June 17 – “A tiara and a tutu”

I am not very good at just sitting in a hospital room and waiting.    I had a rheumatologist appointment this morning, so I picked up Chris at the hospital.  Nothing new there.  He had three students with him, so he was in "Funny Guy Teacher" mode.  He asked them all kinds of questions about me.  He even had them look at the scar on the back of my neck and guess what it was from.  One of them finally said, "Some kind of neck surgery."  Ding, ding, ding. He did an exam, but the only thing I heard him say was that I had diminished reflexes in my legs and ankles.  Don't really know what that means.  Whatever it was, though, it made him do a double take and bump into the skeleton hanging in the corner.  The skeleton, by the way was dressed in a tiara and a tutu.  I told him she had been trying to get someone to dance with her ever since I got in there.  We had a good laugh, but the students didn't quite know what to think about me or the good doctor.  The problem was, right after that he and his entourage left.  Never told me what to do next.  Never developed a theory about why I was so fatigued and weak.  Best I could tell, I'm just supposed to keep doing what I have been doing and give the medicine time to work.  It can take three months before it kicks in.  And they came in and drew blood.  And the girl that drew blood said I was supposed to leave a urine sample.  It's always so much fun when everybody else knows … and you don't.   We were going to go out to eat, but Chris didn't feel comfortable leaving her Mom that long.  And she was really tired.  Mentally, emotionally, and physically.She texted me this morning at 6 saying how she was up and showered and ready for the day.  I welcomed her to the world of the morning person.  Come to find out, she had been up since 3 a.m.  No wonder she felt so good at 6.  It was the middle of her day already.   So we went back to the hospital.  And there we began to wait.  Her Mom's surgery this morning was successful.  But they wouldn't put her under full anesthesia because her lungs were filling up with fluid again.  So they just heavily sedated her.  As the day progressed, she regressed.  The fluid made it harder and harder for her to breathe.  They decided to contact the doctor who was originally going to put in the permanent chest tube and see if he wanted to go ahead and do it or just drain the  lung again.  He was in surgery, so we waited.  They finally did a chest x-ray and a ct scan.  And the waiting began again.  In fact we are still waiting.  Maybe in the morning.   Psalms 116:7 says, "Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you."   Father, in the grand scheme of things, I would sure rather you bring peace to Chris than pain relief to me.  Amen.

June 16 – “The Loud Tuna Fish”

Here's an update on Chris' Mom.  She is scheduled to have a stent replacement tomorrow morning at 7:30.  That is if her blood pressure rises enough to handle it.  It was really low this afternoon, so they were doing some things to try to get it back up.  If everything goes OK with that surgery and her blood pressure, they are talking about letting her go home tomorrow afternoon.   She is on oxygen all the time now, though.  She and her husband are kind of scared about having enough to get to Bay City.  Then once they get there, they have to trust that the oxygen company will be waiting in their drive way with some more.  Well, with one of those little machines that makes it.  Chris stayed up there with them again tonight, and it sounds like she may be in this for the long haul.  She said this afternoon that she plans to spend at least one night with them once they get home to help them understand how to use the oxygen.  I took her up some clothes and hung around for awhile.  I have an appointment with my rheumatologist in the morning, so I'll swing by and pick Chris up for a little outing.  Maybe we can grab some lunch before I take her back.  On the way home I have to stop by Sam's.  It's dinner on the grounds week at Seaside Sunday, so we need some supplies.  And we need some toilet paper and kitchen garbage bags.  Sometime in the next few days I have to wash some clothes.  And the dogs almost need food.  And home group meets here tomorrow night.  That means I need to clean house at least a little bit.  Hope I can remember Chris' routine so I don't leave anything out.       Oh, and about the tuna fish.  That's what Chris' Mom said about her supper.  She tasted it and said she wouldn't eat the tuna fish because it was too loud.  I didn't say anything.  Just looked at Chris.  But her Dad cracked up.  Said he never heard of loud tuna fish before.  She said he could have it.  So he did.  He said, "That was the best loud tuna fish I ever ate."   Psalms 91:1 says, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."   Father, thank you for hearing me when I complained about needing rest.  Amen.

