Friday Update

Jason is doing a little better this week, but still not doing as well as we had hoped. We have been told that once he starts feeling better, he should make rapid progress. I'm not sure if this will apply in his case, but we can always pray that way, can't we? He is still down most of the time, but has been able to be up and out a few times this week. I am especially glad of this because the baby is making me sicker and sicker. I went to the doctor on Thursday and had another ultrasound. We saw a wiggly baby with a beautiful heartbeat. If I didn't feel so sick, I'm sure I would be more excited ;-)

Monday update

After a restful (lazy) weekend, I knew I had plenty to get done today. I woke up overwhelmed with everything and wondering how I would ever get through it all. God worked things out better than I could have planned. My mom called this morning and offered to help. I delegated grocery shopping to her, which she accomplished and even delivered them to my home and helped put them away. I went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, and then spent the day doing general straightening and working on a mountain of laundry (its still going!!). My mil came over this evening and made dinner for us (baked potatoes--Yummy!), cleaned my bathroom and did some general straightening, laundry, and loving on the kids, as well. The kids needed the extra attention, and it mommy and daddy a break.

Jason has been up more today. He has been able to be a little more physically active, and his incision is looking much better than it did last week. He had not been wearing his CPAP at night, because it makes it difficult for him to lay as comfortably. After wearing it last night, he woke up today in a better mood and seemed to be more interactive with the kids. I think it makes a big difference in how he feels. The surgeon's medical assistant called to check on us today. She seemed pleased with the improvement and is expecting Dr. Hemric to be back in the office in a few weeks.

Lazy Day

Today has been a very lazy day. It was planned intentionally after our busy day yesterday. I was completely worn out. We are all still wearing our pajamas (except for "Miney" who just came out to the kitchen twirling in a fancy dress she pulled out of her closet). Last night, I went to our local library book sale, where I was able to purchase many of our books for next school year at much cheaper prices. I came home with a cartload and was pleased with my finds. Many of my books are nice hardbacks, which I'm hoping will wear well through all of the kids. I always pray before I go, and the Lord has never disappointed me. I also get a few fun (meaning non-school) books for each child (per their request), and they always squeal with glee and attack the cart as soon as I walk in the front door :-) "Eenie's" favorite book choice was an Elsie Dinsmore book, "Meanie's" favorite choice was a rocket and space book, and "Miney's" favorite book was "Baby Beluga". My favorites were hardback copies of "Burgess Bird Book" and "Burgess Animal Book" with color illustrations :-) I'm glad to see my children enjoying books. We have already read several of them and enjoyed looking through the pictures on several others. At some point, we need to stop reading and clean house. It looks like a war zone in here :-)

"Eenie" update

I took "Eenie" to the doctor this afternoon. The doctor checked and could see exactly what we were seeing as far as her lymph nodes, but nothing definitive came back on the short labwork today. They did a strep culture, urine and blood work. The doctor said the rest of the labwork will not be back until the first part of next week. She said in the meantime, "Eenie" should take it very easy, because there is a chance she could have mono, or even some other virus that is attacking her body. If things change, we can call over the weekend.

Another trip to the doctor :-0

I am going to be making another trip to the doctor today. "Eenie" seems to have something strange going on. She has complained for several weeks of various issues--headache, stomach problems, fatigue, etc. She has been extra moody and tired and has not eaten very well, but we had attributed all of these things to stress. She is carrying an extra load right now with Daddy being sick and Mommy having morning sickness with the baby. A few days ago, we noticed a lymph node in her neck was swollen, and yesterday evening, the entire side of her face swelled up. She also told me that she was hurting in her arm pits and several other places. I believe she has an issue in her lymph nodes. If she had other signs of illness, such as a cold or virus, I wouldn't be as concerned, but we are wondering if she might have mono. If she does, we have been working her very hard and want to lighten up the load for her. Please pray that we find some answers for her in this doctor's visit.

Update after doctor visit

Jason's stitches are abcessed. We have ointment to treat the wound and are also using moist heat, which Jason says feels good. The pain medicine does absolutely nothing, so he is no longer taking it. He did take some Tylenol PM last night and seemed to sleep much better because of it. Because Jason is so resistant to antibiotics, the doctor is hesitant to prescribe any more. We don't feel it would do any good unless he got it by IV. If Jason starts running a fever or vomiting, we are to call the doctor back. A fever could mean an infection that would need to be treated in the hospital, and vomiting might mean an obstruction. Jason's appetite has faded and he has been very nauseous, but, so far, he has not begun vomitting. This doctor has helped us adjust our expectations, somewhat, for Jason's recovery. We had been told that he should no longer be needing pain meds and that his wound should be relatively healed. However, his steroids change all of this for him, and his recovery is going to be longer and harder than most patients who have this operation. The doctor considers that all of the problems he is having are not unusual for someone taking steroids and with Jason's medical history. Please keep praying for healing and pain relief.

