Tuesday, May 08, 2007

When it Rains, It Pours

For better or for worse, this little aphorism seems to be true.

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

Since you obviously cannot answer that question in real time, I will go with the good news first, since it's shorter.

I have a blind date tonight.

Blonde has a new boyfriend, and apparently he's got a friend who would be great for me. So tonight, I am meeting Blonde and her boyfriend. They are bringing my date. What do I know about him? Let's see...supposedly, he's cute. He's in medical sales. I think she said he's got blonde-ish hair. Which is good -- I like blondes.

(I keep getting "blonde" coming up as a word I need to spell-check, but dammit, that's how I learned to spell the word, and it's listed in the dictionary as an alternate spelling of "blond", so bite me, spellcheck!)

Where was I? Oh yes. He is rumored to be a big partier. As in, getting drunk every weekend. Did I mention this guy is in his early 30s? Yeah. I've dated too many guys (I will be discreet and avoid mentioning names) who were frat boys who never grew up. I am really kind of over that kind of lifestyle. Let's hope this guy is a little more mature than his reputation.

Besides, it will be tough for him to beat out Rob Thomas at this point.

Rob Thomas, who has "potential new boyfriend for VB" written all over him.

Rob Thomas, with the nice arms.

Rob Thomas, who has not called me.

Yet.

But he will. Right? I mean, there was too much chemistry! We had a serious make-out session! It lasted approximately an hour and a half. That means something, right?

Alright, good news over. Time for bad news.

Do you remember the P family? Although not blood relatives, I refer to them as Aunt and Uncle P. Their kids are basically like my cousins, since we all grew up together. This family is like my other family. Their house burned down last December. They lost everything. Luckily, their insurance company is taking good care of them and they are rebuilding.

Remember the story of their daughter, GP, who basically witnessed a double homicide? Ok, this is about her. It's bad.

A few months ago, she got knocked up. Oops. Anyway, her boyfriend (who is supposedly a total JERK who is trying to distance himself from her so he won't have to be involved with it) wanted her to get an abortion, but she doesn't believe in them. Her parents want her to give it up for adoption, since she and the boyf aren't getting married. They say it will be really hard for her to be a single mom of a newborn when she's a bank teller and only 24. (I have to say, I am thinking they might be right...) But she wants to keep the baby.

Ok, hold on. I haven't gotten to the bad part yet. Oh yes, it gets worse. If you have a weak stomach, you might want to just sort of speed-read through this part.

So she went to the hospital last week because of a kidney stone. I didn't know this, but if you are pregnant, you cannot take the usual medications for that. Instead, they have to insert a tube directly into the kidney and drain out your urine that way.

Well, they put it in kinda funny, and the tube was pressing on a nerve ending, so she was in a lot of pain.

[Note: sarcasm alert] Which is a really good time for the doctors to ignore you for the next four days.

I am not kidding. The nurses asked the doctors several times to take a look at her. "She's getting worse," they kept saying. Finally, totally fed up and scared to death, Aunt P (her mom) hunted down the doctors and chewed them a new one yesterday.

The doctors go in and look at her. By this point, there is an infection that is spreading through her body. Awesome.

There are crystals in her urine (or maybe it was in her kidneys? Something was crystallizing), which I am pretty sure is not a good thing. Then they realized one of her lungs had collapsed. Why had it collapsed? Um, because her lungs are filling up with fluid as a reaction to the infection.

Because her lungs are filling up with fluid, she cannot get enough oxygen, which has put a strain on her heart. So she has heart arrhythmia, too. So she cannot breathe successfully on her own, which is why they sedated her and put her on a ventilator. She's unconscious and in intensive care.

As a person who is friends with about 4 intensive care nurses, I know what the statistics are for people who go into the intensive care unit. They are about 50/50.

Meanwhile, her body is trying to go into labor, and the baby is only at about 25 weeks.

The doctors said that at this point, they don't know if they can save the baby. They said that even if they can save it, it will probably be mentally disabled for its entire life. They also said that there are so many things wrong with GP right now, that they don't even know what kind of a prognosis they can give her. So her family doesn't even know if she's going to make it.

Y'all, this family has been through so much, you don't even know. Uncle P has lost jobs in the past, one their sons was mixed up in drugs for a while, and then he knocked up his girlfriend and went on the run from the law to avoid his jail time....I know this is personal stuff, but y'all will never meet them, so it's ok. But seriously, this family has been through more than any other family I know. So for GP to get knocked up was bad enough, after they lost their house. And now this? I seriously don't know how Uncle and Aunt P keep their sanity. I would have to be on drugs. Or drink heavily. Shit, just typing this makes me want to cry and smoke a pack of cigarettes.

