January Birthdays and News

Phil -- Jan 11, 1927 (Mar 19, 2010)

Eddie -- Jan 18, 1956 (Sept 6, 2004)
Aunt Mary -- Jan 18, 1911 (Apr 4, 2009)
Aunt Rita -- Jan 23, 1920 (Mar 10, 2001)

• Mom has some bursitis on her elbow. If she keeps it wrapped and takes her anti-inflammatory medicine regularly, she should be alright.
• Probably everyone knows, but Caitlin is moving away from home and getting an apartment with a friend
• Devin and Paul are starting at Sullivan University. Devin is majoring in Marketing and Paul in Business Management.
• Bridget is going to be visiting a friend in New Zealand from mid-January till the end of February.
• Fred is going to be painting the inside of Mom's house.
• I forgot last time to mention that Pat was having her toes operated on. Sorry! She'll have that pin in her toe till the end of January, I think.

Dec Birthdays and News

• Erik--Dec. 4--14
• Joshua--Dec. 11--30
• Paul--Dec. 20--27

• Anybody who's still interested, we're having a Xmas Cookie baking weekend at Mitch and Kim's on Dec. 11 & 12. Let him know if you are coming and need a place to stay. I hope I can get my act together and post some pics.
• Mom just got back from a week on Sanibel Island in Florida with Nikki and Simone. She had such a great time! They went to a honey farm, a mangrove, and lots of farmer's markets. They also combed the beach for gorgeous shells, trying to avoid being bitten by sand fleas--very nasty! 
• Also, anyone who's interested, some of us are getting together at April and Lee's to bake cookies on Dec. 18 at around 1PM. 
• Kevin has done better than anyone expected and improving all the time.

October & November Birthdays and News

Birthdays

• Samuel--Oct. 1--7
•  Natalie--Nov. 26--16

News

• Mom met with the lawyer yesterday, but I wasn't allowed in the room, as she discussed her will with him. I believe he simply said he was going to send another letter to Fritz, putting more pressure on him to give the money back. I'm sure he'll send Mom a copy of that letter.
• Gus and Pat are leaving on their cruise soon, as are Josh and Sam. Both are going to the Caribbean.
• Mom is going to Florida with Nikki and Simone in November. The 18th to the 24th, I believe.
• Kevin is having back surgery on Nov. 12.
• If anybody is interested in getting together at Mitch's on the first weekend of December to make cookies, please let me know. This includes Mitch! ;-) I'm sure we'll also still meet at April's to make cookies before Xmas, as usual.

More News

Things I forgot:

• Paul is living in Louisville now. He's working at Jack Fry's and Jeff Ruby's.
• Jim and Annie got married on July 4.
• I won a 1st place ribbon for my white cake made with yogurt with caramel icing and a 3rd place ribbon for my petit fours at the KY State Fair this year.
• JoAnn's sister Martha passed away in August.
• Mom visited Nikki and Simone in June (I think) and will be visiting Mitch and Kim at the end of Sept/beg of October.
  

Birthdays, Etc

Since I've been so remiss, here are all the birthdays and anniversaries I've missed. Please let me know if I missed someone or have some wrong info.

• Daniel--June 7--28
• Jill--June 9--31
• Devin--June 12--30
• Alec--June 24--16
• Jason--June 26--34
• McKinzie--June 28--9?
• Gus--July 1--59
• Jeremy--July 6--32
• Sam (Roberts)--July 15--??
• Hannah--July 17--4
• Serena--July 22--82
• August--July 28--34
• Cyndi--July 29--49
• Jim--Aug. 11--49
• Sarah--Aug. 15--3
• Kevin--Aug. 20--58
• Simone--Aug. 25--40
• Fred--Aug. 26--50
• Jo Ann--Aug. 26--55
• Bridget--Aug. 29--43
• Amy--Aug. 29--32
• Jaden--30--4??

Anniversaries

• Gina and Jim--July 21, 1990
• Gus and Pat--July 28, 1973--38
• Fritz and Robin--Aug 3, 1974--36
• Phil and Serena--Aug. 21, 1947
• Chris and Cyndi--Aug. 24, 1985--25

September birthdays:

• Lillian--Sept. 11--3
• Suzanne Arndt Morris--Sept. 14
• Kim--Sept. 16--52
• Lee--Sept. 26--32

Im Memoriam:

• Ed--Sept. 6, 2005

News:

I've taken Mom to the doctor a few times and here's what's going on:

