Brandon's Hospital Stay...

On October 5th, the home took Brandon to the ER because his abdomen was hard and protruding and they were worried about his shunt.  The ER doctor told them that it wasn't his shunt but they insisted that he check it out anyways.  After a scan they discovered that Brandon had a cyst on his shunt tubing.  So they transferred him to St. Luke's downtown with plans to do surgery the next morning.  I was so happy when Angela the home's nurse sent me this picture of Brandon.  She stayed with him until midnight.  I left the next morning so stay with him while he is in the hospital.  I was happy I was able to be there when he came out of surgery.  They replaced his current tubing but left it externalized with a collection bag to see why the cyst formed.  When he came up to his room he was quite the entertainer with all his nurses.  They shaved his head and belly expecting to do two incisions but the surgeon was able to access everything on his right upper chest which is nice and amazing to me that he could do that.  They thought he would only be in the hospital 5 days to get the culture text results back so they know how to treat the infection that caused the cyst.  They drained 800 milliliters from the cyst which is crazy!

Brandon is starting a new hair trend! haha!

Brandon was pretty agitated the first night I stayed with him.  We had a rough night and he wouldn't sleep plus he pulled out two of his IVs.  The next morning I talked to the doctor and he changed the plans and said Brandon would be staying a week or maybe two depending on the culture and if they have to replace the shunt.  Brandon and I had lots of time on our hands so we watched lots of Disney+ and music.  I was so happy I brought my laptop so we could do that.  I also brought some protein shakes and snacks and I would order one meal a day from the cafeteria over the phone.

One bonus was the incredible view from our room.  We were on the 9th floor and had a corner room so we had two windows to look out from.  One window showed the foothills and the other showed the BSU stadium and the city.  I could even see the high school football games.

I posted this cute picture on my social media and it was so wonderful to receive all the nice encouraging support.  On Oct 12th the doctors wanted to do an MRI to see if Brandon even still needed the shunt.  They had to put him asleep to do it so he would hold still.  It was so frustrating that they waited so long to do it which was finally around 3:00pm.  Brandon was pretty agitated again when he came back and we had to wait forever to finally get him some food.  The Neurosurgeon told me Brandon still needs the shunt and that he wanted to do surgery the next morning.  He said that if he can't put the tubing back in his belly his 2nd choice is the atrium of the heart.

The doctor called me after surgery.  He had a few struggles but Brandon did fine.  He tried three places to put the tubing in his belly but there was too much scar tissue so he ended up putting it in a vein.  He nicked the first vein he tried so then used the jugular I think.  It was really hard for me to follow what he was telling me.  The spinal fluid will now be going through the vascular system.  He also changed out the shunt valve.  The above picture is now how it drains and the picture below is how it used to drain.

Poor guy got so many incisions, his belly looks like a treasure map.  After surgery Brandon slept so much I was a little worried and he even slept through the night.  He slept so well that I couldn't because I kept checking on him.  He was suppose to go home the next day but he was so sleepy they decided he better stay one more day.  On or before the day he went home they finally got the culture tests back and the infection is called "C Acnes Gram Positive Rod."  It is a very slow growing bacteria that adheres to plastic.  They are going to keep him on antibiotics about 3 to 6 months to make sure they get it all.

Our view on the last night.  We finally were able to go home on October 15th so Brandon's stay was for 10 days.  I just went home one day on the 9th and went back the next morning so I could shower and get more clothes and snacks.

Brandon's new shunt is now programable with a magnet.

It was really hard for me to leave Brandon back at his home and I was embarrassed by how emotional I was.  Julia came by the hospital before we left to tell me that her and Maria will no longer be at Brandon's home so that was really hard also.  She wasn't happy about it either.  The home sent me the below picture to let me know he was doing good.  It made my day...I sure love my Brandon and I am so grateful I was able to be with him during his stay in the hospital.  I am also grateful for all the wonderful prayers and doctors and nurses that helped Brandon.

Brady's 17th Birthday...

I can't believe my baby is now 17 years old.  Brady wanted me to take some pictures of him so he could post one for his birthday.  I'm so glad we did because these turned out so cute!  Because his birthday was on a Tuesday and we can't have a party until the 24th he decided he wanted to go to Buffalo Wild Wings.  However, there was a 40 minute wait so we tried Red Robin and they weren't open for dining in so then we tried Texas Roadhouse and we were able to get right in which was nice.  We had a great dinner and then we went to Dutch Bros of course.