June 15 – “The trees are down”

The offending trees are gone.  Well, not gone.  But they have been cut down and hauled to the front yard of the house next door.  When I got home from the hospital last night I had to run next door to take pictures and send to Chris.  The huge pine tree in the front yard is now a stump near the ground.  The tree that was leaning on our fence, as well as another one nearby that had just begun its fall, are in pieces in the front yard.  The one that was leaning against the power lines is down.  And the one that was helping to hold up the one leaning against the power lines is down.  I'm not sure if there are others or not, but I am rejoicing about the victory at hand.  And not only that, the weeds and grass and stickerburs that were running rampant have been cut back as well.  They didn't haul the stumps and hunks of wood that had already been cut to the front, though, so there are still piles of brush.  But again, at least we can see the potential critter homes and hideouts, and they are not as close to our fence line.   The last two days have really been a blur.  Sunday our good friends Tim and Robin came to Seaside.  He's a pastor, but they were on vacation.  It was fun to tease him about showing up 30 minutes late.  He had a quick reply, though.  "And I'm sitting on the back row."  Nice one, Tim.  They took Mom and I to lunch.  At Healthy Chinese Buffet.  No, I'm not becoming a regular.  Remember they have fried shrimp on Sundays.  And ketchup.  Lots of ketchup.   Some other friends of ours from Mansfield showed up out of the blue today.  They were visiting friends in Houston and came here for a day on the Strand.  They also wanted to see what our post-Ike new house looked like.   I heard from Chris this morning.  They were talking about letting her Mom go home today.  There were still a few more doctors who needed to come through, though, so she said she would talk to me later.  And shortly after our company left, later came.  The lung surgeon won't insert the chest tube as long as there is any evidence of infection.  And there is still evidence of infection.  It is apparently yeast instead of bacteria, so it will take a week or two for it to go away.  He also can't do the tube insertion until there is actually fluid buildup in her lungs again.  And the whole thing is complicated by a kidney stent that needs to be replaced as well.    I tried to figure out what I was feeling about this whole scenario.  Feelings.  Those supposedly "unmanly" things we don't like to talk about.  I'm finding that even when I want to talk about how I feel, I don't know how to describe it, so it's easier to say nothing.  I know I don't want Chris' Mom to suffer.  And I sure don't want Chris to have to go through this again.  This particular episode has taken its toll on the whole family already.  And it hurts to know that it will happen again.  I feel pretty helpless in the midst of all this medical lingo.  But I feel really confident about her spiritual condition.  She's going to be fine.  I just have to figure out how best to communicate that to her husband who is already angry with God, and to her kids who probably feel at least a little guilty or frustrated that there is nothing else they can do.    Psalms 62:1-2 says, "My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.  2 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken."   Father, yes.  What David said.  Me too.  Amen.

June 14 – “Tap dancing the Watusi”

