Quality of Life?

Jude had an incident tonight where he turned pale, he was gasping, he was throwing his arms about, and he just wasn't acting right. I had been holding him while I watched TV, which is our normal nightly ritual. I was kissing him on his forehead and talking to him sweetly. That's when I noticed he just didn't look right so I moved him to his Futon. When the symptoms didn't clear up I finally plugged in his pulse ox machine. His O2 was 85 and his heart rate was really high. I wheeled his oxygen tank into the living room and plugged it up. This issue went on about an hour before I finally got him on a decent level. I then tried giving him a breathing treatment. When I took the O2 off his nose to give the treatment this is what his stats went. to.

Meh! Not the best reading!

So I turned his oxygen up to 2.5 liters and waited. I also gave him his nightly sedative. Within about thirty minutes he was more relaxed and back within normal range. Whew! He also looked better and began smiling a lot again. I guess it just takes patience and an overall understanding of his situation.

I had someone I respect very much ask me what our quality of life is today. Mike answered that we are just "surviving", but aren't we all?  I have learned it's okay to say our life is hard, it's okay to cry, and it's okay to be disappointed. We don't work out anymore, we don't go on vacation, and we don't get a lot of time together. However, we do have great jobs, we have two amazing kids, a nice house, and we have learned some amazing lessons. I am so thankful for every single day I have with Jude (actually every minute). I am thankful each time Emily walks through the door safe and healthy. I am thankful for nurses that watch Jude so we can have time out of the house.

So our quality of life? It's tiring, but overall I think it's a pretty amazing adventure! I am thankful to our friend for asking me that question today. At the end of the day it popped into my head and made me really evaluate our situation. It made me realize just how awesome our life really is.