Post-Op (#2)

Mom is back in her room following her surgery. She still hasn't come fully out of the anesthesia yet, but she has been able to talk well enough to ask about the surgery and ask my dad for a kiss. We were hoping for a definite answer and fix from the surgeons, but did not get that. We did, however, feel encouraged by the surgeons and felt like the surgery was a success. Mom's surgery took about two hours. During her surgery, we were surrounded by sweet friends who brought us food, prayed with us, and even made us laugh. We are continually thankful for the outpouring of love that has been shown to us through this ordeal.

The surgeons were able to go through Mom's bowel inch by inch more than three times looking for a hole, tear, etc. They did not find one. Their only answer to this was that she had a perforation at one time that has now healed. We know that prayers have been lifted up for Mom's healing...and that He is answering those.

The surgeons were able to remove all of the infected fluid that has been building up in Mom's body. We are so thankful for this. As this fluid has been draining the past three days, she has been showing improvement. We are prayerful that by all of this infected fluid being removed from her body, she will not only feel much better, but be able to begin to heal.

In addition, the doctors removed Mom's appendix. They felt that the infection was beginning to affect the appendix and wanted to make sure there would not be any further problems that could arise from that.

Summary - The surgery gave us assurance that there is no tear or perforation causing new infection. They stated that the bowel looked healthy. Furthermore, they cleansed her body of infectious matter that should pave the way for healing.

So...again we wait. Max came and read Psalm 40 during Mom's surgery..."I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry." As we wait now to see our next step, we trust that God is hearing and answering prayers for Mom. We thank you all for offering those in her behalf. Over the next 24-48 hours, we will watch to see how Mom responds to the surgery and to see if the infected fluid returns. Our strong prayer is that it does not return.

Thank you again for your love and concern,

Kelly (for all of us)

No More Waiting

After waiting and hoping for the infection in mom's abdomen to improve, the doctors decided this morning to perform emergency surgery. She has just been taken back to the operating room and the doctors are currently working on her. The surgeon feels like there is a perforation in mom's bowel that is causing the wide-spread infection throughout her abdomen. His hope and our prayer is that he will be able to find the tear or hole and repair it. He said there would be several different ways for this to be done, and he would have to determine this during surgery.

This surgery is exploratory in nature and will be much more extensive than the last one. We are sad that she has to have surgery again, but so hopeful that this can be a step in the direction of recovery.

In the pre-op room, our family sat and sang together (kind of our church service for the day). Kasey, Kara and I sang songs she requested and she sang along with several of them. It was a strange time of blessing for all of us. We discussed lessons we have learned through this... lessons about family, friends, and caring for others during hard times (and how we have felt so cared for the past 12 days). Our biggest lesson is that God is in control... and we are thankful for that.

Please pray for mom as she is in surgery now as she tries to recover. Pray for the doctors' hands and minds as they care for her. Please pray that this surgery is the answer and that she can begin to get well.

On a side note... My cell phone is not working. The buttons and the screen are both broken. It has been the worst timing ever for a broken phone! If you need to reach me, feel free to text 210.857.2158 or 214.405.1914. I will have these phones with me until Tuesday when my new one arrives.

Thank you for loving us and for loving our mom. We will continue to keep you updated.

Our scripture for today was Isaiah 40:28-31. We pray that the Lord will renew her strength in every way.

Kelly (for the family)

Saturday- a better day

Mom had a better day today. It was quiet at the hospital, due to the weekend, so there was much less noise, traffic, rounds of doctors, etc. Because of that, Mom got some good rest. She ate well today and is moving around a little bit better. The nurses moved her to a new room this afternoon because her bed had been hurting her back. Her new room has a different type of bed that should make her more comfortable. It seemed nice to have a new view...and a lot more space in the new room. We had a meeting with the doctors this morning and they were encouraging about Mom's continued progress, though it is very slow.

I read Psalm 27 to Mom today. The last verse is "Wait for the Lord; Be strong and take heart; Wait for the Lord." That is what we are doing right now. The doctors have done what they can and we are waiting for the Lord to heal her. We thank Him for watching over her this week and pray for His continued protection and healing.

Friday Night

Today was a day of waiting. After all of the reports we received yesterday, today was spent watching and waiting for Mom to get better. We saw improvements this morning in her energy, appetite, and mood. She was able to get her hair washed, put on a little bit of make-up, and she even chuckled a time or two.

The doctors are still working very hard to kill the infection in her belly, as this is going to be a very slow process. The reports today were encouraging, but we still seem to have some questions to be answered about the origin and reason for all of these extra complications - we continue to pray that the extra complications are over. We are beginning to hear some mention of treatment/therapy at home, so that has been very encouraging to us.

Mom was very tired this evening as we were leaving. She is still not up to having visitors. We are hoping she can get some good rest tonight, as it will help her continue to heal.

She will have a CT scan in the next few days to give the doctors some more information. This will help them analyze progress and determine needed treatment. She is NOT happy about having this test done, since it was very hard on her body having to drink the liquid that is required for it. But Dr. Martin is trying to work out a way to make this test easier on her. We continue to be so very grateful for Dr. Martin.

Thank you for your prayers, scriptures, calls, comments, emails, facebook messages, cards, and other expressions of your love. They have all been uplifting to her and to all of us.

Kelly (for all of us)

Thursday Night

We all just got home together after a long and eventful day. Kara arrived safely and was able to give my mom a nice surprise tonight by coming into the hospital room.

