Family from Idaho, vasculitis, and more birthday fun

Last Saturday morning when I last updated here I did not mention that we were planning to leave for Lancaster County as soon as Dick got off work at noon.  At that point I wasn't sure if we would actually be following through on those plans or not.  I mentioned that Dick had gone to the walk-in clinic two times for the very painful gout flare-up he was experiencing.  Previously he had been prescribed Prednisone for gout, but not this time.  On his first visit they prescribed 500 mg twice a day of Naproxin.  The second time they prescribed an antibiotic.  We thought that was interesting, since gout is not a bacterial infection.  

On Friday morning he showed me the strange-looking, bright-red spots on his legs.  Hmmm.  He considered checking if he could get in to see our regular doctor, but they were busy and short-staffed at work, so he did not.  When we woke up Saturday morning the spots on his legs had turned into blistery patches.  We immediately thought Shingles, even though we knew that the legs are not where that usually manifests itself.  We decided he definitely needed to make another trip to the walk-in clinic as soon as he could get off work.  They were busy at work and he could not get away until they closed at noon.  I met him at the clinic.  I had everything packed and loaded for the weekend, but if it were actually Shingles I wasn't sure if we would be going or not.  I had read that he would then be contagious to anyone who had not had Chicken Pox or the vaccine for it.

At the clinic they did blood work, said it was definitely not Shingles, mentioned the word Vasculitis, and told him to make an appointment with our regular doctor.  They did not think it was an emergency and said we could go ahead with our plans if he felt up to it.  Which he did.  So we were on our way!  He did call and make an appointment with our doctor first thing Monday morning. 

The main purpose for this trip was to have dinner with some of my family.  My sister Barb's sons had come from Idaho to visit their grandparents.  How sweet is that??  They spent Saturday with Grandma Mary and would spend Sunday with their Brubaker grandparents.  We got together for an early dinner on Saturday at Oregon Dairy Restaurant.  What a loud group we were!  Michael and Eric are so much fun!  These guys have grown up in Idaho ever since 1991, but whenever we're together it feels like we've never skipped a beat.  

Bless their wives and little ones for doing without them for the weekend!

After a delicious dinner (mine was chicken croquets and mashed potatoes - total comfort food!), we went to Dick and Nancy's house for more fun and dessert.  Such a great time together!  Barb and John, we think your sons are awesome!

We went to Sam and Jenn's for the night.  I had taken Sunday off from church.  Jenn was away with girlfriends to the Finger Lakes for the weekend, but the kids were awake and full of energy when we arrived.  I had brought the ingredients for peanut butter rice krispie treats, so that was our first order of business.

Silly Bianca insisted on wearing her heavy backpack while "helping" me!  They love when I roll the warm rice krispie treats into little balls.  I like them that way too!

When we woke up Sunday morning Dick's legs looked horrible.  It was actually scary.  One leg had a huge patch of purple.  We were planning to have a 40th birthday celebration for Sam, and Dick didn't want us to change those plans.  He spent a lot of the day in Sam's recliner.  In the afternoon he got a phone call from the walk-in clinic and they advised him to go to the ER when we got back to State College. 

I made bacon and eggs for our breakfast.  Sam went to pick up Destiny.  Meanwhile the kids hung out with us.  

Grandpa and Sammy enjoyed reading about porcupines in Sammy's library book from school.

Can you say bedhead?  Adorable bedhead!

This girl!  The more I'm with her the more she has my heart.  She loves to say things like, "You're my best friend" or "You're my baby girl!"  She loves all her stuffed "friends."

When I was doing my hair in the bathroom I had an audience.  Can you find two cats?  Cookies and Cocoa are more recent additions to the family.  I probably did not mention in August that Bella (their dog) died after getting hit on the road.  It was dreadfully traumatic and I couldn't even write about it at the time.  Even now when Sammy is tired he starts his familiar refrain, "I miss Bella."  These sweet cats are just the right medicine. 