Getting ready to go to the doctor

We will be leaving for the doctor's office, shortly. The streets are somewhat icy, so please pray for our safety. I'm also really struggling with morning sickness (who ever decided to call this *morning* sickness, obviously never had it). Pray for the doctor to have the wisdom and discernment on how to proceeed with Jason. We do not want him to miss anything that needs to be found. Also, that the Lord will expedite the process. I'm not sure how this will work with the appointment being so late in the day.

Going back to the doctor :-(

We are going back to the doctor tomorrow. Jason is in too much pain, and things just don't seem right. We are not sure if he has developed an infection or an obstruction or something else. Basically, we are without a doctor, for now. The surgeon is still in the hospital, himself, and apparently, there is no backup or on-call doctor for him during this time. His medical assistant called the internist who saw him in the hospital before. She wanted him to be seen today, but they couldn't get him in until tomorrow. We are expecting an ice storm tomorrow, too :-0 It is possible we could end up at the ER before tomorrow afternoon. Please pray for us to wisdom/discernment as to whether or not we should wait or go to the ER. Also, that nothing terrible happens in the meantime.

The Joneses Are Pleased to Announce. . .

that they are expecting a new little bundle of joy due October 5th :-) Yesterday, we got to have an ultrasound and see the baby's heartbeat! With our history of miscarriage, we are not out of the woods yet, so please pray for a healthy full-term pregnancy for mommy and baby.

Jason is still in pain, so that is our number one prayer request right now. Also, for quick healing with no more complications. Jason's best friend is going to try and come down next week. He was an Army medic/EMT and there have been many times over the last few weeks that we could have used his advice and counsel. We are hoping and praying that this works out.

Thursday afternoon

Jason had his staples removed at the doctor's this morning. He is still hurting quite a bit. They are surprised at the level of pain he is still experiencing. They said it will probably be four to six more weeks before we can expect him to be back to normal. If he can get to the point where he is moving better and doesn't have to be on pain meds, then he can be released for light duty activities. Right now, I think it would take a miracle for this to happen. Also, Jason has thrush and the medicine that the doctor prescribed is no longer being made, so that has caused a delay for him. Please pray for continued and quick healing and for pain relief. Jason hates pain medicine, and we would both love to see him be able to handle things without it.

I am feeling puny today. I think I am just overtired and need to catch up on rest, but I don't see this happening any time soon. The kids are after me all day, and Jason is keeping me up all night :-0 I keep reminding myself that the Lord will give me what I need, including rest. I just pray that he will give me the superhuman strength that I need to endure in the meantime.

Thursday morning update

Jason's pain patch wearing off yesterday made for a very rough night. I slept on the couch, but he woke me up a couple of times needing more pain meds. Around 4am we were awakened by gunshots at the carwash behind our house :-0 We called 911, but never did find out what had happened. I have heard this noise several times over the last couple of weeks, so we think it may be drive by shooting. What fun!

We will leave for the surgeon's office in less than an hour. Please pray about this. Jason is hurting so badly, that he just wants to lay in bed, so this trip is not going to be easy on him. I'm glad the hospital uses valet parking. We will definitely be taking advantage of this today. I will update later.

Also, please pray for one of my fellow MOMYS families. The parents are Amy and Ty. They lost their 7 month old baby daughter, Emily, last Sunday :-( A few weeks ago, Emily had the same type of surgery that Jason had. After suffering several complications and setbacks, she seemed to be doing much better, but died unexpectedly on Sunday. Her funeral is at 10am today in Stafford, KS. She is survived by her parents and 4 older siblings.

Thank you for praying.

Wednesday Update

Today has been a fairly good day. Jason's pain patch wears off today, and as of right now, the oral pain meds seem to be holding him. It has been pretty outside today, so we took a family walk part way up our street and back. Jason used his rolling walker. The kids got to play outside quite a bit today. They have needed to burn off some energy. I'm keeping them close to home, right now, because of all of the germs going around. I do not want either them or Jason getting sick! Now I'm trying to catch up on the mounds of laundry that have piled up since we've been gone. Things are topsy turvy around here, but I am still so tired, that I have decided to take things slow and steady, rather than trying to get it all done in one day. Praising God for a beautiful day and for the progress Jason is making. Please keep him in prayer as we follow up with the assistant surgeon tomorrow morning. We are uncertain what to expect.

