Wed., August 31st - Finally Home

Yesterday's discharge got delayed to the evening. Mama didn't get her discharge until just before 8pm. The final decision to come home without the TPN was made by Mama and Daddy. It wasn't an easy decision to make. While the IV nutrition was helping to give her the needed nutrition, it also was creating other difficulties. The TPN kept her getting up throughout the night because of all the added fluids, which robbed her of sleep and she was exhausted. It also suppressed her diet because she was feeling full so she didn't feel she had much room to eat. The hospital foods were less than desirable so that also became a challenge. Mama felt if she could get home without the TPN, she would be able to get rest and eat better. At home she would be able to sleep all night without the interruptions of getting up all night long as well as hospital staff waking her up to do vitals. As far as eating goes, she was looking forward to eating things she enjoys and more of a variety.

We got her home by about 9:30pm last night. By the time we got her clothes changed and settled into bed, she was "all in but her shoestrings". :) She was so relieved to get into her own bed where she is finally comfortable.

This morning and afternoon, she is doing pretty well eating and drinking. The 1,000 calorie goal is still an effort, but she is really working at getting it in by the end of the day. She is on track and should make it. So far, she is doing well at keeping everything down and not throwing up. This whole food and fluids things is a real big hurdle to get over so she doesn't have to be readmitting into the hospital, so we would appreciate your prayers regarding this especially.

Our friend Cindi (who is a nurse) came over and helped Dad sort through the medications and get them on a schedule. That was a task and somewhat overwhelming. Thank you so much Cindi. You are a blessing.

Mama has had several visitors today. She enjoyed getting to visit and was feeling so blessed. She had been up since this morning and it doesn't take much to wipe her out these days, so she is back in bed to get some more sleep and recharge her batteries. Daddy is taking this quiet time to also sneak in a nap himself.

It is so good to be home again. Thank you for your encouragement and prayers. The Bible says we are to bear one another's burdens and then in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up." Thank you for coming up beside Mama and our family. For bearing our burdens and lifting us up when we most need it. Your words of encouragement and your answered prayers have picked us up over and over. Thank you.

With love,

Carmen & family

Tuesday, August 30th - Going home

Things change so quickly here. Sometime today Mama is supposed to be discharged. There has been much controversy with how Mama is to go home. (With TPN or without) There are so many factors involved that I am not even going to try to list them. Ultimately, Mama has to make the final decision. It is not an easy decision. There are many pros and cons. We have been praying for wisdom and would appreciate your prayers as well to make the right decision. We will try to do another post later this evening. Thank you in advance.

With love,

Carmen & family

Monday, August 29th

I apologize for a brief update, but I have a bad headache and am finding it hard to even look at the computer. Last night and this morning was difficult. Mama was feeling sick and throwing up. This afternoon was much better. She still doesn't feel much like eating and her stomach has had waves of nausea off and on. This morning, Mama's newest incision site was starting to show redness and they were concerned about infection so she began taking antibiotics. There was quite a bit of discouragement when I got here this morning, but God has showered us with His love throughout the day and spirits are lifted. Here are several of the blessings He gave: One of the nurses assistants came and looked in the room earlier this morning and asked Mama how she was doing. Long story short, she was literally an answer to prayer. She is a really sweet Christian lady and she came in and helped Mama and put her arms around her and prayed over her and for Daddy. This afternoon, Mama & Daddy's pastor and his family stopped by to bring her flowers, encouragement and prayed with us. This evening, Uncle Dean and Aunt Elaine came to visit, encourage and pray. Then add in several phone calls of love, encouragement and prayers. God sent just what was needed. Thank you Lord.

