Saturday night and I have not much to say!!

I just thought I'd stop by and say hello. I LOVED the movie "Eagle Eye." It was so suspenseful! I would highly recommend seeing it.
I've been working all day on these little booklets we're going to have for each person attending the fundraiser. It is going to be filled with stories of people with PH. I've got 24 different stories. I have young women, older women (like myself), a couple of kids and a couple of guys! It's been really interesting reading these stories of these amazing people. It's also been a bit tricky editing the stories so I could get them to fit on a piece of 3 1/2 X 5 inch piece of paper! I also have a picture to go with each story.

Our numbers are looking a bit better. But, I've decided it really doesn't matter. I'm going to be happy with whatever we get.

There was a little write-up in last nights paper:

***********************************

Fundraiser set for lung disease


Nebraska first lady Sally Ganem will serve as honorary chairwoman at the third annual Phenomenal Hope for a Cure fundraiser, Nov. 1 at DC Centre West, 11830 Stonegate Drive.

The 10 a.m. event aims to raise awareness of — and funds for fighting — the sometimes fatal lung disease pulmonary hypertension.

A silent auction will kick off the event. A brunch and a program will begin at 11 a.m.

Col. Carl Hicks, chairman of the Pulmonary Hypertension Association's board of trustees and vice president of advocacy for the association, will speak at the event.

Pulmonary hypertension is a complex health problem of the lungs that causes continuous high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery in the lungs. That results in an enlarged heart.

Tickets are $30. For more information, call Kathie Starkweather at 617-7946.
******************

Ok, that's enough computer time for one day! I think my eyeballs are going to jump out of my head if I don't give them a rest!



Sorry, that was really kind of gross!

Thanks for reading.
Annette

I've been a busy non-blogger!

I cannot believe that our PH fundraiser is a week from tomorrow! ARG!! I've been trying to get the few things done that I have to do. Have you ever had things that you had to get done. But, for some reason, you end up spinning your wheels so much you end up not getting anything accomplished?

I'm also worried because we are so far behind where we were last year in terms of numbers and donations. I'm trying really, really hard to live what I've learned and what I've preached: "Let go and let God." We already have so many things to celebrate with this year's event! We have had more phriends donate items for the auctions than we have ever had before! We have an awesome speaker coming, Col Carl Hicks! I've got over 20 fabulous stories and pictures of various phriends (friends with PH) that we will put in little booklets to give to attendees!

So, I'm going to go get some work done before Rod and I have our date night. I think we're going to go see "Eagle Eye."



Hopefully it will be a good movie. But, more importantly, hopefully the popcorn will be delicious!!

Take care.
Thanks for reading.

Annette

I'm having one of those days...

You know, one of those "I feel kind of unsettled and really tired for no good reason" days? Right now I'm feeling the need for comfort food. So, while some leftover pizza is heating up in the oven, I'm eating Edy's chocolate chip ice cream straight out of the container, telling myself I'll only eat while the pizza warms up and that I'll put the spoon and the ice cream away as soon as the buzzer goes off. Wow...the oven is really slow...I'm impressed with how much ice cream I can move from carton to mouth with one small spoon....
pizza's done....

I've got my husband home!!

There are lots of smiles and wagging tails at our house!

Thanks for checking in.
Annette

Getting Wacky!!

Our 3rd Annual Phenomenal Hope for a Cure fundraiser in only FOURTEEN DAYS AWAY and our response for purchasing tickets is way, way behind the last two years! I'm thinking that between the election and the economy people are a little preoccupied and might have forgotten to send in their reservations.



I'm also worried that because of the economy that maybe people can't afford to come. But, it's only $30.00. But, that is 9-10 gallons of gas. I did get in touch with a local newspaper reporter who was our emcee the first year. He is an excellent writer and has been very supportive. He agreed to do an article and get it in the paper this coming week. I've sent an email to a reporter to one of the TV stations. A friend of ours who runs the public affairs office at the hospital where my husband works is in China with Rod. I sent him an email asking for advice. He was kind enough to send me a list of contact people in the media and told me to tell them that I'm a friend of his. Hopefully that will help. What a great guy! It's not his problem and here I am bugging him half-way around the world!

Hopefully, getting a little press coverage will help remind people to send in their reservations. ARG!! I'm almost wishing I hadn't asked Col. Hicks to be our special guest speaker. He's the chairman of the Pulmonary Hypertension Association board and is vice president of advocacy for PHA. It's going to be very embarrassing having him come all the way from the east coast and have 50 people in the audience! ARG!!!!!

