Mill Around Mill

February 23, 2012

There is a military command given in a joking manner when you are in place, ready to go and nothing is happening -- Mill Around, Mill. We are practicing it now!

Well, we have been here 7 weeks today and in our minds we are starting to think that we might be spending the summer here! Or maybe even football season…..I really do love the fall season in Iowa! It is not that we don’t like Iowa City (we do very much) or that we are not happy with our living arrangements (we are quite happy with them), or that we don’t realize how fortunate we are (we do feel very fortunate), but……..let’s get this “liver show” on the road!! Charlie has even started making up funny songs about livers! I will furnish it when it is done.

The great weather has continued – today we have had rain which at times was more like snow, but quickly melted upon hitting the ground. We could not have asked for a nicer winter.

We had a delightful visit with Meg and Lucy – she is the happiest child just skipping through the days. She loved the “apartment life” with the elevator, automatic door openers, looking all over the city from high up, etc. She can make everything a fun event. We visited parks, story time at the library, and the wonderful Children’s Museum that is here. It was really great having them here. The time flew by and we put them on the plane yesterday morning.

The pictures of Lucy are on the kids train tracks at City Park, the climbing wall at the museum, and then Dr. Lucy at the museum.

Time Marches On

February 11, 2012

It is a sunny, beautiful winter day in Iowa – very cold though! It is around 15 degrees, but the wind chill is making it MUCH colder!! It truly has been a very unusual winter here.

We had good news Thursday – we got a call from Julie, the transplant coordinator nurse, and she said that they had been “transplanting” and that Charlie is at the top of the list now for his blood type. So I have been getting my bag ready with “to do” things while he is in the hospital and Charlie is exercising even harder.

We have had some nice family times here. Last Thursday my brother and wife, who live in Oklahoma, came up for a long weekend and my nephew and family who live in Minneapolis also were here for the weekend. So we had a mini family reunion. It has been so nice seeing everyone.

Charlie got to be the caretaker this week. I had to have a tooth pulled - it had been on “watch” for a year. The dentist said that I won the tooth extraction of the week award and that that was not an award that you wanted to win. So eventually I will be getting an implant when we get back to CA.

This has turned out to be “movie week.” We have been to 3 movies which is more than we have probably been to in the last 3 years! We saw “Red Tails,” “War Horse,” and “Hugo.” I think that our favorite was “War Horse,”

Meg and Lucy are flying here next Saturday, the 18^th for 5 days. Lucy wanted to see Boppa! We are looking forward to seeing them.

We miss you all and are so thankful for all of you.

Back on the list

Well, this has been a week of being on “pins and needles” trying to stay positive etc. Monday morning Charlie had the special heart CT scan. Tuesday afternoon we got a call from the heart doctor with the findings – good pressures, mild to moderate aortic stenosis, and some narrowing of the esophagus (which I then hastened to inform the doctor that Charlie has had 17 endoscopies over the last year and the doctor was well, of course there would be a lot of scar tissue there then.) He was going to send the findings back to the liver transplant people with an OK to proceed from the heart standpoint. Wednesday, late afternoon, we got a call from the transplant group and Charlie has been placed back on the list pending any further testing that the surgeon (who is out of town) might want to do. The other surgeon that does the transplants felt it was OK to proceed.

So hallelujah, he is on the list and waiting and now that we have experienced this week of being off and not knowing if he was going to be placed back on it, we are not antsy about the thought of the “waiting” at all. We have a whole new feeling about it.

Thank you for all your supportive emails and prayers, we can’t begin to tell you how much they boosted our spirits! We are very thankful for all you.

Charlie’s sister has been here which has also been a great help for us and has help to keep our minds from thinking horrible “what-if” scenarios.

I had a chance also to get away and meet 4 of my girlfriends – we attended grade school all the way through high school together and 2 of them were in our wedding party – we met in the Amana Colonies (about 20 miles from Iowa City) and spent the day shopping and then had a “slumber party” at a B&B there. We had such a good time and were able to share so many memories!

Again, thank you, thank you for all of your prayers!