Chapter 48

10:30 P.M text to Amanda…

  ‘Hey, the nurse is in here asking a series of questions.  What did they call her heart thing?  Your mom can’t remember.’

“Sinus tachycardia.  It’s means fast heart rate.”

‘That’s it!  I remember now.  Thanks.’

  The nurse took Laura’s vitals, asked her questions, and made her notes.  She asked if I needed a blanket as she showed me how to turn the chair into a bed.  I told her I was fine.  I didn’t need anything.  I brought a small pillow and blanket from home.  She made sure we were comfortable and apologized for the long delay.  “If you change your mind on the blanket, please let me know.” 

I wish I would have spoken up and said something.  I didn’t want to be any trouble.  The truth of the matter is… I was freezing all night. 

  Not long after the nurse left, a respiratory therapist came in to do a breathing treatment.  I remember this lady like it was yesterday.  She spoke in a cheerful voice.  She had on colorful shoes and a huge smile.  When she wasn’t popping her chewing gum, she was humming to herself.  She helped Laura do her treatment, and when she was done, she wheeled her cart out the door.  “Have a good night, honey.  I’ll be back in a little while.  Push the call button if you need anything.”

  The nurses left and the room got quiet.  I asked Laura if she was okay. 

“I’m ok.  I’m glad to be in a room.  That bed in the Emergency Room was killing me.”

‘I bet it was.  I can’t believe you were in there all day.  You better get some rest.  And listen… I don’t have to stay.  I know we told the girls I would, but if you are more comfortable by yourself, I will have Clint come back and get me.’ 

“I’m okay with you being here.”

‘Okay Laura, add this to the list of all the things you owe me.  Haha.’

“(Insert giggle.)  Thanks, Debbie.  I owe you a lot.”

  I finally had Laura laughing.  It was good to see her smile.  We talked for a while before we turned out the lights.    

‘So why were you looking at me when the nurse was asking you all those questions?  I don’t know the answers to some of that stuff.’

“I don’t know.  My mind went blank.” 

‘Good grief, Laura.  Some of that stuff is personal!’ 

“I know (Insert giggle).  I can’t help it.  I drew a blank.”

  I turned out the light and went to my new makeshift bed.  I’m thinking to myself… Why on earth did I agree to this.  I know I’m not going to sleep.  For one… I’m cold.  And two… I can’t sleep well ANYWHERE that first night I am away from home.  Tonight, I’m sure will be the same.  I wrapped my little blanket around me as tight as I could.  I covered my face and shivered my way to sleep.   Why do hospitals have to be so cold anyway??  Yeah, yeah, I know why.  But DANG!  It’s freakin’ cold in the hospital in the middle of the night. 

 ‘If you need anything Laura, let me know.’

“I will.  Thanks, Deb.  Goodnight.”

  I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.  Yeah… That wasn’t happening.  Too much noise and too much quiet.  I know that doesn’t make sense.  But there’s something about being in a hospital that makes that statement seem true.  For now, I’ll just lay here and pray I can fall asleep. 

  It’s two o’clock in the morning.  I still couldn’t sleep.  I picked up my phone and thought I would scroll through Facebook.  I rolled over on my side hoping my body would shield some of the light.  I scrolled through the posts one by one and stopped when I saw Amanda’s.  I stopped because of the number of comments beneath. 

You got to be kidding me!  I can’t believe this!!  I was elated by what I read.  I remember sitting there with the biggest smile upon my face.  I heard a click, and the light came on.  I turned around and Laura was awake.    

“What are you looking at?’

‘Sorry.  Did I wake you?’

“No.  I can’t sleep.”

‘Yeah, me neither.  I am freaking freezing over here.’

“Do you want me to call the nurse and get you another blanket?”

‘No.  I’ll be fine.  Laura, you are not going to believe this.  I am looking at Facebook.  You should see the comments under Amanda’s post.’

“What do you mean?’

