Zoo Halloween Party

Today we went to the

World's Largest Halloween Party

at the Louisville Zoo!

Thomas dressed as Batman and Grace went as a ballerina! She plans to wear a Cinderella Dress for Halloween, but it was just too big. So Gannie was altering it for her today. She looked so cute.

Thomas was so excited that when we got there, we saw another boy in the same Batman costume in the parking lot, so by the time we got inside, he figured we were somewhere really cool.

We met Shannon and Mason at the front entrance. Mason was dressed up as an Alligator. It was great. He had the Alligator head above his, but it kept falling off. He would say, "Trick Or Treat" every time we came to a booth. Grace would only say it if there was no one around, and Thomas would say, "Trick Or Treat, Smell My Feet," every time.

Chris Seidt had dropped Shannon and Mason off and then came back here to my house to hang out with Sam for a couple of hours. Sam said they had a great time.

We put the kids in their strollers, but let Thomas get out and walk once we were inside. They got candy, a book, temporary tattoos, monster teeth, even a toothbrush (which Grace loved).

This is the pumpkin maze. Thomas held Grace's hand and the walked the whole maze together.

After Trick Or Treat, Shannon and Mason had to go, so Thomas and Grace and I walked down to Platform 9 3/4 to the Haunted Train Ride. Thomas covered his ears before the train took off, and never let go of them until we got back to the platform again. But Grace had a fabulous time. She danced to the music in my lap, pointed to the scenes they had set up, even yelled, "Hi Horsey!" to the Headless Horseman.

Below is our Jack O Lantern all lit up! The kids love it!

Happy Halloween!

Daddy Carves a Pumpkin!

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Two News Reports!

On the News Again Tonight!

Sam was on the News again at 11pm tonight on WAVE3! They did a follow up story to their original story that had alerted Sam to the fact that he was not the only one whose credit card had been hit. WAVE3 aired their original story last Thursday. Here are both stories from their websites. Click on the Headline to go to the websites.

Here is the WHAS11 Story from yesterday at 5:30pm:

Watch it Now, Click Here!

Consumer Watch: Scammers using credit card numbers without stealing cards
11:49 PM EDT on Wednesday, October 22, 2008

"Our consumer watch this week is a wake up call for anyone who thinks their credit card account is safe just because their card wasn't stolen. Using the “numbers only”, thieves have found a way to clean out your account in a hurry.

A victim of this kind of crime called WHAS11's Andy Treinen and after Andy answered they may have tracked down the bad guys.

The owner of the Kentucky Martial Arts Academy, John Liddell, in just a couple of days earlier this month, nearly 2000 dollars was charged to this company credit card at a Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Lowes in Lilburn, Georgia. But John's card was still in his pocket. And while his credit card company quickly reimbursed the losses the former marine wanted justice.

It was through that pursuit of justice that Liddell learned how a credit card number alone could be used in a store to steal. He also learned about another martial artist who experienced the same exact thing.

That is Sam Conver of Louisville’s Christian Martial Arts Academy. His bank spotted some unusual charges including one for $804 dollars at the same Lowes in Lilburn, Georgia.

After a series of conversations the two men discovered that they have a common supplier. A company that supplies martial arts uniforms actually has both of their credit cards on file. The question now is will police do anything about it?

"The police locally are doing all they can but yes when I talked to police in Georgia they're not going to come to Kentucky and police in Kentucky are not going to go to Georgia. The bad guys have to know all this. The bad guys know that probably nobody is coming after them," said Conver. (Actual Quote by Liddell- MJ)

Because the victims are reimbursed by their credit card company and the crimes cross so many different police jurisdictions, prosecution isn't easy.

But after WHAS11 promoted this story, a third martial arts instructor called to say he too was stolen from, and he too had a credit card on file with the same Dade County, Florida uniform company.

So how do the bad guys use the numbers?. The surveillance at Lowes shows the guy order two gift cards for $400 dollars each in the check out line. He then swipes a fake card. When the teller says it didn't take the guy says I’ll just type it in and he proceeds to type in the stolen numbers. The teller never asked for the card or an i.d.

