A Grateful Wife

I know that Barrett has already updated this blog. She has been terrific about getting out the info in a timely manner. And as you already know, it was a very good day. Having the gift of Reid's laughter and love this afternoon was such a treasure. And we were reassured that he is still very much himself, and maybe a bit funnier. We had lots of laughs today.

Reid is not out of the woods yet, and we do not know what tomorrow holds. We do know that we are lucky folks and that we are so very grateful for this day. And we continue to be humbled by the grace that comes from your love. God has given us each other and shown us love. You have followed His lead, and for that we are thankful.

A Happy New Year to each of you,
LYMI, B___

Funny dad.

So i got a call from lawson this morning at 9 that said they are gonna wake him up today! (mom and lawson had taken the morning shift!) I immediately hopped in the car to head to duke. Little did i know that he wouldnt be fully awake until 2! They removed his breathing tube at about 2:15 and his numbers have stayed up like we want all afternoon! We hope for this to be a much more successful attempt. It was a very different atmosphere today in regards to the doctors attitudes about the tube getting out. They were very comfortable with his stats and his heart. So we are very happy and taking each little bit of good news as it comes. We don't know what will happen tomorrow, but we will find out the plan for the next couple of days in the morning. More updates as I get them!
Happy New Year to all!!!!!
lymi,
BB

A Good Day

Reid had a good night! He continued to lose fluid and he continues to need less and less oxygen, which is a good thing. The doctors have been awesome, particularly Dr. Sun. He has taken Reid on as his personal mission, and for that I am soooo grateful. The plan is as follows: stay stable today, which gives his heart time to rest and heal. And probably the same for tomorrow. So that Thursday he is ready for the tube to be removed, and his heart is up for the task. The doctors said that they think they just got too excited because he was making such good progress, that maybe they jumped the gun. They continue to comment on what a 'significant' event this was and how strong Reid is. And we know how determined Reid can be. THANK GOODNESS!!! We love that about him, among other things. We are encouraged and grateful, and we are 'FEELIN' THE LOVE'
LYMI, B___

DANG IT!

Long night to say the least. We were very much looking forward to a day of possibly moving to the step down unit, but definately another day of talking to our dad.
The doctors have said that he is responding well to all the meds and were pleased that he had told them something was wrong. Yay for being proactive about our health!

Yesterday was fantastic. He was joking and filling us in on his perspective of the situation. He is most definately a fighter, for it has been made clear to us that no average person makes the dramatic improvements that he has made over the last week. Yes we are sad that he is back on the ventilator, but I just talked to mom and the O2 is back down to 60%! yeah! (I have learned that the lower it is then the better!) We have had a big lesson in patience this week. Small steps stink, but they are steps none the less. :)

Continue sending in those prayers and as always the love has been well received.

lymi,
BP

Bummer

It is early morning and I am on my way back to Duke.
The phone rang at 2:00am to let us know that Reid had
noticed some changes in his breathing and upon investigation,
the doctors realized that he had some fluid building up in his lungs.
So..... he was put back on the ventilator, and that is a bummer!
Barrett and Jacob were the first scouts out and she came home at 6:00
to say he was stable and his numbers were good. I am going to meet with
the doctors this morning and see where we stand. I am saddened that he is
on the vent, but glad that he knew enough to know something wasn't right.
I will keep you updated as I know anything. For now, your love and prayers
B___

Good day!

Exciting news today. Mom went in early this morning with my uncle steve. The doctors said that today was a likely day to get dad's tube out! Around lunchtime today they removed his tube!!! Lawson and I were on our way early this afternoon. (Mom wanted us to have a chance to relax after the past week.) Dad's first question was, "What are my stats?" Mom read them off to him. After a few minutes of Uncle Steve joking, Dad's second communication was to give Uncle Steve the finger! He is back! We were very happy to see him smiling and get in a couple of laughs.

