"What Drives Your Life?", is the title of Chapter 3. Before reading on, jot down the down 5 things that realistically drives your life...... My answer was God's approval and peace, children, debt (good and bad), anger (righteous and unrighteous) and sonship attitudes. I'll explain these later. My immediate question afterwards was, "What stalls my life or makes me veer off into the weeds?". The biggy would be unrighteous anger whose root for me is mainly fostered out of unforgiveness a...
1/16, Friday morning, our family was in meeting discussing Mom and we received a phone call from the hospital. It appeared that the pneumonia( yellow mucus, fever, etc) may be acting up again and that they would not admit her to the rehab center but to review her case next Tuesday. 1/17, Saturday early afternoon, Mom's fever is down and the decision is made to admit her into rehab at University Hospital. You don't know how amazing this is being admitted here. No one thought she had a "pray...
Mom was moved out of ICU Monday evening to the 5th floor where there are "normal" hospital rooms. She sits in her recliner during the day 4-8 hrs looking out her window of western Syracuse area. These rooms seem a lot smaller to me than I remember them from my days of youth. Since Mom has been off the ventilator now for 9 days and counting, she appears more alert of her surroundings and can respond to basic commands to move her extremities, we've been able to get her admitted to the brain reh...
11/26/03 11:35pm Mom had the only tube to the right lung today removed! There is only one more tube in the left lung that didn't drain much fluid at all today. This might be coming out tomorrow hopefully. She's still dependent upon the respirator and will most likely have a tracheonomy done soon. There hasn't been anymore responsiveness then before. Her blood pressure did drop some late the afternoon and medication was given to help boost it up some. She is still in ICU. We would lov...
11/30/03, Sunday, 11:58pm "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done is secret, will reward you." Matt 6:6 "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving", Col. 4:2 IT'S REWARD and THANKSGIVING TIME!!! Saturday night, the respirator was providing 10 breaths / minute for Mom, down from 16 last Wednesday. As of 9am, Sunday, Mom was pretty much breathing ...
Monday, 12/1, 10pm Hopefully, tomorrow I will be telling you the website address. It will be updated around this time each night. Mom needed some rest today. Yesterday was apparently too much for her. She breathed mostly on her own for about 12 hours. This alone was a shock to the doctors that made them question whether the tracheotomy was going to be necessary. I think they will take a slower approach with the hope of removing the respirator late this week. If they can't, they wil...
As of now, 6pm, Mom has been off the ventilator for 130 hrs!!!! She is still coughing up flem from the pneumonia that creates havoc for her breathing but she is coughing it up on her own instead of the nurses having to suction it out. Please pray that the pneumonia would pass for this is the one thing that hinders Mom's progress that could put her back on the ventilator. Other good news is her blood pressure. It has steadily been at acceptable to good levels for about 5 days straight now. ...
Mom is resting well. Her vital signs were good and stable with no surprises or concerns. They will begin weaning her this weekend from the respirator slowly. If she is unable to breathe on her own, they will do the tracheotomy early next week. The meds have not changed any. They seem to have found a good balance to stabilize the heart rate and blood pressure. I would ask you to consider praying for her son, Scott. He has had back muscle spasms all week not allowing him to work. This ha...
Today had some surprising news and obvious improvement! Mom was lifted up by some harness and put into a recliner/chair today. It wasn't for long, but she did OK. As of 9pm tonight, she had been 31 hrs off the ventilator, but the best news is that her blood pressure was good throughout the entire day. It was almost normal. There is more voluntary and involuntary movement of feet, legs and the right arm. Seeing her yawn twice just blew me away! A few days ago, some of the nurses that enjoy...
The weaning from the ventilator continues as Mom works on her endurance. Pray for this along with the blood pressure coming under control. Focus praying for all of you out there today. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. " Eph 3:20,21
Since early this morning, they again weaned Mom from the respirator leaving 20% pressure to help a little. Her vital signs have been stable and strong for most of the day. An antibiotic was administered last night to address the pnuemonia in the right lung. The tracheotomy is scheduled for Wed. morning if vital signs remain stable and she doesn't kick the respirator beforehand. Please pray for the medical staff and doctors to be given wisdom and discernment. Also, for them personally,...
Today was a good day in that Mom is continuing to breathe on her own for the most part with some help from the respirator. She is going on 49 hrs with little assistance. The tracheotomy is last on the surgery schedule for tomorrow so I estimate mid to late afternoon. Mom and God have until then to prove otherwise. The vital signs have been stronger today and more consistant. The doctors feel they have a handle on the balance of medications now. Seeing her heartrate and/or blood pressure ...
Sorry for any concern caused recently in not updating this lately. I was in western NY visiting family who didn't have internet access. Mom is continuing to build her endurance. Currently, she is up to 27 hrs without the ventilator and still strong. The longest before was 22 hrs. Her blood pressure is still high but now manageable. She went off the heparin blood thinner 1/1/04 and was put on coumadin, another blood thinner. This may be helping the blood pressure also. The pneumonia h...
Thank you for visiting us today for the update. Having to log on to the site instead of getting the email update takes a little more effort. The reality is my email buffer was overloaded. This allows people to see some of the comments I get to read. Mom today was moved to the "step down" ICU wing. The potential of life threatening incidents occuring has been minimized I guess. I'm not all that convinced yet. Mom is off the morphine with occasional dosages of pain killer as needed. Earl...
Mom ended up going all night without the ventilator. (22hrs total) She is building endurance. 3-7 days ago, she would only go 3-6 hrs. Monday, she went 12hrs. This is good news in that she is on track to get off the ventilator hopefully in a week or two pending no further complications like the pneumonia or stroke, etc. There are no guarantees about this, but I'm going on history and experience of the doctor and nurses. Continue to pray fervently about getting off the ventilator. Mom has ...