Recovery

Thank you everyone for all of your many thoughts and prayers! I am now home recovering so I figured I could update everyone about my surgery!

Friday 3:45am our alarm goes off and its time to shower and head to The Heart Hospital. I made sure to wear my lucky four leaf clover socks that the Mays family gave me for my last surgery!

About 5:30am The pre-op stuff began. This included paperwork, drawing blood, a chest xray, and starting my iv. Did I mention I hate needles? Well the nurse was so nice to say they would numb my hand for my iv... yeah well no one mentioned that it was a numbing shot... I didn't sign up for an extra needle to be stabbed into my hand.. After the numbing shot she started the iv but was unable to thread it therefore she sat there digging around in my hand for a while until she decided to give up and the anesthesiologist stepped in and put the iv in my other hand... Lets just say I was NOT happy and if this was any indication on how my surgery was going to go I was a little worried.

Around 7:15am it was time to head back to surgery. Night night for me!

Around 9:00am I woke up with a scratchy throat and busted lip from being intubated.(sp?) Once I was brought back to the room it was time for a popsicle! The nurse offered me a menu to order breakfast from and then realized Dr. Ryan ordered me to be on a liquid diet so all I had was beef broth! yummy... Then I was given pain meds!

A big thank you to the staff at The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano because they are absolutely the sweetest most caring bunch around! Regardless of my silly questions and comments they always smile and make you feel at home!

Around 11 I was released from the hospital. We spent the remainder of the day watching movies on the couch and sleeping. The pain from the incision was not enjoyable.

Today Win and Mom went with me to school to help finish setting up my classroom for my transition to our new curriculum. A big thank you to them both because I was very stressed out about how I was going to get it all done!

I don't have much of an appetite today, I have felt nauseous on and off, and I have a fear that I have urinary retention... Sorry if that is too much information but its true! The pain from the incision is less today but still hurts. Hopefully tomorrow I will be back to normal!

On a positive note I am now OBSESSED with Pinterest and can't wait to show off my new craft projects! Fun blogs to come!

Wireless!

Katy did great! Doc said he could see inflammation around the wires when he got in there and took them out. Hopefully now Katy can get past all the pain and discomfort and move on to the next stage of her rehab from her heart surgery. You can see from the photo she's awake and resting and we got a souvenir too :)

EARLY MORNIN

We just checked in at the hospital and are awaiting to finish up registration and pre-op stuff. We're hoping todays' procedure is just a day surgery and she can come home this afternoon. Either Jan (Katy's mom) or I will post an update when we hear from the surgeon. Mazy and Ninja had to fight over who got to give mommy a kiss goodbye first ^_^

Surgery

Tomorrow morning I will be going in to have my wires around my sternum taken out. We have to be at The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano at 5am and then surgery is scheduled for 7:30am! Win and my mom will be with me and hopefully Win will be able to update the blog so everyone knows my progress. My cardiac surgeon said if I am tolerating the pain meds well should be able to go home tomorrow afternoon, if not they will keep me over night! Thank you very much for all of your thoughts and prayers!

Update on my murmur: My cardiologist's nurse called yesterday to let me know that the stress echo with doppler confirmed that I have pulmonary stenosis. After I speak with my cardiac surgeon tomorrow I will hopefully know more abuot what that means for me!

WISH ME LUCK!

Frustrated

What is wrong with me? Why is something always wrong with me? Will my heart ever be healthy? These are the questions that go through my head all the time.
Last week I spend every afternoon at some sort of doctors appointment. My cardiologist and I are both concerned about why I still have a very loud murmur and shortness of breath. I cant climb a few stairs, or get in and out of bed in the middle of the night, let alone exercise without having shortness of breath. I'm not in the best shape but come on at the age of 28 I shouldn't have these constant problems. Keep in mind 7 months ago I had open heart surgery to close my VSD and they stitched a PFO... You would think my problems would be solved... but nope. So then I went to see my cardiac surgeon... after a 2 hour anxious wait in his office and a very unprofessional meeting here is what I know: I have surgery scheduled for next Friday to have the wires wrapped about my sternum removed which should solve my chest pain and constant inflammation, he thinks the murmur we are hearing is a flow murmur, I have to have a stress echo with doppler to determine my pulmonary artery pressures and then we can figure out what to do next.
So today I had my stress echo with doppler.... I hit my target heart rate at 160 in 4.5 minutes, and then my max heart rate of 190 at 8 minutes. PITIFUL! Its so frustrating! Anyways, the cardiologist reading the test today does not know my case so he wasn't very helpful... I will hopefully hear from my cardiologist and my cardiac surgeon in the next day or two before surgery.

