It has been a strange week.
My uncle Dean was only 75. A bout with pancreatitis landed him in the hospital last Tuesday -- then a massive infection (sepsis) hit and started shutting down major organs. It also went into his brain. By Thursday, he was showing no brain activity. They kept the machines running until his kids could all get there and say goodbye to his body. On Friday morning, fifteen minutes after they shut the machines off, he stopped breathing.
(Daughters, don't worry about the machines. If I'm not showing brain activity, I'm not there -- turn 'em off! And yes, this is a reminder that you should have a living will. We do...)
His family was left wondering what had hit them. The memorial service was Monday morning -- less than a week after he first went in the hospital. It turns out that he had not been feeling well for at least a few weeks before that, but had continued to soldier on for a while.
I guess I am more aware of this since the Brick almost died a September ago, from sepsis shutting his liver down. Thank God the doctors managed to stop the infection in the Brick's case -- but it was too late for Uncle Dean.
His obituary is here. He did a brave and courageous thing -- donated his body to science, so his family wouldn't have to worry about burial costs. After the research is done, the company will cremate his body and return it to the family. Gutsy.
So instead of decorating for the holidays, working on appraisals and doing business stuff, I've been going to Cousin #1's store and working there to help out, while she took care of her dad's arrangements -- and working at Cousin #2's thrift shop, so she could help out run Cousin #1's store, as well. Plus I spent some time with the Mama, and my brother. (Bro had his own burdens -- he spent his birthday in the hospital room of his mother-in-law, who had emergency heart surgery.) A strange and sometimes aimless week.
But at least The Mama's Christmas tree is up, Cousins #1 and #2 got a little extra help...I told them I loved them, and got to spend some time with the rest of the family.
Other notes on the way to the weekend:
*Have you thought about turning your house temperature down, and using space heaters to warm your immediate living space? Trent over at the Simple Dollar says you can visibly save money, and he's worked it out BTU-wise. (See his report here.)
We keep our house at 62-66 degrees. It does get a bit chilly, especially at night, but the two space heaters we use, as well as the fireplace, take the chill off nicely. I've noticed a definite decrease in heating bills because of it. (In fact, I'm warming my toes by a space heater now while typing.) One of our space heaters looks like a miniature fireplace - and I enjoy watching the 'flames' when we don't have a real fire going.
*Had coffee at Starbucks this morning (which was terrible by the way -- really bitter), and heard this amazing song by Adele, Rolling in the Deep:
*The Christmas goodies blog is featuring thumbprint cookies today.
*And there are Tuba Christmas concerts all over Colorado this weekend!
Have a good one, yerself.
My uncle Dean was only 75. A bout with pancreatitis landed him in the hospital last Tuesday -- then a massive infection (sepsis) hit and started shutting down major organs. It also went into his brain. By Thursday, he was showing no brain activity. They kept the machines running until his kids could all get there and say goodbye to his body. On Friday morning, fifteen minutes after they shut the machines off, he stopped breathing.
(Daughters, don't worry about the machines. If I'm not showing brain activity, I'm not there -- turn 'em off! And yes, this is a reminder that you should have a living will. We do...)
His family was left wondering what had hit them. The memorial service was Monday morning -- less than a week after he first went in the hospital. It turns out that he had not been feeling well for at least a few weeks before that, but had continued to soldier on for a while.
I guess I am more aware of this since the Brick almost died a September ago, from sepsis shutting his liver down. Thank God the doctors managed to stop the infection in the Brick's case -- but it was too late for Uncle Dean.
His obituary is here. He did a brave and courageous thing -- donated his body to science, so his family wouldn't have to worry about burial costs. After the research is done, the company will cremate his body and return it to the family. Gutsy.
So instead of decorating for the holidays, working on appraisals and doing business stuff, I've been going to Cousin #1's store and working there to help out, while she took care of her dad's arrangements -- and working at Cousin #2's thrift shop, so she could help out run Cousin #1's store, as well. Plus I spent some time with the Mama, and my brother. (Bro had his own burdens -- he spent his birthday in the hospital room of his mother-in-law, who had emergency heart surgery.) A strange and sometimes aimless week.
But at least The Mama's Christmas tree is up, Cousins #1 and #2 got a little extra help...I told them I loved them, and got to spend some time with the rest of the family.
Other notes on the way to the weekend:
*Have you thought about turning your house temperature down, and using space heaters to warm your immediate living space? Trent over at the Simple Dollar says you can visibly save money, and he's worked it out BTU-wise. (See his report here.)
We keep our house at 62-66 degrees. It does get a bit chilly, especially at night, but the two space heaters we use, as well as the fireplace, take the chill off nicely. I've noticed a definite decrease in heating bills because of it. (In fact, I'm warming my toes by a space heater now while typing.) One of our space heaters looks like a miniature fireplace - and I enjoy watching the 'flames' when we don't have a real fire going.
*Had coffee at Starbucks this morning (which was terrible by the way -- really bitter), and heard this amazing song by Adele, Rolling in the Deep:
*The Christmas goodies blog is featuring thumbprint cookies today.
*And there are Tuba Christmas concerts all over Colorado this weekend!
Have a good one, yerself.
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