‘Amanda put our care package donation letter on her Facebook.  You won’t believe what people wrote.  Here, let me read some of them to you… ‘This is wonderful.  Where can we bring these items?  I’m going to the store now.  I love your mom.  I want to help too…  Oh my gosh, Laura!  Listen to the rest…’

  I read every single comment to Laura.  It was crazy to see the number of people who wanted to help.  We were completely blown away by the nice things people said.  I went ahead and told her Rachel was sharing it and I heard a couple of other people were sharing it too.

‘This is crazy, Laura.  I am completely overwhelmed.’

“It’s wonderful.  I’m in tears.  I can’t tell you what this means to me.”

‘You know… There’s a good chance this might get bigger than we ever imagined.’

  That night in the hospital was one that I will never forget.  The joy we felt reading these comments was truly overwhelming.  We stayed awake a good hour or more after that, just talking about the possibilities. 

Little Bits of Comfort (That’s what we call our care packages) was starting to take a life of its own. 

‘You need to get some sleep.  We can talk more about this later.’

  Laura turned out the light and closed her eyes.  She fell quickly into a deep sleep.  All these comments were sweet medicine that fell upon Laura’s ears.  I’m glad she could finally relax and get some rest.  She needed it.  As for me… I still couldn’t sleep.  You want to know why?  Well, let me tell you what I told Amanda…

8:03 A.M. text from Amanda…

  “How are you guys doing this morning?”

‘I was just getting ready to text you.  I just left.  Clint dropped me off at the hospital last night around 8:15.  I had him take me, because I thought your mom’s car was still there.  I had planned to move it or take it home if needed.  Your dad told me Jared took it home.  I had to leave early because Clint is going to Topeka this morning.  He picked me up before he left.  Your mom slept really good.  She makes a lot of noises when she sleeps.  I mean A LOT!!!  (Interesting noises. Ha!)  They gave her a couple of breathing treatments and something for the cough.  I believe it was Mucinex.  Her oxygen level was at 96.  That was sometime in the middle of the night.  She had the same reading again this morning.  We talked for a couple of hours because neither one of us could sleep.  I looked at the clock.  We went back to sleep sometime around 4.  I had her laughing, and she was so excited about the care packages.  She still has a little cough but sounds so much better.  The breathing treatments and medicine has helped.  She got up and went to the bathroom 3 or 4 times last night.  So that is good.  They want her to stay hydrated.  She was sleeping when I left.  I told her I was going to leave early.’

“Perfect!  Thank you.  If you go up later, can we Facetime with her?  I am bringing Rachel’s iPad home with me.”

‘Yes!  That will be good.  I felt she was doing ok this morning.  We talked a short bit when the nurse came in to do an early morning breathing treatment.  Now, she is back asleep.  I told her to text me if she needed anything.  I know your dad will be here soon and her sisters are coming up sometime this morning.  As for her phone… It is on silent.  Last night she didn’t want to talk to anyone.  Her body was hurting pretty bad.  She said it was because of the Emergency room bed.  I don’t know.’

“Yes, I bet.  Okay, sounds good.  She probably needs some good sleep.  Thank you for staying with her.”

‘The oxygen seems to be helping her a lot.  Maybe she should think about having a tank at home for a while.  She should ask when they release her.’

“Maybe.  That might take some serious convincing.”

‘Ha!  You are probably right on that!  Enjoy your weekend.  I will go up later today.  Try not to worry.’

“Ok.  I will try.  I am glad she feels better.”

8:40 text from Luisa…

  “Good morning.  How did everything go last night?”

‘She slept pretty well.  I just got home.  Clint dropped me off last night so I could move her car from that other parking lot.  I guess Jared already took it home.  Laura had a couple of pretty good coughing fits and a hard time catching her breath.  They gave her some meds for the cough and had her do a couple of breathing treatments.  The combination of the two seemed to help.  We were up a couple of hours last night.  She was finally laughing.  I’m guessing she was feeling better.  When she fell back asleep, she sure was taking in some deep breaths.  She was making some funny noises.  Seriously, crazy funny noises.  This morning, I was like… What the hell were you doing?  She just laughed and said… Yeah, I guess I make noises when I sleep. That’s just between us. Haha.  She would kill me if she knew I told you.’

