Hi. We're back from the trip to Alabaster. It was fun, but we are all worn out. Mark made it and actually went to all of the games. He was quite the trooper. Luckily we got a great schedule. Our first game was 9pm, so the weather was nice. Saturday our games didn't start until 6pm, so we weren't out in the heat of the day and this morning we played at 9am and it was actually chilly. Our afternoon game today was getting a little warm, but we still had a lot of cloud cover and it made it nice for Mark.
We're home now and officially unpacked. Everyone was tired and took a little nap this evening. Colton got up feeling sick and then began vomiting all over the living room carpet and downstairs bathroom. It was such a joy to clean up after a long and busy weekend. He is resting now.
We are going to take Mark's catheter out tonight before he goes to bed. They officially told us to do it Monday morning, but since Dr. McKenzie is letting me do it at home to save us a trip, we thought we'd get a jump start. This way if Mark is not successful (and we're hoping and praying hard that he is) we hope to save ourselves a middle of the night trip to the ER tomorrow night. We hope that any troubles will show up in the middle of the day so we can make a trip to the doctor's office instead. (That is the plan anyway). I really have a good feeling this time that he will be okay without the catheter. It would certainly make Mark feel more like himself and give him some more freedoms to start getting more active.
Mark had to walk up one flight of stairs at the hotel to get to the breakfast area. I thought he was going to die when he looked at them. The look on his face was like he was going to have to climb Mount Everest. He is just so debilitated from all the bedrest. It is amazing what it (bedrest) will do to someone so strong and active like Mark.
Our incision still looks good, but has a long way to go. It is still gaping open in 2 spots and has to heal from the inside out. We continue to do dressing changes. I am not sure when we will be scheduling our next surgery in Pittsburgh. Hopefully it will be soon. Keep praying for strength and healing for Mark's body.
God bless!!!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
June 27
Hello to all. We are frantically getting packed and ready for Colton's travel ball tournament this morning. We are planning on leaving by noon. Mark plans to make this trip which will be a big undertaking for him since he hasn't been up much at all. We will drive to Alabaster today and stay in the hotel. Colton has batting practice this afternoon and then dinner. His first game isn't until 9pm, so at least Mark won't be sitting out in the heat today.
We will be out of town all weekend, so I doubt I update. Pray that all goes well on our journey. We will give you the scoop when we return on Sunday.
God bless!!
We will be out of town all weekend, so I doubt I update. Pray that all goes well on our journey. We will give you the scoop when we return on Sunday.
God bless!!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
June 25
Hello everyone. Not a lot has changed around here. Mark is still progressing slowly. He doesn't get up and do much yet. He developed some blood in the urine yesterday and we took a urine sample to the lab (from the catheter). It showed a lot of blood and some bacteria, so the urology office started him back on antibiotics today. The preliminary culture was back by the end of the work day today and no bacteria has grown yet, so we'll see. Hopefully this doesn't put our plans to get the catheter out Monday on hold.
Eugenie sent an email today. She heard from Julie's mom (the girl in Pittsburgh waiting on a multi-organ transplant). They headed to the hospital this morning in anticipation of organs on the way. Hopefully everything was a go and she got the transplants. They are a lovely family and we will hope for the best for them. Definitely keep Julie in your prayers.
Not a lot of new stuff here. Hopefully recovery will pick up so we can get surgery number 2 scheduled. We can do that as early as next week. I don't think Mark will be ready then, but we don't want to wait too long and delay the time between surgery and chemo by too much. We want to increase the odds of beating this cancer and so we're anxious to get "the show on the road" as they say.
God bless!!!
Eugenie sent an email today. She heard from Julie's mom (the girl in Pittsburgh waiting on a multi-organ transplant). They headed to the hospital this morning in anticipation of organs on the way. Hopefully everything was a go and she got the transplants. They are a lovely family and we will hope for the best for them. Definitely keep Julie in your prayers.
Not a lot of new stuff here. Hopefully recovery will pick up so we can get surgery number 2 scheduled. We can do that as early as next week. I don't think Mark will be ready then, but we don't want to wait too long and delay the time between surgery and chemo by too much. We want to increase the odds of beating this cancer and so we're anxious to get "the show on the road" as they say.
God bless!!!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
June 22
Hi everyone. Sorry for the delay in updates. I've been out of town with Calen's travel ball team since Friday at 2pm and just got back into Auburn around 8pm tonight.
Mark is doing well. He continues to heal and had a quiet weekend with all of us gone. His mother stayed here to help take care of him and I think they just sat around and didn't do a whole lot. I'm sure they both enjoyed the quiet time. It is hectic around here with all 3 kids at times. Mark's incision continues to heal. We have an appointment tomorrow morning at the Surgery office to have them look at it. It is still draining some from the bottom where it is open, but doesn't look infected. It will have to heal from the inside out and will take a while in that spot. The rest of the incision is looking really nice.
We will have one more week with the catheter in. Pray hard this week that Mark is successful. That has been REALLY frustrating for him!!! He is still taking the Flomax every night.
Mark hasn't really started putting his weight back on. I had forgotten how thin he'd gotten until I saw him again after being away for the weekend. He has lost so much muscle mass in his legs. Hopefully we can get him up and moving more to help that out some.
Calen's team did well in Hoover this weekend. They placed 2nd overall which was outstanding. We were really pround of them. Next weekend Colton has a tournament in Alabaster. Mark is hoping to feel well enough to travel for it and maybe get to travel from the hotel to the game for an inning or two now and then. We will see how that goes.
For all of you prayer warriors out there, keep praying for healing and strength for Mark's body. Pray that all the cancer cells were destroyed and that the upcoming surgery and chemo go smoothly. God bless!!!
Mark is doing well. He continues to heal and had a quiet weekend with all of us gone. His mother stayed here to help take care of him and I think they just sat around and didn't do a whole lot. I'm sure they both enjoyed the quiet time. It is hectic around here with all 3 kids at times. Mark's incision continues to heal. We have an appointment tomorrow morning at the Surgery office to have them look at it. It is still draining some from the bottom where it is open, but doesn't look infected. It will have to heal from the inside out and will take a while in that spot. The rest of the incision is looking really nice.
We will have one more week with the catheter in. Pray hard this week that Mark is successful. That has been REALLY frustrating for him!!! He is still taking the Flomax every night.
Mark hasn't really started putting his weight back on. I had forgotten how thin he'd gotten until I saw him again after being away for the weekend. He has lost so much muscle mass in his legs. Hopefully we can get him up and moving more to help that out some.
Calen's team did well in Hoover this weekend. They placed 2nd overall which was outstanding. We were really pround of them. Next weekend Colton has a tournament in Alabaster. Mark is hoping to feel well enough to travel for it and maybe get to travel from the hotel to the game for an inning or two now and then. We will see how that goes.
For all of you prayer warriors out there, keep praying for healing and strength for Mark's body. Pray that all the cancer cells were destroyed and that the upcoming surgery and chemo go smoothly. God bless!!!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
June 19
Hello. We had an exciting night last night. Mark starting having a harder and harder time urinating as the evening progressed yesterday. By bedtime, he wasn't able to go at all. We went to sleep hoping for the best, but a little nervous. Mark woke at 1:45 in quite a bit of pain and misery. He couldn't go and we had to drive to the ER. It was a LONG wait!!!! It took forever and he was in quite a bit of discomfort in the mean time. After the catheter, he was ready to leave, but they made us wait on urine tests, etc. He wasn't excited about all of that and we didn't get home until 5:15 this morning. We were both exhausted and ready for some sleep.
We called Dr McKenzie's office and waited on a return phone call on what the next step should be. They finally called back to inform us he would be in surgery all day and wouldn't come back to the office. Luckily, he gave me his pager number and told me to page him to give him updates on Mark, so I paged him and got to speak with him. He felt we should leave the catheter in another week and suggested even waiting until a week from Monday so that he would be in the office all day if we needed him. Mark wasn't thrilled, but it beats the alternative.
