Prayers have been answered!!! Thank you Lord Jesus!!! Pain is under control, nausea is at a minimum, oxygen counts are exceeding the number needed to get out of here. Mama is extremely tired but is doing so much better. Her walks have had to be considerably shortened over the last several days. The short walks feel good to be up and out of bed, but usually wipes her out and sends her right back to bed to regain her strength. They will be doing one last chest x-ray before sending her home just to confirm all is still well. The past x-rays have been fine so they do not anticipate any problems.
We are looking forward to getting her home. Hopefully there she will be able to get some better rest. Besides, there is nothing like going home. :) Thank you again for your prayers. Kim and I will do our best to keep you updated with her progress at home.
All Praise be to God. He is our Great Physician, protector and comforter.
With love,
Carmen and family
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tuesday trials
Last night Mama was able to get a little more rest. It was so nice to see her get some sleep. However the early morning and rest of the day brought trials. Pain management and nausea has continued to be an issue.
During doctors rounds, the doctors decided she would be released from the hospital today. Due to the pain still not under control, nausea and a few other issues, we were not in agreement that discharging her would be in her best interest. We were able to meet with our nurse and one of the doctors again to express our concerns and frustrations. Fortunately this time we were heard and they agreed to keep her here until things are better under control.
Mama has been very sick today and struggled with nausea especially after taking her medication. We are having a hard time finding the combination of food and meds that will keep her nausea down. She is taking nausea medication, but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick. Her sweet nurse this evening has taken the extra time with her to better understand her needs and has placed a patch behind her ear to additionally help her with the nausea.
Not being heard and feeling blown off has been very frustrating. But the Lord is now bringing us the special people we need and that will listen and respond. They expect that tomorrow Mama should be ready to be discharged, however it will depend on her pain management, nausea and oxygen level.
We would appreciate your continued prayers regarding those three issues, as well as peace for the rattled nerves.
I am attaching a link that has spoke to our family's heart. I hope it blesses you as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvIEJ_PmqJ8
With love,
Carmen and family
During doctors rounds, the doctors decided she would be released from the hospital today. Due to the pain still not under control, nausea and a few other issues, we were not in agreement that discharging her would be in her best interest. We were able to meet with our nurse and one of the doctors again to express our concerns and frustrations. Fortunately this time we were heard and they agreed to keep her here until things are better under control.
Mama has been very sick today and struggled with nausea especially after taking her medication. We are having a hard time finding the combination of food and meds that will keep her nausea down. She is taking nausea medication, but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick. Her sweet nurse this evening has taken the extra time with her to better understand her needs and has placed a patch behind her ear to additionally help her with the nausea.
Not being heard and feeling blown off has been very frustrating. But the Lord is now bringing us the special people we need and that will listen and respond. They expect that tomorrow Mama should be ready to be discharged, however it will depend on her pain management, nausea and oxygen level.
We would appreciate your continued prayers regarding those three issues, as well as peace for the rattled nerves.
I am attaching a link that has spoke to our family's heart. I hope it blesses you as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvIEJ_PmqJ8
With love,
Carmen and family
Monday, November 9, 2009
Monday evening update
After this mornings post, things got a little rough. It has been Mama's worst day yet. The epidural was removed shortly after the chest tube. The transition from epidural to oral pain meds was not smooth. Mama was experiencing quite a lot of pain most of the day. This evening they finally got her pain under control. She has been so droopy that she could not stay awake during dinner. She doesn't like being so sleepy, but she is so thankful for the sleep and rest. She is resting well now. Hopefully tomorrow is a much better day.
Thank you to all that have held Mama and our family up in prayer. We can feel your prayers. We love and appreciate you all so much.
With love,
Carmen
Thank you to all that have held Mama and our family up in prayer. We can feel your prayers. We love and appreciate you all so much.
With love,
Carmen
Monday morning update
The biggest blessing so far this morning is the chest tube has been removed. Mama was able to get a boost on her epidural before the doctor started. Her doctor was extremely kind and gentle. He took every measure to make it go as easy as possible for her. The Lord's peace was present the whole time. He is always faithful.
She is pretty wiped out and is in bed sleeping now. They will be taking her down for x-rays this afternoon to confirm that her lung is fully inflating. Her epidural will soon be turned off and they will see if she can control pain by oral medication. If she is able to control pain orally, they will then remove her epidural and everything else. Once she has everything removed, they will make plans for her to be able to go home.
Mama is a little tiger. She has been working extra hard to do everything they ask of her and MORE! If they ask for a set of 10 breathing exercises, she gives 15-20. If they want her to take a short walk, she walks a full loop. She is completely amazing and courageous. We are so proud of her. I have no doubt that she will be heading home soon.
Daddy is doing well. He is her rock and my hero. His love for her is so transparent.
I will do my best to get another update this evening. Thank you for your continued prayers. Your emails, texts, blog messages, cards and messages have been a huge blessing to Mama and all of us. May the Lord bless each of you also.
