HE's COMING HOME!!!

Thursday morning Bryan let us know that we should plan on Friday, Jan. 1st 2021 to come pick him up from the hospital. He was down to 5 liters. About an hour later he called and said that his oxygen is down to 3 liters and they said he could be picked up around 3 today!!!! OH MY GOODNESS WE WERE SO ExCITED!!!

I had a phone call from the hospital to confirm what he just told me and said for me to go refill his oxygen tanks and then come over and pick him up on Thursday, Dec. 31,2020. (Another blessing that we don't realize till later) The blessing was that Pres. Trump passed a bill to have all insurances pay for COVID related bills and whatever wasn't covered it would be written off by the government. He left the hospital on the last day of the year. Who would've known what would've happened if he stayed into the new year???

I was so excited to have him home even on OXYGEN!!!

That hug was EVERYTHING TO ME!!!

Man I love this man and I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for keeping him safe and blessing us with so many heavenly and earthly angels. 

I can't thank everyone enough for the prayers and fasting and love for my husband. 

I wore a mask for a few days because I was a little freaked out with the dang virus!!

Another Day in the Hospital

Bryan said that he was asked by the nurse if he knew anyone that had COVID and recovered? He told him yes, my sister-in-law and she has cancer as well, so I should make a good recovery if she could recover. He asked who his sister was and he said, "Tia Stokes". The nurse said, "Oh my gosh, everyone on this floor follows her and watches her" Bryan texted me and said, "Weird, everyone here follows Tia". He was amazed.

Bryan was very anxious while in the hospital. The first few days he was just wanting to come home and when the Dr. came in and said he will be staying till the end of the week, he was devastated. He called and told me that he didn't have Pneumonia and they want to continue watching that he doesn't develop Pneumonia. So he asked me to send him some clean garments because he gets to shower. When he first got in the hospital I told him I would send him a change of clothes and garments and he told me NO!!! I am NOT staying here very long and I am NOT moving in. So for him to ask for clean garments, made me laugh. Then he complained about his BUTT hurting from sitting so much, so I made arrangements with Mark Dewey who works at the hospital to drop a pillow off to him.

Bryan said that while in the hospital he saw another older man across the hall from him that came in shortly after him and then a few days later he was leaving. He asked the nurse, where the man was going and he said he's going home. Bryan was so surprised and he said, "HOW?" The nurse said he is down to 2 liters of oxygen, when you get there you will get to go home. He then asked him, "How did he move down to 2 liters? NOBODY has come in here to move mine down?" Bryan then took it upon himself to go to the wall and turn the dial to 4 liters.

He was blessed with another     TENDER MERCY with having Fabian Ortiz wife, Natalie be his nurse for 2 days. It was nice to have someone who knew Bryan personally and someone that cared for him and not just a number or name on a file. She helped ween him down the oxygen. She allowed him to walk and go to the bathroom on his own down the hall. She also called him "REBEL" because he was doing everything he could to get out of the hospital.

I received a call from the Social Worker to check on me at home. ANOTHER TENDER MERCY - I answered and it was Nichole Sorenson Hayden. Oh my goodness, another person who knew Bryan and cared for him as well. It was so good to visit with her and feel her love. 

The day Bryan was going to come home I received another phone call from the hospital to go over everything, it was another person I knew!! TENDER MERCY - it was Adam Cheney (he was in my mom's ward and an actor in a few shows that I have been to) He told me, "I know you but you probably don't know me," I knew him and was excited it was another connection on this journey. ABSOLUTELY NO COINCIDENCES!

LONGEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE

 It was the longest night ever!!! I got out of bed at 3:30am and went into the living room and stared at the Christmas Tree and cried and continued to PRAY with all that I had in me. I prayed that Bryan would be able to rest and breath and heal his body. I prayed till about 6:00pm and then I posted on facebook's Worldwide Unified page that I needed prayers for my sweet husband. Please pray that his lungs will remain clear and that he would be able to rest. I got call from my sister Irene and she said that she was on her way over to my house to be with me. She arrived with Starbucks for me and Syd and Cec and the babies. We talked and hugged and just hung out. I sure needed her visit more than I thought I did. I love when people become ministering angels.

About 7:45am I received a text message from Bryan:

"Hi Beautiful - I am doing great! Crazy story, at 4:00am a nurse came in and wanted to give me a sleeping pill but I told her that my wife is praying for me to sleep well so I will go with that. I fell asleep and just woke up, thanks for your prayers. I am doing better. They want to keep me in here till Thursday to keep an eye on me that I don't get pnuemonia"

Irene went to the hospital and dropped off tacos and a card but Bryan said that he wasn't able to eat them for lunch because his blood sugar was so high. We couldn't understand what was making his bloodsugar in the 400's. They figured it was the steroid. But they gave Bryan so much insulin but it wasn't doing anything for him. They figured he was Insulin resistant which is worse than Diabetic, if you don't take care of it. (Tender mercy we found that out) We figured out after the fact that the steroid was causing his blood sugar to spike. 

