I AM DEALING WITH IDIOTS

Get this!!!!!

After 4.5 days of doing nothing, the insurance company finally decides that they can get him on a British Air flight direct to Chicago. Here's the good part: They require the Embalming Certificate. You know the one that I CAN'T GET UNTIL THEY GIVE ME FLIGHT CONFIRMATION!!!!!!!!! The same document that they have been told about 200 times that I can't get til they confirm the flights. And, they don't have him booked out of here until November 3rd!!! Better yet, if you go to the BA website there are no flights available that day. WTH!?!?!

On a better note, I contacted Mark's old boss at the former airline because I was told they had a flight leaving here on Sunday morning. They have done more in the last 12 hours to make this happen on that flight than the entire insurance company has done all week! It's still not a complete go because we need another document from the embassy, flight confirmation and embalming on the Drs. day off (I am willing to pay him at this point!!!), then police release before tomorrow night. Keep your fingers crossed. It's the most positive thing that has come out of this crap yet. Most positive except for making some wonderful new friends here.

I Need To Vent For A Minute

Okay, so it will probably be more than a minute, but I am going to explode if I don't vent this out somewhere.

I have been very busy with the largest bureaucratic mess I have ever seen in my life. When I get home and allow myself to fall apart and grieve, I will then be able to relate all of it. Granted it has kept me very busy and therefore I have not had time to sit down, let alone think Which is a good thing, I think.

At this point there are four things that need to happen so we can get the hell out of this sand pit.

1) The American Embassy needs to get their crap together. They told me yesterday all they needed was his original passport and the original death certificate from the UAE. This morning I now need the confirmed travel arrangements!!! WTH!?!?! So, I am waiting because .....

2) The stupid French insurance company needs to pull their heads out of their butts and get this done! They first said private jet. Ok, didn't ask for it but I am not turning that down. Then, they went to sending him home on commercial flight. Whatever, I just want to get him, myself and Mom home. Then, they said the closest they could fly him would be Detroit. Because there are no commercial flights going into Dayton. WTF??? How exactly do they think I got here, flapping my wings??? Now they are saying that the airlines will not transfer human remains to another plane. They do it all the time!! I confirmed with friends that worked for the majors. So the idea of flying to Detroit is out because they have to go thru Frankfort which would mean a change of planes. So, then they said direct to a US city. Well that means Dulles in Washington or Atlanta then arrange for ground transportation to Dayton. I have explained that is a 8-10 hour drive one way and not acceptable for the funeral director to have to do. Assaad at Mark's employer thinks he may have something worked out. So, I am waiting to hear back from him at this point.

3) All this paperwork needs to then be taken to the morgue (after I go to the embassy which is a 3 hour round trip not counting the time there.), so they can embalm. After embalming, he can be picked up and taken to the airport. Problem with this is: People don't work in this country on Friday and Saturday. So if I don't get him embalmed today and on a flight by tomorrow, we can't get it done til Sunday!!!

4) Finally, we have to get permission from the local police headquarters to release the remains at the airport. And, we have to make our travel arrangements including getting his personal belongings shipped home.

The best part of it all is that all this is just the tip of the iceberg!

I have tried more times than I can count to post something. I still can't do it. Sorry. Thank you everyone for all of your love and prayers. They mean more to me than you can ever know.

Contact Info

I have had several people ask for my contact info here in Al Ain. I have Mark's cell phone, but I don't know the number. If you contact Beth at my house, she has the number in my Skype account. (Beth, all you have to do is open Skype and go to Mark's name that has his number.) Everyone should remember that they have to put in the UAE as the country. And also, I have limited time to be on the phone and I have to figure out how to put more minutes on the phone each month. My learning curve is huge here since I don't have Mark to ask how to do things. And, I don't really want to ask his boss because he has done so much for us and would just take care of it out of his own pocket. That's how Dave is.

Other ways to contact me: 1) Download Skype. It's free. (It's also the cheapest way to call the cell phone.) But, you can call my computer for FREE. Just set up your account and search for Mark. Edwards612. It will come up as a US account, that't his computer. Send out your request to be added to my contacts and then we can talk. 2) One last way to get me directly is my email account. It is hledwards123 at gmail.com. I can't check my wor.rr. account from here. But the Gmail account is web based and easy to access.

