New Year's Eve in CO - Update 7 on Dad

Dad's appointment with the Infectious Diseases office went well. Once we're home, he will meet weekly with a dr to test his blood to determine how much bacteria is still there and to have his dressing changed. The training was helpful but even more helpful was the step by step instructions detailing everything that we'd just done. He will need an antibiotic treatment every day for 6-10 weeks. Its about a 30 minute process... Speaking of 30 minutes, dad seems to check his temp every 30. Hopefully the concern over that will end soon. Guess we're all just a bit touchy.

Tonight we're spending our New Year's eve with my aunt and uncle, Rhona (1st cousin), Morgan & Rosalie (2nd cousins), and Lucy (my aunt's best friend). The plan is to play Redneck Life (a boardgame where the person who ends with the most teeth wins), finish off a couple of bottles of sparking grape juice, and eat puppy chow till the ball drops. Nothing too taxing for dad.

The plan is to leave CO on Sunday morning, driving long and hard for one day, and then getting home mid afternoon on Monday. Our hope is that the weather will cooperate with that plan.

Praises - continued steps toward getting everyone home, good friends and family to welcome in the new year, puppy chow and redneck games :)

Prayers - Dad's still having a tough time finding a comfortable sleeping position at night. He twisted wrong last night and was unable to get a good night's sleep after that. Part of the problem is stiffness in the shoulder due to lack of use in the hospital. He's currently working to catch back up to where he was with exercises every hour.

The Eagle Has Landed - Update 6 on Dad

Dad had his first dose of the bacteria specific antibiotic through his pic line this morning before leaving the hospital. Everything went well and his body is still responding well. No further gall bladder issues either. He shook Dr Redfern's hand and thanked him before checking out of Penrose.

After a a short delay in Grand Rapids, I made it out of the mad house known as O'Hare on time. The flights were rather uneventful; just the way I like them. Met an interesting fellow on the flight from Chi-town to CO. I think he was a few years younger than me but he seemed an old soul. He offered me chocolate, books of poetry, even a peek at the journal he was writing in. I declined all of the above, especially the poetry and journal. Decided I didn't want to know if in fact he was a youthful creeper. He was good enough to assure me that I hadn't snored while sleeping on the flight. Good to know! Seriously, he was a good guy. Very kind and considerate and hates take off and landing just as much as I do. I wish him well.

Big hugs from mom and aunt Susie upon arrival and then we were off. After a trip to Walgreens for drugs for dad, we headed to the Kellogg's. Dad met us at the door. It was great to put my eyes on him! I'd intended to take and post pics but my camera has pooped out so you'll just have to take my word regarding his health. He looks good and his temperature is normal each time we check it. Little dirt on dad; ask him what his temperature was when he checked it while mom and Susie were out to pick me up. If he fibs and tells you it checked out okay, ask why it was 95.4 :) Poor man is exceptionally reliant on other people right now.

Praises - Safe travel and uneventful flights. Dad is looking good. We'll all be getting a full night's sleep tonight.
Prayers - Uncle Chuck has a chemo appt at 10 tomorrow. Mom and I have drug administration training at 11 tomorrow.

My body has decided to start the process of acclimating to the time difference and altitude by giving me a killer headache and everyone here has 3 nights of little sleep to make up for so we're headed to bed shortly. That being said, I'm signing off ~ Ae

Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock - Update 5 on Dad

"I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again..."

That's right, we're moving in the right direction now. It was nice last night to realize that my greatest concern was getting everything I needed into one carry on and making sure that my one carry on would fit into my mom's convertible. Based on my concerns earlier in the week, what a relief! (It all fit too, in case you were wondering :)

Dad will be released from the hospital this morning and I will arrive in Colorado Springs sometime this evening. Dad has to remain in town for a couple of days to make sure the pic line and antibiotics work as planned without issue. My uncle has requested that we stay through Monday to spend a little more time with him, since time with him has been limited due to the craziness with dad. Realistically it looks as if we will be leaving on Saturday or more likely Sunday to head home, putting us back in MI either Sunday or Monday.

