Beautiful Shade of Red

by Keith


Pat bought some strawberries the other day. They are the brightest red strawberries I've ever see!

If you were in the neighborhood, we'd be glad to share them with you!

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Sly 45% Price Increase at Wal*Mart

by Keith

One of the staples on our pantry shelf has been honey roasted peanuts. One of us really likes them!

45.9% Price Increase

Last week I went to the peanut department at Wal*Mart to replenish our supply. There were two sizes of "Party Size" containers on the shelf.

There was one of the size I've been buying for the last several years, 35 ounce.

There were many of the new Party Size containers, which held only 24 ounces and were about an inch smaller in each dimension.

But the price was the same for either size: $5.38!

If you do the math, you'll find that represents a per-ounce price increase of 45.9%!!!


The price per container had not changed: $5.38. Do you suppose Wal*Mart thought no one would notice? If so, they were wrong. At least one customer did. And he'll tell all the friends he can!

And he'll try to lose his taste for peanuts!

Update on Dick Carlson

by Dianne

Thursday, April 19^th - He met with the Doctors at Henry Ford as scheduled. They went over his records and did a CT scan. Once results are read they will schedule another appointment with him to go over their plan of action for his treatment.  

Friday, April 20^{th -} He was very tired and spent the day in bed, thinking that the previous day was too much for him to tolerate.  Did not eat or drink much all day. Did not have a temp.

Saturday, April 21^st – Upon getting out of bed that morning, he fell and Lucille was unable to get him to his feet.  An ambulance was called to transport him to Covenant Cooper Hospital in Saginaw. Upon admission he had a temp of 104.5, caused by an undetermined origin. General antibiotics were started. Lab cultures were being processed. 

Sunday, April 22 - Saginaw Drs. contacted his Drs. at Henry Ford and it was decided that he should be transported to Detroit since they are in the process of outlining his care. General antibiotics helped bring temp down.

Monday, April 23^rd – Dick is transported to Henry Ford by ambulance.  Lab cultures showed a blood infection – MRSA.  Specific antibiotics administered.  X-ray shows he also developed Pneumonia. 

April 24 – 28 – Dick is still receiving antibiotics. Lungs are clearing and he is feeling better.  Doctors plan to do a TEE test on Monday, the 30^th.  TEE is a TransEsophageal Echo. It’s a scope administered through the throat going behind the heart which helps detect infection of heart valves.  Doctors want to make sure the MRSA has not infiltrated the heart area.

If Monday’s test renders a good report, they should release him on Tuesday.  However, he will have to continue with the antibiotic for 30 more days which must be administered via the hospital. This means that Lucille will be taking him to their local hospital every day for his daily dose of antibiotics.   

Once the infection is completely gone, they will perform an embolization of the small tumor in his liver’s left lobe.  Then, we can talk about his follow up cancer care.  Until then…

PS – Dick said to tell everyone hello and that he is feeling better and looking forward to going home.

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Eager Egers Meet New Grandson!

by Keith, from Joe

Its Saturday night April 21st and we have arrived at our daughter and son-in-law's house to meet our newest grandson Cameron who was born this past Sunday.

Great trip, left Rockport Tuesday at noon and went to Wimberly Tx to stay with friends till Friday and stopped in Miami OK for the night,  Total  travel was 1400 miles, 30 hours driving & spent $500 on diesel fuel. Sure am glad we dont have that 5th wheel to tow anymore . Still have shorts on even thou its 46 degrees.
 
By the way this last Monday was a doosey of a day in Rockport, we had a total of 6-1/2" of rain and spent 45 minuets in the club house after TV3 said to take cover that a tornado was seen at Palm Harbor.  We were joined by Chet, Mackey, and Carol.

News From Nebraska

Note: This started out as an email from Jeanetta to Connie, then to me.


Hope the sun shining(altho little nippy here) finds you both well, and busy with non-camping life! HA!  Doesn't take long to get back into being home, right? 


Could you post my email to Keith?


I was on the blog, can't figure out how to post, wanted to thank Rick and Diane for their comment for Gayle.  They have so many health concerns going on with Dick and family, and we keep them in our thoughts and prayers.
 
Gayle got home from hospital on April 13th, has oxygen for night only, testing his sugar, Dr. thinking he has diabetes, so far going ok.  He is on diabetic diet, so Jeanetta is learning to cook in grams, carbs, vitamin K.  


