[bowers]

Paw, my wife and I send you our sympathy and prayers. Please keep us informed as to the situation and, above all, please take care of yourself. Eat, rest, and remember we're here to share these difficult times. Grief has a nasty way of lowering our body's resistance and we surely don't need you getting sick- you have enough on your plate. Anyway, if you ever need a sympathetic ear, please feel free to contact me off-list. Strength and healing to you and your wife- Bowers

[paw broon]

Thank you all for the comforting and kind words.  That's a few days now with no emergencies.  Fingers crossed.  Problem is, my sister lives in the back of beyond - 3 1/2 hours on the train and a long bus or taxi ride, and I really wonder how she's going to cope.  More bridges to cross.  As we both get older, it seems as if our past is disintegrating around us as family members pass away and we become more aware of our own mortality.  Comes to all of us, I suppose.  My wife says more and more these days that we have to enjoy ourselves while we can.
Thanks.

[Captain Audio]

I have to admit that I've been avoiding this thread recently.
Mainly because there have been so many deaths among family and friends in the last two years to want to contemplate it.

Right now I'd like to ask for your prayers for my grand niece.
She is mixed race, (American Indian, Caucasion, Hispanic, and African American)though it doesn't show, a pretty tiny blonde girl that takes after her grandma.
I mention mixed race only because she was tested and carries the gene for Sickle Cell Anemia, and may be presenting symptoms at such an early age.
She's developed a serious palsy of the right arm and hand and complains of severe pains.

Don't know for sure whats causing it, we are taking her in for tests tomorrow morning. 

Shes very special to all of us.

When my mom was in intensive care after her cancer surgery she saw a tiny blonde girl that came into the room and talked with her. No little girl was there, and we figured it a halucination.
This little girl was born shortly there after and whenever brought over for a visit she would spend hours standing by the bed and talking with Mom, just as in Mom's vision before she was born.
Precognition?

Funny thing.
My grand niece at the time knew nothing about the elderly and thought Mom was my sister's giant baby.
She once asked why mom was so big and wasn't growing up like other babies.

[boox909]

A few of my nephews have the Sickle Cell trait, but no full blown development, so I do understand your concerns.

Your grand niece will be in my prayers.

B.

[narfstar]

I put her on our Saturday morning prayer list.

[bowers]

Captain, my wife and I will remember your family in our prayers. Watching a child suffer, especially such a young one, is probably the worst feeling in the world. Please stay strong and remember we're here to listen- please keep us informed as to the outcome of the tests. With sympathy, Bowers

[Astaldo711]

I cannot imagine what it's like going through that. When my youngest was born, they performed some test in the hospital and they said it came back positive and she may develop some sort of retardation. They thought it could be a false positive so they tested again. My wife and I were crazed with worry. I finally called the hospital and they said "oh, everything is fine! We'd only call if there is a problem."
My thoughts and prayers are with you, your niece and her family. I'll ask my mother-in-law to light a candle at church for the little angel.

[paw broon]

Captain, please accept my sympathies and fervent hopes for a good outcome.
Like you, I've been staying away from, not only this bit, but GAC in general. I was becoming a bit depressed by not only my family problems but all the terrible things happening to some of you and couldn't really bring myself to chat about comics etc. when all this was going on.  A bit daft, perhaps.
A few days after my last post, my mother in law was rushed to hospital and, in fact, is still there.  The old lady has a number of ongoing health problems and now has shingles.  My wife, however has strongly suggested to me that I make an effort to re-engage with GAC and C.C. as she's convinced that it'll take my mind of the problems a bit and she'll be a lot happier knowing I'm pursuing at least one of my hobbies. 
Thanks for letting me bore you.

[narfstar]

No boredom here Paw. I have used the term that may be coined by me that "we are friends that haven't physically met yet." I have guest rooms all across the globe where I am welcome and if I had a guest room would love to have visits from some of you. Actually have a comfy couch and recliner if someone does not mind a night. I spend more time talking with my online friends than many of my physical friends

[Captain Audio]

Well near as I can tell its not cycle Cell.
Her grand mother (my niece) will let me know how things are going, but so far tests for diabetes and other conditions are also negative.
It could be as simple as exhaustion, its been terribly hot here in recent months, and this is a very hot climate in the summers anyway, 78 straight days of 90 degrees and more with noon day pushing 100 degrees on many days.
I gave her mom an air conditioner a couple of years back, I should check to be sure she still has one in good working condition.
From what they told her the little one will probably not develop cycle cell, but if she married someone with the same trait their children would be at high risk.

