day 536 after transplant

 

Hello to everyone!  Hope that all of you had a super week, full of exciting events. It is almost March and I hate to say this but it is still very cold here and they are calling for snow Tuesday evening into Wednesday. We still have snow from December 18 – we haven’t seen our yard since then!  I can hardly wait until spring gets here with the warm weather.

Monday I took Helen (Rodney’s mother) to UVA (Charlottesville – an hour away) for her eye surgery. She has been fighting glaucoma for years. We had to be there at 11 and we didn’t get home until 5. I was really glad to get back home because they called for snow and I didn’t want to drive over Afton Mountain in the snow. Her surgery was more complex than the doctor had anticipated. He is a perfectionist which is very good and he took his time to get every thing just the way he wanted it She could not stay by herself for the first 24 hours, so she stayed with us.

Tuesday we went back to UVA for post surgery check and her eye pressure was really high. He put her on three different eye drops in addition to her regular three.She has a total of 15 different times to put drops in her eyes, starting at 6:30 am and stops at 10:30 pm.There is no way that she could get these drops done correctly so she is home with us until we are comfortable with her being able to do her drops correctly. The nurse said that the drops are just as important as the surgery.

Wednesday back to UVA and the pressure was a little higher! More meds. and back to UVA on Thursday and again on Friday! Good news the pressure was down to a good number but we are off to UVA on Tuesday to see if the pressure is staying down.

I have said that God has a plan for me and I guess this is part of the plan. I don’t know where she would be if I was still working. I am so glad that I am available to be here for her.

That pretty well sums up my week. We did get to keep Audrey some this week. She has learned how to wave bye-bye! I also got a little time to work on Audrey’s baptism gown. I hope to get it done this week.

I got a call from MCV this week telling me that I am ready for my hepatitis A shots!  I also am scheduled for a 18 month bone marrow biopsy on the 18th of March.It is so hard to believe that it has been one and half years since my transplant The journey has been so amazing and I know that God is still in control.

I hope that you will have a good week and I will blog next week. God bless.

Love,

Gloria

day 529 after transplant

 

Hello to everyone. I know that it has been a long time since I have blogged. It has really been a crazy and busy week. I am so glad to be back to normal!

Last Sunday after church Rodney and I left for Richmond because I had an appointment at MCV Monday morning at 8 am. They called for more snow and so we felt that it would be a good idea to spend the night before. It was a good trip down. We had time to go see the clerks at Candlewood Suites and to go up on the 10th floor to visit with some of the nurses that took such good care of me when I had my transplant. My beautiful “fish bowl” room was vacant was to be filled with a child on Monday morning. We rode around Richmond until it was time to go back to the Hospitality House for the night.

Monday morning we got to the hospital for my 8:00 CT scan. They were on schedule but could not do the test until they got my orders – finally at 9:15 I got my test done. Next to the clinic for my check up and my blood work. I got my first hepatitis B shot. Next month they may start my hepatitis A shots. Moving right along! All tests came back really good. I asked if my pulmonary test and doctor visit could be bumped up so we could get back across the mountain before the snow. They were very accommodating and got me through very quickly. The pulmonary test was better than the last one and I still believe it was the tech that messed up the last test. As we left Richmond it was raining and as we got half way home we got into snow and freezing rain. By the time we got to Afton Mountain it was really foggy on top but on this side (home side) the sun came out! It was really cold but thank goodness we didn’t get the storm that they were calling for.

On Tuesday I took Rodney’s mother to Charlottesville to see an eye specialist because she has been fighting glacoma for years. She has lost some vision and she needs surgery, which is scheduled for tomorrow morning. I will be taking her and then she will be coming back to stay with us for at least one night.

I did get to keep Audrey on Wednesday and Friday and she is so good. Se learns new things every time I keep her.

Saturday Rodney and I hosted our Sunday School Class Hearts Party. It was a lot of fun and it was so good to be able to do this again . We had 21 people and a lot of good food and fellowship.

One last thing before I close. I have some very sad news to report. On my January 26th blog I put pictures of me with a former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher, Jim Bibby. I learned today that he died on Tuesday. Please pray for his family. His wife is a very charming lady.

I will try to get back on schedule and blog next Sunday. All of you have a wonderful week.

Love,

Gloria

day 515 after transplant

Hello to everyone – YES, I am still alive. I am just lazy I guess!

The COLD weather is still here and it is doesn’t look like it is going away anytime soon. Last Saturday it snowed all day and church was closed (that doesn’t happen very often). The kids did not go to school the entire week. Friday morning it started to snow again and it did not stop until Saturday night – 18 to 24 inches later.The snow was absolutely beautiful clinging to the trees. We woke up to –3 degrees this morning,that’s right I did say –3! Again church was cancelled. Guess what, we are not done yet, they are calling for more snow on Tuesday and then a possibility for more this weekend. Spring where are you?

I am really hoping that it does not snow on Tuesday.  I am scheduled to go to MCV for a big day. I go to the clinic, CT scan, pulmonary test and see the pulmonary doctor. We will have to leave early and get home late. I told Rodney that we should pack a bag just incase we may have to stay for the night. I really don’t want to miss this day because it took Sharon a long time to get this scheduled for the same day. She understands that we travel a good distance and we need to get as much done in one day as we can.

I was really touched this week. I received a very special comment on my last blog. It was from a lady in Augusta, GA and her dad is scheduled to have a transplant this Wednesday. She said that she felt that God led her to my blog! God is awesome! I would appreciate it if all of you would say a pray for this family on Wednesday that he will get along well with his transplant. When I hear from her again I will keep you all informed.

There is also a lady in the Charlottesville area that I have been emailing. She is also facing a transplant. I hope that my blog and email has been a comfort to her. God has been so good to me that I would like to help out other people that is about to go on their “journey of Hope”.

Today we went out to get some pictures of the snow. Below is an example. Enjoy!

 

There are two cars buried in the snow in the picture above, can you see them? They will be there until spring!

Take care and I will try to do better next week in blogging. Remember your sweetheart on Valentines Day!

Love to all, Gloria