Dwight's 3 AM conversation

This is Dwight's story.

And while he doesn't remember a lot of what happened. And he doesn't remember anything from when his pressures were so low. And he doesn't quite remember the order that things happened. He does have some very pointed and vivid memories. Very vivid.

This is one of those memories.

These are his words.

At about quarter 'til three this morning, I woke up. And I knew that I was approaching a moment of decision. So, I began to pray. I told the Lord that I'm ready to go. You know, Lord, that I have served you well; I have followed your will, and I'm ready to go.

On the other hand, I would like to stay. So, I'm ready to go, and I'm ready to stay. But on the other hand. I would prefer to stay. I would love the chance to love my wife in person for a much longer time than I have. I want to kiss her for a long, long time.

And I want to love my children. Much longer and much better than I have.

And you know, I dearly love my grandchildren. And how I would love to mentor them and teach them some of the tricks of the trade I've learned over the years and give them a head start on a career or just a hobby. And I want to hug my little girls. To hear about all their most recent toys for a long, long, long time.

So Lord, I prefer to stay. If you would grant me my wish, I would be a very grateful man. And I promise to do all of those things to the best of my ability. But if you want me to come home, I'm okay with that, too. It's your choice Lord. You know my wishes, but it is your choice.

According to Dwight, that took about 15 minutes to pray. And around 3 a.m., he started to sweat profusely. And for about the next hour, the nurses and physican care assistants were in his room. By 4 a.m., the fever had broken and I was on the road to recovery.

Dwight said, "So apparently the Lord granted me my desires. And I am here. Back again. Borrowing Susie's blog to thank you for your prayers. For me and for my family."

Back home

Although Dwight's goal is return to our Cape Cod home in west Columbus, he calls Mill Run home. He has been there, with many visits to the hospital interspersed, since last March.

After our adventure this weekend at Grant, he started the new week at Mill Run. He arrived mid afternoon Sunday and had to go through all the admittance procedures, again.

I was enjoying Isaac's 11th year celebration while Dwight was being transferred. We had all enjoyed a wonderful meal and conversation around the antique oak table that at one time celebrated birthdays at Dwight's parents house, then in our large dining room in Leetonia, and now continues on at the Hennhouse. The younger four cousins were at the kids table, lively, non stop conversation going on there to the point that none of them finished their meal. It was fun to observe, the boys had their own conversation, and the girls theirs, both unaware of the other conversation.

Just as plates were being cleared away Dwight called in a panic. The hospital had sent the old prescription list back (the same one we had to fight with them to get updated at Grant). And then, a nursing home Doctor, who has never seen Dwight, looked at it and decided that his pain meds and one other drug were too high and halved them. Why, oh why, do those in the medical profession make their decision on only what they see right in front of them and not look at the whole picture(aka history)? I am sounding like a broken record. (For those of you old enough to remember what happened with a badly scratched record, I am sure you are smiling!)

I really wanted to watch Isaac open his gifts, but I am well aware of my husbands need for me to be with him and help fight these battles. In his room were three Mill Run employees, 2 nurses and one of our favorite aids, in her last year of study to be a nurse. The one nurse was in charge (I had not meet her before), she was going to follow the drug orders, they were fine with her. I demanded to see them, I immediately recognized they were the OLD ones, with multiple hand written changes. I calmly explained her what was what, including getting the right paper work from Grant ASAP. Also that this was not Dwight's nursing home Doctor and I wanted them to follow the orders written by his nursing home Doctor, including calling her if necessary. It took about an hour, two cups of coffee, chocolate (both for me), alittle nagging and things were back to normal. I must say the aid was a great encourager to Dwight and I.

Several residents welcomed me back, saying they missed me. Not quite sure how to interpret that as a couple of them have dementia.

Things are not dull, ordinary or uneventful in the Shirey family and all branches thereof.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISAAC. MY FAVORITE: 11 year old, middle grandson and Isaac.

The Saga Continues

Dwight has been told often that he was being released from Dodd Hall on the 18th. but never with an answer as to where he was going. Altho his strength is returning, he isn't able to transfer, so I am unable to care for him at home. OSU Drs said they had no directive to return him to Grant.

And the frustration continues.

Over the weekend they were evaluating him...to see what he has learned??? but still no answers.

Last night (Monday, the 17th) his nausea got worse, he got chills, and he was told his calcium level was very, very high and they were transferring him to the main hospital. Had they conferred with his Drs from Grant? NO!! Had they called his primary Dr? NO!!

But did Susie? YES!! I called his primary Dr--got her out of a conference in Kansas City (did not know, sorry). She said NO, call other Drs and get him back at Grant. He is being moved there sometime today--not sure when, but he has to go through the ER to be readmitted. That doesn't make sense, but hopefully they will get the calcium under control and remove the kidney stones so we can get real serious about him regaining his strength and coming home.

He is unable to get an electric wheelchair right now,but we will work on it.

And, hopefully he will have glasses soon, someone is working on that for him. PTL

I realize we still have a long bumpy road ahead but...

Again, thanks to all of you who care and are praying.

God is in control, even when we feel out of control. God is good...

Happy Valentine's Day

Six years ago today our wonderful children helped up pack our belongings into a Uhaul and say goodbye to home we built and raised our children in. Lots of fun times there, now some else is making memories there.

