Hi Everyone, Most of you have probably given up on me ever updating this blog...ever again!! SURPRISE! An update!! I just couldn´t let this time of year go by without expressing gratitude for our many blessings. Truly, under the most difficult of circumstances, the most incredible blessings continue to be ours. We enjoyed a very special Thanksgiving together as a family. Michael flew home and we were blessed to be together and even have some new family pictures taken...after about 8 years! So grateful to be together!!
Larry has been doing quite well lately. His cognition has improved again the last 5-6 weeks after a couple of months of `not so great`cognition. It has been so wonderful to see him doing better in this most important way. Physically, he is also doing quite well. His feeding tube is out (Yay!) and he is eating normally and has gained a lot of his weight back. He really looks great! He still doesn´t have the strength and energy that he would like and is not able to work as yet, but we are so grateful to have him continuing to make progress. He will have a malignant cancer on his ear surgically removed this week and then we hope to be past serious medical issues for awhile. We are looking forward to a much more healthy 2016!!
I thought I´d share a few pictures with you that were a little hard to share earlier. What a journey Larry has had this year. Next year our pictures will be of `fishing`and `travelling`, etc! I promise!

 

So grateful for our awesome kids, grandkids, family, friends, Bishop, and ward families, and all of you for your love, prayers and fasting, service, and everything you have done for us. We couldn´t have made it through this year without you!!:

 

        We love and appreciate all of you. Have a beautiful and joyful holiday season! Can´t wait to share our new family pictures with you in the next couple of weeks. We are thrilled to be together and Larry looks great!! Please check by again.

 

August 16 - quick update

This past week Larry has once again spent several days in the hospital (argh!) with another bout of pneumonia. He also has a resistance strain of bactéria in his blood so he has come home with IV antibiotics which we hope will take care of the problem...once and for all!! He continues to do well with the soft food diet and we are just using the feeding tube in his stomach for his medicines and ocasional supplemental feedings. Mealtime has become a much happier time! We really enjoy those times together. Our goal is NO more hospital stays and NO more infections.

August 5th - Get news!!

Yesterday was a milesone day for us. Larry was given a swallow study at the hospital and the results were very good. He can now eat soft foods in small amounts! YAY!!! What an awesome change for him...and me! Never eating or drinking is a very difficult way to live and we have sure learned the value of enjoying a meal together. It has made us so much more aware of how much our lives revolve around eating...food is everywhere!! Sometimes I would find Larry concentrating on the TV and look to see that it was a comercial about food...they have them constantly!!! He´s even been found watching a food channel...which he would NEVER have done before. He just couldn´t seem to help himself and I couldn´t blame him one bit!!! Somehow just getting formula through a feeding tube just didn´t `cut it`!
I´ve even missed cooking (sometimes!) which has surprised me because I used to complain that after over 40 years of cooking meals I was getting pretty tired of it. Who knows what you wll miss when it is taken away from you. The smell of a cooking meal can bring a great feeling of comfort to a home. I`m grateful for the things we have learned through this experience and for the awareness and empathy we have now for those who go through similar difficult situations.
I know that the Lord has helped us through this difficulty as he has through other difficult times in the past months. We are receiving remarkable blessings that we have been told would be very improbable and unlikely in Larry´s circumstances. We continue to proclaim that we know.....
 `With God, all things are possible`!!

July 26, 2015

Larry was released from the hospital after just a few days. He hated being there and begged to be released to come home. He still had pneumonia when he came home but was able to continue with the antibiotics from here. He has continued to recuperate and is trying to regain some strength once again. He weakens very quickly, which is very frustrating to him, but we are continually told that his recovery will be slow. The doctors at the hospital told us that for every day you are hospitalized, that it will take 2 to 3 days to recovery the strength lost. I guess that means that it could take up to nine months for him to feel more recovered! Having said that, we ventured out to our grandson Bridger´s soccer game, went to a movie, and rode up to Larry´s family´s cabin for a few hours during the past four days. It felt good to get out a little bit and feel some normalization to our new life routine. We are very hopeful that Larry will be able to have another swallow study done sometime in the next couple of weeks and that it will show that he has made changes that will allow him to be able to start eating and drinking again. We both feel that this would be a HUGE step forward and we are praying for this change every day. Hope you all had a great 24th of July weekend.

Back to the hospital

Monday, July 15- In the middle of the night last night, Larry became sick with a high fever and fast pulse rate and Jon and I had to take him to the hospital this morning. He has pneumonia again and will be in the hospital for at least a few days for IV antibiotics. He is in LDS hospital.

Wednesday, July 17 - Larry is responding to meds at the hospital and is doing some better. We still don´t have any information on when he will be able to return home but are still hoping for the end of the week. Larry´s lungs are fragile and that keeps him at high risk for pneumonia. Rats!! He is anxious, once again, to come home. I´ll keep you posted.

Finally - a new post!

Larry left the hospital 2 weeks ago today. Here are a few highlights:

No one could have been happier to go home!! While we were waiting for the last checks, meds, etc. He told me he just knew they would come up with something that would keep him from leaving! He only believed it when we finally walked out the door.
He has loved being home and he has made good strides physically and cognitively. Certainly life isn´t exactly what he wants yet but we hope for continued improvements. He has a g-tube in his stomach for feedings and meds as he still cannot have anything to eat or drink by mouth. If you are thinking...how awful...you are right!! It is extremely difficult for him. He also deals with cognitive issues each day. He has therapists who come to help him with physical, occupational, and speech needs and , of course, our kids have been there every step of the way to help me with this new adjustment. We continue to have more challenges to face but are so grateful for this opportunity to share this peaceful time here at home. Truly `there is no place like home`!!
  

 

 

July 1st-- Larry´s coming home!

