She’s awake.

I just got word from Jo that Kat is awake. They took the breathing tube out around noon today and she is doing just fine.

She is tired still but that is the effects of the medication. She is still in the ICU and she will be in a regular room sometime tomorrow.

Jo and the boys will be going to see her right after they get out of school. She may still come home over the weekend or Monday.

Jo will call me once she has seen Kat tomorrow and let me know more. I still plan on visiting her on Saturday provided that she is up to the visit. I think she will be.

Never Forgotten 911

You say you will never forget where you were when you heard the news On September 11, 2001. Neither will I.
I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who called his wife to say "Good-Bye." I held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the peace to say, "Honey, I am not going to make it, but it is OK...I am ready to go."
I was with his wife when he called as she fed breakfast to their children. I held her up as she tried to understand his words and as she realized he wasn't coming home that night.
I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a woman cried out to Me for help. "I have been knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!" I said. "Of course I will show you the way home - only believe in Me now."
I was at the base of the building with the Priest ministering to the injured and devastated souls. I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He heard my voice and answered.
I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer. I was with the crew as they were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the believers there, comforting and assuring them that their faith has saved them.
I was in Texas, Kansas, London. I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news. Did you sense Me?
I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew every name - though not all know Me. Some met Me for the first time on the 86th floor.
Some sought Me with their last breath. Some couldn't hear Me calling to them through the smoke and flames; "Come to Me... this way... take my hand." Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me. But, I was there.
I did not place you in the Tower that day. You may not know why, but I do. However, if you were there in that explosive moment in time, would you have reached for Me?
September 11, 2001 was not the end of the journey for you. But someday your journey will end. And I will be there for you as well. Seek Me now while I may be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are "ready to go."
I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.
Remember...I love you.


Original Title: Meet Me In The Stairwell Author: Ms. Stacey Randall
Reader: Bob Holiday of KFSH/KKLA/KRLA
Music Performance: Mannehiem Steamroller

Kat has not been moved yet.

I haven't posted earlier because Jo never got back to me until 10 minutes ago. With all the things she has to deal with I can understand. She spoke with a nurse earlier this afternoon. They think they may have nicked her lung during surgery or the bag that was placed around her lungs. She is still in ICU.

They tried to take an x-ray of her chest to find out whether or not her lung re inflated. They could not tell because of all the hardware that she has in her body. So… they will need to take a Cat Scan (CT) when one becomes available. They have her on a waiting list at the moment and Jo is to call the hospital at 6pm to see if there is any change.

She has been under sedation this whole time. They do not like to bring people out of sedation while they have a breathing tube still in place. Everyone that wakes up with one tries to take it out not knowing what it is at first because it feels like you are being choked. So… for her benefit they are keeping her asleep.

I cannot go see her until she is out of ICU. Jo and the boys may go see her tomorrow but even if she is still in ICU they will only be allowed to visit for five minutes and they will not bring her out of sedation. Chances are it will be Friday before they move her out of ICU.

I am hoping to be able to visit her on Saturday. I know she is going to wake up thinking that it's only going to be the next day. I think she will be shocked that she has been sleeping for days now. I am hoping that maybe she will sleep the after surgery pain off and won't be in a lot of pain when they do bring her out of sedation.

I know a lot of you are keeping her and her family in your thoughts and I know she will appreciate it! Please if you can visit one of her sites and donate whatever you can to her PayPal donate site. I have a feeling it's going to be a little rougher for her financially once she does come home. She has donate button on both her blogs.

I will keep you all informed as I get the information. Thanks so much for caring!

Still in ICU

Kat is still in the ICU and will remain there until tomorrow sometime. The complication was due to one of her lungs collapsing. So the decision to keep her in ICU will be in effect until tomorrow sometime. Jo and the boys did in fact go see her today. The nurse brought Kat out of sedation long enough to know that they were there. Kat being the feisty woman that she is, was getting agitated about the breathing tube still being in place. So Jo had them put her back under. I doubt that Kat will remember that because the medicine they use to sedate her will probably have her forget that Jo and the boys were even there. Maybe and maybe not.

I will be calling tomorrow morning to see whether or not they put her into a room and if they did I will go see her but chances are it will be Thursday before she has a room out of the ICU. Jo and I are guessing that Kat will be in the hospital through the weekend. She may not come home until Monday or Tuesday of next week.

Jo is going to call me later this evening to let me know how things are going. I would call myself but I think Jo would like to be the messenger from this point on. I am sure she feels terrible for not being the one to take Kat in the first place. Which she shouldn't in the least but I do understand it.

Kat made it through

I picked Kat up at 4:17a.m. I could tell she did not get much sleep and that the boys were extremely upset. Mark and Sebastian did not sleep all night!

