Contest

I thought I would let everyone know that I am having a contest over at my blog.

All is Well ...

Thank you for thinking of us! David is home and doing well. They say it will take at least a month before he even begins to feel better, but in the meantime he is being well monitored and looked after. He'll be all right.

Thank you again for your prayers and words of encouragement!

Ali & David Cross In Need Of Our Prayers

I pulled this off Ali's blog today . . . thought it'd be nice if we could all include her in our prayers.

***
Saturday morning Update ...

I'm partially frustrated because the plan keeps changing, but this morning's plan makes sense and is a lot less invasive, which is good. NOW the doctors are thinking he has pneumonia and so they are going to treat him for that. The blood around his heart is, they think, simply that collection that occurs during a heart surgery and though his was four years ago, they say this is normal. That fluid never does get reabsorbed by the body and unless it becomes infected is not typically problematic.

The coughing, weight loss, general feeling of 'unwellness' and such can all be attributed to pneumonia. The speeding heart rate, wild arythmias can mostly be attributed to his extremely low potassium levels.

So for now, they are scrapping the idea of the chest cavity aspiration scheduled for Monday and instead administering antibiotics and potassium to treat the possible pneumonia and mineral levels.

David is starting to feel like a trapped bird and wants nothing more than to get out of there. I, however, am very grateful that they are treating him and looking for causes for all his concerns. I'll be excited is pneumonia is all it is, he can be treated and home without any more scary surgeries.

Thanks for your hugs and words of encouragement!

***

Some of my friends know that David has been in declining health for the last few months and that things reached something of a crisis level this week. Today he went in for some tests, a follow-up from an ER visit on Monday. He just called to let me know they are admitting him to UofU Hospital.

I'm going to feed the boys, then take them to a friends for the night and I'm heading up to the hospital. Please say a prayer for my dear husband.

***
very early Friday morning ...

When I finally got the boys shipped out and the dog squared away and headed up to the hospital I heard more from David ... he was going to have surgery first thing in the morning to repair his heart valve. I have to admit, I was freaking scared driving up there. I thought he made it through that surgery once, but could he do it again?

But once at the hospital (they have him in the medical critical care unit - a sort of step down from ICU but not on the regular floor either), I was able to talk with his surgeon and doctor (who is the Director of Cardio Thoracic Surgery at the University of Utah so he's the top dog, doesn't get any better than him) and he has decided to hold off on surgery just yet.

First, they are starting him on a course of antibiotics to see if it's an infection in his chest cavity. IF it's an infection, either the antibiotics will begin to take effect OR they'll need to operate to remove the source of infection AND/OR they will insert a syringe type thing to drain the fluid.

If it's not an infection, the course of action becomes a bit more vague. Though blood work has denied the possibility of endocarditis (infection of the heart) all symptoms point to that - a result, likely, of the infected tooth root from September. IF it's that, he may need another heart valve replacement and/or aortic root repair. Doc seems to think endocarditis is still a possibility regardless of blood work - the infection could be hiding. OR it could not exist at all.

Turns out he's lost close to fifteen pounds since September. So they are very concerned about that coupled with his symptoms. They are planning on keeping him for a 'few days' and running any number of tests on him to determine once, and for all what the heck is going on. Like I said, our possible options for courses of actions range from something as benign as IV antibiotics to open heart surgery again to repair/replace his valve and such.

I don't know what the heck is going on or what is going to happen. I was going to spend the night with him (boys are farmed out), but after hearing they were not going to operate David was a bit more relaxed and we decided I should come home and get some rest because we don't know what the next few days may hold for us. Guess I should try and get some of that rest now, eh?

I'll post as soon as I know anything worth telling.

Tristi Announces New Book Release

Tristi Pinkston, author of "Nothing to Regret" and "Strength to Endure," announces the release of her third published novel, "Season of Sacrifice." The true story of her great-great-grandfather Benjamin Perkins who engineered the passage through the Hole in the Rock in southern Utah, this novel shows the depth of courage and committment shown by these intrepid pioneers and the sacrifices they made to show their devotion to Heavenly Father.

This book is produced by Golden Wings and will be available mid-March. For more information, click here.

Thursday, January 10th Lunch at Brick Oven

At the top of this blog is the official logo of the Utah Chapter of the Beautiful Bodacious Babbling Blogging Babes.

