uncle kenny

my sweet family has been through a lot the past couple months.

we lost our aunt geneal in december, & shortly after found out

my uncle kenny has heart failure. last week, he underwent a scary

surgery for an LVAD. basically he is now half iron-man. he has a
metal implant in his heart that helps his heart pump, since it is too
weak to work on its own.

the upside? he's alive, & well on his way to recovery.. & closer to getting a heart transplant.

the downside? he requires 24/7 care. my poor cousins were pretty

overwhelmed when they learned that. he needs a low sodium diet as well as
constant monitoring in case something goes wrong with his LVAD.

luckily we have an amazing family that has jumped on board to help!

here is some of us on saturday at our training.

we learned how to replace the batteries to his LVAD, & what to do

in case of emergency (in which his LVAD beeps & beeps & i feel

like i will have a panic attack). since someone has to be there all the time,

we've signed up for shifts to be at mary's (his ex-wife, who is the sweetest

woman in the whole world & offered her entire house to kenny & his family)

to take care of him.

now tuesdays after i get off work, i'll head over to mary's to "babysit" kenny.

i don't really consider it that though.

i'm looking at it as a way to bond with kenny & anyone else who may be there

while i'm there.

it's going to be fun! & hopefully it won't last long.. hopefully soon

he'll have a brand new heart!

i love my family. their support is overwhelming & i am so glad to know they are here when times get tough. i am so grateful my parents are in such good health!!
speaking of good health, i'm not sure if you can tell in this picture but both
of my parents have lost a ton of weight! they are looking so good!