Henke Happenings

In the Chair!

2011-08-16T12:38:00.001-08:00

The nurse tells me that Ingrid spent some time in her chair yesterday. That's great news! (She wasn't reading yet, and many of you know that this is the true indicator that she's feeling better..) But moving to the chair is a good sign. If you are trying to call, call the main Providence number, ask for the Renal Care Unit, and ask the nurse to help you talk to her. She doesn't hear the phone.

If you come by to visit, and she is asleep, go ahead and wake her, unless the nurse tells you not to. She sleeps A LOT. She will want to see you, so try awakening her, even if you only can speak with her for a short time.

Other Henke Happenings? School began today! Katie is in her 4th grade class, and Jake had his final first day of school; he's psyched to be a senior. Wow! Where did the time go?

Late night edit:

I spent some time with mom this evening. She was alert and talkative (relatively) and seemed to be feeling stronger. She said her leg was feeling better, and, in fact, the surgeon came by while I was there, and he looked at the wound and said she is healing quite well. Half the staples should come out next week.

Sleeping, sleeping...

2011-08-08T16:40:00.001-08:00

I'm sitting with mom right now and thought I'd take moment to post a quick update. Mom is hooked to a pain medication pump as the leg pain is severe right now. In addition, she is being dialyzed pretty aggressively. Both of those conditions cause her to be loopy and really tired. If you have tried to call her, there's a good chance she did not know, as she is sleeping a lot. For those of you who have asked what you can pray for, please pray for the pain to ease and that the dialysis helps her calciphylaxis. And pray for doctors and for us all to have the wisdom to know what's best at each decision point. I've told mom about each of your messages and thoughts, and she appreciates you all so much, as do Kirk and I.

Surgery on a Rainy Day...

2011-08-06T17:25:00.000-08:00

The doctors decided to do mom's leg surgery today rather than Monday. She went into surgery around 1:00 PM and was finished at 3:30 PM. The surgeon said it went very well and she tolerated it surprisingly well. He said that surgery confirmed that this was the best decision; she had very little circulation in her lower leg anymore.
Mom is awake now and eating some crackers and her oh-so-yummy hospital dinner so she can take her pain pills; she is in quite a bit of pain. She is experiencing the weird sensation of feeling an itch on her foot...even though the foot isn't there anymore. Her vitals are good and her dressing is dry.

As always, we thank all of you for your comments, phone calls, and, most of all, your prayers.

Ingrid Update

2011-08-04T21:50:00.000-08:00

First, thank you to ALL of you for your kind words, thoughts, wishes, and prayers. Mom appreciates them so much, as do Kirk and I. We are truly blessed by our wonderful family and friends.

The past few days have been a lot of waiting time. Mom has been seen by several different doctors for her various medical issues. Here's an update:

1. The issue that landed us in the hospital, the stomach pain, is currently being considered to be calcium deposits. This is apparently very hard to treat; the current treatment is to give mom an IV of sodium thiosulfate.

2. We still do not know why the peritoneal catheter is not working; the surgeon who placed it still has not come by to see her.

3. The podiatrist, nephrologist, and orthopedic surgeon have discussed mom's foot problem. Although there has been some healing, she has a lot of pain, and they say that the usual progression of things is that they would remove the partial toe as planned. Then, because she has so little circulation in her feet and lower leg, they would end up continuing to remove portions, trying to reach a place where tissue and circulation are healthy enough to heal. So they recommend removing her lower leg now. They asked mom to think about it and talk with family to make a decision. Mom told me tonight that she told the orthopedic surgeon that she agrees to have her lower leg removed. We are looking at probable surgery on Monday.

4. The discharge planner has started the process of applying for mom to transition to Providence Extended Care Center (PECC) when she finally is able to leave the hospital. She will certainly need rehab and physical therapy for her leg. In addition, if they are correct about their diagnosis of the calcium issue, it looks like this is a pretty serious disease that is difficult to treat.

I was asked today if mom is up to receiving visitors. The answer is "yes." Mom feels well and is up to visitors, she is just needing to stay in the hospital. She'd love to hear from and see friends.

Again, thanks so much for all your prayers.

Ingrid... A Medical Update

2011-08-01T11:21:00.000-08:00

As many know, my mom's medical condition has been fragile at best the past couple of years, and especially so the past 10 months or so. We have been doing in home peritoneal dialysis since February, and overall it has gone well, although mom has had intermittent issues with low blood pressures and the symptoms that accompany that, and low appetite and decreasing leg strength. She had started using a walker at all times, and mobility was limited, but she was still able to get into the car, take care of herself at home, etc. The dialysis was going pretty well overall.

This summer she developed some sores on her left foot due to diabetic neuropathy. One of her toes was in pretty bad shape, and her heel developed a sore that was and is very slow to heal. We were looking at future surgery to remove part of her toe, and if the heel did not get better, perhaps her foot or lower leg.

About 10 days ago we ran in to further issues. Mom's peritoneal dialysis stopped working. An x-ray and CT scan did not reveal what the problem might be, and the surgeon who could do some exploratory surgery was out of town, as were her podiatrist and her nephrologist. So mom went in to place the catheter that would allow for hemodialysis while we waited. She started hemodialysis last Monday.

You may recall that the whole reason we started peritoneal dialysis was because hemo is not a good option for her. It lowers her blood pressure to the point that she is ill, and as a result they cannot be as aggressive with treatment as they need to be. She leaves hemo weak and ill, sleeping almost exclusively for the following 24 hours to recover. Her legs weaken, and she gets mentally confused.

Needless to say, last week was not good. From Wednesday on, she was unable to take the two steps it takes to get into our home; she was unable to walk to the restroom or to make herself food, and she had a hard time speaking, finding words, etc. We anxiously awaited the opportunity to find out why peritoneal is n't working, and whether we can get it working again, as we started using a wheelchair to get her around the house,installed a wheelchair ramp to be able to get her to dialysis, etc.

On Sunday morning mom woke up with severe pain in her lower abdomen, and a hard, red mass below her navel. The doctor told us to bring her to the hospital, where she was given an ultrasound and immediately placed on IV antibiotics and admitted to the Renal Care Unit, Room 258.

Her nephrologist is now back and saw her this morning. She is staying in the hospital for now to try and sort out the various issues that are going on, and to give her occupational and physical therapy to assist with her self-care issues.

It's believed that the mass in her stomach is an infection, and possibly calcium deposits. I do not know what the course of treatment for that is, yet.

The surgeon is supposed to have a consult with her this afternoon regarding the peritoneal catheter and finding out what is going wrong there.

The podiatrist needs to be consulted regarding how much of her toe/foot/leg needs to be amputated. The heel is getting better but is not completely better. I am very anxious about this particular item, and am hoping the podiatrist will be willing to continue to see if the heeling can complete. Amputation is scary and we are trying to avoid it at all costs...

I haven't been by to see mom yet this morning, but will be swinging by later today after work. We are relieved that she is receiving skilled care for the many issues that are plaguing her, and we are praying like crazy that the doctors make good informed choices and that mom can heal. We do think that we are looking at a stay at an extended care nursing facility once the urgent issues have been dealt with...

Your prayers are appreciated, and I know she'll love hearing from any and all who giver her a call. The number at Providence Hospital is 907-562-2211, Room 258.

I will post updates to this blog as I receive them, so that friends and relatives will know what is happening...

-Martina

Lazy Day of Web Browsing...

2011-07-09T15:43:00.000-08:00

Kirk took Corry, Volker, Jake, Katie, and Brice up on a fishing day to Crescent and Cater Lakes. Although I had big plans to get a lot of laundry and other important work done, I have found myself enjoying quite time and reading at Ravelry and cleaning up my Gmail box. I am considering getting to work on the TKGA Master's 1 program, which I have been intending to do for a long time, because I certainly don't have enough to do!

Our visit with Anne and her lovely family was fun and far too short. My nephew Sam is just as adorable as can be, and I loved spending time with him. I do love babies so much. He is loaded with personality and curiosity. We did several fun things, and I hope Anne, Nick, and Sam enjoyed their visit. We hope to see them again soon (maybe at Christmas?)

