Misty made it home Saturday late afternoon. She is slowly but surely having less pain from the inflammation of the kidney and ureter. The doc did say that she could be off any pain meds after a period of time but only if she continues to take the antibiotics. She felt good enough last night, 7/21/09, to actually do school work for her last Masters class. She did start having a good bit of pain late in the evening though. She went all day and only needed one pain killer. That is fantastic! We really appreciate all the prayers. We certainly believe they are answered.
When we got home I went around seeing what all was needed as far as food and supplies. I knew our awesome friends had brought some food by. I had no idea that there was no more room left in our deep freezer because it is full of prepared meals. There was also a pair of large dishes full of roast beef and fixin's! It took three nights of our large family eating the delicious stuff to make it go away lol. With Misty still being in pain when we got home, and on through Monday, one of our friends came over with her kids (who happen to be our kids' friends) and stayed with misty while I got some work done. Then Tuesday the same thing happened as another friend came over with her kids. What a wonderful group of friends we have. I don't know what else to say. We are blessed.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Angelic Update
We finally got to see the specialist this afternoon. He explained that an invasive procedure is not likely due to Misty's progression. This is because all her blood work and tests are coming back "sterile", meaning they are clear of infection. He also said that she will likely go home mid weekend. She still has inflammation and irritation that is causing her some deep pain. They are still using Demerol as she needs it seemingly less and less. She is not entirely out of the woods but things are looking very good. On the current plan she will end up at home by Sunday and will have to continue taking antibiotics to keep her blood and urine sterile until the end of the pregnancy. If not, then this situation would relapse as the baby and uterus grows and puts ever more pressure against her kidney and urinary tracts. So overall we are cautiously optimistic.
Again, thank The Lord for His magnificent plan and for the great members of our family and group of friends. Surely, these people have shown that the "Body of Christ" is manifested among us.
-Daniel
Again, thank The Lord for His magnificent plan and for the great members of our family and group of friends. Surely, these people have shown that the "Body of Christ" is manifested among us.
-Daniel
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Trial of an Angel
The angel of course is my wife Misty. We are sitting here, as I enter this post, in the High Risk Pregnancy Center at the Women's Pavilion of Centennial Hospital in Nashville, TN. You should not be overly alarmed, though we do appreciate prayers and concerns for Misty and the baby's health. If there is anyone who reads this post who doesn't already know I apologize for not getting to you sooner. We have relied somewhat on a rather large and heaven sent group of friends to help up work out the logistics of information and getting our children cared for.
Here is what happened so far...
Last Tuesday, July 7th I believe, Misty began complaining about some back pain that simple tylenol or percogesic was not working on. She is one tough gal, so, whatever pain she complains about tends to be something that would have ALREADY hospitalized most others. At some point that evening she had me rub that area on her back for a little while trying to relieve the pain. She was able to take a couple extra OTCs that helped her rest better but not good enough. Wednesday it began to get more serious and having seen the slight lump in her back that seemed odd I suggested that this could be a kidney infection. Being the long suffering lady she is, she explained that she had been through this before and it felt like a strained muscle. Wednesday night she had experienced some chills and shivering and eventually she got up around 11ish and got in a hot shower while complaining about the muscle not relaxing. I checked on her for a moment and then called the mid-wife about the situation. She said that if the problem persisted to call her and she would come over.
Thursday morning Misty was shivering much more and getting feverish so around daybreak I called the mid-wife and she came to the house within moments it seemed. After taking a sample and a quick test the mid-wife determined she indeed had an infection. She gave a short list of options and suggested taking Cystex (which we had) for the moment and Cyprofloxacin that she would call in to the local drug store. All the reasonable doctors and caregivers would suggest the same. It takes a little time for the Cypro to work so we gave it the 48 hour window to allow it to do its work. In the meantime we managed pain with a heating pad I got from my mother and whatever OTC might help.