There is some talk that a nerve was cut during surgery and Mark's bladder isn't working at all. I don't think that to be the case since he got out almost a liter yesterday before things stopped again. Anyway, Dr. McKenzie just thinks he needs more time from this extensive surgery they did in the pelvis. They did a lot of dissection around the rectum, prostate, bladder and such. Mark will continue the Flomax to shrink the prostate tissue and we hope that helps some.
I know this may be way more details than some of you care to hear. Sorry.
Mark continues to heal. His wound looks good. They are leaving the bottom part open and letting it heal from the inside out. We will see the surgeon again Monday morning to let them peek at it.
God bless!!!!
We called Dr McKenzie's office and waited on a return phone call on what the next step should be. They finally called back to inform us he would be in surgery all day and wouldn't come back to the office. Luckily, he gave me his pager number and told me to page him to give him updates on Mark, so I paged him and got to speak with him. He felt we should leave the catheter in another week and suggested even waiting until a week from Monday so that he would be in the office all day if we needed him. Mark wasn't thrilled, but it beats the alternative.
There is some talk that a nerve was cut during surgery and Mark's bladder isn't working at all. I don't think that to be the case since he got out almost a liter yesterday before things stopped again. Anyway, Dr. McKenzie just thinks he needs more time from this extensive surgery they did in the pelvis. They did a lot of dissection around the rectum, prostate, bladder and such. Mark will continue the Flomax to shrink the prostate tissue and we hope that helps some.
I know this may be way more details than some of you care to hear. Sorry.
Mark continues to heal. His wound looks good. They are leaving the bottom part open and letting it heal from the inside out. We will see the surgeon again Monday morning to let them peek at it.
God bless!!!!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
June 18
Hello to all. Mark had a good day today. We woke early and we got the catheter out at 5:30 am. He is doing well without it so far and he did not have to go back in to see the urologist today. We will keep our fingers crossed that we don't end up there tomorrow or later this week.
We saw Dr. Farmer today. It was a long wait in the office, but always worth it to see her. She is such a gem!!! She was amazed at how great Mark looked after reading the operative report and pathology report. I'm telling you they are impressive. It was quite the operation. Mark's weight was down 25 lbs total. I think maybe he's hit the bottom of the weight loss now. His appetite is slowly picking up some, so we'll see. He is making slow progress, but progress nevertheless. He was even talking some of travelling to Birmingham this weekend to see Calen's last travel ball tournament. I don't know that it will be possible, but we'll see. He would definitely have to stay in the hotel most of the time, but we might be able to get him out for an inning or two now and then. (Then again, we might just be crazy!!!!)
Thanks again for all the support and prayers. God bless!!!!
We saw Dr. Farmer today. It was a long wait in the office, but always worth it to see her. She is such a gem!!! She was amazed at how great Mark looked after reading the operative report and pathology report. I'm telling you they are impressive. It was quite the operation. Mark's weight was down 25 lbs total. I think maybe he's hit the bottom of the weight loss now. His appetite is slowly picking up some, so we'll see. He is making slow progress, but progress nevertheless. He was even talking some of travelling to Birmingham this weekend to see Calen's last travel ball tournament. I don't know that it will be possible, but we'll see. He would definitely have to stay in the hotel most of the time, but we might be able to get him out for an inning or two now and then. (Then again, we might just be crazy!!!!)
Thanks again for all the support and prayers. God bless!!!!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
June 17
Hello. Mark made it to both doctor's appointments yesterday. He did not get the catheter taken out as we'd hoped. Our appointment with Dr. McKenzie was late in the day and they were afraid if Mark couldn't go, we'd end up in the emergency room late in the night. We didn't like the sounds of that one either, so we agreed to leave it longer. Dr. McKenzie is in surgery all day today, so we will try early Wednesday morning to get the catheter out and see how he does. If Mark can't go, we can get him to the office to have it replaced. They won't make him wait like that mean nurse in Pittsburgh!!!!!
Mark is making slow strides toward recovery. It is definitely like baby steps. His appetite is slowly returning. We are glad about that. He is supposed to eat 6 small meals daily instead of 3 large ones and that takes some getting used to. He doesn't like that much.
We are slowly getting things caught up and back into a routine. I plan to get back to work tomorrow afternoon after Mark's appointment with Dr. Farmer.
Thanks for all of the support. God bless!!!
Mark is making slow strides toward recovery. It is definitely like baby steps. His appetite is slowly returning. We are glad about that. He is supposed to eat 6 small meals daily instead of 3 large ones and that takes some getting used to. He doesn't like that much.
We are slowly getting things caught up and back into a routine. I plan to get back to work tomorrow afternoon after Mark's appointment with Dr. Farmer.
Thanks for all of the support. God bless!!!
Monday, June 16, 2008
June 16
Hello and happy belated Father's Day to all of you dads. We had a busy one. Mark is still feeling pretty weak and tired, but makes slow progress every day. He had WAY more output from his ileostomy yesterday than he was supposed to, so we were chasing it all day with tons of Benefiber and Immodium. Fun, right??? Anyway, it is better today.
After his shower yesterday, his incision opened up at the bottom. It was gaping open with innerds showing. Of course it is Sunday when this happens, right? I went to the store to get steri strips and just closed it back together and we called Dr. Farmer's office this morning. They got us in with Dr. Lock at the Surgery Clinic bright and early for a dressing change and once over. We will see them back next week. Dr. Lock actually wants to leave part of it open to drain, so we'll keep our eye on it for signs of infection. We will see the urologist later today and are hoping for the catheter to be removed.
We see Dr. Farmer on Wednesday morning. We dropped off the surgery note and pathology report (it was also 8 pages long). WOW!!! That was a lot of cancer to talk about, huh????
Mark's diet is not restricted much with his ileostomy, but he is forbidden to have anything with nuts or seeds including fruits with seeds. He also cannot have fruits with skins (like grapes). He cannot have dried fruits or pepper or whole wheat. He is supposed to limit his onions, but can have them.
Our kids did not get home until late Sunday from their tournaments. It felt GREAT to see them again. I hugged Emily so tight she told me she couldn't breath. I think they all great at least an inch. It was a wonderful feeling to have them all home again. We got to hear about the boys' tournaments and how they did and hear about all of Emily's adventures in the hotel pool, elevators, etc. We really missed them dearly!!!
Thanks so much for all the support. We pray now for quick healing of Mark's body and restored strength. God bless!!!
After his shower yesterday, his incision opened up at the bottom. It was gaping open with innerds showing. Of course it is Sunday when this happens, right? I went to the store to get steri strips and just closed it back together and we called Dr. Farmer's office this morning. They got us in with Dr. Lock at the Surgery Clinic bright and early for a dressing change and once over. We will see them back next week. Dr. Lock actually wants to leave part of it open to drain, so we'll keep our eye on it for signs of infection. We will see the urologist later today and are hoping for the catheter to be removed.
We see Dr. Farmer on Wednesday morning. We dropped off the surgery note and pathology report (it was also 8 pages long). WOW!!! That was a lot of cancer to talk about, huh????
Mark's diet is not restricted much with his ileostomy, but he is forbidden to have anything with nuts or seeds including fruits with seeds. He also cannot have fruits with skins (like grapes). He cannot have dried fruits or pepper or whole wheat. He is supposed to limit his onions, but can have them.
Our kids did not get home until late Sunday from their tournaments. It felt GREAT to see them again. I hugged Emily so tight she told me she couldn't breath. I think they all great at least an inch. It was a wonderful feeling to have them all home again. We got to hear about the boys' tournaments and how they did and hear about all of Emily's adventures in the hotel pool, elevators, etc. We really missed them dearly!!!
Thanks so much for all the support. We pray now for quick healing of Mark's body and restored strength. God bless!!!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
June 14
Hi everyone. We're HOME!!!!! Yeah!!!! We made it thanks to a pilot named Barry Jeffries who is a radiologist from Atlanta and he flies for Angel Flight. He flew to Pittsburgh this morning and picked us up. We left Pittsburgh right when the storm came through and that was exciting. We were in a 6 seater. I am not a big fan of flying, so I was saying a lot of prayers through this flight. I kept thinking that God wouldn't let an "Angel Flight" crash right???? Anyway, our 3 hour trip took 4 because our pilot had to fly around numerous thunderstorms, but he did an awesome job and was super nice to volunteer his time for us.