I'm ready to be fixed! For real this time! Goodbye wires!

Waiting...

I have been putting this off for some time now but I guess now is as good of a time as any. A few weeks ago I had a CT scan done of my chest to check the healing of my sternum. In addition to the fact that my sternum had not healed enough, the CT also revealed a mass in my right breast. Last week I had an ultrasound and a mammogram which revealed a shadowing solid mass about the size of a nickle. Following that appointment we scheduled a needle biopsy which I had this afternoon. So now its waiting time. I should find out the results in 2-3 days but since my appointment was on a Thursday I will have to wait until Monday or Tuesday. I am very blessed to have many amazing family and friends supporting me through another crazy time in 2011. Of course I am hoping to hear the word benign but as crazy as this sounds I feel like if its malignant I can survive! I know that peace comes from God!

Many people choose to keep things like this private but talking through things is how I keep trucking forward! So there it is! The next few days will be spent with lots of family and friends and I am looking forward to that!

Love you all!

One Day Without Shoes

I could not wait to post this blog just to show off my cute students' toes!
For those of you that have not heard about Toms let me provide you with a little background.

One for One Movement

In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by TOMS customers.

Why Shoes?

Many children in developing countries grow up barefoot. Whether at play, doing chores or going to school, these children are at risk:

•A leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted diseases, which can penetrate the skin through bare feet. Wearing shoes can help prevent these diseases, and the long-term physical and cognitive harm they cause.

•Wearing shoes also prevents feet from getting cuts and sores. Not only are these injuries painful, they also are dangerous when wounds become infected.

•Many times children can't attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they don't have shoes, they don't go to school. If they don't receive an education, they don't have the opportunity to realize their potential.

April 5th was TOMS One Day Without Shoes Day to raise awareness! The link below explains it all!

http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com/

So I got really excited since I LOVE TOMS... I own the black sparkle pair, the silver sparkle pair, and the red canvas ones.... So I came to school yesterday morning with a mission to spread the word to my students and go the day without shoes.
When class began I asked my kids, "Why do we wear shoes?" This question completely stumped them. After a little more digging around the ideas started flying: "so our feet dont get dirty," "so our feet dont stink," "so we dont step on glass," "so we dont step on bugs," and answers continued to roll. Then I said, "Do you know that there are children all around the world that do NOT have any shoes?" Their jaws dropped. They could not believe that they have lots of shoes in their closest and other kids had to walk around with no shoes at all. So I then proposed to them that we would honor all of those kids by spending the day in class barefoot.... At first you heard a few giggles and snickers but as soon as I took off my shoes all the students followed suit! Here are a few pictures of our feet!

Baby Cash and Win's Birthday

Congratulations to Ginia and Russell! It's a BOY! CASH (Richard Cash Luker) made his debut at 11:58pm on March 15th (9 pounds 1 ounce, 21 inches)! We are so excited for them and couldn't wait to meet the little man. So on Monday the 21st Win and I made a day trip to Austin to meet Cash... He is absolutely precious! Mom looks great and is way more calm and collected than any new mom I have ever seen. And Russell is a natural as well! Enjoy the pictures below!







Today is my wonderful husband's 27th Birthday! With Win's new job he has been working the 2nd shift meaning he does not arrive home until after 2am in the morning, making it extremely hard to spend much time together. So I had to get creative with his birthday celebration this year. So as I was fast asleep when he arrived home last night (the early morning hours of his birthday) this is what he found in his spot in bed!



He was very excited to receive the Ping golf bag because my dad had given him a set of Ping clubs for Christmas! And I was nice enough to get him the Cowboy blue one... yes this was difficult for me considering the sales man kept trying to talk me into getting him the red and black one (the red raider in me wanted that one too). I then told Win we would be going to breakfast in the morning so the alarm was set for 8 am... he was not very thrilled about this plan but he went along with it anyways! :) So at 8 we woke up and got ready to go.... One last surprise... I told Win he was going to be blindfolded! Win's response, "seriously Katy!" :)



We then traveled to Lewisville to Ham and Eggs where Win was greeted by his mom, dad, sister, and best friends John and Ryan! Ham and Eggs is famous for there LARGE portions of food! We all ate ourselves silly! Unforunately Win had to spend the rest of his birthday working :( I however spend the rest of his birthday sleeping off a full tummy! Here is a typical breakfast at Ham and Eggs!


