I have been crazy busy, which is why there has be no recent update... In fact I just looked over my last post and it was from the day of his surgery. No updates since then! Wow I'm so behind!
So as I had reported his surgery went well, when I got to see him shortly after he looked about 1000 times better right after the surgery then he did the first time. He was however complaining of pain a lot more and said it seemed worse. I personally think he just doesn't remember it that bad cause the first day or so he was so in and out of it he probably just doesn't remember.
In the last post I had talked about how I had gotten a call from a bride wanting to meet with me to discuss doing her wedding photography. I had mentioned how it seemed like God was sending us encouragement and how I'd been getting discouraged about the lack of business I'd been able to drum up thus far this year. So I scheduled the meeting with this bride to go over my portfolio and her special day for the day after Casey's surgery. I met with the lovely bride and her groom and by the time I left I had booked my first wedding of 2013! I was SO excited! But my business stuff doesn't end there! Oh no no no.
Casey seemed to recover much quicker this time, by Sat morning his bleeding had slowed down a lot already and they were talking about possibly removing the chest tubes on Sun. Mon morning he called me and told me they were about to release him so to get the kids ready and come pick him up. This was much sooner then last time! He said after they did the chest x-ray the Dr said it looked really good and he was very happy with how it looked. Last time he had said that there was something he wasn't to thrilled about but he thought it would resolve on its on. Clearly it didn't because we ended up back there.
So all this is going on and Casey is trying to heal, its been CRAZY hot out but our house isn't really big enough for him to get some good walking in unless he goes outside. A few days before we found out the news that Casey would need to have the 2nd surgery we had decided to go to the Great Mall here in Olathe and walk around there. It would be a good way to get out of the house as we are all feeling cabin fever as well as get Casey his walking in. I had decided to take some of my post cards and business cards and maybe try to do a bit of networking at some of the places there. I got shot down at the first 2 places I tried but the 3rd place turned out better then I could have hoped. Its a candy shop, you know kinda like how Mr Bulky's used to be? Where you can go in and get all these different candies and put them in a bag and pay per oz. When I said I was going to go in there Casey was like "Ok why?" I said "I don't know, maybe they do the custom wrappers or something like that, can't hurt to ask right?" So I go in and Yes they do custom wrappers, they also do candy buffets at special events. They can order the candy of choice in your color and set it up and display it nicely etc. So I start talking about networking with them and maybe we can give out each other's info to clients we come in contact with. She LOVED that idea, so I gave her some of my stuff on weddings and such and some cards and take some of her info and cards. I am starting a packet of vendors I get to know and recommend so I can give them to the brides to kinda help them out with their planning.
The next day I think it was we find out about the 2nd surgery, then the day before his surgery is the day we go to the church to talk to pastor. On the way to the car I get that call from that bride and we schedule to meet. On the way home I get a call from the lady with the Candy store. She tells me she wants to host a Brides Night out event, where 2012 brides can come and just kinda relax and have a fun evening free of charge all the bridal shows that are all the rage right now cost to get into. We discuss having a few (very few) vendors on hand to offer prizes and have SMALL displays. This whole event is still being planned but we have finally gotten the date secured as well as a few vendors. All of us vendors are small time vendors, not vendors that have a TON of money for advertising and such. We are excited about doing this, maybe connecting with some brides and getting some more business. This has been something that has kept me busy for the last 2 weeks.
