New Orleans

Just a few pics from my recent trip to the Big Easy.

Richie Benavidez in Easy

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M3

So for the longest time I’ve been wanting a BMW M3, I’d have to say since the E36 body of the 90’s it’s been one of those one of these days thoughts in the back of my mind. So when the time came for the lease on my Audi A4 came up I was all over the place trying to decide what my next whip was going to be. After about a month long process, and the wait on the Audi S5 I had ordered being WAY TOO LONG I went with the M3..

If you’d like to peep her out I posted a few pics on my flickr page for your viewing pleasure.

Chris and Jordon July 10, 2006

It has been 9 months since I gave Janice a kidney and we are both doing fine.
On July 7th, her brother Chris received a kidney from his wonderful friend Jordon,
They both went home today and are doing GREAT!

Doing Okay……

Well, they said I would have days when I feel good and days when I feel completely zapped of energy.
Today, I feel really tired.
They also said that I would may have intestional problems – and I do. I am forced to eat a diet of blan food or suffer. That could actually be a blessing in disguise. I could stand too drop some pounds. I also don’t have a lot of an appetite which is also normal.
As for pain, I pretty much have none.
I still have most of the sucture tapes on my incissions, I only lost two on my side.
I don’t know if I mentioned it before or not. I have 4 small incissions on my left side and an incission of about 4 inches, like a bikini cut. The jokes on the doctors – I haven’t worn a bikini since I was 14. A scar doesn’t really worry me at this point.
I would like to tell those of you who have left comments – thankyou very MUCH!
It doesn’t seem I am able to respond to them from my email, I’ll have to ask Richie about that.
I did start drawing yesterday because I am so bored I could scream. Sitting still is AGAIN really hard for me to do.
I can go for short walks and I enjoy those. I have also had some visitors and phone calls and I really have enjoyed them……
As for Janice, she is doing well. Her grandparents are visiting from Washington and they sent Sonny over with dinner, that was nice.
Okay, I am off to watch another movie, talk to you soon.
Lorene

From Bill – Janice’s Father

I received this message today from Janice’s father Bill, and I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing it with you.
Bill Wendel said…
I would like to say something about a special person. Lorene gave my daughter a kidney. Just as Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, Lorene, in a smaller but similar way, sacrificed a part of herself for my daughter. Jesus said our greatest commandment is love. Lorene demonstrated this by her unselfishness and love for Janice, and for this I know she will be blessed by God. Lorene is a special person for doing this and for this I am forever grateful.

I wanted to share this with everyone who reads this page because it was a very special message.
thankyou,
Lorene

Now for my news…….

For 10 years I have been taking a pill called maxide because I swell, it’s a water pill. Well my swelling has seemed to disappear. One doctor thinks it may be temperary. Either way I have been given permission to stop taking them since I haven’t taken them since September 28th. That is my small miracle.
I will keep this short because Janice has a message for everyone.
By the way, thanks for the the post people have sent me. I tried to respond and I had a problem so I must figure that out.
Goodnight, Lorene

10/11/05

I CAN’T BELIEVE IT IS OVER AND I HAVE MY LIFE BACK! Lorene has given me a new leaf on life. I am feeling great. People say that when you wake up from your surgery you feel different. I didn’t believe them, but wow is it true. I feel like I have so much energy now. I don’t know how I could ever find the words to thank her. Not only has she changed my life, but also the life of my children and husband. Every night I lay in bed for hours and think of how great things are. Knowing that soon I will be able to run and play with my children without getting tired, that we’ll be able to go places and that I can eat what ever I want! I have been eating so much good food that I have missed. Truthfully, I have felt guilty about eating everything because for 4 years whenever I would have a helping of certain foods, my labs would show it and I would get in trouble with my doctor. It hasn’t stopped me from eating it though. It will just take some getting used to. Anybody that knows me, knows that I used to love to eat ice ALL the time. When I woke up from surgery and wanted some ice, I din’t like it and just sucked on it instead. That is weird.
After they took my cathetor and I.V. out and told me that I could go home, I broke down and started crying because I knew that my life on dialysis was over. I will always remember that feeling of happiness and relief. We don’t have to rush home early for me to do my dialysis anymore and my chidren will not have to either play by themselves or come and sit on my bed waiting for me to get off my dialysis in the morning. I thank God that they had that dialysis for me to do at home so I could be with my kids. It was soooooo much better than having to go to the clinic and do dialysis. That always made me sick and the food restrictions were even tougher.
Every day I get better and better. I get tired easy and am having the normal healing pains, but I know that will get better with time. Every day I shock myself with how much more I can do. I am having a little problem with my blood pressure, but the doctor said it is because of my pills and told me to take more of my blood pressure pills.
Well, thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. I appreciate it very much. Thank you to Richie for making this web page. It is a great idea. Thank you so much Lorene for everything!!! I love you. I hope you heal fast and that everything goes great for you in the future! You are a fantastic person. Not just because you donated your kidney to me, but in general you are a great person who is always there for everyone when they need you. Thank you!

