The bright spot of my week has been my lilies. They are tall and profuse and gorgeous, which is a good thing, because we still have not been at home enough to get any annuals planted! We finally bought some last evening and hope to plant them later today.
At the beginning of the week I did my normal jobs of cooking, piano lessons, music prep, and also putting more things away from the camping weekend and getting our laundry done. Meanwhile I was staying in close touch with Destiny. When she was with us at Camp Hebron last Friday and Saturday she was having a lot of pain from some kind of bite on her ankle. She said she had woken up Wednesday morning with the bite. It was quite red on Friday and much redder and more swollen on Saturday morning when she woke up. We were giving her various things for relief, none of which were being very effective. We were beginning to wonder if it had been a spider bite. As I said in my previous post, she had plans for Sunday, so Dick took her home Saturday before he went to his 50th class reunion in Manheim. By Sunday evening she could put no weight on it and was in such extreme pain that she went to the emergency room at St. Joe's near Reading. Later that night she was admitted. She had sent me this picture before she went to the ER.
On Monday they had her on an oral antibiotic and pain meds, but it was not improving. They were talking about the possibility of cutting it to drain out the infection. She was a very sad girl that evening. The long work schedules of both Frank and her mom made it impossible for either one to stay with her overnight. I was horrified when I saw the picture she sent me on Tuesday. The stories I was hearing about spider bites did not help any! I sent out a request for prayer to our church groups as well as to some friends and family.
Early that evening I decided to pack up and make the trip to be with her. I arrived at the hospital at 10:30 pm. I found out that they were now calling it cellulitis (skin infection), which of course was secondary to the spider bite. Dick has had cellulitis twice and both times it was extremely painful, so it was easy to understand why she had been in so much pain. They had switched her that day to an IV antibiotic. They also had it specially wrapped with something that would draw out the infection. A moist heat pad was on top of it. I said that we used to always soak something like that it warm epsom salts water. They assured me that the bandage was doing the same thing. I took this picture of her for Grandpa.
There was a cot in the room for me and I slept amazingly well. In the middle of the night they changed her IV to her left arm because it was causing her a lot of pain the way they had it in her right arm. That took quite I while, but I was only semi-aware of it. She was sound asleep when I decided to get up for the day around 7:45. She had her own knotted "blankie" along that she had made here a few years ago.
Later she got her breakfast and I went to the cafeteria to get mine. I brought it to her room to eat it. Hash browns with dried beef gravy over top. Oh my goodness! I definitely did not need lunch that day!
When the doctors came to take a look at her foot, everyone was amazed at how it had improved since the day before. It looked so much less "angry" as the one doctor said. They said they would not need to cut it open to drain, and they would keep doing the IV antibiotic and the special wrap for at least another day.
Later in the afternoon her brother and her uncle came to see her, so I decided to leave for a while. I wanted to go to Boscov's, a department store I miss so much since we moved up here. The one I went to in Reading is the original store I think. We had one in our Lancaster Park City Mall that I used to love. I sent this to Destiny asking her to guess where I was.
The store was sadly empty. In fact, when I went to the intimates department (because I had forgotten to pack any panties!) the door to the mall was closed and this sign was on it.
Sadly, a sign of the times, and I know I'm not helping it any. I really do enjoy online shopping. But I did really enjoy the chance to browse at Boscov's. I then stopped to get myself something to eat at Sheetz and headed back to the hospital. Several of Destiny's friends had arrived by then, so the room was full for the evening, but we had a fun time. I sat in the corner and blogged about our camping weekend. I had decided to stay another night since they had begun talking about her being able to go home the next day and I would be able to provide transportation. I slept pretty well that night again. Destiny's mom stopped in after her night shift and stayed for a few hours. We had a fun time visiting, reminiscing and laughing over lots of memories. The doctors came in to check out her foot and were very, very pleased. It was even dryer and less red than the day before, and she had almost no pain!
Of course, being told you are going home, but actually going home are always hours and hours apart! I warned her that that would probably be the case. One nice distraction from the waiting was when a woman brought her therapy dog into the pediatrics ward.
This was the beautiful courtyard outside her window. At one point I went through the hallways to the windows on the other side. I told her to look out her window and wave at me.
At last all the paperwork came through and she was officially discharged. Of course, they took her to the door on a wheelchair, but she was able to walk on it with just a bit of a limp. What a change in a few days with the right treatment and prayer! Just amazing! We stopped at the pharmacy to pick up her prescriptions, at Wawa for some food, and then I took her home. I did not waste time getting back on the road for home. On Friday I made dinner for Lori and the boys (Anthony is in Nashville for the NAMM convention.) I spent a few hours in the afternoon with Austin after he came home from his summer program. After I was all finished in the kitchen we went down to the pond. He loves trying to catch frogs. He just holds them for a while then puts them back in.
This was not a lucky day. He did catch one, but when he tried to get it out of his net, it leapt out and hopped right back to the pond. Here are some pictures Anthony had posted earlier this week. He said that Austin was convinced this one wanted to be his pet since it wrapped it legs around his fingers.