• her cholesterol is good (Dr. Rivera was always concerned about it. Oh, Dr. R. is no longer a family doctor, so we've switched to a physician's assistant, Jason Lemon, at the same office.)
• her blood pressure has been great
• she's gained the weight she lost back, so she's back, much to her chagrin, to around 130
• her knee is still giving her problems--it's often swollen and hurts her, esp. if she goes up and down the basement stairs a few times. Jason L. gave her a prescription for a strong NSAID and told her to put ice on it if it swells, but she's not very good about it. When it gets better, she immediately stops the meds. He said she could ease off after it is better, but I don't think he meant as soon as it looks like it's getting better. Argh! She took a walk with me and the dogs the other day, but it's generally too hot. When it gets cooler, I hope we can walk more often. Mitch, Fred and I have talked about hooking up my washer and dryer in the garage, but Mom doesn't want to stop going up and down the stairs since that's her exercise. Dangerous exercise, I think.
• she has a suspicious-looking mole on her back and the doctor's office was supposed to make an appt with a dermatologist, but they haven't so we'll have to call them about it
• Fred's been having chest pain on both sides of his chest--he's getting it checked out, so I'll keep you posted
• I finally made my trip to Germany in July--it was lovely!
• April is teaching middle school now and is really enjoying it
• Devin has had two seizures in the last few months--she was rattled but mostly alright, just a few stitches in her tongue and chin
• Tiffany got a job as a real kindergarten teacher, so she can now make her aides clean up all the kiddy poo!

Another Bit of News

• Alec has gotten his first job as a caddie at a country club!

April & May Birthdays and News

May
Birthdays

• Caitlin--Sat, May 2--20
• April--Mon, May 4--32
• Pat--Fri, May 8--57
• Shawn--Fri, May 29--31

April
Birthdays

• Mitch--Mon, Apr. 20--53
• Tiffany--Thurs, Apr. 23--26
• Tyler--Fri, Apr. 24--5
• Fritz--Tues, Apr. 28--56

Anniversaries
Ed & Jan--Wed, Apr. 29, 1996

News

• Mom found her Italian Baker--it was in my room in the bookshelf ;-)
• Mom's still going through Dad's things and working on writing her will. She's having a difficult time with the latter. I would suggest that if there is something of hers (or Dad's) that you particularly want, you should let her know. She's given a lot of Dad's old clothes away in part because we really need the space here. If you want anything, you really need to talk to her about it or arrange to come visit soon.
• If you haven't heard, Josh and Sam are engaged.
• Mitch and Kim are on vacation on Hawaii. Well, they're probably back home now.
• Funny grandkid story: When they went out to eat to celebrate Pat and April's birthdays and Mother's Day, Sarah was scarfing her French fries down so fast that she mistook her finger for one and bit into it! I don't think surgery was needed, though ;-)

March Birthdays and Anniversaries

Birthdays

• Aunt Anna--Wed, Mar. 3--98
• Janelle--Thurs, Mar. 11--26
• Jan--Fri, Mar. 12--61
• Aunt Angie--Mar. 18, 1917 -- May 2, 2008
• Chris--Fri, Mar. 19--52
• Nikki--Sat, Mar. 20--60
• Jaylen--Fri, Mar. 26--3

Anniversaries
Mitch and Kim--Wed, Mar. 10--32

February Birthdays

• Kaela -- Sun, Feb. 8 --9
• Gina -- Sun, Feb. 15, 1965 --Feb. 13, 2007
• Max -- Thurs, Feb 26 -- 26

Robin -- Sun, Jan 10 -- 53
Jenny -- Sun, Jan 10 -- 35
Phil -- Mon, Jan 11 -- 83
Andrew -- Mon, Jan 12 -- 6
Aunt Mary -- Mon, Jan 18
Eddie -- Mon, Jan 18
Aunt Rita -- Sat, Jan 23

December Birthdays

• Erik--Fri, Dec. 4--13
• Joshua--Fri, Dec. 11--29
• Paul--Sun, Dec. 20--26
  

• The Xmas cookie baking thing at Mitch's has been canceled.
• I am waiting on the results of my BRCA1 and BRCA2 tests. The Genetic Counselor (sounds so nice, huh?) told me that they could find out which lab had done Gina's tests and use those results (thanks to Jim's speedy co-operation with release forms) to determine which test to do for me. Apparently, it's pretty rare for siblings to not have the same mutation. The whole battery of tests is what costs ca. $3,000. Just the one test should be $450 and my insurance should cover it since Gina was positive. (Thanks again to Gina and Jim for having that test done and footing that huge bill.) I'll have those results in a couple of weeks. If I am negative, I'll just have the laparascopy done to remove the cyst and stay in the UK ovarian cancer screening program. If I am positive, I will most likely have my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed and do some sort of hormone therapy program. I'd also have to supplement my yearly mammogram with MRIs. I'd no longer be in the UK program (no ovaries to screen-ha!). She said you can still get peritoneal cancer after your ovaries are removed but that it's very rare and that there's no way to detect it, so if you do get it, it will have progressed so far by the time you know that you have it, they wouldn't be able to save you. My next screening at UK is mid-November and my next oncologist appointment is end of November.
• My lawyer says that the judge won't decide till February whether my case will even go to trial, so if it doesn't, I'll have to vacate the house asap in February and pay back-rent for the last 10 months. If it does go to trial, that will happen around April.
• Pat's been on Jury Duty the past week and this week. I think Gus and August have done a great job not freaking out! I think Pat's been enjoying herself--she actually got to finish a book she's been reading!
• Paul is moving to Louisville at the end of November and will start at Sullivan's Culinary School in January.
• Devin is moving to Louisville in mid-January and will start working for Pat and Gus full-time.
  

