What a ride!!!!!

As most of you know, I had my 3rd kidney transplant on Sept. 15, 2009. For me nothing new, but since my last one, I have met my wife and her family, have had some children. What is different about this transplant is the fact I have a 100% antibody count, meaning I should have rejected the easiest and most basic blood type tests. Instead, the transplant coordinator ask the lab to rerun and recheck cross matching of blood 5 different times, each with the same outcome, negative. Negative actually means I am a match, no one at the transplant center thought this would be the case. On Sept. 16 was my Mom and Dads wedding anniversary. It would have been 63 yrs this year, but this year my sister was in town picking Mom up to come see me in the hospital. They stopped by my fathers grave and my Mom said a thank you to her husband for the wonderful anniversary gift of a kidney to me. I know someone is watching out for me, I try to magnify my calling in Church, I pay a full tithe, I really am trying to be more like those I look up to now. Knowing my father, though, he was bending some ears as well, he was very good at that. I am truely blessed for this match and for the families I have. Thank you all for you prayers and kind words and thoughts this last week. It means more to me than I can or will be ever able to verbalize. You are all the best!!!!!!!!

A new and challenging future.

The week we returned from South Dakota, in July, we had returned earlier than we had planned, to be able to make a meeting at Church to find out how our Ward would be split. We are in the same Ward as before, it is just smaller now. At that meeting, however, everyone was released from their callings. So, other than the Bishopric and the EQP, everyone has been waiting for a new calling. I didn't have to wait long, as I recieved my calling within the week of the split. I am now the new Sunday School President for our Ward. I have submitted many names, to the Bishopric, to be my counselors. It has been 3 weeks and we are getting close. I hope to hear this Sunday who my counselors are, not only am I waiting for counselors, I am also trying to place people for each Sunday School class and the library. Needless to say, I am running out of names, since it is a smaller Ward now. All I can do is to continue to pray for guidance.

South Dakota

We made our second trip to South Dakota last week, it was sure nice to get away from the Texas heat. The second night we were there, there was a terrible storm, tennis ball sized hail was reported, close to my brothers ranch. Corn fields and soybean fields were leveled. My brother was very lucky, only a quarter of his crops were damaged. At one location, a neighbor's corn was shredded, across the road, my brothers corn not damaged. Other than that, everyone had a good time. I missed a few days with dialysis, but it was well worth the trip. In Sioux Falls, at dialysis, I ran into the nurse who dialized me the first few times, when Iwas 13 yrs old. That was pretty neat, to see somene from that long ago. To let all of you know, that year was 1977.

Not afraid of the water

Saturday night marked the first time I have been able to go swimming in Two years. It was also the first time I was able to go swimming with Theron, last year I went to the pool, but having a tube in my stomach, I was not able to go. Theron seems to love the water, evident by him showing me how he can put his head in the water and try to swim under. But, at this pool, he can wear a life jacket. It is so cute watching him put his head under, then try his hardest to get his whole body under as well. It was a lot of fun to be able to swim again.

How would you react?

Last week I had a co-worker, whose daughter had to have surgery on her neck. This girl was born with multiple birth defects, this surgery was something to repair her neck and back. She had to have a bone graft done, to strengthen part of her neck. She is nine years old and has a fantastic outlook on life. The whole school system, where she lives, treats her great. My thoughts on this are, kids with a great outlook, like hers, make it that much easier on the imediate family. Being a parent, I cannot imagine having to go through something like this with a child. Being a long time patient, I consider myself a great patient, but I have never been good, when the tables are turned, ask my wife about that. I must say, I do get somewhat grumpy when someone is not feeling good, but will not find out why. Even Becca has said, she would never be able to stick needles in one of the children as she does for me. Is that because she knows I have been through it before and for a child it would be new for both?? How would you react?? I know you would do what you needed to, but how would you react, when you got the news you were gonna have to do something, or you child was gonna have to go through so much??

My wife

I just wanted to say how Great my wife is. She cooks, she cleans, she raises children, she works 2 jobs, she is my nurse. She is caring, she is considerate, she has fixed all our major appliances. She loves and cares about her family. She cracks me up with her humor, she likes to stay physically fit. I find I miss her, especially when I don't get a chance to talk on the phone to her, during our busy days.

Not uncommon, but still a pain

So over the weekend, actually late in the week, last week. I noticed another spot on my hand, growing at quite a fast pace. The problem is, it is growing on the edge of a spot they just removed. So it is quickly becoming painful, as it continues to grow. My saving grace is that my Dermatologist has told his staff, if I call in, they are to get me to see him ASAP. So I called them this morning, my Doctor is out till tomorrow, I now am going to see him at 3:oo pm tomorrow. More doctors need to be that way, to bad these types are far and few between.

