July 5, 2026 Sunday

Greetings!

What a week!  This turned out to be a long post with lots of pictures so grab a cuppa and sit with me a while.  Lots to cover this week and some of it isn't that good.

Tuesday I had the boys down here all evening.  Dagan and Leah had a date night and went to see a movie.  Nice!  Ian worked on his owl clock and Liam colored on his mandala.

I started emptying the next six boxes Ian had carried in for me from the storage room.  I didn't get too far in the studio this week as you will see.

The boys were down every day.  That small hammer and towel came in handy for Ian with the wooden pieces that were really hard for him to pop into place.  Had luckily unpacked the little hammer used for various craft projects--lol!

While they worked on their projects I sorted things from the boxes.  We were all at the big kitchen table.  (I have settled on "kitchen" table as the best description.)

Liam got to put his mandalas on my frig, of course.

Ian worked away on the owl clock.

Liam signed his name in cursive!  That was a nice surprise!  So proud of him.  :)

Wednesday Dagan took me to the eye doctor's for my second follow-up visit.  Things are going as well as he could expect, he said.  Apparently I could still see some improvement even up until after the silicone oil is removed.  No clue how much, though.  I do still have some inflammation.  He put me on stronger steroid eye drops (thank goodness they have never bothered me as far as bad reactions go) and a new eye drop that is kind of equal to something like Ibuprofen.  I don't go back for six weeks!  Nice!

Liam has colored three mandalas so far!

He colored one for me...

...and wrote my proper name--lol!  In cursive with circles for dots over the "I"s.

Ian has been diligent on his clock.

He actually finished it on Thursday. What a complicated contraption!

Front.

Side.

Back.

Other side.

Ian wanted me to be sure and show you how accurate the clock has been running for a couple of days.

The clock has kept perfect time but the pendulum won't work.  He brought it upstairs for Mama to look at.  If anyone can fix it Mama can.  Leah has that mechanical mind that neither Dagan nor I have--lol! 

Was a really nice week with the boys. 

BUT.....

Friday.....

Leah brought Dagan to the emergency room.  Dagan thought he might have appendicitis.  He was right.  Not anything simple when it's Dagan.  The surgeon here didn't want to do the surgery without talking to his cardiologists in Minneapolis.  (I don't think this surgeon up here really wanted to do the surgery--can be tricky putting Dagan under with his unusual heart and everything that has been done to it.)  Dagan, Leah, and I all agreed (Leah was texting me) that we'd prefer that if he needed surgery we'd rather have it done down in Minneapolis where there are doctors who are familiar with his heart and his history.  In Dagan's CT his appendix wasn't badly enlarged--not ready to burst yet or anything.  So after consultations the plan is to keep Dagan in the hospital so they can pump him full of antibiotics to try to shrink the appendix back down so that he might not need surgery at all.  They think he might be in there for three days, but it all depends on how things go.  Dagan has felt better since he's been getting the antibiotics in the IV.  They give him antibiotics in shots, too, using the IV.  He has less pain and is doing okay.  So far things are looking good.  Thinking positive.

The boys were down with me all day.  We had watched The Princess Bride on Thursday.  I had never seen it.  Friday we started watching The Wonder Years.  (Came to mind after seeing Fred Savage in The Princess Bride--lol!)  Leah popped home for chargers, food, snacks and such.  The boys got to stay up till Mama was finally home at 11pm.  Today (I'm writing this Saturday morning as I won't have a lot of time to myself this weekend) Leah planned to pick them up and bring them to the monthly Home Depot for kids and afterwards to visit Daddy in the hospital.  Then they might be back with me the rest of the day.  Not sure what her plans are.

I made sure they were dressed, teeth brushed, and hair combed so they were ready when Mama called.  Here they were playing games on their phones...waiting.

Leah texted that the doctors here were told by his doctors in Minneapolis that Dagan has to have a specialist anesthesiologist to have any type of surgery at all.  They don't have one up here in Fargo, so if he has to have his appendix out it has to be in Minneapolis.  So, they are giving him all those antibiotics in the hope he won't need his appendix removed.  He will be there overnight again.  Depending on how things are going he may be able to go home tomorrow.  (Which means he will probably be getting another CT scan tomorrow, I would guess.)  But so far, he's doing okay and feeling better.

He has an appointment in August down in Minneapolis to check his heart and pacemaker to see how things are going with the new pacemaker and the old leads. We hope the pacemaker battery isn't draining too fast.  Good to know he was going to be see soon, though.

Leah came to get the boys to go make tiny wooden go-carts this month...and then to visit daddy in the hospital.  

So....it's been quite the busy week!  The boys and I have had a good time together.  Though we've all been worried about Dagan, of course.  Fingers crossed.  If Leah has to drive him down to Minneapolis for surgery I will watch the boys.  Any good wishes, prayers, or positive thoughts would be greatly appreciated.  If there's any more news today I will add it on to this blog before I post for Sunday.  Thanks you guys!!  *love and hugs*

Got photos from Leah!  The boys were with Leah the rest of the day.  (Which gave me time for a little nap as I didn't sleep much last night.  Neither did Leah.  I could hear her up late, too.

Anyways, first a few pictures from a little while back.  The willow tree literally fell in half.  May have had a fungus.  :(  It didn't get hit by lightning--as I first thought.

Ian's birthday in June where he had his first ever sleepover party with two friends.  First they went to the trampoline place.

Then they ate at Space Aliens.

Mama had made his birthday cake.

Birthday song, movies, and breakfast in the morning.  What a fun time!

Later on his actual birthday he opened the owl puzzle clock kit from me.

Dagan and Leah had some friends over to help take down the tree. 

Always good to have a friend who has a chain saw and knows how to use it--lol!

Today--Leah brought the boys to Home Depot for the kids workshop.

This month they made little go carts.

They visited Daddy twice in the hospital.

Made a 4th of July cake with blueberries and cherries in-between visits.

Then fireworks in the evening (they can watch from the driveway).  It is now 11pm and the firecrackers or whatever are still going.  Allie has spent the evening in my lap--lol!

We should know more tomorrow as to how Dagan is doing.  He'll either get a reprieve on the surgery or head to Minneapolis within the next couple days.  Time will tell.  I'll thank you in advance for any healing thoughts because I know what a wonderful group of people are in my blog family.  Thanks for the support you always give.  :) :)  Till next week...