Linda's getting a little stronger every day, saying she feels less like a Texaco oil truck is sitting on her chest and more like a Volkswagen bug. Her bruises are starting to dissipate on her arm, leg and neck, but she still has some bruising to heal on her chest. She is working diligently on her breathing with the spirometer, and is getting the little indicator higher than ever. We go on little walks to get her the exercise she needs for rebuilding her lungs as well as her stamina. She is certainly not bed-ridden, as we have gone on a couple of excursions and even been out to eat a few times. These activities, however, can be exhausting and are therefore usually followed by a brief nap at home. The good news: she is certainly catching up on movies missed at the theater, thanks to the marvelous invention of the instantly gratifying "on demand" channel!
P.S. Thank you to Nancy and Mike for the delicious banana bunt cake, as well as for the fun visit (and Ruby, too!).

Yum.

Thank you, Donna, for the wonderful "edible arrangement!" And of course it tastes as good as it looks! Such a fun surprise to have found this on her doorstep!

Thank you Lora and Jesse Bitting for the adorable flower arrangement that arrived today!!!

Watching the news with my mom after a good night's rest (thanks to the hospital bed).

She is improving her deep breathing abilities, as well, by consistent use of the spirometer, but the battle certainly isn't over yet.

Getting some sun... and some sleep...

Busy Day...

Linda had two doctor appointments today (involving a good deal of scurrying around the hospital) which went quite well on several levels. While I did push her in the wheelchair, she walked as much as she could and was not too terribly exhausted by the x-rays, blood tests, and ultimate examination. Her x-rays revealed that she still has some fluid remaining in her right lung from when she was sick before her surgery. Because this lung is partially collapsed, she simply must continue (and frankly, work harder) on her deep breathing exercises using her spirometer. Her surgeon briefly graced us with his presence during her exam, and was very happy with how her incisions were healing (He is wonderful, truly!). The doctor even informed us that Linda was the topic of that morning's conference in which she was the case study for 35 cardiologists. Ha.
Thank you to Linda's brother, Oklahoma Senator Johnnie Crutchfield, for the tremendous flowers! They are absolutely beautiful and were such a surprise!
A huge thank you to Melanie, whose food can do no wrong, for our marvelous dinner; the ravioli pasta dish was "the best [Linda] had in all her life" (direct quote), and who I can totally vouch for. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We look forward to eating it again tomorrow night, if it can even last that long!
And of course, thank you to the two lips for making my mom's day brighter (and mine for that matter)! We love you and thank you for all of your help and support, as you have always given it so selflessly and wholly.

A good day...

Exactly one week after surgery, Linda is right on track in terms of the progress projected by her doctors.  We got a couple of the 5-10 minute periods of walking in, as this is what was directed by her physical therapists.  Next week the periods grow by about 5 more minutes.  She is quite mobile in terms of getting around the house, but is easily exhausted.  

She cannot lift more than about 5 pounds, and to be safe I prefer her to lift nothing above about two pounds (I'm a worry wart).  She is such an independent person that relying on others to lift things for her can be hard to remember to do (and to ask of someone), but we constantly remind her that we are there to do these things for her.  Better safe than sorry.  We say this especially now because her next door neighbor in the hospital had opened up her chest incision (even when it was healed) because she refused to take it a bit easier.  

Getting a good night's rest has also been quite the hardship, but hopefully this will be remedied by the hospital bed that was delivered to her home tonight.  

Because she had a bit of fluid already in her lungs when the surgery was performed, she needs to work even harder at her deep breathing exercises to bring both lungs back to full capacity.   

War Wounds

DISCLAIMER: Here are a few photos taken today that perhaps should not be seen by the squeamish...

Her neck is bruised because this is the area of the internal bleeding. Believe it or not, it is healing quite nicely.

This incision is located under her arm and along the side of her right breast. Also healing beautifully.

And for the finale, her main incision... The doctors call this a "mini." Not so mini to us, but still looks better than it did. Beneath the incision, her sternum is held together by titanium wire. Yikes.

