So blessed ...

This week has been a whirlwind.  My husband has not been feeling well.  That is truly nothing new, for the last few years it seems he comes down with every illness around.  He is always struggling with fevers and stomach ailments.  He has had more and more headaches.  Recently it has been getting worse.  Last weekend he took my son to the ER because we thought he had broken his tailbone throwing himself down on the floor. While there, my husband passed out in the bathroom and was admitted to the ER himself.  They found that he had low blood platelets.  He had been struggling with BARELY eating and still gaining weight. He tried calling our doctor but he was out for the week. We decided he would wait until after the holidays.  That all came to a head on Sunday before Christmas.

Sunday he came downstairs and looked like he was 9 months pregnant with twins.  He was terribly bloated and I worried he was bleeding internally.  We contacted our nurse hotline and they sent him immediately to the ER.  Once there we found out that he had cirrhosis of the liver and was quite sick.  They transported him to the main hospital and admitted him.

Through the testing we found out that having a malfunctioning liver leads to MANY other complications.  They did end up removing 12+ pounds of fluid from his abdomen.  His Liver Functioning Tests (LFT) is a 14.  At 16 they put you on a pre-transplant list and at 17 you go on the list for a transplant. We are talking serious illness.  The tests revealed bulging veins in his airway due to the blood not being cleansed and heavy pressure.  These veins needed to be seen in endoscopy to see how far along they had progressed and if they needed intervention.  If these veins are too taxed, they can burst and he will die of an aneurism. The issue was that his platelets were so low that they refused to do the testing until the counts were up. That resulting in lots of bags of platelets and lots of praying that those counts went up so the testing could be done before Christmas.

Through the work of an amazing nurse, who was very good to my husband, it did happen and he came home on Christmas Eve's evening.   Now the funs begins as we try to change our lifestyle so that we can maintain the level he is now and possibly even use the Dr. Fuhrman diet to regenerate some of his liver tissue.  There is hope, it will just be a long and hard road.  But it will be worth it to keep him around a bit longer.

All this to tell you that I have been so tremendously blessed through all of this by my BeTA sisters.  I have never in my life felt as though I have been a part of something bigger than myself.  I have received more messages of encouragement and kindness than I ever thought possible.  I have constantly said that  these ladies are my tribe.  Raising kids such as ours tends to knit you together in ways that others cannot understand.  I always know that they have my back in dealing with my kids, but I was reminded this week that they have my back in other ways too.  I have never felt so cared for and loved.  They are my tribe.  They are my family.  I am blessed beyond measure.   As a person who has always felt like an outcast and someone who has chosen to remove herself from "the group" consistently, I can barely fathom that people care about me.  Sheri.  It is humbling and so very special.  I am brought to tears.

Thank you ladies for sharing your life, your love and your kindness.  You have no idea how deeply touched I am and thankful that I have all of you in my life.  March cannot come soon enough!