A Rough Morning ....

.... is what I wrote about today on V's Caring Bridge sight. I updated her journal for her there. I will re-post it here, so that all of you wonderful Peeps will know how things stand today and how to continue praying.

As an aside, I'm surprised that she let me handle the update. She asked me to write one the night before last, so I just copied my last blog post and pasted it there, with a few additional comments.
Let's just say that Vicki, who is a much "gentler" writer than I am (she says it's inexperience. whatever.), was a little surprised. She laughed as she told me thank you and that she liked it, but to be frank, it was a very nervous laugh.

I think she was worried that her church family might be a bit taken aback by my "voice" on her site, especially since they've only heard her voice. And I say "voice", because those of you who know me can "hear" my voice saying the words you are reading. It's the same on her Caring Bridge site, which is her first attempt ever at writing, and she's done a wonderful job.

Just so everyone knows, though ..... I did warn her readers upfront and then I added my most sincere apologies at the end. I knew they'd be a bit shell shocked by then. :)

We finally have BOTH of them sleeping as I write this over in a corner of the hospital room.
Some of you may be surprised that I am here, since I was supposed to return yesterday.
Friday night V began (or really, continued) to feel overwhelmed. Her wonderful brother and sister in law (whom I adore!) were leaving the next morning, as was N, her terrific daughter (whom I also adore!). So she asked if I could stay longer and of course I immediately said yes. I'm so thankful that I can be here .... I'm not thankful that I have a reason to be here, of course, because it totally sucks that G had to have this disease and a then have the transplant (as another aside, I managed to refrain from using any form of the word "suck" on her CB site. It took a lot of strength .... a whole lot .... but I sweated it out).
She has done so much for me since Jim's death .... been with me and been strong for me when I could not be .... that I am blessed to be strong for her now.

So the plan is for me to return tomorrow .... as long as things look better today. At this point I'm considering staying another day. V's parents will arrive on Tuesday, which hopefully will be the day that G is released from the hospital. If things are still a bit rough tonight, I'll stay until Tuesday.

Thankfully, I have wonderful and compassionate children, who care deeply for their friends. I called Son #3 Friday night to talk to him about my staying until tomorrow, which is also his first day of school (no, not EVER .... his first day of his Jr. year, sheesh!). I wanted to see what he thought, how he felt about me being gone longer. His first question was, "Why? Is Grant ok?". I assured him that he was, but that V just needed me a bit longer. He said that I should do whatever they needed, and he didn't hesitate one nano second before saying that. He told me to stay as long as she wanted me to stay. The "emotional Mom" part of me got a little teary and warm and fuzzy.
The "highly-alert-for-suspicious-activity Mom" part of me broke through for a brief moment and thought, "Why? Are you going to have a keg party?!"
What?!
It was only a brief moment.
Don't judge my mothering.
I do enough of that myself.

I know how much he cares for G and the entire family.
The warm and fuzzy is still there. :)

On to the re-posting of my CB update:

This is Janine again.
Yesterday was a very good day, but today hasn't started off so well.

Grant started feeling really miserable around 4:00 a.m. and began vomiting. His system has also been "sluggish" about kicking in and moving things along so that has added to his misery. At around 8:00 a.m. they placed an NG tube to "compress" his stomach, to remove any additional liquids in there, and to try to get his system going.
Thankfully, it worked on his system. He didn't have much left in his stomach but it was able to remove a little.

He developed a fever while all of this was going on, which also made
Vicki miserable and everyone concerned, except for the dr., which I guess is good. She thought it was a result of all of the vomiting, which was a result from from his system still being a bit "paralyzed" after surgery. Also very normal.
I put a prayer request out via Twitter and Facebook and an hour later the fever had gone down. Praise God. :)
Hopefully it will continue to go back down to normal.

Since I began this entry the dr. came in and, very much to Grant's relief, and said that the NG tube could be removed. That tube was causing him more misery than anything else. He now looks and feels much better.
He can't have anything to eat or drink for the next several hours, which hopefully will ensure that he doesn't start vomiting again, causing them to re-insert the tube.

