FYI, this blog "Eagle's Wings", will remain here even though we won't be posting to it, in case you'd like to re-read any of it. Please feel free to share any/all posts with others that might need some encouragement in their journeys.
12 hours and counting till we're on the plane....
Monday, January 5, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
2 more "wake-ups" till we go home!
My good friend, Cheryl, shared this with me today - another way of saying "2 more days" is "2 more wake-ups", and we have 2 more wake-ups till we fly home! Yippee!
Today was such a wonderful day. We worshipped with our Arizona "ohana" First Southern Baptist Church of Scottsdale. They began with "Victory In Jesus", then we shared a short testimony, then they sang our favorites "How Great Is Our God" and "How Great Thou Art". What a rousing praise to our God.
After one more delicious lunch at The Cheescake Factory, we enjoyed a visit with Debbie, Josh, and Wendell Bond. Wendell and family are long long time friends, Wendell also was our Sunday School teacher 30+ years ago when Rick introduced me to Dan. We had fun reminiscing and catching up.
Then it was off to Marie Calendars for dessert with my high school friends, Karen and Calvin Slaan. What a blessing, reconnecting with these precious friends and fellow believers who have prayed fervently for us and loved on us during this journey.
Dan has labs and his last pentamidine inhalation treatment at Mayo tomorrow morning, then we might visit the Healing Garden one more time; we spent many afternoons there towards the end of Dan's hospital stay. Then we're on the plane Tuesday morning!
This may be our last post to this Eagle's Wings blog, as we have come full circle in our journey through liver transplant. Thanks for walking alongside us in the valleys and mountaintops. Let us know how we can pray for you in your journey. Keep trusting God no matter where life takes you, He knows where you are and loves you right there, hurts with you when you are in pain, and rejoices over you with singing (that one is in Zeph. 3:17), and my personal favorite - you are His treasured possession (Deuteronomy 26:18).
"But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:31 NIV),
Debbie and Dan
Today was such a wonderful day. We worshipped with our Arizona "ohana" First Southern Baptist Church of Scottsdale. They began with "Victory In Jesus", then we shared a short testimony, then they sang our favorites "How Great Is Our God" and "How Great Thou Art". What a rousing praise to our God.
After one more delicious lunch at The Cheescake Factory, we enjoyed a visit with Debbie, Josh, and Wendell Bond. Wendell and family are long long time friends, Wendell also was our Sunday School teacher 30+ years ago when Rick introduced me to Dan. We had fun reminiscing and catching up.
Then it was off to Marie Calendars for dessert with my high school friends, Karen and Calvin Slaan. What a blessing, reconnecting with these precious friends and fellow believers who have prayed fervently for us and loved on us during this journey.
Dan has labs and his last pentamidine inhalation treatment at Mayo tomorrow morning, then we might visit the Healing Garden one more time; we spent many afternoons there towards the end of Dan's hospital stay. Then we're on the plane Tuesday morning!
This may be our last post to this Eagle's Wings blog, as we have come full circle in our journey through liver transplant. Thanks for walking alongside us in the valleys and mountaintops. Let us know how we can pray for you in your journey. Keep trusting God no matter where life takes you, He knows where you are and loves you right there, hurts with you when you are in pain, and rejoices over you with singing (that one is in Zeph. 3:17), and my personal favorite - you are His treasured possession (Deuteronomy 26:18).
"But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:31 NIV),
Debbie and Dan
Monday, December 29, 2008
Christmas pictures and starting to pack
Check out our Christmas photos at www.picasaweb.google.com/dananddebvanalstine/christmas2008.
Isn't this the cutest 17 month old on the planet?!We had a terrific visit and Christmas with the kids. Amy and Adam live in a nice neighborhood with friendly neighbors, we met some. One highlight of the Christmas season in Yuma is the Parade of Lights and everyone comes out for it. We watched the parade across the street from their house, sitting on some hay bales. The parade is a long line of cars with lots of Christmas lights and other decorations, drivers and riders dressed like Santa or other festive costumes, honking horns and waving to everyone. The people watching would clap and cheer for their favorites. The weather was clear, crisp and a little breezy, perfect parade weather. Sunsets in Yuma are beautiful, this evening's sunset was no exception.