Tomorrow Win has to work yet again and I will be headed down to Dallas to cheer on my friends running in the Susan B Komen Rock n Roll Half Marathon!

Recovery

I want to begin this post by saying a big THANK YOU to each and every one of our family and friends that took time to say a prayer for us, post a comment, send flowers, cook us food, or come and visit. We have been overwhelmed with the thoughtfulness from everyone. Now that I am home and recovering I feel the need to blog. First of all my husband, Win, is the most amazing man in the entire world. I have known this for a long time now but having to depend on him to lay me down in bed each night with all my pillows stacked up, he sets his alarm to wake up and give me my pain medicine in the middle of the night, and then in the morning he picks me up out of bed because the pain is too much for me to sit up on my own. He is always one step ahead of me not letting me open any doors that may be too heavy or reach too high to grab a glass or plate.... he truly is amazing! Next the outreach from my family, friends, and coworkers. I can not say it enough how blessed I am to have so many wonderful people in my life. To each and every one of you out there that has supported us through this time, I hope we in return are able to share the same with you because we love you all.

-Recovery- each day is one step closer to being healed. Pain is worst in the mornings, while I'm trying to sleep, and if I push myself too far. On my breathing treatment device I have reached 1000 which is great because I was barely hitting 500 in the hospital! It is a personal goal for me to get back to 2500 which is what I was at the morning before surgery. I will keep you posted!

-Win's Job Hunt- THE HUNT IS OVER!!!!! Win got a job working for Ceva Logistics in Lewisville. He is very excited about this new beginning because he will be working with a team of people again! Be looking for posts about his new job in the future!

Today is a very exciting day for my best friend Ginia and her husband Russell. She was induced this morning and we are still waiting for lil baby Luker to make his/her appearance! By next blog I will FINALLY know if its a boy or girl!!!!! :)

I really think Im going to like this blogging stuff... Happy Spring Break Everyone! -Katy

HOME!!

So I didn't bring it up last night because I didn't want to jinx it, but things remained well enough that they let us take her home!! We just got her settled on the couch with some pillows and a blanket and the doggies. She is fighting a migraine/headache so far and is pretty worn out from all the activity yesterday and this morning so she is just taking it easy. She feels up for visitors this afternoon if anybody wants to make the trip just give us a call,. So another major hurdle jumped and we are just super relieved to have her home and get to sleep in our own bed (I am super stoked for that my back has had it with that couch/bed lol). So on to the next phase we are gonna keep her as active as she can handle and keep trying the breathing treatments and do what we can to keep the pain under control. Thank you all so so much for all the thoughts and prayers they have clearly been answered so far!


Win

More Progress

Today has been a good day, Katy went on 4 walks today the first 3 were 2 laps around and the last one was 3 laps. She ate a few times today with dinner being some cheese enchiladas from her favorite mexican food place Casa Rita's that I ran and grabbed this evening. The pain has continued to stay at a manageable level with the pain mostly coming from coughing which she needs to do to continue moving anything left lingering around her lungs around/out, and the breathing treatments are cause for for some chest pains since she has to try to take as deep breaths as she can in and out. The power from her breathing is still low but the Dr. says if she keeps up the walking and moving the numbers will come and not to worry so much about that. Off to bed now hope to a good nights sleep as she was real active today.

Win

Gatekeeper

Last night seemed to be a good night, after getting all her tubes out except the main IV line she was able to take a real shower last night and put on some of her comfy PJ's. She got more sleep last night then any before to go with her finally giving in and napping some during the day (I'm right more then she likes to admit ^_^) so this rest will do her good as her breathing this morning sounded better then yesterday. So with the tubes all out of the way, it's time to hit the walks and breathing exercises hard now to get those lungs goin. Now for those of you that want to start making visits, I know strep throat and viruses have been going around and if you are even kind of feeling sick and haven't been to the Dr. to prove otherwise I have to be the mean old troll gatekeeper and ask that you refrain from making a trip to see her please as it can be real bad news for her to catch anything in her condition right now. I know mean old Win, but you've all known I'm a jerk for awhile so there ;). Anyways, hopefully today continues to be on the path we're on and she will be able to come home sooner rather then later cause them doggies miss her. Thanks again everybody for all the offers for help and well wishes you sure do make us feel loved!

