Wintery outside, cozy inside

Dear Friends and Family,
Nan has had a decent day today with visits from both Teri and Julie, visiting nurses. We had a rough night and this morning at 4:30 she could not take the pain of being in bed flat any longer so we came down to the recliners and she slept until 8 am. When we came down it was very cold but a little fire brought the room right up and with her heated cover she was warm and comfortable. She had less pain in the recliner. She had tea and a toast with an orange for breakfast. The oranges are from Jim and Marti's private orchard and they are sweet and perfect. We are hoping we can snag some more of them. Nan loves them and they are great for her body.
Teri came and took vitals and resigned all the papers since Crescent considers Nan a new patient. When she tried to draw blood from the picc line it was no go for either line so she had to do a small butterfly needle for the blood work. I help Nan's hand as she has come to really hate needles. Teri was very attentive to all the needs our situation presents. She has called again twice today going over details. At the present time we are counting on what Nan can drink and the TPN to keep the fluid levels right in Nan's body. So far so good. After Teri left Nan went back up to rest for awhile mid morning. At 1 pm Julie, the wound care nurse, came and assessed the incision wound and redressed the nephrostomy entry points. She says the wound is much much better and improving rapidly. She keeps us in supplies for the dressing changes we do twice a day. Of interest is the billing for one of the surgeries they did at UCSF to plug Nan's ureters. The surgery total was $59,000 but the highest cost was a special medical glue used in the actual ureters. Its cost was $22,500. That blew me away.
Nan rested for awhile this afternoon and then asked to come down. I went up and helped her descend to the family room. While I worked she watched an episode of MASH and then asked what I thought of making home made potato cheese soup. Well that idea seemed wonderful to me so she gave the orders which included a trip to the Safeway for cheese. She told me what to do, I did it and the soup turned out great, she had two bowls with crackers and juice. Now she has taken all 8 pills she has to take each evening and is just waiting for me to get done and then we will go up to rest. So all in all it has been a good day and Nan has had many happy and contented moments along with the usual pain and suffering that are always with her. We are very grateful to the visiting nurses and their dedication. Since the picc line won't allow blood draws it will have to have a fancy rotorooter medicine put in at some point.
Tomorrow morning if all goes according to plan we are going to venture out for a trip to Brentwood to see Keanna's class in charge of chapel at her school. It will all depend on how Nan is doing in the morning but she is looking forward to it. Then we will come home and I will put her to bed. I will hit the road for many appraisals in Oakland and then back home as quickly as I can. While I hate to leave Nan for a minute we think this is a compromise we can live with. Loree has agreed to be on call if Nan needs assistance.
Our money challenges continue, another day without checks in the mail, this is really testing our faith as each day means we are further behind.

This evening we are thankful to be warm, comfortable, full and in relatively good health. Nan's heart rate was 115 this morning, back to her normal level for the past many months. No fever and the blood taken will tell us the rest of the story.

So we send our love, our prayers continue for Sharon and her medical issues, for Pam and her medical issues, for Dolly our dear friend in Napa, for Lizzy Shafqat in southern california and a dear friend as well.

Thank you for your prayers, they are needed so much.

love

tim and nan