Rainy AK Day...

2011-06-14T22:45:00.001-08:00

It was a rainy day today and everything is as green as can be. Seems like there was less wind, which was nice. Katie had a great soccer practice; she improves daily. Her confidence has really soared; it's a pleasure to watch her. What's more, she really enjoys herself out there: she has teammates who are her friends, and she is getting into being athletic.

Mom is doing fairly well; dialysis seems to be going fine. We are concerned about how much of her toe she is going to lose. Another trip to the podiatrist is scheduled for Thursday. She is at least getting blood to her feet again after last week's angioplasty.

I am on Day 11 of an iteration of South Beach Diet. I've had no sugar in that time, and a total of two pieces of bread. All other carbs have been veggies. Lots of protein. Although this is supposed to keep cravings at bay, for me it seems to not quite have that effect. I don't really think I have cravings, and not eating these things kind of makes me think of them...a lot. It seems that moderation might be a better approach, which is why I am pleased that I am close to the end of this "start-up" phase. I cannot imagine how people choose to do Phase 1 for longer. It is so hard to find food to eat.

I crave variety and some simplicity in making food. Hard to do when my palette is limited.(No, not palate. Palette.)

Kirk and I wanted to jump start our healthier eating plan this way, but do not intend to eat this way for long. I will say that Kirk craves the carbs way more than I do, and he really feels the effects of eating sugar. I am pleased to know that I have had the will power I've needed, and it makes me feel that I can use that will power when I move to a more relaxed approach.

What do I miss the most right now? Whole grain bread, rice, just having a more balanced plate. I love proteins, but they need a counterpart on the plate. And, surprisingly, I feel hungry when I don't have the carbs to balance the protein. Weird.

Most of all, I really, truly miss chocolate. Sugar fudgesicles and hot cocoa just don't do it for me.

I. Want. Chocolate.

Home In Time for the New Year!

2010-12-31T13:57:00.000-09:00

After much waiting around and miscommunication with various members of the health care profession, we finally got mom home yesterday evening. She is using a walker for stability, and she is very easily tired, but she is home in her own bed and feeling very pleased about it! We will be in close communication with the dialysis clinic over the next few weeks, as we need to avoid a repeat of this episode and we need to make sure that peritoneal dialysis will actually work for her. We sincerely hope the changes that were made to her cycle plan will be enough to make it effective, as we are very reluctant to have to return to hemodialysis.

It's really "warm" here in AK right now, as snow drips from the eaves. Hoping to find time for a workout at Body Renew today, as we have switched over to this health club. I'm not sure if we will be able to, but we are going to try...

Katie is busy making Sculpey clay creations to sell. She has decided that proceeds are going to the animal shelter, and she has raised almost $20. :-)

Mom Feeling Better!

2010-12-29T16:04:00.000-09:00

Couldn't think of a better post title than this; creative juices are not flowing! ;-)

Mom is sounding much more like herself, and is expecting to come home tomorrow afternoon. We are buying a walker for her and a physical therapist will be visiting two or three times a week to help her regain leg strength.

I'm just relieved that she sounds like Ingrid again, and the tremors and feeling of misery is gone. She is complaining bitterly about the food, feeding herself, and scolding the nurse and the doctor. It's safe to say that my mom is back to herself.

Kirk, Katie and I had a lovely time at Stacy and Rees Miller's home last night. Rees, a science teacher who is also a chef, cooked us the most incredible four course meal. We laughed and ate and the kids played happily. It was a lovely small crowd of guests and we can't wait to do it again!

Post Christmas Update...

2010-12-27T21:29:00.000-09:00

It's been hectic around here during the Christmas season.

Mom's tremors and leg weakness got worse and worse, and by the afternoon of the 23rd, we decided to hit the Emergency Room. After not being taken very seriously for quite a while, blood tests revealed that her potassium levels were through the roof (critical levels) and she was uremic. This means that the home dialysis was not working, and toxins had been building in her blood. She was immediately hospitalized. For the past 4 days the doctors have tried to celan her blood with the peritoneal dialysis, but it just isn't doing the trick. SO this morning they put the heart catheter back into place that was removed just over a week ago...and they did hemodialysis. We are praying this cleans her blood faster and more efficiently. Once she is stable again, we will see what happens next. OVerall she is feeling really crummy. Being uremic causes your muscles to jerk around, and makes your brain fuzzy and makes it very difficult to form words and speak.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we had a lovely toned down Christmas with our three lovely kids. We ate our traditional monkey bread for breakfast and opened presents together. We had a lazy day at home. My big Christmas gift had not arrives, but I am blogging on it right this minute. Kirk got me my dream technology wish: a Macbook Air! I LOVE it, but have not got it set up completely yet. SO no pictures in this post. Soon.

One gift I got Kirk was HIS dream fitness wish: switching to Body Renew from the Alaska Club. A lot less expensive. He is eager to try it out...

I will post more later, including a little picture of mom.

Mom Update...and Katie Too!

2010-12-21T23:49:00.000-09:00

Katie had a lovely holiday concert the week before Christmas Break. She loves singing in the school choir. Her teacher captured a wonderful picture ofher during the afternoon concert. I just love it:

Mom had an interesting day today. The arm and hand tremors she developed recently were really, really pronounced and bothering her a lot, from the moment she woke up. She also felt that her legs were very weak and shaking. We got to go to Costco and do the final fitting of her new hearing aids, and she was quite pleased to be able to hear everything going on around her again!

Unfortunately, her leg weakness was really pronounced by evening, and she as unable to walk into the house when we returned home. Very frustrating and scary for her... We need to talk with her doc about these symptoms.

I still have lots of Christmas shopping to do... as usual!

Testing Blogger...

2010-12-21T10:02:00.002-09:00

Since it's been a while since I used Blogger, I need to re-familiarize myself a bit with how things work around here.

So, I need to post a picture to see what I can do, and how the theme I chose works...

Here's a pic from Jake's recent soccer tournament:

Back on the horse...

2010-12-21T09:50:00.000-09:00

I'd like to use this blog a bit more. Although Facebook is nice for quick updates, I would like to spend a bit more time getting news to family that lives away, especially news about mom. She lurks at Facebook, but I can't get her to post much there, and family always is looking to know more about what's going on. I think this might also be a good way for me to gather thoughts about my other endeavors: crafting, reading, etc.

So, although I know there's no one out there reading, I am going to give this a shot. At the very least I'll have a journal of sorts that I can look back upon. (I found it interesting to look back at some of my past posts...)

December has been hectic and muddled for me. One reason for that is that I was out of state for the last two weeks of November for a professional conference and a soccer tournament. Then I came back to work for a little over a week, and suddenly I needed to go to training for at-home dialysis. We originally had thought that mom could do the training and I would just come in for a day or so as back-up, but mom felt very uncomfortable with how the training was going. The nurse needed someone else to do the dialysis at home, so I quickly rearranged my schedule and headed over for 7 days of training at the dialysis unit.

I'm glad I did. the process is pretty complex, and mom's increasing hand/arm tremors make her very shaky. Although it was and is time intensive, I am glad that she's not trying to handle it.

We have now been doing at home dialysis for about 10 days or so. Mom is feeling a lot better as a result, as the hemodialysis was really making her feel terrible. Of course, now she has all kinds of free time on her hands, so she will need to come up with something to fill her time. I set up her computer with Stumble Upon; this seems to give her some web browsing options. She also loves to lurk on Facebook. Unfortunately she's not in great condition to drive right now, for several reasons. This severely cramps her style, understandably so!

Katie is semi-enjoying the Christmas break. She's a little isolated here and gets pretty bored. It's not like when the boys were little and they had each other to play with. Poor Katie!

Martin finished his first semester at UAA with a 3.6 GPA! He is feeling mighty proud of himself. He is majoring in Psychology, and greatly enjoys his use of the little apartment downtown. A million thanks to his grandparents for that perk!

