Where West Central Wisconsin Skiers and Boarders Meet
THE EYEWITNESS
The RED EYE SKI CLUB NEWSLETTER
Find here the latest club and board announcements, editorial comments, notices about impromptu trips, and upcoming meeting information.
News for SUMMER 2008
The 2009 TRIP Schedule is ready for you: Trips 2009
See MEMBER news below.
Summer 2008 events are being planned:
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Eau Claire Express Baseball game - Contact Dave White for more info: dwhite@wqow.com
Biking/Golf outings
Dates to be announced. Leader: Paul Franke
apfranke@charter.net
Hike/Ice Age Trail
Date to be announced
Leader: Fred LeGesse
More events to be announced.
Check back for details.
To see the April newsletter: Eyewitness
TRIP REPORTS AND PHOTOS from the 2006-2008: APRES TRIPS REPORTS.
MEMBER NEWS:
As you probably know, Jeannie
Hoeser has moved to the Oakview Care Center, 1220 3rd Ave W (PO Box 224) Durand, WI 54736.
Fred reports that Jeannie's health is declining and she needs transfusions more often. Her liver and kidney functions are declining also.
The good news is that she is in good spirits and is virtually pain free with only minimal pain medication.
Right now, while she is very tired most of the time, she can still carry on a conversation and loves to see her friends. It is tough for her to talk on the phone, so a visit or maybe just a card would be better.
If you want to see Jeannie it would be best to do it sooner than later.
Fred does take her home for the day as much as he can with her wheelchair accessible van, so you may want to call ahead to the nursing home to make sure where she is and if she is up to visitors. The phone number at the desk at Oakview Care Center is 715-672-3687.
Fred says, "Thank you all for all your prayers and support. We both appreciate all you have done for us during these trying times."
JUST ADDED: Hi Gang,
Today is June 16th and for the first time in a week, we have nothing planned! She has had many visitors (from as far away as Florida!) both at the nursing home and at home, and has enjoyed very much seeing all her friends and also having me read all the cards you folks are sending.
The new 3 seasons room is done and yours truly has finished the temporary landscaping (30 bags of river rock plus edging and some inexpensive concrete pavers) and his body knows it. Also, with the help of my brother Bill and the loan of Mom's pick up truck, we now have patio furniture as well. Jeannie was able to spend Saturday afternoon in "her" 3 seasons room for the first time. It was a lovely day with a nice breeze. Her friend Mary W and her Sister braved the flood detour (5 hours from Madison to the Dells!) to visit.
Jeannie's liver function continues to deteriorate, but her kidney function has rebounded so at least she can have some anti- inflamatory meds. Her pain is under control for the most part. Her last transfusion was on the 29th of May so she's held up pretty well, but I fully expect another transfusion will be in the cards either today or Tuesday. She certainly sleeps more and more and it is often very tough to wake her. Other times she is just fine and is still very glad to see all her friends.
As usual, best to call the nursing home first to find out if she is there or out for the day.
Thanks for all your cards, visits and emails. We both really appreciate your support.
Cheers,
Fred
Karen Cauble is nearing the end of
her chemotherapy now and
reports that she is still feeling good.
Keep sending good vibes
and thoughts Karen's way.
Many of you have skied with Maggie or Dick Smith. Dick suffered a serious injury in a fall in February. This is from Maggie:
Friday 6/13/8
Friday the thirteenth - actually, it has always been a lucky day for me. Let's cross our fingers and hope it continues to be so. I do apologize the slowness of my updates. By all means, this does follow the 'no news is good news' adage. Dick has been doing amazingly well. I was with him yesterday for most of the day. His main issues right now include his vision, his eyes are open now, but the lids are only about 1/2 way open and he can't get them all the way unless he used his hands to lift the lids. He also seems troubled with double or blurred vision occasionally. On Wednesday, he had another MRI to determine if there had been damage to the 'third cranial nerve' which can cause all of the vision problems he has had. The results of the MRI were not available when I was there so we will wait and see.