Dan and I rejoiced to worship with the kids at their church, First Christian Church in Yuma (www.fccyuma.org). A huge church and extremely loving group, the pastor is very down to earth, the music terrific, we felt very welcomed. It's great to visit another church once in a while without having to lead, teach, or "be the pastor" so to speak...to worship and to observe how others worship is very refreshing and we came away blessed.
Another treat was Christmas Eve, Adam took us all for a drive down "Storybook Lane", actually 55th Street in Yuma, but it's called Storybook Lane at Christmas time. I've never seen such a display by an entire street. At the entrance to the street is a big sign welcoming you to 55th Street, then in front of every other house is a big lighted sign with a few lines from "The Night Before Christmas". Every house was decorated to the hilt with lights, Frosty, Rudolph, Santa, you name it. At the end of the block is a sign turning you around to the other side of the street to finish the story. The last few houses really went all out, one had a bonfire, one had a carousel and merry go round for which they charged a nickel to ride, and one neighbor handed out lollipops to everyone walking by and even knocking on car windows to give candy and wish a merry Christmas. It felt like being in a Courier & Ives picture. Swen sure enjoyed the parade and the lights, and we enjoyed his lollipop.
We ate way too much during our 5-day visit. Amy cooked a delicious honey glazed spiral ham dinner, homemade cookies and chex mix, and her table setting was very festive. We discovered Del Taco and their Taco Del Carbon - this is the way tacos should be served, if you like cilantro and more meat than veggies on your taco, this is for you. We also discovered Texas Roadhouse, the best steak and rib place ever, sadly none in Hawaii. Their "fall off the bone ribs" literally do fall off the bone. And Christmas lunch was delicious at the Happy Greek Chef, about a block from the California border, and extremely popular with the locals, we got their just in time before a huge crowd arrived. Food is served piping hot, and plenty of it, and very reasonable. Yuma sure has changed since Dan and I were kids, Yuma used to be nothing more than a Marine base and a McDonalds to stop at on your way to San Diego. Now it has a population of about 100,000 with many more during the winter season, and has become quite the tourist destination.
We left for Phoenix after lunch on Christmas day, after smothering the kids and Swen with hugs and kisses. Adam may be getting transferred in March to a new construction job in Vancouver, BC and it was tough leaving them, but what a joy and blessing it has been to be with them while we've been in Phoenix.
Dan's folks are spending Christmas through New Year's with Roxanne and Joe in Colorado, and Dan has been very busy packing most all our stuff to FedEx back home. We're 99% done, just need a big picture box and maybe one more medium size box, then we're done. We'll get by with what fits in our suitcase for the next week or so. January 6 is coming up soon! Dan has Mayo visits this week, the last on Friday.
One more prayer request: we both have had colds since we got back from Yuma. Not that serious for me, but Dan doesn't have a working immune system anymore now that he's on anti-rejection meds, and a cold could be serious for him. We've been in contact with the transplant coordinator twice now, he has labs and a chest xray tomorrow so they will advise if he needs antibiotics, in the meantime he is allowed to take Tylenol and Robitussin DM and also Coricidin HBP. Please pray for his healing, particularly with a plane trip coming up next week.
Another prayer request: Dan senses God may possibly be leading him to write a book about his experience and lessons learned (thanks, Roger, for your encouragement, you are a good friend). And he senses God may also possibly be leading to offer to share with pastors, or with churches, or with anyone. He plans to send a letter to Hawaii Pacific churches with more info and how to get in touch with him. For Dan, the most humble and non-self-serving person I know, this is very scary for him to put himself out there like this. We don't know if anyone will contact him, but Dan's passion now is to share what God has been teaching him about living with pain and difficult health situations, so we'll see what God does with Dan's obedience. And how in the world do we publish a book? God, we sure need your direction. I love Psalm 119:105 KJV: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." He shows me just enough of His will...'a lamp to my feet' to see where I am standing (sort of like my current spiritual status, in relation to His holiness)...and 'a light to my path', just enough for me to see the next step (it's best not to know too much too soon...if God had told me years ago that His will for us was to go through a liver transplant and all the trimmings...I'd probably be in Kahi Mohala).
Aloha from the desert,
Debbie and Dan
Thursday, December 18, 2008
We're coming home!!!!!!
