We're home!

We've actually been home a couple of days now...

Wednesday morning after the night nurse had come in and done her whole rigamarow... the surgeon's assistant/student did the same... then the day nurse (JUST as his breakfast came in... so it sat there for nearly 30 mins. while she did the same thing the other 2 had done)... THEN the PA...

She asked Joe how he was doing, and he told her. He was MISERABLE... he'd tried for an hour to eat his breakfast, and people kept coming in interrupting. It was now cold again. He wanted to go HOME. People coming in all hours of the night poking and prodding... all throughout the day. Everytime he got his breakfast, lunch, or supper, somebody was coming in to do his vitals... hang meds... check his surgery spots... He just couldn't handle it anymore.

She must have seen he was really getting desperate, 'cause she went back out and checked his labs... came in and looked at his food intake... She said labs and vitals were all good, but the other... I told her if she let me take him home, I could get him to eat. I mean, they'd bring breakfast, and he'd get harassed... lunch, the same... supper, more of the same. Who could eat? When he DID have time and an appetite, there was nothing unless I went down and bought something, and that was getting $$$.

She agreed to cut him loose after she had two more meds hung. YAY! They were going to take two hours. Wah! So, we had to wait for the pharmacy to send the stuff up... then the nurse got lost... Finally got it hung around noon, so we figured by 2:15-2:30, we'd be out of there. Well, they wanted to drain the bags... so that was 2:15... then to get the nurse to come in and disconnect him... pull his needles... 2:30. She called for transport while she was doing that, so I grabbed what I could carry and headed out to find the truck (after nearly 2 weeks, I wasn't sure where I'd parked anymore... LOL!). I got down to the pick up area and called him to let him know I was there... he was still waiting... I made a couple of calls... called him back... they'd just called down again. Another couple of calls... called again... STILL waiting. After 45 mins total, I was about ready to go get a wheelchair and get him myself. I called back up one last time, he said they'd called a 3rd time, but oh, wait... Christine, the cleaning lady, was coming with a wheelchair and a cart in tow. She'd been going by to see if she could get in to clean and saw him sitting there time and again, and she got HOT. She went down to transport and told them they had a guy sitting up there waiting for somebody... what the heck where they doing? One said they were just headed out... the other said their shift was over too... She said she wasn't letting Joe sit there any longer, so she just did their job herself.

She was such a sweetheart the whole time we were there... bright and cheerful every morning she came in to straighten up. When she'd seen me call for linens and the like a couple of times and have to wait for one of the techs or nurses to get to me, she took me out and showed me where everything was.

The lunch lady was a doll too... Every morning, she'd bring me a blueberry muffin with Joe's breakfast. She was also bringing an extra tray most meals, so if I wanted something... tho Joe and I were sharing most of his meals.

Most all of the nurses and techs were really, really nice. We must have been the most fun patients on the ward, 'cause everybody was coming back to hang out with us. LOL! The night Joe spent in ICU, they set me up in a family room down the hall from the cancer ward (THAT was a little spooky, but I was about too tired to care!). When I ran out of clothes, they hooked me up with the washer and dryer down there too. The first night we were back in the ward, the nurse on duty snatched me a cot so that I didn't have to sleep in one of the reclining chairs. I can tell ya'. I'd never have made it all those nights in that recliner.

I hope we blessed as much as we were blessed. Joe was walking, talking inspiration to the staff. We handed out about 25 New Testments to the staff, and a few personal witness testaments too. As stinkin' as it was to have to have gone through all that, God was right there with us... We couldn't have gotten through it otherwise.

I'll tell ya', some moments had both Joe and I shakin' in our shoes. The bloody diarrhea, and then all the infusions... Then the power puking... Joe said he was afraid he wasn't coming home a few times. Me too. That's why I wasn't leaving him. I was too scared... afraid I'd get away, and then get a call.

It's good to be past the worst of that little adventure. He's still on meds... the shunt that Dr. W put in still isn't working 100%. They said he has a lot of air in his tum, as well as some fluid... just taking a bit of time for all of it to work it's way through. That's what some of the meds he's taking are for.

Joe's not planning on heading back to work until Thursday... We've got a check up and possible chemo appointment Wednesday... Until then, we're just working at getting his nutrition back up... and his strength. He's done real good the last couple of days eating and getting around. God willing, by Thursday, he'll be ready to get back to it.

We've been fortunate with Joe's work as well... the company itself hasn't done anything, but the people Joe works with have all donated time... been calling to check on him... I'm not tremendously impressed with the company, but his co-workers are all a great bunch of people. One guy donated a full 3 days of his time off. They don't get a whole lot, so that's pretty major.

Our "friend" at Boeing... not so sure about what's going on there... Since Joe's been working there, he's been saying that he's going to get Joe on direct... It's been over 2 years. Most of those, Joe's been working with a Stage IV cancer diagnosis, going through chemo, all this other stuff... He's been given 100% more work than he started with... totally redid the whole area he works in, and has only been given a $1 an hour raise. To put it nicely, it sucks. Joe gives his all at work. 200%. We've always been good friends with Tony and Au, but that's kind of cooled... I can't be friendly with somebody who dangles a job and more pay in front of Joe's nose like a carrot, and then never comes through.

We're sitting here struggling to pay our bills... going through hell with Joe's health... There are those who could just say the word and Joe would be a Boeing employee, and yet they do nothing. They've all got their big fat salaries... their nice vehicles... big houses... They don't have to worry about being able to pay their electric bills or buying groceries. Every month, we just get further and further behind. If it wasn't for Joe's cancer, I'd have been encouraging him to go elsewhere for work. But when you have a chronic/terminal illness, you don't want to be job hopping... and that would be even if he COULD find another job. Just not a lot of them out there, ya' know? So, we deal with creditors calling, threatening... while the Big Dogs live large. Joe's taken a big load off of them with their jobs, but he gets piddly for it. Shouldn't be so... especially since the company he works for got a raise to give him a bigger raise just 3 months after he started... BS.

Oh well, life goes on... and God goes with us... Just have to keep trusting Him to keep us afloat. (*"*)