Idaho Falls - Rosy's accident

I'm sure everyone knows by now, but I'll summarize anyways. Last weekend we went with all the Mitchells to Idaho Falls to see the air show, which was at Dave's client, the IF Airport. Right before we were leaving the hotel, Rosy's fingers got shut in the hinge side of our hotel door. In medical speak, they were "avulsed from below the nail to the tip". (Avulsed means pulled or plucked off.) We rushed her to the ER where God in His grace, brought us a hand surgeon who was very good at hand surgery and kind to Rosy as well.

This is Rosy while we waited for him to come - he was in surgery fixing someone else's hand emergency. After Dr. Wilson sewed her fingers back together. Tired but not in pain, thank God.
A long day - she was incredibly brave through it all.

Today we went for her 1 week dressing change. We had no idea that it would be terrible.

Sorry if this is too gross - does the blurriness help? The bandages were stuck and it was pretty painful to get them off. It caused the middle finger to start bleeding. 2 hours later it had saturated her entire bandage. We went back at noon where Dr. Andy did a digital block and cauterized it. It didn't seem to stop the bleeding, so he wrapped it tightly while he went to consult a surgeon. The surgeon told him to do a tourniquet wrap for 15-20 minutes to see if it would stop. While he was on the phone, I prayed with Dave & Rosy that God would stop the bleeding so we could go home and not on to a hand surgeon. When Dr. Andy unwrapped it to do the tourniquet it had stopped bleeding. Thank you, God for giving the answer we wanted and showing Rosy the power of prayer. Here she is with her new slightly darker pink bandage -- after a nap and some Tylenol and Motrin.

Psalm 12:8

I was doing my daily Bible reading and came across this verse:
"The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men." Wow - I feel like David wrote that today! When such wickedness - homosexuality is what comes to mind - is honored, trivialized, normalized the wicked do truly strut about. I always thought the adults might be exaggerating when they said the world was getting worse and it was a bad time to raise children but I'm actually beginning to feel like that now with my own children.
But I'm grateful to know that our God is the same God whom David loved and it fires up my desire to teach my children to know Him so that they'll be prepared to live for Him in this sinful world.

Emma's Birthday

For Emma's 9th birthday, we took her friends to a dance studio where they were taught some dance and just had a great time.

I don't know if you can see it, but it says Emma down the middle. Another creative cake experience!

Sammy's Birthday

For Sam's 6th birthday we had a Harley party. Our friend, Jay, brought his Harley over and gave the boys (and Emma) a ride down our street. It was pretty fun!

This is about as creative as my cake's get - but Sammy thought it was cool. (I can't get the pictures and words to match so you'll have to figure it out yourself!)

Last Day of School

Here is Emma on her last day of 3rd grade with her teacher, Mrs. Page. I can't believe she's on to 4th grade only 4 weeks from today!





Here is Sammy with his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Emery. Emma had her also and we really enjoyed having her again. My boy is going to 1st grade! (sniff sniff)

Remembering last weekend

It was gloriously sunny and warm! This weekend has been so awful - I don't know when it has rained this much in Boise!
Last Saturday we worked all day outside and then met some friends, the Plantings, at a park for a picnic dinner. We had great fellowship and the kids all enjoyed playing and riding their bikes around the track at the park.

6 Weeks Out

It's been 6 weeks since surgery and Dave is feeling pretty good. He's had a lingering cold that has made for difficult sleeping the 2 weeks, but he hasn't had any headaches during that time.

The kids were especially excited for today because he can finally pick them all up! I'm excited because I get to stop picking them up! :)

We got our first EOB from the insurance company and it looks like we finally have coverage so we're grateful for that too. We've heard that we have the policy that's basically only good if you have brain surgery -- well, we did, so start covering!

Once again, God has been so good to us in all of this - which He still would be if it went poorly, but we're grateful it's gone this way!