Halleluia is not a big enough word to express our praise and just plain giddy-ness today!
Gift #1- Dan needs to be able to climb stairs both at home and at church and we weren't sure he'd be able to do this for quite some time. Well, Dan had outpatient PT today, and was able to climb 26 stairs, up and down, unassisted, and wasn't even out of breath! Richard, Dan's therapist, was shocked and could not explain how he was able to do that, as he didn't have this much strength two days ago in PT. We saw several other PTs and OTs who worked with Dan while he was still hospitalized, and they all shared kind words and compliments to Dan on how great he looks now. But the most humbling and blessed of comments shared today was from a lady in the rehab office, we don't know her but she's watched Dan while he's done rehab since November, and she said Dan has given her hope for her own life.
Gift #2- Next, Dan had outpatient OT, this was his third appointment with Michelle who was assessing Dan's ability to start driving again, testing for strength, reflexes, and eye-hand coordination. And he passed! Dan will start driving around the neighborhood at first until he feels confident to try freeways.
Gift #3- Later, Dan saw Dr. Byrne, one of the liver doctors. He also had labs first thing this morning, and results were excellent, the only lab a little off was kidney function, that creatinine number was 1.8 which is great for Dan but normal is lower, the dr. said Dan may never get to that number but he wasn't overly concerned either. It was profound to me that we saw Dr. Byrne today. He was the first doctor Dan saw when he was being assessed for the Mayo transplant program last year, he has seen Dan's health go from bad to worse, and now today told us how fabulous Dan is doing and how good he looks - kind of completes the journey for us to have come full circle with Dr. Byrne. Dan has a few more appointments left like cardiologist, pacemaker check, and 2 more PTs, the last on Dec. 31. So....drum roll please....Dr. Byrne released Dan to return home to Hawaii the first of January!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gift #4- This afternoon, I received a love gift that will cover my airfare for last week's trip to Hawaii.
To be sure, tears flowed freely as we received each of these gifts today. Do we feel blessed? You bet. We are living Ephesians 3:20-21 (HCSB): "Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think—according to the power that works in you—to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever." Amen and Amen!
Can't stop smiling,
Debbie and Dan
(PS: In case you're wondering, yes we already have our flight reservations, we'll be flying home Tuesday, Jan. 6th.)
Gift #1- Dan needs to be able to climb stairs both at home and at church and we weren't sure he'd be able to do this for quite some time. Well, Dan had outpatient PT today, and was able to climb 26 stairs, up and down, unassisted, and wasn't even out of breath! Richard, Dan's therapist, was shocked and could not explain how he was able to do that, as he didn't have this much strength two days ago in PT. We saw several other PTs and OTs who worked with Dan while he was still hospitalized, and they all shared kind words and compliments to Dan on how great he looks now. But the most humbling and blessed of comments shared today was from a lady in the rehab office, we don't know her but she's watched Dan while he's done rehab since November, and she said Dan has given her hope for her own life.
Gift #2- Next, Dan had outpatient OT, this was his third appointment with Michelle who was assessing Dan's ability to start driving again, testing for strength, reflexes, and eye-hand coordination. And he passed! Dan will start driving around the neighborhood at first until he feels confident to try freeways.
Gift #3- Later, Dan saw Dr. Byrne, one of the liver doctors. He also had labs first thing this morning, and results were excellent, the only lab a little off was kidney function, that creatinine number was 1.8 which is great for Dan but normal is lower, the dr. said Dan may never get to that number but he wasn't overly concerned either. It was profound to me that we saw Dr. Byrne today. He was the first doctor Dan saw when he was being assessed for the Mayo transplant program last year, he has seen Dan's health go from bad to worse, and now today told us how fabulous Dan is doing and how good he looks - kind of completes the journey for us to have come full circle with Dr. Byrne. Dan has a few more appointments left like cardiologist, pacemaker check, and 2 more PTs, the last on Dec. 31. So....drum roll please....Dr. Byrne released Dan to return home to Hawaii the first of January!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gift #4- This afternoon, I received a love gift that will cover my airfare for last week's trip to Hawaii.
To be sure, tears flowed freely as we received each of these gifts today. Do we feel blessed? You bet. We are living Ephesians 3:20-21 (HCSB): "Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think—according to the power that works in you—to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever." Amen and Amen!
