Pictures from Barbara's 80th Birthday Party

Barbara (one of Uncle Vince's children, grew up with Mom)

Sonja (one of B's daughter), Paula (one of B's sister), Serena

Serena and Carrie (one of B's sisters)

Serena and Barbara

Larry (Cousin Vince's son), Serena, Gus

Irene (Oh, no! Ask Mom! I just know she was married to a Link) and Serena

• Mom's endoscopy went well. The doctor said everything looked really good. He took some biopsies from her stomach and is testing for H-Pylori, which Nikki has. She's supposed to go back to see this doctor soon.
• Mom had an MRA done a few days ago. Dr. Rivera ordered this because of several people in the family having vascular dementia. Apparently there is a problem with one of her arteries and she is being sent to an neurosurgeon to see if there is a medication she can take. I think the artery is enlarged and pressing on something... sorry but I wasn't there when the doctor called and I was tired when Mom told me about it. If anyone gets a better idea of what's going on, please comment below!
• Jan is planning on bringing Alec and Erik to Louisville around July 4.
  

• Dad had his final visit at the Wound Care Center--his toes are healing up fine. Since Dad complains of a pain in his right leg that is "the worst pain you can imagine," the doctor recommended that he get an arteriogram to see where the main blockage is and whether anything could be done, but Dad didn't want to do it.
  
• Mom took another Alzheimer's test during her visit to Dr. Rivera and did just fine. So I guess it's just the stress of living with Dad (including lack of sleep) that's causing her to be so forgetful.
  
• Mom's gastroscopy is scheduled for June 9. She's still having a lot of problems with acid reflux and coughing. Dr. Rivera said that she needs to add No Milk/Dairy Products to her list of Things She Can't Have--along with Salt and Beer. I've requested some books from the library about Acid Reducing Diets (ie, cutting out acid-causing foods). I think she's taking Protonix once a day pretty regularly. She's lost 10 lb since February from not being able to eat.
• Paul's surgery for his hernia is scheduled for June 9. Jo says it will be out-patient and he will be awake during the procedure! Oh, my!
• Caitlin says she's going to start studying Social Work in the fall.
• Cyndi is taking Natalie to NYC for her graduation present, and she is, like, totally psyched! They will be joined by Caitlin, Sue (Cyndi's sister) and Sue's kids and then they're going on to Philadelphia and Cedar Point. I had never heard of Cedar Point, so I was fascinated to read the following:

Cedar Point is an amusement park located in Sandusky, Ohio, on a narrow peninsula jutting into Lake Erie. It currently holds the world record for most roller coasters, one of which, Top Thrill Dragster, is the world's second tallest and second fastest roller coaster, reaching speeds of 120 mph (190 km/h) and a height of 420 feet (130 m). Cedar Point is also the only amusement park with four roller coasters that are taller than 200 feet (61 m). As of 2008^[update], Cedar Point has more rides (75) than any other amusement park.

It also has a mile-long white sand beach, an outdoor water park (Soak City), an indoor waterpark and hotel (Castaway Bay), two marinas, several hotels, and Challenge Park, which features attractions such as go-karts and miniature golf. Known as "America's Roller Coast", Cedar Point has been voted "Best Amusement Park in the World" by "Amusement Today" for the past eleven years.

It sounds like they are going to have a vacation to remember!

• I haven't heard much about the law suit--just that Anna is supposed to go into my lawyer's office for a deposition on June 12. I'll keep everyone posted.
• Barbara Bard's family threw her a surprise 80th birthday party on Sun., May 31. Mom, Gus, Fritz, Robin and I were in attendance. There were probably about 50-60 people there. Barbara, Gloria and Paula are Uncle Vince (one of Mom's brothers) and Aunt Carrie's daughters. B and G were Mom's best friends growing up, along with Sonny (sp?), who was one of Uncle George's daughters. Gloria, btw, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, which is very disturbing for Mom, as you can imagine.
• Larry Beisler was also at the party--he's Uncle Vince's son. Or his grandson? I get these things confused... Anyway, he's the one who hosted the Beisler get-togethers that Fritz organized. There were two ca. 7 and 8 years ago. Larry's home is over in Indiana. He's interested in hosting another one--we're all thinking early September might be good. Just a heads up.
• Simone's strawberry patch is doing great! It's 10' by 10' and she got 2 gallons on one day recently. She rents three little garden plots and they're part of a larger garden community. This is a really popular thing in Germany, btw, and people have little "houses" in these gardens--with all the emenities (ie, coffee maker, fridge for beer and bed for naps). They call them "Kleingartenvereine," which means "Little Garden Clubs."
  

June Birthdays

• Daniel--Mon, June 7--27
• Jill--Tues, June 9--30
• Devin--Fri, June 12--29
• Alec--Wed, June 24--15
• Jason--Fri, June 26--33
• McKinzie--Sun, June 28--8?