Rolling Stones and Wedding Bells

Last week started with a kidney stone and ended with a wedding - neither of which were mine!

I'll start with the wedding first. Hubby's first cousin married his perfect match yesterday. They had been together for about 6 years when he proposed Christmas of 2006. Originally this wedding was to take place in June at a golf course but the course/restaurant had filed for bankruptcy. Alhough they said all event contracts would be honored, our cousins were referred to the Holy Trinity Cultural Center in Moraga. It is a lovely place! My husband was the photographer and this was treated like any other 'normal' client, as far as contracts, hiring an assistant, etc. Actually, I have not done a wedding with him for a couple of years. I get too stressed out....lol. He original assistant came down with shingles about 1 1/2 weeks ago so to be safe, he quickly found another local wedding photographer to assist him.

Here is a photo of the wedding favors...I helped the bride get these through my party and wedding favors business.

One of her bridesmaids made the printed program. She also made all of the Save the Date cards, bridal shower invitations and wedding invitations. She did an awesome job!

Now to the kidney stone....which actually turned into something more serious. I had called my mother-in-law on Tuesday to see if they could come by on their way to the wedding and pick me up and I would go home with hubby. Our house is on the way and there was not a point in taking two cars when he family would be driving by my area anyway. Hubby had to be at the Center early for photos and I could just arrive with the other guests. My MIL had answered my message saying her and my father-in-law were dealing with a situation - FIL was having problems with kidney stones again. This was about his 7th bout over the years with them so they went to Urgent Care at the big K and they took and x-ray, gave him a prescription for pain pills, and he was sent home. He was basically told to do what he always does when the stones hit - drink a lot of fluids.

On Thursday night I noticed that one of hubby's sisters called but did not leave a message. I was in the backyard, picking some peaches. Hubby was at his monthly photography association meeting about 15 minutes away. He came home about 11:00 pm and mentioned that his sister left a voice mail but he said he would check in the morning. They were driving over from the other side of the Bay to stay with their parents - all going to the wedding yesterday and then to a local amusement park today. So, hubby figured that was why she was calling.

On Friday morning, I checked my emails before leaving for work and saw an email from MIL, with the time of 3:04 am. My MIL called 911 and and ambulance came and took my FIL to the hospital. Not the big K but the closer one that does take big K patients for emergencies. He had a very high fever, and had the chills and was getting delirious. He developed sepsis. Without going into much detail, he was drained from the fluid being block by the stone. It was a bad infection that could of killed him. His blood pressure was low and his heart beat was very high.
He was taken into the Critical Care unit so he could be monitored. By Friday morning and afternoon, he was hooked up to an IV with antiobiotics and was more aware and doing much better. He spent Friday night at JM Hospital. We found out that he was being moved to a big K hospital nearby - not to a Critical Care unit but to a regular room. He was settled in by Saturday night. Another cousin took some photos and had them developed for him to see today.

Hubby and I went over to see him today. One of the bridesmaids told me to take one of the floral centerpieces home so we took it over to him. We got to his room as he was finishing his lunch. He looked good. He was sitting off of the edge of the bed, eating from the rolling table. He was there and also one of his nieces husbands stopped by. FIL was in good spirits - looked tired though and seemed a bit out of breath after eating, but not wheezing, like earlier on Saturday.

The doctor came in as we were about to leave FIL to rest. FIL said we could all stay as the doctor checked him. The blood tests show that his kidney functions are getting back to normal. His white cell count was elevated but his leukemia was contributing to that. They are taking him off IV antibiotics and would be starting oral antiobiotics to see how he does. If all goes well, overnight and into tomorrow, he will be released and able to go home - and doing 2 more weeks of oral antibitocs at home. He will have an xray in the morning to check the stent that was inserted and the kidney stones.

My hubby is doing well with his dad having his medical issues. Hubby was with me when I was dealing with my parents and their illness and then when they passed away here at home.

I love my in-laws. I hear horror stories of how others don't get along with theirs and I know I am so blessed. Looking forward to FIL being around for a long time!