Thursday, March 26, 2015

Hospital Life Part IV

We thank the Lord for healing! All the children are recovered from their bout with influenza B, and Eward and I did not get it at all. Praise the LORD!

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Now to continue with my SCAD experience... We are ready for day 4 which was a Wednesday...
After another restless night our day started very early when a lab worker came in at 3:00 to draw blood. Right behind her came another nurse with the scales to weigh me. After they left we just laughed. This was so funny, being weighed at 3:00 in the morning! But, such is hospital life. The reason they were weighing me every day was to make sure I wasn't retaining fluids, which can happen if the heart is not working like it should. Thanks to the unappetizing low fat no sodium diet I was losing weight pretty fast. I probably also lost my appetite from shock.

This day Jonathan was the lucky one to come to the hospital with Dad. I don't remember how Irene went home, but all the other children stayed home that day. There was laundry etc. to do. They happily welcomed Baby Michael home when Mable Chupp brought him back. :) Here are several pictures of what was going on at home.
Ruth Anna put the fly swatter in her dress, hopped on her trike and said, "Now I am a policeman!"

Playing on the neighbor's hay bales.

Joel (12) mothering Michael



Rhoda (almost 2) was not having a good day. Poor girl. So much had happened. First we bring home a new baby. Then Mom disappears for a week. What is happening?

She was crying and crying. Seems to me an older sibling was taking pictures instead of comforting her... Later they could not find her.

They found her sleeping on the top bunk in the boys' bedroom. Poor girl. How I wished I could be at home to rock her.
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My day was uneventful. I was taken on two walks again. The children liked to say "The PT took me cruising in the halls". PT = Physical Therapist - then think of the car called PT Cruiser. :) I still had a headache. They now started treating it with Tramadol, a narcotic like pain reliever. FINALLY, after a week of constant headache I started getting relief.

Jonathan took a great interest in watching the helicopter. Creighton is one of the two trauma hospitals in Omaha. This was one of the days they were on for getting all the trauma patients. We could always hear the helicopter and they could watch the helipad from the waiting room of the CCU where I was. One time there were several police cars there too. Probably a crime victim... I was a little concerned to have this 6 year old walking the halls all by himself, but he was fine. He knew those hallways better than I ever did!

This afternoon our visitors were Scott and Grace Goertzen. Earlier in the day the nurse I had Sunday night came to visit me with her daughter. She said she prays for her patients and likes to come visit them when she is off duty. That was encouraging!!!

 In the evening Pat Lowis came to stay with me overnight. She was a blessing. Anytime during the night when I was restless she was awake and asking me if I need anything. That evening when the nurses shift changed my day nurse came in with a young male nurse, Jasper, and said he would be my night nurse. Is that OK? Well, I wasn't impressed with having a male nurse, but didn't want to say so to his face, so I said, "Yes, that's OK". I did remember that it was usually the nurses' aide that helped with personal needs like restroom etc. He turned out to be very respectful and one of the best nurses. And so ended the fourth day in the hospital.

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Thursday was going to be a day with a bit more happening. First I had an ultrasound of my heart in the morning. Today was the day for the CT angiogram, so I was not allowed to eat or drink.

Edward brought Annetta, Marian and Michael with him. They didn't come till later. He had gone to his job site where some of the men from church were finishing the job for him. That was appreciated!
I did love my "little man" even if those special newborn feelings were not there. Here I was admiring a new outfit they had gotten for him. He was such a tiny baby. At 2 weeks he only weighed 6 1/2 pounds.
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Sometime in the morning we heard a beeping noise and something seemed to be going on. The nurses seemed very busy and no one was bringing the usual meds etc. We soon realized there was a code blue on the floor. After a while we heard someone crying and crying. A different person brought my meds. We asked the PT later what was going on. He just said there was a code on the floor. I liked to keep my door open so that I could watch the activity. Later after things had settled down I overheard a conversation between an older doctor and some students. He was telling them how to handle circumstances like this - how to comfort the family members. Apparently someone had died...

