Helping Haiti ~ Regina

There are two letters I am posting today. Both from my cousin Regina. She is on a medical mission sponsored by Caritas Christi. She and her group left for Haiti January 28. She is asking for prayers.....I will forward your comments to her.

I know she and the medical team she is with will appreciate the moral support.

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Hello All!

I am alive and well, however completely exhausted. We've been here 4 days and there are no
words to describe what my eyes have seen and my heart has felt.

The gravity of destruction to a generation of this country is beyond words. So many of the children without limbs simply take my breath away. I have one little boy, Raymond, who I've grown very attached. While trying to comfort him just after he came out of surgery, I was told by the doc that he was all alone. He was recovered in the rubble in Port Au Prince and his family is presumed dead.Hearing that, I scooped him up in my arms and just couldn't hold back the tears. He kept looking at his bandaged shoulder stump and saying in Creole "All gone? All gone?"Oh, how I wish I could bring him home. And sadly, there are many others like Raymond.

Our days have been very long. We start work at 8am and finish anywhere from 10p-2a. We are taking care of patients that are laying on mattresses on the floor and army cots. We kneel or squat to reach them. The rooms are filthy and all of us nurses have had difficulty caring for our pts in such unsanitary conditions. We do our absolute best, to practice aseptically, as we would at home, but truthfully, it is next to impossible. We often crack jokes about JHACO!! Needless to say, I'll need a full body massage when I get home. Oh, and throw in a pedicure too. My feet are swollen and blistered. Chairs are a commodity here. Any available seats are occupied by the family members who have no where to go, so they stay in the pts wards. Just more people to add to the chaos!

We are doing so much good here. Although I've never been so physically + emotionally drained, I am so glad that I came. I knew it'd be grueling, but I didn't expect to have the feeling of sadness that I've experienced. To look in the eyes of these people, you sense an emptiness. They had so little to begin with and now they have nothing. And, then there are their families who do not hesitate to provide the most intimate of care. Not only do they help their own, but also those who are without families. It is a culture that really looks out for the little guy. And they are so grateful for our presence. In spite of their agonizing conditions, they kiss our hands and pat our backs in gratitude. I just hope that in the months to come these victims will get the rehab they need to learn the necessary skills to have some quality of life with their handicaps. Looking around at the infrastructure of this 3rd World country, it is certainly hard to fathom.

The Caritas contingent is highly regarded down here. I love telling the other volunteers that I'm from Boston. They respond with "oh, Caritas has been so responsive to this mission...and then they thank us on bended knee. It gives us all such a sense of pride. And thank you Caritas for providing us with Blackberries to keep in touch with our families. I'd never get through this overwhelming experience without hearing the voices of Colin, Andrew and Mary Kate. Their support and encouragement have kept me going.

I haven't had a lot of time to take pictures, but I will get some soon and send them out.

Please keep us all in your prayers. There is very little rest here and we desperately need the support of prayer to keep us going.

Feel free to pass this on. I wish there was more time to write to everyone individually,

God bless.
Love,
Regina

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Letter # 2

My new friend Rita...

She is 64 yrs old and raised her daughters 2 sons since 1996 when she drowned at 26 yrs old

Rita was on her way to Confession when the earthquake occured. Her legs were trapped under cinder blocks for 6 days when American soldiers found her and came to her rescue. There were 4 other women with her and a 10 year old girl. She helplessly watched and listened to them die.

In this picture, I have just finished changing the dressings of her bilateral above the knee amputations. An agonizing ordeal for her. Also, a team of us had just moved her from a straw mat on the floor to an army cot and I'm very happy to report that we've since received a few new beds and Rita is now recuperating in luxury....in an honest to goodness real bed!! However, there is no linen to be found, so we became creative and fashioned bed sheets out of rags!

Rita has an amazing spirit and is a role model for the other patients. What a great source for coping skills and surviving life's tragedies. She has not heard from her grandsons since the quake. Her older sister lives on the outskirts of Port Au Prince and Rita feels very fortunate to have a place to go when she is physically able.

Rita speaks a bit of English and when I medicate her at the end of the night, she summons me down and outstretches her arms to give me a generous warm embrace. She quietly whispers "I love you, God bless you my new girl."

