June 2, 2012
The last couple of weeks have been pretty much routine. It
takes Randy a lot longer to get ready in the morning because we have so many
things to do. There is weighing and testing and attaching to batteries. Then he
washes up but doesn't get to take a shower yet.
We eat breakfast and I clean the kitchen. Then it seems I
cook lunch and clean the kitchen. Then comes dinner and I clean the kitchen. We
had become so used to using prepared foods such as John Soules Chicken and
Beef. They are tasty and easy and I could throw together salad and fajitas or
whatever. Now we have to watch every bit of sodium and one reason the beef and
chicken were so tasty is because it was chock full of salt (sodium). I have come to the decision that I need to
cook a bunch of meat on one day and freeze it. Then I can just take out what I
need for a meal.
We have been to the
movies and been to the store. Everywhere we go we have to take his backup
controller and batteries. We can’t take
a chance that we will lose power and the pump will stop. It is a given that it
would kill him. Other people have survived without their pump for about 24
hours. Hopefully the pump will make his heart stronger.
It’s been uneventful as far as alarms since the first night.
Randy started changing from batteries to the plug like he has to do when he is
going to be sleeping. As soon as he plugged in the first battery an alarm
started going off. He went ahead and changed the other battery.
June 29, 2012
We had a checkup today. It’s been almost 2 months since
Randy received his heart pump. Two weeks after he was released he was back in
the hospital with a terrible rash. Evidently he had a reaction to Lasix and was
receiving such massive doses that it just exploded all over his body. He still
has some rash but not near as bad. His feet have dried out so much that he has
cracks in his skin. I put lotion and Aquaphor on it but it just isn’t enough.
We go back to the dermatologist on Monday so hopefully they will have a
solution.
One thing I brought up at our appointment is the
forgetfulness Randy seems to have. I’m not talking about the stuff he always
forgets like putting up his dishes but simple stuff that should be almost as
familiar as breathing. Julius, our nurse-practitioner, was glad we mentioned
it. The doctors had a meeting this week that included this discussion. The
point was whether or not there needed to be a counselor involved in the process
to talk about changes. I wholly encourage it as I had been dealing with
feelings of guilt because I expected Randy to have total mental faculty.
He still didn’t get his shower bag yet. That will come in August
so I guess we just keep faking it.
June 30, 2012
Randy is out with Zanda right now. It’s nice to have a
break. We do have company coming and he has gone grocery shopping and, 2012to do a
few other errands.
December 28, 2014
It's been way too long since I have updated this blog but I'm going back to May of 2014 to start the end of this story. I had knee replacement surgery on May 15 and it took me tooks weeks to recuperate and rehabilitate. It still took a long time to get moving. Randy had to go through a time of changing his own dressing. Visiting me at the hospital he was exposed to a lot of germs and unfortunately contracted MSSA. In mid July he started on IV infusion through a PICC line. A week later he performed the wedding of our son & his wife, Jeremy & Patricia Weidler. I made him a custom vest so his equipment wouldn't be so bulky.
In August he was allowed to go off the infuser and just use the gravity drip that took 30 minutes a day. This went on until he got the call for the transplant but that comes later. On October 6 I noticed something unusual about his driveline wound. I took a picture of it. The problem was that the dye that marked where the driveline should exit his abdomen was somehow not visible. I pushed on his abdomen and I could see it but I wasn't about to pull on it.
Each time I changed his dressing over the next two weeks the gauze was very saturated with bloody issue and pussy discharge. I continued to take pictures and notified the clinic. I was told this could be a bad or good. Throughout this process they continued to do sonograms of his abdomen to track the infection or possibility of fluid.
On October 15 we buried my mom and three days later Randy got the call that there was a heart available. We hurriedly prepared ourselves and started letting the family know. We arrived at the hospital about 9:30 and began the processes of testing blood, urine, and whatever else they could get to.
At 4:00 they took him down to the the OR and the family gathered in the large waiting room. The actual surgery began about 7:30. There was another woman whose husband was getting a double lung transplant from the same donor. Randy's surgery went on until about 3:00 in the morning. We all headed home for sleep since we wouldn't be able to see Randy for another hour or so and he wouldn't know we were there.
The next day began the routine of going in and washing, masking, and gloving. They slowly took Randy off of the anesthesia and blood pressure meds but his pressure would drop frequently. His was put on Nitrox and then they finally put him on dialysis because the fluid was not coming off of his body.
After 2 weeks Randy finally woke up but of course could not talk because of the ventilator. He did communicate with his eyes which for a time were bright and responsive. When the doctor came in to replace the PICC line with an A Line he injected Randy with a local for pain. The doctor said Randy turned and looked at him which was the main reaction to pain that Randy had. Every once in a while he would squint his eyes like he was in pain but for the most part he seemed okay.
One of the medications they gave him to keep his blood pressure up caused some damage to his hands. This was very hard for me to deal with and I knew that eventually they would be amputated. I was told they would just fall off by themselves. His big toes had fungal infections and began oozing. They were also darkened and damaged from the medication.
On Friday, November 7, Randy finally moved his feet. We rejoiced and saw this as a very good sign. The next morning I received a call that I should come to the hospital as he was failing. I couldn't believe it at this point but began calling people as I got to the hospital as quickly as I could. Randy was still conscious and could only communicate with his eyes but they just weren't as bright.
The family gathered and took turns going in and out. We weren't saying goodbye to him because it didn't seem right when he couldn't say it back. I kept telling him I loved him. About 6:30 we began to sing hymns but couldn't remember or think of the words. My precious niece came in and got us started. About 7:30 he closed his eyes for the last time but we continued to sing and pray until about 8:00. We began to disperse from his room and I told the doctors it was okay to turn the machine off.
They had to wait for a particular doctor to pronounce him dead and that was quite early in the morning. We had all gone home by then. The next day we would begin preparations for his service.
Saturday morning we began to send the word out to family and church. We made decisions for cremation and documented stories to share with the pastor. The were the home stories including that I had proposed to Randy. Very few people actually knew that.
We contacted those that we wanted to be a part of the service, for those that would pray and those others that would tell stories about him. We decided on songs to sing to bring glory to God.
Our pastor later told me that this was the largest memorial service he could remember. For weeks I have been told what an impact the service made on those that were there. I didn't realize how full the auditorium was and how many didn't wait to talk to me. I thank God for the love and mercy he showed me that day and continues to show me each day since Randy went home.
If you would like to come join us for services one Sunday we meet at 9919 McCree Road, Dallas, TX 75238. Hope to see you soon.