By Friday night she had slowly built more pain and less actual relief from the symptoms of the kidney infection. More OTCs were not working and the trembling remained. Saturday we called the mid-wife again and she sent us to a walk-in clinic where we thought she was to receive better pain meds and a much better antibiotic. Things didn't happen quite like that but you try your best to trust professionals and use the advice to find the best results. To complicate things Misty is just too tough. The whole idea of going through the ER and getting poor service, as is often the case for us, accompanied with all the fallout of having done it and being no better for it just remained the last option.
Saturday evening rolled around and one pain pill seemed to help or at least take the edge off while, we hoped, the prescriptions and other treatments such as plenty of cranberry juice were going to get rid of the infection. At just about 11 o'clock again Misty woke up with trembling and shivering so violent I thought she could be convulsing, going into shock, triggering early labor as she was 32 weeks along, or who knows what. We both knew then she had to go on to the ER as there was nothing else to do. She got back in the shower, got the chills to calm down, and I called my mother to come stay with the kids. We got to the hospital at about 11:45 Saturday night. They were actually pretty good at getting a basic picture of the situation. The only bad experience was a young nurse trying to catheterize Misty for a sample when all they really needed was a cup. The young nurse was really causing Misty a lot of pain over and above what she already felt. The nurse otherwise seemed great so I do not want to make any more of it. Things just didn't go right.
The ER folks figured out she had all manner of low counts in her blood and a severe kidney infection. Importantly was noted low potassium and sodium with high nitrites if I remember exactly. After nearly 4 hours hanging around in the ER Misty was admitted to the OB wing due to the pregnancy. They made a bit of a pin cushion out of her though the poking and prodding is a necessary evil. They hooked her up with umpteen fluids, antibiotics, and light pain meds. Part of the reason she had such low electrolytes is that her appetite had been shot since the pain set in days before. It seemed as though the staff had all the information we had about the past week and that should have lead to certain conclusions.
The nurses and lab took blood and urine samples two or three times a day. They finally hooked her up with some morphine and regular tylenol to help break the pain and severe trembling which was always followed by a 6 or so degree jump in her body temperature. I have been with this woman more than 17 years and was there for the birth of all 5 of our kids and I have never seen her in such pain and restlessness. Even with regular I.V. administered rounds of morphine she still did not rest well due to the pain. The veteran doctors and staffers all said that they had never seen such a case as they had with Misty. Much of the fatigue was brought on due to the fact she was getting copious amounts of I.V. fluids and she drank lots of water. That resulted in up to four trips per hour to the rest room. She was drifting in and out of consciousness from absolutely no rest and no appetite. How can anyone rest like that? She was getting to the point of having illusions and not being able to give time or place to any thoughts whether reality or not. My heart breaks to even think of it. She is one heck of a fighter though. She plows through pain and adversity all the while trying and sometimes succeeding at cracking a good and fresh joke.
This is when anyone who has been through such an ordeal and step back and thank The Lord for having such a caring group of family and friends. I gotta say that all the years of my life I asked God to help me find the kind of people who are willing to go the distance in our time of need and who appreciate others who would do the same. There is no doubt that He has provided us with those kind of people. They are proving it all day and each day this endures. Between my parents, Misty's brother, and a long list of said friends, our kids are being taken excellent care of and I am able to be sure that I or a very trusted friend is with Misty at every moment. That means so much to me. In fact, one of the friends stepped up in an unexpectedly and great way. After I had asked several times about options for getting her some kind of relief that wasn't happening under the current routine I was thinking there may not be anything more to help her rest. The one friend had come to sit with Misty while I took a shot at getting some work done. While I was gone this friend managed to almost conjure up a way for Misty actually start getting the right medicine that would provide a measurable difference. They stopped the morphine and started back with delauden. Not only that but they gave her a pump too! By the time I got back Misty was actually making sense and her countenance had changed dramatically for the better.