Well, I guess that's enough for now... Hopefully this won't be a one time event....

Oma back at Providence...

2010-04-26T11:27:00.000-08:00

As many of you know by now, mom has been admitted to Providence again. She's been here since the middle of last week. She had a terrible cold and when she went to her check-up at the Heart Institute, they were very concerned about her breathing. They thought she might have pneumonia. So she was taken to the emergency room. But they said her lungs were clear, and started using diuretics to try and release some fluid that was obviously building up and causing congestive heart failure. Labs did not seem to indicate that her heart was blocked, so they decided it was kidney related. Her lab results for kidney function have been steadily declining bit by bit. They admitted her to get the fluid down, and after three days of heavy duty diuretics, they decided on dialysis to get the job done. They put a catheter in her carotid artery and she is currently in her third round of dialysis. The first two rounds released 6 pounds of water weight. Dr. Finley, her cardiologist, says that once they get the fluid off, they can better evaluate what is causing the fluid to build up in the first place: her heart or her kidney.

If her kideny is the culprit, this may mean that the kidney that we had transplanted 8 years ago this summer is in failure, and she may be looking at regular dialysis again. This is disheartening, but we think that heart issues would be more serious and scary. Either way, mom can use your prayers and happy thoughts. She is in room 261 in the Renal Care Unit at Providence Hospital, if anyone would like to call or visit. She is getting a lot of reading and crocheting done, to be sure!

Elvis Has Left the Building...

2008-12-06T13:53:00.004-09:00

...she's flown the coop...taken a hike...she's OUT!

at 1:30 PM today the nurse wheeled mom out and we screeched out of there as fast as we could! :-) She is comfortably resting in her favorite chair, happy to be home. We will need to get some new prescriptions filled on Monday, and soon she will begin some rehab at the hospital, but we are so happy to have her home again.

Your prayers, visits, cards, and good wishes have been so helpful and so appreciated...

Another Possible "Coming Home" Date

2008-12-05T12:56:00.002-09:00

Mom is feeling a bit better today. The pain she was experiencing due to the urinary tract infection is gone, because they have removed the catheter. She was told that if no other "incidents" occur in the next 24 hours, then she can come home to continue her recuperation. So we are hoping for no incidents!

Katie performed in her holiday concert yesterday and did not forget any of her lines. She did a super job, and the kids were adorable. Katie's class sang the Twelve Hawaiian Days of Christmas, and as the song built, so did a couple of the little boys' voices, until at the end they were pretty much shouting. The audience (especially the kindergarten students seated nearby) was laughing so hard the tears were coming. It was priceless. Our family was seated almost at the very back of the multi-purpose room, but I took a bit of video and some really bad pictures anyway. I will try to post them here later. Not sure how good they will be, but what the heck!

Mom says hello to all and many thanks for all the love and support that has been coming her way. I echo her sentiments!

I wonder if we will be able to get our tree up this weekend? Is yours up?

More Delays...Grrrr.

2008-12-04T12:10:00.000-09:00

It was hoped the mom could come home today, but that is not to be.

She is still experiencing trouble breathing, as her kidney is not working properly due to the stress of the angioplasty, which results in that fluid accumulation. In addition, she has developed a urinary tract infection, and her blood counts are very low. (Red blood cell creation is affected by the kidney.) She received another blood transfusion (her second this week) to get her red blood cell count up, and is receiving antibiotics to get the infection taken care of. She is also in stronger medication to help the kidney eliminate all the extra fluid her body accumulated since the procedure, which seems to be working. They have also put her back on the nitro to help open the blood vessels and relieve that fluid even more.

She was feeling a bit low this morning, but after we chatted for a while she is feeling a bit better and trying to stay positive. It's been 2 weeks now, so she is, understandably, a little frustrated. She is still in Room 229 and able to receive visitors and phone calls.

Just wanted to keep you updated...

Angio Update #3

2008-12-02T15:57:00.004-09:00

Mom is resting very comfortably now. The doctor has approved removing the catheter. They have her on an IV drip of iron, since her iron levels seemed low, and the nurse says this will also help the fluid leave her system more effectively. Dr. Kremer says her creatinine is actually a bit lower, 2.3, probably due to all the fluid they pumped through her system. Her breathing is back to normal; she says it was the most scared she's ever been. It took them quite some time to get it settled. (I guess they did not call me in for quite some time after they finished the angioplasty, as she was having such a hard time breathing.) She said that once they started the morphine, it settled down. I suspect she was hyperventilating and scaring herself, and the meds relaxed her.

Eric the Supernurse (he rocks) says that here within the hour she can get some food and remove the catheter and start on the road to recovery. He'll ask me to leave when he removes the catheter; it's quite the procedure, with them having to put pressure on the artery for 30 minutes or more to stop the bleeding. That will be about the right time for me to head home. I have some colleagues coming by so we can work on a project for our e-learning course we are taking at UAA. It's getting down to the wire and we have a lot to do to finish our group project.

Anne and I have been Skyping throughout this afternoon, and Dr. Kremer was able to talk to Anne about mom's condition. He was very curious about Skype and asked some questions about it. Another tech convert? :-) The staff here has been very impressed by the way we've used Skype to keep Anne in the loop...

I will try to see if I can visit with mom later this evening. More updates as I get them, but please know the prayers are helping and she is breathing easier. She also has more color in her face than she has had in 2 weeks. Yay! :-)

Angio Update #2

2008-12-02T14:09:00.003-09:00

The angioplasty is complete, and after some serious hustling to get her set up, mom is resting in her new room, Room 229. She is receiving a bit of pain medication to take the edge off, is hooked to so many wires that I am having a hard time seeing her, and is pumped full of fluid again to protect her kidney. She had some trouble breathing on her way up here, which Dr. Kramer says is due to her large fluid retention for now. They are doing an echocardiogram and a chest x-ray to see how everything is, and I will post again when I hear what the results are. She is pretty wiped out, needless to say, but Dr, Kramer said he was able to get the stent in just fine and the procedure was a success. I suppose time will tell...

More news to follow when I have it...please pray for quick recovery and easy breathing.

Angio Update #1

2008-12-02T11:52:00.003-09:00

They came and got mom at about 10:00 AM this morning, but didn't start the procedure until about 10:45. She had the best night of sleep she's had in days, so she is well rested. The doctor who is performing her angioplasty (Dr. Kramer) comes very highly recommended; I guess he is their expert and everyone says he's the one they'd want if they had to have the procedure. (Dr. Tucker, mom's nephrologist, made it very clear that Kramer was his preferred doctor for this procedure.)

We'll be moving back to the Cardio Vascular Internvention Unit (CVIU) after this procedure, the same area she started in.

I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who've left comments. I had a moment to read through them all, and they are such wonderful sentiments. I apologize for not replying to each one. Please consider yourself hugged....

We Have a Scheduled Angioplasty

2008-12-01T17:44:00.002-09:00

Well, mom has been receiving a lot of different directives the past few days. On Saturday, we were still in wait and see mode. We were waiting and seeing if the kidney got better enough to do the angioplasty, possible on Monday or Tuesday. Then, on Sunday, the cardiologist who was overseeing mom for the weekend told her they were planning to send her home until her kidney was better, and then she would come back in for the angioplasty. (We did NOT Like that idea at all.)

So today her regular kidney doctor came to see her, and when she mentioned going home, he said, "What?!" He thought absolutely NOT! He said he would be talking with the cardiologist. Then he also said that her blood counts were suddenly low. So he ordered a blood transfusion. Of course, mom has to have AB (very rare) blood, and in addition, she has some sort of unidentified antibody in her blood that further made it difficult to find blood! (Anne just informed mom that she is "a little weird.") But we finally have some located, and the transfusion should begin soon.

Finally, her nurse brought her dinner, and reminded mom that she would not get any food after midnight, due to the angioplasty tomorrow morning! What? We had no idea! But yes, we are supposed to be doing the stent tomorrow morning!

