Update to the update

Not to be!! Melissa was discharged today without Josiah. He needs to be monitored a little longer and Melissa and Robert will be doing some driving across the city to go visit and keep him fed. He is in good hands and there's not much else to be done in this situation. We are all disappointed not to get the newest family picture, but that is of secondary consideration to getting him strong and ready for his life at home. Keep the family in your prayers as everyone works on having patience once again. Love from Maxine

Josiah Update

Monica has the pics on her blog but I thought I would do the update. The results are back from Josiah's test on his lungs and there is no sign of infection. The doctor will do rounds in NICU this morning and will probably let baby move to Mom's room. Her doctor's wish is for Melissa to spend one more night in hospital with the baby in her room and they will probably come home tomorrow. A great way to start 2oo7. He s sure a sweet little guy and we look forward to getting to know him much better!! Happy new!! year.

Family!

 
 
 
  

Happy holidays!

We had a wonderful Christmas together in Saskatoon! (I have been playing the odds game to get on the blogger ever since. I will post pictures if it will work twice in a row.) Still no baby news to tell you. "A watched kettle never boils" ...so Melissa sent us home hoping that we'll get a call from her to head back up to Sasktoon. We decided to come home on boxing day to be here for Ruby's birthday party and renew Stans licencses for vehicles. Then, we're off to Saskatoon again to bring in the new year with the kids and put Stephen on his plane back to Oklahoma on Jan 1st. Stan celebrates his birthday tomorrow! His new grandbaby would be a great present, but we're resigned to the fact that baby is comfy at the moment and not in a hurry after all. We sure had fun with our little Linaya. What a joy. One little smile melts your heart. I guess that is how it is meant to be. Stephen enjoyed getting aquainted and has a personal involvement with Melissa's baby, too, because he has been busy painting friendly bugs on the nursery wall! I'll show you pics of Stephen's arrival but probably not of his departure. It is always sad to send him off but the good news is that he loves what he does and is very good at keeping in touch. Happy new year!!!

YES!

It is finally Dec. 19th. It is the day we head to Saskatoon to meet Stephen at the plane and to have our family all together. I am soooo excited. I have become like my mother! The entry way is full of baking and food to head north. Monica is planning on Christmas dinner at her house, but I can help out a little, right??? I used to tease my Mom that we had our own water. She used to bring everything from the turkey to the vegetables!! (I'm not quite that bad, am I??) The next entry may be from Saskatoon. Happy holidays to you, too! Love from Stan and Maxine :-)

Visit with Aunt Vi !

Well, yesterday we decided to go back to Regina General to find Auntie Vi who has finally moved back out of intensive care. Uncle Bill and Donna were so encouraged that she has finally made a leap in progress. We found her smiling, able to eat a little "real" food like meat and potatoes and actually enjoying it. She is sitting up for periods of time but definitly not ready for walk down the halls. They haven't been told if she will be transfered back to hospital in Weyburn or sent home to family's care. Let's continue to pray for her progress. She has been through some pretty serious valleys. She told me to come home and tell everyone how she is doing and I promised her that I would indeed brag on her progress!!! :-)

Beautiful weather!

This is quite a change from last week. Stan has been out cleaning off the combine from harvest and the quanset (large storage shed) is now empty of the grain stored there and refilled with machinery put away for the winter. He also has been busy on the phone marketing our chick peas, ordering the right seed for next spring and arranging for nitogen etc. to be hauled in to the bins that grain has been leaving. Sometime it reminds me of the circus act where you try to get all the plates spinning at once. I have finished off the next baby quilt, worked on some Christmas mail and now need to get some baking done. All that time in the city and you would think I had been doing Christmas shopping! Not yet, oh well... We have been to community activities of suppers, concerts and to night is the hospital fundraiser. I think it is good for satisfied customers to be there!! Our medical system was very good to us this year. Stan continues to heal and get stronger. Those bandages just get smaller and smaller :-)
The news on Auntie Vi is that she is out of ICU and in post op. The ward is also under lockdown because of Norwalk virus and her family has gone home to Weyburn to rest until the hours are up.
SATURAY NIGHT UPDATE: Aunt Vi has been moved back into Cardiac Care Unit and her family has returned. There have been some setbacks.
It's getting closer to Dec. 19th! Closer to Stephen coming home and our family together. That make us smile!! Love from Stan and Maxine

Vi Bell continues to be in need of your prayers!

By this evening I was really hoping to tell you that Aunt Vi was out of ICU and much better. I just received word from Eva that she is still there and doctors and family are puzzled by the slow progress. She has been seriously ill since the surgery but did escape kidney dialysis. Her mind is clear most of the time but she is very weak. Eva said "All in all a difficult time as we wait and pray. Thank you to each of you who is waiting and praying with us. It is very encouraging to know that you are there and occasionally to hear from you as well. Love to all, Eva"

Eva King's email is evamking@hotmail.com

Prayer request

 

Please take a moment and pray for two people very dear to us. They are Stan's Uncle Bill and Aunt Vi Bell from Weyburn, Sask. Auntie Vi had a heart valve replaced this past week and had started out well and then some setbacks. She is in Regina General Intensive Care Unit in the bed that Stan had held down for a month. Please pray for her healing and for Uncle Bill as he has had his own health concerns and the stress can't be good for him. I will post an update when I have heard from their family. 
9:30am update: I just talked to Eva and Auntie Vi has been having blood pressure problems this morning and will remain in Intensive Care at least until tomorrow as they want to continue to minitor her. General trend is towards a positive direction.

