It’s been a few busy days since I last posted. Larry came in on Monday night, and Amanda had all the appointments on Tuesday. Larry and I mostly ate and hung out with Amanda when she wasn’t busy with OT/PT. Tuesday night, we went to a preseason Predators hockey game. Being preseason, the tickets were dirt cheap, and we were able to get some good seats for not much. It was my first hockey game. I knew nothing about the sport, so Larry had to give me the rules as they played. It went into overtime and then a shootout. So, I was spoiled with cheap, lower-level seats, a good game that included overtime, and a shootout. We didn’t get out of there until well after 10 pm, too. Even though Nashville, aka Smashville, lost, it was about as good as it gets for a preseason game, as the lady sitting next to me said at the end. Sadly, I lost a knife. I carry a small knife on my side, and I’m not used to the city life of not being able to carry it everywhere. I walked outside and stashed it on top of a tall ATM, but someone obviously saw it and nabbed it by the time I got out. It was my favorite knife, and Larry nagged me about it for a while, as a good friend should!
On Wednesday, I ran in to take Amanda breakfast before she went off to OT/PT. These would be her last of each. They practiced getting in a car that was much lower than our tall 4×4 Yukon. Additionally, she worked in the mock apartment to assess her performance with everyday tasks. Amanda had a sleep oxygen test that she needed to undergo to determine if she qualified for insurance to provide an oxygen concentrator. Her saturation has been dropping, and she just feels better with oxygen on at night. Turns out her oxygen was dropping, and she had a good many episodes of sleep apnea. Add that to the list of follow-up appointments.
Wednesday was bust our butts day getting the apartment ready for Amanda. I wanted it perfect, a little too much for Larry, who has been batching it for years until he moved in with his wife this January. I know Amadna better than anyone, and I wanted the apartment to be just as she would want it. While we cleaned and rearranged things, my phone was ringing nonstop with calls from Vanderbilt. The coordinator, along with several offices, home health, and the transplant pharmacist, and coordinator to schedule everything. I was getting a little flustered trying to get things done and taking calls.
We went in to have lunch with Amanda. Much to Larry’s delight, we grabbed Torchy’s tacos. The transplant pharmacist came in during lunch to review the details. They were supposed to do training and review the medications on discharge day, but their schedule was full. They gave a brief rundown, but didn’t even pack the pill boxes like they are supposed to. I think, being our second transplant, they were laxed. This would later prove to be a little daunting and cause me anxiety. After the quick rundown, Larry and I packed the room up, only leaving a few decorations and clothes Amanda would need for discharge day.
In the morning, Larry had used my safety razor, which I had raved about on his last trip down. He didn’t talk to me about it; if he had, I’d have mentioned how there is a learning curve with that type of razor. He took chunks out of his bald head while shaving! He developed a headache after lunch, put some ice packs on it, and settled in for a nap. I abruptly woke him up to the tune of a hammer and nail! He thought I’d locked myself out and was banging on the door. I was busy putting our bathing pictures of our dogs up in the bathroom. After Larry walked into the bathroom when I was done hanging things, he said, “Tell me you love your lady without telling me you love your lady!” I was a madman, cleaning and packing items in the designated junk spaces afterward.
We made a grocery run, then I began to cook in stages. I thought Brett and his girlfriend would join us, but he was busy studying for some tests at his new job. After the appetizers, I realized I needed the remotes for the fans before Amanda arrived. I proceeded to take too long to get those put up, and we didn’t eat dinner till after 10 pm! In the meantime, we rushed to the car wash to get the Yukon looking good, vacuum the interior, and clean the dash and doors. Larry thought every step was a bit much, I think! I was up early, cleaning and doing final touches. We made the beds with new linens and spiffed the bathroom up once more. Joel, my interior designer friend who’d given me the bedroom suite, was just as determined as I was. He wanted new bedding on before Amanda got home. He came in later in the morning, after we left, to put the new bedding and pillows he’d purchased on the bed and put it all together.
We’d planned to take Amanda to the airport to surprise Brittany. She thought Amanda was getting out later, and we’d go pick her up after discharge. So we wanted to turn the tables on her. Amanda ended up getting out much earlier than we had anticipated, and we were able to go to the apartment first. Finally, she broke free of the prison walls she’d surrendered herself to 4 months ago, and three months from the transplant. She loved the apartment, and we were all stunned by Joel’s sweetness and his finishing touch on the bedroom. He’d added eight pillows, a comforter, and three blankets, plus a centerpiece for the dining room table. His touch was evident in the apartment; I know I couldn’t have made it anywhere that nice. We had some visitors soon after we arrived. Leah and Daniel, YJ’s daughter and son-in-law, came as soon as they got in to Nashville for a Smoky Mountain getaway. After we visited with them for a bit and got Amanda settled, we all loaded up and went to pick up Britt. It was a good surprise, and she was fighting back tears as she saw Amanda riding shotgun.