CHRISTMAS MORNING 2 DAYS LATER - PAUSED

About 5:30am Cambria came up with Vera to see the Christmas tree and to see what Santa brought since this was going to be our Christmas morning. 

Cambria heard someone in the living room wrestling around and then she heard Bryan say, "hello". She said, "Dad-is that you? What's going on?" He said, "I can't breath and I'm trying to figure out this oxygen machine." Cambria ran downstairs to get Jeff and as she was telling Jeff Cecilee overheard her. CECILEE did NOT waste ANYTIME and ran upstairs to find Bryan with an Oxygen Saturation of 78. They told us anything under 90 was to go to the hospital IMMEDIATELY. He was struggling to take a deep breath. Cecilee switched the switch and felt air coming out and attached it to his face. He took a few deep breaths and We got him all settled and he was now at 91-92 and said he was fine. We set him in a chair and he watched us start with prayer and opening of presents. As we were opening gifts I was watching Bryan like a hawk and I noticed he wasn't comfortable. He kept moving back and forth to get comfortable and his numbers kept dropping and then going back to 91 ish. 

Trevor and Sydee started dividing the presents and we were all taking turns opening. It was fun being all together but Bryan didn't look very comfortable.

I then started crying as they handed me a present to open and just said I couldn't do this anymore. I needed dad to go to the hospital and get checked out. Everyone agreed with me and I asked Trevor to please take him. Cecilee and Cambria got the portable oxygen tank ready and hooked him to that, the girls got him shoes and a charger for his phone and Trevor took him. I just knew that I would feel so much better if he got checked out. (THANK GOODNESS I HAD the OXYGEN)

Trevor said that when they got to the hospital there was nobody in the waiting room and they took them right back. In the back there was one other person and Bryan so all of the Dr's and nurses could pay closer attention to Bryan. (Another tender mercy-because the next day for weeks after the ER and COVID unit was SLAMMED). This was about 8:00am when Trevor pulled out of the driveway, he returned at about 1:00pm and said, "Mom dad is in good hands and exactly where he needed to be. The Dr. said it was a good thing we got him there when we did and it was a good thing he had oxygen at his expense." All of my children except for Sydnee went back to their homes, after they cleaned my house and the girls DISINFECTED my bedroom, striping my bed and scrubbed my bathroom and vacuumed and wiped things down from COVID. My house was spotless!!! Cecilee told me that she was going to come back and stay with me overnight because she could see I was having a hard time. I love my kids and am so grateful for their love. I don't know what I did to deserve such amazing children. 

Bryan texted me and said he was getting a lot of messages. I told him to turn off his phone and relax and concentrate on himself. He told me to go to the Health App for the hospital and I can see what they are doing on him. So I went and I was totally lost. I understood his blood pressure and weight but nothing else. I was up all night stressing out about what I was seeing. I googled one thing and figured I better not google anything else. So I just prayed and prayed and prayed to Heavenly Father and talked to him all night to please keep an eye on Bryan and please heal him. I spent the whole night on my knees asking for Heavenly Father to help him relax and sleep to heal his body. Bryan texted 

CHRISTMAS DAY - Totally NOT what we had expected!

 It's Christmas Morning and I am at Cambria and Jeff's house watching their family open their presents with Nancy and Jason Hauck and missing my husband so much. Bryan called and asked me to come home and change places with Sydnee because it broke his heart to see her by herself on Christmas Day. I came home and switched places with Syd. Cecilee came and picked her up to go and shop and have fun. This will be such a memorable Christmas holiday. It's funny how all of my planning for this family holiday really DOES NOT MATTER AT THIS TIME. I planned for all the traditions to be kept with PJ's and Ornaments and fun activities and food, but it has all changed because of Bryan's Covid and I am really OK with it. AALLLLL THAT MATTERS IS ThAT my husband makes a full recovery. 

It is now 7 days since his test results, but we know he started showing signs on that Thursday possibly Friday, so he is at 8-9 days. He was starting to feel a little better, so we started making plans for the kids to come over and spend the night in the basement tomorrow, Dec. 26th and we can have our Christmas Eve traditions and then Sunday morning open presents as in Christmas Morning. 

The kids came over on Saturday, Dec. 26th about 4:00pm we all visited in the backyard with Bryan and then someone had the idea to start heating the hot tub and go to the park and let the kids ride their bikes and everyone else play pickle ball. So we all went to the park, after bundling Bryan up with his mask and jacket and gloves, he and I just sat and watched like old people admiring our family. So full of love and pride for this family of ours that we created together. This is exactly what CHRISTMAS IS ALL ABOUT! Being with FAMILY and LOVE.