Name change: "Grandpa's Gym"!

 
 

Well, this pretty much describes the activities in our gym. We're busy..or we're not! It is a nice way to spend and evening together. Stan works the hardest. I use the treadmill while he moves on to other things. 

"On the wings of an eagle we will rise"

I just listened to my ipod as I did some odd jobs and was reminded of one song that I took as our theme song over the last months and I must have played it, hummed it, sang it and cranked it louder as I walked and was completely encouraged by it! I will give you a web site and hopefully you can hear it too.
http://signpostmusic.com/bell/vidband.htm

I did a search for Steve Bell, Wings of an Eagle and found this video clip and printable lyrics. I hope it works for you. Roy had put songs on the ipod for me and I found it the first time as I sat in Smittys one morning having breakfast by myself while Stan was still in ICU. There is such comfort and peace in God's Word. Love, Maxine

Back to the "banana belt"

Well, we just got back from Saskatoon and they are working on their snow removal budget already. They have been plowing their streets and it really looks like winter. It wasn't many miles south before we are back to our bare fields and 8 degrees. We have got moved home for sure now. We will be going back to Saskatoon in a month to check in with a Dr. but all physio appointments are now transfered here as well as being able to pick up bandages etc. We are very pleased. I look forward more relaxing visits to the city. We will travel without our list of appointments and be back to a little shopping and a lot of visiting. Stephen flies home on Dec. 19th and back to Oklahoma on Jan 1st. Melissa may or may not have her baby before Christmas so our holiday plans are somewhat flexible at the time. As long as we are all together, we don't worry about where. It will be a wonderful Christmas.
Take care and God bless. Stan and Maxine :-)

After lunch nap with Grandpa

  

This was Linaya's first trip to Grandpa and Grandma's farm and the first time we have seen so many smiles fom her. She seems to turn on bright ones for Stan! We had a wonderful weekend with Monica,Roy and Linaya and Melissa and Robert all home with us. The guys were great at helping us catch up on a few odd jobs that hadn't been completed since July. I even had Roy carrying 20 bags of water softener salt into the basement before he left! All the exercise equipment is now in the rec room in the basement and I have good intentions of spending an hour with Stan taking my turn on some of these contraptions. I would be a wimp by Spring if I don't get busy and keep up with him. We go back to Saskatoon for a Friday appointment but have managed to be home for two weeks. More grain was trucked out this week and the fall work continues. We're doing well. Talk soon. Stan and Maxine :-)

Little farmerette!!

  

Back to the "almost" ordinary

I am reminded often how our life suddenly became connected to so many others. We are constantly meeting up with people who act so excited to see Stan and congratulate him on his success of beating this illness. Some act almost embarassed to admit they have been following our progress for months as silent bystanders. It strikes me that I am suddenly very selfconscious of writing as I never know where my words end up. I am reminded of a story my Dad used to tell about shaking out a pillow into the wind and then being told to go gather back all the feathers. Collecting back your words is just as ineffective! We have been comforted by your presence, your concern and your continued prayers. Stan goes out and about working at various odd jobs necessary for sending off the grain in semi-trailors and putting things away for winter. I work on baby projects and am back to housework and shopping etc. Ordinary is nice. Stan is very motivated to get back in shape and does well at doing exercises even when he comes in tired. He continues to improve and looks stronger daily.
Love from Stan and Maxine

One month old already!

 

We are just back from Saskatoon again and this time we will stay put for two weeks! The family will be coming here the November 11th weekend to hear John Clayton do his session on "Does God Exist". We have made great strides in Saskatoon and it is time to get moved to our own doctor and life back at home. We will make fewer trips for medical reasons and Stan will NOT miss all the appointments. We WILL miss seeing our little Linaya change week by week and watching Melissa grow the next one! but we're in no danger of losing touch. Please pray for Melissa and Robert as they await their baby too. Talk soon! Stan and Maxine

Hello from the farm!

Hi there.
Well, we just got back from our Saskatoon run and Stan was able to see the new physical therapist yesterday. She has had a lot of experience with shoulder mobilty and also with skin grafts! That is interesting because up until now, Stan hasn't been told anything about improving the quality of the skin graft site with stretching excersises and massage. We have another appointment next week. This appointment was basically assessment and adding a few new exercises to the existing list. We will need to decide if we can work it out to see her only once a month and Stan just do a great job of strength training on his own in between. With family and especially with new babies in Saskatoon, once a month sounds like a reasonable plan to me! There may be a possibilty after a few months of checking in with a physio closer to home but for now, they need us to keep on the city files incase we need follow up appointments with specialists in Saskatoon.

