Sunday 11/30/08

Will had a lazy day. I had to wake him up at 11:30 because Shannon, his cousin, was coming up to visit. He did get to listen to the Jerome girls' game on the radio (via telephone) later in the afternoon. The Jerome girls won. Good job ladies.

Brenda and Dean, our good friends, came over to visit a little tonight. They brought Will a little Santa to set on his bedside table. They know how much Will loves Christmas. Billie and Matt, his other cousins came by tonight even though it was their "date night" to just keep Will company. Now this is why we needed to come back to Idaho.

He's looking good, so good. Tomorrow he gets to be a little lazy too. We love weekends.

God bless

11/29/08 Saturday

Today we had visitors from home. Keri Peterson (Andrus) came by with her family. You might remember that Will and she were best friends all through school. She now is an assistant coach in Jerome so she keeps Will up on all the news from Will's girls' team. Keelie and Will were playing rock, paper, scissors. I think Will was cheating. LOL Kara was just watching, she doesn't like that game.





This morning we had a surprise visitor, Tyler, and his dad, Curt Osborne. They came up for the BSU game and Tyler was all dressed out with the team's colors. He's such a doll.




Will finally got to show me what he does downstairs in the therapy room. He has come a long way. Joel, Will's therapist, told me that he thinks of Will a lot, even on his off days. He says Will gives him more appreciation for the little things that he does. For Will, it's a major production and you really can come to take it for granted--like breathing. He was telling me things and it really touched me. Will is still spreading good things out there.

One of the things he does is get down on a workout table and kneel on both knees. No one is holding him, this is for balance. He has to stay up for a minute, it doesn't sound like a lot but Will is sweating and breathing very, very hard when he gets done. Joel was telling me that every time that he sets a goal for Will, he achieves it. That's such a tribute to Will. It does this mother's heart good to hear such touching things, because I know he's amazing.

He had dialysis again today and they got another four liters. He breathes so much better after that. Tom is back in Hagerman and he's going to the Jerome girls' basketball game against Bishop Kelly tomorrow night. They should have it webcast so Will can listen to it, hopefully.

P.S. Will misses all his friends in Utah and wants me to say hi from him--so HI


Have a great Saturday and God bless.

What a great Thanksgiving

Okay, so here is part of Will's family. Angel in pink is sitting next to Aunt Karen. Aunt Karen is trying to get my new camcorder to upload pictures on Will's computer at the hospital. Will's three cousins, Billie, Christi, and Magen (they are sisters) are watching the video. So here is everybody watching the computer and Aaron is the only one that remembered he's here to visit Will. Thanks Aaron.

Below is a picture of my two guys. They really like each other. I'm just so glad that Aaron is so comfortable in the hospital.

We took this picture because we don't have one of the main family. Doesn't Will look stylin' in his Hawaiian shirt?



This is our little Fabiola taking a picture with her "husband-t0-be" on Thanksgiving. She is so cute and fun to tease. If the wedding thing doesn't work out, I'm thinking that we are going to just adopt her.

NOW FOR THE FINAL PICTURE
HERE IS PART OF THE FAMILY THAT
CAME UP TO VISIT WILL.
WE HAD TO GET A CONFERENCE ROOM TO
HOLD US ALL.

HERE'S TO FAMILY-THEY KEEP US STRONG.

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I know we did. God bless everyone.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE

We have so MUCH to be thankful for!!! We couldn't put all of our thanks into just one day. We wake up thankful and we go to bed thankful. What blessings have been given to us by our awesome God.

Will had dialysis today and they were able to get off 4 liters (or about 10 pounds) of fluid. He was feeling pretty tired all day today. Tomorrow will be different. Coach and Donna came up today and stayed awhile. Donna and I went to lunch and had a good visit while Will, Tom, and Coach visited at the hospital.

Thanksgiving afternoon will be busy. Will's family (mine, too) will be coming by to visit. We are going to meet in the cafeteria because his room is too small for all of them. After they eat, they are going to bring a plate for Tom and I. We all are going to have our cameras ready. He should be feeling pretty good after dialysis today so I hope he can really enjoy his visit. It won't be long now before he will be having visitors at his home. Seriously.

Angel and Aaron will have Candace so they should be coming by to see Uncle Will, too. Cowboys play too, so his Thanksgiving is going to be fabulous.

I had my students write a letter to me telling me what they were thankful for, with instructions that it can't cost money. The kids had a hard time figuring out what I wanted, finally they all started writing about their God, church, families, friends, roof over their heads, just what I wanted them to think about. Some of them were just funny, like one little girl said she was thankful that she didn't have any more brothers because she couldn't take much more (her words-not mine). But almost all of them said they were thankful for Will getting better. How sweet is that. Most of them haven't even met him, but I guess their parents keep up by our blog. So I have to say how thankful I am to have my little students to keep me sane (well, as sane as I can be anyway).

What I was getting at was no one will ever be able to fully comprehend how much it has meant to Tom, Angel, Aaron and myself to have so many people pulling for Will. We are very THANKFUL for all of you.

Don't eat too much.

I pray that everyone is surrounded by love this Thanksgiving. I know we will be with family, friends, and care-giver staff.
GOD BLESS

Nov. 26, 2008 Wed.

Will made it to St. Als, the hospital and had all the tests run. It took about an hour and a half. Susan, our RT, went with him and Tom too. Tom was able to stay with Will and he kept him entertained. When he got back to the room he rested for a few minutes and had a visitor, Diane Perkins. Then a little bit later Coach Steve Irons, a friend of Will's came up. I don't know if Steve is still a coach somewhere, but that's how Will knows him so he will always be Coach Irons to us. He brought up a couple of presents for Will and Will wants me to thank Coach Rogers, the College of Southern Idaho coach, for the gifts. Steve, it was great that you came up and visited. Will really enjoyed it.