November Birthdays and News

Natalie--Thurs, Nov. 26--15

--Kaela had her first fall from a horse last month but she got right back on and kept going--what a trouper! She fell again about a week later but she doesn't seem to be afraid.
--Jenny and Kevin had a rockin' Halloween Party!
Jenny and Kevin

Amy and Jason

Kaela, Tyler, Andrew, Jaylen, and Lillian

--Here's the Adams, oops, I mean Salyer Family all dressed up for Trick or Trunking, I believe:


--Caitlin, Natalie and Cyndi were on the news! Here's the link to the written piece and a lovely photograph: http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Last-Day-For-Rainman-Mansion-Estate-Sale/t9mTlK-5lk65Dwx763fX8g.cspx
--Joe and Janelle have bought a house and are getting their wedding planned.
--Tyler lost his first tooth Saturday--on Halloween of all days! The Tooth Fairy left him $5! (Apparently the going rate for first teeth nowadays.) Now he thinks he'll get $10 for the next one :D
--Jill walked in the ADA Diabetes Walk last month.
--Here's a cute picture of the Wheatley Family getting their pumpkin:












--More Halloween pictures: You go, girl! (Josh, actually.)

Jaden and Mya.

Here is an update on my cyst (I think I'm going to start calling this the Klein Medical Chronicles):

• I have a cyst on my right ovary that is about the size of a golf ball and is filled with fluid.
• The disturbing parts about this cyst is that it is steadily getting larger and it has papillations, which are fern-like growth out of it (rather than having a smooth surface). Well, and also that it causes me a fair amount of discomfort!
  
• I have been to see a GYN-Oncologist and he's recommending that I have genetic testing done. Gina had this done and was tested positive for having a mutated breast cancer gene (for more information click here). If I have this mutation (which men can also have, btw), then I would be predisposed to have breast and/or ovarian cancer, so they could do certain procedures, such as removing my ovaries to better protect me from getting cancer. If I don't have the mutation, then they will just deal with this cyst--probably doing laparoscopy (more info) to remove it.
• My next ultrasound at UK is on Nov. 19 and I've also been able to schedule genetic testing to be done the same day. My next appt with the GYN-Oncologist is at the end of November, so I'll let you know what's up after that.

I would like to request that all of my siblings let me know what medical issues they have--high blood pressure or whatever--and I will disseminate the info--to each individual w/o using names to indicate who has what if you'd like. When I took Mary to the doctor, they always wanted to know what diseases her siblings and parents had. Studies have shown that what your siblings have is often more important than what your parents have because you share more genes with your siblings. They asked me about my siblings at the oncologist's office and I felt like such a dummy. This is so important! Please let me know about this!

Also, please start keeping a medical journal. Get a notebook and record the names and dosages of your medications and when you start and stop them, any allergies you have, the dates of any operations or procedures, and the names and contact info for emergency contacts as well as all your doctors. If you are having any symptoms, write them in this notebook. When you go to the doctor, write up a list of issues (in this notebook) that you want to discuss with him. Take the notebook to the with you to the doctor and record your blood pressure, weight and temperature. Take notes on your visit and any test results. Later on when/if someone has to take care of you, this will all be invaluable information.

I just got this email from Jackie Beisler Ridsdale and thought you all would like to know about it:

Dear Bridget, Sorry we missed the Beisler get-together this year. There was a calamity in our lives involving our eldest son, Pres, who was in a motorcycle accident & lost his right leg. As if that wasn't enough he later fell & badly broke his load bearing left leg @ both the fibula & tibia bones. He is @ home w/hank & me & we are just thankful that he is alive! Sorry again to miss out on all the Beislers. Love to you & all the family, Jac

I went with Mom and Dad to a Parkinson's doctor this morning since he hadn't been to a Parkinson's specialist for a couple of years. Just to check on his meds, esp. since he's so sleepy all the time. Unfortunately, they screwed up the referral and said he was a new patient, so they assigned him to a different doctor, who then had to go through all his history again, so it was like a new visit instead of a follow-up. He didn't seem to happy about that and seemed to want Dad to see the other doctor next time. Good try, huh?

