Out With The Old, In With The New

Josh here. I just wanted to say hi and post the remaining updates from Erin's time in the hospital...

DAY 2: Wednesday, 9 July 2008, 4:15pm

Good afternoon everyone! Sorry about not updating sooner, but I thought I would wait until Erin was moved out of ICU and in to general recovery. That took longer than expected...thus the delay in the update. At any rate, Erin has just been transferred to general recovery. She is doing great, although the movement caused her some general soreness throughout her body. Since my last update, Erin has had most of her tubes removed. The two primary ones were the catheter and the arterial line (which was fed in to her carotid artery, I think). The arterial line was a beast...it was nearly 7 inches in length! Whoa. Don't worry...I took more pics. =) She also got out of bed to pee on her own; pretty much any movement at this point makes her extremely tired, but it is recommended b/c doing things on her own is critical to getting released. Erin is resting right now. She was having some nausea issues earlier, but things are back to normal now. We're hoping to maybe get some food in her later tonight; right now, it is strictly ice chips. Yum yum! The room is pretty spacious with lots of amenities, so we should be just fine until she's released. Thank you all for your prayers this week. We're one step closing to heading back to Platte City, so please keep raising us up to the Lord, that He will continue healing Erin and restoring her strength and energy.

DAY 3: Thursday, 10 July 2008, 8:15pm

Good evening friends and family! Well, Erin has an an eventful and productive day. She started the day off with a chest x-ray at 5:30am; although I was back in Platte City sound asleep, I'm being told all went well. Erin's grandmother and I arrived at the hospital around 7:45am and we've all pretty much been hanging out all day. Erin's mom and grandma left about 90 minutes ago and will be staying at our apartment in Platte City; we'll see them again tomorrow morning before they head back to Omaha around lunch time. It's been great having some family around helping where and when they can. Very supportive! Erin also received a visit from her boss at Fitness Source. Kristina stopped by to see how everything was going...and she brought some ice cream (a personal favorite)!! Again, I cannot say enough how thankful I am to have the people we have in our lives. I believe God puts people in our lives for specific reasons and at the exact time He chooses; the women that Erin has worked with at Fitness Source are so encouraging and unique and compassionate. I am very thankful to them for all they've done for her over the last 15+ months. Erin is sound asleep right now. In addition to the visits from friends and family, she has ventured out of her room a couple times to take a walk. I am so encouraged by her strength, knowing what she has gone through the last 48 hours. She is simply amazing. Erin has also begun eating a variety of foods. Although she hasn't eaten a full meal b/c of the nausea she feels, the fact that she's willing to try different foods in pretty incredible. So far, she's tried carrots, applesauce, jell-o, potato soup, saltines, bread, chicken noodle soup...and I think that's it. Not bad at all. I will be staying w/ Erin tonight. Not sure how much sleep I'll be getting, but at least I'm here w/ my wife. Tomorrow should be another good day for her. Another chest x-ray at 5:30am. Also, more friends will be stopping by to visit, which will be a lot of fun. She enjoys that time so much. Not sure what kind of surprises will come regarding food and walking, but I'm excited to share it with you if/when new things happen!! I cannot tell you (or her) enough how proud I am of her. Erin is showing so much courage and strength right now. I can only imagine the soreness she feels and how frustrating it must be b/c she can't do some of the things she's used to, but she continues to try and she continues to take steps towards recovery. I am so humbled by God's awesome power and how He has all of this mapped out before it ever even happened. His grace never fails! I will continue to send daily updates to let you know how Erin is coming along in her recovery. Thank you for your phone calls, emails, prayers, and support. God continues to work in ways that I will simply never understand. That's fine with me...I'll just enjoy the ride! =)

DAY 4: Friday, 11 July 2008, 10:45pm

Hello once again! Today has been a GREAT day. Plenty of visits and movement! Erin's mom and grandma stopped by again this morning before heading back to Omaha; it has been a real blessing having them here for support and encouragement. Also stopping by were Kristina, Marianne, Tara (and husband Matt), and Amy. All of these ladies work w/ Erin. As all the ladies were sitting around talking today, I found myself smiling and thinking about how great it is that God put these women in Erin's life. They are such awesome women. Thank you, ladies, for being such a strong and supportive group for Erin. Kristina brought us Panera Bread for lunch; Erin was able to eat about half a bowl of soup, which is probably the most she's eaten at once so far. The nausea is gone, but she still struggles finding something that satisfies her tastebuds. Once that happens, I think she'll feel much better. Erin's primary cardiologist stopped by this morning to see how's she doing. Yeah, this guy is a dang genius. He's so nice; we hadn't seen him in awhile, so it was a pleasant surprise having him visit. Some good news came from Erin's cardiac team today. Her drainage tubes should be taken out sometime tomorrow. These tubes are inserted just below her sternum and basically wrap around the lungs, collecting any excess fluid from the surgery and draining them into two plastic bottles. They are extremely uncomfortable, so it will be great for Erin when they are removed. Erin has also been on two walks today, both of which were longer than previous walks. She's almost seen the entire floor that her room is on; maybe tomorrow we'll walk through the last pod and she'll have seen everything. Sweet! We also found out that Erin might be released from the hospital early next week. That is very good news! Although we've received OUTSTANDING care from Children's Mercy, it will be nice to return home and move forward in the recovery process. So we're looking forward to more good news in the coming days. As always, thank you for your continued prayers. Each day is a reminder of God's undying grace and mercy. He is healing Erin in an incredible way; I ask you to lift her up to His throne and ask that He not stop now. That is all for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Tomorrow we'll be getting more visits from some friends, so we're really looking forward to that. Until next time...

