I know people are wanting an update but it feels like there isn’t much to write, which is a good thing. A VERY GOOD THING!
We have gotten into a comfortable routine and he is improving. Sometimes I see notable new accompolishments and then other times it is just maintaining a routine. It has already been three weeks since he came home which is hard to believe and in that time his walking and stablility have improved although he still has to use the walker, his appetite is better and he is gaining weight, his voice is not as weak, he can shower and shave himself, and his mind is clear. We have a lot to be grateful for.
Home Health and Physical Therapy are still coming to the house which has been a huge blessing. Today PT worked on strengthening the muscles that help you stand up from a sitting down position and he also did three stair steps.
We know this stage is going to take time. They are saying it will probably be Christmas before he feels like life is getting back to normal. Until then….
Gene has been home from the hospital and rehab for one full week. I am now counting weeks home rather than weeks in the hospital!
It has been a good week and hasn’t felt like much to report. You know what do they say, “no news is good news” so I am claiming it! In looking back over the week, I can see noticeable improvement. For starters, he is eating so much better, everything I put on his plate. He has had meatloaf, scallop potatoes, chicken noodle soup, sausage gravy and biscuits, egg in a basket, Apple Dapple cake, plus his sandwiches at lunch.
We have had him out on the pastures with the golf cart twice so he can see his cows. He is sitting up a lot more and walking laps in the house from the sofa to the kitchen sink and back. He is much more steady on his feet and I am no longer feeling like he is going to collaspe or fall over any second. I stopped one day at his barber shop and asked if they did home visits. Last night one of the girls came and cut his hair. It hasn’t been cut since at least May. He is able to do more of his physical hygiene and has managed to get his beard shaved off. It has made him feel human again. Last evening we ate supper at the table for the first time. The number of pills he has to take each day is decreasing. Home Health and Physical Therapy are coming to the house several times a week which has been such a blessing. At first when we came home I was a little nervous that we would have another setback but we have settled into a peaceful routine and it is going well. I am so grateful for changes I can see!!!
Next week he has two doctors appointments which will get him out of the house for two field trips! He continues to enjoy visitors. You make his day.
Sometimes it is hard to keep people up on the latest updates. I am trying to keep our store running, the farm going and running to the hospital or rehab (whichever place he happens to be!!!) everyday. Sometimes I just don’t feel like writing and other times I could write a book!
Gene is doing as well as can be expected at Sheltering Arms Rehabilation Center. It is a new state-of-the-art facility and a good place to rehab. Gene deals with fatigue and lack of energy due to multiple factors; all his surgeries, lack of nutrition for almost four months, and who knows how his post long-haul covid factors in. Therapy pushes him to his limit but he keeps struggling through.
This week C-Deff caught up with him. This is an infection that happens in the gut from taking lots of antibotics and the good bugs are destroyed. I had worried that it might happen as he has basically been on antibotics for fourteen weeks because of surgeries and one infection after another. Fortunately, they caught it early and by tomorrow his gut should be settled down. I am so thankful this happened before he left rehab or we would have been back in the hospital again. That would have been very discouraging.
When you go to rehab you set goals of where you want to be to go home. They are anticipating that by the end of next week he will be able to come home. I am so ready to be done with hospitals/rehab and he is so, so, so, so ready to be home.
This has really changed his life and coming home does not mean he is ready to tackle the farm. It does not mean that he is totally healed. It does mean he still needs care, therapy, more therapy, and time to heal and get stronger. He has lost a lot of weight and muscle mass and that will take time and good eating. He just does not have an appetite for food yet. The surgeon says by Christmas he should feel like himself. Time will tell how this plays out in the long-term.
Again we are so grateful for your prayers and care that has been expressed in so many ways. I haven’t been able to write thank you notes, don’t even know how to start or if I can even accompolish that huge task. Just know we are so very grateful and may God bless you.
This week has been a steady upward climb of healing for Gene. He started wearing his own comfy t-shirt and shorts and is walking around the bed with a walker to sit in a chair. It is exhausting but he can do it! He went from a no food, no water diet to liquids and then soft. His gut handled it well. Tonight they are weaning him off the TPN (intravenous feeding) and tomorrow are removing the staples in the 10 inch incision on his belly and removing one of the drain tubes. They will probably leave the second one in for just a bit longer, just in case. The only pain meds he has used for the last week is tylenol.
On Monday they did another CT Scan and it showed significant improvement from a week ago. It appears the leakage from his intestines has stopped. He also started reproducing red blood cells which he hasn’t done since this ordeal started. That was so encouraging and renewed our hope.
Tomorrow the plan is to move him to Sheltering Arms Rehabitation Center if a bed is available. This will be the third time! Threes a charm, right? He is so ready to come home and this is one step closer. It will depend on how well he progresses as to how long he will be there. We are hoping for only two weeks and I really think he can do it.
