Traditions!!!

Well, you never know what a day or night will bring and last night brought some crazy events. I got up around 3 a.m. with my head pounding and the pain so intense I thought my head was going to come off! The nurse checked my blood pressure and it was sky high at 188/116 (normal is 120/80). So over the next 6 hours they tried to bring my blood pressure down with medicine but the craziness thing about it was that standing up was really the only thing that would give me some relief. I would stand up and my pressure would drop to 100/90 but within seconds of sitting back down it would jump right back up again. So my sweet husband held me up over an hour so I could get some relief. By 9 a.m. they gave me some strong pain medicine and things were starting to level out again. Needless to say my blood pressure has been all over the place, it was way too low when I came into the hospital (68/43) to (188/116). There are a couple of reasons why it might have jumped so high-1) Dehydrated, because they gave me lots of fluids and then gave me Lascaux to remove the excess fluid off my lungs or 2) one of my ant-rejection meds is way off.
His mercies are new every morning though and praise the Lord my oxygen level has gone back up into the nineties, breathing on my own. My lungs are sounding better and my cough is getting less as well. I have felt your many prayers and I thank you so much!

OK, despite my sickness I am very excited about my favorite time of year.......CHRISTMAS!

Although we should always reflect on the birth of Christ and what an amazing gift that has been given to us, it is a great time of year to celebrate! I could name lots of things that I love about Christmas but I really enjoy the different traditions that families do together. Since Faith is getting older and starting to understand more I really want to start doing some meaningful things with her during this special time. So.......I would love for you to share some of your favorite traditions, memories, ideas or fun things you do with your families during this season.

I look forward to reading some great ideas!!! Hope you all are doing well. Love ya

6 Months!

It's hard to believe it's been 6 months since my transplant. A journey I have had to take one day, one step at a time. A journey that has had many joys and many difficulties. There has been lots of learning and I pray growing in the process. Wish I wasn't spending my 6 month anniversary in the hospital but you never know what a new day will bring. I'm so thankful for what the Lord has done though. The doctors have decided that I have a strep pneumonia as well as low on blood and my white blood count (which is suppose to fight infection) and dehydrated. I was given 2 units of blood yesterday and lots of fluids. I woke up this morning with my oxygen reading between 70-80%. (Which they have stayed in the high nineties) So, I am on oxygen to keep it up. I'm still very tired and praying for strength.

We never know when the Lord will call us home but on Friday it became very real for me and Jason as he watched. I remember looking out of the window of the chopper and seeing the beautiful sunset. It seemed so calm, so beautifully made by my Creator. I know that if my Creator can make something so amazing as a sunset that He is able to put back together my very sick, confused body. Don't get me wrong I have had my breaking moments and I just try to cling to the verse that says, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock." Isaiah 26:3-4. Praise the Lord we have wonderful friends who are helping out with Faith although I miss her very much. Jason is holding in there well just a little torn sometimes on where he should be, with me or Faith.
*Please pray for strength, healing, hope and a steadfast in Him.
*Praise the Lord, my uncle Tom is doing OK. They believe the new stem cells are working and his immune system is getting stronger. I know he is still battling some hard things but I hope he is moving into a wonderful season of great health! Thank you for praying for him.

Let me count my blessings.......

*I'm alive
*No Rejection!
*My hubby & little girl are here.
*At a good hospital
* I still have good lungs!
*We have the most amazing friends and family, thank you!



This is just a starter list in being thankful for God's grace! It's amazing how fast life can change in one moment. I was doing good all week and then Thursday night (after the bronch) was feeling very achy and running a fever of 102.8 with Tylenol. So after I passed out at the house, Jason high decided not to wait any more and take me in. Jason had been talking to UAB on the phone letting them know what all is going on but some of these symptoms are normal after you have a bronchoscopy.. However, the ambulance did pick me up and take me to the county hospital, were they worked to stabilize me until the chopper came to air flight me to UAB.

It has been tough physically and emotionally the past few days and the night they were trying to stabilize me was very difficult for Jason to watch and for me praying this was not it! I just kept praying the Lord would give me strength to get through this and the grace to live and have more life to live.

He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he will answer you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Isaiah 30:19-21

Thank you for yours prayers....maybe we will know more tomorrow. I'm doing better, still weak & tired and my white blood count is VERY low right now.

