First, however, I want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and well wishes! This has been a long three weeks and I’m really blessed to have so many friends supporting me through this. I’m really looking forward to life getting back to normal!

Here’s Angela’s Update:

We just got home from T.C.’s second kidney stone surgery. So far T.C. is doing better this time than he did after the first surgery. He was able to walk into the house on his own very slowly. Last time it took two days before he could walk anywhere without leaning on me. So, that’s definitely much better. He did have to have a stent put in, but it was only for 3 days this time, and it isn’t hurting as much this time. I’m hoping it won’t get any worse.

Here’s the news from the surgery. Dr. Brekelbaum came out and was obviously frustrated. He told me that there is no kidney stone inside T.C.’s kidney. He looked throughout it with the scope then went back with the x-ray and found the exact spot that is showing a kidney stone with x-ray and the scope shows nothing, but he can see the stone with the x-ray there. It is slightly above the area where the original stone was. He said that means one of two things. The stone was slightly into the passage from the kidney to the bladder before the first surgery. His theory is that when he inserted the scope for the first surgery, it dislodged the stone and pushed it further into the kidney, knocking a piece of it off. That is the piece that he blasted and removed last time. The rest of the stone must have gotten pushed through the lining of the kidney by the scope, so it is now in the tissue outside the kidney. This is the first and most likely possibility. The other possibility is that it is a phlebolith, (Here is the definition on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlebolith) This is less likely because it should have shown up in that same spot on the first x-ray, and it didn’t. So, Dr. Brekelbaum is convinced that it is the kidney stone that was pushed outside the kidney. Either way it is outside the “collecting system.” He said it will not cause any more pain and is not an issue any more. It doesn’t need to be removed. He compared it to a bone chip from someone’s elbow that is floating in the system. It is not worth going in and removing.

We are supposed to send off for a 24 hour urinalysis after we remove the stent this Friday. They are checking for the uric acid. His was high when they tested his urine in the lab. This could be a sign of gout. If it is high, we will get new dietary recommendations to follow and have a follow up test later on to see if it is helping.

The milk was just heated in a saucepan, not frothed…

Tasted pretty good without any sweetener added. It would probably be better with another shot of espresso and some actual frothing. But as it is, it’s fewer calories than regular milk, diary-free, lactose-free and adds a nice coconut flavor.

And this:

Break Your Heart

Hope you all have a wonderful day too!!!

tc

I had no idea what to expect when we got down there. And for the most part, Mike didn’t have any idea either. We both just felt the need to get outta Dodge for some R&R.

There was one thing that Mike scheduled for that weekend and it was supposed to be a surprise. He wouldn’t tell me what it was, and I had to exercise extreme restraint to keep from hounding him with questions about it. But after sleeping in on Saturday and getting up in time to catch the breakfast at the hotel before it closed, we headed to the streets and a block away was the Dallas Segway Tours!

I’d never ridden one before, and I had my doubts, but after a 15 minute training I had the basics down.

Proof!

We also went to the Dallas World Aquarium which was also just down the street from our hotel.

It was a fun trip. And some much needed time away…

Gilbert’s finest restaurant – actually, it’s only restaurant, The Gilbert Cafe, is just down the street from the hostel. And on an average night, you’ll be able to hear a local musician pick away at his guitar and banjo played through an amp that’s mounted to the back of his 4-wheeler. I think he likes Johnny Cash’s “Walk the Line” because he plays it quite a bit.

On a REALLY good night, a band of hillbillies will come in, clear the floor, set up some chairs and a mic and play some of the best Ozark bluegrass you can imagine. And these are hillbillies with the overalls, barefeet, pointed hat and even the missing teeth.

But I digress…

Thomas and I arrived late on Friday night and pretty much went straight to bed. On Saturday morning we had breakfast, played around, and got ready for our 2-3 hour float trip.  I’m proud to say that none of us tipped over on our way down the Buffalo and no one got sunburned either.

Taking a swim / snack break during the canoe trip...

Saturday night was dinner at the Gilbert Cafe, bananas foster back at the hostel  and then our obligatory fogata (Spanish: a bonfire) out in the front yard. And you can’t have a bonfire without roasting marshmallows!

Sunday morning we hit the road again for Fayetteville and caught the Spanish Mass and met with some friends before heading back home to Alma. It was a long trip, but it was a lot of fun.