I spent today entering into the world that Chris has been living in for the past two years.  She came home last night to shower and get refreshed – read here … sleep.  The night before Chris didn't do much sleeping.  She wanted to be right there any time her Mom moved in case she might need something.  Then Sunday morning she opened her eyes and started talking like she had just woke up from a casual nap.  She wasn't totally coherent, but Chris's Dad was ready to do a back flip, he was so excited.  Her Mom slowly began to arouse as the morning passed.  Then two of Chris' aunts came to visit.  And when they were there, her Mom put on a veritable show for them.  She toyed with her oxygen tube, flipping it around and around her finger.  She made some sarcastic comments, a true indicator of her usual personality.  Several of her doctors made rounds about the same time, and they were summarily grilled by the sisters.  She finally started getting noticeably tired, though, and drifted off to sleep.   About that time Chris' two brothers came in for a visit.  Her Mom realized they were there, but she was so tired that she slept through most of their visit.  Everyone had gone by the time I got there, and she was drifting in and out of sleep.  It was Chris' turn to go home for the evening.  She had mixed emotions, but the events of the morning had been somewhat encouraging, so she agreed.    When we got on the causeway she wondered out loud if Jachin and Micah and Josiah were home from church.  I told her to go ahead and text Christina to see, and we would stop by before we went home.  Her text was something along the lines of, "I need some Nana time."  Christina called back immediately and said, "Jachin says it will be all right with him."  So we spent awhile at their house, rough housing and playing indoor baseball with the boys (me) and snuggling with Josiah (Chris).  She needed that one.   This morning we headed back up to St. Luke's.  Her Mom was awake when we arrived, but looked very tired.  She carried on conversations with us (albeit brief ones), and was definitely lucid.  She hadn't slept very much last night.  She said she was afraid she was going to miss something.  That sounds odd considering they couldn't even wake her up when she first got there.  But the time she was awake apparently wasn't a very happy time.   Chris' Dad right away.  He had some business to take care of back in Bay City that had to be finished today.  My plan was to stick around until he got back.  Chris' was to spend the night tonight.  After they left, Chris moved her chair up close to her Mom and took her hand.  They spent the next hour or so talking and reminiscing.  At one point Chris went out to check with the nurse on something, so I went over and took her hand.  She talked with me about how much she loved her kids, and she told me that she was ready to go.  I thanked her for the great gift she had given me of raising my wife to be the woman she is today.   She was having trouble with the nerve pain in her feet.  She has much the same sensations that I do because of my back problem (or my joint problem, or whichever one causes it).  We take the same medication for it, so we have been compadres in pain.  She told us that her feet were telling her they wanted to go "tap dancing the Watusi."  She was also having a great deal of trouble breathing, and she felt like her chest was very heavy.  When the admitting doctor came in, it was decided that they would drain fluid from her lungs again, and then have a surgeon come in to talk to her about installing a permanent tube into her lungs so that the draining could take place at home.  Honestly, it was the first time I had heard anyone talk about her going home, so that was encouraging.  And after the draining she looked much better.  She could take deeper breaths, and she even ate a little bit of supper when it arrived.   Chris' Dad was in the room when we got back, and the two of them entertained us for the next thirty minutes or so.  She was trying to tell him about the pump they were going to install in her chest.  He wanted to know what kind of a pump – piston? And if it was a pump that meant it had to have some kind of a spit valve to shut it off.  She just sat there looking at him.  Pretty funny stuff.   We don't know what is to come, or just how long this reprieve will last, but it was good to get the eternal issue on the table so Chris could hear it once again.   1 John 5:13 says, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."   Father, thank you for giving Chris today with her Mom.  And thanks for allowing me the honor of witnessing some of it.  Amen.

June 13 – “Plane rides and birthday parties”

We're still watching with Chris' Mom.  She roused up a few times through the night and today, and even said a few things, but they were very confused things.  The outlook is still not very good right now.  Chris is trying her best to be strong and encouraging for her Dad.  I'm heading up there in a few minutes to see if she wants to come home for the night.   I mentioned plane rides and birthday parties yesterday.  The plane ride was totally uneventful.  A 7 a.m. flight on a Saturday morning is apparently not a very popular one.  Not all the seats were full.  I got an aisle seat near the escape door, so I had about as much leg room as the first class passengers.  And there was an empty sat next to me as well.  I read a lot and sipped my complimentary Dr. Pepper.  The only thing that interrupted my thoughts was the occasional cheery chirping of the male flight attendant.  He was definitely a morning person, so they gave him the loudspeaker and turned him loose.  Every time he spoke he tried to be funny.  It was funny watching the other passengers listening to him try to be funny.  He even struck up a conversation with me about the Astros.  He saw my t-shirt, and when I finally realized he was talking to me, we reflected on the future of the franchise.  I liked the guy.   Zak's birthday party was amazing.  Christi did several different age-appropriate activities, all within a pirate theme.  They had a small jump house, but Zakary wouldn't go in it.  Seems that last time he went in one like that, it deflated and scared him.  Caleb gave it a try, though.  He loved it.  She had a few tubs of water with pirate ships.  And a just bigger than life sized blow-up pirate.  The game was ring the pirate with one of those blow-up floatie rings.  Very popular until one of the little guy bit him.  The finale was an outdoor treasure hunt she took the kind on to find the pirate ship piñata full of treasure.  Josh was dressed as the evil pirate (plus, he changed into a t-shirt that said "I am happy to be here.").  Looked more than a little facetious.  The kids had to bomb the evil pirate with black water balloon bombs to get to the treasure.  Unknown to them, and I think to Christi, Josh had a stash of "bomb" hidden.  He returned fire and even got some of the adult spectators wet.  Looked like a spectacle at Astroworld or something.   Ruth 1:16-17 says, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."   Father, thanks for your promise never to leave us.  As much as this one meant to Naomi, yours is a lot more comforting.  Amen.

