A Visit With Grandpa

Yesterday, we took the kids down to visit Sean's dad. There was some speculation as to whether it was a good idea to bring four young and vibrant children into the hospital. We decided it would be OK, and that Grandpa could use a little cheering up. See what I mean...



Aunt Sylvie explained to the kids how the doctor fixed Grandpa's heart. She used his new heart pillow. Nice visual aid, don't you think?...



After helping Grandpa eat his lunch and signing the heart pillow, we decided to take the kids on a LONG walk so Grandpa could get some rest. We didn't want to wear him out completely. We walked...



And walked...



And then took a small break. This is a picture of Aunt Sylvie explaining to Emma about Grandpa's new pig part. If you look closely, you can see that she is holding on to a baby pig that we bought for Grandpa at the gift shop...



We went back to the room to see how Grandpa was doing. The next thing we know, he wanted to take a walk, so....







After walking in the hall for a little while, Emma bends over, frowns her face, and says "This is what Grandpa looks like." It was really funny. Sean took a picture of the girls' interpretation of Grandpa...



We left last night not knowing if we helped Grandpa by coming to see him or just made him more tired. Tonight we called Aunt Sylvie's phone for an update. She did not answer, but we soon got a call back. We were very surprised to hear that it was Grandpa on the phone! Grandpa called us back and was giving us the update from Aunt Sylvie's house. Yes, Grandpa talked the doctors into letting him leave the hospital today and he is doing much, much, better. Justin said "That is amazing!!" We are very glad and hope that he can get better rest at Sylvie's house without all the interruptions. Thank you for your prayers.

Fun With Family

On Saturday, we were able to spend some time with Sean's sister, niece, and nephew from Iowa and some of our family from Indy. We started out our time together with a light lunch...



Then, we headed out to the pool to do some swimming...







Then we grilled out for dinner...



We had a great time being together. I took A LOT of pictures, but this one is my favorite...

Can You Do It?

Shannon just updated Sean on Sig's progress. He is doing well, despite the ups and downs of post surgery days.

I found this really neat sight that lets you do the open heart surgery. Can you do it?

Walking, Sitting, and Talking

I talked to Shannon this morning and she said that Sig is up and moving around a little bit. He had been sitting in a chair and will be walking a little bit later this afternoon. Overall, he's doing well. Thanks for checking in.

Oh, and Caleb's chigger bites....I found some spray that helps with the itching. I stopped counting at 80. Poor guy.

Good News

I just called Sylvie for an update...Good news! Sig's heart is beating in a normal rhythm and he is feeling much better. Thank you for your prayers.

Sean and I just returned home with all the kids and it's late so I'm not going to write much more. I need to go help Caleb get a shower and put some medicine on his chigger bites (YIKES!) I'm estimating that he has 40 and they are EVERYWHERE. Poor kid...that's what you get for sleeping outside at the pediatrician's house. (Smile)

I will update tomorrow after I check in with Sylvie or Shannon. Good night.

Visitors

This afternoon Uncle Sherwood came to the hospital to visit Sig. We had a good time visiting and catching up.

Sig's heartbeat is still irregular, but he is doing better this afternoon.

Not Feeling So Good

Sig doesn't feel so great today. Of course, this is normal after this type of procedure. By the way, for those of you who don't know...Sig had a valve replaced, his aortic root repaired, and a triple bypass. Yeah, I know...he shouldn't feel so good after all of that. Plus he was opened up twice with a total surgery running time of 8 hours and 21 minutes.

One reason for him feeling so poorly today has to do with his heartbeat. He has an irregular heartbeat this morning which causes you to feel pretty icky (as Sharon can attest). They are giving him medication to try to get the heart to beat normally. We will see what happens as the day progresses.

He is still in the ICU because there are no available beds on the heart floor. The hospital is really busy right now.

The plan right now is for Sean and me to drive back home this evening unless there is a setback. It's really hard to leave a loved one when they look and feel so bad, so please pray that his heart will return to a normal beating rhythm and that he will start feeling better. I know this will help Sean feel better about leaving him today.

I will post another update this afternoon.

The Last Visit

Today was my last doctor's visit with Aunt Sylvie. She is retiring at the end of August (sniff, sniff) and I am going to miss her being my doctor. She has given me and all my babies the best treatment in the world. It's been a memorable ten years of laughing, crying, cutting up(no pun intended :)), and just plain fun! That's something hard to come by when it comes to GYN visits!! We love you very much Aunt Sylvie and thank you for everything!



