Visit to Lubbock

Grandad and Ronnie made a quick trip to Lubbock on Thursday the 24th. They went by the hospital to visit with LaShae while Little Ronnie was still at work. After they left the hopsital they went and visited with Little Ronnie and Pam for a few hours and then headed back to Vernon.

Little Ronnie left Monday morning at 4am to go to Oklahoma for four weeks of training and then off to Georgia for 45 days before being shipped to Iraq. On Saturday there was a big send-off party at the Civic Center in Lubbock and here is an excerpt from the Lubbock Avalanche Journal:

Lubbock cookout honors deploying troops
By Matt Mcgowan | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Story last updated at 7/27/2008 - 3:37 am

When Lubbock sends its men and women off to war, it makes sure they won't be leaving on an empty stomach.

The Lubbock chapter of America Supports You Texas hosted a Return to Duty Cookout on Saturday afternoon at the Memorial Civic Center. It showcased the city's support for more than 150 National Guardsmen from West Texas who will be deployed to Iraq this fall.

The unit, Echo Company of the 2nd Battalion 142nd Infantry Division of the Texas Army National Guard, is scheduled to leave Monday for a month of training in Oklahoma. It then will go to Georgia to train for 45 days before leaving for Iraq.

The company is scheduled to return in August 2009.

"As citizens, it's our responsibility, and we don't take that duty lightly," said Jack Barnes, president of ASY Texas. "Our country's at war. Our military's at war. There are a lot of people who forget. They've forgotten since 9-1-1. They forget we've got 160,000 troops fighting a war every day. We need to support them. We need to support their families."

The event gave military families an opportunity to spend the day together in a fun, light-hearted way before the company leaves on Monday, the company's 27-year-old commander, 1st Lt. Andrew Badgley, said. Events that show community support bolster troops' morale and remind them of whom and what they're fighting for.

Badgley said about half of the men in his company have been to Iraq before, and the entire company is ready to go.

"The ones who haven't been there are excited to go," he said. "They don't want to be like, Oh, I haven't been there. I've done six years and I haven't been there.' So they're nervous, but, at the same time, they want to go."

About 300 volunteers - including 16 teams of grillers who handed out a wide array of barbecue - participated in the event, Barnes said.

In all, 95 sponsors donated to the event, either through money or services.

Local companies provided everything from inflatable water slides for children to a classic car show for adults. A photography company offered free family portraits for military personnel.

"This is their last day with each other before they have to leave," said Amber Sims, an employee of Niki's Photography who volunteered to help take soldiers' portraits. "This gives them a picture to have with them over there."

As the event came to a close, its organizers handed out care packages that included stationery and Teddy bears with implanted voice recorders, on which soldiers can record a message for their children to listen to while they are away from home.

Sgt. Jerome Larra, 30, who returned from his first deployment in Iraq in 2005, said he and his wife, Debbie, spent Saturday playing with their three children.

"They just kind of go with it," Debbie Larra said about her children when their father deploys. "They are still little. They know he is in the Army and has to go to work for a long time."

Guardsman Pfc. Jake Fluitt, however, said a sad undertone pervaded Saturday's cookout.

"It's sad for a lot of people, I guess," the 20-year-old said. "A lot of people haven't gone, and you have to see them go."

Several city officials attended Saturday's barbecue, including City Councilman Todd Klein and Mayor Tom Martin, who said Lubbock traditionally is a "military town."

Barnes, an Amarillo high school teacher who used to be in the Navy, said Lubbock's patriotism impresses him because the community and its officials never hesitate to "step up" and show support when local troops are called into action.

"If you're in uniform, people are shaking your hand, people are saluting you, people are saying thanks,' " Badgley said. "It is one of the most positive cities I've been in, militarywise."

GOING HOME !!!!

LaShae is finally going home !!! They have removed the Central Line and are waiting IMpatiently for transport to take her to the truck. YEAH !!!

Not Home...

Well, they did the CT Scan this morning and found 2 abcesses in her abdomen. Oral antibiotics won't touch them so they have to treat them with IV antibiotics. They contacted the Surgeon and decided to do a needle aspiration to drain the abcesses. Mom just called and said the nurse told them they should be doing it in the next couple of hours. They will take her down to Radiology to perform the procedure.

At this point Her spirits are low !!! She is sooo tired of being sick and ready to go home. They thought she would be able to be home today...but...not yet. Will just have to see what tomorrow holds.

Home in Sight !!!

Well, Mom just called me and said that they took the drain tube out this afternoon. YEAH!!! The Infectious Disease Doctor said that they will do the CT Scan on Wednesday instead of Friday and if everything looks good on the CT Scan she MAY get to go home Sometime late Wednesday !!!