Stan is out working some sloughs with the disker and I smell of smoke from a few hours of clearing off my garden. Life seems to be returning to normal on the Bell farm.
Love, Stan and Maxine :-)

The "Friday Report"

Well, I think as our life becomes more normal, we have become boring and the blog may have served it's purpose. This finds us back at home until NEXT Friday's appointment with the new orthopedic pyhsical therapist at University Hospital. Stan will have blood work done at our home hospital on occasion and have various appointments as follow up over the next several months. The great news is that we are now at "home base" with weekly trips for an unknown length of time until we can get set up with physical therapy nearby as well. For now, we will enjoy checking in on our family and new granddaughter in Saskatoon. Melissa and Robert's baby is due the end of December and we will be making trips to Saskatoon for that reason, too! Life is good, we are happy with all the good things happening lately. If you are missing us, feel free to contact us personally by email and we'll give you an update. Reach us at maxineandstan@gmail.com I will post from time to time but probably not on a regular basis. Thanks for your ongoing encouragement and anniversary wishes, too!! You have been very appreciated!!! Love, Stan and Maxine :-)

Home was good :-)

We're back in Saskatoon for a couple of days after 5 nights at home! Stan was glad to be back doing some farm work and is inspired to keep getting toughened up so he can go home and have the stamina to do more.
We were back into S'toon by 11:30 am for day surgery to have the permcath removed. "Day" surgery is so named because that's how long it takes to get admitted and lay around until he had his 15 minute time in the operating room. We left hospital and went for supper about 7pm. The nurses were telling him that they see a lot of lines going in, but very few coming OUT so they were very happy for him. Today and tomorrow are pyshyical therapy appointments and they we're off to the farm again. The driving may get "old" before long, but for now it feels like the right thing to do.
Today is our 32nd Wedding Anniversary. I realized it could have been a very sad day for me, but instead I feel VERY blessed that we are together and will celebrate with our family. You have a great day, too!!

"In Gratitude We Celebrate... the joy the season brings
and the lives that overflow with an abundant of all good things,
And we give thanks for each day entrusted in our care,
For the love of family and friends and the blessing we have to share."

Pictures?

Here is Linaya on Grandpa's lap before we left Saskatoon this afternoon. They seem to get along fine!!
And I can't resist showing you Linaya wrapped in her quilt just before they headed out the door after supper last night! I couldn't WAIT to see who I had made if for and now I know. I really like being Grandma :-)

Headed Home for the Weekend

The time has come to stretch our wings and head to the farm for a few days. Hopefully, we will stay there until Tues and head back for Wed thru Friday appointments. We'll see how this works for us as Stan really wants to get back to some of his farm business at home and at the same time, take advantage of the appointments and facilities here in Saskatoon that are available to us. It is exciting to think we have progressed this far. There was a time that it was "someday". God is good. We're looking forward to the next steps. Take care!

A wonderful weekend

Hi there. We were able to see a LOT of people in a short time while we were in Regina. Many of you are the same people who read our blog often and have been keeping us both in your prayers. It was so encouraging to be with you.
Stan had his first appointment with the occupational therapist today and she says there is no improvement she could make on what our present physical therapist has in place so that will be one less appointment with her. Our next goal will be to work towards being in Saskatoon a couple of days a week and home for several. We can't cut loose from Saskatoon until we have followup to the therapy near home or at least a comfortable distance for day trips. See! We're making progress. We still are hearing the same words "it takes time" from all connected to the medical profession and we are doing our best to stay patient at the same time pressing on.
We have been seeing little Linaya almost every day since she has been born and we just love her!! What a special blessing to us all. The Taylor family is doing great!
We hope you all had a wonderful weekend of being thankful too. Love, Stan and Maxine

Off to Regina

Well, we're off to Regina for a couple of days for Lectureship at Western Christian College. Roy, Monica and Linaya are to head home today. They will be keeping their blog updated with baby news. It is a happy time for us and it is easy to be Thankful this Thanksgiving weekend!
Love from Stan and Maxine

More pics

It's a Girl !!

Linaya Grace Taylor was born October 5th at 9:05 PM
6lbs 11 oz
Roy, Monica and Linaya are all doing great! There will be more pictures for sure, but one of my very favorites is the last one of Stan's hand on Linaya's chest. What a blessing that God allowed such a joy of seeing Grandpa and Linaya together just like we all wanted to see. We haven't got to hold her yet as it was getting late and she needed to eat and bond with Mom and Dad first.
Nancy Taylor, Melissa and Robert and Stan and I were awaiting Linaya's birth together. What an excited bunch!! We'll post more pictures with them next time, the computer guy (Robert) went to bed and I can only do picture on my farm computer :-(
God is good. We have welcomed a beautiful little girl into the family.

Update from Saskatoon

Hi there, Well, Stan isn't carrying the annoying bag around anymore! The plastic surgeon was very impressed with the progress of three weeks and has removed the vaccu-bandage. Now Stan is feeling free from using the walker to carry the weight of the pump during walks! and it is so much nicer not to be connected to something and looking out for the hose etc. So much better!! The bandages are also not as big as they used to be which means minimum time for changes and maybe just us instead of Homecare very soon. We have another appointment with the surgeon in three weeks and hopefully it will be completely healed by then.

The second specialist (Physiatrist) put Stan through his paces with electric stim tests and needles (ouch) to check out the nerves in his right arm and left foot. Melissa took time off work to be there to observe. He has slow improvement and that seems to be the way the time line goes in this case. We will just "keep on keepin'on" with the physical therapy and wait for the mending to happen. It looks like the arm vertical movement will be limited but hopefully strenghtening will still make it very useful with more strength in some positions than others.