So all this is going on, Casey is doing better and is home. We are back to the point of he can't lift anything for 2 weeks so he can't help with the kids really other then to keep an eye on them and let me know if I need to drop everything I'm doing in another room and come running. Among all this going on Willa has what was supposed to be her 9mo well baby check up (at 10mo old). I get the kids packed into the car and I am driving to Tonganoxie where the kids Dr is which is a 45min drive. I get a phone call, its from a wonderful lady with a coupon company that right before all this started I had talked to about MAYBE advertising with them. That was quickly scratched when we found out Casey did in fact have a tumor and needed surgery. I had told her we weren't going to be able to do it this year and she had understood. So she calls me out of the blue on Thurs and says that she has some other idea's for us for advertising with them. After I tell her Casey had to have surgery yet a 2nd time and there is NO money period she comes up with a solution. She told me she would have to present it to the owner and get the final approval but it might work. She said they are wanting to host a give away on their site for things, if I would offer up 5 photo sessions to give to people who win them they would allow me to run an ad with them free of charge! We agree on 5 senior sessions because the end of summer is coming up quick and that would be a great way to boost my business. The way this company works is you pay for a "zone" each "zone" has 10,000 houses in it, they mail out a packet of coupons every month. So I would have a coupon in their packet going to 10,000 homes in the zone of my choice. So I sign the agreement and send it on to them, I get an e-mail today stating that the owner HAS approved this deal! Are you serious???? I can't believe this! They will be doing this for me for free and all I have to give is 5 senior sessions. Psh so easy! Plus it gives me MORE exposure (pun intended), Oh yeah did I mention that we live right down the street from a high school? So guess which "zone" I choose to run the ad in? LOL Hopefully it works out! I would LOVE to be able to continue to run specials with them a few times a year. :)
So all this is going on and I have something else about ready to roll out too in order to drum up more clients. I can't say what yet because it would spoil it. But I've been a busy little bee lately! I see potential for things to get VERY busy around here!
OH and not to forget that while Casey was in the hospital I had gotten a lead from Thumbtack, thumbtack will allow you to put in what type of job you need done and it will send the lead to their vendors. So say this gal needs a wedding photographer, they put in a request on Thumbtack and they will send the lead to photographers in the area. To submit a quote you have to pay the lead fee which varies depending on the persons budget for the job. So I got a lead for a wedding photographer, this lead cost more then most because this couple has a higher budget. If you submit a quote and don't hear back from the client for 7 days they will give you a refund if you request it. So I do a lot of submitting quotes and then asking for refunds because I never hear back. This one however I DID hear back! I've been talking to her over the last week both in e-mail and over the phone and Monday I have a meeting with her! So while we have not yet secured the wedding its a very promising thing that we are getting to meet with this bride! She is excited to meet with us, after probably 30 or so leads that have never panned out I might have finally gotten one that does! Not only that but thumbtack is how the other bride had found me too! She had just called me directly instead of asking for quotes from multiple photographers.
I'm so very excited that thumbtack is starting to work out for us! Not bad for a free website!
So another long post but to summarize, Casey is doing very well.... He is getting up and around more and more. Today he complained of pain a little more then the last few days but he has been trying to do things like help clean the house (I haven't been feeling to good myself the last couple of days) so I think that might have to do with it. We have seen God providing so much over these last few weeks and not just for this very trying time in our lives but also for the future with the promise of at least 1 wedding booked for my photography. We have truly been blessed and continue to praise God!
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Praising no matter the outcome.
Today Casey had his second surgery to remove his middle right lobe of his lung. We had told a few people this (but not many) but two nights ago Casey started hearing crackling noises when he would take a deep breath. He started doing some major deep breathing cause he thought maybe it was that lobe trying to expand like it should. After about 5min of deep breathing he started coughing up some gunk and even had some dried blood in the gunk.
We had also talked a lot about this latest development that at first had us a little down, and also discussed some things we both felt God placing on our hearts. We felt encouraged and decided the next day we would try to make it to church to talk to pastor about it.
