Sunday, August 31, 2008

August 31 2008 Sunday 12:35 am

It is so good being up here with Will this weekend. First he took a walk and walked clear down the hall with only two stops. then he had his dialysis (remember, Will gets dialysis four times a week now). They wanted to take off a couple of liters but he got .8 liter off and his blood pressure went down to 68/29. That's really, really low if you don't know that already. So then they had to put the fluids back on. But at least they got the toxins out of his body. That's good and makes him feel better. Tomorrow he might walk even farther. He sat in a chair for an hour. He did stay off his vent for about 8 hours. This was the first time he felt like staying off his vent during dialysis. Making progress here.

My Aunt Gloria sent up some fresh peaches and plums to the nurses to thank them for taking such good care of her nephew. They loved them and already the bucket is gone. We are making good brownie points though. I should have brought up some Hagerman watermelons for everyone. Then we really would be the best patient and family this unit has seen :)

We visited most of the day and then listened to the news about the hurricane ready to slam in New Orleans again. We need to focus our prayers for those poor people that are uprooted from their homes again. (don't you just wonder why people live there????) I hope God keeps them safe and gets them home soon. You can tell Will was getting lonely because he even asked me to tell him about my class. So if any of you out there have some news, send it on this way and I can relay it to Will. I should have a few pictures of Grandpa Tom taking Candace to her first rodeo. He's in seventh heaven.

Enjoy your Sunday and God bless

Friday, August 29, 2008

August 30, 2008 Saturday

Well, I'm with Will and we had a good visit so I can catch up with everything that has been going on. He told me he had a great visit with Coach. Thanks Coach again for coming up, it really makes a difference in his day. Tom left to go home for a couple of days and go to the rodeo. He's going to have a fantastic time and he deserves it. So Will had a same day thing going on. but tomorrow we are going to try to go outside. Take care and have fun. I will write more tomorrow night.

God bless

August 29th Friday 12:55am

It's Friday finally. Whoopee. So again stay off the freeway around 3:00 because I will be scootin' up to Salt Lake as soon as I can get away. I talked to Will tonight. He just listens on the speaker phone so I do all the talking which isn't to hard for any of you to believe I'm sure. He walked two times today but still has trouble with his stomach so he doesn't go too far. He did stay off the vent for 12 hours and had a pretty good day. Tomorrow is dialysis again so hopefully Will can walk before they get up to his room. Coach will be there in the morning sometime to visit. Maybe Saturday or Sunday I can get him outside for a trip in the fresh air again.

So the three day weekend is about to start. I hope everyone gets to do something fun. Tom is going to come home and take Candace (Aaron's daughter), Angel and Aaron and probably Carson to the rodeo on Saturday night. If they have pictures I will put some up.

God bless

Thursday, August 28, 2008

August 28, 2008 12:15 am

I wish I had some funny thing that happened or something really original---but I don't. It's seeming like he is just doing the same. His stomach is still messed up, he's off the vent about the same, he's walking on the non-dialysis days. I sure hope something changes soon. Will's ready for a big change. Oh wait, there is something different, Will ordered a bowl of canned peaches and he ate some and kept those down. Yea, that is good news.

He slept most of the day because it was dialysis. He did sit up in a chair for about an hour this afternoon. He is looking forward to Friday when coach comes down. I will be going up as soon as school gets over on Friday then Tom will come home for a few days break. I hope he gets to go to the Twin Falls Rodeo on Saturday night. We have a three day weekend so I will get to stay until Monday night and Tom will come back then. It's all working just fine.

Everybody-have a great Thursday and
God bless

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

August 27, 2008 Wednesday 1:41 am

Will had a great day yesterday. He walked twice with Tom and walked farther than he has. Way to go, Will. He was off the vent for about 9 hours. He didn't sleep too well last night so he slept in and he didn't get off the vent until 1:00 pm. That's alright because he needs his sleep sometimes more than anything. Will's aunt, Tia, came up from Nevada to spend a couple of days with Tom and Will. She will help a lot.

Sarah (remember Sarah who had her transplant two months before Will) and her father came up to see Will. They had a good visit as they always do. She is just doing fantastic. What another miracle. Now we need one for Tanja. She has been on the list for about ten months now. God, I hope you give her new lungs soon. Amen

I talk to Will on the speaker phone every night so I feel like I'm almost there. He can't talk back but Tom reads his lips and then translates what he says (well, he tries anyway). He said if he could just get his stomach trouble cleared up, he would be feeling so much stronger. Dr. Cahill's new medicine was started today. I didn't ask how long it will be before we see any change.
His blood pressure is still very low so they had him on more medicine today for that. He has dialysis Wednesday but I don't think they will take any fluid off because of the bp but at least the toxins will be gone from his body. Please pray for the stomach mess to be cleared up. Thank you all so much.

My computer has been acting up so I can't seem to download the pictures I promised and as soon as I have a second I will try to fix it. I don't know why I say that because I don't know anything about computers, but sometimes I get just plain lucky and it fixes itself.

God bless

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

August 26, 2008 Tuesday 1:20 am

What a great birthday I had. I know it's not all about me but really it was so good. Some very good friends of mine got me a ticket to the Gaither's Homecoming Concert in Boise and it was a fabulous show. If you haven't seen them, do so or go on youtube. You won't be sorry. It was fun because we had a tailgate party before the show. Everybody brought some food (except me) and we ate and ate. Good, good times that I won't forgot for a long time. We're such party animals that we didn't get home until 12:30 am. Those of you that sent you birthday wishes and cards--thank you so much. I have so many wonderful people in my life.

Okay enough about me, Will was doing okay after having dialysis but they had to give him some blood pressure medicine because his bp got way too low-73/30. But it came right up after that so no worries. He's having a little more trouble with his stomach today than he has for a few days. Dr. Cahill will start him on something new in the morning and hopefully that will help a little. I just pray and pray that they find something that will help, this has been going on too long.

Tom said that Will got off the vent for awhile but he didn't tell me how long. Tomorrow should be a really good day what with having dialysis today. Hopefully there will be several walks.

