Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Arrangements for Bernice Adams

Thursday, July 30th -

Church Service at the First Baptist Church of Port O'Connor at 10AM
First Baptist Church
410 W Jefferson Ave.
Port O'Connor, TX 77982

Grave Side Service to follow at 3:30PM in Houston at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery.
Forest Park Lawndale
6900 Lawndale Street
Houston, TX 77023
713-928-5141

Funeral Home:
Richardson Colonial Funeral Home
123 Newlin
Port Lavaca, TX 77979
361-552-2988

If you would like to send flowers, please send them to the funeral home. They will make sure that get to where they need to be. If you would like to make a memorial donation in lieu of flowers, please send it to -

First Baptist Church
PO Box 9
Port O'Connor, TX 77982

Love you all and will see you soon.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Nana




Nana went to heaven tonight. Daddy, Pappa and Mom were there with her. Her last breaths were peaceful.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. Love you all.

Nana Update

Nana is settled in her new room.
Her blood pressure is slightly lower than it was this morning. 55/21
Her doctor got her some little eye patches and drops to keep her eyes from getting dry.
Her blood pressure drops when family leaves the room, which leaves the doctor to believe that she is able to hear.

Nana Update

They are now moving Nana to a regular room. Her blood pressure is lower than it was yesterday. She will be in room 589.

Nana

On Friday, I got an email from my Mom saying that Pappa called Daddy and asked him to come. Nana took a turn for the worse. I do not know how to explain the events of the past 8 months, but I'll try to start with her surgery last week.
Her 7 hour intestinal surgery that she had a little over a week ago is not healing properly, and an infection set in. After the surgery, she was breathing on a ventilator, and they kept her in a coma for 5 days while her body healed and she gained enough strength to breath on her own. She was awake and breathing, but not talking. We were hopeful. It was a very difficult decision to choose to have the surgery, but she, Pappa and Daddy decided together that the way she was living was not the life she wanted. She did not want to live in a hospital bed for the rest of her life on liquid nourishment with tubes in her tummy.

Friday morning, I got the email from my mom. Daddy went to be with Pappa, at the hospital in Victoria. The doctors informed them that their was fluid around her heart. We later found out that the fluid had moved into her lungs.

Saturday morning, Mom called and said that Daddy asked her to come from Dallas to Victoria, and said that it was not expected for her to make it through the day. He asked to her go to Houston to our house. When she arrived, we packed up and drove to Victoria.

She is in ICU in a special bed that her doctor ordered her. It moves her and gives her a light massage, the same idea as a pedicure chair at the nail place. Pappa awoke her, and she looked at Mom and I with huge brown eyes. She knew we were there - and she knew who we were. I feel very sure of this. She communicated with her big brown eyes, and her head moved with the sounds of our voices. She looked at Daddy quite a bit, as if asking for answers. She tried to talk, but she couldn't. Her mouth stayed open, and her breaths were very labored and infrequent. You could hear the fluid in her chest. Her average was about 17 breaths per minute. Her blood pressure stayed pretty steady. We left her that night to rest.

Saturday morning, she seemed to be doing better. Her blood pressure was higher, things seemed to be perking up. We discussed how sometimes God does things to remind us that he is in control and to trust him. He is in complete and total control and we trust him. Completely. By the time Mom and I arrived for the 9AM visiting hour, she was not doing as well. Her body is not absorbing the liquids that they are giving her through the IVs, and it is seeping out of her pores all over her body. She is swollen and puffy. She has not woken up and does not know that we are there.

I took wedding pictures for us all to look at and enjoy. Pappa and I relived the fun parts of Jeff and my wedding day through hundreds of snapshots - with a few tears in between for the battle that Nana went through and how hard she fought to attend our wedding, and grateful tears, because she was able to be there.

The ICU staff allows us to stay with her all day - because they know the end is coming soon. Regular visiting hours are every 3 hours from 6AM to 9PM, for 30 minutes each time. The waiting room is full of weary, worried faces of people waiting to see their loved ones. I am thankful that we get to spend the time with Nana, but at the same time scared and very sad to watch her fight.

We leave the room while they change her dressings, and her bed sheets and such. You can hear her moaning with pain from the hallway. Pappa tells us the story of how they met when he returned from the Navy. He spotted her in the church choir, and said to his sister, who is that girl? Janelle responded with oh, that's Bernice, she goes with so-and-so. He said, I don't care who she goes with, I have to meet her. He got to know her by driving her home from church one day. She was 17 and lived at the YWCA, and welcomed the rides to and from church. They had their first kiss weeks later when her dropped her off after church one evening. A few months later, they were engaged. Of course, they wanted a big wedding, but they didn't have any money. Pappa said that they saved and saved for their big celebration, and in the middle of their saving, their church had a big building drive. He remembered the two of them sitting down together and discussing that they would give $25 from their wedding fund, which was a lot of money for them then.

