It is a Celebration!

I got to meet Archie at his infectious disease appointment to join him for his weekly visit but for his final weekly visit.  He got his PICC line out today!  After 10 weeks of nonstop antibiotics we are breaking up with Archie's little buddy who has been with us 24/7.   Below are some pictures of Archie and his little buddy before they broke up.

 

 

The doctor said the MRI that Archie had on Thursday showed a little bleeding and some fluid build up where the catheter was but he said that is expected with the recent surgeries he had. We asked that if the neurosurgeon knew about the results and he said he would call him.  He said typically Archie should have been treated for only 2 weeks of antibiotics but to make sure he kept him on them for four extra weeks to make sure the infection was cleared up.  Archie will go back in 3 weeks for a final appointment. 

I was pretty excited to get rid of the bag of medical waste that has been in our house for the past 10 weeks, sad but true!  We are pretty excited in the Stewart household needless to say!

Three Year Anniversary

Today marks our 3 year anniversary as husband and wife.  Three years ago on fabulous day,  I made the following vow:

 "I, Allyson, take you, Archie, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad,in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life."

Little did I know how quickly that I have to live my vows out in my daily life.  Typically, throughout your married life you have to provide care for your significant other during a health issue.  In my mind, I was thinking much later down the road.  The thought didn't not cross my mind that I would be faced with making medical decisions for Archie because he was out of it.  I had thoughts cross my mind about what life would be like without him in it.  I do not wish that only anyone and hope that no one is faced with a situation like that.
Last year our anniversary was spent in the hospital.  Archie was grouchy because he had just found out that he would be spending more time in the hospital (he was not aware how serious his condition was and that he could have died).  It was a pretty bad anniversary to be honest.
It is amazing what a difference a year can make.  This morning I made breakfast before I headed off to work.  On the way to work I was listening to daily mass and just had to smile because the reading for today was First Corinthians 12:31-13:13:
"Set your mind on the higher gifts. And now I am going to put before you the best way of all. ¹ Though I command languages both human and angelic -- if I speak without love, I am no more than a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. ² And though I have the power of prophecy, to penetrate all mysteries and knowledge, and though I have all the faith necessary to move mountains -- if I am without love, I am nothing.

³ Though I should give away to the poor all that I possess, and even give up my body to be burned -- if I am without love, it will do me no good whatever.

⁴ Love is always patient and kind; love is never jealous; love is not boastful or conceited, ⁵ it is never rude and never seeks its own advantage, it does not take offence or store up grievances. ⁶ Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds its joy in the truth. ⁷ It is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes. ⁸ Love never comes to an end. But if there are prophecies, they will be done away with; if tongues, they will fall silent; and if knowledge, it will be done away with. ⁹ For we know only imperfectly, and we prophesy imperfectly; ¹⁰ but once perfection comes, all imperfect things will be done away with. ¹¹ When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, and see things as a child does, and think like a child; but now that I have become an adult, I have finished with all childish ways. ¹² Now we see only reflections in a mirror, mere riddles, but then we shall be seeing face to face. Now I can know only imperfectly; but then I shall know just as fully as I am myself known. ¹³ As it is, these remain: faith, hope and love, the three of them; and the greatest of them is love.

It is amazing that on our third anniversary that I would hear the reading that I chose to be read at our wedding! 
This year I can say that I believe that our relationship is stronger than it was. The good old saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is true.  Or another saying that I have said thtoughout the past year is "God wouldn't give you something you cannot handle."  I couldn't imagine my life without Archie being beside me.  He knows me way too well sometimes.  But I would not have it any other way.  God had a plan when we met 7 years ago at a concert. 

Breakfast was our anniversary celebration today.  I have plans tonight unfortunately.  But tomorrow we are going to the Eric Church concert which was my gift to Archie.  Then this weekend we will go out to dinner to celebrate.

Happy Anniversary Archie.  I love you so much and I am thankful that you chose me to be your wife three years ago!        