We hope to take in some of Lectureship in Regina this weekend. This decison may be influenced by Monica and the grandbaby. Her due date had been last Friday so any time now may be "baby time". Please keep her in your prayers.
Love from Stan and Maxine

What a beautiful day!!

Hello from sunny Saskatoon! This has become the "Friday Report" as most of the appointments happen at the end of the week. Again, the bandage is working amazingly well. We see the plastic surgeon on Tues. am to decide how much longer Stan will need it and to discuss if further surgery will be necessary to free up tightened muscles under Stan's arm. We also see a second specialist on Tues. afternoon to do a nerve assessment along his arm to see what shape the nerves are in. The kidneys are still improving and are at about 47% now. Remember from previous conversation that less than 10% required dialysis. We are still waiting news of when they will remove the permcath from Stan's
chest. We are still captive to appointments whenever we get calls and are grateful to be in the system already which seems to open doors to getting to see the specialists as needed and allow continuing physical therapy. The weather has really been beautiful the last few days and the walks in the fall colors has really lifted our spirits. Stan is back in the drivers seat! and has been doing a lot of the driving around the city this week. Monica has had time to spend with us as she waits for baby's arrival. We are all doing well, and share impatience for different reasons!
God bless. Love, Stan and Maxine :-)

and it's Friday!

Another week has gone by! Stan has had a good week and this afternoon Monica joined us for a 2 km walk, about mile! There has been some pain in his shoulder as it is not completely healed and Stan still pushes himself a little further.... trying to get that extra stretch and strength back. He is encouraged to not work as hard at it until the healing is complete. Physical therapy is still a good thing and they are trying to fit him into a longer time slot for the "pulleys" which means the gym. We have been out and about a little more, more than just appointments!

I have been busy this week finishing off Monica's baby quilt. Today we both worked on quilting a project that my Mom, Grace, had started and planned to give to Monica. That was fun for us both to make the project "tri-generational" Next I will pick fabric to start on a special quilt for Melissa's baby. This is a nice place to be with the babies on their way!
We miss home, but progress is still being made here and we still need the medical connections is Saskatoon. 'Til next time, Stan and Maxine :-)

The Sun Shines!

Good morning
The sun shines again in Saskatoon and it feels much better. There is also "frost on the pumpkin" as the radio just said -2 degrees. We look forward to outdoors again. That vacuum bandage is definitely doing what it is meant to do as the wound under Stan's arm is now about 2 centimeters deep (half of what it had been on Friday!) Another gain and another day closer to home. Have a great day, Stan and Maxine

Family

Making progress!!

This was a good result day, too. Stan's kidneys are now operating at 43% which is still good progress in the direction we want to go. He has had medication cut down and another pill discontinued. The "permcath" (tubing to connect dialysis) will be removed as soon as the surgeon is available to do it. Translation: not more dialysis. Hurray!! The bandage was just changed again on the underarm wound. We have had problems with the vacuum seal releasing and hope that is remedied. The results are so encouraging as the wound has already closed up about half the depth of what they started with. Stan is not enjoying hauling the vacuum pack around and constantly disconnecting and reconnecting it from the power source. It weighs at least 4 pounds (which may not be extreme to those of us who have carried diaper bags or purses! Physical therapy is going well, They have wonderful equipment at City Hospital and helpful people. We have done some indoor walking as it has rained up here for the last few days. I actually bought an umbrella.

Today was Monica's last day of work before her baby is born. We are so excited for Monica and Roy. Please add her to your prayer list for the safe arrival of their baby. Thanks to all who have sent comments. We enjoy hearing from you. Love, Stan and Maxine

Elford Bell and kids

Stan, Karen, Elford, Gerry, and Warren
Picture taken last Sunday.

Bandage in place

This was the day the day that Stan got his new bandage. The doctor said to make an appointment with him for three weeks from now and Stan negotiated for 2 1/2. Homecare will let him know if it is healing sooner than that. Every couple of days it will still be changed and measured for depth of the wound, but I am so excited that we have this valuable resource available to us. Stan is hospital overnight and if all is well, he will be discharged after breakfast and off to his physio appointment at 11 am. Greetings to you all. Your love and support is a valuable addition to the healing that continues. God continues to bless us.
Love, Stan and Maxine

I was telling Melissa that this blog is like a modern day "message in a bottle" and we have no idea where it has "washed up" Any of you want to confess where you are that would surprise us?????

Combining Pictures

Home for the Weekend!!

The big news this time is that we were home to Gravelbourg and the farm on the weekend! We arranged to have the bandages changed at our own St Joseph's hospital and were able to attend church at our home congregation. Stan surprised them all by walking up to the front unassisted and was able to say his thankyous in person to everyone. It was wonderful to be with you all there!
It is bittersweet to go back to the farm and see that things have progressed as they should without us. My garden gave us a few treats to bring back to the city and did well at supplying some veggies for the harvest effort. The crops had done beyond our expectations and Stan was able to ride on his combine for about an hour. Monday was damp and the Canada Food Grain Bank Project harvest was postponed. We would have enjoyed seeing a bit of that as well, maybe next year.
We are off to the hospital appointment tomorrow with the plastic surgeon to have the vacuum bandage put on to speed the healing under Stan's arm.. The difference from two months down to possibly two weeks.
We look at our return to Saskatoon positively as a return to progress as he gets stronger and accepts the help he needs in his recovery.
Love, Stan and Maxine

Another Door Opened!