Billie, his cousin, showed up after work to visit a little bit. We are going to have our Thanksgiving dinner delivered to the hospital by Billie and the whole family, if they are healthy. That will be a great picture op, right? Coach and Donna are going to come up tomorrow and visit for awhile.

We won't know anything about the vein mapping until tomorrow or the next day. I thought we would know today, but silly me, I forgot about hospital time that falls under the word "soon." The definition of "soon" is sometime in the next century or so, just teasing of course. Hey, it's all good and we will be all together. Angel and Aaron will be up to Boise and having Thanksgiving with Aaron's parents. They will be visiting with Will, too.

I will be leaving when I wake up in the morning. I will have five days with Will. Whoopee.
Hope everyone is getting ready for the good turkey day.
God bless

Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008

Thanksgiving is almost here---can't wait.
Will walked downstairs and then he walked up four stairs today. What an accomplishment. Leaps and bounds, now. He had a visit from his cousin from Pocatello, Brenda, who is expecting our little great-nephew in a few months. Will's other cousin, Shannon, and his wife, Amanda, came up to visit also. He had dialysis this afternoon so he was pretty worn out.

Still he had great strides today and tomorrow he has to take a little trip to St. Als (hospital) because the docs want to have a vein mapping done. That is what they do so they can really look at the veins in Will's arms to see if they can put a "fistula" in for dialysis use. (Alert: new word, pay attention, please) A fistula is a vein they open up for permanent use for the dialysis people to plug Will into when he has dialysis. It is better for Will to have this because the one he uses now is a "tunnel catheter" and it is more prone to infection. There are two different ways they can do this but I will wait until the kidney doctor decides and explain that one. It's easier on me that way, because I'm just now learning all about it with the help of Will's nurse, Patricia, who use to work in a dialysis center.

I will fill you all in tomorrow night with what I found out. He will be tired when he gets done so he will probably have a quiet night.

God bless

Nov. 24, 2008 Monday

HERE'S OUR FAMILY FROM CALIFORNIA.



Here's pictures of my family. My sister, Mickey, is left of Will. My niece, Missy is on the right of Will. My mom, the short one, is pushing Will's IV pole and little Jeffrey, my great-nephew, is helping. We had a good visit. They will be going back to California the day after Thanksgiving but his will be the only time they can see Will.

This is a picture of my sweet mom with her contraption on her arm. She hasn't been able to get up here because of her shoulder surgery. She was so shocked. She even cried when she saw Will walk.


Here's another picture of our family from California. They were so excited seeing Will. He looks good in red, doesn't he?

He had a lazy Sunday but we all need those now and then. I want to apologize to our Jerome basketball girls. I still haven't figured out the workings of my new camera. I know I'm doing something wrong and I will work on it over the Thanksgiving break and get a video up then. They are great pictures.

I only teach two days this week and then I'm back up to Boise again. Yea.
Won't be long now with God's good blessings.
God bless

Nov. 23, Sunday

Will had a good day. He was tired but he seems to be on Saturday especially after the wonderful, but hard week that Will has had. He went for a little walk but he was tired all day. When he sat down and got all comfortable, he fell asleep. He even slept through part of the BSU game, but I woke him up when it got exciting again. We found out why he was so sleepy-his blood sugar was 588 (which is very high) They worked awhile and got it down now into the 200s so he should be back to normal tomorrow hopefully

He didn't have any company until about 7 tonight. Then the "surprise" visitors showed up---Will's basketball team from Jerome came over. Just the varsity came to the hospital, Brent dropped the other JV and 9th grade team over to the mall. So they came into the cafeteria and were waiting for Will when he came down. It was emotional for him and I'm sure for the girls too, but it was the best. I got a new camcorder and I got it all on video but I have to figure out how to load them and I'm too tired tonight so I will do that tomorrow and you will see a good movie and you won't even have to pay money. They were telling Will all about he games and what's coming up (after they got over being so nervous) It was fun.

He is looking so good.
God bless and have a great Sunday

Sat, Nov. 22, 2008

Here is a couple of Will's teachers from high school that are good friends of mine also. They were excited about seeing Will, but I think Will was even more excited. Pam Wallace (married name goes here, but it's late and I have forgotten it because she moved away from Hagerman before she got married so she will always be Miss Wallace around Hagerman) is trying to fix Will's computer. The other one on her right is Lynette Gregg and she taught Will math and how to cheat at cards but that's another story altogether. They were very close to Will and it was so good to finally have them up to visit us.
Here is the cutest part of our family. Yes, it's Aaron!! No, I mean the kids, although Aaron is pretty darn cute. They were playing with the books and helping Uncle Will read about a girl that turns pink. I thought that was a good one to share with Uncle Will LOL. They will be back tomorrow or the day after.

We had another visitor from Will's coaching Hagerman boys days. Andy Stevenson came by to visit but it was during dialysis and he was very tired. I hope Andy comes by again because Will would have like t visit with him more. Before dialysis, he went downstairs and worked on his balance.

But the best news is....................................Will asked to have the vent taken out of his room. I wrote that for all our wonderful RT's at the University of Utah that tried and tried but he just wasn't ready for that to happen. So he has had another milestone (so many these last two weeks). The vent is no longer in the room and he says he's not going back on it. So he won't! (plain and simple). Praise God for all the blessings He is showering down on Will.

Tomorrow, Will is getting some "surprise" visitors. Don't worry everyone, they have been told that no one, no one, will go in Will's room if they have been sick, thinking about getting sick, or have been around other sickies.

Just another side note, Will's massage therapist, I mean nurse, is back from her cruise to Mexico and she's been telling us all about it. Will missed her so he's happy and he's all ready for bed now that she's given him his nightly massage. Teresa couldn't believe how he's changed in the 10 days she's been gone. I can't beleive the change either.