I stayed with her through the night, as every night, helping her around though she did sleep much better, and so did I. The next day another friend shows up to be with her while I shuffled the kids around and try to get some work done. By the time I got the kids in the van headed to another dear friend's house I had missed a few calls. (the back roads are cell phone dead) When I got signal I called the friend back. Misty was too upset for me to understand so our friend explains that the doctor had said Misty could not receive the necessary care where she was and they are sending her to Nashville to a specialist. I quickly got the kids moved and got things together along with many more phone calls and a few hours later we got here.
The folks at Hillside Hospital were great and most notably neighborly. It is a shame there is not a urology or high risk specialist in Pulaski that could keep us close. Here they obviously have the routine down. More detailed and more proactive but not quite as friendly. The noise in the big town is much higher and the relatively high number of thuggish types can be heard late in the evening whether they are just in another room down the hall or six floors below on the street. I do feel confident that Misty will get the help she needs here. I can already tell you, the switch to Demerol in the I.V. had really afforded the rest she has needed all along! She has sawn up at least 5 tractor trailer loads of stave logs already!
Before I stop this meandering long post I want everyone to know the baby is doing great! All his vitals are perfect though our only concern is that this 33 week baby is measuring 36 weeks! Thank You Lord for all the great people in our life and thank You for seeing us through this uneasy time.
-Daniel
Here is what happened so far...
Last Tuesday, July 7th I believe, Misty began complaining about some back pain that simple tylenol or percogesic was not working on. She is one tough gal, so, whatever pain she complains about tends to be something that would have ALREADY hospitalized most others. At some point that evening she had me rub that area on her back for a little while trying to relieve the pain. She was able to take a couple extra OTCs that helped her rest better but not good enough. Wednesday it began to get more serious and having seen the slight lump in her back that seemed odd I suggested that this could be a kidney infection. Being the long suffering lady she is, she explained that she had been through this before and it felt like a strained muscle. Wednesday night she had experienced some chills and shivering and eventually she got up around 11ish and got in a hot shower while complaining about the muscle not relaxing. I checked on her for a moment and then called the mid-wife about the situation. She said that if the problem persisted to call her and she would come over.
Thursday morning Misty was shivering much more and getting feverish so around daybreak I called the mid-wife and she came to the house within moments it seemed. After taking a sample and a quick test the mid-wife determined she indeed had an infection. She gave a short list of options and suggested taking Cystex (which we had) for the moment and Cyprofloxacin that she would call in to the local drug store. All the reasonable doctors and caregivers would suggest the same. It takes a little time for the Cypro to work so we gave it the 48 hour window to allow it to do its work. In the meantime we managed pain with a heating pad I got from my mother and whatever OTC might help.
By Friday night she had slowly built more pain and less actual relief from the symptoms of the kidney infection. More OTCs were not working and the trembling remained. Saturday we called the mid-wife again and she sent us to a walk-in clinic where we thought she was to receive better pain meds and a much better antibiotic. Things didn't happen quite like that but you try your best to trust professionals and use the advice to find the best results. To complicate things Misty is just too tough. The whole idea of going through the ER and getting poor service, as is often the case for us, accompanied with all the fallout of having done it and being no better for it just remained the last option.
Saturday evening rolled around and one pain pill seemed to help or at least take the edge off while, we hoped, the prescriptions and other treatments such as plenty of cranberry juice were going to get rid of the infection. At just about 11 o'clock again Misty woke up with trembling and shivering so violent I thought she could be convulsing, going into shock, triggering early labor as she was 32 weeks along, or who knows what. We both knew then she had to go on to the ER as there was nothing else to do. She got back in the shower, got the chills to calm down, and I called my mother to come stay with the kids. We got to the hospital at about 11:45 Saturday night. They were actually pretty good at getting a basic picture of the situation. The only bad experience was a young nurse trying to catheterize Misty for a sample when all they really needed was a cup. The young nurse was really causing Misty a lot of pain over and above what she already felt. The nurse otherwise seemed great so I do not want to make any more of it. Things just didn't go right.