We flew right in to Auburn's airport and Keven Yost and John and Debby Jahera met us there. It was great to get into a car and drive home. Mark took his pain medicine, ate a few bites of soup for lunch and went straight to bed. He needed the rest as he looked pretty miserable on the flight. He just couldn't get comfortable. He started throwing up before we left for the airport and I wondered if we'd even make it for a while. I am exhausted, but too tired to sleep if that makes any sense.
I can't wait until the kids get home tomorrow. I know it will be chaos, but I cannot wait to hug them all and see them. It has been great having Brent and Kathy here to care for them for such a long period of time. I don't know what we would have done without them.
Mark got an autographed Auburn football and helmut signed by Tommy Tubberville from the Finance department here at Auburn. They sent the football to the hospital so we displayed it for all the northerners to see in Pittsburgh and they gave Mark the helmut at the airport today. It was quite the awesome gift. Mark has been blessed with such an awesome department and a wonderful group of colleagues. Thanks to all of you!!!!
Mark is still quite weak and will require a prolonged period to recover from this surgery. We have 2 doctors appointments this week and hopefully everything goes well. We are hoping to get rid of one of the tubes/drains on Monday. The other will be several weeks.
Thanks for all the prayers and support. We have felt blessed and loved. God bless!!!!
We flew right in to Auburn's airport and Keven Yost and John and Debby Jahera met us there. It was great to get into a car and drive home. Mark took his pain medicine, ate a few bites of soup for lunch and went straight to bed. He needed the rest as he looked pretty miserable on the flight. He just couldn't get comfortable. He started throwing up before we left for the airport and I wondered if we'd even make it for a while. I am exhausted, but too tired to sleep if that makes any sense.
I can't wait until the kids get home tomorrow. I know it will be chaos, but I cannot wait to hug them all and see them. It has been great having Brent and Kathy here to care for them for such a long period of time. I don't know what we would have done without them.
Mark got an autographed Auburn football and helmut signed by Tommy Tubberville from the Finance department here at Auburn. They sent the football to the hospital so we displayed it for all the northerners to see in Pittsburgh and they gave Mark the helmut at the airport today. It was quite the awesome gift. Mark has been blessed with such an awesome department and a wonderful group of colleagues. Thanks to all of you!!!!
Mark is still quite weak and will require a prolonged period to recover from this surgery. We have 2 doctors appointments this week and hopefully everything goes well. We are hoping to get rid of one of the tubes/drains on Monday. The other will be several weeks.
Thanks for all the prayers and support. We have felt blessed and loved. God bless!!!!
Friday, June 13, 2008
June 13
Hi. Mark is feeling a little bit better today. He has been a tad more active, but still wanted to be pushed downstairs for breakfast and lunch in his wheelchair. He is making baby steps and I am happy about that.
We heard from Angel Flight today and they have scheduled a flight for us to return to Auburn tomorrow. We are supposed to leave Pittsburgh at 10am and will have to make a stop somewhere for fuel. We will fly directly into the Auburn airport. They said the plane we will use is a nice jet. We will see. We have to shave our luggage down to 25 lbs in a soft duffle bag, so I made a trip on the shuttle to the Univ of Pittsburgh book store today to purchase one. The campus is beautiful. I will send all the nonessential stuff home in the suitcase today by mail. Hopefully all goes as planned. I think they are predicting storms both here and in Auburn tomorrow. Pray that the weather cooperates.
Brent and Kathy are out of town in Pensacola with Colton and Emily for a baseball tournament and Calen is spending time with the Brooks' and they will take him to his tournament in Gadsen this weekend. I hate missing their games.
We have met so many people in the family house waiting on organ transplants. It is really heart breaking.
Keep Mark in your prayers as always. God bless!!
We heard from Angel Flight today and they have scheduled a flight for us to return to Auburn tomorrow. We are supposed to leave Pittsburgh at 10am and will have to make a stop somewhere for fuel. We will fly directly into the Auburn airport. They said the plane we will use is a nice jet. We will see. We have to shave our luggage down to 25 lbs in a soft duffle bag, so I made a trip on the shuttle to the Univ of Pittsburgh book store today to purchase one. The campus is beautiful. I will send all the nonessential stuff home in the suitcase today by mail. Hopefully all goes as planned. I think they are predicting storms both here and in Auburn tomorrow. Pray that the weather cooperates.
Brent and Kathy are out of town in Pensacola with Colton and Emily for a baseball tournament and Calen is spending time with the Brooks' and they will take him to his tournament in Gadsen this weekend. I hate missing their games.
We have met so many people in the family house waiting on organ transplants. It is really heart breaking.
Keep Mark in your prayers as always. God bless!!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
June 12
Hi everyone. Mark is having a better day. He got up and took his first shower since surgery. It was quite the adventure. (I HAVE been giving him sponge baths, so he hasn't been stinky). I think he felt good having the warm water run over him. It did wear him out, though. We went downstairs for breakfast and he was ready for a nap.
We made it to Dr. Bartlett's office. They removed his 44 staples and he was wishing he'd taken 2 pain pills before we left instead of just the one. He made it. He has lost 22 pounds so far and I don't think he has hit the bottom yet. His appetite is still poor. I left him with a chocolate Ensure before I came for this update. I am pushing calories as much as I can, but he just can't tolerate much yet. 25 pound weight loss is pretty normal for this surgery, but I think Mark is going to go over that. He is pretty thin. He walked a little today, but only a few steps. His blood pressure was only 84/60 in the office and we're pushing fluids.
We got the surgery note to bring to Dr Farmer's office and it is about 8 pages long. WOW!!!! It is a tough read. They really did a number on him. A lot of his tumor wasn't aggressive which was good news, but there were 2 instead of just one in the colon like they'd originally thought. They were definitely cancerous. All of the lymph nodes were benign which is great news.
We are hanging tough and Mark will have a long road of rehab ahead. We will have to start fattening him back up so we can get him back up here in 4 to 5 weeks for a takedown of the ileostomy and then restart the chemotherapy. It will all be worth it in the end.
Thanks for all of the support.
God bless!!!!
We made it to Dr. Bartlett's office. They removed his 44 staples and he was wishing he'd taken 2 pain pills before we left instead of just the one. He made it. He has lost 22 pounds so far and I don't think he has hit the bottom yet. His appetite is still poor. I left him with a chocolate Ensure before I came for this update. I am pushing calories as much as I can, but he just can't tolerate much yet. 25 pound weight loss is pretty normal for this surgery, but I think Mark is going to go over that. He is pretty thin. He walked a little today, but only a few steps. His blood pressure was only 84/60 in the office and we're pushing fluids.
We got the surgery note to bring to Dr Farmer's office and it is about 8 pages long. WOW!!!! It is a tough read. They really did a number on him. A lot of his tumor wasn't aggressive which was good news, but there were 2 instead of just one in the colon like they'd originally thought. They were definitely cancerous. All of the lymph nodes were benign which is great news.
We are hanging tough and Mark will have a long road of rehab ahead. We will have to start fattening him back up so we can get him back up here in 4 to 5 weeks for a takedown of the ileostomy and then restart the chemotherapy. It will all be worth it in the end.
Thanks for all of the support.
God bless!!!!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
June 11
Hello. We are "home" at the Family House now. We left the hospital yesterday afternoon. We wheeled Mark across the busy intersection in the wheelchair. He wasn't fond of all the bumps, but we made it. He has been resting since. He hasn't gotten up to walk any in the last 4 days and we are trying hard to motivate him to get up and move more. He gets up to sit in the chair, but has refused to walk.