Well, we had a busy day. We got our phone call this morning to show up at City Hospital to begin physical therapy! This was only about an hour after we had talked to other physio facilities that told us the waiting lists were long and that we could be waiting from 6 to 8 weeks. Once again, we have a wonderful person to work with who took us on today because she had cancellations in the department where she usually works. I refuse to believe in coincedence anymore! God is good.

Waiting Game

Hi there, Well, another day went by and we still haven't connected to physical therapy sessions. We had a communication breakdown last week with a secretary being away on holidays without passing on our referral papers and now, this week, the doctor is on holiday! We are anxious to get this underway. Stan has been doing well at being out and walking. We were down to the river today (instead of being in dialysis!!! Hurray!!) and walked almost half a mile. He was really ready for a rest!! but it is wonderful to be able to be outside and take a rest as you need it. Our next visit to the Renal unit is on Friday morning for them to once again check blood counts and monitor how those kidneys are shaping up.

We saw the new plastic surgeon yesterday who has decided to get Stan back on a VaccuBandage that is a portable outpatient variety of what he had been using while in Intensive Care. It should speed up the healing process to the deep wound still under Stan's arm from a couple of months to possibly a couple of weeks. Great idea. It will probably take almost a week to get that in place so the Home Care nurses will continue to do dressing changes until we hear from the doctor again. Stan and I are so grateful to be able to be in Saskatoon. Every appointment or visit to the drugstore or bloodtest etc. end up taking a very long time and we can't imagine dealing with the busy days we have had and still needing to drive home from somewhere!! This is definitely where we need to be at this time! How wonderful to have family to take us in and have such nice visits, too. We will go home for a visit when it works out. Still no definite plan. It means a lot to us that you are all out there cheering us on and remembering us in your prayers. Love from Stan and Maxine :-)

Continued progress :-)

We just got back from the latest blood test and the numbers are even better! No more dialysis, but weekly blood tests the lines left in for the next 6 weeks. That is "doable!" We are happy!!
Love, Stan and Maxine

The Oak Tree

A mighty wind blew night and day
It stole the oak tree's leaves away,
Then snapped its boughs and pulled it's bark
Until the oak was tired and stark.
But still the oak tree held it's ground
While other trees fell all around
The weary wind gave up and spoke,
"How can you still be standing, Oak?"
The oak tree said "I know that you
Can break each branch of mine in two,
Carry every leaf away
Shake my limbs and make me sway.
But I have roots stretched in the earth
Growing stronger since my birth.
"You'll never touch them, for you see,
They are the deepest part of me.
Until today, I wasn't sure of just how much I could endure
But now I've found, with thanks to you
I'm stronger than I ever knew."

Thanks to special friends Charlie and Bonnie for this encouraging poem and your love over
the MANY years of our friendship!!

Stan Bell

Hello to all our faithful prayer warriors. God must have been listening to our hearts once again. The news today was really encouraging. They finished off today's dialysis treatment and said they would be discontinuing them. We go back on Monday for bloodwork to monitor levels of toxins that may still appear in the blood and they leave the lines in for a couple of weeks or so to be sure they don't need them again. The numbers were even better today than Wednesday so the kidneys are funtioning BETTER than the previous 20%, they just couldn't tell us a number easily. Thankyou, thankyou for your continued concern and prayers. We feel like we have been holding our breath for a long time now and today made such a difference. Our journey is still looking like a long one but we are so optimistic! Love to all, Stan and Maxine :-)

Comments Anyone?

Apparently someone accidentally turned on comment moderation, and you haven't been able to post comments for the past couple of days.

Try it out here, so I know it works. (You can also comment on the other posts)

First day of the rest of our life!

Hi there from Stan and Maxine.
Well, we have had a busy day. I feel like we are trying to get "repotted". Who is our doctor? (doctors!!) where do we go? How will they treat us?? Gratefully, many of these questions have already been answered and it is going to be fine. We have a new kidney doctor, new family doctor, homecare ladies to change dressings and a wonderful team in the dialysis unit. We have been warmly received by all these people. We still do not have the physical therapy sessions scheduled, but hopefully by the end of the week. We will be going to the St. Pauls hospital and those nice people even gave us a parking pass that saves us $7.oo a day!! What a deal. We are loving being here with our family and as usual, they are a comfort and wonderful to be helping us. The kidney doctor (nephrologist) was very encouraging to Stan today regarding the return of kidney function, so please keep those prayers heavenward. It continues to be one of our biggest concerns. Thanks for the continued love and support from you all. Love, Stan and Maxine

Celebrations!

Dad and Mom are now temporary residents of Saskatoon!!! They drove up this afternoon, and will stay with Melissa for a while. We celebrated with fireworks! (We really did! Saskatoon's centennial celebration was this weekend, and when Dad heard there were fireworks he said "Let's go", so we did!) He's very tired, but glad to be able to go out at his own decision.

Dad will do dialysis here starting Monday, and has various referrals to look after things like physio.

