Brooks Broadcast

Heading to Peru

2009-07-19T22:10:00.000-07:00

Loren and I will be heading to Peru on a mission trip back to the orphanage where she was adopted. You can follow our adventure at http://wrcc-peru2009.blogspot.com.

Loren and Andrea's Birthdays - July 13th, 15th and 17th

2009-07-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Loren's 15th birthday on July 13th. A girl's 15th birthday is traditionally a significant birthday in Peru and other latin American countries. It's called the quinceaños (15 years, and is a coming of age celebration when a girl becoming a lady.

Loren poses while Josh clowns around. What else would a brother do?

Loren reads her brothers' and sisters hand-made cards.

The neighbor girls Michelle and Elizabeth.

Elton John look out!

Andrea and the kids were at Grandpa and Grandma's on her birthday, so we celebrated her 29th, uh yeah, her 29th birthday a day late.

The kids all made something special for their mom.

Loren had a sleep over to celebrate her quinceaños. Here from left to right is Loren, Katie Rummery, Veronica, Donna, Michelle Paap, Kimberly Newman and Elizabeth Paap.

Loren doesn't like cake, so she opted for muffins.

The girls.

E.J. Schaer & Bill Glick Wedding - July 4th, 2009

2009-07-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

My friend of many years, Bill Glick, got married to his long time friend and only recently discovered love of his life on July 4th. I had the privilege of both standing up at their wedding and singing two songs. The wedding was a great event, and it was heart warming to see them so happy. The reception afterward was a little damp, but everyone still had a great time.

This is the sand ceremony from the Glick wedding on July 4, 2009. It features Tim Brooks and Jim Barlow performing the song “The Way of Love” by Charlie Peacock and Tom & Nicole Schaer reading 1 Corinthians 13 from the NIV, NLT, and Message translations.

Bill and His Dad

My friend, Jim Barlow, who played guitar

Nice Tux, eh?

J.D. Norcross and Myself

Andrea and I

Bill and E.J.

The Barlow's and the Brooks'

Doug Olson and I

Good cake T.J. ?

The Brooks Clan

St. Louis Trip - 06/23/2009 to 06/25/2009

2009-06-27T13:42:00.001-07:00

This year and last we have found a way to do something fun with the family of 8 relatively cheaply. We buy 4 season passes which come with coupon books that have several "Bring a friend for free" days. We had two bring a friend for free tickets that we needed to use for June. So, we did two days in a row at Six Flags and then went to the Arch on our way out. My brother and sister-in-law were nice enough to let us crash at their house for a couple nights. Uncle Ronn took some time out of his busy schedule to ride some rides with us on the second day. The temperature on both days was at or near 100 degrees. So, we spent a good deal of time at Hurricane Harbor.

DAY 1

Stopped at Burger King to fill up our tanks and avoid a costly meal in the park.

TJ and Andrew get to hang with Batman and the Boy Wonder while the big kids go on the Batman roller coaster.

Pepe Le Pew

Marvin the Martian

Taz and the family

TJ drives his dad crazy.

Veronica is all smiles on Tony Hawk.

DAY 2

Josh and Andrew cruisin'

Uncle Ronn takes one last spin with the girls.

Uncle Ronn with some crazy characters.

Going Up?

Coming down...

DAY 3

Andrea and the Arch

Andrea and the kids

Tim and the kids

The kids demonstrate the Arch elevators

TJ and Andrew look at the ants down below.

Cool!

Who knew Donna was 630 feet tall?

Waiting to go down
Elevator 4

Elevator 5

The Arch Museum

Father's Day

2009-06-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

Dad with his kids on a hot Father's Day.

Taking the train to Chicago to go to the Shedd Aquarium

2009-06-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

On the weekend of the 13th and 14th, we took a quick trip up to Arlington Hts. to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Andrea's brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Robin, and also the 8th grade graduation of their daughter (our niece) Lizzie. It was also my sister, Lori's birthday on the 13th. We stayed the night at my sister's house. And on Sunday took the train into Chicago to go to the Shedd Aquarium. This was the first train ride for most of the kids.

T.J, Andrew and Andrea on the train

Who Knew We Had Our Own Building in Chicago?

Outside the Shedd Aquarium

Josh on the train ride back to Arlington Hts.

