Quick Update

Just wanted to give a quick update on mom!  She is out of the hospital, and staying in Winston-Salem with Chris and Isaac for awhile.  She has several follow-up doctors appointments over the next week or so, so we aren't sure when her return to Virginia might be...but we will keep you posted!

Mom is a tough cookie! She has good days and days that are just a little bit better :0)  She is still trying to find a right combination of pain killers that helps ease her pain, but doesn't make her want to sleep all the time!  She rarely takes anything...even for a cold or a headache, so she isn't thrilled to be on medication now! 

I know several people asked for her address, please just send me (Misty Raines), a message on facebook and I will gladly send it out to you!

I will also keep you posted on when she might be heading home!  It most likely will not be before Christmas. I know a lot of people are eager to visit mom!  The support has been amazing!  So once she is home, settled, and ready for visitors I'll keep all of you posted!

In the mean time, just continue to pray that mom's recovery goes smoothly and her pain subsides.  We also are expecting to receive the pathology reports this week regarding the tumor, so please pray for a good report.  Though, we know whatever it is, that the Lord will lead and guide mom (and us!) through it!

Update on Mom-12/14/11

As usual, mom never ceases to amaze us!  Over the past two days, she has set her determination of getting out of the hospital as soon as possible!  She has done breathing exercises, gets up and walks around (unaided!), is starting to eat a little better, and reducing her amount of pain killers!  She also graduated out of her occupational therapy (like the physical therapy, all they did was an assessment and knew that she didn't need occupational therapy!).

And all the hard work has paid off!  Mom is being released from the hospital...TODAY!!!!!!!!!

She is still sore and has a lot of recovering to do...but doing so from the comfort of her own home will make it much easier!!!  She has several follow up doctors appointments over the next few weeks, so will be staying with Chris and Isaac for awhile before returning to Bland County!  But we are so happy that she is getting out!

Thanks to:

Dad, Chris and Isaac, for spending hours and hours and hours and hours and hours checking on mom, following up with doctors, sitting with her, = and making sure that everything is going as smoothly as possible!  It is hard for Ricky and I to be so far away, but we know mom is being well cared for!

Update 12/11/11

My mom has always been an amazing person...but after spending the afternoon and evening with her yesterday (Saturday) and talking to her on the phone today, well, amazing doesn't even begin to describe my momma!

First off, mom is doing great!  Mom was released from ICU on Friday afternoon (12/9/11), and put into a private room!  That is a huge step!!!  While the staff at the 4A ICU unit was amazing, it was a tough atmosphere to be in, so we were thrilled by the move!  It allows for easier visitation and more privacy than the huge open ICU unit!  Mom now has a phone, a tv, a window with a view, and her own bathroom!  She was able to move from a clear liquid diet to a regular diet within 24-hours!

In hopes of allowing mom to get some rest, my family and I split shifts with her so we all aren't staring at her all the time.  The doctors suggested someone be with her at all times so she doesn't become confused as to where she is! So I got to spend Saturday afternoon and evening with her!  It was great!

The current major obstacles are her blood pressure, her potassium levels, pain management, and her short-term memory.  Thankfully, a lot of these can be managed through medications.  We also need to pray that she doesn't get pneumonia.  She does breathing exercises and gets up and moves around a lot!  So we are hoping that pneumonia stays away :0)

Mom is displaying some short term memory loss. This memory loss could be due to several things.

According to the ICU nurse at Wake Forest, this is most likely from brain injury she suffered from coding.  The lack of oxygen to the brain for such a long period of time can do a variety of things to an individual, and no two cases are the same (when she coded, it took 15 minutes to resuscitate her).  The day after mom coded, the doctors were able to determine she has full use of her legs and arms and she verbally responded correctly to questions (well, most of the time).  So we were so grateful for that.  The nurse explained that time would tell if it were a brain injury (which is different from brain damage!).

This short term memory issue could be due to the high level of medication mom is on.  Because of the surgery and broken ribs that she has, she has been on very strong pain killers!    She has already came off of some pain killers, and her memory is improving significantly!!!

