NEED PRAYER NOW

Depleted · Dec 20, 2015

John's temp is fluctuating between 99 - 101. He got up to 101.8 at one point, but last reading I heard was 99.

Ends up that might not say if surgery is on or off on Monday. Today's nurse put an adverb with "surgery on Monday." "Tentatively." The surgeon has to call and let them know this weekend. The surgeon already didn't call back for two days the first time they asked for an estimate, so he may or may not call this time. In which case, not on Monday.

I want to talk to John's Intensivist tomorrow. (I've only talked to doctors three times so far -- twice at my insistence and once at his insistence -- so I'm not being a nuance, but when I need to know something, I need to know.) I have two important questions:
1. What's the deal with the surgery? I want a real date, not a tentative date.
2. What are his chances to live now? (The doctor who insisted I stay until he could get to me, insisted because he wanted to know John was still in serious trouble. That was the first week, and he told me the day of John's massive heart attack, he only had a 10-15% chance to survive the next 24 hours. And then when he was talking to me, John had a 50/50 chance. I'd like to know if his chances are better now or the same.

Depleted · Dec 20, 2015

Miri said:

I read somewhere that most people live to the age they think they'll live to. I thought I'd live to 104. John is 9 years older than I am, so I told him that means he has to live to 113. He laughs at that. He has always laughed at that.

Depleted · Dec 20, 2015

John's temp is still fluctuating, but leaning more toward 99 than 101, as compared to yesterday, when it leaned more toward 101, than 99.

Apparently, at some point his kidneys were doing very badly. (I know he was on dialysis for a few days, but the doctor sounded like it was precaution more than a serious problem.) They're doing much better now. (For some reason everyone seems fascinated that he's producing urine, like he wasn't at some point. When they told me he would go on dialysis they said he was doing that fine, but it wasn't taking out the impurities like they were supposed to do. So now they keep telling me how happy they are that he's doing this, yet he never stopped doing this.)

The surgeon would like his kidneys to do a bit better and give him a little longer for the temp to stay down, so tomorrow isn't operation day. Aiming toward Wednesday now. Aiming. At least this time I know it's not a sure thing. I am left wondering, if not Wednesday, does the holiday mean he has to wait until next week?

That's it. A wait and see, but he is improving little by little each day.

iveseenworse · Dec 21, 2015

still praying for john, family, and friends.

happyface · Dec 21, 2015

Always I will pray for Lynn husband, father god help this man.

Depleted · Dec 21, 2015

I've been saying that the only way I'll know for sure if all the little signs I'm getting are from God is he gives me a shout.

I think he did. I park under one hospital, come up the elevator, walk out, across the street, to another hospital to see John. Today I walked into the elevator and heard the crescendo of Handel's Messiah. (The Hallelujah part.) Got into the lobby to hear the rest. A choir. Not any choir, but a choir from my section of Philly. Made me cry. How can you not cry when angelic voices sing "And he shall reign forever and ever? King of Kings and Lord of Lords?" I wanted to give a woooo at the end, but hadn't yet controlled myself yet.

If that's not God shouting, God doesn't shout! God reigns forever and ever, so all's right with my world.

PennEd · Dec 21, 2015

Depleted said:

I've been saying that the only way I'll know for sure if all the little signs I'm getting are from God is he gives me a shout.

I think he did. I park under one hospital, come up the elevator, walk out, across the street, to another hospital to see John. Today I walked into the elevator and heard the crescendo of Handel's Messiah. (The Hallelujah part.) Got into the lobby to hear the rest. A choir. Not any choir, but a choir from my section of Philly. Made me cry. How can you not cry when angelic voices sing "And he shall reign forever and ever? King of Kings and Lord of Lords?" I wanted to give a woooo at the end, but hadn't yet controlled myself yet.

If that's not God shouting, God doesn't shout! God reigns forever and ever, so all's right with my world.

May God continue to strengthen you Lynn!

sandtigeress · Dec 21, 2015

all good thoughts and prayer to you and your husband and to the people working in the hospital

Bellefemmebeni · Dec 21, 2015

I pray for God's healing hands to cover Lynn's family and husband right now. To hold them. Protect Him and be with Him. Show Him His will for them and for strength. May God will be done. Amen!

Depleted · Dec 22, 2015

Tomorrow is definitely surgery day. And I found out about it.

John blew a valve. (Micro valve.) It blew so hard; the muscle that attaches it to the heart went too. They told me early on about that muscle. All this time I thought it was two spots he had to get fixed.

