Kidney stones recap...to date.

Monday 3 pm: Something is amiss. Something is not quite right. It feels that a flower of pain has bloomed in the right side of my abdomen.

Monday 5 pm: Abbey and I go to Walgreens for some Gas-X to see if that will alleviate the issue.

Monday 6 pm: Not working, let's go to the ER. Pain isn't incredible, but we better check it out.

Monday 6-8:30 pm: ER waiting room. Pain seems to come in surges. Pain increases with each surge.

Monday 8:30-11 pm: In the ER. Pee tested, much blood. Dr. thinks it might be kidney stones. CaT scan affirms doctor's suspicion. I have 2 stones, one is 1mm and the other is 3mm. They are located halfway between kidney and bladder. I'm given one dose of morphine, though I don't really feel a lot of pain. This is my first experience with Morphine, feels like someone puts a pillow over your face, can't breath, scared, then, and then, nothing... no pain, no common sense. I make friends with every passer-by. Great Dr.'s and even better nurses in ER. Doctor comments that he wasn't positive it was kidney stones, that is before the CaT scan, because I wasn't showing signs of enough pain. He said people were usually screaming with pain, he commented that I must have a high pain tolerance.

Monday 11 pm: Abbey and I return to the girls' dorm. I feel pretty good about my "high pain tolerance" We eat McDonald's as a late, late dinner. Take narcotic pain medicine, get a little buzzed from it, write a short post. We go to bed. Tired, but confident that the worst is behind us.

Tuesday 4:30 am: I awake. OOOOOUUCH! This is bad. Pain medicine not working. Let's go, Go, GO back to the ER! My "high pain tolerance" theory is out the window. This hurts, hurts bad.

Tuesday 5 am: Arrive back to ER waiting room. Check in process goes smoothly except for moaning and vomiting due to immense, immense pain in my abdomen. This is the worst pain I have ever experienced in all my life. More vomiting, more moaning; bordering on screaming.

Tuesday 5:15 am: Back into the ER. Anti-nausea and morphine injected into blood stream in the nick of time. Morphine lasts about 15 minutes. More please? Sure. More pain, more vomiting. A few more shots of anti-nausea and morphine later, they take me to the ER Observation room.

Tuesday 9 am - 5 pm: ER Observation room. Soooooo drugged, can't keep my eyes open for more than 5 minutes. Abbey sticks by my side the whole time. Incredible patience. Nurses take forever to respond to my calls for more pain med. My waking moments are spent drinking water and attempting to urinate through a strainer. Abbey eats cheese popcorn and watches "White Chicks" with the Wayans bros. while I sleep.

Tuesday 5 pm: I'm fed up with the poor service of the ER Observation room. The pain has subsided. Let's go home.

Then until now: Much water. Much peeing through strainer. Awaiting the arrival of my twins.

Rainy Day Women #12 & 35

Everybody must get stoned....KIDNEY STONED! Well I had a fun day. But I think that the Hydrocodone is kicking in, so the tale of pain, pain, more pain, then some morphine will have to wait until tomorrow.

*brandon

Yipee, Yipee, Yipee!

We're now just days away.

The freshman have arrived!

Today marked the arrival of all the new students at Moody. I was really busy today and met lots of students and even more parents! It was a good day. All of the new students are here for a few days of orientation before classes start.
As I was watching the students make awkward introductions and smile uneasily at each other, I couldn't help but remember my own first few days of my freshman year of college. I thought of how much I did not want to be at college and how awful I thought orientation was.
I also thought about Sarah Miller. Sarah is an amazing friend of mine, we met in orientation. Going on five years out of college we are still friends. I was down the hall just a few minutes ago talking to a group of girls and I told them about Sarah. I encouraged them that they will most likely be meeting someone in the next few days that will end up being a life long friend.
As different as it has been to move back into a girl's dorm, I do love all the energy and excitement that is around us!

*abbey

The return of the Mick

I, Brandon (unfotunately without Abe), will be returning to the DSM on the morrow. I will be in town from Monday evening through Wednesday afternoon. I need to do a few things to get our fair "Bunglehole" ready for sale. I'll be busy getting some stuff done, but give me a ring-a-ling if you'd like to buy me coffee, lunch, and/or dinner; I should have some spare time. The number is still the same, hope to hear from you.

Shalom.

It's about freakin' time!

Well I think these pictures are a little overdue. This is our home, come on in....

(our little bedroom)

(our closet)

(le toilet)

(the livingroom)

(the livingroom #2)

(the kitchen)

(the kitchen #2)

(the study...yup, the study!)

(the study #2)

(brandon's escape hatch -- a.k.a. the stairwell)

URGENT: Please pray for Jake!

(Jake's the one on the left... your left... the one with the huge smile... okay, he's the white one)

My good friend, Jake Bouma, fell last night while playing a game with the junior high ministry he works with. He is in the hospital right now with some internal bleeding (of the bladder and intestines, I believe). It doesn't sound life threatening, but the doctors are monitoring him. He is in a lot of pain right now. He cannot stand up. They are not sure how they are going to get him home to Des Moines; the camp is in Missouri. Pray that there might not be any more complications for Jake, that his pain would subside, and that he might recover quickly.

Shalom.

*brandon