--Regina

Black and White Wednesday

Keeping up with Lisa's Long Road to China Black and White Wednesday:

We have a few Birthday to celebrate this week.

Our BIG sister Karen, January 31 and her

'little' Brother Bill

February 2

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Guys!

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Just because it is REALLY important:

Don’t forget to sign the petition and write a letter to your local Senator and Congress man about Lung Cancer Research….It is now in the US House and Senate. There is still time to act and save lives.

THUMP

So anyway, I was talking to a group of woman I know from the Co-op I take the girls to. We were talking about things we would like to see our older daughters do to reach out and help others. The leader of the group came up with taking the girls down to the local soup kitchen and letting them make sandwiches for people in need there.

Wow! That is a good idea we all agreed.

We talked about getting the girls down to the shelter on a weekday. I told one of the moms I would be happy to take her daughter…She asked me if I could take just a few more girls….. I told her …..No, I couldn't. I don’t have the room in my car. I would have Mary Elizabeth and maybe Stephen.

She then said…..”Oh! You would NOT have him baby sit?” My response was simple…….”No, my older kids never baby sit her.”

She says........OH????

I go on to explain how very good they are to her and yes they are more then capable. I just don't see a need for it and really.....these are my biggest reasons:

First, I do not want to get into the habit of making my babysitting issues the older kids problem. Then the big one……The potty…..I do not want Mary Elizabeth comfortable with just anyone touching her bottom. Her brothers and sister have never taken care of that. It is totally my job, I said. I do not want any of these kids that comfortable with each other.

She says………”Your such a good mom…..I never thought of that.”

This made me feel REALLY good. This woman has 7 maybe 9 children and she is calling ME a good mom.

So that day I am cruising along..... thinking about how totally awesome I am…..and What a Good Mom I am not to have my older children baby sit.

I pick up Matthew at 6 P.M. from his Anatomy Class…….Driving towards home Mark calls. He tells me he wants to take everyone to see Carroll Brown sing at the local Irish Pub in Spartanburg.

We have been there before and we both thought it would be a nice night for everyone. There are people there of all ages and it is kind of like an Applebee’s or even a Ruby Tuesday’s.

But with live music.

We talked about some more. We decided I should just go home and see how things go. He takes Kathryn to basketball practice. Liz took a nice long nap in the car on the way home.....and I figure……Well, Kathryn and the boys will really like it.......Liz will be up until 12 now anyway.

We should go.

It was great! We had a great time….ALL the kids really enjoyed the night.

Carroll came over to our table: talked to us, told us how awesome we were for taking our kids out to see him and how much he really appreciates it. He even dedicated a song to us…..The Voyage…a love song. He dedicates a song to Mary Elizabeth and we are feeling really good about ourselves.

I take a deep breath and before we leave I take Liz to the potty.

Okay, here is where IT happens:

This VERY, VERY drunk woman staggers into the bathroom. She is STUMBLING all over her very nice shoes.

I think to myself…….I better get this kids hands washed and get her out of here. As I am rushing through the hand washing I hear.....A DULL

THUMP

I keep washing Liz’s hands and think to myself…….”Did she fall????”

I look over my shoulder and around the wall.

To my great surprise I see this NAKED BOTTOM lying curdled up sideways on the floor….Pants down around the knees and very nice shoes.

All I can say is ............IDIOT

Wouldn't you know....I'm without my camera

I turn off the water at the sink, take my daughter’s hand and walk towards the door…To leave.

I think…. Is she hurt???? Then I see the Naked A@@ get up on her knees…….never saying a word….never mooning…and then “IT” lies back down to what I think was to go to sleep or pass out…..HALF NAKED right in front of the stall door.

To think of it now........I think she must have thought the toilet was by door and when she went to sit down....she missed by maybe two feet.

I walk out and say…….."SLOB"…….over my shoulder.

I go past a waitress and tell her she needs to get the manager to go into that bathroom and check things out. I never tell her what is in there. I just want to get my kids out of this….BAR!

I hear the waitress I told laughing nervously asking another waitress to help her with the "HALF Naked Drunk" passed out in the bathroom.

All I could think of was Kathryn might want to make a potty run before we headed home for the 50 minute drive….AND what a great surprise she would walk into.

I don’t tell Mark what happened until the next morning………..I was still in shock…..I scold him in away telling him…….”If we are every going to do that again we have to go EARLY!”

