THWARTED BY THE PIG (SWINE FLU)!

Much has happened in the week since our last posting. Not all that has transpired has been what I would deem, 'good news'. Of course, the birth of a healthy grandson (Jason Roberts) certainly ranks high on the 'Good List'. . . as does the continued health and happiness of ALL of our children and grandchildren. We have been very richly blessed. Our niece, Whitni, will be graduating from Idaho Falls High School in June. We are extremely proud of her and the many years of studious dedication she has invested. Her quest for excellence in all that she undertakes is one of the hallmarks of her character.

She is a remarkable young lady.

Madi - Michael and Amber's daughter - is growing and walking and laughing and singing and humming and experimenting with so many new things. She is an absolute delight and brings untold joy not only to her parents, but especially to Lynne. Madi talks (Madi-speak) to her Gramma Lynne on the telephone two or three times each week. It's a language that is unique and peculiar to the two of them. . sounds like gibberish to me, but Lynne assures me their conversations are very enlightening. Of course, Madi still loves to dance with her Grampa Hutch and play on his laptop computer. A real charmer.

All of the grandkids out West are doing well. . . even in the face of some unexpected situations. . Tyler and Kim's youngest, Maxwell, will have a lump on his right thigh excised and biopsied this coming week. When I talked to Ty last week, he said there is a good possibility the lump is a cyst. The lump is hard and not soft as it would be if it were a vascular (blood vessels) anomaly. Their surgeon recommended removal and biopsy as a precautionary measure. We await the results in good faith.

Of a more serious nature, Lynne's younger brother Chris, was diagnosed with T3N rectal cancer a little over a week ago. It is going to require aggressive chemo and radiation treatments that will begin the first of June. Then he will have surgery about six weeks after that to remove the tumor which is approximately two and a half inches long and has permeated the lining and spread into his lymph nodes. Lynne has been taking this hard. Chris has been dealing with it fairly well, considering. He will be staying with us for the duration of his treatments so that Lynne can get him to and from his appointments, etc. These last two situations lend a great deal of perspective to our latest dilemma. . .

A couple of days ago, Belinda Bu sent me an email from China stating that the Chinese government has imposed separation, isolation and potential quarantine for all arrivals from the United States due to the H1N1 influenza (Swine Flu). This has the potential of disrupting our travel plans, in that we could be subjected to isolation in a hotel or hospital for a period of up to seven days - half our vacation time. Fast forward to yesterday and today. . . Belinda contacted me again and said that the local government will not allow us to stay in their apartment in Chengde. They (Chinese Government) maintain that the possible risk to the local populace would be too great. In the wake of that morsel of information I placed a call to the State Deparment in Washington, D.C. and a subsequent call to the Consulate General at the Ameican Embassy in Beijing. They confirmed that we would not be allowed to stay with locals and would in all probability, be required to stay in a designated hotel for isolation in Beijing. Lodging, incidentally, that we would be obligated to pay for. We would be subjected to daily medical exams and our travel to sights in the region will be restricted. In the wake of these new revelations, we are left with the option of leaving on Thursday as planned (and possibly spending half of our vacation sequestered in a hotel not of our choosing) or reschedule our entire trip for August - September in the hope that the influenza crisis has abated. This latter option will cost us more money (higher fuel costs, flight changes, etc.) but in all likelihood, it is the more viable and practical of the two options.

Right now, I'm pretty much hating ALL things swine related. I don't even want to eat a freakin' ham and cheese sandwich or a BLT!!