T.J.'s Birthday - June 06th, 2009

2009-06-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

T.J. turned 9 on June 6th. My friend Orlando came to visit and help us celebrate. Donna and Veronica were at Camp Take A Break that weekend. Here's some pictures from the day.

Happy Birthday to You!

Loren goes to the State Finals in track - May 22 & 23

2009-06-07T15:09:00.000-07:00

It seems I'm always a few weeks behind on my posts. This one is no exception.

After advancing through sectionals, Loren competed in three events in the Illinois State Track Finals on May 22nd and 23rd. On Friday, she ran the 1600M. I don't think she really had a feel for the importance of the event. She placed about 5th in her heat and 20th of 43 girls. On the last strait away where the runners usually kick it up to 5th gear she was still going at the same pace. She didn't turn it on until she was really close to the finish line. Her personal best is 5 minutes 42 seconds. In this race she ran 5:46.90.

On Saturday she ran two relays where she ran anchor in both. The first was the 4 X 200M and her team was in first place in their heat, but 12th overall.

Her second relay was the 4 X 400M. This was an amazing race! Her team started out in 1st place with the first runner. However, after the 2nd and 3rd runner had gone, Loren received the baton and started her run in 4th place. She was in 4th place for nearly the whole 1st straight away, and there was a even distance between 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Loren. It didn't look possible for her to catch up. However, by the time she got to the turn she had overtaken the 3rd place runner, and was gaining on the 2nd. She took the 2nd place runner and was gaining on the 1st by the end of the turn, and the whole stadium was pulling for her as she made amazing come from behind. As they were heading into the straight away Loren was on the heels of the 1st place runner... literally. She accidentally caught the heel of the 1st place runner, and she stumbled. There was collective, "OH!" from the stands. Unfortunately, she could never make up the ground after the stumble, but she still pulled off an amazing come from behind race and place 2nd for that heat. The team placed 10th overall in the 4 X 400M.

Loren seems to be a natural, and I think she has great potential for the coming years if she sticks with it. Pretty soon, she'll be back at it with cross country.

Josh's 12th Birthday

2009-05-16T21:29:00.001-07:00

We had quite a day Saturday. Track Sectionals in Gibson City, a flooded backyard, and celebrating having Josh for 12 years.

Anticipation!

Josh thanks Andrew for a cool card.

Josh opens Loren's gift

Money, Money, Money... Money!
I see an iPod in your future.

The traditional Brooks Birthday Cookie

Happy Birthday to You!

1st Spring Flood 2009

2009-05-16T21:19:00.001-07:00

It seems like flooding in our backyard is becoming an recurring event. I suspect it is being caused by the upstream dredging that was done 2 years ago. This time around we have flood insurance, so I'm not worrying as a much.

Josh swims the flood waters.

Loren and Veronica at Track Sectionals

2009-05-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

Loren and Veronica competed in their Track Sectionals on Saturday. Loren ran the mile and in two relays, the 4 x 200 and the 4 x 400. She also competed in the high jump. She was first in every heat except for the high jump. So, she qualified to compete in state for those three events. In high jump, today just wasn't her day. She has cleared 4'8" before, but the cold and the wind must have gotten to her today. She was unable to clear 4'4".

1st place in the mile, 5 minutes 51 seconds

Loren finishes first in the 4 x 200

Veronica ran the 800 Meter today, and placed 8th. She had a good start, and was in second place after the first lap. But something happened about 2/3 into the last lap. She seemed to stumble a little, and then lost the will to keep going. This was her first year running, though, and she did pretty well. Next year she'll know what to expect, and should improve a lot. Good job Veronica!

Veronica gets ready for the 800 Meter. It was freezing!

1st lap and Veronica's in 2nd place.

Veronica finishes in 8th place.

Loren anchors the relay in the 4 x 400.

Loren clears 4' 3"

St. Louis Trip - 05/09/2009

2009-05-14T06:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took a trip to St. Louis to celebrate my niece, Chelsea's high school graduation which also marked the end of home schooling 3 children for my sister-in-law Barb.

Chelsea's Senior Portrait

My nephew Jeremy and his girlfriend Laurel with Sean, Lindsey and Chelsea.

