Today started out good. Mom ate some breakfast and was feeling pretty well. Her goal was to get up and sit in a chair at least 4 times and to walk at least 4 times. Being the determined, very tough woman she is, she knocked out 6.
By late morning she had been told no shower again today, so she bent over the sink so I could wash her hair. Next I gave her a "bird bath" as she always called it when we were growing up.
She said she felt like a new woman. She had some soup for lunch and a few bites of salad but by this afternoon was starting to experience pain. We asked a Dr. to come in and exam her. She was worried that she had pulled a staple, or hurt something internally. They felt very confidant that she had not. Painkillers may be good for pain, but they also keep organs "asleep" and some of them are still dormant. This can cause the pain and discomfort. She had pain on the 1-10 scale that was at a pretty healthy 7. She got up and walked some more trying to get some distraction and help.
She is now in bed and on her left side for the first time since having surgery. She is amazing, She brings me to tears seeing how determined she is as she pushes through the pain. She is anxious about a few things and I thought I would list them here and solicit some specific prayer for her.
1) The Dr.'s plan on turning the epidural off at 6:00AM. She is struggling on the epidural and very scared that she will have pain that will only be addressed with the slower pills and possibly get behind on the pain management. Please pray for a smooth transition. This is obviously necessary for her to get out of the hospital faster.
2) Pray that all her organs will be able to "wake up" and she will be less dependant on the meds and more comfortable overall.
3) Please pray for her as she must get a new iv tonight. If you have followed mom's blog in the past, you know what a difficult, "stick" she can be. She is on day 5 of the same iv and they usually change them after 3 days. She is really dreading this as she waits for it to get changed out tonight. Please pray for this specifically.
On a happy note, her nurse tonight is Ernie. ( Hey Uncle Frog. She shared with the nurse about her sweet brother Ernie that we all call Frog. She smiled when she spoke of her sweet brother. XOXO) Ernie is actually a nurse practitioner and they say he is the best on the floor for getting iv's in. Apparently, he is often called down to ER and OR for tough "sticks". He is the one doing it tonight so we feel grateful that God orchestrated it that way for her.
I would like to ask you to please continue to pray for her specifically tomorrow. She is very worried about it and dreading what may come. I happen to know that prayer can change things, so I am sending out a plea for prayer for her over these specific things.
I can't tell you enough how much I love this lady. I am so humbled by her strength and dignity.
I am grateful for dad's love and constant care for mom as well. The pain Dr. was amazed that dad has not left the hospital since mom's surgery. He shook his head on his way out today and said "Wow. Now that is dedication."My answer to him was simply "No. That is love."
With a grateful heart for all your love and prayers,
Kimberly and family
Monday, August 8, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Sunday, Aug. 7th
You've heard the saying, "Two steps forward. One step back." Well that was our day. But praise the Lord, in the end we have moved forward!
Mama's nausea would not go away, so the pain control has been changed. Her epidural was a mix of two different medications. One is like a Novocain which numbs the abdomen and was paired with another pain medication. The doctors decided to remove the pain med from the epidural and give her another form of medication by an IV pump. It worked! The nausea is gone. Thank you Lord! She has been so sick. I believe we found another allergy. It is so good to see her feeling better. Today is her first day eating more than a couple spoons of jello or broth. Tonight she actually ate a bowl of soup and drank some juice for dinner. This is huge!! She was so glad to eat and enjoy it.
With this change of medication, she no longer has an automatic pump for her pain medication. She now pumps it manually. The main side effects are quite a bit of drowsiness and the continued problem with her "busy dreams" which are frustrating to her. She was feeling so good that she felt she didn't need to pump her IV pump for a while. She didn't want to be sleepy or make the busy dreams any worse. At one point earlier this evening, she got behind in her pain control and it took a while to get everything back under control. So our job is to convince her to pump it when she starts to feel discomfort. Key word....."convince".
No longer fighting nausea has made walking and getting up to sit in a chair so much easier. Mama eating and drinking again makes everyone happy. It's just really important that she's able to keep her pain under control so they can eventually transition her to controlling it by oral medications and going home soon.
