Monday July 6, 2015  BEST LAID PLANS OF MICE AND MEN

Just when you think you have everything planned…

More of that later.  Up early, Dave at 5:00, me at 7:30.  I’m getting used to the time change (excuse?).  Or maybe it’s the late nights up writing my blog.  I’m only up late because I’m not doing it in the morning like I used to.  Well, let’s put it this way, I’m not on my “regular” schedule just yet.  It’s coming.  First I must finish all the unpacking and organizing (which is taking way too long).  The next is reclaiming my mornings and the last is to get to bed early.

I promised myself this morning I would be in bed early tonight.  Well it is almost 10:30 and I am just having my dinner (2^nd dinner) and typing my blog.  Ate a salad I made for lunch which did not get eaten and a cup of stewed greens.  YUM!  Had everything organized last night so I could just step right into my list from a few days ago that I wrote on the blog.  Had all the phone numbers in order, called a lot of the places, made excellent headway and was going to eat lunch and then leave to do all my errands when my day had a bit of about face.  My plans were laid, I was organized, I had planned everything down to the “T”.  And then…

Well, I just arrived home from visiting Dave at the hospital!  That was not in my plans.  Nor was his getting sick.  Dave went out to breakfast with his men friends, which he does each  Monday morning.  He felt fine, acted fine and them whammy!  He told me he was cold and shivering, then his stomach hurt, then he started shaking from the cold, then he needed a throw-up bag, then he went to bed and then he was in excruciating pain with his lower back.  We had him accessed over the phone with instructions to get him to emergency room. This all took about two hours from first chills to hospital.  Had I left earlier I would not have been here to take him to the hospital.  I have never seen Dave quite so sick.  He is the type of man who never complains, plays everything down and keeps very quiet when it comes to his pain or discomfort.  For him to agree to go to the hospital told me all I needed to know.  I knew to take him seriously.  Just an hour before he wouldn’t even agree to just go to urgent care to be looked up.  The pain level was a 10.

Sunday night Dave looked very flushed and his face was broken out.  I could tell something was not quite right even then.  But there was no complaint so I left well enough alone.  I think it was already brewing even before that.  At E.R. he had a high fever, the chills were somewhat better but the pain was intolerable.  He was made comfortable with drugs, calmed down considerably and the shivers stopped.  Lots of test were started with blood work.  He had an infection but the source was unknown.  When he arrived at the hospital he was disrobed from the waist up.  Nothing could be found.  A while later when a nurse was in the room and the doctors had already gone to the next patient.  I happened to think about something I saw on his lower leg the night I arrived home.  His leg looked swollen and very red and tender.  I told the nurse that no one had looked at his legs and I thought Dave should undress so that his legs could be examined.  After seeing his legs the nurse called the doctors back in.  One of the doctor came in, touched Dave’s leg and felt the heat coming from the red area and said he was being admitted as an inpatient, which means at least two nights in the hospital and would be reassessed at that time.  The doctor felt that the redness and swelling was the source of the blood infection.  So, that is where Dave is and has already been told he will likely be there at least one more night.  After that time passes and He has a lot of antibiotics pumped into him they will reassess the situation.  This kind of infection can do a lot of damage real quick.  His blood sugar was also way out of whack.  WELCOME TO HIS FIRST DAY OF RETIREMENT!  His diagnosis at this time is cellulitis.

For those of you who believe in prayer I ask that you will pray for his recovery to be without complications.

I came home in the afternoon and accomplished a couple of time sensitive situations that Dave wanted me to take care of, packed a bag for Dave and then headed back to the hospital.  Stayed there until after dark and when I left it was pouring down rain.  Hard to see all the way home but I made it.  Hey, if I could travel 11,024 miles all by myself across country I could defeat a torrential rain storm in the dark!  Again, reality struck.  I walked into this big house with all these empty rooms and no husband waiting for me.  I wondered if this was how Dave felt when he came home to this house every night for 4 months?  It made me feel guilty.  Dave made certain to never make me feel guilty for going on this trip but I must admit I did a good number on myself, of doing just that, when I came home both times from the hospital.  I guess I am still learning from this journey.  Maybe I will never quit learning from it.

Dave is 6 miles away at St. Mary’s Hospital.  I feel as if he is a million miles away.  I do not like it when he suffers and it makes me feel sad to know he never complains and often suffers in silence.  I have never known anyone like my husband.  He is so selfless and always puts me and others first.  He will sacrifice for others, he will bear pain without complaint to do something for someone else and he never ever steps into the limelight.  He is one of the most intelligent men I know and never has a need to put it on display.  He is amazing with facts and figures and trivia regardless the topic.  Personality wise Dave and I are polar opposites.  Clothes wise; polar opposites.  Food wise, you got it, polar opposites.  Yet, our hearts are connected with a thread so strong and so tight that we are bound together for life.  And I want him around for a lot more years.  God shined down on me the day I met Dave.  And if you read the story in my blog how we met you will remember that God put a love in my heart for him before I even met him or knew his name.  Go to UNCATEGORIZED and read DAY 111.  I accidently did not put it into the Travel Log.  You can look it up and read how Dave and I met and the “rest of the story”.

I am believing in God’s healing and restorative power.  Put that together with intentional thinking and combine it with what Dave said last night, I think Dave has a bright future!

 

AND TURNS THEM TO GOLD

By Kathleen Martens

July 6, 2015

 

When the road gets a bit rough and weary

It does not mean we must be dreary.

But rather give thanks in the situation

For there is no hope in obliteration.

 

God takes the trials and turns them to gold,

Whatever the difficulty we must be bold.

For God has a way of taking our pain

And turning the outcome into one of gain.

 

We trust Him when the times are right,

We must trust Him in the darkest night.

When we reach out our hand He is there,

Holding us tight because He always cares.

 

God is our fortress through all our trials,

He walks beside us mile after mile.

He never tires and He never sleeps

And all His promises He always keeps.

 

He has promised to love me and light my path,

He showers me with joy and not with wrath.

Whether on the mountain top or in the valley

His strength is the source of my rally.

 

When I fall down He picks me up

And His word is a banquet where I can sup.

He is with me through every sorrow

And I know, He’s in all my tomorrows.

 

Through all sickness and even unto death

His spirit is my eternal breath.

So I will thank Him IN ALL THINGS

And give Him all praise for the joy He brings.

 

Thank you to those of you who have asked me to continue blogging.  I may do so as I find it easy to compose a poem even on the keyboard.  I always thought I could only do it with deep concentration with a pen in hand.  It is actually quite easy writing on the computer because I can type my words so much quicker than I can write them out long hand.  I may also start writing in the mornings again as I like getting up about 4:30 or 5:00 a.m.  To rise so early I must be disciplined with my bedtime.  I’m going to work toward that.  You may invite your friends to read this blog but be certain and tell them that the address must be typed into the URL box because it is not a public forum and will not pop up when googled.  I purposely did that so the information I write is not for the entire public to hear.  I don’t mind if it is passed around to friends and their friends.  It is a little easier to control that way.

It is now 11:57 and I have a makeover day to do tomorrow.  So many more things I wish I had time to share on this blog/journal/ diary of sorts.  I just hope I remember it all.

Thanks for listening to my heart tonight.