Becky's Journal

Hello everyone :-) Sorry I haven\'t updated the site in a while but I got sick with strep throat and so did Hudson so we were out of commission for a while. Enough about me. Mom is doing awesome!!! She has been going to cardiac rehab for 2 weeks now and is getting her strength back. She went to small group last Thursday for the first time since her surgery and came to church this morning :-) She is continuing to get better each and every day, she wanted me to make sure I told everyone thank you for your continued love, support and prayers during this journey. You all may keep in touch by just giving her a call, she\'d love to hear from you.:-) Adios!

I\'ve been with Mom every day for the last week and she is doing just wonkderful! She is eating a lot better, up to almost 1000ml on her spirometer and gets up and walks 3 times a day!! She was actually going to get out and ride with me to pick up Presley from school but had fallen asleep before it was time for me to leave to pick her up and I was NOT about to wake her. We\'ll try again tomorrow :-) She is also talking about going to small group on Thursday night!! Next week she will begin rehab at the hospital and she is looking forward to it. Can you believe that tomorrow it will be 3 weeks post-op?? The time has flown by and Mom has made such awesome progress. Please continue to pray for her strength to continue to increase, thank you all for taking the time to check on her, provide food for her (Lord knows she would have starved it were up to me) and to pray for her!! ~Stacey

Mom\'s still doing great! She\'s been walking to her shower with no assistance now. It is amazing the progress she has made in just the last 2 weeks. I\'m going to begin giving updates once a week at this point unless there is something that I feel led to share otherwise. Please keep your continued prayers, they are being received and are greatly appreciated!! ~Stacey

It has been two weeks today since Mom was admitted into the hospital preparing for her heart valve replacement surgery. It seems like it was just yesterday but Mom has made such a great improvement in such little time. It can only be accredited to continued prayer from family and friends. Thank you all so much for continuing to read her journal and stay abreast of her status. In addition, thank you all for the continued prayers, she definitely wouldn\'t be where she is today without them. Today Mom got up and walked twice, took a shower by herself and continued to use her spirometer as expected. She does have a little red spot on her leg between the 2 incision areas. Bert called the doctors office and they are calling in an antibiotic just to be on the safe side. I\'ll continue to keep you posted, I\'ll be with her for the next two weeks :-) ~Stacey

I spoke with Mom this morning and she sounded really good. She said that she was tired yesterday when she got home after the shower but she was really glad she got to come. I didn\'t get to speak with her this evening but she is going to be soooo excited tomorrow when I tell her that Adam Pick, the author of \"The Patients Guide To Heart Valve Surgery\" signed her guestbook today!!! How awesome is that!!! He is still getting to enjoy the blessings from the experience he shared with the world when he got his book published. Providing these websites to his readers is something that continues to bless families and friends every day. Thanks Adam, for helping our family to understand the process of this experience in life. :-) ~Stacey

Today Mom felt good enough to get out and come to my home for my neice Crystal\'s baby shower. Not only that, she felt good long enough to stay the whole time!! Mom\'s in great spirits, she got to have some \"lady\" time today. It was so nice to see her get out and around town, I love her :-) ~Stacey

Mom is still doing great, she is getting up and around a little bit, she got in the shower today and said it was so refreshing!! She\'s eating a little better each day and getting more and more energy. Tomorrow we\'re going to try and get her to my house to come to Crystal\'s baby shower. Pray for energy for her :-) ~Stacey

Mom was in such good spirits this morning, she got a full nights sleep with no one poking and prodding at her and no interruptions at all. :-) She didn\'t get up and walk as much as she should have but I\'m going to see if I can get her outside tomorrow. :-) Presley got to see her Granny Beck yesterday, she was sooooo happy!!! She loves that Granny Beck :-) ~Stacey

Today was an awesome day!! Mom\'s lungs are clear, she had a good nights sleep last night and she was released to go home this afternoon :-) Today at about 4:30PM Mom and Bert began getting her stuff together. Sherri came up to the hospital and helped Mom get ready to go. They got home safely and Mom\'s incision shield was a big help because the seat belt ran right across the incision. I talked to Mom this evening after she got home and she sounded great! She was so glad to be home where she can no longer be poked and prodded, sit in her recliner and enjoy a full nights sleep for the first time in 9 days :-) Cookie (the kitty) was so glad Mom was home, she loves to get in her lap when she is in her recliner. Bert said that Cookie walked around and meowed when she first got home. I told Bert that she was probably fussing at Mom saying \"where have you been all of this time, I\'ve been missing you\" Thank you all for your continued prayers and support, we all appreciate it very much :-) ~Stacey