So, despite feeling like we are on a roller coaster, we are cautiously optimistic that we will be having the procedure tomorrow morning. Prayers welcomed for a speedy procedure and recovery! I will blog tomorrow to tell you more!

Thanksgiving Events....

2008-11-28T10:59:00.006-09:00

We had an eventful Thanksgiving. Mom was being served Thanksgiving lunch at the hospital, and we wanted her to have her feast from home. So I got up early in the morning and started preparing our feast. We finished it for lunchtime and got to the hospital by 1 PM. Mom had been given a snack, but her blood sugars were clearly low, as she was a bit disoriented. When she ate she cleared up and was more like herself. I made tomato salad, hoping it was enough like her recipe. She said it was good! Whew!

They had removed her nitro drip because her vein collapsed again, and her IV was failing for the second time. They called an anesthesiologist who was going to put a main line into her jugular vein. It's a bit of a risky procedure, as the carotid artery is right next to the vein, and made us a little nervous. We stepped out so he could do it, and returned an hour later, to find her fast asleep. But we couldn't see the line. The nurse told us that he had a hard time finding it, and had an emergency surgery to go to. He was planning to return with an ultrasound machine to confirm where her vein is. (Everyone's anatomy varies, and he thought it might be hiding behind her artery.)

We also learned that the angioplasty would not take place on Friday, as her kidney numbers have still not improved. (2.9 to 2.7 to 2.8; little change) Now the projected date is Monday or Tuesday. Sigh.

So we went home, as Katie was getting a bit stir crazy, which in turn was driving Kirk and me crazy. I called throughout the night to check on the IV procedure, but when I went to bed, it still had not been performed.

I called mom this morning, and she sounds much better. Blood sugars dipped again during the night but are OK right now. The anesthesiologist came in late last night to put in the main line. The ultrasound revealed that there was good reason for the doctor to have a hard time finding that vein on her right side: it wasn't there. At all. Further investigation revealed that BOTH her jugular veins are on her left side of her neck, one attached to the other. Once he found it, it took 5 minutes and her IV line is in again.

She is sitting up in her big chair and crocheting right now. She is impatient with the delays, but feeling all right. One side effect of all this fluid they are pushing into her veins is that she is retaining a LOT of fluid and has gained a ton of water weight. Her arms, face, and legs are very swollen. They have increased her Lasix (water pills) from 40 mg dosages to 120 mg dosages, to counteract this.

Martin and Jake got Kirk to drive them down to Alyeska today for their first ski day of the season. Much excitement and anticipation!

Here are some photos:

Turkey, asparagus with Hollandaise, corn, tomato salad, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, Mom's fancy china...

Caesar salad, gravy, broccoli..

Yummy turkey!
Beautiful plant from Swan Employer Services (Where Kirk works.)

Amanda brought the lovely flower...

This last photo is Mom and Anne Skyping (videoconferencing.) So cool!

This has been log-winded, so I will close with a few words of thanks. We are so thankful for all of you, friends and family, who are praying for us and offering your support. It is so comforting to have so many of you in our hearts and ready to help at a moment's notice. Although his is a rough time, we are thankful that the heart failure was caught before a major heart attack occurred, and that mom was in a public place and not home alone when her chest pain started. We are thankful that we have such a wonderful family, that we have the resources that we do, and that God is active and visible in our lives every day. I hope you had a wonderful, restful Thanksgiving, and that you will enjoy this weekend, your families, and your blessings.

Love to all....

Change of surroundings...

2008-11-26T08:12:00.002-09:00

Mom is no longer in Room 233; she has been moved to a larger room in the Renal Care Unit. I think her new room number is 260. They moved her because they needed the Cardiac room for an open heart surgery patient. It makes sense for her to be in the Renal Care Unit, since the main goal right now is to get her kidney well enough for the heart procedure. Mom had some visitors last night. Sharon from Kirk's office came by, and Gwen and Jessica from church came by too. She was so pleased to have some visitors. Kirk & Jake did the Thanksgiving shopping last night so that we will be set for tomorrow.

Blood Sugar Trials...

2008-11-25T10:48:00.004-09:00

I am sitting here in Room 233 with mom, and she is dozing. She is pretty tired; for the third day in a row she was awakened in the early hours with extremely low blood sugar. Today they had to change her sheets, clothes etc., as she was soaked through with sweat. Dr. Tucker is changing her insulin regimen again; she will now take her main dosage at night rather than in the morning as she has been. We hope this will help get her sugars under control.

After another increase in creatinine levels yesterday, there was a slight drop today. This is heartening (no pun intended,) because they cannot work on her heart until the kidney has bounced back. We are still tentatively set for Friday.

Yesterday mom had some chest pain and the nurse gave her nitro pills to put under her tongue for a more instant effect. This helped and she went back to no chest pain after that. Today they took her off the oxygen that she has been attached to since she arrived. After about an hour she is still at 98%, so he is keeping her off the oxygen for now. Yay! We are strongly hoping she will not end up having to be on oxygen at home after she recovers.

Amanda (mom watches her little ones) came by recently and brought mom a lovely plant, and the wonderful staff at Swan (where Kirk works) sent a fantastic plant arrangement as well. They cheer the room considerably; you know how sterile these rooms can be. I have checked out a slug of library books for her, and she has her computer and her crocheting. (Bummer: the hospital Internet filters and doesn't allow games like Pogo.com. Mom loves playing cards with Anne via the Internet.... oh well.) Hopefully these items will keep her from going to crazy when she is here alone.

The rest of the family is doing fine; I am splitting my time between home and the hospital and trying to get some of my work done from both places. Luckily I have Internet access in many places, so I can take my work with me. Martin had a bout of the 24 hour stomach flu Sunday night, and spent the entire night vomiting, but he is back to school today. Kirk spent the day yesterday at our church helping with the Thanksgiving Blessing. This is a city-wide project where several churches combine to help provide entire Thanksgiving meals to the needy. At our church from 1 Pm to 9 PM yesterday, 925 families received all the fixings for a Thanksgiving dinner. And that's just our church. Wow. Kirk was wiped out and crashed soon after getting home. I took Katie swimming last night; she just loves being in the water and had been asking for several days. We are making every effort to keep life as normal as possible for her. Yesterday she spoke with Ingrid on the phone, and asked her when she would be retiring. I could hear mom asking her what she meant, and after several repeats, it became clear that by "retiring," Katie meant "when will they release you from the hospital." :-)

Well, I am going to head back to my work email to get some more work done. I will update more when I have news. Please pray that mom's kidney bounces back quickly and that her blood sugars get under control. Thanks....

We have a plan.

2008-11-23T18:49:00.003-09:00

The angioplasty is our planned course of action. The doctor who performs these procedures came to speak to mom after we left this afternoon, and he told her that the doctors have agreed that the angioplasty is the best option. I admit that I am relieved that they do not have to open mom's chest, sternum, and stop her heart to perform surgery. We pray that this course of action will prove successful. Unfortunately, they do not plan to complete the procedure until at least Friday, as they want her kidney to be in top condition. Although most people go home very quickly after and angioplasty, mom may have to stay in the hospital afterward as well to allow her kidney to get back up to speed. We will see.

Mom wishes she did not have to stay at the hospital to await the procedure, but we were given an example of why she must. Her IV was not working properly this evening, so they took her off her medications until the IV nurse could put a new line in. After about 20 minutes, mom began to have some pain directly below her heart area. We got the nurse, who put her back on the nitroglycerin, and the pain went away. Clearly, being here at the hospital is the only option until the procedure clears those blocked blood vessels.

Interestingly, the pain she was experiencing was the exact pain she had about two weeks ago. She started having this "stomach ache" early one evening, and it her hurt her most of the night. She thought it was a stomach problem. It now seems clear that she was having heart trouble, and did not recognize it. We are very blessed that she did not have a full heart attack.

Thank you to all who are leaving comments for mom, and for all your prayers. I will try and post a picture of mom later...don't have the camera cord here right now!

