Somebody Prayed

Late Saturday night, Amanda had some bad pain in her chest. They quickly ran an EKG and talked to the fellow on call. He ordered a double dose of pain meds, and that seemed to calm things down. When I text Amanda Sunday, she’d just tell me I’m just hanging out, I thought, well duh! She would text me when the doctors would come in giving me a report. Being on the train and unable to call or text to check on her was hard. Big brother likes to pop in and watch us in the locomotive cab on the inward-facing cameras, so I will neither confirm nor deny if I checked a text or two on my watch.

I was called out of Alpine at about the same time in the morning as on Saturday morning. The trip home was much better than going up. I knew by the time I was called out that it wouldn’t be feasible to go to Houston. I don’t mind a late night drive, but getting there after midnight to go straight to sleep in a recliner didn’t sound fun. My engineer was from Brackettville, and I’ve worked with him for years, so we talked a bit about everything from Amanda’s health to local issues to God. It was good to work with him, and it had been a while since we’d worked together.

Once off work, I needed groceries; I didn’t want to eat anything from a restaurant. I didn’t plan on being plant-based, but I didn’t know what I wanted to cook, either. I ran into my brother-in-law, nearly running over him, trying to get his attention in the parking lot. We shopped and talked briefly, and I wandered aimlessly around the store. I had a potato, a steak, and some broccolini in my cart, only to put the steak back and grab a few other things. Finally, I returned to put the steak back in my cart and opted for pasta instead of a potato! I feel this is how women, at least mine, shop: all over the store, back and forth. My shopping list is always laid out like the store, in and out, no backtracking is allowed. I’ll almost not get something just to keep from backtracking!

I went to get my Suburban washed; it had been neglected since I haven’t been home. Yes, we have two Suburbans; Amanda’s is a Yukon XL, but it’s still the same. And yes, they are both black. Too many have questioned why we have two! Mine is a hand-me-down from Amanda when she upgraded; it’s the fiscally responsible thing to do. I have it loaded down with all my tools, too; I could build a house with what I have loaded in that thing. After the old burb was all shined up, I headed home. 

I had taken my wet clothes to our downtown place to dry them when I headed off to work. I needed to get them so I could pack. I’d never dried anything in that dryer before and didn’t set it long enough. They were still damp, and I was mad! Now, I had to come back down to get them later; I just wanted to go home and get comfortable and not leave. I know someone reading this from Brackettville will likely give me grief that I didn’t drop my chonies off with them to dry while I was gone, lesson learned. I feel the underwear debacle is following me! Once home I cooked dinner: reverse seared New York strip, fresh pasta with a scratch-made alfredo sauce, and broccoli that I charred along with the steak in a hot castiron. After dinner, I ran into town to get my clothes, came home, cleaned up, packed, loaded the Yukon, and promptly hit the sack. A 4 am alarm was in my future.

Even though Amanda wasn’t getting a lot of fluid off, they still held off the new medication. The cowboy boot shod East Indian doctor didn’t explain why they did not try it; that would have been on the top of my question list. Amanda thought it was one of those medications you might get on and can’t get off of. I think it is one that can determine your UNOS (transplant list) listing status as well. She is on a massive dose of diuretics. Those of you who are nurses, doctors, pharmacists, or heart friends will understand the following numbers. She is on a 24mg Bumex drip a day, 1mg an hour, and received a 4mg push along with the drip Saturday and an 8mg push along with the drip Sunday. At home, Amanda takes 1 to 2mg a day. So, the drip alone is a lot of Bumex but with the pushes its a crap ton!

On the radio yesterday, the song Somebody Prayed came on. It’s by David Crowder, whom I was once confused with at a conference. At my lowest weight, with glasses, long hair, a scruffy long beard, and a cap on at a Christian conference looking at me from the back, I guess I can see it! This song is powerful; you can listen to it here. Despite what was going on, we had a lot of people making things happen for us who were praying in the background. 2024 was a rough year for us; our extended hospitalization over the holidays was the turd cherry on top of a crap filled year! Yet somebody prayed.

So much has gone on that many didn’t know about, but many prayed in the background. To me, I can feel the extra prayer this time. Not that we haven’t had the masses pray for us before. Maybe we have a bigger following, maybe we have some new prayer warriors on board, maybe we have some that have just sensed when we needed the most fervent of prayers in our lives, when we didn’t even know we needed them. Some of the lyrics are: “When mountains moved, I say looks like somebody prayed.” In spite of our rough year, we saw some of our mountains move because somebody prayed. I was going to continue, speaking to the scripture referenced throughout the song, but while looking for the video, I happened across an article that echoed my thoughts. If you want a side trip, check out the article from a North Carolina Christian Radio station here.

I was talking with Amanda about what time I’d leave, trying to miss both San Antonio and Houston rush hours was hit or miss, but I was thinking I’d arrive around 9:45 in the morning. She said, “Just in time for coffee,” and didn’t fail to tell me she’d been two days without! I asked if she was still alive. She said we’ll see tomorrow but needed some coffee “stat!” She ordered dinner from a wing place/sports bar. When I noticed the location, I thought it was not a good idea on Super Bowl Sunday! It took almost 3 hours for her to get her dinner. She’d planned to cancel if she didn’t get it by 8 pm, and it arrived at 8:02, she said. An hour is usually a long wait, but three. This woman has way more patience than I ever will! I was probably fast asleep by the time she finished her dinner.