Infirmary Report

Julie went to the doctor this morning to be poked, prodded and inspected.  Her surgeon is pleased with the progress she is making.  Her incisions are healing nicely, her strength is good and she's eating well.  She's been cleared to get back into her schedule at work (slowly) and do whatever activities she desires as long as she is careful. 

At the same time I'd like to lodge a formal protest.  I think going to that hospital to visit Julie infected me!  It used to be that I rarely got sick - and I am usually very reluctant to let illness get the best of me.  However, this one is really ticking me off ;)  After 2 weekends of not getting much sleep due to gall bladder attacks - I was really looking forward to this last weekend and enjoying a couple wonderful nights of sleep next to my surgery recovering, drugged up wife.  I thought I had it made in the shade.

However, on Friday I started to develop a 'nasal drip' (the nice term) which is exacerbated by laying down!  The result?  I am having a very difficult time sleeping again.  It is unnerving to wake up drowning in your own 'nasal drip'. 

I'm not sure just which patient it was that exposed me.  Was it the woman with no legs in the ER?  That lady was coughing up a lung next door!  Or, was it the cleaning lady that was going from room to room cleaning waste baskets?  That's who was infecting everyone on that episode of House.  Honestly, I don't know - and I can't prove anything anyway. 

I just know that I am really, really getting scared to try to sleep during the weekends.

Is this a turning 50 thing?  That you actually want to sleep at night?  Sheeeeesh!

Bye Bye GB

I'm happy to report that Julie went through her gall bladder removal surgery with flying colors.  She's home.  Indy's in her lap.  And she's doing well.  Praise God for His goodness to us.  We are very thankful.

Yesterday started with Julie arriving at the Outpatient Surgery center at 9:00am.  After getting her into a gown and prepped it was time to hang out until surgery time.  Dean was kind enough to come and visit during the wait and pray with us before it was time for transfer to the pre-op room.

Here's Julie in the pre-op room where she met her anesthesiologist.  The two of them bonded immediately after Julie explained that she is an animal technician and routinely administers anesthesia to all sorts of animals.  They immediately started talking shop;  needle gauges and other stuff I don't know anything about.  It was a good strategic move on Julie's part because she has really difficult veins to hit and this guy was as gentle as he could be with her.

Unfortunately, it took 4 sticks before he could find a workable vein.  Here was Julie by the end of that ordeal.

A few minutes later it was time.  A quick kiss and she was off to the operating room - and it was off to the waiting room for me.  That was about 12:00pm. 

By 2:30 her surgeon greeted me in the waiting room with great news.  Julie had 3 large gall stones - one of which has lodged unceremoniously in her bile duct leading to the pain she experiences and some internal inflammation.  He was confident he had found the source of the problem and was able to remove the gall bladder with the stones to resolve it.  Julie had done great through the procedure and was now in recovery. He indicated I should expect her out within an hour or so.

I was glad to pass along some status to family and friends and then it was back to the waiting room until I heard from the recovery room.  After almost 3 hours I was getting a bit concerned.  Where was Julie?  Was something wrong? Fortunately, once Julie woke up and regained her senses she realized they hadn't talked to me and got them to give me a call.  It was great to hear her voice and know that she was ok.  

Tim was nice enough to come over and bring me some dinner as I waited to see Julie.  It was a very thoughtful gesture.  Finally, after waiting 7 hours - I finally got to see her as they wheeled her into her room.  She looked great and was awake and aware.  I was relieved!

Julie is such a trooper! Here she is - this morning - already up and walking around.  Amazing.

So,  after proving she could eat some food without nausea she was ready to come home! They released her about 1pm today.

She's home now and resting comfortably.  She has taken very little pain meds as she has enjoyed some Indy time on the couch.

We are very thankful to the Surgeon and staff at O'Connor Hospital - but mostly God for holding her in His hand throughout this situation. 

Endo a Go for Tomorrow

Julie's had her surgery consultation this afternoon and she's scheduled to go under the endoscope tomorrow.  The primary culprit is a 1.7 cm (about 2/3rd of an inch) stone that is doing battle inside her gall bladder.  It's time has come. Apparently, it is easier and less risky to remove the entire gall bladder than to try to remove the stone(s).

I didn't realize that when I was getting the plant tour at Stryker this summer I was getting a preview of Julie's life.  If all goes well with the procedure scheduled for late in the morning - she may be home by tomorrow night.  It somewhat is dependent on how she comes out of anesthesia.  The last time she had to it was pretty exciting (years ago).  I vividly recall being summoned to the recovery room by a nurse requesting 'Mr. Henderson, could you please try to calm your wife down?  She's being rather combative!'.  So, we'll see.  Perhaps the years have mellowed her.

I've encouraged her to charge her iPad and get ready for some couch time.  There have been some suggestions that I get her a bell.  But, I'm told her lungs will still work just fine - so no movement on that front so far.

All surgeries have some risk - so we continue to covet your prayers.  We've been encouraged by your concern and well wishes.

More when we know more!

It's Gotta Go!

It's official.  After spending last night in O'Connor Hospital - the doctors finally decided Julie's gall bladder has to go.