I will have some great pictures tomorrow for you. So stay tuned.
God bless

Friday, Nov. 21, 2008

Now when 8 o'clock a.m. rolls around on Friday, he will have been off the vent 3 days. We used to measure it by hours, now it's being measured by days. He had a great day with no sign of the fever coming back. He walked around the unit twice in the morning and once more with Dad in the afternoon. He was sitting up in the chair when he fell asleep. He's needing more sleep lately but that's because of the effort he's putting forth. Will's making it look easy, but we know it's not.

Christi and her boys came over tonight after school and Will enjoyed hearing about what they have been doing. A good friend, Jeff Jester came up to see Will and Darwin Pugmire popped up for a minute. Darwin and Tom started working with Idaho Power on the same day so we have known him a long time.

We are expecting some special, special visitors on Saturday and I will have pictures for sure. (this is what the people in the writer's business call a "tease" to keep you reading.) Grandma and Grandpa Atwood came up to say good-bye to Will because they will be leaving for a few weeks to go see our family in Reno. They will be celebrating Thanksgiving there and going to watch the BSU/Nevada game this weekend.

My sister, niece, and great-nephew came up from California last night and I got to run over to my mom's house after school to visit. It's been almost two years since I have seen her. They will be coming over to Boise on Sunday to visit with Will and me. This will be a great weekend for Will, but then, it's been a great, great, week, hasn't it? I'm heading back up there right after school.

God bless

UPDATED

50 HOURS AND STILL GOING!!!!

THE VENT WILL NEED DUSTING SOON.

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

What wonderful days Will has been having. He is still off and it's past midnight-almost 48 hours. He is really doing well. Today he had a little trouble with dialysis and so he was not feeling well at all. He was shivering and shaking almost the whole time. He was feeling terrible and he was throwing up but not once did he ask to go back on the vent. Then he started running a 102.9 degree (I can't find the little symbol for degree-anybody know where it is on the keyboard?) fever and he still didn't ask to be put back on. I just got back home and called Cathy, his nurse, and she said he was cooler and he's sleeping---still off the vent.

I went up there to have a celebratory party with him but he didn't feel up to it so we will dance later. We want to thank you all for the comments and the words of encouragement you have sent our way. I read them all to Will and he really enjoyed hearing for you all.

The doctors have asked us to remind all the visitors that want to come up, Will is in a real fragile place right now, so if you think you might have any kind of bug, please wait and visit later. We have to be real vigilant because he is using all his reserves right now trying to keep breathing on his own. We would feel awful he he caught any kind of bug that set him back. I know all of you understand. He does love his visitors and it helps him to see friends and family (John T. you listening?) and I really credit that with his speedy recovery, oh, and the great nursing, PT, RT and physician care he has received in the last 8 1/2 months.

Will just keeps amazing all of us and we know, by God's good grace, that he is going to be coming home soon. We might be spending Thanksgiving in the hospital (won't be the first time) but we have soooooooo much to be thankful for. AMEN

Take care and God bless.

HE DID IT!!!!!

HE DID IT!!!!! 24 HOURS AND STILL GOING STRONG. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS.

WAY TO GO, WILL!

Please post congratulatory comments to Will for his accomplishment and I will read it to him when I get up to the hospital this afternoon.
Thanks-Terri

Nov 19, 2008 Wednesday

Coach came over to see Will and he got to walk with him around the unit.Coach even brought Tyson, his son, who Will helped coached when Ty was in high school. They had a lot to talk about. Then Kim and the kids came by and the room was really rockin'.

Will is on his big trial today. When he hits 8:00 am this morning, he will have stayed off for 24 hours, yes, you read it right. He has come so far and he WILL do it. Praise God.

The physical therapist had Will doing balance exercises. They even had him walking up a stair.
Tonight Billie, his cousin, and Sadie Kay, came to visit and when little Sadie (3 yrs. old) comes by to visit she brightens up Will's room just by walking in the place.

I will be going up to Boise as soon as school is out. We will be celebrating, I'm sure. Maybe what I will do is when I find out that he made it 24 hours, I will post it (just a short post). Then maybe we can all say of prayer of thanks for God's blessing on Will. I know I do every day anyway. We will be bringing him home soon.

God bless

Nov. 18, 2008 Tuesday

He had another great day, Tom tells me all the stuff he has been doing. WOW. He walked around the hall twice. Then he had occupational therapy helping him do some things. He had a session with the speech therapy lady and then he had dialysis. Busy, busy day.

In the end he did 18 hours again, second day in a row. Things are really happening fast now. Tomorrow they will try for 24 hours. Then he can rest and then do another 24 hours. Maybe by the end of the week he will be staying off it all the time.

The doctor has told me that he would stay off from it for about two weeks before they decide to take out the trach and let it heal over. Usually by then we can tell if Will's reserve is built up enough to take over all the breathing. He still needs oxygen but we won't know how much till later. I think with the dialysis taking off so much fluid that it's has gotten so much easier for Will to move and breathe. I'm still learning what all this means so I will let you all know when I figure it out. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them on the comments.

God bless

Nov. 17, 2008 Monday

Here is one more picture of another visitor. This is Mecale (Henslee) Dunn. Will and she were very good friends and they were our neighbors forever. She is now married and has two big boys. Maybe next time she comes up here she can bring the little ones. Will looks good in the blue shirt, doesn't he?

He had a very good day. He got to sleep in and that was very exciting. Then he visited with Mecale and Grandpa and Grandma came up and Grandpa gave Will another haircut. Will was looking a little scruffy. After he rested a little, we helped him take another shower. He did better than his first one last week. He wasn't so nervous, but it is still over-stimulation for someone who hasn't had much stimulation in the last 8 months. So it will get better.

We took a little ride outside and he loved that. We sat outside for a while but then he wanted to go back inside. He walked from the elevator back to his room. Nice job, Will. I was going to take a picture of Will watching the Dallas game but he kind of feel asleep. Next time.

