January 4, 2026
Yesterday (Saturday January 3), Bruce’s dad woke up and he was able to talk. The first the first thing he asked for was water and the second thing he asked for was to go home.
As the day wore on, my FIL was in a lot of pain. I hope he feels better today.
We haven’t done much on Blackberry Homestead due to the weather. It rained so much on Thursday (January 1).
While Friday (January 2) was clear and fairly warm, the ground was too wet to plant the trees from Arbor Day. I had heeled the ones we didn’t plant before we left for Jekyll Island, GA. They should be planted in their permanent spot soon. We walked around Blackberry Homestead. We enjoyed seeing the changes the season had brought. Three of the apple trees are hanging on to a few leaves. The rest of the fruit trees, as well as the blueberries, have lost all their leaves.
We went shopping. Bruce wants another rolling tool chest to store the rest of his tools. When we bought his current tool chest, we got it at a steep discount during the after-Christmas sales. It’s also possible that the model changed and the store was trying to clear out the current version. Although we didn’t buy anything since the tool chests he likes weren’t on sale, we looked at storage options. He saw a wooden workbench at Harbor Freight that caught his eye. There were also some metal shelves at Lowe’s that he liked. He wanted to think it over before buying anything.
On Saturday (January 3), after hearing the good news about my FIL, we went out to buy the workbench and storage shelf unit. They arrived as a flat pack and need to be assembled. With the two boxes just inside the garage door, Bruce said, “I have a real incentive to get the workbench and shelf unit put together and in place. I want to be able to park the car in the garage.”
In the evening, we got an update on my FIL’s condition. The neurologist didn’t stop by. My FIL was talking, but hard to understand. The few words that were clear let the family sitting with him know he was in a lot of pain.
I hope he starts feeling better soon.
Blackberry Homestead 
Praying for your FIL.
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Thank you for your prayers.
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Thinking of you and Bruce and your FIL. Hope he starts to feel more normal and be in less pain.
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Thank you!
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Do you have ongoing contact with a palliative care specialist? Just thinking out loud that, with that much pain, a palliative care doctor might be worth a chat. Sorry…not stickin’ my nose where it don’t belong….
On another note, thanks for the shopping tour for the storage and work benches…sounded like my usual Saturday afternoon at Home Despot or the Blue ‘n White. 😁
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I am not sure. We are getting updates from my SIL and she has not mentioned a palliative care specialist. I’ll have Bruce check with her. She can mention it to the floor doctor.
Yep, it was a pretty normal shopping date.
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I hope your FIL feels well enough to come home soon.
In the meantime it’s great that you all are so busy doing home improvements!
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Thank you for your kind wishes. His doctors say he will be in the hospital for several weeks, then he will need to be in a facility that will help him recover.
If the shelves work out as I hope, I’ll get some for the laundry room.
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How did your FIL hurt his stomach? That seems like an unusual injury.
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The doctor’s are guessing the stomach wall where he had a bleeding ulcer gave way from the infection he had.
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I hope your FIL starts feeling better soon. I hope each day it gets better for him.
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Thank you.
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Great news! It’s remarkable the strides that have been made.
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Thank you. He isn’t improving as fast as we’d hoped.
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