Family Christmas Pics

Last week we braved the cold up at Spring Hallow Campground and had some family pictures taken. The kids did great. Here are some of my favorites.

Jack was making silly faces to get us to smile and laugh!

Now which one to choose for our Christmas cards...

Thanksgiving Firsts

In all of the years that Aaron and I have been married (which will be 7 years next month) I can not think of a Thanksgiving where everyone was healthy and we were in our home.
One year (2004, I think) I got my wisdom teeth pulled the day before T-day and so was pretty much out of it the whole day. Luckily we have some great friends who let us crash their family fun. The next year I was in the early stages of pregnancy with Jack and sicker than a dog. The following year (2006), we met my family in St. George. We had a blast and no one got sick, not even 5 month old Jack. 2007, I was pregnant with Paige and we met my family in Tahoe where Jack got a croupy cough. 2008 we stayed in Logan. We were living at the storage unit in our one bedroom apartment and both kids at a stomach flu. Not fun!

This year was different. No one was sick and we stayed in Logan at our home. Also to add to some firsts, my Grandma came up for the day and took us out to a nice meal. It was a very nice day and I have so much to be grateful for. One is that no one was sick on Thanksgiving. Unfortunately our blessings didn't hold for the whole weekend, because Aaron started feeling sick last night. Bummer. Either way we have soooo much to be thankful for and for that I am grateful.

We finished the stripes!!!

It took us a long time to finish painting the downstairs family room. Its not that the room is particularly big but it is the effect we created that took so long. We did tone on tone stripes with flat and semi-glossy paint. It took a lot of tape! We double teamed to get our lines level and straight. I think that the yellow really brightens up the room. We also got some pictures hung. The next step is to have the frames hold pictures of my family and not someone else's. Some of the frames are holding pictures that I used for my Studio 21 booth I did about a month ago. One step at a time and I am not a stalker, I promise! I will post another picture when I get that wall finished with the vinyl and the correct pictures!

Anyway both Aaron and I are very pleased with the outcome.

It is subtle, but that is one of the things that I LOVE about it.

See what I mean about stalker pictures?

More Mom Updates

After a very rough Thursday due to acute pain on her right side, on Friday Dr Mazer (Wendy's cardiologist) waltzed in wondering what all the comotion was about. Within minutes the intrepid young doctor diagnosed the problem. The pain is caused by the right lung "rubbing" against the swollen under side of her rib cage. Wendy went through 2 CT scans Thursday nite where Dr Levy was able to rule out blood clot and gall stones, its good to assure those bad things are not happening. Knowing what is causing it makes putting up with the pain more bearable. The remedy is walking, eating and just living with it until the rib cage swelling subsides. Which should take a few more days. Friday and Saturday were good days. Wendy wants to come home. If she doesn't get released Sunday, I think she'll be released Monday for sure.

Prior to the surgery Wendy's "Ejection Fraction" or "EF" was only 25%. Normally the EF should be around 50-60 percent. EF is a measure of the heart's effectiveness in pumping the blood. Post surgery Wendy's EF now measures 50%! And Dr Mazer and Dr Levy expect some improvement on that as months go by. Dr Levy's heart valve repair jobs seem to have done the trick.

We have been truly blessed by the services of Dr Levy and Dr Mazer. We feel very fortunate that we came into contact with these two.

Pat

Wendy Status

Wednesday Wendy woke up felling really great. But as the day progressed a sharp persistent pain developed on her right upper side but at the bootom portion of her rib cage. The pain got progreesively worse through out the day and she did not sleep Wednesday night nor Thursday. The conventional thinking was gas, but this pain didn't move around and she had good bowel activity and movements. Thursday was a very rough day, lots of pain, no sleep, nauseated and therefore not mush food intake. It was like we were going backwards in her recovery. After some intervening (some "in your face time" with the nurses and doctor) we finally got a CT scan conducted Thursday evening. Nothing significant came up. Her doctor ordered a 2nd scan and still nothing. The medical wizards were able to rule out Gall stone and no sign of blood clotting. Now they have cautiously guessed this pain is exo-skelital inflammation. So they are treating her with some drug that is sort of like a super duper ibuprofen. All the medicine is putting stress on her liver, so today they will be also try to cut back on the normal post op pain killers and whatever else.

Today the pain is under control. While relieved that she is more comfortable and probably going to get some sleep today, we are worried that there is no definite conclusion on what caused her so much pain. Hopefully today will get her back on track. It looks like the earliest she may be able to come home will be Monday. I must say this: her surgeon was in surgery til 10pm last night and he came up afterwards to direct the necessary actions. This guy is impressive. Its just that the nurses seem un-empowered to get real help when needed.

