What a long strange trip it's been

Hey all,
I have made a break for it and am now sitting in my hotel room. I thought I would take a moment to again thank everyone for everything (literally). I have had many discussions with family members over the last couple and have a few thoughts to share with you. I am hoping that everyone is healthy and can appreciate that. My surgery will force a lifestyle change for the better (i.e. diet). Also this time down here was wonderful in bringing my family closer together and I hope everyone takes time to appreciate theirs. Finally, I beleive Bre mentioned in a post a while back that I woke up under heavy medications and thought I was dead. I was freaked out and thought about two things my wife and boys and my releationship with God. There are a lot of different things I could say now but the main point it that I love them and they love me.
I look forward to seeing you all next week, however, I still need some rest. Please call ahead so I can see you all. Part of my recovery is taking walks and I would love some company.
Love you all,
Jason

Their Kicking Him Out

The great news is that Jason learned late last evening that today is the day they are sending him off. So now he has eaten breakfast, showered, and now waiting for the discharge details which include taking the IV out, getting the low down on the meds he will be taking from here on out. The good news about that is he isn't using much pain meds, they are taking him off of the heart rhythm med because his heart is beating nice and regular now, and he will basically have his coumadin and a baby aspirin to take, which will be the regimen forever now.
Cole is excited to see his daddy. We are going to breakfast to take up a little time and then I will go down to the hospital to pick up Justin and Jason a bit later. Hopefully it will be before lunch so Jason is saved from eating another Low Salt, no flavor, hospital meal. We will have to watch his sodium intake for the first 6 weeks anyway but at least we can find some better tasting food which might actually encourage him to eat a bit more.
We will take some pictures and put them on for you to see Jason and Cole once he comes to our "new house" as Cole calls the hotel.
The journey continues and we will continue to add updates to the blog from now until, well I guess when I get tired of telling you all about what is going on in our part of the world.

White Counts Down Again, Waiting for Tomorrow

The result of the white cell scan showed no infection anywhere in his body. It is normal at times for white counts to be higher around the site of the incision, heart graft, etc. just due to the trauma and healing of the heart.
White counts were down again this morning to 16. It needs to be around 11-12 before they will release us.
Cole will be flying in a couple of hours with Justin. We are trying to talk the staff into allowing Jason a bit more time off of the unit. They won't let him off of the property but we can go around the property and find some places to hang out in the fresh air together.
Jason is ready to be free, he is tired of being a "pin cushion" and having people scan him, probe him, and generally tell him what to do. He is starting to try to talk his way into things so we definitely know he is feeling better.
We will take a walk here in a bit so he can get out before it gets too hot.
So there is nothing to do today except sit around and wait for the next blood draw tomorrow morning at 6:00.
Will keep you posted.

Feeling Good, Whites down, less meds

Well,
I guess I have caused some anxiety since I didn't post a blog last night or yet this am.
Jason reports that he feels good today. They discharged his antibiotics to see if there is any change in his counts since they were going up and down with them anyway. His counts are down to 19.5 this am.
They will start weaning him off of the Oxycontin today and replace it with vicodin to see if his pain is managed with that.
He is excited to see Cole.
His white cell scan should be around noonish today. They have to squeeze him in since they don't have any slots available.
If everything continues to go well he could be discharged Thursday and we are scheduled to fly home Sunday evening.

I have been thinking a lot lately which probably doesn't surprise a lot of people who know me well. I was thinking the other night about how much Jason was missing Cole, and longing to be reuinited with him because his "heart" was hurting so much for that closeness in relationship. As I was going to sleep that night I was thinking, "That's how it is with God and us. He loves us so much, in comparison to how we feel about our love for those we love the greatest, that is only a fraction of how God longs to be in relationship with us."
For some reason, I had never thought about it that way before, probably because I hadn't experienced what it would be to lose someone that I love so much in a while and being separated from my kids for the first time.
Thank goodness for God's steadfast love and faithfulness. Nothing else would be sustaining me at this time.
Until later. . . .

