Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Our Sibling Trip Cut Short But it was a GREAT Trip!....Louis Dean Has the Flu....

Nita is our most fun loving sibling!
 She was bound and determined that we would have FUN on our Sibling Saturday! 
And so we did!


After a long morning of sipping coffee and visiting in Deanie and Lonnie's room......we headed out.
But I have to tell you something funny!
As we sat all huddled together in one room - me in a chair with my feet propped up on one bed and Deanie sitting up with pillows behind her back and Lonnie sitting ram rod straight on the side of his bed and Nita perched on the chair on the other side - Lonnie said - in his husky western style voice - "Just like old times! All four of us hiding out in one room!"
You know, I think humor is the saving grace of so much in Life! Any life!
We ALL need to retain our sense of humor!


Deanie is our Queen of Germaphobe!


She gets extra EXTRA points as a good sport for this Sibling Trip!
We usually stay at Casa Del Mar when we are in Galveston but this trip we thought it would be too hard to push the wheelchair up the sloped entrance to Seawall Blvd.
We opted for another hotel.
Sadly, we should have stayed at Casa Del Mar!
Deanie showed her super powers in keeping her composure when she saw roaches in their room!
She has been seriously ill for several years now with and auto immune disease and to see her laugh and joke over what was decidedly an inferior hotel was a beautiful thing to see.
God can bring good from any situation and she rose to the challenge!

Just for the record - Deanie will be in on all further hotel selections in our future Sibling Trips!

It was really foggy when we arrived on Friday but Saturday found the sun burning some of that fog off.


The beach was beautiful!


There's Murdoch's down the way and we were saving that for Sunday afternoon.
Saturday we were heading for Pleasure Pier!


We had lunch at Bubba Gump's complete with photo op in front!


Nita had her heart set on us riding the Ferris Wheel!


Deanie was the designated photographer!
She gets motion sickness and it was just not worth it for her to ride.
Maybe in 2020!


Here it is!!


Nita and Lonnie reminded me of little kids waiting in line.


WOW! I admit it was a stretch for me to ride but I'm so glad I did!!


It was one of the highlights of our trip!


Deanie was down below laughing and waving at us as she took pics and videos.
You can see Lonnie in his plaid shirt. Nita and I are in there, too!



You can hear me laughing!


It was a great adventure and we are blessed to have Nita to encourage us to celebrate and have FUN!


I am up there in one of those seats.


Deanie took lots of good photos!



And after wards, Nita insisted we all have ice cream!!!
I had frozen yogurt and it was all so much fun!
We truly felt like kids again!
While we never did fun things like this in our childhood - we are doing them now!

We left there and went to the local Goodwill where they have Senior Citizen discounts of 30% on Wednesday and SATURDAY! Win! WIN!!

Back to the hotel to rest and get ready for dinner out.


Our hotel was two doors down from Tortuga!
Lonnie was not able to join us but we took some food back for him.
I don't know if I have mentioned it but Lonnie has fibromyalgia as well as rheumatoid arthritis.
He is in constant pain and yet he never complains.
We know he is hurting because he cannot help groaning.
Actually all four of us groan a bit from time to time. We all suffer from one thing or another and yet we buck it up and get on with it. That's easier for some of us than others. Deanie and Lonnie have the hardest time of it.

Sunday was our Beach Day!
We all met in Lonnie and Deanie's room. 
They may have roaches and a shower that only spits out a few drops of water but they had the best AC! We sipped our coffees out of real coffee mugs I had picked up at Goodwill the day before.
I brought pumpkin muffins and we carried a few things back up to the room from the Continental Breakfast provided in the lobby.


Nita and I went for a walk on the beach.


The fog was heavy and beautiful!
I've never been here when there was this much fog!


While the fog was beautiful to us.....it prevented the cruise ships from arriving as scheduled.
Our Leah ( Nita's daughter ) and her husband, Patrick, were to sail out that afternoon.
They were several hours late but they did sail!


I do love the beach!




Ahhhhh......




I could sit and watch this all day long!!



I do love these little birds!
We meant to bring a big bag of frozen peas for the seagulls like we did two years ago.
Next time!


