June 30, 2010

It is so hard to believe Friday is almost here. We are at the point where we are stopping medications for surgery, starting new ones just for surgery, and adjusting diet for surgery.....no more coumadin!!!!!

Tomorrow will be Bob's last occupational therapy appointment until Dr. Huber, his cardiac doctor, says he is released to return to therapy. Bob has lots on his "to do list"

Thank you to those of you who still pray for us and support us with cards and phone calls and a joke here and there.

Proverbs 3:5

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."

Starstruck

Bob and I had a delightful evening Sunday, at Starlight. We had planned for months to see Little House and were able to attend the last performance.
We were starstruck at Starlight.

A Hole in Bob's HEART, June 26

A hole in Bob’s heart, what does that mean? I have been thinking about it a lot recently. Yes, I understand that a hole in Bob’s heart let the blood clots out to cause a stroke. I understand that they can fix the hole in the heart. But what will happen then?
What happens to what was in the hole in his heart? What was in that hole? Was there something in that hole in his heart? Was it extra love for all his VHHS students, mankind, the down and out, the people in China and everywhere else where humanity is not respected? What if the hole in his heart held malice for all that is unjust and horrific in our world as well, to cause him to extend his generous spirit to make our world a better place? Was it extra love for his beloved daughters and son in law and me housed in the hole in his heart?
I know from experience, after my precious parents’ deaths, how it felt to have a broken heart. I believe it truly can feel like “broken”, so I believe it can feel other ways, what our minds dictate?
Bob has always has this hole in his heart, unlike most people. So, will it feel different? Will he be different? One thing I know for certain, as our Jesus instructed us, “Love the Lord your God with all your HEART and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and, Love your neighbor as yourself. “ Luke 10:27
That, I know, will never change in Bob’s heart.

A hole in Bob's heart, June 24

We have awaited this day for three weeks. Our newest doctor, Dr. Huber, is fantastic. We knew from the minute we met him that Bob would be better than new! He took a great interest in Bob and explained with his artwork on the white board every detail of the PFO, (Patent Foramen Ovale)how the clots moved through the heart, and how the surgery will proceed. Although 25% of us have a PFO, Dr. Huber actually does only about 50 annually. It takes an episode like Bob's to learn one has the PFO. Bob has an abnormally large PFO and a floppy septum. to be patched.
Surgery will take place next Friday, July 2. Bob will have another stay, at our new home, in the Heart Institute, St. Luke's. He will have rigid rules to follow for at least 2 weeks, for example, walking up stairs, how much weight to pick up, etc.
Bob will stop the coumadin Monday; that is exciting and scary for us. Just a couple more INR tests for him with those constant readjustments. We are grateful Bob will not live on coumadin the rest of his life!!!!
Physical Therapy released Bob this week, with instructions to continue the use of the Wii Fitness Program 30 minutes a day for balance. Occupational Therapy for his eyes continues.
We walk to the square and back every morning and Bob has lost a significant amount of weight.
Bob has been very kind to me with my driving, and it seems we drive all day, every day, getting to his appointments. I know how anxious he is to be able to drive again.
We depend on God, the great physician and healer, knowing He will take care of our every need.

Romans 15:13 "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope."

Father's Day

What a celebration today has been for us as a family. Cammie, Katie,Chris and I are so excited to be honoring Bob on this day. We had our usual early morning walk and a special baked french toast for breakfast. We did a little grocery shopping and rested this afternoon. We met Katie and Chris for dinner and and had dessert and presents at home. (Cammie in in PA working at a camp, planning to be home for Bob's heart procedure)
All in all, it was a simple, but fun and emotional day.
Please don't take anything for granted; life is so short. God is so very very good.

I will be posting a picture taken of Bob today in a shirt and hat given to him by Cammie. The shirt, purchased in a Chinese WalMart, in typically sometimes confusing English says this:"HAPPY DADDY'S LIKES FISHING; DELIGHTED MOTION OF DAD".

