We made it....

Well folks,
Christmas has come and gone, and we made it through. Mine started with Peanut projectile barfing across my backseat on the way to Mom's, and then upon entering Mom's house, Watson peed on her tree and then crapped in her kitchen. I HAVE NO IDEA!!!!!! Clark Griswold is my uncle. Have I ever mentioned that before?!?! :) But Christmas was nice and rainy in East Tn, and a jolly time was had by all, and we all gained about 18 pounds.
So April got a new heart for Christmas and is still in very critical but stable condition.
And so are the days of our lives....
Jeanie

soooo....

My name is officially Jeanie L. Grinch. I just can't feel the Christmas spirit. First of all, I have heartburn tonight and my knee hurts. Waaah. I know. Suck it up. But the big thing is that April is laying in Duke's cardio step-down unit, and I'm supposed to be merry and bright? Not happening. Spent too much money, but I'll go home tomorrow (assuming all is well with Ape) and do the Christmas thing with the fam. However, my heart will be in Duke, waiting with April for her heart.

Sorry to be Debbie-Downer. That's just what it is tonight.

Merry Christmas!

Here we are. Christmas week!! I wish I were more excited, but it is what it is. I've done the obligatory gift shopping for the kids, and declared to everyone else "Merry Christmas!" I had a great time with April yesterday, and have already asked Mom to throw an extra tater in the pot for Christmas dinner, so I can take April some leftovers Friday. :) That'll make her happy. So I suppose I can easily say that all I want for Christmas is a heart for April. That's the craziest thing I've ever said.......this whole situation is surreal.
I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas!
Jeanie

Hey-

Hey All,
Here it is, 11:30 on a Tuesday and I can't sleep. My right eye won't stop twitching. Could it be that I'm stressed????
Other than that, it's all good I suppose! Christmas shopping has been reduced to only the offspring of my siblings. Sorry everyone else, but MERRY CHRISTMAS! Too much pressure and too much expense in light of everything else.
Jeanie

April has her own site!

Hey everyone!
Your response for April has been overwhelming. Thank you thank you thank you!! After talking to Darrell tonight, I have created a blog just for her. It's http://www.prayforapril.blogspot.com. This is the site I'm going to update from now on with info for April. It's just easier and not related to my non-sensical site.
Thanks everyone! Pray Pray Pray!!!!
Jeanie

Thurs am

Trever just called from the hospital and the docs determined April's heart will never work on it's own. They are now inserting the portable pump and April awaits a transplant.

I'm going to create a separate blog tonight just for April, so I'll send that link out when it's ready.

PRAY PRAY PRAY!

JB

PS- It's 11:17 am...I have no idea how to 'set the clock' on this but it says I'm posting at 8 something in the am. It's wrong.

I'm such a dork.....

I just realized I didn't post my address...it's

419 S Hawthorne Road
Winston Salem, NC 27103

Just address any envelopes to me and maybe on the back write 'for Darrell and April' or something. I don't get alot of fun mail, but with Christmas cards coming, I'll know what's for me and what to take to them.

Pray Pray Pray!

JB

OH! I forgot one thing...

Many of you wonderful people have emailed or asked on the phone if there was anything you could do to help. There's nothing we can really do but PRAY, and I expect that from each of you!! But one tanglible thing that could help, and let me state outright I in no way expect this of anyone as the economy's stinking and we are all in different places financially, but gift cards would be wonderful for the family. They are having to eat out, her mom and aunt/uncle are paying for a hotel, and all the little expenses encountered during emergencies. Restaurant-specific cards or gas cards would be fine, but a generic Visa Check Card would probably be the best option, as the family could use them for whatever need arises.

So with that, giftcards of an amount would be much appreciated. By the way, Darrell is going to KILL me when he finds out I'm posting this, but I'll take one for the team.

I just realized I don't know Ape and Darrell's home address, and have no idea the address at the hospital, so you can mail anything to me. I'll post my address below. I'll take them to Darrell as I get them. You can also post any comments to April/Darrell on this site, and I'll print them and take them as well.

Again, NO obligations! Well, except praying!

J

Weds update

Hey Everyone!
Trever made it to NC today, and we trekked over to the Duke Hospital to visit Ape. She is doing remarkedly well, and is WRITING notes to everyone. She is fully alert and coherent but is still of course, hooked up to everything. Trever and I got to run in the ICU and see her a minute and she wrote that she was really glad we could be there, and she had told Darrell earlier with a note that she wanted a Mtn Dew! :)
Tomorrow is a big day. They are taking April in and opening her up again, and turning the pump off and testing her heart. We are praying it starts pumping again, but the MDs told April and Darrell the tests today showed significant damage and he didn't think it would really work on it's own. BUT he also told us it would days before she would respond, and now she's writing us notes. He said if her heart doesn't cooperate, they are going to implant the portable pump while they have her in surgery. She would then go home in a week or so, depending on her response and progress, and wait for a heart.
PRAY PRAY PRAY!!! I told April tonight that people all over the world are praying, and she wrote that she definitely knew God was working or else she wouldn't be doing so well. :)
PRAY PRAY PRAY!!!
Jeanie

Sleep? PRAY!

