I'm Workin' on it!!!!!

Here I am once again...trying to catch up on stuff and do a better job of lots of things. Things have really slipped by me for a while now and it has gotten me in "deep trouble" in so many areas and with so many people. I hope over time, I will be able to set things right....as much as I can.

So, to begin with, an update on Norman. As you can see, he is doing really well. This picture was taken on Tuesday of last week when we were up at Cascade Springs, in the Uinta Mountains, to take pictures of "the girls".

He was able to walk around up there in the higher altitude, with not much problem at all. Just had to sit down a couple of times...but, anyone would have to sit down a couple of times if they were trying to keep up with Katie and Sophie!!! They just go non-stop! But, it is great.

The last kidney doctor visit (about 2 weeks ago), was full of great news!!!! His kidney have made some improvement!!! They are now at the point where they were before this last "issue". That was great news. I learned the difference between "acute" and "chronic". All the while he was in the hospital I heard "acute renal failure". I don't know how many times I heard it and had no clue how bad it was. It sure sounded bad, and I guess it was bad a couple of times. But, Dr. Hammond (the kidney doctor) told us that acute is when something gets bad and gets better again. Chronic is when it gets bad and stays bad!!!! He had been afraid that Norms kidneys were becoming chronic, rather that acute. So, they are acute I guess, because they are getting better. By no means are they good, but they are improving. Maybe they are going to stay where they are, but at least it is better. It was such a relief. Dr. Hammond doesn't want to see him for 6 months!!!!!

Norms heart seems to be doing well, with all of the changes and trauma that his body suffered. He is still in a-fib, but the cardiologist is watching him pretty closely. He wants him to be as active as he can be, and after 6 months, if he is really tired and having a problem with fatigue, they will decide what to do from there. But for now, all is well. No oxygen during the day anymore, so, things are lookin' up!

Thanks again for all of your prayers on Norms behalf, and all of the little pixies that came and did some of our chores. You will never know what that meant.

I am going to try to be much better about keeping this blog going. I have lost touch with so many people, and it makes me sad. I have a friend at church that does her blog, at least, every Sunday. When I grow up, I want to be just like her!!!!