Mama is resting so much better tonight. Overall, we are feeling really encouraged. We are praying that her healing stomach does well with the introduction of food and there are no complications. Thank you for keeping her in your prayers as well. God bless you.
With love,
Carmen & family
Mama's nausea would not go away, so the pain control has been changed. Her epidural was a mix of two different medications. One is like a Novocain which numbs the abdomen and was paired with another pain medication. The doctors decided to remove the pain med from the epidural and give her another form of medication by an IV pump. It worked! The nausea is gone. Thank you Lord! She has been so sick. I believe we found another allergy. It is so good to see her feeling better. Today is her first day eating more than a couple spoons of jello or broth. Tonight she actually ate a bowl of soup and drank some juice for dinner. This is huge!! She was so glad to eat and enjoy it.
With this change of medication, she no longer has an automatic pump for her pain medication. She now pumps it manually. The main side effects are quite a bit of drowsiness and the continued problem with her "busy dreams" which are frustrating to her. She was feeling so good that she felt she didn't need to pump her IV pump for a while. She didn't want to be sleepy or make the busy dreams any worse. At one point earlier this evening, she got behind in her pain control and it took a while to get everything back under control. So our job is to convince her to pump it when she starts to feel discomfort. Key word....."convince".
No longer fighting nausea has made walking and getting up to sit in a chair so much easier. Mama eating and drinking again makes everyone happy. It's just really important that she's able to keep her pain under control so they can eventually transition her to controlling it by oral medications and going home soon.
Mama is resting so much better tonight. Overall, we are feeling really encouraged. We are praying that her healing stomach does well with the introduction of food and there are no complications. Thank you for keeping her in your prayers as well. God bless you.
With love,
Carmen & family
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Aug.6th - Better Day
I am pleased to report that Mama is having a better day today. She was able to get some sleep last night. The doctors are very pleased with her progress. The surgeon told her to expect good and bad days even when she goes home. We are thankful that today is a good one.
The surgeon have asked her to go very slow with the clear liquid diet to prevent other problems or setbacks. The epidural is doing a good job with her pain control for her surgery site. She got a little behind in her pain for a while, but is doing better now. She has had some back and shoulder discomfort and of course abdominal discomfort when she moves or gets out of bed. However, this little lady is so determined to get better. If they ask her to walk a certain distance, she walks farther. She is bound and determined to get stronger and better soon. She continues to struggle with some nausea. Because of her allergies to so many medications, they really don't have much more options to try other than the meds currently being used to give her relief. The medication in her epidural makes her restless. It has been frustrating for her because she dreams odd (usual task oriented) dreams and wakes up with her hands fussing with the blankets, searching under the blankets or making motions with her hands that correlate with the dreams. Unfortunately, these hand movements end up waking her up over and over.
Mama's is real tired, but her smile is coming back. That is good medicine for all of us. :) Prayers are being answered. Thank you so much for keeping her covered in prayer. It's the best medicine of all!
With love,
Carmen and family
The surgeon have asked her to go very slow with the clear liquid diet to prevent other problems or setbacks. The epidural is doing a good job with her pain control for her surgery site. She got a little behind in her pain for a while, but is doing better now. She has had some back and shoulder discomfort and of course abdominal discomfort when she moves or gets out of bed. However, this little lady is so determined to get better. If they ask her to walk a certain distance, she walks farther. She is bound and determined to get stronger and better soon. She continues to struggle with some nausea. Because of her allergies to so many medications, they really don't have much more options to try other than the meds currently being used to give her relief. The medication in her epidural makes her restless. It has been frustrating for her because she dreams odd (usual task oriented) dreams and wakes up with her hands fussing with the blankets, searching under the blankets or making motions with her hands that correlate with the dreams. Unfortunately, these hand movements end up waking her up over and over.
Mama's is real tired, but her smile is coming back. That is good medicine for all of us. :) Prayers are being answered. Thank you so much for keeping her covered in prayer. It's the best medicine of all!