The ER folks figured out she had all manner of low counts in her blood and a severe kidney infection. Importantly was noted low potassium and sodium with high nitrites if I remember exactly. After nearly 4 hours hanging around in the ER Misty was admitted to the OB wing due to the pregnancy. They made a bit of a pin cushion out of her though the poking and prodding is a necessary evil. They hooked her up with umpteen fluids, antibiotics, and light pain meds. Part of the reason she had such low electrolytes is that her appetite had been shot since the pain set in days before. It seemed as though the staff had all the information we had about the past week and that should have lead to certain conclusions.
The nurses and lab took blood and urine samples two or three times a day. They finally hooked her up with some morphine and regular tylenol to help break the pain and severe trembling which was always followed by a 6 or so degree jump in her body temperature. I have been with this woman more than 17 years and was there for the birth of all 5 of our kids and I have never seen her in such pain and restlessness. Even with regular I.V. administered rounds of morphine she still did not rest well due to the pain. The veteran doctors and staffers all said that they had never seen such a case as they had with Misty. Much of the fatigue was brought on due to the fact she was getting copious amounts of I.V. fluids and she drank lots of water. That resulted in up to four trips per hour to the rest room. She was drifting in and out of consciousness from absolutely no rest and no appetite. How can anyone rest like that? She was getting to the point of having illusions and not being able to give time or place to any thoughts whether reality or not. My heart breaks to even think of it. She is one heck of a fighter though. She plows through pain and adversity all the while trying and sometimes succeeding at cracking a good and fresh joke.
This is when anyone who has been through such an ordeal and step back and thank The Lord for having such a caring group of family and friends. I gotta say that all the years of my life I asked God to help me find the kind of people who are willing to go the distance in our time of need and who appreciate others who would do the same. There is no doubt that He has provided us with those kind of people. They are proving it all day and each day this endures. Between my parents, Misty's brother, and a long list of said friends, our kids are being taken excellent care of and I am able to be sure that I or a very trusted friend is with Misty at every moment. That means so much to me. In fact, one of the friends stepped up in an unexpectedly and great way. After I had asked several times about options for getting her some kind of relief that wasn't happening under the current routine I was thinking there may not be anything more to help her rest. The one friend had come to sit with Misty while I took a shot at getting some work done. While I was gone this friend managed to almost conjure up a way for Misty actually start getting the right medicine that would provide a measurable difference. They stopped the morphine and started back with delauden. Not only that but they gave her a pump too! By the time I got back Misty was actually making sense and her countenance had changed dramatically for the better.
I stayed with her through the night, as every night, helping her around though she did sleep much better, and so did I. The next day another friend shows up to be with her while I shuffled the kids around and try to get some work done. By the time I got the kids in the van headed to another dear friend's house I had missed a few calls. (the back roads are cell phone dead) When I got signal I called the friend back. Misty was too upset for me to understand so our friend explains that the doctor had said Misty could not receive the necessary care where she was and they are sending her to Nashville to a specialist. I quickly got the kids moved and got things together along with many more phone calls and a few hours later we got here.
The folks at Hillside Hospital were great and most notably neighborly. It is a shame there is not a urology or high risk specialist in Pulaski that could keep us close. Here they obviously have the routine down. More detailed and more proactive but not quite as friendly. The noise in the big town is much higher and the relatively high number of thuggish types can be heard late in the evening whether they are just in another room down the hall or six floors below on the street. I do feel confident that Misty will get the help she needs here. I can already tell you, the switch to Demerol in the I.V. had really afforded the rest she has needed all along! She has sawn up at least 5 tractor trailer loads of stave logs already!
Before I stop this meandering long post I want everyone to know the baby is doing great! All his vitals are perfect though our only concern is that this 33 week baby is measuring 36 weeks! Thank You Lord for all the great people in our life and thank You for seeing us through this uneasy time.
