Grandma's home!

Thank you for all your prayers! Grandma is home (as of yesterday) from the hospital. After keeping her a few extra days, they determined she was strong enough to come home. The first night was difficult. She is adjusting to the medications (medications that make her heart slow down and another that dilates her arteries for better blood flow) which is keeping mom real busy working with the nurses and home care providers. Although there are a few areas that are in need of adjustment, she is doing well and recovering on schedule.

Mom and I plan on being down here at least through the first of March and then there should be a better assessment as to how much help she will continue to need.

We hear there's snow in them thar hills of ours! We had a feeling we would miss it this year. But having Grandma recovering well is worth the sacrifice. :)

A short update is better than no update at all. We hope all are doing well and thank you for those who have made the time to communicate with us. It is greatly appreciated. Mom and I hope to have time to do a better job responding to e-mails in the upcoming week so please keep them coming! Thank you!

Grandma's Still in the Hospital

Hello Friends,

We are sorry for the delay in getting an update out but things have been up in the air for a bit now and we wanted to make sure we had some information that wasn't going to change minutes after it's posted. Although that could still be the case, I think we can safely explain what is happening at this point.

Mary Alice has been recovering quite well. Although she has had no complications, they are watching her at this point to make sure nothing is "brewing" like an infection at the incision and/or breathing problems due to something other than asthma or pneumonia. She has been having labored breathing and although it can be normal due to the re-synchronizing of the heart and lungs after surgery, they are not sure of the cause yet. A couple more days in the hospital is in order but we are glad they are watching her so well. She is frustrated and would like to be home but knows it is important to stay in the hospital until she is at the right stage to come home. Megan and I are continuing to visit and work around the needs of her hospital stay and taking care of the needs of her home. We are looking forward to her release date which will make it one step closer to coming home ourselves.

Thank you for your continued prayers and we will make sure to give you another update again soon.

Maureen & Megan :)

Update on Grandma's Heart Surgery

Well, we are two days post surgery now and things are going supposedly "as expected" in the experts opinions. However, our family is astounded! We did not expect such quick progress. She has already been moved out of ICU which, if complications were present, she would have had to stay longer in. Her breathing tube was removed the first day, 16 hours after it was inserted! This is amazing news (a lady we spoke to before surgery said her mother had hers in for 5 days post surgery and to expect it in longer than 1 day) and we know that the prayers lifted up on her behalf are the reason. Thank you all for praying! We hope to report good things in the next few days.

She is responding well to us and is communicating with less disorientation than was expected. She is still on Morphine unfortunately but they are already beginning to convert it to another pain killer that will not affect her mentally as much. That will be nice. This should begin to happen today. Now that she is out of ICU, the visiting hours are different. We can spend more than 5 minutes every hour with her and now we can see her without restrictions from noon to 8:00 in the evening. This will help us get some rest ourselves. The first two days were really hard for two of the three sisters being at the hospital for 20 hours straight and the same two of us not sleeping at all the night before. I finally got a night's sleep last night so I believe I will be functioning better from this point on. God has been so faithful to us through this. It's hard to see other families that didn't have such a great outcome. It reminds us that we can only trust in God alone, not man (even top notch surgeons). We believe it was His hand that performed the surgery and His hand that will continue the healing.

At this point, she will need to begin to get out of bed and move around to eliminate the chance of pneumonia setting into her lungs. They will begin to get her moving today and this will be the most challenging of the recovery for her since she is struggling with nausea and pain. We appreciate your continued prayers on this. We have left her favorite instant foods next to her bed and I believe this will help her eat. She really does not like hospital food. It's hard to believe nutrition is in some of these instant foods but I suppose it is better than eating nothing. :)

The family has been working together and taking shifts which has been extremely helpful. Adrian, Garrett and Megan have been wonderful support and have served Grandma through fixing things, making meals, and cleaning her home while she is in the hospital. I know it's been a blessing to her. She said the day before surgery that she felt spoiled since she didn't have to do anything around the house herself. I am sure that our presence during the week prior to the surgery helped her strength to get through it. It is apparent that things have been supernaturally orchestrated and our effort has been minimal in our own strength. This is totally different than in the past surgeries. Thank you for all your support and prayers. It is so wonderful to know others are thinking of us. My mom has dozens of friends who called the week before and wished her well, as well as many others who have kept in contact through the surgery (of course through the family members). This is all so encouraging. If all continues as it has, (they say these next few days will feel like a roller coaster - first up, then down) she may be released by Sunday or Monday.