Woohoo, I am not typical....

I went in yesterday for my annual testing to be on the Transplant List. Originally, a year ago, they told me this testing would take up to 6 weeks to complete. It took me not even a day. Anyhow I learned many things yesterday that somewhat gave me a brighter look on things. I already try to look at the bright side of it, but this made it even brighter. Because I have had two transplants and multiple blood transfusions, I have a high Antibody count which makes me a very difficult match. But because of this, I am tested more frequently than someone on there first. Which means I am at the top of the list. The RN at the transplant center told me she knew of at least 6 times I was tested, but there were even more times that she said, she would not be aware of. To me that really shows a light at the end of the tunnel.
The other things we talked of, which really had nothing to do with the list. She told me I didn't look or act like a typical dialysis patient. I thanked her for that, but made me start thinking of what she thought was typical. Most patients just look sick, usually from underlying illness, such as diabetes, lupus and others. Most people when they are told they have to go on dialysis, or that they have some disease, give up. They quit their jobs and live off the government. Since I do not have any underlying and I grew up like this, I really couldn't fathom the idea of giving up my job. I think the more time you have to think about something like this, the worse off you will be. It is a medical fact, the brighter outlook you have, the better the chances you will have at overcoming your medical condition. I know it is probably hard to do for many people, but I have seen people with brighter outlooks do much better than those who don't. How would you react? I hope and pray no one ever has to find out, but don't you think it is better to be somewhat prepared in your thinking before something does happen??

Decisions to make....

Becca and I are planning a trip to South Dakota for my God Son's High School Graduation. It was just gonna be Becca, myself and Theron going. The older kids found out we were going, we didn't think they would be going, being so late in the school year. The older kids have not been there in 2 years and all of them, except Connor, want to go badly. So Becca told them to get a signature from all their teachers, that they are doing good in their classes. The day after, Chance had all of his signatures. Sara is desperate to have her mother write a note to her teachers, so she can just hand them the note. Connor said he does not want to make that long of trip. Ivy gave Becca her big sad puppy eyes, when she hear we were going.
So our decision is whether or not we should take the kids with us, take them out of school for a week or not. I do want to go, my nephew is pretty special young man. He has been offered an Academic Scholarship to one University, at another University he has been offered a partial Scholarship to play football. He was one of 10 graduating students, in the State of South Dakota picked for some award. This is for his 4.0 GPA, his leadership and the sports he did. Before I moved to Texas, I was able to spend quite alot of time with him, I really would like to go and take the kids, we are just not sure what to do.

Boys will be, uh, funny....

Last night, while Becca was at her class, Connor, Theron, Sara and I were the only ones home. Sara was sleepy and went to bed somewhat early. I was playing a Star Wars game of Chances, on the computer. I heard Theron start laughing, hard. I really didn't pay much attention at first, but his hard laughter kept going on and on. When I turned to see what he was laughing at, I found Connor had showered and came out to the living room in just his boxers. This go Theron to strip down to his boxers, then proceed to act out some of Nacho Libre on Connor. Not only were they in their boxers, but the whole chest area, on both of them was a bright red. I then heard Theron say, as he was going after Connor, Nipple Tweest. It was so funny to watch these two chase each other around doing this. Then Becca got home, Theron decided that was getting boring, so he climbed up on the arm of the chair, put his hands above his head and proclaimed he was going to use his Eagle Powers on Connor. Connor, still having fun, laid down on the floor and put a couch cushion on top, so it wouldn't hurt as bad when Theron actually jumped on him. Luckily Becca stopped him, before both got hurt. All in all, it was great to see both of them having so much fun, reinacting parts from a Movie.

How do they stay in business??

I have a free moment, so I thought I would put this out, mainly because of frustration. About a year ago, the company I work for, moved our old system, which really consisted of about 4 different systems to one. This in turn was suppose to streamline how we built customer's services and billing. It hasn't, as a matter of fact, this one system is worse than the 4 we had before. The latest issue I have been dealing with for 8 hrs a day, the last two weeks, is when I build out a system for a customer, only half of it is being built. We started noticing this a few weeks back, when the tech was on site to install a Fiber to the Home customer, there were no services there. This new system should have built all services to the customers premise, in fact it use to. So I was given the task to find out why, I have gone through this database as far as I could and could find no reason why this was happening. Today, there are 5 VP's from the company that sold us trying to staighten out known issues. Problem, the more they dig the more problems are arising. Our GM has already told them if they cannot fix it, we will be going else where, at there cost. They are will aware we have not gotten out of this system what we paid for, roughly $750,000. I did find for what I am working on, someone in their company removed a module, necessary to bind equipment placed at residence, which in turn flags it so it will build correctly. The tech I have been dealing with said once we stopped using this new system this way, these Fiber installs stopped flowing correctly. I explained to him we have no control over what modules are used or not. He could not answer my question after that, much to the displeasure of the VP that was listening in on our conversation. I think this company needs Matt and Gabe to go and fix there issues.

