2nd Annual Carl Grisa Open Golf Event announced

On Sunday, August 19, 2012, Carl Grisa's co-workers from when he worked at Arandell Corporation are hosting a golf event, the 2nd annual Carl Grisa Open.  The proceeds from this event will help fund college for Carl's four children.

Golfing T-off time will be 1:00 PM, (golfers could arrive around 12:30).  Golfing may go as late as 4:00, and then Dinner will follow. (Non-golfers can show up anytime, or perhaps around 3:00 PM to welcome the golfers.)

The location: 

The Ironwood Golf Course, 

W270 N6166 Moraine Drive, 

Sussex, WI, 53089.

Here are some details:

• $45/person includes 9 Holes of Golf, Cart and Dinner

• Over $1,000 in raffle and hole prizes, including a 50/50 raffle.

To reserve your spot, or donate items for the raffle, or to sponsor a hole ($100 each) please call….
Scott Conway (262-309-5964) or

Stacie Pike (262-255-4400 ext. 280)

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Nobody Won

Carl Grisa finished his fight against cancer on Tuesday, Dec 13, 2011.  Carl died, and the sarcoma died with him.  Nobody won.  He is in a better place now, without the cancer, BUT I WILL MISS HIM for the rest of my life. 

Carl Grisa, 1992

Friday, Dec 16, 2011 we will have a service for Carl Grisa at Crossroads Presbyterian Church.  There will be a closed casket visitation from 4:00 to 6:00 PM, Funeral Service from 6:00 to 7:00 PM and a Reception to follow.  More details to follow.

Carl Grisa as I will remember him, 2007

The cancer altered Carl's appearance.  I hope the children will remember him as he was before cancer.

Our last family photo, 2011

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November 2011

November 2011 brought colder weather and some cold rainy days.  November was quieter then preceding months - for one thing Carl stopped going to work.  Despite the wheelchair for mobility, Carl's energy has continued to decline, and not working is one way to conserve his remaining energy. 

Carl and some of his co-workers

So some of Carl's coworkers came and visited Carl.  They told me that the music around the office has changed somewhat without Carl helping with the selections.  Not for the better, Carl is guessing.

Carl's nephew came into town with his first child - Carl's first great-niece Emily.  Carl's experience with 4 children had little Emily smiling in his arms. 

Carl, his sister, Emily and Emily's family

A highlight of November was going to our Church's "Great Getaway" retreat weekend in Green Lake Wisconsin from November 11 to November 13, 2011.  Crossroad Presbyterian Church has had an annual retreat in November for many years, and our family has enjoyed going.  (I think our family has gone at least four times.)  The retreat is just people from our church (and the speakers), and so the participants can end up getting to know each other very well.  For this weekend the sun came out and the weather was great.  Carl and I were really hoping we could go as a family, and we surprised many people when we did.  Carl was really tired after that weekend, of course.  

Dinner with adults at the Church retreat

Our Family at the Church Retreat

Thanksgiving Day was a laid back day with the family and wonderful food.  The children's Thanksgiving break was 6 days long, starting on Tuesday and going through Sunday.  We watched a lot of TV and it was kind of noisy at the house. 

Thanksgiving Dinner at our house

In spite of Carl's cancer, we feel we have so much to be thankful for.  But I guess I'll leave that for another post.  I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. 

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October 2011 update

October 2011 seems to have come and gone very quickly.  One of the highlights in October for our family was seeing Anthony Grisa, our sophomore, in the play play "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" put on by Homestead High School. Carl and the family went to all three performances. 

Carl and the kids (and my sister Roseann) at the show

In the play "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" Anthony was a monster in the witches army.  Anthony has never survived the fall plays he has been in.  Anthony "died" in this play (once), and as a Freshman last year in 2010, Anthony "died" three times in the Homestead play "The Odyssey".   