My poor babies!!! I was called “Such a Good Mom” yesterday. how could he do this to me???

It wasn’t until I started telling my mother all about being mooned by the drunk did I see the humor in the night…….Now I can’t stop laughing about it all……..THE Naked bottom……my reaction of walking out of the bathroom only offering my opinion and NO help…..the comment made to me about being a good mom…blaming Mark and then not finding all this funny until I tried to tell someone else.

Gee, I wonder if the woman that called me a good mom would still think so after reading this........I don't think anyone from the co-op even know about this blog...... .

Shhhhhhhh.....Let's not tell them

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Oh! ……..Don’t forget to sign the petition and/or write a letter to your local Senator and Congress man about Lung Cancer Research….It is now in the US House and Senate.

You can go here to sign the petition or even write a letter.....You can click here....or here or ever here.

Lung cancer kills:

* More people than breast, prostate, colon, liver, kidney, and melanoma cancers... COMBINED.

Staggering but All too true…..Sadly, we know. You don't even have to smoke or live with smokers to get it.

You can click here if you still need too.......It really is important....... to all of us.

Black and White Wednesday

I have been thinking about this all week....What picture should I post to play Lisa's of The Long Road to China Black and White Wednesday . I had so much fun with it last week I wanted to play again.

Then I found the button I put on my blog the other day and I really want people to know how very important this is for all of us.

Did you KNOW???

"LUNG CANCER RESEARCH LEGISLATION is NOW IN the US HOUSE AND SENATE "

Lung cancer kills:

* More people than breast, prostate, colon, liver, kidney, and melanoma cancers... COMBINED.

* Over three times as many men as prostate cancer.

* Nearly twice as many women as breast cancer.

* An average of 437 people a day.

I know it is true because my father died of this terrible disease.

You do not have to smoke to get this.......He NEVER did. He did not live with smokers. He exercised everyday...even up to the last week of his life. When he was to weak to get up: he did tricep push ups, leg lifts and small crunches in bed.

My father's doctors would jokingly telling him he was the healthiest cancer patient at the Cancer Center.

Sadly, He died.....from Lung Cancer

Although he died. We were lucky......We got to know him....We got to love him. We still feel him with us.

(This picture was taken on Father's day 2009...This is just a few of us. )

This is the picture that I choose. I am not sure if I like in Black and White. It looks like it was taken to long ago.

Do your self and your family a favor......Sign the petition and/or write a letter. Make the Senate and Congress do something good for the American people for a change. It does not matter what your political views are.......It only takes a minute and your on the computer anyway.

We all want a cure for Cancer.

The Lung Cancer Button

I came across the button I am putting on my blog today. To me it is the most important thing I will ever have on this thing.

Most of you know my father died of NON-smokers cancer September 30, 2009.

This never should have happened in our family. My father was always the picture of health.

He NEVER smoked, he did not live with smokers, he always exercised. He even exercised up to the last week of his life. He ate the way "they" tell you...He loved his family and his life.

It has come to my attention "LUNG CANCER RESEARCH LEGISLATION is NOW IN the US HOUSE AND SENATE "

Sadly, my family has learned NO ONE is safe from this disease.

It really does not matter your political view point. Just take action......take time to write a letter and sign the petition.

This is the letter I sent ~ Not one of my best......but I wanted to get the job done TODAY.

September 30, 2009 lung cancer killed my father.

When he was first diagnosed you could have knocked the family over with a feather. We were all in a state of shock to think this vibrant healthy man was sick with Stage Four Lung Cancer...His request to his team of doctors was for them to move fast and treat him anyway he they could.

They did.

My father under went many experimental treatments. He fought his battle for 4.5 years with the doctors cheering him on...until the cancer went into his bones and then to his brain. At this point the doctors washed their hands and cowardly moved on to other cancer victims.

He still fought on with his family by his side.

NO-one fought hard then he.

If you have never smoked, never lived with smokers, always exercised and love your life….Do NOT be so arrogant to mistake your safety or family’s safety form this disease…You could be next.

Please for the sack of the American family put your politics aside and fund this very important bill.

Sincerly,

Lisa

I am asing YOU to please send your own letter or copy mine......I don't care. Just do it..........PLEASE!!!

