Hanrahans’ 2003
First,
let me assure you that we are all doing well and getting on with life. 2003 has been a trying year, marked mainly by
medically conditions. To start at the
conclusion of the year, Shawn and Nigel came home from college for Christmas and we have
had a good if somewhat lazy time. I wanted to
play some Tennis with the boys, but shopping and the weather have not cooperated, well
that and the eating and sleeping.
In
the Fall of 2003 Nigel started at TAMS, the High School at college program that Shawn was
in at the University of North Texas. The
decision on admissions was delayed until May due to the budget problems in the State of
Texas. In the fall, also, Shawn started at
Texas A & M University in College Station - he is majoring in Genetics. Both boys have settled into their schools well and
see no need to rush home, until they run out of clean clothes! Kathleen has started 8th Grade at the
new Williams Middle School campus in Rockwall.
Now
back to the beginning, at the end of 2002 Kathleen was suffering from allergies and not
breathing well, and we were regularly visiting the doctor’s office. On a return trip
at the end of December, the doctor said “she has something growing up her nose –
she must see an ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialist without delay.” 5 weeks and many doctor and hospital visits later
the conclusion is that Kathleen has a tumour, the size of a softball originating in her
nasal cavity and pushing on her eyeball and brain. Kathleen
had surgery on February 24th and after 8 ½ hours the surgeons were elated, the
tumour had been removed in its entirety and no follow-up chemotherapy or radiation will be
required. She will be checked every 3 months
for the next 3 years and then periodically the rest of her life for re-occurrences. During the next weeks and months Kathleen healed,
she had home schooling for a while and went back to school in April. Through all the procedures Kathleen kept her
spirits up and was always amazingly positive. She approached each surgical procedure in a
very positive mode and had a great relationship with her surgical team.
Sometime
in the spring we learn that Shawn has been offered a place at A&M. Come May we find out that Nigel has been offered a
place at TAMS, now we have to decide if we will pay the mega expenses for him to go. Shawn is getting ready to graduate, the boys take
AP tests at school, and we continue to try and get Shawn’s academic records straight.
On June 4, Nigel celebrates his 16th birthday and Mary is sworn in as an American Citizen. On June 6 Shawn and 600 other students, graduates
from High School at a looonng ceremony at the local Baptist church.
Phew
– summer is here, Nigel is off to scout camp, Shawn has a job at a Water Garden
center and we are going to get things done. Things go well in June, I see an orthopedic
surgeon, who says the plate and pins should be removed from my ankle, this was always the
plan but we got a little distracted at the beginning of the year. Being able to see the
screw heads through the skin looks a little Frankensteinsh, but is also uncomfortable
especially when they get hit, now we learn they are working loose. The surgery is scheduled for July 7. Before the July 4 weekend, while working outside
the house, I get a bite, fire ant, I think, very irritating. By the time the surgery day arrives the bite has a
red area around it that is hot – spider say the hospital staff, no big deal says the
surgeon, I’ll give you antibiotics. The
surgery goes well and I’m home again, feeling better every day, then the bite begins
to ooze and we go to the doctors. Brown
recluse spider bite with MRSA infection – treated with IV antibiotics and silver
nitrate, it eventually heals over and I am starting get my strength back by the time we
head off to Colorado for our summer vacation.
In
July, Kathleen headed off to Camp Discovery in the Hill Country, this is a summer camp for
cancer survivors and paid for entirely by the American Cancer Society. Kathleen made many of new friends here and had a
great time, she climbed rock walls, camped under the stars and rode horses, and she is
looking forward to going back next year. The highlight was the prom where they were loaned
formal dresses.
Colorado
was great, Nigel and Shawn rafted a little down the Rio Grande, Mick and the boys took
some hikes into the mountains. I did not walk
much, still had the Boot on my right ankle. We
relaxed in the cooler weather and did nothing much for a week but did manage to see Hamlet
at the Repertoire Theatre in Creede. The BGV
(big green van) had a few little attacks, we added many gallons of coolant and waited
around for it to recover from its altitude sickness a couple of times on the high mountain
passes.
We
came back to Texas in time to get ready for everybody going off to school. Nigel left Rockwall High School and started in the
TAMS program at UNT, he is a residential student there and comes home for a weekend about
once a month, he usually sleeps all the way through these weekends. A week later Shawn moves into his new dorm room
at A&M. Two days later he had to fly back
to Denton as he was subpoenaed as a witness in the trial of one of his previous roommates. I ferried him around and made sure that he got
there on time and back to his studies when he was done.
I
finished my classes in the spring semester but with all the activity this year I have not
yet signed up for any more classes. I am
hoping to get the house remodeling, that we started so optimistically at the beginning of
the summer, finished and then review the college classes situation.
Mick
is still working at Texas Instruments, in September he had a trip to Israel that he
enjoyed very much, and managed to make stops in England on the way there and back to visit
with his family. Mick has continued to
coach the under 14 girls soccer team, Kathleen played again in the Fall having missed the
spring season.
Late
in December I was honoured by a proclamation for the Major of Rockwall, as a new American
Citizen – December 15 was declared Mary Hanrahan Day in Rockwall.
We
are hoping to make a trip back in the Spring if the airfare is reasonable, we missed
booking the $99 each way tickets due to the logistics of planning care of Kathleen while
we are gone, but still hoping they will show up again.
We
all wish you and your family a “Healthy, Safe and Happy 2004.