White Counts Up Again, Waiting on New Plan

Ok,
of course things continue to be a bit challenging. It's a good thing I am reading a book "Ruthless Trust", all about trusting God. God is good that way, making sure we have what we need when we need it most.

So, the white counts are up, they don't know where the infection is so they will be running a white cell scan test today, giving him a transfusion of 2 units because his Red Blood Cells are down, and trying to see if an Infectious Disease Doctor can consult with the team.

Jason is really missing Cole so we are going to fly him down again, along with Uncle Justin, our family doctor, to help us with all of the "doctor" communication.

We haven't exactly nailed down the specifics, but Sara has offered to watch Spencer or I will see what my parents want to do about that.

We are moving to a hotel today. the doctor said we could be here another week.

Ok Prayer Team- (that means anyone who prays) go into overtime.
The Physician's Assistant who saw Jason walking around the unit said, "You don't look sick, we have to get you out of here."
More updates to come......

From the horses mouth

I am feeling in good spirits and just wanted to say a quick thank you to all of you for your prayers and support. I am still waiting to get this infection figured out but now is the time. Hope all is well with you in the world, I know it is with me.
Jason

Smiling, Getting Antibiotics, Showing Cole his Legs

We had to take a picture of Jason today after he had shaved was looking better, got the chest tube out, and so we could show Cole that his daddy does have legs. He asked his grandma where daddy's legs were in the other photo we took.

Jason is continuing to walk, do his breathing exercises and eat.

We will see what his white counts are tomorrow and what the results of the CT scan were today.

I'm off to sleep since it has been hard to come by lately.

Chest Drain Out, White counts up

The good news is that Jason had his final chest tube removed. The challenging area that we are facing right now is that his white counts have increased over the past few days despite the mega antibiotics he is on. It's a bit of a mystery to the doctors as to where this "infection" may be but they will be doing a CT scan today to see if that will detect anything different.
So we may not be home as scheduled on Monday evening. We will keep everyone posted on how things are going.
Jason can go off the unit for two 30 minute periods daily now so will get him up to the computer once the CT scan is done and he might send a note to everyone.
Thanks for the encouraging words and prayers. We are very fortunate to be blessed with our family and friends.
I just talked to a woman whose husband has been in the Neuro unit for 9 weeks. Major infections in his brain due to poor care by previous doctors. He's 32 with a 5 and 6 year old. Keep him in your prayers. His name is Chris.

It puts it into perspective when we are just waiting a matter of days for release. He will be here more than likely for many months.

Take care

Off the unit for 30 minutes

The uplifting part of the day was that Jason was encouraged by receiving emails and he was able to unhook his heart monitor and go off of the unit and walk outside for 30 minutes. It was the first time he had been in the fresh air and sun since Tuesday the 13th.
He decided he is not wearing the hospital gowns or pants anymore because he doesn't want to wear anything that associates him with being sick. So Diane went shopping to get some adjustable sandals, some pajamas and loungewear. One of the Nursing Assistants commented that he didn't look like a patient anymore but rather a visitor.
We are hoping and praying that tomorrow is the big day for the chest tube removal. If it happens before 6pm tomorrow we will be able to fly home Monday night but if not, we will have to wait 48 hours after removal to fly due to air pockets and altitude and other medical anomalies that could occur.
Jason misses Cole and wants to get out and home. We are trying to taking it one nursing shift at a time and trying to bribe anyone that comes into the room to take out the tube:)
Jason asked for rice krispy treats(his favorite), chicken, beef jerky, and apple juice. He is sick of the hospital food as well as the ensure. They don't care what he eats at this point as long as he eats.
Tracy will fly home with Spencer tomorrow and reunite him with my parents and Cole. Cole is ready for Spencer to be home since he says he "misses his baby."
Good Night to all. Thanks for all of the love and support.

Disappointing but All's Well

Jason called the house this morning to say the doctor is not taking out the chest drain today. He and we all were very disappointed because no chest drain means he gets to go home. They usually send home the day after the chest drain is removed so that means probably not tomorrow, hopefully Sunday.

