March 7 - “Evil Bougainvillea”

Well, that was an interesting night. I woke up at 3. That would be 3 A.M.  And then I couldn’t get back to sleep no matter what I tried. I finally just got out of bed a little before 4 so I wouldn’t keep Chris awake.

 

A few hours later, once she did wake up, we went for a walk. One mile for me, three for her. When I got back, though, I did my list of exercises. Meanwhile, Chris started working on clearing out a flower bed. Not to be outdone, I mowed and edged the grass. Oh, and it was hot. And I got scratched by the Evil Bougainvillea. And I even touched some of our vast crop of stinging grass. Yeeeouch!  Didn’t help to come inside to where a certain two ladies live who are always cold. Soooo … it was hot inside, too.

 

A shower and some time working on the new jigsaw puzzle helped me cool down, though.  We thought about going to Cailyn’s track meet, but honestly?  I was beat. And my back was killing me. And Chris didn’t look so good either. Just a pleasant evening at home. Yep.

 

1 Corinthians 12:25-27 says, “so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

 

Father, thank you for Spring. It’s a lot of work, but it will be worth it. Amen.

March 6 - “Good day”

Church was packed once again. And this time there were eight or ten children as well. Helen and Christina had a great lesson for them while Pastor Kel shared with the rest of us.

 

After church a group of us went over to Way West Grill, a local Jamaica Beach food spot.  I had a pretty good bacon cheeseburger, but their fries were the best I have had in a long time. Nice and hot and crunchy.

 

The rest of the afternoon I spent working on a new puzzle. Chris finished up the quilt she has been working on. Sam went to Home Depot with Lauren and Ed.

 

We did manage to get in a few episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger, as well, to Sam’s abundant joy.

 

Good day.

 

Matthew 18:20 says, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

 

Father, thanks for all the folks who came to church yesterday. Bless them. Amen.

March 5 - “Touch a Truck Day”

I went to an event yesterday put on by the City of Galveston (read here, Galveston Fire Department).  Jenna, our administrative assistant (read here, the real boss), did a great job of coordinating the event and keeping it flowing smoothly. No one was completely sure how it would turn out, since this was year one, but judging by the turnout, I would say it was wildly successful.

 

One of virtually every type of truck in the city’s fleet was present, and every one had a line of youngsters waiting to climb aboard and try it out.

 

The fire department offered a ladder truck, engine, high water rescue truck, and fire and rescue boat. They also had a hose set up at the station so kids could shoot a real fire hose.  The police boat was there, too, along with several squad cars, a motorcycle, a K-9 unit, and even some racing vehicles. The sheriff’s department had vehicle or two on site, as did a wrecker company.  Oh, and there was an ambulance. And from the city’s stash of vehicles, I saw everything from an excavator to a tractor to one of the trolleys to Ezra’s favorite, a garbage truck. The library and school district each had a bus on site. 

 

Kids were able to enjoy face painting, a bounce house, a “dress up like a life guard” booth, dogs for adoption by the humane society, and free popcorn. There was no way of knowing how many people came, since everything was free, but it was … a lot!

 

Kudos to all the crews that made it possible for the community to enjoy this day. Proud of all of you.

 

Romans 8:31 says, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

 

Father, thank you for the folks who put in the time and effort to make yesterday a rousing success. Amen.

March 4 - “Double Whammy”

The alarm went off at 6 a.m. for me to wake Chris up. I confess I wasn’t as kind as I should have been. Oh, it could have been much worse. After all, I didn’t sing. I did turn on the overhead light, though. And it wasn’t her favorite time of day. But when you have an appointment at 7:45 in League City, sacrifices must be made.

 

Yesterday was breast biopsy day. Not an area that I have any expertise in, to be sure. Way outside my wheelhouse, in fact. She had a chance to chat with the home group ladies the night before though. Five or six of them were comparing notes at the table after Bible Study. Corey and I kind of … stayed away.

 

At the clinic, we were greeted with “hello, how are you going to pay your copay?”  Gotta have that money up front. $390. Chris tried to get it put on a payment plan, but no dice. There goes another night or three of a road trip.

 

Sounds like everything went really well as far as the biopsy was concerned. They didn’t have to use the repeat time they allocated, since the ultrasound showed exactly what they needed it to show. Chris was able to watch the whole thing on the monitors in the room. They must have told her eight or ten times, “Don’t panic.”  Not sure if that’s a good thing to hear or not.  They are supposed to call and set up an appointment to see a surgeon just in case it is malignant. If it’s not, they will cancel. If it is, they want her seen within the week. But … “Don’t panic.” Meanwhile, I was able to catch a few winks in the waiting room.

