a ® Betty Ide By DOTTY MARTIN Editor Betty Ide says the worst is behind her and the best is yet to come. The worst is five transfusions and a hospital stay that has already spanned more than two months and is expected to con- tinue for several more weeks before it ends - while the best is the baby Betty and her husband, Darren, are expecting. Betty, 24, suffers from mitral stenosis, a heart condition that prevents the heart from pumping blood properly. Because the mitral valve in her heart is smaller than normal, it cannot push blood through the body as it is supposed to, says Betty. And, because of her condition, which she has been aware of all her life, Betty suffers from coughing seizures, bronchitis and pneumonia. Having suffered sev- eral serious coughing seizures in February of this year which caused her a tremendous loss of blood, Betty’s doctors have now confined her to the obstetrics department at Nesbitt Memorial Hospital in Kingston until her baby is born. The patient says the ultrasound test (a test performed on preg- nant women to determine when the baby is due) has shown the baby to be due on June 23, but Betty claims that by the way she feels, she thinks Baby will arrive at the end of this month. The former Elizabeth Belles, Betty resided in Dallas until her years ago when the couple moved to Lake Silkworth. Betty’s father, Harold William Belles, is a resident of the Valley View Trailor Court in Dallas, while Darren’s father, Roland Ide, is the. former police chief of Lehman Township. Betty attended the Dallas School District and graduated from West Side Vo-Tech in 1979. She and Darren are both employed at Offset Paperback where Betty is a bindery assist- ant and Darren is a press assist- ant. Betty’s attitude is a rather healthy one as she anticipates being at home with Darren and the baby. Her hospital room has been decorated with drawings of Smurfs (a gift from Betty’s brother-in-law) to heart-shaped balloons that say “I love you this much” from Darren. The cards overflowing in the wall rack show Betty is loved and has a lot of people helping her keep her spirits as high as they are. “The first thing I want to do when things are back to normal is get some food and cook my husband a nice meal,” Betty says lovingly. “It’s been so hard on both of us, not being able to phone.” The couple’s home is a long-distance call from the hospi- tal and Betty says she has man- aged to run up some pretty hefty phone bills during the past two months. ‘Everyone has been so suppor- tive, though,” she adds. ‘Without the love and support of my hus- band, my family, my friend, and the doctors and nurses here, I never would have made it. Everyone has been tremendous.” The love from her family will blossom even more this Saturday when, her two sisters-in-law transform the board room of Nesbitt into a hall for a baby shower for Betty. About 30 family members and friends are expected to attend. Although Betty is now allowed to go outside for 20 minutes a day with the assistance of either a family member or a nurse, things were not so rosy during the early days of her confine- ment. Having been admitted to Nes- bitt on March 4, just one day after her 24th birthday, Betty was a very sick woman and was bed-ridden at first. Later, she was allowed bathroom privileges and then could walk up and down the halls, a little at a time. Now, she gets to see the outside world once a day, but must remain at the hospital. Although Betty con- tinually teases the nurses on the OB Department about her being placed there to “keep an eye on them,’”” she knows she must remain at the hospital in case of complications. Betty also travels, by wheel- chair, every Sunday evening across the street to the Nesbitt Medical Arts building where she and Darren attend pre-natal classes. The breathing excersises taught at the classes are espe- cially important to Betty, because of her condition. Betty says her - doctors have warned her of the importance of her breathing correctly during delivery so as not to put undue pressure on her heart. She says the doctors want her to deliver the baby naturally, but want her to be able to deliver without any extreme pushing. Her family doctor, Dr. Maria McGrane of Dallas; her cardiolo- gist, Dr. David Rimple of Kings- ton; and her obstetricians, Dr. Gerald Gunster and Dr. John Frye of Kingston, are all plan- ning to be present during the delivery of Betty’s baby to insure her and the baby of the best possible care. Betty will probably ‘have to undergo open-heart surgery sometime after the birth of the baby, but, for right now, she simply wants to concentrate on the proper breathing methods and what life is going to be like for her and Darren and the baby. Although Darren and Betty have known each other for five years, they will be celebrating their second wedding anniver- sary on June 18. And, that’s when Betty wants to be home. “I just can’t wait to spend a whole day with Darren and the baby,” she says, grinning from ear to ear. ‘‘I want to make him something special for our anni- versary because he’s been so supportive. He’s something else.” ELSA’S CROSSWORDS / Zz “~ & 7 F 7 70 77 /F 7 73 © | 75 124 52 \55 ACROSS DOWN 1. ——— Sack 1. Oyster Offspring 2. Snoop 5. Speck 3. ——— Southern 8. Dutch Weight 4. Melba ———— : 5. A Clod 2 Cartoonist 6. Cereal Grass 12. Charlotte ———— ) 13. Common Swift 7. Golfer's Gadgets 8. Easily Outlined 14. Explosive Abode 9. Palance 17. Dip In Liquid 10. 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Station (Abbr.) 57. ———— Window 51, Poetic Ever LAST WEEK'S ANSWER 7 |Z IB 7 2 17 [7 F_ 77 Dl #1 |£E CZ lolx & "9 7Z 7 7 Al7 |oc |v Alo 4 HI IAL |@ 75 Vé 77 : Zan 021 (El7 E Visi s ££ | BLEED 20 ’ olR AX AVA 4 ZZ EP g|=i2 AR Op |0|8lo 27 32 2/4 re 7 iS Zia |S 72 Z 3 RIENT A | | &/]|£€|R 7 iz 34 ANA TNT ~ ZL 7, |3 7 ri GE lpl7|lo | R Zio M / : 2 |% : 5 BleolE& Clolzs |v / 77 ZT Blo|\H4|E EY EIN Y = fi 3 7 “7, le lg olRle | 4 Tlrl 7 Kingston Township residents are reminded’that Building Permits are required for the following: Addi- tions, Garages, Moving or tearing down buildings, Sheds, Roofing, Siding, Converting homes to apart- ments, Patios, Roofing over or clos- ing patios, Chimneys, Porches, Clos- ing in proches, Commercial Buildings, Swimming Pools, Drive- ways, Retaining Walls and New Businesses. For New Home Construction 8a .m. to 4:30 p.m. POOLS INCLUDE oFilter & Pump *Set-in *Steel Bracing Vinyl Liner Huge Sun Deck