In Sickness and In Health. For Realz!!

I'm sure this is old news by now to most of you all, but boy have we had an interesting summer. 

The weekend as soon as school was out we went on vacation. I am so glad we went when we did or there wouldn't have been a Parker vacation. As soon as we got back we went into Wedding mode because Tara was getting married that weekend. It was some crazy times. Of course, things got crazier. Why?  Because I'm Amy Parker that's why!!!

I was scheduled for hernia repair before we left on vacation. I cancelled  it because I wanted to enjoy our vacation at the beach preferably pain free. Then the Tuesday after Tara's wedding I was scheduled once again. My surgeon decided I was also having gallbladder symptoms and she wanted me to have more tests in case she needed to remove my gallbladder the same time as doing my hernia repair. The tests ended up taking a couple more weeks. My gallbladder seem to be functioning just fine so I was scheduled for my umbillical hernia repair on June 30th. 

Well...  If that wasn't crazy enough we had other issues. Maynard has had a medical problem for 16 years. He was in a bad accident right after we got married. The wreck has given him complications throughout all them years. He's been to several specialists and had several procedures. They all proved to help for short intervals, but never more than that. He finally found the only surgeon in Ky that specializes in the type of care he needed. Maynard had been to visit the surgeon back in late spring and he was going to have surgery in August. However, during our much needed vacation at the beach, Maynard had an episode that landed us at the Er for several hours. His surgeon was contacted and his surgery got bumped up 5 days before mine. I volunteered to cancel mine (of course), but Maynard wouldn't let me. I had also been in pain due to the hernia and we were both afraid my surgeon would quit fooling with me if I canceled again. 

Thursday came and it was time for Maynard's surgery and we had to head to UK hospital. We had 2 different families that helped watch the kids. They were well taken care of and had a blast. 

The boys were too excited that they got to swim with Micah and Trevor. 

Amelia was even happier to get to play with Aubriella and Celeste. Although, she was a little jealous that her brothers got to go swimming. 

I got to stay with Maynard until they took him back for surgery. Of course, we laughed and giggled because that's what we do when we are nervous. We were so glad to get this surgery behind us because the success rate was gonna be 95%. It would be so nice for Maynard to feel better and not have to deal with this sickness again. 

When Maynard went back I went to the cafeteria to find something to eat. I was so hungry. It brought back a lot of memories because we were at the same hospital that my mother in law had passed away. Maynard and I had been sitting in the very same cafeteria when we got the call to get to her room quickly ,that it was time. 

I sat there and ate while I was flooded with emotions. 

While I sat in the waiting room a little later there was a fire upstairs. The fire alarm kept going off and all the doors was closing. It lasted for an hour until they announced all was clear. I was already planning my escape route. I had no idea what would happen to Maynard and the situation he was in. Lol

The surgeon came out to talk to me and said the surgery had went well, but Maynard had lost ALOT of blood during the surgery and it would take a couple days for him to have any strength. Just to watch him for dizziness and fainting. 

I was able to go back to recovery to see him. They could not get him to wake up. I mean he was ok, but he DIDN'T want to wake up. They said he had to be up and awake for 15 minutes before he would be allowed to leave. I tried talking to him and aggravating him, but it wasn't helping. I finally got him to tell me about his surgery. All he said was "there was a big gorilla pounding on his chest."  I tried my best to get him to talk more to me but he drifted off to sleep again. They finally got him up and helped him get dressed and I drove around front to pick him up. He instructed them to put him in the back seat of the van. His face was as pale as cotton and he slept all the way home. We picked up the kids and finally got home around 9. It had been a long day. Maynard had a rough few days, but seem to improve pretty well. He still had a hard time getting comfortable so when 5 days had past, and it was time for my surgery, he wasn't sure how he was going to be able to handle sitting in a waiting room. To make things even more complicated, all 3 of my kids started running fevers. I told Maynard there was no way around it that I needed to reschedule my surgery. My mom was in the process of moving herself and my brother and sister and I knew she was too busy to help. So I didn't even tell her I was scheduled for surgery. 

Maynard wouldn't let me cancel. He said he was off the whole week and would be able to help me. I was hesitant being that he had just had surgery and now the kids had fevers. We needed a babysitter to stay with the kids, but who wants to watch possibly contagious kids???