There have been no criminal charges yet, so WHAS11 is not naming the uniform company. But it's a nationwide supplier and the only reason our three victims found each other is because of the coverage on television."

Here is the WAVE3 Story from tonight at 11:00pm (Top Story!):

WAVE 3 story leads to possible common link in ID theft cases
Posted: Oct 23, 2008 11:07 PM EDT

JEFFERSONTOWN, KY (WAVE) - Often with identity theft cases the crooks hit more than just one victim. In this case, the multiple victims have something in common and it is a little too strange to be coincidence.

On October 15th, WAVE 3 brought you the story of John Liddell. Liddell, a martial arts instructor from Jeffersontown, found his business account had been wiped out by identity thieves.

"We had charges out of Georgia. Home Depot, Lowe's," said Liddell. "I'm not going to look a six-year-old in the eye and tell them that Sensei doesn't have a uniform for them, because somebody got into the account and took the money."

After that story aired, Sam Conver got a call from his mother. His business account was overdrawn after an $800 transaction from a Lowe's in Georgia.

"She said, ‘You need to turn on the news. Check this out,'" said Conver. "'The same thing that happened to you happened to another martial arts instructor.'"

Turns out both men, both martial arts instructors in Jeffersontown, had a few other things in common.
"I didn't know Mr. Liddell personally," said Conver. "So I figured that the contact had to come through a vendor that we both use."

Jeffersontown Police are investigating the case and tell us they have subpoenaed video from the Lowe's in Georgia where the alleged criminal used both men's cards. Both Liddell and Conver now want to find out who is responsible and hopefully protect others.

"I have faith that this will all work out in such a way that justice is served," said Conver.

Investigators tell WAVE 3 there could still be more victims out there. Police say you should check your bank account closely for any unauthorized transactions. If you see similar charges, call the Jeffersontown Police Department at (502) 267-0503."

I made a link out of both headlines above so you could go straight to the stories if you are interested! On the WHAS11 Site you can actually watch the interview online.

*Notice in the WAVE3 write up of the story they have given Sam credit for John's quote. I made a note of it in the story, but did not correct it for accuracy sake.*

We still haven't received credit for the disputed charges, but we'll wait and see!

MJ

Sam was on the WHAS11 News

Sam was on the News at 5:30 Tonight!

Sam was on the News tonight! We had our credit card number stolen and $800 spent at a Lowe's in Lilburn, GA. These charges were made on 10/8/08...but we weren't the only ones.

When we got out of the hospital from his hip surgery, there was a letter here about our Karate Account being Overdrawn.

We looked over the charges, and one of them was for $800 in Georgia, the same day as his surgery!

The second letter told us that the bank knew we had not made this charge and had frozen the account. There was a phone number to call, which I did right away.

They told me that we needed to come into the branch as soon as possible and dispute the charge, which we did.

Then a couple of days later, we got a call from Sam's Mom during the 11pm news. She told us to turn on WAVE3 news, where we discovered another martial arts Instructor had been the victim of the same crime! Sam and I pulled the following article up on the WAVE3 website, and seeing not only the same locations of the charges, but the same DATE, Sam called the JTown police.

"Business owner blindsided by ID theft
Posted: Oct 16, 2008 06:49 AM EDT
John Liddell

JEFFERSONTOWN, KY (WAVE) - It is a crime you hear about all the time, but many of us still believe we won't fall victim to identity thieves. As WAVE 3's Scott Harvey reports, that is the reality for a Jeffersontown man whose bank account was cleaned out in two days. He called WAVE 3 News to send a warning to others living with the "not me" philosophy.

John Liddell knows how to protect himself when a bad guy attacks, but this time he never saw it coming.
John Liddell, a former Marine, has been protecting people most of his life.
"How many chances do we get if the bad guy attacks?" Liddell asked his students. "One Sir," they shouted back.

He now teaches others to protect themselves at his martial arts studio in Jeffersontown. But on October 8th, Liddell was sucker punched.