With love,
Carmen and family
Friday, August 5, 2011
Friday, Aug.5th - Rough day
Last night and today had many turn of events. The feeding tube turned out to be a real problem. It continued to make Mama sick all night and all morning. The object of the feeding tube was obviously to give her nutrition, but because it was causing so much nausea, it proved to be more of a problem than it was doing her good.
The doctors made the decision to remove the feeding tube this morning. Three different people tried to remove it and failed. (I will save everyone the unpleasant details.) Other measures were taken and the fourth time worked. It was a long 5 1/2 hours, but it is over and behind her now. She is slowly being introduced to a clear liquid diet now.
Since the feeding tube was removed, she is more comfortable and nausea seems to be better controlled. Her oxygen was put back on last night, but they are considering taking her off of it again later this evening or tomorrow. They discontinued her Insulin drip and have pushed out the blood sugar tests to about every 4 hours. Her catheter was also removed and she went for her first short walk down the hall this evening. So there have been some noticeable improvements in recovery today.
It has been a very hard and long day. Mama is exhausted. I believe the worst of today is behind her and hopefully she can get a little rest now.
All of today's challenges were very hard on Daddy. After all, he is her protector and there is little he can do in these circumstances to shield her from the pain.
God has carried us through yet another rough day. We feel your prayers and are very grateful for each and everyone of you. God bless you.
With love,
Carmen & family
The doctors made the decision to remove the feeding tube this morning. Three different people tried to remove it and failed. (I will save everyone the unpleasant details.) Other measures were taken and the fourth time worked. It was a long 5 1/2 hours, but it is over and behind her now. She is slowly being introduced to a clear liquid diet now.
Since the feeding tube was removed, she is more comfortable and nausea seems to be better controlled. Her oxygen was put back on last night, but they are considering taking her off of it again later this evening or tomorrow. They discontinued her Insulin drip and have pushed out the blood sugar tests to about every 4 hours. Her catheter was also removed and she went for her first short walk down the hall this evening. So there have been some noticeable improvements in recovery today.
It has been a very hard and long day. Mama is exhausted. I believe the worst of today is behind her and hopefully she can get a little rest now.
All of today's challenges were very hard on Daddy. After all, he is her protector and there is little he can do in these circumstances to shield her from the pain.
God has carried us through yet another rough day. We feel your prayers and are very grateful for each and everyone of you. God bless you.
With love,
Carmen & family
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Evening Update - August 4th
I cannot express how grateful we are for all the prayers for Mama and our family. We are seeing many answers to prayer.
She also has a really sore throat. It could be partly from the breathing tube during surgery, but they think it most likely is from the oxygen drying out her throat. They unhooked her oxygen tonight and her levels look good. So hopefully they will stay up and her throat can recover quickly.
We appreciate your continued prayers.
With love,
Carmen and family
- Doctors feel the surgery went well and Mama's progressing well.
- Mama's pain is moderate and under control.
- Her nausea is much better controlled as well.
- Her blood sugar is stabilizing, so her pokes for blood sugar testing have been extended to every 2 hours. (It was every 15 minutes for several hours today, which was exhausting with everything else going on as well. Not to mention her poor little fingers are getting sore.)
- She is getting a little bit of sleep now. With everyone coming into her room all night and day, she didn't sleep much. They expect to not have to come in and disturb her but every 1 to 2 hours. It's so good to see her resting.
- Mama has had excellent nurses and care. The staff has been wonderful. Everyone is so kind and compassionate to her as well as the family.
- We are experiencing God's peace in the midst of our storm.
- Even though we didn't get much sleep, God has given us strength.
She also has a really sore throat. It could be partly from the breathing tube during surgery, but they think it most likely is from the oxygen drying out her throat. They unhooked her oxygen tonight and her levels look good. So hopefully they will stay up and her throat can recover quickly.
We appreciate your continued prayers.
With love,
Carmen and family
Aug. 4th - Day after surgery
Mama finally got out of recovery about 9:45pm last night and was moved to her room. Low blood pressure and nausea were the main culprits of keeping her in recovery so long. They are keeping a real close watch on her, so she didn't get much sleep last night. Between blood draws, taking her normal vitals and hourly blood sugar tests, the interruptions were about every 15 minutes to a half hour.
