It's been mentioned by many of the masses that it's been a while since I sent out an update...Sorry!!! Lots of excuses but the fact is, I've been purely lazy, therefore it's a pretty long one...it's also late, and I'm tired so it might include some totally random stuff.
Three hospital stays in less than three months definitely took a toll on us, but, I believe we're beginning to get back on an even keel.
Tuesday (Dec 15), we had a bit of a disconcerting report from Dr. A regarding Ron's labs from the previous day. Once again his potassium was way too high (6.1) and his glucose was too low (46). The only variable we could come up with is being back on Heparin therefore Dr. A discontinued his 3xdaily Heparin injections and did another blood draw that Wednesday (16th); results showed everything back to normal. CRAZY! Dr. A decided until we can come up with another plan, Ron is to stay off the Heparin. The following Monday's labs were completely normal.
It's such a fine balance when you live on TPN, the delicate intricacies of our bodies that God created, man has a hard time replicating. Add on Ron's penchant to develop blood clots and having so many side effects develop due to blood thinners brings on a heightened level of complication.
Here's the problem:
blood clots can be deadly, optimally requiring some type of blood thinner therapy
BUT, Ron's body doesn't metabolize oral blood thinners properly; he develops hematomas with subcutaneous Lovenox (blood thinner) injections and now we find Heparin (blood thinner) administered through his PICC seems to elevate his potassium level as well as decrease his glucose level.
So...it's back to the drawing board for Dr. A and Dr. M as everyone holds their breath and prays fervently that Ron will not develop any clots while off blood thinners. I must say though, it's been a great break for both of us; this means 3 less times a day that I have to flush, inject therapeutic Heparin, flush again, and inject heparin lock. Not that I'm counting...but that's 12 less syringes I have to deal with each day!
Wednesday, December 16, Ron had his appointment with the neurosurgeon at UT Southwestern. Dr. S is referred to as the "cowboy" of neurosurgeons (the preeminent neurosurgeon around with his training being with the best of the best, in Zurich). We felt very comfortable and confident of his assessment. Diagnosis: he definitely has an abnormality (That's my guy AB-normal!) but it is under 5mm, therefore, Dr. S feels good about doing nothing other than to continue to monitor for a while. Ron will go back in a year for testing to see if there are any changes. As long as things remain stable, he'll continue to go yearly (for several years) and as long as things stay the same, after these several years the time frame will then be lengthened. Even though Ron has a history of aneurysms, this will not effect the course of treatment. Aneurysms in the brain are totally unique from aneurysms in any other part of the body. They share the same name but the characteristics, the way they act and grow are completely different.
(By the way, this has absolutely nothing to do with why he passed out Thanksgiving.)
On Friday, December 18, he had his followup with Dr. A who was happy to see that he has pretty much regained all the weight he had lost during the last few months. We talked more about the importance of Ron concentrating on physical therapy and healing therefore the recommendation is to take a much lighter load this next semester, keeping his body from becoming overly fatigued and hopefully helping to keep his immune system up so that he doesn't have any crazy medical episodes.
Christmas preparations and celebrations have kept us busy. We've really enjoyed spending time with various family members, yet pacing ourselves by also getting a lot of R&R. We've slept in alot, taken naps and even spent all day in our jammies once...it's been GLORIOUS! The first couple of days of my break, when the weather was wonderfully warm, I was able to enjoy getting outside to catch up on some much-needed yard work. And, of course, the Christmas Eve snowstorm ushering in a White Christmas was great!
That's our recap of the last few weeks...other than the little glitch with heparin-induced potassium and glucose problems, they've been pretty good ones. Busy, but good. Ron does continue to have yakking episodes, although he had a stretch of 7 days (woo hoo!) without yakking, it's been back to daily for the last 4 or 5 days :(
I was super-excited to be able to post on my facebook Dec 26th that we were home therefore breaking our "holiday hospital" streak! We're planning on going 2 for 2 with New Year's Eve coming up, so please join us in praying for a continued medically uneventful Christmas/New Year's season.
Blessings to you!!
Christie
PS: Please know we LOVE receiving your cards, e-mails, texts, facebook messages, etc. You are all so encouraging to us and I am such a slacker for not returning, but, what can I say....life often gets in the way of our best intentions. Please know YOU are VERY MUCH appreciated!!!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Free at last....
We're home!!! Very tired, but oh so glad to be home! As soon as we arrived home, I unloaded the car, ate a sandwich and then hit the bed for a good long nap.
Ron was asleep in the recliner before I could complete my sandwich!