July 1st: Today is the BIG day...after 99 days in the hospital, Larry is coming home!! I am up early getting the final things ready here at home and getting ready to head to the hospital. It has been a whirlwind trying to get ready...and I sure hope I am!! Larry is SO ready to come home. Every day for the last couple of weeks when I´ve arrived at the hospital he has thought that he was coming home that day and he has been so disappointed to find out that it´s not that day. Won´t he be thrilled to find out that this is actually THE day and that he can leave the hospital and get into the car to come home.
I am so glad to have home health care come, starting today, to help out and am extremely grateful to our children for their willingness to come and take shifts to be here, almost totally day and night, for the first couple of weeks during our transition. They are amazing and wonderful and I love them and appreciate them so much! Mike has been able to be home for a visit and has been such a help to me and it will be so great to have him here to see his dad come home before heading back to Calif. in a few more days. Our ward is awesome and has helped me continually these past three months and I´ll be forever indebted to them for their loving service in our behalf.
I am also extremely grateful for the wonderful doctors and nurses who have cared for Larry with such skill and concern. They are like angels to me in so many ways and I have become friends with many of them. Although we are glad to be coming home, I will miss them greatly and the knowledge that they were always taking such good care of Larry when I wasn´t there. I have often told them that I can see that their work is not just a job to them, it is so much more...and I have felt that every day! We have shared laughter and tears as Larry and I have moved through this difficult journey. I´ll never forget them.
Well, its time to get running...on to the next stage of this journey...ready or not, here it comes!! I´ll try to update again with a pic of Larry as he makes this exciting change. We love and appreciate all of you for your continued prayers in our behalf. I couldn´t do this without them. The blessings of the Lord continue to flow to us because of our petitions to him. He is, and always has been, in charge and I know he measures every minute of our lives and blesses us accordingly. Love to you all.

Friday, June 19th

Friday, June 19th- Thank you all for your fasting and prayers in our behalf. What great strength comes from these exercises of our faith. We are preparing to bring Larry home in the next couple of weeks. We have had a feeding tube placed in his stomach to replace the one in his nose. This will provide a better way for us to supply his feeding needs. I am beginning to learn the things I will need to do to help him in this área and other needs that he will have. This is daunting for me but I will have some home health care and also family and ward help and I know that the Lord will continue to strengthen me as he has in the past. Larry´s release date is set for July 1st barring anything unexpected!

Please join us

Saturday, June 13, 2014

Good morning everyone. Today I am sharing with everyone this message and invitation that has been sent to our ward members. I feel it will explain our circumstances at this time and I invite all of you who would like, to join us in this fast for Larry and me once again. The fast will be tomorrow, Sunday, June 14th. I have felt the Lord´s hand in our lives many times in the past weeks and feel to petition his help again at this time. I know that he is always there for us and will answer our prayers and pleadings for our benefit and according to the plan for each one of us. I move forward each day because of the strength I receive from him and the knowledge that the Savior walks beside me and Larry, and carries us when we need him to.
I, again, express our love and gratitude for each one of you and for your continued love and support. I appreciate your service to the Lord through your service to us at this challenging time:

 Dear Brothers and Sisters,
 As many of you are aware, our brother, Larry Rose has now been in the hospital for nearly 12 weeks as a result of the aneurysm that he suffered. During this time, Paula has constantly been at his side. She has expressed so many times how grateful she has been for the fasting and prayers that she and her family have felt on their behalf as well as her love for her ward family and friends.

 Paula and her family are now facing some very difficult decisions. She has been informed by the hospital that her insurance coverage for rehab care will be ending in the next couple of weeks. In these 12 weeks, Larry's mental capacities have not greatly improved and without a continuation of a feeding tube and 24 hour care (which is normally not provided by care facilities) Larry's future is very uncertain. Our dear sister is in an extremely difficult position and has asked if we would please fast on her behalf and on the behalf of Larry so that she and her family may receive answers and confirmation from the Lord on how to proceed for Larry and his best care. In these past 12 weeks there have been a few rare moments where Larry has shown signs of being mentally "present". These rare moments have given Paula hope that there is a potential for recovery and she is determined to do anything within her power to provide sufficient time to see if Larry might recover enough mentally to be coherent and overcome the use of these particular "life sustaining requirements" and regain some permanent mental stability. At the same time, she feels the weight and reality of the temporal situation associated with the demands that will be placed on her and her family to provide 24 hour assistance to Larry to keep him safe and nourished, especially due to the fact that he has shown little to no sign of mental recovery.

 Brothers and Sisters, as your Bishop, we are asking and inviting that we plead with the Lord in fasting and prayer this Sunday for the following -

 First, that Sister Rose may receive guidance, understanding, strength and comfort through the spirit to know how to proceed in this situation and how to respond to these incredibly difficult decisions that she and her family are facing.

Second, that, if it be the Lord's will, that Larry's mental capacities may recover speedily to the point that the Rose family might have the capacity (mentally, physically, financially, etc.) to care for his needs.

 Third, that we as a ward family and individuals might know and be sufficiently sensitive to the spirit to understand the Lord's will and desires as to how we might provide our support to Paula and her family during these extremely difficult times.

 We love this family. May we exercise our faith at this time on their behalf and, again, plead with the Lord that his blessings and his miracles might be upon them. We testify to each of you that our Father in Heaven lives, our Savior lives and that through faith, love and obedience miracles are accomplished and prayers are answered according to the Lord's will. May we come together as a ward family on this coming Sabbath day in fasting and prayer on behalf of dear Paula and Larry and their family is my hope and my prayer. May you each be blessed for your goodness and desires to be whom the Lord would have you be and for the service and love that you render every day.

 Sincerely,

 Hidden Lake Ward Bishopric

Thursday, June 11

Thursday, June 11, 2015 - Just letting you know that Larry was moved back to rehab a couple of days ago. He is now back into his rehab routine. He has three 1/2 hour sessions in the morning and the same in the afternoon. It keeps him busy. He wears out pretty quickly but is doing all he can and we feel he is improving physically. He still has cognitive issues and we continue to pray for those to be resolved. Time will tell. He still requires one on one care, day and night, and so I would ask you all to pray for these issues to be removed, if possible, so we can move forward toward the best possible recovery. We are so very grateful for all of you that continue to love and pray for us. We could not be any more blessed!! Thank you for everything you do for us. We feel your continued prayers every single day.