Thurs we headed over to the church, we had called first and knew Pastor would be there. We went in and started talking to him. Discussed some things God had laid on our hearts, we felt like God was challenging us to do more for HIM and wanted to talk to pastor about it. We also wanted to tell Pastor about what Casey's fathers family was going through. Last Sun his uncle (Dad's brother) had gone into the hospital for complications with cancer he'd been battling. He was told he only had a few hours left to live, Casey's father right away jumped on his motorcycle and headed to the hospital in KS to visit him one last time. Casey's father lives on the MO side, for those not into motorcycles there is a helmet law in MO but not KS.... I think this possibly saved Keith from at least a serious head injury or worse (I haven't confirmed he had a helmet on but I strongly believe he DID due to no injuries in that area). Anyway, normally Keith pulls over and removes his helmet as soon as he gets into KS. I'm guessing in his hurry to get to his dying brothers side he didn't do that. Anyway, while on the highway a coyote dashed out in front of him and he hit it going rather fast. It caused the bike to fall to its side and skid across the highway. Keith ended up laying in the middle of 3 lanes of traffic and his bike in the median. He suffered a broken hand and wrist and arm as well as serious road rash and I believe a dislocated shoulder. He refused to be taken by ambulance to the ER and instead had his girlfriend pick him up and drive him to his brothers bed side where he did get there in time to say good bye before going on down to the ER. His brother passed away the next day (Monday).
Tues we learned Casey would need the 2nd surgery, we were a little stunned and depressed over the news. We neglected to call Keith right away, looking back now I think that was probably best because it might have been to much for him. Weds evening Keith called to tell us his brother had died, before he told Casey he asked how Casey was doing and Casey gave him the update. I wasn't on the phone with him and in fact Casey was in another room. As soon as Casey told him I could almost feel the breath leave Keith, I can't explain the feeling I had but I knew somehow that Keith was really struggling. I felt so bad for him, I knew this news was another bad blow to a really bad week. The funeral was last night to be last night (Thurs).
So we were talking to Pastor, we told him about Casey coughing up the gunk after telling him about Casey's father. Pastor thought that was interesting news and said we would pray and that this was not out of God's reach at all! We had a good long time of prayer with Pastor and another member from church who was there. I holding Willa, Eli entertained himself well by pulling 1 book at a time from pastors bookshelves and looking at it and then putting it back before pulling another one (ok I might have peeked a couple times to make sure he wasn't getting into anything). After prayer we discussed what was on our hearts and what God had placed on our hearts the night before. We told Pastor we are no longer saying we will "TRY" to follow through but we "WILL" follow through. What ever happened today we would praise God.
As we were getting the kids buckled into the car to leave I get a phone call. Some of you may know how I have been really struggling to get business for my photography. I've had portrait sessions but no weddings this year and I've gotten a little discouraged about it at times. So I answer my phone (it was a number I didn't know) and a young lady says "I would like to know what you charge for wedding photography?" I was so excited I started stuttering! After composing myself I asked her how she had heard about us and she said she had found us on google. Ok here's the thing, I've tried googling several phrases for wedding photography etc and I can't get us to pop up! So of God! She had gotten to my vendor profile I have on thumbtack.com (google it if you want to know what it is, but its a cool website). It doesn't list my prices but it does have some pictures up there and my phone number. I started talking to her about her budget, after a short converation we agreed to meet on Sat July 14. I am praying that this job works out for us, it won't be till next year but at least it would be SOMETHING! What amazed me was it seemed like as soon as we said we WILL do what God places on our hearts, (Don't get me wrong we weren't fighting anything, we had just not communicated that we were feeling the same things) he in return was like "See? I WANT to bless you!" I was so overwhelmed I almost cried. Even if the job doesn't work out I feel like it was encouragement from God.
So Casey went to his uncle funeral a few hours later where he said he was glad he was there for his father. Said he was taking it kinda hard. He came home and we enjoyed some time together while the kids were sleeping. We both felt very peaceful about today's upcoming surgery.
We woke up bright and early this morning and arrived at the hospital around 8:45am, they took him back to prep but we ended up waiting in the room without anyone coming in till after pastor arrived sometime around 9:30. He spent some time with us and prayed and then left. We again talked about the rattling in his chest and the gunk he'd been spitting up. We were hopeful that the Dr would go in with the scope before the surgery and find it open and clear. Finally they came back to get Casey (even though they hadn't done all the prep they had done before) that confused us and they said they were moving him closer to the OR where they would finish his prep but they wouldn't let me go with him. That was around 11am, the surgery was supposed to start at 11:45 and I waited with baited breath hoping the Dr would come out in just a few minutes and tell us he wouldn't need to do the surgery.
