How fast it all happened

Several of my friends have expressed shock at how quickly this all happened. For me the days passed with agonizing slowness.

 

Randy got what we thought was the flu on the 14th of December. On the 20th, I took him to a clinic. They called an ambulance. After a day in the ER at the Naval Hospital, Randy was transferred and admitted to a civilian hospital where they could monitor his blood oxygen levels with the latest equipment in a private room. That lasted but one day before he began to have hypoxia from lack of oxygen and they put him in ICU and ventillated him. At first, they sedated him for his own comfort, but it soon became clear he was comatose without the chemical assistance.

 

For days, throughout the holidays, they fought for his life. Some seemed to help temporarily, some failed miserably. I'll spare you some gory details. I was heartily grateful Randy remained blissfully unaware of the indignities his body suffered. I was there every day, and often winced inwardly. This was Randy's first (and only) hospital stay.

 

Then they realized he didn't have pneumonia but a horrible mold infection in his lungs called Aspergillosis. By the time they discovered this horrible fact, the mold had not only clogged his lungs but also several of his systems including digestive. He went into renal failure because the kidneys clog on the huge mold spores. (They look like giant fuzzy caterpillars.) Every treatment caused another system to fail or develop a problem. One by one, each failure led to another until his body simply quit without warning.

 

At 9 PM on the 2nd, the nurse called me to say the last ditch effort had failed, and would I like to come say my goodbyes. Before I could even put my tennis shoes on and make a few phone calls, they called back. Randy was dead. 
 

Lena Austin

http://www.LenaAustin.com

http://depravedduchess.blogspot.com

 

PROMO Excerpt: Coyote Non-Grata X version-- by Lena Austin

 

Coyote Non Grata
by Lena Austin

Cover art by Bryan Keller
ISBN: 978-1-59596-851-7
Genre(s): Paranormal
Theme(s): Shapeshifters
Length: Novella

http://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1136

Blurb:

The Creator laughs at human plans...

Dr. Jeff Gleason rejected his Comanche heritage and became a volcanologist studying the giant magma chamber beneath the National Park. Until his modern job and his Medicine heritage crossed paths.

Rody, wounded and rejected from his coyote shifter pack, seeks refuge and medical help from the human in the ranger shack, then joins his new friend on a sexual romp that will lead to a new mating of coyote and man that hasn't happened since the white man came to the park.

...because the Creator has plans of his own.

Excerpt:

 


Lena Austin

http://www.lenaaustin.com/

http://depravedduchess.blogspot.com/

2010Jan01 Courage

Sunday 2010Jan01

 

I arrived less than an hour before they started hooking Randy up to the dialysis machine. Now it's hooked up and we must wait.

 

I've seen the notes of support and prayer from all over the world and I'm stunned by all the love from people I hardly know. It's overwhelming to realize how many lives the average human touches. I guess the Seven Degrees of Separation really are accurate.

 

Several folks have commented on my courage. There's no courage here. I'm scared, I cry when I see a comment on Facebook that reminds me how much we used to do together he and I, etc. This so-called courage is simply the common sense to know my body keeps breathing, pumping blood, and my soul is still here inside my body. No matter what, that's not going to change what's happening.

 

The horror of all this doesn't change the facts. My vibrant, spit-in-your-eye husband is still the big rag doll lying in that bed with more tubes and sensors running out of his body than I care to count. I'm glad he's comatose so he isn't humiliated by his weakness.

 

I hope I don't seem cold-blooded. Part of me is wailing and repeating, "Where shall I go? What shall I do?" like a bad Scarlet O'Hara imitation. The other half of me slaps the ninny silly and starts making priority lists, like "Get a job, research lower priced housing, and reassess finances."

 

When you break it all down into smaller lists, it's not so overwhelming. I've moved a lot, so I'll dig out the Smart Move tape sets and start loading up the boxes David brings from his work. Day by day, you just put stuff in boxes or pile up to give to charity until you're done.

 

Job-hunting is a little tougher. I've been a housewife for years. My wardrobe reflects that lifestyle. I'll have to make do for a while, but I'm sure I can cobble together a few outfits for interviews.

 

Reassessing the finances will have to wait. I know what I have in the bank right now, and I have one month to find more income. That's not a lot of time. Job-hunting just became the priority. Even if Randy remains hospitalized, I have to do this.

 

Life has dealt me one helluva black eye, but I can either get up and keep fighting or I can lie down and die. I'm not ready to die, so I guess I'll be putting up my dukes.