Sunday, June 7th

Sunday, June 7th- I´m going to quit apologizing for not writing and just give an update!!! I´m bad!
As I mentioned last time, early last week Larry had been coughing a lot more and we could tell something was wrong. They found that he did have pneumonia and he was moved to the 9th floor of the hospital for some closer monitoring and care. He was pretty sick for a few days but the antibiotics have kicked in and he is improving now. Rather than trying to detail the past week, I´ll just give you some basics:
*his oxygen level has been increased once again (pretty normal with pneumonia).
*he was receiving three antibiotics, but he broke out in a rash so they discontinued one of them.
*his blood sugar has remained stable except yesterday when it dropped to 45 and he required a 
 dextrose shot into his IV to bring it back up. (Just once in a week is pretty good!)
*he continues to have his feeding tube because he is still aspirating into his lungs.
*he´s been a lot weaker so hasn´t been able to get up much to move around. (Again, normal)
*he continues to be very confused (who wouldn´t be at this point! I can´t even keep it all straight in
  my mind either!!)
The goal is to be able to get him moved back up to rehab in the next few days and then hopefully he can regain the strength he has lost this past week and work hard again in rehab to move toward a better recovery.

Happy side note: I was so excited and pleased to be able to attend Brady`s (our oldest grandson) high school graduation this past week and well as another grandson, Brigham´s baptism. Both were great! I´m so proud of them. Thank heaven for normal life!! It sure felt good.

Monday, June 1st - Ditto

Monday, June 1st--I guess I could just say `ditto` to last Monday´s post! Everything is basically the same with some ups and downs depending on the day. Larry´s blood sugar is holding in the 80´s. That´s not as good as they would like it to be but definitely better than before. He still has the feeding tube and they are still working to strengthen his swallow. They will do another swallow test sometime this week to see if he is still aspirating. His therapy´s are also more or less successful depending on the day. It can be disheartening. Just when we feel that we are seeing several days of improvements, we´ll have a couple of `down` days and then try to regroup and do better once again. They are doing some lung tests tomorrow because Larry has been coughing more the last couple of days. It could possibly be some pneumonia or just the scleroderma...hard to say at this point.
This past week we had a meeting with the doctor, nurses, case manager, and our family to discuss Larry´s condition and prognosis. Our kids were there and are so supportive, tender, and loving of Larry and me. I am so grateful for them! The meeting wasn´t an easy one but we had a wonderful spiritual experience after the meeting was over when we were able to kneel together as a family and petition the Lord in Larry´s behalf for some specific needed blessings. It was amazing and humbling when, just a few hours later, our prayer was answered in a very profound way. I knew once again, at that very moment, that the Lord is aware of us and our circumstances and that He loves us and helped us with this particular circumstance. It was a great comfort to me. My sister recently shared this scripture with me and I feel that it was completely realized during this time:
`Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path.  Proverbs 3:5-6. She expressed how comforted she has been so many times when she has given him her burdens and how much relief she has felt when sharing her troubles with him. I, too, have felt this comfort and relief many times during the past ten weeks. I know he will always sustain us during difficult times and I pray for so many others who are facing their own difficulties, trials, and heartaches that they may also be blessed and sustained during the struggles they face.

Monday, May 25th

Monday, May 25th - Sorry the days have passed without an update. Sometimes I´m not sure what to say. Like one of my kids said:   Same circumstances, different day!!!
We are still struggling with keeping Larry´s blood sugar up. It has dropped to dangerous levels and has been hard to regulate. He also continues to struggle with cognition issues and that has been hard. I do feel he has done better with physical therapy and that is very encouraging. When he gets restless, his aide and I take him for a walk around the unit and that wears him out a bit and seems to settle him down. Larry`s always been a `goer` and has always needed to be busy, so this can be very frustrating for him. He pulled out his main IV line again last night, just not realizing what he is doing
Last Friday, they gave Larry a swallowing test with an x-ray and it showed that he is still aspirating into his lungs so he is still unable to eat and will continue with a feeding tube until they can get that to improve. I was sad with those results because he hasn´t eaten for such a long time and I´d really hoped that he could start having something, even if it was just liquids. It is really hard to watch all that he is going through. We hope and pray every day for further improvements and for the realization that: This to shall pass!

Larry has been in the hospital for 2 months today! Yuk!

Wednesday, May 20

So happy to report that Larry had a pretty great day today! One of the best in recent memory!! He still has some confusion but his mind seemed much more clear and he even seemed a bit stronger when he was doing PT. I´m so hoping that this is the beginning of the turn-around we´ve been waiting and hoping for. He did have a drop in his blood sugar but not nearly as severe as the previous days. Can´t wait to see how things go tomorrow and the days after that.

Tuesday, May 19

The last three days Larry´s blood sugar has been up and down again (mostly down!). They are able to bring it up quickly to normal levels with shots of glucose when it goes really low, but it doesn´t stay up for long and after a few hours it begins to go down again. He is on a 24 hour tube feeding which should be helping but hasn´t been doing the job yet and they continue to try to find out why. Juice through the feeding tube also helps a little, but not enough. Hopefully they can find out what the problem is real soon. Larry has had a little hypoglycemia in the past but never anything that a small snack and drink wouldn´t remedy so this is much more acute. We´ll just have to see what they find. Low blood sugar makes a person very weak (of course) so rehab continues to be a challenge. The thing I didn´t realize is that it can also cause personality changes and Larry has had some difficult issues like paranoia, combativeness (is that a word?!) and anxiety. Cant wait for those things to diminish!!! Never a dull moment!

Monday, May 18

Larry was moved back up to his rehab room yesterday morning. His blood sugar is up and holding.
Hoping for better and more productive days this week.

May 16th - I can do all things.