My cat scan was to be soon after lunch, but we waited and waited. It wasn't till later in the day when they finally came for me. Maybe there had been an emergency and I was the one that got pushed out till later. Oh well, I had nothing to do anyway! As they were taking me down to radiology the nurse said I really gave them a scare in the cath lab on Sunday. She said they thought they might have to shock my heart to get it back into rhythm. Really! I had not known that. What really did that mean? Did I almost die? I didn't ask her, but that created a lot of new thoughts...

So what is a CT angiogram? It's often called a cat scan. It is a test that uses x-rays to provide detailed pictures of the heart and the blood vessels that go to the heart, lung, brain, kidneys, head, neck, legs, and arms. The reason for this scan was to check my other arteries. A large percent of people that have SCAD also have fibromuscular dysplasia which causes malformations in blood vessels. Thankfully those test results were negative for me. I had to lay on a narrow bed that went back and forth in a donut shaped thing. Everyone else left the room so that they are not exposed to the radiation of the x-ray. An automated voice told me when to hold my breath and when to breath normally. At one point they put a dye into my IV. Thankfully I had been forewarned about what happens. As soon as the dye gets into the vein a warm sensation passes through the whole body and a metallic taste fills the mouth. It only lasts a few seconds, but feels very weird. One lady didn't know that would happen and thought she was dying!

 After this was done I was taken back to my room and finally allowed to eat and drink. It was about 4:00. For the first time this week I was starting to feel hungry, so I ordered some cheerios and juice while I waited for supper. Meanwhile they were busy getting ready to move me to another room. A step down is what they called it. I didn't need to be in the CCU anymore and this room would be cheaper. Edward and the girls were moving my stuff. We had quite an accumulation! While I was eating, Rita and Mary Pratt stopped in. How encouraging to have friends who care! And then I was taken to my new room. That evening Teresa Smidt and several children visited.

Annetta was very tired and Irene had spent the last night with me and gotten very little sleep, so taking care of the baby overnight looked pretty overwhelming. Edward called Rita Pratt to see if she would like to have him for the night. She was very happy to take him. Like I had written earlier, the shock of everything had taken away my motherly feelings for him. It was very sad to not even care much that my baby was going to someone else...

After supper Edward and the children were getting ready to leave. Marian (8) begged to stay with me overnight. We saw no reason why that would be a problem and told her she may. Soon after Edward left, the head nurse came in. She asked if Marian is staying overnight. When I told her that she was planning to, she said she can't, she is too young. If anything would happen, they could not be responsible for her. I could see her point, but it was hard for Marian. I called Edward and he had to turn around and come back. Thankfully they had not gone very far yet. Marian was crying. She said she's scared and can't sleep well when I'm not at home. I tried to comfort her. Hopefully I would be able to go home the next day.

After everyone had left again I was feeling lonely, sad, and scared. What did the future hold? Would I ever be healthy again? And the greatest fear of all, would I have another heart attack?  I opened my Bible to Psalms. It opened to Psalm 138 and I read, "The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands." I was so blessed I called Edward and told him what I had just read. I felt the Lord was telling me that everything will be alright. "The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me." I read on into chapter 139. There I read, "Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me." This reminded me of Revelation 1:17 .. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; Jesus was very near to me that night. I envisioned him beside my bed with His hand on me saying to me, "Fear not." My headache was gone and this bed was a little more comfortable than the other one. I slept better than I had any other night in the hospital.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   


Saturday, March 21, 2015

His Grace is Sufficient

The following is an excerpt from Streams in the Desert compiled by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman. 

Truth I needed reminded of today.


"The other evening I was riding home after a heavy day's work. I felt very wearied, and sore depressed, when swiftly and suddenly as a lightning flash, that text came to me, "My grace is sufficient for thee."...

I said, 'I should think it is, Lord,' and burst out laughing.
..."It seemed to make unbelief so absurd. It was as though some little fish, being very thirsty, was troubled about drinking the river dry, and [the river] said, 'Drink away, little fish, my stream is sufficient for thee.'
"Or, it seemed after the seven years of plenty, a mouse feared it might die of famine; and Joseph might say, 'Cheer up, little mouse, my granaries are sufficient for thee.' "
 - C.H. Spurgeon


His grace is great enough to meet the great things-
The crashing waves that overwhelm the soul,
The roaring winds that leave us stunned and breathless,
The sudden storms beyond our life's control.