Hanging out with my brother Ronn, my cousin Marc, and his daughter Arianna

Josh is pleased that he has outgrown his cousin.

My nephew Sean and his wife Lindsey

On Sunday, we kicked off our first visit to Six Flags. Last year, we started buying season tickets for 4 of us. With season passes, you get a coupon book with several "bring a friend for free" tickets. Mother's day was the first of the free days, so with Chelsea's graduation on the same weekend, it was hard to pass up going to Six Flags. Getting season tickets turns out to be a relatively cheap way to entertain a family of 8 with the free days. It also is a good excuse to visit my brother's family in St. Louis.

Happy Mother's Day! Now let the fun begin!

Veronica takes me on her first drive. Be afraid, be very afraid...

Ahhhhhhhhh!

I have no idea who this super heroine is supposed to be.

Loren getting $5.00 worth of fun.

Another fun trip to Six Flags!

College of Veterinary Medicine Open House

2009-04-09T17:11:00.000-07:00

On Saturday April 4th, I took the kids to the College of Vet Med's open house. The kids got to milk a cow and put their hands into a cow's stomach. Andrew was the only one who wouldn't try either of those. Their faces tell the story...

Piper

2009-03-15T15:59:00.000-07:00

We sort of stumbled into a new dog last week. Friends of ours from church had taken in a stray running in their yard. After a failed attempt to find the owner, they asked us if we take this roughly 6 month old, male (yellow lab mix ?). Well, of course, the kids wanted him, but Andrea was not, and is not thrilled with the idea since she is there with him the whole day.

However, after some stern lectures about responsibility with the kids, and the fact that our friends took care of all the veterinary costs. We decided to give the dog a trial. He's peed in the house two times already, but otherwise he is a very good natured dog. Andrea might have another opinion. :)

T.J. named him Piper, and the name has stuck.

Andrew after getting an earful of dog nose.

Andrew and Piper

Healing, Peru and stuff

2009-03-13T06:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I have posted, so I thought it's time to catch up on recent events. Mostly, life is just moving along at it's usual rapid pace. However, there have been a few notable occurrences.

Healing...

First my clavicle is slowly healing. It's gone from being painful all the time, to numb or slightly uncomfortable. Actually, most of the discomfort is in my shoulder and not the collar bone. I just had my third check up last Wednesday, and the doctor is allowing me to go back to very light weight lifting. Also, he's sending me to physical therapy, finally. I'm posting the x-rays I just received from the clinic.

Here you can see the chain like shape of the titanium plate which is also visible through the skin.

In this one, the screws are clearly visible.

I'm not sure if this captures it, but the wavy shape of the plate protrudes through the skin. Also, you can see the nice scar I'm getting.

Since the plate is so visible the doctor said we could talk about removing it if it still bothers me in 6 months. However, this would require 3 extra months of recuperation to allow for bone to regrow where the screws had been. Otherwise, he said I could go on a Hagen Daz diet if I didn't want to see the plate anymore. Funny guy...

Perú...

Last year, upon hearing that our church, which we had just started attending, had two yearly mission trips, I suggested that they have one to Perú. Specifically, I had thrown out the idea of going to the orphanage, Hogar de Esperanza in Trujillo, where we adopted our daughters. The leader of adult ministry was up for the idea as long as I was the one who would lead it since I had all the contacts. So, I decided to step up and lead a mission team. Anyone who knows me would know that this is a little out of my comfort zone, but so far it's been a good experience. I'll be leading a team of 25 people to the orphanage on July 20th. I'm also working on having Loren go as well. Of course, the whole family would like to go, but the price for each person is $1600. And $1600 x 8 is a little too much. I've been busy having meetings and raising funds. (Thanks to all those who have donated!) The trip is beginning to take shape. We have the tickets for our flights already booked, and a hotel booked in Lima for one night on our return trip as well. There is a lot to figure out, and having 25 people go is, on one hand really cool, but it's also a little difficult to manage. I will be documenting our adventure on another blog at http://wrcc-peru2009.blogspot.com/. Stay tuned...

and stuff...