“Good to hear.  Do you know some people didn’t know Laura has stage four cancer?  They read it in your donation letter.  I told them that is what she was diagnosed with.”
‘Yeah, I don’t think people know metastatic is the same as Stage IV.  By the way, Laura wants to know if you can go downstairs to our supply closet and get one of our care package boxes and put it in the lobby.  She wants one to set out for church in the morning.  We heard there may be some people bringing in some donations.’

“I can do that.  I have a game at 9 and 11.  I’ll go by the church after that.  I’m going to see if some of the girls from work want to go see her this afternoon.”

‘Laura said Lisa came by.  That was nice.  Lisa is good about visiting people when they are in the hospital.’

“Yeah, Lisa told me she stopped by yesterday.  Laura just now texted me.  She said she is still a little short of breath.”

‘Yeah, she is.  Be sure and tell her to turn her phone ringer volume up.’

“Ok.  She is funny.  She texted me to tell the boys, good luck with the games.”

‘Yes, she is.  She is always thinking of others.  I’m going to take a nap.  I will talk to you later.’

11:00 text to Laura…

  ‘Are you doing, ok?’

“I am fine.  Sorry if I acted like I was mad yesterday.  I was just so frustrated.”

‘I know you well enough by now to know that.  I’m sorry I left so early this morning.  I was afraid I wouldn’t have a ride home.  Clint was leaving for Topeka, so he needed to get me before he left.  I knew David would be there soon.  Are your sisters there yet?  Btw, I couldn’t get that chair/bed put back together.  I tried a couple of times.  I was afraid I would wake you.  Tell David, I’m sorry I left it out.  I came home and slept a couple of hours.  I had to get some sleep if I am going to Stacey’s bachelorette party tonight.  I don’t plan to stay out that late.  I will try and come by later this afternoon.  If you need anything, let me know.’

“It’s fine.  I went back to sleep.  My sisters should be here soon.  Thanks.”

1:00 P.M. text from Luisa…

  “Hey Debbie, are you at the hospital?”

‘No.  I have to shower and pick up my house.  I will probably go sometime after that.’

“Ok.  I’m getting ready to go see her.  Lisa is coming too.  Did you get some rest?”

‘I slept 2 ½ hours.  I heard from Laura around 11.  She said, she was doing fine.’

“Yes, she said she is doing good.  What time is your party?”

‘We are eating pizza first.  It’s at 6 then Funky Town at 8.  I hope I can stay awake that long.  Let me know when you are going to see Laura.  I will go ahead and get ready and meet you girls there.’

“Ok.  Lisa said 2:30.”

  I met the girls at the hospital.  We had a nice visit with Laura.  She looked a ton better than she did before.  I updated Amanda and Rachel as soon as I left…

  Deb… ‘Your mom is doing great!  They dropped her oxygen intake back, so she might get to go home tomorrow.’

Rachel… “That’s awesome (Smiley face).”

Amanda… “That’s good to hear.”

  I left for home and got ready to go to Stacey’s party.  We were meeting for pizza and then off to a bar called ‘Funky Town’.  My plans were to ride with Stacey, Jen, and Carol and then Clint would pick me up from the bar later and take me home.  My plans… Were to be home sometime around 10:30 or 11.  Well, that didn’t happen.  I didn’t get home until after 1.   

  I was going to leave early.  My intentions were good.  I just couldn’t make myself do it.  I was having too much fun.   

I wasn’t drinking.  I wasn’t dancing.  I wasn’t even visiting much with all the girls.  You can’t visit much anyway, that place is too darn loud.  The reason I couldn’t leave, was because of ‘people watching’.  And I loved every minute of it.  I called Clint and told him I would be riding home with the girls.