My knight in shining armor came through. Rebecca Gilpin had the brilliant idea of just coming to get me and taking me to surgery. That way Maynard could stay home and rest and also take care of the kids so no one else had too. Maynard felt guilty and wanted to come with me, but yet I think he was relieved as well. As long as my surgery took, I know for a fact he was relieved now. 

My surgeon came to talk to me. They explained my surgery would be done by a robot. That scared me more than anything. They explained that the robot made smaller incisions and the surgery would be more precise. It would make my recovery a lot easier and faster. So that part made me less tense and I didn't worry about it as much anymore. So around 12 they were wheeling me off to the surgery room. I remember seeing this gold huge metal looking thing that I decided must have been the robot. They were draping plastic over him preparing it for surgery. I wish to goodness I hadn't seen that thing. An older lady had my hand patting and rubbing it. I had to lean up and tell her she was hurting my IV in my hand. Which is funny because when I was 18 and had my tonsils out I remember doing the same thing. They were strapping me down and put the strap in between my hand and my IV. I also sat up and pointed to my IV. What is with these people? Ha ha. Apparently I am that patient that takes a little longer to go to sleep than they're supposed to. I think that's why I remember more than most people. I always have to tell my anesthesiologist that I'm hard to put to sleep. 

Anyway.... The next thing I remembered was them telling me to wake up. I didn't want to wake up either. If they would just let me sleep a little longer that would be great. I was in SO much pain. My arms and shoulders hurt more than anything. I remember hearing myself holler out in pain. A dr walked by and told the nurses to give me medicine for pain. They didn't want to because I wouldn't be able to take anything when I got home, but Tylenol or Motrin. Apparently, the Dr had compassion. I must have been throwing a fit. Rebecca later told me I said, "tell the robot to untie my arms."  The pain in my arms and shoulder pain was from all the gas they used to pump me up for the surgery. They were constantly putting gas-x strips in my mouth. I was finally laying there starting to rest when here come 2 nurses with that determined look in their eyes.

 

Nurse: "Amy, it's time get up and go use the bathroom. You can't go home until you do."

Me: "I don't have to use the restroom."

Nurse: "Well, you need to try."

Me: "I'm not getting up right now it hurts."

Nurse: "Come on. We will help you up."

The rest is a blur of fuzziness and pain. 

TMI here, but if you really don't have to pee how much harder is it going to be with 2 nurses watching you to make sure you do???

Me: "I don't have to pee."

Nurse: "you just think you don't. (Turns faucet water on) You can't go home until you do." 

Apparently, I must have finally peed because when I got back to my room they told me I could dress. Could they not remember the part where my shoulders hurt??  So embarrassing as they helped dress me. My poor friend Rebecca will probably never be the same again. Ha ha

They began to explain and give instructions about my care for when I got home. I'm so thankful Rebecca was there to take note because I had no idea what they were saying. I did catch on later that my surgery wasn't as easy as it was supposed to have been. It should have taken only 2 hours, but it took 5 hours. I should have only had 3 incisions, but had 9. Apparently, the dreaded robot, wasn't successful at my hernia repair. The robot couldn't reach the hernia in the position it was in. I'm guessing here, but apparently they let it try a second time. Each attempt is 3 incisions. So after the 2nd failed attempt I had 6 incisions. Then the surgeon had to make her 3 incisions which made the grand total of 9.

Rebecca got me home. She tried her best to be careful and not hit any bumps. We did forget about the upcoming railroad tracks, but she handled it like a champ. I felt horrible knowing she had to stay with me that long. She had to be starving to death. What a great friend!!  Speaking of friends, my friend Heather had brought over supper for my family while I was still in surgery. So when Rebecca got there we fixed her a plate. I said "we" but it must have been Maynard. I was in the recliner and trying my best not to move or breathe. 

I guess where I was under so long I received lots of fluids by IV and those fluids decided to go straight to my bladder all at once. I had the hardest time getting up out of the chair and then not to mention the painful process of actually using the bathroom. I would come back and get comfortable. Then again, in no lie, I had to go back to the bathroom 15 minutes later. It was torture and this lasted probably for 4 hours. I am sparing you all a lot of details. You can thank me later. 