On a personal note - I'm struggling with feelings of wanting to be in two places at one time. I'm excited to see with my own eyes that dad is going to be fine; looking forward to seeing my mom and my CO family, and spending time with my ill uncle. However, I wish I could be in MI to say farewell to the Fishers. Josh says that KCBC has impacted their family but their family has had such a huge impact on so many individuals and families in our church. I've been honored to call them friends; to laugh with, cry with, and minister with them. Josh has talked about the grace that our church has extended to him in allowing he and Amy to simply be who they were but he has done the same for others, me included. My life has been changed through learning that I don't have to fit into society's Christian mold. My parents have expressed the same disappointment in the extension of their time away from home causing them to miss the send off for the Fishers. Knowing that we will be missing an opportunity to say thank you and goodbye is very difficult.

Praises - God is GOOD and dad is coming home!! The impact the Fishers have had on the KCBC family and individual's lives.
Prayers - Safe travel and continued healing.

Until we start the drive home, I'll be updating from CO ~ Ae

Update 4 - Travel Details

I'll be flying out of GR tomorrow afternoon and arriving in the Springs around 7:30 tomorrow evening. Please pray for uneventful flights and cooperative weather.

Ae

Update 3 on Dad

2:00 I just spoke with mom again. Information seems to change with each new doctor that enters the room :) Anyway, the issues last night were due to fluid around the gall bladder. The blood work came back fine, indicating no actual gall bladder attack. The doctor is hoping that this issue will work itself out.

Relative to the shoulder, they've been able to isolate what bacteria it is and the appropriate medication and pic line have been ordered for sometime today. Both the infectious disease doctor and dad's CO surgeon, Dr. Redfern, are hopeful that he can be released from the hospital tomorrow. Following his release, he will need to remain in Colorado Springs for monitoring of the pic line and antibiotic. We have tentatively set an appointment on Thursday for training on how to give him his antibiotics through the pic line.

Travel - I'm waiting on a fax from the infectious disease Dr with the necessary medical certificate so I can book my flight out there for Wednesday afternoon. Best case scenario, we will leave CO for MI on Saturday morning, getting us home some time Sunday evening. If we run into either medical or weather delays, it may be a couple of days later.

Praise God for an amazing team of doctors doing everything they can to get dad on his way home, continued support and encouragement from CO and MI family and friends, and what appears to be an end to this frustrating trial. Please continue to pray for continued improvement in dad's condition, cooperative weather, and safe travel home.

Ae

Update 2 on Dad

11:30 (MI) I just got off the phone with mom. Dad's ultrasound confirmed that the new issues that developed last night were in fact due to an inflamed gall bladder. The general surgeon should be in sometime within the next couple of hours to discuss dad's options. If the doctor advises him to keep the gall bladder, we need to make sure that potential for further inflammation, pain, and fever is eliminated prior to the trip home. If removal is necessary, we need to determine how long we should wait before making the trip home.

Additionally, the infectious disease doctor came in this morning to meet with dad. He looked at the shoulder and gave dad the "all clear." They will be setting dad up with a pic line so we can give him his antibiotics intravenously on the road. He indicated that if it were dependent on just the shoulder, he could head home tomorrow. While meeting with my parents, the Dr apologized that he was just now getting involved in dad's case. Apparently there was a lack of communication and he'd only just heard about dad this morning.

As to travel plans, we are again looking at me flying there tomorrow afternoon to help mom drive back. The big question marks right now are 1) when will dad be released, 2) when will he be approved for travel, and 3) will he be taking his gall bladder back to MI with him. Our hope is that following the meeting with the general surgeon, we will have answers to all of these questions and we can start taking steps towards getting him home.

Lets keep praying and get him home ~ Ae

Update 1 on Dad

I spoke with dad yesterday afternoon around 6 (MI time) and he was still doing well, hoping to leave on Wednesday. We'd decided on a flight plan for my trip out there on Wednesday afternoon and were awaiting another visit from the Dr to get the necessary medical certificate so we could apply for "compassion fare" and the related insurances. Things were looking good and progressing forward.

Around 11 last night mom called to ask me to pray again as dad's temp had started to rise again. He was also experiencing abdominal pain - about a 5 or 6 on his pain scale. Around 2 AM (MI) the Dr was able to finally meet with and examine dad. He believes that his gall bladder has decided to flare up, completely unrelated to his shoulder. My mom said the look of disbelief on everyone's faces due to the irony was priceless :) The broad spectrum antibiotics that they've put dad on for the staph infection are only effective on resistant types of infection. The gall bladder issues would be due to a non-resistant type of bacteria.