On our way to Nampa I got a call from Brandon's home that they took him to the ER because they thought he was having troubles with his shunt and he in fact did so that was kind of a downer for Brady.  I felt bad because I wanted to be there for Brandon but also didn't want Brady to feel bad too so I decided we would celebrate Brady and then I would go be with Brandon the next morning because he will be having surgery.  I sure love my boys want them both to know how much I love and support them.  

Corn Harvest & Reid's Family...

I helped Dad with corn harvest this year.  I would work until 1:00 at the office then go out and run the corn cart for dad until they closed or when all the trucks were full.  I was a little nervous at first but then I eventually got used to it.  I only had one bad incident and split a little corn over at grandma's place.   I got used to finding the controls for the cart just by feeling and not looking and this time the flap to one of my controls closed and so I had the wrong one.  I was trying to close the door on the boom but instead I was moving the boom back while it still had corn in it.   I was relieved I didn't break anything but just jammed it up with corn real bad.  Unfortunately 'Blindy' the cow got into it and died.  I felt bad, especially because she had a new baby calf.  Dad gave the calf to Robert to take care of.  On September 30th Reid flew in to help drive truck and run the combine.  The two us stayed out late trying to finish up all of Dad's corn before we move over by the butte and start working on Lamar's corn.

October 1st I took this picture of the two bald eagles over on Lamar's place past the butte.   It was fun working with Reid.   Laura came with the kids after school that day but didn't get her until 3:00 in the morning.  We were surprised to see them because we thought they were going to stay the night in Twin Falls.  

Mom helped Chad sew a pillowcase.

Sunday the 3rd we watched conference and Scott cooked a brisket and we had a yummy dinner.  Reid wanted me to show Brielle how to make Hello Dollies so that was fun.  Later in the evening we went to Weston and Lori's house and we had a little family home evening and everyone shared a conference talk and then we had soft pretzels and desserts.  It was nice being with everyone.

Reid's family went home on Monday.  It was so fun spending time with them.

October General Conference...

I was only able to listen to conference on Sunday this time but the ones I did hear were wonderful.  Here is a few highlights from conference...

Scott remember that Vai Sikahema played football for BYU and later drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals).  He also played for the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles before retiring after the 1993 season.  He as been a general authority seventy since April 2021.

Rosie and EJ were excited to get a temple in Heber City and Cole and Kacie were excited to get another one in Rexburg.  Pretty cool how the work continues to go forward!

We watched both conferences then we got together with Mom and Dad and Reid's family for dinner around 5:00.  Scott grilled a brisket, it was really good!  Later we went to Weston & Lori for a little family home evening and desserts.  It was fun visiting with everyone.

BSU vs Nevada...

Yesterday while I was driving the corn cart for dad I got a text from Brandon Schulthies that he had extra tickets to the BSU football game.  Luckily dad was okay with us going since Reid was there to help out with the corn.  We left around 11:00 and stopped at Jimmy Johns to grab some sandwiches before we parked at 6th and Broad to get on a shuttle/bus to the stadium.  Scott gave the driver a good tip because she got us to the stadium so fast.  He told her he was impressed with her driving.  As we were walking to the stadium we ran into Kevin.  He was helping with the Air National Guard booth.  We had a fun little chat before we met Brandon and Ashley and their girls.  Brandon told us that the tickets were actually Logan's so that was really nice of him to share them with us.  We sat in the south endzone.  It is nice when they score but I think I prefer sitting close to the 50 yard line because it's hard to gage the distance of the runs and passes from the endzone.

I posted this picture on my story.

This was a great catch and I would have caught it all on video if this guy wouldn't have stood up in front of me.

Half-time entertainment...

Entertainment during a time out!

It was a fun day except BSU lost 41-31...the first time we've ever gone to a home game and they lost.  

Scott could have caught an extra point conversion if the guy behind him hadn't reached over the top of him.  They were a fun bunch but I could have done without their language and I especially felt bad for Brandon's girls listening to them.  I wish we would have got a group picture of all of us.