  Now… This is my first time of going to ‘Funky Town’ and probably won’t be my last.  It was one of the funnest places I have ever been to.  Let me tell you a little about it…

  ‘Funky Town’ is a 70’s retro bar.  They play all 70’s and 80’s music.  The place is decorated with black lights, a disco ball strobe lights and car wash brushes.  They turn those on when the DJ plays the song… ‘Car Wash’.  Brushes spin and turn as bubbles drop to the floor.  I’ve never seen anything like it in a bar before.  As for the walls…They are painted with peace signs, love symbols, beads and anything that is 70 and 80’s related.  They even have an old Volkswagen van situated in the corner up by the dance floor.  They have glow in the dark paint and of course a light up dance cage.  We are talking true seventies style.  And believe me… It didn’t stop there.  Some of the patrons come dressed the part.  I saw people dressed in miniskirts, bell bottoms, floppy hats, and platform shoes.  Some looked good and some eccentric.  Needless to say,… I couldn’t pull myself away.  The best part happened as the night went on. 

  Some of these people put on quite the show after a few drinks and some favorite songs.  The only way I can describe some of the craziness I saw, is to describe it like this… It was like watching (What you see from that Facebook group) ‘People from Wal Mart’ drunk and dancing.  Oh my gosh, it was so much fun!  I will share my favorite story from the night… 

  When I first got there, I saw an older man dancing alone on the dance floor.  When I say older, I mean older than myself.  I thought… This guy sure is having a good time.  The place just opened so he couldn’t be drunk.  Maybe he’s one of those guys who likes to have fun. 

  As the night went on, one by one he obtained a partner, each one dancing to a new song.  The dance floor grew in numbers as more and more boogied their way onto the floor.  I was standing on the balcony.  My eye caught this old fella and his new girl.  I watched as they danced to a good song.  The song ended and a new one came on.  Most of the people left the floor.  That is, except this old man and his new girl.  They danced like no one was watching. 

Let me set the stage…   

  This woman, probably in her forties, definitely dressed the part.  She had on a short, SHORT skirt, black lace stockings, and blonde hair.  The man… I would say he was in his late sixties or early seventies, sporting blue jeans and a plaid shirt.  They most certainly caught my eye AND my attention as they stood out in the disco crowd.  He was dipping her and twirling her and spinning her around.  They were the only couple left on the dance floor.  I watched as he goes to twirl her once more.  This time, he twirled her so hard that he knocked her wig off.  That wig went flying across the dance floor.  She quickly ran over in her high heel boots, picked it up and placed it back on her head.  That girl never missed a beat as she went back to her dancing.  My eyes widened and my jaw dropped as she perched that wig upon her head.  Yes, you read that right.  She perched it on her head.  She tried to fix it in between beats but that was only to adjust it on her head.  This blonde wig was perched sideways on her head with her real ‘long’ hair hanging out from underneath.  It was the funniest thing I have ever seen.  They say, blondes have more fun!  I’m guessing that’s what she was going after.  

  The old man and his blonde-haired woman, no wait… brown-haired woman, kept on dancing as she continued to adjust the wig.  The next thing I know, she grabs the wig and tosses it across the dance floor, never once missing a beat.  I laughed so hard.  It didn’t bother her, and it definitely didn’t bother him.   

  The song was over, and a new song came on.  The blonde wig is still lying in the middle of the dance floor.  I grabbed Stacey and said… ‘Did you see that?  Look at that couple dancing.  Now look over there on the floor.’  We both busted out laughing!! 

  They finished their dance, she picked up her wig and left the floor.  Later… We see her again.  There she was on the dance floor sporting her blonde wig.   She wiggled and danced flipping her blonde hair back and forth and then all of a sudden, she reaches up and takes the wig off.  I don’t know if she was hot or if the wig was too much trouble. 

Oh my gosh, it was so funny!

Text from Luisa…

  “I have a package for you guys for the care bags.  Do you want me to put it in your preschool room or leave it in the office?”

