This Has Been a Very Tough Week for Us

I'm not sure how long this will be, and it won't be what I had said it would be.  It began as a good enough week.  On Sunday I baked a nice cake and Diane & Jim Hubert came over after dinner to play Mexican Train.  We really enjoyed their visit and had a nice evening together.  Sunday night was chilly, but not too cold.

Monday morning Millie spit up some phlegm and didn't want to eat breakfast.............so I figured we shouldn't push it and let her take it easy for a while.  Most of the day she rested on the couch.  That night at 5 pm she ate about 2/3 of what she normally eats, so we thought she was feeling better.  Everything seemed OK until 11 pm, when she vomited up the whole dinner she had eater six hours earlier.  I was up with her most of the night.....watching over her and offering sips of water every hour.  In the morning I called her doctor in Menifee.  He said I should bring her down there for him to see her.  On the drive down from here she vomited a huge amount of bile.  We got there and he took her right in.  After examining her, he was going to just send her home with meds for her upset tummy.  He said if she got worse, or didn't get better, he would do blood work and an abdominal X-ray.  Since I didn't want to risk her getting worse, I implored him to do the follow up work now.  He also did an ultrasound that showed she had a deformed left kidney and the lab work suggested she might be in early kidney failure!  OMG.  Starting on Wednesday, I have been infusing 100 mL of normal saline into her shoulder area on each side.  It used to be called a clysis, and amounts to fluid under the skin that causes a swollen area, which has to gradually be re-absorbed.  In order to make sure it doesn't fill the area around her trachea, making it more difficult for her to breathe, I have sat holding her for well over an hour each day.  I have to keep her head elevated and massage her back and shoulder area to make sure  the collected fluid does her no harm.  I have been worried sick  because she has been very lethargic since this all started.........but today she was a little bit more playful and active.  Maybe we are beginning to see a slight improvement.  Please pray she will be alright soon.  

As many of you know, Sunday afternoon I was taken in by a fraudulent individual who tried to manipulate me to get money from our bank accounts.  It is too upsetting to go into all of the details, but suffice it to say, Tony advised me that this was a hacker and NOT to do what he told me to do.  He also told me to call my bank and freeze our accounts and cancel my debit card.  That turned out to be the easiest part of that nightmare.  He had apparently left spyware on my computer that let him see as soon as I turned my computer on, and he began taking control of it.  I quickly shut it off, and called Tony.  He told me that I would probably need to take my computer someplace, like Best Buy, to have someone, like the Geek Squad to take off any spyware and malware that he had put on it, and set up a new anti-virus security program.  All has been done and the Geek agent told me I should change my passwords, especially on our bank accounts and my email account, which I did on Wednesday.  My computer is working better than ever now.  This hacker is the person who had convinced me my computer had over 3000 viruses back in August, which maybe he put there in the first time!  Anyway, the takeaway from this is that I have learned to be MUCH more wary about my computer.  I will NOT give out ANY bank information or give anyone access to my accounts!  

All in all, with the computer hacker and then Millie getting sick, this has been the worst week I can remember in a long time, and yet we feel we still have to focus on our blessings.  
First:  I was able to reach my dear brother Tony, and he advised me on what to do before any real damage was done to our bank accounts.
Second:  We were able to get my computer fixed and secure again without further trouble.
Third:   We were able to get Millie to a doctor who is taking care of her.
Fourth:  We are more fortunate than the people who were at the ill-fated country music concert in Las Vegas.  We are fans of the music, but could not have afforded to go there, so we were here, safe and sound.  Our prayers go out to ALL the people who were injured or killed there on Sunday night, and to their families and friends who are dealing with all this pain and grief.  I can't even imagine how they must be feeling or how they are coping with all of this.  Obviously we cannot imagine what makes a person do such evil acts of violence.  It just boggles the mind.  All I can say is that we hope all of you will pray for these people.  

Please remember that no matter what you are struggling with, there are others who are suffering with even worse things.  Know that God loves you and is watching over you.  Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, ask yourself what you can do for someone else.  It will help.  Ask for God's guidance and you will receive it, and be comforted.  Bye for tonight.