I hope that answers everyone's questions. I am up in the middle of the night because I haven't adjusted to the time change and jet lag. Also, Mom should be here any minute after the drive in from the Dubai airport. Love you all and thank you for all that you are doing.

Lucky, Just So Lucky

Sorry this will probably be rambling, I am very tired, physically, emotionally and mentally. And, I am apologizing for any spelling/grammar issues up front. I am too tired to care about proof-reading right now.

If he had been at home, he would not be alive. If he had not been so close to a premier medical facility, he would not be alive. If he and his boss had not reacted so quickly, he would not be alive. Given all that, only 1% of the people that make it to the hospital live thru this. Two-thirds of his heart was affected. They do not know how much function will return once they start taking off the meds and the balloon. The kidneys were affected due to the extreme reduction of blood pressure. According to the kidney specialist, the kidneys are working at about 20% this morning. They started more fluids with the hope that the kidney function would increase. By the time I left this evening, he was producing more urine so that means the kidneys are working more. But more fluids was tricky because of the heart and not wanting to introduce more fluid that could settle around the heart.

The medical stuff: He is heavily sedated. He is on the ventilator. He has 11 different meds/fluids being fed into him. The balloon is still functioning for his heart. He is running an ugly temp that just won't come down. His blood pressure has come up a bit today to 90/60. His heart rate is high which tells them he is in tachycardia. The rate is around 150 beats per minute. The number floated around today about the kidneys was 240. (Sorry don't remember more or which level that number related to, BUN or creatin) His pupils are sluggish which they tell me is due to the sedation. (Especially since the day after the attack he as alert and responding the people.) The meds as best I can recall: dopamine, fentanyl, midzalam (sedative), 2 antibiotics, insulin, fluids, a med for blood pressure that is light sensitive and I can't remember the rest, sorry. The plan as of right now is to continue with meds/fluids to get the tachycardia under control, the temp down and the blood pressure up. Once all that happens, they will start reducing meds, pulling the vent and the balloon. I was told by the Head of Cardiology that he will most likely be in the ICU for 2 weeks and not able to travel home for at least a month. What can go wrong with all this: The numbers don't improve and they can't reduce meds. They pull the balloon and the heart has too much damage to function on it's own. The kidneys do not improve. In other words, still very critical.

How this day went: WOW! Culturally this place is so different than the US. I, of course, saw every level of dress from shorts to full burhkas today. But other than that, the hospital is run differently. Mark is something of a miracle to them. Every American in the hospital has come to meet me. That included the Director of Operations for Johns Hopkins. The Head of the ER and the Head of the ICU both came to meet me this afternoon. The head of every department that Mark requires has been in with at least 2 of the doctors under them and students. I saw no less than 20 doctors this morning alone. On top of that, in the US the doctor issues an order and the nurse performs the function, generally. This morning there were no less than 6 people in the room at any given moment. And, they stood there and discussed his treatment with each other and me. The nurses and myself had as much say as the doctors. In fact they didn't just discuss, they argued at one point about the increased fluids! While all of that is significant, what made it all hard was the many nationalities I was listening to. I am so tired and therefore having to really pay attention to everyone so that I understand them. That would be hard given the situation in my own country. But to be on the other side of the world with 40 different languages/nationalities is overwhelming. Palestinians, Jordanians, Canadians, Australians, Germans, Emerati, Pakistanis, Indians, French, Italians, Dutch, and Brits to name a few. Absolutely incredible.

In other news: The owner of the company flew from Paris to see Mark today. I met him and all the senior staff of Midex. He personally guaranteed that the med bills would be paid for, I would be reimbursed for any expenses, Mark would be paid for the next 3 months and when he has recovered, he still has a job. They will find him something to do because he will not be able to fly. While, it wasn't on the front of my mind, it was floating around in there further stressing me out. They also stocked Mark's apartment with water, pop and food while I was at the hospital today. A huge relief as the med bills alone are huge. In the US, I am sure we would be over a couple million by now!