Last night (Friday) at about 10:30 pm, I received a call from Larry´s rehab doctor. He said that because Larry´s blood sugar had been continuing to go down, even with treatment, and because of his fragile statis, he felt that Larry should go back to ICU for more constant monitoring. They moved him back late last night. It´s always hard to see a step backwards but I feel that this is something that can be figured out and remedied. This morning when I got there around 8:30 his blood sugar level was back up and that was positive.  Throughout the day though, it dropped again. They are doing some things to bring it back up and hopefully Larry will be able to be moved out of ICU tomorrow or Monday....hopefully back to rehab, but at least onto another floor. Larry has been confused and agitated so much today and that has also been hard to watch. In his circumstances, because of so many problems, one issue seems to exacerbate others. I have to continue to remind myself of our motto these past few years. I´d like to share a thought from Larry´s talk given in church after returning from our mission. He said:

``I want to share with you one of the many things we learned in greater depth while on our mission. Before we left, some of the first words we learned in Portuguese were these: Eu posso fazer coisis deficies...na forca do Senhor. I can do all things in the strength of the Lord. This scripture found in Phillipians 4:13 has long been one of our favorites. We knew that we would need to know and remember this statement every day. And we did``

Truly this scripture has become our montra or motto. We have been strivng to live it every day and it seems even more more relevant and important to us as time passes. Some days here in the hospital I
have reminded Larry (and myself) of this statement and we repeat it together in Portuguese. It always brings a feeling of calm and reassurance to us. I have to admit that today was a hard day for me, not that it was such a critical day but that I seemed to have just `had enough`! Jon gave me a blessing (and Larry one to) and that has turned my struggling feelings back to the Lord and the strength He can and will always provide to us. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is with all of us and will always strengthen us and help us make our way through. I recommit to living by this scripture  and give thanks again to a loving Heavenly Father who blesses, strengthens, and loves me/you every  single day.

Eu posso fazer coisis deficies, na forca do Senhor. I can do all things in the strength of the Lord!

Keep moving 5-13-15

The past few days have gone quite well. We have had no major problems to deal with...thank heaven! A couple of days ago, Larry did pull out his feeding tube again, and it has since been replaced. He has been doing as much as he can with his rehab. It is hard. I have learned that it doesn´t take long when you´re down to lose muscle mass and strength, and it takes much more time to recover the strength that you previously had. We have been told that for every day you are down, it takes three days of rehab to recover that day. Wow! We just don´t realize how important it is to keep moving and how much our daily activities keep our body functioning. Larry has lost a lot of weight and muscle mass and it will take time for his body to get strong again. Cognition is also a problem and we continue to hope and pray that he will do better in this área as well.
I thought you might like to see a few pics of Larry as he trys to get moving again. We are both trying hard to keep moving forward with everything we can muster. No matter our circumstances, or whatever our trials, we must always strive to move forward with determination, hope, and faith for a brighter tomorrow. Larry is moving forward....

 

 

 

 

May 9th-Saturday

Yesterday (Friday) Larry had another hard day that started when doctors found that his crit level had dropped once again. They did another endoscopy and found another ulcer (honestly?!?) which they cauterized. They also took several biopsies and did an esophageal stretch which will hopefully make it easier for him to swallow in the days to come. They also had to insert another feeding tube and put in another central line, and give him a blood transfusion so it was a big/tough day for him.
Luckily today was much better. No more major procedures and he was able to do a little better in his rehab. We hope that by Monday we will find that he is beginning to get a bit stronger and able to do all that he needs to do while in rehab. This coming week should be a positive one...wish us luck!

Thursday, May 7

Just a little update on the last couple of days in rehab. I am gateful to be there but it is definitely a change. In theICU I became very used to nurses around all the time, watching Larry closely, and being there constantly to help him. I also became used to watching a monitor of vital signs (they don´t have them in rehab) to make sure that everything was stable...it became my television!! Larry´s room was also right across from the main desk and just knowing professionals were right there was very comforting to me. You try not to become too attached through the weeks but you just can´t help it. As excited as I was to be moving on, I have to admit that I cried when we left. I will never forget their  care and friendship.
Rehab is different in that their focus is on recovery (and getting ready to go home) and when a patient arrives there, he/she needs to be able to work on that recovery in a more constant way. Larry tries so hard and is working to regain  physical strength and cognitive ability. There are four different parts of rehab therapy that are worked on each day and each one has a session twice a day. Larry will be busy as he becomes stronger and can do more. Being in rehab is a lot of WORK. Larry is moving into it a bit slowly because yesterday he was quite ill and showing signs of a possible bleed internally. The doctors performed an endoscopy and found an ulcer which they caterized. His blood count has gone down a bit so we understand why he is weak. They will need to do another endoscopy in a few days as well as a re-insertion of his feeding tube that came out during the endoscopy. We hope that these things will not interfere very much with his rehab and that he will be able to continue to work hard and do the best he can, as he always has. He´s a rock!

Moved - Tuesday, May 5th

Larry was moved to rehab today. Long day but good move.

Six weeks

A little of my personal thoughts, hope you don´t mind:

Today Larry has been in the ICU for 6 weeks. It´s hard to believe. As one friend said, it´s like you`re in a bad dream and waking up every morning to find out that it´s not a dream, it´s real life! It can feel disheartening and overwhelming at times but I am so grateful for the many things that I have learned during this time and for the opportunity to learn and grow throughout this life in any circumstance that we are given. It doesn´t matter what our trials and afflictions are (we all have them), it´s the growth and learning that takes place during the rough times--that earn us the good times in future days and eternity to come. I want to share with you a couple of scriptures that have become some of my very favorites during this hard time. I have read and re-read them so many times this past 6 weeks and they have, once again, helped me put our life experiences back into perspective, insight, and greater understanding. Faith and hope are our mainstays as we go throughout this life. We all know that.  This is just a moment in time. Larry is enduring it well...he is my master teacher!

2 Corinthians 4: 17-18
17 - For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18 - While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.


D&C 121:7-8
My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
And then if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high..

Have a wonderful day everyone. I love and appreciate you all.

Monday, May 4th

Thank you all for your prayers. Everythng went well with the placement of Larry´s shunt today and it is draining fluid already. He has been sleeping soundly most of the afternoon...most likely trying to make up for all the sleep deprivation over the past weeks!! Sincere gratitude to Larry´s surgeon, and other doctors and nurses that continue to work so hard to give Larry the best recovery results possible. I can never thank them enough!!

