why only young people have children! [Paragraph] Over a period of time, we have established an evening ritual of having a nice meal in our dining room. Jalen sets the table, lights the candles, and helps serve. On this visit Brayden started dragging his high chair from the kitchen to his particular place at the dining table. He also learned where each of us sits and would pat the chair seats and point us to where we belonged. We continue to be pleased and amazed with young Jalen. He knows phrases like 'bon appetite' and 'bon voyage' and uses them appropriately. He can read far beyond his first grade level, and he is very artistic. It was a new pleasure this visit to see him master his new bicycle, a seven-speed number with handbrakes. [Paragraph] Yesterday Joe wrote us that he has invited Aunt Virginia to come with him and his family on Saturday. We surely hope she can do so. [Paragraph] I am happy to report that Den is doing 'some better.' He has now used up his insurance benefit for in-patient physical rehabilitation, is now more stable, and has been moved to a residential floor of the extended care facility. This floor is much less of a hospital atmosphere but provides the 24/7 nursing supervision he still requires. He has an appointment for a CT Scan on January 13 and a follow-up with his gastroenterologist on January 20. Perhaps we'll know more after those two appointments. [Paragraph] Pete left a voice mail this morning that he and Janet are now back in Quartzsite, AZ. He was calling because he had heard about the bad weather here in St. Louis. Luckily, the bad weather passed us by, and it is just cold here. [Paragraph] We continue to be grateful for Catrina and her knowledge of the intricacies of medical insurance. She assisted us with Den's move, has investigated coverage of medications for us, has checked out all the physicians newly involved, and in general stays on top things that slip by me every day. Since she made the birthday calendars a year ago, we have stayed on top all birthdays except for Jacob's and hers. Catrina told us she turned 29 (again!) on December 31st. How could we forget a New Year's Baby like her?

Brayden 

Sue, Jalen, and Brayden 

Jalen