With love,

Carmen and family

August 28th, 2011

As with many things in life, the anticipation of an event is often greater than the event itself. For Mom, knowing that today the epidural would be capped off and then removed was providing some significant anxiety. Having conditioned her response to this anxiety to be prayer, Mom quietly prayed for the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself to her in a way to make the fear subside. The answer to this request was delivered subtlety, but was heard loud and clear. Mom’s nurse for the day came in to introduce herself, check Mom’s vitals and other routine duties. Mom felt better seeing the name CHRISTine on the white board. Next came in Mom’s PCT for the day, which is a very large but gentle man named EMMANUEL (meaning “God with us”). God is forever faithful to His people to quite their fears when they call upon His name.
Mom was out of bed for 2 ½ hours this morning, went for a little walk, sat in a chair, and ate some breakfast. It seems odd to mention such things as these as accomplishments, but when you have not been able to do any of these things for 26 days, it is cause for celebration. Dad received further treatment on administering the TPN if it is needed when they finally get home. Dad was patient, steady, thorough, and ready for action if required. We hope that with the food intake that Mom is currently on, that the TPN will not be required at home. Either way, home is the immediate goal, with TPN being a much smaller variable.
The days seem a bit of a roller coaster at times, as one minute or hour Mom feels a little better, and the next worse, but for the moment (3:00 pm) she is semi-comfortable and trying to eat some more.
At present, we are sitting here listing out our favorite scriptures and promises found in God’s Word. Mom and Dad have shared numerous scriptures that renew their strength and hope daily. It has been fun, especially once you get past the commonly used scriptures for circumstances like this. If I could request one thing more from all of you who are reading this blog, please post your favorite scripture or promise from the Bible for Mom and Dad to look up together and meditate upon. With Mom feeling a bit better, the hours tend to drag even more so and this would provide them with an activity as well as it will bless them with your favorite scriptures.
Thank you for your continued prayer, postings, cards, and labors of love,
Troy & Family

A turn for the better....

I just had to write earlier in the day so that you can all get an encouraging blog post for a change.

Thank you SO much for your constant prayer. God is continuing to answer our prayers, for He is and always has been so faithful.

This morning mom ate half a muffin and some cream cheese, apple juice and some hot tea. For lunch she ate half a turkey, swiss cheese, tomato and lettuce sandwich and tomato juice. She walked 300 feet with the aid of a physical therapist and walker. She is doing so well today. He pain is manageable and she is looking so much better. They are talking about removing the epidural tomorrow and beginning to discuss sending her home the first part of next week! Whew! What a day already. We are so very encouraged.

A nurse came in and trained dad on how to set and run iv nutrition for mom at home. He had about an hour training and did awesome. He is so diligent about doing everything right and being careful in each step.

We are so grateful for your love and support. The comments on the blog mean more than you know as well as all the cards and calls. We read the blog comments to her daily ( sometimes multiple times and she smiles in affirmation of all the words of encouragement.)

You are each and everyone a treasure to us all.

We are blessed beyond measure to have so many interceding on her behalf.

We thank you for all your love shown to us throughout these last 25 days days in the hospital.

With a grateful heart,

Kimberly and family.

Friday, August 26th - Evening update

As Kimmy posted earlier, Mama has had a tough day of pain. The transition from IV pain meds to the oral meds didn't go smoothly. She has been very flush, hot and for part of the day has had just a slight fever. Nothing seriously high though. It took quite some time to get her pain under control. In order to get it controlled, she was given a few rounds of larger doses of meds. Unfortunately it made her so rummy that she could barely stay awake to even think what number (0 to 10) her pain was at and then tell us. Not good......but better than a pain level of 9. This evening she is doing much better. She is sleeping most of the time, but for now thats ok. The advantage to the oral meds is that they last longer and if she falls asleep with a pain pump and doesn't keep pumping it, she risks getting behind in her pain. Hopefully from here on out they can keep her pain management better controlled. Thank you for your continued prayers.

With love,

Carmen & family

Painful day.

I just got off the phone with Carmen. It has been a painful day.

They transitioned mom to oral pain meds and took away the pain pump.

She is still on the epidural.

Mom has been in significant pain and having a tough day. They are going to try to give her some more pain meds but if it doesn't ease soon, Carmen will be asking for them to bring the pump back asap. Her pain level has hit 9 to 9 1/2 a few times. This makes it hard for her to get back on top of the pain.

Please pray for her pain to be relieved, comfort for her, Dad and Carmen.