Final results: all the testing revealed...no definitive answer as to why Thanksgiving's trauma took place. The best guess is he had a vasovagal syncope. (Aren't you impressed by my ever-increasing medical knowledge??? )
My best understanding is: Syncope is a temporary loss of consciousness and posture (fainting or passing out). Vasovagal refers to the vagus nerve which, among many other things, is responsible for heart rate, keeping the larynx open for breathing, gastrointestinal stuff, etc.
Vasovagal syncope is not an uncommon occurrence. It happens to many people in a variety of circumstances: people passing out at the sight of blood, fainting due to dehydration and/or forceful yakking, etc. But, Ron's a "professional" yakker, so, why did it happen now? Not sure; could have been the result of elevated potassium, force of yakking, possible dehydration, or the cutoff of blood circulation due to the positioning as he was yakking (similar to reaction when you stand with your legs locked, blood pressure drops and you don't get enough blood/oxygen to your heart and brain); or a combination of all of these things.
Will it happen again? No one can say.
Some of our biggest concerns are: what would have happened had Ryan not found him, why was he unresponsive for such a long period of time and what can we do to guard from this happening again? No one has any answers to these questions. The only thing Ron can try to control is his position/posture when he yaks; try not to get into such a compressed crouching position. He tried that this afternoon when he yakked and ended up pulling a muscle in his back....poor guy, feels he can't win for losing!
I have to confess, it would be very easy to give in to fear and never want to leave Ron alone, but this is what faith is all about isn't it? We can't spend our days living in fear, being consumed by the what if's of life. Jesus came that we might live an abundant, victorious life...He never said it would be easy.
"For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. And the ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God." I John 5:5
Choosing to trust that God's strength is perfected through our trials,
Christie
From Streams in the Desert 2
"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning: Psalm 30:5
A.W. Dixon wrote: "It is better to have darkness with stars...than all sunshine and no stars"
"Any man can sing by day; but only he whose heart has been turned by the gracious hand of Jehovah can sing in the darkness...only the peace of God can give gladness in the darkness of adversity. God gives joy in sorrow; and when the sad one sings through his tears, then the Lord comes to him with new and more tender assurances....that which is born of trust rises in rapture" ~ Wm. M. Taylor
Ron was asleep in the recliner before I could complete my sandwich!
Final results: all the testing revealed...no definitive answer as to why Thanksgiving's trauma took place. The best guess is he had a vasovagal syncope. (Aren't you impressed by my ever-increasing medical knowledge??? )
My best understanding is: Syncope is a temporary loss of consciousness and posture (fainting or passing out). Vasovagal refers to the vagus nerve which, among many other things, is responsible for heart rate, keeping the larynx open for breathing, gastrointestinal stuff, etc.
Vasovagal syncope is not an uncommon occurrence. It happens to many people in a variety of circumstances: people passing out at the sight of blood, fainting due to dehydration and/or forceful yakking, etc. But, Ron's a "professional" yakker, so, why did it happen now? Not sure; could have been the result of elevated potassium, force of yakking, possible dehydration, or the cutoff of blood circulation due to the positioning as he was yakking (similar to reaction when you stand with your legs locked, blood pressure drops and you don't get enough blood/oxygen to your heart and brain); or a combination of all of these things.
Will it happen again? No one can say.
Some of our biggest concerns are: what would have happened had Ryan not found him, why was he unresponsive for such a long period of time and what can we do to guard from this happening again? No one has any answers to these questions. The only thing Ron can try to control is his position/posture when he yaks; try not to get into such a compressed crouching position. He tried that this afternoon when he yakked and ended up pulling a muscle in his back....poor guy, feels he can't win for losing!
I have to confess, it would be very easy to give in to fear and never want to leave Ron alone, but this is what faith is all about isn't it? We can't spend our days living in fear, being consumed by the what if's of life. Jesus came that we might live an abundant, victorious life...He never said it would be easy.
"For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. And the ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God." I John 5:5
Choosing to trust that God's strength is perfected through our trials,
Christie
From Streams in the Desert 2
"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning: Psalm 30:5
A.W. Dixon wrote: "It is better to have darkness with stars...than all sunshine and no stars"
"Any man can sing by day; but only he whose heart has been turned by the gracious hand of Jehovah can sing in the darkness...only the peace of God can give gladness in the darkness of adversity. God gives joy in sorrow; and when the sad one sings through his tears, then the Lord comes to him with new and more tender assurances....that which is born of trust rises in rapture" ~ Wm. M. Taylor
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Overcoming fear of the unknown
The last two days have been ones of hurry up and wait. Yesterday was busy with CT angiogram and small bowel follow through; while today, has been incredibly slow waiting on test results. On top of that we were thinking we would get to go home today, however, we are now waiting to have PICC replaced. Yes, his less than a month old PICC is not drawing so they want to replace it before sending him home. IR's schedule is incredibly full so they will not be able to get to him until 8 or 9 tonight. And seeing that he has to be monitored for at least 2 hours afterwords, he will have to stay another night.