-Daniel
Sunday, June 28, 2009
On Broken Wings
My little girl learned how to fly a week ago. At the tender age of ten years old Carly took flight right off the side of this hill. Our chip and tar driveway leads down to a concrete drive coming up the hill. Well, I am told that Carly, her brothers and her friends from Minor Hill were riding in circles on that concrete drive where it opens up on top of the hill. She says that at some point she lost the ability to steer. This sent her careening off the hill with enough speed to take flight. All it took was a nice sized boulder off the side of the driveway to provide the lift needed to make her nightmares come true. Upon liftoff she was flung over the front of the bike and into a small tree. She says she landed on her left arm with it extended and hand down. That very position, with enough force, can cause a chip fracture of the ulna right at the elbow.
They all said she laughed for a few seconds and then began to cry for a short time. She did some complaining but did not appear to be in agony so we kept checking her elbow out for a day. I told her to let me know if the pain doesn't subside or if she feels that she needs to go to the hospital. The next evening she timidly said she was ready to go to the doc. I thought it was probably sprained or maybe a torn muscle. After the x-rays it was obvious that there was a piece of bone that had mostly separated from the elbow joint. She is a tough girl. Of course she has to be growing up with what will be six brothers by September.
She is taking it well. I remember breaking my arm when I was 12. This may be some right of passage in my family. I hope not. It was a compound fracture breaking both radius and ulna and then they broke through the skin. It was nasty and I passed out at first! I did not take it well. My oldest son Michael broke his arm when he was 11 very much the same way I did. A compound fracture breaking both bones in his left forearm. I guess what makes me so jealous of Carly is that SHE gets the "goretex" cast that allows her to GO SWIMMING! Those did not exist 25 years ago. That just ain't right.
I plan on getting a pic or two of her when she isn't expecting it. It may be the only way I will get away with a picture of her in a cast. I love that girl.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Just checking in again
Hey Folks,
It has been a while since I have posted. It has a lot to do with being busy with work even though we can't actually DO any work. I have had a series of break downs that have killed finances and clouded my mind. The last few weeks have been spent searching for parts and making repairs to the Caterpillar. I fixed the trans charge pump for the second time and that didn't help. I fixed the valve stack in the transmission and that worked great. A day and a half later the transfer case tore up. AHHHHHHH! I give up! I sold the old thing and took the money to find a nice engine to go in my OTHER skidder which has been down for 11 months as I waited to find a good affordable engine that will swap with mine directly. That never happened.
So, I found an engine out of a Ford Coca-Cola semi. Ford can't leave well enough alone. They made ridiculous changes to the very simple design which makes life hell for anyone who wants to save money by buying a used engine out of one of their trucks. As a result I had to have a friend cut a billet into an intake plenum for the air to air swap with my intercooler. I also had to order custom injector lines to make up for the big difference in the intakes ($400). I had to bend the lines to move around the various components. Those injector lines hold some 2500 to 4500 pounds of pressure each. It may have been the toughest part of the engine swap. Other outrageously tough things to get done include swapping exhaust manifolds, turbos oil and water lines, charge pumps and compressors, and making the different style of pump work with the old set up.....geez. It's almost done. I think by this time tomorrow we will be ready to crank the thing up assuming the Cummins diesel specialists have any idea what they are doing when clocking the turbo. I may do that myself even though I don't have the right tools.
I am grateful that this is the bulk of what I have to complain about in my personal life. Just don't get me started on politics. Y'all have a nice rest of the day and God Bless. I am about to go out and roast marshmallows with the kids and their guests.
It has been a while since I have posted. It has a lot to do with being busy with work even though we can't actually DO any work. I have had a series of break downs that have killed finances and clouded my mind. The last few weeks have been spent searching for parts and making repairs to the Caterpillar. I fixed the trans charge pump for the second time and that didn't help. I fixed the valve stack in the transmission and that worked great. A day and a half later the transfer case tore up. AHHHHHHH! I give up! I sold the old thing and took the money to find a nice engine to go in my OTHER skidder which has been down for 11 months as I waited to find a good affordable engine that will swap with mine directly. That never happened.