As I end this, he is starting to fall asleep, which he hasn't done since 4 a.m. I am planning on making sure that Vicki now lies down to get some sleep.
Please continue praying for his fever to return to normal, for his system to return to normal, for relief from pain and for some good, solid sleep.
Oh, and the "good, solid sleep" prayer also applies to Vicki.

As for the the other patient, he's becoming a lot less stubborn. :)
He and Grant both did quite a bit of walking yesterday (which was amazing since it was Grant's first day to even get out of bed!).
Roger is doing well today and is saying that he feels good.

I have been posting pictures on Facebook and would be happy to share them with you if you're on FB and want to "friend" me. Just let me know that you're a friend of Vicki's and I'll get you on ASAP. I'll check frequently to make sure to see any requests. I'm on FB as Janine Teague Eggers.

So, to wrap up in bullet points:
*Roger is doing well and feeling good
*Grant has had a very rough morning but is now doing much better and I'm listening to him as he is finally sleeping soundly.
*Vicki is hanging in there and feeling better, emotionally, than she was earlier. Much better.
*Vicki needs a lot of sleep.
*I'm going to make sure she gets some sleep, even if I have to slip something into her water. Trust me. :)

God is still good.
All the time.


So that's it, Peeps.
You have been updated.
I gave you a topic.
Now pray amongst yourselves.

Thank you.
And Happy Sunday.
:)

A Whirlwind ....

.... and nothing less.

G finally got some relief around 1 this morning, after the pain doc's supervisor called him. Isn't it funny how quickly one responds when one's boss shows up? He claimed to have not received the THREE pages. Kind of quirky that they were each entered into the computer system when they were made, doncha think?
The nurse filed a complaint. Formally, which is good because it makes V and I look less radical because we've complained to everyone who walks by. I think I may have complained to a janitor, but hey, everyone wears scrubs around here so .... whatever.

So N and I returned to the hotel, which is connected to the hospital.
Around 6 am the nurse told V, who had slept a few hours in the room, that G's potassium levels were high and the output still wasn't good so they were moving him to ICU. Poor V was alone and understandably scared to death.

She texted me at 7:30 but told me to stay at the hotel because her brother ands in-laws were with her.
I came over at 9 and things were, and are, much better now. They are giving him a unit of blood because he's losing a lot of blood into his drain, but think that should slow down significantly over the next 24 hours. I remember having those 2 icky drains and they do slow down quickly.
They gave him lasiks through his iv and that has done wonders on his output. To put it bluntly, 'He's peeing like a racehorse' and we couldn't be more relieved and proud. :)

He's still quite uncomfortable due to the bloating ---- his stomach is quite distended with all of the air they pumped in. But that is the least of our worries. I told V that she should put him up to her shoulder and start patting him on the back. I don't think G appreciates my sense of humor.

He will be moved back to his room this afternoon if this continues, and all signs point to it continuing.
R just called V and said that he is being released today .... in a couple of hours, no less. V and I are less than thrilled by that news. How is it possible to lose a kidney and in less than 24 hours, be released?!! Men are so stubborn! He said that he's not hooked up to anything so why shouldn't he go. Ummmmm ..... maybe to make sure he rests and doesn't get an infection? And to give V one less thing to worry about!
And yes, staying in a hospital raises the chance of infection, horrible infection, but c'mon! Twenty-four hours from the time of the first scalpel cut??

Anyhooo, I am not his doctor, though may I just say that I might add him to my growing list of ones who need to be fired?

So, here's how it stands at 11:12 a.m.: G is much better and stable. R is a stubborn cuss who will be over here, brcelet-free, in a couple of hours.
I will be back with G shortly so that V can go take a shower and feel a little more normal.
And then hopefully the rest of the day will be fairly quiet.
Hopefully.
Prayerfully hopefully.
Quiet is a very good thing.

Thanks for praying, Peeps.

It Has Been ....

.... a very long day.
But a mostly good one.

I did not fall asleep until 4:00 or so this morning. This has to stop because I'm not sure how much longer I can handle it.

Fortunately, the surgeries were pushed back till noon, so I didn't have to be back to the hospital as early as was originally thought.