Well, lunch rocked once again. And this time we have pictures! Utah's B to 5 (which is what Alvin says we should call ourselves) met at Brick Oven today. We had a delightful time getting to know one another again and meeting those of us who arrived for the first time. We missed everyone who couldn't make it! Serious bummer!

Here are some of the pictures from our lunch. They let us have the Party Room at Brick Oven, which was a shock because I wasn't willing to pay $5.00 a head for everyone who didn't show up under the number of 12. We had a little mix up with the check, but it all turned out okay. I don't think we'll be taking our party back there again, though. Servers were great. Food was great. But the reservationist was rude and didn't make note that I canceled the reservation for the room and asked for a table in the main dining room. Budgeting and all, I couldn't spring for the $5.00 a head.

Donna over at Donna's Journey at Julia and Where Oh Where Has My Mind Gone, mother and daughter, presented the door prize today. That amazing mug you see is designed with our official logo.

Karlene Browning over at Inksplasher won the door prize. And she was as thrilled as I to receive it.

Donna and her husband make all kinds of wonderful items in their business, including these mugs. You can check them out at www.remembermymug.com.

All in all, I thought it was very cool! Donna says any of the Blogging Babes can order one of the mugs for $15.00. It's rockin' . . . I have one myself. Courtesy of Donna and Julia, which was unnecessary but exceedingly sweet. Here's a closeup of the mug:

How much does that seriously rock! I feel so official!

So we met, we visited, we laughed, we took pictures (thank you to Jarel, one of my missionary sons who gave me a digital camera for Christmas) and we ate. A lot. And then Ali over at Girl in a Whirl helped me eat my hot fudge brownie sundae literally swimming in hot fudge and caramel. Oh my gosh, it gives me shivers just thinking about it. I can't have another one until July 26th . . . one a year, although the one I had today I've been trying to have since last July 26th . . . so I guess I'm getting two this year.

So, here's who showed up . . .

Ali at Girl in a Whirl
Julia at Where Oh Where Has My Mind Gone
Tristi at Tristi Pinkston, LDS Author
Heather at Heather Justesen
Karlene at Inksplasher
Donna at Donna's Journey

. . . and

Me. We really, really missed everyone else. Here are some pictures of the gang.

Julia and Karlene

Tristi and Ali

Patented Tristi pose . . . check out www.ldstorymakers.com if you don't believe me.

Here's Heather!

Donna and Ali

And finally, Heather, me, Karlene and Julia

And that's everyone who showed up. I realize my camera skills leave a lot to be desired, but hey, I haven't had a camera in over a decade. I'm still getting my skills, what little there were, back.

Next month it will be the first Saturday in February 2nd at 1:00 p.m. at Golden Corral in Orem. Check my right-hand column for updated details.

We had a complete blast and we're looking forward to getting together next month. We have varied interests, talents and experiences, it was a blast to to get together and visit, chat and get to know a little more about Donna and Julia.

Rock on!

And here we are!

This is the official blogspot for the Utah Chapter of the Beautiful Bodacious Babbling Blogging Babes . . . our official logo is the header, and our group is as follows:

Ali at Girl in a Whirl
Anne at Not Entirely British
Anne at Twas Brillig
Annette at The Lyon's Tale
Donna at Donna's Journey
Candace at Dream a little dream . . .
Heather at My Writer's Lair
Heather at Heather Justesen
Jana at Mom Interrupted
Janet at Janet's Blog
Jen at Lords of the Manor
Jennifer at Confessions of a Lifelong Bookworm
Jeri at A Fickle Pickle
Jill at Mental Tesserae
Julia at Where oh where has my mind gone
Karen at A Writer's Ramblings
Karlene at Inksplasher
Linda at I Knew I Could Fly
Lori at Scott Smith Photography
Michele Holmes at My Paige
Sandra at The Dance
Shellie at Little But Loud
Stephanie at Stephanie Fowers
Suzanne at Chocolate Daydreams
Tristi at Tristi Pinkston, LDS Author
Wendy at Interrugnum

Whew . . . I think that's everyone. I'll be sending out invitations and this will be our main meeting spot to catch up on every one, announce babies, engagements, marriages, new businesses, new books, movies, etc. Whatever is new in our lives, this will be the place to grab it.

Check back often!