Mom had a bad night last night. She started getting nauseous again last night and we\'ve decided that it is the percocet. They will switch her to a different pain medication to help her with the nausea. In addition, it took the nurses until 1AM to get the IV back in her, they poked and prodded and poked and prodded again. Bless her heart, she is ALL bruised up! Today they had to take her back to specials and get fluid removed from her right lung. She can breathe much better now and was able to get up and walk a little today. She also got some good rest since she didn\'t sleep well last night. Joli got Mom up and she got a shower again today, she feels so much better now. It is amazing what a shower can do for you :-) Dr. Wolfe came by today and said that it is possible that they will let her go home tomorrow, we\'ll see how she does tonight and tomorrow. Thank you everyone for your thoughts, prayers and words of encouragement. I read the guestbook to Mom most every day and it really helps pick up her spirits to hear from everyone. Thanks again!! ~Stacey

Mom has had an eventful day today! She still isn\'t eating a lot but much more than she was 2 days ago. She hasn\'t been in pain but she doesn\'t have much energy and has been having a harder time breathing. She doesn\'t want to get up and walk around, but she is staying awake and alert much more today than 2 days ago. Today they checked her magnesium levels to make sure the iron is being absorbed properly by her body. Everything checked out fine. Of course, she has had a hard time with the poking and prodding when they are trying to take her blood; since her veins roll so it is hard to get an IV in them or get a needle in them. They have had to prick her fingers a few times to get blood and at times they have had issues getting the blood necessary to test because her little fingers have been so cold. Today they checked her lungs and she had too much fluid on them, so they had to send her to get it removed. She was transported to specials and they numbed her back, put a needle directly into her lungs and pulled a bunch of fluid off. They also had to give her lasics as well to get the remainder of the fluid off. Dr. Wolfe advised that about 95% of his patients end up having to get the fluid off of the lungs. That was nice to know that this wasn\'t a major set back like I had originally thought. Since she couldn\'t breathe well and since so much went on, they didn\'t get her up and walking around today. Dr. Wolfe says that she probably won\'t go home now until Wednesday but she is still doing really good and continuing to move forward. :-) So the last big event of the evening was Mom accidentally yanking her IV out. Of course, they are having a hard time getting one back in but as I write tonight they have been unsuccessful. Bert told me that they have called for the experts :-) Today Mom had several visitors, Brenda came by, Mike and Rae, Brother Jack came and prayed with her, Bert picked up Presley from school and brought her to see her Granny Beck (she was sooooo happy) and Sherri came by after work as well. Joli (the nurse) let Presley use the stethescope to hear Mom\'s heart, she thought she was a nurse let me tell ya. :-) ~Stacey

Today Mom\'s big goals were to eat and to get up and walking at least 2 times today. Goal 1: Eating: Mom\'s not had any appetite at all for the last few days so she hasn\'t been eating very well. We\'re all trying to get her to eat more to give her more energy but she just picks at her food. She hasn\'t been on any pain medication for 3 days now and is having no pain at all which is great, but I\'m still not understanding why she doesn\'t have an appetite. I guess her body is just adjusting to the heart functioning properly after all of these years and it is affecting everything else. She is also sleeping A LOT!!!!!! The nurses say this is all normal so I\'m not worried. :-) Goal 2: Walking- Mom got up and walked the hall twice today, which is awesome :-) We\'re not sure when exactly she will get to go home but I will be asking the docs tomorrow when I\'m at the hospital. They did take the oxygen off of Mom for most of the day but are keeping it on her at night to ensure she is getting the oxygen she needs throughout the evenings. She\'s still using the spirometer every hour but she isn\'t getting to the 1500 mark as of yet and she needs to be walking 3 times a day and getting the spirometer up to 1500 before she can go home. Hopefully we will be taking her home really soon!!! :-) ~Stacey

10:00AM: She wasn\'t stinky but today she was able to get up on her own and get in the shower!! A big accomplishment for sure. :-) Today they have been having problems drawing blood because her hands were so cold, but they finally got a vein after about 15 minutes. Rae and Mike as well as David came by to see her today. Pappaw says she is feeling much better today because her bossing skills are coming back :-) 1:30PM: Mom looks good today, she is sitting up in her chair, she\'s started some rehab so they have given her 3 goals for today. 1). Ambulate - Getting up and moving around 2) Wean Oxygen - They want her to begin weaning herself from the oxygen flow, that is all that she has left other than the IV\'s. They won\'t take the IV\'s out until she gets ready to leave the hospital in case of emergency\'s. 3) Voldyne - This is the model spirometer, it helps her get her lungs strengthened, she has a goal of 1500 before she can go home and she is currently at between 800 and 1000. The only other main thing Mom needs now in addition to the above goals being met is to get the necessary rest for her body to heal. 9:55PM: Mom did really well today with accomplishing her goals. 1) She got up and walked out of her room, to the end of her hall and back!!! We were all so proud :-) It took a lot out of her but her body is adjusting still. 2) She took her oxygen off for several hours and her body regulated it as it should. They did put it back on her for the night but we\'ll see how it goes tomorrow. 3) We made sure we had Mom use the spirometer every hour today, we\'ll continue to do this as long as the doctors order :-) ~Stacey