I'm now in G's room with V and N, her daughter. R is doing well and is on a pain pump so he's sleeping.
G, however, is not doing as well. He has been in a lot of pain and they can't seem to keep it under control. This is a huge children's hospital ... and yet after 5:00 p.m. there is one dr. in "pain services" to cover this entire hospital. And he's either very busy, or has fallen asleep somewhere.
It's beyond infuriating to watch G in so much pain and know that there's nothing we can do except wait for this guy to answer his stinking page.

G is the second of two patients to receive the type of pain management they've chosen. He received an epidural with narcotics added to it, and then some narcotics through an iv. The intention is that he would need less narcotic, thus would be less likely to suffer nausea. Unfortunately, it's not working. The nurse told us that this happened with the first patient, too, but that once they got the meds figured out, she did amazingly well the next day. G has been out of surgery and in pain since at least 6:30. It is now almost midnight. The pain dr came up here one time, several hours ago. They upped the epidural, which seemed to be wearing off, and then added a pain med to his iv. After about 15 mins G got some relief, though the
pain never went away. Now, for the last hour, the pain has been steadily increasing and this dr. is nowhere to be found. And G has not slept solidly since the surgery. He dozes for 10 - 15 minutes at the most and then is wide awake with the pain.
So much for "keeping n top of it".

V is sleeping in his room tonight, but N and I don't want to leave until things are more in control.
And, to add to all of that, G's kidney output is not what they'd like it to be. It's not enough "to keep the kidney working", which is a mighty scary thing to hear. So his dr. has ordered double the fluids (iv), plus replacing the amount that he does pass, every hour through the night.
It's just a wee bit stressful to watch the foley tube not putting out very much, plus watch his heart rate and bp climb because of the pain.

Everyone is exhausted.
Naturally.
The nurses have been wonderful, but they,too, are frustrated by all of this.

So please continue to pray, Peeps. And thank you for all of the prayers you've been sending up all day.

As for me, the moment that we followed G's bed out of pre-op and said goodbye at the surgery doors .... was more than I could handle. And I cried as I lagged behind, trying to hide the tears. But they would not stop and I couldn't hide them. V turned and saw them, then walked over to me, hugged me, and cried with me. I so did not want that to happen. This day was not about me, and I did not want to turn it that way. But it was hard.
So.
Very.
Hard.

But then it got better.
We spent the next four hours talking, laughing, updating various Facebooks, web sites and Twitter accounts. We went down to eat lunch once we knew that G's surgery was under way, but I don't find hospitals to be very hunger-inducing.

It is now 30 minutes after I started this post and the dr. has still not answered his page. The poor nurse is beyond overwhelmed. She has called his supervisor and the transplant surgeon because she doesn't know what else to do. I'd love to go hunt this man down, but I'd hate to be on the news tomorrow. I've already pushed enough envelopes around here today.
But even I know there's only so much you can demand.

And so we wait.

And pray.

Thanks, Peeps, for praying with us.

A Change of Plans ....

              Jim's brother has been hard a work, turning old family slides
              into new digital photos.  I'm so thankful he's done/is doing this.
              This is, of course, Jim .... my trike-riding cowboy.   :)



.... has occurred with my plans for next week.
For a good reason, that happens to come from a bad reason.

As you hopefully remember, my very dear friend, V and her son G came to visit us last week.  V and I have been friends since we were 17.  We then went to the same college (Go Cowboys!!) and joined the same sorority and became closer.  And closer.
Then we graduated, I married Jim, she was in our wedding, she's the godmother to my daughters, she got married, I was in her wedding ..... and we continued to grow closer.  She is much more than a friend to me.
Much, much more.
If you've read from the beginning of my blog, or at least from the point where Jim died (which was only 3 months after I began it) you know that she came down to stay with me more than once.  She helped me during those first days, weeks and months when I could barely see my hand in front of my face.  She was here to help me make big decisions.
She was here when someone, posed as a friend, hurt me beyond belief by using Jim's death to try to take advantage of me.
She was here to make tough phone calls to a certain university which threatened to drop my daughter from her classes because, the week after Jim died, I wrote a check for tuition but forgot to transfer the funds to that account.

