Maui

We spent the past week in paradise! We arrived at the Ritz and were pleasantly surprised that our room was upgraded to a suite, because it was the only disabled room available. We felt like real VIP's. There was a foyer, living room area that was massive and had a king-size sofa bed, 60 ft. plasma screen; separate bedroom with a king-size bed and a spacious bathroom with a walk-in shower. There was access to a private patio with a sofa and table. The view was of the ocean and had direct access to the pathways that lead to the beach and pools.

Our first night we met up with my brother and my parents at the Pineapple Grill and ate the first of many fabulous meals, with great company!

We were able to spend every day with each other. We hung out in the cabana by the baby pool where Rudy (my nephew) and Deke played in the water. Each of the couples enjoyed a date night. Mom and Lewis were the first couple to have a night. Mickey, Val and Rudy stayed with us at the hotel, while the kids watched a movie. The adults played Dutch Blitz. Tuesday night we went to a luau that was awesome. The food was scrumptious and the performance was memorable. Darrin and I spent our date night at the Swan restaurant in the Hyatt and were seated in a front table, which had a spectacular view of a waterfall and swan's floating in the water. It was a delicious meal. After dinner we "walked" on a path that was along the ocean. On our last day we enjoyed taking the Sugar Cane train, which was a steam engine train that ran along the ocean side of the island.

May 30, 2008

It's been a crazy busy month at Yoder's. We had both of our bulldog's go into labor on the same day. Out of both litters we had 7 pups. All are beautiful bullies. They are now 4 weeks old and are wobbling around and playing with each other. Their for all rolly-pollies. Vannah's litter is all about eating and drinking water. Jilda's pups have NO interest in anything else other than mommy's milk.

Darrin's mom and step-father came down and stayed with us for a week. They were a huge help and we enjoyed their stay. Darrin, Chase, myself and I'm sure one day Deke will love Stella's cooking. She was cooking all week and spending time with her grand babies. I have a feeling that they went home and collapsed! We managed to do something almost every night. We went shopping, had Maggie Mo ice cream and spent one day at the zoo.

Deke is my little pistol. He has had a cold/ear infection two weeks, but typically his mood is still mischievous and happy. He has so many teeth that I can't keep up with them, He's been extremely affectionate this week and I LOVE it.

Chase is out of school and loving his freedom and the ability to sleep in. He also earned back his cell phone and has been talking non-stop. I've already see that he will probably go over his minutes. He's been warned. He is loving spending time with Deke. They were out there playing under the sprinkler, Of course, Chase was suppose to be rinsing off the floor covers for the pups whelping box. Chase being Chase, turned it into a "water event".

Darrin's travel will stop at the end of July. We are all looking forward to that! Between now and then, we're going to spend a week in Hawaii with my family and then a long weekend in PA for the Yoder reunion. Chase will stay an additional week in PA so that he can attend a christian music festival.

ALS wise my right hand is weakening and beginning to curl. I'm wearing a brace every night, which keeps my finger from curling during my sleep and helps with cramping during the day. I have more severe cramping in my feet and legs. At this point I hesitate taking anything new, so I'm just dealing with it, My power chair has come in, but the paperwork wasn't completed correctly, which means they can't deliver it. Hopefully, that will be worked out shortly.

That's all I have for now. I'll try to do better in updating the blog :)_

Switzerland trip

Switzerland was gorgeous. It was everything I thought it would be and more. The snow, alps, architecture. We didn't realize that they celebrated Easter from Friday to Monday, so most of the shops and restaurants were closed. Oddly enough there were many Italian (go figure) restaurants to choose from. We ate fondue at one of the Italian restaurants, so we're able to say we ate Swiss food, in Switzerland, This same restaurant had horse on the menu. We had eaten at a posh French restaurant the night before, and Darrin was teasing his dad and told him that we could have been eating horse at the French restaurant and not have known it!

We were going to one of our destinations, and were traveling over the alps in a snow storm. We eventually turned around and found a different route. We had rented a handicap van and were able to see the scenery and travel at ease. Air travel with the electric chair proved to be much simpler than we had thought. We did have to ride up a platform to board the plane home, but we couldn't blame them for using this method because the chair weighs approx. 300 lbs. I wouldn't want to lift it!

Ray and Nancy were great traveling companions. We complimented each other and were able to enjoy each others company and share this experience.

Home at last!

Hidee hoo there everyone!

I'm HOME and thrilled about it. It's hard to describe what it's like to go nuts, but I did it. I would like for others to remember this experience. If your loved one starts talking out of their head, get them to the doctor. If Darrin hadn't done this for me I don't know where I'd be. Nobody would think a urinary track infection could cause delirium, yet it does.

Now, I have to point out that this isn't something typical for people my age (37). Of course, it has to happen to me. It's times like this when I wonder if this is a reason that things like this happen to me............a learning experience for ourselves and/or others? Whatever reason it happened, I'd like a break!!!

Deke cut his first lower molar today. My little feller grew longer, lost some of his pot-belly, but he still remembers his mama. Chase is watching me like a hawk, but is starting to relax. Darrin caught up on much needed sleep.

Love to all!

On the way home

I talked to Ami and her and Shirley were on their way home. I am sure that they were going to stop to pick up the little critter! The doctor's are going to continue the antibiotic and they have given Ami something different to help her sleep at night. A lot of her fatigue comes from not sleeping well at night.

I am sure that this weekend will be spent getting ready for the big trip, as well as just spending time together outside of a hospital setting. Ami will probably take over the blogging again 0nce she feels 100%, although I might chime in with something every now and then.

Have a good weekend and make sure to keep in touch with Ami, she will let you know if she is too tired to talk.

Going home Friday!

Hello everyone, Dr. Bertorini said that Ami should be able to go home tomorrow as long as the MRI looks good. He was irritated that they had not done the MRI yet. All of the other doctors have cleared her; internal medicine, pulmonary, and infectious diseases.

Thanks to everyone who was thinking of us this week, it will be nice to sleep on a bed instead of a hospital room couch. I think Ami is through trying experimental medicines, this last round was just too hard on her.

We are looking forward to our trip next Thursday, as long as Ami continues to be in good health.

Update on Ami

Hi everyone, it has been a crazy week for us here in Tennessee. Last week Ami started having some confusion and hallucinations. She ended up falling on Friday and hurt her hip and left side of her body. Since she had fallen several times in the last couple of weeks, we decided a trip to the emergency room for some X-rays was in order.

The good news was that nothing was broken; however she had a urinary tract infection, she was dehydrated and some of her blood results were abnormal. Dr. Bertorini decided to admit her so that we could try to figure out what has been happening. He has had many different doctors see her including a pulmonologist, an infectius disease doctor, an internal medicine doctor as well as a physical therapist to check her swallowing.

On Sunday, Ami woke up refreshed and was able to enjoy a visit with Chase and Deke. We felt like she had turned the corner and were feeling good about her progress. However, Sunday night she did not sleep very well and on Monday she was not doing as good as she had been. We think a big part of what's going on is that her body is not getting the rest she needs.

Dr. Bertorini is going to schedule an MRI to see if they can pinpoint what is causing her headaches and her confusion. He did mention that there is some atrophy of the frontal lobe of her brain, which can happen in people with ALS. We are hoping that this is not too serious and that with rest, antibiotics and other medication Ami can return to her normal, bubbly self!

I will try to keep everyone updated through the blog, since it becomes tiresome repeating everything to a dozen different people. Please keep our family in your prayers and we appreciate all the help and support that everyone is providing.

Hypnotrader is a screen name I use online, not sure why it didn't use Darrin, but it's me!