HyperbAllea

My Paw Paw is scheduled to come home from the hospital today after an almost exactly 3 month stay. What a relief!

As Thomas and I watched the ball drop on New Year’s Eve and the calendar flipped from 2007 to 2008, I couldn’t help but cry. 2007 was one of the hardest years of my life, and I’m so glad to see it go. I lost one grandfather, nearly lost another, and had so much stress from other family situations and life in general. The one bright point in my year was my wedding. I love my husband and I love being married to him. To a certain extent, Thomas is the one who has helped keep me sane for the past year.

I’ve been terribly withdrawn for the past few months, primarily because when I’m upset about something…in this case, my grandfather’s sickness…I don’t much feel like being around people. I have a hard time living life and being sociable when I feel like everything is going wrong. It feels fake. I think I’m back now though. My grandfather has been moved to a rehab facility and is working on being able to do things for himself again. I expect him to be going home within the month.

I have lots of plans for 2008, but I don’t like posting “New Year’s Resolutions” and stuff like that. I’d rather just make some changes and see if people notice. I do like how a new year makes you feel like you can make a clean start. Really that’s why I cried at the new year. I felt like all the bad was over. Now I can put it behind me and move forward. It’s such an unbelievable relief.

Happy New Year, everyone!

It’s been awhile since I updated about my paw paw, and a lot of amazing stuff has happened since I last wrote.

After he had been on the respirator for a few days, they went ahead and did a tracheotomy so he wouldn’t have to have a tube hanging out of his mouth and would be more comfortable. That way they wouldn’t have to keep him sedated.

So he had been on the trach tube for a few weeks, I believe. Thomas and I went to visit him last Friday and he was awake, in good spirits, and trying his best to talk, even though the trach tube prevents any air from reaching his vocal chords. He still made a valiant effort and we were able to somewhat read his lips. He looked so much better than the last time I saw him, and I left feeling very hopeful.

Over the weekend, the pulmonologist started gradually weaning him off the respirator and having him breathe on his own for awhile. He did very well and has not been on the respirator for several days now. He was even able to, with much help, I’m sure, get out of bed and sit in a chair in his room for awhile.

Then today came the biggest thing. They put something on his trach tube that actually allows him to speak…so today I actually spoke to my grandfather on the phone. I nearly burst into tears at the sound of it. Two weeks ago we thought there wasn’t much hope left, and today I spoke to my grandfather on the phone. I am so amazed at all of this. I feel like God is working miracles here and healing my grandfather who, only two weeks ago, wasn’t given much of a chance.

Thank you all for you prayers, and please keep them up. We’re hoping he will be home by Christmas.

You all know that my grandpa’s been in the hospital for about a month now recovering from open heart surgery. Could you guys all prayer really hard for him? He’s not doing so well and the doctors really aren’t holding out a lot of hope for a full recovery. I know God can heal him, and I don’t think he’s finished living yet. Please pray. I really appreciate it.

I cannot believe the rollercoaster ride that the past few days have been. As I wrote in my previous post, my grandfather had open heart surgery last Wednesday. He had a valve in his heart replaced with a pig’s valve, which is beyond my comprehension. When I wrote the post on Friday he was doing well…

Thomas and I drove to Charlotte on Saturday morning. I got to go in to see my Paw Paw that afternoon, and aside from the fact that he had a giant wound running down the middle of his chest and various tubes and monitors attached to him, he seemed to be doing fairly well considering his chest had been sliced open three days earlier. He was having a little trouble breathing though, and had extra fluid in his lungs, around his heart, and throughout his body tissue.

Overnight on Saturday they decided to take away his plain oxygen mask and put him on another machine that would instead push air in, opening the airways and increasing his oxygen. His oxygen continued to decrease throughout the day Sunday, and by the evening they decided to put him back on the respirator, which meant he would have to be sedated. We went home scared and discouraged, not knowing what the next morning’s visit would bring.

