Last week was pretty exciting...we got to practice our tornado drills here in lovely Louisville on Thursday night. Our little slice of heaven was spared thank goodness and we send our prayers to those who had problems with the weather.

Jon went to the lake over the holiday weekend with our sister Beth and her hubby Bryan. The weather was not the best there either but the S.S. Minnow was never in jeopardy. Both the Barnes Boys and I suspect Beth and Bryan also are tuckered out.  Jon's hands and elbows are showing remarkable improvement. We are still enjoying some digestive success and look forward to that trend continuing.

Ms Claire had the remarkable opportunity to visit Washington D.C. and attend the opening of the W.W. II Memorial. Her entire family was there and she was especially proud of her father who is a veteran.

I was able to spend some time with my bride and we even kitty sat over the weekend. (I bet our temporary guest becomes permanent) My yard was only 3 feet tall so I played Croc Hunter with my mower and got it all spruced up in no time flat.

Our sister Beth took this picture when were at the lake the weekend before last. (And yes the water is green, the NYPD hat is courtesy of yours truly)
We had a somewhat busy time since the last entry. Jon has met all and I mean ALL his new nurses. They are a kind and very effecient lot. We went to visit his doctor last Friday and the visit went well. It was decided to get Jon a CT scan which we accomplished yesterday. His hands and elbows are showing a remarkable turnaound and the digestive front is still being approached in a optimistic manner.

Queen Claire was down for the weekend and perked up my brother's spirits. I went home to visit my lovely bride who unfortunately is suffering through a summer cold. ( I left her with an abundance of chicken soup, orange juice, and puffs) It was nice to see her even though she was miserable.

If all goes well we might even get the Jonmeister to leave a note up here today. He has checked his email for his personal and business accounts and even made a few phone calls. I bet he even writes something about his handsome brother when he posts.

Take care and thanks for thinking of my brother

 

It's Tuesday morning and we are almost recovered from our hectic weekend. Our lovely sister Beth and her hubby Bryan invited us down to their boat at Dale Hollow. It was my first trip to Dale Hollow and my first in person look see of their cool boat. We left Fri afternoon and returned home late Sun afternoon. Beth and Bryan have quite the set up with their slick, hip, ultra clean, and super duper impressive boat and related slip. etc.

Jon traveled fairly well down there and we used my GPS to figure out where we were. He spent the weekend being attended to by Beth and I helped some.  He slept, read, slept, read, and even played some cards with Beth and Bryan's slip neighbors Ron and Roberta. (Beth and Ron have a hilarious hate hate relationship) I attempted to fish, (my first time in 10 years) and managed a nibble or 2. Bryan hooked this huge ( and yes we have another witness) large mouth bass that unfortunately got away.

We have had more progress on the medical side of things. Jon's hands and elbows are responding better than expected to the wound care regimen. His gastric functions are improving and we even tried a small piece of chicken last nite. We have some new players in helping him recover. A CNA was by yesterday who helped Jon bath, a new nurse, and we will probably take advantage of a social workers services being offered.

Tis Thursday afternoon and my brother is napping. We had a "wound care" nurse come by the other day and take a look at Jon's elbows and hands. (she said his male nurse was doing a fabulous job) He now is getting antibacterial ointment on his hands during the day and  "Aquaphore" and gloves on them at night. We are already seeing improvement. The only side effect is my brother looks like a Young Debutante from the wrists down in the evening. I am considering getting him a small strand of pearls to complete the outfit.

Other than that it is a beautiful day out there, sunny and barely a cloud in sky. I will leave you with some groaners our sister Beth sent.

1. Two vultures boarded a plane, each carrying two dead raccoons. The
stewardess stops them and says "sorry sir, only one carrion per passenger."

2. NASA recently sent a number of Holsteins into orbit for experimental
purposes. They called it the herd shot round the world.

3. Two boll weevils grew up in S. Carolina. One took off to Hollywood and
became a rich star. The other stayed in Carolina and never amounted to
much--and naturally became known as the lesser of two weevils.

4. 2 Eskimos in a kayak were chilly, so they started a fire, which sank
the craft, proving the old adage you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

5. A 3-legged dog walks into an old west saloon, slides up to the bar and
announces "I'm looking for the man who shot my paw."

