Grandpa's surgeon just came out of surgery and said that Grandpa came through with flying colors - they did not have to crack open his chest!! YEA!!!! Said the mass (we'll find out in a day or two if it is cancerous) was in his neck and a softball sized lump in his chest that had pushed his heart & lungs off to the right-hand side. But they were able to pull it all through the incision on his neck. Hopefully this will help his errartic heartbeat and troubled breathing. His surgeon said that if it wasn't for his heart he would release Grandpa tomorrow but wants to leave that up to the cardiologist.
Praise the Lord and the power of prayer (and good doctros)!!!!!! Thanks for all your prayers and good thoughts. He 'ain't out of the woods' yet but hopefully well on his way to the meadow. :-) Keep on praying!!!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Feb 11 - Grandpa Report
The cardiologist couldn't get the scope down Grandpa's throat. It was too contricted due to the mass. They wanted to take a look behind his heart before they did the 'heart shock' in order to make sure there weren't any blood clots. But since they couldn't scope it, they decided to just not do the heart shock. However, they are still planning on doing the surgery to remove the mass.
The anetheisiologist came in to talk to Grandpa and she is a bit concerned about the constriction - his esophagus & trachea is pushed off to the right side, it looks like THAT lump is the tumor but the mass is actually on the left side of his neck. She indicated that they might even have to do the (I have no idea how to spell this & I'm too lazy to look it up - sorry) tracheotomy if they can't intubate him tomorrow.
We are all praying his heart rate slows with whatever medication the docs gave him and that this all goes well. Hopefully, they will be able to remove the mass without having to crack his breastbone. That sure would make his recovery faster.
Please keep praying for him.
The anetheisiologist came in to talk to Grandpa and she is a bit concerned about the constriction - his esophagus & trachea is pushed off to the right side, it looks like THAT lump is the tumor but the mass is actually on the left side of his neck. She indicated that they might even have to do the (I have no idea how to spell this & I'm too lazy to look it up - sorry) tracheotomy if they can't intubate him tomorrow.
We are all praying his heart rate slows with whatever medication the docs gave him and that this all goes well. Hopefully, they will be able to remove the mass without having to crack his breastbone. That sure would make his recovery faster.
Please keep praying for him.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Feb 9 - Grandparent Update
First (as I've gotten questions), I didn't contact WMR today to check on Pressie - I'll give them a call tomorrow to see if she was adopted and if not, to let them know we won't be able to pick her up for fostering for a while.
Now for the grandparents....
Grandpa was sent to Covenant Hospital in Lubbock, TX this morning for more testing on the mass they found in his neck & chest cavity. The doctors were hoping to do an biopsy of the mass, which is pushing his esophagus & trachea off to one side and pushing down on his lungs & heart; however, due to his age (he'll be 92 in August) they are hesitant to do the biopsy. One of the radiologists that read his CAT scan thought it was a goiter, while the another thought it was something worse (as in cancer). His heart is also beating WAY to fast (it was 125 bpm when he headed to Lubbock) and they cannot get it to slow down, he also has a low white blood count. So things aren't looking great. We'll know more tomorrow as they have a few tests they can run on the mass instead of the biopsy. He will also be looked over by a cardiologist since the Portales, NM docs think he suffers from congestive heart failure (CHF) and/or something called A-Fib (I guess is how you'd spell it), where his upper heart beats really irregular and doesn't allow the blood to flow properly.
Grandma (she's 87) isn't faring much better - she suffers from diabetes and has for years, her legs have been swelling and last weekend one actually split and leaked fluid for about 18 hours (of course you couldn't get her to the emergency room at all). A few years ago she had to have a pacemaker which has helped a lot but recently she has been short of breath; today she went to her heart doctor today and he said that she too suffers from CHF & A-Fib and that is a large contribution to her fluid retention. This doc put her on oxygen full-time and wants to see her back in 5 weeks unless her leg bursts again... then she has to go to the emergency room immediately. She went on to Lubbock to be with Grandpa, the doctor that put in her pacemaker is also Grandpa's cardiologist now so he will check them both out while they are there.
We should know more in the next couple of days, I guess. My parents were going to pull their 5th wheel to Lubbock for Grandpa's hospital stay but the doc there said not to just yet, as there may not be anything they can do and will just send him home in a day or so. We are hoping the mass is just a goiter that can be treated in Clovis with radiation. But my family, being my family... we worry that it's going to be the worse option.
Please keep them both in your thoughts and prayers, they certainly need it.
Now for the grandparents....
Grandpa was sent to Covenant Hospital in Lubbock, TX this morning for more testing on the mass they found in his neck & chest cavity. The doctors were hoping to do an biopsy of the mass, which is pushing his esophagus & trachea off to one side and pushing down on his lungs & heart; however, due to his age (he'll be 92 in August) they are hesitant to do the biopsy. One of the radiologists that read his CAT scan thought it was a goiter, while the another thought it was something worse (as in cancer). His heart is also beating WAY to fast (it was 125 bpm when he headed to Lubbock) and they cannot get it to slow down, he also has a low white blood count. So things aren't looking great. We'll know more tomorrow as they have a few tests they can run on the mass instead of the biopsy. He will also be looked over by a cardiologist since the Portales, NM docs think he suffers from congestive heart failure (CHF) and/or something called A-Fib (I guess is how you'd spell it), where his upper heart beats really irregular and doesn't allow the blood to flow properly.
Grandma (she's 87) isn't faring much better - she suffers from diabetes and has for years, her legs have been swelling and last weekend one actually split and leaked fluid for about 18 hours (of course you couldn't get her to the emergency room at all). A few years ago she had to have a pacemaker which has helped a lot but recently she has been short of breath; today she went to her heart doctor today and he said that she too suffers from CHF & A-Fib and that is a large contribution to her fluid retention. This doc put her on oxygen full-time and wants to see her back in 5 weeks unless her leg bursts again... then she has to go to the emergency room immediately. She went on to Lubbock to be with Grandpa, the doctor that put in her pacemaker is also Grandpa's cardiologist now so he will check them both out while they are there.
We should know more in the next couple of days, I guess. My parents were going to pull their 5th wheel to Lubbock for Grandpa's hospital stay but the doc there said not to just yet, as there may not be anything they can do and will just send him home in a day or so. We are hoping the mass is just a goiter that can be treated in Clovis with radiation. But my family, being my family... we worry that it's going to be the worse option.
Please keep them both in your thoughts and prayers, they certainly need it.
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