Saturday Afternoon Update

I just talked to Emily and she has been moved to the HTICU which is the low acute portion where Jason can stay and Faith can visit. Today has been a fairly smooth day and she has stayed stable but is recovering from a very difficult day yesterday.

She was never unresponsive but had a lot of complications as they tried numerous times to stabilize her. The ambulance team put in 3 different IVs on the way to the hospital and they ended up having to put in a central line because her veins would not work. She was also on 100% oxygen for most of the night if not all, but is breathing normal air today.

Emily is tired both physically and emotionally and is just thankful to be alive after what she experienced yesterday. I believe she and Jason both were the most scared they have ever been about what was happening and the severity of the situation. She is extremely aware and grateful for God's grace.

She is hoping to have internet access later today and if she's up to it, she might post on the blog. Please continue to keep them in your prayers. Thanks! Emily T

Saturday AM Update

Thank you for your prayers! Apparently yesterday was a pretty serious day as they tried to stabilize Emily in the High Acute ICU. Jason mentioned that it was one of the most scary times for him in the hospital but the report this morning is amazingly good! Jason is on his way up to see her since the High Acute ICU has very strict guidelines for visitors (and no phones) so he was not able to stay with her last night. The report is that she is sitting up in bed and watching TV this morning.

She should be moved to the regular section of the ICU later today which has many more freedoms for visitors (Faith can see her Mommy!). The word they received yesterday when they called the ambulance was that they were no beds at UAB but after several phone calls, it looks like Emily's relationships there were able to make a bed appear out of nowhere which was very comforting to know in the midst of a stressful situation.

Jason was upbeat and just so thankful for your prayers and her vast improvement from yesterday. He thinks they will at least keep her another night, but possibly even a few days. The antibiotics for the infection seem to be working but because of the seriousness of yesterday, they want to be sure she is completely stable. I should receive another update later this afternoon and will pass that along to you. Thanks! Emily T

Update on Emily

Hi everyone...it's Emily Tardy. Em asked me to update her blog this evening as she is back in the hospital at UAB. After a successful bronchoscopy that showed NO REJECTION!!!!!, she has been experiencing the negative side effects of recovering from the procedure. She ran a fever all of yesterday evening and still had it this morning. After passing out twice this morning, Jason called for an ambulance that took her back to the hospital. Her blood pressure was really low and when I talked to him late this afternoon the team at UAB was in the middle of working on her to help her get that back up. From what I understand, she is dealing with some infection in her lungs that was aggravated by the bronchoscopy yesterday so she is once again having to fight off the complications that this procedure can bring about.

Please keep her and Jason in your prayers tonight. Hopefully this will be a short stay and that she will be stabilized and released so they will be able to go to their Christmas party tomorrow night. Thanks! ~Emily T

Our week so far....

Well, amazingly we made it to AL. Our plane was delayed in TX and therefore Southwest said we might not make our other flight in Dallas so it was a little crazy trying to make the flight so we would not have to spend the night in Dallas. Thankfully the plane wanted a whole 20 minutes just for us so we could get on. (Thank You Southwest!)

We had a long clinic day but Praise the Lord things are looking pretty well. My liver function was high this time which is unusual but they are going to just watch it for now. I did enjoy catching up with some of my friends at UAB. A lot of them got their transplants around the same time I did so it's great to see how they are doing, and for the most part they are doing well. I did have my bronch this morning and it went fine besides the several attempts to put in an IV (this is when a PICC line comes in real handy). They said I had a little inflammation in my lungs, which makes sense since I have been coughing some. We should know a little more about the results tomorrow and more in a few weeks.

It's been fun to see our good friends here though and catch up. It worked out great too because we will get to be apart of our Sunday School Christmas party on Saturday. Thank you for your prayers....

Hope you all are doing well and enjoying the Christmas season. For some crazy reason I have this thing about not listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving because I always feel like it gets passed up so fast. However starting December 1st the music is on and continues all month! =) Ok, I think I'm still a little groggy and drugged so I better stop now before I start talking crazy....=) (wouldn't be too unusual) hehe

Headed to the Ham (Birmingham)

We will be headed back to the south tomorrow (Tuesday) for a transplant check-up on Wednesday and a bronchoscopy on Thursday. Praise the Lord I have been doing well and we just continue to ask the Lord for healing as they check for rejection & infection. As some of you might remember I did not do so good the last bronchoscopy so it makes me a little nervous. The last results showed NO rejection (Praise God) but the bronchoscopy left me very sick the next couple of days.

