Getting there… and a birthday to boot!

Before anything, Bob’s creatinine level is down to 3.0 as of Wednesday, August 13th!

Okay, yesterday was day number eight from the kidney transplant. We’re still trying to get the hang of it all… Lots of pills, lots of things to do!

Anyway, as I had indicated before, for the next 4 weeks we have to take a log of L-O-T-S of data. One of these things is to take Bob’s blood pressure 4 times a day. We (or shall I say more like me) had a scare yesterday. According to my notes, if Bob’s blood pressure goes higher than 170, than I MUST call a certain number for help. His blood pressure was 188 over something high… I got so nervous! I called the number @ UCLA and they were all busy or on other calls, or who knows what. AARGH!

I left messages, pleaded my case for someone to return my call, ASAP… Finally, what seemed forever (five minutes), one of the transplant coordinators called me back. I gave her the 411 and I guess since she could hear my desperation, she simply advised me to have Bob pop another one of those blood pressure pills and all should be better. PHEW! What a close call. I checked his BP again in one hour and it was better, 162 over something. Thank you Lord!

We have another wonderful trip scheduled to for another clinic (blood works, incision check-up, etc) @ 5am tomorrow at UCLA; please pray that his creatinine will have gone down more. Our goal is for Bob to be at 0.6 to 1.2 mg. for his kidney to be functioning at a normal healthy level.


To the Moreno Family (Dave, Stella, Puffy, Marcella, and Sofia): Thank you for the awesome-tasty Chicken Pozole! Girl…. You make a kickin’ pozole! Henry, Nancy, Lili, my kids all were marveling in the rich flavor of it all… Your pasta/green salad, mmm… delicioso!

A special mention! It is Lili’s birthday today! She is five decades and twelve months old today! Did I ever tell you that she’s my favorite sister-in-law in all of Vegas? May God bless her and keep her around for many more years. I love you Lili!

I encourage you all to give her a call; my home phone: (562) 941-6883.

H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y-!

Finally Home

Bob is finally home! After speaking to a nutritionist, a social worker, and a nurse who explained his kidney aftercare, we finally were dispatched from the Ronald Reagan Medical Center @ 4pm. We didn't home until 5pm. Traffic, isn't it wonderful? (one hour for 30 miles)

Anyway we are not clear out of the woods yet. There is much more work to do, besides taking new medications. For the next four (4) weeks, we will have to weigh him, log his blood pressure (4x a day), his tempurature (2x a day), go to check-up clinics twice a week (all the way to UCLA @ 5am), and take all kinds of precautions.

These precautions include having to wash our hands constantly. Not sharing any eating utensils, cups, or drinks, or food. He can only eat fully cooked meals; sorry Bob, no more eggs over easy or medium-rare steaks... =(

Also, we will have to avoid big crowds, especially indoors. That might mean missing church, or just wearing a face mask and keeping away from people who are sick or getting potentially sick, that is. Lots of washing of hands. Can we say "mommy dearest?"
p.s., sorry you big huggers out there, we'll either put those hugs on hold or just air hug from a distance! Ü

For those keeping tabs on his creatinine level, on Monday it was 3.6! It is going down slowly but surely.

We have another clinic follow-up (one of many to come) tomorrow. They will take his blood at 6am, they meet with the doctor right after (hopefully no later than 8am) to read the results, check his creatinine, check his long scar, and also check the log readings on of different required criteria that I will have filled out. This will be for the next 4 weeks.

Please pray that I get a hang of this. Of course taking data is nothing new to me, just another task that needs to get done. It can be overwhelming, especially for the person (Bob) who's sick and his personality changes. Is it just me, or are men just whiny cry babies when they get sick? I'm not complaining, just making a statement, wink, wink... I love him to death but sometimes I just want to... Ü

On another note, I want to thank some special people who have been there to support us with meals. Thanks Brian & Helen Walker for the yummy lasagna, salad, garlic bread and cookies. My whole family LOVED it, especially the garlic bread.

Thank you to Alex, KJ, and Olivia Jauregui for the homemade enchilada casserole, the Mexican rice, and delicious ice cream. My nephew Nathan had to big plates of the enchiladas.... yum, yum!

Luz Reyes: Amiga, mi amiga. You know I love you so much. Thanks for writing to me, your words are always so encouraging. You are beautiful in every sense of the the word.

Loida: mi hermana, te amo mucho. Gracias por tu ayada y tu apollo! Gracias por quedarte y cuidar de Bobby cuando era mas necesario! Gracias por todo!

Lili is still here until the 22nd, she cannot leave until she has her follow-up on the 21st of next week. No driving or traveling.

I will keep you posted on the creatinine levels as soon as possible; like I said, tomorrow is another follow-up.

Thank you to everyone that has been praying! Don't stop. I would request that you pray for the following:

Bob:
For patience in his recovery. It is hard for him to rest and recover. He wants to do a lot, but his body says "NO, rest!" For being consistent with his medications... That the creatinine would consistently keep coming down. That the swelling come down on his ankles (water retention)...

Mireya:
For guidance in juggling work, finances, clinics for Bob, sorting medications, and being patient with mood swings when Bob is not feeling well. That I would give my children the attention they need when I'm feeling overloaded and overwhelmed.

This list can go on, but these are the most important that I can think of....

Thank you dear friends and family! We love you all... If you decide to come for a visit, please come only if you are not ailing from something. This request is imparative and not meant to doubt your hygiene or health, it's just that Bob's immune system is very low, and the smallest common cold could send him to the hospital very quickly.