To the lamp of love: may it burn brightest in the darkest hours and never flicker in the winds of trial.

~~~ Author Unknown

Home Sweet Home!!!!!

Well my friends, here we are!!! We are home!!!! What a wonderful place to be!!!! We got home about 3:30 yesterday. It was a whirlwind!!! First we weren't supposed to be going home until today, and all of a sudden, they were loading Norm into the wheelchair to take him down to the car!!! You sure didn't see us looking back!

We have had a pretty good day today. It is always hard to get into a new routine, and that is what we have been working at today. I am so glad we have a nice walker and a shower bench, cause they sure come in handy when Norm isn't feeling well. He is doing so well, I don't think he is going to need them for long, but at least we have them. He just has a little trouble standing long enough to take a shower, so the bench is great. The poor guy had his first shower in almost three weeks.

Again, I have so many people to thank. We both have felt your prayers and well wishes. Norm continues to amaze me. He has so much fight in him, and he has certainly done that.

We have had wonderful doctors and nurses. It is really something to watch....how everyone in that place is a team. They are all working for the welfare of the patient. We were very well taken care of. I am grateful to all who assisted in taking care of Norm.

One thing was really fun, about going back was that we knew someone almost everywhere we went!!!! Neuro Shock Trauma ICU, Adult ICU, Physical Therapy, Respiratory, Housecleaning, CVICU, OR, Cafeteria!!!! Kinda like one big happy family.

I certainly left there feeling like we had been blessed. There were so many sick people there, and such sadness. We met a man whose wife was in the room right next to Norms, in Adult ICU. We had been watching him walk back and fourth for a couple of days. He finally stopped by and talked to us. I asked him if he had family there and he said that his wife was there and he was making arrangements to take her home and "let her go". She had cervical cancer and had been through just about everything there was to go through. Finally, a day later, he made arrangements to take her home, thinking he had a couple of days with her, so that she could visit with her children. She died on the way home, alone, with her husband. He was a very brave man. It was obvious he loved his wife dearly, but knew she was ready to meet her Heavenly Father. I was happy for the family, and sad at the same time.

Yes, it is nice to be home with a semi-healthy husband. My neighbors have been so good to us. Mowed our lawn, picked our onions and layed them out to dry, weeded our whole garden, picked our raspberries, made me my favorite pasta salad and put it in my fridge so I could have some when I came home at night, and so many other things. My kids in Spanish Fork were awesome too, and I will be forever grateful. Christy came up and stayed with me for two full days, and Roger stayed home with the girls for two full days, (and they were his days off!!!), without a car. Jake called a lot, to find out how his dad was. It was so nice to hear his voice.

We are going to take the next couple of weeks pretty easy. We have only been home a day and I can already see progress with Norm. The cardiologist made some pretty big changes in his heart meds, and we need to see how he is going to do, before we make plans for anything. So, we are "hangin out"!

Thanks to all or out friends who love us in spite of ourselves, and our family who are there, no matter what. I miss my kids in Alaska, and I know they would have been here if they could have. They were worried, I know and so far away. It must have been hard for t hem.

All is well!!! As Norm says, "I am on the mend".

For each new morning with it's light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hurry Up and Wait!!!!

You know how we hear that saying..."no news is good news"???? Not!!!! The doctor that is taking care of Norms kidneys came in this morning to check on him. He gave us the wonderful news, that Norms creatinene (?) has gone back up a little. Since he has been in the hospital, his numbers have continued to go up and finally yesterday it went down a bit. This morning, they were back up. The doctors have been looking for a plateau and then a downward trend.....not happening. The kidney doctor doesn't seem particularly worried about it and still seems to think it will all come out alright. In light of that, I asked him " So, do you have any idea when we will be able to vacate the premises"? He said "No". Not the answer we were looking for. We were told that it would probably be the middle of the week. Guess what tomorrow is!!!!

So anyway, we have no idea when we will be going home. It makes me think Norm is a lot sicker, or was a lot sicker than we ever thought. This pneumonia, gall bladder surgery, etc. have really messed with everything!!! They are tweeking his heart meds, giving him respiratory treatments, antibiotics, insulin, and taking him off this and adding that, trying to get everything to work together.

He seems to feel good. After 12 days in the hospital, he is weak and tired, but the physical therapy people come twice a day and get him up walking. Yesterday, Christy brought the girls and we had a "picnic" up on the balcony area. He enjoyed being outside and being with someone other than medical people, but it tired him out. I see that he is a little stronger every day, but it is such a slow process. His color is good and he eats well, but not sleeping so well. But, that is not uncommon for him. Especially in the hospital.

I guess all in all, things are improving. Seems like it is at a snails pace, but things are improving. He is getting awful tired of being in there, but is working hard to realize that it is necessary to monitor everything to make sure it is safe to send him home. There are so many things that enter into this equation, and they all have to work together to give him the best quality of life possible for him.

Thank you for all of your prayers, phone calls and visits. I will do my best to keep all informed. Sorry there is nothing really new, but I guess in a way, that is good.

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will;

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill;

When the funds are low, and the debts are high

And you want to smile, but have to sigh;

When care is pressing you down a bit-

Rest if you must, but do not quit.

Success is failure turned inside out;

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;

And you can never tell how close you are

It may be near, when it seems so far;

So stick to the fight when you are hardest hit-

It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.

Norman, Norman, Norman!!!!!!

Christy said I should be posting blogs because I am the one that sees the doctors and asks ?. Don't know if that is the best thing, but I will try....as you know, I have not done a blog in over a year. But, here goes.