We arrived at the hospital at 5:33a.m. and had to wait until 6:00 to have her admitted. The office was not open until then. Once we got up to the pre-op area they gave her a waiting room and she changed into her lovely hospital garment J

I stayed with her right up until they were going to take her to the OR. I doubt she remembers me leaving… she was already sedated. The I.V.'s and other wiring they had her hooked up to were surreal. And I was told that was just the beginning. Her doctor was extremely kind and explained to me how long the procedure would take and that once she was in recovery he would come talk to me.

I was in the waiting room from 8:30-10:00 and the nurse called me at the desk to tell me that her surgery wouldn't start until 10:30 and to expect it to be over around 4:30-5pm. She told me that they had my cell number and to please not wait around all day. I did anyway. I wasn't going to leave until I knew she was ok and also because I had her backpack of stuff.

Dr. M. came in to see me at exactly 4:36pm to tell me how well the surgery went and he went on to say that he was keeping the breathing tube in overnight in case there were any complications. I immediately called her sister, Jo, to let her know the news and that I would wait to see her before going home.

I waited until 8:45pm. When I called the nurse's station to find out her progress, they informed me that she was still in the recovery room and were waiting for a bed to open up in the ICU. I didn't want to leave but I had to get back to my family. So I called Jo and asked her if I should hang on to her stuff or "trust" a nurse to give it to her. We decided that I should keep her wallet and give the backpack to the ICU nurse, which is what I did.

I got home at 9:45pm. My daughter, Katie, was in bed but not asleep. She waited until I got home so I could tuck her in. I said goodnight to Jeff and to Chris and went straight to bed. I don't remember hitting the pillow.

Jo called me at 9:30 this morning to give me an update. Kat is still in the ICU and will be there for the rest of the day today. She did have some complications last night but they would not go into detail with Jo and they told her that she was stable now and seems to be doing well. They advised her to not bring the boys up because her face is extremely swollen, she is still on the breathing tube and they still have her sedated. Jo and the boys will probably visit her tomorrow evening but I plan on going there in the mid morning provided that she can receive visitors. I will do my best to keep everyone updated.

In support of Kat

This is my friend, Kat. She has been a blogger for more than ten years now. She is more importantly a single mom to two very cool teenage boys, Mark and Sebastian.

Kat was born with many congenital defects. One of which was severe scoliosis which she had surgery to correct back in 2006. She is having surgery tomorrow morning that will stop the vertebrae in her neck from closing in more on her spinal cord. This surgery is NOT optional. Either she has it or she will die in less than 2 months. This decision was a no brainer for Kat even though it will take away 90 percent of the mobility of her neck and shoulders.

She will be completely fused from the base of her skull all the down to her tailbone after the surgery is complete. Can you imagine that?

The purpose of this post is to drum up support for Kat and her boys while she is recuperating. On the sidebars of her blogs she does have a PayPal donate button. It's set up so that whatever amount is donated to her it will go directly into her PayPal account. I know that this is a hard time for many due to the economy but please if you can show your support. You may also spread the news around and let others know that a fellow blogger needs our help.

She won't be in the hospital too long. We expect her home until Thursday or Friday. I will keep you up on her progress!

Uncle Phil has returned

Uncle Phil, Chris' best friend, has come to stay with us for a month before going back to London to finish out his last year at the University. So…this weekend has been all about cleaning the house and rearranging Jeff's room to accommodate both the twin beds.

Yesterday the kids and I watched a couple of movies to pass the time away awaiting Uncle Phil's arrival. Chris had to pick him up from the Orlando International Airport. That's a 2 – 2 ½ hour drive from Sarasota. They got in about 9pm last night. Both the kids were excited and stayed up an extra hour just to be able to visit with him before bed. The dogs got their share of Uncle Phil too. Bentley of course was his usual standoffish P.I.T.A. at first but he quickly warmed up to him. Cuddles and Belle apparently warmed up to him quickly too because they never once came into our room last night.

While Phil is here, I will take him clothes shopping and to renew his driver's license so he can rent a car for the remainder of his stay. He is hoping that the car rental place accepts international credit cards since that is all he has at the moment. He needs clothes in the worst way. He went with 7 pairs of jeans about three years ago and has two left. He doesn't like how the jeans in London fit him. They like their clothes tight and forget about getting the size shoe he needs. No one in London wears a size 13. So we will be off to the mall either today or tomorrow.

Chris is beaming that Phil is here. Those two are like brothers. They are like little kids eager to get into trouble. I sat up with the two of them until midnight laughing at the two of them. The both of them are going to be heart broken by the time September is over.