A Tribute To Mothers

 

Happy Mother's Day

to my beautiful mother!

to each of my grandchildren's mothers!

to my sisters

and friends everywhere! 

 

image from here

 

 

A Tribute to Mothers

I'm glad there is a Mother's Day,

I'm glad we think of it in May.

I'm glad that Mother's, like April rain,

Bring new life to earth again.

 

Just like the sunshine of the spring

Mother's brighten everything.

And if a storm cloud should pass by

Moms know all the answers why.

 

They help us out through thick and thin,

To aid us on and help us win,

And send us off, each on our way,

A little better every day.

 

Now, a mothers wage is very low.

She isn't paint to cook or sew,

To clean, or mop, or wash, or dust,

Or fix the pipes so full of rust,

 

Or haul the kids from place to place

With still a smile upon her face.

"No pain, No gain!" she's heard to say

As off she goes another way.

 

So maybe today is the appointed time

To repay our moms every dollar and dime.

To give them a raise for all they do,

To show them honor, and praise them too.

 

Mothers, Thank you!  You're all so great,

And we hope this tribute is not too late,

For you to be able to relax for awhile

And take in today with a joyful smile.

 

Thanks!  Happy Mother's Day!

 

 

Poem written by Terry for a Mother's Day Sacrament Meeting in 1988

 

 

Home on Prom Night!

Terry received red cells last night which of course made his HCT better this morning so he was allowed to come home today!   We are happy to have him home.  He is still lacking energy but feeling better than when he went in on Monday.   We hope that he continues to improve, and will do our best to make it happen.   

Tonight is prom night and here is a picture of three beautiful girls.

And here they are with this great group of guys, who get to be their dates tonight.

Friday

It's too late to think, but I'll share a little bit about Terry's health condition ...

His blood counts were low again today and they didn't let him come home.  He slept a lot of the day and began a red blood cells transfusion this evening.  They plan on giving him 3 units and hope to let him come home tomorrow if his counts look good.    

I wish I could say it's all better, but it's not.  We'll see how things are in the morning.

That's all I feel like writing today because I still have some work to do on the prom dress and I'm too tired to spend time at the computer, and it's already late, but just wanted to share something.

Maybe there will be a photo of BJo in her dress tomorrow.  ???  One can hope!

A Quick Report ...

Terry said he began feeling better yesterday evening.  He slept so much yesterday that he didn't sleep much the first half of last night, but did get to sleep the second half.  He read a few messages in the Ensign but has not had the TV on.  (Can you tell I am amazed that he hasn't had the TV on?)

Today was a pretty good day. I didn't get there until about 1:30pm, so I missed his morning, but he said it was a good one.  I was happy to be able to spend the afternoon and evening with him, leaving sometime around 7:15pm. 

We walked around the halls this afternoon and he wasn't as tired this time as he was last time and we walked two to three times as far, so that is improvement.  :)

I did however notice that his face was getting flushed after they started the antibiotic this evening (about 6:30pm).  It could just be a simple reaction with no issue, so that's what I'm hoping for.    He is trying to coax the doctor into letting him come home tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.  We would still have to infuse antibiotic and hydration at home.  

We're happy to have a good day and look forward to another ..., and another ...

Hospital Day 3

I got in bed without posting and had to get right back up to accomplish this task today.  So I hope this makes sense. 

I guess it was a good thing I couldn't call Terry yesterday evening because he was in no condition to talk to me.  He had an infusion of platelets yesterday afternoon and then in the early evening had a fever and another trembling chill and was throwing up. That isn't better!  I will have to admit that we should be glad that we chose to go to the hospital and not do this at home, especially since I was in ML (thinking he was doing well) last night and there would have been no one at home to help care for him.  I'm sorry that he is in the hospital because it's never comfortable, but I am pleased to have someone there to care for him when I cannot be - and we have some busy days this week.    

Today's plans include an additional IV antibiotic and a red cell transfusion (HCT is 18) which he was getting when I left at about 1:50pm.

Dr. Smith came to see him this morning for a couple minutes and made the comment that he had to have no fever for 3 days before he could go home, so that is somewhat discouraging since he did have a fever last night and I heard that he may have had a low grade fever this morning.

I arrived about 8:45am and wasn't there for Dr. Smith's visit but I was there when Dr. Miller (Dave) came in and asked Terry how he was doing and Terry responded saying that he felt like he needs help.  He still doesn't feel very well, has no energy to get up and do much walking and he sleeps as much as possible, day and night.  I thought he would get restless and bored and tired of watching TV.  Well, he hasn't had the TV on since he has been there and he has only read part of an article in the Ensign.  He rests and he sleeps!  And he needs it!

Dr. Miller assured us that though they are waiting for tests to return, they are giving him the correct meds at this point - one IV med takes care of MRSA, another takes care of everything else, so he is covered that way. They are still obviously concerned about the sinuses and have tested for fungal infections.  We don't know what infection is present, but we do know that there is one.  It is common that even 50 percent of the time they are unable to locate the type of infection, but they are still able to treat and fix the problem.  They are also giving oral meds and nasal sprays and the blood products to help combat whatever it is that is causing the problem.

I had to leave early again this afternoon to take BrittanyJo to Kennewick to pick up her prom dress and some hiking shoes.  We had a bit of a run around, but we got them both.  I have an insurance meeting in ML tomorrow morning before I can go back over to see him.  I hope things will be looking better by that time, but I will probably miss the doctor coming in to visit.  Oh Bother!  

We are taking it one day at a time ..., because it just can't be done any other way.  At least I've never known it to be a possibility.  If you have a trick that takes care of more than one day at a time please let me know.  :)

have a good night!

