Monday, May 28, 2007

Update

I'm sorry that my post have been few and far between! As you know from my previous post, I have been spending a lot of time taking care of my wife. She is actually doing remarkably well right now. She is scheduled to have the skin grafts done on her lower leg this week on Thursday and then has an appointment with the infection specialist doc. If she is given the "all clear", we can move on to the heart cath and treatment for the PPH. In spite of everything that is going on with her, she feels great. In fact, we went house shopping today.

As to my geocaching, it seems like every time I have a chance to go, it is either raining or Lisa is not feeling well. Team ARC is just dying to get out and cache a little so I am sure we will hit it soon. The same goes for my photography. I just haven't had much free time.

The one thing I have had a chance to do is some shooting. I upgraded my CCW to a Springfield XD 45C a little over a month ago and the gun shop threw in an annual membership to their indoor range. It is close to work so I am trying to get by once a week at lunch to get accustomed to my new pistol. I had never really considered carrying a .45 for concealed carry, but this compact model works very well and is easily concealed in an IWB holster. I know that firearms are a controversial topic, especially, in this day and age. I am glad I live in a state and a country that recognizes my personal right to protect myself and my family, though. To me, it is a personal decision and I don't think any less of anyone who chooses not to do so. I have had my CCL (concealed carry license) for about 11 years now and never had an incident and hope that I never do but it is comforting to know that I can protect myself if the need arises. On a similar note, my wife has decided to obtain her CCL as well. I've had many years of experience and training so I will help with her training, but she will also receive professional defensive training catering to females. She will do well as she is already a better shot than I. It has been interesting watching her transform over the 17 years that we have been married. When we first met, she was very anti-gun/anti-hunting. We were a bit of an odd couple in that sense as I grew up hunting and have always been a 2nd amendment advocate. Through the years, she has grown to understand hunting for food purposes and owning guns for self protection. She is quite a shooter now, as well, and enjoys shooting my firearms enough that she has asked for her own gun. Unfortunately, I haven't had to say much to convince her that there is a need for self protection, society has done that. Seeing bad things happen to good people everyday on the news is pretty convincing.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

My Wife, My Life....

Normally, the spring would be my peak geocaching and photography time. This spring has not been very fruitful in either area for me. Much more important matters have had my attention this spring. My wife has been ill for quite some time now. She has encountered various issues over the past several years and we were never able to pinpoint the problem. This spring has been especially rough for her. She has spent about five weeks out of the last seven hospitalized for various reasons. Most recently, she began having severe difficulty breathing one day while I was at work. She called me in a panic because she could not get her breath. My wife is usually very healthy. She is 44 years old, active, and eats very healthy so these issues have been a bit of a mystery. With this latest incident, I rushed home after calling 911 to find them loading her into the ambulance. She was in pretty rough shape. For some reason, they decided to do an echocardiogram at the hospital. To make a long story short, we found the problem that had been eluding us.

My wife was diagnosed with Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH). She has now been in the hospital for six days and spent the last 3 in CICU. She has significant damage to her heart and her pulmonary pressure is 100mm or five time what it should be. They have ran a multitude of test and scans and cannot figure out why she has this. Unfortunately, in some cases, they do not discover the cause. It just is what it is. Our options are pretty limited at this point. There are things they can do to lower the pressure and slow down the damage. If they can get her pressure below 70mm, she would be eligible for a heart-lung transplant but lowering it 30 points is asking a lot. The average survival is 2.8 years but they say her damage is pretty advanced already. Mostly, I am just in shock and kind of numb. We've been married 17 years and I sure expected many more to come. Since I have MS and have never been the most healthy person, I never even considered the possibility that I might outlive her. I do know that this is not a death sentence and that we can have a positive outcome, though. It is just that as test after test and time goes by, the odds are not in our favor. My wife is a fighter and she is keeping a very positive attitude. She is strong and willful. If any one can get through this, it is her.

It is ironic that just a couple of months ago, I expressed my fears here on this blog of some day losing my father. Two months later, I'm now facing this. Kinda depressing!! I've always been a pretty spiritual person with a strong belief in prayer. I find great comfort there now. I probably won't be doing a lot of caching in the near future as my focus will solely be on my wife for now. I spend a great deal of time at the hospital as I miss her terribly when I'm not there. They are taking great care of her but I can't help but worry when I am away from her.

In the mean time, find a cache for me.