This morning...

Get directions on how to visit Bob:
http://www.uclahealth.org/body_med.cfm?id=572&oTopID=572
Please don't call my cell phone unless it's an emergency, it's hard to keep on top of calls. Thanks for understanding.... Mireya
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This morning I woke up @ 7:45am thinking of my husband. Although I know he's being well taken care of at UCLA, I sure feel lost without him at home. So, I figured I'd take care of some things that are important to him. I went outside and watered his plants, front yard and back. I got to thinking, "what a nice garden I have," and then thought, "My honey sure puts time into it."

Since he's not been able to work, his newfound hobby is gardening. It started out slowly, but he's grown to like it. He's either digging up the plants to put them in a different part of the garden or thinking about where x-y-z plant will be better off at another location. I love this about him. I like watching him take pride in our garden. Of course not all of it is to my liking, but he has good taste, and does a splendid job of it. I'm sure he's learned more about pesticides, bugs, plant types, and weeds in the last year than in his whole entire life. Before, he could care less about the yard, much less the combination of colors of flowers and trees, and foliage.

Watering the plants and grass this morning made me miss him, a lot. While I was doing this, Marina came out to tell that my sister Loida was on the phone for me. At first, I was not in the mood to answer it since I was deep in thought of Bob. I was thinking about how I felt that he was not here, wishing that he was already here so that we can just laugh about this and make jokes, and just banter back and forth off each other, always in fun. You know, he's my best friend. Ü

Anywhoo, I mustered some strength to sound cheerful over the phone, but as soon as I heard her voice and asked me the polite question of "how are you doing this morning, did you get enough rest?" All I could answer was "sure," but right away I just started crying. It just came pouring out.

Loida, my sister, my little sister, she's has been awesome, words cannot describe how helpful and important she's been to me in these last few days. She's been sleeping over in Bob's room these last 3 nights. Since she's a nurse, and she's been diligently taking notes on his every move, his every shot, his every reading, and of course keeping an eye on all the nurses that have been tending to Bob. All nurses now know her...wink, wink! They know that she expects a full report!

As soon as she heard me crying, she said, "Don't worry, I've got good news. He is doing so much better. The doctors are ordering actual food (although restricted) and no more liquid diet! He even gets to drink coffee!" I thought, "Yes, thank you Lord!"

Loida said that he might even be able to come down to the patio and sit in the sun... I sure do hope so.

I asked about his creatinine level, and this morning it is 4.1, compared to 5.5 from last night. This is good. This means that his kidney is filtering better, thus working more! Again, normal is about to 0.6 to 1.2 milligrams (mg) per deciliter (dl). It's going to take time, but God is goodl; all the time.

In this meantime that I'm on the phone with Loida, Marina comes out again to get my attention. It turns out, we have no hot water! How funny is that.

You see, about 4-6 months ago, I noticed that our water heater was leaking. I brought it to Bob's attention. But, as you know, Bob is the expert, and I'm just the plumber's wife... What do I know? Hmm...

In those 4-6 months, I reminded him (subtly) what about the water heater? Not once, not twice, but many times, did he say, “don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it, have I ever done anything to jeopardize our family or let things go bad?” “Besides, I’m waiting to go to this plumber’s convention so that I can purchase this x-y-z unit that will save us a lot of money. And since I’m a plumber I will get a good price on it.” This convention was in the beginning of June. He had been saying this since April or May.

Well, I had many answers for that. But being the dutiful Godly wife that I am, I said “honey, I trust you, you’re the expert.”

Cold showers are fun. My poor sister-in-law (lili, the donor) had to take a cold shower this morning. She said she kept waiting for the warm water, but it never came! We all laughed about it.
Bob’s ears must have been burning! As we were at the table talking about it, and I was calling my nephew Frank & brother-in-law Dan to help me buy and install a new one, Bob called the house phone.

At first I thought about not saying anything since I did not want him to worry. But then I got a bright idea! I decided to tell him. My brother in law Dan was there at the hospital visiting him! Now, you know brothers. If one brother asks for a favor, there usually is procrastination. But… now we’re talkin’ about Lili! I had collateral!

You see, Lili is the favorite sister (my opinion, that is)… So when I mentioned it to Bob, I told him to tell Dan that Lili had suffered with a cold shower this morning and that her incision hurts….. If course the shower part was true, but not really the other stuff! Ü

So. Dan (thank you), with the help of my son Bobby and nephew Nathan (a.k.a. Hercules), they have their work cut out for them today. God is good!

I could hear over the phone that Bob was happy and content. I’m happy.

Thank you Lord for providing for our needs. Thank you God for watching out for us. You love us dearly, although we don’t merit it. Help us to rely on you more! --Mireya