Anyway, this doctor said that he wants to increase his Levodopa (for his Parkinson's) to 4 pills a day instead of 3. I can't remember that he gave a specific reason. To see if he shakes less? He said the L-dopa doesn't usually make patients sleepy, but if someone has Parkinson's then it will make them "wobbly," by which he means that sort of fidgetyness that you may observe in Michael J. Fox.

He did several tests and said that Dad had Parkinson's-like symptoms

• stiffness
• shaking of hands (although Dad had Essential Tremors, which is a quicker sort of shaking, prior to this--I think Fred, Mitch and Gus have experienced this after drinking a lot of caffeine)
• slowness of movement

He said Dad displayed memory loss since his last visit, but that this was probably due to age and that his CT scan (when??) showed reduced vascular activity due probably to age and high blood pressure (I think that was it). He also said that Dad's "Unique Personality" didn't seem to stem from the meds, so he wasn't sure if he could do anything about it. He mentioned giving Dad a stimulant for his sleepiness, such as low-grade Ritalin, but he really didn't want to go there. Instead, he gave Dad a prescription for something to help him sleep at night. The problem with this is that Dad will then stand up next to the bed and pee b/c he can't make it to the potty. Or else he'll pee in the bed, which is also a major annoyance... He needs to stop drinking Coke Zero before he goes to bed b/c this is 1) a liquid and 2) has caffeine in it.

The doctor also gave Dad a prescription for something to help with his constipation. The NP wanted Mom to give Dad MiraLAX every day, but she says Dad just lets it sit there and doesn't drink it.

The follow-up appointment is in April. Nice long time to wait and see if things get any better, huh?

BTW, Dad told the doctor that it wasn't certain that Aunt Dorothy had Parkinson's! That was news to me. Mom also thought that the complications from Parkinson's were what she eventually died from.

• Nik and Simone worked like Turks cleaning Mom and Dad's house. It fairly sparkled!
• I just wanted to let you all know, in case you didn't already, that not only did Aunt Dorothy (Dad's sister) have breast cancer but Aunt Gert (Grandma's twin sister) had a mastectomy (Mom's doesn't think she actually had cancer) and Grandpa Klein's mother died (around age 50) of breast cancer.
• Here's a picture from our cousins Suzanne and Ken out in Washington:
• Apparently Fritz's chihuahua died Sunday morning. If you can drop him a line, Fritz is pretty upset.

October Birthdays and Anniversaries

Birthday

• Samuel--Thurs, Oct. 1--6

Anniversary

• Jason & Amy--Sat, Oct. 10, 1998--11
  

Oops!

• I forgot to mention that Fred and Dena also got engaged!
  

• Dad went for his blood check-up last week....
• Ursula and Dean have been having a hard time with little work coming their way, but Ursula has just started a new job. She says it is in communications and marketing, mostly writing and editing, and that it included the quarterly alumni newsletter. She studied journalism, so that's right up her alley.
• Janelle and Joe have set a date for their wedding: July 24, 2010. (That's 2 days after Mom's b-day, btw.)
  
• Pat and Gus were finally able to buy the rest of the building that houses their business. Pat's cousin, who owned it, didn't want to sell it but didn't want to repair anything, either. So now they are relieved to not have to build another building--but they've got a ton of repair-work ahead of them!
• Jim and Annie have become engaged. They will also get married next summer, but I don't think they've set a date yet. They will also be moving after the school year is over. I think they've already found a house about 2 miles from Jim's parents.
• Nikki has been seeing some changes at work due to cuts in funding. I think they may have her working part-time in another lab.
  
• Mom and Dad have named their puppy Sophie.
  
• I missed Lee's birthday last month--sorry!
• I think the reunion went really well yesterday! There were altogether 37 adults and 18 children there.
• Jo Ann's car was ruined by that flash flood that we had in August, so she had to get a new one--well, new to her ;-)
• Mom's storm windows, made by Gus and Pat's company, have now been put in. (Fred painted, I washed, Mitch screwed and August advised.) Gus had to buy extra firewood last winter because the windows didn't get replaced before the cold weather :-)
  
• A guy from AT&T went to Mom and Dad's house and decided they needed a new modem, so Dad should be able to surf to his heart's content now. BTW, since the computer's upstairs, Dad can get Mom to look at emails. Mom won't admit it, but she really enjoys the jokes.
• I have a pre-trial date for the house lawsuit at the end of October. Apparently, this is the last attempt to settle before going to court.
• Jill is signing up to start the Ovarian Cancer Screening program at UK. I had to fax them a copy of Gina's death certificate (since Jill's under 35), so if any of you nieces want to participate, Jill would be interested in getting a group together--UK will gladly accommodate a g roup when scheduling appointments. If you want to start getting the screenings, make sure they know about the fax. I'm not sure if it would be in Jill's or my file.