With love,
Carmen and family
She is pretty wiped out and is in bed sleeping now. They will be taking her down for x-rays this afternoon to confirm that her lung is fully inflating. Her epidural will soon be turned off and they will see if she can control pain by oral medication. If she is able to control pain orally, they will then remove her epidural and everything else. Once she has everything removed, they will make plans for her to be able to go home.
Mama is a little tiger. She has been working extra hard to do everything they ask of her and MORE! If they ask for a set of 10 breathing exercises, she gives 15-20. If they want her to take a short walk, she walks a full loop. She is completely amazing and courageous. We are so proud of her. I have no doubt that she will be heading home soon.
Daddy is doing well. He is her rock and my hero. His love for her is so transparent.
I will do my best to get another update this evening. Thank you for your continued prayers. Your emails, texts, blog messages, cards and messages have been a huge blessing to Mama and all of us. May the Lord bless each of you also.
With love,
Carmen and family
Saturday, November 7, 2009
One day post op 11/07/09
Day one and Mom is really doing well. Last night and most of the night was rough. Trying to manage her pain and yet keep her awake was a problem. She was really heavily sedated and could hardly stay awake to even do her breathing excercises which are incredibly important right after surgery.
She has an epidural in that was placed prior to surgery yesterday. They try to keep her pain low so that she will take deep breaths. If she is in pain, she will take shallow breaths. They also had her hooked to a pain monitor that she can administer to herself every six minutes. This morning they took that away from her because she was too heavily sedated and couldn't wake up for more than a few seconds at a time.
By noon she was more awake and sitting up in a chair. This evening she took her first walk and is back in the chair waiting for dinner, but asleep. She is having terrible itching that they believe is a reaction to one of the pain meds so after we wake her and she eats, they will give her a half dose of benedryl.(Which will put her to sleep) :)
All in all she is doing better today. Super tired of course, but she is determined and courageous.
Thank you all for your prayers and calls. She is tired, but in between naps we tell of each of your calls or emails or blog posts. She smiles and goes back to sleep but remembers them when she wakes up. It is a blessing to her and to us.
May GOd bless you for remembering Mom and Dad in your prayers and thoughts.
We appreciate you.
Kimberly and family
She has an epidural in that was placed prior to surgery yesterday. They try to keep her pain low so that she will take deep breaths. If she is in pain, she will take shallow breaths. They also had her hooked to a pain monitor that she can administer to herself every six minutes. This morning they took that away from her because she was too heavily sedated and couldn't wake up for more than a few seconds at a time.
By noon she was more awake and sitting up in a chair. This evening she took her first walk and is back in the chair waiting for dinner, but asleep. She is having terrible itching that they believe is a reaction to one of the pain meds so after we wake her and she eats, they will give her a half dose of benedryl.(Which will put her to sleep) :)
All in all she is doing better today. Super tired of course, but she is determined and courageous.
Thank you all for your prayers and calls. She is tired, but in between naps we tell of each of your calls or emails or blog posts. She smiles and goes back to sleep but remembers them when she wakes up. It is a blessing to her and to us.
May GOd bless you for remembering Mom and Dad in your prayers and thoughts.
We appreciate you.
Kimberly and family
Friday, November 6, 2009
Out of surgery 11-6-09
Whew! What a day. We arrived here at UWMC at 6:30AM today for check in. Mom had been told that her surgery time could be delayed if Dr. Mulligan had any emergency surgeries. He had an emergency transplant this morning and ended up going back for surgery prep about 11:45 AM.
Dr. Mulligan just came out and met with Dad, Carmen, Troy and I and gave us the surgery update. Surgery went well. Even though he was trying to stay with a smaller incision, he was not able to. The good news is that he did not have to remove a rib.He did have to remove a bit of cartlidge and a segment of bone to remove the lower left lobe.He said that the tumor was large and pressing on vessels and some breathing mechanisms so it was harder to remove than he had hoped. The new "nodule" we had learned about was about the size of a racquetball. This was a shock as we all invisioned it to be the size of a grape.It had grown to that size in three months.
He stated that if it had been much longer before doing the surgery he would have had to remove the entire lung. He only had about 1 mm wiggle room for the removal.
He stated that the remaining tissue looks healthy and disease free.
We are so grateful for this surgeon. He is meticulous and so cautious and conservative in his approach. He told us that most surgeons spread the ribs to get to the tumor or lung and often break or crack the ribs, but that he chooses to work around all aspects to minimize her pain and recovery.
Mom will be here a minimum of four days.She will have a chest tube in for drainage. Her release from here will be dependant on that progress.Her recovery time will be approximately 6-8 weeks at home. she will be very fatigued as all her calories will go towards her healing.
Mom will be in recovery now for another 2-3 hours and then be moved to the 5th floor NE.
Thank you all for your prayers,texts and calls throughout the day today.
We felt so loved and blessed by you all.
I also want to thank Mom and Dad's friends (pastor/wife) Greg, Lucia and son Alex Anderson as well as friend Steve Grace for their presence. They came up last night and stayed in the same hotel as Mom, Dad and Carmen. They went to dinner together and had a wonderful time keeping everyone distracted from the stress of the day today. They stayed all day and are still here now. They gave up their time to be here and blessed Mom and Dad so very much. We thank you.