Other October highlights were the Boys Scout chili cook-off (October 11, 2011), a dinner for a friend from Italy at my brother's house, (October 16, 2011), and Miranda's Cross Country Banquet (October 17, 2011), and eating out with friends. 

Our family of six at Francesca's dinner

Carl's started working on a rocket kit at home, his most ambitious rocket kit to date. (Carl has had a lifelong hobby of making rockets and launching them.)  The kit Carl is working on now is for show only, he doesn't plan on launching it.

Carl working on his Saturn 5 Rocket Kit

Carl went to work at Arrandell many days in October, and had a Pet Scan and MRI's, but no Chemotherapy.  The oncologist decided that the chemotherapy was only making Carl sick.  Carl started using a wheel chair in October, and we learned just how surprisingly unsuited our house was for a wheelchair.  For example, the smallest size wheel chair doesn't really fit trough the standard sized door into our bathroom, and turning in the hall is very difficult. 


Next post - November... 
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End of September update

After the 17th dose of chemotherapy, (infusion Sept 7-8, 2011) Carl had a rough time regaining his equilibrium and energy.  He didn't go to work for nearly two weeks after the infusion.  This chemotherapy round was probably the hardest for Carl.  It does not help that Carl's left leg has become unable to bear weight.  Carl walks with a walker or crutches at all times now.

On Monday September 12, 2011, Carl's dad and mom came for a visit from Michigan.

Carl, Carl's dad Frank, and Carl's sister Heidi

We had a family pizza party and we took a group photo.

We also took a quick family photo, shown below.  Left to right, Miranda (12 years old), Anthony (15 years old), Nathan (13 years old) and Tom (17 years old).  Carl and I are in the front.

Later in the same week Carl's brother Greg came to town for a visit, on the way to visit Carl's Dad.  

On Monday, September 26, 2011, Carl started his 18th course of Chemotherapy with a 24 hour infusion of Trabectedin, (also called Yondelis).  Again, he stayed overnight at Froedtert to get this infusion, and came home Tuesday.  On Wednesday September 28, 2011 Carl got a Nuelasta shot.   

Carl was determined that this course would not knock him out like round 17 had, and he was able to recover better.  He actually felt like working, and building models, etc.

Carl got some interest in cooking back, here is his first attempt  at a French baguette.  Carl's hair does not seem to be falling out with the latest chemotherapy drugs. 

Carl making French Baguettes

In the back of the photo above you can see a odd gadget on the counter.  The photo at the left is a close up.  The item is Carl's favorite cooking gadget, the "Thermo-Pen".  It's probably his favorite cooking toy (of many). 

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Sunny Day (Sunday) Golf

It's been a busy month since I last updated with blog.  I'll try to give a partial update on September.  

The children were back in school and getting into multiple activities.  Miranda joined cross country and has practices or meets 4 days a week, and Anthony is in the Drama club, stage crew and the first play.  The three boys are in Boy Scouts, Tom is in best buddies, and Nathan has to get up the earliest of all the children in the morning.  All four children are involved in religious education.  Three of the children take piano lessons.  All of the children have lots of school work, and multiple field trips are pending and etc. etc. etc.  

On Thursday, September 8, 2011, Carl finished a 24 hour infusion of a new (for Carl) drug - Trabectedin, (brand name Yondelis).  This was his 17th course of chemotherapy.  He stayed overnight at Froedtert to get this infusion, and came home Thursday.  On Friday September 9, 2011 Carl was back at Froedtert to get a Nuelasta shot.   

Carl at the Golf outing

Carl basically slept most of the days that followed, until Sunday.  On Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011, the whole family loaded into the car to go to the Ironwood Golf Course, where we attended a golf event put on by some of Carl's coworkers from Arandell.   

Anthony Golfing

The weather on Sunday was perfect.  Beautiful blue skies, green grass and trees, and a warm day really made for a wonderful day on the golf course.  We were watching the golfers and snacking, when Anthony spotted three of my brothers golfing.  He went over to join them, and soon Carl and I and the other three children followed.   