Thank you,
Kimberly

One day post op

It's nearly 9:00 PM.

Mom is out of ICU and on the 7th floor. She was moved about 6:00 PM.

She has a beautiful view of Mt. Rainier, the water and trees from her room.

It has been quite a day.This morning she had good pain management with her epidural. She was pretty stable but markedly tired.

They removed her arterial line from her left wrist and then the 3 lumen iv from her jugular on the right side of her neck. (seriously, it looked more like a garden hose coming out of her neck) As you can imagine, this was really nerve wracking and mom, dad and I had anxiety about it being removed with her so conscious and aware. She was nervous, jittery and shaking for a while after it came out. ( As were we) But there were no complications with either removal.

By afternoon the goal was to get her up out of bed and sitting in a chair.

The physical therapist came in to help with that. He did a strength assessment first and said she was really strong. ( Uhhhhhhhh yeah! Could have told you that!)

When they got her up to sit in the chair it was pretty painful. Her blood pressure dropped to a dangerous 58/24 for a while. The nurse was pretty busy calling Dr.'s and trying to get orders to best help her. They decided to shut off her epidural and give her some more fluids to try to boost the BP. She had been in the chair for 45 minutes.They had to get her back in bed and she was just so depleted at that point. We got her in bed and she started to rest. Her pain level started to escalate. They had turned off the epidural to assist in raising her blood pressure but now the pain was getting way ahead of her. They ask her to rate her pain on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worst she can handle. She was feeling worse and worse and her nurse had stepped off the floor. The other nurses weren't sure what to do about the epidural and were hesitant to intervene yet as her nurse had been paged and was on his way back up. She was quickly at a 9.5 and what they call in "pain crisis" They paged the nurse again and he gave verbal orders to restart her epidural. It took a good 30 minutes for her to get it under control and relax a little . It was a super stressful hour but she has done well since then. He BP has been stable the rest of the day.

While we had been told we were going to be able to go back to 6SE, plans changed and no bed was available. It's hard to be disappointed for long though knowing that God is in control and has a plan. He is probably placing mom there as a blessing to someone new who needs her. That would only be the 1 millionth time that has happened. We ran into one of the ladies from 6SE and she was disappointed mom was not coming back and said she would "let everyone know". I expect mom will have some 6th floor visitors tomorrow.

So, specific prayer requests:

1) Pray for her tomorrow as she will be expected to sit up again. It makes us a bit nervous and mom is concerned as well. It's very important after surgery, but it is painful none the less and the BP is always a concern.

2) That she could start eating so the iv nutrition can go away. For now, she is mercifully nausea free, just on clear liquids for another 24 hours.

3) That her healing would come quickly and she will be home sooner than anyone expects.

4) For the nausea to stay away. ( As I write this she is eating chicken broth and she says it actually tastes good. Food has not been very appealing so we are thankful for this.)

Thank you again for all your prayers, love and support.

We appreciate you each and every one.

Kimberly and family.

Out of surgery!

About 7:00 pm, Dr. Gore came into the waiting room to give us a post operation update. He was very pleased with the surgery stating that it was a close to perfect as it could have been. Very little blood was lost, the cavity of the previous surgery was left undisturbed, and the biggest presumed post op obstacle is pain. In an effort to keep Mom comfortable, the plan is to leave the epidural in place for the next 3 days leaving the pain abated. This will facilitate her continuing progress on returning to a "normal" diet (new normal that is).

The two surgeons have been incredible. Mentally, when I picture a surgeon that handles these types of procedures, I picture an older gentleman that has had their sense of humor removed. Much to my surprise, both have been young, upbeat, and very compassionate men that speak with confidence and humility. Though this long visit has had many valleys along the way, the care from the Doctors and Nurses has been a gift from God's hand.

Mom will be in ICU tonight, and Dad is trying to use his "Frequent Visitor" card to get Mom moved back to the 6th floor after recovery where she is doted on. We hope to be able to go in and say hello tonight, kiss her cheeks, and leave a few tears of joy on her pillow. All in all, it was the best outcome possible given the scenario.