Gene has basically missed the whole summer. This ordeal started May 20, the week before Memorial Day. Maybe, just maybe, he can be home the week after Labor Day. They are predicting that he will be back to normal by Christmas. This has been a long, long journey and we so appreciate everyone praying and praying and praying for us.
My last blog post was dated July 28 (Sunday) and things were looking up. Instead much has happened. He got moved to Sheltering Arms Rehabitation Center on Thursday afternoon, August 1, and was there three days. Sunday morning I got a call from the doctor on staff and they were in the process of transferring him back to the emergency room at St. Francis. The 10 inch incision on his chest from the first emergency surgery was leaking nasty looking gunk and they were concerned.
Sunday evening they did emergency surgery to find and fix the problem. On Tuesday they had to go back in again. It is a long story and I won’t go into all the details. They could not find the leak as he has developed “Frozen Bowel Syndrome”. (You can read more about this on the web). The short version is his bowels have become a frozen, glued together block, that is incased in a hard cocoon shell. It was impossible to move the intestines around or even distinguish the individual strands so they were unable to get to where they thought the leakage was. Instead, they are trying to heal the intestines by creating a fistula with a drainage tube to enable the body to naturally seal off the leakage. There has been so much injury in the abdomen area with the different organs that is causing complication after complication. The surgeon said when they went into his abdomen the first time after the gall bladder ruptured, it looked like a bomb had gone off. Gene has had 4 major surgeries and 4 stent surgeries in 3 months. The hard reality is we may not be done yet.
He is finding it difficult to do the necessary therapy to strengthen his body. Continue to pray for him as he battles this difficult journey and that he can keep his mind focused on hope and not give up. I have been claiming Psalms 41:3 which proclaims God’s care for us on our sickbed. “The LORD will strengthen him on his bed of illness and sustain him on his sickbed.”
Today is a beautiful Sunday morning and one week since the latest saga began. Gene is healing and doing well. All the tubes have been removed. He is eating and his digestive system is working. His challenge now is to get stronger and back on his feet.
We don’t know yet if he has to go back to Sheltering Arms Rehab or will be able to come home-it depends on the strength in his legs. He has to be able to walk to come home. It is the weekend so physical therapy is off. So we will see what Monday brings.
This has been a tough week with lots of pain and nausea. The stent moved significantly yesterday and we were so hopeful but then it became stuck in the lower section of the small intestine in a macaroni noodle kind of curve. It was getting so close but was still out of reach of being able to get with a scope. The surgeon decided it was time to do surgery and remove it. Enough is enough and to keep waiting was counter productive.
The surgery was 3-1/2 hours long this evening. It was a concerned wait after thinking it would be 1-1/2. The end result is good news but what happened was serious, a real mess.
When he had his first emergency, because his gall bladder had ruptured and died, a lot of bile had drained into his abdomen. In the aftermath, he had four more procedures to stop and fix bile leakages and drainage. Bile acts like a detergent and melts fat. The surgeon found lots of melted, sticky, gooey, mud-like fat plastered to his intestines which he had to remove. It caused the intestine to tighten and twist in the area where the stent was stuck causing a total blockage. There was no way the stent could move any further. This also caused issues with his stomach and it couldn’t empty causing nausea and three days of nonstop hiccups. The hiccups was the body’s way of responding to the bloating and air in his stomach and diaphragm. They removed 2 liters of fluid from his tightly bloated stomach.
On Sunday he had pizza for lunch which did not settle well and caused him to start throwing up. But what it actually did was alert us to a more serious issue that was developing before it became an extreme emergency. His stomach had closed off and he could not process food. His intestines had been pinched shut and his bowel could not move. I could hear his bowel rumbling sitting in my lazy boy chair across the room.
This is the short version of a serious situation. I am so grateful the surgeon became concerned about the distress Gene was in and made the compassionate decision to do surgery tonight even though most of it was not showing on scans. Gene is expected to make a full recovery however it will be a long haul as it feels like he is starting recovery all over again but this time from a compromised condition. My prayer is that there will be no more problems!
It has been over eight weeks since this journey began and I will not even pretend it has been easy. There have been mountains to climb, rivers to cross and potholes galore. I sure wish VDOT would get them fixed! But, there have also been lots of encouraging passengers in our car, gas stations to refuel our tanks, and “sonshine” to brighten our path. The guiding voice on our gps has been non other than Jesus Christ our Saviour. We are trusting him to guide us every mile of the way.
My last post was July 6 and we had just came home from the hospital after a return visit for an infection in his abdomen. Things were looking up and doing well until this past week. On Thursday morning I did not like what I was seeing. His vitals were not good, he was running a fever and was too weak to sit or stand without help. After he collapsed coming out of the bathroom, I had to call the Rescue Squad to take him to St. Francis Hospital where he was admitted with another infection and dehydration. A day and half later he was recharged, back on his feet, and looking good. The next day (Saturday) he started having pain in his abdomen and by evening I again did not like his vitals. It is amazing how fast that can change. His blood pressure was 165/124 and his temperature 95.5. Our intuition told us we needed go back to the hospital.