We are so excited to have them here now! We thank God for bringing Dad to this point. Now for those kidneys!

On the road again!

Well, if all goes as planned, Dad's dialysis on Monday will be in Saskatoon!!!!!!!!
Mom just called and said they got a doctor in Saskatoon, and either tomorrow (Saturday) or Sunday they'll be headed up here! This is so exciting, but they are also quite nervous how everything will be for Dad to not be in the hospital. There are lots of details to work out, with physio, dressing changes, and equipment to help him get around easier. They will stay at Melissa and Robert's for the first while, as they have fewer stairs, and will probably stay with us after a while as well.

A special thanks to Shelley, Joyce and Pradzynskis for providing housing for us in Regina. We appreciated it!

Another Note from Maxine

Hi again from Maxine. I'll let Roy do his magic of where this ends up.

Thanks to those wonderful people back at home that are taking off our crop!! It is a relief to Stan to know that Gerry, Tim and "company" are doing such a great job.

Stan has been working very hard, too, in mind an body to fit together a plan of recovery and I guess renewal. I had been warned ahead of time by someone here in the medical land. As family, we have been working on all this for almost 6 weeks now but Stan has only woke up to this in the last week or so and found out his life has changed in some pretty major ways! Our love and commitment to whatever comes is forged over our 32 years together and even if we were kids when we got married (20 and 21), we knew we meant "together" and we ask God's continued blessing upon what comes.

It is a real blow to us that the kidneys, as of yet, have not cut back in. That would be wonderful!! The need for dialysis three times a week is very life changing and will effect where we live and what we will be doing with the next years. Please pray for the kidneys and for us as we seek God's wisdom for the next plans.

Saskatoon plans are indeed looking hopeful. We once again have some wonderful people on our side trying their best to make this happen for us. Thanks again to you all for sending your thoughts, prayers, flowers, cards and love!!

Love from Stan and Maxine

Plans

Today Dad was able to go outside! Grandpa and Ruby went to visit and they took Dad out to the courtyard by the cafeteria for a little while. He has been wanting to go outside but it hasn't worked till now. As well, he was able to walk the loop around the nurse's desk today.

Apparently one of Dad's doctors wrote a letter to the kidney doc, Dr. Wilson, telling him that he's holding everyone up, that they will keep Dad in the General until Dr. Wilson gets dialysis arranged for Dad in Saskatoon! So, hopefully it won't be much more than a week or so until Dad and Mom will head our direction! We aren't sure if they would transfer him to a hospital here first or if he would just go to Melissa's right away.

Keep praying for his kidneys!

Nightly update

Dad had what's becoming a typical day today. Physio to work on his shoulder range of motion and his foot/walking, dialysis which took way longer than it should have due to clotting, trying some new meds to fight the nausea, and the usual bandage changes and visit from Dr. Chang (the wonderful plastic surgeon).
They have started adding iron to the blood during dialysis, which will hopefully help his hemoglobin to stay up.
On Friday they will take him to the OR to move the dialysis port to his neck/chest, which is supposed to not clot as much and be safer as far as risk of infection.
A nurse who was working when Dad was moved upstairs last week thinks he has improved a lot since then, so even though he isn't feeling like he's progressing, we think he is.

Rough day

I just spoke to Dad and to Mom, and Dad said he's had a miserable day. He's still quite nauseous, so they've started him on IV gravol and another anti-nausea medication, but they had a hard time getting an IV started. They also had trouble getting the right spots for more blood work, so Dad said he's full of holes tonight. They've decided to move the dialysis lines from the current site, where they just put them last night, to his neck, so that will mean more holes yet. He was able to do a little more with the physiotherapist, but he was discouraged that his drooped foot isn't doing much yet. The plastic surgeon is happy with how the graft area and donor sites look, but otherwise Dad's still having a rough time.

Keep praying!

I just talked to Mom, who had just talked to some dr's and nurses. We have planned to bring Dad to Saskatoon when he's released from the hospital so that he can continue dialysis and physio without having to drive to Regina 3 times a week, but when she asked about it today they made it sound like he may not be able to get in for dialysis in Saskatoon because it's out of the health region. They said there may be a waiting list of up to 3 months before he could get in here.
Please pray that #1 his kidneys would kick in so he won't need dialysis, and #2 that if they don't kick in yet that he will be able to get into the system in Saskatoon for as long as he needs dialysis. Thanks. It's so good to know there are still so many going to God on our behalf!

Slowly but surely...

For anyone who saw Dad in ICU, doesn't he look great? For the rest of you, this is a huge improvement!

Dad wasn't feeling that well this weekend. He was very weak and nauseous. He was so much better than last week, though! We saw huge improvements since last Sunday. His mind is a lot clearer, he can feed himself with relative ease, and he can get up to move from the bed to the chair by himself. He was frustrated that he had so little energy and was feeling so poorly compared to a few days ago, though.

Our major prayer request is for Dad's kidneys to start working. Please pray hard about this. The kidneys are the only area where there has been no improvement so far, and so he is still on dialysis 3 times a week. The doctors have no idea how long this could go on or even if it may be permanent. We have seen God do miraculous things in Dad's body already, however, and are hopeful that He will see fit to fix Dad's kidneys as well.