A Visit with the Heart Surgeon

2008-11-22T18:56:00.003-09:00

I spent the day with mom at the hospital. She is feeling better, and the doctors allowed her to get up and move around. They brought a nice big chair into the room so she can sit up and crochet/read. The bed is quite uncomfortable after a while.

Our goal right now is to get all the information needed to make a good decision about what we should do next. Diabetes and a kidney transplant add to our complications and make this decision a bit harder than it might otherwise be. Mom's nephrologist, Dr. Tucker, came by to speak with us briefly. He made some adjustments in her insulin requirements to get her blood sugars under better control, and he told us that our next step is to get her kidney functioning at its baseline level again. The dye they had to use for the angiogram is toxic, and her kidney has to work hard to filter it from her blood. Her creatinine level was 1.8 when she arrived at the hospital on Thursday, and after this procedure, it is now at 2.5. This is evidence that the kidney is working hard and not functioning at its best. Any procedure that we decide on must wait until the kidney is back in proper working order. So it will be a while before she leaves the hospital.

Dr. Tucker says that his first instinct is to lean toward an angioplasty and stints to solve the blockage problem. It is the least invasive,which is best for mom in her condition.

Later this afternoon, the heart surgeon, Dr. Curtis, came by to talk to us. He had consulted with mom's cardiologist, Dr. Finley, and Dr. Tucker earlier in the day. He is an experienced heart surgeon who worked extensively with transplant patients in WA. He detailed what he would do if he did surgery, and explained the risks to us. He emphasized that mom has options. He wants to hear from Dr. Kramer, who would perform an angioplasty, to see how comfortable/confident he feels about the procedure. If he thinks it can be done, then that will be the first choice.

One neat thing about the afternoon was that I used my computer to Skype Anne in from Atlanta. We spent about 2 hours video chatting and she was able to join our meeting with the heart surgeon. It was so wonderful to have her there in the room with us!

Mom is in Room 233 at Providence, and she can take phone calls. Feel free to give her a call and help her break the monotony. Or leave us a comment here now and then, and I'll make sure she gets them. Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts. We truly appreciate them.

Prayers welcomed...

2008-11-22T13:36:00.004-09:00

Ingrid (Oma) has given us all a bit of a scare. She recently began an exercise regimen at the AK Club with a personal trainer to get into better shape. On Thursday, she couldn't make it through her water workout and had to call me to pick her up. She had chest pain and could not get her breath. We raced to Providence Hospital, where she was treated for congestive heart failure.(This has apparently been building for some time; it was not due to her workout.) An angiogram revealed three blocked blood vessels in her heart, two of them 90% and one 80%. We are currently talking with doctors to determine whether she will need bypass surgery or angioplasty. Her diabetes and kidney transplant complicate matters a bit, so we are gathering as much information as we can before making a decision.

She is in good spirits, feeling just fine, and anxious to make a decision and move forward. I (Martina) am spending most of my time at the hospital with her to help in getting info and everything else involved. Luckily, my job and boss are extremely forgiving and allow me to focus completely here. In addtion, Kirk and the boys are holding down the fort at home...

Schwan Cup: Days 4 & 5

2007-07-20T20:26:00.001-08:00

Hello again! It's been a busy two days, so I am just now getting back to the computer! Day 4 began with a clinic on "finishing." It was a bright and sunny day, but the humidity had finally dissipated, which makes it much more bearable for the boys. After the clinic, the team headed to the big stadium to watch the Naperville team take on the Cruz Azul team. The boys really liked the Naperville team, and they sat in the stands and cheered them on. Maybe that's why the Lightning were able to be the first team to score on this formidable opponent!

After lunch in the sun, the boys needed to have some mellow free time, since they had a game at 7:10 PM. We agreed to take a large group of them to a nearby mall that included a Hollister, which was the store of choice for this trip. The mall was one of those new malls designed to be like shopping in a market, with the stores outdoors instead of a big building. Very nice.

After shopping at Hollister:

Most of the guys went to check out A & F and American Eagle. Jordan and Jake and I went to the Borders books, where the boys discussed their favorite books, and Jake convinced Jordan to read Sabriel. (Jordan read it the entire trip home!)

They waited for the rest of the gang to meet up with us, reading in the easy chairs at Hollister.

We headed back to the hotel and prepared for our game against the Bangu Tsunami. This team, which is a select team for Minnesota, played Cruz Azul to a 0-1 final score, so the boys were nervous about how things would go. Well, they went great! The weather had cooled off and it was just like playing on a summer day in AK. The boys played the best game yet, and by the time it was all said and done, they only lost by a score of 0-1! It was so wonderful to see them playing; they shell-shocked the Bangu team for sure, which started the game with its second string, but soon realized that was a mistake. These boys just got better and better! The game was streamed live on the internet at Crystal Clear Sports, and I read on their site that the game will be saved and available for purchase after the tournament! (John, Jane, and Michelle watched the last part of the game from their computers in AK; so cool!)

(More pictures are at the Flickr site; and more will be added once I get Warren's card.)

The boys headed home for quick showers, as they were going to the Schwan Cup sponsored dance. The girls were dressed in their pretty dresses and cute skirts, the Schwan Zone was open for fun and games, and the dancing looked like a large crowd of kids all just standing very close together! LOL!

The boys were ravenous when they returned, so we dragged out all the food, piled into our room, and relaxed for a half hour before "lights out!"

Our final day of soccer play at the Schwan Cup dawned bright, clear, and very warm. We played at 10: 40, and we were playing against the second place team in the B bracket, the Trebol Football Club. We learned that this is a cream of the crop team from Illinois. Our boys again did a fabulous job. Although the score was 0-4 at halftime, the other team never got another chance to score, and we came very close several times. I must say that our boys truly raised the level of their game tremendously this week; they will be a formidable force in the state cup this year. They had to dig deep and play like they've never played before, and it was just great to watch them play better and better each game this week.

(I took today's picture with Kelly's camera, and will add them to the blog and Flickr tomorrow morning.)

The boys were free to do as they pleased after the game, and a large group of us headed to the Mall of America. (522 stores. Wow!) Our guys were in awe, and truly enjoyed walking around, riding a couple of rides in the amusement park in the center of the mall, and eating a burger at Johnny Rockets. Our car stayed until 9:00 PM, and headed home very happy and tired.

The Paul Bunyan Log Chute!

Burgers and shakes and 50's music!

A dip in the pool topped off the evening. I think they will be watching the final game tomorrow, but I also hear rumors about a trip to the water park and a return trip to the Mall Of America for some of the boys who had to leave earlier than planned.

Sleep well!

Schwan USA Cup, Day 3

2007-07-19T07:40:00.001-08:00

Oops! The last time I posted, I had my schedule mixed up. So... if you are logging in to find out about the exciting action at last night's dance, I must disappoint you. Last night was the night for a USA Cup sponsored beach party, which we did not attend, due to our late game. TONIGHT is the the USA Cup sponsored dance, and I will be attending and taking some photographs. Sorry about that!

On to Day 3's events. Because we had two games and the temperatures were high and the humidity oppressive, we had a fairly mellow day. Breakfast at 9:00 AM was followed by "down time," which consisted of TV viewing and arcade play in the hotel.

At about 11:45 AM we headed over for our first game of the day against the Naperville Lightning. (Click the name to read more about this club.) At half time, the game was 2-3, with a final score of 2-7. The boys played better than yesterday; they seemed more comfortable and were very excited to score on this tough team. (Austin scored one, and Daniel H. got a beautiful penalty kick into the net.) The heat was incredible, mostly due to humidity. The boys liked this team; they said they were nice guys, and our team stuck around to chat with them after the game. We plan to watch them play Cruz Azul this afternoon. (NOTE: there are about 100 pictures at the Flickr site. Warren is getting pretty good with his camera, so be sure and check it out for lots more pictures of the games!)

We headed over to a local restaurant called Chipotle for a yummy, fresh lunch. If you have been to Qdoba, you know what Chipotle is like. They were incredibly fast, and the food was light, fresh, and delicious.

(Poor Charlotte...she was so hot and feeling a bit tired...)