OK, if I was really a good Christian, I would sit and pray and remember that some things are out of my control. I would relax and realize that it is, what it is and enjoy whatever happens. I also think a Blizzard is called for.

I'm off to Dairy Queen.

Thanks for reading.

Annette

OH, keep your fingers crossed....Rod might come home two days early from China, which means he might get home late tomorrow night!!

Updates...

1.My phriend Mason is doing better! He's in a regular room and might even be able to get out of the hospital on Monday!! Thank you so much for all of your prayers.

2. Rod is still in China. I would like to share his latest email with you:
"Just checking in to say hello. Just had lunch: duck breast and intestines
with rice and salad. I ate the rice. I do not believe that my friends
recognized the intestines. Good and bad to be a pathologist!! Love-r"


Thanks for reading.

Annette

Not much going on...

Thanks to all who are praying for my dear phriend, Mason. The last I heard, the doctors had drained some fluid off of the area around his heart. The doctors are still trying determine how much of his problems are due to rejection or other things.

Otherwise, things are very quiet around here. I don't know if I mentioned that Rod is out of town. He went to China with a bunch of people from the med center. I'm not sure what all he's doing. I know that he's giving some symposiums, talking to some physicians, just the typical stuff.

I've been keeping busy knitting and becoming one with the couch. It's been raining for a good couple of days here which doesn't help much with trying to keep busy. I did take myself to a movie yesterday afternoon. I went to the "Dollar Theater" (which is now the $3.00 theater) and saw the movie "Swing Vote."




It was a very entertaining show. There was a very sad part though, that had nothing to do with the movie. I was waiting in line to get my ticket and a young man (late teens, early 20's) was in front of me. He was a rather large boy and was saying to the ticket girl, "This is really embarrassing, but can I get a refund? The arms don't move on your seats and I don't fit."
How incredibly sad...

The dogs are, of course, driving me nuts! While I was in the hospital, Rod decided it would the ok for them to sleep in our room. It was fine except that there was no room for me in the bed. Plus, Asa would get all freaked out about something and would start barking in the middle of the night. So, the third night home from the hospital, I decided they needed to go back into the laundry room. Usually Rod takes the dogs out for their nightly "constitutional" and then puts them to bed. Now I'm starting to understand why Rod wanted to let them sleep in our room! The first night that Rod was gone, I took them outside to do their duty. I knew Asa was going to be nervous, so I decided to "trick" him and go out and come back in a different door instead of the laundry room door. Well, it worked great until I tried to get him off the floor to go into the laundry room. I had to get out the training/choke collar and drag his butt into the room. As soon as I let him go, Haver growled and jumped at him!! I yelled at Haver, shut the door and waited outside the laundry room. Every time Haver growled, I yelled at him through the door. After about 5 minutes things quieted down and I went to bed. There were no problems the rest of the night. Last night I did the same thing only when I drug Asa in the laundry room by the training collar, Haver growled, jumped and Asa ran out of the room. Then I picked up Asa's two front legs and "danced" him into the laundry room. Same thing happened. Haver growled, jumped and Asa ran. I made the executive decision that if Haver was going to be a creep, he could sleep in the garage! So, feeling all tough, I put his bed, his bone and his fat butt into the garage and shut the door.(By the way, it's attached to the house and the door to the garage is the laundry room door.) Then I went to get Asa. I assumed it would be at least a little easier to get him into the laundry room since he was going to have the whole room to himself. HA!! No such luck!! He rolled over on his back and put his feet in the air, looking at me like "Aren't I cute? You're not going to make me sleep in there, are you?" Well, yes I would! I ended up grabbing his front legs and dragging him across the kitchen floor on his back! He slid pretty well, actually. It helps that the floor is hardwood. Anyway, I had a very quiet night and when I came down in the morning to let them out, they were kissing each other and wagging their tails like they hadn't seen each other for years!

I'm trying to find a dog whisperer. If you know an available one, let me know. I'm willing to pay BIG BUCKS!!

17 days until our 3rd Annual Phenomenal Hope for a Cure!!

Thanks for reading.

Annette

Prayers please for a phriend...

Mason just celebrated his 20th birthday. He had a double lung transplant in 2006 and has been dealing with some serious chronic rejection issues. He just entered the hospital again in California and really needs prayers to get through this. He's just a kid and has been dealing with this for too long. He had a transplant to give him a second shot at a wonderful and "normal" life and it hasn't happened yet.
I know there are lots of people all of us pray for on a daily basis, but I need to ask that you please include Mason.