I don't know where to begin with Normans new "adventure"!!!! Probably I shouldn't begin at the beginning because it is a long story that stretches from July 27th thru today, and beyond!!!! He managed to catch pneumonia while we were up camping with Rogers family. We had to jump in the car, drive 4 hours and go to the ER. There we spent 5 hours getting IV therapy. We came back the next evening for the last of the IV treatment, and Norm felt really good. During the day, he had taken his new truck (new to him) and had it detailed because it had a dirty dog in it over the weekend!!!! Oh my!!!!! ( I can't help it if Clancy rolled in dead fish just before we left!!!)

Anyway, Norm was feeling really good Thursday and at about 2 in the morning on Friday the saga begins. He had horrible pain in his stomach and so we headed off to the ER again.....8 hours later being admitted for gall bladder surgery!!!! The doctors and nurses at American Fork Hospital spent the following Friday, Sat and Sunday trying to get his blood thick enough to do the surgery. They had planned to do the surgery on Sunday and we were all ready for them to take him to the OR and they decided to transfer him to Provo ( they wanted a special piece of equipment to use during surgery, that American Fork didn't have so they send us to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. (That's where he was three years ago) After a day of poking and prodding, talking and scratching their heads, the doctors decided to do the surgery Monday morning. I got there a little late and had stopped to talk to a friend in the OR and headed up to the room, only to run into the surgeon who told me they had decided to go ahead!!! I am glad I wasn't any later.

The surgery went well and then his kidneys, liver, heart and lungs decided they were going to protest. And they did. It has taken until today to get them to begin to improve, except the kidneys. The numbers for the kidney function continue to go up, but as of yesterday, they were not going up at the same rate as they had been, which his new kidney doctor said is a good sign. The rise in toxicity, for lack of a better work, has slowed down. I have not been there yet today, to see if they have improved, but will try to get back here tonight to post it. Mainly that is the only thing that is keeping him from coming home. Dr. Hammond ( the kidney doctor that we recently added to Norm's collection), said yesterday that he didn't need to see the kidneys be totally back to what is normal for Norm........just a steady lowering of the numbers instead of a rise. There has been talk of dialysis, but not in the too near future. If they don't begin to improve, and he doesn't see the numbers change for the better, that may be a possibility. I pray not.

At any rate my friends, that is where we are now. I have left a lot out, partially because it has been just a whirlwind and I can't remember it all at once and partly because I am sure you don't want to read such a long blog! There was a "code" on the 7th floor, about 6 hours after he got there which necessitated a transfer to MICU where he spent a couple of days. On and on and on!!!! He does nothing the easy way!!! But, he is still here and still fighting. He is getting sick of the bed so I got permission to take him in the wheelchair along with his oxygen and IV pole, to the huge lobby of the hospital, to have a "picnic" with the girls. Think we will do that tomorrow.

That is my story, and I'm stickin' to it!!! Love ya all. I will try to be better about blogging! Didn't realize how much I missed it, but sure didn't want this latest instance to provide me the motivation!!! I promise to keep you posted.

"Everything will be OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end!"

Author unknown

I think I Can! I Think I Can!!!!!

I have decided that I wanted to "broaden my horizons" and learn something new. Now, I am not one to try to teach myself stuff like this, cause I am afraid I will mess it up. I am going to call a needlework store and see if they have lessons or will teach me how to KNIT SOCKS!!!!

Think I can do it??? I am trying to keep a positive attitude and tell myself "yes I can". Wish me luck and I will show my end result. I think I can. I think I can!!!!

I am going to attempt to take this:

And make this:

I think I can!!!!!

Action is the foundational key to all success!

Pablo Picasso

I stole this from my daughter in laws blog!!! Look at these kids. It has been nine months since I have seen them. I can't believe it. They are so big!!! I sure do miss them.

You would expect your grandchildren to grow, but it just seems odd that they look like totally different people kind of. Theron was so tiny when they left, and EmberLee's hair was a lot shorter. Kurtis wasn't nearly as tall.....and on and on and on!!!!! They sure do look happy and healthy!!! I am glad for that. I love you guys tons!!!

Children are one third of our population and all of our future!

Friends, Family and Neighbors

"Papa" and "Ita" Lowe, and Grandma and Grandpa Lyman ask for your blessings and prayers on behalf of our new, sweet little Sophie. Now I am the first to admit that I am a proud Grandma and a worrier. That is a Grandmas job, but our new little one is struggling a bit.

Her mom and dad are being strong and doing everything right. They are in contact with the doctor and he has told them what they need to do, and they are doing it, as we all knew they would. It is unnerving when there is something wrong with such a new little one, no matter how minor it is. It is still so very hard to watch her struggle and her parents doing everything they can, and not able to help much. When you think about it, Sophie is not even supposed to be here with us for another week and she is two weeks old already, so I guess one would expect some little issues. So far, the things she is struggling with are minor, so the doctor says, and Roger and Christy have faith in her doctor. I pray that his heart and hands will be guided by our Heavenly Father to treat her for what she is having to deal with and she and her parents will be able to rest and have some comfort.

Big sister is staying strong too, until Sophie cries and then she worries. She is a big help to her mom, and continues to lighten the difficult times with her antics and her ability to make us all laugh, even when she is not being so funny and has no intention of making anyone laugh!!!!

Katie loves her little sister and keeps a good eye on her. She is awesome.

Please pray for this good family and if you are near a temple, please put their names on the prayer rolls. I am sure she is going to be fine, but like I said, I take a Grandmas job very seriously and do it well!!! After seven grandchildren, I have become pretty accomplished at worrying.

"Worry is intrest paid on trouble before it comes due".

William Ralph Inge