Thank you for your prayers and words of love and encouragement.
We will update tomorrow to let you know how Mom is doing after we get to be with her.
With gratitude and love,
Kimberly and family
Dr. Mulligan just came out and met with Dad, Carmen, Troy and I and gave us the surgery update. Surgery went well. Even though he was trying to stay with a smaller incision, he was not able to. The good news is that he did not have to remove a rib.He did have to remove a bit of cartlidge and a segment of bone to remove the lower left lobe.He said that the tumor was large and pressing on vessels and some breathing mechanisms so it was harder to remove than he had hoped. The new "nodule" we had learned about was about the size of a racquetball. This was a shock as we all invisioned it to be the size of a grape.It had grown to that size in three months.
He stated that if it had been much longer before doing the surgery he would have had to remove the entire lung. He only had about 1 mm wiggle room for the removal.
He stated that the remaining tissue looks healthy and disease free.
We are so grateful for this surgeon. He is meticulous and so cautious and conservative in his approach. He told us that most surgeons spread the ribs to get to the tumor or lung and often break or crack the ribs, but that he chooses to work around all aspects to minimize her pain and recovery.
Mom will be here a minimum of four days.She will have a chest tube in for drainage. Her release from here will be dependant on that progress.Her recovery time will be approximately 6-8 weeks at home. she will be very fatigued as all her calories will go towards her healing.
Mom will be in recovery now for another 2-3 hours and then be moved to the 5th floor NE.
Thank you all for your prayers,texts and calls throughout the day today.
We felt so loved and blessed by you all.
I also want to thank Mom and Dad's friends (pastor/wife) Greg, Lucia and son Alex Anderson as well as friend Steve Grace for their presence. They came up last night and stayed in the same hotel as Mom, Dad and Carmen. They went to dinner together and had a wonderful time keeping everyone distracted from the stress of the day today. They stayed all day and are still here now. They gave up their time to be here and blessed Mom and Dad so very much. We thank you.
Thank you for your prayers and words of love and encouragement.
We will update tomorrow to let you know how Mom is doing after we get to be with her.
With gratitude and love,
Kimberly and family
Monday, November 2, 2009
Lung surgery scheduled for Friday
Today was a long day. About 6 1/2 hours of appointments, waiting rooms and lab work. We met with the surgeon, Dr. Mulligan along with his PA, the surgery coordinator, surgery counselor, the anesthesiologist's nurse and blood draws. Due to the location of the nodules on the lung and the areas they are effecting, the decision was made to remove the lower half of Mama's left lung. Also by doing this, they will be able to remove what they call a marginal area around the cancer sites. This is done as a precaution in case there are any other cancer cells that can not be seen in the region where the other nodules have popped up.
Dr. Mulligan comes very highly recommended. He is also a lung transplant surgeon. We were told "He's the best in the West!". He is hopeful that he will be able to make 4 small incisions and do the surgery laparoscopically rather than the larger incision and the removal of a rib. To do the surgery with the scope would cut the recovery time in half, which means 3-4 days in the hospital and then 3-4 weeks at home. The more invasive surgery would be done only if Dr. Mulligan runs into difficulties during surgery.
On a positive note, we were told by one of the staff members that Dr. Mulligan is a man of faith and he prays before going into surgery. Mama had been praying for a Christian doctor, so this was an answer to prayer.
Mama will be going back up to UW Medical Center this Thursday for breathing tests and then return for surgery on Friday. We won't be given the time of surgery until Thursday afternoon, but they said our arrival time could be as early as 5:30am.
This news has been hard to hear, but God is forever faithful. In His Word, He promises never to leave us or forsake us. Therefore we are assured that He is always near, even in life's greatest storms. Please pray for peace for Mama, Daddy and our family as she is waiting for surgery. Of course surgery day we covet your prayers also.
Thank you for your continued love and prayers. We will keep you posted.
With love,
Carmen and family
Dr. Mulligan comes very highly recommended. He is also a lung transplant surgeon. We were told "He's the best in the West!". He is hopeful that he will be able to make 4 small incisions and do the surgery laparoscopically rather than the larger incision and the removal of a rib. To do the surgery with the scope would cut the recovery time in half, which means 3-4 days in the hospital and then 3-4 weeks at home. The more invasive surgery would be done only if Dr. Mulligan runs into difficulties during surgery.
On a positive note, we were told by one of the staff members that Dr. Mulligan is a man of faith and he prays before going into surgery. Mama had been praying for a Christian doctor, so this was an answer to prayer.
Mama will be going back up to UW Medical Center this Thursday for breathing tests and then return for surgery on Friday. We won't be given the time of surgery until Thursday afternoon, but they said our arrival time could be as early as 5:30am.
This news has been hard to hear, but God is forever faithful. In His Word, He promises never to leave us or forsake us. Therefore we are assured that He is always near, even in life's greatest storms. Please pray for peace for Mama, Daddy and our family as she is waiting for surgery. Of course surgery day we covet your prayers also.
Thank you for your continued love and prayers. We will keep you posted.
With love,
Carmen and family
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