And some of the short term memory loss could be to post-traumatic stress.   Mom cannot recall anything, at all, about the surgery or anything even leading up to the surgery...including her gallbladder attack from October or the visits she had with Dr. Cannon prior to the surgeries.  Mom does remember that we came to Winston-Salem to visit Chris, that we went to the mall, that she bought Samuel a ticket to ride the carousel at the mall, but she doesn't recall going to meet with Dr Cannon a few hours later.  However, she can recall having dinner with me and Samuel later that same exact evening, including what we ordered!!!!  We aren't worried, there isn't much she really needs to remember about the surgery!  And if you are going to block anything out, it might as well be this!!!

Or, the memory loss could be a combination of everything!  Whatever the case is, we have strong faith that God will get mom through everything!  So many prayers have been answered!  So we are holding steadfast to the plan he is laying out for mom....we know it's a good one!

Thankfully, over the past few days we have seen a significant improvement in her memory!  At one point the last thing she could remember was in October 2011.  Mom would repeat questions (where am I?  what happened to me? what is the name of my nurse?), forget who she had seen just twenty minutes ago, and couldn't correctly identify me (I cut my hair in November 2011, so she had a hard time recognizing me at first...don't worry, it only happened once!  She is sharp!!!!). 

I spent yesterday afternoon with her, she had to go through a physical therapy session to see if she would need the aid of a walker, cane, wheelchair, etc.  She passed it with flying colors!!!!  Graduated out of physical therapy after just one session :0)  That's my mom!  Unfortunately, when I spoke to mom this afternoon, she wasn't able to recall any of the physical therapy....but even with that, mom's memory has improved significantly!  When I spoke with her on the phone again this evening she was able to tell me who all had visited her that day (including the morning!) and what she had to eat for lunch!   Small step, but huge relief!!! 

Yesterday, the nursing staff had set a goal for mom to get out of bed and sit in a chair.  The sooner she can do these things, the sooner she can get out of the hospital.  When she heard that, mom not only got out of the chair, she walked to the bathroom, completed her physical therapy, and completed 20 breathing exercises in one hour (she only had to do 10)...can you tell mom wants out of the hospital???  The nursing staff also suggested "quizzing" mom on things like date, day of the week, and people.

While she was sitting up, mom and I spent the time laughing about old times, talking about summer vacation ideas, and her favorite topic: Samuel :0)  She was able to recall friends names who had sent me e-mails, where they were from, and how she was associated with them! 

Mom had a few visitors as well!  My grandparents traveled down from Bastian with my Uncle John!  Mom enjoyed her visit and talked about it all afternoon!

Mom also was finally able to enjoy how her room is getting to be quite festive!

A big Thanks to my dear childhood friend, Sarah, James and Abagail for the beautiful flower arrangement!  Mom just loves it and it right by her bedside!  We made the flower arrangement one of her quizzes, and about every 10 or 15 minutes I would ask her who sent the flowers!  She actually told me 13 times who sent it (and I only asked her 13 times!!) 

Vee Quick, the snowman hat looks great hanging in front of her bed! She loves it!

Cindy Holloway, mom has her Believe star hanging so she can see it at all times! 

For everyone who has sent cards (I couldn't even begin to name each one of you!) She loves them all, and they are all displayed on her windowsill!!!

My dear friend Cassie D...thank you for everything!  Not just your gesture, but for your kind words and good thoughts!!!!  They have helped me get through some tough moments! (and all my other friends!  Sara, Sarah, Jen, Chrissy, everyone really!) 

To the staff at the Redeemer School in Winston-Salem, for picking up extra classes so Chris can be with mom!

And to everyone for the continued prayers, love, support, phone calls, text messages, facebook messages, and positive thoughts!  I couldn't even begin to a put a dent in it...but the outpouring has been amazing!  Thank you so much!

Over the next few days I will try to back track to catch everyone up on details from the surgery!  But, we hope to share more good news as well! Mom is getting stronger by the day, and we hope she will be released from the hospital soon!!!  I'll keep everyone posted!