Tuesday Update

So far, Jason seems to be doing well at home. It is hard for him to get up and down once he is lying down. The hospital bed which could be raised and lowered made this much easier prior to coming home. Right now, "Eenie" and I are having to pull him up when he needs to rise. He is using his walker to get from room to room. His muscle tone is very low and his balance is off. He spent most of his day today sleeping. His pain is tolerable right now. His pain patch will expire tomorrow afternoon (it is only supposed to last 72 hours and he had it put on around 3pm on Sunday). After that, he will have to rely on oral pain meds.

Today, we called Jason's surgeon's office to schedule his post-op appointment, and we received some distressing news. His surgeon had a minor heart surgery last Friday and was expected to be off of work for a week and a half. Jason was going to see him in-office next week (two weeks post-op). Apparently, Dr. Hemric's condition is much worse than they realized, because today he had open-heart surgery. Right now, they don't know when he will be returning. Because of this, Jason is going to have his post-op appointment this Thursday (Happy Valentines!) with the surgeon who assisted Dr. Hemric during his procedure. They told us that seeing anyone next week was not an option at this point. We don't know if Jason will be getting his staples removed as early as this Thursday, or not. He has about 20 - 30 staples that will need to be removed at some point, but we are not sure whether his incision is healed enough to allow for their removal. We are praying that there will be no additional complications during this time of uncertainty.

Jason is Home!!

Jason was released from the hospital today :-) We still have a long recovery ahead of us, but he is home and resting comfortably. He has a rolling walker so that he can move around. His balance is off and it will take some time for him to rebuild what he has lost. Our number one enemy right now will be another blockage forming. They have given us some practical diet tips to reduce the chances of this happening. We are both exchausted and have spent the afternoon napping, but it is wonderful to be back home with the children.

Monday morning update

I am at home this morning. I just spoke with Jason, and he had an awesome night--PTL!! He slept well and his new pain patch is working great for him. We are seeing some very promising signs. Last night, we learned that they had started him on a third antibiotic. We are definitely going to have to get some acidophilus for him when he gets back home! With his steroids, it makes it much harder for him to overcome infection. Jason said they did not do any new bloodwork this morning. I know the doctor wanted to see his white count lower before he would release him from the hospital. Hopefully, with three mega-antibiotics, that will happen in the next day or two. Jason would like to go home today, but it might not be a bad idea for him to get the antibiotics via IV for another day or so, just to be sure, since I don't think the tablets would be as effective. We are praying that he will soon be home with no more complications arising.

Sunday Afternoon

Today's labwork showed Jason's white count had dropped some to 15,000. This is still a little high, and hopefully the antibiotics are making a difference for him here. We are hoping that in the next day or two, he will be able to go home. They are also changing his pain medicine. This new one is a pain patch, which will be able to be used at home. His new doctor does not like the old medicine and never uses it for his patients. I can't remember the name of the new patch. It is a synthetic opiate. We are hoping it is as effective in managing his pain as the old medicine.

We are still juggling the children. Right now, it looks like Kerri will be coming home tonight and a man from church will be staying with Jason at the hospital. Kerri's mom is feeling better and offered to stay the night with the kids again, but Mom is still very weak. We think she could use another day or two to recover. Please keep this situation in your prayers. It has been very hard for our kids to be juggled from place to place, but it is hard for Kerri to be away from Jason when the care he has received has been questionable and he is sometimes confused.

Sunday Update

Jason's white count is elevated to 26,000, indicating the presence of some type of infection. We don't know where the infection is at this point because the chest X-ray was good (or so they say). They have started him on a second antibiotic, but his steroids do slow down the healing process for him and make it harder for him to recover from infections. He is still coughing up bloody mucous, so we believe his lungs could still be at risk. His pain is still the same. We got moved to a private room two days ago, and then had to be moved again. The handle in the shower broke when Jason was leaning on it, almost causing him to fall and definitely causing him some pain for awhile after that because he had to "catch" himself to prevent from being laid flat out on the ground. He has very little muscle left. After his accident, they moved us to another private room, and, because of Jason's accident, the hospital is now having to check all showers in the hospital. Apparently, the handle rusted out from behind because of water leaking in, so the problem could have occurred in other rooms. Hopefully, this will prevent an accident for someone else. They have started Jason on PT and OT, and they are helping him walk around this morning while I am at home with the kids. Jason's sister had our children over the weekend, but last night her son (who is in remission from leukemia and still has a very low white count) started throwing up. I don't know what the plans for our children are at this point. Today is Jason's birthday and the kids and I are going to pick up a cake and go have a small party for him at the hospital. After that, I don't know. Thank you for your prayers.