The boys also got a lemon ice from the Culver's across the street from our hotel as a light refreshment. Some more downtime and laundry washing followed.

Our next game was against the Northern Lights United Soccer Club, from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Playing at 7:10 PM really seemed to help the boys; the air was not as hot and they played even better than previously. The final score was 0-4; we are improving with each game. We had several shots on goal, including one that hit the post. The boys were moving the ball better than they have been, and they again played their hardest. I have not seen these guys give up even once; it has been awesome to watch.

The boys rode back to the hotel this time instead of walking. It's fun to listen in on their comments. Several times I have heard boys mention that they will "really school when we get back to Anchorage." They seem to feel that they are raising their level of play...I t's great to hear them finding the positives.

Apparently this team used some language on the field. Jake and Jordan both mentioned overhearing expletives from the players; Jordan told one of them he "owed him a quarter!" The player wasn't quite sure what he meant by that, LOL!

Dinner was at Culver's, and then they had a dip in the pool. It is quite a sight: 15 rough and rowdy boys wrestling in that tiny pool. They had an absolute ball, and fell asleep without any trouble!

Today they are heading off for a clinic on "finishing," followed by watching the Naperville boys take on Cruz Azul. Then they'll have some free time to take part in some USA Cup activities, a game at 7:10, and the ... dance ... really. There is a dance this time. I promise!

And...yes...I did visit a yarn shop. That's a post for the other blog though. ;-)

Schwan Cup, Day Two

2007-07-17T22:03:00.001-08:00

Blog Reading 101 is now in session… ☺

For those of you new to blog reading, I’ll try to share a few useful tidbits now and then. Blog is short for “weblogs,” and they are online journals. One neat aspect of blogs is the “Comments” section. At the end of each entry, there is a spot that says “___comments.” This is a link that allows readers to leave a comment about the entry. Readers can also read the comments left by others. This allows the blog to become interactive! So, if you’d like to leave a comment for me or others to read, just click on the link and give it a try!

Also, please forgive me in advance for my soccer game pictures; they are not the best. I do know that a couple of other parents took some good shots, and I will try to get those into Flickr too.

We awoke to a hotter and more humid day, ready for our first game of the tournament. The boys had some team meetings, a light lunch, and “down time” in their rooms to prepare for the game.

The temperature hovered around 90 degrees by the time we headed to the fields at 3:30 PM. The sunscreen was slathered on, the cheap soccer chairs were in place, and the sun was blazing.

Our opponent was Cruz Azul. This is a select team affiliated with the professional Mexican team, Club Deportivo Cruz Azul.

(I should mention that our team was placed into the “Cup” flight for this tournament, a flight where “teams are generally formed from multiple communities as all-star or premier teams, in order to compete with nationally recognized teams.” Now we all know that is not us. Officials told us that we were moved into this flight because of our record, which looks pretty awesome on paper. Of course, we only have about 9 football clubs in all of Alaska to compete against, which makes our record a bit different from those of other states, but apparently that little detail was overlooked. ☺)

At any rate, this team was fast, athletic, talented, and clearly an “all-star or premier” team. Our score at half time was 0-6; final score was 0-9. We had three minor injuries: Jake got a cleat in the calf within his first minute of play and had to be carried off the field; he recovered by halftime so he could continue play. Agustin had an injury that briefly had him at the medical tent for a check-over, but he is fine now…and Jorge also left the field limping in the second half. All three boys are doing fine now.

This was a tough, fast game for our boys, but the entire team handled the loss admirably. I must say they absolutely never, ever gave up; they played their hardest every minute of that game! They came off the field red-faced, drenched, and exhausted. As Kirk would say, they emptied their tanks and gave it their all. We were proud of them.

Michael got a special treat when the game ended and he found out he’d had his very own cheering squad on the sidelines: his Aunt Julie and cousins Sam and Sophia!

There was little time to spare as we left the field, wolfed down some pizza, and headed to the stadium to meet a team from Illinois for the MLS game: Minnesota Thunder vs. Kansas Wizards.

We did take a moment on the way to cool off a bit:

This “Meet a Team” Opportunity was arranged ahead of time, and we sat with these guys to watch the game. (They plan to stop in at our game tomorrow to cheer us on.) The game was fun, but we sensed the Thunder were feeling much as we were, as the final score was 5-0 for the Wizards. I’ve included a few pictures of the event here, but there are many more in the Flickr Album.

As we walked home in the warm summer evening, and the boys rolled down grassy hills and kicked a water bottle on an empty field, George noted how much nicer it would be to turn on some lights and play games at this time of night, instead of in the heat of the day! Steve and I agreed, and we think that Fairbanks should play the Midnight Sun Tournament at night, so it truly is played under the midnight sun…wouldn’t that be novel?

The boys were excited when George stopped them short of the hotel and struck a bargain: 30 minutes in the pool would be followed by immediate lights out, TVs out, and sleep. They played, splashed and wrestled, ran upstairs and scarfed down leftover pizza, and were snoozing by 11:00. Aaahhh. ☺

We have two games tomorrow: at 12:05 PM, and 7:10 PM. These are followed by a…dance. Yes. A dance. I’m sure the blog will be full of news again. Bye until then!

Schwan Cup, Day One, Evening....

2007-07-17T09:47:00.000-08:00

This was a busy time, and I took lots of photos. Other parents did as well, and so we will have way too many photos for the blog. I am uploading the extra pictures to my Flickr account. If you look in the left sidebar of this blog, you will see a Flickr badge, titled “More Photos.” Click on one of the pictures you see there, and it will take you to my Flickr account, where that photo is stored in sets. You can click on the sets and watch them as a slide show. Please email me if you need help with this, because there are lots of great photos, and I want everyone want be able to see them! So, on to the details…

After a relaxing afternoon, almost all boys napped. (Even though they swore they could never fall asleep…wink, wink.) We met in the lobby to head out for dinner and the Opening Ceremonies. The team was happy to learn that the Olive Garden was our dinner destination. We enjoyed good company and delicious food. The guys were gentlemen and we had a great time.

Opening Ceremonies began at 7:45 PM. It was an exciting and amazing event. The Schwan Cup is in its 23rd year, and is the largest sports tournament in the Western Hemisphere. This year, 1006 teams are competing, with about 16,000 participants. There are 21 countries represented…

My camera was kept busy during this exciting event. It seemed that I had a “photo opp” everywhere I turned. Things got started with a parade of teams. Alaska was well represented and cheered for, and each country or state clearly showed its pride. Hats, flags, costumes, and chants filled the arena as each team was introduced. (Be sure to check out that link of "More Photos" on the side; I got pictures of many of the teams as they entered the stadium, including the Brazilians, and the Scots in their kilts!)

Once the teams had positioned themselves on the field, skydivers parachuted in with the game ball and a banner. One skydiver wore a helmet cam; the video can be found here. (Scroll down almost to the bottom of that page.)

The Italian National Coach, Roberto Donadoni, was the guest of honor, and he wished all the teams well, telling them to play hard, play fair, and have fun. Local teams presented the Italian and US flags, and a soccer player from a girls’ Wisconsin team sang the national anthem so beautifully that it brought tears to my eyes. There was a lot of pride in that stadium…

After the national anthem, the very first team from England to play in the Schwan Cup presented the torch and lit the flame in the center of the stadium. Then came the fireworks and a live band/concert.

The teams dispersed and roamed the field, eating free ice cream and pizza. It was fun to wander the field and watch all these young people from so many places and cultures sharing their love of football and life. Teams were trading pins, shirts, souvenirs, and anything they could.

Brazil was very popular; they had Brazil/Ronaldinho shirts to trade!

Here, the Mexican boys were trading souvenirs for a peck on the cheek:

As space opened up at one end of the field, our boys found a ball, took off their shoes, and played. When they kicked us out of the stadium, they moved across the parking lot to another field and played ball under the street light, until 10:30 PM. Then we loaded up the dripping, exhausted boys and hustled them to bed. It had been a very satisfying, exciting day. They slept well…and were getting pumped up to take on Cruz Azul in their first game tomorrow.

