Day 23

Happy Sunday! I can't believe it has been over 3 weeks now. 23 days seems like so long yet so short.

Last night after leaving the burn unit John and I went to Anne and Rich's home in Centerville. (John's Sister) We had barbequed hamburgers, fresh grilled squashes, watermelon and fresh lemonaide. It was all delicious. But the best part was dessert. Burnt a lmond fudge ice-cream. My personal favorite. It was home-made and awesome. Thanks for having us over. We had a great talk.

John's nephews wanted to take us up a canyon in Centerville to see a waterfall. We drove part way and thenhiked the rest. Me in my flip-flops and it was getting dark. Not so bad that we couldn't see though. It was so beautiful. Both nephews that took us there proposed to their prospective wives at this waterfall. So nice to see where it all happened. They are all so cute. We feel very blessed to be part of this family. I was telling John on our way back from the water fall that if anything happened to him I hope I was still invited to be part of this family. He laughed.

Here we are at the burn unit again. To our surprise Dr. Cochran wants Nicole to go out in the sunshine, for sunshine therapy. We are elated. After dressing changes Nicole is put in the cardiac chair. PT comes in and does their thing and then after that we are off. It is like a breath of fresh air to actually go on a walk with her. Well, we are walking and she is being wheeled by her aide Edson (from Bolivia). She is back on oxygen and she is strapped in so she can sit up straight but that is okay. The hospital has a small garden area that we sat in for a while. It was so bright out I put my sunglasses on Nicole. She was stylin'.

We were so happy to have her out in the sunshine. She even mustard a slight smile. Edson was making funny sounds and she smiled at one of them. Even though we were only out for 20 minutes she was extremely tired when we came back and she was in a lot of pain. She was a trooper. Her face is looking great. most of the burn on her face has healed. Her chin will need to be graphed. From her collar bone down is also going to be one big graph.

One of the families in the burn units dad passed away today. Just before we went for our walk. We have been praying for the family for 2 weeks. He came in with only 20 percent burns. Mostly on his legs and feet. The family comes from Buehl, ID. We got pretty close to them. They are a large Mennonite family 10 boys and 3 girls. One of the wives was from Inman, KS. It was so nice to get to know them. We pray for them in their time of sorrow. It all hits home so close when that happens.

What do YOU do when life gets so hard. I gain strength from the many trials we have endured. I look back on those times and sometimes I even laugh that we had to go through that. Do you go back and think of the lessons you have learned? I believe my biggest lesson learned is patience. They say don't pray for patience or you will get many opportunities to learn it. Well I didn't have to pray for it but I sure got the lesson. I feel I have learned that one well. I challenge you to look back on a lessons learned. Look at how it has affected your life and made you stronger.

Nicole is having surgery tomorrow again. No graphing but cutting more bad skin off and laying down cadaver skin. If they can cover all the exposed area she will be in less pain. As long as there are areas that are not covered, those areas are extremely sensitive and cause extreme pain. Nicole's donor sites are not ready to be harvested yet but we are hoping that in about 1 more week she will be ready for that.

Nicole's stats are erratic this afternoon and evening. BP very low again and pulse very high. I hope that all gets regulated by morning.

We are going home now to rest up for tomorrow's surgery day. At the hospital early.