His coumadim has been level so far, Amen to that!  His hand that the IV TPA (clot blocker shot) seeped into his right hand is finally healing, was awful looking for awhile---chance the skin would peel off.  


He has lost few pounds on his diet and walks, hooray! He has a test to take at blood dr. for his low WBC, a bone marrow biopsy next week. He is allowed most activities even driving, but has to be careful not to cut himself, so told him no sawing, lawn mowing!  HA!


We had a tremendous hail-wind-flood storm on the 14th---streets flooded, houses, cars hail damaged (including our pickup, house, camper some)---thank God for insurance, and other miracles He provided!  


Our hospital ER (one Gayle left day before) was flooded, hail, rain, mud, all went down a stairway, broke door open, flooded the ER.  There was 4ft water in the ER waiting room!  The ER still hasn't opened, lots to repair.

We will check the blog for news on everyone, prayers esp for Allison and Dick, and my brother Bob & Kathy.

Jeanetta & Gayle Janssen

Great Music

by Keith

Like music?

Have high-speed internet with no-limit streaming or downloads?

If the answer was, "Yes!" to both questions, here's something which may be of interest. It's a place to find music of almost any type and listen to it for free!

Here are steps 1 and 2:

Steps 3, 4, 5, and 6 are next:

So far, "Adagio" station under Classical is my favorite. It's continuous, CD-quality, and FREE!

Let me if you find this useful, please.

Comment!

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We Made It

by Dianne

As promised, letting everyone know we made it back to Michigan late Easter Sunday afternoon. Had an excellent trip -- no bad weather, just sunshine and blue skies, and no crazy traffic. And, thankfully, we had no vehicle problems as we've heard some of those who left before us experienced. We were able to find motels close to camp grounds each night. The night we stopped in Terre Haute, IN we even grilled some brats and had an adult beverage.

The first day on the road was tiring for Dick but he did tolerate the long ride very well. Lucille deserves a pat on the back and a gold star for driving the whole trip by herself. Dick had a blood test on Monday morning and it showed an increase in his hemoglobin. Not sure if that is due to 4 days of little activity or that the seeping of blood has slowed again. He now has a standing order at the lab to have his blood checked whenever he feels the need. His appointment at Henry Ford with the liver specialist and oncologist is April 19. As always, will keep our Rockport 35 RV Park family posted on his progress.

As Keith mentioned earlier in one of his posts, the blog is our connection to one another and a great way to keep up on how everyone is doing. So, if you'll please share, we'll post.

Have a great summer everyone. Keep us posted!

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Gayle Hospitalized

by Keith, with information from Jeanetta via Connie

Gayle Janssen

Gayle Janssen has been hospitalized since Easter, due to blood clots in his leg and lungs. He's improved to needing oxygen only at night now. He's expected to go home relatively soon.

The doctor said that possibly the drive home is what caused it.

We're aware of such possibilities. That's one reason we stop every hour-and-a-half to two hours for a "stretch." It feels good to get all or our parts moving again.

Get well soon, Gayle!

Comment April 12:

Hello Gayle and Jeanetta,

We're sorry to hear about the health issue you are both dealing with. Hopefully by the time you read this you are home from the hospital and reaching the end to your recovery. We will keep you in our prayers for continued healing.

Rick and Dianne

 

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (I Corinthians 13:1-8a).

Comment!

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Frieda and Garry's New Home

by Keith, with help from Frieda

Here's most of an email from Frieda, posted with permission:

We love our new RV.  Still can't believe we actually left Rockport at 11:30 am and traded up by 5 pm.  Still in process of getting it registered in Ontario.
Hopefully we will be back in Texas next winter.  Will keep Garry away from RV sites on the net and dealerships.
Have a great Easter and again - thanks for the info.
We are praying for Allison and Dick.  Following the blog closely
Take care
Frieda & Garry 

They left Rockport 35 RV Park in the morning and by night they had a new motorhome! How's that for an interesting trip home!

Comment!

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Getting Ready for Easter

by Keith

Our Easter treat is having Stephanie (our granddaughter) and Mark and their two girls here for the weekend. Here, Molly, nearly 4, and Leah, 2, get Easter egg decorating instructions from Pat.

Molly, Pat, and Leah
"Marvin" in the lower right corner

The girls and I spent nearly an hour at the park. That was my contribution to the peace and quiet of the morning.