Unfortunately, I have not been immune to the down turn in the economy. My position which is funded by the NSF and other grants has been only 85% funded for 2010. Since I am not fully funded the University is required to give me what is called a T-Contract (Terminal Contract). This is, basically, a letter saying we might have to let you go in a year. I'm hopeful that the missing 15% will turn up in the next few months. But if not, I will probably slip into full panic mode come summer. Please pray for those funds to come my way, and if not that I'll find work in time before the T-Contract kicks in. I have 8 mouths riding on this...

Post surgery

2009-01-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

I made it through surgery, but it was apparently more intensive damage than they had anticipated. The surgery was supposed to go for an hour and ended up taking over two hours. Also, I was supposed to go home the same day, but they ended up keeping me overnight. I'm on some pretty heavy pain medication, and so I haven't been doing much other than falling in out of sleep.

Waiting for surgery

I just changed the bandages, so I thought this would be a good time to take pictures of the damage.

No stitches, just this tape.

My huge bruise

Christmas, sleds, ice and broken bones

2008-12-29T15:50:00.000-08:00

After opening presents at home with just the immediate family on Christmas morning, we made our annual Christmas morning pilgrimage to my sister's house in Arlington Heights, IL. My nephew, Michael Preissing, unfortunately, had to leave right when we arrived. Michael's mom (my sister, Peggy) and his sisters were in Rome, Italy this Christmas visiting their dad/husband, John Preissing, who is working for the United Nations in Rome for 3 years. They were all greatly missed!

Michael and the kids

My brother, Ronn, and my sister-in-law, Barb

We did the usual opening of presents and then enjoyed Lori's always scrumptious Christmas dinner. Later, we played a great new game called Partini. It was a riot mostly at the expense of my brother-in-law, John Putz, who was the butt of many balding jokes.

On the 26th, we took all the kids to go sledding at a nearby hill. Arlington had just had about a foot of snow. This hill was extremely icy, which made for some really fast rides. It was also as hard as a rock. Someone had decided to make a monster snow ramp at the bottom of the hill. Loren had accidentally veered right to it on her first run. It launched her up about twice her height. She miraculously landed on her feet, and didn't fall. I, on the other hand, was not so lucky.

My nephew, Johnny, at one point had taken me out as I was climbing up the hill, and we both took a ride down together on his sled. Later, I tried to pay him back as he was walking up. Being an agile 16 year old, he hopped over me while I careened right toward the ramp. I was not able to stop, and I ended sailing over the ramp, flipping over and landing full force on my right shoulder and my head. I got up feeling a pain I've never felt before. I was only able to stand for a few moments before becoming dizzy and nauseous. I sat down at the end of the hill, and was rescued by my brother-in-law, nephews and some strangers, who put me on a sled and dragged me to the car.

John took me the hospital where they determined that I broke my clavicle in two places and also split part of the bone. However, being "out of network", I had to wait until Monday to be seen by a doctor (3 days later). Today, December the 30th, I am scheduled for surgery where they will put in a metal plate.

Operation Christmas Child take 2 - The News Gazette

2008-12-14T20:43:00.000-08:00

Our local paper, The News Gazette, picked up on the Operation Christmas Child story and the connection the girls' had with this cause in that they received the boxes while in the orphanage. Here's the article:
The News Gazette Story

Operation Christmas Child

2008-11-19T12:29:00.000-08:00

Last week Loren, Veronica, Donna and Andrea were featured on our local news station. Channel 3 was doing a piece about Operation Christmas Child which is a program aimed at helping children around the world know that they are loved by God and that someone is thinking about them. People can package up a shoebox full of fun gifts for a girl or a boy that will be delivered to a child around Christmas time. Here's how you can Pack A Shoebox.

Loren, Veronica and Donna were the recipients of shoe boxes full of gifts while they were in the orphanage in Peru, Hogar de Esperanza. Now it has come full circle, and they, with are family, are sending shoe boxes.

Here's the news story.

Andrew's Birthday, Cross Country and the JV Superbowl

2008-10-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

October 12th-13th

Andrea's oldest brother, Mike, had a stroke a few weeks back, and we went up for a visit. We stayed at my sisters house who also lives in Arlington. Mike seems to be doing better. Andrea says that his speech and mobility on his right side had improved a lot since she saw him last. This is good sign. We are hopeful that with rehabilitation he will make a good a recovery.