Thank you to all of you who are watching, praying, and expecting the victory along with us. We pray God's blessing back upon you, for blessing us with yours.

Stay tuned.

Troy and family

Tuesday, August 24th - Change of plans

Things have changed very quickly. Dr. Gore (Kidney surgeon) and Dr. Pillarisetty came in and let us know the CT scan showed a lot of growth in the tumor in her kidney that the ultrasound had not shown last week. The tumor has grown from the size of a golf ball to the size of a plum. Unfortunately, the tumor has grown into the main vein going from the legs up to the heart, creating a tumor clot. Surgery is required quickly, so Mama will not be going home today. Instead, she will be having surgery today about noon. This is a major surgery. It is called a Right Radical Nephrectomy, Inferior Venacava Thrombectomy. One of the greatest risks is blood loss. She will be sent to ICU after surgery for close observation and they expect her to be in the hospital at least another week. A lot is going on right now so I am not able to give much more of a report. I just wanted to get this onto the blog so the prayers can start bombarding heaven. Thank you in advance.

With love,

Carmen & Family

Tuesday, August 23rd

Mama had a better day today. She made a little progress in eating. Not quite enough for them to remove the IV nutrition, but she made great strides. Her doctor, Dr. Pillarisetty, has a social worker organizing all the details for her to go home with home healthcare services for her IV. They expect to discharge her sometime tomorrow. She is so looking forward to being in her home, sleeping in her own bed and trying to eat foods she enjoys.

We had an amazing answer to prayer today. I just need to share how good our God is! The nurse told us a CT scan was ordered for Mama today and confirmed that her PIC line could be used for the contrast. This was the first time we heard about it. It had not been discussed in the early morning rounds. Shortly after finding this out, there was a nursing change. The new nurse came in with a quart of contrast for Mama to drink before the scan. To the nurse’s surprise, she found much resistance with Daddy and I. We explained that she can’t drink that much in a day, let alone in an hour. We asked her why the other nurse said it was to be done through her PIC line and now it is in a drink form. She was trying to follow orders and was trying to find a way of making it happen. She went to get a onetime extra dose of anti-nausea medication to see if it would help Mama get most of it down. Her plan was to give her an IV dose, wait 10 minutes and then have Mama start drinking. We were sick thinking about what it was going to do to her. It would be guaranteed violent vomiting. So we started praying over Mama. We asked the Lord to protect her. We asked Him to pour out wisdom and understanding on the doctors and nurses and to give them direction. If this contrast was not needed, we asked that He would keep her nurse from trying to force this contrast on her. And if it was truly needed, we asked that He would make a way for her to drink it without sickness. As soon as we got done praying, the nurse came in and was getting the IV meds ready. And in walked our answer to prayer! Dr. Pillarisetty came in for his rounds early today. We brought the contrast issue to his attention and He called off the liquid contrast. Somehow there was a mix up on the orders or how they were read. It was to be contrast through her PIC Line after all. The Lord sent him into Mama’s room just in the knick of time. We were so grateful for God’s protection and for sending the doctor on his rounds early today. All glory goes to our heavenly father.

Mama went for her CT scan this evening with no problems. The doctor had ordered the scan in preparation for her kidney procedure this next week. It is nice to have it all taken care of so she doesn’t have to make a special trip for it next week.

Thank you once again for keeping Mama in prayer. Prayers are being answered.