Our next day will be pretty mellow and relaxed, with light meals, rest, team meetings, and mental preparation. Our next entry will be following our first game!

Webcast Info...

2007-07-16T13:01:00.000-08:00

The Opening Ceremonies will be available for purchase at this website: Crystal Clear Sports. You click on the link and can purchase the webcast. The boys' game on July 19 will also be available for you to watch via the web. Click on that date in the list and you can find us toward the bottom of the list. Also, there is a daily digest at that site that appears to be free.

Here is some info to keep in mind:

Some notes about the webstreams:
*You need to have a broadband connection to watch. 256kb/sec DSL or faster.
*For best results, avoid any other internet usage during the stream.
*The Pay-per-view pass allows access for a limited time, so we suggest buying the pass no more than 30 minutes before the game is scheduled to begin.

Hope this info helps!


.

Day One, Afternoon....

2007-07-16T12:08:00.000-08:00

The guys played their pick-up game against a Minnesota team, losing 0-1. They had several shots on goal, but couldn't quite get it in. It was a good chance to get used to the fields (what does a flat, grassy field actually feel like?) and the temperature. (Sorry there are no pics of that; I was grocery shopping at Super Target...)

Lunch was a fun and rowdy event, followed by clean up. Connor got vacuum duty...

After lunch the boys had some free time. Several went swimming, and several joined Jake and me for some shopping...

Our first stop was to Soccer USA, just down the road from the hotel. The boys had a ball here. (snicker...) As you can see from the pictures, cleats were purchased (on sale, no less) and lots of happy guys were in evidence!

After Soccer USA we drove over to the Schwan Cup Headquarters to check things out. There's a huge play zone full of activities to do, though they are not open yet. There was also the Puma World Store, where the boys checked out yet more soccer gear. They also checked out a field nearby to see what they'd be playing on.

At 3 PM the guys headed to their rooms for some mandatory downtime. We'll be heading to Opening Ceremonies after dinner. I'll be back with more pictures later!

USA Schwan Cup Day 1

2007-07-16T05:13:00.000-08:00

Well, the Henkes are on the road again. Jake and I (Martina) are in Minneapolis for the Schwan USA Cup. I'll be keeping you all updated the best I can. Happily, the hotel has free wireless, so it should be easy. The boys are enjoying the idea that they are on the internet:

Jake's soccer team, the CISC Velocity 94 RipTide, arrived in Minneapolis at 9:10 PM last night. Our flight was long but uneventful, although luggage took over an hour to get to us. There was a Schwann Cup representative to meet us at the luggage area, and get us to our hotel. The boys were starving, so 8 large pizzas were ordered en route to the hotel, and scarfed down in record time once they arrived. By the time everything was said and done, we were able to get into or rooms around midnight MN time...

We met in the breakfast room by 8 AM this morning, and surprisingly, the boys were up and at 'em! We will see how they are feeling later today when the time change really hits them!

When you enter the hotel there is a map welcoming Schwann Cup teams to the area. There are 3 Velocity teams staying here, as well as a team from Columbia. I'm including a little view of the various places that teams are arriving from...

The boys are outside having their first team meeting. We have a "pick-up" game later this morning. I will post again soon!

More Aruba

2007-03-29T22:30:00.000-08:00

I am going to post a few pictures that I could not load on the ship, due to the slow and expensive connection...

Aruba was colonized by the Dutch, and there is a beautiful old windmill from Holland that has been turned into a restaurant. Nearby, the beaches are beautiful and the cacti are prickly...

Aruba is a desert, and the cacti were everywhere. We found a herd of wild goats, hung out at the beach, and enjoyed the warm but windy weather.

The pictures above are at a famous local hangout called Charlie's. It was started many years ago and the grandson of the founder now runs it. The inside of the bar is covered with souvenirs; walls and ceilings are not visible. We had awesome giant shrimp and locally brewed beer, and enjoyed the stories of a local fellow who'd been around for years and years.

We liked Aruba; it was a very tiny island. The water was great to swim in, and the wind kept us cool. We rented a car and drove from end to end in very little time, enjoying the chance to see local areas. We picked up some European candy for the kids; many were a trip down memory lane for me ( Martina.)

Most of the "action" seemed to be on the coast where all the fancy hotels were, but we liked the isolated beach we found the best. All in all, it was an awesome way to spend a birthday!

Pictures...

2007-03-23T06:56:00.000-08:00

We couldn't get pics to upload last time...trying again!

These are from Aruba. Connection is super slow, so we will post more pics when we have a faster connection.

Yesterday we were in Costa Rica. We took the zipline tour of the rain forest canopy: what a blast! Zipping 100-270 meters from platform to platform, 60-70 feet above the ground. Whew! It was so cool. And we saw a sloth Jake. I got video of him moving up the tree!

The day before we were in Panama. We went through the locks; incredible! Then we kayaked in Gatun lake and saw howler monkeys. Kayaking was new to me (Martina) and loads of fun. We also had a fast-paced adventure in Colon, Panama. We'll post more details later.

Today we are at sea, which is good, because we are tired! Two days in two ports in a row has been fast-paced!

Love you all! Love you Katie!

Aruba and Cruisin'

2007-03-20T15:28:00.000-08:00

We have been busy, busy, busy….relaxing. ☺ The funny thing is, there are tons of things going on here all the time. Each morning you receive a 4 page handout that tells you about all the things you can go do. There are tournaments for everything from shuffleboard and ping pong to volleyball and basketball. There’s a daily art auction, where they auction off Dalis and Miros and all kinds of art. There are cooking demonstrations by the chef (today’s was a black forest cherry cake demonstration.) They have seminars on computer skills, learning Spanish, learning to play the guitar, and how to care of your aching feet. There are movies, shows, casino tournaments, and about 7 different fitness classes a day. There really is so much to do! Our favorite? Lying on a deck chair in the sun! (We did do some other things, we promise! Kirk participated in the ping pong tournament, and he’ll be rock climbing tomorrow.)

Aruba:

We arrived in Aruba as the sun was rising. What a beautiful sight! We chose not to take a planned tour. Instead we rented a car and explored the island ourselves. We were amazed to learn that Aruba is a desert, and we saw the cacti everywhere to prove it. In fact, Aruba has NO fresh water source on the island. No rivers, no lakes, none. They have a huge desalination plant to provide their water. They have an oil refinery, but their main source of economy is the 1.5 million visitors each year.

Our trip along the island included views of stunning beaches, a Dutch windmill from Holland, some wild goats, charming houses that were brightly colored and old-fashioned, miles upon miles of jewelry stores (apparently that’s what everyone shops for,) and geckos galore. Then we took a dip in the ocean, which was wonderful. The water was warm and when you stepped out, the wind didn’t even make you feel cool. It was so great!

Now we are on the way to Panama, where we will arrive early tomorrow morning. We’ve had poolside barbecue today, played Bingo and miniature golf, and will work out here in just a bit.

One thing we are having fun with is the room attendant. He comes in 2-3 times a day to clean up, and when he makes the bed or turns down the bed, he sets it up differently every time. We’re going to upload those pictures to show the different ways he does it. (All right, all right, we’re easily amused!)

Take care everyone, and Martin: we loved your last blog entry, and we hope you’ll do it again SOON! Anne, we’re enjoying your comments too! Will you please post on my blog that I am out of country and will contact my buddy soon!?

2007-03-18T19:08:00.000-08:00

Glad to see your having so much fun. Back here in anchorage it's a balmy 70 degrees. Not! yet it is getting warmer and there are puddles on the side of the road. In case your wondering this is martin writing. I have been to Alyeska twice once on friday and on saturday. The pictures above are of some of the things we have bought with the money you left us. The shoes are Jacob's and he tells me that they're called the Shecklers and that they are kind of big on him but he likes them that way and that the soles of his shoes feel like tempupedic. The Kill your TV shirt i bought at AE and i thought it was kinda funny. The picture Katie is holding up is a drawing she made of Princess and the pauper. Tomarrow we are going to rent viva pinata and she is excited about that. Anyway here's what she has to say and i quote

I love you, i miss you, mommy and daddy love katie martin jacob oma and dash. hope you have a great time on a cruise. I'm doing great and i massaged dash's belly on time. My grandma is upstairs doing well, eating walnuts and chips, drinking coffee and diet coke alllll day. Jacob's playing his skateboard and his guy keeps on falling and bleeding.I miss you mommy and daddy!

