SURGERY IS OVER AND ALL IS WELL

Alan's surgery went very well. He is doing fine. He has to take it easy for 2 weeks and then he can return to normal life. The pressure in his eye is down and that is a good sign. Thanks for all of your prayers.

The Casey Eye Institute is in Portland just below the OSHU Hospital. It situated in a really neat way. Since the OSHU is a teaching hospital and there are many employees and students they decided that they needed a better way to get to both since the road leading to them is really on a curvey and mountain. They put in a tram that goes down the hill from Casey Eye Institute to OSHU. It crosses the freeway and it is really a neat thing running every 10 minutes. This idea is great for saving on gas for everyone. I took some pictures of it.
This is a view of the tram docking station on the way up

This is another tram going in the opposite direction

The building in the background is OSHU
Casey Eye Institute taken from the tramHere we are at the doctors office inside Casey Eye Institute for Alan's first follow up after surgery
Yep, here he is in our motel room resting after surgery
An areal view of the Willimette River fron the tram

Just passing the tram going the opposite direction...wave as we go by
Areal view of Portland, Oregon...pretty huh?

MEET MOLLY

Someone sent this Email to me today and just had to share this story of Molly .


Meet Molly. She's a grey speckled pony who

Was abandoned by her owners when Hurricane

Katrina hit southern Louisiana. She spent weeks

On her own before finally being rescued and taken

To a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled.

While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier

And almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became

Infected, and her vet went to LSU for help, but LSU

Was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case.

You know how that goes.

But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he

Changed his mind. He saw how the pony was

Careful to lie down on different sides so she didn't

Seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to

Handle her. She protected her injured leg. She

Constantly shifted her weight and didn't overload

Her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious

Survival ethic.

Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee,

And a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly

Walked out of the clinic and her story really begins

There.

'This was the right horse and the right owner,'

Moore insists. Molly happened to be a

One-in-a-million patient. She's tough as nails,

But sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain.

She made it obvious she understood that she was

In trouble. The other important factor, according

To Moore , is having a truly committed and compliant

Owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care

Required over the lifetime of the horse.

Molly's story turns into a parable for life in

Post-Katrina Louisiana . The little pony gained weight,

And her mane finally felt a comb. A human prosthesis

Designer built her a leg.

The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life,

Allison Barca DVM, Molly's regular vet, reports.

And she asks for it. She will put her little limb out,

And come to you and let you know that she wants

You to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take

It off too. And sometimes, Molly gets away from

Barca. 'It can be pretty bad when you can't catch a

Three-legged horse,' she laughs.

Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay,

The rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to

Shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, and rehabilitation

Centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed

Hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people her

Pluck. She inspired people, and she had a good time

Doing it.

'It's obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to

Play in life,? Moore said. 'She survived the hurricane,

She survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving

Hope to others.'

Barca concluded, 'She's not back to normal, but she's

Going to be better. To me, she could be a symbol

For New Orleans itself.'



This is Molly's most recent prosthesis. The bottom

Photo shows the ground surface that she stands on,

Which has a smiley face embossed in it. Wherever

Molly goes, she leaves a smiley hoof print behind.

Forward this and share it with all of the animal

Lovers that you know.

ETSY HOMEMADE !!

PICTURES OF OUR TRIP

Well first of all one Monday we went to Portland for my husbands pre-op visit.

This was taken from the 11th floor of the teaching hospital in Portland. View of the city in the distance.

We spent Monday night with our friends in Yamhill, OR. This is Michael and Kathy our best friends.
We then returned Tuesday afternoon to our place in Coos Bay to pack for our trip to CA.

We left early on Wednesday morning. I saw lots and lots of barns along the way .

Guess where we had lunch once we arrived in CA? Yep, Applebees for our favorite cabbage patch pizza (it is ok on the diet).

This was our waitress Heather at Mimi's Cafe. I just had to take her picture since she looks so much like my granddaughter Abriana. Well...what do you think?

I forgot all about traffic jams! Look at the other side of the freeway. It was backed up for at least 2 miles!

These 2 pretty girls are Alan's granddaughters Alex and Riley.

This is our daughter in law Teri and her daughter Riley.

This is Alan's daughter Kathy with our granddaughter Alex.

This is Alan and his son Danny. Do they look alike or what?