Win

Tubeless

Well hopefully another step in the right direction, the X-ray showed the air being out from around the lungs and just some fluid remaining near the bottom. They decided to do a ultrasound to pinpoint where the fluid is to go in and drain it so it doesn't sit in there and fester any longer, the ultrasound didn't provide a good picture so they went with a CT Scan and found no fluid after the CT. Apparently when the air was in the way and her breathing became labored she compensated (unconsciously) with one lung more then the other and her diaphram came up and began to restrict the lung from inflating. So they took her incision drain, chest tube and heart lead wires out. Hopefully the relief from getting the chest tube out will allow her to breath better and get that lung back up to speed. She also will be able to take a shower later this evening (she's super excited about that). She has gotten a little more rest today also, hopefully the breathing starts to get stronger with the air gone from around her lungs and the chest tube out of the way. She also ate a grilled cheese for lunch so she has eaten more today then she has any day combined since surgery. This has been a good day so far and hopefully this trend continues :)

Win

Better Morning

Katy was able to sleep a little last night thankfully and it seems the pain has gotten to a more manageable level. Hopefully we can keep the pain under some control, the breathing is still a bit of a problem we're waiting on the the mornings X-ray results, once they are able to take out the chest tube it will help with the pain some, but we have to get the air/fluid out of there or she has a risk of catching pneumonia. If it doesn't get any better they will put another tube in at a different location. This has been the best feeling morning she has had so far though, she has a little more strength to her voice, she squeezed down a little breakfast and we went on her longest walk yet already today, so more positives then negatives so far today. The main goal for today is to get that breathing under control so she can take proper deep breaths and trying to convince her its okay to take a little nap here and there during the day she tries to stay awake since her parents and myself are around, i think after getting some sleep last night she'll feel better about dozing off here and there since it helped a lot.

Win

Rough Day

Sorry for the late post everybody been a long day. The air/fluid around her lungs got a little worse during the day so they changed a couple pumps around in hopes of helping with that, if this doesn't start working they will add another tube at a different location tomorrow. Coming off the epidural was really rough on Katy today allong with the labored breathing. Pain seems to have gotten somewhat better this evening and hopefully she will be able to get a little sleep tonight, we also hope that her chest begins to clear out more so the lungs can expand and her breathing becomes easier. On a good note she did go for another walk today and has eaten a little bit, hopefully she continues to gain an appetite and is able to do these walks as they help her feel better when she does. I'll post again mid morning when I get some new news.

Win

Day 2 issues

A good thing for post surgery and the first day was they gave her an epidural as I'm sure it did help with her pain, unfortunately that had to come out and move to different forms of pain management and the transition for Katy has been pretty rough so far today. Nurses are confident that as the day goes on and the new meds work into her system the pain will become more bearable. The pain and removal of the epidural has caused Katy's breathing to become a little labored and her heart rate to go up some, no cause for concern we're told just making for a rough day so far for her, the lack of sleep probably doesn't help either but they have to continue to monitor her through the night so she can't really get a lot of rest at one time. We'll see how the day progresses and hopefully we still get to take out the chest tube later to help with her breathing. I'll post another update this afternoon and hopefully she will feel up to visitors soon but right now she needs to rest and try to get a handle on the new meds and her breathing.

Win

First Day

Things are winding down for the day here for us, been pretty taxing for Katy but all in all went well. She was able to walk a little twice today, and was able to eat a little bit of food a few hours ago some mac n cheese (shocker there eh ^_^) and some chicken broth. We hope to get the chest tube out tomorrow sometime after the morning chest X-ray at which time her breathing will become much much easier they tell us. The second half of the day they seemed to get a better handle of manageing her pain some so hopefully she can get some sleep tonight inbetween wake ups to check her blood sugar every hour or so. Due to the labored breathing its hard for her to project her voice while we wait on her lungs to get back up to speed so family/friends be patient that want to hear from her she should be feeling up to it soon hopefully. Thank you again everybody for all the kind words and well wishes we feel very loved. I'll give some more updates tomorrow morning when I get some more info.

Win

Speed Racer

Katy did great on her first walk earlier today, made a whole lap around the nursing station they didn't think she would feel up to going very far. Pain is still substantial and they are doing what they can for it. X-ray from this morning showed the air around her lungs is becoming less and less which is good so hopefully the chest tube can come out tomorrow pending another X-ray. She will do another walk this afternoon and continue with her breathing treatments to get her lungs back up to speed after surgery. Greg and Jan (Katy's parents) are providing great support as well and have let me break away for a bit to let Mazy and Ninja (our dogs) out and allow me to take a shower and change. My folks and sister stopped by briefly to check up on her and are thrilled with how great Katy looks it was good to see them for a little while. Things seems to be going on point thus far, thank you all for the support!