Around 12:45 a nurse comes out and finds me, my heart skips a beat. Could it be? She sits down next to me and explains they forgot to have Casey sign a blood transfusion list and they needed that signed in case he needed a transfusion. I asked her if they had started the surgery yet and she said she didn't know. They had called her from the OR to tell her to get it signed. I didn't hear anything again till 3pm.
Finally the Dr comes out at 3 and talks to me. You could tell he wasn't really happy with things, he asked if I was alone this time (talk about heart stopping) as I said yes. He goes "Ok well he's done with the surgery and he did well." So from what he told me when he had done the scope before the surgery he discovered that the right middle lobe was now completely sealed off (it did have a SMALL opening before). He said that lobe was no longer functioning at all. He said he had hoped he wouldn't have to actually CUT but he had no choice but to go in again the same way he did before. He said he went in the same incision and there was nothing he could do besides remove that lobe. He said if we hadn't done that Casey could have gotten VERY sick VERY quickly and it would have been VERY hard for him to recover if he ever did fully recover. He stressed the VERY sick several times. He had a very appologetic look on his face and he said he was so sorry he knew this wasn't what any of us expected and he doesn't understand why it happened. He said out of years and HUNDREDS of surgeries he has NEVER seen this before. He has no clue what caused it and said we would never know. He said it could be that a blood clot got stuck and blocked an artery there causing it but he doesn't know for sure. Regardless, Casey had done well in the surgery and would be recovering and then taken to his room in a couple of hours. He said that this SHOULD be the end of this and hopefully in a few weeks Casey will be ready to get back to work like he has been gunning to. I told the Dr that we KNEW he did everything he could, and we trusted him completely. I told him I knew that he only removed it because he felt it was the best thing for Casey. I told him we understand and we know it had NOTHING to do with him, these things just happen and no one was to blame. I thanked him for being on top of it the whole time and at the same time giving it time to heal on its own before just jumping into surgery a second time. He thanked me and headed out and I went back to waiting.
Finally around 5 I was told I could go up to his floor and I would be allowed to see him shortly. Finally I arrived on his floor and stopped at the nurses station to make sure it was ok to go in. She said "Yes" and I headed down the hall to his room. As soon as I got to the door he goes "Hey Babe!" Woa a LONG ways from last surgery when he had looked at me and about cried at the sight of me. He was with it a lot more this time, we talked and he didn't fall asleep on me. He was complaining of some pain, he told me that this time they kept him awake while they put in the epidural, he said he can't believe I've had that twice with both kids. Haha He also had a pick line in his chest and said they had him awake when they put that in too. He said it HURT, they also kept him awake when they put in the cath, poor guy. Apparently his Dr wanted to talk to him while he was able to understand so they had decided to finish the prep with him awake. Nice huh? The nurse heard him say he was awake when they did the pick line and she was like "You were awake for that??????????" So encouraging! Ha But he looked 1000 times better this time around then last time.
I finally came home for a little bit and told him I'd be back when the next baby sitter got here, but I needed to get home and see my kids 1 of whom was still in bed when we left and I hadn't seen her at all yet today. I came home, got some dinner and did some things for the studio. The next baby sitter arrived and I finished my work and went to see him where I was able to spend about an hour there. He was looking even better, he had been able to eat some jello and was complaining of being hungry! You know a man is on the mend when he's complaining about being hungry! :D The nurse mentioned they might try to get him up to walk tonight and he was like "Please do! I want to go ahead and go home! I think I can go to work tomorrow!" I was like "DON'T YOU DARE! If you cause yourself more damage and kill your self I WILL come and get you and bring you back.... Then I will kill you myself!" The nurse just kinda laughed.