Maynard sent the kids to bed and Josiah spiked a fever. With all 3 kids running fevers we had ran out of Motrin and Tylenol. I gave him regular strength adult Motrin and it wouldn't help him and he said he felt weird. Maynard tried rubbing him down with a cool washcloth. I had been talking to Heather via snapchat and was telling her about Josiah. Around midnight there was a knock on the door and Heather had been to Walmart and bought Motrin and Tylenol for Josiah. Now we could alternate the both and get that fever down. Before Heather left, his fever broke. I could have hugged her neck. Except that would include me actually getting up out of my recliner. That meant the world to me that she would do that. She had already fixed us supper and then she made a midnight run for medicine for us. I couldn't leave to buy any and Maynard wasn't allowed to leave me to go get anything. I was very thankful for her friendship. Now we all could rest knowing that his fever broke.  

I had a rough night because my arms and shoulders ached horrible. I think that that's what hurt more than the actual incisions. I was eating the gas-x strips like candy. I was also very faithful to my pain medicines. 

My mom found out about my surgery and here she was!!  As busy as she was I knew she would come and that's why I tried to keep it from her. She got here the day after surgery and stayed with me for 6 days until she had to go back. When she left I boo hooed like a baby because Maynard had just went to back to work and she left and I had my follow-up appt at the surgeon's office the next day.  Wednesday I woke up feeling bad. I had been doing good and not as sore anymore. That day I just felt bad and didn't feel like doing much. I tried explaining it to my Dr. She checked me and said everything looked great and she didn't need to see me anymore. We went home and I just sat around trying to get comfortable. That night Maynard took the kids on to church. I just didn't feel like going. Plus I still was so bloated from the surgery that I stayed in my gown. I couldn't stand the thoughts of wearing anything around my waist. Plus gowns are not appropriate church attire. Lol

About 8 pm I started getting the chills. I couldn't stop shaking. I covered up in blankets and put socks on. Then I felt my head get hot. I checked my temp and it was 101. I kept getting worse and when my temp hit 102 I called the surgeon on call. I explained to him that my kids had been sick with strep throat and I probably caught it from them so did I need to come in?  His reply was you better get to the hospital as soon as you can. I called Maynard and was crying. I probably scared him to death. 

We got to the hospital and it was cram packed. I was miserable. Burnt up with fever and in so much pain. All the rooms were taken, but after a short wait they called me back and put me in a bed in the hallway. I was so sick I didn't even care. They immediately started an IV and drawing blood from my hands. Then a nurse ran to me and started another IV in the other arm. She said they thought I was septic and needed another IV in that arm just in case. When the nurse said that my heart dropped. I was so scared. I remember mouthing the words "that's bad" to Maynard. Right about that time Heather came to get my kids to stay all night with her. I'm telling ya. She was such a blessing to me during this scary time. My kids were nervous about me being sick, but she spoiled them rotten and kept their minds off of it. She even let them have DR Pepper and McDonalds at 10:00 at night. They will love her forever now. 

As the Er Dr talked to me he couldn't believe I had seen my surgeon that very day. He absolutely couldn't believe it. I could hear him and my nurse talking about it. 

I finally got moved to a room. I had the best nurse ever. Her name was Kimberly. She was one of them nurses who actually loved her job. They had given me Tylenol and morphine. Bro Jarvis had arrived and came to my room to pray for me. Between his prayer and the morphine I was able to finally relax. My fever broke. My clothes were soaked. My bed was soaked. They had to change my sheets and blankets where I had sweat so much when my fever broke. I went to the bathroom and when I looked in the mirror I couldn't believe the way I looked. The nurse noticed me looking and she said "you are very sick, Amy and you look sick."

Every time a Dr came in he always had bad news. First it was I was septic, then they came in and said I had a blood clot in my lung, then they kept checking the monitor and told me I was in atelectasis. I never even heard of that. Apparently after my surgery I was only taking shallow breaths to keep from hurting. That caused parts of my lungs to collapse and one of the symptoms was a fever. Everything else hadn't been ruled out yet. They came to take me for a ct scan of my lungs. They needed one of my abdomen, but said the blood clot was a bigger risk and they couldn't do both scans because of all the radiation. One of my IV's had failed and they couldn't use it for my scan. So they tried the other IV. When they started the scan the contrast they were injecting started spraying out. They started pulling both iv's out and in. My veins were collapsing because I was so dehydrated. I literally layed there and cried because I was in so much pain. This nurse lady wasn't being as compassionate as my other nurse had been. She was killing me. I was crying out to Jesus to help me. She kept apologizing, but said she had to get an IV working because I had to have this test done and I was too sick not to have one in. Finally, she got one to take so I could complete the scan. 

