21st Century Battlefield: Helping one of Detroit's Finest

Its 11:09 pm

 You're a hard working police officer. You have worked 19 years in one of the toughest,most violent cities in America. You strive every day to make a difference despite having broken equipment,less brothers in blue then the year before. Your last two mayors,one a convicted felon,the other a blunder,egotistical fool who forced out the one leader who cared about his men and appointed a man who had no moral or ethical center.
Your fellow cops aren't even safe in their own station houses...morale is getting worse while you are forced to take a steep pay cut. You could go to another city,a seasoned cop with 19 years is a real asset somewhere,right?
  But you love your city,you stay....because you still want to believe that you didn't waste those years,that somewhere,somehow they counted for something.
   Things are getting tight now...the money has so many different places to go....and now you get the news,your wife is ill...cancer. How can you handle that,working 12 hour shifts,with a 10% pay cut plus huge cuts in heath and pensions? Yet you do...every day,you gear up.....do your shift,try and get your beloved wife the best care possible. Some of the drugs and tests you need,your insurance won't cover. You grit your teeth and continue to move forward.
 What more can you handle? Juggle? Balance? How about a faulty furnace catching fire and almost burning down the home. You have home owners insurance but can't afford the 2,500 deductible to get the ball rolling,to get the damage repaired so your sick wife can continue her fight.
You take stock....you have 15 bucks in the bank and a quarter tank of gas....19 years you have served this city and this is what it has come down.

But your fellow brothers in blue see what has happened and there is now way they are going to let you continue to fight this alone.They are going to try and help...they quickly raise over 2,200 for you.
Not enough,not nearly enough....but perhaps more help may come ....maybe others who may read this will somehow manage to help you in small ways. Like the writer of this blog,who has no money to give but has a forum in which to share your story. Maybe some of his readers will repost or share this story,maybe some will donate what they can. Who knows.....but we have to try. We can't let a good cop who has spent 19 years in the trenches of hell go through this ordeal and say nothing. And so,Officer Eric Ewing of the Detroit Police Department,this is my small attempt to help out,to say I care,to acknowledge the service that you have given.
 

Local police officer in need.

The link is how Fox 2 covered the story.

If you care to donate anything,here is the address of the Detroit Police Department.

13530 Lesure St, Detroit, MI 48227 attn: Ofc Eric Ewing.

Medical Update: Fighting On...

Its 5:16 pm

    I'm home today. Lori's best friend is going to sit with her tonight while I clean and fold laundry,pay the bills and other household chores.
Lori's aunt called the house and she had said to share the news,again I had to be the one to deliver the sad news. This is the roughest part so far,telling her family that there isn't going to be a happy ending. I told her aunt that everyone could call the house tonight to get any information and ask any questions.

  As far as the update goes,the good news is the Foley catheter is out and the doctors are going to try a new treatment plan to help clear out Lori's digestive system. She still has the neogastric tube in place as she is still draining the yucky green bile but its coming out at a much slower pace,this might mean the antibiotics are working much better. Her spirits sounded much better and she complained of being hungry which to me is a great sign. Now we just have to get her over the C-diff hump and then she can perhaps eat very soon.
This will be a true challenge as she is trying to fight off four different infections...
  The bad news is there is nothing they can do about the tears in the bladder walls. They could cauterize them but all it would is promote more tears. We are going to have to learn to deal with this issue.
  I brought her a book about the sites and sounds of Ann Arbor to read...looking forward to planning out a few trips to see what this town has to offer,we just never fully realized just how many nooks and crannies Ann Arbor had to offer in the way of museums and art galleries. And we're going to see some Detroit Tigers games as well...I might even have to break out a Tigers cap this season..
 The big goal is just to live our lives as we always have,in love,for each other and always a team. That is what marriage is really about,isn't it?
 I can't say enough about the outpouring of love and support we have been starting to receive. I always felt you get what you give to society. We have tried very hard to be compassionate and caring people and the folks who know us in real life know how much we do care about others.
  Life without grace is no kind of life,to be able to give back to others thru a kind word,a gesture,volunteering is to leave a legacy. We have no children and Lori was upset that no one would remember what we have gone through,nothing more could be further from the truth. Even now I can see and feel how much of a impact other people's lives have had on us. There is a scene from the film "300" where a loyal Spartan soldier is dying next to Leonidas and says "Its a honor to die by your side" and Leonidas says in return "It was a honor to have lived by yours".
 I am writing this blog as a testament to the love I have for my wife and also to hopefully blaze a small trail of hope,light and endurance to a fellow human being who may find themselves in this fight like the brave Amy Neilson or Sean Connaughton. I never met either one of them but they left such a bright light that has helped us in this struggle....they,even after death,are celebrated more for the life they led then mourned for the way they died. It is my most fervent wish that Lori will be remembered like that....
Now where did I put that Tigers schedule at? And of course the huge cat show next month....and the Farmer's Market is coming up soon....I better end this entry and start my list....