Win

First Night/Morning

A bit of a rough night, she had to have a few breathing treatments and nurses coming and going which is to be expected, she started coughing alot (also expected) as her lungs are working to clear themselves out and it causes some discomfort and anxiety. They got her up into a chair last night and again this morning and she has done well with that but after moving there is obviously a good deal of pain. It can be a helpless feeling sometimes as all I want to do is take her pain away and I can't and the feeling is worse then I could imagine, but I know she is being given such great care by the staff here and between that and the meds I know she is being kept as comfortable as can be. We really are blessed to have everything worked out the way it has to end up at this hospital with this amazing staff and our friend Allison (one of the cardiac recovery nurses, we love you!!). Katy has been such a trooper through this and I'm so proud of her, we know this is all for the best and we are on the right path still. Later this morning they will get her up to walk a little bit and see how she handles that it's important they start these kinds of rehab this early as it really helps the healing process and make sure things are working as they should, it will help her state of mind as well to move around. Thank you again for all the well wishes, hopefully this weekend we will open up for visitors I will keep you all posted.

Win

Post Surgery Update

Katy is awake and talking some inbetween dozing off here and there. Only a slight set back, an xray showed she developted a pneumothorax, which is some air outside the lungs but inside the chest wall so they gave her a chest tube to drain the air so the lungs can inflate properly hopefully will come out tomorrow or Saturday. This is a very common occurance I'm told for this kind of procedure. Otherwise she is doing well and just taking it easy.

Win

Surgery Completed

All is well after surgery! They are moving her to her room and we should be able to go in and see her soon on a 1 in 1 out basis as the hours post surgery are very critical to ensure everyting is working correctly. Dr. Ryan said she did very well and they closed her VSD, while they were in there they found a second defect in her atrium called a PFO (Patent Foramen Ovale), it was a very small one which is why it had never been detected until now and while they were in there they went ahead and closed that one as well. We are super happy that this portion is over with and went well and now it's on to the recovery that will present new hurdles but she is a tough cookie and I'm confident she will do great, she has a great support system of friends and family and know that you are all a big part of helping her get through this we love you all. More updates to come when I can get in there and see that beautiful face :)

Win

Heart update

One of the nurses called me, and said things are going well so far and they are in there doing their thing. Soon I will know a room number that will be Katy's home for the next week or so and will let everybody know. Thank you again for all the encouragement and prayers, hopefully they will be wrapped up in a the next couple hours.

Win

It's go time

Hey everybody, it was a pleasant time waiting for them to get Katy ready for surgery a few laughs here and there (you know Katy and myself handle things with humor). The hospital staff has been wonderful thus far and we really feel comfortable as can be. Katy has handled herself so very well this morning I think the nerves and anxiety were more shown on my face then hers. Katy's parents and I just said our see you laters to her and they wheeled her back to do final preps in the OR. Thank you all for the continued thoughts and prayers, it's loving family and friends like you all that help us in these stressful times. I will post again with the first update that I get and fill you all in with room number/phone number when I know it.

Win

Heart Surgery Information

Family and Friends-
We have decided to begin this blog to keep everyone up-to-date about my heart surgery. During the course of my surgery Win will be constantly updating our blog so everyone gets the latest information all at the same time.
We want to make sure everyone is on the same page with what is going on. A week or so ago we found out that I will NOT be able to have the minimally invasive surgery like we had hoped. Because of the placement of the hole between my ventricles they will have to perform a median sternotomy.
My surgery in this coming Thursday March 3rd at 7:30am at The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano and it should last anywhere between 3-5 hours. Many of you have asked for contact information so below I am including the information we have as of now.

The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano
1100 Allied Dr. Plano, TX 75093
1-800-4Baylor

Win's cell- (817) 808-9834

Once we are in my room we will update with a direct phone line.
I should be in the hospital for 5-7 days.
For now we ask for no visitors for atleast the first two days per recommendation from the hospital. Once I am feeling up to visitors Win will update everyone and then we welcome you all!

We thank you all for the continued thoughts, prayers, and support.
Love, Katy and Win