His valve is a goner. So this isn't refurbishing/restoring. It's replacing. No, it's not like an organ transplant, in that he has to take drugs to keep it from rejecting. It's a pig's valve. (I suspect there will be pig jokes when he gets better. At least, I hope so.) They're close enough to humans that the body will accept it.

Yes, a pig will be killed in the making of this surgery. (It's Christmastime, so many pigs were killed for less. lol)

The operation itself should take 4-6 hours. He goes on a similar machine from the one he was already on -- the bypass machine. It's a short-term bypass machine though, and should not follow him to his room afterward.

To them, this is routine, as far as the types of surgeries they do. It's still open-heart surgery. The list of things that could go wrong would make the Who's Who list for things everyone fears can go wrong with any surgery, but it sounds like it's rare that anything goes wrong other than blood loss. Not like they won't be ready for that.

I'm doing well. A little more hyper than usual. (I know. I'm not hyper, but I've been wound up for a good month now, and was just getting away from that in the last week.) Of course, this is the day before surgery, not the day of surgery, so who knows how I'll be tomorrow? He slept through my visit today. Not the eyes-keep-opening-but-he-doesn't-see sleep. The real sleep, REM included. (I ran down a list of good memories, just in case he needed a good dream.)

He'll sleep through tomorrow, so I'm not going in, but I do have two calls coming to me. The he's-going-now call and the everything-worked-out-perfectly call afterward. If I'm up to it, I'm going to the Italian Market while he's in surgery. I know he'd be upset to find out I didn't have much of a Christmas. This all started with I was supposed to go there for our Thanksgiving turkey thighs, (two people do not need a 20 pound turkey, and we both like the dark meat the best), but he was already unable to lie down and breathe that day, so I stayed home in case he wanted me to take him to the ER. (Waited two more days too. Yeesh!) So I haven't bought those turkey thighs yet.

Italian Market the day before Christmas Eve. Biggest crowd of the year that day, but most are headed for the fish. Still, the biggest thighs around, and, by now, I could use other meat too. If I'm too nervous, chicken thighs with all the trimmings for Christmas too. And, this time I'll do the Brussel sprouts and apples better. (Roasted them, but forgot to spray the pan.)

Finally! He can't get better without this surgery, so I've been waiting for it. The bad news is because he didn't recover fast the last time, he won't be recovering fast from this one either.

Goal: Off the ventilator in time for his birthday at the end of January!

PennEd · Dec 22, 2015

Depleted said:

Tomorrow is definitely surgery day. And I found out about it.

John blew a valve. (Micro valve.) It blew so hard; the muscle that attaches it to the heart went too. They told me early on about that muscle. All this time I thought it was two spots he had to get fixed.

His valve is a goner. So this isn't refurbishing/restoring. It's replacing. No, it's not like an organ transplant, in that he has to take drugs to keep it from rejecting. It's a pig's valve. (I suspect there will be pig jokes when he gets better. At least, I hope so.) They're close enough to humans that the body will accept it.

Yes, a pig will be killed in the making of this surgery. (It's Christmastime, so many pigs were killed for less. lol)

The operation itself should take 4-6 hours. He goes on a similar machine from the one he was already on -- the bypass machine. It's a short-term bypass machine though, and should not follow him to his room afterward.

To them, this is routine, as far as the types of surgeries they do. It's still open-heart surgery. The list of things that could go wrong would make the Who's Who list for things everyone fears can go wrong with any surgery, but it sounds like it's rare that anything goes wrong other than blood loss. Not like they won't be ready for that.

I'm doing well. A little more hyper than usual. (I know. I'm not hyper, but I've been wound up for a good month now, and was just getting away from that in the last week.) Of course, this is the day before surgery, not the day of surgery, so who knows how I'll be tomorrow? He slept through my visit today. Not the eyes-keep-opening-but-he-doesn't-see sleep. The real sleep, REM included. (I ran down a list of good memories, just in case he needed a good dream.)

He'll sleep through tomorrow, so I'm not going in, but I do have two calls coming to me. The he's-going-now call and the everything-worked-out-perfectly call afterward. If I'm up to it, I'm going to the Italian Market while he's in surgery. I know he'd be upset to find out I didn't have much of a Christmas. This all started with I was supposed to go there for our Thanksgiving turkey thighs, (two people do not need a 20 pound turkey, and we both like the dark meat the best), but he was already unable to lie down and breathe that day, so I stayed home in case he wanted me to take him to the ER. (Waited two more days too. Yeesh!) So I haven't bought those turkey thighs yet.