Pat

Monday Wendy's Progress

Hi Everyone,

Wendy had a rough weekend. Sat and Sun were tough because she is trying to get her lungs, stomach and restroom functions going. With her stomach going 5 days now without food, she has not had much of an appetite, as she only picked at her food. Even the sight of food has made her naseous I tried mightily to get her to eat more, even offered to smuggle a warm cinnamon roll from the "Frontier" restaurant into her room, but it was to no avail. With her chest pain from the incision, it hurts to take a deep breath. Sort of like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. She is also experiencing pain (after all she did have her chest cracked open) when the pain killers wear off. She didn't do so well managing that pain through out the weekend. Some accomplishments are: She walked around the cardiac unit with the aid of a walker. She completed 2 laps on Sunday, about an eighth of a mile. Only 274 more laps and she could equal walking a half marathon (Go Nike!!). She got to take a brief shower Sunday, that was cut short because of another patient emergency in the cardiac unit where she is residing. Needless to say the nurses were busy.

Some good signs are: her color is still good, all of her heart functions are good. The surgeon says "all her numbers look good". With her weak voice she called the surgeon a name I shouldn't mention here. I don't think he heard her. But that spunkiness is a real good sign in my mind.

Today, Monday, she is doing better, more vigorous. She walked 2 laps in the morning and 2 more this afternoon. Her voice is a little stronger and her spunkiness has increased. While I was trying to retieve a cell phone picture on her cell phone and couldn't figure out how to do it, in her weak voice she called me a "53 yr old retard". Yes...she is on the road to recovery. With each passing day there has been a wire or tube disconnected from her. Sunday the bandage over the incision was removed and I got to see her scar!! ?? Today the "catheter" was removed. Yeah!!! I didn't look at that, might have made me naceous.

During surgery they administered a heart medicine called Lasick (I am sure I am butchering the spelling of these medical terms). Lasick is administered through the I.V. in her neck, it must be reduced gradually, and should not be stopped abruptly. Therefore she will remain in the hospital a couple more days, probably be home Thursday or Friday. She also ate a little more than she has been, and has increased her food intake with each meal today, but still not in sufficient amounts. Another good sign is she is figuring out how to gage her pain better. The nurses and doctor want her to sleep better at night. This is one thing, for the life of me, that I can't figure out. If they would quit coming in to take some blood, check this or check that, then they wouldn't be waking her up so much and "what do you know" she could sleep better! Also its tough to combat the "hospital gown wedgy" thing. So she is very tired. She's a trooper she's gonna make it. She is a wonderful mixture of courage and sweetness.

Again, Wendy is very uplifted by all your concern and well wishes. I have reported or played back to her all of the phone messages she has received. These messages are very comforting and lift her spirits. Soon she will have the strength to receive calls and make calls.

Thank you!

Pat

Wendy's Status Friday November 6th

Hello everyone,

This morning around 8:30am the ventilator was removed and Wendy had to start breathing on her own. All went well with this. By noon she was sitting up in a chair and had a little water and a very small amount of food. Although grateful that the ventilator is out, today and tomorrow are probably the toughest for her during her recovery.

She must exercise her lungs with a device that measures the force of her inhaling. She tried it the day before surgery and she could get it to read near the top of the scale. As expected this morning after ventilator removal, she could barely get it to register. But she is determined and will improve. The severe soreness left by having the ventilator tube down her throat for a couple of days has left her barely able to talk. So she can't really take any calls yet. Over the next day or two her ability to talk should return. In retrospect, we should have planned a few hand signals beforehand. At least now I have an excuse, at least temporarily, if she thinks I'm not listening.

As expected she does have pain at the incision in the chest area. Lying down in the bed for long periods has also caused discomfort. The nurse regularly shuffles different pillows and moves her to resist the bed soreness. Despite these discomforts the important factor is her heart function remains very good. All those gadgets, tubes and wires support the equipment that show her heart rate, BP, respiratory rate, etc. I must say she was quite a sight with all those tubes and wires, including the I.V. attached to her neck. She looks kind of like "The Borg" from one of those Star Trek movies.

Don't know for sure when she will be able to go home but will keep you posted. She knows all of you have expressed best wishes and encouragement. Wendy is grateful for all of your love and support, and so am I.

Pat

The hospital

A few people have asked which hospital my mom is in, so I found out.

She is at the Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, NM.