So we're on the mend again! We're hoping he'll be out in a couple of days this time instead of 5 days. We believe this is the end of it! Several people have told me how strong I've been through all this and how encouraging it has been to them. I don't feel like I've been any stronger then any other woman out there, yes its been hard. Yes there have been tears, some days a lot of tears. But my strength has come from God first, family and church family second. None of my strength has been mine alone. I have been supported by so many people. We all have, we love and thank everyone for their prayers, meals, time (baby sitting), groceries, gift cards and even gifts of cash. Without the support of God and others we would not have been able to survive this. This is God's victory! Not ours, to him be all praise.
Woah this ended up a really long post (sorry about that). Since its so long, I'm not going to proof read it... Sorry for any spelling or grammar errors. If you feel the need to correct it just remember this was typed up after a VERY long day at the hospital late at night before I go to bed. I just wanted to let everyone know how much we love and appreciate them. :)
We had also talked a lot about this latest development that at first had us a little down, and also discussed some things we both felt God placing on our hearts. We felt encouraged and decided the next day we would try to make it to church to talk to pastor about it.
Thurs we headed over to the church, we had called first and knew Pastor would be there. We went in and started talking to him. Discussed some things God had laid on our hearts, we felt like God was challenging us to do more for HIM and wanted to talk to pastor about it. We also wanted to tell Pastor about what Casey's fathers family was going through. Last Sun his uncle (Dad's brother) had gone into the hospital for complications with cancer he'd been battling. He was told he only had a few hours left to live, Casey's father right away jumped on his motorcycle and headed to the hospital in KS to visit him one last time. Casey's father lives on the MO side, for those not into motorcycles there is a helmet law in MO but not KS.... I think this possibly saved Keith from at least a serious head injury or worse (I haven't confirmed he had a helmet on but I strongly believe he DID due to no injuries in that area). Anyway, normally Keith pulls over and removes his helmet as soon as he gets into KS. I'm guessing in his hurry to get to his dying brothers side he didn't do that. Anyway, while on the highway a coyote dashed out in front of him and he hit it going rather fast. It caused the bike to fall to its side and skid across the highway. Keith ended up laying in the middle of 3 lanes of traffic and his bike in the median. He suffered a broken hand and wrist and arm as well as serious road rash and I believe a dislocated shoulder. He refused to be taken by ambulance to the ER and instead had his girlfriend pick him up and drive him to his brothers bed side where he did get there in time to say good bye before going on down to the ER. His brother passed away the next day (Monday).
Tues we learned Casey would need the 2nd surgery, we were a little stunned and depressed over the news. We neglected to call Keith right away, looking back now I think that was probably best because it might have been to much for him. Weds evening Keith called to tell us his brother had died, before he told Casey he asked how Casey was doing and Casey gave him the update. I wasn't on the phone with him and in fact Casey was in another room. As soon as Casey told him I could almost feel the breath leave Keith, I can't explain the feeling I had but I knew somehow that Keith was really struggling. I felt so bad for him, I knew this news was another bad blow to a really bad week. The funeral was last night to be last night (Thurs).
So we were talking to Pastor, we told him about Casey coughing up the gunk after telling him about Casey's father. Pastor thought that was interesting news and said we would pray and that this was not out of God's reach at all! We had a good long time of prayer with Pastor and another member from church who was there. I holding Willa, Eli entertained himself well by pulling 1 book at a time from pastors bookshelves and looking at it and then putting it back before pulling another one (ok I might have peeked a couple times to make sure he wasn't getting into anything). After prayer we discussed what was on our hearts and what God had placed on our hearts the night before. We told Pastor we are no longer saying we will "TRY" to follow through but we "WILL" follow through. What ever happened today we would praise God.