He's off the vent for 18 HOURS!!!! Tomorrow he will go again for 18 hours and then----they are going for all day and all night. 24 hours and then rest him. So maybe by Tuesday he will be all day and all night. Pray for him.

I hope that all of you had a great Sunday too.

God bless

Nov. 16, 2008 Sunday

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYBODY!

LET'S CELEBRATE

GOD'S LOVE--

BE GOOD TO ONE ANOTHER

Speaking of being good, this young lady is Will's new girlfriend (I apologize to all his other girls)
He's found a winner. (Now for all you romantics-we are just kidding.) This is Will's aide, Fabiola, and she is just about the cutest thing ever. She's going to be a doctor some day, she's already pre-med. She gets so red when we tease her so, of course, we tease her a lot because that's the type of family we have. She made Will put his arm around her, but then look at his smile. She can really make him smile. (yes she is standing next to Will in his wheelchair, she's just a little short)




This next picture is of Will's old, old friend from high school. He told me I had to take a picture that didn't show his shiny, bald spot. I hope nobody can see Jason's shiny, bald spot. He would be so mad if somebody knew he had a shiny, bald spot. Jason, I don't think anybody can tell. But, seriously Will had a great time visiting because when they get together they talk SPORTS, SPORTS, AND MORE SPORTS, just what Will needs.



While Jason was here, the RT, Tina from Texas, tried to see if he could use the speaking valve since it was right after dialysis. He still couldn't, so he will wait until he gets the trach out all the way. All he could do is a small croaking voice saying, "Can you hear me?" I thought if he could only say four words it would be something like, "I love you Mom." But, no! Oh well, that's what I get for thinking.

He did stay off the vent for 16 1/2 hours--new record!!! But Sunday he is supposed to try for 18 hours. He watched the BSU game a little but that much of a blow out isn't that fun. He had lots of company. We had a friend, Diane Perkins, come up that we haven't seen in a few years. Her son, Brandon, has CF, he's 24 yrs. old already. I know I wouldn't recognize him. Also, Will's Uncle Bill and Aunt Joan came up from Jerome to say hi. Aunt Karen from Twin also came up last night but I forgot to tell everyone and she didn't get her name on the blog so she's crying now. I hope this makes you feel better, Karen. LOL

Angel and Aaron came up for the day. Will was excited to see them. I took Aaron and went to find some more shirts for Will. He told me I had to bring Aaron with me because Aaron is a very nice dresser and he wouldn't let me buy old people's shirts like I did last time. We found a few.
Then when we got back Curtis, Jen and Cali came up. They visited with Angel and Aaron because Angel and Cali have this special connection and they haven't seen each other for awhile. Then Curtis and family stayed and visited Will and Angel, Aaron and I went to dinner.
BUSY DAY, so Will is sleeping really well now. They were only able to take off 2 1/2 liters of fluid. Hopefully Sunday will be a good day since they did dialysis today. The COWBOYS will be playing Sunday Night Football so Will will be busy tomorrow night.

Will wanted me to let everyone know if you wanted to come up, he's ready for visitors. He said that a lot of people come on Saturday but then not very many the rest of the week. The only thing we ask is if you have any sniffles, a cold, or the flu symptoms, please don't come up. He still has no immunity to germs. He will never be able to have people around him with bad germs. If you come up on the weekend, call my cell phone, if you come up on the weekdays, call Tom's. If you don't have those numbers, send me an email harbisonterri@hotmail.com and I will give it to you.

My sister, Mickey, and Missy, my niece, and Jeffery, my great-nephew, will be coming up from California on Wednesday. It will be good to visit with them.

God bless everyone and I hope you have a great Sunday. We will!! Will's just doing so much better. It's hard to describe how much progress he is making every, single day. I hope the pictures are giving you all some idea of how good he is looking.

Nov. 15, 2008 Saturday

It was a very good day for Will. 16 HOURS OFF THE VENT. He is almost off the vent--it will be happening real soon. He walked several time today and once when he wasn't even told to.
He was rolling his wheelchair back to the room after his PT and Kim White (our neighbor and good, good friend) was with Will. He decided to show off a little and so he walked down the hall without any walker in front of him. Amazing. I just wish I had more superlatives to describe this progress of his.

Christi, his cousin, was here tonight. They had a good visit and she just couldn't believe the change in him. She said the best thing was his big smile. He feels so good about his progress too.
Christi and he were joking around and teasing each other (and me) just like old times.

Well, I'm headed off to my Cherie's and Dad's house to get in the wonderful bed they have for us. Will is going to have dialysis on Saturday to see if that helps. I hope they do it in the afternoon so I can see him workout.

Life is wonderful. God is good.
God bless

Nov. 14, 2008 Friday

Here's one of our night nurses, Coleen. She's such a nut, when I told her to get a picture with Will, she was trying to do a crazy pose but I couldn't get my camera to take a picture, at least until she was being nice and "normal" Darn it. She does fit right in with this family though.
Here's AnnMarie with Will. She kept holding his hand but Danny didn't like it. Tough luck, Danny boy. She taking back with her tomorrow a good report to the University of Utah staff. Will had a lot of people asking her to find out how he is being treated and if he's getting everything he needs. Well, now they will rest easier.

I love this picture of Will because this was taken about 7 tonight and he had been off the vent for about 15 hours. I asked if he would let his cousins, Danny and Shannon, and Will's girlfriend (oops, I mean Danny's girlfriend) see him walk. He said okay but just a little one. Well, he walked all around the unit again. That's the first time I have gotten to see that long of walk. He looked fantastic!!! I still am getting teary-eyed. So, in this picture is Shannon, on the left. Next to him in back of Will is Danny and then of course sweet AnnMarie.