Thinking

I have been reading all the blogs lately, not actually commenting, just reading. Time constraints and lots to do at work keeps me from being able write much. Then when I get home, I have dialysis to be on and it is somewhat annoying typing, one handed. I have always wondered, I know when we die, we will be restored to our perfect form. Our spirits reunited with our bodies, no scars, no pain. But I have always wondered if I would be reunited with the body I have now, or the body I would have had, if I had never had the illness that somewhat stunted my growth. It doesn't matter, I am just curious. I like to think, through all the trials I have had in my life, that I have become a better person from them. I can only hope that I am as good of a parent, as my parents were to me. I always hope that I am a good husband to my wife, though I know I could do more. I look at the relationships my wife has with her family, and wish all my siblings could be more like that. I do wish I could get more rest, but that will come one day. I feel I am more understanding to people's disabilities than most people. I wish I had more free time, if so I would volunteer to help those in a similar situation, that I am in.
I don't have to do anything great, to even be recognized at doing something worth while. To me, I am the only one who has to recognize that I have done something to help someone else. Too many people these days will point out how great they are, for what they have done. It is only great when you are humble about it. So for now, as I get older, these are some of things I still hope to acclomplish in my life.

Customer Service??? HA!!!

I have to get prescription medications at least once a month, more if I get sick. I left a pharmacy, CVS, for poor service; not getting the correct amount of medications, when they filled them. Not filling them when they are suppose to auto-refilled. So I changed to Walgreens. They were great, when I first started going there. But as of late, I stand in line for 45 minutes just to drop off prescriptions. They do have a drop off window, but the lady there said she couldn't help me. So I am standing in line, 10th person back in the line, and I notice there is only one person working the counter and the drive thru window. He would help one drive thru customer, then a counter cust then back to the window. I waited almost 30 minutes, which in turn resulted in only two people being helped in the counter line. I left with another 5 people behind me, 8 people in front of me and 8 cars in the drive thru lanes. All of this and only one person waiting on all of them. The busiest time of day for pharmacies would have to be after work, but the bulk of employees work earlier then that, when the number of customers are a fraction of the later hours. Mind you, I do not blame the store itself, but the corporation in general. I overheard one of the pharmacy techs mention to a customer, that the corporate offices had cut the number of employees working the pharmacy. To me that doesn't make much sense, considering there are more people everyday going to Doctors, then the doctors write out the prescriptions, then the pharmacy fills them. It is just trying to pick them up or in my case, trying to drop them off where you might as well take a lawn chair to sit in. They are however, Pharmacies, it states it in the name.

And this little Piggy went Wiiiiiiiii all the way home

So we got the kids a Wii. Both Becca and I have played it and it is fun. I will say I haven' t used some of those muscles in a long time. Chance got a couple of games for it, for his b-day. Although the games were for the Wii, they seem like they are more for an XBox or something. You can sit and veg out playing these two games, takes away from the purpose of getting the Wii to begin with, none the less the kids have fun with it. About 7 hrs a day on some days.

It was a cold day...

For the Cowtown Marathon, this past Saturday. Becca ran in her first Marathon, as Connor and Chance ran the 10k race. Some stats I have found on the races. First, Chance was unable to finish, as he got beat up pretty good during the race. He was pushed into a Cactus, but was able to continue. He then tried to shoot a gap, so he could stop out of the way of other runners to tie his shoe, but got knocked down in the process. This made him hit his face on some wire, where he now has a scrape on his nose and underneath his right eye. He did however make it well over the 4 mile mark. Connor, on the other hand was able to finish, averaging about an 8.8 minute mile, for the race. He finished 14th overall for his age division, 406 out of 1265 overall in mens competition, 564 out of 3284 overall. This from someone who seems to decide he wants to run, but rarely goes out and trains for it. If you follow this link, http://www.brightroom.com/go.asp?49579951, there are a few pictures of him.
Becca ran her first Marathon, makes me tired just thinking about that. She finished at about the time she wanted. She ran this in 4 hrs. 37 min and 55 sec. She was 25 in her age division, 134th out of 287 in womens division, and 553 overall. Her many days of hard training paid off, she can now say she has run a Marathon, her long, hard training paid off. Unfortunately, since it was so chilly that morning and her bib was covered, she and I have had a hard time finding pictures for her.
Biffy ran a 5k race and said it was pretty violent. People pushing and shoving throughout the race. I say Congratulations to all runners, they ran to their best abilities and in my opinion all did fantastic.