We went downstairs for dinner last night and Mark wanted us to take him in the wheelchair as with breakfast. He has managed to back off of his pain medication some. I think he is less anxious about it now that he is in control of administering it. He is still pretty sore and is having a lot of output from the ileostomy. We have to watch that closely as dehydration is common and a lot of patients with these end up readmitted with dehydration. They have put him on fiber supplements 5 times daily to try and slow things down. We will see.
We see Dr. Bartlett tomorrow for our appointment and are scheduled back in Auburn to see Dr. McKenzie with urology Monday and hopefully get the catheter out. We will see Dr Farmer on Wednesday. It will be busy.
My mom is leaving within the hour, so it will just be Mark and I. I hope we'll manage on our own. I think we'll do okay.
Mark's laptop isn't working now, so I have to use the computer at the Family House and it blocks this website, so I ran across the street to the hospital for this update. That should be fun. I will try to keep everyone updated.
God bless!!!
We went downstairs for dinner last night and Mark wanted us to take him in the wheelchair as with breakfast. He has managed to back off of his pain medication some. I think he is less anxious about it now that he is in control of administering it. He is still pretty sore and is having a lot of output from the ileostomy. We have to watch that closely as dehydration is common and a lot of patients with these end up readmitted with dehydration. They have put him on fiber supplements 5 times daily to try and slow things down. We will see.
We see Dr. Bartlett tomorrow for our appointment and are scheduled back in Auburn to see Dr. McKenzie with urology Monday and hopefully get the catheter out. We will see Dr Farmer on Wednesday. It will be busy.
My mom is leaving within the hour, so it will just be Mark and I. I hope we'll manage on our own. I think we'll do okay.
Mark's laptop isn't working now, so I have to use the computer at the Family House and it blocks this website, so I ran across the street to the hospital for this update. That should be fun. I will try to keep everyone updated.
God bless!!!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
June 10
Hello. We are waiting to be discharged from the hospital today. It feels good to be making that step after 12 days here. Mark has been up in the chair and finally has on his street clothes and looks a bit more like himself. We are now just waiting on the final okay. We secured a wheelchair to use while we're here in Pittsburgh.
We will have a follow up appointment with Dr. Bartlett Thursday and our plan is to fly into Auburn on Saturday, but the weather both here and there is calling for storms, so we'll see.
We will be at the Family House until we can get home. It will feel so good to sleep in our own bed and to see and hug the kids again. Can't wait!!!!
My mom flies out tomorrow at 3:30, so it will be just Mark and I. I think we'll just chill out and relax. Hopefully all goes smoothly.
Continue to pray for healing. God bless!!!!
We will have a follow up appointment with Dr. Bartlett Thursday and our plan is to fly into Auburn on Saturday, but the weather both here and there is calling for storms, so we'll see.
We will be at the Family House until we can get home. It will feel so good to sleep in our own bed and to see and hug the kids again. Can't wait!!!!
My mom flies out tomorrow at 3:30, so it will be just Mark and I. I think we'll just chill out and relax. Hopefully all goes smoothly.
Continue to pray for healing. God bless!!!!
Monday, June 9, 2008
June 9-Evening update
Hello. We did not get to go home from the hospital today. They decided to keep Mark tonight and will probably discharge him tomorrow. He had done okay today with just the pain pills. He has tried hard not to ask for any IV medication to control his pain. He suffers through the last hour or so. They have offered him extended release pills or even pain patches, but Mark feels he is starting to get better control and wants to stick with this overnight. We'll see.
Mark got up in the chair for a few hours twice today, but didn't do any walks in the halls yet. He just hasn't felt up to it. He is pretty weak and has lost a lot of muscle mass. We are pushing the Ensure and protein as much as possible. His diet is mostly soft stuff right now.
We will need a wheelchair to push him around when we come to the Family House tomorrow. He isn't strong enough to walk very far, but hopefully that starts coming soon.
Andy left today at 2pm and was driving to South Carolina for a conference which was another 8 hour trip. He was quite the trooper with all that driving.
Keep praying for Mark's recovery. Also pray for Julie (I gave you the wrong name 2 days ag0) who needs a multi organ transplant). They have been staying in the Family House for 1 1/2 months now this go round and stayed several weeks back in January. She is young adult and weighs only 61 pounds. She really needs those organs.
God bless!!!
Mark got up in the chair for a few hours twice today, but didn't do any walks in the halls yet. He just hasn't felt up to it. He is pretty weak and has lost a lot of muscle mass. We are pushing the Ensure and protein as much as possible. His diet is mostly soft stuff right now.
We will need a wheelchair to push him around when we come to the Family House tomorrow. He isn't strong enough to walk very far, but hopefully that starts coming soon.
Andy left today at 2pm and was driving to South Carolina for a conference which was another 8 hour trip. He was quite the trooper with all that driving.
Keep praying for Mark's recovery. Also pray for Julie (I gave you the wrong name 2 days ag0) who needs a multi organ transplant). They have been staying in the Family House for 1 1/2 months now this go round and stayed several weeks back in January. She is young adult and weighs only 61 pounds. She really needs those organs.
God bless!!!
June 9
Good morning. Mark had an okay night. He is still having quite a bit of pain and required 4 additional hits of IV Dilaudid yesterday in spite of 15mg of oxycodone every 4 hours. We are going to try him without the IV meds today since he cannot be discharged with the IV stuff. If he does okay, we can go home tonight (to the Family House).
Mark still needs to have several things done before we go home, so if we go I have a feeling it will be LATE today. We will probably need a wheelchair to use this week and a shower chair for the Family House. I will have to get him to Dr. Bartlett's office either Thursday or Friday for his appointment and there is no way he can walk to that. It is a city block with a steep hill.
We will go home with the catheter in and he may get his 44 staples removed in Dr. Bartlett's office. If not, I can do that when we get home. We will see.
Andy spent the night with Mark in the hospital. He wasn't very happy with Mark's nurse today when she came in and asked him if he was Mark's dad. He said he preferred his nurse yesterday much better. haha
Andy will leave today, but Mark has enjoyed visiting with him. Hopefully the rest of the week goes smoothly and we're home in time for Father's Day.
God bless!!!
Mark still needs to have several things done before we go home, so if we go I have a feeling it will be LATE today. We will probably need a wheelchair to use this week and a shower chair for the Family House. I will have to get him to Dr. Bartlett's office either Thursday or Friday for his appointment and there is no way he can walk to that. It is a city block with a steep hill.
We will go home with the catheter in and he may get his 44 staples removed in Dr. Bartlett's office. If not, I can do that when we get home. We will see.
Andy spent the night with Mark in the hospital. He wasn't very happy with Mark's nurse today when she came in and asked him if he was Mark's dad. He said he preferred his nurse yesterday much better. haha
Andy will leave today, but Mark has enjoyed visiting with him. Hopefully the rest of the week goes smoothly and we're home in time for Father's Day.
God bless!!!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
June 8
Hello everyone. Mark is doing a little better today. He had a very rough day yesterday. They stopped his PCA pump with IV pain medication that he could control by pushing a button when he needed it and put him on pain pills that required the nurses to bring them to him. That was a nightmare. The pain pills weren't strong enough and he had a terrible nurse from 6am to 6pm yesterday. She would only bring him 1 pain pill instead of 2 and then made him wait while he was in terrible pain to be cathed. Trust me, Mark told the doctors all about it this morning and they were sympathetic. They said if a grown man was begging to be cathed, that was some pretty SEVERE pain!!! Anyway, she has been the only bad nurse we've had the ENTIRE stay here. Everyone else has been just great!!! Thank goodness our evening nurse came on and got right on top of things. He started giving Mark pain meds a little earlier than scheduled at first and when that didn't work, he was right on the phone calling the doctors getting orders for the IV stuff. We were very thankful to have him here. Mark was more comfortable.
They are changing medications today to try and get better control of Mark's pain since he can't go home on IV pain meds. So far it's not working, he is still requiring some IV stuff. This may prolong his stay a bit. We were hoping for discharge from the hospital tomorrow and flying home from Pittsburgh on Saturday. We will see.