Cruise Update #1

2007-03-18T05:24:00.000-08:00

After an airplane trip that took two full days, we finally arrived in Miami, got on a transfer bus, and made it to the cruise ship. It is an incredible sight to behold, with 12 decks and every possible thing you could ever need. It is like a floating city! We spent the first hours on board exploring, eating a delicious buffet lunch, checking out the Miami skyline, and marveling at the feeling of being outside and not needing a jacket! In fact, often it is more comfortable for us outside due to air conditioning inside.

We met our table mates at the dining room the first night; our waitress’ name is Martina, and she is from Trinidad. Almost every person who works on this ship is from another country; it’s like a little miniature “world” on here! Everyone always loves it when we say we are from AK; it’s like we are from Mars or something! The food was very good, and the company very pleasant. Kirk had a bottle of wine, and they cork it for him, and bring it out to the next night’s dinner, until it is gone.

We just can’t get over the level of service that is everywhere. If you want something, it is taken care of. Everything is sparking and clean, because there are tons of people working everywhere at all times. There is a full doctor’s clinic, which is helpful for that injury Martina has, and they have been keeping it on the road to recovery. So far, in the past 36 hours, we’ve: played shuffleboard, worked out (Kirk twice in one day,) laid in the sun, had some tropical drinks, walked over just about every inch of the ship; played slot machines in the casino, (Martina has won small amounts a few times,) watched an NCAA playoff game, got a haircut (Martina,) eaten at Portofino, the fancy Italian restaurant, ordered free room service, watched cooking demonstrations and art auctions, walked and walked some more, watched movies and the karaoke event at a late night bar, and just generally relaxed and had a ton of fun.

Portofino was a wonderful gourmet experience, as you can see in the pictures. Martina had a delicious seafood skewer that included lobster, shrimp, scallops, and salmon. The dessert was a sampler plate with all of their desserts in small portions…so yummy. And check out the after-dinner, thanks-for-dining-here “mint;” it was a tower with cookies and chocolate covered strawberries! A very decadent evening, for sure!

Tomorrow there are a million more things planned, including church services, a ping pong tournament (which Kirk can win, for sure!), more workout time and several fitness classes, a scrapbooking class, volleyball, and so many more things we can’t name them all!

We are amazed, relaxed, pampered, and a bit in shock that we still have about 9 more days of this! We am enclosing some pictures of all the fun we are having…

Katie: What are you doing at home these days? Please answer the blog and tell me what you are doing. Martin can type it for you. The pictures you made for us are right on our mirror in our cabin!

Jake: Have Martin take a picture of your cool shoes to post on the blog. We want to see them. Please be helpful and kind to grandma and Katie, and get along with your brother, ‘kay?!

Martin: How was skiing on Friday? Did the weather improve enough to make it worth your while? What else will you be up to this week? We hope you have a great break; be sure and call some friends and make some arrangements to have some fun together!

A Day in Vegas

2007-03-16T19:10:00.000-08:00

After a nap to make up for all our lost sleep, we headed to the Urgent Care to take care of a medical issue for Martina, and then spent some time on the Strip! We wandered to several casinos and enjoyed watching people. Kirk tried the slots at New York, New York, and turned $10 into $20. That casino is so awesome; when you are inside it is set up like you are on the streets of New York City. Here are some pictures of the casino. (It takes more than one to get the whole casino in.)

The weather was very warm, with blue skies and sunshine! The casinos provided welcome cooling off time as you heat up on your walk down the boulevard. Some of the sights included the Harley Davidson casino (we thought you’d like this shot, Hank.); the Adidas store where Kirk saw many soccer things he’d love to get the boys (no pics; they wouldn’t allow it!); the Coca Cola store (lots of great bottles in there, Martin!); and a cute show girl.

As the day wore on, we were getting hot and a little hungry, so we headed to Caesars’ Palace. We wandered through the Forum shops; saw Bobby Flay’s Mesa grill; caught sight of Pete Rose; and ended up at Poseidon’s fountain for an appetizer and beverage. Our slot winnings helped pay for our treats!

We then headed back to use the rest of our vouchers to enjoy a BBQ dinner at Ellis Island Brewery, again courtesy of the airline. We were hustling to get to the gate, as lines were intense, and would you believe it, we got pulled for a “special security screening.” Good grief…delays at every turn. We made it to the gate just as boarding began.

We love you kiddos, and are thinking of all of you. More news as we get a chance!

Technical Difficulties

2007-03-16T19:06:00.000-08:00

But our trip took an unexpected turn when the flight (with all of us aboard) spent 3 hours at the gate while technicians tried to fix the lights on the cockpit’s instrument panel. An additional hour after the flight was canceled found us on the way to a motel to wait the day out in Las Vegas for a flight 12 hours later. We were supposed to arrive in Miami at 9:00 AM and the cruise loads at 2:00 PM. We are so fortunate that our travel agent at Alaska’s Travel Source had us coming in to Miami a day early; she anticipated the possibility of a canceled flight. Otherwise, we’d be out of luck!
Our hotel included meal vouchers at Ellis Island Brewery and Restaurant, which was a great place! (I am almost positive that The Hungry Detective on the Food Network did a report on it.) For lunch, Kirk had a steak and egg breakfast for $6.96, and Martina had shrimp scampi for $5.95. The portions were generous, and the food was great! Then to top things off, Kirk put $2 in the slot machines and walked away with $13.75. Not a huge jackpot, but it took care of some expenses! ☺

Hello, Las Vegas

2007-03-16T19:00:00.000-08:00

Hi Katie, Mom and boys! Hope all is going well for you! Katie, I hope you are liking your new Barbie movie…
We arrived in Las Vegas in good spirits, and after a sandwich and some window shopping, we headed to our gate. Kirk tried his luck with a dollar in the slots, but as you can see, was not too lucky the first time out. His next spin did yield a whopping 75 cent win! LOL

Test post

2007-03-12T22:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of Katie at the Zoo!

Soccer News...

2007-03-12T00:48:00.000-08:00

Jake got the letter yesterday confirming his acceptance on the Alaska Olympic Development Program team! He was very nervous about making it, and very relieved to get that letter! We are all very excited that he was chosen. He'll head to Oregon in June/July for the camp. Here's the link to the program, if you'd like to see more about what ODP is. One thing that helps put it in perspective is that only 18 players from his age group in the state of Alaska are chosen...

Martin's team finished the indoor season last week with the best record they've had. They held tryouts for the summer season tonight, and also had some discussions with another team here in town about the possibility of merging. (As boys get into their teens, teams get smaller.) Martin also has tryouts for the Dimond High School soccer team this coming week. He's really enjoying soccer more and more these days.... and we love watching him play! (Of course, skiing is always at the top of his list, and Spring Break is just around the corner!)

Let's Get Started!

2007-03-12T00:10:00.000-08:00

Martina posting :
Kirk and I are heading out of the country in a few days to enjoy some sunshine and fun on a cruise, courtesy of a very dear and generous friend. It's the first time in 20 years of marriage that we are going on a vacation, just the two of us. Of course, this just makes me a tiny bit nervous, and I know that Katie will be missing us a bunch, so we decided to try a family blog. I will be teaching the folks back home to update this, and Kirk and I will try to take a few minutes each day to post about what we've been up to, as well as add a few pictures. That way we can stay connected. My hope is that perhaps we can use it even after the vacation as a way to keep relatives and friends in the loop about our lives. I am terrible about snail mail and keeping up with my correspondence, but maybe this techie interface will keep me doing it!

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