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!