Sunday, May 3rd

Sunday, May 3rd: We´re having a pretty good day today. We had the sacrament this morning and Larry has had a few family members come by. He was able to walk a few minutes ago and it really wore him out so he is now reclining in a chair having a well deserved nap!
Because of his continued confusion and slow response/arousal from sleep at times, the doctors think it could possibly be helpful for Larry to have a shunt placed, so we plan to proceed with that procedure tomorrow. If all goes well, they will continue to monitor him here in the ICU for a day or two and then move him to acute rehab. We are so hopeful that we will see more pronunced improvement after the initial procedure and recovery and that he will be able to move to rehab and have the best outcome from it. Please say a little prayer for him tomorrow...we truly appreciate your love, and prayers. We feel them!!

April 30, 2015

I just wanted everyone to know that Larry has had a much better day today. No more heart episodes or seizures. They continue to do testing to possibly find out why things happened the way they did yesterday. We are hoping it was just a `fluke` thng that will not be an issue in the future. More information coming as I get it.

April 29, 2015

Today was a very hard day for Larry, and for me. When I first arrived at the hospital Larry was sleeping very soundly and we had a hard time getting him to open his eyes. The nurse was aware of the fact that he was pretty unresponsive. The medical plan was to watch him for a few hours, let him get some sleep and hope he would become more responsive and alert, or that some symptoms would manifest themselves so they would know what was causing it and how to proceed. We knew that his difficulty could be caused simply by his infection or possibly enlarged ventricles in his brain which would mean a shunt. Time would tell.
Then around 11:00 am, while the nurse was in the room doing some things with him, he suddenly had some acute problems and his heart stopped for a short time (about 15 seconds). It was extremely frightening and brought hurried activity and medical personel. It appears he may have had a seizure that caused the temporary problem with his heart. Luckily his heart started working again quickly on its own. They are now doing a continuous EEG for the next 24 to 48 hours to monitor his brain activity for seizures and watching his heart monitor even more closely. If it appears that he may have future problems, and because of his past heart issues, they will probably need to insert a pacemaker to protect his heart from further similar incidents.
Again today, I was made keenly aware of the great doctors and nurses in the neuro ICU here in this hospital. They are incredibly well trained and work so hard for the best outcome for their patients. I am so thankful for them!! Their jobs are not easy and they work through some of the most difficult situations imaginabe. Their dedication shows through in everything they do. I am so grateful for everything  they are doing for us and for the excellent care they give to Larry. They make it so I can sleep at night and find some calm during the day!
This evening Larry was more alert and was resting comfortably. What a day!!

Just a little bump & Happy(?) Anniversary...Yuk!

Yesterday...Monday, Apr. 27th - Although restrained, Larry (fiesty and determined guy that he is) somehow pulled out his feeding tube again today. The rascal! It was replaced in the early afternoon. Otherwise, things seemed stable and encouraging.


Tuesday, April 28th - Just a small bump in the road last night and today. I could tell last evening that Larry wasn´t feeling very good. I talked with the nurse about a few changes I´d noticed in him. About 2:00 in the morning his fever quickly spiked high and his blood pressure dropped. He also had to be put back on an oxygen mask because he wasn´t maintaining his oxygen level. Luckily, with a cat scan, they found that his brain was doing well and not the cause. Looks like he has a urinary tract infection...much simpler to deal with, thank goodness. He was again put on a mega antibiotic which seems to have started to work. He was pretty wiped out this morning but much more alert and coherent my mid afternoon and hopefully will continue to improve quickly.

Today is Larry´s NOT SO GREAT anniversary...5 weeks in the ICU unit!!
We´re done celebrating (ha) ...we´re ready to be O-U-T!!

Awesome!

I was excited today when I walked into Larry´s hospital room to find out that the drain had been removed from his brain! They had clamped the drain the day before to see if his brain could absorb its fluid and so far it seems to be doing so...wow, this is so awesome! I do realize that things could change and he could still need a shunt, but we are so hopeful that things will continue to go well. What a happy surprise. He has done pretty well otherwise to. He was awake a lot during the day and he was able to walk a little with the physical threapists and his vital signs all looked good. A very good day. If everything continues stable there is a chance he will be able to go to a regular room in a few days. He may even be able to go directly to acute rehab. I am hopeful that we will get a plan from the doctors by the middle of this coming week so we´ll know what changes will be upcoming. Thanks so much for your continued prayers. I`ll keep you all posted.

Another change

Seems as though change is the name of the game in Larry`s recovery. In his case, it´s true that there is nothing as constant as change! Because of Larry´s fever, the surgeon does not want to put in the stunt yet. He wants Larry to be `fever free` for 2 days before they feel comfortable doing another surgical procedure. I know it´s best not to take any chances when it comes to infection, so we will gladly wait for a couple more days. Because a weekend is coming, it may not be done until Monday. Larry had a really good physical therapy session today and seemed more alert so we are encouraged about that. We haven´t heard anything more about his evaluation for rehab, so we will continue to wait on those results also. Hopefully, I´ll have more to report the first of the week.

April 22, 2015

Hello everyone. I wanted to update you on a couple of things that are happening with Larry this week. You may remember that the Dr.s had planned to insert a shunt in Larry´s brain the first of this week but he has developed a fever and higher white blood cell count again and so they are going to wait until Friday for the shunt. They feel that this change mght be a flare-up of his lung condition and are testing his blood, urine, and brain fluid to narrow everything down. He was able to walk a bit on Sunday and Monday but yesterday (with the fever, etc.) he was unable to do much. This is a concern because tomorrow (Thursday) he will be evaluated by the acute rehab área here to determine if he is able to do the rehabilation necessary for them to accept him. We want very badly for him to be able to do well with this evaluation as we know that this rehab is `the place` that will be most beneficial to him. Because of the pending shunt and rehab evaluation, we will be praying specifically that he can be strong enough to have both of these things go well. If any of you wold like to join us in prayer, we would appreciate it. Thank you for all you are doing for us. We feel your love EVERY day! 

