A Week of Firsts!!

First Golf Game since 9/8/12

Ken and George

Life was good this week.  Ken played his first round of golf in more than 9 weeks on Saturday.  He had a GREAT time with his golfing buddies and actually played pretty well.  He was so happy to get back on the golf course.  It was a huge step for him toward that normal life he is looking to get back to.

On Sunday Ken and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary.  We had made plans months ago to go to the beach for a long weekend, but we decided to put that off until a later date.  Instead we enjoyed a beautiful "Anniversary" weekend - dining at Ruth's Chris and breakfast at Peppermill.  We cheered our Saints on to a GREAT victory on Sunday afternoon and talked to our children both in town and out of town.  Ken and I both agreed this was the best weekend we have had in months.

Anniversary Dinner

The challenges do continue for Ken. His new kidney is still showing a mild rejection, and he also has a virus in his system. The doctors agree that the treatment plan now is to kill the virus with medicine given through an infusion.  He will have his first infusion on Wednesday.  This medicine is powerful and we are confident it will finally get rid of the virus. He will need to have the infusion every two weeks until the blood work shows the virus is gone. In the next few weeks, Ken will have another kidney biopsy to check the cells in the kidney and assess his progress.This is normal protocol for a new kidney transplant patient. Since Ken is still on Coumadin for the blood clots, I will have to administer shots in his stomach again until after the biopsy.  Then they will start him back on Coumadin and the shots will continue until the lab results show a therapeutic level in his blood again.  So we humbly ask you keep Ken in your prayers as he continues on this path to recovery.  Pray that the gift of life from Alex, that wonderful kidney, will keep functioning so beautifully. As always, we know we can count on all of your good thoughts and prayers.

So as we approach Thanksgiving, we want to thank God first for all He has done for us.  We want to thank our amazing family, Stefanie and Danny, Greg and Camille, Kelly and Alex and our three beautiful granddaughters, Addie, Sophie and Jillie.  We want to thank our extended family and friends who have followed this blog and continually give us their support, prayers and love.  Life is a journey of faith.  Ken and I realize that nothing is guaranteed so enjoy each moment that God gives us. Our prayer as we wake each morning is, " God, whether I get anything else done today, I want to make sure that I spend time loving you and loving other people - because that's what life is all about.  I don't want to waste this day."  You are all in our prayers today and every day.

Until next time may the Lord carry us on our journey,
Pat