The small bowel follow through looked markedly better from his most recent one in the spring, which is very good. The contrast made it's way through in a timely manner and motility looked much improved. Now, why does he continue to have the bloating and yakking? Quite the puzzlement, my hubby.
This afternoon we finally received results from CT angiogram and there is definitely something there, but it is undetermined as to what it is. It could be just a loop in a vessel, or it could be a small aneurysm, they can't tell. The neurologist, in consultation with Dr. A, decided to refer Ron's case to UT Southwestern. Presby will send the information over to UT Southwestern to be studied by their neuro team, which is supposed to be the best around. They will then, most likely, have him come in for further testing.
You'd think we'd be a little freaked out by all that's taken place over the last few days and now this possible diagnosis; but, honestly, we are doing very well. As we were discussing the possibility of these results, we wondered if all this other stuff happened just so we would have all these tests in order to find this possible aneurysm. Again, God always goes before us; and we're choosing to trust him for whatever the results may be.
This morning as I was reading a devotional I wasn't able to get to last week, it struck me how appropriate the timing was for today. I hope it ministers to you as much as it has to us.
Much love, Christie
Overcoming the Fear of the Unknown
20 Nov 2009
Micca Monda Campbell
"Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before." Joshua 3:4a (NIV)
Do you have a fear of the unknown? If so, then you know how nerve-racking it can be. Fearing the unknown can cause us to live on pins and needles as we spend precious energy anticipating the worst-case scenario. There are two problems with this type of fear:
1. The future is not here.
2. The future is not ours.
While the future may be out of our hands, it's not out of the hands of an adequate and trustworthy God. When we face a worrisome unknown situation, we can look to Joshua as an example.
It's recorded in the first chapter of Joshua that before Moses died, God passed the baton of leadership to Joshua. The Israelites had been wandering in the desert for 40 years under the guidance of Moses. Now, their journey was almost over. Just beyond the Jordan River was their promised land—the land that God had guaranteed to Abraham and his descendants.
Upon reaching the Jordan River, Joshua and the Israelites set up camp by the stream and awaited God's direction. Much like their meeting with the Red Sea, God had to make a way for them to cross over the river. On the third day, God told the officers to instruct the people that when they saw the Ark of the Covenant (where God's Presence abided) to follow it because they had "never passed this way before" (Joshua 3:4). In essence God was saying, Follow Me and I'll see you through this unknown territory.
That's not all. The people were instructed on how closely they should follow the ark. Without this instruction, the people would have crowded the ark and God wanted every person to be able to see His presence ever faithfully leading them through the unknown valley. What greater encouragement could they have than this, that the Lord was their God, a God who was with them?
You see, friend, the Lord understands our fear of the unknown. He realizes that you may be in a situation that you've never passed through before and you're afraid. It may be the first time you've been without employment. Maybe you've just been diagnosed with an illness or your child is in rebellion. You've never been down this road before and you don't know which way to go or what to do. God will guide the way.
Joshua's life was unpredictable and full of unknowns much like yours and mine. Yet, he successfully resisted fear by keeping his focus on God rather than the events surrounding him. Just as God guided the Israelites through unknown territory, He will guide you and me too. When we come to a place we've never passed through before, God is always present to help us.
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and 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,the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; (Isaiah 43:2,3b, NIV).
Even though the children of Israel were not told how they would pass over the river, the people went forth in faith. We too can move forward in faith sharing in the promised presence of God leading the way through our unknown circumstances.
Dear Lord, thank You for Your promised presence. It comforts my heart to know that I am not alone. Lead me, Lord, through the unknown in my life. Make Your path clear and I will follow it. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Visit Micca's blog – Reflections
Today's devotion was taken from Micca's book, An Untroubled Heart: Finding Faith that is Stronger Than All Your Fears. Order your copy by clicking here.
Do You Know Him?
Application Steps:
The Bible calls us to walk by faith not by sight. God doesn't always give us the details we desire.
He does give us Himself. Believing is certainty that He's laid out a path and He goes before us.
Reflections:
Have you ever run from fear? Where and when?
