Daring to breathe a sigh of relief.....

It seems that every time I do an update, something happens that makes the update inaccurate. Oh well, here I go. We haven't been to the hospital for days now. We have been home for over two weeks. Bill has been feeling well physically. Dialysis has been going as well as it can. Bill's visit to the doctor went well. He will have an ultrasound mid April to see how far his heart has come back. He has been doing the elliptical every day. He should be able to still get a transplant, if we can find a match. Yesterday we turned the corner emotionally. I have seen some smiles that I haven't seen for quite a while. We have so many things to be thankful for. Why IS IT so hard to have faith in our faith. I don't know. I only know that the days are longer, Spring Break is coming, Liz is graduating, Jenn and Codye got some great news today, Spencer got three stickers, Isaac is going to be George Washington in his school play, and Lindsay and Morgan will soon know where they will be living for the next four years. All is right with the world. Thanks everyone for your love and concern.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hospitals, Anniversaries, and Faith

Well, well, well. Bill and I made three trips to the emergency room in ten days. We have been to LDS Hospital three times. We have been to the new Intermountain Medical Center twice, including the patient tower, the Intensive Care Trauma Floor, and the Heart and Lung ICU. He has had three ambulance rides. Some of those were just transfers. The last trip was the result of the second trip. The first trip was a nothing, we think. We are not sure yet. We did find out on that trip that he had a fully functioning heart. The second trip was the hardest one,..... no this last one was pretty tough as well. We learned on the second trip that pride should NEVER interfere with a trip to the ER in an ambulance. We most definitely should have called 911 for that trip. Even though we learned that lesson, we didn't use an ambulance for the third trip. For that one, it was OK. The second trip was the result of a mild heart attack. It was discovered that he had three arteries that were mostly blocked. He now has three successful stents. They were working great. The problem came when we didn't get the extra fluid dialyzed off before we went home. Because he was in such bad shape when we made it to the ER, he was flooded with bags of IV's filled with antibiotics and all the things they use to "stabilize" one is such a condition. They also struggle with managing his blood sugar. They always want to give him more insulin than he needs and pour juice down him when he gets dangerously low. They have been so incredible in the care he has received. What a blessing we are to have such marvelous hospitals.
We celebrated our 15th Anniversary yesterday. We were in a lovely room on the fifth floor. We had a glorious view of the Wasatch Mountains and Costco! Even the front door of Costco. We got flowers and candy from our kids. The flowers from the kids and the ones that Bill had Jeff pick up were not allowed in the room. Not even on the nurse station desk. They are down the hall. But very pretty! The candy was shared with doctors and nurses. On Monday they took 11, yes 11, pounds of fluid from Bill. I know you are thinking this would be a great way to lose weight, but no, it is not. They discovered that his function had dropped substantially. The thought was that his heart couldn't function because of all of the fluid. The dream was that the function would return when the fluid was taken. After a second angiogram to show the stents were working, and more dialysis, the prayer went out for today's heart ultrasound to show improvement. The doctor, that we adore, said that we had a 60/40 chance of improvement. His words were "encouraging". His face was not. His look said "60% chance and a lot of prayer. I am only telling you 60 because I think you guys are nice and Bill NEVER complains about anything." "We receive no witness until after the trial of our faith". After many trials of my faith, we learned today that he is almost as good as new. The better part of his function is back. This is an incredible answer to our prayers. Tomorrow, instead of calling what we call the "Heart Failure Team" (which truly isn't as bad as it sounds), we are having our last dialysis before GOING HOME! That is if he is perfect, and the doctor, who said he is going to watch him "like a hawk", says it is OK. Personally, I am in no rush. I have learned to love the rhythm of the hospital. We meet so many interesting new people. I think we should sell the house and move in. Bill won't hear of it. He wants to go home. He misses Ally. Ally has new friends. Everyone, (well not everyone, but some very special friends), in the neighborhood knows our codes, where Ally's dog food is, and what my house looks like after the events of the last two weeks. We are feeling so incredibly blessed today. Our prayers are ALWAYS answered. They just aren't always answered in a way that we understand at the time. This time they were. At least for now. Thanks for the love and support of so many and a very generous Father in Heaven.