Aunt Sylvie with Justin...



Aunt Sylvie with Caleb...



Aunt Sylvie and Sean with Emma and Erin...



Aunt Sylvie with all the kids...

Eating is a Good Thing

Sig is sitting up and eating right now. This afternoon, the nurses have removed his chest tubes and several wires that were in his head, arms, and...well...everywhere. He is doing exceptionally well and we are hoping that he will be able to move out of ICU and into a regular room this evening. Here are some pictures of the many wires and tubes that were removed today. Don't worry, he told Sean to take this picture...he really looks good. FYI: This picture is being difficult. I can not get it to rotate. These are the wires and tubes removed from his head...



These are the tubes that were removed from his chest...



First meal after surgery...



Everyone is doing fine. Please continue to pray for a quick recovery. Thank You!

ICU

Sig was moved to the ICU last night around 10:00. We were able to see him after they had him set up in the room. This morning he is still in the ICU, but is doing quite well. He was taken off the ventilator early this morning. He is talking and told us that he could hear us talking in the room last night. The last thing he remembered from yesterday is lying on the bed before being taken to surgery...his next recollection was us talking to him in the ICU. He should be moved to a normal room later this afternoon. So far, so good. Of course, he wants all the tubes out now, but is in good spirits. Thank you for your prayers. I will update later tonight.

Sylvia's Update

Sylvia just went back to see what was going on. She came back with a thumbs up. Yipee!! They went back in to fix a little leak...it had something to do with being really cold and then being warmed back up. Basically, Sig sprung a leak during that process, but right now, the surgeons are closing him back up again. He has been in surgery a total of 7 hours and 35 minutes. Of course, this does not count the hour and a half of recovery time. Let's just say it's been a long day. Thank you for your prayers. Here is a picture of us waiting for Sig to arrive in the ICU. We were able to wait in the attending physician's lounge while we waited. It felt good to put our feet up and grab a bite to eat. Membership has it's privileges...

Return to Surgery

We were told that Sig was being moved to ICU about an hour ago. We just received word that he is bleeding, so they had to go back in and do more work at 7:15 PM. Please pray for the surgeon as he works. Sig is his second case today...the doctor has been in surgery for over 12 hours. Pray that we are not anxious and that we trust God during this time.

I just changed the post settings so that they would be accurate with the events of the day

Five Hours and Counting

Sig has been in surgery for over five hours. We just got word about 30 minutes ago that he was off the heart/lung machine. This is good news...so we will wait until they move him to the ICU. I will post again when they move him there.

In Surgery

About 30 minutes ago, the receptionist told Carol that she could go back and sit with Sig in the holding area. Only one person was allowed to go, so the three amigos held down the fort in the waiting room while she was gone. At 11:30, she came back and told us that they would be taking him to surgery soon. We have not seen his number appear on the surgery update screen, but it should appear soon. We are tired, but holding up well. Pray for strength for all of us and wisdom for the doctors.

Waiting, waiting, and still waiting.....

We arrived at the hospital this morning at 5:00 AM. We were ready for Sig to be taken to surgery when we were informed that the doctor had another heart emergency that would delay the schedule by about 2 1/2 hours. We were able to sit in the room with Sig for about two hours and then they took him to the holding area to put in more IVs and do more prep work. Carol, Sean, Shannon, and Michelle proceeded to the waiting room to.....well, wait. At 10:00 the receptionist let us know that the surgery would be pushed back another hour and a half....so now the surgery is scheduled to start around 11:30 AM. Here are a few shots from this morning. I will update again after Sig is in surgery.







**Update on Sharon: Sharon is doing better today. She will be doing a stress test and hopefully will be able to go home. At this point, all they have concluded is that her aortic root is enlarged, but nothing to be alarmed about at this point. Thank you for your prayers.

We Love You!

We are all together at Aunt Sylvia's house in Louisville, Kentucky tonight. We started the evening by reading about all the procedures that a heart patient needs to know. Megan and Christopher (Sean's niece and nephew) sent Grandpa a special present.


Next, we had a wonderful dinner that Aunt Sylvia prepared just for us. After we were done eating, she surprised Grandpa with a special cake. Can you read what it says?