Back to Work

After the longest time off of work since Dave started working, he went back today for half of the day. He said it went well although he didn't get much done. :) Then he took a nap for the afternoon and is doing well now.

He had one migraine this weekend and still has headaches but they are less severe. Also, his numbness is still coming and going, but the severity is lessened here as well. So, we're encouraged that he is going in the right direction.

Here's an unrelated silly story: We were trying to tell Rosy about a "wordless book" bracelet and couldn't remember what the blue represented. Sam offered from the back seat, "Let's look it up on God.com."

Feeling Better

Dave has been doing a bit better this week. He's been seeing the chiropractor a lot to help with his sore neck. Because of the angle at which his head was held in the vice during surgery he's had a lot of stiffness and pain in his neck.

He also had a couple acupuncture treatments which usually help with the migraines.

He asked the nurse practitioner at Mayo and she said people who have a history of Migraines before surgery usually have a string of them afterwards, so perhaps that is what this was.

Through all of this God is good and gracious and has provided for our needs! Praise Him!

I think the honeymoon is over

Dave was feeling pretty great really, until Wednesday night of this week. He woke up at midnight with "an ice pick" in his head. I likened it to a knife later and he corrected me. Apparently he is tune with the crucial difference! The next day he was pretty wiped out and his head hurting quite a bit. Then Thursday night it happened again around 5 am. Since then he's been in more discomfort and just feeling worse over all and very fatigued. Strangley, I'm feeling more fatigued as well!

We're thinking perhaps the nerves are all waking up as the swelling is pretty much gone. We've had a couple of meals from friends, so that has been very helpful for me.

Dave also received a gift from the 1st grade daughter of friends of ours. She had drawn pictures and written him a note and included her National Geographic Kids magazine I think for him to read as he rests. It was so sweet and Dave really enjoyed it. Thanks, Sweetie!

A Quick Note

Dave got his staples out yesterday. Two of the nurses got to try out the staple remover for the first time on his head - which didn't feel that great. But, his incision looks much, much better. He has been resting pretty well and is enjoying getting to read some of the books stacked by our bed.

Home Sweet Home

We got home yesterday afternoon at 1:30. We had to get up at 7 to get to the airport so it made for a long stretch of activity for Dave. He went upstairs to his bed and took a 3 hour nap, which felt great. He was still pretty peaked looking last night but had a great night of sleep and looks much better today.

He's been taking it easy today and I think got a little bored today when he came in at 11:20 and said , "I guess I'll have lunch now." I think he's going to have to figure out how to be a patient patient. :)

Here are a couple pictures from our time at the Mall of America:

Bev took the girls to the American Girl Bistro where even the dolls got food. They said they don't discriminate and allowed Rosy's non-American Girl doll to eat with us as well. :) The boys ate at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Here's one of the many "jerk your neck around the corner" rides that we did. I've already been to my chiro twice since we got home!

"I've walked so much my legs are going to have a heart attack"

That, in the words of Rosy, is how I feel tonight! We went to the Mall of America at 10 am and came home on the 8 pm shuttle. Rosy was there all day with no stroller or any assistance. She only staged a couple of sit downs towards the end. We went to the Aquarium, had lunch at the American Girl Bistro (the "men" went to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co), rode rides for 3 hours and then shopped. We are exhausted!

I will mention that the only thing Dave did was lunch. He has been feeling very fatigued and his numbness is very significant. It is his whole arm and hand and the left side of his chest. We're told this is normal, so we're praying it will subside in the next couple of weeks. Dave (as are the rest of us) is very ready to be home!

We leave the hotel on the 8 am shuttle (yuck!) for our 11:30 flight and should arrive in Boise around 1:30. It's a 3 hour flight with a time change. So now I must finish packing and get three very tired kids to bed!! My camera battery died today so I'll post pictures when we get home!