We unpacked and settled in our new 'little' home in town-and started making new, good memories. These new memories have a few more wrinkles in them. Right now Dwight is lying in pain in the same ER I was in two days ago. They have found two huge kidney stones, one for each kidney. Plus all the stuff and goes with it and more. There are no beds for him here.

A very sweet nurse arranged an "okay" for me to go down and see him. It was obvious he was in extreme discomfort, complete with tremors and fever. While I was there they also discovered no empty beds at Riverside or Grant. They were trying Dublin. If they have no room there, I am not sure what is the next option. I am waiting for a text from Kristen, whose cell phone battery is dying.

I am so glad someone finally has discovered what he had been fighting for the last month. As they work on ridding his body of this he will feel better.

Thanks for your prayers.

New room

Karin here...

Mom is moving to room 618 within the hour.

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Mom is scheduled for a heart CT sometime today or tomorrow. Depending on the results, she may have a heart cath after that. She is resting, but not sleeping. She really needs to sleep.

Update

This is Karin, Susie's oldest daughter.

I have hijacked my mom's blog. She is currently in the hospital under observation for chest pains and a probable heart condition.

Mom is in severe pain. On a scale of 1 to 10, she hovers around a six.

Isaac and I just spent some time with her. Her heart hurts. Her chest. Her back. Her head. At one point, Isaac and I waited in the hallway while the nurses did another EKG. He leaned into me as I furiously sent text messages. "Mom," he said. "This isn't a very good time." I looked at him and just wanted to swoop him up. "First Esther-Faith," he continued. "And now that she's getting better, it's Mimi. I just don't like it when my girls are sick."

I think I melted into a little puddle on the floor when my nine-year-old called his little sister and his Mimi "his girls." What a sweet, tender boy.

And when we went back into the room, Mom let Isaac climb onto the bed with her and she just kissed his face and played with his curls. I could tell that he didn't want to hurt her, but that he didn't want to move either.

I told mom to call or text no matter the time if she needed something. She said, "If I'm sleeping, I'm not going to be texting." I could only smile. Tim would tell you that I learned a LOT of my sass from my mom.

The thing is, as much as we tell her to get some rest or not worry about anything, she will anyway. About Dad and her mom and her kids and her grandkids. It is her nature. Especially my dad. Her sweetheart. The love of her life. She's really worried about him. And I really wish there was something we could do to ease her worry, but I don't think there is. If we take care of one thing, she will move to the next on the invisible list in her head. It is her nature. She takes care. Of Dad. And the grandkids. And us.

So if you could, please pray for my mom. And my dad. And the medical staff. And all the things she worries about. Because we all want her to get better. For the pain to go away. To be completely healed.

Cause Isaac is right. Things are just a mess when his girls are sick.

Admitted

Mom (Susie) is being admitted to the hospital.

Her second EKG came back "concerning" and the doctors think she may be in the beginning stages of a heart attack. Her heartbeat is irregular. They will do a heart cath. The doctors used words that made my Tim very nervous.

She will be on the sixth floor of Doctors Hospital West within an hour or so.

www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Angina/Angina_WhatIs.html

11:45 a.m. update:

Mom is still in the ER. The doctors are trying to get her pain stabilized before they move her to a room. She is on nitroglycerin and heparin. She is in a lot of pain, both in her chest and she has a headache.

2:25 update:

Mom has been admitted to Doctors West Hospital. Room 327. Tim is still with her. He says she is irritated by the low-cholesterol diet they just handed her. She is NPO at midnight for a lipid test. She is trying to get Tim to sneak her some butter and cheese.

Hijack

This is Karin, Susie's oldest daughter.

I have hijacked my mom's blog. She is currently in the ER having EKGs, x-rays, blood work, etc... for some chest pain that she has been having for the last couple of days. She describes the pain as "heavy." I'm not sure of the exact timeline, but she called my Tim at work this morning, he came home, changed clothes, went to mom's house, and took her to the hospital.

He is keeping me updated via text message and email. And even though she says not to, it is difficult not to worry about my mom. She is a strong woman and is still giving marching orders from the hospital bed. Tim said, "She seems ok. I keep making jokes and she's laughing. Told me I could go back to work, but not because I'm annoying or anything."

I will keep you posted.

Here she is spoiling my kids on Sunday...

Papa D update

My husband, Dwight has been fighting some extra challenges the past few months. Blood work results that were alittle askew. Not feeling well--a three week long 'virus'. (Is that what we call something when we reallycan't figure out what is going on?) And a real drop in strength. So the kidney Dr ordered a kidney biopsy. Needless to say this has caused our family to wonder and worry. Then we were told that instead of just observing Dwight for a few hours after the biopsy, they wanted to keep him overnight-- till they got the results on Wednesday. This wasn't the most comforting news and did make me consider having an ulcer.

But the nurses in the Radiology Department questioned this and called the Dr. It seems someone in the office didn't understand our transportation needs and 'just decided' to give the order to stay over--it didn't come from the Dr, but sounded like it did. This wonderful, compassionate nurse even call COTA Mainstream and got my dear husband a ride home within the hour. WOW, I am not sure even Dwight could have done that and they know his name and voice at Mainstream dispatch.

We are safely home, Karin stopped by with the grandchildren so that Isaac could see, hug and pray for his PAPA. He is quite a PAPA's boy and was not happy that PAPA was going into the hospital.

Thanks to all who have expressed concern and offered prayers for Dwight.