Adrian and Garrett will be returning to Oakhurst this weekend sometime. They are not sure of the day but it will depend on what is needed here in Burbank. If my mom is released by Sunday, they may stay for that but if she will be in the hospital passed that day, they may just come home by Sunday. We miss our family in Oakhurst and we are all looking forward to coming home. This week will help us determine how long Megan and I will need to be assisting my mom during home recovery. We will update this blog when that is becoming more clear. Our guess is at least a week after her release but it could be more like two. She will not be able to drive for 4-6 weeks but my older sister is available for occasional transportation to doctor's appointments and other needs. We will be here to cook and clean for her as well as monitor her progress as long as that is needed.

Well, as usual, we miss the mountains but have been so distracted down here, we hadn't had much time to think about it until now. There's sure a LOT of noise around here. Planes overhead every 5 minutes and cars buzzing down the street and neighbors taking out trash cans, construction on the road in front of her home... etc. We do miss the tranquil atmosphere of our Oakhurst neighborhood. It's good to be reminded of the things we have escaped though.

Well, this update has been long enough. I sat down and said to myself that a quick update would be better than nothing and now it's turned into a novel! Thank you for your patience in reading through my ramblings! Many blessings to all of you!

~Maureen

We're Here!

We arrived in Burbank on Friday, the 2nd, safe and sound at our Grandma's. She was very happy to see us and couldn't wait for us to give her "sugars" and hugs as we walked up the front stairs to her doorway. We first unloaded the birdies and got them situated, and then Garrett, Mom, and Megan unloaded the rest of the luggage in the Land Cruiser while Dad took the Saturn to pick up garlic bread at the Smokehouse (Megan's birthday request) to go along with dinner that night. When Dad got back, we all sat down to have dinner. Dinner included the Smokehouse garlic bread, chicken Caesar salad, and sparkling cranberry juice from Trader Joes. ;)

After dinner Grandma disappeared into the adjoining kitchen and slipped into the laundry/pantry room and told Megan not to come in (Grandma sounded a bit mischievous when she said that). After Grandma walked into the laundry room, Mom came back in from the kitchen and cleared the table. A few minutes later, when Grandma saw that everything was the way she wanted, she walked into the dining room and presented Megan a cake. Everyone sang and Megan blew out the candles. Mom served everyone a piece of cake and all was well after that. :)

Later that night everyone got dressed into their PJ's and sat down to watch a movie together. Everyone was happy to relax after a long day and couldn't wait to go to sleep after the movie.

The only thing that took place on Saturday, that's worth mentioning to you all, were some garage sales. Aunt Debbie (Mom's oldest sister) and Richard (Aunt Debbie's oldest son) joined up with Grandma, Mom and Megan, and piled themselves into the Land Cruiser to start the hunt. After the garage sales, everyone went back to their own homes, and we just did miscellaneous odd jobs the rest of the day.

Sunday was fun for us. We went to our Mom's friend's church in Eagle Rock, met some neat people there, and then after that, the four of us ate lunch together and headed up the hill to the mall where Megan spent some of her birthday money on some things she wanted. After a nice family outing, we went home and spent time with Grandma for the rest of the day.

Monday didn't hold too much for us. Mom, Grandma, and Megan went on some errands, and then went to the mall (again!) to "hang out" for a bit and get Grandma some time with her girls. While we were in the mall, Grandma bought Megan a Blizzard at Dairy Queen. The people at Dairy Queen think it's fun to hold your ice cream upside down as they watch panic sweep across your face! After taking a quick detour to Barnes & Noble on our way down the hill from the mall, we went home. Later in the evening, after dinner, we all gathered around the dining room table in our PJ's and played a couple card games with Grandma.