I had a different Er Dr come in and my other Dr had went home. The new Dr was a little different in my opinion. He ruled out me being septic, ruled out the blood clot, and said I was in atelectasis. My white blood cells were only up a little so he got me a prescription for an antibiotic and told me to alternate Tylenol and Motrin. They gave me a breathing thingee to use to get myself breathing correctly again. Oh and get this. After many calls to my surgeon, she had left to go on vacation right after my visit with her that day. No wonder she was in a hurry to get my appointment over with. 

We got home from the hospital about 6 a.m.  After a few hours of sleep we went 

to pick our kids up at Heather's and then on to see the surgeon who was covering for my Dr. He sent me straight to Corbin to drink some contrast for an abdomen CT scan. 

I had to drink 2 of these in 2 hours. 

After my test was over we headed for home and my Mom had come back to help take care of me a little while longer. 

So now it was Thursday and I didn't feel too bad. I did my breathing exercises all day and took my medicine as told. That evening me and Mom snuck out to Sonic for ice cream. I was starting to feel bad and couldn't eat mine. We made a stop at Krogers and I felt too bad go in. When I got home I checked my temp and had another fever. It was up all night until about 4:30 and it finally broke. Everyone thought the coast was clear and went to bed. I finally went to sleep and when I woke up later I was freezing and couldn't get warm. I was shaking so bad I couldn't stand it. I tried to take my medicine and was knocking bottles over. I tried to get water and couldn't because I couldn't keep my cup still.  I woke Maynard and Mom up. I scared them so bad that it was back to the hospital for me. When I got to Er I had a 103.4 fever. This time I knew I was gonna get admitted. I ran a fever all day and night. I was so sick. They were confused about what was going on. They said my white blood cells had went up a lot higher than what it was the day before. All day I was getting blood drawn and had IV's in both arms again. They said my septic level was a little bit higher as well. Around 5 o'clock I finally got admitted. They also finally allowed me to have something to eat. 

Let me add that this was the only meal I received that was worth eating.  I believe I ate every bite. 

The whole time I was in Er I was in the psych ward side. Patients were in and out all day from jail. It was crazy, but I had lots of entertainment for the day. 

I got sent up to room 347. It ended up being a very nice room. That floor wasn't very crowded so I was pretty much the only one on the end of that hall. Mom and Maynard both took turns staying with me and they got to sleep in the extra bed. I got admitted on Friday and had to stay until Tuesday of the next week. I was hooked up to an IV and received antibiotics constantly. I only ran a fever through the night the first night. It finally broke and I was fever free the rest of the time. I didn't have much appetite and the food they served didn't help my appetite any. I would start gagging as soon as they brought my tray to me. My mom captured this picture. Lol

Here's an example of how pitiful the food was. This was my breakfast one morning. It was so bad that I started laughing. Even the nurses kept teasing me about it all week. 

My poor little muffin and orange slice. 

I had an IV in my left arm and an IV port in my right arm. In order to take a shower they would have to wrap my arms in plastic wrap. 

So both arms were wrapped and they'd sent me to the shower. Have you ever tried to take a shower and not able to bend your arms?  It was interesting to say the least. 

My Mom combed my hair for me. All we had was the complimentary comb they give you. I didn't care as long as I got it out of my face and was clean. 

It was sweet when Maynard would bring the kids to see me. Amelia loved pouring water into my cup.  She and Titus would fight over who got to push my IV pole into the bathroom for me. 

Titus would always come to the hospital dressed up. He would have on a nice button up shirt and jeans and then have on dress shoes. He was so cute. Out of all 3 kids he was the most concerned about me. He constantly kept asking me how I was and if I needed anything. Sunday Maynard had taken the kids out to eat after church and then they were gonna come see me. Titus had asked the waitress for a fresh DR Pepper. We usually don't allow the kids to bring to go drinks with them in the car. He told Maynard it was for me. They came in my room and Titus brought me that DR Pepper. He said I got you this Mom. I'm sorry they didn't have diet DR Pepper. It was stinking cute. He kept asking me if I liked it. I had to drink it for his sake because it meant so much to him. 