6. Did you hear about the Buddhist who went to the dentist, and refused to
take Novocain? He wanted to transcend dental medication.

7. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel, and met in the lobby
where they were discussing their recent victories in chess tournaments.
The hotel manager came out of the office after an hour, and asked them to
disperse. He couldn't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.

8. A women has twins, gives them up for adoption. One goes to an Egyptian
family and is named "Ahmal" The other is sent to a Spanish family and is
named "Juan". Years later, Juan sends his birth mother a picture of
himself. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband she wishes she also had
a picture of Ahmal. He replies, "They're twins for Pete sake!! If you've
seen Juan, you've see Ahmal!!"

9. A group of friars opened a florist shop to help with their belfry
payments. Everyone liked to buy flowers from the Men of God, so their
business flourished. A rival florist became upset that his business was
suffering because people felt compelled to buy from the Friars, so he
asked the Friars to cut back hours or close down. The Friars refused. The
florist went to them and begged that they shut down. Again they refused. So the
florist then hired Hugh McTaggert, the biggest meanest thug in town. He
went to the Friars' shop, beat them up, destroyed their flowers, trashed their
shop, and said that if they didn't close, he'd be back. Well, totally
terrified, the Friars closed up shop and hid in their rooms. This proved
that Hugh, and only Hugh, can prevent florist friars.

10. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot his whole life, which
created an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very
little, which made him frail, and with his odd diet, he suffered from very bad
breath. This made him ....what? (This is so bad it's good...)--a
super-callused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

11. And finally, ...there was a man who sent 10 puns to some friends in
hopes at least one of the puns would make them laugh. Unfortunately no pun
in ten did!!!

For those of you who were not aware...I am back in lovely Louisville. The weather has been a tad warmer then by the lake but still warmer and much appreciated. I arrived a week ago Monday afternoon and found Jon in good spirits and Sammy his usual sharp toothed self.

The skin on Jon's hands and elbows is inflamed and cracking but we are having some success with bandages and various ointments to keep them hydrated and protected. The smoothies have continued with some positive results and contributions to Tony G's livelyhood have been made. He still battles nausea but the episodes have been deminishing. Jon's energy level is far from being great but we are seeing some improvement and look forward to more.
 
Claire was here over the weekend and we watched some movies (2 thumbs up for Big Fish and 1.5 for Dickie Roberts) We all picked six horses from the field and yours truly was the big winner for Derby Day. Unfortunately, we did not have a computer powerful enough to extrapolate Pi to the 3 millionth digit, therefore my winnings have not been calculated but I figure I might be at least 25 cents richer. I have had my eye on this Ferrari, there now just might be enough for the lease down payment in my checking account. Work is progressing on Kathleen's web page, we have the domain name and web hosting set, now her wonderful, bright, witty, intelligent, handsome, sweet, modest, and all around great guy little brother has to finish and publish the darn thing.

The ever bubbly Queen Cate was by yesterday. She now possesses a stereo in her cruiser and has the ability to annoy her fellow drivers at stop lights by turning the volume full blast as she chair dances to John Tesch while wearing her Michael Jackson sequined driving glove.

A steady stream of friends and family have called to check on Jon and we are truly thankful for the outpouring of love and concern.

Till Later...

Tim

Hi Everyone,

Dear Friends and Family of Doc Jon,

I'm sorry it's been so long since we updated you.

We are much encouraged by the return of some digestive function we've seen in Jon. This is the first in nearly htree months, so it's certainly reason to celebrate.

He remains very tired, but his spirits are good and his attitude is, as always, chirpy. There are periodic problems with nausea and skin cracking (a side effect of the chemo), but he's drinking smoothies and eating pureed soups and drinking tons o' tea and loving his daily foot massages.  

Sweet Tim actually set up Jon's laptop with wireless access (what a prince our Techno Tim is), so he's actually able to read the blog and doa few things online as energy permits.    

I'm here in beautiful Kentucky all this week. Beth and Jule were here last week and I am hearing legendary tales of their visit wherever I go, but I'll let them regale you with their stories. Beth, Julie, where are you? Tim will be back next week after a rather trying trip to NYC-- they unfortunately missed the Today show appearance. 

Jon and Claire took an Easter Sunday drive to enjoy the glories of spring - hope you're all enjoying it, too. We love hearing from you.

