Today is the last day of July and I promised I would blog at least once a month. The last entry I believe was July 1st. I had several complaints at Emily's wedding that nothing new had been blogged. Give me a break people. It's not like I haven't had anything else to do. The wedding is over so now on to the next thing. By the way we want to thank everyone who came to the wedding. We thought it went well and we enjoyed seeing everyone. Everyone arrived home safely after the wedding that we know of. A lot of you probably didn't know this but 2 of the bridesmaids each in different vehicles were stopped by the same highway patrol on there way to the church the day of the wedding. My niece was pulled over in Ravenwood going 10 miles over the speed limit. She pleaded her case to him and said she rarely speeds but she was trying to get to a wedding. He felt sorry for her, ran her license and sent her on her way. I met this patrolmen going 66 and squeak through. The next bridesmaid not so lucky she was pulled over somewhere just outside the city limits of Ravenwood. She told the patrolmen she was sorry that she was speeding but she was trying to get to a wedding. He said do you know how many times I've heard this today. The 2nd bridesmaid said no. He told her he had just stopped another girl in Ravenwood for speeding who said she was trying to get to a wedding. The 2nd bridesmaid said was it Manessa R. he said yes! Patrolmen ran her license and sent her on her way. 2nd bridesmaid texted Emily the bride to let her know that she might be a little late because her and the 1st bridesmaid were stopped by a cop for speeding. Emily sent text out from her phone "bridesmaids in the slammer, wedding will be delayed". This is no joke, but everyone arrived at the church on time for the wedding. Nothing like a happy ending. Mother of the bride and maid of honor(youngest sister of the bride) came down with viral infection. Maid of honor had to see the doctor and get medicine. She is feeling much better. Mother of the bride does like she always does and says it will be better in a few days. Father of the bride faired well except for paying for the wedding.

Now about Steve. He received his first aranesp shot last week. This to bring up his hemoglobin. It has been low lately, but normal for someone with kidney failure. We are going to try this once every 2 weeks and see how it goes. It should make him feel better. He had his 3rd ct scan Tuesday and we went to an appointment yesterday for the results. Scan looked good. Cyst in the kidney has not changed and no other spots were found. Dr. AJ does not want another ct scan for another 6 months but would like a chest xray in 3 months. It has now been 7 months since his surgery and things seem to be as normal for us as they can be. Dr. AJ asked how the kidney thing was going and we told him as well as to be expected. He asked Steve what his creatinine is? Steve said 6.1. Dr. AJ said you are the only person I know walking around with a creatinine at 6.1 and not on dialysis. Steve is out to prove them wrong. Dr. AJ said I hope to see you in 3 months for the chest xray and your still going without dialysis. Steve's GFR(kidney clearance) week before last was 11%. This means 11% kidney function. The kidney doctor says some people can drag this out for a long time and wake up one morning sick and at the point will be going to the hospital for dialysis. Others fail quicker. KU is still going to take his kidney out sometime this fall. They have him scheduled for another ultrasound in September and at that time want to discuss when to remove it. Steve has been very tired. He usually quits working by 5pm or before and comes to the house for a nap at noon. It is wearing on him. He still has a headache now and then but can usually feel them coming on and can take something and get it under control before it gets to bad.

We hope to do a little relaxing before Blair starts back to school and the next big wave begins. Right, us relax that's for old people. I felt pretty old last weekend after the wedding climbing into bed at 2am.

I would like to have all of you say a prayer for us it certainly has helped. Also say a prayer for Theresa Schmitz's (David's Theresa's) sister. She found out this week she has breast cancer. Your prayers are much needed for her and her family.

Until next time. Thanks and God Bless all of you, I know we have been.
Steve, Christy and Blair, Not Steve, Christy and girls (no more girls, we are down to one and counting)

Ok I know it has been a while but for the most part things have been pretty steady until the last few days. Steve is now starting to get swelling in his ankles, not a good sign. His kidney function last week was 11% with creatinine at 5.7. It is starting to creep up. I am afraid he will be starting diaylsis real soon. I talked with Dr. Brown on Monday and she has taken salt away from him and limited his fluid intake to 1 1/2 quarts per day. This is tough. He can weigh himself at home each day to see if he is retaining lot of fluid. If he becomes short of breath we suppose to call Dr. Brown right away.

He is still getting headaches often. I am not sure if this from less kidney function, Emily's wedding planning or living with a house full of women. I can tell he doesn't feel good and I am hoping that dialysis makes him feel better. They say it depends on each individual. I talked with Lori at the dialysis center on Monday and she will be finishing up training with one of her patients the end of the month and sounds like possibly we can train the first of August. They are still saying that hemo dialysis at home works better than going to the center. You do it every day and it is more balanced and is not such a shock to the body. I don't how sticking him every day is going to be but we are going to attempt is.

God give me steady hands and an accurate stick. He may do this or I may do this not sure yet. I will try to do better about posting. Keep him in your prayers.

The Schmitz's