Friday, June 18 A long week

June 18, 2010
This has been a long week for Bob. He started out Monday with a very stiff neck and headache. The neck and head grew more and more uncomfortable by the hour, until Wed. evening, we were back at St. Luke’s ER, with support from our hospitalist, Dr. Sankpill. Fortunately, Bob did not have a bleed in the head, and they were able to give Bob a shot for pain and the headache subsided. His INR ( blood viscosity) is too thin now, so we adjust and re- adjust.
It is truly comforting to have a hospital with such a professional and caring staff to take care of Bob. The ER doctor called Bob the following night to check in on him. He told Bob obviously he did not have spinal meningitis or he would be dead. That made Bob laugh.
We have been to rehab twice this week for OT and PT. He is flying through PT with no major problems except for the stiff neck. OT has some interesting exercises for his double vision.
Bob finished his work at VHHs this week and packed up his office with Katie and Chris’ help. He is now officially on vacation. Yea!!!!!!!
We walked for 30 minutes the first three days of this week. We stopped walking only because of the stiff neck and headache. Hopefully we can walk to the Farmer’s Market tomorrow.
We visit with the heart doctor Thursday. His office is scheduling surgery about one week out, so we are hoping to have Bob’s heart procedure done the first week in July.
As we go through these days of waiting, resting, and growing in our faith we are reminded of these verses.
Isaiah 43:2-4
When you pass through the waters I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire you will not be burned-the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God. You are precious and honored in my sight and I love you.
Psalm 66:12
We went through fire and through water, but you brought us out to rich fulfillment!


Again, we have loved the cards and visits and all types of communication of love and support to us this week. We are humbled. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Friday, June 11
Bob’s INR blood work was perfect yesterday. He spent time in his Van Horn office today catching up on work and with Kate’s and Chris’ help boxed up part of his office.
Tomorrow he would like to be at the opening of the LINK 5k Run in its new home.
I will gladly update this blog through surgery in July and after wards, but on a “great news to share” basis versus daily.
Is it said with time people begin to look like their pets, or is it the other way around? However it is, I was observing our cat, Bailey, who is about 15 years old and been through a lot in her life .She has one bad eye, limps with a sprained paw, and has lost half of her fur due to allergies. I thought, you know, Bob has an eye that is not so great right now, he walks with a list, and he had half of his hair “waxed” in the hospital each time the staff pulled off tape, patches, and what evers with adhesive. I truly think that was the most painful part of this ordeal for Bob. And now, he and Bailey have so much in common.

June 10, 2010

Today was like running a marathon for us. Bob went back to work for awhile. He went to the lab in LS to check his blood INR. He went to the opthmologist to see what he could tell us about his eyes and his double vision. The doctor concurs that time is our best friend on that front. There is damage to the nerves in the right eye. Prisms attached to his glasses or ground into his lenses cannot physically fix the problem, but refracting the light would cause him to see monocular. Surgery way down the road could perhaps the real problem as well. We will continue with the translucent tape for now and wait three weeks before seeing him again. Sometimes Bob reminds me of my dear children at school who walk around with broken glasses held together by scotch tape!!!!!

Bob loved the jokes you are leaving on the blog. Thank you, thank you for picking up on that request.

We praise God for and give him the glory for how Bob is today versus one week ago. Thank you for continuing to be part of our miracle.

Our favorite Bible verse for today:

“. . . I AM THY GOD; I WILL STRENTHEN THEE; YEA, I WILL HELP THEE . . .”

Isaiah 41:10

June 9, 2010

Good evening friends. We have had a fantastic day. Bob went to OT and PT and got to play the WII tennis for balance standing on a cushy mat. The OT made the tape on Bob’s glasses smaller. His INR was finally where it needed to be, and when we saw the doctor about noon, she said, “You can go home today!” We were surprised, excited and scared all at the same time. We were checked out, escorted to the car, and came home. It is good to be home. Bob does tire easily.