Dad will probably need another blood transfusion in the next couple of days, which will hopefully give him more energy, and they will try to get his iron up so he can make more blood himself. The back area of his graft is not healing as quickly as we would like, due to the pressure of laying on it all the time. As well, his right shoulder is sore and weak, and his left foot droops (due to compression of the nerve from laying still in ICU for 3 weeks). These are all areas for which we are praying for healing, as well as for him to regain strength and do well with the physio. Aside from the kidneys, however, all other areas are gradually improving--praise God!

A Note From Maxine

(this was originally a comment on another post)

Hi from Maxine.

Stan has made great strides with his mind clearing and his desire to put all the pieces together of what has gone on in the last weeks. He is overwhelmed by the love and concern from all of you. He is also a little overwhelmed by the pace things are moving and what all happens to him the the course of a day with dialysis (three times a week), doctors checking him, bandages being changed, trips to xray and physio. Sometimes he has had his food sent back to the kitchen because he was off on one of the above adventures! and was short on sleep and nourishment.

It may seem a big leap from Intensive Care to the Observation Unit but he still has a lot of healing to do. We have finally reached a place where he doesn't fight sleep, but welcomes it.

Thanks again to you all for your love and concern. I still need to be faithful to my goal of protecting him from too much additional activity than is already necessary for his daily maintenance and we will soon welcome more visits, but just not yet.

Love from Stan and Maxine

bigger steps

I got to talk to Dad on the phone tonight! It was so nice, as he sounds much more like himself. He met with the physical therapist today (who happens to know Melissa!) and the goal was to take some steps with the parallel bars. Well, this wasn't challenging enough, so they quickly moved on to walking with a walker. He was quite tired, but did well.

His eyesight is improving a little as far as the double vision but is still a concern to him.

Our prayer requests are for his vision to improve, his strength to return, and his kidneys to start working again. We are so thankful for how far God has brought Dad already!

Baby steps

Not too much to report today. Dad got to work with the physio a little more and they had him standing and taking steps in place. Tomorrow they'll probably take him to the physio department and get him walking with the parallel bars. His mind is a little clearer yet. He will still be doing dialysis, probably 3 times a week. He had lots of visitors today, which he enjoyed but which played him (and Mom) out, as well. We would like to remind anyone who goes to visit to keep it short. Thanks.

Moving on up!

Dad "graduated" today, to the sixth floor! As all of the other families got transferred we would say they graduated, so finally it's our turn! He will be in an observation ward first, and then hopefully a private room.

Other milestones are he was able to sit in a chair today, and will be receiving a "normal" supper tray!

He was also excited to visit Uncle Bill and Auntie Vi today.

Even though he's out of ICU, they are still asking to limit visitors to 2 at a time and only for about 10 minutes, to not wear him out!

Thank God for such wonderful news!

Ice and Ice cream

The excitement today was that Dad was able to get ice chips into his mouth by himself, with his right hand. (This is the side that had the surgery.) He started with his left hand, but was determined to make his right hand work, and he kept trying till he got it! Later we took him some ice cream, and again he did it himself, with just a little help from me pushing his elbow. His arm was quite stiff, but by the end it didn't take nearly as much pressure to get the spoon to his mouth as it did at first. We're hoping a physiotherapist will be in to work with him tomorrow to get him into a chair and maybe standing a little. We're also hoping he won't be in ICU for more than a few days.

His mind is clearer each day, although his vision isn't yet.

It's so nice to have Dad looking and sounding like himself again!

Coherent thoughts?

More entertaining conversations with Dad today, but tonight he was actually quite with it. We had a very nice visit. They are still working on weaning him off the morphine. Aside from seeing 2 or more of everything he is doing quite well. The goals for the next couple of days are eating and getting out of bed.

Mom would like to thank everyone for the many prayers, cards, and other ways you all have shown us you care. This is all very encouraging to us. We have definitely seen God answering prayer this month, and even this week.

Food, glorious food!

They tested Dad's swallowing again yesterday. He did okay with ice chips, so they tried apple sauce, which went alright so they tried pudding, and then thickened soup. They'll work up to solids. In Dad's mind (morphine) he ate roasters full of food yesterday, they just kept feeding him as much as he could handle! He was excited about it.

Melissa and I had quite an amusing conversation with Dad when we got here last night. For the most part he's quite clear minded, but then he'll start talking about something that just doesn't make sense. We try to explain that just the drugs made him think that. One example was that he's sure he heard us stand by his bed and discuss his funeral, complete with the "Hawkins' hearse" and an announcement of his "untimely death". All we can figure is that he heard us discussing Grandpa's funeral and connected it to himself. We tried to reassure him that our only plan was for him to pull through, but he looked skeptical. :)

He's quite concerned about the farm, and just wants to go check those crops. Or at least talk to Gerry on the phone to see about spraying those chickpeas one more time.

Very nice to have Dad back talking to us! They'll keep him in ICU a little longer, but he's to the point where if they need his bed he'll be moved.

More good news!

We're done with grafting! The surgeon had time today so he stopped by after all to have a look. There are just two small red areas that aren't quite healed that should take care of themselves, otherwise it looks good!

They still have Dad on quite a bit of oxygen, so they won't move him off ICU until his breathing is better.

