One More Time...

The PleurX System Soon to Be A Part of Bob's Body

Thursday Bob had follow-up appointments with his doctors.  Before Dr. Sowden saw him, he had an xray of his chest performed to check for fluid.  Shortly after the xray was done, Dr. Sowden entered the room & said only a few words.  Two words, actually.  “It’s back.”

The xray revealed a significant amount of fluid which had accumulated in the lower lobe of Bob’s left lung (“And today’s program is sponsored by the letter “L”...).  Dr. Sowden hypothesized that since the pericardial windows were wide open, the fluid, which apparently originates from his heart, flowed directly downward into the next available cavity - the lung.  His right lung is dry as can be, which is great. 

Dr. Sowden told Bob he would have to install a PleurX tube only on his left side, to drain his left lung.  The tube will remain until Bob has no more drainage whatsoever.  Since no one has ventured to speculate why he even has fluid at all, no one has a good theory about how long he will be draining.

On Tuesday, March 13, Bob will be sent to la-la-land via Versed one more time.  An Intervention Radiologist will insert the PleurX tube, instead of Dr. Sowden.  The procedure only takes a few minutes.  Bob will be observed for the rest of the day & then allowed to go home in the evening.  Then, on a schedule determined by Dr. Sowden, a home health nurse will visit Bob & drain the fluid that has collected in a little bag taped to Bob’s side.

Other than this snag, Bob’s recovery is nothing short of miraculous!  He has no pain, not even in his sternum.  He is walking the neighborhood already, which no one should be surprised by.  He continues to have family with him during every day but is now sleeping at home alone, save the 3 furry puppies that worship the ground he walks on.  He has had many, many amazing meals prepared & served, which he is so grateful for.  And many people have sent cards, called & visited to check up on him.  He is profoundly grateful for all of the amazing love & support he has felt from you all throughout this long illness. 

I will update again when we know how the procedure has gone.  Thank you for your continued prayers!

Home At Last!

Well, it FINALLY happened!  Friday evening Bob was released from Parkview!  He had a pacemaker place on Thursday by Dr. Mirro, the very highly regarded & esteemed heart “electrician”.  The procedure went without a hitch & he was back to his least favorite room in the world before he was awake.  The biggest pain he said he had from it was that he couldn’t use his left arm for a while.  Thankfully, the Versed he was given for the procedure helped him to sleep for most of the day.

Prior to putting the pacemaker in, Dr. Sowden “yanked” his chest tubes - all 3 of them.  His chest X-ray showed very little fluid, so he felt comfortable removing the chest tubes.  My dad was SO glad to get rid of those tubes tethered to that little box he had to carry around with him everywhere!

As you know, sleeping had always been a problem while he was hospitalized.  Thursday night wasn’t much different than any other night.  But he awoke Friday morning with the hope that he would soon be free again!  More chest X-rays showed that everything was where it should be (or wasn’t where it shouldn’t be!) & showed that his heart, which had been the size of a football, was back down to the size of a fist!

Friday afternoon he was told the great news of his impending departure.  As always, it took some time to get his discharge paperwork & prescriptions prepared, so he didn’t actually leave until evening.  His sister, Pam Norton & her husband Grant got to chauffeur him.  He wanted real food before heading home, though, so they made a stop at his favorite restaurant - Golden China!  He couldn’t eat all of his food, but what he did eat he thoroughly enjoyed.

Connie spent the night with him last night.  He kind of had the expectation that he would sleep perfectly in his own bed, but he didn’t sleep that well because of the pain from the pacemaker procedure.  Of course, he won’t take anything for pain because of how crazy it makes his head, so he has asked that you pray that God will be gracious to him & allow him to sleep deeply & comfortably tonight & onward.

Now that he’s home, he is much more comfortable & feels a little more himself.  Neighbors, he isn’t up to walking the neighborhood right now, but if you are able, he would love it if you would stop in & get him caught up on the news of Bay Shore Heights!  He is very ready for visits, but requests that they be kept short & sweet so he’s not worn out by them.  He won’t be at church tomorrow, but hopes & prays that he will rebound from his ordeal quickly so that he can rejoin fellowship with his church family.