Vacation

Last weekend Archie and I went on vacation for the first time in a year.  We went to Steamboat, CO for a long weekend with our friends Jennifer, Mark and Aaron.  We left Thursday night about 8 pm and got to Colorado around 11:30 pm.  We got to the airport extra early to make sure we gave ourselves plenty of time to get through security since we were traveling with antibiotics in a cooler plus the antibiotics Archie had attached to him.  Thankfully, we did not encounter any issues and it just took a couple minutes longer while they tested his hands and the bottles of antibiotics for explosives.



A burrito as big as your face

Friday morning we went to check out breakfast options near the condo and found a fantastic restaurant called Paramont.  We ended up eating breakfast there every morning and I think we tried almost everything on their breakfast menu.  Here are some pictures of two options: 

Fiji French Toast

After breakfast we headed into town to check out the shopping in Steamboat so we walked up and down the street checking out shops. Archie got a couple of things, I found him an UnderArmor jacket he really likes.  Below are some pictures of some hats we found.

Aaron the Gladiator

JAWS!

We then went and had some margaritas in town that were delicious but dangerous.  It is never good when they limit the number of margaritas you can have to 3 and we maxed out.  We headed back to the condo, had a few more drinks and the guys went to play pool while Jennifer and I sat around and talked.  That night there was a complimentary wine tasting at the condos that we attended.  Afterward Jennifer and Archie headed to bed early while Mark, Aaron and I went to dinner.

Friday morning we went to Paramont for breakfast and then Archie, Aaron and I rode the Gondola up to the top of the mountain.  We went on a 0.8 mile Nature Vista walk which we enjoyed.  I liked learning about the various animals in the area.  Below are some pictures from the walk:



We went back to the condo to meet up with Jennifer and Mark.  Then we went to lunch at Slopeside and afterwards we headed back up the Gondola to the top of the mountain.  This time we decided to take the 1.6 mile trail.  We obviously did not read the description of the trail because it was 1.6 miles uphill the whole way!  But we should have clued in by the name - Chisholm Train.  What I found frustrating was that we were on a road not a trail plus it never told us when we reached the ned.  It was a difficult trail but I am proud of us!   Below are some pictures:


The uphill climb that woudn't end

 

Jenn & Mark




Jenn, Mark, Archie, Allyson & Aaron



That night we went to Truffle Pig for dinner and had a great dinner.  We then went to the house and went to bed because we were pretty wiped out from the hike.

Sunday we woke up and went to breakfast.  Afterwards we were asking the concierge what we should do and we headed to town to visit the "Howler" which is an Apline slide.  We rode the chairlift up to the top and rode down the 2,400 foot track on a sled.  It was a blast!!!! 

Then we headed to town to walk around and visited the local chili cook-off.  We participated and had a good time sampling the different chilis.  Of course my favorite chili was from Texas!  Then we headed back to the condo.  We then decided to head to the Strawberry Hot Springs.  They are natural hot springs located outside of town.  Archie went with us but just put his feet in due to the antibiotic.  We checked out the different pools throughout the 2 hours that we were there.  I had not visited one before and enjoyed the overall experience.  But I must caution you that if you go after dark that bathing suits are optional.

Hot Springs



Archie patiently sitting on the side

We went to a restaurant called Cafe Diva and had the best dinner!  We ordered a couple of appetizers to share- smoked duck rillettes, crab salad and lobster fritters.  For the main course most everyone got the surf and turf which was scallops with either a bison or elk tenderloin.  Jennifer tried something different with the salmon.  We were all pleased with our selections.  For dessert we split the smores tower, let me just say the marshmellow gelato was phenominal.  The meal was the best one and fantastic.  Of course afterwards we were all full and ready for bed.

Monday we got up and got breakfast and then got ready for transportation to the airport.  It was a wonderful, relaxing vacation and we had an amazing time!

Anniversary

September 5th is a day that Archie and I will never forget. 

