Update from Sampson County, NC

Gary, Ellie and I are still in North Carolina helping my Mom and Dad. Dad is recovering from the heart attack and mild stroke pretty well. He has been going to outpatient Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy at a local hospital 2-3 times a week. The only issue he has right now is an elevated blood pressure that is slowly responding to bp med. Hopefully by the time he sees his doc next Tuesday it will be at or near normal. He is working on his exercises at home too.

Mom is still struggling with bronchitis and sinus/ear problems. She has fluid behind her left ear drum that is really causing her more hearing loss. And as many of you know, this is especially tough for her since she already has total hearing loss in the right ear. She went to an ENT doc last week who did a very through check of her ears and sinuses. He thinks it could take 2-3 months for the fluid to clear out and her hearing return. YUCK!!! While this is actually good news (as compared to her original problem (tumor) returning) this was not the news she really wanted to hear. He did say if she isn't better by December, he could put a tube in her ear to help with the drainage. But, he didn't recommend doing it yet. So each day is a real challenge for her. All of us are working to make sure she hears what is said but it is tough for us all.

On Friday, Gary and I took off and went up to Durham for the weekend. For more than the past month we have prayed for rain. Wouldn't you know it. Just when we decided to ran off for the weekend it started raining buckets of water. And...we started down the road and realized that Gary had "forgotten" to put on the extended side mirrors we use when towing. Definitely NOT what we needed with the rain coming down. We turned around at the church parking lot up the road and came back to the house. Gary dropped me off at the curb and I went to get the mirrors. Jumping from puddle to puddle in my bare feet. He went on down the road and turned around to come back to pick me up. We went back to the same church lot to put the mirrors on. (We waited for a bit until the rain let up some.) Then, went on. We stopped in Benson at a Mexican restaurant we've found. Very good food and very nice folk. They even have a rib-eye steak for Gary that is pretty good. As you know by now, I love Mexican food and Gary DOESN'T. On we went in the pouring rain. As you can imagine I-40 was a difficult place to travel. I think we saw/stopped/crawled along...at least 3 wreaks while going the 73 miles to the Peaden's RV Park.
The Peaden's are our best friends in Durham. We stayed with them earlier this year(August..the hottest one on record!!!).
We had dinner on Friday night with Gary's sister Sherry and her husband Doug. Sherry is also recovering from some heart problems she's had recently. She looked great. Doug is "sort of" looking forward to retiring from Sears Automotive Center in November. He said he really didn't want to retire but felt the time was right anyway. Sherry has a BIG honey do list waiting for him. Good luck Doug. Sounds like you're going to be busy!
On Friday night Van, Rita and Daniel went to Ruth's Chris restaurant in Cary. Rita's nephew Mark married his love Marady on Friday. Her parents gave the dinner in their honor. I'm told the food and service was excellent. Especially the Chocolate Sin dessert.
Saturday morning we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Afterwards we did a little "shopping" at Van's favorite store...Lowes. I think I've mentioned before that he never misses their Saturday morning yard sale. We also went to Carolina Stained glass so I could look for a piece of red glass. I want to make my Mom a Cardinal bird sun catcher. No luck. But it was fun to look at the glass and things they had on display. I miss doing the glass work since I haven't been able to do very much lately. Our last stop was at the Bicycle Chain bicycle shop. Ever since I saw Gary and Suzanne's recumbent bike/trikes at Escapade I've been thinking about getting one. No luck there, although it was helpful to talk to them about the bikes. The salesman had some good information about bikes in general for those of us that are "weight challenged" and "balance challenged" . I'm going to keep researching. I really can't buy one until I have a house to hang it on as we travel anyway. After the shopping we came back to the Peadens and enjoyed a good nap. Dinner was at TGI Fridays. Not my favorite restaurant (to pricey for their steaks) but Van loves their salads. Gary and I shared their rib/chicken combination and it was pretty good. Afterwards we splurged and went to Goodberry's for ice cream. (Shhh..don't tell my doc).
We visited with Van and Rita today and then came on back to Sampson County this afternoon. Thanks again to them for their hospitality. We love you'll.

VERY IMPORTANT...
THANK YOU.. TIM AND TERESA. Tim and Teresa came down this weekend to stay with Mom and Dad. Gary and I appreciate it very much. It made the trip to Durham worry free knowing they were going to be around for them. Tim walked right into his own "Honey do" list when he arrived. We had learning when the rain started that the roof on the house was leaking (in the car port thankfully). He climbed up/on the roof, found and fixed the leak. He cleaned out the gutters, and cleaned up on the workshop. Thank you. On Sunday, Teresa and her long time friend Tina came too. Teresa cleaned the house and cooked. I think Mom and Dad really enjoyed visiting with you.

Thanks to everyone that has helped my Mom, Dad, Gary and I. Without you all, this would be so much more difficult. We love you and appreciate everything. Love, Gary and Deb

Tonight, another work week started for me. I sure am blessed that I am able to work part-time while everything as been going on here. I thank UNC HealthCare for allowing me to work with them again. I love the flexibility of this job.

I talked to my daughter Jenn this evening too. Her husband Mark is working "local" this week, so hopefully we'll be able to see them. Jenn has started working with a local publishing company selling advertising space for them.

Good night everyone......love Deb