With love,

Carmen & family

Monday, August 22nd - Evening update

Well, Radiology came up and met with Mama & I. It sounds like they will not be doing anything with Mama's kidney until next week. They said they had been contacted to see if they could do the cryo treatment. I asked about the tumor being 3.2 cm in size and whether they could treat it. They didn't see a problem with the size and confirmed it could be done. Urology still needs to come meet with Mama, but it sounds like she either has the option of surgery to remove part or all of the right kidney or they can freeze the tumor with the cryo treatment. Either way she will go under with general anesthesia. The cryo treatment would by far be a less invasive surgery though. Mama has had so many complications with her last surgery, that she is opting for the cryo treatment if it is her choice.
Dr. Pillarisetty came in this evening also. He thinks Mama could possibly go home tomorrow or Wednesday. Especially since we are able to do everything for her at home that they are doing for her here. However, because she has not been able to eat at least 1000 calories a day yet, she would have to go home with IV nutrition until she is able to daily get her calories and fluid intake up. They will be setting up a home health care service to help with that whole thing.
Daddy went home this afternoon to take care of a few things and hopefully get a good night's sleep tonight. We are so glad he finally took a little break to recharge his batteries. He will be back tomorrow.
The cards and blog notes keep coming in. I cannot tell you how much they all mean to Mama. Thank you for taking the time to let her know how much she is loved. You brought happy tears to her eyes. Thank for your continued prayers.

With love,
Carmen & family

Monday August 22, 2011

Sunday was in some ways another good day. As always the nausea is persistent and ever present. Mom had not slept well if at all Saturday night due to some restless leg issues and was pretty tired on Sunday.

Some positives:

She held her food down and did not throw up.

She got a new bed which seems to help with her aching back.

She was able to sit up in a chair for quite a while.

Things to pray about:

1) Nausea

2) The kidney cannot be addressed by cryo treatment now as it is only done up to 3cm and the mass has grown to 3.2cm. The kidney surgeon (we hope) will be by today to discuss options. Please pray for this procedure whatever it will be.

Thank you for reading the blog and praying for mom and dad.

We appreciate you all.

With much love.

Kimberly and family

Sunday August 21,2011

I am sorry I couldn't get an update posted last night like I wanted to but here is the latest.

Saturday was relatively speaking a better day. Mom did have dry heaves 3 different times which is always painful, but she was able to eat a bit more and drink more than she has.

As always, her biggest nemesis is still the nausea. It is unrelenting but then again, so are our prayers. So it doesn't really have a chance in the long run.

Saturday morning Dr. Pillarisetty came in and talked with mom about her drinking. ( Not her "drinking", but fluid intake. :)

Water has been tasting like metal since the surgery and she was just hating to drink it but being as determined as she is she was puching through it even being so nauseous. He suggested she try warm water in stead of the ice water the nurses bring in. So, starting yesterday dad would get water from the instant hot and add some cool water from the dispenser and viola! It was easier for her to drink and didn't taste as bad. She had some food throughout the day so it was all in all an improvement.

She went outside again and sat looking at flowers and people watching. Dad is ever vigilant and often anticipates her needs before she does.

Please keep the prayers coming. She doesn't feel good by a long shot. The nausea is exhausting and while on the iv nutrition it gets her up about every 1 to 1 1/2 hours so sleeping is always interupted.

We are so grateful to you all for your prayers and posts that encourage mom and dad so much. We read them to her multiple times a day sometimes and she nods and smiles at each comment in appreciation. They mean a lot to her and dad.

I wish I could adequately express her tremendous strength and determination.

What she is going through would have made me a blubbering mess. She is the strongest woman I have ever met. I marvel at her strength and dignity during this horrible post operative phase. She is such an amazing example of what it means to endure with a good heart and spirit.

Dad, thank you for being there with mom. She draws such strength from you and your steady strength, love, compassion and support. You are such a strong man. I adore you dad. You are my hero.

With a grateful heart.

Kimberly and family

Friday August 19, 2011 Part II

Dr. Pillarisetty was in tonight to see mom and dad. He informed us that nothing new was seen on the xray and that they did not need to perform the procedure they had discussed this morning.

Her stomach is still asleep and causing food to sit and not get digested normally. This is causing the nausea and then the air in her stomach causes dry heaves.

He said the ultrasound revealed that the small growth in the tumor located in the right kidney had grown from it's previous measurement and they had discussed doing the procedure next week to inject the tumor.

This tells me they will most likely be here at least into mid week.

Mom kept a small amount of noodles down tonight and then went for a long walk with me around 6th floor. She had a lot of nausea but no vomiting as of yet. Woo Hoo!