 

But then … after we got home, Chris had a phone call from UTMB. Nope. Not the biopsy results. This was the cardiologist’s office. Don’t panic?  In Chris’ words, “I flunked the stress test, yet again.”  Well, she’s nothing if not consistent. It means she has to have another heart cath. Not what we wanted to hear so close to Hawaii. Chris told her about our upcoming trip, so they are going to try to get it done sooner rather than later.

 

Now we wait for the scheduler to call and set up a time. And of course for the financial office to call wanting their $390 copay.

 

Wait. Did I say “wait”?  The scheduler called before supper. The heart cath is scheduled for March 15th. Seems four different people called the scheduler demanding she take care of Chris ASAP! Thank you to Teri and whoever else put in a good word.

 

Luke 9:23-24 says, “Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.’”

 

Father, it is definitely tough to face yet another heart cath. Especially in the midst of waiting for biopsy results. We could use a bucketful of your peace about now. Amen.

March 3 - “Waiting for a call”

Aaaaannd … we’re back to a Chris day again.

 

First she had a dentist appointment at 10 here in town. And it happened at the same time Sam had to be at water therapy. I took Sam. Corey agreed to pick her us so I could go with Chris to part two. She had yet another stress test. It was originally scheduled for one, but they moved it up to 11:30. She told them she would do her best to get there, but after all, Galveston is a long way from Texas.

 

We made it just fine. The dental assistant sped through the cleaning when she heard where Chris was headed. It also helped when, after we arrived, the nurse in the stress test room was a guy we remembered from one of her earlier heart caths. Nice to have a familiar face.

 

To make a long story short, she made it all the way through the test without passing out or having to be admitted to the ER. They sent us home. Now we wait to see what the cardiologist says when he looks at the results. Last time he himself called her at home on a Friday night to say she needed another heart cath. Hopefully the results will be better this time, and he can delegate a phone call to his nurse.

 

Philippians 1:6 says, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

 

Father, be with Chris’ cardiologist as he scans that scan. Give him wisdom. Amen.

March 2 - “Something to ponder”

I made it a whole mile! That’s kind of a new milestone (get it?) for me and my back. My hip did punctuate the excursion with some comments of its own about its required participation in said venture, but we all (hip, back, and me) came through it in under twenty minutes. Well, except Chris. She kept going for her three miles. And we both did our exercises when we got back, too. Yay us!

 

Last night we went over to Hitchcock to watch Cailyn run in a track meet. She was scheduled for the 800 run and the 300 hurdles. She also subbed for a girl who was injured, and ran the opening leg of the 400 meter relay. She didn’t place in any of the events, but she finished the races well. Certainly made us proud. When we left right after her last run, her team was solidly in second place. Way to go, Santa Fe.

 

Today we head back into Texas for Chris’ stress test. Our prayers lately have been along the lines of, “please protect our ability to go to Hawaii.”  That’s kind of a looming question in the back of our minds, especially facing this week. My back appointment yesterday and her stress test today and biopsy tomorrow. Whew. Gives you something to ponder, doesn’t it?

 

Psalms 91:1-2 says, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”

 

Father, please heal the young lady’s foot that was injured before the meet. And be with Chris at her stress test today. Amen.

March 1 - “My turn”

My turn. Yesterday I had my follow up appointment with the nurse practitioner who works with the pain doctor who oversaw the doctor in training who gave me the shot in the back about a month ago. Phew. That was a mouthful to say.

 

I didn’t know exactly what to expect or even to say to the nurse. I have been sleeping ok. Well, until the night before when I cut back one of the Tylenols I’ve been taking at bedtime. The pain wasn’t as bad as it had been in the past, but it was … just there.  Lots of tossing and turning as a result. Chris said I shouldn’t even need the Tylenol at all, but since it works, I shouldn’t stop it.

 

The nurse was very engaging, and she obviously knew her stuff. After she did her exam and assessment, she explained the doc’s planned next move. I go back in with him in about three weeks and have a short-term anesthesia administered by shots to three different nerve ending sites in my back. If that brings pain relief over the next 8 hours or so, then they do it again in two weeks (an extra step required by insurance to make sure the first “success” wasn’t a fluke).  If it works again, we move to the next step. Sounds weird, but they will then burn the nerves to block the pain signals to the brain. That should work for six months to a year.

 

Oh. If these pain management anesthesia steps don’t work, the next step is full-on back surgery. That opens a whole ‘nuther can of worms, to quote Chris.  Then we’d be back to three separate disc surgeries, followed ultimately by putting in a rod. Gee whiz. Can’t wait.

 

Ephesians 1:7 says, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

 

Father, thank you for all these options to ease up my back pain. Help me be able to tell if this next one really works. Amen