Tom Golfing

We 'helped' my brothers finish golfing their last four holes.  My four children and I had never golfed even one hole of golf, so the entire family had an adventure while Carl watched from the golf cart.  We had a great time, and none of the golf carts broke... 

Thank you Scott, Stacie, Elle and Stef, for setting up this event.  It was a great day for our family.  Thank you also to the other 30-40 golfers and friends who joined us.  I hope all had as nice of a day as we did. 

Carl and some of the golfers

The money raised from the Carl Grisa Open was raised for and will be used to fund the children's college education.

[By the way, Carl's work (Arandell) held another very successful fund raiser for Carl at the start of summer.  I don't want anyone who helped with that one to feel that I am not grateful for that event.  I hope to post photos and blog about that event soon.  It is so easy to get behind on a blog.] 
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School starts and so does Chemotherapy

The children are back in school, and Carl is back to getting chemotherapy.   
The children started school September 1, 2011, and have had four days of school so far.  Tom is a High School Junior (11th grade), Anthony is a High School Sophmore (10th grade), Nathan is in 8th grade, and Miranda is in 7th grade. 

Carl started an overnight 24 hour infusion on Wednesday, September 7, 2011, and that chemotherapy infusion is ending today, Thursday, September 8, 2011.  It is a new chemotherapy drug for Carl - an experimental drug with some weird name.  (I'll find out the name later)  

I would love lots of prayers that this new chemotherapy drug works wonders - the stupid cancer cells have been growing again.  Please put Carl on your church's prayers list as well.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that some cells are growing, since Carl has had only one other chemotherapy course in 2011, but I admit that the new cells are discouraging.    

By the way, Carl started out this chemotherapy course weighing 136 lbs.  

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Michigan Vacation 2011

We have visited Carl's Dad in Michigan every summer for years, often over the 4th of July weekend.  



Carl and the children, Michigan, July 2011

This year, we loaded the car and headed to Michigan on Thursday, June 30, 2011. 

We hadn't been sure we could fit the Michigan vacation in because of Carl's chemo and surgeries schedules; but fortunately, Carl had recovered enough from his neck surgery (on June 18, 2011) that we could go. 

View of Chicago from the road (I94)

Carl and I usually split the driving, but this time I drove the 350+ miles each way.


Fountain at the Chicago Botanic Gardens


We decided to stop more often so Carl could stretch his legs.  The first stop was the Chicago Botanic Garden, were we ate lunch.

Lunch at the Gardens

We stay at Carl's Dad's log cabin on Little Wolfe Lake when we travel to Michigan.  The cabin's address is in 'Grass Lake' Michigan, which is kind of confusing.  There are so many beautiful lakes in Michigan.  Grass Lake is in the middle of the Michigan, between Ann Arbor and Jackson. We almost always spend time in Livonia, Michigan as well, where Carl's Dad lives.  Livonia is a nice suburb of Detroit.  This was the first time that we didn't travel on into Livonia, but Carl was tired enough from the ride to Grass Lake. 



View of Cabin from the lake



Grass Lake Michigan is a great place to have awesome $1.50 ice creams.  The dollar gets you a LOT more ice cream at Grass Lake's "The Lovin Spoonful" ice cream parlor then at home.

Carl and company at the ice cream shop

(Carl is wearing a winter coat because he was having a hard time regulating his body temperature in air conditioned places.)


This year, Miranda, Nathan, Anthony and Tom built two cardboard boats for a Cardboard boat race on the 4th of July in Grass Lake. 

Cardboard boats.  Ours were the only ones not painted

Miranda, Nathan, Anthony and I raced them, Tom and Carl cheered the boaters on. 



Miranda placed 3rd in the one person boat race!

Surprisingly, our unpainted boat (above) held up almost as long as the painted boats.