We celebrated Andrew's 5th birthday while we were up in Arlington Heights. It's hard to believe our little guy is getting so big.

Happy Birthday to You!

How Old?

October 18th

Loren and Josh had their big season ending event for each of their sports. Loren was the only girl from her school who went to state this year which was held in Bloomington. But the boys team did qualify. The girls on her team also went to cheer her on. They even wrote her name on the bus. She did very well for her first time. She placed 20th out of some 200+ girls with a time of 12 minutes and 37 seconds. The top 25 girls were given ribbons.

Loren with her grandparents

Loren with the "Loren" bus

Josh's team played the Oakwood Comets in Georgetown which was completely in the opposite direction of Bloomington. So, we were very tight on time to see both Loren's and Josh's events. , Unfortunately, Josh's team didn't fair quite so well. The Comets came out strong from the very beginning, scoring on their first drive. The Comets shut out the Spartans for nearly the entire game. They were up 22 - 0 until the Spartans finally got on the board in the last 2 minutes making the final score 22 -6. Still the Spartans had a good year, and Josh's playing improved a great deal this year.

Josh receives his ribbon

Josh and the second place trophy

Winning Day!

2008-10-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

Today was a long, but exciting day in the world of Brooks family sports. We began the day bright and early taking Loren to her school to catch a bus for her Cross Country Sectionals at Kickapoo State Park. Then, Josh had to go to practice for his football playoff game which would be later that day. After getting everybody else fed and clothed, we picked up Josh and headed off to Kickapoo (which is just a fun word to say).

Loren placed 1st in her 2 mile run, setting her own personal record at 13 minutes 14 seconds. It was quite exciting. As she was closing the first mile, we watched her move up from 3rd to 2nd place. By the time she made the first lap around, she was in first, and she never gave up the position.

Loren making her move from third to second place

1st Place

Final lap, still in 1st, Mom cheering her on

At the finish line, Go baby go!

1st Place at the
Ribbon Ceremony

Josh had his playoff game in Hoopeston where they played the Catlin Storm. Josh's team won as well. The St. Joseph Spartans won 14 to 6 and will advance to the JV Superbowl in Georgetown next week.

Josh Brooks #32, Striking A Heisman Trophy Pose

Josh and the team trying to intercept a pass.
Josh is the one on the right as the video starts.

All in all a good day! Next Saturday we get to do it all again as Loren is the only girl from St. Joe to advance to the state competition in Bloomington, and Josh and his team will play the superbowl.

Aug 7-9 2008 - 6 Flags in Chicago, Lincoln Park Zoo, and walking around Chicago

2008-08-11T05:51:00.000-07:00

Aug, 7th:

For the third time this summer, we went to 6 Flags, but this time we went to the one at Great America in the Chicago area. We're trying to get our money's worth out of our season tickets. We bought 4 season tickets, and we get a coupon book with each one that has certain free days for several different occasions. We had one to bring a friend for free for any non St. Louis 6 Flags, so that's what we used this time around.

This trip was less than stellar. We hit Chicago construction traffic on the way there. It took over an hour to get into the parking lot. Once we got in to the park, it was so crowded that each ride was at least an hour wait, usually two hours, and sometimes even three. This made for a grand total of about 5 rides for the entire time we were there from around 12:00 pm until 10:00 pm. We specifically picked a week day to avoid crowds, but that was obviously a failure. We had heard that some area students had won passes for attendance at school or something, and were probably using them before they expired. So, note to self, avoid going to 6 Flags at Great America in the first few weeks of August.

Best Buds (Josh and his Uncle Ronn)

Veronica, Andrea and Donna

TJ and his Dad (Why So Serious?)

Standing in line again: Chelsea, Donna, and Andrea

One last ride: Andrew and Uncle Ronn

Aug 8th,

On Friday, we went to Lincoln Park in Chicago. With 6 kids you look for the free stuff to do.

Really, he is human: Josh

Veronica, TJ, Loren and Donna

Donna, TJ, Loren, Josh, Andrew and Veronica

Veronica, Andrew, TJ, Loren, Andrea and Donna

On our way home, we went to a Peruvian restaurant called Ay Ay Picante. Estuve muy bien.

Veronica, Donna, Loren, Tim, Andrea, Josh, Andrew and T.J.