What a woman!!!!

As I was driving up the street, on my way home yesterday, I noticed the garage door opened. When I got closer, I noticed the van inside tilted to one side. First thought, Becca had a flat tire she was changing. When I walked into the garage, there she was, the engine compartment seemed to be torn apart. Not really, just seemed that way. What she was doing was replacing the Van's radiator, with a little help from Chance. I gave her a site, autoparts site, Partstrain.com, where you can get replacement parts for less money. Any how, my point is, I am married to a very remarkable woman. Not only can she do mechanical work on the vehicles, but she has repaired every appliance in our house, less the Microwave. While I was at work on Saturday, she replaced our dishwasher, this next week she will run her first Marathon. All of this and she can still be a woman. That is more than most men do!!!! She is a nurse to kids and husband, she is a homemaker, she is a student, a mechanic, an electrician of sorts, but most of all she is a woman!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Theron

As many of you read a Sumo's Blog, Theron turned 4 last Friday. We celebrated his birthday with cake and gifts. He could have cared less as to how many presents he was given, instead he opened the one he really wanted first. A Spiderman costume, a one piece Spiderman outfit with the hood and mask seperately. He went and put that on Friday night and didn't take it off till Saturday night or Sunday morning. He even went shopping with Becca and the kids while wearing it. Connor and Sara were extremely embarrassed about the whole shopping experience with Spidy. His other gifts he does play with, but Becca and I are starting to think that maybe Chance likes playing with those toys even more.
On Sunday when Grandpa and Grandma and Biffy, Abby and Josh came over for supper, Biffy made another birthday cake for Theron. We were gonna have cake and sing Happy Birthday to Theron as our treats for Family Home Evening. Needless to say, Theron had been napping and we almost had to postpone the cake. Just as G&G&B&A&J were getting their coats on to leave, then he decided to come out. So they took off the jackets and had birthday cake.

I cannot wait to get home.

I am not sure about the rest of you, but I love to go home after the day is finished. Maybe it is because I have to put up with people who do not use the best of language as they speak. Maybe I just hate being at this job. Nope, it is because I would rather be with my family than anywhere else. Even when some of them may be in a bad mood, I would still rather be with them. I love to go home and see my wife and kids, I wish the kids would clean up after themselves, but none the less, there is no place I would rather be than at home with them all. I know I am probably not the easiest person to be around, I wish I did not have to sit on a machine while the rest eat. But one day, I hope soon, I will be able to come home, as I use to, not as late though, then be able to help out more.

So Far, so good............

As many of you know, for the last few weeks Becca and I have been training to do my Hemo Dialysis at home. Tuesday, a day of ice and freezing rain, we started for the first time, at home. The nurse who trained us was here for the whole treatment. Wed., was the first time just Becca and I did everything on our own, except for the kids being at home. Becca is doing great, she sticks me with the needles, 15 ga needles to be exact. But for never having given a shot, she now has to hit a blood carrying graft in my arm. To me, I feel more comfortable having her stick me than I did at the Dialysis Center. She may tell you differently, but as far as I am concerned, she is doing great.
Both Becca and I worried about the kids being around all of this, especially Connor. He saw me once on Dialysis in the hospital, turned white and started to faint. Luckily, Becca rushed him to the hallway turned him upside down, before he actually did. But Connor has been doing great with this at home, as well as the other childre are.

I started thinking, with all my spare time.....

....at work that is. I wrote a letter to members of my family today, to tell them some memories I have of each individual one and why they are special to me. It really made me think of the small things, of those I know, that make them special to me. It may not be something big, like being a parent or a spouse or a child. It is the small things they have done that have somewhat captured me, that is what makes them special. Not just the one thing, but all the small things they do make them special.
I have a niece, Kristin, who one trait I love about her, is she is brutally honest. This has done me more good than she will ever realize, but still this is what makes her so special to me. So sit back, take a few minutes out of your day and think about all of those people and the small things they do, that makes them special to you.

A New Year is Upon Us

What a way to start a new year, tired. Becca and I have started training for Home Hemo Dialysis. The training, I think will go much faster than the nurse thinks. Becca is doing great, she stuck me for the first time today. I thought she did great sticking the needles in my arm, she didn't hesitate at all. She didn't hit the graft today, but according to the nurse, she was right on top of it. Once she gets the feel for how deep it actually is, she will have no problem. Anyhow, training starts at 6:00 am, so both of us can make it to our jobs. I moved my hours up, so I now get off work at 6:00 pm. We have only been doing this for two days now, but those are long hours for both of us. Luckily my Mom is here helping out with Theron during the day.