Your prayers, visits, cards & other forms of encouragement have meant very much to Bob.  He realizes that God has kept him here for His good purpose & he is willing to stay as long as God has work for him to do.  Praise God for all he has done in the past 13 days!  He alone is worthy of praise!

Growing Weary in This Temporary Body

Wow!  What a beautiful day we had today!  We almost hit 70° in Indiana on February 29th!  Everyone hated to tell Bob how beautiful the weather was, considering the fact that he was still a “prisoner” in the hospital.  Unfortunately, it looks like he will be there for another couple of days, too.

This morning he had a chest xray to see if fluid had accumulated in his pleural cavity.  Strangely, not much fluid was there!  Because there wasn’t a significant amount of fluid, Dr. Sowden is still contemplating whether or not to install PleurX drainage tubes.  He plans to have another xray tomorrow morning to see if things have changed & then will make his decision regarding the PleurX drainage tubes.

Overnight, Bob had irregular heart rhythms again, despite the medication Dr. Mirro prescribed in an attempt to control his rhythm.  This morning he strongly recommended that Bob needs to have a pacemaker put in.  Bob really balked at this suggestion, because he didn’t think it was that big of a deal.  In an effort to illustrate to Bob just how serious the situation is, Dr. Mirro had the records of Bob’s heart rhythms for the past few nights brought in.  He showed him in black & white where his heart stopped beating in the middle of the night, every night.  One time his heart completely stopped for 4 seconds!  Seeing those records convinced Bob that he better listen to the counsel of Dr. Mirro.  He signed all of the necessary papers & will be having the pacemaker put in tomorrow afternoon.

It’s a relatively simple procedure that they will perform in a cath lab at the Heart Center.  Bob will be given Versed, which will knock him out - something he looks forward to!  The procedure shouldn’t take much time at all, & recovery from it is relatively short.

Today was a long day for Bob, just sitting in a chair in a small room with an uncomfortable bed & a few chairs.  The only thing that made today bearable was the many visitors who were kind enough to take time out of their day to visit him.  Many people prayed with Bob, which really encouraged him.  His sister Kim Culbertson was with him much of the day & commented several times about the loyal, committed, loving friends that Bob was so fortunate to have. 

The specific prayers I would like to ask you to pray for are:

• For the Holy Spirit to come upon & in Bob in a very powerful, overwhelming way.  Bob has some crucial decisions to make regarding the care of his body.  It is difficult for him to see past his emotions right now to make the best decisions.  He needs God to impress upon him what His best course of action to take regarding the tools that are being offered for the care of his heart.

• That fear & anxiety will be forbidden from influencing Bob in any way at all.  Those demons are attacking Bob when he is weak & causing much confusion for him.  Pray that God’s holy angel army will surround Bob’s room & guard Bob personally from the fiery darts of fear & anxiety that Satan launches against him.

• Pray for Dr. Mirro & Dr. Sowden to have wisdom that comes from God as they care for & advise Bob.  Pray that they will not be swayed from pursuing what they believe is in Bob’s best interest, no matter how stubbornly he grouses about it.  Yes, Bob Anderson can definitely GROUSE!  He can GROUCH, too!  He is very discouraged about his current situation & that discouragement is sometimes clouding his reasoning.  Pray that he will trust God to use his physicians to accomplish His will.

Thank you, all of you who have invested in Bob during this trial, either by visiting, praying, sending a card or just reading this blog.  We, his family, believe that God still has much service for our dad to do, for the glory of our beloved Father & Saviour.  Thank you for believing these truths along with us!

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“For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die & leave this earthly body), we will have a house in Heaven, an eternal body made for us by God Himself & not by human hands.  We grow weary in our present bodies, & we long to put on our Heavenly bodies like new clothing.  For we will put on Heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.  While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan & sigh, but it’s not that we want to die & get rid of these bodies that clothe us.  Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.  God Himself has prepared us for this, & as a guarantee He has given us His Holy Spirit.

We are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord.  For we live by believing & not by seeing.  Yes, we are fully confident, & we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.  But whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please Him.”
2 Corinthians 5:1-9