Mom's morning started out bright and early with testing to determine the extent of the infection in her abdomen. In the radiology department, scans were done to determine where pockets of infected fluid have collected in her abdominal cavity- fluid that has caused Mom to be extremely swollen and in great discomfort and pain. The decision had been made yesterday by Mom's surgeon that a small amount of this fluid would be removed and tested to make sure the correct medications were being used to fight the infection. When this fluid was extracted, the doctors decided that the infection was severe enough that the fluid needed to be drained from her abdomen. Two drains were inserted to try to release this pressure and remove as much of the infection as possible. This procedure was uncomfortable for Mom, but she agreed that it was needed to help her heal.

We met with a large team of doctors this afternoon and discussed many questions, concerns, etc. There have been many issues that have come up since Mom's surgery that have been unexpected complications... issues involving her kidneys, protein levels, infections, etc....and the doctors have done an amazing job of treating Mom with each new issue. The team is looking for a reason that all of these complications have occurred. There is still not a definite answer for that.

In the next 24 to 48 hours, we will be watching and praying for the infection to be gone from her body. The doctors are continuing very strong, broad-spectrum antibiotics through IV to attack the infection. The hope is that along with these antibiotics, the new drains will help by pulling infected fluid out, and that no more will return. We are watching and hoping for a drastic improvement in how Mom feels within the next 2 days, giving indication that the medications and treatments are working. We also pray that the unexpected complications are finished! The surgeon told us today that we are just having to take her case one day at a time. It has been a wild roller coaster ride, and tonight, we feel like we are headed back up. I think we are all (especially including Mom!) ready for the ride to be safely over!

As we left Mom tonight, she was tired but in good spirits. It was good to have all 5 of us there together. Mom was very sore and fatigued from today's procedures, but seemed more comfortable than she has been in many days. She was able to eat a few bites of dinner for the first time in 9 days and even enjoyed a few sips of a lime slush from Sonic. We look forward to and pray for more progress tomorrow.

I took many of the comments from the earlier blog posts up and read them to Mom at the hospital tonight. She seemed to really gain strength from knowing that so many people are praying for her. Thank you so much for your love and prayers. We feel surrounded by them.

We have all been discussing lessons that we have been learning from this ordeal today. We are grateful to God for health, family, and friends. He provides for us in every situation, and we give Him thanks for how He has worked in this situation this week.

It has been amazing to watch and learn from Mom this week. Even in her most difficult moments, she shows care and concern for the people who are taking care of her. She knows the name (and usually the life story of) every person who has come in her room, and she continually asks how their mother, child, grandchild, etc. is doing. She is truly amazing.

Thank you for checking on us and thank you for your continued prayers. We will continue to provide updates.

Kelly (for all of us)

Thursday Morning

This morning, Mom went to the radiology department and had several tests done to determine how best to treat the infection in her abdomen. The doctors were able to do some procedures that will hopefully alleviate some of Mom's discomfort and pain, as well as give us some more needed information. They sedated Mom during the procedures, so she is kind of groggy coming out of that right now. We continue to pray that the doctors are able to find out more information and that they are able to treat whatever comes our way. All of the specialists that have been working with her have been wonderful and have taken very good care of her. Mom is allowed to eat at this point, so we are working on finding her things that sound good to her and that will give her strength. Please pray for her strength, as it is so hard seeing her body go through so much.

We are with Mom a lot during the day and would love to give her encouragement from this blog. If you have a minute, we would love it if you would leave a comment for her and sign your name(s) at the end so we can read it to her. We will print them off and be taking them to her daily. We know that even though it is too difficult for her to visit with friends in person right now, she would be so encouraged by getting to hear from you.

Thanks for loving us and especially for loving and caring about her.

Kelly (for all of us)

Updates on Mom

Last Tuesday, July 13, my mom, Sharon Wilson, experienced an onset of stomach pain that quickly developed into an unbearable, debilitating and frightening ordeal. My dad rushed her to the hospital where they immediately admitted her and began testing to identify the issue. Right away, the diagnosis was made that there was an intestinal blockage. After a couple of days of conservative efforts to try to let it resolve itself, the decision was made to operate. As it turned out, the cause of the pain was the best of the possibilities (by the way, my dad says he doesn't recommend consulting the internet for self-diagnosis…scary); last Thursday, surgery was performed to cut away some scar tissue that had caused entanglement of her intestine. The surgery was successful and the outlook was one of relief and quick recovery. However, complications arose over the days following surgery. Those issues included the diagnosis of an infection in and around her stomach, blood chemistry difficulties that caused physical challenges with pain, and other messes, all of which have made her very sick.

An extraordinary team of caring professionals, led by Dr. James Martin, our fabulous longtime physician who is the Chief Medical Officer of the Santa Rosa Hospital System, has worked day and night to identify the problems and reign them in. Two nights ago, Dr. Martin described the last few days as “filled with uh-ohs.” He told us he was greatly relieved that they now don’t see any more “uh-ohs” on the horizon and that all of the challenges are being met with careful strategies to get her well. He told us that she should feel better in the next few days, and we were sure ready to hear that pronouncement instead of the scientific medical term, “uh-oh.” We’re counting on her feeling better real soon. And we have discussed the useful lessons already learned from this experience.

My mom is still in Santa Rosa; she still doesn’t feel well enough to have visitors, and although she agrees, that really bugs her. While this was all happening, my sisters and I were literally around the world. We have all come together now (Kara is in route) to be with my mom and dad during this scary ordeal. We have been so thankful for all of the prayers, thoughts, expressions of concern, and offers of help we have received. We promise to let you know if there is something we need.

Mom is due to have another hard procedure in the morning for the doctors to gain more information. Please continue to pray for both her physical health and spirit. This past week and a half has been filled with many ups and downs, and we continue to pray for a lot more "ups." Thank you for loving us and for loving our sweet mom. She is one amazing lady and we have been even more convinced of that this week as we have watched her fight. We know and are convinced that God is watching over her and giving her what she needs.

Kelly (for the whole Wilson clan)