God bless

Monday, August 25, 2008

August 25, 2008 Monday 1:15 am

It's Monday already. The weekend just flew by. Will was doing pretty well when I left this evening. He didn't have a great night so he was really tired and then he had dialysis about 10 this morning. So today he slept a lot which was okay. Danny (Will's cousin) and his girlfriend Ann Marie came up to visit. Danny always has Will laughing. He didn't walk but he probably will tomorrow. They are going to do dialysis on Monday also so he can get his 4 times a week in.

It was very hard to leave my men alone up in that big city of Salt Lake. They are doing just fine and I think Tom's sister is coming up to spend a few days with him. That will help break up the week. Hopefully the week will fly by and I can get back up there before they realize they don't need me. (Just kidding)

What a wonderful blog that my daughter put up. Angel you are one in a million. What did I ever do that I got two fantastic kids? God must really love me. I will have a happy birthday and next year will even be better, we will all be home together.

God bless

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Mom's Birthday

Hi Everyone! It's Angel. I just wanted to write a blog to let everyone know that Monday is my Mom's Birthday. It is a very special day. I want to ask everyone to make sure to say a special prayer for my Mom. I thank God that He gave Will and I such a great role model and friend. My Mom is one amazing woman. She has provided so much strength for our family during this time. It has been a very hard road and there is no doubt in my mind that my Mom has been the one that has got us through it. She is our rock. God knew what He was doing when He gave us my Mom. Happy Birthday Mom!! Will, Aaron, and I all love you very much!

Aug 24, 2008 Sunday 12:30 am

Six months in this place. Still it's hard to believe. Six months ago Will got his new lungs. We want to remember the donor's family in our prayers, please. I will remember them in my prayers for the rest of my life. What a great gift to give to someone-the gift of life. I pray that all of you who read this blog have thought long and hard about being a organ donor and have let you family know your feelings.

Today was a great day, not just because I'm up here either. Will has hardly had any nauseousness and vomiting. So maybe some of the things the drs. are trying are working. He didn't get the dialysis today but he should get it tomorrow.

He walked a great walk this morning before Coach came down. He walked 138 steps. Pretty soon we are going to have to start measuring his walks in miles. He stayed off the vent 13 hours today too. And in honor of six months here, he did something he hadn't done in six months. He took a tub bath. I doubt we will be able to get him in there again, but at least he tried it. The actual getting into and out of the tub was just too much right now so maybe we need to wait until he gets home.

Will enjoyed his visit with Coach as usual. I just don't know what they talk about all that time because we aren't allowed to stay in there. That's alright with me because I doubt I want to know. Donna came up with Coach and I enjoy visiting with her so much, but we had an added surprise-their niece, Lindsey Choules and her friend, Justine came with them. Lindsey was one of "our special girls" that we latched onto and didn't let go (really Angel's friend). After meeting Justine, I think she is going to be one of those too. She's from the south and she saw a pair of cowboy boots and decided she needed a pair(she's never had some before). So Justine brought them up here to show us. She put them on with her Yankee shorts-cute picture but she didn't want me to put that on the blog. Will thought they were both funny. We do too. I did have a good picture to be put on the blog but I have to wait until tomorrow so I can download it. We went to lunch (to give Randy and Will their bonding time) and the girls needed to find a chicken place they only have here in Utah like they have in the South-I already forgot the name, sorry girls. We drove a long way to get that for them. They were so excited they even took a picture outside of the little fast food place. It was good chicken strips.

Carolyn and Sumer from MICU (downstairs) came up to see us today. I miss all of them and Will really misses them. It's so funny that we didn't think that we would be able to have a close relationship with these nurses like we did with the ones from MICU, but we do. They are a great bunch for the most part and we are getting to know their lives like they know ours. They also are getting really attached to Will. It makes leaving him for the week so much easier.

Have a great Sunday worshipping our Lord and Savior. Thank you for all your continued prayers. I know there are a lot of you still praying for Will every day and we all appreciate them so much. We thank God for all of you.

God bless

Saturday, August 23, 2008

August 23, 2008 Sat. 12:50 am

It's hard to believe but Will has now been in the hospital six months. What an unbelievable journey. Hopefully it won't be for much longer, if we can just get his stomach to work. They are going to try a new medicine Saturday to see if it can coat the inside lining of the stomach and get it working. It seems that is what all the doctors have been trying to do this week-calm down the vomiting so Will can get some rest.

He did have dialysis but they didn't come until later, about 5:30 p m. I asked the dialysis tech if she knew what time they would be by tomorrow but she said they don't have him on the list for tomorrow. The drs. said it would be Mon., Wed., Fri., and Saturday. So I don't know if he will have any Saturday or maybe they will wait until Sunday. Who knows???? They were only able to get about half a liter today. His blood pressure went down too far.

Grandma Cherie left for home around noon. Will told me tonight that she was really good and not just because she rubbed his feet and head. I am so lucky she was able to be here this week. It really helped my separation anxiety. Thanks Grandma so much, we love you.

We had a surprise visit from the Andrus family (all except Jody) Marilyn, Dawn and Keri came into the room while Kevin and Troy watched the little ones in the waiting room. It was a great visit for all of them. Those two girls and Will are very close and they caught him up on some news of their lives and other stuff. They had him smiling a lot.

Well let me tell you how happy I am to be back up in SLC with Will and Tom. Hopefully I can get Tom to just disappear for awhile so he doesn't get too burned out. I loved being back in the classroom though. I wonder what the drs. would think if I asked them to put Will's hospital bed in the back of my classroom.

Coach and Donna are coming up this morning. They are bringing some friends. This will be a good visit for Will, I'm sure. Please pray for Will's stomach to be fixed. It will happen soon and then watch out world, here comes Will.

God bless

Friday, August 22, 2008

August 22, 2008 Friday 3:45 am

Friday already. Things have been so busy. Don't you just love Fridays???

Will's day was better than yesterday. He walked twice about 92 steps and he stayed off the vent for 12 1/2 hours. Those are both great feats when you consider how sick he's been. He wants out of there pretty bad. Today is dialysis day so I'm glad he did all that yesterday. Even though he's been sick, he still hasn't lost a lot of ground.

