Mom is well and progressing!

Here are the updates from today on Aaron's mom.
Aaron is wishing we lived in Spokane right now so he could be closer and see his mom more during this time. :-)

10:10am
Mom had a good night medically. She still has a lot of pain and discomfort, but from our and the surgical team's perspective is doing quite well. She is having her tubes removed that are draining fluid near her heart and they are going to continue to wean the intraaortic balloon pump. If all goes well today, she may have the balloon pump removed and would be able to sit up! Prayer for perseverance, pain control and peace with being confined to bed.

8:30 pm
Mom continues to do well. She is regaining her voice. Dr Icenogle saw her this afternoon and plans to have her balloon pump removed tomorrow. That will mean she will get to sit up, which will be good for both her lungs and her back. She will have to keep working on deep breathing- which is the last thing you want to do after a sternotomy.
Dad is doing well, and settled into the 5th wheel trailer.

Mom is awake and talking

I'm home now (Aaron) and getting the updates on Mom. She had her breathing tube removed today. She was pretty vocal before surgery about how uncomfortable she'd be with the tube in while she was alert. Jeremy offered her ice today and Mom, being the best patient ever, checked with her nurse before believing her surgeon son to make sure it was okay. The first moisture in 3 days for her poor throat.

She's been talking and enjoying her visitors and then taking long naps again. Mom (and her loyal kids) was able to convince the staff to get her a new bed as her back was really aching while lying flat for the day before surgery and throughout. She'll be leaving a few of the many machines behind over the next week but will be wearing the heartmate machine by thoratec and a few batteries for the better part of a year as we wait for a transplant. Mom's right heart still needs to keep up the pace and we'll know more tomorrow how it works with less assistance. Please pray for her sustained healing.

Aaron

How He Loves

David Crowder Band - How He Loves

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

And we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If his grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don't have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way.

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

This song means so much to me right now. Mom said Wednesday night that she has sensed so many regrets in my heart about the kind of boy I was growing up. She gave me the most loving gaze and told me that "some boys just need more mothering than others" and ached that I felt so much regret. She commanded me to have no regrets. She is so sweet and kind and I feel so free.

God is so good to those he has adopted as His children. To imagine how I am no longer His enemy but His loved son is remarkable. It's so humbling to know that it has absolutely nothing to do with anything I have done or could do. It compels me to approach the throne of Grace to receive help and mercy in my Time of need. How do I approach the throne? Very humbled and pointing to the finished work of Jesus in his life, death, resurrection, appearance and ascension to the Father's right hand to keep me saved from God's judgment that was due to me.

Aaron

Mom's settled in the CICU... good night for now

Wow.
I'm pretty tired at the end of this day, and Aaron is completely exhausted- both emotionally and physically. The kids are also experiencing emotions running high and are worn out. I sent Alex back to get his pajamas on and found him sound asleep in his bed fully clothed. Is there anything more uncomfortable than sleeping in jeans? Especially jeans without underwear (since he forgot his at swim lessons)?
Aaron has decided to stay another night in Spokane as he's really not comfortable leaving his mom to be so far away yet. I'm getting things ready for a dear friend (thank you!) to come and fill in as I have to go to work early tomorrow. More tears on the part of the kids because Dad won't be here tomorrow when they get up, and because Mom is going to work, and because Grandma's heart must be really sick if Daddy isn't ready to leave her yet to come home.
The surgery today went as well as it could, but Mom's right heart is very weak and they are watching closely to make sure that it can function well enough to get the blood moving to the left heart to allow the LVAD to work at circulating it through her body.
I'm so tired now that I can't even think what the next words were that I was going to type. I think that's my cue to get the rest of my stuff wrapped up so I can get into bed! Good news for me though, I already have soft fuzzy pajama pants on, even if I fall asleep leaning on the kitchen counter...

no jeans for me :-)

starting to close- mom still doing well

Another update (I think these guys are getting pretty anxious to see their mom again... not too much longer!)

4:10 pm
we appreciate your prayers! we got another update from the OR, mom is doing well. They have started the closing process, putting in chest tubes, closing up her sternum with wires and will get a chest xray to confirm that her leads are in a good place and that her lungs are expanded. She should be out in about an hour and will go right to the ICU. Once she is settled in the ICU, with everything hooked up, we will get to see her again. It is no fun to be on this side of the OR! love to you all

jeremy (Aaron's brother)

Mom is off the bypass machine, all is well

I just talked to Aaron and the surgery has gone well. They were just getting an update from the nurse as we talked. Mom is now off the bypass machine, though still in surgery so they can watch the function of her heart and monitor for bleeding for a bit longer. Here's the update from Aaron's sister, Jody:

2:20 pm
Good News! We just got a report that Mom is off of the bypass machine, the leads on her pacemaker are all readjusted and in the right place and she is pumping along on her new LVAD. The device RN who has been walking us through this process reported that he could only describe things as having gone smoothly. They will keep her "open" for a few more hours to make sure things keep going well, and think she should be back in the ICU by 4. So far, they have not had to do any transfusions. We are praying that she will not need any at all (it is possible for antibodies to get transfused from a donor that could affect her "transplantability").

God is good....all the time
Jody

Surgery is going well

I'll continue to post the updates from the CaringBridge site here... since you're already here, you can read them! :-)

It's 1 pm and the surgery is going well. They have installed part of the LVAD and are removing the older pacemaker leads. Everyone is holding up well and we are thankful for the frequent updates from the OR. Thanks for your encouragement. Keep posting the bible passages as you think of them.

Aaron

From about 1:30 pm:

Last update from our circulating nurse Cheryl. Mom is doing well. She is having no issues with anesthesia, is doing well on the lung heart bypass. They are still working on sewing in the Heartmate II. They will reposition her existing pacemaker /defibrillator in the optimal position and have already repaired her tricuspid valve. They will still need to remove the leads from her old pacemaker (the one that was recalled). Will give updates as we receive them. jeremy (Aaron's brother)