Branson, MO
John and I are here for a week of vacation rest. Not that we LOVE Branson but it was pretty close to home and it was available for $269 for a spacious one-bedroom condo. We got here on Monday after four wonderful days in Chattanooga with all our kids.
We left early last Wednesday for medical appointments in St. Louis. We had rescheduled our plastic surgeon's appointment in order to do it on the way to Tennessee. I had tried to reschedule our appointment with infectious diseases, too, but Dr. Vasquez was not in the clinic on Wednesdays. But on Tuesday, they call US to see if we could be there to see her. Though she was not in clinic that day, she came over from the hospital, especially to see John. Next time, we've decided to charge THEM when they want to see us and call and INVITE us for an appointment!
Dr. Vasquez is a Fellow in Infectious Diseases which means she is doing specialty training. Her rotation ends in June, so she told us she will probably not see us again since she is going to New Mexico where her husband is. This is her second specialty, the first being Intensive Care. She has been our favorite doctor because she is so caring and compassionate. She assured us that John needs to stay on antibiotics and begged us not to listen to other physicians who might say it was not necessary. The doctor in charge of her, the Attending Physician, also came in to talk to us and told us the same bad news! We can be thankful that John has tolerated the antibiotics well so far.
Last time we were there for medical appointments was in March and John was in a wheel chair. This time, we navigated the whole distance without one...marvelous progress! Dr. Kels is a woman doctor also and the plastic surgeon. John had a list of 14 questions for her. She's a very matter-of-fact sort of person. She always takes pictures of John to compare. Her examination led her to believe that John may have some herniation or pouching out of the intestines through the fascia under the skin. After six months or so she might consider some surgical repair or even the insertion of some mesh support. She wasn't too delighted with some of John's questions and he didn't even get through them all. Basically, she just reiterated that the flaps were a life-saving procedure and that these negative outcomes have to be accepted until such time as repair might be possible.
We ate a good lunch in the Children's Hospital cafeteria, then headed east, arriving in Nashville at Heidi's house (my sister) quite late. She was not yet back from San Diego and we had a hard time getting in her gate, had to wait for someone to come out, then we scurried in. We went straight to bed and slept well. Heidi had gotten in near 2 am but we had time to have a nice breakfast with her. We got to Collegedale around 1. Everyone was ready to eat lunch and so we ate Mexican food, John's current favorite.
Sandra (Winston's Mom) had arrived and we went on a nice walk, leaving John to take a rest. We walked a trail behind the tennis courts, along the stream, and it was such a pretty and scenic walk. It goes past the "vespers bowl" which is a lovely meadow with bluffs, then follows around to a pretty picnic shelter. We then crossed the campus to the new nursing building then back along the Promenade to Southern Village where Karissa's apartment is. She had rented an apartment for us and we moved our stuff in. It was just across the way from hers.
That was the day we had the best time talking with our kids because it was mostly just us. From there, things got really hectic with lots more people around. Wish we'd had more time for in-depth conversations. After John went to bed, Natasha wanted to eat at Yellow Deli. Winston had gone to bed cause he had to work Friday, so just Jeremy and Natasha and Karissa and I went. It's a wonderful and unique place run by a sect of people who follow some Jewish ways. I had been to one in Vermont last summer and the decor and menu were similar. It was rainy and cool by this time and so we enjoyed our potato soup and sandwiches. Wish I had taken some pictures.
The best part of the afternoon was meeting Jan Sauder. Her daughter is Janna, an apartment-mate and classmate of Karissa's. Janna's grandmother was best friends with my mother through nursing school and all our lives. So getting to meet Jan was like seeing a dear long-lost cousin. They live in Hawaii. We were able to reminisce about so many times our families got together through the years. I also got to meet Nancy Farhbach, another daughter of my mother's best friend, as well as Sue Knudson, the daughter of Jean Hildebrand, the other best friend of my mother. Her son was graduating from Southern, too.