"I look at this situation as if a bully attacked me," said Liddell. "Just like it was on the street."
His business account was wiped clean.

"We had charges out of Georgia. Home Depot, Lowe's," Liddell said.

Somehow, someone, somewhere, got the numbers off the debit card he uses.

"I'm not going to look a six-year-old in the eye and tell them that sensei doesn't have a uniform for him, because somebody got into the account and took the money," Liddell said.

Now Liddell wants to find the crooks himself. By calling the stores where his account number was used, he has already been able to locate video of one of the people that used his account number.

The man who personifies irony usually charges for his expertise.

"I think it's time we turn the tables around a little bit. At some time, bullies and crooks pick on the wrong person," Liddell said. "It's time for them to be looking over their shoulder wondering who is coming after them."

And this lesson on taking the initiative is free not for Liddell. "I have to prevail and I will only prevail when I know who the bad guys are and they can't hurt anybody else," he said.

Jeffersontown Police are investigation this case and advise others to check their bank statements, and if something similar happened to you recently, call the Jeffersontown Police Department at (502) 267-0503."

We then contacted John Liddell, the owner of the other Martial Arts Academy, leaving him a message, as well as emailing the news reporter on WAVE3.

The next day Mr. Liddell called Sam on his cell phone, and after a brief conversation, it became apparent that they both used the same uniform supply company! Mr. Liddell told Sam that he had been in contact with the detective on the case, and would relay this info.

The next day, Andy Treinen, of WHAS11, called Sam asking for an interview. That was on Thursday, I think. The interview was held at Forest Park Community Church, where we host our Karate classes, on Monday.

Then, this morning, Andy Treinen called back to say that they'd had another Martial Arts Instructor call in after seeing the 5am news report this morning! He teaches in Indiana, and had his card hit on this past Saturday, the 18th!

Then at 5:30pm WHAS11 aired the follow up story, including extended interviews with John Liddell and Sam Conver!

They say the police won't give up until they catch the guy, and that the third Martial Arts Instructor who called in had also used the same uniform company!

If WHAS11 posts a story about it, I'll post it right away! Sam did great in his interview, which of course they only played a few seconds of.

CONCLUSION: (So Far)

Good News: The credit card companies are supposed to be crediting us back with the stolen charges, although nothing yet on our end.

Bad News: The bad guy swiped a fake credit card in the store, and then when it wouldn't go through, he READS the number to the clerk, who doesn't ask to see an ID or anything. She then sells him 2 $400 gift cards!

Good News: He was allegedly caught on video using the fake card, and then giving the stolen #'s.

Bad News: The police here in Kentucky are not going to go to Georgia to catch him. Also, the police in Georgia won't come here to Kentucky to deal with any of us. So.... he gets away with it...maybe....so that's the end....

MJ

Karate is Back!

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Happy to Be Home

Saturday

We got home from the hospital on Saturday afternoon around 2:15pm.

We got up later than usual, considering that they had been getting us up at 6am, and we got ourselves ready. Then, since they do not have Joint Camp on Saturdays, Sam and I did our own Joint Excercises in his room. Right when he sat down to rest, the Physical Therapist came in to take him on a walk and work on the stairs!

We went down the Joint Care Suite and went up and down the mini stairs (3 steps high that are 6" tall each) about 3 times with one crutch and one hand on the railing. Then tried it on the regular sized stairs on the other side (2 steps high that are regulation height) again 2 times with one crutch and one hand on the railing. At this point Sam sat down and we discussed the fact that at chuch there would be no railing to get down into the basement to do his karate classes. So, the therapist borrowed his crutches and demonstrated how to go up and down the regular stairs without the use of the rails. It's much harder, but possible. Then it was Sam's turn. He did great. He tried this up and down maybe 2 or 3 times.

We then got to do something fun! Our Derby Horse got to move based on goals we had met for our rehab and therapy, and it moved right to the front! He met every goal except maybe 4, and since we've been home, he's passed 2 more of them. If I was there, I would scoot it up 2 more. (But no cheating or the will make your horse go up and ride in the hot air balloon, we were warned!)