DAY 6: Sunday, 13 July 2008, 7:15pm

GREAT NEWS!! Erin was released from the hospital this afternoon; we've been home in Platte City for about 4 hours. I apologize for not updating yesterday, so I'll just recap the entire weekend for everyone. Saturday was a busy day for Erin. First, she had her chest x-ray around 5:30am. She then had her drainage tubes removed...yeah, these things are crazy! I would say she had about 12-15 inches of rubber tubing wrapped around her lungs, collecting any excess fluid from the surgery. So the nurse tells me to NOT stand directly in front of Erin b/c she didn't want me getting slapped w/ slimy tubes. Good call. I took some pictures...they're pretty sweet. Erin then had to take another chest x-ray following the removal of the tubes. The doctors liked what they saw. Good stuff. Once the drainage tubes were removed, Erin felt much more comfortable lying in bed. She also had her IV's removed. So basically, Erin was tube-free by mid-afternoon. Very nice! Many, many friends stopped by yesterday, as well. More of Erin's co-workers came to visit; we enjoyed some Waldo's Pizza for lunch. Shortly after the ladies left, our friends from Lee's Summit, MO came by to visit. Todd and Liz are friends from college; we've all shared a lot since becoming friends, so it was really great to have them by to see Erin. Erin also ventured out of her room for a couple walks around the hospital floor she was staying on. Aside from the slight dizziness and fatigue, her walks were really good. She's increased her distance each day, as well as the frequency, so the nurses and surgical staff have been very pleased by that. Ok, so that brings us to today. Not much really to report, other than we're back in Platte City. I have most of this week off from work, so I'll be looking forward to spending that time w/ Erin and helping her in any way I can. The only real restriction she has is NO lifting anything over 10 lbs. for 6 weeks. So basically, she won't be lifting weights anytime soon. Other than that, she's good to go. She can eat pretty much whatever she wants and her cardiovascular exercise is "as tolerated." Our friend Will is visiting from Ft. Riley right now, so I should get going. I want to thank everyone for the phone calls, emails, flowers, cards, prayers, and visits. Erin and I are so blessed to have you all in our lives. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, as we transition from hospital care to home care. See ya!!

So, after having gone through open-heart surgery, Erin's stay in the hospital was a whopping...6 days. Wow! That is a major testament to God's undeserving grace and mercy. He continues to be w/ Erin daily, healing her heart and her body in ways that I cannot even fathom most days. Life is so fragile; God felt it necessary to provide men and women the desire to learn about the human body and to put that knowledge to work, correcting defects whenever they arise. I am so grateful to the entire staff at Children's Mercy. Every person that we came in contact with was so kind, compassionate, and willing to help. For them, this is their job and we are just another patient, but to us, they make or break our experience of this surgery. I wish there were more I could do to show them my gratitude. I am so thankful to our heavenly Father for putting these people in our lives during this time; He always knows exactly what we need, when we need it. We serve an amazing God indeed!!

Oh, I almost forgot. As the title to this post suggests, something was replaced within Erin's body. I thought you all would like to see what that something was. The first picture is the NEW pulmonary artery w/ pulmonic valve. The larger end (left) attaches to the right ventricle; the smaller ends (right, top flap) attach to the rest of the pulmonary artery. Doesn't that look lovely? The second picture is the OLD pulmonary artery. Whoa. This thing was so calcified that the surgeon had to basically chisel it out, thus the many pieces. The third picture was taken on 12 July, only five days after surgery!! Look at those crazy cats!!! Wow. =)

As a bonus, the new artery is bigger than the old, meaning it allows for more blood to flow through it. We're talking mm here, but hey, more blood is more blood, right? So, there you have it. Thank you all again for the overwhelming support we received over the past week. Your prayers were so powerful in helping Erin to recover. Thank you for lifting us up to the Father and asking for His healing hand. I love you all!!