The start of the 2 person Cardboard boat race

There was an extra two person boat that the organizers gave to Anthony and Miranda for the two person race.  Anthony and Miranda are loading in the pinkish boat above.  They  finished 1st in the two person race.
 

Nathan and Nick in the two person race

  

The Cardboard Boat Race winners



Other activities over vacation included boating, tubing, eating and relaxing. 



Carl's Dad, Carl, his Aunt and Mom



Nathan and Carl

We took the pantoon boat to a sand bar in the middle of Big Wolfe Lake, where boats hang out while people play in the water, and a DJ broadcasts fun music.  One thing we really missed was seeing all the cousins, the schedules didn't work as well this year.  Otherwise, we had a nice 4th of July vacation, and then headed home on the 5th of July.

A Covered Bridge Somewhere in Michigan

Carl used a walker most of the vacation, (he uses the walker on uneven surfaces and grass), so we had the walker tied to the top of the car.

We got home, and the next week (July 11-14, 2011) Carl had inpatient chemotherapy at Froedtert Hospital.  Well, at least we managed to fit the vacation in!

Click on any photo to see it larger.
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Rest and Recovery

I am writing this Sunday, June 26, 2011.  Carl was discharged from the hospital just over one week ago on Saturday, June 18, 2011, after a Wednesday June 15, 2011 neck surgery that removed the remaining visible tumor from his neck.  [Actually, before the surgery, no tumor was visible.  (It was on the inside, ha ha)  But once the neck surgeon cut him open...  The surgeon looked around and removed all the tumor in the neck that was visible to the surgeon, and visible to the imaging (CT/MRI/X-ray?) equipment  in the operating room.]  

Froedtert's Operating Room used for Angiograms

The photo above and below shows the operating room used for Carl's two Angiogram procedures on Monday June 13, 2011 and Tuesday June 14, 2011.  Above, the large white structure with the large curved arm is an imaging machine that rotates and slides forward and back to takes images before, during and after the procedure.  A second curved arm in the center of the above photo takes images from the top and bottom of the surgery table.  Carl's bald head is visible on the far right.  Carl is still in the transport bed, and will be transferred to the operating table shortly.

The photo below shows the same operating room from a different angle.  This is the view of the operating room from the monitoring station, a room next to the operating room that has glass windows viewing the operating room.  I believe this is where the machine technicians operate the imaging machine from.  Carl is still on the transport bed.  The curved arms of the imaging machine are visible at the far left.

Froedtert's Operating Room used for Angiograms

Carl has spent the last week resting and recovering at home.  He did get lots of rest, hours of it a day, but there were still four children running to and fro - so not all of the hours in the day were 'restful'.  I estimating that Carl slept more then 12 hours a day, and Carl didn't move around too much.  He has started being a bit more active this weekend, and was exercising a little bit on a reclining exercise bike I bought at a rummage sale.  He went in to his work only for a short visit to say hi on one day.  Of course he didn't stay at home all of the time, though.  Probably once a day we/he left the house for some reason or other.

Carl came home from the hospital this time with a walker.  So now Carl has had a cane; crutches; a foot orthotic; and now a walker.  Today was one of the first days since the surgery that he has been able to move a bit without using either the walker or the crutches.  We went to church for the first time in weeks (with the walker). 

Carl on June 18, 2011

The photo above is from the day Carl was released from the hospital, Saturday, June 18, 2011.  Miranda came with me to pick Carl up from Froedtert hospital, and since it was a Saturday, we stopped at the Wauwatosa Farmer's Market.  Should we have?  Probably not, but Carl wanted to.  We did buy a couple of plants from local farmers for Carl's "earth box" garden.  One of the things accomplished this week was that Carl and the children planted tomatoes and cilantro and basil in two "earth box" gardens.  I can tell that Carl has lost weight in this photo. 

One of the highlights of this weekend has been a family film-festival viewing of the Lord of the Ring trilogy - tomorrow night we hope to watch third movie in the series, "The Return of the King".  We have decided that Nathan would make a good Frodo, the ring-bearer.