Here's a picture of Jason we took yesterday to show you all how well he looks.

If anyone wants to email me a word of encouragement for Jason, I will print it off for him to read. He's a bit down today, but hopefully his spirits will rise throughout the day.

my email is bremontoya@bendcable.com

Take Care and God Bless. Off the the airport to pick up Tracy so she can be with Spencer.
Make sure you hit the link to look at our pictures on the family pictures website.

Doing better overall

Well, today just may be that "all-star" day we've been waiting for all week. Jason is off of all IV pole drips and only needs to be hooked up to the pole for his antibiotics. He is getting a massage right now so is enjoying that. Today was the first time I can say I have seen him smile. He got to see Spencer and he gave him a few kisses. Spencer just kept going in for more, putting his head into Jason's cheek.
He is eating more and walked without his walker this morning. We brought him in a new mattress pad and a fan for his hot/cold flashes.
He is making a conscious decision to make a big effort to eat and get well so he can get out of the hospital.
I will be leaving the hospital early today to go home and relieve Betsy since she is flying home tonight. What a blessing she has been for us and what a great opportunity for Spencer to spend some quality time with her as well as myself. This whole experience has definitely brought the importance of family, friends, and how precious life is every day. I thank God for the blessed life he has given us.

Resting with a Fighting Spirit

I just finished my shift and thought I would let you know that I think we've turned a corner. Jason has been getting some rest tonight in between waking up to pee which is good. I keep telling him I'm putting a sticker on his potty chart every time he goes. He is still having a little confusion but of course I can't help but chuckle at times. He rose up out of bed tonight real quick and almost stood up immediately. I had to remind him he was in the hospital again, which he remembered more quickly. I told him instead of sitting straight up in bed he needed to let me help him get up. So then he started walking to the side of the bed real quick. I said where are you going, "to catch that cat over there." "Oh what kind of cat was it." He quickly remarked, "A quick cat." I told him as I couldn't help but laugh that there really wasn't a cat. Then he said, "I'm getting us outta here." So wondering his thought process this time whether he was going to make a break for the door or not, I said, "When are we going?", He replied, "I'm going to eat and do my breathing exercises so we can get out of here in a few days. I'm ready to be home with you and my boys."
So the goal tomorrow is to eat and inflate his lungs.
Good Night, or Good Morning.

Once more today

Once more update this evening before I head back to the hospital for an evening shift. Jason has quite a day since I last updated. Hallucinations, emotions running crazy with fears and tears.
Keep him in your prayers tonight that the sleep med we got ordered would just conk him out so that he will just sleep through anything that happens.
He finally fell asleep this late afternoon, was snoring and drooling so I thought I was in the clear to slip out have the nurse make a do not disturb sign for his door and get Diane the update without disturbing him. Well, he woke up, called my name several times, was disoriented, thought the room was different, couldn't feel his body, couldn't figure out why he had tubes and things attached to him, and on top of it all was convinced that he was dead and watching this all take place from up above. He was so afraid he tried to get out into the hall trying to make sure we knew he was alive, fearing we wouldn't be able to see him because he was dead. Phew... What an emotional roller coaster. I assured him that he was alive, his heart was fixed now, he wasn't going to die, and that he needed to trust that God wouldn't have brought him this far just to have him die now.
He was also concerned that I didn't care about what was going on over the past few days that I wasn't concerned for him. I assured him that if it seemed as if weren't emotional or freaking out was that I have been doing a lot of praying and giving these things over to God and that He was truly my strength because Jason needed me to be strong for him right now.
I came home to put Spencer to bed, eat some dinner, and get my stuff together to be there until 3:30am.
Thank you for your continued prayer support and words of encouragement.
We will certainly have some stories to tell in the future reminding Jason of this time in our lives.
Good night to everyone.