Jason & Faith will be coming along as well. The great thing about going back is getting to see all our good friends we love! I look forward to hopefully catching up with some of them.

I'll try to keep you all updated throughout the week, we'll see how well I do. =) We continue to ask for your prayers and thank you for keeping up with us and for your support!

*I do also ask for your prayers for my Uncle Tom, who I have mentioned before. He had his stem cell transplant (from my dad, his twin) last week. They had to knock down his immune system (chemo) to nothing so he could receive the "new" stem cells. However, since the chemo was so strong it has left him very tired & sick, as well as dealing with other difficult things. We are praying and believing the stem cells will work and almost be a "cure" for him. Because he received the stem cells from his identical twin brother he will not have to take all the anti-rejection medicines I do. I'm not sure when we will know if the transplant is working but he could use your prayers right now. Thank you!

The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk throug the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Isaiah 43:2-3

Catch up time!

Well, once again I'm behind on keeping up with my blog but in some ways that is a good thing because I have the energy to GO GO GO now! I do have a good excuse though and that is that my Internet has been done for 4 days so I have felt very out of touch with everyone through e-mail & blogging. If I skip one day without the computer it seems like it takes forever to catch up on e-mails and reading how everyone else is doing through their blogs. It's almost ridiculous how dependant we become on our computers or cell phones and we wonder what the world ever did without them before! =) Don't get me wrong I think it's a wonderful way to stay in touch with friends and family but I have just realized how much I use them. Anyway, I just got way off the subject so back to what the Mulkey's have been up too......

First Callie's shower was wonderful! She had a great time and was showered with LOTS of amazing gifts. I know she feels so blessed to be at this point in her life and we feel so blessed to have her here. When I mean "here" I really mean ALIVE and well! For those of you who are not familiar with my family, I am not the only one the Lord has given a second chance at life. My sister, Callie, was diagnosed with a brain tumor (cancer) almost 5 years ago. She went through brain surgery and then radiation. It was a very difficult time but through every step good or bad she was QUICK to say," Praise God!" Her love for the Lord is a shining star for all to witness and by God's grace and healing she has been cancer free since then!!! Sometimes Callie and I sit and talk about how there is a very real possibility that we both could not be here now and how much God has blessed us with, not only a "new" life but some wonderful husbands (or to be) and for me a child. So not only do we celebrate Callie and Hayden's upcoming wedding, we also Praise the Lord for her life and that she can become Hayden's beautiful bride!

Mascara........now I forgot where does it go? Eye lashes, cheeks, lips.....Oh Yes, LIPS & NOSE! My daughter was sweet enough to find my mascara and show me where my make-up was really suppose to go. =)

We also ventured out to the corn maze and thanks to my brother in-law, Brandon we were able to find our way out before it got dark! Faith did great for a little bit then we decided her little legs were ready for daddy to carry her.

Faith fell asleep while we continued to try to find our way out of the corn maze. I think my back would be permanently damaged if I slept this way.=)

I also just got back from Dallas (by myself). I was able to go to Emily T. baby shower!! It was a good time and I was so glad to be there and share in her excitement! Her and Daniel's little girl will be here sometime the end of February! I can't wait!

We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving with ALL of our family. We have not been with all of the family for the holidays in a long time so that was a true blessing. We have much to be thankful for!

Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. Psalm 95:2

Pictures....are always rough!

I could not ask for a sweeter or cuter little girl and so of course, I want to take pictures to capture the moment. However, my daughter thinks otherwise! She does NOT like taking pictures and it becomes a big deal to get her to even look at the camera. (Let alone smile for it) So someday when she is older and she ask me why I don't have more pictures of her, I will just smile and say," I tried with all my might but you little Missy were not very cooperative." =) Anyway, I take what I can get when it comes to picture taking and my sweet friend took some pictures (or tried) of Faith before we left for TX. Even though it was rough I think we managed to get a couple of good, sweet ones.

Little Angel

Loves those flowers

Better a finger in the mouth than the nose =)

Where are the fish?

Pretty girl

A smile! A smile! Success!

This is a look of I'm done with this! I ain't going to smile!

A mischievous smile =)