Loren, Donna, and Veronica

Aug 9th,

On Saturday, we went to Chicago and walked around. The highlight for the kids was the Lego Store.

T.J. and Andrew

Donna, Josh, T.J., Andrew, Loren, Veronica and Andrea

Dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe

Josh, T.J., Veronica, Andrew, Loren, Donna, and Tim

Weekend Camping at Clinton Lake

2008-07-23T05:53:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had yet another abrupt weekend vacation. Our boys were at Grandma and Grandpa's all of last week. Andrea's brother-in-law, who lives in the same town, decided on a whim to pack up his 3 boys and go camping at Clinton Lake. So, Grandma and Grandpa decided to pack up there camper and go also. This, of course, set off a chain reaction where I found that we too were going camping.

Despite the abrupt nature of the trip, we all had a pretty good time. Things were forgotten, but it was all turned out okay. The temperature was in the mid 90's the whole time, so we spent most of our time in the water.

Loren and her cousin Chris enjoying a ride on Uncle Brien's pontoon boat.

Joey, Josh and Andrea taking it easy.

Donna and Veronica right after taking their turn surfing behind the boat.

I even got a turn.

Josh gives his mom a ride on Uncle Brien's jet ski.

Andrew and Loren take turns giving me a ride.

Josh get's ready to ride the waves.

Andrew loves his jams!

Sucking down some watermelon before we head home.

Quick Trip to Chicago

2008-07-10T20:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the 4th of July weekend. I took the kids to see the parade on Lincoln street in Urbana. It was okay until it got political. As usual there were the obligatory politicians from each party going by, and the various causes that sometimes make the event non-kid friendly. But what really irked me was the imbecilic and ad hominen attacks being made behind me. It took the fun out of the whole thing.

Watching the parade

We went to Chicago (i.e. Arlington Heights) for my nephew's high school graduation party on Saturday, and stayed over at my sister's house on Saturday night.

My Sister and our niece, Meghan's son, Caleb

Heart and Soul ... ONE MORE TIME!!!

My niece Kristin and Veronica clowning around

On Sunday, we got up and went to Chicago, so that we could go to the Shedd Aquarium. We purchased a family membership pass because it turned out to be cheaper to buy the family membership, which is for 5 kids and 2 parents, and a single child membership than it was to buy individual tickets. We had a late lunch on the beach, and then the kids went for a swim for an hour. After walking back to the Shedd at 4:00 pm, Donna exclaimed "My glasses, I think I left them in the bathroom." So I made her run back with me to the beach bathroom. They were gone. We checked the car, but they were nowhere to be found. Needless to say, I was a little peeved with her carelessness. I made her job with me back to the Shedd, so we could see as much as we could in the now short time that we had before they closed at 6:00pm. When we were finished and went back to the parking lot, Andrea took Donna one last time to see if they could find the glasses. She asked the lifeguard if they had a lost and found, and sure enough they did, and the glasses were there. Suerte...

We wanted to dinner at a Peruvian restaurant, but couldn't find one in time. It was getting pretty late, and we needed to drive back because I had to go to work on Monday. We settled on Gino's Pizza. It ended up taking hour for our pizzas to come, and it was so not worth it. I was very disappointed. It was not like I remembered Gino's to be. We left Chicago after 10:00 pm, and got back home around 12:30. It was quite a busy weekend.

6 Flags - Take Two

2008-06-23T18:59:00.001-07:00

We made a very impromptu decision to go to 6 Flags in St. Louis for Father's Day. We ended up getting season passes for four of the eight of us. With each season pass, you get a coupon book which has several "bring a friend for free" coupons for different days. Father's Day was one of those days. So, on Sunday morning, we decided to forgo church and head to St. Louis for a day of fun. We also invited my friend Orlando, who likes spur of the moment adventures.

Loren, Donna and Tim

Andrew and Orlando

Veronica, T.J., Josh and Scooby Doo!

