Last Thursday, we had our second outpatient transplant clinic visit. The cardiologist we were was one we’d seen pre-transplant, in the CVICU, and in the step-down unit. She spoke on how good Amanda looked out of the hospital and in real clothes. Everything was good, with only minor medicine changes. It was farmers’ market day at the med center, and Amanda felt like making the trek there. So we grabbed a few things, then headed back to the apartment.
Friday was a workday, and we needed to get the last few things to get the apartment really finished. I was behind the scenes, and I planned on using the guest bedroom walk-in closet as a pantry/utility room. We’d put the cheapo, cloth drawer dresser we had in the hospital in there as a way to have an organized junk system. Everything from extra wires to paper and pens ended up in there. The setup in the kitchen is just crazy; there is only one drawer, and it is tiny. So, we needed a junk drawer and more. I also tapped into the light and added a plug so we could have power to charge the cordless vacuum and have power to the printer set up in there. In the afternoon, Amanda had dialysis. Her kidneys still haven’t woken up yet.
The final piece of the apartment puzzle was the patio. We needed some chairs out there to be able to enjoy this lovely weather. So, I began to search marketplace on Facebook. I found a good many, but the combination of ones Amanda approved of and ones that were within our cheap budget were few and far between. I sent a few messages out to some, but we didn’t have any luck.
Saturday, we wanted to get out. There were a few farmers’ markets to choose from. I chose one that was mostly produce to try that was close to the apartment. It was small and market and full of unusual produce, some that I’d never even seen before. Amanda still wasn’t venturing out too much food wise, so I only got a few things. After that, we were headed to a Turkish food festival. It was a small festival, and it was easy for Amanda to get around with her walker. It was a little confusing because you had to buy tickets to then buy the food. Since we didn’t know what things cost or what we’d want, we perused the selections first, then I went back to purchase tickets. We ended up with an array of things, then I got us some sweets and a Turkish coffee to finish the meal off. As we sat and ate outside, we watched as some of the workers would burst out in dance to specific songs that would come on. It was a great little getaway without a big city vibe.
We ran a few errands after a late lunch, then once we got back to the apartment, we got in our comfy clothes with no intention of leaving. I’d received some messages back on the marketplace about some outdoor furniture I’d inquired on. Some were sold, but one was available and in Franklin, about 20 minutes away. It was two chairs, a side table, and even a rug for not much. I wheeled and dealed and offered two-thirds of what they were asking. They responded fairly quickly with a yes to the offer. No haggling, and they took my lowball offer, I felt accomplished! They were fine with us picking it up then, so we threw our clothes back on and hit the road.
I’d been speaking with the wife, she said they put everything in the driveway and to Venmo her husband. When we got here, I backed up in the drive and hopped out to load everything up. I heard a voice saying, “Hi friend.” It took me a minute to find out where it was coming from; it was the husband way up an extension ladder trimming trees. He asked if I needed help. I told him to stay put, and I could handle it since he seemed busy. We chatted as I loaded, and he wanted to know where we were from. I said Southwest Texas, but mentioned our temporary Nashville area. He replied, “I recorded an album there.” It didn’t faze me because everyone has recorded something in Nashville, I have come to notice! After I had everything loaded, we took off.
When we got home, Amanda said we should have asked if he was in a band or whatnot. I told her how many have recorded things around here. We talked a little more about it, then I said I’ll find out. So, I took to a little Facebook stalking of the wife’s page! Come to find out the husband was one of the founding members of the Citizen Way, a Christian band that has been around since the early 2000s. They had a few big hits that we knew and were played on mainstream Christian stations about ten or so years ago. That’s Nashville for you, a random marketplace purchase landed us at an artist’s house!
Sunday, Amanda planned to go to church, but she wasn’t ready to go to Sunday School. So, I went and then picked her up in between Sunday School and church. Everyone was so glad to see Amanda. I saw a few come over to greet her that I hadn’t even met yet, guess I wasn’t cute enough for them to just come talk to me! I was pretty emotional with Amanda there at church with me. It was a big step for her to come to make it, and it was great for her to meet everyone finally.
