Yvonne’s Challenge

Glory be, as my friend Fahy often says.  In Texas, that translates to yippee oh ki yay.  Or as Jackie says when she’s excited, “I’m doing backflips.”  All that said, for the second day in a row Beth hasn’t needed pain meds when she awakens.  Progress at last! Oh how happy that makes me! She’s still [...]

[Read more →]

Today Beth and I both had appointments at St. Luke’s.  It was great to see her, and for Susie — the latest gang member to join me here in Houston — to have the opportunity as well.  Our sweet Beth continues to have significant discomfort, which the docs say will go away with time.  Nonetheless, like all of [...]

[Read more →]

For many years, I’ve lived by three mantras:  1) there are no accidents in life; 2) the universe provides; 3) possibility exists everywhere if you just open your heart and your mind.  Now I don’t always like the lessons, but I do know that the messages are often instructive reminders.  Like when I don’t want to be somewhere and [...]

[Read more →]

Beth and David spent a long day on another follow-up visit to St. Luke’s.  She continues to have abdominal pain that the docs couldn’t figure out, so they did a CT scan today to get a more definitive look.  The results show she has a hematoma — essentially a really bad bruise — on a muscle in her abdomen, [...]

[Read more →]

What a difference a day makes, as the old tune goes!  June and I picked up Beth today, which was great since we got to go together and spend time comparing notes.  Ten days out, and I’d suggest it’s an off-the-charts rating.  Suffice to say, all reports were great, and we left feeling really great about our progress. 
Beth [...]

[Read more →]

Great news today that Beth is feeling better!  For the first time, she was able to sleep through the night, so there’s progress to report.  While not yet pain free, it looks as though there’s movement in the right direction.
Tomorrow Beth and I will join forces at St. Luke’s for our first follow-up visit.  It’s [...]

[Read more →]

With Boston snows a distant memory here in Houston, the care team decided they needed to show June why we love our springs.  They decided a ride in the car — even without a mask! — was in order to show her our gorgeous spring flowers and wildly blooming azaleas.  Oh the fresh air and sunshine — it [...]

[Read more →]

Last night was a little difficult for Lei Lei and Shaddie, who are much accustomed to having ‘their’ way around ‘their’ house.  While Shaddie was perfectly content to sleep on her new big bed on the fireplace hearth in my bedroom, Lei Lei was none-too-happy to be swept away by Olive when she insisted that [...]

[Read more →]

While I never quite imagined myself like a character from The Wizard of Oz, when I walked into my home today I felt like clicking my red shoes together and shouting “there’s no place like home!”  Truly, there isn’t.
When I arrived, I wanted first to hug little Lei Lei and Shaddie and then simply to walk [...]

[Read more →]

Yvonne is all ready to go home.  Just waiting, waiting, waiting for the transplant coordinator to come by a final time with instructions and discharge papers. 
She was quite uncomfortable last night until Julie Robeson, her doc, came by and saved the day by writing orders for her iv lines and ports to come out.  Boy, [...]

[Read more →]