He got his PICC line (tunnel catheter for IV's) in this afternoon. First they weren't going to put one in and they they decided that he needed one. I'm glad he got one. It makes drawing blood so much easier on Will. The nurses are glad too. They hate hurting Will. We are so lucky to have all the caring people around Will. Thank God.

Will's stomach is still giving him trouble but the doctors found some drug that might help. They were going to start giving it to him soon. The other one that they had found wasn't good for the kidneys so they couldn't give that to him.

He had a really bad night last night. I was so glad that Grandma Cherie decided to spend the night with him. Will said that she gave him lots of head rubs to try to help him sleep. I don't know how I'm going to top that when I get down there. Tonight is gong to be so much better. I leave right after school so if you're on the road from Bliss to Salt Lake City after three today---watch out.

By the way, whoever brought Dr. Cahill back to us, thank you. She popped in this afternoon for a couple of minutes. That woman is so busy. She's the one that thought of that one stomach medicine. Even when she's not here, she's thinking of Will. See why we love her so much.

God bless

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

August 20, 2008 1st day of school 11:16 pm

This was Will's dialysis day but he didn't get it until 6:30 tonight. They are so short handed down there. Because he didn't have the dialysis until later, he was sick pretty much the whole day. They do try so hard to get to everybody but what can they do? Will didn't try walking today or getting off the vent. He just wasn't feeling well so Tom didn't push it which I'm glad. It's so easy for us to say, "Will you gotta walk" but we're not the one with all those toxins in our blood system. If Will could do it he would have. Tomorrow will surely be a better day and I hope they get a handle on all his vomiting and nauseousness.

The kidney doctors finally came in and told Tom and Grandma Cherie that they are going to have to do dialysis 4 times a week now. He's getting so much in his tube feeds and three times a week just can't clear his blood out. So we think it will be on Mon, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. We'll see if that helps.

They have done some other tests and have found an enlarged spleen and something wrong with his liver. This is due to the CF and not the transplant. (I don't know what difference that makes to Will, but I wanted to clarify that). They do have medicine that they have started already so we pray that that will be fixed. They still have not put in the PICC line and I don't think they are going to for awhile. They took the old one out so the infection is getting cleared up.

We still haven't seen Dr. Cahill--if any of you have her, send her home. She is missed greatly.

My first day of teaching was today and I feel very happy to be back in the classroom. I am so torn but there's nothing that I can do up in SLC that isn't being done so I am in the right place.
Tom is very, very happy that Grandma is up there helping to take care of Will. She stayed with him all night last night and the morning, then she went home to the apt. and took a short nap and was back up there again and will stay the night. She gives really good head rubs and feet rubs so Will is very happy too. Will, I will be back in a couple of days but I know I don't do all of that as good as Grandma does.

I am typing this on my home computer and I look up, on my wall is taped a message that someone sent to me a long, long, long time ago. It reads:

HAPPY MOMENTS-PRAISE GOD
DIFFICULT MOMENTS-SEEK GOD
QUIET MOMENTS-WORSHIP GOD
PAINFUL MOMENTS-TRUST GOD
EVERY MOMENT-THANK GOD

I hope someone that is reading this blog can benefit from these words like I have, especially "Trust God."

God bless

Wednesday August 20. 2008 7:20 am

I am so sorry, I forgot the blog. But I do have an excuse sort of. I got home so late last night (about 12:30) I just fell into bed. So now I say--Will who??? No I'm just teasing. I remember who he is a little.

He didn't get his PICC line in and they don't know if they will put one in. He's throwing up a lot and we don't know why.
He will be on dialysis today and then maybe the kidney doctors will come in and talk to us.
He walked two times and the morning one was as far as the one he took with me before I left.
He has his Grandma Cherie with him and she even stayed the night. He's in good hands with his dad and grandma.
We haven't seen Dr. Cahill in four days. Did someone kidnap her?????? That's just not like her.
She maybe is saving someone else's life or doing another transplant.

Well, it's my first day of school with the kids and I am so excited. I feel very blessed that I have a job that I love so much.

God bless

Monday, August 18, 2008

August 18, 2008 Monday 11:00 pm

I know this is way early but it's been a long day and I thought while I still have some brains left, I need to blog.

Will's day started with dialysis. Towards the end of the 3 1/2 hours he started getting cramps all over. So they had to hold off getting any more fluids off. The kidney doctors are going to visit tomorrow and they told Tom that they might have to go four days a week instead of the three. We will see what they say.

The doctors found out where the infection is in his body. His white blood count kept going up and so they took blood cultures. The PIC line (the IV site in his arm that is his main IV and has been in his arm for a long time now) got infected. They usually last about this long, so I guess it was due. So they took the line out and put in just a regular IV site on his wrist. Tomorrow they will put in another PIC line. It's quite a procedure and I have explained it before so I won't do it again (I don't want to bore you all with the same explanations over and over). He didn't get off the vent or walk today. The cramping was bad and he was so tired. He slept most of the day.

Tomorrow will be a good day after they get the PIC line in. I'm sure he will get up and walk and he will probably stay off the vent most of the day. Grandma Cherie is coming from Boise for a few days and that will be helpful to Tom and Will.

I had a good day. I went to school this morning and everyone there made me feel so loved. It just filled my heart full up. I missed my school and my classroom. I don't think I got much done because I was visiting too much. I know that's hard for you to believe-me talking to people too much. It was great to be back but I was sure torn all day---did I make the right choice?? Tom helped so much because he has everything under control. Will's in good hands and it will get easier. Every one has been sending me emails giving me support. Thanks to all of you. God sure blessed this family with so much love from our family and friends.

Speaking of great friends, Richard White, our neighbor who just got back from Houston having part of his lung taken out because of a tumor, got the results back and the section isn't cancerous. Isn't that amazing. We just had another miracle. I really feel that God healed him because his doctors told him 99 9/10 percent of a chance that it would be cancerous. Our God is such an awesome God. All the glory goes to Him of course. Well, I did tell Richard that he would do anything for attention. The White's threw an impromptu party to celebrate and I think the whole town was there. So many people had been praying and it was such a great time of just acknowledging God's good works in all of us. CONGRATULATIONS RICHARD we couldn't be happier.

