Good kidney news and Heart Mom Lesson #10

Things have been going much better since my last post, that was a lot of bad stuff all at once.  I was beginning to feel like we were cursed!  The past two weeks have gone much smoother.  We did have one bit of really good news.   Abby had 3 lab results in a row that showed that her kidney's weren't functioning at the level they were supposed to be.  Each time we did labs, it got worse.  Finally, last week, her labs came back with her kidney function in the normal range!!  YAHOO! We really needed this good news!  The only thing we are still worried about is that Abby has had a pain in her lower back and side area on the right side.  It's lasted over 2 weeks now.  Before we got the good lab results, we thought it could possibly be kidney-related.  Both an ultrasound and a CT-scan showed that her kidneys looked good.  But, the pain won't go away.  We've almost ruled out everything now, so we're thinking that maybe it's just a strained muscle, but who knows for sure.  It's so tender that she won't even let anyone touch it.  We're trying a couple of other things and hopefully we can figure this out.  It really stinks because the only thing we can give her for pain is Tylenol, and that does nothing.  It's so frustrating to see her hurting so much but not knowing why and not being able to fix it.  I just want her to stop being in pain.  Other than that, Abby is doing well.  She's going to school every day, getting straight A's, and trying to play soccer-for as long as her back will let her anyway.  We don't go back to clinic until November 5th, that's hard to believe.

As for the rest of us, Britt is loving her classes at Dixie State and working hard to maintain a high GPA so she doesn't lose her scholarship and so that she can get into nursing school.  She's also still loving being a CNA!  We are going to schedule her to get her tonsils out over Christmas break, it has to be done as soon as possible, but she can't miss school, so Christmas is the best time-Merry Christmas Britt!

Brock's football team is doing well.  They lost to Dixie last week, but it was a close game, it could've gone either way.  Brock works hard, he starts O and D line in the games so he doesn't get to rest a lot.  It's good for him, but not easy.  He's a little beat up after the games, but not as beat up as the guys he's going against!  I'm always proud of him, he never complains, even when he's playing injured.  The kid loves football and always has....and he's so cute too!

I am loving teaching school again.  I was worried going back because last year was so hard, but I feel like myself up there teaching, just like I used to.  I have great classes full of great kids, and great teachers to work with too.  I couldn't ask for anything better.  I'm also writing a book about everything that happened to us this past year and a half.  It's not easy to write it, it's like reliving everything over again, but it's helping me to remember all of the amazing and miraculous things that happened to my family and how we coped with these things.  I just finished the chapter about the day Abby had her transplant, I bawled the whole time I was writing, what an incredible day full of so many emotions.  Hopefully, when I'm done writing, I can find a publisher that wants to publish our story.....I have to pay for this transplant somehow!  But, to be honest with you, I've never written a book before.  I really don't have any idea what I'm doing and I have no idea what to do after I get done with the writing.  But, like everything we've been through, I just feel like things will fall into place just how they're supposed to, I just need to keep writing.  I'm also down 20 pounds :)

I think I'll end this post with a little thing I came across on another heart blog.  Most of it applies to us, and I thought it was perfect.

Heart mom lesson number ten...

Forget who you were...and who you have been,

Life is about...to take a detour,

And you will be shaken...to your very core.

You've just found out...something's not right,

How will you make it through this plight?

What can you do? What should you expect?

Of life with a child...with a heart defect?

Heart mom lesson number nine...

You'll learn to say...things are just fine,

When people stop... to just say hi,

There will be days...you long to cry.

Bound by worry, fear, and stress,

At times you'll think..."I am a mess",

You'll smile, thinking...can they tell?

Then say..."thank you we’re doing well".

Heart mom lesson number eight...

You'll learn just what it means to wait.

Patience is a virtue right?

Who really needs to sleep at night?

A hospital room... not a permanent state,

As each day passes... home must wait.

Patience is knowing...things won't stay the same,

Patience is accepting...a changing time frame.

Heart mom lesson seven here..

Our children's futures still aren't clear,

Innovations continue to thrive,

Each year more children will survive.

These children...and their families,

Will rise to fight...these CHD's.

Research...is imperative,

Our kid's deserve a chance...to live.

Heart mom lesson number six....

It's clear life holds no easy fix,

If life were perfect...in every way,

I guess...I'd have no need to pray,

I'd still be living...blind...and dim,

Forgetting...I must lean on HIM.

I cannot change the way things are,

But prayer makes God...seem not so far.

Heart mom lesson number five,

Cherish this day...your child's alive.

Today we frolicked in the snow,

(Did he like it? hmmm...well...no)

I watched him smile..as snowflakes fell,

I thought...thank God...he's doing well,

A bundled boy...warm hat...one glove,

No doubt about it...this is love.

Heart mom lesson number four...

There is always time for more,

More messes that need cleaning up,

More cartoons on tv,

More yes...I'm gonna tickle you,

(The best things remain free)

More bubbles in the bathtub,

More stories...one more song,

More this little piggie went to market,

One more...just can't be wrong.

Heart mom lesson number three...

Their special hearts...help us to see...

Did I always understand?

That God holds our lives in his hand?

Before my child...I took for granted,

The gifts in my life...that God surely planted,

Before my eyes...I missed them...how?

My heart child came...I see them now.

Lesson number two...take heart...

It is okay, to fall apart... 

It's not easy, we don't know...

Will we watch our children grow?

God looks to his angels...saying see why I chose her,

She's never afraid to lose her composure...

In her heart...she feels defiled,

But nothing will stop her... from loving her child.

Heart mom lesson...number one...

It must be said...we're never done!

That day...will never come you see,

We'll always face uncertainty,

But I will face each day unknown,

Taking heart...I'm not alone,

These lessons... remind me to cope,

Stand strong...believe...and always hope.

~Stephanie Husted