The water was cold and we saw lots of people IN it the day before.
Not so many on Sunday!


Nita and I walked 2 or 3 miles before we were done.


We had the best time!
Right after Nita took this pic I called Louis Dean.
When I talked to him on Saturday, he said he cooked up a bunch of ribs Friday night and had a big meal. But in the night he got sick. I thought it might have been the ribs. Or the abundance thereof.
He was even sicker when I talked to him on the beach and I said I would call him back when I got to the hotel. I did and he told me he nearly called Stephanie Saturday night to ask her to take him to the emergency room. We talked and he said he was doing better. I made a phone call to Amber to let her know he was sick. Amber was still recovering from the flu and now Harrison had it.
When I called Louis Dean back, he said he wasn't against going to the ER.
I called Stephanie - thankfully she was home - and she said, "What do you need?"
I told her and she said, "I'm putting my shoes on. Tell him to get his pants on and I am coming over to get him." Within a half hour I was getting texts from her that they were doing and EKG and chest X-ray. He presented with chest pains - which were due to his deep coughing - but they checked him out really well. LD wasn't so bad off that he didn't enjoy the nurse asking him to relax his arm! They couldn't believe he was 81 years old! This was the second time they have told him to relax his arm. I guess they are not used to elderly men having muscles!
He was diagnosed with acute bronchitis and flu. Stephanie had two of the Rx's filled - the pharmacy was all out of the cough syrup - and he was back home and resting in bed.

My siblings were all unanimous in telling me we should pack up and go home.
They love Louis Dean and knew I needed to be with him.
Deanie pointed out that if it were Charlie in that same situation I would insist on getting her home.


So we decided to eat lunch and head home.
Just as we were deciding where to eat , Nita got a text from Leah saying they were at the Brickhouse.
So that's where we went!


They were sailing out on a Caribbean cruise with their friends who had just been married the day before! It was a real celebration!


I do love my Lonnie and Lanita!!!


And my Deanie!! I am SO proud of her and grateful for her improving health.
It's been slow coming and it will still be a long journey but I am hopeful that by this time next year she will be even better!


Sweetest sisters in the world to me!


Me and my Leah!!

They left to board the ship and we left for home.


It was a long drive.
I guess it's right around 6 hours.
This is one of Nita's favorite quotes.
It is beautiful......

It was late when we arrived home Sunday night.
They brought me home and then drove to Fort Worth where they made it barely before midnight.
It was a good thing we came home a day early.
Michele, Lonnie's wife, was ill and he had to take her to the doctor first thing Monday morning.
We are grateful she doesn't have the flu but she is so sick she will be off work much of the week.

Louis Dean has been taking his medicine and I'm encouraging him to drink lots of water.
While his throat doesn't really hurt, it does hurt his chest when he swallows.
He has stayed in bed all day - only getting up to eat a very few bites of food.
I made soft scrambled eggs this morning and buttered toast and cinnamon fried apples.
He barely touched anything.


After he was back in bed, I went to the hospital to get his codeine cough syrup filled.
The Baylor Angels were wonderful!
The angel in the pharmacy searched and found his insurance info even though I had forgotten to bring his insurance cards with me. We had never used the hospital pharmacy before. I didn't even know they had one! I asked directions to Brown's Pharmacy which we HAVE used but I was afraid the construction at the hospital had closed it temporarily.  My urologist appointment for the first of March has been relocated to the Los Colinas location. When I asked one of the sweet little old lady volunteers for directions - I want to be one of them someday! - she directed me to the hospital pharmacy.

When I go to my appointment in March, I will take baked good to Dr. Bloom as I always do, as well as to the ER group and the pharmacy!

I stayed up late last night after I got home so I could give Lous Dean his medicine at 1:30 so, of course, I slept late this morning. It's time for his medicine again so I will close this out and tend to that before going to bed.


The flu is serious stuff! Always and especially this year.



18 comments:

Vee said...

So sorry to learn that this flu has struck again. I am so glad for Stephanie who gathered Louis Dean up and hauled him off. The sooner that those meds can start the better. Praying for him and for your sister-in-law. Well this sibling get-together will be one for the books even if it was cut short.