‘You can leave it in the office.  I can get it tomorrow.  I haven’t heard from Laura.  Have you heard from her?  We sent her a few pictures from our night.’

“I haven’t heard from her either.”

12:42 P.M. text…

‘Hi Laura.  How are you feeling?’

“Feeling good.”

‘Good to hear.  I just got out of the shower.  I got up at 8 then went back to bed and slept until noon. OMG!  I rode with Stacey, Jen, and Carol last night.  We got home at 1:30.  That place is so much fun.’

“Glad you had a good time.  It’s an interesting place, isn’t it?  I knew you would like it.”

‘Yes, it is.  Do you know when you can go home?’

“I have to stay a couple of more days, per Dr. M.”

‘Really??  Why?  Does he want to monitor you or just want all the pneumonia gone?’

“Yes.”

‘Are you mad?’

“No.  I am ok.  The doctor looked at my scans and compared them to my last scan from KU.  It has spread.  So, we are moving forward.  We are going to check into MD Anderson or any other place that might have something.  I don’t know what.  We will just have to see.”

‘Has it spread a lot?’

“I don’t know.  He just said there were new spots.”

‘Do you want me to come up?  Do you need anything?’

“Yes.  How about a sprite.”

‘Ok.  I will be there soon.’

“Ok.  No hurry.” 

Text from Amanda…

  “Have you heard from my mom today?”

‘I’m getting ready to go up.’

“Ok.  My dad said she doesn’t get to go home today, and I wanted to know why.”

‘I asked her that too.  She didn’t really answer.  I asked if they wanted to monitor more or if they want to make sure the pneumonia is gone.  All she said was, yes.’

“Ok.  I will go up when I get home.  Thank you.”

I immediately texted Luisa…

  ‘Laura has to stay a few more days.  Her doctor said so.  I’ll forward to you what she texted me.  It’s not good.  Hold on and I will send them.’

“Ok.” 

‘The cancer has spread.  The doctor said there is new spots.’

“Oh no!  How is she holding up?”
‘She’s not talking much.  I am getting ready to go see her.’

“So, what does that mean about MD Anderson?  Can she go there now?”

‘If they accept her.  She must qualify for one of the trials.  Laura wants to tell her girls first.  No one else knows.’

  I went to the hospital to see my friend.  It was just me and her in the room.  David went home to get a few more things.  Laura was quiet.  We didn’t really talk about it.  When we did, it was brief and short.  That doesn’t surprise me.  That’s just Laura.  She will talk whenever she is ready. 

  I wasn’t there very long before new people showed up.  She had some old friends who came to visit.  They were in and out with a quick hello.  Her sister, Brenda came by to sit with her.  So, I left and went home. 

  My friend Laura, looked like someone knocked the breath out of her.  No, maybe I should word it like this…  My friend looked like her chances are getting slim and she knew it.

  Luisa went by later that evening.  She sent me a text saying Laura was quiet.  None of us know what to say.  Everyone is going back to dancing around that word, cancer.  Even Laura. 

This seems like a never-ending fight and that fight in our friend is fading away.   

6:30 that evening.  Text from Laura…

  “I just sent Kathy a text letting her know what was going on.  I told her I would be here a couple of more days.  I said, I am feeling pretty good, but the doctor called with news I didn’t want to hear.  I told her the cancer has spread and to pray for me.  I told her to update the girls at work.  To let them know we are going to check into MD Anderson or any place where there is something for me.  I have already had three people asking, so I sent the same message to all.  That’s all I know for now.”

‘I will call Stacey and Lisa and tell them personally, myself.  I love you, Laura.  I really do.  You are one of my favorite people.  We will get through this.  You have a purpose.  You know it too.  God gave you this purpose to fulfill.  So, we have work to do.  When we get all these donations, we may have more work than we ever imagined.  HA!  Don’t you dare hang your head.  You keep your head up.  Your family and friends need you to keep being you.’

“Love you too.  I will be okay.  It’s just telling everyone that hurts.”