Wednesday, August 6th

I just returned from the hospital. They put him on dialysis after lunch. I went in to see him at about 5:30, and before I went in, Mom warned me. He has air underneath the first layer of his skin, which causes the skin to swell. The man I have always known, weighing 130 pounds soaking wet, looked to weigh about 200. His chest and arms look like Superman.. the left side of his face is so swollen, and his eye is just huge. It was so scary. The doctor said that his lungs did look better and they are doing everything they can do, but they still aren't sure what brought the ARDS on.. they still don't have an answer.
Aunt Betty is there with Mom tonight. She took my place :) . Sweet Grandma Brumley brought over her famous garden soup ( umm..) and I took over a hot fudge cake. They will enjoy their supper tonight. Last night, Meme, Chas' mother-in-law, brought over homemade macaroni and tomatoes, jack mackerel patties, and homemade cornbread. Mom said it was so good. I want to thank Meme for that. She is an awesome lady. She is so good to not only Chas and the girls, but to all of our family. She makes our holidays even more special. Danny loves her noodle salad!
Anyway, I will go for now. I will post again, just as soon as I hear from Mom.
Thanks for everything you guys are doing for us! We love you all!
Mandi

Wednesday, August 6th

I just talked to Aunt Betty. She told me that they are going to put Bobby on dialysis after lunch. The doctors don't seem to be giving Mom much hope, but she isn't giving up and neither are we. We know a woman that survived ARDS and she is living a perfectly normal life. God saved her and we know that he can do the same for our dad. Please pray for my parents. Pray that God will give Mom the strength that she needs to get through this. My mom is a very good lady and she has more faith than you can imagine. She is faithful to God, her church family, and everyone else around her. I know that God will take care of them, because they are so dedicated to Him.
I want to thank everyone that has been with Mom through this. Aunt Teresa, Aunt Betty, and Aunt Florence have been staying over night with Mom for these past two weeks. ALL of Bobby's family have been there every day to help support Mom. Grandma Brumley has really been a trooper! She acts like a 25 year old and I really love her! Both sides of the family have been really good about staying and helping out in any way that they can and I appreciate it. Our family has gotten much closer and it feels wonderful!
Please continue to pray for our WHOLE family. I will post again when I hear from Mom.
Thanks!
Mandi

Tuesday, August 5th

Hey! Sorry that I haven't posted until now.. Landen's arm got worse over night, so we went back to the doctor. He thinks Landon will recover, so please say a prayer for him!
I have talked to Mom a few times today. She is really quiet and doesn't offer too much information. Please pray for strength for Mom. She did tell me that they gave Bob a couple more units of blood this morning. I am not sure what all is going on with that, though. She also said that the doctor said he may have to put Bob on dialysis sometime today or tomorrow. His kidneys aren't functioning the way they should, but obviously they are better than the doctor thinks, because as of about 7 o'clock, they hadn't talked about the dialysis again.
Please continue to pray for a miracle.. and thanks for the wonderful comments!
I will be at home tomorrow, so I will be able to post any new info. I will be in Jonesboro tomorrow night and most of the day on Thursday. Seth and I are going to go over and spend the night with Mom. I will post as soon as I get home Thursday afternoon.
Keep up the good work, guys.. your prayers mean so much!

Monday, August 4th

Hello to all. I am sorry that I didn't post yesterday, but I was crazy busy! My little Landen Buchanan got bit by a brown recluse, so we ran to the doctor. Everything was fine.. he got a shot and they put him on a Z-pack. His arm looks so much better today!
I did get to visit with Mom yesterday. I didn't get to visit with Bob, because he seems to do much better when we all leave him alone! He did have to get two units of blood yesterday, but everything else seemed okay. On Sat, when Dr. Cohen came in, he didn't give us much hope. When he came in yesterday, he told Mom that he was amazed at his improvement, because he really didn't think he'd make it past noon on Sat. He said that he was still very critical.. the lung still has a hole in it, but the other lung was able to do most of the work. Come to find out, Bobby, Seth, and I are all RH neg., so I am planning on going over to donate blood on Thursday. I encourage you all to donate, no matter what blood type you are, someone can use it!
Thanks again for your prayers, calls, and visits. We appreciate you all so much! Spread the word about the blog. Please continue praying for a miracle!
Mandi

Saturday, August 2nd

Well.. today was a scary day. Chas called and woke me at 6am, saying that Bobby's lung had collapsed and that Dr. Cohen told them that his liver was failing. When I got there, the whites in Bobby's eyes were brown. It was really scary. They didn't expect him to make it through the day.
BUT.. Bobby is a fighter! He was awake most of the morning and he had a waiting room full of family and friends, but the good thing was that ALL of his kids were there. Chas, Little Bobby, Cristell, Brandon, and myself were there all day. Bobby really held on to Brandon's hand this morning. It was so sweet. Once, he lost hold of Brandon's hand, but he felt around the bed until he found it again. I know that things happen for a reason, and if our family becomes closer, then that will be great. I can't wait for him to come home and for us to have a get-together!
To Bobby, Cristell, and Brandon- thanks so much for being there today! It really meant a lot to me and I am sure that it made Bobby rest much better, knowing that we were all there together!
Also, thanks to all that came today.. we couldn't have made it without you all!
Love to all..
Mandi

Wow! What a great afternoon we had!

Danny and I went to the hospital this afternoon to visit Bob. Mom, Danny, and I were in his room and Mom attempted to wake him. After calling his name a few times, he just opened his eyes and looked at her. She pointed to Danny and asked Bob if he knew who Danny was. He then shook his head yes. After that, she told him that we loved him and told him he could go back to sleep.
Chasity called me later and was tickled to death! She said that he was awake almost the whole time they were in there during the last visiting hour. She said that he was letting them rub his feet and she was so excited!
Please continue to pray for him. He has a long road ahead of him, but with all of us, the road will be smoother! The new lung specialist will be here on Monday. Pray for good news!!
Thanks so much!

Some news on Bobby

I talked to Mama earlier. She said that Bobby got a fever last night and his heart rate was pretty high, so they bumped the oxygen back up to 100%. They have also called in ANOTHER lung specialist.
It seems that he takes one step forward and two steps back. We hate seeing him lay there like that and we can't wait for the day that he can sit up and talk to us.
Please continue to pray for all of us, especially Bobby.
I will keep you posted.