When life throws you a curveball...you either bat at it or get hit! *pics of my week*

Sunday, February 20
PEACEFUL DAY
It was a nice quiet day. I sang "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" (Sandi Patty's version) in church, then came home and did some cleaning before Molly got home.
Maggie and I enjoyed a peaceful afternoon while Greg worked.



Monday, February 21
BACK TO LIFE BACK TO REALITY
Another day another dollar.... school, tutoring..
and it all begins with breakfast.


Tuesday, February 22
NEW EXPERIENCE DAY
We get fruit and veggies as a snack at school as part of the "Color Me" grant the USDA gave us. Today's was a big surprise.

Starfruit.
Once we figured out how to eat it, it was pretty enjoyable.
Tasted a lot like green apples.

Wednesday, February 23
THE CALL
About 9:20am, just as I was starting my Literacy Block (reading groups and literacy centers), I got a message to call my exhusband. Now usually if he calls, he'll say, "tell her it's not an emergency, to call me when she gets a chance". That part of the msg didn't come, so I immediately start worrying and call him back.
He said he was taking my dad to the ER, at my dad's request even, and would keep me updated.
After a LONG day of waiting (they didn't even get into an ER room until after 12noon, and didn't get out of it until after 8pm) and some tests...CAT Scan, ultrasound, and chest xray....they determined he needed his gall bladder out, but because of his COPD he would be high risk. They filled us full of worst case scenarios, and told us they'd do the procedure in the morning.
So, he was admitted and family was in full alert.
I prepped for a sub, as did my brother the physics teacher. My sister who lives in Hot Springs (where the hospital is) had been with during the day some, and my exhusband, the saint, stayed with them until he was all settled in to his new room and things were "stable" (about 11pm)
He was my hero that day.

(and his fiancee, Tonya, was very understanding of it all!)

Thursday, February 24
SURGERY DAY
quite possibly the scariest day I can remember
I got up and got things ready at school about 5:30 and headed toward Hot Springs (about an hour and 15 minute drive in good traffic)
The first shock of the day was the increased gas price I found.

It had gone up 15 cents overnight.

His surgery was scheduled for 10:30 (which they didn't tell us til that morning)
My brother and his wife had come with their daughter.


My sister came (and her hubby and son came later on and didn't stay the whole day)


My "other grandmother"/no blood relation but she and her husband were my local grandparents growing up since all mine lived in far away states)


and my mother's pastor and several friends from her church came.
We were a lively crew in the waiting room.

The surgery took longer than we expected..quite a bit longer, and when the hospital aide came and told us it was over and the doctor would meet with us in the little side room... my mother panicked. She immediately started saying, "oh that can't be good..they only take you in the little room when there is bad news...that's where they took us when my daddy died...." and it broke my heart! We finally convinced her that they'd been taking every family in there all morning, and had to, because of privacy laws. Since she doesn't see hardly at all, and has trouble hearing now, too, she hadn't realized that.

The doctor told us that they'd had to open him up instead of doing it laporascopically, and when they did, it was a big mess. He couldn't believe my dad had only been complaining of pain for a week b/c it was so bad. They couldn't even remove it the normal way, but had to go up from behind the liver to get it out.
He said they'd watch his breathing in recovery, and consider taking out the ventilator in a bit, rather than waiting a day or two to wean him off of it, like they thought they would, but that he'd probably be admitted into ICU due to his breathing difficulties.
So..we waited.
After several more hours it was after 5pm.
No news. The aide was leaving for the day but thought he'd be admitted to a regular patient room. When my sis went to get his things from the room he'd been in the night before, they said they thought he'd go back there. So much miscommunication. A bit later, after my sister did some more asking, we found he was already IN a regular patient room!


He was sleeping....and when the nurses came in to rouse him, he would not awaken.
His blood pressure was very low.
His pulse oxygen was low.
They tried for several minutes...nothing.
We all started panicking again.
Mom was crying, my sis and I were fighting back tears trying to be strong (she lost her previous husband to a blood clot 5 years ago and of course that experience was all coming back to her)
My Sis-n-law, a nurse herself, was checking things and asking questions.
My exhub came in about that time after getting off work there in Hot Springs. (he's a medic for the ambulance service at the horse racing track right now)

After turning off his pain meds, they were finally able to get Daddy to wake up enough to be coherent, but he was not happy b/c he hurt!

His bp stayed low and was monitored every 15 minutes.
About 7pm he was stable, and sleeping, and the crisis was over. My brother's family left to go sleep at mom's house. My sister went home, and I was sent home. My exhub stayed til about 11pm texting me with updates the whole time. There was another small worry time, for which I felt extrememely guilty about coming home, but they got it all under control.

Friday, February 25
RECOVERY DAY 1
I went on to school, assured that he was ok and my brother's family and my sister were gonna be there all day.
At 3:15 pm, Molly and I went to pick up the boys at their house, then drove to HS to the hospital. We got there about 6:30.
We'd had updates on him all day....that he was extremely grouchy and yelling at nurses (they tried to turn him) and had to be cath'ed to get urine samples, and of course...no smoking meant nicotine withdrawals, and they wouldn't let him eat (no food since Tuesday). But by the time we got there it was better.

(flipping channels on the tv...and of course there was "nothing on"!
We stayed for a few hours and then I took the kids home.

My brother stayed with him overnight and my mom went home with my sister to sleep at her house.

Saturday, February 26
SAFETY TOWN and RECOVERY DAY 2
I had our Junior Auxiliary's annual Safety Town project to attend...and was encouraged by my family to go ahead and go to it, plus another committee meeting, and some tired children at home. My family told me to stay and wait and come up Sunday since my brother would be going home Saturday evening and my sister wouldn't be able to be up there as much since her hubby would be working and she'd have the baby (who is nearly 2 and a wild child..not great for a hospital setting for very long!)
So...guiltily I did.

By the time I got home about 3pm, I was WHOOPED.
But i was getting a request to do a write up and send pics from the event to our newest local news website that has been started by a guy Greg use to work with...and he's one of those relentless types that doesn't stop pestering you until you give in and do what he wants..so, to spare Greg anymore phone calls...I did it.

Then we grilled burgers,


and had a fun game of dominos with the kids.




Updates on dad were pretty much the same...blood pressure was better, still hadn't been up to walk yet, but they'd changed his bandage and he was in better spirits (coffee at breakfast and ice cream at lunch helped I think!)

By 10pm I was barely coherent,a walking zombie, so I said goodnight to the kids and hubby and I went to watch tv in our room where I was snuggled and backrubbed and left to a good night's sleep.

After the past few days.......I needed it!
I will take the kids back up to the hospital today to see dad, and my exhub will pick the boys up there after work to take them home. It'll be another semi-late night getting home after we make that drive, but we do what we gotta do!

I only hope this new week brings more recovery for my dad and no setbacks and a nice peaceful week at school!

One can always dream, right?