Day 9 part 2

I made it to the hospital. mom has slept some today. Probably the first real sleep that she has had. She can saw some logs! She is pretty pitiful. It is harder now that she is more aware. She sis get some chloroseptic and some sucrets. That seems to help her throat out a lot. She has had a few doctors come by today and every one agrees that she is doing great. She doesn't think so. I remind her that we are lucky and blessed that she is here. That might not have been the case if she hadn't been in the hospital. 

We are all getting tired. How do people without family do this? We have all taken turns being up here and there still aren't enough people! I guess big families are a blessing. Mom does seem to rest better knowing that someone is here with her. I can't blame her. I would be the same way. Hopefully we only have to make trips to the hospital for a few more days. I bought a weekly pass. That was a good idea and a fist for me! One of her doctors today sounded hopeful that Mom might get to go home Wednesday.  Then a whole new era begins. Maybe she will be amazingly better. I hope so.

So, the saga continues. Thanks again for your prayers and encouragement. I am realizing how much I need my friends. And food=) I love you gals.

Day 9

Mom has been in the hospital for nine days now. As she is less drugged and more aware it is bothering her more. I mean, when you are practically begging for a sip of water, life kinda sucks. She still had the tube and might for a couple for days. 

I stayed home yesterday. I slept in, did some laundry ran an errand or two and rested. I wanted to be at the hospital, but I knew that people were up there taking good care of her. Dave helped dad wok on their kitchen. They had new counter tops put in. Dave was helping put in the new appliances. It looks great so far. I will make my way up to the hospital today once I get going. We slept in to the sound of rain this morning. It was quite fantastic, minus the crazy dreams.

I did get out a few Christmas decorations. I love our Christmas stuff. There are such great memories in all of it. Mom should be doing great by Christmas. We'll have to do the big meal all over again so that she can be there and eat it. I hope that your Thanksgivings were full of family friends and wonderful memories. I would love to hear what you did. Let me know!

Short Stay

How long is a short stay? Mom is back on the short stay floor. Hooray! The nurses are glad to have her back down here. She is all settled in. She sat up for the first time in a chair and did great! Hopefully she will rest now. She should be worn out. Everyone says that she will get better quickly, you know moving around and all of that. I sure hope so.

Some one from the family should be coming up here soon. Then Dave and I will get to go eat Thanksgiving dinner. Yay! I am getting hungry. Maybe tonight we will go to the old tradition of watching the lighting of the tree on tv. Maybe I will get out some Christmas decorations soon. That always brings cheer.

Tomorrow Mom's new countertops go in. I hope that the kitchen will be finished, new appliances and all by the time she gets home. That would be awesome, and nice to come home to. Dave gets to help with all of that. Thanks baby! Maybe I will do some online shopping. Maybe there will be some good deals. 

We will need food this weekend. Anyone interested? I can't believe that I go back to work on Monday. I haven't figured it out yet. We will see how mom is doing. 

I probably won't post for a bit. At least until tomorrow. Things are stable for now. Praise God!

Turkey Morphine?

Mom has been joking today as she hits her morphine pump button that she is eating her turkey. She's still got it. Poor mom. That is about all she'll get today. She says that it is amazing how good ice can taste, or a sip of water. She still has her tube in and will until her stomach and small intestine wake up. The doctor said that it could take a while and to expect to be in the hospital for one more week. Mom is dozing in between morphine hits and ice chips. 

Good news though. She is no longer sick enough to be in the CCU. Yay! And sad. Her nurses want her up here. They like her. Mom tends to have that affect on people. Sometime today she will move down to the short stay floor. And in a hour or so, they want mom to try sitting in a chair. Big move!

I have been watching the parade. It is muted. I wonder if the big balloons look funny when you are high on morphine? Three doctors have been in so far. All say she looks good. The vascular surgeon is going to make me an appointment to check my splenic artery since we are talking about babies in a couple of years or so. That is nice of him. I like him and the other doctors in that practice.

Mom says, "Oh, yeah!" every time I put a cold washcloth on her head. She also just asked about the chicken. I guess that she is dreaming about Thanksgiving. The morphine must be working. 

Thanks for all of the prayers. I know that God has been with us and Mom. I slept hard last night for the first time in a long time. I will post again in a while. Happy Thanksgiving Ya'll!