Thanks for reading
Annette

Well, this is a new one!

I just came back from the doctor's office. My lungs sound nice and clear. I just need to keep up with the antibiotics and the anti-yeast infection drugs (my mouth...yuck!!). I told her that I've been able to reach my "goal" on the little breather thingy I got in the hospital. I need to have an x-ray during the beginning of November to see if my lungs have completely cleared.

So, as I was getting ready to go, the doctor took my hand and said, "You remind me of one of those little toys that you push down in the water and they keep popping right back up." I think that's a compliment!

Yesterday, I had basically the exact opposite comment. I went in for a follow-up mammogram for some suspicious spots the doctor detected 6 months ago. By the way, they look the same, so I just need to go back in another 6 months. Anyway, I had the same tech do the "squeeze machine" from 6 months ago. She said, "Now, you have...pulmonary fib...?" I said, "No, I have pulmonary hypertension." She said, (are you sitting down for this one?) " I just hate those slow, painful...." She didn't actually finish the sentence, but I'm pretty sure she was going to say "deaths." I think I like being a bobbing water toy.

Thanks for reading.

Annette

Oh, by the way, did I ever show you what Haver did to the laundry room wall?


The dog has issues, lots of issues.

Recovering and being very, very lazy!

Obviously, I'm not the only one!

Asa


This guy is really getting into it!



Ever since I've gotten home from the hospital, all Asa and Haver seem to want to do is sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep! EXCEPT that they can't seem to sleep through the night. I think it's like when Nick and Chris were babies and got their days and nights mixed up. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal if they woke up during the night, since they NORMALLY slept in the laundry room at night. But, while I was in the hospital, Rod decided to let Asa and Haver sleep in our room at night.

Last night, something woke them up at 1:30 and they're yipping and yapping, so Rod took them downstairs and put them outside. I was feeling guilty about them being outside all night when it was kind of chilly and so when I woke up around 5:00 a.m. I asked Rod if we should let them in. He did. I don't know why that guy listens to me! We've been married for over 30 years! He should know better! So, he goes down and lets them in, they run up the stairs, jump on our bed and lay down, right in the middle! Asa is first, head to the headboard. Then Haver lays his head on Asa's rear end and, because he's HUGE, his feet stretch to the footboard! We only have a queen size bed! Rod was able to lay on his side and get back to sleep. I was laying on my back and my arm and leg kept sliding off the bed! I was impressed that I actually fell asleep for a while. The alarm goes off around 6:00 am and the only thing that happens is Asa moves up and around Rod's head so it looks like Rod has a giant fur hat! That did give me an opening to push "Mr. Big Boy" over a bit and we all slept nicely until 7:30! Of course, Rod was really late to work, but at least he got caught up a bit on missed sleep!

Oh, it's never a dull moment in the Markin household.

Thanks for reading.
Annette

Sorry that I've been MIA....

I just got out of the hospital. I came down with pneumonia, in both lungs. I'm doing better but, it's slow going.

Rod and I went to Rhode Island over the weekend of the 28th. We went to witness the marriage of Chris' best friend since first grade! Jason and his family are such an amazing bunch of people. His mom, Paula, is a very, very good friend who has the biggest heart I have ever seen! Chris was the best man so seeing him over the weekend was a big bonus.

Anyway, while we were out there, I started getting a sore throat. I really didn't start to feel "crumby" until Monday morning. I still thought that I was maybe getting strep throat. Then, on Tuesday, I started getting really, really tired. I was falling asleep sitting up, etc. Still, I figured it was a bad cold or strep. Rod got me an antibiotic and I figured I'd be feeling better very quickly. Wednesday came, and that's when the trouble started. The exhaustion was getting worse and I was starting to have trouble breathing. I was unable to keep my oxygen levels up, even with my concentrator set on the highest setting. I was really kind of "out of it." I called Rod (more accurately, he called me...he does, every day 4-5 times a day....I sure do love that guy)and told him how much trouble I was having. He ended up coming home early to take me to the doctor. I had an x-ray that showed pneumonia in both lungs. So, we headed on down to the hospital.

I was discharged on Sunday afternoon. I'm on antibiotics for another week and should be back to "subnormal" within no time.

OK, that's it for now. I just wanted to let you know what's been happening.

Thanks for reading.

Annette