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
Monday, November 9, 2009
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
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
October 27, 2009 Update
Psalm 112: 7
"He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is secure, he will have no fear."
God is faithful.
Today we got bad news. It was rough, emotional, raw.
I got home and a friend shared this verse with me.
I had to share it with you because it is true.
Mom's heart and life is secure in Him.
NOTHING can happen that does not pass through His sovereign hand first.
While God does not create and afflict, we do live in this fallen, broken world and are not exempt from trials just because we love Him and follow Him.
The six month scans showed the nodule they first saw in June is still present and is now joined by another nodule a bit larger than the first one.
The next step is meeting with Dr. Mulligan, a lung surgeon. He will evaluate if he thinks he can surgically remove the nodules or not.
The Oncologist was out today, but will consult with the other Dr.'s
in determining if additional chemotherapy could be done or possibly radiation.
If it is chemo, it would be inpatient, as the sarcoma chemo Mom received the 6 previous times is not able to be administered to her again.
We really do not know anything beyond this. Once Mom sees Dr. Mulligan, we will have a better idea of her treatment plan. Until then, we wait, we pray, we encourage one another and we stay focused on the fact that God has secured Mom's heart. It is safe, and He is trustworthy.
Thank you for your prayers.
Kimberly and family
"He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is secure, he will have no fear."
God is faithful.
Today we got bad news. It was rough, emotional, raw.
I got home and a friend shared this verse with me.
I had to share it with you because it is true.
Mom's heart and life is secure in Him.
NOTHING can happen that does not pass through His sovereign hand first.
While God does not create and afflict, we do live in this fallen, broken world and are not exempt from trials just because we love Him and follow Him.
The six month scans showed the nodule they first saw in June is still present and is now joined by another nodule a bit larger than the first one.
The next step is meeting with Dr. Mulligan, a lung surgeon. He will evaluate if he thinks he can surgically remove the nodules or not.
The Oncologist was out today, but will consult with the other Dr.'s
in determining if additional chemotherapy could be done or possibly radiation.
If it is chemo, it would be inpatient, as the sarcoma chemo Mom received the 6 previous times is not able to be administered to her again.
We really do not know anything beyond this. Once Mom sees Dr. Mulligan, we will have a better idea of her treatment plan. Until then, we wait, we pray, we encourage one another and we stay focused on the fact that God has secured Mom's heart. It is safe, and He is trustworthy.
Thank you for your prayers.
Kimberly and family
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
6 month check
Hi everyone, Warren and I got back from Seattle today from having my 3 mo. checkup. I have been feeling so good, and my swelling has been down a lot more! We planned on having the CT scan and returning home after just a routine check. After 5 hours there, a scan, visits with 3 doctors and my surgeon, we found that a new nodule was found in my left lung. I have several others that showed up before, but they had not changed. I didn't have this one before. They plan to wait 3 months and recheck it for any changes. If it has then they think that they will need to do surgery. They said that sometimes they show up and then disappear, so we are hoping and praying for that. They seemed to think that the chemotherapy had arrested the other ones.
I have had one place that has still not entirely healed from the incision, and it is seeping. They put me on an antibiotic for two weeks again, and also took a culture.
I'm not worried, about the nodule or the infection, as God knows what he is doing. I know personally who is in control of everything! It did take me by surprise though, as I feel so good.
If you do think of me, would ask God to take away the infection, and the nodule? It's good to know that his mercy is new every morning!
I am so loving this beautiful weather! I love being able to take walks, plant flowers, eat outside, watch our grandkids play outside, and feel the wind blowing in my hair! (all 1 inch long)
I hope you have had a blessed summer, and loving everyday!
Love to you all, Ladeva
I have had one place that has still not entirely healed from the incision, and it is seeping. They put me on an antibiotic for two weeks again, and also took a culture.
I'm not worried, about the nodule or the infection, as God knows what he is doing. I know personally who is in control of everything! It did take me by surprise though, as I feel so good.
If you do think of me, would ask God to take away the infection, and the nodule? It's good to know that his mercy is new every morning!
I am so loving this beautiful weather! I love being able to take walks, plant flowers, eat outside, watch our grandkids play outside, and feel the wind blowing in my hair! (all 1 inch long)
I hope you have had a blessed summer, and loving everyday!
Love to you all, Ladeva
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Happy 4th of July!
Hi, I trust that you all had a good 4th of July! We had a wonderful day, with our friends, Sandy and Doug Macomber. Afterwards we came home and sat on our deck and watched the fireworks over Chehalis. We had 8 of our neighbors come over and watch with us, so it was fun and a warm night to be outside! We have to be very thankful that so far our country is free. We have only known freedom, and it is so easy to take it for granted. I couldn't help but think about our 4th last year! Warren and I watched from the hall of the U.W. hospital as the fire works were set off over Lake Union. It was a wonderful show, but I'm so glad to be home watching some home fireworks, and feeling free! It is so good to be home. I am still getting more stamina, and the swelling in my leg has not been as bad.
I will be going back to Seattle for my three month's check up on July 21st. They will take a CT scan on my chest, as that is where the sarcoma sometimes shows back up again. I do believe that I will have another good check up. I feel good, don't have any problem breathing and no coughing. I thank God every morning when I put my feet on the floor, that I can take care of myself now, and feel good.
Please continue to pray for my sister, Edna. She is still weak, and some days she is in a lot of pain. She also has a problem with her throat, so somethings are hard for her to eat. She still has staph infection in both elbows, so she cannot have a shot in her back to relieve her of pain, until that clears up. Thank you so much for praying for her. Our whole family appreciates it so much.
Brother, Dean is also having a lot of pain in his feet and knees, and would love to have you remember him in your prayers!
Now, a happy note before I end this. I have hair that is about a quarter of an inch!!! It is coming in curly, so I just wet it and go! That is a real blessing after losing my hair twice. I have put away my wigs, and only wear a hat on occasion. I'll bet I will never have a "bad hair day," from now on.
Please enjoy what's left of summer, they already have fall decorations in the stores! God bless you each one, My love, Ladeva
I will be going back to Seattle for my three month's check up on July 21st. They will take a CT scan on my chest, as that is where the sarcoma sometimes shows back up again. I do believe that I will have another good check up. I feel good, don't have any problem breathing and no coughing. I thank God every morning when I put my feet on the floor, that I can take care of myself now, and feel good.
Please continue to pray for my sister, Edna. She is still weak, and some days she is in a lot of pain. She also has a problem with her throat, so somethings are hard for her to eat. She still has staph infection in both elbows, so she cannot have a shot in her back to relieve her of pain, until that clears up. Thank you so much for praying for her. Our whole family appreciates it so much.
Brother, Dean is also having a lot of pain in his feet and knees, and would love to have you remember him in your prayers!
Now, a happy note before I end this. I have hair that is about a quarter of an inch!!! It is coming in curly, so I just wet it and go! That is a real blessing after losing my hair twice. I have put away my wigs, and only wear a hat on occasion. I'll bet I will never have a "bad hair day," from now on.
Please enjoy what's left of summer, they already have fall decorations in the stores! God bless you each one, My love, Ladeva
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
