Wednesday-March 19th

Today was a day full of shadows and sunshine.

Dad had his 4th plasmapheresis today and appeared to handle it well. This was my (Flora) first glimpse of him in a few days and it was a bit disconcerting to see him lying in bed so still - until he gave one of the staff members a good solid "no" by turning his head! He is still feeling the effects of yesterday's anesthesia.

Mom is amazing. I was moved to tears seeing her tender care of him. Not only did she sweetly fill him in on the latest happenings, she performed range of motion on his arms and alerted the nurse to needed care. Plus, she spent the morning working on their taxes. Can you say "Woman of noble character"?!?

Dad will complete his plasmapheresis treatments on Friday. After that, he will need to be transferred to a lower level of care called a long term acute care hospital-LTACH for short.  Yesterday, they gave mom a list of 4 possible places and told her to make the decision. You can imagine how overwhelming this task appeared.

We decided that of the 4 choices there were really only 2 contenders and so we decided to visit them both today.  Our prayer was that the choice would be clear.

The first place was a bit of a shock- confusing, large, dreary and very institutional. I think we both fought the urge to run. Talking to the staff was reassuring-we could tell that they really knew their patients but afterwards I couldn't help but remark on their surprising lack of eyebrow grooming!! The whole place just felt "unplucked" We left there quite deflated but decided to dig deep and check out the second place.

While wondering aloud about "What to do about Charlie?" (the dog) and "Who could we call to let Charlie out?" Mom received a text from Sue Geigler "Would it be ok if Dave went over to the condo to paint?" A prayer answered before we even asked.  This gave us renewed energy to tackle the next hospital-knowing that our God cares about even the smallest of needs.

The second place was a welcome change- smaller, more homey, and lots of responsive staff with great eyebrows!! ;) The staff spoke with awe of the transformations that they have seen in their patients. We were also impressed by how they spoke of knowing the patient's family members by name and welcoming them into the care. The director, a kind smiley well dressed woman, was on her way out for the day, but when she was informed we were there with questions, came back inside, took us on a tour of the unit, answered all of our questions, and walked us back to the lobby. We left there HOPING that he could get in- a far cry from our earlier feelings of hardly being able to keep ourselves from fleeing.

Afterwards, we headed back to the condo. There we were greeted by Dave Geigler and a freshly painted hallway.  Thank you, Dave. Dad will return the favor soon :)

After that, dinner arrived - hot and homemade! Lasagna, salad, garlic bread and apple pie- brought by Werner and Linda Gondosch. It was wonderful and just what we needed!

While they were still here dropping off food, a neighbor came by to introduce herself and brought a breakfast casserole!!

So much provision in such a short amount of time left us both teary and thankful. Mom said "I'm just so grateful to be here in this place" To be able to say that after such a trying day says it all.  Thank you all for providing such tangible love. Your kindness is making an otherwise shadowy time full of sunshine.