Update

I spent a couple of hours with LaShae yesterday and she seems to be recovering very nicely. Her color was a lot better and she is off of the oxygen and IV fluids. She still has the central line because they are still giving her pretty much round the clock antibiotics. Yesterday she got up and walked the whole length of the hall down to the elevator (she is in the last room of the hall.) So, that was good. She still is not eating much...food makes her nauseated and nothing smells good or tastes good but they do not seem to be worried about that at all after what she has been through. She is still in some pain and they are primarily controlling that with a pill. Yesterday she slept about 6 to 7 hours. At lunch she was nauseated so they brought her some phenergan and it knocked her out !!!! The nurse said next time they were only going to give her half !!!

Out of ICU !!!!

LaShae got to go to a room around 6pm last night and get out of ICU !!! YEAH !!! Hopefully now she can get some rest. I talked to her this morning and she got to take a shower last night and she said she washed her hair like 5 or 6 times !!! I had to laugh. She said the shower was wonderful !!! She also got to try and eat "real" food...not liquids...and NOT chocolate pudding for breakfast...YUCK !!!

The results of the CT scan showed that she still had fluid on her abdomen and they will continue to watch that and make sure it doesn't turn into an abcess. Her white blood cells were elevated yesterday morning so they are doing a culture to see what is going on there. She is still having some trouble with her breathing but it is MUCH better. She is still on oxygen with the nasal cannula. She is also still having pain issues and now that she is not in ICU she has to wait a longer to get her pain meds when she calls for them. I think Mom is having a harder time dealing with that situation..ya know Mom's tend to be a little impatient when their children need something that will help them !!!

She had several visitors last night so the kids and I didn't go up. Maybe we can all go and see her tonight. Funny story...Maegen just couldn't understand why she couldn't go see LaShae when she was in ICU..and I was trying to explain it to a 6 year old that there are just too many really sick people and we didn't want her to get sick and she just wasn't old enough..well her response was with hands on hip: "When I'm 26 can I go see LaShae?" I just had to laugh...26....where in the world did she get that number from?

Update

LaShae didn't have a very good day yesterday. She is still in ICU. The Doctors called in a Pulmonologist because of her lack of breathing and he felt like she just had fluid on her lungs so he ordered Lasix and another X-Ray today so that he could compare the two and see if it is just fluid and if the Lasix was working. They took the X-Ray at 2am this morning. Her blood count was down again yesterday so they ordered another CT scan and 2 units of blood. Still not sure why her blood count is down and trying to figure that part out. They gave her 1 unit of blood yesterday and will give her 1 unit today. They couldn't find a vein yesterday so they had to take her down and get a sub-clavian (Central Line) put in. After they got the sub-clavian in they were able to get her back on her meds. The Lasix seemed to help tremendously. They were able to wean her off of the rebreather oxygen mask to a regular mask and now she is using the nasal cannula. Mom and Dad said that she looked sooo much better last night at 8pm when they got to see her. We still don't have the results of the CT scan but maybe Mom and Dad can find something out when they get to see her at 10am this morning.

I talked to LaShae this morning and she sounded better. Exausted....but her voice sounded better. Her Surgeon had already been in and said he felt like she could get out of ICU and go to a room. They were waiting on the other 2 Doctors to release her to the floor. She is still on the nasal cannula and her oxygen level was at 91. Her heart rate is still elevated but it is better..it is about 110-113...which is way down from 160 !!! Her blood pressure looks good..so HOPEFULLY today is the day that things will turn around !!!

Update on LaShae

Just a quick update on LaShae. Her appendix ruptured the Doctors think sometime Wednesday. She was prepped for surgery around midnight on Saturday and got out of surgery around 2:20 am Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon she was in a room and her heart rate was sky high around 138 and her oxygen levels were 77...so they moved her to Surgical ICU. Visiting hours in ICU are 10am - 12 pm, 4pm - 6pm, and then 8pm - 10pm then no one can see her until 10 am the next morning. So...Mom and Dad have been staying at LaShae's house in Lubbock and visiting her when they can. In ICU they hooked up a pain pump so that she can administer her own pain medicine when needed and she has been on Oxygen the whole time. Mom called the hospital this morning before shift change and spoke to a nurse who was reading from her chart and said that her pulse rate was down to about 110 and her oxygen level was at 90 and that she would be (HOPEFULLY) moved to a room sometime today. Will try to update again when I know something !!

Visit to Post and Lubbock

Grandad and Sally with LaShae, D'Nae, Rhaeden, Bailey, Maegen and Kayla

Grandad and of course Sally came to Post and then on to Lubbock for a visit this past weekend.

On Saturday he and Mom went to Lubbock to visit with Little Ronnie and Pam. Little Ronnie came in last week and will get to stay home for 3 weeks then he is off to Oklahoma for 4 weeks then to Savannah Georgia to be shipped to Iraq for a year's tour.

On Sunday he was treated to a birthday party for Bailey and Kayla at Mike and Stacy's house. Mike cooked fajitas with all the trimmings and then we had chocolate cake for Bailey and white cake for Kayla.