Friday August 27th

These last couple of weeks have continued to go really well for MaeLynn! The new medication she's on is doing wonders for her level of functionality!

Not a whole lot exciting has been going on...I know it's a lame excuse for not posting. One great thing that has happened within the last two weeks is that MaeLynn's two oldest girls have started school, and the twins and Abby have started into three days of preschool a week instead of two (thanks to the amazing generosity of the preschool)! Andy and MaeLynn are able to breathe a little easier during the days without so much chaos going on :)

MaeLynn hasn't had to use oxygen for the last couple of weeks either. She told me last week, "I feel good about life right now!" She really is able to talk and stay awake most of the day (as opposed to how July went). She's also sleeping better at nights and doesn't have to get up quite as often to use the bathroom! Hooray! She's had a lot of energy and prays that it stays for a while. We all do. Last Friday she got to go see the movie, "Eat, Pray, Love"...just her type of movie. She was able to stay awake through the whole movie and ended up liking it a lot! Andy even admitted to enjoying it.

For fun, MaeLynn's been doing more painting...here's a picture of her painting a castle piggy bank for Abby's birthday.

Their excitement for this week is getting a new roof...Here's a picture of the work in progress. I guess it's a project that has needed to be done for a long time...and now they're getting around to it. When Andy and his cousin Chris started pulling off shingles, they found that part of the roof had been burned at one point in time and was in pretty bad shape. They ended up re-framing the roof over the porch, and then having a roofing company come in and re-roof the rest. Whew!

Well, that's it for this time!

Sunday August 15th 2010

This has been a pretty dang good week for MaeLynn! They took her off of the Haldol (for delirium) and put her on something called Zyprexa that does the same type of thing. Awesome thing though: it hasn't created the extreme anxiety that she was feeling when she was on the Haldol. She has been able to function much more normally this week than she has for a while.

MaeLynn has been able to get some painting projects done, interact more with her kids, and stay awake much longer than usual. It's been a good week. It's been really hard for her to have all this time on her hands, but not be able to do anything, so she's really enjoyed this week of increased energy and optimism. Andy said she's even been doing some house cleaning...she must feel REALLY good :).

The kids have had lots of fun playdates and sleepovers with friends and family. This helps to quiet the house down a little bit and decrease MaeLynn's anxiety, also. Kendall and Ellie were able to paint with MaeLynn this week and had a great time doing so. Unfortunately, when they were done, they twins found MaeLynn's paints and smeared them all over the kitchen table. Bless their hearts. Wish Andy had taken a picture of that one.

The twins were on a roll this week. Along with the paint mess, they managed to rip a giant hole in the family tent that was up in the backyard, AND pour water on Andy's laptop. Anybody up for two four-year-old boys?

MaeLynn's mother and dad continue to be a major help with the kids and household duties. It's amazing to see the outpouring of love from them and all the other family, friends, and neighbors. Like I said last time, MaeLynn can really feel everyone's love and prayers and she is constantly saying how blessed she is. She is an example to us all. "Don't worry about what you don't have. Be happy with what you've got."

Friday August 6th

MaeLynn and her family had a nice surprise last week. Some young women from a nearby ward brought the "Holidays" to their home. One night it was Halloween and the kids got to trick or treat. Another night was Thanksgiving, and the young women brought a whole Thanksgiving dinner along with a pineapple dressed like a turkey. Another night was Christmas with a small tree and gifts for everyone. MaeLynn said it was so fun to watch her kids as each night would unfold. Triston would answer the door and shout, "Mommmmmm! The candy people are here again!"

Things are about the same for MaeLynn. She sleeps most of the day. When she is awake, she has almost constant anxiety. The change in medication hasn't done much to curb her unease. Yes, she is lucid, but to MaeLynn it doesn't feel like a good place to be. She fidgets a lot and is constantly feeling like she's boxed in and needs to be somewhere else.
She doesn't feel hardly any physical pain, but her emotional/mental anguish is intense.

One frustration she related to me yesterday is not being able to type. She LOVES all the notes, e-mails, prayers, and phone calls going out to her and for her. She says she can feel them like a force around her. She tried to get on Facebook the other day and respond to people, but she just couldn't type. She has always been a good typist and grammatist, but she said she spent more time backspacing than typing decent words. She knows where the letters are on the keyboard, she just can't get her fingers to type the right things. It is VERY frustrating to her. So, just so you all know...she does read your notes! She loves getting them! But you may not get a response. She tried dictating to Andy to have him type some messages for her, but that's hard, too. She wanted me to also let everyone know that you're welcome to call anytime. You may not get to talk to MaeLynn as she is asleep alot, but she doesn't mind phone calls at all.

I often wonder why death is prolonged...not just for MaeLynn but for many many people. One LDS article that helped shed a little light on this for me is titled, "The Uses of Suffering" by Sandra Ferrin Strange. If you go to lds.org gospel library, you can read it.

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=0b3367700817b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

One last thought from my 6-year-old/Lilo and Stitch: Love is stronger than death.