[Captain Audio]

The little girl is doing fine, healthy and happy.

My nephew has had a serious setback though.

He was told long ago that he might need a liver transplant, but had made a remarkable recovery with signs his liver was regenerating lost tissue.
Yesterday morning he unexpectedly lapsed into a coma.
His liver was unable to break down ammonia which is a byproduct of digestion of proteins.
He is in intensive care. They are trying to flush the ammonia from his blood and brain cells.

[narfstar]

Praying for our nephew

[boox909]

The little girl is doing fine, healthy and happy.

My nephew has had a serious setback though.

He was told long ago that he might need a liver transplant, but had made a remarkable recovery with signs his liver was regenerating lost tissue.
Yesterday morning he unexpectedly lapsed into a coma.
His liver was unable to break down ammonia which is a byproduct of digestion of proteins.
He is in intensive care. They are trying to flush the ammonia from his blood and brain cells.

I'm so sorry to hear about of your nephew's condition. Prayers for him and your family.

[boox909]

My uncle; my father's younger brother, passed away within the last two hours.  

I will still be around GAC-UK, but not saying much.

2010 marches on...

[Astaldo711]

So sorry to hear that boox. My prayers are with you and your family.

[josemas]

My condolences and prayers for Boox, Captain Audio and their families for their losses and tribulations at this time.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

So sorry to hear. I have few aunts and uncles left. I was much closer to my mom's siblings than my dads and hers are all gone now. My dad's twin sister is still alive and she is great. His youngest brother is a jerk and no one really has much to do with him. Prayers and sympathy Boox

[Geo (R.I.P.)]

So sorry to hear that boox, my prayers go out to you and your family at this time.

Geo

[Captain Audio]

My condolences Boox, my best to you and yours in this time of loss.

My nephew's condition has begun to respond to treatment and he has regained consciousness.
It will take some time for the toxins to leave his brain cells, but things look better for now.

[macsnafu]

Well, I hope everyone's over their bad news.   Fortunately, my parents are still alive, and seem to be in relatively good health, although my mom has to be on oxygen. I'm 47 and my parents are 71 and 66.  Of course, they haven't been married to each other in a long time, as they divorced in '74, when I was nine years old.  That might have had something to do with me turning to comics...

I also have a sister who is four years younger than me, but I don't get to see her too often, as she and her family live a long ways away.  They live in Washington (state) while my parents and I live in Oklahoma.

[narfstar]

Oklahoma where the wind comes whistling......

[macsnafu]

Oklahoma where the wind comes whistling......

Well, we could sure use some wind.  Fortunately, we seem to be over the 100+ degree weather, but it's still in the 90s.

[paw broon]

Not the best Easter ever for us.  I got unwell last Thursday but that has passed quite quickly. Friday, while we were out with Linda's mum, Linda started to feel unwell.  We got home and she went to bed.  Sat., no better, so we went to the pharmacy who told us, given her symptoms, we should call NHS 24, who in turn made an appointment at the hospital that same day.  I got her there, tests were done and she was prescribed antibiotics.  She's fit, so slowly getting back to normal but still has to see her G.P.  What a week.
By the way, Scotland has another outbreak of Norovirus and I don't fancy a dose of that.
It can only get better, can't it?

[narfstar]

Glad for the recovery avoid the Norovirus.

[Kevin Yong]

Hi everyone. I'm a long time member, but infrequent poster. This thread seemed like an appropriate place to post this news.

I was a friend of Don Ensign, the man behind "The Blue Boy" Captain Marvel Jr. blog at http://capmarjr.blogspot.com/

Sadly, Don recently passed away after a long fight with cancer. He was an artist, a writer, and a lifelong comics fan. He was active in early comics fandom, and was co-founder of the Christian Comic Arts Society. He was a kind & devout man, a good friend, and will be missed by all who knew him.

The majority of Don's extensive comic book collection is being donated to a university library. However, I got permission to hold onto the smaller Golden Age portion of his collection to see if there was any public domain material that could be scanned. He was a fan of both the CB+ and DCM sites, and made use of these resources often. He would have wanted his collection shared for posterity.

So, in the months ahead, I'll be trying to scan and upload what I can from my friend's collection. I'll post updates in the forum when I have new scans ready. (And I'll probably be posting various questions about the copyrights of specific titles if I can't figure it out myself. Thanks in advance for any help.)

-- Kevin Yong