We had a birthday dinner tonight with two birthday girls; Candace, Aaron's daughter, who turned five and my mom, Eileen, who is barely older than Candace. We had a great time and I have pictures to put up for you to see but I can't find my cord. I think they are in one of the boxes I brought home from the apartment. I will start unpacking tomorrow or the next day.

God bless the birthday girls and every one else that reads this.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

August 17, 2008 11:41 pm

This blog will be at a different time. Since I have to go to work early, I will have to blog earlier. But hopefully I will be able to keep all of you updated on what's happening with Will. I will be calling them several times a day, I'm sure.

He had such a better Sunday than last Sunday. He wasn't as sick as he was or as tired. He did take a few naps but we listened to a book on tape and that was good for him. He took two walks today, not as far as yesterday but we figured that would happen since today is his long haul in between dialysis. Monday will be dialysis so he will sleep for most of the day.

My sister in law, Karen and my Aunt Gloria came over and cleaned most of my house so it was so nice to come home to. They scrubbed my bathroom and bedroom. It looks amazing. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.

It's my mom's birthday and Will wanted me to give her a message on the blog---HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDMA. She and I are going to dinner tonight with Angel, Aaron, Candace, Karen, and Aunt Gloria.

Candace turns 5 today also. Angel threw her a big party today with the kids from church. I will get some pictures of it and share them with you all.

It was hard for me to leave Will this afternoon, but he made it so much easier because he's doing better than last week. God has such a great plan and it's all working out. It won't be long now before Will is back in Idaho. I want to thank all of you who sent their prayers for me. I was so much stronger than I thought I would be. Tom and Will will be just fine without me up there telling them what to do. Thank heaven for phones-I can't let them become toooooo crazy. It feels so good to be back in my own home.

I pray that God blesses all our family and friends.

August 17, 2008 Sunday 12:30 am

FRESH AIR AND FREEDOM!





Here's some pictures of Will's outing. He got to go outside today. It was one of those beautiful days here in Salt Lake City. The wind was blowing just slightly. Will thought it felt great.
The guy in the picture is Tom's brother, Bill, and the lady is Tom's sister, Phyllis (aka Tia). I know the brothers are laughing because I called her a lady. I can hear them now.


The nurse's name is Summer, I know we had another Sumer also. It just fits us well. Will has to stay in the shade because of some of the meds he takes.

They look so serious. These are the two men in my life, I feel so lucky. No, seriously, I do!




Summer, Tom and Will just resting a while before we go back in.

This day might have been Will's best in a long, long time. He walked twice. The first he tied his old world record of 132 steps. The second he broke it, smashed it, pulverized it---162 steps. He even walked about 10 ft. without the use of his walker. Micheal Phelps has nothing on Will. He stayed off the vent for 12 hours and his oxygen needs are getting lower and lower. He even ate some chocolate pudding. It didn't stay down though. We'll try again later. He did say it tasted good.

Today, Sunday, will be another good day I hope. We aren't going to be doing dialysis until tomorrow. Tonight I will be going home to start school on Monday. I feel very peaceful about this. Tom will take good care of Will, no one can do better. I will be back on Friday evening and Grandma Cherie is coming up on Tuesday to stay for a few days to help out Tom. He would be fine without any help but it makes me feel better to know Tom has someone to spell him for a little bit.

God has blessed us and we want to give thanks to the ONE that has given us everything we need. He is with us always.

God bless


Saturday, August 16, 2008

August 16, 2008 Saturday 12:10 am

Dialysis day is just that. He got 3.5 liters off so Dr. Cahill thinks that Will is now at "dry-weight" which means we probably have all the fluid off that we can get off. So now maybe dialysis will just be taking toxins out of the body, not any more fluid.

He did have a good day visiting. Coach and Erin, his daughter, came to visit. They spent a few hours and then went on home. Now that's friends for you. He comes all the way from Idaho and then just spends a few hours. Will looks forward to the visit and it really picks him up.

Tom sister and brother, Bill came up to visit. They are spending the night and will be back up to visit with Will in the morning. He will be awake then. He slept most of the afternoon and evening. Tom was glad to see his family.

Saturday should be his best day yet. I hope he can walk maybe three times today. He said he would try. I need to put some more pictures up. Hope everyone is enjoying one of the last summer weekends before school starts.

God bless

Friday, August 15, 2008

August 15, 2008 Friday 12:32 am

GO USA
Great night for the USA in the gold medals!!

Well, Will set new records also. I told you that today was going to be a better day and it was. He just felt better all around. He walked farther than he has with 132 steps. But that's not all-- he also stayed off the vent (drum roll please...........) 13 hours and 7 min. So the real Gold goes to Will Harbison yea!!!!!!

It's so easy to have fun when Will is feeling well. Dr. Cahill was pleased with the progress. When she's happy, everybody's happy.

Today Coach and Erin, Coach's daughter, are coming for a visit. I hope that dialysis won't wipe him out too much that he won't enjoy their visit. So everyone enjoy the Olympics and be really glad it's Friday. Angel and I start school on Monday. Where did the summer go??

Richard and Kim White are home safe and sound. Things couldn't have gone smoother. Thank our good Lord and thank all of you that were praying for our good, good friend.

We have such funny nurses here. They wanted to see the Olympics when the USA girls were doing the floor exercises and when Phelps was winning his 110th gold medal (I'm not really sure if that number is right, but it's gotta be close because that's the only name you ever hear when they announce the swimming). So every time it was on I had to run out of Will's room and tell them that he was coughing and choking. Then they came running in to "help" --it really worked, nobody knew why all the nurses were in Will's room. Other patients probably were thinking that we had one really sick person in here.

God bless and keep you all safe.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Thursday August 14, 2008 12:16 am

The Olympics are so fun to watch. Go USA!!!


Will's day was about what happens on dialysis day--pretty sleepy. He did have a walk later in the evening. He just made it to the nurse's desk but Thursday he will walk all over, I'm sure.