I just knew I would be going home on Monday. My surgeon would be back from vacation and no doubt would discharge me since I had been fever free. 

I was ready to go home. However, when she came in she said she wanted to monitor me one more night. She ordered them to take me off all my antibiotics and see if my fever came back. If I stayed fever free then I could leave the next day. I was by myself almost all day and it was kind of nice not being hooked up to an IV with a little cord preventing me from moving around. 

I had my friend Michelle come visit me and I was so glad to see her and her kids. My sister in law came and spent a couple hours with me. Then Monday night Kayla and Heather came to visit. We laughed and enjoyed each other's company. They even brought me lots of goodies I hadn't been eating so I was glad to have peanut butter and crackers to eat on. 

The next day my Dr came in and said I could go home. Who hoo!!  I was so happy. Maynard took me home and he left to go to Lexington to have his follow up appointment. He had to go alone and Mom stayed with me and the kids.  

My church stepped in that week and cooked supper for us every single night. It was such a blessing to my family. I had lost quite a bit of weight and gained everything back in no time from all this good cooking. It was good to have my appetite back and enjoy this yummy food. 

That week was full of more Dr appointments and bloodwork. My arms were so bruised up. 

That's not counting what my hands looked like. 

My potassium levels kept dropping and I was so weak. I could barely move. It was a chore to brush my hair. I remember Mom asked me to throw her phone to her. When I picked it up it felt like a brick in my hand. I literally had no strength.   My family Dr put me on potassium pills. When I had more bloodwork it went down again. If it went any lower I was gonna have to be admitted in the hospital again. Boo!  No fun. 

Sunday morning I made myself go to Sunday school with my family. I hadn't been to church in over 3 weeks. Getting dressed alone wore me out. I faked praying a lot because I was so tired. Lol. Church was over and I went home to bed. I didn't feel like going Sunday Night, but Maynard finally got me out of bed. I am so glad I went. It was an amazing service. Bro Jarvis had special prayer for me and I felt God's healing power come by. I felt strength come back into my body. I know the Lord touched me that very night. I also got to see Josiah get a good blessing among others. 

From that night forward I kept getting my strength back. The very next day I was able to clean for 4 or 5 hours. I felt great. Keep in mind I barely had strength to brush my hair. The Lord touched me and I will always praise Him for that. 

My last round of bloodwork showed that my potassium is back up in the normal range again. I'm feeling better each day. I'm not 100% yet, but I'm almost there. 

I go tomorrow for my last visit with my surgeon. There's no doubt this time she will tell me I don't have to come back anymore. I also have to go see my family DR, but I feel like I'm gonna be just fine. I know the Lord has moved for me. 

I can't thank y'all enough for all the prayers, calls, texts, food, and everything everyone has done for us. I was encouraged during my sickness with the love of my friends and God's people. 

Parker/Rodriguez Wedding

I should have already blogged about this, but I've slipped out of the blogging mood once again. I was hoping to have copies of her wedding pictures to post, but I may have to post those later. 

While we were on vacation Tara moved to Ohio to stay in their house and get moved in before the wedding.   We came back from vacation and didn't see her until 3 days before the big day. Things were getting crazy in a hurry. 

Thursday, we along with Tara's bridesmaids, got the church and reception area decorated. We wasn't real happy with how the arch turned out and so I called in my friend Sarah to help us out. And boy did she help!!  A big shout out of appreciation to Sarah for getting things all prettied up for Tara's big wedding day. 

Im getting ahead of myself though so let me start back at the top. There was some confusion about who Tara even was so let me do a little introduction. 

This is Tara and her Mom when Tara was about 6 months old. Tara's mom got killed in a car wreck shortly after this picture was taken. 

Tara's dad waived his rights on caring for Tara and Maynard's mom adopted Tara.   Maynard helped his mom take care of Tara. He was almost like a father figure to her. So Tara is Maynard's niece, but also his adopted sister. 

Tara was blessed to have a Grandma who loved her and doted on her like she did. It's like in a way they both needed each other. Tara didn't have a Mom or Dad and Sue had just buried a daughter and then 2 years later would bury a son. 