Thanks for reading and feel free to drop a comment....

Medical Update:Day 4 in Ann Arbor.

Its 11:25 pm
   A quick update.


This is from last night,3 March.
Lori is still in the hospital. Her infection is a very nasty one....she is still unable to keep anything down. We had brief hope that she might be able to come home Monday but there is no way that is happening. When I got there at 3 pm,she had just thrown up again....its stomach bile,the stuff that breaks down your food. Every  time anything is dropped in her stomach,its causing it to be thrown up. This is day 7 of this and after holding a pan and watching her throw up a liter of this crap,I got pissed.



I asked our RN to page a doctor right away. While we are waiting and I'm staring at the pan full of vomit,I am getting more then concerned....the doctor came and I basically said "You got to do more here,because this isn't working." The doctor stepped out and 10 minutes later came back in and said "I agree with you"(which really stunned us to say the very least!)
   So the new plan is too put a neogastric tube down to her stomach and have the bile sucked out while pushing all of her meds through the same tube. Because her room is so small,I had to step outside for the 20 minutes it would take to insert the tubing.

As I sat outside by the elevator waiting,the nurses were changing shifts and Lori's nurse was heading home. She stopped and said "You did the right thing in pushing for that,sometimes the conservative approach doesn't work."
 I said I agreed,sometimes you can conserve someone to death...I thanked her for her tremendous help and went back in to see Lori. In the first 10 minutes of that tube being inserted,it had sucked out another full liter!
She felt much better but was in bad pain because of the tube,they pushed 4 mg of morphine and I held her hand and wiped away her tears. She managed to doze off and soon after I started the 20 mile trek to a empty house.


   Its now 11:41

Today was another tough day,I'm very tired now...I just got home from the hospital about 90 minutes ago.
The good news is that the neogastric tube is doing its job,while she did drain another liter,the draining has slowed down a lot and she feels a little stronger. Still no food as of yet but they are talking about maybe some crackers/broth in a couple of days.
    Dr. Johnston came by today and sort of deflated our balloon a bit,Lori seems to have a bowl obstruction after all and there isn't they can do other then to drain her belly. The tumor is in a very bad spot that is affecting a lot of organs,while it hasn't grown in size,its like a octopus in that its tendrils are wrapping around those organs. They feel that perhaps the bladder has suffered splits on its sides and may be causing the blood in her urine and fistula. Dr.J says she'll be consulting with a GI doctor and they may attempt to cauterized those cuts which may slow the degrading of the bladder.
   While we had hoped for a couple of years,my heart is telling me its going not going to happen. I think its going to happen in a matter of months. When I asked Dr. J when we could go home,she couldn't give us a answer,she is that sick now.
  I asked about clinical drugs trails and Dr. J said I should call the Karmanos Center in Detroit and see if we could be accepted,she did warn us that Lori has to be able to eat and drink to be considered.
 She keeps apologizing for "getting you in this mess" which causes my heart to break....I wouldn't trade a second of we have done in our lives,I love our life together...my regret was not having a better education so I could have supported her better. I feel like I let her down in that respect,I am ashamed of that.
 
 Just checked in with her....seems like they wanted a clean urine sample and since she is sort of immobile,they had to insert a catheter to try and get that sample. Just one thing after another.


But I see that many people have been reading this blog now.....so here is my one request:


Send her a card. Don't mention the blog or Facebook.....just tell her you care and are rooting for her.



Our address is

Lori Sullivan
45249 Lemont Road
Canton,Michigan
48187


Thank you all for your love and support.



M

Medical Update

Its 2:32 pm

    I'm on the road for this entry....I had to create some time to get away and write,write,write!
The past 10 days have been really putting us to the test...Lori was unable to complete her last chemo,ended in the ER at U of Michigan,had another blood transfusion (her 3rd) and all in all just has had a crappy 10 days.

