Sunday, it was good to be back at church. While back in Texas, I’d missed every Sunday being at work. Amanda hadn’t made it to our Sunday school class while I was gone and had only made a couple of services, too. Everyone was glad to see us both there and back together. This Nashville church has become a second home to us; they’ve taken us in as their own and did so quickly. This go-round with the transplant has been so much different. I’d made friends before Amanda was even out of the hospital. Then I had a church family established and praying for her before she even set foot there. Having local friends and a church family has made the time here so much easier. I was so longing to get back home after the first transplant when we lived in Houston. Nashville really is a second home now. While I was back at our house, Nashville felt more like home than my own house.
After church, we headed to Murfreesboro to another church hosting a Charlie Brown Christmas play. It was about 40 minutes away, but didn’t feel that far. The church was a mega church and huge. I’ve been to bigger, but this campus was gigantic. Parking was a nightmare; there were hundreds of cars parked across the massive grassy lawn. Luckily, we found a small lot designated handicap only, so we were able to park there to make the walk shorter for Amanda. The Charlie Brown pay wasn’t the only thing going on. At least a dozen activities were underway, including an ice rink that they run throughout the winter season. Surprisingly, Santa was there along with many elves roaming the massive hallways. I’m more of a Jesus Christmas guy when it comes to the church doing anything. I’m not anti-Santa, but not a fan when I see him at church events, if you know what I mean!
After perusing the sizable bookstore and debating on getting a nativity, we made our way to one of the many sanctuaries. It was a bit of a pain finding a spot to sit. Though a mega church, it felt like a little ole church with most good seats saved via a myriad of ways, from jackets to old school packing tape! I guess word got back about the saved seats because the pastor gave a good berating to the congregants about it, warning them they’d be locked out of the sanctuary and the seats given to others if they didn’t show up soon! The show was cute with the kids’ choir singing and the youth playing the parts and singing as well. My favorite part was Pig-Pen’s dust cloud, played by a youth who simply held up a cartoon dust cloud, moving it to and fro, following Pig-Pen around! Amanda also got a few ideas for things to take back home for the kids’ Christmas play.
They had a high-production voice-over telling the Christmas story and a nice video at the end. It was what you’d expect from a mega church. I was a little let down that the gospel wasn’t shared, though. Yes, the Christmas story was shared beautifully, but it was not a clear gospel presentation or guidance on how to apply it. It was a packed house, thousands in attendance, many of whom, I would assume, were unchurched. The pastor got up after the play was over. I figured, ok, he’s about to bring this home, but he didn’t. So, I left feeling this massive church missed a massive opportunity to share a concise Jesus message. Jesus didn’t stay a baby in a manger. He grew up to live a perfect life as an example for us while being fully God and fully human. He was persecuted and died on a cross. And my favorite part of the story: He rose three days later, proving he was, in fact, who he said he was. After walking on earth for 40 days as the risen Savior, He ascended to heaven, and whoever believes in Him can have eternal life. What five sentences or so, and I was able to share it here. I guess I needed to share since I was so perturbed that the mega church didn’t!
Earlier on Saturday, my friend Joel said he and his partner, Hong, would be having dinner at a Thai place close to our apartment, and invited us to come. We’d been trying to line it up so we could all get together and so they could meet Amanda. Once out of the play, we headed back to South Nashville to meet them. Hong is from Singapore and came here years ago on a scholarship to a very specialized program at Johns Hopkins University that only takes a dozen students each year. He works in genomics and has recently transitioned from Vanderbilt to the private sector. Not only a genome expert, but also an expert on Thai food at this establishment. He went over the menu as if he worked there! Mentioning he’d come there multiple times a week, sometimes daily, when he first arrived in Nashville. Amanda had pad thai, and I had the best red thai curry I’ve ever had. To the cashier’s surprise, I ordered the Hot heat level. I got a look of “you sure, white boy,” then a proud “You go, I like it” when I confirmed my heat level! I was glad for Amanda to meet both Joel and Hong, and we had time to sit and chat a bit after eating.
It was a busy Sunday, and the week wouldn’t let up from there. Monday, Amanda had rehab, but no PT, then a CT scan. From there, we barely had enough time to head home for a quick lunch before I dropped her off at dialysis. Afterwards, we went to Hopdoddy for dinner. It was Hannah’s last few days bartending, so we wanted to make sure we got to see her before she left. I spent a lot of time chatting with her while Amanda was in dialysis or undergoing procedures in the hospital. She also came and did Amanda’s nails in the rehab hospital. Her last day was Wednesday, and then she graduates from the nearby Belmont University on Friday. We weren’t the only ones there to see Hannah; the bartop was packed. Joel and Hong also showed up to see her off. So, we had dinner two nights in a row with them!
