A whole new road in our journey

Hey all, Thanks for hanging on to my blog. The reason I haven't been able to catch up is that I not only did not feel well but was severely depressed and believe me you did not want to listen to me whine and cry to you all.



Okay, the NG feeding tube was extremely painful. At one point it clotted off and they had to reinsert it. Oh, my gosh, the pain was ghastly. At least I talked them into taping it on to my face instead of tying it from the inside of my nose. (now I know what a bull feels like) That was tolerable. Then they put in another tube in my belly to drain the fluids. What a baby I was about the whole thing!!! But with God's help we (me and my nose) survived the whole ordeal.



Then they come (doctors, that is) running in and said I am being air ambulanced to UPMC in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We have 2 hours to pack 2 backpack type bags with all we will need. Steve became a man on a mission and I had little to say about what clothes, soaps, books and that kinda stuff I wanted to go. I get here and I have few shirts that don't match the pants, very little make-up, no blow dryer and the good shampoo? who knew where that was? Poor PJ ran back & forth trying to make us happy. Never an easy task. We finally left at midnight (8 hours later) and arrived at 4am.



UPMC is HUGE and very old. The care is not up to Mayo standards, but I am learning diplomatic assertiveness with a smile. Besides after meeting the surgeons, especially Dr. Kareem, I am very willing to put up with anything (Right, we will see about that!) We love him, but he is very tough & demanding. But he actually hugged me before he left. He already is making a ton of changes. The very first thing he did was pull all the tubes. He says he hates tubes! He's my man! But he did not gloss over the hard work it is going to take. Steve spoke with our liver doc in SF, he said Dr. Kareem is the best in the world and the transplant guru. If he can't do it no one can. Our spirits lifted high to the sky.

It is gonna be a long and difficult road, but as long as I have him and God and Steve on my side, I know I can do it. Not to mention all the prayers that are bombarding Our Lord.

We are staying at an Residence Inn by Marriott, 3896 Bigelow Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. For how long we are not sure, but they will know where we are.

I have lots more to tell, but I am sure you are worn out from listening and me from writing. I promise I will try to tell more tomorrow. Gonna go see Doc K again tomorrow and start the battery of tests again.

Thank you all for remembering my birthday, having the tube pulled was the hi-light. It was enough.

Very Special thanks to PJ Palmer for all her help, especially where Buddy was concerned and the very difficult packing and shipping she did. I pray she will have a relaxing, safe and speedy journey home.

I thank you all for hanging on for me. Remember I love comments, especially funny ones.
all our love, steve & steph