7/1/09

I'm sure by now many of you have seen Dad cruising around the neighborhood or talked to him yourself, but I thought I'd give a brief update to those who haven't. Dad is doing surprisingly well. He has been keeping himself busy walking several miles each day. It's been kind of funny to see my mom get worried about him and have to go hunt him down in the car! He had his first cardiac therapy appointment this morning but doesn't think he will need to continue going considering all he has been doing on his own. From what he has been told, Dad seems to be recovering really quickly. He still struggles when it comes time to rest because he feels a lot of pain changing positions and his head is still a little groggy from the medications, but overall he seems to be feeling much better. Thanks again for all the love and support. We feel so grateful to have such good friends.

6/26/09

Dad seems to have made some big strides this week. He has been up cruising around the neighborhood a couple times each day trying to strenghthen those lungs of his. They still aren't where they need to be but I'm sure there has been some improvement with all the hard work he has put forth. He has had a few good coughs since being home, which probably sounds silly, but is always good news. The more fluids he can get out of his lungs, the faster they will improve. His energy levels are still low but he seems to be motivated enough to push through them. He is determined to do all he can to recover as quickly as possible. Progress is on the rise even though this has been one long week for him. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

6/23/09

Well, Dad made it home from the hospital yesterday. He is still having his good and bad moments, which is expected of course. He got up and went on a walk this morning and needed to rest for a few hours after to build up enough energy to take a shower. Such small things really suck the energy out of him. This experience is definitely one that is requiring a lot of patience. We have to keep reminding Dad that it has only been a week! Hopefully his lungs will continue to improve. They still aren't where they need to be. Day seven down!

6/22/09

This weekend was a little bit of a roller coaster ride for Dad. He wasn't feeling well at all on Saturday morning but started to feel a little better towards the end of the day. His lungs still haven't been expanding like they should so he decided he felt well enough to really push himself and work his lungs on Saturday night. He decided to go on a walk but ended up climbing a few flights of stairs while he was at it. Although this little adventure helped his oxygen levels, his heart started to beat extremelly irregularly. The nurse ended up having to call the doctor to get Dad prescribed to a medication that would steady his heartbeat, which means he got put back on the drip. When we went to see him yesterday morning, his heart had settled and he was feeling a lot better. The doctor came in and said he would be able to go home later that afternoon when the medication was finished. Right as they were getting ready to leave yesterday afternoon, Dad got a really sharp pain in his chest. It was hurting him to breath and had him doubled over. They decided to run a cat scan on him to make sure his blood wasn't clotting anywhere. Everything looked ok when they got the results back but they decided to keep him another night to make sure everything was still looking good. Day six and seven down!

6/20/09

Yesterday was a great day. Dad seemed to have a new resolution to be more optimistic and to get his lungs taken care of. Still truckin' along. Day five down!

6/19/09

Yesterday was a tough day. Dad didn't have an appetite and was feeling nauseous all day long. He tried to force himself to eat but really wasn't all that successful. Because there was no food in his body, the pain pills were making him sick and not helping to reduce his level of pain. He got up and walked around a couple of times but didn't do any of his breathing exercises. He was out of energy and feeling a lot of pain. The nurses expressed concern with the lack of oxygen reaching the bottom of his lungs. He really needs to be coughing, walking, and doing his breathing exercises to avoid getting pneumonia.
Needless to say, by the end of the day he was feeling discouraged. Last night he was given a priesthood blessing from an elderly man who was there visiting his wife. The man was really able to empathize with what Dad is going through and gave him a special blessing. When we called this morning, Dad had already buzzed the nurse to get him up walking and eating. I know he is receiving some extra help. Day four down.

