It’s been crazy busy with the move, getting everything settled, well thrown in a bedroom or closet for now, and being back and forth to the hospital. Amanda’s hemoglobin was low Wednesday, and the iron the rounding transparent doc tried didn’t help. Even though Dr. Nair was in India, he was still answering calls and told them to give her two units, he wasn’t messing around this time. Blood products like that and the PLEX make Amanda feel bad even with Tylenol and Benadryl as pre meds. The blood ran into the morning on Thursday, four hours per unit, making for a crappy night.
I had an all-nighter Wednesday night and was off work around 11 am. I hoped to be off in time to help on Thursday since it was loading day. A picture of a very loaded trailer was one of the first texts I saw when I got off the train. David and his daughter had methodically packed his enclosed trailer to the brim. Only the TVs and two chairs were left to load in the Suburban. I grabbed them on the way home from work. Speaking of the Burb, a friend had changed the oil and rotated the tires while I was at work. I had a creeper and ramps in the back of it, loaded to work on an oil leak while in Houston. After he was done, he went to load an ultra-light wheelchair in the back, we are borrowing. I got a text that said “Wish I’d known there were ramps and a creeper in the back” when he was done. I didn’t even think to tell him they were in there. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. I called him right away, laughing. I could see him open the back hatch and look at them after he finished the job with the tools that would have made it so much easier right there all along!
I needed to work on the suburban before we left, so I put a new wheel well liner on in the afternoon. I’d hit a deer about six months ago that tore it up and had the new liner sitting around, but I was too lazy to put it on. With all the rain in Houston, I figured I had better knock it out before we left. I did use the creeper though! Renee had stopped by and said hi after dropping by YJs. I think she sent David my way after she got home, because not long after he showed up while I was working on the Burb. He helped me fix it, and it was good to have someone to chat with while we wrenched. I slapped some new wiper blades on and topped off the washer fluid and it was almost ready to head to the big city. I needed to wash it, though the oak trees were sapping, and had it covered in sticky goo. I grabbed YJ for an outing and we got the car washed, picked up some Starbucks and came back. Since his accident, we hadn’t had much time together since Amanda and I had been back and forth to the hospital so much, so it was good to chat with him.
I had a few more things to pack and load up, also a few things to transfer around, so that Renee could see better out the back of the Yukon; she would be driving it up. I organized everything and hit the sack, we were leaving Friday morning for Houston. I had forgotten to take care of something at the church, so I left a little early while David dropped Renee off at the house to grab the Yukon. We all met up in town and our little convoy started moving toward Houston with me leading the way on my new route to miss traffic. I started a free trial subscription to SiriusXM. All my Houston trip radio presets were long gone since the Burb hadn’t made that trip in a while. I was jamming and singing loudly to worship music and a little 80s/90s country. I’m surprised David and Renee didn’t hear me in the cars behind! I guess I set the tone for the trip. Renee said that when she got into the Yukon, worship music was jamming loudly from me the day before! I heard a quote on the driveover that resonated with me from an unknown author on the Message station. “Trials are not enemies of faith, but opportunities to prove God’s faithfulness” Amen!
Amanda still wasn’t losing fluid but gaining. The transplant doc ordered a dopamine drip to try and combat that. The thought was it would help her kidneys, but could cause a high heart rate. They wanted to place a PICC line for the drip, but as before, they couldn’t do it bedside. With Amanda’s anatomy, it needed to be done in an interventional radiology suite.
As we rolled into the Houston area, I texted the convoy and said let’s make one more potty stop before we got to the apartment to unload, and that there was a little traffic at the Katy Buc-ee’s, so we’d go a back way to miss it. I felt like a Houston regular as we snuck down back roads passing stopped interstate traffic! I’d done the same, leaving but never coming into town. As we left the Buc-ee’s, there was a roundabout that was just as busy as the inside of the packed store. We got farther separated there than anywhere else on the trip. I had a text I was about to send: “Hardest part of the drive getting in and out of Buc-ee’s at Katy!” But I held off not wanting to jinx us! It did end up being the worst part of the drive.