The adventure started 2 weeks from yesterday when we were scheduled to complete the last chemo treatment. When we were told that we couldn't do it because Lori's blood level was too low,it wasn't a big deal,this happened the first time and many cancer patients have thier chemo bumped for the same reason. You generally wait a week for your body to produce more blood and then you are able to safely get treated.
 But what made this a different was a increase in blood in her urine and having a lot of pain as well. We had a hydration which both helped and hurt....helped because Lori needed the liquids but of course that led to more runs to the bathroom. A catch-22 if you will...
  We went through the week back and forth,not feeling well one day,really not feeling well on the next.
 Come the next Monday,the blood in the urine is now getting alarming,whole clots are now in the toliet. We don't know if its coming through the urethea or the fistula,either way,its not good.
Lori heads overs to the infusion clinic while I get ready for work...I get a call,Lori wants me over...she is bleeding and not able to do chemo. I rush over and Mel (our nurse) says she has a call in to Dr. J. While this is happening,I take Lori to the restroom,she leaves the bowl bright red,now I'm conerned,very concerned.
  Still no answer,I tell Mel I think we should be heading to the ER and 20 minutes later,Dr. J calls and agrees with us. I load Lori into my car and start the 18 mile run to Ann Arbor.
Its 10:30 am when we get there,the ER staff are waiting for us and wheel into the back. We sit while the doctor comes in and talks to us,the nurses take several vials of blood for the lab and we wait.
 The ER was pretty slow when we got there and our nurse,Jose,was pretty outstanding. His own wife is battling stage IV breast cancer and his momma has pancreatic cancer as well so he completely well versed with what we were going through.
   We went through a ultrasound which showed that Lori's tumor is now pressing down towards her bladder,we don't know how much space is between her tumor and bladder wall but that could explain why there is now heavy blood.
   After even more waiting,they took a CT scan as well....it was a very long process and Lori was unable to eat or drink. I was getting antsy because of not only that but she also had to endure a catheter as well. Finally they were able to finish up and said she could eat so I went and got her a salad. We got our results which included getting a appointment with a urologist in two days...a normal appointment requires a 30 days waiting period.
  Not even the ride home was easy,we had to pull over as Lori's stomach wasn't able to hold her dinner.
   Food has become a real battle as of late,trying to find anything at all that she can eat is pretty tough but we have discovered Carnation Instant Breakfast and has that been a game changer.
She has been able to drink this and hold it...which then allows her to eat other things as well.
 The next day saw us back in Ann Arbor,this time for a blood transfusion,this was our third time and in a strange quirk,one of the ER nurses happened to be working in the room and ended up doing Lori's blood. The clinic was abuzz with the crazy ex-cop who went nuts and was caught in Big Bear.
The transfusion went smoothly and we headed home.
The next day Lori headed back yet again to Ann Arbor to see the urologist. Which turns out was basically a wasted trip...if this tumor lands on the bladder,there are some new treatments in the way of chemotherapy but the surgical aspect isn't really a viable option. This is what we were told,the urologist said that Lori's cancer is "advanced" which really upset us because Dr. Johnston hasn't said that to us as of yet. While we both know that the chemo hasn't really worked as well as we had hoped,we are not giving up,we know radiation is next up after our PT scan in early March. We are gearing up mentally for this and know its going to rough as well...
   My job has been amazing through this,very compassionate. It helps when your manager is also a survivor and understands what is happening. The day that we went to the ER was the first day I missed since starting there last March. I overheard two people talk about people calling off and they mentioned me and that how throughout this ordeal,I hadn't called off once.
 I just know that we can't afford it,both in terms of paying our bills and in keeping up with a normal as possible life.
  Its now 3:44 on 28 Feb,I have had hardly any time to write. Coming home from writing the above entry,I find out that Lori's car was hit by a careless 18 year old girl who pulled out in traffic despite being blinded by truck. She hit Lori's car on the passenger's side which caused Lori to to swerve and hit the curb and missing a fire hydrant by a mere few feet.
  She had just picked up a new prescription from CVS and was less then a mile away from home when this happened. I called her cell and raced to the site where we switched cars so she could go home. Later she told me that as soon as she had stopped,the other driver took full responsibility for the accident. Lori started calling 9-1-1 but a police cruiser had already seen the accident and flipped a U and responded. Lori said she got out of the car and between the ground being so bumpy and weak from the chemo,she fell down. The police officer rushed over and helped her up and asking if she okay. He showed great concern over her well being.
  The young lady called her mother who came over and they stayed with Lori until I got there,she again said she was so very sorry. I gave Lori the keys to the Rodger Young and sent her home while I waited for AAA. Add to fun that it was sooooo cold this day!
  After 25 minutes the van got there and that is when we discovered the real damage to her car,she had 2 badly bent rims...we had planned on changing the tires and dropping the car off at the repair shop. Instead we had to call for a tow truck and wait about another 40 minutes.
  The young lady called later that night and wanted to settle privately but we declined,its a lot safer to go through insurance companies to have these things settled. But I can understand her distress,only 18 and had a nasty accident already. Her rates will skyrocket plus she got a ticket which will add 3 points to her driver record,a very costly mistake.
  Lori's car ended up having 2,000 worth of damage to it plus a 500.00 deductible (which our insurance will have the other insurance pay).