Hospital Care

I left to see Terry after the kids left for seminary this morning and by the time I got there he had finished his breakfast and had a chest x-ray.   He is still weak and tired but no longer having the trembling chills.  He does get cold and needs an extra blanket but does not chill to the extreme like before. 

He showered this morning and put on clean pjs, had lunch, and we took a walk around the hallway, then he got back in bed.  He was feeling sleepy by about 2:00pm when I had to leave so I hope he got some good rest before they bugged him again.  There are always so many interruptions during the day in a hospital, making it hard to believe that one can get better rest while there, rather than at home. 

The doctor came in while I was there this morning and his biggest concern seemed to be Terry's sinuses - they are still bad, and we have known that, but nothing seems to help.  This doctor wanted to talk to Dr. Smith and get a stronger antibiotic for him.  I don't know if that has happened yet, or if for some reason it cannot happen, but I'll be anxious to find out tomorrow.  I have been gone with the kids all afternoon and evening so I haven't been able to talk with Terry and don't want to call now in case he is sleeping.

I hate not being there with him all day, but we decided that I should come be with the kids and take care of the responsibilities here since this week is so over scheduled anyway.   And remember, it is not a life or death situation, so I'm not worried that something critical will happen while I'm away.  I just miss him.  We haven't been apart this many hours in a day for a very long time.  Crazy huh!  I don't like it!

We don't know when he will be able to come home, but I'm pretty sure it's not tomorrow.  Dr. Tucker mentioned 4 or 5 days.   Things better speed up around there if that remains true.   

As we were talking this morning he remembered a special moment years ago after being diagnosed with this disease when the Lord told him - "I know you, I love you, and you will be alright!"



image found here

:)  good night!

Another Medical Adventure

We went to Wenatchee this morning for the first of the five Vidaza infusions this week.  Terry began chilling again on our way there and was still trembling when we arrived.  I am so sorry that this happens to him but I was glad it happened so that they could see it.

These chills are not just chills that cause him to feel cold, they cause his whole body to shake and tremble making it easily noticeable, so the receptionists and nurses quickly went to work to help however they could.

As we sat in the infusion room I had the thought that it's going to be a good day if we can get this figured out. We will be here every day this week for Vidaza infusion, so they can keep an eye on him. I liked that!

One nurse contacted Dr. Smith, who is in Moses Lake on Monday's and she wanted Terry to be seen by a doctor here, so we saw Dr. Tucker.  After visiting with him for a few minutes we learned that he wanted us to go to the hospital for twice a day antibiotic infusions. We tried to talk him into letting me infuse at home, but he wasn't thrilled about that idea and didn't want to agree to it.  I suggested that we could come to the clinic every morning for the morning infusion where they could get his vitals and blood draws and check him however they felt necessary and then I could give the evening infusion at home.  We assured him that I have been doing infusions at home, even up to 5 times a day, but he still thought I might kill him and didn't want to agree to it.  Really!  He suggested that if we were okay with him dying on our watch we could do that.  Oh Bother!    Just to assure you - this is not a life or death situation here!   But we did agree to go to the hospital, because yes we do want him around for BrittanyJo's upcoming graduation, and we didn't want to feel anymore feelings of guilt or inadequacy.  He does seem to be a fine doctor though - I think Dr. Smith told Dr. Tucker that he was going to have to lay it on thick and strong if he was going to get us to agree to hospitalization ..., and so he did! 

Terry will no longer receive Vidaza this week and is presently in a room at the hospital until this infection is cleared up.  So much for the good day I was feeling when our favorite nurses were caring for him. 

We were sent to the world of waiting again, where it seems everything is done in slow and hardly steady motion.  It seems to take hours to get anything done in a hospital, unless it's vitals and then that is too often.   Oops! I'm complaining a bit, aren't I?

Well, I had to leave Terry early this afternoon so I could fulfill some assignments we had at home - we really thought we'd only be a few hours this morning so we had promises to keep.  I left about 12:15,  just after the hospital doctor finished up and just as the lab assistant came in to take his blood. 

I talked with him this evening and he is doing fine - but I already knew that didn't I?

He has had a CT scan and a couple bags of antibiotic. 

Please remember that he is fine and that there is no need to worry.  I hesitated to share this info, especially since I know it would make Terry a bit uncomfortable, but decided that it was the right thing to do since I have promised to share our medical life with you, and if I also let you know that we are all doing fine and we are not in need of anything at the moment.  However, we would never turn down a faithful prayer. 

Thank you!
I'll keep you posted!
Love to all ...

image from here

Our Afternoon Adventure

Terry has been feeling extremely weak the last few days.  He has had more chills, joint pain and muscle soreness too.  We took his temperature this afternoon and found that he had a fever, so we called the doctor who told us to go to the ER.   There was concern because of the blood transfusion he had Tuesday.

We went to Wenatchee, but Terry did not want to go to ER, so we went to the clinic and made our way up to the nurse who kindly (yet feeling somewhat forced, because Terry was not willing to go to the ER) put him in a room and took his temperature and blood pressure.   Those readings were more normal by now, which we expected because on the way to the clinic he began to feel the sweaty feel one gets when the fever breaks.  He actually wanted to just turn around and go home, but I didn't agree to that one. 

The doctor came in and visited briefly and sent us to the chemo room where they took his blood (to check the counts and for a culture to check for infection), and then they infused some antibiotic and a liter of hydration.   Those nurses are so kind - even when you show up unannounced.  

They took care of him quickly and we were able to get home just shortly after 6:30pm.    FYI - we have never before had a liter of fluid infused over a one hour period of time, but it can and did happen today. 

We then infused one more liter of fluid when we got home (but this was infused the normal way, over a four hour period of time).  We also began an oral antibiotic.

Terry was feeling somewhat better this evening, but we'll be anxious to see what a new day brings. We hope it brings more strength and better health.  That's what we always hope!