Adventures of a Tribe

More Terrible News

Posted on July 25, 2015

For those that know my parents and brother and sister and I, you know that we are a very close family.We have so much love between us and some pretty tight bonds. My brother and I are close in age, and grew up building the most awesome forts, climbing trees, playing on the beach, playing with match box cars out in my mom’s flower beds, and and getting up to all sorts of mischief that every kid should. As we have grown older we have continued to be best friends, and even now, my siblings are some of my most favorite people ever. I always know that when my brother calls he’s going to address me by some insulting name, and I do the same back to him.
He has diabetes and over the past several weeks has been feeling more and more ill. When i was visiting my parents recently, he complained of a constant headache and some dizziness, and we thought it was probably his diabetes. I texted him last night and asked how he was and he said he was dizzy, his left side of his body was weak, he had been vomiting and sleepy and his headache was still there. I begged him to go to the ER and threatened to catch a flight and drag his butt in. He told me he’d go. I stayed awake all night, texting him periodically to make sure he was there and following through, and after several hours in the ER waiting room they took him back and did a scan of his head and found that he has brain tumors on both sides of his brain. I am so scared and so sad, and just want to go back in time and build one more fort with him. Please keep him in your prayers. He is at my parents home in Idaho now and fast asleep with my Dad.

My Dad had a procedure done this morning where they put him under anesthesia and injected one of the two nerve bundles in his back, by inserting a needle in the area of his 5th vertebrae. These nerve bundles once deadened will hopefully block pain to his organs.  I hope that he receives great relief from this.
Since I was up all night I was a bit of a Zombie today, so our day was pretty mellow. I made a potato salad for our marina pot luck tonight and Emma made a delicious chocolate cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting. The creatures and I decided to draw and paint chameleons.  It was fun to work on an art project together.

      
After lunch I decided to take a nap, and the creatures took off on an adventure. When I awoke I walked over to the next dock to chat with my neighbor and saw the kids coming home. I love the way they never tire of adventuring together. They always have such a great time and get along so beautifully.

The manager of the marina ran into Bocas for some business this morning and checked on the starter for me. It sounds like it will be done on Monday. Also, the driver that is driving our crates from Panama City to Almirante and then ferrying them to Bocas, will probably be arriving in Bocas with everything on Tuesday or Wednesday. It will be fun to have all the paddle boards and scuba gear here. Everything else we sent we can do without!

There were 100’s of female jellyfish in the marina today. They are fascinating.

I watched the most beautiful little 2 year old lying in a dugout this evening. His brother, who is 10, was rowing and he was lounging happily without a care in the world.

Our marina party was a huge success tonight. Most everyone showed up and we ate like kings. It was great to be together as one big family and socialize. Several people came up to me and expressed their love for the creatures, saying how impressed they are by them and they think they are the greatest kids they’ve ever met. I’m so proud of them all.

         
My sweet Darling is busy flying to Paris right now. I miss him and hope he will be safe. It’s been a long month without him. The gorgeous sunset tonight reminded me to keep focused on having faith, loving unconditionally and staying positive…so, that’s what I’ll do. After all, there is always far more good and beautiful in the world than bad.