2 March 13.

     Its now 11:50 pm

Its a bitterly cold day here in SE Michigan. I'm alone in the house....Lori is in the hospital at the U of Michigan. She is battling a severe case of c-dif which was brought about by her illness. For the past 4 days we have been fighting this but to no avail. I finally had to take her to the E.R. yesterday morning. She keeps throwing anything and everything up,including the medicines that can help her which only makes her condition worsen.
  We were put in isolation while the doctors are trying to figure out how to stop this massive infection. After 7 hours in the E.R.,we were admitted to where this first started 18 months ago,the 8th floor of the University Hospital. No sooner then she got settled then she started throwing up the hydration she had received along with her 6th and 7th pints of blood in the E.R.
  I held the pan while she continued to vomit. She hadn't been even to keep any kind of food down,between the pain in her stomach along with the c-dif's overpowering smell...it has been just awful. I tapped into a old trick my mother Anna taught us...I got some vapor rub and had Lori put that under her nose. It knocked down the horrible smell of the c-dif. But because the vomiting was so bad,she was throwing up her meds so they weren't working.
 She had a very rough night after I had left and the nurses worked very hard at comforting her during this.
I called her brother last night and told him what was going on...he lives 275 miles away but he said he would be down today with his wife.
  So at app. 11 am today,we were told Lori's cancer is a terminal case,she is going to die from this. What goes through a person's mind when their soul mate is going to die,its a awful,hollow,helpless feeling. But we're not rolling over just yet....we still have plenty of fight,we have agreed that we will explore any and all clinical drugs that we qualify for as long as they don't diminish or cause any pain. We know we have a long road ahead of us in terms of getting her affairs in order and making plans to see loved ones in the time we have left of which we don't how long she has.
  So this is where we are at.....I'll try and get another update tomorrow....


Thanks for reading,feel free to join my blog or leave a comment.

Medical Update,Snow adventures and the lovely Kim Poirier

Its 1:20 pm

    Its another snowy day here in SE Michigan. This is our 3rd straight day of snowfall and today's storm is supposed to drop 2-3 inches of new snow. Yessir,fun and excitement here in our area of the world.

Woke up at 6 am to take Lori to Ann Arbor for her labs and to see Doctor J. It couldn't come soon enough as last night after I got home from watching the Super Bowl at my neighbor's house,I sat down while Lori was sleeping in her chair.
  Suddenly she woke up and had a scared look on her face,she thought she was going to get sick...as she tried to hurry to the bathroom,her legs gave out and she started to fall,I caught her but it was a scary moment. We checked her port and she commented that she would be black and blue on her legs the next morning.
   I got her up the stairs and into bed,then cleaned up the kitchen and turned off all the lights.
A light snow was falling as we headed to Ann Arbor,traffic was a bit heavy as we got got closer to the hospital. We got to the lab at 7:40 am,just in time for our appointment. I sat down and read a story about the 2nd Hunger Games movie,"Catching Fire",while Lori had her labs done. Then back up to the 2nd floor and wait to see Doctor J. The wait went by fast and then we were ushered into the room,now normally I wait outside but I had questions and so I stayed with her this time.
  Well,the check-up wasn't the good news we wanted to hear,Dr. Johnston can still feel the tumor and wants us to go see another to have Lori's bladder checked. She has had a lot problems as of late with urinary tract infections and I think Doctor Johnston just wants to make sure everything is clear. What bummed me a little bit was the fact the last visit,another doctor examined Lori and couldn't feel the tumor. Maybe its just that Dr. J knows exactly where to go...but hearing "I don't feel it" to "Yep,I feel it" is pretty depressing. And the fact she can feel it means this chemotherapy may not be working as well as we had hoped and that radiation may back on the menu in March.
  The other news also wasn't the best but not earth shattering,our last chemo treatment has been pushed back until next week,her platelet levels are too low for a safe chemo. This also happened last time so we weren't too alarmed. The good news is that Lori won't need a 3rd transfusion but will be getting hydration 3 times this week. We also got 3 new meds to start taking,we are starting to look like some of folks who we first saw when we started this little adventure,we need a tote bag to hold our meds now *L*.
After getting the exam,I went to the pharmacy and picked up the meds and then we left. The snow was falling much harder now and I drove carefully out of Ann Arbor.
  Lori asked me to take a small detour through tiny little Dixboro and stop at the Moon Winks Cafe. Its a very small but cute cafe that features some great food and kick ass coffee.