Sunday, April 19th~~Larry´s lungs continue to improve and he is doing better with his oxygen each day. He is off the oxygen mask and on a canula during the day and maintaining his oxygen level pretty well. He was unable to go without the drain when they lowered the drainage amount, so they will be putting in a permanent shunt sometime in the next couple of days. I felt he had his best day so far today and it was so calming. We are ready to start a new week and move to the next steps of Larry`s recovery.

onward and upward

So sorry for the delay in updates! I know, I`m bad!! The last couple of days we have just been watching and waiting. Here´s the latest as best as we know. His brain fluid again shows a decrease in white cell count which is good. It definitely means there is a positive response to the antibiotics. In the next four to five days they are going to be lessening the amount of drainage each day to see if his brain can assimilate its fluid on its own. If it can, they will take out the drain. If not, they will insert a shunt, which will be permanent.  He still has a feeding tube which will remain until he can swallow better. The therapists work with him each day on that. His kidneys don´t have any infection and are functioning about the same as when he first came in. His lungs are still a concern but he is able to sustain his oxygen level better and has gone from 100% oxygen down to 60% and hopefully will get the mask replaced soon and be able to sustain on just the nasal canula. He still has fluid in his lungs and other questionable areas in his lungs that may be from his previous interstacial lung disease or pneumonia. They continue to work on improvement in that área as I mentioned. Larry is very weak and still has difficulty standing and walking etc. but we are hopeful to see him regain some of his strength as the days and weeks continue. He also has some cognative issues that we hope to see improve through therapy as these other physical things improve...especially his brain. He continues in the ICU until some of these issues resolve but we are hoping maybe only another week or week and a half before moving to a regular room and then on to acute rehab.          
It is inspirational and stressful for me each day as I watch him fight this battle. He is certainly doing better but has a long road ahead of him. I am so grateful for your support, love, and prayers for him, and for me also. They have made all the difference in this past month. We have felt such strength and support from all of you and want you to know that you (each and every one of you) mean the world to us.
As they say, onward and upward!!
As everything has smoothed out somewhat and most likely there will be less to report on in the next days and weeks, I may not be posting as much (as you´ve seen the last couple of days!) but I will continue to post as there are changes in his condition and circumstances and will keep you updated as much as possible. I am finding that I now have lots of things to `carry on` with and time is always at such a premium.
Please check back every couple of days...we want to keep in touch!! Love to you all.

Not much to report today. No results on yesterdays lung procedure or tests. No changes...that´s mostly a good thing, right?!
I´ll do better tomorrow. Thanks everyone.

It was so great to be able to take the sacrament with Larry here in his hospital room this morning. Such a sweet spirit here and such a feeling of peace.
Larry was able to get up and walk and sit in a chair for awhile. Larry´s neurologist came in to give us an update. The white cell blood count in the brain is coming down and it appears that the antibiotocs are working. That´s the good news. The not so great news is that the white cell count in his blood is still up. His lungs are not responding to antibiotics and his oxygen level has been down. They have put him on 100% oxygen.

At 2:30 Larry had a broncoscopy, where they put saline in his lung and suck it back out. They will test the fluid to see if they can identify why his lungs are struggling.  Test results will take a couple of days.  They were worried that they might have to put him on a ventilator during the procedure, but it turns out he didn´t need one!  YEAH!!!

They are still concerned about his kidneys and have done a renal untrasound to check those. They may be sending in an infectious disease specialist later also to see if they can help pinpoint why his white count stays so high. They also did an echocardiogram but we have no results on that at present.

Larry has been keeping busy with all of these procedures and tests. Fortunately he´s been sleeping through most of them. :)

Please keep him in your prayers, we need all we can get right now!

Saturday, April 11

Larry has showed more signs of improvement again today. He sat in a chair two different times. He was more aware and alert and communicated with us more than we have seen for many days. It is such a positive change and we are so grateful. The doctors are trying to balance some difficulties involving his lungs and kidneys. He has some fluid congestion in his lungs and when they try to treat it, to reduce the fluid, his kidneys are affected-so they have to back off for awhile to help his kidneys improve. It is a fine line. He doesn´t maintain a safe oxygen level unless he as a hefty amount of oxygen so we are hopeful that they can clear his lungs for better oxygen flow. We have two weeks of mega antibiotics to treat the infection in his brain and hope that he can get stronger during this time. When that time is passed and they are sure the infection is gone, they will begin testing to see if he can be without his brain drain. He will continue to be in the ICU during that time. We are working hard to get to that point and then beyond.....

Such a day as this (4-10-2015)

It was amazing this morning when I walked into Larry´s room to have him open his eyes and say hi!!
I almost couldn´t believe it. He was more awake and alert than I had seen him in days. It was such a relief. I let myself bask in this change for the better and pray it continues. It is not coincidental that our faithful ward members started a fast for Larry and me last night and I have felt strength, comfort,
hope, and peace from their fasting and prayers along with the prayers of so many of our family and friends. I am so grateful for each one of you.
Today Larry´s drain was replaced and also his pik line along with some other tests and x-rays. He will continue to be monitored closely while the antibiotics are given for the next two weeks. They will also be watching his kidneys and lungs that have showed some signs of difficulty during this time. There continue to be difficult things each day and I know we have a long road ahead but I can´t help jumping up and down a little after such a day as this! 

continuation-Thursday, April 8

Just another short update on Larry. He has continued to be very sleepy and unresponsive. He is stable though, and they continue with the antibiotics and many other meds to help him in his different circumstances. It has been a generally quiet day. Tomorrow they will be changing his pic line and they will also need to reinsert the drain in his brain. It seems that when a patient gets a brain infection, the present drain is considered contaminated and needs to be replaced. We`ll see what else tomorrow brings. Thank you so much for your prayers. We feel them profoundly!

Yesterday afternoon we got the first of the results of Larry´s tests.  He has a cranial (brain) infection.  This was very difficult to hear.  I felt Larry needed a blessing and Jon & Jared were able to come.  Amazingly, our bishopric came to the hospital at the same time, not knowig any of Larry´s new difficulties or circumstaces (such a tender mercy) and Jon gave Larry a beautiful blessing with their support.

Today I want to express my great love and appreciation for the faithful priesthood holders in my life.  Jon´s strength and willingness to use this power to bless both Larry and I during these weeks has been a tremendous strength for us and given us peace. Our son-in-laws are the very same way. They are always there ready to exercise the Priesthood in our behalf. and to help in any way. I love and appreciate them more than I can express. I also appreciate our wonderful bishopric and the way they follow the Spirit in fulfilling their callings and their Priesthood responsibilities. I acknowledge the many, many other Priesthood holder family and friends who are exercising this great power in his behalf.

