Nan Mustard's Recovery

This blog is a record of Erin (Nan) Mustard's recovery.

Monday, February 26, 2007

First day home a success!

Dear Family and Friends,
Nan had a good night with minimal discomfort. We were up several times emptying bags but went right back to sleep. We were hosts of the zoo, Starr under covers loving every minute of having her mommy back, Lady at my feet and on my feet and then MooMoo came to join the party. Only George held back afraid of Starr. Nan decided to go down about 7:30 so we went down to a cold room. We quickly changed that with a fire, heated blanket and hot tea. Nan was not feeling too great during the morning hours, her tummy felt too full of a bottle of water and hot tea. Around 11 she went back up to rest and I went to town for meds after getting her settled in. While Sandy at Longs was working on her meds I drove around and did a driveby appraisal, picked up a check for a new appraisal and then went back to Longs. Meds were ready and Sandy asked me to convey her best wishes for recovery. She has been a wonderful friend and advocate for Nan over these past years. Nan stayed upstairs sleeping and once when she was awake the TV suddenly went blank. Comcast Cable had a failure of a system and so we had no internet or TV for a couple hours.
Jean, my appraisal writer and friend, called to say her friend who is a heating and AC man was coming to dinner and could he take a look at our system. He and Al arrived at the worst of the rain and while he was looking into the furnace it suddenly began to heat. He said he just tapped the side of the ignitor assembly. It continued to heat for several hours before deciding to quit. Nice while it lasted. Thank you Jean for your help and we sort of know now what is wrong or may be wrong with the unit. Maybe we can get another year out of it before having to replace it.
So today I picked up one check and one came in the mail. I am still very short of what I need right now. That really is hard to live with. First thing I did today was to call our E&O company and work out a payment to keep our policy in effect. They accepted a fax of a check made out to them.
At lunch time Nan agreed to some asparagrass soup with crackers and juice. This evening I proposed pancakes and they turned out good. Nan had a normal sized one and then took a second one, cute little dude with a glass of milk. Also she has had a couple pieces of Sees candy along the way. We discovered that the oranges that Jim and Marti Edwards gave us from the trees in their yard are wonderful. nan and I ate two of them this afternoon, sweet, tender and juicy. Thanks!
I have worked in house today, clearing my desk, taking calls, answering questions, fixing problems and we took in about 15 orders today. That is very good news. Steve made a discovery that our local MLS board has made a link to the MLS board in San Jose so we will be able to get important data without having to join yet another expensive board. That was a very nice find indeed.
Crescent Home Health called several times today and worked out what was to be in the TPN and then had it delivered to our door. A little while ago I loaded it up and hooked it up to Nan so she is now on TPN getting large amounts of potassium, magnessium, salt, dextrose, nutrition etc. She has had very little nausea today, has rested a lot and I think is doing pretty well. The medicine proposed by the kidney doctors is really helping to slow down the loss of fluid from the colostomy bag. That is the first progress we have seen in many many months in that area.

And so our day comes to an end, it is such a blessing and pleasure to be home again, to be able to go to our own frig or the garage or the freezer instead of the caf. Nan moves slowly and is weak but is able to walk from the family room chair to the stair chair and then from the stair chair to the bed. I walk beside her just in case and to carry the weight of the TPN or hydration. I had planned to be out tomorrow but I think I'll probably stay in and make appointments, work on finishing up work on my desk and that way I can care for Nan another day.

You have got to be proud of this special beautiful lady. She does not complain, she just does the best she can with what is on her plate at the moment. I admire her and consider it a great privilege to be able to be with her during this challenging time. She is a real inspiration and how she beams when the kids call to talk and check up on her. Today our friend Irene left for a short cruise with her husband Ron. She called just before she left but we only got messages, my cell phone would not take the call. We hope she has a great time at sea. Our friend Art is driving home to Gilroy tomorrow from down south and we hope and pray that he will have a safe trip.

Please pray that God will guide in Nan's recovery, in getting used to being home again, for our limited finances and for God's peace to fill our hearts as we live day by day.

We are thankful!

love

tim and nan

2 Comments:

  • At 11:09 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Tim,

    Very glad to hear that your first day home was a big success. Things are looking up. Useful work to do and big progress with Nan's recovery. The biggest problem I see for you right now is how to step away from the refrigerator. Try putting some scales right in front and a chart right next to the frig then weigh in before you open the door. If the weight is up the door doesn't open and if the weight is down the door is opened. Dealers choice on door openings and closings if there are no weight changes!

    It might alson be a good idea for you to video tape on LP about 6 hours of TV. That way you could play the tape when your cable is out. Then you want get withdrawals!

    In those country western songs they say more money, older whiskey and younger women but I think you have a better handle on it with heavenly riches, better relationships and the same wonderful women. Works for me.

    I'll keep praying for these puny worldly requests as God's has already taken care of the really big stuff!

    Wes

     
  • At 9:57 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hi Tim & Nan. Just want you to know I'm thinking of you both. Home from work following carpal tunnel surgery on my right hand so typing is very slow! But I can still read and think so wanted to check in. :) Take good care of both of you!
    With love and admiration,
    Judy (Cate)

     

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