HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE MOTHERS, GRANDMOTHERS, MOTHERS-TO-BE AND OTHER LADIES WHO WATCH OVER AND CARE FOR OTHERS. YOU ARE A VERY SPECIAL GROUP OF PEOPLE!

I am always a day late and a dollar short because I put things off. I think about doing things in plenty of time but don't actually engage the gears to do what I need to do until it is almost too late.

The other day I had an anxious moment when I realized I hadn't sent a card and flowers or candy to my Mother for Mother's day. Then I quickly remembered that she had recently changed her permanent address and I really didn't need to use any earthly means of communicating with her because she would know I was thinking of her and that I loved her. Mom is happier now than she has ever been and I thank God for blessing my life with such a wonderful mother.

For those of you in the Denver area or up North, we will have a graveside memorial service at 2:00 pm on Thursday May 29th at Crown Hill in Denver. Crown Hill is located at 29th and Wadsworth. Enter off of Wadsworth through the main gate and go west to the Tower of Memories, turn left around the circle and a little more than half way around the circle you will see the tent for the service and the Hurt family head stone.

On Saturday, May 31st., we will have a memorial service in our home town of Center, Colorado. The service will be at 2:00 pm at the Center United Methodist Church.

Whether in Denver or Center, we invite all of Priscilla's many friends to join us in saying farewell to her.

I just talked to my three sons and JL in Dallas is hurting but he is holding up. He is tough and he is stubborn, so he will make it through the treatment just to prove he can. I have been so blessed with three wonderful sons in addition to all other family members and relatives.

On the home front, I had someone from Santa Fe who was supposed to come in early this morning to buy an Audi. After I got up way earlier than I wanted to, he called to tell me he is going to wait awhile. I was all dressed up with no place to go, so decided I would take care of a few chores. I need to start now to get a referral to MD Anderson again so they can perform surgery on my hernia. From past experience, I know I will have to fight with Presbyterian again as they feel they can do anything here in Albuquerque that they can do in Houston. Not so!
I have also been having some swelling in my feet and ankles, so thought I would just make an appointment and get my doctor to take care of both issues. Kind of like killing two birds with one stone, except one of those birds is my two feet attached to my legs - so lets not be killing them too much. I expected to get an appointment sometime in the next week or two, but they had an opening right away - so I smeared on the Right Gaurd and a splash of Old Spice - and I was on my way.

Dr. Goodluck (better than having a doctor named Dr. Badluck) was quite concerned with my swollen ankles and feet. They were both swollen but the right one was quite a bit more swollen than the left one. He sent me over to the vascular lab for a Doppler exam - and sure enough, I have two blood clots in my right leg. I have an aneurysm in my left leg and two blood clots in my right leg. You could say I simply have a hitch in my get along! You ever see an old worn out car driving down the street with one wheel wobbling? That's me.

I spent the rest of the afternoon with a nurse who went over the treatment process for this. She spent two hours working up to the point where she said; "Okay, now you take this needle and hold it in your right hand - pull up your shirt and stick the needle in your stomach - right there." So, I jabbed that needle into my belly and had my first shot. I am supposed to do this every night. I told her I didn't mind going home and having a shot every night - but this is not what I had in mind. I was thinking of something out of a bottle with a splash of water and an olive. Oh well - some people have all the luck.

This treatment includes going in for blood work every morning and then a conference call with her and the doctor and anyone else who wants to join in each day. Then I have to go to coumadin clinic once a week. This is all going to be very time consuming, but I have stopped worrying about time. I am worrying about how many gallons of gas this is going to use up as I go back and forth to the hospital each day.

When I go to the doctor, he has one of those little carts on wheels he uses just to haul my file around. It is a good eight inches thick. I thought about donating my body to science when I get ready to leave this earth. I went over to the medical school and the professor said; "No thanks! We'll stick with frogs!"

More later - I hope!

ALBUQUERQUE AL