The day started off with us driving back home from a visit to La Grange, TX with my mom.  When we got home we worked in the yard.  That afternoon Archie laid down to take a nap and then he started snoring so loud that I had to shut the bedroom door and turn up the volume on the TV.   I heard him get up from bed and he was muttering to himself so I went to go check on him.  He kept saying he had to make himself sick and that his head was killing him.  I tried to get him to take some headache medicine but he was not having it, I thought maybe he had a migraine since he never had headaches.  I suggested he go back to bed to try to get rid of the migraine.  He went to sleep and that horrible snoring resumed.  A little while later I heard a thud in the bathroom and went to check it out.  I found him lowering himself to the ground from his hands and knees.  There was a small scrape on his nose so I think he hit the bathtub on the way down.  At that point he was incoherent, he fell asleep on the ground face down and started snoring again.  I was shaking him trying to wake him up and to get him to answer me; I even poured some water on him which did not work.  I called my mom and asked her to come over because something is wrong with Archie.  She told me to call 911 and she was on her way.   The ambulance arrived and they took him to Centennial Hospital.  Our neighbor across the street came out and asked if there was anything she could do and I will forever be grateful to her even though I declined her offer.  My mom picked me up and we headed to the hospital via the navigation on my phone – it is unfortunate that the GPA was just taking us to downtown Frisco because the link I clicked on for the hospital didn’t have an address associate with it besides Frisco, TX.  So we turned around and got to the hospital.  After several hours and several phone calls to family members and his business partner they diagnosed the brain aneurysm and that they needed to careflight Archie to Baylor in Dallas.  While we were loading onto the helicopter my phone started blowing up because the information about Archie had been posted on facebook.  This made the situation more stressful because I was getting text messages and phone calls while trying to give my mom instructions about what to grab from the house so that we could charge our phones and get some clothes.   We had our first helicopter ride which Archie does not remember and I was too freaked out to enjoy.   We then proceeded to wait in the ER for hours while they ran tests.  Brian, Chris, my mom, Archie’s mom and step dad were all crammed in a room while we waited.  In the wee hours of the morning they moved him to 4 North ICU.  I rode home with Archie’s mom and step dad to our house to get a couple of hours of sleep and pack a bag. 

Little did we know what would happen in the next twelve months:

-          The coiling procedure that didn’t work

-          Craniotomy

-          Severe vasospasms that lasted weeks- they even caused him to lose control over part of his body like a stroke – weakness in his face, hands, legs, etc.

-          External shunt

-          Internal shunt

-          A trip to the hospital October where infections were found on the shunt so it was removed

-          Another external shunt

-          A couple more weeks in the hospital while we got the infection cleared up

-          Another internal shunt

-          A trip to the hospital in June with an infection of some sort but no answers

-          A trip to the hospital in July because of a staph infection so they pulled the internal shunt again but this time he had to leave a catheter in his head because it had grown attached to scarred tissue and to remove it would cause bleeding

-          An external shunt that was later removed because he was processing the fluid correctly and there was not a need for the shunt

-          A trip to the hospital in August because the catheter has staph on it so Archie had another craniotomy to remove the catheter micro surgically      

 

It is so strange to think that a year ago Archie was healthy with no health issues besides a twisted ankle or two.  The past year has been a long, uphill road with a lot of uncertainty.   Below is a picture that works well:

I did try to remind myself that God would not give me anything I could not handle.  My faith helped me a lot and I cannot imagine what I would do without my faith.  I think Archie and my relationship has gotten stronger throughout the past year.   
 

I can say that I am thankful for my family – my mom, sisters, dad and brother-in-law.  I don’t think I would have made it through the past year without them.  They were there to take shifts sitting in the hospital room with us, hangout with Archie when I had to work, brought lots of meals, made me leave the hospital room for dinner or a walk and just so much more.
 

Archie’s mom and step dad have been champions throughout the past year.  I think they have lived more at our house than their house in Wichita Falls.  They have been here through it all – being at the hospital all day long, bringing meals, doing laundry nightly for Archie, taking shifts hanging with Archie when I went back to work and so much more.
 

I have to thank Allison Sloan for letting me move into her house for three months off and on for the past year.  You are so kind to let your best friend’s sister move in with you!
 

To all of our friends that have been there for us for the past year – all of the trips to the hospital to visit Archie, the visits to the house while Archie was hanging out at the house and the phone calls.  You don’t know how much Archie looked forward to the visitors.   It was nice to have someone to talk to entertain us and distract us. 
 

Below is a picture we took last week and my friend Bethany described it as a symbolic picture.  A year later, we made it through the forest and are standing high on solid ground.