As we were getting the kids buckled into the car to leave I get a phone call. Some of you may know how I have been really struggling to get business for my photography. I've had portrait sessions but no weddings this year and I've gotten a little discouraged about it at times. So I answer my phone (it was a number I didn't know) and a young lady says "I would like to know what you charge for wedding photography?" I was so excited I started stuttering! After composing myself I asked her how she had heard about us and she said she had found us on google. Ok here's the thing, I've tried googling several phrases for wedding photography etc and I can't get us to pop up! So of God! She had gotten to my vendor profile I have on thumbtack.com (google it if you want to know what it is, but its a cool website). It doesn't list my prices but it does have some pictures up there and my phone number. I started talking to her about her budget, after a short converation we agreed to meet on Sat July 14. I am praying that this job works out for us, it won't be till next year but at least it would be SOMETHING! What amazed me was it seemed like as soon as we said we WILL do what God places on our hearts, (Don't get me wrong we weren't fighting anything, we had just not communicated that we were feeling the same things) he in return was like "See? I WANT to bless you!" I was so overwhelmed I almost cried. Even if the job doesn't work out I feel like it was encouragement from God.
So Casey went to his uncle funeral a few hours later where he said he was glad he was there for his father. Said he was taking it kinda hard. He came home and we enjoyed some time together while the kids were sleeping. We both felt very peaceful about today's upcoming surgery.
We woke up bright and early this morning and arrived at the hospital around 8:45am, they took him back to prep but we ended up waiting in the room without anyone coming in till after pastor arrived sometime around 9:30. He spent some time with us and prayed and then left. We again talked about the rattling in his chest and the gunk he'd been spitting up. We were hopeful that the Dr would go in with the scope before the surgery and find it open and clear. Finally they came back to get Casey (even though they hadn't done all the prep they had done before) that confused us and they said they were moving him closer to the OR where they would finish his prep but they wouldn't let me go with him. That was around 11am, the surgery was supposed to start at 11:45 and I waited with baited breath hoping the Dr would come out in just a few minutes and tell us he wouldn't need to do the surgery.
Around 12:45 a nurse comes out and finds me, my heart skips a beat. Could it be? She sits down next to me and explains they forgot to have Casey sign a blood transfusion list and they needed that signed in case he needed a transfusion. I asked her if they had started the surgery yet and she said she didn't know. They had called her from the OR to tell her to get it signed. I didn't hear anything again till 3pm.
Finally the Dr comes out at 3 and talks to me. You could tell he wasn't really happy with things, he asked if I was alone this time (talk about heart stopping) as I said yes. He goes "Ok well he's done with the surgery and he did well." So from what he told me when he had done the scope before the surgery he discovered that the right middle lobe was now completely sealed off (it did have a SMALL opening before). He said that lobe was no longer functioning at all. He said he had hoped he wouldn't have to actually CUT but he had no choice but to go in again the same way he did before. He said he went in the same incision and there was nothing he could do besides remove that lobe. He said if we hadn't done that Casey could have gotten VERY sick VERY quickly and it would have been VERY hard for him to recover if he ever did fully recover. He stressed the VERY sick several times. He had a very appologetic look on his face and he said he was so sorry he knew this wasn't what any of us expected and he doesn't understand why it happened. He said out of years and HUNDREDS of surgeries he has NEVER seen this before. He has no clue what caused it and said we would never know. He said it could be that a blood clot got stuck and blocked an artery there causing it but he doesn't know for sure. Regardless, Casey had done well in the surgery and would be recovering and then taken to his room in a couple of hours. He said that this SHOULD be the end of this and hopefully in a few weeks Casey will be ready to get back to work like he has been gunning to. I told the Dr that we KNEW he did everything he could, and we trusted him completely. I told him I knew that he only removed it because he felt it was the best thing for Casey. I told him we understand and we know it had NOTHING to do with him, these things just happen and no one was to blame. I thanked him for being on top of it the whole time and at the same time giving it time to heal on its own before just jumping into surgery a second time. He thanked me and headed out and I went back to waiting.
Finally around 5 I was told I could go up to his floor and I would be allowed to see him shortly. Finally I arrived on his floor and stopped at the nurses station to make sure it was ok to go in. She said "Yes" and I headed down the hall to his room. As soon as I got to the door he goes "Hey Babe!" Woa a LONG ways from last surgery when he had looked at me and about cried at the sight of me. He was with it a lot more this time, we talked and he didn't fall asleep on me. He was complaining of some pain, he told me that this time they kept him awake while they put in the epidural, he said he can't believe I've had that twice with both kids. Haha He also had a pick line in his chest and said they had him awake when they put that in too. He said it HURT, they also kept him awake when they put in the cath, poor guy. Apparently his Dr wanted to talk to him while he was able to understand so they had decided to finish the prep with him awake. Nice huh? The nurse heard him say he was awake when they did the pick line and she was like "You were awake for that??????????" So encouraging! Ha But he looked 1000 times better this time around then last time.