Monday was an easy day, just dialysis. Until I remembered I’d gotten tickets for an event that night, a few weeks before, but had forgotten. The Message station on SiriusXM has a live acoustic show in a coffee shop around the corner from our apartment. So, after dialysis, we went to the show. Of course, the one time we needed her to get out of dialysis early, she got out the latest ever. We got there early for the show, but barely got a seat. We still got good seats for not many left, though; we were right up next to the artist. So close I could have touched one of them. Jason Gray hosted it in a format that is common to Nashville where he introduces the other singers then they all sing one song at a time and rotate for a few songs each. The guest singers were Ryan Stevenson and Mark Hammitt.
It was an excellent show. I like acoustic stuff anyway, but they were singing their own songs and talking about the stories behind them, so it gave the show an intimate flair. We were nearly the youngest ones there. Surprisingly, most of the crowd was 60-plus. Stevenson has a song out that is played regularly on Christian radio called Preach that Hammitt sings with him. I’d heard it on the radio while Amanda was in dialysis. It was only then that I realized we be seeing them both together. I text Amanda a pic of the car radio and said told her I bet we’d be hearing that song, and it didn’t take long before heard it!
One song that stuck with me was All of Me by Hammitt. He was the lead singer for Sanctus Real until he broke out on his own. He wrote this particular song before his son was born who he said had half a heart. From our time the “heart” world I assumed it was the condition hypoplastic left heart syndrome which is where the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped. He spoke of how even unborn with an uncertain future he had to decide to give his unborn baby “all of me” and not hold any love back even though he may never make it through birth or the subsequent surgeries he’d need. Even thought I’d heard the song before I it just really hit me and had a punch this time, knowing the story behind it. The heart connection made it real and I have a high school friend who not long ago had son with the same condition. I really wanted to talk to Hammitt and tell him how the song impacted me and about our story, but he had what I’d call a groupie in his ear immediately after the show and Amanda was ready to go. I ended up sending a FB message of our story to him and mentioned how I felt about the song. I told him of how I know the feeling to love some one so much you have to give them up to God’s will even if that meant losing them. I’d never known that feeling till this go round, I guess thats why the song just punched me so hard. Not sure if my message will make it to him but I hope it does.
Tuesday was a chill day, our first. Usually after big surgeries thats all we have. We become recluses and stay home and recover. We’ve never had such a busy schedule as we have now. So, we took advantage of the nothing day. I never even got out of my sleeping chonies, I just took Tank out potty all day looking like I was homeless! Tank did become a little sick and started dry heaving and coughing with nothing coming up. Amanda was worried she’d already told me when he had some stomach issues a week ago that we have to take care of him and she couldn’t loose him right now. Loosing Zoey in the midst of her being in the hospital lasy year was devastating. I told her if the coughing issue persisted that I take him in. The cough only got worse and while Amanda was in dialysis Wednesday I got a same day appointment and took Tank in to a Vet’s office a few blocks down from the apartment. The Vet thought he had a minor infection and gave him an antibiotic and a cough suppressant. He seems to be getting better and already and coughing less.
Thursday Amanda had rehab and an evaluation for her knee PT. I stayed in the car for rehab but went in for the eval. She is going to do PT 2 days a week and rehab will likely be moved to 3 days a week. Friday we both worked and stayed busy on our Macs until dialysis in the afternoon. Amanda was getting caught up on some church accounting and I worked on the yearend video for the church’s physical year end meeting. Amanda had been getting photos and cull though some she’d gotten over the past year. I did the final cull on the pictures, every once in a while holding up my Mac and saying yes or no to a few. She’d culled one of herself on a mission trip where she was sitting on the tailgate of a truck loaded with flour, beans, lard, and Spam that we were handing out the Four Corners area. I snuck it back in, without her permission, I thought it was cute. It was inspirational, too; many don’t know, and she never complained, but on that trip her heart would nary get below 140 beats a minute. Yet she still trudged through doing what she could with her heart treating her like it was running a marathon. I put all the pictures together in a video with some music. I may have been influenced by the acoustic show we saw and put the Preach song they sang as a duet to the video. It did fit well with the “I want my life to preach” part going to slides of our congregation doing ministry and serving the community. It was hard to go over the pictures seeing all we had missed. We were involved with a few things the last being the native American mission trip in early December. After that trip within a week Amanda was hospitalized for two months straight, shaking our whole world up. That was a rough ride, we had no clue what would lie ahead. It feels like five years ago.