It has free WiFi and the baristas are perky and very generous,they were kind enough to give Lori a free refill of her coffee instead of charging her. We each had a bagel and talked about the exam before we headed back onto the road and headed home.

Starting tomorrow,Lori will be on stay home rest for her last treatment,Doctor Johnston wants her to rest and try and eat a little more before next Monday.

  A few hours after I started this entry,I hear a loud ATV outside my window,I look out just in time to see a ATV come onto my lawn and then out over my driveway. I go downstairs and outside,my neighbor Larry,who is shoveling snow tells me what happened,the guy was trying to be a "good sam" by sweeping off our sidewalks but decided to run over our lawns to do so. Now I have blogged about Larry before,he and his wife Kathy,are some of the nicest people and in really heavy snow,he will use his heavy duty snow thrower to clear our driveway. His house happens to be at a corner and in the 5 years we have been here,he has lost a tree and had people drive up on and over his lawn. Naturally he is a little defensive about this. But this time our lawn was hit as well.
I didn't see which way he went but Larry did and he headed down there while I shoveled our neighbor Marlene's (The woman who we cat sit for) driveway. 10 minutes later Larry comes back and says he asked the man to not come on our property,he explained that his lawn has been damaged in the past. The dude got cocky and told Larry if he didn't like it to call the cops. I told Larry that I would agree with him if he did. He said he would think about it and went home. I finished shoveling and headed to the garage myself,as I did,a van drove past me and parked by the stop sign.
  I had a feeling it was the guy so I walked slowly and soon enough he walked over and started to try to apologize. I admit,I was pissed....I told him if he did that again,I would press charges. Part of what pissed me off is if the damn fool falls off his ATV and breaks his leg,guess who gets held liable??? Yep,we would.
So I tell him why we are so defensive and suggest he apologize to Larry,he says he tried but Larry was "aggressive" unlike me,with whom he had no problems with. He says the "whole street thinks he is aggressive". Which is an outright lie and I told him that and said if there is another incident,I would be the pressing charges. He backed off,mumbled "sorry sir" and left. He just didn't want to understand why we were so upset. What good is it to sweep the snow off the sidewalk when you're destroying the lawn besides it?
  Since I'm not about to go out on a low note and just got blocked on Twitter by ex-Detroit mayor Kwame "Truth" Kilpatrick (I felt a little like Charlie LeDuff/SteveWilson/AmyLange when that happened),I thought I would plug  one of my favorite actresses latest interviews.



The website site Celebzter just published a cool interview with Kim and I thought I would help push it along a bit. So after you read this,go read it already!
Here is the link to the interview....

That is all for now.....will be back when I can.

Book List 2013

BraveHearts - Bud Withers   (NF) 220 pages
Misty - Misty May-Treanor w/Jill Lieber Steeg  (NF)  296 pages
The Law of Nines - Terry Goodkind   502 pages
Full Service - Will Weaver    231 pages
Cat Facts - Tabitha Jones (NF)  64 pages
*Chief of Station,Congo - Larry Devlin (NF) 288 pages.


*currently reading

Of snow,Love and Compassion and a book review!

Its 4:00 pm

    Looking out over a light snow that is following here in SE Michigan. In the past week we had 3 inches of snow fall in a 2 hour burst on Sunday night,had two days of record high temps,a day of rain,another burst of snow yesterday that was so intense that it caused a whiteout which led to a 30 car pile-up on I-75 that killed 3 people and wounded over 15 more. Now its a deep freeze as the temp is 16 degrees that combined with the wind chill is about zero degrees outside.

  It was weird yesterday,we had an hydration therapy session at the infusion clinic. As Lori dozed off I was reading my first book of 2013,BraveHearts,when I looked up and saw the whiteout. You couldn't even see the cars in the parking lot to give you an example of how bad it was. It only lasted about 10 minutes but that was enough to cause the huge mess on the freeway.