Let me back up.  Last weekend Saturday and Sunday Julie experienced severe abdominal pain.  On a scale of one to ten Julie rated the pain at a 9.  Since she's got a pretty high pain tolerance we were concerned.  Last Saturday the episode lasted for 2 hours or so. Last Sunday it was up to 6 hours before she felt relief.

So, we set up an appointment with our doctor early last week and Julie went in.  After sharing her symptoms and family history she encouraged Julie to get some heartburn medicine and take it if, or when, she had similar symptoms.  Heartburn?  Well, okay - we'll give it a try.

Throughout the week Julie felt great, slept well and participated in all her normal activities.  We were cautiously hopeful that perhaps the situation had stabilized.

Last night the symptoms came back - with a vengeance.  About 9 PM she started sensing that something might be wrong.  By 11:00 she had taken the heartburn medicine and we were hoping it would have some impact.  By 1:30 am we were on our way to the hospital as Julie was having severe abdominal pain and she just couldn't bear it any longer.  After checking in, getting her blood drawn,  being poked and prodded and having an ultrasound she was finally administered morphine which brought some much needed respite from the pain.  It was a relief to see her be able to relax and doze a bit after such a long night of discomfort.

About an hour later the affects of the morphine had worn off and she got a refresher while we waited to hear back from the doctor.

Finally, the doctor met with us and shared that her gall bladder has many gall stones which are causing inflammation and the accompanying pain.  He then advised us that it's got to go.  It's time.

After making an appointment in the morning for Julie to meet with a surgeon we were released and came home; exhausted but happy that we finally had some conclusive answers and a plan to resolve the issue.  We are thankful for that.

We got some much needed sleep throughout the day, have filled a prescription for pain meds just in case we have a recurrence tonight and are hopeful that we will get a good nights sleep.

Please keep Julie in your thoughts and prayers during the week.  We'll keep you up to date with plans for surgery.  And - it looks like I'll be out buying a little bell Julie can use during her recovery to summon me for help ;)

Schnitzel

Sunday lunch is often a friend-affair.  We love to eat out with friends and both Julie and I are often up for something new.  So, we were eager to check out Ester's German Bakery for some authentic German food in honor of Hannah studying abroad in Berlin.  We figure if we're going to go visit her - we better know what we're doing when we get there and start ordering meals.

Ester's didn't disappoint.  They had many traditional German recipes on their menu.  And, you can imagine the joy I personally experienced knowing I would be eating lunch and able to order off the bakery menu.

Here's my lunch - Schnitzel.  It's more or less a pork cutlet that is coated in breadcrumbs and fried.  The side dish is traditional potato salad.

Okay - for full disclosure while we waited for our lunch I tasted a couple items from the bakery.  First, a traditional German pretzel - which was soft and delicious.  I also had some cheese bread.  It was yummy.  But, Rachel makes it even better ;)  Oh, and just so you know - Randy ordered the Apple Strudel as an appetizer.  Do we know how to live?

I think this whole German food thing is working for us.  Meat and potatoes.  These people get us ;)

Auto (Tod)McMuffins

Oh my!!  Hannah ordered me the most fabulous Christmas present and it just arrived this evening.  It's a Tod McMuffin machine.  Boo-yah!!

Of course, I immediately jumped into action.  Check it out.  First, you put your English muffin in the toaster slots.  Then, you put some water in the steamer dish that is under the egg pan below, break an egg into the egg pan and set it in place.

Ham is next.  It gets laid out on a warming plate that sits above the egg pan.

The steamer lid finishes the setup;  put it in place over the heating tray and hit the GO button!

After that.. it just does its thing.  The egg cooks.  The ham heats.  The muffin toasts.   And voila!!  You have everything you need for a Tod McMuffin (not counting the cheese which you don't heat!).

Just stack and snack!  The finished product was DELICIOUS!!  Sweeeet!!

Now, I just have to decide if I am going to take it to work to make breakfast during the week... or keep it at home.  Tim had a great suggestion... get another one ;)

Thank you Hannah!  I'm in McMuffin heaven.

Heading Out

As many of you know - Hannah is studying abroad this semester in Berlin, Germany.  Today we had to say goodbye as her adventure began. 

It's been quite a challenge to think of her being so far away.  Even when she was at Berkeley there was a reality that we could see her in an hour if we needed a Hannah fix.  As a result - I think there has been a part of the normal separation that accompanies the college years that we have avoided until the last few days.  Now, it's hitting harder.

However, we are very much looking forward to the experience Hannah will get being abroad.  And it started with being able to pack up into a few bags for the adventure.  If you know Hannah - you know the concept of traveling 'light' isn't in her vocabulary. But, I must say, she did an outstanding job getting packed and ready to go.  Here's the end result right before we left the house for the airport.

Here's Julie and Hannah sharing a last hug before she had to go through security and off to her new adventure.

And off she went....

So for now we'll rely on Skype and our memories to get us through the next few months.  Please pray for Hannah for safe travels.  And, that she will have fantastic experiences in Europe.  I know many of her days will be magical.

One last memory from our week together as a complete family... this is Ryan showing his patented Hannah lazy eye ;)

Bon voyage Hannah!!!