Surgery 6/27/2012

Mom's surgery was scheduled for today at 11:00 A.M., but there were complications with another patient's surgery before her. Her surgery was delayed for a number of hours and was not until about 4:00. She went into recovery for two hours afterwards. The surgery went well with no problems! Her arm will be sore for a while from where the fistula was put in, but she is taking pain medication for that. She will be coming home tomorrow to have full recovery here at home. Her port will not be usable until it heals completely, in about two months. We appreciate all the prayers for today and for everyone thinking about us! God is so good!

June 2012 & Surgery 6/27

[Post written by Karen]
Summer days are passing us by, sometimes rather quickly, and other times dragging it's feet. We really aren't in a hurry about anything. After all, isn't that what summer is all about? We should speed up the summer reading schedule a bit so the books can be put away. It's not on the boys's list of favorite things to do. 
I have just been keeping up with the schedule of dialysis three days a week and chemotherapy every three weeks. I have tolerated chemo fairly well and I am thankful for that. I missed one chemo session because of an extremely low white blood cell count. I received an injection to boost my white blood cell count which has helped. The only side effect was my bones ached pretty badly for a couple of days. 
I am having surgery in the morning at St. Joseph's Hospital to put the dialysis fistula in my arm. This will be a permanent access for dialysis and takes two to four months to heal before it can be used. I'm not looking forward to it, but the temporary one in my chest is just that, temporary. It is not the most ideal way to do dialysis and can easily become infected. The doctors want it gone and so do I!
We are all still trying to adjust to life differently now. Our days have been filled with constant appointments that have taken the place of other things on the calendar. We are thankful for the days when the calendar has a day or two with nothing on it. God has really blessed us with so many friends that continue to help us with transportation, meals, and lots of support. This has been a great source of help for all of us. Thank you for your prayers for our family and we pray that you are having a wonderful summer with your family. 
We will keep you posted on my surgery tomorrow (both on Facebook and the blog). Thanks again for the prayers! It is my constant reminder of God's love and provision through you. I love you all!


[Message from Joseph]
The blog will begin to be updated more frequently now with news, updates and photos both on our blog and on my Facebook. Thanks again!!

June 7, 2012

Today was another dialysis day. Dialysis for Mom is on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. It takes some of the weight off her from fluid buildup. It makes her feel "better" you could say, but she does feel tired and more worn out afterwards. She also has chemo tomorrow at 1:00. We had a "do nothing day" today where we hung out with friends and sat around. Mom got some new flowers for the backyard which we planted tonight and filled up the pond in our backyard. We wanted to go out for dinner tonight to get out for a while, so we're going to Red Lobster for dinner and then coming back home to do something tonight. Summer can be fun, and it can be boring.
We want to know - What is the best part of summer! Take your vote to the right and let us know. 

June 1-6, 2012

Sorry for our lack of updates and news. Summer 2012 has been a busy one so far!

We have been having a fairly smooth summer so far. Pool, video games, tv, family time, and outdoor time. It's nice to be able to relax now that everything is calming down for us. Dialysis days are still hard for her. She starts out fine, but comes home tired and weak. She cannot drive on dialysis days for safety reasons. She did drive for her first time in about 2 months this past  Monday, June 4th. That was awesome for her! She said she felt confident and like she hadn't missed anything. I'm starting to drive more too now that summer is here. Learning to drive isn't fun, but it will be worth it one day. Mom has chemotherapy on Friday at the cancer center near St. Joseph's. She will lose more hair from her chemo. Her hair is thinning more and more, especially  when washed and dried. She still has her dialysis port in her chest until she gets the fistula put in her arm. We don't really know when that will be, or when she will be able to stop having dialysis. Most of her bruising from the hospital is now gone, which is great. She is definitely more independent. She takes care of herself almost completely, and we help her out with chores and house-hold tasks.

I'm going to try and be updating this more throughout the summer, and I'm going to put some summer pictures up. We still appreciate the prayers very much and this is a part of what keeps up going. We love you all and we do think about you! Until the next update,

Joseph

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

James 1:17 ESV