Biopsy

Here I sit eerily in an empty hospital room, no bed, no patient, no beeping...just me and the walls. 

The biopsy will take less than 45 minutes, but recovery will be about two hours, and then they will bring Chris back up here to "our" room for more red blood; I say red blood because there are three parts to the blood, red cells, white cells, and platelets. Yesterday, Chris was given two units of red blood and 2 units of platelets. Today, he will receive another 2 units of red blood and one unit of platelets during the biopsy to prepare for possible bleeding during the procedure. 

The amount of poking and prodding that Chris has had to endure is inspiring to me; I don't know if I could be so strong. Chris takes everything in, follows along, hoping that something will give...that he can finally have a break. 

October 2003, Chris became blind when a vein broke in his eye, causing him to see through blood only. Riley was two-months-old. We fear Chris won't see our new baby again. A vitrectomy and laser treatment saved his eyesight. 

April 2011, Chris' retina torn, when Chris and I were messing around he yelled, "blood, I see blood in my eye again!" A retinal reattachment saved his retina.

June 2011, A cataract grew as a result of the retinal reattachment, causing him to see through water and fog. A cataract surgery fixed his fog...but the doctor clipped the pupil and since then too much light shines in his eye and he sees the surface of the sun when outside, or can't see in the dark. His peripheral is gone. 

November 2011, Chris became legally blind. 

January 2013, Chris is admitted for pancytopenia...which means no blood, or can't produce new blood. After a month in hospital, and lung biopsy, he is finally semi-diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia.

February 2013, we are introduced to the wonderful people at the Bone Marrow Transplant clinic at LDS Hospital...or as they are called "East 8." Chris is given blood every other day to keep him alive until they can find a final diagnosis. 

March 2013, Chris is admitted for chemotherapy for his Aplastic Anemia, but it is short lived...they need to remove his right upper lobe of his lung, it is too diseased. 

We are admitted to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, and spend a month there recovering from the lobectomy. A few days in ICU, and the rest on the thoracic floor. Our spirits started to fall here.

April 2013, chemotherapy is finally started...longest five days of mine and Chris' lives. He had some reactions but came through. We were hopeful this would put his Aplastic Anemia in remission.

April 2013, Chris is admitted again for gallstones, but nobody wants to do a surgery, so we treat symptoms and wait.  

May 2013, chemotherapy is still not showing signs of working. Kidney's are starting to show signs of failure and disease. Here I am today, waiting for my husband to come out of the biopsy of his Kidney's...hoping they can find answers to all their questions.

This is a very rough timeline of our journey, but it kind of shows the progression and setbacks we have had during this past four months. We are extremely grateful to the people of LDS Hospital, they have been so kind and compassionate. We have grown to love the nurses and doctors here and the staff is amazing. 

As you can tell from my previous posts, I have faith...it may be imperfect faith, but it is all I have right now. 

This picture just makes me laugh....I needed it today. Love my Cody man.