This is another great picture. The cousins and AnnMarie with Will on his walk. They had gotten Will a jacket from Cabella's (sp?) Even though he was hot, Will wanted to take a picture with the jacket on. They had so much fun together. They had Will smiling ear-to-ear with some of their stories. I really felt sorry for AnnMarie, but she's a lot tougher than you can imagine.

This last picture is strictly all for Danny. He was goofing off with a waist tie of Will's and he didn't think I would take his picture---he was pretending he was Kung Fu Panda, or something like that. So of course it goes on the blog so everyone from Utah can see what a nerd he really is. You're secret is finally out Danny. Sorry

Will's day was better than yesterday for sure. I went back up to Boise so I could visit and get his CT results. His lungs look better than we were expecting so that is such good news and I really, really want to thank you all for your prayers. They really worked wonderful ways today. We really need to listen to Him when He is trying to tell us things. Being human and a mother, it's very hard. Thank you God, for helping me be quiet and listen. Our God has such a great plan for Will, I just know it. Just look at the miracles He has allowed to happen already.

Will's trip to St. Als (hospital) where they did the CT went very smoothly. Will was very nervous because they were making the trip without the vent with him, just with oxygen. He didn't know if that was a very smart thing to do. Everything went well, so know he knows he doesn't need the vent that close all the time. Another milestone we can check off.

The doctors decided that Will needs more fluid off than what he's getting. Tonight he was back on dialysis again, then again tomorrow. This should help his breathing and he's going longer off the vent. He's really looking so much better, I wish the pictures would do that justice.

So I will be back up to Boise tomorrow for the weekend and Tom will be heading back here. He is going to try to go to the Jerome Girls' Basketball game. He likes to go so he can represent Will there. Then he will come back and tell Will all about it.

Grandma and Grandpa came up today and we had a good visit. They did Will's laundry and brought it up. How's that for maid service? Billie and Matt came up for a minute but they said they would come back up tomorrow when things aren't that crazy.

Tomorrow my class earned a pajama party for being good. So I let them bring their pjs and we watch a movie and eat popcorn in the afternoon. Sounds like a great time and I bet you all want to come join us. Come on over.

I hope you all are looking forward to your weekend. I know I sure am.

God bless

Nov. 13, 2008 Thursday

Another picture because this is what Will's fans want, right?

These are our great friends from Hagerman Judy Osborne and Carrie (Osborne) Chizum. He enjoyed their visit but it was only a few hours since he had dialysis so he was pretty tired. We are so glad they came up even though Will wasn't us to his normal visiting talk.

Danny and AnnMarie were here for awhile but they came just in time to help us move. The nurses had to move the whole unit to the other end of the hallway. Will is now in one of the ICU rooms with windows so we are in new room like a fishbowl. Everybody goes by and waves to us.
He was really enjoying their visit but again, it was during dialysis so he slept a lot. They are coming back by noon tomorrow and spend the day with Will. They have a lot of stories for us about the U of U people, so we can't wait to hear all of them.

Will stayed off the vent for 15 hours and he had xrays this morning. His lungs are looking better than last week. Tomorrow he goes over to St. Als and has a CT on his lungs. We will let you all know when we know how those wonderful lungs look. Please pray for Will to keep on with his great progress. It's so unreal.

God bless

Nov. 12, 2008 Wednesday

This is Will in clothes!! Coach is down to visit and Will put on sweat pants and a shirt. I can't believe it. I haven't seen him with clothes on in almost 9 months. Wow. I will be expecting him in his real clothes when I get up there right after school tomorrow. We have another meeting at 4. I just keep staring at the picture (no, Coach, I'm not looking at you), Will looks so great. I hope all you friends (specially the ones from U of U) can see this. I know there is a way to get videos on this blog so I will try to do that soon.

Doesn't Coach look so proud, he thinks Will is doing all this exercising just for him. Well, I hate to burst his bubble (well, maybe I don't mind bursting his bubble) but they would make him do this no matter who is there. Sorry Coach, it has nothing to do with you. Will's neck muscles are still weak from being in bed all this time so that's why his head is down like that. He's been doing exercises to strengthen them.

Will rode the bike for about five minutes again but then Joel, Will's physical therapist, put a belt around Will's waist and had him pull Joel around on a wheeled chair. I don't think Will thought that was fair. Later in the afternoon he walked a little and then went down and rode for another five minutes. It is so amazing how well Will does when we can get the fluid off.

Kim and Richard and Riley and Hayley came up for a quick visit tonight. They couldn't believe how well Will looked. He's just doing wonderful. All the moving and exercising is really working well. I think the company is really helping too.

Tomorrow Danny and AnnMarie are coming from Utah to visit for a couple of days. Will is really excited. It will be nice because then I can see them too since I will be up there.

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I would be remiss in my education calling if I didn't acknowledge the Veterans that have helped keep our country free. My students had to write a letter to all the Veterans and thank them. They turned out so cute. I made a big bulletin board with them and then they had big yellow stars that they wrote the names of the veterans from their family. That went up on the board also. We have a few people from Bliss (where I teach) that are fighting overseas and I am going to make copies to send to them so they can read how much they are appreciated. I hope that all of you took time to thank a vet today. Where would we be without them???? (This is where you ponder for a moment). There, now my teaching is done.

God bless all of our veterans, not just today but everyday.

Nov. 11, 2008 Tuesday

Will's day wasn't all that great although he had some great visitors. His cousin, Shannon, and his wife, Amanda and their three kids. Jack was just so interested in the dialysis, watching the blood go round and round. I'm glad they got to come up and visit Will.






He stayed off the vent again for 14 hours and he wasn't feeling well. I know they were talking about getting Will his dialysis early on Mondays because he doesn't get any dialysis on the weekend. When Monday rolls around, he really needs the dialysis. Well, I guess they didn't get the memo because they didn't show up until 6 tonight. He still walked and did his little work out.

Tom and Grandma and Grandpa went over the vision impaired service center. They saw a lot of things that might be helpful for Will when we get him home. There are so many "things" out there. We just need to find which ones will help Will.

