Home again safely!

Dear Friends and Family,

Well we are home and finally warm. Loree went all out to help Nan be comfortable when we got home, her leather chair was draped with a blanket over the heating pad, the little space heater was cranking and she had a blanket in the dryer getting warm. The house was really cold since we rely on wood heat and there had been no fire for a couple days. I built a fire and tried the furnace, amazingly it actually worked and helped warm the house up faster. Nan had a rough time getting home. We had to see a property in Piedmont and every street is crooked and up and down and bumpy. She was trying to rest in the back of the van and was so shaken up that several times she lost those cookies. When we got on the freeway she finally slept.

I was amazed when I walked in this morning about 8:20 and she was awake, alert, sitting up in the bed and ready to leave. She was already released from the hospital and after a bit of paper work I went and got the car from parking, no easy process, and then back to pick her up. She is still feeling pretty rough with the constant nausea and so far we don't have a clue as to why she is having it so bad. It appears that the draining from the wound is either stopped or much less. However there is some drainage in the illisotomy bag and its the foulest black substance, amazingly bad stuff. Not sure where they is coming from at all.

Our hearts were lifted to the skys as we walked in and found out that an angel had been here who does house cleaning, Sylvia Ahn was here at some point and things look absolutely wonderful. Floors clean, bathrooms sparkle, kitchen counters can be seen, just amazing all the things she did and a list of things I might need to replace. Thank you Syliva for everything including the very tempting cookies, wow are they ever good, every bite says Christmas time!!

On the way home Dr. Ganney called Nan on her cell to tell her she needed a blood transfusion. So began a long process which culminated in our getting permission to ask Terri the nurse to draw blood here at home and take it to Concord for the cross and type. Had we know we could have stopped at the hospital when we were driving by and saved Terri a lot of driving. She treats us so nicely and helps over and over again beyond the call of duty. Thanks go to Terri, glad we gave her a Starbucks gift certificate, her favorite watering hole, a perfect gift. So either thursday or friday Nan will be back in the hospital for a blood transfusion. But amazingly it has been almost a month this time for which we are thankful. Her number was 8.2 on monday. We are also following up on why we don't have eranase yet, this drug is expensive and may help Nan's body build its own red cells, worth a try but its been tough to get everyone on board, insurance company, doctor with Terri the nurse pushing all to get it to us.

I'm out tomorrow and Nan will be here alone. Mary might come back tomorrow and be with her for awhile. She came this afternoon and it was great since I was behind on some reports and had to get them out or get sued. IRS delivered a nice letter I had to sign for today regarding back taxes so I guess I'll take an hour or so and call them. Not sure what to say past I don't have the money you are requesting.

Yet I feel God's blessing through it all, we have high hopes for the leaking to slow to a trickle and then stop, we have hopes that the nausea can be managed or solved, we have hopes a brinks truck will pull up and dump some money, we have hopes for a good nights sleep tonight.

Thank you Syliva, Loree, Mary, Terri and others that have called and encouraged Nan today.

Sending our love tonight,

tim and nan