Update, Friday, December 9th

I know this is my first blog posting for this blog...but I need to start somewhere, and will back track as I can.  But my family and I have had a large request for updates on mom, and it's hard to remember everyone!  Between the phone calls, the text messages, the e-mails, the facebook messages, the food, the cards, and all the prayers, we are just overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and concern for our mom!  I mean, we adore her to pieces, she is our mom...but it's amazing to realize how many other people do!  We do not want to leave a single, amazing person out of updates!

But as of this evening (Friday night, December 9th), Mom is doing FANTASTIC!!!!!!!  She has been transferred out of the ICU unit at Wake Forest and into a private room!  We are so thankful for this for so many reasons!  First, it's a great sign that she is improving!  Second, visitation in the ICU was strict and allowed for only two people at a time...which is so hard when so many people want to see her (what a great problem to have!!!!) Third, with so much sadness and sickness in an ICU, the move to a private room will have a more uplifting environment and allows visitors!!!  She is expected to be in the hospital for another week.

Mom is doing fabulous, and while not back to her old self yet (you know, cleaning, cooking, organizing, working, sewing, etc)...she is still sweet and thoughtful as ever! Offering to share her Jello with us, asking how people are doing, and saying cute things like "I've caused quite the stir!" She is able to move arms and legs.  She is as sharp as a tack (Mom, why do you have to do these breathing exercises? asks Chris.  And she provides appropriate response about aveoli and avoiding pneumonia.) She recalls all pets names, family names, and of course is concerned about Samuel!  We are thankfully to the point where we can get a chuckle or two as well!  Today the doctor asked her the ages of her children, and while she can't get them quite right (I just had my 31st birthday and she thinks i'm 27...I might stick to her time frame), we all had to laugh when asked how old my dad is!  She looked at him, and said in a very serious manner, You are OLD!  And when asked how old she is...she said 27 :0)  Just the smile we all needed! 

We also had to laugh at ourselves when dad and I arrived this morning. Mom was confused about things, and didn't recognize me (she can remember from October and before fine, but things that are more current aren't clicking right now). I got my hair cut really short, so she didn't recognize me!  But she kept insisting to me and dad that the pastor and his wife were there this morning and visited her.  We thought she had memories from before the surgery on Tuesday, and kind of just nodded and said, sure, sure, they are here.  Well, mom was persistent, so I asked dad to go to the waiting room and give Rodney a call.  When he went to the waiting room, there sat Rodney and his wife!  They had been there the whole time!!!  And here we thought mom was really losing it :0)

She is displaying some short term memory loss.  At this point, we don't know if it is from all the anesthesia she has been under, because of the pain killers she is on, or because of some brain injury from being coded for so long.  Depending on who you talk to, depends on the answer you get. She is mainly confused as to the day of the week and why she is in the hospital.  However, she is very aware of Christmas being around the corner and wanting to get home to do her Christmas shopping!  But, she shows signs of improvement from just this morning!

Mom's pain is being managed through an epidural.  She is on a liquid diet, and while avoiding the the yellow jello, she does great with the water, juices, and soda!

Time for the good stuff...the thank you for thinking of us and loving us!

Vee Quick, Thank You to the wonderful person who made the adorable Snowman Hat!  It is already displayed in her room!  Festive and cute!  Perfect!  THANK YOU!  Rodney and Nedra brought it today! 

Rodney and Nedra, thank you so much for the visit today!  It was mom's favorite thing to talk about today! It was so sweet of you to take time out of your busy schedule and visit with her!  She loved it...and we did too!

Also, thank you to the staff at the Redeemer School here in Winston-Salem for the wonderful food!!!  It was so thoughtful and very, very much appreciated!

Thank you to Justin and Betsy (Chris and Isaac's neighbors) for feeding us tonight!  The taco soup was amazing!  The food warmed our bellies, and the gesture warmed our heart.  Samuel especially loved it!

Thank you to the 4A Intensive Care Unit at Wake Forest Baptist!  Amazing care!  Thank you for taking care of our mom over the past four days, and for explaining everything to us!!!

And of course, thank you to everyone for your continued phone calls, thoughts, and  prayers! Mom has made so much progress, she is so amazing. We still have a way to go though!

I will have my siblings start posting too...we have postings to write about from the past four days.  A lot has happened, but at this point we are just so thankful for our mom being here!