Follow Up Appointment

We went and met with Dr. Lanzino this am. He smiled when he greeted Dave . . .perhaps he feels like he knows you better after he has cut open your head. :)

Everything looks good - Dave has swelling on the right side of his face from the temple down to the chin. They said that the swelling follows the laws of gravity too so it will "slide" down as it is being reabsorbed by his body. His numbness is pretty significant right now, but Dr. Lanzino said that it should be much better in 3 - 4 weeks. He slept almost sitting up last night and seemed to do much better. So he will need to get lots of rest and just allow for the time his body needs to heal this. There is not much likelihood of it happening again -- there are no other malformations in his brain. They know this b/c there have been 7 or 8 MRIs of his brain in the last couple of months! :)

We're all packed up and ready to head to Minneapolis, so now we're just waiting for our shuttle. The Clinic people and really everyone we've encountered have all been very gracious and kind. It is a pretty neat place and really instills confidence that the people who are taking care of you really know what they're doing.

A giant paper cut with staples in it

So that's how Dave described his head this morning. Sounds nice, huh? He has not slept well the last couple of nights -- I'm sure the double bed and not having his pillow are not helping. But his head has started hurting more and he has weird dreams and sensations which I imagine are side effects from the surgery. He stayed "hotel" from church this morning and took a nap and appears a little more rested now. I think once we get home he will be able to get better rest.

Also, for those of you who have had trouble posting and still want to, go ahead and try again. I opened up access to everyone. I think there were some restrictions before. I'm not entirely sure.

A Praise

I know many of you have prayed for Sammy in the last month and even further back. He has smiled more in the last day or two than he has in quite a while and the main difference is his eating. Tonight at Famous Dave's he had ribs, corn on the cob, apples, muffin, brisket and pork! Dave and I asked him if he was happy that the surgery was over and that Dave was doing well and he said yes and was really smiling -- and then got embarassed that he was so happy. :)

So, thanks for praying and Praise God with us! (He just came and told me he's starving and we ate 45 mintues ago!)

The Socks

This is Dave again. All my friends at work will be glad to know that I did get to keep the socks and will even be wearing them home on the airplane to help protect me from blood clots. After that, I won't need them, so you're welcome to them.

A Little Fun

I've had requests for a new picture of Dave's head so here you go. He's feelin pretty good today. He took a Percocet last night but spent the night hallucinating and feeling pretty weird, so he's going to try to stick to Tylenol. His main complaint is the stiffness in his neck and shoulders from the position of intubation and surgery. He's also quite fatigued (of course!) so is pretty much laying low and snoozing whenever he feels like it.

John rented a car and he & I took the kids to the House of Bounce! John was able to see Dave for the first time last night. He is still tired but feeling much better. Bev now appears to have a minor stomach bug so she is staying in their new room for now. We're hoping it will pass quickly and praying it does not move on to anyone else!

I'm Back...

This is Dave, and I just wanted to post a quick message and thank all of you for your prayers and support through all of this. I am completely blown away by all of the comments you all have posted. I'm not ashamed to admit that your love for me and my family brought tears to my eyes when I read your comments today.

I am also blown away by God's goodness through the surgery and recovery. As Mel has posted, the surgery was completely successful and my recovery has been much easier than I expected. I find it hard to believe that I was taking only Tylenol the day after brain surgery and I'm out of the hospital the day after that! Thankfulness only begins to describe how I feel.

As I said, the pain has been minimal after the first day. I do have more numbness in my left side than I had before the surgery, but that's normal, due to irritation. He said it should settle down in 3-4 weeks. I am tired and feel a little dizzy or light-headed at times, but nothing too serious. Pretty amazing.

I'd also like to thank my wife for doing such a great job blogging all of this. And, of course, for being the best wife ever in a very difficult time. We both felt a profound sense of relief yesterday, knowing that the surgery was over, successful and things are going so well.

Thanks again, all of you, for your prayers, support and love for us.

He's Hotel!

I would say he's home, but we're not. :) He walked across the street from the hospital to the hotel a few minutes ago.

