Out of the Mouths of Babes

Today during Sharing Time, Sister H. said that she needed some volunteers who were good readers for a little readers' theater. The gifted Nate L. (6 yrs), enthusiastically raised his hand and blurted out, "I am a great reader. In fact, whenever I see a word, I can't help but read it!"

Later this afternoon when D was telling the kids about his patients (something he actually does quite frequently), he was explaining about a gentleman he had operated on. Prior to the operation, they had taken an CT-scan of the man's abdomen and found his appendix was inflammed. Davis looked at Dad with big eyes and asked the follow up question, "It was on fire?"

Thankful for YOU

(warning: excessive cheese to follow)



Tonight as I am sitting here in bed, husbandless, I just feel overcome with gratitude to be married to such a great guy. Even though his work is grueling and takes him away from us a lot, he remains cheerful and resilient. He treats me with respect even when I don't deserve it. He loves me, even when I'm not very loveable. He is a wonderful father and a great example to me. I really feel like if everyone on earth treated their spouse the way I am treated, a lot of suffering and sadness would be alleviated--and I really mean that. He has been teased in his life for having too much energy or being too happy, but those qualities have blessed me so much. Thank you, my dear Deedles for being my guy. I love you!

Parenting Dilemma

Your 5 year-old is home from school, sick (puking), and you can't decide: Do you take the poor, sick child to the store with you to get sick juice (aka gatorade) and other items to make sickness less horrible OR do you leave them at home in the peace of their own blanket watching cartoons?

I won't tell you which decision I made, but it was a tough one.

Halloween Pics

Yes, I did take pictures. . .here you go! (though, technically, Kerri took these ones--thanks Kerri)

Good News is. . . .

. . . .that my cell phone is very clean.

Bad news is that it won't turn on after going through the wash.

Underwear Sizes

Our family badly needed to stock up on the basics--underwear and socks!! Davis is 5 years old and starting to move away from the toddler sizes and into the big boy sizes. While I was shopping yesterday, I grabbed the small size for Davis in the big boys section. When I got home I undid the package and pulled out the underwear-- they were huge!! I looked on the back of the package and laughed to see that the 'small' size was intended for boys from the weight of 42 to 56 pounds--a 14 pound difference! That is the weight difference between Davis and Roger right now. Seriously, 14 pounds for kids--someone in the underwear department at Hanes needs to be educated. I returned the undies and went to Kids' R Us where they sold underwear by the whole sizes: 5, 6,7, and 8.

prediction

I predict with the elections over that our gas prices will begin to rise, and will once again reach those disgusting levels ($4.00/gallon) by next year at this time. . . . . . .let's just see!

Learning Lessons in the Bathtub

Yesterday Roger was in the bath, and I pulled out the bubbles and started blowing away. He was having so much fun. I haven't blown bubbles with him for months. I was starting to get a little tired, but he was just beginning this game and he kept reaching for the bubble container. "No," I told him, "You'll dump all the bubbles out." Somehow, my warning didn't phase him and he was really starting to get insistent--he wanted to try blowing bubbles HIMSELF--ALL BY HIMSELF.

I finally gave up and gave him the container. Sure enough, he dumped the bottle within 30 seconds. He was so upset--but what could I do for him? I'd already warned him. This outcome was exactly what I knew would happen if I gave him the bubbles.

While I consoled him, I wondered if this is what Heavenly Father feels like with us sometimes. He's giving us warnings all the time for our benefit and happiness. . . ."Watch what media comes into your home. . . . .stay away from drugs and alcohol. . . . .read your scriptures. . ." The list could go on and on. I believe our Heavenly Father knows just how painful and obvious the result of our disregarding his warnings or suggestions can be. . . . just like I KNEW my little Roger would dump out the bubbles if I let him hold them. But, in the end, our Heavenly Father loves us so much, he lets us have our own way. And I believe it is just so that we will know for ourselves what the outcome was. Isn't it great that Heavenly Father doesn't tell us, "I told you so," when we come crying back to him with our spilled bubbles? Instead he lovingly encourages us to repent and heed his warnings in the future.

D's last night in the Burn Unit OR "The Woman With 13 lives"

Sometimes I get slightly frustrated with certain patients who monopolize my husband's time, so when D told me that this lady was the reason he didn't come home on Saturday, I was kindof bugged--but still glad that D can do the right thing for people.

At noon on Saturday, the unit gets the call that a new burn was on it's way in (don't you love how they dehumanize people calling them burns instead?). A 60-70 year old woman who was a resident in a nursing home was in really bad shape. While she was smoking, she caught fire and had inhalation injuries and some external burns as well. As D put it, a normal (healthy) person could have survived this trauma, but this woman was far from it. Believe it or not, this lady had had 7 heart attacks and 5 strokes!! She had literally cheated death 12 times!! Her health was very poor--she had to take laxatives 3 times every day to force herself to defecate in order to remove toxins from her body because her kidneys or liver were not working properly (it's been a long time since physiology for me folks). D told me some other issues, but I can't remember everything else that was wrong with her (on top of her previous heart attacks and strokes).

When she arrived at the hospital, she was sedated and required a ventilator. After checking this woman's injuries, her labs, and her vitals, D and his attending agreed that there was no way this woman was ever leaving the hospital alive. Her body was incapable of healing itself. The family arrived soon thereafter and it was made known that she had signed DNR orders (do not rescucitate). D spoke with the family about her chances of survival and shared his opinion that their Grandmother would not make it. He said they could probably keep her alive for a week or two-- but eventually her organs would fail. She would reqiure heavy sedation and a breathing device (ventilator) in the mean time to keep her alive.

The family then made the decision at about 11:00 P.M. to withdraw supportive care. I am happy to say that my husband was able to assist them with a priesthood blessing in which she was released from this life. At this point, the ventilator was turned off and D administered a high dose of narcotics so she would not be in any pain. After about an hour, D was shocked to see that the woman's vitals were still going strong. He made a comment to the family that she was a fighter. I have to admit when D told me this I was shocked he would say that. I thought maybe he would make the family feel like they had made the wrong decision--he assured me there was "no way" she would ever survive her injuries.

Then the family laughed and was like, "Yeah, Grandma has always been the cat who had nine lives!" D corrected them, "Twelve, you mean?" (referring to her heart attacks and strokes). They laughed.

Anyway, as it turned out the woman ended up living until 2:00 A.M. (much to D's shock--he told me she was on high dose narcotics which any normal person wouldn't tolerate for that long). D said it felt very strange to withdraw care because he's never done it before. Usually he watches people for weeks and weeks and fights to keep them alive. Overall, he thoguht it was a good experience. Very sobering, but very compassionate as well.

So, farewell, burn unit--I am happy to see you go-- your job is noble, but your patients' are too sick for a normal human (my husband--mostly normal) to have a normal life while caring for you. R. I. P.

Update from the dry ice guy

Just in case you were worried about dry ice guy, the good doctors in the burn unit had to amputate both his legs below the knees.

So, in case you were wondering what happens if you submerge your legs in dry ice for three hours, now you know.