Please pray that his breathing, swallowing, and kidneys will improve.

Anxious

Now that Dad's awake, he's getting impatient: to eat, to walk, to have a quieter room...

A speech pathologist came to assess his swallowing today and decided that the muscles are still too weak from being intubated for so long. He was aspirating more than they would like when swallowing, so he's got a naso-gastric feeding tube for now, and they'll reassess every day to see when he can start real food. He's been asking the nurse what he can eat first, and what he should work up to, and asking Mom what she's bringing him for supper.

While they've let him sit up on the edge of the bed, he's wanting to go walk around. That will take some time yet.

He's realizing now what a busy place he's in. All the machines and people in and out are getting to him, and he just wants some place quiet to lay down for a while. Hopefully they will get him to a private room before too long.

The surgeon changed his mind on the dressing change, instead of tomorrow it will be either Friday or Saturday.

Dad hasn't been sleeping well the last couple nights because he's been too busy trying to think everything through, but when they said they would give him something to help him sleep, he resisted the idea. He said "I've been trying for days to wake up!"

What's next?

Well, things continue to look good. Dad is trying to get everything straight in his mind, but the morphine is making for some interesting conversations, as it is known to do! Dad thinks he would feel better if he could walk around for a bit, but the nurses are trying to convince him that he's not as strong as he thinks. So far he's just able to sit on the side of the bed. He wants to know what his goals are, though, and what he should be working on next.

The surgeon stopped by and said since Dad's doing so well he'll just have a look at the site in Dad's room, instead of going back to the OR tomorrow.

We know he still has a long way to go, but we're so grateful for how far he's come!

Hurray!

No more ventilator! The doctors did decide to remove it! Mom said Dad asked rapid-fire questions when the tube came out, one of the first being "Why can't I move my arm?" (The nurse forgot she had tied it down when he was moving around too much so he couldn't pull out the tube himself!)

He has an oxygen mask still to help him breathe a little easier, and his lips are swollen from having had the tube for so long, but otherwise he is able to talk quite well already.

Praise God!

Go Dad!

This is the post that should be titled determination! Dad breathed all night on his own through the ventilator tube, and at one point tried to climb out of bed! The doctors will decided during morning rounds if they can take out the ventilator.

Determination

I just talked to Mom for the nightly update, and she said basically Dad has been breathing on his own since before lunch today! They had the ventilator off for about 2 1/2 hours this morning, put it back on for an hour or two while they did a dressing change and got dialysis hooked up, and then he was awake and acting agitated, pointing at the tube, and when they asked if he wanted to breathe on his own he nodded yes. We've been trying to explain to him that they can't take the tube out until they're sure he can breathe on his own, because they don't want to have to put it back in, so Dad is doing everything in his power to prove he can be off the ventilator! This is the major prayer request tonight, that Dad have the strength and stamina that they will take the ventilator tube out, hopefully tomorrow.

Mom was able to speak to the plastic surgeon again today, and found out that they were able to remove the chest tube (draining fluid from around his lung) in the surgery last night. The doctor feels good about how the graft is doing, and said they'll look under the vaccuum bandage on Thursday, and if things look good then they won't have to put the vaccuum back on. Also, there was one area that the intensivist was concerned about because there's such a thin layer over his lung, but the plastic surgeon said they put an extra layer of skin over that area and they think it should fill in some between the layers.

When Dad was wide awake and seeming quite uncomfortable, Mom was able to reassure him and help him relax. The nurses were commenting on her calming effect, so she is staying at the hospital still so that if he gets upset they can call her in. Now that he's awake so much Mom is looking forward to being able to spend more time with Dad in his room and keep him company.

We are so grateful for the progress we've seen in the last 2 days! God is good. Please continue to pray for healing, that Dad can get off the ventilator SOON, that his kidneys will start functioning better, and that he will have peace of mind as he goes through what will still be a long healing process. Thank you!

Joyful, Joyful

Around 12:30 Maxine called my cell, Stan was out of surgery. 90% of the skin graft took. The doctor predicted 50-80%, so this is astounding. They also found no infection.

I'm sure I am forgetting something, so I will add more when the girls wake up.

Waiting... To Exhale

We were told Stan would be taken into surgery today to assess the graft. He was originally scheduled to go in tomorrow, but the surgeon decided to move it up. We waited patiently all day, and when Maxine decided the pregnant girls needed to go home to sleep (10:30 pm), the phone rang and they took him into surgery. He is in surgery as I type this update.

We did have an exciting development today. When we got back to the hospital after church and after taking Karen to the airport, the doctor wanted to see Maxine. Since Stan has been intubated for nearly three weeks, they would like us to consider a tracheotomy. After a discussion with the doctor, they did a trial with Stan breathing on his own. They were impressed when he breathed on his own for ten minutes, and surprised when he made it over an hour. This completely exhausted him. The plan is to wait a few days, hopefully to wean him off the ventilator and avoid a tracheotomy. Please pray hard.

Robert is a farmer now. Monica, Melissa and Roy are headed back to Saskatoon tomorrow. During the week, we will be updating the blog from there, based on phone reports from Maxine. We will be driving down to Regina on the weekends.

Please pray the graft will take well, and he will gain strength to be able to breathe on his own soon.