I finally came home for a little bit and told him I'd be back when the next baby sitter got here, but I needed to get home and see my kids 1 of whom was still in bed when we left and I hadn't seen her at all yet today. I came home, got some dinner and did some things for the studio. The next baby sitter arrived and I finished my work and went to see him where I was able to spend about an hour there. He was looking even better, he had been able to eat some jello and was complaining of being hungry! You know a man is on the mend when he's complaining about being hungry! :D The nurse mentioned they might try to get him up to walk tonight and he was like "Please do! I want to go ahead and go home! I think I can go to work tomorrow!" I was like "DON'T YOU DARE! If you cause yourself more damage and kill your self I WILL come and get you and bring you back.... Then I will kill you myself!" The nurse just kinda laughed.
So we're on the mend again! We're hoping he'll be out in a couple of days this time instead of 5 days. We believe this is the end of it! Several people have told me how strong I've been through all this and how encouraging it has been to them. I don't feel like I've been any stronger then any other woman out there, yes its been hard. Yes there have been tears, some days a lot of tears. But my strength has come from God first, family and church family second. None of my strength has been mine alone. I have been supported by so many people. We all have, we love and thank everyone for their prayers, meals, time (baby sitting), groceries, gift cards and even gifts of cash. Without the support of God and others we would not have been able to survive this. This is God's victory! Not ours, to him be all praise.
Woah this ended up a really long post (sorry about that). Since its so long, I'm not going to proof read it... Sorry for any spelling or grammar errors. If you feel the need to correct it just remember this was typed up after a VERY long day at the hospital late at night before I go to bed. I just wanted to let everyone know how much we love and appreciate them. :)
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
I will praise you in this storm....
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 So we do not lose heart.
Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed
day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an
eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the
things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things
that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Yesterday's procedure
On Friday I posted about how Casey had gone for his 2 week followup after his surgery. They had discovered that part of his right lung is collapsed and it looked like it might be due to some mucus and stuff blocking the air way not allowing the lung to fully inflate. They scheduled another bronchcoscopy for yesterday.
So we prepared for yet another procedure at the hospital. Casey's poor arms are all bruised up from all the IV's he's had the last couple of weeks. We arrived at the hospital and filled out the paperwork and was shortly taken back to the room to be prepared for the procedure. This time it was done in the GI lab instead of surgery, Casey was told to change into the gown and they closed the curtain. Shortly after he was done I could hear a nurse talking on the other side of the curtain, I told Casey that sounded like someone I know and decided to check. I had worked with this nurse when I worked at the Dr's office and she was one of my favorite nurses. I knew she worked at the hospital now and I THOUGHT she might work in the GI lab but I couldn't remember for sure. So I check and sure enough it was her! We chatted for a bit and then the other nurse came in to prep Casey.
After awhile the procedure was over and the Dr came out to tell me what he had found. He was carrying one of those sheets that prints off the pictures that he took while he was there. I could see there were images as he walked up and I could see something and for a second my heart sank, could it really be ANOTHER tumor? Thankfully even though it was only a few seconds which felt like forever he was across the room and talking to me. He showed me the images and said what we were looking at was swelling in his airway, most likely caused by the surgery. Here's what he showed me on the sheet, (don't worry no gross pictures, just a diagram).
This is a diagram of the lung, the left you see is made up of 2 chambers or lobes.