I took advantage of the break while Amanda was in dialysis, one of the first I wasn’t busy with stuff at the apartment. I went to a movie while Amanda was in dialysis. The reserved parking spot saga would continue, when we returned to the apartment the car that was parked in our spot right after it was freshly painted before we could even use it had parked there again! I was furious about it, too! They stayed there though Saturday afternoon too until I got hold of the apartment management. They sent a direct message to them, but after no response, they sent out a message about it to our entire building, it was moved soon after. Besides the fact that it is a reserved spot we pay for, it is next to the handicap van walkway which gives us easy access for Amanda to get in and out of the car. Then if we take the handicap spot another car that usually parks there can’t, so it effects more than just us.
Saturday was another work day for us Amanda finished up some of her accounting and I worked on some union accounting, as well. The weather was really nice and I left the patio door open most of the day. Eventually after Tank kept going out there, sp I put his bed on the patio for him to lay on. I guess we were craving a little bit of home we had Mexican for all three meals of the day! Chorizo bean and egg tacos for breakfast, guacamole and chips for a lunch snack, and quesadillas with Mexican rice and pinto beans for dinner.
This Sunday Amanda made it Sunday school with me. Her one request was StarBs to take to church. At home we will occasionally drive the 30 miles to StarBs just to get coffee before worship practice. So we’d take advantage of the one only a few blocks away from the apartment. The little old crowd was glad to see Amanda, I just know these little old ladies had been praying fervently for her and I’m sure they were glad to finally meet her. They had a young adults meeting kick off party that evening. We’d been invited to it but we didn’t quite qualify for the 20-30s crowd. Like our church for some many years this one has had a large percentage of senior saints and is lacking in the 20 to 30s crowd. I felt the little old crowd was excited to see me when I first showed up mainly because I was a “young” face not just a new face! Someone invited us and I figured well lets go, if nothing we can sympathize with the leader and his yearning to get that crowd growing in the church.
The kick off was held at the interim pastors house. It was bit further than I’d expected and in town a good 30 minutes down the interstate. I’m sure it takes that far to get to an affordable area to live in around here. Much like Texas the west coast crowd comes in and pays a couple hundred grand more than homes are worth thinking its a steal which runs the values up for all the locals, good if your selling, bad if you buying though. We had a good time with he crowd the pastor and his wife are close to our age, most of the others were in there mid to late twenties. I was joking with Amanda, some of them are the age of a lot of the youth we led 10 years ago, so knew the age well. We were accepted and it was good to hang out with some our age even if were one the high end of there young adults group!
When adding Tanks information for the apartment the manager knew our situation and asked if he was and emotional support animal. I felt she was giving me a bone, no pun intended, and I gave a Yesss with question mark at the end. She gave me a form to have filled out for an ESA reasonable exception which our social worker filled out without issue. I finally got an email Sunday that they approved it and all the fees were waived, the few hundred dollar non refundable inital fee and steady monthly fee as well. Tank may not be a trained emotional support animal but he does provide much needed emotional support for Amanda!
I’d asked to come off my leave of absence from work early to be able to take some personal leave days to get my insurance paid for in November and not have to shell out the couple grand to keep it going. I’m getting tiered of writing those checks and so is our bank account! As usual work was a little late in getting back to me. I thought I may need to do a super job briefing before I could go back. I double checked before asking and it seemed it wouldn’t be a problem. Turns out I needed to take a one day rules class before I could be released to even get on a board to take my PL days. And they took me off my leave before telling me this and wouldn’t allow me to wait to take the test. I was between a rock and a hard place. I had to go back to Texas to take this test but no one was lined up to stay with Amanda till October 31st. I ended up booking a redeye flight out today, Monday, arriving after midnight with my test scheduled for 9 am tomorrow, and a late afternoon flight back the same day. I’ll be gone less than 24 hours. It was a mess, but Bev fell in to help and said “We’ll figure it out.” She’s staying the night and getting Amanda to rehab in the morning. It’s great having such a good friend here that understands the heart stuff.
All the mess will be a blessing I’ll now get paid for a weeks worth of personal days and won’t have to pay anything for insurance. So that in itself is a blessing plus I plan to work non stop once home in November. I’ll work enough in December to qualify for insurance for January, too. That alone is going to save us thousands upon thousands and I’ll be earning for almost a two months stent and only be gone five weeks, plus this quick trip down back. I haven’t worked since the end of June when we got the “call.” I had some vacation paid out but not much so income has been scarce. This will give us a good bump and hopefully help us to get through the looming kidney transplant if Amanda’s kidneys decide not to wake up.
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