South Padre Duds

Wednesday was a warm and pretty day, so we decided to get a cheapo lunch at Arby's.  And it wasn't bad at all!  After that we were driving up the parkway and stopped at the Three Bears Country Store.  And believe it or not, I found my Rooster Lamp. 

He's actually prettier in person

We wandered all around looking at the new Christmas merchandise and spent a good hour in there.  The boys were ready to move on - we figured that out when we couldn't find them in the store and discovered they had gone to the truck to rest.  Further up the Parkway was a Western Wear store.  Well, we had to check that out.  Oooooo, cowboy boots!  I love cowboy boots. And hats, and clothes and stuff!  We all spent time trying on our Texas duds that we are planning to wear every day in Texas.  Maybe not on South Padre Island, but out on the range.  With the deer and antelope.  Yeeha.  Walked out with nothing, but sure had fun.  Donna found a shirt she fell in love with and Ron found a new wallet. 

We had some leftover chile at Donna's and hung out a while. 

Thursday it was going to rain, but it sure was sunny in the morning.  I finished my pumpkins that JoAnn and Rodney helped me cut.  I still want to add some berries and/or leaves to dress them up a bit more. 

 But before it rains - what to do?  Let's go to the Bush's Bean Factory in Chestnut Hill.  The place was decked out in fall decor,  

and we had our photos taken with Duke and Jay:

Ron wanted to know how much he weighed in beans.  That's a lot of beans, Ron!

We found a few gifts for Christmas in the General Store, and watched the 'factory tour' movie which was quite entertaining, and, of course, informative.  It was pouring when we left and continued to rain all night.

We picked up a movie for after dinner at the Red Box but Gary was not feeling really well, so we left in the middle of it.  His elbow area was hurting, red and swollen and by 10:30 he had a high fever.  We called the Dr. (twice) and he finally returned our call.  We got dressed and headed to the Emergency Room.  We arrived there at 12:30 and was finally seen at 2:30 am.  The ER Dr. took gallons of blood, gave him some antibiotics using his port, and admitted him.  We thought it was cellulitis, and were surprised that he was to be admitted.  Around 6:30 am we were brought up to his room where we met all kinds of nurses.  He got bionic boots, a heating pad for his arm with instructions to keep his elbow above his heart, and more antibiotics.  Around 5 pm, his oncologist arrived and said that Gary was looking good, but may have to miss a treatment or two till he is better. After 39 hours since we had slept, I tucked him in and kissed him good night.  I drove home in the rainy dark to an empty bed.  The first time we have slept apart since we began RVing 19 months ago.  I was one sad puppy.  And a very tired one, so fell asleep quickly and woke up at 8:45. 

I called my DH to see how his night was, and of course, everyone knows you don't sleep in a hospital, you are awakened every 10 minutes for one thing or another.  Well, they had interrupted his breakfast for an ultra sound of his arm to determine if there was a clot.  I arrived around 11 am, and around 4 pm we found out that it was a blood clot and that he was to start on Warfarin (a blood thinner) to dissolve it.  

Waiting around in a hospital rates up there with watching paint dry. If you're allowed to eat, you look forward to meal time.  The food is so-so, but the cake is good.  The staff is very friendly and sweet, so we enjoy when they come in and chat about how we are missing our daughter's wedding in South Carolina this weekend (huge bummer) and RVing  plans and stuff. 

Ron was so nice and worked for me at the CG office today, while Donna worked at Dollywood. 

So that's where we stand right now.  A couple of prayers would be appreciated.  Thanks so much.