Archives for September 2012

Home. Me and my heart.

Have tons of online stuff to do, but I decided not to turn on my computer.

Typing this on my smartphone. From bed.

Time for sleeps.

Here is a picture. Thus concludes my post.

Mainers: A week-and-a-half ago, I asked for help in my indiegogo campaign to raise money to go to Kansas in November to speak at the #140conf SmallTown: Exploring the State of NOW in Small Towns conference.

Here is why this may be of interest to you.

• I will make cool stuff for you in exchange for your generous contribution
• The State of Now 140 Small Town 2012 conference has only 20 states represented in its speakers and I am the only Maine speaker.
• My topic is “Another Glorious Day in Suck City: How Facebook and blogging help my family cope with my father’s terminal illness“
• I will share my trip with the world! Start in Maine, end in Kansas. Turn around and go back again.

So far, I’ve raised $145. [$100 was sent to me as a check by a relative, and therefore is not reflected in the total.] I have a long way to go.

Please believe in me and support this endeavor.

It’ll make you stronger and better looking!

I tweeted this today:

Dreamt: walked into an inn, greeted owner. A huge crab walked in. I taunted the crab, for fun. Mistake. It came after me; got bigger.

— Lanna Lee Maheux (@lannalee) September 25, 2012

True story. I dreamt of a giant crab. It was ambling across the floor. And I taunted it. Just for fun. It swelled in size and I turned tail and ran. Laughing-like. But scared.

We’re leaving tomorrow morning. Henry is doing much better. I have hope that he will recover enough so he can go home. He wants to. And we’ve seen an improvement since we got here on Saturday. In fact:

Last night with Henry. He’s improving every day. Passed speech assessment w/ flying colors. @rurugby & I can leave tomorrow w/o reservations

— Lanna Lee Maheux (@lannalee) September 25, 2012

We are glad to be going home. We’re worried about what’s to come over the next few months. Maine to Pennsylvania is a long trip. One of those times where you wish money was no object.

The best news is that Henry is doing better. And he’s improving every, single, day.

Today was good. Not great, but good.

Need some sleep.

Have a great night.

Been hanging out with Ed’s Dad, Henry. He’s in hospital. Things are going as well as they can be expected.

As I said yesterday, we were not planning on coming to Allentown. I was planning on napping. In my bed. Instead, I napped in the car on 495/90/91 – on a lot of highways and byways.

Today the Hospice coordinator dropped by to discuss our options. Over the course of the discussion it became clear that Henry still had some more fight in him. He is going to give rehab another go; a different rehab, hopefully one that has a better handle on patients who have a double whammy of a brain tumor plus an operating-table stroke.

Henry wants to go home and walk around and enjoy the rest of his life. Right now his left side is paralyzed (due to the stroke). The only way he can give it the old college try is by doing the rehab. Any better movement (sitting up by himself, being able to move himself from bed to wheelchair) will be an improvement.

It could happen.

He is not quite ready for Hospice, which doesn’t cover rehab, it covers palliative care only.

What will not happen is chemotherapy, radiation treatment or any other life-sustaining measures. We are not going to worry too much about high blood pressure or fatty foods. There will be no extraordinary measures taken with his care. Right now rehab gives Henry his best chance at regaining his mobility.

Henry is laying in his hospital bed, listening to jazz and blues on an iPod shuffle while tapping his (right) foot and talking about Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Big Band music, and Dizzy Gillespie. No need to talk back. Henry’s got you covered.

My day turned from a lazy, nappy Saturday to a whirlwind trip to Allentown Pennsylvania. Ed’s Dad has refused further extraordinary efforts; he’s ready to go into in-patient hospice. He wanted us to be here. So we came.

Back on the roller coaster, to paraphrase my Mom.

If you’re late to the party, my father died last March (lung cancer).

Henry had his second brain tumor removed a couple of weeks ago. (The first tumor was in 2008.) He also had a stroke on the operating table, he has paralysis on his left side. He was in the rehab, getting so he could get in a wheelchair by himself so he could go home. Thursday he was vomiting blood (ulcer) and was transferred back to the hospital.

We’re here. Settling in. I’m doing okay. Henry was very glad to see us. Which means we made the right decision.

Tomorrow we meet with the Hospice people.

Ed says, “Tonight we play with the kitties.”

Our Internet is borked. Is it the router? I don’t know.

Anyway, limping along here without the router. Yay!

Going back to trouble shoot. Maybe I’ll go to bed early?

I think it’s time to accept it. My phone is not going to recover from it’s swim in the toilet.

le sigh.

In the scheme of things, this is but a bump. A wrinkle. A minor annoyance. It rankles to have to pay to get a replacement, but fortunately we have the insurance. I won’t have to pay more than $100. [Unless I can convince them I had NOTHING to do with the liquid trapped behind the screen.]

It’s suspended in rice still. Hoping against hope that the screen will be clear of water when I wake up tomorrow. [That will make it 48 hours suspended in rice. Maybe it will! Still hoping.]

It’s not quite time for me to desperately need my phone. That won’t be until next week.

le sigh.

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Please support my indiegogo campaign to fund my trip to Kansas for the #140conf SmallTown: Exploring the State of NOW in Small Towns conference. Let’s take Lounging with LannaLee ON THE ROAD. TO THE NEXT LEVEL!

I need $750.00 by the end of the week to go on the Road.

I have my indiegogo campaign going on to raise money so I can go to Hutchinson Kansas to speak at the #140conf SmallTown: Exploring the State of NOW in Small Towns conference. [This message details what I will be talking about.]

So far I have raised $5! Woo Hoo! I have a looooong way to go, but I’m grateful for that start.

Here is why I need to ask

I cannot afford to go without your help.

• It takes a non-trivial sum to get to Kansas. I am asking for $3000 (that’s a best case, do it up crazy, scenario) if I get half of that, I can still get to Kansas.
• The Money I make in my full-time job needs to go toward our household bills. Edmund’s Dad is sick and Ed needed to go on the family medical leave this month; that is time he doesn’t get paid. We will not have extra money in the budget. Especially for a train or plane ticket. Your money will help me realize a dream.
• Lounging with LannaLee does not yet make money.I am going in part for Lounging with LannaLee. If LLL was a venture that made money, I could go as a legit business trip. That is not the case. Your contribution will help LLL grow and get to a place where it might attract sponsors and hence become a revenue stream.

Why I am asking now

If you are reading my blag you must have some sort of connection with me, whether it’s through social networking or real life. I will be talking about how Social Media, this blog, Facebook and my podcast helped me cope with my father’s illness. I thought I would be able to swing the travel fees on my own, but then life got in the way.

I want this to be FUN: I chose to do fun perks because I want to be able to thank you profusely for your contribution. I hope to be madly writing poems, blowing India Ink, and sewing monsters and couches. It would be very cool to MAX out on all the perk levels.

The indiegogo page has this hint:

Your Inner Circle
The first 25% of your goal should come from your closest friends, family and fans. Your inner circle includes people who will support your project because they know and believe in you. Use your inner circle to jumpstart your fundraising effort and to spread the word about your campaign.

This is a critical time in the campaign. If I don’t get a respectable number of contributions for the campaign, I might not be able to attract donors from outside my circle. If the 25% figure is correct I should have close to $750 from my friends and family. Will you help me attain that goal?

If 30 people contribute $25 each; if 10 people contribute $75; I will be well on my way.

Please believe in me and support this endeavor.

It’ll make you stronger and better looking!