6/29/14
Dear Everyone,
Here we are finally,
1 day away from surgery & boy what a week it’s been! I feel like we’ve been playing “musical
hotels”. Tues, after getting checked out
of the senior home & then getting checked into the lovely Super 8 motel, my
arms felt like spaghetti noodles from carrying all that stuff. We were going to go to the famous Mall of
America but after reading about it decided we needed to wait till after surgery
& Alexa was feeling better since it is a place we would want to stay for
several hrs & Alexa wasn’t feeling up to that. We decided to just go shopping close by but 1st
went to eat at this Mexican restaurant that was pretty good. I don’t think it was the food that made me
sick but just 1 of my regular attacks but my stomach wasn’t in too good of
shape all afternoon. We decided to go
shop for some Sunday clothes for Alexa since she forgot to bring hers. We went to Dress Barn & it is now Alexa’s
new favorite store. She found 2 really
cute dresses there & I was so surprised at how long & modest they
were. They were a bit expensive though
but she had to have them. She got a size
4 & it was still a bit big on her. I’m
figuring she will start putting on some weight after the surgery. I will have to take pics of her if we are
able to go to church today. After that
we went to Famous Footwear next door & she found some cute shoes on
clearance, then I had to get back to the motel.
On Wed Alexa had 1
apt with the pain dr again. That one was
rather interesting. He had her lie on
the table & relax while he tried to hypnotize her. I sat right next to him listening to his
soothing voice & a few times almost went under myself, haha! I kept wondering if he’d ever had a parent go
under while talking to their kid, I would imagine he has. He took Alexa thru a nice beautiful forest
that was supposed to relax her even more & then to a stream of water witch
was supposed to make her completely relaxed to put her hand into it & feel
the cool water. He went on for about ½ hr
& I really thought Alexa was out but then when he told her to open her eyes
& he asked her how that experience made her feel she said her mind kept
wondering & it was too long. He had
recorded it & gave her a couple of other CDs that are supposed to help with
other things. After we were done there
we got something to eat & looked for a Ross so I could get some bags on
rollers. I had packed some things in a
box & wanted to change it to a roller bag so it would be easier to move. Ross has great prices on luggage but found out
they don’t have one here so we went to Burlington Coat Factory. I found a couple of great deals there.
Thurs morn Alexa had
an apt at the ortho to get a fake tooth put back into her retainer. I think I told about the fiasco with her
crowns for her implants in another letter.
Well, the 2nd crown broke right before we came here so we had
the ortho just put a fake tooth in her plastic retainer since we didn’t have
time to wait for a new crown till we got back.
On Tues Alexa soaked her retainer in that effervescent fizzy stuff that
you clean dentures in like she always does & when she got it out the tooth
was completely dissolved!!! She then
told me that they make the tooth out of glue!!
I called Kaia, the girl that I had talked to before that Craig Parry
gave me her #, & she told me that there was a guy in their stk presidency
who was an ortho & she would give him a call to see if he would help
us. She was so nice!! She called & did everything for me!! We are so lucky to have her as a contact
here!!! Dr. Hicken told us that their
church starts at 1:00 & is over in Bloomington, closer to the airport. My plan is to pick Ty up from the airport
& have his Sunday clothes with me & then go straight to the church
& he can change there. I was so
happy Alexa was able to get her tooth put back in, it’s so embarrassing walking
around with an “oakey,” not that she really cares! After we finished there we went to Panda
Express to eat & then shopped at Kohls for a bit before we had to go to the
hospital to meet with the endocrinologist.
She is very nice & told us exactly what to expect after surgery as
far as insulin shots, etc. They will
take her pancreas to a lab at the Univ hospital & run it thru a process
with some chemicals to liquefy it & then take the islets back & inject
them thru a portal vein into her liver.
She will have to take insulin for a couple of months at least so as not
to stress the islets & give them a chance to start working on their own. While we were there I got a call from Paula
at Ronald McDonald House saying they had a room for us!! I had called the day before & she had
told me it would probably be about 4 – 5 days before she would have a
room. We didn’t finish at the hospital
till about 4:00 & then went over to check out the room. It wasn’t just a room, it was an actual apartment!! They have a new part that they have just
remodeled or added on that is brand new & just finished so we are the 1st
ones to stay in that part. This place is
absolutely amazing!!! It is 75,000
square feet with 13 kitchens, several laundry rooms, lots of game rooms &
visiting rooms with comfy couches, chairs & TV, a nice gym & an indoor
basketball court. I was soooo excited
& I knew Ty & Tyson would be happy about the BB court!! The only prob was that I had used that stupid
Hotwire to book our motel room & had to pay in advance & there were no
refunds so I was losing out on 3 nights.
