Life gives us many challenges but with it comes many miracles and blessings. Lately I’ve been making myself focus on the miracles that I have in my life instead of the challenges. One of the miracles we’ve experienced lately has to do with Diana’s mom and dad.
Diana’s dad has lung problems and we’ve slowly watched him go downhill with his health. It’s a very difficult thing to watch your parent’s struggle with poor health. Diana’s dad is very active and having difficulty breathing has been a trial for him as well as the rest of the family. It’s hard to watch him struggle. We all expected that this is the way things were going to be that we didn’t have any options. Well the miracle occurred in December of 2009. Ed, Diana’s dad, called and told us that he was going to Los Angeles for a consultation in order to have a lung transplant! We didn’t even know that was possible. Well, they went out there and after a week of extensive tests the doctors declared him eligible for the lung transplant. A couple of days after Christmas Diana’s parents packed up a few of their things and moved to Los Angeles, California to wait for a lung match. They got a small apartment to live in and patiently (and sometimes impatiently) waitie for a phone call saying that they have a match and Diana’s dad will have a new lung. It’s scary to think of such a major surgery but the knowledge that my dad will have a better life after getting the lung makes it all worth it. We don’t have to see him suffer like he was. In addition it’s been great to see my parents sharing another new adventure together and spending so much time with one another.
Post Surgery Ed
After waiting 4 months the miracle continued…Diana’s dad got the call that they had a match. A young man in San Jose, California, was in a skateboarding accident and was brain dead. His family decided to donate his organs in order to help others. The process of organ donation and tranplatation was an extensive one we soon found out. Ed got the call on April 29 but it was almost 30 hours later when he actually went in for surgery. The donor hospital had to make sure that all the organs had a place to go and they had to wait for the other doctors to fly in from all over to harvest them. The heart and lungs were 2 of the last organs to go. Once they harvested those they flew them back to LA and took my dad in. We were all on pins and needles waiting and although there was a little fear about what was about to happen there was also excitement. The long awaited day had finally come! Diana’s brother Marc and his daughter Skye drove to LA to help Beth (Diana’s mom) out. It was emotional support more than anything. The surgery went excellent! In fact the surgeon said that the rest of Ed’s organs were in such great shape he could see Ed sticking around for another 20 years!
Deep Sea Fishing after surgery
Now it was time for Ed to heal and get back to living! The hospital warned us that he would be in ICU for at least 1 week and then the hospital for 2-3 more weeks after that. Well Ed doesn’t like hospitals and told the doctors that he would be home in a week. Sure enough after 2 days he was out of ICU and within 1 week he was back at his apartment. Talk about determination!!! Nothing could stop him now. It hasn’t all been easy though. There have been set-backs, minor rejections, infections, and so many pills! He has never had to take medication regularly and now he’s taking close to 20 pills a day! He’s also going to group therapy, physical therapy, clinic once a week. He exercises every day and we monitor is stats 3 – 4 times a day. What a work out for both Diana’s parents.
Diana and her sister both felt like they needed to go out to California to help their parents out. Athena, Diana’s sister, flew out in mid-May and it was such a blessing to her parents. The stress of the whole experience had caused Diana’s mom to have a fever blister in her eye and so she couldn’t see and definitely couldn’t drive. Ed had a minor set back and they had to drain his lung and he wasn’t allowed to drive. So Athena went out as chauffeur and support crew. The day after Athena left, we flew out to help the parents out. Both Jason and Diana worked from her parent’s tiny kitchen and took turns driving them around and helping out however they could. The other half of the miracle came into focus during this trip as we saw Ed as he used to be. He would joke with us, sit and talk after dinner and we went and did things. While visiting we went to the Queen Mary (an old cruise ship that now has tours), we took driving tours of Beverly Hills, we went to the beach and just relaxed, and we played cards at night (although Diana lost all her chocolate and Good & Plenty’s to Jason and Dad). Now Ed has a new outlook on life and is living every minute to the fullest. On Aug. 18, 2010 they were finally released to move back home to Utah. Although they loved their time in California it was time to come home and get back into the routine of things.
Mom and Dad enjoying the Queen Mary
The second miracle is one that is hard to see, even now. Diana’s brother, Marlowe, and his wife, Kristen, found out that they were expecting twins. They announced it to the family over Christmas and everyone was so excited! They have had difficulties getting pregnant so this was especially a huge blessing. We then found out that it would be a little girl and a little boy! We were thrilled! In January, things took a turn for the worse and Kristen gave birth to the little boy, Trevor James, too early. He only lived a few seconds and then he was gone. It was devastating but we kept having hope that things would work out for the little girl. Things were up and down for the next week and a half for Marlowe and Kristen and the rest of the family but we kept praying. Eventually Kristen was allowed to go home but unfortunately things didn’t work out. About a week and a half after we lost Trevor, Kristen gave birth to the little girl, Josephine Diana, but she too passed away. Now you may be wondering where the miracle is in this experience…the miracle comes in our knowledge & the tender mercies of the Lord. When Jo was born she was a week and half older than Trevor and because of that she lived for 30 minutes. Both Marlowe and Kristen were able to spend time with her while she was alive – that is a miracle and a blessing. The bigger miracle though is the knowledge that we have that Trevor and Jo will always be a part of our family. Death isn’t the end and we will see both of them again. They will always be the son and daughter of Marlowe and Kristen and a part of their family. That is truly the most wonderful miracle we could ask for in times of loss.
Salt Lake Temple
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