Italian Market the day before Christmas Eve. Biggest crowd of the year that day, but most are headed for the fish. Still, the biggest thighs around, and, by now, I could use other meat too. If I'm too nervous, chicken thighs with all the trimmings for Christmas too. And, this time I'll do the Brussel sprouts and apples better. (Roasted them, but forgot to spray the pan.)

Finally! He can't get better without this surgery, so I've been waiting for it. The bad news is because he didn't recover fast the last time, he won't be recovering fast from this one either.

Goal: Off the ventilator in time for his birthday at the end of January!

Bless you Lynn. Thank you for keeping us updated on John's status. I'll pray now: Dear Holy Father please guide the Drs. hands tomorrow. Let John go through his surgery with flying colors, ease Lynn's mind and heart. And you have my prayers tomorrow. In Jesus name.

Miri · Dec 22, 2015

Hi Lynn,

Im praying too that everything will go spectacularly well with no
complications.

Its amazing things have come this far isn't it, John is alive, he
is now able to have surgery. I might have this wrong but I think
heart valve replacements are one of the most common kinds of
heart surgery.

There is a lady at my place of work who has had two of these at
different times.

You have done so well in all of this. Have you got past the
"running around the house like a headless chicken looking
for something to do" stage, or was that just me! Lol.

You are no doubt discovering positive things about yourself that you
didnt know about before. Your ability to cope, to deal with
unexpected situations, to prioritise maybe in a different way,
Also learning how to be a blessing to others in a new way.

I say this because it is so easy to focus on the negative and
worry yourself half to death. But be proud of yourself, you
have hidden strengths you didn't know you had before.

I'm sure John will be very proud of you.

wolfwint · Dec 22, 2015

Depleted said:

Tomorrow is definitely surgery day. And I found out about it.

John blew a valve. (Micro valve.) It blew so hard; the muscle that attaches it to the heart went too. They told me early on about that muscle. All this time I thought it was two spots he had to get fixed.

His valve is a goner. So this isn't refurbishing/restoring. It's replacing. No, it's not like an organ transplant, in that he has to take drugs to keep it from rejecting. It's a pig's valve. (I suspect there will be pig jokes when he gets better. At least, I hope so.) They're close enough to humans that the body will accept it.

Yes, a pig will be killed in the making of this surgery. (It's Christmastime, so many pigs were killed for less. lol)

The operation itself should take 4-6 hours. He goes on a similar machine from the one he was already on -- the bypass machine. It's a short-term bypass machine though, and should not follow him to his room afterward.

To them, this is routine, as far as the types of surgeries they do. It's still open-heart surgery. The list of things that could go wrong would make the Who's Who list for things everyone fears can go wrong with any surgery, but it sounds like it's rare that anything goes wrong other than blood loss. Not like they won't be ready for that.

I'm doing well. A little more hyper than usual. (I know. I'm not hyper, but I've been wound up for a good month now, and was just getting away from that in the last week.) Of course, this is the day before surgery, not the day of surgery, so who knows how I'll be tomorrow? He slept through my visit today. Not the eyes-keep-opening-but-he-doesn't-see sleep. The real sleep, REM included. (I ran down a list of good memories, just in case he needed a good dream.)

He'll sleep through tomorrow, so I'm not going in, but I do have two calls coming to me. The he's-going-now call and the everything-worked-out-perfectly call afterward. If I'm up to it, I'm going to the Italian Market while he's in surgery. I know he'd be upset to find out I didn't have much of a Christmas. This all started with I was supposed to go there for our Thanksgiving turkey thighs, (two people do not need a 20 pound turkey, and we both like the dark meat the best), but he was already unable to lie down and breathe that day, so I stayed home in case he wanted me to take him to the ER. (Waited two more days too. Yeesh!) So I haven't bought those turkey thighs yet.

Italian Market the day before Christmas Eve. Biggest crowd of the year that day, but most are headed for the fish. Still, the biggest thighs around, and, by now, I could use other meat too. If I'm too nervous, chicken thighs with all the trimmings for Christmas too. And, this time I'll do the Brussel sprouts and apples better. (Roasted them, but forgot to spray the pan.)

Finally! He can't get better without this surgery, so I've been waiting for it. The bad news is because he didn't recover fast the last time, he won't be recovering fast from this one either.

Goal: Off the ventilator in time for his birthday at the end of January!

I pray for two of you. The Lord knows about! But i can only little imagine how you must feel.

Depleted · Dec 23, 2015

Miri said:

Hyper is running around the house like a headless chicken.

