Sunday October 5...9:00 pm

After Robert had two days more active than usual, he crashed on Saturday! He will need to learn to pace himself and not over do it. His itching had gotten better, but now he is getting welts to replace the rash. Hmmm, not sure what that is about. Today we were given a fantastic gift. Three of Robert's friends from college days, delivered two dump truck loads of gravel and then, using a tractor, they spread it out along the side and front of the house! Wow! Now we won't have a mud bowl on the side of the driveway this winter. We had started the project before Robert's attack. It was supposed to be a simple spread gravel project...but that led to replacing the drain pipe from the downspout to the street...which meant digging a 10" ditch along the concrete driveway, 48' long, through gravel and river rock. In fact, if strenuous activity can trigger pancreatitis, then that is what did it for Robert. He had a few feet to finish when he went into the hospital. My dad and Robby finished the ditch and laid the pipe. Then John, Glen and Dave came and now the project is all done! Wonderful.
We have been extremely blessed by the generosity of many people. We continue to be grateful for the money, food, cards, and now gravel project. It is amazing how God, through many different people, provided all of the money we lost in income for the month of September.
We also are extremely grateful for good insurance because the bills are starting to arrive. We haven't received all the bills yet, nor do we know the total we owe. But since Robert has gone over the maximum for one year, we already know the hospital bill of $123,000+ is completely covered!!! His pharmacy bill alone was over $18,000 for 19 days - who knew you could receive almost a thousand dollars worth of medications a DAY?!? No wonder he is still itching...and $42,000 seems a little steep for room and board when he only ate food 4 of the 19 days!
The only bad news is the school district changed insurance plans October 1st, so we start meeting new deductibles and working on his maximum expenditures all over again. We can only hope the most expensive medical care is all behind us!
This week he starts physical therapy and sees his surgeon. He will do an ultrasound to see how the pancreas is healing. Pray that it is shrinking without ANY complications.
Thank you for sticking with us.

~Jeanette