This Week's Update [1/25/15] - GJ Doing Well

[The Weekly Update is an email that was started in the fall of 2010 to keep family and friends informed of my medical condition and has continued as a review of family activities.  Written by Zelma and edited by Steve. Working on adding past issues to the blog.]

Hi All,

Wow - it certainly has been an eventful year so far.

GJ's surgery went well Tuesday morning and she spent ~ 2 days in the Cardiac Intensive Care unit at Rochester General before being transferred up to the Cardiac floor.  When we had met with the surgeon on Monday, he said sometimes patients move from the hospital to a transitional care facility for further rehab before going home.  One of the recommended rehab facilities for cardiac is St. Ann's.  Since it is right across the street from the hospital, I called to see if we could get a tour.  

Roger, Jean, John and I went for a tour and then had lunch in their cafe.  It looks like an excellent facility - really focused on helping you reach your goal of being able to return home.  Unless there is a last-minute snafu on the paperwork side, tomorrow morning Mom should be discharged from the hospital and check into St. Ann's.  In addition to having an excellent rehab program, it is also only about 5 mins. from my office.

Given what good progress Mom is making, Roger returned home to Harrisburg, PA yesterday to try and miss the snowstorm that was forecast and Jean and John flew home today.  It was great having everyone here and I know Mom especially appreciated it.  I am attaching a picture of GJ, John and Jean from Monday night before surgery.  We are now all referring to ourselves as Mom's "Staff". :-)

In other events, Matthew headed off to college today for the Spring semester.  Thanks to Bill and Lisa for helping him get organized and seeing him to school.

With all this we did get some riding in - miles for the week are 70, miles for 2015 are 302, and total miles are 12,556.

Take care,

Zelma

This Week's Update [1/18/15] - Happy Birthday Steve and GJ Passes Steve for Complicated Medical "Stuff"

[The Weekly Update is an email that was started in the fall of 2010 to keep family and friends informed of my medical condition and has continued as a review of family activities.  Written by Zelma and edited by Steve. Working on adding past issues to the blog.]

Hi All,

It seems like a long time since last week's update.  Monday, GJ had her heart stress test to get surgery clearance for whatever came out of the issues that were being investigated with the many tests that were being run.  Her heart doctor called me to let me know that she had "failed" the stress test and that now went to the top of the list to be investigated / "fixed".  I came home Monday and told Steve that GJ was pushing him out of the # 1 spot for having the most complicated medical issues in the family.  :-( 

Friday, she had an angiogram and we thought that they might place stents to correct what looked like a partial blockage condition seen in the stress test.  Well...that didn't go as planned either, the angiogram showed major blockages (90%) on all the arteries so no stents and an "EZ-pass" to open heart surgery on Tuesday.  The Doctor running the angiogram procedure considered whether she should be admitted immediately and wait in the hospital for surgery, but ultimately decided the safest place was to be at home because there is so much severe flu going around right now.  So we came home on Friday with heart medications and instructions to "do nothing" which is not something Mom does very well.

Fortunately, my aunt - Granny Jean (mom's twin sister) and her husband - Papa John, arrived on Thursday and are staying at Mom's.  They have done a great job in supervising the "patient", or as I now call Jean and John - "Mom's Staff".  :-)     Roger also arrived today - so we have a great support team here.  

Jean and John have several friends that have had heart surgery and one of the things that is common is that you need to sleep in a chair for quite a while during the recovery period.  So Jean and I went recliner chair shopping today.  It's nice when you have the "identical" person to try out the chair, so you know it will fit and be comfy.  :-)      Picture of Jean, test driving the chair attached.  I had meant to get a picture of GJ and the "Staff" at dinner tonight but forgot.  

Monday is a full day of pre-surgery tests and a meeting with the doctor that will be doing the surgery.  One of the nice things about being in Rochester is there are fantastic medical facilities.  Mom will be at Rochester General which is the #1 hospital in New York State for cardiac care and the surgeon is the chief of cardiology.  

In the middle of all this, Steve's birthday was Wednesday.  He appreciated the cards and notes he got for his birthday.  With all the other "excitement", I'm a bit behind with finishing his annual birthday book, but expect to have some time this week waiting to finish it up.

Miles for this week are 90, miles for 2015 are 232, and total miles are 12,486.

Take care,

Zelma

This Week's Update [1/11/15] - Another Curve Ball

[The Weekly Update is an email that was started in the fall of 2010 to keep family and friends informed of my medical condition and has continued as a review of family activities.  Written by Zelma and edited by Steve. Working on adding past issues to the blog.]

Hi All,

It looks like GJ's "simple" gallstones are going to turn into something a bit more complicated.  We had an initial meeting with her surgeon last week and the surgeon had recommended a CT scan to be sure nothing else was wrong.  The results of the scan showed some more concerning things which have triggered several additional tests.  We don't expect to hear anything meaningful until her next appointment which is a week from Monday (Jan 19th).

It does look like some sort of surgery is required and her surgeon wanted Mom to get clearance from her heart doctor and expected that getting that appointment would probably take longer than anything else.  Since the heart doctor's office is very near the surgeon's office, I told Mom we would just drive over and go in to see when we could get an appointment as I figured that would be better than calling.  We were really glad we did because after explaining the situation to the receptionist, she said that it was highly unusual to have an opening in the schedule, but he could see Mom immediately.  She has two more tests next week and then we are waiting to hear what they have determined.

Despite some really long days at the office this week for me, we've been diligent with riding every day.  Miles for the week are 90, miles for 2015 are 142, and total miles are 12,396.  I asked Steve if we were going to "ride his age" on his birthday again this year since his birthday is coming up on the 14th.  He's decided that we will save that milestone ride until we can do it outside which is a great goal to look forward to.

Take care,

Zelma

This Week's Update [1/4/15] - Happy New Year!

[The Weekly Update is an email that was started in the fall of 2010 to keep family and friends informed of my medical condition and has continued as a review of family activities.  Written by Zelma and edited by Steve. Working on adding past issues to the blog.]

Hi All,

We had a very quiet New Year's eve.  New Year's day, Matthew and I caught a classic comedy movie at the George Eastman Museum Dryden Theater. I worked on Friday and having a "1 day work week" seems to have screwed up my perception of what day it is.  I guess this next week, things will start to get back into the regular schedule.  We've had quite a mix of weather - cold, snow, sleet, and today it was in the 40's, raining with high winds.

We have enjoyed riding every day.  Matthew has been joining Steve and I to exercise (he uses the elliptical trainer).  Steve is the pacesetter, so Matthew is always glad when exercise time is over. :-)

The 2014 total miles were 3,255 - down a little from last year because of our unplanned time off in the fall with Steve's treatment.  Miles for the week are 90, miles for 2015 are 52, and total miles are 12,306.

Take care,

Zelma