The right is made up of 3. This is the side Casey had the tumor on. The lower lobe which has the line through it is the one they removed when they removed the tumor. The middle one where the line from the word "blocked" is pointing at is where the blockage is. So the blockage is at the entrance to that lobe due to swelling. He said its swollen so much he couldn't even get the scope down there to see if there is any built up mucus and such in there (which was the thought on Friday). We have been bouncing between these two groups of Dr's. The surgeon and the lung specialists (yes I know what their called I just can't spell it). So the lung specialist is who did the scope this time. He was going to call the surgeon to see what he recommended. In the mean time he prescribed some predinzone (steroid) to help reduce the swelling. We are still waiting for the Dr's to decide what to do next. I'm sure it will be at least another office visit and another CT scan to see if the lung is inflating properly.
Yesterday I had mentioned on my facebook about how Casey was coughing up blood in the morning before his procedure. We talked to the Dr about that and he said that most likely the blood was from the surgery but it wasn't able to come up because of the swelling. He said as the swelling goes down hopefully Casey will be able to cough all the mucus and blood up. We are hopeful that this is the end of the complications!
Casey is hoping to be able to return to work sooner then expected but we'll see with this new development. We have seen God working big time during this time of Casey's illness and not being able to work to earn money. Thankfully we had some money set aside in savings that should float us by. However that takes us down to almost no savings and that concerns us a little. But we know our God is faithful and will provide for our needs. :)
This concludes today's human biology class.
So we prepared for yet another procedure at the hospital. Casey's poor arms are all bruised up from all the IV's he's had the last couple of weeks. We arrived at the hospital and filled out the paperwork and was shortly taken back to the room to be prepared for the procedure. This time it was done in the GI lab instead of surgery, Casey was told to change into the gown and they closed the curtain. Shortly after he was done I could hear a nurse talking on the other side of the curtain, I told Casey that sounded like someone I know and decided to check. I had worked with this nurse when I worked at the Dr's office and she was one of my favorite nurses. I knew she worked at the hospital now and I THOUGHT she might work in the GI lab but I couldn't remember for sure. So I check and sure enough it was her! We chatted for a bit and then the other nurse came in to prep Casey.
After awhile the procedure was over and the Dr came out to tell me what he had found. He was carrying one of those sheets that prints off the pictures that he took while he was there. I could see there were images as he walked up and I could see something and for a second my heart sank, could it really be ANOTHER tumor? Thankfully even though it was only a few seconds which felt like forever he was across the room and talking to me. He showed me the images and said what we were looking at was swelling in his airway, most likely caused by the surgery. Here's what he showed me on the sheet, (don't worry no gross pictures, just a diagram).
This is a diagram of the lung, the left you see is made up of 2 chambers or lobes.
The right is made up of 3. This is the side Casey had the tumor on. The lower lobe which has the line through it is the one they removed when they removed the tumor. The middle one where the line from the word "blocked" is pointing at is where the blockage is. So the blockage is at the entrance to that lobe due to swelling. He said its swollen so much he couldn't even get the scope down there to see if there is any built up mucus and such in there (which was the thought on Friday). We have been bouncing between these two groups of Dr's. The surgeon and the lung specialists (yes I know what their called I just can't spell it). So the lung specialist is who did the scope this time. He was going to call the surgeon to see what he recommended. In the mean time he prescribed some predinzone (steroid) to help reduce the swelling. We are still waiting for the Dr's to decide what to do next. I'm sure it will be at least another office visit and another CT scan to see if the lung is inflating properly.
Yesterday I had mentioned on my facebook about how Casey was coughing up blood in the morning before his procedure. We talked to the Dr about that and he said that most likely the blood was from the surgery but it wasn't able to come up because of the swelling. He said as the swelling goes down hopefully Casey will be able to cough all the mucus and blood up. We are hopeful that this is the end of the complications!
Casey is hoping to be able to return to work sooner then expected but we'll see with this new development. We have seen God working big time during this time of Casey's illness and not being able to work to earn money. Thankfully we had some money set aside in savings that should float us by. However that takes us down to almost no savings and that concerns us a little. But we know our God is faithful and will provide for our needs. :)
This concludes today's human biology class.
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