We pulled up at the apartment and ran into the office to get the key and settle up as David backed the trailer up. It took a while to get all the info on the apartment. When I emerged from the inside gate by the trailer, an Amazon driver asked me how to get in. I told him it was my first day and thought they should have codes, but he didn’t. There are two units in the complex. They have the exact numbers but different letter designators, A & B. I sent him to the other complex, thinking it was the A side, but not before asking him if any other packages were for Simmons, but he didn’t divulge. We began unloading and not long after the driver showed back up. And madly said, “You sent me to the other side, this is A” in a thick Haitian accent as he threw all the packages on the floor. I told him this is my first day here and I told you that! All of the packages he wouldn’t tell me the name of were for me!
As we unloaded, I told David and Renee about some of the things we unpacked, which were from an Amazon wish list from the first transplant. Some we still use, some had been in storage, and some had even gone to Iowa and back with me. It is neat that we are still using those items again on this 2nd transplant journey. We have gotten the money’s worth out of those items, like we will with the item we are currently receiving. Tons of boxes filled with wish list items have been showing up the last few days.
As we rested after unloading, we began to arrange furniture. I had brought up recliners for the hotel from the first transplant, and a love seat. Things didn’t fit the way they should have naturally been set up; the love seat practically covered the dining room access. We sat down and thought it out, evaluating swapping everything to the opposite sides. It didn’t matter where the TV went; we would steam everything anyway and didn’t need a cable. Renee and I didn’t think it would work. The front door would open onto the recliners, and the love seat would be in front of the window. Surprisingly, it was perfect and made it feel so much more roomy. We’d brought up a round rug that was under a dining table from our downtown place. It was too big for the dining nook but fit just right in the living room with a matching runner in the kitchen.
As we were finishing up, Amanda was heading to an IR suite for the PICC. All the hotels were booked in the area because of the rodeo, so I suggested they stay in the med center. I knew they wanted to see Amanda, so I suggested a hospital room double dinner date. While Amanda was back, we made our way to the hotel. I knew the trailer couldn’t be parked so I just drove them over, showing them around like I lived there, wait, I do now! Amanda texted me that they had changed the PICC to a central line in her chest. She knew nothing about it, and no one was very forthcoming. This was the first chest line she’d ever had.
It was getting late, so we snuck snacks from the lounge and went to the bar, waiting for Amanda to get out. She had one request, a refresher when she was out. After we sat down a few minutes, I thought, what time does Starbucks close? I checked, and they closed at 7. It was 7:05, and I knew I’d be in trouble! So we devised the plan to have one delivered from another store, to save us. I made the order once Amanda texted that she was out, and we headed over. The only problem was that it was coming from outside of town. Even though a closer one was open, it would be over 30 minutes before it arrived!
When we were in the room, Amanda seemed a little flushed. Her rate was high from the dopamine drip. She didn’t feel too bad from the central line, they had given her some good drugs, but they made her nauseous. She needed medication right away when we showed up. It seemed I was off the hook with the late refresher arrival, but the race was on with how fast the medicine would work and the drink’s arrival! She was on fluid restrictions, 1800 ml a day, about 60 ounces. Half of her allowed intake was spent on the refresher and she had no regrets! After a few sips and the medicine kicking in, we ordered dinner. After I passed my phone around to get orders, we discovered the place was no longer taking orders since it was after 9 pm! We chose another and I quickly ordered.
We ate and hung out for a while, then I had to lead David and Renee back to the hotel through the maze I brought them through. I headed back to the apartment to get some much needed rest. While talking to Amanda, she told me that they stopped the dopamine for a bit, and her rate went down, it was obviously the cause of the high rate. I was having difficulty talking to Amanda and even sending and receiving text. I had terrible service inside the apartment! With a phone call as notification for when I go to work, I will need to remedy that quick. As I sat in one of the recliners, I just felt it was home, the apartment had turned out great, now to get everything in its place!
Response
Sleep well