New Jason Update

I am Kerri's mom doing another update. When she got to the hospital, Jason was much sicker than she realized. He coughed quite a bit most of the night. We are not sure if it is asthma or if it is heading into pneumonia. He also is running a fever and is in a lot of pain at the surgery site because of the coughing. They will be doing a chest x-ray later. They are putting him on an antibiotic and starting breathing treatments, but again, none of that has started. The hospital is full, and they are very slow at inititating new medications and treatments. Kerri really feels the need to be at the hospital and be an active advocate for Jason's care. I am feeling somewhat better, but am unable to be with the children yet. Thank you for your prayers for all of us.

Friday morning

I haven't spoken with Jason yet this morning, so nothing new to report there. Last night, I prayed myself to sleep because I was concerned about his asthma trouble and the nurses (seeming) lack of attention to the problem. I am hoping that they slowed down in the night and were able to monitor him a little better. He couldn't even talk to me on the phone last night because he was coughing so much.

I have childcare arranged from 8am to 3pm today and from 8am to 4:30-5 tomorrow. This will allow me to be up at the hospital with Jason at least part of each day. His pain level seems to be so much better that, if it weren't for the various other issues that keep popping up, I wouldn't be as concerned. I hope and pray that he will get to come home this weekend. It will make things so much easier on both the children and myself. But, at the same time, I don't want him leaving the hospital too early and having issues pop up at home. He did better all day yesterday as far as fever and his oxygen level is staying around 95 to 96, which is considered good. We meet the new doctor today. I am hoping to be there when he comes, since we have never met him and I want to be sure he understands about the asthma issues Jason is having. Please pray for God to work out this detail.

Thursday evening

Please pray for Jason this evening. He is having trouble with drainage and asthma and can't quit coughing. He had gone most of the day without pain meds, but may have to take them if the coughing keeps aggravating things. He has been trying for two hours to get the nurse to bring him medication and it hasn't happened yet. Meanwhile I am stuck at home with the kids. . . :-(

Thursday afternoon update

Jason's fever broke and his oxygen level improved about 4 o'clock this morning. He is off the oxygen for now and we will hope and pray that he does not need it anymore. He is still breathing into the device once per hour to try and help his lungs along. They have heard wheezing in his lungs, so they will be monitoring him diligently to make sure it doesn't turn into pneumonia. After his fever broke, Jason began to feel better over all. This morning we saw the doctor and he is going to begin weaning Jason off of the pain medicine pump. He will take oral pain medicine instead. He is also going to start solid food today. Jason's doctor is having surgery tomorrow, so we will be seeing a new doctor starting then. We have never met him, so pray that it is a good match. If everything goes well, Jason may be released this weekend.

We have had some new complications on the home front. Yesterday, Kerri's mother developed the stomach virus and had to go home. She had been watching the children up to that point. Jason's mother took over, but this morning, she learned that she has the shingles. I am home for now with the kids, so I am thanking God that Jason is feeling well enough to be left alone for a little while. It is times like this that I am so grateful that God gives us His armor to protect us and His Word to guide us. None of this has happened behind His back and nothing is out of His control. No matter how many arrows the Enemy shoots our way, He is there and we can trust that He has a plan to handle the situation.

Wednesday Update

I am home with the children for a couple of hours. A gentleman from our church graciously offered to sit with Jason for the evening so I could get a break and see the kids.

Jason is doing better with the pain medicine pump. He is still in quite a bit of pain, but it is manageable. He did get to walk a lap around the hall today (with two helpers, a walker and his oxygen tank). Today his pulse oxygen level has dropped some. This morning it was 84. They are keeping him on oxygen and hope to wean him from it within a few days. He is coughing up "stuff", which they assure us is a good thing, since he could be at risk for pneumonia. He has also started running a fever this afternoon. This could be because of the carbon dioxide building up in his lungs causing the body to heat up. They are having him breath into a machine once per hour to try and inflate his lungs and expel the carbon dioxide. They will also be monitoring him for possible infection, although he is already taking antibiotics. We are not worried too much at this point, but I am going to stay up there tonight with him again and watch him closely. Thank you for praying.

Also pray for my mother. She was our primary babysitter and has gone home with the stomach virus. Apparently, she has it pretty bad, so pray that God will strengthen her during this time. My mother in law is now with the children and we will have to find others to fill in when she is unable to do it.