You take care now.

Susie said...

Linda, I know you and your siblings had fun together. Riding a ferris wheel that you would have loved riding as a child. Lonnie's statement about hiding out in the same room, took me back in time . We siblings huddled together when our parents fought. Sorry you all came home to illnesses. Praying all of you and your mates are doing better...stay well Linda. Blessings to all, love you, xoxo, Susie

Arlene G said...

I am glad LD is doing better and with you as his nurse, I know he will toe the line.lol So glad you had some good times with your siblings Linda.

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

Oh yes, this flu business is serious stuff. Finally after a week I'm starting to feel better. So glad you all had such a wonderful weekend before the news of illness took you home. I love the beach pictures. Your family are all wonderful people and taking time to spend a weekend together is a wonderful way to celebrate ! Hope Louis Dean is better soon.

Anonymous said...

what a wonderful time you had, I'm so sorry your hubbub is sick,, it is a bad flu and it seems everyone is catching it! Take care ,

Changes in the wind said...

So glad you had such a good time but even more glad Louis Dean is getting better. The flu isn't anything to fool with and it is rampant in many places.

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I hate that Louis Dean is sick with the flu. I know you will take good care of him though and he'll be better in record time. Glad you had some quality time with your siblings...what fun! Lots of great memories to share and write about! Lots of hugs to you both today, Diane

NanaDiana said...

I am so sorry that LD is sick! The flu is nothing to fool with this year! It's a bad one! I am glad he is on meds and hope the coughing doesn't wear him down too much.

It looks like you had a wonderful time with your siblings. What a God-given blessing to have them in your life--even though some/all of you suffer with some health issues you are able to get together and enjoy the time no matter how you are feeling.

Hope you are all doing better today- xo Diana

ellen b. said...

Good idea to cut things short. How nice that someone was available to get LD to the emergency room to get checked out. Hope he is tip top soon and that he doesn't share the illness with you. Nice that you had some good times with your sibs before heading home.

Cheapchick said...

I am sorry that LD is sick and that you had to cut short your trip but your entire family was probably worried for him and no one could have had a good time knowing that he was home by himself. I hope you don't catch it! Stay helathy!

MadSnapper said...

chronic pain makes life so hard and for him to have both of those is really hard. i wondered about the wheel chair. i have 2 friends who suffer from RA and it is really a horrible disease. Deanie did a fantastic job of photographs and i would never ever never get on that ferris wheel.. or any other rides. sorry you all had to go home early but glad you got 3 days in... oh no on picking the wrong hotel. next time move. we did that once, got to the hotel in Daytona, that night i said to bob i am not staying in this another night. we went for a walk until we saw one we liked, they had a room for less than we were paying, we went back and canceled the next 2 days and moved on.

Debbie said...

it sounds like you have some wonderful memories with your siblings, i think it great that you took the trip, even if it was cut short.

the ocean/beach looks beautiful, it looks like home to me....

best wishes to ld, we both had the flu this year and it is nothing to sneeze at. take care, both of you!!!

Carole said...

Hope LD is up and at em again really soon. Take care of yourself too. Lots of Vitamin C and hot toddies (in my case made with brandy rather than whiskey) Cheers

Hootin Anni said...

I too love the beach...that's why we retired here!!

Loved reading the narrative, and enjoyed the fun times. Next month my sister & I celebrate sister's day.

bj said...

Absolutely nothing better than spending quality time with family.
Sure hope LD gets over that flu quick...heard it really is a tough one.

Jan said...

So sorry to hear that LD has the flu. Glad your neighbor was able to get him to the ER-this flu is really nasty. Glad you got to have some time with your brother and sisters-stay well!

Ginny Hartzler said...

You all crammed so much fun into such a short time! You are especially good at that. And brave for going on that Ferris wheel! I love the shadow of it over the water. How on earth did you get up on those big rock blocks! The beach is gorgeous,both in the fog and out of it. Be sure and take care of yourself, too!

Jodi W. said...

So much sickness going around here too. Lots of prayers for Louis Dean!!!