Calling in the Reinforcements

The Odyssey continues as you all know. With the excitement of last night including a bout of irregular heartrate with it reaching the 180's, they started a new IV with a new med to get that under control. That bit of excitement started about 1:00 am, John called for Diane to come down to the hospital and then an hour later Jason wanted me to come also. It scared him and John nonetheless and needed some good reassurance that everything was going to be ok. The doctor assured him that it was normal for the first 4-6 weeks to have irregular heart rates. We will just have to keep an eye on it and get him the doctor or ER in the event it happens at home. So back to bed at 4:00 for me, Diane finished the night shift and we switched again around 11:30am.
So the new possible discharge date may be over the weekend. We should be able to travel home on Monday as planned. Betsy will stay an extra day and we decided this morning instead of flying in someone to help with Spencer over the weekend we are flying my friend Tracy down to transport him home on Saturday morning to be with Cole and my parents until we get home. What a blessing to have so many people willing to step in at any moment to help us during this time. Tracy will fly in Friday morning and be with Spencer all day.
Jason's spirits are a bit down today, he is very overwhelmed with not feeling good, and sick and tired of it all. His mouth sores have not gotten much better although he is a trooper and forcing himself to eat some. The Dilatid is making him sick and have hallucinations so we have changed his pill med to Oxycontin which is a longer lasting (12hr) pill that will hopefully work better than the percocet and help him get off the Dilatid completely. Prayers for pain control, healing for all of the other ailments are much appreciated. Pray also for Jason's mood to lift. We are getting an order to take him outside this afternoon to sit in the shade. Hopefully a little fresh air will give him a boost.
It's hard to see him so much in pain, frustrated, tearful, and generally feeling quite bad when a week ago we walked in here with him feeling strong and healthy. Although we do know now that his heart wasn't healthy although he felt good on the outside.
I continue to thank God for His continual hand in all that is going on here. I know he is holding Jason tight and giving him hope for the future with our family.
God Bless to everyone.

Two Slow Shuffles Forward, One Step Back

Well, for the most part things are going well. One more chest tube out today, one to go. He also got his central line out of his neck and only hooked up to the heart monitors, oxygen monitors, and one IV. Considering how he looked coming out of surgery just one week ago, I would definitely say it is amazing how well he is doing. Jason has been asking me if people are checking the blog and making sure I am putting on updates. I assured him that many are checking in on his progress, sending their love and prayers all of the time. He asked again for me to tell him what actually happened the day of the surgery. He wants to know if the doctors took pictures because he wants to know what everything looks like on the inside now. He stood up and wanted to check out all of his "battle wounds" in the mirror. I told him he probably had more and longer incisions than he originally expected. We decided to count, so there is a small one on his neck, a 4-5 inch one right below his collar bone, three 1 in incisions for the drain tubes, and one on each leg were they were trying to access the femoral arteries. Oh yes, of course the sternum incision that starts at the indentation at the bottom of his throat and extends to the base of the sternum.
He reports he started out his day thinking it would be an "all-star" day and part way through the morning it ended up "no bueno". He vomited up quite a volume, right after his morning walk, then he realized part way through the night his doctor detected he has sores in his mouth and thrush. So eating is difficult because it burns and hurts. The catch is if he doesn't eat he feels nauseous due to the pain meds. So now he is on more meds to treat his anolmalies. We decided that starting this afternoon he could end his day being an "all-star" day. He walked twice when I was with him today, is getting irritable with everyone poking and asking him questions, he is annoyed by the alarms on his monitors going off all of the time, and he wants to get better so he can come home. The doctor says that Friday more than likely will be the day. Anything earlier we will consider bonus.
Hopefully tomorrow another chest tube will be out and he may be able to walk without a walker.
Thank goodness for the strength that God provides. His angels must definitely be working overtime.