Here is the address: 1100 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque NM 87106

And the phone number is: (505) 841-1234

She still can't talk to anyone because she is still on the ventilator, more about that in the previous post.

Eamil updates

Here are the email updates from my dad. He explains the whole process much better than me.

Recap Summary of Surgery:
Hi everyone,

Wendy's (Mom's) Heart surgery was a success. It was a 5 hr operation. It didn't end until about 7:15pm MTN. They successfully repaired the mytral and Tricuspid valves. They performed "maze" ablation, and reduced the enlarged portion of her heart. While in there, they found an "appendage" which they removed. I think the "appendage" was a result of uncirculated blood over time.

The only glitch that occurred during the surgery was one of the pacemaker leads detached from her heart. They re-attached it. I guess it was the best time for a lead to come detached, the surgeon and doctors where right there to fix it. As a result, they decided to not re-set the pacemaker deeper. So the pacemaker still protrudes showing a bump below her left front shoulder blade.

Wendy did well with the heart-lung" machine. She is in ICU right now and is on a ventilator, (normal procedure). She will not be conscious until perhaps tomorrow morning. She will go off the ventilator then she will have to exercise her lungs to get her lungs back into the whole breathing thing again.

That's all for now. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

Wendy's Progress:
Hello,

The next objective is for Wendy to be able to get off the ventilator. The ventilator is necessary to help her lungs return to normal after being "out-of-action" during the surgery because the "heart-lung machine" was doing all the work. She has rested well during the night and all of her cardiac functions are looking good. Early this morning, as per plan they tried to see if she was ready to come off of the ventilator. She has developed an "acitosis" condition, which is not uncommon in these situations. As a result, she will remain on the ventilator until the "acitosis" condition rights itself. After treating the "acitosis" condition they will try getting her off the ventilator again, probably early this afternoon. Therefore, this delays her being able to talk to any of us as the ventilator tube is run through her mouth. She is sleeping fine, the drugs administered to help her sleep are doing their job and she has shown no allergic reaction.

I'll give all of you an update when there is anything new.

Dad

Five hours later...

I got a call from my dad about an hour ago telling me that the surgery went well. They got a late start and ended not taking her to the OR until 2pm and did an hour of prepping. The surgeon was done around 7pm. My mom went in to have one of her valves fixed and one replaced and to have oblation done. While they were in there they were also going to push her pace maker down a little further, because it looks like there is a cell phone just under her skin.

The doctors were able to repair her leaky valves and didn't need to replace one! So that is good. They performed the oblation. She is now in perfect rhythm and the doctor is hopeful that she could stay off of the coumadin. Yippee! The only glitch that they ran into is at one point one of the leads from her pace maker came out of the heart (oops). They put it back but decided not to mess with it and push the pace maker further down, so it will still stick out. They also noticed while they were getting a good look at her heart that because of her poor circulation it seems that her heart decided to create an appendage (I guess that is what you can call it) to store the excess blood, since the amount of blood being pumped stayed the same even though her heart wasn't circulating the blood like it was supposed to. I forgot to ask my dad what if anything they are going to do with it.

My dad said that he would be able to see her tonight but that she probably won't wake up until tomorrow. My mom had told me earlier today that they were going to put an IV in her neck! Yuck! So I hope that they take it out before she wakes up, she had requested that they made sure she was out before they put it in, so hopefully they get the idea that she doesn't want to remember that she had one.

Way to go mom!

A new heart

Yesterday my mom went into the hospital to prepare for her open heart surgery today. She started the day with a Cardiac catheterization (heart cath). This procedure is an out patient procedure and so after that was done she was admitted into the hospital where she had more tests, x-rays and all that done. My mom also had to get off of coumadin, which is a blood thinner, and as a result had to lay on her back for 6 hours and be closely monitored in case of stroke. I talked to her yesterday when she had only 30 min to go and she sounded great. She told me a funny story of how she had to pee really bad during her 6 hour stretch. She told the nurse and they brought a bed pan, not ideal but it works right?! The bed pan was not big enough, so you get the idea, didn't work out so well. Aren't hospitals great?!

I just spoke with her this morning and she will be going to the OR around 11am (MST) for her surgery that is scheduled to start at 1pm (MST). She sounded strong and ready for this. She did say that last night she had to take a shower with special industrial soap to kill all bacteria and she will have to take another one today before she heads to the OR.

My dad sent this email last night:

On the eve before this important surgery, here's a comforting verse:

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you....."

Ezekiel 36:26

Love,

Dad

Mom we are thinking of you. Our hearts and prayers are with you and your doctors. We love you so much.