When Sam arrived with Destiny I caught a glimpse of her beautiful hair with the sun shining on it, and I had to get a picture!

She was in the mood for puzzles, so it was puzzles all day!  We even bought more puzzles at Goodwill when I had to run for a few things at Weis - they are next door to each other.  That bright tablecloth made puzzling very difficult for me, but the kids didn't seem to mind it!

Bjorn and Jess came by for a couple of hours.  They were on their way to a Hershey Bears hockey game.  Ray stopped in for a while too.  We were hoping Frank could stop in since he was about half an hour away at J'von's football game, but he had projects to do at home.

Jenn arrived home to a crazy houseful!!

Then it was time to celebrate Sam.  When I called to order this cake from Musser's Market they wondered what colors.  I said,  "Well, he likes the Buffalo Bills."  Hmmm.  Not sure they nailed it!  The red looked more like orange.  But that's ok.

I recorded us singing Happy Birthday, but I most certainly will not share the video.  Nothing like listening to me bellering out the alto right into the camera, hahahaha!  Is it just me, or does forty look younger all the time??

We had to force this girl to take time to eat!  She had gotten a puzzle at Goodwill that had 750 pieces and very curvy edges.  She was absolutely obsessed with it.  

Look at those edges!

Before leaving we had to get a selfie.

Or two or three!

Bjorn and Jess are SO MUCH FUN!!  They're young and crazy and the perfect match for Sammy's energy.  When I listen to their work and college schedules I cringe.  Not nearly enough time for sleep, but I guess they're young and can survive it.  

I think it was around 5:30 when Dick and I left.  Everyone was leaving at the same time.  I'm sure Sammy was disappointed.  Bianca was probably glad for some quiet time with her mommy, also her "best friend" and "baby girl."  Haha!  This summer she even said that Sam was her "baby girl."  

We did go to the ER when we got back to State College.  As always, the wheels turned VERY SLOWLY there.  No one there had ever seen anything like the rash on Dick's legs.  They threw all kinds of possibilities around and tried to get in touch with specialists - on a Sunday evening.  They did more blood work.  And we filled out more and more and more forms.  It was around midnight when we finally left with instructions to go right to a certain dermatologist's office first thing in the morning.  This is a picture I took in the ER.  The ER doctor was even taking pictures. 

So it was a very, very short night.  We showed up at the dermatologist's office before they even opened.  The wait was well worth it.  I cannot say enough wonderful things about Dr. Sara Ferguson. She finally made us feel like someone knew what they were doing and talking about!  She immediately recognized that he had a full-blown case of Vasculitis.  She had them do two biopsies from which they will determine the cause.   Vasculitis can be a form of an auto-immune disease or it can also be a reaction to a medication.  In this case, the antibiotic Dick was on (Doxycycline) could very well be the cause.  The results will come back in a few days.  She also put him on a regimen of Prednisone that will last about a month, strong dose at the beginning, then gradually decreasing.  She was mystified as to the reason they would have put him on an antibiotic instead of Prednisone for gout.  

And then he went back to work!  He is one strong man!  This has been a good week for him.  He feels better than he had for the past several weeks.  The gout is cleared up, the vasculitis is under control, and he's not as fatigued.  Unfortunately, the rash will probably take a long time to disappear.  It has not gotten worse since Sunday, but it still looks really ugly.  He has not played basketball and isn't sure when he'll get back to that.  He's not ready to take a shower at the Y with legs that look like that. )-:  

My house smells wonderful as I sit here this morning.  I have Caribbean Jerk Pulled Pork in the making.  It's been in the slow cooker all night, and now I need to take it out, shred it, and add the BBQ sauce.  I made sure to get Giant's scrumptious cole slow to go with it.  I love theirs with the big, crunchy cabbage.  

Our friend Steph Graybill (from our home church, Grace Community Fellowship in Manheim) is coming for the weekend.  We're looking forward to that. 

Have a great weekend!