After observing him for about six hours they decided to send him home. They were perplexed as something did not seem right and they really wanted to figure it out but the symptoms were not enough to guide them. They ran numerous tests but nothing really pointed to anything significant. They had done a CT scan 24 hours earlier and did not feel it warranted doing another one.
All day Sunday the pain increased and by afternoon he couldn’t keep anything down. Back to the hospital we went-three times in half a week! It felt like we were racking up frequent flyer miles with a reserved room at a high-end hotel! This time a CT-Scan led them to the source of the problem.
The 1 cm wide stent (about the width of the nail on my pointer finger) that they had put in about seven weeks ago to block a leaking hole (so it could heal) in the bile duct where it dumps into the small intestine had dislodged and was now traveling the depths of the small intestine highway! As of last night it was at a curve and could be blocking the intestine. They are monitoring the situation. They will do another scan in the morning to see if it is stuck or moving. It is currently halfway through the narrow, 22-foot long, winding small intestine. It is at a very difficult, almost impossible place, to retrieve with a scope and they really do not want to do surgery. Join us in praying that it will keep traveling and not stop to sight see. Once it gets to the broader, 5-foot long, large intestine it should be smooth sailing.
This incident is not unusal. They had Gene scheduled to remove it on August 8 but had frequently said that this could happen. Sometimes a dislodged stent can cause problems and other times they simply disappear and are passed without anyone knowing. Of course for Gene, it seems it is going to be the difficult way!!!
In my devotions this morning I was reading from Psalms 33 and was reminded of the sovereignty of our God in creation and history. I quote bits and pieces of several verses…
The Lord looks from heaven and sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashions their hearts individually and considers all their works. The eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy. He is my help and shield. My heart shall rejoice in Him because we have trusted in His holy name. (Verses 13-15, 18, 20a, 21).
As you think of us, pray for strength for Gene and that God will completely heal his tired and weary body and that he will be able to stay focused on the goodness of God and not the potholes in the road.
Today Gene came home from the hospital-again, and this time to stay! It is always so good to be home. Even though the surgery to clean out the infection was unsuccessful as it was under too many folds of liver, they put him on IV antibiotics and his white blood count immediately started decreasing. For the first time since this all began, it is back in normal range. His red blood count is still very low but that should start improving now that the white blood count is under control. Your red blood cells are what carry oxgyen thoughout your body to your organs and give you energy and the ability to breath properly.
Most of his stats have improved, he has a better appetite, and pain seems to be under control. He weighed 183 before this started and lost 23 pounds.
I am really hopeful this time that we are on tract and that things will begin to improve. He looks and feels better. I guess he just needed a little body tuneup!
On our way home I drove past the hayfield and he got to watch Wray and Rich raking and baling hay for a few minutes. My goal for tomorrow is to take a ride out to see the cows.
Being home is so wonderful for both of us. I was weary, not really tired, just weary of all that goes with a hospital and rehab stay. It is so much easier now that we are home. But it is still hard, very hard and maybe the most challenging part. Gene so much wants to be better, for it just to magically disappear. Being patient is hard and his energy tank empties very, very quickly. Sitting up, walking across the room is an instant drain on his tank and fatigue immobilizes him.
But we are improving. Today he had his first shower in a month. It felt sooooooooo good! The drainage of bile from his side has almost stopped. He sits up to eat and can feed himself. The big acheivement this morning was getting him in the car and driving around the pasture to see his cows. In case you don’t know it, driving over a field even at the slowest of speed is rough on an abdomen that has endured five surgeries. Four of the beef steers go out this week so we drove down to the corral so that he could see and tell Jill pm how to capture and control them until Steve can haul them out on Wednesday morning. It was a big “field trip” and qualified for a good physical therapy session.
We are settling into a routine, getting meds organized, and physical hygiene figured out. The doctors assure us he will get better but it will take time, patience, hard work, endurance, and lots of healing.
I was reminded this week of Jesus personal invitation to the crowds of weary, sick, and crippled people who were coming to hear him speak, “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28. Even today his arms are stretched out inviting and calling to the tired, weary and those carrying heavy burdens…..Come, come to me. Give me your burden, give me your cares, give me your hurts, give me your weariness and I will give you rest in your soul. Can I fully put my faith, hope and trust in Jesus? He invites and I respond.
I am a country gal who enjoys writing, gardening, baking and my family. My husband and I own a retail feed store and it keeps us active and busy. We love living in the country and on our beef farm. We retail natural, Angus, dry-aged beef in our store and a local "natural" store.
My writings, called "From A Grandma's Perspective" are mostly inspired from our five delightful grandchildren. These along with "Life Perspective" can read on our web page at www.hffinc.com under the "Who We Are" tab.
By the way, I love hearing from people who read my blog!!!