THANKS Giving

And boy are we thankful! Mom is doing great. All of her doctors agree that the surgery went splendidly. We also found out that only 1% of people in the world have a splenic artery aneurysm. Mom really is even more special than we thought=) Mom is pretty sedated. She wakes to push the button for her morphine pump. She can have a sip of water every hour and has a tube in her nose. That must feel horrible! Hopefully she will start passing gas. That is the sign for the tube to come out. she still has her personality though and that is a great sign. She is sleepily cracking jokes and throwing her washcloth off of her head.

A bunch of us came to our house to eat lunch around 2. I stayed home and took a nap afterward. I slept hard! My cousin is sitting with mom now, Dad will take the late night shift and I will take the morning shift. We are all resting easier now. 

Thank you for praying. Continue to pray for her healing. They say today and tomorrow are the worst days. Hopefully tomorrow night she will be moved downstairs to the short stay floor. We love the nurses there too. Relief. We are all relieved. 

Tomorrow I hope to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade with Mom. It's kind of tradition. I hope she feels up to it. I'll keep you posted.

Tied off

Ok, mom has had her splenic artery tied off. She is being closed up. All went well. The vascular surgeon was great. Her other surgeon should be out in a bit. (Sigh of relief) 

One interesting thing, mom's kids, i.e. me, are at greater risk of having this condition. Woohoo! So I should be checked out at a certain age and have a greater risk during pregnancy. One more thing to add to my family history. Oh how rich it is!

Keep praying. They had to give her some blood and collected her blood to give back to her. I am sure that she will be weak. Some of our favorite nurses are working today though. Hopefully She'll get one of them. I am sure that once she stabilizes we will all rest easier. I got a little nap in this morning.

I will update again in a while. Thank you Starbucks for your pumpkin spice latte. It kept me awake, but barely.

The Big Day

Surgery is tomorrow (Wednesday)! We are ready. Mom should go in at 8:30 in the morning. We will get there at 6 am to see her before she goes back. It will be a long day with surgery being 2-4 hours. I will be camped out. Dave, my dad and my Aunt Anita will be camped out too. Anyone want to bring us Starbucks? I expect her to be out and back in her room by 1-2pm. I hope anyway.

Today was a good day. Mom laughed a lot, worried about her hair, and talked a lot. We still love her doctors and nurses. Thanks Kennestone CCU staff! You've been awesome.

I spent the afternoon at home and took a nap. Finally! I have been sleeping horribly and waking early. Go figure. Tonight Dave and I went back up and visited with her for a while. Now I am working on my therapy-cooking dressing for Thanksgiving. Getting it ready cook anyway. I will pass on the gooey slop to my aunt for her to cook on Turkey Day. I will be off to bed in a bit and up before the sun.

Thank you Mandy and Jessica for the awesome food! Everything is so good and it has been so great to just pop something on the stove or in the microwave. We won't get fat or sick from fast food. Woohoo! You are lifesavers! Sometimes literally=)

Some have asked what we need.

 Prayer is #1. Lots of people have been praying. Please keep praying. This is a major surgery. I trust God and the doctors. We all need rest, good health and and peace.

#2 is food. We have food through Thanksgiving. The next few weeks will be long, especially when we have to be at work and we all fit going to the hospital into our normal routine. So, the need for food will be ongoing. Especially dinner and stuff for lunches during the work week. I normally pack Dave's and my lunch every day.  Dad has been eating supper over here since we have food. Once mom is at home, we'll move the party to their house. On a side note, I have a bunch of pumpkin frozen if anyone wants to make something with it. I won't have time. Let me know. 

#3 Starbucks cards. Serious here. There is one right by the hospital. We all need our caffeine these days. 

#4 possibly help around the house in a week or so. 

#5 my friends!!!! Support and encouragement from friends are the best. I love you guys.

I will post tomorrow from the waiting room. I know you will be waiting on the edge of your seats. off to the dressing and then the bed. Good night!

I am praying that things go smoothly and mom heals quickly. By the way, her name is Brenda. Don't think that I mentioned that.

A Real Update

Ok. Now we have a real update. Mom had a splenic artery aneurysm. They are uncommon, but not rare. We have to wait until they can get 2 units of blood on hand, then the doctor will do surgery. Most likely it we will have to wait until Wednesday. The crazy part, this has nothing to do with her gallbladder! Two totally separate issues. 

We have a long road ahead-surgery in the next day or two followed by a week in the hospital, most if not all in the CCU. Mom will have to stay home for 1-2 weeks after the surgery. Her recovery will be rough. They have to open her up wide. The splenic artery sits in the back below many other organs. They have to go digging. 