It seems they just can't catch a break. And I don't know how I can help them at all. I don't have any money, and visiting them would just make me feel like a burden. They are so busy with everything, I feel intrusive calling them. I will just have to keep praying for them and sending them cards. That's all I can do, I guess.

When Czarina told me all of this this morning, she was running around the house, tying up loose ends in case Aunt P (who is more than Czarina's best friend -- seriously, the women were separated at birth) called her and wants her to drive up to DC to be with her.

Czarina hasn't emailed or called me all day, so I am hoping that is a good sign. I am going to call her tonight anyway, though. So if you can, please keep this family in your prayers. They have a lot of support in their community and from their church, famly and friends, but everyone can use more prayers, don't you think?

26 comments:

Coco said...

That is unbelievable. All I can say is, they must have a lot of inner strength in them to be holding up through all of this. I will definitely keep them in my prayers.

Anonymous said...

When I hear stories like this, I feel very blessed for never having experienced such tragedy. It is hard to imagine the heart attack associated with even one of these recent events. To go through so many would really make you question your faith. I will be sure to keep this family in my prayers.

Anonymous said...

Ooops, I meant "heartache."

Anonymous said...

This is so sad. I hope she comes through this okay. She is the most important thing right now, but honestly, when she recovers, the family has one heck of a malpractice suit for the doctor. How do they just ignore someone?? That is INSANE, especially when that someone is pregnant!!!!

Anonymous said...

P.S. He'll call. :)

don said...

Hey, I just noticed that your side bar came back! Not sure if it is on my end or what. I thought it was me. Not that I automatically think things are my fault or anything. I enjoy your blog.

The Frog Princess said...

I'll keep GP in my thoughts. I hope that she and the baby both manage to come through this.

I hope those doctors get their asses sued off. This shouldn't have happened in the first place!

X said...

OMG VB! I'm so sorry to hear about your friend and her family. They will be in my prayers.

Sam said...

That sucks. I'll keep them in my thoughts.

Len said...

I don't pray, I don't believe in God. But I'll think of them.

Meghan (The Declaration of MY Independence) said...

VB, I will DEF. pray for them. How can one family endure such tragedy? Aunt and Uncle P are both very strong individuals, I admire them, and I don't even know them! All you can do for them is pray and ask if they need anything. They will appriciate just knowing your there for them. Keep your head up girl!

Megan said...

i will say many prayers for the P family! keep us posted on what happens. my heart just aches reading that!

kimmykins13 said...

I'm sure Rob Thomas will call - but have fun on your blind date. Maybe he will be really cool and you will like him. Even if you aren't attracted to him then maybe you will have made a new friend at least. I'm sorry about the P Family too. I will pray for them. They certainly have had enough trauma in the past year.

Anonymous said...

I will be thinking about them and praying for them. I hope things will be okay... just let me know what happens and if you need anything. xoxo

Jonathan said...

I will keep them in my thoughts.
Everytime I see you mention Rob Thomas I start humming some random matchbox 20 song and well that is not always a good thing, hehe.

Southern (in)Sanity said...

I will keep your friends/family in my thoughts and prayers.

I would say that regardless of the outcome, they should consider legal action agains the doctors and the hospital for FOUR days with no doctor interaction.

crackfire said...

will keep them in my prayers,hope everything turns out ok.

Bossy said...

As to the boy situation, I think he will call. And the 30-something party boy, be careful... But still go out and have fun!!!

As to the family, I will keep them in my prayers. I hope everything works out the best way possible.

Mieke said...

What is that saying? something like "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger?". I sure do hope she gets better and her baby is okay. So awful for this family! I felt so sad just reading about all of this. It's truly heartbreaking. Please keep us updated on the family. They are in my thoughts!

Debra said...

I am so sorry she is going through this. I really hope she and the baby will be ok.

I've been reading your blog for months now, and just started reading your arhives in the past week. I must say, your blog is very entertaining; especially the posts tagged "my overactive imagination".

Because of you, I decided to start my own blog! What's really interesting is that I just posted my first entry and I put the same saying as mieke above "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger".

teahouse said...

Oh geez, that's a lot to be going through.

I think they'd appreciate it if you reached out to them. Even though they have a lot going on.

I'm like you - I spell "blonde" the same way.

Becky at lifeoutoffocus said...

wow that is horrible. i can't even imagine...please keep us posted on her and the baby ok?

(M)ary said...

omg! that is shocking. she is way too young for this to be happening to her. i send her good thoughts! i hope she recovers.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Mummy said...

i spell blonde with an 'e' too. email me if you want invite to my newly exclusive (dammit!) blog.

Sorry to hear your bad news. Hope nice armed Rob rings to make things better.

The Dummy said...

Holy crap, that is scary! I hope GP's continuing to get better - reading your most recent post was a relief. Whew.