Home and It's Getting Better

Okay...where to begin or end or whatever...........

So, this was Mom's roughest, toughest, yuckest (if that's a word) hospital stay to date. This includes nursing care, luck, anesthesiologist, MRI machines, etc. BUT, God got her through it safely without tragedy. Now onto healing!!!

The infectious disease physician is seeing her for this random infection and she is receiving a VERY HIGH POWERED IV antibiotic for it. 

She restarted Home Health today so she will start Physical and Occupational Therapy back very soon and we can jump back on that recovery wagon. 

Please pray for these following things:

1.  Infection to clear with these antibiotics. 

2. Positive attitude for all of us including Mom. 

3.  Dad as he perseveres as the most awesome caregiver to my mother and is a wonderful example of love. 

4.  For Mom to not feel a burden to us because she is NOT at all!

Merry Christmas to all and Safe Travels to those. 

Now I'm headed to see my Momma tomorrow!

Love,

Rebekah 

Headed Home Again!!

Great news! Mom is headed home tonight. I will update with more details tomorrow. 

Continued prayers for healing and for the infection to clear and stay away. 

Love, Rebekah 

The "Clean Out" - Surgery

Dr. Smith was able to finally start surgery at 7:45pm (Texas time, I'm in New Mexico until Saturday) and she should be back to the room soon with Dad and Sarah.  The infection is Staph but not necessarily the "BAD" Staph as people would say.  It is VERY susceptible to IV antibiotics.  The doctor would prefer to use IV antibiotics to treat it so she is going to need to go home with IV antibiotics and she has a Central Line in place already that is a good thing.  Dr. Smith has to get the antibiotics set up with Infectious Disease  doctors which could be a challenge with the holidays, but we are praying that is not the case these next few days.

He did clean out the area that had the infection under the incision and took out a few sutures that were dissolvable and were dissolving but didn't want to leave anything "foreign" for her body to reject.  He said he was able to clean really well and said the bone looked good from what he could tell.  He has ordered a MRI for in the morning to verify there is no infection under the bone and look at the area where the tumor was also.

Dad and Sarah seem very positive after talking with him and Dr. Smith only had to open about 2 inches and shave just a little bit so hopefully her "Medicare Mohawk" won't have so much to grow back this time!  

Mom is such a trooper and strong woman!  Thank you all for praying and loving her!

I sent her this quote prior to surgery in November and I truly believe this to be her:

Please pray for healing and pray for infection to GO AWAY and STAY AWAY!!!!

Goodnight and sleep tight!

Love,
Rebekah 

Day 1 Back at the Hospital

Mom is having a rough day!!!

Mom started the day by having to have a Central Line having to be placed because her IV infiltrated (went bad) and they were unable to put another one in her arm or hand because her veins are just not good and she passed that fun stuff on to all 3 of us kids!  But now she doesn't have to worry about being "poked" again! 

She will have surgery to "clean" out the infected area at the incision site tomorrow afternoon per Dr. Smith.  His words were "This mess must be cleaned up and he will try to do it sometime Wednesday."

Mom is very nervous as you would expect but we know who is in charge of all things, please pray for her anxiety and peace of mind.  God will do all things in his time and I know he is going to take care of this quickly this time. 

Please pray for the surgeon and his team tomorrow.  Pray for my Dad, my Grandmother, my siblings, my aunt and uncle as we support her.

Thank you all again!

Love,
Rebekah

Back to The HOSPITAL - YUCK

Sorry for the delay in posting but I have been busy working and Mom has been busy getting better with Home Health doing Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy. 

She has been doing really well these past 2 weeks with no pain and improving but she had the sutures removed late last week and then the "FUN" started.  (Not really FUN).....

So, she started having a small amount of draining from the middle of the incision and then some pain was involved, maybe called soreness.  She then started being more "foggy" headed and couldn't stay awake for very long periods of time.  Then started the low grade fevers and nervousness set in. 

Last night her Physical Therapist called to set up her appointment for today, Monday, and she said, "I just don't feel right and the whole right side of my head is hurting now and I still having drainage from my incision in the middle."  Her physical therapist (LOVE HER) got busy and got a hold of the nurse on call and that nurse got to work (GOOD JOB) and got a hold of the PA for Dr. Smith the neurosurgeon and he happened to be in the Emergency Room and asked for Mom to come up there for him to assess it.

Mom and Dad went up there last night and he did a wound culture and did not like the looks of it so they admitted her back to the hospital last night!  So Mom is now back in the Neurosurgical Floor at Covenant Medical Center, Heart Center 588.  She is somewhat discouraged because it is right before Christmas and this was NOT in her plans. 

Please keep her in your prayers and Dad too!

She will be having surgery again Wednesday most likely to clean out the infection so she is frustrated right now but I am glad she is getting this done now instead of letting it go on!  She is on IV antibiotics right now and this will continue until they get the results back from the cultures

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for our family!