They hope to move in to the step down unit sometime tomorrow afternoon or early Tuesday. He has also asked his nurse if she could come home with him! Such a player.
The doctors have so far only let Mom, Lawson, and I and Dad's brothers back to see him. They are trying to keep his visits low key. Too much excitement is not good!! We are going to have another quite day tomorrow to visit with our dad!
More updates as soon as we get them!
As always, thank you for your support, kindness, prayers, text messages, and unending love. We have been deeply humbled by the support of this community and our friends. Dad was shocked to hear about all of the people who were concerned for him and willing to help. I do not think he had realized the impact that he has on this community. Or his family ;)
Much much love and appreciation to all.
lymi
BB

Reid has had another good day. His body has responded well to the new medications. The doctors are pleased with his progress. His numbers are holding
steady, and while the progress seems slow, we are happy that it is progress!!!!
The doctors will reevaluate tomorrow. It is possible that the breathing tude will come out. And it may not be tomorrow, it may be Monday. And there is no way to predict. It is hard, but I understand and truly appreciate their expertise and their gentle determination.
Lawson,Barrett and I are tired, and grateful. We continue to feel your blessings and prayers. We do have a request. We would like some family time tomorrow and Monday. Just the 3 of us. It will allow us to focus on Reid and that will be such a gift. Thank you!!! We will post info as soon as we have it!
We love you all, B___

better now.

So it only took me 8 hours, but I am finally becoming, "OK," with the doctors decisions to not take the tube out today. To be quite honest I am just ready to talk to my dad. :) Hopefully tomorrow. Lots of prayers for that!!
However, we have had plenty of people to talk to! Lots of visitors and people sending their love. We are exhausted. Ready for a long sleep and a day with our favorite person to visit with, our dad!
lymi,
BB

Well...... Today is a crossroads day.
Reid had a restful night. His lungs have some congestion and they have him on some strong antibiotics to clear them up. And as Dr. Harrington said, "We are going to "slap" some Lasix(sp?) and other diuretics on him to get some of this fluid out. In other words we want him peeing like a race horse!!!(I added the race horse part!) They are encouraged by his continued stability. They want his oxygen numbers up a bit. With that being stated, the tube will NOT be taken out today. BUMMER!!! As Dr. Kowalski shared with me earlier, "The doctors at Duke have brought Reid such a long way and been successful, that they do not want to mess up now." And I am in full agreement. Barrett is a bit bummed so I am blogging today. And it is a reminder to us how sick Reid is. Reality sucks sometimes!!!
And I will end this blog with a genuine sense of gratitude for the care he is receiving here, and for the loving arms that Barrett, Lawson and I feel around us everyday from all of you. God's grace abounds through you all.
LYMI, B___

OFFICIALLY the best birthday ever!!!!!

DAD WOKE UP!!!! Around 5:30 this afternoon they woke him up from his sedation! He was aware of his surroundings and recognized me, mom and lawson! We have spent a long time talking and visiting and joking. We already made him laugh!! Many times!!
I am one happy daughter and birthday girl! I got exactly what I wanted!
They have not removed his breathing tube because he has some congestion in his chest. They will work on clearing that out and try again in the morning. All great news! We are excited beyond reason.
This has easily been the best birthday ever. What a special time of year to remember how important family is. So please do this birthday girl a favor... Go hug your mom's and dad's and brother's and sister's. Give big hugs and tell each other how much you love one another. My family is my world and now its beginning to turn again. :)
The last thing I asked my dad before this blog was, "Dad, do you love me?" he nodded his head. I said, "Good, I love you too!"
BEST DAY EVER.
LOVEYOUMEANIT!!!!!
BB

first birthday gift!!!

SO, mom and I were not planning to hear from the doctors until around 2, but......

They just came back to get us and told us that they had already taken the balloon out of dad's heart!!!!! We are having a party in the waiting room. We got to go see him, he looks great! Life is good :)

Next present to arrive between 5 and 6 p.m. all signs look good!

more later... :)
lymi,
BB

Best birthday ever?

Today is my 20th birthday and I am hoping it will be the best one ever :)
The doctors have big plans for today. They have already stopped his Heparin (blood thinner) and plan to take out the balloon in his heart. If all goes well with that and they can sit him up like they want then they will try to take out his breathing tube this afternoon or early evening!! So excited!! Please send lots of big prayers upstairs that we have a successful day! If I had a cake and candles that would be my wish! He had another restful night and I just slipped back to see him and he looked very peaceful. Hopefully we will be talking to him this evening to see what in the H-E- double hockey sticks he was doing having a heart attack! :)
The doctors have made a point to continue to tell us how lucky we are that he is alive. The kind of heart attack that he had is called the "Widow Maker." Real comforting I know. Apparently it has 50% mortality rate. WOAH. We are very lucky that my father not only fell to restart his heart, but that we found him and got him to the hospital so quickly. Yay for 911. We have lots of thank you cards to send out to some pretty awesome emergency staff.
Will let you know more as soon as things happen. We are playing the waiting game right now. Hope to write many more happy blogs today! Cross your fingers and say lots of prayers!
lymi,
Barrett

