Greetings!,
Last night I decided to stay the night here in the hospital with Don because he was not feeling well at all. I was not comfortable leaving him alone when he was feeling that poorly. I had only had 4 hours of sleep the night before so I was pretty tired but at least I would be here if he needed me. Earlier in the evening he was tired of laying down so he forced himself to get up on the side of the bed and asked if I could play cards for a while to get his mind off of his dilemma. Finally at 11:30PM I insisted that we go to bed because I was just so very tired. Don did not get me up at all so I slept until 5:45AM when Barb, the charge nurse, came bounding in the room announcing, "Good Morning!! Is everyone ready for coffee?". UGH! Anyone that knows me knows that I am not a morning person but I got up and put my shoes on and in a flash she had two steaming cups of hot coffee there. Don was feeling much better this morning but in no way was he 100%. He complains of nausea, has no appetite and says that the food just doesn't taste real good like it used to. I think the food is great and I taste it and it has plenty of taste. He is taking some kind of meds for nausea so hopefully in time he will get rid of that feeling. I had him smell Peppermint oil and put Valor on his feet, legs and shoulders to try to balance him out. He usually likes to be bathed and have his hair washed but he keeps getting chilled and then too hot so he asked if we could pass on that part this morning. He barely ate anything for breakfast at all and was pretty out of it. I went to the hotel just a little after 8AM so I could take a nap and get showered and changed because we were going to have special company come in from Mississippi today. I laid down and asked The Lord to give me supernatural sleep that would make me feel like I slept for a long time and He answered. I slept for 1 hour and 45 minutes and woke up feeling very refreshed! I returned to the hospital just after 11AM.
Dr. Sohn had come in while I was gone to redress the wound and check it out. He told Don that he would not be coming in until Friday to see him now and that he would put in a written order for the nurses to check and change the bandage the rest of the week. This must mean things are looking pretty stable to him.
After I returned from the hotel Physical Therapy came in with the wheelchair for Don's one hour break to freedom. His lunch came during the time we were transfering him into the wheelchair so I had him eat first thing before we went outside. It was so pretty outside today. A little windy but nice. We stayed out for almost an hour. We were waiting for our guests to come but they got tied up in traffic so we ended getting Don back up in bed and then they called to say they were here. I went down to the Main Lobby and escorted them up to our room. They were Ken and Sally West from Petal, Mississippi and their daughter Emi that lives here in Henderson, Nevada. Ken and Sally are friends of my sister Ruthie and her husband Doug. They also live in Petal, Mississippi. The first day or so we were in our regular room at the hospital this wonderful couple sent their daughter over with a huge, beautiful snack basket and a case of drinking water as a get well and also help for Julie, Mom and I as care givers. This was so sweet especially since we had never met any of them in our lives!
We had such a great visit with them and they were very inquisitive of all the wonderful oils we have lined up and the smells. They kept asking questions about them and how they work for different ailments and of course, Don had to tell his herniated disc story. Well Ken wanted to see the Essential Oil Reference Book that I have with me and before I knew it he and his wife Sally wanted to get set up with a Wholesale Customer account with Young Living right away. So I quickly helped them open their account with a Start Living With Everyday Oils Kit. They are so excited to get started.