Then we walked back to the room. By now he was soooo tired.

Lunch came a few minutes later, and while he ate, I ran downstairs to the cafeteria, which was the first time since we had gotten there. The food was great. I guess I felt less nervous about leaving him since we were being released to go home!

The hospital officially discharged us at 1:30pm, with Dr. Y letting us go around 12, and then us having to wait for the Internal Medicine Doctor to give his OK, (he had to look at the morning's blood work and listen to his lungs again) which happened finally around 1pm. The therapist we had seen in the morning had come back again around 12:30ish and talked with us, answering more questions and releasing us from his care.

Here's what we found out:
No driving for Sam for 6 weeks, crutches for 6 weeks, he can try flights of stairs after 2 weeks but he has to take it easy. No physical involvement in karate for 3-4 months. We have to make another appointment at Dr. Y's in 3 weeks. He told us the XRays from Friday morning looked great! Lots of Calcium will help it heal faster.

Pop came and picked Sam up in his big pick up truck, which has lots of room in the front seat, which also is easily adjustable. My Mom came and helped get me and our suitcase and many bags, pillow, blanket, etc. out to my van. The nursing assistant (PCA) pushed Sam out in a wheelchair and I carried the crutches.

Pop had pulled up out front just as we walked up. Sam stood up with his crutches, backed up to the truck seat, and with a little maneuvering, stepped with his "good foot" (that's what the Physical Therapist called the non-surgery leg) onto the step of the truck, and then using the crutches, helped hoist his weight up into the seat. Then I helped rotate his legs into the truck. After they drove off, Mom and I went and rode in my van, with her driving.

When we got home, (Which felt great!!!) Pop backed the truck into the driveway, so that Sam would be getting out on the sidewalk side. Then he stepped out, "weak foot" and crutches first.

When we were walking up the sidewalk to the house, which felt like a long time I think to Sam, he was starting to rush. I said, "take your time, this is officially the only plans you had today." He told me, "Oh, I have big plans today." I was surprised. "You do? What?" "I am going to sit on my own couch, watch Heroes with you, and then I'm going to take a shower in my new shower!" He said.

So that is exactly what we did!

Well, first Mom and Gannie and I went and picked up all of his medications - it wouldn't be good to go without those pain meds.... - but then yes, we watched Heroes sitting on the couch, and he got to take a shower in his finished brand new shower.

Sunday

Yesterday Sam had wanted to jump up (ok no jumping yet) and get ready for church. But I talked with Mom and she really felt like it was too soon. So, I talked to Sam and he agreed to wait.

It turned out to be a good thing. After all the physical therapy he had done on Saturday and Friday, on Sunday, the only physical activity he got was late in the evening we took a short walk, like 2 driveways up and back, and he was totally exhausted.

He had lots of pain all day yesterday.

He said his pain level was at about 3, which is nearly as high as it got, except for during the extreme parts.

Then overnight he got chills, although there didn't seem to be a fever, and he is still having the night sweats any time he falls asleep pretty much, which he's taking about 4 good naps (including bedtime) daily.

The other thing that tells me that he's in a lot of pain, is that he's sleeping with that knee elevated with a pillow again, like he used to before the surgery, which he wasn't really at the hospital. He did have the hospital bed fixed to elevate the legs some, so maybe so....

Anyway, it was bad enough he took his pain medicine about 20 min early last night, and then this morning thought it was time, and when I looked, it was 45 minutes early! He agreed to wait. Then after he took that dose, he fell back into a deep sleep.

But considering it hasn't been a full week yet, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised!

Keep the calls coming in (and emails)! He loves it. If you call when he's asleep, I'll talk to you, and then tell him you called, but he's really only sleeping for about 2 hours 3 times a day...ok, I guess that's a lot..but my point is, you have a good chance of catching him, and it's a good distraction. The worst is sitting around thinking, "Gosh, this really hurts you know?"