Mark will go home with an indwelling catheter and we will have to see a urologist when we get to town to see if we can get it out after a week or two. Not fun, but it beats the alternative.
Eugenie spent her last night here with Mark in the hospital. She leaves this afternoon at 2:30 for the airport.
We are really missing the kids back home and I think they are really missing us as well. We have been able to video conference with them a little bit and that has been helpful. I know Brent and Kathy are worn out from running them all over Auburn and the entire state with their baseball tournaments. I can't wait to give all of them a great big hug!!!!
Keep praying for Mark's healing and strength as he will have another surgery in the next 4-5 weeks followed by 6 months of chemotherapy. Also for all of you prayer warriors out there, pray for Nancy who is a young girl staying at the Family House and is waiting on a multi organ transplant. Their family has been there for several months now and they are a wonderful family. God bless you all!!!!
They are changing medications today to try and get better control of Mark's pain since he can't go home on IV pain meds. So far it's not working, he is still requiring some IV stuff. This may prolong his stay a bit. We were hoping for discharge from the hospital tomorrow and flying home from Pittsburgh on Saturday. We will see.
Mark will go home with an indwelling catheter and we will have to see a urologist when we get to town to see if we can get it out after a week or two. Not fun, but it beats the alternative.
Eugenie spent her last night here with Mark in the hospital. She leaves this afternoon at 2:30 for the airport.
We are really missing the kids back home and I think they are really missing us as well. We have been able to video conference with them a little bit and that has been helpful. I know Brent and Kathy are worn out from running them all over Auburn and the entire state with their baseball tournaments. I can't wait to give all of them a great big hug!!!!
Keep praying for Mark's healing and strength as he will have another surgery in the next 4-5 weeks followed by 6 months of chemotherapy. Also for all of you prayer warriors out there, pray for Nancy who is a young girl staying at the Family House and is waiting on a multi organ transplant. Their family has been there for several months now and they are a wonderful family. God bless you all!!!!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
June 7
Hi everyone. We had a bit of a rough day today. It started out okay. Mark didn't sleep much because of 2 fire "drills" in the middle of the night. Go figure. What hospital does a fire "drill" in the middle of the night with alarms ringing constantly???? Anyway, there wasn't a lot of sleeping going on.
Mark couldn't urinate and had to be cathed again in the middle of the night. They decided to let him try once more on his own today, but if he couldn't go, they were going to put in an indwelling catheter that he will go home with and we will have to see a urologist upon return to Auburn. Mark wasn't thrilled, but welcomed the relief the catheter brought. Of course he couldn't go. His nurse today isn't so kind and decided she was going to wait until 2pm to see if Mark could pee on his own. He was in a lot of pain and sweating and just MISERABLE. She was nowhere to be found, but showed up at exactly 2 pm with the catheter. I wanted to hit her!!!! I hope someday she gets the favor returned. It really was not nice at all. Mark had way more than a liter of fluid in his bladder and after the relief, he took some pain medicine and went to bed. He is just wiped out. Poor guy!!
He walked outside this morning before all of the above stuff happened, but that has been his only walk since nurse Ratchet decided to make Mark suffer the rest of the day. (Can you tell I'm a little upset and bitter?????) (Also sleep deprived). That has been Mark's only walk today, so she has really caused a setback as opposed to helping Mark.
Hopefully things will start looking up this evening after Mark rests.
Matt spent the night with Mark last night and was very tired today. He took off for the airport at 1:25 today and should be landing in Oklahoma this evening.
Andy, Eugenie and Sue (my mom) are still here. Eugenie leaves tomorrow and Andy will be leaving for a conference on Monday.
We are hoping for a discharge on Monday and a follow up appointment with Dr. Bartlett on Thursday or Friday and will most likely fly back on Saturday.
Keep praying for healing (and thanks for listening to me vent today). God bless!!!
Mark couldn't urinate and had to be cathed again in the middle of the night. They decided to let him try once more on his own today, but if he couldn't go, they were going to put in an indwelling catheter that he will go home with and we will have to see a urologist upon return to Auburn. Mark wasn't thrilled, but welcomed the relief the catheter brought. Of course he couldn't go. His nurse today isn't so kind and decided she was going to wait until 2pm to see if Mark could pee on his own. He was in a lot of pain and sweating and just MISERABLE. She was nowhere to be found, but showed up at exactly 2 pm with the catheter. I wanted to hit her!!!! I hope someday she gets the favor returned. It really was not nice at all. Mark had way more than a liter of fluid in his bladder and after the relief, he took some pain medicine and went to bed. He is just wiped out. Poor guy!!
He walked outside this morning before all of the above stuff happened, but that has been his only walk since nurse Ratchet decided to make Mark suffer the rest of the day. (Can you tell I'm a little upset and bitter?????) (Also sleep deprived). That has been Mark's only walk today, so she has really caused a setback as opposed to helping Mark.
Hopefully things will start looking up this evening after Mark rests.
Matt spent the night with Mark last night and was very tired today. He took off for the airport at 1:25 today and should be landing in Oklahoma this evening.
Andy, Eugenie and Sue (my mom) are still here. Eugenie leaves tomorrow and Andy will be leaving for a conference on Monday.
We are hoping for a discharge on Monday and a follow up appointment with Dr. Bartlett on Thursday or Friday and will most likely fly back on Saturday.
Keep praying for healing (and thanks for listening to me vent today). God bless!!!
Friday, June 6, 2008
June 6-Evening update
Hello. Mark is still doing well. He was not able to urinate after the catheter was pulled again today and had to have an in and out catheter tonight. They have continued the Flomax and the antibiotics for the urinary tract infection. Hopefully tomorrow things will be better.
Andy made it in from Auburn this evening to visit Mark and will be staying with us a few days in the Family House. Mark was excited to see Andy and enjoyed the visit. They will have more time tomorrow to catch up.
Mark continues to have episodes of confusion usually after he wakes from a nap. I think it is a combination of the narcotics, chronic sleep deprivation, and his prolonged hospitalization. He gets disoriented and I think he actually starts hallucinating some. We got a wheelchair this evening and took him outside some to help him out. He was pretty oriented tonight and lucid.
They are still letting him have only a few sips of clear liquids by mouth. He can slowly increase the amounts now, but he is taking it slow as to not get nauseated. He is doing well with it.
Mark's hemoglobin (the repeat one) came back at 7.9 this morning. They had to replace his potassium with 4 cocktails. His white blood cell count returned to normal and he hasn't run a fever today. They were able to stop the Vancomycin when the blood cultures didn't start growing anything and the urine culture came back. They also discontinued Cipro and only have him on 1 antibiotic now.
Overall, we are making progress. The attending physician felt Mark would be here another 3 or 4 days. That will be provided Mark can urinate on his own soon. We will have to stay here in Pittsburgh another 3 days or so before we fly home.
Eugenie was able to arrange an Angel flight for our trip home which will be a private place flown by a volunteer and they should fly us directly into the Auburn airport. That will be nice not having to go through security and have the long waits in the airport with Mark's current health situation.
Matt will be flying home tomorrow to Oklahoma. He is spending his last night in the hospital with Mark.
Thanks to all for the support and love. God bless!!
Andy made it in from Auburn this evening to visit Mark and will be staying with us a few days in the Family House. Mark was excited to see Andy and enjoyed the visit. They will have more time tomorrow to catch up.
Mark continues to have episodes of confusion usually after he wakes from a nap. I think it is a combination of the narcotics, chronic sleep deprivation, and his prolonged hospitalization. He gets disoriented and I think he actually starts hallucinating some. We got a wheelchair this evening and took him outside some to help him out. He was pretty oriented tonight and lucid.
They are still letting him have only a few sips of clear liquids by mouth. He can slowly increase the amounts now, but he is taking it slow as to not get nauseated. He is doing well with it.
Mark's hemoglobin (the repeat one) came back at 7.9 this morning. They had to replace his potassium with 4 cocktails. His white blood cell count returned to normal and he hasn't run a fever today. They were able to stop the Vancomycin when the blood cultures didn't start growing anything and the urine culture came back. They also discontinued Cipro and only have him on 1 antibiotic now.
