Didn't Go Like We Planned

Today started at 5:40am. We had so much to get together so Mom would be ready for her appointments this morning. She needed to be cleaned up, so we washed her hair in the sink and got her all dolled up to go to the Multiple Myeloma clinic.

After getting her settled in a wheelchair at the hospital we set out for the clinic. It quickly became apparent that the "plan" that Katie and I had worked out for Mom wasn't going to happen. Apparently there were some miss-communications. We had been assigned a volunteer for the day, and her job was to help us navigate the huge complex. Her name was Esther and she was really sweet. It was so nice to have an experienced person to lean on.



We waited in a little room for a while to get our test schedule, and meet with a nurse. It seemed to be taking a long time, so I went out to talk with our volunteer. She had an advanced copy of our schedule, and I convinced her to let me look it over. Then I realized the issue. They didn't have a Kyphoplasty even scheduled for Mom. They also had her bone marrow biopsy and MRI schedule for later in the week, and they weren't under sedation. I found the customer service rep for the clinic and told her that we had some issues. It was all we could do to get Mom to Arkansas, and we weren't going back to Atlanta without stabilizing her spine. She told me to talk to the nurse and insist on what we needed. So that's what I did! We decided to let Mom and Dad go to the lab to begin Mom's blood-work, and I stayed to work things out in scheduling.

It took a long time, and involved some more discussions with the customer service rep- she got involved and pulled some strings to get Mom what she needed. Meanwhile Mom came back to the waiting area of the clinic, and realized that she wasn't going to get the Kyphoplasty today. She hadn't had anything to eat or drink since midnight, and needed to take another pain killer. The nurse didn't want us to give Mom anything until we nailed down the schedule. It wasn't the greatest time for Mom, but we pulled out the Psalms and she focused on Jesus while we sorted everything out.

We had to meet with the insurance folks, so we met with them and then finally started on the testing at 2:30. They have some cans of soup ,peanut butter, and crackers, so we were able to pull together a little lunch before heading to Mom's MRI. She did a great job, which is amazing considering she is very claustrophobic and was in such pain. Then we went to get her pulmonary function test. She didn't do too hot because the spine fractures inhibits her ability to take breath in. Hopefully that will get better soon.



We met some amazing people today, and saw so many multiple myeloma survivors. They were so encouraging, and went out of their way to welcome us newcomers. We had a sharp reminder about how fragile this disease makes you when a lady fell from the shuttle. She cut open her leg, so please pray that doesn't cause her any complications. It was upsetting to see, and I made Mom look away. We also met a young lady that is staying in our hotel. When we left the hospital we were so exhausted and hungry that we decided to drop off our bags at the hotel and grab a quick bite to eat. Mom hasn't been out of the house in ages for something as simple as going to a restaurant, so we decided to give it a try.
Anyway, this young lady that was very pregnant came was in the hotel shuttle. She was heading out to grab a bite too. We started talking and invited her to dinner with us. She said she only had $5 and my Dad said he was treating. So she joined us. It turns out that she is 31 weeks pregnant with twin boys, Nicolas and Jonathan. She started going into labor at 29 weeks, and actually is 3cm dilated and her water broke weeks ago. She is part of an "Angel" program for at-risk pregnancies, and is staying by herself in Little Rock. She is from a town several hours away, and her Mom is taking care of her two year old little girl. The program is paying for her to stay here, since it has the best NICU and they bring her food every other day. The hotel has a breakfast, but this girl doesn't have any money, and the father isn't involved anymore. She is going to stay here until the boys are born. She went to the doctor and is actually losing weight. I couldn't believe that as tired as Mom was she reached out to this girl and invited her to dinner. We made sure to send lots of leftovers home with her, and are going to be checking in with her while we are here. If you think about it please pray that the Lord would continue to protect these little babies, and this sweet girl.

I'm going to post our schedule for tomorrow's tests, so you can have some specific ideas of how to pray.

9:30 Metastatic Bone Survey (Pray she can make it through-one hour of lying flat)
11:00 Meet with social worker
12:00 Kyphoplasty (This is when they are fixing Mom's spine)
2:30 EKG
4:00 Full body MRI (Mom has to be still for 2 hours in the MRI)

All these tests are spread out over multiple buildings throughout the campus. It's going to be a full day, and I know we would appreciate prayers for strength and the grace to get through everything.

We are setting an alarm for 4am, so Mom can eat something and take a pain pill to prepare for the day. She can't have anything for eight hours before her Kyphoplasty. It's a lot to keep up with for sure.

Thanks for your prayers!

Amanda