A Quiet Christmas Day

We are a thankful bunch this morning. Reid had an uneventful night, which we are learning is a VERY GOOD thing!!! He contiunes to rest well, and the doctors are most please with his progress. It is hard to wrap my arms around the last 48 hours. There are several thoughts that come to mind immediately. One is how very thankful I am for my children. They are the best. They saved their father's life. It is just that simple, and that astounding. While I have always loved them, there is an intimacy that was forged that night between the four of us that we will hold gently in our hearts forever. And probably the other is the magnitude of love, tenderness, concern, and unabridged compassion that we have been fortunate to experience. It is hard to articulate how that impacts us. But trust me when I tell you IT DOES!!!!!! I have an inner peace because I know that all of you are only a phone call away. It allows me to focus on the fellow that we all love, and what a treat that is for me. THANK YOU!!!!
Now...
Today is a quiet day and tomorrow is a BIG day. They are adjusting his meds today in attempts to begin removing some assisting devices tomorrow. First the balloon pump, and then if all goes well, late afternoon or early evening, removing the breathing tube. Now you will know that has happened when you hear the loudest shouts of HOORAY just east of Burlington!!!
Love you and I truly mean it, B___

What the heck happened?

SO I am not sure about the rest of you, but this was not what I had planned for my Christmas Vacation. I guess its true that the best way to make God laugh is to plan. Anyways, the love and immediate outpouring of support that my family has received has been ASTOUNDING to say the least. In the interest of perhaps getting the correct information out there and in a little bit more effective way we are creating a blog just for my daddy! He will be so mad to see that we went to this much trouble later. HA. And after the great response that baby heath's blog has received I figure this would be fun!
What Happened?
At 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday December 23, 2008, my father woke up feeling some chest pain. He then traveled past my mother in the bed, past my brother asleep on the couch, to the kitchen became disoriented, and eventually made it back to my room, which if any of you know is quite a travel from his side of the house. This is what he told the ER doctors. At 3:35 a.m. he wandered out of my mom's sewing room and had a heart attack that stopped his heart (which technically killed him) Luckily, he was standing up and his fall to the floor not only restarted his heart, but woke up his very light sleeping daughter. I, the light sleeping daughter, upon hearing the noise assumed there was a burgler in the house and began looking for a weapon. I also called my brother to come and attack the burgler. Lawson got up and came across the house and after hearing my brother gasp I called my boyfriend to call the police. Lawson then began calling my fathers name and got my mom. I called Lawson at 3:40, Jacob at 3:42 and my mom called 911 at 3:42. At 3:45 a.m. the first responders were at my house and by 3:47 the paramedics had arrived. After the initial assessment they said, "We are going to Duke!" and we said "So are we!" From there Lawson, Mom and I traveled to Duke, and sat in the waiting room until 8 a.m. when the doctors came to chat with us.
Long story short, my father had a stint put in his heart and a balloon to help give his heart a rest. He was sedated and placed on the proper medications. My mom spent the night in the hospital and Lawson and I went to the Lewis's. This morning Mrs. Laura walker made us what some would call the most delicious breakfast ever. :) We spent today in the hospital just hanging with family and a few visitors and lost of relaxing. Dad had a very restful night. (Exactly what the doctors wanted!)
The doctors had originially told us that Dad would need lots of help, a potential pacemaker, and perhaps even a transplant. (WOAH!) However, He made some dramatic comebacks in the Cath Lab and the doctors decided to just do the stint and balloon, for now. (Great news!) I think this is a good testament to my dad. Just simply telling him he can't do something is enough motivation to prove them wrong. He is just a little bit competitive.
For tonight, Lawson, mom and I will be sleeping in the hospital with our dad, best friend, and jokester. The first 48 hours are critical and we are making good progress. '
We had 22 visitors at the hospital yesterday, and I had 37 missed phone calls, and 23 text messages. Isn't it amazing to see the impact my father has had on our community? I couldnt be more proud to be the daughter of someone who so many people care so much about. He has been a friend, doctor, mover, jokester, camping partner, advisor, and second father to so many of you and your concern and love and care for him and my family has meant the world to us. Please keep checking in because I will update this as soon as I have news. Blessings and Merry Christmas to all!!