Hugs to all, Kathleen     

Tis Monday the 12th and I home preparing for my trip to NYC with my bride and her bright, well behaved, students.  Claire and her lovely daughters arrived on Saturday to prepare and easter feast and abuse a poor little chocolate bunny. I couldn't stand to see the little chocolate tears streaming down it's cute little bunny face.  Our sister Beth arrived at Jon's yesterday and baby sis Julie will arrive this evening. Jon was pretty tired all last week but we found out a major reason why. His hemoglobin counts were very low (a side effect of the chemo), so he had a tranfusion on Saturday. His cheeks now have a rosy flush! We also have started Jon on a tea that Doc Laura recommended and have had some promising results and more business for Tony G.

Speaking of Tony G... he was by the week before last and gave Jon a hand held, "Dharmic Powerpoint Presentation". It was very well thought out and obviously Tony had invested much time and effort into it. He said something very touching to Jon as he was leaving. "I don't know why you are so surprised so many people love you." A truer phrase has never been spoken.

For those of you who are early risers please watch the "Today Show" on Thursday of this week, we are scheduled to be outside their studio at 7:00. Hopefully you can see my bride and her kids perform. (I plan on telling the world I am having Al Rokers love child unless they put us on camera!) The kids are also going to perform at the Statue of Liberty and St. Patricks Cathedral. If I can survive the lightning bolts I should be able to post more on the blog upon our return.

No pics this week but I thought I would leave you with some cute humor...

A middle aged woman spends $5000 for a face lift and feels pretty good about herself. On her way home, she stops at a news stand to buy a newspaper. Before leaving she says to the clerk, "I hope you don't mind my asking, but how old do you think I am?"
"About 32," was the reply. "I'm exactly 47, " the woman says happily.
A little while later she goes into McDonald's and asks the counter girl the
very same question. She replies, "I guess maybe... about 29?"
The woman replies, "Nope, I'm 47." Now she's feeling really good about herself. She stops in a drug store on her way down the street. She goes up to the counter to get some mints and
asks the clerk this burning question. The clerk responds, "Oh, I'd say... 30."
Again she proudly responds, "I am 47, but thank you." While waiting for the bus to go home, she asks an old man the same question. He replies, "Lady, I'm sorry, I'm 78 and my eyesight is not so good. Although..., when I was young, there was a sure fire way to tell how old a
lady was. It may sound a little forward, but it requires me put my hands
under your bra. I could then tell you exactly how old you are." They waited in silence on the empty street until curiosity got the best of her. She finally blurts out, "Oh what the hell, go ahead."
He slips both of his hands under her blouse and inside her bra and begins to feel around very slowly, very carefully. He Lifts one breast then the other and holds each and touches and caresses each breast... After a couple of minutes, she said, "Okay, okay,... that's enough, how old
am I ?" He completes one last squeeze and removes his hands, "Madam, you are exactly
47 years old." Stunned and amazed, the woman says, "That was incredible,... how did you
know?"
He replied, "I was in line behind you at McDonald's."

Monday our favorite home healthcare nurse came to visit, unfortunately after she left one of Jon's "PIC" lines started to leak. We spent this morning at the hospital getting it replaced then he had his vitamin C infusion. What a fun day! I did have some entertainment myself. I emptied the litter box and cleaned up the laundry room in anticipation of Claire's visit this weekend and our sisters Beth and Julie next week. I will be in New York with my lovely bride and 80 of the brightest, best, and hopefully oh so hopefully well behaved high school students.

An Amish woman was driving her buggy to town when a highway patrol officer stopped her. "I'm not going to cite you," said the officer. "I just wanted to warn you that the reflector on the back of your buggy is broken and It could be dangerous."

"I thank thee," replied the Amish lady. "I shall have my husband repair it as soon as I return home." "Also," said the officer, "I noticed one of your reins to your horse is wrapped around his testicles. Some people might consider this cruelty to animals so you should have your husband check that too."

"Again I thank thee. I shall have my husband check both when I get home." True to her word when the Amish lady got home she told her husband about the broken reflector, and he said he would put a  new one on immediately.

"Also," said the Amish woman, "The policeman said there was
something wrong with the emergency brake."

Hi Everybody,