His grace is great enough to meet the small things -
The little pin-prick troubles that annoy,
The insect worries, buzzing and persistent,
The squeaking wheels that grate upon our joy.
 - Annie Johnson Flint

Sunday, March 15, 2015

The Busyness of Life

I have had a lot of distraction from writing this blog. We spent March 1st to 9th in Kalona, Iowa for Youth Bible School. Our two oldest were students and Edward was part of the staff, so our whole family went. Since all the houses were filled with the 138 youth, we camped out at the church. A larger church had been rented for the event. We took our bedding and food along and it worked out very well. That is, till Michael got sick. Tuesday forenoon he threw up over the carpeted steps going down to the basement. He threw up seven times. That ended all our plans for the day. Since we didn't want to start an epidemic at Bible school the children and I stayed "home" all day. By the next day he seemed to be OK except for diarrhea, so we went over for lunch and chorus practice. Thursday evening I started to feel sick. During the night Rhoda started throwing up. Thankfully I had a bowl handy and was able to catch it all. By that time I was so sick I was almost fainting. I made it back to bed and the faint feeling soon was better. By morning I was feeling pretty good, but Edward, Joel and Simon were sick! Edward wasn't able to do his duties at Bible school. We stayed at "home" at the church all day. Simon did not not get very sick. In the afternoon Jonathan started feeling sick. He then fell asleep on the chairs and I thought, "I wonder if that's a good idea..." Well, I should have done something about it, but I didn't. He woke up vomiting managing to hit 3 cushioned chairs and getting some on the carpet. :( Thankfully I was able to get a shampooer and wash it all up right away. Saturday I was feeling fine, so I went over to Fairview where Bible school was. Edward and Joel felt well enough to babysit Rhoda and Ruth Anna. I had really wanted to be there for the singing and testimonies. We got our supper there then stopped at the grocery store in Kalona and got chicken and rice to cook for the others' supper. They were all feeling better. Marian and Ruth Anna completely slipped out of it. We were so thankful because when Marian starts she usually ends up needing IV to stop vomiting, so we thank God for keeping her from getting this stomach flu. Meanwhile Irene and Annetta were also not feeling well. They were not sick enough to miss any of the days, but had several days of stomach ache. They stayed at Larry Zooks with 17 other students. Sunday we were all feeling pretty good and able to take in all the activities. Monday morning we packed up all our stuff and cleaned the church then went to pick up the girls at Larrys. When we got there they were SICK. one had a temp of 103 and the other 102.5. It was a good thing Bible school was over and we were going home!

This past week now ALL nine of the children were very sick. Two of them ended up seeing a doctor. Tests were positive for influenza B. Thankfully Edward and I didn't get it. So guess what I was doing all week! :) We came home Monday afternoon with almost no clean clothes, so I had to do lots of laundry besides caring for sick children. Last evening I just sank down on my recliner and didn't feel like moving anymore. Most of them were getting better. A few were still very sick. Ruth Anna was saying all the time she feels fine, she's just tired. Even with a temp of 102 she insisted she's not sick. Yesterday afternoon she said she's so tired. She curled up on the couch with a blanket and fell asleep. When she woke up she was very hot. Her temp was now 104.8! She finally admitted that she was sick! Jonathan got tight all of a sudden Thursday evening so Edward took him to the ER. Chest ex-rays were clear, so after a nebulizer treatment they sent him home with an inhaler in case he gets tight again.

Once everyone is well and things are back to normal I want to get my thoughts together and finish writing my experience with SCAD.

Here are some pictures from the week of Bible school...

The chorus



Since all the chairs and tables had been taken out of the basement dining area the children had a lot of fun roller blading.

We had a nice living space behind the chairs in the sanctuary. We slept in the nursery and the children slept in the rooms upstairs.

And I did have to add a picture of the photographer. :) Jonathan 8