A few more days than expected

Things continue to go well for Jason although the surgical team is telling us he may not get out of the hospital until Thursday or Friday now. Hopefully two more chest tubes out tomorrow. He is still coughing a lot and they are doing blood and other cultures to make sure pneumonia isn't setting in. They finally changed his pain meds today and put him on patient administered Dilatid. That has seemed to control his pain quite a bit better. He is really drowsy and falls asleep in mid-sentence at times. We have to prod him to get a full sentence. Betsy brought Spencer down to see Jason again. I think it continues to lift his spirits a bit and Spencer doesn't seemed phased by all of the tubes and everything else.
We have decided to not have any more NA's at night because the two we have had haven't been particularly helpful. The one last night wanted to watch TV and he wouldn't turn the TV off. So Diane and John are switching off during the night. Betsy and John will extend their stay one more day and Rick will be coming back next Monday to help us travel back. He may even join us on our flight to Bend just because the planes into Redmond are smaller and Jason will have to climb the stairs to the plane and I just wasn't so sure how I would help him and carry Spencer since Spencer is on my lap. So each day we learn more, get more of our questions asked, and become more competent and confident and providing Jason's nursing needs while we are with him. I told Diane today that in the end we would submit them our bill for our services. It seems like there is always something to do, whether its grabbing the nurse, checking the drain tubes, getting him up and down, encouraging him to eat more food and helping him to be more comfortable. I think there was only about one hour today that I actually sat down.
anyway, we will continue to update this as we find out more information. It's just a little slower than the quicker progress from earlier.
Take care.

Happy Father's Day

Spencer came to see his daddy today for a few minutes to give him some pats and put his head on Jason's shoulder. He wanted his daddy to hold him and play with all of the lines in his neck. Needless to say he wasn't afraid of the tubes and incision line on his chest. I think Cole would have had a different reaction.
Jason continues to make progress. He has been sitting up at meal time to eat some food. He has had heartburn and sore throat so making it uncomfortable to eat. We sent Diane to pick up a round of milkshakes. Justin just said his goodbyes and he and Sara will be heading home to Eugene today. Sara has been a tremendous help with the boys as well as my parents. It's nice to have people around to care for them so I didn't have multiple worries other than Jason to deal with . I finally got about 10+ hours of sleep last night. Sara took Spencer duty so she got up with him at 5:50 this morning. Betsy and John are here with us still so will continue to help with Spencer when Diane and I are at the hospital.
Jason got one of his chest tubes out, the dressing off of his chest incision off, and the catheter out. So he is focused on drinking enough water so he can pee on his own:). He took a walk down to the nurses station and back and continues to make good progress. We will have him take another walk after dinner. They will be doing an extra chest x-ray today since he is spitting a little blood and his lungs are still a little wet. Sorry for the graphic details but some people want to know the specifics since they can't be here. Justin left us with his list of questions to ask the doctor next go around. So Jason is resting now, watching a bit of golf and taking a nap at the same time. I'm sure that is what my dad is doing too!

Out of ICU and into a private room

Well, here is the update. It's been a long day but Jason finally got out of ICU around 4:00pm. We visited most of the day with him and Justin and I have come home for dinner. He is doing well, tired for the most part. He even ate a bit of a hamburger, some chicken soup, and a little ice cream. They had him up sitting in a chair this morning, at lunch, and again at dinner. We know he is feeling better because he is starting to complain about things and even being a bit sarcastic with his brothers. They started an antibiotic due to the continued inflammation and redness in his foot this am. Justin strongly suggested the antibiotic and they followed that recommendation. We will see if it feels any better tomorrow. We are trying to hire a private nursing assistant to be with him during the night. The one main thing we are learning about a teaching hospital is that post-op care has been a bit hit and miss. So we want to make sure that he gets moved, food, pain pills when he requests them and not hours later. So Diane and Justin will pull the night shift tonight while I stay home with Spencer. I will go back after I put Spencer down for his first nap tomorrow. Cole left this morning with my mom and dad. I'm sure they are pulling into Redmond about now. He was sad he didn't get to see his daddy but we will take a picture and send him a care package this week. i think we will take Spencer in for a quick visit tomorrow to see if it will lift Jason's spirits a bit. More to update tomorrow.