We decided to stay in our motel 1 more night since it is about 15 – 20 min
away & check out the next morn when we have to come back to the hospital. While at RMH we ran into Tammy, Kayli &
Bailey, our friends from Facebook who have gone thru this surgery & we
visited with them for a bit. It will be
good to have people who understand what we are going thru that we can talk
to.
Fri I got up early
as usual & went down for the free breakfast at the motel as usual. It’s not a bad breakfast but there are signs
all over that say not to take the food back to your room so I always have to
sneak it back since they only serve breakfast till 9:00 & Alexa doesn’t
even get up till 10:30 or 11. We had to
be back to the hospital by 11:30 so after breakfast I started loading
everything back into the car again!! It
was way easier this time though, the luggage on rollers made a HUGE
difference!! We got to the hospital
& they did the blood work, which Alexa always loves, haha! Then they took a chest x-ray & we grabbed
some yucky lunch in the cafeteria. Then
they went over the bowel prep she would need to do & how to shower the
night before with some special soap they gave us. Then we had to wait on Dr. C which took
forever! We didn’t get out of there till
about 4:00 & went straight to the RMH to check in. There we were again, carrying all our stuff
back in!! It was so nice to get settled
in there & everyone was so nice.
They even have a dog!! Alexa was
happy about that. His name is Jerry
& he is a Laberadoole & is adorable.
This was also the day Alexa was to start a low fiber diet, no fresh
fruits or veggies, no nuts or popcorn, etc.
Not really very tough for her.
After we left there we went to Target to get a list of stuff we
needed. Alexa got so sick & went out
to the car to sit. I have never liked
Target! They didn’t have half of what I
needed & it was so expensive that I ended up just leaving my cart there
& decided to go to Walmart the next day.
Sat was an extremely
busy day for me. I decided to start
Jenny Craig while I am here for several reasons. I need extra energy to care for Alexa is the
biggest reason. I have talked to several
of the ladies here who have kids who have had the surgery & will have to
set my alarm several times during the day & night to check her blood sugar
& give meds. Also, I don’t like the
hospital food at all. I figured this
would be a perfect time to start since JC is only 10 min away & I don’t
have to cook at all for anyone right now.
They took us on a tour of the hospital & there is actually a fridge
with a freezer in our room so I can keep my food there easily. I had my apt at JC at 8 AM & it is in a
city called Roseville that is gorgeous!
All the houses have perfectly manicured yards. They’re not huge houses, just small old ones,
but everything is so pretty & the trees are HUGE!! My JC counselor was…..interesting, to say the
least. He is originally from San Francisco
so, there you go. I’m pretty sure he was
totally gay but he was also very nice & supportive, I actually liked
him. I’ve never had a guy counselor
before so this is pretty weird. Well, JC
just happened to be right next door to Old Navy & they happened to be
having a big sale. They opened at 7 AM
& all flip-flops were only $1. I got
a few of those & some school shirts for Tyson & some clothes for Alexa.
After that found a Walmart & they
had everything I needed at a much better price.
Then I found an IHop & got Alexa her pancakes for her “last meal.” The nurse at the hospital had told her to eat
a nice breakfast since she wouldn’t be eating anything for a couple of months
after that. She was happy I brought that
back. When I got back I got to work
unpacking & trying to figure out what we needed to pack to take to the
hospital. I also got busy doing
laundry. They haven’t finished the
laundry room close to my room yet so I have to go down 1 flight of stairs,
clear to the other side of the building, down another flight of stairs, to get
to the laundry rm. The nice thing is it
is right off the gym so I was able to work out while doing some laundry. At noon Alexa had to take her laxative pills
& stop eating. She is now just on
jello, popsicles, no pulp juices, etc. She
pretty much doesn’t like any of that so she’ll probably waste away to
nothing. I also had to wash all of Alexa’s
blankets & some sheets & towels.
