Day 523

I learned a lesson today about what is big stuff and what is small stuff that you shouldn't sweat. It happened because someone else got a parking ticket.

A gal from work who lives down the road from the hospital picked me up and we went to lunch together. I'm not one who goes into downtown Boise especially during lunchtime, so I was thankful when she agreed to drive. This gal, an amazing parallel parker, found us a great spot right in front of the lunch place. Unfortunately when we finished our lunch and returned to the car, she had a parking ticket on her window. While entering the restaurant neither of us noticed there was a parking meter sitting at the rear of the vehicle.

If I had gotten a parking ticket today I probably would have been in tears. (Partially because I'm barely holding everything together as it is.) But she was very relaxed. It wasn't a biggie to her. It was little stuff.

After she dropped me off I walked back into the hospital and started thinking. What is big stuff?

Big stuff is a husband who:
has kidney failure.
hasn't slept in his own bed since the month of June.
had so much edema that he's lost 35 pounds in the past three weeks.
has little muscle mass left.
needs assistance to get up, sit up, stand up, or move.
spends most of his time in a wheelchair or hospital bed.
has gone from extremely high blood pressure to extremely low blood pressure.
will celebrate his birthday this week. In the hospital.
won't return to work for 3-6 months.

Big stuff?
A husband who today, for the first time in almost a month, was able to get tennis shoes to fit on his feet.
A husband who today, during therapy and with the help of the walker and additional person, went up one step and came down that one step. Without taking a break.

Little steps, but big stuff. Thanks to you-who-shall-remain-nameless for the lesson on big stuff versus little stuff. I needed it.

And I sure needed that lunch. Unbelievably delicious pepperoni and chive pizza.

Day 522

I can't decide which is the tastiest thing I made with the veggies from the garden. Salsa or juice?

Granted the juice isn't the prettiest with the addition of the beet greens, but doggone it's tasty.

Day 521

No more complaining about a lackluster harvest from the garden.

Just today I got:

• Swiss chard
• Kale
• Beets
• Carrots
• Red potatoes
• Tomatoes - slicing, cherry, Roma
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• Peppers - bell, yellow, hot
• Onions
• Rosemary
• Parsley

The most interesting of the bunch was a pickling cucumber that obviously sat on the vine too long.

Day 520

When I'm at the hospital I watch hubby's physical therapy. It's nerve-wracking, especially today. Since we have five steps to get into our house they worked at getting him to use a walker to get up steps.

One step. With two people helping lift him as he held the walker, he struggled to make it up one step. One step and then he had to sit down and take a break. But even more nerve-wracking was watching them get him down the step. Yesterday when they had him try to go down they wound up having to put him back in the wheelchair and bring him down.

Today he did it. With two people holding onto him tightly and him holding tightly onto the walker he made it down. As scary as it was for me to watch, I'm sure it was even more scary for him.

Maybe the flowers in his room will brighten things up. His school district send a gorgeous bouquet his way. I'm partial to the sunflowers myself.

Day 519

With hubby being cared for in the hospital I know this is probably the easiest part of the journey. When he comes home and I start back to school it'll probably be the hardest. But he's not coming home yet.

The biopsy revealed that an anti-inflammatory medicine a doctor prescribed a while back caused the kidney failure. He's on a multitude of medications and now that they've added steroids to the mix his kidneys are showing some improvement. He's lost close to 30 pounds of excess fluid but still has more to go. They are working on him using a walker, but he is still really weak. The doctors and therapists had a big pow-wow today to review his case and make a decision about discharge. At least two more weeks.

What will life be like for him when he does get home? They'll be no cleaning, cooking, gardening, taking out trash. Nothing. He'll need help bathing, dressing, toileting, getting out of bed and up from a chair, will need a walker, and may need a home health aide. And when does he get to go back to work? 3-6 months is their best estimate. Looks like we're in it for the long haul.

Guess at least I get to go out for a meal each day. Blimpie's French Dip sandwich for lunch today. Yum, yum.