Thank you once again for your prayers.  We continue to welcome them. 

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April 2011 update - one month late

I had felt bad that I didn't update the blog in April, and now May is nearly over. So now I really feel pressured to post something. It's been a busy 2011, so I will give a relatively non-medical update of April, at least.

April started well. Carl was feeling fairly good. Carl was actually able to drive to work again on Friday, April 1, 2011. (No fooling) . He had been counting the days until he could drive again, and it was now six weeks after Carl's second neck surgery. The Dr's. gave him the go ahead.

On Saturday April 2, 2011 Carl and I got to see our very talented niece be Carlotta in the musical "Phantom of the Opera" at Marquette High School.

The photo below is from Sunday, April 3rd, when Carl, Miranda, and I went to a show at the Art Museum.


The children's spring break vacation from school started on Saturday, April 2 to Sunday, April 10, 2011. Starting Monday, April 4, 2011, Carl was happy to drive off to work and leave me at home with the children.

As spring break progressed, Carl's left knee and the area just below the knee started to bother him. By Thursday, April 7, 2011, Carl's left knee was painful enough that he had to start using crutches to walk. The children's spring break vacation continued, though, with Carl escaping to his work when he wasn't at something medical or recovering from something medical.

On Saturday, April 9, 2011 we 'left town' for the baptism of Cooper Schmidt, my niece's 1st baby, and the first grandchild in my family. We took the family picture at the beginning of this post before Cooper's baptism in Green Lake, Wisconsin.

Here is Carl with Cooper. Carl is now a Great Uncle, but we already knew that before Cooper was born.


After the baptism (the very next day, even), we started celebrating Miranda's 12th birthday. We celebrated Miranda's birthday several times, actually. (Her actual birthday is April 11)


On Wednesday April 13, 2011 Carl had a small surgery for a hernia repair.

On Thursday, April 14, 2011 we celebrated Tom's 17th Birthday.



On Sunday April 17, 2011 we celebrated my niece's birthday, and Tom's and Miranda' birthday again!

On Monday April 18, 2011 we finished our taxes.


Sunday April 24, 2011, Easter came, and we decorated Easter eggs and more.


We saw both side of the family on Easter - lunch with my relatives, dinner with Carl's relatives.

On Monday April 25, 2011, Carl's neck was swelling up.

On Friday, April 29, 2011 we went and watched a play at Homestead High school that Anthony was very active in. Anthony was the lighting stage crew manager, and had been working on this play extensively through out April.

Many other things went on in April 2011. Almost every weekday in April, Carl got a dose of radiation to the neck.

So, as I said before, April was very busy.

2011 Summary (so far) and 2nd Surgery update

Wow, it has been a while since I have done an update. Perhaps no news is good news? It's been so long I'll do a brief summary of 2011 with regards to Carl's medical journey. I'll start with December, just 'cause.

Dec 27-Dec 30, 2011 Carl had inpatient Chemotherapy at Froedtert. They let him out one day early so that he could enjoy New Years Eve and Day with his family.

Carl had the hardest time recovering from this particular chemotherapy, and pain increased in his neck. The Doctors decided to operate on his neck to stabilize his neck and debulk the tumor, and the neck surgery was done on Jan 24, 2011. Carl was sent home from the hospital wearing a neck brace, which he wore for 23 plus hours a day, except in the shower, for weeks, and instructions not to drive.

After the surgery Carl was recovering (sort-of) but then the pain in his neck was getting worse. The surgeon saw Carl, took an X-ray, and determined that Carl's spinal fusion had failed, and included a screw pulling out. Carl had an emergency surgery on Feb 14, 2011 to repair the failed hardware. On this surgery they pulled out the screws and put in larger screws, used acrylic glue and more hardware, and fused Carl's neck from the base of his skull to C7.

