Friday, December 26, 2025
Well, today started out with terrible news that my 68 year old brother Randy had a stroke last night and has a 90% blockage in the carotid artery. He had surgery at noon and the doctor said it was a very back blockage but he came through the surgery well and is expected to have a full recovery - might even get to go back home tomorrow. Whew! What a relief but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed and positive thoughts going his way.
Going back to the last time that I updated, most of my activities were related to getting ready for Christmas. I was supposed to go to Charlotte's 8th grade choir concert on the 18th but the weather was questionable and when I looked out the window just before time to leave, the snow was blowing sideways, almost a whiteout, and I could hardly see across the street. I cancelled and was glad that I did because I learned that it was really slick and I had made the right decision. Needless to say, I don't feel very comfortable driving in the slick or in the dark these days.
On Saturday, the 19th, it was cookie baking day at the Bridge's house and we had a very productive afternoon. Charlotte and I worked together to make peanut butter kisses, Granny and Camille made Rice Krispy treat wreaths, Jill and Norah worked on cutout sugar cookies and Granny made Spritz with the help of everyone who wanted a turn. Ben was chief dishwasher and cleanup guy and helped where needed - always a good sport. It was a fun afternoon. As I was leaving I got a request to make my fudge too - guess it just isn't Christmas without it.
This week, I started the reduction of Prednisone that I'm taking from 10 mg/day to 7.5 mg/day and have been keeping a log of side effects/reactions. The worst is fatigue, just feeling dragged out and tired. The strangest was waking up at 4:30 am with my teeth chattering - it lasted at least a minute but hasn't happened since. I will be at this level for 3 weeks and then reduce by another 2.5 mg/day and then will consult with Neurologist again to see if I can completely discontinue.
I made the fudge on Monday so it would have time to settle and the traditional Cranberry Cake with Hot Butter Sauce on Christmas Eve before I went to Ben's house. Ben and the family went to Christmas Mass (a Quinn family tradition) and I met them at their house when they got home. We had their tradition Mulligan Stew with Blueberry Muffins for dinner.
Naturally, the girls were excited for gifts, so we all got decked out in our Christmas PJs and we did our Secret Santa exchange that was lots of fun. I slept in Norah's room with her, didn't sleep very well, and none of the girls were into sleeping very late on Christmas morning. The girls opened their stockings, we had breakfast, and all headed out for a nice walk to get some fresh air.
We played a silly game where gifts were tightly wrapped in a Saran Wrap ball. We sat in a circle, one person had the dice and the person next to them had the ball and was wearing oven gloves. The person with the dice threw quickly until they got doubles, while the person with the gloves tried to open the Saran Wrap and release as many gifts as possible until doubles was called and it all passed to the next person. We also played Spoons and BS. It was a wonderful Christmas, I decided to spend another night and slept with Charlotte, again getting little sleep. I headed back home this morning after having a bit of coffee and I couldn't wait to get a bit of a nap in.