I spent last night in the apartment and it has been good for him. Tom is here first thing in the morning and then I stay late in the evening. It works okay.

My nephew, Elliott, turned into a teenager this week and I missed it. Elliott-Happy late birthday and I will make it up to you soon. We love you lots and Will said that too. So sorry.

I will be leaving to go back to Hagerman on Sunday night. We start school on Monday. I will be able to do this and Will will be just fine. I know this is what I should be doing. Still, please pray for our family.

Today will be a good, good day. Maybe Will will break new records like the Olympians are doing now.
God bless

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Wednesday August 13, 2008 12:45 am

Here's our Breanna playing with "Uncle Will." She really didn't like sitting on his bed. She was okay as long as Tom was holding her. She liked playing tug-a-war with that stick. She always won, too. Will has got to get his muscle strength back :)

This picture is her dancing at the bottom of Will's bed on the little tray that is there for medicine. She almost looks like she knows she's not supposed to be doing that. What a character! Tom just sang her to sleep. He was singing one of the old, old cowboy songs that they used to sing to calm the herd of cows. Maybe Breanna will be a cowgirl someday. Breanna really does look a lot like our niece, Sadie Kay.



This last picture is after I took her downstairs to eat and I finally got her to smile at me, or maybe she just knows what a camera is for.




Will is such a superstar. His arthritis in his knee is really acting up. They can't really give him the normal arthritis medicine because those are the ones that can affect the kidneys, which he doesn't need. Even though the doctors feel real bad about the pain, they can't do anything about it except ice and Tylenol. Saying that, he still walked twice today after not walking the last two days. He walked 96 steps this morning and 102 steps tonight. He just keeps pushing and pushing. Everybody around here is just amazed at his motivation. You would think we would get used to it, but it always amazes Tom and I too. He walks down the hall and all the staff just hollers "Way to go, Will" makes Will work harder I think.

Here's some more good news----He stayed off the vent for 13 hours!!!! Yes, I said 13 hours straight. He's trying so hard. Tomorrow is dialysis again. Hopefully we will get another walk in before it starts.

His stomach is still having a lot of trouble but we are working with many people to try to find something that would help him.

Mindy and Breanna were our entertainment all day. We loved having them and Bre just thinks she is so funny (well she really is). They went home today. I also got to visit with my son-in-law because he was coming through and he had a layover for three hours. So we went to dinner together. We had a good visit.

Well, I hope God blesses all of you and keeps you safe.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Tuesday August 12, 2008 1:15 am

Will had dialysis today and they got 3.7 liters off. That's a little over 8 pounds of fluid. Today wasn't a great day and then they took him downstairs for xray. That takes a lot out of him. So he rested and slept most of the day. He did stay awake for a little visitor. Mindy (Henslee) Comstock and our little Breanna came to see Will finally. Breanna was born the day after we moved up here so this was the first time Will got to see her. She is such a little doll. I had some cute pictures but I forgot to put them on before I left the apartment today. So I will get them up tomorrow.

Tuesday should be a better day. He will hopefully get up and walk a couple of times and then maybe stay off the vent for most of the day. He stayed off only five hours today. We need to get those numbers back up.

Richard is doing great and got out of the hospital but I didn't get a call tonight so I hope they are doing okay. Kim will probably call me this morning. (That was just a subtle reminder for Kim).
Angel is still teaching summer school this week, so she's been busy.

Dr. Cahill got back but being so famous she's very busy catching up. She ran into Will's room and just wanted to remind him that she loved him and said she would be back tomorrow and be able to talk for a minute or two. She was just being pulled all over the place today. Ah, the price of fame. It just feels good to get her back here.

God bless

Monday, August 11, 2008

Monday August 11, 2008 1:20 am

Will's been doing so great but today wasn't that great. He was pretty miserable all day. It's because the toxins in the body are very high. He normally goes every other day for dialysis but on the weekend he has to go without for two days-from Friday until Monday. That's just too long. So today we're going to have a talk with the kidney doctors and find out just why he has to wait until Monday.

He only was able to stay off the vent for three hours and he couldn't get up and walk at all. After the wonderful day on Saturday, that was a big let down. He will have dialysis as soon as he wakes up so he will feel better by tomorrow night, even though he will be tired, at least he won't be feeling ill. He says it feels like he has the flu with every muscle and bone hurting. This shouldn't have to happen so I will let you all know why he can't have it on Sunday.

Good news though, Richard White will be leaving the hospital Monday morning. They will stay at the hotel for two nights before they fly home. He's just doing so great. Thank the good Lord.

Dr. Cahill is coming back today so we will see if she has any news for us. We missed her.

I know that we made the right decision for me to go back to teaching but as the time gets closer I don't know about that. Next Sunday is when I will leave because we need to be there on Monday morning. I was telling my good friend, Kim, that I was praying very hard for God to give me the peace to feel good about leaving Will (even though I am leaving him in the best hands of his father). Well, Kim pointed out that God always can give us peace, we just have to let him in to our hearts to receive it---and she is so right. Ever since then I have been feeling better. Hopefully I can hang on to that as the time gets closer. Pray for me please.

Our God is an awesome God and I asked Him to bless all our friends and family.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

August 9, 2008 Sunday 2:06 am

Here's to another night in my apartment. Will did really well last night on his own, it's so good for him to be able to know that he's getting better, so much so, that Mom can leave. He's in good hands up there.

Brent and Stacee came this morning and took Will for a walk down the hall. Of course, Brent felt that he had to do better than when Will walked with Coach. The competition is fierce between the brothers. Too bad that Will's caught in the middle. Just kidding. So Will did 102 steps for Coach, then this morning for Brent he did 114. Then Brent and Stacee went to Park City while Will had a good nap. When they came back they stopped back by and told Tom and I to go to dinner. So we did and when we came back, Will wanted to take another walk. Tonight he walked 124 steps. Look at the improvement in just one afternoon.

Hagerman here we come, well, not just quite yet----but soon.

I think Dr. Cahill comes back today but maybe it's tomorrow. She will be so surprised how well Will is doing. We like to surprise her like that.