Carl was released from the hospital on Wednesday, February 16, 2011. After a week or so, Carl felt good enough to start working again, although with reduced hours. Again, Carl was sent home from the hospital wearing a neck brace, which he wore for 23 plus hours a day, except in the shower, for weeks. He won't be able to drive a car for at least six weeks.

Life with the children, of course, continued, and the weekend of Feb 25-27, 2011 was particularily busy. Anthony (a freshman) was in a great musical for 4 days, Miranda (6th grade) was in forensics, and the three younger children had a piano recital, and poor weather made some things more difficult. We survived the activity, but Carl overdid it that weekend. The funny thing about overdoing things is that "hindsight is 20-20". After you overdo something, you know that hey - you overdid it, you shouldn't do that. But by then it is too late. Fortunately, Carl survived, with no ill effects.

The 2nd surgery's spinal fusion has lasted longer and worked better then the first surgery, so far. On Thursday, March 10, 2011 I took Carl to see the surgeon for a post-op appointment. Carl had an X-ray and the surgeon said things look great. He even said Carl could start wearing the neck brace less (an hour or two each day), and that Carl should start PT (Physical Therapy) next week.

This week, later today, in fact, Carl will meet with the radiation Doctor, and 'the doctors' will start planning the next link in the chain of treatment.

Valentine Day - 2nd Neck Surgery

Wow. Is today only Tuesday February 15, 2011? The weekend seems weeks ago... Yesterday (only yesterday, really?) was Monday February 14, 2011, Valentines Day, which we celebrated by taking Carl to Froedtert Hospital for a surgery - for "Cervical Device Failure".

"Cervical Device Failure" - I just had to google that. We (almost all humans) have cervical vertebrae (vertebrae which are in the neck), and almost all women have a cervix which can get cervical cancer, which is a cancer south of the belly button. NO WONDER Doctors have to go to school for so long, these very different parts share a common name. How confusing. Can you imagine opening a catalog for Cervical devices? Spine things and cervical caps all on the same page. ( But I digress.)

We were scheduled to come to the hospital at 8:30AM for a 10:30AM surgery, but a nurse called and asked us to come earlier. Apparently one of the surgeries before us was going to be a no-show. Did they cancel out or did they die? We could only guess. [4-22-2011 note: Wow, in retrospect as I re-read this in April, that comes off very harsh. The humor did not work. I never for a minute really thought the patient might actually have died.]

Carl's procedure started at 9:45AM, and the surgeon's first incision started around 11:45AM. Before that the medical team put in a breathing tube through the nose while Carl was awake, put Carl out with a general anesthetic, established more IV's including something called an arterial IV, inserted a catheter, did positioning things and X-rays and more. I guess that's why surgery is called an invasive procedure. The surgery went longer then I expected. It wasn't over until about 2:30PM when Carl was moved to the recovery area, where the medical people keep him until they think he is responsive and stabilized, usually about two hours.

I went and shuttled my children around two counties, and came back to the hospital shortly after Carl was moved to his room in the spine injury area - 5SE room 6. They were giving Carl morphine (4mg) as I arrived, and giving Carl more morphine (4mg) as I left two hours later. Carl rated his pain at about a 6 on a 10 point scale. Carl walked several steps to earn the reward of the catheter being removed.

Interestingly enough, Carl's memory starts later. His memory starts with him waking up after the catheter was out. He didn't remember me being there, but then (when reminded) he remembered me saying to the nurse that I was going to go gather my children from a two county region.

I picked up three of the children from a nice Valentines Day dinner at their Uncle and Aunt's house (Thanks guys!), and then took them home to do homework and get them settled into bed. Miranda in particular missed her Dad, but I think we all wished Carl would have been home. Happy Valentines Day...