Dave's dad got a separate room and we had a deep clean done this am so we shouldn't need to worry about germs from his flu. He is feeling better, but he wanted to wait until tomorrow to see Dave to be careful.

Now we'll hunker down and let Dave rest and heal. His incision is beautiful according to one of the drs. who looked at it. He'll see the dr. before we go, but until then we're just here. If you're still praying, I'd love some prayer for me to have patience with the kids who are all feeling a little cooped up already. We're hoping to do an excursion tomorrow!

Tired today

Dave woke up feeling pretty good and had a good night's rest. We came over to take him for an outing, but he was felling light headed and dizzy. So the kids watched a movie while he took a nap. They're really liking the movies on demand feature here at the hospital.

I took the kids for a walk to the chapel which is an exquisite facility. This is a Catholic hospital at its origins - started by a group of Franciscan nuns. The chapel seats 400 and they have Mass every day.

Dave is having a visitor - a man who is related to friend's of Dave's Aunt Barbara, I think. We may try to take him for a wheelchair ride later. The plan is to leave the hospital by 5 pm today. Dave is really tired but he said he can be tired at the hotel just as well as here. :)

The kids are getting a little squirrelly here so it'll be good to go. Oh dear, Rosy is telling the people in the waiting room that she does ballet and is dancing for them. This has happened several times already - luckily everyone is willing to watch her!

On the neuro floor!

Dave had a pretty good night aside from waking up every couple of hours - which I think is what hospital sleeping is all about. This morning at 7 he was able to sit in a chair for a couple of hours. Then he enjoyed the breakfast of champions -- lemon jello and grape juice. (They call it the chef's specialty.)

They were able to remove his monitors and the arterial IV as well as the catheter. Praise God! He is now on the neuro floor and has taken 2 short walks. He's only been on Tylenol so far today. He does still have his other 2 IVs in but they're not using them right now.

The Dr. came by this morning to see him and thought he was doing great. He did say that today would probably be more painful as the anesthesia completely wears off and his nerves start to wake up. Also, the Dr.'s nurse practitioner who we've talked to quite a bit came to see Dave this morning and we found out that she is a Christian. We had thought she might be but it's fun to know.

The kids have taken over his bed to watch VeggieTales and he is sitting in a chair and looking pretty good. He has 24 staples in his head and there are cuts in his head from the vice used in surgery to hold his head still.

Pray also for John Mitchell - he came down with the flu yesterday morning and has been in bed ever since. I think he must surely be feeling badly that he can't come see Dave. We've quarantined him so that we can minimize exposure to ourselves but especially to Dave. He did say that he was feeling better this morning so hopefully he's almost over it.

Pictures from today

Fun in the pool last night.

Prepped for surgery In his ICU room resting.

Resting

I just spent a couple of hours with Dave. He's been sleeping a lot- the pain meds make him sleepy. He's going to try to eat some broth in a bit.
Dr. Lanzino stopped in and said that everything went well. The malformation was about 1 inch and he believes he got it all. If all goes well tonight, they will move Dave to the general neuro floor tomorrow. As for me, I can look at Dave's head and stay standing now and I'm 16 chapters into my second book!

Light headed and dizzy

Sadly, I'm referring to myself! I went to see Dave and thought he looked great until I saw the long line of staples on the side of his head. I saw it as a great opportunity for Bev to go in and see him! All I could think of was the monster played by Robert de Niro in Frankenstein! But, it does NOT look that bad.

Emma & Sam weren't quite ready to see him, so I took Rosy in to say hi. She brought hugs out for the other two kids from him. She told Sam, "Daddy's really sick, and he's really had surgery, and he's really sleepy, ok?" She tried to deliver the hug to Sam but Sam balked a little due to the presence of so many other people in the waiting room. :)

Anyways, he spent less time in recovery than they anticipated and is doing great but very nauseated. So they gave him meds for that and he went to sleep and we're going to take the kids back to the hotel for their naps.

