Brenda sent us these snippits from the journal last week.  I was really touched by this entry and what Daddy went through. The first little part was pretty fun to hear too...I can just hear daddy talking...

Jean has taken the baby out a time or two when she goes and don’t have anyone to
stay with her but the poor little gal is scared stiff of anyone she don’t know and
she sure sets it up too. Jean had some people here tonight practicing a song they
are going to sing at the ward party and when Jean showed the baby to them she
almost went thru the roof she was so scared. That little gal is anything but
sociable around strangers but with us here at home she is the sweetest little gal I
have ever seen and for all the trouble she has caused us we would never know we
had a baby in the house.
Teina and Brenda are going to sing over at the Stake house Sunday and Jean has
been trying to get them ready but they just can’t seem to take anything seriously.
If singing didn’t come so easy for them I’d say they would make a mess of it but
they usually come thru ok. Leslie can sing as well as either of them but they
haven’t asked her to sing in public yet.
May 1
I have myself three boils to keep me company now and they are sure giving me a
bad time. Lucky they are located where they are or they might give me a lot more
trouble than they do. I’m taking some blood medicine but it hasn’t had a chance to
do anything yet. I hope it works before any more boils start.
May 5
The boil on my arm is so big now that I can’t even get my sleeve over it anymore.
As soon as dinner was over I called Romain and told him I wouldn’t be to work this
afternoon as I was going to the doc. And so that’s where I headed. After waiting for
a couple of hours I finally got in to see him. After he had looked me over then
looked over the lab tests they took he decided I needed a shot of penicillin so he
had his nurse give me one in the arm. This is the first time I ever had penicillin
but they seemed to think it was ok so who am I to argue. I’m willing to do about
anything if it will help get rid of these boils. The doc also gave me some pills to
take that are supposed to clear up my blood
May 7
Tonight Jean insisted that I soak my boils in hot Epsom salts for awhile to see if it
wouldn’t ease the pressure a little. I wasn’t very sold on the idea but must admit
that it really helped a lot.
May 10
I sure felt rotten this morning when I rolled out but after I got out in the air for
awhile I felt a little better. The boils are as bad as ever so I don’t feel like doing
much of anything. I do what has to be done and let the rest go. On the way home
we went up to Barnetts to get some flowers they had promised Jean. I don’t know
if it was the cold wind or me but I was taking chills all the time I was up there and
my face was so swollen I could hardly see. I was glad when we finally come home.
Soon as we got home I tried to lay down but I started to itch so bad I just couldn’t
hold still. Jean wanted me to go to church but I really didn’t feel up to it tonight.
Teina and Bruce are coming down with a fever so maybe they are getting the
measles. Maybe that is what I’m getting too.May 11
Don’t think I slept more than a few minutes all night. I seem to have picked up
something that is really making me scratch and the more I scratched the more I
want to scratch. When I got home Jean was trying to irrigate. Seems Oral had
turned the water down and when they got thru with it they turned it over to us.
Everything is so dry that the water just don’t go anywhere. When I put my hands
in the cold water they felt like they were about to drop off and the swelled up real
tight so I figured the best thing for me to do was keep my hands out of the water. I
was supposed to go to the doc again this afternoon but I felt so rotten I figured the
place for me was as far away from the doctor as I could get. Tonight I have done
nothing but itch and soak my boils and I don’t know which is the worse
May 12
This morning when I rolled out I was covered with a rash all over me except for
my hands and face. My feet were so swollen that I could hardly get my boots on. I
really felt rotten when I left home but after getting out in the fresh air for awhile
I felt a lot better. This morning I bumped the boil on my arm and it hurt so bad I
could have sit down and bawled.
May 13
I really felt rotten when I got up this morning and if there had been anyone
around I could get to take this milk route I think I would have let the take it. I
didn’t sleep a wink all night. All I could do was scratch until I almost drove Jean
nuts. After I got going I felt pretty good but as the day wore on I got to feeling
sicker all the time I finally made it to the milk plant and was just starting to
unload when my knees buckled and that was the end. The guys down there
unloaded for me and put the empty cans back in the truck and then I thought I’d
drive down the road a ways and find a tree to lay under till I felt better but they
wouldn’t hear of it so Carl got in with me and drove the truck home. After I had
laid down for awhile I felt better so I got up and delivered the cans around town
but when I got home I was all in again. I should have gone to the doc this
afternoon but instead I tried to tell myself that it would be alright. By evening I
knew I wasn’t going to be able to go anymore so I made out a chart for Ken and
Ray and told Jean to get one of them to take over. All evening I took baths and
tried to ease up this itch but as soon as I’d get out of the tub it would be back
again worse than ever. I finally told Jean she’d better call a doctor and see what
there was to be done. After talking it over with him he decided the only place for
me was up in the hospital so tonight, or I should say, this morning at three I
checked in at the hospital.