Where did you find comfort from your fear?
How can God's promised presence soothe your fears?
Power Verses:
Psalm 32:8, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." (NIV)
Jeremiah 29:11, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" (NIV)
© 2009 by Micca Campbell. All rights reserved.
The small bowel follow through looked markedly better from his most recent one in the spring, which is very good. The contrast made it's way through in a timely manner and motility looked much improved. Now, why does he continue to have the bloating and yakking? Quite the puzzlement, my hubby.
This afternoon we finally received results from CT angiogram and there is definitely something there, but it is undetermined as to what it is. It could be just a loop in a vessel, or it could be a small aneurysm, they can't tell. The neurologist, in consultation with Dr. A, decided to refer Ron's case to UT Southwestern. Presby will send the information over to UT Southwestern to be studied by their neuro team, which is supposed to be the best around. They will then, most likely, have him come in for further testing.
You'd think we'd be a little freaked out by all that's taken place over the last few days and now this possible diagnosis; but, honestly, we are doing very well. As we were discussing the possibility of these results, we wondered if all this other stuff happened just so we would have all these tests in order to find this possible aneurysm. Again, God always goes before us; and we're choosing to trust him for whatever the results may be.
This morning as I was reading a devotional I wasn't able to get to last week, it struck me how appropriate the timing was for today. I hope it ministers to you as much as it has to us.
Much love, Christie
Overcoming the Fear of the Unknown
20 Nov 2009
Micca Monda Campbell
"Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before." Joshua 3:4a (NIV)
Do you have a fear of the unknown? If so, then you know how nerve-racking it can be. Fearing the unknown can cause us to live on pins and needles as we spend precious energy anticipating the worst-case scenario. There are two problems with this type of fear:
1. The future is not here.
2. The future is not ours.
While the future may be out of our hands, it's not out of the hands of an adequate and trustworthy God. When we face a worrisome unknown situation, we can look to Joshua as an example.
It's recorded in the first chapter of Joshua that before Moses died, God passed the baton of leadership to Joshua. The Israelites had been wandering in the desert for 40 years under the guidance of Moses. Now, their journey was almost over. Just beyond the Jordan River was their promised land—the land that God had guaranteed to Abraham and his descendants.
Upon reaching the Jordan River, Joshua and the Israelites set up camp by the stream and awaited God's direction. Much like their meeting with the Red Sea, God had to make a way for them to cross over the river. On the third day, God told the officers to instruct the people that when they saw the Ark of the Covenant (where God's Presence abided) to follow it because they had "never passed this way before" (Joshua 3:4). In essence God was saying, Follow Me and I'll see you through this unknown territory.
That's not all. The people were instructed on how closely they should follow the ark. Without this instruction, the people would have crowded the ark and God wanted every person to be able to see His presence ever faithfully leading them through the unknown valley. What greater encouragement could they have than this, that the Lord was their God, a God who was with them?
You see, friend, the Lord understands our fear of the unknown. He realizes that you may be in a situation that you've never passed through before and you're afraid. It may be the first time you've been without employment. Maybe you've just been diagnosed with an illness or your child is in rebellion. You've never been down this road before and you don't know which way to go or what to do. God will guide the way.
Joshua's life was unpredictable and full of unknowns much like yours and mine. Yet, he successfully resisted fear by keeping his focus on God rather than the events surrounding him. Just as God guided the Israelites through unknown territory, He will guide you and me too. When we come to a place we've never passed through before, God is always present to help us.
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and 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,the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; (Isaiah 43:2,3b, NIV).
Even though the children of Israel were not told how they would pass over the river, the people went forth in faith. We too can move forward in faith sharing in the promised presence of God leading the way through our unknown circumstances.
Dear Lord, thank You for Your promised presence. It comforts my heart to know that I am not alone. Lead me, Lord, through the unknown in my life. Make Your path clear and I will follow it. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Visit Micca's blog – Reflections
Today's devotion was taken from Micca's book, An Untroubled Heart: Finding Faith that is Stronger Than All Your Fears. Order your copy by clicking here.
Do You Know Him?
Application Steps:
The Bible calls us to walk by faith not by sight. God doesn't always give us the details we desire.
He does give us Himself. Believing is certainty that He's laid out a path and He goes before us.
Reflections:
Have you ever run from fear? Where and when?
Where did you find comfort from your fear?
How can God's promised presence soothe your fears?
Power Verses:
Psalm 32:8, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." (NIV)
Jeremiah 29:11, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" (NIV)
© 2009 by Micca Campbell. All rights reserved.
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