I know where I will be for the next while. We are all relieved. And tired. I am going to need a vacation around Christmas! But, my mommy is ok! We know what is going on now. Thank you for your prayers. They mean so much. Please pray for peace, a speedy recovery, a smooth surgery, and rest for us all. Mom is so much better already. She just called me from the hospital, checking on me! She is on her way back to herself. 

I will keep you updated as we move forward. Pray for the blood to arrive safely and soon!

Mommy Update #6

Ok, looks like I am here all day. Mom still has internal bleeding. They have schedule another scan for 1 pm. I am staying in the waiting room trying to give her some rest. My aunt is bringing me lunch. She already brought me Starbucks. Thanks Nita! I will keep you posted.

I have been busying myself looking up stuff on line. Do you know how many different kinds of crocs there are online? I found a few that I would like to try on and a couple that might work for Dave to wear to work. 

Also, Lleulu went to the vet today for shots. Poor thing. Dave is going to pick her up. He is working on the house today. I guess that I will go look up more stuff or try to read a book or magazine. 

Hospital hand soap and hand sanitizer is making my hands dry, cracked and starting to bleed. Sigh.

Mommy Update #5?

Mom looks good this morning. She looks so tired. She fed herself some italian ice and drank some coffee. It about wore her out. Her blood count has dropped a bit again but she is not critical. I haven't gotten an exact number yet as the nurse has been pretty busy. The doctors have not shown up yet. We'll see what they say.

Bonus, she is so much more aware than she has been. That is great. 

Thanks for praying guys and for keeping up with us. We had dinner last night at a friends church. They fed us and prayed for us. Not many places you can get that these days. God is good and in control.

I think that we are taking more turns today. I might try to run to the grocery store before the Thanksgiving rush and start on some sewing. I'll be here for a while this morning and then come back this evening. Who knows. Really, I could be here all day.

Until later.......

Mom Update #4

Still in the CCU. Still waiting to find out what is going on. This is getting old. Her blood pressure has not improved, and her blood count has only fallen by two tenths. She has been in more pain. We are waiting for visiting hours to begin again. The shift has changed. Hopefully we will know more tonight. Tired we are. I bet Mom is more tired.

Keep praying.

Thanks for reading. Blogging helps me process and stay awake=)

Mommy Update #3

So I have been at the hospital for a while. Mom looks ok. She is very tired and very weak. She needs help eating because it takes energy to feed yourself. Not that she has eaten much, only one half of a tiny italian ice and 2 crackers. Her blood count dropped a bit. Her breathing is super shallow. Her blood pressure dropped after she got all of her meds. The nurse wasn't concerned at the time. She still seems a long way from going home. This might be a long Thanksgiving break, and quite a bit different than I was expecting. At least I have the week off. She'll be in CCU at least one more day, but that doesn't mean going home. She is not close to that. 

Thank you all for praying. It is hard to see all of the families suffering around us and so close to the holidays. Keep all of those suffering in your prayers too!

We have friends bringing food tomorrow and a church potluck we might go to tonight. It is hard to think of food when I love to cook and I would love to be nowhere more than in the kitchen cooking! 

I'll keep you posted.

Mommy Update #2

Ok, I just heard from my sister that her blood count is still holding. This is very good. Doc said no surgery at this point. Things are looking up. Now her count needs to rise.  She is about to start real food again. We'll see how that goes. I am heading up there soon. I got distracted by laundry. She will be there at least one more day. I won't let them discharge her until her counts are normal and she seems herself. We are good at kicking and screaming until they listen to us=) Keep praying.

Mommy Update #1

Ok, so when I went to the ICU last night my mom looked better. Probably the fact that they got a ton of pee out of her and she was passing gas made a big difference. Funny what we take for granted about our bodies. She also felt like the doctors were really listening to her and doing a good job. They also got her another unit of blood. A CT scan found that she has some internal bleeding, but they do not no where from, only that it is on her left side which is not where her gallbladder surgery was. Her blood count has held over night which is great. It still is not normal, though. The doctors will decide today if they open her up for a look inside. They are hoping that it would heal itself and she would have some time to reabsorb the blood so they could find the tear or whatever it is. She probably tore something Tuesday night during a violent episode of vomiting, after which she ended up in the ER. People, our bodies can do crazy things!

Thank you for your prayers. Hopefully things are turning toward healing. Keep praying. It is hard to see a woman who almost never sits down or stops laying quietly in bed. We are trying to take turns at the hospital. I will be heading up there soon. I hope to keep the blog up to date.

Keep Praying Pray-ers

So, my mom hasn't made it out of the hospital since she had her outpatient surgery. She is currently being moved to ICU. Her blood count has dropped even after 2 units of blood. They don't know why. Her lungs are also sounding not so good. Please pray that they find out what is causing all of this and that it is something that can be fixed. It is hard to see your mom suffering. 

