Day 281: 12-19-20 (Saturday)
Today is another Saturday where we all slept in. Delightful. Tyler and I got up and went for a walk. Tyler has to quarantine so we were trying to figure out what we could do that would be fun and still get the girls out of the house for a bit. We decided to go for a drive and then look at Christmas lights. The girls wanted to go to CDA and I also needed to check on the lake house. (It was Kirk's week). We drove out to the lake and all was well. The lake looked very pretty and the trees were a little frosty. My mom's cove is just starting to freeze over but the rest of the lake is open water.
The girls wanted to go through the drive thru at Crumbl (this spelling really irritates me!!) and we were going to do a three lake tour. Our next stop was Hayden Lake. Nobody was around and the light was beautiful so we got out and walked on the boardwalk there. It was so pretty.
When we got back to the car, we got a notification that our Suburban's battery was low. Not cool. There was a Les Schwab less than a mile away. We drove there to get the battery checked. This was not great when Tyler isn't supposed to be around anyone. We couldn't even call Hunter or Reilly to come and get us if we were to break down due to their COVID situation. Nor did we want Tyler to have to be in close proximity to a AAA tow truck driver and have to get all of us back to Spokane. Les Schwab was our best option and we tried to take as many precautions as possible. They checked our battery while we huddled in the corner of the shop. Luckily it was almost closing time and there were very few people in there.
The battery wasn't great and they replaced it but the suburban still wasn't working well. It is most likely the alternator which they don't repair so they encouraged us to try to get home (1/2 hour away) as quickly as possible. We made it home... thank goodness... but now we have to try to schedule a car repair around Tyler's heart procedure. Stress on Stress on Stress. I am so tired of living in terror all of the time. Now I am freaking out that Tyler was exposed to COVID in CDA. There are very few mask wearers in good ol' Idaho. So much for our no contact car ride and looking at Christmas lights situation.
We tried to make the best of things tonight. We made cookies and watched White Christmas one of our family's very favorite Christmas movies. Then we watched The Wizard of Oz. Nothing says Christmas like the Wizard of Oz. LOL. We also watched the high school Christmas concert online which was a Christmas "highlights" concert. So there were taped performances from 2018, 2019, and then 2020 had online Zoom performances. It was a good two hours long but it was fun to see Kameron playing in Jazz Orchestra and Wind Ensemble.
It is so weird to think that those band days are behind us.
Hunter is scheduled to go back to work on Monday. Reilly only had mild cold symptoms for 24 hours and that has been it.
Day 282: 12-20-20 (Sunday)
We didn't go to church today and watched the livestream to cut down on being around people. It is "Christmas Sunday" so the program was filled with many pre-recorded musical numbers. The Primary had some cute performances. Each kid had to send in a video of them singing two songs that they put together into a video of all the kids singing at one time. Bryn did a great job! Tyler blessed the sacrament for us here at home.
After home church we went for a walk. Today was also our big present wrapping day. Our kids exchanged stockings again this year. They draw names and fill the stocking of their sibling. Reilly has Kameron this year and sent him off a package. Kameron has Bryn (which Ty and I are taking care of). Ailey has Reilly and Bryn has Ailey. Several people from church dropped off things for us today. This is the first year that I haven't made cookie plates to deliver and we all miss it. We dropped off some prepackaged treats for our ministering families but that is it this year. I made more Chocolate Crinkle Cookies and Chex Mix and that was our dinner! We also watched another Christmas movie.
Day 283: 12-21-20 (Monday)
Today is Winter Solstice and the day of the Christmas Star also called The Great Conjunction.
Tyler and I dropped off the suburban off at the mechanics early this morning. Tyler again had to have *some* contact with people. Ugh. We were able to pick it up just before 5pm tonight (miraculous) and to the tune of over $500. Merry Christmas to us. We were super happy to have it back though!!
The sun came out today so we were hopeful to see the Christmas Star which is the merging of Saturn and Jupiter. Our meteorologists weren't too hopeful that we would be able to see it with all of the clouds and rain that we have had but the skies cleared and we were able to see it!
It was incredibly cool! The last time that happened was in the Middle Ages. Tyler and I parked along the ridge hoping to see it. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was pretty impressive. We drove home to get the girls! We had a good view of it from their elementary school. We love things like this!! My brother was texting me pictures from Utah too.
We had a couple of people drop off more Christmas things for us which was so sweet and we got a bunch of Christmas cards in the mail which is always so cheery. Hunter tried to go back to work today but didn't last long. His boss sent him home. Reilly still is asymptomatic. We video chatted with Kameron tonight as a family and he is doing good.
I had a good cry in the garage while I was painting tonight. I am looking forward to Tyler's procedure getting done tomorrow. The stress of it looming has been intense.
Day 284: 12-22-20 (Tuesday)
Today is the day. Tyler and I were up super early this morning to head to the hospital. We had family prayer with the girls at 5:30 am and were checked in at the Heart Institute by 5:50 am. Tyler was the first procedure of the day. He went back early and got prepped for the procedure. After about a half hour I was able to go back to his room and wait with him until it was time for his procedure. We had a super nice nurse who put us at ease. We meet with Dr. Boulet, Tyler's cardiologist for the past 6 years, and talked about everything. The hospital chaplain came in and prayed with us which was really nice. It is horrible going through things like this and Tyler not being able to have a priesthood blessing before hand so we appreciated the extra prayers.