I'll post more later!

MJ

PS- I know what you are wanting to know, will I post a big ugly picture of his incision....we are thinking on that.... It's pretty ugly....so let me keep thinking on it...

Also, he is tolerating my giving him these shots daily ok to! If it was the other way around, I don't know how I would do! (Blood thinner shots- once daily in the stomach! Yuck!)

Finally an Update...Maybe Going Home Tomorrow

Well, I know what you are thinking, why didn't I bother to write yesterday? Well, I tried, several times, there was just too much going on. By the time I had well, time, I was exhausted. So, I went straight to sleep, and good thing too, because Sam needed me to get up with him every 2 hours! But that's another story!

Here is Your Update:

Days 2-3

Thursday, we got up and had breakfast, which Sam was relieved to see that he was able to eat. As you may remember, he had been having major nausea the day before all day, and had been unable to eat anything.

They came in at 9:30 or 10am and removed Sam's drainage tubes (both from the surgery site and from the bladder) but left the IV in since the doctor wanted him to keep the Morphine pump going for a little longer.

Then we went down to Joint Camp (Physical Therapy) at about 10:30am. There we saw the couple that I had sat with in the waiting room the day before. He was up, dressed and ready for PT! In fact, of all of the people in Sam's group, this gentleman was the fastest recovery! He was up on his feet by lunch time the second day!

Sam worked hard for quite some time, lots of leg exercises done from a reclining chair. This let us get our Derby Horse on the board. Our jockey is number 3 (our room # is 6203) They have a race set up on this big picture of a race track, and as you meet certain goals, you can move your horse!

Then they gave everyone an ice pack to put on their hip and we returned to our room for Sam to have a much needed nap- with a little help from the pain meds I'm sure.

The most interesting part of this adventure turned out to have nothing to do with us, but all to do with another lady who was there. She was a very elderly lady who had fallen and broken her hip. She had also just recently had her surgery, and her pain medicine was making her very sick too. Gross story short, we ended up playing nurse to her because there weren't any available when she needed one, and she was VERY VERY sick...if you get my drift.....this did Sam in (who was already pretty icky feeling) and we had to go back to our room too.

After a much too brief nap, they took us back to the same PT suite for a buffet style lunch, and the minute they sat Sam's food in front of him... well, we were in the same position as our earlier neighbor. So, No lunch for Sam.

That Morphine they had given him just made him sooooo sick. They had finally and I mean FINALLY, (we had asked a lot) pulled the IV out and removed the morphine, agreeing to let him take another pain pill by mouth, but that last dose at 12 was too much.

After we got back to the room and got cleaned up again, he fell asleep and slept until Leslie and Bob showed up at almost 5:30 I think. He was exhausted. We also missed our afternoon therapy session.

Then things actually got a lot worse, if you can believe it! Sam later told a nurse that throwing up in front of everyone was the best part of his day comparatively!

The rest of the day went really badly because of some physical issues Sam had as a result of the Morphine. But considering the wide readership of this Blog now, I'll spare you the gory details. Let's just say that the early removal of the drainage tubes did not sit well with Sam's internal systems. His bladder filled up, but would not empty! So, the doctor prescribed Lasix finally, 9 horribly painful hours later, and that is basically why Sam and I were up every two hours for the rest of the night, once things started, "emptying out".

We hated it too because it all came down right when everyone showed up to visit, including Grace and Thomas, who we hadn't seen since the surgery. They really wanted to see their Daddy.

The result of this charming story, is that we had a rotten, painful day yesterday, and did almost no physical therapy, so the doctor let us stay another day!

Friday, the Doctor told Sam we would be staying overnight again tonight and that from now on, Sam always has to tell people that he is allergic to Morphine. He had the major reaction of the nausea, the reaction of itchiness, a lot of sleepiness and confusion, night sweats, and then this issue with the bladder. Never again, he said.