Early Friday, I walked down to the Wellness Center and was able to talk to Dr. Phil Garver. Karissa had told me he was retiring. He's hired three people and will be phasing out by August 1. We kept busy all day with graduation preparations, making food, and shopping. Kaitlin is Karissa's roommate and her folks stopped by later in the morning and told us about their home nearby and asked us to stop by and see it. We went there later in the afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed their hide-a-way and renovation project. Later, we dropped by Savannah's grandparents. She is one of Karissa's apartment-mates. Savannah's grandparents have always loved Karissa and they are delighted that she will be staying with them for a while. Savannah's mother, Dephena, came also and we so enjoyed meeting her.
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| Natasha and Karissa horsing around while we all cook |
Molly and Bob Weaver are Sandra's folks who live in Gentry, Arkansas and in Palm Springs, California. We were delighted to meet them because Karissa has always loved them. Jeff and Lisa Tonack arrived about the same time.
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| Supper with Winston's family and ours |
It was a wonderful get-acquainted time and we enjoyed being all together. It was raining something fierce and we all just appreciated being warm and cozy inside.
Sabbath the deluge continued. John felt unable to navigate a day full of people so we opted to stay at home while Karissa and Winston and his family all went to The Well. Our picnic lunch was served in the apartment and not at
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| Natasha, RN, pinning Karissa |
Karissa had to be at the church by about 6. She looked darling in her old-fashioned nursing uniform dress. Winston's family saved us seats and we enjoyed the vespers and pinning ceremony. Natasha pinned Karissa and that was special.
Sunday was AWFUL! The rain continued and we packed up and got away late, totally missing the processional of our daughter's graduation. I felt soooo bad. Winston's family had again saved seats for us and people around them were mad that we didn't show up on time. We were way in the back and could hardly see and were thankful for the monitors up front that showed us what was going on. There were 453 graduates...! Afterwards, I got separated from the family because I was waiting for Heidi. She arrived about half way through and wanted to visit with Dr. Don Fahrbach. I left her to visit and with those thousands of people milling around how was I EVER to find my family? I finally texted Winston and he was kind enough and attentive enough to get my text and respond. By the time I finally found them all, I was in tears. It just shows how emotionally raw I am with all that has been happening in my life!
To the right here you can see the graduation program with our Karissa's name and her Cum Laude honors....so proud of her! She always took a full load of classes and always worked for Mark and Marla, being a nanny to their kids AND STILL she graduates with honors!
Praise God for such smart and motivated girls!
After graduation, we had to maneuver with two cars and find out way over to the restaurant and nearly lost John in the process! As usual, he didn't even know he was lost! That stressed me out, too. What poor shape I've been in!
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| Aunt Heidi and Karissa |
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| All six of us after eating together at Toneys |
Natasha and Jeremy were the next to leave. They had to get back to Dayton, Ohio, for Jeremy to resume his Physician Assistant classes and for Natasha to begin her clinicals.
Heidi had never seen downtown Chattanooga before. The rain had finally cleared and the sun came out bright and clear. One of our favorite places is the pedestrian bridge over the Tennessee River. Heidi and I walked briskly all the way across and then around Coolidge Park. John walked s-l-o-w-l-y and we found him sunning himself on a bench not even half-way across! We walked back to the beginning, left John again, and walked across the clear bridge where you can see down to the traffic below then up to the beautiful art museum, then down the long pathway to the history iron works, down to the river's edge, which was very high due to so much rain, and back up to where John was waiting for us.
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| Heidi, John and I on the Pedestrian Bridge in Chattanooga |
We stopped very briefly at Wildwood. Heidi carefully maneuvered her car up the muddy hill to the hilltop cemetary. It is a lovely and quiet and very natural resting place. So appropriate for our simple, nature-loving parents.
From there we drove the 2 hours back to Heidi's home in Nashville, had a simple supper, and went straight to bed. John and I were up early and on the road to Branson by 8 am.
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| Heidi and I at our folks' tombstone at the Wildwood hilltop cemetary |
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