Thanks for your understanding.... Mireya

mmm, mmm!!!

Thanks to Dave and Terri Coleman for the fabulous dinner tonight! We ate like champions! This was on our menu tonight:

3 big rotisserie chickens from Polly's Pies
homemade mashed potatoes
beautiful green salad with Champagne dressing
soft wheat buns
and.... 2 big pies

We are so grateful that you provided this dinner... the rotisserie chicken was so juicy and the mashed potatoes creamy! The Boysenberry pies hit the spot, too.

I just spoke to Bob about 1/2 and hour ago, and while he was visiting with cousins, he was able to enjoy an awsome steak dinner. Wowee.... I am so happy for him. I was so glad to hear from him, he sounded very upbeat.

I will be visiting him tomorrow morning and give you updates later.

p.s. By the way, Lili is recovering in our home and doing wonderful. Her pain has been under control by way of meds every 4-6 hours.

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

Friday Pictures 08/09/08

Getting Better

Things are looking better, but not enough to leave the Intensive Care Unit. Yesterday's creatinine level was 6.0 (http://www.medicinenet.com/creatinine_blood_test/article.htm) and today was 5.5. So it is better, but not enough. High numbers indicate malfunction of the kidney, the lower the better. In his case, a good reading would be 0.6 to 1.2 milligrams (mg) per deciliter (dl). I'm still trying to understand this whole thing myself.

Good news, Lili is now home. She's had her first homemade dinner, compliments of Craig & Susie Kurth, from my church at Whittier Hills Baptist (www.whittierhills.org). Thank you Craig & Susie; those Beef BBQ Sloppy Joe's were delictable, and the pasta salad, molto delicioso!

I love my church family, they've been a wonderfully supportive! Today we had other visitors. They were Pastor Robert Bishop, Brian Walker, Ric Fox (I heard he was there, but I was konked out on Bob's gurney, underneath a sheet), Alex, KJ, and Olivia Jauregui. Other longtime friends that visited in the afternoon were Gilbert Dominguez, his son Randy, and Gilbert's dad, but Bob's adoptive dad, Alfred Dominguez. Thank you.

I want to say a special thanks to Brian Walker. He was so gracious to set up meals for our family (Swingles & my kids) this weekend. Believe it or not, these meals are a wonderful ministry to us, especially when no one is in the mood to cook, much less in this heat. Thanks again Craig & Susie Kurth!

Brian stayed for several hours in the morning to keep Bob company. They played Backgammon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backgammon, and card games; and he even helped feed him! Thanks Brian Ü

Another "thank you" goes out the Jauregui's. We had a wonderful small walk in town in the morning to have breakfast (more like brunch) at Corner Bakery Cafe, in Westwood. Thereafter we walked over (Olivia and stroller, too) to have these amazing cookies at Diddy Riese Cookies. These cookies (http://www.diddyriese.com/home.php) are equivalent to what Krispy Kremes usted to be; there's people waiting outside the door to get their daily taste of homemade soft cookies. I had their ice cream cookie sandwich. mmm, mmm, mmm....! On behalf of Marina and I, thank you for this treat, and giving us a break away from the hospital.

As I blog about this, I feel a bit guilty because Bob is still on a liquid diet. The doctors and nurses are still keeping a close watch on his urine output. He's doing okay, but they still want more; apparently the kidney is still not fully awake. Bob is retaining some water and so he's a little bloated. That is to be expected, but please pray for the following:

• That the kidney would "wake up..." that is would start functioning more.
• That Bob would feel encouraged
• That he would be able to walk more for better circulation

For me:

• That I would have patience & not miss him so much when I leave the hospital
• That I would have no doubt that this is God's plan
• That God would be glorified, whatever the outcome is...

Anyway, I was able to sponge bathe my husband, and despite him not liking it, I was very glad to do it. I hope that tomorrow will be a better day for him. Thank you Fidelia (his nurse) for taking good care of him.

That's it for now, until tomorrow. --Mireya

P.s. Sorry if I spider-web or ramble, it's sometimes difficult to keep on one thought when I have so many.

All these pictures were taken throughout the day yesterday, on Wednesday, August 7th. Lili is doing so great with recovery, that she will be going home sometime today, in the afternoon!

She will be staying in our home to recover until she's well enough to fly to her house in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Bob is doing so much better too. He's been resting and getting plenty of sleep, too.

In no special order, these are the people that came to visit him yesterday:

• His dad Francisco, with his wife Miryam, and half-brother, Frank.


• My Uncle Miguel, Tia Juanita, my cousin Jimmy with his wife Leslie, and their son, Jimmy Jr.


• Our tree hugger friends, David, Stella, Marcella, and Sofia Moreno. Torrey, we hope you get better from whatever bug you caught!

Bob had an awesome nurse today (pictured above), her name was Nadine. She was very attentive to his needs, very knowledgeable, and caring, too.

In one of the pictures, you can also see our son Bobby. I was so proud that he came to visit his dad (remember my previous blog?), and it really touched Bob's heart to see him, too. After a long walk in the Westwood village, he and the others came back tired. He's the one all the way to the right napping. Thank you Jauregui's for your prayers in this matter!

In another picture, Bob's sister was able to finally see him. What a sight to see! She walked all the way from one side of the hospital floor to the other all they way, and see him. Lili was joking and commenting that a snail could probably have beat her at the pace she was going... I love Lili and her sense of humor!

Chris, my sister's boyfriend, he was here too! He's also a nurse @ UCLA Medical Center.

ps... sorry Lili about the pictures. Make-up or none, you are beautiful!