Monday, August 9, 2010

Day "-1" - oh what a difference a couple days makes..........

Hey Everyone,
I apologize for the lapse in updates..... Well, the drugs are definitely setting in and taking their toll on poor dad :( ... He is having pretty adverse reactions to the anti-rejection meds, which isn't out of the ordinary but NOT fun for dad!  He was doing ok Saturday during the day while bb, me, and mom were all with him at the hospital; but then mom decided to sleep at the hospital with him that night, and after dinner sometime he started with high fevers and chills, they had to medicate him for the side-effects and that made him loopy/ drunkish and it turned out it was a really good thing mom was there to help him in and out of bed, etc...... Well, then Sunday when i got there and mom and I were with him for a long time - he was doing fine, we got our 3 miles of walking in....  Then, b/c he was doing so well we left to go and cook dinner for us at the condo and let mom get a normal nights sleep with me at the condo........ well, he didn't call us (even though he SHOULD have ;)) and last night was a REALLY ROUGH night for him..... vomiting, fever, chills, the WORKS :( 
When we got there this morning his platelet counts were super low and he had popped many of the blood vessels in his eyes throwing up :( Also, his white blood cell count bottomed out today and so the rules for being around him changed and mom and i have to wear these SUPER cute matching yellow gowns with our bright blue gloves ;) - don't worry we took pictures - which i will post as soon as i have the cable for mom's camera!  Dad said, "see how much i like yall- i got you matching dresses!" LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!  he was totally in and out of "sound mind" today, which i guess is expected- but still really strange to see from someone who you are used to being SUPER alert and "with it" - he sort of hallucinates and has half awake, half asleep encounters ;) he went from telling me "i thought i was telling someone something who was standing right in front of me, but then all of a sudden i would open my eyes and no one was there......." LOL! then the nurse came in and said something about hard head catfish and dad propped right up and relayed the entire accurate findings of a taste test study that was reported in the Louisiana Sportsman last month.... LOL!!  So, in and out is the ONLY way to describe it!  
Tonight Uncle Greg got back in town and took mom and I to dinner - it was delicious and we had a GREAT time with him and thank him SO much for the sweet gesture and fun time!! 
Mom just left and is headed back to the hospital to spend the night in the room with dad - he really wanted her to come back and it can potentially keep him from having such a hard time again - i have to stay at the condo b/c they only allow one caregiver to sleep over - no slumber parties - WHAT GIVES? just KIDDING!  
i will head back first thing in the morning and we won't know till probably mid-morning exactly when the stem cell transplant transfusion will occur - all depends on a million details that we aren't allowed to know about the donor, her whereabouts, the time of her extraction appointment, the extraction method, etc..... BUT, here is what we DO know - we are asking for SERIOUS prayers in thanksgiving and for healing for her - b/c she is a COMPLETE stranger willing to undergo this potentially risky and painful process to save a complete stranger's life - in this case OUR DAD, OUR HUSBAND, OUR BROTHER, OUR SON and THANK GOD for HER!!!!!!!!  She is absoutely an angel and a blessing delivered DIRECTLY from GOD!  And we COULD NOT be MORE thankful!!!!!!!!!!!!  
We are now so intimately acquainted with what a HUGE need there is out there for MORE people just like HER!!!  I hope that touches all of us in a very special way and drives us to do whatever our situations and lives allow us to to help our fellow man :)
For now, Good night and GOD Bless - I will update tomorrow as soon as we know more and as soon as we can get online...... for those of you who may not know- in my absent mindedness i managed to put my I-Phone thru the wash with a load of sheets so it is out of commission (hopefully only temporarily) but for now i have mom's personal cell and she has her work one ;) so, if you call or text one and get the other that is why :)
Love to ALL!

1 comment:

  1. Jessica - Claudia here. OMG - what can we say. Be strong and be tough. Melvin needs you. Mom needs you. You need Mom (get the drift?). Remember, these are just bumps, albeit rather nasty ones, in the road to a successful completion of this journey. Fr. Frank contines to pray for Melvin. Rosaries are being said for Melvin courtesy of my St. Anselm friends. You are so right - we need to pray for the donor. I do know from my dentist in Covington, who was a donor for a child that he did not know, just how fulfilling the donation is. They choose to do so. And, it is a gift of life. Please let us know if there is anything that we can do in addition to prayer. You are so incredible to take the time to post the updates. Thank you! Take care and God be with Melvin, mom, Dan and you. Claudia

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