Blessed Beyond Measure

I can't let another day end without expressing gratitude to those who walked with us these past two weeks.  During the long hours of Jason's initial transplant appointments, a friend sat with us.  His presence was calming and reassuring.  Another friend made time in his busy schedule to investigate the noises under the hood of our car.  When it became apparent that our engine had breathed its last, my dad and brother-in-law stepped in.  Since I was simply unable to focus at that time on a solution, they quietly worked behind the scenes to decide whether we should repair our car or purchase another one.  My sister handed me the keys to her van to use as long as I needed.
My mom came to stay with Eli so I could be with Jason while he was admitted for evaluation.  She bravely tackled the linen closet, which was the scene of my defeat in the battle against folding fitted sheets.  She organized the pantry and once again made the kitchen sink shine.  She helped with homework, made meatloaf which was deemed better than mine (which, believe me, is no small feat), and initiated special chats at the bus stop each morning before school.
After we received the decision about transplant, I went for a walk to make some phone calls.  As the elevator doors opened, friends waited just on the other side with comforting hugs.  They stayed throughout the lengthy process of discharge, which finally occurred long after Jason had gotten dressed in anticipation.  They brought us home after fortifying us with Winstead's burgers.
We picked up our car from the repair shop today.  She'd had quite the makeover, with years shaved off her life by an engine with a mere 52,000 miles.  Before I'd even had time to work out a repayment plan with my parents, we received an overwhelming anonymous gift to help cover repairs.  After we returned from a drive, a friend delivered a beautiful basket to our home.  Friends from church had loaded it with lovely goodies and encouraging notes.  We are continually blessed beyond measure.
We had an appointment with Jason's kidney doctor last Thursday.  St. Luke's had felt Jason was ready for dialysis, and were actually planning to begin while he was admitted had we ended up staying another day.  His kidney doctor, however, feels we can wait a bit longer.  She told us that recent studies show there is no benefit to starting earlier.  She hopes to put it off until he reaches 10% function...he is currently at 15%.  At this point, I am still planning to do dialysis at home.  We haven't completely ruled out the possibility of seeking another opinion regarding transplant.  While he was at St. Luke's, Jason's labs showed a toxic level of Dilantin (anti-seizure medicine) in his blood, caused by his kidney failure.  This likely explains his recent increase in falls and lack of balance.  We are tapering off the medicine with hopes of stopping it altogether.  We pray this improves his mobility.

"Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him.  Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken." (Psalm 62:5-6)