Can't stop smiling,
Debbie and Dan
(PS: In case you're wondering, yes we already have our flight reservations, we'll be flying home Tuesday, Jan. 6th.)
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Praises galore!
We have so much to be thankful for!
Today, Dan had labs, follow-ups with doctors and then PT. His labs are great, as the doctor stated "his liver is stone cold perfect", his creatinine continues to drop, his red cell count is normal, only his INR is elevated, meaning his blood will not clot as well, so they took him off Warfarin for a few days (also called Coumadin, this med is the blood thinner he takes). And today was the first day Dan walked in to these appointments using his cane instead of a wheelchair or walker. Dan was commenting this evening at the great improvement in just a short time, just last week he was struggling to stand up from the wheelchair; as Dan put it "The Lord's just showing off!"
A wonderful surprise this morning, we ran into Tim and Lily at labs this morning. Tim and Lily are from Hawaii Kai, fellow Kaiser patients (even the same Kaiser liver doctor), and Tim just received his liver transplant at Mayo. It was great seeing them again, Tim looks great after his surgery and some challenges that followed. Tim and Lily are also believers, they attend Central Union Church in Honolulu, and actually found our blog a while ago and had followed our journey. We had a great time of sharing and I hope we continue the friendship and fellowship when we all get home.
Dan and I have been out Christmas shopping, eating in restaurants, and just enjoying spending time together. Dan's strength, drive, mental state, and passion for life have improved so much over the past few weeks, every day we notice something new. Like today, we noticed the hand tremors are gone and Dan is able to eat and write with no problems.
Dan woke up this morning cheering, saying "I'm going to be 50 tomorrow!" I don't think Dan has ever rejoiced about getting older before. The last several years, he has been so sick that he said he felt 80 years old; so turning 50 must seem like he's getting younger. We are looking forward to celebrating tomorrow with shopping, lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, then pizza, birthday cake, presents, and games with the family in the evening.
I'll be going home for a week to visit Mom and take her to a few doctor appointments, worship with our Mililani ohana, as well as box up the rest of Amy's stuff and get it sent to her (I know, she's been married for several years now, I guess procrastinating sending her stuff was a way of not completely letting her go - sorry, punkin). I'll be in Hawaii from Dec. 7-14. Then Dan and I will celebrate Christmas in Yuma with Amy, Adam and Swen (who is now walking!) from Dec. 20-25. It won't be long now until we return home to Hawaii together!
Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow....
Debbie and Dan
Swen was in his first rain storm recently - love that hair! Sunday, November 30, 2008
Beam us up, Scotty...
What a terrific weekend! And a weekend of firsts since Dan's surgeries.
On Saturday, Dan and I along with Debbie and the kids went to the Arizona Science Museum in downtown Phoenix, nearby the Convention Center - we saw Star Trek: The Experience! This is heaven for Star Trek fans like us - memorabilia, props, costumes, sets, shuttlecraft simulator, and more (check out http://www.startrek.com/custom/include/community/tour/virtual). We all took turns sitting in the captain's chair on the bridge set of Next Generation (actually, I took several turns). This was the first big "field trip" for Dan, transporting and using his wheelchair and being around a big crowd of people.
Today, we went with Dan's folks to church, Dan's first time back since his transplant on Aug. 25. It was a wonderful time of worship and thanksgiving, church members were praising God for answered prayer for us. And another first, Dan managed all his morning preparation by himself, with just a little help from me. After church, another first, we went to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. If you haven't been there, you must go. I don't know if the menu is the same at all locations, but this location's menu was about 40 pages long! So many choices, you could eat here every day and not make it through the menu.
Dan's next Mayo visit is Tuesday at 4pm for outpatient rehab. Thanks for your prayers for Dan to regain all his strength, he is doing better each day. And fyi, his mental challenges are gone, he's back to normal (for those of you who know Dan, I know you are laughing out loud).
Thankfully,
Debbie and Dan
On Saturday, Dan and I along with Debbie and the kids went to the Arizona Science Museum in downtown Phoenix, nearby the Convention Center - we saw Star Trek: The Experience! This is heaven for Star Trek fans like us - memorabilia, props, costumes, sets, shuttlecraft simulator, and more (check out http://www.startrek.com/custom/include/community/tour/virtual). We all took turns sitting in the captain's chair on the bridge set of Next Generation (actually, I took several turns). This was the first big "field trip" for Dan, transporting and using his wheelchair and being around a big crowd of people.