As of 8 AM (MI), dad was getting an ultrasound of his abdomen to confirm the Dr's suspicions regarding the gall bladder. Once confirmed, a decision will be made as to whether or not removal is necessary. This is not the first time that dad has had gall bladder attacks and because of the inopportune timing of this attack, he would prefer to have it removed. Following the ultrasound, the Dr will advise dad how to proceed. Regardless of the new concern with the gall bladder, the information won't be available from the bacteria culture until its aged about 72 hours so dad won't be able to be released tomorrow.

The good news - while examining dad's abdomen last night the Dr also inspected the shoulder. The drain that they inserted in the joint is not pulling any more nastiness and everything appears to be progressing in a positive direction. The hope is that the drain can be removed today and the dressing changed.

On another note, travel plans have been postponed until we have more information. There are a few things being thrown around by my family. There is currently potential that Leah, a friend, and I will drive straight through (about 28 hrs) and then caravan back with my parents over the course of two days. We're also considering the possibility of sending dad on a direct flight back from Denver, once he's stable, to avoid the taxing 2 day drive back. Our CO family is sprinkled between Denver and Colorado Springs so that gives us a few more options for flights in or out. As dad's condition becomes more clear we will be able to finalize our plans and take steps towards getting everyone there and home.

Praise the Lord for continued good reports on dad's shoulder, supportive family and friends both in CO and MI, understanding employers, provision for our travel needs, and for nationwide cell phone plans :) Please continue to pray for healing for dad, strength and rest for both of my parents, peace for my 3 siblings and myself, wisdom for the Dr's, and safe travel once our plans are able to be finalized.

I'll keep you posted ~ Ae

2nd Longest Day in Turner History

Most of this was copied from my email... I'm running low on the emotional strength required to put together a blog so I'm sure I'll change a few things later.

As many of you know, our family went through one of the longest days in our lives (second only to the day of his bike accident). Knowing our body of believers was praying brought to mind the words of Paul in Philippians 1:3-6. I do thank God for you!!

Expectedly so, our family was on the phone hit and miss all day yesterday trying to get information relayed. As of 9:30 this morning, I believe I have the full story to date. For those that didn't know, following dad's rotator cuff surgery on the 18th, Wednesday mom and dad left for Colorado Springs to visit my uncle (with terminal liver cancer) and my aunt (my dad's sister).

The trip was going fine until Saturday night when dad started to develop some pain and a fever. At about 1 AM dad was admitted into the Penrose hospital in Colorado Springs with a staph infection in the incision and he was placed on strong antibiotics. The hope was that the antibiotics would kick in and dad could be stabilized enough to travel back home to see his surgeon. Mom called the rest of the family at about 10:00 to let us know what was going on. Later in the morning, they found a second infection in the joint itself. The joint infection was much more critical and my mom was informed that if they were unable to clear the infection out, dad would lose his right arm. Due to dad's very limited usage of his left arm following the motorcycle accident a few years ago, we were alarmed for good reason.

Before the surgery, dad (who has a very high pain tolerance) was in a significant amount of pain and had a fever of 105.3° He was in surgery for about an hour and a half. They took a culture of the infection for further testing and then flushed the joint with 8 liters of sterile water to eliminate the infection. He is now on a broad spectrum antibiotic but in a couple of days they will get the results of the culture and know exactly what antibiotics he will need to fight this particular staph infection.

The surgery was successful and the infection and fever are under control. He's was still in a great amount of pain last night and was given a pain pump to get the pain under control. As of this morning, he still has the pain pump but hasn't needed to use it. I was able to have a conversation with dad last night through mom and then he called me himself this morning, so the high fever doesn't seem to have done any damage to his brain. (I can't describe the relief in hearing his voice following this.) For at least the next three days dad will remain at Penrose and will be closely monitored to determine whether a second flushing of the joint will be necessary. Our hope is that this will not be necessary and that near the end of the week mom and dad can begin the journey home.

Please continue to pray as he is not fully out of the woods. Its also very difficult for my siblings and I to be so very far away from our parents as we go through this as a family. I'm currently looking into the feasibility of flying to CO to help my mom drive home so prayers for cheap flights, safe travel, and cooperative weather, would be appreciated too.