Richard White is doing well in Texas. He's healing so fast but then he was pretty healthy to begin with. Their biggest gripe down there is that they are both soooooo bored. Neither one is used to being still. So when Kim told us that she rearranged the furniture in the hospital room, I believe her. Keep it up Richard and then you can come up here and tell Will the secret of how to get out of a hospital. We hope everyone has a great Sunday, don't forget it's a day of rest so go fishing.

God bless and we miss all of you.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Saturday August 9, 2008 1:15 am


The Olympics Opening Ceremony was so awesome. I hope everyone watched it. The USA team looked so sharp.

But not as sharp as Will has been looking lately. This last week has brought a big improvement. He's getting stronger and I think it's because they are taking off the fluid. Just in this last week they have taken off 10 liters-that's 22 pounds!!! He's a lean, mean fighting machine (well, almost). Brent and Stacee went to the Salt Lake Bees game last night and brought back Will a foam finger. We decided it needed to get on the blog. Great picture, huh?
Our neighbor, Richard White, had his cancer surgery yesterday and he's doing great. He's joking and trying to break all the rules. But don't worry everyone, Kim is there to keep him in line. We want to send up praise to God that they didn't find any other cancer than the one spot that they took out. He'll be home before we know it. Thanks for all the prayers for him.
In other news, I am at our apartment typing this blog. Yes, I finally felt it was time to leave Will at night. So you all should know that he's doing better if I'm able to do that. It's been 5 1/2 months since he hasn't had anyone with him. He's in great hands with one of his favorite nurses, Tora. She is so positive with him and he needs that sometimes. He's probably sleeping just fine and I will probably be playing games on my computer all night because it's way tooooooo quiet to sleep here. Where's all the beeps and hallway noise?? Brent and Stacee will be back up this morning. They had a great visit last night and Will's sense of humor is totally back. He got Brent a few times and that's hard to do. Things are looking great around the Harbison Hospital.
God bless

Friday, August 8, 2008

August 8, 2008 Friday 12:45 am

It was a good, good day in the Will Harbison hospital room.
We met with the Doctor from the Moran Eye Center that helps with vision impaired adults. Dr. Julia had so many great ideas and information for us. She got some of the paper work started that helped us be able to get some things that will help Will right now. We were able to go to the State library for the blind and get some "talking" books checked out to us. Then we went over to the vision impaired services and they were able to hook us up to a few things that we needed now. Dr. Julia also will start the paper work for us when we get back to Idaho so we can get some of the services that Will will need. She stayed with us for a couple of hours and then she went back to her office and got on the phone and founds things we needed and within an hour and a half she was back letting us know what she found out. What a great person she is, very happy. Will was very, very encouraged about the help that is out there.

Coach and Donna were here for the meeting and then Will walked. He walked 102 steps today, the longest he's gone yet. And the best news----he stayed off the vent for 12 and 1/2 hours!!! So things are going great with all that. He still has that dumb bug in his gut but maybe there might be some improvement there also. Coach and Donna stayed with him while Tom and I went to get the things that Dr. Julia was talking about. Donna gave Will a couple of foot rubs. He was very happy. Brent and Stacy will be down tomorrow.

Now I need to clarify something. When we said that yesterday about Will wanting the new ref job-he was teasing. He has many, many friends that are refs and they can see very well. But, you know there are some out there that I think Will can probably do a better job than they can. We didn't want to hurt any of Will's friends when we said that and I hope everyone takes it with a good sense of humor. Refs--please don't take it out on our Jerome teams :)

We need our prayer warriors to help us out again. Our really, really, good friend, Richard White goes in for surgery in Houston, Texas today at 10:30 am. He has some cancer in his lung and they are going to take that part of his lung out. He will be in the hospital a few days and then he will be home. Please pray that they get all the cancer and he heals quickly. Richard, if you reading this, we love you lots and God will take care of you. Rest easy, you're in good hands down there.

Thank you for the support and love you show us constantly.
God bless

Thursday, August 7, 2008

August 7, 2008 Thursday 12:45 am

First of all, I wanted to thank everyone who has responded to yesterday's blog. The comments and emails were so comforting to our family and Will appreciated all of them. Today we are meeting with a doctor who will tell us what we can be doing to assist Will with his vision impairment. There are lots of things to go through. I will share some with you tomorrow.

Well, this was a dialysis day and Will got off three liters of fluid again. He did walk first and he walked a long way, 96 steps. Coach and Donna Clark came up tonight to visit with Will and stay the night. They will come to the meeting in the morning with the doctor so they can help us get things started in Idaho for Will. Besides I don't think Coach trusts me to take care of his best friend as well as he can. They will go back home this afternoon sometime. Then his brother, Brent and Stacy Clark are coming up Friday morning. So this will be a good visiting time for Will. I think he needed it too.

Most of you will really enjoy this. Coach and Will were talking and Coach was explaining that there are still some things that Will could do still for a job. Will told Coach that he already figured out what he could do--He would be a ref. How FUNNY! Then Kim, Brent and Brenda all said that he would probably be the best in the Magic Valley. (except for Chris Waitley, of course). That is so like Will to come up with something funny at this point. Humor is Will's middle name.

God bless all our friends and family.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

August 6, 2008 midnight Wednesday

So everyone’s wait is over and we can give out our news. It’s been a very long and trying day. Sorry, it’s not the best news and we want to apologize for keeping you in the dark. The best way to do this is for me to start from the beginning.

During Will’s surgery for his new lungs, things went terribly wrong. Fluid built up in his body and caused it not to accept the bypass machine that would help him breathe while taking the old lungs out. They couldn’t keep his oxygen level up so things didn’t look good. We were told to prepare for the worse but Will being who he is, just kept fighting and with the prayers of everyone, he lived. Then when he was in the coma, the Drs. said he would probably be brain dead. This scenario went on for a few days until Will woke up one morning and proved them wrong again. (We know again was what did that) After a few weeks under a lot of sedating medication I noticed Will wasn’t tracking people that came into the room.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:4 (New International Version)


Here comes the bad part. Will lost almost all of his vision during surgery. We have known about this since then but without having a full exam we didn’t know if there was anything that could be done to help. Today was the full exam and there isn’t anything that can be done medically. He has about 25% of his vision in his lower right eye and that’s all. Thank you for all your prayers, God just decided to answer them later or there is going to be something a lot better for Will. We are all just so happy that Will is still alive.