Tuesday morning, Amanda got an early call from the kidney transplant coordinator. She called to say they were still monitoring her case but hadn’t yet met the criteria to be listed. I was hollering in the background to see if we could get an appointment with the team. They will only see you if it’s a physical need, and she told us to chat with a nephrologist instead. There is still plenty of time to get in for the safety net program, which will move Amanda to the top of the kidney list.
After that call, we got ready to head out for a test and an appointment with the pain specialist. The test was in West Nashville, about 20 minutes away, for a mammogram. They are ruling out everything in relation to the one-sided breast swelling she’s had for some time. With the mammogram, a radiologist was immediately available to read it, and she gave her the all-clear, no abnormalities. The swelling is likely due to her tunneled dialysis catheter on the same side.
After the mammogram, we grabbed lunch at a neat little place that Bev recommended a while back. We just haven’t traveled that much on the west side of town, so we wanted to hit it up while we were there. It was a spot off Highway 100 and has been around since the 50’s, serving fried chicken and biscuits. They were busy enough back in the day to convert their home into a restaurant and add a dozen or so motel rooms. It was a neat event spot now with the motel rooms converted into dining halls. The biscuits were the best I’ve had in Nashville yet, and our lunch was great, as well. We still haven’t transitioned back to plant based yet, with Amanda being on dialysis, so we had a little of the southern fare. We only had one of the table biscuits left, but I wanted it to go home with me, so I asked for a small to-go box. The waiter looked at me and said, “I got you.” He came back with a box of half a dozen with three different homemade jams. It’s a good thing we don’t live closer because I’d get even fluffier!
Being from Southwest Texas, we’re not used to the colder temperatures. It’s been in the thirties most days for a while now here in Nash. I had a small collection of cold-weather gear, primarily for work, from when I was borrowed out in Iowa. What I did have no longer fits, since I’ve plumped considerably over the past year with all our hospital eating-out time! We do travel in the colder weather, but most of our travel gear is for hiking and whatnot. So, we’ve been thrifting and bargain-hunting for jackets. I’m pretty proud of myself for snagging a nice Woolrich jacket for Amanda while at a thrift store when she was in dialysis the other day. I haven’t been as lucky in the thrifting department. So, we hit up Costco in between visits. We made a pretty good haul on cheap jackets to get us through the Tennessee winter.
I’d missed all of the pain specialist appointments. First, I was on my way back from picking up Tank, and the last was while I was back home working. The doctor was much younger than I was expecting. He is very bright, and when I asked him a question, he was glad to explain. His explanation was very detailed, and he seemed delighted to share all the details and specifics in his decision-making. He reminded me of our primary doctor back home, who likes to be very thorough and explain all the science behind things. The plan is to stay the course with Amanda’s weekly pain patch; it seems to be keeping the pain under control well.
Wednesday was a busy day, too. Amanda had an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. Nothing special or new there; keep going with PT. He was happy with the range of motion, too. Amanda raised some concerns about her hips, which are giving her issues. He was prompt in ordering X-rays of her hips and then came back to go over them before we left. Nothing of a bone concern with the hips. Her discomfort is likely due to muscle issues. Muscle atrophy seems to plague us across many categories. Right after that appointment, she had cardiac rehab. After that, she had a break short enough for me to pick her up with coffee in hand for a parking lot coffee date. Then right back for knee PT. It was a mad dash to make her dialysis appointment on time then.
Today, she had a follow-up biopsy. I’m actually typing this from the cath lab recovery room. She is already out of the cath lab and out of it, sleepy-wise, too. Now that they’ve got the premed valium and the heavier sedation, she knocks out after the caths. I don’t bother her and just let her sleep. I’ve been trying to keep my grumbling to myself about the annoying nurse. She keeps bothering Amanda to drink something because her blood pressure is low, thinking she is dehydrated! I’ve been telling her she usually runs low and doesn’t want anything to drink. I did grumble to the cath lab NP about the nurse; he glanced at her BP and rolled his eyes, saying, “Her BP is fine!”
We’re praying that the rejection has been beaten back and is not an issue anymore. It’s been over a month since we got the news she was in rejection. It was hard not to be here for that, but I had to stay the course and let those who came to fill for me do their thing. I needed to be home to earn money and work enough to have my insurance taken care of. I needed my work hat, not my caretaker hat, on. I’m glad to be back now, though. I have a two-month leave lined up, but I’m not sure we’ll be able to afford to stay that long, though. I was hoping Amanda would be able to come home with me, but it seems with all she has going on, that may not be possible. I’d thought Amanda would be well enough to stay by herself, but she’ll likely need some caretakers to help if I leave in January. We have a little time to figure things out, and I’ll be staying till late January either way. It will be nice to be here for the holidays, for sure. The song Tennessee Christmas is about to have a whole new meaning!
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