She's been here to guide me, hug me, listen to me, not listen to me .... to just be .... with me.
She's worried about me from afar, not knowing what to do or say, but just praying.
She's seen me go through a sobbing haze, through a crushing depression that threatened to be the end of me, to a place where I began to smile, to a place where she knew the depression did not get the best of me, to a person who has held on, grown stronger, moved forward and found joy again.

And now, it is my turn to be there for her.

We have known since G was two or so, that he would one day need a kidney transplant.
It was only a matter of time.  A matter of waiting for his kidneys to let everyone know that they are done and can do no more.
That time is now.

The plan was always that, hopefully, V's husband would be able to donate one of his kidneys.  All signs and tests pointed in that direction.
The last few months have been full of tests on both G, and his dad, R.
They have also been full of many ups .... and downs.  Of tests done .... and passed.  Of more tests done .... and failed.  And stress.  And prayers.  And hope.  And dashed hope.  A few weeks ago hope was almost given up.  But, surprisingly, I demanded that it not be given up.  Me, of all people.

Then two days ago, a miracle happened.
R was given the all clear sign and told that he could, indeed, be G's donor.
And the date of the surgery was set.
To next week.

Tears of happiness, thankfulness and relief have been shed in the last two days.  And those were just by me, so I can only imagine how many have been shed up in Oklahoma.  :)

G's surgery will be next Thursday, in another state with a wonderful children's hospital, where a wonderful doctor who specializes in healing children of this type of problem has been treating G since he was very, very small.

So now it's my turn to fly to be with a friend who is much more than a friend.
It's my turn to sit with her, to hug her, to listen to her .... or to not listen to her.
It's my turn to just be .... with her.

Yes, the situations are different, but the friendship is the same.  Very, very deep.
I never really thought about being there with her when the time came, until she told me that the time had come.  And then I knew.  I knew with certainty that there was no question .... I would be there.
I cannot repay her (or any of my other amazing friends) for all that she has done for me.
But thankfully, that's not what friends expect.

But I can be with her.
I can pray for, and with, her.
I can make her laugh.
I can help her wait.
And I can celebrate with her when both surgeries are over and both of the men in her life are awake and doing well ..... one with the blood .... and kidney, of the other giving him health .... and life.

So ironically .... or not .... I asked you several days ago to discuss prayer .... not knowing that the doctors would very soon be giving R the awesome opportunity to show his son how very much he loves him.  Not knowing that G's surgery would be scheduled so quickly.
Not knowing that I'd be coming to you within a matter of days .... to ask you, once again, for your prayers.

Thank you so much to those of you who commented, who told us your thoughts and beliefs about prayer.  I appreciate your openness very, very much.  I love hearing/reading what other people think about things, even if ..... no ..... especially if I don't agree with those thoughts/beliefs.  We don't have to agree with each other about things to learn from each other.
We don't have to agree in order to love someone and care for them.
We just have to be open to listening .... open to learning .... open to knowing more about another person.
So thank you again.  I'll have to come up with an even better topic next time.  :)

Everything has been great in San Diego.  It's been a quiet, relaxing visit with my loved ones.  The weather has been amazing.  I really can only describe it as .... perfect.
So perfect that I am perusing real estate magazines and newspapers.  In a couple of years I will be at a point where I can stop, take time to re-think things, and decide what I'd like to experience next in my life.  I have a list.
It's a list of places I'd like to live .... for a year or so, just to experience the vast differences in these places.
And San Diego is definitely on the list.
:)

Tomorrow I move over to the hotel to work with the other board members to get things ready for Camp Widow to begin on Friday.
While I'm sad to be leaving J. L and S, I'm very excited to see some wonderful friends .... and to make new ones.
It's been a great week .... and will continue to be a great week.
A week for which I am very thankful, and still feeling good on my meds.

And I'm thankful for you, and for knowing that I can come to you and ask for prayers for V, R, G and the rest of their family.  And prayers for the doctors, nurses and surgeons.
And for peace .... peace to fill their hearts.

