thursday.

Well, no Thai food last night, despite my cravings. But what we had for dinner was really the least of my worries. I remember the days when it seemed like what I was having for dinner was the biggest decision I had to make all day. Anyhow, my aunt arrived last night, finally to our house around 10 pm. We thought she might get here as early as 8, but decided to go to say hello to her son first. Which was fine, except now we were sitting around waiting until goodness knew when for her to show up...and we were tired! I really wanted to put my pj's on around 7 or so, but I resisted solely for the benefit of our company. My aunt is an interesting person...maybe I'll say more about that later. I was really anxious to see her, and not in an excited sort of way. I realized yesterday that basically the only contact I have had with her in the last 10 years was when she called this past February for my mom's birthday. Oh, and a high school graduation card. With basically no relationship established, things were bound to be slightly awkward. I will say this, though: it really strange when a person hasn't seen you for about 10 years and then comes in, gives you a hug, and acts like it's only been a week or so since we last saw one another. Strange, indeed.

After not being able to fall asleep last night, I woke up bright and early this morning. My mom, our friend Kim, and myself left the house about 8:15 and we headed out of town. We stopped to pick up my sister, and then we were headed to Camarillo. I'd like to say that our trip was purely for unselfish reasons, but we decided to go to the amazing outlet mall there. Let me pause and say that when things were really up in the air about Papa, we cancelled this trip. But, since he is in Ventura, and we were headed to that area, we decided to make it a dual purpose trip and have a little fun. We arrived at the outlet mall around 11:15 and did our best to stimulate the economy. I got a couple of cute, but basic skirts, and some shoes. Just what I needed, right? Everyone else managed to fill up the trunk of my car with their purchases. And, of course, Dad got a couple of Father's Day presents, as well. We had a gourmet lunch of In N Out, and then went right back to shopping. Around 4 or so, my cousin met us at the outlet mall and then we headed out to the hospital.

When we arrived at the hospital, my aunt met us in the hallway and updated us on Papa's condition. In short, they had done an endoscopy to check for blockage, tumors, polyps, etc. in his GI. He has been having difficulty keeping most foods, and even water, down. While the doctors think that this is due to the whole brain issue, they wanted to make sure they weren't just attributing the symptoms to that when, in fact, there really was something else going on. The good news is it came back completely clear. However, when he was coming out of the anesthesia, he was having all sorts of hallucinations. This is where we entered. After receiving a quick update in the hall, we ventured in to the room. By now, Papa was becoming clearer by the minute as the medicine continued to wear off. I was thankful for that because it was especially upsetting to Gramma and my aunt to see him like that. He recognized us all as we came into the room, and did his best to converse, most of which consisted of us talking to him. He became more and more lucid, though, and even cracked a joke as time went on.

Now we play the waiting game. Tomorrow we should know a little more definitively about whether or not he has the blockage in his brain and if/when surgery will be. Also tomorrow, they are planning to put in a fibrillator/pace maker on his heart. The upper chamber of his heart is in constant fibrillation, and if anything were to happen to the lower chamber, he stands little to no chance of surviving. So it was decided that the pacemaker would help strengthen his heart in general, but would be beneficial for whatever surgery lies in the future. We continue to pray that God would heal him completely. If He's not going to do that, though, we pray that this test they are doing (looking for traceable agents throughout his body) will show definitively that there is blockage. The doctors are quite confident that this is the problem, but can't proceed without these results.

Sorry to belabor on about Papa, but it's obviously a huge part of what's going on in my life right now.

In other news:
We finally arrived home around 9:15 to find my aunt laying in bed (she apparently spent the whole day in bed/on her computer). After giving her a quick update on Papa, she told us the latest happening with her son, Jason. About a month ago he was in a offroad motorcycle accident. He had a cracked sternum, cracked ribs, and a mild concussion. Since then, he has been in pain, but the most pronounced problem was his left leg feeling numb all of the time. He has been to the doctor multiple times, but today it was decided, I think after x-rays and the whole bit, that the problem doesn't appear to be with his leg, but actually in his brain, probably as a result of the concussion. He went to the neurologist today, but we haven't heard any news since then. Really? Please tell me the chances of two family members, albeit different sides of the family, having issues with brain injuries?

Your prayers are much appreciated! I'm off to bed now after a long day...