With this new challenge, we would ask for your renewed and continued prayers for Larry. We will truly need them for the fight ahead. We love you all..and thank you!

P.S. We have now been told that Larry will have to remain in the critical neuro ICU for another 2-3 weeks. This type of infection is a major setback.

Wednesday, April 8th

Larry continued to be quite unresponsive today. We want, so much, for him to be more aware and alert. The doctors would like that to (at this point in time) but he has had some setbacks that have made things harder. The doctors ran more tests to see if they could find anything else that would account for his lack of response. We still hope for a turn around sometime soon. Due to Larry´s scleroderma, his recovery may be more difficult and take longer.
Today, I thought about part of a talk by Pres. Uchtdorf. He said: ``Patience is often thought of as a quiet, passive trail, but patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something..even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring. It is enduring well.``
Larry is such an example of this. He has always been so patient in his affliction... but never passive! He has always practiced `active waiting and enduring` never letting any opportunity pass him by. He has never let fear affect his choices. He is one of a very few people I´ve known who has `enduring well` down to a science. 

After the last couple of days, Larry was fairly stable today. He is very weak, even so, they were able to get him up to sit on the side of his bed for a few minutes and even stand for a minute or two. He hasn´t been up at all for a couple of days so that was good. He had another hard night last night so we were very glad to see him get a little more rest during the day. He hasn´t been very responsive again today and we are so hopeful that he will do better in this area real soon . I miss his ´normal` self and his teasing and fun personality. I can´t wait for him to give me a hard time again!!

Monday, April 6th

Today seemed like a continuation of yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that!! Sometimes everything just runs together and I can´t tell when one day ends and the next begins. This morning Larry´s fever was down. His white blood count had also gone down some which we hope is a good sign. I think I mentioned that he has had trouble swallowing so this morning they inserted a feeding tube. This will help greatly with meds and also nutrition. The nurses told me that he had been awake all night and he did seem very tired and lethargic to me. The doctors decided they needed to do another CT scan and when the results came back we found out that the ventricles in his brain were enlarged which indicates the need to reinsert a drain into his brain again. This was done this afternoon. These brain surgeons are incredible. I am absolutely blown away by what they do every day, in what we have been told is one of the very most technical intricate, and difficult surgeries there is. Luckily for us, today´s procedure was very simple compared to what they did two weeks ago when Larry´s life was saved. How could I possibly ever thank them? We are hopeful that Larry can have a better day tomorrow and begin to take more steps toward recovery.

Sunday-Happy Easter

I sure hope all of you have had a good Easter. I was able to watch some of conference with Larry and it was wonderful to hear from our leaders. I love the strength I get each time conference rolls around. I am so grateful for this time of year and the rebirth of flowers and trees as they bud and blossom. It is so beautiful outside.
Larry has been pretty stable today. He continues with the fever but he was awake and more like himself for part of the day. He has been unable to eat and take his meds (orally) though, so they will start him on a feeding tube tomorrow. They are waiting for another 24 hours to determine if the drain in his brain needs to be replaced. They are also waiting for the results of some of the cultures to come back to rule out other infections. It really is a waiting game until tomorrow or maybe even the next day before decisions can be made in some of his circumstances.
I am so grateful for our Savior and for His atoning sacrífice in our behalf. I am grateful for His willingness to suffer all things so that he can succor us and lighten our burdens. I feel him lightening our load at this time and have faith in his plan for each one of us.
I am also very grateful for our children and grandchildren. Spending some time with them this evening was a joy for me. I couldn´t do this without them. They are my strength.  

A couple of quick updates:

Yesterday (Fri., April 3rd):  Larry had a rough day. He spiked a high fever and his white blood count was abnormal. He was very agitated, shaky,  and disoriented. They did tests to try to determine where the infection might be and found something on his chest x-ray that looked like the beginnings of pneumonia. They have started a strong antibiotic to minimize that. His sodium level was also low so they changed his meds to counteract that. A low sodium level  can have very serious consequences for the brain. They changed Larry´s diet to a soft one because he may have aspirated while eating. This will make it much easier for him to get more nourishment as he hasn´t eaten much for days.
Late Friday night, Larry tried to sit up suddenly and partially pulled the drain from his brain. Afterward, the drain was not working properly so it was removed at about 4:00 this morning. That meant that he had to be monitored closely to see how he would do without it and if they would have to reinsert it.

Today (Sat. April 4th): Larrys vital signs were good this morning and his fever was down so he was much more aware and alert which has been good. He has had quite a lot of pain again but they are able to handle that with pain meds. They will do another cat scan between 2-4am in the morning to see if his brain is still doing okay. His fever spiked very high again this afternoon and they are still trying to get it down with  meds, making his room much cooler, and running a fan in his room. Boy, was it cold in there today. I plan to have a coat with me tomorrow! I`m hoping we will have good news from the cat scan and that his drain won´t have to be reinserted tomorrow. Every day right now seems like a year.

There are many days when I don´t know quite how to report on Larry´s day. His `ups and downs` seem to be happening several times each day and just when we feel he is doing a bit better then something changes the next hour. As a basic update, Larry has had a lot of confusion today and had more difficulty with his cognitive abilities. He has been somewhat weaker the last couple of days also and didn´t get to walk at all today. He has had more pain and so he has been on more pain meds. He has also been very agitated and trying to pull out his IV´s, etc. He will be restrained (we call them reminders) tonight so he doesn´t pull anything out. We realize this is necessary but it is hard to watch.
He has had lower sodium levels today which can be a big problem for the brain so they are changing meds, etc. to bring that back up. What a balancing act this is! I am so grateful for the amazing medical care Larry receives each day in this critical care neuro ICU. It is amazing to watch them work under these difficult circumstances. I admire them so much and appreciate all they are doing. We can´t help but form some attachments to some of them.
Larry is such a fighter and it is evident in this battle. He continues to try so hard and is a calm and compliant patient but still exerts his inner strength each and every day. I continue to be so amazed by him. You would think after all these years I would know all there is to know about him, but I continue to learn from him and continue to be inspired by the strength of his spirit and his physical body. He is such a blessing in my life and I am so proud of who he is.
Hoping for better days to come. Thanks to all of you for your continued prayers in our behalf.