Last week a chaplain came to visit Bob and asked him what was a favorite Bible scripture of his.
Bob answered, “Philippians 4:4-9.”

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Tuesday, June 8th

Good morning, all of you caring and special friends.

The verses Bob found comforting and appropriate for our situation today was Isaiah 41: 9-10

“You are my servant , I have chosen you and not cast you off. Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. “

We get to stay in the hospital today. Bob’s INR (thickness of blood) remains a little low. He has been up and walking with his IV pole and me. I am getting jealous of the IV pole! We took a long walk this morning and watched and heard the rainfall from the beautiful skylight in the atrium on our floor. Simple everyday things like the rain now seem extraordinary!

OT is working creatively on new techniques to help Bob’s eyesight. They put translucent tape over the left eye in his glasses. It did the trick for now. It allows light in, vs. the patch, but occludes enough to help the divergent sight. They will remove the tape a little at a time.

Thank you so much for your thoughts, prayers, and cards.

Sunday-Monday

Bob continues to improve – we are finally out of ICU!

Yesterday he walked three laps around the ICU with the nurse pulling his IV pole and Bob pushing a wheelchair with his monitor in it. Quite an adventure. Whoo Hoo! He is now keeping his blood pressure up on his own and has not shown stroke-like symptoms. He played a mean game of checkers with Chris, too.

Today he moved to the Stroke and Brain Unit. His blood still needs monitoring. We can’t go home until it is where it needs to be.

He went to Physical Therapy, and he’s supposed to continue practicing walking up and down the hallway off and on all day. He was exhausted after the short walk and stairs.

He reminded me yesterday that he really would like some good jokes, folks! Youtube videos are fine, too. Just post the link in the comments section, or send me an email.

Thanks again for all the prayers and notes of concern and support. We love you all.

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive God’s mercy and to find grace to help us in our times of need.” (Bob found this verse meaningful this week on a card he received) Amen and Amen.

Saturday June 5th

Friends, good afternoon. We are having our first rather quiet day in MICU. He is not ready to go to the Stroke Unit yet. His BP has not stabilized and that must happen before we can move down the hallway. He is getting anxious for the move.
The OT did her evaluation and said we have one exercise to work on vision (as well as wearing the patch) She says time will be our best friend.
Thank you for your support and prayers.

June 4th

It is Friday. It has been both the longest and shortest week of our lives, it seems.
Bob now dons a red pirate kerchief on his head to accentuate the required pirate patch over his eye. He switches the patch from left to right every 30 minutes. No change in vision today.
We than God that Bob now needs less medication to keep his BP up so that he does not slide back into stroke like condition. The extra force of blood caused also trains new capillaries to take over the job of the main vessels that no longer work. God made each of us such a incredible human body!!!!!!!
A third cardiologist saw Bob today to discuss his impending heart surgery in July. It is comforting to know many cardiologists concur on this decision to close the PFO.
Bob passes his speech therapy test with flying colors. And he loved the challenge of taking it.
We are waiting now for physical therapy to come for evaluation. We know there will be work to do in that area.

June 3rd

Bob is sleeping this afternoon as the doctors consult about his PFO, a hole in the heart that allowed the bad guys to get through. We did learn this am that the PFO is larger than that of most people.

He had a great night's sleep. He ate a regular breakfast (without salt and butter) with his own two hands sitting in a chair in his ICU room, getting to the chair with help from the nurse. That was a beautiful sight for me. He sat up all morning and we talked and talked and found out in those conversations he knew nothing about the second stroke and its impact on his body. He is processing all of that .

The cardiologist arrived just now after the consult. The two doctors highly recommend the repair of the hole in his heart. That will be about 8 weeks out from now so that his body can recover. His eyesight is still doubled and we hope with time it will be normal. The blood pressure, too, is our major concern. He slips into a stroke like state when his BP lowers, which it does on a regular basis.

WE know that we are truly witnessing a miracle. Please continue to pray for us as we are praying for you, dear friends. You are a part of this miracle.