Anyone who knows Mike well, knows he loves his "lap" dog, Chloe! She's 35 pounds of pure love, and Mike adores her. She is a Cocker Spaniel, although she's overdue for a haircut. I decided to post a picture of her this evening, because Mike had a confession for me when I got home from work today.

Everyday I work, I come home at lunch, to make sure Mike has something to eat. Today, as I was trying to leave to return to work, I let out Chloe, and her sister, Hailey. We have a fenced in area for the dogs to go outside alone, but as Chloe and Hailey age (they will be 8 this Halloween), they've either become hard of hearing...or have developed the talent of ignoring me when I try to call them back inside. So Mike knew I was trying to hang around long enough to let the doggies do their business, so I could bring them back inside, and Mike wouldn't have to mess with them until I got home from work. But Mike encouraged me to leave them out for a little while, and told me he would bring them back inside in just a few minutes.

Chloe and Hailey are not your typical dogs. They are inside dogs for sure, and the only reason they like to tarry outside, is to chase lizards. (they rarely are successful) Well, today they had the opportunity to chase lizards for 3 hours...without water....in the hot sun, with 88 degree temps. Mike forgot all about our conversation at lunch, and didn't remember them being outside until he wandered around the house looking for them. :(

I should have thought about that before I left to return to work. With this ammonia build up in Mike's blood, it causes him to become disoriented and confused. I was concerned about what happened to the dogs, but it caused me to become more concerned with leaving Mike home alone. I'm probably going to need to have a back up system in place until I'm sure he's getting better again.

Mike actually had a better day today. He wasn't up before I went to work, but I quickly changed his dressing and persuaded him to drink an Ensure, to give him his morning medications. I told him to stay in bed until I got home at lunch (because we have a 2-story home), but I came home and found Mike downstairs and he also had scrambled himself 3 eggs for lunch. I was pleased that he was hungry, but silently worried he came downstairs alone, and had operated the stove. I decided to just celebrate that he felt well enough to eat. This evening he ate a full dinner and snacked on chocolate chip cookies later. So that's a praise for an increased appetite! Yay!!! :)

Now to the not so good news........
At lunch, I learned that Mike's middle drain (or the left one that doesn't really do much), became unattached and pulled out about 2 inches. Mike told me he actually tried to push it back into him (yeah..I know...freaky!), but it only went in an inch..and then by the time I got home from work, it had slid back out. So...that means we'll be making another trip to Baptist probably Monday. Mike had been scratching at that site in his sleep the past week, so it didn't surprise me that this happened. I was hoping I was preventing that from occurring, but I guess not.

Anyway...I praise God and thank all of you, for your prayers, and our mini-victories.

Now about me............ :)
After several incomplete weeks of work for me (due to our little interruptions with Mike's health lately)....I'm celebrating that things are finally clicking with me in my new job, and in my using the new software. I felt like I crossed a big threshold today at work, and I'm praying I will continue to learn, and God will bless my service there. This church family has been so understanding and so loving. It is a precious gift having this job. Please continue to pray for me and Mike, especially the next couple of weeks, as the pastor of this church, and his wife, will be away for two weeks on vacation. My prayer is that Mike will continue to improve, and I will be able to fulfill my position at this job, while the pastor is away.

Thank you for being such a blessing to Mike, our family, and me.