Mellow Birthday Bash for Leighbo and Celebration of Mom's Return Home (double the fun, right?!)

Grandma enjoying some chocolates and looking lovely, as always...

Mum trying to enjoy a glass of caffiene free pepsi (no caffiene allowed)...

Drew and Becky lounging...

She has her appetite back!

The queen back in her castle...

Visiting in the hospital...

Peggy Sue and Linda on one of her better days in the hospital...
Jamie gets comfy (kind of) with my mom...

Leigh and Linda (young love...sigh) and the infamous heart pillow...

Drewblay and Linda on one of the rougher post-surgery days.

My mom and I... like two peas in a pod.

Photos of the lovely flowers she received...

Quite the magnificent menagerie of flowers on Linda's kitchen table.
Drew walking in to her hospital room with a flowery surprise from Becky and her mom.

Flowers were literally everywhere in her hospital room. She was in hog heaven.

And more...

Coming home from the hospital...

She's finally home! After a grueling six days spent in the Newport Beach Hoag Memorial Hospital, Linda is finally home. Although the room service and food was delightful during her stay in the five star hospital (often resembling a five star resort), she is more than happy to be home with her family (including her faithful dog and birds).
The surgery itself had some very serious complications (or what her anaesthesiologist later called an "oh shit moment") that led to an extended stay, and ultimately an extended recovery. For family and friends, who initially remained calm about the surgery by reminding ourselves it was seemingly "routine" and "simple," it was impossible to grasp that the surgery could take more than the couple of hours it was supposed to last. But as my dad, brother, Sherry, and Melissa waited in the "surgery lounge" with nail-biting anticipation for the nine and a half hours her surgery took, an unmistakable fear began to take hold of all of us. The initial plan for a small incision for which the robotics would patch the hole went awry, as her carotid artery would not allow the hook ups to go through. Because of this, a larger incision running along her right side was made to allow the robotics to maneuver. With this, the surgeons were successful, but she began to have some serious internal bleeding somewhere around her neck that the surgeons could not find through the side incision. In order to locate the bleeding and stop it as quickly as possible, they had no other option but to open her chest up. In doing so, the bleeding was stopped (thank goodness!!!) and she received a blood transfusion (a whopping 9 units of blood!) to make up for what she had lost. Because of the intensity of the surgery, she spent 3 days in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit. She now has 10 incisions, 3 large and 7 small, (not what was expected, as her midsection looks as if Jaws got to her). And as for the hole in her heart, it was not nearly as small as they had expected. When the hole was first discovered, she was told it was about an inch big; during the surgery, however, they discovered it was three quarters the size of the septum. The doctors believe this could be attributed to her recent bout with bronchitis. However, she was an extremely impressive patient for her Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit nurses, Dede and York (who were beyond wonderful and will forever be remembered by Linda and her family and friends), as she made swift and quite vast improvements every single day due to her great state of health prior to surgery!
A massive thank you from our family to Melissa and Sherry for being there with and for the family every single step of the way. Along with a "merci beaucoups" to Michael Koller-Nielson and Kevin Sullivan for donating blood, which she ended up needing every drop of. And another huge thanks to Nancy for spending time with my mom and for helping put my mind at ease while I worked.
It meant so much to my mom and to our family to have had so many visitors during her stay in the hospital, including Melissa, Michael, Sherry, Rebecca, Paula, Peggy Sue, Natalie, Melanie, Diane, Lee, Nancy, Mike, and Jamie. Your love and support means more to us than I can possibly put into words. Thank you all.
And the flowers...
Thank you to Jerry Lehman, Melanie, Nancy, Sherry, Christopher, Becky and her mother, Lee, and Stanley CSS Corporate Office, West, Fremont, St. Louis, Santa Ana, and Portland. And thank you to Lee, Melanie, and Paula for the goody bags, and a thank you to Peggy Sue for the fabulous handmade bowl!