Home is in sight!

My Gastroenterologist stopped by to let me know I can go home once I can get my oxygen and pain under control!  Neither of these are things that happen quickly but it could be this week sometime!  We will have to come back in one week for a new CT Scan and then we will plan that path forward.  Going home does not mean that I am healed, that will take months, but there is no need to sit in a hospital bed in Seattle when I can be comfortable at home.  I will not be able to drive and we will still need support for Aaron, but I can be around for important events and to be with friends and family. Thank you Lord!  And thank you everyone for your prayers!  Please continue to pray for the Pancreas to heal with the least amount of damage.  Please pray for enzyme and insulin production as well.

 Once I get home, it will be important that we stay away from anyone who can get us sick so if you are under the weather please wait until you are clear to visit.

This was just the GI doctors so it will be up to the Hospitalists to determine the course of getting me home.  I will let you know what they say.

45

What do the following list of foods have in common?
• 9 oz Extra lean Ground Beef
• 5 oz Cheddar Cheese (5 slices)
• 4 Tbsp Mayonnaise
• ½ c. Heavy Cream
• ¼ c. butter
• 3 Tbsp Corn or Olive Oil
• 5 Tbsp Peanut Butter
• 2/3 c. Almonds
• ¾ c. Cashews

ANSWER: Each one of them represents my maximum daily fat intake….not just when I am here, but also when I get home. Hopefully this regiment will give my pancreas the best chance to heal and not be overworked
What does this mean to me?
• I can no longer Dine out unless I seriously plan ahead.
• Appetizers at all of our favorite restaurants no longer exist.
• Wingstop can forget my standing order (unless I am picking up for Jacob).
• Mashed potatoes are fine, but don’t dare have them at a restaurant where they slather them with cream and butter.
• I am glad I don’t have to taste my cream cheese frosting to know it is good
• I will have to retrain my brain about the goodness in a Bacon Cheeseburger
• My family will be living healthier lives.
• We can teach our son positive eating habits
• I get to experiment with cooking new lean meats and using seasonings.
I had a consultation with a dietitian today and she went over a sample eating plan and good choice verse bad choices. I was in utter shock! The low fat diet just shows the low fat piece and not the insulin portion. Adding carbohydrate restrictions will basically mean cakes and cupcakes are off the table…don’t fret…since I have such good testers, I will still be baking…it just won’t be staying around my house!!

Set up phone to Blog...testing

Just some recent Aaron pictures.

A Day of Rest

Yesterday was a long day with a lot of progress! Jacob and Aaron stopped by after breakfast and spent a fair amount of time with me! It was great to be able to hold Aaron without belly pain like in Richland.

/div>

We ate, we napped, and I know Aaron snuck in some tv time… I also only have one IV so I have a total arm free for him. Even our nurse wanted to meet him! I noticed that my strength was coming back…not going back to the gym strength but sitting up with less effort in bed, walking around easier, less pressure on the lungs Thank the Lord!!! I hadn’t had a shower since I left Richland so that was the goal of the day but there wasn’t ever a gap in visitors so we planned it for after dinner. We waited all day to see the doctors and Jacob had used his last bottle and decided it was time to head back to Joe & Debs…literally two minutes later the Gastrointestinal Doctor showed up and a few minutes after that the my team of General Doctors showed up. They could see the marked change in me over the last 24 hours and it was decided I would transfer floor…apparently my floor was one step about the Critical Care Unit…I made a big climb to the 17th floor…a single room with a great view…I was thinking that this would be okay for a few weeks

…as I was getting settled, a nurse came by to burst my bubble saying I was moving again the next day…What?!$*#(…so I am enjoying the room while it is mine…and it is a one bed room!! I was up walking around my room…feeling very free and strong! Also, the Dr. prescribed a lowfat diet so I had to decide what to eat for dinner…deciding took forever and I ate very slowly when it got here. It had been almost 9 days since I ate solid foods…throwing up was not on my agenda!

up, up, and Away

Before I was even finished with breakfast, to Kadlec docs had confirmed with Virginia Mason that it would be best to have me at Virginia Mason. MedStar took that as an emergency and got to Kadlec before I was even able to get a shower. I was cocooned on their stretcher and transported to the Richland airport (where doting loving supporters sent me off)and after a quick flight was ambulanced to Virginia Mason. We got a great view of Mt. Rainier on the way over. The admin process was like a well oiled machine and I soon found myself in Bed 2, yes, not a private room!!! The hospital has a much older look than Kadlec, but the electronic equipment is top notch. By the time I got some pain meds, I realized it is going to be a long road ahead.