Just before the three of them left the charge nurse for the day came in to let us know that she was here to help answer any questions we might have. Well we inquired about Don's restriction on weight bearing and if he is now able to stand at all. She said that Dr. Kim (our main doctor) had written an order today 11-01-2011 for two more weeks of NO WEIGHT BEARING. We were devastated by this announcement as Don has worked so hard and diligently to get to this 6 week mark from the beginning. He just started sobbing and could not help himself. He was sitting on the side of the bed visiting with the guests and I quickly got next to him and just held him as he cried. I teared up and just rocked him for a minute. Don is a person that does not cry and especially in front of people he doesn't know. So to see him this broken was really bad for me because I knew how deep the pain of this new "sentence" went for him. He said, "I just want to get out of this bed! I just want to go home. These walls are starting to climb in on me." My heart just breaks for him! I assured him that I would be here with him and that we would get through this together. He just continued to sobb and apologize for it. I told him that he needed to cry and to mourn the loss of his freedom and loss of reward for the work he had done. Once he could mourn then he could move on and face this next challenge. He asked me to go out to the charge nurse and ask if we could at least have a wheelchair in here so he could get out of the bed a few times a day and also ask to see if we could get a bedside potty chair and possibly get off the catheter. She came back a while later and all of his requests were denied but she had explanations as to why, of course. He cried again with this news. It is so hard to see him so defeated. He said he just needs to get over the hard part and then he'll be ok but he just isn't handling it very well today. He tried to call his parents at supper time but shortly into the conversation he lost his composure again and handed the phone to me and said to tell them he would talk to them tomorrow. I just explained that he was having a very difficult time handling this information and that 14 more days in the bed is like a sentence to him. They were very sympathetic and also felt his pain.
I decided that I will stay the night again over here to be of comfort to Don. He was so thankful that I decided to stay and not go to the hotel. I just took a 20 minute run over to the hotel before dark to clean up, wash my makeup off and change clothes so I would be more comfortable for the night. I dashed back and Don wanted to play Phase 10 again. While we were playing the male nurse announced that the doctor's orders just came in to take out the catheter. We insisted that he have bladder training which is to kink off the tube for 1 to 2 hours at a time and then release it and keep doing that for about 24 hours to retrain the bladder to hold liquid again. Yes, I know you just read that they denied our request to get off the catheter but here we are a few hours later with a doctor's order for it. Go figure! The first hour was started. At the 45 minute mark he started sweating and getting very uncomfortable and called for the nurse to come release the line. We started him taking a fabulous product from Young Living Essential Oils called K&B Tincture just about 5 minutes before they released the tubing. This product has herbs and essential oils in it to strengthen and tone the kidneys and bladder. Well, the next hour was a breeze with over double the output and now he is on his third session and it is already just past the 2 hour mark and he is totally comfortable!!!!!!!!!! This K&B Tincture is a little miracle! He has only taken two doses of it and he is already without any discomfort! If you would like to read a little about this product just click on this link: http://oilqueen.younglivingworld.com/products/ProductPopup_Main.asp?ProductID=77
While I was at the hotel getting ready for the night I called a very good friend of mine in Mesa, Arizona, Mel Ehlers. Her and her husband Al have done so much for us over the years with watching over and taking care of our property there in Mesa and getting the mail, car license tags and the list goes on. I told her of Donnie's new no weight bearing sentence and she felt so terrible for Donnie. I just asked one time, "Mel do you think you could come up here?" She immediately said, "Name the time, and I'll be there. Can you find me a flight for tonight?" Well, I actually found one for her but she would only have one hour to get to the airport so we opted for a flight tomorrow morning. She is packing now and getting ready to come. She will be staying until November 15th! Isn't that wonderful? Donnie does NOT know she is coming. I want to save that surprise for the morning to brighten his day. Mel has worked in hospitals and is wonderful company and knows all that we are up against on a daily basis. She knows how to care for people in Donnie's situation and it will do both of us so much good to have the moral support, the help and have something new to do to pass the time. I cannot wait to see his surprise when she comes. I know he will cry when he finds out how much time she has agreed to sacrifice to help out. Please put Al and Mel Ehlers on your prayer list as well. Al will have to "batch it" while Mel is gone and I know Mel will miss Al terribly as they are not used to being apart much. Donnie would do the same thing if the roles were reversed. He is such a giving, caring and loving person and now that he is in desparate need his kindnesses are returning to him 10 fold! We are just overwhelmed with the love and support so many of you have shown us in countless ways. Yes, these are difficult days to say the least but when you have so many friends praying and pulling for you it sure helps get you through the valleys when they come.
We thank you again for your continued prayers and ask that you really beef them up to the max these next couple of weeks. We love each and everyone of you that are reading these updates.
Until tomorrow, we say, "Good night",
Don and Carol Schirr
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