The reason that he hasn’t wanted people to know is that, first---he didn’t want any sympathy. You all know Will and the kind of guy he is, he hates sympathy. Second reason—he has a ball team that had senior girls that he was very, very close to. He didn’t want them to have to think about Will’s situation in the final months of their high school year. That’s not how he wanted their senior year to end up, he loves them a lot and they love him.

What this means for his life we are not sure. God knows and we need to remember that. We do want to thank God that he has some vision. He can see some shadows on the right side and he sees color in that area. We will work with what he does have. The Moran Eye Center doctor, who was great, is hooking us up with a specialist for low vision people and we’re sure there will be aids that will help us in some areas.

Will has asked me to tell everybody, “I appreciate all the good wishes and prayers that are being said for me.” “Things could be worse, I could have lost all my vision.”

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18


Doesn’t that sound just like him? That should answer a few questions about what has been happening up here. There is a lot of things that have changed so Will needs someone to stay with him overnight. I’m sure people have been wondering why I stay every night and now you know.

We have tried very hard to keep people in the “dark” until school was out. I had to be careful because people were sending us pictures and Will couldn’t see them. So I just said he really appreciated them, which he did. The NBA Championship games he couldn’t watch (because he can’t see TV) so I had to be careful on how I said it on the blog so I wasn’t lying. He hasn’t been encouraging people to come see him because he didn’t want people to know. Now it’s all out in the open and we can just be normal.

Will will be all right because he is who he is. “WHERE THERE’S A WILL, THERE’S A WAY.” God knew what would be happening in his life. He was preparing Will all this time so he could be ready for this. A few people are going to be feeling that this is so UNFAIR—which is what Tom and I felt when we found out also. Well, life isn’t fair and Will has had plenty in his life already so why add more?? Again, we all need to have faith in God’s works. He has a reason for this. Who knows, maybe someday Will will be the first person to have his nerves in his eyes repaired---ya never know. His whole life will be changed but he has such a great support group---all of you and most importantly he has his faith in our Lord. God will never forsake him.

Cast your cares on the LORD
and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous fall.
Psalm 55:22 (New International Version)

I found a prayer from a book of prayers that I kept and I guess this is the reason why I kept it because it fits perfectly:

Lord, your Word has such healing power. Thank you for the promise that no matter how dark our days can be, You will never let us be lost or separated from Your love and care. You will never allow us to suffer more than we can bear! Even more, You comfort us through Your Holy Spirit and save us from having despairing hearts.


I hope that those of you that are so sad right now will find comfort in these words. Will will have many tough days ahead of him but he will do just fine.
TOUGH TIMES DON’T LAST, TOUGH PEOPLE DO.
Will is one of the toughest!
P.S. This has been a very hard blog to write. I’m sorry for the rambling. Tom, Angel and I are very glad that Will has such a great community and family that will help him through this time. You can write any comments for Will on this blog and I will see that he gets them. Or, if you don’t want to do that, you can email me and I will read them to him. harbisonterri@hotmail.com

God bless and keep the faith.

August 5, 2008 Tuesday 1;20 am

60,000 HITS
UNBELIEVABLE!!





Here is some pictures of when Tom took the kids to the zoo. This is all Angel sent but they did see other animals besides the giraffe, I'm sure.




We have been on this floor for one month now. We moved here on July 4th.
Will walked this morning and when he came back to the room he sat up on the couch for about forty minutes. Then he walked from the couch to the bed without his walker. That was a big step for him. I don't think he could have made it farther than those few steps but it was sure sweet to see him without the walker.

He had his dialysis today and they took off four liters. That should make him feel so much better. Dr. Cahill wants him to eat some jello or pudding or something just to see how his stomach will take real food. I'm sure he will walk and exercise real good today because of all the fluid they got off. She's leaving today for a week but she left us in good hands. Kelly and Tauna are watching out for us. We couldn't ask for better.

Today is a big day. He goes in for those tests at 4:15 and should take a couple of hours. Tonight I will let everyone know whats going on. Thanks for the patience. I wouldn't have mentioned it at all except Will really needs those prayers. Coach said he felt that those prayer lines going up are burning up tonight. I sure hope so. Thank you for your continued support and prayers for Will. I don't think he even comprehends how many people are supporting him. We can never repay all of you but we can pay it forward someday. 60,000 hits on this blog, can you believe it???? It just boggles my mind. God has blessed us so much.

God bless every one that has ever got on this blog and sent up prayers. You are very special people.

Monday, August 4, 2008

August 4, 2008 Monday 1:00 am

Now we have pictures of the kids and me at the aquarium. As most of you know, I love fish so this was a real treat for me. The two little ones loved it too. Here is a picture of Carson and Candace with me. We were having so much fun but they didn't want to sit still to take their picture.
Then this was a picture when I asked for the kids to come and sit on my lap and my son-n-law tried to sit on my lap also. He's so funny to take anywhere. He turns into a little kid again.



I loved the look on little Carson's face. He and Aaron were looking at something and he wanted me to come see. Such wonderment in his eyes. I love children, they have a way of reminding us what life is all about.

Here is Candace, Aaron's daughter and Carson looking at their first sea horse. You can see the sea horse in the bottom right of the picture.



This is a cute family picture. Behind them are jelly fish. They were amazing.


This was another family picture outside of the aquarium. I am so glad I got to go with them. I will tell you that I LOVE being a grandma!!! Candace is such a sweetie, she and I bonded very well.