We finished at the park and went home and did dinner and pj's and changed into swimsuits to get into the hot tub. The little's were so excited!!!! Bryan and I sat bundled in blankets and jackets watching our children and grandchildren again. But it was the best seeing all of them together and having a blast!!!

After the hot tub we came in and got everyone ready for bed and put on our Christmas Eve pjs. Rex absolutely LOVED his pj's and so did the girls. I of course had to get some pictures of the grandkids in their pj's under the tree by the presents. Santa and his elves, they loved it.

We got the kids all settled and the girls told Bryan to go lay down, he looked exhausted and a little discolored probably from doing too much walking.

OXYGEN - What the Heck!!!

Tuesday came and the Oxygen was delivered to our doorstep. Bryan asked who was at the door and Sydnee told him that it was a man delivering Oxygen. Bryan said, "WHAT the Heck for? Mom is ridiculous!" He then called me and said ,"WHY did you order Oxygen? I am NOT having ANY breathing issues." I told him that I don't know what to expect from this virus and that I would much rather be prepared for the worst and NOT USE It then to have issues and NOT HAVE IT. So I don't care how much it is even if we don't use it. So there it sat in our living room by itself. Which is exactly HOW I WANTED IT!!!

Wednesday morning I peeked in on Bryan and he said to me, "Tonya, I sound like you." I didn't understand what he was meaning, but he clarified by saying, "I sound like you when you wheeze." That perked my ears and I said, "Are you wheezing?" He said, "A little bit" OH MY GOODNESS - it's going into his lungs now. So I called JR Martin and told him that I wanted to start him on the hydrochloriquin and the steroid for his lungs. So he brought them over and we started that. 

We had been in contact with our good friend Shelly Hansen in California. She is in the thick of COVID in her hospital so she was giving me things to make sure to do for Bryan. She sent me videos to watch from YOUTUBE and told me to have him "PRONE" lay on his stomach. What that does is it keeps the virus from going into the back of the lungs where the issues start for respiratory trouble. Then Tia called and told me to tell Bryan to ride the bike so that the lungs keep working and nothing can get in there. 

We were taking Bryan his food and medicines through the back door. We open and place inside and take the old out. Poor Bryan just looks miserable, sitting on the couch and feeling every symptom there is known for COVID. As I spoke with Shelly she said, "Tonya, the 6-10th days are the worse. He is more contagious and if you have lung issues you want to get out of the house." So Trevor and Kylee were getting COVID tested and asked if I wanted to as well before I went over to the girls homes, so I know that I'm not spreading it" I went over to the Martins and we all got tested. The results were NEGATIVE!!!! I came home and took the laundry basket of clean clothes that I just washed of mine to Cambria's and I stayed there. Sydnee said, "Mom I will stay with dad and take care of him" This was Christmas Eve. WOW!!! This was definitely NOT what I had planned for Christmas Eve. It didn't even feel like Christmas right now. I wasn't thinking of any of our traditions or anything but Bryan and his health. I was so sad to leave Sydnee alone taking care of Bryan. Sydnee was so sweet, she said, "Mom I don't want you to get this, if I get it, I'll be fine, if you get it, it could be bad. Please just go to Cambria's for a few days" As I drove to Cambria's house I just cried with tears running down my face, praying that Bryan will start feeling better and that Sydnee will be kept safe as well. 

It's Christmas Eve and I'm at Cambria's and she is having her first LIVE Nativity in her backyard. I am watching from inside the house so that I am not compromising anyone. It was beautiful. 

I think it was exactly what she had envisioned when completing her backyard. I felt so bad that my husband and Sydnee were home by themselves spending Christmas Eve. It felt so different to be sleeping at my daughter's home on Christmas Eve. Gosh I am missing my sweetheart. 

COVID-19 hit tooo close to home

 Bryan came home from work Thursday night and he said, "there are 12 boys with COVID, Angel tried to keep them from me and Glen and put us at an opposite side of the facility. Then Parker brought some of the boys to our hall. I was talking with a boy and he happened to cough while talking to me." Well Bryan came home from work on Friday and wasn't feeling very well and went right to sleep for the night. He woke up Saturday morning not feeling very well (Tickle in his throat, cough), so my immediate thought was, "Crap, he has COVID!" I told him to GO GET TESTED!! So he went to the nearest facility to test. 

He came home and we worked on the basement all day together. He wore a mask the whole time, but we were so excited to have the kids come and spend the night for our Christmas Eve tradition. So we needed to get everything in order to have everyone sleep in the basement. We both worked so hard, moving things from the garage to the basement and finishing putting in doors and doorknobs, etc. By the end of the evening we were exhausted. I was supposed to be at a Kalamity concert MCing the night. It was the second concert that I missed. I figured to be safe I better stay home. 