This is Kathy's son, our grandson Chase....he loves milk and could not, would not turn around so I could take a picture of him!

This is my son D'Angleo and my our grandson Donovan

Donovan was cold so he found warmth under his grama's wing (and the table cloth).

The reunion was held at the Ports of Call in San Pedro, CA

This was the directory sign. San Pedro High School 50th Reunion - Class of 1958

This is Judy....Alan had a crush on her all through high school. She was the hostess and a very neat lady. Alan's comment when we left was boy does Judy need a face lift! I politely told him it had been 50 years since he saw her. She graciously had us sit at her table and then she got up and sang three songs making my husband promise that he would dance with his wife....he did. It was fun to see him loosen up a bit.

Here he is at the table with a few of his classmates. Two classmate are living in ...of all places....Oregon. They both promised to come out to Coos Bay and go fishing with Alan.

Those that didn't have dance partners danced in the line dance. What fun!!

My son D'Angelo and me.

My kids, D'Angelo, and his wife Lori of Our of your mouth your heart speaks, Mica of Garboodles Dolls and my son Tony the upcoming pastor!

D'Angelo, Me, my grandson Vinnie and his Father, my son Tony

Our dinner with friends at Anchos in Riverside was wonderful too and so good to see all of them.

Molly and me

Molly and her husband Fred

Me with Rosee and Cindy, my interior designer buddies

Cuca and Kevin

This little lady is our waitress and has been for at least 10 years. She is such an ambitious little thing. Her name is Nancy and we were so glad to see her. She not only works as a waitress but she is a mommy of three and she is pursuing a career as an ultrasound technician. I wish her all good things. She was so excited that we were coming that she told her fellow workers and her boss and they all looked at her like ...uh, ok Nancy. There were 12 of us and we did have a good time. Nancy even had a birthday surprise for Alan and they came over to the table and sang happy birthday.

I just had to get a picture with Nancy.

My kids waving good bye. It is so good to know since Tony is going to the Seminary College in Escondido full time that they are together again and can enjoy each other. It has been much too long. Their older brother David can visit from Vegas now too since it is only 3 1/2 hours from them.

Mt Shasta on our way home. I have never seen this mountain without snow....some would say it is "global warming" ..... No comment.

We had a good time and are now getting ready for Alan's surgery in Portland Oct 6th.

HOME AGAIN

Hello my friends.
We got home last evening around 6 pm.
We had a wonderful time with family and friends. The trip was not long enough but then there are those that do have to go to work.

The reunion was great and yes, this trip did take my husband's mind off his upcoming surgery in a week and a half.

Good news, my son's leg is better for now. Thanks for all the prayers...they do work. My son that is going to seminary college in Escondido is all settled in. He found them a house and his family arrived the day before we got there.

I have lots of email to answer and lots of mail to open and laundry to do and then I will post some pictures of our trip. Then it's off to Portland on Sunday Oct 5th for surgery on Monday Oct 6th.

I am having acupuncture on my left wrist this Friday.

Okay gang......later.

FUN BBQ

We had fun today. Our local meat store had a BBQ. Oregon Ranch Meats. They had 21 different BBQ booths where they were competing for the best barbecued chicken wings,tri tip beef and potato salad.

We could eat all we wanted as long as we visited each booth and then we were to vote for our favorite.

The money was to benefit the Coos County Homeless Shelter.

There was a band. The singer sounded like Bob Segar!

A Christian Motorcycle club

Check out the chaps!


A Hawaiian theme

People of all kinds

Wonderful food...I voted for all of them!

We had a fun time and even took some tri tip to the puppies...they were happy.

We are leaving for Portland in the morning for my husbands pre-op visit for his glaucoma surgery on October 6th. He is very scared but won't talk about it. Instead he is cranky. I don't know what to say to him to comfort him except I love him and it will be okay. His answer to that was I could be blind if this doesn't work. That's NOT ok. He is right. Please pray for him.

Then we will be going to San Pedro for his 50th class reunion after the doctors appointment. We are driving and will be gone for 10 days.

I will be looking at your blog when i get back and I am sure I will have some interesting pictures of the reunion.

Love ya all

Oh by the way....I am only 10 lbs away from my weight loss goal. I have lost 26 lbs since the end of May and my husband has lost 22 lbs. I went shopping yesterday for new jeans...guess what size I fit into? A SIZE 10 !!!!! YES!!