Rena Joy here. Rena Joy Pickles. Sorry if I haven't written in a while; with Ike tearing up our house, we've had to move elsewhere to get away from the storm. We're now in Fort Worth, Texas, where we are staying with relatives until our house can be repaired.
We live in Galveston. Our house got damaged by (Y)Ike; it's going to take at least several months before everything is fixed up to where we can move back again. It's really been hard these past few weeks to a month.
Thank God none of us were injured in the hurricane; however, as I said, we're temporarily staying with our relatives (my brother in law and his family; he has a big enough house to accomodate all of us).
Addisyn has been doing okay: he has his good days as well as his bad. He's been in the hospital twice with upper respiatory infections; the last time it was so bad his lips turned blue; it was scary to see, and even more so to hear his ragged, gasping breathing as he fought for air!
To me there's no worse sound than a child gasping for breath! It was my worst nightmare come true !
He was in the hospital for five days. This is one reason why he's on the oxygen therapy. His lungs are just too weak, and he is susceptible to any bug that comes his way!
Our other children (Remington [11], Gigi [10], Yvonne [6], and Ripley [8]) have been coping with the changes that's come into their lives as best as they can: new schools, new home, new clothes, new everything. They miss their old home terribly; just about every day they ask us when we can go back home to Galveston. I tell them "All in due time, all in due time"; I tell them they have to be patient until all the necessary repairs are completed. It breaks our hearts to know that we can't take the pain they're feeling about (Y)Ike away.
It's going to take time.
Of course, Addisyn isn't really aware what's going on; he remains his sweet, loving, happy self. He thinks we're on an extended vacation; he really doesn't understand all that much about hurricanes or damage to property. We tell him we're on an extended vacation, and I think he buys that. He thinks we may be going to Disneyworld.
How I wish it were that simple!
That's our boy, Addisyn: he has problems, but he has no worries. He just takes life as it comes, and he enjoys each moment, as only he can.
Unfortunately, we don't have "Chuckles", our dog. How we miss him! He ran away during Ike, and there's no telling if he's dead, lost, or if someone found him so he can be returned to us as quickly as possible. Every day, we listen to the news, check the papers, to see if our dog (or any dog fitting his description) is listed. So far, nothing, but we refuse to give up hope.
Well, I am going to go now; time to "feed" Addisyn, also give him his afternoon round of meds. I will write in here again soon; until later, this is Rena Joy Pickles signing off! Bye for now!
~Rena Joy, Addisyn's mom. :(