When Lori and Hunter got home yesterday they came down to the pond too, and she and I finally had some time to catch up a bit. I tried to get a picture of Hunter, but he's always moving!
I'm actually having a day at home today - caught up on some bookwork, sorted mail, paid some bills, etc. Yesterday someone had asked me about a song my sisters and I used to sing at weddings and wondered if we had it recorded. I didn't know. I looked through the CD's of the a cappella songs we had recorded for the Sunday School Meditations radio broadcast years ago. I didn't find that song, but I had fun listening to a few songs. I decided to share one. Very low technology here, folks! Enjoy!
Preparations for camping are never simple, but on Thursday evening when Dick and I were getting everything together for the weekend he was listing off all the things he did not need to pull out of his shed and pack up since we have the pop up camper instead of the tent. He went to work Friday morning with everything ready for him to come home afterward, hook up the camper, and take off. Meanwhile, I had some driving to do. I had planned to get Destiny from Reading to Harrisburg via bus and train, but we found out that the bus route she needed to use had been discontinued. So I left at noon and drove to Reading. I was glad to have some extra time with her anyway. Next was a stop at Sam and Jenn’s to pick up Sammy and Bianca. So much excitement!! We were reminiscing last year’s crazy Friday evening storm as we kept just barely ahead of rain on this trip. We made it to Camp Hebron (near Halifax above Harrisburg) ahead of Dick, but some other Stauffers had already arrived and gotten the long row of picnic tables with tarp overhead all set up. And the campfire going, of course. When Dick arrived he added our string of lights above the tables which was so much better than the kerosene lamps we’ve always used - drawing in every bug within ten yards right to our tables. Later, as more people arrived we roasted hot dogs and s’mores. The kids were eager for bedtime in the camper. This is the only picture I took all day, but it’s such a sweet one - Sammy reading to Bianca. ❤️ There was a storm or two during the night, but we stayed cozy and dry. It was raining off and on in the morning, so the guys worked together at putting up a big tarp over the fire. Saturday breakfast was the meal we were responsible for. Dick had already grilled a whole lot of sausages at home, so we put them into a big cast iron pot over the fire to heat them up. Dick’s brother Steve kept stirring them from time to time.
We had decided, based on previous experience, that making pancakes for 30 people over a fire was too time-consuming, so we had brought along both our electric griddle as well as Anthony and Lori’s. Dick was the pancake man. When the kids were finished eating they were eager to try out the hammock that someone had strung up. Dick took them to the lake. They also came along with us grandmas to the camp office to pay the bill. They loved looking at all the cute things for sale in the gift shop. We had some major scheduling conflicts this year. Dick’s 50th class reunion was being held on this Saturday in Manheim! He really didn’t want to miss it, and I didn’t want him to either. Also, Destiny had plans to go to NYC with friends on Sunday. And so it was that Dick and Destiny left camp by 1:15. He would take her home before his reunion. We had to get our selfie first, of course. ❤️ The forecast for the afternoon was not at all what we wanted for being at the pool. But when I saw niece Laura getting all her little ones ready for the pool saying they’re going to see what happens, I decided why not? So we got our swim suits on, and just as we were ready to leave for the pool, Anthony and Lori and the boys arrived, so we waited for them. Amazingly, we had no rain! There were dark clouds all around, but they never came over us! In fact we even had sunshine some of the time! I spent a lot of time in the pool with Sammy and Bianca, but there are no pictures of that. We had a great afternoon! Austin had a lot of fun with niece Krista’s son Adam. I think they are about a week apart in age. At one point I looked and saw Sammy flying through the air into the pool! Then I noticed that Bjorn and Jess had arrived! They are so fun and energetic! I think Austin must have snapped these pics of Sammy and Bianca. Anthony took this group shot. Bianca, Hunter, and Laura’s Payton were napping. While we were having fun at the pool Anthony had been having a great great time with other family members on the nearby volley ball sand court. Later we gathered around the long tables for the the scrumptious meal Steve and Faye had prepared for us. Biggest potato chip ever! More hammock fun! The newest member of the family is Jim and Carolyn’s precious two-week-old granddaughter Liz.
There was a rowdy street hockey game in the evening while the kids played at the nearby playground. I had managed to give both kids showers by the time Dick got back from the class reunion around 10 pm. We were a tired crew in the camper that night. On Sunday morning Jim and Carolyn’s family served us all a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon, and fried potatoes. Then we circled the fire for our family worship service. That day Sammy decided that Laura’s two-year-old Brinley was the cutest thing ever and they were best friends for the day. It was so sweeet. Fred and Deb served the last meal - their famous Frogmore. So much fun! These kids loved the corn! Clean-up was easy! Packing everything up was hard work, but we got it all done, including all the picnic tables carried back to their respective campsites. The area looked neat and clean and lonely when we were all finished. We had one more thing to do. We had promised the kids that we would take them paddle boating on the lake. Then it was officially over. Dick took the camper and headed for home. I loaded the kids into my van and took them to their other grandparents’ house. It was only about 15 minutes away, but Bianca was already asleep before we got there. When I got home the work really began - unloading and unpacking everything and putting things away and some things into the washer. Dick and I slept really well that night in our own beds!
