Mom is an amazing, amazing woman! She is doing remarkably well. It's like...well, Kyle says it's not like, it IS a miracle! She's a miracle! Considering the fact that 5 days ago, we had come to find peace with being willing to let her pass through to the other side to be with Dad, and now she is happy and feels great (wait til the spinal block wears off...). Her surgeon and his PA and cardiologist are just amazed at how well she is doing...
She had planned to have a great day yesterday prior to surgery...either she was going to "be here" by the end of the day or she was not going to "be here", meaning she would have passed through to the other side. Either way, she was very excited. She felt that Dad was beside her throughout the surgery, and when she woke up, she felt SO MUCH BETTER that she KNEW that she was supposed to "be here", not "there". Dr. Karwande came back to talk to us around 4 PM yesterday afternoon, and then we went to Marie Callendars across the street to celebrate her successful surgery. When we came back, we went in to visit her and she had a respirator down her throat to help her breathe. However, her cute little nurse, Tiffany, was efficiently getting her chest drainage tubes, neck tubes, and oxygen levels stabilized. We went back at 8:00 to find Tiffany looking down the hallway for us. Mom was antsy to have her family see that she had gotten her respirator off. She looked GREAT! She sounded GREAT! She was very lucid, and with some help from the morphine/spinal block, she kept us all in stitches with her stories of her dreams during surgery about scheduling a beauty salon appt. at the same time as surgery.
Fast forward to this morning...
When Sid and I arrived this morning to say goodbye before Sid took off for home, she looked great! Her oxygen level (with 2 ml in her nasal cannula), was in the mid 90's. She was eating for breakfast more than we've seen her eat in a week. Respirations were more in the normal levels and her kidney functions were trying to come back. As Sid and I (and later Bret, Wendy and I) visited with her, her A-Team nurse, John, continued to take tubes off, insert a blood pressure cuff, and get her ready for a pick to be put in by the cardio radiology dept.
Shawn, the cardio rehab therapist came and got her up off her $30,000 bed, which folded up to allow her to stand right up off her bed. He moved her back & forth getting her footing set again. He will continue to work with her after she gets back to the progressive care unit, hopefully later this afternoon. Doctor's orders are for no narcotics, which we feel was what knocked her flat. Hopefully they'll be able to find a non-narcotic way to help her get through the pain (when she does get pain...she doesn't feel any now).
We are SO grateful for our Heavenly Father's loving kindness to help our Mom with this great miracle. She is looking happier and truly feels like she has been helped with health and strength. We know that the priesthood has been a great power to help her in her surgery and recovery. She knew she could not continue to live without this surgery, and it has seemed to be the best thing for her. She will probably still have a long road ahead of her, but hopefully it will be less than the 6 bypass she had 9 years ago. Good luck to you, Mom!!
Thanks Jill. Glad to hear Mom is doing well. I got home this evening around 9:00 p.m., fell asleep and then woke up and can't go back to sleep. So I am now lurking here.
ReplyDeleteSuch an emotional week. I want to thank Jann and Jill for staying so close to Mom's bedside and making sure she does not feel alone during this time of recovery. You two truly are angels of mercy (and Kyle too!). Thanks also to the brothers and spouses and families who have been coming and going to make sure Mom feels the love she so deserves. Thanks so much.