On Monday morning, he was stabilized on the respirator, but was completely unresponsive when we went in to visit him because of the sedative. On Tuesday they decided to start weaning him off of the respirator and the sedative. I had to leave on Tuesday afternoon, which was so hard. Tuesday evening he was moved into his own room, and today he’s off the respirator and doing a little better without it than he was last time.

I can’t imagine the pain and discomfort he has been through this past week. He’s so discouraged right now and doesn’t feel like he’ll ever get better. I’ve heard that heart surgery can really mess with a person’s emotions, and I think that’s what’s happening to my Paw Paw right now. Please pray that he would be encouraged and comforted, and that he will keep heading in the right direction in his recovery.

Tuesday was Thomas’ birthday. I took him to The Melting Pot per his request for a delicious dinner. We emerged nearly three hours later stuffed and happy.

Wednesday my grandfather went in for open heart surgery to have a valve replaced. The surgery was a success and he’s been doing well, but he still has a long way to go to full recovery. Please keep him in your prayers. Thomas and I are leaving in the morning to drive to Charlotte and visit him for the weekend.

Thursday I made a hilarious JibJab video that I’m dying to post. I need to wait until I get the stars’ permission though.

Today I got a lot of stuff done. Laundry, dishes, sorting a laundry basket full of old papers, photographing dishcloths (yes, I realize this sounds incredibly strange). Still need to fold some laundry and pack some clothes for our trip to Charlotte.

I’ve had lots of ideas for posts this week, but just haven’t had the time to sit down and write them. I really want to be a good little blogger though. Encouragement, anybody?

Last Sunday, a few days before I left for the beach, we had to spray for ants. Even though we don’t have any food out (and they didn’t go anywhere near where we store the food anyway) we had a steady stream of ants wander into our second floor apartment. So we found where they were coming in and completely obliterated them. End of story, right?

I left for the beach on Tuesday night and Thomas joined me on Thursday night. We had a great time. My mom decided she wanted to go spend a lot of money on me and bought me what feels like a whole new wardrobe. I spent more talking talking to my cousin, Becca, than I have in many years. My uncle Mike is teaching himself to play guitar, so we had a few lessons and a little jam session. And, of course, being on vacation with your new husband is always wonderful.

So Thomas and I arrived back home yesterday a little before 4 PM, and guess who else had come home. ANTS!!! This time they found a little opening over our pantry door and were having a lovely little ant parade around our kitchen sink. Once again, they were nowhere near any of the food in our kitchen. So we sprayed again, and because of the fumes and the awful stench we were forced to escape to my mom’s house on our first evening home from vacation.

When we got to mom’s house, the cat had thrown up at least three times and I felt obligated to clean it up since my mom wasn’t home from the beach yet. Ants and cat vomit all in a single day. Woo hoo!

Despite the not-so-great bookends, I really did have an awesome week at the beach. The older I get, the more I appreciate the family I have and the time I get to spend with them.

Garrett is still working on the final set, but he gave me a preview. Here’s one of my favorites:

For a few more pictures, you can click here. Which ones are your favorites?

I wanted to wait for him to post these pics on our wedding site, but I can’t wait for someone to see them.

Before:

After:

My grandfather’s funeral was beautiful. The pastor did a wonderful job…I really enjoyed what he had to say. And my grandfather was a WWII veteran, so there was a color guard and a bugler there. His casket was covered with a huge American flag, which was presented to my family as part of the ceremony. I don’t think there was a single dry eye there when taps was played. It’s so cool that even so many decades after his military service has ended, everything he did is still appreciated.

Perhaps the best party of the whole day…and it really was a surprisingly good day…was seeing my dad and his four brothers sit around and reminisce. It’s so rare that they are all in the same place. In fact, I can’t remember the last time it happened. They were telling all these stories from when they were growing up that I had never heard before. So great.

I’m still going to miss my paw paw, of course, but there is so much comfort in knowing that he was a believer and that I will see him again someday.