Day After Surgery Update

I am Kerri's mom doing the update for her while she is at the hospital. Overnight, they had difficulty managing Jason's pain. This morning, the doctor ordered some medication given through a pump. Jason is able to control the amount and give himself a dose every twenty minutes. We have been told that today should be the worst as far as pain goes and are anticipating some improvement over the next day or two. Jason can tell that the area of inflamation and infection is better and that the pain is just from surgery. Continue to pray for the children as they still have signs of a stomach virus.

After Surgery Update

I am Kerri's mom doing an update for her, since she is spending the night at the hospital. The surgery went better than expected. They removed 18 inches of his intestines. There was no need for a nose tube. However, they are having trouble controlling his pain since he is allergic to morphine. Their most immediate prayer needs are for pain management and quick healing. His pain level is staying at a 9 on a scale of 1-10. One major blessing that happened today is that some men from their church replaced their old hot water heater. The new one was donated anonymously.

Surgery Morning Update

We will be leaving for surgery in the next thirty minutes or so. As of this morning, Jason has no signs of stomach virus and I think I am over it (or mostly over it), as well. The kids are still having a few problems, but seem to be feeling much better. Please continue to pray for their healing and for my mother's protection from this virus as she watches them today.

The surgery will be at 1pm. Please cover both Jason and the doctor in prayer during the procedure. It is expected to last two to three hours or so. I will update when I can. Thank you for your prayers.

Stomach Virus Update

Now all three of the dc and mommy have the stomach virus. "Meanie" and mommy seem to have a lighter case, and we pray that it stays that way. "Eenie" is the sickest, and "Miney" seems to have only a small amount of trouble remaining. Thank you for your prayers. At this point, Jason is quarantined back in the bedroom and doesn't seem to be showing any signs of trouble. He is still in quite a bit of pain with his diverticulitis, but the virus seems to have stayed away. I am feeling better this evening than I did earlier today. Praise God for my mother in law who came to my house today and scrubbed carpets and disinfected everything she could get her hands on, plus did laundry and other miscellaneous household tasks while I rested and attended to the children. My mother in law is awesome :-)

Please Pray!!

Please pray for our entire family. My oldest and youngest are in the throes of a full blown stomach virus and my middle is complaining his tummy hurts too. Pray for *Jason's protection* from this virus both before and after the procedure. Also, it would be nice if I could avoid it, as well, so that I can be with him during his surgery and recovery. Now back to scrubbing carpets :-0

I also would like to ask your continued prayers for our surgeon, Dr. Hemric. We have appreciated his approach more than other doctor since Jason became sick. Pray for his strength and healing and for God's divine wisdom and grace to rest upon him in the days ahead.

Housekeeping

We are cautiously optimistic about Jason's surgery on Monday. We hate to be too excited after what happened last time ;-) I am going to touch up my house and catch up my laundry over the weekend. Fortunately, the meals that were prepped last week (when the surgery was Jan 30th) are still available. Jason hasn't felt much like eating big meals--just soups and light things, and the kids and I have been eating sandwiches and Ramen noodles. I'm glad that we don't have to do the meals over again. That would have been a big chore :-0 I reconfirmed our babysitters last night and bought a few grocery items yesterday, so it appears that even though the surgery is two days away, that I won't have to overdo it this weekend. I'm glad :-) I'm so tired. We are still basking in God's love that He Himself went before us to get this surgery scheduled. I talked to our surgeon's nurse assistant yesterday, and she said that when Dr. Hemric told her that he would reschedule surgeries for Monday afternoon, she thought about Jason immediately. She really promoted Jason's case to the doctor, and thankfully, he agreed.

Surgery Monday, Lord Willing

Our day started off not so well--Miney spent all night throwing up and we had a mountain of nasty bedding to wash :-0 I loaded up and went to the laundry mat this morning, because our large comforter doesn't even fit in our washing machine. I hate laundry mats, but took the opportunity to write some thank you notes and read a little. After that I went grocery shopping and came home.

This afternoon, we received the news that the surgeon we really like (Dr. Hemric) has rescheduled Jason's surgery for Monday at 1pm. He will spend the weekend prepping again. Our surgeon will not have his own procedure on his heart until next Friday, so he is working a light schedule. Jason's surgery is the only surgery he is doing Monday. He will be working with an assistant surgeon (for those of you who may be concerned), but at the same time, we would appreciate you covering him in prayer.

Hopefully, things will go smoothly this time. Please pray for our family to be protected from the tummy bug that Miney might have had--especially for Jason's protection. We are praising God for fighting this battle for us, and Lord willing, we hope that the surgery is the beginning of Jason feeling much better.