So now on to Will, since this is his blog after all. He had a pretty good day. He walked two steps farther than he has before, so that shows improvement. He sat in a chair twice for an hour each time and he peddled a little bike peddle machine on the floor. His feet swell sometimes by the end of the day so it's hard for him to walk again so this is good exercise for him. He stayed off the vent for 11 1/2 hours again. He's getting stronger and stronger.
Even though tomorrow isn't his dialysis day, they are going to change it for this week because of the test on Tuesday afternoon. They don't want him too tired. Many of you emailed me and told me of the prayers that are being said. I want to thank you, they comfort us so much. This test is not a matter of life and death. I hope I don't worry everyone. I just wanted prayers said on this Sunday. It will all make sense when I explain it on Wednesday's blog. It's going to be a long one I'm afraid because we have some explaining to do.
Dr. Cahill is leaving again for a week. I think I am going to have to handcuff her to Will's bed. That woman is beginning to be a global traveler. She is leaving us in good hands though. Also she calls and checks up on him every day. The nurses here are great to us. How lucky we are to be able to say that. There are some awful stories out there about nursing care, but not here.
God is good and I hope He blesses each and every one of you as He has blessed our family.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

August 3, 2008 Sunday 2:00 am

Here's some cute pictures of Candace meeting Uncle Will and little Carson. Candace thought it was great fun playing nurse with the gloves and mask. Every time a nurse was in the room, Candace was right there watching everything. She was fascinated when Uncle Will got a shot and he didn't cry. Both kids thought that he needed a "big boy sticker" but the nurses didn't have one so they made one with a band aid. The kids put a happy face on it. So cute.


Here is a good picture of Will playing catch with a soft ball. The kids were afraid that they might hurt Uncle Will so they just placed the ball on Will's bed. Then he threw it to them. It entertained Will a lot more than it entertained the little ones.

Here's just a sweet picture of them hamming it up for the camera. I got some more pictures of us at the zoo with them and at the aquarium. I will put them up in the next day or two, but these were of Will so I thought I would put them up first. I don't know who put that Dr. Pepper in the picture, we are totally a Pepsi family.




So the day went fast because it was dialysis and that's about all that happens on these days. Tom stayed with Will all day so I could go with the kids to the aquarium. I love fish so it was great and it was indoors. The weather here was over 100 degrees, indoors was a good place to be. They took another two liters of fluid off Will but they need to take more. His blood pressure doesn't allow it though. He didn't get a walk in because his stomach was hurting too much. They still are trying different antibiotics on this. Hopefully it will be taken care of soon and he will be feeling better.

We have a favor to ask all of you. Will will be taking some tests on Tuesday afternoon that are pretty important. Please bear with us, we don't want to explain what the tests are right now, but I will on Tuesday night's blog. I know I am sounding mysterious but that's not the intention.
Will just doesn't want people to know until we know the outcome. It is very serious and we are going to ask for a small miracle. Please help us pray for this. Pray also that we have the strength to go through whatever happens. I will let you all know on the blog Tuesday night, well on Wednesday morning's blog. I get so confused with the dates because it's Tuesday for me but you all read it on Wednesday.

Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen
your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.

Psalm 31:24

We need to remember God answers ALL our prayers in three ways
1) yes
2)not right now
3)I have something better in mind

Faith will see us through all of these trials. The love and mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ, will give us everything we need.

Have a great Sunday, spend time with your family because family is so precious.

God bless


Saturday, August 2, 2008

August 2, 2008 Saturday 12:40 am

Will had a great visit with Coach and Ty Jones. They sat around and joked mainly about their families. Ty told us some funnies about his kids. I'm glad we parents can laugh about things like that. Will walked for them and went farther than he has in a long while. He was exhausted when he got back. His stomach and intestines still have the infection in them so the drs. are trying a new antibiotic today and see if that one will help. He stayed off the vent 11 1/2 hours, that was also longer than he has been doing. Dialysis is today, maybe they can take off more fluid today.

Tom and the family went to the zoo this morning. I think fun was had by all, especially Tom. This morning I am going to take them to the Aquarium and see the sharks. They have to leave this afternoon but Will's been enjoying the kids because we got to sneak them up here for a few minutes. Little Carson wanted to know why Will was still in bed because he was in bed yesterday too. I told him Will was just being lazy--he thought that was funny and started calling Will lazy. Kids are so gullible. Speaking of gullible, Christi, I didn't even think of that. Hmmmm-could be that the candy bars aren't making it down to Tanya's room. Tanya, if you're out there, let me know.

God bless

Friday, August 1, 2008

August 1, 2008 Friday 12:45 am

August---really----already???

The end of the week and the end of the month. Will had an okay day today. He had dialysis this morning after his walk. They were only able to take off 1 1/2 liters because his blood pressure went too low. They really wanted to take off about 4 liters again. Maybe Saturday.
While they were doing that Brent Clark and Ryan Pharris came up to visit. That really was good times for Will. It just helps so much when he gets to visit about basketball and stuff like that. I'm sure there's deep discussions about world problems too. Yea, right.

I am trying to keep our blog from getting too boring (Kim didn't say anything this time) so I'm mixing it up. Anyway there's a lot of different ways to do it so I thought I would try some. Blue is good. I just don't know how to get that big empty space at the top to fill in with something. Anyone have any suggestions???

Coach is coming today with Ty Jones. They will spend a few hours visiting. Angel and Aaron came up to visit also and they will stay until Saturday night. They have Candace, Aaron's daughter, and Carson, our friend who is 4 years old. Will finally got to meet Candace, and they threw a ball around the room. All of them had a good time until they started squealing so we had to put a stop to it. I told Will to knock it off. (Just kidding, Will still can't talk because of the trach)
Tom is taking them to the zoo today and then I will take them to the aquarium tomorrow. They have sharks there. I'm excited. No, really, I am. So it's like a little mini vacation for Tom and I also. Those two little ones will be fun to take to these places. Fun days of summer. It's supposed to be around 100 degrees for the next two days. Nice and toasty.

There is 12 CFers in the hospital right now. That's way over the average. It's because of the bad air quality. Tanya is back in and everyone is praying for her to get her new lungs. She's a cutie for sure. Tom takes her a candy bar all the time. I don't get down there enough but she's sleeping when I do. Tanya, if you are reading this, hang in there and know we are praying for you.

I will have pictures today or tomorrow. I thank God for all of you.
God bless.