Fuego and I got back from OH a couple of weeks ago now... wow how time flies when you're preparing for insane trips to distant amusement parks with your youth group!

OH was a good trip overall... but not without it's difficulties.

Fuego's mom's surgery was only supposed to take about two hours and ended up taking about five and a half instead. She lost over half of her blood volume and had to receive a transfusion as well as a donation from the bone bank before they got her put back together. She was pretty much non-responsive for two days with dangerously low blood pressure -- when they could get her to respond she thought it was 1879 and didn't know who she or Fuego was. Her hemoglobin count was at 5.9 (12 is "low"), and they didn't know whether or not she would have any permanent damage.

Thankfully after a total of eight units of blood (three in surgery and another five after) she perked up and was more alert than she's been in quite a while (there doesn't seem to be any side effects or lasting damage -- whew!).

I arrived a day later, to a frazzled and stressed Fuego.

It seems that by staying up all night getting work done so I could go to OH and then forgetting to call Fuego when I got to Berkeley after driving 60 miles on ninety minutes sleep, that she got the idea I might not be okay...

Since she then called the seminary and they couldn't find me and I didn't call for another four hours, and then wasn't emotionally available because I had just enough sleep to stumble through my day and onto the airplane that night, I can honestly say that I think I contributed a lot more to her stress than helping.

Then again, I don't think I was a great deal more help when I got there since I got sick the second day I was there and am still recovering now that I've been home for two weeks (colds and I do not mix).

Those setbacks aside, it was wonderful getting to spend time with family. I got to have some great conversations about theology with Uncle Rock'n -- he's been church shopping, so we got to go to a couple of Episcopal churches in the area together and even go to have breakfast together! We also got to spend a lot of time with Boy-wonder, went to Octoberfest, out to sushi, to a movie, and played put-put golf with Cinnamon, spent a lot of time with Mom in the hospital and in physical therapy/rehab (she did great!), and got to spend some good quality time with M&P. I even got to have a good talk and pray with P the last night we were there, it really meant a lot to me to get to spend some time together, he's such a wonderful man.

We did manage to get Mom home to M&P's the day before we left and she has been back home at her own place now for a week. The Physical Therapists said that she accomplished in a week and a half what takes some people two months to do -- way to go, Mom!