Mark's Condition

I arrived in UAE at about 8 PM their time. UAE is 8 hours ahead of the US, I think. Mark's wonderful boss, Dave, arranged for me to be picked up at the Dubai airport and driven straight to the hospital. We got there after visiting hours and they didn't want to let me in. Dave talked them into it before I had a complete meltdown and ended up in jail for breaking into the hospital! I knew from TV what I might find, but it never prepares you for the reality. Although Mark was alert yesterday and responding to questions, they had to sedate him because he was moving around too much and moving the equipment they have on him. The minute I got in the room and was able to speak to him(took me a few to be able to talk) he started moving his legs. So, he knew I was there. I talked to the on call doctor, she couldn't tell me much but explained that his doctors would be in to see him in the morning. Mark's boss is taking me back to the hospital at 8 AM so I can talk to them. They would not let me stay all night at the hospital, and Dave wanted me to try to get some rest so I could talk to the Drs in the morning. And the more I talked to him , the more agitated he got to the point where they had to sedate him further. So, I am at Mark's apartment (which amazing Dave had cleaned!) and I am fighting the learning curve to get this posted.

What I do know: He had a massive heart attack (miocardial infraction, sp?) which is the same thing that his Dad died of. He is extremely lucky to be alive. If he had been anywhere else, he probably wouldn't be. I talked to him at about 12:45 AM (his time), he called Dave at 1 AM saying his heart was racing and he was having trouble breathing. Dave immediately took him to Tawam Hospital, and they were working on him before Dave even got back in the building from parking the car. The hospital is about 4 miles from his apartment and is affiliated with Johns Hopkins. They took him to the Cath Lab and were able to remove a large clot in his main artery. They did not have to open his chest which is very good. They put in a balloon which is making his heart beat so the heart muscle doesn't have to work so hard. Since then, he was taken to the ICU. They have him on a ventilator and just about every other kind of machine you can think of. As of today, he is running a temp. which is not good, but they are giving him antibiotics. By all reports the Dr. is amazed at how well he is doing. I will find out more in the morning. His color is good. His hands and feet are warm indicating circulation is good. But, he is in real trouble still. I do know that they had to revive him at least 3 times and that there is some issue with his kidneys and liver.

The hospital is very nice. Everyone is very helpful and caring. Someone is with him at all times. It is very clean and the staff seems well trained. (I think cleaner than some hospitals in the US even.) The nurse with him tonight is named Lala and she is very caring. She keeps changing the cool rag on his head and chest, making sure to clean his face each time because he is sweating due to the fever. Can anyone convert 40c to F for me? I am too overwhelmed to figure out what she told me his temp was.

I know there is little emotion in this post. I just can't get it all typed out here. I am not sure I even want to try to put words to this pain. Sorry, please keep praying. He is getting the best care but that can only do so much. Prayers are powerful.

When You Leave A 3 Year Old Alone For Five Minutes

This is how I found him yesterday morning. He told me he was going out to the kitchen to play his game on Nogg!n.com. I went to the bathroom, washed my face and headed for the kitchen. I swear he was in the kitchen for no more than 5 minutes without me!

Football Boys

Like I said in my post last night, we took Alex and Ian to get their pictures taken before life fell apart last week. Alex had an away game on Saturday which meant he had his football gear at home over the weekend. The most important part of that is: He had his helmet! At least that's what Ian thinks is the most important part.

I picked the pictures up yesterday. The girl that helped me, opened the file and immediately said "Please tell me we got you to sign a release so we could use these in advertising! They are amazing." I told her that I did sign a release the day they were taken. That day the photographer knew immediately that they were going to be really good. And, boy was she right!


Can you believe that he is almost 15! Seems like yesterday he was Ian's age. Now he is a freshman in high school, playing on the Junior Varsity football team, and chasing girls. Where does the time go?!?

While he is pretty cute on his own, there is more cuteness coming....

Wait, the cuteness gets even better....

Check out the love Ian is showing that helmet!

But, if you thought that was too much cuteness, wait til you see this:

I told you yesterday that the cuteness was almost unbearable.

A Tease....

A photo shoot took place just before life fell apart last week.
This picture is just a sample of the cuteness.
Be prepared for almost unbearable cuteness tomorrow.
I am just too tired to scan, crop, write and post the rest tonight.

Goodbye Old Friend

Preview of Halloween

Rocking a 'Spidermans' costume

Striking a pose as a football player.

Hmm, what will he be? Go with the 'Spidermans' for now. He changes his mind almost daily. Batman even gets thrown in there sometimes. He is going thru a big Superhero thing right now. I don't know why, he just is. He is three, do I need to say more?

World's Smallest Football Player?

Ian wearing Alex's football gear after the game.

(FYI: They won 26-0!)