Dr Pillarisetty STRONGLY encouraged dad to go home for at least one night and sleep in his own bed. He suggested he get outside and walk downtown. He said "Man, what do I have to do, buy you a bus ticket to get you out of here?" Dad laughed. I wanted him to hand over $5.00 for that ticket!

He suggested dad go home and pick some vegetables from the garden and bring them back for mom to try. He asked dad if he could remember what stewardess's tell you on a plane. "Put your own oxygen mask on first so that you can assist the person who needs help putting their mask on". In other words, take care of yourself so you are better able to care for mom long term. He pointed out the fact that he had help from the family and suggested that dad really consider it. I believe he will and if mom is doing well by Monday, he may go for at least one night.

Ok, specific prayer requests for the weekend:

1) Pray that her stomach wakes up and starts to work. ( This is monumental to the vomiting ceasing)

2) Pray that she keeps food down.

3) Pray that she is pain free.

4) Pray that Dad gets rest.

We love and appreciate you all.

Kimberly and family

P.S. For those of you asking, you could send cards to their house. We are getting their mail for them and bringing it up.

Friday, August 19th

Mama had a rough morning and afternoon of being sick and not feeling well. It continues to be the same issues. Doctors ordered an x-ray to see if there is air/gas trapped inside. They said IF there is air trapped, then they could either put a tube down her nose or in her side to decompress the trapped air. IF a tube was to be put in, they thought it wouldn’t be until Monday. Of course, neither of those choices sounds like any fun. So far, we haven’t heard anything regarding the results of the x-ray.

She doesn’t have much of an appetite and not much success of keeping anything down, so we are disappointed her progress in eating made yesterday didn’t continue today. Later in the afternoon, Mama did feel good enough to go for a wheelchair ride outside to get some fresh air. This evening, she is doing a little better. Hopefully she is now turning a corner.

Through phone calls and prayer we have received encouragement today. We are watching for waiting for God’s hand of mercy on her body and know He is faithful. We know heaven has been bombarded by prayers on Mama’s behalf. Thank you so much for your continued prayers. We appreciate each and every one.

With love,

Carmen & family

Friday August 19,2011

I have been in communication with Carmen this morning.

Please pray for them this morning and throughout the day.

More tests and possible procedures coming up. Mom is having a hard morning

I really don't have any words right now. Just crying out for some intercession on their behalf.

Thank you,

Kimberly

Thursday, August 18th

This morning started out well. We met with her surgeon. Even though Mama had passed out last night, he wasn’t worried about it. He agreed with the doctors last night and felt that her already fragile and weak body just got too overheated in the warm and steamy bathroom and the blood wasn’t circulating properly. He was encouraged to hear the Mama drank an 8oz Chai Tea this morning and had kept it down. In fact, over the last couple days the food has been able to be kept down. He encouraged her to try to eat at least 1,000 calories. If he is able to do it consistently, he would feel comfortable removing the TPA (IV nutrition). That became Mama’s goal today. She did so well. I am not sure if she reached the 1,000 calories, but if not, she would have been really close.

Late afternoon and this evening, Mama has been feeling pretty bad and in quite a bit of discomfort. We have a real sweet little nurse who has taken extra measures to make her more comfortable. She added an egg-crate pad to her bed as well as ordered pain patches for her aching back and sides. Mama is exhausted and has had a lot of interruptions to her rest from vitals being taken, meds given, etc. We have asked our nurse if there’s anyway her vitals and interruptions to her sleep could be minimized so that she can get some uninterrupted sleep. She will be working with the team of doctors to see what they can do. Daddy’s nerves are shot. After all, he is her protector and there is much he can do to make her more comfortable. Please pray for Daddy. This has been so hard on him.

Mama’s nutrition will only be going in for 12 hours now. It will be wonderful to get a break for the IV pole tomorrow. She is trying to take in more fluids so that the transition to home is an easier one. We are hopeful for a better day tomorrow. However, we are thankful for the progress in Mama’s eating today. It is one step closer to feeling better.

With love and appreciation,

Carmen & family