NO-one should have to go through this.....Mostly the cancer victim.

Playing with Pictures

I have always loved this picture but really have not had a reason to post it.

That was until this morning.

I clicked on to one of my favorite blogs and saw a photograph taken by Amy.

I am still not sure how to get a signature on the photo but, I really like most of the things Amy does and often try to use her suggestions. Even after a year of blogging and picture taking I still think of myself as a REAL Novice to all this computer stuff. I have found the only way through this blogging journey is to try MOST suggestions given...

At one point Amy suggested boarders.......I have played with this idea a few times but never did anything with it.

I really think the boarder is cute in this photo but it cuts off Liz's hand. So I am not sure if a boarder is right for this picture.

Today Amy suggested going over to Lisa's blog......Not me...another Lisa.... A REAL Photographer. Her photographs are just gorgeous!

Check it!

Things I want to tell you

Things are moving as always around here and last week there was a lot of “moving” going on.

Mark and the kids had the stomach flu.

Of course it all started with the youngest at bedtime…..Why is it always bedtime? She was crying and yes, I fell for it again………While I was holding her trying to find out what was going and what she was trying to tell me the vomiting started……..all over me………and the new quilt I just that night finished repairing from the last time she got sick.

Mary Elizabeth vomited and vomited and vomited right into my hands, down my shirt, all over everything. Oh! Yeah, I forgot to mention everyone was standing there looking, watching saying ”OHHHH GROSS!!!!!” as they stood there in the way.

And the night began………..

I gave her a bath, gave me a shower, checked her temperature and thought hopefully…… maybe it was something she ate…….. Mark and I changed the sheets, the blankets, cleaned everything and settle down for bed with Liz snuggled in between us……Just to keep an eye on her.

30 minutes later it started again………UGGGGGG!

This time I was faster or maybe there wasn’t an audience standing in the way to hold me back.

I ran her into the bathroom and we took care of business. Changed the sheets again, changed her and thought mmmmmm “maybe this is bug….better bleach everything first thing in the morning.”

It happened again and again and again and again….. I gave her 4 baths, changed the sheets three times and changed myself twice through out the night.

Around 4 A.M. Mark started……… OH! BOY! Not good……I helped him find the medication he wanted to “try” to settle his stomach…..

It didn’t work......

5:30 A.M. now and things were still as crazy. I think to myself I hope this does not go through house…..Maybe I should get up now and start bleaching things. Just as the very thought crossed my mind Kathryn comes in to tell me she is very sick and needs my help right away……….

Just like the loving mother I am ~ I think………….OHHHHH!!!!!!! GREAT!!!

I go to her room …….find her new clothes for bed, change the sheets, clean the rug and get her settled down.

Ugggg!!!

The next morning it is 10:30 and I finally slept a little…….I check on the patients and see everyone is still pretty sick…..but at least the vomiting has stopped.

11:00 A.M. I talk to my mother and I tell her about the night and of course.... she runs right over……."Nana to the rescue" with Ginger Ale and chicken soup for her little Mary Liz…….When I see her I say with surprise……..”What are you doing here? You just had pneumonia. You can’t come in.” ……… Of course she does, she sits down and says, “Boy is there an odor in this house.”

“Yeah! I know!”

That day, I felt like Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie; tending to the sick, washing laundry, making chicken soup, giving them little sips of coke and scrubbing everything that didn’t move in the house with a bucket of bleach.

What a long night it was ……...What a long day it was.

What a long week it turned out to be…….

This flu went through our house claiming it’s victims……Stephen and Matthew were next. I kept my hands in bleach water and sprayed everything over and over again with Lysol....EVEN my boys .

This house has never been cleaner.

On the upside……….. I didn’t get it……..maybe it was all sanitizing I did.

The next week……My mother was sick!

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Let’s see what else did I want to tell you?

To start with ………. Matthew got his drivers license December 22. He was so excited.

December 23 he and his brother were very very anxious to take the car out for a spin alone. I agreed…They did a little Christmas shopping and went to lunch. All went well until……… he hit the sign on our street bending it slightly…..and leaving my car with the passenger side fender damaged breaking off the light and the turn signal.

It is official! We now have a teenage driver and my car has been dubbed the sacrificial new drivers car………. Thank God Mark can fix anything! With a little magic dust and duct tape the car will be good as new in no time.

