Aunt and Uncle

This weekend we went to Norfolk to see my Aunt Eva and Uncle Myron. They are pushing 90 and neither one is doing well. We stopped at my cousin Rose's house first to see where her parents were. We thought Aunt Eva might still be in the hospital. As it turned out she was home, but they had to put Uncle Myron in the hospital. While at Rose's we also got to visit with her daughter, Sonja. Sonja had a little boy last July and in August was diagnosed with cancer. She and her family moved in with Rose, so Rose could take care of her and her children while she started treatments. It is supposed to be a curable cancer(if you live through the treatments). She started cycles of chemo first. She has thought several times she was done with it but the tumors just aren't shrinking like they are supposed to. She won't go on to radiation until they see more improvement. Then we went to Aunt Eva's house and stayed with her for a while.Then on to the hospital. Uncle Myron is suffering from an inoperable (due to his age and physical condition) hernia. Pain, diarrhea and dehydration are what put him in the hospital. We stayed a while and as we left I held his hand and gave him a hug and a kiss. Bob shook his hand and we left. We had business in Hartington so we headed there next. When we were finished, we headed for Yankton to meet my brother and his wife for supper. Then we headed for home.

We had left Lincoln at 7:30 A.M. and it rained the whole day. Very cold with winds gusting 40 to 50 mph. When we would park in a parking lot, the pickup would actually rock from the wind. We were really afraid it might turn to ice and snow.

Saturday afternoon I got a phone call from my cousin Rose. When I heard her voice I was sure something had happened to Uncle Myron. Not so. She said, "Did you touch Dad's hand?" I thought this was weird, but I said yes when I came and when I left. She asked if Bob had touched his hand. I said he shook his hand when we left. She said, "that is what Dad had told them". (He is still pretty sharp mentally). As it turns out, he has an antibiotic infection he contacted in the hospital. You guessed it. It is contagious and passed on through "hand" contact. This (it's a long two word, unpronounceable) condition is most dangerous to someone Bob's age and the very young. She said they told them we should both call our doctors and tell them we were exposed. My understanding is, we would be in more danger if either one of us had been on certain antibiotics, which we haven't been. Bob will talk to his doctor this morning and I am just going to wait and see what she says before deciding to call mine.

Needless to say, he can only see immediate family members now, and they have to capped and gowned. And no touching! Uncle Myron and Aunt Eva have been married 62 plus years, and I betcha, she don't leave without her kiss !! She is a feisty old gal !!

An added footnote. Rose said the doctors told them, 3 million people a year contact this while hospitalised. Amazing !!!