Today, we went with Dan's folks to church, Dan's first time back since his transplant on Aug. 25. It was a wonderful time of worship and thanksgiving, church members were praising God for answered prayer for us. And another first, Dan managed all his morning preparation by himself, with just a little help from me. After church, another first, we went to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. If you haven't been there, you must go. I don't know if the menu is the same at all locations, but this location's menu was about 40 pages long! So many choices, you could eat here every day and not make it through the menu.
Dan's next Mayo visit is Tuesday at 4pm for outpatient rehab. Thanks for your prayers for Dan to regain all his strength, he is doing better each day. And fyi, his mental challenges are gone, he's back to normal (for those of you who know Dan, I know you are laughing out loud).
Thankfully,
Debbie and Dan
Friday, November 28, 2008
Friday, Nov. 28th updates
It's been a busy week. Dan's had something to do at Mayo every day this week, except for Thanksgiving day. Labs, PT, pacemaker check, and follow-up with the liver doctors and all went very well. Dan's new liver function is about as perfect as can be, his creatinine is up a little and his prograf level is down a little, so meds are being adjusted. Dan may have a intestinal virus, we should hear the test results tomorrow and then get antibiotics. The next think Dan and I want to work on is a thank-you letter to the donor family. We will give the letter to Mayo to send to the family; the family may or may not respond, again via Mayo to us. After a certain amount of time, it is up to them and us if we actually know each other's names and/or meet. We hear that sometimes the donor and donee meet, other times it is too difficult for one or the other family. We'll send the first letter, then trust God with what happens next.
Thanksgiving was truly a time for giving thanks. Dan's sister Debbie and the kids Tim, Alyssa, and Josh were with us and Dan's dad asked Dan to pray. It was emotional as Dan shared in his prayer that God had granted the desire of his heart, to spend the holidays with family. It was particularly poignant since we had been told years ago right after Dan was diagnosed with Alpha-1 that the doctors were not sure if Dan would see his 50th birthday (next week, Dec. 5); then we were told by Mayo doctors the day after his transplant that Dan probably had only a few weeks left to live.
Today was especially productive, Dan and I dove into cleaning our room, tossing a lot of junk we've been holding on to, packing more boxes, clearing out his desk, my nightstand, and the closet shelf and rearranging the stuff to keep that was strewn all over the place. It will be much easier to pack everything for returning home (still planned for January). Tonite we are relaxing and watching 2 great holiday movies - Polar Express and The Family Man - if you haven't seen these, run right out and borrow them.
The cleaning we did today made me think about how our spiritual lives often need cleaning, how we need to confront and confess sin, rearrange priorities, get rid of unhealthy habits to make room for God and His will for us. When we do this, our lives will truly reflect God's glory, people will see Jesus in us, that's what it's all about.
Thankful,
Debbie and Dan
Thanksgiving was truly a time for giving thanks. Dan's sister Debbie and the kids Tim, Alyssa, and Josh were with us and Dan's dad asked Dan to pray. It was emotional as Dan shared in his prayer that God had granted the desire of his heart, to spend the holidays with family. It was particularly poignant since we had been told years ago right after Dan was diagnosed with Alpha-1 that the doctors were not sure if Dan would see his 50th birthday (next week, Dec. 5); then we were told by Mayo doctors the day after his transplant that Dan probably had only a few weeks left to live.
Today was especially productive, Dan and I dove into cleaning our room, tossing a lot of junk we've been holding on to, packing more boxes, clearing out his desk, my nightstand, and the closet shelf and rearranging the stuff to keep that was strewn all over the place. It will be much easier to pack everything for returning home (still planned for January). Tonite we are relaxing and watching 2 great holiday movies - Polar Express and The Family Man - if you haven't seen these, run right out and borrow them.
The cleaning we did today made me think about how our spiritual lives often need cleaning, how we need to confront and confess sin, rearrange priorities, get rid of unhealthy habits to make room for God and His will for us. When we do this, our lives will truly reflect God's glory, people will see Jesus in us, that's what it's all about.
Thankful,
Debbie and Dan
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