May 14
Guess it will be a long time before I forget last night. As soon as I got to the
hospital they put me to bed and started to give me shots. They said they would
stop the itching and put me to sleep but they didn’t do either. I just laid there all night scratching till I had my legs bleeding and raw. They kept bringing me pills
and shots all night long and when the doctor come in the morning he thought I
should have been better but to tell the truth I can’t remember when I ever felt
worse. I wasn’t able to eat so they fed me thru my veins which is a hell of a way to
get nourishment if you ask me. When Jean come over at two I was anything but in
a happy mood and I could see that she was worried. I was worried too because I
really felt low. The rest of the day was about the same. Every time I’d open my
eyes there stood a nurse with a hypo needle in her hand. Jean come over to see me
again tonight but I didn’t feel much like talking. Ray had taken the day off and
took the milk route and with the help of Noble they were able to get the milk
hauled altho they said it was a lot bigger job than they had thought it was.
May 15
Tonight, or last night was about the same as the night before. The nurse with her
hypo needle and pills and the scratching. It seemed like there was no end to it. I
think I must have taken a half a dozen showers last night to try to stop the itching
but it didn’t do a bit of good. I am in a room with an old man who looks like he has
come here to die. He snores something awful but I don’t mind because I can’t sleep
anyway. Jean come over to see me again this afternoon and again tonight as did
several other people but I just wasn’t in the mood for visitors. At the hospital
they treated me as nice as a person could ask to be treated and every time I
needed anything they were there to help me but somehow when you are over
there you just don’t feel up to appreciating al these things. The doctor come in
again this morning and asked a lot of questions about the family to see if there
was something in the family history that he might trace this to. Seems that up till
now he wasn’t sure just what was wrong with me or how to go about getting rid of
it. I was so swelled up that the nurses who come in to give me the shots would say
that they didn’t know where to stick the needle because there wasn’t a spot on me
that wasn’t covered with rash.
May 16
I don’t know what I could add to last night and today that has been any different
than the past couple of days. Seems like all they do is shoot me full of shots and
give me pills and then to add to my discomfort they are still feeding me thru the
veins as I haven’t been able to eat anything yet. Jean come over to see me again
this afternoon and again tonight. She don’t tell me how things are going at home
but I have an idea she is managing all right. Tonight she told the head nurse that
when the Elders come thru the hospital tonight that we would like them to come
in so about ten thirty they did come in and administered to me. I must be a pretty
sorry looking sight with this rash all over me and a weeks growth of beard. Just as
soon as I can I’m going to try to shave.
May 17
When the nurse took my temperature this morning it was almost down to normal
again and the rash had gone away to some extent so I was feeling better than I have for the past week when the doctor come into see me. He looked me over then
after studying the nurses report he told me that at last they had found something
that was curing me and that I should be ok soon. I couldn’t wait for Jean to come
over so I could tell her the good news. Tonight for the first time since I come up
here I think I’ll be able to sleep a little.
May 18
This morning the nurse didn’t have a shot for me so I figured I must be getting
better. Jean has been calling me every morning and we would talk for about a half
an hour. We were still talking when the doctor come in so I had to hang up in a
hurry I nearly fainted when he asked if I would like to go home but I didn’t
hesitate to tell him that I was ready as soon as he would say the word. As soon as
he left I called Jean to tell her the news and she said she would be over to get me.
Soon as I told Jean the news I got up and showered and got dressed to come home
and it seemed like along time before Jean got there. I didn’t realize how weak I
was till I started to walk out to the car. I thought my knees were going to buckle
on me but I finally made it. It sure was nice to get home. Every thing was so pretty
and green and the rock garden was as pretty as I have ever seen it. I had to see
Jeans flowers and we were out there looking at them when Ken come home. He
sure didn’t expect to see me home so soon; course I hadn’t planned on getting
home so soon either. About all I done all day was lay around and take it easy. I was
glad to know that the baby hadn’t forgotten me. She really is a happy little bug

Wow.  I never heard daddy talk about this before.  I do remember mum saying something about daddy being really sick with boils when I was a baby.   I just can't imagine how terrible this must have been for him.  I had never heard of him missing a day of work so you know he must have been pretty bad off. I had to sit and cry for a bit when I read it.   I love how the power of the Priesthood is so evident in his recovery.  My heart sure is filled to the top with gratitude and love for my wonderful dad.