8AM: Mom\'s been a little nauseas today. She hasn\'t eaten much so far. 11:30AM: She ate a little but but still not as good as yesterday. They did get her out of the bed and walked her to her door. Because she is feeling nauseaus, they gave her fintergren (I don\'t know how to spell it) but makes you light headed so they\'ll try again later today. 1:37AM: They are fixing to take out her pacing wires as well as her pleural and mediastinal tubes. Yiippee :-) Her IV\'s are leaking so they are having to re-do them but they will be giving her morphine before taking the tubes out. Please be praying for her pain to be minimized by the morphine :-) 4:30PM: Mom is doing great with the pain, she can\'t keep her eyes open physically, but will talk to you. She has had lots of visitors today, Sissy and Bro. Jeff from church, Jere Lyn and Jim Harper, Daddy and Brenda, Bert, Sherri and myself are here of course and also Leesa and Valerie from my work came by and brought us some food to freeze so we will have it when she gets home. Keep those prayers coming please, they are continuing to work :-) She might get to go home on Sunday instead of Monday she is doing so good!! ~Stacey

3AM: Mom got up out of the bed and got in her chair. They took the big breathing tube out at some time after 9PM since she was doing so good :-) 5:30AM: Sherri, Linda and Bert got to go in and see Mom, she is not near as puffy as she was last night and is doing great!! Her breathing treatments have been perfect every time :-) 9AM: Sherri, Linda and Bert got to go in again, Mom was up having breakfast. They told them that she had done so well that they were going to release her from ICU. She\'ll be getting a room today. God is awesome!!! :-) 10:56AM: Mom is moved to room 538, this is 8 hours earlier than expected since she was doing so good!! 12:30PM: Rob, Presley, myself and Hudson were finally able to come up Mom is eating lunch as we speak :-) She looks great and is in great spirits. She\'s not complaining of any pain either which is a bit shocking to me. Dad and Brenda are here again with all of us, we are all just shocked at how great she is doing! Thank you ALL for your continued prayers, they are helping a lot!! Keep \'em coming please :-) Oh, just an FYI - She said she didn\'t want a bunch of flowers or anything sent so if you want to do something like that, just wait until she gets home please :-) 5PM: Mom is stil doing awesome! She\'s eating dinner now and enjoying hanging out with Bert, Presley and myself. Everyone is so amazed at how she is doing but of course, we all know that is due to the continued prayers. God is the great physician and the source of all that is good. He is healing my Mom at Godspeed!!

10AM: This morning has been pretty relaxed, we have just been hanging out with Mom. Bert, me, Linda, Dad and Brenda are all keeping Mom company before the surgery. I was able to read Mom the guestbook so she knows who all is praying for her, she couldn\'t read it herself cause she got so choked up. :-) Thank you all!! We love ya :-) 11:45: Bert, myself and Mom went to the pre-op area where the anesthesiologists told us all about how they would prepare her for surgery and what we could expect in the wiating room. They will begin in about an hour and will call us the minute they start, they will then call us every hour during the length of the surgery. They expect the surgery to last about 4 hours from start to finish. Mom will be in the ICU recovering for about 2 hours before we can go in and see her. I\'ll keep you posted as the day progresses. 2PM: The nurse just called and advised they just got started and everything was going good. She will call back in another hour. :-) 4:21: Dr. Wolfe called and said that he has completed the surgery, everything went wonderfully! He said they are putting all of the bandages on now and will roll her into ICU in a few minutes. We can go see her soon!! Keep the prayers coming!! We appreciate all of them so much, God is good!!! 6:30PM: Bert, Sherri and Daddy got to go back and see Mom after she woke up a little bit. They said she was coherent, a little puffy but definitely doing well. 8:30PM: Mom let Sherri send me a picture of her, that\'s just because she is on drugs right now but she will freak out once she sees the picture once she goes home. :-) Rob told me tonight that Mrs. Penny at Presley\'s child care told him (while she was a little choked up) that Presley said a prayer for her Granny Beck at nap time today. Tonight when she was saying her prayers at bedtime, she prayed for Granny Beck again. She said \"Jesus, thank you for the doctors fixing my Granny Beck\'s heart, Amen.\" She is such an angel, that sweet baby loves her Granny Beck :-) I\'ll give you all more updates tomorrow, good night!! ~Stacey

Today Mom and Bert arrived at Baptist Desoto hospital at 6:30AM, by 7:30 they had her in a room ready for the heart cath to be performed. 9:30AM: They completed the heart cath and determined that there is some blockage on Mom\'s right artery. At this point Dr. Himmelstein is going to confer with Dr. Wolfe to see how to handle the blockage. 11:30AM: It was determined that Mom has 75% blockage on the right artery, they will either do a bypass or a stent. It will depend on how much time they have in the OR. 6:00PM: Dr. Wolfe came and spoke to Mom and Bert and advised that they will definitely do a bypass while they replace the valve. They will begin the surgery tomorrow between noon and 1PM. I\'ll update everyone more tomorrow as the day progresses :-)