Resting and waiting for a transfer bed

Nothing much to update this evening. We are waiting still for a transfer bed. It will more than likely happen over the next few days. Jason is resting again and they are trying to get his pain under control so that he can take deeper breaths have stronger coughs and actually get more rest instead of shallow breaths and small coughs due to pain and then being continually exhausted. He still has pain on his lower left shin which they put a lidocaine patch on. It is the big mystery as to what happened during surgery to cause the pain. Justin has made pen marks on his leg so that we can see if it is getting worse or changing for the better. We will know better tomorrow. The X-ray showed nothing. His chest x-rays are good so far and they will do another in the morning. His nurses today have been great, a bit more lenient with family visits lasting a bit longer. We will see him one more time tonight and then be back again in the am. I will actually stay home a bit longer in the am until Cole and my parents are on their way. He has been having a hard time with his mom being in and out and not being able to see his daddy. He had a melt down last night and needed my mom to sleep next to him. Spencer was then up from 3:30-5:30 am. He is teething so trying to give him tylenol for the pain. Needless to say we are all due for a good rest and peaceful sleep. Please pray for Jason's pain to get under control, his leg pain to go away so he can put weight on his leg and get up and around, and a good rest tonight. The same request for sleep and rest for the other family members. We are all holding up well. We are continually grateful for our friends and family and all of the prayers, love, and support. Thank you to everyone.

Picture of Jason June13th

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Originally uploaded by montoyabre.

Jason sends his love and thanks to everyone who is supporting and praying for us. He is doing great. He will be moved out of ICU as soon as there is a bed available. He sat up in a chair for a bit this pm and doing great. He is resting now and we will be going back to see him this evening. Cole will be going home tomorrow with my parents back to Bend. We will be sending a picture home with him so he can look at his daddy anytime he wants.

The first day hurdles are over

Well,
I will send a brief update before I head to bed to get some rest. Jason is sleeping finally. He is doing well, continuing to cough, has been complaining of a sore shin and blister on his heel all day. Actually complaining more of the pain in his lower shin than the pain from the surgery. Anyway he sat up on the edge of the bed and has taken in some apple juice and lemon ice. They have been talking about moving him into his "step down" room, which is out of ICU tomorrow afternoon if everything continues to go well. He has been really coherent, remembering all of our visits, and being a god patient.
He took the news of having his valve replaced in stride, knowing he will never have to go through this again and get to watch his kids grow up without having to worry about his valve or aneurysm. He understands how truly lucky he was, as active as he has been, to not have had a dissection or rupture of his aneurysm before. We are all so thankful, knowing in the back of our minds that if it would have been an emergency situation, with the difficulty it took to get to his heart through the scar tissue, he probably wouldn't have survived. The surgeon also said another surgery would have been treacherous and significantly dangerous to undergo in the future.
So many blessings, so many thanksgivings. I can't truly express how thankful I am for Jason's health and God taking care of us all throughout this whole time.
We will keep you updated tomorrow.

An official update after three different visits this am

Well, Jason is stable, continuing to make progress and actually looks quite well considering how long he was in surgery yesterday. We have been able to visit every two hours for the first half hour. It's amazing how fast each waiting period to visit goes by.
So here are some more specific details. First of all Jason hasn't needed anymore transfusion which is good because after a talk with the anesthesiologist last night we learned that he needed between 40-50 units throughout the day. His body went through DIC which basically means a reaction much like auto-pilot anticoagulant. So they had to bring in the big guns and give him some special order clotting agents to tell his body "you gotta stop this bleeding". We were very thankful to not get a phone call during the night because as we were told, "No news is good news." So throughout the am he became more alert and actually could remember us coming in from the visits before and what we had been talking about. His biggest complaint is that his left leg is aching and he has a huge blister on his left heel. His throat hurts and wants more water than we are allowed to give him but he it is helping him to cough up some of the junk in his lungs. He is coughing quite a bit which is good, so he doesn't get pneumonia, and has had the oxegyn mask removed for the time being. His body is slowly taking back control over the things so he can get off of the multiple drip meds etc. so he can move to the next step.
I will be going back this evening and will have another update around 10pm or so. Thanks for the prayers, the support, and the words of encouragement you have sent over the past few days.