The dialysis tech told Tom that he was going to get about 4 liters off from Will so tomorrow should be a great day.

I hope you all have a great Tuesday also and God bless

Nov 10, 2008 Monday

Here is a great picture of Will getting his nightly massage from Teresa. After tomorrow night, Will is going to have to beg another nurse to do that. Teresa is going on a cruise to Mexico and getting some fun and sun. She deserves it too. Do you see the nice relaxing smile on Will's face.
(Tom is there in the picture because he's itching Will's feet. They got really itchy tonight.

Here is Teresa, Will's nurse, Nicole, Will's night RT, and Will, of course. Will was just getting ready to be put back on the vent after 14 1/2 hours again being off the vent. He doesn't look too worse for wear, does he? He's doing great although today was a little rougher than yesterday because of his fluids on board. He was struggling a little more and he didn't really want to get up at all. He did, even though the nurses said he could have a little bit of a day off. He still walked out in the hall but then he started throwing up so he had to go back in his room. For some reasons, those nurses just don't think that the patient should be in the hall throwing up??????? LOL

He didn't have any visitors today (except for his ever-faithful grandparents) which was probably a good thing because he wasn't feeling too well. Tuesday, Coach is coming up and then on Wednesday, AnnMarie is coming up to see Will. You remember AnnaMarie, one of Will's favorite RT from the University of Utah. Oh yea, and Danny(Will's cousin) is coming with her. For some strange reason, they think they are in love and it's all because of Will----I know all of you probably want to say AWE right now. They do make a cute couple but you kind of have to wonder "what is AnnMarie thinking?????" No, I'm just kidding. I love Danny so much. Will can't wait for them to get here. I think they are staying a couple of days and then they have to get back to SLC.

Once again, the weekend went by too fast. It is FANTASTIC what Will has accomplished from last Sunday night to this Sunday night. I ask that all of you can keep praying that this will keep up. God is so awesome and I know, without a doubt, that He hears every one of our prayers.

God bless all of Will's friends and family.

Sunday Nov. 9, 2008

Pictures, pictures, and more pictures:



Here's Curtis, Jenn and Cali getting ready to go watch the BSU game. They get really into it now. So now they need to get Uncle Will a shirt to wear on game days.

I had to get a picture of Will during his walk so everyone can see that he finally walked for his mom. Thanks Will, I was getting really worried that you saved all of that for your dad's "watch." My dad, George, is helping push Will's tube feed and our RT, Tina from Texas, is helping with the great trek all the way down the hall and back again.

Will has a different walker that is easier to use. It has a built in seat. Well, our sweet nurse, Patricia (remember the macarana dancing nurse-yup this is the one) decided that Will didn't have it tough enough so she sat in it and wanted Will to push her. It didn't happen, but it was funny.

Okay so the big day has come and Will got to try and shower. Here is Brent and Stacee right after the BSU game. They came and it seemed like everyone wanted to watch my son take his first shower in many, many months. We did have to curb Brent's enthusiasm and tell him it was time to go home. The shower wasn't as fun or relaxing as I thought it should be for Will. Next time it will get better. So there is another milestone that has come and gone. Go Will

Okay, this last picture is Will and he has two young third graders that are our friends. These are Coach's niece's twin sons, Camron and Cody. They use to live in Hagerman and they come down a lot to see Sylvan Clark, their Grandpa. At first they were very nervous, then the gates opened up and they couldn't quit talking. They were telling us so many stories-it kept us entertained for quite awhile. Will enjoys kids so much and I'm glad they can come up.

Billie and Matt, Will's cousins, came up to visit for a while. So all in all it has been a very busy day and Will loved it. He did very well and made a new record-------14 hours 35 minutes OFF the vent. Whoohoo

After Will's shower though, he was tired. He took a quick nap and then had his nightly massage. So he's sleeping like a baby now. I hope tomorrow is going to be as great as today. It won't be long now people. He is up and running now--watch out Hagerman, he'll be home soon. I better start unpacking all those boxes of his that came home from SLC with us.

God bless

Nov. 8, 2008 Saturday

Will looks so good. I have still not seen him up in a chair or walking the "loop" around the nurses' desk. That's because when I got up here, he was on dialysis and then when he's done he's pretty tired. Wednesday they got 3 1/2 liters off, Thursday they got 4 liters off, and today he got 4 1/2 liters---that's almost 25 pounds of fluid off. Of course he can breathe easier and move easier. He had a great day. He rode the bike for five minutes straight without stopping. Then he even topped yesterday---he stayed off the vent for 13 hours 10 minutes.

Well, you know what really got to me, when I got up here he was wearing pajama bottoms. We look forward to the little victories like this. He actually put the pj's on himself. It took awhile but he got them up. It's been so long and it was a good step. What determination this guy has!!!

Tomorrow, Saturday, we are going to try to get him in the shower. I know it will feel so good for him. Then he's going to take me on a walk around this loop. I don't know if Will is going to have dialysis on Sat. or Sun. Maybe we will play some games or something. I'm looking forward to the better days coming.

His Uncle Dave came up to visit today. He's the one that flies for Delta and this is one of his stopovers this month. (Usually he goes to Cancun or something like that). It was good to see him and he had seen Will in Utah quite a few times so he was impressed with what changes there are in Will.

Dallas Cowboys have a bye this week so I don't have to share Will with the Cowboys on Sunday.
I am definitely going to have some pictures up this weekend. I know he would have lots of company but there seems to be a bad cold going around the valley so a lot of Will's friends won't be able to come up (and we want to thank all of you for being so careful of the germs).

Our friends in SLC are experiencing snow already,but we had a gorgeous fall day today. Will had his massage from Teresa (yes, she's back after being off for a week) so he's almost asleep. He will have sweet dreams tonight.