I was so emotional while watching the concert on ZOOM on the TV. I missed watching the girls all dance with their dads and missed seeing Sydnee and Cambria dance together, both Kalamity's North & South. 

Still anxiously waiting to hear whether Bryan had the virus or not. We just treated him as if he did. We went to bed and the next morning he woke up with body aches, but we just chalked it up to carrying things up and down the stairs and being on our hands and knees, etc. But he kept saying, my skin is so sensitive and my hair hurts. So I started thinking OH MY GOODNESS HE HAS IT. We stayed home from church and just kept quarantined. 

Trevor and Kylee arrived in town for the holidays. They wanted to come over and see us, but I warned them that dad MIGHT have COVID. They didn't care they said, "We want to see you guys, if we get it then this is a good time to get it". We kept dad across the room and visited from there. It was so good to see them. We hadn't seen them since August when they moved to Connecticut. They ended up staying at The Martin's just in case. 

Monday morning came and Bryan called work to let them know that he went to be tested on Saturday for COVID and he still doesn't have his results yet, but he probably shouldn't come in until then. They told him to come and get tested at the RAPID TESTING spot so that he can also be paid for 2 weeks. He drove to Hurricane and as he arrived he received his results. YOU ARE POSITIVE FOR COVID-19!!! He called me and told me the results and I kind of freaked out, NOT THAT I DIDN'T ALREADY THINK HE HAD IT, but now it was confirmed and I AM AFRAID!!! He came home and I set him up in our room and moved out into Sydnee's room with her. I called Bryan's dad and Trevor and asked them if they could come over and give Bryan a blessing in the backyard with masks. 

Thank goodness for the power of the priesthood and thank goodness these men are righteous and can give a blessing at the drop of a hat. 

As the day went on Bryan's temperature started and he started getting chills and sweats. Trevor's Father-in-law, JR sent some vitamins over for Bryan from Fusion Pharmacy. He also said that he had a few prescriptions on hold for him IF I WANTED THEM. He said they were a steroid for his lungs and hydrochloriquin. I thanked him and told him that I would let him know if we need it, but right now we don't need it because he isn't having any breathing issues. 

With the thought of breathing issues, I happened to talk with Raine (Jori's Husband) about his bout with COVID just recently, and he said thank goodness his wife got home oxygen because that's what saved him. 

So the next day I ordered some oxygen to be delivered to my home. (JUST IN CASE-I'D rather be safe than sorry)

Rex swallows magnetic bucky balls

 I was watching Mia and Rex for the day and everything was normal. Angel came home around 4:00pm and he was planning on staying for a little bit and help Bryan with the baseboards in the basement. We were eating at the table before the guys went downstairs, eating burritos. On the other side of the table Mia was playing with Trevor's bucky balls that are magnet balls like beebee gun pellets. I told Rex he was too small to play with them so it's only Mia. He kept trying to go watch her play with them. After we ate we went outside to play and ride bikes and the guys went downstairs. We came in an hour later and were inside watching a show when Rex came to me and said, "Gamma my tummy hurts" so I remembered that he hadn't pooped that day, so I started rubbing his back and tummy hoping to stir something up in there. He then said , "my diaper (meaning change my diaper)" So he went and got me a diaper and as I was changing him I was trying to push his legs back so it would help him poop and that didn't help. He was flopping around acting so uncomfortable. I then held him and he kept flopping around on my lap and complaining about his tummy. I looked at him and he looked like he was getting pale and so I thought I need to take him to Angel. So we went downstairs and I told Angel I thought something was wrong with Rex. He thought he must be tired and I told him I don't think this complaining is tired, I honestly think something is wrong. So he held him and Rex just went limp, he didn't have strength to stand or even hold his head up. He was getting more and more pale. We went upstairs and tried giving him soda because that always perks him up and NOTHING. So I told him you need to take him to the hospital and get him checked out. Bryan drove while Angel held Rex and tried to keep him up. They met up with JR Martin at Lamy's and he checked him out and told them get him to the hospital. Cecilee met them there and they took Rex right back after Angel got to give him a blessing with Clay. They checked him out and at first because of his lethargic they thought he got into medication. Cecilee called me to ask if there was a possibility and I said, ABSOLUTELY NOT, we keep our medicines OUT OF REACH and I vacuum before they come over so there is NOTHING on the floors.  But I did remember him watching Mia play with the Bucky Balls and he could've shoved a few in his mouth. So she shared that with the nurses and they did an x-ray and found some at the bottom of his stomach. So they needed to act FAST and remove them before they started going into the intestines. They removed all 5 of them and he felt so much better. That was so scary.