ICU update

When we called at 7:00 am, they reported he was stable and the breathing tube was out. We will get more details when visiting hours open at 10:00 am. We will be allowed to visit every 2 hours throughout his stay in ICU so we will keep you posted. Oh by the way, we felt a small earthquake this morning just for a little extra excitement.

Out and in ICU for the night

We haven't been able to see him except for a moment when he passed us in the hall into the ICU. The surgeon Dr. Miller just gave us a recap of the journey with Jason today. What a miracle is all I can truly say to describe what he told us.
They replaced the aneurysm, which they discovered after 4-5 hours of cutting into him due to the significant amount of scar tissue that Jason's body produces, was paper thin in multiple areas where the doctor could actually see the blood pumping through. Which by the way, is not normal. We found out that Jason had a bicuspid valve with a bovine arch. I will let all of you internet researchers figure out what exactly that means. The Dr. as of yet does not know exactly why Jason had the aneurysm but will look at cells under the microscope to see if he can see anything more clearly. Currently Jason is stable, sedated, and the only concern is his blood not clotting normally. Justin, our resident doctor assured us that it was pretty normal considering the amount of scar tissue and the length of the surgery. They are giving him platelets and plasma to help him with the clotting. They will continue to monitor this and hopefully it will slow down on its own and they won't have to go back in and cauterize the sources of the bleeding. Needless to say, we are all relieved and anxious to see him briefly tonight. Hopefully in the morning he will be awake and have his breathing tube out. That is the official update and we will keep you posted.
God Bless and thank you for the prayer support through this time for us.

Almost finished

Just a quick update to let you know that Jason is off the bypass machine and his heart is pumping on its own. They are sewing him up and the surgeon will be out to talk to us in a half an hour to an hour. We should be able to see him around 9:00 pm.
Wow what a day. I can't tell you how many different faces that I've seen today with the whole range of emotions. Some families hearing bad news, the hollow stares of unbelief and the tears and sighs of relief from those hearing good news. It's quite an interesting place to spend a day, in a surgery waiting room for the North ICU. So you know that anyone there has a loved one that will need ICU before a transfer to a less intensive room.
Thank you God for giving us the strength to endure, the peace that surpasses all understanding and the never ending hope that our lives are forever in your hands and care.

More than Halfway through

Just another update this afternoon. The surgical coordinator came out about an hour ago and told us that after looking and feeling Jason's valve that he was replacing it with a mechanical valve. So the good news in all of this is No More planned open heart surgeries to replace valves. The aneurysm will be completely replaced up into the trunk of the aorta and the valve is already sewn into the synthetic dacron material which will replace part of his aorta. This also means the surgery will take less time since they won't have to be sewing in his valve to the material. Needless to say we all have mixed reactions but know that it is all part of the grand plan of Jason's life. So Jason will be on an anti-coagulant- Coumadin (sp?) for the rest of his life and we will be able to hear his valve clicking open and closed when everything is really quiet, like at night or maybe during meditation :).
so we will be getting an update at a quarter to four this afternoon and expect him to be off the bypass machine by then and being sewn back up and ready to move to ICU. We are all mentally preparing for him to look swollen, with a lot of tubes, and completely sedated which will be hard to see I'm sure, but we will be happy to see him alive with his heart repaired. Until then.....

The beginning of the day

Just wanted to let everyone know that they wheeled him into the operating room a little after 7:00 am this morning. Justin, Diane, and I came with him this morning to send him off into the good hands of the surgical staff and God. We were all very emotional. I think the hardest part is saying goodbye and having to watch him go knowing we would all trade places with him if we could or at least hold his hand throughout the procedure. I trust God is there giving him the peace he needs to know that he is not alone.
We just got a visit from one of the staff that everything is going smoothly so far. We should hear details from the surgical nurse within the next few hours. They are anticipating that the surgery could last until 6pm because the surgeon is a "perfectionist with connective tissues". I guess that's not a bad quality to have as a surgeon and comforting to know that he takes the time and care that he needs to make sure healing and recovery will go as planned.
We will keep you updated. Thanks for all of the prayers and support. It is amazing what the power of prayer will do to keep us strong and at peace while we wait.
Until later

Pictures of the Family

Here are some family pictures to show you a bit of the backyard of the house.