On Tuesday February 15, 2011 when I went to see Carl, he was mostly exhausted and tired. The nurse said he had rated his pain around 3 on a 10 point scale, where 4 was tolerable (to Carl). Just before I left Carl at around 2:00PM, Carl said he didn't really have pain, at the moment nothing "hurt" him, but he was drained of all energy. The procedures in previous weeks had drained his energy, and now what little energy he had remaining was gone. He didn't watch TV or anything, and when he talked he kept his eyes closed and didn't move or sit up. I brought him two pints of blueberries, and he ate one pint while I was there, mostly without opening his eyes. He didn't want any phone calls or any visitors, he just wanted to rest.

While I was there, I had 3 questions I was trying to ask him. 1. How do you feel? 2. How did he feel the surgery went? and 3. Did the surgeon come and talk to him? During the five minute time we were trying to talk about these three things, we were interrupted three times. The nurse came in, the pharmacist came in and 'interviewed' Carl, and someone else. (Maybe the nurse returning with something?) It was incredible. The pharmacist interview took probably 25 minutes alone. (Starting with the questions are you allergic...)

The surgeon came by and talked to us for a (very) brief time. He feels the surgery went well. We hope he is right. The surgeon did not see any sign of new tumor growth, which is really nice to know. The Jan 24 surgery was important (to me) for removing 90% of a not controlled tumor. In that alone, the first surgery was very successful.

I guess the important thing about today was that Carl's pain was under control, momentarily at least, and that he was already eating. After the last surgery he pretty much didn't eat for 2.5 days. So, Carl appears to me to be in significantly better shape after this surgery then after the one on January 24, 2011. Maybe he will recover faster.

Carl should be coming home tomorrow. Then he will be able to get rest. You don't get rest in the hospital.

Please keep Carl in your prayers, and hug your loved ones for Valentines Day.

Angiogram Day

(Please keep Carl in your prayers.)

Today Friday, Jan 20, 2011, is the day that Carl is having his Angiogram and procedure. And what a rough day the day has been already.

The children have no school today, just because -- I guess the reason given is that it is the end of the semester. (And Monday was a "holiday" as well.) So, ... I have to make arrangements for the children. This shouldn't be hard, but the children want to lounge around and play, not get up, shower, eat, etc. on any sort of (highly delayed) time schedule. I guess I thought that my children kind of understood that today, with their dad having a medical procedure, they might have some responsibilities beyond self gratification. The children kind of thought today would be "Saturday like" with the added bonus that there would be zero adult supervision. So, today I had children breaking all sorts of rules, well before the 'adults' (parents) even left. (The children don't consider that they have rules, they consider them "guidelines".) One rule/guideline - once you get up: Shower, get dressed, possibly eat breakfast, and if the Dog is barking for attention, put him outside. One "rule": Practise the piano before playing computer or "screen" games.


I think my children have only absolutes:

• If any sibling is breaking any sort of rule, then you should also.
• If the dog is barking to go outside, then someone else should put him outside.
• If the phone rings, (even if you are expecting a call) someone else should answer it.
• If mom starts to yell at ALL FOUR children to take a shower, you can gain bonus points by pushing others out of the way once you belatedly (1/2 hour later) decide it is time for you to comply with her request.
• If mom starts to "yell", then children should pre-emptively yell.
• If mom is yelling at any sibling, then other siblings should pre-emptively yell if she looks at them.
• When mom lowers her voice and says "Do it now", then mom is yelling. Pre-emptively yell. If you are feeling teen-like, swear as well.
• If an event is going to happen more then an hour in the future, you don't need to start getting ready.

I think I am probably being passive-aggressive here, but I hope that someday my children read this and think "That is SO UNFAIR". My Mom is not supposed to have any feelings other then a desire to make me ridiculously happy. My mom is not supposed to have any negative feelings at all. (Well, maybe at my siblings when they interfere with the world wide goal of me being ridiculously happy.) My mom is not supposed to require me to participate in any work required for the upkeep of the family, house, dog. (GOSH, isn't that what she is supposed to do? I mean, LIKE, isn't that her bleeping JOB?) 