Please say a great big thank you to our great Creator for the wonderful change that's happening with Will. What a blessing He is giving us right now and we give all the praise and glory to Him.

God bless

Friday, Nov. 7, 2008 1:19 AM

80,000 HITS!!!!!!

ALL WE CAN SAY IS WOW

Will did sooooooo good today. Thank you, God. He walked all around the nurses' desk. That might be his longest walk yet!!!! They have him sitting up most the day and he was off the vent for almost-----drum roll, please--------12 hours. He didn't not have any more fever after I left and he's breathing easier. The doctors and the kidney doctor got together and decided that he might be needing more dialysis than he's getting now. So they did dialysis today, even though they did it yesterday also. They took 4 liters of fluid off, yesterday it was 3 liters. Then they will do more tomorrow and either Saturday or Sunday. He was turning in some rather high numbers on his kidney numbers so they are trying to keep them down. That could be what's turning him around. After all this time you would think that we would be use to Will doing things all messed up.

So I can't wait to get up there for this weekend. I will have Will take me out dancing one night. (That's what I told him on the phone tonight). He said even if he was feeling better he wouldn't do that. Kids can be so cruel (I think he's been around Coach too long). This will be a great weekend even without the dancing. Tom will come home and check on his horse. He was so excited about Will this morning doing all that walking. It was good to hear Tom's voice so upbeat.

Angel and Aaron were up visiting Will tonight. Tom went back to my dad's early to try to catch up on some sleep he missed last night. Brenda (Coach's sister and a good friend of the family) finally got to come up and see Will this morning. I know Will was looking forward to it a lot. She's just one of those people that you feel good just being around.

So here comes the weekend! I hope the snow stays away. I pray that Will continues his fantastic progress. I hope the friends from the U of U are reading this and know that he's doing better. I can't believe how many people read this blog.

Thanks for all the prayers and God bless

Nov. 6, 2008 Thursday 1:09 am

Boy, that was a quick trip up to see Will. I stayed later than I expected though, and it's definitely time for us to get out our winter coats.
The meeting was all about how well he has been the last three days. I hope I have been letting you all know that already. We had a few issues that we wanted to discuss with the doctor but he wasn't able to be there so they will get back to us. Will walked to the end of the hallway again today and he stayed off the vent for about 11 hours. He sat up in the chair for a long time, too. What a fabulous improvement!

So I get up to Boise and Will gets sick--no, really (I think he must be allergic to me). I was so excited to see him doing so well, too. When I got up there he just started his dialysis so he wasn't wanting to visit too much. I knew after he was finished that he would visit then. So sometime during the dialysis he spiked a fever. I don't know why but it started to go up. About 8 tonight it was about 103.6. He was just so cold, he was shaking. So they called the doctor and Will had some antibiotics going in his IV. When I left it was just about 100, so it was going down. Tom said he would stay with him for a couple more hours. I just talked to Tom and he said his fever broke and he was sleeping really well. Tom was headed to Dad house to sleep.

We did call our niece, Missy, and wish her a Happy Birthday tonight. She and Will are the same age. They are going to try to come from California to visit us during the Thanksgiving break.

Well, we will pray that the fever was just one of those freaky things that Will does to get my old heart pumping. Angel and Aaron are going to come up to Boise tomorrow night to go to Candace's parent teacher's meeting. Then they are going over to see Will. It's been awhile since they have seen him. Hopefully they will see a big improvement.

God bless and please pray that the fever doesn't come back. Thank you all so much.

Wednesday Nov. 5, 2008 12:10 am

We have a new president and we should all pray for him and the United State of America.

Enough of politics, Will is doing so good today. He stayed in the chair for about six hours, he stayed off the vent about 10 hours. What fabulous numbers that is. Coach came up and visited with Will and they had a great time. Will went down to the therapy room with Coach, Grandpa and Grandma, and Tom and rode the stationary bike for five minutes. It took a lot out of him but he has made such good progress in just a day or two. I can't wait to see him tomorrow. Even though tomorrow is dialysis is tomorrow, I expect to see a different guy than I left on Sunday. I am going up about 2:30 so I can be there for a care meeting and discuss what's going to be happening with Will. I will stay for a while for a good visit and then head back. It is so wonderful to have him so close.

I went to vote after school and then I went to my old church for their election day dinner that the Methodist church holds every election day. I think half the town was there and I haven't been able to see very many people since I started living back in Idaho again. It was so fantastic to see everyone. Many, many people told me that every morning they read the blog and then pray for Will. It just boggles my mind how much love surrounds Will (and Will's family) and how many people know, without a doubt, that the reason Will is still here and fighting is because of that love and prayers and by the grace of our almighty God. God put these wonderful people in Will's life to be able to help strengthen him and us and we will never be able to say thank you enough.

God bless

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE TODAY

VOTE

Will told me to tell everyone not to forget to get out and vote.

He had a lot better day than yesterday. Will sat up in a chair for almost six hours. He stayed off the vent for about 9 hours. That is for sure better than yesterday.

Some old friends from school, Jason and Mary Warr, came up to see Will. Will told me it was a very good visit. I have called a few of his other friends and want to call a few more. I have asked them if they would like to come and see Will. This is why we brought Will back to Idaho. He needs the encouragement you can only get from you close friends and family.

I am glad that everyone enjoyed the pictures that I put up about Will. I will try to keep putting more on the blog.
I think Coach is coming up on Tuesday to visit with Will. Will wanted to make sure Coach doesn't come down on a dialysis day. He can hardly stay awake to visit with anyone.

God bless and God bless Will. God bless our elections AMEN

Monday Nov. 3, 2008 1:05 AM

We had a great surprise tonight. Our nephews, Noah and Elliott (Christi's sons) came up to see Will. They didn't get up here until after 8:30 but we were able to sneak them in the back way. (It pays to know people) We haven't seen them since before we left to go to Salt Lake so it's been over a year. They have grown so much!!! Will was very happy to see them. They had to catch us up with about a years worth of news. They had been waiting patiently to be able to visit Will. They are such special guys and they got a pretty special mom too.