Next, he told us that he was going to give us a prescription for a hospital bed when we got home with a "trapeze" which is this huge metal frame that goes over top of the bed, so that Sam can grab on and pull himself up, which is what we have here in our room. This was a great relief to us. One down side to this, is that insurance decided not to allow this, but we found out that Gould's rents just the trapeze, which is all we really wanted anyway. They will be delivering that out to our house tomorrow and setting it up on Sam's side of the bed.

Another great thing was that he told Sam he could get a shower! So, when he was gone, and after Sam's cousin Ben got here and helped us set up a shower chair and re-configure our shower curtain, Sam got a nice hot shower and shave. He felt soooo much better.

Then the lady from Joint Camp showed up and we were off for some mega catching up! We did all of the exercises on the first sheet again in no time, so they gave us another sheet, (We got a much better Therapist this time!!!) and we zipped through those as well. Then he got Sam up on crutches walking!!!



This was the victory of our hospital stay! The best part was when the immobile right leg finally started inching forward. He just starred at the lifeless thing and all the muscles in his body were tense, and he willed himself to move it and it just started moving! He said he felt like he had to re-establish communication with the limb basically. Here is a photo of the notes the therapist wrote on the board in our room to the Saturday therapist, so they'd know the progress we'd made. It basically says that he can walk on crutches if you stay close and that he can get out of bed with a little assistance. Might says something about the stairs, but I'm not sure!

This evening the kids came back to see us and we walked down the hall and showed them the Joint Care suite. They were pleased to see Daddy. Gracie kept singing a little tune, "Mommy Daddy Mommy Daddy" and sometimes just, "Daddy Daddy" or she'd tell one of the nurses, "My Daddy".

Then they left with Linda and Leigh, and my parents and Gannie came to visit for awhile. But once everyone was gone, Sam fell asleep pretty quickly.

We anticipate being sent home tomorrow. The primary reason we were kept was to be sure there were no further issues with the bladder, and to get Sam in with the Physical Therapist. He still had barely done any walking when the doctor came in this morning to discharge, like only across our room. So, we were fairly sure they wouldn't let us go today, and were quite relieved when they didn't. But tomorrow, I think we'll be ready.

With any luck, we can see the Therapist again tomorrow before we leave.

They are supposed to come out to our house as well at least once, so we'll see about that. Otherwise we'll just wait and see!

Thanks to everyone, seriously, who has called, emailed, stopped in, or sent word with others. We really appreciate knowing you are out there. And we Double Love the Prayers. I was threads away from tears several times yesterday when he was in so much pain, and then in walked Derema, and all I thought was, "it's someone who will pray." I truly felt relieved right away. I say this as I listen to a man down the hall who has been alternating crying out in pain (or maybe confusion from the medicine) the whole time we've been here for 3 days or having vomiting. He's been really bad off the whole time. I just pray for him, and hope you are praying for us. We've been really blessed that it's not been that bad for us.

Lots of Love!
MJ

PS- The Gory Details...So if you aren't into that (or barely know us...don't read this)

Now, as careful as I was not to give you nasty info, Sam really wants me to tell you how he made the pain stop because we have others now who are reading this that are getting ready to have this same PAO surgery. He said, "If it can prevent them from going through all the pain I went through, I don't care that it's embarrassing or graphic."

So, here is the short version:

The morphine and also the general anesthesia cause your body systems to kind of freeze up. His bladder just wouldn't release. It was full, he felt like he was starting to urinate, but he could not. Not for hours. And yes, we tried everything. But here is the point: Don't assume that the answer is to relax. This did not work for Sam. The way he made it stop hurting finally, was the opposite. He finally, used all his strength and pushed. Now, that being said, beware, there are lots of physicians who will tell you that you should never strain. Even our own nurse didn't seem to approve of this idea. But, the alternative to not doing it naturally, well, is to have the tube put back in. That is not the worst thing in the world, but....well....
Anyway, once he went that first time, it became easier each additional time. The same thing can happen with stool, so when they say take the stool softeners and drink PLENTY of fluids, do it.... Hope this helped somebody and didn't gross out everybody....

Sam is walking on crutches!

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