Catch-up Time

Today has been a day of catching up.

My filing was way behind. My desk was stacked to the bottom of my monitor. There was an empty box that legal size paper came in that was full. There was also a hospital wash pan full.

That is all done including scanning things from those piles onto the computer!

I still have a lot left to do:

1. Scan a 500+ page document into .pdf format. (It's something that needs sharing with people and its faster and cheaper to share in electronic format as opposed to making copies and mailing.)
2. Writing letters concerning a medical discount program scam that cost me close to $200.
3. Sending out catalogs for one of my businesses.
4. Organizing my craft stash.
5. Taking pictures of my completed projects and getting them up here and on Chakwaina's Creations.
6. Figuring out what is wrong with a HP Business Inkjet 1200n printer a friend gave me. Even though it is set to print in black it prints nothing. If I set it to print in grayscale it all comes out in blue.

Then to relax, I bought some jewelry wire and am planning to make it into some necklaces.

Native American Day in South Carolina

Pow Wow in South Carolina

Finally In Rehabilitation Hospital

Don was moved to the Rehabilitation Hospital this morning.

They are teaching him how to do things for himself. He says they are actually trying to help him unlike at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.

The patients go to a dining room for meals. His pain is being managed with a time released medication along with another medication being given every four hours.

Tomorrow they will teach him how to shower himself and use a toilet. He must keep his legs straight out in front of him when sitting to facilitate the proper healing of the hip.

He again thanks everyone for the prayers and good thoughts being sent his way.

My Brother Enters Rehab

Don enters a rehabilitation hospital next week.

Mother called them about getting physical and occupational therapy. After she told them about his accident and his subsequent discharge from Grady Memorial Hospital.

The staff at Greenwood Regional Rehabilitation Hospital were very surprised, to say the least, that my brother had been discharged from Grady without these services in place.

He was discharged home (he lives alone so Mother had him transported by a private ambulance service to her home) without the ability to move about and no skilled care of any sort arranged. He was given strict instructions to not "drop" his leg when moving from the bed to the wheelchair or back as if he did so he would never walk again.

He had been hospitalized for nineteen days without having had a bowel movement, encountering two bouts in the operating room, the last was for twelve hours. He was only properly bathed once while there by the staff.

Note--this is a Workman's Comp claim and the Medical Social Worker kept telling Mother and I that we had to file for Medicaid for him.

At least now i can rest easier knowing that our seventy-one year old Mother will not be moving him around and risk hurting herself or him. He will get the skilled nursing care he needs and intensive therapy.

Many thanks to all those that check these updates and continue to pray for him and our family.

Beaded Amulet Bags

I have just completed two very cute beaded amulet bags:

This one is made of beige 100% cotton thread with different colored, metal lined, glass beads.

This is made from variegated cotton thread with different colored seed beads.

Each of these are for sale in my shop on Etsy.com

Update on My Brother

Don, as the family calls him, is doing better. Right now, it appears that he will be discharged on Wednesday, 30 April, 2008.




He was on the operating table for almost twelve hours on the 23rd. The doctor's had to rebuild his left hip joint, put a pin in the ball of the joint, placed numerous screws in both legs and they discovered a hernia right above the left hip and fixed that also.




The physical therapist explained that in the wreck his left hip joint came out of place and then the ball jammed into the socket so hard it crushed the joint.


Here is a picture of a healthy left hip joint:

Again, his knees are in pretty bad shape and it appears that in the wreck, the extra keys hanging down on his key ring, entered his left knee--doing damage.

He already had much pain in both knees.

Here is a picture of the left knee:

He will not be able to place any weight at all on his hip for at minimum of two months. When discharged he will probably be transported by ambulance from Atlanta, Georgia to Ware Shoals, South Carolina (that is not the exact town as I do not wish to put my family's address on the Internet.)

This will be a long, hard recovery process for him.

Mother is looking into him being able to go to a Rehabilitation Center until he can at least get around on crutches a little bit.

I'll keep you all posted as he progresses.

If anyone wants to send him prayers, good thoughts, etc. please do so through here and I will print and send to him.

