13 Steps to start the New Year

The following is an email that Ron wrote and sent out at New Year's. I think it's too good not to share with all!

Hello all,

Hope you all started 2009 happy. We did and still are, however sometimes it's funny how life goes.

13 STEPS TO START A NEW YEAR!! (well this is how we did it anyway)

01-01-2009
1. Memorial/Funeral for Larry Woods scheduled for 4pm.
2. 6:00am. Tristan starts throwing up, lasts all day, I stay home from the memorial.
3. 3:00pm. Mom & Dad are on their way to CO. I jump in my truck to go feed their dog and check on goats. Back out of driveway and run over Leigh's favorite cat.
4. 9:00pm. Leigh takes cat to vet, it has a crushed spine or pelvis. Office visit $95, X-ray $200, surgery $????. Cut losses at $95 and put cat to sleep.
5. 11:30pm. Bury the cat.
01-02-2009
6. Midnight. Tristan is crying his stomach hurts, I tell him to go see Momma for stomach meds.
7. Leigh comes into our room expresses concern at Tristan's pain level. I go to living room and begin to poke and prod a little on his stomach, and am rewarded with an earsplitting shriek of pain when I get to lower right side of abdomen.
8. 12:39am. I am driving out the driveway with Tristan heading for Cooks Children's Hospital in FW.
9. 1:20am. We are checked in and heading to his room in ER.
10. 5:00am. Dr. Whoever says Tristan has appendicitis and will be given a hospital room then have appendix out later today.
11. 12:30pm. Tristan is taken to surgery. (Leigh arrived around 8:30am after taking girls to Brent and Jennifer's house)
12. 1:45pm. Dr. Bass (surgeon) comes out says all went well, however the appendix was perforated and Tristan will be in the hospital till Mon. at least. He will be on antibiotics via IV to combat the infection and has a drain in the side of his abdomen to catch fluids.
13. 5:00pm. I am at home to take a shower and get Leigh some things as she will be spending the night tonight, then me, then her and hopefully we will be all be home after that.

I wanted to share this sequence of events as I found it a humorous start to a new year. We are doing well and are very thankful things seem to be progressing properly at the hospital. Tristan has been a real trooper and tough guy, always downplaying the pain level and providing the nurses and doctors with any information he thinks will help. When one of the nurses told him his temperature was 38 degrees Celsius, he asked "What's that in Fahrenheit?".

I wish you and yours a happy and successful new year.

Love,

Ron & Leigh