The good news is that in any event, these problems are improving as he continues to heal. His eyes are open wider and more often than before, and he does not always suffer from double vision - this tends to happen most when he gets tired. Along with the vision are his balance issues which could be caused by the vision? No one really seems to know. However, like his sight, his balance is improving. Yesterday during physical therapy, Dick walked by himself (no walker - no assistance other than the therapist, Fatai (Dick insists on calling him Jim) spotting him. He walked quite a long distance, turning corners, stopping and turning in circles, etc. He did lose his balance a couple of times, but he did incredibly well. Fatai (aka, Jim) is a hard taskmaster, and had Dick doing any number of balancing tasks including walking forward and backward, and stepping side to side (I think we learned those steps in our ballroom dance classes).
Dick did tell me when he was through that he enjoys 'dancing' with me more that with Fatai! His strength continues to improve which is of concern to the staff since although Dick knows 'they don't want me to get up by myself cause I fall', he still tries and has fallen a couple of times. Last time he wound up with 5 stitches in his finger, before that he was sporting a real shiner. Also, Dick does have memory issues, particularly his short term memory. It seems astonishing to me how he can explain to me in detail where he put some tool or piece of equipment that I can't find at home and how to work it, but then he can't remember what he just got through eating for lunch. Again, this is something that is expected and both speech and occupational therapy are working on memory recall and I have seen much improvement in the last couple of weeks. He continues to work incredibly hard at these therapies and with surprisingly good humor.
Yesterday, he was doing basic math problems and counting and making change (faster than I could). Annette (this therapist) mentioned how good he was with the money - Dick said "Yeah, I love spending money!" He no longer has any food restrictions and I was told today that the trach tube probably would not be removed until Dick is discharged from Bethesda. I was told that this discharge would not take place until Dick is no longer using what they call the 'net bed' which is basically a bed inside a net tent that zips shut from the outside. This is to keep him from getting out of bed unsupervised - as I said before, Dick has somehow figured out how to get out of this anyway! At that time, my choice for transitional care is Dove Rehabilitation in Eau Claire where he will be so much more accessible for visits, something I know he will thoroughly enjoy. I will let you all know as soon as I have a date for this and will continue these updates. As always, thanks for your prayers and wishes.
Love Maggie and Dick
You can keep up with the most recent news from Maggie and Dick at this website: www.caringbridge.org/visit/dicksmith
Former Red Eye Doug Metz sent some photos and the story of his brush with fire last fall: Bulletin Board
The 2008-2009 Red Eye Ski Club Board:
President: Amy Wieczorek
President-elect: Jim Block
Treasurer: Jon Seep
Secretary: Brenda Fremstad
Board Members: Pam Wold, Fred LeGesse, Paul Franke, and Justin Bauer
Also continuing to serve the ski club:
Trips Coordinator Dave White
Webstress Gloria Hochstein
MSC representative: Manfred Deutsch
For sale: cool can coolers
($2 each or 2 for $3--in Red Eye RED)
The can coolers, pins, patches, and much more are available: Red Eye Merchandise
CHOOSE ELECTRONIC NEWS & SAVE PAPER & $$$: We hope most of you are willing to receive your news here instead of on paper. That will save us all $$$! If you are receiving a paper version of the newsletter, that means we haven't yet received your permission to stop sending the paper newsletter to you. If you want to go electronic, please indicate that when you send in your dues, which are always welcome (and due NOW).
Red Eye Ski Club--Membership
To find out what happened during the most recent club trips and activities,
see Trip Reports
For interesting articles and member news, stuff for sale, miscellaneous,
see The Bulletin Board .
| MAILING ADDRESS OR EMAIL ADDRESS OR PHONE NUMBER CHANGE? If you change your address or your e-mail address or your phone number, PLEASE contact our membership chair with the information so we can stay in touch: Brenda Fremstad at bfremstad@globalfinishing.com Please make sure that the webstress also has your e-mail address, so we can let you know when new info is posted to this web site! Red Eye Webstress |
News & articles to be printed in the paper newsletter must be mailed or emailed to the newsletter editor by the 25th of the month: |
P.O. Box 1855
Eau Claire, WI 54702-1855
Last Updated: June 17, 2008