Play Date (from last Weds)

"Huh, all she wants to do is play peek-a-boo"

Ok, Ok, I found you already.

Grandma Update

Grandma is now home. She came home yesterday around 2pm. Her stress test for her heart turned out alright. There is still no word from the kidney test. They sent her home with a walker because she still can't put much weight on her right foot. She said she noticed some decreased swelling and tenderness because she was able to get her slipper on, something she wasn't able to do previously. She will be taking Levaquin, an antibiotic for her foot.

They took her off of her hydroclorothiazide (HCTZ) which is a medication to help control her blood pressure. It works by ridding her body of excess water. So, obviously it was a good decision to take her off of it considering how dehydrated she had been as well as how low her blood pressure was. Her other blood pressure medication will remain unchanged for now.

She is to see her primary care Dr. this week as soon as she can get it. Overall, she said she was just very tired because she didn't get much rest/sleep in the hospital. Also, she was so impressed with how nice the staff was, would you believe they pulled up her bedside commode had a seat and talked for an hour with her? :) Just in case I missed that part, I was reminded.

Grandma Update

Sorry for the lack of an update yesterday. I was very much under the weather. I had taken an antibiotic that didn't agree with me and was vomitting all afternoon. But, I've awoken a new woman. I'm so thankful Ben was around to watch Eliana.

Grandma is due to come home today. Yesterday she had a stress test for her heart. She now has a Hospitalist from Nigeria. A hospitalist is a physician that only works in the hospital, he has no clinic hours. It's good because all they do is take care of hospital patients, but the bad part is the continuity of care is decreased. There are still no results from either her kidney test or her stress test. Jason saw Grandma yesterday and asked her to walk in the hall with him, but had an excuse of something like "she was too tired, or didn't fee like it". She is still eating and drinking very little. We fear that it is a matter of time before she is back to the hospital again because she is dehydrated. No one really knows why she is not eating or drinking. She just says she has no appetite, which I can understand happens, but if you know eating and drinking will keep you from going to the hospital, wouldn't you eat and drink?

We are all praying this gets figured out because we can't have her falling at home. Mom can not be by her side 24/7, for that matter no one can even if we all took shifts. She has also shared her intention to begin watching Owen once she returns home again. We are all discouraging this because it's not safe for her or Owen.

Grandma Update

They finally have grandma back on antibiotics (by IV), which has helped her foot. Grandma's orthostatic blood pressure is also up to 118. No word yet on her kidney tests. According to Grandma she is going home tomorrow. Of course, she said she was going home every day. If her foot isn't better when she returns home she'll probably have to use a walker to get around until it's better. She said she has been just putting her body weight on her heel to get along as well as using the walker.

She is so excited every day to tell us all about the nurse's aides who pull up her bedside commode and have a talk with her. She also likes to talk about all the different people who came to visit her throughout the day.

Playing

Her new thing is putting everything on her head or over her face. Whether it be her Noah's Ark, baseball glove, hat, or bucket for her blocks.

She's also become quite the little block stacker. She's gotten them 6 high so far.
Playing with her Elmo guitar.

Playing with her mittens

Eliana had a ball playing with her mittens one after I washed them.

Update on Grandma

Grandma is still in the hospital. I guess today she is going to be having a test to look at her kidneys, which she has previously had problems with. Also, they gave her antibiotics for the cellulitis in her foot Tuesday afternoon and she hasn't gotten them since. She should have been getting them for 24 hours. Apparently there was confusion because the nurses couldn't understand the Dr. when he was speaking or writing. Not a good thing. So, consequently mom mentioned that her foot looks even worse than it previously did. More to come later.

More Info on the Call

Here's a little more info on the call Ben has received. It's a blog written by Pastor Hartman's wife. Pastor and his wife have been in Mexico for about 3 years (I think) and have a daughter a couple months younger than Eliana. We would live about 7 blocks from them.

http://lutheransinmexico.blogspot.com/

A Call To Mexico

Yes, Ben just received another Divine call to serve our Lord. He's gotten a call to be a missionary in Torr eon Mexico. It's a unique call and we're still trying to learn more about it. In fact, he's currently talking to a college/seminary friend who's involved with the Mexican Mission. We'll keep you updated when we know more.

Many people have been asking how long this will be for. This is actually just like any other call, you stay until you receive a different call and then determine where you can best serve. So, yes this is permanent and no, we don't return back to Appleton, unless we get another call here (doubtful).

Please also continue to keep us in your prayers.

Update on Grandma

There has been alot going on in our family recently. My grandma Shannon has been pretty sick recently. She's been not eating and drinking and consequently last week Thursday had to go to the ER for fluids. Then, Sunday she fell as she blacked out. She has been having significant orthostatic hypotension. This means that when she stands up, her blood pressure drops which causes her to feel dizzy and pass out. The ambulance came to get her on Sunday as mom could not get her up after she fell. She's still in the hospital. I went to visit her today and she's had several tests done, which have for the most part come back normal. Some of the tests are an echocardiogram for her heart function and a carotid ultrasound as well as a CT. She has developed cellulitis in her right foot, which can happen after trauma. Her right knee is better after the fall, this was her replaced knee. She was just started on an IV antibiotic this afternoon and it must run at least 24 hours, so that puts us at 4pm on Wednesday. I do not anticipate her going home tomorrow either. They have cut back on the dose of her blood pressure medication in an effort to decrease the orthostatic hypotension. She has been eating a little more although still insists she doesn't have an appetite.

Please keep her in your prayers.