Some people think that prayer is meaningless and useless...thoughts and prayers...blah blah. But if you have been the recipient of much needed prayers every single person that takes the time to pray for you or your family means the world. Just thinking about people taking time out of their busy lives to pray for Tyler and our family is so incredibly humbling and brings me to tears. It isn't nothing. It ABSOLUTELY isn't nothing. The cynics of the world are misinformed. Prayer has power.
We didn't have long to wait before they came back for him. I was able to wait in his room and not have to go to the regular waiting room which was so nice. I was totally CALM. That never happens. I was warm and felt oddly cozy while I waited. I was able to read...that also never happens. I usually can't concentrate. I pace. While I waited I read this book:
(That is a book discussion for another day!!)
An hour later Tyler was wheeled back into the room. He had come through the procedure okay. The bad news was that the area of his heart that was blocked 6 years ago was blocked again. This time it was a complete blockage. Terrifying. He should have had a heart attack. But the good news Dr. Boulet said is that due to all of the exercise that Tyler does he was able to form new pathways on the other side of his heart and the blood rerouted itself. Exercise builds new pathways for blood to flow in your heart. I literally had no idea. I knew it kept your heart healthier but I didn't know it would actually form new pathways for blood flow. Tyler has formed quite a few of these and that is where the blocked blood has gone. So while the blood flow was low it was still flowing. Thank heavens!! It is completely unnerving that Tyler had a 100% blockage and felt absolutely zero symptoms and had a completely normal EKG.
The EKG was explained by the fact that Tyler's heart issue is a "plumbing" issue and not an "electrical" issue. How does the average person know they have a problem? Plumbing issues will show up on an EKG when they are dire... so what is the definition of dire? A 100 % blockage sounds dire! I guess those extra pathways were doing their thing. I think everyone should request a cardiac stress test with nuclear medicine!! That is literally the only way some people would ever know they were having life-threatening heart issues.
Tyler's cardiologist worked hard to try to re-stent the blocked area but couldn't get through it. He wants Tyler to come back in for another procedure with a specialist who will try to re-stent from both sides at the same time. So... not great news. But we are glad that we at least know what is going on and that there is a plan to repair the problem. The specialist in in our stake. He is also the dad of one of Ailey's best friends and his wife is Ailey's seminary teacher. We feel good about having Dr. Huber do the procedure.
Today they were able to go in through the wrist for the procedure so the recovery is quick. Thank goodness. We were at the hospital for several hours as they monitored him and made sure that his wrist artery blood was clotting. He was super pumped full of blood thinners so we had to wait for quite while as they gradually took the pressure off of his wrist. We were home late that afternoon.
Tyler napped for a few hours and then hung out with the family and watched Christmas movies and ate dinner with us. He seemed pretty much back to normal. He can't lift over 10 lbs for 24 hours but that is about it. Pretty amazing.
Day 285: 12-23-20 (Wednesday)
Today I had planned for Tyler to rest and recoup. I was going to take the girls to do their Christmas shopping and chauffeur them around but Tyler had other ideas. He wanted to come along. As the girls were mainly shopping for us; we took them to several different places that they wanted to go while we waited in the car.
We are both smiling but we are worn out and weary. I see it in our eyes.
Tyler wanted to go to CDA to get the Crumbl cookies with the girls that we didn't get the other night. We did that and then the girls and I went into Midtown Market and revamped my booth. I had sold a big piece of furniture and lots of Christmas décor so they came in with me and we got everything looking nice and did a little more shopping. We grabbed dinner to go and then headed home for another giant present wrapping session.
Reilly came over and dropped off our gifts in the garage to sit for a few days and hopefully de-germ. She had them under a UV light and had wiped down and disinfected everything. She still is feeling fine thank goodness and Hunter is pretty much back to normal. We were able to chat from the porch for a little bit. I am so over these porch visits. I want family and hugs and no masks and gatherings!! It was so good to see her even from a distance.
Ailey and I did a memorable late night run to the grocery store. A weirdo came into Albertsons and caused quite a ruckus because not only was he not wearing a mask...he was not wearing clothes! He was was also only wearing a robe. Good grief. We also ended up talking to my dad on the phone for about an hour in the parking lot.
Tonight we watched another favorite movie, A Christmas Story. There is always that one kid that goes around wearing a Santa hat everywhere. Bryn is that kid. LOL.
We all stayed up late tonight talking about our worries and fears... about a lonely Christmas, COVID, not having Reilly or Kameron here, and missing my mom. It has all taken quite a toll. We have all been apprehensive about Christmas and worrying that it will it be depressing. We can't do what we always have done and we can't see who we have always seen. We can't be around our friends and no Kirk and Meki this year too. Tears were shed about the unfairness of things sometimes and how there is no end in sight of this damnable pandemic and how defeating it feels. I am so glad that the girls were able to open up to Tyler and I and express their feelings. It's a lot to process. We all made a plan to do our best to make this weird Christmas special.
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