Tuesday morning Mom, Aunt Debbie, and Grandma went to the Pre-Op consultation. I've asked Mom to update you on the details of that appointment:

Yesterday we (Maureen, Debbie and Mom) went to the Pre-Op appointment in Hollywood, California. (Kaiser) My younger sister has sick family members and her presence would present a risk of infection/virus which would not be good. We left at 9:00 and didn’t get home until after 5:00! This was due to an unexpected extended part of the appointment. They ordered 2 pints of blood for my mom for the surgery in case of blood transfusion, so my sister and I donated a pint each at the end of the day. This was the first time I ever gave blood (I was told I couldn’t because of my thyroid disease but they now discard the plasma and keep the rest) and didn’t realize the weakness it could make you feel afterward. However, if she needs blood, we are happy to know it will be coming from family.

Other details are as follows:

• The surgery is set for this coming Monday, the 12^th (she arrives at 5:00 a.m.) and will last from 3-5 hours.
• She will receive a pig valve, which should last up to 15 years. The other choice, the mechanical valve, presents problems with blood clotting properties if she should have other health problems afterward that requires thicker blood to heal. The reason is because she would have to be on blood thinner 24/7 for the rest of her life. This is one reason we chose the pig valve. She will still need the blood thinners with this option, but they could be stopped temporarily for dental appointments and other procedures that depend on the blood clotting quickly.
• This surgery has an 90%-95% success rate. That 5%-10% chance of not making it through is making my mom extremely anxious as you might guess. During this surgery, there is a chance they will perform an additional procedure that could help regulate her irregular heartbeat that she has been suffering from for over 15 years. It has a 50% chance of working and would keep her on the machines another 20 minutes during surgery. When asked if we wanted them to perform this procedure, we had no clue as to what to decide. Finally the doctor suggested that we let them make the decision once she is done with the initial valve replacement segment, which could last 3 or more hours. This way they will determine if extra time on the machines poses too much of a risk. We feel at peace with this scenario.
• We had a choice between 3 surgeons. The Lord gave me grace to look squarely in the eye of the nurse practitioner and say “we want the best of the three. I am asking you heart to heart to give us the best since we have no way of knowing”. She responded well and assured us that two of the three are the best choice and the first choice does 2-3 surgeries per day and has an extremely high success rate. He has done hundreds of these surgeries and is the most active of the three. Please pray for his alertness that day.
• They are not too excited about her dependency on the cane since her chest will be cut open and will have trouble tolerating pressure when trying to walk after surgery. This presents the greatest healing challenge (besides the chance of infection) since she must begin to exercise as soon as possible. She will need someone to support her under her arms to help her walk because of this.
• Also, due to her diabetes, the concern of infection is high and your prayers are greatly appreciated on that front.
• We go back on Friday this week for many different tests (to check for infection in her body which would postpone the surgery) and admission and insurance issues. This appointment will also be up to 5 hours. Of course, on top of all of this, it is not too fun to be walking the streets of Hollywood. L There are many buildings to move between, causing us to walk Sunset Boulevard.

Please pray that the attempt to regulate her heart rate is miraculously successful if it is attempted. That she will make it through the surgery better than expected and will have a speedy recovery. Pray for her anxiousness leading up to the day and her yielding to the Lord during this time. We believe He is doing a special work in this family.

Thank you to all who are praying. We are humbled by the opportunity to serve our mother under such difficult times. We plan on another update after the surgery on Monday, probably after the first 24 hours when she comes out of intensive care.

We appreciate any and all e-mails. We check them daily. We love having connections with our friends during this time. We hope all of you are doing well. We miss you! - Maureen

So there is a glimpse into our lives down in Burbank. Much is to follow! We'll update you again later! Thanks for reading ;)