So maybe I pray a bit more specifically than I thought I did.
And I'm ok with that.
:)

Thanks, Peeps ..... and happy Wednesday/Thursday.
:)

Three Days Later ....

.... the side effects are starting to rumble.
I don't feel horrible, but I don't feel as good as I've felt before now.
I just took a dose of Immodium to see if that would help.

I'm guessing that all of the stress of the past couple of days has not helped.

This is how hot it was in the house before we left:

This was how hot it was, according to my car,  5 minutes after we left:

And that, my friends, was after it had dropped from 111 degrees.
The lowest it got on the one hour drive home was 106.
Yowza.

Yes, we came home to a cooler house.
Until yesterday, when one of our AC units here broke down.
And then, ironically, the thermostat here read this:

Yes, it's the same pic from the lake.  I didn't take a pic of the one here, but the number was the same.
Sauna much?
Not me.
I live in the hot, humid, blazing, humid, miserable, humid area of south Texas.
Did I mention that it's humid here?
Just walking to the car is enough sauna time for me.

So yes, another broken AC unit.
Which evidently is leaking freon in a big way.
Huge way.
The guy had to put 5 lbs back in.
Major leakage.
But he could not tell where the leak was nor how bad it was because by the time this poor guy arrived it was 9:00 and dark.  So he replaced 2 parts that were fried, and filled it with freon.
And then said that if it were him, which I always appreciate, he'd just run it and see how long it takes before it stops cooling and then call them back.  It could be a very slow leak so it might work for another year.  Let's all just hope that that's the case, shall we?
:)

When it rains, it pours.
Does it not?

And then the pouring turned into a deluge.

I found out that there's a leak in my shower, behind the wall, at the lake.
So a plumber is going out today to cut a hole in my bedroom wall so he can get in there and replace what needs to be replaced.
Of course.
He shall then install a plastic access door which he says will "not look too bad".  I cannot tell you how much comfort this does not feel me with.
Because I'm thinking that his idea of what will "not look too bad" and my idea of what will "not look too bad" or perhaps miles apart.
But then again .... perhaps not.
:)

On a better note ..... I received a message yesterday from that jerky guy's (the one who ran into my car) insurance company, telling me that they did, indeed, accept 100% liability for their client and would like to talk to me about repairing my car.
It took every fiber of strength in my being to not call him up and shout, "HA!!!" into his ear.
Seriously.
Especially since I had just realized the AC unit was not working and just heard about the shower problem.
But I refrained.
For now.
:)

My brother and his family will be arriving at the lake tonight.  So I will hosting without being there to host.  Not my favorite position to be in, but they'll be fine.
Of course, we may not be using the boat, which is a huge bummer for his kids, as well as mine.  We shall see.
And I think it will take all the strength I have (good thing I'm pretty dang strong!) to keep my brother from trying to fix my "new" boat.  Yes, he might be quite capable.  But if there's one thing I learned from Jim (and I think there's probably more than just one), it's to leave some things to be fixed by people who fix those things for a living.  Because you're more likely to pay less money if you don't attempt to fix it first, thereby making it worse.  Or at least that's been my/our experience.  : )

Son #1 came home yesterday and as always, I was happy to see him and happier to have him here.
Daughter #2 will join us at the lake on Friday.
Yay!
And then on Sunday, I head to San Diego.  For a visit to my brother-in-law and his family.
Double Yay!
And then, on Thursday I head to Camp Widow.
Yay to infinity and beyond!!!
:)

OK, that's it for now.  Sorry that all of my posts are always so dang long.  I think I need to work on that and make them a bit more brief.
Thoughts?

I'm planning on writing a post soon that I hope you will all, or most, comment on.  It's to be a discussion post on a topic that usually gets a lot of discussion amongst people.  And everyone will be free to put exactly what they think, whether others agree or not.
Whether I agree or not.
I love hearing divergent view points and trying to see things through the eyes of others.  It's something that too little people do and it takes work.  I need more work on it, but I'm learning.  I'm stretching, which isn't always comfortable, but I think in the end, it's a good thing.

Intrigued?
Good.

Happy Wednesday, Peeps.
:)