Thanks so much for your prayers. We need them.

Pray-ers, Pray

I have been meaning to write lately. Lots has been going on. Dave's cousin has work being installed on the space station, I went to the aquarium with my cousins and grandma, I have been feeling really tired, my mom has been sick and is having surgery tomorrow. 

And now I find out that a friend of ours has been diagnosed with Lymphoma today. Please pray for Candace and Stuart as they face this time. Pray that the doctors will have wisdom.We were hanging out last night celebrating a friend's birthday. My how things change in a day. May God be their strength. 

Please pray for my mom as she has her gallbladder removed, that it will answer many recent health questions.

And I pray for you, that you lean on the Father's arms. 

I've been Tagged

I hate being tagged. But I love Jo so much that I give in. She tagged me.

So here goes.

1. I love food. I mean love food. If I were Pee Wee Herman, I might marry my food. Dave says that I am obsessed and maybe I am. I makes lists, a few of them, every week about food. I make them for shopping, cooking, leftovers. I love to eat. I love to cook. I enjoy shopping for food too, especially fresh local stuff. Yum Yum. I am thinking about food right now.

2. I love lists. I make them mostly for food. I also make them for things that I want to do, things that I want, things that I need to do, places to go on trips, gifts for christmas, etc. and keep them with my calendar.

3. I love to read blogs. It is a daily obsession. I often read blogs about people that I don't know, mostly to do with crafting and sewing. Is blogging the new snail mail, except it's not a federal offense to read someone else's?

4. I love tea. I could drink pot after pot of hot tea every day. I usually have 2 cups. One in the morning and one in the evening. But on the weekend I can down a pot of tea in one sitting. I have been sipping on some snowflake tea this morning thanks to Jennifer. I have a shelf full of tea in my pantry. And I still buy more. I am trying not to though.

5. I have been in 2 bands. One was for real. One was pretend. I prefer to remember the pretend band- Circle Pit Pope. Jo, Hills, Anne Marie and Kamma were all part of it. I think at one point we almost booked a show although we never picked up any instruments. I miss those days.

6. Being totally honest, I love to pick my nose. I do. I wash my hands, have no fear. But it is a relief to free my nose of buggers. I also believe that most people pick their noses and refuse to admit it. A Sunday school teacher once told me not to date a guy if he tells you that he doesn't pick his nose, after you have asked him if he does. He said that he would be lying. I took it to heart. Dave picks his nose too.

7. I can not do a cartwheel to save my life. I never got that far in gymnastics and can only jump sadly to the side with my hands on the ground. Sigh.

So I guess that I have to tag some people if I want to follow the rules.

Jennifer

Jen

Meghan

Heather 

Laura

Lynn

Vicki

cxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxccxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx   Sorry. That was Lleulu getting in on the blogging action.

Fall is in the air....

I love it! This weather makes me want to get out in the yard and work my tail off. I think that is exactly what I am going to do today, too. My violas really need to get in the ground and I need them there! My house is looking naked. I mean, it could be that we have no siding on the front of the house at the moment, but a little bit of color in the ground can work wonders.

This has been a long week. Lleulu got spayed on Monday. I was a nervous wreck! Thanks for hanging out with me while I waited Meghan. It made the day go by wonderfully. A day spent with an old friend is always a pleasant one. I picked Lleulu up in the evening and headed home. She did wonderfully, except for growling at me when we actually got home. Poor kitty. She is back to her normal self now, running and playing, and don't forget growing! Sheesh! The vet thinks that she is around 6 months old. She has caught up to that size too. Such a pretty kitty.

The rest of the week flew by with voting lines, ignorant students, reading eclipse, digging up monkey grass, going to bed early and the last FCA tailgate party of the year. The party was a huge success. We combined efforts with 3 churches, one other FCA and regional FCA. It was great to see so many students out on a rainy Friday night. There was always 25 people there. It had to swell to 50 once or twice. The FCA pimped out Jeep was there, music, TONS of food, and lots of parents. It was such a blessing to have parents encourage us in what we do with the kids. It was also very cool to see youth pastors working together, planing stuff for the future. They shared food, supplies, and made some great connections. This is what I was hoping for for FCA this year-- for community to happen. Woohoo! Thank you God. It makes the hard days at school worth it. 

I am off to try to get some violas in the ground after I dig up more monkey grass and work on the bed. I'll try to take some picks soon. Happy Weekend!