Update.

   Eleanor seems to be doing well since her surgery last Thursday. Thanks to Barbara, who came to Seward on Friday and Saturday to provide support and assistance to Eleanor. Yesterday, Eleanor played Farkle, a dice game, in the activities room. Her friend Evelyn told her it was a waste of time, but Eleanor had a good time, and it's better than sitting in ones room. Thanks to Jill for the wonderful card with the cat in the hammock She has it placed on her table and comments on how nice it is every time I visit. Thanks to Mary Ann and Nette for the cards and phone calls. Eleanor loves to get mail and enjoys all the cards and notes she gets.
   Her surgeon called her two days ago to ask how she was doing and if she was taking her antibiotic pills. That really impressed her! Donna Meeks, Eleanor's sister in law, called and asked if Eleanor was doing well; she had a sense that she was not well--" a disturbance in the force?" We had been praying about the surgery, so maybe Donna was on the same channel.
   She received a letter from Bryan Hospital informing Eleanor that the information and I.D. card for new pacemaker should arrive in about one month. That was news to me, as I was under the impression that she was only having a battery replaced. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and cards!

part II

   Just talked with the Doctor. Everything went fine. She will probably be discharged to go home this afternoon, and we can go back to Seward.

The Big Day. Part I

   We arrived at Bryan Hospital at 10:30 am,and I am now sitting in the waiting room at the surgery center. The procedure should take about 30 minutes,d and the doctor will come and visit with me when he has finished. Eleanor is in good spirits, but would like some coffee and a bite to eat. They plan to replace only the battery, but will have to look at the electrodes to see if the are in acceptable condition. I guess its time to wait and see how it goes.I should hear something by 2 pm.

Pacemakers

   Tomorrow Eleanor and I are going to the Bryan Surgical Center to have a new battery put into her pacemaker. This has not been an easy decision to make, as Eleanor struggled to make up her mind as to whether or not to have the battery replaced. She had a very difficult time when the original pacemaker was implanted, and worries about the surgery. We have been packing a bag in case she has to stay overnight, and making preparations for a bath with surgical soap this evening. She is nervous and still wondering if she shouldn't cancel the procedure. If you have a chance to send a card to her apartment it would be appreciated. Prayers are welcome via the appropriate channels.   

Flowers and Sunshine.

   I have been taking flowering plants and cut flowers to Eleanor for the past two weeks. Joanne sent a white Amaryllis to her apartment two weeks ago, and and it was beautiful. Several of the nurses aides commented that the white ones aren't seen too often. Eleanor enjoyed watching the plant with it's four white flowers bloom. When it had finished she asked me to get her some daffodils, and tried to remember the poem about "Daffodils" that her mother always recited.She remembered it for the most part:

"I wandered lonely as a cloud

            that floats on high o'er vales and hills,

     When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils,

         Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 

           Fluttering and dancing in the breeze"

 She has been enjoying her daffodils this week, and the Amaryllis  that we had thought was finished, has decided to produce another set of blooms. I would guess by Friday it will be time to bring in new flowers. 

   Eleanor called this afternoon and told me she wanted to sit outside in the courtyard, as everyone has been talking about the beautiful weather we are having. It was a bit windy, but we enjoyed watching the courtyard squirrel finding his buried nuts in the courtyard. I was glad that she decided to get up, get dressed, and leave her room for a change. 

Lord I believe, please help me through my doubts.

   I went to a funeral yesterday for an old friend, Virginia Downing. I met her when I first started teaching in Seward, she was in the final few years of her career and I was a first year teacher. She was an excellent teacher, and had the desire to help those who were starting out in their careers. Virginia was born in 1919, so she was older than Eleanor, she was healthy, but had Alzheimer's so her final years of life were not easy.
   At the funeral, the pastor used the story of the centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant, Jesus asked if he believed in him, and his reply was yes, but. I was talking with Eleanor about the yes, buts in our lives and she told me that as she has grown older she is more certain about her relationship with God. She has a hard time reading and hearing, but she still tries to listen to the tapes from St. John every week and read the large print Portals of Prayer devotions. It is becoming increasingly difficult for her to get around, so corporate worship is not easy to attend. I'm glad the yes, buts are now only yeses for her.

Funnies

   I had coffee and mixed berry muffins with Eleanor this morning. I asked if I could take the Sunday newspaper to the recycling bag at Heartland. Eleanor wasn't sure that I should take the comics, as Sam or Austin might like to see them. The boys enjoy looking at and reading the comics when they stop to visit her.
   She remembered that as a child, her grandfather Nelson would save the newspapers in his workshop. When Eleanor would visit, she would go out to the workshop and read and color the comic strips. She always looked forward to going through the papers looking for comics. When they were ready to return to the farm, they always brought the saved newspapers with them, as they were used in the outhouse.
   I can remember visiting my grandparents farm in Minnesota and visiting the outhouse with its pile of newspapers and catalogs stacked between the two seats on the outhouse bench.