Thankful Tuesday

1. This morning I received an email from a woman who also taught middle school where I taught from 1994-95. I haven't seen her since that time, but we reconnected via Facebook a couple of years ago. Wouldn't you know but she ordered a book on Amazon for me and had it shipped to the hospital. It arrived at the hospital on June 12, but she used my maiden name so I got it this morning after I asked my nurse about it. I am so touched by the kindness, generosity, and thoughtfulness of someone I haven't seen in 17 years. She got me Karen Kingsbury's latest book, and Kingsbury happens to be one of my favorite authors (I've read more than 30 of her books over the years).

2. This afternoon I received a lovely arrangement of daisies and carnations from one of the Sunday School classes at my church. That was another totally unexpected surprise!

3. Nine of my Facebook friends have been playing "Words with Friends" (Scrabble) with me yesterday and today, which has helped to pass the time.

4. Although I'm awakened at 11pm for vitals and 12am to take a dose of Procardia, I am getting more sleep up here on the 9th floor than I was on the 8th floor. My bleeding hasn't totally stopped, but as long as it doesn't increase in quantity, they'll let me stay up here. I didn't have any ultrasounds Saturday through Monday, but today's ultrasound showed Oliver isn't anemic yet. We're hoping the next transfusion won't take place for at least 16 more days.

5. Paul's parents graciously watched the kids yesterday when we couldn't find a babysitter. Paul took them to Sarah's house today. A woman from church volunteered to watch the kids at her house tomorrow, and she is refusing to let us pay her. She has a one-year-old son. I was so grateful to find someone. We would have been very happy to pay her. It's so incredibly kind of her to help us out. Paul's parents will be watching the kids again on Thursday and Friday. I really wish I was the one taking care of Nadia and Ian, but I am very thankful that to know that they are being well taken care of in my absence. When I was growing up, I didn't see my grandparents very often because they lived far away from us. Nadia and Ian are blessed to be able to have such a close relationship with their grandparents.

6. I got an email yesterday evening from someone in HR at my university. She sent me the forms the doctor needs to fill out to request medical leave at the start of the fall semester. A nurse allowed me to forward the email to her so she could print out the forms today, as I don't have a printer in my hospital room. The reason I'm including this email on my list is because the first sentence was "I’m sorry you are having so many issues when this should be a very happy time for you!" This might not seem like a big deal, but the last several people I had emailed to inform them that I was in the hospital and would not be able to teach the first 4 weeks of the semester as planned didn't acknowledge my situation at all. These would include my department chair, Dean, department secretary, and the Dean's secretary. The irony is that I don't know this woman in HR at all. I've never talked to her, emailed her before, or met her. I have to say the responses I received from my Dean and Department Chair really hurt. Just one sentence saying something like "I'm sorry to hear what you've been going through" would have meant so much. Last Thursday I held office hours via Wimba only 2 hours after I left the recovery room after my surgery. I was so glad that I didn't start vomiting until after I finished talking with two students. I could have been using paid sick leave since May 30, but I have chosen to keep teaching my online classes even though I'm in the hospital.

7. No meals were delivered last week because it was VBS week at church, but this week meals are scheduled to be delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This is such a big help to Paul! He's started writing his final article. Once he finishes this article then he can work on writing his dissertation, which he hopes to defend in two months.

This morning I was planning to put my contacts back in. I've been wearing my glasses because contacts and tears do not mix well at all. I thought surely I could make it through the day without crying, but it wasn't even 8:00am, and I was already crying my eyes out. I have really, really been missing my kids and husband. The first 10.5 years of marriage we were at the most separated for one week a year (many years not even that much). We were separated for 20 days in April when the kids and I were in Hershey, which was really hard. I had no idea then that 20 days would be a breeze compared to the separation we'd endure this summer. We've now been separated for 24 days, and most likely we have about 50 more days to go. I miss sitting on the couch together (even if we were doing different things) after the kids have gone to bed. This morning what I wanted more than anything else was for him to be here and hold me in bed. The last time I had even 5 minutes alone with my husband was 14 days ago. In light of how I was feeling this morning, the flowers and book were really an encouragement to me today.