Earlier we had other visitors-Kim and Richard White. They are our next door neighbors. This is a great story: Kim is now joining the ranks of basketball coaching so when she came in and got all settled she was so excited to finally talk to Will about coaches "stuff." Will asks what she has been doing in practice and Kim starts to tell him. About midway through her first sentence, she looks up and Will is sound asleep. That was so funny and if any of you know Kim, that didn't stop her. She just kept talking. I finally felt sorry for her and took her on a walk. That made me laugh all night. (Coach-no jokes please, her feelings are hurt :)

The day wasn't that great for Will, except for the wonderful company. He's not feeling well and he sure needs dialysis. He's itching and having trouble breathing. I don't know that three days a week is enough for dialysis. We will visit with the doctor about that today. Besides, the darn Cowboys lost to the Giants. Wasn't a pretty loss either, I think Dallas forgot to get on the plane. So not a good day, but tomorrow will be better for Will. I didn't want to come home tonight, it seems that the weekend goes by so fast. I will be going back up there on Wednesday.

God bless and have a great Monday

Sunday Nov. 2

Sadie and Coby (I finally spelled it right) came back up today to visit Will again. Oh, and their parents, Billie and Matt. Sadie is just fascinated with the hospital. Here she is just sitting and watching what's happening with Will. I showed her the little oxymeter (to measure his oxygen level) that's on his finger and told her it was to make sure that he was breathing okay. She looked over at that and told Will that's he's breathing real good. Then she told Will that he was her best friend. Can we have a big AWE!!!!

She is so smart for a three years old. I hope this picture can be opened up because if you look at the bottom of the bed, there's Coby sleeping so sweetly. Just the cutest ever.

This picture is priceless. There's Will's hand holding Coby's.

And how about this one. It warmed my old heart.

Here's the two "boys" just laying around--not doing too much.

Below are two great pictures of my dad coming out of retirement only for Will. He got his hair cut from a professional barber. (For those of you that don't know my dad, he was a barber for over 50 years) It made me flash back 34 years when Dad gave him his first hair cut at the barber shop. Will sat so still for a little guy just because Dad use to give all the kids a penny to buy gum out of the gum machine in the barber shop. I think Dad gave all the kids and grandkids their first haircut. Will is looking so much better.

Will went outside for quite a while this afternoon. It was overcast and almost raining so it was perfect for the all-the-time-hot Will. He loved it and the air smelled so sweet-too bad Will can't smell it. He stayed off the vent for ten hours today. We had a good day. I think I talked his ear off, but he likes it when I tell him what's going on in the outside world.

He's going to take a long walk tomorrow early and maybe we can go outside again. Dallas plays at two. Sometimes when I watch him sleep, his strength just amazes me. He just is like that energizer bunny-just keeps going and going. God put in Will all the ingredients that Will would need to help him through this time. WOW Our God is so wonderful to us. His presence in our lives is all we need.

I pray that God showers you with blessings. Go to church and glorify Him (or don't go to church and still glorify Him). God bless

NOVEMBER 1, 2008 SAT. 12:51 AM

Hey Coach, Halloween's all over so you can take off your mask now. FUNNY, HUH? I need to go on stage I think (got him back for us, Donna, Lynette, and Pam).

Grandma and Grandpa brought Will up a little basket of candy so we could give some out to the staff here. That was very thoughtful. Thanks.
Here was our first trick or treater--Our Cali, Curtis and Jen's little 7 yr. old. She came as a vampire, or is it vampiress?? She was so cute when she came in, she had her fang teeth and everything. Isn't that a great smile on Uncle Will's face? She can make him like that just by walking into his room. Here's a cute story about that pumpkin at the bottom of the bed. Cali decorated it for Uncle Will and she drew four faces on the pumpkin--1) sad face 2)happy face 3) straight line mouth for okay feeling and then 4th) was the angry face. She told Uncle Will that he could just turn it to the one that shows how he's feeling and then the doctors won't have to ask him. That's just the cutest thing.

So Will put it on the happy face while she was here.




The picture above was when she was sitting on Uncle Will's bed. The lady behind them is the dialysis nurse.


Then after a little bit Billie brought Sadie and Kobe. Sadie was a mermaid and she had on the cutest little shoes. They made a lot of noise when she walked so she loved those. And Will's little namesake-was dressed as a chili pepper. Isn't' he adorable. He wasn't happy because big sister got all the candy but she told me he couldn't have any until he got big.






This last picture was of Maria, our aid (they call them PCT stands for patient care technician here). She came in to hold a little red chili so I could take a picture of Will and Sadie. He was being so good for Maria she got to hold him awhile. Aren't his eyes beautiful??

These sweet visitors came right after Will was done with dialysis so he had on three hospital blankets and he had me throw on his Cowboys blanket too. It's so strange to have him cold.


They took off about three liters today and he stayed off the vent for 10 hours. That's so much better than last weekend. He took a walk today that was so far this morning. Of course, when I got up here he was done walking for the day, but I'm sure that he will walk for me tomorrow. At least he will be able to sleep in a little tomorrow. I already can see he's doing much better than last weekend. He's looking forward to that. He did listen to a Celtics game tonight--Yup, it's that time folks. Go Green!!!!!


Now I saved the best picture for last. I have been putting the pictures of sweet people that have been rubbing Will's feet for him. I think they have all been "trumped." Sadie decided that she would put some lotion on Will's feet (just the bottom though). It was the most adorable picture. Look at Will's face. She even asked when she was done if that was good. SO SWEET!!!
I hope that I get some more pictures from home and I will put them on the blog too.

We are going to have a great weekend and I hope you all will too.

God bless