VM Dr Pros & Support Staff Cons: I already miss my Kadlec RNs and CNAs like crazy! I have to be more independent. I have not had someone try to find a vein...the last two days has been IV hell at Kadlec...I have already talked to all three of my General Dr staff (Intern, Resident, and Attending…kinda Greys flashback) and the GI Dr. consults. They have created a binder on me…and she sat down with me while I ate my dinner and we talked about lots of different treatment paths we could take. Right now we are letting my pancreas rest, watching levels with blood, vitals, and special tests. If things progress positively my outcome could be self healing pancreas without surgery and no need for insulin or enzyme dependence. The damaged pancreas will not regain its old status, but heal in such a way that other evasive procedures are not necessary. At any point, bacteria, addition necrosis, or infection can cause complications causing stints, drain tubes, surgery, etc. It could lead to a much less desirable dietary life later. I may be insulin dependent and/or require digestion enzymes. I wanted to show the polar differences and my trust in these doctors to be able to respond quickly with option already planned. This can take weeks or months and the process is not all hospitalization. Once we have the pancreas at an acceptable place, I will have gall bladder surgery. They may at some point go in and grab that remaining stone if they feel it is going to cause a bigger problem.

Some other side notes…when I got here they said I would have an NPO diet…that means nothing to eat or drink…maybe a swab to wet my mouth. That about drove me insane at Richland so I made sure they knew I made it to full liquid yesterday…once the gastro PA heard this she changed it to the same…get this…we are in Seattle…I can get a latte, cappuccino, mocha, or Americana with 4 flavor choices..haha! personally healing my pancreas does not include coffee.

In passing I mentioned my cell phone was dead to my nursing assistant and he called concierge service and they brought one up,,,nice! On a different note, I was sending texts out like mad and my phone overloaded and deleted ALL of my text messages. So if you have sent me anything over text that was important…please re-send, especially kid pics.

Jacob and Aaron made it over and Aaron got to meet Debbie, Joe, Rachel, Marshal, and Lucy! So thankful to have family here willing to help out!

Goodnight!

health issues

It is Thursday evening and today we were made aware of a pretty big setback in my pancreatic health.  I was supposed to have Gallbladder surgery today, but the surgeon came to my room with news that surgery was cancelled because the pancreas was still so enflamed.  Later in the day we met with two other doctors on my now 4 doctor team who also had news about what they want to do for treatment today, but the biggest reality set in when my Doc that initially diagnosed me came to talk to us about the CT scan.  He put it in layman’s terms that sunk in.  I have had Severe Pancreatitis and a large portion of the pancreas is dead.  The dead portion can be a breeding ground for infections and cause severe long-term effects or it can “heal” like a scar.  Either way it is much more serious and they want to make sure I do not get any infections.  The Drs. here are consulting with Virginia Mason tomorrow to see if it would be best to send me now or just watch and take over if there are any complications.

Friday, September 13th at about 11:30 I started having sharp shooting pains in my abdomen and by 1:30 I felt I needed to have Jacob take me to Kadlec ER. Getting back to the ER did not take as long as I have heard some say that it takes, but it was agonizing and the moaning began…I think I have a high pain tolerance, but there was just no end to this…I finally got placed on a stretcher in a hallway and was there for what seemed like an eternity…Again it wasn’t super long, but even the Morphemes they gave me didn’t take the edge off.  I got blood drawn, taken for an ultrasound and X-ray.  And then I heard the say,” She has pancreatitis and we are admitting her. “I wasn’t expecting that at all.  I thought they would give me some heavy drugs to get rid of the pressure aka calm down the “Heartburn & bloating.” Before I got pregnant I would often have these “episodes” that would wake me up in the middle of the night I would take an acid reliever and jump into the bathtub…the hot water running over me would distract and clam me….sometime I would drain most of the water and just fall asleep.  When I would go back to bed I would head for the corner of the couch or pile on the pillow stack. As the attacks happened more frequently I asked the PA (Physicians’ assistant) at my Doctor about it and she said it could be  GERD  or an ulcer and to start by avoiding certain foods in the evening, and that helped and we got pregnant with Aaron and I was eating really health  Post partum I started having symptoms again.

Baby Worthy quilt fabrics

 

Below are the fabrics for the quilt I want to make for Baby Worthy's room.  Let me know if you would like to make a 12 1/2" block for his quilt...Tell me which fabrics you want and how much you need and I will get it to you!!!  Get it back to me when you are done and I will assemble it. 

 

Fabric 1-brown polka dots

 Fabric 2-teal mesh

Fabric 3-happy frogs

 Fabric 4-Owls

Fabric 5- Orange specs 

 Fabric 6-footprints

 Fabric 7-colored dots

 Fabric 8 - hexagons

 Fabric 9- lime dots