Overall, we are making progress. The attending physician felt Mark would be here another 3 or 4 days. That will be provided Mark can urinate on his own soon. We will have to stay here in Pittsburgh another 3 days or so before we fly home.
Eugenie was able to arrange an Angel flight for our trip home which will be a private place flown by a volunteer and they should fly us directly into the Auburn airport. That will be nice not having to go through security and have the long waits in the airport with Mark's current health situation.
Matt will be flying home tomorrow to Oklahoma. He is spending his last night in the hospital with Mark.
Thanks to all for the support and love. God bless!!
June 6
Mark is doing well today. He is up in the recliner and has already taken a walk this morning. He felt a little nauseated today, but they are slowly letting him take sips of water. YEAH!!!! He will get another dose of Flomax today and later will get the catheter out again. Hopefully this time it will stay out.
His hemoglobin came back at 6.4 this morning. We feel like it was diluted since it was drawn through his port with IV fluids. They just redrew another one and we're waiting on it. He really looks to good to have a number that low, but if it's true he will get blood today. They have slowed down on chasing the electrolytes. They are starting to normalize.
His temperature only went to 99.5 last night. He is still on the 3 antibiotics. When the preliminary blood cultures come back we hope to be able to stop some of them. We will see.
Overall, things are going in the right direction. Mark has a huge battle scar to show everyone when he gets back.
He is back to talking and is joking again. He is also entertaining us a lot at night. He gets a little confused in the middle of the night and says and does some funny things. It will make for good stories later on.
Keep Mark in you prayers as always. We have felt God's presence here with us. God bless!!!
His hemoglobin came back at 6.4 this morning. We feel like it was diluted since it was drawn through his port with IV fluids. They just redrew another one and we're waiting on it. He really looks to good to have a number that low, but if it's true he will get blood today. They have slowed down on chasing the electrolytes. They are starting to normalize.
His temperature only went to 99.5 last night. He is still on the 3 antibiotics. When the preliminary blood cultures come back we hope to be able to stop some of them. We will see.
Overall, things are going in the right direction. Mark has a huge battle scar to show everyone when he gets back.
He is back to talking and is joking again. He is also entertaining us a lot at night. He gets a little confused in the middle of the night and says and does some funny things. It will make for good stories later on.
Keep Mark in you prayers as always. We have felt God's presence here with us. God bless!!!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
June 5-afternoon update
Great news!!! The CT of the lungs, chest and pelvis were normal. No sign of blood clots, or fluid collections, etc. We were thankful to hear that. Mark is feeling much better since they have the antibiotics going. No fevers today.
The best news is that they pulled out the NG tube this afternoon. Mark was excited about that. We actually got a smile and took his picture. He is talking now, but has a very scratchy throat. His spirit is much better and he is up visiting with us.
It's amazing what a few hours can do.
We are waiting on the blood cultures to return. We should have some preliminary stuff in tomorrow. If nothing grows, we can probably stop the Vancomycin and maybe the Zosyn as to not overkill. Right now he is on 3 very powerful antibiotics.
Continue to keep Mark in your prayers. Things are looking up here in Pittsburgh. We are going to work on getting Mark up and out of bed now to get some of his strength back. Maybe they'll let him start having some liquids by mouth tomorrow. YEAH!!!!
God bless!!!
The best news is that they pulled out the NG tube this afternoon. Mark was excited about that. We actually got a smile and took his picture. He is talking now, but has a very scratchy throat. His spirit is much better and he is up visiting with us.
It's amazing what a few hours can do.
We are waiting on the blood cultures to return. We should have some preliminary stuff in tomorrow. If nothing grows, we can probably stop the Vancomycin and maybe the Zosyn as to not overkill. Right now he is on 3 very powerful antibiotics.
Continue to keep Mark in your prayers. Things are looking up here in Pittsburgh. We are going to work on getting Mark up and out of bed now to get some of his strength back. Maybe they'll let him start having some liquids by mouth tomorrow. YEAH!!!!
God bless!!!
June 5
Mark had the temperature up to 103.1 last night as I mentioned in last night's update. They started IV Cipro and cultured his urine and port sites. This morning, the attending came in on rounds and didn't like that much. Mark also developed tachycardia with a pulse of 130s. They gave him a fluid bolus to make sure he wasn't dehydrated, but they also did a peripheral blood culture and then started more broad spectrum antibiotics (Zosyn and Vancomycin) and are taking him down for CT of the chest, abdomen and pelvis this morning to make sure there isn't anything else going on.
His pulse is down to the 110s now. He is VERY uncomfortable because they had to give him the contrast for the CT down the NG tube and clamp it. His nurse was very good and gave him very small amounts over a long period of time, but he doesn't tolerate it well. He is begging to be hooked back up to suction. She only got 1/2 of the contrast in, but they are going to do the CT anyway and then hook him up to suction. She called the doctor and he said that was okay.
Mark's white blood cell count went from 6 to > 14 overnight so he definitely has an infection. They know the urine is infected, but they are making sure there isn't anything else they are missing since things changed so suddenly. His hemoglobin went down slightly to 8.2, but is remaining fairly constant now.
I will try to keep you posted when we know about the CT results.
Continue to pray for healing. God bless!!!!
His pulse is down to the 110s now. He is VERY uncomfortable because they had to give him the contrast for the CT down the NG tube and clamp it. His nurse was very good and gave him very small amounts over a long period of time, but he doesn't tolerate it well. He is begging to be hooked back up to suction. She only got 1/2 of the contrast in, but they are going to do the CT anyway and then hook him up to suction. She called the doctor and he said that was okay.
Mark's white blood cell count went from 6 to > 14 overnight so he definitely has an infection. They know the urine is infected, but they are making sure there isn't anything else they are missing since things changed so suddenly. His hemoglobin went down slightly to 8.2, but is remaining fairly constant now.
I will try to keep you posted when we know about the CT results.
Continue to pray for healing. God bless!!!!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
June 4-Evening update
Hello. It's been another long day. They are all starting to run together. Mark is hanging in there and being such a trooper. He had the in and out catheter earlier today, but still couldn't urinate later this evening and was getting uncomfortable. They offered him another in and out catheter or one that stayed in and he opted for the one that stayed in if that tells you how miserable he felt. They got out over a liter of fluid, so he really needed it.
Later, he spiked a temperature to 103.1 and then it came down to 101. They had to give him Tylenol down his NG tube and clamp it for 30 minutes so he could absorb some of the medicine. He was timing the 30 minutes and wanted the suction hooked up immediately. He was extremely nauseated. His temperature was down to 100.4 the last time they checked him. He does have a urinary tract infection and they've ordered IV antibiotics. Hopefully once they get them going, he will start feeling better.
Matt is staying the night with Mark tonight. Eugenie, Mom and I just came back to the Family House around 11pm. We're all pretty worn out.
Mark made it for 3 walks today in the halls. He didn't get in his 4th, but we gave him a little slack since he developed the fever and all. He really wants the tube out and is still using sign language and gestures as much as possible because his throat is that sore. They will give the tube another trial of being off of suction tomorrow to see how he does, but it looks like the tube will be in at least tomorrow and possibly longer.
Brent and Kathy have been quite busy taking care of Calen, Colton and Emily. They are constantly on the run and I think they're pretty worn out back in Auburn.
Continue to pray for Mark's healing. We appreciate all the love and support. God bless!!!!
Later, he spiked a temperature to 103.1 and then it came down to 101. They had to give him Tylenol down his NG tube and clamp it for 30 minutes so he could absorb some of the medicine. He was timing the 30 minutes and wanted the suction hooked up immediately. He was extremely nauseated. His temperature was down to 100.4 the last time they checked him. He does have a urinary tract infection and they've ordered IV antibiotics. Hopefully once they get them going, he will start feeling better.