6/18/09

Dad made a lot of progress yesterday although he was definitely feeling it. The nurse said day three is usually one of the worst but that things usually start to look up from there. We are hoping what she said was true and that tomorrow will bring a little less pain. They were able to remove majority of the tubes from his body yesterday which really helped him look a lot better. He is still having a lot of drainage coming from his chest so those tubes were left in. Hopefully they will be able to remove them soon so it isn't as difficult to breath. They took him off of the blood pressure medication yesterday morning but ended up putting him back on it a few hours later. He was able to go back off it by the end of the day. Dr. Karwande came and gave him a look and said that everything was looking good. We love hearing that! Dad ate his first meal since surgery at lunch. I'm sure that hospital food really helped him regain his appetite. ;) They are standing him up a lot more to help him prepare for more activity. I'm sure they will want him comfortable with walking by the time he leaves the hospital. They finally transferred him out of ICU last night. Yahoo! They are hoping to get him out of the hospital by tomorrow or Saturday. Day three down!

6/17/09

It seemed as though Dad was making some progress yesterday. He definitely looked a lot better than when we saw him on Monday night. The anesthetic from the surgery was starting to wear off so his level of pain was starting to increase. They will continue to make him stand every three hours so the fluids can drain but he still doesn't have the energy or stability to do it on his own yet. He has a breathing device he sucks on ten times each hour that helps his lungs regain their strength. It is very painful for him to do these breathing exercises and wipes him out quickly but there is risk of pneumonia if his lungs aren't expanding enough to encourage the buildup to get out of his system fast. They have set him a goal of getting the pin up to 1,000. So far he has been able to get it to 750 a few times but he is determined to do all he can to prevent any more pain or sickness than what he is already feeling. They are also making him cough a few times a day to get any of the buildup out that way. He holds a pillow to his chest and force coughs. As you can imagine, this doesn't feel pleasant at all. It's amazing how much energy these small things require of him. He was able to take down a few sips of broth yesterday, which is a start. They are hoping to get him out of ICU today and to be able to remove a few of the tubes still in his chest. They said as soon as these tubes are removed he will be able to breath much easier with much less pain. Day two down!

6-16-09

We were finally able to see Dad last night two hours after the surgery. There were still some things that needed to be done so they only gave us five minutes and said we could come back in an hour. He wasn't able to talk to us because the tube that monitors the amount of oxygen entering his heart was still down his throat, but he was able to shake his head in response to our questions. He seemed to be doing ok although the leg where they pulled the vein was really bothering him and he was still freezing cold from the surgery. They have to warm up his body gradually so it was pretty tough to see him shaking so bad and not be able to do anything about it. The nurse said the tube would be removed by the next time we came to visit which would help him look a lot better and be able to communicate with us.

When we came back an hour later the tube was still down his throat, just a little disappointing. We were able to meet the nurse who would be watching over him through the night and found her very helpful in explaining the different things they were doing to him. She asked us if Dad was a calm man and we all smiled. She said she could tell he has a very calm nature about him by the way he was handling the tube down his throat. She said he was very cooperative with everything they asked him to do..that is until she told us she would be waking him up every few hours so he could sit up and let the fluids drain from his chest. I don't think he liked the idea of that because he started shaking his head ;).

We talked to the nurse this morning. She said they weren't able to take the tube out until 2:00. I guess Dad slipped her a note that said, "I hate this thing." She had a good laugh over that. She said he did really well through the night and that his spirits were high this morning. One day down!

6/15/09

After close to six hours, Dr. Karwande let us know the surgery went well. They were able to repair the valve, which is a huge blessing (Dad will be very happy when he hears that news!) and found it unnecessary to repair the second valve. They also pulled a vein from his leg to repair the arteries and closed up the hole in his heart. He is in recovery now so we are just waiting for the go ahead to see him. Thanks for your prayers!

6/15/09

Hello all! Dad is in surgery right now so we thought we would let you know how much we appreciate your love and support. We have felt the prayers offered in our behalf and feel it a great blessing to have such good friends and family to support us through this time. Hopefully this will be a good way of keeping you updated on his recovery process. Thanks again for your love and concern.