Snail mail can be sent to:

Cha'kwaina

Attn: Don

P.O. Box 22

Bon Aqua, TN 37025

My Brother's Disapperance

My brother, Don, was in a bad car wreck on Friday, 11 April, 2008.

He had been working in Nashville, Tennessee and was headed home to North Augusta, Georgia. They were sending him to work in Columbia, South Carolina. He was so excited that he would be able to see Mama on her birthday, 12 April and had planned to take her out to eat on that Sunday.

Mama called me at work on Saturday, 12 April, 2008 very upset. Don had not called her yet. She had last spoke to him at 7:56 p.m. the night before. He had told her he was having problems with his cell phone and that he would be home in a little bit, he’d call her when he got home.

That call never came.

When she got off work on Saturday, he had still not called so she drove down to his apartment from her home in Honea Path, South Carolina. Not only was his car not there, there was no evidence he had been in the apartment.

She contacted the local law enforcement and filed an “Overdue Motorist Report”. The Missing Persons-NCIC had to be filed in Tennessee.

When I left work I filed the Missing Persons-NCIC here in Tennessee.

On Sunday, my estranged husband, his girlfriend, and his parents all rallied at Mama’s house. We all know that Don would never miss a day calling his Mama nor would he, under any circumstances, not call her on her birthday. She had turned seventy-one by searching for her only son.

At some point that day they loaded up David and Diane in one car and Mama and Bob (David, my estranged husband’s Father) in another and headed back to North Augusta.

David and Diane drove down I-20 to Atlanta checking for possible wreck sites along both sides of the interstate.

Since Don had left Tennessee I had the number twenty-three stuck in my head. David made a special effort at every incidence of that number. It would be later before the significance came out. (Don was born on the 23rd of December.)

On Sunday night at eleven, the CBS affiliate, WRDW, in Augusta, Georgia carried a news report on Don’s disappearance. We wish to thank them for doing so.

By this time we had contacted the FBI, Tennessee Law Enforcement, Georgia State Patrol, Aiken County South Carolina Law Enforcement and anyone else we thought might could help.

Until you have been in this situation you can nver understand the thoughts that enter your mind. All the most terrible scenarios are the only ones that enter and linger.

On Monday, 14 April, 2008 we finally located him. A lady from the financial office of the hospital, Grady Memorial, called Don’s work and asked if he was there! His supervisor questioned the lady and discovered that he had been admitted on Friday, 11 April, 2008 after a car wreck and she wanted to know if he had medical insurance.

Don had been in a head on collision.

He is doing better. He had his second surgery on 23 April 2008 and has a long road to full recovery.

The doctors had to put a plate in his hip. The injuries are: right leg broken in four places, left leg broken in three places, left knee busted up badly (it appears, the keys on his key ring went into his knee), pelvic bone broken, one kidney bruised, laceration to the top of his head requiring seven staples.

I had to cancel the NCIC Missing Persons Report as for some reason, he was never matched to it.

We thank all those that have gone so far above and beyond to help us-Grady Memorial Hospital Staff, The Members of the Hodges Church of God, The Bob Harvley Family, the Staff of Quality Hotel on Luckie Road in Atlanta, Georgia, the Staff of Quality Inn of Dickson, Tennessee, Staff of The Hot Spot Honea Path, South Carolina and all the members of the immediate family and friends.

I will blog about Don as he progresses through his recovery.


You can click in the "TAG" list (left lower sidebar) to see all posts regarding him.

Here are a few pictures of this very special man Grandfather chose to be my brother:

My Nephew, Fred (Don's Dad), Don

Don with his daughter

Mama and Don

Prayer Cloth for my Brother

I was checking out some blogs of others on CrochetList at Yahoo! Groups and found this pattern-Filet Prayer Cloth Pattern.



With a few changes as to hook size and yarn, the below picture is what my finished project looks like:



Yarn used: "Silkine" Pearl Cotton, Mercerized, #5 by The American Thread Company in a yellow.
Hook Used: Steel #3

Another Pair of Earrings

Below is a pair of earrings I made.