Matt is staying the night with Mark tonight. Eugenie, Mom and I just came back to the Family House around 11pm. We're all pretty worn out.
Mark made it for 3 walks today in the halls. He didn't get in his 4th, but we gave him a little slack since he developed the fever and all. He really wants the tube out and is still using sign language and gestures as much as possible because his throat is that sore. They will give the tube another trial of being off of suction tomorrow to see how he does, but it looks like the tube will be in at least tomorrow and possibly longer.
Brent and Kathy have been quite busy taking care of Calen, Colton and Emily. They are constantly on the run and I think they're pretty worn out back in Auburn.
Continue to pray for Mark's healing. We appreciate all the love and support. God bless!!!!
June 4
Hello to all. Mark had an okay night. Eugenie spent the night with him. He rested well. He was not able to urinate as much as they needed him to and just before noon today they had to do an in and out cath on him. We requested lidocaine jelly to numb things up which helped. He had to take some Flomax to reduce the prostate swelling and now he is extremely nauseated and they have to reattatch the NG tube to suction. He cannot tolerate anything on his stomach yet which means that NG tube cannot come out yet. He had a lot of residuals after they clamped it off this morning as well. His ostomy site is starting to work some, but we're still patiently waiting.
He is having some pain and isn't getting up much. He just wants to stay in bed now since he feels so puny and dizzy. His hemoglobin came up a little to 8.4 this morning. They cut back on his IV fluids which helped with that. (He is not so volume overloaded).
He made one small lap in the hall this morning and we are trying to talk him into his second lap now (It's 2 pm here). He needs to get up 4 times today for walks. We will wait a bit to see if the nausea subsides with the meds she just gave and being hooked back up to NG suction.
No temperatures (YEAH!!!!) and incision looks good. He's not had any food now in 7 days and that doesn't help with the weak feelings. He did say that the Starbucks coffee smelled good this morning and we took that as a good sign.
Everyone up here will be watching the Penguins game tonight. Hopefully Mark will feel up to watching some of the game.
Keep the prayers of healing coming this way. God bless!!
He is having some pain and isn't getting up much. He just wants to stay in bed now since he feels so puny and dizzy. His hemoglobin came up a little to 8.4 this morning. They cut back on his IV fluids which helped with that. (He is not so volume overloaded).
He made one small lap in the hall this morning and we are trying to talk him into his second lap now (It's 2 pm here). He needs to get up 4 times today for walks. We will wait a bit to see if the nausea subsides with the meds she just gave and being hooked back up to NG suction.
No temperatures (YEAH!!!!) and incision looks good. He's not had any food now in 7 days and that doesn't help with the weak feelings. He did say that the Starbucks coffee smelled good this morning and we took that as a good sign.
Everyone up here will be watching the Penguins game tonight. Hopefully Mark will feel up to watching some of the game.
Keep the prayers of healing coming this way. God bless!!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
June 3-Evening update
Hello. Mark is making slow progress. He did well with the nerve blocks turned off this morning and his nurse pulled them out before noon today. He is now just using the PCA pump of Dilaudid for pain control and can still get IV narcotics every 8 minutes as he needs them by pushing his button. It seems to be doing the trick for the most part. He hurts a lot when he has to cough.
He has been up several times for short walks in the halls and has done well. We got up for a sponge bath as well. The catheter in his bladder was removed and he is having a hard time with that one. If he cannot urinate by late tonight, they may have to put the catheter back in. Trust me, he is trying REALLY hard to not have that happen.
He still has the NG tube in. The doctors discussed clamping it tomorrow for a trial run to see how he does. He is still having some nausea spells tonight and getting quite a bit out of it, so we'll see how that goes. If he can tolerate it through the day, they may pull that tube by tomorrow evening. That will be a big one for Mark since the tube is making his throat VERY sore. He refuses to talk for the most part and uses sign language and gestures to communicate as much as possible. It is really sad. (I know many of you can't imagine Mark not talking, but it's true!!!).
Mark's hemoglobin fell to 7.9 which is getting close to half of what he should be. He is pretty anemic and the debate is whether or not to give him a blood transfusion. Matt and I both think this may be his lowest day and he will start rebounding. If he is lower by much tomorrow, I am betting he will get blood. He is still dizzy and weak and it is impacting the activity he can tolerate.
I know it sounds like I am telling all the negative things, but Mark has really been a star patient and is right on course for this surgery or maybe a little ahead of the curve. He is stable and doing well. This is a huge surgery and is much harder on the body than bypass surgery per the surgeon's description. The average hospital stay after this surgery is 12-14 days.
We continue to give thanksgiving to God for the miracle of the surgery itself and for sending us here to Dr. Bartlett and his capable team of doctors and staff. We have been very blessed in our lives and we pray that we continue to see God's goodness. Thanks for the support and prayers. God bless!!!!
He has been up several times for short walks in the halls and has done well. We got up for a sponge bath as well. The catheter in his bladder was removed and he is having a hard time with that one. If he cannot urinate by late tonight, they may have to put the catheter back in. Trust me, he is trying REALLY hard to not have that happen.
He still has the NG tube in. The doctors discussed clamping it tomorrow for a trial run to see how he does. He is still having some nausea spells tonight and getting quite a bit out of it, so we'll see how that goes. If he can tolerate it through the day, they may pull that tube by tomorrow evening. That will be a big one for Mark since the tube is making his throat VERY sore. He refuses to talk for the most part and uses sign language and gestures to communicate as much as possible. It is really sad. (I know many of you can't imagine Mark not talking, but it's true!!!).
Mark's hemoglobin fell to 7.9 which is getting close to half of what he should be. He is pretty anemic and the debate is whether or not to give him a blood transfusion. Matt and I both think this may be his lowest day and he will start rebounding. If he is lower by much tomorrow, I am betting he will get blood. He is still dizzy and weak and it is impacting the activity he can tolerate.
I know it sounds like I am telling all the negative things, but Mark has really been a star patient and is right on course for this surgery or maybe a little ahead of the curve. He is stable and doing well. This is a huge surgery and is much harder on the body than bypass surgery per the surgeon's description. The average hospital stay after this surgery is 12-14 days.
We continue to give thanksgiving to God for the miracle of the surgery itself and for sending us here to Dr. Bartlett and his capable team of doctors and staff. We have been very blessed in our lives and we pray that we continue to see God's goodness. Thanks for the support and prayers. God bless!!!!
June 3
Hi everyone. We are to the point we are losing track of time and forgetting the days. Mark is doing well this morning. He was pretty worn out yesterday and didn't do much. He finally got out of bed last night and the entire family took him for a walk in the hall around 10:30. He did well and made it to the next room down the hall. He still isn't walking as far as he was in ICU, but we think a lot of that is due to his drop in hemoglobin and the fact that he just feels so weak.
Mark had a good night. He slept a lot which he really needed. We only had one incident when the NG tube came disconnected on accident and made a mess of the bed around 4 am, so we had the excitement of getting up and cleaning the bed and changing Mark at that time.
Mark is having a little nausea today, but not bad. We are waiting on his labs this morning. If his hemoglobin is stable we should be fine, but if it drops more they may give him some blood. They are trying to remove the oxygen today and may get rid of the catheter. He still has his NG tube and they will leave it in at least until tomorrow. His gut is starting to wake up some though and this is a very good sign.
I spent the night last night with him and Eugenie came over early this morning with coffee and apple fritters from Starbucks. YUM!!!
They stopped the nerve blocks in Mark's abdomen about 3 hours ago to see if he can do without them today. It takes about 3 hours for the medicine to wear off, so we'll see how he does. If he starts having a lot of pain, they'll turn them back on and try to stop them again tomorrow. If he does well, the anesthesia team will pull out the spinal blocks today.
Thanks everyone for all the messages and support. We are making tons of progress. Mark is definitely a star up here in Pittsburgh. God bless!!!!
Mark had a good night. He slept a lot which he really needed. We only had one incident when the NG tube came disconnected on accident and made a mess of the bed around 4 am, so we had the excitement of getting up and cleaning the bed and changing Mark at that time.