They told us if she brought her own blankets to the hospital they had to
be freshly washed & she has these 3 huge ones she is insisting on
bringing. They bring her comfort she
says!! I was very busy the whole day
running back & forth to the laundry rm & settling in. They have volunteers come in every night to
cook dinner for us & they make these wonderful meals. We had grilled shiskobobs (sp?) with chicken
& yummy veggies. I am getting so
spoiled! Poor Alexa had to start
drinking her Gatorade/ Miralax cocktail at 4:00. They were very specific about how we had to
do it. She was to drink an 8 oz glass
every 15 – 20 min. Even if she was
sitting on the toilet she had to drink it.
Also if she got too nauseated & threw up she could have a 15 min
break & suck on some hard candy for a bit & then had to resume
drinking. I felt so bad for her, she got
so terribly sick!! She had 2 more
glasses to drink of the 64 ounces & just couldn’t keep any more down, she
started throwing it all back up. I was
so worried since she hadn’t started going yet & went out & talked to
Lisa about it. She told me not to worry
& said that it may not kick in till the next day. I was so glad I could talk to her! Well, it didn’t wait till the next day, she
has pretty much been up most of the night.
I’ve been up since 2:45 & decided to just write this letter,
haha! Ty freaked me out & called
& told me he couldn’t find anything confirming his plane ticket for the
next day. It was hard for me to deal
with that right then since I wasn’t able to get internet in my room & had
to go to the living room downstairs. I
felt bad having to leave Alexa when she was feeling so bad. He finally found it though!
Well, the fam had
been partying at home while we’ve been suffering, haha!! They all went on a nice camping trip without
us! When I told Alexa they were going
camping she said, “What? They are going camping without us?” Not only that, they went camping while she
was suffer thru her bowel prep!! Ty
& Tyson stayed in Wyoming later than they thought & didn’t get back
till Tues, just in time for Ty to do payroll.
He spent most of the week trying to get caught up on bills & getting
things transferred to Dropbox so he would have access to it here. I tried to get him to get a new laptop but he
wouldn’t do it. It would have been much
easier. They had fun camping with Chels
& Tonya & Tiff’s families.
Shayla didn’t go cuz her & Melissa went to a cabin that the singles
ward had reserved & then went home on Sat & went to Hale Ctr Theater
& saw Mary Poppins. I got word that
they had a great time. She has to get up
at 4 Am this morn to take Ty to the airport to catch his 6 AM flight. I don’t know if our plans to go to church
will work out since Alexa has been so sick.
I am hoping we will be able to go there & find someone to help give
her a blessing but if not I will have someone come here tonight. I can’t wait to see Ty!! I feel like we haven’t seen each other for
months!! Tonight Alexa has to take her
shower with the special soap & then dry off with freshly washed towels
& put freshly washed PJs on & sleep on freshly washed sheets. In the morn she has to get up early enough to
take another shower with another bottle of the special soap right before we go
& have to be there by 5:30. That
will be fun!! The surgery is supposed to
take about 9 – 12 hrs but I have read about some people’s taking up to 17
hrs. It will be a verrrrrrry long day!! The whole ward & several others are
fasting for us today & lots of others fasted last Sunday. I am so amazed at how calm I feel about the
whole thing. This is what we are
supposed to do. I wish with all my heart
it was Heavenly Father’s plan to heal her without this surgery but I also know
she will be fine with the surgery. Dr.
Chinnakota is a very good dr & I know that with Heavenly Father guiding his
hands he will do this surgery perfectly, just the way it needs to be done. I have never been so grateful for so many
things in my life. I feel so very
blessed!! The people here are the nicest
& will bend over backwards to help in any way possible. They don’t charge us a thing for staying here
& we don’t even have to buy any food.
There are snacks everywhere you look & the fridges are loaded with
anything you can imagine. There’s loads
of Girl Scout cookies covering a whole counter & huge baskets of different
kinds of snacks. Tyson is going to be in
heaven when he comes but it’s not so great for someone trying to diet!! I am in a new part & lots of bugs need to
be worked out. I feel funny telling them
about it but if I even mention it they get right on it immediately & try to
help me! I really am so grateful!!! Well, I guess I’ll try to go back to
sleep. I love all of you so much, it
helps so much to know I can call any of you just to talk if I need to.
Love Malinda/Mom
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