So, I found an engine out of a Ford Coca-Cola semi. Ford can't leave well enough alone. They made ridiculous changes to the very simple design which makes life hell for anyone who wants to save money by buying a used engine out of one of their trucks. As a result I had to have a friend cut a billet into an intake plenum for the air to air swap with my intercooler. I also had to order custom injector lines to make up for the big difference in the intakes ($400). I had to bend the lines to move around the various components. Those injector lines hold some 2500 to 4500 pounds of pressure each. It may have been the toughest part of the engine swap. Other outrageously tough things to get done include swapping exhaust manifolds, turbos oil and water lines, charge pumps and compressors, and making the different style of pump work with the old set up.....geez. It's almost done. I think by this time tomorrow we will be ready to crank the thing up assuming the Cummins diesel specialists have any idea what they are doing when clocking the turbo. I may do that myself even though I don't have the right tools.
I am grateful that this is the bulk of what I have to complain about in my personal life. Just don't get me started on politics. Y'all have a nice rest of the day and God Bless. I am about to go out and roast marshmallows with the kids and their guests.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Ghost of Birthdays Past
I had said that I would likely post a lot about my wife and my father this month because of their birthdays but I was wrong. They both really deserve much recognition for making this world a better place. It had struck me however that I could not put into words what I feel for them both. Where would it start and where would it end? I just want to say I am extremely thankful for both of them and I pray we, all three, live many more years as part of the solution in this crazy world.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Torture?
There was recently a new thread started at my school over torture and who was winning the debate. Those leftist school folks are always trying to keep people occupied with stuff like this while the leftist government goes on doing what it wills to. Here is my response.
Is there a debate over torture? I have heard an awful lot of debating over whether or not the USA should do anything or nothing to individuals who have lots of information concerning how more of my fellow countrymen and "citizens of the world" are going to die at their hands. Whatever the debate is, it's wrong.
Let's try an alternative! Freedom is the answer. Set them free. In process set me free too. It seems the leftist government we now have is more worried about protecting criminals whether they are criminals against individuals are large groups. Let the fools who wish to harm us come. Let me defend my family without fear of retribution for doing what it takes to protect the ones I love from harm, death or worst yet, fear. Even suggesting that I could feasibly do this with any amount of righteousness makes me suspect to the leftist regimes that run this country and have for a number of years.
The only reason there is any consternation happening over "torture" is that as individuals we are not free. The gov steps in and says they can protect us rather than we protect ourselves. When they fail the problem magnifies because the language has been forcefully centered on the idea that the failing government is going to fix the problem. It is weak minded, gutless, embarrassing, frankly nothing like me. I can go on for days about it. Where have all the men gone?
Is there a debate over torture? I have heard an awful lot of debating over whether or not the USA should do anything or nothing to individuals who have lots of information concerning how more of my fellow countrymen and "citizens of the world" are going to die at their hands. Whatever the debate is, it's wrong.
Let's try an alternative! Freedom is the answer. Set them free. In process set me free too. It seems the leftist government we now have is more worried about protecting criminals whether they are criminals against individuals are large groups. Let the fools who wish to harm us come. Let me defend my family without fear of retribution for doing what it takes to protect the ones I love from harm, death or worst yet, fear. Even suggesting that I could feasibly do this with any amount of righteousness makes me suspect to the leftist regimes that run this country and have for a number of years.
The only reason there is any consternation happening over "torture" is that as individuals we are not free. The gov steps in and says they can protect us rather than we protect ourselves. When they fail the problem magnifies because the language has been forcefully centered on the idea that the failing government is going to fix the problem. It is weak minded, gutless, embarrassing, frankly nothing like me. I can go on for days about it. Where have all the men gone?
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