Josh and Tim

Donna, Andrea, and Loren

T.J. and Orlando

The Brooks'

The Brooks' y nuestro buen amigo, Orlando

From Shoulder Pain to a Pain in the Neck

2008-06-13T09:27:00.000-07:00

After going to therapy for my shoulder for a week. I woke up one morning a few weeks back with what felt like a pinched nerve in my neck. Every time I went into therapy for the shoulder my therapist would ask how I was doing. I would tell him that the shoulder was the same, and I also now had a pain in my neck. The pain didn't go away for around 2 weeks. Finally, he did some test on my neck by moving my head into different positions. He decided it was best to send me back to the sports doctor this time for neck x-ray. I really thought this was going overboard, and that it would go away eventually.

Anyway, I was surprised to find out that the x-ray did indeed show I had some miss alignments in my C5 vertebrae. It was enough that the doctor thought I should get an MRI. The MRI results showed that I had what the doctor called "severe disk disease". This basically means I had 2 disks that are squeezing out of from the vertebrae, one of which is pushing into my spinal chord.

The doctor said I should see a spinal specialist. So, on Wednesday of this week, I saw the spinal doctor. She again showed me the x-rays and MRI and did some movement tests. She said that I have arthritis in the bone (little pointed spurs on the edge of the bone) and disk degeneration. Both doctors theorize that this could be causing the pain in my shoulder and arm. For now she gave me a cortisone shot in the shoulder. In two weeks, I will go back to see if that helped. If not, she will move to a shot in the neck, an epidural I think. This means a day off of work, no driving afterward, etc.. So far it still hurts. Stay tuned...

The week in review.

2008-06-08T06:27:00.000-07:00

Monday we took the family to St. Louis to see my brother, Ronn and his family. We went to 6 Flags on Tuesday and had great time. The lines were really short, and the weather was just about right. It was fairly hot, but not unbearable, and there was no rain.

Wednesday we went to Purina Farms, and saw there animals for a couple hours. After Purina we went to Merimac Caverns and took the tour. I think everyone liked the caverns, but it was pretty chilly down there.

When we got back on Thursday, inspired by my brother's pool, I decided to fix the area where we keep our little blue pool. Last year, I had just built a sand pile to make the ground level. Well, of course, sand washes away, and I knew at the time it wasn't a great idea, but it more or less lasted for the summer. I was just to lazy to dig out the yard. So, I decided to do it right. I had to first remove all the sand, and then start digging out the ground to make a level space. All of this took about 6 hours. The entire time, I had my shirt off, and was sweating profusely. Now 3 days later, I am still in terrible pain from the worst sunburn I've ever had. Of course, I didn't put any sun screen on. Idiot...

Pain in the shoulder, and Donna and the Martian Child

2008-05-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

On Monday, I had to go see a doctor in sports medicine about my left shoulder which has been hurting me for a couple months. He determined after my exam that I have sustained an injury to my rotator cuff, and suggested that I receive physical therapy. I went for therapy on Tuesday and Thursday, and will need to continue going for a total of 4 weeks. So, far I have been given ultrasound treatments, and I have had to perform special exercises to strength one of the 4 muscles in this area of the shoulder. At the end of this week, I'm still feeling sore, and my shoulder feels very fatigued.

We had some interesting events with Donna this week. She managed to swallow her tooth that fell out. Also, tonight we watched a movie called Martian Child starring John and Joan Cusack (it was pretty good). Not to give anything away, but the foster child in the movie believes he's from Mars. About 2/3 into the movie, Donna asked me, "Dad, are the people poor people on Mars." When I gave her one of those "you've got to be kidding me" looks. She said "nevermind..." Even after two years of explanations of how movies are pretend, she still has trouble discerning what is real and not real in a movie. She also wondered if the boy at the beginning of the movie which represents John Cusack as a kid was really John Cusack as a kid.

Andrew gets tubes take 2.

2008-05-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

Today we took Andrew to the doctor to get tubes for the second time. He has been nearly deaf for the past couple months. We've had to nearly yell for him to hear us. We learned last week, after going to the doctor, that he had tons of fluid in his ears again. The doctor decided it was best to get the tubes put back in his ears again. Today was supposed to be a 10 minute procedure, but it turned out that Andrew's adenoids and tonsils were very swollen as well. So, the doctor took out his adenoids, but decided to only cauterize his tonsils rather than taking them out.

Andrew did fine. He was, of course, feeling bad afterward. After about an hour of sipping ice water and apple juice, he started perking up as the anesthesia wore off. He did really well the rest of the day.