If only I worked as fast as my mind goes -- the whole house would be cleaned five times by now. lol

Early on, I thought I was quietly watching TV, until I found myself standing in the kitchen. Sometimes I go into the kitchen to get something, but forget what once I get there. Back then I'd go into the kitchen and realize I didn't need anything. I was just going in the kitchen.

I was so hyper for so long, I was considering asking my doctor for something to calm me down in the evenings. Then, slow-thinking person that I am, it dawned on me, there's a doctor (physician) in the house already. So, I asked God to calm me down. The time line was, "if I'm not any calmer in two days, I'll see my doctor." Two days later, (and those were the days when everything erupted with Dad's calls), I didn't need to go to the doctor. Truly upset, but not hyper.

Hyper levels are running a little high now, but it's 8 AM and they said "John would go in early," so that's more, "I hope I don't need the bathroom or my mouth isn't full when the call comes" kind of hyper. (What is early? I've been up since 6 AM, even forced myself to stay in bed as long as possible, and suddenly 8 seems late. I'm not a morning person. Early ought to be 11. lol)

Pilkington · Dec 23, 2015

Really wanted to encourage you Lynn, valve replacements are routine oops as you are aware. I would say that valve replacements and coronary artery bypass are pretty routine, a friends father is due to have a triple bypass and valve replacement and it will all be done at the same time. My Uncle who is 90 also had a pig valve replacement this year, he has multiple co-morbidities and it is a huge success. They typically use metal or pig valves. The valve and muscle damage are interconnected. The muscle stop the valve inverting and blood ending up in the wrong part of the heart and the heart not being able to pump properly or pump enough blood round the body, if this is where the majority of the damage is then the end results are likely to be very effective. Normally the damage done by a heart attack are not reversible but this area is one of the few areas it is. I am praying that God gives you strength, that God guides the surgeons hands and that John makes a good recovery.

Depleted · Dec 23, 2015

First comforting words I heard from the nurse today, "He's fine. He did better than expected."

Whew! Now maybe my bellybutton can get off my heel! I haven't been this tense and tied up since Dad and I stood at the back of the church and then everyone stood up, looked at me, and gave that odd look people give when looking at brides. (Also the moment in time I thought, "Why in the world didn't we elope?" lol)

So, they were supposed to call me right before they took him down and then call when surgery was done.

Instead, I called at 9:30 and was told they took him down half an hour before that. And then I waited all the way to 3:30, so uptight that I jumped when the toaster oven's beep went off after I put a bagel in.

The nurse was busy with him in his room, (first hint I got he even finished surgery), so could I call back in ten minutes? (I waited 14 minutes, but who's counting?)

Funny thing. The nurse told me he went down at 6:45 and came back at 1:45! Yeesh! That's two hours of worrying I didn't have to do if someone would have just called!!!

I did get this was routine, but it's not for us. May this be the last time we go through this!

Still, he's good. Whew! (Bellybutton is up to my knee now. My stomach should return to normal in an hour or two.)

Miri · Dec 23, 2015

My belly button goes the other way, it ends up in my mouth. Lol

I'm really pleased to hear the surgery went well, praise God.
Praying now for a very quick recovery and for John to soon be
off the machines and be able to chat to you.

God bless may you sleep peacefully tonight.

Pilkington · Dec 23, 2015

So glad he has had the operation. I am praying that he continues to make good progress.

PennEd · Dec 24, 2015

Depleted said:

First comforting words I heard from the nurse today, "He's fine. He did better than expected."

Whew! Now maybe my bellybutton can get off my heel! I haven't been this tense and tied up since Dad and I stood at the back of the church and then everyone stood up, looked at me, and gave that odd look people give when looking at brides. (Also the moment in time I thought, "Why in the world didn't we elope?" lol)

So, they were supposed to call me right before they took him down and then call when surgery was done.

Instead, I called at 9:30 and was told they took him down half an hour before that. And then I waited all the way to 3:30, so uptight that I jumped when the toaster oven's beep went off after I put a bagel in.

The nurse was busy with him in his room, (first hint I got he even finished surgery), so could I call back in ten minutes? (I waited 14 minutes, but who's counting?)

Funny thing. The nurse told me he went down at 6:45 and came back at 1:45! Yeesh! That's two hours of worrying I didn't have to do if someone would have just called!!!

I did get this was routine, but it's not for us. May this be the last time we go through this!

Still, he's good. Whew! (Bellybutton is up to my knee now. My stomach should return to normal in an hour or two.)

Praise Jesus Lynn! Merry Christmas to you both and I will continue to pray for a strong recovery.

JesusLives · Dec 24, 2015

May God continue to bless both of you during all that you are going through. Glad the surgery is over. Hugs for you both.

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