We love you all!

RLH

Home - Day 1

Mom has had a Great Day Home today!

She was admitted to Encompass Home Health (the company I work for) today for Nursing and the Physical Therapist will evaluate tomorrow and then Occupational therapy will evaluate her next week. 

She is very exceptional in all ways but she is just EXCEPTIONAL!

I need to start of with a few Thank You's -

1.  My Dad - You are such a wonderful man to Mom and to your children .... your kids see such a wonderful example of a caring man to Mom and I know that Mom thanks you for being such a supportive spouse through sickness and in health!

2.  My Aunt Treva - (Mom's oldest sister) She has given up her own time to help Mom and Dad organize everything while Dad had his procedure and Mom had her surgery.  Treva has been so nice to help while us kids all work full time and she is willing to help with anything and everything Mom needs. She has been an encourager, motivator and negotiator when needed. 

3.  Thank you everyone that has been praying and continued to pray for my parents especially my Mom....all I know is that this is all God that has made this recovery what it is!

Thank you,

Rebekah

Mom is HOME!

She is smiling and home! 

After we arrived home she put in her contacts and on some makeup and wanted to go eat some food other than hospital food!

Corbyn and I are headed home now. 

Big HUGE THANK YOU to my Aunt Treva Andrews (Mom's sister) for being here through this whole process. 

She will start Home Health therapy tomorrow so pray for cooperation of her body and mind.

RLH

Day 4 - Still LOOKING GOOD!!

Mom Continues to Defy all ODDS and do really well!

She will stay in the hospital tonight and then she will most likely be dismissed tomorrow sometime HOME!!!  YES I said HOME!!!

The pathology of the tumor is a STAGE II Menigioma (which most are STAGE I) which means it is "faster growing" so Dr. Smith will watch her closely and they will do follow up MRI's (Mom's favorite thing to do) - not really! Every 3 to 6 months in case it does grow back and he can get it with a Gamma Knife instead of having to "open" her up for surgery.

So, I consider this good news Considering all that she has gone through....

So I am attaching 2 pictures to this post......

1st..... The Medicare Mohawk she would like to Share:

2nd ......... Is her Happy Hat....

We Thank You All Again!

RLH

Day 3 - Onto the Neuro Floor!

She has moved to Heart Center 575 which is the Nuerology Floor!

Dr. Smith came by and said "You are really making me look good you know!"  

He does not feel she will go to Trustpoint Hospital for Inpatient Rehab right now they will do Home Health for a short time then she can go to Oupatient rehab for REALLY intense rehab after that. 

She has been up with Physical therapy and Occupational therapy today and up and down out of the bed for various things. She even felt like coming to the family room to visit with Corbyn earlier and then Kambry and Jansen later. 

And just for everyone's giggle her new haircut is now been labeled by her the "MEDICARE MOHAWK"!

Love you all and thank you for the continued prayers!

RLH

DAY 2 is a GREAT day!

Mom is doing really good!

She had a good night and they did a CT scan early this morning and they were pleased with the view. 

This is the Before on the Left and After on the Right.  You can see there is a VOID that will fill back in with the compressed brain matter from the tumor.  This shows there is NOTHING left of that tumor and he got it all!  GOD IS GOOD! Dr. Smith is good too!  God has given that man wonderful talent.

This bottom picture is also part of the CT scan that shows some "air" in her cranial vault but that will reabsorb and not cause any problems per the physician.

So now here is our next tasks for prayers....

1. Mom to be able to handle and withstand all intense therapies here in the hospital.
2. Dad to continue to do well with his urological stent in place to remove all debris from his procedure on Monday.
3. Mom to remain in good spirits with all the days to come with rehabilitation.
4. All of our family to stay strong for Mom as the frustration will set in as the rehabilitation will get longer.

We love you all and thank you all for loving our Wife, Mother, Daughter and Sister!

RLH

Surgical Intensive Care Unit - Day 1

Mom is in Surgical Intensive Care and doing good.  Her pain was out of control initially but it was not from surgery just her Chronic pain in her back.  Her nurses name is Chris and he is doing everything at her "beckon call" to make sure she is comfortable and he is wonderful! 

She is thinking and speaking clear and now has the Morphine pain pump that she can control.  The pain specialist has come in and helped with getting her pain under control better.

The Intensive Care Specialist and the Nurse Practitioner for the SICU have come in and met Mom and she is remembering their names and when they came in and had her push on their hands the strength in her left leg/foot seemed to be stronger, which is a great sign.    

She is very jovial in conversation and getting more comfortable as the pain medicine continues to kick in. 

THANK YOU everyone for your thoughts and prayers, keep them coming.  She is in good spirits and we can feel the love and prayers.

Love,
Rebekah

SURGERY IS OVER!!!