I also hope that someday my children read this and think "That is SO UNFAIR". That is so unfair of my mom to use writing skills to vent her feelings. (We want writing to become obsolete, not used to remind our short term memories of negative things.) Writing is supposed to become obsolete, like hand-writing. Even the curriculum people know that. We keep telling mom that. OMG, DO I HAVE TO make MOM a power point? I'd TEXT her, but she won't even buy me a cell phone.) I know that the teachers have accepted that hand-writing is obsolete. The teachers don't even want to see our handwriting, because they can't read it. And neither can we. SO THERE.)


Well, I admit to my general audience here that I was stressed this morning, and my children did not come to my aid, but instead aggravated the situation. I know from personal experience that pre-emptive strikes do not work, and I know from personal experience that escalating hostilities are a natural human condition. 


Where was I. Oh yeah. Carl has a medical procedure today; children weren't cooperating; no-one wanted to walk the dog in the cold; dog poohed in the house; someone stepped in the pooh, no child wanted to find ground zero (Ground Zero here refers to the initial spot the dog poohed in.) Car stalled a couple of times; Car needed gas...

Oh, let's just fast forward to the hospital. 


The schedule we had been given was all geared for Monday's surgery. Not Friday's procedure. Where Friday's procedure is being done was not clear. Actually, since everything is computerized now, the computer printout had a column that says "Center". It has the Acronym "Radfec" Let's not spend any time helping the customer (patient) getting anything beyond a poor acronym. In fact, even the people filling out the computer form don't understand the acronym. And since the column heading 'center' doesn't really scream "Location", anyway, the data entry people will use the column 'Provider'. Perhaps that is the only field where they can type an entry. So, Provider will have "Ir 5 - FWC 2nd Fl". Yep, that will help our customer. No matter that it directly conflicts with Radfec.

You see, I have a four year engineering degree. (Not that I usually admit to it). I can speak (some) Acronym. So I know that ...

"Radfec" is probably Radiation or Radiology (two vastly different departments and locations) and fec is probably Froedtert East Clinic. (I know you readers recognized that right away.)

But everyone knows that Radiation wouldn't be located in Froedtert, it's in the connected building - the Cancer Center, so Rad can only be Radiology. Oh yeah, but not the X-Ray kind either, that is a TOTALLY different department, that's not really radiation anymore, that's, Oh never mind.

This then conflicts with "Ir 5 - FWC 2nd Fl" I believe Ir is Interventional Radiology. Well there, the customer (patient) should know right where that is. FWC (why the caps? Oh, punctuation, capitalization, all that stuff is obsolete or else it has a secret meaning that we won't bother you with...) FWC would (of course) be Froedtert West Clinic. And 2nd Fl - well second floor.

Well, F (Froedtert, for those not thinking acronym) is a big place, so the big people (administrators) labeled all the parts with East Clinics and West Clinics, even though it is a hospital, and an overnight hospital at that, so that there are a lot more then just clinics, but that's just... never mind. Anyway, (I think) Clinics are where you meet and greet your Dr, and Procedures are done elsewhere, (keep them doctors walking, it's part of our health care plan for them) but whatever....

I'm not conversant enough in acronym to know what the 5 means. I don't have advanced degrees. (Although I suspect it is the Ir room Carl is scheduled to have the procedure done in.)

Really, I should scan in our schedule. Oh well. We got lost, parked in the wrong area, walked back and forth, a lot, etc. Got Carl to where he should be. That's when we figured out that Friday's "procedure" is probably and almost bigger than Monday's surgery. Actually, an angiogram with an embolization procedure in the neck will require possibly more time than the surgery will. And Carl will need a general anesthetic, and ... But that can be for another post. Tah! (One of my friends uses Tah! instead of saying good bye...)

I hope all is going well with Carl's thing (angiogram with an embolization). They are hopefully about 2 hours into a four hour procedure.

Signed, Jeanne (Mistress of Laundry, Evil Mom).