June 12 – “The Watch”

There is a lot to talk about today, but no time left in the day to do it.  A plane ride.  A lost ride.  A birthday party.  A tense ride.   But all of that led up to the really significant part of today.  We got a call this morning when we were in Mansfield that Chris' Dad and sister couldn't get her Mom to wake up.  The managed to get her to say a few words to Chris on the phone.  She basically complained that no one would let her sleep.  And then sleep she did.  They were very concerned that they couldn't get her awake again.  Chris told them to call the doctor and do whatever she said.  Then I heard her say, "we are on our way."    The doctor said to take her to the emergency room.  They refused to go to the one in Bay City, so they managed to get her into the car and drove her to St. Luke's in Houston.  To say that the drive from Mansfield to Houston was tense would be an understatement.  Chris said she would rather drive since it would give her something to think about.  She is amazing.  There was very little traffic, so we made great time.  Kel agreed to meet us at the hospital and give my Mom a ride home.   And so the watch began.  She was totally unresponsive when we got there.  Chris and her Dad had to answer three different times to three different doctors that she did not want to be resuscitated.  Chris finally decided that she needed to stay tonight at the hospital, so I came on home.  They did a few more tests to see if they could get any idea on what caused such a sudden change.  Those results won't be back until tomorrow.  Chris did text me that at one point, all of a sudden, her Mom blurted out that she had to go to the bathroom, and tried to get out of the bed.  I imagine that woke them all up.  After they calmed her down, though, she went back to sleep.  Results of the tests won't be back until tomorrow, so they are going to try to get some rest tonight.   Psalms 32:8 says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you."   Father, please watch over Chris and her Dad and her Mom.  She is in your hands.  Amen.

June 11 – “Bach Day” (as in the lonely guy, not the music guy)

Chris and Mom left for Mansfield today.  Zakary's big four year old birthday party is tomorrow.  I'm scheduled to join them tomorrow.  They are driving for four or five hours.  I catch a 7 a.m. flight out of Houston Hobby and arrive there around 8.  One hour.    OK.  They left at 8:30, so I mowed the grass.  Didn't have to edge, though, so finished by 9:00.  I decided to "protect our property" a bit, so I hopped our fence and took the weedeater to the fence line.  I even trimmed up a wild some-kind-of tree right next to the fence.  Chris said if it had to be there, she would rather it be trimmed so it would grow like a tree.  Her wish is my command.  I was very surprised when I finished that by 9:45.    I tried unsuccessfully to fix the power washer.  Don't understand that one at all.  Water goes in, the engine come on, but the water never comes out.  Beyond me.    Next came painting.  We never finished the trim on one side of the house because Nathan's jet ski was parked there.  The jet ski is in the shop (a whole other story), so I got that done.  While I was painting a pickup parked in front of the abandoned house next door.  Interesting.  Before he could get out, our neighborhood police officer pulled up next to him.  They talked for a few minutes, and the code compliance officer pulled up.  Then another compliance officer arrived.  Now this was a very interesting development.  When the police guy got out of his car and headed my direction, I came down from the ladder to greet him.  He said, "You got to them before I did."  Now I was really intrigued.  To make a long story short (well, shorter), The pickup guy was from the group that has been assigned to work with FEMA to cut down trees at federal expense.  He was horrified that someone had said the trees were not dead.  And he whipped out his can of orange spray paint and went to work.  The tree leaning on our fence was tagged.  So was the one leaning on the power lines.  And so was the monster dead pine tree in the front yard.  He said he would report back to FEMA and do his best to get them out here as soon as possible.  Good news.   But the news didn't stop there.  The police guy told me that they had found an obscure program that may allow them to demolish the house with no one out any money because it's a hazard.  He said not to hold our breath on that one, because it could take anywhere from three months to three years to get it approved.    I also got a call about the jet ski.  The engine is shot.  Looks like it will take around $2200 to fix it up.  Blue book value on it is $3500.  We'll have to sleep on that one.  Quarterly income tax is due this week, so we sure don't have the money in hand right now.  I'll talk to Chris and Nathan about it.    That's quite a day for any bachelor.  Glad it only lasts one day.  Have a wedding tonight and fly out tomorrow at 7 a.m. for Zak's birthday party.   Psalms 4:8 says, "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."   Father, thank you for the peace you give in the midst of stressful and painful and sometimes downright weird situations.  Amen.