It's so great to know you are all praying for us and I will let him know about all of your comments as well. I'll post pictures later.

Waiting again . . to see Dave

He's been in recovery since 11:24. The Dr. called me and said everything went well and as planned. Praise God!
We are now in the family waiting room outside neuro ICU. I will go see him and then we'll see if the kids can or not.
We're quite a troop going to down the hallways-- each of the kids and I have rolling backpacks full of amusements. Most people here are friendly and smile at us.
I'll post again after I see him. Thanks again for your love and prayers.

Progress

The nurse came out a few minutes ago and told me that they are beginning to close. They are finished with the work inside and there weren't any surprises that she knew of. It will still be a while before they're finished and he's in recovery, but it sounds like it has gone well so far.

Thanks for praying - I can feel it!

Waiting

We slept the sleep of one who is just waiting to wake up. At 5:30 we joined probably 50 people in line for the first round of surgeries for the day. They took Dave back at 7. This is all very surreal for us b/c he doesn't seem sick and yet he's having surgery that is pretty serious. Crazy. God is good.

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth (and Dave). He will not let my foot be moved; he who keeps us will not slumber.

Showtime 5:30 am

Just confirming that we are a go for show time at 5:30 am and surgery to start at 8 am.

One thing to praise Him for: Dr. Lanzino just got back from vacation - today was his first day back so he is fresh and rested for tomorrow!

Rosy and Rodin

Mayo has a reputation for being involved in the arts and there are many examples around of this involvement. In one atrium we stopped to enjoy a piano, clarinet and cello trio that was playing some beautiful classical music. In that atrium is also a 7 foot tall Rodin statue of a naked down trodden man. Well, as we enjoyed the music we noticed Rosy was not with us anymore. I turned and to my dismay (althought I was laughing) I saw her standing in front of the man seeing what "it" felt like! The man behind her was having a good chuckle and pointed out that it was right at her height! (I'm sorry, I did not get a picture of this as I was quickly ushering Rosy away.) :)

Here are a couple pictures of our suite and time today.

Surgery Update

Dave had his pre-op today and he was cleared for surgery. Then we all met with Dr. Lanzino who was nice and didn't rush. Dave's MRI was scheduled for tomorrow at 11:30 but the Dr. told them to make it this afternoon b/c he wants to do the surgery first thing tomorrow (8am). Showtime is 5:30 am as far as I know now.

If the blood spot is smaller they won't do surgery. But we don't think that's likely b/c Dave's symptoms are a little worse than before.

We are all going to wear RED tomorrow. When my grandpa had his brain surgery several years ago we all wore red. My brother Mark had a friend who is Asian and they consider it to be the color of life. But more than that, I thought we would wear red as a physical reminder to be praying for Dave and the surgeon and all that tomorrow holds. So, if you'd like to join us you can wear red tomorrow too.

We're Here!

Our flight was smooth and the kids did great! Then we hopped on our shuttle and rode an hour and a half or so to the hotel. It was a long day and everyone is now asleep. Dave & I will go to his first appt at 8:25 and John & Bev are going to bring the kids around 10 to meet the dr.

Thanks so much for your prayers and love. God is good!

Departure Details

I'm sure this is too much info, but we leave Boise (with John & Bev Mitchell, Dave's parents) around 2 pm on Sunday.
Dave has appointments on Monday and then surgery Tuesday. I don't know the time yet.
In Minneapolis, it's a high of 6 today so that should be fun!

In answer to Alisa's question, we are taking the kids. Dave didn't want to go into brain surgery without having his kids there. We just all weren't up for 10 days apart. We're grateful that John & Bev are able to help us! We're all staying in a 2 bedroom hotel suite with a little living room and kitchenette so hopefully we'll be able to do some of our meals there.

The Blog's Purpose

I'm going to try this as a way to update our friends and family on Dave's surgery and recovery. I've never done a blog before so we'll see how it works.