Wednesday, July 29, 2009

We are back!

I feel so bad for neglecting this blog, but things have been a little out of hand for a while. As you might remember we went to Pittsburgh for hubby's valve repair on Thursday. They did a Cath to make sure his blood vessels were okay and well, they weren't! They found  5 vessels that were occluded, including the left main at 50% (they call that one the widowmaker, because a heart attack from that vessel is usually fatal). There was another one totally closed but had built collateral. anyway, the whole thing was a total shock for both of us and of course they were going to take care of it all the next day. Just the preparations were scary, the showering with special soap and shaving. It's like getting the cattle ready for slaughter! I was allowed to follow him downstairs into the preop room and leaving him there was the scariest thing ever. I was wondering whether I would ever seem him again. That was around 11 in the morning and aside from two little updates during the day I did not hear anything. I was told he would be done at around 4 - 4.30 and by 5.30 I was getting nervous. I called the CCU but he had not arrived yet. I called again around 6 and they told me he was on his way up. Long story short I was finally able to see him at 7PM. Poor guy, it was so sad looking, he was still intubated and tied down and he was trying to lift his hands all the time, blinking his eyes. I will spare you all the awful details. He had a lot of pain for a few days, but little by little they removed all the tubes and made him walk around and do breathing exercises with the spirometer. We finally came home on Thursday and he is really doing great! He isn't allowed to drive, but he is walking around, we have been to the Mall (just for a short walk), his appetite is great and he looks wonderful! Thank Heavens all went well and the blockage was found before any damage would have been done! so the valve trouble was truly a blessing in disguise.

Needless to say the first few days I didn't get much scrapping done, I just sat next to his bed and helped him with everything. I did one page in the CCU waiting room

2009-7-17-DD-Solitude

I felt pretty alone that day, just me and my laptop :)

2009-7-21-DD-Carefree 2009-7-21-DD-Christmas-window 2009-7-22-DD-bUG 2009-7-22-DD-Son 2009-7-24-DD-He-says-she-says 2009-7-26-DD-Sweetie 2009-7-27-DD-Rachel-tut

these are all at Designer Digitals. That last one is from a tutorial by Cassie Jones. She is pretty amazing. It was a lot of work, but gives a fun effect I think.

2009-7-29-PC-RachelMask

I just did this one for PixelCanvas. Those masks can be ordered for any name. I thought I might make one of  these pages for each of my kids and have them done on Canvas for their rooms. ArsCow.com has a special going on right now for 9.99 a canvas (8x8) which includes shipping. I think that's a pretty decent price.

Now to get back into the swing of things. I seem to be running around a lot lately, especially since he can't drive. It's going to be worse once he starts wanting to go and make rounds or something. I'll be taking him around too then. Yikes! I am just so glad he is doing so well though, so I won't complain.

It's good to be home again!!!

9 comments:

Terry said...

glad you are back Anke and that Phil is doing so good. Hang in there lady!!

Joanie said...

O My Anke! What an ordeal! I am so glad that things have turned out ok.
I love your solitude page. Very nice work for a stressful day.

Carol said...

Anke my heart went out to you reading the post. Sometimes I wonder if it harder being the person in waiting room and not the one in the operating room.
Glad to hear things are improving and Phil on his way to recovery. big hugs to all your family.

latz said...

Praise to God for figuring out and having doctors available to deal with his medical problem. So glad he is on the mend. Remember that tough times require our dependence on Him in order to bring us closer.

Jeanne said...

What a truly scary time for you both. I'm so happy and relieved that they found the blockages and were able to fix the whole thing. I'm hoping now it's just a matter of time and recovery for him to be back to 100%.

I cannot believe how many pages you were able to create during this difficult time. It truly must be therapeutic for you. Love all the layouts, especially the one about your differences.

Please keep us posted on his recovery! big hugs to you, too for managing to muddle through this difficult period.

Heather said...

What great news to have for the weekend, Anke! So happy.

Anonymous said...

I am so happy to hear your husband has come through the operation. Wishing him a speedy recovery! Your art is gorgeous as per normal! Take care of yourself Anke.

((HUGS))

see me said...

All the way through that ordeal I hoped you had someone with you and you didn't! How frightening and difficult.
Good to hear great things came out of it- a return to good health and some LOs.
Take care of both you and Phil.

Unknown said...

Oh my! I am sorry I haven't been back to check up on you. I am glad everything went well sweetheart.

Your LOs are simply amazing.

Never say Never!

Well, here I am creating my very own blog! I was always very sure I would never get into this blogging "thing", but here I am. I hope you will enjoy finding out a little about my not so interesting life!