Note that despite being hammered by two semi-trailers,this PT Cruiser hung tough and kept its driver alive? Good to know since we both drive PT Cruisers!

The local media covered this crash from top to bottom and at work,all my co-workers were all abuzz about what happened. I just shook my head,being from California,I know what a REAL pile -up is all about as does anyone who ever driven the I-5 over the Grapevine when its been foggy. Talk about holding one's breath in fear,yeesh! That is one nasty cluster to get caught up in,every year there is always one or two massive crashes that can involve 50-70 cars and trucks.
  Its a miracle only 3 died yesterday,the way the cars were speeding when the snow it,they had little to no reaction time to slow down and pull to the side,they just had to depend on God's blessing and their own skills to make they didn't die.
   Of course we didn't know the extent of this because we were at the infusion clinic for hydration. It provided a little relief for Lori but once again she has to fight off a bladder infection. This plus having no taste for much food is causing a rough time right now. But with the last chemo coming up on Tuesday,we can see the light at the end of the tunnel...so happy to be leaving this behind us. Lot of tears have been shed this time around to say the least. But I know this battle hasn't been for nothing,there has to be a reason for it...and in time I'm sure it will be revealed what we went this through for.

And speaking of life.....actress and animal activist Elaine Hendrix has posted her latest video blog in her Love and Compassion series!

She raises good questions about how we see animals and the words we use in discussing them. I admit,I love calling all dogs "mutts". I tease dog owners all the time about how much better cats are then dogs. I mean my cat Derek Jeter is the best cat ever and I tell him this every day. But I'm compassionate to many living creatures,I don't like killing anything for the sake of killing. I find that very disturbing and many times its just not needed. My wife and I pride ourselves on our live rescues,be it a wild bunny in the middle of the street,to the colony of cats we had in Northville to feeding the birds via a bird feeder out back,its so much easier to help a animal then it is to harm it.
  I know certain parts of society doesn't always see it that way but since we can't control that,we can only lead by example and show Kindness and Compassion to those animals we can.


As I mentioned,I just finished my first book of 2013 called "BraveHearts" by Bud Withers




I got this from my local Dollar Tree last year and finally got around to reading it...it was much older then I realized as it only covers the rise of Gonzaga University basketball until 2002. But I stilled enjoyed this book very much as Withers chronicles how Gonzaga has slowly risen to be a annual elite program in college hoops despite being located in Spokane,Washington and not being able to land the players many higher profile programs do. The struggles of the coaches to get money to recruit,schedule a decent and fair schedule and get a new arena built while staying within the rules of the NCAA and the school itself really one shaking their head and asking why more programs don't do the same.
  The last three coaches,Dan Fitzgerald,Dan Monson (who left after two years) and the current coach,Mark Few all have worked very hard to make the program more about the TEAM then the player. While its true that other then John Stockton,no Zags player has had a huge NBA career,Withers shows how the players at Gonzaga are more about getting the degree  and enjoying the school experience then it is chasing down the big money from the NBA.
  What I think is really cool is that while book came out in 2002,Mark Few is still the head coach and has shown no desire to move to a "name" school. Gonzaga has stayed an elite team and are annually ranked in the Top 25 despite never making anyone's top recruit lists. Its absolutely refreshing to see that a coach stays out of loyalty to both his school AND his players. This is a book worth checking out,I'm sure you can find it on Amazon.com for a very low price.

I like to thank those folks who read my last interview with my friend Michelle. The Mouse River flood was grossly under reported by the mainstream media simply because no one died and it was in North Dakota. It still merited the same coverage and help that New Orleans,Nashville and New York/Jersey did but didn't.
By showing what one family went through and still survived,I hope it raises awareness of how much even the most regional disasters can affect us. Thanks again Michelle for sharing your story.

 I went out yesterday after tucking Lori in bed to rest after her hydration. I had to pay bills and then go grocery shopping. I gathered my coupon book and headed to the store. I filled Lori's car with gas and then went inside to shop. The store was pretty quiet so I was able to shop at a good pace...I was in there for a hour,my bill came to 83.00 at the register....but after my coupons,I walked out only paying 44.50. The lady behind me was pretty impressed and told me so. Made my day to be sure.....


Question: Does anyone have Seasons 6 and 7 of the Mary Tyler Moore show on DVD that they want to sell or perhaps barter? Please let me know....