"Marvin," the yellow plant from you-know-where, seems to have slowed down its growth once we got back to Iowa. But it's still blooming and will recover soon, I'm sure.

Comment!

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Geoff & Pam Back in Canada

by Keith, from their daughter

This was sent as a comment, but feel I feel it more appropriate to post it as an article itself.

Just to let everyone know my parents Pam and Geoff made it home safe Sunday night. The dust bunnies gave them a warm welcome and Mother nature turned the temperature to cold and frost. Welcome back to the great white north Mom and Dad. 

Thanks for letting us know—and thanks for sharing them with us for a few months!

A comment:

Pam and Geoff, good to hear that you made it home safely. We surely enjoyed your company this winter and look forward to spending time with you again -- perhaps this summer.  You are not that far from us, really. Dianne and Rick

Comment!

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Brief Update on Dick Carlson

by Dianne

As you know, Dick had his hemoglobin checked yesterday to see if he is still making his own blood and if the report was good we'd be heading home today. The news was not good. His hemoglobin dropped from 8.8 a week ago Monday to 7.7 yesterday. A sure indication that once again he is seeping blood. Rick and his dad are on their way to Corpus, as I write this, so Dick can get 3 more units.

If there are no adverse reactions, we head for home on Thursday. He has an appointment scheduled for April 19 with the liver specialist and oncologist at Henry Ford in Detroit. That is the earliest they can get him in. He will see his family doctor until then to keep a check on his hemoglobin.

Thank you friends and family for your continued prayers for Dick and Lucille. Will keep you posted.

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Thank You from Ron & Connie

by Keith, with lots of help from Connie

For those not aware, Ron's mother passed away about a ten days ago. She lived in Missouri and was 90+ years old.

Here are snippets from a note from Connie:

Well, we're back home and trying to get our feet under us again.  It seems like we've been gone a month.   

I knew most everyone was leaving but it felt very empty when we came home.   We were sorry that we couldn't have said "See-Ya" before everyone left.   

It went as well at home as could be expected under the circumstances.  We did get to visit with Ron's relatives whom we hadn't seen for a long time.   

Could you put something on the blog thanking everyone for their prayers and thoughts while we were gone. We would really appreciate it.  I don't have connections with everyone to thank them.   

That's one of the most wonderful things about this park......the wonderful people.  We are so blessed.

Connie

Of course I'm glad to put this on the park blog. And either Dianne or I will be glad to do the same for anyone from the park! Just let us know what you're up to in an email and give us permission to post it and we will! It's that simple.

Others among those wonderful people Connie mentioned are interested in YOU and what you are doing.

Comment!

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Allison Update

by Dianne from Allison

Many of you have asked me for an update...so here it is!

First of all, I returned from the hospital (MD Anderson) to discover a beautiful quilt gorgeously and lovingly put together--this is a gift from Otto and Jeanne Eggers. First thing I did, is wrap up in it and take a nap! SO WONDERFUL!!! Thank you so much!

Next, or actually, while at the hospital, I had a CT-Scan to see if the chemo treatments are working--they are not.
So, the plan is to change the treatment. I will go to MDA on Monday and be hospitalized for the week, having chemo daily.
This will occur every three weeks.
The belief is that the treatments will put the lymphoma in remission--but it will recur unless I have auto stem cell transplant.
So, I'll be talking to the transplant team--This is NOT an easy procedure; but then God knows it all, doesn't He.
Tony is taking very good care of me and we are enjoying every day and every blessing God gives us.

Remember, God heals in various ways:
1) He made our bodies to heal themselves--what a miracle!
2) Then He uses knowledge and procedures which HE put into place to be used by physicians and pharmaceuticals--what a miracle!
3) He heals by out-and-out miracles--where no one can give a reason for the cure--what a miracle!
(These are all temporary)
4) He gives us perfect, permanent healing when He takes us HOME--What a miracle-working God.
Is it any wonder I reside peacefully in HIS Faithful care?
Allison
Jesus Christ!
The SAME!
Yesterday, Today & Forever
Hebrews 13:8

Thank you Allison for this update. As always, you and Tony are in our prayers.

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Red Bud Season

by Keith

The red bud trees in Cedar Rapids (and Kansas City and every place between) are in full bloom and beautiful. We took a little ride around town after dinner tonight to view them. Here are the results.

Comment!

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