Everyone is doing well……..

Here are some new pictures. We are both doing pretty well. Just a little sore, but that gets better daily.
Look how happy these two look!
Glad I did it!
Lorene

JANICE COMES HOME!!!!!!!!!! October 6 2005

Well, this is from Lorene now.

First of all I would like to thank everyone for their prayers because this really hasn’t been too bad of a surgery. I have not once shed a tear from any pain. I had wonderful doctors and nurses. One silly nurse forgot twice to reconnect me to my pain medication and I kept pushing my button and nothing was happening. Once she reconnected me – it was all good!
The only pain I had then was that I was uncomfortable from laying in the hospital bed and my back started to get sore.
Another thing this same nurse did was kind of my own fault. She gave me some potassium because my level was really low (that occasionally happens to me) , she said it would burn going through the I.V, but it was actually very painfull. She asked if I thought there was a problem with the I.V and I said I didn’t think so. I dealt with that for about 4 long hours until the next nurse came and said the I.V was infultrated? Long story short – it was bad. So she hooked me up to another line in my other arm and once again – it was all good!
Every surgery I have ever had, makes my blood pressure drop. I usually take a highblood pressure medication because I retain alot of fluids. Then because I take that pill, my potassium is flushed away so I also take a potassium supplement. These were actually my only issues. I am 46, over weight and I think it all went very well for me. I am so happy that I was able to do this for Janice.

As for Janice

Janice came home this morning. We have to still keep her from the kids because one of them has a cold and cough. I am getting the cough – BRUTAL ON AN INCISSION!
Janice looked really good today. She is very happy to be home. I have to get some pictures to post.

If you know me, I am going a little stir crazy trying to sit still and just chill.
I also think I have a bit of a miracle going on, but before I mention it I would like to check it out with the doc’s – stay tuned.

I have some other news. My aunt Natalie (Santa) had a heart attack while vacationing in Mexico. I believe Richie mentioned that. She should be moving from I.C.U very soon, possible today. We feel helpless with her so far away. If you can send a few prayers her way we would really appreciate it.

Hey everyone. Isn’t my son AWESOME to have this page for us. He has put alot of work into it. I think I have been very blessed to have the children that I have.

Okay, I am getting tired – Good Night for now.

October 5th

Well today I am officially handing this blog over to my mother. It has been a very rewarding for me personally to able to keep you all up to date as to what has been going on over the past week. I think that to have been able to make a journal of the events over the past week will be something that I will be glad I did years from now when we have put all this behind us. Many happy tears went into these blogs as I wrote them and I am glad you all have taken time out your lives to see how my family has been doing. God bless you all. I really appreciated getting all your emails in response to the page before and after the surgery, and if I haven’t replied it’s only because I have been very busy and have not got around to it. I thank God that everything went well for Lorene and Janice. So PLEASE KEEP READING THIS BLOG! My mother will continue to update this page for you all to follow hers and Janice’s progress, also using it to promote are art work and other stuff. I will be on her constantly to get it updated. Once again it has been a pleasure bringing the news to you all, and thanks for stopping by.

OH OH one last thing! aside from me being Super Geek with the blogging, I have also be video taping everything over the past week and will edit it all into a nice DVD in the next few months. If you would like a copy email either me or my mother to let me know.

So for today’s update:
Janice is still in the hospital at UCSF. We were all hoping she would return home yesterday or today, but she has been having problems holding her food down. Her kidney is working great! The doctors suspect the problem maybe from the medication she has been taking and are in the process of getting it all situated. She will be home when she is able to eat and keep the food down. As for Lorene – well she’s back in the game today. Went for a stroll in the park with her dog Sasha and was able to get down to the Cingular store to get her hands on the new Motorola ROKR (itunes phone). I would say she’s feeling better.