2 Bucks and Change: October 2010

6:00 am Friday morning, I started my day the typical way, calling to talk to my husband on my way to work. Only this time, it didn't go like normal. I started to blab to him about normal, pointless stuff, when he interrupted me and told me he had a problem.

He told me he was almost to Reno Nevada and was is so much pain, he didn't think he could make it much further. He told me he was faint, dizzy and lost a lot of blood when using the bathroom. Luckily for us, we found a hospital only a couple miles away from him in Reno. I was fortunate to be able to talk to him until he found a parking spot for his semi truck on a side street, next to the hospital. That is when he had to let me go.

It was a very long day waiting for Dave to call me back from the hospital. . . I got impatient a couple of times and with very little urging from my co-workers, I decided to bypass trying Dave's cell again (which he wasn't answering) and just called the hospital. The nurse went to transfer me to the doctor, but ended up transferring me to Dave instead. He told me they thought he had a hole in his lower intestines and that is where they thought the blood was coming from. He also told me I had to sit there at work and not leave to go be with him, until we knew exactly what they were going to do with him.

This tested my patience in every way possible and I am generally not a very patient person, so this was torture. My co-workers recommended that I just leave work, because I was not getting anything done and could not concentrate on what had to be done. So after only being at work for two hours, I left and went home to try and find a way to get down to Reno.

Hours later, the doctors decided they wanted to do a procedure on Dave the following morning to fix the hole. So I had a little over 12 hours to get to Nevada. Dave and I decided the easiest way for me to get there would be the Grey Hound Bus, that way I could just drive home with him in the semi truck. After looking it up online, I realized I had just missed the bus and would have to wait until 12:00 am for the next one. Kiersten was wonderful and told me she was willing to stay up and take me to the bus stop in Salt Lake at 11:00 pm. They recommend you get there an hour early, because they will sell as many tickets as people will buy. The seating is on a first come first serve basis, so if you don't make it on that bus, you have to sit there and wait until the next bus comes along in 12 hours.

I thought getting there an hour early was plenty of time, boy was I wrong. I ended up being the second to last person in line. When I told everybody about my plans to use the bus, I got bad reactions. Everybody told me how horrible it was. So when I got there, I was a little on edge.

The people on the bus (not to be judgmental) at first kinda freaked me out. I felt like I had dropped to the bottom of the food chain. I refused to sit on the dirty, gross floor (like everybody else) or leave my luggage to hold my place in line and sit in a chair (like several others). So I just stood there, reading my book for over an hour an half, because the bus was running a half hour late. My back got sore standing in one spot for so long, but I knew after hours and hours of the being on the bus, I would appreciate a chance to stand.

That bus ride was one of the worst nights of my life! My sister Michelle made it much better by texting me and calling me through out the night to make sure I was still alive and doing ok. The air conditioning unit on the bus was broken, it was permanently stuck on the high position. Once I got over being scared of the people on the bus with me, I began to notice the other problem, freezing to death. I only had a small, thin blanket and my light weight jacket! If the little stops along the way were smart, they would sell blankets, because I was willing to spend any amount of money to get a thick, warm blanket, but to no avail, I could not find one to buy.

My ride was over 9 hours long! I eventually softened up and spoke to some of my fellow passengers. It gave me a new appreciation for my life. One man was coming from several weeks gambling in Wendover to spend several more weeks gambling in Reno. I can't imagine him having a family or much of a home life to do something like that....

In Wendover the bus driver didn't know the roads, so after our stop to drop off people and get more, he kept going down the same road until it turned into a dirt road. Without telling us that he was lost, he just stuck the bus in reverse and started driving backwards for awhile. He was all over the road trying to back up, I kept picturing us getting into a head on collision, because he couldn't stay on the right side of the road. Once we found the freeway, he admitted he is not from here and didn't know where he was!!!! That was very comforting.

I missed Dave's procedure by 1/2 an hour. .. So if the bus would have been on time, I would have made it before they wheeled him back. The bus stop was only two blocks from the hospital. My Dad was great and called the bus stop before I got there. He got me a name of a women who could help point me in the right direction of the hospital.

I arrived in Dave's hospital room just min's before they brought him back. It brought tears to my eyes to see the man I loved sitting in a wheelchair, completely out of it. I helped move him over to the bed. He told me to lie down with him, he snuggled right up and fell asleep. It was so heartwarming to finally be there with him, to take care of him and support him.

We found out it was not a hole in his lower intestines, but that he had several bleeding ulcers. He had lost a ton of blood and had to have his blood checked regularly. They kept us overnight to make sure his blood count was improving.

Jason happened to be driving his truck through, so he stopped by and spent the night in the hospital parking lot. It was nice to see him and be able to have him come and visit his Dad. We all had breakfast the final morning together before leaving.

We woke up the next morning to the Reno annual hot air balloon race. We had a great view from the hospital window. In the early morning hours it was really neat, there were only three or four balloons up, but every time they would use the hot air, their balloon would glow. It was really pretty. When the sun came up, dozens of hot air balloons filled the sky as they raced across the valley towards the finish line.

Dave was feeling better and was even up to playing on his phone. . .

All in all, the doctor said the only thing Dave needs to change is drinking his Mnt dew, no more caffeine. I must admit, I am very proud of my husband, it has been a month now and he has completely stopped drinking his Mnt Dew that he loved.

This whole experience reminded me again of how much I love and appreciate my husband. When your mind has to go down that path of "something might happen to my better half," it is a scary and life altering moment. It puts the priorities in life back where they need to be. The little, insignificant stresses, fall right back where they belong, not being important. The big things that truly matter in this life, church, family all come right back to the front, where they belong.

I hope from this experience I can remember to never take things for granted. Appreciate my husband every single moment, even the irritating ones. Not caring and spending so much time stressing about little stuff like, lights being put up or projects at work. I love you Dave, I am so grateful you are in my life and are healthy and well. . . .