Not great news about Norman. The biopsy results show that he has stage 3 cancer that has spread to his lymph nodes. The more immediate problems are that he has developed pneumonia for which he is on antibiotics, needed a blood transfusion, is on oxygen, and has fluid build-up in his body.

Rather than his coming home this week, looks like he is in for a siege. He will see an oncologist about treatment options as soon as possible.

BRAYDEN

This is a video I made after visiting the Abbott Family as they waited for Norman to go into surgery. To play it click on the right arrow that is on the bottom left of the blank square. Then click on the four arrows to get the thing full screen. Make sure the sound is turned up on your computer.

I misspelled Kaitlyn. This is the correct spelling.

Anyway, Caitlin had to be nearly pried off the wave runner. John, Jana and Ellie went fishing a couple times after Caitlin went to bed. John got a fishing pole for father's day but I don't think he got to fish much what with baiting hooks and taking their catches off their lines. Ellie caught the most.

This weekend Groves and Mad Dog are here and Doug came down this morning. He wants to catch enough crappie for a fish fry next weekend. Goldman will be back tomorrow or Monday. Fourth of July is a big event and display.

I probably won't finish this post because lots has been happening. It's such a relief with the results of Norm's surgery. Maybe I can convince him and Margaret to come see me here at the lake after his convalescence. It took me a long time to spell that word.

My first weekend here Scott and the boys came from Louisville. As you can see by the pictures, each of the boys brought a friend. Beth came from Kansas City. Groves and Mad Dog were here. The boys love the boat and riding the tube behind it. Swimming in the pool and in the lake was also a great occupation. Groves would drive the boat when Scott got tired of dragging hem around. Since there was four of them and only three could ride the tube, they were good about taking turns in the boat or on the tube. At least, I think so. I sat on the sun deck and watched them.

After everyone left except Mad Dog and me, Mad Dog BBQ pork steaks we waited for Jana, John, Ellie and Caitlin. John was hungry and did justice {as we all did} to his pork steaks. They stayed until Thursday which wasn't long enough. Both girls loved the wave runner and the boat. Caitlin [who is 2} I"LL FINISH IN ANOTHER POST> MY CAPS LOCKED AND I HAVE TO REBOOT>

Margaret called at 6:15 to say Norman's surgeon said the surgery went just fine and the outcome is extremely positive. The surgery took about two hours, the cancer was contained and removed, and Norman will be back to norman in four to six weeks.

I went to the hospital this afternoon to find a big party going on. Margaret and Norm were surrounded by their kids and their grandkids, and everyone was talking, visiting, reminiscing, just waiting for the four o'clock hour. Norman actually sang about just how he longed for water, and I taped the performance. With some luck, I should be able to post the tape here.

Any way, so far so good. We think Norman dodged a bullet today.

Norman has been cleared for surgery. It is scheduled for 4:00 pm today.

[This is a whole lot like the Marshfield Mail Newspaper. If you haven't been reading earlier entries, you have any idea what this is all about!]

Sabrina, the middle Abbott daughter, called this afternoon with a health update on Norman. The CT scan looked good so no metastasis. Today he is having other tests, heart, blood, etc., to make sure he is strong enough for the surgery to remove the growth from his colon. If everything is a go, he will have the surgery tomorrow.

Sabrina said the surgeon called this kind of cancer "the silent killer," and Norman was lucky to catch it early enough. For all you Dear Readers age 50 and older, have a colonoscopy. Not only does the test catch this kind of danger early, it also can prevent cancers because precancerous polyps are detected and removed during the test.

More when we know more.

We want to let all the family know that Norman is in the hospital, Barnes-Jewish in St. Peters. He had dizziness and low blood pressure on Monday while visiting Stephanie and Dan. Stephanie called his physician who said he needed to go to the emergency room. From the ER he was admitted to the hospital. So far, tests indicate he has a mass in his colon which may or may not be cancerous. When I left the hospital today, he was about to have a CT scan. With the scan results and a biopsy in hand, the physician in charge will outline treatment options. That should happen tomorrow or Friday.

Norman had a CT scan about a year ago, so there is good reason to believe that this condition, whatever it is, is in the early stages and for that reason quite treatable.

Margaret, daughters Stephanie and Sabrina, and daughter-in-law Lynn were at the hospital most of the day. I will post more when we know more.

These photos sort of place themselves, so labeling is difficult. John, Ellie, and Kaitlyn in the water. Ellie and Kaitlyn feeding the ducks. Maddog and Ellie walking up the road.

alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620288293414794866" />


CAITLIN, JOHN, JANA, JANA AND ELLIE

I'm going to start this post but may have to finish it in two parts. I had five young men this weekend who got a lot accomplished (mostly Doug with Ding, Groves, Goldman and Mad Dog as helpers and gophers). They played cards until the wee small hours of the morning. When I played Bingo with my pals at BJEC last week I won a deck of cards which I brought with me. After some playing with the old deck, they guys decided to count the cards. They had been playing with a deck of 51! My winning came in handy.

Their major accomplishment was the installation of the stairlift. I thought I was going to learn some new words. Doug had never installed one before. We had country music on the TV. He is taking blood pressure medicine, and when I ask if his blood pressure was okay these days, he replied, "It's pretty high right now, what with this country music and the stair lift". Needless to say, he and his helpers did a good job. On Sunday morning Doug and Groves put the wave runner back in the water and on the lift. Doug had done some major work on it this winter. He did catch a 3lb. 7oz. bass, so I think that helped calm his blood pressure. Also, he got to ride the stair lift first!

Goldman is still sleeping {snoring). He sleeps in the dungeon in case I need anything in the morning. Everyone is more comfortable since I ride downstairs in the lift. I always get up first. It's raining this morning with thunder and lightning but is supposed to clear up. We had a torrential rain yesterday morning, but it didn't last all day.

Scott, Beth, Brayden, Jalen, Mad Dog and Groves will be here this weekend. Each of the boys is bringing friends The Hollensbes can't come so they will have other kids to play with . Goldman is going to St. Louis for his sister's 50th birthday party. John and Jana and the girls will get here the19th through the 23rd. Chase, my neighbor's son in Springfield who was just a boy when Den and I lived there, called me Saturday evening. He is now a professional photographer. He will come see me sometime toward the end of the month. I called Leslie Sunday after Doug caught the bass. Sam (Leslie's husband) loves fishing so I'm hoping they come up soon.

Pete called Saturday morning with his weekly call. He had had his first cataract done so now he says his bad eye is his good eye. Nancy had gone to Spokane to help Caitlin get settled in, and Merri had come out and cut their grass. Pete had already talked to Joe and said he's been busy at the RR Museum. .

This afternoon Sue and Goldman departed for an extended stay at the Lake. The car was so loaded with the stair lift parts that Sue had to sit in the back seat. As they left, Goldman, the wit, said, "Driving Miss Daisy to Daisy Road." [Sue's lake house is on Daisy Road.] Goldman is going to finish his historical novel, and Sue plans simply to enjoy her home.

Rose was invited to speak on a panel before about 100 people at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in April. The event was part of an exhibit, "Dreamscapes," and the discussion was about ways of approaching dreams. In this segment Rose speaks about Carl Jung and Jungian Psychology, her specialty. I believe the Pulitzer has other segments from the evening uploaded, but this one was all I could find:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxP6oXHo8sU

Amanda, Erica, Sabrina in a run