An Unexpected Turn... September 27, 2013, 7:55 PM

Steve again with an update and prayer request for Lee. The last 36 hours have been the most miserable I've seen her at least since we were in New York 13 yrs ago for her first round of surgeries. I'm honestly not sure what all is going on but she has been spiking fevers over 102 and then falling back to subnormal in almost constant cycles. It's accompanied by the worst head and body aches she says she's ever experienced. It started Wednesday evening after she saw her primary care doctor and received some injections in her neck for relaxing the muscles surrounding her fusion in hopes of providing some headache relief. Within about 2 hours of the appointment she began this roller coaster ride of pain and fever. It's as if her central nervous system has gone into overdrive in about every way possible and her doctor doesn't know the root cause.[...]

Home sweet home! September 21, 2013, 10:33 PM

Hello all, I wanted to confirm that I made it home from the hospital. I'm resting comfortably and slowly returning to a regular diet, although still a bit weak. Thanks for all your prayers and messages. For those new to Care Pages, I can't reply to your notes but can assure you I read every one. We've mailed all of my scans and requested medical records to my neurosurgeons in New York for their review. I also have follow up local Dr. appointments this coming week. Our Community Bible Study Group has been amazing. They brought my hubby hot meals to the hospital each night and have continued since we got home. The ladies even cleaned my house while I was away.[...]

Breaking out! September 18, 2013, 9:20 PM

The last two days have been progressively better than Monday and I'm happy to report that it looks like Lee will get to go home this afternoon! The doctors are still cautious in their optimism due to how quickly things have changed in the past, so they are going to leave her central line in for several days until they're sure she can keep her meds and some nutrition down. I'm hopeful she will be up to giving you the next update herself, but one of us will let you know how the transition goes for sure. Thanks once again for your prayers and support![...]

A Quick Update... September 16, 2013, 10:01 PM

Steve again with a quick summary of the past few days. It has been a bit of a "roller-coaster ride" as Lee has continued to battle severe nausea and vomiting along with significant swings in her blood pressure and heart rate. Her headaches are an ever-present complicating factor but they have been able to manage those fairly effectively over the past few days. We had made some slow but steady progress in controlling the nausea/vomiting over the weekend and Lee was able to keep down quite a bit of liquids with the hope of progressing to more "full liquids" and possibly even "soft food" today. Unfortunately, it appears that a combination of her medicines given early this morning resulted in some severe sedation to the point that we've essentially lost most of today. The latest plan from the Resident who just saw her this afternoon and consulted with her doctor is to allow her to continue her slow recovery from the sedation in hopes of starting over with the incremental changes in her diet either later tonight or more likely tomorrow morning. They are also adding back one medicine she hasn't had during her stay but that has shown promise in the past for controlling several of her symptoms. So, the prayer request is for a continued recovery from the over-sedation and that the additional medicine will provide some sustained relief of her vomiting and heart-related symptoms. On the positive side, her primary care physician has been in contact with some of her specialists from New York and they are collaborating on some possible longer term strategies for evaluating and addressing the recent significant decline in Lee's health.[...]

Breaking the silence September 11, 2013, 9:38 PM

Hello all,
This is Steve....You obviously know that Lee hasn't posted any updates here in over a year now. The primary reason was that she was growing weary of posting only "down" or "negative" news rather than sharing more encouraging progress. In hindsight, she regrets
not having kept you more up-to-date on things and wanted me to apologize for her silence. We have both truly valued the continued prayers and encouraging words that many of you have offered on our behalf.[...]

Blessings
June 14, 2012, 6:40 PM

The doctor says my lower fever and decreased swelling and pain are all good signs that we are getting the upper hand on the infection. Although not doing as well overall as the doctor hoped, with my persuasive promise of continuing to rest, take my meds, and particularly staying hydrated, I am back in the comfortable confines of my home. Yay! There is no place like your own bed – especially my new amazing Sleep Number bed!!! I will see the doctor again the first of next week to check on my progress. Thank you for all the words of encouragement and prayers on my behalf. They have truly made a difference in this challenging, and yes, frustrating turn of events. I am so thankful that my peace and joy are not dependent on circumstances. It is a truly comforting thing to see how even in suffering God is hourly, daily transforming me as I lean deeper into him and learn to appreciate His grace more fully.[...]

Infection
June 12, 2012, 3:09 AM

Steve promised an update in his last post and I hoped to post things were uneventful. Things seemed to be progressing normally until the weekend. I began to develop abdominal swelling, increased pain, and the dreaded fever. The doctor saw me first thing this morning and determined I have developed an infection secondary to the surgery. I guess my weak immune system had too much to deal with. So, massive antibiotics have been started and the doctor hopes to see improvement in 48-72 hours. I am afraid the plan will be to put me in the hospital if I am not improving by when I see her on Thursday morning. Most of you know how I will do anything to avoid hospitalization, so please pray for my immune system to rally and the antibiotics to do the trick. Nausea and vomiting from the infection is an issue so please pray that ceases so I can keep all the oral medications down; especially the antibiotics! Thanks for checking in. Your love and care is such an encouragement.[...]

She's Awake!! June 6, 2012, 4:06 PM

I just talked with Lee's doctor and she came through without any anesthesia complications and is moving to Recovery. We were blessed with a great Anesthesiologist who did lots of research on Lee's behalf. There was one complication with the procedure itself that kept them from completing everything they had hoped to do, but the doctor believes it should be fairly minor. She hopes to be able to do the rest in "clinic" without the need for more general anesthesia after Lee has had a few weeks to heal.[...]

Changed My Mind... June 6, 2012, 6:50 AM

So...I wasn't going to post this update because it seemed like such a blip on the radar. BUT I realized that if I didn't and Steve had to post an urgent post tomorrow with not so good news - well, I would be in big trouble! Seriously, as you can tell from the hour of this post and the short time frame, my better senses have gotten to me as well as my nerves.[...]

Overdue Update February 8, 2012, 7:16 PM

First I want to say how overwhelmed and humbled Steve and I were by your outpouring of congratulatory notes on Steve’s selection as Fire Chief of Lacey Fire District Three. We were truly blessed by all of your kind words! Thank you so much for the blessings![...]