Pappa was determined for Nana to have the beautiful wedding that she wanted. He built a little picket fence with a gate for them to walk through, and a large archway for them to say their vows under, and painted them white. His sister, Frances, decorated the structures with vines and white flowers. The church choir was set up behind them, and Pappa did not like the way that the chairs looked in the church. So, he borrowed faux grass from the local funeral home to put under the chairs to make it look more like a garden. What a sweet, wonderful man.

When we came back into the room, Nana was awake and very upset. They hurt her. Not purposely of course, but all of the activity was painful and traumatic for her. Pappa broke down - how do you watch your wife, your best friend that you made your life with for over 50 years - suffer like that? I have never, in my life seen something so moving, so sad. I will never forget how that looked, felt, sounded. He tells her how much he loves her, and how much he will miss her. He is now the only person that she responds to. This was the most heartbreaking part of my time in ICU with Nana and my family. We all told her how much we loved her, and Pappa told her that he would see her soon, and to go and hug their daughter, Brenda for him. We told her that it was okay, that we knew how tired she was, and that we would take great care of Pappa, that she could go when she was ready. The four of us held hands a prayed for her.

Her doctor came to visit and they made the decision to take her off of her medications. They are now only giving her nutrients (food) through the IV. She only responds to Pappa, and those responses are slight. Her heart rate has dropped slightly, and her breathing has gotten easier. She is breathing more breaths per minute, almost double. When Pappa leans over and talks to her, her breathing pattern becomes erratic, like she is listening or wanting to tell him something. She knows he is there.

I drove back to Houston last night, and from reports this morning, everything is the same. No changes, good or bad. We are just waiting for God to take her.

Please pray for her comfort and for our family. Thank you.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Roger Creager


We went to see Roger Creager at the Dosey Doe last night with our friends and had so much fun!


It was like a coffee house setting, with a dinner and a show atmosphere. The place was really western, and each piece of lumber was cut with a special saw and shipped from Kentucky or something like that.


I have always really liked Roger Creager, but I like him even more now! He seems really personable and fun.


Try out the Dosey Doe, they have some great shows coming up!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Mom's Birthday Weekend

Jeff and I spent the past weekend in Dallas celebrating my Mom's birthday. We had such a great time!

Friday night we went to Patrizo's and had amazing Italian food. We spent Saturday on Lake Lewisville on the boat, and Valerie joined us at Sneeky Pete's for lunch and some good ole' lake floating. I didn't realize that Jeff had never done a lake day with my family before. It is one of my top 5 favorite things to do; I just love being on the water.

Happy Late Birthday Mom!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Nana Update

Good morning!
I am happy to report that Nana's operation went well yesterday and they are expecting her to make a full recovery! The power of prayer is so amazing, and I cannot thank all of you that prayed for our family enough!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace
of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds
in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Monday, July 13, 2009

Prayers Please

As many of you know, my Nana has been in and out of the hospital since November. My Daddy and Pappa are with her today, and are meeting with the doctors to make some difficult decisions regarding her care. Please pray for her and for guidance and comfort for my Daddy and Pappa.

Thank you so very much for the prayers.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Jeff's Birthday


















We celebrated Jeff's 29th birthday with our friends at the Eli Young Band concert and Red River on Saturday! It was a perfect birthday! Thank you all for making it special!






Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Happy Birthday Jeff!



Jeff is 29 years old today!



Happy Birthday to the most wonderful Husband a girl could ask for!


Jeff and I had such a fun July 4th weekend in Crockett, Texas!
We spent the weekend with his parents at their lakehouse, and experienced all the July 4th activities the little town had to offer. We went to the July 4th parade, where they actually prayed over the loudspeaker before - it has been so long since I have been somewhere other than church and heard prayer in such a large group. It was so wonderfully refreshing! All the kids had their little bikes decorated, and there were firetrucks, classic cars, and a huge republican float! It was wonderful. We even tasted one of the entries in the homemade ice cream contest : )
We spent the afternoon down by the water, drinking and swimming. Bandit loved swimming in the lake - as long as someone was holding him!
We went to the civic center that night to watch the fireworks - I was so suprised at how beautiful they were for such a small town!
Pics to come soon :)