This next picture is for all the kids..Megan, Christopher, Justin, Caleb, Emma, and Erin.... Aunt Sylvie says "Hi".


We will be leaving tomorrow morning for the hospital at 4:45 AM. We will update you when we know how Grandpa is doing. We love you all very much! Hugs and Kisses! The cake says "We Love You!"


**Update on Sharon: She will be doing a series of stress tests tomorrow and will hopefully be dismissed to go home. She is on medication and will be for awhile. The cause of her condition is still not known at this time, but her heart started to beat in a normal rhythm during the ultrasound procedure this morning. We praise the Lord for that! Thank you all for your prayers.

Update on Sharon

We are leaving in about an hour to go to St. Vincent's Heart Center in Indianapolis to see Sharon. The doctor was in this morning and thinks that she may have had a mild heart attack yesterday. They will be doing an ultrasound of her heart this morning (they do this by putting a tube down your throat) and if the rhythm of her heart is still off, they will try to shock it back as well. Pray that everything goes well and that the doctors can figure out what is wrong. I will try to post more later.

On a lighter note....

Last night, while I was at the hospital, Sharon decided that she was hungry. She wanted a cheeseburger, french fries, fruit cocktail, and a Crystal Light Lemonade. Tom, her husband, said he would order it for her. While on the phone, he was told that they do not serve french fries (go figure..heart hospital). The nurse said, "Order the Light Lays...they are really good." Tom told the person on the phone that he would like the fruit cocktail with a light glaze. "NO"...we said LIGHT LAYS, not LIGHT GLAZE!! Of course, we all laughed...we needed it.

Happy June Birthdays 2008

Today we celebrated all the June birthdays at our house. The day started out a little rainy, but soon the sun came out and we were able to have a cookout and swim...and open presents, of course! Here are the pictures of the kids with their cakes. My sister, Darlene, made Mario for the boys and I made Barbie for the girls. Ethan, my nephew, also has a birthday in June...the 26th. He will be eleven. Justin will be ten, Caleb is eight and Emma and Erin turned five yesterday. Happy Birthday!

God is Bigger Than the Boogie Man

We have had some interesting events happen at our church this week. On Thursday night, someone broke into our church building and stole several things....all the computers (that had many files on them), sound equipment, our Pastor's dagger collection (from missionaries all over the world), and even item from the Pastor's office fridge were missing. They took his Pepsi, M&M's, Lunchables....the list goes on and on....

On Sunday, our Pastor announced that we needed to pray that we would have opportunities because of this event to win others to the Lord. Even though it's hard to lose "stuff", it can all be replaced....the soul that stole the "stuff" can not. Our Pastor really wanted us to pray that he would get an opportunity to witness to the person who committed this crime. Yeah...whatever...how often are people like this caught...

Tonight at church, we were told that the police showed up at the Pastor's house this morning with items that had been recovered...two computers (with many files still readable), a dagger, and even his M&M's and Combos...pepperoni, I might add. The police also announced that they had caught the man that robbed our church. He was walking down the sidewalk with a trashcan full of things he had taken from another church this morning.

Our church family has seen God's hand in this entire situation. Our Pastor will be giving the message of salvation to the guy who broke into our church next week. We are also starting a new ministry for policemen that patrol the neighborhood where our church building sits. Policemen will be able to come to our church whenever they want to grab a drink, snack, or just take a break. This is an exciting time for our church...please pray that we will be able to witness to many souls and that people will come to know the Lord and that we will "Love People God's Way."

June Birthday Surprise

For those of you that don't know, all of the kid's birthdays are in June. Caleb is first on the 19th, Emma and Erin are next on the 20th, and Justin on the 30th. We usually have one big family party...but this year, with vacations and other schedule conflicts, we are having several mini parties. Last night was the first party with my dad and mom...Poppy and Nena. No peeking...



Then, the surprise....



And, the work...











Today, the popular lunch spot...



Thanks, Poppy and Nena!!

In the Fountain

Today we went to Purdue to audition a potential Purdue Bell student, so we decided to make a day of it. We started the afternoon off with a picnic lunch on campus...




Next, we headed off to do a little "fountain running". It was a good day for this...almost 90 degress outside and very humid. The water coming from the fountain is chilly, but the kids played for two hours.