Dad can be a difficult patient....during the night Dad decided to pull out his central line.  OUCH! The doctors put it back in.  The procedure takes about 30 min.

He has been in some pain today which the nurses are staying on top of. He did walk down to the shower.  He was able to sit in a chair for a few hours. He is now resting having been given more pain meds.  He is pretty disoriented and has some short term memory loss still, but the doctors are hopeful that will return. Overall he has had a pretty good day! Thank you for your many prayers and support!

March 31st

Larry has had a tougher day again. He struggled again with another fever and some body aches and shakes. He has also had some confusion and slowed responsiveness. They've gotten the fever coming back down and he seems to be resting well right now. We're hoping for a better day tomorrow again.

Keep the prayers coming!  The roller coaster continues!

What a difference a day makes!

What a difference a day makes! Larry has done so much better today. We were told at the beginning of all this that there would be many ups and downs. Of course, they are so right! After a very hard day yesterday, Larry bounced back today. His fever was down, other vitals signs were better, and there was no recurrance of the problems from yesterday. He was able to communicate normally today which was a great relief to us. He even got his first shower and shave today and was able to eat again. It is so gratifying to see his fight to improve, and even though we know we will have other tough days, we are were happy to see him `back` today. Love you, honey!

Dad has has a hard day today.  During the night he was having a hard time communicating and they found a small subdural bleed. They are giving him medication for that.  They also think he may have had a focal electrical seizure. When they gave him seizure medication that subsided.

On a lighter note his sense of humor is still intact. Earlier he started to cough and pulled his blanket over his head. . Mom asked him what he was doing and he said, "I'm hiding... You can't find me in here." we all got a good (and we'll needed) laugh out of that!

Yesterday Larry had more nausea and pain so the Dr gave him some meds and he was able to sleep for awhile. He also started to run a low grade fever and has been coughing. So they are monitoring those things. He was still able to get up and take a walk. Overall he was stable yesterday.

Larry had another good day on Friday. A couple of small `glitches` but nothing too worrisome. We are so happy for each good day. He is doing better every day with his cognitive abilites and converses with everyone with his normal wit! He recognizes us and knows he is in the hospital but can´t remember exactly why he is there. Pretty normal under his circumstances. (I don´t know why we´re here either!??!) They are beginning to do all kinds of therapy with Larry. It is amazing how fast they get patients up and start all of that, but we know it is necessary and important in healing. He was pretty tired by the end of the day...but did manage to make it through the first half of the Utah game before going to sleep!

Saturday: Mike left early this morning and we were sad to see him go, but the military is waiting!!
It has been such a blessing that he could get emergency leave to come. I will miss him as my side-kick and driver for the last few days. Thanks Mike, for all you did.

Has it only been two days, it seems like forever!

Larry has had a good day today (Thursday). He has been stable and the doctors are telling us that he is doing as good as possible considering his circumstances. He is surprising everyone as usual! Yesterday when they tried to have him sit on the edge of his bed, he got really sick and they had to get him back down. He felt pretty crumby after that for quite awhile. He had a relatively good night that night (Wed.) but he tried to escape (get up), isn´t that so like him (!), and get out of bed!! Not a good thing with many IV´s, a central line, large incision, drain in his head, catheter, etc. After his middle of the night ``adventure``, they had to move him to a room across from the main desk so they could keep a constant eye on him! We are told that it is not uncommon for patient´s to try to pull out their IV´s etc. so we have come to expect it a little bit. Today´s experience with getting up was completely different. He was able to sit on the side of the bed, stand, and yes, even walk. Everyone was totally shocked!...even me, and I know how resilient he is. In the next few days, we have been told to expect some difficulties so we are really glad for every good day he has. We continue to feel the Lord`s spirit with us every step of the way. We express our love and appreciation to each one of you for your prayers in our behalf. We are so humbled by your concern, love, and support. We are so blessed. It has been wonderful to be surrounded by our children and to have Mike here (he was able to get emergency leave to come home). We are so grateful for each of them and so happy to have them with us through this challenge. They buoy us up constantly. They are awesome! We hope for another good day tomorrow. We´ll keep you posted.

On March 24, 2015 @ 7:30 am Dad, (Larry) had a Subarachnoid Hemorrhage. Also know as a brain aneursym rupture.  He collapsed at home, and thankfully Mom (Paula) was there.  He was experiencing weakness and numbness in his arms and legs to the point that he was unable to move on his own.  He was also vomiting and sweating profusely.  He described the worst headache he had ever experienced.  Kent and Melissa arrived at their home shortly after and Mom called 911.  Kent gave Dad a priesthood blessing at that time. The paramedics transported him to LDS Hospital.  

While in the ER at LDS they ran a CAT scan. The scan showed bleeding in his brain.  At that point the ER doctors decided he needed to be transported by ambulance to Intermountain Medical Center. While waiting for transport his Bishop, Bishop Black and  Brother Stewart gave dad another blessing.

We arrived at IMC around 12:30 pm.  There they admitted Dad to the Neuro ICU.  He then underwent an angiogram.  This scan showed where the aneursym.  The surgeon told us that his best chance for survival was surgery where the doctor would clip the aneursym and place a drain to remove the excess blood and fluid. Clipping requires a craniotomy (opening of the skull) to locate the aneurysm, followed by the placement of clips around the neck of the aneurysm.  This surgery was performed at 6 pm and was finished around 9:30.  

After the surgery the surgeon told us that things went well.  Dad was experiencing weakness in his right side that was a concern.  His left side looked good!  Within about an hour Dad was regaining movement in his right side, so that is very reassuring.  He did pretty well through the night.  He had another angiogram this morning and it looked good.  

Dad's prognosis looks good.  There are many complications that can come from the aneursym and surgery.  He will remain in the neuro ICU for the next 3 weeks.  The Doctors and nurses have been wonderful and so helpful.  We are very grateful for everything they have done for Dad.  

We want to express our sincere thanks and love for all of you that have fasted and prayed for Dad! We could feel your love and the blessings of the Lord!  Please continue to pray for Dad, he is not completely out of the woods yet!