In all fairness to Matthew, I should say……..He had pulled off the side of the road to look at the neighborhood drug house on our street. He wanted to get a good look at the door the cops had broken into from the night before. When he decided he had enough of a look and thought it was time to get going, he put the car in forward AND forgot to look in front of him.

SLAM!!!!!!!!

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THAT brings us to the drug house and all the excitement!

Our friends HAVE moved back in.

Can you believe they have moved back in???

Well! They did. They even had the nerve to put up Christmas lights. Which…….needless to say freaked me and my neighbors out!

First thing Monday morning I called the police……I told them what was going on and they referred me to the drug investigations department. I had to leave a message. Tuesday I called again……Left a message……Wednesday…left a message……Thursday……Left a message…..Friday I get a call from “The Greenville County Sheriff” He says I have called a lot and can he help me……..?

?????

I say “Well, it is about time! I have been calling all week.” I told him our situation and he knew it well. He told me he would have Investigator Tony call me right away…….Which he did.

Investigator Tony said ~ He wanted to catch these guys……and asked me to watch the house and when I saw the car at the house to call him…….Which I did!

It happened to be Tony’s Day off ~ mmmmmmmm ~ I explained to him the men in this house do not seem to live there. I told him I thought they were just using it and I couldn't be sure how long they would be there or when they would be back.

He explains to me……..He cannot call in for overtime and he is off the clock. He cannot go to this house off duty and does not want to send a car down that way to tip these guys off.

He says he wants to catch these guys. He tells me this thing is BIG and he feels it is all tied with drug trafficing through Florida.

He asks me to really watch the house Tuesday and Wednesday of that week, December 22 and 23……I say all righty and think……..Oh! BOY!!!

I watch the house for a couple of days and see men coming and going. December 22, Stephen calls me VERY excited. He says, “They are there!” as he, my mother and Matthew drove by that night they could see the car in the driveway.

I call my cop and tell him "Our Guys are There"…..I don’t know how long they will be there but they ARE at the house now.

My cop says he will be in touch……..He calls me back and says NO ONE seems to be home. BUT! The back windows are blocked out like before……He tells me he is going to call for a drug dog and asks me to keep my phone with me incase…..

InCaSe???? Incase of what?????? YIKES!!!

We can hear the dogs barking into the dark night………My phone rings …..It is my Cop! He tells me the drug dogs are going crazy and would I sign an affidavit saying I saw the car in the driveway so they can get a search warrant……Yick!!!

…I say…..”Of course I will…”

It makes me mad to think these guys think they can grow drugs, frighten the neighborhood and chop someone up while we all stand by and wait for them to make their money and then hopefully leave us alone.

My Father built this neighborhood…..It is a very nice neighborhood! I was with my father while he laid out the streets. This place is special to me and I will not have these people tarnishing our good name.

I meet the cop with the necessary information and do what I need to do.

20 minutes goes by and then we hear………”This house is surrounded come out with your hands up.” Over and over again…..The dogs are going crazy and then WE hear BANGING! BANGING! BANGING!

The cops are breaking the door down. ………Oh! My GOSH! Stephen and I are standing outside listening to all that is going on….We can't see a thing because we are surronded by trees.

YiCKS!!!

Then I think maybe we should go in or better yet get the party Margaret is having that night.

Then silence

MMMMM

We drive by the house and see people moving around. Cops are every where. They are bringing things out of the house. Things are every where.

Did they catch THEM???

MMMMM

We go to the party and then leave to check on our drug house……..We see things laid out all over the driveway……Every light is on in the house……The Christmas lights are still on.

The police work into the night

Did they catch THEM???

MMMMM

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December 23……….We see a white car go very slowly by our house. The driver almost came to a stop looking at the car parked in the drive way. My car!

Stephen looks out and says “HEY, that is the Mexican Drug CAR!”

What????

Did they catch THEM?????

NO!!!!!!! THEY DIDN’T!!

And you know what else???

The lights are still on at this house.

But here is the good news........The dog catcher cought this stray I named Sirius Black......He wasn't bothering anyone....Every now and then he came to my house to eat and play with our dogs...........

mmmmmmm

To bad I didn't call the Dog Catcher for this problem.