Happy Birthday Jason

Dear Friends and Family,

Nan is resting in the front bed of our old motorhome which is parked next to Jason and Jo's home near the Pacific Ocean in La Selva Beach, CA. We had planned an early getaway yesterday but that was not to be. On Wednesday Sharon was kind enough to take Nan to the Dr to discovery the reasons behind the fever she has had. While she was there they attempted to draw blood from the PICC line but found a clot. So yesterday they went back to the Dr. again and they used medical roto rooter to clear the clot. They were able to do the clearing and then had to wait hours more before taking the blood for the culture. We won't know those answers until a couple days from now.

When Nan and Sharon got home in the mid afternoon from Concord Nan took a brief nap while I tried to complete some work that had been promised. When that was done about 5 pm then Sharon and I finished loading the motorhome. When I went to get the motorhome from storage its batteries were totally dead so back home to get a jump cable and then start the generator and then start the motorhome. It seemed we kept thinking of other things we might need and we had to make sure all medical things were on board. So we finally loaded Nan and the doggies about 6:45. Then a stop for Safeway for three things which ended up being a lot more. So at 7:30 we left Discovery Bay Safeway and started our trip. We had planned to stop at Irene's which is half way. But with the time getting away from us we called her and let her know we would just drive on through. We made a couple stops when Nan needed things, we started her Lovequin in the Safeway parking lot, it is IV push. I hung it on the oven knobs and it was done when we got here.

Jason turns 29 today and we are proud of his every year. Our children have been such an asset and pleasure over the years. We feel we have the greatest kids out there and have enjoyed the experience of their maturing and their accomplishments. They treat us so wonderfully and today we carry Nikki and Steve's present for Jason as they cannot be here. Jason was off to the gym this morning, a workout club somewhere nearby. We had a wonderful gift of flowers for the motorhome last night from Jo, just a perfect flower arrangement, full of color and cheer. Nan handled the trip down pretty well in spite of it being very bumpy in spots where the freeway is breaking down. She was on the memory foam laid over the front couch and slept most of the way here. When she wanted me she would just turn on her little flashlight. For the first of the trip we ran the generator and central AC but then it got cooler so we ran the inverter which has enough juice to power her vacuum pump for her incision. So far that is doing really great and on Sat. afternoon we need to be back home for the nurse to come and change the sponge to a new one. Through it all Nan remains Nan, good sense of humor, she and Sharon are fun to watch, neither of them have perfect hearing but they do just fine together.

Sharon's coming means a great deal to both of us. It has been discouraging as we wrestle with money or the lack of it, the constant pain with no obvious solution at this time, the fever and my own kidney stone which has refused to budge so far. The reason I have not blogged is simple, I ran out of time. On Wed I drove over 350 miles and visited Santa Rosa, Sonoma, Lincoln above Sacramento and Fairfield. It was actually too much and I ran out of light, sun refused to stand still over the mountains, and will have to go back to Santa Rosa which is another 5 hour round trip. I got home just before 10 that night and then needed to prepare the TPN bag and totally forgot to blog, just fell into bed. I carried my pain pills in case the stone started to move again but though I had a little pain no movement. On thursday I worked as hard and fast as I could to get appraisals emailed to lenders. Once I have seen a property it takes from 2 to 5 hours to write the report depending on what kind of report it is, relocation reports take all day and simple drivebys might take only an hour or so. I've had some challenging ones lately and I'm totally thankful for the work but I have a hard time being away from Nan for such long hours. With Sharon here caring for her and socializing with her being away has been less painful to me personally. We are very thankful for God's many blessings and we are so hopeful and prayful that He will heal the tumor pain she is experiencing with so much intensity. I keep thinking and praying, God you have done so much in the past year to help Nan through her GIST experiences, please don't stop now. It is a miracle that we can be here together this morning in the motorhome at Jason's considering the odds we were given directly after surgery, yes we face many obstacles but Nan is gaining slightly in weight, has at least some pain management going so she can enjoy life at least partially and can walk around, can eat small amounts at times, can communicate with her family and friends. I would love to see her get stronger and more on her feet and I believe we are headed that way. The wound vac can help complete the healing of the tummy incision, the lovequin can help with the blood infection if that is what it is and the TPN keeps her fed and balanced. The latest blood work showed a dramatic drop in Hemoglobin, down to 8.1 from 11 the week before and no one is sure why that happened. We will see. I think they are retesting the sample again to be sure.

Today we are going to relax and enjoy this beautiful place. Jason works for Monterey Bay Academy, a SDA owned boarding highschool located on the Pacific Ocean. There are about 240 students here this year and he is the marketing and recruiter for the school. In addition he does many other things with the students as well including making many trips to San Jose to the airport, doing week of prayers at feeder schools around the area, traveling to Alaska and even Hawaii to recruit students. He and Jo have a lovely home with a huge yard and Jason and Jo have recently done new landscaping which looks wonderful. Even a new walkway so Mom willhave it easier getting to the house. The weather is high fog right now and warmer later in the day. One can see the ocean from their home, rough break! We appreciate being able to park here and have electrical, cable and water hookups where we sit. Nice!! Even high speed internet off their wireless system in the house. And the price for parking is very right! Jason usually has odd jobs for me to do around the place which I love and I notice Jo's car is in the garage these days, a great idea since it is brand new and beautiful, a Mazda 3. Her first new car and we are so proud of them both.

Well enough for now, sorry about a two day lag in blogging. I am finding that my time is very stretched and I can't meet all the demands. Our taxes must be filed on Oct. 15 and I am days from being ready for the tax guy who also happens to be my next door neighbor. He is wonderful to me and helps all he can.

We send our love and truely wish you were here today with us. We are treasuring this outing and hope to get Nan home rested and OK in spite of the trip.

Please join me in praying for Dr. Glover and the family. Joyce, his wife, is so precious and a dear child of God, George and Yvonne have been true friends for many years and our heart is with them as they face this tough time. Please pray for Roger also as he recovers. Can we ask you one more time to pray that God will place His healing hand over Nan, give her relief from pain and suffering and strength in her recovery?

Sending our love,

tim and nan

ps. Loree, thanks for being such a huge help!