Mark is having a little nausea today, but not bad. We are waiting on his labs this morning. If his hemoglobin is stable we should be fine, but if it drops more they may give him some blood. They are trying to remove the oxygen today and may get rid of the catheter. He still has his NG tube and they will leave it in at least until tomorrow. His gut is starting to wake up some though and this is a very good sign.
I spent the night last night with him and Eugenie came over early this morning with coffee and apple fritters from Starbucks. YUM!!!
They stopped the nerve blocks in Mark's abdomen about 3 hours ago to see if he can do without them today. It takes about 3 hours for the medicine to wear off, so we'll see how he does. If he starts having a lot of pain, they'll turn them back on and try to stop them again tomorrow. If he does well, the anesthesia team will pull out the spinal blocks today.
Thanks everyone for all the messages and support. We are making tons of progress. Mark is definitely a star up here in Pittsburgh. God bless!!!!
Monday, June 2, 2008
June 2
Mark is having a little bit of a rough morning. Matt ended up staying the night with him. He feels very dizzy and much weaker. His hemoglobin has been dropping and is down to 8.2 which is getting pretty low. They have not ordered blood yet, but we suspect they might today. The attending hasn't rounded yet. His electrolytes are still abnormal. They have continually been chasing those with IV fluids and had to hang more bags of magnesium and phosphorus in addition to his regular stuff today.
We got up to walk this morning and he made it only a short distance and began getting very nauseated and dry heaving, so we quickly turned around and made it to the room. The nurse repositioned the NG tube (the one down his nose to his stomach) and they immediately got out 600 cc of bile green stomach juices which made Mark's nausea much better. The NG had been out of position for a while apparently. He is now resting more comfortably, but as you can see today has been a little tougher than we had anticipated.
I did manage to give him a bath while he was in the chair and I washed his hair which made him feel better. If he feels better this afternoon, they may let us wheel him outside in a wheelchair for some fresh air.
I don't think that there is anything abnormal, but just usual stuff that can happen after surgery. We are still quite pleased with Mark's progress and feel he is doing well.
Mark is in room 402 at UPMC Shadyside Hospital and the address is 5230 Centre Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15232-1381 for those of you asking for the address. We are staying in the Family House and our address is 5245 Centre Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15232 and we are in room 404.
Keep praying for a speedy recovery for Mark. God bless!!!!
We got up to walk this morning and he made it only a short distance and began getting very nauseated and dry heaving, so we quickly turned around and made it to the room. The nurse repositioned the NG tube (the one down his nose to his stomach) and they immediately got out 600 cc of bile green stomach juices which made Mark's nausea much better. The NG had been out of position for a while apparently. He is now resting more comfortably, but as you can see today has been a little tougher than we had anticipated.
I did manage to give him a bath while he was in the chair and I washed his hair which made him feel better. If he feels better this afternoon, they may let us wheel him outside in a wheelchair for some fresh air.
I don't think that there is anything abnormal, but just usual stuff that can happen after surgery. We are still quite pleased with Mark's progress and feel he is doing well.
Mark is in room 402 at UPMC Shadyside Hospital and the address is 5230 Centre Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15232-1381 for those of you asking for the address. We are staying in the Family House and our address is 5245 Centre Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15232 and we are in room 404.
Keep praying for a speedy recovery for Mark. God bless!!!!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
June 1
Mark moved out of the ICU around 6:45 this evening and is now in a regular room. He is doing well. He is still having some pain, but it is much better today. He has the paravertebral block which numbs the abdomen and the IV narcotic medication that he can get every 8 minutes on demand. He has been able to back off of the 8 minutes and is getting the pain medicine a little less frequently now. He was starting to get a little dizzy today because of the narcotics.
He still has oxygen, a NG tube which sucks out the gastric acids from the stomach and IV lines, but everything else is out of him. They pulled his dressing off of his belly today and we got to see his incision. He has a huge "zipper" from his lower breast bone to his pelvis. The incision looks good. He is a lot less swollen today. The resident called Mark the "star patient". He walked 4 times and sat in the chair 4 times today. He is truly amazing.
We are all a little worn out, especially Eugenie who pulled a 24 hour shift yesterday and then didn't sleep a lot today. She retired to the Family House after dinner tonight and hopefully will get some rest. Either Matt or I will stay overnight with Mark tonight.
Mark got to speak with the kids a couple of times today. Calen and Colton both wanted to give him updates on their baseball tournaments. Calen played all weekend in Alabaster and Brent spent all weekend there with Calen. Kathy had both Emily and Colton by herself in Auburn and took Colton to his tournament today in Auburn. Their team took first place and Colton was thrilled. I know the grandparents are staying super busy with the kids. Hopefully the week will calm down some and allow them to rest.
We pulled up all the blog messages tonight and read them to Mark in the room from surgery to tonight. We really enjoyed the Ricky Bobby comment. So true!!! Mark appreciates all of the comments and support as do I.
God bless!!!!
He still has oxygen, a NG tube which sucks out the gastric acids from the stomach and IV lines, but everything else is out of him. They pulled his dressing off of his belly today and we got to see his incision. He has a huge "zipper" from his lower breast bone to his pelvis. The incision looks good. He is a lot less swollen today. The resident called Mark the "star patient". He walked 4 times and sat in the chair 4 times today. He is truly amazing.
We are all a little worn out, especially Eugenie who pulled a 24 hour shift yesterday and then didn't sleep a lot today. She retired to the Family House after dinner tonight and hopefully will get some rest. Either Matt or I will stay overnight with Mark tonight.
Mark got to speak with the kids a couple of times today. Calen and Colton both wanted to give him updates on their baseball tournaments. Calen played all weekend in Alabaster and Brent spent all weekend there with Calen. Kathy had both Emily and Colton by herself in Auburn and took Colton to his tournament today in Auburn. Their team took first place and Colton was thrilled. I know the grandparents are staying super busy with the kids. Hopefully the week will calm down some and allow them to rest.
We pulled up all the blog messages tonight and read them to Mark in the room from surgery to tonight. We really enjoyed the Ricky Bobby comment. So true!!! Mark appreciates all of the comments and support as do I.
God bless!!!!
June 1
Hello everyone. Mark had a great day yesterday and they say that would be his worst day, so we're looking ahead to better things to come. He was in a lot of pain, but had great drugs that helped a lot. The paravertebral block is wonderful. It is sort of like a spinal, but only numbs the abdominal area and he can move his lower body and use his legs. He also has Dilaudid that he can get an IV hit of every 8 minutes and he is getting it pretty much every 8 minutes. He is quite silly on the medicine.
He got to talk to all 3 kids yesterday and he video conferenced with his mom so she got to see him. He didn't want the kids to see him yet since he is still very swollen and has a lot of tubes and wires in him. He has a tube in his nose pumping out all the stomach acid since his gut isn't working yet and 2 huge IV lines in his neck which might scare the kids.
He got up and walked (or raced) around the ICU last night. We were all impressed. He is really doing well. The night resident stopped in to visit with us last night. We should be moving out of the ICU today and getting a regular room. YEAH!!!!
Mom and I left the hospital around midnight, but Eugenie and Matt were troopers and stayed all night with Mark. Mom and I are headed back over there now. We will try to keep everyone posted as to progress being made.
God bless!!!!!
He got to talk to all 3 kids yesterday and he video conferenced with his mom so she got to see him. He didn't want the kids to see him yet since he is still very swollen and has a lot of tubes and wires in him. He has a tube in his nose pumping out all the stomach acid since his gut isn't working yet and 2 huge IV lines in his neck which might scare the kids.
He got up and walked (or raced) around the ICU last night. We were all impressed. He is really doing well. The night resident stopped in to visit with us last night. We should be moving out of the ICU today and getting a regular room. YEAH!!!!
Mom and I left the hospital around midnight, but Eugenie and Matt were troopers and stayed all night with Mark. Mom and I are headed back over there now. We will try to keep everyone posted as to progress being made.
God bless!!!!!
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