After we returned with Britt, Bev also showed up to greet us. After a quick trip to the grocery store, I began working on dinner. Larry and I had planned to go out to listen to some music, but we never made it. The company, laughs, and jokes kept us going throughout the night at the apartment. Amanda seemed a lot better cognitively, popping off a few jokes herself. The daunting task of the evening was the meds. I had to trudge through over 15 pill bottles to see what Amanda needed. The pill box they gave us was supposed to be filled along with the pharmacist. Amanda has a couple of smart pill boxes but we’d yet to fill them. I was a little stressed out over it all, more so frustrated about the pharmacist not helping out as they were supposed to. We slept in pretty good, Amanda more so than I had expected she would.
I lazed around and then got to cooking breakfast. Bev popped by again, this is partially why I chose the area we are in. It is nice to have a local friend close by to pop in here and there. We all hung out for a bit, then had to get ready for dialysis. It was initially set for 6:10 am, but I wasn’t having that, and I quickly got on the phone to get it changed. It turned out they hadn’t set the schedule yet, and we were able to get a nice 1:50 pm “chair time.” We dropped Amanda and Britt off, then Larry and I headed to the hospital to pick up some missing prescriptions and to the rehab facility to retrieve some items we had left behind. Neither was an easy task, and it required two trips to each.
We had a few other stops. One was to get Britt; they don’t allow anyone to go back for dialysis, and they didn’t provide blankets —you had to bring your own. Both would have been nice to know ahead of time. Larry was still looking for a Predators hoodie since the one he bought last time was a woman’s! We didn’t have any luck. I spent a considerable amount of time trying to determine where we needed to go for the Saturday biopsy. After a few frustrating phone calls with long waits, I finally had an answer. But the time dragged on, and we should have already left for the airport. Larry arrived with a little less than an hour to spare before his departure, which was too close to call, as he had a bus to catch to his terminal. Thankfully, he made his flight.
I cooked dinner again Friday night and again got a little anxiety about the massive amount of pills and making sure Amanda got the right ones. I finally told Amanda that we needed to get the smart pill boxes filled, and I’d need her help. I was able to figure things out and get all the pills situated away, but it took a little bit to get the right ones in each box since space was limited for so many pills. I set all the reminders and double-checked them. Then I triple checked them with Amanda as well. It was a sigh of relief to have that all set and done with.
Saturday morning, we had to be at the hospital first thing for the biopsy. Amanda’s heart monitor showed some Afib, nothing new, but they wanted to double-check things since it can be a sign of rejection. Since I had help, I dropped Amanda and Britt off, then parked the car and made it back before registration even started. They ended up having a hard time with access through the neck and had to use her leg with the stent in it for the biopsy. It seems as long as she has the dialysis port and clots, she’ll need the caths through her groin. She was out of it afterwards. With the addition of the valium premed for Amadna’s anxiety about lying flat, she was out cold after the biopsy.
She slept a little once we got home, but not too badly. I still hadn’t made a well-planned trip to the grocery store, so I needed to go again, the perks of only being a few minutes away from multiple selections of stores. Amanda is eating more and more; it’s good to see her appetite return. I packed up my things to head out after church on Sunday. I’d be flying back to Texas, not home, but to Houston, to pick up my Suburban, which I had left there, and to get Tank, whom some friends were bringing to me in Houston.
Sunday, I was up and headed to church, leaving the girls behind. It was Amanda’s only day off, and she wasn’t ready for church just yet. I really enjoy the church I’m attending; everyone is great. I’d called the first face I saw there, the greeter, to get a ride to the airport. I figured she’d be the one who could get things done. She actually said she’d get me to the airport and that she drives people there all the time. I wrote this post mostly while on my flight. Ryder, an old student from the youth ministry who’s become a friend, picked me up. He’d picked up my Suburban from the airport when I hastily left after Amanda got the call. He is a mechanic and worked on it while it was, as well. I stayed with our Houston heart with friends, Jenny and Jeremy, in Katy. I hadn’t seen them since they helped us pack up the Houston. I was able to sleep in a bit, and Jenny has already fed me twice by 11 am! We have friends, YJ’s niece and sister, bringing Tank up right now. After I pick him up, we’ll head out to stay at my aunt’s in North Louisiana for the night. Although I’m still thinking I might just drive straight through. If not, we’ll he’d out early to be in Nashville in the afternoon. I’m hoping we make good time. Tank better be able to hold it, because this is a boys’ trip and we’re hammering down with little to no stops! Britt flies out later Tuesday evening after we get back. It will be good to see Tank and get him to his mama! Then, for us to really settle in.
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God bless you!