Update on some details

Just wanting to give everyone a bit of a timeline and schedule for the events tomorrow. We spent about 5 hours doing pre-op stuff today. Needless to say, Jason felt a bit like a test specimen being poked, prodded, and told what to do. All of our nerves were on over drive by the time we were finished today.
I was glad that I had told Diane and Jason prior to today that I get faint sometimes and pass out in hospitals. And sure enough, I almost went down, needed a cool towel, and came around about twenty minutes later while we were meeting with the surgical coordinator nurse. I think my blood pressure is just generally too low and hearing about medical procedures makes me a bit woozy. Anyway, hopefully I will be done with that and be able to deal with all of the tubes, noises and hospital smells tomorrow.
So the low down is this...
Arrive 5:30 am
2 hours prep with the anesthesiologist and sanitizing of everything. He will go into the beginning stages of surgery around 7:30-8:00. The first two hours will be cutting open and prepping to go on the bypass machine. He could be on the bypass for 3-5 hours, then checking how everything works once off bypass. Then the closing up of everything. They will then take him to ICU sedated and intubated. When he wakes up once he is breathing on his own well they will take the breathing tube out. He should be in ICU for 2 days including tomorrow (the surgery day) and then transferred to a different room.
All in all the surgery should go from 7:30 until at the latest 5:00 pm. I will try to send out updates throughout the day if I can and then after he is stable and the surgery is over.
We are all holding up pretty well. We just need some good sleep tonight and a lot of prayers throughout the day tomorrow.
Thanks for everyone's support.

An Interview worth reading

My Aunt sent me this and I thought it was so applicable to every moment of life. As for us at this moment we are placing our trust in God because that is the only assurance we have. Have a blessed day.

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having "wealth" from the book sales.

This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren , "Purpose Driven Life " author and minister of Saddleback Church in California.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

"People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body -- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.

God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ-likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, 'which is my problem, my issues, my pain'.

But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started with the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD. Difficult moments, SEEK GOD. Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD. Painful moments, TRUST GOD. Every moment, THANK GOD.

A hike in Shevlin Park

Pictures of the boys, Chillie included on a hike we took last week to Shevlin Park. Cole loves to walk in the water and Spencer wanted to eat handfuls of dirt but we decided we didn't feel like pulling it out of his mouth.

Arrival in California

Just wanted to let you all know that we arrived safely and found the house we are staying in. There is a nice backyard with a play structure, a toy room, and lots of kids movies. Cole is having a great time already. He made sure that I cleaned all of the spider webs off the play structure before he would climb aboard. Spencer even sat in the swing for a bit. The house is great, lots of space but also a great opportunity for our family to have a "safe haven" while we are down here. Jason will talk to the surgeon tomorrow afternoon and do more bloodwork and testing on Tuesday. All the family will have arrived by Tuesday. The kids are resting peacefully tonight so we look forward to spending some time together over the next few days.
Talk to you all soon.
Bre

Family Photo from August 2005

One Week Away

Well, We are one week away from travelling to Stanford. I think we are all getting to a point now that we just want the surgery to be over and on to the recovery phase. I know this week will go by fast and we have a lot to do to get ready to travel with the kids. Spencer has just started crawling in the last two weeks and is pulling himself up onto everything. We are hoping the airplane ride to San Francisco keeps him entertained. We will just have to bring a lot of different snacks and hope that Cole can help entertain him.
We are planning to get out and do a few activities with Cole this week before Jason isn't able to do as much with him. We went on a hike yesterday, will go bowling, possibly canoeing, and riding bikes this week to keep us busy. Jason and I will try to get out golfing at least one more time before we leave.
Feel free to scroll down the page to look at the changes I've made this week. I've added a tagboard where you can type your name into the top box and start typing a message into the next box. We are hoping that people will use that to leave messages, words of encouragement, and general comments. We have also added some links where you can email each of us directly.
Have a great week and we will keep you posted.