Progress Report...

Well, hello, friends and family - 

The good news is my mom has made it through pacemaker surgery and is feeling well enough to boss people around from her room in the ICU.

The other good news is we made it safely from Oklahoma to Arizona without any troubles and feeling fairly rested!  We introduced the girls to "older" cartoons like Popeye and such and they're in love.

The story, as best as I can put it together, is that my mom went to the doctor on Friday after feeling poorly for several weeks.  Her doctor told her to leave and go immediately to the hospital.  Apparently my mom said she wanted to go home first and the doctor told her that was not an option and if she didn't go to the hospital on her own right then they would call the paramedics and have them take her.

Turns out her heart was not beating correctly and her heartbeat dropped very low – as low as 22 beats per a minute at some points.  To compensate for the poor pumping, her blood pressure skyrocketed – so high the machines that make beeping noises and draw lines couldn't take a reading (yes, this is called medical information 101 with JJ and if you're not cool with my descriptions of things rather than the technical terms it's going to be a rough road for you!). :)

The upshot is the nurses have told her she's still the talk of the ER.  I understand they really haven't had anyone come to the hospital in the shape she was in and make it out.  Not only did she survive, but she was up and walking around, totally coherent, etc. throughout the whole process.

She's still in ICU with the pacemaker (did I mention they had to do the surgery twice because the wires popped out after they were completely done the first time?  The surgeon was walking out of the room and had to be called back in…).  There's a little confusion about what else is wrong with her heart… but something else is wrong and we'll learn more I'm sure.

In all the excitement my dad stopped thinking about any of his specifics and didn't take any of his medication, so we're weaning him back on to his normal medication schedule and I'm praying the stress doesn't cause him to have an episode himself.

My sister and brother-in-law have been amazing!  I'm so glad that we are here and able to help them.

There are so many blessings in the midst of the stress – number one that we have the technology and access to get her effective medical attention!  She's alert and doing well, so even though the recovery might be complicated it looks like there is a good argument for her sticking around for awhile!  We're together as a family, so what ever may come we know we'll be able to make it.

That is the update as best I know.  Congratulations for making it this far and thanks for your prayers… they're making a difference!

~jj