She always said Tara was her sunshine. Sue didn't have a lot to offer her, but lots of love. Sue turned her life over to God to seek comfort after the death of Lisa. She started going to First Pentecostal Church of London. It didn't take long for the church family here to take Tara under their wing. The church was always good to them and helped take care of them. They always made sure Tara had a good Christmas and the church family helped pay for all 13 years of Tara's tuition at London  Christian Academy. So between FPC and Sue, Tara was spoiled rotten even though she would try to disagree. 

Sue's health had continue to fail over the last few years. Tara had been dating a guy from Ohio for close to 3 years and they had begun talking about marriage. Of course Sue depended on Tara because she was so ill. Tara was put in a hard spot not wanting to leave her mom, but yet desiring to move Ohio to marry the love of her life. Tara and her mom talked about it a lot and both prayed. I'm sure Sue didn't want to see her go, but at the same time didn't want to hold her back as well. They both felt like it was God's will so Reuben and Tara began wedding planning. I am somewhat amazed at the planning of everything. 

One day in March Sue became very sick and was sent by ambulance to UK hospital. She was in the hospital for 8 days. The only thing that kept Tara going that week was knowing that Reuben had plans of coming to see her that weekend. Even before Sue had gotten sick. The night he got there is when Sue passed away. Tara and Reuben only got to see each other about once every 3 months. I am just amazed at how God works that Reuben was scheduled to be here and arrived the very night that Sue died and was there not only to comfort Tara, but also to attend the funeral. I just love how God pays attention to the smallest detail in our lives. 

Sue had already told Maynard that she was for Tara and Reuben to get married. Soon after the wedding plans began. 15 months later and the wedding day was upon us. 

Saturday morning we took Tara for breakfast before everything started getting crazy. Maynard offered to take her anywhere she wanted to go. (Other than her wedding). She insisted she didn't want to go anywhere and he decided against kidnapping her so we headed back home. 

The kids tied her up because they all decided they didn't want her to get married and leave them. 

Later on we left and headed for the church to get a few wedding pictures taken before the wedding. Everything looked so pretty. It was a simple wedding, but yet pretty just the same. 

We also made a memory table to surprise Tara with that had pictures of both her moms and gave honor to them. Kayla made a sign that said "We know you would be here today if Heaven wasn't so far away."  The Schooley family made the chalkboard sign that just finished everything off beautifully. 

Here's a picture. Maynard and I took a selfie above the memory table. Ha ha. For some reason I failed to get one picture of the reception. I had asked my Mom to hold my phone and then I got busy and didn't take any pictures back there. Trust me though that it was pretty. 

My kids were pretty excited about being in the wedding. 

She was beyond thrilled!!  Her curly hair was a fail!!  I sponge rolled her hair the night before and it barely put any wave in her hair at all. Oh well. She still looked pretty.  

Wedding time......

These will be blurry because but I'll post them anyway. 

Mighty fine ring bearer. 

This flower girl took her job seriously. 

Titus was a champ at his job too!!!

Be still my heart!  I think Maynard was being goofy in order not to cry. 

Giving her away was hard to do. 

Goodbye, Lovebirds!!!!

Maybe I can post her wedding pictures once I get them. 

I want to say a big Thank You to everyone that helped make this wedding successful. First Pentecostal was amazing at the support they gave Tara and Reueben. The ladies of the church provided all the food at the reception and also served and cleaned up when it was over.   Thank you to Wavelene Carpenter for decorating Tara's cupcakes. She worked late into the night to get them finished and refused to allow us to pay her. Thank you to Meghan Hacker for baking the wedding cake that was no doubt time consuming and tedious. It was beautiful and delicious. Thank you to Kayla Harris for all her hard work. She was the most dedicated Maid of Honor I have ever seen. She worked herself to death about it and was just amazing. She was exactly what Tara needed. Thanks again to Sarah Adams for decorating the arch and making it look so much better. I hate naming names for fear of forgetting people, but I'm just so thankful for everyone that made Tara's day so special. Also thanks for Bro and Sis Jarvis for making it back home in time for Tara's wedding. I know they would have enjoyed spending more time with their new baby granddaughter. It wouldn't have been the same without them though. 

Congratulations Tara on your wedding. We are gonna miss you so much, but we are truly happy for you. Everyone deserves true love!!