So all, I can't sleep. I'm online begging all to pray for April. Pray, pray, pray. I want her (as does Darrell, Grace, Jean and the family) to be 1oo% healed. Pray pray pray. Please. Grace needs her momma. Darrell needs his wife. Jean needs her daughter. I need my Apey. PRAY!

Pray for April!

Hey all,

Darrell (April's husband) called me early this morning and told me Ape had a heart attack last night. I talked with her on the phone for over an hour last night, and then she spoke to her mom, and then went to get ready for bed. He said she told the EMS worker it felt like someone kicked her in the chest, and then she fell in the floor. She coded while in the squad, and they took her to Wake Med. She coded again there, and they did a bypass (I think) and decided she needed to be transferred to Duke. I got there around noon, and April had just gotten out of surgery. She is stable but critical. Forgive me first for my lack of correct usage of medical terms..this is how I understand it. The docs said the next 24 hours are the most important of her life up to this point. If she wakes up on her own, they'll start weaning her off the "pump" that is acting as her heart to see if her heart will function again on it's own. If not, they've already started the ball rolling for getting on the transplant list. If she doesn't wake up in the next 24 hours, they'll do neurological testing to determine if there was brain damage during her 3 codes (she coded again today before surgery). The Duke doc told Darrell that in all his years of medicine, he had never seen anyone under the age of 65 have this happen. Darrell said the doc said "April's artery split." I have no idea what that means. The doc said he had no medical reason to tell us why this happened. The praise part is that when I left at 5:00, April was responding to simple commands (Grip my hand, move your foot-type commands) and she was nodding her head appropriately to questions. For instance, I asked her if she knew me and she nodded yes, and I said "Am I Trever?" (our other childhood friend/college roommate) and Ape nodded no. I then told her Trever's flight came in at 3 tomorrow and we'd see her around 3:30 and she nodded a big yes. So pray. Pray April continues to improve. Pray for her husband Darrell as he makes decisions and cares for April. Pray for Grace, their two year old who has bronchitis right now, and is at home with Darrell's mom, and with her little world rocked. And pray for April's mom, Jean. She's lost alot in the last 7 years and she's really struggling today (like throwing up in the bathroom and almost passing out once.)

Feel free to email me (jbaird9@juno.com) but I'm about to lose my voice so I more than likely won't answer the phone soon. :) Sorry for the long note.

Thanks!

Jeanie

Anyone have one of these????

Update this afternoon:

Well, Mike just called and said he’s called 15 salvage yards and no one has a filler neck for the ‘Doobie. He has to order a new part, so he’ll have it by the end of the week. Ugh ugh ugh. But he did say that if I don’t put anymore gas in it, it shouldn’t leak anymore, so maybe I won’t blow up the House when someone tosses a cigarette in the parking lot!

So unless you are the offspring of my siblings, “MERRY FREAKIN CHRISTMAS!” Due to significant budget cuts, that’s what you get from me this year. hmm....wonder if I could get a bailout....

Jeanie L Baird Grinch

(It’s really hard to be a Grinch with Josh Groban singing “O Holy Night!”)

Original email....

So friends, my 11 year old Suburdoobie is back in the shop. It’s not a great sign when you go into the shop and they know you by name and remember Subaru’s anti-theft feature that means you have to turn the left signal on to start the car. But I’ve noticed gas leaking a few times, and with my history of exploding cars, I really didn’t want to push my luck. The guy just called me and said the ‘filler neck’ is rusting out, and every time I park on a hill and every time I put gas in the car, it’s going to leak. Ugh. A new filler neck costs $209, so he’s calling salvage yards to see if he can find one. I asked him if it would blow up, and he paused and said ‘well, it shouldn’t.’ Reassuring! Ugh ugh ugh…..

Maybe Santa will bring me a reliable vehicle…I believe…I believe!!!!

Pray for the Hornet!

Hey Friends,
Nothing too big to report. Just a lazy weekend. I hung out with some friends kids Friday night so they could go to Bible study, and last night I kept my 8 month old friend while her mom went to a holiday party with work and her dad is out of town for work, and then had the nursery today at church. So I've had my kid-fix for a while! Both babysitting gigs were great and easy. Good kids.
But tonight I went to the grocery store, came out, and noticed yet another puddle of gas in the parking lot. So I just called and made an appointment to get my Green Hornet checked tomorrow. Ugh ugh ugh. I would LOVE to go buy a new-to-me, reliable car. Santa, if you are out there....
So that's all that's going on here. Trying to get in the Christmas spirit but not really feeling it these days. The House is beautifully decorated, but my apt looks like just another day. Haven't drug the Christmas stuff out yet. Maybe I won't at all.
So laundry calls. Hope you are all doing well and have a great week.
Jeanie