IT'S OVER - AND IT'S GOOD NEWS!

Dr. Smith came quicker than we expected.  Told us that this was a soft tissue tumor and was easy to manipulate and extract.  This made the surgery much easier than expected which means all your prayers have worked. 

His comments were positive!  She will be in Surgical Intensive Care for the night and then hopefully up to a room tomorrow depending on progress.

We hope to see her in the next 3 hours and will update then.

Thank you again for your prayers!

Blane, Rebekah, Sarah and Daniel and all the extended family

Surgery Has Begun

We have met with the anesthesiologist (Dr. Fincher) and neurosurgeon (Dr. Smith) now and they have wheeled her back and are about to start.  Dr said about 6-8 hours. Will update as soon we have one. Prayers are welcomed and thankful!

Today is THE DAY

As we are gathering up our stuff to leave the house this morning I cannot imagine getting ready as my mother...

What is going through her mind?

How do you prepare for this?

Did I remember to tell Blane everything that needs done for the house?

Did I remember everything I wanted to get done?

What I do know is that she is absolutely covered in prayer and love from each and every person she had ever come across in her whole life, through herself, my Dad, us kids, or just an acquaintance. 

Prayers this morning for peace and comfort and I will update when it all starts.  Love to all!

UPDATE ON DAD:

His procedure (lithotripsy - breaking up of kidney stones) went well Monday and he is doing good. He went to work yesterday for a few hours too! He still has a stent in to help pass what they broke up but they will remove in 2 weeks. Thank you again for covering him in thoughts and prayers too!

Love,

Rebekah

Thanksgiving 2016

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving here at my house in Ruidoso, New Mexico in the mountains with 19 of us!!!

Mom's sister, Treva Andrews, that lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma and her daughter Paige and her husband and 4 kiddos came.  My mom's brother, Stan Samuels from Angel Fire, New Mexico.  My parents and Grandmother, Millie Samuels came from Lubbock and my cousin Haydn Ditto (Mom's sister Candy's son) and his wife Wilson and their 1 year old daughter came from The Woodlands, Texas. 
We had a house full but it was a lot of fun and a lot of laughs and giggles were had.  And of course, we watched the Dallas Cowboys win again!

As some of you may know and some may not, my Dad has been dealing with his own health issues.  Last Monday, 11/21/16 Dad had so much pain in his abdomen and lower back that he asked Mom to take him to the Emergency Room Monday morning.  After some tests and a CT scan it was confirmed he had a LARGE kidney stone that we would not be able to pass.  Now remember they are trying to get ready to come to my house for Thanksgiving and organizing things for Mom's surgery too!  So, this has been stressful for Dad because he is hurting. So the kidney stone is determined to be the size of a "kidney bean" (THAT'S HUGE).  Anyways, the urologist inserted a stent in the ureter and is planning "lithotripsy" to break-up the stone tomorrow, 11/28/16.  So please pray for guidance and little pain for my Dad tomorrow and for peace for my mother as she worries about him during this time.  Thank you to my Aunt Treva for going home with my parents and Grandmother from here to help them the next few days before surgery.  She is a wonderful help and voice of reason and encouragement to my Mom.

Now Wednesday is the day, Mom is dreading and I do not blame her but I am really feeling that God has his hand all over this!  Sometimes we are anxious, believe me I am that way right now but I know that God will guide the doctor during the surgery and he will give my mother strength through all the encouraging words from family and friends. 

Remember we have the sign up list for meals for Dad and Mom starting December 5th on http://www.takethemameal.com/meals.php?t=LLRX0019.  Gift cards for fast food or something like that is welcome too because cooking is hard to do this day and age because of our busy lives. 

Thank you again -
Rebekah

Brain Surgery 11/30/2016

If you haven't heard already Mom (Brenda) has a Meningioma in the Right Frontal Lobe that was found last October after a random fall but has now doubled in size in about a year. 

Since last December Mom has endured Breast Cancer that was diagnosed on December 15, 2015 and then had a double mastectomy January 19, 2016.  She has gone through a full reconstruction and just completed that just a little over a month and a half ago and now received news last Thursday that this tumor in her brain needs to come out very soon!

So....this tumor that is not our friend has been causing many problems that we thought were other things but now we know are from this tumor!  She has left sided weakness, especially her left leg and foot drop in her left foot.  Mom is going to physical therapy prior to surgery to help with her strength and then she will be in neuro rehab at Trustpoint for 2 to 6 weeks post op. 

Please keep my Dad, us 3 kids and our families and my grandmother in your prayers and encourage her through this process.

Your positive thoughts and prayers are very welcome.

We have set up a meal page for her a Dad so that Dad does not have to worry about cooking while he goes to visit her each night during rehab, etc.  Here is the link....thank you. http://www.takethemameal.com/meals.php?t=LLRX0019