The consent interruptions have continued today, so she still is not getting much sleep. Mama is extremely weak and talks with a whisper. The doctors felt everything went well in the surgery. They are adjusting her pain and nausea medication and treatment to try to get her more comfortable. Due to her allergies to so many of their most commonly use medications for nausea, they are also trying an acupressure treatment along with her current meds. Moving induces nausea, so their request for her to get up and at least sit on the side of the bed or a chair is yet a challenge. She sat on the side of the bed once this morning. I read her the comments posted on her blog while she was sitting to help distract and encourage. She gave little smiles and soft words of appreciation. Thank you for your notes of love and encouragement. They mean so much.
Even in the midst of the storm, we know and trust God is in control. We appreciate your continued prayers, notes of encouragement and gifts of love.
With love and appreciation,
Carmen and family
The consent interruptions have continued today, so she still is not getting much sleep. Mama is extremely weak and talks with a whisper. The doctors felt everything went well in the surgery. They are adjusting her pain and nausea medication and treatment to try to get her more comfortable. Due to her allergies to so many of their most commonly use medications for nausea, they are also trying an acupressure treatment along with her current meds. Moving induces nausea, so their request for her to get up and at least sit on the side of the bed or a chair is yet a challenge. She sat on the side of the bed once this morning. I read her the comments posted on her blog while she was sitting to help distract and encourage. She gave little smiles and soft words of appreciation. Thank you for your notes of love and encouragement. They mean so much.
Even in the midst of the storm, we know and trust God is in control. We appreciate your continued prayers, notes of encouragement and gifts of love.
With love and appreciation,
Carmen and family
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
August 3rd, 2011 Surgery
"I will not despair, for God is always good" Psalm 27:10
Today has been a long day for mom in surgery.
She was really sick all day yesterday and nauseous throughout the night.
We had to be here by 6:30 AM,she was taken back at 7:00.
They got the iv in on the first try. (a major victory as this is a multiple try ordeal every time) Dad stayed with her during her consultation with the anesthesiologist and surgeons.
They told mom and dad that there was a possibility they would not even address the right kidney today if the surgery was too long and would cause too much stress for her. The kidney surgeon said that they could address the kidney at a later time either laproscopicly, or with a cryo treatment or inject chemo. In any event it is less worrisome than the large mass so they needed to make sure we understood that they would address it later if today's surgery was too extensive and they needed to spend the majority of the time on the pancreas / stomach area.
We got calls every two hours to update us from the OR. The end result is this:
They took the lower half of the pancreas,they took the spleen,there was stomach involvement so they took a section of the stomach as well. The thing we were not expecting was that they also had to take part of her colon. The mass was really invasive and they had to take particular care in dissecting around blood vessels to not interrupt circulation. This was tedious and took the most time. Since it was all on the left side and it took so long in that area they elected to not cause trauma to the opposite side as well.
She has a tube in her side draining fluids. The surgeon says this is his main concern. Tissue has to be sewn together and may leak. There was so much done that now it can be leakage from the pancreas, stomach or colon. Please pray for healing of the areas. Please pray that all cancer on a cellular level will disappear.
She has a tune down her nose that bypasses her stomach and goes into her intestine. She will be given some nutrition through it later if she is doing well.
She has an epidural to help manage her post operative pain. Please pray that she has relief from pain and is able to rest comfortably. She has degenerative discs in her neck and laying in bed can be miserable. This is an area that would be merciful for her to have relief so I am going to ask specificly for prayer over her in this as well.
She had an excellent surgical team, she did not need any transfusions and her vital signs were good throughout surgery.
Our prayer now is for her blood pressure. She is in recovery but her BP has tanked and they are working on getting it back up to an acceptable level. This is normal for mom as she has done this after every other surgery she has had, but it still needs to get turned around soon.
Please feel free to leave comments for her here. When she is awake and out of pain we will be reading them to her.
We have truly felt your love and prayers during this incredibly long day. We have had peace even in the midst of anxiety. For that we are grateful.
We appreciate and love you.
With a grateful heart,
Kimberly and family
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